My Own Little World

Wristlet 2.0

2011-04-07T20:53:00.000-07:00

Here's my second attempt. I made it smaller and lined it. Unfortunately it's slightly too small, my phone barely fits, but frankly my phone is usually in my pocket anyway because I'm using the headphones. So I'm going to keep this one.

I also lined it. I really like it, although its not the best job.

I think the ones I make as gifts will be slightly larger and have the zipper along the top. That'll make them much faster to sew together.

Sewing Ups and Downs

2011-04-05T17:38:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately I still don't have a finished dress to share. I put it on this weekend to mark the hem and realized that its too big! I'm not sure how this happened because I know I didn't lose that much weight, and my instructor never noticed.
Now I have to pull the sleeves off and and take it in at the side seams. I'm worried the collar may be too big as well, but I'm not reworking that. There's only so far I'm willing to go ;)

Today I tackled a smaller project to make myself feel better. I've been needing a small purse/wallet for when I go to the gym and other times I only want to take my iphone and a few cards. So I decided to make a wristlet. I looked around online and saw a few tutorials and adapted those to my liking. I a few squares from my Sunkissed by Sweetwater charm pack. I absolutely love this line! Its so happy and pretty. I still need to purchase a little clip so I can attach alonger strap, but I'm beyond happy with the result.

This was such an easy sew and the fabric put me in a great mood. I may decided to make one for each of my sisters and maybe even my sister in law. Who knows. I'm just happy I finished something with relatively few problems.

My New Pressing Ham and a Groupon Addiction

2011-04-02T11:31:00.000-07:00

Rather than buy an ugly pressing ham I decided to sew my own. It was relatively easy and since my uncle is a carpenter saw dust was easy to find.

It's not perfectly stuffed so I'll wait until the sawdust settles a bit then open it up and stuff some more.

I like the fabric and its cute a fun. Now that I've got my own pressing ham I can finish my dress sleeves.

Today I also bought my second groupon in as many weeks. The first one I bought was $25 for $50 at the running room so I couldn't pass that up. Today's is for my favourite accessory store: The Plaid Giraffe. $20 for $40 of merchandise. I'm loving this lol. I get to shop at my favourite stores AND save money!

Nooooooo

2011-04-01T13:56:00.000-07:00

Spring break is nearly over! Boo! I've had a great week though. Not much time spent at home and I'm fine with that. Monday was spent at the dentists office and my last sewing class. My dress isnt' quite finished, but it should be very, very soon.
I honestly can't remember what I did on Tuesday....hmmm.
Wednesday I hung out with one of my sisters and did some shopping.
Yesterday was spent waiting for my husband to get out of a meeting, and more shopping.
Today I slept in and made myself an Easter/Spring swag.

I got the idea from A Pretty Life in the Suburbs and went to work. It came together very quickly and even though I had to vaccuum the feathers and leaves off the carpet aftewards I'm thrilled with how it came out.

I think I'll leave it out past Easter since it's so happy. I love how the colours look against the grey walls. In fact I have yet to find a colour I don't like against the grey wall.
The weather here seems to finally be improving and the mountains of snow are slowly begining to melt. The sunshine is making me very happy as always. The best part of our long winters has to be the springs lol.
I may even go for a run outside this afternoon. We'll see if I'm motivated enough to get past the front door ;)

Another Almost Finish

2011-03-26T10:27:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I managed to finish piecing together the top of the quilt I'm making for my mother in law. To be honest I didn't think I was going to like the fabric, but now that I'm seeing it together it is very pretty. It has an heirloomish feel to it. She really likes it.

This was my first attempt at making Flying Geese and I will never make them using precuts again. I've sinced learned a different way to do it and they come out much more accurate. Still, it was a good learning experience. The quilt is French Vanillla Rounds from The Pastry Shoppe by Joanna Figueroa. Today I will go and purchase backing fabric and start on the quilting. I have this week off for spring break so I should be able to finish it in that time.
Monday is my last sewing class so I should have my dress finished by then. I've gotten the lining in it and added the zipper and it fits! I love it! I've also decided that I am going to sign up for the next round of classes. The ladies that I'm taking the class with are also signing up and I enjoy chatting with them. I've also learned so much and if I can use it as professional development there's no reason not to continue. I haven't decided what I'm going to make yet.
My fashion studies class is also going well. My grade 10s are finally done ttheir first module and are happily sewing their first project which means that I can work on my own stuff while they sew. I'm putting together my blockapalooza blocks at school so I'll have a bunch of those to share once I'm done.
We also booked a Vegas trip for the summer as well. This will be our third visit and although we hadn't planned on going back some friends of ours suggested we go together. I'm looking forward to it and I'm picked up a Nervous Fliers Handbook to help me out a bit. I'm also excited about being able to take my Kindle with me, how silly is that lol.
Its also given me a weight loss goal because I want to be down at least another 10-15 lbs before we go.

Sugar Rush

2011-03-20T10:02:00.000-07:00

Wow, I haven't posted in ages. That's just an indication of busy I've been since the new semester started. Too many things going on at once. Fortunately our school open house is done and my sewing class will also be finished in two weeks. Of course I don't expect things to slow down much.
I finally finished Sugar Rush by Camile Rosekelley for my sister. Its been sitting almost finished for a while now and yesterday I managed to finish the last bit of quilting and the binding.
The fabric is Spirit by Lila Tueller and I think this is my best quilt to date. Its fantastic.

Its the first time I've done both free motion quilting and applique and I'm happy with the results.

I also love the binding on this quilt because it changes patterns. I must be getting better at binding because it only took me hours instead of days this time around.

And I managed to get one perfectly mitered corner out of four. That's an improvement lol.

How silly is it that I can't stop looking at that corner.
My dress is coming along really nicely as well. It looks very professionally done I must say, and I'm learning a lot. I should have that to share soon as well since I'm getting close to the finished product.

Blockapalooza Block 2

2011-01-28T20:54:00.000-07:00

Just finished my second block. I really like it, but I think the brown might stand out too much. Oh well, I am not doing it over again.
I ended up strip piecing instead of just doing all the little squares as the pattern suggested. I don't think I would have made it otherwise.

Now to wait for block 3 on Monday.

Two Smallish Finishes

2011-01-27T19:54:00.000-07:00

I finally took a few minutes yesterday to finish the binding on my "Mug Rug". I really don't like hand stitching binding, so I left the edges raw and just machine stitched it on. I like the way it looks. It'll be perfect for my desk at school.

My second finish is the first block for Blockapalooza. I'm using Spirit by Lila Tueller, the same line I used for my sister's quilt. I liked it so much I bought myself a fat quarter bundle.

I wasn't sure about the block at first, but now that its finished I am very happy with it. I also learned a new (and better) technique for doing flying geese. So easy. Now I can get started on the second block. The second one looks pretty easy, just lots of small pieces.

Exam Supervising & Blogging

2011-01-25T09:18:00.000-07:00

My second favourite time of year, January exam week(s). I'm a high school teacher in Alberta so that means for about two weeks near the end of January we have no classes. This is to accomodate the end of semester exams and the provincial diploma exams for our grade 12s. I love this time of year because I get to do what I love best about teaching, creating and organizing my teaching materials for the new semester that starts on Feb. 1. Its my favourite thing really, I don't know why I'm not a curriculum developer. Probably because I do enjoy actually teaching and interacting with the students as well. Thi stime of year just tends to be more relaxing and laid back.
The only thing that beats these two weeks is the June exam week because once that's done its summer holidays ;).

So, I'm sitting here supervising a 20 level exam and blogging. Don't worry, I can actually watch the kids at the same time I'm typing so I'm not neglecting my duties.

Yesterday I had my first sewing lesson of my 8 week class. It was great. There's four other ladies beside myself, and other than one they are all about my age as well. It's very much a work on your own project, work at your own pace type of class with the instructor guiding and assiting us. I've learned so much already.

The project I've selected to work on first is a dress by project runway. I'm making the version that's sketched on the bottom right.

It's a cute little dress that's sorta retro, but classic. I picked up some nice black/grey wool at fabricland and I'm really excited about it (in case you couldn't tell already). The pattern doesn't call for a lining, but I'm going to add one for comfort. I'm thinking it might be fun to do a bright pink lining or something crazy like that.
Last night I learned how to correctly measure and fit myself for the dress and layed out and cut out all my pieces for the dress itself. Next class I'll cutout the lining and then probably start sewing things together. I can't tell you how happy I am at the prospect of finally making something that might actually fit!

If this project doesn't take the full 8 weeks, which it probably won't then I think I might try a jacket as well. I'm trying to pick projects that test my skill level and will allow me learn lots. So far I'm very happy with the instructor and the class I'm in.

Well, that's all for now. I should probably get back to supervising! Toodles

Quick Post

2011-01-18T17:39:00.000-07:00

To mention the giveaway that Camille is having on her blog "Simplify". I adore her stuff !

A Mug Rug and A Lesson

2011-01-16T18:34:00.000-07:00

So I had hoped to share my finished mug rug with you, but it's not quite complete. For those of you who don't know what Mug Rugs are, they're basically little place mats for your coffee mugs and maybe a snack. I've seen them several times now and thought I'd try out this one from I'm Just a Guy Who Quilts. I love it. It went together relatively quickly as well. Here's what it looks like so far, sorry for the not so great photo.

I just have the binding left, but that will have to wait. When I went to unplug my iron after finishing the last seam on the front...this happened:

Yah.....not so happy. Yes, I heard all those lectures as a kid about how you shouldn't pull the cord out by the cord, but near the wall....No, I didn't listen..... Needless to say there were sparks, light and general mayhem. Fortunately the carpet didn't catch fire.
What did I learn from this? DON'T UNPLUG STUFF BY PULLING ON THE CORD! Lol, yes I will listen from now on.
In any event I won't be finishing the binding this evening because that requires an Iron. I'll go shopping for a new one tomorrow.

Block-a Palooza

2011-01-15T10:45:00.000-07:00

Good morning. Its cold and snowy here, no big surprise really, but inside its nice and cozy lol.
I am in a fabulous mood this morning. Mostly because I'm enjoying many quilting successes with my sister's quilt that I shared last week. The applique was a success and now I've managed to get the free motion quilting to work with my machine. I tried it before and it was a horrible mess. Turns out I have to leave the feed-dogs up on my machine. Not drop them like everyone says. It turned out fabulously and I'm excited to try more since it is much more fun than straight lines.

I am also having a lot of fun prepping for my fashion studies classes that I'll be teaching at the start of Feb. I'm even going to be taking some classes myself. I'm pretty good when it comes to sewing non clothing items, but when it comes to clothes I need practice. So starting on the 24th I'm going to be taking a 3hour class every Monday for 8 weeks to learn how to work with clothes. I can't wait!
I think I might also particpate in the Block-a-Palooza that's happing on line. It looks like it might be fun.

We'll see what the first block is like and then I'll make my decision from there. Until then stay warm!!

Sugar Rush

2011-01-11T21:16:00.000-07:00

This is the quilt I'm making one of my sisters for Christmas. Yes its late, but if you're getting a quilt from me its pretty much a given it won't be on time.

It's called Sugar Rush and it's from Simplify by Camille Roskelley. I adore Camille's stuff and this quilt is no exception. The fabric is Spirt from Moda, and I loved it so much I bought myself a fat quarter bundle to make my own quilt...some day.
This is the quilt all pinned and ready for quilting. I cannot tell you how much easier this part is when you have an empty bedroom to use. Especially one with linoleum. It was so much easier. Of course one day (hopefully) this will be a baby's room so I won't have it forever, but while I do I'm going to enjoy it. Now to figure out how I'm going to quilt it.

I'm still here

2011-01-09T11:31:00.000-07:00

I swear!!! Life has been very crazy since school started in September. We decided to move houses into one that was better suited for the children we may have sometime this decade. That took us way more work than we anticipated.
The house we live in now is the house my husband lived in until he was 8. His parents kept it as a rental after they moved and we decided to buy it instead of the one we were living in. (His parents sorta own that one too). Basically we swapped houses so we now live in (and own!!) the one that was a rental, and the house we lived in is a rental. Still with me?
In any event because our new place was a rental it needed some work before we could move. It took us a month of hard cleaning, painting, patching, and general fixing up before we could move in. We're in now though and we absolutely adore this place.
I'm weird when it comes to houses. I can usually tell right away if a place is "home". It took me a long time to feel at home in the condo I used to live in and our old house. In my parents new place and this place I instantly felt at home if that makes any sense. I love it! The neighbourhood is great (actually quiet!), the neighbours are fantastic and we are much happier here. It was worth all the work, but it was exhausting.
In the midst of our renos my Mom was diagnosed with breast cancer. We had a few weeks of fear, anger, sadness...you know all the usuals. The good news was that they caught it earlier and she elected to have a mastectomy on the one side. A decision that ended up being the right one because it would have probably returned had she just had a lumpectomy. This was the beginning of October and she is doing amazingly. We still haven't heard from the Cross Cancer which likely means she won't need radiation. I always knew my Mom was an amazing lady, but watching her go through this has just reaffirmed that.
We also had Christmas at our new place which was awesome. There were 16 people here! We would have never fit that many people in our old house.
Now I'm busy getting ready for our second semester. I won't have a prep this semester, so I'm a little scared, and trying to get as much done ahead of time as possible. I'm also super excited to be teaching Physics 30 and Fashion Studies. I can't wait.
I also did my first photoshoot last weekend! Friends wanted me to do their engagement shots, and while I'm not a pro I had so much fun. So I'll end my verbal diarrhea post with a few of the shots from that. Happy New Year!!

Done!

2010-08-25T10:17:00.000-07:00

Jon's quilt is finished! I am thrilled with the colours. This is also the first time I've used cotton batting as opposed to polyester and I am never going back! It's so much nicer looking and ridiculously easy to work with.

I went with something easy for the quilting. Just zig zags because I didn't want to spend too much time on it.

I'm hesitant to show the back because I made it too big and some of the medallions got cut off. This was also teh first time I stretched a quilt on carpet and I don't think I'll do it again because it didn't get stretched enough. I have a few puckers and stuff on the back as a result. Oh well, Jon is happy with it and I am to so I guess that's all that matters.

Check It Out

2010-08-19T12:08:00.002-07:00

Just a quick post to tell you to check out this give away over at Reanna Lily Designs.

My First Store Sample

2010-08-18T19:22:00.000-07:00

After much thought, debate and discussion with my boss it looks like I'll be able to keep my second job at the quilt store. She's being very flexible and understanding with the hours I can work and I'm happy. It means I can actually get my discount and take some classes.

Today I also got to make my first store sample, a 20 minute table runner. Nothing huge, but exciting none-the-less. It was really easy to make even though I wasn't sure about the point at first. I'm really happy with how it came out.

The best part is that when we're done with it at the store I get to keep it! I don't know if I'll get much use out of it this year, but I will next year.

I heart my porch

2010-08-11T10:16:00.000-07:00

The front porch is perhaps the only thing I really like about our current home. It has one of those cute little porches that runs the length of the front of our house. Since our house is west facing the front porch is the perfect place to enjoy my morning coffee in the summer. Sometimes with a little reading, other times I just like to sit.

We're going to be moving to a different house in about a month and although I'm excited about it and really don't like the house we currently live in I'm going to miss my porch. Although our new house has a lovely back yard area that I think will be just as awesome. With the added bonus of not having to face weird neighbours.

This is it in much need of some paint. (I didn't realize how bad it really was until I looked at this photo just now!) I love my metal urns!! My parents bought them for our wedding and they're fantastic, although a pain to move. The little chairs were a gift from my in-laws. They're not exactly practical, but they're cute. I'm not sure where I'm going to put them at the new place though.
Over the last week I've slowly been painting it and it looks so much better.

We're not putting the urns back on the porch for several reasons 1) They're heavy and if we're moving there's no point 2) I don't want them to put rust on my new coat of paint.

I think my love of sitting on the porch comes from sitting on our front step with my mom in the evenings growing up. My husband has commented several times on my obsession with sitting outside on the porch in the evenings. I just find it so calming and relaxing.
Unfortunately with the insane mosquitos over the last couple off weeks, sitting outside in the evenings has been pretty much impossible.

Process Post

2010-07-24T19:55:00.001-07:00

I am exhausted today. I worked at the quilt store today, and in addition to not being used to being on my feet for that long it was also our Christmas in July. Basically yesterday and today we unveiled all our new Christmas fabric and had some demos and such. It was busy! What makes it even more surprising is that it was warm today (mid to upper twenties) and we haven't had great weather. In any event my feet and back are sore! So this evening I thought I'd talk a bit about the quilt I'm making for my husband. I'm going to refer to some of the prompts from the process pledge.

Does the color palette come from somewhere specific?

I'm using greens and greys for this quilt. Those are the colours we picked for our house when we got married. They're nice colours and look good together even though they're not that common.

Is this quilt intended for a specific person? How did that inform your choices?

This is for my husband, so I've stayed away from anything that would be too girly. Basically no pinks, and no flowery type stuff. I also tried to pick a masculine pattern.

Are you following a pattern, emulating a block you saw somewhere, using a liberated process, or totally winging it?
I am following a pattern. I think it'll be a long, long time before I ever try to design my own stuff. If ever.

All cut (finally, there was a lot of cutting) and ready to go.

What are you hating about this quilt at this stage? What do you love?

The design I'm followiing is Urban Cabin (see previous post or the one before that for a link). Its a pretty straight forward design which makes it easy for me to follow. It would be really easy to mess it up though. The blocks are mirror images of each other so you really need to be careful where you sew each new strip.

Fabric all laid out so I can see all the patterns as I'm choosing combinations. (I'm also playing with the camera settings as I learn about that too!)

Did you push yourself to try something new?

Not yet. I might bet brave with the quilting, but I'm still learning so I'm not quite ready to try anything too new.

In working on the quilt, are you getting ideas about what you might want to try next? What? Did you sketch it?

No specific ideas, but I do know I want to try some new block techiniques for the next quilt I make. Or even learn to do applique. At the quilt store where I work part time I can take classes for free (plus fabric) and there's a couple that are geared toward an intermediate beginner like me.

I'll try and post some more recent photos of this quilt tomorrow, but I'm really happy with how it's coming along. Being that I'm off school right now it's also coming together relatively fast.

Those Other Finishes

2010-07-17T18:10:00.000-07:00

First here are those other finishes I was telling you about. I made myself a couple lanyards, one for my football ticket, the other for my keys. Jon is always complaining that I misplace my keys in the house, so I made a very obvious lanyard for them. I think I'll make one more to replace my school lanyard. As much as I love showing my school pride the black and yellow isn't the prettiest.

The second finish is a table runner for a birthday. I don't want to mention who just in case they visit my blog ;)

I have also decided to take the process pledge.

I think it's a cool idea and since I'm just starting a new quilt thought it would be good timing as well. I have some photos and stuff to share along those lines, but it'll have to wait. I have to go make myself look presentable since we're going out.

A Finish and Another Start

2010-07-16T22:28:00.000-07:00

I finally managed to finish the quilt I made for my mom (from my sister's and I) for Christmas. They paid for the materials, I put it together. It's only 7 months late, I figure that's not too bad ;) The binding on this one went on much faster (and less painful lol) than the last one I made even though they're the same pattern and the same size. I bought a thimble to do the binding, but can't work with it on. I think I need to get a soft finger cover thingy like they have at the school.

Its a lap size quilt and it'll be perfect for mom to curl up with in front of the tv. Especially in the winter. Although I have a feeling it'll end up on her couch in the living room. The quilting on this one was just straight diagonal lines. Nothing too fancy, I'm not confident enough to try much more yet.

I also got the fabric for the top of Jon's quilt on Wednesday. I love Fabric.com. I placed the order on Sunday and it was here on Wednesday! The prices are fantastic too. I'm making Jon the Urban Cabin quilt by Atkinson Designs. I like they're designs and the instructions are easy to follow. I'm doing it in grey's and greens and then there's a panel I'm going to sew into the front. It's one we found in Lethbridge and it has some buffalo on it. Of course Jon had to have it, but I told him I was going to put it on the backside os we can turn it over when company comes. I'm not a fan of widlelife painting type stuff.

These are the fabrics I'm using. The only one that won't get used is the Amy Butler on the bottom. The site listed it as quilting fabric, but it feels like decor weight to me so I'm going to replace it with a grey print.

I have a couple other small finishes to post, but the pictures are on my desktop upstairs and I'm too lazy to go get them right now, so I'll post them later.

Well, time for bed...have a good weekend all.

My First Wearable Top Finish!

2010-07-12T19:57:00.000-07:00

I spent the whole day working on the tank top below from New Look 6937. You can find my review of the pattern below. I don't mind the result, and will likely wear it which says a lot. There are a few things I don't like about it, but I'm happy with the result and I love the fabric.

Pattern Sizing: 10-22

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it? Yes

Were the instructions easy to follow? For the most part yes. The collar was tough though. A bit more explaination or even an additional illustration would have helped.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? The instructions for the collar. I also didn't realize that the sizing on the package was not the same as the pattern sizing. I originally cut out the pattern and realized it was 4 sizes too big. Fortunately it wasn't the other way around.

Fabric Used: Cotton print

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made: I may have to add a modesty piece to the front. While its fine when I'm standing or sitting when I bend over you can see clear down my top. I'm also going to have to take it in a bit in the arm pits.

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others? I will probably try some of the other views with this pattern now that I'm more comfortable with the pattern.

Conclusion: I like the top, and will wear it. There's a little pucker in the front that shouldn't be there and it's not perfect, but most of the problems are due to my inexperience with sewing clothing.

I photoshoped out my armpit in the picture for your viewing pleasure ;)

Cool!

2010-07-09T15:29:00.000-07:00

I decided to play around with Blogger's new template designer and I have to say I like the results. I love the level of customizability (is that a word?). I know html and all that jazz, but can't be bothered to design my own template, so this is great.

The weather here is finally warm ~25-27 oC. So I inflated my kiddie pool and have been spending my time between that and some sewing and cleaning. I bought a new kiddie pool this year (last year's got letf outside over the winter...oops), and its 2-3 times bigger so it fits more than just me. However, I am still the only one using it lol. I don't care, I'm nice and cool.

Hopefully I'll have one or two project finishes to show soon. I work at the quilt store all day tomorrow though, so I don't know exactly when I'll get done.

My First 5K Run

2010-07-02T07:10:00.000-07:00

In March I took up running as I've mentioned before. I've been making some good progress since then, although recently I did have a few setbacks with getting my wisdom teeth out and other silly things. I am one of the few people who actually enjoys running, and its an absolutely major accomplishment for me to be able to do this in any capacity.

My husband has been a great support, I mean hey he didn't even bat and eyelash when I started buying the appropriate running gear. He's never that calm when it comes to craft stuff haha.

At the suggestion of a friend I signed up to do the Canada Road Race - 5k. I'd walked 5k's before, but never run them.

I was really nervous yesterday, and since I wasn't at my peak I wasn't sure how I was going to fair.
I have to admit that my nerd side even got excited when I even got my first running bib with a chip in it! RF id tag baby!

And apparently if you're actually running in some of these races you get a real running shirt, and not a cotton one :D Can you tell I was pretty stoked?
We took off at 7:30 after singing Canada Day. When I checked my heart monitor I was shocked to see I had run for close to 6min straight with no problem! I've barely managed 5 once. The rest of the run went well. I managed some 3 and 2, and eventually cut it down to 1 minute running intervals. My breathing was a bit of a problem because of allergies, and the hill at the end almost killed me even walking! Fortunately I had caught up to our friend Harm, and he slowed down to wait for me at the bottom of the hill. I don't think I'd have made it without someone talking to me the entire time.

We crossed the finish line together at about 45 minutes. It was awesome! I have to admit I cried a bit afterwards when no one but the husband was looking. I can't believe I actually did it! This has been a desire of mine for years, and it finally happened. I plan to do it again next year, and I should be able to knock at least 10 min off my time if not more by then.

Happy Canada Day!

Week Three - Ez Seed vs. Scotts Patch

2010-05-29T12:05:00.001-07:00

I know this post is nearly a week late, but things have been a little crazy. This will likely be my last updated regarding this topic since I think the results are pretty clear.

This is the Scott's Patch last Sunday after three weeks. We have growth here as well, but its not nearly as much as with the Ez Seed.

The Ez-seed seems to have lived up to its claims. It grew in faster and much thicker.

We still have a long way to go to completely fill in the dead area, but I would definitely use Ez-seed again. Even though the Patch is cheaper it also seems to be mostly useless filler.

A Few Little Crafty Things

2010-05-23T12:03:00.000-07:00

I've decided that since I'm going to be teaching fashions next fall (aka the sewing part of home-ec) I should probably get some experience with sewing clothing. I bought Chic & Simple Sewing at Chapters last week. All the patterns are a little small so I have to enlarge the patterns. I found a good tutorial on how to do so over at Burda and proceded to enlarge the circle skirt pattern. The first attempt I made failed because it wasn't quite long enough, and then I realize that although I had marked the proper waist size I cut to the smallest size. So the waist was 4 sizes too small! In any event I attempted it again on Friday and added about 4 inches to the length. I'm quite happy with the result.

So, this is officially the first piece of clothing I've made that is actually wearable ;).

Then after that I started working on some more felt food for my second nephew B's 2nd birthday. So far I've only made a couple things, but I hope to make more today and tomorrow.

Some little cinnamon buns complete with puffy paint frosting.

Then there's a banana. Complete with removeable peel!

So its been a productive long weekend. Thanks for looking! Hopefully I'll have more pictures soon.

Awesome week

2010-05-21T09:16:00.000-07:00

That's what its been. Normally at this time of year I am beyond stressed about my job situation for next year. For those who don't know my teaching career has been 3.5 years of waiting for a continuous/permanent contract. I started in 2007 during the second semester on a temp contract. I then received two consecutive temp contracts for the 2007-2008, 2008-2009 school years. This past year I was fortunate enough to receive a probationary contract. Things haven't been so good this year and the potential for cutbacks meant that I could actually lose my job for next year.
That is not going to happen however! On Monday I received the phone call I'd been waiting for for 3.5 years. I got my continuous contract!!! :D It was a good day.
And its also a four day weekend for us as today is a day in lieu. I'm loving it. The only thing that could make it better was if the weather was better, but I will take what I can get.
Oh yah, and I went for my first pedicure yesterday with a couple of girls from work. What an excellent way to start the long weekend.

My feet feel and look fantastic. I think I'm going to have to get pediis more often.

Week Two - Ez Seed vs. Scott's Patch

2010-05-16T18:53:00.000-07:00

We've had lots of warm weather this week and have been watering a lot.

As a result yesterday was the first day that we finally saw some little sprouts cominig from the Ez-Seed.

We're not sure if the patch has started to grow too because there's so much mulch/paper on top that its hard to see anything. The ez-seed is sprouting everywhere however and so far we're very happy with it. This week is supposed to be warm again with some rain towards the end of the week. I will post another update next week, but so far so good.

Week One - Ez Seed vs. Scott's Patch

2010-05-09T18:33:00.000-07:00

This is the lawn after one week. Of course its still too early for any growth. It also snowed here, so we didn't have to worry about watering for most of the week since it was under about a foot of snow for most of that time.
The only thing that I've noticed is that the patch seems to be mostly paper mulch/filler.

And because I feel that this post wouldn't be complete without some flowery goodness here's a gratuitous flower picture for you.

I'm fairly certain that the Hydrangea I bought last year didn't make it. This will be my second go of it, and if this one doesn't make it then we'll call that one quits. I can't wait to plant my flowers!

Lawn Patch Product Comparison

2010-05-02T13:23:00.001-07:00

Our lawn died quite some time ago. Some of it is still alive, but the trees on the side of our house sucked so much of the moisture up that the lawn over there has gone the way of the dodo bird. So naturally we needed to reseed this year. Resoding is not an option money wise, and we didn't really think it was worth it.

As a result we've turned to using the patching products out there on the market. We ended up with a new product and some patch stuff that we bought last year. Since we're using both I figured I would write up a product review. Every Sunday I will post an update on how the two products are doing and our take on what we think of them.

The two products we're using are Scotts Ez Seed Grass Seed, and Scotts Patch Master
It should be noted that we are using more of the ez-seed because it seems like a better product. Only a small portion of our dead lawn is covered in the patch. This is simply because it was what we had on hand.
You can find the product descriptions here and here.

Due to the poor state of our lawn we also covered much thicker than is recommended by the packages. This is because we're not just trying to thicken our lawn, but reseed altogether. Numbers wise we've used 9 bottles of the ez-seed at $21.99/ea and two packages of the patch master at $14.99. We didn't quite have enough to cover everything so we're going to need at least 4 more bottles of the ez-seed.

For comparison here is what our lawn looked like to start with:

As you can see it is very sad.
For both products you ae supposed to rake the area to loosen the soil. For the ezseed you shake it from teh container onto the area. The patch master is a bit more work because it has the consistency of insultation and you have to spread it with a rake. We found that the patch master didn't spread quite as nicely.

We've also noticed that the ez-seed holds water much better. You're supposed to water it when it turns light brown, and the patch master must be watered twice a day. We watered last night after spreading and this afternoon the ez-seed is still dark brown, while the patch master was dry. This is probably due to the fact that the ez-seed contains mulch/peat pellets that hold water a bit better than the patch master medium.
That's really all we have to say for right now. Here are a couple pictures that show the current state of our lawn. You can tell that the patch master is much more obvious ;)

This photo also serves as proof that not all of my grass is dead ;)

I will be back next Sunday with new photos!

Our Creative Corner

2010-04-25T15:34:00.001-07:00

The additional sun from the longer days is making my craft room so much more happier. I love it, and I'm still having a blast creating cards.
The following is one I created for Mother's Day and for this weeks Creative Corner Challenge

The additional sunlight also makes for much better photos! Here's a second photo for you,

Another Card for Mojo Monday

2010-04-19T18:20:00.001-07:00

I'm enjoying the Mojo Monday challenges. They're giving me some inspiration while at the same time leaving lots of room for my own interpretation.

I don't know if it shows up well in the photo, but there's a happy birthday along the left side. I used versa mark to give it a subtle feel, but it doesn't always photograph well.

In other news I applied for a parttime job at our local quilt shop. I got the job and even though it'll only be a few days a month I'm looking forward to having a few extra dollars to spend on my "habit" as my husband calls it. I think I'm going to save up and buy a Cricut first. That idea hadn't even crossed my mind until the husband suggested it oddly enough.

Get Well Card

2010-04-11T10:03:00.000-07:00

I wanted to give my Grandpa a feel better card that was brightly coloured and happy. I love the colour combinations in this one, and the fruit just give it a summer feeling.

Shipping Comedy

2010-04-06T14:13:00.001-07:00

Update: Yay! The UPS guy left the fabric order on the front porch....oh wait...that means I have a bunch of work to do now ;)

Waiting for UPS shipments is the worst. Not because of UPS, they're great, but just because I'm impatient. The last week hasn't been any different, but it has become kind of comical.

I ordered my first shipment of wedding invitation supplies early last week. I knew it would be shipped expedited via UPS and it should get here two days after shipment. I decided to have it shipped to the school even though we were off last week. I figured that the supplier I used couldn't possibly get the order out fast enough for it to arrive during spring break. WRONG! It reached Edmonton last Wednesday and of course we weren't back until today. Fortunately they figured that out and put a hold on the packaged, but it meant I had to wait until today to get it. No big deal really except that I'm really, really impatient. I did get it about a half hour ago though and I can't wait to get working on putting the invitations together.

The story continues however. I also ordered some fabric online last week figuring it would be shipped through the mail I had it sent to our house. WRONG! It was shipped via ups. Today was the first delivery attempt and of course I'm at work. I'm hoping the driver just left it on the front porch, or won't come until later, but we'll see. I am having a good chuckle over it though.

I've been having a blast building my little business. Even if it doesn't take off I'm just enjoying the creation process so much that I don't care ;) I'm going to try to do a craft fair or two before the end of the year. One I'm looking at has a craft fair each month. I'm going to check them out this weekend to see if it'll jive with my stuff.

Work is also going well. I have a student teacher right now and she's very good so my workload will be pretty small until the 23rd..Ahhhhh..wonderful.
Of course, its also that time of year again. When we start to wonder if I'll have a job next year. I'm much more complacent about it this year as compared to previous years. I just think I'm so tired o fthe rollercoaster ride that it doesn't matter any more.

The bell is going to ring soon so I'll end here. No I'm not slacking, my student teacher is handling this class while I sit here and type. Besides my physics 20s are fantastic.

Introducing Pink Hippo

2010-03-17T20:21:00.000-07:00

Or rather Pink Hippo Creations!!!! My new company dedicated primarly to wedding invitations, but also to handmade paper goods. I'm so excited about it and I really hope it takes off. If it doesn't I can live with that too, but I'm having so much fun designing.

My designs are that exciting yet, but I'm hoping to broaden my talents as time goes on.

Runnin'

2010-03-07T18:40:00.000-07:00

I've always wanted to be a runner, but was never succesful at it. I tried a couple of times in high school but had such a hard time breathing that I pretty much gave up on the idea of it ever happening.
I eventually found out that I have exercise induced asthma which now that I think about it makes a lot of sense. Even with this revelation I never really thought I'd be able to run.
A couple months ago I started a workout class lead by one of my coworkers. After having a bit of trouble with the cardio part I decided to get an inhaler again, and it help immensely. After the success (even if it was minor) I experienced I thought I'd try running.
This time I've signed up for an online running clinic through the Running Room. It doesn't start until the 22nd, but I thought I would follow the first week schedule for a couple weeks to get myself ready. Monday was my very first day out and I was pleasantly surprised. Its a 1 min. run followed by a 2 min walk schedule and for me it's working great. The goal is to have me running for a full 20 min by the end of the 10 week clinic.
I had a hard time with the interval timing the first day, but I came across Podrunner Intervals and its been much easier. The music is a bit too techno for my tastes, but the timing is great and the bpm is as well.
Yesterday I went so far as to buy myself some decent runners at the Running Room. They fit you to the proper type and it took no time at all. What a difference they made today! It was unbelievable.
I bought Sauconey runners, and even got a deal because they are last year's "model".
Once my youngest sister is able to get herself some runners she'll start running with me which will be great motivation. I'm loving it so far, and hopefully I'll be able to finally stick with something. Well, I'm off to watch the Oscars and build unit exams.

GOOOOOLLLLLDDDDDD!!!!!!

2010-02-28T16:09:00.000-07:00

Oh yah Baby!!! Gold in Hockey and the most gold medals at a winter olympics....EVER!!!

Amy Butler Field Bag

2010-02-20T18:39:00.000-07:00

I love the way its turning out, but all the little mistakes I've made are slowly killing me. First I misread the pattern and thought I had to put cording on both exterior panels. Which meant I had to go to Fabricland and get some more cording because I was short. Then once I sewed all the cording on I realized that I was only supposed to put it on one panel lol. Ripped that out and then put the side panels and bottom together. Then I put on the top panel with zipper only to realize that I had somehow managed to put that on with the zipper facing the inside.

I've fixed that problem, but just noticed that the nice little zipper tab I made is tucked neatly inside the bag and I can pull it to the outside. It's become comical. I'm not fixing it though, that's minor and I'm tired of picking up the seam ripper.

I just have the lining to sew and attach now. Who knows what craziness will ensue. In any event I absolutely love it. Heres a picture of the outside.I can't wait to use it.

With Glowing Hearts

2010-02-15T20:15:00.000-07:00

I have always considered myself to be, like most Canadians, very patriotic. I love my country and there's no other way to say it. I wouldn't want to live anywhere else. The Olympics always bring this out in me to a greater degree.

The fact that Canada is once again hosting the Olympics is just awesome. I absolutely love it. I was probably about 8 when we hosted the Calgary Olympics, but this time around I understand it much better and I can appreciate it much more. Before the games started I made sure we bought a flag and Jon hung it on the porch. We had to get an actual flag pole/arm thingy, Jon wasn't going to let me zip tie it to the banister lol. I've also got my Olympic hoodie of course and wore it all day on Friday.

I'm not an atheletic person, but I love watching our atheletes compete, and there's nothing better than hear our national anthem played at the medal ceremony.
Last night I, like most Canadians, was exstatic beyond belief when a Canadian one gold on Canadian soil for the first time. Alex Bilideaou was awesome!!! Jenn Heil is also fantastic, I love her.
I'll get off my soap box now, I just had to get that out.

I spent most of my weekend sleeping, and watching the Olympics. I've got another cold, although it's finally going away. I did a bit of work setting up my blog for my company and a few other things for that.
Today I finished cutting all the pieces and attaching interfacing for Amy Butler's Field Bag. It's a lot of work, but its going to look great. I'm going to try and get some of it sewn up tomorrow once I attach the fusible fleece. I'm still working on that felt food, I just needed a bit of a break from it ;)

I'm going to spend the rest of my evening relaxing before its back to work tomorrow. I love long weekends, but it really makes it hard to go back to work :P

Go Canada Go!!!!

2010-02-12T16:14:00.000-07:00

"Cooking" Up a Storm

2010-02-06T16:41:00.003-07:00

Today was fun! I have often been in awe of all the felt food tutorials out there. As I don't have any kids of my own yet I haven't really had an excuse to make any however.

Then today I realized that one of my nephews has a birthday coming up in March. A perfect excuse to make some felt food!! So off I went to Michaels to get some felt and $20 later I've got a huge stack with which to work.

Today I managed to make several things. Forgive me for not putting up the direct links....I'm kinda of in a rush right now. If you go over to One Pretty Thing (link in my sidebar) and look up felt food roundup under categories you'll easily find everything I used.

Here are a few pictures of what I made today.

I love the detachable drumsticks!

Those are cheese slices on the left...for a sandwich!

Semester 1 - Done!

2010-01-29T19:28:00.005-07:00

Hallelujah! Monday is the start of semester 2. I don't know that it'll be easier, but I'm looking foreward to teh change in students. Some of mine were a handful. I have science 30 (I'm really looking forward to this class), science 10, physics 20 and of course forensics 25/35. They ended up hiring two new teachers because class sizes were too big. As a result my science 30 class went from 35 to 17. It'll likely increase over the next couple of weeks, but its now much more manageable.

I've also been working out regularly. One of my coworkers has her own fitness company and shes been doing fitness classes for us twice a week. She works the hell out of us, but we have a blast doing it. I fell off the wagon with my wii fit this week, but that was because I came down with a sinus cold. So in my defense it wasn't really my fault ;). I'll get back at it tomorrow.

Today was a lot of fun. It was a pd day which means there were no students at school. We had our department meetings in the morning (got to meet one of the new guys -- seems pretty decent) then we had a welcome to Canada lunch to welcome our Aussie exchange teacher Tiffany (she's a riot). Then later we had a workout and then a bunch of us just hung out and chatted. It was a really enjoyable day and I did manage to get work done in between all that.

I've also decided to start my own "company". It'll be a home based business focusing on making invitiations. I may try and do a couple of craft fairs in there as well, but we'll see.

Well I'm exhausted from my workout so I'm going to go veg on the couch.

2009 - Looking Back

2010-01-01T15:01:00.004-07:00

I figured it might be fun to do one of these posts like a lot of others are doing right now. So lets see 2009....

Work:

I taught and basically built my first grade 12 diploma course - Science 30. It was stressful, but fun and I'm looking forward to doing it again this year.
I said goodbye to the first group of grads I taught from gr. 10-12. It was bittersweet.
Job situation got very dicey, but in the end I was finally awarded my first non-temporary contract. Hopefully government cutbacks won't result in my finally losing that job at the end of this school year.

Family:

Jon and I celebrated our second wedding anniversary.
We almost lost my mother in law, but were blessed with a miracle.
Jon's brother and sister-in-law relocated to Pheonix (we still haven't been to see them).
My grandfather celebrated his 90th birthday!
Still no babies .... stupid job

Home:

No major household disasters this year....knock on wood.
Our van gave us issues, but we were able to fix those.
We weren't able to do the renovations we had planned because of what else....my stupid job.

My Sweetie & I:

Jon got his first (well actually second) paper published and his third is in review.
I ended up losing...and then gaining back...about 15 lbs. I'm gonna fix that this year.
I got in my first accident...fortunately it was a minor fender bender.
I turned 30!

Crafts:

2009 was the year of sewing insanity!
I made a purse, finished my quilt (I think that was 2009)
Finally finished my Celtic Summer!
Ended up making quilts for my sister and my mom and lining up some jobs for myself in the process
I've been hired to make wedding invitations for friends of mine!
Cleaned and reorganized my craft room at least twice!

Other:

2009 seemed to be the year of Jodi Picoult and the year of books into movies
I read both Time Travelers wife and My Sister's Keeper long before the movies were promoted.
After My Sister's Keeper I just couldn't get enough of Jodi Picoult and spent many hours in my red neck swimming pool reading.

Well, I think that about sums it up. As you can see it was that exciting lol.

Getting in Some Last Minute Sewing!

2009-12-23T21:37:00.005-07:00

The last week has been busy with Christmas preparations.
Sunday my husband got the idea to make gingerbread cookies resembling our small stuffed buffalo (who is more like a child than a toy...sad I know). He came up with the plan and they turned out awesome! We'll be bringing them with us to share with family over the next couple days.

Here's a better picture of Burnie so you can make a comparison.
The buffalo in the middle was a gift for a friend's little guy (he loves e-e), and his other friend Squeaky bear.

Tomorrow I have to make up another batch of hot chocolate on a stick. Family found out about it and now everyone wants some lol. Fortunately it's really easy to make and doesn't take a lot of time.

Today I spent most of the day working on the quilt that my sister's and I are giving my mom. I got all the squares done and should be able to finish the top tomorrow. I just have to sew them together and add the border. I'll probably wrap it up like that so mom can see what she's getting, and then I'll finish it up after Christmas. The border will be the same as the dark fabric with the flowers.

After the holidays it looks like I'm going to be busy. I'll have at least 2 quilt projects (my first paid ones!) One for another sister and one for a friend. In addition to that two of my coworkers/friends just got engaged and they've asked me to do their wedding invitations. I'm really excited about that one. Needless to say things could get hectic, but I'm looking forward to it.

If I'm not back before Friday I hope everyone has a safe and fantabulous Christmas!! Happy Holidays.

All kinds of cozies!!!

2009-12-16T20:53:00.003-07:00

Tonight I finished off coffee cozies for a few of my coworkers. They're really easy to make and they look awesome. I can't tell you how many compliments I've gotten on the one I made for myself. You can find the pattern over at House on Hill Road.

Only two more days of school until Christmas break. We aren't doing anything special, but I will definitely enjoy the two weeks off. For now I'm off to relax with my man and watch some tv.

It's Beginning to Look Alot Like Christmas

2009-12-13T18:31:00.008-07:00

This weekend was spent in Christmas mode. Although my house isn't as holiday-ish as it has been in the past it is looking pretty good. We bought a new, smaller, prelit tree which I am very happy about. Our old tree was given to my husband by my grandparents. It's a very nice tree but its much too big for our house. Not to mention that its not prelit and we have to put each branch in individually. Needless to say setup with the new tree was much faster. (Although my arms still look like we own a cat).

I made 90% of our decorations this year as well. I still need to put on some of our old/keepsake ornaments but our tree looks good. I can't put the angel on however because she won't stay on top of the tree. So she's been relegated to the top of the drink cabinet.
The garland is hung up as are the stockings, and my hallmark singing snowmen/penguins are out.

Things are looking Christmasy...although I could do without the minus 30 degree celcius....its supposed to warm up later this week though so I guess I shouldn't complain.

The in laws came over for dinner tonight. Spaghetti and Chocolate cobbler mmmm.... I found the cobbler recipe on Lolly Chops. I'm going to give it as my final gift to my secret Santa and of course I had to try it out first. It's definitely a good gift lol.

My 30th birthday is tomorrow....at 12:06 to be exact lol. My mother in law crocheted me an afghan, some slippers and a bag. They're pretty awesome and I'm enjoyging cuddling on the couch with my new blanket.

Well, I'm off to enjoy my last evening as a twenty something year old lol.

Hot Chocolate....on a Stick!

2009-12-10T21:55:00.009-07:00

This evening I spent my time making my second small gift for my secret santa at work. This week I decided to make hot chocolate on a stick as shown on Giver's log. It was super easy to make, and started with melting some chocolate.
And after stirring in the cocoa (I used the ready made Cadbury powder for mine) I poured them into the moulds.

Once the sticks are in and they've hardened I then unmoulded them and dipped them in white chocolate.

Finally, I just had to add some pretty packaging.

I'm also giving a few of these to each of my student teachers as a going away gift. I'm currently enjoying one now and they are fabulous. You mix one into a cup of warm milk and mmmmmm....

I've also been busy making paper ornaments for my Christmas tree. I do have pictures to post....but I really need to get to bed so those will have to wait lol. Good night!

30!!???

2009-12-08T16:38:00.007-07:00

Yes, I turn the big 30 next Monday. Frankly it doesn't bother me like it does some people. 40 on the other hand is a little intimidating.

We had a party this past Saturday, and Friday morning I woke up to find this on my lawn.

After ruling out Jon, the only culprit left was my parents. They tried to deny it, but I knew darn well it was them. It was pretty funny.

Two of my coworkes made my cake for the party. It was absolutely fabulous and tasted awesome as well. The picture doesn't really show it, but it was a big cake.

I've also had two student teachers for the last 3 1/2 weeks which has been awesome. Although I hear that when they're not so good it can be a lot more work. Mine are great though, and I because of the extra time I managed to finish my sister's quilt.

Now I just need to work on Mom's. It looks like I've also landed myself a couple of "jobs" making a quilt for a coworker and another sister. I'm willing to give it a try, but I don't think I'll make quilts professionally. Too much work!

Anyway, that's a quick update on how things have been going. Our trip to Las Vegas was also a blast. Now I'm off to make Christmas ornaments. (I want new ones, but don't want to buy them so I'm making them).

Just a quick post

2009-12-08T15:50:00.001-07:00

I know I've been MIA once again...I promise I'll start posting again soon.

Can't Wait!

2009-11-05T21:35:00.001-07:00

We're leaving for Las Vegas in two days! Our new school schedule includes a one week fall break and after cancelling various trips during the summer the husband and I are off to Las Vegas. I have a massaged booked for Monday and I'm so excited its ridiculous. Shopping here I come!

My sister's quilt is coming along. I stretched and pinned it today and did the first bit of quilting. I got a walking foot for my machine and it was totally worth the $20. I will post a picture once we get back from Vegas.

I'm also thinking of starting an Etsy shop. I'm not 100% sure yet, and I still have a lot of research and thinking to do. Its something I've wanted to do for a while, but I'm a little unsure. We'll see.

Oh, and the husband started his own blog. It's over there in my blog list. Something about the random musings of a phD student...he actually had no idea about the subtitle of my blog....complete coincidence.

Anyway, sorry to keep this post short, I just wanted to make a quick one to say I'm still alive. Hopefully I can get back to regular posting soon.

Another Quilt

2009-10-17T18:22:00.002-07:00

For Christmas my sisters and I draw names. This year I have Jennifer, so I'm going to make her a quilt. I went and picked up the fabric and pattern today and I'm very excited about it. It's a Yellow Brick Road Quilt. I'm using Amy Butler Midwest Modern fabrics in brown, pinks and greens for it.

The fabric has been washed so tomorrow I'll press it and start cutting. It's supposed to be a good beginner quilt, so lets home that's true.

In other news my husband has been sick with an ear infection for the last week. I feel sorry for him, but he's also a stereotypical man. You know, the one's who are big wusses when they get sick. Oh joy!

Thank goodness awards are over now and school life should calm down a bit otherwise I think I would have to hurt him lol.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-10-12T17:16:00.002-07:00

It's thanksgiving weekend here in Canada! We had ours last night. One of my sisters came over and my inlaws. We had a fantastic dinner with my mom's amazing mashed potatos (with cream cheese), her stuffing and turkey of course. It turned out amazing. It was so juicy.

I broke with tradition and made a red velvet chocolate cake for dessert. First time I've made it (we'll second actually, I made a practice one two weeks ago). My mother in law even tried rockband, it was too funny.

The reason I haven't been positing is because school has insane. Our awards night is this Wednesday and I'm one of the main people in charge of it, meaning a lot of work. In addition I took on the jr. boys volleyball team with another teacher because no one was willing to do it. Which means that I have been very stressed and very busy. Awards are almost done however, and volleyball wont' last much longer either. Even better is the fact that there's only 4 weeks until we go to Las Vegas!!!

Fantastic

2009-08-10T10:06:00.002-07:00

I saw this on Ali Edward's Blog this morning and had to share. I wish we would have thought of something like this. Jon's response when I told him I would have been all over that was "I know...that's the scary thing". I love it! I think our priest would have had an aneurysm.

My sisters are quite often embarrased by me because I've been know to just start dancing in a store to a song I like. I figure I spent too much of my life worrying what other people think of me, and in the last 10 years or so I've adopted a much more laid back "I'm gonna have fun" attitude. I think everyone should try it.

I think becoming a teacher in a community where people actually know me hasn't change that attitude much either. I might not be as insane as before, but even my students know I'm a little crazy. It's fun!

Chaos and Another Finish

2009-08-08T19:07:00.006-07:00

Wow, the last week has been insane. All thanks to this thing:

Jon and I had planned to leave for a road trip to Montana and Seattle on Thursday. Wednesday we took our van in for a check up to make sure everything was in good shape.

We got a phone call later that day saying that here was $3500 worth of work that needed to be done. Chaos ensued. We then had to decide if we were going to fix the van (it's only worth maybe $3000 at this point), or trade it in and buy a new one. The next day was spent stressing out over what to do.

Eventually we went back to the dealership with my father-in-law and where able to determine that most of the work was not as critical as we were first lead to believe. In the end we're going to get the major things fixed, keep the purple mini-van, and start shopping for a new vehicle. We're hoping to buy in the next six months or so, and keep or purple van as a second vehicle (unless it starts to have more problems). We're both happy with this decision and much less stressed.

In case you're wondering why we have a mini-van at our age with no children...it was a good deal. We basically bought it off my parents for a good price about 4 years ago. It's a 2000 and when we bought it it still smelled like new...my mom takes really good care of her vehicles...and it have very low mileage on it. It's a bit embarrassing sometimes, but it does hold a lot (like two sets of golf clubs), and my husband (who's a tall guy) fits comfortably in it (which doesn't happen often). I do love the bumper sticker we added a few months ago though, and yes that is a small sheep with a cape hanging from the rear-view mirror.

We'll probably buy another minivan, or a crossover/SUV. We're leaning toward the new dodge grand caravan, but we really want to do some shopping around and wait until the 2010 come out.

Once again this summer we've had to cancel plans. It's bordering on the hilarious now.

I did manage to get another layout done for Jon's album. This is the second last medal layout, I might even get the last one done tonight yet. I really want this album to be done. I desperately want to check it off my list and start something new.

I also picked up a couple of small cross stitch patterns this week, and a few items of awesome clothes for back to school. Well I'm off to do some more computery things, and then scrap.

Scrapbook Finishes

2009-08-04T09:46:00.003-07:00

I've been working on Jon's album the last little bit trying to cross it off my summer to do list. I've finished 3 new pages, and re-did one (it was really ugly before). When his grandfather passed away his military medals were given to Jon's older brother. I'm making an album with a picture of each medal and why it was awarded as well as some other stuff from Papa's military career.

It's turning out pretty good so far.

I have 3 more medals to do and then I can move on to the pictures and other things. I'm looking forward to finishing it.

Jon and I are, hopefully, leaving for our road trip on Thursday. We're planning to go south to Montana, then west to Seattle, and then come back up through BC. We'll be gone about 10 days or so, and I'm looking forward to it. It's going to be a lot of driving. I'm hoping to take advantage of the slower US economy and the high Canadian dollar and get some shopping done for work clothes. I'm also excited about picking up some awesome BC fruit.

Giveaway at P.S I Quilt

2009-07-31T08:33:00.001-07:00

If you're interested you can check it out here

A Sewing Finish

2009-07-23T10:25:00.005-07:00

I've been wanting to make the Patchwork Bag from Amy Butler's In Stitches since I bought the book.

This week I sat down and finally got to work. Since I have minimal experience with quilting I opted for an easier to do patchwork pattern as opposed to the one in the book. I'm thrilled with the way it turned out. It's much bigger than I thought it would be (I have a hard time visuallizing dimensions), but I think it'll be very useful.

My biggest success I think was with the zipper. I took me a few minutes of re-reading and thinking to understand what the pattern was asking for, but I figured it out in the end.

I'm not actually 100% finished, I still have to put the sleave w/cardboard in the bottom for support, and I'm not sure if I'm going to make the zipper charm yet. Those don't really change how it looks, so I'm done enough to show it off. I may be tempted to make a few of these for gifts in the future.

I love the little zipper tabs.

I should probably get some house cleaning done, but I doubt that'll happen.....it's so nice outside and there's so many cool sewing projects I want to work on instead ;)

Oh, and in other news...I finally got something I've been wanting for years.
It hurt like a @*&^, but I love it. I'm sure my mother thinks I'm having a midlife crisis or something. It's nice to know that at 30 I can still shock her!

I'm famous

2009-07-21T11:59:00.000-07:00

Look here

Well Ok, not really....I volunteered for it, but I will continue to think that I'm famous because I'm just so fabulous ;)

Happy Birthday/ Anniversary

2009-07-15T08:09:00.002-07:00

Yesterday was my grandfather's 90th birthday! He's the only grandfather we have left. Jon's grandpa and mine died about a year apart 6 and 5 years ago respectively. They would have all turned 90 this year.

It's was also our second anniversary.

I'm off to spend an afternoon with my grandparents, sorting through all pictures and recording names.

2009-07-09T21:37:00.003-07:00

Parade of Quilts

As per Camille's post here, I'm posting a picture of my very first quilt. I finished it earlier this year. It's a simple brick path quilt and its made with Heather Bailey's Freshcut.

Since it's the only quilt I've ever made it's also the last one I finished ;)

I love this quilt even though it gave me a rough time. I currently use it to snuggle with on the couch. Jon isn't allowed to touch it lol.

2009-07-09T13:02:00.003-07:00

Wii Active How I Love Thee!!

About a month ago I finally managed to get my hands on a wii fit, the one with the balance board. It's so cool and so much fun. Except for the part when I do the weight/balance test and it reminds me in its little voice that I'm obese lol. (Just border line mind you).

Then I heard about Wii active, so after some thought (if you know me you'll know it wasn't really much) I picked one up. OMG I loves it!!! It's an awesome workout, and I really enjoy it. It's very similar to circuit training actually and I think that's what's keeping me motivated. I've worked out almost every day since I bought it (except last weekend). I'm really enjoying it.

If I can't make it fun then I won't stick with it, and the Wii totally makes it fun. There's also several workout games/tapes that are also available. If I ever get tired of Wii active I may pick up some of those.

Now I just have to get back on track with my eating and things will be fabulous.

On a crafty note check out the giveaway over at Green Fairy Quilts.

2009-07-07T12:21:00.006-07:00

What am I up to?

In case you were wondering......

Summer holidays have started and it's been pretty low key around here....for now. I made up a to do list for my summer holidays, and I've finished one item on that list already. Although I'm not at all happy with the way it turned out.
I decided to make a skirt for myself using this pattern.

Things didn't go well from the start. I should have measured myself and didn't. However, I figured that with the weight I'd lost I couldn't be more than a 14.....NOT....turns out I was over an 18 according to the pattern measurements.

I decided to make a 16, which would have been fine. Except no matter how hard I tried it still turned out looking like crap. I followed everything, did everything right and took my time. It looks aweful. (Incidently it does fit)

The yoke didn't go all the way around!! Which meant that I had to add a bit of fabric at the top. In the end the zipper cover didn't sit properly either.

The yoke also doesn't sit properly. It's all wavy, and I used interface and twill tape just like it asked.

Oh well...on to teh next project...a purse. I've been wanting to do this one for a while and I have a feeling I'll be more successful. I may try the skirt again in the future, but I need to take a break from clothes (and I need to lose some more weight to fit in the size of the other pattern I bought).

2009-06-28T09:29:00.002-07:00

Tired and Burnt

I am so tired and a very nice shade of red. Yesterday was the third day in a row that I got to go golfing and it turned out to be a nicer day than we anticipated. As a result we didn't have any sunscreen. It's funny because my left hand, where I wear my golf glove, is white. I even have a little white spot on my earlob where my earring was, everything around it is bright red lol.
I started golfing two summers ago when Jon bought me a set of clubs as a wedding gift. We went the odd time, but this year I joined a ladies league with a bunch of my coworkers. As a result I've been going every week more or less. I can certainly see an improvement. Yesterday we golfed a regular course (Our league course is only a par 3), and I managed to drive the green and get a par on a par 3.

I'm still not that great, but even my brother in law (who last golfed with me on my first ever round) said that I've improved a lot.

I really enjoyed it and I'm hoping that we'll get out a lot more this summer. We'll probably even take our clubs with us on holidays and golf in the states.

2009-06-16T12:16:00.002-07:00

Sooooo Tired

I really need to stop playing the Sims 3 on week nights. I'm exhausted. My new computer arrived early last week in all its pinky goodness. Fortunately today is the last day of class for us....then its on to exams for the next two weeks.

I do have a job for next year. Things worked out and there was room for me. Jon and I were both very relieved when I got the phone call.

Things have been a little crazy. First Jon caught Bronchitis (he's just now finishing up the antibiotics), then I caught a cold, and then just when I was starting to feel better I pulled a muscle in my back. That meant that we didn't get much of anything done for nearly 2 weeks.

We managed to get the vegetable garden in and finish up the yard work this past weekend. Our grass is looking so sad right now, we are in need of some rain here. The nice weather has been refreshing though so I'm not really complaining.

Well its almost time to get my kids to take their desks to the gym so I should probably go.

2009-05-27T18:05:00.008-07:00

School.....

Well turns out there is a position available at my school after all. Thing is there's no guarantee its mine. It's a science, math, physics, forensics position. You're probably thinking that it sounds an awful lot like my current position. We'll it is. I still have to reapply for it and I'll probably have to interview for it and compete with other people both at my school and elsewhere. I've got a pretty good chance because of my background, but I'm trying not to get too excited because it's not a sure thing. I hate this, I go from being really happy to depressed in the span of a day. I can't wait until this is over.

On Monday my physics 20's had a project due that they've been working on for a week or so now. A paper roller coaster for marbles! I got the idea for the project from here. I modified it a bit so my students also had to do an analysis of the forces and energy involved so it wasn't all fun and games.
They had a blast with it and totally exceeded my expectations. Here are some pictures of a few of them.

Wilderness Express

Hogwarts Express

Losing Altitude (my favourite...it glows in the dark)

Crash Landing

The Batenator

Note that you can't actually see any faces so I'm not breaking any FOIP rules.

Jon comes home from his conference in Hamilton. I'm looking forward too it because its lonely here by myself.

2009-05-23T09:16:00.006-07:00

Hello!

Sorry for the lack of posting. I got some bad news regarding my job for next year and it sent me into blahsville. I'm feeling better now though. It probably helps that the weather is finally nice. You know I love Alberta. Especially because we don't live on the coast (no flooding), there's no natural fault lines, no volcanos...etc etc. It also gets cold enough here that we don't have to worry about nasty bugs. That weather, however, leaves something to be desired sometimes.

No matter though. Yesterday was nice enough that Jon and I were able to go golfing. Just the two of us, and we played 9 holes of a par 3 so we got a nice little walk out of it. Don't even think about asking about my score....I don't want to talk about it. lol

I finally managed to get my new flower bed planted. I'm very excited about it since we've started buying more perenials. I'm hoping eventually I'll have to buy very few bedding plants.
The garden will get rototilled this weekend, and then I can't plant that as well. My clematis' are even kicking butt and I did nothing to them. I think my Mom is jealous...she takes exceptional care of her plants...I did nothing and they both lived...hehe.

Well I should get Jon out of bed so we can get started on the numerous errands we need to run today. He leaves for a conference in Hamilton on Monday. This will be the first time he's left since we got married. I've been gone a couple of times overnight for school stuff, but he's actually leaving the province...*gasp*

Here are some garden picks for yah.

Don't you just love how craptastically my grass looks. This lawn has been the bane of my existence since Jon moved in here.

Curly ornamental grass...I think its just goofy looking and I love it.

Some more ornamental grass.

My Hellebore - Christmas Rose. They are so pretty, I'm glad I saw them on Martha Stewart.

2009-05-09T12:04:00.001-07:00

I came across this video on Dr. Isis, and thought it was funny, so I had to share.

2009-04-26T09:18:00.007-07:00

Happy Dancing - Celtic Summer is Done, Done, Done

This is my first happy dance since 2005 ish! I'm thrilled with it. Actually, I can't wait to start the next one.
Thanks to Christine I found an awesome LNS. My sister even found a couple patterns yesterday that she decided to work on. In the process I converted her from Aida to Evenweave (she's never used it before), I think she'll like it. She phone me this morning to say she was off to Michaels to get some thread. I can't wait to see how far she's gotten.
Before I can start the next one I need to do some house cleaning though...bleck!

2009-04-19T19:55:00.003-07:00

On To The Beading

I'm done the stitching and backstitching on Celtic Summer. Thank goodness...I was getting tired of the outside border. I think the medallions took me less time.

Now its onto the loads of beading. Christine - I suspect the mill hill beading needles I picked up are just glorified tapestry needles lol. I'll have to grab some smaller embroidery needles the next time I'm at the LNS.

2009-04-17T20:25:00.001-07:00

Stitching Away

Is what I've been doing on Celtic Summer. I even managed to get some stitching time in during the lull between parent interviews on Wednesday (I didn't have many woohoo). I'm thinking I may actually finish her this time!!!

That would be fantastic, and the first finish I've had in years. I'm holding off posting a picture until the stitching is done. Hopefully by the end of the weekend. I have a yearbook session on Sunday and plan to get some stitching done then.

After that its all the beading. I'm dreading this part. I hate beading, and there's so much on this design. Fortunately I found some shorter beading needles. I absolutely loath the long ones.

I also got brave and bought a pattern and some fabric to sew a skirt. This is huge because I don't normally sew my own clothes, but like I said...I was being brave. I even got really hopeful and bought a blouse pattern for the future. I'm hoping to sew this up tomorrow so we'll see how it goes.

Tomorrow morning is my first weightwatchers meeting in several weeks because of the whole mother in law thing. I am not looking forward to it. On the positive I'm going to start working out with a coworker on Monday. I've also joined a golf league with some of my coworkers, and I'll start taking my bike to work once the streets have been cleaned. Wouldn't want to get any road rash yah know.

2009-04-13T19:32:00.001-07:00

Here's my Summer
Here's the update I promised yesterday. It's hard to see the petite braid because the lighting isn't good, but you get the idea.

It is currently raining here...I love spring rain storms. Unfortunately it's supposed to turn to snow overnight. *Sigh*

2009-04-12T19:59:00.003-07:00

Gosh, What A Week!

Two weekends ago today my father in law phoned us to let us know that my mother in law was in the hospital. She hadn't been feeling well and they admitted her to the hospital to run some tests. Nothing serious, we visited a few times and all was well. Then that Thursday we got a phone call saying that her kidneys had started to fail. Basically she was in multiple organ failure and it wasn't looking good. The doctors were trying to get her kidneys going again, but if they didn't respond things did not look good.

Over the weekend things got really bad and we began to prepare for the worst. My brother in law flew in from Phoenix and we began to accept that we were going to have to prepare for a funeral. We began to let everyone around us know and we spent as much of our time as possible at the hospital with my mother in law.

In that time I saw such a loving, caring side of my husband...it was heart warming. I've always know that about him, but to see him sitting with his mom and comforting her was so sweet.

Then this past Tuesday we got the shock of our lives. Her kidneys were back up to normal function!!! Things started to improve drastically from there and she came home on Thursday!!
In the span of 72 hours we went from preparing for a funeral to preparing to take her home. We're still in awe. My mother in law has to make some changes to her diet, but she should be fine! What a relief.

Of course now we're dealing with my stubborn father in law and his expecting us to take care of everything...its frustrating because we have our own lives to pick up. Both Jon and I took the last week off of work to deal with this. Basically we're grateful, but tired and annoyed at this point.

One benefit to beign at the hospital all this time is that I got some stitching done!! Of course I've probably also gained 10 lbs from eating cafeteria food! I will try and post a stitching update tomorrow. Right now I think I'm gonna go curl up in bed with a book.

HAPPY EASTER!

2009-04-02T18:29:00.004-07:00

I'm a Sewing Machine

I finished another project today. A bed skirt for our bed. We finally found a duvet cover we liked, but the Bay didn't have the bed skirt to go with it. Fortunately our sheets were also being discontinued so I bought a queen flat sheet for ~$8 and told Jon I'd just sew a bed skirt. This way we'd know it would match and it it wouldn't cost a fortune either.
I'd used pretty much the same idea previously and was very happy with the way it turned out. I gave it another go and for less than $15 we have a very nice bedskirt.

There's box pleats in the corners and one in the middle of each side of the bed. I pressed them so that they would lie flat, but they're not cooperating. My Mom suggested tacking them down with a small stitch, so I may try that.

Tomorrow we help my sister and her husband move into their new place. My brother in law doesn't think we'll get them moved in one day. He doesn't know my family. We'll have him in before sun down even if they only get the keys at noon. :D

I may get some more sewing in this evening. It all depends on if the wow server comes back up. We have a raid tonight and I may go just to see if the upgrade to my ram that Jon put in makes a difference. My DPS (that's wow speak for damage per second) and damage done isn't where it should be and we've pretty much narrowed it down to my crappy computer. I've got all but one piece of my T7.5 gear so it's not gear. We can't afford to replace the computer just yet so a ram upgrade will have to suffice.

But if the server doesn't come back online before 8:45 we will not be going. We're working on OS+3....we tried and failed multiple times last night, so maybe we'll be successful tonight?

2009-03-30T22:02:00.004-07:00

Crazy Day

That pretty much sums things up nicely. Last night we got a phone call saying a family member was in the hospital. I can't say who or why because we've been sworn to secrecy until they know the cause. We went to visit today and it's clear there's something wrong, but nobody should worry.

So, this morning I dropped Jon off at the university then picked up my sister for lunch. We stopped at a quilt shop in St. Albert, Quiltessentials. I discovered that they actually sell Amy Butler fabric so of course i had to go. It was a cute little shop. Imagine my excitement when I also found an Anna Maria Horner print and a Heather Bailey. Unfortunately they only had one print of each, and the Heather Bailey wasn't my favourite colour combination but I was still thrilled.

They even had jelly rolls and charm packs and all those wonderful things from Moda. So of course I had to pick up a couple. I don't know what I'm going to make yet, but cannot express my excitement at finding a quilt shop that carries my three favourite designers.

After stopping at the quilt shop we went for lunch at Original Joes in St. Albert. The service was so slow...especially considering it was 2:30 in the afternoon. Once we finished there I dropped my sister off then picked up the husband from work. After a short stop at home it was off to visit our sick family member. We spent an hour and halfish there and then came home.

Needless to say I spent most of day in the van! Tomorrow I'm playing badminton with a coworker and then I'm staying home!!!

Before I head off to bed I thought I'd share my progress on Celtic Summer with you. As I've said before I haven't stitched much in the last year or two, but I really want to finish this one. I'm hoping that'll happen this time around.
Well Sweet Dreams!

2009-03-28T16:03:00.003-07:00

Finished!!

My quilt is finally done. An hour or so of work today and it's complete.

I'm pretty happy with the outcome considering it's my first quilt. This will be the bedspread for our guest bedroom.

I used Amy Butler's lotus Brick Path Quilt pattern found here. And the fabric line is Heather Bailey's Freshcut fabric line.
What did I learn on this project? Quilts need to be stretched...and...sewing over safety pins will break your machine needle.
It was very nice being able to use the sewing counters at school. I don't know where I would have stretched the quilt at home. I think if I decide to quilt more then my next craft room had better have a really big table.

2009-03-25T17:29:00.002-07:00

Sewing!

I had a very productive day in the world of sewing today! I took my quilt in to work to use one of the big counters in the sewing room. I pined and sewed and pined some more. It was nice because I did some of the pining on my prep so I got to hangout with our fashion teacher and the fantastic kids she has in her class (I teach several of them as well). It was a relaxing prep. I stayed after school for a couple hours to keep working on it.

It's looking good. There are still some little bunches, but not nearly as bad as the first time I did it. It's amazing the difference stretching makes lol. I have about 9 more rows to quilt and I'm done. I can't wait.

Friday is the first day of spring break so I should have plenty of time to work on it. I'll post pics as soon as I'm done.

2009-03-22T16:51:00.005-07:00

Another Cozy!

I like this one much better. I omitted the batting on the one I made yesterday because I was using a fleecy fabric. I like it with the batting. I also bought some more hair elastics last night and this time I was able to use one that matched the fabric.

I also made a minor mistake yesterday and although it didn't really affect the outcome I still like the newer one. Of course I had to go and get a coffee so I could try it out.

For those that are interested I used the tutorial found at House on Hill Road. It's really easy and they don't take very long at all. I think they'd make neat little gifts.

We also went to the home and garden show. Turned out to be a bit disappointing. My sister and her husband just bought their first house and we thought it might be neat to go and check out the show. Neither of us can really afford to renovate, and there wasn't as much garden stuff as in previous years. As a result it turned out to be pretty boring.

Jon and are are currently considering whether we should go to Vegas again (with WestJet), or maybe opt for a smaller trip to the mountains or Phoenix (my brother and sis-inlaw live there now) and do some renos on our house. We really need to do some renos. We're still undecided....the dilemma!

It's also snowing here...again!!! I wish it would stop. I'm so done with all this snow.

2009-03-21T13:07:00.002-07:00

The quilt...waiting to be sewed to the batting and backing fabric.
The coffee cozie. Not sure how I feel about it yet...

2009-03-21T11:03:00.003-07:00

Wow! It's Been Awhile!

I know I've been mia for a nearly a year now, but I'm hoping to change that once again. Those of you who know me know that I end up taking breaks about once a year. I don't know why, I just do. It happens.

I've been doing some sewing recently and really want to share. I will post some pictures as soon as I retrieve them from my camera. My sister also has a blog now so that's kind of spurred me into redesigning my blog and getting back into the swing of things.

I've also been inspired by a variety of fantastic sewing blogs. My current favourites are Anna Marie Horner, Heather Bailey , and Camille Roskeley.

They all make such beautiful fabrics and patterns! I'm currently finishing my quilt using Amy Butler's pattern, and Heather Bailey's Fresh Cut line. It's turning out really nice. I had to tear it apart once because I didn't stretch it when I sewed the layers together and it started bunching. One of my coworkers...our fabulous fashions teacher...has been helping me with questions. I should have it finished by the end of the week.

After we finish our D&D session this morning I'm going to work on making some Coffee Cozies that I saw on House on Hill Road.

Hopefully I'll have some pictures for you by the end of the day!

2008-07-14T11:52:00.003-07:00

Home at Last

Vegas was a lot of fun. I think its one of those places that everyone should see at least once. Although we did feel like four days, not five, would have been enough. Especially because we're not big gamblers/partiers.
The flight there was uneventful. I was a bit nervous, but takeoff was actually kind of fun. I didn't like landing though. Our pilot had to make some pretty sharp turns, it was basically everything I hate about amusement rides. When we arrived we had breakfast, and checked in early. Then we had a nap (we'd only gotten 3 hrs of sleep). It was 44 C, or 111 F most of the time we were there. The only saving grace is that it was dry. I think if it had been humid I would have died.
We spent most of our trip touring the strip, and sightseeing. For $28 we purchased a 3 day monorail pass, and it was totally worth it.
We went to Madame Tussauds, Star Trek The experience, Spamalot (worth every penny), the tournament of kings, gondola ride at the Venetian, lots of shopping on the strip and at the premium outlet shops. My best buy was two pairs of Sketchers for $75 total. Each pair is $85 here. I'm not going to go into too much detail, you can have a look at the album if you want http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/NicoleLueke/LasVegas

Our flight home was a disaster. I'm posting the whole story because it's a long one, read it at your own risk. Basically we're lucky to be home. All in all it was a great trip.

Today is our first anniversary, so that means we're no longer newlyweds!!

US Airways Screw Up

So we booked our flights through US Airways because they arrived earlier in Vegas, and left later. This meant that we basically got some extra time in Vegas. The flight there was great, and we had no problems. Except we didn’t get peanuts, but I didn’t know until later this was unusual lol.

Our flight home was scheduled to leave McCarran Airport at 9:45 (Vegas Time) and get home at 1:40 (our time). Being the good passengers we are, we arrived early, checked our bags and went through security. As it got closer to take off we went down to our gate and hung out there. The flight before us, US flight to Phoenix, was finishing up with their boarding, and getting ready to leave. As they were doing their final pre flight stuff we overheard that they were calling a ground stop. One of the ladies on our flight, who was also there early, asked what it was, and in this case the airline lady (who incidentally was Canadian) explained that it was because there was too much air traffic in Phoenix, and they had to wait until it cleared up a bit before leaving.

No big deal, or so we thought. They ended up changing our gate because the flight to Phoenix had still not left. We board the plane and get comfortable, and no sooner do we do that than the co-pilot comes over the intercom and says that the pilot is on route from Phoenix, and it should be about another hour and fifteen before he gets there. Then 15 min. later he comes on again and says that the airline is telling him that he pilot just landed, shouldn’t be too long. Another short time later he comes on again and says that the airline and the tower are giving him two different stories. The tower is saying that he hasn’t even left Phoenix yet, and we don’t know how long it will be. By now we’re annoyed, but as long as we get off the ground eventually we don’t care.

Again the co-pilot comes on and explains that there’s another problem. Because it’s taking the pilot so long to get there, he, the co-pilot, is going to be timed out in half an hour and cannot fly due to regulations. As a result they’re going to try and find whole new crew. Not five minutes later an airline representative comes on board and tells us our flight has been cancelled.

We get to the ticket desk, along with our irate co-passengers, and the stories begin. The airline tells us the soonest they can get us on a direct flight to Edmonton is Saturday (it’s was Thursday evening). They weren’t going to pay for a room, and they weren’t going to give us anything to help pay for food either. And Thursday-Sat are the most expensive days in Vegas. Our other options were to go to south to Phoenix (where all the problems were originating) and spend the night there and fly home the next day direct.

Jon and I just wanted out at that point, so we opted to fly to Calgary the next day at 5 pm and drive home with a rental car.

Fortunately at that point we met up with a bunch of other passengers on our flight and one of them mentioned that Delta had a flight out at 6:30 in the morning on Friday and we’d be home by noon on Friday. It was only $340 per person and by that point Jon and I didn’t care, we booked the flight with Delta. It had a one hour layover in Salt Lake, but we would still get home at a decent time. Shortly after we got our tickets the price doubled, so we were lucky to get them.

By this point it was clear that US airways was not to be trusted, there was a constant stream of people coming down from the boarding gates because all their flights had been cancelled, and only with US airways. The other ticket desks didn’t seem to have this problem. Every person we talked to from other flights was given different stories about the reasons for cancellations. It seemed like US was just trying to say it was weather so that they wouldn’t have to refund our tickets. One flight was stuck in the plane on the tarmac for 7 hours because of a “flat tire”. Some people on our flight had already been bumped the night before.

Because our flight left early in the morning we stayed in the airport with a bunch of others that had made the same choice. The airport honestly looked like a refugee camp because of all the US airways customers on the floors/chairs. US airways was also the only ticket desk that didn’t close all night, they had to stay open to deal with all the irate customers.

At one point one of the US airways employees was badmouthing us, the “crazy Canadians” to her coworkers, in front of us! Needless to say there were numerous complaints filed about her. They even called the Vegas police because someone from our group had taken a picture of the line ups. We overheard the police saying “It’s a good thing Walmart doesn’t call us every time they have a problem with their return lines” So even the police thought it was stupid.

We managed to get home on Delta, thank goodness. They even gave us peanuts on their flights. We didn’t get that on US airways. By the time we got home we’d been up for about 30 hours, but we were just glad to be home. I’ve never been so happy to see my messy house.

In all honesty it wouldn’t have been such a big deal if we had been given a straight answer and treated with a little respect. They couldn’t even organize their lines at the ticket desk, they were letting others cut in front of us, and it was just a big mess. These things happen, but it was ridiculous and disorganized for an airline. Needless to say we’ll never fly with US Airways (apparently this is normal for them), and will more than likely never fly with an American airline period, except maybe Delta, they were very nice.

2008-07-03T18:51:00.003-07:00

I know it has been way too long since my last post. The last month of school was very busy to say the least. Now its done and I'm on summer holidays, and I have a job next fall, although it is still only a temporary contract.
We planted a garden, and it is flourishing. The onions and radishes are ready to be picked, and yesterday I noticed three baby tomatos. We also have potatos, beans, lettuce, cucumbers, and a squash as well as various herbs.

We spent the weekend at my parents place on their boat! It was awesome, and the weather was perfect for it. It was nice to be able to go swimming. Although when we got off the boat on Sunday I misjudged the distance from the end of the dock to the parking lot pavement. As a result I fell and sprained my left ankle, and got some serious road rash on my right leg. It looks worse than it feels right now.
Currently I'm getting ready for our trip to Las Vegas. We leave on Sunday. This will be my very first plane flight, and my first trip out of the country. I'm more concerned about the airport stuff more than anything.

2008-05-18T18:14:00.007-07:00

The last couple of weeks have been very busy, in both a good and bad way. It’s the time of year where those of us who are not on continuous contracts are walking on pins and needles waiting to hear if we have a job.
At first I was very confident that I might go from temporary to probationary, and had been given information that I would be hired back next year.
For those who don’t know, the way teaching contracts work here is that you get a temporary contract if you’re filling in for a matleave or medical leave etc. A probationary contract if you’re a new teacher or new to the district, but are filling an empty position. Continuous/permanent contract comes after getting your permanent teaching certificate from the province, and usually after having taught with a district for 2 years.

Then, after our admin had their staffing meeting, I received some news that I would most likely receive only a temp. contract. Not because I’m a bad teacher, but because of other politics I don’t feel like going into. So needless to say I went from being very excited to very upset. Currently I still don’t know where I sit, but since our principal took a week long vacation for some conference I’m not surprised.

Besides, the day I found out I may not get a probationary contract I received this little cutie in the mail. I had ordered it a couple of weeks earlier from Betz White. How could you not smile when getting something this cute. I love it!

Then a couple days later I got this wonderful parcel…the fabric for my quilt!! It’s Heather Bailey Freshcut. I absolutely love her line. I’ve cut all the fabric into squares, now to lay it out and sew it up.

This past Monday we took my Mom and my Grandma to see Anne Murray for Mother’s day. I love Anne Murray, and was so excited, probably more so than someone my age should be. My sisters and I were probably the youngest people there, I’m not kidding. It was a great show, and she even sung Hippo in The Tub from her kids album.

Wednesday and Thursday were spent at Camp Encounter with some of the grade 11’s for their religion retreat. This was also a lot of fun. We had a great group of kids with us and that makes a big difference. We did the Stations of the Cross outside as the sun was setting and it was beautiful. We were all surprised to see how quiet the kids stayed. I ended up with a sunburn on the left side of my upper body, and a bruise on my leg from some of the activities but it was all worth it.

After spending yesterday turning sod for our garden I’m now burned to a nice bright red on both sides of my upper body. It hurts to wear a full shirt; a tank top is about the only thing I can stand. My herbs and any vegetable that came in a pot are now planted. Potatoes and seeds will go in tomorrow because it was way too windy to plant them today. Oh, and I got my urns and front flower beds planted.

That is pretty much the last week in a nutshell! Oh, and I made these invitations for a coworkers wedding shower.

2008-05-04T19:58:00.005-07:00

Today I just have a card to show off. It's for a friend's birthday. I don't know all the specifics, but the supplies are all Stampin' Up.

I love this stamp set, its one of my favourites.

2008-05-03T19:25:00.005-07:00

I'm still here, it's been a busy week. School has kept me busy, but things are looking very promising for my employment situation. Should know for sure very soon.

I started taking my bike to school, and its great. Although I only managed it once this week with the rain and subsequent sinus cold. I'll keep it up though. I also signed up for Yoga on Tuesdays with a coworker, and our phys ed. dept. head made up a training program for me. I haven't tried it out yet because of my cold, but I plan to very soon. Our school is doing this everactive challenge, so its helping to motivate me a bit. I even got Jon to go for a bike ride this evening. The weather has finally turned nice, and its fantastic. I'm itching for the threat of frost to pass so I can get in the garden. I think I'll actually plant a vegetable garden this year.

Jon and I are also planning a trip to Las Vegas for our anniversary/honeymoon. I've never been on a plane, or left the country, so I'm really excited about this. The biggest shocker was that we could actually afford to go! We'll probably even stay at the Wynn, since we'll be going at the start of the week and only for a few days. We're also hoping to get VIP passes to Spamalot.

I didn't get much sewing in this week because of the school, but here are some other pictures that I didn't get around to posting last week.

This is a glass case I made for my sunglasses. Its from Betz White's pattern.
This is my second go of the potholders. I misread the pattern the first time, and they turned otu much better this time around. One of my sister's even said that they look storebought. That's a huge compliment coming from her, she never says stuff like that.

I also ordered some Heather Bailey fabrics last weekend. I'm going to make the Lotus Quilt for our bedroom. I love Heather Bailey's fabrics, and the Lotus brick quilt looks simple enough for a beginner. I've been very impatiently waiting for my fabric to arrive, in addition to everything else I ordered before that. The only thing to arrive so far is my labels, but those were shipped from within Canada. Hopefully my Amy Butler fabrics will get here this week !!! I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

2008-04-26T17:23:00.004-07:00

More Booties!!!

So here are the two pairs that I'm giving as gifts.

These are for a coworkers new daughter. I wasn't sure about the colour, but I'm pleased with how they look. Originally I had made them out of purple, but I just wasn't happy with them.
And these are the good version of the ones I posted yesterday. They're bigger and I did the blanket stitch by hand. I'm surprised at the difference hand stitching made. These are also a lot better sewn.

After making a total of four pairs of booties (two stuffed animals now have shoes of their own because of two pairs I didn't like) I'm getting much more proficient at machine stitching circles. They're a really fast and easy stitch, and I have a feeling I'll be making more in the future.

Not right now though, its dinner time.

2008-04-25T21:09:00.004-07:00

Bitty Booties

Could they be any cuter!! These are my Bitty Booties. I got the pattern from Heather Bailey.

They are such an easy sew, and really fun. These are my "trial" pair, and I'm going to make a larger pair for my friends little guy. I want to also try and put a flannel lining inside so they're nice and soft, and I can hide the seems. I've never lined anything before though, so I'm not sure how it'll work.

These will make excellent gifts, and I know every new baby will be getting a pair from me now!!

2008-04-24T19:20:00.003-07:00

Frogs

Today my science 10's dissected a frog. It's no longer part of the curriculum, but we still do it because it's kind of neat. I didn't do it last semester because of time, but this term I got a chance to have them do a dissection.
They were truly excited about it, and some of them got really into it. Of course if they were being graded on technique they all would have failed. Even those who were not too comfortable when I dissected one for them yesterday were right into it today. It was great. It's moment's like those that really make me remember why I teach.
One group even managed to remove the lungs in one piece, and I was able to inflate them using an eyedropper. It was really cool.

In other news I picked up some felt and flannel today so I can make Heather Bailey's Bitty Booties for my girlfriend's little guy. I've been too tired this week to do much of anything, I fell asleep on the couch when I got home yesterday. Hopefully I'll have some crafting pictures in the next day or two.

2008-04-23T06:49:00.004-07:00

So the potholder I made didn't really turned out as planned. I must have misread the pattern or misunderstood because the bias binding didn't look right when attached. I think I know what I did though. So once I get some more thread tonight I'll have another go at it.
I did finish Jocelyn's apron. No picture though because I'm posting from DH's computer. He's already left for school. Today he writes his last final exam, and even though I'm annoyed at him for other things, I hope he does well.
He's still got another 2 years left, but at least no more classes.

I am patiently, or not so patiently, waiting the arrival of some Amy Butler fabrics I ordered online. (I didn't discover until after that there is a place in the city that sells her stuff). I also ordered some "handmade by Nicole" labels. And then I gave in and ordered a cupcake pincushion from Betz White. I couldn't' resist. I thought about getting her book and making my own, but I really don't need to add felting to my list of hobbies. In the end I decided that one from her would be nicer, and probably cheaper in the end (as I wouldn't have to buy supplies). So I ordered one. I cannot wait until my purchases arrive.

Weather wise we are finally seeing the end of our four day blizzard. This is not normal for April, we've never had a storm this bad in April. Needless to say no one is impressed. But of course you get all those drivers who completely forget how to drive like reasonable people as soon as it snows. Although I suspect they don't drive like reasonable people to begin with, maybe that's the problem.

I should probably end here, I have to head out to work. Have a good day!

2008-04-20T10:14:00.010-07:00

Sewing and Snow!

Just like when I'm cross-stitching the pattern I'm sewing, and even more the fabric, has to speak to me. Not talk to me like I'm crazy of course, but I have to "feel it" or the project is just painful.

I decided on the apron pattern after all. It is simple, and I had found some fabric on Friday that just screamed Domestic Goddess. The more I worked with the fabric the more I loved it, so that was a bonus.

I thoroughly enjoyed sewing this pattern. It was awesome, I cannot say that enough. It didn't take too long either.
I started last night by washing, pressing and cutting the fabric.

Then I sewed on the pocket, and cute little towel holder. I am in love with the towel holder for some reason, I do not know why. By that point it was 10pm so I stopped for the evening.

This morning I finished up by adding the wasteband, pleats, and ties.

This project is just another confirmation of the fact that if I take my time things turn out really well. I tend to be a sometimes impatient crafter, and I take shortcuts. Like instead of pressing with an iron I'll just finger press it. I hate ironing with a passion, and even though I'm not proud of it I will often opt to just wear a shirt that's a bit wrinkly, rather than pull out the iron.

With the apron I actually ironed every time it said to, and even sometimes it didn't. My Mom would be proud. She's like my grandfather...they like to iron! My Mom used to iron our jeans when we were in elementary school, I'm not joking (she's going to love that I told people that). She eventually stopped when we started to get older, having perfect pleats in all your pants is not cool after a certain age.

I quickly learned, however, that plastic pinheads melt when ironed. Go figure! There were only some minor injuries and no pin-casualties.

I love how you can see the vacuum cleaner behind me. It gives the illusion that I actually use it lol.

In the end I am more than thrilled with the final result. I love it to bits and will probably wear it often. My sister wants me to make her one, she picked out some fabric for it yesterday. First though I think I'll make the potholders.

I don't know how far I'll get on those today. We have to go and get a few groceries, and that could be interesting considering the amount of snow we got yesterday and today. I am not impressed!!!

2008-04-19T08:19:00.003-07:00

I picked up this book during the week, and I love it! There's so many fabulous things in it. My biggest problem with it is that I can't decide what to sew first!

I want to start with something simpler and that would be the apron, but I'm not convinced that I would use an apron. So I'm leaning toward the potholders. I bought a bit of fabric last night at fabric land, but there are some other places in edmonton that I would like to look at today. I'm branching out so to speak lol.

In any event I will probably have more photos for you by the end of the weekend.

2008-04-13T19:24:00.008-07:00

Well, today I made another oil cloth lunch bag for my sister. I also made another out of a different fabric for myself, and Jon. They're very durable, and I've gotten lots of compliments on them.

Today I also made a little jacket for Burnie the Buffalo. He's first movie, a music video for Bodies Hit the Floor was too funny, so we're making another one. (To see his first one search Burnie the Buffalo on U-tube. There's a second video on there as well, but its crap).

We're going to do an Indiana Jones one, so he needs an appropriate outfit. I got some of the inspiration for how to go about it here.

I started by drawing out the pattern. Then pinning it and cutting it out.

I decided to put a piece of ribbon around the top, instead of another piece of vinyl. There wasn't really much sewing in this project, except for the ribbon trim.

This is the final result. I think it would be funny to do some embroidery on the back just to dress it up a bit.

I know I'm sad for making clothes for a stuffed animal, but Burnie has become almost like a child lol. It's a long story..

I've been reading a lot of crafty blogs lately, mostly sewing ones, and I've been feeling inspired to make some more stuff. So maybe there'll be more posts soon.

2008-04-05T22:57:00.003-07:00

I know it's been a while since I posted last, I just haven't felt motivated, or had the time, to blog about life. Things are good though, and DH and I are doing good. Still don't know if I have a job for next year, but that's not a surprise.

I wanted to post about a lunch bag I made today from oilcloth (or more correctly vinyl tablecloth material). I recently subscribed to Martha Stewarts craft of the day email, and was inspired by Oilcloth Lunchbag. There's no patter on her site, but I did use the tutorial found here: OilCloth Bag

However, if you decided to try this yourself I would highly recommend not using the cotton/plastic linning. I tried it and found it incredibly difficult to work with and was more than horrified with the result. I suppose the batting probably gives it some sort of insulation, but I'd rather eat room temperature lunches than deal with the headache of adding lining.

If you omit the lining your biggest difficulty will probably be to find oilcloth that does not look old ladyish. I found mine at the Fabricland in Sherwood Par, and they don't have a huge selection. And FYI, oilcloth isn't really made with the "oil" part any more. Now its just that vinyl table cloth stuff with the cotton backing, but it still looks cool. I'm going to look online for some more of the vinyl fabrics, and I think instead of velcro, I may try using a cute little clothes pin like on the Martha site.

I am pretty happy with the result

I think I'm going to change the dimensions for the next one and try to make it shorter and wider. Its also fairly cheap to make. If you omit the linning then one bag costs less than $2 to make, of course I have a fabricland membership, but it would still be pretty reasonable otherwise.

Thinking that I'll probably try and blog more about craft type projects. This might keep me more motivated to stay ontop of the blogging thing as I don't want to give it up entirely. Only time will tell.

2008-01-27T22:15:00.000-07:00

How to name a band...
Saw this meme on Belinda's Blog, and since I haven't posted in a while, I thought this would be fun.

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:RandomThe first article title on the page is the name of your band. Mine is Darren Carrington - Some sports guy I think

2. http://www.quotationspage.com/random.php3: The last four words of the very last quote is the title of your album. Not in his heart

3. http://www.flickr.com/explore/interesting/7daysThe third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover.

4. Use your graphics program of choice to throw them together, then post the result.And the result is:

Feels like a John Denver Christmas album to me lol.

2008-01-03T10:16:00.000-07:00

Hey!!

Hope all my readers had a great Christmas and New Year. I did! I've really enjoyed the break, and part of me doesn't want to go back to work on Monday. At the same time there's only two weeks left until finals start, so this semester is almost done. And then I will officially be done my first year of teaching.

Our appliance problems have been solved, and it turns out they're not appliances problems, but electricity problems. That's been fixed thanks to a family friend, and things work great now.

I've got my craft room almost set up with the help of numerous Christmas gifts, and I'm planning on starting a scrapbooking/paper craft blog shortly. This one will still be around for everday stuff, I just want another one that I can use for craft specific stuff. I haven't stitched in a while, and although I haven't given up the hobby, I just can't motivate myself. I also want to scrapbook my wedding photos, and I've always had a paper obsession.

Sorry to cut things short, I need to run into the school to pick up some stuff, but I will be back soon :D

2007-11-25T10:12:00.000-07:00

Things are good, as always, but still just as crazy. Four more weeks until Christmas break, and I can't wait. This is the first time teaching teh first semester for me, and I'm enjoying it. Even with the insanity, and all the hard work I truly love my job. There's days I would love to strangle my kids, but I still love it.
I'm looking forward to next semester because a) I won't have to teach religion (this is not my forte, but at least I'm full time), and b)I'll actually have the chance to teach several courses for the second time. This will be a new experience for me.

In other news our washing machine still is not fixed. It's one thing after another. Now it looks as if the motor went and it also caused an electrical short in the house electricity! But thankfully only on that circuit. I'm still doing laundry at my sisters. What is it with us and appliances! If we sign that deal with the province I'm taking my bonus and premtively buying a new dishwasher!!

We picked up our wedding pictures on Friday, and I love them. I can't wait to take our album to school tomorrow and show it off. I'll also be printing off photos to make small albums for our wedding party, if anyone knows a good online merchant for this I would greatly appreciate any suggestions.

Oh, and Jon and I are going to have another neice/nephew. His sister in law is pregnant, and due in June. It seems like everyone around me is having babies!

I'm back on weightwatchers again, determined to get to my goal weight htis time. I lost 3.5lbs this first week, which is impressive.

Well I'm off to my sisters for some laundry and scrapbooking. ttyl.

2007-10-27T08:00:00.000-07:00

Once again work has kept me incredibly busy. I haven't had any time to do anything. Awards are over now though so that's one less thing I have to worry about.

I'm not going to write too much, I've got a lot to do still.
I just wanted to mention that we had an American Astronaut coming and talk to us on Tuesday. He's not super famous, but he has been into space 3 times. It was so cool, and he have a great presentation. It as like Christmas for most of the teachers.

I even got to have my picture taken with him.

2007-10-03T20:33:00.000-07:00

So tired. This week has been crazy, but then every week seems crazy. But really its a good kind of crazy, I'm very busy, but not stressed busy. Which is surprising considering the number of committees I'm on. I can't remember if I mentioned it, but I agreed to do the academic awards, yearbook and grad committee. Which is a lot, but fortunately I'm not doing them all on my own, which is probably the only reason I'm not dead yet lol.

I'm very proud of myself, I actually phoned some parents this week. This is a big thing for me, I'm not fond of phoning parents and last year I avoided it at all costs. This year I'm trying to improve, and after phoning 3 parents I'm up considerably from last year. They all turned out to be good phone calls too, no screaming on either end lol.

Part of the problem this year is this new marks program we're using. No one knows how to use it, and we could have just stuck with our old program (with a few minor changes) and it would have been so much easier. Of course that would have been too easy, we must always pick the harder choice. In the midst of the changeover I have suddenly become the computer whiz to all the old guys in the science department. All I did was read the help file, it's kinda funny actually.

Tomorrow night I'm being inducted into the ATA, if you don't know the ATA is our provincial teacher's union. I have no idea what its about, and while i know it won't be as cool as the engineer's iron ring ceremony, I have visions of secret hazing rituals or something.

In any event I should get going. I know it's only 9:39, but I've been staying up until at least 11pm lately, and not napping in the afternoon! Very impressive for me (10pm used to be my standard, and I would usually have a min. 1hr nap when I got home), so I think one early night is allowed.

2007-09-29T10:36:00.000-07:00

Life is crazy. School is the primary reason I'm so busy. But things are good.

We had our staff retreat on Thursday and Friday. It was a blast. I was up until 3 am on Thursday night, but it was totally worth it.

Today I have to go into school to get some work done, and then tomorrow it's the run for the cure. Thanks to everyone who donated I doubled my goal.

I really don't have too much to say I haven't had any coffee yet so I'm not completely functioning. But here are some pictures of my classroom as promised.

My religion corner and shelves.

My husband drawing on my whiteboard

My bulletin boards. Only the math one has changed a bit, I'm still working on getting stuff up there!

2007-09-09T08:09:00.000-07:00

Getting ready to start the second week of school, and things are going good.
I am now full time, how about that! Last June the possibility of my teaching Religion came up, but I never heard anything else so I figured I wasn't. Then I got Helen to print off my class lists, and it turns out that I was teaching Religion, but no one told me! I won't go into the whole situation - school politics lol. So that's this semester.
Then I almost got stuck with Outdoor Living - think hiking, and camping with a bunch of grade 10's - not my thing. Fortunately another teacher took that class, and then I'm taking her Forensics next semester - totally my thing!!
That makes me full time now with a half prep each semester. Of course I'm temp contract and I could be let go tomorrow, but its not likely.
So that means that I'm teaching Science 10, Religion 15, Pure Math 20, and Applied Math 20 this semester. I'm enjoying the Science 10 because most of these students are new and haven't developed bad habits yet, so I can still mold them into good students lol.
I'm finding Applied Math a bit challenging because of the wide range of student abilities, but I've talked to my Math dept. head and I think I've come up with a way to improve that. It's also a lot of work with the graphing calculator, and I've never used it to this degree before so it's a learning experience for me. I like it though.
My classroom is also set up in a much more useful way for me this year and its working much better. I'll have to take some pictures this week and post them.
I'm also finding that I actually feel like a teacher this year. It's weird, but I totally didn't get that feeling last year. Maybe that little bit of experience has really made a difference.

On the home front our house is a complete disaster! I get home at 6pmish every night and promptly fall asleep on the couch (this is totally normal for me) after dinner, so nothing gets done. I'm going to try and cut back on my naps this week.
I'm also back on weight watchers as of today, so Im' going to try and get some use out of that exercise bike Jon bought a couple years ago.
Well I have planning and laundry to do so I had better get to it.

2007-08-27T17:02:00.000-07:00

After pictures!!
I'm much happier with the grey. It looks sooooo much better!