Finding the ideal

Body Image

Normally I don't give a fig.

Honest injun.

But then I see pictures from my pre-30s-days and give a little sigh

This is what I'd like to get back to...it's about 15 pounds ago.

I think I can do this if I stick to it hard until May...

here we go.

see? I totally can't blame this kids... this is post-three-bebes-body.

grrr

What I've been working on lately...

I've been stitching up a storm lately...

Also, I completely forgot to introduce everyone to Eloise!

Everyone say 'helloooo Eloise'

 

Eloise is my gorgeous little dressform pumpkin courtesy of the lovely Miss Emily Watson.

She's become rather invaluable lately.

Sophie's still not a big fan, though. So I try to remember to put her away in the hall closet when I'm finished working with her for the evening...

 

Here's Eloise modeling the semi-finished Super Girl costume I cobbled together for this past weekend's Heroes for Heroes Polar Plunge. Doesn't she just look fabulous?

 

Look!

A cape!  Now I have one, Jen has one, Baz has one, Isabelle has one and Sophie has two!

 

And, because I've been dying to do SOMETHING with this awesome cassette tape fabric...it became a dress for little Miss Macy this weekend.

 

dig the toille on the reverse of the bodice...

 

It's super soft...just like baby clothes should be!

Um...also? WHY didn't anyone TELL me crafting clothes for the minis could be so satisfying? It took about an hour, tops, and I got the entire thing done from pattern to finishing touches!

 

yay!

Also, I attempted (for a SECOND time) to work on PJ pants for the Munchkins.

I got the pattern pieces cut out (correctly this time!) but haven't put everything together yet.

 

And, finally? Yarn wreaths.

These things are SERIOUSLY addictive.

I've got three of them so far...though I only have pictures of the one. 

I'll try and remedy that soon.

So, in summation:

Crafting > Therapy

and

Crafting > Sleep
(because the insomnia? it's back with a vengeance!)

In honor of ISTEP

Because ISTEP testing starts today...

and because I will NEVER not remember that a Baloo is a bear...a Younker is a young man...and a Comfrey is a small plant...

alpern is a tie
Baloo is a bear
bartist is a curtain
blate is a straw hand bag
bloy is an explorer
bolen is a bird
bork is a lawn mower
Calcum is immense wealth
clemmer is a highway
clort is a desk
clyon is a traffic light
daric is a gold coin
deblet is a parade
dectrin is a facial expression
dibble is a garden tool
dockle is an oil painting
dunlap is a fox
faldam is an old woman
flix is a comb first
foddle is a row of trees
glome is a mouse
grib is a large rock
harfang is an owl
heast is a bird's nest
hillet is a window
hipple is a biscuit
hoosh is a kind of soup
hoosley is a light bulb
hoyjet is a thick black liquid
jerrick is a bullfrog
Jib is a telescope
jote is a cloud
julleb is an evil fairy
kendle is confusion
korf is a tiger
A leddy is a desert
leignding is an education
lench is a throne
lep is a ball
lorkton is a saw
lippot is a mild cheese
lyndle is a notebook
maktel was always a tugboat (boat)
melrod is an Egg
merim is a chick
mert is a bonnet
morndry is a space vehicle
muntjac is a small deer
nebbin is a cracker
nesbit is a cracker
ort is a scrap of food
paylok is a wagon
pillot is a shoe
plam is a log cabin
plomit is a coffee mug
plunket is a large mug
quisp is a lake
rayble is a swampy place
Reet is a White Flower
Rocter is a thick paste
runyon is a train
safj is a dinosaur
sculch is junk
shancer is a handsome boy
sherlif is a door mat
shib is a puff of smoke
shim is a shinny cloth
smirl is a motorcycle
smote is a letter
spiff is a cloud
squibb is a firecracker
tay is a hammer
tebly is a servant
tocket is a napkin
trestin is a ladder
tricket is a three-legged table
triller is a cabinet
trink is a wastebasket
Veck is a piece of shiny cloth
wardik is an electric fan
werder is a star
wharnick is a fan
whister is a jar
wogsin is a gift
wormick is an electric fan
wuzzle is to stir/to mix
yonker is a young man
zalation is an alarm clock

Look what I saw this weekend

I've NEVER seen this parked at the corner of Vermont & Alabama before...but if I see it again? I'm stopping.

Celebrate the Boy Week just ROCKS.

Partly because I'm a pack rat 

and partly, I suppose, if we're being honest, because I suck at packing...

I still have several old mens sweaters in my possession.

[there's this kickass black & argyle one that used to belong to my PaPaw...which I've somehow managed to hold on to that I LOVE but that is just gather dust in my closet...but I digress]

Thing is, my Pack-Rattery is actually awesome today because of this tutorial right here:

Big sweater to Little sweater 

I just love Celebrate the Boy Week.

I'm gonna have to tute. jump & make the BazMan some sweater vests too I think...

oh.

Replace Takeout with PF Changs... and that was us.

hah.

We are, obv., DemiGods...

Steph. ALWAYS finds the best stuff.
Seriously. I don't lie.
Look what she sent me today:

amiright? she's awesome.

And then, of course, there's this little beauty that I found here
I want them all.

It's just a random sort of posting day.
enjoy!

Lost in Translation

I wish you were in town today

Or I were out of it with you.

Or that we both were out of it. together. off getting lost somewhere new.

 

 

 

Why Moms have NO Time

The Blogosphere Pt.2

81.

I counted

I currently keep up with 81 blogs on a weekly basis.

Holy Crap.

Peanut Pretzel Bark

oh. mah. gawd.

 

 

So I get pretty regular emails from the Godiva Chocolate.

I may or may not [read: I am] a memeber of their chocolate club; in which you get free candies, coupons, etc. etc. It's pretty awesome. I'm not gonna lie.
 

So today's email had that lovely bit of amazingness in it.

Peanut Pretzel Bark.

I Want.

Gonna make some this weekend for sure.

And by make some, I really mean end up buying some.

Because my solution to everything is to look at it, convince myself I could "totally make that/do that/fix that" and then fail miserably and end up buying it anyway.

hooray!

The Blogosphere

Do you know...the last time I bothered to check...I followed over 37 blogs?

And that's not even a recent count. It's actually much higher than that these days I'm sure.

It's crazy. I know.
I mean I check in with these people every few days.
Have done it for years.

I comment.
They comment.
It's like an extended family or a support group of sorts.
It's just second nature.
Every few days I just click on over to see what everyone's up to.
It helps, I suppose that I've got an 8-5 desk job which only requires I operate on about 45% capacity...we've had this discussion before...about my love/hate relationship with my job.

Anywho...
A lot of them are craft blogs (a guilty pleasure).

Many are writing-related blogs.
Some are political.
Some I draw inspiration from.
Some help me catch up with family or friends.
Some I have been invited to check out via links people have emailed me of their blogs.
And, in turn, I pass on a lot of blog links to friends, family, coworkers, etc.

In fact, if you've sent me a link, I can pretty much guarantee I've passed it on at least once.

So, now you know.
Blogger, Typepad, Xanga, SparkPeople, I check 'em all...every week.
Shoot, many I even check every day! It's my way of keeping in touch with people despite my inability to do so in person as I'd like. They help me keep abreast of current issues, of current crafting, of the world at large, really.
It's what they're there for.

Blogs I mean.

Hi, my name is Caralyn and I'm addicted to the written word
(shocker, right?)
I can't be the only one...
Anyone follow any extraordinary blogs out there that I don't know about?

Pattern Making Dos & Don'ts

or...

What NOT to do while pattern-making

So starting Tuesday it's BOY month on some of my favorite Crafting Blogs (it's my weak spot...crafting blogs that is)

And Dana of Made   threw up her standard pants pattern. so I printed it off...made my own adjustments to it... and thought I'd crank out a few pairs of comfy pants for the kiddos last night. 

Ohhhh how wrong I was.

So, for your edification and my mortification, some do's & don'ts about creating your own patterns

DO:  Use a lightweight paper. This makes the pattern easy to store and cheap to reproduce. In otherwords? Cardboard sucks if you're going to reuse the pattern if you want to store it anywhere hidden.

DON'T Try and watch Harry Potter movies while tracing your pattern pieces on to your fabric. Inevitably you will forget to flip the patter over for the facing pieces and have to start all over

DO Choose a simple cotton or cotton-flannel-poly blend for some practice pieces. They're easy to cut/sew/manipulate. Knits suck.

DON'T Tackle knit gaucho-style pants for yourself until you have first mastered something in a cotton or twill or even a nice little seersucker. Knits and I do NOT get along. *sigh*

DO check out all the gorgeous seersucker out there. It makes me thing of boating and summer and comfortable lounging. It washes up well, doesn't usually require ironing and wears well on kids AND adults. Plus. Adorable little pinstripes make me smile.

DON'T tell your kids you'll "just whip these up real quick before bedtime" because when you fail and fail miserably to complete more than one pair you WILL have a revolt on your hands. oops.

DO give yourself plenty of time and space to trace your patterns. Rushing = lopsided pattern making. Double oops.

DON'T expect to get three pairs of pants worth of pattern pieces cut out without having to stop 52 times to get drinks, retrieve woobies, mend dolly's ripped arm, pause and restart the movie, assist in bathroom breaks, clean up spilled snacks, etc.

DO Treat every failure as a lesson learned. Hey...at least I know what NOT to do next time, right?

www.dana-made-it.com

oops.

my heart aches a little in the wee hours of the morning...

How We Do Heart Day...

Valentine's Day is, for the most part, all about the food in our house the past few years.

We usually make an oversized batch of cupcakes, make our own valentine's cards, make sure there are clean & pressed red, pink & white shirts & sweaters for everyone the night before...

But this year? There just weren't enough hours.

Store bought cards and prepackaged Hershey Kiss packets to the rescue!

 Isabelle & Sophie work diligently on their Valentine's... 

 Baz...not so much. He was a big fan of putting stickers on everything though...

 Monkey...prepping for the sugar rush that school-wide Vday parties bring about each year.

 Sunday saw Heart-shaped pancakes for breakfast, Heart-shaped grilled cheese and/or turkey sandwiches for lunch. Hey, if we're not using the cookie cutters for actual cookies this year, we've gotta get our quote of usage in for them!!!

V-day itself brought a lovely surprise... lunch at MacNivin's with Mr. Handsome...
Ohhhh, scotch eggs. How do I love thee? Let me count the ways...

 AND... as if scotch eggs weren't enough to make me swoon? They were followed up by a movie night with CHEDDAR BACON POPCORN!!! Seriously? *le sigh* It's by the same guys that made Bacon Salt.

 And, because some people (who will remain nameless) find the taste of cheddar bacon popcorn a bit much... we definitely also had kettle corn. Because if you're going to be a fatass on Valentine's Day? You might as well each have your own bag of microwave popcorn to complement your root beer sundaes and Blockbuster movie.

It could not have been more perfect.

Sometimes, other people say it so much better than I can...

Check this blog out for me today.

 

Because sometimes someone else can just say it so much better than I can.

And sometimes we all need to be reminded that we're human now & again.

inditutes

Happy Heart Day, gang!

oh, facebook...

SteamPunk Couture

That's it!

I've had it!

I'm tired of winter. Tired of this funk. Sick and effing tired of the snow, the ice, the 10-15 pounds I need to lose to wear something like this confidently.

If you need me from now through Spring, Day 1? 

I'll be in the gym. Busting my ass.

 

digging the boots, the comfy-looking skit, the tunic-length overshirt w/ruched sleeves... *sigh*

 

And seriously? The socks/boot/skit combo? I want to work out until my thighs burn just so I can rock this out this spring. grrrr.

gorg. seriously. do.want. All the gathers in that skirt just make me swoon.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/SteampunkCouture

Sportacus

oh. my. god.

Do you know who that is up there?

It's Sportacus.

From Lazy Town.

No lie.

 

His real name is Magnus Scheving and he's an actor from Iceland. 

Yeah...it's THIS guy...

I was hipped to this jive via this link from one of my all-time-favorite bloggers The Bloggess...Who I can officially play Six Degrees of Separation with (Thank you Beccah!!!)

 

So let's recap.

*My favorite Blogger = just three degrees away.

*Sportacus just made my Celebrity "List"

Awesome.

Inspiration

I cross-stitched in January.

I officially dub February 'pillow month'

And I'd like to either embroider, applique or cross stitch a little phrase on a little pillow to make the transition... 

Here are my inspiration pieces.

Now I just have to pick one.