Craftygals Crafty Capers

Our spare bedroom/guest room is also my craft room. Or more my storage room for my craft stuff as it is at the back of the house. So I usually just drag what I'm working on out to the dining room or lounge room so I can see what the kids are up to and spend time with my husband. For a room that gets so little traffic and use, it is a big big mess and we have a visitor coming to stay again in a week.

I need your help!

I really need to organise the room so that everything is accessible but stored away neat and tidy for when we have guests. How do you organise your room or area? What do you find works best, and what doesn't? Any ideas or tips are most welcome. Getting the room in some sort of semi order isn't much of a problem...for the short term. But how can I keep it organised?

In the room there is a queen size bed, a computer desk with spare computer on it, a small fold up sewing desk and a built in cupboard. Under the bed is full of confiscated toys, gym equipment not currently being used and other miscellaneous items. In the cupboard is my craft books and magazines, wool stored in a hanging sweater organiser and a storage box, photo albums, board games other craft items. The cupboard is also used for some of our manchester as we don't have a linen closet. The computer desk spare room on it when I clear the rest of the craft stuff off it and underneath is completely filled with craft supplies. The small sewing desk is pretty much empty except for the drawers which are filled with material, buttons, patterns and other sewing paraphernalia.

If you have any imagination, which if you are reading my little blog I'd say you do, you can  tell the room is pretty packed. Oh and on top of the bed hasn't missed the storage treatment either (YIKES!!!). It has a huge pile of confiscated toys on it too. Hmmm...I notice a recurring theme here. The toys really need to find a new (or old) home.

On further contemplation, I have my first mission for the Craft come Guest room.

Mission 1.

Sort out kids toys into four groups

1. Bin
2. Give away
3. Store away
4. Give back

Mission 2.

Find a new place to store the toys that haven't been earnt back yet.

Mission 3.

Sort out craft stash


I better leave it at that for now until I get the first three missions completed.

Babysitting, sick husband, sick me, new puppy and all the usual life happenings. Doesn't leave much time for anything else does it? But I'm glad to say that I finished the brides dress for my daughters Barbie doll. Except it's no longer a bridal gown lol. I kind of changed my mind about midcalf length. I had made it in a cream colour and just knew that if I made it any longer it just wouldn't look right. It seemed perfect the way it was, so decided to go with my gut instinct and just finish it off where it was. Do you do that too? It may have looked just as good if I had've kept going on it, but I think by the time I'd resized it for the new body sooo many times and had to keep pulling it out (trial and error gggrrrr) that I was just over it and had to finish it or I never would've been happy with it.

Needless to say I pulled some leftover bits of wool out straight away and started playing around with different stitches to see how they looked. Which is all still sitting on my little table next to my armchair since I found a couple new beading books to look through, and got inspired. So out came the beading boxes and bead tray. I'm making a tight twist ndebele neclace with a beaded cabachon, unless I change my mind midway through that as well and turn it into something else lol.

Please tell me I'm not the only one this indecisive, that you change your mind midway through a project too!

Anyhoo...this is the first time I've tried doing a tight twist ndebele and it is actually a lot easier than it looks. The most fiddly bit is knowing how much thread to use and add new thread all the time. Hopefully I will have it finished in time for the local show, and with a little shot of courage, I may just enter it if it turns out alright.

Wish me luck!

Some coasters I made. There were 8 all up. Two gold and two silver beaded ones and four fabric ones that I sewed. The fabric ones are reversibe, black denim  (recycled jeans) and tan/beige on the other. The beaded coasters need to sit on a table cloth or the fabric coasters unless you want to send your coffee flying across the table. Imagine those shows where they'd slide a glass of beer down the bar to a bloke up the far end, that is what they did on my wooden table lol.

I saw beaded placemats in a furniture store similar to these selling for $20 each, and said to mum..."I could make them". I think it was at that very moment that I realised I was obsessed lol. So I went home, pulled out my bead stash and made the four coasters, then the fabric coasters for my sister for christmas. Once I'd finished them I didn't want to give them away. I had really fallen in love with the reversible coasters in particular. The bonus is that I have seen my sister using them instead of hiding them away, so I must've done alright. Even better, they didn't cost me a thing to make. I already had everything I needed hidden away in my many stashes so the cost of materials had already been written off years ago. But if I did have to put a price to the cost of materials, the beaded coasters about $5.00, and the fabric coasters about $1-$2.00. Cost on time....=O Priceless!

I really broke the purse strings on that project hey? lol   What do you think of them? Honest opinions only please, I'm a big girl, I can take it. =P


I'm off to snap some pics of my crocheted bride doll dress and drawn pattern then falling into bed.

Until next time

Keep on Crafting
Craftygal

As I sat down tonight, I was planning on showing you a few photos of some things I have made. So I went through my photo albums (and there are a lot of them) on my computer. I was surprised to find that I haven't taken many photos of my handmade items, and thought "Why not?". I've had a digital camera for years. So it doesn't cost anything to snap a pic and save it to the computer or a disk. Or even one of those portable hard drives or memory sticks. I mean, the digital camera has got to be one of the greatest inventions, well that's just my opinion.

So my new resolution for this month is to take more pictures. Not only of my kids, husband, family, friends, pets...you get the drift, but of what I do as well. Not just the finished project, the actual making of the item as well.

I'm relying on you to remind me to do this. Just a gentle prod or "OI! Get of yer backside and show us what you're up to!" would do fine. In fact, before I head to bed I'll snap a pic of the barbie bride dress I'm (still) making. I didn't get very far with it today. I did spend most of this evening drawing a picture pattern of the bodice, so it will fit the new dolls body though. Progress! Hopefully tomorrow I can finish crocheting that part and move onto the skirt. I'll snap a pic of my chicken scratchings for you too, so you can see what I mean by picture pattern. I know there is a proper name for it, unfortunately at 1am my brain starts shutting down lol.

Until then

Happy Crafting!
Craftygal

Hmmmm.....good question.

There are number of answers to that question. I guess the first answer to that would have to be it was a now or never sort of deal with myself. I'd love to one day sell my handmade items, but I lack the self confidence. There, I admitted it. Outside my family and a few friends, I am a closet crafter. This is me leaping out of my closet and yelling out to the world "I LOVE TO CRAFT!!!"

Anyone that makes anything knows that sometimes you just need a little inspiration and motivation to keep you going.
I offer you that, and hope that you will return the favour. If you're anything like me, you've lost count of how many W.I.Ps (works in progress) or U.F.Os (unfinished objects) you have stored away. I will get them done and I will put myself out here so you can make sure I do...just as soon as I finish the crocheted brides dress for Barbie I started yesterday =P

Until next time

Keep on crafting!

Hi and welcome to all the craft nuts out there!

If you're looking for inspiration, motivation or just about anything else craft related, then feel free to make yourself a cuppa, settle back in your chair and join me.

I'm a bit of a mixed bag when it comes to craft, I'll try my hand at just about anything at least once. In the last few years I've been doing...

• crosstitching
• latchhook
• embroidery
• beading, I won't go into all the different types right here. That would be a list by itself
• scrapbooking
• cardmaking
• kirigami
• origami
• sewing
• quilting, only small things though like dolls quilts
• painting
• crochet, my favourite
• knitting

I've taught myself to do all of these different crafts to some degree or other and am always learning something new. So if I can do it, so can you! You'll never know what I plan on lending my hand to next, because frankly, neither do I!