Neglect

I took Nola to the vet today. Turns out, she’s really, really fat. 

And mean. I know she looks all cute and cuddly, but she turns into a spiteful, evil little creature when put in situations she doesn’t like. Such as going to the vet. When I told the lady who checked us in that Nola can be “not very nice,” she wrote “BE CAREFUL” at the top of Nola’s paperwork and then promptly highlighted it in yellow. They weren’t taking any chances.

So Nola is fat and mean. Yep, that’s our girl!  (I swear, she’s got a sweet, loving, goofy, affectionate side. The vet just never gets to see it.)

I’ve been neglecting my blog and my crafts. Neither is intentional. I just think I got a little burned out on sewing, and now that I don’t have to sew for a show or for Christmas, I’m just not. And since this is, for the most part, a craft blog, not doing any crafts equals not having much to blog about.

I think I miss the pressure of having to get a project done by a certain time. I have several things I want to do, including sewing a set of coasters with my soon-to-be new last initial (S) on them, and sewing myself a market tote. But since there’s no urgent deadline, it’s simply not happening.

I updated The Boutique with two sets of notecards.

This one:

And this one:

I hope everyone has a lovely weekend!

Jay McCarroll is my hero

Jay McCarroll — the winner of the first season of Project Runway – has a new line of fabrics coming out in February. This excites me more than I can say. I think Jay is an incredibly creative designer and I loved him on PR, and now I can use his designs in my own work. Assuming I can find his stuff locally! I’ll definitely be on the lookout for it.

The guys from the Project Rungay blog did an interview with Jay, which you can read here (you can also see some more images of his new fabric line). Jay was inspired by his family of quilters and seamstresses. If you watched season one of Project Runway, you might remember seeing that inspiration in his final winning runway collection.

His stuff is kitschy and fun and colorful. Definitely check out his interview at Project Rungay. Good stuff!

Donkeys and roosters

Alex gave me a pair of slippers for Christmas. They were white and fluffy and totally my style, except for one thing. They were size 5. I wear size 9. How cute is he, having no clue what size shoe I wear and thinking I’d be able to fit my big feet into the tiny, adorable, size 5 slippers?! I love him for trying.

I wanted to exchange them, but the store didn’t have my size anymore, so we returned them and kept on shopping to see what else we could find to take the place of the itty bitty slippers.

And we found this table runner at Pottery Barn.

This runner that goes perfectly with the rest of our home.

This runner that was marked down to $9.

This runner with aqua donkeys and roosters on it. Seriously? Was this thing made for me?

I’m still amazed that Alex doesn’t question my decorating choices. I asked him several times before we bought it if he was absolutely sure that he was okay with having an aqua table runner with donkeys and roosters on it, and he assured me he was. He trusts my taste, and I appreciate that.

Fancy schmancy

I haven’t been blogging lately because I’ve been taking a much-needed break from sewing and crafting. I’ll get back into it when it feels right.

A few of you asked where I got my new labels from the last post.  They are custom woven clothing labels from www.fancyweaver.com.  I haven’t gotten to use any of them yet, but I’m thrilled with how they turned out.

Nola has taken to flattening herself out and sleeping like this under our TV stand.

Seriously, she’ll lie like this for hours. She freakin’ kills me.

I’ve posted a few new items to The Boutique, including this full apron:

As of noon today, Obama is our new president. His inauguration speech was moving and strong and perfect. He’s an amazing speaker, and he brings hope to a nation of people who truly need it. I look forward to seeing what these next four years bring under his watch.

Moratorium lifted

My new labels came in! And in the Fat Orange Cat font!

I’ve officially lifted my self-induced sewing moratorium with a new project.

This is something brand new for me, and I’m interested in seeing how it turns out. I have high hopes. But that’s all I can say because it’s a surprise!