You Go Girl!

Procrastination: Sometimes It Pays Off

Anyone who says procrastination doesn't pay off has not given it a fair shake. I'm not sure what it means when I'm singing the praises of procrastination in my first post of 2010, but, hey, it works for me.  I do my best work under pressure and sometimes I get the added benefit of killing two birds with one stone. Not that I would ever do that...kill birds with stones.  So. Not. Nice.  But anyway, back to the merits of procrastination...

Remember way back in September when I vowed to beautify the world of cold lunch?  Well, ever so slowly, one bag at a time, I've beautified the world of cold lunch AND I was able to give the lunch bags as Christmas gifts to my girls. Two birds, one stone.  Lunch bags and Christmas gifts.  Do you see what I mean about the pay-off's of procrastination?  Had I made the bags in September like I should have, I would've had to come up with a different made-with-love-by-mom Christmas gift.  The way it worked out, I ended up getting lunch bags and Christmas gifts at the same time.  Sometimes it's okay to drag your feet. Don't you think?

 

Here's a look at all the lunch bags ring-around-the-rosie style.  

 

If you are counting, there are six even though I only needed five.  I couldn't resist making just one more bag using this Little Red fabric for the pocket.  

 

I am ga-ga over this fabric. Tasha, from A Little Sweetness, designs this fabric. Isn't it fabitty-fab-fab?  I was finally able to cut into it because I recently won an amazing give-away from A Little Sweetness. A whole yard of this fabric is due in my mailbox any day.  WooHoo!  I am a lucky ducky. Thanks, Tasha!

Well, I'm off to put Christmas away.  I'm not going to drag my feet on this job because Mr. Handsome is in on this project.  He is soooooo not into procrastination.  Besides that, it probably wouldn't be hip to have to redecorate my Christmas tree with Easter eggs. I've found that procrastinating only works in certain spheres. You have to be smart about it, girlfriends. LOL!

That's all for now.

Blessings to you in 2010~

Cassie

 

G-I-D-D-Y!

 

Christmas to do list:

1. Write Christmas letter
   
2. Copy, Address, and Mail Christmas letter
   
3. Wrap and deliver teacher gifts
4. Finish shopping
   
5. Sew. Sew. Sew.

The Christmas letter is written, addressed and mailed. Teachers are taken care of. The final gift of Christmas was just purchased a few hours ago. Woo Hoo! I'm feeling giddy. G-I-D-D-Y! I still have a few gifts to whip up in my sewing studio, but that doesn't count.  Sewing is fun. Shopping? Not so much. 

I am hoping that all of you are checking off your to-do lists and making time to enjoy the season with friends and family.

Well, I'm off to wrap and wrap and wrap.

Merry! Merry!

Cassie

 

Nicey Jane--I love that girl!

Someone's in the kitchen with Dinah. Someone's in the kitchen I know-o-o. Someone's in the kitchen with Dinah...But she's NOT strumming on the old banjo.  "Who is it?" you ask. It's Nicey Jane (I love that girl!) and she's ready to stir up something nummie.  She's got herself some spanky potholders, a sassy dish towel, and a new file to store her stash of top secret Christmas recipes. See...

Is this a Christmas gift for someone I know and love?  Perhaps. I'm not saying.

Merry!  Merry!

Cassie

Fabbity-Fab-Fab Felt Flowers

Fabitty-fab-fab fast felt flower fun!  Say that ten times fast.  Your tongue will be tied in knots.

 

The triplets were looking for the perfect accessory to adorn their apparel for a piano recital they played in on Friday.  Instead of making a trip to Claire's House of Crap (that's what Mr. Handsome calls it anyway), I decided to do a whip-up. Enter the felt flower pin.  These little flowers packs tons of crafty fun and eye candy in a quick and easy project.  Wanna see them up close?  Please hold your applause until the end. LOL!

Introducing....

 Ms. Rosie Posie,

 

Lady in Red,

 

 and, last but not least, Madame Azul.

 

I'm not even kidding.  It only took about 45 minutes to make ALL three of these.  That's a serious power-craft in my mind.  Tutorial anyone?

Happy Day,

Cassie

PS--The winner of the Sew Mama Sew Giveaway was Kathleen.  She left comment number 271.  Thanks for playing. I had 427 comments. WOW!

Sew Mama Sew December Giveaway Day

Get up offa that thing? Yes. You. Why?  Because it's time for a little happy dance.  Today is Sew Mama Sew December Giveaway Day. (Pausing for a little happy dance of my own here.  Go on. Try it. It's fun.) 

 

Up for grabs today from You Go Girl! is some Daisy Chain love.  I have a little stack of fabric and a Shopper tote made from this See and Sew Pattern. The shopper is just like a plastic shopping bag only it's fabric...love it!  Of course I can't make anything without some Full Moon Polkie so they are represented on the bag along with the Daisy Chain fabric. I am too stingy to share the polkies with you so I did not put any in the stack of fabric.  When these polkies are gone, I swear I will have to pack up my studio and focus my energies elsewhere.  Maybe I'll take up box hockey. What exactly is box hockey anyway?

To win this Shopper and the Daisy Chain fabric please write a Christmas acrostic worthy of publication in my 2009 Christmas letter.  I have not been visited by the Christmas letter muse this year. I need some good material. What? That's too much to ask. Ok. Ok. How about this?  To win this Shopper and the Daisy Chain fabric leave a comment telling me whether you would rather take a midnight ride in Santa's sleigh or be a mouse under the manger in Bethlehem.  Or if that doesn't suit your fancy, you can tell me if you are most like a jolly elf or the abominable snowman during the Christmas season. If you're still stumped, you can leave any kind of comment you want.

Since I always play by the rules, I will pick a winner on December 6th (using the random number thingy) and ship the item by December 12th just like Sew Mama Sew says. Also, it would be my pleasure to ship internationally so you can comment from any corner of the world.

Thanks for stopping by You Go Girl!.

Happy Day,

Cassie

PS--This post script is for all my blog friends who commented on my last post.  I haven't been a very good blog friend lately.  I didn't get back to ANY of you. I so appreciated your comments and helpful suggestions on my last post.  As of right now, the fabric from the insulated cup debacle is still laying on the floor of my studio.  But I am beginning to see that it is a bundle of potential beyond an apron for the cat.  LOL! Thanks so much for all your kind words.

Excuse Me While I Have A Snit....

My mom had a birthday yesterday.  So I went to Target and bought one of these.

 

I had big plans for it. Instead of sliding a photo into the mug, I was going to make a mini-quilt, if you will, and slide it in. Brilliant!  In my mind this was going to be so cool. So I perused my fabric. I selected a killer combination. I did a little measuring, a little cutting, a little sewing.  I ended up with this.

I was quite pleased with myself. With eager anticipation, I snipped off the last thread and went to slide my masterpiece into the mug. Not going to happen!! 

Fabric + Interfacing=Too thick. 

Oh. Yes. A snit was in order... I roared my terrible roar and rolled my terrible eyes. I gnashed my terrible teeth and showed my terrible claws.  There was even some snatching of hair. Until finally I said, "Be still." (Any WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE fans out there?  I haven't seen the movie, but I love the book. It was a staple on the bookshelf in my classroom and in my girls' room.) 

"Be a problem solver, not a problem maker," I told myself.  I thought, and I thought, and I thought.  I had to settle for the next best thing. I made a trip to Kinko's to make a colored copy of my masterpiece.

Not exactly what I had in mind, but it would have to do. I carefully cut out the counterfeit and slid it in the mug.  As I said before, not quite my vision but what's a girl to do?  I'm pretty sure my mom will still love it.  Happy Birthday to the best mom on the planet...

Now what am I going to do with my mini-quilt masterpiece? It's the perfect shape for a small apron. Perhaps the the cat would like one? I'll be sure to post a picture if that's what I decide to do. LOL!

Project #1--A Gigantar Pegboard---Done!

Yep. Project #1 is finally done.  I built a spanky new pegboard. ALL. BY. MY. SELF. Power tools ROCK!

Remember my studio space before?  

 

The table is so deep that the back half was unusable.  Plus that big white wall...boring.

 

So...I flipped the table so the short-end was against the wall. Then added some spice including this new gigantar pegboard.  Let's take a closer look.

   

Here's a little shelf to hold my treasures.

 

Next, a file basket to hold, well, files and stuff.

 

 Add some paper-covered cans to store pen-like tools.

 

And some fabric buttons to hide the screws.  Really. There is no excuse for ugly. LOL!

 

Let's not forget the new fabric bar (a.k.a. a towel bar spray painted with oil-rubbed bronze paint) I mounted on the wall,

 

or the magnetic message board I hung above it.

Joy of all joys!  My space feels complete. 

Project #2, also a rockin' redo, is so close to done.  Now that my craft space is put back together I can finish Project #2.  Can't wait to show you.

Happy day,

Cassie

I Wish...

I wish I could show you some amazingly clever fabbity-fab-fab costumes that I lovingly stitched for the girls for Halloween.  But I can't.  This year the extent of my involvement in costumes was to get the dress-up box out of storage. Oh. Wait. I did craft Paige's crown out of some construction paper right before she left to haunt the neighborhood.  But for the most part, the girls creatively crafted their own costumes out of bits and pieces salvaged from dance performances and  Halloweens gone by. I think they look smashing.

 

I wish I could show you the glowing and grinning jack-o-lanterns we carved and set on our step to welcome trick-or-treaters big and small.  But I can't.  I waited until the last minute to buy pumpkins and there wasn't a pumpkin to be found in the town.  How was I to know that the sub zero temperatures we got at the beginning of the month turned bunches and bunches of pumpkins to mush?  A pumpkin shortage? Who'd of thought it?  We had to settle for Halloween luminaries this year.  They looked o.k. There's something a little bit disturbing about little candle tea lights in the bottom of paper bags, though. It seems like a no-no.

 

I wish I could show you the rockin'-redo projects I've been giving my creative attentions to the last few weeks. But I can't.  Neither one is done.  Here is a little sneak peek, though...

Project #1:

 

Project #2:

I wish I could think of a clever way to end this post. But I can't. So...

Goodbye for now~

Cassie

I Feel Like a Heel

 

No, it's not a huffalump or a woozle. It's a zebra. I was goofing off with the picture tools at Big Huge Labs and this is what I got.  It tickles my fancy for some reason.

 

And speaking of zebras...Remember that knock-knock association I have with orange.  Well, the same darn thing happens to me when I see a zebra.  I have a knock-knock moment.  I'll spare you the joke.  It's a throw-back from about fourth grade and it is  REALLY lame-o. If you must hear it, leave me a comment and I'll share.  But don't say I didn't warn you.

This little zebra friend was a special order.  I had a blonde moment and almost forgot to make it.  I didn't write the order in my book, nor did I file it in my brain. I was cleaning out my inbox the other day and came across the original request that was many weeks old.  I gasped and quickly sent apologies which were graciously accepted.  But I still felt like a total heel.  Get it?  Heel...This zebra is made out of a sock. Heel...That cracks me up.  

And that's all I have to say today.

XOXO~

Cassie

Doodle Stitching + Cosmo = True Love Forever

No. Cosmo is not a handsome manservant who sits by my feet to do my bidding while I doodle stitch. Cosmo is 100% cotton Japanese embroidery floss. Ms. B as in THE BOMB, my blog friend who wishes to remain anonymous, sent me this amazing pile of Cosmo embroidery floss. I've never stitched with anything but DMC. I was giddy to try it out.  Here's the doodle that whipped off my needle.

On this little slice of fall, I used a combination of DMC and my new amazing Cosmo floss. Here's my assessment of the two. The Cosmo floss is as slick as snot smooth as silk gliding through the fabric. The DMC feels like you're pulling a shoe lace through compared to the Cosmo. Ms. B as in THE BOMB, you have spoiled me forever. You really are the bomb.

Now what am I going to do with all this DMC? 

Oh. Yes. Of course. I will use it until it is gone. But when I have to replace a color, it will be Cosmo all the way.  I wonder if the girls would like to make some embroidery floss friendship bracelets? I have guarded this stash from their floss-happy hands for so long that they'll think I've gone positively mad. They'll probably ask if they can use my fabric scissors to cut paper just to see if I still have my wits about me. They will find out that I do, and then I will seem like the best mom in the world. But really I have an ulterior motive. Use. Up. The. Floss. Is that wrong?