You had me at Merlot......

I am so sorry that I've been neglecting my blog of late! I've been suffering from both acute business and a bit of writers' block. I've felt that I've had nothing really to add lately; almost every night I open my blogger dashboard...and nothing! But; I've decided to just start writing and see what happens! The sign above is an item I found while looking for things for a tongue in cheek treasury I made on Etsy. I was looking for a Merlot theme; because I've been on a bit of a wine kick (not drinking). I've decided to make some Merlot soap; for my street fair that's happening next week; and then I decided to make some Merlot sugar scrub....why not bathe in wine?

This week my mother went to San Diego; for the beach wedding she had planned; although the real wedding happened at the end of last month; in her backyard. So I finally have "real" pictures of the dress I made her!

The happy couple on the beach in San Diego

Doesn't she look great? I'm so glad I was able to do this for her; and that she got the beach wedding she dreamed of.

I'm exploring other opportunities for my business; which is exciting; while continuing to be tired; overwhelmed, and busy! That's pretty much par for the course for me now; but I'm adapting; and hopefully getting better at it.

See; I took a small break to collect my thoughts; responded to a bunch of e-mails and got and order and placed an order. Never a dull moment! I'm really hoping I can stick to a schedule and become more efficient with my time. I suppose that all mothers, especially with lots of children feel overwhelmed and run down; but I can't help but think I should be able to handle it all by now!

Another long break....this time; to eat a late dinner; design a few labels; and complain about my aching joints....I see now why it's been so hard for me to blog lately!

I'm hoping for no rain tomorrow; but my joints say otherwise!

Have a good weekend!

Farmers and Brides

Ahhh....such awful cell-phone pics of the bride! I promise that as soon as the real pictures are back I will post them! The first picture is taken with a camera, at least; as I was finishing the dress; you can see it's a beautiful shade of pale yellow; and I hope you can see enough to know that my mother made a lovely bride for her wedding last Saturday. After the wedding, which was at her home; she opened up her pool and the boys went swimming and ate Hawaiian food, which they had never had, but loved!

Saturday was also my first day selling at at Farmer's Market. I was so nervous and had so much to do, I couldn't sleep! Once we were there getting everything set up, I felt more comfortable, but it takes some getting used to to have people look at your items, ask you questions, and then walk away without buying. I know that happens hundreds of times a day to my online site, but it feels more personal when the customer is standing there! After I loosened up a bit, and got a couple sales, I started to enjoy chatting with customers and only felt a twinge of disappointment when they would walk away. The weather was as good as could be expected for fickle Idaho springtime; and I can't wait for the weather to improve further, so I don't have to freeze every Saturday! I learned of a lot of things I need to change and get better at, but all in all I think it was a success!

This picture is my display; I wasn't totally happy with it, I felt like a big dork with hardly any items, but I do plan to expand on this for next week; and I hope to be better prepared and less stressed that way.


Sunday was our 12th anniversary! I had a great day, I slept in thanks to James; which was amazing, since I've been so sleep-deprived lately! He made us a great breakfast, and then we had a relaxing morning. My little sis Rachel, who is so great with our boys, came over in the afternoon to babysit; so James and I had a great date afternoon. I treated myself to a real haircut at a salon, and even had my eyebrows shaped; Jean Harlow's got nothing on me! James got a haircut and a shave, then we drove out to Ste. Chapelle, our local winery, and had lots of fun deciding on our wine order. We are members of the "wine club", which gives us a discount on the wine we buy; it actually turns out to be an economical, and fun, option. We decided on 12 bottles; which will probably last us three months or more; and it seems so decadent to so many lovely bottles to choose from.

I feel like I've been so busy lately I don't know which end is up! I'm trying desperately to catch up, and to find my joy again; it's been really hard lately, because I feel like I'm doing so many things all at once; and none of them well!

One of the many things I've been neglecting is my blog; I hope I will have more interesting and less whiny posts soon!

Happy May!

Cowboy, Take Me Away......

<Sigh> Whenever I'm tired and stressed I start to think about how nice it would be to ride off into the sunset....where there would be no worries of course! I think it's normal to need an escape when things are tough, for whatever reason.

It's no secret to anyone, I'm sure; that I've been overworking myself lately; I feel like I have no choice at the moment; it's just something I have to power through...but it's been tough! A few nights I have been so exhausted I didn't know where I would find the energy to package orders or work on my sewing; but I did!

I hesitate to post pictures; because I always find dresses on hangers aren't nearly as lovely as the dress on a body or a dress form.....and I still have "loose ends" so to speak, yes the bodice facing in flapping in the breeze (undone because I still have alterations to do); and I can see 14,000 loose threads in that picture; but all that will be taken care of in due course. Oh, and working with the silk makes it terribly wrinkly; when finished I will steam the wrinkles out....so keep an open mind......<eeek>

When worn, the neckline on this slinky bias-cut dress drapes loosely

This is the material which will become the detachable train, it has a heather pattern and tiny beads and rhinestones

The daring low back plunges to the waistband....and yes, there's that bodice facing!

My mother came over to try on the dress for fit today; I'm happy to say that it just needs a little nip in the side seams; and she looks like Jean Harlow in it! The cut fits her petite frame perfectly, and reminds me of an old-time movie star! Next I have to do multitudes of hand sewing, which I have trouble with and dislike immensely! And the hem; which shouldn't be too hard; the only challenge is getting the shape right, since the back flares outward to form a small train. Another fitting on Thursday...hopefully, the last!

Gracious, I'm so tired I can barely keep my eyes open; but I have to make 3 batches of soap tonight, and hopefully at least press the hem for the dress....I may have to take a tiny nap!

I'm hoping to get back into the groove of regular posting as my schedule slows down; so many things falling through the cracks at the moment; I'm really hoping to change that!

Thank you to all my loyal followers, and I'm stunned to learn that I've gained new followers in light of my recent neglect! Thank you!

Have a great week!

You Should be Kissed Often and by Someone Who Knows How

Ahh, Gone with the Wind! I absolutely believe in that sentiment! It's important in a marriage to not forget the "little things". I've seen the saying "Always kiss me Goodnight", which is a nice thought, but honestly; half the time James and I don't even go to bed at the same time, or else we both collapse on the couch; so there's not a lot of Good night's going on in our house! I say; kiss when you can! Somebody should put that on a coffee mug!

I've got marriage and weddings on the brain right now because my anniversary is coming up, and yesterday I realized that my mother's wedding is in nine days, so I really need to finish her dress this weekend. I'm coming right along with it, the skirt is bias cut and has five pieces, so getting those contoured seams perfect is crucial to the flow of the dress. The skirt is put together, and the bodice and facing are done, I just have to put the lining together and do the zipper and the hem. And the train...and the waistband....And the straps....EEK! I must work faster! I don't have any pics yet, because...well, it doesn't look like a whole lot yet, so I'll wait until it's at least recognizable!

There's no point in saying I'm busy; or tired; so I won't! I'll just say that I'm feeling very hopeful about the way things are going business-wise; and I'm trying to not sweat the small stuff. I heard that song on the radio today, the one by Tim McGraw called "Live like you were dying"; which basically is about living your life to the fullest, as if each day were your last. Certainly if everyone followed that to the "T"; there would not be a lot of bills being paid or laundry done; but I appreciate the message. Truly, getting my darn laundry put away doesn't help anyone (much); but having a (relatively) calm mother helps my boys tremendously. My final hang-up about the "letting it go" method is because of ingrained habits and attitudes, and the (unfounded) fear that if I don't keep up appearances; so to speak; James will not see the value in what I do. He's told me a million times that he would rather have a happy wife than a clean house, so I suppose it's really all just me. I have a tendency to be pretty hard on myself, and others; and it's hard not to have the cleanest house and the best cooking and be the happiest, busiest Mama in the whole world! I guess it's just admitting I'm human, and fallible, and recognizing that I don't have to be perfect to be a pretty good person.

Must sew tonight! As soon as the dress looks like a dress, I will be sure to post pictures of it, and I really hope my mom's not reading this; because she'll think I won't have her dress ready in time! (It's ok, Mom; I'll get it done, no matter what!).

Tomorrow's Friday; have a great one!