art journal page out of frustration

Its been a really hard week. This homeschooling has finally got to me.............I just don't think I can do it anymore.  We have an Autism class here locally so I am going to seriously look into it.  In all this, I am losing myself. I just don't get the opportunity to do all I want anymore.  Things that help define me as a person, not just as a mother of a special needs child. I find myself thinking of how happy I used to be-I used to spend hours doing art when she was at school (before they started calling me for EVERY LITTLE THING). At the end of the day, I felt fulfilled, being I had done something I loved every day.  I LONG for that.  Now my day consists of caring for her every day, all day.  Everytime I sit and try to do something, she needs something , and takes me out of my zone.  I know that first and foremost, I am her mom.  I am well aware of that. But aside from that , with homeschooling I am losing myself. 

This page was created today out of that frustration.  I am going through so many emotions right now. I want her to be successful in her life. She is very high functioning thank goodness, and I count my lucky stars for that.  But is it selfish of me to want to take care of myself?  That is how I feel :(  Its really tough, and making this decision (because I feel guilty) is soooooooooooo much harder than it was when I decided to homeschool. sigh.

We Did It! Wednesday

I have been working on this skirt for about a week now, off and on.   I had not put a zipper in something for yearsssssssssssssss so it felt like the first time, but it went pretty well :)  This skirt is made of linen. Not a super complicated skirt to make but hey-I did it and it fits :) This was finished off with serged edges and a catch stitch (even though the pattern itself said to do the hem another way).

 I like it............now to find (or make) a shirt to wear with it :)

T-shirt Bag

I don't know why but all of a sudden I am obsessed with making bags.  I just checked out the book "The Feisty Stitcher" by Susan Wasinger at the library. I got thumbing through it and went straight to the thrift store and got a couple of old shirts to make this bag.  It only took 1-2 hours. What fun!  My husband said it looks "beachy" and I guess he is right :) I added an up-close photo of the stitched circles cut out to reveal the layer underneath-pretty cool :)

First sewing project (in like 10 years)

Just a simple shoulder bag :)