It's a Two-fer

My 5 hours of free time translated into 1 hour of sitting on the couch doing nothing while watching General Hospital, 3 hours of actual sewing, and 1 hour of house cleaning. All in all a productive afternoon.

Sometimes I just need a few minutes (or 60!) to decompress and relax my brain a little bit. I don't even knit - I just sit there - doing nothing. I'm not an avid follower of GH but I watch it every once in a while. It's good, mindless television.

Once I finally relaxed and got motivated I started working on 2 blouses at the same time. They are both from the same pattern (my good old TNT) so it was easy to do a little assembly line sewing. The first one is a copy of my friend, Cathy's, blouse. It has muslin for the bottom, a cute blue quilter's cotton for the bodice, and it will have a different, lighter quilter's cotton for the sleeves. The second one is a copy of a blouse I saw in the Eddie Bauer catalog. It's made from muslin and has tucks. Hopefully I will find some time this weekend to finish them.

Be Afraid....Be Very Afraid!

It's the not-so-wicked witch of the West Coast!

Try as she might, Noey just can't look scary with that little angelic face!

We stopped by the Halloween store on the way home from school Monday afternoon and picked up the final pieces of the costume. We were lucky to find a purple hat with purple hair, and a purple broom. (can you guess what her favorite color is?)

I finished up the little poncho I've been working on so today I'm sewing for ME! Grandma is picking up Noey from school and she will stay with G & G all afternoon until after dinner. That gives me a solid 5 hours to sew, sew, sew, and watch my Twin Peaks DVD. I got the complete series for Christmas last year. Noey used to go to G & G's house every Tuesday, so I had Twin Peaks Tuesdays. I guess I'll have to change that to Twin Peaks Wednesdays, since we now horseback ride on Tuesdays. My sewing machines are conveniently located in front of the DVD player, so it makes for a very pleasant afternoon.

The Halloween Costumes are finished!

Let the Christmas gift making commence!

I finished Sophie's costume Friday afternoon. She was here for a playdate, so we tried it on her, she declared it "Perfect!" and that was that!

This one is Noey's. Sophie's is pretty much the same, except with red details. The dress is a nice, soft stretch velvet, which could become a nightgown in the future. The cape has spider webs and purple sparkley's. It's hard to see, but it turned out really cute! Hopefully I'll get a good pic of the little witches wearing their costumes.

Immediately following the completion of the costumes I started on my Christmas gifts. By the end of the weekend I had two gifts complete. I made The Lunch Bag by Favorite Things. (actually I made 2!) It is so cute! I used an Amy Butler fabric that's been in my stash for a while. I had originally planned to make myself a purse with it, but I'm so glad I didn't. I really want to keep one of these bags for myself.

It's a Dog's life

It's been a while since I've talked about or posted a picture of Chrissy. I have a real love/hate relationship with that dog!

Of course we love her, but....since I am her primary caregiver I get a little fed up with her. (what with all the pooping and barking)

But then I hear Noey talking so sweetly to her, or see her all dressed up in doll clothes, or I find them cuddling on the couch and I realize she really is an important part of our family.

(Noey took the headshot - she's quite the little photographer, isn't she?)

Busy, Busy, Busy

I keep hoping things will calm down, but it doesn't look like it's going to. We have been busy girls! (Brownies, Sunday School, Gymnastics, Horse Back riding, playdates, homework, projects, etc....)

Last weekend as we were driving home from gymnastics on Saturday, Noey said "We never do anything fun!" So on Sunday we went to the local Pumpkin Patch. We've gone there every year since she was born. Noey picked out her pumpkin, petted sheep and goats, and had her face painted. She also went on a pony ride, which surprised me. Since she takes riding lessons every Tuesday, and is galloping, loping, and posting, I figured a pony ride on a mangy, old "horse" tied to a bar, going round in circles, would bore her! (plus it cost $7.00, so I was kinda hoping she wouldn't want to do it!)

Some crafting has been going on around here, just nothing for me! (and it looks like that's the way it's gonna be for a couple of months, what with Christmas coming and all!)

I have been drafted to make Noey and her best friend's Halloween Costumes this year. I actually really enjoy making Noey's costumes. I had made all of her costumes until she hit kindergarten and then she wanted store bought. The girls are going to be twin witches with capes and all. I took them to JoAnn's a couple of weeks ago and let them pick out their fabric. They both chose black stretch velvet for the dress, and a spider web print for the cape. I finished Noey's this past weekend and I hope to finish Sophie's today.

I have also been working on a poncho for a 2 year old that my friend, Sheri, asked me to make. It's the fourth poncho I've knit in as many months, so even though it's easy and pretty fast, it's kind of a drag. It's harder for me to knit or sew for someone I don't know.

I'm feeling pretty good about my Christmas presents. I already have a couple stashed away in the closet, and I've figured out what I can make for all the ladies on my list. I'm going to make some clothes and accessories for Noey's American Girl doll, and maybe some matching pajamas for Noey. For my mom, sister-in-law and niece, I'm going to make lunch bags and maybe slippers. I have a lot of the materials needed on hand, so I can get started right away. Now I just need to figure out what to do for the men!