Friday, June 23, 2006

Update

Usually if I'm not blogging, that means I've been crafting. And I have. A lot. Like a crafting spree. I have a 2 hour time frame during naptime that I use to do what I want, and another 2 hours after we put Cale to bed. Sometimes I get a little extra time if my husband is home and watches Cale for me. No pictures today but they're coming soon I promise.

I received my Potholder Princess prize a few days ago but I have not had time to take a picture of me wearing the crown. (My husband hasn't been home much, and he's my picture taker, when its of me.) I feel bad too. The prize was great, but I was asked to not show it, so sorry no pictures.

Other than crafting a lot, I have been working on our newsletter for MOMS Club. Its my first one and it's taking me a while. I'm frustrated with the lack of help I have received on it so it's last priority for me right now.

Here's a link for a very, very easy sewing project. I made it in about 30 minutes. You take a large tshirt and turn it into comfy capri pants by using the armholes for the crotch. It's genius! So simple too. I bought a new tshirt for the occasion because I wanted a plain pair of pants. I bought XXL but a Large probably would have sufficed. Mine are a little big in the waist, but once I fix that, they will be perfect. Because I used such a large shirt, the legs are wider.

Pictures coming soon, I promise!

Monday, June 12, 2006

Sunday

We went to the Catania Antique Market. I love it because its filled with junk. The other antique markets we have been to have been full of ancient, very expensive furniture. The stuff is beautiful but not my style. And most of the time, it is so huge that it would never fit into a standard American house. Most homes cannot accomodate a 10 foot tall armoire.


I love these. They will go in my kitchen. Maybe i can get my husband to hang the curtains soon too!

We bought this for 12 euro!! The man originally said 15 but while we were asking each other if he said 15 or 50, he lowered it to 12. It needs a lot more cleaning.

I'm not sure where this is going or even how to hang it, but I knew I had to have it. I was so surprised that my husband agreed to buy it! He normally says no to anything with flowers. The flowers are ceramic. When I first found out we were moving to Italy, I promised myself I would buy one of these. Its really big, almost as big as Cale, so close to 3 feet tall.
Sunday was a good day.

There's another antique market nearby that happens every 3rd Saturday. Wouldn't you know that it just happens to fall on Father's Day this month. I'm hoping Kevin will want to go. Yeah right.

Thursday, June 08, 2006

Kid stuff swap 3

I participated in the kid stuff swap 3 at Craftster and my partner has received. As usual I was left with swap anxiety, but I'm really really pleased with everything I made for my partner.

A freezer paper stencil. This is perhaps my favorite thing. It was supposed to be a simple 3 part stencil, but it ended up being 6 parts. The first coat of red looked pink, so it has 2 coats. The blue circle was not part of the original design but it really adds a lot.


I made a name banner out of felt for the child. (My partner asked not to use his name on the internet so this is the only picture I took.) I was inspired by this Happy Birthday bannerat Mahar Dry Goods. A name banner just seemed like a better use. It sure seems like a lot of work for just one day!


I made a reversible smock. One side features Curious George (or Monkey George as Cale affectionately calls him.) The other features 3 Thomas trains. Cale has no idea who Thomas is, just that he's a train. I had to keep this out of site or it would have disappeared. :D



A backpack to put everything in. And to to lug around favorite toys and books.


And some collage art that was tons fo fun to make. Something about cutting and gluing paper is so therapeutic. Maybe it reminds me of the good old days in kindergarten.

I should probably get my stuff sometime next week. I'm excited for Cale.

Everything I made received the same comment from my husband: "Are you going to make Cale one of those?" Um, maybe next month.

He got a rather strange package from my dad yesterday. It contained a giant coloring book (which I knew about), a gnome (Cale calls him Ho-Ho because he thinks he's Santa Claus), some pictures, a letter and a poster of a Budweiser girl. The weird part is that my day signed the picture to my husband. I'm sorry Dad, but no one writes as bad as you, so its quite obvious who signed it. :D So now I'm going to call him Gina. We have always joked about him being both our Dad and Mom because he raised us by himself....

Monday, June 05, 2006

baby shower gifts

This weekend I went to a baby shower for my friend in Moms club. I bought her a few things but I also embellished onesies for her new baby. She's kind of crafty herself, so I knew she would appreciate it.

Four are embroidered and one is freezer paper stenciled. Each took me several hours. Embroidery is probably my favorite craft. It's semi portable so I can sit on the couch and watch tv while doing it. It fulfills my crafting needs better than anything else. Like sometimes I can sew on the ssewing machine for hours but not feel like my need to craft has been taken care of.



This is the packaging that I made. I didn't want her to not notice that I had made them special.


And the back, specifying the size.

I'm a nervous gifter. I always spend tons of time picking out a gift (for everyone) and then worry the whole time whether or not they will like it. Handmade gifts are especially subject to this, because they have so much of me put into them. Plus I see all the flaws that aren't apparent to other people but stand out to me. I'm always nervous my gift will either be opened first or last. I normally try to stay out of the room if possible, but it wasn't possible this time. And I was sitting next to her. I kept trying to think of excuses to leave. I heard kids outside screaming and I was hoping it was mine, so I could run outside, but nope, not Cale. Several other gifts were handmade as well. Which helped. But then she got to mine and made a huge deal of them. Which is exactly what I was afraid of. They got passed around the room and I imagined people scrutinizing the flaws. (I'm my own worst critic.) But people said lots of nice things. At the end of the shower a lady approached me about selling them. She has a website, Go-Yen Bags and was excited to meet someone else who crafted and sewed. It was really nice that someone else besides my husband said I should sell stuff. He has to be nice, but she doesn't. I think she has a craft fair kind of thing in mind. She knows several other women who make stuff as well.
I do have dreams of opening a business, though I haven't narrowed down what exactly i want to sell. I wish I had one specific interest, but I like so much.

By the way, I went to the doctor on Friday. My bee sting is infected. They gave me antibiotics (not the nice amoxocillin either, but grown up sounding stuff) and claritin. The pills make me so sick. Then I smelled them. No wonder they make me sick, they're made out of poo!!! I have to take them 4 times a day, which means I have to set my alarm clock to take one in the middle of the night.

Have you seen the entries for the Craftster Challenge 12, Kitschy craft contest? Normally there is one great one that stands out the most to me, but there are so many great ones this time. Those craftsters never cease to amaze me.

I am the Princess Potholder for the month of May at Hot Mitt Monthly! Yay!! I really needed to win so that maybe my luck will change. My poor foot could use some relief. :D

Now for my month of me!