• Blog

    Room refresh

    January 24, 2023 - By 

    It’s taken me a bit and is far from complete but I have finally starting the transformation of J’s room into a sewing room. The room is very small and we plan to keep the bed in there for now so that leaves less options for layout.

    This was my first layout. It was ok but far from ideal.

    This is how I currently have it arranged. It’s more functional but looks awkward. I still have issues with the desk space. The only place for a glass is behind the sewing machine. You may be able to see the empty coaster there.

    Truth be told, besides the bed, there is still some stuff that J has yet to move. So I am working around that as well.

    I have made use of the space though. These are a few journal covers I had rattling around my head. More to come on that as I continue working on them.

    Also was making use of scraps I unearthed while rearranging. Years ago I wrote an article for Sew Somerset describing my process for these mini collages. Now the junk journal community calls them clusters. I can get behind the name change but the process is the same.

    This bunch took me less than 30 minutes.

    I’ve also started work on a paper bag book. I haven’t made one in probably 10 years. I kind of burned out on it. However there is a baby boom around work. I thought I’d try my hand at making a few instead of the typical gift of a cute little outfit that baby fits into for exactly 57 minutes.

    As you might be able to guess…we are empty nesting again. We brought Mini-me back to college for Spring semester.

    When we walked into her room we were shocked that her cactus had grown with no light for a month. No water wasn’t surprising…but no light?!

    I snapped a photo out the window on the most boring part of our drive. There is about an hour of basically this view after you exit the interstate.

  • Blog

    Snow, snow, snow

    January 4, 2023 - By 

    What a wild ride at the beginning and end of my winter break. We’ve had snow storms that bookended the time off.

    Winter break started two hours early with an early release due to weather. Now we are having our second snow day in a row! That just doesn’t happen!! Can’t say I’m sad about two full weeks off.

    Leading up to break we did a couple fun things at school such as winter week theme days, treats and even pancake breakfast cooked by our administrators.

    We each got a mug to fill with treats. I decided to add a my signature flower as well as my name to my mug.

    Our special education team had a week long secret Santa exchange…this was day 1 for me.

    I also made a bunch of Gnome ornaments for work friends. I’ll do a separate post on how I made those.

    Christmas is a favorite time for Marvin. He loves a good box.

    And bows!! Bows are his favorite. We actually save them so he can have some to play with all year long.

    Mini-me got him this very special bow. He LOVES it!

    The whole family was off work between Christmas and New Years. The company Mr. G works for generally closes that week and J took the week off so he could move. Yep you heard me…he moved out. He is living in a house in the neighboring town with one of his buddies from high school. Of course with the crazy horrible weather yesterday, we went and picked him up from work and brought him here for the night. None of the roads were plowed and his little sedan would have never made it. Thank goodness for four wheel drive.

    New Years Eve we went for brunch at Hell’s Kitchen and enjoyed some great live music.

    And a massive Bloody Mary! I couldn’t eat more than a couple bites of my meal after that. Lucky for me, I had a good leftover lunch the next day! 

    I’ve been doing a bit a creating as well such as this card from scraps laying around my desk. There are a few journal pages as well but that will be a different post.

  • Blog

    Fall in review

    December 5, 2022 - By 

    Since I haven’t posted pretty much all fall, I thought it would be a great idea to do a little fall in review post.

    I did a tiny bit of art journaling at the beginning of October.

    Then my focus changed. Instead I found myself at the sewing machine.

    I finished my cozy scrappy quilt. It’s so snuggly…Mini-me has claimed it every time she comes home. I see another one in my future.

    I earned this fun little piece of inspiration last month. These Fitbit badges are like a gold star…silly I know, but it makes me happy.

    Another thing that was once again amazing was the Veterans day program at my school. We haven’t had the full program since the pandemic.

    Local veterans and members of the community are invited to join us.

    It was amazing to have close to 800 middle school kids quiet and respectful for an entire hour on the bleachers. They really stepped up and showed us how well behaved they know how to be.

    Our display case was beautifully decorated with pictures and memorabilia of veterans that are part of our staff members families.

    Including my dad…WWII veteran.

    Marvin’s birthday is also on Veterans day. He turned 8 this year… he’s terribly embarrassed about it.

    At Thanksgiving break, Mini-me brought home some succulents that were gifted to her. The plant in the yellow pot was so top-heavy that it wouldn’t even stand up anymore. I transplanted it and gave it a friendly owl to keep it company. I kept telling her how happy that plant made me…then it hit me…it looks like something out of Dr Suess. How could it not make me happy?!?

    T stands for Tuesday