My Morning Soundtrack

Today is going to be an all Austin Music Monday!  I love music in Austin and I used to listen to local artists all the time.  Then life got busy and my friends that used to go to shows with me all kind of moved away so I didn't really keep up with what was going on around town.  Recently I decided that this was dumb.  If I love it then it shouldn't matter.  I'm going to enjoy it as much as I can.  Austin is such an amazing city for music.  I'm so lucky to live here.

I heard about Dave Madden a while ago but never really listened to his music until a few weeks ago.  Now I can't stop listening to it.  He is so talented!  And he is such a great song writer.  I heard this music at the exact time I needed to.  It's pretty amazing how that happens.  :-)

This is one of my favorites.

Dave Madden - Open Eyed

Since this is an all Austin Music Monday, here's a video from my friend's show at Momo's last week!  I loved it!  :-)

Jack Burton Trio - Green Eyed Girlie

Christmas Light Garland

Since my Christmas decorations are not very traditional this year (and my tree is way too small for lights), I decided to do something completely different for my Christmas lights.  I made them out of felt!!!  Are you shocked??  ;-)

I just made it the same way I made my bunting.  I cut all the little lights out of felt and sewed them into the double fold bias tape.  Easy peasy!  :-)

I think this is my favorite part of my Christmas decorations so far!

Christmas Ornaments

Even though I have a tiny Christmas tree that doesn't really hold ornaments very well, I wanted to try to make some cute little felt ornaments.  So, I bought a bunch of cookie cutter and used them as my patterns.  Then I used embroidery thread and buttons to embelish them and make them extra cute. 

So far I have made a Christmas tree with button ornaments

A puffy star

and an embroidered snowflake. 

What do you think?  I have a total of 18 cookie cutters so I'm going to do my best to make as many of them as I can.  I still have to make Christmas presents so I'll see how far I get.  :-)

Have you been working on any Christmas projects?

365 Project - Week Thirty

Another week of pictures is done.  I think I got a pretty good variety this week.  I was lucky enough to go to some fun places during the week so I got to take pictures there.  :-)  They're not the best quality but the experiences were good so I don't really care.  Hopefully I can have some fun adventures next week, too.

And now, I give you week thirty!

Day 204

On Saturday I went to Craft Riot with some of my good friends to shop for fun handmade goodies and meet some of my twitter/bloggy friends in person.  I got so many great things.  It was so amazing to see the beautiful things these talented people make.

Day 205

This is the Austin Lyric Opera building on Barton Springs Road.  I drive by it all the time on my way to church.  I finally decided to stop and take a picture.  Isn't it cool??

Day 206

Another sunset picture.  I took some other pictures during the day Monday but I thought this was much prettier.  The colors are so pretty. 

Day 207

It's my little longhorn friends again.  On Tuesday I went to see my friend's band play so I didn't have a lot of time to get my picture.  These guys were having dinner when I was driving home so I just stopped and took a quick picture.

Day 208

I was pretty tired on Wednesday evening after getting 1 1/2 hours of sleep on Tuesday.  It was totally worth it!  When I got home from work I tried to take a nap.  I only slept about 15 minutes but by the time I got up it was almost dark.  I ran out to the front yard to take a picture of these little roses before it was too late.  That was close!!!

Day 209

On Thanksgiving I volunteered at the Turkey Trot in Austin.  I didn't run it this year because I'm not really ready for races yet.  Still working on getting in better shape.  I took this picture at the top of the hill where the race was.  Austin is such a great city!  Look how beautiful Auditorium Shores is. 

Day 210

I went to San Marcos to run some errands today so I decided to go to the campus and get a picture of Old Main.  I love that campus.  It is so pretty there.  I wish I would have appreciated it more when I was actually going to school there.  :-)

Bonus Pictures

I took a couple of pictures at the Jack Burton Trio show on Tuesday.  The band was great!  I was so happy for them!  I can't wait for the next show!!  :-)

Christmas Tree

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Thanksgiving.  This morning I volunteered at the Turkey Trot in Austin getting people registered for the race.  The money from the race goes to Caritas of Austin.  I thought it was a worthy cause to help out on a day like this.  There were so many people there!  That's what I love about Austin.  Instead of just sitting around on Thanksgiving, people want to be active and help their community at the same time.  Next year I'm going to run it!  I actually plan to run a few races next year.  I miss running.  It's such a great feeling to finish a race or run just one more mile.  :-)

This weekend I will be busy working on my Christmas presents and more Christmas decorations but I thought I would start sharing what I have up with you over the long holiday weekend.  Let's start with the most important decoration...the christmas tree.

My inspiration this year is Charlie Brown!

Instead of trying to have big, elaborate decorations I decided to keep it simple.  I have a tiny Charlie Brown tree and I'm making the rest of my decorations.

What do you think?  This is my very favorite Christmas tree ever!

Strumpet's Christmas Ornament Swap

I'm a bad blogger.  I meant to tell you that I joined the Strumpet's Christmas Ornament Swap last week so you could join in on all the fun, but I got so busy I haven't even had time to post this!  Oops.  Well, anyway, I joined and I'm so excited to make a fun ornament to share with my swap partner. 

I can't decide if I want to send one of these Fabric Star ornaments that I made last year or if I want to do something completely new. 

I may or may not have already been working on other ornament designs when I heard about this.  Stay tuned later in the week to see if I was.  ;-)

My Morning Soundtrack

Oh my gosh, it' Monday!  Where did the weekend go??  I had so many things to share with you on my blog that I didn't get to. It was such a crazy weekend for me.  I'm a terrible blogger right now...but for a good reason!  I went to Etsy Austin's Craft Riot with a few friends and bought so many wonderful goodies.  Then we went to lunch and went back to my house to get all caught up on Glee.  Sunday I went to church and then to see Harry Potter!  EEKS!!!  It was great!

So, what that means is that I have not had any time to take pictures of any of my projects.  This has been the most productive two weeks for me and I haven't even been able to blog any of it for you.  I promise I will have lots to share during the Thanksgiving weekend. 

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Okay, now for music monday!

I've heard many versions of this song.  Off the top of my head I can think of three.  Nina Simone, Feist and Ollabelle.  I know there are tons more.  But last week I heard Nina Simone singing See Line Woman and I just had to stop what I was doing and listen.  She has such a unique voice!  And I kind of love all the awesome flute in her version of the song.  ;-)

Just in case you want to hear the other two versions, here is Feist and Ollabelle singing the same song.  :-)

Feist



Ollabelle

365 Project - Week Twenty-Nine

I'm so excited!!  I made it to the 200s!!!  This week ended with day 203!  I can't even believe it!  I feel like there is an end in site now. 

Well, this was a pretty crazy week since my sister was here over the weekend.  And then it was my birthday.   And then I had tons of crafty catching up to do.  Because of this I didn't get a chance to go too many places to get pictures.  But you know what?  A couple of these pictures are on my favorite list. 

Okay, here we go.  Week twenty-nine...

Day 197

We have a lot of daisies in the flower bed outside so I've taken a lot of pictures of them.  I had never seen one this color before.  I think it's my favorite one so far.  I thought I would take a picture of it before they go away for the year. 

Day 198

 This is part of the windmill at Stagecoach park.  I love the way running water looks in pictures. 

Day 199

 This is what the beginning of my run looks like.  I always start there because I get to run downhill for a long time.  It's a good way to start a run.  I can run all fast.  As soon as I hit the bottom of that hill I feel like I'm going to die!  I'm slowly getting better!  :-)

Day 200

 I took this picture in my front yard on Tuesday.  I had so much to do when I got home from work that I almost forgot to take my picture.  So, right before it got dark I ran outside and took this picture of the moon through the trees.  I think it looks pretty cool!

Day 201

 I love this picture!  It's just a neon sign on the side of Green Mesquite.  But, it looks really cool at night and live music is my very favorite thing about Austin.  I just wish I could get out to shows more often.  :-)

Day 202

 I love the color of these leaves.  Fall is so pretty.  We only get little glimpses of it here in Texas so I have to take a picture of it every chance I get. 

Day 203

Oh my gosh!  I almost didn't get my picture today!  I was doing stuff when I got home and totally lost track of the time.  It was almost dark when I took this picture.  It didn't come out very good, but I'll take it.  I'm just happy to have a picture at all!  Oops!  Good thing I live downtown.  :-)

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Okay, these two are just for me! My sister and I went to the Bob Schneider show on Monday night at Saxon Pub (he plays every Monday) sort of for my birthday and sort of just because we love him.  :-)  We used to go see him play all the time when we were younger.  I miss it! 

I was so excited when I found out John Pointer was there to see the show, too.  I hoped that he would at least get up on stage and do one song with Bob since I was going to miss all three of his shows this week and he's going on tour until January. Guess what! HE DID!!! I was so excited! I had to take a couple pictures. They are terrible because it's so dark in there, but that's okay! :-)

I wish I could go every week.  I am happiest when I am listening to music and watching the artists perform.  It's such a great feeling.  :-)  Oh yeah...I'm a big nerd!  Hee hee!

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I've been working on a bunch of craft projects this week.  I have lots to share with you for the next couple of weeks!  I'm so excited! 

Oh yeah!  Tomorrow is Craft Riot in Austin.  I'm meeting a few friends and we are going to go crafty shopping!  I can't wait to see what's there.  There's one ring in particular that I really want.  I hope she has it there!  :-)  Then, on Sunday I'm going to see Harry Potter!  This is going to be an awesome weekend!!!

Do you have any fun plans for the weekend?

Coffee Break - Christmas Ornaments

I ordered my new Christmas tree this weekend!  I hope it gets here by the end of the week.  I have pictures to take!!  :-)  Since I'm getting into the Christmas spirit I thought it would be fun to look at some interesting Etsy Christmas tree decorations today!

I love this felt Christmas Tree from Blakeswork!  The colors are great, too.  I have blue and silver wintery themed ornaments.  I guess I will just have to keep dreaming of a white christmas.  I live in the wrong place for that!

This hand blown glass ornament from Jenn Goodale is amazing!  I would love to learn to do that some day.

Oh my gosh!  That's a soda can!  These are made by oOoCuppyCakeoOo.

Of course I had to pick a Monster Hatchling ornament from Dingogirl66!  That is hilarious!

Well, that's all for now.  I'll be sharing lots of other decorations I find in the coming weeks.  I hope to have some of my own Christmas projects ready to share this weekend!!  :-)

Have a great day!

My Morning Soundtrack

I'm actually posting My Morning Soundtrack in the morning this week!  That never happens!  Don't you just love four day weekends?

Today I'm sharing a song with you by Florence and the Machine.  It's been out for a while but I really like it and I heard it a couple of times this week after not hearing it in a while.  Guess it just really wanted to make it to the blog.  :-)

I love her voice so much.  And the music is so different than anything that gets played on mainstream radio right now.  It's nice to hear something unique for a change.

Florence & The Machine - Dog Days are Over

Okay, gotta go now.  Keeping this week's post short because we're going shopping today and then tonight my sister and I are going to the Bob Schneider show at Saxon Pub.  I used to go see him play all the time but haven't been able to go in forever.  It has been nice to get back to my old self for a few days.  I miss going to shows.  :-)

Happy Monday!

It's a Magic Number

Happy Sunday, Everybody! today is day three of my four day weekend and Rent Day number three! I'm going to see Rent at Zachary Scott Theatre for the third and final time today.  I'm a very lucky girl.  :-)

Why three times?  Well, it is my favorite show EVER!  But also because...Three is a magic number!  ;-) 

I just really wanted a reason to post this song today.  I love Schoolhouse Rock!  This is my favorite one!

Three is a Magic Number

I started working on my first Christmas craft projects yesterday.  I'm so excited!  I'm hoping to post some of them this week.  I'll be back tomorrow for Music Monday!

Have a wonderful day!  :-)

Movember

I planned on posting this blog on November 1st in honor of Movember but I got so busy that I couldn't even finish my Movember project until last night!  I guess it's not too late.  It's still November!  :-)

Most of you probably already know this, but just in case...Movember is a month to raise awareness for men's health issues.  During the month of November men who participate start out clean shaven and then don't shave until the month is over.  Over the years the movement has grown and now people even raise money to help fund research for men's health issues.  It's pretty cool!  You can be silly and still do some good. 

But girls want to be supportive, too!  That's where the crafty fun comes in.

A few months ago Velma and I were having another one of our silly conversations.  I was telling her that I wanted to started making wrist cuffs.  I'm not sure how the topic got changed to mustaches (we have interesting conversations), but then suddenly I got a silly idea to make a wrist cuff for girls with a mustache.  It was just a joke.  I decided to call it a wristache.  I never got around to making it but when I heard about Movember I knew I had to give it a try.

This is a really basic wrist cuff because I was in a bit of a hurry to make it.  I just took a rectangle of felt and sewed my mustache in the center.  Then I folded into thirds and sewed it closed.  I added a button and a button loop to close it. 

I have some other ideas for wrist cuffs that I will be trying out in the next couple of months.  I think I will be using an actual button hole on those.  I like the way it looks better.  Oh well.  I had fun making a silly one for my very first wrist cuff.  Stay tuned for more!  :-)

Happy Movember!

365 Project - Week Twenty-Eight

It's Friday!!!  And it's a four day weekend!  I took off work Friday and Monday since my sister is visiting.  It's so nice!  :-)

I'm still adjusting to the time change so I wasn't able to get great pictures this week.  I think I need to make a list and plan where I want to go ahead of time since I have less and less daylight when I get off work.  I'll make it work!

Here's week twenty-eight!

Day 190

I took a little walk on Main Street Saturday morning and the nursery where this really cute wagon is was open!  I finally got to take a picture of it!  I've been waiting forever!  They have always been closed when I tried to take a picture of it.

Day 191 

 I went to see Rent at Zach Theatre for the second time on Sunday!  I love that show and I love that theatre!  I get to go see it one more time before it closes.  I am such a lucky girl!

Day 192

I'm still trying to get used to the time change.  I have one less hour of sunlight every day to take pictures.  So, on Monday I walked down Main Street again and found these pretty orange flowers.  I had never noticed them before. 

Day 193

I stopped at the huge Catholic church in Buda after work to take a picture of the pretty cross on top.  I loved the way it looked with the sky and clouds in the background.  My favorite part of the picture is the little bird sitting on top of the cross.  He was sitting there the whole time I was taking pictures.  :-) 

Day 194

This car was parked at P. Terry's Wednesday.  I had to take a picture of it!  It's right across the street from where I go to church.  You gotta love Austin!  

Day 195

Thursday was busy!  Work was so stressful and then my sister came into town so I didn't have a lot of time to take a picture.  I saw this pretty red tree hidden among the green trees on the walking trail at work when I was at my desk so I decided to go for a walk before I went home and take a picture of it.  I had a few minutes to de-stress before I left work and I got my picture!  That's what I call a win-win!  :-)

Day 196

I had to renew my license today in San Marcos so I stopped in Kyle on the way home and took this picture.  It's just sitting next to the railroad tracks.  :-)

I Heart Stop Motion - Lost Things

Today was my last work day of the week.  I get a four day weekend!  My sister is in town for a few days visiting from Denver so I took Friday and Monday off work.  It is much needed.  It's been a crazy couple of weeks for me.  I am ready for a break.  Well, it's going to be a busy weekend but it will be very nice to not have to go to work for a few days.  I'm hoping to sneak in some crafty time.  I'm seriously missing it right now. 

The best part of my weekend is that I get to go see Rent one last time at Zachary Scott Theatre!  I'm so excited!!!  It's a little bitter sweet.  I'm so happy I get to see the show again, but a little bummed it's the last time.  I'm a nerd!  :-)

Anyway,  I thought it would be nice to share a little stop motion wonderfulness with you before the busy weekend starts. 

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Lost Things

Written & Directed by Angela Kohler
Starring: Alison Sudol
Music: Sleepwalking by A Fine Frenzy

Lost Things from angelaandithyle on Vimeo.

I love Alison Sudol's voice.  Her music is very lovely.  I love the part of the film where the black circle turns into a hole and goes through it.  It makes me think a little bit about Alice in Wonderland falling down the hole when she follows the White Rabbit.  I think my favorite part is when her hair turns into a tree.  I'm not sure why.  I just thought it looked really cool!

Okay, off to spend time with the family.  See you tomorrow.  I'm posting my 365 project...on time!  ;-)

Coffee Break - Bubbles

Hello! It's coffee break time!

Today's coffee break is going to be a little different. You may have noticed that I haven't had a lot of craft projects to post lately. I think I just overwhelmed myself a little bit and didn't know what to do with myself. I've been trying to come up with craft ideas for my blog for Christmas, projects to make for family and friends for Christmas and I needed to make two plushies for a co-worker that she wanted to give her kids for Christmas. Well, turns out she wanted something that was way beyond my current skill level so I was just so worried about it. I was not feeling creative at all.  I decided Sunday evening that I would just have to tell her I couldn't make the plushies for her so I could focus on my blog and Christmas presents.  It's just not worth it to me if it's going to stress me out.  I do this because I love it.  Of course she was totally okay with it but I felt bad anyway.  I'll make them for her later to give them on their birthday. 

I'm happy to say that my inspiration is finally coming back.  I have a couple of projects I hope to finish this week and then I'm going to get started on Christmas!!  I can't wait for this year.  It's going to be my first handmade Christmas!  :-)

Since I've been so stressed out I started thinking of fun things that I like to do to de-stress.  I remembered that my college roommate and I used to have bubbles in our dorm room for when we got really stressed out.  I love that something so simple can completely turn a bad day around.

These are some pretty bubble pictures I found on Flickr.

{Mukumbura}

{richard.heeks}

{eyesore9}

{Jeff Kubina}

And then there is my absolute favorite bubble stress reliever...BUBBLE WRAP!!!

{weheartit}

{gamer_librarian}

I feel much better now.  My stress is gone...thanks to bubbles!  Back to work!  :-)

Have a lovely day!

My Morning Soundtrack

It's time for Music Monday!  YAY!!!  I have some really good songs to share with you today!

Os Mutantes - A Minha Menina

I honestly have no idea what they're saying, but whatever it is it sounds completely wonderful!  :-)

Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros - Home

I'm pretty sure I've posted this one before, but I had to post it again.  I am in love with this song!!!

Andrew Belle (Featuring Katie Herzig) - Static Waves

I love this song so much, but I keep forgetting the name of it.  This is so I will remember always.  :-)

Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings - Better Things

I have been listening to Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings for a few years now.  I guess since 100 Day, 100 Nights came out.  I love their music.  It has a cool retro feel to it.  Makes me happy.  I had a CD in my classroom when I was teaching toddlers that taught them about jazz music.  It was a huge hit with the kids.  We used to dance and sing to it all the time.  It wasn't until a couple years when I was watching them play on Austin City Limits that I put two and two together and realized that Sharon Jones is Ella Elephant!  That's so cool!  Only to me, but still cool!  :-)

365 Project - Week Twenty-Seven

Well, this was one of those weeks where I didn't have a lot of time to take pictures so I had to photograph what I could in all the craziness.  I think I found some pretty interesting things considering.  :-)  Hopefully next week will be a little bit easier.  I think I'll actually have some time to take pictures!

Here is week twenty-seven...

Day 183

I went for a run in the park on Saturday and as I was leaving I saw this tree glowing red as the sun was starting to go down.  I think this might actually be my first glimpse of fall this year.  It's so pretty!  :-)

Day 184

 This is just a pretty plant that was for sale at the grocery store.  The sticker said it was flowering Kale, I think.  I just liked the color and the way the leaves looked so I took a picture.  :-)

Day 185

 There's this weird little rock wall thing with a wooden window in it at Stagecoach Park.  I have no idea what the purpose is, but it looks kind of like a picture frame.  So, I took a picture of it!  :-)

Day 186

Tuesday was election day!  After work I walked over to city hall to vote  I snapped this picture of some of the signs that lined Main Street before I crossed the street to get in line.

Day 187

I took my flute to the shop to have some work done last weekend.  I went back to pick it up on Wednesday and took a quick pictures of one of the mosaic steps.  I love mosaic and I love music, so this is pretty great!  :-) 

Day 188

 Every time I go to Stagecoach Park there are more and more fall leaves.  It's so pretty!  I know I already took a picture of some of them but I love the way it looks with some of the leaves still green and some red and orange.

Day 189

I was walking around trying to find something to photograph on Friday and Bo heard me on the other side of the fence and started barking.  He started peeking at me under the fence and through the boards.  I figured I should probably take some pictures while he didn't know what I was doing because he never lets me take his picture!  :-)

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That's it for this week's pictures.  I was planning to post a craft project tomorrow but it's going to be a crazy weekend so I may have to wait until later in the week.  The projects will be done today but I won't be home when the light is usable to photograph anything.  I'll do my best.  Either way, I'll be back Monday with some fun music! 

Happy Saturday!