Sunday, September 18, 2011

Time, Time, Where does the time go?!

I've said this before (have I written it before?) but as a mommy I wish I had a super hero ring that would freeze time. What a dream! Think what you could do. Catch up on cleaning or crafting or whatever procrastinating project you have lying around. I also envision it as a quiet peaceful time since everyone but me is frozen.

A week ago I decided to make a jewelry holder. My partner in crime wanted to make something like it to store her cords---phone chargers, battery chargers, external hard drives. We saw a sample and decided we could make our own without a pattern. I even dug fabric out of the Goodwill bag. Easy peasy. Insert a snort, a roll of the eyes and a big heavy sigh here. I bought the plastic and it laid around for a month. I finally got tired of tripping over it so I decided to just do it. I hate how you start out to do an EASY project and it sucks up the ENTIRE day.
At least it is done! I have a store bought one that holds my bracelets and necklaces. Now I have this one to hold earrings and more bracelets. This one thing cleaned off the top of my vanity and two drawers.  
I love the clean top of the vanity. Wonder if it will stay that way? The project really stressed me out though by the end of the day that it took ALLLLLLL day. Sometimes I look at something and think it will be a quick thing and when it isn't I sometimes get so frustrated I set it aside. Hmmmm, is that how I end up with all these unfinished projects? At the very last minute I made myself finish this pin cushion so that I could feel like I did two whole things on this "quickie craft project day" (again with the snort, sigh and eye roll.) I love the look of it. Can you guess what the stand is?
It's a mattress spring. I'd like to find some more. You should hear my husband going on about finding an old (I translate into gross, dirty, stains of unknown origin) mattress and setting it on fire in a controled area, of course. Then being left with just the springs. Seriously, we are looking. That could be a whole new craft concept. Pyromania inspired crafting.

Sunday, September 4, 2011

It's good to have friends!

It’s so good to have friends. Here’s my latest UFO.
Isn’t it great! I love it. It only took me ____years to finish it. I even made two; one to keep, one to sell. All that wool sorting (wool gathering?) did prove to be productive. I couldn’t have finished it (safely) without the help of my friend Elda.


I had everything perched precariously. I had to glue (with toxic stinky stuff) the tabs to the metal holder. This glue is wonderful in holding fabric to anything but I find it takes some time to set. I went through the pantry trying to find heavy things to clamp down on it so I didn’t have to hold it for the next hour (or even second because I have no patience for that kind of thing.) The ginger sauce and apricot preserves were the only heavy things with a small enough base to press just where I needed it. Then I had to use cans to hold those glass jars up. Glass, perched, precarious. Are you catching on? This was the day of the 3 day crop and I was worried someone would knock it over and I’d have a disaster. In my little mind I thought, Oh well it will mess up the floor but miss my project.


Then along comes Elda. She’s so smart! Look at her wonderful solution. Don’t think Duh! You were still focused on those cans and you know it. I’m wondering if it was her years teaching preschool, thus dealing with little brains…I guess that is how I compare.

I need to go get some more clothespins. I find them handy to hang things on my blinds (though I’ve faded a small quilt terribly once by doing that so only short term or paper things).  It gives you a quicky design wall. We use them for chip clips. You know those single socks? They aren’t alone. They have built a house out of those silly clothespins somewhere in the alternate dimension because I know we aren’t eating them but they just disappear…