A trip to Bethany’s isn’t complete if I haven’t broken out the box cutter a few times and showed some cardboard who’s boss. So when I discovered that Christmas Eve is actually tomorrow and not today (How did I get that mixed up?), I decided I needed to make some cardboard Christmas trees STAT.

However, cardboard is not so abundant around Bethany’s house as it used to be. I poked around her garage and found the old exercise equipment box but I already hacked that thing to shreds last time I was here. None of the pieces were nearly big enough for my grand plan. I had a Christmas tree LOT on the brain.

I shoved my cardboard Christmas tree idea into the back of my head until later in the week when I just happened to be at the craft store buying supplies for my mystery Alpha Mom craft (which posts Thursday). NO, I didn’t buy cardboard. Who do you think I am? That’s just silliness. I drove around to the back of the store where they keep the dumpsters full of cardboard and swiped a mother-load of flattened boxes for FREE!!! If only my little hatchback trunk was bigger. There were so many boxes back there I could have built a whole cardboard city!

And you know I would if I just had the time.

After the cardboard was successfully transported back to Bethany’s (no small feat) and sliced and diced into stand-up trees, I whipped out some silver spray paint (that I just happened to have on hand for my mystery craft) and sprayed those puppies silver.

Silver spray paint is awesome! Now I know why those grandmotherly plastic flower-arranging types spray paint their flowers silver! It might look cheesy but it is SO EASY and SO SATISFYING!!! This paint is a dream. I don’t remember what kind I bought but I’ll go check later and link it here. It goes on smooth and dries in seconds!!! It was so fun to paint, I found myself eyeballing Bethany’s patio furniture and wondering how she might feel about a metallic theme.

Waiting for paint to dry is my least favorite pastime. Right up there with waiting for glue to dry. Which brings me to a big thorn in my side. Glue! Oh glorious and stupid glue! Why are you so tricky? I have spent way too much time in my life trying to figure out what is the best glue for which craft.

I would say hands-down that a glue gun is the BEST and most AWESOME glue and should be used for ALL crafts except for the part about the burning and not being very kid-friendly. Stupid glue gun. Why do you have to be so hot like that? And no, cool glue guns are not as good. Trust me.

After the trees were all painted and looking pretty in a row, I decided I’d glue some opalescent sequins to them for a Christmassy flair. I reached into my handy dandy craft box and pulled out the white school glue that I had bought at the grocery store the night before.

And now I know why the store brand glue was so much cheaper than the name brand glue. GROAN! What a mess! It was completely separated into two parts!!! Some kind of nearly clear water on the top and thick white paste on the bottom. What the?!! I guess glue isn’t a top seller at the grocery store.

I was so mad. I shook and shook that glue but it would not mix up. Then I squirted off a good bit of the oily part into Bethany’s flower garden (sorry gardeners, I think it’s biodegradable..er, um…) and tried to glue with milky mixture that was left. It did not work.

White glue dries slow enough as it is but when it’s separated like Italian salad dressing, there is no hope. Those sequins slipped and slid all over the place and no matter how long I left them out in the not-so-sunny sunshine they would not stick! Stupid glue!!! I may have shouted more than once for the nice neighbors to hear.

Then I tried to wipe off the watery glue and start over and that ruined my beautiful perfect silver paint job that I was so in love with!!! BAH! In the end the best glue was some glitter glue that I found in a drawer of Annalie’s art supplies.

It’s by far the quickest at sticking and it isn’t too terribly messy for kids to use. Plus, it sparkles! Win win! That stupid grocery store crap can go hide in some smelly old back room next to the trash compactor as far as I’m concerned. It’s completely useless. Maybe the gardeners will discover it makes a great fertilizer. Pfft.

Anyway, the trees are done and they look pretty cool in Bethany’s window. She has such a great view.

Just don’t look too closely at the sequins that are only glued to one side.

Sketch-blogging is great for slow news days!

I’m three days into house-sitting and today I finally broke down and sewed one seam on my quilt. I know I need to get cracking because my mom leaves on Thursday and I really need to get things moving while I have help. I’m afraid if I don’t I may never ever ever finish this.

My mom on the other hand has sewed four pairs of pajama pants for Bug. For some reason we are always short on pajamas—maybe because I let Bug eat Nutella on her waffles every morning while she watches cartoons. She’s a messy eater and I hate doing laundry so we are always running out of clean pajamas. But not anymore! They are so cute too. I’ll try to take photos of the other sets.

So anyway, house-sitting is going okay. The cats are fine and happy and I’ve not done much other than catch up on my blog reading. Tomorrow I’ll sew up the whole thing! Or not.

Sadly, our stint of house-sitting is coming to a close. We’ll be super happy to see Bethany and Annalie again but I’m sad we’ll have to pack up and go home soon. We love it here. What is even more sad is that someday soon Bethany will probably move away from this cute little town (her husband, Troy, is in the military) and then I won’t have a good excuse to come visit anymore.

Or will I?

Guess what? I made a new friend in this little town. Jora from Domestic Reflections lives here! Who knew! The internet it such a small wonderful place. We caught up for a couple of play dates. She has the most awesome house. I’m plotting ways to visit her and take photos for my alpha+mom craft days there.

Seriously, look at this place. I was too shy to take too many photos… as it was only our second time meeting but her beautiful back yard and pool just screamed to be photographed. And we were lucky enough to go swimming there!

Do you know how nice a salt water pool feels on a hot hot hot summer day? You probably do. Divine. Since I grew up in the high desert, I have a real soft spot for dry heat. I love dipping in a pool and feeling the desert breeze tickle the hairs on my wet arms. Everywhere around the pool were succulents and cacti that totally made me feel at home. I love the landscaping around Jora’s yard.

The kids were having a great time playing. I tried to sneak in a photo or two of the house and then when Bug was exploring this neat little reading nook area she touched one of the recessed lighting fixtures and burned her finger.

So that ended my stealthy photo-taking session and the rest of the evening was spent trying to console Bug. It was really too bad it had to end like that because we really had a sweet time. I really wanted to take a photo of the most yummy tomato (fresh from the garden) and bacon sandwich that Jora made me. And then when we were eating them her little girl crawled up in her lap and kissed her pregnant belly!!! It was so cute and darling. If I had a camera in my eyes I would be a smashingly successful photographer because that was the best shot ever. But as I said, I had a crying kid in my lap so that was that. Good thing I have it in my memory though.

On the way home we accidentally took a wrong turn and ended up at the top of a mountain. Thankfully by then Bug’s finger pain had subsided and we decided to get out and take in the view. Not a bad place to end up at sunset. Not bad at all.

I really love it here. We’ll be back Jora!

I fought the quilt and the quilt won. I hate to admit defeat but Operation Quilt has to be shelved before I lose my mind. I sewed fifty-seven squares and I think it’s cost me my sanity. That’s four straight days of quilting. I hate projects that take more than two hours.

Bethany is coming home Tuesday and I don’t think I can wrap the project up that quickly. So I’m going to put it aside and finish it later—not to be confused with never. I really am going to finish this. I just need to figure out how I can squeeze three more squares out of the scraps I have left over and hopefully learn to love this fabric again.

It’s amazing how staring at something for hours on end can drive you buggy. So in order to distract myself from my crazy quilt I’m going to give away a crazy mug. Anybody want a lumpy orange mug with brown shoes and eyes? It’s free to a random commenter!

I know she’s a bit odd. Perhaps a bit of a white elephant of a mug but I think somebody out there would appreciate her. I think I’ll call her, “Orange you glad I stopped blogging about quilting.” If you want her, comment before Wednesday morning and I’ll send her to you FREE!

I sewed 31 squares today. It was brutal. Just kidding. It wasn’t that bad but I am sort of feeling weary of all this fabric and wishing I could just stuff it in a box somewhere and forget about it. But I can’t. I did that once before. I have a quilt somewhere in the depths of one of my mom’s storage sheds. I think I was fifteen when I started it. I should dig it up and see if I hate the fabric. It’s funny how tastes change with time.

I’ve been thinking how tastes in colors and combinations change with time as I sewed together odd combination after odd combination. I like clashing fabrics but I have this feeling that Bug will probably grow up to hate them. It will be cool again when she has kids but I wonder if the quilt will last that long?

It’s sort of fun to work carefully on something that might live longer than you do. I asked my mom if she thought this quilt would last longer than I will and she was doubtful. I guess it depends on how well I sew it, what Bug does with it in her lifetime and how long I plan on living. I’m aiming for 80 but who knows…

It’s great to sit at a table sewing and talk about life and things with your mom. Especially when your kid is happy and playing with your nieces. I should pay those kids for babysitting. They played all day long, only stopping long enough to wolf down lunch and dinner.

I’m not sure what Bug and SuperChic were playing here but they were pretending to be boyfriend and girlfriend for a good portion of the day. It was hilarious. Poor Bug was the boy most of the day. I don’t know if that was her choice or if SuperChic bullied her into it. She didn’t seem to mind being the boy. Though at one point I heard her yell at Superchic, “You’re not going to marry me and I’m not going to marry you!”

I think SuperChic took the rejection well.

Anyway, I quilted all day. At the end of the day I ran out of thread. Not part of the plan but it was just as well because I needed to stop. Quilting, it’s not for the weak.

For those of you who are not bored of this quilting subject, below is the general plan.

It’s just a sketch of course, the squares are more varied (I’m working with 12 different flour sacks) and more lined up. In between and around the edges will be three inch strips of off-white muslin. My mom is trying to get me to do a 1 inch wide strip of small squares around the border… I might do that. I’m not sure. I had wanted a queen size quilt but I’ll need 80 squares for that and right now I only have 31. I think I have enough fabric to do about 30 more… so I’m thinking I’ll be able to make a twin size quilt with 60 squares… that’s the plan.

Here was my first idea:

Here’s the new plan:

I’m going to hand quilt it. (I’m nuts.) I know it will take me a thousand years but I kind of like the idea of having something to do with my hands while I watch tv. Right now I never watch tv because I always feel like I should be doing something else. So maybe this way I’ll keep busy and watch tv! Silly plan, I know but I’m sticking to it. Besides I like sewing by hand.

I know you are all sitting on the edges of your seats waiting to hear how it’s going on the quilting front. It’s an exciting raging battle between me and the threads, let me tell you. Today I pretty much just cut. Cutting cutting cutting… It was hard though!

I hate cutting this fabric up. I feel so much pressure to use it wisely. The patterns are so old. Each piece seems like it holds a story, if only I knew what it was. I bought them in a stack at an estate sale years ago for something like 25 cents a piece. I know they are old flour sacks but I don’t know how old they are. I hope I am doing them right putting them into a quilt. It seems like a better thing to do than keep them away in some dark corner of my closet.

So cut away I did, as carefully as I could. I admit I had to take several breaks because some of the flour sacks were wonkey and not square. It’s stressful (for me) to figure out the best way to cut an odd shape to use every scrap possible. Way too much math for my lopsided brain. I even called my mom in a moment of weakness.

Somehow my mom magically figured out a way to get untangled from whatever she was doing and she came to my rescue! I love my mom. Or maybe she just couldn’t resist all the fun I’m having with this silly quilt. She and my nieces drove down to visit me. Which is great because Bug is bored out of her skull rattling around in this great big house full of toys to play with.

What kind of kid gets bored in a house full of somebody eles’s toys? She is so weird that way. She’s never played with toys much. She has a room full of them and she’d rather bug me. She’s always been that way.

It’s nice because I never have to pick up much after her but it’s a pain in the butt because sometimes I’d like to do my own thing, like you know, make a quilt or something. So I’m very happy my nieces are here to entertain my favorite little monster. Not that I don’t like Bug’s company or anything. I just need some space once in a while.

Once they were here I finished cutting pretty quickly. I did sew a few pieces together just to see how’d they’d look. I wasn’t sure about the strip width but I think I’m settled on it now. It’s actually turning out to be a lot easier than I thought. I don’t want to jinx myself but I think I can totally do this, especially now that my mom is here. She’s not doing it for me, that would be cheating, but she is helping me out of those crazy second-guessing circles I seem to spin myself into.

We are quite at home here as you can see. Nothing terribly eventful has happened. I have not broken the garbage disposal or the washing machine (yet). Knock on wood. I did lose Katy the cat once, but she turned up outside (where she doesn’t belong) and all was well. I just have to keep a better eye on the sliding glass door. It seems there’s somebody else around here besides the cats who can now open doors by herself. I’m looking at you, Bug.

This morning Bug and I walked downtown and hung out at this really cool coffee shop that has a play area just for kids and a counter just for moms with laptops. While you sit at the counter getting your wifi and caffeine fix, you can watch your kid run around and play dress up with all the other kids. It’s great.

There is an attendant on hand to watch the kids but with all those mothers casually looking over their laptops, there isn’t much that could go wrong. Well, other than all the germ-sharing of course. I fully expect to come down with something three days from now and I won’t even complain. The two hours we spent there were totally worth it.

I really wish we had a coffee shop like this in my neighborhood. It’s such a great concept. Kids playing, moms working, coffee, wifi…what more could you ask for? They did seem a little understaffed and possibly a bit dirty (The cream cheese on my bagel had mold on it! Ew!) but there was a lot going on. I don’t know who the owner is but I have a feeling she is a multi-tasking mom and she’s tearing her hair out.

They had classes going on in the back room and bulletin boards everywhere announced other classes to be held at other times. Dance party night, craft day, Hannah Montana night, baby massage, toddler tango—it was lot. Everywhere there were notes scrawled too, just like your mom would leave for you. “Don’t throw your liquids in the trash,” “Be sure to lock the bathroom door,” “Save the Earth and use cloth diapers”… etc. etc. If I didn’t know better I’d say they could use with a little less mothering and a little more bleach but I guess I just have high standards. If Starbucks were running the place it probably wouldn’t exist.

Anyway we had a lot of fun and I got a ton of work done. Maybe we’ll go back tomorrow.

Well, my house-sitting stint is nearly up. The mail has been collected. The cats have been fed and petted. The cat boxes are clean and the trash has been taken out. I might take a spin around the kitchen with the steam mop but pretty much everything is done. I’m a little sad my stay at this five star resort is over. I’ve really enjoyed myself here.

I got some paintings done in Annalie’s garage art studio. I took the liberty of hanging them in the guest room since those walls were bare and Bethany lets me get away with pretty much anything here—even putting nails in the wall. I might leave them here, I might sell them. I don’t know. The guest room needs some art. But I don’t know. Bethany already has quite a bit of my art here already.

Too much maybe?

There was this empty frame sitting on the floor in the living room. I’ve noticed it’s been there a while. Bethany probably has plans to put photos in it but hasn’t gotten around to it yet. So I just sort of um… printed out some illos and stuck them in the frame and hung it on an existing nail. She can discard my print out. It’s on cheap copy paper and my toner is running out so it’s not like she’ll be throwing away a masterpiece. I just couldn’t resist, the frame was begging for some art just sitting there all empty like that.

Maybe if Toby and I ever fall down on our luck I can hire myself out as house-sitter/art decorator. I think that would be a pretty good job.

So that’s it. This house-sitting stay has been extremely productive. I accomplished all the things I set out to do: some Gocco printing, some pottery painting, some normal painting, visits with family and a trip to Sea World with Toby. I couldn’t really ask for more. Sign me up for next year!

The niece-com-poops are visiting and we are up to all sorts of no good. Blue pancakes in the morning, wild dress up parties in Annalie’s room, art projects galore and of course some outings to all the local tourist spots. Bethany‘s town has a lot to offer. You should come visit her.

I’ve been running around after them, wildly trying to clean up. It’s amazing how much more mess three kids can make than one. But then they are the niece-com-poops so making messes sort of runs in their blood. Not to mention my mom is here and she’s been sewing up a storm so there is material and thread all over the place.

My mom sewed three skirts for me, a skirt for Bug, a hat for Bug and a skirt for Bug’s stuffed green bear all in one day! I think Bethany’s house brings out the creative juices in more than just me. CC has also been here sewing and even put up some cute pink skull coffee sleeve thingys in her shop.

I haven’t doing much besides yelling at the kids and cleaning up their mess. But that’s okay. I’ve had lots of time to be creative already. As you can see below:

I picked up the pottery we painted the other day. This dog mug is a lefty mug. It wasn’t supposed to be but when I painted a dog face at the bottom inside of the mug (not shown–see shop for details), I painted it upside down. So yay for lefties! Or yay for Marci who already bought it! Thanks Marci.

I also painted this blue cat plate but when I was in the drawing stages, I accidentally went to brush off my eraser shavings with a paper towel that had a bit of black paint on it. DOH! I wiped a big black streak around the middle. Thankfully, most of it washed off but as you can see there is still some residue on the left and over the cat’s head. I should have drawn something to incorporate the smudge but when it was all wet and covered in pencil marks, it was really hard to tell the difference between pencil residue and paint residue. Excuses, excuses…

What is it with me and messing up my pottery? It must be my signature. I think I’ve messed up every piece I’ve ever painted. Sure, it gives everything more character but it also makes it so I can’t sell them full price and since I haven’t figured out a way to buy bisque cheaper yet, that’s not really working out for me. But I can’t complain, it’s a hobby that almost supports itself. Which is a lot better than other hobbies I could take up. It’s in my shop for cheap, if you’re interested.

Now here’s a piece of pottery that Bug and I sort of messed up on purpose. It’s a collaboration. First, I drew on the bear in pencil. Then she painted it with a flourish and then I outlined some detail over the top. I think it’s rather cute. It’s in our shop but if it doesn’t sell, that’s fine with me.

So that’s what we’ve been up to. Don’t come home, Bethany, we’re having too much fun. Just kidding. Hurry up and come home and join in the fun with us!