dustbowl.

"Houses were shut tight, 

and cloth wedged around doors and windows, 

but the dust came in so thinly

 that it could not be seen in the air,

 and it settled like pollen 

on the chairs and tables, on the dishes."

- John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath

catch up...

Just a little catch up post!  Last week flew by in a whirlwind of ...  oh wait. Nevermind.  I did absolutely nothing of import last week.

I haven't touched a project with thread and fabric in a couple of weeks, so.... I still have a maxi dress to finish (so close!!)  No mojo tho, unfortunately.

I've seen several blogs go silent the past year. Seems the sewing blogger baton is being passed to a new generation. Not sure how I feel about that, or what that will mean for me and my space here, but I'm just going to keep on keepin on until I have nothing left to say. 

In "it's about time to screw up a body part" news, I've been walking every day for several weeks and yesterday I decided to be adventuresome and rolled down one of the hills on my hike.   Oh, all right, it wasn't on purpose.  I got off lucky...skinned one knee, wrenched one shoulder, sprained one ankle and one wrist.  I think I need better shoes.  I ordered these yesterday:

See that little spike?  They're cross country running shoes, and I need that extra traction since I walk/hike over land.  (i.e. no pavement!)

AND... I've lost little over 20 lbs since April.  This is pretty exciting to me, and I've been keeping it close to the vest because I hate oversharing.  Maybe in the next few weeks I'll make something and you'll be able to see my progress in the photos.  I'm starting to see it in my clothes.

I've also read about 12 books the past 2 weeks.  I'm not even exaggerating.  I'm a Kindle FIEND right now.

I've written about 15000 words on my little novel that could, that's starting to take shape and scare me with it's realness.  (That means I regularly have panic attacks about it and wander around the house and yard mumbling to myself. The kids just ignore me. Well, they ignored me before the mumbling too, so...)

We have Olympic fever at our house.  Do you??

G and I have decided we are moving to one of those tiny countries that sends only a few athletes to the games to increase our odds of qualifying to walk in the opening ceremony.  We think we could probably swing a curling team.  I'll be the sweeper.

For London, though, we're Lochte fans. 

But then...who isn't?

Except maybe Michael Phelps.

Speaking of...here's another Call Me Maybe parody.  This time with water!

things found.

As the eagle was killed by the arrow 

winged with his own feather,

so the hand of the world 

is wounded by its own skill.

--Helen Keller

wednesday wisdom.

source

Remembering Sally Ride

I spent many a summer night in my childhood sleeping outside, looking up at the stars.

I wanted to be up there.  I wanted to be surrounded by the deep, vast, endless expanse of space.  It has never felt like an emptiness to me, or even something that needs to be filled.  

To me, it was adventure. And possibility.  

It was hope and dreams and fantasy and faith.  

And when Sally Ride made her first flight into space, 

I was watching.  

Source

I never really stopped looking up.  

Godspeed, Sally.

Louis Vuitton Fall/Winter 12-13

The ad campaign is called The Louis Vuitton Express, and I just spotted it in my August '12 W magazine. Have you seen it yet? Very interesting:

image credit: Louis Vuitton

There are about 4 different decades colliding in these garments.  It's decade soup.  I love love love the necklines and oversized collars (shades of Downton Abbey showing up yet again?) Also...the hats.  I think I love them?  I love to look at them at least.  I also love the idea of luxurious fabrics, but the patterns are of course a little too subdued for me personally.

ha.  gotcha.

Also?  That hair handbag looks suspiciously like Chris March's runway collection for Project Runway (season 4? maybe?):

source

I remember being completely creeped out by the hair skirts, dresses and collars. And I completely hated this particular dress.  It looks like he wrapped the model in clearance aisle tapestry ribbon, then stuck a hair skirt on her.  (what's that saying about a hair shirt?)

And I'm pretty sure I remember Nina and Michael being creeped out by the hair too.  Hmmm. Wonder what they would say about LV's collection??

Fashion Inspiration: Norah Jones

How I love Norah's music, but lately I've been loving her fashion sense too.  And her HAIR.

Credit: katarokkar

Credit : asterix611

Credit: giuvax

Credit:  Drongowski

Credit: ggewen

Now I think I'll go list to Happy Pills.  It's been one of those days.

wednesday wisdom

original source unknown

2 Fab Dames, 1 Birth Day

Barbara Stanwyck

July 16, 1907 - January 20, 1990

“She has played five gun molls, two burlesque queens,
half a dozen adulteresses and twice as many murderers.
When she was good, she was very, very good.
And when she was bad, she was terrific.”   -Walter Matthau

Ginger Rogers

July 16, 1911 - April 25, 1995

“After all, Ginger Rogers did everything that Fred Astaire did. 

She just did it backwards and in high heels.”  - Ann Richards

Hey Han Solo, you're 70 today!

"I'm Han Solo, captain of the Millenium Falcon."

(Or... Indy. Whatever.)

Happy Birthday, dude.

wednesday wisdom.

Purchase this print at ETells Tales

Share it Maybe...

Dare you not to sing along.

Sorbetto Maxi: In Progress

A peek at what I've been working on the past few days...

The pattern is the free Colette Sorbetto tank top, lengthened 36" to "maxi dress" length!  I gathered the front instead of pleating, and added a smidge of width at the name (grading to the armhole edge) so that I could add a drawstring waist.

The fabric is a cotton law that I got from Fashion Fabrics Club quite a while back...maybe even last year. 

For the drawstring, I decided to do an exposed casing:

That was a lot of skirt to tuck out of the way while trying to pin/sew in place, let me tell you!

Just needs a hem, and armhole bindings and it'll be ready to wear!  I'll snap some photos later this week to share of the finished dress. 

In bloggy news...
You might notice a new Crowdwise widget on the right and a new ad disclaimer on the left.  I'm about to collect my first "earnings" check from adsense or amazon (I can't remember which).  This blog has never been a "money maker" for me, nor do I ever expect it to become so.  I already work full time, so I've never needed this site to be an income generator. However, if a few clicks can earn pennies for charities, I'm all in!

I've been pondering what to do with the ad monies, small though they may be, and have decided to set up a Crowdrise page.  My chosen charity for the foreseeable future is Mary's Meals.  Mary's Meals provides one meal per day in a school setting to poverty stricken children in several countries around the world.  Their mission is two-fold, to feed the hungry who might otherwise go unfed, and to do so in a school setting so as to provide a tangible way to climb out of poverty: an education.

If you're unfamiliar with the mechanisms of Crowdrise, my donation site is set up to forward all monies donated to the Mary's Meals USA charity by default.  I never see or receive those donations.  BUT if you feel motivated to donate to this very worthy cause, I'll see and appreciate and send you virtual XOXO!

Otherwise, anytime you click an ad on the left sidebar and purchase something from an affiliate, I receive a few pennies on the dollar.  I will personally forward all ad revenue to my Crowdrise page as those monies come in (and keep you updated!)  In fact, I've already sent in a $20 donation from my Mr. Rebates account earnings for the month of July!

Happy Monday everyone!

Oooooklahoma...

“Can you see the sunset real good on the West side? 

You can see it on the East side too.” 

--S.E. Hinton, The Outsiders

wednesday wisdom

RIP, Andy.

I think if you're of my generation, you grew up wrapped in the simplicity, humor, and wisdom that was the Mayberry RFD. Every afternoon, 4 p.m.:  me, cookies, milk and Andy, Barney, Opie, Goober, Gomer and Aunt Bea.

Irreplaceable.

Thanks, Andy.