Random Reminiscence

I was just reading through some old posts and see that I have mentioned my issue with sleep. I have been trying so hard to overcome it, but tonight, I was just lying there and just got fed up. So, even though I know it's bad to stare at a lit up screen and expect your brain to settle down, I am here...

Certainly sharing some anecdote of some kind will inevitably bore me enough to crawl back to bed.

The weather is unseasonably warm these days, which I have no qualms about. But I haven't actually done anything to go out and enjoy the weather for several weeks. I was just reminiscing about the last time I did go outside and explore.

One of my most favorite things to do is grab my dog, hop in the car, and get lost outside of the city limits. Most times, I think I am heading for some state park that I'm vaguely aware of, and we end up at some little-known hiker's paradise where I just love to let myself bask in the beauty of nature, as cliche as that sounds. Each day goes by and I can get so caught up in work and the goings-on of people around me that I don't leave time to just stop and appreciate the small beauty around us like I used to. So at the risk of sounding cheesy, I admit that I do love to find wooded trails and walk slowly 'cause I want to be aware of the smallest beautiful detail that someone walking briskly by might not notice.


I think I learned this appreciation from Grampa. While he didn't live on farm, he owned farms and one in particular was a gorgeous tree farm that he liked to tromp on every Thursday. It had a cave, creek, ponds, oak and walnut trees, prairie fields, and wildlife if we sat quietly long enough to see them. I always missed the turkeys, but I saw lots of beautiful deer. He liked to stop his truck in the middle of a field, pop open Pepsis for the two of us and just sit in silence to take in the beauty around us. And every single time, he acted like it was the first time he was seeing it all.
"Isn't this just something?" he'd say in awe, everything single time.

And I'd look with him, at the different shades of blue in the sky, the different shapes of clouds. Then the way the blue met the sharp greens of the distant trees and how the various shades of green trees slowly became prairie grass. Then see how the breeze gently made the grass dance and notice how soothing the breeze was on my skin, 'cause we *usually* went on a humid summer day.

One time, we were sitting by a pond, closer to the timber on a fall day. It was that time of year when the oak trees look like cozy little bonfires with their oranges, yellows and reds and the air is so crisp on your nose and cheeks. I was taking in the reflection of the trees in the pond and Grampa showed me how there were slight ripples moving in one direction and then would suddenly change and go in the other direction. He told me it was caused by the movement of the biggest fish swimming in the pond.

We listened to all of the leaves brush against each other in the breeze, a soothing sound like a mother hushing her baby to lull it to sleep. We hoped a deer would glide out from the timber to enjoy a treat from a salt block that was sitting out for it, so we stayed pretty quiet while we took in our surroundings.

It was so relaxing and it's what I look for now when I take my dog for a trip to escape the city limits. And it's what I found the last time I attempted and came upon some trail that I've already forgotten the name of.

But I was looking at these pictures and remembered what a pretty day it was and how I could feel Grampa with me that day. :)

Sew Cool!

::Edit 6/15/13: I discovered all of my photos for this entry were no longer up. :( So this entry may make less sense than it originally did. Sorry!::

I spent my afternoon making another dress for Little Dresses for Africa and had a much easier time with the pillow case dress.

I am the amateur of amateurs and combined the knowledge of several sites claiming to have "the easiest directions" for the pillow case dress, so I decided to put everything together that I learned and put it here for a One Stop Easy Shop on how to make this dress. If you are using a yard of fabric, not a pillowcase.

The biggest bulk of my instructions are from eHow.

However, for the length, I got my info from the Little Dresses site, that I link up in my first sentence.

So, from shoulder to hem, the size goes aaaaas follows:

Small = 2, 3, and 4 (16-22 inches long)

Medium = 5, 6, and 7 (24-28 inches long)

Large = 8,9, and 10 (30-34 inches long)

X-Large - size 11 and above (anything over 35 inches long)

I wanted today's dress to be for a large size, so I made sure it was 34 in final length.

Now, here is a secret I learned after last night's dress that you will not find in the tutorials. Everyone else says, if you aren't using a pillow cause, begin by sewing your sides together.

Not me.

As The Amateur of Amateurs, I found this waaaaaaaay easier by sewing the side of the dress up toward the end.

My first step was folding up the fabric and cutting out the arm holes.
Um... that is a little smaller than I intended. But it gets my point across. Fold in half once, and you have the width of your dress. Fold in half again and cut 2inches in and 4 inches down from the "raw" corner (not the beautifully folded one!). Make sure you cut through all four layers of fabric!

For toddlers, you should cut 1.5 inches in and 3 inches down.

 I took the 2in/4in as a suggestion and since my dress in intended for grown girl, I cut 3 and 5. The beauty of this dress is that it's all easily adjustable by the girl when she ties the ribbon in the end ::sigh of relief::

Once that was cut, I didn't even use pins to sew it up. I just folded down as little fabric as I could and went to town.

My second step was the bottom hem. Because I knew I was making this for a tall girl, I made a small hem.


NOTE: When it comes to how much I sew at hems, I use measurements loosely. As long as it's straight, I'm happy.

Next was the part that I was SO not getting in the tutorials last night. Maybe I was sleepy. I don't know.
We are back at the neckline. First, you need to fold the edge down just a tad to it is nice and pretty. If you insist on a measurement, then sew 1/4". So do that on both sides.
Then, this is where I kept getting lost, because no one spoke Amateur Talk. Now you fold *again* and this is the "tunnel" where you will slide the ribbons through.

Do you realize how much searching it took for me to understand that?
Anyway, personally, my way of measurement for this was folding it over my thumb and making it super snug. The actual measurement it supposed to be 5/8 of an inch.

So this photo shows the "before" and "after" of that instruction. In front, you see how I have sewn the 1/4, but haven't pinned it, yet, for my ribbon's tunnel. In the back, you see that it is pinned and ready for me to sew the tunnel!


The ribbon.
I love the finished look, but I HATE threading the ribbon through!! And since I'm new to this, I'm lacking in tools, so I don't have a safety pin to attach to the ribbon to help thread it through.

So I got creative. I wrapped the ribbon around a pen and pushed the pen through my tunnel (why isn't it called a tunnel, really?")


And THEN....

The dress was done!!:::sigh:::
I'll be happy when I find my camera's charger.

PS I think it's only fair to plug a REAL talent, in case you happened upon my site in search of handmade clothes for little ones.
Take a look at Sweet Bug Designs for precious handmade clothing!

Sew Much Better

::edit 6/15/13 I discovered my photographs were no longer displaying, so this may not make as much sense...::

I'm going to use "sew" in place of "so" until everyone is sick and tired of it.

I just had the Grandma-est New Year. I totes mcgotes spent it sewing. The night was all mine, free to do absolutely anything I wanted... go to a party, find friends who were out, have dinner with my bestie, stay in all night and do everything that I love doing when I'm alone-- listen to 90s pop, make up silly dances (not gonna lie, it's what I do when no one is watching), read, play Wii, watch cheesey movies, watch my new Britney Spears concert on blu ray...

... Britney made it into my blu ray player. But I stayed in my office and sewed.

Granted, I do have a purpose this month. When I first mentioned on Facebook that I have a sewing machine, one of my former coworkers told me about a cause for which I can sew clothing for children. Easy dresses for little girls and shorts for little boys. It's called Little Dresses for Africa. The dresses and shorts have been donated to 31 countries in Africa as well as Honduras, Cambodia, Philippines, Mexico and Haiti. AND they are currently being sent here in the states to places in the Appalachian Mountains and South Dakota. Now that I think of it, South Dakota could use warmer clothes than dresses...

Anyway, the point is that my resolution has been to be a part of big causes each month this year. A couple of years ago, I started to become more active in a few causes and it felt amazing. At that point, it was just on my Life List to be a part of something much bigger than me. Welp, I'm addicted. It's true that the little things, like a dollar donated to St. Jude's while you're shopping, help. But it feels soooo good to really spend time helping someone in need. Whether it's doing something silly and fun, like raising money through the Polar Plunge, or making these dresses. Those little people are facing hardships that I've never known and when I was making the one dress this evening, it felt cool to think that something I was creating was going to travel and provide smiles to a little girl somewhere. Something as simple as a dress.

I'm getting rambly. Obviously, it is late.

But I wanted to share what I made. Be gentle. It's my first attempt at a dress! I imagine it'll fit a small 6-ish year old.

Again, the photo quality is horrendous... it'll be a beautiful day when my camera charger emerges. ::sigh::

This is what the fabric looks like (except more vibrant and not so orangey)


And this is the dress :)

Okay. It's true. I'm proud of it. And have a really cute fabric for the next one, which I'll probably size for a girl who is closer to age 9.


Happy 2012! I hope your NYE was less Grandma-y than mine, but equally enjoyable!

Fresh Start

I am on Facebook nearly every day.

Due to popular demand (?), I am trying to be on Twitter more often. By "popular demand," I mean friends kept talking about it, and my curiosity got the better of me, so I check it at least once a week and try to put something clever on there.

I became a Pinterest Addict for a while and had to simmer down, because I was pinning more projects and ideas than I could even recall, and I would like to actually *do* the things that I was pinning.

But I have completely ignored this blog. Which is just a bummer. I like reading other people's blogs. I like writing.

So we'll see if I can try to come here at least once a week with some story. I should have plenty to talk about.

I've really been into crafts lately. Really, I've always been into art and creating something super-cool out of something totally mundane. But lately, I've really been into creating cool t-shirts, skirts, scarves or purses out of old ugly t-shirts and sweaters. So I should take the extra step of taking photos and document what I do on here. I even got a sewing machine for Christmas so my stuff will look EXTRA cool and be even MORE fun to make!

I'm totes excited.

Yes, I said totes.

On top of that, I am really excited about a gift that I got that is called Boom Boom Cards. Essentially, it is a stack of nearly 30 cards, each with an act of kindness written on them. I need to do each of the nice things (for example, buy a cup of coffee for a stranger) and then register the card online at boomboomcards.com , tell my story about that specific act of kindness, then find someone to give the card to who I know will do it and register the card and pass it on to someone else.... you see? So then we can track these cards online and see who they touch and follow their stories.

I think it's pretty awesome! Most of the acts are simple things that I like to THINK I do daily or have done before. Put change in someone's empty parking meter. Ignore the cell phone during a conversation (I never answer if I'm out with friends, unless we're expecting another friend to join us). Hold the door open every time I have the opportunity.

Then there is one that I'm really excited about, because I always *think* about doing it, but never have. "Write a letter to that teacher or mentor who inspired, motivated or transformed you; thank them for their influence on your life." Since I was, like, 15 I've wanted to write letters to my most influential teachers and then assumed they wouldn't remember me. But now I figure, what does it matter if they remember me? What matters is that I remember them and they spent their life devoting their time to students. I should let them know it mattered to someone. So that will be fun. Then I'll need to find someone who I know will do it AND will register the card AND will pass it on to someone... I feel like that will be the hardest part!

Dog Days of Summer

While I sort of understand while we say "the dead of winter," I don't really get why we say "the dog days of summer."

oh. I just looked it up on wikipedia and I got told.

Here is my summary. Hold on to your seat because it is about to get complicated in here. Once upon a time, there were Romans and they liked stars. And there was a star that, in their language, was called the Dog Star and it was the brightest star, after the sun. Way back in those days, when this here Dog Star rose right before the sun (which doesn't happen anymore), the Romans called that time the Dog Days AND this happened during the summer and was, liiiike, way totally hot.

the end.

Anyway, I absolutely, positively, undoubtedly despise winter. Specifically "the dead of winter," when it is so cold my eyes freeze shut (not joking), there is no green except for those there deciduous trees, no pretty smells outside, my fingertips are freezing under my many layers of clothes, the temperature is 0 and but it feels like negative 50 with the windchill (still not joking) and the snow drifts are nearly my height (still not making this up).I hate that the sun comes up late and goes down early. I don't like that it's so slick that everyone falls all the time and even my dog wants to take care of his personal business on the front steps. Ew, and I have to scrape snow and ice off my care and the windows fog up on the way to work.

ew ew ew!!

THAT is why I am in heaven, even during the dog days of summer. Give me 90% humidity. Give me heat advisories and 110 temperatures. I'm okay with this! I have a pool to jump into. My hair is naturally wavy, I'll deal with the beauty quirks. It's better than trying to deal with hat head in the winter. It smells sweet like grass outside. Birds and bugs are making beautiful sounds that I could sit and listen to for hours. I feel so alive in this weather, even if it gets so extreme.

Obviously, I do prefer a 77 degree, partly cloudy day. Good for a t-shirt, jeans and sandals. Great for a walk so I can appreciate the beautiful plants that have bloomed.

But you will NOT find me complaining about the worst of summer. Because I remember all too well what winter brings and I do. not. like. it.
at. all.

Creative Juices

I can't remember if I already mentioned this, though I suspect I have. My pal introduced me to 365project.org, a site where you upload one photo a day for a year to document your life. It's fun to do and it's a lot of fun to peruse other people's photos.

I am having a great time letting my creative juices flow on this project. There have been days when I've just quickly snapped a photo, uploaded it and slapped it on the website to give insight into what I did that day. But then there are days when I'm feeling a little artsy and put some creative effort into my photograph. I don't have a fancy camera and I don't have fancy editing equipment, like other users. It'd be fun if I could play with PhotoShop or something. But I do use picnik.com to play with the colors and fading and things. It is interesting what a big difference a tiny change can make in a picture.

I absolutely love the feeling that comes from doing something creative. It reminds me of the college days when I had to create films and write articles for journalism classes. It was nice to have projects to do and present to other people who could think critically about them.

So... that's what makes me tick. Being creative. This project doesn't serve a purpose other than being fun for me and providing something that I can look back on when a year passes, but it sure is exciting!

I hope you'll take a look and comment!


http://365project.org/mmade/365

So Tired!

The good news is, my illness is being treated. I used to feel sick daily, even though I was feeling better. And feeling sick so much led to me feeling sleepy and napping all the time.

Now, though, I'm very energetic. I want to be out and doing things all the time to make up for the 6ish years that I was dragging my feet or bedridden. It's pretty great, overall. It'd be even better if I put a big percentage of this energy towards cleaning my house and other chores. But I've been more involved in the community, getting out with friends, checking off more things on my Life List... things are fun these days.

The problem is that I just can not sleep! I've been working longer days than I'm used to, then going out and I'm exhausted. But I come home and unwind, read a book, turn the lights off when my eyes feel droopy.... and I lay there. I stretch my legs, I change positions, I fluff up my pillow... nothing works. For several nights, I've been laying there until somewhere around 3 AM. The latest has been 4, and that was on a day when I had to be awake at 8 with two commitments after work.

Despite the little sleep that day, I was chipper and had fun.

But now, seriously. The lack of sleep is getting frustrating. On the outside, I'm okay. People have been giving me compliments on my positive attitude and how they enjoyed visiting the library because I was so chipper and nice. But I'm so exhausted on the inside!

I just want some sleep!!

To curl up in my bed, under my amazing fuzzy blanket, my tiny dog cozied up on my side and to fall in a nice, deep, satisfying sleep.