happy as a clam

happy friday everyone! cheers to a short work week, YAHOO!! i want to thank everyone for the most wonderful comments on my last post! i was a little nervous to post about the bike and i was so delighted with the responses, so again many many thanks to you all!!

so as tradition should have it the mister met me at bart yesterday and we wheeled our way to thrift town where we got some great stuff. the mister got two really great jackets and some blue bike spandex, can't WAIT to see him wear those bad boys ;D and i got 2 cute blue dresses of which you can see bits of it in the below picture. but since i was so pumped on bike embroidery i made a bee line to the frame section and grabbed some frames and to my surprise there was a TON of bags of embroidery floss...fate right? so i grabbed a bag which had some new colors i didn't have which will be nice for custom orders :) i plan on making another one this weekend and this time the mister will not get his way no matter how cute he is...

oh and found this super cute sterling silver bracelet with flowers carved on it :D yay!

i hope everyone has a great weekend, i will be getting my hands dirty with grease as i fix ursula up :) can't wait to share my bike chick tip with you next week and some new skirts i plan on making on sewing sunday!

xo,
cb

a day in the sun well spent

for my labor day, the mister sadly had to work so i took advantage of the alone time and the amazing weather and went to meek park right outside our door step to sit in the sun, do some needle work and listen to some tunes. Here is what i was working on... but if you wanna see some superb work check out becky's blog, she did an amazing owl!!!!!

the mister can be stubborn sometimes so this little guy is not going in the shop as i had planned, i guess i made the misters DREAM bike so this one is staying right here in our little casa along with these other two. the blue bike in the gold frame was a bike the mister used to have but some horribly mean person stole it. the other is of mary when she had a wald basket on her.

i am not sure how i want to sell them... here is where you lovlies come in...do i just make them however i fancy and put them up in my shop or are they custom made? i would love to know what you think!

oh and i thought i would throw this goofy picture of me because i really love my new earrings!

xo,
cb

bike chick tip wednesday!

hello again and welcome to another bike chick wednesday! i will start right and apologize for all the crotch shots but your crotch is an important consideration while searching for that special bike!

bike chick tip #3 : bike fitting

it is very important that your bike fit you in a way that is comfortable for you as well as efficient. as i mentioned in my last post going to a bike store is the most convenient place to try out a bike. this way if you have never rode a bike before you can stand over different models and see what size bike fits you best and what is most comfortable. it is best to go to a bike shop where they sell old and new bikes this way you can feel the difference between old and new bikes. often new bikes are sold small, medium or large where as old bikes are sized in cm/inches like: 49cm, 52cm, 60cm....the frame size is measured from the seat tube to the center of the bottom bracket...often they also go by the standover height.

                                                                          courtesy of dynamic bike

these #'s are especially important as many people use these two types of measurements when selling on craigslist and is an easy way to spot if a bike will be too small or too big for you. so here are some images of what comfortable stand over height looks like...

 ladies or mixte frames have a sloping top tube(s) which make the stand over height different then a road bike so it is also important that when riding any bike when pedaling that your leg is able to almost fully extend so that your knees aren't tired while riding and so that you also get the most power while pedaling. this type of bike makes it easy to get on and off a bike as well as being the best for riding in a dress or skirt :D

mountain bikes also usually have sloping top tubes but a less severe slope.  but since the top tube is slightly sloped you still have to swing your leg around to get on or off the bike.

 lastly the road bike. these are the most tricky because they have a straight top tube and the picture sbove shows what a too big bike looks like when standing over it. notice that i am standing on my tippy toes which is a huge no no as it can be dangerous if you slip off the pedals...trust me you don't want that to happen to your lady bits...i know it... doesn't feel good!


just remember that getting a size frame that fits you is the most important! you can change out seat, seat post, handle bars and handle bar stems later which i will also go over :D


if you have any questions just let me know and i will be more than happy to help out!!


 xo,

cb