Pinning

So for a long time I was resisting even opening the Pinterest site. But due to this post and some boredom I opened it. Soon I was bookmarking all tabs I've opened to pin when I would get the invite, which didn't come. And it didn't come. Almost ONE WHOLE DAY later I cracked. I couldn't take it anymore. I had to pin!

I joined the Pinterest Facebook group, and asked for an invite, from anyone. Got one 15 minutes later, too, from a fellow addict.

And there my productive teatimes went. Suddenly I didn't need to download pictures onto my external harddrive or copy bookmarked tutorials into word documents I'd email myself, I just pinned it, and it would stay there, available from any computer with internet access.

And it became so easy! So many ideas all rolled together!

I am Caty and I'm a pinoholic.

Keeping it tidy

Somedays I get jealous of the people who has the basics in their house. I'm talking furniture, clothes, toiletries, and just that. No fabric spilling out of boxes peeking from the top cupboard. No getting home sheepishly and having to explain to the Better Half why you just HAD to buy a whole black back full of recycling stuff, which includes incomplete puzzles and random soft-toys.

They don't have to find a storage space for that toiletrolls they are saving for that project, or the bottle caps they want to emulate that craftster post with. They don't weed out their dishes so they could have more space for baking ingredients.

They throw away breadtags and ice cream sticks, instead of washing them carefully and putting them in a plastic bag. They don't see the potential of that too small sweatshirt to become the softest cuddle toys.

It's easy to clean, and easy to move.

But then, those people complain. They get bored. How could I get bored surrounded by paint and pencils and glitter?! They have nothing to do, while I spend weekends just sitting in piles of gorgeous fabrics. They watch TV, while I think of the buttons I could put in the same space and considering how much I get to watch TV, it's not worth getting one. They complain about not being creative, not being able to make their own clothes.

Sometimes being creative isn't always a blessing for me. Sometimes I just don't have the time, but Creativity is like a little toddler, begging for attention, starting to scream when you don't listen. It cannot be denied. I tend to get frustrated when studies or work or emergencies keep me from doing what I love, ideas bubbling out like a pot left on the stove with milk in. You can't stop it, you have to clean up when the mess is done and you grabbed a courier box destined to be picked up by the courier company and decorate it for the client.

So I'm trying to be more organised. To give everything that makes my heart beat faster and my head spin with possibilities a place in my home. Where I can find it, so I don't waste half my creative time looking for the raw materials, or cleaning a spot to work. Stay tuned for pics, horror stories and results

Baby fever!!!

I know I'm more focused on making refashions, and this isn't so much a refashion at all, but my best friend is having a stork party!

So I had to make something she could use. I decided on a burp cloth, the pattern which I got from BurdaStyles (If you don't have an account with them I suggest you get one now! Free patterns FTW!!!) http://www.burdastyle.com/patterns/contoured-burp-cloth.

I had some blue material with a shine that I got out of my stash, and used some binding I got from the hospice sales (like the American Goodwill for you foreigners out there)

I decided to be fancy and quilt the layers together. I used some thin cloth diapers for the absorbency. My machine hated the hooks in the material and gave me swearing troubles on a Sunday. I quilted it by cutting it larger than the pattern. I did this because I always end up shifting one piece of material and then having to throw the quilted piece back in the stash. I quilted it by putting a strip of masking tape and sewing to each side, then pulling it loose and moving it, and sewing again next to the masking tape, and continuing until I was finished. I got this method of quilting on someone else's site, and as soon as I find that article again, I'll link to it.

As you see, it wasn't the neatest quilting ever, with a few skew lines and some pucking, and I changed the original plan of making a trellis kind of quilting...just because I was struggling that much. I then only cut out the whole batch into the pattern shape

The binding I put on by first pinning it to the bottom layer and then stitching it, like in the picture. I( then trimmed the raw edges of the material, and folded over the binding, sewing it after having pinned it down.

I've never managed to neatly attach bias binding just by folding it over and sewing it immediately. I did make a mistake and sew the binding too far from the edge, and struggled to fold it over and hold that stitching successfully.

The final product didn't look too bad!

I bought a little shirt and made a tie out of a thick piece of ribbon I had in my stash. If someone wants to know how I did it, I could make a little tutorial, but it was done, like so much creativity, just before bedtime. I then stitched it to the shirt. The pair of scissors is there to give perspective to how small this shirt really is!!!

And here's a close-up to show how the tie looks

There's a long story behind the name of this blog. It started with me losing my job (well I actually lost my mind due to some circumstances and quit before they fired me). Well that's not even the start of the story...it's just the introduction.

I got another job, paying a third of my previously salary. But I was happy that I got a job I loved. I still am happy here. Happiness is much better than having enough money, right?

So here I am, still struggling with the shift of my quality of lifestyle. What is important to me is redefined every single day. It was and still is quite a shift to having enough money to barely making ends meet.

This is my journey to being fabulous without the assistance of designer labels. And without misusing my credit card.