Busy Busy

My bro's in town this week so I'm busy playing tour guide/food guide/chauffeur.  Took him to my favorite restaurant - Jasper's last night and today we're heading down to Chinatown for some good eats.  It's getting to be a little crazy here...with us having visitors while trying to keep the house in pristine condition to show.

I took advantage of tax free weekend here and did some shopping in preparation for our big move.  Singapore is practically on the equator and the sun is super strong there.  Since my lupus can be activated by the sun, I've been on the search for some sun protective clothing.  I found a pair of cool pants at REI and a few shirts, but honestly most of the stuff is well...rather frumpy.  Appropriate for mountain hiking, or fishing...but not going out.  I think maybe I should take some classes on clothing/dressmaking and design my own sun protective clothing line...now there's an idea.

Here's a pic one of my friends sent of her little boy in his jslik duds - so cute!

The Big Reveal

I'm so excited today because I finally got the go-ahead to share our big secret (no, there aren't going to be any additions to this family). Actually, it's not much of a secret anymore...as my husband so well put it, "It's not like you can hide the big sign in our front yard."

That's right, we're selling our house, we're moving...and where might you ask?

Can you guess where we're going?

We're leaving the country and moving to Singapore! ....in one month!  Andy took a 2-3 year assignment out there and I get to tag along.  So, things are pretty crazy over here, between finishing up my orders, keeping the house pristine for showings, and just figuring everything out.  

You're probably wondering what this means for jslik designs.  The answer is "I'm not sure".  I am finishing up production of goods and am no longer taking orders for the time being.  I've never been to Singapore so I have no idea what kind of fabrics I will be able to get over there and how much shipping will be.  Both will affect my decision of whether to operate in Singapore, or if it's just cost prohibitive to run jslik designs over there.  Not to mention the fact that when we first get to Singapore, we'll most likely be in temporary housing, so I won't be able to do any sewing for awhile.  So, you'll just have to keep reading my blog to find out what happens!   

I'm really excited to be going on this new adventure with my husband, but sad at the same time to be leaving all my friends and family....even talking on the phone will be tricky since the time different is about 12 hours.  And, I'm sad to have to stop production for jslik designs.  It's been about a year since I started and things really are starting to pick up more and more.  I hate to leave all of it, but I think God has really blessed my little endeavor and I'm sure He's got something new and exciting is awaiting me over in Singapore!  

Anyway, I just wanted to thank everyone for all of their support this past year.  Obviously, I wouldn't be in business without your orders (and so many of you popping out babies...haha).  I really appreciate it so much. Making these special blankets and seeing the babies in them brings me so much joy - it makes it worth the hard work!

Ok, enough talking for now.  Now you know another reason why there's been such a slowdown of posting lately.  It's been busy and it's only getting busier!  But tonight, we're taking a break and Andy's taking my out to the Oceanaire! We're checking it off our "Things to do before leaving Houston" list...

Dogs, Paws, and Tufts of Grass

Today I'm spending the day chained to Sidney my sewing machine.  I've been shirking my duties....I must sheepishly admit that I've spent the past couple weeks caught up in the Twilight books....  Now that those are done, it's time to focus on some sewing!

I had a lot of fun picking out fabrics for this dog-themed set.  I just love how everything in the blanket is dog-related...right down to the green grass printed fabric.  It was so cute I just couldn't resist...it just makes my day when I find some awesome fabrics!

Alrighty, enough dilly-dallying - back to the sewing machine!

Sistah Sistah

Well, my sister left yesterday and now my house is eerily quiet again.  No one to read with me on the couch....no one to go shopping with....no one to work in my sweatshop with....

While she was here, she did learn to sew and did quite a fine job I must admit.  I brought her to Joann's and she picked out some fabric to make herself a skirt.  You can check out this cool tutorial if you are interested in making your own. Here she is showing off her fancy skirt:

For some reason I was having trouble getting my camera to focus...apologies for the slightly blurry pic.  So, my month of fun is over, it's back to me and Sidney, my good old sewing machine.   But, one more picture before I go of my awesome, sweet, and caring sister:

(if you're super observant, you'll notice that I am actually wearing a skirt I made with the same pattern...)

jslik Sewing Academy

While my sister is here, we've been doing some fun activities.  One of which has been sewing.  I've enrolled her in the jslik Sewing Academy and I've got her started on a few projects to keep her busy while I'm trying to get some orders done.

Here is my one-room school house...which used to be my breakfast room...it's where the magic happens.  Normally, I do not sew on my beautiful dining table, but in the summer months, my studio/study runs warmer than the rest of the house and it's just miserable to sew in there.  So I move all my sewing stuff onto my dining table...hoping that no one decides to drop by for a surprise visit.

Here's Julie's first real project (it's technically her second since I made her learn the basics making a bean bag out of some rather ugly scrap fabric, but it's not worthy of posting).  She made this as a gift for her friend.

My sister proudly showing off her bag.

Here we are goofing around with the camera after I survived a 2.5 hour appointment to get my temporary crown put in....hence the slightly anesthesia induced crooked smile.

Next up: I'm going to let my sister have a try at making herself a cool skirt!

Sticky

Today I plopped my iron down on the wrong side of some double sided fusible interfacing....for those of you who don't know, fusible interfacing is non-stick on one side and has glue on one side, so that when you iron it onto your fabric, it sticks to the fabric.  The point is to apply the glue side to the back of your fabric....NOT to the iron...  Well, now the glue is stuck to my iron and I spent the last half hour scrubbing down my iron.    Not the best way to start the sewing day.

As I mentioned in my last post, I took a trip home to Jersey last week.  I usually always take a day to trek into the city to see some friends and wander around the old haunts, however this trip was a bit short and too busy so I didn't get a chance to go into the city.  So, to remind myself of my favorite places, I'll post this set I finished up awhile ago:

Now I'm going to take a cue from my sticky iron, take a break, and go grocery shopping...got my mother-in-law's chicken enchiladas on the menu for tonight!