Technical difficulties

My not-so-old laptop has decided to up and die on me. The data should be safe, thank goodness, but I can't use it at all. If possible, I'll continue to update from Hubby's desktop computer, but posting frequency and quality will suffer until I have a computer of my own again. So sorry friends!

Playing Catch-Up

Late February and early March are very busy when you are part of a Speech & Debate family. Hubby dearest started his student teaching under my father just in time to get thrown into the district tournament that we host. It means we went from having him done with class and home by the early afternoons, to working late into the evening with hardly a break for dinner. But let’s be honest here, he and I would have been volunteering to help even if he was not student teaching. Last year we brought along the three-month-old offspring and helped. Now that she has the ability to run around under her own power, it was both easier and harder, but we survived.

Immediately after we finished that hullaballoo, the little one got sick again, and was still sick when hubby had to leave for two days on yet another tournament trip. Now he’s home and she’s finally getting well, but I’m under the weather. I might have caught the bug that has been going around, but it could just as easily be sheer exhaustion from the stress of the last couple of weeks. I’m not good under pressure.

So, with all that going on I feel lucky that my house only looks like a tornado hit it and not a hurricane. I have been fighting the tide in an attempt to have a better organized kitchen, and I did succeed in revamping my silverware drawer and sink area, which I plan to write about soon.

In crafting news, I have to admit that I have failed in my stash bust resolution. Yarn is my weakness, and I completely caved when I found Palette Yarn.

It’s a fingering-weight yarn that comes in pretty much every color you can imagine. I love small, quick projects like doll clothes and kids’ hats so I am always looking for fine yarns, but Walmart is pretty much limited to baby yarns in pastel shades. Boring! I’m in love with the beautiful bold colors of Palette. I’m not admitting how much I have already bought, but I will admit that I now want every color.

In celebration of my yarn addiction, I decided to take up knitting again. I used to knit in high school, and I was delighted to discover that I still remembered how. I’ve made it my goal to learn how to knit in the round. I’m envisioning rainbow-hued wrist warmers made from my awesome Palette yarn. I love a new challenge!

Hopefully I’ll recover from this yucky bug quickly, because I am so ready to get back into routine with everyone healthy and happy. In the meantime, at least I have yarn.

Craft Fail- Ribbon Organizer Take 1

We all have them. Somehow, when I do it, it’s pretty big. Or maybe I just blow things out of proportion? Either way, I’ll share with you my big fat shelf fail.

My ribbon organizer was frustrating from the beginning. The original finish was poorly done, and paint didn’t stick to the glossy surface. But I got past that and started with the Mod Podge. I was about halfway done when I decided that I hated it.

At this point I’m sure you’re asking why. There’s nothing strictly wrong with it, aside from some little imperfections easily fixed when finishing. But the pastel patchwork was too country cottage for me. Pretty, but very much not my style, and not suiting the look I had in mind for the room. I was determined to salvage it by adding bolder colors and crazier patchwork. At first I thought it was working, but it was too much.

Today I gazed upon the Frankenstein monster and gave up. The paper was four and five layers deep in some places, the edges ragged from repeated trimmings, and thanks to the architecture of the shelf I had never shaken that “cottage” feel. This thing caused more heartache (and a few tears) than it was worth. I won’t throw it out. It’s still a great ribbon shelf. But I’ll strip it and go at it from a new angle.

With that decision made, I started grabbing every loose edge and corner I could find and ripping it away. I was upset and it was cathartic. But during this process my husband, who knows no fear, came up and asked, “So, how much time and paper did you waste?”

I don’t know how he has lived this long. But here is your answer, honey.

A lot.

Just waiting…

Without my Mod Podge I’m stalling out on projects. I have been crocheting, and I coaxed the last bit of Podge out of the bottle to work on my ribbon organizer, but nothing is done. At least I’ve learned the limits of an 8oz bottle of Mod Podge. Can you tell I haven’t been decoupaging long?

I have a good reason for not running out and buying a new bottle at Wal-Mart, though. They only have 8oz bottles of the original Matte and Gloss formulas. I’m covering a whole desk intended to be my crafting work space, so I needed something heavy duty.

I’m such a geek for new craft supplies. That’s part of why a stash bust will be so hard! I got two bottles of Hard Coat, a 16oz of Gloss (my favorite!), and a tool set. I am suffering without a brayer. I’ve already had a lot of bubbles trying to cover the desk and I really want to avoid more. I can only cover so many spots with butterflies and dots.

Living in an area with no craft stores is rough. I hate waiting on shipping; patience is not a strong suit of mine. How do you handle a wait?

 

Not-So-Lucky Stars- Tutorial and Blog Woes

Last Tuesday I wrote a nice long post about Origami Lucky Stars, and saved it to my drafts to await pictures. With a hectic week of holiday hijinks, the photos apparently weren't in the cards. Knowing that I wanted to get the tutorial .pdf up anyway, I logged in tonight, baby sleeping draped across my lap because she (as usual) will not sleep on her own- though the baby is technically unrelated to my frustration. I attempted to round out the post with a couple of pictures I had on hand and some witty words.

Then it disappeared (I don't even know what button I hit!), and I was left with only half of my first paragraph, in a five-paragraph three-photo two-link post. The draft decided to autosave just after my mishap. Isn't technology great?

So forgive the truncated presentation, but I still want to share these darling Lucky Stars.


I make them often, just to relax. They go everywhere and do everything. Fill jars with them, string garlands of them, make jewelry with them, they're always pretty and always a conversation starter. But they're so much easier than they look!

This year I'm making lucky star "starter kits" for some of the teenage girls on my gift list. The kit consists of approximately 200 paper strips (1/2 inch wide, 11 inches long), a photo tutorial, and a pair of lucky star earrings to show off the finished product. House them all in a jar, tie a little ribbon, and you're done! Cutting the paper strips is the time consuming part, but another option is to print templates and let the gift recipient do the cutting. This is my favorite blank template, but that deviantArt user (and many others!) also offers cute designs you can print at home!

What are you waiting for? Download the tutoral now!