Getting Creative...Again

Many of you may not be aware of this, but, I NEVER have been a crafty person. Not even in like elementary school. Hated art time. Always thought inside the lines and everything had to be perfect. I never was one of those kids who could take a big pile of stupid objects and turn it into a piece of creative art. NEVER. I would organize that pile of stupid objects into rows and sort them all out. My sister and others however, could see that same pile of stupid objects and create something of it.

As part of my new journey this year, I decided I would try to get more crafty/artsy. Letting go of "things must be perfect" and such. And just trying out the other side of my brain. Slowly working on it. As such, on a whim, I decided to volunteer to make sashes for our camp. Not have ANY clue on how I would get it done. I am not going to go into my whole process of how I decided on this, but, really it just happened because I was in the fabric store (on one of my many trips) and noticed this blanket binding ribbon stuff on sale. Looking at it more closely, its basically a 3 inch ribbon, that is already sewn on the sides, that is sold in 10 yard spools.  Looking at the label, it said it could be used with a glue gun. MAGIC! So, I bought a little and experimented with it. Lovely. :)

After obtaining all the pink in the Seattle area and requesting my fellow camp mates get some, I went to work. Here is the progression of the sashes and the final product! :) Go me!

Oh ya, and I made the collage too! Look at all the new stuff I am learning how to do this year. Proud of me yet?

Got A Bed!

I have been debating about what kind of bed to get for Burning Man. I had narrowed it down to a couple and was just waiting for the right sale or sign to get it. Then I found this one on freecycle!

Walmart.com: Ozark Trail Queen Airbed: Camping

It isn't the exact one I wanted, as its lower to the ground. But, can't beat the price! I love how the universe provides!

(P.S. I used a new blogger feature for this post, so, if it looks different, thats why! Testing it out!)

Record Broken...

Well, today was the day.  We hit 77 degrees today! YIPPEE! So, officially breaking 2 records!

1) the longest in the calendar year not hitting 75 degrees. The previous record was June 9th.
2) the longest number of days from 75 degrees to at least 75 degrees. 272 days.

Crazy!

Birthday

My birthday was Saturday. Squishy made plans for us to go see a high school production of "You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown" on Friday night.  On Saturday, she had rehearsals until 3pm and I just laid pretty low. After I picked her up and she rested a bit, we went out to dinner. Went with my mother (who shares my birthday. I was born on her 21st birthday!), Squishy, a friend of hers, 2 of my aunts, an uncle and one of my cousins. Had a good dinner and got their awesome Strawberry Banana Cream Pie..yummy. If you have not had it, I highly recommend it. :)

After that I went out for a drink with an old friend from high school. Had a nice low key time. :) (THANK YOU!)

My mom and Squishy got me a gorgeous ring and necklace set. Just realized I didn't take a picture of it. :(

On our way out to dinner, I told Squishy to pose for a picture and she did. Then she said that my mom and I should pose the same way. So, here our our bday poses.

My name is Plumeria.....

My name is Plumeria and I am addicted to fabric shopping.

NO MORE FABRIC SHOPPING!

While at Joann's today..again...I realized that I have entirely gone crazy with fabric shopping.  So, if you see me in or near a craft store, STOP me! If you hear me or read me talking about going to a craft store, yell at me in all caps! :)

Pillows Pillows Pillows

Part of being part of my theme camp is that we are creating a lounge on the playa. That means we need to bring in comfy things to sit on, cuddle with, etc. Obviously I can't fit a couch into my car, but, another thing we need are pillows. Everyone in camp is being asked to provide at least 5 pillows (or stuffed animals, etc) to the camp. Pink of course. Well, I have gone a little pillow happy. I keep getting pillows and have the fabric to cover them. But, I realized yesterday that there is no way I can bring all these pillows with me down to BRC! HELP! So, I think I will be mailing some pillows down to my camp mates in california for them to load on the truck. But, please, for now, if you see me buying more pillows, spank me!

Family in Oregon for my Cousin's Graduation from Univeristy of Oregon

This is a picture of all the family who was present at my cousin's graduation from University of Oregon. We went to the ceremony for just her department and there were only about 30 people.  Most of them had 4-5 people present...we had 20. And no, this is not even 1/4 of my family...

This is a picture of the cousins at the graduation party.  Now, we use the term "cousin" loosely in our family. Since the "1st Cousin's" range in age from 45-14 and some of us have kids.  Instead of getting all technical, we are all just cousins. LOL

The real cousins at Emily's graduation.  Again, this is only 4 of us. We have like 30. LOL

My mom, me and Squishy.  Do we look alike?

Squishy is still shorter than me....and always will be dammit!

My cousin Emily had a good day. She is so pretty and actually wore a dress with heels under the gown!

Really surprised at number of girls who wore flip flops...

And guys with no shoes at all.  And no, these are not the only two of the 30 who wore flip flops or nothing. Was a majority of them....craziness!

More Prep And Shopping!

I am back and recovered from a great, yet stressful weekend in Oregon, for one of my cousin's graduation from college.  That is a story in itself that I will reserve for another day. hehe  But, I must say that I made sure to make time for a little shopping down there. Oregon is full of great little shops and NO SALES TAX! hehe

Here is a picture of my awesome coat I got at this little thrift/antique/consignment store that was litterally in the middle of fields of crops...seriously...

It was 80 degrees outside, but, I wanted to get a picture!  $4 for the cashmere coat! I got some other little items there as well, but, this was the best find of them all for sure!

Slippers I got.  They are WAY too big for me, but, thought they would be awesome for a friend of mine. hehe

Slippers to wear around camp :)

More shoes...pink with hearts.

There is lots more that I got. But, thats it for now. :)  Excitement is building for sure. I am going to take this week and get organized. I feel like i have been buying stuff and don't have an actually handle on what I have and what I need.

Cassette Tapes, Caboodles & Sewing....FLASHBACK!

I don't think I posted this, but, I have decided to go ahead and drive my Focus down to the playa by myself. I can handle the drive and it will be good way to start my trip.  I am planning to leave here and drive to Klamath Falls to stay the night and then drive to the playa the next day.  Well, my 2004 Focus is the basic model and has a tape cassette player instead of a CD player (ya, I know....weird!). I do have an adapter for my portable cd player, but it is a tad bit of a hassle.  I thought maybe I could get some tapes and record some CDs (like we used to do in the old days) but wasn't even sure if they still sell blank tapes or not....its on my list of things to check out.

This past weekend, we were cleaning out the garage. Going through old boxes, getting rid of stuff, setting things aside to donate or sell, etc.  And, I came a cross a box with ALL of my old cassettes in them! From junior high and high school. So WEIRD that I was just thinking it would be neat to have those, but figured they were lost. Yet, there they all were!  Squishy thought I was crazy when I squealed about my tapes.  I've got mixed tapes made by friends, mixed tapes I made, singles, full tapes, all of them!  It will so awesome to be driving to the playa listening to all this old school stuff. How can you not smile while listening to stuff from your youth! :)

Speaking of youth...if you were a girl growing up in the 80s and 90s, chances are pretty darn good that you had a caboodle at one point.

I know I did. Actually I think I had like 3 or so...lol  With the hard plastic case, mirror, trays and compartments, they are just awesome! hehe  Well, at goodwill, I found a perfectly in tact pink one. I just had to get it. Not only will the mirror be great to have on the playa, but, it will be good to keep small things in! Again, how can you not be happy with you have something around you with this much nostalgia?

The last time I can remember sewing anything was back in Girl Scouts. It was to earn a badge. So, I am thinking like 4 or 5th grade. I remember I sewed a pair of shorts, a pair of pants and a bag. All did not turn out correctly. LOL  But, with all these BM craft ideas I have, I have made the decision to attempt to sew as much of it myself as I can. Seriously though, that thought terrifies me.  Using the big sewing machine! UGH! Well again, while I was out in the garage again, I came across a craft box.  In the craft box was a BRAND NEW Sewing Genie and Mini Stitcher!

These are smaller and perfect for what I need to make. Less intimidating for sure. I am so glad that my mom bought this years ago and never opened it! :) Funny how things work out. The universe has a plan! This past weekend sure taught me that. Look at all this stuff that came about just after thinking about it!

40 Degrees at night!

So, as I was laying in bed last night (or maybe it was the night before...), under my lovely covers and with my AWESOME heating pad turned on high, I started thinking...CRAP! At  Burning Man I am going to be sleeping OUTSIDE in like 40 degrees! Now, you need to remember that I am a cold person. Always have been.  The only time I can really ever my feet being warm is when I was in Spain the summer after my freshman year in high school and it was literally 118 degrees outside.  Everyone else was complaining about the heat, but I was finally hot! It was awesome.

Needless to say, there is a reason I don't go camping around the Pacific Northwest much, unless it is in cabins! But, I will be tenting it at Burning Man. And, after the sun goes down, it gets pretty darn cold out in the flat dessert at 4100 feet! I really can't sleep if I am not warm. When I sleep, I have to be surrounded like a cocoon, feet and all! So, I am preparing myself for this coldness. I know it is coming in 80 days or so. I will be bringing lots of warm stuff to wear and sleep in. But, for today, I am freaking out! hehe

Miss me?

Yes, I know. I have been a horrible horrible blogger. Between getting really sick, being tired, a little depressed and just not feeling like writing,  I have been bad about posting. I will try to see what I can remember and post.

Planning for Burning Man is coming along nicely. Getting things daily and setting them aside. Talking with new friends and creating craft projects in my head that I have NO CLUE how I will execute.

Got 8 yards of this fleece fabric for free. :) Was not sure what to do with it. As of now, I am thinking that I am going to make adult footed pajamas to wear at night. Get a teddy bear backpack with some lights and some fuzzy slippers! :) It will keep me warm for sure and cute, but silly.







Hawaiian fabric :)

More cool fabric. Not sure what it will turn into. I am thinking a halter top.

I also got an awesome purple fur fabric and a silver shining ....

Awesome pillow I found! :)

This is a dress I got from hot topic. I had been eyeing it for awhile. But, it was $62 and no way would I pay that much! I saw it once on clearance for half off, but, still didn't get it. Well, when they were having their super clearance sale, I thought I would check. And, they had one in my size and it was only $15. :)

found these cute trinket boxes for cheap at a yard sale.  Squishy and I decided to get them out and start painting! :)

Squishy painting boxes!










Speaking of Squishy....she is going to be quite the busy girl this summer.  We were able to get her an audition with another local theatre company that is doing a teen musical this summer. It is group she has not worked with previously at all.  Her audition went GREAT and she got a call back this last weekend. They cast her as a lead. Well, one of the best friends of the lead..but still, a lead. :) She is so excited. But, this means even more work! Rehersals start tomorrow!  The musical is called "13" and is a new one. Just was on Broadway in 2008. Music is great! :) It is going to be a fun show for sure.

Memorial Day weekend was rainy and cold. Seriously, it did not get over 60 the whole weekend. Craziness! Sam left for a church retreat Friday evening. I got a call at about 11 that she hurt her knee again. We decided to wait it out until morning.  Well, he called again about 130 because it had swollen more and she was in so much pain. So, after some discussion, we decided they would take her into the ER and my mom and I would drive the 2.5 hours to meet them. Ya...170 miles one way..funtimes at 2am.  Her knee is okay, it just needs time to heal. We had breakfast at a local 24 hour diner and Squishy really wanted to stay and camp. So, I let her.  I will admit that I spent the remainder of the weekend worrying, but didnt hear from her. When I picked her up on Monday, she did admit that she probally should have come home. But, still had fun.  She couldnt go hiking, but, did get to go river rafting and other stuff.

I really need to get on a schedule. My sleeping schedule has been all messed up and I have been napping too much. I am hoping to start correcting my schedule this week. I also have to get some house chores done. I hate doing housework and such. Anyone want to come over and just keep me company? I wont even make you work, I just seem to work better when someone is here!

I am sure there is more, but, that is it for now!