The Fair

Recently I went to two small, local fairs and had a lot of fun. I like looking at the exhibits and the animals. I'm also amazed at the crap the vendors sell (that hasn't changed in 20 yrs!) ...and that people actually buy it! Scary!

So I went to our local Sparty fair, I'm getting to know my antique tractors:

Baby bunnies are the CUTEST!

I like looking at good art...and mocking bad art, like this effeminate Santa on an ironing board (cause ironing spells Christmas for me! lol). Note the girly eyes and high heeled shoes:


People still make burl clocks! lol


I liked this display about maple syrup solely because I want their little vintage pink fridge! It totally goes with my vintage toy stove!

Gotta love kid's pumpkins:

As a former rider operator, couldn't help but notice the danger of these operators sitting with their heads two feet from a giant spinning machine! Crazy!

I enjoy photographing rides at night, got to play with my new camera:

Carousel

And ferris wheel:

Loved the skyline:

Then before that there was the Erie County fair which was even smaller! Mom and I looked at everything in like an hour! Pretty dinky considering what big towns/cities there are in Erie County.

We met a group that teaches dogs how to be search and rescue dogs, very interesting. Basically they play hide-and-seek and keep hiding the person more and more. This dog was "reading" the sign (but really reading the person!):

I'm sure Kelly Clarkson would love to know her picture hangs up in a cow barn, lol:

Takes on a whole new meaning:

Black sheep are so cute!

This was a lovely baby afghan, though I was disapointed with the quilts at both fairs- hardly any and really none that were spectacular. Should've made it to the Crawford County fair this year, they have a ton of quilts.

Driving a tractor, lol:

I loved this trailer, told you I love carousels!

Didn't stay til dark, but took some b&w:

Fairs are a fun way to spend an evening, I look forward to them each year!

Sew Fun

I found out from my JoAnn's coupons that September is National Sewing Month, who knew? I haven't done much sewing the last couple of weeks what with school and all, but I did sew quite a bit over the summer and still have some unfinished projects left over to do. I also have projects not even started! Anyhow, I thought I'd show what I was up to.



I got this pincushion pattern (I love it when patterns are on sale at JoAnn's!) ...note the turtle.

Only when I looked at the turtle, I saw....a ladybug!

I just ommitted the head and legs and changed the colors, I think it turned out pretty sweet:

Pincushions are comprised of little pieces which can be tricky but it's a good way to use your scraps. I couldn't stop there, had to make a groovy mushroom:




I used scraps of vintage fabric and sewed on some buttons for interest.

I love my butterfly quilting pins!

I wasn't thinking of my groovy sewing machine when I made the mushroom but they go together! Yes, I have an inner hippie, lol.

I came across a fab freebie pattern at Made By Rae for this adorable Buttercup Bag. If you buy the pattern, you get a larger version and the rights to sell the bag. One of these days I'll have to purchase the pattern so I can sell them and whatnot. I made several, it's a pretty easy pattern and it only takes a couple of fat quarters to make. I have fun mixing and matching fabric on these!

I made one in brown...

and one in yellow and bright green. When I bought the yellow, it was rolled up and I couldn't tell it was birds! That was a funny surprise!

And another in sunny yellow.

More bags in the works, at this rate I'll have one for every outfit!

National Sewing Month includes hand sewing, right? When I was going thru boxes this summer, I found a YW project I started forever ago when I was in Young Women's, some sort of wall hanging. I was such a procrastinator back then, lol. I had to finish hand sewing the black stitching around each heart, and sew on a button. Since Virtue was added recently to the YW values, I had to find some golden fabric (hard to find a shade not too yellow or too brown) and buy some fusible web and attach it to the left in the middle row. Then I added "YW values" on the other side so it was balanced. I have no idea what was supposed to go in those spaces, if anything. I think I will donate it to the YW room, it did feel really good to get it done!

I went to Salvation Army the other day, I love shopping at places like that. I found some good stuff, like this shower curtain with a large bfly print for only $1.99! I'm debating whether to leave it as a shower curtain or to cut it up for pillows or something. Hmmm.

You have to use your imagination when you go thrift shopping...I bought this burgandy velvet dress for $6. And yes, it's real velvet, not the stretchy stuff! I intend to take the dress apart to use the velvet for a project- you can't buy velvet this cheap at the fabric stores! I'm thinking about making an embossed velvet leaf wreath like what Martha Stewart did a few years ago.


I bought this flat sheet and matching pillowcase, it was such a cute print and I loved how it faded, too. I have a pattern for making a cute pillowcase tote bag, I'm not sure what I'll do with the sheet.

I have become even more obsessed with fabric this past year and I love sewing so you're likely to see more projects in the future! I'm trying out quilting now too. If you have any sugggestions for the fabric shown, I'd love to hear them!

Blogs

I've decided to do a couple of more blogs (do I not have enough to do already?), one called Quote Liz that is comprised of my fave quotes (thereby reducing the clutter of scraps of paper in my room) and it has a couple on it already. The other is Badvertising, my soon to be forum of outcry for really stupid print ads. That will also cut down on my clutter (yes, I save bad ads as what-NOT-to-do examples!). I love great graphic design, as well as making fun of bad examples!

So subscribe now and stay tuned! If I get on the ball I also should do a blog devoted to my photography business.

China

My dad got home last weekend from China, he spent the last three weeks there on business. It's really nice to have him back home. Somehow he got sent there too early on the project, he'll likely have to go back sometime. I learned the basics of international business back at GRCC, scheduling things correctly is one of them!

My dad spent most of his time in Yentai, which is an hour and a half flight from Shanghai. We teased him about getting shanghai-ed, we also teased him that that was a long way to go for some good Chinese food (in rural PA it's a little hard to come by!). He spent most of his time at the shipyard, not really any tourist-y pics but I thought they'd be interesting to share.

Note the pipe sticking out the window:

Chinese KFC!

People would rollerskate in the big circle:

A REAL Chinese fire drill...these guys were practicing at the shipyard and were apparently really fast at relaying the hose and hooking it up!

My dad on a platform:

The shipyard:

His ultra high tech toilet:

and shower (note the key pad):

and American food products with Chinese labels!

My dad wanted to bring my mom home a Chinese Snickers bar (her fave) but you can't bring Chinese food into the US.

Bye summer

I started this semester a week and a half ago, I wanted to wait until I had an idea of how things would be before I wrote. Here's me on the first day of school, I couldn't help but feel like a 1st grader! My aunt said all that was missing was a lunchbox:

My dad requested a pic since he's in China on business now and missed my first day of school. Told you I felt like a 1st grader!

I'm taking a multicultural education class, Beginning Art Ed, American History, Beginning Painting and another math class. I had some craziness last week when I discovered that an Art Ed class was overlapping when I was supposed to be in math (somehow I just can't be in two places no matter how hard I try...) so I had to drop the Art Ed class and switch it to the history class. On the last day to add classes, mind you! I was glad to find something that works for my degree and fit my schedule! Whew!

I also am working on my clearances so I can observe schools, I got fingerprinted last week and everything! Only they don't use ink anymore, they scan your fingers! I thought that was funny. i had to get a TB test too.

My math class is the worst of my classes, as my teacher isn't very good. I am not good at math and lucked out with a really good teacher last semester (I understood stuff! Amazing!). He somehow thinks you can just read the book and understand it...yeah right!

I have to work with a group in my Multicultural class, which isn't so bad except it was harder to get everyone familiar with Googledocs than to do our collaborative study guide! I hate it when technology makes things harder than analog ways!

It is fun to experiment with oils in painting class, today we were learning about color and mixing colors. The color you can get is so great, but man is that class expensive! Good thing I only have one studio class this semester!

I caught something terrible a week ago, a great way to start the semester, no? I've been snotty and hacking all week. I think I will get better soon, one can only hope. There's a light at the end of the tunnel.

Here's to a good semester!

Stay tuned, I'll be updating the blog and showing more stuff I did this summer. Also in the works: my fave links!

YW in Palmyra

Towards the end of August several of my young women and myself took a trip to Palmyra. Most of my girls come from inactive families and had never seen the sites so we decided to take a trip. Being in a car of girls for 3.5 hours each way (with no stereo!) was a bit interesting, but overall we all had a good time and I think it was good for the girls to get to see the sites that we talk about. It also helped cement things in their minds. I hope that it helped increase their testimonies, that was the goal.

We started at the Hill Cumorah visitor's center:

and saw the Angel Moroni monument at the top of the hill:
Inside the frame Smith home:

The Smith farm, taken from the Sacred Grove:

The Smith cabin:

I was so excited to show them the temple. They were excited to see it too. We talked about why temples are so special as we walked around the grounds:


A kind man took our group photo, I also took a portrait of each girl in front of the temple so they can have it as a keepsake:

Tasha (Katie's nonmember cousin), Katie and Laureen:
The girls enjoyed the Grandin Press tour, it's interesting to learn how books are made. We got to keep a copy of the first 16 pages as they would have been printed back in the day, I didn't get one of those when I saw this during Pageant week! I'm going to have to find a large double sided frame to put mine in.

It was a long but great day and I was glad the girls wanted to go. Tasha asked questions all day, it was definitely a missionary experience for them. I had to remind them to be reverent a few times (they are teenage girls!) but overall they were good. Maybe we'll hit Kirtland before it snows?