Monday stress – Segunda-feira stressante

When one complains about stress and tiredness at the beginning of the week, it’s usually a bad sign. That’s how I feel today: I couldn’t deal with all I had planned for last week, many tasks are now delayed and I feel like I’m falling behind on so many things, both professionally and in my personal life,… I start the week fearing not being able to catch up on what I need to do.

On a brighter note, a big THANKS to the beautiful Minnja who nominated me for the Versatile Blogger Award! Thank you for thinking of me, Minnja!

Three elements of today’s outfit were made by me (click on each element if you care to know the details regarding each element):
The faux fur jacket and matching snood;
The chunky sweater;
The crochet Dublin inspired bag.

Quando alguém se queixa de stress e cansaço logo no início da semana de trabalho, geralmente é um mau sinal. É como me sinto hoje: não consegui fazer tudo o que tinha planeado na semana passada, muitas tarefas estão atrasadas e sinto-me a ficar para trás dos meus objectivos, tanto a nível profissional como pessoal,.. Começo a semana a recear não ser capaz de recuperar este atraso todo.

Numa nota mais alegre, um grande OBRIGADA à lindíssima Minnja por me ter nomeado para o prémio “The Versatile Blogger Award”! Obrigada por te teres lembrado de mim!

Três elementos do conjunto de hoje foram feitos por mim (cliquem nos nomes respectivos se quiserem saber mais sobre cada elemento):
A jaqueta de pelo com gola amovível
O camisolão de lã grossa
A bolsa de croché inspirada no “Dublin Bag”

how rich is THIS!??

there are moments in my blogging life where i am completely thrown back by how proud i truly feel!... this is one of those moments. please meat miss sophia!

( please scroll down and turn off the blog music before playing the 30 second video... trust me! )



how great was that! this is my chosen theme music for my blog currently... and it screams girl power all over it! her mama's a great friend... and in knowing how much her baby girl is the spiting image... i think you can see why i like her so much! haha...

way to own it sophie!! LOL

xo, Heather

ps... give-a-ways still going strong!

it's just too much!

how cool is this??... Sarah Fielke, the completely talented co-author's of two of my most favorite quilting books Material Obsession and Material Obsession 2 ...



( books are not included in the give-a-way... sorry folks! but YOU should buy them... i drool over mine at least once a MONTH! truth. )

has just released her first ( and completely fabulous ) fabric line From Little Things by Lecien! it's just too much, really and the seriously generous Fat Quarter Shop has given two of my readers a chance to win one of these FQ sets!! Shut the front door, right!! I'm soOOOOoo stinking jealous of you guys... i don't even have my own stash of From Little Things yet! i may hate the winners just a little bit... so keep THAT in mind if you choose to enter this give-a-way! ( wink, wink )



Guidelines... easy peasy!

1 - leave a comment ( with your contact info please ) and tell me what you'd love to do with one of these yummy collections! simple.

2 - blog about it! and throw me another comment with the link! again simple.

3 - get it all done by Monday, January 31st at 9:00pm PST ( cause that's when this give-a-way ends! ) really simple! haha...

cautionary statement:

i have seriously mixed emotions over this give-a-way... i mean it! Sarah is a friggin starlet and i want to horde all this fabric for myself like a chubby squirrel in the frigid winter! so ya all, better start entering before i change my loving mind!

i kid, i kid ;)

Good Luck!
XO, Heather

Wearing my long fur coat – A usar o casaco de pelo comprido

It’s cold enough, in fact the weather is wet and cold at the same time, a rare combination around these parts… Yesterday I saw in the news that it’s snowing a lot in the mountains. I wish I was there because I really miss the snow.
In this outfit I’m mixing a leather short dress (it’s grey leather on the front and black double knit on the back) with thick black leggings and my pleather sleeve sweater. When I get the coat off I’ll wear the dress as a vest (with the zipper open). This is a really short dress and I feel it’s not appropriate to wear it to the office as a dress with tights so I’m styling it this way instead.

In this outfit I made:
The fur coat
The pleather sleeve sweater


Está frio o suficiente, de facto está frio e húmido ao mesmo tempo, o que é raro por estas partes… Ontem vi nas notícias que nas montanhas tem caído bastante neve. Adorava estar lá, pois sinto bastantes saudades da neve.
Neste conjunto estou a misturar um vestido de cabedal (cabedal cinzento na frente e tecido de malha estável preto (do mesmo tipo do tecido das calças) atrás com leggings grossas pretas e a minha camisola preta com mangas de napa. Quando tirar o casaco vou usar o vestido aberto, como um colete. Este vestido é muito curto e achei que não seria apropriado usá-lo como um vestido, com meias opacas, em vez disso experimentei usá-lo desta forma.

Neste conjunto as seguintes peças foram feitas por mim:
Casaco de pelo comprido
Camisola com mangas de napa

The sun hitting my eyes – Com o sol a bater-me nos olhos

That’s what I get for changing bags almost every day: I forgot my sunnies at home in the other bag. At least I was able to take a few outdoor pictures of today’s outfit, which is a little dressier than usual, I might say. The coat is thrifted, I spotted it in the end of summer; knowing that camel would be big this season, I didn’t pass on this one bargain. I made the tunic (also worn here), and the sewing details were posted here. Too bad about the sun hitting on my eyes, other than that the pictures came out really great IMO.

É o que se tem quando se anda sempre a mudar de bolsa: esqueci-me dos óculos de sol na outra bolsa em casa. Ao menos consegui tirar algumas fotos no exterior para mostrar o conjunto de hoje, que é um pouco mais “polido” do que o costume, se me permitem dizê-lo. O casaco foi comprado em 2ª mão, descobri-o no fim do Verão, e sabendo que o "camel" seria uma cor forte no Inverno não deixei passar esta pechincha. A túnica foi feita por mim (também a estou a usar aqui) e os detalhes de costura foram publicados aqui. É mesmo pena o sol estar a bater-me nos olhos, tirando isso as fotos até ficaram muito bem, na minha opinião.

eeeek! when i grow up...

i sooOOOoo remember reading the announcements of when some of my most favorite bloggers became { Sew Mama Sew Board Members } and thinking... man, they must really know their shiz! and now today... ( literally ) i AM one! i don't know whether i should run and hide from the pressure of the "shiz knowing" or jump up and down like a squealie kid?? LOL i will probably run around like an utter spaz for awhile and then have a firm talking to ( to self ) in the mirror! self may need to become more serious, more instructional on her blog, study perhaps...??? sounds reasonable, right!?? aahhHhh... who am i kidding??... none of that is self! haha... i'll probably just continue on with my parting way, but with a new shiny badge! yeah... i love me some bling! Thanks Sew Mama Sew for the sparkler!!

OOOOohh... and i finished my Generation { X } pillow yesterday... isn't she fab!! i love her way too much and that dang hand stitching is becoming a nasty little habit for me ( in a good way of course! ) ;)

and again a big thanks to a sweet friend that gave me her last little bit of Nancy Drew fabric for a seriously devoted, smart, little girl's new book tote! She's gonna freak!




i will so be buying more of those yummy dots too!! they are just... right!

here's to another fabulous day!!

xo, Heather

Taking another coat out for a spin – Levando outro dos meus casacos a passear

I better take advantage of the cold weather while it lasts! This was yesterdays’ outfit: the coat (as most of my coats) was made by me (sewing details are posted here) and underneath I’m wearing a double-breasted sleeveless dress and a black turtleneck.

É melhor aproveitar o tempo frio enquanto dura! Este foi o conjunto de ontem: o casaco (como a maioria dos meus casacos) foi feito por mim (detalhes de costura publicados aqui) e por dentro estou a usar um vestido de trespasse sem mangas e uma camisola preta de gola alta.

aaaak! it's Party Time!

now i'm not going to even start to pretend that i can sometimes get a bit self absorbed in whatever manic kick i'm currently on... case in point: The Bloggers' Block-A-Pooloza started and i'm such a looser, i didn't even recognize it until today! somebody put a toothpick in me... i am done!! LOL

thanks to me... you all might be a tad bit late in the game, but have no fear... it's only by a day ( or so... i think! wink, wink )!! pop over to John's blog, cause he's starting the Party off with his block! OOhhh... and when ya finish up, get your booties over to the new Flickr group to show off whatcha did!! hehe...

yeah... and i feel the need to confess in the spirit of keeping it real too... i've chosen a new fabric direction for my quilt. i have a sneaking suspicion that we will be seeing many flying geese in the mix through this blogger quilt-a-long and using my always creative smart aleck style... i have deemed my quilt to be ever more regarded as The Cluster Flock! funny, right??... okay, okay... maybe only to me ;) however, i did ultimately feel like you would be able to see my flock easier if they popped out a bit more within the patterns.

Hence... The Solid Cluster Flock!

( i think i just like to keep saying that title! ) LOL!!

my point is this... if you still want to follow along, but didn't purchase the kit or maybe you chose other fabrics to use... i too will be using different ones! da-da- da- dahhhh..!!

( long day clearly, since i just wrote that last paragraph with an evil mastermind voice in my head!! good grief!... i really need to back off the caffeine! )

ps... found these little treasures and had to have them ( reminded me of a little naughty friend i have! ) yep, they're true! haha...
XO, Heather

Leather and red– Cabedal e vermelho

A new working week starts today and I felt compelled to wearing a style that I usually save for the weekends because it’s a little edgy (a deconstructed sweater is not what you could call business casual, right? My luck is that I work in a very casual environment); turns out I got a lot of compliments, so people there are starting to widen their horizons when it comes to style and fashion.

Hoje é o começo de uma nova semana de trabalho e senti-me compelida a vestir-me num estilo que normalmente reservo para os fins-de-semana, porque é um pouco vanguardista (uma camisola meia desmanchada – comprei assim, não estraguei! – não se enquadra exactamente num ambiente de escritório, certo? A minha sorte é que temos um ambiente de trabalho muito casual); vai-se lá a ver, até recebi muitos elogios, o que me faz crer que as pessoas estão a começar a alargar os horizontes no que respeita ao estilo de vestir.

Slaying the Dream-Sucker • by Heather Bostic

CRESCENDOh

Daffy and Donald in the Roasting Pan

Although turkey and ham have been our parents’ Christmas staples, last year Rebecca and I decided to serve our family roast duck. This was rather ambitious since neither of us had ever cooked duck fillets let alone two whole ones. Fortunately for those eating that evening, we were successful. My little sister took care of cleaning the birds, while I rubbed olive oil, dried rosemary, freshly chopped onion, freshly minced garlic, and freshly ground black pepper all over and inside their bodies. (I forgot whether we included dried basil.) It was like giving a slippery baby a bath…only with a lot less screaming. And it was pretty tasty.

The temperature is dropping (it’s about time)…– As temperaturas estão a baixar (já não era sem tempo)…

So it’s time to show off my winter coats; I made this one last winter, it’s a Marfy model (Italian), with a certain retro vibe. The sewing details are published here. The pictures were taken when I got back from the office, already in the evening, so the lighting wasn’t the best, I’m afraid.

Então está na altura de usar os meus casacos de Inverno; fiz este no ano passado, é um modelo da Marfy (Italiano), com um certo ar retro. Os detalhes de costura estão publicados aqui. Tirei as fotos depois de chegar a casa, já de noite, como tal as condições de iluminação não foram as melhores.

i am lOVING....

i am lOVING mini's... any quilty kind, really! after my book-a-thon, i needed some instant gratification/ mini sweetness. so, i made this 16 X 16 inch pillow yesterday! ;) now, these are not my typical colors that i decorate with, but luckily i have friends & family to take my handmade color-clashing projects off my couch and put on their's when forced! hehe... so, i went for it!

i made mini 4.5" mini string quilt blocks that mimicked half square triangles....

and assembled them in a value quilt style block

i added a tiny boarder & 4 coordinating blocks!

a little hand stitching, binding and of course Home Dec fabric backing...

and presto - funky new pillow!

i'm off to find another { mini } to mess with!! happy stitching kids!!
XO, Heather

TEDx Comes to Orange County This Summer!

This morning, I received some long-awaited news. My application for TEDxSantaAna – Sorry, Tustin, my love, but you don’t have any good venues! – has finally been approved. I hope all you local TED Conference fans out there will come participate. TEDx Events are comparatively small and low-budget. However, they play a significant role in carrying out the mission of TED: presenting to the laypublic “ideas worth sharing.”

Right now this is a one-woman and three halves-person project. You can see the work-in-progress by following the TEDxSantaAna blog, Twitter feed, and Facebook page. Mark your calendars for Saturday, August 6, 2011 to be in Santa Ana. The time, venue, and confirmed speakers will be announced later.

Now, you’re probably wondering what’s the theme for TEDxSantaAna 2011. We’re going to have an all-homeschool-graduate conference. The list of speakers is growing, but it’s not too late to suggest a few more. If you know of someone aged 25-40 who was educated at home and who might have something fantastic to share from their field or discipline, not only on the stage with the local community but through video with the global online community, then please complete the TEDxSantaAna 2011 Speaker Nomination Form.

While you’re at it, please consider suggesting a (non-homeschooling related) theme for a potential second event: TEDxSantaAna 2012 Theme Nomination Form. I and my growing organizing committee appreciate the help. And speaking of help, if you’d like to help out as a volunteer or by offering a cash or in-kind donation, please send me an email. More information is forthcoming. Spread the word!

have you ever!!??

whew! so sorry for the Flea Market Fancy give-a-way delay.... but,

----> L I S T E N <---- have you just ever had "one of those" books that you just couldn't put down! i'm surprised my children even received food yesterday! Shameless!! it was a 12 hour marathon of smutty heaven! wanta a good read.... check out this series!! ( panting )!!! hahaha...

( if you're ever interested in what i'm reading... check out my library! )

( ps... this is the last one in the series! )

okay, okay... now down to business... my winner is:

Random Integer Generator
Here are your random numbers:

274
Timestamp: 2011-01-20 16:08:24 UTC

Rachel Locke said...
Fabulous interview!! and no Shiz in site!!

January 17, 2011 6:57 PM

now... off to clean and sew!!
XO, Heather

Wild cat – Onça bravia

I made this coat a couple of years ago (click here for the sewing details)… Still wear it often; it’s not as heavy as you may think, I can wear it in the mild weather that we’re having right now. I also made the pants; you’ve seen me wearing them before, I can’t get enough of them.

Fiz este casaco há alguns anos (os detalhes de costura foram publicados aqui)… Ainda o uso bastante, e não é um casaco muito pesado, pode usar-se perfeitamente no clima ameno que temos tido ultimamente. Também fiz as calças, já as viram aqui várias vezes, não me canso de as usar.