On Why I Drink Wine

So the bigger of my two little men woke up at 3am and 4am this morning and snuck out of bed (not realizing I have a monitor in his room about 2 inches from my ear) and went out into the playroom to play with his new Thomas Train Track.

Oye. All this after a very interesting nite nite adventure. Dan's brother and his girlfriend were over for dinner (Steak and Salmon, yum yum!!) so Gabriel was especially wound up. He cried and cried when I put him to bed. Finally Dan came up and read to him and he settled down to sleep - or so we thought.

Next it was Maddox's turn and he was also reluctant. I came downstairs twice only to have to run right back up and rock him, replace his paci, etc etc etc. The third time I came up the stairs I nearly tripped over Gabriel who was making his way to the gate at the top of the stair. I was already irritated and tired so I snapped at him to go back to bed thinking he was just being naughty. Poor little guy just started sobbing as he headed back to his room. When I caught up to him I realized what the problem was - he was wet even though I had just checked him and changed him before bed! So we changed his PJ's another new diaper at which point I realize that Gabriel had tried to take his own diaper off - before going potty (meanwhile Maddox is still screaming). Turns out Gabriel's bed is drenched as well.

Long story short, we eventually got them all clean, dry, and asleep and I poured myself a nice big glass of wine (Duh!). Then of course we had the 3 and 4am jaunts out to play with Thomas.

Last night I finished all of the last details on the aprons I was making and started cutting the pieces for the Manhattan Handbag (by Nancy Green) that I was going to make. I was hoping to get a lot more done, but I realized I was totally out of fusible fleece and the a few other necessities for the pattern. I went out this morning to get what I needed and came home with pretty much the wrong EVERYthing. Argh!! Oh well.

Here's where I'm at so far with the purse. I also got some fun fabric for little baby kimono PJ's. One in a red and green lady bug print with plain black lining, and the other is blue with flowers and butterflies and yellow lining. I hope they turn out!

Here are a few pictures of Dan and Gabriel from the Day out with Thomas (and one of Maddox just because):

Focus

What I need to learn, is to focus on one project - one hobby - at a time. I throw myself headfirst in to hobby after hobby only to get distracted by something new and fun, or old and fun. Even within the hobby of sewing I have trouble sticking to projects. Usually when I start one I will always finish it, but that doesn't count all of the ideas I get in my head only to get pushed out by something else - usually something more immediately gratifying.

Right now what I'd like to do is to focus on getting my business Flutterby Threads up and running. At the very minimum I need to choose a direction or two at the most for what I want to sell at the store, and limit my projects to those that fit within the goal. I hate to say it, but I'm going to have to limit and/or restrict myself even from sewing gifts for people...and certainly nothing that is just for me.

Today at JoAnn's I managed to get in and out with only the items I need to complete the projects I have already started...Phew! But it was hard! So many fun things wanted to pull me in so many directions.

So here it is. I'm going to write a more specific goal outline right here so that there is something solid for me to come back to each time I want to start a new project:

I MUST finish the three aprons I have started (they only need buttons, so this is not a problem). Then I will make one purse for a gift. After that, I am to focus solely on purses and baby items for the "shop". By May 1 I would like to have completed at the minimum, three purses to sell and at least one baby item (probably the Kimono PJ's).

So here is my project guide which I must commit to follow:
Finish Aprons
Sew 3 Purses
Sew 1 Baby Item

Once these are finished I will set new goals, but if I look farther than that my ideas start expanding exponentially and then I just get myself off track.

So there.

I'll post pictures of the aprons and purse when they are finished. I won't have time to work on them tonight, but hopefully Sunday I will. Dan is taking Gabriel to see Thomas the Train tomorrow, so while I should be continuing my efforts to find a church home out here in TX, I am going to instead, take little Maddox into my sewing room with me and find some sort of balance between playing with him and sewing!

Wish me luck!

New Blog Old News

A friend of mine recently asked me if I had a blog displaying my sewing creations. I was ashamed to say that I did not... so here I am! Flutterby Threads (www.flutterbythreads.com) will soon (I hope) be a fully functioning web site with items for sale through etsy.com!

Please pardon me while I figure out the best way to display my BCI creations (Before Blog Inception). This is a very incomplete list as I didn't take pictures of a lot of the items I sold/gave away... but going forward I will!

For now, here is a link to the set of photos I have on Flickr...I will be adding more today I hope. If anyone knows how to display these better please let me know.
Crafting Photos