Thursday, April 29, 2010

little miss

i had a fairly creative weekend. want to see???

so this is the last tshirt i'm making for the going-away party at work for katie. and this will be her shirt. in case you haven't figured it out, katie is leaving and going back to school to become a nurse. LPN more specifically. i actually really like how this shirt turned out. and in case you're wondering, the letters are all freehand, so they're not necessarily lined up 100%.


the following is the reason i should never expect to get one thing (ie red shirt paint) when i go into joanns. i have to stop by the remnant fabric section. i mean, its almost expected.

it also enabled me to actually save more than i spent. kinda awesome when that happens.


its hard to tell, but there are actually all different types of fabric in there.

starting with the black meshy fabric and moving outward:

the black meshy fabric (for making more fruit/veggie grocery store bags or something else equally fun)

the big black bundle is actually a cotten/linen blend. its awesome. i really like linen. its super classy.

the one on top of that is the only plain old cotton. but i got it because its turquoise and brown and it just looks neat. plus it matches the colors in my bedroom and it might end up on a pillowcase.

the brown and tan houndstooth is a home-dec weight fabric that would make a classy hat or maybe a vest...? hmmm...

the tan stuff on top is vinyl.

the white and the black bundles at the very end are actually silky rayon or cotton and rayon blend.

okay, enough with the fabric, alicia.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

today i had the itch to make more dog biscuits. however because i still have neglected to buy a food processor, i was left with only one type of biscuits to make, that i've made several times already - a garlic cheesy biscuit. BUT....when i went to make them, i realized i forgot to buy yeast. so, i decided i still wanted to make something, so i used my blender as a food processor. it actually worked out really really well.

the following was my mad scientist workspace....

my kitchen is really small. i mean really. my bathroom is actually bigger. and this is literally half my kitchen. have i already mentioned its small? sometimes i have to get a little creative with space.

anyways, i started with baking peanut butter oat dog biscuits. they smelled yummy. they tasted kind of bland. but atticus liked them.

after they were done i figured i'd might as well make another batch because i already had dirtied up half of my appliances and dishes, a little more flour etc wouldn't make a difference.

so i made a batch of peanut butter biscuits. they were supposed to be peanut butter sesame biscuits, but i didn't buy sesame seeds (they were supposed to be sprinkled on top), and i figured attie wouldn't miss them. the second batch was a lot better. mmm...peanut butter...


so the domesticity hasn't ended yet. while the second batch was being cut out, i had a brilliant idea. i just bought atticus another kong, and i needed kong filler. (a kong is basically a fancy fat rubber tube with a tiny hole in one end and a bigger hole on the other - you can fill it with things and then put something on the big hole at the end and it gives your dog something to eat/play with. normally i fill attie's kong with dog food and then seal up the end with cream cheese. he loves cream cheese). anyways...back to my brilliance. i had just bought a bunch of sweet potatoes (or yams....i dont remember which) at safeway, so i decided to make mashed sweet potatoes. instead of milk, i used cream cheese.


mmmm. they were actually extremely yummy. and i was lazy and didn't remove any of the skins. it was still good.
(and i'm sure i'm not the first one to think of mixing up sweet potatoes and cream cheese...dont think all this talk about me being brilliant has gone to my head and caused me to believe this is an original idea. i know its not. i just get excited when i think of things without reading about someone else doing them first.)

they were a big hit with atticus too. (heres a picture of him and his kong...sorry for the blurriness, he was a dog on a mission).


if that wasn't enough, i also made a batch of cinnamon streusel muffins for me for this week. (well, "made" as in added oil, egg, and milk).


ignore that large burned part in the middle. i was sloppy.

so yeah...not a bad days haul.


and where was atticus for most of this baking genius??



outside, with his nose pressed up against the screen door.

"she wants me to be her emotional tampon." ~ c. berg

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

the good, the bad, and the ugly

we'll go in opposite order....

THE UGLY

my work week: 12 10 10 12
next week: 12 12 10 (maybe 12) 12

i dont have a picture to accompany "the ugly", sorry. just imagine one. and then add a headset.

THE BAD

poor atticus. i do feel bad for him. this week we ran out of rawhide chewies, biscuits, the ingredients to make more biscuits, and i can't seem to find his kong. he probably ate it. i fixed his bed last weekend (only took me...3 months?) only to come out of my bedroom 2 days later with his bed stuffing strewn all over the living room floor again.

today we went for a walk after we slept.

cute, right?


wrong.

however, since i have long since stopped caring what people think of me or what we do, i let him drink out of that filthy puddle long enough for me to get some pictures. :) what doesn't give you the runs only makes you stronger, right? right???

THE GOOD

my sister in law margaret sent me the following picture this week. HOW COOL IS THAT????? (i made that banner for her!!) i feel hip!! this definately made my night.




"my opinion, sir, is the only one that counts." ~ judge judy sheindlin

Sunday, April 25, 2010

sometimes

sometimes, it IS possible to buy happiness.



is that too incredibly shallow?

p.s. thank you target for my wonderful welcome mat!

"it takes a lot of energy to keep your mouth shut." ~ jake rosenberg

Thursday, April 22, 2010

goes

50th blog post. or maybe it is the 51st. anyways....

i wonder why its taken me so long to make curtains. probably the whole "temporary feel" to living in an apartment. why should i make this feel like home when its only going to be a short stop on my road in life? but whatever the reason, i finally decided i had enough.

i mean, look at this corner of my living room. pretty blah. i can't remember where i saw the inspiration (i read too many blogs), but i saw something somewhere and decided to make my own curtains.



ehhh....



much better. (i opened the shade behind the curtains). although its hard to convey the different in just pictures, there was a huge difference in shade open vs shade closed.



and just look out my window....foilage! (aka a little more privacy!)



nice and cozy.



can anyone tell what i made the curtains out of? (hard to see because the pictures are so far away). not the top tabs part (grosgrain ribbon), but the actual fabric curtain part. guesses?

"a son is a poor substitute for a lover." ~ norman bates, psycho

it...

today in review:

messed up making a peekaboo bag

(although it doesn't look as bad far away)


figured out how to use the zipper foot on my sewing machine. (success!)

made the first of what i think will be many lil cutie pouches (slightly modified because my zipper wasn't long enough and i dont have any keyrings)


and my favorite thing so far today...

the maggie clutch i made for an old friend from highschool. on facebook awhile ago i "participated" in a get a handmade thing and then pay it forward type of deal. hard to explain unless you're on there. anyways, the clutch is for jolene. the gray outside fabric is my amish fabric, the white thread on the front is japanese sashiko thread, and the inside is some fabric from purl. its partially the light, but i think the inside fabric makes the outside fabric look more purple-y.

atticus has been running from the sewing machine all day. hopefully tomorrow it will be sunny (or at least not rainy) and we can work off some cabin fever at the dog park. * crosses fingers *



i actually made more today but i'll wait til tomorrow to take pictures. i'm planning on making curtains tomorrow (well "making" as in putting hems on long pieces of fabric and then putting them on a curtain rod). so...we'll see... onwards and upwards!!

"third children have no history. there are no footprints of him in the baby book, no record of his baptism, no snapshots of his birthdays, and no report cards to show he ever was." ~ erma bombeck

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

so...



:)

what did you think it was going to say?


(i need a different frame, but this one works for the time being).

instead of a quote, heres a word of advice, i saw it on a store's billboard today...

"if you have to say something mean, at least have the decency to be vague."

Monday, April 19, 2010

down...



crazy week. long hours, much overtime. today is my friday though...yay for 3 day weekends coming up!

feeling better, eating real food. still craving chocolate mouse though. mmm...chocolate....

"thirty was so strange for me. i've really had to come to terms with the fact that i am now a walking and talking adult." ~ c.s. lewis (thanks mom!)

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

day...



haha...i wish. but i can't sew 'be sick", because thats just wrong.
blah.

just got back my blood tests...and there are no flags. woohoo. of course, at the same time i get the notification my blood results are back, i get an email from work asking me to work a 12 hour shift on friday. wondering if i should email them my doctor's orders not to return to work until sunday??

hmmm.....

too tired to look for my quotebook, so the following is courtesy of google....

"a man who carries a cat by the tail learns something he can learn in no other way." ~ mark twain

Sunday, April 11, 2010

another...



"city streets and hearts make the same sound." ~ chamberlain

day off

oi, what a day. atticus isn't feeling well today, and so he needs to go outside every hour or so. poor dog. i'm wondering if its something he ate...especially because he got into the garbage 2 days ago.

anyways, finally got a chance to continue my clay gift tags (bought paint!). my first batch i had to throw away because i let the paint dry on the tags and it would not come off. at all. *big sigh*

second through fourth batches went a lot better....


heres some up close...

then i added some thread...

most of it actually coordinates....

lots of tags!!!


just for fun...


my second big project is actually for work. one of my coworkers is leaving (katie - who i actually like and get along with. so its doubly sad). but anyways, for her going-away party, we have decided to continue with our inside joke about twilight (the vampire tween movie) and make it a theme party.

i've wanted to do freezer paper stenciling for awhile now, but haven't really had anything to do it with. until now.
i'm making tshirts for people who come to the party....




haha. silly fun.

i got the most wonderful wedding invitation in the mail the other day....


i'm gaining another creative sister!

"cancer does not automatically make one funnier, i guess." ~ donna warren

Thursday, April 8, 2010

almost friday....



i swear, atticus can do the "make you feel guilty" face really well. forget that he just had a long walk, 45 minutes of "lets throw the tennis ball inside the smallest apartment ever", french fries, belly rubs, and treats.

okay, not all that happened today, but still. i'd get the sad face even if i did all of the above.

it only took 5 hours, but i think my brain has finally clicked into neutral. i can't believe how tiring this week was. i have another early shift tomorrow, but its back at my center. then one day off and its back to graveyard for 2 days. i'm sleepy just thinking about it. oh wait...i think i was sleepy anyways....

"garcia wondered why people with JESUS stickers on their bumper always drove twenty miles per hour under the speed limit. if God was my co-pilot, he thought, i'd be doing a hundred and twenty." ~ carl hiaasen

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

< blank >

i couldn't think of a blog title. thought i'd show you what 5am in washington looks like when i walk outside my door.

one more day of the academy. thank heavens. i'm exhausted.

"way to set your standards low and barely make it." ~ m.w. 1147

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

caution: pretty things ahead

so, alicia was bad again. this is what happens when i check up on my new favorite fabric site and see all the new stuff on clearance....




got more thread....new colors.....



some large ric-rac....



and, of course....japanese fabrics!


home dec weight...ants...


sun-shiney cotton...


more home dec weight...elephants!



a cotton & linen blend...

the last fabric, up close...

flying sheep on a gauze -like linen...

and some pretty butterflies.


last picture....how perfect are these together?



okay. show and tell is over.

i have lots of fabrics now, and lots of ideas. but i can't seem to find the time to make things. so, i'm making myself a pledge right now....no new fabric til i use some of my new fabric. my friend sarah's birthday is coming up....i think she deserves something japanese!

in other news, the academy has been mentally exhausting. not only the work, but the politics. i really hate politics.

"be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind dont matter and those who matter dont mind." ~ dr seuss