Were Moving

Wow I cannot believe no one wants free fabric...

well at any rate

we are moving to Typepad.

You can visit me here at
http://elementalstitches.typepad.com/

My blog has changed. I haven't been satisfied with it for a while, so its changing. Please visit.

100 Posts! And a Giveaway!

One hundred posts! This is a huge thing for us. I never thought I would keep up this blog, but every time you leave a comment I think, wow someone really reads this.

There are many things to celebrate today. It was the last day of school and my finals went well; I think I got all A's. My mom was given the cancer all clear today after a month of worry (I just found this all out). Then, a close friend who lost his job a while ago and was living in his car just got a job with my hubby working full time with good pay. And my step dad, who has been out of work for a while, landed a great job at NASA!

Fortune has been smiling on us today. And to celebrate we are having a drawing. I decided that I wanted to support my fellow Etsy sellers and I wanted to support a designer that I like so... Leave a comment in this post about what you like about my blog and I will randomly draw a winner who will get 7 fat quarters of Anna Maria Horner's new fabric line Chocolate Lollipop. (I also bought a set for me) Please check out the seller I got the fabric from, AZALEAstudio and support our Etsy crafters. Good Luck!

Another Summer Dress

Its another summer dress for my little one. This one has a zipper down the back and I made it without a pattern! Yea me! Isn't the fabric so cute? I haven't hemmed it yet because I am thinking of adding some jungle green knife edge trim on the bottom. I have the photos for a tutorial so I am going to be working on that as soon as finals are over.

Guess What! My next post will be number 100! I was thinking of doing a giveaway. What it will be is a mystery...

Score!

Look what I got today! I love garage sales. You can find such great stuff at them.

A New Summer Dress

I have been studying like crazy today for finals which are on Wed next week and by 5 pm I needed a break. I decided to make a quick summer dress for Pumpkin. It was cut out and finished in under an hour! Maybe I will do a tutorial for it, since it was so easy. I used a store-bought dress to make the pattern. The original dress had a zipper in the back but I wanted something quick to pull over her head so I changed it.

Making this dress, with no pattern, has really increased my confidence in my sewing ability. I know I sew well, but I am not up to my very high standards (I am a recovering perfectionist).

Next time I am going to cut across about 1.5 or 2 inches past the arm holes and gather a skirt in a coordinating fabric, and sew it on.

I could cut down the front or back and add buttons, I would have to add extra seam allowance for that.

I was thinking of adding a pocket on the front but not this time.

Maybe a lining, this one is unlined.

Be prepared for more of these!

Secret Wedding

This Sunday I watched Desperate Housewives, wow what a season finale!

My favorite part was when Susan and her daughter had a surprise secret wedding in the woods with Mike. I thought it was the most beautiful scene. I loved the candles on the stones and the flowers and gauze as the arches. I loved the colored Chinese globe lanterns that were hanging from the trees. It looked so magical, like walking through a fairy portal.

Most people that know us think we are married, but eventually they figure out that we have never gotten around to tying the knot. Our wedding got pushed to the side when Tom's mom got sick and then when I got pregnant, we postponed it again. Now, I feel just like Susan. I don't care about the big perfect wedding, I just want to be married to my soul mate. A wedding like this would be perfect, only our closest friends and family in a small ceremony and private dinner. It would be lovely.

I cant add this to my plate just yet, but maybe soon. Oh no, I have a wedding bug crawling on me!

* By the way, it is finals week this coming week and I am swamped with work so please excuse me if I am missing for a few days.
My 100th post is coming up and I was thinking of doing a giveaway... Maybe a pattern, maybe some fabric, we shall see...

New Treasures

I had to get some supplies from Jo-Ann's today and I came out with this...









Which is fine except none of this stuff was on my list and I forgot to buy most of the things on my list. I did get some things done however.
I bought fabric paint to try out some hand painted designs and I think I found a new creative outlet.

The bags don't look like much now but when they have their handles they are super cute!


*Sorry the photos are so horrible. They were taken at night with the flash and fluorescent lighting... shudder...

New Bags in the Store

There is some new stuff in the Store and more coming.

Scent of Rain Designs

Thanks for supporting me!

Has it Been A Week Already?

Wow I just realized that I haven't posted in over a week! I have been busy with school and sewing, cleaning and planning.

Yesterday I took down Pumpkin's bed. She has been sleeping on the couch for months and will not sleep in the bed. Right now we are in a one bedroom apartment and I am so happy to have my room back. In a few months she will have her own room and all of her things will go there. We will be painting her bed (it was a hand me down) and her dresser (needs hardware and maybe paint, I really like the shabby chic look of it). I cannot wait to move!

I haven't really talked about the apartment complex I manage and live in, mostly because there isn't much worthy of writing down and what is worthy, is usually a series of unfortunate events that I am drug into because I am manager.

So I have come up with a list of reasons why I cant wait to move...

1. I am moving from my desert hometown to the beach and forest.

2. I live in the ghetto, and its making me racist against my will... This is a long, complicated and controversial topic that I might get into later. I was never racist before and I don't want to be.

3. My apartment will get into the 90s in the summer if the air conditioner isn't always running, thank god I don't have to pay my electric bill (boss pays the bills, almost not worth it).

4. I have never met so many low lives in my life!

5. It is not safe to take my daughter to the local park (drug dealers, gangs, children with appalling behavior)

6. I would never put my kid in one of these schools.

7. I feel like many of the men are undressing me with their eyes... the scary part is I am probably right.

8. My whole life I have had a private outdoor space... until now. I am dying for at least some semi private space outdoors. An enclosed patio would suffice.

9. I want Pumpkin to have her own room.

10. I hate my dark brown carpet.

11. I hate a lot of my furniture and I am planning on taking most of it to the dump.

12. I want to let Pumpkin play outside in the grass and not be afraid of drugs, trash, broken glass, half empty alcohol bottles, etc in the filthy dirt (there is no grass, and they are going to tear out the sad bushes that are here an cover everything with concrete).

13. I origionally had 12 but after another frustrating conversation with maintenance I am soooooooooo happy to never have to work with the maintenance again. They are horrible! Lazy! Sexist! I hate dealing with them. They make my blood boil.

Those are 13, but there are so many more reasons. Lets not forget...
-get Tom away from abusive family
-start on second chapter of our life
-Last but certainly not least UCSC!!! Go Banana Slugs!!! (No Joke...)

Mother's Day

Mothers Day was very pleasant, just as I wished. Tom had to work so my mom picked up my daughter and I, and we went back to her house. My mothers house, no matter where it is, is a haven away from chaos. Friends and family are always welcome at anytime. They are fed and listened to, given advice and sent on their way, lighter and full of new possibilities.

It was nice to relax and play croquet, a game we haven't played as a family in a decade or more. My mom got me a gift certificate for the salon and I showed her the Amy Butler apron I would have had finished if I had my machine back in time, by the way that's the surprise. I am making one for myself and one for my mom. I cant wait until they are done! They are so beautiful!

So, tonight I have plans to clean up and reinstate my sewing machine in its rightful spot. And I have a bag that has been causing a lot of problems that needs a meeting with the needle. You will see him up on Scent of Rain soon. He is famous, the bag that tricked me into thinking my precious sewing machine was broken. Snatch him up quick... I think I will call him Loki...