Springish cleaning

Saturday, February 14, 2015

I’ve been putting my craft room through an overhaul recently. It might be a subconscious thing that I wish it were spring so if I start cleaning, maybe the weather will warm up? Blue skies will return? No? Well, I tried.

So, my closet was a disaster – fabrics stuffed all over the place, wrinkled and unsorted. They are beautifully cleaned up now! I donated much of my fabric stash to my sister-in-law and only kept what I think will come in handy in the future. And, now with our roommate having been moved out for almost a year, I have finally started using that empty room as storage so a lot of things got cleared out and placed there – halloween costumes, extra pillows and blankets, boxes of my graduate studies, those sorts of things.

I discovered a couple of work-in-progresses that I abandoned for various reasons. I am not sure what I will do with these here, but many of the others I dismantled for parts or simply tossed out.

First up was a phone case, for my first cellphone, the Kyocera Slider (man, did I love that phone!). This project is where I fell in love with embroidering and embellishing fabrics. Only back then, I knew nothing of either! I wasn’t even using embroidery thread – just a regular thread spool!

sewing_trials_1 sewing_trials_2

I also came across a book cover I was making, only to realize my measurement was off so I shoved it aside. It is now hung as a little piece of hoop art in my craft room closet (which is more like a little alcove than a closet). I had begun to understand embroidery by then a little.

sewing_trials_3 sewing_trials_4

This project was to experiment a little more with different stitches – no end goal in mind and so it sat and sat and sat. Now, it too hangs in my closet (and you may have seen it over on my Library page).

sewing_trials_9 sewing_trials_6 sewing_trials_7 sewing_trials_8

A stack of discarded book covers – the top one is still among my favorites but currently it is not in use. Most of these were trials – I learned measurements, I experimented with bookmarks, and tested different fabric varieties. Wow, have I come a long way since I began!

sewing_trials_10

To wrap up this post, I had mentioned earlier that I was going to get back into scrapbooking. Well, not only was my standard color printer out of ink, but my photo printer went kaput. I ordered a box of ink to try to clear it out, but it was just too gummy from not being in use for years. Boy and I tried desperately to get it to work, to no avail. Eventually, he came across a price point he could swallow and ordered me Canon’s new Pixma iP110 (of course, I am “working off” that price point by learning Quickbooks at his office, yay). It is very condensed in size, making it utterly portable. And not only that – there is a battery accessory that really does the job! Plus, as most things do these days, it works wirelessly. This means I can print easily from my new smart phone, too. Game on.

canon_pixma_ip110

I just got it set up, and I still have adult responsibilities like grading exams and whatnot, but I started playing with it and I love it. I hope to be deep in scrap heaven by the end of the weekend!

Oh, and speaking of my new smart phone, I want to say two things. First, we ordered a screen protector and the day before it arrived, my phone cracked. Thankfully, Apple replaced it for free because we aren’t sure what happened to it (and Boy’s company buys a lot of Apple items without ever calling in complaints). I just woke up and it was like that on my nightstand. Nothing untoward had happened to it the night before either. I believe that the only logical explanation is that my wedding ring did it – when someone handed it to me facedown perhaps (my band has stones all the way around) and it took a while for the crack to form. Maybe. I have no idea.

iphone6_crack

Second, I do not use purses and I did not want a phone case (though I heard this is essentially required for smart phones…). So rather than having a phone case and wallet separate, I hunted for a wallet case. I do not mean might-as-well-be-a-clutch-purse wallet, either. I am a no-fuss, two credit cards and an ID type of girl. I found the perfect one – seriously, I have recommended it to everyone I know. It is the Monk Magnet Wallet Case. I love that it fits my necessary cards and cash, but is still slim enough to pop in my back pocket. I love that the phone portion of the case is magnetic and comes apart from the wallet. This way, I do not have to hold my wallet to my head (though I certainly can very easily if I do not want to remove the phone to talk). I love that I can then use that magnetic case and slap my phone to the fridge for playing music or using for recipes, or just so I don’t misplace it in my house! And, one more thing, I love that I can stash notes in my wallet case by simply putting the paper between the phone and the wallet portion. Love, love, love. I stole these photos from their site because, well, it is winter and dark and gloomy, and their images look a heck of a lot better than mine!

monk_magnet_iphone6_2 monk_magnet_iphone6_1 monk_magnet_iphone6_3

I do not recommended brands often because I hate advertisements, but honestly, the printer and the phone case are winners. It is true I just got my printer, but I cannot see my opinion changing on that. And as for the phone case, it has been through a lot already in these two months since I’ve had it, and honestly? Looks freaking brand new still. Tell that one to your mother. (Do I even have to mention that in no way whatsoever am I compensated for my opinions? These companies do not even know I exist, psh.)

 

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