Sew Much To Share

I had a great long weekend last week despite being hit first with a cold of Friday then stomach woes on Sunday which lasted almost all week. My niece, Brianna came over last Thursday since Friday was her PA Day. She came to school with me on Friday and volunteered in the JK/SK room. She loved 'working' at the school with me even though we barely saw eachother throughout the day. On Friday night we hung out and scrapped and enjoyed eachothers company. It is the first time she has ever been out without either of her sisters with her. By bedtime, I was stuffed up and worn out. I knew the season's cold was here. Thankfully, Saturday's plans consisted of more scrapping, chatting and pj's all day. I introduced her to youtube and we watched alot of different art sites with techniques and ideas. Sunday, on an impromptu trip to De Serres, we grabbed some canvas, watercolour crayons and a few other things so we could create all night. Unfortunately, that is when all the stomach woes hit and I came home and went to bed for two hours. We finally cracked open our first paint bottles around 8:30 and didn't go to bed until we were done our projects .... 1:30am-ish. She painted her first ever canvas - a sunset over the ocean - and I did a painting for my bathroom using 3-8x16 canvases. Since I can't paint anything of substance, it is a blend of colours, this time using a brush rather than a palatte knife. One day, I will attempt something less abstract. I will post a photo of it after I hang it tomorrow. (The bottom layout is based on a sketch, created by Jeni, over at Bad Girls)

** ** ** On Saturday, I joined Meg & Renée on a field trip to Smiths Falls. Can you say "WOW!" This antique place was beyond loaded with stuff. To try and describe the hoards of things they had is almost impossible. I can only say that it is truly and wonderfully obscene. Unfortunately, I didn't realize that my camera battery was on it's last legs so these two pictures were the only two taken. I managed to find a pile of spindles that I am going to use for basement table legs. Meg found giant spindles ... I cant wait to see what she is going to do with them. Renee found a great jar of buttons, a vintage postcard and two marmalade jars that her mom had when she was a youngin. Throughout our time there, as we walked sideways and maneuvrered in and out of teeny-tiny places, I listened to the two of them chatter back and forth about the wonderful treasures they have in their own homes. This and that from when they were kids. Their grandmothers ________ or their moms _________. You could hear it in their voices how much they cherish and appreciate these items. Truth be told - it was one of the highlight of the day.

Unfortunately, after leaving them, my travels got a little, shall we say, 'interesting'? Someone was certainly watching over me (again - 2nd close call in 3 weeks). As I was slowing down to take a right turn, I pressed the brake gently only to feel a *pop* sensation and have my brakes go. Because I was going at a slow speed, I was able to finally come to a stop not too far ahead. After a call to K, he concluded that my break line must have broken. I walked over to the gas station, bought some brake fluid and filled up the resevoir. One press of the brake and I had a puddle under the car ... then I had to drive home with only back breaks. Eeks! Thankfully, Ogilvie wasn't busy at all and I made the slow crawl Aviation to hit the 417. Another thankfully, I take the 417 home so there was no reason to have to hit the brakes (or so I had hoped). I put my hazards on, reduced my speed to 75 and made a slow and safe journey home. It wasnt nearly as bad as I thought it would have been. Good time to live in the country and have alternative routes to go home. I didnt need to make but 4 stops the entire trip.

** ** ** Today was a productive day in front of the sewing machine. Before Christmas, I bought a patterned quilt cover, for my spare room, from Ikea. I really liked the muslin look of the fabric so I picked up a plain muslin quilt cover as well. Today, I cut it in half, sewed new seams and added rod pockets at the top so I will have coordinating fabric colours. I also picked up some organza, in the same shade of green as the pattern, to act as an overlay. If you haven't sewn with organza before ... don't! Not a fun fabric to work with. I have a new found respect for all the wedding ladies who do it for a living. oy-vay. Fortunately, the overlay leaves alot of room for

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As for this week, nothing major planned outside of a couple of appointments on Thursday. (then again, with a brakeless car, my options are limited to where people want to drive me. haha) My niece Brianna may be coming over again so I imagine more creating will take place. My goal for the week and weekend is to tackly my fabric journal project. After hijacking Tanya's "a touch of whimsy" concept, I am a tad out of my element and am overwhelmed. Should be an interesting experience. Stay tuned.