Funny ad I found on Craigs List under the "yard sale" category

I know this has nothing to do with crafts, but I had a good laugh after I came across this ad:

THIS IS A 75 GALLON TANK IN AN ATTRACTIVE CHERRY FINISH CABINET...THERE IS A THREE STAGE FILTER UNDERNEATH...I KNOW VERY LITTLE ABOUT THE FILTER, ONLY THAT IT KEEPS THE TANK CLEAN...AND IT IS IDEAL FOR SALTWATER TANK SETUPS...I AM MOVING ON 9/2 AND NEED TO SELL THIS TANK...THE FISH...AN INDESTRUCTABLE AGRESSIVE RED DEVIL, COMES WITH (IF YOU WANT HIM) HE EATS EVERYTHING I PUT IN THE TANK...HENCE THE LONLINESS OF HIS EXISTENCE...HE ENJOYS FEEDERS AND PELLETS WITH EQUAL GUSTO...THIS TANK WAS ORIGINALLY FULL OF CICHLIDS AND THIER MANY BABIES...THE RED DEVIL GOT THEM ALL AS HE GREW UP...WE PAID ABOUT 1300.00 FOR THE TANK AND FILTER...I'D LIKE $500.00 FOR IT...AND/OR I'LL PAY YOU $20 TO TAKE THE FISH.

I have a usable craft room, yay!

Here's my sister modeling the bag I helped her make a couple weeks ago. I can't show the one I made yet, because I want it to be a surprise for one of my friends who checks my blog sometimes. I bought the pattern book at JoAnn's- "Gooseberry Patch: Sew Simple, Thoughtful Gifts & Easy Accessories." It took us the bulk of a day to make both bags, which wasn't too bad. After I finish writing this, I am going to start on another because it was a fun bag to make.
The biggest reason why I haven't been posting lately is because I have been really busy cleaning up this:


Can you believe how bad this is? It was really out of control. I have to admit, and you can tell from many of my previous posts, that I've dome more accumulation of crafts than actually doing the crafts and this mess is the end result (combined with trying to cope with a crazy, stress-filled full-time job). But with the gracious help of my hubby, we were able to do this:


The wooden shelving unit is actually on wheels! We got it at a yard sale from a lady who had used it in her yoga studio. It is PERFECT. The shelves behind it are those wire kind that clip together all cube-like. Like this: (the fabric is somewhat color coordinated, ooh, aahhh!)
This is my favorite decorating touch, displaying thread in a little trinket shelf.
And last but not least, I decided to use one of my favorite cats Cheetos (that lives at my parent's house) to show what I won from a quilt shop right after the quilt festival. Emily and I searched out Candelite Quilts (Chelmsford, MA) to find fabric for her bag. Amazingly, I didn't buy anything there, but Emily had the chance to enter a drawing because she purchased her fabric there. And I won! 10 Fat quarters in a yellow/orange/red theme and some snazzy new scissors. I am thrilled and am seriously wanting to sign up fo some of their fall classes.

I think this picture is hysterical, but my husband doesn't get the humor. If you agree with me, you'll really get a kick out of this website: http://www.stuffonmycat.com/

Lowell Quilt Festival

On Thursday of last week, my sister and I went to the Lowell Quilt Festival. Apparently it's held every year and sponsored by the New England Quilt Museum. We had a good time looking at all the artistic creations in the Tsongas arena. I was thrilled to get some fabric I had had an eye on from a website that had sold out. We were also able to go to the Quilt museum and see a portion of Gerald Roy's quilt collections! I thought it was pretty cool that when we got there, we got to join a group that he was leading around. He is quite famous in the quilting world and I found what he had to say about each quilt to be quite interesting.

Here's me in front of a quilted car right in front of the arena.

A lot of the quilts had a "ode to textiles" theme, given that Lowell is famous for it's textile production and history. I was quite amazed at this quilt, if you look closely- you can see that it's made up of clothing tags! Such intricate, detailed work. This photo doesn't do the quilt justice, but I loved the design and "feeling" of this quilt.

They had many "journal" quilts and I thought this one was very cute, and possibly something I could maybe do sometime.
This one was done by a lady inspired by a picture of her grandchild.

I was just amazed at the intricate piecework of this rooster.
We had a great time! I can't wait to go again next year.

My vacation: Part I

I just took a few days off to spend some time with my sister, who is usually out West. We saw Coldplay in Boston on Monday night. It was AWESOME, but I have to say that I think the Foo Fighters give a better show.

More to come on my crafty endeavors over the last few days...........