All is Fair

Always keep your larder stocked

2009-06-21T21:58:00.003-04:00

My dad passed away almost three years ago. I'm still waiting for him to "visit" me. My family believes in spirits, it's part of our heritage, I suppose. My sister's man, he got a visit from our dad, in a dream, Dad telling him that everything was okay and to take care of Jess.

When he was still living, if ever I needed anything, he would show up, at my house, with a bag of oranges and a gallon of milk still sweating from its recent chill out of a dairy case. He wasn't the nurturing type nor was he a man who was willing to sit there and listen to womanly talk. His conversation amounted to the usual random inquiries: "How are the kids? How are their grades? Are you eating your vegetables? Did you check the pressure in your tires? Always keep your larder stocked." To hear him use the word 'larder' would almost send me into a sniggering fit. My parents, so proper in their usage of the English language, and being the family smartass, I loved to have my fun at their expense.

My dad, was truly an eccentric man, often times hinging on the precipice of madness especially in the final years. But he never ceased to be this amazing iconic force in my life, in the lives of my sisters. I'm 37 years old, and have never stopped needing my dad, even if it's just to hear his voice over the phone. Whenever I'm having a bad day, I drum him up, and reminisce on a pearl or two of his wisdom.

So here's to my dad. Happy Father's Day.

And just fyi, I keep my larder stocked (small price of insurance in these trying times for everyone) and when my children have larders of their own, they will hear that same advice that their grandpa gave me.

I'm back

2009-06-09T15:29:00.006-04:00

Took a sabbatical since my last blog, had to tend to my Kittens. They misbehave as all kitties do.

20 things that nourish my soul and inspire me:

1. frogs, toads and little critters
2. tango music
3. thoughts of my daddy
4. herbal tea
5. the smell of rain
6. full bellied laughter
7. homemade food
8. ana's artwork
9. esme's poetry
10. savannah's smile
11. mercedes' kindness
12. creatures, real and imaginary
13. little kids in glasses
14. ice cream

15. lipstick in any shade of red
16. Ripley's puppy breath
17. digging in garden soil
18.dragonflies and hummingbirds
19.private conversations with God
20. pictures of my daughters

Ana rocks

2009-04-02T09:45:00.002-04:00

I went to my daughter's art show reception last night. She won an award for her daisy drawing. I'm a proud mama.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch...

2009-03-24T10:47:00.006-04:00

I finished this handbag over the weekend. In its former life, it was a sweater with a really funky print--swirls with zebra. The sweater was marred by a tiny, almost imperceptible bleach mark but since I'm anal, I didn't want to wear it anymore. Ultimately, i wasn't about to let a good thing go to waste. Voila! A new handbag!

To give it some shape, I used heavy duty pellon interfacing. Good stuff, my new best friend. I also used unbleached muslin for a lining, to give it that kind of international bazaar look. Cost: $6 for the bamboo handles, $3.50 for a 1/2 yd of interfacing, $3 for a pack of magnetic closures, $4 for the coral bead trim, totalling roughly: $16.50 (i am not a math wiz). For some reason, I was all thumbs making this but it turned out pretty. It also holds all my personal effects comfortably.
I threw in a couple of other pictures, a quilt I made some years ago. I have a thing for pears. It was my first try at an art quilt, with button, ribbon and bead embellishments. I would love to do another art quilt using silks and velvet and using decorative stitching. This one is in my bedroom.

Another random pic, this is a painting that is also in my bedroom. I painted this for my husband before he was my husband. It is a painting of myself before I became lumpy.
My husband, today. He has these beautiful cerulean blue eyes and his left one has a bit of brown. It's the little things...

My current on-going projects list:

a duvet cover
an Easter dress for one of the girls
a turtle pincushion
egg bean bags in a basket, using scraps and a pack of expired dry black-eyed peas
a scrapbook of our trip to Disney World last year

Happy Tuesday,

I stink at machine sewing

2009-03-18T11:17:00.022-04:00

I have a secret. I own two sewing machines. I use neither. I am either intimidated by the damn things or I have control issues and I like to do all my stitching by hand. It's a combo of both. The story goes like this: I learned to sew from my grand-dad. At the tender age of five, I learned how to darn men's socks from the old man. He never drove a car, he slept with a single nubby army blanket and he loved Old Spice cologne, but that is a story for another day. As for the hand-sewing, I've been ever since.

My daughters are my muses.

My most recent accomplishment: I finished the Sock Monkey quilt and stitched my new label on it. :) Whoo-hoo!!

Guest blogged on Wardrobe Refashion

2009-03-03T12:54:00.004-05:00

Hello all, Got a chance to blog on Wardrobe Refashion. Take a look at my wristwarmers :). Love um. This is also a great opportunity to see what other crafty folks are doing. Lots of creativity, love that about blogging.

Joy,
m

Mothering is overrated

2009-02-27T13:03:00.009-05:00

I ran across an interesting blog post on http://cooksewbitchy.blogspot.com/. I felt sad for her as it sounds like she's having a day, but I smiled reading this. I smiled because you love your babies for the treasures they are, but man, do they test you or what???

My daughter Ana, my oldest, my first-born. Lovely she is, but can be, has been a pain in my ass. She grew up sweet and obedient, well-mannered and just a sweet joy. My daughter and I--well, we have this close bond. She's a product of my first marriage and I was a single mom for a long time. It was just she and I...and we were thick like thieves as the saying goes. Our boundaries have intertwined over the years, like canes of a rose bush. That has proven to be quite painful, literally. I don't know how to let go and she's a Mama's girl, still suckling at the proverbial teat.

Ana will be 17 in July. She's fiesty, constantly argues with me and challenges me to the breaking point of my wits. She gets weepy, throws worse tantrums than her baby sister and has a foul mouth when she thinks I won't scold her. She thinks she can drive a car but is too lazy to change batteries in a smoke detector. She doesn't want me "too involved" in her space, but then accuses me of ignoring her. She's grown into a drop dead beauty but she's still my baby daughter who I nursed until my nips bled. She is a painter and has God-given talent. She loves to dream and doodle and perusing fashion mags. I commend her for hanging in there with me all of these years. If I were her age, I would want to be her best friend.

As with all my girls, I want them to live better, be better than me. Not sure if I'm doing it right, but it's better than not doing it at all.

to all the mothers out there,
peace within

2009-02-25T14:26:00.008-05:00

I think I may have taken a few decent shots here...This is the Sock Moneey quilt for my dear friend Karen. You can spy the stay stitching running diagonally (in blue thread). WIP

The messenger bag for my Esme. In the process of sewing in pockets for her ipod, lip gloss, Nintendo DS and all the other acroutements that a kid her age might possess. WIP

And here is the finished product of one of my refashioned sweaters from an earlier post. I added this little flower which happened to be a napkin ring and the bows are made of velvet ribbon. Finally, I took a good enough picture to show how lovely it turned out. Wish they were in my size, but they'll look sweeter on precious little baby feets.

Blessings this Ash Wednesday,

The wind in the willows

2009-02-24T11:04:00.009-05:00

Hello Again! I finally got a breather to blog, and when I uploaded the pics of the fruits of my labor, they were too blurry to post. Well, here's a list of recent projects:

a Fantastic Fairy Teacup, felt and beads

a twin size Sock Monkey quilt (wip.)

an Oyster surprise with a Pearl treasure, in felt

an art brush roll

a mini messenger bag (w.o.p.)

my own labels: "micheleebee's tea party"

So once I retake all my photos, I'll actually have proof of all this progress. But as luck would have it, no pics to show. :( There are days I feel I'm just a passenger on Mr. Toad's Wild Ride.

when the creative juices aren't flowing....

2009-02-05T15:21:00.008-05:00

I'm seriously scattered right now. Hardly have a moment to spare. I'm stuck first-gear-mode because there is too much to do and so little time... I always have to be mindful that I'm where I'm supposed to be, doing what I should be doing. Like goofing around at the office...

My best friend Kim and I, working girls, patrons of criminally short skirts and sexy boots and pushing the limits at the water cooler. You should have seen us in our younger days. yikes.

Taking the Refashion Pledge

2009-02-02T11:13:00.009-05:00

Hello World,

Been busy sewing, momming, working...haven't had much time to blog. Want to post more recent picks but alas, no go today.

Got a chance to do some blog browsing. Decided to take Wardrobe Refashion's Pledge:

I , Ms. Michele, pledge that I shall abstain from the purchase of "new" manufactured items of clothing, for the period of 2 months. I pledge that i shall refashion, renovate, recycle preloved items for myself with my own hands in fabric, yarn or other medium for the term of my contract. I pledge that I will share the love and post a photo of my refashioned, renovoted, recycled, crafted or created item of clothing on the Wardrobe Refashion blog, so that others may share the joy that thy thriftiness brings! Signed, Michele

toodles!

Adventures in Recycling: Sweater part 2

2009-01-28T10:36:00.007-05:00

I found this mouse clip art from The Vintage Moth. Thank you for the wonderful freebies! This so cool!

Ms. Mouse, I thought, now there's an industrious girl. I can identify, my Chinese astrological sign is the rat, which is a supposedly very thrifty, shrewd and hard-working creature (nevermind that whole sewer rat iconology.) And like Ms. Mouse, I tend to have this look about me that is a combination between intense curiousity and disarming coquettishness. Don't be fooled however; there's a wee bit of lightning behind those eyes. Is she doing something crafty with those little paws?

I'm running out of day light here, so best not to yammer on. That whole sweater re-fashioning business...I found some fantabulous ideas for restyling sweaters on a few blog visits:

Fuzzy slippers on Craftstylish: http://craftstylish.com/item/40130/how-to-make-snuggly%20slippers-from-old-sweaters. These slippers look so cozy!

Sweet Valentine heart purses from Betz White: http://blog.betzwhite.com/2009/01/special-shop-update.html. Very talented lady!

Hat and Mittens on Burdastyle: http://www.burdastyle.com/patterns/show/3876 . those Burda folks are clever, aren't they?

I found this in the breakroom at work, lying forlorn on the rummage table (card table w/co-workers throwaways...withering plants, old cell phone cords, books, magazines, and the like.) I sniffed this out as soon as I walked through there. And so the love affair began...

Okay, okay, so my picture stinks. You can imagine how gorgeous this is. This little find is an italian made boucle' and cable knit cap, fashioned out of wool and angora. I think I know the co-worker who used to wear this; she has fabulous taste. Oh, but why she didn't like it anymore? No matter, it's mine now. hehe. As I turned it over in my hands, I could feel the inspiration come over me like a fine mist....She's a hat now, but hmmm, perhaps her true nature will be revealed...

Next on my list of show and tell are these little mushrooms I made. I was making felt mushrooms for my tiniest girl, and my oldest fell in love with them. So I made her a couple like these, with a little bug bead embellishment- a spider on one, the other a ladybug. Again, my photo is not too good (matches my eyesight). But hope you get the picture...hahah

One of these days I will get the knack of handling my camera better. For now, the snowfall has begun again.

"Chaos is the breeder of life while Order is the breeder of habit." --author unknown.

happy hearts,

m

Adventures in Recycling: Sweater Chapter

2009-01-27T09:29:00.000-05:00

I've gotten this bug over the last few months to re-use my old sweaters and re-fashion them into something else. My treasure trove of sweaters includes second hand stuff I inherited from my cousin and some that were shrunken, misshapen, or mistakenly felted to baby size in the washing machine. (I do domestic because I have to, not because I'm good at it.) Some of these started off as good quality, expensive sweaters, some wool, some angora, some cashmere, others with beautiful designs...Being that I'm notoriously frugal, I decided to use them for the material. Thinking outside the box. I even plucked the buttons off a few to save for another use. Here are a couple of projects I finished in spite of my weekend mayhem:

A gray woolen whale softy (his belly is a creamy colored fleece and his eyes are black felt)...

This particular sweater was cut on the bias. It made for an intersting look but the shoulders took a whole new shape after time. It makes a better whale than a sweater.

An infant cap, modeled on a grapefruit from my fridge....

I gave it a rolled hem because the edges were raw and it prevents unravelling.

Mice friends made out of angora for my best friend's little boy (his cat's gonna love these)....

Note to self: I am hyper-allergic to angora. Broke out in hives all over my body, including my face. Not a pretty sight. I won't be using angora for any baby items since baby skin is so sweetly sensitive.

A pair of soft woolen booties in gray and navy with the matching cap.

My amature photo doesn't do this little set justice. The material is luxurious, very soft and delicate, perfect for a little girl. These are unfinished however, calling for a little ribbon/flower embellishment. Work in progress...

The sleeves of these lovelies are going to be used for something else: legwarmers, wristwarmers, cup cozies...we will see. I also have a few cable knits that have shrunken so much, I resemble Baby Huey. Some might find that kind of cute, but I for one think differently. Perhaps another softy in cable-knit....mmmmm.

Happy creating!

p.s. The hubby and me on our New Year's Day date. He's got a great selection of sweaters....

Mamalicious Monday

2009-01-26T10:08:00.000-05:00

Happy Monday! When I don't have "flow to my game," I usually check on the phases of the moon to see why things are not quite right or as they should be. Yep, thought so: New Moon.

My weekend started off hopeful and I had this wonderful notion of accomplishing a great deal. I could tell my mojo was off. After working 'in the salt mine' for 8 hours, I raced home to pick up my younger babies to collect my teenager from her drivers ed class. I should learn not to expect so much from my oldest/Eeyore. I think she said hello. It came out all growly which really set the mood.

All of my kidlets were in a mood: my oldest Ana--16 and going on my age, ten-year old Mercedes, all legs and bones, 8-year-old Esme, the proverbial Middle child, and my precocious Savannah, age two and having symptoms of Napoleon Complex. Four daughters at very different age groups makes for very interesting and exhausting motherhood.

And so it began: I would start one project, get interrupted, go on to something new, forget what I was trying to do. The next thing you know, I've got an armful of Barbies and Bratz dolls, a tubful of laundry with no detergent, the microwave is beeping, and heavens, there's no coffee in the coffee pot. Oh yes, and I left my toddler on the potty to fend for herself.

This is actually typical of what I do--running around, wits addled and raw nerves exposed. It's part of the job, right? Well, let me just say on top of it all, I'm a chronic worrier.

I worry about all of my kids at any given time, but on this particular weekend, I was anxious about Esme. This one has historically been my extrovert, my self-assured, changer-of-the-world child. Recently, she's come into her awkward phase where you can tell the hormones have crept in overnight. She's weepy, her friends aren't friends but vipers that passed her over during Hot Potato, she thinks she's a fat butterball that nobody likes. Age 8 and worried about body image. In my ghastly, sometimes immature mind I'm thinking Let me at 'em, let me 'em. Kids can be downright mean and no one puts My Baby in the corner. My animal instincts make me want to go all out Tigress Mama, Psycho Mother Bear or something.

When I got control over my sensibilities however, I gave diplomacy a try, let my girl know she's but a caterpillar who will blind us all with her beauty when she morphs into a butterfly. And no more counter-productive, self-deprecating comments. No more "weirdo" talk.

Today is a new day. I sent my little cubs off with notes in their lunches: You Rock, You're Gorgeous, You're Fearless, You're Awesome and then left for my daily grind at the horse race.

Oh, and by the way, I got a little tinkle out of Savannah during her toilet session this a.m. Yeah!!

2009-01-23T13:04:00.000-05:00

A toast to my new blogsite! One great thing of ringing in a new year is you can wipe out bad habits and begin afresh. You can make better choices, take a turn in an unchartered direction, try something new. Love that sense of renewal.

Let me introduce myself: my name is Michele and I am a Do-aholic. I am learning to enjoy stillness, but it's a skill I have yet to master. My hands are in constant motion. I am either crocheting, sewing, scrapbooking, sculpting, gardening, knitting, painting or doing something else that requires kinetic application. Whatever it is, I find it quite soothing to my evermore active neuroses. It's like having a binky.

As of today, I am currently working on a handful of projects that I will be presenting with pictures in my next post. Although I don't particularly care for multi-tasking--as I said earlier I'm learning to be still-- I am a creature who thrives on it and knows no better. Until I get rolling with that, I will leave with a photo of my children when they were at the Peach Festival in Romeo, MI.