Friday, June 29, 2012

Craft Room/Office Reorganizing

This is what I've been busy with lately:




One of our extra bedrooms is an office/craft room all for me. The current organization is, well, lacking. I need shelving and boxes and have plans for things like a pegboard and a mirror I can actually see more than my knees and feet in. Today it's a little better than these pictures; this was when EVERYTHING was pulled out of the closet, out of cardboard boxes, out of piles on the floor. Our neighborhood is having a block garage sale in a few weeks, so I set aside things to sell and/or donate. Made a garbage pile. Still have quite a bit to go through and organize, but my fabric is purged and put away in plastic boxes and bins. I feel like I don't have much of a stash, but when I pull it all out there's more than I think. I only kept things I really liked and/or had actual plans for. And the supplies for my Etsy things.

And in other news, Juliet kindly nominated me for the Versatile Blogger award! Thank you, Juliet! If you haven't visited her blog, do. Her sense of humor comes through in all her posts, she makes cute clothes and posts delicious-sounding recipes. And she's a kiwi, which is just fun to say. :) Thus I bring you:

Seven Things About Me

1. I married my high school sweetheart, and married him young (I was only 19) - this fall will be our 7th anniversary!

2. I work at my dad's business - two of my uncles work there as well

3. I've been playing Clusterz online way too much lately

4. I spent my 15th birthday in Venice - I know, right? I was very fortunate to go on that trip with my parents and grandma, and made quite a lot of memories

5. I was able to visit Europe again last year and took only a carry-on size suitcase plus a backpack for a 17 day trip. I was quite proud of that.

6. I grew up on the same street that my mom grew up on - with my grandparents up the road, my aunt and uncle next door, and other aunts and uncles up the road or over the hill at various times. Needless to say, we're a pretty close-knit family.

7. I bought this today (under the less exciting name "Biscoff Spread). Let's just say, I dipped a spoon straight into that jar. A few times. Nutella has the same effect.


And I would like to pass the award on, although I'm only going to choose 5 blogs rather than 15. These are all blogs that I've just recently started reading and would certainly recommend.






Alice of The Pin and Thimble - she's a new sewer, but is already making some lovely things. Check out her tie-dye skirt!


Jo of Making it Well - another new sewer, also making lovely things! She shares multiple types of projects and a lot about the process of each one

Lauren's Musings of a Flower Child - brand new blog to me, but she's got a soft, pretty style and and eye for good details


Erin of Opportunity Knits - She doesn't just knit, she sews and crochets. And even her sweeping is pretty - I certainly don't get to sweep up pretty flowers like that!


Paige of Lux Per Diem - Photography, sewing, life. It's all there.

Friday, June 15, 2012

Summer Has Arrived

I got a new camera a few weeks ago! My old one was just getting old and starting to not work right. I'm still learning how to use this one, but it's been fun so far.

My hydrangea has started to bloom. This plant is from a cutting my grandma took from one of the plants we used to decorate at our wedding. Love that.



I made chocolate-cherry ice cream (I have a photo of the actual ice cream, but I think it's still on the camera.) Cherries are so pretty; these were cooked into a candied cherry syrup. I haven't made ice cream since last summer, I think. Working on remedying that.



I also made a sweater/jacket for a friend's new baby girl (who made her entrance to the world yesterday!) 100% cotton, pattern from Little Crochet by Linda Permann. I've made two patterns from this book so far and both were very cute. I need to work on choosing a yarn weight that fits the project ahead of time, though, I've had to make alterations for sizing both times because I chose heavier yarn than what was called for.


And the thing taking up most of my sewing time right now is curtains for our living room. We have woven wood blinds/shades right now, which I really like the look of, but they don't totally block the light. I also just wanted drapes - something to add some color or pattern or something. I'm making lined pinch-pleated draperies out of a small scale black and white gingham I bought from Fabric.com. It's coming along fine so far, but they're much more time-consuming than I anticipated. Working with these big pieces of fabric take a lot of space (and pins!)


So that's part of my summer so far. An update on the Palette Challenge will be posted soon!