Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Chuckie T's

Mad Crafting Update:

The latest addition to my etsy site: www.etsy.dreamsoftreesart.com -- Little Pumpkins Tie Dyed Halloween Onesies




Made this jacket for veda out of old felted wool sweater, love and insanity. It's a bit wonky because I screwed up the jacket pattern a little (copied it from a book) plus on a whim I decided to add a lining, and I have no idea how to do that...so it has some, um..character.
Now I'm working on a pair of felt and leather slippers for Veda. Poor kid...her mother dresses her funny and there's nothing she can do about it...mwa ha ha ha!!!


Chuckie T's......
I'm so proud! Yesterday my 9-year-old got his first pair of Converse All-Stars. I never thought I'd see the day. For so long he thought my all-time favorite shoes were "lame" and just for old folks like me (I have 3 pairs that I wear very often). But when we went shoe shopping yesterday he spotted a pair of black high tops with flames on the side and decided they were beyond awesome. I agreed...but made sure not to make a big deal about my approval lest he be spooked by my positive reaction.
So, I am keeping my giddiness to myself, but secretly rejoicing in my son's punk rock fashion choice. Rock on, little man! Next I'll have to somehow get you into the Ramones. =:-)


Monday, October 19, 2009

Papa Passes

Zeus dancing with Scott in his younger days. With him is his son Apollo who died of a blood disease shortly before Scott and I met.

Papa Dog, that is. Our old papa Great Dane Zeus passed away Sunday around noon at the ripe old age of 10 (quite elderly for a Dane). Zeus was such a grand old fellow. So sweet-natured and friendly. He was always charming the ladies -- whenever we took him out for hikes, he would look for other hikers (particularly women) and make friends. He loved to be petted and hugged. He left behind his son Hercules, an Irish Wolfhound cross that is a little strange in the head, but loveable all the same.

After his passing, we buried him in the corner of the backyard where I plan to plant a shade garden. Birch was very distraught and tearful about his death -- he had gone down the hill to visit with him where he lay in the sunshine shortly before he died and was the last one to see him alive. He helped Scott dig the grave and we held a funeral to celebrate his life and mark his passing. Birch and I picked herbs and flowers from the yard, Scott and Birch threw in locks of their hair and I placed a handmade wool pillow under his head (he loved to lay on pillows, even though he was so big he needed a full-sized bed!).

Zeus, you will be missed, old friend!

Saturday, October 10, 2009

More crafty photos

A cute handbag with moon and star applique. Made out of a pair of old blue jeans and lined with leftover fabric from my wedding dress.




A plain onesie I decorated with a painted bird applique. I just paint the images onto the appliques with fabric paint.



A really bad photo of a really cute pin cushion.




Craft-tastic

The front applique on a onesie I decorated. There is another one with a different chicken on the back. Veda loves this one and carried it around with her until I finally just gave it to her!











We live in a tiny house. We are two adults, a 9-year-old boy and very active toddler living in less than 900 square feet with only 2-bedroom . This means the baby has to sleep in our room (less than ideal, to say the least). But nearly equally as alarming is the fact that my craft addiction has no place to call home.

Our family's only table (located in the dining/play/study/computer room) is almost always occupied by my sewing machine, ironing board, iron and stacks of fabric, patterns and sewing books. Sadly for my long-suffering family, this usually means that in order for us to eat a meal or for Birch to do his homework, the mounds of stuff must be moved to the floor...where it will promptly be inspected and tasted or even chewed on by Veda.

Behind the table, in one of our house's rare areas of actualy floor space, are bags of fabric, a basket of needlefelting supplies (securely tied shut! can't have Veda chewing on felting needles!), and usually some half-finished paintings or other semi-completed projects.

In the living room, in the corner behind one of Veda's toy boxes, sits my baskets of yarn. I had to move the crochet and knitting stuff to the closet, because Veda kept trying to joust with the needles. ("You'll poke your eye out!")

We do have plans...someday, when we win the lottery, we want to renovate our basement and make another bedroom, a play room and a craft area. Until then, though, we just keep shuffling stuff around.
Anyway, I have been very busy lately with my craftiness. I'm working on a sweater coat for Veda...the decorations look pretty awesome, but I have to say that the sewing job is beyond terrible. Really. I'll take photos when I'm finished, but I am pretty embarrassed. It looks like it was assembled by hallucinating monkeys.

Other than that, Ive been making more of my crazy felt mushrooms and some other felt things and clothes that are up now on my etsy site (http://www.dreamsoftrees.etsy.com/). Also doing a bit of screen printing. I just can't stop!






Wednesday, October 7, 2009

married...with children







We are officially official now. On 9-09-2009, I did what I said I'd never do and got married...again.

We went into this whole wedding thing with the thought that we would do it as simply and inexpensively as possible. And, by "Modern Bride" standards (RIP "Modern Bride"!) we did just that. But by our standards, things did end up going a bit overboard in the end. Both our bank accounts ended up overdrawn and we went a bit further down debtors' road. But we did have truly, the best possible wedding. I - with 2 previous wedding experiences to draw from -- like to refer to it as "my last best wedding." :-)

Just so you know, getting married when you already have two kids to take care of -- one of whom is a nursing toddler -- is an entirely different deal than tying the knot when you have no responsibilities. For one thing, the whole idea of a romantic honeymoon for two is pretty much out...or it was for us, anyway. There was no way I was leaving my nursling for very long, plus we don't have the money (or the room on my credit card) to pay for a trip to Jamaica or something.

So the wedding we ended up with was this: We chose the date 9-9-09 because Scott likes 9's and it seemed cool (yes, I can admit that). Nevermind that it fell on a Wednesday. Then we gathered all the friends and family we could find that were willing to get together in N.C. on a weekday to see us united in unholy matrimony and asked them to drive to the Linville Gorge with us...in the rain...and hike a mile up a steep mountain (Hawksbill). And that's where we had our ceremony.

It was pretty epic. It really did rain all day. Everyone was wet and cold and miserable and many were more than a little unhappy about the strenuous hike. Some family members were in their 70's (hi mom and dad!) and some were in grade school (Birch and Syd!) or even still nursing (Veda!). But everybody made it to the top, although my sister at one point turned to me and growled "I am NOT having fun!" and my neice cried for the first 15 minutes of the climb. This is the same neice who also commented "I wish I was just sitting in a big comfy chair watching TV instead of climbing this dumb mountain!" Fortunately, Sydney was won over by the grandeur of Hawksbill once we reached the summit and asked if we could "do it again tomorrow!"

And once we got to the top, it was truly amazing!! The sun came out and the mountains and rivers of the Linville Gorge surrounded us green serenity. My old friend T-Bone, who conveniently happens to be ordained in the Church of Universal Light (a very reputable online fellowship, I hear!) performed the ceremony. Scott and I read vows we had written the night before. Veda and I wore dresses that I had made for the occasion. Sydney (my flower girl) and I had crowns and I held a bouquet we made that morning from flowers and herbs grown in my garden (plus some crepe myrtle I stole from the parking lot at Abele's Restaurant in Morganton where we stopped for lunch...thanks Abele's!).

That night, after we drove back, we had dinner at a nice restaurant downtown (Magnolia's) then Scott and I spent the next two nights at the Chestnut Street Inn in Asheville, driving home during the day to be with the kids and visit with everyone. That Saturday our good friends Jenn and Brett hosted an amazing celebration for us at their house...friends of ours were there from all over the country. It was completely incredible to see so many old friends from so far away. I will never forget it.

Wow...as I write this, I'm realizing we really did have a dream wedding. It was perfect!