More complaining about the Internet.

Of course, I'm terribly late to this party... I was catching up with some blog reading of blogs I don't read on a daily basis and realized some parts of blog and are a little too cupcakey, even for me. There's a major DIY home design blogger who recently asked her readers to 'donate' money for a major item for her home. She freely admitted to not needing the money and you would understand why if you looked at the photos of her huge, incredibly beautiful house and garden. Given that many of us know people that are in very real danger of plain not having a house, or their house literally falling apart and there being no money to fix it, you can see why this might rub some folks the wrong way. While it does rub me the wrong way too, that isn't why I'm posting this. I think part of people's problem with this was the use of the word donation, which in most people's minds means charity or collecting for a recognized charity. Perhaps contribution might be a better word to use for this situation. The blogger doesn't do a ton of advertising. I think she was thinking of it as a way to monetize the blog and I have no problem with that, so long as it's all out in the open. If a pro blogger wants to try to monetize by direct contribution, that's fine. So yes, she could have posed the request for money more gracefully, but I don't have an issue with the heart of what she was trying to do. The blogger does deliver lots of quality content with little advertising. Actually, my huge problem with this blogger was her response to the critics of it. He immediately pulled the post on this fundraiser with cries of bullying and how mean people were. Seriously? I didn't read the actual responses on her blog, as they're now gone, but I've read other bloggers response to her and it seemed reasoned, critical but not unkind. Just people questioning why they should give money to someone who obviously has so much already. Certainly not what i'd call bullying. Real bullying is out there. Feminist and lesbian bloggers getting threats of rape and murder. Bloggers having their real life names and addresses published. Credible death threats. It's driven some young kids to commit suicide. Getting called out on your privilege is not bullying. You put anything out on thte Internet, you're opening yourself up for criticism. That's just the way. Unless someone threatens violence or to silence you in some way, you don't get to call bully just because they didn't agree with you and were willing to say so. It dilutes the meaning of the word. Bullying is a very serious problem with dire, even deadly anyway, I've said my piece, so I'll just leave you with a photo of my cat.

I really want this tent

http://www.fieldcandy.com/nans_house/button_it.htm Of course that begs the question of what would I do with a $600 tent when I don't actually ever go camping. Still, nifty, yes?

I guess it's actually been two years since I regularly posted to this blog. I just looked at the dates. 2010. My, how time does fly. Also, I decided to send the green shoes back. Life is too short for tight shoes. Finally, I wish someone would give me a kick in the pants about getting this quilt done. I finished the top a year ago. It's been waiting for batting and quilting ever since.

Not that I can really talk...

Seeing as I haven't posted here in a year, but it bugs me when a blogger, a professional blogger who has sponsored posts, big advertisers, etc. posts multiple days of vacation photos as their daily posts. If you're getting paid, then I'd like to see real content. Also, I can't decide if my new shoes fit well enough to keep. Cute though, yes?

Sweet Summer Pretties- five Etsy faves (and a bonus)

We're heading into the last days of summer, sadly. August is my favorite month, but it's always a little bittersweet because I know it will be over before I know it and then it's back to the grind of the cold. Still, there's a little time to grab onto these last lovely days and savor them. And here's a few of my favorite summer lovelies from Etsy.

I love this necklace from little black rabbitt. The artist uses one of my favorite things- old tin tray and arranges them into a sweet but simple necklace.








What can I say about this print from thewheatfield other than it's so pretty and I want one?


















I adore those stacking vintage mugs and this set of four from Vintage Reinvented is particularly pretty. Perfect for sitting on the balcony, sipping coffee on summer mornings. Or, more likely, in the winter time, inside, dreaming of summer days past and yet to come.








I love theseRainbow colored party poms from Party Poms . I'd hang them up in my dining room and every day would feel like a party, wouldn't it?

Check out her Petite Poms too.
















I don't iron. Life is far too short for that. But I do sew sometimes, and you need an ironing board for that. This ironing board cover by City Chic Country Mouseis so lovely and sweet. It might almost make you forget that you've already ripped out and resewn that stupid seam five times already and still haven't gotten it right.










And a bonus favorite from Toybreaker, for the guys, and other tie wearing folks. Not sweet at all. But with clipper ships. I have an enduring love for clipper ships and other tall ships from the golden age of sail.

We've already got our tickets for Tall Ships Chicago on one of the last weekends of the summer. I love this event. We went last time the tall ships were in the city and it was just amazing. I marvel every time I see one at the intricacy of them and the craftsmanship. They are so beautiful.

There are no words that can express just how much I love this video. Just watch it.

40 before 40- cushions for the sofa

So, I made some cushions for my sofa. To be fair, I had the fronts of the cushions done a long time ago, but they were sitting in my red chest for months, unfinished, waiting for me to get it together and sew them up. The white, aqua and yellow one was inspired by one I saw done by Emma Lamb, only I didn't have the same colors of yarn she used. I used leftovers from my stash. Oh, and I didn't save a picture of my inspiration, so I was working from my memory of the cushion. It's basically just a ginormous granny square. It was fast and fun to work up. The back I sewed using a thrifted velveteen big shirt in orange. I was able to save the button holes so that I can unbutton the cover, in case I ever want to wash it or replace the insert.





The multi colored one with the small grannies, I pretty much copied directly from Lucy, one of my favorite bloggers and crocheters, from her blog Attic 24. The back is just rounds of half-double crochet in leftover yarn from the front. The front did seem to take forever, but I think that's mainly because with so many colors, there were so many ends to bury. I wasn't able to think of a clever way to make this cushion removable, but each side was sewn separately, so if I ever need to get the insert out, it'll be an easy matter to just undo one side and sew it back up again. I thought about putting a zipper in, but that would have meant a trip to the fabric store. I'd had a certain momentum, working on these and I didn't want to lose that by taking a hour or two (or three- you never know with me and the fabric store) to go to the store.