Archive for the ‘Books’ Category

Randomness…

August 24th, 2010 Shelly

I don’t really have too much to write about, but I wanted to post something!   I am trying to get used to the new schedule now that the kids are back in school.  I am enjoying the quiet in the mornings when I am the only one here that is awake!  I really should start going to bed earlier though.

I think today I am just going to tell you some random things about me.  If you know me very well you may know some of these, but you may not!

  • I don’t make friends easily.  I have never really had a best friend, at least not since grade school.  It’s harder to make friends when you get older, I think, especially if you stay at home all the time!  I have a few online acquaintances, but I don’t know if it’s fair to call them friends.  I think that if you don’t communicate regularly that negates the whole being friends part.  I have people that I talk to at church, family, etc…but not someone that I go and do stuff with, you know?  Jake is my best friend, as lame as that sounds to have your husband be your best friend!  It’s 100% true though…he is the only adult that I talk to every single day.
  • I have a weird thing about showers. Not the kind that get you clean, but wedding and baby showers.  I think that it’s in poor taste for an immediate family member to give a shower, I know that I am not the only one who feels this way.  I think it’s a general rule or etiquette, isn’t it?  Also, I only go to one baby shower for any given person.  The way I see it, a baby shower is for a new mother to help her prepare for her first child (the same as a wedding shower is to help you prepare for the home that you will share as a married couple).  So, when you have your 2nd, 3rd, 4th (whatever number) child and you have a shower and I am not there you know why!  I have no problem giving a gift to you for the baby after you have the baby, I do that with friends and family with every child.  I just don’t think that it’s appropriate to have a shower for any child but the first.  If you are my sister and you have a shower for your 2nd child…I will not come, it’s nothing personal…that’s just how I roll!
  • I am an English major, and I have been for almost 20 years now!  I quit college after one semester when I first went right out of high school.  I was a horrible student and that point!  After I had Bailey, I wanted to go back, so when she was a year old I did.  I went for 2 years until I got pregnant with Colton.  I didn’t want to have to quit halfway through the next semester when I had him so I didn’t go pack when the next year started.  I still haven’t gone back.  I think I am going to shoot for next fall.  I still have 2 years left to get my degree…I don’t know what I am going to do with it, but I want it.  I would love to be a writer and I know I don’t have to have a degree for that, but I also don’t think that, even with a degree, I have the creativity for it.  I would like to teach, but I don’t want to teach high school.  If I teach I would like to teach college lever literature.  Can I get an English degree and teach Paranormal Literature as opposed to English or American Lit??!!!  That’s my dream really!
  • I just finished reading my 87th book since the start of 2010 and my 194th book since the start of 2009.  I probably don’t need to tell you that I love to read!  Almost every book that I have read in the past 2.5 years has had a paranormal twist to it, be it vampires, werewolves, time travel, magic, angels, etc…
  • I don’t like girly movies for the most part.  Don’t get me wrong, I like a good romantic comedy, but given the choice I will go for action, horror, suspense, comedy any day.  Besides the Twilight movies the only movies we have seen in the theater lately have been horror or comedy.  On the topic of movies, if I like a particular actor (who me?!) I will watch any movie he is in, no matter how bad it may be!  I frequently find myself on kicks where I will watch anything I can get my hands on if it has someone I like in it.  Case and point…Little Ashes, How To Be, Ring of the Niebelungs, none of which were particularly great movies, but they all had Robert Pattinson in them.   I am nothing if not loyal…right?!
  • My particular obsessions right now are Aiden Turner from Being Human, Alexander Skarsgård and Joe Mangianello from True Blood.  I am all about the supernatural these days!

aiden      eric2  jm2

Ok, I think that’s all the sharing I am going to do today!  I have LOTS of work that needs to be done.  Have a great day!

Posted in All About Me, Books, Entertainment, Movies and TV, True Blood No Comments »

Twas the day before school started…

August 17th, 2010 Shelly

The kids are all SO excited for school to start tomorrow!  I get serious déjà vu this time of year too.  The first day of school was one of my favorite days of the year, even in high school and college…I always loved the first day of school.  The boys have their clothes all picked out and laying out ready to go in the morning.  I don’t think I will have any problems with bed time tonight!  I did tell them that they had to clean their rooms today though, so we’ll see how well that goes.

I don’t really have a to do list today.  All my laundry is done…I need to clean bathrooms, but that’s about it here in the house.  I do have a lot of work to get done, but it’s not really worthy of a to do list.

I don’t know if I have mentioned how much I absolutely LOVE my Kindle!!  Oh wait, I think I have!  Seriously, it’s the best thing I have bought in ages…I don’t know how I lived so long without it.  I don’t miss books at all.  It turns out it’s what is in the book, not the actual book that matters!  I have discovered a couple of new authors that I would never have found if not for the Kindle and Amazon’s amazingly cheap (sometimes free) prices.  I just read 4 books by Amanda Hocking, actually all of her books, in just a few days.  I am not so patiently waiting for the 4th book in the first series and the 2nd in the other one.  They will both be coming out very soon.  I also just started reading a series by S.L. Naeole last night.  I haven’t gotten far yet, but it sucked me in right away and promises to be very good.  They are are all YA urban fantasy or paranormal series, but lately those have been my favorite to read.  I have a pretty good wish list started on Amazon, but I am going to try to read all the ones I have on my Kindle before getting any new ones!

I have been getting a lot of work done lately and then a little sewing for fun.  I made my first project for my {Urban} Home Goods Swap the other day.  It’s a pin cushion caddy from the new Seams to Me book by Anna Maria Horner that I bought the other day.

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Well, I suppose I should get started on something new today!  I finished up 3 orders yesterday, but they were all smaller ones, I need to do a bigger bag today.  Hopefully once school gets going I can get adjusted to a regular schedule again.

Have a great day!

Posted in Books, Family Stuff, Kindle, Pink Punk, Sewing, Swaps No Comments »

Flickr Friday!

August 6th, 2010 Shelly

Can you guess what my theme is today?!  It’s really not that hard!

pink

1. Pink Petals, 2. pink room, 3. pretty in pink 1950s kitchen, 4. ~Love Wrap In A Bubble~, 5. Standing on a Pink stool, wearing pink shoes, pink socks, a pink tutu, in front of a pink house… This is a true story! HBM, 6. Pink Easter twig, 7. H O N E Y C H I L D, 8. The other side of my sewing/craft room, 9. Georgia’s Quilt, 10. spring is coming…….., 11. Matt pink and red Lamborghini Murciélago LP670-4 Super Velocé!!!, 12. Pink Magic…., 13. stinkin’ pink, 14. Sewing Corner, 15. Princess in pink

Did you figure it out?!  I don’t know when I started liking pink, I don’t think that I always have, it’s something that’s developed as I have gotten older.  Now if you give me a choice of anything and there is something pink there…that’s what I will choose nearly every time.  Looking at Elsie’s pink hair up there in photo 10 really makes me want to do all my hair pink.  Maybe if I was skinny and cute like she is I would…!

I decided last night what I am going to do with my Swap hexes and I started stitching the big ones together.  I may work on it a little this weekend, if I have time.  I have a camera bag I need to get done this weekend too.  This particular order has a camera strap and Zippy Wristlet as well and I had to re-order the little clips for the wristlet and more webbing for my camera strap ends, so I can’t finish the order completely, but if I get the camera bag done and everything else cut out and sewn to the point where I need the hardware it will be an easy thing to finish up.

This weekend is tax free weekend here in Missouri.  I know that I can’t be the only one out there who waits until the last minute to get the kids school supplies.  We have not got anything of their lists yet.  Every year we wait until the last minute and end up scrambling around to find everything only to get to school the first week and find out that half the stuff on the list they didn’t even need!  I know we are going to get them some school clothes this weekend…I don’t even want to think of all the school supplies we need to buy!  Now I am really wishing we had pre-ordered the school supply kits at the end of last year.

I finished Linger last night.  I have had if for a week, but I had a book from the library that was a 7 day loan so I had to read it first!  I like in the Kindle that I can see the % of the book that I have read.  When I started last night I was at 47% and I was up until 12:30 finishing it!  Now I have to decide what to read next.  I have a nice little list to choose from though!  I spent WAY too much time yesterday going through all the books that I have read in the past few years and finding out when the new books to each series are coming out.  So much time that I decided to make a list and add it to my blog!  You can see my book lists here, or from the Books link that up up at the very top.  You can also see a list of all the books I have read in the past almost 2 years.

Well, I have things that need to be done…have a great Friday!

Posted in Books, Family Stuff, Flickr Friday, Kindle, Sewing No Comments »

BTT (Booking Through Thursday): First Love

August 5th, 2010 Shelly

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What is the first book you remember reading? What about the first that made you really love reading?

Honestly I don’t remember the first book that I read on my own…the one that made me love reading.  I remember my mother reading The Little House Series to my sister and I when we were small and I loved those.  I do remember reading those on my own the first time and I loved them just as much then.  I remember my Grandma taking all of us grandkids that were old enough to the library and letting us check out books.  Some of the ones I remember loving were, Little Women, A Little Princess, The Little Match Girl, The Secret Garden, and so many more.  I moved on to Nancy Drew and Trixie Belden in no time and I would pretty much devour any book I could get my hands on.  I still do!  I love to lose myself in a book, in the fantasy of the story, that’s why I love to read.

Posted in Booking Through Thursday, Books, Daily Themes 1 Comment »

Weekend Wrap Up

July 26th, 2010 Shelly

I don’t know about you, but I had a busy weekend.  Not really doing anything fun, but I did get a lot of work done!  I finished my first book on my new Kindle.  I LOVE it!  I thought that I would miss the feel of the book and all that, but really I don’t.  I love having the next book there and ready to go when I am ready for it too.  I have a pretty nice collection started.  Most of them are free ones and free classics, but there are a bunch that I have been wanting to read for ages, but never really wanted to buy.  I have never read a Jane Austen book!  I know, shame on me, but I believe that all of her books are free classics, so I have started a collection of those.  I also have gotten an H.G. Wells book, The Time Machine.  They did an episode of Warehouse 13 about H.G. Wells, a very inaccurate portrayal I am sure, but it did peak my interest so I got that book.  I have a pretty long wish list started on Amazon, I want to get at least one this week.  I will have to limit how many I buy or I will end up spending a fortune on books!  Maybe I can use them as incentive for weight loss…

I don’t know if you know this, you probably do, but I LOVE coffee…really love it!  I have a cup in the morning and then most afternoons I will make another cup, but I am so busy working that I drink about half of it and then I have to keep heating it up because it gets cold fast.  Well, I never really liked ice coffee too much, but one of my friends on Facebook posted a link to this recipe the other day and I tried it yesterday and it is going to be my new afternoon pick-me-up!  It’s super awesome and if you like iced coffee and you want something easy to make at home you need to try it.  It’s also WAY cheaper than Starbucks!

This is something else you may not know about me, I don’t like to use regular cups at home for cold drinks.  I prefer to use throw away cups…I don’t know why!  It’s weird, I know.  And what’s weirder is that there are certain places that have cups that I like better so I keep them and I will wash them out and use them for weeks until I go back and get a new one.  My most recent favorite cup is from a BBQ place here in town called Billy Sims.  It’s a clear plastic cup, like Starbucks or McAllisters (only not as big).  Why am I telling you this?  Well, one problem I have with these clear plastic cups is that they sweat and get water all over my work surface and I could put a napkin under it, but that’s just gross when the napkin gets all wet…I solved my problem yesterday with these

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They are coasters that I made with scraps that were cut off the ends of the blocks for a quilt top that I made a long time ago.  These were pretty basic, I just quilted some fleece onto them and then sewed the back on, flipped them the right way and stitched around the edges.  Then I was thinking, I have tons of scraps from quilt projects so I started digging and I found the scraps left from the string quilt I made for Jenna.  I had started to make some smaller blocks to put on the back and decided against it, but I still had the foundation pieces with the pink strip ironed on so I just cut them down and made these 2 coasters

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I put some pretty pink fabric on the back and some batting in between and did some straight line quilting.  I am going to do a black binding around these still to finish them.  I am going to do 3 more of these I think so that I have a nice set.  I was thinking that these would make really nice gifts…so if you are reading this and you are family just act surprised if you get some from me in the future!

I posted last week about my Kindle sleeve fiasco, how I made one and it didn’t fit, yada yada yada… Anyway, I didn’t want those pieces of quilted linen to go to waste so I cut them down to make a sleeve for my BB Curve.  I have the ones that I have made with the flap, but was always annoyed by the flap, so I made this one just like the sleeve and I have to say that I love it and I am actually using it!

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One last thing before I wrap up.  I am having a sale in my store until midnight on the 31st.  Everything is 10% off, so if you have been wanting to order something now is the time!!

Posted in Books, Craftiness, Entertainment, Kindle, Pink Punk, Sewing 1 Comment »

My new “baby” is here!!

July 22nd, 2010 Shelly

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Naturally I had to make a pretty sleeve for her, or is it a him??  I have an online friend who just got one recently and she has named hers Snow White…I will have to think on this a bit and see what I want to name it!  So, ever the impatient one I had to make the sleeve this morning before I actually got the kindle and it was a tad small, I could get it in there but it was a pretty tight squeeze and it stuck out the top like just under 1/4” and I couldn’t have that!  I made sure that when I stitched the hexes on that they would be easy to rip out if I need to, lucky for that!  So I adjusted the pattern a tad an now it fits perfectly and it will live in this sleeve when I am not reading it.

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I had to use my Robert Fish and my Eric Gnome of course!  All the rest of the hexes except maybe 2 were from my swap partner (even the Eric).  I quilted the linen before I sewed it together so the inside isn’t quilted.  I lined the original one with some kitty flannel I had left from the pajamas that I made for Bailey a few years ago, but I didn’t have enough of that left so this one is lined with Robert Kaufman skull soft corduroy.  If you are interested in getting a sleeve like this for your e-Reader you can order one here in my store.  I can also do them for the Kindle DX and the IPad, they are a little more because of the size difference.

Not too much else going on, another full day of sewing today and I have a KILLER headache.  I have gotten 4 purses, a gadget pouch, a camera strap and technically 2 Kindle sleeves done so far this week.  Tomorrow Jake is taking the kids swimming so I will have some time alone so I want to get this house cleaned up good and then I am going to work on some smaller orders, accessories, a nursing cover, small things then on Saturday I have a big DSLR bag to work on.  I also need to work on my schedule for next week and see what I need to be working on then.

Have a great evening…I am going to go watch Bethenny have her baby in about an hour!

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I am almost a BlogHer Blogger!

July 20th, 2010 Shelly

I filled out an application probably 6 months ago even though they weren’t taking new applications at the time.  I figured I would go on a waiting list and would get there eventually.  I had forgotten about it until I got an email last week saying that even though they weren’t accepting new blogs they saw my application and thought that my blog would be a good fit.  I filled out all the information and sent it in and got a response back yesterday.  I filled out all the forms and W-9 and sent them back in and now I am just waiting for them to send me the code to add to my blog!  I don’t exactly know what all this will entail, but I am excited about it for sure.

Well, I started this post at about 9am and it’s not almost 9pm and I think I may actually finish it up!  We went to town to get groceries and do all my sewing errands and by the time we got home it was 2:00.  I finished up the purse I was working on an started cutting out the next one.  I am going to have a FULL day tomorrow since I didn’t get as much done today as I wanted to.

I have been hem hawing around lately about getting an e-reader.  I wanted a Nook to begin with then one of my on-line friends got a Kindle so I stated re-searching the Kindle and realized that I wanted that one more.  Really for the money, Kindle is the way to go in my opinion.  I wanted 3G access, which is standard on the Kindle 2.  On the Nook, the one with 3G was actually $10 more than the Nook.  I know on the Nook you can “check out” from libraries, but our library doesn’t have e-books so that was not a draw for me.  Anywho, I ended up getting the Kindle with free 2-day shipping.  I should have it by Thursday, I can’t wait!  I will be working hard to pay for it though.  I had a 10% sale this weekend, hoping that I would sell enough to be able to get it.  I ended up extending the sale until today for a couple of repeat customers and ended up doing pretty well…I am going to be VERY busy making all these bags for the next few weeks!

Ok, I am getting tired and I want to go watch Warehouse 13…so i am going to call it a night!

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This week has flown by…

July 16th, 2010 Shelly

I have been so busy this week that it has just flown by!  I can’t believe it’s Friday already.  Jake took a 4 day weekend this weekend so it actually seems like the weekend started yesterday, maybe that’s why it feels like the week went so fast!

I have stayed home pretty much all week.  I did run to town on Wednesday to the fabric stores and to pick up a few things for orders.  Jakes parents took the kids swimming and to eat lunch so we were able to get some errands done and eat lunch with no kids for the first time this summer!  Other than that I have been home working.  I have a camera bag to finish today and 2 wallets to get done to get this order shipped then I have a Diaper Bag to make and I am done for the week.  Once those are done this is what I will have completed this week

  • 2 diapers bags
  • 2 camera bags
  • a 3 pocket shooter
  • 3 wallets

That’s a pretty decent week for me!  And I was able to finish my last book from the Millennium Trilogy and then last book from The Darkest Powers Trilogy that I had borrowed from the library this week.  This is the first time in months that I don’t have any books checked out from the library.  I am starting on the next Terry Goodkind book in the Sword of Truth Series, Faith of the Fallen.  I have had this for ages and I decided that it’s time to get caught up on this series so unless I get a notification for one of the new books I have on hold at the library, I will be working on this series.  I still have 6 to go, I think!

I have a new addiction, I think! 

rs

I have been drinking one Rock Star Energy Drink a day and I am LOVING them.  I don’t know how much energy they give me, but I know that I get something!  We had a bunch of coupons to get them free at one of the convenience stores here so Jake got me a bunch of them.  I only have 2 left then I will have to start buying them so we’ll see how much I really want them then!  The one in the photo is actually my least favorite of all the ones I have tried.  Something about the guava aftertaste… My favorites are the Cola and the Fruit Punch.

Oh, I scrapped this week too!!  Just one page, but it’s a start!

Isn’t she a DOLL?!!

Well, this camera bag isn’t going to sew itself so I gotta get to work!

Posted in Books, Craftiness, Digital Scrapping, Family Stuff, Pink Punk, Sewing No Comments »

Is it Monday again…already?

July 12th, 2010 Shelly

UGH…I don’t know why, pretty much all my days are the same so Monday is just like any other day.  I guess it’s because the minute I turn on the computer and get on Facebook on Monday mornings there is a plethora of “I hate Monday” posts, so it rubs off!  I guess if I have a normal job I would be the same way though!

I have lots to do this week, but that’s not any different from any other week this year!  I have been pretty much busy non-stop since I got my first order this year.  I have not been completely caught up since then, but I love it.  It means that more and more people are seeing my bags, more people are carrying them and more people want one of their very own!  I still think it would be easier if I had an assistant, but until I am actually making more of a profit, that would just be insane.  I wouldn’t mind having my own Max Meisel though!  I mean, come on, how awesome would that be?!  I don’t know if I would get more work done though so it could just defeat the point entirely.

This is what I have on tap for this week as far as work goes

  • Claire Diaper Bag
  • DSLR 2.0
  • Trina DSLR
  • Key fob
  • 3 wallets
  • DSLR 2.0
  • 3 pocket shooter
  • Hanna Diaper Bag

I don’t know that I will get ALL of this done this week, but that’s the plan anyway.  It would make a huge dent in my workload! 

I still need to get some laundry going and figure out what we are going to have for lunch today.  We have been grilling a lot lately, that’s one thing that I love about summer!

I thought I would have some pictures to post, but they are all bag pictures and I will just save those for my Pink Punk Blog so they aren’t up 2 times.  I really need to start taking more everyday pictures!  Oh, I do have a couple I forgot about…

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I was able to finish The Girl Who Played With Fire on Thursday night just in time to go get The Girl Who Kicked The Hornets Nest at the library.  We also watched The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo on Saturday night.  I really enjoyed it, even though we had to read 2.5 hours of subtitles, I don’t know if Jake liked it as much as I did though!

This is for another wall project that I am going to start working on this week…hopefully.

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It’s an 18” embroidery hoop, my mother in law found at a garage sale on Friday!  It’s a pretty old one too, it’s really cool.  It’s going to be the center piece on my hoop wall.  I have been buying the new ones in different sizes and I am going to start filling them with fabric and patchwork projects and even some actual embroidery!  It’s something I am going to start working on when I am watching TV in the evenings.  I have a cool pattern printed out for one that I want to start working on tonight.  Hopefully I can start getting it all put together soon, I have a big empty wall in my kitchen/dining room/ sewing area that I need to fill!

Well, I gotta get to work now…have a great Monday!

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Library Day!

June 2nd, 2010 Shelly

Today is the first Library day of the summer.  They are starting a summer reading program so the kids and I are going to see what it’s all about.  At this point in time I have no books checked out!  I finished up the new Black Dagger Brotherhood book I was reading last night.  It was all over the place for awhile, but I ended up enjoying it even more than the last one.  Now I am reading this book…

thirst

I bought this at Walmart quite a while back and it’s just sat there for months.  I picked it up this morning because I didn’t know what to read while I was drinking my coffee.  So far it’s pretty good.  I already put book 2 on hold at the library so hopefully I won’t have to wait too long for it.  This book is my 62nd of the year!  If Jake didn’t work the shift that he does I wouldn’t be able to read like this.  I read mostly when I first get up in the morning when I am drinking coffee and waking up and then again for a couple of hours before I go to bed.

Since I want the kids to do something other than watching TV and playing video games all summer we are going to have time set aside each day for reading.  They each get to check out a certain number of books from the library each time and they have to read them before we take them back.  Should I make them do book reports on them?!

Yesterday was a pretty stressful day all around.  The kids were wild all day long, and I was trying to work.  I did get a camera bag and 3 lens bags done, but I went through and entire new package of needles while sewing the bag.  Five freaking needles broken on one bag.  I was about to rip my hair out!  I did get it done though and finished up a big order that was needing to be done.  The entire order was a big diaper bag, changing pad and wet bag and the DSLR bag and 3 lens bags.  I have to get a big box today and that will be on it’s way to a very awesome repeat customer.

So, I put the kids to bed pretty early since they were so wild and I re-painted my nails while I watched 2 episodes of True Blood Season 1, then I took a bath and went to bed to read and I was able to finish my book.  Hopefully the kids will be better today and I can get some stuff done once we get home from town.  After the library we are going to pick up my embroidery for the 8 bridesmaid bags I am making, then to Chick-fil-a so Jake and I can get our free NEW Spicy Chicken Sandwiches.  I also have to go get some more needles obviously, so I can get a diaper bag done for someone who needs it before she has her baby on June 7th…I should have no problem getting that done today and in the mail tomorrow.

Now, I have to finish getting ready to go!  Until next time you get this picture of my latest crush/obsession!  I can’t get enough of him lately!

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I have this movie…maybe I will watch it tonight!

Posted in Books, Family Stuff, Movies and TV 2 Comments »
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