and I'm back.

I'm here, still thinking, still feeling creative...sometimes. :)  It's been a rather dry spell, but the lovely weather that's come our way is certainly brightening up the creative wheels.  Tomorrow, November begins.  How quickly the year has passed!  In just a few weeks, Cory and I will have been married for half a year.  Time flies when you're having fun--and/or you are busy.

These are all I have to show crafty-wise for the last couple of weeks.  My poor Janome is probably feeling rather neglected at the moment, since I've been in a bit of an uninspired mode and no sewing projects have come to pass.

I've just made this...

to be worn at work tonight for the fun of it...it was a ten minute+glue drying time last minute halloween idea...

and this baby took forever, but turned out lovely.  My plan is to use it for Christmas decor--this plus some paper snowflakes dangling from the loops on the wall?  maybe.  I'd hang it across a fireplace, if we had one. I think I'm going to like crocheting, once I figure out how to do something besides a foundation chain and these loops.

the little bit of crafting

I've been busy.

family, school, work, travel, and a very exciting opportunity for Cory that we're hoping to hear more about soon...

but I've snuck in a little bit of yarn and a crochet hook and, in spite of the fact that I know nothing in crocheting besides laying the foundation chain, I've gotten almost halfway through a rather fun garland.  I bought the yarn on clearance for ninety cents last spring, and I think I'm getting a bit more mileage out of it than I expected.  My few yarn purchases tend to linger in a box for ages and ages.  This is record ball of yarn to project time for me.

I'd post a real picture taken with my real camera but...the phone works, and it's fast, and I'm supposed to be researching a paper for linguistics.  I just need to choose a subject first.

epic.

 

 



Book Sculpture in Prague National Library | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

 

Oh yes.  Would you please take me there?  I would like to live inside.

ventures into the blogosphere: color me katie

super duper awesome cat.  have some smiles for today!

 

 

Color Me Katie: Star Trek Cat.

fall around here

lots of beauty, not too many words...

 

barren river state park.



rock skipping.

 





high hills.



tall grasses.



The leaves are changing at last and the weather is incredibly lovely.  We've finished our grad school entrance exams.  Cory has an exciting job interview/office visit on Wednesday.  I scored satisfactorily on my test and feel ready to get into a grad school program (once I choose one).  The future is approaching ever so rapidly and a lot of it is coming this week!

In the middle of this season of such great change outside, things turning, closing up, and hibernating, we, too, are resting and turning over to a time of preparation, and perhaps some rest, as we ready ourselves for the next section of our lives.  Soon we will both leave college behind for graduate work and starting careers.  I am set to remain optimistic about next spring, when we have to step out into an even bigger world, in spite of all the doomsday talk about the state our nation world is in financially and economically.  Maybe I'm naively optimistic, but I don't see what use bemoaning the state of the universe will do.  I'll stress, I'll worry, I'll have moments where I wonder if I'm good enough, but truth is, I'm going to keep living each day like the world is going to get better.

and now, to reveal the influence of my mother the trekkie...

Have you seen the new Star Trek?  Remember that part where the not-yet-captain Kirk says that he doesn't believe any situation is unwinnable?

Yep.  That's my attitude.  Here I come, grad school!

woooo!

GRE is done.

Off to go get transcripts sent and such.  They're a bit pricey, sadly, but rather necessary.

Also enjoying some quality time with the family and the man.  Pizza at Aunt K's tonight and seeing the Shelbert on her fall break.  Good weekend ahead.  The poor man takes his GMAT tomorrow at EIGHT.  Wish him luck!

 

desired

Sakura Glaze Gel Ink Pen - Gloss White - Pack of 2

 

 

Before christmas, I'm getting these to make pretty gift tags.  I see a trip to Hobby Lobby or Micheal's in my future....

interruptions :: weekly thoughts.

I've promised posts and thought of things and altered my little purses and come again to the same realization I've posted before...I'm making things for all the wrong reasons.  I'm not making things for the pleasure of making or for the joy of giving them away.

So I'm going to close up Etsy except for the Stone's Throw section.  That section needs to remain.  And I'm going to tell people about A Stone's Throw, so maybe we can do something to continue the fund-raiser!

& as I get ready for grad school, maybe even next semester, I'm going to focus my creative energy into a project for the benefit of others--namely, a cause I feel very strongly about that relates directly to A Stone's Throw/Rapha House, but provides shelter and help to girls here in the US.  I'll post about it once I find out if it could even happen...for now, I'd just like to know how many of my readers (aka my family and a couple dear friends!) would be up for making at least one pillowcase sometime before December.

Anyway, my brain is overloaded with GRE prep (disappointing practice test results this morning...), so please pardon my lack of eloquence and coherent thought.  I think I'm going to go browse a bit of Dottie Angel (because she rocks) and think about pretty things until my brain starts to unexplode.

or maybe I should do the laundry...

 

nah.

 

etsy update :: doily clutch purses

#1

#2

find them here

I'll post better pictures once my camera and I get some quality daylight hours together :).  I feel like this happens a lot!

 

Have a lovely friday.

fun found about: poppytalk handmade

more tomorrow.

check it out for yourself tonight

poppytalkhandmade

go see!

dear pencils...

...now that I have pulled you out of my craft supplies, I hope I may eventually draw something worthy of your excellent colors.

But I have to go to work first.

definitely want to do this #7: book page fabric

um, brilliant!

maybe I should just start a category of "awesome design*sponge DIY projects," because there are a lot of them--and most of them I can actually do!

Design*Sponge » Blog Archive » diy project: brenna’s book page fabric

Want to make.

cuddle up in a coat

I adore fall weather.  It's so nice to disappear inside my sweaters (I have quite the collection) and scarves after a long summer of fanning myself as I sit in shorts and a tee.

But I have a little problem.  I get cold extraordinarily fast.  So while Cory's off at class in a tee and a sweatshirt, I'm sitting inside the apt with long sleeves, a thick cotton sweater, and socks, with hands made of ice.

So coats (and other warm articles of clothing) are thoroughly on my mind.  Time for a flickr field trip!

I could use a long-ish jacket like that, though I'm not sure how fond I would be of elbow-length coat sleeves.  Doesn't that sort of defeat the purpose?

This combo could work.

but maybe I really just belong in something like this...

The description from the user goes like this:

"An super cosy arms-inside snow suit. There are internal sleeves that keep your arms folded in front or even behind. Once you're secured inside your friend can snap in the thick backwards nopeep hood and with that pulled up inside the forward hood and those face flaps snapped across you can enjoy a totally enveloping furry enclosure. Great for a long journey or a long night!"

Oh my.

esty update :: the little lacy clutch

Here's the end result of my idea from earlier.

It's fun to make.  I think I'm going to make one for a friend (but I'm not telling which friend because that would ruin the surprise!) later this week.

little lacy doily clutch by kmbutterfly on Etsy

idea in progress

A vintage doily, some muslin remnants, thrifted ribbon, brown embroidery thread found in the basement of my parents' house (probably from my childhood obsession with colonial american middle class culture), and embroidery needles my aunt gave me shall be a clutch purse before the day is over.  That's the plan, anyway.

lately, part 2: making and remaking

my old friend (the macbook) and my new pal (with the freearm sewing set-up)

isn't she lovely?

my first project came from this book

in progress (completed picture to come when it's, well, completed)

&

Inspired by New Dress a Day, this...

minus this...

plus a belt I had became this:

Now the only thing left to do is iron my new tunic top & steam my new dress.

Both were made for the combined total of a few dollars--literally, a few dollars.

and this, friends, is why I love my new sewing machine.  You can expect a gushy post about how much I love it later (maybe, probably not). I don't know how it is with longevity, but I've read good, good things about Janomes, and picked this one because it's a slightly older, factory refurbished model and got good reviews from people who've had the same kind for a couple of years.  I do know that it keeps thread tension well, is easy to thread, and that I really, really like having the free arm (i.e. open underneath) design.  The machine is also pretty quiet and doesn't make to much of that pounding sound that older machines do.  Plus it's lightweight, so I no longer feel like I'm dragging out the sewing machine.

And there you have a gushy post about how much I adore my new sewing machine.

interruptions :: free time

I always feel unsettled when I have free time like I do these days.  I'm not used to it.  I feel like there is something I absolutely should be doing.  I feel like I'm wasting my time when I know all these people who are going places, starting careers, double majoring, and things like that.  It's weird to watch an undisclosed number of reruns of nineties shows, especially because I've never been much of a TV watcher.

So a rather flustered me rattled off about all those funny feelings to a very nice husband who smiled and reminded me to enjoy this time out from the hectic life that's waiting for me as soon as I start grad school.

Well said, love, well said.

Having time is a rare gift in life, it seems.  Cory's right, I need to enjoy having it.  I can use it to work on my dreams, ideas, my craft obsession, my extensive list of books to read...

and I can do so without guilt, because each of those things is actually beneficial, not just to me, but to others.

Time can be easily wasted, but it can easily be well-used.

and sometimes it's best to waste a little time, because who knows when you'll have that luxury again?

just some thoughts.

I've remade a dress, sewn a tunic top, sent off some little presents, and put in a decent number of hours at work this week.  I think I can justly read a book...after I put the laundry away. Who am I kidding, I'll never read if I put it off until then.

fun found about: a giveaway at creature comforts!

Giveaway Time: Eco Deco Kit from Polli - Home - Creature Comforts - daily inspiration, style, diy projects + freebies.

It's so pretty, isn't it?  I'd hang it across a window.  I'd love to make a banner like this, too, in fall colors...and spring...and summer...and I think the blue and white is perfect for winter.