Day 3

Total words written: 5,051
Words left to write: 44,949

Day 2

Total words: 3,502
Words left: 46,498

NaNoWriMo has begun!

Day 1 Status: 1,695 words written
48,305 words left to go!

Just want to take a moment to brag about the short story I wrote the other day. It's called "It's All In The Cards" and you can read it on my writing blog. Honestly, though, I'm just gosh-darned proud of it and think I did a pretty good job!

Well, the secret is out! The witch wall hanging has found a new home. I gave it to my sister for her birthday (which is this month) and she said it looked "an awful lot like one I saw on someone's blog!" At least I know she liked it!

OK, so I *finally* finished all the
parts to this goofy costume! The vest is done out of a fake-velvet with
a lining made of the same satiny material as the skirt. I did have to rib the lining out of the front for the vest to fit, though!

There's also a headband out of the purple.

I'm so ready for my sister's wedding!

I wasn't *just* making quilts the past few weekends. I did this costume for two reasons. One, my sister is getting married. She is thinking of doing a "rennaisance" wedding, so I decided to go in costume. I have a knight costume for my husband, but I haven't started it yet. This gypsy one is WAY more complicated!

The second reason is that our daughter is going to a halloween party with her friends and (of course) I'll be there to chaperone. As long as I had the pattern and material, I might as well make the costume in time for that, too!

There is still a vest that I need to finish. I cut it out tonight and hope to sew it up tomorrow afternoon!

Now, what shoes does a gypsy wear???

I've been a busy bugger the past 2 weekends. The sewing machine doesn't have dust on it now!

If you can't tell, I've made my first real quilt!!! The only thing I have left to do on it is the actual quilting, which I'll probably -- hopefully! -- —finish tomorrow. Having never done more than just quilt around appliqués for wall hangings, this will be an experience.
The quilt was made with fabric for Halloween (obviously!) that I got on sale. It really was between 20 percent and 50 percent off, so I didn't mind "practicing" with it. Oh, the back side of the quilt is the same black and florescent material as the boarder.

I'm just so dang proud of myself!

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You're Skittles!!! You have a very interesting personality, you're so unique. You're the kind of person who always thinks outside of the box. You're also a very accepting individual, and believe in inner beauty.
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Ok, I'm ready to rant about this wall hanging.

The pattern (it's from an "Art to Heart" book) calls for a spider-type button. Can you believe I couldn't find one? Anywhere! At least not in this town.

So I get the bright idea to embroider a spider. Really. How hard could it be? I have a fancy-shmancy machine. I found a spider pattern. No problem, right? WRONG!

Somehow the machine or the hanging moved mid-embroider. GRRR... I really wanted to save this, so I tried to take out the thousand-plus stitches without ruining the wall hanging, since I'm planning on giving it as a gift. Then my husband, bless him!, tried to help by offering suggestions. Now, I know he was trying to help, but I didn't want to hear it. (He suggested adding a broom in there.)

Finally, I decided to make it a BIG spider — so big no one could see where I'd removed spider number 1. So now the spider is really 3-D, made of pom poms and pipe cleaner!

And all because I couldn't find a button!

Just a short note to let those who read know that I accomplished two things this week. I've finished a wall hanging that will be a gift (pictures to follow!) and have a skirt that will be ready tomorrow. Yep, I've been bitten by the sewing bug as well!

Projects in the works include:
Afgahn for Christmas
Quilt — probably for Christmas
iPod Cover for Christmas
Dreaded Weasley sweater (grrrrr)
Costume for my sister's wedding
Choker for this month's exchange
Fingerless gloves — hopefully a Christmas gift

And then I need 100 embroidered bookmarks by March 2009 and I still want to do some soaping and candlemaking.... I need more time in the day!

I'll send pictures when I can!

One of the best things about homeschooling is getting to learn with your kids. A close second is seeing what they do with that information.

So the older daughter was getting a little frustrated with the younger one. (They are six years apart in age, so it's understandable.) But HOW does the older one deal with her sister? Simple. She has the young one put in the stocks.

The younger one is then placed on the stage with her "crime" for all the world to see -- being a "twit." (To those who know her in person, no, it didn't go over well at first!) The converstaion then went something like this:

Jailer: "You have been accused of a crime."

Jailer's Assistant: "A most obvious crime."

Jailer: "Yes. The obvious crime is you being a twit. Do you pled guilty or innocnet."

Silly daughter pled guilty.

Jailer: "Now, repeat after me: I am dumber than Jessica Simpson."

Daughter: "You're dumber than Jessica Simpson."

Assistant shakes head.

Jailer: "You aren't playing fair. Now I said repeat after me. Say I am dumber than Jessica Simpson."

Daughter (who is nothing if not consistant!): "You are dumber than Jessica Simpson."

Finally, the jailer decides to threaten the kid with water all over the pretty hair-do I wrote about earlier. It didn't stop her. She kept saying the jailer was dumber than Jessica Simpson, even after a mug of H2O down her back. (At least he did spare the hair!) Since not even the water would cause the kid to change her stance, he decided to go for another tactic.

Jailer: "This girl needs a boost of confidence."

Assistant nods.

Jailer: "What we need is 100 strapping young men to come up here and give her a kiss and she will be set free." Daughter blushes -- a lot!

Jailer: "How about 50? 10?"

At this point two little boys from the front row jump up to volunteer! It was very funny, but it did get my daughter out of the stocks!

Another fun thing about the Ren. Fest was the hair! I'm not sure that anyone actually *wore* their hair like this, but it sure looks good. Since it was only the girls who went to the event, we had to talk hair. And the younger one has a TON of it! Do you think that people in the medieval times *really* wore their hair this way? I'm sure the rich did, but the normal people? I'm not sure. In fact, I'm pretty sure they looked more like the washing well wenches that I'll talk about another day!

So, anyway, the younger one picked out a hair-do. Now, for those who may not know, this one is so NOT a "girlie-girl." Her idea of dressing up is a clean t-shirt and a skirt with leggings under it. Twice a year she'll dress up for Job's Daughters installations, but that's only because all her friends do, too!

And what does this little one pick? A fancy braid with little gray flowers in it! Complete with fairy dust (glitter) sprinkled in it. Go figure....

Anyway, the hair was done and looked beautiful. And she's pretty happy with it.

Another memory made!

Had a wonderful time at the Minnesota Ren-Fest this weekend. Honestly, I wish we lived closer and could be active in something like it, but a 9 hour drive isn't all that fun! Also got to see my step-daughter, who is living in the Twin Cities now.

We did help the Minnesota economy, though. Had a lot of fun shopping at the Mall of America Friday before going "back in time" on Saturday. The only thing I got for me was a new wok (we're having Chinese food this week! YEAH!!!) and some books at Barnes and Noble -- a shock to those who know me, I'm sure.

Will post more as I "unwind" from the trip!

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Didn't do much knitting this week, but I did do some fashion design!
My daughter found a pattern at the fabric store that had "perfect sleeves" - unfortunately, it didn't have a perfect anything else! So, being the sewing hobbiest that I am, I created the shirt. I'm not real happy with the length of this one, but she likes it. And, as long as she wears a tank top under it (which she will have to because the fabric is a little sheer!), I think it will be OK.
The originial pattern had more ruffles and ties - kind of a princess bodice thing. It shocked me that she would pick this pattern, because she's not a "princess bodice" girl. But she loves the sleeves and that's why she wanted it.
Since I just prices plain long-sleeve tees at American Eagle this week, I know that making this shirt was a little cheeper. Especially if I can make her a second one with the same pattern!!!

HELP! A warrant for my arrest has been issued by the March of Dimes for aiding and abetting the fight against prematurity.

I have been found GUILTY of wanting every baby to be born full-term and healthy! To avoid doing hard time for my crimes I must raise my bail quickly. YOU CAN HELP bail me out – or contribute to my incarceration. Visit my cell online at www.marchofdimes.com/jailandbail/jenbin today.

To learn more about how your dollars are helping to fight prematurity and save babies’ lives visit the March of Dimes at www.marchofdimes.com.

If you or someone you know has had a child born prematurely or with birth defects, or who has lost a child, encourage them to visit a special site for families at www.shareyourstory.org.

Learned something about my daughter this week — she likes caves. I mean, she *really* likes them!

We went to Jewel Cave (http://www.nps.gov/jeca/) this week to visit some other homeschoolers and — thanks to road construction — arrived a lovely seven minutes late for the scenic tour. Now, please understand, this kid was whinning all week about going in a cave. So, we show up late for the 70 minute scenic tour of our Nation's second largest cave and I decide that instead of standing around looking dumb for 70 minutes, we could take the 20 minute discovery talk. Not as much fun, I'm sure, but she wouldn't be looking too terribly bored for the whole time. (And, honestly, I thought even if she did look bored, it would be dark in the cave and I wouldn't have to see it!)

So we go and she really had a good time. Asked some intelligent questions. Really paid attention to the guide. I was impressed!

When the tour was over, she kept talking about how cool it was. Outside the cave, we found this box that showed the smallest area a person squeezes through on the Spelunking tour and the kiddo asks if she can do that when she turns 16 (the park's minimum age for that one).

After lunch with the family we were supposed to meet, the kiddo asks "can we go back and do the scenic tour?"

"Gee, I thought caves were dumb," says I.

"I was just being a butt. I really wanna go back."

GRRRRR!!! Teenagers!!!!

Is this crazy or what??? Can you belive this candle? I'm not sure why it decided to curve this way. I swear I really did make the candle as a straight taper. Very odd.... Any candle-makers out there with some advice?

By the way, this candle is a strawberry and cream scent that is just YUMMY! This week I did some "jar candles" with a chocolate bliss scent. I think I gained weight just *making* them!