A Comic for Comma

Dan and I have been caring for my sister's cat for the past two years while she teaches abroad in Turkey.  Comma came with all sorts of new things that took a bit of getting used to: a climbing tree, bath wash, 6 or 7 different types of brushes, a snazzy collar, and lady cat smells.  My boys, Baxter and Kodak, didn't really know what to make of her. 

Comma is a bit of a loner.  While my boys are more likely to be found on the back of the couch or in the middle of the bed sleeping, Comma would squeeze on to a bit of shelf above the washer and dryer, or scamper to the top of my pile of fabric.  She doesn't rough house or chase the ball around her track/scratch mat, but she was an ace with the lazer pointer, and will shed her shy disposition when ever it made an appearance.

Some changes have happened over this last year.  My sister and her husband are thinking ahead for what will be best for their combined futures abroad.  They made the hard decision to be apart for the next 18 months so Adam can equip himself with a teaching certificate, allowing more placement options and less boredom.

When Ciara flew back to Turkey this past August, instead of flying with her husband, she took her furry family instead.  Comma is back with her human, and we are back to a two cat household. 

I forget where I came across these post cards, but in cleaning out a pile today, I found one that make me think Comma.  

By: Jeffrey Brown

Comma loves to sit on the highest furniture possible, which is the kitchen counter in my house.  The above illustration is her idea of playing. 

We miss Comma, but if you'll recall from previous posts, I'm a huge proponent of feline adventures.  I'm sure she is happily soaking up some Turkish sunshine. 

Photos of the Blizzaster...and cats.

(About 3pm)

I took some shots of the huge snow storm that came through the country yesterday.

(About 6pm)

(This morning about 10)

We were all feeling a little cooped up this morning, between coffee, sewing, and reading, I was being obnoxious with my camera (and playing with the cats, too). One can never have enough adorable pictures of one's cat, right?

Kodak!

Kodak!

Comma watching Kodak, safely hidden under the couch.

Comma enjoying some sun

Baxter also enjoying the sunshine

Comma showing her impatience with all the attention bestowed upon her from the snow day.

It all could have been a lot worse. If you haven't seen any footage of what happened on Lake Shore Drive, up in Chicago, I encourage you to check it out.

My cats have it pretty good.

I have three adorable cats in my house right now. I love them, but when I want to be productive, their cuddly nature and scratch-able bellies make doing thinks like, oh, finishing a sewing project or making the bed hard to do. I hope you are having a productive Monday.

ISU print sale

Yesterday I got to go to the ISU print sale. If you are a student in the print making classes, this is an opportunity to make a little money and get your art out into the world. I went to the sale two years ago and love the items I purchased there (still) and I was happy to go this year when my friend Alex told me it was going on this week.

We met at 8am on Friday and saw some really great things. I set a pretty shallow spending limit, as the times are what they are for me, but I was happy when I came across the picture above. It is odd, maybe even morbid, but I love it. It is a mermaid skeleton with the subtle outline of the actual mermaid around it. It is printed on think cotton paper, and it is #5 of only 6 printed. The artist's lines are very fine and the work around the bone joints is amazing. Best part, it was $10.

I have plans to have it framed much differently in the future, but for now I'm happy just to see it on the wall in my bathroom.


Here is another I picked up for a steal. It reminded me very much of some black and white figures my mom had painted sometime ago. With the contrast being so intense, It is a nice balance with some of the other things in my house.

For a dose of cute, here is Comma in her cozy new hideout. I have shelves above the washer and dryer, and I put her sheep skin insert from the carrying case up there to let her have some alone time. The boys leave her be, and usually the front is closed off with the curtain, so she has made this little corner her snooze room.


And here are the three amigos checking out the new digs. Three curled tails and noses out the window. This was probably the last day of the year with the window open. We had to make the most of it.

Fuzzy

We're having a fuzzy morning here in Carbondale. The kitties look like road kill - splatting themselves all over the house. "What happened here!" I can imagine a detective saying. "We loved them to death."

One of the last farmers' markets was this morning. One more week then it's kaput. We brought home apples and cheese. Yum. I whipped up some pesto eggs and biscuits for breakfast, and now I'm off to sew. It will be a blue pouf for an order on Etsy.

The work space is looking a bit rough, but I figure, soon everything will be boxed up and sent either to Bloomington or Juneau. It can be messy a little longer. Besides, messy = creative! Right?

Back to the Grind

I'm home.

I started back at Common Grounds yesterday, happy to be pulling shots. People kept coming in with, "hey you're back!" Everyone thought it had been three months since I left. Did it really seem that long to them?

The sink is broken, the lights aren't fixed, and things I used to deep clean seem to have been a bit neglected. But that's my job - cleaning the underbelly of the shop.

We were working long days in Juneau. Really long days sometimes. But I can take those types of hours way better than working a counter for 8. The morning rush was great - keeping me energized and working out the cobwebs in my barista parts. But once the midday lull started and crept to the afternoon... painful.


Spokane was a great stop on the way back. It was short, but much needed. My parents are really great people - my dad time and mom time was relaxing, and I was able to work out some ideas I've been rolling around in my head. Phone calls aren't anything like real face time. I also got to see my dear friend Rena. Rena! I love Rena.

The cats are happy to see me - Baxter in my lap right now in fact. Comma has totally mellowed out in the six weeks I've been gone. I think the heat had her stuck in a funk, but now that the highs are in the 60's and the nights are downright chilly, she is down right snugly. This is much more like her hometown Portland weather.

C leaves tomorrow - a dog in the house?

Hello lovelies -
Countdowns are always both exciting and a little scary. Mom's coming into the coffee shop have been giving me the countdown until their kids start school again, I've been giving Dan the countdown until Alaska, and in my brain I've been checking off the days until Ciara and Adam move to Turkey. Which is tomorrow. Holy cow.

I got to chat with C yesterday while she wondered through a bookstore, asking my opinion of some Neal Stephenson books. We hung up after a while and then I got sad: I won't chat with Ciara while she's wondering around a store/ or driving from Portland to Spokane/ or projecting/ or projecting for two years!

I need to get my Skype system working (ie: buy a webcam). *Sigh*

At the Johnson/Swift house yesterday, we had two guests. Kelly and her dog Sahara spend the night on their way from Memphis to St. Louis to Champaign to Chicago. Having a puppy in a small apartment with three cats could be horrible, but it wasn't. Sahara is a lab/corgie mix, and incredibly well behaved. And adorable!

Sahara the dog :)

Comma and Kodak kept a close eye on Sahara. The dog was more apprehensive of the cats than the other way around.

She is so cute and little! Short little corgi legs and a a body shaped like a lab. Awwwww.

Sewing up a storm!

Hi friends! Now that I've dove into Etsy and opened up the shop, I've been having a great time putting projects together and feeling good about how they turn out. At the same time, I've had two custom apron orders to make for a Common Grounds customer. So much sewing!

To start the weekend, my machine kept malfunctioning (!) and I spent a good hour taking the thing apart (as best I could), cleaned and oiled it, and eventually found the one loose screw that was keeping my feeder foot from grabbing fabric to progress the stitch. I felt pretty good, I have to tell you. Dan got to see me skip two laps around the house singing a little ditty proclaiming how awesome I am for figuring it out. So here's what I made!


This is the double sided full apron for my CG customer. She wanted something with lots flowers, in mint green and light pink. This is what I came up with . The green side has one pocket (the white square), and the pink side has two pockets (the beehive pattern rectangle).



These two bags I made and put on my Etsy page. I really, really like these two fabrics. Both I found on my last stay in Chicago at The Needle Shop.


I made this, my second Kiss Clasp bag, and I wasn't happy with how it turned out. It is a bit too long, which makes it a bit awkward to use. It was good practice with making my own pattern to fit the frame, and also to make inner pockets.



I call this last one my Octopus apron. I made myself a slouch bag out of this material and love it more and more as I see it. The purple square is a pocket on this side, and below on the back side, both the orange flower square and the pink polka dot square are pockets. I really like how this project turned out.



And just now the mail man came! My sister sent me a care package with all sorts of wonderful things! I knew about the fabric, but she added some wonderful other things - take a look :

Jam (home-made and will be gone in three weeks, yes, that's one jar a week), the second book in the Flavia de Luce mystery series, Ciara's favorite Amy Butler pattern, buttons, a hand-made paper notebook, and wonderful sewing things: fabric, fabric, ribbon, and edging. I can't wait to use these wonderful treats!

Comma (Ciara's cute gray cat pictured below) was sniffing all of the contents as they came out of the box, I can only assume, because she recognized her momma smell. It was so sweet. And then after it was empty, she guarded the box from Baxter (who usually gets to take the first squat in all of the other boxes that come into the house). Aren't the cats super cute?!

Ben's 3rd birthday party!

Dan and I drove up to Champaign to celebrate my nephew's 3rd birthday. There were so many kids! The pool was set up outside, with sidewalk chalk and bubbles. The parents were filling in the gaps, making sure plastic bats weren't being swung too close to other children and towels were at the ready when it was time to go in for cake and presents.


Ben had an Airplane theme - as that is his passion at the moment. The cake (a few pictures down) was made by Nanny Rebekah and Jessie, and it had a runway and airplane, and all of the kids got to take their own airplane home in the grab bags Ben was happy to give out when they arrived. The big hit seemed to be the blow toy - the kind that unrolls when you blow into it, making it look like a big, long, tongue.




Look at all these kids!





Here's the birthday boy in the captain's hat I was lucky to find. Such a fun birthday!

Weekend sewing project - Pouf

My sister is in a pin cushion exchange. You can read about her creation here. I saw this tutorial a while back and decided to try my hand at it this weekend, thinking that it looked like a giant pin cushion!

I needed 24 swatches or 12 double swatches for the wedges. It took me a while to decide which to use, and I was a little disturbed by how much pink fabric I have.

After cutting out the 24 wedges and 24 backing strips out of muslin, I sat for a good 30 minutes rearranging their order to decide how they'd fit together best. I decided on the orientation above.

Cutting everything out was the longest step in the process (I'm not a good cutter). The sewing lasted through an episode and a half of Fresh Air, and the stuffing another 15 minutes. I threw a trip to JoAnn's in the middle to buy a 12'' upholstery needle for the tufting bit, and by last night all but the decorative button was in place.


This morning, a few stitches for the button and this was what I had! Comma slept on it last night, and this morning, both Kodak and Baxter found it to their liking. I really enjoyed this project, but would alter a few of the directions to be clearer (ie: sewing the points and tufting the washer in place).

Ta da!