For The Journey Not just the destination…

My swap partner for the Owl Swap received her package today, so I can now post photos of what I sent without ruining the surprise.

• Owl Swap Photoshoot - excuse the poor lighting, it was dusk

First, I made a little owl using Moonstitches pattern. The challenge with this pattern was that it was only photos, so it took a few guesses to get it right. Also, after finishing my owl, I realized I made his beak way too long, but it still worked out. I got some puckering where I tacked the beak down, but I think making a smaller beak would help that. If I make another, I’ll make it bigger and put a small sandbag in him so he can be a door stopper. He’s got a flat bottom (cardboard inside) so he sits up straight.

Second, I made an Amy Butler In-Town bag. The owl-theme is an interpretation of the fabric pattern – it reminded me of owl eyes. I really liked this item and had a hard time sending it. I will be making myself a similar one. The pattern was very easy to follow, though I chose to put the pocket on the outside, rather than the inside – next time, I will line the pocket with interfacing too. The inside of the purse was a little bunchy, but I think that just takes practice. I really liked how the handles came out – I had trouble with this in past projects. And last but not least, I got to use Peltex and fusible interfacing with this project.

Be sure to check out some of the other swappers as they receive their swaps over the next couples of days. I can’t wait to see what my partner sends me. Anyone know of any other swaps coming up?

So the drive to the new office this morning really wasn’t that bad…but the drive home took me almost 2 hours. And somehow, shopping bags from Joanns, Michaels, and Barnes and Noble ended up in my backseat. I have a feeling this new daily route is going to get expensive. :)

Our new office was looking pretty plain, so I stopped by the craft stores (and the bookstore for a craft magazine) to liven up my workspace. You may recall these flowers from my wedding. I put 4 of the cones into a little copper pot for a cheery desk decoration.

To make the originals, I put fake flowers, a nest, and greenery into a foam cone, then wrapped it with wood-patterned contact paper. I added a bow and some moss around the edges. They were wired to the railing around our ceremony area for the wedding.

It’s been a good weekend. Other than getting bicycles, here’s some of the things we did:

• Babies - I met Carrollee’s new baby boy. Max is a week old, and the youngest person I’ve ever met. He was very cute with a full head of black hair, just like his Mom and Dad.
• Birds – I hung up our hummingbird feeder after seeing a few flying around the garage. I haven’t seen any at the feeder yet, but my aunt sent me a very impressive video of the hummingbirds at her feeder in Texas. She has a ton of them.
• Buses – I drove all the way home from church in a Little Miss Sunshine style. Remember in the movie when they couldn’t get the VW bus horn to stop honking? Yeah, well, that’s a true issue on buses occasionally. Needless to say, it’s embarrassing.
• Fabric – I’ve been organizing my fabric stash and moving it to some shelves downstairs, since that’s where my sewing machine is now. I’ll post photos when I’m done.
• Friends – We’ve been cleaning house as we’re expecting company in a couple of weeks. A friend from graduate school is bringing her mother and sister from Singapore to visit, and they’re going to stop by Atlanta for a weekend.
• Commute – My office at work moved to Alpharetta, so starting tomorrow, I have a new commute to the North.

Thomas and I bought bicycles this weekend. His is a Trek Jetta (they were originally sold with the VW Jetta cars in 1996), and mine is a Giant Sedona DX. Thomas got a mountain bike, but I got a hybrid so I can sit up straighter. I don’t imagine that we’ll be doing rougher terrain than just gravel roads for a while.

We looked at a few stores and tried out a lot of bikes. My last bike in college was from a dumpster, and before that was a $80 Huffy from Walmart, so this was a big step for me. He got his through Craigslist, and mine was new, but they gave us a good deal. Now we just need to find some trails we can ride on…and see if my basket will fit my bike for Clover to ride with us.

Saturday morning and a gorgeous sunny day, so Thomas and I took a walk around the neighborhood. I took my camera with the macro lens and got some nice shots.

• Saturday Walk photos

Here are my favorites: