{*~complications~*}

If I could sum up the past few days, I'd use the following phrases:

"bloody nose","this is why we can't have nice things" and "does this taste like metal/fish/spoiled/off/gross to you?".

Mmmm yes. Excitement around this place! Broken electronics, total klutziness, strange side affects from medicines and a whole lot of cussing & laughing. Typical McPorkchop behavior!

I'm doing a little bit of sewing today...in between projects I made Mr. McPorkchop this doodle jump inspired mini quilt. It's all free motion quilted & applique. Wayyyy too much fun. It's a blast mostly because it's scribble-y! I'm sure if you aren't familiar with the opening screen, this mini just looks like a hot mess, but accurate to the game, haha.

I'll be updating etsy later on this week with slots for custom mini quilts (provided I have finished the 3 orders I already have!), some patchwork camera straps that are cuuute, four mini quilts, kindle pouches, some mug rugs & some patchwork zippered pouches! woohoo! I hope that if I type this out, I'll actually update it, someone should hold me accountable, haha. I have no self confidence with these sort of things, I talk myself out of selling stuff because I'm convinced everything has some tragic flaw which is my excuse if things aren't 100% factory perfectly made, for example, one of the custom mini quilts I'm finishing for the FOURTH time because I'm not satisfied with it. Yeah. I'm a bit hard on myself.

A few things I like today:

This bread which is free of all my allergens and still tastes great! However, it's extremely expensive ($7 a loaf!!!). But doesn't upset my stomach...so I'll buy it as a special treat every once in a while.

This set of paper, I got it as a gift! I'll be using it for this class!

This dress that I can't stop lusting after. It appeals to my New England roots & my inner smothered yuppie who's tired of wearing jeans, teeshirts, flannels & reefs.

This fabric which is begging to be beignet.

Speaking of patterns, I adore this but the largest bust size is too small for me!

I'm off to iron some fabric & work on a custom mini. I just finished season 3 of Buffy last night...watching her graduate high school & say goodbye to Angel was so bittersweet. How the heck did I get sucked in so completely?! Not to mention the first episode of season 4 is her at college...oh how I could relate to her first day college experience...minus the whole vampire slaying ;)

Have a great Tuesday!

xo

{*~TGIF!~*}

This weekend I'll:

• be finishing a custom mini quilt
• working on stuff for this class
• catch up on blocks for this quilt-a-long
• bake brownies from this cute post!
• catch up on the buffy dvd netflix delivered
• be finishing up on secret projects
• fill out my census form
• figure how why I can't get my gravatar to show up on my blog! It works on others! GAHHHH!
• crochet a cozy cowl!

Have a great weekend everyone!!!!

{~*Wordless Wednesday*~}

{~*Stormy*~}

It's been pouring and windy outside all morning, I'm wearing layers & surrounding myself with cheer-y colors and things.

Right now I'm a sucker for berry tones. I woke up this morning and decided I'd work with these hues all day, more hand sewing. Bits of blues, bright fuchsias, tiny pops of yellow and small hints of off white. Something like raspberries, blueberries, lemons, marionberries & whipped cream.

Last night I got little to no sleep, more coughing. Poor Mr.McPorkchop *never* complained, even though I was thrashing around, cuddling close because I was frozen then kicking him because I was hot, stealing all the blankets...you know, generally being an awesome person to sleep next too! He gets home early today so I'm making him lunch, baked eggs in creamy tomato basil sauce with roasted kale & whole wheat toast. Something filling and very warm. I might add some red quinoa as well for more protein.

Speaking of food & berries! I did some quick math & realized since my New Years Resolutions I've lost 14.8 lbs! That's great! And deserves a present in a berry color ;) So I treated myself to this Sleepy King Woodland Owl Wing. Savannah is *super* nice & friends with my bestest BFF buddy Jenny & lives in Chico! Sweet! I'm not sure how it will look on me, mostly because I wear glasses and I don't want my head to look busy. Yup. I just typed that. Haha.

I hope your having a great Tuesday! Stay cozy!

xo

P.S; I use wordpress & I'm using threaded comments, which is next, except I can't figure out how to give myself an icon! If anyone knows how, let me know! wordpress is kinda scary. I'm always afraid of tinkering around with it in fear of breaking something.

{*~Turn That Frown~*}

Is it weird to say thank god it's Monday?

This weekend was so terrible and so awesome all at once. Mr. McPorkchop was only home for a short 2 days instead of 3 and a half. Him being home and just being him was the amazing part of the weekend. We've tentatively come up with a plan for after he graduates and where we'd like to live. It was partly just a nice time to have a goal to work towards instead of being so glum about our current situation!

The not so amazing parts? Wes's dog Molly passed away and I felt terrible that I couldn't be there for my mom, it was her last sort of living link to him. She was ancient, 17 years old for a doberman, she's had an amazingggg life, but it was still sad and even sadder to talk to my mom. It's times like these that I hate living so far away from her! Then a *huge* order that I finished (65 pads) ended up with a miscommunication and we mutually agreed to cancel the sale, thats putting it very very very nicely. I started working on my small batch of custom orders for the shop, only to cut some fabric wrong and have to reorder it and hopefully it'll arrive today and I'm crossing my fingers that overnight shipping really means overnight. We went to go see Up!, our local theatre just got a new 3D thingy and the projector broke, so after sitting there for an extra half hour, they refunded everyone, totally not a big deal, but I wanted to poke the eyes out of the other patrons, there was only like 5 people working, clearly, it wasn't their fault, and people, wow, they just thought they were entitled to free EVERYTHING. I was shocked and I genuinely felt so so so bad for the staff! I then went to a local fabric store for fabrics for a swap, only to realize the fabrics had been sold out. ARGH! I totally promised something and then couldn't deliver, that is *not* me and I'm very upset about it.

So what did I do?

Sewed. Started watching comedies. Had some beer. Cuddled. Bought some new fat quarters. Learned how to free motion quilt.

I've never free motion quilted before and my machine came with the foot, a special feature, blah blah blah. I was just too wimpy to try it, but you know what? When things are bad, thats a perfect time to try something new right! *grins* It was pretty fun! I don't know if I'll do a lot of stippling, I think its called? I found it more fun to "draw", if that makes sense!

We watched Reno 911 and season one of Seinfeld this weekend. I've never really watched either and I really really loved the dumb humor and dry humor of them both. Sometimes it's nice to take a break from over thinking and "thoughtful" movies to just laugh and be silly. We also saw Night at the Museum 2. Ohhh dear, what an unfortunate movie! lol! But we had fun holding hands, being snarky and drinking fountain sodas bigger than our heads.

Today I'm going to package up orders, work on orders, request my mail man comes tomorrow to pick up the orders, finish wrapping up some swap packages, go to the bank, you know, typical Monday stuff. I'm hoping a bit of work and running around will kick me out of my funk! Maybe I'll even get a coffee!

OH! And guess what? I won a gift certificate from pink chalk fabrics! Sweet! I'm not sure what I'll get yet, as having 2 months off from work pretty much slaughtered my clams (we call money clams, I'm not sure when or why, but we do) and I need to get to work!

On that note, have a fantastic Monday and tomorrow I'll post the winners of the giveaway!!!!

{~*Lucky*~}

I've just finished updating the shop! It took wayyyy longer than I expected because half way through importing my photos I bumped something and lost them ALL!!! Plus, this is my largest update that I think I've EVER done!!! Sweet!!!! There are some limited edition pads, liners, cotton backed pads, fleece backed pads...I tried to do a little of everything! YAY!

I've had amazing mail days the past few weeks, like amazing. Like swaps so fantastic that I haven't photographed them because I ripped into them so fast. Yup. That good. Yesterday I got these gorgeous Liberty of London from Kristen who just got back from London. I about died. They smelled AMAZZZZZING! I kept thinking "Liberty smells perfect, warm, cozy"...it turned out she'd packed them with some stuff from Lush! LOL! How great is that?! Hahaha! Even Liz yesterday commented on how nice they smelled! hahaha! These are going to be a quilt! I haven't decided on a pattern, I have found a few prints online that I'd love to have once my budget allows for it! Any pattern ideas would be great! Joelene sent me one that looks really great!

I was up wayyyy too late last night working on orders...I ended up doing an ENTIRE order wrong. Charming right? Sheesh. The order was going to be backed in cotton, I backed them in fleece. FAIL! That teaches me for staying up too late working! Next time sleep and get up early!

Tomorrow I'm going to the post office and farmers market. I have orders, swaps, etc to mail out. And yay for farmers markets!!! I'm dying to see what kind of local yumyums I can get! Mr. McPorkchop is on his way home from work right now and has stopped by Trader Joe's! YAY!!!!!

Don't forget that there is still time to enter my giveaway! Thank you so so so much to everyone whos emailed me, mentioned my blog, etc! I'm in awe of the positive response I've received! I love love love knowing that there are lots of people out there who are open to the idea of cloth! It keeps me going! Your kind comments have seriously made my week! I'm giving you all the hugest hugs EVER. EVVVVERRRR!!!!

Have a fantastic weekend! xoxoxo

{*New & A Give Away*}

I'm going to try very hard not to be too wordy tonight! I'm going to address shop changes, FAQs, custom orders and more "shop talk" on Wednesday. I did get a chunk of orders done this weekend, but my serger needs a quick visit to the shop tomorrow. In more good news, if you are a frequent modernacorn pad buyer, I'm now including coupons for FREE SHIPPING in your orders as my way of saying THANK YOU!!!!!

SO! On to more good stuff!!!!

Firstly, I've made some fantastic new pads. And I've stocked the shop full of them!!! Get them while you can!!!

These pads are simply *fantastic*xten! Instead of being backed with antipill fleece, they are backed with super high quality (Amy Butler, Moda, Kona) quilters 100% cotton! Woo hoo!

What does this mean?

This means the pad is more breathable, making it a great choice for upcoming spring and summers warm days! They are EXTREMELY thin, great for wearing under your favorite shorts and skirts! They can even be ironed as long as you avoid the snaps!!! Sweeeeeet! Also, if you want too, you can wear the solid cotton side up against the skin or the cute patterned fabric! The choice is totally yours! YEEEEESSSS!!!! *jumps up and down!!!*

::Enter some Frank Period Talk::

Anti-pill fleeces main purpose in a cloth menstrual pad is its moisture resistant properties, which are great if you need to wear a pad for an extended amount of time, it'll help protect you if you can't get to the bathroom to change it. However, it also doesn't breathe, causing some women to sweat (myself included). Plus it makes a thicker pad...BOOO!!!!

Enter 100% cotton! WOO HOO! With 100% cotton backed pads, you mainly just have to "know your flow" and your own schedule, if you change your pad often, you won't have a problem with these pads. If you tend to go several hours without changing, they might not be for you, unless you have a lighter flow. I tend to change my pad each time I use to the bathroom and had no problems with cotton backing, I even made some overnight pads with cotton, no problem either, I believe I slept 8 hours that night, lol. If your concerned about leaking, but really want to try these, I suggest the same thing I do to cloth newbies, wear the pad around the house to get a feel for it!! The shape and core (absorbent part of the pad)  are still the same, one layer of organic 100% cotton fleece, two layers of bamboo fleece! I think your realllllly going to like these and become hooked on cotton!!!!

As an incentive to try them and to kick off a new product....

I'm giving two pads away!!!

YAYYYY!!!!! All you have to do is comment to this post and this post only by NOON PST Wednesday March 25th! At that point, I'm going to use random.org to generate two winners using their website! YAY!!!! At some point Wednesday night I'm going to post with the winners names and you'll have to email me your names, if the people don't email me, then I'll draw numbers again!!! Which pad you win is a total surprise, but it will be either Heather Ross Mendocino or Tina Givens Treetop Fancy!!!! Either pad is GORGEOUS and hey, it's FREE! International folks are more than welcome to join as well! The more people who comment, the merrier and there is more of a chance for more giveaways!

The catch?

You have to tell me your FAVORITE or INFAMOUS PMS CRAVING!!!!! For me? It's anything sweet and salty. Chocolate covered pretzels? I'm THERE!

***Contest CLOSED!!! I'll be announcing the winners later tonight!!! Thanks so so so much for playing along!!!! Check back to see if you've won!!!***

{*Info About Update*}

(sneak peak of some liner fabrics)

Hey Gang!

I'm currently working on a whole ton of great things for the shop, a few wet bags, a ton of liners, plus of course pads. Combined with a whole slew of custom orders. Unfortunately I'm going to have to push back the update and make it either Tuesday or Thursday evening. I'm pretty sure Mr.McPorkchop & I both have a stomach bug. Ew. xten.

I am so so so so sorry! I'm holding 5-6 customers pads right now for combined shipping, if you'd rather I pop them in the mail for you tomorrow so you don't have to wait, please please please please don't hesitate to email me. If you don't mind waiting, I'll post again with a more concrete time of the next update.

Also, I've gotten several emails and etsy convos about a pad maker who has started selling "look-a-like" pads on etsy. I'm so thankful that you all are keeping an eye out for me. Yes, the pattern is a tracing and yes, it upsets me very much. I'm not sure what I'm going to do about it yet. But thank you so much for all your kind words and support.

I have gotten a lot of great new fabrics this weekend, plus I washed and preshrunk several yards of bamboo and cotton fleece, so once my stomach calms down, this little house is going to turn into a factory of pad goodness! If I hold off until Thursday to update, chances are the update is going to be pretty big, which I know would make quite a few of you very happy ;) OH! And I was able to get more Mendocino Mermaid fabric in blues! YESSS!!!!

I'm pretty excited about a new book I got, well, it was a gift with a coupon, but I got Heather Ross's Weekend Sewing. Wow. Absolutely gorgeous book. Very funny story, I had some great fabric, several yards, on Saturday night I pulled out my old sewing machine and brought it into my bedroom with the intent of sitting on my bed and sewing sleep pants from a pattern in the book. It was a great sewing night, my bed provided lots of cutting space, I was listening to some guns and roses, I had my favorite pine candle burning, Mr. McPorkchop was doing the dishes, primo crafting conditions! Well, low and behold, I made them and they were terribly tight, not fitting at all. I was pretty bummed out, especially because I made a size large and knew I was making them with a lot of ease. This morning I'm cleaning up some books and stuff so I could sew in my nook, came across the patterns and the pattern I'd cut out, low and behold, I cut all four pieces...out of JUST the front leg pattern, not the front and BACK leg patterns. Nice right?! DOH!

To finish it off, I royally screwed up my knitting! BOO! I need to take out a row, but I'm kinda scared too!

OH! And I've been having really good fabric kharma lately. My friend Joelene mailed me some Robert Kaufman sprinkle fabric! And I found some swell fabric for Megan that she'd been looking for! I love when fabric makes me and other people happy.

Also, it was nice to read everyones comments regarding allergies, it's good to know I'm not the only one!!!

Argh. Ick. I think we are going to run to the store for some saltines >:(

{Cozy & Carrots}

I want to start tonights blog post with a very huge, very sincere, thank you. Thank you all so so so much for helping my friend Christina. I got so many emails last night, facebook messages, twitter tweets, you guys made me cry. I love you guys to bits and pieces. Thank you all so so so much and as I hear more from Christina, I'll post it here. Seriously. Thank you so so so so much again. If I could give you all hugs, I would. xten.

This is going to be a ramble-y entry. Just giving you a heads up.

I've been having a super hard time sleeping. I think it's from the medicine I've been taking since I had my charming allergic reaction. But really, who knows! Daylight savings? Too much energy? Need to create until dawn?! Last night was a doozy, I wasn't asleep until around 5 am this morning. Nice right? Mr.McPorkchop has been teasing me saying that 12:30 am is the new 2:30 pm because I'm up building stuff!

What am I building? Not a quilt for the quilt a long because I'm lame and can't seem to pick fabrics.  I worked on a knitting bag for myself. It's no secret that I'm really social online, but not to much in real life. On ravelry I joined two local groups in attempts to meet new crafty local friends. I had plans to go to Purl 'n Hurl Humboldt last night, but they were cut out after I had to have a business meeting. Yup. A business meeting. Crazy right? It sounds so official!

ANYWAYS! I made myself a knitting bag. So I can take my knitting places without shoving it in my purse. And tangling it up. Because I've done that before. I'm really grumpy right now with yarn in general, you know how earlier in the week I mentioned a package going missing? Well I ordered yarn for Mr.McPorkchops Valentines gift, yarn for a swap for a pair of Maine Morning Mitts, yarn for a hat for Mr.McPorkchops dad and the package is missing, USPS shows the seller printed postage, but it never entered their system and the seller hasn't responded to any emails. I filed a paypal claim. I've *never* done that before and it made me very, very, very, grumpy. I hate being without yarn, without money and I can't work on a swap, Mr.McPorkchop is Valentines Day giftless and Mr.McPorkchops dad is hatless. BOO!!!

BUT! I decided to take a second chance with buying yarn online. Since Jan.1st I've lost a little over 12 lbs so I thought a treat was in order for myself and I ordered a skein of SweetGeorgia sock yarn from the twitter suggestion of Yahaira! See the scarf she's wearing oh so beautifully in that link? I'm knitting that! Holy smokes! I've never knit anything remotely lace-like before! So exciting! So scary! The pattern is called Ishbel and it's designed by Ysolda Teague. I'm knitting it in a hand painted green color way called lichen.

Pretty right? I think green is becoming my favorite color. Well I wanted a sturdy bag. Something fun. Something rad. I wanted something deep but not huge, something that could stand up on its own, something structured but soft and something quirky.

I cut my remaining pieces of three fabrics that go super cute together and are also limited print/out of print. Deep breath!!! I wish I'd brought the pink fabric down a little more. I'm also unsure how to keep it crinkle free, you can see some wrinkles in the photo from where I flipped it inside out and then right side too. But all in all, it came out neat! I'm jazzed about it!

I used two Heather Ross fabrics, one from lightning bugs and the other from west hill. The lining is from Erin Michaels Lush and its the prettiest wood grain print. I added a little typewritten tag on the inside that has a Harry Potter (big fan of the Potter) quote about knitting! Awesome! You can see the tag here.

I also used a metal zipper! How cool is that? It gives the bag a really sturdy feel. I got the idea from Heather Ross's book, Weekend Sewing. I ended up using 3 different types of interfacing on this bag. Fusible craft heavy weight fabric on the outer fabric to keep its shape. Soft fusible fleece on the lining to give it some body. And sewn in heavy weight pellon for the panels along the zipper so the zipper wouldn't fall in with the weight of its self.

The little pin I just had to do. I'm such a big fan of mockumenteries and the tv show The Office. I've been watching Best in Show and I decided I totally needed prize badge of some sort, plus the horse fabric is begging for it!!! And then the preppy pink and green combo? Totally inspired by Andy Bernard! Have you seen the things he wears? He looks like he's stepped out of a J.Crew catalog and just finished sailing for the day! I love it!!! I also love that Michael Scott turns EVERYTHING into a dramatic production or contest or holiday. So my knitting bag isn't just a knitting bag, it's a dream that I'm a champion knitting- horse back riding- bug catching- day dreaming extraordinaire! Hilarious!!!! I have plans for some Heather Ross jodhpur fabric and wall paper fabric as well. The more preppy the better. I'm bringing out my East Coast roots...kinda.

I made this bag while twittering with my friend Kristen about bikes and bike bags. Who knew I'd find something new to be completely obsessed with?! I finished the bag and several custom orders around 3 am. Awesome!!!

I woke up this morning afternoon, worked on more orders, took a shower and was grumpy. Actually, I laid in bed and cried my eyes out for a good 45 minutes. Crazy right? For the past 6 months I've been allergic to shampoo. So I've been switching. And switching. And trying new things. And spending wayyy too much money on shampoo.  And over time, the allergy has gotten worse. Enter this morning, me in the shower and my hair coming out in clumps. I've never ever had hair this long in my entire life, its only a little past my shoulders and I'm not emotionally attached to it, I just want to be able cut it and donate it hopefully this fall and be able to help someone. I'll spare you the details but lets just say that it was an extremely painful shower. Mr.McPorkchop brought me to Target, I had a list of things to avoid from my doctor and we found yes to carrots! Mr.McPorkchop very kindly bought me the hair mask! I put it on and it felt really cool and nice. I'm stuffed up, but Mr.McPorkchop said that it had a very light and clean smell. I left it on for 20 minutes, it says 15, but I was in the middle of prepping veggies to be baked. I rinsed it off and no burning, no pain, nothing. No new hives which was *amazing*. I let my hair air dry then I gently combed it. Success!!! My hair is super shiny and soft. I was able to part it differently and loosely braid it to hide the damage. Awesome!!! I'm totally going to head to Target tomorrow and buy the shampoo and conditioner. I even joined their carrot club and facebook group, lol! No animal testing! Ecofriendly! Affordable! Available in lots of places! That is so so so awesome to me! Clearly as the small owner of a small ecofriendly business, I love and want to support other ecofriendly businesses!

Can I vent for a moment? I hate having allergies. Most people think its something as simple as avoiding something, but it's totally not that easy. Allergies come and go. I get allergy tests once a year and each year, crazy differences. Lately they've been through the roof insane, so I'm hoping going to Redding this summer will help, a very dry climate might be amazing for my asthma. This post pretty much sums up allergies. I have had sinus infections ever since I was a kid. I get them once or twice every 2-3 months, these are the kind of sinus infections that knock you on your butt! I had tubes in my ears in elementary school to help with chronic ear infections. I tried allergy shots. I've taken (am taking) steroid regimens that have made me gain weight. Allergies, in short, are horribly lame and I wouldn't wish them on my worst enemy. So when I can find something that doesn't make me itch or sneeze, I sing it from the roof tops!

See! I told you this post would be ramble-y! I did get a few liners done today for the shop, I'm going to work on more through out the weekend and will update the shop either Sunday or Monday night. I got some new fabric in the mail today and it's going to make the *cutest* liners ever!

Have a great weekend everyone!!! Thank you so so so much again!!!

xo

{*Shop Update*}

The Shop Has Been Updated!!!

I totally have spring fever and made some really pretty spring like pads!!! I used some garden themed fabrics and just had a blast sewing!!!!

I'll have liners listed this weekend, tomorrow I'm washing and shrinking more bamboo and a bunch of new fabrics :) I'll gladly combine shipping if you'd like me to hold off until I list more stuff, just leave it in the message to seller or send me an email :):)

If you have spring/cabin fever these pads will hopefully provide cute eye candy to cheer you up!!!

xoxo

edited to add: in the odd chance that the pad you've purchased oversells, I'll send you a message asap with your choice of either a refund or I'll sew you another from the fabric :)

{*Ms.McPorkchopCrankyPantsGrumpsteinthe4th*}

I, Ms.McPorkchop, am in the funk to end all funks. No amount of retail therapy will help. No amount of chocolate will save me. I am CRANKY. Instead of whining about it, I'm going to try to be positive and show you my sewing machine!

Look at all that JUNK! I was sewing myself a pair of panties this morning when my machine jammed, prompting me to actually look at the machine and holllllly smokes, what a MESS!!!

Yup! That's my amazing vacuum cleaner! Trust me when I say that my machine needed this. Surprisingly (sarcasm) it's running a lot smoother now!!!!

I've done everything in my power to make myself less grumpy, attempted picking out quilt fabric (fail! can't choose!), had an amazingly delish lunch, took new fabric photos, watched comedy online, listened to my favorite guns and roses pandora radio station and had a major dance party, worked on two big custom orders and got one shipped, ordered fabric for an order that I screwed up, worked in my sketch book...

I even went for a bike ride! I only made it around the block because my front tire is flat-ish. BOO!

I think know why I'm in a grump mood but I just can't seem to shake it!!!

What are your favorite ways to de-grump?!

(P.S. All emails will now start to be replied to at night! Now that I have an extra few hours of sunlight, I'm sewing and working longer into the evenings, rather than replying first thing in the morning!)

{*Secrets Revealed!*}

Ok! Well, its time to spill my guts!!! If you follow me on twitter you know my secret...but...

Mr. McPorkchop & I are screen printing at home!!! Soooo excited!!! We have hemp grocery totes and organic cotton produce bags on their way, as well as a whole slew of drawings! YAYAYYY!!!!

We were going to do a traditional set up using this new line of ecofriendly silkscreen supplies we've been planning this for about 6-9 months but I've been on the limb about the whole thing, the space needed for an exposing unit, the fact that we are extremely tight on space in general was a huge thing. We've been researching, researching, researching. Plus our home is extremely humid and I was worried the screens would never ever dry and we wouldn't have a place to stash them so they could be left alone. >:(

When I first saw the info for yudu I was a little on the edge. I should probably mention that I took printmaking for 5 years in college and took less than half a semester of silkscreening before deciding that college wasn't for me right now, but I fell in love with silkscreen. I love all printmaking in general, although admittedly, I'm poor at it and a better painter. But I love love love it. But yudu seemed kinda...meh to me. I was worried it was going to be a shoddy way of bringing silk screen to the masses and undermining silk screen artists in general. But thats a different rant for a different time ;)

Then it kinda started making more and more sense, less space, all in one unit, ecofriendly, no harmful chemicals, did I mention less space?! So we took the plunge and got one!

Ordering the unit was no problem, I bought it online at JoAnns for 40% off plus shipping. It was supposed to arrive today, but showed up early on Wednesday. No problem! We found a super rad table locally at Arcata Exchange, hilariously when we tried to put the table in our vehicle, I tried to remove the sunshade and ended up conking myself in the head, losing my glasses and giving myself a goose egg!!!Yay!!! >:(

The real fiasco has been supplies. My local JoAnns doesn't carry them, which makes sense, its a small JoAnns. So on the 27th of February I ordered every available color of ink, emulsion remover, stop out, registration panels, the whole shabang from JoAnns store front on amazon.com! Randomly starting on the 4th of March, I started getting refund notices. Essentially, they were selling items they never had in stock. :( So amazon gives me 15% off my next purchase...excluding yudu. Wait? What? So I called JoAnns and got the run around, all I'd like is a rain check, I got the supplies for 40% off, they over sold them and/or never had them in stock in the first place, so I don't think its too unreasonable to ask for a rain check, can you tell I've been reading a lot of the Consumerist? After being extremely polite and biting my tongue, I got the rain check, but they have no idea when the supplies will ever be in stock again. I look online *daily* and it appears most sites only have pre-order options or prices through the roof (double retail + shipping). I sent an email to Provo Craft asking if and when the supplies will be available mainstream. I've read on various sites Michaels is supposed to be carrying it in mid-March as well. No response from them. I don't mind waiting for supplies at all, but it seems silly that they sell the kit with no emulsion remover! Odd right? Since I have a ton of silkscreen ink here, I might try printing with my own ink, they say not too, but I might be willing to give it a go.

Once we test print and get a feel for it, I'll write a review and compare it to print gocco and traditional silkscreen to the best of my ability!

I'm the most excited about being able to print my own fabrics. I have yards and yards of organic cottons here that are just dying to be printed on! YAY!!!!

Also, I think I've been spending too many days up late and pushing myself because I'm pretty sure I'm getting sick again..booo!!!! I was up all night working on building our table plus sewing custom orders. So today I got through 75 emails and etsy convos, but I still have about 15 more etsy convos to get too, so please please pretty please be patient with me!!! I also didn't get a chance to run to the post office today, normally I print postage online but my printer is acting odd, so I might run to office max tonight for a new cartridge, so if you've bought something from me this week, it's going out first thing in the morning! Yay!!!!!

Phew! Thank goodness it's Friday!!!!

Do you have any fun plans for the weekend? I'm sewing sewing sewing, I need to finish some custom orders and stock the shop!!! :)

{*Stash Interview*}

Good Afternoon & Happy Thursday!!!

First, I'd like to give a very big thank you to sewmamasew for mentioning my little doll quilt. I've actually changed two squares on it since then and have cut the sashing! Now I'm extra motivated to finish it!

During the month of February they've been interviewing various crafty ladies about their fabric stashes and it's been so much fun to read along. I recently (earlier in the week) switched up my sewing area so I thought I'd play along, even though it's March ;)

What do you usually sew?

I sew reusable cloth menstrual pads! The idea is hard to wrap your head around at first, but it's great for you and the enviroment, plus I love to buy rad fabrics!

When you shop for fabric, what size cuts do you usually buy?

I'm strictly a fat quarter kinda girl! I can't buy large cuts of fabric because I simply don't use all that much! I also share a very tiny two room home with my fiance, Mr.McPorkchop, and as it is, my business takes over our space big time! It bums me out when fabric shops aren't fat quarter friendly, but the ones who are know that I shop from them 2-3 times every few weeks! I do buy a lot of Japanese prints in half yards because I've started making pouches from them, plus once you can't find a print, it's gone forever!!!!

Do you buy on impulse or do you go out looking for something you need?

I only buy fabric for my shop, I've only bought fabric three times for myself, twice was something I needed, fabric for my birdie sling and fabric for my frenchie bag, the third time was my biggest fabric investment and most prized piece of fabric ever. When I shop for my business, I buy new collections, I buy stuff that I genuinely like, not stuff that "I think will sell", because I don't want to sew with it if I don't love it! Every little fabric I buy for my shop I buy because I adore something about it, the color, the print, the designer...something!

Are you a pre-washer? If you are, do you wash your fabric before you need it, or only when you’re ready to use it?

Yup! Since my fabrics go on an intimate part of the body, I prewash all my fabrics twice using ecover delicate wash, just to remove any excess sizing, make sure it's 100% shrunk. I wash it asap because I can't wait to get my greedy little hands sewing with it!

Do you iron it?

Oh yes! My iron is one of my most prized possessions actually, and I know how weird that sounds! My mom & stepfather gave it to me as a Christmas gift the day before he passed away. When I opened it he said "well, I had to get you this one, it shuts off automatically", haha because clearly, I get wrapped up in a project and you know...forget about things. Like hot irons. :)

How do you sort it?

Color Chronologically!!!!

Do you have any special folding techniques?

Nope! Just nice and neatly!

How do you store your fabric?

This shelf! Plus I have three rubbermaid clear small bins that hold my home decor weight fabrics and half yards of fabrics. I keep my bolts of bamboo and cotton fleece next to my sewing desk. Anti-pill fleece is in a giant soft squishy pile at the edge of my desk as well in a big basket!

What tips do you have for building up a well-rounded stash?

I think it's just a matter of buying what suits your personality!

When do you say enough is enough?

When it won't fit on my shelf!!! I'm on a no-half-yards-of-fabric-diet right now!!!!

What are some of your favorite stash-busting projects?

Well, I really really am into quilts right now so I've been saving my scraps and cutting them into pieces! I also like adding fabric tags to things, typing on fabric, gluing fabric to things...

Do you have a current favorite print in your stash? Let’s see it!

Oh man. Ok. This is my favorite, most expensive, most most most FAVORITE (Can I say that again?) print ever! It's a yard of Liberty of London, Tana Lawn. I bought it from a fabric shop in the UK and I just die when I look at it. I'm not sure I'll ever sew with it, I've dreamed of making a skirt with it, but it's only a yard of fabric. It lives in my hutch with my yarn and I only take it out on special occassions, crazy right?! I know!

What’s your definition of the perfect stash?

I'm led to believe that the perfect stash simply must belong to Martha Stewart. I'm pretty sure I've seen bits and pieces of it in her magazine, but come on, she's gotta be rolling in some phenom fabrics!!!!!

I'll share these new fat quarters with you that I just got today!

I love them!

Ok! That's all for today! I'm answering questions about custom orders, packaging orders and working on some stuff today! I might sneak some pads into the shop later tonight!

Have a fantastic Thursday everyone!!!! I'm going to maybe try to make some pineapple shrimp with jasmine rice tonight! eeep!!!

xoxox

{*Crazy right???*}

The past two days have been *crazy*!!!!

Things are finally starting to break up sinus wise, thankfully, because I seriously was ready to scream! Lots and lots of steaming my face with eucalyptus oil!

So I woke up yesterday and was intent on being super productive and totally was! I got 6, yup, 6 custom orders of over 4 pads in EACH order done and shipped, they came out so so so nice! I got to back two of the orders in organic cotton instead of antipill fleece and I just adore how thin they are! I had an amazing sewing day. Mr.McPorkchop and I went to the beach and watched the storm blow in and played with my camera a bit. It was just shaping up to be an amazing day...but before that, I stayed up super late the night before working on this little pouch!

Am I the only one who is addicted to charming little pouches?!  It took me so so so so long to come up with a good pattern, one with gussets, no visible seams, something simple, but really really nice. I never took sewing classes, so everything I design is self taught, I found some great tutorials, but nothing really struck me, so I spent an entire night sewing, resewing, building, unbuilding, just to come up with a simple pouch! LOL! Thank goodness for .99 cent muslin right?!

I used vintage bed linens, organic cotton, japanese neighborhood fabric for the tag, organic cotton ricrac on the zipper, two vintage laces and the softest velvet EVER! Boy am I pleased with the results and I have a few others cut and ready to be sewn! I also found the best interfacing and I'm really happy with it!

I've added this new little pouch to my shop! I'm going to be adding some new pads and sets of wipes this week too so check back or rss the shop!

SO! Back to my day..the bad news? My amazing day was cut short by, get ready for this, an allergic reaction to *something* so bad that I got to spend my evening in urgent care! Charming right? I had what looked like a really really bad sunburn from my neck down. Not fun. My skin literally felt like it was on fire, I was sweating! Ewwww!!! Today it just looks like red little bumps, which is a lot better. I'm taking steroids for three days, yuck! They say to take them with food or milk, I'm having them with pudding ;) Because you know, pudding is both ;)

Okok, I'm going back to sewing!!! I hope everyone is having a great week so far! I also have 60+ etsy convos that I'm trying with Mr.McPorkchops help to reply too, if you need something urgently, it might be best to email me directly, modernacorn@gmail.com

xoxox