Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Idiocracy

Have you ever seen that movie Idiocracy, where Luke Wilson plays Private Joe Bauers, the definition of "average American", who is selected by the Pentagon to be the guinea pig for a top-secret hibernation program. Forgotten, he awakes 500 years in the future and discovers a society so incredibly dumbed-down that he's easily the most intelligent person alive?

I swear sometimes I feel like I am living that in real-life. Take for example my little "quick" trip to Michaels last night for some last minute supplies for a project I am working on.

I told hubbyt I'd be quick. It's about 3 miles from the house, I planned run in grab some embroidery floos and a few sheets of scrapbook paper, maybe look at Halloween stuff on sale and be back in time to put the cooling leftovers from dinner in the fridge. Ha! Who was I kidding. By the time I made it back home, hubby had not only put the food away but cleaned the whole kitchen!

So here's what happened:

I ran into Michaels as planned. I grabbed some scrapbook paper for a flip book I am making for Jamie with his swim pictures. The got distracted by the Fall and Halloween decor (like I knew I would). There was a cute project sheet for decorating a charger for Fall so I grabbed a sheet and then remembered I wanted to grab a charger for some cinnamon pillar candles I'd been toting around for 3 years. I then wandered over to the table docor shelf and picked up a beautiful wrought iron pumpkin candle holder that was on sale for 50% off! On the next shelf was the Halloween stuff and I wanted to see what was on sale because it's hubby's favorite holiday and I wanted to decorate with stuff he'd like too. I saw these adorable black iron spider table top candleholders that were on sale for 30% off. Ah, I love sales ... Anyway, I did quick math in my head, realised I have enough cash to get it with the stuff I needed as well. So I quickly ran over to the needlepoint section, grabbed the floss that I needed and headed to the register.

Maybe it was just all falling into place too well and something had to go wrong, but when I got to my turn in line and the cashier started to ring things up, I noticed that the spider candleholder was at full price. "I'm sorry," I said, "but the spider was on sale."

No, it's ringing up full price," she said.

"I'm sure there was a sign next to it saying it was 30% or 50% off," I said, which was met with a look of boredom from the cashier. The shae radioed the manager, "There's a customer who says a candleholder is on sale but its ringing up as regualr price," she said with the most boredom I've heard in a long time. She waited a minute then said, "He said if it was on sale it'd ring up that price."

"Do you mind go look while you finish scanning," I asked, trying again.

"I guess," she said.

I ran over and sure enough there was the sign, "30% Off Celebrate It! Halloween Decor Tabletop". Not wanting to take the sign off the rack, I took 2 quick pictures with my phone making sure the sign and spiders were visable and went back to the register.



"Oh, you took a picture," said when I handed her the phone. She returned a few minutes later She stood there almost a full minute looking at the picture then radioed the manager. I'm not sure what he said, but she said, "This says 'Celebrate it! Tabletop Candleholder Collection," looking at the tag on the spider.

"Well, there were decorated candles next to it, not everything was a candleholder," I said.

"Let me go see," she said and left to go look.

I stood there feeling so bad that the lady with the infant behind me was waiting, but she assured me she'd do the same. The cashier returned and pulled out a sales paper and S-L-O-W-L-Y flipped through it. She radioed the manager again, then looked through the paper again.

"I ... guess ... I ... can ... just ... give ... you ... 30% ... off ..." she said dragging each word out as if it took every ounce of energy she had.

She finished ringing me up and I apologized to the lady with the baby again, who smiled and said no problem, before leaving.

I mean, was it really that difficult?!? You would think I was trying to get 50% off a car at a dealership, not 30% off a $4.99 candleholder! Does everything here in Miami have to be SO DARN DIFFICULT!?!

Well, I got my spider and here is a picture of it with my candles I got on sale at Yankee Candle ... Now, Yankee Candle- they have GREAT customer service!!



Until our next cup of tea ...

Friday, September 9, 2011

Freebie Friday: Spring Revisited

As I get ready to face the challenge of seasonal decorating with the assistance of a toddler, I thought I'd pay homage to spring (and maybe summer for some) with this fun freebie. .

A few years ago I had found this Spring Flower pattern by Lizzie Kate. In anticipation of Easter, I had the time to alter it a little with some of my favorite Spring colors and created this table runner.




(corners)



(center)


I started it at the beginnig of April with the goal of getting it complete for Easter ... I finished it the Saturday before- talk about close!

After Easter, I decided I liked it so much I wanted to make a dish towel with the same pattern, though I altered it a bit.



Here is the sample photo posted with the pattern link at Lizzie Kate.



designed by:LizzieKate
Pattern found at: LizzieKate's Cross Stitch Freebies

Stitched:
April 2011

Material:
(towel) Charles Craft cotton ShowCase Towels with a
rectangular 14-count Aida panel
(table runner) Charles Craft 14-count Aida Table Runner

Floss:
DMC, suggestioned colors


Until our next cup of tea ...

Friday, September 2, 2011

Freebie Friday: Flip Flops Rock!

Sorry I didn't get to post last Friday. My husband and I went to Disney WOrld to celebrate his 30th birthday and our lil Monkey stayed home with his Nana who came to visit. It was a great chance for us to finally have some "couples time". This week's project is one that I had so much fun doing. I absolutely loved this pattern when I first saw it!! Its actually a single pattern that I broke into to two pieces for a towel and a bookmarker. I repeated some of the colors that I liked and made it my own!
Original pattern ...
Here is my version ...

designed by:Janlynn
Pattern found at: Janlynn's Free Cross Stitch Patterns Page

Stitched:
May 2011
Material:
(towel) Charles Craft cotton ShowCase Towels with a
rectangular 14-count Aida panel
(bookmarker) Charles Craft lace bookmarker with 14-count Aida

Until our next cup of tea ...

Friday, August 19, 2011

Freebie Friday: Bird House

Here is another one from Penelopis. I absolutely love her work! I loved this birdhouse and thought it'd be great on a kitchen towel. When I was done, I decided to make a matching potholder - my first! It was not easy, but I like the way it turned out. I think I want to do an other towel with 3 birdhouses at different levels now, but it'll be later if I do.



designed by:Penelopis
Pattern found at: Penelopis' Cross Stitch Freebies

Stitched:
July 2011

Material:
(towel) Charles Craft cotton ShowCase Towels with a
rectangular 14-count Aida panel
(potholder) Charles Craft quilted 8” x 8” terry
potholder with 14-count Aida pocket

Floss:
DMC 535 (grey); DMC 648 (light grey); DMC 3716 (pink)


Until our next cup of tea ...

Thursday, August 11, 2011

Freebie Friday: Luck of the Irish

Happy Freebie Friday! This was a fun one for me and it took me a while to realize I hadn't posted this one yet. I don't remember when I first found this designer but she has such adorable patterns. When I decided to stitch a towel for each holiday this year, St. Patrick' Day was a no-brainer, this was the first choice. It did take me a little bit to decide if I wanted to alter it, and in the end I decided to add the second clover because I absolutely love these Charles Craft waffle weave towels. So this is it ...



designed by: Cosmic Handmade
Pattern found at her blog: Cosmic Handmade-Free Charts 2008

Stitched:
March 2011

Material:
Charles Craft diamond terry weave towel with
a 16-count Aida border

Floss:
Pattern Reccommendations


Until our next cup of tea ...

Friday, August 5, 2011

Freebie Friday: Breast Cancer Awareness Ribbon

I always say that there is no such thing as "too much pink", but I think there is one intance I'd love to see pink disappear and that is when we find a cure ... no prevention ... for breast cancer.

This week's Freebie Friday is a beautiful Breast Cancer Awareness Ribbon provided by Artecy Cross Stitch.

This is a personal one for me because it is not just the pink that draws me to this ribbon, but the of the fight and determination that I saw in my grandmother and family when she waged war against it when I was in college. I watched as she quietly battled this war while our family rallied to offer love and support and in the end, she won - no, we won. I can't imagine what it would be like not to have her with us, to share with her the stories of our little boy and the promises we make to him to let him see "Ma & Pa's horses" next time we are home in Texas.

The great thing about this free ribbon is that designer Tereena Clarke has allowed stitchers to use her pattern to create pieces for donations for Breast Cancer Research. So stop by and peruse the great patterns at Artecy Cross Stitch.




designed by: Tereena Clarke, owner and designer, Artecy Cross Stitch
Pattern found at: Artecy's Cross Stitch Free Patterns


Stitched:
July 2011

Material:
Charles Craft cotton ShowCase Towels with a
rectangular 14-count Aida panel

Floss:
Pattern Reccomendations


P.S.: Check back soon, I have (with the permission of the designer) altered this pattern for something special!

Until our next cup of tea ...

Friday, July 29, 2011

Freebie Friday: Whimsical Cup

This whimsical cup was a free pattern I found on Michael's craft site in the projects. I stitched this tea towel as one of the first "house" projects after George and I were married.



(closer view)



designed by: Alice Okin for DMC
Pattern found at: Michael's Projects: Cross Stitch


Stitched:Sometime between 2005-2007

Material:
Charles Craft cotton ShowCase Towels with a
rectangular 14-count Aida panel

Floss:
Pattern Reccomendations


Until our next cup of tea ...

Friday, July 22, 2011

Freebie Friday: Fun with Fluer de Lis!

So this was a towel I stitched April and didn't get a chance to post. I really love Fluer de Lis- which is kind of a rule growing up in Louisiana, along with eat crawfish and go to LSU ... I'm not much of a Saints fan though ...

Anyway, my kitchen is grey, white and pink and I found this freebie when I stumbled across a blog called Penelopis' Cross Stitch Freebies! She has so many beautiful freebies - mostly monocromatic - that have that French feel (to me at least). There are crowns, vintage ladies, and birdcages, high heel shoes, etc. Very French chic!

Well this was one of two Fluer de Lis that I found and just had to start stitching right away. I like the pop of pink - which was a bit of a last minute decision. What do you think?



designed by:Penelopis
Pattern found at: Penelopis' Cross Stitch Freebies


Stitched:April 2011

Material:
Charles Craft Banded Huck Towels with 14-count
woven-in Aida band

Floss:DMC 535 (grey); DMC 3716 (pink)


Until our next cup of tea ...

Friday, July 15, 2011

Quilting for Sanity!

Now I know that it has been 2 months since I last posted and I must say I feel bad, but I have been keeping busy. I have gotten a variety of projects completed, my craft stash is in the process of being organized and I am currently looking for a part-time job while chasing a very active toddler!

Recently, my husband was deployed and I decided it was time to get some projects organized and on the road to completion. Here is one of my favorites:

I fell in love with this burgandy paisley fabric and a complementing striped one in JoAnn's a few years ago. Originally it was to be for the dining room but when we inherited my husband's family furniture the dining room was complete! So just before he left on this last deployment I decided to make a simple 9-inch square quilt ... and maybe pillow case with any extra fabric. After doing the math, I realized I could make a nearly 5-foot square quilt ... with blocks on both sides ... if I was efficient and ...well, I'm a military wife, I sleep efficiently!

So I went to JoAnn's to find some additiona fabric (conviently located across the street from my gym- talk about incentive). There I found 2 complementing fabrics, a brown and a green, that didn't compete with the busy paisley and striped ones.

I came home and cut down the fabric one night after the baby went to bed. The deployment (thankfully) was only a few weeks this time and there was a lot of unplanned things, like the baby getting sick, family coming to visit, mutant mosquitoes attacking the baby causing his face to swell ... well you get the idea. So I didn't get to start sewing on it until the week hubby returned. Luckily, the large blocks and easy "patterns" allowed me to finish it over 3 days- a total of 9 hours. Each side has the same blocks, but in a different pattern.

"Front"



"Back"



When I completed the front and back measured 54-inches ... and you know me, I need even numbers, so I decided to add 6-inches of border. True to my luck they only had the brown fabric left, the green was gone, so I decided to get a tan that I had originally looked at but felt that a brown and tan might make the quilt a little too "dark". My luck didn't return when I get to the register and realized I was one coupon short of the items I had. Not too bad since the price was good already, but I realized when I was working out before going to the store that so far all of the fabric had either been on sale, on clearance or purchased with a coupon. Darn! So close to a "half-price" quilt!

Well, I still have to add the border and find someone to quilt it for a price that won't leave me short on diapers or milk, but I'm kind of excited! I'll post photos when I get it completed ... hopefully soon.

(BTW, I'm well aware of the irony of making a quilt in the middle of summer ... in South Florida!)

Well, off to work on another quilt!

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Hello Spring!

Wow! It's been a while since I posted, but I've been keeping busy ... not only with the baby and life as a military wife in general, but I've managed to get some projects done as well.

A few years ago I had found this Spring Flower pattern by Lizzie Kate. In anticipation of Easter, I had the time to alter it a little with some of my favorite Spring colors and created this table runner.




(corners)



(center)


I started it at the beginnig of April with the goal of getting it complete for Easter ... I finished it the Saturday before- talk about close!

After Easter, I decided I liked it so much I wanted to make a dish towel with the same pattern, though I altered it a bit.



Here is the sample photo posted with the pattern link at Lizzie Kate.



Well, now that the baby is asleep, I'm headed off to work on a quilt for the guest bedroom ...

Until our next cup of tea ...