freelance or bust part I

Two weeks ago, after a particularly brutal day of self-deprecation thanks to the massive dose of artificial hormones racing through my body (and hopefully encouraging my stubborn ovaries to perform as designed), I decided it was high time I attempted to realize my dream of becoming a freelance journalist. Officially. Did I study Journalism in school? Not unless you count my Senior year sojourn on the newspaper staff...in High School! No, I studied several things in college (Microbiology, Elementary Education, Mass Communications, and History to name a few), but Journalism never crossed my mind. (At 18 does ANYONE really know what they want to be when they grow up?)

I love to write. So naturally, and for reasons I blame my Mother for entirely (which is another post for another day), I decided the best course of action was for me to immediately email the editor of a very popular local publication and ask her if their magazine was accepting freelance work. I included a (very) brief general introduction of myself and my education, thanked her for her consideration, and hit send.

O.M.G.

Did I really just have the audacity to presume that, upon reading my two-minute email, she would actually hire me?! (Go ahead and laugh. I did.) After a bout of nervous poo (you know what I’m talking about) – which made me realize how badly I really did want this opportunity, I concluded that stranger things have happened and hoped for the best. Fast-forward to yesterday when I logged-in to my email for the 2000^th time to see if there was any reply. Still nothing. So, being the non-confrontational person that I am (really, I’m not!), I shot her another brief email. This time apologizing for being so short in my previous email and asking whether she would like to know more about me and/or possibly see some samples of my writing as she’s considering my request? Ballsy? Yes, but I figured I might as well feign some confidence. I’m sure she had long since dragged my original email directly to the trash icon along with the hundreds of other inquiries she probably gets from (legitimately trained) aspiring journalists. However, I wasn’t going to give up without a response – good OR bad!

And then came the prompt reply, waiting patiently for me in my inbox this morning. “Send me your resume and call me on Monday or Tuesday.” . . . And I thought MY email got the gold star for brevity! I felt a small rush of excitement for the fact that she had even sent a reply, let alone asked for a resume and a phone call (which wasn't an outright "No")! And then reality ...

O.M.G.

I don’t HAVE a resume! I’m a stay-home-mom who cooks decently, cleans obsessively, loves to do anything crafty, and eats chocolate for dinner when my husband is out of town. The last time I needed a resume was over four years ago, and the computer it was on has long since bit the dust. What do I do now?! Clearly I need to send her a resume as soon as possible. I don’t want her realizing that I had offered to send her a resume that didn't actually exist. Cue nervous poo.

It’s been so long! How do I make a resume?! Google it. I managed to find a template for a resume and slowly began piecing together the summary of what I've done over the past 10 years. And guess what? NO WHERE on it will she find that any job I had or Major I studied has any relevance to the position for which I’m inquiring about. What. Was. I. Thinking?! Though tempted to delete her email and never speak of this whole experience again, I’ve decided that I might as well send her what I’ve got and then hit my knees. Because I KNOW it’s going to take some divine intervention for this to have a positive outcome. And *deep breath* I AM going to call her on Monday or Tuesday (who am I kidding?! I'll call her Tuesday…) and see what she has to say – even if it is only to hear her laughing over the phone as she reads through my resume.

Now, on to more pressing matters. I have some missionaries coming over for dinner and I have no idea what to make. Hmm… Think I’m going to go with Chicken Enchiladas (do you think they’ll notice if I use canned chicken?) and a salad. I asked my 4 yr. old Little Dude (LD) what I should make for dessert and he enthusiastically answered, “Hotdogs!”

spiced-up spice rack

I heart the Habitat For Humanity Re-Store. Here are a few treasures I picked up at my last visit:

An old cross-stitched picture (free!), a wicker basket (50 cents), a victorian style mirror ($5), a set of three rusted tin canisters ($2) and an old-school wooden spice rack (50 cents).

I love having projects to look forward to! I have plans for everything and will share them as they are completed.

Project #1: spice rack face-lift

Skill Level: Beginner

Materials needed: One can spray primer (white), one can spray paint in desired color and finish

1. The first thing I did was prepare the rack for the primer coat by using a cloth dampened with a little vinegar water to remove the accumulation of grim and dust.

2. Following the cleaning I took the rack out to the garage (be sure you do this and all spray painting in a well ventilated area!) and covered it with a light coat of quick drying spray-primer, twice - allowing it to dry in between coats.

3. I then used a glossy Banner Red spray paint to accent my beautifully green kitchen. In order to ensure optimum coverage I used three or four coats of spray paint, allowing paint to dry between applications.

4. Finally, I chose a location for my new spiced-up spice rack and used finishing nails to hang it. Definitely a Love It! :)

how to design a nursery

When we found out we were having a girl, my first order of business was to pull out some scrapbook papers I had bought a couple of years ago (with the hope that I would someday have a baby girl) and use them as my guide as far as color and style. I took the papers to the fabric store and found color coordinating decorator weight fabrics to use for the valance, bed skirt, pillows, and chair (which I wanted to reupholster).

My second order of business was to paint the room a baby pink color. Yes - me - tomboy of all tomboy's, chose pink! I used to be so against doing an ultra-girly room, but that was before I had two boys who filled my world with blue. I realized after my second son was born that if I ever did have a girl - I wanted pink. And I wanted to go deliciously over the top with it. :) My three year old (now four) took the surprise picture of me slaving away at painting.

Aren't you loving the shot of my undies? :) You should have seen a profile shot... I was seven months prego while I was painting. My husband offered to help, but I wanted to do it myself (because I pay more attention to detail and I wanted it perfect!). Nesting hormones are powerful motivators, my friend!

This glider was originally used for my sons and the fabric was a solid tan color. I wanted to dress it up to match the room better so I found this super cute polka-dot decorator weight fabric and did my first reupholstery project! I simply unpicked the seams off the original fabric and took out the cushions. Then, using the original pieces as a template, I cut out the new fabric and sewed it to the top of the original color pieces. Finally, I simply retraced my steps by replacing the cushions and sewing everything back up. The glider was super easy and required no sewing. I took the cushion off of the base and used a staple gun to secure the new fabric on the underside of the cushion. Then I put the cushion back on the base and secured it with screws.

For the pillow I simply cut out some bird shapes from my scrap fabric and appliqued it to pink chenille.

Isn't this dresser divine? :) It was a craigslist find and was in pretty rough condition. However, after some TLC (i.e. sand, stain, new hardware), it was turned into a perfect dresser/changing station for the nursery. Good job, honey! ;)

These pillows took all of one afternoon. :) I used chenille backing on all of them and scraps from the valance/bed skirt for the front.

For the wall I purchased four wood frames from the craft store and painted them a gloss white (spray paint works great!). I used these to frame the scrapbook paper that the room was designed around. I love how it turned out! For the valance I decided on a tab style accented with wood buttons.

This is the best picture I've got of the bed skirt. On the front (pictured) I did a single box pleat for a clean and crisp look. :) I bought the crib sheets and a minky-dot pink bumper to match the skirt and pillows.

baby blankets

I love babies. And I love making them blankets. Here are a few I've made in the past year:

1. This was made for my best friend's baby girl who has yet to be born and/or named. :) (She should be arriving any day, though!) I used a mix of fabric by Amy Butler's Midwest Modern collection along with complimentary blue, yellow, and pink chenille, and pink flannel. I appliqued the center of the pinwheels and used pink chenille for the backing. I quilted the blanket by following the straight seams as well as going around the circles. For the finishing step I sewed on the bias tape - which I had made using a coordinating Amy Butler fabric.

2. This little beauty was made out of several scraps of fabric I had on hand. And went to, of course, another baby girl.
3. And here is the rag quilt I made for my baby girl, Norah, who was born in Jan. '09. I was so excited after we had our ultrasound and were told that, after having two boys, we were finally expecting our first girl. I immediately went out and bought some pink clothes and the pinkest fabrics I could find to make her a blanket. Each square is lined with three layers of muslin and then quilted. I used a pink chenille backing. The tedious part of these types of quilts is the time it takes to cut out all of the muslin and the time it takes to snip the 1/4" seems.

flower headbands

Let me just preface this with a disclaimer... I am not a fan of baby headbands with satellite dish sized flowers on them. I do, however, think that reasonably sized flowers on a pretty ribbon are perfectly acceptable. After finding plenty of cute etsy sites online to buy a few for my baby girl, but never getting around to actually order them... I decided to try making them myself. How hard could it be, right?!

1. What you'll need: pretty ribbon, flowers to match, a package of 1/4" elastic, scissors, and a hot glue gun. You can find all of this at your favorite craft store (I went to A.C. Moore since it's right next to Target - and who doesn't need a reason to swing by Target?!).

2. Pull the flower head off of the stem and, using your scissors (duh), cut the little green nub as close to the flower as you can.

3. This is what your flower(s) should look like when they're ready.

4. Now measure and cut your ribbon to fit ALMOST entirely around your baby's head (or your own head if it's for you). Leave about two inches between where the ends meet. (So if your baby's head is 19", cut your ribbon 17".)

5. Fold in both ends of the ribbon about 1/4" and glue for a clean edge.

6. Cut a 2" piece of elastic and hot-glue on the backside of both ends of ribbon.

7. Finally, hot glue the flower to the ribbon in the location of your choosing. Voila'! You've made an adorable baby accessory! :)

8. I decided to make myself a matching headband so Norah and I could be twinsies at church. I love having a girl!

Cute ribbon, right?! It may be hard to see, but the dots are the same blue as the flower.

Me and my mini.