The What's Goin' Down Episode

Breaking Christmas Balls

2009-12-07T16:55:00.005-05:00

welcome to my living room. It's pretty this season. I've never had an actual fireplace to hang stockings before. i like it.

Tulia is obsessed with decorating and RE-DECORATING the tree which has it's downfalls (notice the post title)

but before i go into that let me just say that this ornament might be my favorite this year. I have my yearly favs you see. And this one although it is sort of corny, reminds me of a fun trip with my friend gina and i can't help but smile when i see it, almost in disbelief that I actually went to las vegas.

So....yeah. right after this cute little hanging of the cupcake and beautiful lighting photo-op moment, tulia attempted to re-hang her favorite ornament and broke it with a terrible smash.

oh well.

First Snow!

2009-12-06T11:09:00.000-05:00

On November 30th, the view from outside my front door looked like this.

On December 6th, (today) it looked like this.
Oooodalaly. and there's a snow man outside my back door.

CITY ARTS MARKET

2009-12-04T09:45:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow is the Lancaster City Arts Market at the Eastern Market Building on King St. 10-4. I will be there vending my wares and hopefully unloading everything to make room for the new wave of sewing that shall be taking place. Above is a shirt dress I'm working on for tomorrow. I am feeling a little worried about my lack of new things to sell but i have a lot of old stuff that I shall be seriously slashing the prices on....and if even one person complains about the prices, they can turn right around and leave me forever because I'm talking rock bottom pricing. I should probably just set up shop and give these things out to the nicest customers. but i won't. i'll unload the remainders on appreciative friends and loved ones.

In fact, after this show, everything I make will be changing from the "made to sell" mentality to the "right into tulia's closet" mentality...or better yet "into my own damn closet" philosophy. That being said, I basically had to beg tulia to wear this tunic dress that I made from a big long adult turtle neck. But my begging won in the end. and she's so FREAKING CUTE!!!!!!

I am also loving this dandy little apron. I made about 12 aprons total (all cafe length) which i know has been SO done before, but i don't really care. I love aprons. I love wearing them and I don't mind giving any aprons that don't sell, to my favorite cooks once this is over.

lastly, here is a shot of a skirt that i recently made. I think it would fit an older girl, say maybe a 10 year old? not sure. I mostly just make everything Tulia's size but this one was way too big for her and i am just dying to see it on a taller little lady. It's funny that certain things i make rank in the treasures category. I just love they way they turn out and for at least a little while, I feel like hugging them when i walk by. wish me luck. this sewing thing sure has been fun this time around...even if i'm totally sick of needles and thread.

CAT POST!

2009-11-30T08:50:00.005-05:00

Forgive the misty morning shower fog in several of these shots. You see, Edgar and Chet seem to like to hang out in the bathroom while I shower. And this morning Chet was pretty well glued to the sink in his bizarre bathroom trance. Even spritzing him with water didn't move him out of the way.

See?

Otherwise he's generally found outside catching moles and depositing them along with his brother's pile or inside on the guest bed between two pillows.

And speaking of odd behavior, Edgar has taken a liking to dryers and their warmth for cat napping.

as well as the occasional jaunt inside the dryer itself...if it's open.
Happy kitties in the happy home.

Brunchies

2009-11-23T08:07:00.006-05:00

Nate and I have decided that brunch is WHERE IT'S AT! A meal of simple proportions, everyone likes it, easy clean up and mimosas. no bedtime cut off, kids can go outside and play, not too fancy, and afterwards you've got most of the day left.

I used the new plates that Denise gave me as a house warming gift (yes there are cup holders IN THE PLATES!)

6 kids had their own feast table. can you guess which side sat on stools?

The McGrann's worked the griddle like pancake pros. The Worly-Weavers brought tons of champagne. Nate and I made the quiches and the rest.

and it was so darn pleasant that I have almost sworn off all dinner get togethers from here on out.

and of course I took pictures, something I haven't been doing as much of but liked doing yesterday. Looking forward to a great Thanksgiving this week with the family.
wishing everyone well,
Cheila

Sewing Week

2009-11-21T09:00:00.001-05:00

This week in prep for the Stone Soup event and fundraiser for Tulia's school, we sewed. It was pretty rad to have 5 machines at the table and we kicked out a good amount of items which made our kiddos school some money. The sewing fundraiser is always pretty fun when you think about the social part of it and the sewing part of it.

and believe it or not my mom came to stone soup too and donated a gorgeous cake and we went out to lunch at the chocolate cafe. and to top off the week, me and my siblings went out to lunch with my dad! unheard of! all of us together in one week!
good week.

SAVE THE TABLE and GHOST LAPTOP

2009-11-14T11:21:00.002-05:00

We bought this crazy table for the house and i love it. It's perfect. It just fits the room so nicely. but it was getting rocked up. the wood scratches like nuthin. so in order to preserve, i decided to get a vinyl cloth for it. nerd alert. i realize. However, this strip of vinyl was a cool color and finish. even the pa fabric ladies admired my choice. and even though it doesn't cover the entire surface, it doesn't bother me a bit. and also one of the best parts is that it was only 8 dollars!!!!! not interested in table coverings? oh well. i am. perhaps you'll be interested to know that i can't disable the italics feature for some reason. holy crap. it just did it on it's own. the laptop is possessed!!!!!!

What's Been Filling My Time

2009-11-10T08:06:00.000-05:00

Lately, I've been very busy with non stop activities. Some of this business is great. It's catch up time with friends, it's playdates and baking cookies with them all in aprons, fitting in workouts at the Y, and bargain shopping trips to buy dollar shirts. But throw in an upcoming craft show, a sewing fundraiser, thanksgiving and combine it with the rest and i'm about to run away from home. I obviously still have some lessons to learn with doing less and freeing my time, especially on the weekends.

But just look at the "Max" character from the Wild Things that my friend Keri drew and i sewed on this shirt! too cute for words. These are the shirts we're making for our fundraiser along with many other designs.

As usual Tulia hated being my model but if it scores a good shot of the goods, i do it anyway. i couldn't resist her evil eye in this one.

Transforming....SLOOOOOOOWLY

2009-11-03T15:14:00.016-05:00

At first there was the great ugliness. tulia's room rated 2nd ugliest in the house. due all to the blue and medium blue and dark blue and then the blue sponge paint. it had to go. but not at first. only over time.

at first we lived with it. then made modifications along the way. such as a bunk bed and some furniture rearranging. but who were we kidding? we needed paint.

but which paint? at first i was dead set on aqua. then mustard, then this two tone thing. but the set up wasn't right. should the "juicy fruit" color go on top? (ps- after giving in and letting tulia choose a pink, she went against it and refused pink, this juicy fruit was our compromise).

or should the juicy go on the bottom? should edgar jump up on the sill? oh yes he did. was it wet? oh yes it was.

Should there be any yellow at all? Oh lordy. so yeah after playing around with colors for three days, i ended up getting rid of the yellow. the juicy fruit basically rules. it's feminine and it's playful. i think it ended up great. EXCEPT FOR THE FACT THAT I'M NOT DONE YET!!!! that's right. it needs a second coat. that blue was torture to cover up. so yeah, tomorrow i start again.

but i needed to set things up and feel like things got accomplished.

and they did. i like it. i even pinched pennies and cut her old comforter in half making two covers for her bunk beds. i think i might be satisfied.

Wild Thing Halloween

2009-10-29T06:57:00.001-05:00

It's needless to say that we're a little obsessed with Where the Wild Things Are. I mean even since Tulia was 3ish (wild things birthday party masks? remember?) she's been loving that book. and even since nate and i were little and read it, we loved it. so tulia actually has nate's original book from 1970something and there are green scribbles all in it and she comments on how naughty her daddy was to draw in books. However it wasn't easy to convince the lady that a wild thing costume would rule. You see, she wanted to be a skull with a candle coming out of it's head, a dead cat and then a bleeding dead cat. (ew.)
Long story short, wild thing costume idea won out in the end.

I got the fur at the PA fabric outlet where i had a rather pleasant and bonding discussion about fur with the previously thought of "mean pa fabric lady". she was all about this costume and taught me how to cut fur.

Nate and Tulia added the horn aspect via paper mache and the rest of it was made by moi. I even made the hoodie (without a pattern!) which for me was a total miracle.

In the end, i felt like we achieved a glorious finished product...perhaps minus my face painting skills. nate and i have decided since we probably won't be dressing up this Halloween (why aren't we though!?) that we shall live vicariously through this costume together.
the end.
happy hauntings.

Colors of Now

2009-10-25T08:27:00.000-05:00

Let me write about this bush. I don't know it's name or really anything about it except that I LOVE IT! Actually, I knew when we moved here, that it was the kind of bush that would turn BRILLIANT red in the fall. and here we are, and I'm discovering the changes in my yard and it's a beautiful thing. this bush brings me enormous joy.

also behold the common beautiful pest known as the morning glory. it's terribly invasive but i cannot bear to rip these out. so i suppose morning glory take over is inevitable.

my back door has these kale plants. I've never bought them before because let's face it, seasonal window boxes run up costs. but i couldn't resist getting these. only 2 of them. no harm right? plus these babies will last way into the cold weather season.

and lastly, i finally went to get color on my new do. black and brown for autumn's sake. that and the insecurity of my brother's criticism that I always go for red color. there. are you happy russell? i happen to really love this color job. the browns blend under the black all around the front and sides and i think maybe in the back al little too. seeing this photo really has me asking only one question. Why didn't i find my stylist earlier in life. i've never been so tickled as i have been since finding Tamara. she does what i ask and even cooler every time. hope everyone is enjoying October. Costume blog coming soon.

New Painting

2009-10-18T07:10:00.000-05:00

Whenever i ask tulia what she'd like to do and give her no limits, she always thinks for a sec. and then says PAINT! So i don't always happily agree and run on over to the easel and do a painting with her but I do always have a watercolor station set up for independent painting because watercolors are pretty much harmless. And given her track record of painting her body or furniture or the floor, acrylics are off limits unless i attend. So my dilemma as always, is how to sort of guide her painting skills but not guide the art making itself. It's totally tough! Part of you wants to grab the brush and do it yourself! and part of you just can't stand to see her mix all the colors (AGAIN) in a big muddy mess and paint the whole canvas in rapid non careful strokes, ending up with yet another brown and muddy canvas and smashed brushes all done in 5 minutes.
So a lesson in care, in choice, in thinking before doing, in purpose and patience....for us both. She chose the colors, I taught her how to blend then carefully to avoid the mud. She chose subjects of what to paint and with just a light hand in her execution, tulia made a pretty darn awesome painting complete with a praying mantis, a butterfly, a stinkbug, a rainbow, a monster, a ladder a jungle. When she finished painting it she declared that is was a present for her good buddy Sophie. After a little desperate begging, i convinced her to let us hang it in the dining room. Sorry Mara, maybe the next painting?

Autumn Style, aka Fires and Apples

2009-10-12T09:51:00.001-05:00

This is the first fire we lit in our new house. it was exciting and then it was sort of terrifying because...well...sorry to dog you out Nate but....he didn't open the flue properly. which means smoke. and i have a very cranky nose and a very cranky smoke smell tolerance and well....the first fire made me feel like maybe the fireplace is perhaps not all that nor it's bag of chips.

but besides that we had a really nice lunch at my moms in the apple capital of PA, adams county. i used to think that it was the apple capital of the usa but no. i think it's washington. REGARDLESS....there are tons of apples and almost every back yard is next to an orchard. Here is a basket full of what was left over on the trees after the harvest. we picked some and mom drove down the road and somehow encountered a friendly latino apple worker who happily picked "La Doña Lili" a bag of leftovers.

so the size of these leftovers is incredible. it's like you really can't imagine them unless you have seen these your whole life growing up. this photo doesn't even really show you the true scale. it's totally ridiculous that these big apples are not choice apples, like the farmers somewhere along the line said whoa....this is too huge....no way, we can't sell these. i happen to think the oversized apples are probably the equivalent to the bees knees and tulia brought the two biggest apples to her teachers today and i loved that.

Goodwill Bargain Room

2009-10-06T14:25:00.001-05:00

I went with a friend to buy fabric and reusables from the cheapest of all cheap places, the goodwill bargain room for a sewing fundraiser that we are hosting for Tulia's school. I washed all the fabrics we found and they are all fresh and ready but this sweet little number had a bunch of mildew stains and some ink smears on it. i deemed it unsellable but perfectly adequate for Tulia's curtains.

With some polkadot trim and the right cuts from the panel, I do believe that I made her some excellent kid curtains. what does she say about them? Well when given the response choices of
1. Love them
2. They're really good or
3. Only ok
she barely looked at them and said only ok. darn it. i think they're great.

This is Why

2009-10-03T07:57:00.000-05:00

Ever since leaving the city, i've grown terribly homesick for it. driving down the streets i navigated for 8 years on a daily basis, i feel a mixture of sadness and comforting familiarity. sometimes i find myself asking why. why did we leave the city? i miss it so much.

and then when i get home or wake up on a foggy morning, i answer myself.

I leap out the door in my pajamas with my daughter and my camera and walk directly into nature right across the street.

and she loves it. and nate loves it. and i love it. it reminds me of the nature i grew up with and it feels awesome.

this is the view this morning from Landis woods looking towards our house. i'm really happy here.

Clever Cheila

2009-10-02T07:00:00.000-05:00

I went to goodwill looking for more shirts for dresses and i found these old pillow cases that i just couldn't leave behind. I intended to use them for a vintage style apron BUT... i couldn't even cut the fabric! Actually i considered just using them as pillow cases UNTIL.....

i held them up to the light and realized that they would make fantastic curtains. and they were basically readymade.

I'm sure i'm not the first to come up with this idea. but i did come up with it on my own without the help of the internet or other such wonders.

All that was required was a quick rip along the seams and some re-hemming and another long seam at the top for the casing. FREAKING EASY. and i was ridiculously tickled because this is cute fabric.

and as soon as i was finished, my little edgar leaped up and watched the bluebirds, tail swishing, basking in the sun on the sill in his own pillowcase tent.
the end.

Tis the Season for Pumpkin Muffins and Pumpkins

2009-09-30T14:41:00.002-05:00

As I went to the bank this morning, I passed a sign at the muffin/spanish food cafe that said "Pumpkin Muffins Are Back!"
and then of course I could think of nothing more than pumpkin muffins being popped into the food hole working their way slowly down my throat into the bottomless pit I like to call my stomach.

and it was easy as pie. easier than pie. I used a perfectly perfect recipe by orangette. Can i just say that anytime you are interested in making a no fail recipe....go to her website.

SOooooo, needless to say, Tulia and I had a delightful snack hour (more like 10 minutes) and sat outside on our front porch in the fall breeze, between really funky pumpkins and toasted our muffins like champagne glasses.

It feels like fall, and I think i like it.

Men's Shirt Girl Dress

2009-09-28T07:00:00.000-05:00

I've been wanting to make a men's shirt dress for a long time. in fact, i attempted it before to no avail. but with some quick thinking, i came up with something I'm really proud of. at first i had cut the shape too small at the armholes. so nate suggsted a stripe and i went with it, adding a sash and a little loop to hold the shirt cuffs at the neck in place and of course a little yellow trim on the armholes to finish it up. The collar is totally adorable, a little fancy but so damn fabulous!

here is the rear view. I would wear this look in a second if i had made it for an adult. At this point, Tulia is either gonna look chic or some other kid will get it as I'm considering donating this puppy to her school auction. i almost hate to part with it. it's definitely my favorite recycled thing I've made.

Greenery

2009-09-24T10:33:00.003-05:00

It seems that I've been a little slow on the blog posting lately which doesn't bother me. i'm a little uninspired in the blog-way but it does not mean that there aren't cool and new things happening. they just happen to all revolve around making my house pretty. i mean how many blogs can you really post on that?
So the conclusion ive reached is basically that it costs way too much money to furnish a new house and that i've fallen into the gotta have new stuff mind set. and so we decided to put a stop to major purchases and are thinking more creatively which actually is so much more our style to begin with.
Nate plans to make us a coffee table out of windows, an idea I was on the fence about until i went to Building character. and I have decided to buy some cool old hinges and use them as curtain hanging harware. It's gonna be cool i think. I'll post photos when we actually do these things. In the mean time enjoy the new plants that I purchased yesterday. never feel guilty about filling your house with green life. it's the best makeover.

Fashion

2009-09-18T07:09:00.003-05:00

Ok. so i've been watching project runway and it's turning me into a fashion thinker. i love that show. i mean really love it. i put season 4 on my netflix queue to see if it was worth a darn and vowed that it wouldn't take over my life as many wonderful cable shows that we order seem to do. but i suppose and i say this with a happy sigh, that it actually has indeed taken over. I have even been dreaming about sewing. so... i suppose, it's a good sign that things are settling here at my house. ok and i just also realized that by looking up this photo, i jumped the gun because i didn't know the guy on the right made it into the top 3. ugh. no more internetting this show!

LONG STORY SHORT:
i went into tj maxx and ended up buying several items that were totally out of the box for me. SUCH AS...a sweet little gray shirt with a sipper that opens up and exposes just the rounded top part of the shoulder. AND.....eh hem....a tube top, super wide leg jumper!???????!!!.........!
yup. and i love it. it was $15 and worth every penny, however i have no idea in heck where i might wear such a sassy item. so i might just have to invent and occasion. a fancy new years eve party perhaps? would anyone consider getting dolled up fancy style for new years? if not i think i'll still totally wear it. there. i'm all girled out and am appreciating fashion. and design. and sewing of course.

Before and After

2009-09-17T07:20:00.004-05:00

I realize this photo is a little dark but i was in a hurry. This is my dear mudroom. I've always wanted one. a room where it's ok to take off the dirty boots and coats etc.... but it needed some cleaning. and by cleaning i mean a paint job. what in the world were the previous owners thinking. tan sponge painting with red trim. hmmmm. it's a puzzler. So little by little i'm making the space feel more like me. even if it's just painting over the sponge paint with the tons of neutral paint leftover from sprucing up the old house.

and there you have it. a clean mud room. sounds like a joke no? the only thing that bugs me is the bench. it needs to be changed too. i'm thinking black.

here is a more clear view of the redbrown that the trim was painted. hated it.

ah, so much more crisp. so what's next? pulling off the terrible carpet in the laundry room that looks and smells like rotten corpses. and then possibly painting tulia's room. and just in case you're surprised by the lack of color, i just might have to publicly announce that i might be done with wildly colorful walls for a while (except for tulia's room). i've been drawn to a more clean palate. we've been looking through design books at barnes and noble alot lately and the crisp look is calling my name.

New Dress For Tulip

2009-09-15T14:41:00.004-05:00

Look how pleasantly she gazes. What ease and what calm grace right? WRONG. taking these adorable photos was murder.

Tulia is in the stage where the camera means a show and the star of the show is the show off 4 year old Tu-tu Tulia. So there is alot of face making, rolling of eyes, angry looks and eventually when i ask and then demand she look natural, running away from the camera.

So i quickly snapped what I could in her new goldfish dress. I really love how it turned out. It's not my design but i honestly am the sort that needs a pattern to do lovely things that satisfy my sewing itches.

yay. i like it!! and so does the biggest critic in the house...miss tulia luna.

Haircut

2009-09-11T06:52:00.002-05:00

Yesterday I went into my salon after not getting a haircut for oh i'd say 5 months. i had intended to let it grow and see what happened but as the growth got less and less pretty, I started to worry. at the same time, (during packing and moving) I came across some old photos of a time in my life where the hair was shoulder length with lots of layers, and a little bit of vomit came creeping up. so with the photos in mind and the doubt of longer hair looking good again, I went in unsure and also ready for something different.

and this is what the result was. I still have yet to make a color appointment but one step at a time dudes. this felt drastic enough. at first she was going to give me a pixie cut to which i quickly said no way! too short! so then she sort of got impatient with me and i realized that i neither wanted to let it grow nor cut it....so then what.

a little of each. she left it long on one side and cut it short on the other. i was pretty skeptical about it. but i knew she'd cut it well.....so there's the story. the husband seems to think it's the bees knees and I like how different it looks. taking chances sure takes courage. and lastly, right before going to work last night Tulia said, "have a good night at work mommy. i'm sure your clients will laugh at your new haircut!"

Cat Comfort & Making Dresses

2009-09-09T07:17:00.005-05:00

Chet and Edgar have been acting more brotherly since we moved into the new house. they have even started napping together again which I am taking as a great omen. a huge switch from the scowling and growling and rough housing they did previously. but ANYWAY....

I want to talk about sewing. I have been on the longest sewing hiatus ever and now that we're settling in, the machine came out, all covered in dust and the prototype was made. in about an hour I'd say.

i realized that my fabric marker had long since died and since Kathleen and i used sharpie for our craft on friday, i figured why not. so i drew out a little design and cut and sewed. It's pretty far from perfect and the sharpie made several appearances on the fabric after i was done. ugh....But it's a really simple dress to make and i shall be attempting a better one tonight with the fabric below.

I adore this fabric. but also part of me wants to try a different design. the neckline is a little saggy in front and i don't want to do the lined yolk thing. so yeah basically i want a really simple but super stylish design. i suppose that's really what we all look for, simple style. also what is up with expensive patterns!!? come on!

Recovery

2009-09-07T07:22:00.002-05:00

The new house has bugs everywhere. it's tulia heaven. she is almost overwhelmed by her ease of access to new and exciting insects. this crazy spider lives by our garage. pretty cool. nate ran into it while clearing some brush and it seemed to be just fine after a huge change to it's environment.
us on the other hand are trying to recover. me especially. it's transition time again. not only a new house but nate and tulia starting school again, schedule changes and of course some money worries as the state budget freeze has frozen my pay. Add some family drama in the mix and you've got a stressed out Cheila.
but how long does it really last? i mean, we're pretty much settled, the budget won't stay frozen forever, how long can your mom stay mad at you really? everything will be just fine in the end. there, some blog stress relief. here's a hey ho and a high five to anyone who's a worrier like me. it's fine. go sip some coffee and look at spiders ok?