Studio Tour

So, we're in our new house, and after Thanksgiving, my priority has been my studio. I got to buy a couple of cabinets and some organizational-thingies from Ikea, but most of what you see I already had. Enjoy!

This corner is where I keep all of my threads, stamps, paints, and general art supplies. Also E's art supplies, which he can access as he wants (with supervision, of course!)

My table under the window is intended for both drawing/painting, as well as my doula studying.



Eventually E's train table (best Christmas present ever!!!) will go in this corner, but for now it holds both of our rocking chairs, which have seen lots of use in the past few days, for lots of cuddles and quiet time.



E's art corner, complete with cork boards so he can change out his artwork as he wants.



Mmmm...fabric!



The cabinet underneath the ribbon and zippers is full of inventory (shop update soon!) The black cabinet on the wall is easily removable so I can use it for displays at shows. (Clever, I know.)



My sewing table (excuse the mess, I've been busy!) The rail on the wall is from Ikea, and I luuurrvvvve it!!!



Ok, that's it for now!

Slowly Coming Together

Our house is slowly coming together. Room by room, box by box, piece by piece.

Does anyone else feel like they can't do anything if their kitchen is a mess? For me, it's the center--the heart--of our home, and if it's cluttered I can't function. It's a bit like myself--if my heart is cluttered, I start to get depressed. Only a thorough cleansing will make me happy. So, with a bit of sweeping, scrubbing, and general putting away of things, I will slowly begin to be able to function.

* - * - *

Last night was the first night of our Advent calendar (we're a bit slow, what can I say? E doesn't care!) It's definitely more of a "countdown to Christmas" for us, without any religious meaning, but we do add in some conversation about the spirit of the season, etc. Hopefully E will remember the holidays as a time for giving--both things and acts of kindness. For now, it works for us.

We've Moved!

Just a quick note to say we're all moved into our new house. Well, our stuff is here, in boxes at least! I'll post pictures soon. And if you haven't heard, check out the giveaway over at Flea Market Fancy Freaks!!!

Settling In

Our things arrived yesterday (not on the day they said they would get here, just like the car. Ugh.) We've been unpacking like crazy, and it's kind of starting to feel like home.

It's funny: I've moved so many times in my life, but the last two (save a tiny move in between--buh bye crazy landlord!) were the hardest. I think because I had been trying SO HARD to put down roots and BE AN ADULT that I felt (feel) uprooted when we left. I had left the security of my family and friends here in WA, and set out on a grand adventure to the "unknown" and I made such good friends that I felt (feel) like I have left my family again. I don't know what the correct word is for how I feel, but maybe discombobulated (is that really a word?) Anyway, it finally hit me the other night that we had left our house, and all of our friends, and I just sobbed and cried and slobbered on my poor husband's shoulder. And he's not good with emotions. :O) Ever since then I'm having a hard time keeping my emotions in check, and as I unpack each box it reminds me of something that happened in MA. It's still hard to realize that we won't be seeing our friends for awhile. It's especially hard when my son says a friend's name, asking for them, and I have to tell him we won't see them for a long time. And he doesn't get it, so he asks for someone else five minutes later.

In other (not so depressing) news, I have nearly finished a quilt, all in one afternoon/evening, in between unpacking boxes, cooking dinner, and running after my son. It's pieced, sandwiched, and quilted. All I have left is the binding, but unfortunately that will have to wait until after the baby shower tomorrow afternoon. I don't think I can get all the hand sewing done with a crazy toddler running around. So I'll get the front of the binding on, and safety pin the back so the new mama can see what it will look like.

Does anyone have any good tips on keeping the quilt from shifting while quilting? Right now I'm using basting safety pins, which is fine, but it's hard to sew around them. I picked up some quilt basting spray, but I think I'll try it on a few dog crate blankets before I attempt an entire quilt with it.

The Moving Truck is Arriving Today!!!

Woohoo! Our stuff is finally getting here! I'm so excited to set up my new studio, with my new desk, and my lovely sewing machine (oh how I've missed you!) And all my fabrics--oh, that is the most exciting part of all!!!

In anticipation of all my Tiny House stock's arrival, I've reopened my shop. For now it's older items, but I'll be adding more as they are finished, probably early next week. The rest of this week is going to be devoted to finishing a quilt for a soon-to-arrive baby.

And now we're off to the bank to get a rather large money order so the moving company can't hold our things hostage. The joys of being a cross-country moving adult, I suppose.

Where's my stuff?

We're starting to get settled--as settled as possible give that we don't have much furniture, or any other fun things (sewing machine, I miss you!)

I made scones this morning (from a box, nothing special) but realized after I started that I didn't have a mixing bowl. But did that stop me? Nope! I mixed the dough in my one sautee pan, then kneaded it with no extra flour (could I have possibly thought to reserve some mix, of course not.) They came out fine, though, and Bug even had one or two today. Given how picky he is, I'm taking that as a compliment.

Our car is supposed to come tomorrow, so that's exciting. As much as I enjoy riding the bus to Target, with a toddler and stroller, then schlepping two (heavy) bags of supplies home, I think I'll be happy to drive there from now on!

My desk arrived today:



Seriously UPS, did you have to beat it up?

Also, I think I did something to my camera, because all my photos are coming out slightly blurry since we visited the butterfly house...I wonder if the humidity did something to it. Does anyone know if you can have it serviced? Or do I have to buy a new camera?

Tinky Pans

This morning started out kind of crazy. I had to take Bug to the emergency room, which, let me tell you, was slightly unnerving. Last week, our doctor told us Bug had hand, foot, and mouth disease, which is just a virus that you have to let work it's course. But he had a cold on top of that, which made him super cranky, and he hasn't been eating much (no big surprise there, but it's worse than usual.) Last night I noticed his rash was getting worse, and this morning it was super-bad (is that a word? It is now.) Plus, he had been sick in his bed--have you ever seen green vomit? I have now. Our car isn't here yet, so after a very early call (sorry Aunt Molly!) we were able to get a ride to the hospital. After an hour or so the doctor had confirmed that he had the hand, foot, and mouth disease, but also an ear infection. So now he has antibiotics. Really, it was nothing serious, but still a bit...exciting for my taste.

Now we're home, and Bug is napping, so I'm catching up on all my things--baking, cleaning, and blogging. Fun!



Ahhh...domesticity. Sometimes I think I was born of the wrong generation: I really enjoy keeping house, baking, sewing, gardening, cleaning, and raising my child. Our stuff still isn't here (the moving company estimates next week,) but we're making do. I even baked cookies today! (Never mind that they came out of a tube, and the baking sheet gets thrown out.)



The dog and cat are really enjoying following me all over our big empty house. Pecan, our cat, likes to sit on the stairs and bat at us when we walk by, trying to get our attention. And Nibbler, the dog, is following me everywhere. Right now she's sleeping on the stair just below me, snoring away.

Tinky Pans! Whenever I change Bug's diaper, I tend to call him stinky pants, so now he runs around yelling "Tinky Pans" when I want to change his diaper. Pretty awesome!

Safe and Sound

We're here! We made it Sunday afternoon. Welcoming us to our new neighborhood was this snail, which Bug thought it was fantastic!



We broke out the "colors" and made pictures for the fridge--a necessity in my book!



One of Bug's birthday presents came a bit early, so I gave it to him. He's been carrying it with him everywhere, so maybe he's finally found a lovey? (It's only landed in the dirt once so far, but I think I'll need to get a second one so I can wash it, though, since he protests, loudly, when he can't find it...)



Knitting at the Starbucks--about four blocks from our house. I find that just great!!!



And a photo of Mommy and Bug. Now if only our stuff would arrive, our move would be complete!

Boxes of Chaos

We're coming down to the wire. The truck will be here tomorrow to take most of our possessions, save the few bags of essentials we're carrying on the plane. The car was taken yesterday. My last day of work, and Jes' last day in the Boston office, was Wednesday. We're down to our last two boxes, and darn it--we'll get everything in them.

Bug is starting to act out, knowing that something is going on. He's kind of driving me insane, though I know it's just because he's confused. Sometimes I wish I could act out.

A lot of people have asked me how I feel about the move. I'm not sure yet--I think so far I've been too busy to analyze most of my thoughts and feelings. Maybe I'll figure it out after we've settled in over there.

I've been keeping up with all my blogs that I like to read, and it makes me want to make things. I miss my sewing machine. I want to put it in my carryon bag, but somehow I think Jes might be opposed. So I'll have to wait. Meanwhile, I've been sketching some new ideas--mostly quilts--that I want to start on. I kept out my notecards, but haven't been in the mood to make any.

Sick, and sick of packing

So I came down with a nasty bug Friday night, and it was so bad yesterday I stayed home sick from work--one of my last three days. I felt terrible, but I was so sick I wouldn't have been able to keep up with two toddlers. Today it's moved into my sinuses, and is nearly out of my chest, so I can (sort of) breathe. So I'm going to work, but we're stopping at Walgreens on the way to load up on meds.

Our yard sale was a success. I think we cleared out nearly half--no joke--of our possessions. Unfortunately, we still have a lot of things, so there's still a lot of packing involved, but we're able to somewhat take our time. I'm working late tonight, and then tomorrow's my (new) last day, so we'll be packing machines Wednesday night and all day Thursday. And then hopefully the movers come Friday, so we can clean Saturday. They might come Saturday, which means I'll be cleaning Saturday night, and then getting up at the crack of dawn to fly out. Which wouldn't be pleasant, but it's doable.

My poor sewing machine is in the bottom of a box right now, inside a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle blanket. Turtles in a half shell are protecting my baby. LOL.

Boxes Everywhere

It's starting to feel like we're moving...we have boxes everywhere, and plans are starting to firm up. The plane tickets are booked, the lease is being drafted, the house sale is still moving forward, the deposit is paid on the moving truck...wow. We're really moving! It's a bit surreal.

We moved here almost exactly two and a half years ago, and I was so excited and depressed at the same time. I had never lived out of my home state, and I missed my friends and family terribly. We had our son here, brought him home to our house here, and he's spent his whole life not knowing anything but his Massachusetts friends. We've made lasting friendships, and I've grown attached to some pretty neat little kids. But at the same time, it's been a huge struggle monetarily. We haven't been able to enjoy the area, because we have no extra money due mostly to our giantomongous mortgage, but also the hugely inflated cost of living. We've only seen our family a grand total of three times--which means Bug has had to re-meet his grandparents and aunts and uncles every time.

So, moving back home will be both bittersweet and elating. We're so sad to say goodbye to our friends in Boston, but at the same time we're so excited at the prospect of living without struggling with money.

We're Not Homeless!

We were approved for our rental in Tacoma--the house we really wanted!

And I packed up my fabric last night. I can feel the shakes starting already. All my pretties, stuck in a box for the next few weeks. So sad.

Tonight I'll put away my sewing machine (the horror!) and all my other crafting supplies. Then my detox will officially start. I'm leaving out some knitting, so it won't be all bad, but still.