I think today instead of ending with my thankful thought, I will start with it. Guess what - Kim from Today’s Creative Blog featured me yesterday! Isn’t that cool? I encourage you to go check out Kim’s blog. I’ve had it on my must-read list for some time now. She has a knack for finding some very interesting people working in various media, all of whom are making beautiful things. It makes me wish I had a million hours in the day so that I could keep up with all of the creative blogs I discover through her. I’m thankful to be included in such a nifty “club.” Thanks, Kim!

And to all of you who have wandered over here from Today’s Creative Blog, welcome! Make yourself at home. And come to think of it, maybe some of you creative types would be interested in getting in on the Color Challenge… It’s a monthly event around here, each month based on a color. If you can craft something in brown, upload an image to flickr, and add it to our pool, then you can join us. The more the merrier, all media welcome! You can find out more here.

The pictured images are a few recent challenge submissions that I really like. These particular entries are polymer clay. Interesting how many different hues of brown have been showing up in the pool. I am noticing a really wide variety this time around that I didn’t notice when we did orange, olive, or aqua. Maybe “brown” is just too broad a color name. Perhaps I should have said “chestnut.” Heh. Anyway, my fault for not being specific enough, so I will accept anything from the brownish family. You’ve got a few more weeks to get your submissions in (where did November go already??).

It’s Friday, so you know what that means? Flickr favorites of course. Such a feast for the eyes, that flickr is, wouldn’t you say?

Will you look at what I played along with last night? I, who haven’t exercised in years. I, who have finally decided that I am ready to be serious about losing some weight. I have set a rather lofty goal of 25lbs, but to be honest, if I lose the 15 I gained during the Summer of Comfort Eating and Elastic-Waist Skirts, it will be enough to make me happy. I have to do something. My body is clearly complaining about the extra weight, every time I do anything the least bit active - and sadly, these days I consider moving from a seated position to a standing position to be “active.” Wish me luck in de-pudging. I signed up with SparkPeople.com, who made the video. They have a few tools that might come in handy, and it’s free, so why not?

Anybody have any suggestions for some good family workout videos? I think I’d like to include the kids in this endeavor - particularly the little round one who is entirely too fond of his tv and computer time. (kinda like his mom…)

Happy Weekend!

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Would you look at my flickr favorites? Clearly I am a little unbalanced when it comes to shoes. Strangely enough, I don’t have a huge shoe wardrobe myself. I have a black lace-up pair I have had for 7 years and wear most of the time, a brown pair of maryjanes from eBay, and a black pair of maryjanes from eBay. Other than that there are a few other pairs laying around that I sometimes wear, but these are my main ones. In the summer, it’s my black sandals or flip-flips. So many fun & funky shoes in my favorites, but I’m still playing it safe with black & brown in Real Life.

Today I am thankful for time with friends. Time to share some conversation, a little lunch, some more conversation, a delicious cup of gingerbread coffee with pumpkin creamer, and just a bit more conversation. Thanks for a nice time, Michelle. Let’s not wait another 8.5 months before we do this again!

And by the way, Michelle, what on earth has happened to our children? Remember these sweet babies?

When did they turn into this?

*sigh*

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See? Told ya my Swamp color scheme and the Bleeker Street fabric belonged together! It practically looks like I custom-mixed those clay colors to match, doesn’t it? I think this combination is just yummy.  And what is interesting to note is that there is no actual aqua in the Swamp scheme.  The light blue and the yellowy green in such close proximity trick the eye into seeing aqua.  It’s that principle I wrote about recently in action.

I’m so glad there’s a nip in the air this morning, so I can wear it around on my errands.  If these colors make you swoon as much as they do to me, fear not. There’s another version of it headed to Etsy one of these days.

The husband has the good camera with him at the moment, can you tell?  Blogging has turned me into a photo snob.  I’m no longer happy with the 2.1 megapixel old standby, darn it.  If he’s going to make off with his decent camera all the time, then I think I need one of my own.  Any suggestions for a nice point-and-shoot that I can add to my Wists (another name for “list of things I’d like but will probably never get, but that’s ok, I can live without them if I must or find some way to turn them into a business expense and just buy them myself”)?

My flickr favorites this week. As you can see, I haven’t spent much time “flicking” this week. Where does the time go?

Speaking of time, I have roughly 2 hours left of child-free time this morning, and I need to spend it getting some orders the rest of the way out the door, and catching up on any number of other business tasks that fell by the wayside while I was experiencing technical difficulties this week.

Oh! Guess what. I bought yellow clay. That means the last few installments of Evolution of a Color Scheme can’t be far behind…  As long as Neil leaves me the better camera.

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We made a different kind of cookie yesterday and were waaaaay more successful than we were with the ill-fated Pumpkin Biscotti. This time I had the “help” of a little person, which is always nice, and we slaved away all afternoon getting that sugar cookie dough perfect. Yes, it takes the ultimate concentration to combine melted butter, an egg, and a pouch of cookie mix just right

It also takes the proper attire. During the early summer, when I was on my big apron kick, I had made one for Eamonn using some Curious George fabric and a thrifted sheet. He’d never used it since then, and wouldn’t you know it, I had no idea where to find the darn thing. So, he wore my Susan Branch apron - the pocket ended up in the back, and the ties could have wrapped around him twice before tying, but he was happy, and I think he’s just cute as a button like that.

A few hours later, I did find George. I had never put a polymer clay button on it, so I found one that I’d made in navy blue & white stripes and sewed it on with orange embroidery floss - I figured I’d be consistent with the theme of none of the elements of this apron matching each other. Now I just have to remember where I put the apron the next time we bake…

Pants. Made ‘em. Love ‘em. These look even more like pj’s than the other ones, though. What I really need to do is make a pair in a plaid flannel or a solid brown, or something like that - something that doesn’t scream “I rolled out of bed this morning and didn’t bother to get dressed all day.” As much as I love my Heather Bailey Freshcut Painted Mums, they really do look more like a lazy morning than a conscious fashion choice.

This week’s flickr favorites. Check out the Sharpies! Did you know there’s an entire flickr group devoted to photos of Sharpies? Two, in fact! Guess I’m not the only one who needs to have every color…

The boys have been asking us all week if we can go to a hotel this weekend. Being very much not made of money at this point in our lives, I think a spontaneous weekend away at a hotel is not in the cards for us. However, I have had them think about what their favorite parts of previous hotel stays have been. They’re making a list, and we’re going to try to recreate those experiences as much as we can. So far their list has things like

• Buy jellybeans (like we did at Ocean City in April)
• Go shopping (not sure how this got on the list, but I’m not going to complain about it, LOL!)
• Go to the boardwalk (Ocean City again)
• Have hot chocolate (like we did when they came to Philadelphia with me for the Donna Kato class in September)
• Stay up late playing Rummikub (Philadelphia again)

I think we can do these things with a game night followed by a day trip to a shore town about an hour away from here. I just hope the weather cooperates and that having to sleep in their own beds is not too much of a disappointment!

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It was a rainy day today. I got a bit wet waiting for the bus to drop of Aidan this afternoon. It would have been perfect Fall weather, if the temperature had been 10-15 degrees cooler. At the moment, I’ve got the windows open and the attic fan on to help cool me off, and I’m starting to think I may need my head examined because I’m contemplating turning on the air conditioner. I’ve resisted because it’s only 72 degrees. But the moisture in the air is just plain gross. I am sticking to the floors when I walk, to the banister on the way down the stairs, and to Eamonn when we sit on my bed shoulder-to-shoulder playing A B C D Watermelon at the Between the Lions website. The breeze being pulled into the room by the attic fan would be lovely if it weren’t dripping with moisture.

Still, life goes on and plans continue, muggy or not. Eamonn’s Special Night culminated, as it always does, in the much-anticipated cuddle time, and when I finally left the room, he was snoring quietly, limbs spread out as far as they could be, in an effort to keep cool. I’m having to remind myself that it is not mid-August, but rather mid-October.

October brings, among other things, my grandmother’s birthday, which we will be celebrating on Sunday. I’m thinking of making her something, and the first thing that came to mind is a patchwork scarf. I’ve never made one before, but there’s a nice one in Denyse Schmidt Quilts. Apparently I think Granny is always cold - my usual birthday gift for her is a sweater, and now I’m going the scarf route. I’ve been experimenting with a technique to appliqué polymer clay onto fabric, and I think the ends of a scarf would be a perfect place for some nifty doo-dads. If I manage to play with this, I’ll be sure to share.

Those are my flickr favorites for the week up there.  I just love the softness of the coloring in the first few rows, and the fiery oranges lower in the mosaic.  And speaking of orange…

The Color Challenge is heating up for this month!  I’m so excited to see new people joining every day, and inspiring creations being submitted.  I’ll probably be ready to pull the plug on this month’s contest within the week, so if you haven’t gotten your orange items photographed, better hurry!

I’ve blogged three times today - maybe I ought to take the weekend off to make up for it.  I’d hate to wear out my welcome in anybody’s feed aggregator

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The boys and I are on our own today. When I asked them what they wanted to do, the answer was “go to Panera.” Really? Really. Sure you don’t want to go to the bagel place (read: Mommy is addicted to their fat free tuna on a very light everything bagel, please get bagels, please, please, pretty please)? Nope. Ok, then. So we went to Panera for lunch. I tried a Sierra Turkey Sandwich (well, half of one, really. I’m saving the other half for supper) which wasn’t as good as the now-defunct Tuscan Chicken Sandwich, but it’ll do.

From there we walked to Path Mark, a supermarket I don’t particularly care for, which is redeemed only by the DVD vending machine they have. For $1 you can rent a movie until noon the next day, which I think is a bargain and very handy for those weekends when all of the Netflix are in transit and you’re dying for a little mindless entertainment.

After we safely had our movie in-hand, we walked over to Starbucks for a Decaf Tall Pumpkin Spice Latte for me and a couple of big cookies for the boys.  (Aidan lost his second tooth while eating his cookie.) This is going to be a very fattening day, I can tell. At least the boys ran around and burned off some energy when we got home. I promptly plopped myself down in a chair with my latte and my laptop. And my camera. But not the good camera - Neil’s got that with him, darnit.

Lots of pretties on flickr this week, eh? I can see the seasonal “warmth” creeping into my selections at this point. All that’s missing is images of crock pots and comfort food.  These colors make me want to curl up next to the fireplace with a quilt on my lap, some choral music on the DVD player, and a good mystery in hand.  Not quite chilly enough for that yet.  And that’s ok, I can wait.  Today’s weather really has been perfect.  It’s 60 degrees and sunny right now.

I started a project this morning that I hope to finish sometime today.   I’m making lounge pants!  I’ve got Eamonn’s done, and the pattern cut out for Aidan’s.  I want to make myself a pair, too, and if there is still material left, Neil is getting one.  We’ll all be sickeningly cute in our matching Halloween pants, I’m sure, but it’s not like we’ll be leaving the house in them. Well,  the guys won’t, but I might.  Heh.

How about you?  Having a pleasant Saturday?

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So many gorgeous things on Flickr this week…

I needed two mosaics! I’m not particularly in an analytical mood, so take some time and just drink in the loveliness Click on the photos to see the credits for each mosaic.

I’m so excited by the submissions to the color challenge this month! Who knew orange was such a popular color? There is a plethora of beautiful polymer clay in the pool - someof it positively drool-worthy - but very little in other media. I hope some more knitters, stampers, painters, photographers & needleworkers pop their heads in over the next few weeks. I love variety, dontchaknow

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Is it flickr favorites time again, already? Where did that week go? I know I was insanely busy, but I really can’t pinpoint where I spent my time. I can see some autumn influences working their way into my favorites - a couple of photos featuring pumpkins, and a few more warm, orange tones are showing up. And yet again, I’ve managed to favorite two practically identical images from totally different places: the bagels and the yarn. Apparently I had a thing for stacked irregular ovals this week

I took a walk this morning, just me and my trusty mp3 player. It’s the kind of fall day I absolutely love - chilly enough for the air to feel “crisp” but not so cold that I can’t get away with leaving the jacket home. The leaves are just beginning to turn in the yard, and a mile or two down the road, at the entrance to the Great Swamp, the colors are already heading into brilliant territory. The leaves at the Swamp always turn faster than they do at the top of the hill where I live. I plan to take the boys over to have a look at the leaves and the critters shortly, and of course, we’ll be sure to bring the camera.

While I was walking, I listened to Sister Diane of the CraftyPod chat with Anna Torborg, author/editor of The Crafter’s Companion. I have had a copy of that book since June, and it was something I enjoyed reading in the backyard while the children splashed in the pool. Each chapter in the book is written by a different well-known crafty blogger whose task is to answer the questions: Why do you create? What inspires you? How do you work?  There are photographs of the blogger’s workspace and creations, and each blogger has also contributed a project.  The people featured in the book are at the helm of some very popular blogs, mostly sewing-related.  It seems to me, though, that discussions of creativity are relevant to all artsy types regardless of medium.

I haven’t done any of the projects in the book, but I have enjoyed reading the stories.  I love reading about what makes an artist “tick.”  This book reminds me in a lot of ways of Lindly Haunani & Pierette Brown-Ashcroft’s excellent Artists at Work: Polymer Clay Comes of Age.  There are no projects in that book, but loads of pictures of the artists’ work, interviews about their work habits, favorite tools & inspirations.  And it’s all done within the realm of polymer clay.  It’s a 10-year-old book, so you’re not going to hear from some of the “new” talent in the clay world, but the pioneers in the medium are well-represented.  I may need to dig my copy out and keep it handy so I can read through it again in my oodles of spare time

Ok, time to get away from the computer and go find some leaves to crunch underfoot!

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Well, I spent the last 30 minutes staring at 70+ photos full of lovely olive greenness, and eventually chose nine of my favorites. It was not an easy choice!

Allow me to introduce you to the finalists, before I reveal the winner:

1. Polymer clay vessel, msjade, by Adria Filion
2. Polymer clay and sterling silver pendant, sueleaf0807, by Libby Mills
3. Cupcake, the end of the garden, by Zalita
4. Paper/Stamp art, Art, Creativity, Imperfection, by Penny Richards
5. Handmade baby’s bib, the back,  by Erin Harris
6. Polymer clay, Kaa-bead necklace, by Bettina Welker
7. Polymer clay, Finding Balance Pendant, by Tamara (Block Party Press)
8. Pearl and sterling silver, Earrings - Thai Olive, by Kara Spencer
9. Fabric coasters, Mums on green, by Claudine

I encourage you to take a closer look at these photos and at the rest of the ones in the pool! Leave your comments on the photos over at flickr and let the artists know what you think - it’s always gratifying to hear that something you made has gotten a positive reaction from another creative type.

If you are one of these finalists and would like to elaborate here on what was involved in creating your entry, be my guest - the comments section is yours

And now, I turn to the trusty random number generator (aka Neil, who has not seen any of the entries) to select a winner:

Drumroll please…

And the winner is… #8!

Congratulations, Kara Spencer! I love those earrings! I will be emailing you shortly with information about your $25 gift certificate.

Everyone else, time to start thinking about October, when our color will be…  ORANGE!  Thanks for your participation!

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I was going to call this post “Fun With Flickr,” and that reminded me of my sister. When she was in preschool, she would come home from class every week with a little age-appropriate worksheet about somethingorother in the world. One day it was “The Joy of Seeds,” only she, not being able to read at the time, remembered it as “Fun With Pits” - a title that entertained 8-year-old me to no end. So, Fun With Pits, it is.

Only we’re actually talking about flickr. Not pits. Shall we get on with it?

I like to share my favorites for the week every Friday, and this is no exception. I found most of these by looking at what has been submitted to some of my favorite flickr groups recently, or by looking at the photos from my contacts. Check out Erin’s giraffe in the lower left corner - isn’t he great? I love this guy’s quirky expression. My living room has an unofficial giraffe theme, and we have a small empty spot on one wall where an African mask used to reside (it plunged to its death on the tile below when an overzealous child knocked into it). I’m considering asking Erin if she minds me using her image in that little spot.

Aside from the spotted creature, and a few other wild animals, this week’s favorites are almost a step backwards into my summer of aqua love. It must be indian summer

Have any of you looked at the calendar lately? When did it get to be the end of September?? [Note to self: Dad’s birthday is sooner than you think, and you might want to get him a card.] What the end of September means around here in Polka Dot Creations Land is that the current Color Challenge is about to end! I’m aiming for September 25th as a last day, but it really is subject to my ever-fluctuating schedule, not to mention my unpredictable whims .  If you plan to submit an olive green lovely, then it’s best to do it sooner than later, lest a whim strikes this very weekend…

Aren’t these some pretty entries?  I love the colors in the ATC, which really coordinate nicely with the Kato-esque pendant.  These pretty earrings feature some lovely green pearls(one of my favorite colors to use, back when I was heavy into freshwater pearls), and the fabric coasters are appealing to me.  They are made with Freshcut fabric, which you probably know is one of my favorite collections.
Ah, Friday.  Aidan has asked to spend the night with his grandparents, so he’ll be gone this evening.  This morning at the bus stop he declared his intention to stay at their house until Sunday, so if Grandma is having it, it’ll be  an Aidan-free weekend.  I tell you, when I am down to only one boy around here (no matter which one it is), it’s almost like being alone - it’s so quiet.  When both of them are here, they are either playing (loudly) or fighting (loudly).  Of course we miss him when he’s not here, but there’s something to  be said for having a weekend free of pandemonium   It’s Eamonn’s Special Night tonight and last I heard he was looking forward to doing more “how to draw” pages from Captain Underpants like last time.  Not my first choice, but I’ll take one for the team

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To borrow a phrase from Aidan, “THAT’s it!” (It’s very important that there be much emphasis on the word “that’s” if you want to get the full effect.) There are parts of my house that are scary-messy. Not just messy. Scary-messy. So I’m getting back on the Flylady bandwagon. Well, not completely. I may just ride sidecar. Here’s what I’m thinking:

I already am doing some of her morning routine stuff, in particular starting a load of laundry every day. What I want to add is a couple of 15-minute cleanups and some zone work. I should have no problem fitting that into my schedule, I just have to do it.

I thought it might help me to photograph the process. Goodness knows I’ve become a flickr junkie, so if I tie this cleanup process into that, maybe I can have a better chance at success, right? Maybe. My plan is to do a 15-minute cleanup in the current zone every day as well as the daily missions. And then, assuming I am still all gung-ho about this, I’d like to do another 15 minutes in whatever area of the house is screaming for it at the time. I’ll take before and after pictures in each zone and for each mission and post them in my newly-created Flylady set.

This week is Zone #3 - The Main Bathroom and One Other Room. The “other room” they suggest you work on this time around is a kid’s bedroom, so I’m going to take that suggestion. The boys are living in a little pig sty all their own amid the larger disaster area that is our home and it would be nice to tackle that. So, I’ve taken my “before” pictures, which you can see above, and I’ve done my 15 minutes in each room (already, quite a difference, but you can’t see any pictures until the end of the week ) and done my mission in each room. If you’re dying to see how well I cleaned the base of my toilet, you can go to flickr for that. I don’t want to sully the pristine pages of this blog with an image so heinous as that of my hairy toilet before I took a bottle of Windex to it…

If any of you here are recognizing some of your own slob-like tendencies in me, consider this your invitation to join me. I’ve created a flickr group for this purpose.  Nothing is a better motivator to clean than the embarrassment of letting people see what a mess you live in. Think about the mad dash you make around the house, shoving things in closets, when you hear that your mother-in-law is on her way over. Yeah, you know you do that Snapping a few shots of your crumb-laden carpet and posting it all over flickr is the same kind of motivator. You want nothing more than to vacuum that sucker and post an “after” shot that says “see? I took care of it - all better now!” At least, I am counting on it working that way. Heh. If it doesn’t, I’m doomed to walk in crumbs for the rest of my days.

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Well, would you look at that?  It’s Friday already!   I’m not sure how that happened, but it did, and as a result, I have traded in my trusty spot on the family room couch for a soft, fluffy bed in the Hampton Inn.  We drove south tonight, my family and I, so that tomorrow I may broaden my artistic horizons in a Donna Kato workshop, while the children learn all about the hotel-provided Cartoon Network, and the husband takes advantage of the complementary Internet access.  I don’t usually have an entourage when I take a class, but I hemmed and hawed about coming here in the first place - I wasn’t sure if I wanted to spend Saturday alone in a hotel room, but I also wasn’t sure I would be up for the 2 hour trip home tomorrow night only to come right back to Philadelphia Sunday morning.  And so, Neil, who is either incredibly sweet or incredibly crazy said “we’ll come with you, hang out in the hotel all day, and keep you company when you’re not in class.”  Awwww.

Now, I’ve said it before, the boys’ idea of a good vacation is getting to sit in a hotel room watching cable tv (which we don’t subscribe to at home).  So, presuming they don’t get a burst of monkey energy at any time during the day, this is going to be pure heaven for them.  And if they do get the urge to climb the walls?  Well, let’s just say I’ll come back Saturday night to one very frazzled husband who I will owe big time.  I may have to break down and actually give him that backrub he’s always asking for

So, as I sit in this dark room, Neil to my left with his fingers clicking away on his own keyboard, the boys in their bed to my right, snoring quietly, I am thinking about my flickr favorites for the week.  And I am also thinking that I should have stopped dipping into the goldfish once my 7UP was gone because now I am really thirsty.  Perhaps I’ll seek out the hotel soda machine shortly, but for now, I must tell you that I need a pair of those polka dot shoes (second image in the mosaic).  They are so much like the pair of shoes that started it all.  Before blogging, I hadn’t thought about those old shoes in ages, but now I’m thinking I either need to find a pair somewhere, or make myself another pair…  Ooh!  Ohh!  I’m getting ideas now… instead of fabric markers (which, let’s face it, look like you just colored your own shoes) I can apply fabric dots somehow - that would be neat-looking!  I could cut out dots from several coordinating fabrics.  The Freshcut shoes!  Or the Lotus shoes!  Or the Aviary shoes!  Now I’m inspired.  I just have to figure out the best way to apply the dots… food for thought.

I probably won’t be around here tomorrow or Sunday.  Tomorrow night I might like to actually spend some time with the people who dragged themselves down here to be with me, and Sunday night I may just want to flop down somewhere and be entertained by Farscape and Stargate:SG1 reruns before dragging myself to bed.  Have a great weekend!

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I am completely incapable of having one of anything, wardrobe-wise.  If I find something I like, I need to have it in several colors.  This was true of me when I was a teenager and buying GAP pocket tees, it was true of me a few years ago when I was all about the Old Navy perfect fit tee, and this year I developed a liking for Target’s Mossimo tees and Old Navy tank tops.

This personality quirk of mine has manifested itself in my sewing.  Just see the 12 skirts I made this summer, if you don’t believe me.  It’s insane.  I really didn’t think I’d go overboard with sewing shirts, because the pattern I’ve been using isn’t super simple like the Sew What! Skirts have been.  It takes me at least twice as long to make a shirt, and if you know anything about me at all, you know Instant Gratification is my thing.  Still, I found myself buying fabric for another one last week, and stitching it up last night.  I took a page out of Lindamade’s book and made the sleeves about an inch longer than usual and omitted the elastic.  I like it better this way.   The elastic got a bit wonky in the neck this time around, and I am going to have to spend a little time finessing it so that  the kink ends up someplace unnoticeable.  If I’d been on the ball when taking these pictures, I’d have done that first  so you’d all think I was perfect   Still, I got complements while dropping a reluctant Eamonn of at school this  morning, from people who didn’t realize  it was a homemade deal, and that was pretty cool.

Speaking of dropping a reluctant Eamonn off at school…   I wish I knew what happened to the boy who ran into the classroom with nary a goodbye a few days ago.  Today, as soon as we got inside the building, he started playing “hiding” games, and by the time we were at the classroom door, he was physically fighting me to keep from going inside.  He was like this off and on last year, too.  He loves school - comes home happy, telling me stories of all of the great things he did, etc.  He just can’t deal with that initial separation.  He’s got a tougher teacher this year (not that preschool teachers are ever really tough) and I don’t think she’s going to baby him into the room.  As much as I would prefer to sweet-talk him into being happy about the situation, what he probably needs is a strong arm telling him matter-of-factly “this is going to be a nice time, now take off your jacket and go get a puzzle to play with.”

Leaving your kid behind when he’s clearly unhappy is never a fun feeling.  It’s magnified by the general malaise this month has brought to me.   I’ve always considered September to be my favorite month.  I love the feeling of getting back into a routine, and I love the crispness in the morning and evening air.  I love picking apples, making pumpkin bread, sipping hot cider…  I usually make a big deal out of the First Day of Fall and have the kids bring little loaves of pumpkin bread and polymer clay leaf pins as gifts to their teachers.  I don’t know if I can do it this year.  Part of me is in mourning.  And the part of me that isn’t feels like it should be.  I guess I just need to go with that second part of me and make a conscious effort to really do those things that have traditionally made me happy this time of year.  I hate to wallow.  But there’s a fine line between not wallowing and unhealthy bottling of emotion.  I have to find my balance.  Maybe I’ll just give October permission to be my favorite month this year so that I don’t have to feel like I’m missing out while I deal with my September issues.  Nothing like a head game or two with yourself to make everything all better

On a completely different note, I thought you might like to see some of the entries in this month’s color challenge.  I love the diversity.  What are you going to submit?  You’ve got another couple of weeks to Get Your Olive On…

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Originally published at Polka Dot Creations. Please leave any comments there.

I’ve been seeing comments lately from readers who say they look forward to reading my posts as they sip their morning tea… that’s so very sweet! But now, knowing that I have a legion of fans counting on me, I can’t go to bed without saying something entertaining, can I? (Perhaps “legion” is a bit strong of a word ) At any rate, bedtime postponed, witty post commencing in 3.. 2.. 1

I came up with a new cane idea in the car today on the way to the njpcg meeting, inspired in part by the bold canes by heurebleue2 which I saw on flickr. I wanted to use colors from one of my existing color schemes (in this case, Country) and I wanted to put various sizes of the bold round canes together into a big square cane. I am ok with the way this came out, but I would have preferred it to look more random and less kaleidoscopic. I know where I went wrong, and if I get a chance to try this again any time soon, I will assemble it in quite a different way. And maybe, I’ll add more stripes and reduce/reassemble one less time so that the design is bigger and bolder.

I got to do some sewing this evening, and I took the opportunity to make the bag I’d promised Eamonn. He needs something to carry his show-and-tell, his change of clothes (in case of “accident”) or his lunch (on the one day a week he has Lunch Bunch). When given the choice between a simple backpack a la Lotta Jansdotter, or a messenger bag like the one I designed for myself, he chose the latter. He picked the birdseed fabric and chose which coordinating button he wanted, and I whipped it up, making it a bit smaller than mine, widening the strap, and adding the lining fabric to the strap. I wonder how long before Aidan wants one with an Ultraman lining? Hopefully he won’t think of that because frankly, it goes against all of my design sensibilities

For the last few years, I haven’t worn many handmade things that weren’t handmade by me, but I seem to have developed an addiction to blockpartypress jewelry… If you recally, she made me a special set of beads last month, and just the other day I took advantage of a sale and got myself these pretty earrings. They looked really nice today with my Built by Wendy shirt in the Denyse Schmidt fabric (Heh. Listen to me name-drop).

Ok, I haven’t been particularly witty tonight, but it’s bedtime, and I think I actually want to watch the last half of a Stargate:SG1 rerun before retiring for the night. I’m feeling a deep need to be entertained before I sleep, for some reason.

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Originally published at Polka Dot Creations. Please leave any comments there.

Oh, green, how I love thee. Green makes me happy You know what else apparently makes me happy this week? Pictures of feet on busy-patterned tiled flooring. It’s funny I should have two images like that in my favorites.

Speaking of my favorites, I found a nifty screen saver today at Wackylabs.net. You can configure it to cycle randomly through your own Flickr photos, images from a group pool, or the photos you have favorited. I’ve got it showing my favorites today, but I’m sure I’ll get tired of that soon and change it to something else. Maybe the Color Challenge pool? The only drawback I’m seeing so far to this screen saver is that it appears to be a memory hog. Every time I try to use my laptop after the ss has kicked in, I have to wait for it to chug along for a few minutes before I can get down to business. I have to see if it’s any better when I don’t use the full screen mode.

Ok, now here is something that I found very cool. If you saw last month’s Color Challenge results, you may recognize these plates & bowls as the work of Orly Rabinowitz. And, if you’ve ever checked out my tutorials, you may also recognize that this batch was made in part using my School Spirit cane! I am so jazzed about seeing one of my designs re-interpreted and used in someone else’s work. She did something with it that I never could, and I love that!

This heart was made by Robin Milne at the same Dan Cormier class that I took back in June. The veneer she used was made with my Weave Cane tutorial. Isn’t it great? Once again, somebody took something I came up with, and used it to create an object fairly different than I  would have. I’ve seen this heart in person, and it is so smooooooooooooth and shiny - just beautiful.

Are you starting to see a trend here? I get excited, people, when you use my tutorials, and I post about you and your wonderful work, and make you famous! Ok, well, maybe you won’t get famous off of the exposure, but it will give you a warm, fuzzy feeling, I hope. Go check out the tutorials if you haven’t already, and be sure to post what you make to the Flickr group!

You know I took a two-day blogging break, so I’ve got more to talk about - you still with me? Alrighty then, here we go. School started this week.

Yesterday was the first day of Second Grade for my Good Son who knows how to smile sweetly at his mother when she holds up the camera and says “smile!”

Today was the first day of Preschool Year Two for the Other Son who just doesn’t get the whole smiling sweetly thing at all. *sigh*

He makes a mean Professor Poopypants, though, I must say… Tonight was our “Special Night” and he chose to draw characters out of a Captain Underpants book together. This was the first one we did, and I was duly impressed with his. He doesn’t draw a heck of a lot, so I was actually surprised that it even resembled the character a little. We also drew the Turbo Toilet 2000, and Captain Underpants himself, before putting away the pencils in favor of a quick Curious George episode before bed.

I’ve got one more quick image in me before my bleary eyes totally betray me and force me to close the laptop.