The simple things

I love quilted coasters. I know they're pretty en vogue in the crafting community, and I'm sure they're on their way out, but there's something about them that melts my heart. They're so simple to make, but they look so tailored.

Right now, I'm at work, putting invoices in numerical order, dreaming about making tens of quilted coasters tonight.

An Etsy Day

I've been in kind of a funk today. I'm sure it has nothing to do with teaching 16 kids ages 4-6 for 2 1/2 hours Sunday through Thursday, then starting my real job on Thursday morning and working by myself all day Friday.

I overslept today. I woke up at 10:30. That's how I knew my day was shot. I NEVER sleep past 8:30. I've been to parties and gotten back at 4:30 in the morning and I still wake up at 7:00. It's just my nature. I also didn't put in my contacts when I woke up. "Glasses days" are hardly ever good days.

However, my ill mood was lifted around noon when I realized that moping wasn't going to solve anything. So this afternoon, my younger sister and I figured out the guest list and mailed out invitations for her "wild" 12th birthday! It's a jungle-theme, so we bought two sets of invitations: one pink set with leopard edges and zebra in the center and a blue set with blue zebra stripes on the flap and a purple stripe on the overlap. They are too cute. I'm making three skirts for the occasion, too. I'm making my sister and her best friend matching zebra skirts-- Grace's will have yellow fabric underneath and sewn with yellow thread and her friend's, Alex, will have pink fabric and pink thread. My skirt (I love sewing for myself. I get so tired of wearing the same thing as everyone else.) is made from a canvas-like material (but thinner). It's a natural, unbleached color with an eggplant trim and a zebra, a deer, and a bird looking around trees near the bottom. I love it.

That was a huge aside, and after the "invitations" talk, has nothing to do with this post. Since I wasn't really in a social mood, I spent a lot of time online. And since it's Saturday, NO ONE updates their blogs, (How selfish of them!) so I spent most of the day on Etsy.

I had to buy my sister (same one) a present. I plan on making her some things, but she loves ducks. I get that. When I was 12, my friends and I went through this weird "We love monkeys/frogs/ducks" phase. I thought I had seen a tutorial online about how to sew a stuffed rooster. My plan was to take that basic principal, then add felt feet and a bill. I couldn't find it, though. Which led me to Plan B- Etsy, of course.

I was surprised that even Etsy let me down a little bit. I searched for "duck" and "stuffed duck" (I felt a little weird typing that) and "plush duck." I was shown a lot of amigurimi ducks, but only a few sewn ducks. I found one that I liked, so I got it, even though it was a bit pricey.

After I found that, I decided to kill some time. With parties on the brain, I started to think about my own party in a few months. Even though it's in September, I've had the theme picked out since I was 16: when I turn twenty, my theme will be "The Roarin' Twenties." (It just so happens to work out that my mom accidentally bought me a fringed skirt from Urban Outfitters for Christmas). I have everything already: the clothes, the headbands, the boas, and the music. But a basic Etsy search led me to flapperdoodle. I absolutely love her things. I especially love that her biography is pretty similar to mine. She's two years older than I am and loves old movies and replaced Britney Spears with Frank Sinatra years ago.

My FAVORITE:Other gorgeous prints

(All images owned by flapperdoodle. I'm just a fan)

I love that one of her character's names is "Ramona." A few weeks ago, my sister and I were talking about what we were going to name our future children and I said "If it's a girl, Olive and Ramona. If it's a boy, Luc, Landon, or Macon."

This whole post was just a long way of saying, I love the 20's, Etsy, and my family. And even summer, but just a bit!

Love

Weekend Sewing

I love this book! I'll admit that a few weeks ago I read it in Barnes and Noble and liked the ideas, but didn't buy it at first. During spring break, my mom and I went to Crate and Barrel and I was looking at the desks and armoires because I remembered that the book mentioned something about putting your machine and fabric/notions in a computer armoire for easy access. I couldn't exactly describe what it looked like to my mom, so I bought the book to show it to her this weekend. I'm so glad I did!

I made four checkbook covers out of scraps and fat quarters (kind of lame, I think, but I love to make small things).

I look back on "high-school-me" and I remember the times that my friends and I would drive to the Macon Mall and sometimes just look, but mostly just buy useless stuff. Being 16, our favorite stores were usually Gap, American Eagle, Hollister, and Abercrombie, of course. But we weren't just teenagers. We were also a bit pretentious. So, being snobs, our ultimate favorite place to go was Mori Luggage to look at the Vera Bradley bags. I remember on a few occasions laying down twenty-five dollars for a simple checkbook cover. I'm shaking my head in past regret-- oh, youthful arrogance. When I sat down to make these, all of my fabric was bought on sale from purl or from a local fabric store, For the Love of Stitches (I love that name). I made all four of my covers for less than $10.


I love it so much more than my old Vera (and that's saying a lot, because even though I can't believe the price, I still love my green elephant cover even after 4 years!)

This pouch was pretty easy except for the edge stitching where my needle insisted on sticking. It's okay, we all made it through relatively unscathed. This is actually my favorite pouch that I made, which is why I haven't picked a closure for it yet. I don't want to mess it up by rushing into a decision. Velcro seems like the smartest choice (opening and closing would be easier and would reduce pressure, less pressing on the precious goods INSIDE, etc.), but snaps look so nice and professional. I'll probably resort to asking a friend and just going with whatever they say. It's a win-win-lose situation, and that's as good as I can hope for in these types of problems!

The great news is that my neighbor saw my work (I made more than just these two, I promise!) and loved it! She owns a tea room in a nearby town and she said that if I could make enough to form a stock, she would let me sell them in her company! I'm praying that this really will happen, because goodness knows I could use the pocket money!

Sewing was a wonderful way to relax after such a rough few weeks! I can't wait to do it again.

Day 4

I am thankful for order, control, traditions, and friends.

Every Wednesday, we all get together to watch Project Runway or Top Chef or whatever is on TV and talk and eat during the commercials. 

Sometimes, we do good things, too.

Like making Valentine's Day cards for charities (Some of us are more creative than others.)

I like to be spontaneous, but sometimes, it is nice to have something that you know will be constant. Like Wednesday night TV or Saturday morning brunch or study sessions eight hours before a test. I am thankful that my life is stable.