San Diego Let me count the way...

I got to drive into San Diego yesterday, to help a friend, well I ended up helping two friends. That was wonderful. Yesterday I realized I left my Mojo in San Diego when I left there.

Driving into San Diego feels like driving home. The better half of my children's lives was in San Diego. I came into my own with my Style, Design and Sewing in San Diego. I haven't gone looking for a 'Friend' since I left San Diego. The one's you go out lunch with, you sit and scrapbook with (well the scrapbooking is an excuse to get together) all you really do is snack and talk. The one's you ask to join you in projects, that never really get finished because the project is not the point of getting together.

Some of my care taking responsibilities have been slowly diminishing. So this January there were more Goals on the table than usual. At the beginning of the year, I read many blogs that chose a word for there monthly or yearly goal, I think mine is a sentence 'Find Myself'.

That weird loudmouth crazy person is still here somewhere. Well tomorrow I start on the path to 'back on track' I've enrolled in a Life Drawing class. This is actually the 3rd time I enroll in a Life Drawing class, I've never had the courage to finish it. Drawing nude people just doesn't feel like art to me. I've been told that because there are so many under 18 students that attend this community college, nudity is not a big issue. I'm really hoping it's not. But if it is I have decided I'm not going to drop out of the class. I'm going to finish it, and I'm going to get a BA in Arts! Arts what I don't know yet, but I am on my way to a B.A.

There's no better way to find yourself than through education!

Wordless Wednesday

Kitten attacking Bo's (German Shepherd's) Tail.

Easy Tutu

I dread working with tule. I have avoided making tutu's for over 20 years, I made one for my daughter a long time back, I procrastinated it for so long she never asked me to make another one again. She did ask me to buy a few, which I did.

Lexi turns 2 and I wanted to make her something cute for her Birthday. The little purse I made for her 8 months ago is just to small. So I made her this one:

And my daughter being the Tutu loving person that she is. Said "She needs a matching Tutu." I did not want to make a Tutu, I hate the idea of working with a cylinder of tule gathering it into elastic, it just don't sound like fun.

After a couple of days of thinking I came up with this. I'll gather the Tule onto the same Ribbon I used and she can tie it on, Then I don't have to deal with gathering tons of fabric into a tiny cylinder.

So I cut a piece of ribbon 2 times larger than her waist measurement. (Note: if the waist is so small that doubling the measurement only give you 9 inches extra on each side, cut the ribbon longer - 9 inches doesn't make a big enough bow for a tie)

I used two pins to mark the waist measurement in the middle on the ribbon.

I cut 4 pieces of Tule that were 3 times her waist measurement long and 6 inches tall. I sewed a gathering stitch along the top of all the layers of tule.

I gathered the Tule to the correct size and pinned it in place.

I then sewed 2 rows of stitching to attach the Tule to the ribbon.

I clipped all my threads and tied a bow.

Sewing flat Tule is tons easier than sewing Tule in cylinders. My daughter wishes I would have come up with this when she was little, she wanted more Tutu's. Oh well, wisdom only comes with Age!

SBE Newsletter

I love the 3rd week of the month, That's when I get a Scrapbook newsletter with free layouts. When I first started doing Digital Scrapbook pages, I didn't understand them. Until my first SBE Newsletter. Downloading the freebies from that newsletter explained a lot. There are some Designers that only give you a jpg image layout and you use the selection tool delete the background where you want to put the picture and then you drop it in behind the layout.

And then there are some great Designers - that give you a folder, with each individual image in png. Oh I love those folders. That is were you can be creative in the design process. Take some from here put some there and type in some text, and really make it your own.

Needless to say I've just pulled out a large box of pictures to scan, and make pages. I just hope the printing options aren't going to get expensive.

Plaid Messenger Giveaway Winner

Thank you everyone for taking the time to visit my Etsy shop and telling me what you think of it. This was my first Giveaway, so I'm really new to the whole thing.

And the Winner is:

Shel - Send me your mailing address and I'll get it sent out to you.

Gift from God

I know that my sewing skills are a Gift from God. All of my paid sewing work has always been wedding dresses for an LDS Temple wedding.

When someone comes to me for a custom dress, we go over what she likes and doesn't like, pull pictures of what she had in mind and so on. When she leaves I sit and meditate with the images and thoughts (more like a very long prayer with no beginning or end). I always have to set a time limit for this, because as we know our timeline is not the Lords timeline. One of the reasons why I know my Gift is from God.

I then go about with life. At some point it all comes together in my mind and I attempt to illustrate it, fashion it, fabric source it and Cost it out. All before the appointment I have set. Luckily the Holly Ghost does know my next appointment date. If it gets to be 3 days or so before the appointment and I still haven't been able to put it together. I have to stop and think 'Why, What in my life is not allowing me to receive inspiration?' Another reason I know my Gift is from God, My Design inspiration seems to be Devine Inspiration.

Then the pattern drafting and the sewing of the Garment. The process started in my head so the knowledge of how to draft the pattern piece and sew the garment also has to come from my head. In school I learned basic pattern drafting and sewing skills, skirts, pants, dress so on... But the pattern pieces that I've come up with to put some of these dresses together I didn't see while I was in school. Oddly I have seen them in some of the old patterns and pattern books (why, because they dressed more modestly bad then.) Some of the construction techniques I've used to make a dress look like a Fashionable Modern Gown yet make it Modest, aren't anything I've learned in school or in a book. Most of the time they wouldn't work in any other sewing situation.

So in other words when I'm working on a Gown my Soul is involved in the whole process. This past week I did something that was exhausting to my Soul. They brought me a wedding dress to modify on Thursday and I deliver it last night at 10:30 pm. So they could get it cleaned and ready for the wedding this Saturday.

I have been communing with the Spirit for 6 days, My Soul is exhausted. This imperfect body isn't ready for so much Glory!

And like always - I've done a Sonia - the wedding dress went out the door and I didn't take a picture! Luckily I'm invited to the wedding and I can take a picture then.

Plaid Messenger Bag Giveaway

In an attempt to better our Etsy shop I have join the Etsy Success Team on Etsy and take on there Shop Makeover challenge. In trying to better the shop I need feed back. If you would be so kind as to visit our Etsy shops and tell me what you think in a comment below.

That will give you one entry to Win this Bag:

For more chance to win you can 'Like' us on Facebook, and comment below that you did/do so.

Or 'Follow' us on Twitter and comment below that you did/do so.

The changes I've made to the shop thus far:
1. I added a banner to both shops - what do you think?
2. I started a 2nd Etsy to move the PDF patterns there - What do you think?

I'll be working on images next, Any suggestions?

Any and all help would be greatly Appreciated. You have until Midnight PST 01/20/11 To enter. Winner will be announced 01/21/11

Fabric Pendant Necklace

You might remember my glee, when I found a blog post giving a secret to turning spaghetti straps. On this site : http://craftyendeavors.blogspot.com/2009/05/tutorial-how-to-make-button-loops-or.html

I was so excited because I had been procrastinating a project because it took me so long to turn some fabric I was working on, and I had to make it thick in order for the safety pin to fit in it. So when I found out I can make them as thin as a bobby pin. GLEE!

This is what We've got so far. I do the fabric My daughter does the rest. We made some really cute one's for Christmas Gifts.

Stephanie has some listed on her etsy shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop/NoBo

Kitten

On New Year's Day my sister was walking around the neighborhood and the babies heard a kitten. It was in a remote area no homes around, hiding in the bushes. My sister called me and asked if I wanted a kitten, I said no! She said she didn't want it, but if she left it there it wasn't going to survive. It couldn't have been more than 3 weeks old. She decided she was going to catch it and then call Animal control on Monday.

Well the catching was a bit more difficult than she thought! Actually she couldn't, so she called me back and asked if I could help. That 3 week old kitten had been living in those bushes for a while because it knew them well. It took 4 adults (Myself, my sister, my son and my daughter) and two little one's with good eyes! A lot of running digging in bushes and getting bit, yes It bit me!

It wasn't staying in my house after that one. My daughter took a picture and posted it on Facebook and it got a home before the day was over. Yay no kitten to deal with, I really don't think I would have been able to let Animal Control take it.

And then Yesterday, My husband comes home with this:

Needless to say we have a New Kitten, and It likes to cry!!! Ahhhh save me!

Wordless Wednesday

Yes, I know it's Thursday. It's been a rough week, and only getting rougher. I leave for Mexico tonight, taking Mom to take care of the taxes on her house. So I'll see you all next week, maybe I'll be awake by then, and not a walking zombie!

Desert Mountains

If you want to Roll on the floor laughing visit Java's Blog and look at the Tea Kettle.

Happy New Years 2011

I rang in the New Year - Sound a sleep. Yay for me, I needed it. We did watch the ball drop in New York at 9 PM our time, which meant my niece and nephew go to celebrate, and well that was enough for me also.

I think I'm still asleep, The very dead Christmas tree finally came down today. I have yet to pull out all my fabrics I had to put away so that we could use the Dining room. I need to wake up!

What have you guys done to get back into the swing of things?