Posts from — August 2007

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….)