Ruffly-skirt dress at a beach wedding

Comments and Yum

In recent days I have found it impossible to comment on some Blogger blogs.  (Hmm...I wonder if I can comment on my own...).  Amy, I wanted to leave a comment.  Crispy, I tried to say something nice.  You, too, Jennifer. And Alida.

But Blogger has kept me mum.  I understand there were some bigger Blogger issues a few days ago - some folks could not post at all!  I did not learn this firsthand, having neglected both blogs for a few weeks.  But imagine the hairpulling angst - something to say, and no way to blog it!

Yes, this blog has been greatly neglected.  I toss a few thoughts or a picture in, but have been slow to complete posts.  I have - gulp  -39 partial posts.  Some will never be posted - they are from long ago, and I have just not cleaned them out.  But at least 10-15 are recent...thinklings. School is finishing up, summer is getting all planned up, travel is coming up, and I just have not finished posts lately.
But just because I want to finish this post and to leave with something good:

Go here for Brownie-covered Oreos.  Serious yum. 

 And I don't even really like Oreos.  But I like these.  And I like Oreo cheescake.

Sew far...

I could spend all day reading Meggiecat's links.

...but I am NOT reading her entire blog right now because I am sewing!!!  I am working with ruffled fabric for the very first time.

Pretty cool, huh?  This fabric did not come from the website above, but from a store in the Orlando area. We love the colors.

 I wanted to do Earthgirl a dress kind of like this one, only big girl size.  But she wanted something more along the lines of a ruffle-skirted sundress like her friend's dressy cream-colored sundress.  So we borrowed the dressy sundress (actually, we borrowed her little sister's almost-identical dress) and I am creating something similar from looking at that dress and one of our favorite patterns. 

...but first, before I cut into the not-so-inexpensive chifffon-y stuff we got for the bodice, I am making a muslin out of some cotton - it will be a sundress top. 

...and there is shirring involved in the back. 

I am sew crazy.

Grace and Patience

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.  Gal. 5:22-23

It is SO easy to get frustrated with the very folks we love the most.  It's easy to become aggravated at friends and family members who make poor decisions.  It is easy for me to become irritated with myself.  Grace and Patience - we need it.

Feminina says it so well here:  Grace on the Fly.    "...try to be a character you would like..."?  Well said! Please, go read her whole post.

More on the Wall

an update on my April 1 post

The scrapbook paper wall art, mounted on 12"x12" canvases (I trimmed the paper to about 11.5" square), with blue, green, and charcoal ink smeared around the edges

I need to put that pillow cover on the sewing list - it's still just folded on with 1 safety pin.

--and the girls have taken over the TP roll art!

Here is some of that wall art I was talking about

Making TP roll art is addictive!  

I cut and glued this little piece together in about 15 minutes during the tornado warnings last week.

Spray paint with a little "Hammered" and clear coat, and we are ready to hang.

Pretty good little doodad, huh?

I picked this little metal and canvas piece at Hobby Lobby's 90%-off section. The frame was scratched up.  The sentiment was OK (not my fave...), but the green giraffe-skin background was probably the whole reason it never went home with anyone.

I used a brown acid-free marker to fix the metal frame, painted the canvas black, stencilled on my own sentiment, rubbed a little brown over it to age it, sprayed the canvas part with acrylic clear coat, and hung it up.

 -and you can see the faux metal doodad through the open door.

17 More Projects - Part 3: More wall art

Project ideas are really stacking up in my head.  It would be so much fun to take a week off, just stay home and do fun projects. 

I have an impressive stash of scrapbook paper, thanks to a store closure about 2 years ago. I'd prefer the store to have stayed in business : (  When it's time to make a card or do an album layout, I have the goods, and some of my prettiest papers I bought for pennies.  {At the same store closing I picked up 2 reams of nice-quality 11"x17" plain white paper for $3 total, and Earthgirl, her friends, and all the Sm'Arties have been drawing, coloring, painting, and writing on it for almost 2 years here, here, here. }

I've already done a couple of pieces of scrapbook paper art, hung in the multipurpose room (office, craft, school, home theater), but I want to add some to my bedroom.

The 2 papers in the multipurpose room, mounted on 12' vinyl tiles, Mod-podged.

Scrapbook paper auditioning for the roll of wall art.  Here are the 3 finalists.  The floral fabric is auditioning for the role of pillow cover.  I think it is a shoe-in. And imagine that headboard painted black and distressed...

Here are some places with cool ideas:

Frugal life Project's Wall Art - my original inspiration

Sew Can Do's wall art - another good use of pretty paper

Here's some more from sealed with a Kiss

and more from 31diy: easy peasy wall Art, using frames...

...which reminds me of my friend Science Geek's decor, and here .  She gave me 2 pieces for Christmas:

I love the sentiment on this one.  I love that she gave it to me. She's making the story of my life, too.

...and just when you think you've seen all the cool stuff your wall could take, I run across somethings like this pinwheel art.  ...which reminds me of this recycled magazine gift bow from How About Orange that I intend to make one day.  I've got plenty of magazines...