after the giant armoire i got from goodwill, i swore i wasn't going to buy any more furniture, but then i saw this...
it was $6.38, and on top of that it was 30% off and it fit in the yaris, i couldn't say no. the wood needs to be sanded and stained, and one of the corners of the seat cushion has been torn off, so it does need a little help.
i'm thinking a darker stain, and a bold (maybe vintage) fabric for the cushion.
now i'm really done with buying furniture...i think.
a riveting tuesday night: oyster brooch making and 30 rock watching. not too exciting, but pretty productive.
here are the before pictures of my new favorite piece of furniture. it had been spray painted pink, so i just did a little sanding and then primed it with some kilz. if there is one thing i learned while living in new york it was that kilz will cover anything. you name it--water stained ceilings, dark red paint, nasty unidentifiable "stuff" on your bathroom walls...kilz will cover it. 
this is the after! i glued cork board to the inside of the door, so i can use it as sort of an inspiration board. the little closet is cedar lined, so it should keep my fabric non-musty. all in all i'm really happy with how this turned out. now that i'm organized, maybe i can actually finish a project!
this
weekend ted and i are heading back to new york for our good friends'
wedding. this is the first of four weddings for us over the course of
the next few months...'tis the season!
since i'm going to be traveling quite a bit, i've been on the
look-out for airplane/car friendly crafting projects. as it turns out, machine sewing
and gocco aren't very portable hobbies. i happened upon this
crewel feather pillow kit a couple weeks ago at goodwill. it had never
been opened, and it didn't smell too old.
i wasn't too sure what the guidelines were for having a small (but
sharp) needle with me on the plane. but rest assured, the
transportation security administration only really considers knitters a
threat to security, not crewel embroiderers. according to the website, "most of the items needed
to pursue a needlepoint project are permitted
in your carry-on baggage or checked baggage with the exception of
circular thread cutters or any cutter with a blade contained inside." i think i'm in the clear.
on monday, while surfing through all the crafty blogs that i could on my lunch hour (or rather lunch 20 minutes) i stumbled upon swap bot. i've never participated in a swap before, and always wanted to get in on the action but never really knew how. enter swap bot. i figure i'll start out easy because i've never done one before (and i couldn't get in on some of the really good ones because i don't have enough points...or something...i'm just going with it.) so i signed up for one called "surprise, surprise, surprise" that just basically says to send your partner anything--something you made, already had, bought etc. pretty simple.
i couldn't just stop there, though. i found a gocco swap on another site, and signed up right away. not only do i get to use my beloved gocco, but i get to put a neat little button on my sidebar that says i'm participating in something--very exciting. both swaps aren't due until february, so i'm confident in my ability to complete both in a timely fashion. i hope i didn't just jinx myself...
still practicing applying bias tape to curves...man, that is hard for me. if anyone has any tips, i'd love for you to make my life a little easier!
i'm attempting to make the casino clutch from adorn magazine and i'm having a hell of a time trying to find double-sided peltex interfacing. iowa city isn't the mecca of fabric stores, so i have joann, ben franklin and hobby lobby to work with. joann didn't have it, and hobby lobby had a double sided interfacing that looks like it might work, but i'm not holding my breath. you should have seen me last night trying to get the lining of the clutch to fuse to the interfacing that clearly wasn't double sided--i need to learn to read labels a little more carefully.
anyway, in the midst of searching for the interfacing i managed to stop by a couple thrift stores. i saw this book for 11 cents and couldn't pass it up.
the illustrations are very sweet, and the instructions would be easy to follow for a little one. based on my interfacing performance last night, i might need to start reading books like these...
after seeing so many crafty recipe cards on etsy and blogland i decided to try and make some for a couple special folks for christmas. i used heavy 4X6 card stock, so they are a decent size and sturdy enough to withstand my cooking (which includes lots of messiness and sometimes even a fire!)
it seems like once i started printing, i had to use the entire stack of 100 cards...i couldn't stop. i don't really know how someone could use 100 recipe cards in a lifetime, but just in case, marcia and john have the means.
i know my pictures lately have been pretty crappy. there just isn't enough light in the evening for good pictures, and when i leave the house in the morning for work it is still dark out. so i found a tutorial on adorn from lindsay designs for a light box that should make taking pictures much easier. no i just need to build the thing.
