July 31

I had a good day.

It started out with me working on a drafting project and anticipating a BBQ date with some good friends in Kansas City, but due to some unforeseen circumstances, ended with me moving a friend into her new place aaaaaaaaaaaallll afternoon. Hard work, but well worth it because I got a margarita out of the deal. 

Just kidding...

...but seriously... 

...that's only part of the reason. The real reason was because I could give her her housewarming present! One of the secrets of my last post no less!

This beautiful creature is the product of my dear friend's creativity. His name is Craptor and he is her constant companion through the drudgery that is life. Here are the two of them with some other friends:

Visit her Tumblr for more Craptor and other joys.

Hopefully tomorrow I can finish my newest sewing project and get a post up. Finger's crossed!

July 28

I'm in full organization mode here at home, I just was introduced to the music program Spotify and I have been exploring it, along with going through my closet and trying to get rid of some things I don't wear anymore... but I've also still been embroidering some gifts for people, so here's a preview:

Hmm, well it looks like it is still a secret... What about this one:

Oh gee, well I guess that one is still a secret too. 

How about this?

This fellow will hopefully very soon become a wall hanging that will have the cities I've visited in french knots, and possibly even highway routes that were taken on road trips? I still have yet to figure out what exactly to do with it.

I hope everyone has had a lovely week and a great weekend! I will be helping quite a few friends move on Sat and Sunday, so hopefully it won't be blistering hot. I suppose there's always ice cream to make the day feel better, eh?

July 23

This certainly seems to be a busy blogging week... maybe I have too much spare time... Regardless, I have another finished project that I am excited about. For years (seriously) I have had a cool picture frame with nothing in it. It has even been on display for a good portion of that time... without a picture in it. Maybe I felt that would inspire me to figure out what to put in it? No idea.

Part of the reason it has been empty for so long is that the size is unusual.. how many people have a 2.25" square picture laying around? I figured it would be a good time to try out a little embroidery.

I have had some Star Trek coloring book pages on my computer for a while with the intention of using them as embroidery patterns, and they were already square, so I simply needed to resize it to fit the frame. I'm super pleased with how it looks in the frame, though it's difficult to take a decent picture of it.

I also used a new transferring technique. Since I was using a dark fabric, I simply traced the pattern with transfer paper right on it. It worked great and the detail was really good, though if I were working on it for more than a day or two I would be afraid it would rub off. I actually didn't even wash it off of my fabric and you can barely tell that it's there in this picture.

July 22

This last Christmas my fantastic friend Jost painted me a picture, but alas, German paper is different sized than ours and I haven't been able to find a frame for it.... until now!

One of my neighbors just moved out and I saw a lonely little backless picture frame leaning against the dumpster the other day. The glass was still there, and the wood had been kind of speckle spray painted yellow and black. So Perfect!

Yesterday I cleaned up the glass and tried to figure out what to matte the picture with and use as the backing and came up with cutting a grocery bag to the size of the glass and painting it black with india ink. The india ink didn't end up being dark enough so I just spray painted it, which worked pretty good. Then I just centered the painting on the grocery bag, taped it on and put it in the frame! Easy peasy. I did have to put some new hanging hardware on the back (it was originally set up for a horizontal picture), but that's not hard at all.

I am stoked that this painting is finally on my wall. Isn't it amazing?

July 21

Today is a big day in Lawrence... We have a great downtown and every year there is a huge sidewalk sale! I got there pretty early and I'm so glad for it, as i was actually able to find a parking spot and it wasn't yet unbearably hot (we hit 102 even without the heat index!) 

I don't really like shopping for clothes in that kind of crowd (long lines, crowded, etc), but I did walk away with some booty from a couple of the antique stores. I got a great deal at one booth on some sweater clips, a necklace, and a super cute pin (all for $6!). At another booth I got another necklace, some buttons, and a gorgeous vintage scarf.

I love this pin! And one of the sweater clips is of angelfishes, the other has kind of creepy hands!

I also went out to Milton's for breakfast, then had a job interview, took a nap, and completed a little art project that I'll post about tomorrow. It was a productive day!

July 17

It is hot hot hot in Lawrence! My goodness, we are in an excessive heat warning for a whole week! I'm pretty sure air conditioning will be high on my list of necessities when I finally get a new vehicle. For now I'm just staying in side embroidering and re-reading the last Harry Potter book in preparation for watching the movie tonight. (I'm excited.)

While I was watching Twin Peaks last week like a mad woman I was also finishing up an embroidery which I'm pretty happy about. Not sure what I'm going to do with it yet, which seems to be the story of my life.

The rocket girl pattern is by Cherry Hollow designs, and I just took the planets from a coloring book page. Here are a couple detail shots:

July 14

Well I'm home and well and happy I went on my trip. I have frittered away a couple good days on the couch watching Netflix and embroidering... I guess that's what summer is about?

After spending so much time in Florida and having NASA on the brain, I was seriously craving some space movies, so I watched a documentary called The Wonder of it All which was quite good. I just may still have to watch Apollo 13 this week though.

I also came across Twin Peaks and decided that I had heard enough about it and I should really just watch an episode.... or two... or three.. or the first season and a half... It is fantastic folks. I am hooked and I have Jennifer Andrews to thank. She has a series of Twin Peaks embroideries that I love and it got me curious as to what kind of characters these people were. I like her self portrait as the Log Lady best I think.

Also, in Sarah news this week, my Mystery Science Theater 3000 embroidery was featured on the website Mr X Stitch! This is exciting for me. I have more MST3K ideas to do... so maybe this is a sign for me to do them. I also just joined a Star Wars themed needlework group on Flickr, so I just may have to do one of those first.... I have also been lamenting my lack of flat pattern drafting since I got out of school. So much to do! I'll put that in another post however.

I just finished an embroidery that I'm super proud of today, but it is for a friend so I can't post anything until August. I'm getting close to finishing a space themed (naturally) one that I don't know what I'll do with yet. What does one do with embroideries that don't fit in hoops well?

Because I don't like having posts without pictures, here is another from my trip that my friend Kim took. How is my manatee impression?

July. 8

If you have tried to go to my Etsy shop, you will have noticed that I am in vacation mode. Why would this be you may ask?

I have been on vacation.

But that is a given. More specifically, I have been in Houston and then Florida. To see the last NASA shuttle launch. I'll wait for the envy to set in a bit.

...

Alright. 

I'll be uploading some photos of it to my Flickr, but here's one to wet your appetite a bit.

Photo courtesy of my friend Kersten Ficke.

July. 6

Found Here

I'm currently on the road, so I'll just update with a few great embroideries I've found on Flickr this week. I simultaneously want to do all of these. They are just text links because no one lets you save images now apparently. Really guys?

1. Adorable owl reading a book!
2. Lovely whale.
3. Petri dishes.
4. Summery landscape.
5. Muskoxen!
6. Bovine Beauty.