GODZILLA!!!!!

Okay, maybe it isn't quite that bad... but I really HATE lizards! I know it is not a rational fear, but I can't help it! They totally freak me out.





We moved here to Arizona from Michigan two years ago. Michigan is not known for its lizard population & to be fair I had no idea I was phobic about them. I think for me, it is kind of like having a mouse in the house...total freak out irrational screaming jumping fear!

Here in Arizona, we have lizards. LOTS of them in fact. Our home was vacant for a time before we purchased it, we have bit of land... & more lizards than I can deal with! I have no issue with them, when they are not up close... but lately they have been up really close!


A few weeks ago, this monster showed up right outside the door... he is about 8" long. His girlfriend is about 6" long. That's right I said girlfriend, can you guess what we have now?




Yep..... the tall grass next to my back door seems to be a perfect baby Godzilla nursery. Awesome.







Then today.... this mini-Komodo monster showed up, two of them actually. They are SO creepy! One has already tried to get in the house, I am SO happy we have a cat!



If my sewing machine was not broken :( I would be sewing instead of freaking out about lizards... but that is a story for another day. I have to go watch & make sure Godzilla & family are not plotting to get in!

Happy to be home

My mom has been visiting us for a few weeks, today we took her up to the airport. She had to go back to Michigan. :(

We live in Tucson, the airport she had to go through is north of us in Phoenix. I know it is hot here, but it is nothing compared to Phoenix!

It was 111 degrees! I felt like I was melting.

The good news in all of it is.... IKEA! I got to go to Ikea & I love it there! They were out of the fabric I am desperate for, but otherwise.... a great trip!

I have to get to work now, that shop will not open itself! I got a bunch of hardware & other supplies yesterday (thanks Melanie!), so I can get a ton done now!

Have a great weekend!!!

short, sweet & to the point!

The power keeps going out... :(

so, nothing fancy to write about today!

I have written this post more than once & just when I am about to click POST,

the power goes out...

awesome.

I have been working hard to get my shop open.

I am trying to get more sewing done.....

and since I don't have a treadle machine anymore...

I am hoping the power stays on for a while!

:)

A better day!

Well, Monday was no good, & Tuesday was a wash-out, but today.... today has been great.

I got my business cards in the mail, they were not supposed to get here until the 21st! They look good & I am really happy they got here so soon.

I got my Trade Name Certification certificate in the mail too! It is so pretty & official looking, I might have to frame it! :)

I also got the title for my car! It is officially paid off! (probably why I got hit on Monday)

Now it is raining at my house! Fantastic!!! I really mean that, I live in Arizona & we have not had a good rain shower here for months!

I need to go and get some sewing done, hope you all have a wonderful day!

Spell Checker Fail!

Please disregard the PT Cruiser spelling below..... though I was not physically injured in the accident, clearly it did not help my spelling/proofreading abilities.... sheesh! :)-

A Yukon Denali, always beats a PT Curiser!

I woke up this morning with a headache. I should have known to stay home... I should have realized it was not a good plan to go out. But, today was my daughter's first day of baby sitting class. She is 10 & her best friend is about to have a baby sister & they are going to need some baby sitting skills! So, they are both taking the class & today was the first day.

I knew it was not going to go well when we got there & there was no indication of where we were supposed to go. I should have left then, I should have packed it up & run for home, but I knew this was important to her & let me be honest.... it cost $72 & I am too stubborn not to get my moneys worth. We find the correct way into the school & go to the room her class is supposed to be in. Not there. Again, I did not run.... it's possible there is a simple oversight, not letting the parents know of the room change, right? Let me skip ahead in this story & say, we found the room. By the time we got there I had a whole group of lost kids with me & a staff member telling me I was wrong. I am pretty sure there were some flames shooting out of my eyes.

I figured, why not be optimistic.... it can't get worse than this, right?

Wrong. I explain to my Mother, who has been waiting in the car all this time, what took so long, back my car out of it's parking spot, put it in drive & wham. I am hit by another parent backing out of her parking spot. Awesome. The good part, no one is hurt! The car will live, the back door no longer opens, but it's just a door. She has insurance. It will get fixed. I thought there was no possible way the day could get worse, it could only get better, we might as well go on with our day & enjoy it!



After we picked Phoebe up from her class, we took her out for lunch. They made her sandwich wrong. I should have heard the warning bells in my head... but no, I kept on with my day.

My favorite thrift store is about 40 minutes from my house we went last week but, the shop was closed for renovation, I had checked the web site for the hours...it said nothing about the construction. There is a huge sign up that said it would be open on the 12th. So, we had planned to make the trip (again) today. We got all the way there..... they had crossed out the 12th & wrote 19th.

That was it, I turned around & came home. What else would have happened if I just kept going today?!? Perhaps a flat tire, or a lost purse....or....I don't know & I am not willing to find out!

Well, I am home now & I plan to stay here! I have some sewing to get done anyway. I still have the headache, but now I have a door dent to match. Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day! Although, I will probably have to deal with insurance... :(

I am going to go find some chocolate & be happy we came home before anything worse happened! :)

My Shop

Hi! My name is Ariel and my shop is
Tootsie Marie.

I love to sew & my family has been telling me for quite a long time to set up a shop & sell some things. I put it off & put it off, I was not convinced anyone would buy the stuff I was making.

I have a great friend, (one of my very, best friends in fact) named Melanie, she owns a fabric store, Above All Fabric.
I buy all of my fabric from her, she carries the best designers! We get together to sew & work on projects pretty often, we laugh a LOT & sew a little! :)

I brought my latest idea over to Melanie's house to have her look at it, a water bottle carrier made from Patty Young's fabric... Playdate, goldfish - teal.
She loved it & the rest is very recent history.

She Tweeted a picture of the water bottle carrier & sold two of them right then! I didn't have a blog or a shop or even a price yet! I freaked out a little & then got to work.

I could not have done this without her help. She has held my hand through everything, from my trademark name to teaching me about HTML code! Thank you Melanie! I would be a total wreck without you!

I also owe a huge thanks to my husband & parents for always encouraging me and to my daughter, for being so darn sweet. :)

I think 'water bottle carrier' is a bit of a long name, so I am calling it the 'Carey Jane'. I am working hard to have them available in my shop as soon as possible. I am also working on a Carey Jane pattern and a kit or two.

Thank you for reading this! I hope everything is spelled correctly! I am having some trouble with the formatting, but I promise to work on it! :)