It's Almost Autumn...

I love Autumn. It's my favorite time of year. The kids are already excited about going to the pumpkin patch - although I must admit what they are actually excited about is taking Max, the puppy, with us to the pumpkin patch. My husband is looking forward to taking Max in the corn maze. Like Max is really going to help him find his way out!!

I thought I would share a few of my recent Autumn favorites from Etsy.

Autumn photography prints from Raceytay.


Autumn Glass Magnets from StickinWithMe.




Pumpkin Orange Chalcedony Earrings from Arctida.



Autumn Hand bound Leather Journal with Hand-engraved Oak Leaf from lapaperie.



And made by ME, a cute zippered pouch just perfect for autumn!!

Etsy Anniversary Sale Going On Now!!

Etsy Anniversary Sale going on now!!

Wow. I can't believe it's been 4 years since I opened my Etsy store. I am currently offering free shipping on all zippered pouches and wristlets. I have also added more items to my SALE section, so be sure to check it out.

I have new stuff to add. I'm going to try to get everything photographed and listed this weekend.

A big thank you to everyone who has purchased from me, and a big hug to all of my repeat customers.

jennifersmusings: Oooh-la-la! GIVEAWAY!

jennifersmusings: Oooh-la-la! GIVEAWAY!: "This giveaway has all things HEAVENLY: copies of books 1&2, a notebook, mini poster and 'Real Angels Don't Fall' Heavenly T! If you haven't..."

Finally!!

Guess what movie I finally saw this past Saturday night? That's right. Eclipse.



Let me tell you, after only seeing one move since New Moon (How To Train Your Dragon) I was really looking forward to getting out and enjoying a movie. The only theatre it was still playing at around here was at the mall, which is old. It's okay there, but not the new and really nice theatre that we usually go to. My husband was certain that we would be the only ones there, but when we walked in about 15 minutes before the movie started, there was already 2 young women there in the back row. So we sat 2 rows in front of them and off the right so we wouldn't interfere with their view since they were there first. Obviously everyone is not this courteous. Is there no movie theatre etiquette anymore? Because 2 young women come in and sit directly behind us and start talking in full on loud voices until the movie started. My husband wanted to move but I told him let's wait and see how it goes. Then a couple walks in and sits directly in front of us. This is the time when you start seriously thinking you are on Candid Camera!! There is a whole theatre of empty seats and they choose to sit in back and front of us, and we are off to one side, not in the middle premium seats... It drives me crazy. Then a whole bunch of couples start arriving and sitting all around us... okay, fine, no one knows how to spread out.

So I have 3 empty seats to the right between me and the aisle, and a couple shows up just as the movie is starting and sits there with 1 empty seat between us. This man drove me absolutely crazy!! I was ready to scream out loud by the end of the movie. He wouldn't sit still, he huffed and sighed and moaned and groaned and shuffled his feet and put his feet up on the chair in front of him and tapped and wiggled and just would not sit still. He got up 3 times during the movie to get candy, so he's making noise with his boxes, and chewing and smacking, and every time he picked up his huge ass soda, he would swirl it around before taking gulps and smacking his lips and sighing, and OMG I was ready to scream!!

As for the movie itself, it was okay. Afterwards my husband asked how long before he has to suffer through another one? I made his night by telling him not until next November. He said he could handle waiting that long to go with me again. Gee, thanks honey. I stopped him with a hand on his arm, and I got up in his face and started talking to him really serious... just like they do in Eclipse, and he started cracking up and wondering why they do that? I told him I didn't know, that this was the 3rd different director, so you would think they could do something different. The extreme close-ups and seriousness of every little line has gotten more pronounced with each movie. It's a bit much. I'd like to see the actors move around and act like real people while having discussions. All the close-ups just make it so boring. I think they are going for dramatic, but it's just not coming off that way.

And the hand held cameras bothered me. Too much shaking. The scene that was the most notable, I think, was in Jacob's garage when Jacob was throwing a fit over Bella choosing to become one of them... Jacob was shaking in a rage, and the camera was shaking too. That was just weird.

Robert Pattinson's acting just gets better and better with each movie. I thought he was awesome. And hot. LOL. Gotta give him that. And he looked extremely hot hot hot in the tent scene. And the meadow scenes. And the... well, he looked really good throughout the entire movie.



Taylor Lautner was really good too. I think he owns the role of Jacob. I know the character is really supposed to be huge and towering over everyone, but he pulls off being short and imposing, and makes being tall seem less important.

As for Kristen Stewart, same old, same old. She's terrible. I can't stand watching her sputter and stutter and just ugh, I don't like the way she acts!! Although, she wasn't as terrible as she was in Twilight and New Moon, so at this rate, by the end of filming Breaking Dawn she will be less twitchy and stuttery and sputtery... or at least I can hope.

Not enough Billy Burke. He totally stole every scene he was in. (And I kept waiting for him to pick up a guitar and start singing... that may have been just a 'me' thing though. Does anyone else have his CD?)

I loved Jasper's back story. Loved Alice. Rosalee looked horrible. Not enough of Emmett. Loved the training and fight scenes. Didn't like the new Victoria. Loved Riley. Loved the wolves. They were huge!! My husband even commented on the big ass wolves.

I loved the scene when Bella showed up at the Cullen's house. Edward opened the door and wondered what Bella was doing out there.. which was weird to say, but when she entered the house with him, they played 'Bella's Lullaby' in the background. Did anyone else like this as much as I did?

Overall, Eclipse was pretty good. I like the story of Eclipse better than I like the actual movie. Of course I will be getting the DVD, and I'll watch it a few more times, and maybe then I will have more of an opinion. Right now I think it's better than New Moon. The acting is better than Twilight. But I still like Twilight more because it was the first, it was fresh, and because they still walked and talked, and I actually like that. The extreme close-ups have gotten out of hand. Hopefully they get that under control and have more moderation for Breaking Dawn.

First Day Of School

Monday, August 16, was the kids first day of school. For some reason they seem to think they are too old for the annual 'drag us onto the front porch and take a picture of us on the first day of school' routine. They're not too old. They were willingly reluctant. Reluctantly willing? Eh, I got them both on the porch at 6:22 am and snapped a few photos.

This was not them happy either. I was being goofy, and I told them to hug. She backed away because boys (especially brothers) have cooties. He laughed so hard at her that she started laughing.

AND I was warned I better not put any photos of them on my blog. I promised not to. I lied. Oops.

Officially Introducing...

MAX!!!



We've had him for 5 weeks now. My husband talked me into going to 'look' at 3 puppies, brothers, that he had stopped and looked at and played with... Looking turned into getting. My husband and kids promised me that if we got a new puppy I could name him anything I wanted.



Every name that I wanted or suggested they turned down. I originally called him Rochester. I was told that was a stupid name for a dog. I insisted on Rochester, but suggested a few other names: Heathcliff, Darcy, Mr. Darcy, Wentworth, Frederick, Bronte, Branwell... no one liked any of these names. I don't know why not, I think they are very dignified names.



Then I made a comment about how they would probably really like a simple and common name like Max. Yeppers, they liked Max. I had to put my foot down and make sure they understood that his name was officially Maximillian Rochester (for AKC registration purposes). Max is a cute name, but I still occasionally call him Rochester just to piss off my family. LOL

Max is now 13 weeks old. He's a miniature dachshund, and he is really, really cute. And he'd be even cuter if he would stop pooping in the house.



For the first few days, Max wouldn't stop whining unless someone was holding him or he was snuggled up against someone. My husband, Mr. Softy, slept on the couch for 3 nights so Max could lay on him. It was our desperate attempt to keep him quiet so we could sleep. Since then he's been sleeping in his cage at night. He still whines and cries and barks, but it is in spurts, and not all night long like it was at first.



I am still very overprotective of him. After what happened with our last puppy, I don't like Max out of my sight for very long. My husband likes to take Max with him when he visits with the neighbors, so I have to send the kids to get Max and bring him home so I can keep an eye on him.



Max was 4.3 pounds at 8 weeks old, and 4.8 pounds at 11 weeks old, and 6.4 pounds today (13 weeks). Here he is with one of his favorite toys. You can see that Tigger is bigger than him.

Made Using Meadowsweet 2 Fabrics...

I made this zipper pouch for the winner of my Facebook contest. Lee Ann picked out the fabrics and the style of pouch she wanted. I think it turned out really cute!!



This was a custom request from Fabric Flair, which is where I purchased the Meadowsweet 2 fabrics. This is a sleeve/pouch for an imac. The back side has a large zippered pocket that is perfect for the power cord.







I plan on adding this pouch to my Etsy shop today:

Facebook

I am now on Facebook!!! Or at least I think I am. I'm still figuring things out over there, so please let me know if it isn't working for you.

I'm having a CONTEST on Facebook, so go check it out.

Pictures of Angel

I have been meaning to post photos of Angel, our puppy that passed away. We are now convinced that she was a Chi-weenie... Chihuahua and Dachshund mix. We got her from a rescue facility when she was 8 weeks old.



I gave her an old Barbie doll that was laying around my daughter's room. She loved it and spent a lot of time dragging that thing around until her head popped off.



This is Angel driving us to grandma and grandpa's house.



And THIS is poor Kitty a few days after we got Angel. Kitty had a humongous kidney stone causing a blockage, so she had to have surgery. We were supposed to keep this cone on her head for 2 weeks. I think we made it 10 days. It was driving her nuts and making us crazy. Being the good mommy that I am, I let Kitty lay on my Edward fleece blankie. I think it made her feel better.

Super-Duper Mini Vacation

Can you still consider it a vacation if you are only gone for 52 hours? The kids talked us into going to Branson for 2 days. They just wanted to get away from home for a little while. 'Little while' being the important thing here, since they really don't like being away from home for too long. They do love staying in hotels though. I guess just because it's different than their home.

Here is how our 2 days went:

Did some gift shopping for the friend, the not-my-girlfriend, and the neighbor who fed our cat while we were gone. We shopped while waiting for a rain storm to end. Then we played miniature golf.






Swam in the hotel pool. This was in the back of the hotel. The hotel also has a really nice and new indoor/outdoor pool and play area across from the front door. We spent some time there also.



Watched these 2 crazy young men on motorcycles inside a 12 foot globe. That was crazy. We saw them do their routine twice. It was dark at 10:30 pm, so they had these spotlights shining, and it looked even crazier than it did when it was still light out.



The kids talked us into seeing this show. We saw the same group of people when we were in Branson 2 years ago. They've changed up their routine since then, and the kids enjoyed it. It's hard finding a show that the adults can enjoy that the kids will go to without complaining. They are obviously doing YMCA here. They change costumes a LOT!!



Go carts!!!



Why does the drive home always seem to take longer than the drive there?

I Want To Quilt Again

I sooooo need to get back into quilting. That's how I first got into sewing. I spent quality time at the mom & pop sewing/vacuum center where we used to live. My mom and dad bought a vacuum from there when they got married. They would let me come in and try the machines whenever I wanted. I finally purchased a Janome and they taught me the basics of how to use it. Then I went to the book store and bought 3 or 4 books that were on clearance and learned how to get started quilting. The first thing I made was a small quilt for my daughter, and a tiny matching quilt for her dolls. They both turned out really cute. I made my dad a throw quilt with fishing lure fabric for his birthday. I made my mom a matching set for Christmas: throw quilt, bedside table topper, and runner type thing that she uses on her dresser.

Then I started getting into baby quilts. Which soon turned into all I made - baby quilts for the 300 babies being born into the family. Okay, it wasn't really 300, but still... I was expected to make a baby quilt for every baby shower I was invited to. It turned into a chore instead of a creative outlet for me. That's not how I wanted to spend my time. So I got away from quilting and more into purses and accessories.

I don't use patterns either. I get out paper and pen and doodle my own designs and work out the dimensions. It's been quite fun, and I enjoy having a creative outlet.

But lately I have been fondling my fabric (I have TONS of fabric) and thinking of the quilts I could make using my stash. And I really need to start using my stash. My sewing room is overflowing, and I can't bring myself to get rid of any fabrics, so I need to start using them. What better way than to make quilts?

THIS is the last quilt I made. I actually pieced 2 tops, but only quilted one, so I still have the other top that needs to be finished.

I Can't Believe It's Already July

Where did June go? It seems like it went by so fast, but if I really think about it, I can account for the time passing. I think maybe I just need more time in my day to get things done and feel like I accomplished something. I can't imagine having less sleep, so maybe if there were 2 of me? Or maybe even 3. That would work.

I try to set goals for myself regarding my sewing. I can usually reach those goals if I announce my plans to my family ahead of time, so I can work around whatever they have going on. I'm pretty much free to do what I want now that it is summertime. But during the school year I usually only get to sew on the weekends. Which makes it hard to have family time when I have orders to finish or just want to be creative. Being creative on someone else's schedule is really difficult.

I saw this planner on Etsy's front page recently. I love these! You can even upgrade to a bigger size, and add another 3 months to your planner.

Eclipse Premiere!!!!!!!

The Eclipse premiere is tonight, and I won't be there!!!!!!!!!!!!! Same as New Moon, I will gladly wait until Friday at approximately 5 pm, but no freakin' later. My husband knows the drill. His happy @ss is going with me.



I think I am excited to see this movie. I have been keeping myself away from anything spoilerish, and it hasn't been hard. Not many photos out there. Only saw some of the promos while watching TV. I think my husband even saw a promo that I didn't. I am looking forward to seeing Eclipse, but I can't believe it will be 18 months before the first Breaking Dawn movie will be out. That's extremely odd to me. You would think they would have waited until November to release Eclipse, and not have such a long break until BD comes out.

For your viewing pleasure, I gladly leave you with some photos of the pretty. Don't drool on your keyboards.

Feature

Christie did a truly awesome feature on me for her Fabric Flair Blog.

I love buying coordinating fabrics, and Christie has put together a few sets that I have purchased recently. I also really like this Valori Wells Nest Rose/Sage Colorway set. These fabrics are so cute together.



The Cosmo Cricket Early Bird Set is super cute. I really love the cherries!



Here are a few items I have made using fabrics that I purchased from Fabric Flair.

Etsy Treasury East

One of my items made it into a Treasury. This treasury was made by Christie from Fabric Flair, which is where I purchased the Laura Gunn fabric used on the zipper pouch.



After taking a week or so off after puppy passed away, I am trying to stay busy, so I am back to sewing up a storm. I have more zippered pouches to list, and I have 2 new bags that I just took photos of and need to list. As always, if you want anything custom made, just contact me and we'll set something up.

I have been listening to Civil Twilight a ton recently. I just downloaded their Live From SoHo recordings from ITunes. I love, love, love them.

I just finished reading 'Fallen' by Lauren Kate. It was really good. I can't wait until book #2, 'Torment', comes out in September. Since reading 'Shiver' by Maggie Stiefvater last summer, I have been anxiously awaiting the release of the next book in the trilogy, 'Linger', which comes out July 20. My other plans for summer reading include Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen, only because pretty boy Robert Pattinson is currently filming the movie. But next up for me to read is 'Immortal' by Gillian Shields.

I also tend to watch a lot of movies during the summer. Last night I re-watched 'Wanted' with James McAvoy. I'm not a big fan of the blood and guts, but damn that boy sure is hot.

Recently I have watched: Leap Year, Whip It, Amelia, The Blind Side, Dear John, An Education, The Young Victoria, and Up In The Air.