It's been so loooooong!

Goodness gracious me, where did the summer go? Having to pull double shifts at work has meant leaving home when it was still dark out and getting in the door long after the sun had set. Then suddenly the kids are telling me it's back to school. WHAT?! But I haven't seen you all summer! How could that be? But it's true. My eldest, who apparently never left her pit of a room actually saw the outdoors and was not impressed. Kara, of the pierced nose this summer, is entering her first year of high school and has already been invited to become a cheerleader. "Yeah Team!" My other three little critters couldn't wait to tell me about the summer vacations of their friends (one went to Argentina, one toured Europe and one went to Mars, though I could be wrong about that. They were all talking at once).
My craft work has suffered as well. I've made some bags over the summer, but nowhere near the kind of output I wanted, and don't get me started on Vicky's Avatar Blanket, now a month and a half late! Her birthday was in July! How embarassing! And now I need to start planning everybodies Christmas gifts! I try to make everybody a little something to go along with their storebought gift (the husband likes to be involved in the giftgiving and he doesn't craft much).
Well, with the summer season coming to a close, I'm hoping that work will slow down for a few weeks. Maybe I can get some of my life back.....Yeah right!

Now I'm depressing myself...

Well, it looks like the hubby and I are heading for spitsville. It's an amicable thing, we know we aren't really meant for each other. Really, the only reason we still live together is financial. Neither one of us has a great job and the bills are just a little too much. So now I'm trolling the online market, looking for a new friend. someone to at least talk to, maybe go have a coffee with.

ARGH! To put it mildly, there's no one worth conversing with, let alone meeting and having a good time with. A bunch of shallow egomaniacs that only want what's between your legs! I think I'll just go hide under a rock somewhere and only come out when I hit 90. By then, the men won't remember what sex is, and I won't have to worry about it.

Yeah Me!

It's been so long since I've written anyhting, but this I just had to share. I just made my very first sale on Etsy!

I'm sure I've showed this bag in a previous entry but I had to do it again. It's off to sweden to a new and happy life!

My baby's not a baby anymore

This is my darling daughter, Kara. As of Tuesday, June 24, she stopped being an impressionable grade schooler and became one of the high school horde. I'm happy for her, but I'm also sad, that my baby, my Bear as she is known, is growing up, and leaving me behind.

She's so beautiful, inside and out. As a baby, she suffered constantly from ear infections, to the point where she had no real center of balance and didn't really learn to crawl. In fact, she never really moved under her own power until she was about ten months old, then she learned that rolling will get you places. And man, could she roll!

This is her dad. I keep telling him not to slick his hair back, but he doesn't listen.

And me and my baby. Congrats darling! Let's hope we

survive high school without any major blowups, Okay?

Ups and Downs

Wonders of wonders, I have a job! Well...sorta...I've signed up with a temporary agency and been placed in the shipping department of the Makita Tool factory. It's good work, labour intensive. Keeps me busy. But, unfortunately, it drastically cuts back on my crafting time.

Speaking of which, some new sewing projects! First is a tapestry messenger bag, with enough padding that you could safely carry a laptop, a zippered pocket for cords and another pocket for miscellaneous #$!. The other two are GIANT tote bags that I thought would be great for kids sleepover gear. You know, pillow, p.j.s, toothbrush, teddy bear. You could fit them all.

And my knitting, Starting with the first block in my daughter's Avatar blanket. She's going to be eleven at the end of next month and all she asked for (from me. Grandma got a MUCH more expensive gift list, lol) is something Avatar related. So I went on Ravelry and searched, and came up with the Avatar Blanket. But it's crocheted. I like crochet, don't get me wrong! I just prefer knitting. Call my funny. So, I re-charted it for knitting, and I'm off. Now I'm working on the water symbol...

Ignore my peeling floor! Look at my lovely socks! I know, you could go to the dollar store for socks and you've save a fortune, but they just wouldn't feel the same. Handmade socks just feel like love for your feet. And they look amazing! So bright and cheerful. Next I'm going to try intarsia in the round, put a little picture on my socks!

My eldest is modelling my mini-poncho/shoulder cover. Great for the not-quite-summer we're having right now, when the days are HOT but it's chilly in the evening. knit in Lion Brand organic cotton, it's light weight and confortable, and if you want to wear it like a cape, just undo all but one of the pretty wooden buttons!

Now, while I was working yesterday, my darling hubby was out in the big bad scary world that is Toronto and was getting me this...

This is a signed copy of the brand new book by one of my favourite authors, Laurel K. Hamilton. Her Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter series (or blood porn, as I sometimes call them, tee hee) are one of the staples of my reading diet. I was so thrilled! This is her first time in Canada and my Jason went out of his way to get that for me. Makes me fall for him all over again!

There they are together. Boy! Does he ever need a haircut! And just so you know, hubby's only 5'8", so think how tiny Laurel must be!

What a girl

Take a good long look at my baby's nose.... She got her nose pierced! Hard to see in this photo, but it actually looks really good on her. It was the one thing she really wanted for her graduation, so her Aunt Manda took her yesterday. Of course, she got herself all over excited and didn't eat before hand, so when this pic was taken, she was coming down from the adrenaline high and was just a little woozy. My poor bear!

It's been SOOO long!

I know, I know. Two weeks without writing. I've been busy, okay?! I finally got a job interview last weekend...didn't get it. I was bummed. I finally got my etsy shop up and running...not bites yet. I'm bummed.So to cheer myself up, I'm showing off my pets!

First is Symba, tough and mean on the outside, cuddle monster on the inside.

Second is Lady. The epitomy of cathood. We are here on her sufferance.

Last is Sheldon. He's actually in a temporary plastic bin in this shot and is attempting the great escape. You know, when we got him, he was the size of a Toonie and now he's as big as a dinner plate!

And then these are some of the bags I've been working on. I really need to get better pictures though. These didn't come out very well at all. The last two (Star Messenger and Butterfly Messenger) are for sale.

http://tsholeinthewall.etsy.com/

So much to tell

Now picture two store fronts and five apartments in that space. I look at that and am humbled.

On to happier news. Yesterday was the Bowmanville Maple festival! Here you see the swing band that was playing ALL DAY! I can't think of a time when they took more than a five minute break. Good for you guys!

This is the girls boxing club. My hubby wanted a picture, so I obliged. They were so red and tired and still kicking a**. It was great.

One of the MANY dogs being walked throughout the festival.

This guy was one of the biggest. Unfortunately I didn't get a pic of the jack russell puppy that tried to pick a fight with him. The big dog looked so confused!

And of course, this is our visitor from the Bowmanville Zoo. I don't know his name. but boy was he smelly! They were giving rides to kids, even when it started raining.

The profile there is my second daughter, and this is a view of the parking lot across from my apartment. There was a tilt-a-whirl, kiddies coaster, tons of junk food and those games of chance that are really just ways of emptying your wallet. Fun for all, in other words!

Lastly, this is the actual view from my window, screen and all.

Now, for my last bit of news...MY ETSY SHOP IS OPEN!!! I've only got a couple of messenger bags on there for now, because of money constraints, but in a week and a half, May 13th, I'll be adding about five or six more things, including jewelry my eldest made! Yippee!!!

FIRE!

Oh my god! If I could figure out how to get the photos off my camera I would be showing you a store fire just down the street from me! I was working on the computer, checking my email, etc, when I heard the engines go by. Now, that's actually pretty normal. I live on a major thoroughfare and we hear trucks go by all the time. But about five minutes later I'm smelling smoke. I searched the apartment, thinking that my landlord had finally decided to cash in on his insurance policy. Nothing burning. So, what the hell, let's go look outside.

I couldn't see the street, the smoke was so bad.

My street was blocked off, the pumpers were going, and the photoshop six stores up were belching flame. This is probably the most excitement I've had in a while. I'll keep ya posted.

I've been ravelled!

I finally got my invit to join Ravelry! I've heard somuch about this site, I'm so excited! So, of course, I curently have no projects on the go. An excuse to go shopping! Yeah!

Happiness in a couple of garbage bags

A few weeks ago I signed up to join a group online called freecycle, an absolutely great way to keep perfectly usable items out of our landfills. People post things that they have or things that they need and within days they're usually filled/picked up/whatever. Well, yesterday I was gifted with two garbage bags filled with fabric and craft supplies. I was thrilled! Everything was amazing, even the little scraps. As I make more and more handbags (which I've now been asked to sell at a fundraiser in June) I'm finding that I just can't afford new fabric. This gift is perfect.

I encourage everyone to try freecycle. There's groups set up in all sorts of communities, so you wont need to travel far for pick ups or drop offs. Give 'er a shot!

Family

Boy, do I love 'em! Just when I'm feelling at my worst, I get hugs and kisses and cake. Especially cake! I love cake.

Getting older

Well, tomorrow is the day. I will turn thirty-five. Still not too sure how I feel about that. I want to make so many changes in my life, the first being to not be so lazy that I don't make changes. I've got five amzing kids and a great husband and yet I'm not happy. What's wrong with me?
My father-in-law tells me it's normal, while my own mother tells to stop bitching and accept my lot in life (personally I think that she accepted her lot and now she's not happy. Misery loves company after all).
On the other hand, I am making changes. As soon as my new credit card shows ( there was a screw up with my replacement card and it never showed in the mail. My other is expired and I can't use it) I will be opening my Etsy shop. Going to be selling my handbags. Yippee!!! God, I hope it works out!

I knew when I turned on the computer this morning, I wanted to write something. Now that the keyboard is before me, I'm at a loss.What do I say? It's not as though I live an exciting life, travel the world or cure fatal diseases. I'm an unemployed factory grunt. I cerainly can't afford to fly anywhere and I don't drive. Even if I did, I can't afford a car. Instead, I sit at home, taking in old clothes and turning them into new handbags. And no, it's not because I want to recycle (Ido, but that's not the reason). It's because I can't afford new fabric... maybe I'll get a gift certificate to Wal-Mart for my birthday...

I just realized that anyone reading my last post wouldn't understand what it was all about.

Well, with the new season and my pending birthday, I've realized that I really need to start getting my crafting things out there into the real world. I'm opening an Etsy shop, but I want those things that I sell to be my absolute best (not an easy task for a perfectionist). It means that I'm spending a lot of time with my sewing machine, and we're already no longer on speaking terms. I figured that maybe writing a blog about the crap I'm going through might be a good way to seperate myself for a little while from that threaded demon.

To totally change the subject, I'm going to show you some dolls I've sewn recently. I got the pattern from Craftster, a great sharing site. You should try it. The creator is ghillie, who is a genious!

This one is my very first. Not my favourite, but Pinky is still very cuddly!

Sorry her picture is sideways! Someday I'll learn to post this stuff properly! Ayway, this is Marie. She's the good girl of the group. She has another dress, a little more revealing, but I made the sleeves of her blouse too tight and now they don't come off too well. I think she's just too much of a prude to wear the strapless!
And last, but not least, this is Cleo. I call her the Purple Kitty Harlot. I probably shouldn't. It must affect her self esteem. I keep picturing her leaning against a lamp post, smoking a cigarette. Origanally, when I first put on her hair, I thought rastafarian dreadlocks, but when I tried out the dress pattern for the first time, she screamed out for a matching hat and she became my tough kitty.

I'm trying to sew slippers. Why do I do this to myself? I've got thread bits all over my bed and I'm ready to throw my sewing machine out the window!