Work Space Confessions

Mrs. Taggart told my mom that my desk was messy.  She showed her all the incomplete worksheets, and complete worksheets, crammed into my pocket school desk.  I don’t remember or not if she dug out the love notes from Christopher or not, but they were in there, too.  I remember.  That was first grade.

Today, for the umpteenth time, I reassured a concerned and embarrassed parent that their child - guilty of cramming study guides and other such paperwork in the bottom of backpacks, leaving them strewn and tucked about in a classroom, or “accidentally” throwing them away before they had a chance to make it home - would be OK.  Once again today, I confessed my own history of congested administrative arteries.  My own paperwork circulatory system has long been crippled.

This is not the first time I’ve confessed these office sins here.  But, yet again, I feel the need to bare my truths. 

Truths, like this…

 

Go ahead. Click on it to dig deeper.  It’s quite revealing.

Just outside of this photo you might find other random items, such as: a used ink cartridge waiting for me to take to school for our corporate contributions drive, a spool of pink grosgrain ribbon, a bottle of nail polish, two bobby pins, two pen caps from the remaining MIA writing utensils after BabyGirl’s weekend round of oh-so-NOT-cute game of “Pen Bandit” (i.e. hiding uncapped pens all over the house, sending me into a mad panic as I franticly envisioning large pools of black ink on my upholstered furniture), a scratched pair of sunglasses I need to throw away (Never mind. Just checked that one off the list.), and – le pièce de résistance – a 3/4-inch plastic dog tail.  Not the dog…just the tail.

 

While I am an extremely cyclic person and tend to have bouts of neat & tidy organization followed by stretches of “I’ll deal with this later – bigger fish to fry today,” disarray, I have come to accept my piles.  It is a love-hate relationship I have with them.  I hate the actual piles and feelings of dissatisfaction and frustration I get from them, but I love the processes from which they result. 

1. Good intentions.  Look – I buy a book about organizing my space and my life…I read some of it…I get overwhelmed by the first week checklist telling me to get a minimum of 7 hours of sleep per night (I wish), jot a To Do list each morning (Have you met my daughters?), start a journal (check), limit television (check), schedule 2-minute breaks two to three times a day to “just be” (whaaa???), practice meditating (I’d love to…), schedule time to exercise (I try), schedule more “me time” (more than the six minutes per day???), eliminate energy drains on your life (You want me to retire and move away?), and “take control” of your time (This lady’s an idiot.)…ALL IN THE FIRST WEEK!!!  If I could do that in a week, why the heck did I need to buy this freaking 52-week guide to organizing my life???

2. Creative endeavors.  Cooking, sewing, writing, photography…This is the good stuff. I love these things. If those parts of my life leave evidence on my surroundings, so be it.  I will leave my mark happily.

3.  Thrift. On second thought, perhaps this should go in the “good intentions” category. 

4. Motherhood.  Ask me why I have pink grosgrain ribbon, a crumpled-up-no-longer-sticky post-it note with a butterfly drawn on it, random pen caps floating, a funky popsicle stick flower stuck in a wooden pot, a Lois Lowry chapter book, a sea green crayon and a Hello Kitty digital camera on my desk.  My babies.  I love my babies.  This is my life and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

 

One of my favorite quotes comes from an unlikely source.   

“Homes are for free expression, not first impressions.”

My piles are not a problem, they are a side effect of an alive and wonderfully diverse mind.

 

 

Now, my desk at work is a whole different story…but that’s another post entirely.

This post was submitted as a part of the {W}rite-of-Passage: Challenge #9. 

Serendipity Struck

Snapfish and I go way back.  I’ve used them for birthday party invitations, photo calendars, bound photo books, mouse pads and more.  This year, though, they may have burned this bridge.

After compiling a photo mosaic of BigGirl and BabyGirl in Picasa and adding text, I sent it to be printed (via Snapfish) at a local store (so I could pick it up that day…yes, I need immediate gratification).  I was incredibly disappointed to find that the text on my prints was partially cut off the print!  As you can imagine, this just would not do as a holiday card. 

However, I’m the wimp who doesn’t like to deal with stuff like that…unless otherwise provoked.  So, what did I do?  I made an all new (and improved) photo mosaic with one whole square in the print devoted to the holiday message, rather than overlaying the text on top of the pictures.  And, I marched my bootie into Target and insta-printed it myself.  (So long, Snapfish.)

Now…what to do with the botched prints I still have?

Don’t you just love those momentary, fleeting strokes of genius that occur in life?  I just LOVE what I’ve done with these suckers!  Check it out…

 

They are GIFT TAGS!!!  I’ve been using a permanent marker to write a quick note to the recipient on the back, and sign the whole family’s name!  I couldn’t be any happier with this idea!  In years past, trying to write everyone’s name on a little gift tag always seemed irrationally frustrating to me.  And, I love the opportunity to include a little personal note, since many of our family will receive their gifts without us present.  PLUS, if they care to keep it, they get a bonus picture as part of their gift!  I just LOVE this idea!

By the way, insert a little Green plug here, you may notice in the picture that I like to use gift bags whenever possible.  This is not entirely out of laziness.  I save gift bags and regift & reuse them for all occasions.  I keep tons of white tissue paper on hand at all times (it goes with all bags) and often purchase the plain cheap bags and decorate them myself with stickers and fun bows (especially for birthday parties, when I’m only wrapping one present at a time). 

Oh, and if you’re wondering about my NEW photo cards.  I love them, too.  This is one of those “it was meant to be” moments in life, because the second card is one hundred times better.  See for yourself…

 

And, finally, some of you may remember that my girlies and I handmade cards earlier in the year and might be wondering what happened to those cards.  Well, they went out, too!  I know how much people LOVE photo cards (myself included), but I really miss the magic of opening a card and reading a note inside.  So these were inserts in our homemade Christmas cards, and everyone received a personal note inside the card.

Here’s a smattering of our cards, prior to stamping and, in some cases, stickering.  You’ll notice the styles and level of artistry varies greatly from card to card.  I stamped each one with a “Handmade by…” stamp and wrote in “BigGirl” or “BabyGirl” and their age.

And with that, dear friends, I do believe I shall head back to my duties.  Tomorrow is Christmas Eve and my sewing machine is sick again…which is really putting a crimp on THIS branch of Santa’s Workshop.  I came within inches of buying a new machine at Walmart today just to make it through the next few days….and trying to return it after Christmas. 

Don’t worry.  I didn’t. 

Yet.

It’s Safe to Share These With You

The handmade holiday is in full swing this weekend. I’ve checked a few folks off my list and I couldn’t be happier with the finished products! 

On Friday, I finished off a rousing game of Secret Santa at school with a handmade monogram tote.  I knew my coworker’s favorite color was yellow, so I chose this cheery ribbon and fabric to embellish this handy white canvas tote bag. (A girl can never have too many tote bags, right?  And who doesn’t love monogrammed items?)  I love the tailored bow, and the white stitching along the edges of the ribbon compliments the medallions on the fabric nicely. 

In preparation for our Kentucky trip, I made a larger, roomier tote bag for FireDaddy’s sister.  This one also features a pocket on the outside, for easily accessing keys, cell phone, and other small items.  (FireDaddy’s sister has a one year old baby, so I expect she often has her hands full and is still toting around diaper bag items, sippy cups, and more.)   The monogram is made from an adorable fabric that is actually rows of brightly colored pears and apples.  So fun!  I finished this bag off with a ribbon tie closure that matches the ribbon trim along the straps.  (I think I’m going to need one of these for myself.)

And, quite possibly my favorite projects so far, are my toddler t-shirts for our 12-month old niece. I am just in love with them!  I cannot wait to make some for my own girlies.  Two of the t-shirts were inspired by children’s rhymes: “Baa, Baa, Black Sheep” and “Rain, Rain, Go Away”.  I used a girlie striped fabric to monogram the third shirt, using a lowercase “b” instead of a capital to continue with the childhood theme.  Each t-shirt is finished off with a little satin bow.  Aren’t they just the sweetest things? 

My kitchen sweat shop is just buzzing away with more gift items.  I will take a break for our Hillbilly Holiday, but I’ll have it back up and running as soon as we get back into town.  There’s still so much more to do!

 

Psst!  I’m so bad – I’m not supposed to tell you this, but I can’t keep a secret.  Keep your eye on Etsy in January.  A little birdie told me a new store called Jenny Cricket will be opening.  I’m sure their stuff will be SUPER cute! :)  If you have any special requests or suggestions, let me know and I’ll tell the birdie. 

Catching Up

I found this draft sitting, unfinished, on my Blogger dashboard today.  Let's give it a whirl, shall we?
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November 7, 2009


As I blow the dust off my blog and reacquaint myself with my Blogger dashboard, I reflect on my life as of late. It would be very easy for me to rant and whine here...but that is not what I want my blog to become. So, I've been silent. I've been mothering my babies, problem-solving, and working my tail off. I've been turning over new leaves and looking into the future with fear-tinged hope. I've been reflecting on what is important in life, much like my fellow blogger and Tweep, Jenn.

Like many families recently, Jenn's family has been making changes. So has mine. Sometimes, life blows up in your face, you know? So, what do you do about it? The way I see it, like anything in life, you have two things to do: (1) deal with it, and (2) move on. I try not to get mad in life. I'm learning as I age that anger really doesn't do much for me....or you....or anyone. This is not to say, though, that if you hurt my baby or my doggie that I won't go all raging maniacal mother hen on you. Because I will. Hide and watch. But,what anger does do is waste energy and bring pain and suffering, mostly to the bearer. But that' s another post...

So, while FireDaddy and I try to catch up financially, and I try to get caught up mentally, and my girls try to get caught up physically (they've both been sick), and we as a family try to get caught up with our priorities, we're making changes. We're eating at home. We're playing in our yard and our park. We're using Netflix every week. And, I'm avoiding Target like the plague.

The holidays are quickly approaching, though. And the money just isn't going to be there. So, we're getting creative.

Yesterday, my girls and I spent the entire morning making Christmas cards. And, quite frankly, I think they're the best ever. They aren't finished yet (typical Mommy - I forgot some supplies at school), but I love them. No two are alike and many were made by the innocent hands of my babies. Even many of the ones from my hands alone, though, have a special meaning.

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Since that weekend, I've been busy stitching and gluing and clipping Joann's and Michael's coupons like a mad woman.  As with most things in my life, it's become a bit of an obsession.  Etsy is an evil, evil place. ;) Its creativity haunts my mind and compels me to do, make, sew, create.  

Have you ever realized that you - who you are - is really a lot of people rolled into one?  There's the Main You - the one you take to work and the grocery store on a day-to-day basis, but there's also the Little You from your childhood that wants your mama when you're sick and misses home at the holidays.  Inside ourselves, though, we all carry a rainbow of other "selves".  I, for instance, have the Fashion Designer - a former fashion major who cringes at wearing the same outfit twice.  The Interior Decorator who aspires to possess and wield my grandmother's flare for bold, courageous design, tempered by my mother's eye for designing with function, practicality and mass appeal in mind.  The Starlette, who dreams still of soaking up the hot lights of the stage "when I grow up".  The Girlie Girl, who looks forward to playing dress-up and turning cartwheels in the backyard with my girls.  I love sharing my inner Auntie Mame each year as I dawn my glorious, glamorous black and white large-brimmed hat to watch the derbies in my den.  And, of course, you know there's more...the Writer, the Artist, the Activist and Advocate.  I am a Southern Belle, a Baby Mommy, and a Clutz.

The bottom line is, I guess my Blogger has taken a step to the side to allow my other selves a chance to see the light of day for a while.  And it's been kind of nice.  But, she's still here...and so am I.