Another PDF Pattern is here!

As Promised, here is the "AHOY!" Alphabet Font. I also included a larger version of my Ahoy Pirate, and Bubble Border at the bottom. I like the smaller version for embroidery, but I went to scrapbook something, and realised that I really like the Larger one shown here for a Scrapbook border. So- short post today, but I just wanted to let you know what was new! Visit the store at www.superchickenstudios.etsy.com

Happy Crafting!

New PDF Pattern in the Shop

Ahoy there! This is one of my new patterns that I have listed in the shop (http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5962511) and it is called... you guessed it! "Ahoy!"

This has been one of my favorite ones to make... the "Long Live Mario" was probably the other fave, but this one was a lot of fun. I also have a "Ahoy" Alphabet that I am finishing up, and it will put to port in the shop in the next few days as well. I am only offering this one as a PDF right now because I am trying to figure out what kind of printing that I want to use, but I am not patient enough to wait to list it :)

I have now had 2 sales in my shop, and it is a slow start, but I am happy that other people think that my stuff is cute and want to buy it. My Friends that just moved- well one of them worked in a local Fabric shop (owned by her Aunt) and she told me that I need to make a Appt and speak with her aunt about selling my patterns in the fabric store. I am really excited about that prospect, but I feel like I need to really work on the look of the packaging, and my logo and all the stuff before I approach her about it.... I am not sure- it makes me nervous, but excited all at the same time. What if other people hate them? And they sit there and get dusty? How sad- but on the other hand- people may love them and snap them up.... we will see- it is something to think about.

In other news- I have started a Garden! Well- I have started the starting of a garden. I have planted seeds in a indoor green house, and I have been working in the yard getting it ready for some baby plants. We are growing Salad, Broccoli, Spinach, cilantro, green onions, and chives. (they do not mind the cold weather of winter so much) And when spring rolls around, we will be adding Tomatoes, Onions, peppers, and maybe some strawberries (who all love the heat of spring and summer). We already have the lemon tree in full production mode- the avocados are getting bigger, and the poor Lime tree is still not producing, but the leaves look nice and strong. So we hope that in a few months we will be enjoying some tasty fresh homegrown food.

Anyway- that is about it for now... I have to get back to housework (groan). Laundry is calling, and the birds need some new paper, and the carpet really needs some attention! Have a great day!

Today...

Today I-
~ Made my First "Hot Caramel Apple Cider" this morning. Tasty!
~ Danced around the front room while dusting and listening to a Frank Sinatra CD
~ Ate seedless grapes the size of small plums **no joke- they were huge!**
~ Did some work on a Pattern in Photoshop
~ Did some sewing on the new quilt that I am working on (not the Yo-Yo one- but a new one for now)
~ Vacuum and Dusted and cleaned the Front room, Bedroom, and one of the Bathrooms.
~~~ And the hardest of them all-- I had to say goodbye to a old friend.
We have been friends for more than 10 years, and he and his wife are moving to Texas on Monday morning. It may be a few years before I see him again, and it was hard to say goodbye. I was lucky that I was one of the lucky few that got the "Goodbye Visit" in the days before they leave town. He came over and we got to chat for about 30 minutes before he headed off to another task that has to be done before Sunday night.

We Used to be co-workers for 5 years, and in the last 5 years we have tried to stay in touch as much as possible (seeing as how we live in towns that are 30 minutes away from each other) but in the last month or so we have attended multiple "farewell" events, and so while it was nice to see them a lot lately, it makes it harder to know that they will not be around anymore.
They will be living in Texas, and right along the route that we take to go visit John's Mom. So the next time that we head to Texas, we will stop and visit with them, but that may not be for another year or so at the earliest. (sigh) I just hate when friends and family move away!

And that takes me up to now- and it is only about 1:30. I think that I will do some more sewing, and then some laundry. Tonight John and I have a Wine Tasting event to go to (which is always fun) and so it is the beginning of a good weekend. Today: Wine tasting, Saturday: Volunteering for a NPR station fundraiser on Saturday morning, a Avocado and Margarita Festival in the afternoon, followed by a trip to the best fabric store that I have ever been to and also a peek in the nearby antique store. Then Sunday is the Bird Mart in Paso Robles- where we got Sprout, and also Pickles (our Parrotlets) but we will NOT be getting any birds this year.... maybe just some toys. Our newest Bird (Mo) is a toy FIEND and he loves anything we give him, and so I want to make sure he has some new ones..... he loves them so much that some of the old ones are getting broken\worn out in the few weeks that we have had him :) it is so nice to see him play with so much enthusiasm that I do not mind getting him some new ones :)

anyway- another post without pics, but hopefully soon!

New Happenings

Hey everyone! Sorry I have been MIA for SO long! I have been working thru a lot of changes and updates in my life, and my blog has suffered for it. sorry!

One of the changes I have been getting used to is not having a desk job where I spend 8 hours a day in front of a computer, and with the way things are now, sometimes it will be 2 or 3 days before I even turn the computer on. GASP! I know- I hate that I am falling behind in my blog writing, and keeping up to date on all the other blogs that i Love to read, but sometimes it cannot be helped- and to tell the truth- it can be really refreshing to not be a slave to the computer all the time. It seems to add many hours to the day when I avoid the office and Internet-land.

Well here is some of what has happened in the last month or so, and what I am working on.

In Crafty News:
I DO have a new Embroidery Pattern in the works, but not using the PC means that it has been gathering dust for the last few weeks- but I plan on dusting off the PDF and getting back to work on it pretty soon (maybe even some this weekend!)- it is really cute and I am loving this new one!

I have taken on a HUGE hand-sewing project. First off- I do not have a sewing machine, and I really like having the fabric and thread in my hand and doing it all myself, and so that is the direction that a lot of my projects go.... but I was reading around on a blog and discovered "yo-yo's" and I decided that hey! they are easy to make, and are cute.... so I wanted to make a quilt out of them. Yo-Yo quits were big in the depression era, as they were easy to make, and were made out of left-over scraps of fabric from old dresses and the like... and so I have started to make a ton of "Yo's" (as my boyfriend likes to call them) in order to make a quilt for our bed.

If you research them on the web, you might find some funky bright and (in my opinion) some ugly looking quilts.. but I am going with the 1920's theme, and I want to use very soft colors. lots of creams and light yellows and pinks and blues- to give it that really antique soft look... no browns and reds and dark blues here. I wanted to post a pic of what I wanted to make- but so far I have not found a picture worthy of what I am trying to convey, but here is a link that look ok.... http://pics.rubylane.com/graphics/shops/joysdolls/TX-JG560.1N.jpg but I will not be using patterns like she did- and not using those colors- but at least it shows something that is softer looking then some of the ones that I have seen online.

But here is the catch- I was not sure how many I would need to make a quilt, but I was not too daunted by the task... but after working on them for what seems like a good chunk of the last month of free time, I counted them all out, and I have about 200 of them made. I was happy with the progress, and then I decided to go lay them out over my current comforter and see if I could do a calculation of how many more I would need.... the answer- well for a CA King bed, I will need around 3700 more. 3700!!!! HOLY COW! and thanks to my boyfriend, he pointed out that I will need to make around 10 a day or more, and I would be done in about a year..... um yeah... thanks for that visual... but I am enjoying it, and I am spending about a hour or so a night working on them.... so I will let you know when I hit good milestones along the way :)

I am also working on a 365 type of project, but I have no real plans for it to be a full 365, and it is a bit more random. I am using my Camera Phone, and trying to remember to take a picture a day that will sum up the day in 1 photo, and not have me in it at all... only other objects. So fare I have around 40 something photos, and each time I look at them, I can remember that exact day, and not just think " I am not really sure what Happened in august- it just passed by" I can now remember every day of that month and what we did that day and what was going on. I have not posted any of them yet- but I will soon add them to my flickr account (I hope- it has been neglected as well!)

Other craft news is kinda slim at the moment- (yes- the craft room is a pit of despair at the moment- there is not even room to work at the table in there)... so on to Life Updates.

Well- I am loving my new job- and I am there about 20 or so hours a week... this week is closer to 30, but some weeks it is more like 18. It is also about a mile or so from my house, so I have been riding my scooter to work instead of driving... which is 2 good things, 1 of them is that I am not buying gas since it is a electrical scooter. and the 2nd is that my car broke down and it sure beats walking to work. John says that he thinks that it is the ignition switch or something, and so he will fix it as soon as the parts come in.
In the mean time I can drive my car at my own risk, since it has now 3 time died on me, (once in traffic) and takes like 5 minutes to get started... so Scooter it is, and it keeps me home more not having a car and when it is foggy and ugly outside (like today) and I do not want to scooter around.

Last Weekend my little sister got married up in the Bay Area, and we drove up to the wedding, and also stayed the weekend with John's Brother and Sister-in-Law. His Brother (Matt) was competing in a 1/2 Ironman that weekend, and so we went to Santa Cruz to Cheer him on (and get sunburned!) and we are excited to see him compete in the FULL IRONMAN this November in Arizona. I was also able to meet my new Niece at the wedding. My Older sister just had Baby #6 (and the last one!) and she was 2 months old, and since they live up in Oregon, I had not had a chance to meet her yet, and got to hang out with her after the Wedding.
She didn't seem to happy to meet me though- she was more interested in getting some dinner, but then to my surprise, (well maybe not too much) she was handed off to my boyfriend so I could take some pictures, and she quieted right down and started to fall asleep. I am not sure what it is about my boyfriend (who really has almost NO experience with kids at all) but all my nieces are IN LOVE with him. It is all "john this, john that" and apparently even my 2 month old niece has the "John Vibe" and was happy to lay in his arms for 30 minutes and just watch him. (humph! oh well- one day she will like me too!)

So on the agenda for today: I do not have to work today (WHOO HOO!) so today is a "at-home" day for me. Got up, Drank a Pot of tea (I LOVE that Hot-Tea weather is back!), caught up on some Emails and Blogs that I was behind in, and now it is time to move on to the tasks of today.
Such fun winners as : Clean my messy bedroom (which will involve laundry- ugh!) Clean out the bird cages and refill with fresh-goodness, Vacuum the Front room (and bedroom once I clear all the floor space) and then on to the fun stuff! I will be making batches of Shortbread today. It is SO easy and tasty, and I will be taking them to a BBQ that we have tomorrow. I will them take my shower, sit down with another pot of tea, some fresh Shortbread, and work on some more "Yo's" (gotta make my quota for the day!) and maybe watch a movie.

We are having dinner with friends tonight that we have not seen for many months (they are more booked up than the 4 Seasons during wedding season!! they are SO hard to get a "dinner date" with!), and then I have to work tomorrow morning (unless my co-worker can do it for me- she has to check!) and then we are headed off (with shortbread in hand) to a BBQ for some friends that are moving to Texas next week..... So in a LONG post- that is up with me :)

I am sorry that I do have a photo to share just yet---- I am still Photoshopping Pics of the wedding and more- but next time I will have some for ya :)

I hope everyone is doing well, and I hope to be better about staying on top of this blog better!
XOXO