On The Bright Side

As you may have heard, a torrential rain and wind storm hit the Northeast on Monday. Our little home survived just fine, with only one fallen tree branch, but others were not so fortunate. Many of my friends lost power for a day or more, and as I write this, the local news is reporting on the devastation of many coastal homes. In light of this, and the other tragedy that occurred that day, I feel a bit superficial nattering about my little sewing projects and blog tinkering. But, sometimes you just have to look on the bright side of things, count your blessings, mourn for others, and move forward. For my part, that means not feeding on the tragedy of others (finger in ears singing "Tra la la") and recognizing that nothing is certain in life. Not that I don't have feeling or opinions about current events. I just don't feel like there's anything I can do or say to add to the conversation. Now, onto brighter things:

Those little fabric squares I bought last Saturday were keeping me up at night, so I had to make use of them right away. Here's the "This and That Bag" designed by Sherri K. Falls (I can't find a link for the pattern anywhere).

The other side:

The bottom:

This inside:

When I finished, I sat back and looked at it and thought "Will I actually use this as a purse?". Gross though it may sound, I think it looks like a vomit of colors. Not bad, just....bright and busy. There's a part of me that really likes that (major eye candy), but I don't know that it's the part I want to advertise every day. My good friend Annie likes to say "Some things are private!!" whenever the topic of conversation turns to body functions. Does my predilection for color mess qualify?

Just for giggles, I pretended I was shopping at a book store with it....

The verdict: I think I'll use it for travel or small knitting projects.

Speaking of color...

I spent the last several evenings playing with my blogger layout. I'm not totally in love with it yet, but at least I have a graphic back in my banner. I want the look of this blog to express who I am, but that's complicated. I'm not always the same person. There's the outside me, which has been described by others as "exuberant" and "high energy". I must admit that I get a little excited over things and can be quite chatty in person. Ironically, I wish that I were calm and graceful. The inside me is much quieter and solemn. It took years for me to admit that I am an extrovert...

That said, I would love to have a blog that looks neat and serene like Cara's or Julia's, but I'm not sure that's "me", or at least how I feel today. Obviously I have spent way too much time thinking about this!

Even though I am one of those people who asks for other's opinions and then does what they want to anyway, I am going to ask your opinion on something:

I may change the banner to something totally different. Which do you prefer?

a) the current banner

b) Old Background:
c) Violet Petals:

d) Daisies:

e) Psychedelic Petals:

f) Groovy Petals:

g) Hate them all (it's OK if you do)

I know that I have some lurkers out there and I'd love to hear from you!