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February 28, 2007
Swapalicious
Finally, an update on the two swaps I joined in last month. The first swap I joined this year was a handwritten letter/handmade item swap that you can see here. I'm pissed off about the receipient of my creation as she never, ever acknowledged even receiving my swap. I sent her a direct e-mail to make sure she received it. Nothing. I sent her an e-mail via swap-bot. Nothing. I posted a comment on her blog. Nothing. I even discovered that she deleted my comment on her blog! Well, that just tells me she only joined the swap to get free stuff especially since she never sent in her swap. I feel bad for her partner in having received nothing! That just pisses me off. She got good ratings in her previous swaps so I don't know what the deal is. Sheesh. Anyway, I'm glad to report that my partner, Margy sent me a nice Cat Mermaid she made and a nice long letter all the way from Belgium! Perfect for the nursery!
The 2nd swap I joined was called a Photo Scavenger Hunt. Each person lists 15 things she wants a picture of and their partner picks 10 to take and print out. I was a couple of days late in sending mine out to my partner Jennifer because of my hard drive issues. So I decided to get extra creative and put the photos in a stand up album that I got from here. Which of course I wanted to try forever and got the clear envelopes ages ago. The sample only used 3 envelopes and mine was 10 envelopes so I had to use some extra reinforcements with packing tape. I think it came out really cute!!
And I am also happy to report that my partner, Lisa, sent me all 15 images from my list all the way from Australia! She also sent me a zine of hers that she made.
Posted by luluvision at 11:14 AM | Comments (1)
February 26, 2007
Sew-a-thon
Last week I finally made the curtains for the nursery with the fabric I got here. Man, that was harder than I expected! It was harder because I didn't have enough fabric and I had to do math! When I bought the green fabric, I suspected that it would be too much green and I was right. I went back to the store to buy some fabric to add to the side as a sort of patchwork curtain. I couldn't decide between the pink and purple so bought a yard of each. It's a good thing I saw the cute bunny fabric and bought a yard of that too. Who knew that a yard isn't that long? Not me! So they are a little crooked but I think they came out really cute! Of course I wanted the green fabric to be the main fabric (which is on the backside) but this side had all 4 designs so we decided to make this the front instead of the back.
Since I was in the sewing groove, I decided to make some zippered pouches for the bumblebee dinner last Friday (which I'll write about in another post). These pouches are for their Christmas presents. Yeah, I know, that was months ago! Anyway, I finally tried the printing on muslin with the help of freezer paper method that I've been wanting to try forever. Easy Peasy!
I messed up a bit on the Ben Harper image because the muslin was a little too wide and got caught in the printer. I made sure I didn't make that same mistake with Prince's image. I took the Ben Harper image and the picture of Prince was taken by Joy, who this bag is for, if you didn't already know from the "Oh, Joy!" I added. I think it came out really cute!
Here are all 3 bags and the lining.
I've also been wanting to make myself a little pin cushion and finally made a quickie one. Of course, I make it after my sew-a-thon but I do plan on some more sewing (hello Morrissey pillow cover!) so it's no biggie. I used velcro so I could wear it on my wrist or put it on the sewing machine.
Posted by luluvision at 12:22 PM | Comments (0)
February 22, 2007
Body and Soul
Last Tuesday was the February CDMOM that I had to miss because I was sick and miserable. It was held at Revival. This is my February mix in honor of my recent obsession with the 2005 Pride and Prejudice movie. At the end of the movie, the male love interest (Mr. Darcy) tells the female love interest (Lizzie Bennett) that "you have bewitched me body and soul and I love, I love, I love you." siiiiighhhhh. I'm such a sucker for that crap! Here's the tracklist:
1. Into the Open • Heartless Bastards
2. Wasted State Of Mind • ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead
3. Yours To Keep • Teddybears
4. Love Will Come Through • Travis
5. Let's Make Love and Listen to Death From Above (Spank Rock Remix) • CSS
6. Only Love Can Set You Free • American Music Club
7. Happy Together • Tahiti 80
8. Je t'aime Moi Non Plus • Serge Gainsbourg
9. Fidelity • Regina Spektor
10. I Love You • The Pipettes
11. Heavy Hearts Brigade • The Little Ones
12. Soul Meets Body • Death Cab For Cutie
13. Crazy For Leaving • Catfish Haven
14. I'm Gonna Love You Anyway • Buckwheat Zydeco
15. What's Inside Of Me? • Starlight Mints
16. I Fell Deep • The Dears
Posted by luluvision at 11:43 AM | Comments (1)
February 20, 2007
Make room!
The baby furniture we ordered from Babies R Us finally arrived yesterday, a month after we ordered it! I'll just say it took a month because of a "miscommunication", HA! Even though I really want to say BRU are a bit backwards as well as the delivery company they use but wahtever, it's all water under the bridge now. We got the crib, changing table and most importantly my glider and ottoman! wooohooo!! All iin Cherry wood, which I've really taken a liking to lately. Here are pictures of Yves (and Skippy) putting it together!
It looks like Skippy wants to help but he just wants attention.
Getting all the nuts and bolts in!
It's finished! But uh,oh, a slight problem!
Will it work, can he get it in there or will he have to take it apart?
Wooohooo! Success!!
Let me tell you, that glider is super duper comfortable! Skippy was trying to get on it but we're not going to let him or Neo on it. It's only for us! Me and the baby in particular!!
Posted by luluvision at 02:42 PM | Comments (1)
February 19, 2007
Happy Year of the Pig!
Happy Year of the Pig! And not just a regular ole pig but a Golden Pig! According to my peeps, this happens every 60 or 600 years years, depending who you ask. Apparently, it's a great year to have a kid as they will be properous and lead a wealthy life. WOOHOOO!!
I made these cards to send out and got the pig from Viva LasVegastamps. I thought the pig was just adorable but couldn't figure out what to do with him, really. It was Yves' idea to put a party hat on him! Inside it says "like it's 4705! Happy Year of the pig!" It looks a lot better in real life, his hat has golden accents and the word party is embosseed in red ink with golden specks.
Posted by luluvision at 10:03 AM | Comments (1)
February 14, 2007
Happy Hearts Day!
Front
Inside
I made this card for my honey for Val's day. The inside says "You make my heart soar." We don't make a big deal about the day but it's also the day he asked me to marry him 6 years ago. He left me a card and a delicious box of chocolates for me on my desk this morning. We got hit with some snow last night and this morning. The baby was also very active this morning. I couldn't get comfortable in bed so I was sitting on the sofa around 3-4ish in the morning. Also my nose was completely stuffed up. I mean, completely! I'm feeling a lot better than I was earlier in the week so I can see the end of the tunnel. Sometimes the end of the tunnel seems close and sometimes it seems far away.
Posted by luluvision at 04:42 PM | Comments (1)
February 12, 2007
Big belly
photo by Shuggy
Yves took this picture of us about a week and a half ago at 31 weeks. I wish we could go back to that time because that was before I was sick! My little cough turned into a full fledged cold and I'm miserable! I can't breath and with every cough and sneeze I have, I'm trying to convince myself that it's not going to hurt the baby. I'm sure in all the history of pregnant women, the baby doesn't get hurt just cuz the mother is sick with a cold. But the coughing worries me cuz it raises my blood pressure and it's high enough already. And I can't take the cold medicine I would usually take in this situation. I'm just being a whiny baby cuz we missed the 2nd childbirthing class tonight because I'm feeling miserable and I'm going to have to miss my cdmixer tomorrow night. At least we can make up the 2nd class in March. I also couldn't sleep at all last night and tried to nap this afternoon but don't think I did so well. Being sick sucks! Being sick and pregnant sucks even more!! WAAAAHHH!!!!
Posted by luluvision at 10:52 PM | Comments (0)
February 10, 2007
Cook and baking palooza!
I got this spiced carrot muffin recipe from an old issue of Everyday Food. I made them for Yves on Superbowl Sunday because he likes carrot cake and figured he would eat the majority of them. I don't know why I thought that, he rarely snacks. I think he ate like 3 and I ate the other 9!
We finally picked up a food processor last week and yesterday I made hummus (no picture). It was so easy and delicious!! So much cheaper than buying it at the store! And I also made falafels!
These were really easy too and I baked them instead of frying them. I was concerned that they might not taste as good baked but they taste just as good. I also made a yogurt sauce but it was a little bit watery. I'm really enjoying the food processor!
I got out of bed at around 5:30 this morning. I couldn't really sleep and couldn't get comfortable so I decided to get up. I farted around on the computer a little bit and then decided to make chocolate chip oatmeal muffins since I ate all the carrot muffins!
And the only thing I don't have to remind Yves to eat is the Oatmeal Scotchies I made during Christmas and then the Superbowl and more today. I added some chocolate chips and pistachios.
It's been really cold the last couple of weeks. I started getting a cough mid week and it really makes me nervous. Coughing makes your blood pressure rise and I already have high blood pressure and taking meds for it! I'm keeping myself home all weekend to make sure it doesn't get worse. I'm sure everything will be fine with the baby and I'm just worrying for nothing. I mean I saw Dr. W. on Thursday and told him about my cough and he didn't seem too concerned.
Posted by luluvision at 03:01 PM | Comments (0)
February 08, 2007
Thank you cards!
I wanted to make some thank you cards for the CDMOMERS that threw me the surprise baby shower last month. It took me a few days to make 10 different versions especially since sometimes my mind went blank but I'm quite proud that I made 10 different ones! I hope everyone liked them all. They really look much better in person.
Posted by luluvision at 08:22 PM | Comments (0)
February 05, 2007
Locations and Valentine ATCs
I made these ATCs for the Eclectic ATC yahoo group I belong to. The theme was Locations and Valentines. I was already working on the Locations ATCs when the UHU glues arrived so they were only used in the Valentines ATCs.
The little card fits into the pocket on the ATC. The graphic from the card came from Lisa Vollrath's Valentine freebies from 2006.
I used acetate (really a 120 film negative protector) to cover the ATC on the right and fill it with confetti hearts.
Posted by luluvision at 11:22 AM | Comments (1)
February 04, 2007
UHU glue review!
I received my UHU glue samples a couple of weeks ago and am ready to post my experience. I had a chance to try it out on some ATCs and cards that I've been working on. You can see in the above picture the glues I received and also the other glue stick I usually use. I have to preface by saying that I was not entirely happy with the previous gluestick I was using. That's the brand that Staples sells and the price was reasonable. So I was very excited to try a new brand.
So far I really like the UHU gluesticks! The gluestick dries relatively fast on contact, which could work against you but once you know that, you work with it. So far it doesn't curl up the paper like the other gluestick I used. I would usually have to put my ATCs under something heavy to flatten them out. I didn't have to do that with this brand. I used the twist and glue to glue some acetate together and that worked well. It was sticky enough that the acetate didn't break apart from the other piece while still wet. I also used the twist and glue for some foam hearts onto paper and so far so good.
So yes, this is a positive review and I would totally recommend UHU. If you want to try some samples yourself, check out Maria's blog here.
In the next few days I will post the projects that I made using these glues. I made some Valentine ATCs for an online ATC swap group I belong to, a Valentine card for my honey and some Thank you cards to send to my friends that threw me that surprise baby shower.
Posted by luluvision at 12:44 PM | Comments (1)
February 02, 2007
Happy Groundhog's Day!
I haven't done much posting lately because my external hard drive is giving me a hard time. Whenever I try to access something on it, I have to wait a long time, which is unusual. I'm trying to back up all the photos (of which all my photos are on!) and it was driving me nuts. I was a little successful when I connected it to the laptop with a different firewire cable. It still wasn't smooth sailing but at least I managed to back up a lot of things.
Anyway, I wanted to post something so here is a necklace I made for a swap I joined over on Swap-bot. The swap was to handwrite a letter to your partner and send it along with a little handmade item. Since I always like to personalize, I went on my partner's blog and took a picture of her 2 year old son and made a necklace out of it with a glass marble. She lives in Missouri and I mailed it last Thursday so I hope she got it already.
I kept the necklace really simple because I didn't want to take away from the pendant. I hope she likes it. In today's mail, I received my swap from my partner all the way in Belgium. She made me this adorable stuffed cat mermaid. I'll post about it soon!
And it looks we Spring will come early this season since Phil did not see his shadow!
Posted by luluvision at 03:55 PM | Comments (2)