I'm watching Pocahontas. I love this movie so much that I can't make objective observations of it. It's a cartoon based on real people, but, like, none of it is true. But I freaking love it. I remember seeing it in the theater with my grandparents and my cousin Megan. Megan and I were super-crazy into Pocahontas.

I've had the music from this movie in my head for two days, so it's a relief to finally hear it. Yesterday, Amy and I went to our store and put furniture together. Today, I stayed home and worked on our book order. My head feels fuzzy from overconcentration. (That isn't a word, is it? It is now!) As stressed out as I feel and as worried as I am, as I stood in my living room earlier, looking at my bare windows, I realized it has been way easier for me to start pulling together a bookstore than for me to make curtains. Which is why I still don't have curtains. That makes no sense. Why don't I have curtains?

Labels: sewing/crafting., work.

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Here's Mickey (John's mom) with the pillows I made for her for Mother's Day. She really liked the Route 66 pillow I made for my mom and asked that I make something for her. Their living room is a yummy sherbet green color and she and Gus love to fish, so I made these fishy, green pillows.



My sister has been telling me I should make a bunch more and sell them. Each one took about 2-3 hours, not including shopping for fabric, so I could make several in a day. Plus, if I didn't make each one unique, I could save time cutting all the fabric at once, since the measurements would be the same. I don't know if I'll do it, but I'm thinking about it.

Labels: family., holiday., sewing/crafting.

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That's basically everything. The only things not there are the things I gave away (the bracelet, the photo box, and the pillow) and those plastic bag wallet things, which I can't find.

Labels: sewing/crafting.

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I did my last craft today. Well, not my last ever, but the 30 Days of April Craft Challenge of Death is over. The amazing thing is, I still had an idea for a project I never got around to making and I just bought fabric this week--some today, in fact--for multiple projects. I had a major fight with my sewing machine on Monday. I had to manhandle the thing to finish this bag. I had planned on a cute ric-rac accent, but when I had to sew the handles on by hand, I decided a plain, ric-rac-less bag was good enough for me. I was surprised the machine worked so well today, when I made this pillow (the small, black one):



I even used my fancy zipper/piping pressure foot (something that was way more exciting to me than it should've been). I can't account for what made the difference. I'm just happy it worked.

Labels: sewing/crafting.

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Even though I did have an artsy, craftsy evening with my nephews on Friday, it didn't really feel like I'd fulfilled my April obligation. As I sat on my couch, vegging out after the evening of babysitting, I noticed the castoff fingers I cut off the glove to make Georgia's head. (If that sounds bizarre, and I can see how it would, read my last post.) I always love coordinating toys and the idea of toys for toys, so I made a finger puppet that looks like Georgia. It tickles me.

Yesterday I made another little glove doll, but this time I had the right kind of gloves. It looks much more like an actual animal, but it isn't nearly as cute or endearing to me. To make up for it's institutional look, today's craft was a pink fleece scarf embellished with buttons. I haven't named it yet, but I'm leaning towards Irma (we watched "Irma la Douce" last night while I made it), but it sort of looks like a boy. By the way, Jack Lemmon is hilarious in "Irma la Douce".

Labels: movies., sewing/crafting.

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A few weeks ago, shortly before the April Crafting Marathon of Doom started, I found this video for making animals out of gloves on the Martha Stewart website. The girl who runs a blog I check from time to time called Homemade by Jill made an adorable bunny using these directions. When I was at a grocery store with my mom yesterday, I saw a pair of gloves of $1 and instantly thought: "Glove dog!" Before April started and I became craft obsessed, I probably wouldn't have even remembered the idea of glove animals. But now...every free second I have, my brain is full of felt and glue.

Unfortunately, the gloves weren't the right kind. They had the thumb offset into the palm. You know the kind. Well, that made my project turn out a little wonky because I didn't have a straight side and had to overstitch to compensate. Plus, the head didn't turn out right. Partially for the same reason, but also because I had to cut off the cuff and then the whole thing was a little too small. But since I didn't cut the cuff off the one that made the body, when I went to sew the head on, it had a giraffe neck. To fix that, I folded down the cuff and stitched the head to the middle. The ears are pointing in odd angles, so it looks nothing like a dog, even when I fold them over, so I didn't bother pinning them down. So. It's a little alien creature. And I actually really like her.



I think the kicked-out leg makes her look saucy. I embraced her essential wonkiness and gave her mismatched, but super girly eyes.



I named her Georgia because I watched a few episodes of "Designing Women" (takes place in Atlanta, theme song is "Georgia On My Mind") and an episode of "Futurama" with the Harlem Globetrotters (constant whistling of "Sweet Georgia Brown") while I made her. I think she looks like she'd be into poetry and Elliot Smith.

Tonight John and I babysat our nephews with my mom. My "thing" for today feels a little like cheating: an afternoon of fingerpainting and bookmark making. I'm putting up pics in the gallery.

Labels: family., sewing/crafting.

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Yesterday my mom showed me her stash of old patterns and this afternoon I went over to her house and kidnapped the whole box when no one was home. Shocking! Don't worry. I'll give 'em back...

Here's one of the most awesome ones:



I love this for so many reasons. I love the illustrations, which isn't surprising. But more than that, I love the combination. Why a clown and a caballero? Is it because they both start with C? If so, did McCalls also make a "Boys' or Girls' Lumberjack and Lederhosen Costumes" pattern set? The possibilities of alliterative strange profession and cultural dress combinations fascinates me. (Especially since I can't think of any more.) But I love this pattern the most because my grandmother actually made it using the colors on the package. I didn't know people ever did that. Here I am in my grandparents' backyard in 1985:



Obviously, it was probably about 1987 or '88 when it actually fit me. It wasn't made for me, after all. By the '80's, I think maybe McCalls would've been selling Rockstar / Russian Soldier combos.

I scanned the image, printed it, cut it out, took the covers off an an ugly and unused journal, recovered the covers with fancy paper, stuck on the clown and caballero, covered the covers with Contact paper, punched out the holes, and put the covers back on. My inspiration came from this blog. Here's how it turned out:

Labels: sewing/crafting.

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I made a couple of nature-themed crafts to close out the week. The first was my Thursday craft, a photo box:



It's just a plain, white photo box that I decorated. (What I mean to say is that I didn't build the box, I just made it pretty.) I used some gorgeous Amy Butler papers that I got back in November and have been saving for something good. Something with...longevity. Seriously, when I found this paper at Michael's, I nearly cried. I've briefly mentioned Amy Butler before, but I don't think I can really express how in love I am with her designs. I want to frame each piece of paper. Or wallpaper my bedroom with it. Or maybe just the inside of a box so that I can crawl into it when I'm sad and be hypnotized back into cheerfulness by its awesome colors and beautiful shapes. Yeah. I like this paper.



This is the box lid. Cutting out that tree was sort of a horrible idea. The outcome was totally worth it--I love how the green-yellow pops off the hot pink background. And I love that it's got the obvious "family tree" metaphor going for it. But it took forever. I mean it. I must have been cutting that tree for at least 3 hours. I'm sort of obsessed with photo organization and this is the first in a series of boxes meant to sort out my family's oldest photos while still allowing them to be thumbed through individually. I think there's something pleasantly tactile about looking at pictures and I want to preserve that.



These little candles were my craft for today. I had all the supplies for making a candle already, but I've never bought a mold before. (Anna and I used dog toys as molds in our Tuesday Craft Days of yore.) So, I called up my mom this afternoon and said, "Hey, got any sand?" And without asking me why, because she's my mom and she knows that I occasionally have very random needs, she said yes. And, because she's also a grandmother, she indeed had a whole box of sand! Yay! I made holes in the sand and poured my molten, honey-suckle-scented wax into the holes. Twenty minutes later, I shook off the sand to reveal these lumpy little guys. They were easy to make and I think setting up this little scene really jazzed 'em up. Perhaps fresh spring greens and wildflowers would make all my crappier projects look nice? Ah well, they're not bad. And anyway, they're not for indoor use 'cause the sand will constantly be falling off. Ideally, these sandy candles should be made with citronella wax. But whatever. They're sorta shoddy, but the more I downplay them, the more I like them.

I have no idea what I'm making tomorrow. I have a pretty bad cold right now and the NyQuil I had last night is taking its sweet time wearing off and not making me feel light-headed. I'm getting sick of crafting and have already killed my good glue stick. I've bought a cheap replacement that I'm sure I'm just going to love. But at this point, I don't care to glue anything. Ever again.

Labels: family., sewing/crafting.

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Here's a close-up view of today's thing:



I stenciled this pretty blue okapi onto a shirt using freezer paper, just like I did with the Godzilla tie. This design is much more detailed though and took me quite a lot longer. I think I love this even more than my 80's necklace.

Thanks to John for drawing the feet!

Labels: John., sewing/crafting.

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John was gone basically all weekend for guys-only, somebody's-getting-married partying. And at first I thought, "Okay, cool, it's been a long time since I had an evening to my self. It might be nice to have a night without watching any part of Future Weapons or anything with exploding heads, zombies, giant monsters, or robots." Well, it started out well. My Friday craft was placemats made from Christmas cards I've been saving for the past few years for just that purpose. I hung out at my parents' house and made brownies and watched "White Christmas" (it was a theme) and my mom helped me with the placemats. The idea for the placemats came from ones my grandmothers both made. They cut circles out of the card fronts though, rather than squares, and the end product was sort of oval-shaped. That was fun, but then I went home to my creaky, empty house in the deep, dark woods. Alone. Yeah. So what did I do to take my mind off my troubles? Cross stitch and Designing Women! I pulled through.

After I finished John's tie on Saturday, I spent my evening watching the new movie Lifetime has been pushing for months (I usually hate Lifetime movies, but this one was based on a book I've been sort of wanting to read) and working on the cross stitch thing. The movie, "The Memory Keeper's Daughter," was flat and boring and further confirmed that I should only watch Lifetime for the recycled sit-coms. The cross stitch was a kit from the big craft box from when I was in high school. I think there are two more in the box with different designs. This one took a while, so I'm not sure if I want to tackle another one this month.

John being gone for two nights totally sucked. I was lonely and bored. Whatever happened to enjoying an evening alone? Ah, well. He came back on Sunday anyway.

I finished up the cross stitch kit last night:



We watched "Atonement" last night, too, and I really hated it. I think this little stitched flower has bad movie joojoo.

Labels: John., movies., sewing/crafting.

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This was a project I tried before Christmas, so I could give John something extra special. I didn't really know what I was doing then and I just made a huge mess. Today, after some research, I made this:



I'm really pleased with how it turned out.

Labels: John., sewing/crafting.

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I've still been crafting every day. I'm running out of ideas. Plus, I can't figure out what's up with my sewing machine. It's either the tension or the needle...or it's just bad thread. Who knows? Anyway, it's annoying. Here's my thing for today:



I really had fun with this one. I want to do more in this direction. In that box of stuff from my younger crafting years, there's about 10 X-acto knife blades. (Awesome!) I want to start doing more detailed designs, too. We shall see...

Labels: sewing/crafting.

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We had a great weekend with Jim, his lovely girlfriend Abby, and Adam. They got here late Friday night and headed out on Sunday afternoon. Plus, Chris came by on Saturday, too. What do we do to show our guests a good time? Let them cook for us and suggest to play board games! Our friends are awesome! They love Clue as much as we do!

My Sunday project was sort of lame. It turned out fine, but it was so easy I felt guilty letting it count. I just did a little rubber stamp embossing:



To make up for yesterday's lameness, I spent more time on today's thing than any of the others. It's a little booklet with 8 blank pages:



There are bigger pictures here.

Labels: company., friends., sewing/crafting.

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We have company for the weekend, so I had to do this quickly this morning.

Labels: company., sewing/crafting.

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My thing for today:

Labels: sewing/crafting.

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Oh, yay! Oh, yay! Oh, yay! I love the thing I made today! I made a necklace I know I'm actually going to wear. The big charms are made from Shrinky Dinks. The images are from books I had as a kid, but they're of characters that were already 80's-fabulous and famous: some random, big-haired Barbie, a few Muppet Babies (Piggy, Kermit, and Fozzie), and a couple Fraggles (Red and Mokey). The other charms are vintage Lisa Frank. About a month ago, I got 3 boxes of craft supplies that were mine from before I went to college. (My mom had boxed it all up to make room in their family room closet for stuff people actually use.) I went through the stuff this morning and it was awesome! Rubber stamps, card stock, fabric crayons, and tons of beads, just for starters. That's where I found the Lisa Frank charms. One of the ones I chose was the painting rainbow panda. Love it! Technically, he's from the 90's, but I think he looks quite at home with Princess Piggy.

Here are all the charms:



My favorite thing about this necklace is that the charms all clump together, so it looks different depending on how it lies. Examples:

Labels: sewing/crafting.

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For the month of April, John and I have promised to make a thing a day. John is doing a small sculpture every day. My plan is much more open than that. In the same way I can't read just one book at a time, I get bored with making the same things more than once--or even just using the same material twice in close proximity. So, my goal is just to make something, anything, every day. Yesterday, I made this necklace:



Today, I tried something totally new to me: fused plastic. I used the tutorial from Etsy Labs, so that I could avoid catastrophy (like fusing Kroger bags to my foot...which sounds crazier than it really is, since I did the project on my table-top ironing board on my living room floor). I wanted to do something small, since I didn't have time for a large project. The first thing I made though, was too small. What I did like about it was that I used part of a bag that said, "Have a nice day."



Since the first one didn't take much time at all, I made another one. This one has a flap and is actually long enough to put money inside.



There are more pictures of these projects here. Theoretically, I'll be adding more stuff to the album every day until April is over.

Labels: sewing/crafting.

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In my last post, I failed to mention where I got the ideas for the two projects I did Saturday. I basically stole the ideas (although mine are no where near as good) from two Etsy sellers. The idea for the brooch came from Stories & Divinations. The idea for the bracelet came from Miss Bluebird Creations.

Labels: sewing/crafting.

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I finally got to start using those awesome images from my last post. It took me nearly three days to get all my supplies in order and the pieces I did today took me all day. I was expecting a couple of hours, tops. Nope. I had to use John's computer, because my laptop isn't hooked up to the printer. Sooo, I had to use Photoshop...and I'm used to Fireworks...blah blah blah...it took forever.

Anyhoo, my mom helped me pick out all the supplies and came up with the idea that I should make something for our church choir director. Sunday is Easter and, as you can imagine, our director has been working like crazy. I made a brooch, but it didn't turn out exactly like I wanted. Here it is:



The pictures turned out really dark. I'm going to try to take a couple more in the morning, so there's some natural light. I got the image of the Easter lillies from a postcard that was sent to my great grandmother in 1910.



Here are the charms for the bracelet I made for myself. The little girl eating honey doesn't have a name in the ABC book I found her in, so I'm just referring to her as Honey. Here she is, not shrunk, surrounded by the charms that had already been baked:



Here's where it gets a little weird. I've been using these pictures of adorable children...but I have to put them in an oven. I felt like the witch in Hansel and Gretel.



By the way, they're made from Shrinky Dinks that you can use in your printer. The actual directions say to coat them in clear nail polish. This seemed weird to me, but it mostly worked. I connected everything with these teeny key-ring style hoops that were nearly impossible to get open. Here's how it turned out:



There are more pictures in the gallery and they're all bigger than these.

Labels: holiday., sewing/crafting.

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I'm feeling very much in the crafting mood, but I still feel disjointed as far as supplies and organization are concerned. I've done some knitting and a teensy bit of cross stitch, but my patience just isn't with that sort of thing right now. I want results, pronto! I have a couple of ideas that center around pre-existing images, specifically vintage storybook illustrations. I spent a couple of hours at my parents' house today, rounding up some of my favorite childhood bedtime books. I also found a couple of books that I don't remember at all, but with illustrations so beautiful I want to frame each of them, text and all. Here are some of my favorite images:






Also, I can't believe I didn't mention yesterday that I ran out and got my copy of Enchanted. We watched it last night and it was just as awesome the second time. I am a super girly girl and, I think this is how I described this movie to Anna, I feel like someone in Hollywood decided to make a movie just for me to love.

Labels: movies., sewing/crafting.

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Here's a really big picture of a Christmas ornament I made today:



I had a really hard time taking pictures of this little guy. You can see further attempts here. The lighting just wasn't working. I thought putting it on the pink tree would be a plus, but I think it sort of washed it out.

Anyway, the idea is that I'll hang it on our tree, which we don't have yet, in front of a light and the picture will glow. In case you're wondering, yes, I just happen to have a pink tree on hand for this sort of occasion. I got the idea from a lovely wall hanging I saw in the Nov. 29th entry of a blog I discovered earlier this year called Everyday Is A Holiday. I combined the things I loved about the wall hanging and the translucent picture idea from my favorite ornament as a kid. The ornament had a picture of Santa flying in his sleigh on a piece of thin plastic, behind a sculpted scene of a little boy pointing out his window. I always tried to hang it in front of a blue light. So, that was basically the idea. I scanned a picture, printed it on vellum, framed it on both sides with paper-covered foam board, and trimmed it with pink balls, blue ribbon, and a snowflake sticker. I have plans of making three others with different photos and embellishments. Perhaps my photos will improve as I make more? Let's hope so.

Labels: holiday., sewing/crafting.

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Last night was the big Harry Potter release party. It was a huge success. All the planning and organization really paid off. John was there and took lots of pictures. He said a group of kids started calling him Colin.



I made five snitches like this one, which we hung in various places around the store. Three of them and two brooms were suspended from tree branches over the patio.

I bought a copy of the book, just because it felt like the right thing to do. I'm still reading Goblet of Fire.

Labels: books., sewing/crafting., work.

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I couldn't stop reading In Persuasion Nation this week. It's been a long time, if ever, that I've read anything so funny and depressingly true. The stories are great--original, skillful, and haunting. While I appreciate that, yes, it is satire, the sheer power and ruthlessness of advertising that Saunders explores feels very much like the plain truth.

There's an iPod ad at Santa Monica Blvd and Highland that's literally the entire side of a building. And it changes. Every few months or so there's some new silhouetted person, dancing so excitedly while the cord from their earphones swings maniacally through the air, always looking like they're either going to accidentally hang themselves or fall out of the ad and step on some poor, unsuspecting semi. Because they're always big enough to crush a semi with one foot. Do we seriously need ads that large? No. We. Don't. The iPod itself keeps getting smaller and smaller, but when I was last at the Griffith Observatory, that freakin' ad was the only thing I could recognize while looking down into Hollywood--because then, on the top of a mountain, looking down, it was a reasonable size.

A book I ordered finally came off backorder today. I was probably a little more excited about it than I should've been. But it's just so purdy. In Stitches by Amy Butler. Makes me wanna buy fabric.

Labels: books., political stuff., sewing/crafting.

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I finally got to work on this yesterday. I finished it up this morning.



Usually when I make things, I give them away. It's weird to be keeping this. I mean, I made it so it would be exactly what I wanted because I've been looking all over for a new purse and have hated everything I've seen. But still. I never keep these things.

Labels: sewing/crafting.

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I've started a new sewing project. I've spent almost the past three days coming up with the pattern with coloring pencils and a spiral-bound notebook. I actually called my Dad to ask him how to figure out the length of a square's side if you know the diagonal.

(Do you know? I didn't think so.)

Every way I came up with involved finding a square root. I kept thinking, there is an easier way. I barely finished asking before he told me how. This is what my dad is for.

Meanwhile, I would so love to have a craft table. I have this huge, marvelous cutting mat and rotary cutter (like a pizza cutter, but for fabric) that were my grandmother's, but I have to lay the mat on the floor because I don't have a table. So I spend the whole time hunched over and I get all sore and cranky.

When I called my dad, the supergenius, he and my mom were on their way back to TN from here. I think they were in a Cracker Barrel. Not that that is important. Whatever.



On Saturday, they took John and I to this adorable little kitsch-fest of a town called Solvang. It's Danish. In Lauraspeak, that means "almond-flavored pastries." We had dinner in Santa Barbara, which looks nothing at all like I pictured it. Considering my only concept of Santa Barbara was the bits of the soap opera by the same name that my grandmother (the one that owned the cutting mat) used to watch, that isn't surprising. The show started when I was 3 years old and went off the air by the time I was in sixth grade. I don't even think she watched it that long.

Labels: sewing/crafting.

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I just finished my yummy lunch from Village Gourmet and researched the Dell recall. My lovely little laptop is safe, since the Inspiron 5150 isn't listed as one of the "exploding battery" notebooks.

I had an idea that I might go out and look around at a craft store this afternoon...but the nosy neighbors I can't stand are camped out at the pool and I'd really rather not walk past them. I wonder if I could sneak out the bedroom window...

This weekend, John, Anna, Adam, and I attended a mini craft fair called Felt Club in the back parking lot of Meltdown Comics, which included free classes. Sweet! Anna and I took a class on spinning yarn and John joined us for a class on needle felting, which were both taught by the lovely folks at Mary Jane's Attic. The three of us also took a class on making charms out of shrinky dinks, which was taught by Sylvia of Chebang.

My favorite booth was Handmade Pretties, where I bought a really cute felt brooch from Lara. Runners up included: Sewing Stars, where I had to stop myself from buying a blue monkey; Cake Mountain, which had cool bags made out of upholstery fabrics; and Ohma, who had adorable vintage designs.

I'm full of the crafting spirit! I wanna buy felt! Plus, it sounds like the kids in the pool were fighting and the neighbors I can't stand, 2 women whose kids apparently fight with each other, have yelled at them all to get out of the pool. Maybe I can just walk out the front door. Is that too easy?


my mess o' homespun yarn

Labels: food., sewing/crafting.

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Okay, the truth is, I'm having a crap week. I've had this sort of grinding headache for days and I've been depressed. On Tuesday, I had a hard time making myself leave the apartment. I don't usually talk about this kind of thing. I feel like I'm exaggerating or complaining or showing some form of weekness. Or maybe I'm just worried it will annoy someone.

At any rate, the projects I've been working on have been slow lately. You see, it's like this: I bought a sewing machine. I'm making a quilt.

For those of you that don't know, that's similar to buying running shoes and then deciding to do a marathon.

Not that it isn't fun. It is fun. And the fabrics are gorgeous. I'm doing it in my (current) favorite color combination: brown and pink. I thought it'd be a good idea to do a side project simultaneously so that when my head started to feel all fuzzy from the rocket science that is sewing together varying lengths of various prints of fabric, I could do something else and still be working on the overall goal, which is to turn our bed into a pouffy, pretty tuft of handmade cozyness. The problem is, the side project was more fun than the quilt and I finished it already. It's a matching throw pillow that doesn't match anything because our bed still has a lime green comforter and neon striped sheets.

This week though, I've been way more interested in being in bed all hours than trying to make it look better. I took a two-hour nap on Monday afternoon. I did some sewing tonight though, since I've been feeling a little better today. Hopefully, tomorrow will be better still.

Labels: sewing/crafting.

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