I Love the Library!

I've had a library card for about a week and a half.  In that time, I have checked out three books on deep sea life, two on William Morris, one on face painting, two on comic books, and a movie.  This is amazing!  Why didn't I get a library card earlier?

Seriously, people.  And if you're one of those e-book people, you can rent those too! I don't know how that business works.  I'm a paper purist.  But I saw the station.  I know it works.  I love buying books, and I do when I can.  But now I don't have to stop reading because I don't have cash.  If you're lucky enough to have a public library, USE IT!

Thank you for listening to my rant.
Soon, you'll see what I've been putting all this research towards!

Home Made Dress Forms

Home Made Dress Forms:

This one's the best duct-tape version I've found.
This one somehow appeals to me more, though.  It's Papier-Mâché, and not pinnable, but more accurate to your shape.

Has anyone tried to do this before?

Bodice Fitting

I just found a rather informative article on how to fit a bodice.  I'll be needing this.  These are some of the trouble I have with fit:

• Long torso
• muscular
• large frame for a woman
• broad chest
• full bust
• small waist
• wide hips
• short legs

Needless to say, clothes are always a little wonky on me, but I'm escaping this world, slowly but surely!

Thank You's

This year has been one of so many challenges for my family.  We lost a dear friend in early March, and my mother was hospitalized at the end of the month.  This led to surgery in May, and complications arose.  All this while Rachel and I were house hunting, moving, and trying to get our careers under way.  Now, Mom's on the mend, but getting rather frustrated with the thole thing, and the emotional challenges of the whole spring have affected us all.

Through this whole mess, we have all acted as a support structure, each taking our turns as a shoulder to cry on, each taking our moment to weep.  I don't know what I would have done without my people.

I just wanted to take this moment to put it out on the great big interwebs that I appreciate you, my support people! Thank you!

Revising Goals

Everything is transient.  It's a very Taoist thought, I know, but it's true.  And so, rather than be rigid in everything we do, we must change; we must "be water," as Bruce Lee said.  I haven't met my goals of two finished pieces a week in a long time.  Why?  Because things change.  When I set that goal, things were different.  I didn't have a house with a TON of yard work to do.  I didn't need to remodel anything.  I was working on small projects.

Now, I have this house, the jungle outside to contend with, and my projects have become broader and larger in scope.  Completing two things a week is simply just not possible.  Being a pretty textbook Gemini, I always have a lot going on.  I do indeed get bored easily, so I've found that the only way for me to complete projects is to rotate my working time.  It also helps me to have rules, even if I made them up, and can change them as I please.  It helps keep me focused. So I'm making new rules.

First, I need to keep my new house tidy.  True, the carpet is ruined (bought it that way), but that doesn't mean I can't run a vacuum.  A friend of mine told me that the best way to keep on top of the house work was to do a ten minute "cleaning frenzy" every day.  That's something I can adhere to.  I like a clean house, but cleaning for hours and hours is no good.

Then, I have the yard work, and the house remodel.  If it's nice out, I'll be outside for probably two hours.  That's just how it goes.  I'm trying to leave the house work to the weekends, because it's just better that way.  It's very involved, and hard to work on for just a short time.

That's all the stuff I have to do.  So is there enough time for the stuff I want to do?  Well, sure.  I want to work for at least one hour on my creative work, every day.  This could be sketching, sewing, research, buying supplies, anything, as long as there is forward momentum.  If I work one hour, chances are I'll work longer than that!  And this still leaves time for dinner, and a little bit of relaxation.

I haven't quite worked in where my exercise routine (forgotten, of late) will go.  I'm thinking that I'll have to wake up early and do it, which is preferred anyway. How do you balance everything?

Home Ownership --> Hand Strength

Since we started moving - and we did it twice - my hands and forearms have been KILLING me!  I've never had much of a grip, but out of necessity, I've had to force my fingers to hold tight to everything I own.  And then do it again.  And now, they have to grasp crazy plants firmly enough to remove them from the earth.  And squeeze the lawn mower handle (I mowed for the first time last night!).  I expect that once everything is tamed a bit, I will be able to needing mostly only the delicate grip required to hold a paint brush or a sewing needle.

I keep promising pictures, and not pulling through.  But I will show you the garden, now!  Sadly, I neglected to take pictures before we started tearing plants out, but it's still not the prettiest thing in the world.  I think this will lend an adequate before and after.

Overdoing It - Yourself

Dear readers,

I pose to you this question: Can you be too involved with doing things yourself?  You see, I have dreams of growing vegetables, baking bread, making all of my own clothes, all while I fix up my house - with help, but without hiring it :) - and make a name for myself in the art world.  Is this crazy?

There are a few exceptions: jeans, shoes, and I don't particularly feel like butchering my own meat.  I've considered raising chickens, and well, I hate chickens.  Do any of you suffer from this condition?

Thanks for listening to yet another odd rambling.
~Jessica

Must Make This Coat!

I was over on burdastyle, checking on a plea for help (wedding dress pattern suggestions), and I was told to check out Vogue patterns.  I thought I'd take a look.  This was the pattern on the page when I opened it.

All I can say is: WANT!

Quiet =/= Stillness

It's been quiet around here, for a lot of reasons.  Mostly, I've been working on the house, and trying to get a routine back together.  During the midst of this, I did manage to sew up four purses.  I'm rather proud of these, and I hope they do well our there on Etsy land.  Check them out!  >>>>