Evening Activities

Tonight I made a Halloween costume for one of my co-workers. Well I didn't have to do much. She is pregnant and we decided that she should be a care bear. She said she couldn't sew so I agreed to put it together if she bought the stuff. She made it really easy for me. She bought a blue sweatshirt and pants, white iron-on patches, blue iron-on patches and star iron-on patches. I ironed them on, sewed around them, and sewed on a tail made of felt and a heart. It was hard to take a picture of but it turned out cute.
I got my hoodies and pants (for crabby pants) today. I washed them and dried them and that is all the progress I made. I spent most of the night looking for a Halloween costume for myself. I really didn't want to make one but I'll remember for next year that if I want to buy one I shouldn't wait until 2 days before. Ugh. It was a nightmare and I ended up spending too much money on a costume I don't love. Oh well.

This is Halloween

When I was little Halloween was the most celebrated holiday at our house. We painted the windows, we put tombstones in the yard, we had stuffed dummies and one year we even built a cave around our front door (we had very few trick or treaters that year). I used to love going out trick or treating with my friends and we did it for much longer than is probably socially acceptable. Then, in college I think, Halloween lost its charm. My husband and I tend not to carve pumpkins, or dress up. No one we know has Halloween parties. For a long time we lived in an apartment so we didn't even get trick or treaters.

Now that we have a house some of the excitement is coming back. Last year my husband carved his very first pumpkin. This year we are planning to carve 2! We are having friends over to make cookies and toast pumpkin seeds and hand out candy. We went to The Nightmare Before Christmas last weekend (which I see as more of a Christmas movie than Halloween but whatever) to get in the mood for the upcoming holiday. Drvono bought a hanging bat which the cats promptly tore down.

Christmas is still my favorate holiday now, mostly because I love snow and sparkly things so much, but I am happy that Halloween has made its way back into my life.

Get Moving

I've got about a month until No Coast. I'm now at sixty items. One month ago I had 12 items! That isn't bad but I feel that I need to kick it into high gear again. I really need to make some pattern pieces so I can take people up on their offers to help me cut stuff. I'm also looking forward to the four days I'll have off from work in November. That should help move things along too.
Overall I'm happy with the way my items are turning out. I think they are of good quality but I'm constantly paranoid that they are going to just fall apart when people get them home and I'll get a ton of angry emails. That should happen because I've tested and washed samples of each item and they have turned out fine.
On Monday I should get the hoodies and I'll try to finish those as fast as I can. I'm thinking about dropping the millipedes and crabs from the roster. I'm not that happy with them. Anyone disagree?
* Spiders - 16
* Jellyfish - 9
* Octopus - 8
* Egg Babies - 8
* Crabs - 2
* Monsters - 7
* Millipedes - 0
* Hoodies - 0
* Blankets - 10
* Total - 60

Chilling Statistics

I took a class about literacy and getting children ready for Kindergarten the other night. Guess what people? You need to start preparing at birth. We learned that in order for a child to be super successful in Kindergarten they need to hear 50 million vocalizations by the time they are 5 (that is about 27,400 a day), and about 40 questions an hour. They also need a ratio of 12 positive comments for every one negative. Get to work!

Dwindle is a funny word

Well my stash was dwindling down and the fabric store had another sale on flannel so I have enough fabric now to make 20 blankets. I've made nine so far so I'm almost half way there. My stash of fleece for jellyfish, octopuses and spiders in down to one cube from two so that is a good sign that things are happening. I still have over a month til the show so I am feeling more optimistic than usual. Perhaps it isn't a good thing though because I am beginning to feel more comfortable with taking days off from sewing and if that becomes a habit I'll be in big trouble!!!

It Never Fails

I can't stop thinking about the 101 other/new projects I want to get started on. Drvono reminded me that this happens every time I am working on something. I am always thinking about some great new thing that I would rather be doing. November 30th will come soon enough and then I will be able to work on new things.
On my to do list are:
-Knit a new scarf with the wool that my cousin-in-law gave me from Alaska
-Make some cute clothes for my niece (I have 3 dress ideas in mind)
-Make a Christmas present for my godson
-Make a dog bed or two
-Make a messenger bag for my husband

Yikes, that list is getting long.

New Stuff

Something about fall always makes me want to go shopping. Yesterday drvono and I went to the fabric store and found these sparkle letters.

Today we went to a store that sells random vintage and just cool stuff. It is only open once a month so we are always excited to see what is new there. This time we found these drawers from a sewing machine stand. I've been wanting more storage around my work space.

Update

Progress so far and a pic.
* Spiders - 16
* Jellyfish - 7
* Octopus - 8
* Egg Babies - 8
* Crabs - 2
* Monsters - 4
* Millipedes - 0
* Hoodies - 0
* Blankets - 7
* Total - 52

Posting

I honestly try to post more but my life just isn't that interesting. I could make stuff up but that would require some effort and thinking on my part and that isn't my strong suit these days. I could update you on Critterbee creations but the count on the side bar does that quite well.
What I can do is tell you things that happen at work from time to time. Yesterday a four-year-old told me where babies come from. She told me I needed to get some kids since I'm not a mom so I asked her where I can get some kids. She told me that all I have to do is go to the hospital, decide how many children I want (at least 2 she said), then put them in my tummy and they will come out later!

I feel like I move at a sloth's pace these days. Maybe it is because it has been cold and rainy for like a week. I don't mind cold but I do miss the sunshine when it has been gone for more than a day or two.
On a happier note I'm up to 50 completed items! It isn't as far as I'd like to be but I suppose that will always be the case. I think I'll throw myself a little party to celebrate!

Forward motion

The great thing about being a preschool teacher is overhearing great conversations like this:
Girl 1: Teacher! She said that God is better than Jesus!
Teacher: Well God and Jesus are the same
Girl 2: No they aren't!
Teacher: Why do you think that they aren't
Girl 2: Because God and Jesus wear different clothes!
The not so great part about being a preschool teacher is that you get sick all the time. Even if you wash your hands all the time a child will still come along and cough right in your face. This weekend I had to miss a birthday party and spend a whole day being sick.
I am trying to make up for lost time and accomplish things. For some reason things always go a lot quick in my head than in real life though.
* Spiders - 16
* Jellyfish - 6
* Octopus - 7
* Egg Babies - 8
* Crabs - 2
* Monsters - 4
* Millipedes - 0
* Hoodies - 0
* Blankets - 6
* Total - 49

New Aquisitions

I bought this and this from elsita on etsy. I love all of her work! It is so amazing.

Foiled again!

I have to admit that I am feeling rather cursed. My sewing machine is suddenly back on the fritz. Drvono is going to bring it back in and I'm sure it will be a while before I get it back again. I am incredibly frustrated. Part of me just wants to pull out of No Coast and give up but I do that too often in life. I think I have to stick this one out and just do it. I may not have as much inventory as I would like but I will do it anyway.
Oh, and on a completely different note, I hate horror movies and I am really sick of seeing trailers for them nearly every add break.

Like new and then not

Well I got my sewing machine back. Drvono picked it up for me on Monday and broke it as he was bringing it into the house. Luckily I had and extra of the part he broke so I can still use it. It is like new again and makes fewer noises so I take that as a good sign. The shop didn't give any information as to what they did to it or about whether or not something was actually wrong so I know nothing about the previous problems and why they were happening. That is kind of a bummer. Oh well. Now I can run a sweatshop in the basement though since I've got my machine working, my dad's and drvono's aunt's machine.

Weekend Update

Count as of 10/7
* Spiders - 13
* Jellyfish - 6
* Octopus - 7
* Egg Babies - 8
* Crabs - 2
* Monsters - 4
* Millepedes - 0
* Hoodies - 0
* Blankets - 4
* Total - 44
I wish I had bionic arms so I could work faster. I won a couple of ebay auctions so I will soon be getting a shipment of zippers for monster mouths and ric rac for jellyfish and egg babies. I hope they come soon!

Something like a phenomena

I have noticed a strange and uncomfortable phenomenon since I started my Critterbee work, or at least since I started making spiders. Lately, everywhere I look or go there are spiders. Often when I come home there will be one on the back door (making it hard to get inside since I am terrified of them). When I was using the computer last week there was one on the computer screen. When I was working at my desk one ran across my desk and I ran away. When I was ironing one lowered itself from the ceiling right in front of me. My cat knocked a spider off the ceiling and it fell right in front of me. Drvono was trying to get a spider off the ceiling in our bedroom and it fell on our bed and ran really fast toward me. I am even encountering them all the time at work.

Last night we went out to dinner with my family and there was a huge web with four really big spiders on it. My brother believes that perhaps the spiders are swarming around me because they are warning me about something, like a secret evil moth king is plotting against me because I am secretly the spider's princess and I must be destroyed. I don't believe it because moths are cute and therefore cannot be evil but he felt that their cute fuzziness is only a sign of something sinister. I was bitten by a spider last year so maybe...

Bummer

My sewing machine finally got too frustrating to use. Drvono brought it somewhere for me and hopefully they will be able to fix it up. Until then I have my dad's machine and I borrowed another one from drvono's aunt. I will get mine back on Monday or Tuesday, hopefully as good as new. I was having trouble with my dad's machine too but I think I've got that figured out. The result of all of this is that very little has gotten done this week and I am sad about that. I had been doing well and making lots of progress and I am hoping to get back on that path.
Count as of 10/5 at 7:30 am
* Spiders - 10
* Jellyfish - 6
* Octopus - 3
* Egg Babies - 8
* Crabs - 2
* Monsters - 5
* Millepedes - 0
* Hoodies - 0
* Blankets - 3