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It is SO DARN HOT!

We hit 114 today. Silly me, I went out in it. Honestly, just opening the front door is like walking into an oven. The only thing that could be worse is if there were a breeze. When it gets this hot, the "breeze" just almost takes your breath away.

I drove 3 miles to JoAnn. Even driving on surface streets, the van didn't cool off by the time I got there. I didn't take surface streets going home. I hopped on and off the freeway. Anything to get back into the house 1 minute faster if possible.

All the while, all I could think of was our troops who went to Iraq--120 degree temperatures and wearing battle armor. I don't know how they stood it.

I found a few useful things at bargain prices. I shopped Amazon for a thread organizer/holder and came to the conclusion I'd have to build one. BUT, I found one today for under $15. That is about 1/4 of the amount for anything of similar size on Amazon. I doubt it's as sturdy as what I would have built, but it will certainly be a time saver. I also found a case designed to store bobbins. My machine is so old that the bobbins I found were on clearance. I planned on getting more of them but I got the last 2 of them for $.97. I found fusible interfacing on sale at $.50 a yard. Now that's certainly not the best quality, I'm sure, but it'll work for what I have in mind. I bought a bit more fabric, enough for two more dresses. Also, they had all their McCall's patterns on sale for $1 each! Amazing! So I got a few.The only other thing I bought was some remnants.

Remnants used to be marked down, just because they were remnants. They don't do that anymore. But they were on sale half price and a few were half off the half price! I will finally have some pillows on the living room couch, and very pretty pillows at that, for cheap, cheap, cheap.

Well, I've made some progress today. Took on another pile of paper and got rid of about half of that one. LOTS more with which to deal. I spent part of my sewing time on moving the thread from the box top in which it was sitting onto the new thread organizer. I did get the armhole bindings attached and one is top stitched. I may get the other one topstitched before I give up for the night.

The kitchen doesn't look much better. I did run the dishwasher. And, I've made some more progress on getting the glue/labels off those darned jars. What a project that has turned into.........

I've gotten all the perfume bottles sorted in the master bathroom. By tomorrow, it might actually be all organized and set up. That will be a relief.

Well, that's about it for today. I'll be up for a while longer, but I doubt there'll be much more to report. See ya on the flip side.

 

 

Fighting back.........

I am so darned tired of the head/neck/shoulder thing. I woke up feeling okay, but as the morning has progressed, it's not so okay. I have decided to try what I used to do during a bad back flare up. I would stay up for several hours, then go lie down for an hour or two, then get up and stay up for several hours, and so on. Well, since the neck feels better when I first get up, that sounds like it just might be a decent treatment option. I've been up for about 2.5 hours and somewhere around 3 hours, I'm headed to lie down. In between, I'm going to be dosing myself with ibuprofen. We'll come out victorious over this mess yet!

So, what to do with today? Well, first, church, of course. The desk is still a priority. Sorting and filing and pitching paper. HATE THAT!

I also need to get back into shredding. I've got at least 8 inches of paper piled up to shred and I still have several filing cabinet drawers to work thorugh.

Today, I'll work on that little dress I'm making. I want to brag on the fabric I'm working with. Of course, I preshrunk everything. There are actually two fabrics, one a pink floral, and one is white polka dots on green. They are both from a fabric line called Tutti Fruitti. Years ago, we would have called this a plise'. Heaven only knows what it's called these days. Anyway, I have to tell you that it washes up like a dream. Virtually wrinkle free. And, I got it on sale for less than $5 a yard, so you can't ask for much better than that. What's left to do? Most of it, actually. Two bias strips to be attached at the armholes. Attaching a casing for the ribbon/straps at the neckline. Making the ribbon/straps. Gathering the homemade ruffle and attaching it to the bottom. And, I think that's it except for a bunch of top stitching. Truly, if my home were in good shape, I think I could whip all that out in about two hours. But, as it is, I need to work on the house as well. So, it's sew a seam or two, do something else, sew a seam or two, and like that.......

I'm calling myself DONE with the Hall Bath for now. Everything is clean in there.

Kitchen needs work. Mostly put away stuff and try to find the countertops.

I don't really NEED to do a load of laundry, but my bed could use to be stripped and the sheets washed.

I'm almost done with finding new homes for the perfume bottles. Next, it will be a concerted effort to get rid of all the left behind bits and pieces on the countertop in the Master Bathroom.

And, of course, there are all my "usuals", tagging, design, advertising, and e-mail deleting. I've managed to stay even on the inbox the last couple of days, which is no small feat, but I need to get ahead, not stay even. Got to keep plugging away at this.

Sometime today, I have to make a milk run. I ended up having to use some evaporated milk in this morning's frappuccino. Maybe I'll go to El Cheapo. I think it's their week for special pricing on milk. I got to prowling around in the freezer the other night, looking for something "different" to eat. I happened upon 3 Italian Sausage links. I fried those up and heated up some spaghetti sauce and that ended up being dinner and lunch the following day. Along the way, it occurred to me that sausage is legal and a good source of protein on a low carb diet. So, I may try to buy some more Italian sausage and maybe some Kielbasa at El Cheapo. It's quick to fix and tasty. Why not?

We are headed for a high today and tomorrow of 114. Phew! HOT, HOT, HOT. I sometimes wish I lived on the coast somewhere way far north of here............

I have a 40% off coupon for JoAnn's to spend today. Given the heat, I will most likely have to fight with myself to make the trip. But I really want to try this interfacing ironed onto pattern pieces idea. I have three more jars to clean up and then I'll be all set to start sorting buttons.

As you know, I've been donating stuff like crazy since the great house clean up started. Some stuff is not worth donating so it hits the trash. I was trying to iron a silk shirt the other day and it ripped. This time, before I threw the shirt away, I removed 11 buttons which I'll be adding to my stash. That is going to happen a lot more often from now on. Also, I am going to look at stuff to see if it can be cut down to make something cute for little girls. I didn't want to do that with silk--can you imagine the care that would require when worn by someone who plays outside and splashes in water and spills food multiple times a day........

I was going to show you some of the really neat clothes/patterns I've found online for little girls. However, it's time for me to give my neck a rest. Maybe later. YOU be BLESSED today.

Miserable day........

Well, the morning wasn't too bad, but by noon, the headache was back. It is still with me......

Nevertheless, I have managed to accomplish some things.......

I've waded through more of the paper on the desk. I've managed some work on the dress--side seams are finished and the seams are pressed and zigzagged. Next up is the binding on the armhole edge and one of those is pinned and ready to sew. The hall bath has now been cleaned from end to end. The kitchen still needs work, but it's improving. I've taken care of that load of laundry. I got into those two additional boxes I found. I thought they were full of health and beauty stuff. Wrong........

I had a bit of trouble getting the sewing machine going. It's been years since I've touched it and it is certainly an "antique" by now. I purchased it decades ago. It has held up remarkably well. I'd recommend it to you, but.......... I was looking at new machines at JoAnn's the other day, just because I was there and the machines were there.......... (Couldn't believe the prices!) The sales lady says the current Singer company is not the same company as it was years ago when I bought this machine. Although they sell Singer, she recommended several other brands over Singer. I was shocked, but........

I think the bulk of the trouble I had was simply because I've forgotten how the old girl works. In any case, she's humming along quite nicely (if slowly) now.

It turned out that those two boxes did not contain health and beauty stuff. One box has some drapery fabric. The other contains a lot of perfumes. I packed them up when I got sick and tired of dusting them. I've found a place for them on a lower shelf of the cabinet. I wanted to make sure they were not exposed to light as that's bad for perfumes and it will be a long while til I can buy more. I don't want it spoiled.

I managed to get most of the preview I lost reconstructed. I had to remake one paper, but that's done now. By tomorrow, I should be able to continue on with the design.

As to those jars, the olive oil works. It isn't a quick fix, but it works. In most cases, I've scraped away whatever I could with a knife and then rubbed the olive oil on over the remaining glue. The longer it sits that way, the better it seems to clean up. It takes some vigorous rubbing, but finally, the stuff is coming off. That idea, the oil, came from Pinterest. I never would have thought of it on my own so I'm grateful I found that. Soon we'll be sorting buttons by color, all organized and neat looking.

I spent a lot of time on Pinterest looking at sewing stuff. Some of the cutest patterns I've seen anywhere are being designed by private individuals. So sad that if the big pattern companies can't match them in good designs, they can't at least imitate them. The thing I don't like about these patterns is that you have to print them out and tape them together. So much margin for error in all that......... I did find a few patterns that I think I can use and they were free. If that works out it will save some expense that would have to be attributed to the finished pieces.

I also love that folks are reusing fabric for children's clothes. I've seen any number of cute dresses for little ones, made over from men's shirts. And tee shirts with fabric ruffles added to them to make the cutest dresses. I pulled a black tee shirt out of my closet the other day. After looking at it, I decided there was at least 6 extra inches of fabric on each side--I've lost that much weight. I was going to donate the tee shirt, but now I think I may see what I can make from it.

That's it for tonight. I'm going to go sink my aching shoulders, neck, and head into a tub of hot water and see if that will relieve the pain. Goodnight......

 

Trying again........

Yesterday was one of those days I'd rank as unsuccessful. I'm blaming it on my head/neck/shoulder pain. I could perhaps have done more, but I sure didn't "feel" like doing more. So, I'll try to make today a more productive day..........

I'm still messing with the desk. It still needs a lot of work. However, I have one comfort. When I handle that piece of paper (pick one, there are hundreds) this time, I won't need to handle it again.

I'll be working on that dress today. It should go together pretty quickly.

Yesterday, I scrubbed out a trash can and scrubbed the lid as well. That baby is moving into the sewing/junk room. It's been sitting in the tub in the hall bath. (I told you NO ONE uses it!) I parked it there when I was doing my marathon carpet cleaning when Max got sick. Now, it's ready to use and I can clean that tub.

The kitchen is barely passable. I picked at putting things away last night but didn't do a thorough job of it so I'll get that all wiped down today.

I have a load of dry laundry to deal with. Most of it will need ironed. So, carrying it from the dryer to the ironing board shouldn't be much of a challenge!

I THINK I have unearthed two more boxes of health and beauty stuff to unpack and put away in the master bathroom. Will I ever be finished with this stuff? I'm beginning to wonder.

And then there's the usual: tagging stuff in ACDSee, Design, Advertising, and deleting e-mail.

THAT ought to keep me out of trouble today..........

The head/neck/shoulder thing is some better today. I need it GONE!

I am trying an experiment. I've mentioned before that I have these really cute jars I'd like to use for button storage in the sewing/junk room. The major problem with them is the way the labels have been glued on. I swear that stuff is just awful. I've soaked the jars in HOT water. I've put them through the dishwasher. I've tried nail polish remover. I've tried rubbing alcohol. I'm on my last home remedy--oil. I searched on pinterest and found several people who had pinned the idea of using cooking oil, olive oil, and peanut butter for this purpose. Well, I've tried everything else so I have a bunch of jars sitting/laying around the kitchen, with the ooey-gooey side coated in olive oil. I've dealt with one jar since I applied the olive oil. It does not remove the glue. But it DOES make it infinitely more scrapable. I've been using a kitchen knife and that worked pretty well. I now have one clean glass jar to add to my collection. I've got at least 4 or 5 more laying around. Cross your fingers for me. I do not want to spend money on Goo Gone. I do not want to buy containers when I have oodles of these jars and I really like the way they look. I'm really hoping I can make this work........

Well, that's it for now. YOU be BLESSED today!

Nothing according to plan.........

I planned to go to bed at midnight and I did. That's where the plan went afoul. I got back up at 2am. I had prayed for every one I know personally, people I know through the internet, ministries I support, and so on and I still had not gone to sleep. So I came out here and prowled around the intenet a bit and wrote my CT update. By then, I knew I'd be getting up late and thought writing my CT update would at least knock one thing off my to do list for today. Finally, around 4, I went back to bed. At 7:30AM, I was back up for about 45 minutes. Then I went back to bed. And, now, here it is, just past noon and I'm sitting here in my nightgown! Not an ideal finish/start to a day.

I cut out the little dress I'm working on somewhere between 2AM and 4. Good thing it's not a complicated one. Also a good thing I'd already discovered that there was a pattern piece missing or I'd have thought it was just the timing that had me going. Anyway, I can sew a seam or two today. I do still need to clip notches before I start.

It was 90 degrees outside this morning at 2AM. Can you believe it? Sun went down around 8 and 6 hours later it was still 90 degrees! Now it's 104 and we're headed for a high of 115. Joe used to do something I truly hated. He'd open the west side door (with a 9-panel window) and hang a towel over the window. Of course, there went a good bit of natural light and it truly looked pretty bad. I wanted to think it wasn't necessary. After all that's an insulated door with dual pane windows and a solar screen. However, I think I'll be trying it today!

It seems to me that somewhere in my sewing future is finishing off some curtains for this room. I have the fabric. Just need to sew them together. I even have the lining fabric. Yup, that sounds like a worthwhile cause.......

So, a good part of my usual "day" is gone. What will I work on with what's left?

Well, the desk........ I've kinda restacked the piles of paper so that it looks neater, but now I need to do some serious sorting, pitching, filing.

I'm going to see about sewing some part of this little dress together. It's gonna be so cute y'all. It makes my heart sing just to look at the fabric pieces!

I still need to do the tub and the floor in the hall bath. No one ever uses that tub, but you can bet it's dusty.......

The priority project for the kitchen is to find those darned drill bits so I can get that slider fixed.

I have a load of laundry in the washer that needs to be dried, folded, hung, and put away.

I have one final bit of my 50,000 lipsticks to get put away. That will amuse me in the Master Bathroom.

I did a double water last night. As a result, Mr. WebPaws has brought in lots of bits of dirt. I need to run the vacuum cleaner through all the parts of the house to which he has had access: office, living room, dining room, entryway, and hall.

And, of course, there's the usual tagging, designing, advertising, and deleting e-mail. I went to show the CT my progress on the new version of the "firsts" kit in my weekly update only to have Photoshop lock up on me and I lost my working preview. So, I'll have to rebuild that, for starters.

I still have some eye candy with the scouting/camping kits. Let me show you some:

This page has NOTHING to do with camping or scouting. But it sure makes excellent use of the neutral papers from On My Honor as well as the stars and messy stitching. Laurie did this layout and I think it really works well. LOVE how she used the stars for her bit of journaling!

Christy did this layout. She and her family recently took a trip to Florida. They were not prepared for the heat and the humidity they encountered! On this particular day they decided to rest and cool off by riding the train around Busch Gardens. Great photos on this layout. Makes me want to go there. I love the way Christy does multi-photo layouts. Christy always does an excellent job on her journaling. If you want to read it (I KNOW you can't read it here, LOL), you can find this layout here: http://www.acherryontop.com/gallery/type/digital/174802-serengeti-railway

Well, I'm going to see what I can accomplish with this "short" day. YOU be BLESSED today!

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My "daily load"

Quite a day........

I have a mysterious benefactor.......

Someone, I have no idea who, has fixed that sprinkler in my yard! I don't know what to say. I'd say "thank you", a very heartfelt "thank you", but to whom would I say it? Looking at it, I can see that whomever has actually dug the thing out, fixed it, and replaced the dirt they dug out. I'm so grateful.

This is the second time something like this has happened. Years ago, we had to have a tree cut down in the back yard. We were left with a stump a couple of feet high. Punkin had great fun stripping the bark off of it, but the rest was still there. One day, months after Joe had died, I realized the stump was gone. Someone had obviously come into the yard and ground that thing down to below ground level. I couldn't say thank you then either......... Nor could I figure out who would be brave enough to do that with a German Shepherd, a pitbull mix and a labrador loose in the backyard where they would be working.

I do have to tell you that sewing was so much more fun back when they gave you all the pattern pieces. Yes, I'm telling you the truth. I bought a pattern from a major pattern manufacturer and it's missing a piece. I've gone through all the pattern pieces at least 4 times. I walked away from it once and came back later, thinking that a fresh eye would help. Nope. One time, I even read off (aloud) the numbers printed on all the pattern pieces. I thought maybe I was seeing it but not seeing it, if you know what I mean. So I read all the numbers aloud, figuring I'd recognize "four" when I heard it. Well, I didn't hear it; it's simply NOT there.

Thank goodness it will be an easy piece to fake. It's just a rectangular shaped piece which when assembled will form a ruffle for the bottom of the dress. So, if I measure the width of the dress at the bottom and cut a piece or two pieces that come to double the width, and maybe about 3 inches wide, I should be able to fake it. But, with patterns selling these days for $12 and up, I really would think they should include all the appropriate pieces and I shouldn't have to fake it.

Another disappointment in my day was the arrival of the containers I ordered for storing the 50,000 lipsticks. I measured the height of a lipstick tube before ordering. They are about 3.75 inches high. I ordered 6 containers that were 4 inches high. Yeah, well. What I got was 2 containers 4 inches high and 4 containers that are not as high. To make matters worse, the 4 inches is to the very top of the container, not the actual usable space. So, the lid eats up about 3/8 of an inch of that height. So, to make a long story short, I cannot stand the lipsticks in there and put the lid on.

I did something today I've needed to do for almost 3 months. Right after I came home from the hospital, the lightbulb in the fixture at the back end of the hallway, right by the laundry area, burnt out. I did not want to climb to fix it so I've been operating back there with inadequate light. It's not too bad in the daytime as I have left the hall bathroom door open and that sheds some light into the hallway, but at night, it's another story. But, today, I made the climb and I now have some light in that area. Of course, you know that the only place I have as many functional bulbs in a light fixture as should be there is over my desk. Otherwise, whether there should be 2 or 3 or 4, there is only one. I haven't wanted to spend the money on more light bulbs or on a higher power bill. So, when one bulb goes out, it's a problem. Thankfully, the problem is reduced now.

Well, I have dragged all the trash to the curb including a stack of boxes. And, you can almost call my desk functional. I haven't done anything in the sewing room today, just messed about trying to find that missing pattern piece. I did do a bit more work in the hall bath. The kitchen looks better. A load of dark clothes has been washed. And I spent some time in the master bath in my abortive attempt to store those stupid lipsticks. I've weeded through a bunch of e-mails, but I'm faced with the sure and certain knowledge that tomorrow, being Friday, the e-mail I receive will double and I'll be just as far behind as I was early this morning. I've also done some tagging.

So, the day has not gone as well as I'd hoped early this morning. I may get a bit more done tonight but not much, I think. We'll see if tomorrow goes any better........

Oh, here's a "fun" story. When I left the hospital, they prescribed a blood thinner. I had a coupon for the first month's supply. When I went to refill the prescription, the cost was $275 for 30 pills. Well, it was simply out of the question. I haven't refilled it. Today I got a mailer from a Canadian pharmacy advertising what great rates they had on various medications. I looked up that prescription and, indeed, it's "only" $265. Yeah, a major savings of $10 a month. That'll help a lot. To make it even crazier, you have to order a 90 day supply. Let me jump right on that........ let's see 3 x $265 is $795. Yup, pocket change for sure!

Oh, I ran across a fabulous idea on the sewing side of life. It wouldn't matter much unless you intend to use a pattern more than once which indeed I do. Here ya go: Iron fusible interfacing to the pattern pieces. You know patterns are made of the flimsiest possible paper. The paper tears if you look at it more than twice. But, it should wear for a very long time with fusible interfacing attached to the pieces. I have a 40% off coupon for JoAnn this weekend and I think I know what I'm going to use it for........

Well, that's it for now. I doubt I'll be back anymore tonight. Sleep well.

 

Where am I going?

Well, actually, I'm not "going" anywhere. Probably the better question would be "What am I doing?" What am I doing today?

Today, the containers I ordered for the 50,000 tubes of lipstick should arrive. Cannot wait to get those all put away in an organized manner so I can get the temporary containers in which I've housed them put away and off my counter.

I have a load of dark clothes ready to go into the washer.

The desk. Well, really, this should be one of those perpetual projects. If I were "normal", I'd never even have to think about it, much less write it down. However, it goes on my checklist because I don't function "normally".

Today, I will finally pin down the pattern pieces for the dress I want to make for my DGD. I can't wait to actually get started on it. BUT, I have to keep working on cleaning up that room too. At least one round of time spent in there has to go to decluttering and organizing. That's my rule!

I got about halfway through the hall bath yesterday. Aiming for the second half today.

I ran the dishwasher yesterday. It was stuffed as full as I could make it. Then I emptied it. I already have a pretty good collection of dirty dishes to load in there because I couldn't fit them in yesterday's load.

I found a drill last night. I found an electric drill, not a rechargeable one. Next will be an all out search for drill bits! If I find them with relative ease, and figure out which is the right one to use, I just might be able to get that kitchen cabinet fixed today.

Today is drag the trash to the curb day so my leaning tower of boxes will be significantly reduced before nightfall. The small trash cans in the bathrooms and bedroom are overflowing again......

And, I have my usual stuff to do--advertising, e-mail deleting, tagging in ACDSee, and Design. I ended up last night having to re-upload one of the files for this week's release. Seems the file got corrupted somehow on its way to the store. For today, it's a toss up--work on the "firsts" kit or work on revamping an older kit that I want uploaded by Sunday. I am trying to do these uploads a week early so I don't have so much last minute stress..........

In the continuing saga of where Punkin sleeps, we had another episode last night. You remember that she always slept with Joe and me, at the foot of the bed, right in the center. Until a week or so, I had only been able to get her to sleep with me on nights we had t-storms or fireworks, a total of 3 times in almost 2.5 years.

Then one night a couple of weeks ago, I asked her if she wanted to go "night night" with me and she did. I was a little cramped because of the place she plopped down, but eventually she moved a bit and things worked out.

The next time she went in there with me, she plopped down RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF MY SPOT. I tried getting her to move but it was just utterly useless. She pretty much pretended I didn't exist. I lasted about an hour, trying to sleep on the "wrong" side of the bed, and then got up and put her out.

I haven't invited her into the bedroom since. But, last night, when I tried to close the bedroom door, she pushed on it and wanted in. I let her in, figuring I could put her out if I needed to. How odd that she wanted in badly enough to push her way in! I got ready for bed and found her smack dab in the middle of my spot again! I tried repeatedly to coax her to the other side of the bed but she was having none of it. However, I went over to my side of the bed and pushed hard on her butt and she moved over! So, I'm wondering what tonight will bring..........

I did something last night that I hope will be worthwhile. I ended up cutting apart an old dust ruffle. It was an eyelet dust ruffle, and it was sized for a king sized bed. I carefully worked my way around the whole base (the flat part that lies on the box spring) cutting apart the eyelet and the base. No doubt at some point I will want to make another dust ruffle, so the base may come in handy. And, I can recycle the eyelet on a child's dress or two. I replaced this dust ruffle because a dog (Lord knows which one, but I nominate Parker) had chewed out a corner of the eyelet. I cut that out of what I saved and I still have a lot that is usable. Other than that one corner, it's in fine condition. I mean, really, how much wear and tear does a dust ruffle get?

It's getting late. I need to post some eye candy and then scurry off.

Christy did this layout. She used the denim flowers from Best Man for the Job. The papers and other elements are from On My Honor Too. I count at least 8 paper layers! Wow. A designer's dream. I love when the team finds ways to give you a closer look at the papers. I should mention that the little girl scout graphics have a texture on them very similar to the texture you see on the solids in this kit. I wanted to make 'em match up, LOL. Love the design on this and those denim flowers from BMFTJ work great with this kit!

This beautifully "painted"/blended layout is by Carla. Love the photo and it works great with the very neutral background paper from On My Honor and the trees from the kits. Gorgeous page!

Laurie created this page. I got a real kick out of the photo. That sure makes sense to me. Love the bright colors used here and the ribbon frame used to frame out her journaling. The double border of acrylic hearts and the little sticker strips of color work great too! Good work, Laurie!

Well, that's it. I MUST get going. YOU be BLESSED today.

 

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Ready for a new day.........

Late lunch..........

I'm not totally sure where the morning went. Well, actually that's not true. I was doing some "research" on Pinterest. Yeah, looking at pins for sewing blogs and blogs with organizational tips. That kind of "research" takes a while (translation: you get hooked and dig around in there for way too long).

I now have a few ideas for other sewing stuff that I need to organize. I saw one idea for buttons in Mason jars. Well, yes, I could buy Mason jars. Walmart sells them. But I think the only thing that would matter to me would be that the jars match. Besides if I went to Walmart and bought Mason jars, it's almost a certainty that I'd be hit by the canning bug. I'd be making jams and jellies and when I finished all that up, I still would need Mason jars for the sewing room.

I've been buying instant coffee, for the morning frappuccinos, in these really interesting jars. They're tall and kind of slender and squared off, with yellow plastic lids. I've kind of quit buying that brand of instant coffee, but I think I can talk myself into buying more. Buttons in those jars, with the buttons sorted by color, should work. I learned a long time ago to ditch the cards the buttons come on and just run some thread through all the matching buttons and tie the thread in a knot. You find one button you like, you find them all!

I crawled around Amazon the other evening, looking for thread organizers or something that would double for that. If I wanted it, I couldn't afford it. Most of the stuff I saw I didn't want--no easy way to see the thread, too small, and so on. I found a DIY project on Pinterest that I like a lot. Let me show you......

That comes from http://creativehomemakers.blogspot.com/2011/01/sewing-thread-holder.html

There's not much in the way of instructions there. But, really, it's a simple box with cross pieces inserted. She does say that the finished measurements are 31 1/2 x 23 1/2. And that she made it from 1x4's cut in half lengthwise--you don't need much depth to hold a spool of thread! Home Depot or Lowe's will cut the wood to size.......... And, it's not going to have to bear any real weight so you don't have to worry about backing it or reinforcing it. Just a simple box with shelves. You could do a real unprofessional job of it and just nail those shelves in from the outside. Not enough weight on them  to require screws. She pounded nails in to hold her bobbins because she likes to keep her bobbins with the matching thread. I could make something like this work though I'd have to rig a fabric cover to it. Otherwise, over just a little time, all the thread would be dusty! Oh, by the way, she states this baby will hold 128 spools of thread!

Here's another great idea I ran across, though actually doing it is a LONG TIME in my future. Every one who sews needs a large flat surface to layout fabric and cut. And, wouldn't it be wonderful if, somehow, that surface included storage? Look at this:

You can find this here: http://mimigoodwin.blogspot.ca/2013/03/my-perfect-diy-cutting-table.html#.Uctap5xtsuc

That is made by placing two "Tarva" dressers (from Ikea) back to back and laying a piece of plywood, with batting and a fabric cover, over the top. 12 drawers for storage!!!!!!!!!!!!! Now, one reason this is a LONG TIME in my future is time. I'd have to take a day, drive to LA (my closest Ikea store), buy the dressers and get them loaded up, drive back home, hire a couple of day laborers to unload them and drag them in the house. Then I'd have to go to Lowe's or Home Depot (right now, I avoid Home Depot except in the case of extreme emergency) to purchase the plywood and put it all together. That would be 3 days or more....... Another reason is the cost. Her total cost for this baby is $365. Now, to be honest, if you went to buy a purpose-made piece of furniture like this, you'd probably be looking at cost of $1500 and up. So, $365 is a bargain--unless, of course, you don't have $365. But, it is an idea to keep in mind for the future.........And a darned good idea too.

Honestly, those are the only new ideas I've come up with that I like for a sewing room. I saw so many sewing rooms that just left me cold. Some were incredibly frou-frou. Kinda like someone had more fabric than they ever knew what to do with and so they made little fabric covered whatevers which they placed EVERYWHERE through the room. WAY TOO DISTRACTING for my little ADD brain.

Some were filled with thousands of dollars of purpose-built furniture. Like I'm gonna buy any of that stuff. NOT likely.

And the rest were stuffed to the gills with so much stuff........... Stuff in 50,000 different kinds of containers, all stacked on top of each other. I cannot imagine being able to function efficiently when you have to dig to the bottom of a stack of boxes, 10 high, to get to what you want. I'd lose it in those rooms. I really would. I'd walk in there and never be able to accomplish anything. Again, the whole ADD thing. No way, Jose'!

I found one other idea I'm going to share with you. Now, honestly, there are all sorts of "crafts" on Pinterest to do with toilet paper rolls. And I don't think I've EVER made a "craft" with toilet paper rolls. IF I ever did, I'm sure I banished the memory by the time I was 12. However, I think I actually found something functional that I would consider making.......

This idea comes from Auntpeaches.com. All she's done here is stand a bunch of toilet paper rolls on end inside of a prettified shoe box. How easy is that? They're not even secured in place, just standing in that box, close enough together to hold each other upright. The toilet paper rolls are supposed to all be trimmed below the level of sight of the box. And she's stored pens and pencils in there.

I think I told you a few days ago that I had spent considerable time sorting through pens, pencils, felt tips, sharpies, highlighters, etc. And even though I pitched a bunch, I still have an overload. And that's just what I found in two drawers in the office. Only God knows how many more are scattered throughout the house. Something like this box would help me corral them all. Now that would be just grand!

I did get some other work done this morning. I deleted about 100 e-mails, printed out labels for a package I need to mail and taped the box up (still need to attach the labels), cleaned up some of the bits and pieces left behind on the countertop in the master bath, found a place to hang those two jackets that need to go to the cleaners, determined that the dress that was hanging with the jackets needs a repair (about 5 stitches) and put it in the laundry basket I've designated for mending, cleared off more of the surface of the desk, and prepared the dreaded spreadsheet and uploaded it.

So, not too bad, so far. Well, it's bazillion degrees in this room which means I am headed to the east end of the house for a couple of hours til the worst of it is over. Later..........

General clean up day.........

I have designated today as a general clean up day. I have had this major project going on in the bathroom. There are bits and pieces of leftover stuff to deal with. That happens today.

I still have 3 pieces of hanging clothes in the laundry area. Need to find a "home" for two pieces that need to go to the cleaners (might have money for that when it cools down, the power bill comes down, and the water bill comes down). The third piece may need to be laundered and ironed again...... Will figure that out after I look it over carefully.

The desk.........well, I have decided to consolidate piles and work my way through one big pile instead of fooling around with multiple piles. That, at least, will give me a work surface.

I hauled 5 big (copy paper sized) boxes out of the sewing room yesterday. I will ditch the 3 or 4 additional boxes I found and hide those empty boxes in the garage "for now". I RARELY throw away copy paper boxes because they are so stackable and come with lids. Lots of uses for those! Right now all these boxes are stacked in the hall and the pile is taller than me!

I finished the dusting in the master bedroom yesterday. So, today, instead of dusting, I'm going to take a run on the hall bathroom. It's rarely used, but I'm sure I can find a few things that need cleaned in there.

I added the kitchen to the list yesterday. Really, I cannot skip the kitchen. It's just a big mistake to even consider it. I will try to squeeze a few more items into the dishwasher, run it, and wipe down counter tops, etc. Just the regular "daily" maintenance (if you don't skip it for a few days, LOL).

I have two more advertising sites I can post my kits to. Will get that done today. And then, possibly post some layouts to the sites I hit yesterday.

E-mail......... I cleaned out a good 50 items yesterday and have been deleting as more have come in and my total e-mails is going up. How is that possible? Obviously, I need to spend time on this.

I'm skipping unzipping today. I have LOTS of files unzipped that need to move to their new homes and get tagged. I'll use my unzipping time for tagging. And, believe me, doubling my tagging time won't make a dent, LOL.

As far as design is concerned, my first priority has to be a spreadsheet that is required when uploading to SBE. I did the upload days ago and totally spaced the spreadsheet. Ugh!

I am celebrating this week. The 24th marked 12 weeks since I left the Gateway to Hell Hospital. I am still kicking. I am still on the treadmill pretty much daily. I am still losing weight. I am still building muscle, eating better, drinking more water. I am still getting "younger and stronger" just as I've prayed in accordance with Isaiah 40:31. The Lord is faithful. And, supposedly on the edge of the valley of death, I have accomplished a good bit in these 12 weeks. I won't give up! Go me!

Well, I'll show you a couple of layouts with the scouting/camping kits. I still have some cute ones up my sleeve..........

This cute layout is another by Nancy. Her sister is a troop leader and this is a "cookie rally". The faces of some of the kids are blurred out because Nancy didn't have permission to post their photos on the internet. I love the mix of papers here. The title work is great and I love how everything works together here. Beautiful and fun page!

This layout was created by Deanna. I think this is so cute. As you can see, it has NOTHING to do with scouting, but the kit can be used for more than that! Deana and her husband have a bunch of grandkids. I think they must be fun grandparents--they often have marshmallow roasts in their backyards. Here, Deanna scrapped one. LOVE the layering behind the photo and the cute little clusters in the lower corners.

Morning is about gone........

In just a few minutes, I'm headed into the kitchen to grab me some of that tuna salad I made yesterday. I've worked hard and I am getting hungry!

Well, what have I accomplished this morning? Well, first of all, I'm clean, dressed--to the shoes. I have brushed my teeth, styled my hair, exfoliated and moisturized my face, and I'm even wearing a little makeup. Shocking, I know!

I posted 5 ads on Facebook. I've spent half an hour deleting old e-mails. And, I've unzipped about 15 files.

I am almost finished wiping down tubes of lipstick. Geez....... I'm sure some of these tubes will be dried out when I get around to using them, but I haven't thrown many away. I'm so cheap I keep them til I can't get any more out of the tube, even with a lipstick brush.

I have washed and dried the fabric for the second round of dresses and put away a few more of those hanging items I've been trying to clean up in the laundry area.

I set out to spend some time on the surface of the desk. I actually removed one piece of paper from the piles--my insurance card. That's not much to brag about except that I actually took it out and put it into my glove compartment! That's different.......... While I was out there, I finally fished my sunshade out of the back seat and installed it in the front window. Then I cleaned some old paperwork out of the glove compartment, loaded up a bucket full of dogfood, moved the trashcan into place (the trash guys left it sitting in the street. Thanks, guys), and carried in the bucket of dogfood and my Walgreen's purchases from the other day.

It is not remarkable, but it sure beats nothing. Well, I'm off to grab that tuna salad. Next up is a little time in the sewing/junk room......... Later!

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My life is nothing if not exciting!