Post Office

So, I was standing in line at the post office today and heard this...growl/grunt/guttural sound. I didn't want to look back in case it was a person doing it...didn't want to stare, etc. The sound kept going on and then this guy pipes up with "He's irritable." So of course I then have to turn around and look. What do I see? Boxes with holes. Animal carrier boxes, with holes.

You can mail animals?!?!?!

I of course had to ask the guy what kind of animals he was mailing. One box had white carrier pigeons that were being shipped off to use in a wedding, and the other box with the "irritable" creature turned out to be a pigeon as well. As it turns out, the "irritable" pigeon was actually quite friendly and was being shipped off to a pigeon rescue farm/place in Massachusetts. He was found in a cougar trap and was being used for bait, but some girl found him and kept him fed for a week until she could find the cougar trap owner and get the bird out of there.

I didn't think I'd learn so much at the post office today.

Also, you can ship ladybugs, newborn chicks, and bees at the post office.

Toodles,
J Squirrel

Boot Camp

Nothing like a good boot camp workout at Core Body this morning to start the week off the right way. It's at a reasonable time, 9:30, that's the only way I can make it. Here's a small rundown if you want to try it out at home. Good Luck!

...and good night...

Jumping jacks
Mountain climbers
Burpees
Single leg step ups
Single leg step overs
Single leg lunges
Squats
Squat jumps
Box jumps
Chest press
Chest flies
Pushups
Bench dips
Military press
Bicep curls
Single arm dumbbell pulls
Shoulder stability

Fab Friday

Clothing Refashions

More sewing this past week!


This is an Old Navy top J Fox gave me to work on. I added the teal swirls to the shirt. They cover the front as you see them and carry over onto the back. I cut the teal jersey into thin strips and just started winding and sewing it to the shirt.

Here are some tops I worked on this weekend with my cousin. One for her and one for my aunt.


We used blue t-shirts from Hershey World for the base of the shirt and added ruffles and pleats with old t-shirts. I really like the pleated shirt...probably going to work with big pleats like that some more. :)







Hope you all had a great weekend!
J Squirrel

Before and After

Made by Lex has a great tutorial on how to create a dress out of a t-shirt and extra fabric. So, here are the before and after pics of dresses I made for two cute kiddos I know. :)

Dress #1 started as a Halloween shirt from Old Navy and leftover batik (I think it was batik) fabric from my a dress my sister made.

Afterwards, a fun summer dress for a 4 year old with ruffles and a sash.

Dress #2 started with a lime green shirt from The Landing, wherever that is, and some old school floral fabric from my mom's collection.

An hour or so later and here is what I came up with.

Sorry for the weird arm coming out from the side of the picture. I thought that having my roommate holding up the dress would show it off better...but it just looks kind of creepy.

With each dress I shortened the length of the shirt, gathered the skirt, added ruffles to the bottom of the dress, and put in little belt/sash loops. To the shirts I used the extra fabric to make ruffles to cover the images on the shirt. Mom and daughters were very excited to give me a shirt and have it come back as a summer dress.

Happy Crafting!
J Squirrel

Local Wisdom brings the fox out of the hole....

So you may have noticed that I've been hibernating for most of the winter (and by hibernating I mean traveling to and fro to other temperatures and time zones) but gratefully, all the while, J Squirrel has so magnificently held down the fort, getting crafty and sharing her inspiring creations and thoughts with you all here in cyberspace.

Well since Spring is nearly here (it can't come soon enough in my opinion!) I thought I would come out of my foxhole and share with you a card line that I am currently obsessed with!

Kathleen started making collage cards several years ago and started Local Wisdom Cards in Vermont in 2001. Her cards are now featured in over 700 shops around the globe, as well as Etsy.com where you will find her entire inventory, and may purchase them directly through her!

Here is a sampling; these are some of my favorites:

Check out Kathleen's fun collection for yourself, and let us know what you think. You may decide to not give away a single one but rather frame them all, and I say this out of personal experience!

Until next time (or until the sun decides to show himself for more than a few hours!)

~ J Fox

Roller Derby

Oh geez...why did I wait til just now to go see the Atlanta Roller Girls?? Have you been? Do you know what I'm talking about? Roller derby is so much fun! (cue my boyfriend making fun of how much I say the word 'fun') Anyways, it's awesome! The place was jam packed. We sat on the floor with our Solo cups of beer and craned our necks over fans to see girls skate, bump, trip, fall, and sling each other around.

The Dirty South Derby team was playing some team from St. Louis. I don't remember their name...but all that matters is that the Atlanta team won. :) We actually had a pretty good grasp on how the sport is played from watching the movie Whip It, but there were a few things we had to learn as the bout/match went on. The crowd was really into the bout/match- lots of cheering, chants, boos, clapping, shouting. Everything that makes a sporting event more exciting to watch. Plus, the people watching is great! There are all sorts of people that come to these matches. There was a storm trooper at the bout last night! I missed a few really good parts of the bout because I was too distracted by people in the audience. Whoops!

If you haven't checked it out, I highly recommend it. The next match/bout isn't until April but buy your tickets early, grab some friends, a cooler of beer and have a good time.

Adios,
J Squirrel

The Before Picture

I have been SOOOOOOOO inspired to sew recently. Made by Lex has changed my outlook on life! Ok, that's a little dramatic, but she's definitely got my creative juices flowing. Check out her refashions section. She's so great at taking expensive clothing items and showing you how to make them yourself. Here's the first shirt I've started working on:

It's a women's XL Gap button down that I picked up at the thrift store for $4.99. I've started working on it the other night. Taking off the cuffs, sleeves, collar, resizing it...realizing that I wasn't sure how to put sleeves back on...haha! I think I know how to do that part now. :) Stay tuned for how it turns out.

Night,
J Squirrel

Good Morning!

This is what I've been waking up too...or should I say this is what has been waking me up every morning before my alarm is supposed to go off. Hard to be mad with a cute, blurry face like this though. :) No, I'm not trying to simulate a my 'don't have my glasses on' morning vision, my phone just can't catch a good picture of her when she's moving about so quickly.


She has the cutest little routine going on in the mornings. She wakes up, patters over to my side of the bed, puts her feet up, nudges me with her nose, and licks my arm. I pet her for a few minutes and say "Taisy, go lie down" and she does. We sleep for another hour then get up for breakfast.

Pets are great. :)

Night,
J Squirrel

Sewing Experiments

I've been practicing sewing on knit fabrics this week! It's pretty tricky, but with the right needle for my sewing machine I'm getting the hang of it. I got my inspiration for these projects from Homemade by Jill and Little Birdie Secrets. Ruffles and flowers will be a lovely addition to my spring/summer wardrobe.

So, ruffles first. Jill explains really well how to make them, so follow her directions here. I couldn't get the zig-zag stitch to work on knit, so I used a flowy zig-zag stitch instead. The first shirt I ruffled was an old plain, white fitted t-shirt from target. I cut off the sleeves and hemmed the edges to make a "tank top" then added ruffles. Here is what I came up with:

Please excuse my roommate's messy room behind me and a fuzzy iPhone pic. :) In all there are three sets of ruffles on the shirt. Hopefully you can't tell where they start and end.

The next shirt I refashioned is a tank top from Old Navy that's about three years old. It was headed to the thrift store, but I figured it would be a good one to experiment with. I cut off the sleeve of a cheap shirt from Target to make the ruffle and sewed it right onto the neckline:

Once again, sorry for the random bathroom mirror shot. This is what happens when your roommates aren't home to take pictures of your creations. I thought about doing ruffles all along the neckline, but I thought it might be a little heavy since the ruffle is a deeper magenta than the shirt. I'm pleased with how it came out. :)

The last shirt I refashioned is the exact same shirt as the pink one, but in teal and I added "flowers". For this one I took another cheap shirt from Target to make the flowers following Little Birdie Secrets instructions. She wasn't as clear as to how she sewed the flowers on, so I had to do a little guess work with that. I don't have as many flowers on my shirt, but I think it turned out well. I can always go back and add more later. Here is is:

Well, what do you think?? I'm pleased with my refashioned clothes so far. If you live close by and want me to experiment on your old clothes, just let me know. :)

Sleep well,
J Squirrel

Snow

What is going on Atlanta?? It's supposed to be warm and spring-like now. With hope that spring is on it's way, here are 5 things we love about Atlanta in the warm weather:

1. Fro-yo from The Yogurt Tap! (we actually like this anytime, but it's especially good in warm weather)

2. Margaritas on the patio at Raging Burrito

3. A lightweight summer dress with flip flops and shades.

4. Piedmont park. Laying out on a blanket in the sun with a book and a friend.

5. Festivals! Decatur Arts Festival, Inman Park, Dogwood Festival, Candler Park Fest, and all the rest.

What are your favorite things about warm weather?

Thinking warm thoughts...
J Fox and J Squirrel

The Bachelor

Anyone else watching?

"Epic fail Jake, Vienna is lame sauce." -Allie

Hahahaha. Allie is my roomate and she's pretty funny sometimes.

J Squirrel