here i am!

hello everyone! :)  i am here and i am being productive!  i went to work this morning for my monday meeting and i did NOT come home and crawl into bed! (this is a BIG acheivement my dear blog readers!!!)  i've listed my new journal covers, a new baby onesie and my ipod holder on my etsy as well as listing a whole heap of vintage strawberry shortcake toys.  check them out here!  here is a peak ...

i feel like i've accomplished SOMETHING.  it's 12:30 and i am off to clean the kitchen (woo-hoo, i know ... but because of the funk i've been in, the fact that i have energy to do this is a BIG deal! :).

have a great day guys!

trying to get back into the swing of things.

ugh. so i've been sick the last few days. apartment is a mess. sewing but having difficulty getting anything up on here or on etsy. don't want to go to work. slept a lot in the last few days. just feeling yucky and behind and out of sorts. bleh.

i get so frustrated sometimes. i feel so lazy and lethargic a lot of the time. i could sleep (even when i am not sick) for 2 days without even realizing it. i could spend a lot of time on the couch. i'd being sewing or researching projects or wasting time on facebook ... but i'd still be sedentary. why am i like this? why don't i have energy? why don't i have any get up and go? i mean, once i am started and have downed my second cup of coffee i am ok ... but why do i always feel the call to hide at home, sleep in and do (almost) nothing?

i do think part of it ... or at least this guilt-factor stems from ... my family and upbringing. if i was not DOING (as in MOVING) it was not considered productive. the only reason my brother got away with it (enduring his share of ribbing, i know) is because he makes money doing it. i make a a few dollars here and there ... but it's not my living. therefore, it's lazy, lumpy jessica. so i know that i am probably harder on myself than many of the adult population. but still. i still feel less than energy-filled. oh and i think rather than loosing weight i am gaining. bleh bleh double bleh.

i do feel a little better today. i went to kim's going away party this afternoon and gave her the above towel and pot holder set. i think they came out pretty cute. :) i also got some of the strawberry shortcake toys up on etsy (go see my shop if you are interested in vintage toys!) and finished another journal cover. i have to get up early for a meeting at work and then go back in to close ... so i am hoping to NOT come home and fall back asleep. i can take pictures and list stuff after the meeting. or i will come home, get back into bed ... and sleep until i have to go in. i really don't want to do that. but sometimes it just happens. *sigh*

new items!

two days off and lots of fun stuff accomplished! :) i am a little bummed that it's too dark to take decent pictures tonight ... but i did manage to get this photographed before the sun went down.

its a felt journal cover. i have three made and i can't wait to take pictures of them all and put them up here and in the shop! :) they will come in 3 sizes, they are reuseable and refill journals can be purchased at barnes and noble. i also have a few new baby onesies done and am almost done with an ipod holder.

had a really nice lazy day with dave today ... baked some cookies ... watched some tv and a few movies ... watched the snow fall ... i just really enjoyed being home. :o) i wish everyday could be this fun and relaxing.

stay tuned to here and the shop for the new items!!

better.

ok. crafters-block is slowly starting to disapate. praise the Lord!! the clouds are lifting. i wasn't happy with the way the amigurumi were turning out (but i am DEFINATELY not giving up! they are just on the back burner for the time being ...) so i sat down after work today, poured myself a glass of wine, turned on american idol (i TOTALLY blame dave for this. i NEVER watched these shows before him!!! ;) and surrounded myself with felt. and it came back!!!! i was cutting out cute things left and right. i'm not entirely sure what i am going to sew these cuties on to ... i have some bag/purse ideas that i need to work out some logistics ... but i am very very pleased with what came out tonight!! so, hopefully, my etsy store will be refreshed with all new items ... at some point in the next few months. i'm excited!

have a nice day! :o)

struggling

so i've been off for 3 days. and it's been blissful. nowhere to go. snuggling up on the couch with dave at night. putzing arounf the apartment during the day. staying up late and sleeping in. spending an entire afternoon on the couch finishing a book. lovely.

but my creative juices just were NOT flowing. at all. i have plenty of ideas in my head. lots of ideas of things i want to create. but i could not execute ANYTHING. at. all. nothing turning out the way i hoped ... if i even got somewhere on something. spent a lot of time poking around etsy ... which IS inspiring ... until you then start convincing yourself that everything you come up with is copying someone else's idea. UGH! :(

help me crafters! what do you do to get out from under crafters-block? and how do you know if you are copying someone else's idea ... or if your idea is a just a variation ... or if it's unique??

getting ready for the snow

hello all! we are gearing up for a snowy weekend here in north jersey. they are predicting about 8 inches for our area starting saturday morning into sunday ... and i just couldn't be happier! :) we have had a lot more winter weather this season than we have had in a long time. i do have to open the bookstore tomorrow but snow will mean a quiet day ... and, as the manager, it goes against store manager code to wish for a slow day ... but i do have to admit ... snow days are the best! (shhh! don't tell my boss!!!) its quiet ... cozy ... and you get to putter around and do your work without all the interuptions or crazy retail stuff. it's pretty cool actually! now if my store had a cafe with starbucks white mochas ... well, then i would be in heaven!!! :o)

but, anyway! dave's play rehearsal got cancelled for tomorrow and we are both off on sunday ... so this means a snowy stay-at-home weekend for us!!! YAY! we have books and magazines and video games ... and i have my NEW PROJECT (bear with me ... i am working a little slowly at the moment.) that i am feverishly working on ... so hopefully i will have something to show ya'll by the end of the weekend!

dave and i have become SERIOUS homebodies these days. there is nothing we like better than to cook dinner or get some take out, plop ourselves down on the couch in front of a game (which translates into amazing FOOT RUBS for me!!!) or he will play video games while i sew ... with mittens the wonder kitty snuggled up between us or on out laps. we choose these nights over ANYTHING else offered up lately. :o) does that mean we are in a really good place ... or just getting old? hehe.

so anyway ... that's the plan for this weekend! are you getting snow this weekend? what are your plans? have a splendiferous weekend and stay tuned for a CUTE item by monday morn! :)

huh.

it's 9:30am. on thursday. on a DAY OFF. i went to bed after 2am. and what am i doing? i AM AWAKE. ??? anyone who KNOWS me knows that this is something very very unusual. like sign-of-the-apocalypse unusual. but. since i am awake on this day off i might as well enjoy it. i am off to target for a white chocolate mocha and a bit of a shop (gotta gift card that is burning a hole in my purse!!!) and then i will come home to clean and sew until darts tonight. :) i heart days off. and starbuck's white chocolate mochas. and snow. and target. and gift cards. and my home. :o) have a nice day everyone!!! :)

nothing witty or interesting comes to mind.

i feel a little more back in the swing of things. work will get back to *normal* insanity this week with kids back in school and people back to work. as i go through my cleaning schedule this week i will remove christmas from each room. sad but, at the same time, always kind of nice to get back to simple, neat and clean (no more pine needles!!!). i am slowly reconnecting with my friends and planning dates. i am trying very hard to get organized and stay organized. i am feeling ... good! :)

~*~

i am currently working on two projects that i am VERY very excited about. i am working on a mini art quilt to see how it turns out. if it turns out well, i will start working on the larger scale one i am planning as a gift for *someone*. i am also working on creating my own amigurumi patterns. i love the ones i am getting from books and online but if i am going to put something in my Etsy shop, it will totally created by me. so here goes!! :) stay tuned for pictures!!

hoping you have a nice day!

happy 2009!

my second attempt at an amigurumi creation. not too bad, eh?


i hope everyone had a happy, enjoyable and safe new year's celebration! we went out to dinner with my family a la yearly tradition (great food! horrendous service!), then we visited the fredericks' (rocked the guitar hero!) and then had a drink with the Shakeys crew and rang in the new year (we don't need noise makers! ahhhhhhhhh!). i was tired and dave was ambivalent so we were home at about 12:30am. i'm so old! :) but i don't care! it was a wonderful night! :) it was so sweet ringing in the new year with someone who is as excited for 2009 as i am. :)

i have thought a lot about 2008 the last few nights ... kinda replaying the year in my head ... and, once again, it was a wild ride. but i think, for the first time in a few years, i came out on top in '08. i really want to wash my hands of the last few years and all the yuckiness that happened. i am in one piece. i have found myself (well, i am still finding myself but i am getting there!) and have found love ... but i also think that i have reached the point that, if dave and i didn't work out, i know in my heart and my head that i can be on my own. i am not as afraid of that as i once was. i have family, friends and God on my side. i can do anything with or without a significant other. :) and if a significant other is in my future ... well, then, that is just a bonus! :)

i don't like to call them resolutions ... but let's just say these are my 2009 plans ...
~ quit smoking for good.
~ i am just under 150 pounds at the moment. we have 3 weddings to go to starting in june (and one i am in in july!) so i would love to weigh about 20 pounds lighter by june.
~ i want to really work on creating more and getting a lot more things into the Etsy shop. i have a zillion different ideas of things i want to make ... i just don't want to be a lazy-bug and not get anything done cuz i don't want to get off the couch! ;o)
~ start a savings account FOR REAL! (this will happen after all my debts are paid by may. whoo hoo!)
~ i bought a daily bible and i want to read it EACH DAY! no excuses or exceptions!
~ curb my relationship and future worries and just enjoy each day with dave.
~ talk to God everyday ... even if it's just a thought in my journal, a passing thank you or a beg for forgiveness!
~ work at consistently keeping my home a little cleaner.

i'm sure there are a zillion other things i'm forgetting or could add ... but i think that is a pretty good start! :)

what are your plans for 2009?