Life is a funny sort of thing.

A year ago, I thought my world had come to an end. It was only the beginning.

I have someone who truly loves me now. Someone that makes me feel safe, doesn’t push my boundaries, and tells me often how he loves me and misses me when I’m not there.

Sounds like the basics of a good relationship, but I spent a lot of time with someone who didn’t quite have those things. I loved him, but his love was not like mine and deep down I think I always knew it. He was in my life for 2.5 years, and I thought he would always be there.
When he told me he “Just can’t do this anymore” I felt beyond devastated. I cried for months. I had nightmares. He meant the world to me, and it hurt to have him gone.

But now, a year later, after I have gotten over the hurt and look back at that relationship, I know I am far better off now.

I’m glad God took that situation out of my hands and led me to someone who puts a smile on my face instead of tears in my eyes.

Dress Thoughts

I was browsing summer dresses, and felt a little inspiration to create my own. I saw this cap-sleeve dress pattern featured on Burdastyle, and thought it would suit me. I started browsing Fabric.com and found a bunch I liked, and started pinning them.

I also did a little Photoshop magic and put one of the fabrics onto the photo of the finished Dress BurdaStyle had. Looking at this confirms that I'd want to make the skirt a little fuller and a tad shorter. Pockets would also be nice, and a belt or sash to break up the pattern a bit.

Chocolate covered chocolate with chocolate on top

I used this recipe

Whew! They took all day, but I'm very happy with the end result. Chocolate cupcakes with chocolate sauce, chocolate cream cheese frosting, and dark chocolate shavings. (My wonderful boyfriend loves dark chocolate)

Poster Design

I've discovered I like doing posters for Plays.

I did this one for my Brother's Girlfriend. She helps run a small theater company.

I put the design together in Illustrator, and kept feeling like something was missing. My brother suggested a crumpled paper texture, which really worked out nicely. Here it is as a flat vector version:

Inspiration

Source: barnesandnoble.com via Christina on Pinterest

My mom bought me Emma by Jane Austen for Christmas. Because she liked the cover. I am my mother's daughter. I love love love the cover. The picture doesn't do it justice. The publishers embossed the cover, so you get a feel for the texture. The best part is the inside of the cover, which shows the backside of the embroidery! The Artist is Jillian Tamaki

Well, this book cover has made me want to embroider my own Illustration. I have an idea which involves Ferris wheels, balloons, and girls in dresses.

Any good tips for hand embroidery? Any web resources? It's been so long since I've done hand embroidery.

The Q.

I have been drooling over the Pentax Q for months now. It's this tiny digital camera the size of a deck of cards, which interchangeable lenses. I love my Pentax k-x DSLR, but it's a bit bulky to lug around every day, and a little awkward at parties, and not at all discreet. I brought it with me to Washington DC, and had a sore arm afterwards from carrying it for 10 hours.

The Q is like a fancy little spy camera! Plus, it just looks cool. After being lucky enough to get some money for Christmas, and finding an awesome ebay deal, I decided to bite the bullet and order it. It should ship tomorrow. I cannot wait!

You can read about all of the features here: http://www.pentaximaging.com/hybrid/Q_White

I had a very Merry Christmas! I hope you all did too. :)

I spent the last week leading up to Christmas sewing non stop every night after work to make 4 American Girl Doll sized Irish dance dresses for Christmas. I hope the kids loved them. The moms were thrilled.

That on top of the craziness at work, had me down right exhausted. I got a lot of much needed rest and family time this weekend, which makes me a happy camper.

It's hard to believe this year is almost over. This was not an easy year for me, but on the other end of it, I couldn't be much happier. I'm looking forward to 2012. =)