Play food Swap Goodies!

What fun! Yesterday I received my box of play food goodies from a swap on Sewing Mamas-
Those talented Mamas sent me: a basket of strawberries, a sack lunch with a sandwich, cookie and even a banana that come out of the peel, a bag of pasta and a cannoli, a pita, and bacon and eggs. Breakfast, lunch, dinner- even dessert and snacks!




Here's a picture of the Pizzas I sent out (yeah, I took it with my cell phone shortly before dropping them in the mail.)

Now I've got to make a pizza for James (all I have here are wonky experimental ones :D ) I'm tucking away the loot to give at Yule.

Sewing Room Labels

I'm (ahem, finally) getting things labeled in my sewing room.

I've just got to get more organized in here so I can use the little snippets of time I get between fixing snacks, changing diapers, and running cat/chicken/dog/boy interference.


And (lest you be fooled by my closely cropped little tags)- to be conquered this evening:

Gathering Momentum

When confronted with an availability of time I often feel lost, unsure of everything except the fact that I will make a mistake. This feeling is paralyzing, and often, instead of sitting with the discomfort, I fill the time with things that are unimportant to me, things that make me busy again. Things I can use as excuses- oh, I would make something, but I've got XYZ going on. These things keep me from creating the life I'd like because they suck away that empty time. Some of these things LOOK valid from the outside, like volunteering or babysitting, but they don't truly reflect who I am, or who I'd like to become. They are not bad things to do, but are bad when done just to keep me from facing myself.

The thing is, it's really scary to take your life into your own hands and give a try at doing what you really want to do. What if I try and fail? What if I go out and do the things I think I'll like and it turns out I don't like them? What then? Dreams are so much safer up on a shelf in shiny packaging where they can't get dragged through the dirt and muck of everyday life. It's so much easier to fill that time and bemoan my cluttered house and lack of creative life than it is to jump in and risk ruining the shiny dream on the shelf.

So here is my collage to that effect. This collage says, go ahead, give it a try, make your life your own, and make it look and feel the way you'd like. Make the first mistake and get it out of your of the way, you know it'll be so much easier once you've broken this stand still and have got some momentum going...

"All that is needed to break the spell of inertia and frustration is this: act as if it were impossible to fail." ~Dorthea Brande, Writer

Striving for Balance

Of course I am- what mom isn't working at keeping a balance between life for self and life for others?

I just got back from a weeks vacation and I feel like I'm at a starting point, or rather a re-starting point. Rebirth, renew, reemergence. So I am questioning things like- blogging and computer time, childcare (or lack thereof), sewing time and time for other creative persuits, making money from my sewing... Just trying to find the shape of things. Trying to make my life the shape I want it to be.

I'll have to think more on whether I want to continue to begin this blog (that's what I feel I'm doing- still beginning) Maybe I just need to find more of a direction for it, or get more comfortable with writing more on it. I don't know. Anyhow, I may be quiet for a while.

Thinking.

Aprons For My Assistant

First there was only this- Funky, yes (and I think pretty fun), but a boy needs an apron and using one of Mama's half aprons tied all intricately is just not as great as...

The Wonderful TRAIN apron that Grammy sewed! And it matches Mamas. Too cool.