Almost Heaven West Virginia

Blue ridge mountains
Shenandoah river -

Life is old there
Older than the trees

Younger than the mountains
Growin like a breeze

Country roads, take me home

To the place I belong

West virginia, mountain momma

Take me home

Country Roads

Thanks John Denver

Scrapbook Quilt

The extra special holiday craft that kept me busy during the month of December was this scrapbook quilt I made for my grandmother. I finally used my Michael Miller Bootie prize fabric. I loved it because all of the fabrics that came in that bundle kind of went together, but not in a matchy-matchy way. I think it made each block look more like a sheet of scrapbooking paper. The photos are iron on transfers on white cotton fabric. If you try this use the Avery brand, the photos are more matte and less likely to crack than other brands I've tried. Also pre-wash and dry your fabric before you iron on the photos.

My grandma has 16 grandchildren! She deserved a quilt. I told her every time she uses it she can think of it as all of us giving her a big hug.

I liked the back side, but forgot to take any pictures. I made horizontal stripes out of the scrap fabric and then the main field is chocolate brown.

I wish I lived in the same town as my grandmother. She was telling me about her seniors center and how they eat dinner every Tuesday and Thursday together and do crafts...and sometimes they dance...jealous! She also told me her friend is having an addition put on to her house because she needs more craft room....more jealous! Mr. Sabbe better not wait until I'm 70 to give me a craft room.

Situation Under Control

We are home from the holidays and I must say we are both glad to be here. Prior to heading north to visit the fam Mr. Sabbe and I both were running on incredibly frantic schedules, he with his interviews and me with my job, homemade gifts, and Pentateuch test. Visiting with aunts, uncles, cousins, moms, and grandmas in WV was a great way to put a halt to all that hustle and bustle, but after a week of no cell phones, no internet, and not a coffee shop within sight...we are glad to be home.

I woke up this morning excited to go to church and then spend the day relaxing, maybe reading, maybe cuddling with Zoe. But Mr. Sabbe came home with an entirely different agenda. He makes me laugh. While some days I think we share the same brain, on others I think we could not be two more opposite beings.

Here is how our arrival home has gone.

Saturday

6:30 pm: Arrive home
6:31 pm: Mr. Sabbe begins to unload car, I help
6:38 pm: Mr. Sabbe tells me he'll bring in all the stuff if I put it away in the proper room
6:45 pm: I loose focus and begin picking photos out to put in the new frames my aunt got us for Christmas
7 pm: I'm hungry
7:01 pm: Mr. Sabbe unpacks his entire suitcase. Places the dirty clothes in the hamper, hangs his dress shirts, puts away his shoes.
I neatly place my suitcase on my side of the room, zippers facing out, so that I may get my things out as needed.
7:30- We eat! and rent a movie
11 pm- After movie and SNL rerun we go to get ready for bed. Pilot light in the hot water heater is out....again!
11 pm- 12am - Mr. Sabbe bravely walks down to our very scary (dirt wall and floors) basement and attempts to light the pilot light. But due to the amount of rain, the basement is flooded and the pilot light will not spark.
12:01 am- Mr. Sabbe is unhappy about the results, but is persuaded to go to bed and try again in the morning.

Sunday

7:30 am- After three snoozes it's back to the basement to try, try again.
7:45 am- Still no luck. We go to church with no shower. Mr. Sabbe thinks we should sit in the back balcony. I think we smell just fine.
8 am- While getting coffee at church man comments on Mr. Sabbe's lack of shaving. Mr. Sabbe tells him the water heater is broken. Man feels bad for making fun of Mr. Sabbe.
9:30 am- Return home from church. Mr. Sabbe is feeling helpless waiting on neighbor to bring over sump pump to pump the basement. Can't just sit there, read a book, cuddle with Zoe...must do something...anything
10 am- I hear a noise in the kitchen.

Mr. Sabbe: I need you to tell me what shelves some things are supposed to be on.

Mr. Sabbe: Did you know we have two of alot of things?

Me:No buddy I didn't, but I don't think it's that big of a deal.

I'm loving Mr. Sabbe in crazy, OCD mode. I've got to get him away from home and let things break more often.

As my dreams of reading and relaxing are quickly fading away Mr. Sabbe just beckoned me.... Sump pump is here and I'm going to need your help.

Polka Dot Dresses

Greetings from Nashville!

While my mom went to the Titans game today, Bryan and I stayed home to get some last minute crafting done. Well...Bryan wrote thank you letters for his med school interviews and I crafted. But he was pretty creative with some of those notes...so that counts as dual crafting.

I made these two little dresses for my youngest cousins. Tomorrow we pack the car and head to Harts Creek, WV. Heard of it? Probably not. The closest large town is Charleston. Most of my extended family lives in West Virginia. It has been a couple of years since Bryan and I have made the journey, so we are both very excited. I love, love, love sewing children's clothes so I couldn't let the opportunity to make matching dresses for two little sisters pass by. I wish I had a sister (hint, hint...Mr. Sabbe's brother)

I tried to make the 8 year old's a little more "big girl" in case she doesn't care to dress like a 4 year old. I used my favorite stitch along the bottom of hers and let the lining hang a couple inches below the outer shell of the dress. (excuse the blurry photography...still figuring out my new present)

And since it's winter we included some little white turtle necks. Hope they fit! I'm gauging by pictures...probably not the best idea, but I'm a crafter not a planner...so seriously on keeping the fingers crossed.

I'm not expecting to have Internet during our stay with my grandmother so have a very Merry Christmas!

Random Things I Would Like to Chat About

I have many different topics I would like to post and in lieu of saving them to post one by one (as I've noted is the blogger way of doing things) I want to post them all together. This is how my brain works. I am like spaghetti!

First thing of importance on my mind is my project I've been posting here and there over the past few months. It's almost done! I'm very excited and I like the way it turned out very much. I think it's like a big cup of coffee. You take a sip....then you say ahhhh.....so warm. This will be the new SunTrust Memphis Headquarters office.

From there my mind wanders over to the Old Testament (told you...I'm so spaghetti it's not even funny). As you may have noticed, I have not been posting fun books that I've read for a couple of months now. I miss my fun books, but I've put them aside because I'm currently going through a program called Downline and one of my goals of being in Downline is for me to read the entire Bible. Bah, I know...we've all tried, but who has actually finished?To date I've read Genesis-1 Samuel and I'm going to tell you...Leviticus was a struggle! But the fact that they teach us what we're reading before we read it, plus this handy dandy Zondervan Handbook to the Bible that I found over at Burkes... and low and behold...I love to Old Testament. I never thought I would say that out loud...but I do. Read it, it's good stuff. And if you have questions, ask me...it's also part of my duties of the program. Other good bible helper books I've read recently are 30 Days to Understanding the Bible (read this before you start Genesis) and The Master Plan of Evangelism.

Next up...we have this super sweet gift a rep gave me yesterday. I've mentioned before that reps give us stuff (reason #81 to be a commercial interior designer) So I get this little gift on my desk and I open it and I tear up. It's a hand painted ornament from the Mustard Seed, which after I googled I found was a center where mentally challenged adults are taught to express themselves creatively through the arts. Then they sell their crafts to help raise money for the program. I mean, I could cry again just thinking that something so wonderful exists out there. Their motto is "...if you have faith even as small as a grain of mustard see, you can say to this mountain, move from here to there, and it will move and nothing will be impossible to you" Matthew 17:20...ok, tearing up again...must move on.

To wrap it up I would like to give a shout out to Lotus Blossom Designs. I ordered some special, custom gifts from her Etsy shop last week and she was a delight to work with. I wanted to take the handmade pledge this year, but I knew what our gift to one another was going to be and I didn't want to break the pledge...I know...how Kyoto Treaty of me. Maybe next year.

New Camera- Take 1

My serious face

Now watch me shake it

Now please me alone!

Such a diva already...

I Opened My Christmas Present

Can you see it?

Can you see it now?

Thanks Sabbe Clause! I'll be the paparazzi for Christmas this year.

Dear Mr. Sabbe...

I love this song so much. I listen to in non-Christmas months on my ITunes at work and have to remind myself to not sing out loud. My attempt at Mariah notes is very scary, but I do it anyway. It's good for the soul.

Bryan's on his third week of marathon interviewing...haven't seen him since Thanksgiving...so I think it's my Christmas theme song this year.

Play it...Sing it....Merry Christmas!

p.s. Check out the fancy gold tights I wore to the ole' company Christmas party this year! I believe they greatly enhanced my dance moves. That would be my cubical neighbor in the middle. No worries, he and Mr. Sabbe are buddies....and as you can see, it was a tights themed photo.

Kohler Karbon

Isn't she lovely...Isn't she wonderful....I get that song in my head when I see this faucet. And then I imagine it dancing around as I sing. I saw this fixture at the HD Show in Vegas last year and was entranced. I typically do not get into gadgety-type things, but this I'm into. It's the IPhone of faucets for sure. And it reminds me of a robot. Like you should be able to say...Good Morning Faucet...please fill my coffee pot with water...how are you feeiling today? And it would reply Numba Five is Alive!!

I don't need it, but I sure do want it. I love Kohler. Some people indulge on fancy shoes...I think I'll take the fancy fixture.

p.s. I promise I still do crafts. I'm working on one big Christmas craft...to be revealed shortly.

In the meantime I'll keep you updated on my day job findings.

Behold! The Wonders of Tara Donovan

This is one of the most creative, inspiring installations I've ever seen. They had it at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston when I was there a few weeks ago...but No pictures allowed. As fate would have it, pictures are already on the Internet. I love the Internet. See and enjoy more here. Pay attention to the text at the bottom of the page. It tells you what materials and methods were used. Prepare to be amazed. It's pretty much the most extreme example of DIY crafting I've ever witnessed. She's one of my new favorites.

Nut Remix

Friday Night I attended a rehearsal party for the Nut remix at the New Ballet Ensemble and I was so excited about what I saw I could hardly contain myself....and then I didn't have to because they let the crowd come out on the dance floor and join them! It was the traditional Nutrcracker Ballet with the music and dance styles remixed with a hip-hop flare. If you know me at all and remember how I taught myself the Superman dance by standing in front of the computer watching YouTube for two hours before my 26th birthday party...you know this was almost too much for my heart to handle.

The New Ballet Ensemble was founded in 2001 by Katie Smythe, a native Memphian whose lived in both LA and New York working as a dancer and soap opera actress. She returned to Memphis in the late 90's with a vision of uniting the city through the arts, specifically through dancing. Her group consists of children, teens, and adults from every socioeconomic background. In addition to their regular performances they perform for local inner city schools and then audition interested students afterwards. From there they find sponsorships to allow these students to be trained at a professional level. One student they had performing Friday will be leaving next month to dance back up for Janet Jackson!

Their mission reminds me of my church's mission and excites me almost as much as the dancing did. They will be performing their Nut Remix this coming weekend and it is going to be amazing! Get your tickets while you still can.

p.s. I saw the classic Nutcracker at the Orpheum last night, it was also very good!

Starbucks Channeling the Crafter in Us All

It’s no news to me that coffee and crafts go hand-in-hand…but now I see Starbucks has tapped into that same vision. Aren’t these wreaths they have over their sales kiosks cute!? I think I’ll try to make my own version of this. All my knitting /crocheting friends should totally give it a go!

Does this make me want to buy more coffee?...or spend $25 on a coffee mug?...or forget that sometimes buying Starbucks coffee hurts my conscious (and feel even worse that I do it anyway as seen on my favorite things list)..probably not. But like I said, crafts + coffee makes me smile….

Craft Room Fancies

Oh the crafts I would create!

When to clean up the shrapnel? We no longer debate.

If I was given a room as pretty as these...

Oh give it to me Mr. Sabbe, give it to me please!

photo by supergail

photo by flapi

photo by liquid paper

photo by crafty intentions