Monthly Archives: March 2016

Capsule Update

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I have been having fun with my capsule wardrobe.  It is simplifying life knowing exactly what I am going to wear everyday.  My closet is a lot less crowded.  And I have added a few fun seasonal-y pieces to make things a bit more woot.

These orange sandals are my favorite.  They were 1/2 off (still expensive, but not ridiculous) I think because of the color.  And they are comfortable and make me tall.

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I have been trying to like myself more.  Gosh darn that is hard.  But with self love comes self care.  #preach  I took this selfie in the spirit of liking myself better.  I looked like a spazz posing in front of our forsythia at the end of the driveway.  But I don’t absolutely hate the picture. #progress #hashtag

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Arting!

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It has been a pretty fabulous week for me, art wise.  I got accepted into the Museum Guide program at the Nelson!  Woot.  I am so very honored and excited.  The classes start next week, and by the end of the summer I will be all trained up.  I will keep you posted of when I will be museum guiding and plead for you to come see me!

I also have been taking a fiber arts class at Kansas City Art Institute through their continuing education program.  So great.  It is super messy and super lots of things to mix.  We have been dying cloth.  Dying whole cloth in the first class; shibori (fancy word for tie-dye) and fabric painting in the second.  I am not sure it is completely my jam, but it has been fun to learn the techniques.

Below are pictures of the whole cloths we died, some of the shibori, and the adorable teacher showing us “pole wrapping”, which looks and sounds dirty but really is just wrapping cloth and string around a pole so that when you die the cloth you get a wood-grain effect.

Capsule

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I am working on creating my spring capsule wardrobe.  A faddy thing for shizzle.  But I love the idea of having a limited number of pieces in my closet – fewer decisions, fewer dramas.

Project 333 is the inspiration, but I tried lots of figuring this weekend to see if 33 pieces would work.  It sounds like a lot, but it ended up not being enough.  I dress fairly casually for work, but I sometimes have to dress up.  And I want my weekends to be super casual, wearing stuff I don’t wear at work.

So I am limiting myself to 50.  And that is good enough.  Especially since the crazytownness of my hormones means I really don’t have “seasonal” clothes.  I am always hot (and warm to  – badumpdump), so my spring, summer, fall, winter clothes only vary by the accessories I wear.

I will narcistically be documenting some of my favorite pieces and themes.  Because I am the least fashion-y person ever, so that makes total sense.

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I made 2/50 of my pieces yesterday.  These are infinity scarves that are fairly short so they aren’t too long when not double-wrapped.  The black one is from some precious Liberty of London fabric I purchased recently.  It is dreamy.  The blue and white scarf is out of some Cloud 9 voile.  It also feels dreamy and was a lot cheaper.

Infinity scarves are very easy to make – so much easier than I expected.  And it is great to be able to make them the exact length I want.  They do have to be finished with a bit of hand stitching, but after you put the scarf on, you can tell that it is there at all.

Be soft.

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This quote came across from values.com this week.  Love it.  And would love to make a quilt that featured “Be Soft” on it.  Might have to figure out how to do that.

Be soft. Do not let the world make you hard. Do not let pain make you hate. Do not let the bitterness steal your sweetness. Take pride that even though the rest of the world may disagree, you still believe it to be a beautiful place.

– Kurt Vonnegut, writer

No Time to Wait

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I really hate losing an hour.  Looking at the clock for the next few days and it being later than I expected every time is a bummer.  I turn 42 in a few weeks, and I am running out of time.

In the past year, I have progressed in some goals that I am very proud of – mostly around pushing myself to learn about art and try new arty things.  I also am proud of getting out of a job I hated and into a job I love.  I don’t quite jump out of bed to get to work, but there isn’t the feeling of soul-sinking dread.  Ahhh… no sinking dread.  Woot.

But 42 isn’t young.  There are so many things I still want to be and do.  I pledge again to getting there.  My specific goals are to stay young-ish looking, fit into this Wilco t-shirt (pictured above, me about 11ish years ago), and become hella smart.

I don’t want to reveal my daily goals to getting there in case I fall flat on my face, but as I get better and prove to myself I have the will and the power, I will share on this blog.  One thing I pledge to do is post on this blog every day.  And so today is done.

Another baby quilt…

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I really do like to make baby quilts.  This is a log cabin star block I made for an eventual queen-size quilt until we redecorated.  My plan is to use up the rest of the bright blocks for Project Linus quilts throughout the year.  This is my second Project Linus quilt for the year.

Bright, happy solids in the front.  A bright, happy backing from my stash and coordinating orangey peachy binding.  And easy straight line quilting.

win win win win.  I love making baby quilts.

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European Staycation

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My husband is my family, my best friend, my heart.  I am so lucky I found someone who I want to be with the rest of my life.  I know what a true gift that is.  He is a fantastic dad, smart, generous, loving, funny, smart, kind.  He is mine.

I try not to take him for granted – he does everything to keep our home peaceful and me sane and organized.  The last two are a real job.

Early in our marriage I planned full days of fun for his birthday.  As his birthday was approaching this year, he harkened back to them.  So I decided to plan some extra fun things this year.

The theme was a tour of Western Europe…

  • We had an early (8 am) crepe breakfast at Chez Elle (not pictured).  I had the best mocha of my life and a scrumptious breakfast crepe.  DH had a fancy schmancy salmon, artichoke, and cream fraiche crepe – getting in the spirit of our one-day of globe trotting.
  • We went to The Better Cheddar on the plaza to began his Birthday Gift Scavenger Hunt. This is either ingenious or lazy on my part.  I had a list of items and countries.  He had to get at least one each of the items and there had to be an item from each country…. mix and match.   I think he had fun picking out the items.
  • Then we went to the amazeballs Rembrandt and Vermeer exhibition at the Nelson Atkins Museum.  An actual Vermeer in Kansas City.  The exhibition is amazing.  We were only able to get through a third of the art.  We are going to have to go back a couple of times at least.  With my little foray into painting, I love looking at how these masters painted.  I am becoming obsessed with how fabric in paintings looks like fabric.  I will be thrilled if I can master just that in my lifetime.  I tried drawing the folds of a tissue this weekend.  I have a lot of learning and practicing to do.
  • We next took a looooong drive to Lawrence.  Our first stop was Brits and Au Marche where DH continued his scavenger hunt.  We were headed to the record store for more scavenging, but then DH insisted I stop by Sarah’s Fabrics while we were in Lawrence.  I protested a bit – this day was about him – my sweet husband has lost years of his life waiting for me while I shop in fabric stores.  But I was quickly persuaded.  I fell in love with a Liberty of London fabric that I wanted to use to make a scarf.  And then I looked at the price for a yard and decided against it.
  • After fabric oogling and some records bought, we went to Free State.  Not a European-themed restaurant.  But DH had German-style beer, a bratwurst, and we shared Bavarian-style pretzels and some tiramisu.  Here is a life tip –  have the tiramisu at Free State before you die.  I usually HATES tiramisu, but theirs is seriously one of my favorite foods in the world.
  • We ended our day with a trip to the Raven and some book buying.  I bought two books for myself.  I almost never do that – we have so many books I can’t imagine adding any more – but I am trying to avoid television for the next few weeks, so that is my excuse, or something like that.

That isn’t quite the end of the story.  After we finished at the bookstore, I checked my bank balance and saw that our tax refund hit.  I went back to Sarah’s and bought a 1/2 yard of the Liberty of London fabric (aaaannnnd a few other bits of fabric) A total indulgence.  I admit to spending lots of time petting the fabric when we got home.  I made a scarf out of the fabric – more on that later.

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