again with my obsession with blogs

so today while i should be doing excellent workingness at my boring day job i am again instead working by reading and wishing blogging was my life like linda's at rosealamode!

she is giving away a pair of KM2shoes on her blog and since i am going to charlie's bridal shower tomorrow and we spend all day trying to figure out what amazing shoes she should wear to her wedding and have not yet come to a perfect pair, i thought why not try to win them for her? yes, i really am that nice in real life. they don't make em like this anymore.

check these out:

aren't they pretty?

my plan is to paint her and her soon to be husband a picture for their new log cabin that they're building (hence no money for pretty shoes) which should be done just after the wedding... but a girl should have something pretty and fun for her bridal shower/wedding to call her own.

and seriously, she's like 5'2" and her husband to be is 6'4". she needs all the height she can get.

i should get paid for this...

oh wait, i do get paid for this.

i had a discussion with my dear friend charlie today about how we should get paid to read blogs because we have excellent taste in blogs. it's true. we like blogs. and we have great taste. and i'm wasting time. because right now. i'm getting paid to blog. WHAT? yes, because i'm sitting at my desk writing this not becuase i'm home in my pjs on this dreary day reading blogs like i would like to. this is how i spend most of my work days. don't tell my boss.

anyhow. i pulled this off of http://honeyinthesun.com/ today. way to cute not to share.

i know i've sworn so many times that i would actually get back to sewing so i've semi given up saying it. truth of the matter though, when i was sick last week i did find myself roaming around benjamin franklin (yes we still have one of those up in here) and i got some super sweet fabrics. i'm planning on starting with curtains for our bedroom (i will notify you with pictures if/when this actually comes to be) and i want to cover our ugly pillows as well. we have an orange one and a red one. who does that? they match with nothing. maybe that's why i like them so much. like them enough to cover them up that is...

houzz

eclectic living room design

anyone who would like to take over my living room and change it to look like this, i give you full permission.

in the mean time i think starting some sewing projects to make my life somewhat like my fantasies are desperately in order.

so we just moved...

across the hall. big step, i know. but seriously. we have a washer/dryer. that's right folks. i'm living the dream.

here's the thing. the entire apartment is one color. one cream yellow/dirt color. so i'm looking for some inspiration. i'm looking for some decorating/sewing/crafting ideas... and i'm looking for some presents. bring 'em on!

i'm mildly obsessed with my bedroom at the moment. i want a headboard. i want a grown up bed. and i  want pretty walls and a room that i don't want to leave. the living room can be next so keep your eyes open but i've wanted a new bedspread for a while and i think a cover for my current brown and blue mess is going to be first up on my sewing project list. the following were all taken from http://www.bng.com/ i love them. if they wanted to, i'd totally let them redecorate my whole place.

there isn't anything i don't like about this room.
i love the headboard. the details. the colors.
i LOVE the wallpaper. good. all good.



this one's a little festive for my taste but i love the detail and attention it gets. i want that.



i love this night stand. and the wall color. and the light.

i'm mildly obsessed with green.




this one i added mainly for the wall color. that's
kinda what i was thinking of. i like how our current
color keeps things bright and the sun looks amazing
on it but ... maybe it's too matchy?





this is a little dreamboaty for me but it fits in with the
current colors of the room. peaceful. calm. pretty.
i want a little more pizazz.





this room i could not stop staring at. i think i'm in love.
i love the detail and lines in the bed. i love the waves.
i LOVE the coloring. and contemporary. cleaness
of it all. i'm not sold on the wall color. but it fits.

ok. that's it for my dreaming for now. hopefully i'll be able to check out some fabrics tomorrow and therefore be able to start stuff up again. i've been lazy. super lazy. i haven't even finished my knitting! i'm such a bum.

dinner date with miss jenn greene

this is what women do who don't celebrate easter. we went out to portsmouth. we were going to go to agave which a wonderful mexican restaurant but for some reason they don't believe in allowing people who don't celebrate easter to have loads of tequila. (aka they observe the holiday) so we went across the street where i ran into my dear friend hans. which is amusing because i run past a road that has the same name as him. which conincidently happens to be named after him. which is amusing because he's actually going to work at a restaurant in wolfeboro this summer and his cousin is a rival lawyer in this town. his cousin. yay!

don't be afraid of my sexy face
or my gigantic arm. trust me.
gym is getting done.

we are the sexiest women in the world.

yes i am the most beautiful woman you've ever seen.

* be warned this post was created while intoxicated. *

apartment therapy

i know this blog is about my sewing adventures and recently hasn't even been about that... more so my knitting adventures and i SWEAR that is to change... but the truth of the matter is i'm completely distracted... you see i may soon (as in the end of this month) have a brand new apartment which is actually right across the hall from my current apartment. BUT this apartment has a WASHER/DRYER. and therefore, i'll be able to wash my fabrics in the comfort of my own home... how stinkin' fabulous is that?

so in light of this recent news, i found this picture at apartmenttherapy.com (ok so i actually got it from the email i lovingly signed up for)

things i love so much about this picture:

• bold colors. i absolutely love bold colors. problem is i'm a bit of a commitment phob when it comes to them. i want them but i want to be able to change them out every day. or every time i think of it. or every time is see a color that i'm like wow that's fabulous. -- side note: our apartment right now is a complete mess of this crazy fleshy color. it's like a pink but kinda peach but kinda brown but kinda your grandma's bathroom. but it's ALL OVER OUR APARTMENT. in the bathroom, in the bedroom, in the kitchen, in the living room... ok that's all the rooms we have. it's a small place but covered in the same color all over. i'm hoping with the new place, we'll not only have color in our stuff but we'll also be able to paint!
• books. i love books. i love bookshelves. books from school. books that maybe i haven't read yet but if i keep them in a place that i see them maybe i will.. i love that you can color code them. i love alphabetizing them. i love looking back on what i've done... oh. hello degree in art history. where have you been?
• and i love CLUTTER. which is strange for a organization lover. i absolutely love organizing but i love organizing things more. like having things around. knick-knacks. things from days of fun. and then putting them together in different ways. maybe i should have had a career in marketing? [random side note: erik HATES clutter. he hates things. my opinion. he can't stand having anything on counter space or things on dressers... or coffee tables. how did i fall in love with this man? our decorating styles are completely different... my ideal - vintagey, warm, boldly colored, filled with fun and awesome. his - stark, modern, clean. boring. :)]
• i love the frames. i want a bunch of random things framed and set up like that in the new place... but all we have are pictures of erik and i kissing. which is weird.

ok that's it for now. i promise to return when i have more insightful information to share about my crafting habits. book club starts friday. we'll see how that goes.

$60 PLEASE

 i don't know if i've ever wanted anything more in my life but right now (i'm at work) and all i want is to run out and buy fabrics and sign up for this AMAZING E-COURSE!

Home Ec Online

this is exactly what i need. that and to figure out how much thread and fabric i need for these projects. this will DEFINITELY get me started in the right direction. out of my knitting slump. and into ACTUALLY SEWING!

and seriously, have you checked out these courses? what's entailed? it's quite possibly the most fabulous mess of everything i could ever want to know. i seriously feel like by taking this course i will be able to conquer the world and then some. AHHH!! i'm so excited.

(and can i seriously use the word seriously anymore? my goodness.)

this how i spend my time.



don't judge.



 this has been my set up for the past... almost month now. i barely have three feet knit and i've run out of yarn twice. :-/

(and yes, that is chocolate syrup next to me. again i said don't judge.)

i feel like if i had put more thought into this mess i've gotten myself in, i'd have chosen some prettier colors but when i started i wasn't thinking... oh, i'll knit a blanket. i was thinking, i wonder how this works. i should try it out.

my current goal is to get this done. and to get some fabric. maybe this weekend i can meander out into the wild fabric stores of new hampshire and find something awesome. maybe there i'll get a hankering to drop my knitting needles and start up a loving relationship with suzy sewing machine. you're right, though. there's no way i'm going to get anythign accomplished being afraid of my sewing machine.

it's a jungle out there. and i'm afraid i have the wrong shoes.

wedding fever

http://www.sublimestitching.com/weddingwishes

so this summer my dear friend charlie is getting married and i need to figure out something amazing and awesome to get/make her with my limited amount of skills.

and i've already hinted that my other dear friend amy will be getting married next year... i will hopefully accomplish making her quilt which in my awesome thinking patterns should be a mix of embroidery/quilting magic -- my plan is to do a basic square for the top, rotating blues, then switching to greens for the bottom and covering it with a brown/green pattern to make it look like a tree. her wedding is going to be tree themed and i'm probably more excited to plan it than anything... and now that i've mentioned all this i have to find a way to hide my blog from her until that very day... hmmm.. not well thought out i guess...

but the problem with charlie is that she knows how to make all of this amazing stuff... in fact, she gave me my sewing machine and is teaching me all of the skills i have... so what can i make a person who is already out skilling me?? AND her wedding is THIS AUGUST! i need skills! i need suggestions! and thoughts. and a good boost of encouragement that my dreams will some day become realities...

maybe if i had these all my problems would be solved?

are these not the cutest sissors from the most amazing site?

http://www.sublimestitching.com/owlscissors

this is my next project... learning to stitch! i feel like it goes with my sewing goals quite well...

things i'd like to accomplish in april

1. buy thread
2. buy fabric
3. figure out a pattern
4. make something

sounds easy right??

i'd also like to take sewing lessons if anyone knows any place around here that has them.. or if i could do them online that'd be cool too since i HATE driving and refuse to do it on a regular basis. that's what i get for living in the middle of no where. you have to drive every where and therefore grow to despise it. but i digrest.

i did find a pattern for an apron and and eyeglass case on bhg.com yesterday so maybe i'll start with those... it just seems so redundant that you have to start out so small and work your way up to bigger things. i don't want to start with square quilts and easy peasy stuff.. so what if i can't draw a straight line... i'm an expert. i just don't know what all the thingys people say mean.

knitting circles around you

so i'm trying... i figured i'd start with some easy knitting patterns since i'm doing that anyhow and then maybe when i make my way into sewing i'll be a pattern reading genius and everyone will be like whoa, i didn't know you could read patterns so well. maybe you should just make your own ...

which p.s. i already am attempting with nothing else behind me and much frustrations will lay ahead..... i have an idea for a quilt i want to make for my friend who's getting married NEXT august... like 2012... it'll probably take me about a year to get it done since, again, i'm starting with no background and only frustrations. funny how when i'm away from my sewing machine for a while how cocky i get in thinking myself ahead...

so ANY HOW i was looking up how to make something that curves in knitting... like not just an angle or a square how you make something 'u' shaped or i guess circular and i stumbled across a few websites and they're all like oh... it's easy here get your four needles out and i'm like WHAT FOUR 4 FOUR NEEDLES??????!?!?!?!? they must be joking... and they aren't. somebody please tell me there's an easier way to do this? PLEASE?? no??

ugh. i need to buy more needles. i need to finish what i'm doing so i can get off my needles so i can buy  more needles so i can do more knitting. how on earth am i ever going to get to sewing?

someone force me to step away from my needles...

i'll be honest. i don't even go by my sewing machine anymore. at times, i glance longingly at it... wondering what it would be like to have fabric that was beautiful and more than one color thread. i dream about the day i'll be a sewing goddess and everyone will come to me and pay me mondo dollars to make them all sorts of lovely items. pillows, blankets, purses, aprons, dresses.... you want it, i can do it.......................................... ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................
 my dream goes on...


until then, i'm still knitting. i know. kniting the same blanket.

over the weekend the husband and i went to his parents house. they have this super old house filled with super old stuff though they aren't super old. i think the house was built in the 1800's and has been in the family for just as long. and NO ONE has ever learned how to throw anything out. ANYTHING. which is amazing and wonderful until you're sitting next to 5,000 egg crates breathing in dust fumes (yes, fumes) wondering how on earth to get back to the door.

(erik [the huzz] found and restored his old nintendo. ORIGINAL nintendo. trust me, it's not as exciting as it used to be... so now that sits next to my poor sewing machine.. i should name my sewing machine. i'll name her suzy, suzy sewingmachine. poor suzy..)

anyhow, i managed to get some more yarn and keep at my wannabe blanket. it's 128 stitches long and currently a knee length skirt. erik likes to say it's his cape. yes, i know i have the world's most awesome husband.

i really want to be done with it though cause i want to use pretty yarns and make something that's circular. it looks hard but after no challeges in this blanket, i'm ready to shake things up a bit.

so that's me. hopefully, we'll start getting some exciting posts soon. maybe i'll knit a dragon and it'll try to eat me? eh... maybe.

wicked wicked wednesday

so i think it's been decided that i need a pattern.

i sat at my sewing machine yesterday --DETERMINED! i was going to make something. anything.  actually i got inspired by seeing this woman's cute little change purse that was shaped like an owl and i thought, i can do that. well. i probably could if i had a pattern. or an idea of what i was doing. or even an idea of how to do it.

so i made a box. well, like a fabric pocket. the husband showed me that if i put the thingy down on the side the metal part comes down farther and then even though i can't move the fabric however i want to it moves in a straight even line.. who'dathunkthat?

but now that i have straight line down, i want to go bigger. i want purses and blankets and dresses. i want them made and done by me with no hassle. i want to LOVE my sewing machine.

well, we're working on that. right now i just lust. lust after all the things i hope to one day be able to do.

and in the meantime, i knit. knitting is my go to when i'm frustrated with my sewing because i have no idea what i'm doing and no idea how to do anything and no pattern or thought in mind of what i want to make. i knit. because knitting does not require thinking. especially what i'm doing now. a blanket with no purls. nothing fancy. just occasional switches in color.

and omygoodness, i tried to switch up to this thick pretty purple yarn and put it in my "blanket" which i was basically just playign with so i was using the cheapest yarns i had so use 'em up and see how it looked... and i had such a problem with it. i'm sitting there knitting away while the huzz plays video games and i'm all "ut oh", "omgoodness", "AHHH!", "IT'S NOT GONNA FITTT!!!!" it totally fit. just fyi. but i could only do two rows before i was positive my hands would fall off. that yarn needs larger than i have needles.

at least that's what i'm saying to make myself feel better about my slackerdome.

sew not

SEW... (i'm sew funny)

lame. i know. i've been trying to sew on mondays. like, sewing mondays. mondays i come home and make something awesome then jump on my blog and tell the world about how i'm dominating my sewing machine.

that didn't happen. mainly because i'm now terrified of my sewing machine.

this weekend, the husband and i were out doing our shopping and browsing and wasting of perfectly good daylight and i found not only one but two lovely bundles of perfectly wonderful fabric. (super cute.. again someday my camera will work and i'll take pictures and show you and you'll be like omg how could you keep this cuteness from me and not make something awesome with it? and i will tell you... i'm scared. i'm a big freaking baby and i'm afraid i have the wrong needles and i'll ruin the cuteness factor with my sloppy messy lead foot on the peddle.)

so instead of actually using this super cute fabric when i got home. i waiting. it's sitting. longingly in a bag on my kitchen floor still just itchin' to be used... but i instead took to knitting.

which is actually kinda awesome. i've been knitting up a storm.. this weekend i drove down to mass to go with the fabulous charlie --wedding dress shopping!! so much fun!! i love looking at all the beautiful [and not so beautiful] dresses.

AND SHE TAUGHT ME HOW TO PURL!! so now i can make uber fabulous things and change colors and i'm working on a mini blanket of sorts because i also got my first pair of loopy needles and i wanted to try them out... so i sat ALL DAY on my porch last thursday when it was beautiful out and just played with them. i think i'm getting carpal tunnel but it's so much fun when you sit for hours doing something and you can actually show your progress!--- which, i know, would probably that much more exciting if i was sewing and i could actually wear or use what i'm sewing but i'm freakin' terrified i'm going to make a mess again.. so sew me. ha!


*please disregard all sewing puns. i find myself amazingly funny... but i'm also part polish.*(not that i would ever admit to that... )

round two

it's truly a painful experience watching me sew, i'm sure.

at least that's what i hear from my husband. i swear, i have never been quite so mad in my life as i am with my sewing machine. WHY WON'T IT JUST DO WHAT I ASK??

there i sit (yes! sit! i got a table and a chair and everything... impressive i know) in front of this simple machine. one that people can swap out threads and make quilts and mountains and tons of other beautiful things i'm sure... but not me. me i sit there and i scream at it. i yell at it. WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME? WHY WON'T YOU JUST WORK?? WHY ON EARTH CAN I NOT THREAD YOU???

i'm sure the (surround sound) video games in the background do not help. and i'm positive, with my current attitude, the screaming and swearing at the team mates who aren't pulling their weight and the guns that are shooting thumb tacks instead of bulletts and the profanity that someone has actually....killed you.... do not help my cause.

rule number one. emily must have peace and serenity surrounding her when sitting at the sewing machine. PEACE AND SERENITY, I SAY!!

apply ipod. turn on soothing music. attempt to rethread. again. and again.

(am i strong enough to throw this machine across the room? i think so...)

in then end, i calmly RIPPED APART the MOUNTAIN OF THREAD that had compiled under my sewing machine and returned to my gold yarn to knit. which actually in comparison went quite well. I taught myself how to bind off via youtube. (i will attach the vdeo later) and now my husband has two little (2 inch) blankets. because that's how much i love him.

WEAR TO BEGIN

so my beautiful and wonderful dear friend charlie hooked me up with her old sewing machine. awesome, right? now i can make all of those super easy things i see everyone else can do easy. i'll just be able to pick it all up and go. these people will never see such an amazing artist with threads flying and fabric and every day i'll create something amazing.

nothing can stop me now!

come round one with my sewing machine, i barely even listened while charlie explained how to thread my new weapon. i got this. i know how to do everything! i will dominate! i will rule the world! everyone will want what i have and they will be jealous so i'll sell it to them and quit my job and everyone will be in awe of how humble i am with my great ability.

i watch charlie make a straight line down my fabric with ease. i got this. this is simple. the easiest thing ever.

then charlie left. she left me alone with my sewing machine. she left me and went to a different state. it's cool. she did it no prob, i can definitely do this.


..... come monday, i'm sitting at my new machine.... well, sitting isn't exactly the correct word here. i'm nestled by my machine which is on a coffee table with the peddle being run by my knee and the fabric drifting off to the side, hanging on the floor. yes, you read that right. i am so awesome i'm controling my new beast with kneeling using my knee for the peddle.

and what did i make? ZIG ZAGS. can you believe it? the great and powerful oz of sewing machines can't even travel in a straight line. if it wasn't a black thread on next to black fabric you'd be getting pictures of this monstrousity. this is my text message to charlie to let her know what a triumph it was:  "you have no idea how awesome my first sewing experience was. picture a line, then zigzAg it a little, then do it a little more. then do it a lot more. now picture me holding the peddle with my knee. awesome."

my lines were complete. i did exactly what i was supposed to. but i still have no idea how people make their lines straight.