oops.

I totally forgot to post a picture of my finished tile that I made a couple of weeks ago. Without further adieu....









not as pretty as i hoped, but it's still cool looking. I'm going back to do more, I've got some great ideas!

football and shtuff

I did something last night I haven't done since highschool. I went to a highschool football game. Honestly I never intended to set foot back on school soil, but when you have friends who have kids, you find yourself in unexpected places. Our team lost miserably, like 30-0 but it doesn't really matter because I didn't know what was going on anyway. I don't follow sports. The only reason I went to the games in school was because I was on the flag squad. The highlight of the night was the band playing at half time, with selections by Billy Joel. Actually there were two highlights. As we were going in there was a rainbow over the field and it stayed there for about an hour. It was awesome.
So anyway, it was fun to be there with friends even though I don't like football. The rain held off and it was a very pleasant evening. I may just go back to see another game. Oh wait, maybe not. Cold weather is not my friend. We'll see.

An apron under my belt

I have been on a roll with these blog posts! I'm so impressed.

I was browsing some sites last night for a good (free) and easy apron pattern and came across this apron from My Byrd House. It is so cute and the website is awesome!

I used some vintage fabric that I've been holding on to, finally being brave enought to cut it. I found it at a thrift store and I knew instantly that I wanted to make an apron out of it, I just needed to find the right pattern. The instructions were super easy to follow, only taking about 2 hours to complete. It would have probably only taken one but I stopped to eat lunch in between. The only snag I had was in attaching the tie strings and turning the waistband, because I read it as attaching the ties to the wrong side of the fabric which was...wrong, but after a lot of thread ripping and re-sewing I got it right and it turned out beautiful! And it even fits me!

The ric-rac is a Walmart special and matches perfectly.

My mother was kind enough to model for me.









I love it! I think everybody's getting aprons for Christmas this year.

My venture into making baby shoes

I was looking for an easy pattern for baby shoes to make for a friend back in January, and found a great one in this Etsy shop.

My first attempt was successful, if not a little stressful because even though it said it was easy to follow I had a little trouble understanding where to place the heel so I could attach it to the toe. I was seriously stressing out about it because I did what I thought it said but it didn't attach right and it just looked like crap so I walked away for about an hour, and then when I sat back down it was like a lightbulb went on and I totally understood what I was supposed to do.

I made the first pair out of a thrifted scrub top and some purple fabric I had lying around, and they turned out so cute!

I attempted my second pair today and I think these turned out even cuter! I had a request for a red pair so I wanted them to look extra nice. I wanted something shiny but I was a little wary of using the sequined fabric because I wasn't sure how it would react with the iron and fusible stabilizer, but it turned out great with no melting or shrinking. I started out wrong by ironing the stabilizer to the edge without looking at the placement of the sequins, and so didn't realize the sequins didn't go all the way to the endge of the fabric. Before I panicked too much I just put the heel pattern on that part and made sure the other pieces were on the sequins. It turned out fine but next time I'm triple checking everything!

As I was reading the instructions it said to fold the material before cutting and I was like "why? that's stupid, I'm not doing that". It turns out you fold it because you need TWO shoes for a kid's feet. Who knew? OK so after that emabarassment was over, it went a lot smoother.

I knew that the shoes would not be able to be reversible because of the fabric I chose but I wanted a neutral lining so I found some white in my stash and I think it goes well with the red.

This was a lot easier than last time, and with a new niece coming in January I will be busy making her some for every occasion. I can hardly wait!

painting pottery is fun!

Today was a girl's day out for us girls and we decided we were going to take the way overdue trip to paint our own pottery!

There is a little shop in Dayton named Paint the Town Pottery that lets you pick a piece of pottery to paint and then they stick it in their kiln and fire it for you, and then you have an awesome, one of a kind piece of art that is yours to keep. They're on Facebook if you want to look them up!

It was the first time I was an actual paying customer, having painted the Buddha for the TVT production of South Pacific,

but this time I got to play with my favorite colors and start my very own "Sunset Collection", as Jennifer (the owner) refers to it.

They have so many great things to paint it was tough choosing, from little animals to big ol' bowls and platters. I want to make a set of dishes but I chose a tile, just to ease myself into it.

Kaia chose a little ruffled dish

and Tanya chose a little square bowl

and we set to work. It's very relaxing to plan out your colors,

which areas are going to be which colors,

finding the perfect brush,

and just the general act of painting. I especially liked my version which was just random placement and no thought at all required.

Kaia caught off guard.

some stencils to help us out

these little writing bottles are awesome for controlling the placement of the design you want!

The reference plate, and my tile before the firing.

a little decoration for the back. And yes, I realize I painted it with the tile upside down.

This was such an enjoyable afternoon, I don't know why I haven't done it sooner. I'm going back Thursday to pick them up, and we'll see how they all turned out. I can hardly wait!!!

the june update

Just when I think I've got myself together I forget to update and my poor blog goes neglected and falls into disrepair. blah.
I just finished the first weekend of TVT's latest play, South Pacific. yep, i'm a nurse. I know that's exciting to hear, I can hardly contain the excitement myself. So while I've been in rehearsal I've been negleting everything else and it's really starting to catch up with me. I've got a room full of vintage clothes that are ready to list in my store on Etsy, I've got fabric coming out my ears waiting to be made into aprons and potholders, I've got friends asking me to do this and that and am I doing any of it? Negative.

But I have exciting news! (for me it's exciting, ok) Two of my pictures have been featured on two different websites!!!

My photo of my sister and her friend's matching ankle tattoos was featured here at designsoftattoos.com . Here's a link to the original on flickr.

And my latest featured picture is here. It's a purple flower party light in the rain. You have to scroll almost to the bottom of the page to see it.

I've also got pictures on display at Tennessee Valley Theater while South Pacific is in production. I am very excited about that because it's my first public showing. Nothing like a public display of your personal work to make you feel humbled. I have never accepted praise well so it's kind of hard to get used to. yikes.

AAAnnnddd...that's about it. I think I need to work on my communication skills because I always feel like I'm talking like a little kid begging for attention instead of coming across like a comprehensive adult. hmmmm....yeah, i'll think about it.

playing catch up

ok so I suck at updating.
Last night was my monthly book club and April being poetry month the subject was....poetry.
I confess that I don't read poetry because it makes me feel like I'm intruding on the personal life of the poet. I realize that since they have published their poems they want people to read them, but still I feel weird. Ok, maybe I should say I have a hard time reading poetry from people still living, (I'm weird, ok?) with the exception of Maya Angelou...but Shakespeare, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, and story poems (mountain ballads) are ok. I don't know why, it just makes me uncomfortable.

So anyway, one of the ladies brought a poem about quilts and I really connected with it. So here it is:

Quilts
by Nikki Giovanni

(for Sally Sellers)

Like a fading piece of cloth
I am a failure

No longer do I cover tables filled with food and laughter
My seams are frayed my hems falling my strength no longer able
To hold the hot and cold

I wish for those first days
When just woven I could keep water
From seeping through
Repelled stains with the tightness of my weave
Dazzled the sunlight with my
Reflection

I grow old though pleased with my memories
The tasks I can no longer complete
Are balanced by the love of the tasks gone past

I offer no apology only
this plea:

When I am frayed and strained and drizzle at the end
Please someone cut a square and put me in a quilt
That I might keep some child warm

And some old person with no one else to talk to
Will hear my whispers

And cuddle
near


Isn't that just great? It's not that I'm old and worn out, but I can see the quilt and the person comparing herself to that quilt. It's just very...stirring.

pet peeves

So over on the Self Portrait Challenge at Flickr this months theme is "pet peeves".

One of mine is people mispronouncing my name. My name is Leia. Lee-ah (or lee-uh if you live in the south like I do). Although I will not correct you if you pronounce it Lay-ah. I have foreign friends that pronounce it that way and it doesn't bother me. However, if you call me Lisa or Leeann or Lela or anything else I will correct you because THAT IS NOT MY NAME!

My sister calls me Speia but that's just her. She's trying to get Conner to call me ling-ling (why, I don't know) but that ain't gonna happen.

A funny story about the Lay-ah pronounciation. When I was in 5th or 6th grade we had a substitute one day for class. He was the brother of one of my classmates and he was really (to my young mind) cute. He had blonde hair, and he wore a pink tie. I don't know why that stands out in my memory, but it does. Anyway he was calling the roll and he pronounced my name as Lay-ah. Apparently we were not Star Wars fans because I had never heard it that way before and since he was really cute I just raised my hand and blushed every time he looked at me for the rest of the day.

If you've read this far then thank you. I tend to wander around in my thought process and blabber on. I apologize. If you want to stop here I totally understand. If not, please read on.

Another funny (or disturbing) story about my name.

I have a guy friend whose ex-wife did not like me AT ALL. Seriously. She left him 3 seperate times for some guy she met on the internet...3 seperate times. Each time resulted in her getting pregnant. The last time she had got pregnant she had a girl and the day she was born I was at his mom's house and he came up and said "Well, you've got a name sake" and I said "what are you talking about?". He said "She named the baby after you" and I was thinking ok, she just likes that name and was spelling it LEAH.

no.

she spelled it LEIA. Why would you name your baby after somebody you don't even like? That totally blows my mind. And to make it worse she call her Lee-Lee. Ugh. I was named so it would be hard to give me a nickname.

Well, I guess you can put a nickname on anybody.

oh geez....updates

This is only the second month of the new year and it has not gotten off to a good start. I thought this was going to be my year (since I'm 35 now...gasp!) but so far it has turned out to be disaster. I do not like confrontation but so far I've gotten into a very heated argument with a co-worker and then another one less than a week later with a friend. I don't know what's wrong with me! It's like somebody who doesn't care to offend has taken control of my body and totally thrown discretion out the window.

Oh well.

We've had a skunk that decided to crawl under our house last Sunday and wow did it stink! We've opened windows, burned candles, bought spearmint oil (it worked good) to spread around but nothing is taking the choking, nasty smell away! so today my brother-in-law came down to put moth balls under the house to run the skunk off and found it DEAD under the kitchen area of the house. Somebody got to it before us. Woo! But the house still smells and our clothes still smell. Suck.

I definitely do need a new job however. I am surrounded by negativity, gossip, and jealousy all day and it's starting to rub off on me. How can I do God's will in a situation like this? It is not condusive to a good Christian walk. But maybe I'm just weak and easily swayed; apathetic and lazy.

I don't want to be that way!

I want to be in God's will and doing His work. The only question is, how?

the final week of 2009 meme

I love doing memes, and here's one I found on this site:

1. What did you do in 2009 that you'd never done before?
~start a 365 picture blog

2. Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
~since I didn't make any resolutions, I kept them very well. Nope, not making any.

3. How will you be spending New Year's Eve?
~probably on the couch

4. Did anyone close to you die?
~no

5. What countries did you visit?
~none

6. What would you like to have in 2010 that you lacked in 2009?
~a better job with insurance

7. What date from 2009 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
~ ugh...i don't know

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
~opened a shop on Etsy for vintage clothes

9. What was your biggest failure?
~ meeting my goal to have all my bills paid off

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
~nothing major

11. What was the best thing you bought?
~my laptop

12. Where did most of your money go?
~bills

13. What song will always remind you of 2009?
~ Don't Stop Believing

14. What do you wish you'd done more of?
~take pictures without feeling self conscious

15. What do you wish you'd done less of?
~gossip and argue with my co-workers

16. What was your favourite TV program?
~Glee

17. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
~hate is an ugly word....dislike is better

18. What was the best book you read?
~The Alchemist

19. What was your greatest musical discovery?
~ The Polyphonic Spree

20. What was your favorite film of this year?
~I guess the Transformers movie, which it wasn't all that great but i can't think of anything better.

21. What did you do on your birthday?
~went to many various Goodwill stores

22. What kept you sane?
~building my vintage clothing stock

23. Who did you miss?
~strangely, Brenda

24. Who was the best new person you met?
~obviously I didn't meet anyone spectacular because I can't think of anybody.

25. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2009:
~keep my big mouth shut if i don't want everybody knowing my business

hooray for day after Christmas sales!!

I was not going to go to any after Christmas sales today, but I forgot that it was the last weekend of the month and so Goodwill was half off. So I headed up there about 10:30 with my mother and we got a lot of new dresses and skirts. Well, she got skirts. I got dresses to sell on my Etsy site. So anyway we were talking about what to have for supper (at like 12:30...it was a little early to be thinking about supper but oh well, we're just random like that) and we decided on vegetable soup but we needed some cabbage so we stopped at Walmart.

OK funny side note to my story here....as we were walking in this guy wearing a t-shirt and no coat was walking out with his girlfriend and proceeded to yell very loudly about how cold it was....yeah if you wore a coat buddy it wouldn't be cold.

So anyway there was this perfume that I originally saw at JC Penney and then later found at Walmart that I have been dying to get my hands on, but at the price of $30 for less than an ounce it wasn't happening. As we walked to the Christmas aisle there it sat on the shelf....for TEN DOLLARS!!!!! I was absolutely giddy with excitement! I bought two. hee hee heeeeeeeeeeee!!

It's called Harajuku Lovers and there are 5 different scents. The one I like is called "G". I later found out it's from Gwen Stefani, which I never would have guessed but I don't pay attention to trends or who's making what kind of fashions now.

I found it on Amazon.com for $50....oh my gosh I got such a deal!

So anyway, I could have taken a picture but I didn't, I took one from the amazon.com site, just in case the link page goes away, along with the link to the page instead:





and the link is HERE

So woo hoo! I'm glad I got off my hiney and got outside today.

So here's the finished product of previously said sewing project I started, and I think they turned out quite nicely! :

my most favorite one:

other favorites:

oh the holiday spirit

This time of year I always get in the crafty "I'm gonna make all my Christmas presents" mode and start trying furiously to accomplish that thought. It never happens.

Well, yesterday and today I have accomplished quite a lot, compared to waht I usually do. Yes ma'am...I've made a beaded sweater that had shrunk and was badly out of shape into the loverly pillow you see below, as well as sewn pillows out of vintage hand pieced quilt blocks that have been in my stash for oh...years. I said sewed, not stuffed. I also sewed together 10 little Christmas pillows that I have also had for years and years. They had already been cut out by whoever had them before me, I just need to embellish them with a few buttons and stuff them and they'll be all ready to go...to someone.






cute little Christmas pillows waiting for stuffing:



I also decided I wanted to try and make a cat ornament like this one that I found at a thrift store one year. See how cute and quirky he is?:



This is how mine turned out:



short and stumpy and crooked with round ears and a fat tail....



I also found this adorable little scottie dog at a thrift store, thrown into a bin of toys. I want to try and make another one like him, but I think I have to perfect my cat first before I attempt the dog:



here's all three of them together. Don't they make a lovely family?



I also hung some pictures in my sewing room that I had got from trades and some of my own art work done at work (daycare). finger paint on cardboard:

I have plans to sew some more tomorrow before I go into work, but we'll see what happens. I feel very good about all these projects that I'm finally completing after putting them off for so many, many years. And I mean many. There's always some other thing distracting me from doing the things I really enjoy. Maybe I can keep it up.

day trip!

The senior citizens of my chruch took their annual fall trip to an Amish community today and I decided to tag along, hoping to get some good fall pictures. Well, the clouds were pretty well covering the whole sky so it wasn't an ideal blue like I had hoped, but it was a good day all the same.

Here's the dog that greeted us and proceeded to chew on the preacher's hand, then got bored and started destroying this chair:

Wagon wheels, of course:

Mama would LOVE to have a set of these dishes:

Home made bonnets:


and home made dresses:

CHEESE!!!

I wanted to buy everything in the store: