getting back into it?

over the last few years, i've noticed that my craft productivity is directly correlated with my stress level.   the more stressed out i am, the less creative i am.  for the first time in months and months, i felt the urge to sew and to complete some pending household projects.   i finally unpacked my serger, plugged in my sewing machine, and sewed a throw pillow for the couch.

it's a strange feeling to do an activity so familiar after such a long stretch a time.  i half expected to completely botch up my very basic project.  but aside from the usual issues with threading my serger, turns out sewing is sort of like riding a bicycle.

making it all fit

as i mentioned in my previous post, we started with only two dining chairs.  we may purchase at least one more in the future, but for now, i decided to purchase a set of stools that would be useful for guests.   i wanted chairs that could be kept out in the open, but still small enough to prevent cluttering our space.  

i immediately thought of the three legged, stackable alvar aalto stool:

aalto.com

but at $260 a stool, there was absolutely no way i could even consider buying one, let alone four.       

my second thought was the ikea frosta stool, but unfortunately for me, it turns out they sell it at pretty much every ikea in the world except the u.s.  bummer. 

amazon ended up saving the day for me (hooray for amazon), and i was able to buy a set of four for about $75.

i tucked two in the corner underneath the kitchen counter.  another went to the bedroom, and the last by our shoe bins.  

totally space efficient and functional.  they may not be the best quality, but they are perfect for our current needs.

almost there

the walls in the bedroom, living room, and kitchen are painted.  the red concrete bedroom floor mopped no less than five times and covered with flor tiles.  the master closet carpet deep cleaned.    

we've moved the placement of the couch three or four times and moved the chaise from the left side to the right side.  we've gone back and forth on whether to keep the dining table fully or partially expanded.  

we are 99% unpacked and 99% furnished.  i suppose you can say we ran out of steam for the last 1%.  the likelihood that we will be at 100% by the time we move out is 99%.  

as we found ourselves close to being completely furnished, we found ourselves in danger of cluttering our rather spacious apartment.   we still wanted an end table and we needed more than two dining chairs.  due to our set up, there isn't a great deal of space for a end table, so we searched, with only mild gusto, for a c-table.

most tables we found were the wrong price point, poor quality, or wrong height.  i was about to lose interest in the idea when my friend k- mentioned her stepmother had recently purchased one at world cost market for a very reasonable price, with a solid wood table top and wrought iron legs.  at the time it was even on sale for $59.99, and i also happened to have a 10 dollar off coupon i received in the mail.  we were sold.  it works perfectly in our space.  

eastvold coffee table

in many ways, i feel like i have restarted my adult life, like a fresh college grad, all over again.

my recent move was a small and a big one- i came with relatively little, as my roommate had a fully furnished apartment minus my bedroom furniture, so there was a lot that needed to be purchased.    

picking everything out has been a fun and simultaneously arduous process, especially when i saw the last couple credit card statements!  

my new place primarily looks like one giant ikea ad, with a few indulgent exceptions, one that i am particularly in love with: 

we purchased this beautiful, well-crafted, solid walnut coffee table off etsy from eastvold furniture, customized to our size specifications.  matt was responsive, and easy to work with.  even though we were originally sent the wrong sized coffee table, he sent a replacement and rectified the situation professionally without much trouble on our end.  i really appreciated his high level of customer service and friendliness.                   

this classic mid-century coffee table has been something i've been wishing for years, and we decided it was an investment... into our adulthood...or something? 

admittedly, owning something so nice is a bit stressful.   so my bffbf immediately ordered a custom glass panel to put over the top of the wood.   while it detracts a bit from the beauty of the coffee table, it's nice to have the added protection.   

maybe one day the eastvold credenza will be in the budget, but until then, a girl can dream.    

sample flor tile mini table runner

as you can see in my previous post, my new bedroom comes with hideous red stained concrete floors.  we wanted to rid ourselves of any traces of the red, and explored our options with flor tiles, so we ordered a bunch of samples.  

but what to do with the samples after we made a decision?  it seemed like such a waste to throw them away.

i lined four of them up on our new ikea ps 2012 dining room table (which, btw, is a great little table) to act as a mini table runner.  these particular flor tiles are made out of felt, which work very well as coasters/trivets.  

a perfect way to repurpose these samples! 

the mini runner is also a preview of our living room color palette.  the red you see on the wall also has to go.  soon.

in progress

moving.

again.

this is why i haven't been around. 

stay tuned!

washi tape accordion notecard

i've been busy getting sick, working, traveling for a wedding, working, and getting sick again.  yes, i said working.

so busy that once again crafting has fallen to the wayside.   the most i've been able to squeeze in is a quick washi tape accordion notecard.

all i needed was a sheet of cardstock, washi tape, and my corner punch (mine is from making memories), and five minutes.  i cut the cardstock into four notecards with my paper cutter, and put aside one since i only really wanted to make a trifold... is a trifold too small to be called and accordion?

placing two pieces next to each other flush, i ran a piece of washi tape centering it on the seam (i just eyeballed it), flipped it over and did the back seam.  i repeated this step for the last notecard, and also lined the very ends with more washi tape.  i trimmed the excess washi tape from the edges.

i then folded the notecard in half (so that it's just two layers, not all three), and used my corner punch to round out the edges.  i had to push pretty hard because it was so thick, but my trusty punch made it through cleanly.

as you can probably tell, i was so pressed for time that i didn't even bother pulling out my nicer camera and just documented the process haphazardly with my phone.  

the next couple of months will be equally busy but i'll try to be better!  what have you been busy with lately?