Checking In

We're back from our long weekend at Silver Bay. It was too marvelous for words - I can't think of enough to say at this late hour. I didn't want to come home! EVER!



I did manage to work on some crafting whilst I was there. Perhaps there will be some progress pictures when I return...



This is pretty much how I will be feeling until Sunday, when my dance show is over. My friend Joe uploaded these old dance pictures, and it reminded me of how much I long to be in shape again...I'll be checking out until Monday of next week. Then the crafty goodness will return when I can breathe again.

Until then, cheers.

This Nerd is Going on a Mini-break!

Matt and I are going Silver Bay until Monday. I'm so excited I'm falling over myself about it! Mini-vacation! I hope everyone has a great holiday :)

You're looking at one happy chica in her brand new gafas de sol and some of the goodies (earrings, sunglasses, hairpins and brooch), that I received from my Ten Days Creative Juices Challenge Swap partner Wine Maker's Sister. You can check out my Flickr account if you want to be jealous and see more of the goodies. She made most the items Amelie-themed which certainly makes me super happy. Swoony swoon swoon - I am in love with this package - thank you so much Heather!

In other happiness - I finally saw Pan's Labyrinth last night. So good. I need to own this movie. It's magical and lovely, heartbreaking and sad all rolled into one.

Not feeling too narrative right now so I'll keep it short today - cheers everyone!

10 Day Swap DONE!

Day 05 - Origami ornament



Day 06 - Ice cream cone pin cushion



Day 07 - Tea towels

Day 08 - not shown, Coffee Shop Mix CD



Day 09 - Daisy hairpins

Day 10 - not shown, recipe for yummy iced tea.

I've been so busy lately it's insanity! Matt and I are going up to Silver Bay this weekend for his birthday and I'll suspect that I'll have lots of lovely pictures. FOUR WHOLE DAYS! It's like an actual vacation. What a concept! I plan to eat sandwiches at the general store, not think about dance at all, well maybe a little and craft just for myself :) (Again, what a concept).

My Choreography is on YouTube!

I have figured out technology - and there will be more to come!

Day 04 : A wallet

Every girl...

can use...

a new wallet!

This was the fruit of yesterday's labors. My brain has turned into crafting mush today. The only thing that I could handle was origami and even that took A LOT longer than it should of! I've now finished half of this ten day challenge and I'm seriously running out of ideas for little quick items to make. I most likely won't be blogging my progress over the next few days, because the beginnings of the weeks are the most busy for me.

In other news four people have signed up for the sunglasses swap! Hurray! It's an official working swap - I'm so excited! I signed up for a couple more CD swaps as well. I really enjoyed this last one so much. (Renee if you're reading this I signed up for the summer music one too!) I really enjoy Swap-bot - but I feel like I'm cheating on Craftster. I haven't done a swap on there in quite a long time. Sigh - I still love Craftster.

Anyways - I'm rambling. Tired and rambling. Maybe a post tomorrow - maybe not!

Oh and I got a letter from Evelynne today - Eve, if you're reading this, I love getting letters from you! MWAH!

I <3 Big Sunglasses Swap

Hey all! I decided that after all of these years of swapping that I am finally going to host one. It is not a crafty swap, but a sunglasses swap! BIG sunglasses that is!

I love them. I can't get enough of them, and my husband still doesn't understand that my numerous pairs are not "all the same."

I thought that this would be fun way to get a funky new pair of glasses for the summer. Each participant will have one partner and be expected to spend between $10-15 on a new pair of big sunglasses for their partner, no vintage please. This swap will be international. Because we'll be spending a little moolah on this swap I will ban anyone with a lower rating than 4.5. I'll take any newbies that are blog readers, or write me a little e-mail so that I know that you're a serious swapper.

Anyone else fans out there? If so, pop on over to Swap-bot to sign up!

Mother's Day Shenanigans

Doesn't this place look grand? It's the Wentworth Hotel in Newcastle, NH. A couple of years ago it was just a giant mess of peeling paint before someone decided to finally step in and restore it. We took my mom to breakfast there this morning and it's the first time that I've ever been inside since they've done the renovations. It's pretty kick-arse!

After breakfast my mom departed with my dad for the Sheep and Wool Festival - jealous - and I went off with my bro, sis and the hubby for a drinky drink. Then back to my sister's house for too many drinky drinks, delicious food, puppy love and sunburns. A good day, but I only got one thing that I had wanted to do accomplished today, so I returned home a little cranky.

That one thing was of course Day #4 craft in the Creative Juices Challenge, but pictures will have to wait until tomorrow when it is sunny. Until then - I leave you with Duclos dorkiness:



Cheers, S

Day Two and Three

Ladies, when it is a certain time of the month, do you ever find that someone will say or do something that just seems to touch the right nerve and you feel as if you're having a simultaneous brain aneurism/heart attack? That's how my evening was last night as I was e-mailing back and forth with one of my CD swap partners trying to get her not to give me bad feedback. I've never EVER received bad feedback on a swap and it just pissed me off so badly that she wasn't satisfied no matter what I said. Obviously I misinterpreted the swap directions when it came to describing my favorite artists/songs, which I summed up in a sentence while others (although not everyone that I received from) wrote paragraphs on the topic. I was so bummed out all night that the making of the coffee cuff that you see pictured was very trying. (P.S. In the end she ended up giving me a 5 - plus a heart - the highest rating that one can received. Death by period rage averted again.)

The first challenge I had making this cuff had to do with the velcro. This is stick on velcro, but I thought that I would go the extra mile and sew it down for extra stability. That was a wrong move! My needle immediately became gunked up with adhesive and no matter what kind of cleaning solution that I soaked it in it would not come off! A perfectly good needle wasted I loaded up a new one and sewed my fabrics together. After I had finished that I matched it up to the template and saw that I had not left myself enough seam allowance, and that it would not go around a coffee cup. It's now a lovely cuff bracelet in progress, but not a coffee cuff, gah!

After throwing a slight fit, the second attempt went much, much better. I'm so pleased with how it came out that I definitely want to make one of these little babies for myself. Save a tree, right?! I free handed the embroidery and voila - tout fin.






My item for the third day of this swap are these two little meeces. Aren't they cuties? They're little cat toys (my partner has three)that I knit up using a pattern from Stitch n' Bitch Nation. They're sooooooo easy to make and super cute. Definite mindless knitting which I haven't done lately because my socks have remained unfinished, and I promised myself no new knitting projects until the day that that happens. Which is possibly when hell freezes over. We'll see!

I'm having so much fun with this, but 10 different, quick things, is tough to come up with. Does anyone have any fast crafting suggestions?

Cheers,

S

Eddy Pie Hands

Well, as Gemma put it when I commented on her blog the other day, "You are there! I was beginning to wonder if you'd dropped off the face of the earth!" Did anybody else think that? That is sort of the truth I guess. I'm in the midst of every dance teacher's favorite time of year - recital time. (Please note that that sentence is dripping with sarcasm) Of course my school doesn't call it "recital," no no, that's a bad word conjuring up images of sequins and crop tops on young children. We call it "culmination." But really it's the same thing minus the sequins and the outy belly buttons. That being said, work has been rather hectic lately, but good, I just have not been inspired to craft AT ALL.

I've done a couple of swaps here and there, and I've been doing LOTS of cooking. Mmmm delicious baking that I did not take any pictures of at all because I ate it all like a fatty "Eddy pie-hands." I received two wonderful CDs in the past week as part of a CD swap via Swap-Bot. Mostly though it's been just dance dance dancing around here! Which is a good thing!

The other day I just looked at my fabric stash and got itchy. I caught up on my blog reading and thought enough is enough! Time for some FUN! And promptly signed up for a very challenging swap; The Ten Days Creative Juices Challenge. The challenge is to make your partner one thing each day for ten days then send them the goodies at the end. This is yesterdays item, a bitty bloom pin. This time around I used a paper flower to anchor the button and I really like the effect! I may have to make one like this for myself!

I wanted to pass on a lovely list that I found via Ali Edwards' blog via Body+Soul Magazine, which I might have to add to my massive list of magazine addictions just based on this little clip!


1. Your home is more than the sum of its walls. Make it a sacred space.
2. Creativity is a lifestyle, not simply an activity. Let is expand you.
3. True forgiveness springs from love, not regret.
4. Learn something new. Emphasize the trying, not the succeeding.
5. Spend some time in the dirt. You'll be amazed at what nature can inspire.
6. You don't have to have a perfect body to feel great in it.
7. Define yourself by who you are, not the roles you play.
8. Find rejuvination in five minutes of silence.
9. Contribute to abundance. If you no longer need something, pass it on.
10. Find direction in your life by looking where you want to go, not where you don't.


Cheers, S