Reading quietly

All of a sudden I have become hooked on Quiet Books.

I have had a flash memory of a fabric, hand sewn book that had little activities in it that my grandmother had.

As I was researching little colouring pages of ducks for the "5 little ducks" song, I came across the world of Quiet Books.  I have become incredibly aware that I will have to keep the Sprout entertained for 10 hours on a plane and 3 hours in the airport in five months.  I have been researching travel kits for kids and the Quiet Book would be one perfect addition.

Awesome felt books that you sew together for your little one to play with and KEEP QUIET while learning!  There are some really cool ideas and the best part about felt is that there can be allot less seam sewing and fraying.  The down side is that good felt can be pricey...not as pricey as making a quilt though.

There are two sites that I love and one in particular that I have been salivating over.  The Quiet Book Blog is a really good resource but Imagine Our Life is really cool.  Pinterest is a really good place to find ideas for the Quiet Book pages.  The first page I am doing is a mail box.

From Imagine Our Life

I have it all cut out, I just have to sew it.  Isn't it cool?

Easter Fun

I forgot to mention my Easter projects. 

My Seasonal Tree is still going strong.  We were able to decorate it appropriately for Easter.  Now I have to think of how to decorate it for a period of time with no holiday.  I was thinking fimo and felt.  Caterpillars, peas, strawberries, gardening tools and lady bugs would be good decorations to make.

Another item I have begun making obsessively are these little felt birds.  They are so easy and once I was able to feel my finger, I wanted to be able to make something simple.

Advent calenders

I am a little obsessed with Advent calendars.  It is not because of the chocolate that many hold as I was never allowed a chocolate one (American Advent chocolate is crap anyway).

I don't know why, but I have always loved Advent calendars (and the Nativity in general).  My Mom always got us gorgeous Advent calendars which usually had scripture or the story of the Nativity inside.  It was so hard to keep the flaps closed (which is weird because I knew there wasn't any candy inside).

I have been obsessing over an Advent calendar for the Sprout.  I want to make it, and I want it to be something we can use every year.  I had originally looked at fabric panels.

I really like this one.

Then I started seeing wooden boxes with little compartments and fabric Christmas Trees with little pouches, and on and on.

Gisela Graham Gingerbread House Advent Calendar

Today my RSS feed came up with a blog called Make it and Love it.  I love this site, it has everything your sewing and crafting heart could want (it is especially good for coming up with clothing repurposing ideas).  She put up a how to for a Christmas Advent Calendar Shadow Box.  

The idea is each little box holds trinkets that the kids can put on the little Christmas Tree.  Isn't that the best thing ever??!!

The problem is finding a shadow box with 25 compartments and then making all of the little boxes.  I think I may take on this project, or at least the idea of putting Christmas Tree trinkets in the Advent compartments (as the Christmas Tree usually goes up the last weekend in November).

Friday funnies and some bits and bobs

I wanted to add some random stuff as well as deliver the Friday Lolcats.

Anyone looking for some crafts?  I came across a great blog called The Long Thread, they have some pretty cool projects that look pretty easy.  I really need a sewing machine.

I found out why our cellar is so damp...the neighbours have a leak.  The water guys were out to fix it yesterday (that is why I know what happened), so I am hoping Richard calls the property management people to at least let them know it isn't our fault and we may find that the landlord has a dehumidifier we can use.  If not we may buy one...I like them because they help my back..

Has anyone checked out the new FOX show Glee?  It is on FOX Wednesdays at 9.  Hilarious.  It is about a high school glee club, adult humour and worth a look.

I am very excited for the movie Zombieland to come out.  It comes out here in the UK next weekend, I think it comes out this weekend in the US.  We are definitely going to have to spend the money to go see it.  Infact I am so excited I am adding the trailer below:



At the end of each week, I am going to try to give reviews of the horror flicks I saw as part of my Horror Movie-Thon.  I will be rating the originality of the villain, killings, and story; the continuity of the plot; the horror, gore and creepiness factors; and the sequel potential: and of course how watchable it was.  I may have some gaps.  I haven't decided if I should review classic horror flicks and movies I have seen a million times.  I might just write a little on why I decided they should be watched every year.

And now the moment you have all been waiting for...man this week was difficult, too many good ones:

It's Lolcats to the rescue:

What's going on???

The cake from Richard's parents

Well as you may have noticed, I am not in the US, but still at home waiting for my passport...WHOOPEE!! I just decided to get my plane fare credited for whenever my passport does arrive, I am hoping soon.

On Saturday for my birthday, I took Richard to see the Transformers new movie (very cool animation, but in true Jessika style, I fell asleep...the movie is 2 and 1/2 hrs long!!! I have decided that I need a movie to be 90-100 min to not fall asleep.) We also had lunch at one of the newer Indian restaurants called Tulsi. It is a vegetarian restaurant and is very good...the weird part is that it has a bar. In Bradford it is very strange for an Indian restaurant to serve alcohol. you can usually bring your own, but they don't sell it.

On Sunday, Richard's parents came up and we went for Sunday Dinner in Shipley, but otherwise I had a very uneventful birthday day.

Richard and I have finally started a bit of gardening. We have some lettuce and tomatoes coming up and some squash and carrots on the way. At the moment everything is planted in temporary pots until we can get to the store to buy HUGE pots to put them all in. Last week I had to declare war on our back neighbour's big flowering bush that hangs over our garden. The bush is beautiful, but it was covered in aphids, so the bulbs I planted when we moved in were COVERED in aphids. So I cut the branches on my side off...and it seems to have worked. I was very proud of myself.

Miki in the garden

Miki is getting more brave outside, although she still needs the door to be open and prefers that we are outside with her. She goes to greet most of the cats, but because our fence is high, she can't figure out how to get to them, which I think is OK. Recently she has found herself a hidy-hole under the deck that she curls up in...but then I forget about her and she ends up being outside with the door closed...OH NO!! I am hoping she will find that it isn't scary to be outside without a straight shot to the inside.

I have managed to knit 2 ridiculous hats from scratch that the sprout will have to wear because they are hilarious...

Is it possible to like and hate your job at the same time?

For 9 months now I have been making coffee at Costa Coffee in Leeds and Bradford. I say all the time that I hate my job. Most of this is a pride issue I have to admit, having a Master's diploma was supposed to afford me the opportunity to have a full time job in my field. In the UK at the moment, the archaeological community has been hit especially hard, there are no jobs for technicians here...I mean none. We all know that this year I was blessed to get 2 seasonal job offers from the U.S. Forest Service, but the Sprout had other plans for me this summer.

Anyway, Costa has a competition for Batista's and I am entering it. It will give me something to look forward to, make me feel important (even if I do badly) and it will be fun. I tend to need goals and I haven't had any for awhile.

The thing is, there are elements to my job that I really like. I have yet to work with someone I don't like or can't stand and I enjoy talking to customers. I have also moved up the ranks to Team Leader with a raise on the way, so I get to feel like I am in charge. It can be relaxed and the schedules are not set in stone, so if you have something to do, you tell the boss and the schedule is fixed as long as there is some warning. At the moment my main reason for staying at Costa is because of the maternity leave benefits that I get even though I am part time (though I have been reading that this is the law of the land). I get 90% of my pay for 9 months and they have to keep my position for a year. So at the moment that is worth staying since I have student loans to pay off.

In other news...On Wednesday I will be 15 weeks pregnant...I can't believe that. When you are counting time in weeks, it goes by fast. Next week I will be having a large needle stuck into my belly to have a Triple test done. This sounds really menacing.

So far I have made a new born size sweater and a pair of booties for the Sprout.

Richard and I finally found the heart beat last week and it was really cool and exciting. I went into see the midwife on Wednesday and she had me listen to the heart beat, which was funny because since I had already heard it, I wasn't nearly as excited as she may have been expecting me to be.

The weather finally warmed up and we have been able to have the doors and windows open. Miki has been doing much exploring and even meeting more of the neighbour cats who seem to really like out yard. Miki has done an exceptionally good job of not letting one fly who enters the house live. She is instantly on the case and is able to exterminate with extreme prejudice, catching, mauling and then eating every one of them who doesn't find the door first. I gotta get a video of her doing it, it is so funny to watch.

Here it is

My first Etsy item up for sale. I am very excited. Take a look and tell me what you think.

Richard is going to design my page to include my real Woolly worm mascot. I am so excited.

A New and Exciting Venture, and some other things

Everyone knows that I don't sleep very well. I started getting out of bed when this happens. Usually I refuse to let it be a time to go onto the Internet because it is too exciting for the senses, but the other night, as I was sitting on the couch knitting these really great booties, I thought to myself I should start a store on Etsy so I can sell these great booties.

I got on the Internet and went to Etsy looked around for booties like the ones I was making and found none (that is really exciting, perhaps I can fill a niche)! Now, I don't plan to really make any money from this, but it gives me incentive to make and finish items, since Christmas is over I have no people to make stuff for and these booties are so easy and fast. The Woolly Worm was born (a name I have been wanting for a business since I started spinning wool).

I haven't put anything up yet because I need to find a baby to try these on, I don't know which age these fit. I encourage people to look around Etsy there is some great things on it that people have made (although I think some people are too full of themselves and charge too much for their stuff).

One more thing:

I was watching Saturday Night Live the other night and really liked their musical guest. The Fleet Foxes remind me of a folksy Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. Their vocals are so pretty.

And another thing:
Richard and I are taking the plunge and have decided to move. We looked at two places last weekend. We are going to keep looking, but we put in our notice to our landlord so we can't back out this time.

Arts and Crafts and stuff

For the past couple of months I have been doing a lot of cross stitching, I love it! Recently, I have gotten into black work. It is deceptively difficult, but the end result is really beautiful.

I thought I would share a couple of pieces I have done:

This is the finished product of Darby's wedding cross stitch I made for her and Barry. I still have yet to see the piece with the frame in person, but looks really nice.



Here is a Tatty Teddy (warning: this website plays music) I made for Emma's birthday (sorry about the glare, I didn't think to take a picture until I had already framed it). This was the first piece I framed myself.



Now for the black work. This is a practice piece. I just did some random pictures. I guess it is a badly designed sampler (sorry about the creasing, like I said it was just a practice piece).


Here is a small piece I just finished. I find making the back look like the front to be the funnest part. If you use holbein stitch instead of back stitch, you can make the piece almost totally reversible.

Front

Back

Yesterday, Emma came over and we carved pumpkins whilst watching "The Adventures of Ichabod Crane" and "It's The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown". David, Richard's brother has been staying with us for the past 10 days and he was able to take part in the ritual. It took Emma over an hour to carve out the little spider on her pumpkin.

From the reader's Left to Right: Emma, Richard, Jessika and David.

In other news:
I have moved up in the coffee cooperate world and have the new title of Team Leader. I get to change out the till and train people. I also got a raise...Yea Me!! I am finally moving up in the world.