Happy Anniversary!

To me and Steve! Love you honey! :)

Meowy Christmas!

We had a cat named Christmas growing up...we actually named our pets after the holidays closest to when we got the pet...so Christmas was a Christmas present after another cat had passed on... We also had Easter the cocker mutt and St. Patrick, who was the coolest rumpy Manx that we rescued from the Humane Society...and numerous fish named ridiculous names like "The Fourth of July."

So in honor of Christmas the cat (I need to find a picture to post of him), I leave you with this:

MEOWY CHRISTMAS!

Mental Note to Myself...

This is not how magnetic snaps are supposed to look:

Rather, this is how the snap should look:

The washer goes against the wrong side of the fabric...duh!

I made another fabric basket for a Christmas gift for one of my grandmas...I ran out of steam to make the 3 baskets on my list, and only ended up with this one. I'm sure it will be a last second decision on who to give it to...the others will be sent for Valentine's Day if I get my mojo back. Completely scrappy, and to be honest, mostly made from fabrics I would not otherwise use. Some were from the Spare Change swap, and others are more vintage-y squares I got from Nanette when I ordered from her (all completely unique, begging to be a part of something scrappy like this). You can't tell in the photo, but the bottom is a deep purple mini cord. And the inside is a floral print from a thrifted pillow case.

And just because I'm having fun playing with my new camera, and the severe lack of photos earlier today, isn't the macro setting just amazing??

The full-size photo is even better!

AND...who is this little guy?? This is Meeko, he sometimes lives in our neighbor's back yard, and likes to crawl up the tree and peer at our kitties. Steve managed to capture this photo of him (with some Picasa editing thrown in to lighten him up and lessen the devil eyes).

Alright, y'all...this is probably the last real post for a while...so Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, Happy 2009, etc. etc. See ya on the flip side! :)

The year is coming to a close...

...and I packed up my sewing machine last night, so that's its nice & safe from kitties while we're in Nebraska over the holidays. All of my supplies and fabrics are put away, although I realized I need re-organize my craft closet when I get back.

My goals in 2009 are to start AND finish a bunch of quilts (so I can use up the copious quantities of fabric I acquired this year)...and to maybe take a class or two on garment sewing, as I would like to make myself some skirts.

At some point, I also need to catch up on some scrapbooking, which has gone into some serious hibernation while I've been sewing.

Cheers in 2009!

Blogger Issues

OK, so does anyone know what I'm doing wrong in blogger that doesn't keep all of the line/paragraph breaks that I'm intending.

It all keeps coming out as these crazy run-on paragraphs, that I don't even want to read, let alone anyone else!

Weekend Update Dec20-21

We had a pleasantly busy weekend, and I forgot to pull the photos I managed to remember to take off my camera :(

After more than 1.5 hours in the car Friday night, I made it the 20 miles from work to Leslie's house for a wine tasting party (Leslie works with Steve and provides the cats love & attention when we leave them to go on trips). Great party, we ordered a couple of bottles. :) Steve & I agreed to open one present when we got home - I got this lil guy and Steve grabbed a box and tore into...only to find he was opening one of my presents. Uh, yeah...he was having a little trouble reading his own handwriting on the sticker. So he put that package back, and opened up his binoculars (a true Geek, yes - a camping Geek!).

We opened the rest of the presents in the morning on Saturday...and I got Seams to Me, David Cook's CD, electronic Monopoly, Last Minute Patchwork + Quilted Gifts, Rabbids for the DS, and a bunch of great lil stocking stuffers, including these yummy things, which will go on the airplane with me on Wednesday (it's tradition). Apparently, the cashier @ Target asked Steve if the Monopoly, Rabbids & David Cook CD were for his kid... Um...not quite!

(photo added in as a post edit later)

On Saturday, we went over to Shannon & Cory's for turkey dinner & Rock Band. I can manage playing bass on easy mode and hit most of the notes - but Enter Sandman almost did me in, there's quite a few "easy" bass notes in that song! I like singing, but other people do too, so I just sat down to press buttons and hope my hand-eye coordination functions properly.

Sunday was spent crafting a few last-minute gifts. I've had this USC fabric for a while now, going to incorporate into a quilt for us since Steve is getting is Master's degree from USC, but I realized very quickly that the fabric wasn't going to be used for him. Fortunately, my friend Christina is now teaching @ USC, and fiancee Jason is also an alum. So I made Christina a fully reversible tote bag with the USC on one side, and this cute Recess panel making up the reverse (from local fabric store though, I needed to match the fabric up). I took the remainder USC fabric and made Jason a scarf backed in dark gray fleece (50% off @ Joanns right now!). Of course, I neglected to get a photo of the finished product. Gave them their gifts last night, before we went and walked around a crazy neighborhood in Torrance totally decked out in white lights and decorations. *sigh* I love white Christmas lights (there were a few blues in the mix, guessing for Hanukkah). This is what I came up when I googled for the Torrance lights. We didn't see the Simpsons...but we did see a polar bear praying to Baby Jesus, but I thought it looked like the polar bear was ready to stage a coup on the manger.

These scarfs are my favorite thing to make right now - super easy, and if you get a nice geometric print, you can just sew right down the lines. So then I took the leftover Echino airplane fabric from Joelle's bag and whipped up a scarf for my friend Carrie, one of my college roomies, later bridesmaid @ my wedding, and an aerospace engineer working @ Boeing. I'll give her the scarf on Friday, we're meeting up in Omaha to have breakfast @ Village Inn...I haven't seen her in over a year, and Steve has never met boyfriend Dave, who is a great guy!

Sorry for the linky post with no 1 photos - boo for me! :(

Tonight, I need to attempt to pack a bunch of warm clothes in one small carry-on suitcase... I will deserve a prize if I can accomplish this! Plus, my anxiety levels have kicked up a notch after hearing about the airplane near-disaster in Denver on Saturday night... Let's hope Denver has learned their lesson and stop allowing airplanes to take off in 31 knot crosswinds!

I always find the weirdest news on Yahoo...

...this time, I'm relieved to find that I'm less likely to die in California from a natural event than I would be in Nebraska, according to the Death Map. And apparently, moving to Colorado would be more hazardous to my life...

Strange Yahoo!

Crafting has gone by the wayside...

After my exhausting Sunday (still cursing that darn reversible bag!), I haven't really gotten back on the sewing wagon, and I need to... I'm still trying to be ambitious and put together a few more fabric baskets for my grandparents, along with a couple more handmade gift items for a couple of friends. All I've been able to do the last couple of days is just chill on the couch after work...and maybe muster up the energy to play a game or two of this:


Turns out that I'm really good at putting movies in order by their release, while Steve is REALLY good at identifying movies from just one screencap or drawing. So, by sheer dumb luck, I am sometimes able to beat him if there aren't too many of these picture games...
We also discovered last night that you can very cheapy buy UNO as an xbox download...but Xbox is a cheater! Somehow, I think there might be some UNO looming in my future!

Twilight Alert!

So I don't know if all the Twilighters are keeping up with the drama surrounding the New Moon movie, but here it is in a nutshell:

*Director Catherine Harwick out, Chris Weitz in

*Production being pushed up to very SOON so they can release New Moon in late 2009

*Jacob casting being revisited... I have to agree that Taylor Lautner is sort of a babyface, and probably can't keep up with the physical changes in the Jacob character. So I think I can live with this casting choice... but Prince Caspian as Aro?? I always though Aro was older...but I can handle the man candy Ben Barnes would bring to the screen - although he's got to be made up so he's all papery, whispy white skinned...

Sammy Saturday

On Saturday, we went out with Sammy, even though it was early (you know, 8:30am) and it was slightly rainy and cold outside... And wouldn't you know it, we were the only crazies out there...at least with the horse! Steve & Scott went with me, so they could practice hiking...and they got to break their boots into slightly muddy trails, and figure out how to deal with that!

It was a good time...here are the photos! The sky was really dramatic, with these light beams poking thru the cloud wall...they looked like spotlights on the water! The air was really calm...then a few hours later, the wind really kicked up and eventually blew in the rain Sunday night/Monday morning. In the last photo, Sammy is wondering if the camera is perhaps a carrot...I think not! He loves his treats!