carrie girl

vintage giveaways!

since it's spring break, i've been doing a little spring cleaning around the old craft room. i tend to hold on to anything and everything, but i think it's time to let some of my fabric stash and vintage patterns go. so as a thank you for stopping by my shops and this blog, i'm doing a little giveaway.  all you have to do is leave me a comment, and i'll pick two lucky folks at random who will win either goody bag.  I'll keep the comments open until Friday, April 4th at midnight...the last official weekday of my spring break. 

good luck and have a great week!

spring break

spring break has officially begun.  this weekend has been really relaxing and pretty lazy because i don't feel like i need to cram everything into saturday and sunday--i have a whole work-free week to do it.  the weather has been cooperating too, and we've eaten lunch out on the porch for the last couple of days.  so nice.

sewing has also been back on my radar, and i finished a new gift for a dear friend. after reading about the sister box over at scissors. paper .glue i knew i needed to start one of these, but i only have two older brothers (whom i love deeply, but they still don't count.)  so i emailed my sister-like friend out in oregon (who just bought her first sewing machine) and we agreed that we must start one.  this yoga bag will be one of the items in the first box.  it's from amy butler's free pattern, and it was pretty easy to  make.  it was my first time sewing on a circular bottom, so that was a bit

interesting--and it turned out a bit wonky, but i don't
think she'll mind too much.  i've been map questing my road trip out to ikea tomorrow, and i'm including stops to forever 21, h&m, and possibly a village discount store.  i can barely contain my excitement.

sweet, sweet consumerism

i have now begun to bring my coffee to work in this monster.  i don't even know how many cups it holds exactly because i went into caffeine shock after about 5...and it was still warm at 2:30pm.  i think i'm in love. 

i haven't been doing much around here but cleaning and working, so my productivity level has been rather low. i've done a bit of ebay shopping or rather ebay stalking, and i earned my blue star--turns out i've purchased 50 items since 2000.  in some way that makes me really sad.  if i give my average purchase a price of $15.00...have i really spent upwards of $750 on stuff?  i guess spread out over 8 years that isn't too bad, roughly $100 per year, but i keep thinking about what i could buy today with $750.  i'd probably buy more stuff...

happy easter!

last night i did a huge vintage shop update. when i first started the store i had this panic that maybe i would stop enjoying going to the thrift stores if i started selling on etsy.  so far so good, in that i still enjoy it and do occasionally find something i can squeeze into my apartment for myself. i have, however, run into a bit of a storage issue.  so during my (much needed) spring break in a couple weeks i'm going to head next door to the ikea in illinois.  i haven't started looking online at all the fabrics and organizational stuff yet because i know if i do, i won't be able to contain my excitement or anticipation for this entire week. 

oh, and a big special thanks and a hug goes out to melissa for being my first customer over at the handmade store.  thanks, melissa!

off to do some sewing and to eat a ton of easter candy!

get in shape girl

i have a feeling this is going to be a long week.

i went to the gym for the first time since i joined, which was way back in february. to motivate myself i went to target and bought some new gym clothes.  i was overly excited to see that they carry tall yoga pants...something that very well could have come out a long time ago, but i haven't been to the "active clothing" section of any store since i was using my get in shape girl ankle weights. i guess i figured if i spent $75 on anything i'd have to use it. we'll see how long i can keep it up...

i did a little sewing over the weekend, but not nearly as much as i'd like.  i did get a chance to update the vintage shop with some thrifting finds. 

rock on.

it's days like today that i really enjoy being a teacher. i was working with a kindergarten student this afternoon and the following conversation ensued...

the student is working on a page in her alphabet book, and i am sitting with her and begin to tap my fingers on the table.

student: you keep that up and you can be in my band. you could play (pantomimes drums with her hand.)

me: oh yeah? i didn't know you were in a band.

student: yup.

me: what instrument do you play?

student: i sing.

me: oh--nice.  who else is in the band?

student: that girl, hanna. we need someone to play (pretends to play the keyboard with her hands.)

me: who are you going to ask?

student: mrs. becker (the principal)

me: sounds good.  by the way, what is the name of the band?

student: (thinks for a minute) rock on.

fried egg on pasta

ted left for austin tonight for 5 nights of bands and fun at sxsw. so jealous. before he left we made (rather, he made and i fried the eggs) elemental carbonara from sally schneider's book, the improvisational cook.  i love this cookbook.  it's all about being spontaneous and using what you already have in your fridge and pantry.  sally will name a recipe, and then she'll give, "an analysis of the recipe's internal structure and logic that teaches exactly how it works, along with some suggested elements that you can play with, alter, adapt, embellish, improvise."  so there will be a basic recipe like rustic root vegetable soup and then she'll give a few ways to improvise with it---like creamy root vegetable soup or root vegetable puree with vanilla or free form chicken pot pie.  my favorite thing about the book is in the back sally lists all the pantry and fridge staples you must have in order to be an improvisational cook. now, whether or not i actually will stock my kitchen is another story.

vintage scrap tote

it was a sunny day today, and that makes about three in a row! iowa city is looking at 40 and 50 degree weather for next week, so i decided to make something a bit sunny.  the bag of scraps i found on saturday came with the template, so i cut a few pieces from my own vintage fabric collection to add to the mix.  i was inspired by a tissue holder i bought from kate's etsy shop--i loved the gingham and linen together. i haven't done much patchwork, aside from the gifts i made for christmas, so this was fun to try out. i decided not to turn under the edges of the applique, and instead i left them raw.  i used stitch witchery to fuse the patchwork to the linen, and then i stitched around the edge. i like the finish because it doesn't look too quilt-y or precise (not that i'm against things looking quilt-y and precise--it's just not what i was going for.)  i think i might try a couple more---it was actually a lot of fun to put together. cheers to a sunny week!

giant wooden scissors!

i've been looking on ebay for a pair of giant wooden scissors for a long time now.  i know that is an odd thing to be looking for specifically because when i came bounding out of the thrift store with these in hand, and got into the car exclaiming, "i've been looking everywhere for giant wooden scissors!" ted

looked at me with a weird look and said, "are you being facetious?" and clearly, i wasn't.  i also found a big bag of vintage quilting scraps that has me excited to try out a new tote bag. happy weekend!

maxed out.

i'm a little over saturated at the moment.  i think i need a little break from politics, from work, from winter... aren't we due for a little daylight savings soon? how nice will it be to wake up with the sunlight and drive home with the daylight still lingering? is it too early to start packing away the sweaters and long johns?