Turd Furgeson the Third (my aptly named sewing machine) is off at the sewing machine repair shop. Normally, I would be annoyed by the inconvenience of not having my machine for over a week and paying roughly $70 for the maintainance. But, I really can’t wait to get back my well-oiled machine and have it run nicely and smoothly. There’s still plenty to work on while I wait.
Ah, yes! Another restless night of “wake up around 2am and can NOT fall back to sleep again.” I can’t shut my brain off and it’s driving me crazy! This isn’t the first time I’ve found myself wide awake in the middle of the night during this pregnancy. I try for 1-2 hours to get back to sleep and eventally wake up a few hours later to my alarm clock or to use the bathroom. Tonight, I am wondering if I should get out of bed and do something. Then, I have NO chance of falling back to sleep, but I could get something done. So, here I am on the internet, really getting a lot done! (Heavy on the sarcasm! ;D)
There’s so much to do before our baby comes. The project I am working on is sewing cloth diapers. I started the first diaper, but got pulled away by other tasks. I want to finish that first diaper later today so that I have the first one done and can make adjustments. I am worried I will be held up again. I finished a custom bookcover order yesterday and found I need to get my sewing machine in for maintainance. It’s been a while. The place I used to take it to is out of business and I need to find a new repair shop. When I use my machine the stitching is coming out a bit uneven. Either the top or bottom stitch is looser than the opposite stitch. The bookcover turned out beautifully, but this problem was obvious when I made the first diaper.
If I can get my sewing machine in for repair, I have a mountain of other tasks I can work on while I wait for its return. The baby room needs to be sorted out and set up, I need to wash more baby clothes, I can cut out the pieces for the cloth diapers and nursing pads that need to be sewn, I can go through more “stuff” in our condo and donate to Goodwill or list it on Ebay, I have to process more tomatoes from the garden, etc. There’s always something keeping me busy around here, day or middle of the night!
Ok, here’s my plan for now: make up a “To Do” list while enjoying a nice bowl of cereal. After that, try to get some sleep.
Have a great Monday, my fellow, busy Insomniacs!
Missie
I washed some more baby clothes this morning and came across an old friend. He had a few stains but cleaned up nicely with some Dreft. This heirloom owl has been around at least 34 years. I plan on keeping him around for at least four more!
I love making new things. Being creative and expressing yourself through the things you make is a joy, when you have made something that turned out the way you wanted it to, or better. The mistakes are disappointing, but make you a better artist.
I think a lot people feel the same way, but it is hard to get into your craft when you are going through a busy time in your life or working full-time every day. You may daydream at work how you would love to do more quilting, card making, or painting. But when you have a few spare minutes or hours you just don’t want to pull out all the materials to have to put them away again. Or, maybe you just don’t feel like it at the end of the day.
That has always been me. I would love to walk through craft stores and window shop the materials, but never buy anything. I would love the idea of crafting and sewing, but didn’t have the time for the actual task. Or, I would buy a few small things like embroidery floss and never do anything with them. I got back into sewing a few years ago because I wanted to make my daughter some doll clothes for Christmas. I slowly made other things: a baby blanket and a tote bag from an old pair of pants. When I started making things, especially useful things, I wanted to do more. I would daydream at work about creating things for a living and I did research on how other people do it. That is how giggleFritz and Co. was born!
I am now about 8 weeks away from delivering our little girl. It is hard to make anything new for our family or selling. However, I am still going to try to create something new each day, even if is only a doodle or drawing. My goal is to create SOMETHING new every day. I will remind myself, it doesn’t need to be an elaborate craft. I don’t have to pull out a big pile of materials, or even take hours and hours to make something. I may even color a picture from the internet! I will post a picture to show you what I make.
Today’s Art
Title: Lady Bug Stroll with Daisy
Artist: Missie Schachtschneider
Simple, yet, made. Not stuck in my head meekly wanting to come out.
Does anyone else do this? Do you have an art journal that you work in each day? How does it make you feel to gather an archive of your projects and art? Do you feel proud of how you have grown as an artist when you look back? If you haven’t already done this, would you like to start an art journal with me? You could work in your journal each day and check out what is ending up in mine here on my blog. Think about it. It could be so much fun! 🙂
Yesterday, I had a chance to wander around aimlessly at Barnes and Noble with my sister. How I love that store! Near the end of our journey, we ended up in the craft book section. I found two wonderful books about doodling. It has been too long since I doodled! I didn’t purchase the books, but added them to my Christmas wish list. For the rest of our shopping trip I had a nagging urge to doodle.
This afternoon I decided to give into the doodling urges. I grabbed my brand new 8-count package of Sharpie Markers and got to work. I didn’t know what to doodle, but I needed to fill my page with color and texture. This is what happened
Now, that felt good! I can’t wait to fill another page!
Missie
The last three days I have been even more uncomfortable than usual. Sitting through church in our hard wooden pews was torture. I have been alternating frequently between sitting, standing, and laying down. To ease the pain I asked my nice husband to bring me home some ice cream. He is the best! He brought a huge bucket of New York Vanilla that should last me a few days! 🙂
It has been warm and humid the last few days here in Wisconsin. That has been good for my HUGE tomatoes that I’ve been growing this year. They are huge but need to ripen.
Today, I closed up all the windows and curtains and turned on the central air. I don’t like to hibernate like that in the summer, but today it was just necessary. For the first time today I am outside on our balcony. It is 7pm and still in the 80’s! Not my kind of weather at all. From our Impatiens-adorned balcony, I can smell the aroma of chinese food from the restaurant on the other side of the block. The humidity always intensifies that smell. Most days I hate it; it smells dirty. Today, I almost like it. Maybe because all day I breathed in cool, dry oderless air. Unreal.
Well, got to go. I think the baby wants more ice cream!
Have a nice evening!
Missie 😀
Yesterday I participated in my last craft fair. I am not sure if it will be my last craft fair ever, but the last one before our baby girl is born. I loved being out talking to all the people, but my sales were pretty poor. I will keep selling out of the shop here on the gigglefritz web site and on Etsy. I love creating new things, but life is uncomfortable these days and it is time to stop lugging everything everywhere. It is also time for me to get working on some cloth diapers and decorations for the baby room. There is plenty of work to keep me busy for the next few months. I won’t be selling my work, but it will be appreciated just the same!
Missie
This last Saturday we went to a bonfire at my sister and brother-in-law’s house. We roasted some marshmallows, made some s’ mores, talked and watched shooting stars. I didn’t get to see a shooting star, but I did see big and little dipper.
A friend brought her two kids, one is a sweet little baby girl. It was nice to hear her talk and make mushy mouth noises. I will be hearing more of those mushy mouth noises very soon!
I am trying desperately to get ready for Barton Day Craft Fair this Saturday and Stoughton Coffee Break Fest the following Saturday. So many ideas, so much to do, but my prego lady body is not cooperating! I just cannot move. Something is wrong with my tailbone, a misalignment or pinched nerve. If I walk too much, walk up hills or stairs, bend over, bend and twist, twist while sitting, or even think of moving I end up in agonizing pain. I can just picture the way I look when I walk around: like a moaning groaning mummy monster. I am horrible at being pregnant.
On the up side, I have gotten some new things made that I really like and hope customers will too. Since I can’t move as much as I want, it has forced me to sit still and do hand stitching on the sock creatures. It also allows me to look at Facebook too often and that MUST stop! Anyway, while I sit and do things, baby is NOT sitting still at all. She wiggles and kicks and I am pretty sure, does squat thrusts inside there. I’ve started singing her some nursery rhymes. My favorite is “One, Two, Buckle my Shoe”. I wonder if she will recognize them later when she is out?
Today is my Husband and my 7th wedding anniversary! It’s been seven great years together and I can’t wait to see where the next seven years takes us. A sweet little girl will join my husband, daughter, and me in October/November. Will there be more kids in the next few years? A new house? I’m not sure, but I can’t wait to help make it all happen.
I am off to finish a few things before dinner.
Have a wonderful evening! 🙂
Missie
Ugghh!! Can’t sleep. Flopped around in bed for over 20 minutes, then decided a snack sounded good. Thank you, Jesus, for cereal! I haven’t had much trouble sleeping being pregnant, but I am very wide awake now at nearly 2am. I consider it good practice for late night/early morning feedings.
Snack is over, better try to fall asleep again.
Goodnight!
Missie
