ok. you may have noticed lately that my entries have been spread farther apart. mostly, that’s because starting a new job sucks up all of my free time and brain energy and i don’t have the downtime at work that i used to use to create entries. partly, it’s because having a new job and starting back to school and stressing out with all of the adjustments that lie therein is putting a strain on my ability to notice the small happy sparks that must still exist somewhere in my day. so, i’m opening it up to you, my happy readers. what little thing has made you happy today?

this week, i started creating the pidoodle “spring line.” here are two bags of the bags i’ve made so far. here is another photo. aren’t they cute?! i finished the first one (the orange one) in a hurry because i wanted to take it to the shop where i sell stuff but when i got all done, i liked it so much that i couldn’t give it away yet. they’re fully reversible and made from recycled fabric! i’ll be making a non-recycled version for the shop in ohio where i sell things (have some cute brand new fabrics i want to use…). so this is the first pattern of the line. i created it myself, inspired by some other bags i’ve seen and thought looked cool. i’m planning on making a few different variations. the hole on this one is a little small, so it’s hard to put really large things into it, but on the other hand, it’s the most secure open-topped tote bag you’ll ever carry. the top is totally tucked under your arm when you carry it like this. but it’s too small to carry like that if you’re wearing a coat or a bulky sweater. better for spring!
so… what do you think i should call this pattern? i was thinking of calling it “elle” (like the girl’s name) or “chloe” but i’m open to other suggestions…

yesterday, i mailed off my very first internet order for pidoodle! a woman from canada found my website by googling around and actually followed up on a pair of earrings that she wanted to purchase. when i mentioned this to one of my new co-workers, and how surprised i was at getting business from an unexpected market and she said, “oh, you got a bluebird!” i must have looked a bit puzzled because she went on to explain that that’s what her brother calls unexpected internet business like that. what a lovely image! “like the bluebird of happiness or something.” maybe, if i cleaned up my website and actually updated it occasionally and added the fact that you can buy stuff using paypal….maybe i’d get more bluebirds! maybe.

i just love it when stuff works out. so… we recently gave our full-size bed (mattress and box spring) to a friend who had a frame but no mattresses in their guest room. the bed had been in our guest room, but we had been thinking of getting a new bed for ourselves and giving them the guest bed would allow us to shuffle things around in such a way that we would be able, nay obligated, to get a new set of mattresses for ourselves. i also realized that my tiny linen closet would be much less crowded if it only had to house one size of bedsheets. so the sheets went with the bed. then we went shopping for new mattresses. have you ever shopped for mattresses? it’s more difficult than you might think. how do you, in a large, public area, cozy up into a “typical sleeping position” with your spouse? how can you tell how this mattress set will feel after a week of sleeping on it? how do you choose from the myriad, mostly-the-same mattress style choices? mr. happy stuff and i quickly developed sensory overload and, sufferering from the paradox of choice, we went home grumpy and not at all enlightened in our search for a more comfortable bed. three days later, we got a call from a friend who had decided to purchase a new set of queen size mattresses for herself because the ones she’d slept on for the past six years were too soft. she had heard from the friend who got our full size mattresses that we were in the market, so she called to ask if we’d like to take her old mattress set. wonderful! we don’t have to shop around, we don’t have to pay out the wazoo, and even if it’s not the perfect mattress for us in the end, a pillowtop will beat our old mattresses (sorry houseguests) any day (and then we can resume the search for the perfect mattress). so, i donned my overalls and baseball cap and together, we borrowed a pick-up truck and did the great mattress switcheroo. we slept on our “new”mattress last night. mmm…. soft. and a lot taller than our old set. i’ve said it before but… i just love free stuff.

here’s another silly one to add to the “amelie list” of quirky likes: emptying the pencil shavings out of the pencil sharpener. not sure what i like about it–i think it’s the texture of all those tiny little curly shavings. maybe it reminds me a little bit of the plethora of sawdust in my dad’s workshop when i was growing up. maybe.