Saturday Stream of Consciousness

I'm sure it's not a good idea to blog ONLY when entering a contest, but perhaps that was just the incentive I needed.


Halloween wrap-up
This year I sewed:
*5 Ducks (Donald or Daisy)
*4 lions
*2 Dorothys
*2 Princess Tianas
*1 frog prince
*1 peacock
*1 tin man
*1 scarecrow
*1 Glinda
*1 colonial boy

Those are my boys and niece as the Wizard of Oz crew. Who can resist a 2 year old Dorothy travelling with her posse of devoted older cousins?

I really feel like there was more, but it's been a long time since Halloween and I've tried to put the memories of the related sewing mayhem out of my mind (I am STILL sweeping up duck fluff and lion mane fur!). I wish I could be as successful getting rid of all the lingering candy at my house, but eating it myself is not exactly working towards my goal of dropping a few pounds. Oh well, it's the holidays, right?

So once again, here I am with an excuse about why I haven't been sewing. Really, it just LOOKS like I haven't been sewing because I haven't listed a lot. I have actually beens sewing quite a bit.


My new obsession is aprons. I made my first one about a year ago, and intended to keep it for myself but it turned out so cute that I couldn't resist listing it (money > clean clothes while baking... that's a greater than sign up there. Yes, there is math in my Saturday blog. Don't sue me). I bought some adorable Pillow & Maxfield fabric for my birthday and intended to use it to make myself an apron, which I would for real keep this time. But, well, it turned out too cute (and I decided that the particular pattern that I enjoy making is not very flattering on me. And we all know that baking should be about looking good!) so I will be listing it as soon as I get pictures. But here is one that I made, love, AND took pictures of! You can love it, too, and buy it. I plan to go crazy with this particular pattern because A) it is adorable, and B) it is great for using up leftover scraps that I cannot bear to part with. To this day, I am still lacking my own apron. Maybe I should try making one with fabrics I don't like so I'll want to keep it. At any rate, keep your eyes on my store because I have lots more to add!

But the point of this blog was that I love fabric and I love free things and the fun & friendly Melanie from Above All Fabric has given me the opportunity to get fabric as a free thing! First of all, I have to say that I adore Melanie. No, I've never met her and now she's going to think that I'm some kind of weird cyber-stalker, but she really is amazing. Her fabric selection and customer service are perfection, and she always has some kind of great sale or promotion going on. Hands down, she's got the best online fabric shop around. Did you know she even has a wish list feature on her site? I am filling my list up since Christmas is just around the corner. Imagine a Christmas where all the packages were filled with fabric! It's a blissful thought, isn't it? So I'm telling you about the wish list, giving me the chance to win some free fabric. And if YOU blog about it, YOU can be in the free fabric contest, too (details here)! Yes, your entering the contest does decrease my chances of winning, but it's the giving time of year, so I'm giving you a chance to win, too (3 of us can win- let's make it be me and two of my friends. I just won't say who, and you can pretend I'm talking about you!)

Holiday hangover

I think that's what I have. Holiday hangover. Holidays are fun at the time, but when they're over, you feel awful and usually have a big mess to clean up.

Compounding my holiday hangover is the (temporary) expansion of my household. My cousin is in the process of moving to NC from Florida, and she and her daughter are temporarily living with us while they look for a home. We love having them so even their long-term visit (they arrived 2 weeks before Christmas) hasn't been too disruptive except in the sewing arena.

You see, their bedroom is the room formerly known as my sewing room. Everything sewing-related got boxed and put away (most of it in a somewhat organized fashion) before their arrival and hasn't seen the light of day since. I almost feel like I am the member of some kind of 12 step program. "Hi, my name is Carol, and it has been 3 weeks since I sewed."

So that, along with two 4 hour Christmas trips and the putting away of decorations and all of the new Christmas presents (all in less space due to our house guests), has me feeling a little hung over.

I wish I could take some Tylenol and sleep it off.

The good news is, they found a house to rent today and will be moving in at the end of the month. Maybe things will settle down then.

Or maybe not.

The X factor in all of this is my husband's job. They told him on Christmas week that his position had been eliminated (nice, huh?) but the company would like to transfer him to a different location. The location of this location is yet to be determined. Selling our house to move in this real estate market seems like a nightmare to me, so we are praying that something opens up locally for him.

This was my very long blog of excuses about why I haven't posted or listed anything new in a while.

Decked out for the holidays!

Well, in real life the Christmas decorating spirit has passed me by. I only decided last week to actually get a tree and decorate it, and lights on the outside of the house just aren't happening. It's an awful lot of work for such a short holiday season when we're already way too busy, right?

But when something cute and easy comes along, count me in!

Isn't my blog ADORABLE?!?!?!?!? A friend of mine pointed me to The Cutest Blog on the Block who offers up hundereds of free (that's right FREE!!!!) backgrounds for your blog. Go choose one today, and then another one tomorrow. They're all so cute, you'll have a hard time deciding which one to use.

Like I mentioned above, I have been busy finishing up work at Elon (I'm done until next summer), tutoring, shopping, attending parties and sewing. I got a fun request a few weeks ago for a Daisy Duck costume for a little girl's Christmas present, which I finished up and mailed yesterday. And now.... aaaaaaaahhhhhhh...... I will relax and turn off my machine for a week or so. My shopping is done (I think, but I always seem to keep buying things anyway), so now I will use all of my newly found free time to clean up my sewing room. Ugh. Not a fun job, but it always feels so good to get it done.

So in case I don't check in again before Christmas, I hope you have the merriest of times with friends and family this season!

The computer is here!

Greetings from my new computer, a big black Dell beast whom I've named Darth Vader, LOL! It's not really new; just new to me. A gracious friend pilfered it as a university outcast and sent it to me. In a giant 50 lb box. Which the UPS man left sitting in front of my front door (um, hello? How am I supposed to get out with a giant 50 lb box in the way?) Once I finally hauled it inside, the joy of packing peanut and bubble wrap removal began, thanks to my boys.

I got everything set up and connected, but the computer kept telling me cryptic technical messages which I did not even begin to understand (note to the world: hand me down computers do not come with manuals, start up disks, etc.!) Fortunately, I have a computer genius of a friend who texted me through my crisis and by the time DH got home, everything was up and running. Yippee!!!!

Now about those photos of things I've been working on: I did get a LOT of pictures loaded onto this computer last night but I have NO idea where my photo editing software is. I looked in a few obvious and not-so-obvious places, developed a huge compulsion to throw away all of the junk in my house, considered this a sign that I need to upgrade and buy a new version of Photoshop, and eventually gave up and went to bed. I have a feeling it's in a very obscure and random box that I would never think of looking in, so unless it is in the boxes of Christmas decor that I have been unpacking, I'm not likely to uncover it anytime soon. I think I took a little *too* much time off on my Thanksgiving vacation last week, and now the reality of cleaning the house, preparing for school, decorating for Christmas, etc. are beginning to settle in. Until them, I am editing a few in my photobucket account, of all places, so hopefully I'll have something to share tonight or tomorrow.

Been a long time

Yes, I am still around, and still sewing! In the past month and half, I have been busy with Halloween costumes and custom orders, and have LOTS of pictures on my camera to prove it! Unfortunately, I haven't been able to upload them due to my computer problem.

But... my new computer should be arriving on Monday! It has been a long and at times very annoying wait, but hopefully it will all be worth it. In honor of my new computer and Cyber Monday, I will be having a special sale in my etsy shop

In a new, special category, you will find lots of Christmasy clothing, jewelry, and more! Most of it is ready-to-ship so you can wear it all December long! And if you like something you see but it's not the size or style you need, I'll be happy to talk to you about creating a special item just for you! Check back often; I plan to add new items as fast as I can get them sewn!

And to REALLY make things special, I am offering FREE shipping on all purchases (even custom orders!) during the month of December.

This sale is part of the Adagio Bleu Studios Designers' Street Team Promotion, Search ABSD in tags/titles for all of our team members sales!

Cyber Monday is coming...

After you've feasted with the family....

and after you've hit the malls...

thats when the REAL fun begins!!


Monday, November 30th, is "Cyber Monday"





Do your Christmas shopping online
with Adagio Bleu and save big!


Our Etsy street team members are having an
AWESOME Cyber Monday Sale in our shops!




Search ABSD on Etsy for all of our sales!
or...


Click here to check out our BIG Cyber Monday Sale!

Butterfly Feliz

My soon-to-be seven year old is spying over my shoulder as I type the title of this post.

"Fleas?"
"No, honey, it's feliz like in the Christmas song, Feliz Navidad"
"So it's about Christmas?"
"No. Feliz means happy."
(looks disappointed) "Oh"

I guess looking at pictures of my Frosty Anna jumper in that last post got him in the Christmas spirit.






But alas, no Christmas just yet. I did, however, just list my first Feliz dress (fabulous pattern by Studio Tantrum/Fledge) on etsy. I picked up this gorgeous brown butterfly fabric from Michael Miller this summer, and layered it over top of the kiwi green Garden Tour print. This apron jumper is so carefree and fun... why wouldn't it be called "happy"? Especially with ruffles cascading down the back. Love those ruffles! You can find this one ready to ship in size 4/5 at my etsy store, and I'll be listing a custom size one later tonight.

Resells and a relist for Halloween and Christmas!

The holidays are upon us in boutique-land, which runs about 3 months ahead of the rest of the world's calendar! After taking a few months off from eBay, I am joining up with my friends at Avalon Boutique for their "A Caroling We Will Go" launch. This reversible Farbenmix Anna jumper with a snowman theme was part of my Holiday 2007 collection, but I liked it so much and it was such a prefect fit for the launch that I had to bring it back for one last hurrah. So, here is FROSTY, available in sizes 2-8, only on eBay this week!


We're cleaning out the Halloween bins here in Monkey Doodle land and have decided to list the costumes I made for the boys last year. All three are available: the leopard is size 7/8, the tiger is a 5/6, and the little lion is a 3T(all the details are in the listings). We only wore them for trick-or-treating last year, and they are in like-new condition. These are also great for everyday dress up and school plays! You can click here to see all of my eBay listings this week!