The Happiest Place on Earth.....

...is not Disney. Sorry. It's Etsy.com. I could go there every day, if I had the time, and spend hours just in awe of all the creativity of the people who have Etsy stores. The first place you have to go, and here's the link, is to Joo Joo Land.These tiny little creations are just amazing, especially if you've worked with polymer clay and you know how hard it is (ok, maybe it's just me) to work with itty bitty little pieces. Another of my favorites is Creation Cottage. Ok, I know I'm supposed to promote my OWN work, and I do have an Etsy store too. But really, sometimes you get tired of looking at your own stuff and everyone else's just seems so much better!

Well in case you didn't notice, it's still winter. Sunny here in RI, but cold and windy and I'm trying very hard to appreciate the seasons, all of them, but does this one have to be so LONG?? One of my customers in the shop the other day was regaling me with tales of Arizona, just to torture me. Trying to convince his wife to move there, and she does love it there but she says she'd miss the seasons. On days like today, I feel pretty strongly that the seasons are overrated. At least THIS one is. Here's how I think it should be; After spring and summer, which are ok, we should have fall for 4-1/2 months. Then 6 weeks of winter, when we get all the snow and ice and freezing rain that we're going to get for the year. At the end of that we have Christmas, then we move right into spring. None of this messing around with ice and mud and will-it-snow-one-more-time baloney. It's 20, then it's 60, then it snows, then it's 60 again....one day I've got my doors and windows open, the next day I'm huddled next to the wood stove.

Maybe I should move to Joo Joo Land.

Are your eyes bleeding yet, from the pinkness?....

....Perhaps not. If not, then you need to adjust the settings on your monitor, because this is probably the pinkest fabric there is. Impossibly, ridiculously pink. Painful pink. And I have decided to make capris and a top out of it. No, not for me, for some unsuspecting little girl. It'll work, trust me. Have I ever lied to you?

Tonight I will reveal an embarrasing truth about myself: I am way too invested in American Idol. We have been watching since, I think, season 3. This season, however, there are more truly talented people on there than ever. It's going to be hard to see some of them not make it through to the next round. But during Hollywood Week I picked out Danny Gokey as this year's winner. Probably not a good thing to do, because there are so many people whom I haven't even seen yet. Usually Preston picks the winner when they get to the top 12, and he's almost always right. There's something really likeable about Danny though, as a talented singer among talented singers, he seems really geniune. Kind of like David Archuleta last season, only not as dorky. Don't get me wrong, I liked David. He was my pick early on in the season. But the "golly gosh" stuff wore a little thin by the time we were done. Anyway, I like Danny this year, but there's also the dude who plays dueling piano...can't remember his name. He's really good too. See? I told you I was too invested.

The Power of Subliminal Messaging....

...is undeniable, although sometimes I don't think it has the intended effect. Case in point:This little purse I just finished today. It's just a simple little bag, crocheted, with a red flannel heart hand-applique'd on the front. It's lined with the same red flannel. I had this idea weeks ago, it was something that just kind of popped into my head one day. So simple. So I've been working on it in between other stuff, and the thought was that maybe I'd have it done before Valentines' Day so I could display it in the store with whatever other Valentine-related stuff I had. Anyway, of COURSE it wasn't done, but that's beside the point. The point, and I do have one, is that the other day I was watching TV and suddenly found out where the idea came from. I didn't even remember seeing it. But there was this commercial, and this lady is in a little store shopping for hugs and laughs and good wishes, or whatever...maybe you've seen it. I don't remember what they were selling, but some part of my brain saw the little rectangular white things with red hearts on them sitting on the shelf and said "hey, we could make that at home". I think I was supposed to take away from that commercial some sort of meaning, but I don't think I got the one the advertisers wanted me to get. So much for my originality.

Anyway, still working on overdue Christmas stuff but I managed to finish my brother's shirt and the two shirts for Eleanor. Now all I have to do is Sparky's chickadee shirt and I'll be done with Christmas--just in time to start planning for the next one. No, I'm just kidding. I don't start planning for Christmas until, like, December 15. Could you tell? In the meantime I have Carol's shirt that needs a makeover. She's only been waiting since....ah....last April. I don't think these things should be rushed.

Christmas ain't over....

....until the fat lady has finished making all the presents.One down, two to go! This one I made for Preston using my favorite technique, a combination of applique and fabric paint. It's on the back of a denim jacket. Now I just have to finish the shirt I'm doing for my brother, and the one I'm making for Sparky. Christmas just snuck up on me and I ran out of time. Oh yes, also I have to finish two shirts for Eleanor, who ordered a whole bunch of stuff from me for her family and had to settle for just MOST of the order. I did manage to get these done on time:So all was not lost. And Eleanor is very patient and understanding, thank goodness! OK, back to work.

So I'm Reading this Book...

...called "Buyology". It's actually nonfiction, which is quite a departure for me. Can't remember the last time I read something based in reality; usually I get enough reality in my real life and try to avoid it in my off hours. But I heard about this and it intrigued me; it's all about how the advertising industry is, using MRI-related technology, studying the very basic psychological reasons why we buy what we buy, in the hope that they can tailor their already obvious advertising strategies toward getting us to purchase more stuff we don't need. They're looking at which areas of our brain light up when we see certain images as opposed to other images that don't light us up as much. It's fascinating.

I wonder which areas of my brain light up when I go into the fabric store? I'm guessing all of them, because I can't seem to come out of there without lots of stuff I don't need. Like this piece that called to me from the pile of hundreds of flatfolds:The bees are very tiny. Bees light my brain up anyway, I think they're pretty much the coolest things going, and so when I saw these little cartoon-y bees I just had to have them. So this is the beginning of my spring line of baby/kids' clothes; I cut it out last night, a little onepiece suit with a sunhat. I'll have to figure out how to make a little stuffed bee or something to go with it. Next I have a piece of fabric that is this outrageous shade of pink with an allover dragonfly pattern in a lighter shade of pink, and I already have that earmarked for something.
In other news, my band has spent the last few weeks recording a CD so we can actually go out and book some shows. I'm pretty stoked about it, not just the playing of the shows but the whole recording process. I've done this in the shed in the back yard and I've done it in a studio, and I've got to say I prefer the shed in the back yard. The CD we made at home ended up sounding way better than the one we did in the studio that cost mucho money (how much money I don't know because I didn't pay for it, but it was a lot at $40 an hour). Joe's got all the recording equipment, and he seems to enjoy playing producer. I only wish PJ's band Decorus Mens was still together, I would have loved to get them in there and record their stuff, some of which was really, really good and now people will never get to hear it--a fact that seems to frustrate me WAY more than it does PJ for some reason.

I Knew It Was Going To Be A Good Day....

...when I woke up and JUUUUdy Tenuta was on my TV. If you start out the day laughing like a fool, it just has to put you in a good frame of mind to deal with whatever CRAP comes your way today! If you have not experienced Judy Tenuta, look her up on YouTube. I haven't seen her recently, but her stuff from the 80's just never gets old.
Also knew it was going to be a good day because I am migraine-free after three days *sigh of relief*. It's like having three days of dark, miserable, soul-sucking rain and then on day four the sun comes out. I don't get them like some people--no nausea, flashing lights, and I don't have to confine myself to a dark soundless room--but they're bad enough. I do get some symptoms I've never heard anyone else describe though; at the end of a migraine I am simultaneously beset by the desire to sleep for several days straight, and the compulsion to consume everything in my path. All that hit me last night, so I knew the end was in sight.

Doo Doo Doo, Lookin' Out My Back Door....

...but I don't recall the part about the FOOT OF SNOW, Mr. Fogarty, you forgot to include that.This was the scene out my back door on Friday evening. Myah must find the smell of snow intriguing, because her favorite thing to do is to stick her whole face in it. Her second favorite thing is if you shovel and throw the shovelfuls of snow at her. Fortunately, it was pretty light and fluffy. She also had company, the neighbor's dog Tucker comes over to play almost every day and the two of them had a good time in the snow but he's camera shy. By the time we had shoveled and snow-blowed all we could and went back inside, she was worn out and this was how the rest of her evening was spent:
And that's pretty much how we're spending Sunday. The snow is falling at a pretty good rate, and I think we're supposed to get another 4 inches today.

I don't mind so much. It's pretty to look at, and it doesn't bother me to consider myself stuck at home because I have plenty to do here. I just wish I had finished my Christmas shopping. I ordered a lot of stuff online, but I was counting on that last-minute trip to Wal-Mart and now I may be screwed. Maybe tomorrow though, we'll see what happens I guess. I heard rumors of yet another snowstorm, but I just want to get through this one before I think about that.

And speaking of thinking about stuff, my creative mind is already done with Christmas and has for the past week begun to think and plan for spring. A lady who had bought one of my little baby outfits came into the store and asked my when I thought my spring line would be coming out. Bemused, I had never actually thought about it in that way although I do have a spring line planned. I started making kids' clothes last year just because I felt like it, and have sold some of the few pieces I had made. I have quite a little stash of cute fabrics earmarked for dresses and outfits, so in January/February I will start on those. First, of course, I will have to finish the Christmas presents I had all good intentions of making, and I still owe Bella a set of regalia from last summer so I will have to prioritize my projects. After Christmas. That will be my sole New Year's resolution, to finish all the stuff I have planned or started. It may take me a couple of years.