Monday, January 21, 2013

List #2 of 52

Jobs I have had:
  1. Circulation aide at public library
  2. Switchboard operator at a Target store
  3. Office assistant at credit bureau
  4. Waitress at several restaurants including Perkins, Dennys, Red Lobster, World of Pancakes, Weathervane, as well a couple of small local breakfast coffee shops
  5. Youth minister
  6. Executive assistant at our family company
  7. Merchandise manager at Jo-Ann Fabrics
 What jobs have you had?

Sweet P

Friday, January 11, 2013

Can I Make 52 Lists?

Normally I am not a list maker, but in the interest of doing something different, I though I would give it try.  Prompted by Toni at The Red Boot Quilt Company, I clicked over to Meet Me At Mike's to see what this 52 lists is all about.  I think I will give it a try.

Week #1
Towns/cities I have lived in:
  1. Blaine, MN - 1961-1985
  2. Waukesha, WI - 1985
  3. Orlando, FL - 1985-1986
  4. Saratoga Springs, NY - 1986
  5. Norfolk, VA - 1986-1993
  6. Dover, NH - 1993 - 1997
  7. Blaine, MN - 1997-1998
  8. Newmarket, NH - 1998 - 1999
  9. Dover, NH - 1999 - present
Where have you lived?

Sweet P

Thursday, January 10, 2013

Reorganizing Drawers

I finally spent the remainder of my Christmas money this past Tuesday.  It was tougher than I thought it would be.  I have a gift card and a 10% off purchase coupon for The Container Store.  I figured with those two items and my remaining money, I could find several storage options.  I spent days perusing their website and had a handful of ideas when I walked in the door.

Alas, I was less than thrilled with their storage options.  Most of it is wire, plastic and melamine.  Not a whole lot different than what I could find in other stores.  But, I was determined to spend my money.  90 minutes later I left with two new kitchen drawer organizers, a cookbook holder, a rack for my baking pans, an ironing board and iron hanger and two racks for hanging purses and scarves.

Yesterday I woke up with the mindset of transforming a few drawers and thread storage around the house.

First up was the kitchen drawers.
Here are before photos of the drawers, one for silverware and for utensils.

The organizers I bought for these drawers are expandable to fit the entire drawer.  I love them!

But wait . . . the old drawer organizers didn't get kicked to the curb!
They are now home to my stamping and art supplies.
My original intent in going to The Container Store was for thread storage.  I was frustrated having many plastic containers for my needlepoint threads.  It took me forever to choose threads for a new project.  Then, a light bulb went off in my head in the middle of the night.  I have this wonderful wood cart that wasn't being used to it's full potential.
When I first bought it I was quilting a lot.  I used it to store pre-cut squares and strips in the smaller drawers and larger cuts of fabric in the larger drawers.  Lately the bottom half of the cart is holding Mr. E's clothes and the top half was just stuff.  I did a little Google research and decided to make my own dividers for the drawers and put my threads in them.

With a little trial and error, chipboard and a few pieces of masking tape,
I made these dividers for the drawers.
My thread storage went from these containers (by the way, a friend came by and bought these containers from me already)
Into the drawers
The threads are sorted by color: red/pink, yellow/white, orange/brown, blue, green and purple.  I love it!  Late yesterday I was working on a project and wanted to choose a different thread.  It was super easy to flip through the drawers looking for the right thread.  I don't know what took me so long to come up with this idea!  Needless to say, I've been spending the last 24 hours hunting around the house for other methods of reusing what I have to revamp my craft storage.

The project I was working on?  It was the Monday Mystery from Janet J. Perin.  I finished the second part yesterday.  I'm anxious to see the next step on Monday.

Have you done any reorganizing lately?

Sweet P

Monday, January 07, 2013

Start of a New Year

I am not one to make New Year's Resolutions.  I choose to live one day at a time and enjoy every day.  Therefore, there are no big pronouncements to be found here.

I have finished one project already this year.  Hubby's best friend and his wife are expecting their first baby, a girl, next month.  She is sure to become a girly girl and a pink and white afghan will be the perfect complement to her.
I used Lion Brand Cotton-Ease yarn.  I loved working with the yarn.  The afghan washed up beautifully.  I can't wait to give it to them.

I received money from my FIL for Christmas.  Whenever I get money or a gift card, I always take a long time deciding how to spend it.  I think about what I would have asked the recipient for and then spend the money on those items.  I have always asked people for gift cards to my favorite on-line shops and no one has ever given me one.  So, with part of my Christmas money and a good sale on threads at Fireside Stitchery, I enhanced my thread stash significantly.  I spent two days contemplating my purchase.  Should I buy all one kind of thread in as many colors as I can?  Should I parcel out the purchase over the year?  What to do?  I even created a spreadsheet to help me make the decision.

I finally decided to purchase seven different thread types in six basic color groups.  The threads I chose were: Caron threads including Watercolours, Soie Cristale, Impressions and Snow.  Plus Rainbow Gallery Pebbly Perle, Rainbow Tweed and Very Velvet Petite.  The six color groups were: yellow, orange, pink/red, blue, purple and green.

My purchase arrived on Saturday and I couldn't be more thrilled!  Nearly all of threads arrived, the rest are back ordered and will be sent when they come in.

Here are the yellows, pink/red and oranges
Here are the blues, purples and greens
Fireside Stitchery also has Ebay auctions where they sell items for other stitchers.  I happened to find a collection of mini canvases perfect for stitching over the next year.

Two lovely angels
And two mini stockings
Yesterday I couldn't wait to try some of the new threads.  I started Laura J. Perin's newest Mini Mystery Monday.  I chose Elderberry Wine Watercolour, purple Snow, purple Pebbly Perle and a gold Kreinik thread.  I finished the inside part of the project last night.  I still have the borders to finish.  I hope to get them done before she posts Part 2 today.
And to think, I still have Christmas money to spend.  I have a plan for it - stay tuned!

Sweet P