Vote Early! Vote Often!

I've used that post title five times now.  I am so creative.  Anyway, I just wanted to remind you to vote in case you forgot there was an election happening today.  Because you just came out of the coma you've been in for the past four years.  Personally, I don't care who you vote for.  I really don't.  Just do it.




The pattern was a freebie from Urban Threads four years ago but looks like they no longer have it.  Sorry.

Calling All Geeks

Update:  Happy news -- I plugged my camera into the lap top and it automatically downloaded a driver so I can still use my camera.  Yay!  Thank you to Jenn, fullnovembermoon and Susan for your help!

So my computer couldn't be fixed.  Which really is not a big deal because I hated it.  It used to do this weird thing where it would lapse into a coma if I left it alone for 12 minutes.  Or 37 minutes.  It was never consistent.  You know how your computer will go to sleep after awhile and then you jiggle the mouse to wake it up?  Well, mine never woke up.  The light was on behind the darkened screen but no one was home.  From stuff I read on Google, there were other people with this same problem -- people with laptops and desktops from different manufacturers -- and guess what we all had in common?  Windows Vista.  I used to curse Bill Gates nearly every day.  Even though I doubt he had anything to do with Vista.


The good news is the tech guy was able to save all my pictures, my 14,987 embroidery patterns, and my iTunes. He pulled out the hard drive and transferred everything to a laptop.  This laptop has Windows 7 and the bad news there isn't a Windows 7 driver for my camera because it's too old.  I had to download drivers from Microsoft for my camera, scanner and printer to get them to work with Vista.  Apparently, I can't do this for Windows 7.


I haven't starting Googling yet but does anyone know if there are other places besides Microsoft to get drivers for things like older cameras so you can use them with Windows 7?  I might need to call Leo Laporte.


For now, my blog will be photo-free since I can't upload anything to the laptop.  So that means you won't be able to see all the lovely projects the one embroidery I've finished over the past few weeks.  And I couldn't post an October picture for the TUSAL. 

I'm off to cross stitch something that you'll probably never see. Have a good week!

Pets On Quilts Show

Insights From SewCalGal is hosting the 2nd Annual Pets on Quilts Show on her blog starting today, August 15th, through August 19th.  I apologize for not mentioning this sooner so there would be time left to whip up a quilt to enter, but it will still be fun to see the pictures of both pet-themed quilts and pets on quilts. 

SewCalGal is also collecting photos of pets on quilts to create a calendar that will be used as a fundraiser for local animal shelters.  She will be accepting pics until September 1st for the 2012 calendar.  Her contact information is at the bottom of this post.

Now, go see the pictures on Lit and Laundry of some cute kitties on and under their quilts.

Animal Planet's Casting Couch

From Animal Planet's June 30, 2011 email newsletter:

Animal Planet is casting for a new show about the relationship between people and animals.

We are looking for stories about how an animal, like a pet, may have turned someone's life around or helped someone in an extraordinary fashion.

For more info, go here.

Looking For Cookie Recipe

Yesterday was the Marine Corps birthday and since my mom was going to her monthly lunch with a bunch of former servicemen today, she wanted to make some cookies with her giant Marine Corps emblem cookie cutter for her friends. Long story short, the dough would not cooperate when it was time to roll it out so I told her I would track down a recipe that she could use next time.

I haven't Googled it yet but I thought I would ask you all if you had a recipe for rolled cookies. Wait. Is that what you call them? I only know drop cookies. Anyway, the kind where you use a cookie cutter.

Thank you!

P.S. Thank you to all our veterans for your service!

Two Great Quotes

From an Etsy interview with Amy Sedaris:

"My philosophy is simple: if plain people craft, and attractive people have sex, and you find yourself a crafter, take comfort in the fact that with crafting, the risk of STDs is greatly reduced."

"If you craft, and you should, craft with abandon and don’t judge your work. It’s the process that’s important, not the final product. Remember, for every person who deems your project crap, there is another person who hasn’t seen it. The only person you have to please is yourself, and what do you know about art?"

Read the entire interview here.

Just Shoot Me

Sunday night, my left foot slipped on something wet on the kitchen floor and I went down on my right knee and fractured my knee cap. The same one I broke three years ago.

If it wasn't for the pain, this would be hilarious.

I can't get into see the orthopedic surgeon until Monday and I seriously don't know if I will last until then. They put an immobilizer on my leg in the ER and that has really helped with the pain but it is still awful. If I keep my right leg straight, I can ease myself into a chair or my bed. (Plus I'm using a walker to get around and avoid putting any weight on my leg.) But to swing my leg up into the bed causes pain like you can't imagine. Last night I did just that and then laid in bed for five minutes waiting for the pain to subside. If someone is around, they can lift up my leg by the ankle and raise it until it's on the bed which is tolerable. But if no one is around to do that, I'm screwed. Of all the times not to have a personal assistant. Or a butler. Or even a husband.

Last time I did this, and no, I still can't believe I did it again, I was admitted to the hospital and they did surgery and after that I was pain free. This is different because it's still hurting three days later.

I'm off to see what other shows are saved on the DVR to watch. Unless someone wants to come over and pick up my leg and put it on the bed for me. I'll give you a dollar.

On the bright side, looks like I will have lots of time to make stuff. Including a sampler that reads "I can't believe I broke my fucking knee again."

Testing Testing 1 2 3

None of my posts are showing up on Facebook but I think I fixed it so let's see if this works.

Kandra's Virtual Quilting Bee

Kandra of Sibling Craftery is holding a Sew Bee Wonky Virtual Quilting Bee on Flickr. I'm not joining because I don't quilt, although I bet I would fit in with the wonky part, but I'm looking forward to seeing the finished blocks that everyone makes. You can get all the details on Kandra's blog.

P.S. I just posted some more embroidery patterns so check out the last post for that.

Postcards For Satori

There's a little girl named Satori who's having surgery at UC Davis on March 31st, 2010. Everything is taken care of and nothing is needed but her mom wants to make Satori's hospital stay a little more fun so she's requested we send her daughter a postcard. All the details are on Mom's blog.

Please include the date of her operation if you post this on your blog or Facebook. Hopefully, that will keep most people from copying it to an email and forwarding it to all 719 of their closest friends for the next 27 years.

Thank you!

Tagged By Bea

Bea over at Bea's Babbler tagged me to share eight things about myself.


8 things I'm looking forward to:

1. lunch with Dawn (who I have not seen since we were 8 yrs old -- yep, she found me on Facebook)
2. wearing regular shoes again
3. crafting with my new stash of made-from-recycled-plastic-water-bottles felt (thanks, Mom!)
4. having a piece of the ricotta cheese pie I just took out of the oven
5. wading through that pile of papers on my bedroom floor and hopefully finding my lost pocket calendar
6. the new seasons of Burn Notice and The Closer
7. using the sewing machine (finally!)
8. getting enough coins on Farmtown to buy a little house


8 things I did yesterday:

1. ate a porkchop and some brown rice
2. read some of Linda Fairstein's latest book (not sure if I like it enough to care who the killer is)
3. used my dad's computer because I thought my keyboard and mouse were ruined from a spill
4. cursed my dad's keyboard and mouse because they didn't feel "right"
5. sniffed a peony
6. put groceries away
7. watched several episodes of Chelsea Lately
8. yelled at cat for knocking things over on kitchen counter


8 things I wish I could do:

1. buy cute fabric
2. knit
3. crochet
4. get caught up with all my favorite blogs
5. type with all my fingers
6. turn back time so my dog would be here for another 15 years
7. get a pony
8. talk to my grandfather


8 shows I watch on television:

1. 24
2. Bones
3. The Closer
4. Law and Order
5. House Hunters
6. The Real Housewives of New York
7. NCIS
8. What Not To Wear

That was fun. Thanks, Bea!

I'm not going to tag anyone but if you decide to do this, please leave me some comments and so I can check out your answers.

Did I Miss Christmas?

(This has nothing to do with the following post but was anyone shocked to see Kim Bauer Monday night? And, I don't even want to talk about Tony. I can't wait for Jack to kill him.)

I've been sitting here, working on a post for Vintage Thingies Thursday and thinking I need to hurry up and finish it and then post it before I go to bed, when I realized it's just after midnight on Wednesday and not Thursday like I was thinking it was. (Later today, I am totally making myself a giant calendar to hang up on the wall I'm facing so I can keep better track of which day it is.)

I'm posting some old pictures for VTT tomorrow but this one doesn't quite fit with my theme of Meet The Kraygers (my mom's family) so I'll share it now. This was taken in June 1972, after the Brownie ceremony where you "fly up" to Girl Scouts. That's me in the middle with Leslie Talley on the left (your left) and Shelly Monroe on the right.

I know Leslie is on Facebook but I'm still debating sending her a message about our time in Brownies together. She may not have fond memories of it. Mine are kind of sad. My mother was the troop leader and I don't know why not but we never got to make S'mores. Once, we went to the local fire station for a tour and only one fireman was there because everybody else and all the trucks were out on a call to put out a fire in the field next to our elementary school. (I wish I could remember the name of the kid who started that fire -- we all knew him.) That's really all I remember about Brownies. And, now I'm wondering why I didn't have the cool orange tassels on my socks like Leslie did. Good times.

Happy Not Vintage Thingies Thursday, People!

I Once Shellacked A Hamster

I think I forgot how to blog.

I admit I've been spending far too much time on Facebook but looking at profiles of people I once knew has prompted me to go through lots of old pictures and boxes filled with things I've saved over the years, and that's brought back a lot of memories. Since I haven't finished anything this week, I thought I'd share what might be considered my very first craft project.

Meet my third grade teacher from University Park Elementary School: Craig Ritter. Thanks to Mr. Ritter, I learned how to play soccer. Except in his version, there were no positions like forward or fullback. Everybody got to be on the team and play, and the entire field was fair game. He called it Jungle Ball.



I had my first Rice Krispie Treat because of Mr. Ritter. I don't know how many batches we made the day before we went on Christmas vacation but all the kids in my classroom, and the one next door, ended up with a treat the size of a softball. I can remember gnawing on mine -- it was too huge to take a bite out of -- while waiting in line for lunch that day and thinking it was the greatest thing ever. My sister and I still tease my mom that if it wasn't for Mr. Ritter, we never would have known about Rice Krispie Treats since she never made them for us.

My first and only experience with shellac was in Mr. Ritter's class. He had asked us to bring pictures of something we liked to school. I had a thing for hamsters back then and I think I cut mine out of a how-to-take-care-of-your-hamster type book. Our project started off by gluing the pictures to a piece of wood. Then we got to shellac the hell out of it. I'm not sure if his lesson on using varnish fell under math, spelling or creative writing, but I remember I really enjoyed coating that piece of wood with shellac. (Can you get high if you inhale shellac fumes?)


Mr. Ritter eventually left my school and went to teach in Japan. He later came back to UP Elementary and became the principal. I'm sure he did a wonderful job in that role but I feel bad for the kids who missed out on making giant Rice Krispie balls or playing Jungle Ball or shellacking a hamster because they didn't get to have Mr. Ritter as a teacher.

Fun shellac fact from Wikipedia: Dried shellac is all-natural and is often used as a candy and pill coating.

Get Your Motor Running

I am so dang happy right now. Yesterday, I FINALLY got my drivers license renewed. (It had expired while it was suspended so it still needed to be renewed once the suspension was cleared.) I still need to get insurance coverage before I get back on the road but I am thisclose to being able to go down to the high school and doing donuts in the parking lot. Boy, I have missed that!

Then, yesterday afternoon, my foot doctor and I had a conversation about doing surgery on my deformity, (it's actually an enormous bunion), and she suggested operating on it now since I don't have anything major going on in my life at the moment, other than plans to drive all over Southern California in the next few weeks. The recovery could take anywhere from two to four months (six months for some people, she said) but the end result would be totally worth it. If I have this done, I could go back to wearing "normal shoes" (her words). Upon hearing that, I was immediately sold on the idea of having a triangular chunk of bone cut out of my foot. Hey, if it can get me back into my Chucks and my sandals and my red Mary Janes and my Keds, I say sign me up. It would have to be approved by the county medical program I'm in and that might take awhile but I told her to put in a request and start the process.

Did I mention how freaking happy I am? Pardon me while I go skip down the hall and maybe do a cartwheel or two.

Unfortunately Meme

I saw this funny meme on Llyn's blog. Google the phrase "unfortunately _____" and put your first name in the blank. Be sure to enclose it in quotation marks. If you do this, let me know so i can read your answers. I love this kind of thing.

Unfortunately, Patty didn't know any magicians who performed at children's parties

Unfortunately, Patty loses her friend to the war and when she reaches the age of 18, she wants to go in search of a familial link to him in Germany.

Unfortunately Patty moved to New Jersey a year later and my heart was broken.

Unfortunately, Patty leaves Marcy in charge of getting the eggs ready.

Unfortunately, Patty, for one day in her career, had decided to wear a dress.

Unfortunately, Patty broke her arm on the trip down, but she seemed to be enjoying things when I spoke with her.

Unfortunately, Patty had John's day all planned out for him - lined up full of chores.

Unfortunately, Patty still managed to sit in a bit of sheep poo!

Unfortunately, Patty decided to shut down her blog, so you can't click over to see what she had to say about it.

Unfortunately Patty is pregnant again pretty much because they were too horny and we were too slow.

Unfortunately Patty and I had no idea what was causing the changes in my personality or my terrible and unusual behavior.

Unfortunately Patty was injured during the mischief last night.

Unfortunately, Patty has no skills whatsoever, and yet again, fails miserably.

Unfortunately, Patty is wild, vicarious and ill-suited to take on the role of care-giver.

I Spend Way Too Much Time In My Bathroom

I started highlighting my hair years ago. It's naturally a mousy boring brown so with some help from Clairol, I'd brush in blonde highlights every few months. I switched to L'Oreal somewhere along the way and now I use their Couleur Experte. It's kind of a pain because first you dye your hair with the all-over color (good for covering up the gray) and then you do the highlighting, and you have to rinse out your hair after each step, and dry it too. But I'm happy with how it turned out. I even took before and after shots. Because I'm a geek with a camera these days.

I finished my Obama cross stitch the over the weekend. Here's a picture of it right before I did the last few stitches. Yes, I was standing up in the bathroom, soaking my foot. And, yes, I almost did drop the cross stitch in to the water bin at least once. This had to be one of the most monotonous things I have ever stitched. I felt like I was doing stitches in red for hours and then blue ones for hours. Probably because that's just what I did. I wanted to get it finished before he left office so I kept at it until it was done. Now, I need to figure out what to do next with this sucker. Would it be wrong for me to turn it into a pincushion? I have an idea for some Shrinky Dink pins to go along with it. Yeah, little Joe Biden heads. (I'm kidding.)

I'm hoping to have it finished by Friday, whatever I end up doing with it.

Quick & Easy Photo Tag

Suzanne has tagged me to post the 4th photo in the 4th folder on my computer. Before you look at mine though, you need to go look at her picture. It's fantastic.

My picture is of my former neighbor, Sweetheart. She is a Shih Tzu and her name is a perfect way to describe her. She is just the sweetest little dog ever. I used to babysit Sweetheart and her human sister. Some afternoons, I would take my dog, Maggie, and Sweetheart for a walk around the neighborhood. Maggie was never thrilled when Sweetheart would come near her. She would freeze and not move until Sweetheart stopped sniffing her. But when it was time for a walk, Mag would follow Sweetheart everywhere. I wish I had a shot of them together, walking down the sidewalk with their Shih Tzu wiggle.

The rules of this tag are quick & easy:
1. Go to the the 4th folder where you keep your pictures on your computer.
2. Post the 4th picture in the folder.
3. Explain the photo.
4. Tag 4 fellow bloggers to join in the fun!

I am tagging these four bloggers:
Llyn
Karen
Sally
Barbara

You know, the last time I did a similar tag (you had to post the sixth photo in the sixth folder), I didn't tag anyone specifically so I am going to cheat and tag four more people. I hope they don't kick me out of the tagging club for breaking the rules.
Mary
Loralyn
Arizona
Mary

Thanks for the fun tag, Suzanne!

It's Scanner Time

Years ago, my dad bought me a scanner for Christmas. My sister borrowed it, took it to her house and I never saw it again.

In 2005, my dad bought me another scanner for Xmas and I never used it. Until tonight. I promised a friend I would post some high school pictures on Facebook.

I have no idea what I am doing. I had to download a driver for Windows Vista since the software was outdated, and I have the instruction guide open, but I pretty much just put this little tissue holder in the scanner, closed the lid, and the next thing I know, it was making sounds and scanning away.

I didn't realize you had to put the item against the edge of the plate, which is why there's so much white around it. But hey, at least I got it to scan!


Here I am at Disneyland with my friend Laurie in 1979. That's me on the right. We had the day off from school (it was a teacher inservice day) and one of us had the brilliant idea that we go to Disneyland by bus. Since it wasn't a real holiday, the park was not crowded at all. There were no lines to get on the rides so we would get off of one and get right back on it again.

We had such a good time that day. I think that was probably the best trip I ever had to Disneyland.


Off to scan some more pictures!

Happy New Year To Me

I think the only resolution I made last year was to leave more comments on what I call "lonely blogs." You know the ones where no one has commented on a post even though the blogger is sharing a photo of something incredible that she made. I always feel bad when I see that. So, again, I pledge to leave more comments on all the blogs I read and not just the lonely ones.

This year, I've decided no resolutions until I found out if I would be getting my drivers license back. I had an interview on Tuesday at the DMV Safety Office. It was all very official. The safety officer asked me if I wanted a lawyer present (uh, do I need one?), I had to raise my right hand and swear to tell the truth (I kept waiting for Rusty the bailiff to make an appearance. Or Jack McCoy), she recorded the whole thing (which made me nervous enough to blank out on the name of my street when I had to give my mailing address) and she entered my accident report and doctor's statement into evidence. She was very nice but very business-like and I know she didn't find me very amusing. She said that after she reviewed her "findings," she would notify me by mail of her decision.

Well, today I got her notice to SET ASIDE my suspension. I still can't drive just yet -- my license actually expired on my birthday in September but I didn't know that until I used it for ID to cash a check at the bank and the teller told me. (I hadn't looked at the thing in months so what did I know?) I will have to go to the DMV and take a written test (wouldn't it be hilarious if I failed it?). And, I need to find a company to insure me, which won't be easy. After being stuck in this house for over two years, I finally feel like I am on the way to getting my life back.

So, here are my resolutions:

Craft more.
Drive everywhere.
Go To Felt Club. (It's not until closer to the holidays but I am going this year no matter what.)

Sad update: Rusty the bailiff died in 2002.

Happy Sunday

I can't believe I haven't blogged for a week. Yes, I am still spending way too much time on Facebook but I also have been busy with a few other things. I went on an interview for a job working with toddlers at a nearby preschool and they asked me if I would be interested in subbing for now. Of course I said yes. I still have to turn in some paperwork and since the school will be closed for the holidays, I won't start for awhile but I am so looking forward to going back to work. And, once I have an income again, you know what that means: blog giveaway time.

Have you heard about CPSIA or the Consumer Products Safety Improvement Act? I'm all for making sure handmade toys don't contain lead and other toxins but expecting American crafters to pay thousands of dollars for third party testing of their toys is ridiculous and will drive them out of business. And, this doesn't just cover toys but all products for kids under the age of 12.

Please click the cute teddy bear in the right sidebar for more information on how you can support changing the CPSIA.