I'm one of those people who can come up with relatively good ideas, but has trouble with the execution. Not because I lack the necessary skills or supplies, but simply because I procrastinate. Also, I get lonely being in my craft room alone for long periods of time, so projects that take longer tend to get sidelined. (Which, in case you're wondering, is not what has happened to the night stands. I will finish them, but circumstances beyond my control have made it impossible to be outside for any period of time without sounding like a chain smoker with pneumonia, and probably risking actual damage due to smoke inhalation.) So, for the most part, I stick to easy, quick crafts, mostly based on things I've seen on pinterest, because my own ideas, while awesome, (yeah, I'm vain like that), require a lot of thought and typically, a bit of trial and error before I get them to look like the picture I've conjured up in my head.
I'm rambling. Apologies.
In October, soon after we moved here, my mother-in-law brought me a bunch of fabric, some of which was approximately 6 yards of this wonderful charcoal grey twill. I immediately wanted to make things with it, but was careful because I didn't want to ruin or waste one tiny piece. (Grey is my favorite color.) I was a bit too careful, though, and after deciding to make a circle skirt for fall, failed to execute. Mostly. I did fold it up and cut the circle out for the waist. And there it sat, folded in fourths, waiting to be cut into an actual circle. Time passed, and it eventually got put back into the Giant Bin of Fabric, and though I never forgot about it, I didn't figure it much for a spring or summer skirt, so I just left it alone.
Then, a few days ago, I came across something that made me so, so glad that I never finished cutting it. I don't even remember exactly what led me there, but I think it may have been a link on pinterest. Either way, I clicked, and was taken here, where I saw this dress pattern and immediately fell in love with it. Then, upon reading, I discovered that this wonderful blogger had her own pattern for this, using...wait for it...a RECTANGLE CIRCLE SKIRT. It's fate, I tell you. And so, as we (I) speak (type), my square sits spread out on the floor of the craft room, soon to be made into a tablecloth skirt. I'm getting closer, and I have a plan now. A much more spectacular and unique looking plan than just a plain old circle skirt. Plus, making a fall skirt while we're drowning in heat and fire is a sweet reminder that 100ยบ days will end...eventually.
31 July, 2012
27 July, 2012
Joining
For the past week and a half I've been (slowly) working on the night stands. The drawers originally had two knobs on the front, and a little dent separating the parts that the knobs were on (confused yet?) but I filled that in with wood filler (lots and lots of wood filler) and sanded it down, then drilled one new hole right smack in the center. Now all that's left is to prime and paint, but they're currently in the storage room outside because it rained (FINALLY!) last night and I put them up so they wouldn't get wet. Anyway, I've got a few pictures documenting the process, but I don't want to share any until I'm completely done.
Other than that I haven't accomplished much this past week. Last week I gave up caffeine and that gave me awful headaches for a couple of days, and then, because that wasn't self-punishing enough, I gave up EVERYTHING ELSE this week. Seriously, I spent Monday thru Wednesday eating nothing but raw fruits and veggies, smoothies, and fresh juice. Yesterday I broke down and had a donut because a.) I'd been craving one for a couple of weeks and b.) we're rarely up early enough to get donuts, so it's really like a twice a year treat. Unfortunately I paid for it the rest of the day with stomach cramps and a migraine, so it's back to non-processed, gluten-free foods for me. I'm still kind of getting through the rough stages for that too, so it wasn't that much of a set-back, more of an affirmation that I'm doing the right thing however difficult and non-fun it may be. I expect to be fatigued and headache-y for a few more days, and then move on to the lots of energy, better feeling stages of clean eating.
And now, the whole reason I even started writing this post in the first place, I joined (I think I joined, I mean, I commented) Erin's Random Acts of Craftiness Challenge. Even though this is more of a 'my life in general' blog than a craft blog, I do a lot of crafting on my own and figured it might be fun to participate in something like this. If you want to play too, go check out her blog post (and read through her blog while you're at it; she's hilarious and talented) and sign up!
Other than that I haven't accomplished much this past week. Last week I gave up caffeine and that gave me awful headaches for a couple of days, and then, because that wasn't self-punishing enough, I gave up EVERYTHING ELSE this week. Seriously, I spent Monday thru Wednesday eating nothing but raw fruits and veggies, smoothies, and fresh juice. Yesterday I broke down and had a donut because a.) I'd been craving one for a couple of weeks and b.) we're rarely up early enough to get donuts, so it's really like a twice a year treat. Unfortunately I paid for it the rest of the day with stomach cramps and a migraine, so it's back to non-processed, gluten-free foods for me. I'm still kind of getting through the rough stages for that too, so it wasn't that much of a set-back, more of an affirmation that I'm doing the right thing however difficult and non-fun it may be. I expect to be fatigued and headache-y for a few more days, and then move on to the lots of energy, better feeling stages of clean eating.
And now, the whole reason I even started writing this post in the first place, I joined (I think I joined, I mean, I commented) Erin's Random Acts of Craftiness Challenge. Even though this is more of a 'my life in general' blog than a craft blog, I do a lot of crafting on my own and figured it might be fun to participate in something like this. If you want to play too, go check out her blog post (and read through her blog while you're at it; she's hilarious and talented) and sign up!
18 July, 2012
Summer projects
I seem to have fallen into a rut in which I scour my local ReStore for clean, new-looking clothing items, buy them, bring them home, wash them, and then hang them up in my craft room but don't ever wear them or use them for anything else. And so it is time to make some sew time. (You see what I did there?)
Currently I have a yellow shirt that is a touch too tight across the chest and the arms, a brown maxi dress with white polka dots that fits everywhere but the chest, approximately 4 pairs of bleached jeans, a striped shirt that won't go down over my chest (are you noticing a pattern here?) and another dress that my mother-in-law gave me that is a little shorter than I'm willing to wear.
I want to see if I can use the brown & white dress and alter it into something shorter, with an asymmetrical hem, and then use the fabric from the bottom and add it to the top, giving my boobs some room to breathe. I think it's totally do-able, but I have a horrible history of getting bored when I have to use my seam ripper and open things carefully to preserve fabric. But I'm going to try. I think I'm going to put this at the top of the sewing project list, mainly because I have a plan. Everything else I mentioned I just kind of stare at and hope that inspiration will strike.
In other non-sewing project news, we made a trip to Lowe's today and got all the materials I needed to start working on my night stands. We have two matching night stands, just regular little boring things, but they've moved with us...three times now and they are starting to show that they haven't always been taken care of properly, and so I think it's time they got some attention if they're going to continue to live in my bedroom.
Then we went to the new Ross that just opened up next to Kroger & Hobby Lobby, and I got some sheets that matched my paint color for the night stands perfectly! How awesome is that?! Anyway, hopefully that's the push I need to work on making the bedroom look like a bedroom and not a storage room. (It's not that bad, actually, but I don't have a place for my shoes, really, and we don't own a dresser either, so it can get messy if I'm not meticulous about cleaning it. And, duh, I'm not.) I guess the next step, once I've got it looking presentable might be to start looking for a small dresser.
Anyway. I'm getting way ahead of myself. I'm on day of one of what is sure to be at least a week long project, and there are a ton of other things that are far more important things on my to-do list.
Currently I have a yellow shirt that is a touch too tight across the chest and the arms, a brown maxi dress with white polka dots that fits everywhere but the chest, approximately 4 pairs of bleached jeans, a striped shirt that won't go down over my chest (are you noticing a pattern here?) and another dress that my mother-in-law gave me that is a little shorter than I'm willing to wear.
I want to see if I can use the brown & white dress and alter it into something shorter, with an asymmetrical hem, and then use the fabric from the bottom and add it to the top, giving my boobs some room to breathe. I think it's totally do-able, but I have a horrible history of getting bored when I have to use my seam ripper and open things carefully to preserve fabric. But I'm going to try. I think I'm going to put this at the top of the sewing project list, mainly because I have a plan. Everything else I mentioned I just kind of stare at and hope that inspiration will strike.
In other non-sewing project news, we made a trip to Lowe's today and got all the materials I needed to start working on my night stands. We have two matching night stands, just regular little boring things, but they've moved with us...three times now and they are starting to show that they haven't always been taken care of properly, and so I think it's time they got some attention if they're going to continue to live in my bedroom.
Then we went to the new Ross that just opened up next to Kroger & Hobby Lobby, and I got some sheets that matched my paint color for the night stands perfectly! How awesome is that?! Anyway, hopefully that's the push I need to work on making the bedroom look like a bedroom and not a storage room. (It's not that bad, actually, but I don't have a place for my shoes, really, and we don't own a dresser either, so it can get messy if I'm not meticulous about cleaning it. And, duh, I'm not.) I guess the next step, once I've got it looking presentable might be to start looking for a small dresser.
Anyway. I'm getting way ahead of myself. I'm on day of one of what is sure to be at least a week long project, and there are a ton of other things that are far more important things on my to-do list.
13 July, 2012
As promised...
Anyway. This is what the prototype looks like. I may or may not improve on it in the future. That really depends on whether I develop any other brilliant ideas in the near future that take my time away from this...if not, then I'll definitely mess with it a little. Either way, I hope you like it!
11 July, 2012
skeletor
I'm working on a really crazy experimental project right now...if I'm able to bring my creation to life the way I see it in my head, then it's going to be awesome! If not, then I'm out of a really cheap scrap of leather. But so far I think I'm going to be able to pull it off! I promise to actually post a picture of it when it's done. I don't want to go into too much detail and give away my brilliance, but the title of this post and the fact that I'm using white leather should give you a hint.
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