A Tale Of Two Kitty Beds

As I'm sure you all know, today is National Cat Day!  What?  You had no idea???  Well, there's still time to rush out and get some fresh tuna and organic catnip for your kitties......assuming that you don't live in the Northeast in the path of Frankenstorm - Ugh!  If you're in the Northeast just stay home and you can make it up to them on another day!

Anyway, I decided to buy a really nice heated cat bed for my 18.5 year old, Cassi.  The ol' girl has been seeking out warm spots lately so I thought she could use a luxurious, snuggly, plush heated bed now that winter is almost here.  Aren't I a nice kitty Mommy?

Well.....the cat bed has been here for two weeks and here's how things have been going.....that's Cassi on the left in her ratty, old, sunken in bed.  And that's Bailey on the right in the brand new heated cat bed.  No matter what I do she refuses to get in the nice, new bed.   What's up with kitties these days?  You buy them something wonderful....something you know that they need.....and they just don't appreciate what you've done for them!  But at least someone is getting some use out of it.  And maybe Cassi will come around one day......

And to all of you in the Northeast....I'm sending lots of happy thoughts your way and keeping my fingers crossed that things won't be as bad as the weather forecasters are predicting.  Big hugs to all of you and just do lots of sewing to stay calm and pass the time!

Happy Sewing,
Jenny

P.S.  Daisy is doing great!  There's no picture of her in this National Cat Day post just because she's soooo camera shy.

My Newly Scheduled Life

I did something wild and crazy this week and I actually attempted to follow a schedule.  Crazy, right?  And what's even crazier is that I let Col. Sew Fab make the schedule for me!  You know I've been on my whole "get more organized and be more efficient kick" and this seemed to be the logical next step.  So instead of randomly floating through my day trying to follow to-do lists written on 10 different scraps of paper I'm actually following a very detailed schedule. 

Don't be too impressed yet.....there were some snafus along the way.  It's hard to get used to following a new schedule.  Especially when it has you waking up at 5:00 frickin' a.m. in the morning so you can get your daily run in before you start work at 8:00.  And there was the little incident on Thursday afternoon where I freaked out because I was sooooo off-schedule and instead of trying to re-group and carry on I did what any sane person would do....I made a bowl of chocolate chip cookie dough and ate it by the spoonful.   But overall......it's going great and I feel like I got twice as much done this week!  

And all these other miraculous things are happening too......the top of my desk isn't covered in piles of paperwork.  And it's not because I shoved it all in a closet somewhere.  It's because the paperwork is actually done.  And for the first time in....well....forever...I can actually say that I'm caught up on Quickbooks because there is a time slot for it in my schedule.  So instead of doing Quickbooks my normal way (avoiding it until the pile of receipts has built up for a year and just looking at the pile is giving me an ulcer and the accountant is asking me for my records because tax deadlines are looming) I dealt with Quickbooks in a new way - I actually did it when it when it was supposed to get done.  Wild, huh?!

And I've even scheduled in time for the good work stuff like Illustrator class and SEWING TIME!  Yay!

And Emma is adjusting to the new schedule well.  She's willing to wake up at 5:30 a.m. but not a moment before.....

Gotta run.....it's time for lunch on the schedule.

Hugs,
Jenny

Meghan Peasant Dress

Just in case you were wondering I still sew things on occasion.  It seems like forever and a day since I've had any sort of completed project or work in progress to show you because the last few weeks were....well....shall we say kind of chaotic and there wasn't much time for FUN!  But I managed to make this Meghan Peasant Dress (PDF Pattern) by Sis Boom in ONE AFTERNOON a few weekends ago and now I'm finally getting around to showing it off using a fabulous iPhone self portrait......

This was my first time making a Sis Boom pattern and I've got to say I'm in love.  The directions are well written, there are tons of diagrams, there are tons of sleeve length and skirt length variations and there are no zippers or buttons in this dress.  And you know how I tremble in fear when a pattern calls for zippers or buttons! 

But don't freak out like I did the first time you see that a Sis Boom PDF pattern has about 200 pages!  You only need to print off about 20 pages to get the right pieces for your size and sleeve length. 

And don't you just love the fabric I used for my dress?!  It's Seaside Madras Patch from the Shore Thing Collection by Michael Miller.  I feel like it's very preppy and nautical and studious all at the same time which is why I've been calling this my "back to school dress."  Because even grown ups who aren't in school should still get new back to school clothes, right?!  But wait.....I'm taking an intensive Illustrator class so I kind of am in school, aren't I?  And speaking of Illustrator.....we got into a huge fight yesterday so I'm kind of scared to take my next class today.  Fingers crossed that Illustrator and I will be on speaking terms again today and that our love affair can continue!  Wish me luck!

Hugs,
Jenny

All Hail The Illustrator Queen!

I am the Illustrator Queen!  I am one week into my class and I am constantly forcing asking Col. Sew Fab to ooh and aah over my art like a child showing off their macaroni and glitter craft project from school.  I was so flippin' excited when I was able to color in these shapes a few days into the class.....

And then I did a little happy dance when I was able to make this button.  I think I should make a Sew Fabulous superhero cape with this button on the back of it.....

And the day I was able to make this.....well.....I have nothing else to say except.....Holla!!!  Mind.  Officially.  Blown.

Maybe I should start taking commissions for Graphic Art work now - LOL!

I'll be making a ribbon in class today.  Fingers crossed that it will be worthy of going in my Ugly Macaroni & Glitter Art Gallery!

Hugs,
The Illustrator Queen

My Life Is A Country Western Song

Well hello there!  I've missed you all out there in blogland.  You won't believe what's been going on with me the last few weeks.....

First, my car broke.....

Then my iPhone broke......

Then I found out my cat has a large mass in her lungs (that was the last thing I mentioned before I "disappeared" for a while).  The specialist says it's a 50/50 chance it's lung cancer.  The only course of action is just to wait and watch and re-check her in a few months.  But I'll happily take that news and I'll happily take the 50/50 chance because at first it looked like there was a 100% chance it was bad news.  So 50/50 was like winning the lottery!

Then I got in a fender bender when I borrowed Col. Sew Fab's truck to do errands because my car was in the shop.  And FYI......it was 100% the other person's fault.  But more importantly no one was hurt.  But sadly my first thought after the big thud in the Hobby Lobby parking lot was "That was NOT my fault!"  Oh yeah.....if you're wondering, there's only a small dent in the bumper of the truck - no major damage.  Woo hoo! 

Then I ran 8 miles on Sunday, September 30.  That's the farthest I've even ran, thank you very much!  I had been training for my own little personal half marathon that I had scheduled for Saturday, October 20.  Have I ever mentioned that I'm a runner?  I fell in love with the sport about a year ago.  I used to love power walking and then I quit for several years and then I gained a few pounds....and then we went to Napa on vacation last year and I gained a few more pounds so I started walking again.  But one day I decided that walking was too slow and boring so I started running just to see what that was like and we (running and I) fell in love.  And all those pounds went bye-bye!

Anyway.....where was I?  Oh yeah.....I was well on my way to being ready for my "Run Bunny Run Half Marathon" when I came down with a cough, fever and body aches the day after my record breaking 8 mile run.  And that was around the point that Col. Sew Fab told me that my life had become a country western song - LOL!  But it gets better!  That was also the week that his family was coming to town to visit because his HUGE Colonel promotion party was the following weekend.  Talk about a bad time to get super sick!  

Soooo.....my little phlegm filled self carried on as best as I could and still managed to make FOUR homemade desserts for the party (we had caterers doing the rest of the food) and clean the house and do the party decorations all while entertaining his family and running my own business.   Yeah....I rock if I do say so myself!

And this is what Emma, my assistant hostess looked like at the start of the huge party.....

And this is what Emma looked like the day after the party.....

I thought those photos did a better job than words ever could of conveying how we all felt the day after the party!

And do you remember how I was on that kick to become a more organized,  efficient and productive person a few weeks ago?  Well, now that I'm starting to feeling better after TWO FLIPPIN WEEKS of being sick I'm getting back to it!  I'm still going through all the old magazines and keeping the daily log (sooooo beneficial) and I've got some great books to read and I'm taking a couple of awesome online classes (A creative business class by Kelly Rae Roberts and Adobe Illustrator with Laura Coyle) and I'm ready to take on the world again....I think.....

And I've got to tell you the Adobe Illustrator story before I go.....

Col. Sew Fab and I were enjoying cocktail hour in the hot tub a few nights ago (a.k.a. "The Think Tank") when the following conversation happened....or it happened kind of, sort of, a little bit like this......

Me:  "I wish I knew how to do my own graphics for my website and blog and other future crafty projects that might involve surface pattern design."

Col. Sew Fab:  "You DO have Adobe Illustrator on your computer.  It's been there for years."

Me:  "What's that?"

Col. Sew Fab:  Facepalm.  "It's what graphic artists use to make their artwork.  And you have it.  It's exactly what you're looking for."

Me:  "Wow!"  

Felt kind of stupid.....but also felt like I had just won the lottery again!  (The cat story was the 1st "lottery win."  I've never actually won the real lottery).

Soooo.....I immediately started searching for some online classes and I'm now learning Adobe Illustrator.  And all I can say is....WOW!  It's such an amazing program!!!  All I can do right now is make squares and rectangles and circles and fill them in with different colors but I already feel like a creative genius!

So here's my big question.....what else don't I know about?  I didn't know about running or Adobe Illustrator a year ago.  I also didn't know about Bento boxes before Pinterest existed.  So what else don't I know about?  Are there any other books or blogs or classes or things out there I should know about?  Anything about business or organization or motivation or surface pattern design???  Tell me everything you know!!!

Hugs,
Jenny

P.S.  The "Run Bunny Run Half Marathon" has been re-scheduled for the Saturday before Thanksgiving.  That gives me a month to finish training.  And it also gives me the opportunity to pre-burn off the calories I'm going to eat on Thanksgiving!

P.S. #2  Thank you SOOOO much to everyone for their kind words about Daisy in my last post.  And I'm sorry if I scared anyone with that post.  I just want to make it clear that screaming in the middle of the night IS NOT a sign of lung cancer in cats.  Lung cancer is EXTREMELY rare in cats so don't you worry your pretty little head with those thoughts!  But you should always get your kitty checked out by the vet if you're worried about anything that they're doing!