TT--Sewing!! And a Card

It's time to share our projects on Tackle-It Tuesday!

Click on the button above to visit CelticMom, to read details and to participate!!

No big cleaning projects, no organizing, no re-arranging, no before-during-after photos.  Last week was a project week with very specific projects, and a very specific deadline:  a wedding on Saturday.

My first project was sewing a "modesty panel" in the dress I planned on wearing for the wedding.  The "vee" in the neck revealed just a little too much!  I've had this dress for about four years, and I used to wear a camisole underneath for modesty.  The problem with the camisole is that I had to shorten the shoulder straps so it would sit up high, but then it was binding under my arms.  So last week, I brought out my scissors and snipped a triangle piece out of that camisole.  I figured, "How hard can it be?"

It was frustrating trying to get the panel to sit just right inside the dress.  But surprisingly, the sewing part was fairly easy.  To my hyper-critical eye, the panel is a tad crooked.  But who will notice?

dress with modesty panel

Now for the fun project.  For the wedding couple, I made a card.  I took the wedding invitation apart, and used a pocket in the original card to make a pocket in my own card.  :)  I then made a pull-out card to go in the pocket.  We wrote a blessing on the back of the pull-out card, and we all signed it.

card with pull-out message

And just for fun, I made a bookmark.  The ink on the word sweet smudged a bit, but it still looks pretty good.  The white tissue-paper flower (and the teal one in the flower on the card above) are also from the original invitation.

bookmark

close-up of card

A neat side note:  My dress matched the wedding colors, which were chocolate brown and teal/sky blue.  I think it worked out nicely.  :)

Thank you, Shani, for hosting Tackle-It Tuesday!

Back to life,
Christine

visit my photography blog!
captured by Christine Anne

WWU--Be Still

This is the time to wrap up my week--the goings-on in my home, behind my camera lens, and in my heart--in words and photos.  To find out more, or to join, please visit CanadaGirl's blog.  You can also click on her button at the end of this post.

Tuesday's robin

My Home

I've just been trying to keep the house generally clean and my spirit calm this past week.  Fernando says--and I've said this before--that homeschooling is my #1 priority.  But I need to figure out how to balance everything else, or there will be no clean clothes, and no dinner on the table.

Our anniversary was on Sunday, a wonderful day to have an anniversary on!  Celebration--part of which will be a surprise to Fernando--to come tomorrow afternoon!!


Homeschool and College

We're still trying to sort out schedules and get into a smoothly flowing routine.  Jacob missed most of his late-start Psych class which started on Tuesday, because he thought it started next week.  Then, he somehow thought his 7:30am Thursday class started at 8:30am.  After double-checking his schedule, he grabbed a nectarine for breakfast and tore on out the door.

Danny had his first on-line chemistry class.  It was strange to hear voices--especially girls' voices--emanating from the basement throughout the late Wednesday morning hours.  I'm still not used to this whole internet/headphone/voice online class thing.  Good grief, I used to get up and walk across the room to change the TV channel!

Thomas and I are getting along famously in school.  He is pretty much keeping me on track.  He won't leave me alone.  I can't blog when I want to.  (This is a good thing.)

Experiment in physical science

My Kitchen and Garden

I picked several more tomatoes this week--yay!  And there are lots of jalapeños still growing; I'm leaving them there until I'm ready to try making green tomato salsa.  Since this weekend is packed, hopefully I'll be able to grab a few hours one day next week.

I was able to snag some time on Friday to (finally) bake some bread.  Hopefully the eight loaves will last through next week...

Double-long loaf of whole-wheat bread

The Lord blessed me with a suribachi!!  It is a Japanese mortar and pestle, unique in that the inside of the unglazed bowl has a ridged pattern helpful in mashing garlic and herbs.  I had read about them, then researched a little, and by God's grace, found this one for only $10.

My new suribachi

Am I the only one who thinks a birthday salad is great??  I used farmer's market lettuce, and tomatoes, green pepper, carrots, and onions from my garden.  I topped it all with homemade creamy garlic herb dressing, and my tummy sang "happy birthday to me!"

Stick a candle in it!!

My Project Desk

On Friday I wore a French blue blouse which I bought at Goodwill.  This week I sewed hooks/eyes on to prevent gapping, and I took in the sides so I look like I have shape.  Because I'm broad-shouldered and, um, blessed up top, I need larger blouses.  But then they look like tents on my waist!  So I developed and cut out a template, which I used to take in the sides so it flares out a bit at the bottom and gives me shape.  Photos to come later, I hope.  :)

I also made a wedding card (and a bookmark) for Tim & Evy's wedding this afternoon.  I took apart their wedding invitation and used several pieces to make it.  The pocket which holds the pull-out "card" is a section of the invitation.

Tim & Evy's wedding card

Behind the Lens

I'm sooo happy to have my camera back.  I took so many pictures last week!  It was great to be able to take Ellie to downtown Chicago on Sunday to capture Elliot's baptism and some artistic photos at 12th Street Beach.  Besides Sunday, I've been taking pictures all week, of anything and everything!  I'm also trying to capture images specifically for my blog.  Any excuse to use the camera!  Here is my favorite photo from downtown at Lake Michigan.

Grace in motion

My Nightstand

In all the busy-ness of this week, in all the driving around seemingly for no purpose, in all the frustration of mounting laundry and what's-for-dinner, the Lord desires that I stop, and still my heart, and focus on Him.

"Cease striving and know that I am God;

I will be exalted among the nations,

I will be exalted in the earth."

The LORD of hosts is with us;

The God of Jacob is our stronghold.

Psalm 46:10-11 nasb (emphasis mine)

CanadaGirl is the lovely hostess for our Weekly Wrap-Up.  Please click on her linky button below to visit her blog, to read more, and to participate.

Thanks for stopping by!  Now it's time to get ready to go to a wedding!!

Back to life,
Christine

visit my photography blog!
captured by Christine Anne

Time for a Project!

Do you need encouragement to get all those unfinished projects completed?  Need some help or ideas?  Click above to visit CelticMom, the hostess for Tackle-It Tuesday, to learn more and to participate!!

Ahh, I feel like working on a project today!  I think I'll sit at my project desk--where I make cards and work on scrapbooking--and make a card for Tim and Evy's wedding this Saturday.  Last week, my main project was to clean off, de-clutter, and organize my project desk so that I could do a project!  :)

I wish like mad I could've taken "before" and "during" photos, but I couldn't until Saturday--oh happy of days--when my dear "Ellie" arrived by overnight express from the repair company after 31 days of absence.  But I digress.

I worked on this project with my friend and project accountability partner, Helen.  We call each other at a particular time, share our projects, then work for a designated time, calling each other to check in once during the project time, then once at the end.  I thought I was simply going to de-clutter and put everything away, but ack, there was dust on everything.  So I grabbed the dust cloth and cleaned each item before I set it on the floor.  I had to damp-wipe the desk, which was pretty messed up.  Once the desktop surface was clean, I replaced the lamp and a few larger items.  I put every small item in its place (a place for everything...), then started arranging the larger items (bins and holders and such) on the desktop.

I had purchased two stackable trays for my rubber stamp ink pads, but you won't see those in the picture!  The story:  I stopped at Joann Fabrics earlier in the week, and happened to see the trays.  I bought two, and the cashier let me use both a "40% off one item" coupon and a "10% off total order" coupon!  So I paid only about $7 for both of them.  They didn't hold the ink pads like I wanted--they were wide enough but too deep--but they would work.

Then, on Saturday, I did some power garage-sale-ing with my mom, and happened upon a stackable three-tray set-up.  I asked the lady how much they were, and quickly paid her the 50 cents after my shock wore off.  They were filthy, but they easily washed up and they fit two side-by-side stacks of ink pads.  Perfect.  You can see the three stacking trays on the right-hand corner of my desk below.

My clean project desk is calling me to work!

On the desk, from left to right:  lamp, storage caddy for brads/eyelets/etc., ribbon box (90% off at the scrapbook store), stackable bins with ink pads and other supplies, and a phone (because it has no other place to go!).

Tim and Evy's wedding invitation sits on the wooden project board, waiting for me to make it into a wedding card.  I have just two things left to do:  purchase another CFC bulb for the two-bulb lamp (it has only ever had one bulb in it!), and return the two trays to the store for a refund, yay!

This week's main projects:

• Make Tim and Evy's wedding card!
• Finish sewing a modesty panel in my dress for the wedding this Saturday
• Get chemistry supplies (recently returned to me) put back in order on my homeschool shelves

Trust me, there are other projects calling my name, but the above have deadlines.  Really soon.  So I need to get to work!


Back to life,
Christine

visit my photography blog!
captured by Christine Anne