It turns out I can only go so long without making something pretty.

Pretty much all of my free time is spent on Illustrated with Crappy Pictures™ these days but I started getting itchy to make something that looked, well, good again.

So I finished a twin bed sized quilt for my eldest, since he recently (okay, 6 months ago) moved into a bigger, big boy bed. 

I made my own binding, but not in a "look how crafty I am because I can make my own binding" way. It was because I lost the binding that I had purchased nearly 6 months ago. It is buried in my craft room somewhere and the clock was ticking so in a panic I just made my own.

My craft room that now looks like this again. 

Notice that little birdie fabric on the binding at the top and then again 6 rows down? Designed by my friend, Marisa. She gave it to me recently, so it is a good thing it took me so long to finish this quilt. Things always work out for the best, don't they?

Have a happy Thanksgiving to those of you who celebrate!

Went out to lunch with Wendy last week. 

After a lunch she took me to a vintage clothing shop on the same block. I walked in, saw this skirt peeking out of the rack and grabbed it. In less then 2 seconds. I fancy these appliqued skirts (I think I'm officially collecting them now that I have more than a handful) and I could spot one a mile away. Fortunately, everyone else seems to think they are ugly so it was 50% off. 

I mean, it really IS kinda ugly. 

But when I saw that the hen's wing lifted up and had a baby chick underneath:

One does not let that sort of thing go. 

So I bought it. 

I've shared a few of my other applique skirts here before, like the house one I made. And this house scene one that I was wearing when I bought the chicken one. And also the velvety mushroom one. Oh, and this happy flower one too. Yeah. It is sort of a thing. I LOVE them.

And now I want to make another one. And possibly with a lift up flap that hides something else, just like the little chicken. Hmmmmmmm

I have this ongoing problem. Time. There is never enough of it for me to do everything I want to be doing. I take on too much and say yes too often. 

My husband is the same way. What can I say? We love living life and we tend to pack it all in as much as possible. But there is a great divide between packing it all in and choosing to do less so you can truly savor the things you love. I'm working on it. 

For example, I've accepted failure for our garden this year. Every year just when our garden is getting established we leave town for a week and it gets fried. We even pay someone to come and water but it doesn't matter. This year it was particularly fried when we returned. And on top of that we have rabbits and raccoons coming every night and eating absolutely everything that is left.  All the tomatoes are gone. Even the squash has been eaten!  We've tried everything short of putting fencing all the way around it but we aren't going to do that this year. So I'm walking away from the garden and a weight is lifted. 

I also sold one of my websites this week: Fulfilled Homemaking. I don't have the time I'd like to give to it and I know in someone else's hands it can grow into an amazing resource.  I'm a little sad to lose all the little drawings I did for the logo and buttons on the site though, seeing them just makes me want to draw!

I also have accepted that we won't be painting our patio, doing any landscaping in the front yard or a multitude of other things I could be cramming into our weekends. And this is okay. There will come a time for all of it eventually.

Do you take on too much? How do you know when/what to scale back?

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PS - Parenting. Illulstrated with Crappy Pictures™ was nominated for Funniest Mom Blog on Parents.com. You can vote for Crappy Pictures here!  

I wrote a post called The Rejected Handmade Sweater on Crappy Pictures today, and realized I had actually already written the entire story here.  Right here, called Crafty Hibernation, back in 2009. Same story, two formats. Interesting.

I won't lie, while it has been tons of fun and I'm ever so grateful for the attention the new blog is getting, it also has brought with it some added...stress? I'm not sure if it is stress exactly though. Self-consciousness more likely.

Mostly, what is scary is expectation. The feeling that other people expect me to keep on writing stuff that doesn't suck. Can I really do that? I try not to think about it. Try not to write FOR anyone other than myself. It seems to work. I felt the same way when I made toys. Or really, did anything that I had to put "out there". I wonder if everyone who makes or creates feels this way at times. Probably. 

The other thing that has happened is that I've had to grow some thicker skin. I thought I was prepared for the inevitable shitstorm of hate that comes at you when you suddenly get "popular" or whatever. But I wasn't. I am now though. At least I think I am.

To deal with it, I made yet another crappy cartoon that I guest posted on another blog (since it was quite bitchy and had nothing to do with parenting) called What to Do When You Disagree With a Blog Post. And anyone who has a blog and has received or seen some nasty comments on other blogs might appreciate it.

Have a good week! 

Wow, time flies when the weather is warm and the beach is calling.  I spend 99% of my inside-kids-are-asleep-time writing and illustrating over on Parenting. Illustrated with Crappy Pictures, which I must admit has been quite a whirlwind of unexpected fun.

But I'm still here!  

(the little guy looks pissed here, he was at the end of a long, hot day and ready for a nap in the car drive home...which he took)