This is my mess...er, I mean workspace...

Yes - I am working. And I realize I should be embarrassed by my workspace, but I faced my shortcomings a long time ago. I will never be able to keep a neat workspace. Let's just call it "organized chaos". And I did clean up before I shot these photos. A lot.

Anyway, I am doing my first holiday gift/craft show in November - and as usual, I'm a little behind. My plans of getting things done over the summer just didn't pan out - good thing I work better under pressure. While I usually make bags, I don't think they would be big sellers at this type of show, so I'm trying to keep my price points under $20. Thinking along the lines of quilted holiday coasters, pot holders, drawstring totes (for kiddos), crayon/pencil portfolios, luggage tags, zippered pouches, etc. I need to be careful that it doesn't end up looking like a modge podge of "stuff" though and am being selective with fabrics to try to coordinate the best I can.

If anyone has any suggestions for big sellers, let me know!

Other than that, all is sunny again in the South. The rains and floods in Atlanta were truly unbelievable. The area we live in was not one of the hard-hit areas - thank God. These are some of the folks that don't have flood insurance...could you imagine?

Susan

Favorite Things

I thought that since summer is officially over for my crew (Kara started back to preschool yesterday), and because FALL is my absolutely favorite season here, I thought I'd list some of my favorite things about the season...

cooler temps jeans and sweatshirts getting to wear my favorite clogs hiking picking apples camping crisp morning air picnics pumpkins comfort food (cooking & eating it!) changing colors fall festivals

Uh oh...I might actually have to move my sewing machine out onto the screened-in porch. Seriously! I've got to get motivated here and now that the kiddos are back in school, I'm anxious to turn my machine back on. Not only that, but my last blog post was a month ago. How do you all keep up with all that you do? And I wish I could say I'm caught up on reading all of my favorite blogs, but the truth is, I am so far behind I need to lock myself in my room with my laptop and do some serious blogging. I'll get there one day soon and maybe without having to chain myself to the computer. I honestly can't wait to read up on how everyone's summer was and see all the lovely goods you have made.

Susan

The Carnival

Carnivals...I'm not a big fan. You know the ones...the old rickety grimey rides that pop up in an empty field for a couple of weekends. So, we're driving home from dinner Friday night and as we crest over the hill, there it is. In all its bright-light, spinning, whirling glory. And here come the squeals. And then "can we go can we go can we go (big gasp for air, followed by...) plllllllleeeeeeeeeeeeease!!!!". This is the perfect opportunity to for parents here...let's use this as leverage, right? So, dear hubby says if they are nice to each other for a whole day, we'll take them Saturday night. Now, this isn't really fair because, well, it just isn't. I'm thinking, there is no way that's gonna happen. I would let lots of bad behavior slip just so they could go - but not dear hubby. He means what he says.

Fast forward to Sunday. The girls lost their carnival rights probably in the first hour and dad promised to take them Sunday. On the way home from church, my oldest daughter remembers (of course! you can't promise a 9-year old to take her to the carnival and expect her to not remember!). And then, here it comes. Bad mood plus stress can make dad say dumb things. "I can't take you today - I'm too busy"... "But Dad, you PROMISED" and dad says "It's just a cheesy carnival...we'll take you to Six Flags sometime". This is one of those moments that, had we been sitting at a table, I would have given him a hard swift kick in the shin. But, seeing that my foot was on the gas pedal, I couldn't. Tears, cries and more "but you promised" ensued. But that whole "don't contradict your spouse in front of the kids" thing prevented me from chiming in too. While dad worked, I took the girls for milkshakes hoping it would lessen the blow.

Fast forward again to Monday night. Dinner. Talks of going out for ice cream. And then dad telling the girls that if the carnival is still there, we can go for one ride. What? One ride? You can't bring your kids to a carnival and only go on one ride? I'm pretty sure he was convinced the carnival had packed up and left, so this time I did chime in and told them if it was still there, I would stay if daddy needed to come home to get some work done. So off we go to get ice cream and as we turn the corner, there it is - the ferris wheel. And the squeals. And giggles. And more squeals. Truly, it was the best $50 we've spent all summer just to see the faces on the girls. And dad? Yeah, of course he stuck around. Not a chance he was going to leave after one ride.

I'm here...

Wow...is it really going to be August this weekend? Where has this summer gone? As you can see, I haven't been on blog land in a couple of weeks...spending the last days of summer trying to fit in all those summer activities we had planned to do. E. starts school August 10th - way too early in my opinion. Haven't done much sewing either - but will get back into the groove soon. Just wanted to stop in and say hi! Hope you all are enjoying your summer too!

Susan