Did I speak too soon yesterday? Did I anger the weather gods? It snowed again this morning - still is snowing, in fact - and it’s decided to stick around.

I can appreciate what a fun sight this is to a little person, I really can.

And I can even enjoy this kind of thing myself. Particularly in my pajamas, curled up on the couch clutching a mug of something warm. Oh, yes, that kind of thing really hits the spot.

But beautiful fall-meets-winter scenes like this one only really last until it’s time to head to school. And today, one boy had a delayed opening but the other didn’t. Which means I had to go out twice.

Two times to put the chill into my feet.

Two times to navigate the slushy roads.

This unexpected November snowfall really put a crimp in my Monday morning agenda. The flakes are still falling lazily out my window, the trees are still a beauty to behold, and my toes are still cold from the last time I went out an hour and a half ago…

I’ve had to abandon my plans to get my eyebrows waxed - guess I’ll just be shaggy for Thanksgiving. In all of the snowy excitement this morning, I forgot to start the crock pot with tonight’s dinner, so I’ll have to make whatever tomorrow’s meal was going to be instead. I haven’t yet tackled the work I planned to do on the kitchen sink, but I can handle doing that later this afternoon - and find a way for Eamonn to help me.

Speaking of little helpers, I did accomplish one thing already today. In the hour Aidan and I had to ourselves after we dropped Eamonn off at school, he stripped his and his brother’s beds for me, helped me sort the dirty laundry, learned to fold his own clean shirts and learned to bundle his clean socks into pairs. I have to tap that 7-year-old energy more often… He’s not usually the one who wants to help, but he was ready and eager this morning, and for that I am thankful. Maybe there’s something about being home alone with me, without little brother underfoot that brings out this side of him.

In less than an hour, it will be time to go out again and pick up the little guy. It really is pretty out there. Forget about the treacherous driving, the inconvenience, the chilly feet.

Focus on the beauty. Right?

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It didn’t stick, but it was pretty to watch, as it came down.  Aidan enjoyed a seat by the bay window, and imagined that one of the big flakes was really a camera in disguise, sent by the enemy to spy on us.  It’s pretty interesting to me how his imagination never takes a break.  When I look at big fluffy snowflakes, I don’t see hidden cameras.  I see snowflakes.  And maybe, if pressed to use my imagination, I might possibly see confetti or cotton balls.  Whatever I see, it’s not likely to have a sinister agenda.  It’s just falling, from the sky to the ground, ever so slowly, dancing on the wind.

Today I am thankful that the snow we enjoyed was of the fleeting, non-accumulating type.  I’m just not ready for the onset of winter.

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What do you do with a boring, too-big t-shirt with an unflattering unisex crew-neck? Usually I just keep it for a season out of guilt and then chuck it in the giveaway bag. Today I had a different idea.

How about re-doing the neckline a la those Built By Wendy tops I was making this summer? And then cutting a few inches from the sleeves and hemming them? And finally taking it in an inch on each side? Yeeeees, I think that will do nicely.

Maybe I could even dress it up with a belt and a tile necklace?

Or some fun umbrella earrings? Either way, it’s a BIG improvement I’d say.

I spent yesterday evening mulling this idea over in my mind, and this morning putting it into action. And that, my friends, is why my kitchen is still a disaster area, there’s a laundry explosion in my bedroom, and the living room is overrun with jackets and shoes. Those are the things, I was planning to rectify this morning before I got sucked into repurposing my shirt.

Now, if you will excuse me, I have a dishwasher to unload…

Oh! Almost forgot my thankful thing. I’m thankful for good health - mine and that of my loved ones.

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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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Napkins. Easiest sewing project ever.

Ok, well, they can be time consuming if you have a lot to make, but they really couldn’t be simpler. And if you only have five minutes to spare, you can sit down, make one napkin, and get back to the rest of your life. They are the perfect “squeeze them in when you can” kind of project. You never have to spend any time trying to regroup, hoping to remember where you left off. Nope. With napkin making, you have a “done” pile and a “not done” pile. You are never coming back to the table “in the middle” of a single napkin, because, really, if you don’t have time to make one complete napkin, then what are you doing at the sewing machine anyway??

These are a gift for my MIL’s birthday, which is Monday. It is dangerous to admire something I have made unless you want one yourself. Case in point: back in August, my MIL complemented me on the Elsie’s Kitchen napkins I was using while serving Neil’s birthday cake. I said “thank you” but really I was thinking “oh, good, now I know what to give her for her birthday in 3 months.”

After completing the final napkin last night, I glanced at the clock to see that I still had half an hour before I’d have to quit and put the boys to bed. Then I took a look at the scraps I had left from napkin-making and decided a table runner was in order. My MIL already has a table runner, and I really don’t know if she’ll have any use for this, but I just couldn’t help myself and had to whip it up.

The fabric I used here was 3 Sisters’ Roman Holiday. I am as sure as I can be without having my MIL’s dining room set here with me that this yellow colorway of Roman Holiday goes perfectly with the upholstery on her chairs. And the large-motif flower pattern strikes me as something she would use. Hope she likes ‘em.

Today I am thankful that I bit the bullet and bought my sewing machine back in May.  I have to say, I’m so excited by the gift-giving possibilities this season. I’ve always loved giving handmade items, and for the first few years after I got involved in polymer clay, everyone on my list got a claything. After a while, I felt like everyone had enough clay jewelry and pens, and I started filling the handmade criteria by bartering with other crafters or buying things outright when I could. This season, I have a new skill, and it’s exciting to me to be able to use it to give gifts different than anything I’ve given before. I guess this means in 10 to 12 years when all of my giftees are all napkined-out, completely bescarfed, and over-aproned I will need to take up yet another craft…

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New buttons on Etsy.

And new buttons at Polka Dot Creations.

And lots of fog out the window.

It’s been a day of catching up. I only got half of the orders out today (*sigh*) but the rest will definitely be done by tomorrow. Some batches just take longer than others. This particular one was about twice the size as usual, with a large percentage of international orders. Shipping globally is more time-consuming than shipping locally.

Of course, the kicker is that once I get these out tomorrow, it will already be time to get the next batch ready to go, if I don’t want to fall behind again. And I don’t.

Ah, it’s almost time for the school bus to get here and another evening to begin. Off I go to await my firstborn’s arrival home.

Whoa, almost forgot my little bit for 30 Days of Thankfulness…  Today I am thankful not to be a deer.  The hunt is on this week at the Great Swamp, and I woke up to the sound of shots being fired.  Just heard another one a few seconds ago, too.  So, I’m glad I’m not a deer and that nobody is stalking me with a rifle at the moment.

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We’re huntin’ wabbits!

Actually, not rabbits. We were looking for a raccoon. We’d seen him sitting in the driveway, watching us walk down the path towards him on our way to the garage. As we got closer carrying our bags of garbage and recycling, he toddled off towards the back yard. I put the bags in the cans in the garage, ran inside to get my camera, gave Eamonn a little direction regarding appropriate behavior around wild raccoons, and set off to see if we could snap a picture of the big guy.

We couldn’t. Never did find him again. But I got this lovely shot of the back of Eamonn’s head, and his nibble-worthy little neck, as we made our way back to the front door.

It’s been a busy day so far of observing a flock of migrating blackbirds, dropping Aidan off at school, locating a napkin basket, finally changing a hard-to-reach light bulb, cleaning the kitchen, raccoon hunting, cleaning the living room, picking items to be shipped, sitting in on one of Aidan’s classes for American Education Week, sharing lunch with Mom & Eamonn, and picking the rest of the items to be shipped. Were it not for the school-related distraction in the middle of the day, I’d probably have gotten at least the Priority Mail packages on their way today. Unfortunately, though, I’ve missed the mail pickup at this point. Which is why I have time to be blogging right now. If there still existed a chance of getting these packages in the mail today, I’d be hunkering down, stuffing envelopes and boxes with wild abandon. I get a momentary reprieve, but I guess I know how I’ll be spending my night!

Today I am thankful that I have a mother who is willing and able to come over and watch Stuart Little with Eamonn when I have “no younger siblings allowed” events to attend for Aidan. Thanks, Mom

[Edited to add: I forgot to mention what I did here last night.  I enabled gravatars in the comments.  If you don’t have one, you are represented by a big pink dot.  If you don’t want to be a dot, get yourself a gravatar.  They’ll work on any site that uses them.]

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An unsolicited copy of a new magazine appeared in my mailbox this weekend, and it has brought to the forefront an issue that I have been batting around for a few months. The focus of the magazine is on crafting with natural materials. I flipped through it and saw things like felt, wool, cotton, natural food colors (like, from beets), beeswax, etc. Not surprisingly there wasn’t an ounce of polymer clay to be found.

Even in the beading article, the words “choose natural materials wherever possible” appeared, essentially excluding the multitude of beautiful polymer beads available these days.

I guess I started considering the idea of natural living, conserving resources, using renewable materials wherever possible, when I started blogging more regularly this summer. I found myself reading blogs like Tiny Choices where the entire focus is on reducing your ecological footprint. I observed bloggers like Amy Karol write about ridding her home of plastic bowls and cups and buying her children handmade wooden and fabric toys. And while I am still choosing to drive my minivan over a small hybrid, and I have no intention of giving up my washing machine in favor of an old-fashioned washboard, I have been making some more ecologically-sound choices inspired by things I’ve read.

For one, we’re using exclusively cloth napkins around here now. The only paper napkins we ever use are the ones we’ve collected from take-out restaurants, who always put more than you need in the bag. Initially I started with the cloth napkins because it was an easy sewing project for a beginner. Now, though, I can’t imagine going back to the paper kind - the cloth ones are so soft and nice, particularly after they’ve been broken in.

I bring heavy canvas bags with me when I do my food shopping. I don’t know why it took me so long to do this - as it turns out, I like shopping with these bags infinitely more than the paper or plastic variety. There’s nothing more handy than slinging 4-6 tote bags over your shoulders to get the whole grocery load in the house in one trip!

At the moment, aside from what I’ve already mentioned, my actions aren’t drastically different than they ever have been. What has changed is my way of thinking. When I have needed new kitchen things lately, I’ve considered the materials carefully before buying. I’m phasing out the plastics and nonstick stuff, and replacing with glass or stoneware as the need arises. In thinking about Christmas gifts for the boys this year, I’ve found myself drawn more to handmade, classic, wooden objects and less to the ubiquitous Made in China plastic monstrosities that I wouldn’t have previously thought twice about putting on the shopping list.

Plastic is the enemy lately. And as drawn as I am to some of the more natural materials out there (particularly since discovering fabric, sewing, and crafty mom blogs earlier this year) I still am under the spell of polymer clay. Polymer clay, which, in the right hands, can be transformed into a wonderful, colorful work of art. Polymer clay, which has held my interest and taken over my house for the last twelve years. Polymer clay, which is, essentially plastic.

This is not a topic I’ve given much thought to until now, and to be completely honest, I don’t know how I feel about it. These days, I refuse to buy new plastic mixing bowls when I can have glass. I turn my nose up at plastic cups when I can drink out of glass. I don’t have any interest in buying plastic building blocks for the boys, when they could stack wooden blocks instead. But give up my polymer clay? Should that form of plastic be the enemy as well? And will I one day start to perceive it as such despite myself? And even if I remain confortable with it, will there cease to be a market for my creations once more and more people start to “go green” and adjust their attitudes towards plastic?

If you’ve read this far, I’d like to know your thoughts. Are you enamored with polymer clay? Are you feeling the pull to utilize more renewable resources in your daily life? How do you feel about using a material like polymer clay, and does it bother you that it does nothing to reduce your ecological footprint?

[Edited 11/14/07 to add: This topic just came up today on Polymer Clay Daily.  Have a look.]

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Or are you about ready to gouge your eyes out by now?

These are for the boys. The one on the left goes with Aidan’s orange vest, and the one on the right goes with Eamonn’s blue vest. They’re both made in my usual way, with flannel backing, polymer clay buttons, and a few patches of a solid linen/cotton blend. The patterned fabric is from American Jane’s Look and Learn collection - I used a charm pack, which gave me one 4.5-inch square of each pattern in the collection. That worked out pretty well for these small scarves, except that I might have chosen different areas of some of the patterns had I cut them out myself. For instance, I would have focused on little boys playing instead of little girls in those patches on the left. So far A and E haven’t noticed, though, and I’m not saying anything!

Kathi sent me the fabric to make this one for her. Good choices, Kathi, they go so nicely with the Blue buttons! Now, I just need to get this in an envelope and on its way. Sometimes that task takes me longer than it takes me to make the darn things! If any of the rest of you like this blue/purple one, there will be several more similar to it (and yet delightfully different) in my store the next time I get a chance to do some stitching. They’re all cut out and ready to go…

This might be a good opportunity to tell you about a few rss feeds that can help you keep track of my new creations for sale (just in case you’re waiting for a blue scarf, by chance). Subscribe to one or both of these in your favorite feed aggregator:

• New Creations at Polka Dot Creations
• New Creations at Etsy

And as far as the three scarves I posted about today go, there are more views of all of them on flickr, if you just can’t get enough. Heh.

So, what am I thankful for today? I’m thankful that I managed to stay awake on a 45-minute drive this evening, even though I was sleepy. I picked one of my mix CD’s at random to listen to, and it was a very good choice - kept me singing the whole way home. It was quite an enjoyable ride, and not once did I feel too drowsy to get home. Whew.

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I’m making scarves for the boys.  They’re going to be the two columns on the left, made to match their blue and orange vests.  The other three will go in my etsy shop.

I had to make coordinating buttons, of course…

Here’s another series of scarves I’ll be working on.  The one on the left is Kathi’s custom order, and the other four will make their way to my Polka Dot Creations (non-etsy) shop.

So that’s 10 scarves in the works.  After I took these pictures, I cut out the flannel backings and all of the linen pieces as well, so I have ten neat little piles, waiting for me to sew them when the opportunity arises.  Aside from the three that have definite recipients waiting for them, that could be in two days, two weeks or two months, depending on how successful I am at squelching the little voice in my head that says “who needs clean clothes, food in the fridge, and vacuumed floors? finishing crafty projects is of vital importance!”  It seems like a losing battle, but for the sake of my home and my family, I must fight the good fight

What am I thankful for today?  Well, at the risk of sounding exactly like yesterday, I’m thankful for an afternoon visiting with Michele.   Not quite like yesterday, though.  That was a visit with Michelle with two ll’s.  Today I visited Michele with one l.  Michele is my oldest friend, matron of honor at my wedding, and someone I rarely see anymore despite the fact that we only live about 30 minutes away from each other.  I’m thankful that she thought to email me last night when she realized she had a day with no plans, and I’m thankful that I was online at 11pm to receive the message in time.  And, after seeing our collective four boys doing a fine imitation of a jungle full of monkeys, I’m thankful that I only had to bring two of them back home with me.  Heh.

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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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Some days when the boys are home from school, I get all domestic and get in the mood to take care of laundry, clean up the kitchen, maybe catch up on some business email.  This is not one of those days.  When it became clear to me that the guys were hunkering down for a long morning of imaginative play in their pajamas, I decided I wanted to play something myself.  So, I sat on my bed with a pile of fabric, cut out the pieces for my mother-in-law’s birthday present, and I cut out the fabric for a skirt.  I didn’t stitch up my MIL’s napkins, but I did make this skirt - my Thanksgiving skirt.  Yes, I realize these guys are roosters and not turkeys, but I couldn’t find turkeys.  Or pilgrims.  Or cornucopias.  Or depictions of Thanksgiving feasts.  So roosters it is, and I think they’re nifty.  Specifically, the fabric is Alexander Henry’s The Roost.  The skirt itself was made without a pattern.  I just folded it selvage-to-selvage, stitched it into a tube, hemmed it, and made an elastic casing on the top.

I still felt like playing after that, so I colored my hair.   I spent this summer squirting peroxide here and there on my head, leading to streaks of lighter color.  I did have a plan, but I kind of lost interest in pursuing it at some point, and stopped bothering.  And it was starting to look like I stopped bothering.  So, I got my hands on a box of temporary 28-shampoo Chestnut Brown and went to town.  Now I look more like nature intended ;-)  At least for the next few weeks, anyway.

I didn’t make the soup this morning - I did that on Monday, but I did eat the leftovers for lunch yesterday, and that’s when I took this picture.  It’s Turkey Curry Meatball Soup, and despite the fact that it’s full of vegetables, I really like it!  I even liked it for lunch a few days later, and I am not a leftovers fan, generally-speaking.  Good thing it was delicious, because the recipe made quite a bit.  As part of my “get organized” initiative, I’m planning our meals for the week, and giving each day a “theme.”  Mondays are to be “try something new” night and this soup was the first candidate.  I’m so glad we liked it, because I now have three containers of it frozen for future “grab something decent out of the freezer” nights.

Day two and I’m already thinking of skipping the NaBloPoMo festivities.  Not that I won’t post every day, because I might, but I think I’ve lost interest in the idea of being part of the whole organized movement.  Still, being thankful is always a good thing, so I’ll end this post with what I am thankful for today:  Days off from school that we can spend playing (together or on our own) and spontaneously visiting with family.

And with that, I must go and straighten up the living room - my mother and nephews are coming over shortly to join us for lunch at Stewarts (see?  I meant it when I told them “maybe another day”) followed by a little play time.

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As usual, I’m a little late coming to the party, but I read today about NaBloPoMo, which is short for National Blog Posting Month. The idea is to post once a day during the month of November. Well, heck, that’s not really a stretch for me, now is it? So, I’m joining in despite having spent most of the first week of this month in a fog of taking care of other things online and not posting as much as usual.

If you’re up for it, join the party! And be sure to add me as a friend, because right now I look darn lonely sitting there advertising that “Lisa Clarke doesn’t have any friends on this social network yet.” I’m getting flashbacks to grade school - didn’t have any friends in that social network either. *sigh*

Anywho, I have a new tutorial to announce. Yay! My NJPCG buddy Dot has a nifty Scroll Cane tutorial she is sharing with us. I’m thinking of trying this in the Evolution of a Color Scheme colors when I finally get back to working on that. Which will be soon. I promise.

Back to NaBloPoMo for a moment - they have groups you can join there. I don’t for a moment think that I will have any time to really participate in these groups, but one of them struck me as a very simple thing to do as part of my regular post. 30 Days of Thanks is pretty much just what it sounds like. So today I will end my post with one thing I am thankful for:

I’m thankful for many big, important things that I will touch on as the month progresses, but for today, let’s just say that I am thankful for peaceful moments when children are at school and husband is at work, where I can sit and quietly type for a while. Soon one of the boys will be home, followed shortly by the other, and lastly by Neil, and I will be happy to welcome each of them back. But I do appreciate the quiet of this moment.

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