Wuzzup??

Kind of dry days. I've been cleaning out the dreaded Middle Bedroom, AKA my craft room/storage room. Getting into boxes and drawers, tossing things, sorting things, and getting emotional, uncomfortable but necessary to JUST GET IT DONE. I moved a dresser into the corner and put a cabinet on the top, which leaves me with a whole small table in the middle of the room to sort on and craft on. I know that it will be really good when I am done, and so it keeps me going. Some days I get through several boxes and other days I can't even get through one. 

The other day we took a drive to the country and that was wonderful. We ended up on the corner where my hubby proposed to me. There is now a little wonderful restaurant there and we had lunch. I knew the chef when he was a kid so that was fun to catch up.

So what have I been doing? Sorting out lots of card parts but not assembling. Putting away stamps and dies and reorganizing them. Getting lots of ideas. I watched a video series on a Card Bank, where you keep the parts of cards in one place for easy assembly. I realized I already have that! Just on a pretty small scale. It's a card file with card bases, frames, and background pieces. So I put it in a more accessible place, and added a few things to it. Go me!

My art has been rolodex cards. I did have a gel press session, that was fun, but nothing memorable from it. I then found an envelope of old embroidery transfers, and tossed them, but then thought, what would happen if I ironed them on to a gel press background?

I didn't take a picture, but here are the scraps...

I cut out a few pieces for Rolodex cards, and then I saw a bunch of teeny scraps and decided to glue them to a card. So that's the middle one. I really like it. Isn't that a cute bird? 

My pictures today are awful. I'll try again later.

The last one is the result of lots of questioning I've been doing. What is "proper". A question for the ages LOL it sounds goofy but you know, we focus on doing stuff "the right way" but who says what is the right way? 

So keep on asking those Important Questions. 
 

Interesting Oldness...

Something I absolutely never knew, they used to make greeting cards that were Congratulations for Getting your Tonsils taken out.  I mean, that was a very popular surgery when I was little,, nearly everyone had their tonsils out. 

Anyway, in my Putting Things Away I found a bag that had "Linda" on it three times, in my mother in law's handwriting. I remember seeing it, but I could see that it was full of greeting cards, and I just couldn't look in it. So it got put in a box, and today, I opened the box, and there was the bag, and today I felt like looking in it. 

My mother in law didn't save much of anything at all. She lived in the same house for 60 years, and the closets were not stuffed full, there were not a ton of boxes in the garage... she dealt with things.  

Unlike me.

Maybe that's why I was reluctant to look in the bag, what did she save for me?? But it was just cards. She knew I made them, so she saved them for me.

So it was fun to see what was in her greeting card collection. 

The first one is from 1948. I had never thought about a "Congratulations for Getting Your Tonsils Out" card but there it is. Seems a little bizarre to me. But in those days it was kind of a Rite of Passage I guess, you were Growing Up so now it's time to lose the tonsils. Glad they stopped that craziness. I have tons of allergies, and had many episodes of tonsillitis, and my adenoids are also gone. I STILL have allergies, and my poor little tonsil tag that grew back gets inflamed, so maybe there was a reason mine are gone. But it seems that for awhile it was all the rage to do that. 

A  birthday card from 1940. 

 

There were a few lovely floral cards, but no date, but the price was 25 cents so it was awhile ago. An Ideals Valentine book from 1963.  Ideals made many beautiful books, lot of photographs, and lots of poetry. I remember loving them as a child. I saved quite a few, although eventually I either let them go or cut some up (!!) for art projects. 

Then there were a couple cards that didn't exactly suit my mother in law's humor, but my hubby could have bought. I didn't know my father in law, maybe he had the same twisted humor... 

So there you are. I have another post coming for the art I've been doing but I always find this stuff interesting, a little picture of the past. I still can't imagine a Congratulations for Tonsil Removal. Kind of like Congratulations that Your Gall Bladder is Gone!

what should I title this blog post...

No, really, I have no idea. I've been so wonky these days I don't even know what day it is half the time. Can't blame the pandemic for everything though. Maybe it's odds and ends. Oh and the water heater went out today, and of course I need to do laundry badly, and I need a shower. Hubby hopefully fixed it today and hopefully tomorrow I can shower. In my experience, when hot water heaters start doing strangeness, they aren't too long for this world. This one is only six years old. Reminds me of Grandma Evelyn's that was from the sixties. I think it would have won the Oldest Hot Water Heater in history. We figured it was at least 55 years old. Do I sound old when I say "they don't make thinks like they used to"?? But it's TRUE. 

There's a box... Here I am trying to go through the box. It's basically just a collection of odd stuff. Here's some. Two combs. A package of bolts with one missing. A micron pen. A yellow colored pencil. A compass. A nail. A nail file. A pack of post it notes.  A different pen. A plastic bag. 

None seem tough to deal with, do they? The compass goes where? I don't know. Maybe in my desk? Those bolts ought to be in a tool box or something. Where? Those combs? Should I keep them? One of them might be from that hair cutting set. One yellow pencil, I can put it with the other colored pencils, and the micron and other pen with pens. Sounds simple enough for the next 5 minutes or so. However, most boxes contain more than this, and have harder decisions. I don't want to make decisions any more. So what, I say. This is YOUR STUFF. You want someone else to do it? They will just put it all in the garbage. 

Then there's this poor sad hanky with crocheted trim. It's old, it was a grandma's I suppose but I don't know that for sure, and it's falling apart. Maybe I can save the trim? For what? I don't know, on a doll dress? It's so pretty.

I ended up thanking the hanky for its service to I don't know who, or who made it, and thanked it for bringing me joy in the past, wadded it up and put it in the garbage. Somehow telling stuff goodbye helps. Sounds insane. I guess whatever works.

It was a beautiful hanky in its day. I'm sure it soothed many noses. That thought itself helped me let it go. Would I REALLY USE IT?? No. Will I REALLY cut off the trim and put it on a doll dress? NO. BYE BYE. THANK YOU. 

So if each little pile takes so long, when will I ever be done?? I watched an episode of Hoarders for motivation, all it did was give me nightmares LOL Last night I dreamt K was coming home from the hospital, and someone came in and took everything out of the house and brought in new furniture, and set up the hospital bed in the front bedroom, MY bedroom, and trashed my vintage furniture. I went out and crawled into the trash bin. 

Sigh. I see those shows and it isn't THAT bad, but still, I do still have trauma walls. It isn't easy taking them down, and letting myself be vulnerable. It isn't easy just putting things in the Out pile or trash, it feels like I am betraying myself somehow. Yes it sounds crazy, and it is...

But hey, there's some things coming together in my craft room. I cleaned out some spaces and most I just put back, but I switched the dresser that was in the middle of the room with a low table that this cabinet was on, and now the room looks 500x bigger. I have been filling garbage bags with Stuff and letting lots go. 

And now, the glues are together, the paints are together, etc. Less searching for stuff and hopefully less frustration when I am trying to find what I want to do what I want to do.

The sewing area is still the dining room table however. Sooner or later.... one can hope I live that long.

I did find a few things I forgot about. So I watched a couple Youtube videos today, but didn't get painty. I'm loving Natasha Foote these days along with my favorites Barbara Gray and Jennifer McGuire. 

What I ended up doing today was a surprise. I have been working on this for a long time, but haven't for a few months at least, maybe longer. I had the base done, and finally within the last few days have gotten all the applique pieces fastened on. So all I have left is a bit of embroidery and  finishing fastening stuff down, and I will hopefully finish in a few days. I do need some 1/8th inch black grosgrain ribbon, or something like that, but I'm thinking about just trying to embroider with satin stitch or something since I haven't found ribbon. I found some for 7.99 a reel, and some for 1.49 a reel with 7.00 shipping. Nothing on Amazon, besides to get free shipping I have to spend $25 and well what do I need? LOL Might take a masked trip to Hobby Lobby tomorrow, or the Dollar Tree, they have ribbon occasionally. I still need a shower, but maybe nobody will recognize me with a mask on... but that's when I always run into someone I know, LOL, when I'm a mess. 

Anyway here's a picture of the to be quilted wall hanging, so far. Hopefully the person it is for still likes lighthouses. LOL... the background is 2 inch squares of different florals, and the lighthouse etc are appliqued on the top. I'm doing raw edge applique, so it will get sewn down when I machine quilt it. I hope to be ready to work on the quilting tomorrow. The green I got for the last wall hanging will work well.

Oh and I found a couple Art cards  the other day...  I don't even remember when I did them. Haven't decided if I will give them away as Random Acts of Art or if I will add them to the rolodex.

And I got ALL THIS STUFF put away. I hate these boxes, I don't know why such oddness gets into them, other than I am too lazy to sort them and end up sweeping them into a box. Trying to stop doing that. But I still have a few more of them, so I'm having a party when I'm done.