Scrap fabric

Looks like a lot has happened since my last blog. No time to explain now, I have found the best use for scrap fabric and must share quick so I can get back to work.

I want to make a cat bed for my new cats and have only a little stuffing.  Jo-Ann's is close, but they did not have stuffing on sale. Paying full price for anything at Jo-Ann's seems dumb to me, so as I await the arrival of my teacher discount card, I ponder how I can be instantly gratified with some stuffing.

While the gratification is not instant, I am psyched about this solution. Scrap fabric plus the rotary cutter and mat equals fabulous pieces of fabric stuffing! Excited? Why yes I am.  I have been cutting fabric for an hour and may not stop all night.

Class

I started my first Italian class tonight through Palo Alto Adult Edu. I am very excited about it. My goal in the class is to learn enough Italian so I can give a speech at my wedding this summer. Looking forward to learning more. Ciao :)

My newly decorated wrist brace. I fell on a sweet mountain bike trail a while back and thought nothing of it It has been bugging me ever since and today I finally went to the doctor. She suggested wearing a brace for a few weeks to see if it helps. I picked the brace that was most comfy but it has the name in bright letters right across the strap. I of course had to decorate it, it was to lame, as you can see from the picture. Way better now, nothing a few fabric yo-yo's and some bike chain can't fix. :)

In an attempt to finish all the unfinished projects I have laying around my studio, I finished this skirt that was started a year ago. These were jeans that I had no chance of ever fitting into again. No worries, they make an awesome skirt.

And that is the cute belt I found at Goodwill for $4 that is worth $60 new, what a sweet find. Can't wait to wear my new skirt this weekend.

New Light Box

I made a new light-box today. I mostly use it for taking photos for my Etsy shop It was ridiculously easy to make, though I made it a little too big, I think it will last longer than my one. All it took was some white foam board and white duct tape. i simply taped the boards together, as tight as possible and cut the two sides. That was it. Now I am working on getting the light right.

Most beautiful Hematite Necklace

I am so excited to see Liz's reaction to her birthday present. Joe requested a necklace and earrings for her. I love how the necklace came out! I wish I had more pictures of it. I will have to take some of her wearing it. I used hematite, rose quartz, silver spacers, onyx, and white & gray cat eye. The hematite has been in my collection forever. This is the first time I have thought to use the stone in a piece. I usually see it all strung together, just hematite, with no other stones. This sort of bores me, maybe that is why I have never used it?
The stone has wonderful meaning to me. “It helps to balance out the emotions and energies between the body, mind and spirit.” I immediately think of Liz's calming aura, gentle nature and Yoga background . So I felt it was a good thing to incorporate into her necklace. You can read more about it here:
http://www.sobrietystones.com/resources/GemBook/Stones/meanings_gemstones_hematite.htm
It was fun piece to put together. It was late on Friday night., Noah and I had come back from mountain biking with Bob, Tammy and Dave. The Greek food we took to Dave's house was yummy and sitting around chatting was lovely too. When I got home I was very inspired, so I sat down and started putting some stones on a string and playing around with their order. I envisioned something dark, yet sexy and sweet at the same time, just like Liz ;). The grays, black and hematite mixed with the rose quartz, white cat eye and silver turned out to be the perfect combination. After a few hours of shuffling stone around, it was bed time.
Over some coffee in the morning, the necklace was finished, beautiful and I managed to snap a few photos before it was packed away, ready to be gifted. It was sneakily passed along to Joe when they visited later in the day. And hopefully, she will enjoy wearing it as much as I enjoyed making it.

Waste-0-Time-Interview

I had one of those interviews today, where you walk in and you immediately know the place is really not for you. But you are already there, so you may as well go through with it. You go into the office, "Hi, I am here for the interview" but can't help thinking, "nope, not the place for me."

"Hi." "Here is a paper for you to fill out," even though I printed your resume which has all the same information, we will waste a few more trees anyway. Oh and Let me show you to this tiny little room, with terrible florescent lighting, an uncomfortable chair and absolutely nothing interesting to look at. Relax and get comfy, yeah right!

Upon handing back the paper, "ok, I will be right in to talk with you." But first, your resume reminded me to tell the secretary, loudly so you can hear, that the ad should say "must be multi-lingual."

"Hi." This is when I should have said, "you know, I am just going to go, I do not like you, you do not like me, let's never work together, shall we." :) But no, blah, blah, blah, yes please call in a week so we can tell you we hired someone else. Um, no thanks.

Thankfully, this was all after a fabulous interview, where I was told "let's go sit on the couch where it is more comfy." Thank you wonderful play-based child care center. Thank you.