Plumcute Designs

5...4...3...2...1...Blastoff!

Wow, only this week left.  I am not sure where it has all gone or what I did with it.  Does anybody else feel like Christmas sneeks up on us faster each year?  Is this one of those "curse of getting older" things? 

I have lots and lots of stitches in my rearview mirror but still none that I can share (you can blame those pesky friends and loved ones that follow my blog...it's their fault since the stitches have been taken on their behalf).  What I can show you is my new Christmas coloring book...

Do any of you purchase yourself coloring books, or is it just me?  I found this one at "Tar-jay" my favorite little chain store (other than Anthropologie & J Crew okay & Restoration Hardware & Pottery Barn...alright, it's ONE of my favorite little chain stores)  I almost don't want to color in it the pictures are so lovely and I am such a clutz with crayons.  It will probably end up on the shelf with my Monsters Travel coloring book, also a purchase at Tar-jay...who can resist little monsters wearing berets and standing at the Eiffel Tower?  Not me, that's for sure...nothin's better than my favorite travel icon and monsters ready to be colored in the palette of my imagination!

So, I am off and running to see if I can translate a dare to be great idea into a dare to be great gift.  It's madness for sure but then we already knew that about me right?  Plus, if I can get it knocked off this morning I get to sit down with my feet up this afternoon and enjoy the kids, the tree, and the sounds of Christmas music playing softly in the background.  Maybe I will even color a bit.

Blessings
childhood pastimes that linger
the 96 crayon box...yes, I have one
Christmas

Until Next Time,

Tracy

Ideal

I love this picture.  It is ideal.  (Note: I did not take this shot...in fact I don't know who took it, but what I do know is it's lovely).  It's all that I imagine for Christmas without the reality of having to drive in it or shovel my way out of it.  It's the best of both worlds for me, really, as I sit here at my mom's house just mere city blocks from the beach and where we've been averaging temperatures in the 70's...should've checked the weather back home before I packed 4 sweaters and only one short sleeve shirt.  Good thing her washer and dryer have been available to work overtime for me ;)  We are heading home soon and then I will really have to get at wrapping those gifts.

Blessings
time with family
temperatures in the 70's
pictures of snow

Until Next Time...

Tracy

Dieting In 2010

I am not one for resolutions so I am "just sayin" that 2010 is the year of the diet for me...well, actually it's for my fabric stash.  Over the next few weeks I am going to weigh-in my stash by color of fabric and by total of all colors combined.  That will be the easy part.  The hard part, the diet part, will be actually using fabric in quantities that are measurable.  Specifically I want to check my fabrics periodically over the next year and see if I can "trim down" the obscene weight of fabric in the studio closet.  It's just a waste of perfectly good fabric to have a stash the size of mine so dieting it is!  Anybody want to join me?  It could be the biggest loser of the fabric sort...wonder if the networks would pick us up?  I digress...

Blessings
abundant fabrics
resolve (different from resolutions)
use what you have...it's a wonderful way to live

Until Next time,

Tracy & her fat fabric stash

Me In The Tree

My title has a very Seuss-like ring...

I do not like green eggs and ham

I do not like them in the tree

I do not like them...okay you get it and plus I suddenly lost my ability to rhyme...probably went to the same neverland as all the dare to be great gift ideas
(see last post if you're confused)

So, this is in part a picture-of-me-Seuss post and part a brag on the Mister post.  He's downstairs right now as I type steam cleaning all of my carpets & kitchen upholstry so that it will be lovely for Christmas.  Yup, he's a keeper!
This is my cosmic blog land woo hoo for Mr Plumcute...thank you for being my carpet cleaning man.

Blessings
clean carpets
me in the tree sans green eggs and ham
Christmas...it truly is the most wonderful time of the year

Until Next Time,

Tracy

PS. I have started wrapping the gifts that are piled on my wingback chair.  Out of necessity actually not desire or uber-Christmas-gift spirit.  We are traveling for a few days in the near future (but will be home way before Christmas) and I need to deliver giftage...so it must be wrapped.   Tyranny of the urgent or something like it. 

 

The Tuesday Before

 

ATTENTION: This post has N-O-T-H-I-N-G to do with the meaning of Christmas...only retail carnage and all its implications...

 

Are you all finished?  Sadly, I am not.  I have  no gifts for my super husband or darling munchkins.  What's worse is I have no gift ideas for those people either.  I mean, I have their lists of "suggestions".  But frankly, there isn't a single dare to be great gift on the horizon and I like to give dare to be great gifts.  So, here it is the Tuesday before and I am pondering the mediocrity of slipper socks and such.

 

I also have not wrapped even one gift item for all the others in my life.  They are just piled up on the extra chair in my bedroom (thank you friend for not taking that chair from me a year and a half ago when it was offerred...where would those gifts be now?)  And as if to add insult to injury, my wrappity mood has been at zero which is unusual because I normally love wrapping as much as anything/everything else in this process. Hmmm.  It's not bah-humbugedness but it's something and I just can't put my finger on it.  Can any of you relate?  Oh well, time will shortly bring all this to an end be it slipper socks or gift bags all around.

 

Blessings...
slipper socks for all
the invention of the gift bag
time marching on

but mostly that no matter what the meaning of Christmas is not lost because of the above

 

Until Next Time,

Tracy

A Christmas Wish

Wisdom...
in my words
in knowing myself
in my actions
in loving
in rearing my children
in friendships
in choosing what to hold on to and what to let go
in being who God purposed me to be

I am sending this out tonight into the cosmic land of blog.  In a small way it is a reflection of my belief that through public vulnerability we have an opportunity to witness the miracles of God.  But also because once declared there is no turning back.  There is no chicken exit after the publish key gets punched.  And while in the greater scheme of things the One that matters most already knew my Christmas wishlist, it is easy to self-dellude when that list is a private transaction between me and Him.  Public declaration requires follow-through or risking an uncomfortable accountability...something I would venture to guess that most of us wish to avoid.  So, there it is...small and quiet amidst the hustle and bustle of this season but of value none the less...

May the God whose peace surpasses all understanding bless you and your family during this most wonderful time of year...

Tracy

A Little Peek

Just a tease of something I am working on...did I mention I love wool?  It's hiding beneath the vintage spool & flowers...

Oh, and I forgot to share the studio Christmas spirit...

Hope you are all having a relaxed weekend.  We have had a bit of rain & it's been nice to just sit and enjoy a cup of coffee by the fire.

Blessings
the gift of stitches
wool
winter weather teamed up with cozy activities

Until Next TIme...

Tracy

A View From The Floor

In order to get a full shot of the tree I had to lie on the floor of my dining room and scoot as far back as I could in an effort to get both the bottom and the top of the tree in one shot...it was close...and I still haven't done her beauty justice...

Have I mentioned that there are 1200 bulbs on this beauty (which took a mere four hours and countless "are we done yets?" by the littlest Plumcutes)  And, just about every ornament I own, which is a ton of ornaments, along with about 3 dozen candycanes adorn her branches.

So...here are some other things I am enjoying around the house include this vignette in my entry...

my owl of discrenment...as in each time I see her I remember that I need to be more discerning especially when it comes to the words that "escape" my mouth...

 

a friend I am very fond of (and one who knows me all too well) bought me this owl because she knows I am seeking discernment in my life.  Thank you friend...for knowing me and loving me just as I am but also for loving me enough to encourage me to grow!

 And more holiday yumminess...a little tower of creative joy: silver bells, red ornaments, and silver snowflakes (side note...glitter is the herpes of craft supplies.  I will never get all of it vacuumed up)...all gathered into one of my favorite metal pieces...

 
In case you are wondering there has been stitching and design work going on around here.  Some of it is gifty-ness so you will have to wait for pices and hope that I remember to take some.  The rest I will get to posting about soon.  AND, I have a free little Christmas stitchery coming just as soon as I can figure out how to upload it with my new computer...still haven't loaded the old photo software so I am working in unfamiliar territory these days.  It's good for me right?

This will probably be the last tree post for now.  Until we get to the dismantling that is because I have such a fun time dismantling my Christmas trees that I will inevitably have to share that when the time comes...just know that my mission will be to get all 17.5 feet of her into my lawn & leaf bin...wont that be fun!

Blessings
I LOVE Christmas
thread and needle
glitter...even if I will forever be vacuuming it up to no avail

Until Next Time...

Tracy

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like...

A forrest with ornaments...but it's lovely...here is Mr Plumcute putting the star on after 4 hours of light work and 1200 bulbs.  I don't have a good shot of it fully decorated yet but will try again tomorrow.  It truly is the loveliest tree we have ever had.  And did I mention that it is actually a "road-kill tree"?  We found it fallen in the forest or cut and left to die rather.  In its' original state it was probably a 30-foot tall tree if not taller, we just hacked off the top 17.5 feet and brought it home...did I mention I still hurt in places I did not know I had?

But enough about the sore muscles...I am just glad to be done with the decorating. And now that I am done I can focus on finishing up the last few gifts on my list including something for that handsome santa in the photo. 

Blessings
road kill trees
almost done with retail carnage
time to enjoy the season...and remember why it is I celebrate it

thank you God for Your great love and ultimate sacrifice

Until Next TIme,

Tracy

PS the santa hats are a family decorating time tradition three years running now and Mr Plumcute insists he cannot hear me or the kids talking unless we have ours on...silly man...Gotta go put my hat on so he'll take out the garbage.

A Trapezius Tale

The short of it is they hurt...my trapezius muscles hurt from carting"The Tree" out of the back forty of the wilderness in Apple Hill.  Who ever thinks about these muscles?  Not me for sure and yet this weekend every time I pick up my handbag to go out to the market I am reminded that nothing says Christmas like a 17.5-foot tall tree that I carried half-way across the earth.  But it's a lovely tree.  Probably the loveliest I have ever had and Mr Plumcute has been carrying a mile-wide grin around for the last day and a half so in some respect that makes up for the pain in my "traps"...Now, I am off to church and then to purchase an anatomy book so I can properly identify the other muscle groups that are in pain...

Blessings
anatomy I normally ignore
 Oh Christmas Tree...how lovely are thy branches even if they hurt my person
a happy husband

Until Next Time...

Tracy