I think I am going to need to join Karyn on a fabric diet:) Last week, I gave in and ordered a few of the fabrics that I had been wanting for awhile (including some of the new Denyse Schmidt fabrics).

I am definitely glad that I got all these fabrics, but I think I may try using up a bunch of what I have for awhile. (Not counting things like thread, interfacing, zippers, skirt/dress lining fabric… you get the picture.)

Look at that fabric on the right though! Little blue hedgehogs and numbers:) I think this may have to find it’s way into a gift for my sister (not a surprise gift since I have no doubt she is probably reading this, hi Sari!) since she loves hedgehogs. I also bought some linen (not pictured) for making a few more tote bags and other things for my etsy shop.

I was going to write about it yesterday, but I forgot… On Memorial Day, Ben and I went on a tour of this old mansion…

It used to be a private house/estate area, but was donated and made into a large park. Unfortunately the mansion was turned into a retreat center on the park grounds and normally the public cannot go inside. However, we didn’t want to miss the opportunity since it was actually open to the public for once.

The conservatory…

There were supposed to be guided tours, but I guess they were short on volunteers so instead we got to just wander around. It would be interesting to go on a guided tour though and learn a little about the history of the place.
Front room…

I would love a staircase like this in my house!

One of the many bedrooms…

Looking outside… (normally I am trying to peer in:)

In one of the hallways…

I really liked this floor and thought it would make a great kitchen floor! Honestly, most of the decorating in this place could use some touching up and the whole place could use a very good professional cleaning (it was rather dusty and could use an airing out, I don’t think they ever open the windows). However, it was pretty neat to get to see inside and the original parts to the house like the woodwork and floors (wood in most the house, but marble I believe in parts) were pretty amazing. Could you imagine living in such a big house?!

Well I am off to try to use up some of my new fabrics:)

Apartment Therapy: Chicago included me in their Etsy Scavenger today! Click here to see the posting. I could hardly believe it when I saw that! The linen tote bag has actually sold already, but I am planning on making some more since there has been interest in more like it. I guess I am not the only person who loves the linen/cotton patchwork combination:) (If you interested in a tote, just send me an email and I will try to send out an email to everyone when I have updated the shop.)

Okay, now I need to go get some stuff done with what little is left of this monday morning….

Do you think a post a day might work this week? I think I will try at least!

Random thoughts and stories about my week, just because I can… (Also, because I keep thinking of little things to blog about but haven’t taken the time to:) So this post will be a little random and full of little odds and ends (plus pictures that I keep meaning to post).

Megan wrote something on her blog today (actually since she lives in New Zealand, I think it was yesterday here but today there:) that I really liked. Her words were “we are at our most beautiful doing the thing we are made to do, and though that kind of beauty doesn?t remove pain and neglect, it does outshine it.” Some good words to remember and think about…

Ben & I went hiking towards the beginning of the week (not sure what day now). On our hike we happened to see the perfect dog for the both of us. The dog was half german shepherd and half siberian husky. A very cool mix of our two favorite breeds (my fav is german shepherd and Ben’s is the husky). We stopped to talk to the lady walking the dog and she told us that the dog was 2 years old I believe and a Hurricane Katrina rescue. The lady was very nice and her dog was oh so sweet and friendly. The dog reminded me a lot of my dog growing up… (Which is a very good thing, since my dog growing up was seriously the best dog ever:)

We also managed to get near enough to this farm or forestry equipment that is in the middle of the woods for me to take a couple pictures. Unfortunately the light wasn’t very good and I don’t have a tripod yet, so this was the only one that turned out okay. It makes you wonder how it got there though and the story behind it.

I took my lip ring out this week. Not really so much by choice, but more so because it kept rubbing against the inside of my mouth below my teeth and causing a decent amount of pain. So now I have a small hole underneath my lip and I will probably get a few less strange looks in the grocery store:)

On Wednesday, Pounce, Axel and I had a little photo session. I took a bunch of pictures and they looked cute:) Feel free to skip over this part, if you don’t like pictures of cute kittens… (What am I talking about! Doesn’t everyone love to see cute kitties!)

Pounce attacking the cord on the camera. He always does this whenever I take pictures:)

The two of them kind of looking at me… I don’t know if it is obvious or not from this picture, but Axel is actually a decent amount taller than Pounce. Sometimes it is hard to remember that Pounce is actually older (his birthday is actually in June and he will be two).

Axel watching for birds out the window… (I love this picture of him)

The two of them playing… Or what a lot of their pictures look like, blurs:)

Hanging out and getting along…

So happy that the weekend is here and it is a three day weekend! Ben and I will hopefully get to do a little bike riding this weekend, and we are going to tour an old mansion that is open for tours in monday. Hopefully they will let me take some pictures inside!

Thinking about sewing projects and what I want to work on next… I have quite a few ideas:)

I can hardly believe it, but the treasury that I created on etsy made the front page! Very exciting:) Go check it out quick! Click here. It probably won’t be up for long, since they switch out the front page fairly often. Still though, I am fairly excited about it.

I definitely needed something to make my night better…. Since, when I arrived home tonight from horseback riding I happened to find the stray kitty that we have been trying to rescue had been hit by a car in our alley.

Life is strange sometimes…. it’s weird how we can go from being sad and crying, to excited and happy about something and then back again within the matter of seconds… I guess I am just thankful tonight that I have my little family to be with and that my kittens are safe and sound with us.

Just so that those who miss it when it is one the front page can still see, here is a screenshot of part of the front page of etsy. (I couldn’t get the whole thing….) Click for a larger image.

I just finished this tote bag today and added it to my etsy shop. It is 100% linen on the outside with 100% cotton patchwork and the inside is also 100% cotton. I love the combination of the linen and the patchwork. It was my first time using both on a bag and I think I will probably do some similar bags again in the future.

Do you see the teal Denyse Schmidt Flea Market Fancy fabric that is the middle patch/handles patch/inside of the bag? Ben said the other day that he was surprised I actually had some of that fabric left:) I have used it for quite a few projects (I have a tunic top out of that fabric, I made a few keychains, tissue holders, bookmarks…), but I love the color and pattern of it. Well after making this tote there really is only a scrap or two of it left, so you probably won’t see any more projects with it:) Now I just have to keep resisting the new line of Denyse Schmidt fabrics that came out… So far, so good, but I am not sure how long I can manage:)