look what i made!.....the first owl

this might become a habit...
i had seen these stuffed owls on etsy last christmastime and was going to buy one for bella. this year i made one. that is a BIG change, friends, are ya feelin' me.

i cut out the "pattern pieces" from a brown paper sack. (from my little peabrain)....here they are, in case you wanna go into the owl business for your wee ones...

first the pieces of the base body....


then the wings and belly

p.s. to make the second wing...TURN THE PATTERN AROUND!!!! not the fabric, not yourself...not your attitude...it took me THREE times to get that! don't forget!

next the eyes and nose (beak...)

(it wasn't until i was sewing the eyes together that i decided i didn't like using the contrast fabric for the eyeball....so i used glittery black felt which kicks so much ass instead...also, beak is upside down in this pic. what you do to make it is make a "baseball diamond"...a diamond with a rounded top...viola! bird nose! the eyes are concentric circles, as you can see... i hate talking down to the reader AND have ocd...whatchagunnado...)

THEN i got a bright idea..."i don't want the back to be plain. i will sew the child's name on it...yay!"...jonathan cut out "letter patterns" for me (thnx jonathan dear)....this BRIGHT IDEA took FIVE HOURS to handstitch and fill! yay! but here is the picture of the pieces....
the "bellaluna"

the indigochildish idea behind the name was, (besides the PLAIN, which really was the main motivator) that wee ones who don't know their name yet would be able to SEE their name and maybe learn it, and have a "sense memory" for the letters in their name.(plus it shows ownership...something important to tots....i made that up)

THen the steps (this is where i refrained from taking pictures of every single little step like other yuppiebitcheswithblogs might do to you....i THINK you can take it from here...if i did it then certainly you can!)

*** i handstitched the bellaluna letters on the back and stuffed them with bits of filling (from an old pillow i had bought at walmart for $3...NEVER buy batting again! NEVER)


***then i sewed the belly on to the front and stuffed it a little.

***then sewed the wings on and stuffed them....

***then i sewed the eyes, guess what i did then...you're right! i stuffed the individual pieces of the eyes! you are smart! i knew it!

****then i machine stitched as much as i could (i stuffed the ears first THEN put it all inside out...) which wasnt much and was kinda painstaking, but i did it, leaving (of course) a hole in the bottom to stuff the rest....

***then i stuffed it...(that word is getting old, isn't it?) and sewed shut the hole.

***did the little tiny nooks and crannies that i had to fix and sew...

then sat back and MARVELED That i did it....

****then i took these pictures to share with you....

***Then bella got to hold it for a minute before it goes into the solsticecloset...

july 14, 2007

we were wildly in love. we were young. we didn't quite "get it" yet. we both liked marilyn manson. he read my tarot the night we met (i still have it...it was correct).we spent every minute together. we tried to grow up together. we failed at that. i am now trying to grow up apart. he wrote me poetry. i sent him hundreds of cards. we really tried. we both really, really failed. we did some things right, though. very right. our son is gorgeous, amazing, smart, and funny...just like us. we had neat things. we did neat things. we tried to supress our darker urges and places in us. we failed. the thing i miss most is the blue of his eyes and his laugh. the thing i miss most is his fathering. the thing i miss most is even his gutsy way of telling me to go to hell. i don't really allow myself to think of all this very often. the therapist says that is not the way to go about it. but my heart aches. it hurts. and when i think too hard about him i feel like i will die too...

fabrique

it looks unassuming, sitting there like that, doesn't it???? oh, but it isn't! guess what it is...just guess....
it is a HUGE bag of vintage fabric...i would say about a HUNDRED yards and more....
this was a gift to me from grandma mae whilst i was on vacation. free. gift. omg.

i could dream of buying a hundred yards of vintage fabric...then it could happen....
enjoy!

(i am sooooo grateful i could burst!)















and a STACK of flannel for bella jamas...a STACK....

and a PILE of corderouy....a PILE...omg

sabbatical....09.....deux

more musings...

*my body is changing, slowly but surely...marci's is very transformed. she is thin. this gives me HOPE, something i need, because i am eating like shit.

*i MISS The gym when i do not go there....a lot.

*i hate television. alot. with a burning passion. i am superior to television. my mind is VERY disciplined. people don't really like to hear me brag about that. people need to quit watching television.

*my home is very welcoming to come back to. it is an oasis. it is gorgeous, and believe it or not, it is back together the FIRST night i am home. everything is put away or sorted and away...the dishes are done....i ran all the errands, i cooked the dinner, caught up the laundry, and did all the groovy stuff...IN THE FIRST DAY

*just because you finally get the glass bottle thing down, that is not a reason to yank out your iud and have another baby...can you imagine i had that thought? another baby, holy shit.....sunset morrison moonstone ;)

*my cousin tatted me a MOONSTONE....its friggin incredible...will post a pic tomorrow or so when it is hung...gorgeous

*i heart books. alot

*http://indigoadults.wordpress.com/ check that shit out. seriously...check it out

*i am listening to a killer accoustic version of "romeo in black jeans" on kbco the studio c channel...one of my new favoriteist things...

*senator al franken ....no kidding.... awesome

*holy crap......


*i am not quite portraying my mind very well this evening. maybe tomorrow, huh?

sabbatical....09

wow...those are two gorgeous mommas....(she has the best one in her camera!)that is marci and i...two of the bestist grrls i know...
now on with the musings....(in no particular order---the musings may be actual thoughts i had whilst sitting, dreams i had whilst sleeping, and hey, folks! i DROVE for over TWENTY FOUR HOURS in the past week....what have you done??! haha)

*jonathan and i are like two twining garlands of ivy that have been wrapped around a telephone pole since the 1950's....( i saw some of those...) we havent been wrapped since the fifties, but the pole is our marriage, the kids, our LIFE and the base love...and we MAY be DIFFERENT from each other, but just TRY to unwind two twining garlands of ivy from around THAT pole...good luck with that

*there are very, very, very crumbling parts of this country...i was right about that...and i would bet that the crumblingest parts of it voted mccain...

*there is hilly, green, AMAZING country in kansas...i did not remember that.

*the greyhound bus is ALWAYS running....ALWAYS...ALL THE TIME...constantly forever

*my son sebastian has a beautiful family and we have all been aged by our loss...the two year anniversary of which was today....:(

*the town i began to raise sebastian in is full of wretched people, just yuck. i remember knowing i couldn't even TRY to be like THAT....once again, i was correct.

*my cousin owns the town of farmington iowa and i am so glad i got to see it with her. she has done AMAZING things with her life, all things considered....(kinda like me, only a million times more and better... go check out her blog if you don't believe me: www.nicholejarvis.blogspot.com)

*my children are GOOD travellers. even the babies. all three in a lumina for well over twentyfour hours this week, and mostly always smiling and loving on each other...yeah. you NEED your minivan, mmmmhmmm....

*everyone showered me with gifts...i need to remember to be more GIVING...LOTS more...

*we went from having zero copies of the deathly hollows to having two copies of the deathly hollows. hardback. for zero dollars. that is over forty dollars worth of two books....speaking of books!***the bookstore in eaton was closing, so i got TWO BAGS of books for ten bucks (a LOT of books, man) and found two books that i have been WANTING to give to my cousin for a DOLLAR EACH at hastings...yay!...and i read half of the book Truth (with jokes) by SENATOR franken...good (tedious history) stuff

*nebraska is GROSS...there is NOTHING good there...

*we listened to the song "mr bojangles" in its ENTIRETY....approximately 2 minutes till the end of the ENTIRE SONG, bastian said increduously "What is he even talking about??!!!" hahahahaha omg hilarious!

*i just survived countless of billions of possible deaths at 80 miles an hour (yes, i drove that fast the ENTIRE way, for the MOST part)....i am very grateful to have gotten here alive...

*toast is NOT a FREE HOT BREAKFAST...

*stayed at a hotel and did NOT turn on the television, nor swim in the pool...i have changed.

*the sprawl along the I-25 corridor of colorado between loveland and fort collins is an INTENSE spectacle...the sprawl along harmony road in fortcollins, same thing...wowzer (can't someone tell these people we are in an economic CRISIS?!!!)

****************
well, hell. i have a LOT to do tomorrow, don't i...i wanted to to this but it is pushing two...a.m.

i will have MUCH more to type later...and will kick myself till the tylenol pm kicks in for what i forgot...it's a lot

goodnight world