Fabric Postcards have become my obsession, I mean that literally. I have spent hours pouring over the internet watching tutorials and reading the instructions that lots of very generous people have posted online. All of them have been extremely helpful by the way.
I started them with much hesitation, you see since I have begin trying to sell my sewing I have discovered a very nasty secret about my self.... A trait that I get from my Father which I believed only my brother possessed. I am a perfectionist about my work. If it isn't perfect I won't sell it. I have lots ( I will not say how many) imperfect projects that are destined for the garbage. Thus the hours of pouring over the instructions to make sure I did it "right".
Another thing that I know about me, as does my husband but few others. I am a compulsive fabric buyer. I LOVE fabric. All colors, prints, weights, types... it must be soft and beautiful, but my definition of beauty is vast.....as is the ever growing piles of fabric that have taken over my sewing room.
Okay back to the post card. I started slowly, picking out fabric remnants that I already knew that I love paired together. I choose a buttery yellow & white polka dot that I made a dress with a couple of years ago and added a seersucker with bright beautiful flowers...
I cut the fabric to the 4 x 6 size required by the USPS sewed into place the pieces where needed, then cut a 4 x 6 piece of Peltex interfacing. Ironed the top or front fabric to the Peltex, then hand stitched around the design adding lettering and embelishing the design already on the fabric. Then I cut an old white T-shirt into 4 x 6 strips and attached with spray adhesive.
I finished the edges with a soft yellow satin stitch and marked the back with the words Postcard and named the card Sunshine & Flowers 1 and 2. I think they turned out really nice... if you are interested you can see them on my Etsy page or see the link to the right of this blog which will take you right to them.
And so I am now obsessed. I am constantly thinking of making the next ones. I sincerely hope that they are popular as they are so much fun!!!!!
www.jenjie.etsy.com
Here's to learning something new each day, and finding your joy!!!!
6.23.2009
Southern Heat & New Experiences
It is Tuesday of my week and already I am exhausted. I know I know you don't read blogs to listen to a bunch of whining. So you won't get any.
The heat is exhausting it traps me in the house and steals part of my summer. I leave the house only when necessary and take the children to the pool once a day if possible to get wet.
We are homeschooling through the summer. So we work in the morning and try to stay cool in the afternoon. It keeps us from becoming mind rotted zombies in front of TV & video games. We don't spend the day fighting with each other and I don't have to hear how bored the kids are. Plus the great part is, we take a day here and there where we want to and my kids are slightly ahead of the other kids their age.
I am also learning to can. Now for those of you who have never lived in a rural area, to can means to preserve vegetables or fruits to use later on in the year. My husband has done the canning in our family for years, simply because I didn't have the time to learn. But now that I do and I should, I AM....
We begin part of our home economics program by preparing the ground for planting in mid May. We hoed and turned the ground in our front yard and then filled it with our garden. We have ( that I know of) 100 tomato plants, squash of several varieties, green beans, peas, cantelope, cucumbers, corn, eggplant, onions, garlic....and who knows what else is planted out there.
The garden is beginning to "come in". Which means that every day either my husband or I go into the garden and pick whatever is ready. Today I picked the green beans and we had gathered 7 quarts of beans since late last week. All picked, snapped, cleaned and packed into jars. My husband stood right beside me teaching me to can and making sure that I was doing it right. Trying very hard to listen to his instructions and follow them exactly, I begin. Boiled water on the stove and sprinkled some salt into each jar. Once the water was done I poured the boiling hot water just till it reached he bottom of the neck of each jar. Then heated the lids in boiling hot water, wipe the mouth of the jar, place the lid on, tighten the band down as tight as I could. ( My husband came behind me to make sure they were tight enough). Then down into the pressure canner they went, all seven at one time. I listened for about 15 minutes before the first hiss of the canner had me standing by the stove listening and counting. My husband had instructed do not let it continously hiss, there should be 8-10 seconds between hisses, so I had to adjust the temp to get it right. Waited 25 minutes while they boiled and hissed. Then they were done. When we returned from the pool a couple of hours later, removed them all from the canner. One had not sealed.... OH NO!!! did I do it wrong? Maybe, it didn't have enough water in the jar....... Not to worry it finally sealed down and seems to be fine. We will date these and sit them to the back of our pantry shelves where we have a great assortment of canned foods. These keep us going with fresh and organic produce during the winter. The 100 tomato plants will be our chili, pasta sauce, vegetable soup base, and will contribute to so many more dishes in our kitchen this winter.
I think I am finally adjusting to being a stay at home Mama. I am getting used to always having to do the dishes, or just finished the dishes.... I am also getting accustomed to managing my time at home and tackling little things I haven't done before. To be honest I feel like I have not been pulling my weight all these years. Crushed by the stress of the long drive and the stressful job and the crazy schedule, I let my poor husband do so much. I really don't think he knows what to do with me now. I think he sometimes wonders if I know what I am doing. But inside of me remains the country girl who grew up on a dairy farm. Everyone in my family had a garden and I have picked beans, shelled peas, snapped beans and anything else that needed doing to help out. It has been a while, but I still got it....somewhere.
The heat is exhausting it traps me in the house and steals part of my summer. I leave the house only when necessary and take the children to the pool once a day if possible to get wet.
We are homeschooling through the summer. So we work in the morning and try to stay cool in the afternoon. It keeps us from becoming mind rotted zombies in front of TV & video games. We don't spend the day fighting with each other and I don't have to hear how bored the kids are. Plus the great part is, we take a day here and there where we want to and my kids are slightly ahead of the other kids their age.
I am also learning to can. Now for those of you who have never lived in a rural area, to can means to preserve vegetables or fruits to use later on in the year. My husband has done the canning in our family for years, simply because I didn't have the time to learn. But now that I do and I should, I AM....
We begin part of our home economics program by preparing the ground for planting in mid May. We hoed and turned the ground in our front yard and then filled it with our garden. We have ( that I know of) 100 tomato plants, squash of several varieties, green beans, peas, cantelope, cucumbers, corn, eggplant, onions, garlic....and who knows what else is planted out there.
The garden is beginning to "come in". Which means that every day either my husband or I go into the garden and pick whatever is ready. Today I picked the green beans and we had gathered 7 quarts of beans since late last week. All picked, snapped, cleaned and packed into jars. My husband stood right beside me teaching me to can and making sure that I was doing it right. Trying very hard to listen to his instructions and follow them exactly, I begin. Boiled water on the stove and sprinkled some salt into each jar. Once the water was done I poured the boiling hot water just till it reached he bottom of the neck of each jar. Then heated the lids in boiling hot water, wipe the mouth of the jar, place the lid on, tighten the band down as tight as I could. ( My husband came behind me to make sure they were tight enough). Then down into the pressure canner they went, all seven at one time. I listened for about 15 minutes before the first hiss of the canner had me standing by the stove listening and counting. My husband had instructed do not let it continously hiss, there should be 8-10 seconds between hisses, so I had to adjust the temp to get it right. Waited 25 minutes while they boiled and hissed. Then they were done. When we returned from the pool a couple of hours later, removed them all from the canner. One had not sealed.... OH NO!!! did I do it wrong? Maybe, it didn't have enough water in the jar....... Not to worry it finally sealed down and seems to be fine. We will date these and sit them to the back of our pantry shelves where we have a great assortment of canned foods. These keep us going with fresh and organic produce during the winter. The 100 tomato plants will be our chili, pasta sauce, vegetable soup base, and will contribute to so many more dishes in our kitchen this winter.
I think I am finally adjusting to being a stay at home Mama. I am getting used to always having to do the dishes, or just finished the dishes.... I am also getting accustomed to managing my time at home and tackling little things I haven't done before. To be honest I feel like I have not been pulling my weight all these years. Crushed by the stress of the long drive and the stressful job and the crazy schedule, I let my poor husband do so much. I really don't think he knows what to do with me now. I think he sometimes wonders if I know what I am doing. But inside of me remains the country girl who grew up on a dairy farm. Everyone in my family had a garden and I have picked beans, shelled peas, snapped beans and anything else that needed doing to help out. It has been a while, but I still got it....somewhere.
6.11.2009
Learning something new today...
Okay I should know how to do stuff like this, one would believe this anyway. My paternal grandmother was a seamstress, I don't think that she owned many clothes that she didn't make, she quilted, made her own curtains, etc... My maternal grandmother is / was a wiz with the sewing machine as well, although she put away this skill long ago as it was not something she really enjoyed. My mother, also a seamstress doesn't sew any longer.... no idea about that one.
So it should be in my blood right???? I have it in my heart but somehow some of the more obvious skills never make it out of my head. I really want to be a great seamstress, I love to sew, crochet, cross stitch and there are so many beautiful things that I want to create.
One thing I struggle with is that I want to learn to quilt. The design does not seem to be an issue, the problem that stumps me everytime... finishing the edges............. WHY OH WHY can I not GET THIS??????????????
Today I begin to work on something that I am semi obsessed with in my brain. A new project that I spotted on the internet sometime back and LOVE!!!!!!
A quilted postcard... there are a lot of great blogs that tell you how to do it. I am just beginning to play around with it. If I get one for you to examine I will let you know. I think I have already messed up my first one,,,, but hey, that is how we learn.
So it should be in my blood right???? I have it in my heart but somehow some of the more obvious skills never make it out of my head. I really want to be a great seamstress, I love to sew, crochet, cross stitch and there are so many beautiful things that I want to create.
One thing I struggle with is that I want to learn to quilt. The design does not seem to be an issue, the problem that stumps me everytime... finishing the edges............. WHY OH WHY can I not GET THIS??????????????
Today I begin to work on something that I am semi obsessed with in my brain. A new project that I spotted on the internet sometime back and LOVE!!!!!!
A quilted postcard... there are a lot of great blogs that tell you how to do it. I am just beginning to play around with it. If I get one for you to examine I will let you know. I think I have already messed up my first one,,,, but hey, that is how we learn.
6.09.2009
New thoughts
Well for some of you who may have viewed my blog before, it was mainly about my decision to quit my job and homeschool my kids. I think it may have been my chicken way of telling my family without having to "tell" them all.
I have decided to revamp this blog and begin to tell you about our adventures in homeschooling. We have been at this now for 6 months. 6 months!!!!! Where did the time go???? WOW.
I can tell you that I don't regret for one second the decision to move from the corporate world to being home full time. Do I miss my friends at work? Every day!!! The wonderful friends that I made while working, I hope will be with me for the rest of my life.
What I don't miss is waking up at 4 am everyday and driving for 2 hours to work and 2 hours home. Although I have to tell you that I feel like I have less time now than I did then, but I think it is just that I have more time to find more stuff to do. We haven't added any more activities, I still limit my kids to one activity at a time. I am not one of those Moms who believe the more "things" my kids are involved in the better. I believe give them an outlet in one thing they love. If they don't love it, they don't do it.
I thought I would start with what questions would new homeschoolers or non homeschoolers have? I am the first in our family to homeschool so I guess I would go straight to the questions my family asked when we started.
1.) Can you afford this? Well so far so good. We were blessed when I resigned and the hospital I worked for offered me PRN work. So I do get a paycheck still. I don't believe it will last forever, but I am thankful for everyday that it is still there.
2.) What about a cirriculum? How do you find a cirriculum? Well there is sooooo much out there that you really should start with some recommendations. Then research, research, research. You have to know your child and their learning style. I tried a method of piecing together resources when we first started because we started in the middle of a school year. That went fairly well, however I would not recommend this if you have no experience teaching or working with children. It was a struggle to keep up with creating a lesson plan and deciding what to do next. I have recently purchased a couple of great cirriculums and I am very happy with them for the most part. If you are considering homeschooling, don't expect your first choice to be perfect, and realize that you will have to make adjustments to fit you. There are several good resources for used or discount cirriculum on the net if you search for homeschool cirriculum. Biggest tip about this: go to your states Department of Education and print the scope and sequence for the grade level you are homeschooling. This will give you a good idea of what to look for in lessons IF you think that you may one day want to re-enroll your kids in public schools and you want to make sure that they don't fall behind the public school cirriculum.
3.) What is wrong with the public school system? This is a personal answer for everyone I know. Each and every homeschool family has different reasons for making the choice, even if they have a common ground. For us there were both educational and religious reasons.
From the educational stand I found that my children were being taught to test. We found that all the test formats had shifted to the standard national testing format. Children were being taught how to take a test well. I feel that in a good education there is creativity, and imagination, teachers who are allowed to develop cirriculum that works for their class. I just didn't feel the kids were getting that anymore. I did feel that they were progressing and learning but that the education was not as broad as I wanted it to be.
From the religious stand, we have many of the same concerns that most Christian households have. We are concerned about the exposure of our children to non-christian families. About the worldliness and the progressing decline of morals in both the children and adults in our society. YES!!! I know I can't shelter my kids, or protect them from all evil. However, I can protect them from avoidable evil, as long as God provides for my family and I am able to stay home I will do that. Additionally, my husband and kids attend an apostolic church, they observe the Old Testament Holy Days. As such there are a number of days that my children have to miss from school in order to observe these Holy Days. While the school system never gave us any hassel about the absences, quite the opposite actually they were supportive, in the last school year we found that my oldest child's teacher did not supply us with the work required to keep him on track with his class. Homeschooling allows us to set our own calendar and allows us to work around the Holy Days so that the children are neither working during the Holy Days, nor falling behind in their school work.
4.) What about testing? This questions always makes me sigh. As a culture we have become so accustomed to testing our children, this becomes a huge concern. I have heard time and again, "When do you test them to see if they are really learning anything?"........ WOW okay maybe not sigh... maybe this questions makes me want to scream. LOL!
It is of course a valid question in some respects. Children in the public school system in GA are tested EVERY year from 1st to 12th grade. So what about homeschooled kids? Well the short answer is I am required to test my children every 3 years. As with the rest of the homeschooling requirements in GA I am not in anyway required to provide these results to the state. I must just maintain a record of the testing.
Now my vent about the testing question is this: How do you know if your child is learning anything in public school? Does one test answer this question for you? Let's say my child made straight A's all year and had a wonderful school year with great teacher feedback, then when the national standard test comes in....not so great. Does that mean my child didn't learn anything? NO... Likewise if my child's grades are mediocre and has performed poorly in class and struggles through the year, but returns a average or above average national standard test score. Does that score then mean that my child has gained the knowledge needed in the classes or does that mean that my child has learned to use logic and elimination to test well ?
I know my child is learning or not based on the increased knowledge base they gained. I am also working with my children daily, watching their skills grow and progress or not... unlike public schools if they don't progress we don't move on. We continue to review until they do learn the material. Does this slow us down and make us "behind" the other kids their age??? Well I guess that questions is relative wouldn't you say?
5.) I recently saw a poll on a homeschooling e-group that I belong to that asked the number one question that you get as a homeschooling family... Here it is... "What about socialization?" When I hear this question I giggle a little inside. Do you believe that children socialize at school? I think this may be one of the most common misconceptions of public school. How many times have your children come home with a note or had to move their clip or gotten detention for talking? That is their socialization!! Yes there are appropriate times to talk to one another, but they are few and far between. At our local school the kids were allowed 30 min on the playground each day to socialize. Aside from that they are not given much time to be together in a social way. Homeschooling kids are allowed to have open conversation and play time off and on all day long. There are other homeschooling kids that we attend frequent field trips with, we go to the park, we have Boy Scouts & Gymnastics & Clogging, we have the pool and library. If we get any more social we won't get our homeschooling done :)
Well these are the top few questions I have been asked. If you have questions for me I would love to hear them. I am just beginning the journey that I hope to continue through high school. I am by no means an expert, but I love writing about the experience.
Have a fabulous day!
I have decided to revamp this blog and begin to tell you about our adventures in homeschooling. We have been at this now for 6 months. 6 months!!!!! Where did the time go???? WOW.
I can tell you that I don't regret for one second the decision to move from the corporate world to being home full time. Do I miss my friends at work? Every day!!! The wonderful friends that I made while working, I hope will be with me for the rest of my life.
What I don't miss is waking up at 4 am everyday and driving for 2 hours to work and 2 hours home. Although I have to tell you that I feel like I have less time now than I did then, but I think it is just that I have more time to find more stuff to do. We haven't added any more activities, I still limit my kids to one activity at a time. I am not one of those Moms who believe the more "things" my kids are involved in the better. I believe give them an outlet in one thing they love. If they don't love it, they don't do it.
I thought I would start with what questions would new homeschoolers or non homeschoolers have? I am the first in our family to homeschool so I guess I would go straight to the questions my family asked when we started.
1.) Can you afford this? Well so far so good. We were blessed when I resigned and the hospital I worked for offered me PRN work. So I do get a paycheck still. I don't believe it will last forever, but I am thankful for everyday that it is still there.
2.) What about a cirriculum? How do you find a cirriculum? Well there is sooooo much out there that you really should start with some recommendations. Then research, research, research. You have to know your child and their learning style. I tried a method of piecing together resources when we first started because we started in the middle of a school year. That went fairly well, however I would not recommend this if you have no experience teaching or working with children. It was a struggle to keep up with creating a lesson plan and deciding what to do next. I have recently purchased a couple of great cirriculums and I am very happy with them for the most part. If you are considering homeschooling, don't expect your first choice to be perfect, and realize that you will have to make adjustments to fit you. There are several good resources for used or discount cirriculum on the net if you search for homeschool cirriculum. Biggest tip about this: go to your states Department of Education and print the scope and sequence for the grade level you are homeschooling. This will give you a good idea of what to look for in lessons IF you think that you may one day want to re-enroll your kids in public schools and you want to make sure that they don't fall behind the public school cirriculum.
3.) What is wrong with the public school system? This is a personal answer for everyone I know. Each and every homeschool family has different reasons for making the choice, even if they have a common ground. For us there were both educational and religious reasons.
From the educational stand I found that my children were being taught to test. We found that all the test formats had shifted to the standard national testing format. Children were being taught how to take a test well. I feel that in a good education there is creativity, and imagination, teachers who are allowed to develop cirriculum that works for their class. I just didn't feel the kids were getting that anymore. I did feel that they were progressing and learning but that the education was not as broad as I wanted it to be.
From the religious stand, we have many of the same concerns that most Christian households have. We are concerned about the exposure of our children to non-christian families. About the worldliness and the progressing decline of morals in both the children and adults in our society. YES!!! I know I can't shelter my kids, or protect them from all evil. However, I can protect them from avoidable evil, as long as God provides for my family and I am able to stay home I will do that. Additionally, my husband and kids attend an apostolic church, they observe the Old Testament Holy Days. As such there are a number of days that my children have to miss from school in order to observe these Holy Days. While the school system never gave us any hassel about the absences, quite the opposite actually they were supportive, in the last school year we found that my oldest child's teacher did not supply us with the work required to keep him on track with his class. Homeschooling allows us to set our own calendar and allows us to work around the Holy Days so that the children are neither working during the Holy Days, nor falling behind in their school work.
4.) What about testing? This questions always makes me sigh. As a culture we have become so accustomed to testing our children, this becomes a huge concern. I have heard time and again, "When do you test them to see if they are really learning anything?"........ WOW okay maybe not sigh... maybe this questions makes me want to scream. LOL!
It is of course a valid question in some respects. Children in the public school system in GA are tested EVERY year from 1st to 12th grade. So what about homeschooled kids? Well the short answer is I am required to test my children every 3 years. As with the rest of the homeschooling requirements in GA I am not in anyway required to provide these results to the state. I must just maintain a record of the testing.
Now my vent about the testing question is this: How do you know if your child is learning anything in public school? Does one test answer this question for you? Let's say my child made straight A's all year and had a wonderful school year with great teacher feedback, then when the national standard test comes in....not so great. Does that mean my child didn't learn anything? NO... Likewise if my child's grades are mediocre and has performed poorly in class and struggles through the year, but returns a average or above average national standard test score. Does that score then mean that my child has gained the knowledge needed in the classes or does that mean that my child has learned to use logic and elimination to test well ?
I know my child is learning or not based on the increased knowledge base they gained. I am also working with my children daily, watching their skills grow and progress or not... unlike public schools if they don't progress we don't move on. We continue to review until they do learn the material. Does this slow us down and make us "behind" the other kids their age??? Well I guess that questions is relative wouldn't you say?
5.) I recently saw a poll on a homeschooling e-group that I belong to that asked the number one question that you get as a homeschooling family... Here it is... "What about socialization?" When I hear this question I giggle a little inside. Do you believe that children socialize at school? I think this may be one of the most common misconceptions of public school. How many times have your children come home with a note or had to move their clip or gotten detention for talking? That is their socialization!! Yes there are appropriate times to talk to one another, but they are few and far between. At our local school the kids were allowed 30 min on the playground each day to socialize. Aside from that they are not given much time to be together in a social way. Homeschooling kids are allowed to have open conversation and play time off and on all day long. There are other homeschooling kids that we attend frequent field trips with, we go to the park, we have Boy Scouts & Gymnastics & Clogging, we have the pool and library. If we get any more social we won't get our homeschooling done :)
Well these are the top few questions I have been asked. If you have questions for me I would love to hear them. I am just beginning the journey that I hope to continue through high school. I am by no means an expert, but I love writing about the experience.
Have a fabulous day!
9.02.2008
Etsy---- what in the world is this?
I have started my own Etsy site. (pronounced with a short E like Betsy)
For those of you not familiar with Etsy it is essentially a online store front for handmade items. They have the most amazing things on the site from wonderfully talented artist/craftsman. You can find EVERYTHING on this site and they have some amazing ways to shop too, by color, name,etc.
I plan to try and list something new at least once to twice a week until I can get a good inventory.
I would really appreciate feedback if you have any, don't worry about hurting my feelings.
I am trying develop a small business from this site and outside sales, so feedback is really important to me and I am really open to it.
Still working toward a year end, "jump".....
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