A Confession and a Request

I finished this bag today, and I'm really quite proud of it. It's made entirely from fused plastic shopping bags, which I then sewed together.

Here's the back (above) and the side (below).

Here's the confession: I made this for a "valentine-themed reusable grocery bag" swap, but now I think I'm going to keep it. But I feel kind of guilty because my reasoning is lame. I got mine in the mail yesterday, and it's really lame. It's a store-bought canvas bag with puff-paint hearts all over it. The woman who sent it admits she's not artistic, just crafty, and it was still fun to get something in the mail, but after putting so much thought and effort into my bag I feel kind of cheated.

I don't send my bag to the same person, so I was briefly tempted to just send the puff-paint bag to my recipient, but why spread the disappointment? But I still don't want to send her my fused-plastic creation, so I'm sending this one instead:

I had most of it already made as part of a project I abandoned a long time ago, so I just had to hem the top, put on the handles, and add the heart. It's still a nice bag, and probably more functional, but not nearly as cool as the other. Am I being totally lame by not sending the fused plastic?

Now for the request: I'm kind of addicted to fused plastic right now, and I'm running out of bags. If you're willing to part with yours, would you please save them/send them to me? I'd even reimburse you for postage. Grocery store bags work ok, and I'd be happy to get some from stores other than Albertsons, Wal-Mart, and Smiths, but the thicker bags from clothing stores or even Target work a little better. I don't want you to go out of your way or anything, and I don't want you to ask stores for unused bags. But if you happen to have some, I'd love it if you'd send them my way.

Boy on the Move

He's getting faster every day...

I may have a new addiction

Meet Gertie, my first real softie creation. I absolutely love her. Most of the fabric is recycled clothing (Kristina, do you recognize the fabric on her beak and feet?), and I got the pattern for free here. I sewed through my finger sewing on her beak (it's like a tiny shirt sleeve), so next time I'll do that part by hand. But other than that, she was easy to put together.

I knew the pattern would be cute, but I was totally unprepared for the thrill I got when I finally sewed all the pieces together and turned her right-side-out. Even without stuffing, this little goose was brought to life and had a name: Gertrude (though she prefers Gertie). I'd thought of other names, but as soon as I saw her all put together, I honestly couldn't remember what they were. I think one was Stella. But this wasn't Stella, this was Gertie.

I'd heard other stuffie artists say that each piece "tells" you what it wants to be, but I thought that was a bit too precious and cute. Now I get it.

It's been snowing here lately, so I made Gertie a bonnet and scarf. But she hates winter. Winter requires sensible shoes, and Gertie hates sensible shoes. She's a summer girl who loves color and warm breezes and fresh produce and green grass. She doesn't like parks, though, because there are usually dogs at parks and she doesn't like dogs.

I told all of this to her new owner, who lives in Bountiful. I made Gertie for a handmade swap, which was designed to celebrate handmade goods and bring awareness to proposed legislation that threatens to destroy the market for handmade toys and other children's items. The bill is intended to protect kids from products tainted with lead, but the testing requirements are so steep that smaller manufacturers that use high-quality, natural materials wouldn't be able to afford them or compete. Revisions have been proposed that would ameliorate this, but we're not in the clear yet. Learn more here.

Atticus photo of the week

Atty's getting a hang of this celery thing. James's mom used to give her teething kids celery, which I think is absolutely brilliant--it's cold and soothing on their gums, and the strings make it difficult to get a big chunk off. We tried giving him some a few weeks ago, and he made some really nasty faces. But he went for it last night.

No new teeth yet, but James thinks he can feel one coming in on the side of the two on the bottom.

Atty's been sick this week. :( Nothing serious, just an upper respiratory thing with lots of snurfles and coughing. I took him to the doctor when it sounded like the cough had moved into his lungs, but she said his lungs were clear. And he wasn't acting sick; he was just his regular happy self with a snurfly nose and a cough. So we're just waiting it out, proping him up when he sleeps to facilitate drainage. And we're in the market for a humidifier.

First Project of the Year

I made a calendar! The cross-stitch pattern came from here, but my linen was too fine to try to count the threads, so I enlarged the pattern and transferred it to the fabric with carbon paper. The fabric is 100% linen from a wrap-around jumper that never fit well. I backed it with heavy interfacing to give it some stability. The calendar is a Word template reduced to half-sheet size, then sewn to the linen with a blanket stitch. I sacrificed a wire hanger for the top, then used matching embroidery floss for the hanging loop and to attach a pencil.

I'm planning to hang this in the living room, so I wanted it to be nice and discrete while still being useful. I think I reached a good balance. It will be part of a larger organizational system that I'll blog about once I get it put together. It was a brainstorm I got in the shower (for some reason I get my best ideas in the shower), and I'm hoping it works as well as it did in my head. I'll keep you posted.

I love getting stuff in the mail

After missing out on a really cool ornament swap, I joined SwapBot, an online center for all kinds of crafty swappage. And yesterday I got two packages in the mail that made my heart flutter. One was leftover (unused) Christmas cards, and the other was a package of "blues buster" goodies meant to alleve post-holiday letdown. My giver had read my profile well and picked things she thought I'd like.

Today I'm sending off my leftover Christmas cards, plus a blues-buster package to a woman in Kansas, a chocolate bar to a woman in Seattle, and a small planner to a guy in Nevada. Last month I sent handmade bookmarks to a woman in Germany. Once I get those mailed off I can sign up for the button swap I've been watching. (You can only have 5 active swaps at a time.)

Getting all this fun mail has made me want to start writing letters again. I'm all for instant communication, but there's something romantic about a handwritten letter received in the mail.

Meilleurs Voeux!

That's "best wishes" for you, the French version of "Happy New Year." Christmas cards aren't all that popular over there, but everyone sends cards for the new year. The one on the right made me smile because it's a religeuse, a very popular pastry among French missionaries. A religeuse is a nun, and sister missionaries are soeurs religeuses, so the pastries of the same name always made us giggle. And they're dang tasty.

Anyway, I digress. This post is supposed to be about the new year...

We didn't do anything special to celebrate. We were asleep on the couch by 10, and today we went grocery shopping. Woo hoo! Oh, and we bought Atty a new car seat. It's all plush and luxurious, and Atty seems to like it. So we're happy.

I usually make New Year's resolutions, but they tend to be more stressful than they should be. So I've been thinking about other ways to make goals for this coming year. And as usual I found great ideas on the blogosphere.

My favorite isn't really a resolution, but more of a new perspective: find your superpower. Everyone has one; it's just a matter of discovering it. Like my sister Susan used to say, we are all superheroes in really, really good disguises. And of course every superpower comes with kryptonite, and it's just as important to discover what that is as well. So I've been pondering that off and on.

That blog led me to another thing to ponder: my one little word. What word encompasses my hopes for 2009? My mind tells me it's order, as in "establish a house of order" and do all things "in wisdom and order." But that doesn't feel quite right. For some reason hope keeps coming to mind. I do want to establish order in my life: develop better habits, get rid of clutter, get on top of our finances and meal planning etc. But maybe I really need more hope. I'll have to ponder a little further on that one.

Several other blogs just had lists of things they wanted to do this year. Kind of like Lena's 101 things to do in the next five years, but shorter. It's not a list of resolutions per se, just things you hope/plan to do. I don't have much of a list yet, but I can tell you what I have so far:

1. Put Atty's nursery together. We finally bought a crib, but it was out of stock so we have to wait a couple weeks for it to come in. And I'm going to put together the birdie mobile I made when I was pregnant and hang the artwork I've had for months. And move the rocking chair into his room. It will happen. This month for sure.

2. Go hiking at least once a month in the warmer months. I've always wanted to see the wildflowers at Albion Basin, and I've never been. I'll go this year.

3. Take Atty for more walks. At least once a week.

4. Learn to draw.

That's all I have so far. What are your plans for the new year?