Project Life

Happy New Year!

I've been feeling extra nostalgic lately...I suppose now that I'm a year older, I have a little more years to be nostalgic about.  Sometimes this nostalgia turns into feeling a bit blue and during these cold winter months I believe it's important to make more of a conscious effort to be happier and brighter.

The weekend after Christmas, Josh & I drove up to Illinois to visit his grandparents.  I always enjoy these visits because they are such lovely people and have lived so much (not just with age) and have so many stories to tell about their past, their family's past... they have so many documented memories.  It's such a joy hearing them tell these stories, show me the many, many albums... walk through nearly every photo...

I want that for myself too.  Compared to them, and probably my parents generation included... my life is so full of "instant" documentation.  Social media, smartphones... instagram... it takes such little effort to just snap a photo and it's done.  To go through these memories I have to take out my phone (I am way too attached to it) or laptop to scroll through photos.  This is adding to the excessive screen time that is already a part of my life (from work, from keeping in touch with friends and family, pinterest, netflix...television...).  It feels so much less personal when I go through these photos, it feels less tangible and I don't necessarily feel as much joy from looking through them as I think I should.  20 years from now, will I really want to rely on these photos to reflect back on? Not really.  I want to feel that personal connection.  I want to someday show my future children something tangible and personal.

Traditional scrapbooking is daunting.  I don't "think" I have enough time to go through all that cutting and pasting.  I've done it before and was REALLY into it for the first hour or two, getting very intricate and detailed with stickers, nice writing, paper cut-outs, etc.  A few more hours in I was getting really worn out.  It was taking so long to see enough results to motivate me further and towards the end my work was looking more haphazard and minimalist... not cute anymore.

That's why I decided to get into ProjectLife by Becky Higgins.  Print some photos, order photo album layouts and pre-designed decorated cards for accents & notes... and voila! Documented memories, with a personalized touch ... and in a snap!

I ordered a 12x12 album, a large set of album pocket sheets, and a core kit (the design cards) from the website.  I bought some more decorative items from Hobby Lobby and picked up some bits from Wal-Mart.  I didn't realize this stuff is sold everywhere!

I printed out a ton of photos after I organized them by year ... So far, it's been really enjoyable and I'm excited to continue filling out my album!

Here's to a happy, healthy, and memorable 2016!

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Festive and Cozy DIY for Christmas

I wasn't feeling very festive when December first began, even though I had already started purchasing presents.  Christmas shopping was festive activity #1.

Festive Activity #2 was brought on after visiting with a friend where they celebrated Christmas early (day before Thanksgiving) as that was the only time until 2016 that my friend (& his new wife) and his brother would be home.  We helped decorate a beautiful Christmas tree with some Christmas Pandora in the background.  This led me to start searching around for a tree.  As much as I like real trees I wanted an artificial tree because it is reusable and can be pre lit!  Even though it is pre lit I didn't want to sacrifice allll authenticity.  I scoured the internet for realistic looking artificial trees that weren't too big, but I couldn't bring myself to purchase any of them because I couldn't see them in person and I wasn't convinced they'd look as real as I'd hope for.  One evening, wandering Menards with the boy as he was looking for some home improvement related things I stumbled upon this tree and just knew it was it.  It's the 5' pre lit Carson Pine tree.  I sought it out because it looked the most real, yet I don't think a Carson Pine is an actual type of pine tree... heh.  Festive Activity #3 Accomplished!

I was rummaging through my craft-closet and found some remnant of some buffalo plaid flannel that I originally purchased to sew a dog-bed cover for the puppy dog.

Festive Activity #4:
I drew out a star and cut out pieces of the flannel and sewed them inside out (with one small section not sewn), flipped them right side out ... stuffed the stars with pieces of fleece, inserted some tied up red yarn to hang the stars with, and sewed it up! I was on such a roll because I could hand sew these on the couch and still be able to watch some Netflix (Highly recommend the show "The time in between" which is based on a novel of the same name.  It's in Spanish with english subtitles, but it is such a good show once you get about 2 episodes in...a seamstress...espionage... what's not to love?).

Once I covered the tree in the red/black stars I wanted to continue with a cozy theme, like sitting by a fireplace.  I had trouble finding copper/rose-gold tinsel/garland as gold and silver just weren't "warm" enough for my taste.  I found some great tinsel roping on Etsy from the shop : AllTheMakings.

Decorated tree with the extra tinsel on the tv stand!  Living room was feeling pretty cozy... now I just needed to really feel it.

Festive Activity #5:  I found some more fleece that I had ordered last year and wanted to make a super warm and comfy blanket.  I used the tutorial here for a braided version of layering two fleece pieces.

It may not look very wintery outside, but I can still make the inside of my home all ready for winter and Christmas!

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Crafting Calm: Wool Giraffe

It's already fall and I have not pursued this hobby of creativity nearly as much as I should have.  I haven't completely neglected creative pursuits, but today I decided it was about time I did something to energize myself a little.  There haven't been any projects that inspired me and that is probably because a lot of the projects I pursue serve a practical purpose as well.

A few weeks ago I caught up with some good friends at a nearby dairy farm for brunch and coincidentally (or maybe it was fate) there was a free wool festival going on at that location.  First of all, I didn't even know wool festivals were even a thing.  Second of all, sheep are so cute!

We had a wonderful time wandering around the tents, exploring the crafty offerings.  I didn't know there was such a wide variety of wool.

We were completely taken by these Angora bunnies.  They were incredibly soft, curious, and adorable!  Bunnies were the highlight of the wool festival.

Since that little excursion I've been thinking about all the wool-y cuteness and remembered that I had purchased a wool felting kit a long time ago (maybe a year ago?).

I've been under a lot of stress over the past couple of weeks and had been struggling to find sufficient calm in my life.  Creativity is a good source of this calm because it requires focus without the anxiety.

I'm very pleased with this felting kit and I already feel so much more at ease.

Simple packaging

Contents of the box. 

When the contents were extracted, it looked more like the remains of a stuffed animal after encountering a dog.

The instructions were pretty helpful although there were details missing that might make it difficult if you follow the directions literally.  At no point does the direction mention splitting the white wool meant for the body parts into the number of pieces (and their appropriate sizes) first.

I definitely recommend wool felting for an easy project, especially when you're in a "creative rut".  I'd say that this project was pretty easy overall.  Patience and good lighting (preferably natural/white light) is important because you don't want to poke yourself with the felting needle (pretty sharp) by accident and the white wool would be difficult to see in dim lighting.

I purchased my felting kit in a boutique in Louisville, but you can also purchase the woolbuddy kit online at this link.

Stay warm and cozy, everybody!

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Sprucing up the ironing board and new apartment

It has been 7 weeks since I moved into my new apartment and it has gone by so quickly! Within two weeks I unpacked everything, got new furniture delivered, bought my first major appliances (washer and dryer) and have been adjusting to working from home! I feel so blessed to have this opportunity to move back to where I need to be and still pursue my career.  This move has made me feel more like a "grown-up" which feels strange but I am trying to embrace this period of my life and everything that comes with it.

I haven't sewn much in sooooo long and part of it is because of all the transitioning, lack of motivation, and partly because I don't have a designated space to see at the moment. 

It came to the point that the grungy ironing board that I have had for years was just an eyesore and was just really worn. This serves as the perfect opportunity to complete a quick project to hopefully get me motivated to sew again! 

Took some nice cotton fabric and some cotton quilting batting and recovered the ironing board, secured with elastic looped through the sides and tied tight.

Now the laundry room is a little more vibrant!

Next steps... Come up with some project ideas and to find a convenient and small-space friendly sewing table!

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Reversible Placemats: Christmas + Winter

For Christmas I decided to make a few of the presents this year.  It's only appropriate since I received my sewing machine last Christmas :).

Materials:

Light-weight iron on interfacing

Quilt batting

two types of fabric

I used some placemats I had on hand as a guide for the size of all interfacing and quilting which I ironed together.  For the rest of the fabrics, they are much wider than the interfacing-quilting pieces as shown below.

The first fabric is sewed to the interfacing-quilting piece.

Trim a bit of the fabric.

Sew the other fabric clipped to the other side with the edges folded in.

Voila! Quick and simple :).  I think this will be really nice through winter with the plaid side perfect for the holidays.

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Staying comfortable through a cold

Staying comfortable through a cold by Feier 

I've been feeling a bit poorly for a few days and am very glad that I took today off. I realize that is a luxury to be able to take days off here and there so I took advantage of the day to take care of myself.

These are the items that have made the few days much more tolerable. I've been drinking a lot of Ginger tea, consuming a lot of chicken noodle soup and vitamins... And winding down with a shower that clears me up. This shower gel by kiss my face for cold and flu is awesome, it feels luxurious, refreshing, and helps clear up my sinuses without resulting me in walking around smelling too much like Christmas peppermint.

I think my body is telling me that I need to be less stressed, take better care of myself, and just chill. 

I'll get back to my hobbies asap! The past few weeks have been a bit stressful and the next few will be as well with a good deal of traveling so I won't be around to sew and craft, sigh. 

Anyway, hope all is well with the world and that everybody is healthy! If you're sick, maybe some of these items will make it more comfortable and maybe enjoyable! 

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Quick and easy plastic bag holder

I haven't sewn anything in quite some time... Pretty much since I sewed my thumb by accident (it's all better now!).

As of late I've been thinking about how there are a lot of things I used to do that I don't really do anymore and it is making me feel less lively and a bit blah. I find that when I am a little down or unmotivated that doing something quick and easy makes me feel more positive about everything. I have a collection of plastic bags from grocery shopping (I should remember to bring my own bags) and I've been meaning to make a plastic bag holder. This took maybe half an hour and I think it's very pleasant to look at. It is super easy to make as it is just a tube with one end scrunched up with elastic and a handle on the other end.

Little things make the day a lot better :)

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