...fall...

Fall is here and that makes me happy. My kids are now on fall break so we'll get 4 straight days together, following all these days they've been sick at home anyway. I have offered to give Alex and Sarah their first sewing lesson during fall break and they seem pretty excited...makes me happy. Another possible fall break activity is to go see 'Where the Wild Things Are'...that is sure to be some wild rumpus-y fun. Unfortunately, it's also sure to be quite germy so maybe we'll wear masks...or maybe we'll stay home. Cramming us into a theater with 100s of other people during the swine flu epidemic probably isn't a very good thing to do. And how can we eat our milk duds & popcorn and drink our Dr. Peppers with a mask on? Sam will probably cry if we don't go see it since he's known for weeks that it comes out this week. That will be sad.

But fall is a happy time and here's a bit of fallishness that made me smile this morning...a fabric giveaway! And such suh-weet fabric it is! Thanks to new blogger, Jenny, for hosting this.

http://cutsewironrepeat.blogspot.com/

Run on over there and see Jenny's pretty projects and give her a shout out in her comments. And come back and see me here soon...this giveaway of Jenny's just might be contagious : )

sickness

I guess I've been too busy to blog...having 3 children, a dog, a husband and a serious sewing & fabric addiction keeps a girl hoppin' ya know! It's been a really good school year for the kiddos...until last week. Now we have sick kids and mama isn't feelin' so good either. Darn, guess I'll just sit here and entertain myself with the following...

1. Unfortunately, I stumbled on to a fabric swap group on flickr.com a couple of weeks ago. And unfortunately they introduced me to some 'off-the-radar' Heather Ross fabrics. And unfortunately, as it turns out, I HAVE TO HAVE MUNKI! But the good news is me and my psycho-fabric-disorder are in very good company...there are some who are sicker than me even!

2. http://www.peopleofwalmart.com/ I know most of you have already known the pleasure of this eye-candy, many of us have enjoyed it 1st hand! But if you haven't, here's a small sampling of the tamer little gems...I kept it clean for the blog ; ) And if you don't mind a little naughty irreverance, run over there and get some laughs! The pictures are pretty funny, but the captions have me rolling on the floor.










'waldo is so much easier to find when he's out of the closet.'










'...Thanks for clearing that up for us all, it would have been awkward if i had to ask.'







'Don’t laugh! Maybe her granddaughter borrowed her Uggs and mini-skirt. Sometimes you just have to make do'

my 17 day plan for peace

Right now it's very quiet in the house, I can complete a thought...it will be over soon. The 4 y.o. will get up and pounce on the dog and that will be that...the peace will be gone until bedtime is complete. So I'll savor this time with my thoughts, my computer, my morning news, my coffee and do some rambling.
As always, we have had a lot going on around here. Last week was VBS at our church and I was director of the preschool program. It went well, no babies got lost (for more than a minute) and they all had a blast. That was some craziness! 120 kids aged 3-13 invaded the church every evening. It was, as someone put it, 'fabulous chaos'!

Sadly though, my 9 y.o. had to miss the whole thing. The week before VBS, Alex had a bike wreck in the backyard and broke his collarbone...ugh! My Alex has been through a lot with his health and he is such a trooper. His shoulder seems to be healing well and surely by the time school starts (in 17 days) he'll be doing really well. See above, he's wearing his brace.

As I mentioned, school starts in 17 days...yes I'm counting down and I'm not ashamed. You know you are too! If you're not, you're either in denial or on some really good meds. How 'bout that sweet school fabric up ther...in honor of BTS month. I have the 1st week of freedom all planned out. It involves intense sewing and napping...bliss. We've enjoyed doing nothing together day after day, but time for a change of scenery.

One other wonderful event takes place during back-to-school week....Project Runway season 6!!
I may ramble a lot about that in the future so that's all I'll say about it for now.

Here's a sweet little set I whipped up the other day for a friend's baby. Isn't this the yummiest fabric (Paganelli's Flower Power)?! What a rockin' pair of pants these are...some dramatic ruffles on zebra. Oh baby!
Turned out super cool...what a fun project!

My moment of peace is long over, my attention is needed elsewhere...catch ya next time!

the lamest blogger on earth

yes, that would be me. I just can't seem to focus long enough to sit in front of the computer and have anything interesting or coherent to blog about. Now, as I sit here being sick for the 5th day in row while the hubby attempts to handle the children and dog for the evening, I just might be able to ramble a bit. I sure wish I knew more about getting this blog pimped out real nice...I think it's a bit boring at this point and I never know quite where my photos will place themselves but whatever...I'll figure it out later when I'm in the mood to focus on it. It's all about the mood.

It has been a great summer and now it's only 4 weeks until school starts back up. We've done nothing in particular...no summer camps, no real vacationing...and that is okay with us. It's been great to go flitting about town on whim to movies or parks or stay home and run through the sprinkler or play Rock Band to our hearts content. Somehow I've managed to have no time to sew for my little business at all. But still getting my sewing fix with family and friend sewing projects. One of those being a delightful confection of taffeta and can-can netting...a flower girl dress. I have never sewn a formal dress before and it was quite a project let me tell ya! But it turned out to be quite lovely and was a fun challenge for me. Considering how long it took to make, I'll have to charge you $1000 if you want to order one ; )

The wedding was just wonderful and the married couple are very dear to us, sweet young things. Scott sang a couple of songs, Sarah was the flower girl, Sam the ring bearer, and I was just so relieved when Sarah and Sam made it down the aisle without shoving each other or racing to be the 1st one to the alter. They actually did quite well and were, of course, just freakin' adorable. My big boy, Alex, was in Albuquerque visiting Aunt Sheryl so he missed it. He really didn't mind except he did want to see the kiss...he's 9...that's so funny.

In addition to the flower girl dress I also sewed up some fun little gifts for a few people for bdays and father's day...coffee cozies. Those were fun and quick to make. I threw a Starbucks gift card in with each one and they were a great gift. Will be crankin' out a bunch of those this fall and Christmas I'm sure. And with my designs beginning to branch out beyond childrens' things, I have been thinking about changing my biz name. I thought it over for a few weeks and made my decision. Changing things like this is a bit of a hassle and I've also recently changed computers, email address and cell phone number...not fun. I'll be happy when it's all settled. So back to the biz name. My creations will now be labeled 'aMuse' instead of 'apronstrings'. Short and sweet and works for anything I'm in the mood to create.

Well, that's all the rambling I have today. I sure appreciate you stopping by to check on me...leave me a shout out in comments to let me know you did. Peace out, friend!

If this rambling actually turns in to a post with more than a few sentences I will be shocked. We are in full-on summer break mode here and it's exhausting! The kids are already sporting sun-bleached hair, tanned skin, and that coppertone scent...love it, love it! I seek out the sunscreen that has that smell, you know that smell don't you? It's probably toxic but I still prefer it...it just makes summertime seem more fun. Brings back those carefree days...barefeet, sprinklers, gone all day with friends, the ice cream man, tons of kool-aid. Remember all that? Good times.

So with 3 kids home for the summer I have resigned myself to the fact that I will accomplish very little at the sewing table...unless I can find a super fun and super cheap babysitter. That is the reality, but another reality is that if I don't get to sew a little I will not be a very happy mama. I'm still working on a few summery things to have photographed on my lovely little muses and will list them as I'm able.

I figured out something that all the other clothing designers already know...I need to plan for fall already. Oh boy am I great at planning...such grand plans I come up with. However, it is just me and my sewing machines and we can only do so much these days. The planning is fulfilling though...I can do it as we are out and about doing all those summery things. I am hoping to show at a couple of craft fairs this fall and that has me excited. Are you a craft fair lover? Who isn't?! Now if I can just figure out how to get the booth of my dreams to be a reality...such fun plans.

May 2009....Sarah Grace bridged from Daisies to Brownies! And my boys got to play in a smelly, gunky pond. A good time was had by all!

My Muse

I sent 2 pretty little outfits to a scrumptious little cream puff in Texas last week. This baby is so yummy you won't be able to stand it. Really. The fro'sting on top of her sweet head is almost too much to look at. But do look! And look, if you can veer the eyes from those cheeks, at her purdy clothes. These outfits are offered as customs in my etsy shop and I'll be running over there some time soon to switch out the photos. Waiting for the final pics from my photographer/sister. The photos I'm posting here are just rough drafts. My hats off and my deepest thanks to Cream Puff's mama, Kim, and to the rockin' photographer, my dear sister.

Enjoy!

I made stuff this week!

Well, I FINALLY found the time and ambition to focus long enough to sew and list some new little sweeties for my etsy shop...yay! It is so hard to accomplish anything between my A.D.D. and other distractions (house, children, phone calls, internet surfing). So I stayed focused this week and made these purdies. I shipped the Pink Lemonade and the Rose Leopard sets to a scrumptious little angel, my muse, in Texas for her to model them. I cannot wait to see her (and her amazing 'fro) in her apronstrings! I will post the photos here when I receive them.

I have sew many plans for my fabric this week, but sew little time...ugh! Sam is still home with me 3 days a week and I get very little accomplished in the studio on those days, but one day I will be missing having a little one shadowing me all day (yea, right). But I am attempting a new goal for myself. I have so so so much fabric so I have this idea to sew up at least 5 dresses or skirts from my current stash before I order any of the new fabrics I'm obsessed with (i.e. Paula Prass's new line and Paganelli's Flower Power...oh my goodness, yum!) Really I have to do this plan...I have absolutely nowhere else to stash fabric.

Welcome to my world....

I thought I should post a bit about myself, give some background info here. Probably should have opened the blog with the "about me" post, but I'm doing things jumbly with no real sense of order 'cause that's how I roll.
Let me just start by saying I am not a writer nor photographer. I follow lots of bloggers who are gifted writers and amazing photographers...I am certainly neither. I'm just a seamstress and fabric addict. My raison(s) d'etre here at "Ramblings...." in no particular order, are as follows: ~to join the blogging party...I don't want to be left out of the fun! ~to share info about my little bizness ~to tell stories ~ to brag or vent about my children ~to ask for input about who knows what. There may be more reasons, but that's a good bunch of it.

***photos are (top) Nonnie & me 1971...isn't she beautiful...and (bottom) Nonnie & Huffy in his "sharp" patchwork shirt 2008***

Here's a short & sweet bio:

I am a child of the 70's and a teen of the 80's and I have the musical taste to prove it. Born and raised in Oklahoma and don't mind it at all...nice place. My jobs have included dishwasher/terrible waitress at Pizza Hut, video store clerk, gifted barista (before it was so mainstream), something to do with unclaimed government checks (very educational), Montessori preschool teacher, and, now, mother and seamstress. I have 3 children between ages 4 and 9 (boy-girl-boy) and a wonderful husband of 15 years. Oh, and a dog...can't believe it but, we do.

So I learned to sew from my grandmother, Lanette, who was known by the family as "Nonnie." For me she was a mother and grandmother rolled into one amazing person and I miss her greatly. She was my biggest "fan." Nonnie taught me to sew when I was 13. I chose a pants pattern with a gussett and she loved to tell everyone that I chose such a complicated pattern as my first project...those were cool pants. Nobody else had anything quite like it....well, not until M.C. Hammer came along.

I sew as often as I am able...actually more than I should. The house tends to get a little too neglected as do the dog and the 4 year old when I'm on a sewing binge. I am working hard to strike a balance here...how DO they do it? If I could exist on frapuccino and much less sleep I'd have it all worked out.

Gotta go pick up the kiddos. I think my next post will be a list of things I love...that's the plan, but we shall see.

Sam's bestest day ever

So the kids need new shoes. Alex wants checkerboard Vans, Sarah wants gold ballet flats, Sam wants the same exact kind of "slide-ons" as last year...camo with the army jet. Of course Target doesn't have the same as last year and I'm really hoping he doesn't decide he wants Vans because I'm counting on a $15 pair of shoes for the little guy. There are just no cool and cheap "slide-ons" around here at this moment...except for at Wal-Mart...on sale for $8, but mis-marked so actually $6. Hard to hate Wal-Mart at a moment like this. And Sam says this is the bestest day of his life so far because of his new robot shoes. Suh-weet!

new and confused...

I have this notion...well I have 1000's of notions in my studio, but I have this notion (meaning thought or aspiration) for starting the blog thing. Maybe I can share a photo or 2 of a new design on my sewing table or perhaps an anecdote from my motherly musings. At this point I will be oh so pleased if this post shows up on my blog and if I can locate the illusive "add a photo" button. Cause maybe I might want to add a photo...in a few months...when I'm in the mood to blog again.

Oh goodie...found the button : )

Well, I'm off to relax or maybe to tweet for a minute first. Come tweet with me...iheartfabric.