Back to School Sewing

The girls needed new pencil cases for school next month. I decided I could make something cuter than anything they could find at the office supply store and this is what I came up with so far. This is one of many, to see the others visit My Etsy Shop I've been playing with fabric combinations, zipper placement and lining techniques. They were so fun and quick to sew that I got a little carried away. I have a big stack of fat quarters that I still intend to sew up into more so when these are gone, don't worry, there will be more!

I will eventually have three versions available. The one shown above which is lined and can be used as a pencil pouch/makeup bag/wristlet/clutch. A very similar version that also features an inside hidden zipper pocket for personal items. And a simple unlined version out of sturdier canvas fabric with grommet holes along one edge so it can be inserted into a binder. So keep checking back here or my Etsy store for updates.

It's all good too because I'm in need of some fund enhancement at the present moment. What with the end of summer nearing and all my recent web enhancements, I've overreached my resources a tad. But instead of whining about lack of money, I'm buckling down and getting more things finished to put up on Etsy and working on some patterns and downloads to increase traffic here and even sell eventually.

Back on Dry Land

It has been 12 hours since I pulled my car in the garage after 4 days in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area & Wilderness (BWCAW).

Shit, Meet Fan.

I'm so happy to have my blog back right now. Mainly because I've been under a barrage of bad news this week and I need to share it with someone.

First off, my husband got news a little over a week ago that a former co-worker and friend had an accident and required brain surgery. Just when we thought he was heading toward recovery, he suffered a major heart attack and slipped into a coma. Two days later, they took him off life support and he died. He was 52 years old and left behind a lovely wife and two children. Today was his memorial in Coeur D'Alene, Idaho and Mr. Mess managed to make the trip to Seattle last night and drove to Coeur D'Alene today. He said the service was lovely, a lot of former co-workers were in attendance and Dan's son, his youngest, paid a beautiful tribute to his father.

Also last week I got news that a former friend also passed away. This one touched me in many ways. So many that I can't even put into words. At one time we were pretty close but time and circumstances changed that and we didn't just grow apart. No, we fought like a couple bitches in heat and our relationship ended in a very ugly way. She fought a very valiant fight against a much bigger bitch than I could ever be, the bitch that is called Breast Cancer. God I hate it when that bitch wins.

I also got news that my Great Aunt Annabelle passed away this week. This however wasn't such bad news. She lived a long and blessed life. All of her siblings, husband and many other loved ones had preceded her. She was due for the reward she's worked her life to achieve.

Then tonight I get news that a friend is in the hospital with a possible brain tumor. We've been friends with J&D for over 15 years. They have seven children and are the greatest people in the world. Words can not even begin to tell how much I love these people. Of course as is typical with these kinds of things, I can't get in touch with anyone in the family tonight and I'm beside myself wondering what is going on and how D is doing.

Right now I'm counting on the rule of threes to side in Di's favor. Pray with me if you are the kind that does that sort of thing.

It's like Magic!

Here it is 1:41a.m. and I've just finished "reading" Harry Potter about 3 hours ago. (I actually listened to the audiobook because Mini-me had first dibs on our hard copy.) I've been jitting about the internet for some time reading a few threads here and there and checking bloglines etc. Then I get a wild Pheonix feather up my arse and think to try the link to my blog and lo and behold, here it is!

I know darling Sam has been working his fingers to the Nupps to get me back in action this week. Hugs and kisses (and a check!) go out to him.

Now that I know I can post again, I have so much to share. I've been photographing, sewing, and tutorializing a shit-ton since we last talked. I haven't been this excited about an upcoming written work since, well since Friday night.

Spam is terrorism

Okay I'm not sitting here with my laptop all bloodied and bruised but still, these damn spammers are making blogging and podcasting a real pain in the ass. Of course if I pull my webring and disable comments, then the terrorists win and baby Jesus will cry.

Not only has my webring been overtaken by freaks and geeks with small penises and a penchant for beastiality, but I've had a few spam comments sneak through my web of doom designed to keep them out. It now seems that one of them or just the sheer volume of them, has managed to corrupt my database. I can no longer access the comments to edit or delete anything and I'm not even sure if the rest of you fine, decent, upstanding citizens of the innerwebs can even see/read/comment either.

I'm very hesitant to go in and start mucking about with my database. The last time I did that almost a years' worth of high caliber writing (snort!) was lost to the ether. So until I have time to calmly sit down and back everything up to my removable hard drive, I'm going to have to leave you all with the mess as it stands. I've fired off a Bat Signal to Yahoo Small Business to request a database repair. If that doesn't fix it later today I'll get back to y'all with something better I hope.

In the mean time, tomorrow is Little E's 10th birthday and we're celebrating today. At around 1:30 this afternoon (right about when it hits 95 degrees) we will host 8 other 10 year olds for a snake themed extravaganza (and pool party.) At 2:00 Dave's Wild World of Reptiles arrives to tantalize and teach us all about his menagerie of creepy, crawly critters. I'm excited to see the crocodile and Burmese Python. We're going to see if we can double dog dare Mr. Mess to handle a big, hairy tarantula (I'll be sure to get pictures!)

E wants to be Jeff Corwin or Steve Irwin when she grows up (minus the stringray through the heart I'm hoping). She's always been fascinated with odd and exotic creatures. Last year she campaigned for a ferret for over 10 months. But finally gave up when numerous PetCo employees counseled her against it. It also helped that her animal friendly Mom resolutely refused to house, feed and fund any form of rodent. This year she turned her attentions to the reptile world and finally settled on acquiring a snake, specifically a Ball Python. I gave her the (I thought) daunting task of researching the needs and necessities of becoming a novice snake owner. She volleyed back with a well researched and thorough treatise on the exact needs of a snake and a comparative list of different species and their relative ease of care. Since then it has been a daily exercise in honing her natural sales technique and liberal use of her innate cuteness factor and puppy dog eyes to persuade her father and I that now is the time in her life to begin living out her dreams.

Friday she and I went back to PetCo (where the employees really are as helpful and knowledgeable as they appear in their commercials!) to buy the tank and other accroutrements required to house a juvenile Ball Python. While there we also had the opportunity to once again do a little mystical snake handling. I must admit that even this once doggedly (pun intended) resolute "fur and four feet" pet person can see the charm in owning a snake. They are very intriguing creatures and the coolness factor can't be beat. Tomorrow morning after the sleep over guests go home and E finishes up at gymnastics practice, we will again return to PetCo and bring home number six in our menagerie.

Ring o' Spam

Just like Pam's webring (Badass Knitters), my ring, Eclectic Crafters, has been totally inundated with fucking spammers. So I've also had to close it to new members. I don't have enough time in my day to delete all the viagra selling emails that Yahoo and Spamkiller misses let alone 100+ ringsurf emails for ibrahim wanting to join our illustrious group of crafters and pornographers.

If you would still like to join the ring shoot me an email at beth 3 1 9 (at) myeclecticmess.com (omitting spaces and substituting the at for @ blah,blah, blah.)