My Longest Year

valentine maryjanes

Why can't I do anything right the first forty-fifth time?  I wanted to make a pair of valentine-themed mary janes. I've made a few pair already; this should have been simple enough.  But it wasn't.  First try: too tube-like.  Second try: way too big.  Two more tries later - a perfectly-shaped and sized mary jane!  Only one problem: repeating this for a second shoe.  I couldn't get a single pattern to turn out the same way twice.  Finally, I got it.  And I'm happy with how sweetly "valentine" they turnedout.  I think the trick is to make the entire shoe a few rows shorter so that her little feet can stretch it to the perfect shape for her feet.  If I ever get this pattern right, I'll post it.  But don't hold your breath.

Anyway, after all this feverish crocheting to feed the anxiety that this would never come out as I envisioned, I looked up and realized I hadn't really been available for E.  What a shame.  She has all these pretty little things, but what she really wants is me. 

This happens too often, I think.  People ask me where I find the time for all this crafting.  I don't have a special trick.  When J. was deployed, I stayed up until 2 a.m.  Now, I steal the time -  from my house, which needs cleaning, and from my husband, who "just wants a hug and kiss" when he comes home, and from my little girl, who has taken to grabbing my face in her hands so she can show me her picture/book/dance.  Its tough to juggle, I think, even when you're a stay-at-home mom.  Time for others, time for yourself - how much is too much in any one direction?  I don't feel sorry for myself.  My husband is home, we can make ends meet with one income, and I have a very healthy little girl.  I have an ideal situation.  I just need to do better.  After all, it only lasts so long.

I put her down for a nap a while ago.  She's still singing to herself.  I think I'll skip the nap and ask her if she wants to dance. 

a post that matters

It's so easy to forget.  That's what I hated about this country while J. was deployed.  No one seemed to realize how real all of this war was (is) to so many people.  For most, its a debate - an argument to win.  For some of us, it's a way of life. 

I was so emotionally wiped after 13 months of bracing myself for what I might see on the news, what I might hear among military friends, what J. might say the next time he called, or who might be on the other side of a ring at the door - I was so wiped, that when J. came home, I went into a sort of "ignorant" mode.  I wanted the bliss of all those words spilling out of reporters' mouths not having anything to do with me anymore.  The anxiety comes back every time I watch it, hear it, or have to get into a discussion about it with a civilian friend.  And to cope, I turned it all off.  Put my fingers in my ears, and chanted "na na na na naaaa. I. Can't. Hear. You!" (I literally did this when J. would start in on some news story).  J. still soaks it up.  He's fascinated with what's going on - especially now that it appears the U.S. will be spending more time and money on the very mission J. spent a year on (training the Iraqi Army).  He has a lot to say about it, and since he was there doing exactly what we're proposing the U.S. do on a ramped up scale, I guess he should.  But it all gives me a stomach ache.

This week it hit me that I have to get my fingers out of my ears.  We've personally invested quite a bit.  But even more than that, I have friends who are still enduring the agony of this all.  This surge - these additional troops being sent to Iraq and Afghanistan - are not additional at all. We're not culling from some new source (ie drafting) to scrape up more soldiers.  We're putting more weight on the same exhausted people.  With barely a break from the last deployment, soldiers are leaving earlier than scheduled for the next one, and are staying longer...soldiers and their families are heroes for what they endure.  But they are not superhuman.  And yet, they're continually asked to bear "just a little more."  The weight of worry, of separation, of the kind of conditions soldiers are subjected to for months on end ...there's only so much you can put on a person before it becomes too much.  Which is why its my duty - everyone's duty - to help these families bear it a little more easily.

How?  By paying attention, and letting it really matter.  By sending a heartfelt letter, or a care package.  By listening to your friends in the military rant and cry, without judgement on this war (after all, military members are proud of the work they are doing).  By suppressing the urge to give advice, but just being a shoulder to lean on.  Simply put: by just caring.

les fetes qui what?

The sun came out this week, thankgoodness.  I should have been sewing this work-in-progress (to be a valentine quilt for E.):

But, instead, I went on a sunny drive to visit this magazine at Borders: 

Yes, I "visit" craft magazines because they're pricey and I am usually only inspired by one or two projects.  I prefer to sketch a note to myself about the project, and save the money and space on my shelf.  This magazine is different.  Unfortunately, it's in french.  I can't understand a bit of it - a total bummer because they have instructions for all 9 million projects featured in the magazine and I'm left to guess by "reading" the pictures.  After my fourth weekly pilgrimage to Borders, I broke down and bought it.  And can you blame me?  It's like this magazine was put on the shelf just for me. 

I am going to try this crown - some stiffened batiste and maybe a little embroidery as embellishment?  What do you think?

Talk about inspiration - four or five pages of just bags!:

I love crafted bitty shoes, and really appreciate the simplicity of these. They remind me of Heather Bailey's Bitty Booties pattern:

I heart this magazine.  I just wish I could read it. 

drawstring bag tutorial

As promised, here it is - a simple drawstring bag tutorial; email me if you have questions. This is a really great first sewing project; they're easy, practical AND versatile - as recycle-able gift bags, travel accessory bags, storage...The ones pictured above are going to two little boys for their craft-things.

The sun is finally out today...I'm off to take a sunny drive with E.

sweet little victories

These little bags represent a my small victory for today.  I have not been myself this week, and am finding it difficult to enjoy much of anything.  It's a mood I battle from time to time, usually under a lot of stress, currently compounded by the forty-twelve days of gloomy weather this state is known for.  I never know how long it will take to get back to "normal," but I've learned the best way through it is to refuse the urge to wallow, and just press on.

So, today I sewed.  I didn't want to.  But I did.  Cute, aren't they?  Drawstring bags are my current organizing staple of choice (well, that and my Dymo labeler). The night before E.'s second birthday, I was gathering the party supplies and realized I'd forgotten goody bags for the pinata.  I didn't want to go back out, so I did what any overachiever would do at 9:30 PM - I "whipped up" 13 drawstring bags.  Yes, I know that's a little overboard - but remember, I prefer overboard.  Anyway, I later wound up using E.'s bag to keep all her socks together in her dresser, and a friend of mine used them to organize her kids' toys in the van.  Recently, I found these charming little wooden planes and cars in the craft section of Walmart and I took home a gaggle of them.  But they keep getting lost in the toy box.  Solution: drawstring bag.

I stained the ribbon with coffee, and found the vintage clip art online:

This is a good sewing-newbie project, and the result is both sweet and practical.  I'll type up a tutorial this weekend. 

I hope the sun comes out.  Thank God for sunny toddlers.

Links of interest:  Karen's [Vintage] Whimsy, Vintage Clip Art, MissMary (some free graphics), Vintage Dolls & Children

Ballet Crochet

I worked up these ballet slippers using single crochet for the toe, and half-double for the rest.  They're a bit wonky, and I think one is a little bigger than the other, but E. loves them and asks for them when she wears her dress and tutu (they look very distinctly like a "left" and "right" because she's worn them so much).  Per ariane's suggestion, I ordered some yarn from elann.com and picked out some lovely colors.  I'm so new to yarn-shopping that I didn't realize this yarn would be quite a bit smaller (thinner? ugh, what a newbie) than what I expected.  It's more delicate to work with, and softer. The smallest hook I had was an f hook (3.75 mm), but I think I would use a size smaller  for a tidier stitch.   

I haven't sewn anything in a while and I have at least three projects I want to finish in the next couple of weeks.  But J. has hijacked my table, and stress has hijacked my creativity.  Maybe I need a new pair of shoes.   

Thrift-Treasures

I love thrifting as treasure-hunting.  I've been meaning to post pics of these finds for a while now.

First, one of my favorites - REAL blocks.  You know, the kind that are large enough to really do something with.  I picked up a pack of assorted blocks at Walmart one time, but they turned out to be a bit whimpy.  I found these at Goodwill ($3!).  James thought they looked like junk ("there's writing all over them").  But I thought the writing was sweet (did you know tomatoes come in a "court"? eta: other favorites included "rode closed," "fir department," and "papa mom's restaurant"), and I do plan to use some of these a decoupage projects, ala Martha.

Next, these awesome shot glasses, also from Goodwill. I can't tell if the glasses are vintage or not, but they depict vintage cars and have a marking on the bottom that I can't seem to place anywhere on the web.  You can't see it, but one of the scenes is a graveyard that says, "Berlin, 500 Km <----."

And, these didn't come from Goodwill but they were a great find.  Can you believe these tea towels came from Big Lots?  I love the print on them.  The butterflies remind me of a vintage tablecloth and the aqua-pink ones remind me of a vintage barkcloth panel I have in my stash.  These will become spring projects (they're in the dryer now):

And finally, pricey by Goodwill standards ($3 and hidden behind the glass counter), this lovely vintage Irish teacup (complete with crackles):

Must run.  J. is circling the computer; I guess I'm messing with his studying mojo.

Back to School, Sort of

It's been like college around here (well, if you trade Mary Welch Roger's Wafflehouse theme songs for your two-year-old pleading "Mommy, Please?" about something she wishes to wear, color, eat, drink, watch or jump onto every 4 seconds or so).  J. is in the process of "turning in his papers."  And we will be out of the Army, ready or not, by the summer.  Being the stressballplannercontrolfreak person that I am when it comes to stuff like this, I prefer very ready.  Overprepared, if possible. I promptly set up a full-scale plan of attack when we came home from Nashville (the city I am incredibly "home"sick for, by the way - but more on that later).  We have a long-range plan for the transition, with short-term goals to keep us on track.  If I had more time there would probably be charts and graphs and Microsoft Project involved.  But J. has a job, and we have obligations (like making sure Princess gets her tutu.  And slippers.  And purple blinking-light-jiggly-Princess Belle pen.). So we work with the time we've got - nights and weekends.  Which involves coffee.  Lots of it. (pictured at left is one in the 42 "K-Force" souvenirs J. brought home after his Kosovo tour; he's finally using it five years later and taking it out every other night just to prove he really did need it.) 

Honestly, I'm really kind of enjoying all the late nights poring over business journals and working on interview questions and reviewing performance appraisals.  Some of you know me as this crafty, creative blogger who takes way too many pictures.  But those who know me well know that I sometimes wish I was running a division or managing a major project or doing something star performer-ish while getting my MBA by now.  I was the nerd who spent my last two college summers at the library reading Harvard Business Review, The Wall Street Journal, and Psychology Today and taking thorough notes on the articles - all in preparation for my fall classes (I was an Org. Comm. business major).  And while I'm actually jealous of J.'s job search, my previous work experience and intense attention to all things business-related is coming in handy right now.  It turns out we make a good team. 

Now if I could just persuade him to get this committed to picking up after himself...

Princess for a day (and every day since)

Studying to be a Princess:

The kind of pic you get when you give your two-year-old the camera:

Fit for a "Princess!"

She has arrived at that stage.  It started a few weeks ago - anything pink, anything girly, any pretty character (especially the Little Mermaid) - they're all "princess."  I have no clue how she even learned the word - she just proclaimed it one day at the bookstore when she spotted a Cinderella book. She spent last night wearing a purple and pink dress (complete with fairy wings) that I had bought her a while ago.  This morning it was the first thing she asked to put on (along with her Disney princess shoes, of course).  So I completed today's chores at Target and the commissary, my little princess in tow.

And so I made Princess a tutu.  I have had this dress-up tutu in mind for over a year but I never got around to making it, thinking  she was still a little young to appreciate it.  I finally made it this afternoon, while Princess napped (it's exhausting work, being a princess).  It's made of 2 1/2 yards of tulle, a bit of elastic, and curled ribbon.

ps: Don't expect to find a decent tutorial for this online (not a freebie, anyway).  I just kind of made it up as I went. I plan to make another one; perhaps I'll take pictures of the process for a tutorial next time.