My new fabric

My new fabric that I ordered from JCaroline Creative came in last Friday. It is so amazing that I can't decide what I to do with it. So for now it is just looking lovely while sitting on a shelf. Any ideas?These three are from Michael Miller's Jane and Dick Collection. The Dots are my favorite!

This one is from the Lotus by Amy Butler Collection. It is much more amazing in person.=)

If you have any suggestions of what I can do with these send them my way!

Preciousness

I am in love with these pictures (as well as the precious little boy in them!) and I actually took them. I never take good pictures - as you can see by the two in the previous post. I just had to share these. Enjoy!

Happiness

I'm constantly discovering (or re-discovering) new things about myself. One of the things that I REdiscovered today is that organization really really does it for me. After our bi-monthly grocery shopping trip to Kroger, I decided to reorganize our cupboard and freezer. I also put everything where it belongs and chopped up and froze all of the veggies (red, green, and yellow peppers, vidalia onions, and celery). I also individually froze all of the chicken (18 breasts!) using Glad Press and Seal. Those of you who know me know this is a very rare thing! I am very proud of myself and feel like I accomplished something major. If you are not impressed by the pictures, don't tell me!

a REAL sewing machine

Here it is - my new sewing machine! It seriously rocks my world! I've been sewing on it since Tuesday and I haven't had a single knot in the bobbin thread or a broken top thread or anything else that my other machine did on an hourly basis. It's amazing. And as you can see it is seriously sturdy and that makes me happy!

WARNING!

DO NOT BUY a Singer Inspiration (any of them!) sewing machine!! It WILL break and you WILL spend lots of money having it repaired. I'm seriously thinking about boycotting anything made in China.

Sewing Machine Update

Ahhh. Sigh. Deep breath. Inhale slowly....exhale slowly. This is what I have been doing for the past 24ish hours to keep myself sane. I took the machine to the Singer repair shop in town and I knew I had problems the moment I saw the look on the guys face when I uncovered my machine and he saw what model it was. Apparently Singer just started with these "bottom of the line" machines and they aren't even made by Singer -- they are made FOR Singer in... you guessed it...CHINA. Basically they are pieces of crap and everyone is having serious issues with them. All the parts for them are made in China too. Yay. It would cost me $69 plus the cost of parts to have it repaired (every single time it needs repairing!) so if I have to have it serviced twice (which is very likely) I would have spent as much repairing it as I paid for the piece of crap in the first place! Enter deep breaths and Excedrin.

This was a very teachable moment for me. I have learned the importance of research. I spent all of last night and this morning reading reviews of machines and testing them out at the shop and decided to purchase a new Singer CG-500. There is nothing fancy about it - no 2,394,812 stitches or bells and whistles - but it is COMMERCIAL grade and is what is used in schools so it is made to run 6+ hours a day and last for 25+ years. Surely this can handle my sewing. Surely. Please Lord! Also - the base is metal and it reminds me a lot of the the machine I learned how to sew on (my mom's 1970-something old hoopty) so I feel comfortable with it already.

OK - so I think I might be a little overwhelmed. I realized this just now as I was emailing myself some ideas and a To-Do list because I'm afraid I won't be able to remember it all by the time I get home from work (I'm a nanny, and keeping up with a 3 year old boy and 5 year old girl can make you a little nutty!). I find it absolutly crazy and sad that I just had to email something to MYSELF!

On top of all the stuff I need to go out and buy for The Show (that is quickly approaching), my sewing machine has stubbornly decided to stop sewing and only make a terrible motor-burning-out-ish noise. I nearly threw it out the window (that is one thing I love about our apartment - there is always a window handy for throwing things out!!), but my husband managed to convince me that in the long run I probably wouldn't feel any better when the smashed up machine had to be completely replaced by a brand new machine (by the way - this machine was just purchased in early June!!). Needless to say the machine didn't plummet to its death and remained on the third floor until I carried it safely downstairs and put it in the car to take to the local Singer shop. Hopefully it won't cost me $100 to repair a machine that only cost me $160 in the first place!

It is very frustrating to have a broken machine when you have tons of ideas and little projects in your head. Of course I am feeling uber creative right now while I am 20 minutes from home relishing every moment of "Quiet Time" (aka nap time). Lord willing my machine will be up and running again this evening and I won't have to go broke to get it fixed! I'll go crazy if I can't sew SOON!

Birthday in LA

As mentioned before, we had a small shindig for my birthday at my grandmother's house while we were home in Louisiana. DD (the grandmother!) got my some pinking shears! I was excited! I also got lots of little sewing things that I have been needing but didn't want to go spend money on. . . buying fabric is SO much more fun than buying tailor's chalk and bobbins!! Ignore the date on the picture - -my camera's acting up.

Hobby Lobby coupons

Hobby Lobby's coupon of the week is 40% off any one item of regular price. This makes me almost giddy with joy because I have been waiting and waiting for them to give a coupon for ANY item and since it is my birthday week I get to go and buy a rolling cart thingamabob for my sewing machine. Yay! I just wanted to share the love. Go to http://www.hobbylobby.com/ and click on coupons/specials and you can print it out. It's good until the 8th (my b-day) and you can print and use as many as you want - just one per day per customer. I may be making multiple trips to the ol' HL this week!

Louisiana Trip

OK -- as you can see there has been no improvement on the cuteness of this blog thus far. BUT - thanks to my wonderful and super talented friend, Zach, that will change in the very near future. In the meantime though, I will continue to post and you and I will just have to deal with the blandness and look forward to the facelift.=)

Justin and I are at my parent's house on the lake in Louisiana for the Labor Day weekend. We are buying my dad's truck and spending some time with them. We are also celebrating my 24th birthday (which isn't until NEXT Saturday, but I won't be with them then so we are celebrating now). I love birthdays! They are wonderful!

As far as MoonPie Designs goes, I have a show set for the beginning of October that is keeping me very busy and, I must admit, a little stressed. My inventory was pretty much wiped out after my last trip to Louisiana in July (thanks to my wonderful family who loves everything that I do!) so I am having to work extra hard to build it back up. I'm also adding several new goodies so that is exciting (and again, stressful!). I'll have pictures up of some stuff soon (also thanks to Zach).