Finally Complete! YAY!

Today, I delivered the final product to the ever-patient K. I'm so happy this chart is now with its forever home!

So. The numbers were done and it looked liked this!


After all the sewing was done, I pinned together the front, the batting, and the back. I first sewed the top, then the sides, being mindful of leaving space for the wooden dowels to be strung through the top and bottom.



I miraculously had no problems with the long sides, especially one part of the fabric having a straight edge guidelines for my quarter inch seam. The other side wasn't as even..





Unfortunately, having to adjust the pins as the linen shifted meant that I knew my stitching was getting crooked. After I did the three sides, I turned in right-side out and ironed the seams flat.



Then I put the top dowel in and put it up. Wow, it was huge. Don't look too closely, though.. there are some crooked parts..!



Then, to finish off the bottom, I had to make sure the fabric was tucked in. I did an inner fold, then straight stitched the bottom, making sure the bottom edge distance to the 1 foot mark was indeed 1 foot. This was a little difficult, as the back piece of linen had shifted and I was a bit short. I tugged at it a little and was able to tuck it in, and did a quarter inch seam from the edge. I forgot to take pcitures of this, woops. I used pins almost every other inch to hold it all together, then ironed it flat when I was finished. Then I inserted the bottom dowel, which serves as just a weight to keep the bottom hem flat. The last step was cleaning up the frazzled applique edges, lint-rolling the front and back, and then a final ironing.






It was finished!!! I found an old empty kraft roll and began rolling the chart around it.. it started to wrinkle and the layers started to separate and shift.. but what can you do?!!! so I rolled it rightside out so the back piece of linen would be the one to wrinkle. And topped it off with a half-assed, crappy wrapping job to protect it during the delivery transaction. *eye roll*

Well, turns out K likes it! Yes! Success! I'm so happy that she's happy with it. :D

Almost done!

I can't believe I'm almost done! I got a better close up of the flowers and leaf area. I will clean up the edges, lint roll, and iron the piece at the very end.



So after the grasses and flowers are sewn on, the last piece was the cute little velvet red bird! I ended up hand stitching this on with an overcast stitch. I had thought about using a blanket stitch, but thought it might be too messy-looking, especially if the stitches would come out unevenly spaced. The overcast stitch (which I often get mixed up with the whipstitch) came out nicely on the bird, and you can barely tell it's stitched on! :)



Here's a close up shot:



Next, I had an internal battle about whether or not to sew on the numbers by hand or by machine. I measured where to put each foot mark and pinned each number down. I decided to machine sew with a very tight straight stitch. Worked out pretty well!



Unfortunately, the five foot mark cut into the cloud. Visually, it's kind of awkward. But this is a growth chart after all, and I couldn't have the 4 foot mark be the last measurement of a 6 foot tall chart. That would look even more awkward. If K decides she doesn't like it, though, it will be easy enough to remove.



Next... Adding batting, sewing front, middle, back together... adding dowels to the top and bottom... a rope to hang from... a bird eye... and we're DONE!

..and the sewing begins..

So now that everything is prepped and ready, the real sewing begins. Time to put everything down on the linen... permanently! The tree trunk is the real foundation of the piece, and it's the biggest, so it goes down first. I pinned the bottom, smaller part of the tree trunk down, and sewed that on first. Eeeee! And then it's on to the main part of the tree trunk. (and yes, the lettering is all straight except for two letters. Can you tell which ones? my dear hubby ricklet could ;) )





Yikes!! It goes down and can't be undone!



Once the shock wore off, I picked it up to look at it. Wow! It really is a big piece of work! It'll be quite impressive when it's finally hung up. :) I never realized that linen is difficult to work with as a base (satin is much more difficult, though) and had to be careful not to stretch/move the linen as I sewed. This was a recurrent problem throughout all the parts, especially the grass area, so I hope I won't have lost any "data" on the edges or extra crumpling when I sew up all the sides. Next, I did the big puffy cloud, and then began pinning down the branches and leaves.



I first sewed the leaves down individually, then added the branches on top to overlap the leaf edges. Again, not stretching/moving the linen here with cotton pieces pinned down was a task in itself. And as this part of the pattern was in the middle of the whole piece, I had to roll the top and the bottoms and maneuver them around the sewing machine. Too bad sewing machines can't sew multiple directions without moving the cloth.. or can they??



So then it's on to the grasses. I layered 6 grass section in every-other-one fashion so each blade of grass pattern shows sometime. This part was hard because the grass being at the end of the fabric meant I had to roll the rest of the whole piece and turn it around the needle as I sewed each blade of grass. It looks very cute, though, and almost every stitch is perfect. Almost. Then I added the stems for the flowers and the leaves on the biggest flower. And of course, because this was practically the easiest to sew because the stitching is straight, I got my thread caught three times and broke a needle. What gives! Then i pinned and sewed down the flower petals. They came out a little crooked, unfortunately. I had planned to make the flowers appear to be blooming from right to left, but the two bigger blooms look almost the same size. I forgot to take pictures of this whole process (d'oh!) so here's what the finished part looks like.



What's left, you ask? The big red bird and the numbers, of course! :)

Continuing: Growth Chart

So, continuing on:

These are the grasses that cover the whole bottom of the chart. I think I cut out 5 or 6 of these babies.


This is what it started to look like, laying the pieces down with templates:


Next, I tried my hand at embroidering K and her cute hubby T's initials in a heart on the tree trunk. The wool fabric that we bought wasn't as long as it was wide, so the tree trunk is made of two pieces. I made little rough drafts of the embroidery:





and then the real thing:


It's not the best or the most even. But it sure does look handmade! ;) Just don't look too closely!

Next, K chose a font for the lettering. We went with Baskerville Bold. I printed and cut out the lettering and placed them on the tree trunk. Pretty cute! (At this point, nothing is sewn down, just in place)



I cut out each letter on our chosen pink fabric with my super sharp, super tiny Cutterbee scissors. I ironed on interfacing on the fabric, pinned each letter template down, and then cut out the letters. This took me one whole afternoon!



Next, since I was on a roll with the lettering, I decided to do the numbers. It IS a growth chart, after all! We must have measurement guidelines! So I ironed on interfacing for the dark pink and light pink fabrics, cut out the numbers from the template in Baskerville font, and eyeballed a good size for the dark pink background. Over a couple of weekends, I handstitched the pieces together.



By this time, it's April and my wedding anniversary. We took a weekend trip with our new dog up to a house in the mountains and while we were there, I began to handstitch the lettering onto the tree trunk. What a relaxing weekend! Hunkering down, walks and hikes, bbqing on the patio, movies all night while sewing... *sigh* It took me a few weekends to finish the lettering.



More to come....

Growth Chart: An Introduction

In December 2010, my friend K asked me to create a growth chart for her little 1 year old. I ecstatically accepted the challenge.

In January 2011, we went to a fabric shop and spent a couple of hours picking out the best fabrics for the best growth chart to go with the best pattern she'd found.

It is now AUGUST 2011, the baby is 2 years old, and I'm embarrassed and quite ashamed to say that I'm not done sewing it yet.

BUT.. as an appeasement (to myself, as K has had interminable patience with my haphazard scheduling and lazy ass) I took pictures along the way and can now post a few of them.



The finalized product is about 6 feet by 2.5 feet. The first thing I did was wash the fabrics in Woolite, except for the brown wool. I think wool is dry-clean only, yes? So to be on the safe side, I only air tumbled the wool to freshen it up. After everything was washed and dried, I ironed it all to get nice and flat fabrics. I measured and cut the linen, and eyeballed the tree trunk.





I had made enlargements of the pattern pieces and cut them out, eyeballing the proportionate sizes for the size of the overall chart.



I then added interfacing to all the pieces. Unfortunately, I think I bought the wrong kind; I was looking for double sided interfacing, but only purchased single side. For those of you who know applique, it can be a lengthy process to "turn in" the edges, the traditional, "real" way. Another cheater way is to add interfacing paper, "turn in" the edges, and then remove the paper. I cheated mucho by using iron-on interfacing. Which worked.. except for when it came time to sew the pieces down and the single sided interfacing made my pieces slide around. Boo. I consoled myself with the fact that now it looked handmade and not machine appliqued. ;)



I tested on scrap piece of linen and green cotton fabric for the leaves to determine what stitch to use and the tension/setting to use for the best stitch. I'm still in the process of learning how to use my Singer "Simple" sewing machine that my mother-in-law gave me for my birthday a few years back. "Simple" is relative; and my machinery skills are amateurish at best.





Now, these pictures are dated the end of January 2011. So we have quite a ways to go on this project... It's supposed to kinda look like this:


How's that for an introduction? :)

New Projects and Deadlines.. OH NOES!

It's the first rain of the fall season. So far the house is holding up alright, but the skylight drips water every once in a while.

So the place is still unpacked! How embarrassing. So Ricklet and I are shooting for a holiday party to get our act together. And so, a new project is born! :) And of course an accompanying checklist of things to do, in order of importance:

* Replace kitchen sink fixture (it's leaking)
* Organize clothes
* Buy patio furniture cover
* Measure living room, hypothesize largest sectional sofa
* LCD 40"+ and media stand
* Measure dining room; buy dining room set - 6 chairs
* Lights and fans in bathrooms on different switches (3 sets)
* Clean out garage, sweep and organize. Buy garage shelving units.
* Bathroom accessories for bathroom #2
* Bookshelves and carts for craft room

Special subproject, bathroom #1:
* Replace sink fixtures
* Sand and refinish cabinets
* Replace lighting fixture
* Sky blue paint
* Furniture

I'll add more to this list soon.... Time for Beanie's birthday phone call soon... and maybe Dland tomorrow!

Hello, March!

I recently received an RSVP to the wedding whose subject line was: "RSVP to 54 days and counting!"

It pretty much freaked me out. There is still so much to do and although I'm ahead in some tasks, I feel behind in others. I mean, I haven't even spoken with the DJ yet! And I still don't know how much left I owe on our flowers! All these phone calls... really, that's what's been keeping me up at night.

It's difficult finding time to do anything anymore. At work, I can't concentrate on work. I keep thinking about what's up ahead for the weekend, what else I need to buy, what I need to finish crafting, etc. And although I have lists, I have many of them in different spots with unsynchronized information on them. Rick just reminded me that we still have to buy NASCARs for the cake! It had totally slipped my mind! And then tealights and candleholders from IKEA! I forgot about that too!

So now it's already March, and I finally bit the bullet and contacted a makeup artist for a trial run. I don't know what keeps me from doing these things in a timely manner... inability to commit??? I think so.

We ended up deciding to do fake flowers after all. (I know, I know, *GASP*). I spent so much $ on floral stems at Michaels to make the pomander ball, but I had so much fun doing it. I thought it looked beautiful and real. Then as I did a bit more research into making our personal flowers, I discovered a website that got a lot of good reviews for their fake stems. And they had green cymbidium orchids too!! So I ordered a sample, and liked most of what I got. They looked so much better than the ones I got at Michaels, so now I can tell the pomander ball looks really artificial. Oh well. So I put in the whole order for all of our bouquets, boutonnieres and corsages. It probably came out to about $200 for everything, but I'm returning some stuff and buying some extra stems. I don't know what the heck I'm doing as I'm crafting these bouquets and stuff, but I think they're coming out pretty good!! Here's what I've done so far:

Bridesmaid bouquets: green confetti rose, green cymbidium orchid, onion grass, and rose leaves.


Groomsmen bouts: mini green cymbidium orchid, rosemary, and onion grass.


Grandmother corsages: open antique rose and pink beauty bud, onion grass and rose leaves.


I started the matron of honor bouquet that is similar to the bridesmaids' bouquets but includes calla lilies, the mini green cymbidium orchids, and white open roses that will be used in my bouquet as well.

Things to do to add to the List(s):
* finish Snoopy's tux
* buy rhinestone pins for bouquets
* wash scoops and tongs, tie ribbons
* IKEA for tea lights and candleholders
* order gift cards for bridesmaids
* NASCAR cars (Target)
* baptismal certificate (gotta go downtown)
* marriage license
* embroider hankies for bridesmaid bouquets
* order candy and arrange for pickup
* fill restrooms baskets (trip to Walmart)
* kids' packs (Walmart, Michaels, OTC...)
* buy flower girl's dress and Bella's dress
* find picture of me and mom, rick and his family
* scan/color copies of photos for photo montage. make photo montage!
* order personalized informals, buy generic Thank You cards for use until then
* reserve rooms for attendants
* not to mention all the paper details: programs, escort cards, menu cards, signs, instructions, etc.

March 10: Trial makeup/hair appt

March 13: Details appointment at reception site!

March 28: Bella's bday party!

April 4: Bachelor/Bachelorette parties

So... lots to do.. this weekend we'll be visiting my paternal grandmother and giving her the invitation in person. I just hope no one's beat us to the punch since all the invitations went out.. and she thinks we're not inviting her or something. Well. Just two more days... then we can get that taken care of.

And then start the workweek all over again.... when wedding plans have to be put on hold all day..

Congratulations (!) and Another List

First off, I'd like to say a big fat CON-FREAKING-GRATULATIONS to Annetterpee and Brian (aka Briannette) because they're engaged! A romantic proposal on Friday the 13th. What could be cuter?! At least it didn't end in any chainsaw massacres from any rejection. ;)

Now it's time for another checklist. Well, I suppose I should sum up how the past few weeks have been. From where I last left off:

Jan 24: We met with Andrea, the church wedding coordinator. She went over a list of rules and regulations, then said she'd be sending us the 6 page list via email. I'm still waiting.. and wondering if she's either forgotten to send it or it's just too soon to do so. I'm not sure. Two things I do remember from that meeting is that pre-recorded music is not allowed, and I have to wear a jacket or sew in straps on my strapless dress. I'm a bit confused by this because I've seen pictures of brides at the altar (of the same church) in their strapless dresses. I wonder if this rule is enforced.. and if not, should I even pay heed to it... and would I feel guilty for purposefully ignoring a rule?

Jan 25: Rick's surprise party. It was a hit! There were some minor confusions, anxious waiting... but when he walked through that door and we all shouted SURPRISE! it was all worth it. Thanks to Raul and Kathleen for opening up their home for us. Now we have all these cowboy and rockstar decorations we don't know what to do with. ;) We also have tons of Oreos left over from the favors. And I still have to find a frame for the signage board where people wished us happy birthdays.

Jan 30: Rick's birthday. I treated us to a couple's massage at Pho Siam, his first time. It was amazing and relaxing. Then we had a fatty dinner at The Boat, which has now reopened after a few years of being out of commission from being moved down the street.

Feb 7: The boys went in for their tux fittings. Rick went to pick up his junior groomsman, and the appointment was for 1pm. Guess what time he left? 9:45am. My man likes to be punctual. Early punctual. ;) Later in the afternoon I get a picture text of the jacket they all chose together. I freaked. They chose a shawl-style 1-button jacket. It reminded me of an awful 80s movie, and I told Rick as such. I didn't mean to be a hater, which totally caught me off guard, but I really just didn't like it. I couldn't see Rick wearing it on our wedding day. Of course, being the cool guy that he is, said we could go back and change the jacket just for him. I felt a bit guilty about this, since he doesn't get a say in what I'm wearing, why should I get a say in what he's wearing?

Feb 13: Cake appt at Rossmoor Pastries. It rained hard all day, but we went out for lunch, then headed over to Friar Tux so I could take a look at the jacket in person and decide together if we liked it. Ricklet put it on, I gave it 5 seconds to sink in... and said, OMG no. Please take it off. It's strange how a jacket can make a person want to vomit. This jacket just really rubbed me the wrong way, and I still can't say how other than I just. Didn't. Like. It. So we ended up choosing a traditional tux with notch lapel, 2 buttons, and no flaps on the pockets. When I told the salesman these details "we" were looking for, he smirked in a way that only a man who's dealt with detailed women before smirk. It wasn't a mean smirk, but a humored "this girl is one of THOSE kinds who knows what she wants" smirks. I wasn't offended, rather proud that I had the power to illicit such a knowing smile from a salesman. And from that point on, he told us detailed information about the different kinds of jackets that (some) guys just don't think to ask about.

We got to our cake appointment a bit early, but headed in. When we walked in, it looked like a regular bakery, with the giant glass-encased refrigerators, filled with sweet treats, and especially red and pink ones for Valentine's Day. The Wedding Cake Studio was off to the left, and we walked through the archway and saw lots of activity at desks where couples were having their consultations. It was nice to see that the place wasn't deserted. That means this place is good. We got seated right away and Maribel came to help us. She started filling out a form with all of our information, and pulled out a binder for us to look through of the different designs. It didn't take us too long to decide. We knew we wanted something simple without the "curtain" look in the frosting. Then we got to choose 4 different flavors in their lineup to taste. Rick chose them, and when Maribel brought the samples out, we dug in quietly but quickly. Mmmmm. We ended up going with something called the California Sunset, a lemon buttercream with raspberry filling. So tart and sweet compared the other flavors we'd requested to sample. When I spoke up about my Transformers toys that I wanted on the cake, Maribel just stared at me. I could see she was hootin' and hollerin' in the back of her head. But on the outside, she said, "ohhh... kayyyyy...." ;) Hey, it's OUR cake and I want toys on it! ;)

We were still too full for dinner, even though I'd planned on trying out a place called the Crab Pot. So we headed back in Friday rush hour traffic in the rain. Fun stuff. We made our way downtown and then headed through Chinatown, where we stopped to stretch our legs and buy those scoops and tongs for our candy buffet. We'd seen them before in the store but it seemed to early to buy them at the time, especially thinking about storing them somewhere with the other incoming wedding things. But now it was time.

Feb 14: Valentine's Day. I had planned to stay in and work on wedding stuff when my sister called me the night before and asked if I could go over to help babysit the Bihon girl so she and her hubby could go out for a Vday sushi lunch. I suggested even a massage too, and I wouldn't mind playing with the baby. :) Who would? She's such a good girl. I also needed to take a look at the shower favors and see what I'd need to do with them. And I need to pick up Jen's dress at the Alfred Angelo. To sum up, it was a pretty long day. I got home around 6:00pm and I don't even remember what Rick and I did. In-home dinner and movie? Most likely. :)

Feb. 15: Pajama Day. Since I was out all yesterday, I decided to stay home and really do crafting. I worked on the favors literally all day, stopping only to have a quick TV dinner lunch. Rick went to play golf and watch the Nascar race at his parents' house and didn't get home until after 6pm, and I was still on the floor doing stuff. Oh wait, no, by the time he got home, I was quickly but carefully putting labels on the candy buffet bags. And I was still in my pajamas from the morning. Rick was so not turned on. ;)

Coming up:
Feb. 21: Wedding shower. It's going to be about 70 people with a Hawaiian BBQ theme. We're having a whole lechon (roast pig), Margarita man, and the colors are aqua and brown. We're also going to try to go to Montana's afterward and kick up the dance floor, if we're not too tired. Also going to hand out invitations so we can save $30 on stamps. :)

Feb 22: Take gifts to condo. (shh)

Feb. 23: Final fitting at Alfred Angelo at 3pm. Which reminds me I should ask my sister and Carina if they want to come meet me there.

March 7-8: Mom wants to go to SD. No reason, she probably just wants to have a last trip with me before I'm a "woman" and she can give me a bit of a lecture (she calls it guidance) before the big day. She's changed this date a few times already so I haven't booked anything just yet. It might just change again.

March 14: Details appt, Reception Site, 6:00pm

March 28: Bella's Bday party
March 29: Bella's FIRST birthday!!!

April 4: Bachelor/bachelorette parties

April 11: Passover Seder, 4:30pm

April 15: Final Appointment, Reception Site, 7:00pm

April 23: Church Rehearsal and rehearsal dinner, 5pm

April 25: OMG!

There will probably be more things to do... but for now, that's all that's on my calendar. And it's good enough.

Things I still need to do:
* Make personal flowers (we're going the fake route no matter what y'all say or think)
* Get marriage license
* Assemble kids' favors
* Get started crafting menu cards, escort cards, signs, and programs
* Buy flower girl's dress
* Contact DJ
* Order candy for candy buffet

This was a long post. Now I gotta get to work!

Confessional

(Melancholy music plays in background)
Forgive me, dear blogspot, for I have let you down. It has been 50 days since my last post.

Things that have happened since my last post:
September 6: Bridesmaid luncheon at Getty Restaurant. I was disappointed with the service and the food. It wasn’t the first time I had eaten there, and all previous meals were excellent and service was attentive. Maybe it was just an off day. Boys had lunch at Gordon Biersch and managed to rack up a larger bill that we did!

September 13: Went with my sister downtown to the garment district and scoured stores for wedding dresses. We were unlucky. And hot. Headed over to Alfred Angelo and found the dress we’ve been looking for. Had Family Dinner for the Harvest Moon Festival and Ricklet was welcomed. :)

September 24: Took grandma to the LA Fair.

September 26: Met Pam the photographer and booked her! Spent the rest of the day at Glen Ivy, where Rick and I hung out by the pools, took naps, and got a massage.

Sept 30: Got ramshackled on my left fender by a car next to me when attempting to make a right turn in the right lane. I give my statement and am in good humor about it all.

October 1 morning: My insurance company appraisers came to look at my damages.

October 1 afternoon: Gave my statement to the other insurance company. The agent then told me “this is partly your fault because you should have looked to your left.”

October 4: Met up with friends at the First Cabin to see Pat O'Brien. Realized time passes faster when there are people there to chat with. Nursed one drink and came to the realization that alcoholic drinks are now an undesirable beverage to my body.

October 7: Received a letter from the other insurance company stating that I am 100% at fault for failure to yield to their driver, who was "first in line to make the turn." MY BIG FAT A$$ SHE WAS FIRST! (*#$(&@!*&$%*&@!!!!!!!

October 8: Case goes to subrogation.

October 10: Tried on my Alfred Angelo dress again with mom, who racked up the potential bill with rhinestone clips, veils, tiaras, crinoline, you name it. Didn’t pay a dime yet, though.

October 12: Attended Raul and Kathleen’s baby shower and feasted on soft tacos made fresh by the catered taco guy. With "all the fixins" as Rick called it. ;)

October 14: Hooky day at Disneyland for my sister’s bday and Bella’s first trip EVER! This is what she looks like now...


October 18: Ordered our invitations! Checked into to Hotel Menage in Anaheim, lounged by the pool, watched clear cable TV channels and had the BEST steak ever in their restaurant, K’ya. Seriously. BEST medium-rare flat iron steak I’ve EVER had.

October 19: Woke up when it was still dark (well, I didn’t really sleep) and got ready for the CHOC Walk at Disneyland! Saw lots of characters, walked at a leisurely pace, and tried not to cry when we saw walkers we met last year whose child they were walking for had passed away this year. Read an article mentioning Janelle's Bells.

Things that I should have taken pictures of to post, as this WAS initially supposed to be a craft blog, after all:
1) Bridesmaid luncheon invitations – printed on cardstock with fun daisy font, finished with fun punched corners, mounted on yellow daisies paper, inserted in ~9 x 5" envelope, yellow daisy sticker on back flap.

2) Engagement brunch invitations – printed on Bazzill red scrapbook paper, mounted inside folded 8.5 x 11" gunmetal gray Bazzill cardstock, front cover design printed on silver cardstock and mounted on pearl Bazzill cardstock, finished off with matching eyelets.

3) Beginning of ring bearer pillow – sage green shantung base with darker green shantung used as ribbon for pillow. Re-design is in progress as the beginnings of sewing the "ribbon" on the pillow by hand revealed that a blind hemstitch was necessary and therefore way too difficult.

Coming up:
October 24: My clothes will visit the laundromat, and the apartment will be re-introduced to Miss Lysol and Mr. Vacuum.

October 25: Scrapbook Expo in Ontario with my sister.

October 26: Engagement brunch for immediate family at Castaway Restaurant in Burbank.

Not to mention work and extra projects, but THANK GOD I’m not in school this quarter!

Is it time yet? Can I send them??

So this past weekend, while out at a birthday party in the scorching heat of April, I found out that one of Rick's aunts reads my blog (hi Auntie Lola!). Now the pressure's on to post good and interesting stuff and not just ramblings of my unkempt mind. Sort of. ;)

My envelopes and embosser arrived today! I was so excited that I ripped the boxes open and started punching away and assembling. I've only made about 20 STDs, and half of them (the first half) I decided are substandard compared to the rest. So I don't think I'll be sending them out. Too bad. Such a waste of good paper. They're off center and the punched holes are too close. Anyone will tell me they're fine and to send them out anyway. So maybe I will. To those who might not notice. ;)

The embosser is my new favorite toy. Because it's customized, the envelopes look like we've had them professionally printed. Now if I could just master my handwriting skills... I've already addressed a few of the envelopes in a very fine point brown pen (this includes you, Auntie Lola). To those people, I apologize for my awful penmanship. As for the rest of them lucky ones, they'll be getting clear, computer-labeled envelopes. :) Then they'll really look professional. AHAHA!

The envelopes aren't as good as I had hoped, but they'll do. The color is pretty close to the right shade of sage, and when you order this kind of stuff online, it's hit or miss with the quality and color you expect.

I'll be sending out the STDs soon enough. I realize (again) that we're not even 365 days and counting yet - no need to rush the STDs. I hope to patiently hang on to them until July or August. *sigh* But it will give me some more time to hum and haw over whether or not to send out the slightly retarded STDs that people will just throw away anyways.

List of reminders for this month:

April 19 - Kathleen's bday party
April 25 - 27 - San Diego! Every year, Rick and I plan a mini-vacation the last week of April; a weekend getaway to celebrate our anniversary (April 30). And this year, it's a very special weekend because our wedding date will be exactly one year from then. :) Kind of a pre-wedding anniversary / last trip of our boyfriend-girlfriend relationship. And it's all coincidental because we booked our trip before we booked our wedding date.

There should be more reminders. But I can't remember them. Darn.

Gotta finish my homework before we go down to SD. Which means I should finish week 2 early this week and start on week 3 by Saturday.

Pictures of Isabella to come soon. Actually, I can post this one that I really like. This was taken just a few hours after she was born. Of course, she's already grown a foot and a couple of pounds, but she still kind of looks the same. ;)



I'll post a REALLY cute picture of her as soon as I get my brother in law to send it to me. It's totally frickin hilarious!

STD time...

No, I don't mean it's time to visit the doctor. It's time to post about Save The Date cards!!!! In wedding lingo, they're called STDs.

It's about time that I post some pictures about my crafting. I've made a couple of grocery totes, but no posts or pictures. So now that I'm on to paper crafting and will take a long time doing each set, here's the first of many wedding-related posts to come.

So I've had a lot of ideas on how to make my STDs. With all the DIY sites and projects as well as commercially printed ones, I ended up with something quite classic. And easy to do. I went through a bunch of ideas and formats, and although the ones I ended up making weren't my finalized ideals, they're much simpler and easier to make.

Here we go. My pictures aren't that great...
In progress...


My STDs consisted of a brown textured cardstock layer, then a printed sage green floral scrapbook page layer, then a printed layer of vellum, all tied together with a brown bow. Oh, and I attached a magnet on the back. :)

Here's what it looks like underneath:


I originally used tracing paper, which printed beautifully, but after cutting it down to size, about 4" x 6", the paper curled up at the edges so I had to go buy a pack of vellum instead. I wanted to create the look of the vellum without using vellum because it's so much pricier. My book of Strathmore tracing paper was less than $4. The pack of vellum for 50 sheets was $17.

And the final thing (with the vellum turned slightly because of how it's placed):


Materials:
Strathmore textured brown 80lb. cover, 19 x 25 (cut 5 x 7 pieces)
Anna Griffin sage floral scrapbook paper 12 x 12 (cut 4 x 6 pieces)
Translucent vellum by WorldWin, inkjet printable 8.5 x 11 (print in 4 quarters)
Brown satin ribbon
Magnet strip (4 foot roll)

Cost per STD:
Brown paper $0.12
Sage floral paper $0.042
Vellum: $0.085
Brown ribbon: $0.01
Magnet: $0.11
Sage green envelope with felt finish, 70lb weight (coming in the mail from Envelope Mall) @ $12.95 per 100 = $0.129

So grand total cost for one STD: $0.496, which rounded up, is 50 CENTS!!!

I paid retail for the brown textured cardstock, the vellum, and the magnets. But the floral paper and brown ribbon were on sale at Michael's (you know, those 4 for $1 type sales!). The green envelopes were the most expensive because of the heavy felt finish, but also because they're size A7 (5 x 7) and no office supply store carries these special sizes.

It still takes me a while to create each STD because I'm just picky and meticulous about the sizes being just right, and making sure I cut straight with the rotary wheel and paper cutter is tedious and time consuming. But I have so much time, I'm relishing making each one perfect!!!!

Snaily McSnailersons

Meet Snaily McSnailersons. Camouflaged in leopard print, Snaily hopes to blend in with those fast cats and be able to run just as quickly.


Debating on whether or not to add a face... I tried some expressions, but they didn't look very good on this super busy print. Suggestions?? Send me your drawings of what Snaily's face should look like!

Crafting Time!

It's Friday, the last day of November! Sheesh, I can't believe December is already here. Sometimes things move soooo slowly... and sometimes the months just pounce on by.

So this is what I've been working on lately. Not my own designs except for certain embellishments and different uses of buttons, but it's always easier for me to follow someone else's rules than make up my own. It took me hours to create my own curious critter because I had to "design" it and I didn't know how.

Introducing......
my pals Jamie, Floopy, and Henri (from left to right). And an unnamed, half-sewn blue hippo.

Jamie is a crooked fellow. So crooked that he's confused about who he is. He thinks he's male, but he's such a bright fuschia pink with a girly blue and pearl bow that he questions himself. He's working on it. Don't judge him.

Floopy was never accepted in school. He tried really hard to fit in, but he's just a little empty-headed and couldn't keep up with the popular kids' drama. He's super fun to play with, but never count on him to be on time for the movies. Despite his seemingly neglectful nature, he's got a heart of gold and is very loyal once he makes a decision if he likes you (it may take a while to know where you stand, so be patient).

Henri, unlike Jamie, knows EXACTLY who he is and embraces being pink and striped. His self confidence is inherent in his French nature. There's no identity crisis here! His beautiful blue eyes draw others to him and his plump tummy just shows you how much he loves his French cuisine. He's actually thinking of enrolling in culinary school and becoming a fabulous (and humble) French chef. Mais oui! Bien sur!!

Sorry I didn't post about my other friends that I'd made a couple of months ago. Oh wait... I may just have a picture of them!!!

OOOH I DO!

Here are my friends, from left to right, who are ALL original creatures except for Pinkie:
Paul the mittened monster (inspired by Bloo)
Cheep the spherical blobule chickie
Pinkie the pig (yes, I know she's red)
Janna the nag
Teddy the bear snowman
Flora the snob

Their bios:
Paul is a distant relative of Bloo from Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends. He's so proud that Bloo has made it big time with his own tv show that Paul brags about him every chance he gets. Too bad the two have actually never met..

Cheep is the most serious one of all the bunch. He's small and round, but he packs a mean punch if you take him lightly. While socializing, one must stick to safe topics such as the weather and food, and never discuss the world's state of affairs. Not if you want to leave with your pride intact.

Pinkie is a happy piglet. She's got ADHD and it took all of her concentration to sit still for this group photo. Seconds after the picture was taken, she sproinged off the couch like a two week old puppy.

Janna is the oldest of the group. AHEM, excuse me, I meant, the most experienced and respected. She is the mother to all the crew, with her big red lips and uneven, blazing blue eyes, she can stop you dead in your tracks if you think you're leaving the house without your coat on. Reminiscent of the tough, no-nonsense diner waitress of yore, Janna is old-school traditional, and purposefully matches her paisley prints on a daily basis.

Teddy is proud that he fits in two genres: snowmen and bears. He's not so happy with his name, unoriginal as it is, and wishes to change it to something more debonair and refined. Like Rupert. Or McPaddington. He is decidedly British of some sort. Oddly enough, he was born in the United States, but he speaks with a Scottish accent.

Flora thinks she is the most beautiful creature ever made. Her flowery patterns and daisy print skirt are all that's needed for her to put that smug look on her face. She thinks she is better than everyone else and has won multiple beauty pageants, mostly by making other contestants cry and forfeit the competition. Unlike a couple of her counterparts, she is completely hand-stitched and pampers her stitches with spa treatments and other very expensive weekly procedures. People often mistake her for Janna, to which she haughtily retorts, "THAT bag?! Get your eyes checked, and apologize to me at once!"

Perhaps we'll have a holiday party soon and you can meet my friends in person. More to come later. :)

Winding down

This weekend I finally finished my app. YIPPEE!! I actually had a really good and relaxing weekend. :) On Saturday, Rick and I went to breakfast at our usual greasy-spoon diner, Ben's, stopped at the farmer's market across the street, and just a block away was the West Coast Artists' Fine Arts Festival going on in Downtown Burbank. We spent a good 2 hours walking the street fair, checking out the jewelry, paintings, and modern art ideas. It was so much fun! The end (or beginning) of the fair started right at the mall so we walked inside and browsed some of the mall stores there. I almost got an Old Navy coat since they're having a 40% off sale this week, but they were out of my size - and I realized the next day that I can't do math and I thought 60% of $90 was somehow $36 ( 9 x 6 = 36, like DUH) so of course, much to my surprise, it was actually $54 so good thing they didn't have my size. Stupid me. How am I supposed to do well on the GREs when I can't even do multiplication????!

Later that evening we went out to dinner with our good friends, Raul and Kathleen, to a Chinatown place that was supposed to be a jazz club, but they didn't have their jazz band playing that night. We ended up leaving and going to Hop Louie just around the corner for dinner, and that was pretty good. :) Stopped in a couple of those little shops that were still open, and then headed back to their place for some TV. Ended up watching many episodes of Robot Chicken, and I gotta say - that series is for someone with extreme ADHD. Someone like me. :) I enjoyed it sooo much and was the only one of us who didn't fall asleep from over-stimulation.

On Sunday I final-proofed my essay, whipped up my resume, and packed up my app to go. It's out of my hands now! This Wednesday I'm taking the day off to take the stupid GRE so hopefully that will go alright. I've been having anxiety dreams about the test, so I really hope I don't get a migraine that day. $140 is not fun to waste.

Things are coming along nicely. I'm happy that all my loose ends and busy weekends are winding down slowly, even as I try to find activities to do on the weekends. Perhaps next weekend I will finally be able to take Rick up to the Griffith Observatory. We can now park up on the hill instead of taking the shuttle, so I'm expecting crowds to be at a max.

Disneyland this Friday!! :) Maybe this time I will go on rides by myself while my pregnant sister patiently waits. She's having a girl!!

Recent craft ideas:
Mini origami crab and crane earrings. I have small gold foil paper (about 4" x 4") that will fold into small crabs and cranes. :)

Mini felt horses, giraffes, snails. The instructions I had been working from were a good, basic introduction to understanding the design and layout of bunnies and kittens. Now I can try to make my own favorite critters with the techniques I've learned.

Annette reminded me that Felt Club is coming this Sunday! I'm going to try to make it.

I've also just set up an eBay selling account and am trying to get rid of some of my stuff. Nothing great, really, just some new, old shoes. I love my high heels but sometimes they just hurt me too much.

Thanksgiving is coming up very soon....