the mid-December gasp

So, erm... yeah.
It's the middle of December. Life is flying by as fast as usual.

Not much else to say, really. I'm living in denial, but making Christmas presents anyhow, just in case the Christmas fairies forget to show up at my house in the next couple of days. The next thing I need to do is to start planning Christmas dinner, since apparently it'll be happening at my house this year...

a glorious sunrise in my rear-view mirror.

frosting.

the perpetually-blooming rosebush.

Ellie's ballet recital.

doing stuff

Have you ever, on facing a task that looks overwhelmingly huge, just thrown up your hands, turned around and walked out of the room?

That would be me today.

Three times.

At least.

I had decided that my first 'action' of the year would be to tidy up my sewing room. I tend not to put things away when I'm in the middle of a project, and with Christmas just over, there's a lot of project detritus lying around in that room just now.

It's pretty bad.

So finally this evening I managed to convince myself to just get started on it. I folded fabric bits, sorted them out by colour into their stacks, put the little bitty scraps in their basket, threw out garbage, ate chocolate (hey! it couldn't just be left lying around, now, could it?), put tools back in their spots, started cutting out squares for a new quilt...

Wait... what???

Ummm, yeah. I did.

Oops.

hmmmm.

So, on the very day that I decide to get off my lazy bottom and do some sewing (for the first time since Christmas, if my memory does not deceive me), not only do I also get the fabric and patterns for making three (3!) costumes for the play I'm in, but I also get an email asking me to do a bag design for a company that I've done a design job for in the past.

How does that work, exactly?

December 3

Happy 3rd of December!

matchbox by Chris McNeal

One more thing to tick off the list...

 

... well, after I get it to the post office, anyhow...

The knitting is frustrating the heck out of me right now. I keep running out of yarn just minutes before the end of an item, which means I have to then rip it right out and try something else. Ah, the joys of knitting with thrifted yarn. You can't just go buy more. So that's now 3 hats and one mitten that will never be seen, and 3 evenings of work down the drain. Somebody shoot me now.

December 1

Do you remember my matchboxes?

Well, here's the full collection.


Don't they look pretty in their vase?


Can you believe that I've actually restrained myself, and didn't open them all the minute they arrived in the house???











Here's day one:

matchbox by Linda Richter

 How cute is that reindeer???

And in other news, the knitting continues apace. I think I'll be stuck in my (fortunately comfy) chair from now til Christmas in order to finish everything that I've planned to do. Good thing I enjoy it!

Oh! I almost forgot! Tomorrow there's going to be a big BIG Giveaway Day! Check out the Sew, Mama, Sew blog for the full list of people who are giving things away, and don't forget to come back here to see what you could get from me!

Yeesh!

Just when you think you've got it all together, something happens to mess it all up again, you know?

The sixteen-year-old had a seizure on Monday evening.

You know those silly web pages with the flashy-flashy lights that tell you "do not click this link if you have epilepsy"? There's a reason for that warning. Seriously.

And no, we don't know if she's epileptic. It could (oh please, oh please) be a one-time thing. But you never know. More testing will follow. Her CAT scan was normal, so that's a relief!

Meantime, here's some more fun stuff that I don't have time to do...

• A simply gorgeous bracelet made out of... can it be? a piece of PVC pipe??? Are you kidding me?

• Paper craft ideas using stuff you'd just throw away. I especially like the magazine cutout masking idea!
  

links

My kitchen is clean now, so maybe I'll get a chance to start making things again... who knows.

• A Pop Garden scrap flower tutorial from Heather Bailey

• A very cool looking, and inexpensive, light fixture

• A basket table... would be great for my daughter's room

• A tutorial for a pre-schooler's backpack, as requested by my 4 year old

• Printable apple stationery... thankfully, not much effort is required from me on this one!

• More printables... this time to help you get past blank-page syndrome

• A magnetic Hallowe'en calendar... if I start now, I could do an Advent one instead...

• A letters from home picture... can I go back to Scotland to get the pictures???

• An absolutely gorgeous pouch, with or without a leather strap... love it!!!

• How to make a child's cardigan from a felted sweater... cute!

• A stunning necklace... so simple, but so perfect

• Bathroom towels with a loop on the side for hanging up... so clever!

Does anyone want to make any bets about when I'll start posting pictures of things I've actually done, rather than just talked about???

more linky love

...things I'm drooling over, and wanting to make...

• Key chain fob

• A gorgeous mudroom bench - I don't really have any place to put it, but I really really like it.

• So beautiful corbelled wall shelves... need!

• Fridge magnets that use up your paper scraps

• A creepy Halloween wall tree

• A cozy hat/mittens/scarf set

• Easy cotton shawls ... perfect for fall!

• Wire wrapped ring ... so pretty!

• Pendants made from old drapery rings... cool!

• Downloadable calendar pages... even though it hurts to think that it's almost next year...

• A Princess-and-the-Pea-inspired bench and mattresses... does it get cuter than this???

• Washer necklaces... love!

• Quick and easy 2-tiered skirt

• Magnetic lunch chart... anything that makes lunchtime easier is good!

First of all, though, I need to finish up the canning and make my kitchen presentable again.

linky love

more things I'd like to make:

• a sweet little patchy zipper pouch

• another zipper pouch, this one with a reverse applique patch

• a monogrammed window

• an adorable girls' sundress

• cement candleholders... these would be amazing lined up along a path!

• a pretty little birdy pillow

• a gorgeous cabled beret

now if only I could tear myself away from the computer long enough to get anything done...

linky love

I totally want to try this ... silk screening has always been one of those mysterious things that I thought I could never do. Now it looks attainable!

A pattern for a headwrap - I'm growing my hair out right now, and NEED a way to keep in controlled... it's driving me nuts!

Pretty collapsible boxes... always useful.

Again with the growing hair pain... a free pattern for a bucket hat.

A cool thing to do with mini tins... I'm incapable of throwing those things out. I love little containers!

Not for everyone, perhaps... how to make a Regency bonnet. I love costuming!