Tuesday, July 10, 2012

on organization

Well, this is organization the crazy way, I guess. Which fits because I'm just a little crazy. Sometimes.

I know that some people who are in my life (Austin and my Mom) are skeptics at the idea of me being "organized". This probably has to do with the wreck that is my truck (to be fair, it is my mobile craft workshop) and my room (so what if I have a hard time keeping my clothes all neat and organized. I can't help that my closet isn't even close to big enough). But when it comes down to the little things I can be slightly crazy.

Let's take my planner for instance. I have a huge, bulky, albeit adorable fancy planner. When I'm in school it's filled to the brim with post-its and scribbles outlining every single thing that could possibly happen that week. I'll use my syllabi from my classes to input every reading, homework, quiz, test and temporary room change that is already assigned, and had color coated flags on the test days that peeked out the top of the planner itself. In TEFB 273 I had people comment on the organized chaos. And it sure helped. I'll edit to add a picture later on.

I've been on this kick of organizing my interests, also. I have these big binders that I use to organize printed ideas, projects, and patterns for crafting and then a smaller (but by no means small) binder that I keep things that I find that are teacher related that I don't want to lose.

Below are pictures from my craft binder. I use patterned scrapbooking paper for the dividers, front and back  covers, etc. I also just use transparent cover sheets to put each project in. This keeps long tutorials seperate from the one page long picture and just helps make browsing through it easier! And just print out the ideas that I want to do, tutorials on how to do them, and patterns that will help me get them done! I'll also be adding my bought clothing patterns into the binder so I can keep them all together. Or I may make an all new binder for them... I don't know yet. You can click the pictures to see larger images.



Link to this blog!
A link to this blog!







And I did the same thing for the dividers and the front cover of of my teacher binder. 





 


I should edit to add that the paper I bought is standard printer sized paper 8"x11". I bought sheets from Hobby Lobby AND Michael's since I have found that assortment of standard sized paper is a lot smaller than that of 12"x12" scrapbook paper. Joann's carries an assortment of paper and I'm sure you can find plenty at stores meant specifically for scrapbooking like Archivers! My paper all ran $0.49+. 


Both of these are works in progress and will be for a while! I have a feeling that I will never feel like they will be complete. I just wanted to share the idea with you! 






Tuesday, July 3, 2012

on learning how to sew!

I've never had the opportunity to actually learn how to sew using a sewing machine, but have always wanted to.

Luckily my sister in law Kim has been sewing for the last 30 years (and she's not much older than that!) and she sews very well I might add... She did all of the alterations on my prom dress which was a feat in itself. Not to mention that she sewed her own wedding dress when she was 18 years old. She got all the materials for about $150... and had it appraised at over $5,000. So, it's fairly safe to say that I have picked the right person to help me learn how to sew... and sew well!

I saw a lot of simple projects involving lace on Pinterest and decided it would be a great start! So, as always, I dove head first into learning something I know literally nothing about!

These are shorts in questions that were in need of a tune up.




With these, I wanted to cover the pockets and the holes in the front!


And I desperately wanted to make these longer. I'm not sure if you've noticed the lack of fabric in the crotch area.... And now that you have, I'm sure you can tell why I wanted to lengthen them. 

We'll start this little adventure with the blue jean shorts.
The first thing she had me do was pin the lace onto the pockets. I cut pieces of lace out that I thought would fit over the pocket, doubled over the edges I would sewing down (to keep the lace from fraying) and the pinned them down!


And then Kim showed me how to sew them down. This involved teaching me how the machine works... I'll save you all that!


I know the top corners look real wonky. The ends were a little hard to work with! I don't have any tips for that... but if someone does let me know! 

Next we covered the holes in the front. 




It was very simple! And the last thing I did was hem the ends of the shorts. These particular ones were long and I would fold them up. So I decided it was finally time to just permanently hem them! Notice the fancy schamncy stitching!


All done! Don't mind my beaky nose. 



Now... onto the second pair! We decided that the best way to lengthen the shorts a little was by adding ruffles! You can never really go wrong with ruffles....

So the first thing she had me to do was to cut the fabric so the finished edge (basically the edge that is the end of the fabric bolt) is on one end! Then she had be sew the strip together, then sew a single thread across the top so we could pull it tight thus creating ruffles!




The hardest part was pinning the ruffled strip into the pants itself. Kim showed me how to pull it tight enough to fit the leg of the shorts and then pin it in. Once we got past that, I just sewed it into the shorts! It took longer than the first project, but was a lot less complicated. For fun, and to tie the white of the ruffles together, we added some lace to the inside of the pockets. 






For those of you who skipped to the end, here are my artsy fartsy instagram photos.








on running

Alright, I figure I should put this out there (even though it should be no surprise) buuuuut I am absolutely no expert on running. Or working out. Or dieting. Or just being healthy in general.

My favorite foods are potatoes and cheese. I cannot eat a single serving of anything to save my life. I may be 5'0" but I can really put food away... and I can do it often!

But six weeks ago I started a program. That helped me learn how to run. I definitely never thought I would say that. I was that kid in Jr. High who would walk 90% of the mile we were supposed to run.
Fast forward to yesterday and I ran for twenty minutes straight. TWENTY MINUTES. I ran 1.75 miles. Without stopping. Now... I'm sure if you've known me long enough you probably think I'm lying. Not to mention I am as surprised as you are that I actually survived. 


I guess what I was trying to get at is that this week marks week 6 of 8 of the Couch to 5K program Austin and I are running together. I definitely recommend it for anyone, even people who have never run (unless it was for their lives) and have ever considering running to be your exercise multiple times a week. 


I've already lost five pounds and am trimming up! Not to mention my little belly pooch is shrinking week by week and I can see improvement even in my tiny frame. Here is the main website for the program itself! As for how I monitor it daily, I just have the free C25K free app and it works great! I would check it out and maybe give it a go. :)

Now, I'm sure everyone is clamoring for more craft posts (not really), but I can assure you they are on the way! I was MIA this last weekend and on a mini vacation with my roomies, and this week I'm expanding my crafitng skills to learning how to sew. I actually start my lessons tomorrow with someone I know who is amazing with needle and thread! So hopefully you'll be seeing some interesting posts on that little adventure!
Not to mention my hardwood floors should be installed soon! As in... my brother is showing me the ropes/helping me learn to install them myself!

Have a great week!