Five Things

Randi from i have to say... did a little 5 Things About Me and I am totally stealing it. I'm trying to update so my mom doesn't give me a hard time for being a bad blogger.


My five things are:

I can make a call like a peacock. We used to have peacocks and they make a really cool sound so I like to imitate them. This morning, after my mom and I got some coffee, we drove past a house that had a flock of peacocks in their yard. We stopped to show Jacob and when I made the peacock call, all of them stopped pecking the ground to look over at us. I'd say I have an authentic peacock call. (it sounds like mmmerRAW) (even though CS's grandma tried to tell me they sound like they are saying "help!)

I want to learn how to blow glass beads.

Since I had Jacob my hair has gotten less curly. I'm pretty bummed about this, since I'm trying to grow it out and the longer it gets, the flatter it will be. I had great curls at 21. Now I wear it up and back a lot to keep it from looking so flat.

I talk to my mom everyday. Because we actually like each other.

I get really annoyed with the dog lately, but every time he runs away, I get worried that he will die and then I won't feel safe when it's just me and Jacob in the house. He's pretty scary looking (yellow eyes are creepy!) so I don't think anyone would be able to get past him, even if he's a big dummy.

Fab-rick!

I will be the first to admit I have a little stash going. I used to be able to fit it all into one of those little cubby holes on a shoe rack/hanging cubby thing-y (I have no idea what it is called. I got one when Jacob was a baby for his clothes and have since taken it over with Etsy stuff. He doesn't need it so it's fine!)

A while ago, when my stash started to grow too quickly to use, I brought in this bookshelf I bought when I moved home from college. As you can see, I'm quickly running out of space.

I'm also a huge nerd and have it organized by color, and often within color I have it stacked in fabric colorways, ie families.

I have a big more fabric stashed away in the closet: my yardage from Ikea and a few boxes of vintage stuff my grandparents sent me a while back. Someday, I will realize I can never use all I have and I will package it up and sell it on Etsy as a de-stash. Someone else can use it for some cute things I will never get around to doing!

Toaster Face

I did not teach him to wipe his nose on his sleeve, don't worry! He just cries about how his nose is itchy and asks for a tissue.

These were taken as part of my photo class, as we had to take a photo with flash against a reflective surface. I lost a few points since the edge of the toaster was curved and reflected the light, but I got bonus points for the one below!

He was just hamming it up all by himself while we were waiting for dinner to be finished.

I think he likes how funny his face looks, or he was trying to be like Mack from Cars. Could be either one, really

Photography

For years, I've had my expensive SLR Nikon camera and absolutely no idea how to use it. I did keep it set to manual focus and P mode but I had no idea what my White Balance should be or where to set my ISO. I could only take photos during the day when the sunlight was good and rooms were well lit.

This Christmas, my mom gave me a photo class for my present and I'm on week two of my class. I took the photo above in P mode, but I changed the White Balance to tungsten lighting and set my ISO for 800. For comparison, the photo below is what type of photos I have been taking by keeping my ISO at 1600 and my White Balance on Auto.


This week, we are working on metering and I'm totally over my head but I certainly enjoy learning. Too bad I'm taking a class in wintertime when everything is dull, brown and ugly!

Bridesmaids-All in a Row

A friend of a friend contacted me through Facebook and asked if I could make her bridesmaid gifts for her wedding in June. She let me pick out the fabric and I was over-joyed to find that I had enough stash fabric to make five market bags for her ladies.

I got this flower print from a box my grandparent's found at an estate sale and sent to me.

I have a thing for birds.

And Parisville. I love Parisville.

I used Michael Miller Owls and Innocent Crush together. I think it looks good together!

I also made a pink corduroy bag with Parisville but it was too blurry and I didn't notice! I'm in the process of sewing buttons on three brush rolls and then I get to move on to making make up bags. I am somewhat sad to find that I had enough fabric to make sure a huge order, andI never once thought to make them for Etsy. Funny how you can find inspiration when you really need it.

King Size Quilt

I'm not sure what I got myself into on this project. Sewing up the blocks has been relatively easy, although I still have to sew the quilt top up and I'm already in by 7 hours. I have 27 blocks finished but I need another three to make it the correct length.

I've already had to go back for more yardage on the purple and I'm at a standstill until I get at least another 1/2 yard. I should probably get a yard just in case.

I am most nervous about quilting it. I am going to do straight line quilting but I'm worried my little machine won't be able to get the middle, even when I roll it tightly. Wish me luck!

9 Hour Days

Tonight, right as I started to chop an onion for spaghetti sauce, I remembered I was supposed to be at a photography class. My mom offered to pay for a six week session on basic photography for Christmas and my first class was from 6 to 9 tonight. I got there at 7, but I felt horrible for completely spacing it out of my night. Even though I was late, she was very nice about it and I'm glad I didn't NOT go or I would not have an assignment for the week and I wouldn't have learned how to adjust my F-Stop or Shutter speed.

At least I remembered to get up and start working by 8 AM today! While everyone outside our company had a day off, I got to work so I have enough hours to pay my bills this month! I am terribly grateful.

CS and Jacob made and brought me waffles and coffee for breakfast. CS even put cream in my coffee first. And I assume Jacob helped with the syrup based on the amount in each waffle well. It was awesome. Getting a waffle maker was probably the best gift this Christmas. mostly because I don't have to make them! I wonder what chocolate waffles would taste like...

SNOW

We finally got the snow that the rest of the country seemed to have and we never would. It started on Sunday afternoon, right around the time church let out and we were scheduled to go to Springs for some shopping. Face wash from Sephora and Cotton Batting from Joann's. Fun stuff! We decided to drive and it was fine but I'm so glad we went early. We may know how to drive on snow, but it doesn't make it fun OR fast.

Monday morning was freezing cold. All of us laid in bed until 10 or so, as there was no reason to go outside. CS and Jacob did go out and shovel the walks and play in the snow while I worked. I discovered that I can glide up the street in my Walmart boots, but I stopped when I almost fell down and broke my bottom. It's not wise to slide when you have a queen sized quilt in your arms and nothing to help you balance.

It finally warmed up on Wednesday. It was 54 degrees at noon when I ran to the Post Office and I felt like Spring had arrived.

But I'm afraid it's only just begun!

Boy Will Be Boys

For Christmas, all the guys got Nerf guns. Jacob has few as well but he's not able to cock any of them himself. The other day, he dug into CS's stocking bag and pulled out the sweet glasses that came with the guns.

He put them on and promptly got himself a gun to shoot me with. (Not so)Funny Story: The other day, he had a cocked and loaded Nerf gun and he pointed it directly at me. Shot me RIGHT in the forehead. CS and his brother were there and they about died choking back laughter. It was a really good shot, but those things hurt.

Luckily, Jacob has discovered that the darts will stick to the ceiling so he has a new obsession.

So, Christmas!

I know Christmas is long over but I never uploaded my photos. Mostly because we didn't take any on Christmas morning since Jacob wouldn't even look up from his train table. Above is Jacob sleeping on Christmas morning. I tried to wake him numerous times, but he's just like his daddy. Do you like his dinosaur pillow? It was a lot of fun to make!

Finally, torn away from his table long enough to open the other presents. I'm trying to distract him from the table while CS takes his Cars out of the package.

Trains!

He loves to arrange the tracks. He's surprisingly good at it. The table we got is too small for the amount of track we have though. We have one big circle and a few dead ends.

Pillow Talk

I am participating in a Pillow Party! This month, it's being judged by Anna from Noodlehead. I've never participated in something like this, but I actually have a pillow to share.

This pillow is directly inspired from Cluck, Cluck, Sew. I used a soft white corduroy instead of a home decorating fabric and I used much more than 7 yards in my strip. I estimated around 10 but I wouldn't be surprised if it was 11 or 12. I intended for it to be just blue, green and yellow but when I reached the end of the yellow, I was very far from the center.

So I decided to continue with the color and ended up with a rainbow. I filled it up with poly-fill and sewed it shut. I should give it away but I love it! Sadly, I live in such a small place that I do not have a good spot to put it. Unless I'm willing to let CS sleep on it, or Jacob throw it to the floor. Someday, I will have enough space to decorate and I would love to set this on a pretty little antique chair next to the front door.