What's new?

Sept 28

Well, if you know me at all you know I got that IKEA storage unit put together, drug out to the studio, and filled up within 48 hours of that last post. Maryann (no blog) emailed this morning wanting to see the results...you probably also know that I'm not that great about timely blogging the results! 

I posted pics around the studio a couple of years ago...you can see in them that the whole back 15 ft length wall is two six ft wide closets flanking that little 'creative inspiration' nook in the center. I see even then I didn't want to show you how it looked inside! LOL. I have hauled SO MUCH stuff out of that room lately that I can hardly park on my side of the garage. And I'm not even done yet.  I am going to have a big ol' Studio Destash backyard sale soon. The price of admittance will be "Don't judge me!" So I'm an overbuyer! ;-)

Here it is closed. I rewrapped those two sliding doors in flannel (as a quilting design wall) because I had stupidly used fleece before...nice and grabby but sagged like an elephant's pantyhose. 

After Nanette's recent post about that clever use of scallops for binding I of course had to find some and order it (the two pieces on top there). The interior measurements of each cubby are about 13.5" square. The outside measures about 5 ft square.  I really do like this unit and highly recommend it if you're needing storage like this. I've folded all the over 1 yard pieces in there, as well as put all the different buckets o' scraps in the boxes and tubs. THANKS AGAIN for taking me to IKEA Jackie my friend. OH...and for taking me to Home Goods. LOVE that store! Here's the polka dot casserole dish I bought (the only thing I bought believe it or not!)

Perfect for enchiladas (these by the way are nearly calorie free! They are 2/3 ff cottage cheese to 1/3 regular cheddar inside, with some canned Costco chicken, and the kids couldn't even tell!) I also made the ol' turkey meatloaf in it last night. Love it! Beautiful AND Functional. Two of the three requirements for bringing new stuff into the house. :-)

Speaking of clearing out the clutter, there is a HUGE 'garage sale' here in Eureka every year out at the fairgrounds. It's put on by The Humboldt Sponsors, which I joined this year, and I have to get ready to go out there and help set up pretty soon here. The sale is this Saturday if you're local and interested. I went last year for the first time and it was CRAZY busy. Like people waited all year just to go to that garage sale. Okay. Gotta go!

September 21

My very best news as of late is that my oldest and dearest friend found me. We first met as 12 year olds in jr high school.

Jackie was the tall one. And she (not surprisingly) competed in statewide beauty pageants. But you couldn't feel jealous about her because she was always such a love. We had great fun. In case you're wondering what we were dressed up for,

we led the Jr High marching band in parades. 

Here we are, 1971 or 72...not quite so dressed up ;-) She and I bookending my cousin and her bff. Jackie was my maid of honor when I got married at 17 (17!) and then our lives took different forks in the road. The cool thing about getting older is...it's hard to say, but I guess that 'ego issues' drift away to leave true spirit and just a strong sense of what's important when everything else is shaken out. An *old* friend is important and I'm so very glad we've found each other again. Last week I drove 6 hours to visit her in her home for 3 days and it was fabulous how 'organic' our relationship still seemed. Like; it just IS, you know? Well, we neither one felt like taking current pics to share but I did snap this of her four children. 

That's right. Four Standard Poodles living indoors. And her house looks better than mine ever does! This picture cracks me up. Like they're doing a sun salutation. I think they actually may be looking at Jackie's husband

who I now think of as the Poodle Whisperer. ;-)

OH. And I was so happy Jackie took me to the Sacramento IKEA to buy an Expedit storage system. Here is the 'before' pic of my fabric closet as it looks today

I can just hardly wait to show you the 'after'!

I went to an estate sale recently and took these pics to share with my fellow hoarders. Take heed, or you too may end up like this!

I wanted to show you the house itself because it's rather cool that it has it's own 500gallon water tank up in that tower over the garage! So I was going through the tables and piles, speaking with the daughter who was running the sale, assuming her mom had recently died. No. About 4 years ago mom got so overrun with and sick of all her STUFF that she just bought another house across town, took her favorite bits with her, and locked this place up! This summer her daughter came out from New Zealand and said, "Mom, we gotta deal with this, and it's not fair of you to wait til you die and leave me to deal with it alone." So they had a sale.

In the garage, this is the table that had fabrics and trimmings. At 2:00 in the afternoon. Which means A LOT had already been sold (but I tried not to think of that!)

The two 8 foot banquet tables in the foreground of this pic are FULL of bedding, including LOTS of hand crocheted afghans. 

People, I don't care how nice we think our 'stuff' is, I honestly believe that if it's in excess it's just gonna get thrown out on tables for the taking. I for one am trying very hard to break my "if one is good nine are better" way of thinking. My new filter (as I go through my stuff for yard sales and donations) is it has to be at least one of three things to me: Beautiful. Functional. or Sentimental. 

I mentioned a couple days ago that we're getting ready for grandchild #4 in time for Christmas this year. This is what I took to the baby shower recently.

It started out as a regular woodgrain magazine rack (usually found at the thrift shop for 3 or 4 dollars). I used a bit of vintage children's wallpaper and gave it the scrapbook letters treatment like I outlined in this tutorial

TIP: if you live near a Tuesday Morning, check their book section! The face value of the books I filled this with was just over $300 but I barely paid $55 for them all. Can't beat that!

Another cute picture of our dog Sophie. 

haha. Now you know how silly a Corgi looks without ears :-) Gotta love those three inch legs. She doesn't give a care what I put on her, as long as she gets to go in the car with us!

Well, after looking at that awful pic of my fabric closet I think I'll go out there right now and get started on the remodel. I want my studio to be a haven, not a dumping ground like it seems to have turned into. Speaking of my studio, I found a wonderful blog yesterday, Everything Etsy, when she featured pics of it on that day's post. Thanks again, Kim! You made it look so nice! (tight shots are a good thing)  :-)

My cell phone is now emptied of pics and you my friends are just about all caught up!

September 20

Finally got around to pulling pics off my cellphone yesterday and realized I could probably compose a post around them. "Our life as seen through my cellphone." :-)

I did tell you about John's *heart event* last month... here's a pic I snapped while he was in the hospital. He wheeling and dealing on my lil netbook. Caleb playing his DS and keeping papa company. 

Later that night, with papa still in the hospital and us on my bed watching a movie (on the Sci-Fi channel, I'm sure) Caleb felt moved to grab my phone and snap a self-portrait. This much I believe is true: if every boy felt as loved and cherished as Caleb does, there would be no wars or (hardly any) murders. Period. How sad that we know that won't happen.

A week later; Madison enjoying popcorn and puzzles with papa. She is SO difficult to get close to (for most people) so John took this as a HUGE victory. :-) 

Our pets are getting so close to posing for that Christmas card photo! :-D

I usually take the kids to the pool at John's golf club (Baywood) routinely throughout the summer. This was taken on August 27 and was the first time we'd gone this year! In other words; summer passed us right on by for 2010.  

Usually when I'm sitting on the couch at night, surfing the net and watching TV, if I'm to glance to my right, this is the sweet look I'm met with. LOVE this dog.

I have a few more I'll share tomorrow and then we should be good and caught up ;-)

September 19

I can just hardly believe our sweet 2nd grandchild Kadence has turned 5 and gone off to Kindergarten! Yesterday we celebrated with a very fun Pink Pirate Party. 

Here she is anxiously watching as guests arrived.

Her mama Kate put SO much thought and preparation into that party. And look how fabulous she is looking at 7 months pregnant! (yes...we're getting grandchild #4 in early December. A boy!)

Caleb went right to work providing the comic entertainment :-)

and continued outside, being about the only child who wanted to repeatedly dunk his head in a bucket of water. 

I can't imagine a prettier pirate than Kadence was in this custom costume I ordered from GoodyGoodyTutus (her shop is currently closed while she catches up on orders but click on her past sales to see her wonderful work). 

I have to say; Madison was pretty cute, too. The pieces of this outfit (boots, leggings and top) are currently at Target if you'd like to put it together for Halloween. The pink bandana and iron on 'bling' as seen on the back of her shirt in the next photo can be found at Michael's. 

See the back of Kadence's, too? So cute!

Cake

and presents

and The LineUp shot (this one cracks me up on so many levels)

Then everyone was sent home with a MAJOR sugar buzz on. 

The End!

:-)

 

September 17

 

Even if he's just joking (which I don't think he is) it's things like this that give me hope...

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Rally to Restore Sanity
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Tea Party

This keeps me, for at least one more day,  from wanting to run as fast as I can away from this country which often feels chock full of maniacal doomsaying FOXnewswatchers. Gosh 'they' just wear me to a nubbin.

I've been struggling over how to share this video here for literally YEARS. On the heels of our 8th wedding anniversary I am going to settle for videotaping the videotape. :-) 

On the last weekend of August in 2002 John was turning 50 and Melissa was turning 21. We thought it'd be fun to have a big fat party at the new facility on the waterfront and have ALL our friends and family come up. Then I started thinking, (that's me; always thinking!)  "Well, shoot. While everyone is here, why don't we just go ahead and get married? But let's keep it a surprise, just so no one has to go buy presents or anything." Getting that party ready and anticipating everyone's reactions was probably the most fun I ever had! A few weeks before the party I realized John and I needed to sing this song. In public. As the prelude to our vows. :-) As you can tell in the video; I had my vows down PAT! John, between hoping the song idea would just go away and having his good Catholic mother in the room could just barely choke out his off colored verses. We did it at the band's first break. Some people had already left and some hadn't arrived yet, but I figure it was absolutely perfect just the way it was.  For a laugh, here are the lyrics.

In Spite of Ourselves

by John Prine and Iris Dement

She don't like her eggs all runny
She thinks crossin' her legs is funny
She looks down her nose at money
She gets it on like the Easter Bunny
She's my baby I'm her honey
I'm never gonna let her go

He ain't got laid in a month of Sundays
I caught him once and he was sniffin' my undies
He ain't too sharp but he gets things done
Drinks his beer like it's oxygen
He's my baby
And I'm his honey
Never gonna let him go

In spite of ourselves
We'll end up a'sittin' on a rainbow
Against all odds
Honey, we're the big door prize
We're gonna spite our noses
Right off of our faces
There won't be nothin' but big old hearts
Dancin' in our eyes.

She thinks all my jokes are corny
Convict movies make her horny
She likes ketchup on her scrambled eggs
Swears like a sailor when shaves her legs
She takes a lickin'
And keeps on tickin'
I'm never gonna let her go.

He's got more balls than a big brass monkey
He's a wacked out werido and a lovebug junkie
Sly as a fox and crazy as a loon
Payday comes and he's howlin' at the moon
He's my baby I don't mean maybe
Never gonna let him go

In spite of ourselves
We'll end up a'sittin' on a rainbow
Against all odds
Honey, we're the big door prize
We're gonna spite our noses
Right off of our faces
There won't be nothin' but big old hearts
Dancin' in our eyes.
There won't be nothin' but big old hearts
Dancin' in our eyes.

We're pretty much the same today. John's just a bit lighter and I'm just a bit heavier. Damn hormones.

So here is the video of the video of John and I singing our way into our marriage 8 years ago. 

Oh, and here is one of my favorite photos. Our four daughters had been spread about the room as we sang that song. As we wrapped it up and the room started to get a more serious feel, they all just kind of magnetized toward the same gathering spot. You can tell my two (mushpots) --"BooHOO!! SO romantic!" John's two, slightly more cynical---"really Dad? You're doing this again?" ;-)

 

It really was a complete surprise to everyone. At the end, when the judge says "welcome to our wedding", that's my mom in the back going "wow!" After the vows she came up to me for a hug saying, "You really can keep a secret!" lol. who knew?

Here's to romance, love, happiness and fun. And stay tuned! Lord knows what we'll do in two years to celebrate the 10th anniversary/John's 60th. :-)

 

September 6

So I left you hanging re what I was making. You know, after having spent WEEKS getting ready for a craft show in April I swore to myself I was NOT going to do that anymore. Spend all that time creating and preparing, just to sit there watching people walk by you all day. The negative talk starts in your head, and by the end of it all you just wanna chuck it. I know many of you have experienced the same thing. But this time I got hooked by the Design Collective concept (which I DO like) and the venue of Arts Alive night. So again I spent WEEKS just making and making. Not doing much of anything else. 

 
Here's a crappy cellphone pic of my display. You see a garbage can because I was next to the makeshift bar. I was between the bar and the dj...in my opinion the best spot in the house! 

So I made fancy three layer twirly skirts. LOTS of one of a kind twirly skirts. I never got tired of them either because they're just so pretty and fun and each one different. That wonderful 4 adjustable arms wrought iron stand was my main inspiration (aside from our girls)  for making these. Aren't they a great fit? My mom bought it several years ago and I grabbed it when she offered it to me. Never quite knew what to do with it but this was a perfect use. I then got it in my mind that I wanted pics of my granddaughters in the skirts blown up to poster size (Costco does that now for $8.99) so I had to do a couple of photography sessions

Adorable Kadence who's started Kindergarten this year and is turning 5 tomorrow! Gosh time flies. I don't think this sweet child is capable of taking a bad picture.

   

Luckily I have an abundance of beautiful grandchildren :-) so I took some pictures of Madison (plunging headlong toward her third birthday!) too.

She's not quite as easy to photograph as Kadence is, but still; she's pretty cute :-)

  

Then I walked into Ross for something that I now forget, and there in the housewares stood two easels!! I've never seen an easel there, but the day I realized I needed them they had two! So by now I'm sure you also agree I just HAD to do this show...all the pieces were just there, right? Oh, and the last big idea I had was literally an hour before the show started--I HAD to make the little jkduncan originals bunting you see on the wall behind my display. Just had to!! :-) 

Well, you can probably guess the end of the story---I sold one skirt and made back my booth fee. Yep. Got buckets of praise and compliments which I appreciate very much of course, but really; JUST SHOOT ME IF I SAY I'M DOING THAT AGAIN!! I need to start spending my creative time on quality rather than quantity. Make a thing for the joy and pleasure of making it,  and then go find someone I would just like to GIVE it to. I've been ruminating on that concept for a while and now I'm there. In the meantime, I'll be selling what I have a few at a time on Etsy. Here's a few pics to maybe get you over there and grab one for your favorite princess.

Oh, and to further clarify that I am a complete NUT, I had to go back out in the studio and make that mini fabric jkduncan bunting before I could get started photographing yesterday. Just had to. (oy, it's hard bein' me sometimes!)