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!

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.

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).

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!

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.

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.

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!

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.)