creative space: ribbon

I went out shopping to pick up some supplies for Valentine's Day presents. Since they didn't have what I was looking for, I was stressed, and therefore vulnerable to the ribbon section. Thankfully they had ribbons on sale. Unfortunately, that means I had little willpower to say no.


At Hobby Lobby they had some spools of ribbon for only a few bucks each. So in total, there's 50 yards of ribbon and 8 buttons ... for less than $10! I ended up simplifying my gift plans to suit what I had on hand, but oh well. Currently everything's still in my head, so there's nothing substantial on my table.

School and work are picking up, so I have less time to craft. I'm also ridiculously stressed about life ... don't even get me started on the financial aid drama.

I'm linking over to kootoyoo for creative spaces.

things - bought and made

I spent more money. But ... I've also been doing little projects, so I think it balances out. I didn't spend too much, and thankfully the month of September is coming to a close, because that means that my September total will (presumably) never hit the $40 mark.


Michael's is conveniently located between work and home, which is disastrously wonderful. Because that means that after a long day at work, I can very easily cheer myself up by buying a thing or two at my favorite happy place.

There was a little silver pail, silver embroidery floss, ribbon, and moss. Yep, a bag of green moss. It's going to get used on one of my architecture models, but I figured it was crafty enough to warrant inclusion. Wouldn't it look darling in that pail with a little something else? In addition to the items pictured, I bought two colors of embroidery floss and more floss bobbins - my collection is steadily growing. Yikes.


I then decided to make myself a pincushion, because I desperately needed one. Since I use needles as pins, when they're laying around on my table (or the carpeted floor) they're ridiculously difficult to find and pick up. I also made a little pouch that I'm keeping spools of thread in and two little wallet/pouch things. I'm still trying to figure out the best way to close them.


I sewed them up differently, trying to see what I liked better. The green one has a cleaner look to it, but I kind of like the "clearly handmade" look to the cream one. Debating between snap, button, and tie closures. This sewing has helped me a lot with improving my control on the sewing machine. I'm improving!

shopping spree

That last post was a tad depressing, so how about a happier topic? Buying stuff is always happy, right?


Yesterday I went shopping and spent about $20 on crafting supplies. Yikes! Why the high total? I went out to get some keys made, got lost a MILLION TIMES, had to get my friend to Google directions for me, and once I got there, was told that they didn't have any of the correct sized keys. Oh and it was raining all day. I had been out for over two hours (on what should've been a 30-minute trip), had no keys (which was the main purpose of my trip), and in addition to being stressed out, was wet and sloshy. So naturally I bought stuff, because that's what I do when I feel like crap - retail therapy.


I didn't feel so great when I got home, but the rain really was quite pretty and I normally do like rain. I took this photo when the rain let up a bit and my camera wasn't in serious danger. The white flowers just looked so calm and peaceful against the background ... if only my mindset would match.

busy busy me

First post of September! Life is so busy right now, in a frantically wonderful way, that I feel compelled to share everything with the world (but edited as to remove anything that could be remotely identifiable). Posts and projects are probably going to become a bit more sparse, but oh well. School is starting to pick up, and good golly, all that homework - sheesh! Anyway, I still have quite a bit of free time, so I had been looking for a job. And I found one! YES!


I celebrated by going to Michael's and buying myself stuff. Only spent $3.89. The picture came out showing everything as blue, so I tried photoshopping it to the correct shades of purple. Eh. Ribbon was an odd texture, but the spool was only a dollar. Then I got a skein of embroidery floss because I was running low on #333. And ... I bought myself the magnificent disappearing-ink pen that I have been craving for years. I first used one in high school and found them to be simply magical. They're not expensive, normally $4.50 (or $2.25 with a 50% Michael's coupon), but I could never bring myself to buy one, until now. YES!

Also, last but definitely not least, my darling sister is coming to see me. Well ... I don't know if "darling" is the right word to describe her. But I'm so excited! And then of course, Monday is Labor Day. Don't you just love holidays? This means I can be lazy (and catch up on sleep) since I won't have school and I won't have work. YES!

lucky me

I've won TWO giveaways! I can't believe how lucky I've been. You jealous? The first one was hosted by Dionne at City of Dionne. I just received it in and mail today and could not wait to share it with everyone! I won this beautiful clutch from Amy at IMH Designs. Seriously, check out her Etsy shop - it's full of beautiful clutches. The fabric is fabulous and it is really well crafted, high quality all the way. A big thanks from me to both Dionne and Amy!


I chose the Lavender and Green Floral Clutch Purse with Dupioni Silk Lining, and it's fantastic! I love the green lining and kisslock clasp. There's a layer of batting in there, making it nice and thick, which will keep things like my camera from harm in case I drop it (I'm clumsy!). I'll let you know about the second giveaway once I receive it (and can gush more thoroughly about it).


Then, I decided to be bad and go shopping. I know, I know ... but I was armed with a coupon for Michael's, and I was in the area, and ... I'm just making excuses for myself. Bad, bad me. I didn't splurge much, just bought some buttons and silver ribbon that had been on my list for a while. And then I found a cute set of lime green measuring scoops that I simply could not pass up. I love Michael's! But I love the blogging community even more!

spending money

Since I don't have a job and there's no money coming in, I really should not be spending money. But since I don't have a job, I have a lot of free time to go shopping (my class is also over). It's really a vicious cycle. So off on the sidebar, I decided to start tallying up how much I spend on these little shopping expeditions. I'm only including the money spent on non-necessities, like for crafts and such. I was going to include money spent on eating out as well, but then I figured that would be too depressing.

First up, remember how I was so upset that Wal-Mart no longer carries fabric? Well my friend X mentioned to me the other day that there was still one in the Austin area that does! So I was all excited and decided to head down there to check it out. It's at 9300 I-35 S, in the Southpark Meadows shopping center. The fabric selection was somewhat miserable, definitely nothing worth a special trip for. At least I now know it's there, and since there was also a Hobby Lobby nearby, I stopped by there as well.


When I go shopping, sometimes I just can't help myself. I tell myself I'm there to browse, and then I keep picking things up. From the cheap fabric, I got one yard of checkered light pink and one yard of purple with white polka dots. I think I'm going to turn them into aprons ... we'll see. I also picked up some forks (four for a dollar). They're really cheaply made (obviously) so they bend easily, an attribute which might come in handy for some projects - once I figure out what kind of project would use forks. Then there were just some more random supplies for in-the-works projects.


Next up, CraigsList finds! Woohoo! I love CraigsList, and the free section is my friend. But things there go fast, so I was pleasantly surprised when I received a positive reply to my e-mail. I picked up this paper shredder and trashcan (love that shape and color) from a girl who was moving out of her apartment and didn't have room for them in her car. After the trashcan got a good cleaning, I decided it was too pretty to use as a trashcan, so it's holding some fabric and rolls of cross-stitch fabric.


Another CraigsList find, this time in the household section, are some picture frames. Twelve of them for $5, not bad. They're all the same, outer dimensions about 9.5" square (square!). They're a dark kind of wood, but I think I'm going to leave them that color instead of putting in the extra effort to paint them black like I was originally planning. These will also be for a project ... eventually. Maybe something with frames and forks?

project supplies + updates

Whew. I really need to stop beginning projects and then storing them away ... where they tend to sit for a really long time while I begin other projects. Oh well. My class ends tomorrow, so I'm going to have a lot of free time to start finishing up these things. I constantly browse CraigsList because I love seeing what other people are trying to get rid of and sometimes I find really good deals. Case in point: stuffing!


Three full bags of Cluster Stuff, a total of 48 ounces, all for $5! Sweet. I generally work with poly-fil, but I figured it was all kind of the same, right? Well, cluster stuff is definitely different, but it works find for my little projects. Poly-fil is more clumpy, but this stuff is like a lot of little curls. Now I need to add projects to my list to use up all this stuff!


With stuffing crossed off my list, I made a trip to Michael's. There, I picked up some 2 mm black leather cording (yay for 40% off coupon!), 1" diameter wooden disks, and some metallic-y pink ribbon that was on sale. There was a Dollar Tree nearby, so I stopped in, but all I could really find were some birthday cards. Eh, I can always use more of those. Then I went to Hancock Fabrics and got a yard of gray fleece that was 30% off. So all in all only spent about $25. Fabulous.

   
Well, before I got started on using those supplies, I figured I had to finish some of the lingering ones. First up, the little pouches that I had been making. Now I have six, neatly hanging on my door (next to my beautiful scarves). I'm debating whether I should make more or not. Eight would be a nice number, and I do need more places to put all my odds and ends, but do I really have the time to hand-stitch two more? I'll have to mull that one over. Then comes the embroidery I've been working on (off and on) for the last month. I could probably work forever on the thing, but i decided to stop. It'll probably become a pillow, but it needs some sort of border thing. But at least it's out of the hoop now, which will allow me to start another embroidery ....

shopping trip

I bought a new table! It's originally from Ikea, but I bought it off CraigsList for a mere $13. Superb. So, from now on my pictures are probably going to look a lot prettier with the white tabletop as the background instead of my nasty carpet. And I'll have a dedicated workspace for crafting (no more floor, yay!) Hopefully now my back and neck won't hurt so much.

This morning I woke up early (around 10 AM) and went garage sale-ing. There were a few things that caught my eye, but nothing enough to tempt me to buy. Since I was in the area I stopped by Dollar Tree (a different one than last weekend) and picked up some cheap dollar goodness. I'm lucky, right? I have two Dollar Trees to choose from, and though they have a lot of the same stuff, they do have some unique things. Afterwards I drove a few streets over to Goodwill and picked up a few more things. I took two pictures (the second after I had cleaned things up and added some mood lighting ... lol). Oh, and my memory card reader worked again! What a fickle thing.

   
from Dollar Tree:

green car wash mitt ($1)

woven basket ($1)

orange votive candle holders ($1)

from Goodwill:

wooden square frame ($1)

green square glass container ($2)

The basket went to the kitchen to hold my potatoes. Hm ... those potatoes don't look so great, I wonder how long I've had them. Guess I'm going to be cooking potatoes tomorrow. Today was so productive! I got home around 2 PM and then I did laundry, vacuumed the apartment, and took out the trash. Tonight I'm going to start my homework due Monday and prepare for my interview on Monday (my second official interview - wish me luck) and tomorrow morning my roommate S and I are going grocery shopping. Whew, what a weekend!

shopping trip

Who loves the Dollar Tree? Uh, that would be me and any other sane person in the world. It's so much fun to just browse around there. All the stuff in the picture other than the magnets and ribbon were from there. So cheap! So wonderful!

On Saturday I was all a-fluster. I drove all the way down to the Re-Store since I had heard some wonderful things about it, but nope - complete bust. I was looking for tiles, door numbers, and cabinet knobs, and couldn't really find any that suited my needs. They do great work, but because their stuff is donated, their selection is limited. Their stock is always changing though, so I'll have to stop by later. Well then I went to Wal-Mart to look for fabric to make pillowcases, and I was shocked, SHOCKED, to find out that Wal-Mart no longer sells fabric. In my opinion, this is a great loss to humanity. They always had such cheap fabric ... I guess next weekend I'll have to go to either Hancock Fabrics or Hobby Lobby.

Anyway, I was depressed and was already stuck on the highway, so I figured I'd might as well just drive up to Target and pick up the desperately-needed fourth pillow. The fabric's a bit different, which aggravates me, but at least the shape and size are the same. Which brings me back to the Dollar Tree. I shopped at Target, and discovered to my amazement that there was this wonderful Dollar Tree in the same shopping center! I had only been to Target once before (to get the original three pillows) and had never noticed it. It was meant to be.

I'm working on a bunch of small projects and job-hunting-wise, I've decided to lower my standards so tomorrow I'm going to be applying to (THE HORROR!) food-service positions. Beggars can't be choosers, right? And you know how technology hates me? My mouse won't click anymore.