Creative Color Challenge

Yay! I got the e-mail from Louise Gale about my partner for The Creative Color Challenge! I loved doing The Creative Color Challenge Ornament Swap this past December. You can check out all of the swaps at Louise's Flickr account.

This color challenge is going to be Blooming Complementary.

"Create something in just 2 complementary colors with the theme of "Bloom".  You can use any medium: acrylic, colored pencils, fabric, sculpture, paper etc. BUT whatever you create must have flowers, leaves and blooms in it as the primary subject."

Louise gave us these pictures for inspiration.

I have some ideas brewing! They need to be in by Monday February 21st. I will keep you updated!

 

New Year's Resolutions I am sticking to!

Here we are in 2011! Doesn't feel that different yet! Maybe when the kids start going to school and I have to write the year more often it will!

I usually don't have New Year's resolutions because I think you can do resolutions any time of the year, but it's kinda nice to think of the new year as a new start, new you, new beginnings. Now I am not going to over exaggerate my resolutions this year and feel overwhelmed and then not be able to stick to them. These are going to be ones that I can actually fulfill and not feel crappy and down on myself if I don't succeed. Here are a few that I am going to do:

1. Return everything that I have borrowed from someone this past year (or previous years) and never returned. I will also be more conscious about borrowing something and getting it back in a timely matter. I will admit I am bad about borrowing something and not returning it for a long time. And I feel terrible about it! I see the item and just think "Dangit! I was supposed to return that like 6 months ago!" So, if you receive something in the mail or at your doorstep from me, be thankful that I am following thru with this resolution!
2. Send More Snail Mail. I have actually started doing this before the New Year. It was so much fun I have decided to make it a resolution.  My next resolution goes along with it.
3. Send Thank You Notes. I was going to say, send MORE thank you notes, but we all know we don't send them in the first place unless it was for your wedding or receiving a gift of some kind! This got in my mind after hearing an interview on NPR. Where a lawyer, John Kralik, decided to send a thank you note for everyday of the year and preceded to write a book about it. In the interview they asked "Why not just send an email?' and he said "Things we write in cyberspace are so easily deleted and forgotten ... buried by the next 30 e-mails we receive...In this day and age, a handwritten note is something that people really feel is special." I think it is so special to even just say thank you. But a hand written note expressing a thank you not only for a gift, but maybe why someone is in your life or a nice gesture they did that made you happy, just brightens a day.
4. Read More Books. This past year I have gotten into getting on my computer, watching movies, or television so much more, that my books have just began to collect dust. I vow to read some of those books this year. (I will not say a number of books because I feel like I will not follow thru with it. One is good enough for me!)
5. Make An Item Of Clothing. I don't mean something small. I mean a shirt, dress, or skirt from a pattern. My friends got me a sewing bust and I am excited to use it, but also nervous. Just dive in and do it, is what I have to tell myself! Live and learn.

Those are my not-so-high-expectations-resolutions-for-the-new-year. I feel pretty good about them! Just going to keep thinking positive about them and they will get done.

If you made any resolutions for yourself, please post a comment on my bag giveaway and for a chance to win!

Photo Challenge 3

A picture of the cast from your favorite show.

Image courtesy of: poptower.com

Mad Men

If you watch this show, you are as addicted as me. If you haven't watched the show, I say catch up on the seasons and that way you know what is happening. Can't wait for season 5

Warm Thoughts On a Cold Day II

I love snail mail! When I signed up for the Creative Color Challenge in November, I knew I would be getting some cute ornaments in the mail-but I didn't know they were going to be this cute! Here are the last two I received in the mail this past week.

*Sorry if it is blurry, still waiting for my camera to get fixed!

This ornament and cute stamped card were sent to me by Dyan Whyte at Dyanwhyte.com. She is a beautiful and artist and has a great website. Check it out.

 This ornament was sent in this charming, little tin.

When opened, it revealed an upcycled bottle cap ornament.

View of the back of the ornament.

I hope that I will be able to catch another one of the Creative Color Challenges. It was really fun!

I love me some thrift shopping! I came across thethriftshopper.com, You type in your address and it guides you to thrift stores in your area! I feel some road trip planning coming on!!! *Focus, Steph, Focus!* Well, once in awhile when I go, I find a certain item of clothing that I think is just too cute to pass up. Even if I know I will not wear it more than once, I still keep it in my closet for another date or just to admire again. I wore one of these finds to a wedding this past weekend, and I got a lot of compliments on it. More than I expected! A good friend of mine was saying "Hey, you have a lot of these types of dresses in your closet. You should really think about selling them or having a vintage store." She got the light bulb in my head to go off with that comment!

I have always wanted to have my own thrift store. I feel like I have an eye for certain clothes and maybe there are people out there who would buy those clothes from my store and I would be doing something I love. In my mind, I was thinking more of an actual "store". But after browsing the vintage part of etsy.com, I think I might just be able to do this! If you don't already know what Etsy.com is, it is a place to buy and sell handmade items, vintage, and supplies. I am recruiting two of my vintage divas and we are going to work on starting our first vintage online store! I am pretty excited!

But before I just dove in head first, I needed to do some research. Etsy had tons of information on starting an online store. And Great information on starting a vintage store! First things first, I learned that you need to do some background checks on your vintage items. I was never really a label checker before reading this, but every resource I looked into said this is the best place to start. I am still working on a few items, but it was so interesting seeing when these items were made! A few of my dresses are 30 years old! For an item to be considered vintage on Etsy, it must be at least 20 years old. Which means I have a good start on an etsy store!

The internet has very few resources for looking up labels, but one I found was TESS (Trademark Electronic Search System). They do disclose that they are not 100% exact on a lot of the items, but it really gave me a good place to start.

I also found a lot of information on different types of labels from Ebay member ikwewe. I actually found an International Ladie's Garment Worker's Union tag. A label I have never seen before. After doing some research, I found out that this Union was made up mostly of woman and started in 1900. It went thru many ups and downs from a major strike that almost shut it down, support from woman such as Alva Vanderbilt Belmont-a prominent multi-millionaire American socialite and a major figure in the women's suffrage movement, a fire that killed most of it's union workers, years of internal struggles, The Great Depression, and in 1995 it was sold to form UNITE. The tag on my dress looks like this:

1974-1995

Thanks to funkoma for this image from an 80s glittery prom dress.
In 1974, ILGWU decided to change the colors of its label to red, white and blue. This is recorded in the records of the 35th annual convention, archived at the Kheel Center at Cornell. The Report of the General Executive Board to the 35th convention in Miami Beach, Florida, May 31, 1974 mentions the change in colors to "an all-American red-white-blue and the addition of the line 'Made in USA'" on page 79. (emphasis added) They explain it in part as a result of the need to support the fight against the competition from low-wage imports, particularly to strengthen the nation-wide anti-imports campaign. All label material prepared in conjunction with the campaign used the slogan: "Buy American: The Job You Save May Be Your Own."

Thanks to never*ending*search and Patrizia Sione, Reference archivist, Kheel Center for Labor Management Documentation & Archives for this key information

All of that information on one label on one dress sparked a fire! It was so interesting. I definitely have to do more research as to how they should be priced and more exact origins. I hope to go to the library and look for some books to help me on my journey. I will keep you updated as to when our store will open! Hopefully it will be soon!

For my party this weekend we are going to our local skating rink to bring back some fun memories of days of old! But we are bad-assing it up and wearing Roller Derby Outfits! *I LOVE dress up parties!* The above outfit is a sneak peak as to what me and my girls will be wearing Saturday! Well, you can't be a roller derby girl without a roller derby name! Find yours at Rollergirl Name Generator. Mine is

Olive N. Kickin'!

I came upon the website galadarling.com. This the creator of the website above. Isn't she well...darling? Her website has such a variety of content in it that I could look for days and still not be full! Some of things that caught my eye are:

The Ultimate Gift Guide: 50 Picture Perfect Presents For The Playgirl In Your Life

100 Ways You Can Start Loving Yourself Right now!

100 Things To Do When You Are Upset

She dresses excitingly, speaks her mind, and isn't afraid to be herself. Who doesn't love that?!

P.S. As I am writing to you, my husband and I are watching a movie that some of you might not know about.

Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins.

Now, I know this isn't an ultimate classic, but there aren't many movies I can watch over and over again. This is one that I don't get sick of watching over and over. It is so hilarious! I grew up watching Martin, and Martin Lawrence is the main character in this movie. Monique, Mike Epps, and James Earl Jones are also in the movie. If you have a chill night and see it on I suggest maybe check it out.

This Blog is Making Me....

This blog is making me accomplish things that I have gotten off track from doing! I used to be such an avid reader and since starting this blog, I feel like I have to finish what I started. I can't leave you guys hanging :).

I finished "The Why Cafe" book. I haven't actually finished a book in awhile! And this book couldn't have come to me at a better time. It was an easy read, but really made me think about who I am.

I have been a stay at home mom for over a year now. At first it was frustrating. I felt cooped up and a bit on edge. I have now become accustomed to it. I feel I have embraced my stay at home mom-ness.
Yet, it brought me to think about my future. What will I do, or where will I be when my kids are both in school?
I am a natural busy body, as you can tell from the projects I do. But those projects are more for my well being. They are things I enjoy doing, but don't feel like they are my true future. Yes, I may be doing crafts and sewing when I am older and my kids are in school, but I feel something different for myself as to what I want to do professionally. As I have mentioned before I am a hairdresser part-part time. I say part-part time because I do my job a few times a month. I really do like it and have been doing it almost 8 years. It is a trade I will have forever in my mind, but I feel something else in my future. This is where 'The Why Cafe' comes into play. This book focused on these three questions:

Why are you here?

Do you fear death?

Are you fulfilled?

There were many parts of this book that resonated with me, but I am going to talk just about one part for this post. The question "Do you fear death?" This was a small chapter in this book, but obviously this is a question close to me. Here is an excerpt from the chapter:

"Do you fear death?...Most people do."

"I don't know," I replied. "It seems like there's a lot to do in life, and I don't want to die before I have a chance to do all the things I want."

"Most people don't have the concept of death at the forefront of their thinking every day. But subconsciously they know that with the passage of each day, they are one day closer to not having a chance to do the things they want in life. So they fear that day that exists in the future when they will no longer have the chance. They fear the day they will die."

"But it doesn't have to be like that, does it? I mean if someone asked themselves why they are here, chose the things they want to do that would fill their Purpose For Existing, and then actually did them, then why would they dear death?

You can't fear not having the chance to do something if you have already done it, or are doing it everyday."

When I was younger I used to cry thinking about the day that I would die. Not just what would happen, but all of the things I would miss out doing in my life. Now, when I was younger, I thought being 30 was really old! But now that I will be turning 30, this excerpt really got to me.

Why fear death if you are doing everything that you want to do and being the person you want to be? Why wait around for retirement or when I have enough money to do things? Why not focus on the steps I have to make now to reach my Purpose For Existence?

The Purpose For Existence, or PFE is talked about a lot in the book. Here is a small definition of PFE in the book:

"When a person knows the reason they are here, they have identified their 'Purpose For Existence'. During someones lifetime, they may find they want to do ten, twenty, or hundreds of things to fulfill their PFE. They can do all of them. Our most fulfilled customers are the ones who know their PFE, and try all the activities they believe will fulfill them."

Now the book goes into much more depth about this topic, but what I got from it are the things I need to do in my life to fulfill my PFE. Which means doing the things I want to do to be happy. It doesn't mean buying a lot of stuff or spending a lot of money to feel fulfilled. Because in the end, those are just things and bought things are not happiness. It doesn't mean going to great lengths and stressing myself out trying to figure this out either. It means doing the things that seem interesting to me. The things that make me happy and my journey is figuring these things out. I would love to go back to school when both of my kids are in school full time and I see that as something that will make me happy and lead me in the right direction to my PFE. Also, I feel this blog is helping me be happy and that is all I am asking for at this moment. I didn't get my life's fulfillment from this book, but it did lead me to the right path and the right mindset to begin to be the future self I see in me. I do not have to fear death if I am choosing to do what I want to do to make me and my life a fulfilled one.

Are you doing what makes you happy? If not, what can you do today to start making yourself happy?

Something that does make me happy is sewing! Now, I have mentioned I am not at the highest level of sewing, but I do enjoy it and feel I do a decent job. This sewing project I got from Skiptomylou.org.

It is a 20 minute sewing project, Now the first one I made took me a little longer than 20 minutes, but the second one I made took me about that.

I have soooo much fabric that I think I will be doing some sewing in the next few weeks!

For this project you will need:

• Two 16 inch tall by 14 inch wide fabric panels
• 22 1/2 inch long fabric pieces
• Thread
• Scissors
• Pins
• Iron
• Sewing machine

First thing I did was cut two 16 in. tall by 14 in. wide panels from fabric. Make sure that if you are using a patterned fabric, that they are going the right direction on both panels. I also cut two 22 1/2-inch long pieces of fabric for the handles. *I don't have pictures of this* I folded the handle fabric in half and ironed. Then I unfolded what I just ironed and folded each side into the center line that I ironed and brought each folded side together to form a long piece of fabric with no raw edges, ironed again, and sewed down one side.

Pin the handles to the top raw edge of the right side of each panel 3 inches from the sides. The raw edges of the handles should match up with the raw edges of the top of the panel. The handles will be facing down as shown. Make sure the handles aren't twisted.

 Sew a zig zag stitch across the top edge, sewing the handle to the top edge. The zig zag stitch should be right at the edge of the fabric.

 Turn the panels so their wrong sides are facing up. Press and pin their top edges with the handles down 1 1/2 inches. Make sure to pin the handles perpendicular to the horizontal sides.

Sew this fold down a 1/4 inch from the top edge and then with a second seam, a 1/4 inch from the bottom zig zag stitch. The handle will now be attached and the top hem sewn down on both panels. Now you are ready to sew the bag together!

 Pin the right sides together and sew along the sides and bottom 1/2 inch from the raw edges. Back stitch at the beginning and end of each seam. Snip off bottom corners. Zig zag stitch along the raw edges of the sides and bottom of the bag. Make sure to stitch right along the edge to contain the threads from the raw edges.

. Now it is ready to be used as an alternative to a paper gift bag at Christmas, so it is like giving two gifts! Or as a lunch bag, grocery bag, purse, or play item for your kids!

If you make this project let me know!

One thing that I am excited about doing for the first time is:

Pictures of my finished ornaments will be up on a later post.

To end, here is a quote that I really like:

“Why should I fear death
If I am, Death is not
If Death is, I am not
Why should I fear that which could not exist when I do?”

Epicurus