31 October 2008

Happy Halloween!


Halloween is actually my least favourite holiday. I dislike all the scary and often disgusting things the stores sell. Halloween as we know it now is so far removed from the way it was originally celebrated generations ago. Perhaps it's because I work with younger children and I worry about them getting truly scared by the stores and the masks and the older children. Or maybe it's just because those things scare me still.

Anyway, I prefer to celebrate Haloween with fun, cute things. So my students are getting little "Boo Boo Bumpkins" in Owl Bags this year. The Bumpkins are just an adapted simple ball pattern with faces, leaves and stems. They're filled with flax seeds and fabric scraps. This way, they can be hot/cold packs. I enclosed a little note inside each owl bag letting the parents know. Also, I wanted them to know that being handmade, the pumpkins should be handled nicely (and not thrown around). I gave away several at the noon time dismissal for the children who would not be staying today, and already heard squeals of excitement. I do love to craft for people who truly appreciate it. :)

30 October 2008

Warm wishes


I've had quilts on the mind recently. A month or so ago, Robin (my friend and co-worker) was telling me about some wonderful glass mosaic classes she's been taking. She even brought one of her works in progress for me to see. I don't think it would be good for me to get into yet another craft. Not only because mosaic-making can get expensive (as with all crafts, I suppose), but because I don't have any more space in my crafting room. So of course, my mind turned to the fabric alternative to glass mosaics; quilts.

I've never made a real quilt before. Mom used to help me construct little "comforters" for my Barbies. They were just little square fabric scraps all sewn together to make something which looked like a mini quilt. But I never did any actual quilting on them; machine or by hand. I suppose that since the weather has been (unseasonably?) cold, I've also been feeling like quilts would be good projects.

Then, an unfortunate but good reason for making a quilt came along. My friend/co-worker/mentor suffered a stroke on Sunday. She has known me since I was 5 or 6. For better or worse, my way of dealing with sad news is to make things. I've been cooking, baking and sewing pretty much all of my free time. I've decide to make her a lap quilt which I think I will try to get all the faculty and staff to sign on the back. I want it to be a reminder to her that we are all thinking of her all the time and miss her very much. I want it to keep her warm while she's recovering and help her to feel more comfortable. I wanted to finish it tonight, but I'm 2-3 hours away from being done, so blogging about it and taking photos will have to do for now.

20 October 2008

Pick a peck


We went apple picking this weekend. It was great to be out in the beautiful October weather. We went to an orchard just about an hour away where they had quite a few different types of apples. We decided to pick just Fujis, which turned out to be a good choice since the Fuji trees were just bursting with apples. The trees are not particularly tall to begin, and with the branches so full of apples, the picking was easy. We picked enough to give a bag to T's family, a bag to my family, a bag for ourselves and a bag for me to bring to school. Sneetch and I were picky about our apples and chose small (cute) ones with no spots at all. T looked for big honkers and didn't care about spots. Turns out the spots easily wash off, so they're all good. And they're certainly crisp, juicy and delicious.

In sewing news, I spent Sunday finishing up the Boo Boo Bumpkins I've been working on for my babies at school. I sewed up their final seams, gave them leaf hair and stems and filled them with flax seeds. Now I just have to make little baggies for them to go into and I'll be all done; two weeks early! Can you believe it? I'll try to get a picture of the lot of them tonight. :)

14 October 2008

Finally recovering

After being sick for over a month with cold/sinus infection/ear infection/bronchitis, I am finally recovering. My doctor insisted I take almost a week off of work and sent me home with a note and instructions: Fluids. Rest. This time, I did actually listen and "rested" at home, spending a lot of time in my crafting room. Fortunately, my sickness backed up against the beautiful Columbus Day weekend!

We spent the weekend in Bethany Beach, where we enjoyed beautiful weather and off-season shopping and exploring in Rehoboth. Who knew there were so many delicious places to eat and interesting little shops! Right on the main entrance to the Rehoboth boardwalk, we found an ice cream shop with what seemed like hundreds of flavors, and a pick and apply your own sprinkles bar!


We biked, walked, ate, I crafted and T worked. All in all a very relaxing and wonderful vacation. Just what the doctor (should have) ordered.

01 October 2008

Over the hump!


Well Crafty Bastards is over. [It was awesome!] And Todd and I are both over big humps at school/work, so we're both feeling like life can return to normal.

Crafty was really a great experience, and we made money on top of it all! Thank you to everyone who came to visit. I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to talk to most of you personally. Also, I'm sorry I didn't get out of my booth to go around and visit all the other cool vendors. Both Todd's family and mine came out and went around shopping, so hopefully that makes up for it. :)

I was so excited about Crafty that I signed up for another fair on Monday. It's going to be in November, and it supports the Westfield High School Orchestra. I have a decent amount of inventory left from Crafty, so I can just plug along and not have to sweat shop like crazy. I'll also be able to take my time working on my displays, which is a first. I'm going to start by making these cool milk crate covers: http://lauragunn.typepad.com/theundercovercrate.pdf