back-tack: phase two...

There's nothing like waiting until the last minute to get something done, now is there? Ahem.

I finally sat down yesterday and sewed my Back-Tack stuff. I took a few pictures of all the loot today, boxed it up and put it in the mail. Once I know the package has arrived, I'll do a proper post with pictures uploaded to my own server for those of you visiting from behind corporate firewalls.

bow your heads...

and let's all thank the Good Lord for Priority Mail flat rate boxes. You would be surprised at what you can cram into an 11" x 8.5" x 5" box. For instance, I lovingly shoved all the goodness I made and bought for my Back-Tack Phase-2-Buddy into one of them. Altogether I think it weighs about a metric ton. $7.70 versus what postage would have cost me (only slightly less than the gross national income of Guam) is fantastic if you ask me.

I'll be uploading pictures of everything I sent her in a little bit, so check back after while.

and so it begins...

This morning the clouds parted, the sun shone through and the angels sang.

Caleb ripped his diaper off for reasons other than just to achieve his preferred state of nakedness. He ripped his diaper off to pee! In the training pot! All by himself! TWICE! And it's only 10:15 in the morning!

topsy-turvy...

I finally finished my good/evil topsy-turvy doll this evening. The pictures I took are seriously crappy but they'll have to do for now. I will take better ones in the morning. The new ones didn't turn out much better, but at least the light is better.

The angel half sports little white alphabet beads that spell "good boy."


The devil half sports little black alphabet beads that spell "naughty boy." I cannot figure out why this guy's picture becomes splotchy and moired once it is uploaded. Weird.


Altogether, I am pleased with the finished product. I love all the polka dotted fabric. Especially the devil's fabric. It's a pale robin's egg blue and green. It doesn't photograph well, but in person, it's a nice combination.

dear blogger...

Please, please, please, change the image upload feature back to the way it was. Please. I'm begging you. Whistles and bells are nice for some things, but plain and simple is really nice when it comes to uploading images to my own server.

Sincerely,
Amy

I do not like the new image upload feature at all. While the ability to wrap text around the image is nice, the fact that a new subfolder was automatically created is a little disconcerting. I can get over that issue though. The fact that it uploads the same image TWICE each time is annoying. It would be one thing if I were uploading my images to a FREE chunk of server somewhere, but I'm not. So I'd like to be as frugal as possible with my server space, thank you very much. Ugh. I hope they fix it and quick!

back-tack: received

My Back-Tack secret pal out did herself! The package arrived on Tuesday, but I didn't get to open it until Saturday! Our mailman (while a nice man, seems to hit the medicinal marijuana a little too hard sometimes) delivered my package to a neighbor's house who happened to be away on vacation.

It came wrapped up with a cute little checked ribbon:



Had a cute little lion on the envelope:



And was just loaded with goodness:



The little lion pin cushion is the cutest thing ever. We can't use it as a pin cushion though because it hurts him and Logan won't stand for that. The patchwork on the notions roll is loaded with tiny 30's repro fabrics, Kaffe Fassett and Amy Butler fabrics. There are all sorts of little tools. My favorites being a pair of Gingher embroidery scissors and a shiny new seam ripper. Both came in the nick of time because I am in sore need of new ones! My sad little seam ripper is at least ten years old and has definitely seen better days and my tiny snips are so dull right now it is pathetic. The paper and fibers she included are just lovely and I can't wait to use them on a project soon. The little zippered pouch is going in the diaper bag so that I may have something girly amidst all the boy-ish stuff...per Logan's suggestion, of course.

We, being Logan and myself, had such a good time going through all the goodies. It was like a little Christmas in the middle of June. Thanks so much Bertha! You really, really went above and beyond.

seen art?

We packed the kids up and went mall walking this evening. This endeavor was started late...tired boys, cranky dad, exasperated mom. So, in an effort to make this undertaking as painless as possible we made a deal with Logan. If he was a good boy, sat still, kept his hands to himself while we walked the mall then we would stop in Barnes and Noble to look for a book and play with the train set.

While Logan and Caleb played with the train set, I roamed the children's section looking at all the new releases (of which I would like one of everything please). Much to my glee, I came across this book:



Seen Art? by Jon Scieszka, and of course illustrated by Lane Smith.

Good googally moogagally, is this ever a WONDERFUL book. First off, the size of it great...out of the ordinary. Secondly, the author/illustrator duo is among the tippy top of my favorites list. And thirdly, the book itself contains images of some my favorite fine art pieces. This book is seriously genius. The illustrations are stellar (as usual). The story is engaging and fun (as usual). Run, don't walk, to your local bookstore (or click on the book image and buy it from Amazon.com) and pick up a copy of this book for yourself and maybe one for your kiddos too. You will not be disappointed.

"it's five o'clock now..."

Generally one imagines that dads and their children have a very special day together on Father's Day. While Lynn and the boys had a fun day today, Logan and I had a really great day.

The entire drive home from lunch and shopping all Logan talked about was riding his big boy bike when we made it home. Of course this was the heat of the day and we live in the armpit of hell and I really didn't want to sit outside and melt while he rode his bicycle. Plus, I didn't want him to get overheated or sunburned.

Well, we managed to talk our way into the house and away from the bike. BUT! not the helmet. Logan grabbed it, put it on and strapped it tight. He walked into the kitchen, grabbed the sunscreen off the counter, slathered his face, ears, arms and legs. Drank a glass of water and proclaimed, "Okay, I'm ready!" Meanwhile, Lynn snuck upstairs with a sleeping Caleb and was peeling paint off the walls before I could finagle my way out of biker duty. I just wanted to lay down for thirty minutes and rest my eyes!

At this point it was a few minutes after two. I told Logan it was still too hot and that at five o'clock we would go ride bikes. He seemed okay with the idea and went on about his way for a few minutes. I put my head down on the couch and closed my eyes. Not five minutes passed and I could feel a little face three millimeters from mine. "May I please go ride my bike?" "It's not five o'clock yet." "Oh." Then I heard chairs skittering across the tile in the kitchen. "What are you getting into?" "Nothing." So I listened...no rustling of paper or opening of cabinets..."nothing" was conceivable at that time.

"Mom, may I please go ride my bike now?" "Logan, it's not five o'clock yet." "Yes it is." "How do you figure?" "Look at the clock." This master mind of a child moved the minute hand on the one "regular" clock we have in our house to the FIVE! He can't tell time yet, but he recognizes his numbers. He was SO tickled with himself for thinking of this solution to his problem. I could hardly stand it myself. SO CLEVER. "Logan, it's still not five o'clock." "Yes it is." "Logan, I can tell time and it is not five o'clock. The little hand has to reach the five before it is five o'clock." "Okay." It was almost 3:45 at this point and I figured I'd finish folding my load of laundry while he moved the little hand to the five and then we'd go ride bikes.

Outside we went. He walked his bicycle down the driveway, hopped on and away he went. I sat in my lawn chair in the shade and watched him ride to his heart's content. Logan would ride down to his friend Daniel's house and then hop off turn his bike around and ride back to our house where he would hop off his bike again, crawl up into my lap and just sit and chat. Chat about the trees, the clouds, his baby brother. He'd say things like, "Mom, you're my best friend." "Isn't this fresh air nice?" "May I have a sip of your water?" and after he'd take a sip of my pomegranate/lemon water, he'd grimace and say, "Yuck! That water is sour, it needs some sugar!" I swear, every little thing he said just took my breath away.

When he decided it was too hot to ride any more, he helped me in the yard for a little while and then went swimming with Lynn and Caleb.

Tonight Logan is spending the night with his friend Daniel. He was so excited about it, when he and Daniel came home to get his pajamas and toothbrush, Logan grabbed his light saber and ninja turtle mask and gear and ran back to Daniel's sans pajamas or toothbrush. Lynn packed a bag and walked it down. When Lynn came back he said Logan gave him the biggest hug and kiss good bye. Then I realized I didn't get to hug Logan or kiss him goodnight! And my heart sank a little bit. I'm sitting here right now practically hoping he'll get home sick tonight and want to come home! When we were sitting together today, enjoying the fresh air, Logan corrected me when I referred to him as "baby." "Logan is your big boy. Wah Wah is your baby." I guess he's right. I wish there was a pause button I could push right now. I'm going to go count the minutes until tomorrow when I hear, "I really really missed you Momma. Did you miss me too?" then I'm probably going to burst into tears.

phew...

This weekend was a whirlwind of activity. It not only marked Father's Day, but also Lynn's parents' FORTIETH wedding anniversary.

Friday was pretty laid back: went out to dinner with Lynn's parents and sister and brother-in-law. I would like to make it known that I think all restaurants should have a playground at the ready for the little kids. God bless the genius at Joe's Crab Shack HQ for putting that idea into action. We had at least a thirty minute wait and Logan and Caleb WENT. TO. TOWN. on the playground. And seriously, they have NEVER been better behaved at dinner than they were after they ran themselves ragged on that playground. BRILLIANT!

Saturday, on the other hand, was non-stop. The women-folk packed it up and shopped all day whilst the men-folk went swimming, watched golf and visited the Dallas World Aquarium. We all met up at Benihana's that evening for dinner and anniversary celebration. I have to say, Lynn's dad was so sweet, he had me order a corsage for the missus and asked that I arrange for a special dessert after dinner (as it turns out Benihana's has an anniversary song, dessert and photo deal). Once we were seated at our "table" he got down on one knee to propose again etcetera. I was very impressed with all the thought he put into it. I think the missus was slightly embarrassed, but it was all still very sweet. After dinner we all went home and collapsed for the evening.

Sunday we met for lunch, visited a little while longer, shopped a little bit more and then saw the grandparents off on their way home.

I feel like I'll be in a coma for the next couple days. Once Thursday rolls around we'll get to do it all over again with my family.

illustration friday: black and white

The first thing that popped into my head for this week's prompt was good and evil. The topsy-turvy idea didn't come until today when I was trying to decide on a topic/idea for my next project. I'm going to turn these little fellas into a topsy turvy doll for Schmancy Toy's Plush You! Show coming up in August.

cute shoes...

How could I pass these up? Especially when my mother-in-law was buying! Mine are this pattern but have a wee bit less pink and more turquoise, orange and red. I wish I still had some pink pompom socks to wear with them.

illustration friday: summer

At least for me it is if I don't douse myself in SPF 1000. I've had a handful of really bad sunburns in my lifetime. And because of that about once every six months you might mistake my husband and me for mite hunting monkeys...only we're hunting for new moles, changes in existing ones, etc. So far we've both been lucky. Hopefully we'll stay that way.

projects...

Recently I was contacted by a major crafting/decorating magazine to create a project for their December issue. The magazine gave me an image to incorporate into any design I could think up. At first I had a hard time thinking of anything to do with the image. Since I design all my own stuff from nothing I think my brain started off with a mental block trying to use another artist's image. I decided I would design a couple things of my own first and then work backwards from my own designs to create the projects for the image. That worked out very well after it was all said and done.

Here are few of my designs:

This one is going to be a pillow with brush fringe.


This one is going to be a journal cover.


This one, obviously, is going to be a stocking. I'm feeling like doing a lot of tonal stuff lately. I really like the white on "white" of this design. Can't wait to see it finished.

sugar coma...

Today has been an extraordinarily fabulous day for my boys. I've been busy working away on a mock up for a project that's in the works. This means my boys have been left to their own devices for the better part of six hours.

Caleb took this time to systematically obliterate the left over birthday cake. Logan took this time to fine tune his tunnel vision and play his little heart out, never once looking to see what his little brother may or may not be doing. The fact that he's four now does not mean that he listens any better. His listening skills have actually greatly improved in the last month or so, but you give him a truck load of new toys and it's all shot to hell again. Is this lapse temporary? Hope so.

Anyhoo, the first time I noticed the deafening silence I sauntered downstairs to find Logan sitting on the couch watching Lilo and Stitch and Caleb unconscious in one of the recliners, covered in icing and cake crumbs.



This is the best specimen of sugar coma I've seen in a long time.



Here's the havoc he wrought on the counter:



Apparently the cake needed some salt and a knuckle buster to top it off.



After Caleb's nap I tossed him in the tub and hosed him down. Put a fresh diaper on him and let him run around alfresco. This child is content to be naked all the time, HOWEVER, you will next to never see him without shoes of some sort on his feet. He falls asleep with shoes on and he'd better wake up with them on or he will get out of bed, find a pair of shoes and wake one of us up to help him put them back on his feet. WTF? Why? Then came round two with the cake. An equally messy ordeal, just no clothes to wash this time. Caleb had his second bath of the day. Then Lynn came home early! And took the boys far, far away! Until 8PM!

Never a dull moment around these parts folks.

the "starter" birthday party...

My husband, well-meaning as he may be, has turned the entire month of June into birthday party extravaganza for Logan. I'm all for the month long celebrations marking milestone birthdays...21st...40th...100th. I'm even okay with the small family party midweek before the BIG party with all the friends and relatives if your birthday falls midweek. But mini-parties for a four year old scattered all about the month is crazy. It takes away the fun of anticipation and kills the specialness of the occasion. Okay, so 'kills' is a little strong...it dramatically decreases the specialness of the occasion.

Now that I have that off my chest...my husband has to be the coolest dad on the planet as far as our kids are concerned. Lynn has spent the last two months hunting down all the Teen Titans 3.5" action figures that Logan didn't have in his collection. All so we could set up his Teen Titan Tower and other Teen Titan paraphernalia (new and old) up in a huge battle, Teen Titans versus the Bad Guys. While Lynn and Logan were at Hurrican eHarbor and while Caleb napped, I set up the battle scene on the floor in Logan's room.

Oh no! The Teen Titans have arrived home only to find Teen Titan Tower overrun by the bad guys! Titans launch! (that's what the orange thing says)

We sent Logan upstairs to change out of his swimsuit after they returned from the water park. We walked up behind him to see his reaction. He walked into his room, gasped, whispered "wow" and "awesome," and then sat in front of the display for about ten minutes just looking at it. He said thanks about a hundred times during that ten minutes. It was too cute. Then he got down to business and started saving Teen Titan Tower.



As soon as Uncle Nic showed up he and Logan were embroiled in all things Teen Titans for a good thirty minutes or more. I wish I had thought to sneak in for some pictures. Nic is awesome about playing with the boys.

Ahem, back on track now. Sunday we had Logan's second fourth birthday party. None of his friends could make it this weekend due to family vacations and not feeling well. Aunt Misty, Uncle Ethan and Uncle Nic made up for the lack of little people though. We had "Raphael" pizza party pizza and salad for lunch and then Beast Boy - Raphael birthday cake and ice cream.

The cake after little fingers had been to visit:

It's not my best work, but that's what I get for not using the correct tools. Public Service Announcement number 427: Just because you think buying the aerosol decorating icing is going to be EASIER than dying your own icing and using a piping bag doesn't mean it's going to be nearly as NICE LOOKING. Just say NO to aerosol icing! Now back to regularly scheduled programming.

He blew out the candles twice. The first time he got all the candles with one puff, but mom's trigger finger was on the slow side so we had to do a retake. He missed one on the retake.



After the cake and ice cream, he opened the rest of his presents and spent the rest of the afternoon and evening playing playing playing. He made a quick trip to Walmart with me for more plumbing parts GROAN and then curled up on the couch downstairs to watch Lilo and Stitch and snack on some cherries. He managed to eat five cherries before he passed out.


Yes, that is cherry numero seis in his cheek. I fished it out and put it in his spit cup so he could see it in the morning. He thought it was pretty funny he'd fallen asleep with an extra cherry in his mouth. He told me I should have left it in his mouth and he would have eaten it for breakfast. The kid slays me.

how do i love flipflops? let me count the ways...

I love flipflops. I own tons of them in many different styles. I feel I should take a moment to make note: my flipflop obsession pales in comparison to my sister Katie's. And that's saying alot people. Seriously.

Periodically I feel the need to add to my herd of flipflops. I've been window shopping lately and have found a few pairs that I cannot live with out! Well, I can, but I don't want to. Did I mention I have a thing for red shoes? No? Well, I do. And that is why I SO love these.

I once saw a woman in a Jeep commercial wearing these and have coveted them ever since. They come in green too. Yeah, green shoes too. It's a sickness, I know.

How can you go wrong with these? They almost make me forget about my woven leather "Florida" Birkenstocks (which they no longer make) that I left behind on one of our trips to Key West.

Lastly, there are these crazy things. I would never buy these myself, but, they are pretty cute nonetheless. You know? I probably would buy these. I'd have to buy a cute sundress to wear them with though.

happy birthday, Logan...

Today marks Logan's fourth birthday. It seems impossible that he is already four. Where does the time go! It was only about a minute ago that he was this big:



Then I blinked and he had grown this much:



I had a sneezing fit and all of the sudden he'd shot up another eight inches:



Next thing I know he's no longer a cherub faced baby, but instead, a little boy:



Today he is all boy, rough and tumble, and very silly:



Happy Birthday, sweet Logan! Love, Momma

illustration friday: digital

Okay, this week's cue conjured thoughts of digital clocks, fingers and toes, Lego robots and the eleventy hundred digital contraptions I use on a daily basis. Since Logan is on somewhat of a robot/dinosaur/Teen Titans/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles kick still--I figured I'd draw a robot that I could then put on a t-shirt or something later this week. So here it is...Logan's t-shirt robot.

need a plush alphabet character?

Well, if you do, I'm the go-to girl. Click here to see the selection available.

We recently adopted an entire set (minus the A and the V) of 9 inch (sitting) plush alphabet characters that are in like new condition, save for a few bent corners on a couple of tags and one or two missing tags. The alphabet characters are known as Eurps and have phonetically relavant names. For instance:

Ace Eurp

His tag reads: I'm Ace Eurp, the letter A. I'm the adventurous leader of the Eurps. I'm a Very Important Vowel. Take me home. I'm a delectable collectible.

Katie Eurp

Her tag reads (and this one's for you Aunt Doot): I'm Katie Eurp, the letter K. They call me kooky because I'm a kisser. Kindness it the key to my heart. Take me home. I'm a delectable collectible.

and we can't forget Wally Eurp

His tag reads: I'm Wally Eurp, the letter W. I always worry, and ask "What, why, where or when?" Take me home. I'm a delectable collectible.

One letter representing your name is cute, but the entire alphabet is just a mess waiting to happen so I need to unload everyone one of these alphabet pals except for Cece and Lizzy. And depending on how popular Cece and Lizzy are they may also end up needing a new home. I'm going to hunt down a freebie auction site tonight and set up buy-it-now auctions for them. Once I get them all set up I'll let you know where to find them.

what a weekend...

Lynn and I keep talking about having a veg only weekend and so far, it's been all talk and a lot of manual labor. Since we are getting an awful lot done in the way of our respective honey-do lists, I suppose all is not lost. Perhaps we're working toward our veg only weekend.

This weekend was spent doing yard work, hunting down spring roll wrappers and keeping Logan and his germs away from Caleb and the rest of the neighborhood.

With my foot being broken I did not get my flower beds planted when I wanted to. Thanks to a quick trip to Home Depot on Friday my flower beds are now planted! Against my better judgment I picked up several lantana shrubs. All I could find were the golden and confetti types so I went with the confetti. I really wish I could find some of the Patriot Cowboy Compact because I am really in love with those colors. Gorgeous.



I am so glad I'm handy with a pair of hemostats because I can almost promise you I'll be digging lantana berries out of somebody's nose before the end of the summer. Afterall Logan and Caleb are their mother's sons.

I also picked up a gozillion zinnias and replanted portulaca that came back in a big patch from last year (in a location that wasn't even planted with portulaca). In my mind's eye it looks very nice. In reality everything is still stumpy and ragged and looking a little pitiful. I'm hoping my brownish thumb will work with me to keep my flowers happy again this season.

Saturday afternoon we had supper at Benihana's and then wandered around a Korean grocery store where I finally, FINALLY, found spring roll wrappers. In fact, I found an entire aisle of spring roll wrappers. And we only had to drive to Plano to find them. Not one single grocery or specialty store in Denton carries them. NOT ONE. Anyhoo, if you haven't been into a Korean grocery store before, be warned, there are some particularly foul smells wafting about these places. Korean grocery stores are probably NOT the best place to bring a sick almost four year old and his six year old buddy. Picture if you will, a mom pushing a cart and wrestling a 19 month old little boy from putting his mouth on the handle bar of the cart, two little boys meandering behind the mom with their t-shirts pulled up over their faces moaning and groaning about how bad it stinks and a six foot two inch tall dad bringing up the rear freaking out over the million and two miso soup mixes. Despite all the melodrama we managed to stock up on about three tons of Pocky, two bags of neverending spring roll wrappers, rice noodles, miso soup stuff and a ten pound tin of lemon creme wafer cookies. We spent $14.23. That just blows my mind.

Lynn and I would have liked to have roamed the aisles to see what else looked good but the littles couldn't stand it anymore and I really didn't want to further insult the grocery patrons by having Logan hurl teriyaki steak and hibachi rice all over the place on top of all the bellering about the stench. We packed it in and waited out in the truck for Lynn. As we made our way back to Denton, we all had Pocky for dessert and after that, one by one all the little boys fell asleep.

monkey business...

I've been tinkering around with my fabric/glass collage charm cuffs lately and have finally reached an overall design that makes me happy. Assuming I have some sunshine later on today I'll take a picture of my newest cuff and all its detailing too. Here is a sneaky peek of the collage portion of it: Here are a few photos of the finished cuff. It fits the wrist SO much better with the new and improved charm attachment mechanism (for lack of a better term).



Of course, having a simian theme and all, it is my favorite cuff so far. I'm going to guess pictures will be posted around eleven-ish...that is if dear Caleb sticks to his nap schedule! The pictures were taken on time and then I had to go get all fancy with them in PSP and then I decided since I was already here I may as well set them up in the shop too. So there's my reason for being slightly tardy with the pix.

new ornaments...

I feel the onset of Christmas time creation coming on again. I am debating at the moment whether or not I should attempt a holiday arts/fine crafts show this year. I have an exciting project ahead of me that could really throw some extra momentum toward at least one show and hopefully a new wave of traffic to my patterns and finished pieces. The bug in my ear about the possibility of a show has prompted me to shake down all my shelves for finished work that needs tweaking or revamping. The new project has prompted a fresh batch of imagination and ideas to start percolating.

A product of the shelf shake down:


A product of the new ideas:


The pictures are terrible. It's overcast today and the weekend weather isn't looking much better either. Hopefully I'll be able to get some better pictures sometime this weekend.