Author: Tanie

Now that the new living room is “done” (I still need to put up pictures and buy a bookcase or two, some end tables, and Taylor’s precious speaker stands) it’s time to start working on the old one. As you can sort-of see in the picture below, it’s a mess:

IGNORE ME! There are holes from where the tv and a mini shelf used to be, and there was a Lack wall shelf and two Expedit 1×5 bookcases mounted on the wall that had to come down. I figured I’d tackle that this morning so I could start filling all the holes in preparation for painting. I put those two Expedits up all by myself and I really have no idea how- they were WEDGED between the brackets under them and the ceiling above them. To get them down was no small feat, and I definitely conked myself in the head with one and also did this when the bracket tore out of the wall.

WHOOPSIES. There are 34 regular holes to fill and that double-holed tear, which is about 3 1/2″ across, so I have my work cut out for me! By the way, that is a much more accurate representation of the pale green living room wall colour- this room has more natural light and a fixture with halogen bulbs instead of the CFL titty lights in the new living room. I guess I need to buy some new lights too!

This morning while I was walking Georgie I ran into Sym’s teacher from kindergarten, Ms Griggs, and she told me there is a little girl in her class this year that reminds her so much of Sym that she always calls her “Symphony.” That might not sound like much, but my girl must have made a pretty strong impression to be remembered so fondly.

One of my Friday night visitors. There were three little raccoons- a brave one, a shy one and this one, who I named Marvin. Fat, stupid Marvin, who just sat there and stared at me.

I spent almost the entire weekend tearing my apartment down and building it up again. It took me most of Saturday afternoon just to move the tv- it’s mounted to the wall and the first time I put the bracket up it ended up being a quarter of an inch off being level so I had to start all over, plus fill in the holes and repaint that spot. So annoying! The rooms are basically switched now, and we got rid of two big pieces of furniture and about four or five bags of trash. I’ve spent all of today cleaning up., and as a result I don’t have anything fun to post about, except a couple little bits.

Our first Christmas gift! We got this from Taylor’s sister and her boyfriend and OF COURSE I had to open it as soon as it came. It’s tealight holder that’s a little forest with deers and an owl and it’s so cute, I just love it!

The one thing we did do was last night Taylor and I FINALLY say the new Harry Potter movie- we’ve planned to go a bunch of times but always changed our minds because we were lazy or it was cold and rainy out. We had actually decided not to go again, but at the last minute I was like NOPE, WE’RE GOING, TURN OFF THE XBOX AND PUT ON A SHIRT. I’m glad we did, not just because I really wanted to see it AND it was really good, but because we needed to get out of the house for a while!

it looks yellower/darker in this pic than irl because of the TERRIBLE lighting in this room- CFLs in ugly titty lights! this will have to change

Last night I was able to get two coats done on the remaining walls in the new living room, but it was so dark I wanted to wait until the morning to see if it needed a third, which it does. While the kids were having snack I did all the edges, and at naptime I can do all the rollering and then I’ll be finished! Theoretically I could probably even move the living room furniture in here this weekend but I don’t know if Taylor will be up for that.

Georgie has not been very much of a help. Last night while I was giving Claire her insulin Georgie stole the foam brush I was using for the edges and started chewing it up on the carpet, and she was sniffing at the wet paint this morning- she has pale green whiskers now. She also has some pale green paw pads, but then again, so do I! I mean. The bottoms of my feet. Not my paw pads.

I moved my desk! Georgie helped! Not really. Last night I painted painted painted and got the north wall finished, so this morning I moved my desk over from the west wall- now I can paint the rest of the room (once I finish spackling all the holes and dents, you can kind of see how much I’ve done already on that little section of wall between the right-hand closet door and the foyer entrance) and move the piano to its final resting place. For now, though, it’s a mess in here. On the left of that picture you can see the old alley dresser which I still haven’t refinished. Out of frame behind it is the piano, and that big white box in front of it is my new Christmas tree, which was just delivered, yay!

Two days + 120 sheets of white, silver and white-and-silver tissue paper later….

I made these for Christmas decorations, but I think after the holidays I’ll hang them over my desk. I mean, once I move it to its new spot, which might be sooner rather than originally planned. Today I started clearing off the top of the piano, which turned into moving it and everything else off the yellow-painted wall in this room so I can fill all the holes and paint it green in preparation for making it the new living room. Taylor wanted to wait until after Christmas to start this project, since we both have time off, but when it comes to redecorating, patience isn’t exactly my strong suit!

My friend Anna asked me yesterday to post some of my felt creations, so this morning I went digging through Sym’s room to find as many as I could.

This is an old/terrible picture, but this is the first felt toy I made for Sym, the original Little Symmie, made from a very simple pattern I designed.

The original Little Taylor, also from my own pattern. He took six hours to make and a couple of months later he vanished completely. The picture is also bad, but if you view it full size you can see the little piercings I painstakingly embroidered with silver thread. Yes, I’m still bitter about him being lost/stolen.

A mermaid from my own pattern.

Blue bunnies, made using patterns from The Cute Book.

Grey cat, also from The Cute Book, but slightly modified. I also made a Siamese cat in a red coat but I can’t find it.

Two tadpoles, both from The Cute Book, although I modified the pattern for the bottom tadpole.

Sym’s Christmas present last year, Sailor Senshi dolls. These took so long to make, each doll is a different height and has different hair and shoes, requiring separate patterns for each one. ANd so many little details! The cats were also very fiddly to make- Diana (the grey kitten) is only 1″ tall! This year I’m going to complete the set by making the Outer Senshi and Tuxedo Kamen.

The felt family I made for Sym’s birthday this year: new Little Symmie and Little Taylor, and a Little Mommy as well! I used the Sailor Moon, Sailor Chibi Moon and Tuxedo Kamen patterns for the bodies and made new patterns for the clothes and hair (and beard!).

My most recent felt friend, the little doe I made a few weeks ago. The pattern isn’t quite right but it’s a start!

There are a couple more in Sym’s room that I couldn’t find, a weird purple unicorn from a pattern that needs a lot more work, and a really nice ladybug. If I can find them I’ll edit this post to add them in.

As you can see I usually prefer to make my own patterns, but if you’re just starting out some good books are The Cute Book and Cuter Book from Aranzi Aronzo.

They are full of cute, simple patterns and easy instructions. Sym made this “Cuddlies” rabbit from The Cuter Book last night with only a little help from me, although we elected to draw/glue the face rather than embroider it (she doesn’t quite have French knots down yet. Actually, neither do I!).

Here are some other books I have, I find they are great for inspiration and Sym loves looking through them!

Felties by Nelly Pailloux, and Zombie Felties by Nicola Tedman and Sarah Skeate.

Cute Dogs: Craft your own Pooches by Chie Hayano, and I just saw there’s another book, Cute Pups: Canine Friends and Accessories, which I’ll have to get!

Cute Stuff, Cute Dolls, Fun Dolls, and Baby Stuff, all from Aranzi Aronzo.

Happy crafting!

It seems that every year there’s a time when I have a huge turnover of clients, and that kind of happened today- two of my full time clients gave notice, or rather, gave NO notice, forfeiting their deposits. Now I have just one little girl full time, and four kids part time, who come 1-3 days a week each.

On one hand it sucks, I’m kind of annoyed that these families schemed together like this (and I know they did), and a tiny part of my brain is bugging about money. That part really wants to get bigger and louder, but I’m not going to let it. I’m going to look at the positive side of this: my work day is about to get a lot easier!

1. The kids (and one of the sets of parents) were kind of high-maintenance, needed a lot of attention and had tons of drama.
2. The kids both go to morning preschool, but on alternating days, so I’d have to drop off & pick up one or the other every day, taking all the other kids with me, which was always a huge production.
3. With them gone, I only have two to four kids here. Less kids = less work, less work = less stress, less stress = happier me!

Sometimes I think I should be allowed into stores, because I invariably come home with stuff like this:

Caramilk liqueur. I don’t even know what I’m going to do with this (or conversely, what WON’T I do with this) but I had to have it.

Slightly smashed box of Cherry Chip cake mix (which I’d never even heard of) and red sprinkles. I’ll use these to make doughnuts.

FLUFF. Enough said.

In non-weird food news, yesterday I picked up these two felt craft books: Zombie Felties and Cuter Book. TBH I make my own patterns 90% of the time but I can’t stop buying these books!

Also you may have noticed in my recent webcam pics that even though I said I was going to take down all the birthday party decorations, I just took down the streamers and left the tissue paper pompoms. I just loved them so much! However, it’s just about Christmas decorating time so last night I finally took them down. I didn’t want to just throw them all away, so instead I decided to put them up in the naproom.

Finding a new home for them gives me an excuse to finally make the yellow and purple ones I bought tissue paper for but never had a chance to make, and also frees up the living room ceiling for Sym’s and my Christmas crafts. We’re doing perler bead snowflakes, red/green/white paper bunting and white and silver tissue paper pompoms!