spending

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Sewing Space Re-Vamp

December 21, 2008 in creating, sewing, spending | No comments

I’ve been busy putting finishing touches and finishing Christmas gifts. They are already wrapped–I forgot to take photos. I promise I will get better at that.

Remember the photo jewelry from a while back? Well it was causing all sorts of fits last night. I managed to spill the goo all over my workspace and then had to wash my hands 800 times to get the feeling of them being super-glued to go away. This morning when I got up I was brushing my hair pre-shower. Opps! There was a chunk of hard plastic in my hair. Eric suggested I just use conditioner in the shower–he didn’t realize what was up right away. Thankfully, it wasn’t a big area and it was around my face, so I just have a few more layers. I’m most thankful the cats didn’t get covered in the goop. They like to be in the middle of EVERYTHING. Maybe I’ll have to start shutting them out of the studio…

I rotated the desk in my studio and now it works sooo much better. I have a dedicated area for the machine and a large area for cutting, layout, general putzing around. Here’s the new look.

I was working on the scarf from Stitch. It is not as cute as the photo–though they look exactly the same. I think the issue is I purchase polyester, not silk. Gotta love trying to help out the ole budget. Oye vey. I also made a tissue holder–but alas it was wrapped and is awaiting being shipped at the moment. Needless to say, I enjoyed many of the projects in Stitch. It also makes me realize how visual I am. I still have issues with the directions–i.e. they don’t make sense until the 20th time I read them. I guess diagrams are my friend. I look forward to the next issue.

In other news, I finally–just now–managed to link my Twitter and Facebook accounts. Thanks much to Lauren, aka Stellaloella for her help. And this blog for the visuals.

A week ago Tuesday, the third graders let me tag along on their field trip to Lawrence Hall of Science. They studied slime in relation to liquids, gases, and solids. It was my first trek to Berkley and I’m in love. Check out the view from the building.

Well, I’m off to see if I can salvage any of the photo goop mis-hap and then off to see an a cappella group caroling, lunch, and checking out Christmas lights tonight!

Peace,

Katy ^_^

Spending

February 7, 2008 in spending | 2 comments

Why do people buy stuff? Lately Oprah has been helping people reclaim their homes from clutter. (I’m looking at Oprah.com because her demographics are similar to the demographics of the customer my company attracts.) One family had 75 tons of clutter in their home! 75 freaking tons!!

I grew up with a local charity calling weekly for a pick-up and generally we had a garbage bag or two of donations for them to pick up. It seemed the norm to me. Something in. Something out. I used to be disappointed in this because I don’t have any of those cool bell bottom pants or go-go boots from the 70s that my mom stowed away. But I didn’t really give it another thought.

Then, google reader popped up this blog for a family that is not buying anything for a year. I realize this idea isn’t new. What did catch me off guard was the matriarch’s comment:

“I often feel, (felt?) that most of the things that I bring into my house are only being rented not bought. I buy stuff. Bring it home. And then a year later, sometimes sooner, I put it back into bags and bring it to Goodwill. What a waste. Not only of money, but my time and energy. ”

How true is this? I can name a few items I’ve “rented” in the past year. I can also name a several items I’ve had for ages and love. I find it interesting that the items I’ve “rented” are usually cheap or on-sale. The items I keep are items that are higher quality. Yet, in spite of knowing this, I tend to gravitate to the cheaper items in the stores because it seems better for the family budget. Thankfully, Eric refused to let me shop at a less-expensive grocery store because he saw their pre-processed food as toxic. We may spend a bit more on groceries now, but want to eat out less, which saves money, because we are actually enjoying what we are eatting from the grocery store.

Maybe I’m interested in this subject because I’m in week 6 of the Artist Way and the topic is money–and treating your “inner-artist”. Speaking of which, I bought a friend in NYC. Her name is Maud (pronouced “Mod”). I’ll show you photos soon.

Hrm, hrm, hrm indeed.

Any thoughts?

^-^Katy