Brain Spark

You know in comics, when someone gets an idea, there's a lightbulb above their head? Mine comes in sparks. Once it sparks though, it's kinda hard to stop the neurons from spreading the spark all over the place. ;) About a week ago, we got an ad for Joann's home decor fabric. Inside said ad was this picturesque picture of someone's couch. On said couch was a bunch of mundane, normal pillows, but then, there it was! A gorgeous pillow with a chrysanthemum fabric flower sewn right on top. I had to make it. I didn't have any directions but I absolutely had to make this pillow. For those of you who have gone shopping with me to any boutique-y store/bazaar/show, I have an obsession with unique pillows. I have a few pillows in my room now, but this surely would be the piece-de-resista'nce! I sat all through dinner brooding this sudden surge of creative juices and how on earth I would piece this together. I decided a protractor would be necessary. But how many petals? How big should they be? Well... when I finally found the protractor, we only had one size. So that answered that question. But how big should the finished project be? How much fabric? Could I use all the fun scraps that I can't use for doll dresses? Would those colors all work? The questions just kept coming. My dad suggested to search the web for directions. Not a whole lot out there... There was one felt pillow, but it wasn't exactly what I was looking for. But it did give me another lead. Then I decided to check Joann's website. I searched and searched. Finally, I found it. At the bottom of the last page of free projects. I was so excited I almost couldn't contain myself! But as I read the directions, I was taken over by the dark cloud of 'what the heck am I getting into?' To feel what I experienced, just click the link:
http://www.joann.com/joann/catalog/projectdetail.jsp?projectFlag=true&CATID=&fullPath=home+decor+%26+fabrics&PRODID=prod342161&subCatName=home+decor+
I decided I could do it easier and more streamlined. I pulled out the protractor and a big plate (because I can't draw circles to save my life) and got to cutting. I didn't know exactly what I was going to do, but I was going to do it. I found some fun fabrics in my stash that were too small to do anything else with, cut them up, and sewed them together. As I sewed them onto the big circle (the plate size), the flower suddenly emerged. I kept going and then finally decided to just stick them all on there to see what this thing was going to look like when all was said and done. ;) Here's what I've come up with so far:

Isn't it gorgeous?! Sorry for the horrible picture... It's what I get for using my webcam. ;)

These boots ain't made for dancin'

Who knows how many miles these over loved riding boots have trodden? They most certainly have lost their original glow from all those years of hiking and horses. But they most certainly not made for dancing - yet. With their thoroughly worn out leather souls and less than supportive ankle, they definately make your feet extremely sore (to the point of not being able to even stand) the next day. But very soon they shall :hopefully: be fixed! I found a shoe repair shop nearby, and I'm hoping that they can put some better soul into it. Yeah, leather souls don't exactly make walking, hiking, let along dancing very easy. So hopefully, these boots can soon be dancin' boots as well!

Little things

Funny how it's usually the little things that you take for granted the most. Soon the turkeys will be butchered, and our source of many hours of sore laughing muscles will be silenced. Going on an Easter egg hunt every day, the sweet smell of fresh cut hay in the barn (and smelling like it yourself!), and being greeted by an 8" tall rooster every morning. Yes, our rooster is about eight inches tall, his name is Mr. Collins (all you Pride and Prejudice fans will get this), and he thinks that he is the most magnificent thing in the world. Even noises that become white noises over time can be taken for granted. Our elderly neighbor goes to town several times a day just to get out of the house. Everytime he comes back up the driveway, his old beagle stands on his lap, sticks his head out the window and announces their arrival. There was a time though, when this old dog was too worn out to even do that. Fortunately, they found out what was going on and fixed it. So that old dog can continue his song for many more years (hopefully). :)

PS - I really don't know where I'm going with this post... Being whooped does strange things to my brain. ;)