Wednesday, December 31, 2008

New Years Resolutions

My hubby hates resolutions. I love a fresh start. Scrapbooking queen Heidi Swapp loves Mondays because it is a fresh start for every week. Hmm. I don't know if I would go that far. Maybe when my kids are all in school I will become fonder of Mondays.... ok back to resolutions.

This year I would like to exercise regularly, for fun. Not for some goal, or to loose weight, but really regularly work out to feel better.

I would like to "catch up" on my scrapbooking, that either means weeks away at a scrapbooking retreat...or changing my definitions of caught up, a la Stacy Julian and her Library of Memories and Big Picture Scrapbooking.

Regular quiet times. So important. Enough said.

Quilt something, maybe the afore mentioned table runner.

Dates with the kids. They are so great one on one. I want to make that time a priority this year so we can really enjoy them and they can enjoy time with us.

Ok, I almost forgot... find and maintain a reasonable method for dealing with the mounds of "artwork" the kids make on an ongoing basis. This will free up 2 drawers and one Rubbermaid tub currently used for random storage of everything artistic, with absolutely no organization, I might add.

Lots of other things like eat the Zone diet, clean my house to make Fly Lady proud, but really, I think these are enough goals for now!

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Fabulous Fabric

I have recently discovered Camille Roskelley through Today's Creative Blog. Wow. I love her style, I love her house, her quilts, her patterns. She has single handedly revived my desire to quilt, in my copious spare time ;^) So here are some recent fabric purchases.



I bough them and thought... I have no idea what I will do with these, but they are cute. I like them and I just blew the dust off my sewing machine so I am going to get them!
Then I saw her blog and I now know what I am going to try. It's a table runner for my new table.... something like her Thimble blossoms pattern"it's the little things", #106. I guess my goal should be to finish it before I go back to work in March. Ok, that's the goal.
Now I just have to find her favorite moda fabrics in my neighbourhood....

Sunday, December 28, 2008

Angel with the black dress on



I made my babe, L, some shoes for her Christmas dress. She had just grown out of her adorable black patent mary janes and nothing else quite does the trick with a black velvet dress. So, I bought wool felt for $2.50 and tried a Martha Stewart pattern.

Well, they were fairly easy, and they are cute, but the darn things come off in a second. What's the point of shoes if mom has to carry them in her pocket? I found another pattern for "bitty booties" that looked cute (and easy) but I never got around to making it before christmas. we have a funeral to attend in January so maybe I will make them for that and see how they work.

Goodbye Christmas...

I have a thing about Christmas decorations coming down before New Years. Why? I don't really know. I guess I am ready for a fresh start. So here are some decorations I am putting away... Goodbye wood cranberry garland on the tree....



















Goodbye "dingle bell" garland that never quite made it up....




Goodbye mantel....










Goodbye Grandma's placemats...









Now back to regular scheduled decorating.

Friday, December 26, 2008

...to see the mountain view



It is Caedmon's Call lyrics that ring true for me. The song is Lead of Love and here is a bit of my favorite part...

Looking back at the road so far
The journey's left its share of scars
mostly from leaving the narrow and straight....

Looking back you know you had to bring me through
All that I was so afraid of
Though I questioned the sky, now I see why
Had to walk the rocks to see the mountain view
Looking back I see the lead of love




So here I am, with my scars, walking the rocks, straining to see the mountains.
I really have a lot to say so I figured here will spare my husband's ears a bit. With all the things that go on in my life, I need to spend some time being creative so I can stay grounded. Hopefully I can post some creative endeavours and remind myself of the things that inspire me. So I continue to stumble along...