Latest fabric acquisitions

And now, as promised, photos of my latest lovely fabric acquisitions.

I think this sort of greenish upholstery-ish thrift store fabric remant will go well in our greenish living room, probably as part of some kind of wall hanging or collage. The picture doesn't really do it justice. Trust me, it's pretty.

Another thrift store remnant. I fell in love with the texture--red wool with lots of colorful flecks. Not sure how I'll use it yet.

I think these two look like lovely purse liners. I've been eyeing the tutorials on http://u-handbag.typepad.com/uhandblog/. A purse of that caliber would be an ambitious project, but if I can stay motivated, I think I'm up to the challenge.

And now for the treasure trove from the stash of my friend who left for the Peace Corps.

Here's the whole prized collection. I had a hard time finding space for it in the craft room. I need to start using some of the fabric I've amassed!

While I was lying on the floor for this photo shoot, I thought it would be funny to turn the camera around. Yeah, funny. WHO is this old woman? I thought gravity was the enemy for dragging your face down, but yikes, gravity really makes you look like hell when it pulls your face sideways. Like my dad always says, it's a bitch gettin' old.

Blogging about stuff I should do instead of doing it

It's Saturday, and Minneapolis is in the midst of "the biggest snowstorm of the year." Locals are all opinions on this.

"I want snow so I can do XYZ winter sport."

"It's all hype, we're not going to get the 8-13 inches they're predicting."

"I'm sick of weathercasters wetting themselves over this stupid supposed storm."

Well, after a week of anticipation and weathercasters wetting themselves, it finally is snowing. The amount we'll get is still anyone's guess. I for one love a good reason to stay in and do nothing on a Saturday in February.

And do nothing I shall. Even though weeks of neglect have left my craft room a complete disaster.

What an embarrassment. But we have guests coming to play games tonight, so I guess if I get off the couch and off the internet, the first cleaning priority will have to be the common areas. But first, more blogging.

all work and no craft

I've been feeling terribly guilty about neglecting my craft blog lately, and of course, neglecting my crafts. I know people use work and "life is busy" as excuses for lots of things, but it happens to be true. Okay, so I left work at 5:00 today, but it was the first time all week. When I got home, I caught up on my favoritest, guiltiest pleasure: my stories. I watched the final episode of the OC (what a travesty), and last night's episode of Grey's Anatomy as well (I won't lie, I kinda hoped Meredith would die. What--she's gotten super annoying!). But then I had to go back to a work event, and just got home at 12:30am. Tomorrow I have to go to a meeting at 9am, not for work, but for a board I serve on. Every day has been like this. When, oh when, do I have time to work on my crafts?

I even have a new stash of great fabrics I'm dying to try out. A friend left the country for a two-year stint with the Peace Corps recently, so she gave away a bunch of her stuff, including fabric remnants. If it wasn't so late and I wasn't so tired, I'd post some photos. Tomorrow, maybe.

OH, plus, I made my very first sale. My friends Abby and Sarah bought my hearts onesie for a baby they expect to have in their lives very soon. I've heard requests for frogs and umbrellas, so I've got fun ideas for those new designs. I was planning out a really great idea for a onesie with a spoon & cherry Minneapolis theme, but I just heard a horror story about some college kids who were planning a big midwest conference in Minneapolis and were going to use photos they took of the cherry in the spoon for their conference materials, and just days before the conference got a call from the Walker Art Center that they were breaking the law. OOPS!

So, I realized I should be careful what potentially copyrighted or protected material I use in my crafts. Which got me thinking, can you sell items you made by hand if you used a pattern from someone else? Like, can I sell mittens I knitted if I used a pattern from Stitch N Bitch? What about selling clothes I sewed if I used a purchased pattern? Not that I'm really in the retail business, but this knowledge would come in handy next time I consider entering something like the Craftstravaganza.

Wishful Thinking

*sigh*

Okay, I know it's Minnesota, whatever, but seriously, it's been extra-super-subzero-temperatures out for way too long. I was searching for happier times in my photo album and ran across this picture. The skirt was a DIY project. It's a pillowcase I picked up at a garage sale, cut open, and added an elastic waist.

Now since this is a learning blog, you should know that even though it looks like an AWESOME skirt, this is a project I give myself only a 5 out of 10 on. Here's why: elastic waist. Doesn't really work on most body types. Hella cool print on the pillowcase, though, eh?

IPood

Oh. My. God. My mom emailed me the link to these onesies (thanks Mom!). I am completely enamored. I'm going to have a baby just so I can dress it in these. I wish I would have thought of this! Second place for best baby clothes I've ever seen: a onesie that said "I might puke." Can't remember where I saw it, but that is good stuff.

Knit Out at MOA

I've been regretting my decision not to submit an application to the Saint Paul Craftstravaganza, because it looks like hip craft fairs are pretty hard to come by in the Twin Cities. I keep looking for others, and today I ran across this: a Knit Out & Crochet convention at the Mall of America. Now you might think I'd be jumping for joy, since this event combines two of my favorite things, knitting and the Mall of America. The Adorn Mag blog was gushing about it, all 'oh it's so great, it's the biggest free knit event in America.'

I must be missing something. Apparently there are free knitting tutorials, but if you already are a knitter, what's fun about it? I've been to knit-ins before where people knit to raise awareness for some social justice cause (which you know I love), but what is fun about this thing? While I think the Mall of America may be the greatest place on earth, it's not a place for knitting. Knitting is to be done at laid-back coffee shops with people who can sit in silence together comfortably. Knitting is to be done on the couch in front of the fireplace. The Mall of America is for entertaining all 5 senses, all at once. How would one knit with so much competition for one's sensory attention?

Okay, seriously though. I know some people can knit with a lot of distraction. So maybe knitting at the MOA isn't so bad. But I can still make fun of the highlights of the day:

1. Woof wear: "Doggone" cute sweaters to knit and crochet for your favorite pooch.
2. Live fashion shows: see knitted and crocheted fashions you'd love to wear and CAN make.

Number one is too silly to respond to. As for number two. I know this is blasphemous for a knitter to admit, but I'm skeptical that there are any knitted fashions I'd love to wear. Let us not forget my attempt at knitting a sweater. Knitting is a good hobby, but I have to limit myself to knitting things that I will actually use.

Or maybe I'm just cranky because it's Friday night, my girlfriend's out of town, and daytime windchills have been in the negative double digits for days now in the Twin Cities.