carrie girl

mail

every day since the deadline of the gocco swap i've been running to my mailbox when i get home from work, excited at the idea of receiving yet another beautiful print.  here are my most recent mailings--in order from left to right are...

andrea, tracy, carolyn,  samantha, and sarah.  really beautiful, aren't they? i have the day off school today, so i'm hoping i'll get some sewing done--i've managed to finish absolutely nothing all week, and i'm feeling a bit down about it all. it is amazing how important making things has become--it makes me a much happier and balanced person. 

monday, monday

i'm here...still working on wine bags.  it's parent/teacher conference time around here, so i'm a bit stressed and overwhelmed.  you wouldn't believe how many charts and graphs and paperwork go along with being a special ed teacher...

happy monday!

sunshine!

i woke up this morning and the sun was actually shining and i didn't have to cover up every inch of exposed skin to avoid frost bite...a very good sign that spring might be making it's way to iowa city...i hope i didn't just jinx myself.
anyway, during my normal saturday thrifting trip i found all this ribbon in a bag marked 15 cents. even though i've never used decorative ribbon in my entire life, i knew i had to have it. i also picked up an old green chalk board, a pillow i'm going to take apart for fabric and a christmas table cloth i'm going to use for stockings next year.  is it too early to already be thinking about decorations for next year?
i solved the whole "i don't have room for more linens" problem.  i bought a shelf from the thrift store! (did you really think i could refrain from buying linens?) it fits perfectly into my craft room and helps me keep from piling everything on top of everything else on the floor.  oh! and do you see my new iron? i finally broke down and threw out the iron i took with me to college 8 years ago--turns out it's easier to get a new iron than to just clean off the interfacing you've fused to the old iron.  i can't believe the difference it makes with my projects--it's so smooth and heats up so fast and it's much prettier to look at than the old one.  sometimes it's the little things that make me so happy.

go, now, go

i'm looking forward to an entire weekend of doing nothing but relaxing and sewing. i am so sick of the snow. i don't think i can properly verbalize just how tired i am of the cold, the ice, the snow, the slush, and the bad drivers that only exacerbate the problem. argh! so, i'm very excited to run home and watch another episode of my so called life on abc.com and finish up my second batch of oysters.  there is nothing quite like a little sewing and a little jordan catalano to get the weekend started off right.

the last of the linens

i'm putting a hold on buying any more linens after this batch.  there's really nowhere else in the apartment to store them, and until i figure out what i'm actually going to make out of them i need to take a break. i was at the renegade craft fair in brooklyn last summer and a girl had made cute summer tops out of her vintage linens. they were really sweet, but i haven't quite mastered (or even attempted) to make clothes, so i need to probably explore other options. 
i'm not, however, putting a hold on buying miniature mushrooms.  those are totally fair game. they're cute and they don't require a lot of storage space.

off to watch the wisconsin/hawaii returns...

wine for two

so we got back from chicago a-ok, but it took us forever. oysters were eaten and hockey was enjoyed--all in all it was a really great weekend. to top it off i got the day off work today because of the nasty ice and wind--yay!  i worked all day on this little project.  i first saw it in one of my japanese craft books, and it has been sitting in the back of my mind for a while now. 

with my day off i decided i'd give it a shot.  this is the first time i've actually used muslin to try out a project before i went at it with my good fabric.  the test run went well, but when i started on it with the thicker fabric i ran into a ton of issues. first the fabric was too thick and too bulky, then it was too flimsy, and then i was too irritated to continue. after dinner i tried it again with natural denim and it worked a bit better.  it is still a little bulky at the bottom and the handles need to be a bit sturdier to handle two bottles of wine. it took all my self restraint not to crack open a bottle (or two) at the height of my frustration. i'm going to try this one again...just not tonight.

a partridge in a thrift store

i love the feeling of walking into a (usually stinky) thrift store, grabbing a basket, and holding onto the hope that through the piles of crap, you'll find something good. that is exactly how i felt today. i was at the end of a rather unsuccessful thrifting trip (and a very long week) when i got to the last goodwill on my list.  i waded through knee-high aisles of crappy luggage from the 80's, and dodged baskets discarded from country-style kitchens hoping to find something that would validate the 2 hours i spent rummaging through stuff.  then i saw it...a ceramic partridge painted to look like wood. a perfect item to end a not-so-successful thrifting trip.

i'm off to chicago this weekend for an oyster happy hour (yea!) and a hockey game (this one is more of a yea! for ted.) let's hope the 1-2 feet of snow predicted for sunday doesn't happen...

crafty biology

since i've been hanging out on etsy a lot lately, i've had the opportunity to peruse many really great stores.  i'd been showing great fiscal responsibility until i came across this.  are you serious? how could i resist? this is called knitting in biology 101 and it's made by the crafty hedgehog.  she sells the pattern so you can make your own, but seeing as how i can only knit a scarf (poorly) i opted for the beautifully finished product including the hand felted innerds.  i couldn't wait for mine to arrive in the mail before i posted about it.  so excited.

swap goodies!

i love getting mail, and participating in a swap is a sure-fire way to get the postman to deliver some goodies to your doorstep!  the love birds on the left are from natalie over at that girl, and the pine needles are from sarah of things are better with a parrott. both ladies are super talented and i'm loving these cards so much i'm not sure i can actually send them out.

now i have to get back to watching the primary returns...i'm so addicted.

ready to go

this weekend felt really long, but i didn't get nearly enough accomplished.  i think having two snow days last week made friday feel more like monday, which threw off the rest of the weekend.  at any rate, i did manage to get both my swap contributions packed up and ready to be shipped out tomorrow.

i also have been working on getting some things together for my etsy store.  i don't know how anyone manages to have a job, a social life, and a fully stocked etsy store.  it doesn't seem possible at this point, but hopefully i can get my act together. 

it seems like my theme for thrifting lately has been straight up 70's.  normally i pass on the overly orange, brown and green linens and fabric, but this bunch seemed to call to me.  the two brown and white ones in the middle of the stack are giant pillowcases with really nice trees and a not too tacky sunset in the middle.  i have no idea what i'll do with them, but i'm sure i can make room in my fabric stash that has now grown over into the laundry room.