Something About Nothing

I know, you see preparedness and think boring.  But please don't stop reading!  We had one of the most interesting emergency preparedness lessons at church today.  The couple who spoke to us, the Bills,  had experience with the need to be prepared for a disaster.  They lived in Dade County during Hurricane Andrew and had to evacuate their home.  When they returned to their home it was a mess and they had to live without electricity for 5 1/2 weeks. Some of the most important and interesting items they covered were these: 72 hour kits - You've heard about them, know you should have one and feel guilty that you don't have one or that the one you do have has diapers in it although your youngest child is 22.  The Bills had an up-to-date 72 hour kit that they had packed into a trunk and a garbage can but the kit was too big and cumbersome to move.  They had five children under the age of 11 and there was no way for the chi...

I'm on a roll with this apron pattern!  I love how elegant this fabric makes this apron. This is a pattern from Indygo Junction called Bon Appetit.

I was commissioned by a friend to make these aprons. It's a very cute pattern and I love the fabrics. Just looking at all these posts lately, you'd think I've been very busy. Note:  I forgot to post that these aprons are made with a pattern from Indygo Junction called Bon Appetit.

I made up a couple sample lunch bags from the book: Lunch Bags!  25 Homemade Sacks & Wraps to Sew Today The bag on the left is a fully insulated lunch bag with a water bottle holder on the back and an inside pocket.  The bag on the right is an easy cloth version of a paper sack. I was going to take them off to Whimsy Cottage today where they will be living but it's snowing like crazy.  I'm not sure if I want to go out in the snow or not.  I've been spoiled with some beautifully clear days recently. Perhaps it is time to retreat back to the sewing room and make a few of the easy bags for my girls to take to school.  They have been teaching their fellow classmates all about reusable lunch gear.

My neighbor wanted a new couch but her old one was in good shape.  She bought a soild slip cover and then I recovered the pillows from fabric she chose and viola!  It's a new couch!  It's amazing how much some nice bright colors can change an entire room.  Sorry I was too lazy to rotate this photo so you will have to rotate your head or you could rotate the monitor for a better look. :-)

My sister lives in San Francisco. They live very green in SF. Thanks to her promptings I'm getting my act in gear and becoming more and more green in my actions. I've got the reusable shopping bags down pat. 99% of the time. Sort of. Okay maybe only 89%. . .   but my stockpile of plastic bags has dropped by 90%! Next I made myself produce bags along with all the ones I made for everyone else. . . but I'm still working on getting them out the door. I'll get it! I know I will! In the meantime I want to work on the outrageous number of zipped plastic baggies that are used in our household! There are 40 weeks of school and we use on average between 2 to 8 baggies a day, five days a week.  That is somewhere between 400 and 1600 baggies a school year just for lunches!   In an attempt to cut out this massive waste I am on the hunt. At the beginning of the school year I purchased these reusable containers for the girls to take a sandwich and snacks for lunch. I have two teenage...

Jeans can become old friends with each wearing. They support, cover and stretch with us. So let me ask you this: How many times can you mend one pair of jeans? And just because you CAN mend them again does it mean you SHOULD? When do you decide they have lived a good life and it's time for the scrap pile?

The presents are open, the special treats are eaten, the decorations are packed away and now the last of the children has left to go back to school. The holiday's are officially over. Time to clean. . .  *Sniffle, sniffle* Excuse me while I go get a tissue on my way to the sewing room.

Goodreads.com published an excellent interview with the author Orson Scott Card.  One question in particular was especially interesting to me: GR: Goodreads member Tom Jahnsen asks, "What do you think about the future of writing with the explosion of eBooks and audio books? Do you still write with the concept of a reader holding an old-fashioned, bound book in hand?" Would you consider writing a book that incorporates new technology, multimedia, or even reader interaction? OSC: None of the above. I have always written as if I were sitting in a dimly lighted room, or in the flickering light of a campfire, telling the story aloud to a group of people who care about and believe in the same things I do. My books are oral. I'm writing scripts, which I hope readers will then use to perform my books in their own mind. When we read, after decoding the letters, the words are actually processed through the auditory channels of the brain, not the visual ones. We're listeni...

My friend, Jennilyn , posted about her need to prioritize this year and slim down in multiple respects.  I too have been craving some simplicity in my life for some time.  One link she listed was to a 2010 challenge to loose 2,010 things through the year 2010.  I'm following this idea and have decided I will give away or toss 2,011 items during 2011.  In order to keep track of this goal I've created a new blog called, simply enough, 2,011 Items In 2011.   You can link to it here  or there  or almost anywhere .    Sorry about the silliness just trying to keep myself honest with this goal! Happy New Year! "Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful." -William Morris One way that always helps me want to declutter my life is to watch A&E's Horders .  The show provides me with wonderful motivation so I'm grateful you watch episodes online anytime of night or day!

I love numbers and dates when they line up like today's date.  I was able to choose three of my children's birthdates and made them dates that were special because they meant something to me or they were in numerical order.  It makes it much easier for me to remember. Being the first day of the year it is a day of resolutions and one of my resolutions is to be more creative.  I have worked on this resolution for a few years now and this year the stars seem to have aligned for me to concentrate some creativity toward my sketchbook.  I have joined The Sketchbook Challenge:   As well as a sketchbook workshop from Stathmore Online Workshops . Check them out and join the fun!