Mornings, Molskines, and Mermaids... Oh, my!

Yay! My swap partner let me know she got my project, and liked it! So I finally get to talk about it. This was another “Ivy project”. She was totally in control from the from the very beginning, and as a result it was a lot of fun.

Four things you should know for this to make sense.

1) Ivy is my inner voice, my most creative, albeit flaky, part. She has a short attention span but great ideas. Luckily this was a short project, so I didn’t lose her and have to finish it on my own.

2) My email comes to my phone. (I know. I’m spoiled. )

3) This was for Handmade Anything Swap so I wasn’t restricted to a particular thing.

4) I am NOT a morning person. I never have been. I never plan on being. This is on my refrigerator:

The email letting us know our swap partners had been assigned came in around 4 am. Normally I have my phone set to silent, but for some reason it was still on vibrate and it woke me up just enough to look to see what it was. The instant Ivy saw it she was wide awake. (Making something for someone that they actually want is her favorite thing and we had been waiting, not so patiently, for partners to be assigned so we could look at a profile and start working.)

The conversation went something like this (It was early. Forgive me for paraphrasing.):

Me: What is that noise!?! Stupid phone...... Oh swap partners are assigned. I’ll have to look at that later when my eyelids will stay up.

Ivy: What?!? Swap partners are assigned?! Let’s see! Let’s see! Let’s see! (Picture a two year old with a pixie stick.)

Me: Shhhhhh. Sleeping time.

Ivy: Let’s see! Let’s see! Let’s see!

(Continue in this manner for about 15 min.)

Me: IVY! Shut up! If you look you will have to use someone else’s eyeballs!

Ivy: <Pout> If you let me look I promise we can go back to sleep......

Me: And if I don’t.....

Ivy: Well I’m already awake.

Me: ........ ok, but I’m only using one eye......

My partner had a great filled out profile, lots to choose from, but a couple things caught Ivy’s attention.

Ivy: Ooooooo Vintage Mermaids... I know..... and Molskines, we love those..... I know! I know!.... and music..... OK! It’s perfect! I know what we’re going to do!

Me: Me too.... Sleep!

Ivy: Sigh..... ok you sleep.... I’ll just be here and think....

(Another 15 min later)

Me: Ivy, you are thinking very loudly.

Ivy: Can’t help it.... Great ideas you know.....

Ivy: You could just get up.... have to in an hour anyway....we could play until it’s time to go for “the walk”

Me: Fine!

Me: What’s your idea?

Ivy: We have that Aunt Martha’s Mermaid Pattern, you know the one we made the tea towel out of.

Me: Ya those are cute, but she doesn’t say anything about liking to cook so I don’t think a tea towel is the best idea.....

Ivy: Give me more credit than that. We’re going to make a cover thing for a Moleskine. She says she likes to go out and listen to music and she likes Moleskines so we’re going to make her something that will hold a Molskine and a pen and papers or credit cards or whatever else you might need for going out.... It will need a zipper.....and a mermaid.... that’s important....

Me: That’s good..... but I really hate zippers.....

Ivy: Don’t sound so surprised and too bad. It needs a zipper.

Me: Ok, I’m up.... Which mermaid are we going to do and how big do you want this fabric cut?

Ivy: The one with the harp... duh.... music..... and I don’t know.... numbers are your job...

Me: Don’t sass me. Do you have any idea what time it is? and I’ll just make it big and figure it out later.

Ivy: Ok by me...hurry up I want to color!

Me: Color?

Ivy: Ya we’re going to use those pastels, you’ve never let me touch, sitting on the shelf.... look... right there.... ya those....

Me: I don’t know how those would work.....

Ivy: Then iron me a second one and we’ll practice first.... Yay!!!!! more coloring!!!!!

Me: Are you sure you’re 33 years old?

Ivy: Nope.

And over the course of the week we managed to come up with this:

(Front cover)

(Zippered pocket on the back)

(The inside with pen and journal)

(My lovely model, Emily, with everything that went in the envelope)

I’m pretty proud of us.