polkadotbug

Let the Gasps Begin

Ok, I have been tagged by the lovely Amber of Amber’s Ambry.  Oh boy.  This is a slightly embarrassing one.  First I am to show a picture of something as I normally would.  For me that would be a clean, crisp, neat picture of one of my creations up close.  You can see her above.

For the next picture, you are to take a step back and get the full surrounding.  I guess we are supposed to make each other feel better knowing that everyone has a mess.  Mine is by far the worst, so I am not feeling it.

Yes people, I have a big mess.  I swear I am going to make it better soon.  Go ahead, take a look for yourself.

Oh my.  Do you think differently of me now?!  This is the creative room.  It used to be the playroom until Mommy decided to learn to sew and then needed a spot to go.  We haven’t quite shared the space so well yet.  I just moved into this room a couple months ago so organizing is on the way, sometime.

So, here’s what we have…

a.  Notice the laptop sitting on top of a rickety ironing board.  Amber, it’s your blog on that screen!

b.  Our newest (and fabulous) purchase.  A nice tv right in front of my face so I don’t have to miss my shows when I am sewing.  It only takes me double the time to sew now because I have to keep stopping so I can hear!

c.  Poor little dolly is still sleeping on the chair amongst all the mess.

d.  Boxes and baskets of stuff that goes with me to shows.  I haven’t quite unpacked since the last show or found a good spot to put any of this stuff.

e. It’s hard to see, but that is a rotting Osage orange.  Andrew bought it for me because a farmer told him it would repel spiders.  I am very afraid of spiders.  I think I can throw it out now that it is shriveled and rotting.  Isn’t he so thoughtful?  He is, except for the story he posted on his blog about me in my half delirious state, waking from an anesthesia episode.

f.  Yikes. This is obviously the largest issue.  This was a bookshelf full of cute toys.  Then I moved in and started pushing toys out of the way and cramming fabric scraps on them.  Mess, mess, mess…

The funny part about all of this is that the other half of the room is even worse. 

I am supposed to tag 2 people so I guess I’ll try to embarrass Shannon.  If she doesn’t have a mess with 4 kids then I should really be ashamed.   Caren, I can always count on you for a mess.  :) And it may even involve Carter doing something that should’ve been done on toilet, but wasn’t.

I think I’ll end this with my dear Penelope peacefully resting on my fabric.  This is all fabric that hasn’t even been cut into yet.  Oh the fabulous Andalucia.  I love it so much that I can’t even decide what I want to do with it!

Experimenting Again

I’ve tried yet another reversible dress style and actually really enjoy it.  This newest style reminds me more of a jumper. I made button holes in the front and then just pulled the strap through and knotted it.  I saw a similar jumper like this (pants thought) in a catalog and decided to give it a whirl on a dress.  It was my first time actually implementing button holes to an article of clothing so it was a very new experience for me. 

I love that I keep coming up with new ways of making a dress that don’t involve a zipper.  Zippers frighten me.  Maybe I will get to that point some day. 

This size dress was a tad big on Abby, maybe more 24 monthish, but still super cute.  The best part is that is also fits Molly as a tank top.  How cute over a shirt with a pair of jeans?! This article of clothing can serve multiple purposes and last several years. So long as my stitching doesn’t fall out!

Here’s the reverse side.  This is how Abby wants to be ALL of the time now. On her feet.  Any day now she will be taking off on her own.  She still won’t crawl though.   Our little munchkin will turn 1 next Thursday. 

Last thing for the night… I covered a few lampshades with some glorious fabric in response to the excellent reception my first lampshade got.  Let me tell you I get a headache trying to pick which fabrics to use.  I love them all so much.  This stuff is seriously stressful for me.  That and the fact that I have to make so many dumb mistakes before I get it right.  I am thinking of putting a few on Etsy and seeing how it goes.

What do ya think?

Slow Cookin' Pork

Today was a day of intense yard work.  My back is killing me.  I did a lot of digging which never hurts too much when you are actually doing it.  I wish someone reminded me of what I was going to feel like later.  Above, Molly and Abby hard at work in the grass :)

We have a nice sized yard and it has so much potential.  It just needs a bit (or a lot) of work.  I'll have to say that Andrew and I have the front looking pretty nice after a few summers here.  We're envisioning great things for the back yard and are trying to make that a reality.  I dug all around the pool we had put in last summer so we could add some rocks and plants or something to make it look a little more attractive.  Andrew didn't want the pool and I insisted on having one because it is something I always wanted.  To him it's an eyesore and extra work that he didn't sign up for (ok, that might be partially true).  I promised that we would make it worth it and the kids and I would have so much fun with it.  I still promise that we will as soon as we figure out how to warm the water. I was 7 or 8 months pregnant last summer when they installed it and it's located under a good number of large shady trees (Andrew trying to put it in a location that wasn't so obvious).  I love you Andrew!   I was so large and hot and really did try so hard to swim in it.  The poor baby in my belly would freak out as soon as I got in.  Could either be because she was freezing or losing oxygen because I couldn't breathe the water was so icy.  Poor Molly always wanted to go in and she would swim around with her teeth chattering and lips turning completely purple.  We are having some tree trimmers come this week to see what we could do about making some room for sunshine to hit the water. 

About the pork.  While we were busy digging, there was some pork stewing in the crock pot. The pork is from Duink Farms of course.  He is a local farmer who has naturally raised pork, chicken and lamb.  He also has some really good veggies.  Andrew and Molly go almost every Saturday morning to get eggs and whatever else we may need.  A couple of times Mr. Duink had some pork in a crock for folks to try and Molly absolutely loved it.  She would go each week in anticipation that he might have it again.  Funny thing for a 4 1/2 year old to look forward to, eh?  Well, they bought the pork (uncooked of course) and we tried to replicate Mr. Duink's slow cooked pork here today.  We just stuck it in the crock pot with a sliced onion, garlic and some diluted bbq sauce.  Molly also put in some salt and pepper because it "definitely needed that" (she is such a cook already).  She didn't really understand the concept of it needing to cook all day.  Every half hour I'd hear, "you think the pork is ready now?" 

Before she went to bed tonight she had a chance to try some of it.  I think it was a success.  Andrew just shredded the rest up and we'll have sandwiches tomorrow.  I am typically not a huge fan of pork but I do like pulled pork with barbecue sauce. 

Man, this is bad.  Andrew has the food blog and I am writing about food!  This goes to show you how little crafting I have been getting done. 

The Kitchen All Dressed Up

These are the new cushions I made for the kitchen nook.  This is where we eat pretty much every meal.  We painted the kitchen months ago (and by "we", I mean "I") and it had green and brown cushions that I had originally made when we moved in 2 1/2 years ago.  I was itching to make cushions and curtains to match the new color.  The kitchen was one of the last rooms we painted because it wasn't completely hideous.  Our bedroom was the first we painted because it was definitely hideous.  It was sponge painted a terrible maroon/mauve color and all of the window and door trim an even more disgusting teal.  The kitchen was an off-white color.  We could live with it but didn't really enjoy it.  White walls and I do not get along.  Well, in my house anyways.  I love what some people can do with a white room but I prefer color in my house.

I will admit that I did a quick sloppy job of the cushions, but still love them because they match the "rustica" walls.  Then I used an old bedspread to make some quick pillow covers.  I just left one side open with a ribbon tie to close them.  I figure ivory at the kitchen table is just asking for food and stains to jump on it.  With one side open, they were very easy to make and even easier to remove and wash them.  It doesn't help that Molly is real good at tossing and spilling.  It's very tough to keep a 4 year old still on a cushy bench when they're eating.  The cushions have a strange way of making you want to roll around and get cozy while you're eating.  There have been times when we had to ban her from the bench and stick her on one of the chairs.

Of course I didn't buy quite enough fabric so the valance is not as full as it should be.  Hey, it matches and is done so that is a huge accomplishment for me.  I really wanted to get it all done so I just went with what I had instead of going to get more fabric.  There's Tina cutting corners again!  Anyways, we are happy with our new kitchen color and matching fabric!  Did I ever mention that I love Andrew and his camera that has an amazing ability of making everything in the pictures look better than they do in real life?!?! 

Oh, and the cool bowl on the table.  I got that the Indie Market from Buffalo Plaid Pottery.  Trisha is an extremely friendly and talented gal who makes amazing pottery pieces.  Andrew loved this bowl and commented on it at the April and May market so I bought it and gave it to him as an early Father's Day gift.  It's always easy to buy your husband gifts when it's something you really like too!!