Something Pony

A Break in this Infernal Summer Rain

2010-06-07T10:51:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, when the sun decided to visit our fair, soggy land, we went for a walk in a park that used to be a Walnut farm which used to be the site of one of the first missions out here. To get to it we parked on one side of the river and took a small ferry to the other side. It was a beautiful day and we took along some snacks since the 1.5 mile round trip walk was so exhausting.

"Some people call it a one-night-stand but we can call it Paradise"

2010-04-27T20:42:00.000-07:00

Oh Duran Duran, your songs are pretty good, but your lyrics suck.

Below is something totally unrelated. Thank God.

Here's a little something that I did with a friend from church. We were charged with creating a wine label. We are going to slap it on some bottles of wine that a winery in these parts agreed to sell us sans label. Yep, that's right Presbyterians drink. We are arrogant bastards, but at least we have liberty in Christ. Good thing God's grace abounds, because we sure use a lot of it. Let me know if you want a bottle. I'll bring it over and help you drink it.
Love,
Me

P.S. the vines were actually changed to a dark olive green and the grapes to a dark purple, so don't be disappointed when I arrive at your house with a bottle that has a more Mediterranean feel to it.

You're the Best Around

2010-04-07T10:11:00.000-07:00

I found a website whilst reading a magazine at work. It is veggietrader.com

I love it. It is fairly new so there aren't a lot of listings, plus we are just emerging from winter so not many plants around. It's great though, for summer when you have a gazzilion apples or cherries on your tree and maybe want to trade them for garlic or some cold, hard cash.

The Wind was a'howlin and down came the rain

2010-03-29T21:50:00.001-07:00

It's been stormy here these last few weeks. February gave us so much lovely brightness and warmth. We were all drunk on the early sunshine and sweet weather when Oregon's usual spring gusts and drizzly dark days jolted us back to stark reality like a disgruntled neighbor spraying us with their lawn hose when we already had a headache and were sleeping it off in their soggy lawn. Damn you, Oregon. We were all just trying to have a good time.

My mom and I went to Boston 2 weeks ago. I was jet-lagged the whole time and possibly under the influence of New England. I felt a bit fuzzy and disconnected with my normal daily life, or "reality" while I was there. We were there for a family funeral so things seemed meaningful and meaningless at the same time. I got to see some family that I had only met once or twice though and that was a wonderful part of the trip. I didn't do much sight seeing. I kept telling myself that I would be back later to do all that. I'm so glad to be home. Everything is better at home. Home's traffic is even better.

Oh Oregon, I love you and I despise you at the same time.

Empty Out Your Pockets

2010-03-09T09:56:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I forget how unusually disdainful I am. Matt and I went to an estate sale on Sunday in a small town near us. The old victorian home had been owned by an older widow and her children and grandchildren were facilitating the sale.

First, I was annoyed at how much of a rag-tag operation it was since nothing was priced and it was a haggle for every old porcelain dish. I got over that pretty quick though when I got some silverware for 10 cents a pop since I told her I would buy them all.

Next, I was browsing the deceased woman's amazing collection of cardigans when I came across some odd looking ties. They were all tied, as if they had just been loosened from around a neck and then neatly hung together on a hanger. I looked at the yellowed tag that attached them all and read in tiny cursive "These were grandpa's ties."

I wanted to grab them and show them to the woman's children/grandchildren and say "Didn't you see this? These were your grandpa's! He tied these knots! She wanted you to know" Then of course I realized they were the ones liquidating all of their mother's belongings at a dime a piece. Akward...

My next thought was to buy them but the idea of haggling over these still-tied ties that this woman obviously wanted someone to remember made me sick. I know we can't keep everything and it is just stuff, but I'm still trying to figure these things out.

Meanwhile, here is a set that I arranged from the silverware I bought:

Now you can all be disdainful of me. I'll allow it.

She appears composed so she is, I suppose

2010-03-08T23:40:00.000-08:00

It seems like I've seen Karaoke in a lot of movies and shows lately. People seem to have a lot of fun drinking and singing like they are at American Idol try outs. I still hate it. I always spend nine tenths on the time searching for the best song and then I remember the 10 minute guitar solo and just give up. I'm not about to go-go dance for 10 minutes with an air guitar. Nope, not gonna do it.

As far as things I don't hate go... I'm ordering 6 furry baby chickens tomorrow. I believe out here in the country they are referred to as "chicks". Growing up in Eugene, I learned that's what the sorority girls at the U of O are called. It must be the constant squeaking noise that they both make.

Back to the chickens, I'm getting two green egg layers, two brown egg layers and two white. I've narrowed it down that far. There are maybe 20 breeds to choose so it's a bit daunting.

Come over in 5 months. I'll make you an omelet and you can marvel at my impressive collection of colorful pet chickens.

For those who don't know...

2010-02-12T08:29:00.000-08:00

Friday is the start of my weekend. I usually get up at the same time to get some coffee and drive Matt to work. This morning as we were shuffling around the kitchen doing our morning routine, I got the part of the dance where I stare, bleary-eyed into the over-stuffed fridge looking for milk or cream.

No milk. No cream for my coffee. Not even a smidge of dairy products to secretly steel from a housemate just to dress my coffee.

Then I remember that the fridge in the pantry is hiding some Bailey's Irish Cream. Mmmmm.... I love days off.

So today is the first day that I've consumed an alcoholic beverage before 8am.

I may have opened a door that can't be shut!

Garden Time!

2010-02-05T10:26:00.000-08:00

I had to work at an office across the street from the hospital yesterday to fill in for someone. It was slow as molasses but I made good use of my time. I created this publish-worthy garden layout. I made a ruler our of an index card and measured out each row to scale. The only thing I didn't draw to scale is the dog...

This is what my garden will hopefully look like around the start of June. I mixed some short lived greens among the squash and tomatoes since they are slow growers and then need TONS of space later on. I will most likely be able to feed all of McMinnville on this garden, so feel free to stop by mid-summer for some free produce.

Vacation 2010!

2010-01-27T20:59:00.000-08:00

Matt and I got back from our vacation over a week ago now but due to a mysterious illness, I have been unable (or unwilling) to post until now.

We had a great time in LA and San Fransisco. All of our hosts were incredibly gracious and so much fun to see.
Our first stop was a quick overnight stay in Sacramento at our friends house. We had breakfast with Diana and then took off for LA so as not to be late for the party at Jacks in our honor. The theme of the party was Under the Sea but Jack failed to notify anyone, so no sea horses were present, nor sea shells. That is why there are no pictures included here of the party.

In LA we also got to see the beautiful, the elusive, the graceful Lo Green. That was sooo good to spend time with her after about 5 or 6 years of life without her. We also Saw Everett but I was unable to get a photo of him where he wasn't making an obscene gesture. Although he was, as usual, the life of every party.
After our festivities in LA we drove up the coast to San Fransisco to visit Phil and Nish! or Phil and Moto, or Phil and Bethany? It was confusing. The drive was rumored to be spectacular but we were listening to an audio book of Ender's Shadow and I don't remember anything except the story and the little shack that we stopped at for carrot juice.

San Fransisco was awesome. Nish got us passes for the MOMA and I got to see some amaaazing abstract expressionists' work. I was so inspired to take up painting again that I came home and painted a layer of paint on a canvas already!......................................... more photos to follow....... standby..........

Allright, Allright...

2010-01-06T08:53:00.000-08:00

...I've been thinking of posting for a while... feeling like I should...

Same with the laundry...

I don't feel like I've been home much lately. We were in Eugene for family festivities for Christmas, then again on New Years. Then there was our spur-of-the moment visit to Portland to see Steve and Holli and Saturday night. I think that is what I want to post on.

We were taking out stuff out of the airstream and packing it into boxes to store. You must know, I loathe packing boxes to store. I am always plagued with so many uncertainties. Do I want to keep this? What the heck IS this? When will I ever unpack this box? Should I just give it to St. Vinnies and buy another toaster when I live in my own place?

On top of all these questions, there was the maddening truth that we have absolutely no more space to store anything. Holli called while Matt and I were at the height of our frustration with our earthly possessions and offered their basement as a safe and spacious hiding spot for all those boxes of questions. Thank God. Instead of exhausting our imaginations by trying to find places for junk, Steve and Holli took us to the Cheesecake Factory where I ate my weight in wasabi crusted Ahi. I've never felt so good before...

Then we went to their place and played with Jackie-O(my dog), Parker (their lab) and their cute little labradoodle puppy, Trumund! He is so stinking cute. Jackie thinks he's annoying but she will hopefully learn to love him since she will be staying with them for 9 days while we are in California next week!

Here's another post about Jackie... and another one..

2009-12-22T08:38:00.000-08:00

In case you were missing Jackie, here's a refresher on how amazing she looks.

Matt and I spent the weekend in Eugene and Portland. My mom took us to see the Nutcracker in Eugene which was awesome. It was my birthday present this year just as it was when I was 8 years old. Oddly enough, it actually did change a decent amount since I saw it last. It was still awesome to see.
Then we went to Portland to Steve and Holli's where we enjoyed hot mulled wine, christmas cookies, and hours of Mario on the Wii.

We are now ready for Christmas. Our family drew names this year so there wasn't a whole lot of shopping to do (thank God). I was busy sewing this year so I didn't really get out much. It was great to have less to go out for.

Here's a photo of my November and December Activity:
I'm a little dissapointed that the Christmas season is over for my business, but I'm more relieved right now. I even had a crazy thought last night about possibly moving all of my sewing stuff against the wall and setting up my easel so I can paint for the next few months. Who knows, I might get really crazy and do some laundry!

Addictions are the new black... right?

2009-12-18T08:59:00.000-08:00

Here is a personal blog post about me:

My name is Brielle and I'm an addict.

There is a reason that I don't smoke. Actually there are a couple. My Da has spent the better part of his life scanning peoples hearts who have smoked and it's not a pretty sight. My Mama always said that I came from a long line of addicts so be careful. I tried, Mama.
So I don't smoke. I actually think that if I did take up smoking, I would never stop. Not even if I wanted to more than anything. If you popped open my coffin at the end of my life, you'd see me with a pack of cigarettes. Yeah, so I don't smoke.

In place of that addiction, I have chewed my nails for the last 20 years. So bad that at times I needed band aids. Now THAT is a nasty addiction. I finally, and perhaps in honor of my 26th birthday party last week, have stopped chewing my nails. I still nibble a bit here and there but between Matt helping me and working around people who have the black lung everyday, my nails are no longer on my endangered species list.

Here I'm talking myself up a bit so that I can fall so hard. There are a few other things that I'm addicted to like coffee (not a big surprise), black licorice... And now I have one more thing to add to the list. HBO's sordid vampire series, True Blood.
I'm not proud of this, nor would I recommend the show to anyone(one last thing in my defense, at least it has REAL vampires in it!). Matt and I got it on DVD from the rental place and watched the whole season in 2.5 days. That was a week ago and I can't stop thinking about it. When I was at work, which is usually crazy busy, I would just stare at the computer screen during down time and think about the show. A few times when I was snapped back to reality I realized that I had goose bumps. I can't sleep, I don't want to go out, I keep googling season 2's DVD release date and here's the worst part: I watched the actor's interviews at the ComicCon on YouTube. I may need to just check myself in to an institution. Thank you all for listening

Christmas is getting closer!

2009-12-14T09:14:00.000-08:00

December always goes fast. No matter how hard I try to prepare, it races past. I've been trying to get some of my sewing into shops this year so that I have more fronts that I am selling on, but it has been fairly unsuccessful. I did a good job of stocking up my online shop, which seems to be going well, but it always takes longer to tag things and deal with the logistics of consignment. Then you have to worry about it getting stolen or mangled or dirty. I'm not sure it's worth the trouble right now.

Family Weekend With Hues of Turkey

2009-11-27T10:00:00.000-08:00

We are having a spendid time in Eugene with my family. We spent the entire day yesterday cooking, eating ,talking and relaxing. We only left the house once to go for a rainy-day walk.

Jackie usually sleeps 17 hours a day but after all the festivities yesterday, she's planning on a solid 21 today. I'm not sure how that math is going to work out but she seems confident.

A Whirlwind of Adventures

2009-11-13T06:44:00.000-08:00

We had a great time in Sacramento last weekend. We got to explore the local food and fare with our friends whom we were there to visit. We were also introduced to the local wine sub-culture of Port lovers. I'm not sure that I'm ready to get initiated into the lifetime club, but it was enjoyable. (I'm not that into sweet things. That's my excuse)

Things are still clipping along with my flatware sets. I'm enjoying the holiday season picking up. I don't know if I will be as busy as last year, but I'm sure a lot more prepared.
Speaking of which, I made a little appearance on a cool handmade-promoting blog: http://lilithevy.blogspot.com/

My father in law is visiting from the other side of the country so when I'm not at work, we are going on small adventures around the area. Unfortunately, it is raining. I say unfortunately not because I feel unlucky that he is visiting during our usual, reliable 9-month stretch of rainy season. I mean unfortunately because the poor guy has never been to Oregon when it has done anything but rain.

I promise that Mr. Sun does occasionally visits us.

We have no sales tax, isn't that enough for you?!

So our next adventure is to go down to Eugene for a night to see some of my side of the family. Maybe the Sun is hiding in a nook down there and we will get a glimpse of it.

We are far too young and clever...

2009-11-02T21:30:00.001-08:00

So, Jackie was a skunk. Or she was a dog with a make-shift cap and leg-warmers on. So she was Paula Abdul. No, no, she was a skunk.

She looked pretty cute, even though she hated the hat. I took her to the local feed store where she was photo'd and immunized for a discount because she was so cute. mmhmm, looks ARE worth some green.

Matt and I didn't really do anything officially Halloweeny. I got some good work done that day, walked the 4 miles with the skunk from downtown back home, and then made pumpkins bars. Some friends called at 6pm and asked if we wanted to go out for dinner so I braided my hair and put on my best Wednesday Addams outfit and Matt pulled out his old standby costume, the butler, Lurch. It was a good time.

Sew! Sew Like The Wind!

2009-10-25T09:11:00.000-07:00

The above quote was recently brought to my attention by Holli while watching the Three Amigos. It is now my favorite quote and I often find myself thinking it while I'm working in my sewing room. I made goals for myself that were a mite too lofty and have fallen far behind on my sewing work. I'm struck by a pang of fear when I realize that it's almost November. We are going to be gone just about every weekend in November, which will be fun, but good-bye lazy Saturdays, I will see you in the spring!

My high point this week was finding a slimy intruder in my sewing room while I had some people over that I was helping get through a sewing project. There is a crack in the weatherstripping on the exterior doors on my sewing room and I didn't think much of it until this week. I have a number of small drawers that have holes in the front where you stick your finger to pull the drawer open. I was hastily opening and closing each one, looking for a certain color of thread. I found the appropriate shade of whatever-it-was and as a reached in, this guy reached back out at me:
I don't know if it was the surprise of the cold and wet, or the fact that it flew straight towards my jugular while peeing on me that started me screaming, but I totally lost it. My visitors stared at me in disbelief of my vocal chord capabilities while I threw the frog out the door and walked to my room to change, still whimpering.

Wednesday's Top Five

2009-09-30T21:22:00.000-07:00

1. Didn't have to work until noon

2. Bought a treadmill off Craigslist

3. Got a free flu shot at work

4. Had awesome chili at a friends house

5. Trained Jackie how to walk on the treadmill (Thank you, Dog Whisperer)

Gearing up for the Holidays

2009-09-29T22:30:00.000-07:00

I have totally slacked off these last 2 months.

Last week I actually used my sewing room for sewing... after I cleared all the junk that I "cleaned" out of the car and just dumped on my cutting table. I was told last year, by my wise friend Ashley, not to slack off in your craft in the late summer/fall because you could use that time to stock up for Christmas time. I didn't really grasp what she meant, until I had a breakdown on Dec 15th, 2008 because I was so slammed. That resulted in an overwhelming attack of self pity and the purchase of a $200 pair of boots. That's more money than there is in Jackie's college fund.

This year I am going to heed my dear Ashley's advice. I have put my nose to the cgrind stone and have already cut enough fabric to make 80 sets! Don't be too impressed, that took me 4 days and an entire season of Bones.

Either way, I've slowly been sewing my way through my cut stack. I made 2 this morning and 3 the morning before that! Oh yeah... how do you eat a whale? One bite at a time.... or was it an elephant? Jackie thinks it was a giant cat. You just can't trust dogs these days...

Check this out. Mmmmhmmmm. I made that.

Hand-Spun, Hand-Dyed. Does it get any better?

2009-09-19T21:56:00.000-07:00

I love this shop: FranksAndBeans

First off, this is made in Eugene, OR... the land of my birth... so I am already intrigued... but it also is dyed with the most beautiful colors. I love the organic feel to it with it's natural variations and it's bright colors.

In addition to the bright, fun colors, this darker one below has the a great combination of natural dark tones that gets me in the mood to knit a winter scarf and bundle up with some cider.

Top Ten of last Wednesday to This Wednesday

2009-09-16T22:11:00.000-07:00

... in chronological order:

1: Chelsea's birthday party and Daniel's full backyard bar

2: Rafting on the Deschutes River with the awesome people I met from Kory's church

3: Sharing a sleeping bag with my dog, Jackie, as we camped under the stars next to the river

4: Absorbing 600% of my normal dosage of vitamin D on the river while wearing my "inappropriately short shorts" that I bought from Ashley's shop that I LOVE!
(as seen here)

5: Ordering my first 32oz beer at a diner called Calamity Jane's in Sandy, OR. (don't worry, Matt helped me with the consumption part)

6: Baking lots of whole wheat bread on Sunday

7: Spontaneous Sushi takeout with Dave, Jodi, and Cole. mmmmm......

8: Mariachi bands downtown McMinnville, this town is awesome

9: Margaritas shortly before music practice. mmmhmmm.. loosen up those vocal chords...

10: Cameron and Crystal over for dinner after a year and a half!

We owned all the truth ourselves...

2009-09-05T22:42:00.000-07:00

Matt and I had good times with friends this last week. We started off the week with a visit to Everett who was stopping by our little corner of the world as he traipsed across the face of the world. That went so well, that he also came over to our place later in the week. It was so good to see him. Good times were had by all, except maybe Jackie, but... she is kind of snot anyways.

Here is Matt and Everett on our super sweet front porch. We may have talked way too much and stayed up way too late with how early we had to get up, but that's the stuff dreams are made of, people.

We also got to hang out with new friends from my new job later in the week. We had Mexican food, Thai food, Bar food, Ect... It's so great to get to know new people. Everyone is so strange and fun in their own way.

I like it.

... Even Jackie. ...weirdo dog...

Modern Romance

2009-08-31T11:08:00.000-07:00

Today I don't work until noon so I have been trying to fit as much as I can into my window of time between taking Matt to work and then having to go to work myself. So far I have completed half of the wholewheat bread making process, watched two tv episodes off hulu.com, made pesto from the great basil Jess gave me, got ready for work, and picked a dozen cucumbers and half a dozen squash from our urban jungle.

I don't think that I did them in the best order because I've spent the last 15 minutes picking garden mud and twigs out of my flats that I'm wearing to work.

Oh life, someday I'll figure you out.

Back Online!!

2009-08-26T08:43:00.000-07:00

We lost internet connection here at my house for almost 2 weeks. TWO WEEKS!
It was horrible. I cried every night.

Jackie was grateful for all the attention she got though. She is currently sleeping on top of my right foot now so she will know exactly when the internet goes out again.

Our garden is growing out of control! I stopped weeding it because all of the time that I have for the garden has been allotted for harvesting. It is starting to look like a jungle now. Jackie gets lost in it every once in a while so we tie a rope to her when she want's to go sniff around in there.

When daddy comes home, you always start a fight...

2009-08-07T20:01:00.000-07:00

One month at the new job and I'm still there. One of the people who work there with me came out of their office today and exclaimed, "you're still here! That makes me so happy!" which made me surprisingly happy even though it was a bizarre thing to say. It is a pretty hectic work environment but that is an inevitability in trying to coordinate a dozen technicians and a hundred patients. I am really enjoying it all...

In other news. I have started to sew some bags. I always felt like it was a bit futile to sew bags since there are so many seamstresses that already do it so well. While that continues to be true. I am enjoying making really simple over-the-shoulder bags and giving them as gifts. Out at the camp that I worked at up until a month ago, I have 3 summer staffers that were mine to encourage, pray for and talk to, so when I left, I made them all really simple bags as an "I'm leaving you but I still love you" present to assuage the pain of abandonment. I hear that works really well. Anyways, it only took me an hour or so to make these bags and they LOVED them. I was so pumped about that, so watch out... you might be getting a bag in the near future...

Casual Fridays

2009-07-14T20:34:00.000-07:00

For the first time in my life, I work at a place where they have casual Fridays. The only catch is that you have to pay $2 towards the Cancer center if you want to wear jeans... I think I paid $2 for my last pair of jeans.

I just completed my second day and things are going great. I am still overwhelmed with all of the new information, but I had a really good time today. I am working for the hospital in town. I am actually shocked that I enjoy it so much. I was happily collating papers this morning while a tech was telling me how excited he was to go see the midnight showing of Harry Potter, and I was just grinning like a moron. There are, of course, some things that I think might be difficult in time, but I love the interaction with people and the quick paced environment.

The strangest thing for me is that I have no access to the internet at work. It now makes total sense why everyone has a blackberry or iphone. There is free wireless everywhere so they can all surf the old "I" net on any of their breaks. soooo jealous....

Happy 4th!

2009-07-04T11:33:00.000-07:00

While I celebrate the Fourth of July by sitting alone at work, I will tell you a bit about the on-goings of my life:

~I got a new job at the medical center in McMinnville. It is a part time deal where I'll be working at the front desk 2 days a week. I will have the potential to work more later on, but going from working 45hours a week to anything less sounds like a good deal to me. It is also 25 minutes closer than my current job and perhaps within biking distance if I feel like taking my life in my hands and biking on Hwy 99.

~Jackie-O is still a dog. She hasn't turned into our first born child yet... but who knows.

~The Recycled Arts Festival went really well. Vancouver, WA is such a beautiful city anyways, but the weather was perfect. It drew a great crowd and the vendors and customers were all pleasant to be around. I sold a good amount of merchandise so I will certainly be spending much of my newly aquired time on creating more flatware sets.

~The Blues Festival in Portland was also splendid, we were there yesterday afternoon with our friends Dave and Jodi. It was a scorcher though. I think I drank 3 gallons of water while I was there which resulted in a disapointing amount of port-o-potty visits.

Recycled Arts Festival

2009-06-23T21:42:00.000-07:00

This weekend I've got a booth at the Recycled Arts Festival in Vancouver, WA so if you are in the Portland/Vancouver area, come check us out. I will be there all day Sat. and most the day Sun. Jackie is going to stay at Uncle Stevie and Aunt Holli's during the day. Then in the evening, Matt and I are going to stay at their place and together we will all party until the landlords come home. We are thinking of starting the evening off with a McMinnemins trip(a local brew pub) , walking around town making jokes at each others expense and then probably something involving the mistreatment of cats*. That last idea was the dogs idea which may be vetoed Aunt Holli.

Here is the festival website if you want to check it out:

www.recycledartsfestival.com

*don't worry, I would never actually harm an animal, seriously.... unless it was a mosquito. Then I might have to escort it into the afterlife.

Also:

2009-06-22T10:17:00.001-07:00

This treasury will be active until Wed morning, so check out my flatware set now!

Here

I feel like I'm taking crazy pills!

2009-06-22T09:06:00.000-07:00

I feel like I've been pretty high strung lately. Things have been a little stressful and I don't think that I've really been taking the time to calm down from one disaster before I go storming into the next Charlie Foxtrot. This state of mind leads to a crazed look perpetually plastered on my face and robs Jackie from her quality dog/owner time since I'm too busy tripping over her as I run around. Jackie has submitted a formal complaint to the Poochie Protection Society.

A good stress relief was Ian's most recent post which can be perused to the right under "Angry Scottsman..."

Enjoy, and post any good stress relief ideas you may have so Jackie doesn't leave me forever.

New Friend: Blueberries, Old Friend: Coffee

2009-06-20T09:03:00.000-07:00

I never was fond of blueberries growing up. I think that when I would go to those "U-Pick" places with my mom I at the little green berries and possibly small branches instead of the ripe ones. I'm guessing that because I was convinced that blueberries were sour, nasty little things, unless you added 37 lbs of sugar.

Since we moved to a more rural side of McMinnville, I've been more inclined to shop at Winco because of it's close proximity, even though I verge on a panic attack from the crowds. I don't usually like shopping because I go into a time warp where everything is in slow motion which creates a fog and confusion in my brain which always lands me 8 hours later in a foreign parking lot with a killer headache. One thing that helped in a BIG way is that I learned from some weathered Winco veterans that if you go in the middle of the day, it's not as bad.

So.... finally, to my point. I now can meander in slow motion through the store and observe everything that I want without my heels getting hammered with a shopping buggy. This has made my shopping experience more enjoyable AND more effective. I now can stroll through the produce area and actually buy things. I kept passing the California blueberries and glaring at them, because they were on sale and looked good, but I knew that they would taste nasty. Finally, I gave in and bought them. More as a means of getting some antioxidants than to fill my belly with tastiness. I washed and ate a few for breakfast the next morning and was so surprised. I now seem to have an insatiable appetite for fresh berries with my coffee every morning.

Strange mix, you say? maybe... probably... definitely.

Workin for the Weekend

2009-06-10T12:48:00.000-07:00

My work week just started after a 5 day weekend. It was great to have such a long break. My brother, Ian came to visit for the first 2 days of the break. We meandered around to different wineries and toured the countryside. We also went to the Farmers Market in McMinnville just in time to see a crazy wind storm sweep all the tents away. Jackie was not a big fan of the lighting. She put her ears back and her tail scooped under her belly. She was looking at us like we were the cause of the loud claps.... which in fact, we were not.

It was fun to see such crazy weather in a usually docile area. The trees outside our house dropped an insane amount of branches. It looked like a war zone.

The rest of the weekend I spent posting items on my Etsy site. I posted mostly what I made on our coast trip. I have a show coming up where I am only bringing sets made from recycled materials so I've been getting started on more of those. Stay tuned....

Crafting at the Beach

2009-06-05T13:46:00.000-07:00

I know, I know, it was 2 weeks ago now.... but it was a great time.

6.5 friends of mine and I went to Seal Rock on the coast and spent the whole weekend crafting and hanging out. It was pretty laid back and really nice to spend time with all of the people who came. Holli was a Sicky Bartocomus but she got to rest indoors while the rest of us were taking our obligatory walks to the beach even thought the weather was less than awesome.

I wanted to take photos of all the cool projects that we had going, but alas, I am easily distracted.

Here are some photos of us training for our superhero squad:Alissa was practicing the fine art of Levitation. The others are practicing lethal kidney kicks.

In the above photo, Alissa and I are practicing the lethal kidney strike while Suzanne and Philippa coach us on our form.
This is the bridge that we had to slay 4 trolls to cross. Ashley is getting her fists of fury inspected after single handedly killing 2 of the scoundrels.

Beagles?! In Space?!

2009-05-16T09:51:00.000-07:00

In my absence from blog posting, I have been doing quite a few time consuming things. Unfortunately they are all extremely boring and work related so I'll just touch on the non-work, and hopefully non-boring-make-me-want-to-slap-myself stuff.

First, I was late picking Matt up one day from work(don't worry, that's as close as I will get to the evil "W" word from now on) so I was taking the corners a little sharp in the old Honda. As I screeched into the empty parking lot, Matt stormed out of the front door with an angry look on his face. He hopped in the car before I had brought the vehicle to a complete standstill.

Before I could get any words of apology out he exclaimed, "Excuse me! I'm late for a date with my wife. We are going to be late for the movie that I was going to surprise her with!"

I replied in astonishment, "Holy crap, where to?"

He told me the theatre and said, "It's something about Trekking in the Stars, I'm not sure..."

I proceeded to exceed the maximum speed limit back through town the our town's little movie theatre. "Star Trek" was the official title of the movie(just is case you hadn't figure it out) which is a movie that I had been dreading and looking forward too. I grew up with star trek and love it as a kid because my dad love it. I was afraid that they were going to turn it into a Fast and Furious in space... which I hated!! (don't worry Vin Diesel, I still love you. I know, you were really worried).

I was so relieved; I enjoyed it so much. It was such a great portrayal of where the classic Star Trek characters came from. It really grabbed my from the beginning and when it ended I had to check my watch because I thought only 20 minutes had passed! Last but not least, Scottie even mentioned transporting a beagle! Jackie was tickled pink to hear that.

Ode to a tempermental sewing machine

2009-05-01T07:19:00.000-07:00

Wow this week went by like greased lighting.

I had a staff retreat on Wednesday-Thursday so that broke the week up.

Today I am going down to Eugene with Matt and the Jack-O's to do a craft show, see Ashley, The-Belated-Birthday-Girl, and see some out-of-town family.

I was sewing like crazy at the start of the week so I would have all the stock that I wanted for the show but then my sewing machine decided to stop working. No amount of persuading or cajoling could make it do it's crafty dance. I guess that is it's way of telling me that I have enough.

As I was typing that last line, I looked out my window and saw the neighbors dog starting to squat in our yard. Jackie noticed me looking and saw him too so I opened the door and she shot out to give him the what-for. He didn't notice Jackie until she was about 10 feet away and he moved his little piggy butt faster that I've ever seen him before. Jackie chased him around the corner so I whistled for her to come back and she came trotting over the hill with mud all over her feet and her beagle ears thrown back in triumph.... a job well done. Our yard is safe for yet another day.

Soothing Sundays

2009-04-27T07:53:00.000-07:00

This last Sunday was such a relief! I was so tired when I got off work Saturday night that I was thinking, "this is when my immune system usually craps out... I'll be getting the flu in 5, 4, 3, ..."
but after church we went to a friends house for lunch. After making friends with their goats, we came home and slept for 2 hours. I then did some cleaning in the kitchen and made some apricot scones, oatmeal butterscotch cookies and some pasta for dinner. Matt and I sat in the kitchen eating and drinking with Kory and his friend Andy until bedtime.

This may seem like an ordinary day but I usually feel so pressured to sew any time that I am not at work. I glanced at my sewing room door a few times throughout the day but didn't make myself go in. It was a good day.

Yes, They Pass the Awesome Test

2009-04-23T12:30:00.001-07:00

My Weekend

2009-04-20T22:16:00.000-07:00

My weekend days are technically Sun-Mon, but I will tell you about the traditional weekend, as well as my own. Yes, a bonus.

On Friday night, I stayed at work until 10:30 finishing up my "to-do" list of tasks for our fundraiser run on Saturday. I got home and went straight to bed at 12am. I fell asleep at 2:30am.

On Saturday morning, Jackie and I got to the run sight 5 minutes after 8am after driving around the countryside for a while trying to find my way. I helped register runners while Jackie sat wide-eyed under the picnic table wondering where the hell all these people came from. The both of us had the important job of following up the participants with a first aid kit. We walked 5 of the 10K and made our way back to the pavilion for refreshments. I was so sleepy and exhausted that the pile of scones, muffins, and brownies called with a sirens wail to me like I have never heard before. Jackie was fed 4 or 9 muffins by some children while I compared the brownies to the cinnamon bread.
At 1pm, I fought off my overeating coma and we left to go out to camp. I worked until 9pm while Jackie glowered at the youth running a muck on the grounds. We then drove home and attempted to watch an episode of House with Matt but Jackie was passed out and I couldn't stay awake.

By the time my real weekend started (Sunday) the only things that I could do, were eat, sleep and sew. I also went out to lunch with Lucia today.... oh wait, I said "eat" already.

Things I Love

2009-04-18T14:25:00.000-07:00

Driving my Honda Civic around the camp that I work at as if it were an off road vehicle.

Telling people that Jackie wakes up at 4am every morning to put on her black eyeliner.

Sunshine.

A cold Tanqueray and tonic.

Good memories of old friend and good times now.

Any action movie with Bruce Wilis.

Charles Dickens and George Eliot.

Gardening.

Matt's smiles.

The Whole Fam Damily

2009-04-13T11:16:00.000-07:00

Holy week this year was awesome. We were invited to a Passover feast on Thursday night with some friends and the dinner was amazing. The food was crazy good and the time with friends was great.

We spent this last weekend in Portland with Steve, Holli, and Ian. Holli and I did our best to dress up as Easter eggs for Sunday morning. It made up for wearing all black and grey for the Good Friday service. We are all about balance. Holli sang with the choir for both service and was splendid. I would have thrown flowers on the stage but the vases were too far from my seat.

Jackie and Parker got to take part in the festivities by eating our left over blueberry pancakes. Jackie looks more like a jackal in this photo.

Steve and Holli made us an amazing lunch of lamb and taters. I made my first batch of french bread which you can see to the left in this photo. I left quite a bit of room for improvement, but I have hope for the future. It was really tasteless compared to the wheat bread that I made(see photos below) for dinner on Good Friday. Don't tell the French that I botched their bread.

The best things since unleaven bread...

2009-04-08T23:18:00.000-07:00

Look at this!

This is the first time that I've baked whole wheat bread and had it not look like a hockey puck. I got this recipe from my work and it was relatively easy. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with 4 loaves of this now, but you can count on me having a tasty sandwich tomorrow... and I don't even like sandwiches. Take that, Wonderbread!

There and Back Again

2009-04-08T10:17:00.000-07:00

Matt and I took a speed trip to the LA and San Diego area this last weekend. We drove late into the night to Sacramento and stayed with Jose Luis and Diana. We then drove to LA and got to see Jack's place of employment. We hung out with Jack and went to The Getty(amazing!) among other places. Then we drove down to see my Grandma and Uncle Kent in San Diego.

Jackie got to come and she shared her dogginess with all of southern california. She wasn't crazy about the long car rides but enjoyed the rest area rabbits, the smelly hitchiker, the tasty kitchen floor at Jack's, and learning how to chase a tennis ball from my uncles dog.

Jack was a great host. We went to some great restaurants in Pasadena and had a relaxing time.
The weather in San Diego was perfect. We went down to Coronado with my grandma and uncle for dinner and the sun set on the bay while we were eating. It was good to be there and see some of the Naval buildings that my dad and grandpa worked in years ago.

Adventures in Laziness, Starring Brielle

2009-03-30T10:50:00.000-07:00

Needless to say, I was lazy this weekend. Our friends Joel and Erica came up from Eugene to visit on Saturday night, which was great. We stayed up too late on Saturday but still made it to church Sunday by 8am so Matt could sing. After church we came home and lounged around the house all day eating carbs and cheese. mmmmmm.....

After Joel and Erica went home, I watched an obscene amount of the Dog Whisperer before doing some sewing. I have set goals for myself to accomplish before April but I realized this morning that I'm pretty sure April starts tomorrow. I'm too scared to look at a calender and let's face it, I really don't have to look at one until tomorrow when I go to work. So take that, you stinking goals.

Virtual Deppe House Tour

2009-03-27T08:07:00.000-07:00

Here are some photos* of our new digs. Matt gets all the credit for actually taking them. I know that I promised them weeks ago, but the camera was always in the car, or (insert more excuses here)...

*no photos of my sewing room are included in this batch. I don't want any trade secrets to be revealed.

Occupational Hazards

2009-03-23T09:10:00.000-07:00

I've been working on some large projects lately which requires me to use the large floor in the living room. I've heard of people who have cats that lay on the book that the're reading or a paper that they are writing on. As a dog owner, I've never had that problem until I started using the floor as my work space. It never fails that as soon as I kneel down to arrange something, Jackie has her furry butt on whatever I am directing my attention towards.Here Jackie is laying on a tarp that I was making for my dad. She is a peaceful protester. I finally gave up and took her for a walk shortly after this photo was taken.

2009-03-17T07:26:00.000-07:00

Actually, I did leave for work looking like this today...

Cosa Verde

2009-03-16T12:28:00.000-07:00

Ashley(Bullfight) and I started using the site Cosa Verde to show some of our products. It's a new site but it has a very user friendly format. It brings together a great conglomeration of Eco conscious sellers and buyers. The people who run the site are great about getting more sellers to use the site so there is always something new and creative to see.

The Market Bag Winner

2009-03-15T17:07:00.001-07:00

Congratulations Candice!

We have a winner for the Reusable Market Bag. Look for more giveaways in your future Pony Up Design newsletters. Once again, if you would like to recieve the bi-monthly newsletter, email your snail mail address to ponyupdesign (at) gmail.com. I'm moving towards 100% recycled paper for our next issue, provided by my local stationary store.

Newsletter Incentives

2009-03-05T06:45:00.001-08:00

Hello faithful readers. When I mailed out my Jan/Feb '09 newsletter for Pony Up Design, I advertised a giveaway for a reusable Market Bag made from reclaimed materials. In every newsletter, I do a giveaway or a discount, or both and all you have to do is email me when you get the newsletter.

Pretty easy, huh?

Now if that isn't enough to get you to sign up for my newsletter, then I don't know what is. If free items coming to your front door via my friends at the US Postal Service sounds like the greatest, then email me your snail mail address at ponyupdesign (at) gmail.com.

Just because I love my blog readers, go ahead and email me how you can make your shopping trips more responsible and sustainable at that same email address and I will enter you into my newsletter drawing for my reusable Market Bag. A winner will be drawn on March 15th.

Good luck!

The Best of Times and the Worst of Times

2009-03-04T10:37:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, when I was driving to work, I realized that almost everytime I've gone to a concert to see a performance of a band that I like, I have stopped listening to them afterwards. These bands have included:

Squad-5-O
Ben Harper
Bright Eyes
Jack Johnson
Wolf Parade
Animal Collective

Some concerts were great and some, not so great. I'm not sure why this happens but it might explain why I don't really like to go to concerts.

We Don't Care About The Young Folks Talking About The Young Style

2009-02-25T08:34:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow is Matt's birthday. I'm not sure what the rules about revealing age are with men, so I'll stay on the safe side and just tell you that he is still under 30. Are you happy now? Good.

We are having some people over tomorrow night for waffles, tequila sunrises, and sushi. I know, life doesn't get much better than that. You should come. The only thing is, we just moved, so you will need to rent a hound to sniff out our trail. Or you could just contact me and I'll give you our new address.

We are still working on unpacking. It's so draining but we are almost done with the last room. My sewing room became the room where we placed all the boxes that were still in question. It is starting to look like a functioning room now so I will hopefully be back online with my etsy shop soon. I have a friend right now photographing some of my items so I might be posting sooner than later.

The Dog That Ate Itself

2009-02-20T17:11:00.000-08:00

There have been two causalties from our recent move. Things lost, never to be found. The first grave loss is my battery charger. My camera is dead, and I have torn the place apart looking for the AA charger. Well, you probably don't want to see the new place now that it is trashed...

The second is the cord to our speakers. That's right, we are suffering from Pandora Silence. It actually forced Matt and I to crack the covers of some of our dusty records, which spurred us to eliminate a third of them. That felt good. See ya Beegee's

I've Got More Records Than the KGB

2009-02-18T14:11:00.001-08:00

Not that any of them are good. We just moved across town and it was a great chance to siphon off things to the 2nd hand store. I think that we got rid of the same amount of stuff that we kept. The only thing that we didn't go through was our records. We have collected so many through the years indiscriminately. Now what am I to do with my old dusty records that I don't listen to anymore? Maybe I should install them under the house as insulation.

The new place is great, even more so since we have gotten rid of so much stuff. I will post pictures when you are able to see more than just unpacked boxes and piles.

The most important thing at this point? We now have a hot tub. Mmmhmm....

Chocolate and Bacon Go Well Together... Who Knew?

2009-02-11T13:56:00.000-08:00

I found that out today when I was eating breakfast too fast. Most of you would have probably quessed that these two amazing foods would compliment eachother, but your better judgement(and arteries) held you back from actually trying it. Now you know.

In other news, Mr. Ozzy O. was spotted here in the local super market... hmmm... not as exciting as the WINNER OF THE DRAWING!!

After raiding the recycle bin, writting all the commenters names on a piece, and mixing them up in a bowl, I drew ALISSA'S name!

Congratulations Alissa! I will mail your prize of awesomeness out this weekend and you can start picnicing at the Japanese Garden! (so jealous)

Wonder Of Creation

2009-02-04T15:44:00.000-08:00

At work, I found this great site that is all about Creation and the beauty of the outdoors. There are great stories, quotes, and photos. Very inspiring. http://www.wonderofcreation.org/

Giveaway- Bamboo Flatware Set

2009-01-31T11:54:00.001-08:00

This is Pony Up Design's staple product. Surprisingly, the market for these sets spans continents and generations with general ease. The set that I am giving away this month will be quite similar to the one above. (not exactally, but close)

All you have to do in order to recieve this bundle of pure happiness, is write a comment on this post about where you would use this set.

Jackalope Dreams

2009-01-28T08:28:00.000-08:00

After some good prodding and encouragement, I can see that a Jackalope T-shirt and a flatware set are the only things that will do for my first give-away. Even though it seems that I will not reach the full potential of my creative genious until I design and create a Jackalope shirt, I'm really not that into screen printing. There, I said it. I don't like the process, the chemicals, and the mess. I think that it is best to leave screen printing to the experts and I will stick to sewing.

I know that this disappoints, and even devastates some of you, but don't be discouraged. There is yet hope for your dreams to be realized.

Here are some more dream fulfillers:

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?ref=sr_list_1&listing_id=18727562

http://store.yque.com/savjacyelpri.html

http://www.cafepress.com/gazebogifts.152990925

I'ma Tha Winner!

2009-01-23T11:27:00.001-08:00

I have great news. I am an avid reader of Danny Seo's blog called Daily Danny and can be perused to the right here--->

It's a fun and informative blog to read but he also does the occasional give away, which I won last week! I think he does it quite well too, because they are simple, straight forward, and he gives away quality products.

I decided that I've been too greedy with my Etsy shop and I now need to get into the give-away business. So, my faithful readers, help me decide which product should be my first. OR, if there is a Pony Up Design product that only exists in your dreams and you have been holding your breath for me to create it, let me know! Share your inspiration!

More specifically, I need you all to go to my Etsy shop, pick out your item of choice that you would like to see given away this month, and post a description of it in the comments. Thank you for your help. Further instructions will be given upon deciding a giveaway item.

Property Managers and Field Trips

2009-01-20T12:56:00.000-08:00

Matt and I have been living in a rental for the past year where our landlord is a property managment company. It is fairly easy to deal with because everything is automated and there is protocol for everything. Since we have the Jackalope, they require us to have our apartment inspected every 6 months or so, just to make sure we aren't traning our dog to use our spare room as a toilet.

This can be fairly annoying because they say that they prefer you to be present upon inspection, but they give you an 8 hours window of time that they will be coming over. Instead of taking a whole day off work, I took the passive approach and just left the door unlocked and took Jackie to work with me. She is usually pretty shy and will just sit in the corner of the room and stare at people, but she's been having a grand old time sniffing around. She even got a ball from my co-worker in the office next to mine. Right now she's snoozing off the lunch that we spilt, but I'm sure she will be up and inspecting the other offices soon.

I have a meeting in a half an hour and I think that I will bring her and use her as an enforcer. If people try to interupt me she'll just use her beagle bark to let them know that they are over the line. We could go a long ways together.

Everyone Needs A Hero

2009-01-17T22:39:00.001-08:00

And today I was one.

There was a sneaky, evasive smell lurking about are facilities today. After some customers reported smelling propane, everyone was nervous. No one dared light candles, start fires in the fireplace, slam doors...ect.

Regardless of the fact that I was unable to detect any propane smell, I courageously turned off the propane powered heater but to no avail.

Fear still gripped our patrons.

Our lives were still in the balance.

After consulting a wise man, the property manager, I located the outdoor propane tank and cranked it off by hand with an audience of grateful, propane non-explosion survivors. Just to be safe, all the doors were opened and the building was aired out, reducing the temperature to 39 degrees.

We all made it out alive. Well, all of us except the 8 hours of propane heat that was wasted.

...but I was amazing.

Sweetness, I was only joking when I said...

2009-01-16T10:12:00.001-08:00

How's everybody doing today? Good? Good.

Everything is covered in a layer of frost here this morning. I didn't dress apropriately for work today so I have been borrowing items from the lost and found. Things are picking up and I am keeping busy. I can't wait for the sun to come and greet us again. Evidently the Daffodils and Iris' also cannot wait; I found them popping their heads out of the frozen ground today. I shook my head like a knowing grandmother watching her grandkids trying to lick the frost off of a flagpole.

As I'm laying into my third cup of coffee this morning, I'm spending my break looking at Abbeys and Monastaries in my area. I had no idea how many are nestled into the middle Willamette Valley. There is one pretty close to the Oregon Garden and I am dreaming of taking a trip down there to hit them both up on the same trip. I just need the sun to coax some more flowers out first. Here are some monastary goats. Very exotic.

Rockin and Rollin and Whatnot

2009-01-13T10:49:00.000-08:00

I got a new computer at work today. It is so fantastic. I love it. It is a Frankenstiened computer from the IT department but it is leaps and bounds better than by last one which was the PC equivilent to the Apple 2E.

I have the old one sitting in a sad grey heap behind me now in my office. I was told that I could dispose of it as I see fit. The following are my best ideas so far:

Recreating the Office Space beating of the office equipment in the field. Probably with an aluminum bat.
Creating a large found object sculpture in the front yard of my rental. It would probably also include a few of the toys from my neighbors front yard.
Mounting the moniter on my car as a hood ornament.
Fullfilling my lifelong dream to be as cool as Bruce Willis in Die Hard and tying it to a large quanity of c4 and dropping it down an elevator shaft.
Saving it until next Christmas and sending it to IT with a big red bow on it.

Unused/Reclaimed

2009-01-09T08:33:00.000-08:00

I'm not sure what you would call a material that was new, never used, but thrown away, and then used. Would the person who used it after it was discarded be ale to say that it was reclaimed material even though it was new?

While I wait for your answers to pour in, I will show you an example of one of the fabrics that I have recently been blessed with:

Originally meant for office furniture, this fabric comes in a variety of sizes, shapes, and designs. Some of it looks like it was from the corporate suite, and some of it looks like it's straight from the Jetson's couch. On second thought, did the Jetsons have anything upholstered?Jackie says that Astro's bed was upholstered with espresso leather (She's jealous).

Matt had an idea that I should create a line of products that are 100% recycled. My current collection has many varying degrees of reused/reclaimed but some parts are almost always new. The chopsticks, and the napkins for sure. I thought it was a good idea though. I'm looking into reused material that can be used for a napkin and still fit with the look I'm going for.

Post Holiday Stress

2009-01-05T11:09:00.000-08:00

Traveling for Christmas this year could have been worse, but not much. Luckily we had quite a bit of help from our family, but it was still no fun getting up at 3am, delayed flights, sitting in the plane for 2 hours before it took off, having a 2 minute lay-over, angry Russian passengers... ect.

Since it was such nasty weather in McMinnville before Christmas, I got a few days off work and then our vacation after that. Today is my first day back in almost a month! I'm surprised they remembered who I was when I walked in the door. I actually felt pretty fortunate to have the first week before Christmas off because I locked myself in the house for a week and sewed, posted and shipped a few dozen items for my etsy shop.

I'm quite happy to be home now and so is Jackie-O. She wasn't sure if she was ready to warm up to us again after leaving her with my brother for 2 weeks. We eventually convinced her with excess scratches and hugs.

Here is a picture of her sleeping off her egg-nog overdose under the christmas tree with my brother Steve:

It's snowing like crazy

2008-12-17T12:07:00.000-08:00

...and underneath the snow is ice. That makes for a snow day for Brielle. It's giving me a chance to post all of my items that I made for the Crafty Wonderland sale. Not very many people came to the sale due to the nasty weather so it was kind of a flop...

It was good to get out and see other vendors though. There were quite a few other booths that were very worth seeing. I traded a bit but I surprisingly spent more on food that merchandise. OK, not surprising. But I think that I've been on this buy-nothing kick for so long that I have a hard time justifying buying things that aren't dollar store prices(besides food). I got a great headband though and traded a flatware set for a very cool journal.

December Madness

2008-12-08T14:29:00.000-08:00

What a crazy month this is! I'm learning that it is sooo easy to overcommit to things this season. I have a week of parties until my show this weekend in Portland. They are work parties and whanot but I'm going to have to pull some late nights to prepare for the Crafty Wonderland Super Colossal Holiday Sale.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2008-11-27T15:04:00.000-08:00

Jackie is soooo happy that she's not a turkey today... even though we still call her one.

Cousin Parker came over last night. He is going to stay with us while his parents are travelling Europe. We are looking for a part time job for him. It's good to have him around but he likes to stand in between me and anywhere I'm trying to go. I'm thinking that a part time job at McDonalds would do the trick. I think he'd be great at making burgers.

mmmmm... burgers.....

Cherry Tree Studio

2008-11-20T16:47:00.000-08:00

Welcome to Etsy Cristina!

Watch for updates here.

Decisions Decisions

2008-11-18T08:54:00.000-08:00

I'm struggleing with something so I need you help. I am doing an informal presentation at a local bookstore this thursday evening. I am going to be speaking to buyers and sellers so it will be difficult have a cohesive dealie. My biggest deliberation though, is what products to bring. I think that I can bring 3 or 4 things and still have it all mesh well.

Please vote below:

1 Antique Flatware Sets
2 Bamboo Flatware Sets
3 Toddler Flatware Sets
4 Gift bags
5 Market bags
6 Produce bags
7 Passport Holders
8 Recycled Notepads
9 Gift Tags
10 Herbal Heat/Cool Packs

(the last two I've made just for my December shows, but I could take them to this event too)

Let me know what you think...

New Produce Bags

2008-11-14T02:33:00.000-08:00

I've been having a lot of fun pulling some late night sewing parties. Those in attendace are, me ... and the dog. I have been enjoying getting ready for the Crafty Wonderland show and have started to package up some of my new products.

These little bulk food or produce bags are useful ones. I actually used one of them as a gift bag with some reused colored tissue paper. Maybe someday I'll get it back with something amazing in it, like peanut brittle.

On a Particularly Stormy Northcoast Day...

2008-11-12T07:17:00.000-08:00

I'm lived within an hour of the coast my entire life but it's always so cold and windy that I have never felt like I live "by the beach". I have been to the coast and forgot my jacket and mittens enough times that I have learned to loath the biting winds and the runny noses.

My job took me to Cannon Beach on a particularly stormy day this fall and I thought, "Oh, big surprise, it's rainy and windy again". When I came back to the office, one of my co-workers announced that she was going to the coast that weekend to Nye Beach to sit in a Bed and Breakfast's library, drink hot cocoa, and watch the storms roll in. It all hit me at that moment that I have been resenting Oregon's coast for 25 years because it isn't warm and peaceful like the San Diego vacations to Grandmas house. But Oregon's coast is a whole different creation in a way, and one more enjoyed as it is, from an enclosed enviroment, with a hot beverage in your hand. Then the thick blanket of grey skies and the roaring waves, that you can still hear while being indoors, are like mood lighting and background music.

I'll Drink to That

2008-11-10T09:04:00.000-08:00

I always look forward to a quiet fall/winter season when summer madness is over. However, as November rolls around, my calendar surprises me as the weekends and evenings fill up with holiday activities. Matt and I get to celebreate Thankgiving and Christmas twice this year, so that takes up a decent amount of weekends.

Jackie turned 3 last month. She has been giving me the silent treatment because I forgot to mention it here. She got a dog bone and scratches. She said that her birthday scratches were suspiciously like her every-day scratches, but leave it to Jackie to be discontent. She just told me that you should all know that Oct. 14th is her birthday if you want to send large cash gifts to her for her 4th birthday.

Who ya fallin for?

2008-11-05T21:52:00.000-08:00

I apologize profusely for my lack of posting.. yadda yadda ....
...I've been pretty busy sewing more items for my sale in December. I am not doing too badly, I sewed 13 more flatware sets this weekend! I only posted 2 so far though. I'm making a few things just for the show as well. We will see how they do. This is my first Christmas time show.
Another exciting item on my blogging list today is that on Nov. 20th I will be showing and telling my wares at 3rd Street Books in McMinnville. They have invited me to participate in a new series of crafty crafters coming in and talking about their bag of tricks in a forum type enviroment. Bonus, because it will be at one of my favorite stores in McMinnville and I think it will be a small, but interested group to present to. Double plus.

Market Bags on the Loose

2008-10-30T11:43:00.000-07:00

You may be wondering who this attractive woman is. Well, if you are, it is my sister-in-law who is also modeling one of my Market Bags. She's giving up practicing Law to become my full tim product model. She doesn't know this yet, but I think your support will sway her back from the dark side.

Button Ideas

2008-10-29T08:27:00.000-07:00

I have been trying to draw designs for my promo buttons and I'm coming up short on ideas. They will be the 3/4 inch buttons and I already have 3 designs but that's it. I have a fork and knife on one, a flying plate on the second, and a wine glass and a pilsner glass on the other.

If I didn't know any better you'd think I was a vendor from the gluttony circle of hell.

I think I might try thr elephant design. Any suggestions?

Birthday Bliss

2008-10-22T14:46:00.001-07:00

Yes, my birthday is not until December, but due to forces beyond my control, we are celebrating THIS WEEKEND. It's going to be my quarter of a century party. Old, yet still young...

Wow, typing a quarter of a century reminds me of how I've always looked forward to being 25. I though I'd be established in my job, free from acne, a creative genious, financially secure, and married to an awesome man.

Now that my 25th birthday is upon me I can only say the last one for sure.

I did just find out that my "temp"position out here at the camp will turn into permanent on the 31st. Hooray!

Lastly, but not leastly, I've invited some people over this fri-sun for a weekend of birthday decadence. If you are in driving distance and are not internet-stalking me from a minimum security facility, you are more than welcome to come over for a drink and a gander with the Jack-O dog.

We've All Been Painted By Numbers

2008-10-16T11:02:00.000-07:00

I made this set on accident last night. I meant to make a set, but the seams were in the wrong place. I realized that I actually loved the design though and it made me laugh. It is my favorite set so far. I think I've made about 200 of these now so that's saying something.

Crafty Goodness

2008-10-15T14:20:00.000-07:00

Holy cow. Yesterday, Jackie-O hurt her leg whilst in hot puruit of a frisbee, and I got excepted to the Crafty Wonderland Super Colossal Holiday Sale (on Dec. 14th at the Portland Convention Center). I ran around town trying to find some doggy dope (Canine Aspirin) and I had to go all the way out to Petco. The clerks at the usual store that I get dog supplies at looked at me like I was some kind of sick addict when I asked if the had dog pain killers. I guess that's run of the mill at Petco.

I took the day off to monitor the poochie and a great side effect of that is that I got a lot of sewing done. I have so much fabric right now, and I have a decent amount of demand. I just need to do it.

Ok, going to make more coffee and do some more sewing. Wish Jackie luck with her recovery.

To The Valley Below

2008-10-13T11:13:00.000-07:00

I think that I spilled coffee on my at some point this morning. I keep smelling it as I walk around the office. It was a rough morning to be awake for me. I just couldn't wake up. I was running behind so you'd think that I'd be pushing the envelope with the speed limit but I kept finding myself going 15 miles below the speed limit, musing about my bizarre dreams last night.
I won't bore you with them but you should probably know that it involved me in a foriegn country where the small native folk wouldn't give me any food in exchange for my wadded up 4 dollar bills.

I'm thinking about Christmas crafts shows all of a sudden. In August it seemed ludacris to prepare for Christmas, but September snuck by so now I'm left half way through October with not a whole lot to sell. I'm so tempted to make those microwavable heat packs because of how stinkin cold it has goten in my house. The markets are always flooded with those things, but I am still tempted to try my hand at it.

Foggy Mornings

2008-10-08T10:07:00.000-07:00

Fall is here and this morning I discovered ice on my car for the first time in a long time. I am really enjoying all things October this year. I was so sad to see the summer end but now that I am eating squash and cutting Cattails out of ditches to decorate with, I'm quite pleased.

Matt and I went to our first giant pumpkin festival last weekend. Our friends grow giant pumpkins so we went to see the weighing and his weighed in at almost 700 lbs! I couldn't believe it. I could've made 300 pumkins pies at least!

Jackie isn't so sure about this fall business though. We have to have a conference every morning to see if it is dry enough out that we can leave the door open for her to go outside and chase cats.

Me I'm a creator...

2008-10-04T22:16:00.000-07:00

I know you are all sick of hearing this, but can you believe how fast September went by? I still haven't mailed out my newsletter. It's almost done. I just have to have Jackie proof read it. She doesn't want me mailing out anything that would embarrass her in front of her friends.

I'm soliciting a bit of Matt's expertise for the main article in this next issue. Water conservation is my little kick and Matt works that all day. Who better that he? Jackie? She takes 6 hour long showers every other day... think again...

I hope to get it out early this next week though, so you watch out mailing list.

Etsy Shop of the Week

2008-09-29T12:55:00.000-07:00

This may be redundant, since almost everyone know that I love Bullfight's shop, but here it goes officially:

Bullfight-

Her undies are all made from reclaimed fabric which means that each one is totally unique and awesome. I have purchased a few and they do not disappoint.

A view to a Kill

2008-09-26T14:49:00.000-07:00

I have a great view from my office window. It is of a rogue maple tree trying to grow underneath a giant hazelnut tree. Their struggle is slow but gripping. I have this gut feeling that the hazelnut tree will win. I'm not sure, but it did resort to throwing filberts at the maple tree... and my car.

99 bottles of Pino Noir on the wall

2008-09-19T17:13:00.000-07:00

Someone told me today that they like to call Thanksgiving "Fall Feast" because of the alliteration.... so all the words in the title began with the same letter. I told them that all the words in the title "Thanksgiving" started with the same letter too and that they should shut their stinkin' yapper.

All of the above may have only occurred in an alternate reality created by my exhaustion.

I get a two and a half day weekend which feels amazing because I've been working so long I'm having a hard time remembering my birthday and other vital info. Jackie loves it too because it means she gets to weasel her way under every chair that I sit it. All day.

Cutlery To Go

2008-09-18T07:35:00.001-07:00

After weeks of waiting.... my mention finally has come. Check it out here.
Momentum Magazine has written a paragraph about me in their September/October Issue. No photos online, but maybe in the actual magazine.

Other exciting news: My dad in Michigan has collected remnants of office furniture fabric and sent me a box. I really excited to start making things out of all these new designs. They are all fairly understated, darker designs, since they are meant for furniture, but I really like them. We will see how they turn out.

2008-09-16T06:06:00.001-07:00

These two weeks have been pretty crazy. I got to go to Eugene for an awesome wedding. The bride wore a handmade dress that was beautiful. I'll post pictures soon.

I am in the middle of a week long trip around the northwest. I'm helping coordinate a tour for EIder Hostel of the bridges and lighthouses here in Oregon. I have to get up pretty early for this new job so I am a bit tired. I woke up at 5:39 this morning. I don't even want to remember when that happened last.

I am very excited for today though because we are going to one of my favorite Oregon towns, Pacific City. That is where I learned to surf and got hypothermia. Coincidence? I think not.

I have been having the strangest dreams lately and they all involve people I know. This can be a very bad thing because I think that I have had conversations with people, that were really just my wild imagination trying to break into reality. Nothing too crazy has resulted, just momentary confusion at times. Is that how the madness start? uh oh...

Pony it up

2008-09-10T21:39:00.000-07:00

Matt and I got to go back to Eugene recently and got to see some friends. We went to a pub and I lost my voice from having to shout. Also, I think Ashley has had those glasses since highshcool. Soooo jealous.

Matt's arm is featured here with a view of Ian scanning the pub for rabid wombats.
Pat made this shirt about a year ago at the screen printing party where Pony Up Design was born... or the idea at least.

Lighthouse Nuptuals

2008-09-08T21:41:00.000-07:00

This is the story of Uncle Bucks wedding at the coast. Most of the photos are taken in the shadow of a lighthouse, but Brielle though it unnecessary to document that in a photo. Oh foolish Brielle.
My camera took only blurry photos because it is the Oregon Coast and always cold and misty.... and I left my camera on some odd function for taking really close up photos.
Here are the unwashed hoards that have come to see Uncle Buck get married.
Here's Uncle Buck and his best man having one last smoke.

And here is the new couple...
...and their getaway vehicle.

Top Ten Reasons I Think Jackie is a Hippie

2008-09-06T08:46:00.000-07:00

frequently does Yoga stretches
is a nudist
spends most of the day meditating
doesn't shave
likes the smell of grass and dirt more than soap
repeatedly sleeps through church on sunday morning
doesn't wear a bra(which might go under nudist category)
barks at our pastor
hates baths
keeps eating my vegan lip balms

More Than A Feelin

2008-09-04T12:23:00.001-07:00

The coast was great last weekend. It was a great weather and the small rainy patch passed quickly. We got to go to the Rogue Brewery and eat a wonderful lunch. They also had a "garage sale" out back where they were selling pint glasses for 25 cents a glass!

Now, I've been told by my brothers that my blog used to be interesting... but now it is too Polly-Annish. What can I say? I now have a dog that listens to all my frustrations with the universe. She looks concerned, stares at the ground for a while, then goes and takes a nap to sleep it off. What better way to vent all my criticisms?

I started my new interim job this week. I have been getting up a 6 am every morning, and I've had to employe all the powers that coffee has to offer. It is difficult for me to fall asleep early, so I'm pretty sleep deprived right now. The way that I know that is the throbbing pain in my chest that makes me feel like I'm a heart attack risk. I may just go to bed at 6 pm tonight when I get home.

Coastal Dreamin

2008-08-30T10:23:00.000-07:00

First, let me show you another sweet mention I got on a blog: link

and a give away of one of my sets on another blog: link

Matt and I are going to the coast today! It will probably be cold and windy... like it always is, but I love being near the ocean. Our friends are getting married by a lighthouse. It should be fun. Jackie knows somethings up as I pack the car and I keep saying, "Jackie, you are going on a supervised field trip!" She knows that means a trip of heavenly bliss through wonderful worlds of sniffable trees and windy car rides.

We went to Eugene this week for a quick visit. It was good to see part of the family and a few friends. I also got to see the new hospital where my dad works. He's worked for 24 years at the hospital downtown but they just built a $500,000,000 hospital north of town where they moved everyone.
It looked like a resort. It was amazing. One of the big-name sculptors that I had done a bit of work for in Eugene had some bronze sculptures being installed in the front, and there were stone carvings on the face of the building. The inside was totally spectacular. I was only able to snap a few shots but you can get the idea.
Here is the drop off area. This lighting was repeated throughout the interior.
This is a clock tower right outside where my dad's office is. Those white panels at the bottom of the tower are carved stone.
This is a shot of the main entrance. There was a balcony wrapping all around the room with this great railing.
Here are the bronze sculptures that were busy being installed. I couldn't get any closer because it was taped off, but they are a variety of figures on stilts. The faces that this artist does are just amazing. I was hoping to get a better shot, but what can you do. I think it was called "a delicate balance" or something similar.

The Land of the Employed

2008-08-26T10:30:00.000-07:00

I now have a day job. It is a 2 month position that may turn into something longer, but I will have plenty of work to do learning this position to help me not worry too much about the future. I will be working at Tilikum retreat center which is more like a camp. There are elder hostels and workshops as well as companys and churches that take groups out there. My title is Guest Services Coordinator which comes with a great variation of duties, with hosting the groups at the top of the list. I'm very excited about the position as the retreat center is fairly close to my house and it is beautiful out there.

I start in a week and I have so much to do before then!

sew items out of new fabric I recieved
hunt down more antique silverware
finish and mail out my September newsletter
read and prepare for a committee meeting
make a speed trip to Eugene
plant my red onion starts
attend a wedding
attend an awesome party after the wedding
finish formulating my plans for world domination
move all my sewing and art supplies into my new garage studio

All in all, as I list them here, they don't seem that bad. They are mostly things that I love to do, I just need to get back into the swing of a schedule.

Etsy Shop of the Week

2008-08-25T11:44:00.000-07:00

Catalin Studio Art

Dog Days of August

2008-08-22T13:32:00.000-07:00

http://vintageindie.typepad.com/vintage_indie/2008/08/vintage-green-.html

Click above to see yours truly keepin it real on Vintage Indie's page.

I do believe it's true

2008-08-21T21:43:00.000-07:00

Whenever I am in the kitchen area, Jackie has this habit of plopping down right in from of the fridge. Now, chances are that if I'm in the kitchen, it's because I want to get into the fridge. Needless to say I find this frustrating and confounding. (forgive the poor quality photo, it's suprisingly hard to catch her in the act)

I have been keeping busy this week. I have been trying to stock of my store with multiples of each type of set. People like choices right? I have posted most of my new ones, but the sun decided to go to bed before I was done taking pictures. The rest should be up tomorrow.

Market in Portland

2008-08-19T21:13:00.000-07:00

Here are some of my pictures from our weekend in Portland. We went to the street market and it was so hot that sitting by this fountain was the best part of the day.

Matt was wearing some glasses that needed to be held tegether by a rubber band. Classy and effective.

Here are Jose Luis and Diana who were visiting from Sacramento. They bought me some handmade Lemongrass soap that has made my whole bathroom smell fresh and delightful.

This, children, is why you don't drink out of the fountain.

Even Jackie knows she was ruining it for the rest of us.

It's Empty!

2008-08-18T17:09:00.000-07:00

It took me 5 hours, over the span of 3 days, to clean out my Gmail inbox, but it's done. I feel so relieved. It's been almost 3 years since I opened that account and I never made an effort to delete anything. I learned my lesson well.

Matt and I spent that weekend in Portland. It was hotter that cat's pajamas, but we had a great time. I'd include pictures, but my camera must be off napping somwhere because I don't know where it is.

Todat I hit the yard running because I was greatly inspired to get my winter crop planted. I don't think that anyone in McMinnville really knows that you can plant things in the winter, because I went to the store to buy seeds and the starts were plentiful and soooo inexpensive. It still wasn't as cheap as seeds, but hey, time is money. I have lettuce, broccoli, parsley, and onions all planted and happy now.

Excursions at the Farmers Market

2008-08-15T08:19:00.000-07:00

Thursday was our little farmers market downtown. I decided to take a quick trip through on my way home to pick up some groceries. In some of the past weeks there were mainly just onions and kale at each booth because we had such a cold spring here. I missed a few weeks of the market so I was pleasantly surprised at what I found this time.

I couldn't believe that I found a melon! They need so much sun and heat, and we don't get that much of it here. It smells delicious. I also got green beans, sweet corn, zucchini, and my new favorite, beets. I always hated beets growing up because I only saw them in cans and they smelled of aluminum. Jessica convinced me that they were tasty grilled, so I tried that and they are so good. I got all of those beets (plus one that I already ate) for 58 cents!

Heart, or Hate?

2008-08-13T20:22:00.000-07:00

I have some good friends coming to town this weekend and they called ahead to give me an important mission. I am to go forth and unveil the best 80's dance club in PDX. Being the organizational genius that I am, I called around today to inquire about 80's venues, only to find that the best 80's DJs are featured only on Fridays and we will be going out on Saturday.

We might have to settle for old school hip-hop, but it IS Portland. I'm sure there will be a place with good dancing tunes.

In other news, I got an email from a woman who edits the food section of a magazing in BC and she wants to include some of my items in her article. Awesome? Yes. When? September. Will you keep your avid blog readers posted? But of course.

Etsy Shop of the Week

2008-08-12T13:23:00.000-07:00

I Like Applejuice- Do greeting cards get better than this?

I don't think so.