CHICKPEA SEWING STUDIO

You make my day!

"Give the award to 10 people whose blogs bring you happiness and inspiration and make you feel happy about blogland. Let them know by posting a comment on their blog so they can pass it on. Beware you may get the award several times."

Maria of Little Thimble gave me my first ever weblog award today, I am just so excited! As most of you know these little web pages are hard work and it's nice to hear that someone out there loves you!

I have to choose my own ten favorites, which is so hard because I hate having to choose anything, even grapes!

The first one is easy though: I choose my best webfriend Orange Flower.

Kleas
The Long Thread
Glittergoods
Ric-Rac
Scissor paper glue
Tree Fall ( she was already chosen, but we are pregnant exactly the same, and I can't help but read her everyday!)
Hop Skip Jump ( Also pregnant, with riveting commentary)
Molly Chicken
All buttoned up ( with a great big baby)

Voila! Thanks again Maria you make me think so special!

Mobile Swap

Elsie Marley is organizing a mobile swap this month, and the deadline is Friday January 18th, this Friday.
I have been intrigued by all those great swaps blogged about on the web, and here I have taken the plunge!
I have to say I am a bit intimidated, hopefully I don't get crafter's block from being too nervous... It's odd and exhilarating to make something special for someone you have never met. But then again that's all the fun of blogging, you make new friends all the time and you don't always know where they live or what they look like. Right now I look BIG!

Blog Design at the Quilt Shop.

Today was one of those really full and busy day, one of hard work and great fun packaged together. I spent it helping Nancy Raymond the owner of the cool quilt store Whimsy Cottage build her Typepad blog. You can check the revamped page here. I am by no means an expert in the matter. Far from it. but my enthusiasm surely counts for something!

I took the pictures above this afternoon in the shop. It's very quiet in December, all the quilt stores are. I think people are spending time making stuff, not buying so much fabric. At least I hope people are hand crafting presents, they're the best kind. I know Karin is...

Incidentally, on the subject of revamping weblogs, I have completely changed the links part of mine. I know that a lot of my friends love to follow the links to other crafters, and I have decided to offer new ones all the time instead of a fixed crusty list. I will try to constantly add new things as the old ones disappear.

Goodbye Weekend

The weekend is over... Christmas around the corner, are you ready? I have been pondering about my last Holiday as a child-less woman. You can say single but is there a better word for without a child ? Child-less, child-free, those words are full of meaning, but not what I mean. Thomas and I will spend the eve just together, something that I could never have imagined before. We might cook a nice dinner or order take out. We might play some games or watch a movie, no matter I have a good feeling about it all. Waiting for my son is by itself a nice and ever interesting experience, I never expected to feel this way. Children were never my thing, or so I though...

Chickpea Studio Tries On a New Look

I am sure that you have noticed some slight alterations to this web-blog. Well I have been feeling some unpleasant pregnancy related stomach things last night, such as this or this. At any rate, sleeping was not an option. After a short but intense "why me?" period, I decided to do something entertaining. having a custom layout for the blog has been one of the recent top items on the mental wish list; others include magically discovering enough under-the-sofa-cushions coins to buy Illustrator (dream on !). 

Such  undertaking is not for the sleep deprived, cat-ridden average gal, and yes I did press the save changes button by  mistake. I need to live with the consequences, and work at fixing the font color ASAP. So bear with me everything should get back to normal as soon as Tom wakes up !         

PS: Oh well, now the font color works fine for new posts... I guess I'll have to fix them one by one... but here is a little Belly Shot to celebrate the first day of my third trimester:

                     

Tagged !

 As of two days ago, Orange Flower's Karin(did I write Amy this morning !?), tagged me. All in good fun of course. It doesn't hurt as much as one thinks really. But there are rules. here they are:

1. Link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog.
2. Share 5 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
3. Tag 5 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
4. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

Five things...

5.I let my cats drink from proper glasses, filtered water, so they will stop stealing from ours.

4.If I could ask for one wish, I would like to be a really good Tennis player.

3. Hillary Lang of Wee Wonderfuls let me be a Gnome pattern tester. That was the most exciting thing I had done for many months of pregnancy. Sad I know...

2.Before becoming a sewing instructor I was a graduate student in Organic Chemistry. No regrets.

1.When I was in Kindergarten I hated my name (Juliette). I made everyone call me Pascale and would not answer to anything else.

I wanted to tag Nancy, she is one of the proud independent quilt shop owners in Salt Lake City. But she begged me not to, being that  she is somewhat new to this blogging thing in the first place and that I serve as her consultant (the disoriented leading the blind). Christine, because she is my very good friend and will not hate me for it. She is not a crafter yet but soon will be. And finally Mary, of Mary's cottage quilts. All of us quilters know her in Salt Lake. She is a very talented quilt designer that has taken the plunge and gone all the way ( to Quilt Market) with her business. Cheers to you Mary. So in the end I am short 3 tags. I'll do fifty push-ups to repent after the baby's born.I promise!