Blog Abandonment

Once again I've completely lost my interest in waking up early to blog. What is it that spikes my motivation to do something so consistently and then a short time later it becomes the least important thing in my life. Maybe I'm a little too dramatic over blogging but it does depress me that I cannot remain passionate about ANYTHING for long periods of time. 

I'm looking back over the blog to see that things may have been coming to a head in December based on the amount of stress I revealed several times in posts. I probably shouldn't beat myself up too badly because I let one ball drop. I'm considering the cafe again so that's a good sign of recovery. I also sewed a beautiful dress this week which happens to have been the most difficult project I've completed to date and that makes me more motivated than ever. This burst of motivation may be due to the fact that I utilized the last week as a much needed vacation time away from work. This time was spent with family and slumming around the house. Things are starting to turn around I hope so that I can become passionate about the things that are important for my future and not my "right-now".

Pictured: unfinished garment. I only pinned the pieces together on the dress form at this point to get an idea of what the finished product would look like.
Pattern: New Look 6023 size 6
 Alterations: I brought the neck down about 1 inch and took the shoulders in about 1 inch to accommodate my petite frame. I took the back seams in about 1/4 inch to cinch the diameter of the torso down as well.
Fabric: 100% Navy blue suit wool.
Style: Fabulous. 

Just to set the records, blogging is not my passion. Creating is. Blogging was an avenue I took in order to build a web presence when the time came to deploy my dream of The Craft Room Cafe. Actually, I'm not doing anything right now. Maybe I'll start that website!

Bank Breakup

Most will say, "That will never happen to me." But it can and I'm here to say that I have been in a terrible relationship with my bank for many years and I'm not even sure when it all started. All I know is that I stayed because I needed it. I stayed because it was convenient. I put up with their controlling ways because I didn't think I had any where else to go.

After buying the house and finally building up the courage, we opened a couple of accounts with different bank. Transitioning has been tricky though. Waiting for debit cards, direct deposits, auto drafts, and checks has proven to be the reason we just didn't want to let go but there is hope I tell you. We are about half way through the transition and it feels good to say good bye. 

BOFA, this is good bye. You knew it was coming and you didn't make this easy for either of us. I cannot say that I will miss you nor can I say that I won't. I can say that it was what it was and this is a new chapter for me and you will find someone else to control. Good luck.

Disney World Weekend

I think it took all of the last three days to recover from Disney World. Since it is only a 35 minute drive to the park we didn't rush. We did not arrive at rope drop or anything on Sunday but we parked, bought tickets, mono railed and made it into the park by 11:00 am which by that time the temperatures went from the 40's to the 60's so we all started peeling back our layers. 

That place is really so magical. E busted out on the packed, quiet mono rail, "Where does the magic start?!"

I don't even know what that means but I looked around at everyone looking at her and turned to her to say, "right here Honey."

We spent about 11 hours there and if our bodies would have let keep going then we would have stayed until 1:00 am when the park closed. Instead, we made it home by 11:30 pm. 

I took my camera and maneuvered it pretty well for an amateur, I think, except that I lost the lens cap on Big Thunder Mountain. It must have banged around in the coaster car that it popped off. I had just ordered it from Amazon so I'll be making a repeat purchase soon. The other thing is that the storage door or card-cover, has a small springy feel to it that allows the door to open a tiny bit. This happens if I squeeze the right side of the camera because I'm trying to take a quick pick. If the door opens during the exposure then the image is lost. That happened a couple of times. Once during a meet and greet with Rapunzel that we waited over an hour for. It was very disappointing. I'll look into getting it serviced.

Anyway, I did get a few good snaps though...

Looking Forward to Vacation

We are not planning to go anywhere but Nana and Grandpa will be here at the end of the month. I took that week off so that I could spend optimal time with them and shuttle the kids to and from school so that they can spend optimal time with them too. We haven't been out to SLC to see them in a year and a half but come out here at least once a year to see us. This will be the first time they see our new house. I'm excited. 

Can't wait to see you guys!

Feeling Like Painting

I found a business card in the bottom of a purse yesterday that I picked up from a booth at an art show.

www.BRenee.com

You will be directed to a Facebook page but there you can delve into the soul of the artist rather than view her gallery.

I love her use of color in such a drab atmosphere. The feel of the abstract art is very dark or even goth but she uses red and teal and lots of white to bring the composition to life. I am very inspired to paint my own since I've been searching for a suitable piece for my tiny master bath to give it character but have been unsuccessful for two reasons. 1) budget 2) size. Hanging up my own piece will solve both of these issues.

Is it inspiration or copy-cat to want paint something that you see? Either way, I'm off to work and then the supply store for the right canvas.

Offspring Creations

I am so proud to see my my girls doing things that I love to do. They do not even think twice about it. Creating is in their blood. Their souls carry the torch for "seeing" then "making". I'm just here for advice.

G called her B-friend and asked him to come over to help her paint an old dresser to put in her room. The mess around the beautiful antique is irrelevant and all the kids rooms still lack base boards but we are working on it! However, this piece turned out to be stunning. It looks great with the Boom Art decoupage. 

This child took a short ride to the mall with her auntie and raced home to find fabric for a design she found at one of the trendy stores. Below is constructed of a 4-way stretch knit I had left over. I advised her to use a zig-zag stitch when she asked if she had to stretch-and-sew. Inside the skirt, pictured top right is a small pocket for the iphone. LOL.

The second one was constructed an hour or so later when the girls called up Grammy to bring over a few more knit selections. B chose a sea shell print but was disappointed when the "fringe" didn't "roll up" like the prototype. I explained to her the difference in knit fabrics. Not pictured is the finished skirt where the second skirt needed a little cinching at the waist. I hand-stitched two scraps on the hip for her to tie together like a wrap around. She was excited that it turned out more "bo-ho" than the first one. 

Lastly, below was my weekend craft. I'm not sure that I love it yet. I plan to give it until the end of the week to grow on me or I'm heading to the home improvement store for another bucket of paint. The base boards look amazing on the other hand. I am open for suggestions...

Backlog of Blogging Images

Last Monday was the day I had an epiphany. I kept saying that I would take the camera I bought through Craigslist to a hobby store or Best Buy in order to find a USB cable for file transfers. I haven't been to a Best Buy in years so I have not made any plans to go. Taking pictures are great but if they are stuck on the camera then what good are they. Monday's blog http://beggobservations.blogspot.com/2014/01/new-year-resolutions.html stirred up the camera issue because I've been wanting to upload some images. It dawned on me that I could shop for the cable on Amazon.com and I would get it before the end of the week. DUH.

The cable showed up last night along with a new Olympus lens cap since my E-Volt didn't come with one courtesy of Craigslist. I plugged in the camera and started the upload and realized I still do not have a personal computer to work with images because I never solved that problem. For now, all my images reside on my work laptop were there isn't any photo editing software. Maybe I'll just finally bite the bullet and browse NewEgg.com for a desktop today. 

Meanwhile, please enjoy a few pics.

 This one is just for fun.