Bite-sized Project: Embroidered Cards

Here are some of the embroidered cards I've been making. They're a little addictive. I think the appeal lies in the instant gratification provided by such a quick project. More colors and messages coming soon. (Must give credit where credit is due. Cards inspired by the talented kiwipunch.)

Other tidbits:

- Jello Snack Cups with Antioxidents? (tastes mildly like cough syrup)

- I'm relatively certain Evan has not finished a book since we've been together. That's not a judgement, so much as me noting an apparent condemnation of every book I've recommended.

- My life has improved by 10% since Picasa came out for Macs.

- Another program (I think it's freeware?) that I've been digging is Schoolhouse, which keeps all of your class assignments and notes organized.

- Last night I started playing a DS game called Soul Bubbles in which you are a "Soul Herder" in training. It is your duty to pick up souls (and star dust) with your protective bubbles and blow them towards their destination. Weird? Yes. Adorable? Definitely.

Tiny Soft Things to Love

Meet Milton and Puddle. They are the cutestsweetestsoftest. This is about as big as they get–double cute, right? However, their freaking wheel is keeping the whole house up at night with its unbelievable loudness, so the goal is to find a truly silent wheel.

The Stitch Spectacular show opened on Friday! I can't wait to see pictures of all the other work. The bits and pieces I've seen so far have been amazing.

I've now had one period of each one of my classes for the semester. Pretty much what I expected. Should be about the same as last semester in terms of workload, stress, etc. Thanks to the power of the R4 card, though, I can at least pretend to study via video game by playing My French Coach on DS.

I loved the new banner so much that I actually made a papercut of the school emblem and framed it. In other news of procrastination, I've made many more embroidered cards than I will ever need/use, and I've decided to try to learn calligraphy (an effort that proved futile and boring in past attempts at ages 9, 11, and 13).

Jessica and I are attempting to create a work-out schedule for the semester. This is especially timely because I've made a bet/pact with Evan involving each of us getting more buff by the middle of April. If only one of us succeeds, it works like a normal bet in terms of winning/losing something of value. If we both fail, each of us gives up something we love for one month. If we both succeed, we treat ourselves to something we wouldn't normally spend money on. Unfortunately since the inception of this agreement on Friday night, Theresa brought home pizza for dinner, I used Taco Bell to cure a hangover, and Devon made bacon brownies (yes, that's right. Brownies with pieces of bacon in them).

Speaking of Devon, her new boy, Will, washed our dishes. I consider this a vast improvement over the one who brought over two bottles of liquor, a bottle of wine, and a twelve-pack the first time we met him. We're on the right track.

Frames: The Good and the Bad

I took my pillows over to Urban Standard before I left for NC. Possibly after the holidays you'll be able to find some of my work there, but we'll see. Regardless, I picked up some awesome cupcakes, which it turns out are just as good if you drop the box and smoosh them.

Evan and I attended Robb's and Lydia's respective bachelor and bachelorette parties last weekend. Despite having one of the stranger nights I've had in a while, I had a lot of fun. The boys went to a strip club and the girls went to a drag show. I guarantee you that the ladies we saw were about ten times hotter than the ones they encountered. I <3 Miss Jericho.

Congratulations to Robb and Lydia whose wedding festivities we'll be attending this Saturday. Looking forward to seeing everyone after being away for a few days, and to hanging out with some folks who live out of town. Speaking of which, Matt and Charlie got an apartment nearby and will be moving in at the beginning of the month. Way to get things done.

I got my framed pieces back from Forstall, and though they did a good job with what I asked them for, I was predictably disappointed with the frame of the Self-portrait. Ampersands came out awesome, as expected. Win some, lose some and all that. And hey, you guys have not given me any advice on whether or not to go to Savannah for the opening of the show, so I'll give you some of the pros and cons I've thought of.

Pros: getting to see the exhibit, meeting fellow embroiderers, having a mini-vacation to a place I'm interested in visiting

Cons: long drive, Evan would have to take the afternoon off work, it's the Friday directly after classes start for the semester

Observations, Interesting or Otherwise

Most mornings I drive Evan to work, and I sometimes stop to get a coffee on the way home. This morning the parking meter for my spot outside of the coffee shop was out of order. Its way of telling me this was to flash the word "FAIL."

I went to my first Bottletree Music Trivia night last night, and despite being only minimally helpful, I was able to share in the collective glory of a team win. I only wish I weren't going to be out of town for the 90's theme next week, because I'm pretty sure I could own it.

Speaking of ownage, I aced my classes, as expected. Devon made it through, alright, too. Congratulations to both of us on passing first semester and may we rule it even harder in semesters to come.

Crafting is coming slowly and I now realize that my big plans for getting all sorts of things done over break are crashing and burning. But I'm having an excellent time, so it evens out. Slowly but surely I'm handling Christmas presents, some bought, some made. I wish I had more time to devote to showering my friends and family with gifts, but it's not in the cards this year.

Evan and I are trying to decide if we should go to Savannah for the opening of the Stitch Spectacular show on January 9th. Google said it's 6 hours and some, but I think I've heard 8 hours from other people. I've been wanting to visit Savannah for a while, and this seems like the perfect opportunity, but it's not great timing. Help me out with pros and cons. The age of technology has ushered in an inability to make decisions on my own.

When you feel something tickle the back of your neck and you reach up, only to discover that it actually is a bug and not some errant strand of hair, it'll make you really paranoid.

Good Times

So, I'm feeling pretty awesome right now. Aside from a few brief moments of stress, the last couple of weeks have been sweet. I threw a totally wikkid party for Evan's birthday and stayed up till dawn. We had a great Thanksgiving with Evan's family in Chicago, went bowling, and ate a ten-course kaiseki. Also I turned in a paper and got a presentation and an oral exam out of the way, so I'm mostly done for the semester. Oh, and I almost forgot, Red Wagon in Homewood is now carrying my quilts.

Today is especially great, though, because of two things. First, I gave Evan an early Christmas present, which made me very happy. He is now the proud owner of a set of beautiful blue Tama drums. I snapped a photo but it won't upload, so I'll show them to you later. Second, I just found out that my self-portrait got into the Stitch Spectacular show!! It opens on January 9th in Savannah, so I have a month to get it ready to hang.

Can't wait to do some holiday decorating and work on some projects I've had to put on hold. Hooray for winter break!

Deadlines

I've been putting off tons of schoolwork to finish a couple of pieces to submit to the Stitch Spectacular art show in Savannah. The criteria for submissions was that the work be an original design (i.e. not from a commercially available pattern) and the main feature of the piece be embroidery. I've been working on a couple of pieces of embroidery that aren't meant to be functional (like the pillows I do for Napoleon) but I didn't think they were up to par. So I did a couple of brand new pieces that are pretty different than what I'd been working on. I doubt they'll get into the show, but it was a nice exercise.

Anyhow, the deadline was midnight on Friday, so I'd been stitching away, ignoring all sorts of other work. Now that that's done, it's time to catch up. I have two term papers to work on, one of which I haven't even picked a topic for and neither of which have been researched. I've been dreading this all semester, pretending that I was going to get an early start, not put things off like I did in college. I'm not yet in dire straits, but I can't continue to procrastinate. And if I just go ahead and do it I'll feel so much better (a fact of which I'm always aware, but consistently ignore).

Before initiating full-time schoolwork mode, I had one last hurrah shopping in Atlanta yesterday. Yes, going to Atlanta to shop is kind of ridiculous, but Evan needed work clothes and H&M and Zara are practically the only stores with clothes that fit him. We shopped to the point of exhaustion but were pretty successful in our mission. I almost find shopping for other people more satisfying than shopping for myself. I still get to be stoked when I find something amazing but without all the guilt of frivolous spending.

So, goodbye for now. If you don't hear from me for a while, blame Bernini's Papal tombs. I'll be back as soon as possible.

Brilliant Smile

Gifts from my family tend to be hit or miss. I suspect this is true for most people. For every couple of awesome books, or dvds directly from your Amazon wishlist, there's also a crocheted vest or a Captain and Tennille record. That is why recently, when my aunt handed me a box and said, "I don't know what you're going to think of this. It's very strange," I was concerned. Luckily, there was an awesome Margaux Lange necklace inside. I immediately loved it. Anne bought it at the Baltimore craft fair, I think, but a quick search brought me to Ms. Lange's Etsy shop, where she's got other great Barbie-related jewelry. You may be wondering what you would wear a necklace like this with, but I assure you that opportunities abound. I mostly love pairing it with something conservative. The red lips catch your eye, but the pearls tone it down. Looks awesome, and gets a better kind of attention than that light up sweatshirt you got for your last birthday.