Get out of my head!!

I was talking with a friend of mine the other day who was describing how the characters in her books demand her attention. They rattle around in her head, demanding that she give written words to their thoughts and histories and actions.

What she describes about her writing is very similar to what happens to me with craft projects. Instead of characters, it's an idea that demands that I bring it to fruition. I suppose that's inspiration. I've got plenty of it, folks. Granted, there are times when I sit down to make something and find the well has gone dry, but by and large I suffer from idea after idea after idea all waiting to just be created.

I swear, sometimes they multiply like bunnies, these ideas. A thought flashes through my head and the next thing I know, there's one more voice added to the chorus. Take this morning, for instance. I'm sitting in church, and my mind drifts for just a few seconds to the sweater I bought at a rummage sale yesterday. What it needs is a ruffle down the center placket. No, what it needs is a REMOVABLE ruffle down the center placket. And so now my mind is whirring in the background working out the logistics.

At some point there just gets to be too many voices, too many potential projects and I start to lose focus. "Get out of my head!" I want to say. But really, I like them in my head. I just wish they'd quiet down just long enough to get some of my responsible-person tasks out of the way. Does this ever happen to you? If so, how do you get the projects out of your head - or at least using their inside voices?



Toodles,

Lookie who posted over at UCreate!

Yep, it's me!!

I was so super excited when Kari from UCreate asked if I'd like to guest blog over at her site. Go check out my tutorial for this XOXO table runner.

Don't sew? Not a problem. This puppy is a n0-sew project. Just get some fusible webbing and a temporary marker. (The tutorial says to use a rotary cutter and a quilting grid, but they're not necessary. They just help keep everything lined up straight.)

Oh, and it's reversible, too. One side of mine is fancy with black & hot pink polka dots. The other is shabby chic with a retro coral heart design. All I have to do to change the look is just flip it over.

Go over to U Create and check it out!

Toodles,

Never the same game twice...

One of the things I love about Liv being a big ole' 6-year-old is that we've moved into the world of board games. And not just Candyland or Chutes and Ladders, but games that the whole family can actually get into. Games like checkers that require strategy. Or games like Battleship that requires logic. Or good old-fashioned backstabbing games like Sorry.

When I was a kid, one of our favorite games was Bonkers. Anyone else remember that game? You built the gameboard as you went with little cardboard tiles that told you to move forward 10 or back 3 or go to Roll Again. It was "never the same game twice."

Our Bonkers game is long gone, the victim of a house-purging and subsequent yardsale. Sadly, they don't make Bonkers anymore. But that doesn't mean they're not still available. After a fit of nostalgia one night, I hit Ebay and grabbed one from an auction. A week later it arrived in the mail. One game, and Liv was hooked.

She loves the "make it up as you go along" and the crazy graphics (1970's, anyone?), and the fact that she can really smoke us at the game. I love that we're partaking together of one of my childhood memories, moving together back in time to when I was also a 6-year-old girl who loved the "make it up as you go along" and the crazy graphics and the chance to outsmart my opponent. And though it truly is never the same game twice, I think it's better this second time around.

Toodles,

Baby shoes, oh my!

So a good friend mine recently had a baby. A sweet, sweet little baby girl. And what every girl needs is shoes, right??

So I made her a couple of pairs of shoes. A pair of white vinyl Mary Janes...





...and gray wool kitty cat shoes.

These were made with patterns from Precious Patterns. There are a lot of shoe patterns and tutorials out there, but I was struck with how absolutely CUTE their designs all are. The instructions were easy to follow and the sizing seemed to be just about spot on.










Toodles,

Finally, some snow!

Actually, it was mainly ice with just the tiniest dusting of snow on top. But it was enough to send my daughter into a joyous whirlwind of "It's a wonderland!" and "Look! Our driveway is all white!" and of course "Let's go play - NOW!"

There wasn't enough snow for a snowman, or even a small snowball. But the layer of ice on all the roads made for some AWESOME sledding.








It also made the bottom of the slide reeeallly slick.





Toodles,

DIY leg pillow

I sleep on my side and I use one of those leg pillows to help keep my back from going all out of whack. The one I had was soooo old and sooo pitiful. I bought it several years ago and it's all worn out. The foam inside the cover is literally all broken apart; I just stacked it, taped it together, and put it back into the cover.

So when I was at Hancock's when they had their pillow forms on sale, AND I had a few extra dollars spending money in my pocket, I decided the stars had aligned and the universe was telling me to finally send that old pitiful leg pillow to the trash.

I won't even take a picture of the old one - I would be far too embarassed to have it out on the Internet as something I still used. But look at the new one. Isn't she pretty?

I made it from a Nu-foam Poly-fil densified batting chair cushion and 1/3 of a yard of fabric. The sale price was $5, and I only used half of it. If I was to buy a new one, it would cost me far more than that. And I wouldn't get my choice of fabric for the cover!

I created a tutorial for making one, and have it posted out at Craft Gossip. So if you need a new leg pillow, go check it out.

Toodles,

Stymied

I have an idea for what I think will be a really easy, really neat no-sew fabric project, but I keep getting stymied.

First I didn't have the right fabric. Which totally blew me away because I have enough fabric to fill a three bedroom apartment. And yet I didn't have fabric that was right for the project in mind. So Liv and I went and bought some more fabric just for this project. Ridiculous, I know.

Then instead of being able to dive right in, I had to clear some teaching stuff out of the way. Another day or two delay.

Finally... yesterday I cleared my afternoon schedule and get all set to make said project. I work up a template in Word, but then my printer wouldn't work. Foiled again!

I feel frustration as I TRY to maintain my "post at least one sewing project a week" resolution, but the universe seems to be working against me this week. Maybe tomorrow the stars will align?

Toodles,