on the laundry line

Hot Pink Chandelier

lor_rah@hotmail.com (lorchick @ ON{thelaundry}LINE) — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 20:39:00 +0000

I could not WAIT to share this with you all. I finally painted the giant ugly brass candelabra-chandelier that I picked up for $20 a few months back! And when I say I couldn't wait to show you this, I mean literally, cos it's still outside on the tree waiting for one more loving coat of 'watermelon pink' spraypaint.

Here's kindof a before. The REAL before had broken old used-to-be-white 'candles' on it and it was dingy. I removed them and scrubbed the chandy for prep. Then I took it outside and hung it in my tree and got down to business. I didn't bother priming because I figured it will not receive any wear and tear.
My can of paint was very spattery and I wish i had put it down right away and moved on to the next can! When I pulled out a different can for the second coat things went beautifully from there on. Unfortunatly, I had a mild case of Barbie-leprosy.
I should probably come with a warning label. "Marrying this woman will probably at some point result in a hot pink chandelier hanging in the tree in the backyard." Nobody would believe the label, anyways, so I guess not.

I am so excited to finish this up with new white 'candles' (thanks to Joy from JOYS OF HOME for tipping me off on where to find them!) and hang it in Nicole's room! It will look nice with white walls, and if I do decide to go with the light lime green walls it will just POP! And then I can't wait to show you the finished project when it's all up and good to go.

Let's be Prudent, here, ladies...

lor_rah@hotmail.com (lorchick @ ON{thelaundry}LINE) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 03:51:00 +0000

Okay, so I got a little (little. like I get 'a little' anything) excited/inspired by Prudent Baby's DIY Sweet & Easy Hair Clippies. I could tell from her thumbnail that I would love them and that I could easily do them, and I'm sooo glad I decided to click on her tutorial instead of just winging it because her tips on how to cut the flowers nicely (slits in circles and then rounding them out) made my life WAAAAY easier. No, MY WHOLE LIFE. For serious. You can tell there is an extreme lack of drama going on in my life lately, eh? ha.

I feel super special cos I gave her a little tip of my own for making the ribbon clips grippy without inducing static. I feel clever as a squirrel in a nut factory.

While I was having fun I decided to make a giant button into a bobby pin button. Very cute, blue isn't my color though, so not for me!

Another batch... the top one is for my niece, to go with a shirt her mom appliqued for her with this selfsame apple fabric (sooooo cute.) and the others are just more fun.
modelled by Nicole... I'm not sure how this happened, I think I promised her candy for this blurry shot. Note the buttons in the background, she was sorting them 'for me' while I played with these.

And the same one modelled much nicelier by me. Yes, I said nicelier. This is my favourite out of the whole batch, and I am not entirely certain what is up with that because I'm not always a fan of the red/pink combo. I DO NOT KNOW WHY. My brain thinks they don't match. Even though they're technically 'red' and 'light red' but whatever, brain. What. Ever.

Very cute, thanks, Jacinda, for a great tutorial, and sorry if I seem kinda stalkery when I read every single one of your backposts because that's what I do when I decide somebody is awesome. And, hello, our kids are the same age, so clearly we should be internet friends. If by internet friends you mean, stalkstalkstalk.

PS, how awesome is my natural hair color? I have decided photos tell the truth and my bathroom mirror lies. How mad do you think my husband would be if I decided to hack a 'skylight' into our sad little windowless bathroom? He will probably look the other way if I tell him it's the one thing standing between me and chopping off my hair or dying it. He will do anything to prevent either of those things these days. Guess who bought me a fancy-shmancy pricey-shmicey hair straightener? Scrooge, that's who. And he was even courteous enough to refrain from pointing out I have God-given bone-straight hair. ITS NOT THE SAME. Plus my bangs are ca-razy.

SPEAKING OF MY HUSBAND, SCROOGE. I mean, Chris. Guess who totally hijacked me from grocery shopping yesterday and took me out for dinner instead? Guess who was TOTALLY CONFUSED when her husband pulled into a nice restaurant parkinglot instead of the grocery store around the bend?? GUESS WHO WAS TOTALLY TOTALLY GLAD SHE CHANGED OUT OF HER DIRTY MOMMYSHIRT BEFORE LEAVING THE HOUSE?! How sweet and I love that man for surprising me with that but that story might have ended a little differently if I was dressed in sweats. LOL. Fortunately I was dressed half-decently and how very, very sweet of him! (in case you didn't know, last time he took me out for dinner was October. October 2008.)

have a little class

lor_rah@hotmail.com (lorchick @ ON{thelaundry}LINE) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 21:40:00 +0000

So, I'm taking a cake decorating class. You'll have to excuse the following pictures, by the way, as they're taken at night. You'll understand why later. Anyways, I'm taking the Wilton's cake decorating class, Level 1, along with my friend Di. As you MIGHT recall, maybe, my mom got me the cake decorating class for my birthday.

So, first up, for class number two, we have to bring a light blue cake, iced to our very bestest ability. It took me forever because I was using the tiny little 8" angled spatula that I had in my drawer, girlfriend gots to go get herself a 13" spatula, cos DANG. This part took the longest!

How nice, you can't even tell that there was a point at which my darling Nicole was eating my cooling cake and then started bawling and ran to tell on herself. Baby has a conscience. Finally.
Will you please pretend you can't see the black line. We spent so much time practicing technique we had only ten minutes left to actually decorate our cakes. It's kinda crummy but for fifteen minutes I'm proud. And I learned some new techniques, and I feel confident that I could turn any sheet or circle cake into a character cake now. Cos I learned TRACING. It's like art all over again.
Here the colors are a little more true-to-tone on the rainbow. You can also see the reason the pictures were all taken at night. Well, the first one was because I didn't finish icing the cake until it was already getting dark outside. But the reason I couldn't wait til the next morning to take a picture of the cake is because Chris was WAITING. For like, two weeks. Because we didn't make a cake last week, we just took notes. Somebody is gonna get FAT off this course. Or both of us, maybe. There is like a brick of lard and a pound of icing sugar in that cake. In the icing alone. Ew. Ewwww. Tastes like storebought. EWWWWW. But whatevs, it's just for the class, and then I shall do some playing.

See if you can also spot the following in that picture.

a) a creepy hairy foot. b) Evidence that Chris doesn't clean up after dinner when I'm not home to supervise. c) a "Safeway Bingo" card. d) a santoku (santuko?) knife about to be used as a cake cutting and serving utensil.

Today I am making Apple Butter, inspired by (but not exactly following the recipe of, because I'm such a rebel) Beckie over at Infarrantly Creative. Which reminds me I need to go ask dictionary.com what infarrantly means because I actually don't know that one and I'm kind of a word junkie. Anyways, I'm snorting apple-flavored oxygen like an addict. My house smells so delicious. MAKE APPLE BUTTER. JUST TO MAKE YOUR HOUSE SMELL GOOD. And then invite everyone over and they will think you are Suzie Homemaker because your house smells so good but it's actually sick-easy. Or at least if you have an apple peeler/corer/slicer. Which I do. Envy me, it was a thriftstore find.

Grand Forks Shopping?

lor_rah@hotmail.com (lorchick @ ON{thelaundry}LINE) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 16:41:00 +0000

This is me near the end of December. For sure. I'm on the tightest tighty tight budget in the universe right now. My husband is Tighty McWallet. But it is for my own good. All my monies is being taked and taked and taked and put away in a nice safe happy place to be given back to me when we go to Grand Forks near the end of December for a few nights. And goooo SHOPPING!

So, my friends. Surely there is some amongst you who is learned in the area of Shopping In Grand Forks. Where do I need to hit? What can I browse online first? I am excited, as there are places to shop in the states that is not available here in Canada. For shizzle. Fo shizzle? I'm down with it, dogs. Right? No? Okay. Sorry.

Don't Click This

lor_rah@hotmail.com (lorchick @ ON{thelaundry}LINE) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 03:32:00 +0000

http://grosgrainfabulous.blogspot.com/2009/11/handmade-dress-patterns-guest-giveaway.html

You should probably know I really don't want you to go enter this giveaway over at Grosgrain. I really, really don't. I want to win it all for myself, so maybe go peek, but don't enter.

Don't lie to me, I know you're entering. Jerks.

I've been up to things

lor_rah@hotmail.com (lorchick @ ON{thelaundry}LINE) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 14:51:00 +0000

Yes, indeed, I have been up to things. They are even Almost Productive Things. No, no, not cleaning my house. What are you, crazy? I've been maintaining a steady level of mediocrity in my house. Good enough that it's hygienic, bad enough that it would be embarrassing if a friend popped over, except friends did pop over and I was too busy shiffling around from sewing machine to serger and back again from under a pile of fabric scraps to be embarrassed.

So I created this lovely from an Ottobre pattern. It is, of course, too big. Also, the perfect front pleats got a bit skewed when I sewed it. So then I realized I had enough fabric left to piece together another slightly smaller skirt. Which is amazing because I started off with a woman's calf-length skirt, here. The new skirt is, of course, a bit too small. Or at least it's a bit tight. I was frustrated at the time though so I'll go back and press and reassess. The pleats on the second skirt are perfect though. I didn't photograph the second skirt.

I also took a pair of women's black linen pants and drafted up a pattern for elastic waist linen pants for Nicole. They look nice but I'm going to make another pair a little bigger because the purpose was to wind up with pants she could take off and put on easily herself, and these are a little too snug for that. You like how two year olds make fantastic models? I even gave her a candy to unwrap and figured that would have her standing still. No, no it did not.
No, I haven't been beating her. She took a trip into the bathroom and came out like this, a la mascara. I couldn't even get mad because I was too busy trying not to laugh my butt off when she skulked out of the bathroom looking fierce, narrowed her eyes at me mischievously, and went "ROAAAAAAARRRRR!" At least if she had declared herself pretty as per norm I could have scolded. But today she was a monster, which gave me the giggles.

I also spent hours putting together a christmas dress for nicole in black velvet with red accents, but then it was too small and I ate chocolate and now it's on the table waiting to be salvaged into a skirt. Daddy picked out the cutest little black sunday boots for her, suede with fur and pompoms and the like. I think it's cute how strong an opinion and loose a wallet her daddy has when it comes to her winter sunday gear. Still looking for the perfect winter coat, may need to make it. Will be red, or black faux-fur with animal-print accents.

Rawk On

lor_rah@hotmail.com (lorchick @ ON{thelaundry}LINE) — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 16:26:00 +0000

Went to a costume party last night. I was a rocker. Ahaha. So here's a picture of me kissing my love goodbye... (this also happens to be what my butt is made of. mmm, coffeemate.)here's a horrible picture that my hubby took of me, but its the only full-body shot I have. lol. I am a bit embarassed to admit that the only thing I bought for this costume was the spray for the red 'tips' for my rocker-hair. lol. No, I have never worn those pleather pants before. I bought them for less than a dollar on ebay and I was like SWEET. Because you never know when you could use some pleather pants.

And this is me getting my angry-rocker-face on. Yup. Over the course of the evening I learned that I cannot stay in charactor and an angry-rocker I am not. Shucks. lol. Too much fun. I love playing dress-up.

and today I cried

lor_rah@hotmail.com (lorchick @ ON{thelaundry}LINE) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 03:39:00 +0000

Today this little baby, this little girl...

...today she went on an outing in big-girl panties and pants, and she stayed dry the whole time.

and she was so full of confidence in her newfound big-girl-ness that she suddenly started playing peek-a-boo and starting up conversations with random strangers, whereas for the last few months she has been shy even with her (indirect) family

Today she did not need help with the potty, or with her seatbelt, or with much of anything under three feet, for that matter. (four with a stool)

And I have encouraged and treasured and pushed and encouraged again for this tiny thing to grow and flourish. And today I cried as it struck me how clearly my baby is not a baby.

Oh, Lord, I have been trying so hard to treasure every moment, but please please help me to stop being such a big brat when I don't. Who cares if there are crumbs on the counter, tomorrow I will sit and play ponies.

Please help Chris and I to hold on to this time when we are everything to her, and help us to create the foundation of love and trust that will get us through the years when she'll be pretty sure we're quite the opposite.

That Girl...

lor_rah@hotmail.com (lorchick @ ON{thelaundry}LINE) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 00:55:00 +0000

A few days ago, I was living on the bathroom floor, doing everything to keep my daughter on the toilet. She has been ready (physically) for potty training for a long time. She only 'goes' a few times a day... she can hold it for hours if she wants to (which she proved time and again during previous potty-training attempts by holding it in until exactly when my back was turned and she was off the potty)

It took large doses of patience and lots of conversations about everyone who goes pee on the potty. Mommy goes pee on the potty. Papa does, too. So does Grandma, and Grandpa, and her aunties and uncles. So does x and x and x, many of her little friends.

A few days ago, she peed on the toilet for the first time. I nearly passed out. She got rewards, praises, song and dance, lets phone Papa at work and tell him. The whole kit and kaboodle.

She still didn't really WANT to be potty trained. Very inconvenient, you know. Diapers are much simpler. However, I stuck to it and didn't give up, even when I wanted to flush MYSELF down the toilet, and/or just diaper her forever. I told her firmly and simply, no more diapers. Pee all over yourself if you must, but diapers are for bedtime.

Yesterday I had to run errands, so I shall confess, I gave up for the day and used pull-ups. She used nothing but pull-ups all day, but I noticed when she peed, she would get an alarmed face and do the pee-dance-pose. Didn't want to potty, though.

Today, however. Today. Today I let her run around in a shirt and that's it, with the potty in the livingroom. And you know what? You know what this kid did? The same thing she always does, the monkey. We can't teach her a darned thing, she's the smartest little widget, but she has to do it HERSELF. So. Let her run around half-nekkid, and she potty trained herself.

Not a single accident. Not a one. She's peed on the toilet less times than I can count on one hand before today. But today, perfection. Sometimes we were in the room. Sometimes we were not. One time she didn't remember where the potty was and ran to me in alarm to ask. But every time, she ran to the potty, did her thing, then hollered for the attention that such a magnificent act deserves. (Including the need to phone Papa at work to inform him every time, and receive her due praise from him as well.)

That girl. She bowls me over, every time.

No doubt we will have troubles and we will fall back yet. But for today, a perfect score. (Aside from pooping, which is another creature all together, and will be dealt with in the future. However, no magical mid-air yoga poopies, today.)

Sarah's Story

lor_rah@hotmail.com (lorchick @ ON{thelaundry}LINE) — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 13:47:00 +0000

Wow. I was totally blown away by Sarah's Story this morning (found via backreading a bit on Adding Zest To Your Nest) and just had to pass it on. A short story about a house built on sand, a marriage crumbling, an affair, and then forgiveness and grace. Powerful. More so because it strikes close to home, not my own but close by. Warning: this story will likely bring you to tears. And watch the video after you read the story.

And How Was Your Day?

lor_rah@hotmail.com (lorchick @ ON{thelaundry}LINE) — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 00:04:00 +0000

Why yes, that is a poopie. Why, no, I haven't the foggiest idea was sort of magical yoga-move-bowel-movement was involved. All I know is when I walked into the room she was standing on the little pink chair you can see there, so this was a magical mid-air yoga-poopie.

Magical-mid-air-yoga-poopie. Not a phrase I ever thought I'd use.

This was the highlight of a long day of bathing in pee and frustration and faux-cheerfulness. But, a victory... she took a big pee on the toilet! THIS HAS NEVER HAPPENED BEFORE. This is the first time in all the times I've tried the potty training thing that she's actually gone pee on the toilet. We struggled with the hours of Amazing-Bladder-Control, Please-Use-It-For-Good-And-Not-Evil; that was expected. But finally, after a firm talking-to where I told her NO more diapers, we are wearing panties now and NOT diapers, WE GO PEE ON THE TOILET. Next time I spotted her doing the pee-dance, she actually peed on the toilet instead of holding it until I gave up and then peeing on the floor! VICTORY DANCE!

And then after that she peed in my cutting mat and pooped the magical mid-air-yoga-poopie. But still. PROGRESS!

I know I swore I wouldn't touch pullups but a friend gave me a big bag full from her son, and they have the images that dissapear when the kid pees, so then since I was out of panties anyways, I decided to chat her up about these 'panties' and how the picture would go away if she peed. Then I showed her the one she had peed in (I ran out to get rewards, so on went the pullups while the friend watched her) to show her that the picture was gone. She seems very concerned about the picture going away and she kept checking to make sure it was still there (and then fell asleep on my lap so we'll see what tomorrow holds) so we'll see how that goes.

POTTY TRAINING IS NOT MY FAVOURITE. Like, for serious, when this is a distant memory I will go back to wishing/hoping/praying that Chris and I can have more kids. But as long as I'm actively potty training? I'm considering getting myself spayed. JUST IN CASE. Because HOLY MONKEY BARS, BATMAN. I DO NOT LIKE.

This is why I don't have pets. I don't DO housetraining.

Family Pictures

lor_rah@hotmail.com (lorchick @ ON{thelaundry}LINE) — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 18:40:00 +0000

Thought I'd share with you part of the preview. Very nice, eh? My photographer did a great job.

Turtleneck Sweater to Toddler Cowl-Neck Sweaterdress Tutorial

lor_rah@hotmail.com (lorchick @ ON{thelaundry}LINE) — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 20:56:00 +0000

Okay, a little later than intended, but as promised, here is the tutorial on how to make a sweater into a toddler sweaterdress! Fairly simple and straightforward. You'll need a sweater, as well as a long-sleeved top that fits well to help you with your patternmaking. And since I didn't have my serger until yesterday, obviously it's quite possible with just a sewing machine!

The first thing you want to do is cut the body of your dress. You can either do what I did here and cut it for the full length, or you can cut off the ribbing (if you have ribbing) and then cut the dress shorter and reattach the ribbing. I intended to do that at the end but Chris LOVES it at this length, and it's Nicole's favourite cozy dress as-is, too. I think this is cutest at knee length, though.

Use your nicely-fitting shirt, folded in half down the center and placed on top of your sweater, also carefully folded in half down the center. Trace around it with chalk, making sure it's wider than your turtleneck at the top. Kind of wing it with the armholes. You'll trim that up a bit later. Cut it out. Don't manhandle your sweater too much after you've cut it, you don't want it to start to unravel. As long as you're gentle it should be fine.

TIP: I actually like to use a sleeveless top to trace and cut the body of my shirt, and then trim up the armholes later with the help of my arm pieces.

Now the arms : one at a time, and starting at the cuff so you have a finished hem, carefully trace the sleeve of a nicely-fitting long sleeved shirt, then cut. Note that I lay my sleeve flat, underarm seam on one side, and then lay my sleeve out on top, matching the top and hem of the sleeve to my sweater sleeve. Once your sleeves are cut and them trimmed to match each other, compare the sleeve opening to the armholes like so and cut them to more or less match.

Now we pin! To make this easy, we're first going to pin the sleeves to the armholes, right sides together. Sew and then go back and zigzag to prevent the sweater from unravelling. Or serge, if that's an option.

Once that's done your sweater should lay out like so. Like how neat I keep my work surface? Don't lie, yours are similar. Anyways, now you pin your side seams and armpits up. Be careful to match stripes, if you have stripes, and match seams nicely, too. It's knitted, so you should be able to do a little tug and a little pull if things aren't perfect. Pin and sew and then zigzag to secure the seams and you should be golden!

If you haven't shortened the dress yet at this point and you still want to, pin up the amount you want to shorten the dress at the point where the ribbing turns into regular knit, if your sweater has a ribbed hem. Then sneak a seam in there. If that makes sense? If it doesn't then say so, I'll take a picture to illustrate my point.

If you don't have ribbing then just hem as you normally would, I guess. :3

Good luck, and let me know if i need to clarify anything!

giveaway

lor_rah@hotmail.com (lorchick @ ON{thelaundry}LINE) — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 03:45:00 +0000

PS the two winners of the giveaway are quite clearly the two people that entered the giveaway. What a bummer. Yay for them, though! Send me your picture of choice, ladies! And I'll send out that last one right soon.

PS tomoooorrow I get fall pictures done with a photographer friend of mine, we are bartering, I am giving her tutus for props and she is giving me free picture-takings. Hoorah for the barter system.

Today

lor_rah@hotmail.com (lorchick @ ON{thelaundry}LINE) — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 03:35:00 +0000

First this happened.

(please excuse. The UPS guy came to the door at the tail end of a hearty workout on the elliptical)

Then... THIS happened.

(She's bawling because I came in, gasped, and thundered, "BAD GIRL!" and she knew, SHE KNEW, that she was being bad. Hence, emotional breakdown.)

She actually soaked right through those jeans with the nailpolish. She didn't even get anything but that first holler and then a gruff mommy for the next hour. I think the immediate high caused by that much nailpolish may have mellowed me out. This happened in the ten minutes between one check-in and the next. She was theoretically watching a movie.

Don't let this little monkey face fool you. She's a naughty, naughty monkey indeed some days. Today also included snapping a dowel on her toy storage system (WHICH IS NOT, LITTLE MONKEY, A JUNGLE GYM.) For that one she started to bawl the minute it snapped because she knew, she KNEW, that she was in trouble for that. She had been warned. She also did some dish-smashing, but no breaking. I am not entirely sure how she managed to go this whole day with nary a punishment (aside from a hearty scrubbing)... no spanking, nor timeout, nor anything of the sort. Just a good long talk about how she was good today and she was bad today and it kind of evened out but mommy likes it better when there's more good than bad. She seemed pretty reformed by bedtime, completely in agreement with me. She's going to be only good from here on in.

Like I'd take a two-year-old monkey at her word.

Just to Let Us Know

lor_rah@hotmail.com (lorchick @ ON{thelaundry}LINE) — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 17:11:00 +0000

Okay, I swear the chain was not there when I took this picture. One of those. lol. Anyways, this wreath sits on my door to remind us that it is fall as we close the door.
And then we turn around after locking up and grimly survey this - snow has covered the ground before we've even had a chance to winterize! The trees are still green, you might notice.

And then we walk past this, which two days ago was a garden overflowing with Black-Eyed-Susan cheerfully winking up at us as we go by, and the giant hosta which has been less cheerful ever since that ridiculous hailstorm that shot it all up early this summer. Most of my plants are starting to die after 24 hours of this, but the marigolds in the backyard are proving to be pretty hardcore. You can practically hear them cussing as you walk by.

October in Canada

lor_rah@hotmail.com (lorchick @ ON{thelaundry}LINE) — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 15:40:00 +0000

K kids, I just wanna throw it out there that this weather is a little ridiculous even for us.

My New Baby Is On The Way

lor_rah@hotmail.com (lorchick @ ON{thelaundry}LINE) — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 21:48:00 +0000

Yeesh, guys, I'm pretty infertile, what did you think I meant?! ;) Eee, I'm so excited. My little Janome 204-D is purchased and on it's way from a nice little Janome dealer in the U S of A. I would have bought local but I wound up with my heart set on this little guy and since he's discontinued the local guy didn't have it in stock. In a few months I'll buy a nice Janome sewing machine from the local guy, though. When my mom demands back HER sewing machine and ~~I throw my free Europro machine off the roof~~ mine accidently bounces right off the table.

THANKS CHRIS. I LOVE YOU ~~COS YOU BUY ME STUFF~~ NO MATTER WHAT BUT THIS IS TOPS!!!

pssst... dont forget to scroll down and enter the giveaway

sweaterdress

lor_rah@hotmail.com (lorchick @ ON{thelaundry}LINE) — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 14:07:00 +0000

I whipped up this sweaterdress for Nicole yesterday, and I took pictures to make a tutorial out of it...
It is far too long to be fashionable but Chris loves it to itty bitty pieces the way it is and Nicole really seems to as well so I'm leaving it. But the tutorial will include how to shorten it and still have the hem!

So, look forwards to that either tonight or tomorrow morning! (I will be out and about today, if I ever get off the computer and go take that shower!)

DIY Geek BirthdaySupremo + Giveaway #2 & 3

lor_rah@hotmail.com (lorchick @ ON{thelaundry}LINE) — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 14:40:00 +0000

Well, as per usual, I went to my mom's for my birthday supper, and for the birthday supper of my request - this year, lasagna and garlic bread. Tres yum. Gift-wise, from my family I got Wilton's Cake Decorating Class Lvl 1, in November. Yaaay! Just what I wanted. And from Chris I got... nothing. Yet. I get a serger for my birthday! Eeee! He just hasn't gotten one cos he doesn't have half a clue what he's looking for. To be honest, neither do I. He's looking to spend around $300, any recommendations?

It's just not fair at all for me to only give away one gift when I got three. (My friend Maria also got me a big bouquet of flowers.) So I'm giving away two more silhouettes! The example is a silhouette of Nicole!

You'll get a large .jpg for printing off of, a smaller .jpg for displaying online, and a .pdf and if you want the .ai file as well let me know. Basically, you'll have the ability to print off your silhouette as large and as many times as you like!

TO WIN the other two silhouettes:

-followers automatically get one entry

-comments get you one entry

-posting this giveaway on your blog gets you one entry

If you post the giveaway on your blog please comment and let me know. If you're already a follower your entry already counts, and if you want to add me in bloglines instead of being a follower just let me know after you did so.

GIVEAWAY ENDS: October 14, I will get Nicole and Chris to each draw a name!

GOOD LUCK!

October 4, 1986

lor_rah@hotmail.com (lorchick @ ON{thelaundry}LINE) — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 20:14:00 +0000

That would be the day that I was born. As my dad is fond of saying, I was early for the first and last time in my life. Which is so totally not true because I'm actually that girl who is early for everything, or at least the only one who is ever on time. However, as that was NOT the case when I was living under his roof, my dad is excused ;)

In honour of my birthday I have decided to shower you in horrible pictures from my old photobucket account. Prepare to be deluged with myspace-style picture-taking. And heaven forbid I not pout or attempt to look sexy. Also, webcam - yum! Here is my life in photos, from approximatly 17 to 20 years of age. After which I started this blog?! Actually I started this blog a bit before the last few pictures, because I remember my first few posts were about being overdue. Oh, how the time has passed! It's been two and a half years already! I don't even know what my blogiversary is. Whoever tells me the answer to that bit of trivia first, I will do them up a free sillouette in Adobe Illustrator. Because I actually have mad skillz with that, kids. Happy birthday to me, happy present to you, and enjoy cringing over my awkward late teens! (I think I actually look much younger now than then. Something about toning down on the eyeliner maybe?! LOL)

aww my grad pic. 17 yrs old!

wow, what a little ho I was. Who thought she was cool? Lor did! Lor did!

Woooooowwww.

I used to be into the anime and stuff and boy did I drive the fanboys crazy in this shirt. PS, I would cut my hair like that again in a heartbeat if it meant I could have those perky boobs back. Thanks, childbirth! Thanks!

Don't be fooled, I took this picture myself with a timer.

hahahahahhaha This is right before I got married and my dad managed to catch a classic moment here while we were scoping out good places to take pictures. I should probably tell you that Chris pushed me into the evergreen behind us right before I did this.

Aww look at us.

Child bride! Child bride! I was nineteen here. Here's my wedding...

My honeymoon... my darling husband did not have the foresight to take a good camera with us to this hotel. It was fedabulous. You can't tell, but I'm sitting on the edge of a hot tub that was filled via a waterfall. For real, two nights in this place was more $$ than my dress.

Look at me all pregnant and cute

And two pictures from our professional photoshoot when Nicole was one month old.

I feel like I have really grown into myself in the last year, and I feel so exceptionally blessed for that. I feel really comfortable with who I am, what I look like, and the things that are and are not in my control. That makes me an incredibly blessed person, for 23 years old. People have always thought I was really comfortable in my own skin because I have always given off the confident vibe, but I really do feel it inside and out these days. I've gone through some difficult things in the past few years but with the help of the Lord I have truly grown as a person, and I feel so excited and enthusiastic about life. :) I thank the Lord for blessing me in another year and I am just dripping with anticipation over what the next few will hold!

Cricut Meme

lor_rah@hotmail.com (lorchick @ ON{thelaundry}LINE) — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 18:00:00 +0000

This is contest entry for those crazy folks at TodaysMama and Cricut. Be sure to check out Cricut's cool new cartridges and the chance at $30,000 in travel for you and your friends at the Great Gypsy Escape site! http://bit.ly/FWcud

Great Escape Meme
1. If you could escape to anywhere in the world where would it be?

I would love to travel to Europe. Paris, London, anywhere, really. I've never left this continent and it would be delicious to do so!
2. What song do you play when you are by yourself in the car?

(Let's Get Moving) Into Action - Skye Sweetnam is my current favourite to blast lol
3. If you had a night to yourself, and money was no object, what would you do?

shoot, probably go clothes shopping. I just lost eighteen pounds and my wardrobe is empty. Either that or I'd redecorate my livingroom, it's BAD. lol.
4. What is your guilty pleasure?

The internet, to be honest. I probably spend waaaaay too much time online.
5. What is the farthest place you have traveled away from your home?

Hm, what would be a 24 hour drive or a 4-6 hour flight. Vancouver, BC.
6. Last book that you couldn't put down?

um, the twilight series I think. LOL.
7. When you want to escape into another time, what movie do you watch?

hm, good question. I don't watch movies for that so much as read for it. But Pride and Prejudice, the newer version, would be at the top of the list!
8. What is your favorite local escape?

Limelight, a cheesy karaoke bar downtown!
9. How do you escape on a budget?

staycations! Or we go to my aunt's cottage, or to visit our friends who live out in the country for the weekend.
Best food you've ever had while on vacation.

Um, I loved the Chicken Deli Pizza that I had for the first time while in Vancouver. And poutine from Dairy Queen. Both of which I could get locally but had never tried before.

Mini Mudroom

lor_rah@hotmail.com (lorchick @ ON{thelaundry}LINE) — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 00:58:00 +0000

Because surely you aren't sick of me posting yet today. ;)

I think everyone needs a place to hang their hat, so to speak. My house has an unfortunate layout; a mudroom is just plain impossible. We can keep a few pairs of shoes in the back entrance, but that's it, or it becomes impossible to get into the rest of the house through the narrow little 'hallway.' In the front, there's a decently-sized square and a closet, divided up visually from the livingroom by one of those old eighties-style glass walls. (hopefully in the next week this will be replaced by a skinny drywalled wall with peekaboo holes for knickknacks)

While Chris and I can make do, I didn't like the fact that there wasn't really anywhere for Nicole to put her own stuff. Obviously she can't reach the hangers to hang up her coats. Well, today my SIL gave me this cute little hook rack (those are mini chalkboards! I might just write '1, 2, 3, 4' on them.) because her schoolaged kids needed something more durable that would hold backpacks, and one of the hangers had snapped. It just so happened that it was one space too wide for the space I wanted it for - inside the front closet - so I just switched the broken hook with the ok one on the end and sawed off a space.

Then I put it up on the wall using 3M decoration thingies - we're going to be painting the inside of this closet soon so I didn't want to screw and unscrew it. I finished right as naptime ended and Nicole was so excited that she gathered up enough sweaters to fill all the hooks. Now she can put her jacket away herself with pride! And I have a little bucket in there as well for all her shoes and boots. If I want, I can just close the sliding door and the mini mudroom disappears from sight. (But why would I want to?! It's so CUTE!)

This might be a very temporary little layout because I have plans on converting this closet into a bigger mini-mudroom of sorts for all of us, and I will definitely share if and when that project gets done. I'm sure I'm not the only one out there who only has a sliding door closet to store all thier coats and shoes.

To conclude my third post of the day and prove that I should probably get out more, here's my special little touch for the evening. Climb, little pony! Climb!

Weight Update

lor_rah@hotmail.com (lorchick @ ON{thelaundry}LINE) — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 18:57:00 +0000

Okay ten pounds ago I posted this:

And I figure it's time for an update!

Not super great cos I'm wearing something different. But I've gone down a clothing size, as I said, so yay regardless lol. You'll have to excuse my face because i was WATCHING A GUY LET HIS GIANT DOG LEAVE GIANT POOPS ON MY YARD. Do not like.

Craft Geek Birthday Party

lor_rah@hotmail.com (lorchick @ ON{thelaundry}LINE) — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 15:09:00 +0000

Actually I called it an unbirthday party because my birthday is sunday and I didn't want people to think they had to bring gifts.

So, how does a craft geek celebrate her birthday? She invites all the friends who think her crafting is spectacular and hard to come over and do it themselves and then realize she's not as special as they thought. I may not have thought that one through all the way, in hindsight ;)

Sweet Thing apron

The Setup:

-I told my friends to bring something to embellish, like a plain tshirt that fits, or a tote bag, or whatever. We had babyclothes, tshirts, a polo shirt for a boyfriend, and an apron.

-I made (fresh warm) brownies with 'the works' (whipped cream and caramel) and then told them if they wanted to bring a favourite snack to go ahead.

-I pulled out my heat-n-bond, fabric scraps, fabric paints, fabric adhesives (i picked up an extra pack of paints, a tshirt for me, a pack of adhesives, and then eggs and coffee filters at walmart for $25), laces, buttons, trims, etc etc etc. I also had my Close To My Heart and other clear stamps out. I'm not sure how they'll work next time I try to scrap with them but totally worth it if they don't work super well for that anymore, this was fun and I plan to do more of it.

pictures don't do this shirt justice, I have to see if my SIL will give me a modelled pic of her daughter in it. Tres cute.

- I set up two tables with chairs and covered them with supplies, then fed my friends brownies while I explained (using a tshirt I was wearing from Garage Clothing that had a few examples of applique, screen printing, and stamping on it) some basics and that I'd be willing to help if anyone needed more explanations. Then I let them at it! Most of my friends are creative in one way or another, a lot of scrapbookers, or people who are amazing at interior design, or people with a flair for fashion. Or even just a sense of humour!

The lettering is "Shane Was Here" (Shane is her husband, if you were wondering)

I didn't take nearly enough pictures. That's my biggest regret for the evening. And the few I did take don't even come close to showcasing the laughter, the noise, the fun, and the beautiful (and hilarious) projects that were done last night.

LMDO = Laughing My Diaper Off