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.

Our Angel

This is so hard to type. Every time I think I can pull myself together and put my thoughts here, I start crying again because putting it in words just seems to make it so real and so final.

Our puppy, Angel, is no longer with us. I have a long and rambling explanation below because once I started typing it all just came out. I wanted to include recent photos of Angel, but I just can't make myself look at them right now. It's just too painful. We spent the weekend trying to get over the fact that we don't have our cute little puppy anymore. The last few days we have spent trying to move on with our life without Angel. We still have our moments, but it seems to slowly be getting better. I'm sure I will have more to say and more good thoughts and cute moments to share about Angel.



The stupid neighbors got a stupid German Shepherd from the pound a few days after we got our puppy. We've made sure not to take puppy out to pee when their stupid dog is out because we weren't sure that it wouldn't harm us or our puppy. Last Thursday night my husband had puppy on her leash by our house and the stupid German Shepherd was roaming around - not on a leash - and it got ahold of my puppy and my husband had to pull if off of puppy. He chased the stupid dog home and yelled at the stupid neighbors. The neighbors claimed their German Shepherd unlocked and opened the sliding glass door and got out on her own. When we told them their dog attacked our dog they said that's just how their dog 'plays' and they were sure it wasn't trying to harm our puppy. We didn't like it. Puppy wasn't hurt, but she was scared and shaking and slimy from the other dog's mouth. So Friday morning (June 4, 2010) I got the leash on Angel and asked my daughter to take her out in the back yard to pee. My daughter's friend was with her. We opened the back door to check for the neighbor's dog, since it wasn't out there I let my daughter take the puppy out. A few minutes later I heard screaming and ran for the back door. It was already too late. My daughter had Angel in her arms, she was bleeding from the mouth and having trouble breathing. I took Angel from my daughter and laid her on the floor and took off her leash, had my son bring me a towel, and I tried to tell Angel that she would be okay, but I knew she wasn't. I got my son in the car and had him hold Angel so I could drive around the corner to the vet. Angel stopped breathing and passed away before we could get her inside the vet.

My stupid neighbor had their 10 year old son bring the German Shepherd out. They don't put the dog on a leash before they come out since they tie the dog up in the yard. So when the German Shepherd spotted my puppy, it broke free and ran and grabbed my little bitty puppy in it's mouth. The kids could not get the German Shepherd to let go of puppy. My daughter is 12, her friend is 11, and the neighbor's son is 10, so they really didn't stand a chance of getting this 100+ pound dog to let go of puppy.

At our insistence they took the German Shepherd back to the pound. I still don't know if they will put the dog down or not. I just know that I don't want this to happen to anyone else.

Train Case

When I was young (a long, long time ago...) I had a train case that I played with and kept stuff in that looked sort of like THIS. I have no idea when I stopped using it or where it went to.



A few years ago my sister-in-law's mother was moving and I nabbed a blue train case from her that looks like THIS. Mine is nice and clean, and I use it to store my embroidery notions.



I've been looking at train cases on Etsy, and my favorites are these pink ones!!!

Pink Train Case 1




Pink Train Case 2



Pink Train Case 3



Pink Train Case 4



This last one is a completely different style, but look how stinking cute it is!!!

Made it into a Treasury!!

Check it out. My wavy zippered pouch made it into a Treasury!!!!!

Sing Me To Sleep...

Sing Me To Sleep by Angela Morrison

In Sing Me To Sleep we meet Beth, who is nicknamed the Beast at school since she is very tall and not attractive. Even her own father called her "damn ugly" when she was born. Beth has a childhood friend, Scott, who you can tell right away really likes her, unattractive or not. Beth's one bright spot in her life is singing. Not just in the school choir, but in a competitive girls choir. And Beth can really SING.

The girls choir gets invited to a competition in Switzerland, where Beth meets handsome and mysterious Derek, who is part of the famous Amabile Choir.

Derek is elusive - he is with Beth for a day or two, and then disappears for days or weeks at a time, and gives no explanation to Beth. This makes Beth wonder if he loves her as much as she loves him. Derek insists he does love Beth, but is still not willing to divulge his secrets. This made me want to keep reading and find out what this gorgeous, confidant boy was hiding.

Portions of the storyline take place in the form of song lyrics. Beth wrote lyrics to help her get through life. Sometimes she wrote down the lyrics, but sometimes they were just in her head. This was a really interesting way to show what Beth was thinking and feeling throughout the book.

Overall, this was a good read for me. It was entertaining and a little mysterious and kept my interest until the very end. Yes, there are things that bothered me. Derek's actions made him appear selfish and manipulative, but by the end of the book I understood why he did what he did. The character of Beth came off as a little too needy and clingy - and always wanting to kiss Derek to show her love - no matter the circumstance (which were sometimes weird). I don't think the author intended Beth to come over this way, that's just how I interpreted her actions.

On a side note, this is a completely beautiful cover. I think it captures the innocence of first love.

Be sure to check out the Sing Me To Sleep page to watch the trailer for the book and to hear the Amabile choir sing "Beth's Song". If you watch the trailer you also learn how to pronounce 'Amabile', which I totally screwed up for most of the book.

Then, AFTER you have read Sing Me To Sleep, be sure to read The Epilogue.


Waiting at my library for me to pick up are
Taken by Storm by Angela Morrison
and
The Sky Is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson

More Earrings...

I've become obsessed with looking at earrings lately. I don't know why. Maybe just because they are so pretty. I certainly don't wear earrings much. Well, truthfully, I really don't wear earrings at all. It's never really been my thing.

It's been about 10 years or so since I had my hair really short - over my ears. At the time I thought it would be cute to get another piercing, so I got a little stud at the top of my left ear. HURT LIKE HELL. For a year. Every day it hurt. I finally had enough pain and removed it. Best decision I could have made. But while I had it it was so darn cute. I received a lot of compliments on the cuteness. But pain eventually won out over cute.

I think I need to get back into regular earrings and the cuteness they offer.

I've had my eye on these Pink Amethyst earrings.




Although, I actually need to wear gold like these Pink Quartz earrings.

Robert Pattinson's Birthday...

Today is Robert Pattinson's birthday. However, our federal government has, for some unknown reason, failed to declare it a national holiday. I'm up for celebrating, even though Robert is not American.

John Keats

You may remember these 'Bright Star' zippered pouches that I made. I used the original manuscripts that are in John Keats' own handwriting. At the time I worried that no one else would like them, but they sold fairly quickly. I am thinking of making another set of pouches using the manuscript for 'Ode to A Nightingale' or one of the letters that John wrote to his fiancee, Fanny Brawne.

Below is a photo of the Engagement Ring that John Keats gave to Fanny Brawne.



I found this ring on Etsy. It's silver, not gold, but it is similar to the original ring up above.



There aren't too many John Keats related items on Etsy, but I did find these John Keats Buttons that are pretty cool.

Happy Anniversary TO ME!!!!

Today is our 16th Wedding Anniversary. We're not really much into exchanging gifts. Spending money to show love? I prefer smaller, daily doses of showing affection. Like when he cleans up the dog poop, changes the cat litter, or cleans the toilet. LOL. Or when he comes by my work to drop off a single red rose - because who wants to watch a whole bouquet of roses wither and die? And I extremely dislike mushy, sentimental greeting cards. Just tell me you love me and I'm good to go another year.

But, if I had to pick out a gift for myself, I would love these earrings:



Or one of these skirts:



Last week, I decided to continue my fruitless search for Amy Butler's Duck Egg French Wallpaper and Pink Coriander fabrics. I haven't had any luck with the Pink Coriander, so if you know where I can get some, or you have some you are willing to share, please contact me. Please!! BUT, I did come across a website for a fabric store, not an online store, but a real brick and mortar store. On their front page they have a photo and "Amy Butler fabrics" as part of what they have to offer. There in the photo is the Duck Egg French Wallpaper. So I shoot off an email asking if they have any available. I received a really nice reply, and ended up buying the 3 yards that they had!!!! That, along with my Dirty Dancing DVD, and I had a wonderful mother's day.

Hush, Hush Review

***SPOILERS AHEAD!!!!***

I received Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick for Christmas. I was really looking forward to reading it. I had read some reviews that were favorable, so I thought I would give it a chance. I have to say that the cover just blew me away. It's very intriguing. So imagine my surprise when I finally started reading it and was less than enthused.

The prologue introduces the concept of the Nephilim, which is the offspring of a normal human and a fallen angel. Other than that brief mention, Nephilim isn't mentioned again until 2/3rds of the way through the book. Hush, Hush starts with Nora being thrown together with a new Biology partner, Patch. Nora then blunders around trying to find information on Patch and his past. Why? Does she like him? Is she attracted to him? Who knows. He's a jerk, he's rude and uncooperative, but Nora is just determined to find out about him, so she attempts to dig up whatever she can on him. We get to read along while she is clueless. Weird things happen. Nora is afraid Patch means to harm her, but she attempts to spend time with him anyway.

Nora happens to get of glimpse of Patch's back, where he has a V shaped scar. Of course this sets her on the path to discovering what the scar means. She puts the scar together with the carnival ride called The Archangel that she and Patch rode together. Nora types 'angel wing scars' into Google and is rewarded with the answer - Fallen Angel. Wow. How lame.

Hush, Hush really picks up the pace and action towards the end. I wish the entire book had been this good. Nora's life IS in danger - and not just from Patch. There's a twist at the end, and Patch ends up giving her life back - literally. Happy ending.

Since Twilight, every supernatural YA book is compared to it. However, there are too many similarities in Hush, Hush to write off as coincidental.

The sequel, Crescendo, comes out in November 2010. Nora digs into her own past, her father's disappearance, and her own relation to the Nephilim. Let's hope Becca Fitzpatrick has learned how to write a more compelling story from beginning to end.