The Graduate and the Fallout

Our son, Michael, graduated from high school last week. We are so proud. He has lots to look forward to in college and great opportunities on the horizon. I want to be 18 again (with my experience in mind) and do it over. College and life on campus was just such a great experience for me with lifelong friends made. I wish the same success for him.

Isn't this cake great? I looked for graduation cake styles on-line and sent the idea to my friend who is a cake decorator. We always have a Teresa cake. She makes a wonderful cream cheese pound cake with butter cream frosting. Look at how sweet my boy was in first grade.

It seems I'm in the fallout time after the craziness leading up to my son's graduation ceremony and party and the company who came to visit. My mind was weary and used up but excited about the numerous tasks I had set out for myself over the last three weeks of June. The house was clean and I had a long list projects, including, continued organizing, finalizing the studio office, completing some custom orders, and rearranging my workday to a new schedule. I also put myself on a shopping moratorium for the month, but I guess pretty much knew how that one would work out anyway.

Well, you know, best laid plans and all that... Sure enough, my brother called me and needed me to hang out with my SIL in North Carolina while he was away. They have a toddler and a new baby, and she wanted someone to hang out with her and be an extra driver in the house. At least my house was clean when I left it! Camille and I went, the baby is darling, my SIL was doing great, so I came home after a few days leaving Camille there for another week. However, I was prime, due to my weariness, to catch a cold, and it is a doozie! Like I'm underwater, and the pressure is climbing! It was so bad that I actually had to give up my place at the university orientation with my son yesterday to my husband. He had a great time learning about all the opportunities at the university, seeing my son's dorm building for the first time, meeting parents, touring, etc. I spent the whole day feeling sorry for myself when I wasn't working or dozing in the easy chair.

And I've been shopping. I shopped while in NC, then I went to the fabric store upon returning home Saturday for a sale, and today when I went to Wal-Mart just to pick up juice, water, and dinner supplies, I happened to see a lady walk by with an odd stack of fabrics and a lot of trims. It occurred to me that she found a sale back there, and, as our Wal-Mart is closing out the fabric department, I made the mad dash back there to find all fabric and trim by the yard on sale at 50% off. A number of my staples were still available, so, $67.00 later....


Ooh, now it is 3:00 PM and time to take more Claritin. I am going to dash off and get some and clear up a bit more.

Time For A New Swap and 20 Questions

I'm participating in the Sweet Goodness Swap again for this summer. I'm answering these 20 questions to tell a little bit about myself, though I'm sure I've mentioned most of my likes before. These and the mosaic meme below, and you'll be able to spot me on the street!

1. What is your favorite Summer Drink(s)? Diet Coke on ice. It's my favorite winter drink, too.

2. What is your favorite Summer Activity? Traveling to visit friends.

3. If you could spend a lazy afternoon reading, what would be in your hands?
Harry Potter, Jane Austen, Shopaholic series.

4. What is your favorite type of craft/art medium? Sewing/embroidery.

5. What is one art/craft supply you absolutely have been dying to have or try?
Paper mache. I'd like to make folk art characters, especially Christmas ones.

6. What are your favorite colors in our 'rainbow sherbet' theme? PINK

7. What is your favorite sweet treat? Chocolate fudge cake.

8. Are there any craft or art supplies you would NOT be interested in receiving?
Candles, beading -- for right now anyway.

9. What is your favorite song today?

10. How do you 'pamper' yourself during the hot summer days? If I'm hot and tired, then going to the dark, cool den and watching movies with the kids.

11. Do you have any kidlets or pets? Son (18), daughter (15), three dogs (sorry to say), two cats.

12. What is your best potluck dish for summer get togethers?
Cheese and fruit plate, dips. My best potluck dishes are for cooler temperatures: Auntie Lynda's Comfort Chicken Casserole and Macaroni and Cheese.

13. If you could take a summer vacation anywhere, where would it be? Almost anywhere as long as I could have enough time and money to just relax and enjoy and not be in a hurry to get back to work or have to budget too much.

14. Describe your decorating style. Does that say anything about your personality? Traditional for the family areas, vintage for mine. It says a lot about me. I like the home to be solid and warm and cozy (traditional) for family and company areas and sweet and full of memories (vintagey) for my personal areas.

15. What are your initials? MSC

16. Why do you like to join swaps? Love sharing the art.

17. You have 25 dollars to spend just on you for a little treat. What do you buy? Magazines, books, fabric.

18. What's one craft supply or art supply you absolutely cannot live without?
Fabric.

19. Who's the last person you hugged? My sister-in-law. I've come to visit her and help with the new baby while my brother is away!

20. What's your favorite number and why? Even numbers and 5's. I think because I feel like whatever I am counting is finished.

Special Deliveries

This week, a nice little haul by mail arrived at my house.

I've been following Melissa of Bridgman Pottery for a while now. I love her style, and she prices her pottery very affordably. Her berry bowls have been very popular; I might have to have one of those. Anyway, I have been crazy to have a butterbell for years but began to understand that unless one uses a lot of butter each week and replaces the water that keeps it fresh, not so good, and the potters I met at craft shows just weren't making them anymore. One day at World Market, I found a tiny little butter dish with cover that holds a few tablespoons, perfect to sit out for a few days. However, it's just all white with a little cow head for a knob, so I was still on the lookout. Until Melissa made this little posting here.

Good thing I started using Google reader for my favorite blogs. I was just checking to see who had a new post one day, and there it was. I ordered it immediately, probably like six minutes after it was posted and scared her, but it was mine and here it is. It looks great on my little cupboard with my other pottery.

A couple of weeks ago I showed you my contribution to Michelle's embroidered button swap. I confessed that I used my embroidery machine because I felt my drawings weren't clear enough, but they seem to have gone over well. I received my little package in the mail on Friday. Wow! It's like a little art show of my very own. Here is what I received.

Giraffe - Starla
Paw print - Anina
Hummingbird - Regina
Whale (see her process at her blog) - Elizabeth
Snail - Lia
Hedgehog (do you see how tiny the butterfly is?) - Val

Michelle sent a little giraffe to all of us for participating. Her eyes must be exhausted; it's so tiny! If you'd like to see more tiny artworks, check out the embroidered button flickr site to see the rest.

Finally, I received a Visa gift card in the mail from one of the contractors I work with. I knew just what I wanted to do with it - BUY MORE FABRIC. Not any fabric. I wanted the "sketchbook" pattern of Anna Maria Horner's Drawing Room set (see photos above). I was set to hit the order button on an on-line store I know well and then remembered Kathy started her fabric shop, Pink By Post, and jumped over to see what she had, and there it was! For just starting out, she has some very pretty lines of fabric. So, I ordered enough to use up my Visa gift card. My package arrived surprisingly fast, from outside Seattle to Lexington, SC, in just two days. Very gratifying. Now I just have to decide what to make out of the fabric. Pillows, I think, will be great to show off the scale of the pattern.

Kathy also included a treat, too, as a thanks for testing her Mail Sack pattern, which, I understand, has been selling very nicely. It's so exciting to have been able to help out with that. Anyway, above are the fat quarters she sent to me. My daughter and I were just loving the designs, decided what would look great in tops and bags, and now we want to order more of the same! Thanks so much, Kathy.

Mosaic Meme - The Game

1. San Michele di Pagana, 2. dinner, 3. Mom's ID, 4. pink dish, 5. Alan Rickman, The Great, 6. Diet Coke ornament ??, 7. New York City skyline, 8. xxx chocolate cake : up close personal, 9. happy happy..., 10. Duck Family Portrait, 11. fiery mum, 12. Pleated Bag

This took quite a bit of time, but I had a big time creating it. Try one yourself, and then comment back and send the link.

Idea:

1. Type your answer into the Flickr Search.

2. Using only the first page, pick an image.

3. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd’s mosaic maker.

The Questions:

1. What is your first name? Michele

2. What is your favorite food? macaroni and cheese

3. What school did you go to? Towers High School - someone else's mom in the photo.

4. What is your favorite color? PINK

5. Who is your celebrity crush? Alan Rickman

6. Favorite drink? DIET COKE

7. Dream vacation? New York City

8. Favorite dessert? Chocolate cake!

9. What do you want to be when you grow up? Happy, please.

10. What do you love most in life? My family.

11. One Word to describe you. Fiery Mum - I don't know how I found this one!

12. Your flickr name. calicodaisy

I found this game on the creative little daisy blog. You can check out lots of other folks' mosaics at The Game.

Do You Ever Wonder How To ... ???

Well, if you don't spend enough time blogging and need another way to spend time on the computer, meggiecat (above photo from her site) gave us the link to WonderHowTo, a search engine for how-to videos. I've just lost 90 minutes of my Sunday evening to the sewing and embroidery category. I DO NOT need this, but I think I am going to like it.

Weekend Shopping

Over the weekend, both JoAnn Fabrics and Hancock Fabrics were having big sales, and I loaded up on notions and some fabrics.



While at JoAnn's, I discovered Burda patterns. I know the name from magazines and nikkishell on the Burda Style site, but I've never noticed them here. So, it was fun to pop through the Burda pattern books and see the more European styles out there. I chose a couple of baby patterns for gift ideas. If Camille had been with me, I'm sure we would have picked up some of the clothing patterns in her style.


I like to buy the Waverly home dec fabrics at JoAnn's. I think they have a great weight to them, and they wash really well - even though it says dry clean only. My philosophy is: If I can't wash it, I don't want to sew it up. So, as soon as I walk in the back door at home, I generally just empty my new fabrics into the laundry and get them washed. I thought these fabrics (above) will make a great Mail Sack. The dark purple and green are home dec fabrics, and the softer purple is a cotton from the Absolutely Cotton line at Hancock Fabrics.

I did pick up this dress pattern with the hope that Camille would like it (she did). I chose the brown floral with the coordinating green for the tie. And that chicken fabric - Boy, talk about buy it now or lose out! I bought a yard of the chicken fabric a couple of weeks ago at JoAnn's. I don't really like cartoony fabric, but I thought this would be okay for some potholders trimmed with the black and white polka-dot fabric I already have. I think it was $5 or $6 dollars a yard at the time. The girl at the counter asked me if I wanted to buy the rest on the bolt for a discount to finish it off, and I said, "Oh, no. I'm not even sure I like it that much!" So, a week later some friends came over on different days to pick out fabrics from my stash for projects they want me to sew up and embroider. Wouldn't you know, there was a run on the chicken fabric! Two different sets of gals were wanting aprons, potholders, etc. Who knew? Well, I guess the salesgirl did. Anyway, I go back this weekend to buy more. Lucky, I see a whole bolt. Stunned, it is now $8.99 a yard! Why? Who does JoAnn's think they are - a quilt shop? If so, they need to have designer fabrics. Anyway, you know I bought some - just a couple of yards. It was 30% off, so that made it easier.

On that note, I was visiting my quilt shop lady, and she was bemoaning the fact that due to shipping costs, all fabrics were going to increase in price anyway. She showed me her shipping bill for some bolts that came in, and it was crazy high! Oh, for the old days of $1.25/gallon of gas. Remember those prices? I can barely stand it anymore to look at the price signs at the gas stations as I pass by. Our income just hasn't risen along with those prices, and it hurts to put $70.00 in the tank every 5-7 days. It changes everything! I'm glad we have lots of talent in our family and among our friends, because we can entertain ourselves at home and be creative if we must, though we do love to run around. Sewing, wood crafts, gardening, cooking, cake decorating, music, home schooling, etc. At this point with DIY supplies so available and popular right now, we really can be homesteaders if necessary! However, I hope it doesn't come to that. I'm itching to travel!

Embroidered Button Swap - May 2008

Personally, I think I might have cheated. Technically, maybe not. Michelle did say "whatever you want" in terms of how to embroider our buttons. You should know, though, that since March I did try a number of times to draw out and embroider tiny sweet animals, and I spent a teeny fortune on cards, scrapbook paper, fabric, wrapping paper, etc., trying to draw something cute, but I was never satisfied, and then the due date was upon me. So, I used what I had - my embroidery machine and sweet, sweet inch-tall animals for Michelle's Embroidered Button Swap.

I've already shown I can hand embroider okay - these were my last entry, so, hopefully, the clarity and darlingness of these button designs will pass this entry. Next time, I'll get a friend to draw out my designs if I can't do it…

If you go to Michelle's blog and look on the left column, you'll see all the participants. I haven't seen everyone else's yet, but check out Elizabeth's whale buttons; they'll make you crazy. I put in a request for one of those!

And these buttons magnets (above) are from Jack and Jane's etsy shop. They weren't in the swap, but I happened to see them on etsy when viewing other South Carolina vendors. They are so darling. I love that fabric.