It's official: I'm hooked.

I'm beginning to understand why Mom likes sewing so much.

Bolstered by what could conceivably be termed successes with the Crooked Curtains and the Hammer Pants, I got this brilliant idea that my little machine and I could make a doll dress for Betsy's birthday. I picked up the fabric last weekend - on the theory that it would take me weeks to finish the darn thing - a sweet vintage-style fabric to go with Simplicity 4707, a pattern of vintage baby doll clothes.

Much to my surprise, I actually got it done. All it took was 3 afternoons of neglecting the kids, I mean letting them entertain themselves, while I sewed. I ended up hand-sewing the rickrack, due to my terminal inability to sew in a straight line, which didn't take as long as you'd think (although it would have gone faster if I hadn't been simultaneously watching NCIS videos on YouTube). The collar was supposed to have rickrack along the bottom edge, positioned such that only the points are visible, an idea that I discarded after having a good hearty laugh about it. I still want to put some sort of embellishment on the collar, if for no other reason than to obscure the fact that one side is quite a bit pointier than the other. (And yes, I know that it's a Peter Pan collar and they're not supposed to be pointy at all. Shut up.)

I also made a little pair of panties for underneath - remind me next time, leave the casings for elastic a bit bigger - and made significant inroads into the little red coat I optimistically also thought I was skilled enough to make. Actually, the coat should be easier - no gathers - if all that bias tape doesn't slay me dead in my tracks.

The really hard part is going to be putting it away and saving it for the Bets' birthday, which is two months away.

Speaking of which... Happy Friday the 13th! I know a lot of people consider it bad luck, but I never could... I became a mama on a Friday the 13th!

Publication!

Yep, it's finally here. My very first published scrapbook layout appears on page 138 of the November/December 'Simple Scrapbooks.' I picked up a copy at Michaels on the way home from the Children's Museum, and I couldn't stop staring at my layout the whole time I was in line to buy it. What a huge thrill!

In case you can't squint to read the blurb (I have a blurb! Me!) this is what it says: "As Joni knows, never underestimate the power of a good hairdresser. And it sure doesn't hurt if that hairdresser is your little sister! This page was the result of a must-scrap self-portrait and a happy marriage between the color of Joni's sweater and some gorgeous Chatterbox paper."

So, kudos to Em for all the free haircuts! (Speaking of which, Mrs. B., don't forget to bring the scissors when you come next month...) They have a very good blurb writer at Simple Scrapbooks: they managed to cram in a nod to my sister, my own photo credit (I really did take that photo with the self-timer, and if you think it looks good, you should see the 56 others that I didn't scrap) and of course a tribute to my favorite papers of all time... Chatterbox!

So, I figured I was going to be a one-pub wonder (which I was okay with) but continued to submit my pages. Lo and behold, I got an email from Scrapbook Trends requesting my 'Rough Life' layout for their Baby column! And when I was done squealing and calling Matt, I checked my email again and they wanted ANOTHER layout as well... 'Doesn't Everyone' for the Simple Things call! WOW!! I never thought I would actually see my work appear TWICE in the same magazine... So I will be mailing those two layouts off tomorrow. My album will have a lot of gaps until I get 'I Feel Pretty' back from SS!

Patio pictures

Mom wanted to see some pictures of the new patio. So here you go... the patio is in there somewhere behind the kids... if you squint.

It was nice tonight so we ate outside again. I made what was originally intended as chili, but I didn't have any ground hamburger, so I used chicken breast, and I didn't have any tomato sauce, so I just used 2 cans of tomatoes, but it was really soupy, so I used smashed up tortilla chips to soak up the juice... So I guess what I made is Chicken Tortilla Soup.

I wore one of my new linen skirts to church today. Did I mention that I went back to Old Navy, and got two long, bias-cut linen skirts for 97 cents each??!! Yeah, it's a sickness. One is white, so I can't wear it for a while, but the other is a sort of plummy-raspberry color, so I wore it with my white Wal-Mart blouse and looked very hip. Man, I love the 97-cent stuff.

Scrapping again

Two things I pretty much never do: I don't scrap photos that are more than 1 year old, and I never buy Basic Grey! I've actually broken both of those barriers this time around. This is a photo that Julie Blasini took when Porter was a baby, that I somehow missed the first time around. And the papers are from BG's new LilyKate collection, which I actually really like. I think they worked well for the mood I was trying to convey.

I got 7 new papers today and it was mostly brands I don't usually use: K & Company, Fontwerks, 3 Bugs in a Rug, and the aforementioned Basic Grey. Plus Chatterbox. I think I need to stop buying patterned papers for a while! They're just so pretty... I'm starting to understand why my mom has such a stash of fabrics! (Speaking of which, Mom, I also got the fabric for Betsy's baby doll dress today, and it is gorgeous.)

It was a really nice day today, so we had dinner (taco salad) out on the patio. It's funny, our sad little patio table looks really small on the new patio, which is quite a bit larger than the deck on our old house! Which is good - we will have plenty of room when we get around to buying a nice set of outdoor furniture.

Feeling fall

On Wednesday, the weather was really gorgeous. We spent most of the day out on our new patio - Betsy amused herself with the pile of sand that was left over from its construction. I gave her one of our brooms to play with, because hey, it's never too early to learn right? The temperature dropped thirty degrees overnight, so I guess summer is really over and it's fall now. Time to get out the long sleeved shirts and the sweaters and the extra blankets for all the beds.

I'm having some women from church over tonight, which means I have a long fun day of cleaning ahead of me. (Especially with all the sand that's been tracked into my kitchen.) Last night, I made - or tried to make, anyway - a Pumpkin Cake Roll but the cake sorta collapsed, so I ended up having to glue it back together with cream cheese frosting and hope no one will judge me. ;-)

Porter's arm seems to be doing fine, thank goodness.