While you were sleeping...

Sunday Update

Hey all you party people... It's been quite a weekend! Saturday was the second anniversary of my very favorite scrapbook store, Picture Passion. I spent the afternoon and evening there, scrappin' away... and I got 12 (yes, TWELVE) pages done! Woohoo! Then I came home and did my first paper bag book to commemorate the Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince launch. Pics soon!

I stayed up way too late (nothing new there) but for some reason I could not sleep in this AM and ended up with a migraine... becoming, unfortunately, more of a frequent occurrence. Maybe it's my age -- maybe it's not getting enough sleep, who knows? All I know is it totally sucks and even writing about it gives me a stomachache.

The rest of the day was spend with the family -- pancake day, carving pumpkins, taking a nap (wahoo!). Now it's 7 and it feels like bedtime. My resolution is to wake at 6:00 to go running in the mornings now... so that means I REALLY have to be in bed at a reasonable hour!

I've been trying like crazy to get a new photo on this page with my new cool Heidi Swapp 'do. Finally -- see it over on the side. Ain't I cute??? I have my sunglasses on my head, so you can't get the full effect, but you get the picture. Just wait until I get my braces off in a few weeks... Hot mama! ;)

I was cruising around on the 'Net today and came across this entry from Tonya. She got her prize in the mail -- and what a sweet post! I needed it, too... been feeling very down about some friend issues (I thought I left those behind in high school!), so I needed a warm fuzzy. Thanks, T!

What else?? Looking forward to the new Studio Friday this week. Looking forward to the holidays. And looking forward to much more creativity and FUN!

No Peekin'!

Disclaimer... Secrets abound in this post, so read on at your own risk!

First, I finished the Touch Me Due scarf for my mom for Christmas. You can see it here and here. Hope she likes it! And hey, if she doesn't, I will wear it. :)

Next, Tonya was the winner of my First Annual Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure Trivia Contest, so she will be receiving this in the mail. (Tonya, no peeking!). I made it especially for her. Although I must say that when I went to her site to see what sorts of colors she likes, I was tres intimidated... this woman is HOT! She's been published in all the major scrapbooking mags, has knit a bunch of cool this-and-thats, and she's an all-around stellar chick. Wow! And she reads MY lil' ole' blog... I'm blushing!

Anyway, now don't you wish you entered the contest??? Bahahha.

Too much on my mind...

It is eight minutes until midnight, and am I snug in my bed, dreaming of sugarplums or Manolo Blahniks? No, no... I am sitting at my computer, listening to very strange Ani diFranco music while my kiddos sleep away downstairs. I'm cruisin' the Inet, looking for inspiration, and finding too much... too much of everything! I had committed to myself that I would go to bed by 10 so I could get up around 6-6:30, but that resolution lasted two days.

When John's out of town (which he is frequently), I'm tempted to stay up as late as my body will allow, just putzing around, doing nothing much and a lot of everything. Why? Why do I do this when I know I will be exhausted tomorrow? The same reason I eat too much candy corn -- because it tastes good at the time.

There are so many cool sites out there, so many great books, so many fantastic patterns to knit, so many scrap layouts and altered projects I want to undertake... how to balance it all with WORK and LIFE and KIDS and EXERCISE and my BOOKS?

If anyone has any hints, let me know.

See Lain Run

I did it! I finished the Nike Women's Half Marathon on Sunday... we won't talk about my time, but suffice it to say that I am SLOW. But I did run the whole way -- yahoo! And if it weren't for that ten-minute, stand-in-line potty break that I took at mile 8, I would've had a much better time (yeah, yeah). It was so cool -- all the way through San Francisco, along the Great Highway. And the finishers got a TIffany necklace (photo of that soon!). At the finish line we were greeted by very cute men wearing tuxedos holding silver platters heaped with little blue-and-white boxes in their white-gloved hands... What a treat!

So how did a non-athletic mom of three do this, you ask? Well, I will tell you. First, get a great crew of friends. (These babes are from my book club -- can you believe how rockin' we are!?). Second, train, train, train. Third, have your trusty iPod with you and listen to great podcasts like Knitcast and Scrapcast the whole way there!

The weekend was a blast, and I am so, so glad that it is over... now I can get back to my normal, hit-the-gym-for-45-minutes-four-times-a-week existence. Except now Kim is talking about running the Rock 'N' Roll MARATHON in June. She's a crazy one, methinks.

On the knitting front, GREAT news. Clapotis -- done! Yahoo! I love it, and I will wear it proudly, despite a few difficulties in the row-counting bit. You can barely tell. ALSO, I got a copy of Holiday Knits last week and was able to make a pilgrimage to ImagiKnit in SF, where the oh-so-gracious Allison signed my book! She was thrilled to be asked, as the book has just come out. And I only blew my no-buy pact with Marji by $26.65. I had to buy something, right??? So I got yarn for one of the projects in the book (but I am not telling you which one as it is a Christmas present for someone who just might be reading this blog...).

Sorry to ramble on so... But exciting things have been afoot at the Circle K! (If anyone can tell me what movie I adapted that last line from, I will send you some sort of cool tchotchke).

Lookie Here!

Okay, okay... I finished a spasm of deadlines (that's my made-up word for a group of deadlines... like a pride of lions) and now I'm FREE for at least a day. So  I got out my trusty camera and took some much-overdue photos. Here they are:

The update on Clapotis. It's almost done -- only one skein of Waikiki to go!

The cool checkbook cover a la Donna Downey. This is so fun. I want to make a couple as presents but haven't been able to find checkbook-sized clear covers. This is from a pocket calendar from Michael's.

The altered notepad (I love this!). This was so much fun to do -- my first time using my craft drill. Yes, I put a hole in my self-healing cutting mat. Guess these mats can only heal so much!

And....

STUDIO FRIDAY -- The assignment was to photograph a "made tool" in your studio. Call me totally uncreative, but I couldn't find anything except the clear jars I keep my letter stamps in, and I didn't think that would be too fun or exciting. So here's a photo of my studio on wheels... my beloved Land Rover! Front view (please notice the license plate):

Inside View #1. Things to note: Hula girl on dash, bag o' bagels, Starbucks/Tazo green tea (iced, venti, no sweetner, no water), and -- could it be?? - Yes! It's the Clapotis, hidden under a clipboard with a bunch of CryptoCrosswords from The Mirror UK!

And the final view inside, a closeup of the Studio on Wheels.

Lest you fear I do crossword puzzles and knit simultaneously while driving, 'tis not the case. Instead, when I am waiting for the kids to finish with Tae Kwon Do, soccer, football, baseball, tutoring, etc., I grab a few minutes. Or when the little one falls asleep in the back, I pull up at my house and work while she sleeps (she doesn't transfer well from car to crib).

What do you use your car for???

Seasons

This is my favorite time of year. There's something about autumn that feels like new beginnings to me -- a freshness and edge to the air, even here in Northern California where "fall" days typically reach the 80s. I've always loved school, and when the calendar's pages flip to September and October, I get a lightness in my chest, an excitement that speaks of possibilities and adventures to come.

Now that my kids are the ones heading off to classrooms with backpacks stuffed with books and papers and peanut butter sandwiches, I am envious -- I want to be the one spending my days filling out workbooks and even doing homework!

This time of year also drives me to Michael's as I feed my urge to stock up on supplies for the holidays -- ribbons, stamps, cards, and other doodads to play with and use. I need to stop getting those 40 percent off coupons from the newspaper! My craft budget hath definitely overfloweth -- not to mention my craft closet.

What does fall mean to you? What are you tempted to discover or begin this time of year? Tell me!

Lost and Found

Hey guys! It's STUDIO FRIDAY! And today's topic is LOST AND FOUND. Tine says, "I am curious what you have lost in your studio on some point and where it was when it popped up again out of that Bermuda triangle. ;-) You can also sketch it or illustrate it, paint it or carv[e] it instead of taking a photo of it if you like."

My studio is actually a large closet, and I can't say that I've really ever lost anything (at least, nothing physical). So I took a poetic interpretation of this topic and here's my entry:

I've actually never done a collage before, and it's something I've been longing to do (because I need more hobbies -- hahaha). I created this over the entire week -- I knew almost immediately what I wanted to do but took my time in creating it, which was something new for me. I'm not known for my patience! It was fun to leave this out on my desk and ponder it, adding a little here and a little there, finally coming up with this. Fun, fun, fun! Can't wait to see what the other gals have created.

Just dropping in to say "Hi"

It's been a crazy week with deadlines out the wazoo for Selling Power, so I've had little time to blog or scrap or knit... but I plan to catch up next week! Got my hair cut but am still tweaking so photos will have to wait a day or two. What else?
*Did the cutest-ever bday party for my KikiBird at Picture Passion. KC designed an adorable Spongebob box. Photos soon.

*Finally gave up on looking for a clear checkbook cover so altered a clear day planner cover instead. Photos soon.

*Making good progress on Clapotis. You know it -- Photos Soon!

*Working on my layout for Studio Fridays... yeah, yeah, Photos soon!

That's all, folks.

Show 'n' Tell

I love the voyeuristic aspect of blogging -- I love the little glimpses I get into other peoples' lives. And when those people are creative types, it's all the more fun! Here's a great weekly challenge I found through Ali Edwards' site. It's called Studio Fridays, and the idea is that each week the participants will post a peek into their studios and their creative endeavors. This week's challenge is "Golden Yellow," and here is my entry.

I'm pretty psyched about this whole thing because as a fiber maniac and paper artist, much of what I do is for myself and my friends and family, and this is a great way to share some of what makes me tick, inspires me as a writer, and makes me smile.

I've got the clap

If that doesn't get people to read this blog, I don't know what will! :) Actually, I don't have a communicable disease (at least not one that I know about). Instead, I've just begun knitting the infamous Clapotis. This is momentous for a couple reasons. First, it's the second Knitty pattern I've done. Second, it's a pattern that's been languishing in the back of my mind for months now. Third, it requires a whopping 600 yards of yarn, so it will make a nice dent in my stash! Click here, here and here for photos.

In other news, I've been scrapping some journal-type items. I did a really cute flip book of "Mommy 9-1-1" wisdom for my sister, who just had her first baby a month ago. And I'm looking for a blank checkbook cover so I can alter it a la Donna Downey. She has the cutest ideas! Check out her very fun blog for more info.

And... I am getting my hair cut off tomorrow! I am aiming for a Heidi Swapp 'do. Kryssie, the cutie pie who cuts my hair at Cococabana, doesn't know I plan to do this. I am going to bring in photos and Miss Swapp's book so I will have photos of what I want. I'll post before and after photos so you can check it out. I am sure I am going to look just like the adorable Heidi. Never mind that I have brown-black curly hair.

Sorry there's not more excitement to relate, but things have been crazy enough around here due to my 5-year-old. More on that later.