Monday, March 12, 2007

monday musings

Bloggers are the nicest people around- I got some kind comments and emails after my whiney post yesterday. I almost feel like apologizing for whining- so many people out there have much worse problems than mine. That's why I rarely post 'bad stuff' here...not to say that my life doesn't have its ups and downs, but I try to keep looking at the upside even when I'm frustrated or out of sorts.

And just to be clear, I'm not going to get a nomination for SuperMom of the Year any time soon! There are plenty of days where I lose my temper and do my fair share of screeching at my small ones. There are days where I don't want to pull out more play-doh or paint and make another mess to clean up. There are days where I count the minutes till the afternoon naptime/quiet time, when I can have an hour of peace & no one is demanding anything of me. Days where I'm exhausted at 9am and wondering how the hell I'm going to make it to 6pm! Being a momma is hard hard hard work- 95% drudgery, 3% soul searing fear and 2% overwhelming joy.

I just try really hard to keep 'bad days' to a minimum & to make them few and far between. I try to remember how deep my blessings run and how lucky I really am. I live for that 2% of joy & hold onto it for dear life when it happens. And hopefully I'll raise some loving, confident and thoughtful human beings in the process.

Anyhew on to the crafting (which is why you're here, no?)-

Lots of good bloggy vibes were sent my way after my whine, which is probably why I was able to sit down and complete a sewing project yesterday afternoon:

tote bag + pencil/sketchbook case

It's a tote bag+pencil/sketchbook case for my newly-turned 3yr old niece, Little Red. The pencil case is based on the tute from One Red Robin. I had made the pencil case previously, but still had to complete the tote bag before the party.

Monkey Boy wasn't keen on taking a nap due to the time change so I slipped a DVD in and retreated to my room to do some super quick cutting and sewing. Here's the pencil case outside:
day 68 of 365/photo a day

and inside:
inside the pencil/sketchbook case
I used Crayola Twisteables because they're easy for little ones to use without breaking. The sketchpad is 8x6.



The tote bag was just a simple patchwork- I only had about an hour to make it so it's not lined. Monkey Boy heard the sewing machine and came looking for me after about 20 minutes of watching the DVD. So I had a little helper- he 'pushed' the fabric through my sewing machine & pressed the button that raises the needle. Here he models the finished tote bag:

showoff
tote bag on the arm

The straps were a little wonky due to Monkey Boy's 'help', but I think it still turned out ok. I put some cute little books into the bag along with the pencil case. Then we were off to the party, where we took lots of pictures, ate lots of sugary stuff and otherwise enjoyed ourselves.

I hope Little Red enjoys her tote bag and pencil case. Little Man saw the case and wanted one of his own made out of pirate fabric. So I guess I'll have to make another!

10 comments:

Cybèle said...

Pencil case is gorgeous - I might just have to use that pattern for my soon to be 8 year old who wants a new pencil case for school! The fabric combination is lovely.

And I'm glad I'm not the only one with the 2% joy. I often feel it should be 98% joy and 2% tedium but it's rarely like that!

marirob said...

So beautiful - you really have a great eye for color! Your niece will love her gift.

I totally understand the frustrations of everyday life. I'm like you, I don't like to blog about the "bad" stuff, but I think it also helps sometimes to just get it out there. I hope this week goes a little better for you. :)

Adrienne said...

This is SO cute and colorful!!! Beautiful, and we ALL have days like that....I know I do lol

LLA said...

I am in absolutely agreement with you - the blogging community is just filled to the gills with lovely, thoughtful and gracious people. I consider myself lucky that I get to hang out here! :)

Lovely, thoughtful, gracious and did I say fantastically crafty? I am so loving the pencil case and bag... and the fab little helper/bag model, too!

Glad your "meh.s" passed quickly and that you were able to get your craftygrrrl groove back on....

Amy said...

Love it! Too cute! I've been wanting to make something similar for all of my knitting needles. Great job!

I completely understand what you meant. I recently went off on a grumpy, frustrated tangent of my own :-) Thankfully the sunny days outweigh the gloomy ones. I guess they just make you appreciate the good ones that much more.

And right now for example, I just had to stop posting and referee a fight between the five year old & two year old. They were duking it out over the legos. ::sigh::

That's why I'm often up working until 1 a.m. or so. Ahhh the quiet... I can photoshop in peace :-)

Amy said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Joe said...

The little red head loved it.

The pictures answered the question of how many pencils were suppose to be in there.

geek

Katie Cannon said...

I love your color choices, they are so fun and colorful, and I understand the "little helper" I have 2 of them and they love the "help"

Miss Scarlett said...

Ingenious! That is too clever. I love it.
Pirate Yarn will make it ideal - isn't that one of the great things about children? They know just what they like. Of course, that can also cause some real problems...
Everyone has bad days. It is nice to know that your post & the comments helped!

nina beana said...

your projects are inspiring me to get off this computer, go downstairs and rifle through my fabric and GET CREATING! thank you.