So many things to share….so little time.
Since I have some time off right now from work, I wanted to share with you what’s been going on in my life. Well, I’ve been crocheting like a mad woman! I decided to rent a space in a little shop and have my hats displayed there. I’m also going to be running a free crochet session on their grand opening day. It’s been so crazy! However, this week I will make time to reflect on a few things that I wish to share with all of you! For now, a few hats!
Sorry about the orentation of the images- cell phone images are not the best. Anyways, this is just a bit of my new collection. Plus I’ve made a new display(more to follow). My next great idea is to hold a booth at a local Easter Fair. I’m not sure how that will pan out…..
Thank you Pinterest
Like most of the female gender, I have become immensely addicted to Pinterest! And OH MY, how many wonderful things you can see and do! When Valentines Day was approaching, I was in a bit of the creative mood. Every year Lexy and I attempt to stay clear of the store purchased Valentines and create our own. Thanks to Pinterest, and some ingenious pin, I was able to modify the original idea to meet our needs. See the picture was intended for the child to hold a sucker. I think kids are sweet enough anyways so I dropped the sucker Idea and gave them some pencils. Here’s our final product!
Training Wheels
Since the weather here has been unseasonably warm, the idea of spending more time outside has become more of a reality. When I say warm, I mean warm! Since I have a surge in vitamine D with all of this warmth, I feel the urge to do more physical outdoor activities. Last week when I was shopping at a Toys R Us with Lexy, she insisted that I get her a new bike. She would constantly remind me that she does not have one anymore because we gave her radio flyer to her cousin Colin. She would insist on testing out every single bike that she could possibly fit. Since the season is a bit off, and really bikes are not in high demand this time of the year usually, they were not on sale. I have implanted the idea in Lexy’s head that if it’s not on sale, we don’t buy.
Last summer a collegue of mine was generous enough to give a 2 wheeld bicycle to Lexy as her grandsons were not fond of the purple and white colour. Apparently it’s not the status quo for boys colours. Anyways, I had this bicycle sitting beside the house lingering in the back of my mind. As Lexy was going crazy in the store insisting on a bike I convinced her that I would get her training wheels for the one we had at home. I figured the 100$+ savings would warrent a new set of training wheels that were 16$. Long gone are the days that style mattered eh? Everything does not need to match in my house. I was seriously anal about this before.
So I pruchased these training wheels at a Toys R Us at a store near my parents place, 3 hours away north of mine. While driving home that weekend, Lexy insisted on discussing the entire trip about these training wheels and how she was going to go biking as soon as we got home. Thank the man upstairs that she did fall asleep for an hour, however the two remainding hours that was the ONLY topic we could discuss.
As soon as we got home, she would not let me unpack the car. In her hands she took the training wheels and I was not to do anything else but put them on her bike. She stood helping me out as I adjusted them to fit the bike. It only took me about 10 minutes to open the package and figure it out. I think it actually took me longer to take the bike out.
So here we were, assembling training wheels and fixing the seat on her bike. Lexy would constantly ask me if I was done and if she could ride her bike yet. With her helmet on, and her hands held tight- and me not too far- we were off!
I didn’t even notice that the new training wheels somewhat matched the bike perfectly! How’s that for good karma? With a few close calls, she managed to master the bike in about 30 minutes. And if you are wondering why she is riding on the road, the sidewalks are so slanted in my neighborhood that when she would hit a slant, the bike would fall over.
Loser.
Me, in my not-so-sexy pose.
Not everyone is willing to put it out there. I even hesitated on posting about this struggle in my life. Today is roughly week-2ish of the weight-loss journey and I’m feeling the lack of progress blues. On that note, I decided to post this to keep myself inspired to continue.
My New Years resolution consists of the same one I make every year- yet fail. This year, rather than saying “to get in shape or lose weight” I decided to put a number on this goal. One hundred lbs is the goal. I feel that putting a concrete number on this resolution would hold me accountable and enable myself to keep track of my progress. My goal is 100 lbs, therefore 12 months / 100 lbs= approx 8.3lbs a month.
I want to be a Loser. I need to be a Loser. I can no longer struggle putting on my shoes, or breath heavy climbing those stairs. I will no longer eat myself to a shorter life span or enable an early death. I can change this. I will change this. My daughter deserves to have a healthy and active mother.
This week I’ve started a 5 week program of doing 3 nights a week bootcamp. I also participate voluntarily on a lower intensity workout session on the weekend. Between bootcamps, I also attend the gym for my recuperation days for a nice jog on the treadmill or to abuse the elliptical. My strategy? High intensity cardio and a complete change in diet.
The first couple of weeks of this goal I was able to shed 6.8lbs. This week I have 0 progress on the scale. I know the inches are shedding, but the scale is not reflecting that. As discouraging this may be, working so hard and not seeing any progress, I’m being optimistic that this will soon change. Hey, we’re mid-way through the month and if I keep on track, I would hope to see a loss of 2 more lbs and reach this months goal.
Join me and maybe you could be a Loser too?
Dear Santa…..
When Children age, we all reflect on the past and how cute and cuddly it was when they were really small. However, I can honestly say that I LOVE every stage 
that I have experienced with Lexy’s development. This year I had the joy of writing a letter to Santa with her. It’s so neat to see how excited she got when we took the letter to the mailbox to send it.
When I told her that we needed to create a letter for Santa to ask him for some presents for Christmas, she insisted that I help her write the letter but that she would write her name and decorate it. When it came to the point of asking her what she really wanted, it was interesting to see what her answers were. I asked her to name me 3 things that she would like Santa to bring her and she replied “A purple monkey!”. It’s unclear where she saw a purple monkey or where she came up with this idea. I was not something I expected her to say….by far. She also asked for a new outfit for gymnastics and could not come up with a 3rd. I’m so blessed to have experienced this first for her and I look forward to many more letter to Santa for years to come.
Did Santa bring Lexy everything she wanted? Of course! He was able to find that purple monkey!
When Your Life is Organized…
Office
My main office was a dumping ground for basically anything and everything, where I did not know where it should go. Ironically, I have basically no one else to blame but myself because I would put things on my desk and always think that I would get to them later. I would clean it out quarterly just to restart the same vicious cycle.
Then the day came…..The day of ever-so-wonderful ambitiousness. I emptied the entire room(with help) and organized everything. I cleaned off the old desk, got rid of it and made way for my larger, yet more useful space. Everything was to be off the floor and the desk was to be placed on the back wall, leaving the windows free of clutter.
The one major purchase that I did make was these 3X3 cubed shelfs that you can get basically anywhere. I got mine from Zellers for 40% off (savings of 30$ per unit) and I got 2. Since I love Pinterest, someone posted the idea of using these cubes (or even the ones from Ikea) and placing a piece of plywood on the top. I did not want to purchase anything else and I somehow in this mess of a room I had a piece of glass from an old aquarium that worked and fit perfectly.
In the cubes, I placed all of my working essentials. Everything is visible and yet easy to get to and throw back. I could colour coordinate all of my yarn or even types of yarn in each cube so that I could see what colours I did have to work on that next project.
Cube contents
As you can see I have an enormous amount of yarn, some even protruding from the cubes already! I could also hide and organize my patterns (in the binders) and even reference them when I don’t have a million other things to do for inspiration.
Machines
This also helps me set up my goal of starting my own handcrafted store. Being organized helps me be creative and not to constantly searching for things. This little paradise may not look like in the pictures, heck, it may not look like it in real life, however every time I entre the room I feel inspired to do more.
As you see, having a place that is easily accessible for my different types of machines(serger, vinyl cutter, smaller sewing machine) allows me to have a clean and clear desk. These machines are frequently on the top of one’s desk.
If you’re looking for a solution when storing material, I think I have come up with someone that works for me. I have enough clutter in the open, so having mounds of material was not an option to put on display- so you say. When renovating my bathroom, I found on kijiji a hutch and buffet table for 200$. I used the Buffet table for the bathroom vanity(I’ll post about that soon too!) and still had the hutch lying around. I decided to shove as much material in it, and man that sucker can hold a lot!
Now, I’m sure in other’s that post about how perfect their sewing room is and how wonderfully organized things are, mine is not so “perfect”. Hence the look of my 
material hutch. But hey, I’m a working girl, so things get messed up often! For me, the best thing is shutting the door and voilà! It disappears!
How does your space work for you? Please share!
12 Ton Challenge
This year, wonderful leaders in my community have created a great challenge for CK. I have decided to participate in this challenge myself, so bare with me and the many posts I will have on this topic!
Sewing on the Backburner….
Lexy's dress to fix
Are you like me and throw projects into a pile and realize one day “holy crow I have too many things to finish!”? Since cleaning my office and re-organizing(post to follow) my office, I find that my creative juices are flowing and I’m more willing to do that pile of stuff that I’ve always wanted to do, but found every excuse not to. Hence Lexy’s dress. The tule on the dress had ripped off. Usually this is not a big deal, I would donate the dress or let someone else fix it and have it(I know I’m that pathetic). However, raising a child that never wants to sleep, having a career and trying to fit in all of my life’s aspirations, some things fall by the waist-side.
So here I am now, in my newly organized office, a bin(bright red to boot) that stares me in the face every time I enter the room. In the last couple of days I have been able to conquer a few long-lost items that I would classify into everyday life. This dress is a Dollie & Me piece where her Piggy doll has the matching dress. Of course, she’s rediscovered the joy of dressing her Piggy doll and now wants to have her matching dress. So last night, at 11:30pm, I’m fixing the tule on the dress where the stitching came off.
I completed the simple fix and placed the dress on the vanity(where I always place her clothes for the morning) so she can see it. This morning, I was woken up to a happy screech of a little girl who was so happy I fixed her matching Piggy outfit. Moral of the story? STOP PROCRASTINATING HOLLY!
Just a quick letter to share with you……
Today I came across a post from a fellow Photographer friend of mine about a client complaining of pricing. I often get remarks on how potential clients can get cheaper sessions from Walmart or other discussions on the same tone. If you don’t know, I have decreassed the amount of clients and weddings I do photograph in the past couple of years because of this reason and the fact that the competition my area has increase 200%. Unfortunately the market is saturated and a few people who recieve cameras for Christmas instantly makes them a “Professional Photographer”. I, in essence, am not ready to work for nothing. I refuse to take time away from my child to no make any money.
This letter from fototails puts things into perspective on pricing and what we’re willing to spend our money on- sometimes not the important things….
July 2nd, 2011
Jeanine -
Today I am writing for a couple of reasons. I have some quiet time at the moment and need to get a couple of things off my mind. I will leave this for my husband to deliver to you when he is ready.
You photographed my wedding, you photographed my first pregnancy and my first baby. I contacted you awhile back to photograph my 2nd child and family. After getting prices and realizing I would want all of the pictures as we love your work – I decided against spending $500+ – which is what I normally spend for portraits and prints with you.. Please know it is not because I don’t value your amazing eye, or how much we love the experience.
That week that I decided to NOT do a session with you, this is how I spent some money.
On Sunday I called and cancelled our session. Monday I went out and got my hair cut ($39+tip), and colored ($65), Thursday I had my nails done ($24), my family went out to dinner at a somewhat expensive restaurant for no particular reason costing us $79 + tip. This was just 4 days since canceling our session, already totaling over $200 for un necessary things. My nails only lasted about 2 weeks, my hair is gone, and seven weeks passed when I got the phone call from our doctor. It was not something I expected and the cancer has spread very quickly. I will be leaving my husband, my 6 year old girl and my now 2 year old – not by choice. It is very hard for me to talk about it which is why I need to write you.
I watch your Facebook page and your posts about the value of a photo and if I could give back all of those things that I purchased this few weeks after I cancelled my session with you, knowing what I know now, and have that session, well… I would do it in a heartbeat.
Now my time is done and there are no more chances for me. The next time someone cancels a session – my wish is that you for
ward this letter to them. Time is fragile, it is gone before you know you had it. If you charged $200 for one print it wouldn’t be enough for what it is actually worth. I cringe to think that my priorities were a manicure over a memory to pass onto my babies and husband.
My love and thanks for what you have given us from past photos. I am so sorry that I did not see it as more than paper until now.
Karen L.
The Big Vacation Adventure
Everyone was up and in the van at 3:30am, strategically decided so the traffic in Toronto could be avoided and that we could make it to Quebec City during the daylight so the tent trailer could be set up. Lexy was super awesome during this portion of the trip! She would nap on and off, watch her tv or play with her toys. She was just ok with sitting in her car seat. For a 3 year old, this is an amazing thing!
She insisted on having her green soft blankie and her piggie with her at all times. Often I would forget that she was in the car as she was so quiet.
I’ve honestly never been so excited to go on a family vacation.
And for the 300$ van? Well she made it with no problems to Quebec City. Where next you ask????? Wait and see….