Stuff for Me

I know what you're thinking and the answer is no. No, I do not have any idea why I thought I would applique an owl on the widest part of my body and then take a picture without any hair or makeup or gut-sucking-in-ing. I'm going to blame it on a lack of sleep. I was awake until about 1:00 this morning battling shoulder and collar bone pain from my fibromyalgia. Who knew your collarbone could ache so badly?

While I like the idea of the owl, close up, the applique looks really crappy. I think maybe I used too wide of a stitch and too big of a needle or something. I'll probably just go over it again with the proper settings because I'm way too cheap to just throw the shirt away and start over.

And speaking of cheap, lets talk about the crazy hair above. I've had short hair off and on for about 10 years now. Crafty Papa loves my short hair and I really do think I look better with it short. But being part of a one income family is apparently not compatible with the every 5 weeks hair cuts that short hair requires. I've already had to start coloring my hair at home and I just had to call my hair lady this morning to cancel my appointment for tomorrow because I can't justify spending half of my weekly grocery budget on my hair. So I've decided that if my hair is going to look bad during the growing out stage, I might as well wear a big sparkly headband and make it look really, really bad. This morning Crafty Papa said, "Sooooo, you're wearing a headband now?" and I said, "Shutty".

Ok, I'm much more excited about this next project for myself. It's a personalized, fabric covered planner/calendar. Seriously, how cute is it? I'm in love with it so much that as soon as I finished it, I had to sit down and transfer all of my birth dates from my 2008 planner to my 2009 one. Definitely going to be listing these in my shop and making a few for an event I'm doing next month. And I'll be giving some for Christmas gifts too.

Table Runner or Big Ass Place Mat?

You may have heard that the economy is in the crapper. I'm sure that info. comes as a shock to all of you. It's a great time to already have been poor like we are because we had nothing to lose. Not such a great time to depend on income from Etsy. It seems that people are more worried about buying food for their family right now instead of a fabulous handmade, one of a kind bag. The bastards!

Anyway, like most other Etsyers, my sales are way down right now and instead of wallowing in self pity like I usually do, I'm trying to finally make some things for myself and our house. And thus, the table runner/big ass place mat.
















Crafty Papa is fairly against the idea of holiday decorating or really anything fun around the holidays (he would probably disagree but he's really just too practical...maybe one of you can send him a memo about how holidays and practicality don't go together). Now that we've been married for 8 years, I find pleasure in occasionally doing things just to irritate him. Like buying a bunch of new decorations at a yard sale after he made me throw away things last year. Or making my own new, completely useless decorations.
















I'm really bad about starting a project without planning anything at all and then being disappointed with the results. So of course, I didn't measure anything for this project and it just happened to be the exact width of our dining table. So, I don't really know what it is but I do like it even though it totally clashes with my pink hydrangeas.

Anyway, I do have one more custom order to finish this week but I'm thinking about taking on a few other projects for myself. Maybe an owl appliqued tshirt for me that I can rub in Shanna's and Andrea's faces. And a personalized fabric planner cover. I feel a trip to Walmart coming on. I've already been there on Monday and Tuesday this week and they might start to worry if they don't see me there today. Although, when I walked out yesterday, I distinctly remember telling the children that I would never ever bring them there again.

Trick or Treat

Happy Halloween Sale in my Etsy shop through Sunday. Enter code "BOO" at checkout to receive 25% off your entire order (excluding custom orders and personalized items). Please pay through Paypal and I will refund you the 25%. Happy Shopping!

So Much Excitement

I'll start off with the more mild excitement. My craft room got a mini makeover this weekend! I think I've mentioned here several times that my sewing/scrapbooking room is a total pig sty. Like all the time. I cleaned up this weekend and found one of Crafty Papa's dirty socks and some of Matea's (clean) My Little Pony Undies.

My brother in law was in town yesterday and called us from the Geoffrey Beene store at the outlets and said they were closing up shop and selling all of their fixtures. He sent us some pics of these cool tables he was buying but I told Steve we really didn't need them. Thankfully, he stopped by here and once I saw the tables in person, Crafty Papa and I agreed I had to have them. Even better, they were only $15 each and his brother was here to help carry them into the house.















































So, I spent all night last night completely emptying out the craft room, setting up the tables, and then reloading everything. The shelves are so nice and practical. The only bummer is that now everything is within the girls' reach so I'm going to have to do some serious extra parenting when they're in there. If I would have known the room was going to be emptied out, I totally would have painted. Oh well, another day.

While reorganizing my fabric, I came across this fun retro flowers print that I hadn't used in a long time. Kind of a neutral, go with anything bag that still has a little bit of funkiness.

















Ok, now the BIG excitement. I'm hosting a scrapbooking retreat at an ocean front beach house here in January and my favorite scrapbooking friends are flying out to California to attend! I hadn't even mentioned the whole event to them because they're in Arkansas and Wisconsin. Not really practical for travel to the retreat. Anyway, I sent Shanna a link to one of the houses I was looking at and mentioned the retreat. Next thing you know, she, Keeley, and Shana are all flying out here. This will absolutely make my year...and keep me up at night with excitement for the next three months. Keels, Shanna and I used to talk on IM almost everyday and Shanna and I still try to IM at least a few times a week. I am beyond excited about finally getting to meet them in person after chatting online for 2 1/2 years. I hear Dr. Shana cried with excitement and I have to admit that when I start to daydream about it, I get a little misty eyed thinking about finally seeing my girls but then Crafty Papa gives me a weird "what the hell is wrong with you?" look and I snap out of it.

I'm also totally excited to finally spend some time with my friend Jenni without having to take care of our kids. We only get to see each other every few months and we always end up having to stay home with the kiddos while our hubbies go out to the beach and have fun. She is absolutely the nicest, easiest to get along with person I've ever met and I know all of my friends and the retreat will love her.

And Crafty Mama's #1 customer, Heather, will be there too. I met her briefly last spring when she took her Crafty Mama Creations stalking to a new level and hunted me down at an event I did. She went to grad school with Shana so it's a whole 6 degrees of separation thing. I think I might have to whip up a bunch of special bags to tempt her with that weekend.

I got to meet Andrea and Jen at the retreat I went to in August and it was so weird how we just clicked and chatted like we had been friends forever. I know it sounds weird, but it really is amazing how a friendship can develop so well without ever meeting in person. I'm totally doing eHarmony.com if Crafty Papa ever gets tired of putting up with me. Seriously though, those eHarmony commercials really do get to me.

An Oldie

It's been a long time since I've listed a bag with this funky frogs Michael Miller fabric. There were a few of you who loved this fabric the first time I bought it and spent a lot of time whining at me about how you kept missing out on the bags.

So, now's your chance. The bag is roomy, definitely a good size for a diaper bag or all purpose tote. And, the listing also includes the cute zippered pouch.

Now I'm officially out of this fabric again and don't plan to order more.

Excuse Me

But how is this bag I listed yesterday afternoon still available? It's all the things you guys like, neutral, floral, pink and brown, sweet, not funky, matching zippered pouch.

Seriously though, I really like this bag and am surprised it didn't sell right away. It's a nice smaller size without being teeny tiny and I absolutely love the buttons of the flap.

So you tell me, why is it still in my shop?

Take Two

I'm sure you haven't noticed, but owls are everywhere these days. Clothing, home decor, scrapbooking...as Matea would say, "Eva-whey!". So, I've been working on my own owl pattern for a few days.

Here's take one. Don't tell her I said this, but she's too short and fat. She's now enjoying a loving home with Matea.

















Take two is much better. If this blog was cheesier, I'd say, "She's Fowlbulous". I'm not kidding, there are a ton of craft related blogs out there that say cute crap that. But I won't. I'll just say, not only is she adorable in a funky way, she's only $15 with FREE SHIPPING.
































I definitely plan to make a few more this weekend. I've reserved an Etsy showcase spot for this Sunday and I'm hoping to have a few fun new things in my shop.