Week in Review

After a couple weeks of taking care of Dave while he was on the mend, I finally feel like things are starting to get back to normal. We reassembled our house from its temporary infirmary state and I managed to muster up the energy to give it an all-over scrub (which it needed).

This week Dave went back to work and last week's perils seem a million miles away. Now that I have some more time (and energy) I've decided to work on some Spring cleaning and organizing. This week's task was the bathroom as the shelves in our linen cabinet were getting unmanageably full and the sink cabinet was getting a tad disorganized. It only took about 20 minutes and I managed to haul a full garbage bag out of there. So many partially used products that were just wasting space! It's crazy to me how much I had since I'm not someone to waste money on tons of products.



Bathroom Purge 2011 - Crazy right?!

Next up - Bedroom which shouldn't be too bad since I fairly recently did a closet clean-out/purge but you never know. I'll surely share the deets when the time comes, whether you want them or not! 

On Wednesday Dave came home from work with supper and a thank-you present for me for taking such good care of him:

A bouquet and a very generous and thoughtful half-day at the spa. So very much appreciated. I can't wait. I was so excited that I went out and bought something that I've been lusting after for a long while. A bit of a splurge on a luxury item. Yes, I went all out and went crazay and bought myself a new electric toothbrush and have been feeling fresh-from-the-dentist clean ever since. (I used an Oral B electric toothbrush for 8 or 9 years until it died and my toothbrushing experience just hasn't been the same since.) I'm so frivolous and wild with finances and life in general. :P

Oral B Triumph 9900 with SmartGuide

So spring is in the process of springing, the time has changed, the days are long(er) and I have some fun planned for this weekend. All in all a pretty swell week. I hope the sun is shining on  you!

Operation Make More Stuff

I like making stuff. And following lots of really great blogs and seeing different projects and ideas online from time to time gives me lots of ideas and inspiration for things I'd like to make. My problem is that the ideas tend to get emailed to myself, bookmarked in Chrome, favorited in Explorer, a shortcut added to the desktop on my work computer or my laptop, or a picture saved in any number of places. Or, I "save" the idea in my head which hasn't seemed to be working out too well for me. It isn't any surprise that a lot of the ideas never come to fruition. The links get deleted in a haste to clean up my desktop, and the disorganization of things doesn't lead to much inspiration. Last week I decided to sign up for a free Dropbox account and downloaded it to each computer I frequently use. Then I set out compiling all the photos and links and ideas I've saved here and there and put them in folders in my main Dropbox folder. Now when I add something on my laptop to that folder it will automatically sync with the folder on my work computer and vice versa. No more losing links and photos, or feeling overwhelmed by all my ideas. Haha. Couldn't help myself.

Despite my inspiration disorganization, I have recently finished up a few different projects that I set out to and haven't had the chance to share here.

First up was a magazine monogram à la Young House Love. This was one that I wanted to try for a long time and had originally planned to use an actual magazine, but after months of keeping my eye out never found a "C" I liked, so I whipped up my own in word and had it printed and stuck it in a frame. Not everyone's favorite but I really like it.

The next wave of inspiration that hit was a strange urge to do another cross stitch. I've never been a fan of the old fashioned patterns but I find needlework to be relaxing. I really like Subversive Cross Stitch so I decided to drop over to their website to see if there was a pattern I wanted. Instead I ended up finding one that read "Don't Make Horseplay Your Forte". I thought it was funny but not quite "me" enough so I decided to make my own pattern:

After I finished up the cross stitch, I ordered my fabric for my first quilt and was going a little crazy waiting so I decided to use a tutorial I'd found online to sew up a cute little box pouch since I'd never sewn a zipper into anything and thought it would be a fun little project to try and something to keep my sewing machine warm.

One each for my mom and me
(Kaffe Fasett fabric Mom found at a second hand shop)

And one I whipped up for a friend I was having lunch with the next day

So after I managed to get all of my links and ideas organized in Dropbox, I decided to make a list and try to at least work on, if not complete one little project a week. First up was a really cute gathered clutch tutorial I found on the blog Noodlehead.

The first one I made with a cute bird print from Ikea

The second one I made went much more quickly.
It's for my friend Lisa who is going to use it as a cash bag at work
(she was previously using a plain black pencil case.)

And the last one that I made with leftover canvas which made the ruffles more ruffle-y but was harder to sew through

Without further ado, the list (in no particular order):

• Gathered Clutch (tutorial here)
• Cushion for office chair
• Cover Nikon camera strap
• Fabric napkins
• Ruffle Tee
• Apron
• Washers Game
• Braided hex nut bracelet
• Meandering Path quilt
• Monkey bread with cream cheese glaze
• Scroll saw cut-out
• Log end table
• Hexagon patch
• Hoop art applique
• Dog bed

There now. That should keep me busy.