Ahhh, the collective sigh that indicates we made it to the weekend. I always did not want to have a job that made me feel like I lived for the weekends, because work can feel so productive, I love the feeling of accomplishment etc and wishing away 5 days every week of your life seems so pointless, but I can understand now the feeling.  I am going to find a job that I will love. Period.

So off to Chili Verde for dinner, a margarita and then grocery shopping. With luck, this weekend will see the completion of the kitchen backsplash and painting, new clothes for the upcoming trip to Santa Fe and some other projects accomplished.  Maybe throw in a movie?

Some weekend sewing!

The weekend is almost over, and I am jealous when I think of the Dowager Dutchess in Downton Abbey, asking "what is a weekend? Ah, to not know and have every day to just create, and enjoy.

Well anyway, enough of that, since I do work full time. This weekend though, I was able to get a fair amount of sewing accomplished.  We have been remodeling our kitchen and every weekend, it seems I work on some aspect of that project, this weekend being no exception. I did get all of the backsplash tile in place, no grout yet though.  Too sore honestly, after putting sheets of marble penny tile up.  They weight more than you would think.  So I sewed.

First done was a lightweight denim skirt, Simplicity Pattern 1887.  A really easy, comfortable and nice skirt. I did not put in the front ties, that are optional.

I also made a purse, from The Quilt Company pattern Three Pocket Tote, using batiks from Quilt Trends . It has a clever construction, where you start with an 18" square, and it folds over on itself to form the three separate pockets. I added velcroe dot closures and decorative buttons.  Definitely will make another one.

So overall, though I did not get the grout done as I had hoped, I do have a new purse and skirt!

Pinterest and other recent projects

Pinterest is a wonderful website, a sort of online design board, but you also can view other people that you follow as they "pin" inspiration ranging from clothing, to fiber arts, to antiques, to DYI, and recipes. I absolutely love it!  On Ravelry, there is a new group dedicated to 2012 and using all this inspiration that we are finding on the site, so to start out, here is the photo of the Lemon Sugar Hand Scrub recipe that I found on Pinterest, and then bottled, labeled and decorated as little gifts for Christmas for my co-workers.  

holiday craft along

holiday craft along

Ok, the leaves are starting to change, a few Christmas catalogs and magazines are sneaking in. I want to be ready for Christmas and to creatively enjoy it too this year.  

Dewdrops, treefogs and tea

Today I went to lunch at a wonderful tea & spice shop  (Blue Turtle) with a very creative friend from work.  The food was wonderful, I had the Roast Curry Apricot Chicken Salad, and Monks blend Ice tea, which was also delightful.  I didn't realize that it was going to be iced tea, and often herbal teas, to me, just don't make the transition to iced tea well, but this did.  Right now, I'm sipping some of the other blends I bought while there, and I also had to get the spice mix to make the chicken salad at home. 

While we were leaving work, my friend pointed out that there are tiny little green tree frogs living in the bushes around the front entrance, and while my photo of the frog is very out of focus, we also noticed the dew that had been trapped on a spider web.

We both wished  we had more time to savor life and creativity!!!!!! 

Sunday-Jewelry and Hospital

The August break challenges continues and as I thought of what today could be in photos, again a photo of the garden area at Children's Hospital and also a photo of the first chain maille bracelet creation of mine.

The bracelet was a class at www.1stopbeadshop.com, and while I enjoyed the class, I found it a little frustrating.  The instructor used a lot of "lingo" so to speak in the class that those that had not done chain maille before did not "get", and there was one person in the class that had taken previous classes and so she and the instructor bonded while the other two people, myself and another, sort of struggled on by ourselves.  I've had other classes at the shop though that were wonderful, so this is the first one that wasn't up to my expectations, so that is not too bad.   AND again, it was more dedicated time to  be able to learn how to do this, rather than finding a block of time at home to do so, which can be difficult at times. Especially with this summer! 

I'm participating, albeit a bit late in the August break ( link to the side).  Here is the link for  Flicker group Each day i'll try to post a photo that sort up either sums up the day, or just suits my fancy for that day.  For Saturday, this is photo of the garden area outside Children's Hospital in Columbus where I've spent some time with my granddaughter in the last few days.

 I've also gotten a chance to knit a little bit in the surgery waiting room, my 9th pair of fingerless mitts for the Ravelry group challenge 11 pairs of FG in 2011.(Ravelry Forum)