Special Delivery - August

Here I am, ambitious as ever, and have told my Special Delivery Group that I'd be good for August and September. Ok, see the baby isn't due until the end of September, so I figure if I get them both done now, I'm covered. I just know that it'll be next to impossible to get anything done once baby is here, but I just hate missing out on the fun crafting-swappy-goodness. Well, fortunately my August partner has little kiddies, and I have a mostly finished Picnic Pack (remember the one I started and then decided I didn't like the fabric)...see where I'm going.

Oh the cleverness of me! Well it took about an hour to dig up all the parts and finish it, and I'm really liking it!


I think the reason I never finished it (other than getting different fabric for Bugaboo's pack) was because I didn't have any fabric for the straps and wasn't sure what I wanted to use. Well, I have a bunch of orange and yellow scraps from a Princess Daisy costume I made years ago (and yes, I made a Princess Peach one for my friend, and our husbands were Mario and Luigi; it was a pretty sweet Halloween) and they turned out just dandy.

I'm really liking the primary colour combos here. Added bonus: she has a little girl and a baby boy, so this can be passed down no problem. I'm really hoping she likes this!


It's not as clear, but instead of grommets this time, I sewed button holes. They worked fine, but I'm curious so hear how they compare over time. It's got a layer of water proofing fabric too, so it can be put down on the ground and eaten off of.

Well, I know what I want to make for my September SD, so I'm gonna try and get on it!

my crazy life - spring cleaning

It's only a few letters difference. Actually, I sometimes abbreviate it to mcl when I'm making note of things and didn't even clue in at fist that I was reading it as 'crazy'. Oddly enough, today has been slow and easy, which is really remarkable considering I've kept a two year old cooped up inside all this rainy day. He's probably still played out from yesterday, which was bright and sunny and indeed intense (but in a cheerful way).

Ah, my point. Well, it being spring and all, I'm in the mood to talk about spring cleaning, and what better time for a massive re-organization clear out clean up than moving time. Wait, before you read too much into that, yes, we're moving, but probably not until this fall, so it's easy to start talking about all the work because I don't have to actually do any of it yet. Along those lines, I was thinking that now would be a great time to organize all that work. And so it begins. I won't chronolog it all here, but from time to time as interesting point come up, I'll be sure to mention them. These are my first little pearls (I'd say of wisdom, but that is yet to be tested); probably will be my mission statement (jargon is one of the few elements of my business degree that I still get to use day to day) throughout the process.

(Not my kitchen, but it should be - I found this on Pinterst, but can't find it again to give you a link, sorry)

1. Create a purpose for every space, and a space for every need.



2. Have a specific place and use for every piece of furniture.



3. Decorate with things you really love, not just space fillers.

Simple, and perhaps a tad obvious, but like most things that when you've actually written them down I'm seeing how much of my home now doesn't fit with this. I think I've found a good place to start.

In other news, my May Special Delivery has finally been mailed out, and it was quite a challenge this time. My original plan was to bake some sugar cookies and fancy them up like no body's business. However, while it started well, I was about halfway through the icing when things just stopped working out. I had cheap Ziploc baggies so I couldn't use them to pipe with, which meant I had to use actual piping tools, but I only have 3 so I had to keep switching colours and it was wasting a lot of icing and not really coming together. So I scrapped that idea (oddly, my husband didn't seem to mind having to eat the cookies for me) and decided good old fashioned chocolate chip cookies would be a treat enough. Plus, I have a recipe for Browned Butter Salted Chocolate Chip Cookies I've been wanting to try. Yum. Sadly, these did not make the cut either because there's a threat of a postal strike, so I didn't want to send anything that might spoil if it gets left on a shelf in some warehouse for too long.

What I ended up with was my happy old fallback, sewing! I should really just stick with this one anyways, so fast, so easy and so much fun. My February and March SD were both sewing projects, firstly a coffee cozy (so you don't have to use the cardboard ones at Starbucks, or wherever) and then a knitting needle cozy (to hold all your needles; also, I love cozies, can you tell? I'm pretty sure I could come up with a need for them for anything).

Well, without too much blabber (oops, too late), I made her a little purse, from the pattern by Made by Rae, here. I skipped a few of the fancy bits, but I like it. I definitely recommend browsing Rae's patterns if you're into sewing; lots of good stuff in there.

Oooh, and the last thing I wanted to mention is that I've been thinking of selling some of my sewing projects, and tags and labels would be really nice for this, but I have no idea what to put on them. It has to be boy-girl neutral, as well as not clothing centred. Tall order, I know. However, I'll keep thinking and hopefully soon I'll have a clearer vision and maybe even some ideas.

ka-blamo!

So here I am blog-world! Lets see what we can do. Luckily, I start this blog at the same time I'm starting so many other things, such as picking sewing back up again, a new knitting project and (ba-da-da-DA) a garden!

It's spring and unlike in eastern Canada, where I grew up, here out west, spring is actually a warmer sunnier time than winter, and I can actually get my garden growing. So far, we're working with a raised garden (in an attempt to dissuade the bunnies), that my marvelous husband has built for me.

I've started filling with layers of cardboard, newspaper, hay, compost, and then more hay. The dirt is a bit of a holdup, because we're borrowing the trailer to haul it in, and so we are at the kind whim of our trailer-owning-neighbor.

However, my tomatoes are planted and looking very trim, and my onions are germinating in my entertainment centre (it's just so nice and warm (and baby-proof) in there). Oh, there is also a sunflower that Bugaboo has planted and diligently waters every day. I don't really know it's future yet, but I'm excited that it is growing anyways (he stands in front of it every time he waters it and says "grow, grow, grow").

Hopefully I'll have another project or two lined up for later this week. I'm in the final stages of knitting a baby blanket for my brother-in-law's baby girl due at the end of the month (which I've been working on since November, gaaaa), and I have some mischievous plans for new cooking attire for my Bugaboo. Oh, also, I have a craft group that once a month we all draw names and make a little something to mail out to each other. I just got my name for April and the wheels are a-turning coming up with a fun gift.

Well, I best get to work then!