Wednesday, September 22, 2010

I'm a slacker, baby...

Holy cow! 8 more days until the end of my September contest. And what have I done as far as the outfit goes? Cut out all of the solid pieces, and traced a few of the print pieces. And my sewing machine? Well, it's not gathering dust, but that is only because it's still in my rolling tote that I take to my scrapbooking crops.
My sewing desk has become quite a "catch all" and I had to dig through the stuff on top of it to get to my camera charger yesterday. Oy!
I've revamped my sewing room/dining room again. I changed dining room table and chairs to something less bulky and I wouldn't trip over, plus removed a desk that was more in the way than it was helpful. And have I sat down to actually use my sewing desk? No.
I am frustrated with the fact that I planned all these sewing projects once the kids started school, and I've completed one thing since then, and that was the Elizabeth outfit I sent off in the AG Playthings Summer Sewing Swap last month. That PDR Round 4 dress? Yeah, still almost done. I made the sash, but haven't sewn it to the dress yet. I did make a petticoat for it though, but I don't like it because I think it needs to be poofier (yes, poofier is a real word in the crafting world, just like pastely and thing-a-ma-jig). I still need to make the last two of three puckers in the back of the skirt, and finally add the snaps closures to the back of the bodice. My DollDuds polo shirt? Yep, halfway done. Waiting for a sleeve, then side seam, and Velcro.
Yes, I am the Princess of Procrastination, and lastly I've felt like the Mistress of No Motivation.
Half of my doll items are packed away because I no longer have the room to have my doll displays set up. All of my dolls are still out and about, but most of them are confined to the doll bunkbed (that my dad made for me) I have in my upstairs hallway. My Addy is still in North Carolina with Buddy Holly, and I hope she's enjoying her trip. She's been up there for over a year now, so when she gets back she'll have a couple of new faces to meet. Since she's been up there I've picked up some new dolls and also sold two to a mom for her two daughters. The mom wasn't able to pay me before her daughters headed off to stay with their dad for a year, so I let the girls have them early, and I'm still hoping the mom comes through with her end of the deal so I can use that money to buy Lanie from American Girl since I used my "Girl of the Year as a birthday present from my hubby" on Elizabeth since she is archiving and may sell out closer to Christmas where as the Girl of the Year Lanie should make it until sometime in December.
Speaking of American Girl... Mild mannered me (stop laughing) got a little short with their Customer Service today. It seems they have switched from shipping with UPS to shipping with FedEx. I loathe FedEx. In all of my years of retail, plus my years of online purchases, FedEx has always topped my list as Worst Delivery Company. I've had them throw boxes at my door at home, I've dealt with their rude delivery guys, and watching the way they've handling their boxes have me want to yell "Have some respect for that! It belongs to somebody and I've sure somebody paid for it with their hard earned money!" Anyways, after my rant about not liking FedEx, the customer service person informed me that since it was being shipped FedEx Smartpost, it would be handed to the US Postal System sometime, and would take another day or two. That would be all  fine and dandy if I had a mail person like my last one in North Carolina, or even the one my mom (who lives around the corner) has. But no, I am blessed to have a moron for a mailman. Ugh! I politely (okay, not really, but in my defense I could have been worse about it) told the customer service person that I expected to have to call them again once my package arrived to let them know it was damaged. Am I being pessimistic? Probably. I like to think I'm preparing myself for the worst, that way if it's not damaged, I'll feel better and FedEx and my mailman might actually earn themselves a cardboard cookie. My reason for calling American Girl today? To find out why it took two days for my box to travel an hour and a half drive. Seriously? It's an hour and a half by car to go from Middleton, WI (right outside Madison, WI) to where it was last scanned this morning at New Berlin (seriously?), WI which is right outside Milwaukee, WI. **sigh** Maybe I'm just looking for something to fuss about or maybe I'm getting tired of being too nice. I'm too nice to some folks and rude to those who truly deserve it, but I'd like to find a happy medium, you know?
I miss sewing.
I have done a couple of scrapbooking pages since I last posted, but I think I only have a (poor) picture of one layout.
Dylan when he was learning to crawl.

So, here it is 9:30pm now. The kids are in bed, and the house is quiet. I need to go sew, but need to clear off the dining room table and my sewing desk off first. Ugh! I miss my old sewing rooms. :'-(
Oh well, off to make the best of what I've got. Wish me luck, I'm going in.................


Saturday, September 4, 2010

I've been tagged again!

Hi everyone!  I got tagged by "Beast's Belle".  So, without further ado, here are my answers, in no particular older.

8 Books I've Read Recently:

  • 1.  "The Last Song" by Nicholas Sparks (because he wrote it, not because of Miley Cyrus starring in the movie)
  • 2.  "Dear John" by Nicholas Sparks
  • 3.  "At First Sight" by Nicholas Sparks
  • 4.  "The Choice" by Nicholas Sparks
  • 5.  "The Lucky One" by Nicolas Sparks
  • 6.  "The Wedding" by Nicholas Sparks (had to reread it since I just skimmed it the first time)
  • 7.  "True Believer" by Nicholas Sparks
  • 8.  "The Notebook" by Nicholas Sparks (This is the book I would want if I could only have one book for the rest of my life)



8 Songs, Albums, or Artists I Listen to All the Time:

  • 1. Anything by Keith Urban
  • 2. A lot of Nickleback
  • 3. Dixie Chicks
  • 4. Miranda Lambert
  • 5. Alanis Morrissette
  • 6. Carrie Underwood
  • 7. SheDaisy 
  • 8. Just about anything on the radio



8 Things I Love:

  • 1. My family (even the ones that drive me crazy) 
  • 2. My friends
  • 3. Waking up on a leisurely Sunday morning when we are all home for the day and the kids come to my bed to watch cartoons until we get up.
  • 4. Sewing
  • 5. Scrapbooking
  • 6. Collecting American Girl dolls
  • 7. Fabric shopping. Even if I'm not making anything, and even though I have a ton of fabric at home, I still love the look, feel, and smell of new fabrics.
  • 8. Peace and quiet at the end of the day.



8 Things I've Learned This Year: (this was the hardest section to fill out)

  • 1. new scrapbook techniques
  • 2. new way to gather fabric
  • 3. I can teach
  • 4. my customer service is so awesome people remember me afterwards
  • 5. some things never change
  • 6. I have way too much stuff in my tiny house
  • 7. It's okay to ask for help
  • 8. I cannot do everything by myself




8 Recipes I Want to Try

  • 1. Grandma's Peanut Butter Candy
  • 2. Lasagna (from scratch)
  • 3. apple pie
  • 4. cheesecake
  • 5. country fried cube steak
  • 6. thanksgiving turkey (on my own)
  • 7. that chicken and veggie dish my seester made last time I was at her house.
  • 8. spinach and artichoke dip




8 Favorite Online Hangouts

  • 1. Facebook
  • 2. Blogger
  • 3. AG Fans Message Board
  • 4. AG Plaything Message Board
  • 5. Charleston Mommies Message Board
  • 6. TheScrapReview.com
  • 7. threadUP.com
  • 8. SewMuchComfort.org



8 Projects I Need to Work On: 

  • 1. The blue dress from Round 4 of PDR (doll)
  • 2. some special order pioneer dresses (doll)
  • 3. some Harry Potter like robes and uniforms (doll)
  • 4. bee costume for my son's honey bear
  • 5. PJ pants for the kids (although now I think I don't have enough fabric anymore since I bought it a couple of years ago, so they may all get PJ shorts instead)
  • 6. a dress for my Seester!
  • 7. aprons for my mom, my Seester, and myself.
  • 8. repaint my downstairs bathroom.




8 Other People I Think Should Do This: 

  • 1. Yvonne
  • 2. Amber 
  • 3. Brandy
  • 4. Karla
  • 5. Jeff
  • 6. Janet
  • 7. Kizzie
  • 8. Ashley

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

September Contest!

Welcome to September! My favorite month of the yea/, Why is September so special to me? Well, there are several reasons:

  • My Seester's birthday (the day before mine)
  • My cousin's birthday (also the day before mine)
  • My birthday (16th)
  • My grandmother's birthday (the day after mine)
  • First day of fall - September 21st
  • My Anniversary - September 30th
So, I plan to celebrate all month long, and I want all of you to share in my excitement over this month.

Now, onto the contest!

With American Girls' news of the Felicity and Elizabeth archival (boooooooo!), I'd like to offer a Colonial prize to my fans. Remember this?

Yes, the outfit I made for the AG Playthings Summer Sewing Swap. Now, don't get too excited, this is not the prize. Well sort of. The prize will be the same outfit, but in a different color scheme. I have the fabric picked out already: a sapphire blue cotton and a navy floral vine print on a light blue cotton. After all, sapphire is the birthstone for September. The outfit is in the process right now, and once it's done, I'll be sure to post pictures of it.
Now, how do you enter? Easy. Just leave a comment. At the end of the month I'll put all the names in a hat, and have one of my kids pick a name.
This contest is being held here and on my Gomunk Creations Facebook fan page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Gomunk-Creations/86033784532?ref=ts
You can have up to 3 entries and here's how:
  1. Follow my blog (if you already following, you've automatically been entered)
  2. Leave a comment here
  3. Leave a comment on my Facebook Fan page under my contest announcement.
Now, for a quick rule: You must be 18 years old to enter. If you are not 18 years old, you may have a parent enter for you (please do not enter your parent, especially without their permission).

Now, I'm off to the sewing desk!