I’m back! I got lots of boring stuff done and enjoyed my break a bit. Although I have to say that I missed blogging a ton and reading blogs. It almost felt weird the first few days to not sit in front of the computer and read blogs (I actually had to have Ben disconnect my wireless internet the first 2 nights so I wouldn’t be tempted to see what all of you out there were up to), but as the week went on (and eventually turned into almost 2 weeks) it was kind of nice to just take a bit of a break from the computer. Not so nice though that I want to do that again anytime soon! :)

So during my blogging break I actually had my very first meet up with another blogger! I had no idea that anyone in my area even blogged, let alone the fact that I was actually reading a blog from someone who lived very near me! When I posted a picture of this tree though, which just happens to be a fairly distinctive looking tree, Dorie from tumbling blocks emailed me to say that she thought that tree looked familiar. Not being very up on my Illinois geography, I didn’t know where the town she lives in was located until I Google mapped it (and I have been reading her blog for awhile, I just didn’t think to do this). It turns out that she lives very nearby, so we decided to do a little meet up. It was so neat to talk sewing, crafting, and blogging with another person who totally gets it! And of course, anyone who blogs and crafts knows that a meet up with another blogger wouldn’t be complete without little presents! :) She made me this adorable squirrel hotpad! (Which is just too cute to use for ordinary things!)

I brought her some photo notecards that I had printed up with some photos I had taken… One of this photo - Wildflowers in the Wind and one of this photo - Sunlight through a window.
If you have never read Dorie’s blog, be sure to go take a look and maybe read what she had to say about our little meet up! :)

I still want to finish the Encyclopedia of me posts, so I think I will start that again either tomorrow or Saturday maybe…

Now I am off to read bunches of blogs in Google Reader to see what everyone else has been up to! :)

In the encyclopedia of me….

K is for…
-Knitting. Something I learned how to do in college from my mom’s best friend (who is like a godmother to me). I knit a bunch that semester… a scarf for my mom, one for my dad, one for me, one for Ben (we were still dating at the time, I guess that whole thing about knitting for your boyfriend/he’ll break up with you isn’t always true:). I don’t knit very often now… I am still working on that same blanket and I think eventually I will rip it up and use the yarn for something else.
-Kids. Someday, probably…

L is for…
-Lovely. I use this word a lot, especially when leaving comments on other people’s blogs. It just seems like the perfect word for describing so many of the lovely things all of you are making out there in the blogging world.
-Library. I have a love/hate relationship with our local library! I love reading and don’t know what I would do without the library. Although I dislike the fact that my local library seems to be pretty good at misplacing books I return (which I then have to find for them on the shelf to prove that I returned the book… yes, true story!)
-Lists. I make lists all the time. To do lists, sewing project lists, books to read lists… Most of the lists are scattered around on my messy desk for me to find someday.
-Linen. My favorite type of fabric.
-LAMB. My favorite clothing line.

M is for…
-Michele. My first name (which I do not go by), spelled with one “L.”

I think I am going to be taking a bit of a blogging break this week and maybe next week too… I have some non-crafting related stuff I want to get done and I don’t seem to accomplish much when the blogging world is there to distract me! So I probably won’t be doing much reading of blogs (or commenting) or much posting on my blog. I will still be reading/writing emails a bit and maybe even on flickr a little. (Although don’t hold me to any of this, because I may decide to post anyways halfway through my little blogging break! :)

J is for…

… June - The month I was born. I love birthdays and love that I have a summer birthday!

… Juice - When we were little my mom would mix our juice with a bit of water. It is healthier plus it makes it so little ones will drink more water (I think the doctor might have suggested it…) I still mix my juice half with water, and can’t stand the taste of juice by itself. It is just way too sweet usually. (Oh and my sister mixes it too still!)

Oh and I actually did a bit of sewing today! At about 3pm this afternoon I has a little burst of inspiration for a fabric scarf and absolutely had to sit down and try to make it… You know how sometimes a project turns out completely different than you imagine it… The last project I attempted that happened. Well this project actually turned out exactly the way I imagined it, and that is always an amazing feeling. To be able to think of a design in your head and actually be able to sit and make that design with fabric is very satisfying! That is why I love sewing! :)

I thought about keeping this scarf for myself, but decided to add it to my etsy shop. You can bet I will be making more like this one though. I definitely need at least 1 or 2 for myself (and maybe a few more in my shop).

This photo is for Karyn (who told me to get a picture of the labels I ordered)…

I love being able to add my name to the items I make! :)

I is for…

… I can not think of anything for this letter! So how about we just skip over it and I show some of the goodies I got in the mail this week!

This wonderful package arrived in the mail from Karyn as my prize for the stashbusting challenge drawing…

Button magnets! I love these:)

Buttons!

A coin purse with id holder on the front! (I love how Karyn makes these, so I am incredibly happy that I have one of my own from her now!)

A matching tote to go with the coin purse! (And a cat in the background trying to inspect the other goodies! He approved:)

A big thank you definitely goes out to Karyn for her amazing generosity! Definitely go to her site and take a look at her etsy shop! Not only is she a very sweet lady, she also has a wonderful shop with some great goodies!

Another little package also arrived for me this week from Marjorie of MarmeeCraft…

A pretty print that I won in a drawing on her blog! (Which is pretty amazing, because I never seem to win anything and all of a sudden I seem to be having a decent bit of luck!) I already have one print from her, which I absolutely love, so I felt so lucky to win one! :)

Also received in the mail this week… Woven labels with my name on for putting in tote bags, zippered pouches, and anything else I feel like making! I couldn’t get a decent picture of these yet (its been really cloudy lately so the lighting is terrible inside), but the labels are white with “Chara Michele” printed in a pretty lighter blue color. Definitely excited to be able to add these to anything I make! Now I just need to get around to making some new stuff…. I haven’t been doing much crafting/sewing the last few days, I am trying to get some other stuff done and also enjoy summer a little bit (although it is a bit warm right now to enjoy).

These photos were taken the other morning… Neither of these are the “best” photos ever, because I was in a rush to take the pictures and was holding an umbrella over my head in case it started raining again. I just had to get some photos of what the clouds looked like though! Click on the photos to see larger…

Now I am off to read a few blogs and hopefully get some stuff done…

G is for…

… Green living and trying to do our part in being environmentally-friendly. Since moving to a city that doesn’t require recycling and is far less environmentally friendly than the last place we lived, I have become even more aware of this and what I can do for the environment. In exchange for sharing a few of the things that we do in our household to be a bit more green and environmentally friendly, I would love to hear what you do…. (That way we can all get some good ideas:)

• Recycling
• This is a bit more difficult since our city does not require recycling and doesn’t even accept some recyclables! Still we try to recycle what we can and give to goodwill items that do not need throwing away yet.
• Driving a fuel efficient vehicle and walking/biking when possible
• While I would love a hybrid someday that just isn’t possible right now. So instead we have a little Hyundai that gets 40 miles to the gallon. Ben also tries to walk or bike to work frequently (an advantage of living close enough).
• Using reusable water bottles rather than buying disposable water bottles
• You can even add flavors to your water this way, if you are like me and hate regular water.
• Using reusable shopping bags at the grocery store

…German Shepherds. My favorite type of dog! Growing up my family had a German Shepherd named Kittie and she was an amazing dog to grow up around. I was terrified of big dogs until we got her and now I love bigger dogs. I would definitely love to have another German Shepherd again someday!

H is for…

… the heat! I love summer, but heat indexes into the 1oo’s & heat advisories are just not my idea of wonderful weather. I am *almost* looking forward to fall… Although I might change my mind about that once fall actually gets here.

… hair color. My hair has been almost every color you can think of, right now it is a fairly normal looking blonde color. When I had black hair, most people thought that was my natural color because it matched the color of my eyebrows. My hair is actually a dark blonde naturally and I just have dark eyebrows…

… handmade. What can I say? I love buying handmade items and making/selling handmade! :)

This has nothing to do with the letters g or h, but I didn’t feel like I could post without a photo:) I experimented a bit with black & white photos the other day and also taking some photos at a higher ISO to add some noise/graininess to the pictures…

I hope no one is too sick of cat pictures, but like I mentioned the heat is a bit much lately and I don’t really feel like being outside in it to take photos! (If you are not sick of cat photos, there are 2 more black & white ones that I uploaded to my flickr page….)

…. First of all thanks to everyone who left me comments on my 200th post (and other posts) the last few day! It was definitely the most comments I have ever received on the blog:) Thanks to a nice little random number generator (and an excel spreadsheet) the two names picked were Tiffany and AmandaJean! If you could both check your email that would be excellent! (I hope it is okay that I have not made anything yet, it may be a couple weeks before you get your prizes… :)

… Fabric. I would show you a picture of my fabric stash, but I don’t really think you all want to see a messy cupboard. My fabric cupboard is wonderful in that it has doors on it though, so I can just stash everything away and not have to look at the mess. Of course that doesn’t really help with my messy desk/bookshelf, etc…. My favorite fabric is linen right now. If I could sew everything with a bit of linen (and maybe some other pretty fabrics), I might! Now if only linen would cost a bit less:)

… Flickr. When I first got my flickr account, I wasn’t sure if I would really use it or even if I liked flickr. The more I use it though, the more I enjoy it. It is fun to see all the wonderful photography out there and it inspires me to take even better photos. Here are some black & white photos from a few of my favorite photographers on flickr right now….

1. Morning Kiss, 2. Gateway, 3. tulip, 4. Untitled, 5. Road bw, 6. Pier and Distant Freighter, 7. Ol’ Chevy, 8. grid in black, white and rain, 9. At the Trough

I tried posting this last night, but blogger wasn’t working too well…. So I will try again:)

E is for….

…Equestrian. I have always loved being around and riding horses. Although I didn’t get to do much riding as a kid, I always wanted to be able to ride. This past year I have been able to start taking equitation lessons and it has been a blast. I love being around the horses and learning how to ride properly and tack a horse up. Someday I really would like to have my own horse (even if it is a ton of work)!

… Embroidery. I had no idea that my mom knows how to embroider… I was talking to her on the phone one day before we went to visit them on vacation when we got to talking about embroidery and I found out the she knows how to. I guess maybe I could have connected the dots, since I slept on an embroidered pillowcase as a kid:) I just never thought about it! So anyways, when while we were up visiting she taught my sister and I how to embroider. I haven’t really done any since because I need to visit the craft store for a few supplies, but am planning on an embroidery project soon.

Wow I can hardly believe how many comments I have gotten already! If you haven’t left a comment yet, just a reminder that if you leave a comment before Friday you will be entered in a little drawing I am holding in honor of my 200th post.

See that title! Well if you read through this entry I am going to be giving away something special in honor of my 200th post, but first….

In the Encyclopedia of Me, D is for….

… Doughnuts. My favorite saturday morning breakfast! Ben and I sort of have a tradition of getting doughnuts for breakfast on saturdays if we are out running errands. (Although sometimes we get bagels, or muffins, or scones instead…) A fun little treat:)

… Dresses. I actually only have 1 handmade dress in my closet right now… I have plans for a few more, but just haven’t gotten around to finding the right pattern (I have the fabric) or taking the time to work on it. I would love to wear dresses more often, but sometimes I just can’t give up the comfort of jeans & a t-shirt for a dress.

… Dresser. Our bedroom is fairly tiny, but we have a decent sized closet so my dresser is in the closet. Both cats love little spaces and hiding from each other, but Axel seems to especially find fun little spots. He loves the top of my dresser for taking a nap, but even better is inside it! If I ever leave a drawer open, he finds it and jumps on in:) It is pretty cute.

Just to show that there is a bit more going on than the encyclopedia of me…. A glimpse of a work in progress on the sewing front…

And it is my 200th post! I can hardly believe it! I am so glad that I started blogging about a year and a half ago. When I first started blogging, I hardly knew what a blog was… Blogging started as a way for me to just write and be myself, tell a little about my day, etc. My blog has changed a bit from that starting point. It is definitely more of a crafting blog, but it is still great to be able to just write. So thanks to everyone who reads a bit about what I am sewing lately, or looks at all the photos I take, or reads about the many other random things I write about! It has been great to “meet” some new friends and I appreciate everyone who stops by my blog to say hi or even just read without commenting.

So in celebration of reaching 200 posts, I am going to hold a little drawing and pick 2 names. I am not sure what the prize is going to be yet, but it will be something handmade (I haven’t made anything yet though). So if you want to enter the drawing, just leave a comment anywhere on my blog (doesn’t have to be on this post) between now & Friday morning. :)

C is for…
Chara. That one is just obvious isn’t it! What can I say about my name…. The “Ch” in my name is more like a “K” sound. I am terrible at pronunciation spelling, but it sounds something like “Kahrah” when pronounced (or at least something like that :). Chara is actually my middle name, but I have gone by it since I was in third grade. In fact when people call me by my first name (other than my dad & Ben - who are the only two people allowed to call me by my first name), I usually don’t even know that they are talking to me. I thought about changing the order of my name legally when I got married, but it seemed like too much hassle since my last name was already going to be different.

Ben & I took a bit of a walk this afternoon around town so that I could find some orange + blue for this weeks color…

I found some orange + blue and also took some photos of other random things including the fountain above. There are more photos on my flickr page if anyone is interested…

Ballet - I took ballet as a kid, but stopped because I didn’t really like my teacher…. Then about a year before Ben & I got married, I started taking ballet again while teaching piano at a music & arts school. I have moved a couple times since then (and quit teaching piano), but I have been taking pretty much since then and love it! It really is great for me in a lot of ways, it makes me a bit more graceful, makes me think about my posture, and is just a wonderful way to get some exercise. I am actually loving taking ballet even more since I moved up to the next class level. It is a bit more of a challenge, but I definitely feel like I am learning and getting a bit better at it.

Bike Rides - I am not really an avid bike rider, but I do own a bike and enjoy biking with Ben (another B:). Yesterday he decided to take today off to just hang out with me and have a bit longer of a weekend. So this afternoon we decided to go ahead and take a bike ride… 11 miles of a bike ride! No, that extra 1 is not a typo:) It has to be the longest bike ride I have ever been on, but it was a lot of fun. Although, it would have been a bit better if it was about 10 degrees cooler outside today… (It was around 94F, when we left for the bike ride.)

And because no blog entry is really complete without a photo or two….
Pounce

Axel

Oh and I just want to say thanks to everyone who comments on my blog. I always try to send an email in response to every comment, but sometimes I can’t find an email address…. A definite downside to using blogger!