Pie and Blankets

A week filled with delicious pies and snugly blankets.  What could be better?

It was just yesterday that I found out the 28th of April is nation blueberry pie day, and this was not an opportunity I could pass up.  So I went searching through my stack of library books.  I knew I had brought home a pie book sometime in the past month.  It was just a matter of finding it.

Using the super easy recipe from the book for the filling, and our own all butter crust, I made not just one, but two blueberry lemon pies with crumble topping.  I ate nothing but pie for dinner.

And then some more for dessert.

As you might know after all that writing in March, I had decided to let all 28 of my rough drafts sit for a month before starting to edit them.  That month is almost over now, but during it I have begun work on toddler sized blankets to sell in an online shop.  The two blankets above are ones I've made progress on in the last week.

Over the rest of the spring and summer I'll continue to make blankets, and write out patterns for them, as each and every one I do for my future shop comes straight from own noodle.  My hope is to have this thing going by the end of the year, so cross your fingers for me, pretty please.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna have to cut this post a bit short.  I have a whole other pie yet, you see, and it's just begging to be eaten.....

Em

Birthday Weekend: The Tuxedo Cake Returns

It's nice to make something for someone and see them use it for the rest of their life.  I may have made it a small challenge for my sister to get to the bag I made her, but I know that it will be one such item for her, and I can't help but smile at that.  That tuxedo cake from back at the end of January?  It came back and tempted us all again, though this time in it's birthday suit ( I'm sorry but I couldn't resist the pun ).

I am now ready to travel the world in style and with class ( class from my suitcase and from my friends ) after I finished redoing the lining on the inside of my old, no longer dirty green suitcase.  A little upholstery fabric and lot of spray glue later, it is finally travel ready once again.  It was much easier to put the new fabric in than I thought it would be, and I got through with no mishaps.  Well, except for one thing.  The back of the bottle I was using clearly stated NOT to get any of the spray glue on your skin or in your eyes.  So what's the first thing I do?

I spray it all over my hands.  Naturally.  Now this is the same person who a week ago managed to cut their finger, on a door frame.  That's right everyone.  I have talent.

"Talent."

One of the most wonderful things about living where I do is getting to see hot air balloons above my house in the spring and fall.  And the sky, oh how beautiful the sky can be.  I simply can't imagine myself living some place where I wouldn't be able to see the sky.

Em

Purple and Mint Green, and a Suitcase to Clean

This week started off with my new laptop case and keyboard cover arriving in the mail.  It's the first one I've bought for my precious computer, and I was all too excited for it.  I was hugely disappointed though, to open the envelope and find one corner of the case cracked.  The company from which I ordered from was happy to send me another one free to replace it, and so a few more days wait brought me my beautiful case and cover, both a minty green and just perfect.

In the middle of the week my family and I went to a neighboring town to go old bookstore and antique shop hopping.  To be honest, one of the only times I like to go the stores are when they're stores like that.  I walked out with an armful of books I don't have room for ( I've started putting books on top of my bookshelves because there's no more room on them anymore ), and my father walked out with a 24 volume set of 'Books of Knowledge' from the late 1800's when he had only been looking for one.  So basically it was a normal trip for us.

Then I found something I never knew I wanted in an antique store.  "What is that old, dirty green suitcase?" you might have been wondering scrolling through the pictures.  Well, for $10 it's my old, dirty green suitcase, and upon opening it I saw how much DIY and TLC it needed, but it came with it's key and is still more than sturdy enough to actually travel with, and I love it.  I'm a junkie for old things, you see.

All it's pockets and straps on the inside are still just fine, but the fabric lining the inside of the case was no longer attached to the case, and so needed to be taken out.  Underneath it I found lot of orange dust.  I first thought it was rust, assuming the suitcase was metal covered with hard plastic on the outside.  Turns out, it wasn't.  As I scrubbed and scrubbed away, I found only plastic underneath it all, and if there's no metal, then there can't be rust.  As my scrubbing turned sticky, I realized it was the remains of the foam that must have padded the inside of the case once and the glue that held it in place.  A couple of cans of elbow grease later and I was able to get it all off, leaving the inside of my case as clean as can be.

The outside got a wipe down too, the pockets and straps reenforced and fray-checked, and so the only thing left to do is get more fabric to line the inside.  I don't have to, as the suitcase is fully functional as it is, but it sure would make it look pretty again.  An excursion is planed to the fabric shop tomorrow to look for just the right fabric needed.

Aside from all that I've been working on a couple of sewing projects, one for me, one for my sister.  The one for me is... something.  The pattern calls it a kimono jacket, but I'm not so sure.  I'm no expert on kimonos, but last time I looked that's not what kimonos look like.  Anyways, it's almost finished.  In fact, it would be finished, except I forgot that my sister's birthday is this weekend.  Not that I forgot when her birthday is.  I just didn't realize it was already the middle of the month.

That is where the second sewing project comes in.  A patchwork tote bag, very similar to one I made myself years ago that she always wanted to try and take from me.  Now don't worry, she doesn't read my blog, so unless you tell her something, she won't know it's for her.  It will ( hopefully ) be something she likes, and also stop her trying to steal my things.  So two birds with one stone.

I need to get to sewing though.  As you can see, I've not gotten too far past the cutting stage, and I only have a day or two to finish it.  And just in case you were wondering, I did stick my fingers in a couple of the photos just to show them off.  I haven't done my nails in over a year, no joke, and felt the need to have my purple polkadot artwork seen.  Plus purple goes really well with mint green.  My two favorite colors.

Em

55,000 Words and One Hat Latter...

    National Craft Month didn't see any of my UFO's finished like I had thought, but I did manage to pull off a few crafty things of the material sort before March took an expected turn.

    Another hat for another friend.  That makes 2 out of 5 finished.  It's a wonder I managed not to lose it amongst the chaos that was sitting on my desk at the time.  Then, from the madness, a dreamcatcher sprang.  It was a spontaneous and random decision to make it, and I enjoyed it all the more because of that.  It was the first time I've worked with lace weight crochet thread, and it wasn't at all frustrating like I thought it would be.  I got to dig into my jar of vintage buttons from an antique store to decorate it, and after having it sit on my desk for 3 weeks, I finally hung it a few days ago ( on the wall, not my drawers ).  I started a rag rug made from all the scraps of my other sewing projects, braiding them together and then hand stitching them into a coil.  It's still in progress, normally only worked during late night TV shows, but it'll get there one day.

    And that's about where my crafty-ness ended for National Craft Month.  At least, as far as fabric and yarn are concerned.  Writing, on the other hand, well, I still can't believe I did what I did.  I might have just kicked out more writing in March then I did last November.  Certainly more then I did in January and February this year combined.  To give you a bit of a visual, let's look at my calendar.  I use those colored yard sale dots to keep track of when I write and how much I write.  Different colors mean different things, ect. ect., but I won't bother you with all my nonsense on that.

So here we have January... 

February...

and then March.

I did the math.  I averaged at about 55,000 words in those last 3 weeks or so of March.

    Now, what on Earth was I doing? you might ask.  Well, I finally shook myself up and got all 28 rough drafts for my children's short stories that I would like to publish one day typed up onto my computer.  I wrote 5 new ones, and all the others I had to copy over.  I originally hand wrote all of them, you see, and it took a lot more time than I thought to get them into digital form.  But I did it.  As a matter of fact, aside from my job, this crazy new running habit I've gotten into, and Learn Storm 2016 ( which I could brag about because after 9 weeks of competitive math I think I might have earned it ), working on those stories was about all I did.  I didn't have time to do anymore crafts, play any Fallout, or, sadly, read.  But it was all worth it in the end.  I completed my goal, I completed Learn Storm, and now it's time for the next challenge.

The editing.

But first, some reading.  Did you see that big stack of books on top of my drawers, back up in the dreamcatcher picture?  That's right people, all 12 of the 'How To Train Your Dragon' books.  It's time to drink iced tea and kick my feet up outside.  'Cause I'm gonna be here a while.

Em