More gladness

It's a gloomy day here. It's overcast, wet, cold, and just plain dreary. But, I'm glad because days like these make a hot cup of tea that much more enjoyable.

It also means that I get a little more snuggle time with my kiddos. I'm going to go do that right now. Especially since it just started snowing! Enjoy your weekend.

The Glad Game

My, oh my...has it really been more than a year since I've posted? Why, yes. Yes, it has. It's been quite a year for my family, health-wise. But, we are all so much better and I'm able to focus once again on some of the things that I love to do for myself and others, like taking pictures and making things.

This morning, I was walking my kids to school and had a bit of a discussion with my daughter regarding her negative attitude. I suggested that she play The Glad Game, a-la Pollyanna. She grudgingly agreed to give it a go. While I was walking home I realized that I should, perhaps, take my own advice. I need a bit of an attitude adjustment myself.

As luck would have it, I had an opportunity to play the game not long after I returned home. I put on a kettle of water to boil for some tea and promptly forgot that I did so. I returned to the kitchen about 45 minutes later to a boiled-dry, enamel finish-ruined, red tea kettle.

So, I ruined my Christmas present from my husband, but I'm glad I didn't burn the house down. A roof over one's head is always a good thing. :-)

Want to play? What are you glad about today?

Capturing vs. Creating

I've been thinking this morning about the difference, if there is one, between capturing and creating an image. Photography has been on my mind again in recent weeks. Those of you who know me, realize that I flit from interest to interest for varying amounts of time. Some say that this is one of the hazards/blessings of having a creative bent. I'm always getting caught up in the excitement of creating something new. When the excitement wears off, I move on. :) I'm hoping I can concentrate on the photography for a little longer this time - at least long enough to understand the process a bit better. A little bit of discipline goes a long way...

So, here is what was on my mind this morning. I was thinking that the idea of capturing has more to do with recognizing a moment and trying to freeze it, so to speak, within the camera.

Creating seems to have more of a connection with posing, staging, arranging, etc. for me.

Certainly there is overlap when making these distinctions, if they even need to be made. Just because a moment has a creative element involved doesn't make it any less meaningful or important. Sometimes the creative aspect, whether it be arranging the subject or adding some post-production edits, can give the captured moment a little extra emotion, drama, depth, or focus. 

What do you think?

Hope you enjoy the moments I captured of my little ones making their own creations. :) I had fun toying with some new (free!) Aperture presets that I downloaded here. I used "1971 Unforgettable Trip" on the last image. The rest are unedited.

Oh, hey there!

It's the infrequent blogger making an appearance. :) Busy are the lives of stay-at-home moms, even when their children are in school for 6 hours! But, I thought I should at least update my banner to read "2011." So, on a rare Saturday with no obligations for the afternoon, here I am.

We had a nice break a week and a half ago when we got hit with a snow storm. 18+ inches in a few hours with some strong winds added in will shut us down for a few days here in the midwest. It was good to stay home, watch endless movies and enjoy each other's company, knowing that no one expected us to be anywhere. What a nice feeling!

Hope you are enjoying your winter and snuggling up with your loved ones whenever you have a chance!

Good morning!

How are you this fine morning? I'm so thankful that the wind has died down in our area. The Windy City has certainly earned it's nickname this week!

This morning I realized that I have not picked up my camera in a few weeks and had to literally dust it off. I was finishing up my tea and gluten-free toast (more on that another time...) and just had the urge to click.

It fits my mood. Still a bit groggy and moving slowly. But the sun's coming. :)

I had a few little craft projects I needed to complete for my 3rd grader's Halloween party yesterday. So I was working on these here and there over the last two weeks:

Candy cup creatures! My co-room-mom came up with tons of great ideas for this party. I didn't snap photos along the way, but these are super easy to make. Use any clear container (we used disposable plastic cups), stuff with tissue paper (leaving enough room to insert candy or desired trick, or treat), cut out shapes for the intended face, and glue on! I used the pictured craft glue for my samples, but glue sticks worked well in the classroom, dried faster and were much less messy. You can cut off the excess paper as shown or just leave it sticking out of the top. I thought Frankie turned out cute. :)  

We also made these:

Hand bats! These were a big hit with the kids as well. We wrapped construction paper around a toilet paper tube (I have these in abundance stashed around my house...for just this type of thing). I pre-cut the paper to size for the kids to save time. I also pre-cut out the bat heads and the kids decorated them with a white crayon and peel-and-stick googly eyes. The wings are each child's hands traced, cut out and taped to the back. We embellished with a blue tie (from my yarn stash) and stuffed the tube with a snack bag of candy. 

I'm not huge into Halloween, but it was a blast watching the kids make these at their class party. 

Hope you all have a fun and safe and not-too-scary (I don't like scary) weekend! 

Oooops.

It seems I've been saying that a lot lately! It's been a busy, crazy summer. And my mother happened to notice that I've not posted since May. Oh my. Oh well. That's how it goes sometimes, right? Right.

Now, then. I've noticed that my sewing machine has been neglected since the marathon sewing session of the flower girl dresses for my sister's wedding at the beginning August. I think they turned out quite nicely, though! Thanks, Mom, for helping with the hand-hemming!

Not much other sewing happened this summer. We were busy doing other things...like celebrating birthdays...

...preparing for and traveling to and taking pictures of the previously-mentioned wedding... 

...and just having fun. 

It's ok with me that she was slightly neglected. :) 

Hope you all had a wonderful summer as well! Now that the kids are back in school and my routine is beginning to fall into place, I hope to post more often!

Merry Christmas?

I was rearranging furniture this week. I moved the bookcase upstairs. I moved the futon downstairs. I stacked the side-by-side cabinets to reduce occupied floor space in the office. In order to move the futon, I had to dismantle the mountain of fabric. I was feeling overwhelmed. I discarded the scraps I had been saving. For who knows what. I gave away another garbage bag of fabric. I felt better.

I found the p.j. bottoms that I had given to my husband - unfinished - for Christmas. I felt guilty.

Today, I finally put in the drawstring. :) 

Merry Christmas, dearest!

(If I can get my husband to pose for a photo, I'll post it, but I have a sneaking suspicion he's not going to be cooperative...)

P.S. The pattern I used was Pajamas for Everyone, from Heather Ross's Weekend Sewing. I've used her pattern to make my kids p.j. bottoms as well. As other reviewers have commented on other patterns in this book, the fit was a bit small, so I'm glad I went up a size for the kids. They are still wearing them, even though they are over a year old and now qualify as crops. :)

Thriving on neglect.

I can't believe how well this is doing...

I ignore it and it starts putting out new blooms. I love that. I do think I need to repot it and remove some dead roots, though. A little fertilizer might help. too. The leaves aren't looking too hot. This is my third orchid. I do not have a good track record with these lovelies. :)

These, on the other hand need a little more attention: 

As do these:

The tomatillos, peppers and tomatoes (not shown) seem to be managing quite nicely, despite my on-again-off-again watering habits. They wilt. I water. They wilt. I water. They might fare a little better once I get them in the ground and my son can have free reign on them with the water gun. He gets to attack something, other than his sister, and my plants get watered. Sounds like a good deal to me!

Overly ambitious.

Perhaps a goal of 30 minutes of sewing a day was a tad much for this mother of two. :) However, I did sew some this week, which is more than usual! I think I'll give myself a little grace and be satisfied with sewing more regularly. Things do come up, you know. Sometimes things like karate tournaments, visiting family, and helping out a friend take precedence. As well they should.

So, this week sewing was not a priority. But I was able to use my machine (a gift from my mom) to help out a friend/youth group kid/neighbor. It's prom season, folks! She needed a dress hemmed and I was available. Do you have a rolled hem foot? If you don't, you should. It makes jobs like this much more fun.

It is also much easier to do this way than to meticulously fold and iron the entire hem and then top stitch it. Hand stitching would even take longer. And this method turns out so nice and neat, too!

Just for kicks (pun intended), here are a couple of photo of my kiddos at their karate tournament. They both placed 1st in their divisions!

I've just begun.

So, I didn't start exactly on May 1. But, that's ok. :) I should look at my calendar before I start setting goals for myself and publishing them! I had an enjoyable Friday night and Saturday with about 30 women from my church at a retreat. It was a nice time away from the kids and husband for reflection and fellowship with some of my best friends. I then had a birthday party to attend, which I ducked out of at 8pm and went home and promptly to bed. I was tired! 


So, this afternoon after church, I was about to start on hemming a prom dress for one of my neighbor girls when I realized I couldn't get to my sewing machine. There was an unfinished project there which only needed about 10 minutes of my attention. So, I finished it.

An "adventure bag" for my son. It's a little (ahem) large. But, that's ok. It means more stuff that he can stuff in there when we go on adventures. I asked him if he wanted something smaller and he (knowing how long it can take for me to complete a project) told me "no." Pay no attention to the mess in the background. That's just the way I work. And how my boy plays. And, yes, he is in his p.j.'s at 3 in the afternoon. He was home sick from church today due to a recurrence of his cough. And, yes, those pants are a bit short (they were a Christmas gift from me 2 years ago) but he still loves them. And they have become very soft with repeated washings, which is very important to a child with sensitive skin. :) I love flannel. 

Speaking of flannel, that's what he chose for the flap of his bag.

Here's the back:

The only thing I purchased for this project was the strapping. The rest came from my stash. 

Technically, this was not located on my own version of Mt. Fabric (see previous post), but it counts, right? Of course it does.

For those of you who may be wondering. I did not use a pattern. I made it up as I went along. I don't even think I used a ruler at any point. I just eyeballed and ripped. That could be why it's a bit over sized for my son, ya think? Perhaps if I would have taken the time to measure the fabric, or at least him...

T minus 2 days.

Hey there, friends! If you are still there... (sheepish grimace)

This whole grieving thing is pretty strange. I just forget stuff all the time. Like blogging. Doctor appointments. But, I'm doing much better these days and trying to adjust to my new "normal." By the way, I won $100 in that contest! How about that?! Dad would be proud.

Today, my son is home from school due to a nasty cough. So, I get to stay home until 2:15 when it is time to pick up my daughter. Hooray! More than 2 hours at home at one time! My son is relaxing on the sofa watching Transformers Animated and thoroughly enjoying himself. After making sure he was comfortable and outfitted with snacks, a water bottle and the necessary remote controls, I decided to begin the process of unearthing my bedroom. Once again. I have to do it periodically. I'm good at organizing. Not so good at maintaining that organization. Thus the periodical part.

So, I managed to get my futon cleared off. Well, most of it just got transferred to my bed for a more detailed going-through later. Preferably before I hit the hay tonight. I have always had trouble focusing. I flit from one task to another without really completing anything. The curse of a right-brainer. But I digress. See what I mean? Back to original thought: While I was in the process of returning some of the inhabitants of the futon to their rightful and proper place, I decided that I really should do myself and my husband a favor by finding a new home for the pile of fabric in our office. Now that the weather is getting nicer, it would be nice to be able to access the back door. To possess the ability of walking through the office without tripping over anything would be nice as well. Aren't I thoughtful? :)

After collecting all of the fabric from said office and other various corners of my home, this is what I now have sitting in my bedroom, looming oppressively and mocking me:

And I have just realized that this isn't even the whole of it. I just spied a bag of scraps waiting to be repurposed in the corner of the office. Rats. The main pile, shown here, is 6 feet wide. 4 feet tall. That's a lot of fabric. I'm not nearly as accomplished as my mom, who harbored Mt. Fabric in her basement for years. :) We daughters gave her quite a hard time about it. It's an illness. Genetic, I'm sure. Grandma has it, too. And Mom mocked her. See? You shouldn't mock your mother. Look what can happen to you. 

While I know that my collection is not nearly as expansive as some, it is just not practical for me to have so much in my itty bitty home. Someday I'll give you the brief tour. But not now. It's a wreck. Because I'm focusing on unearthing (well, not anymore) my bedroom. 

Anyway, I need to get rid of this stuff. I'm tired of unfinished projects and clutter. So now it is all moved to a central location, where I can't ignore it and must see it when I rise and when I'm on my way off to dreamland. I already de-stashed last year. I only kept what I loved and couldn't bear to part with. Or that I had specific projects in mind for. I also added some new things from the clearance bins of fabric/hobby stores that I haunt occasionally and  that I rescued from Mom's de-stashing efforts. Another illness that I have inherited from my mom and grandma...we are a crazy bunch, I tell you! But we are fun! 

So, finally, I get to main point of this post. (Sometimes it's fun to ramble...) Beginning May 1, I'm going to begin my efforts to craft this pile into oblivion. Much of it will be gifts. Some donations. Some will be sold to raise funds for favorite charitable organizations. I promise lots of pics. I'm not going to do one of those crazy one-project-a-day type deals. I'm too realistic for that and I have too many other responsibilities to my family, church, etc. But, my goal is to work on something for a minimum of 30 minutes a day until it's all gone. And I will post progress regularly. Probably not on weekends. But you get the idea.

Then it's on to my yarn stash. Oh my.

P.S. Dear Mom, I'm sorry for the grammar mishaps that occur throughout my posts. I'm sure the English teacher in you is cringing. Sometimes incomplete sentences are just more effective in communicating my thoughts. Because, like I said, it's hard for me to complete anything, fully. There I go again...

Ahhh.

Hello friends! I've been taking it easy, focusing on what is important and letting go of things not completely necessary to my well-being. This means that eating came before blogging. :)

This morning I walked the kids to school. The sun was out, it wasn't too terribly cold...and we weren't running late. On the way there, I realized that I forgot Aidan's permission slip for his field trip - again. It was due Monday. Oops. Rather than drive the envelope back to school, which would have been quicker, I chose to slow down, enjoy the sunshine, and take another walk. I love time to myself. I love to be able to hear myself think. I love to just be in the moment without external pressures. I have found that I like to just go with the flow sometimes, which is a true sign of personal growth for me. I am a bit of a control freak, peppered with a creative spirit. I guess I'm hard to label. :)

But, my creative spirit has been itching to be unleashed these last few weeks. So I've let it take over for a while. I've been doing some journaling.

I've been enjoying a plant that needed a new home.

I've been spending time playing with and photographing my kiddos.

We went on a field trip with the husband to the Morton Arboretum - so fun! Cold! But fun!

I've been making things.

The boy has been making things, too. :) A special girl will be receiving this gift.

Yes, he made it. He formed the wire pendant himself, chose the beads and strung it all. All I did was cut the memory wire and turn the ends so the poor girl wouldn't poke her neck.

I'm content. I've satisfied my urge to write and share - so much more to share! But I must be moving on now. I do believe it is time to do some laundry. I guess the responsible side is beginning to rear it's head again. That's a good thing, too.

check it out!

@kellymooreclark is giving away a bag!  Go enter to win! http://kellymoorebagblog.com/

Long time, no see!

Hello there, friends! I haven't dropped off of the face of the earth, although it may seem that way. The chaos of Christmas was followed by an unexpected and sudden decline in my dad's health. For those of you who do not know, Dad passed away on January 12 after a 10 month battle with pancreatic cancer.

I'm so grateful for the time we had with him before he passed away. Although he is and will be greatly missed, I find tremendous comfort in knowing that I will see him again when it is time for me to join him in heaven.

I've not done any crafting or photo-taking to speak of since December. I've mostly been spending my free time doting on my kids or reading my Bible. Both of which I know would please my dad. :)

I did take one picture with my iPhone while Dad was in the hospital, which I have submitted for a photo contest. The contest runs through February 15 - if you like it, please take a few moments to vote! Here is the link:

http://contest.adorama.com/entries?sort=user#18837

And here is the photo:

I'm getting the itch to create, so more posts soon! I've been craft/art-free for far too long...

Ssssssso cute!

Another completed Christmas present! This one is for my son:

It's the Wiggly Worm Scarf (but we'll be calling it his Snake Scarf, just because) from the Knit Knack Kit. I've had this kit for quite some time and have made a few things, but this will be one of my favorites to give. I really like that the patterns are printed on individual cards, which makes it easy on the shoulders to tote the project here and there. I'm just a wimp. :) But, truly, the projects are very cute and easy.

I still have several gifts to finish...hoping I can get it all done! I do enjoy making things for others. While my excuse for making so many presents this year is that we have a tight budget, handmade is not always cheaper. However, it is much more enjoyable to use some of the pretty materials I have on hand and sit with a cup of tea than to fight the masses at the mall. It's also satisfying to have something completed that I made with my own two hands. I don't always feel that I've accomplished something at the end of the day, even though I know that being a stay-at-home-mom is important for my family. Do you know what I mean?

Anyway, I should get back to stitching. Please share any handmade gifting that you are up to! I'd love to hear!

For a (sorta) new mama.

I am finally able to blog about this gift, as it was given this weekend!

It's the Nappy Bag - an Amy Butler pattern. This bag went together very smoothly. As usual, Amy's directions are straightforward and easy to follow. The construction is solid and super roomy for all of the necessities we mamas need to carry around for our little ones.

My favorite part: lots of pockets!

Oh, and gotta love the fabrics...by my favorite designer, Anna Maria Horner. These two patterns are from her Good Folks line. Love, love, love!

I also made a hooter hider (that's what they're called...) to match the lining of the tote. I used the tutorial here.

The fun part about this gift was that my girlfriend and I picked out the fabrics together. She loves that she got to design her own bag, and I love that she loves it. :) The unfortunate part was that we picked all of this out this summer...the baby was born in September...oh, well. It is done and it is loved.