xoxo,

Mary

Part I is that my blog is moving. Same crafty goodness, new crafty channel. Hopefully an easier-to-remember address:

www.confessionsofacraftaddict.com

(It’s not as catchy as say, HappyZombie.com, but it works for me.)

I hope you’ll follow me over there (I promise that you won’t have to unpack any boxes or move heavy furniture), at least for Part II of my big news and another giveaway.

xoxo,
Mary

I’ve been feeling the urge to play with things that aren’t fabric lately. Sometimes, a little creative break is a good thing. It lets me explore something different and/or new, recharging my vision along the way.

This little tea tray started out as an unfinished piece of wood from the craft store. I don’t think it cost more than $5 (probably less). I did a basic whitewash with some acrylic paint, covering the inside and outside. Then I added a bright pink to the top edge. When it was dry, I trace off the bottom and sides on the back of a piece of wrapping paper (I picked up this particular gem at Target, on clearance).

I used Mod Podge to adhere the papers to the tray, then topped off everything with a bit of Mod Podge Sparkle. Yes, decoupage medium with glitter in it. What can I say? I like a bit of sparkle.

The tray has been the centerpiece of today’s tea-time play, which makes it a success in my book. I’m working on another piece right now, this one a mixed media collage-y kind of work, and may be sharing it in a day or two (lots of drying time with this one).

I used Sew What Skirts to guide me on the pattern drafting. I’ve drafted A-line skirts before but thought I’d take advantage of some professional advice. I’m happy with the results and even wore one yesterday as my oldest and I toured a college campus. (Totally made my day when a random passerby complimented it, too!)

Today I’ve been lounging around in my new tee. I love it! I bought it from Moxie Madness on Etsy; she was kind enough to list one in the size and color I wanted. I think I’m going to make a cute pair of capris to go with it, since the weather is warming up enough that jeans will soon be uncomfortable.

I’ll be taking a bit of a blog break the next few days as spring break comes to a close, but be sure to catch up with me next week. I have some BIG news to share!

My 20th high school reunion is this year

I’m really kind of struggling to understand the appeal of a high school reunion. I don’t keep in touch with these people. Haven’t seen 99 percent of them in 20 years. What’s the point? Remembering the good ol’ days?

Let me be totally honest here. I do not consider high school “the best days of my life.” If anything, high school was a special kind of torture that violated the rules of the Geneva Convention.

I grew up in a small town in Alabama. One high school. I was most assuredly not one of the “popular” crowd. My hair was too frizzy. I had virtually no social skills whatsoever. My family was barely middle class. I didn’t have the “right” clothes or shoes or fashion sense. No car. No drivers license. Most of what sticks out in my mind about high school were all the times I was made fun of for wearing Wal-mart clothes and bobo tennis shoes. Of never having a date to Homecoming and getting dumped two weeks before my one and only prom.

And I want to relive those glory days why?

I went to the 10th, although I’m still not sure why. Maybe I had something to prove, that I wasn’t that dork any more. For two days, I felt like I was back in high school, wearing the wrong clothes and sporting bad hair. I was miserable. A friend of mine who is a few years older told me that first reunion is a bit like high school still; however, the 20th is much better. People are less about who they were, she says, and have moved out of those old cliques.

I had a little taste of my reunion when I went home for Christmas. I met two girls for lunch one day, to catch up. Although I have known both of them for more than 20 years, I can’t really say we were friends back in the day. They were both part of the “in crowd,” with active social lives that were a stark contrast to mine. And while we sat at that restaurant, and I listened to them talk about the people in their circle of friends — folks with whom we went to high school — I realized how different my life has been. The people to whom I am the closest are friends I have known no more than 10 years, and none are from my hometown. I have moved forward and happily embraced a different life.

It may be true that a 20th reunion breaks down all those old high school walls. But I’m still the first person in my class to Rsvp “no.”

Fluffy.

Frouffy.

I’ve spent quite a bit of time with the tulle again in the past week, filling an order from a dance studio. It’s recital season and somewhere, a group of eight little girls will all be wearing rainbow tutus made by yours truly. (See the “big picture” at my Flickr.)

Oh, how I would love to see that! I don’t really choose favorites among my “babies” but these puffy little rainbow skirts make me smile, even as the clock just tick tick ticks away. I stacked them on my dress form as I finished, which gave me an idea for photographing them before sending them off.

Individually, they are so sweet and lovely but layered upon each other, they take on a new dimension. I look at this picture, and it’s almost as if they are undulating in the current, so much motion without ever moving.

For a record number of weeks, I have been going to bed at midnight — or later. I’m not big on the sleeping in, so I think the best way to describe myself is “sleep deprived.”

Must. Change. Habits.

Totally candid photo. I’m still not consistently getting results with my silhouettes but this one was pretty great, IMHO. I did darken it just a tad but that was about all I did, other than crop and resize.

It’s such a contrast to who he is, this somber silhouette. This is my joker child, the fun-and-games kid, the mischief maker. He’s always so animated and quick with a smile. Little moments like this remind me that he is so much more, though.

It’s a rainy Friday night here in the ATL. Miss L is tucked into bed and I’m camped out on the couch, surfing for a few before I dive into finishing up a tutu order. My oldest is off to the movies with his not-girlfriend and a couple other folks. Honey is away at a firm retreat. My middle child doesn’t start spring break until tomorrow, so he’s still at boarding school.

This is what my life will be like in just a few short years. In a little more than a year, the first of the boys heads off to college and his brother will be only a couple of years behind him. It will be a party of one in Kidville.

Really, it’s not something we didn’t know, back when we were planning and peeing on a stick every month. Honey’s sister is eight years younger than him, so we’d actually seen a little bit of it firsthand.

Tonight, though, is a little piece of that future. I have to admit it’s rather nice. The pace is so different, after all these years with teenagers. Usually, they are up at least as late as I am — if not later. We talk and laugh and fight over the remote control. That little girl, though, has a much earlier bedtime which gives me a bit of alone time that’s rather foreign for me.

But I could get used to it.