I Am Back

I cant believe how long its been since I have posted.  Its been crazy busy with my new job, well kind of new.  I guess I have already been there for 6 months.  I am so amazingly lucky.  I love my job. Never mind getting up and going in.  I used to spend my whole Sunday miserable because I new I had to go to work the next day. But not anymore.  Sundays are awesome.  I work with awesome people too.  But the one piece missing is creating.  I have been working hard in my mind, but havent done much of it in reality.  Its now time to start again.  And what better motivation???? I got my daily email from HSN for the Todays Special, back on August 2.  This Singer machine is not on the market yet.  The mfg retail price with the added feet will be 979. But they had it for 379. AND offered it with 5 flex pays of 75.  I didnt wait 1/2 second to order this deal.  This was in the middle of the day and there was still a lot left, but the next day I got the dreaded "Back Order" email.  I was devastated.  I had given up all hope and got an email friday that it had been shipped!!! Happy Dance.  I had it delivered to work and waited for the UPS man like a kid waiting for Santa Clause.  Just as soon as I got in the door I had it unpacked and reading the manuel.  There is a open toe foot and can drop the feed dog so I can do thread painting soooo much easier and with much more freedom. There is a gathering foot, a serger foot and many many more.  I cut out a blouse for myself this last weekend and cant wait to sew it up.

My sister crocheted this afgan for me and my new living room decor:)  I love these colors.  They are my favorites.  I will always be a "70's" girl. So,,,, I wont be away for long, I hope to have so much to show and tell soon.    

More Re-doing and Organizing

Now that I have moved my studio back in my spare room, I am reclaiming my living room and dining room.  I have been cleaning closets, cabinets and drawers.  Its been awesome getting rid of so much of the clutter.  If you dont love it or its not useful, toss it out or find a new home for it! My new mantra:)   My sister bought herself a new 55 in TV, so she very generously gave me her "old" Tv.  Its awesome, finally getting into the 21st century.  Its my first flat screen Tv.  I am so lucky.  I love the color yellow. I am going with the cirtrus colors with my re-do. So I got to bring my "Bunny Hutch" back to my living room.  I love the colors.  I am also working on making my patio a pretty and peaceful place to spend some time.  Its just way too hot to plant flowers now, but I have started on that project too.  At least I have a table and chairs, and they are in my happy colors.  Hopefully I will have more to share very soon. \

We have a local quilt shop called "Quilters Ranch"  Every year they have a garage sale.  Its an amazing sale and the proceeds go to the Peanut Butter and Jelly Food Drive.  They have books and patterns for as low as one and two dollars.  I got these bundles of fabric for two dollars per bundle!  I just can not wait to get back into the studio and create!
    

Third Time The Charm ?

I have been away from blogging for a bit.  I have been going through this whole "starting over" thing and while its a very good thing, there are growing pains.  Starting over at 53 is not for the faint of heart either.   My new job is going very well, but starting at the bottom again has caused me to have to make some huge and hard decisions.  I just havent been able to do very much creating.  I had made the decision earlier to pull out of two of the three shops I was in.  Then came the hardest decision of all.  I let go of my website.  Of all the things I have changed or given up this was the very hardest.  I loved that little shop.  I had my studio in my living area of my apt.  I was fun and practical at a time when I was creating everyday, but  when I wasnt it was a cluttered mess and a reminder of all I was leaving behind. SO for the third time since I have been in this residence I moved my little pink studio back into the spare bedroom.  Its my favorite of all.  I love it.  My living room and dining room seem so spacious and clean and uncluttered.  I love that too.  These arent the best photos, but you can get the idea.  I am on a major mission this summer.  I am going through every closet, cabinet, cupboard and drawer.  I have hauled out trash, donated and given away quite abit so far. Then when this project is complete and I have a new fresh start I will be back in my little pink studio creating again.  AND I cant wait. 

After all of that work, it was time for dessert!  I get so inspired by Pinterest and love all of the recipes and desserts.

There is lots of painting, new floors and hanging pictures coming up.  I will share any handy tips I figure out a long the way.  

This and That

Its been crazy busy around here.  I am working long hours. But its awesome, because I really like my job.  We had a wine mixer networking event at work and I made a couple of things from my Pinterest collections:)  I made kabobs with angel food cake and strawberries and drizzled them with chocolate.  Then I took raspberrys and put a chocolate chip in them. So cute.  Its a wealth of great ideas on Pinterest.

If you are looking for something fun and easy to do while hanging out and watching TV, this is a fun idea.  Find a fabric with a graphic you like, preferable a larger pattern.  Put batting and a layer of muslin behind it and put it in a quilting hoop.  Hand quilt around the designs and then you can embellish with sequins and beads.  They make pretty pillows.

We started a weight loss challenge at my office. I was given a pedometer from my friend Ronda. I am super excited.  I walk a lot in my office each day and it was over 6000 steps and I came home and went for my walk.  I walked over 10, 000 steps today!!  On the 31 of this month, it will be one year since my hip replacement surgery. I cant believe its been a year, but also one year ago today it was a dream that I would ever have been able to walk 10,000 steps.  I am doing well with the challenge and cant wait to shed some pounds!!  Stay tuned for my progress:) Have a great week.    

This is SERIOUS Fun

I have been addicted to Pinterest for some time now.  There I said it!!! :)  And I dont care!  Its eye candy to sooth the sole. But this weekend I started playing around with Polyvore.com . You can create endless outfits with all of the dreamy accessories you could every want!  I just start creating a look, and when its all done I see the page with the links to purchase these treasures, and I have learned I have some very expensive taste!!!  This gorgeous frilly, ruffly summer dress you see is an Alexander Mcqueen dream that is just over $9,000.00.  The gorgeous pink drop earrings in the set with with dress trousers and the sweet pink blouse are from Tiffanys and $950.00. !!! :)  The only down side, is when you get up from the computer to head out for the grocery store, I find I look like a schlump.  Something to aspire to,,, A well dress woman.
Hopefully this next week I will have something a little more exciting to write about, its been crazy, but good, busy this last week.

 

First Fridays

On the first friday of each month, the city of Phoenix has an awesome event called First Fridays.  It started many years ago and has grown and become a very popular and fun thing to do!  There are now over 70 art galleries, venues and shops that participate.  I believe you can still get a current map at the Phoenix Art Museum and spend a pretty evening out. No matter what style of Art you prefer, you will be sure to find something you love and hopefully want to take home.  Many restuarants along the way for dinner or a glass of wine. 

This Friday, the 4th of May, my friends at The Eden Garden House are participating. They are a little off the normal routes, but well worth the visit. There shop is showcasing a new Photographer and will be from 6 to 8 ish.  There are many local artist at Eden Garden House, including hand cast stone sculptures for planting flowers or plants, paintings, jewelry and much more.  Focusing on Garden Inspired design. They are located on 7th ave, just north of Thomas, on the west side of the street. St Joseph Hospital is right across the street.  Hope to see you there!

The Cats Meow =^.^=

My cats have not been too happy with my new schedule.  They dont even see me off at the door anymore, or are waiting for me when I get home.  After I have been home for a bit, they are back to their normal selves.  When I came home the other day Pookie was sound asleep on the chair and could care less I was home, in fact seemed a little put out I woke him up.  Then this last weekend my friend Phyllis gave me a whole bunch of awesome fabric and I spent the whole day sorting all of my fabric, laces and trims.  Googars definetly was in the mood to help.  So I am organized and ready to start creating.   But, I love them like crazy still.       

Garden Inspired

Spring is such a nice time, although not lasting too long here in AZ.  I actually had to give in and turn the Air on last night for a few minutes to cool my place off a bit.  There is a short window of time where there are a lot of flowers blooming everywhere.  Unfortunately they dont make it much past June, but we enjoy them while we can. This last weekend was my daughters birthday and Easter, so we had lots of celebrating and having fun.  I made April this purse for her birthday.  She has been wanting me to make her one for a very long time.  It took longer than I planned, but doesnt it always. lol  But the important thing is she really likes it.  I think it looks better in person, not too happy with the photos.  Since I am now working full time plus some, I havent had too much time to create anything.  But tax season is about over and I look forward to my free time to get back into sewing.  My friends and I took a night out for some stress relief to paint ceramics at our local As You Wish Studio and I wanted to paint some flowers to remember the pretty ones I have in my containers for now.  Have a great week and take time to enjoy the flowers!!!   

Happy Easter =^.^=

I have had a temp job at a local CPA office and for a while I was working up to 3 jobs a day! lol  I have to tell you, I am much to old for 3 jobs a day. That ship has sailed.:)  So, I have been making a lot of changes over the last three weeks. I have left Target and I  started working full time at the Tax Goddess.  I am really happy to say that I am going to be staying on permanently. I think it will vary between part time and full time depending on the time of the year, but I enjoy working there so much.  Of course this time of year is full blown tax season, so its pretty busy and I am coming home so tired. Thats OK, but I am not getting much creating done. But all in good time. Things are falling into place very nicely.  So, I dont have much to share, but I made some cupcakes to take to work. Thats a little creative I guess.  I am looking forward to celebrating EAster this weekend with my Grandkids.  Its also my daughter and best friends birthday too.  I hope you have a great family celebration as well.  May you all get chocolate Easter Bunnies in your baskets!

Its Spring and New Beginnings

I had been working really hard making earrings. I know I had at least 50 new pairs and have taken them to the shops I am in. I totally forgot to take any pictures though! I forgot to take my necklaces though so I was able to get a few pictures of them.

This was a week of many good byes and the start of new beginnings.  My last day at Target was on Wednesday.  I will miss all of my friends very much, but already feel so much less stress.  I wont go into details and bore you, but lets just say, as frustrating as it is to call a call center, just know its not as easy of a job. :)  I have also been a member of Make Mine Pink for 6 years now and due to some health issues it will be closing down for a while.  I know this was an incredibly hard decision for Joyce to make, I will miss everyone so much. But her health and healing from her surgery is the most important thing to all of us.  But its weird, I have been going to Make Mine Pink everyday for years and these ladies have become very good friends, even as far as my friend Caroline in England. I know we will stay in touch and Joyce will be back stronger and better than ever. :)   I have spent the weekend spring cleaning and getting ready to start a new life Monday!!!  I am working temporarily at a CPA office and love it.  Awesome people and a great place to work.  I will be now be spending all of my extra hours getting my samples ready to show at a local quilt shop to teach.  I also hope to be spending some more time at Eden Garden House.

I  had a great time Saturday at Quilters Ranch in Tempe.  They were having an estate sale.  The owner had lost a very good friend who left her all of her sewing treasures.  There were sewing machines, sergers, patterns, books and more fabric than you can imagine.  I know all of the proceeds were going to cancer research.  I was able to find a few things I just could not leave behind.  I love Elenor Peace Bailey Dolls, so I was happy to find some of her patterns.

After the sale outdoors, I strolled inside the shop and found these fat quarters. The more I look at this fabric, the more I love it.  I need to get more.  These are my favorite colors and I love them when they are presented together. (Please forgive the wrinkles!)  Well, I hope you all have a great new spring week ahead.  I know I am looking forward to my new beginnings:)