Designers + Sparklers =

One Accomplishment

So I had a week off from work and my to-do list was about 300 miles long. I pretty much did none of it, and it was spectacular. I did however manage to cross one thing off my list. Make a cover for Jack's crate. Since he's still a puppy, he isn't allowed to roam the house (we let him do that a few times, and have been finding little poops hidden in various locations ever since). So he's confined to the kitchen and living room, with his crate in the kitchen. Up til a few days ago, his crate was covered with various towels and blankets to keep the light out and give him some privacy. But it's been like a million degrees here, and I worried that the blankets and towels were making his crate too hot and he was going to have a heat stroke or something in there. Enter, the crate cover:

I'm terrible at measuring. The little lines on the ruler mean nothing to me, and trying to fold a flat shape into something 3D is near impossible. Long story short, it took forever, and I think I measured 14 times before I cut anything. It's basically a three-sided box with a flap and little ties on the front, to roll the flap up and tie it when Jack is awake. I have been making everyone I know come in my house and look at it. Oh. Before any of this started? My sewing machine broke and I went on a craigslist rampage searching for a new one. I ended up with this:

1964 Singer that folds down into a little table when you're not using it. I might actually be glad the old one broke?

Furry Fury

Meet Captain Jack Sparrow. One of the many reasons I've been so busy lately. When I told my next door neighbor Jack's name, he informed me that his 6 year old niece named her hamster the same thing. Clearly that girl's got good taste.

Things to do in 2010

This list will grow as I think of more things

1. Sew a dress (may require help of fashion-minded sister)

2. Take web classes and get Tim's site up. It's designed, but coding... is another story.

3. Update portfolio, you never know who's looking.

4. Make my Europe scrapbook. A page a month sounds reasonable.

5. Finish at least most of the projects I've already started. Chopped up pieces of fabric waiting to be sewn, pictures looking for frames, you know how it goes.

Catch up!

Here is what's been going on.

Here's a shot of our living room fireplace/bookshelves. Mandy has some great before shots that I'll post as soon as I can get ahold of them. The flowered trays on the top shelf were a thrifting with Colin find.

I used the directions I found ages ago on Crazy Mom Quilts and made a sweet checkbook case, to encourage myself to keep track of my finances. Yes, the inside is bright orange. I love it too. Clearly sewing is not my calling (the seams on the edges, yikes), but it's still fun.

Again thrifting with Colin and found this awesome 70's lamp. It was $2! I am in love with how giant the top is. Also, I already accidentally yanked the cord and flung it down from a shelf onto my desk, and it lived! Hooray for old things that are made well. In the background you can see the top of a chair from my table set. It was a Christmas present from my parents and I love it. It needs some serious work to fix it up. But it's giant, so that's a summertime project.

so Italian...

This might be the crown jewel of my Italy black and whites. Here for you now. Yes, they actually do this. Mostly for tourists, but who cares? Some day I will have to go back and ride in one.

i am still alive

is a totally amazing web site. Here is an example of just one of the prints that I wish was not sold out, because I would hang it in my house right now. Go see the other amazing things here.