Apartment Tour: The Livingroom

It runs in the family. I rearrange furniture compulsively. It's been maybe four weeks since I moved in and I already moved the whole room around. As a warning, my boyfriend and I are not rich and still have a mixture of bachelor and childhood furniture to work with. I do my best with what we have.



I should probably put the sewing machine to use and make a couch cover. It's just awful but seriously comfortable.


This is an alternative view of my new workspace. It's basically the old one reversed. I like it all except the fact I'm so close to the door. When the killers come, they'll see me right away.


My beautiful Barnes and Nobel books Casey got me for my birthday and a creepy face vase (even if you say vase to stupid way, you better say it so that phrase rhymes) my mom got me for Christmas one year.

There isn't a whole lot to highlight. This is basically the room where Casey plays XBox, I work, sew and do school work, and we eat most nights. We also use it to spy on the creepy couple who forages through our dumpsters.

I'll probably show the bedroom next. That's where my nail polish is. So that's just great.

Nails of the Moment Vol. 13

China Glaze - Agent Lavender (3 coats)

This was one of my first nail polishes after my stupid no nail polish phase...where I didn't wear nail polish. Like an idiot.

I didn't end up using the Konad stamps because I had to do so many coats and it took forever to dry and I was MAD.

So my mall finally got it's act together and got a Sephora. Casey and I went this past weekend and it was nice. By nice I mean I wanted everything. It was really really hard not to buy a Sephora by OPI polish while I was there. But I resisted. I have 236,346,754 polishes left to use before I can get any new ones.

This is torture.

So yeah. My nails are light purple and I'm an addict.

Signing off (going to stupid classes),
Kirsten

The Jewelry Sheller

The majority of my Etsy buying has been for safety eyes, zippers and specialty fabric as supplies for my own shop. Every once in awhile I find something I can't pass up. As I've mentioned maybe 524,789,254 times, I follow Emily's blog and shop. As someone who has severe allergies to 99% of the jewelry I've owned, I kept my distance. But when Emily made the first leather wrap bracelet, I figured that was a must-have.

While I love the turquoise one she has in the shop, I wanted to make a custom order. And it came out exactly as I was picturing it. She found the perfect beads and made it so quickly I barely had time to anxiously await the package. (However, I did get it a day or so after it arrived considering my parents' address was still on my Etsy account. Perfect way for my mom to lure me home.)

It fits absolutely perfect and I've been wearing it everyday since!

Everyone should check out Emily's blog, and shop!

Friday Five (Vol. 13)

As promised, this week is highlighting (har) my organizational tendencies. I finally got totally organized for my classes and decided I'd just keep this Five to school organization. Considering it's my most obsessive.

I use tabs every year. I started in middle school and have not gone without them since. For the record I was not popular in high school and currently still not popular in college. Thank heaven I've never had more than five classes at once (we were on quarters in high school), because if I did, the tabs thing would get f*&^ed up. This is pretty simple. A lot of people use tabs. Whatever.

Now we get creepy. I have a certain highlighter color for each class. This is also directly related to the tab color I use for the next organizational tool. I also correspond certain colors with certain colors of Pentel RSVP pens (my absolute favorite and the only ballpoint I will use in my lifetime). You'll notice the highlighters looking funky...yeah I talk about that later. What's more is that you'll see my tabs are in an order on that piece of plastic. That is the order in which my classes are. Orange is my first class, and so on. And I only use blue and black pens to write my notes. This is simply because Pentel doesn't offer their pretty pens in fine tips and I only write notes in fine tips. I also don't use pencils. Ever. Unless I'm in a math class and my professor yells at me for writing in pen. Then and only then will I write my notes in pencil (but then when I arrive home, they are re-written in pen). Go ahead and laugh and close the tab because I'm not done.

This one (in my opinion) isn't so bad. I'm one of those who likes to know how much reading I have left. I keep my finger in the next chapter when I'm reading a book (even recreationally). But for school I use my tabs. Again, in coordination with the class. I put one on the starting page and one on the goal. No biggie, right?

Now we get into different territory. My college gives out free agendas. Stores such as Office Max, Office Depot, Staples, Walmart, Target, Meijer (for us midwesterners), and even dollar stores offer agendas and schedules in endless shapes, sizes and styles. Not one of those fits my needs completely. I'm way too particular about size of the boxes, whether they're lined pages and countless other details most normal people don't give about. So I keep multitudes of lists that fit my needs. I have a planner (a fancy dry erase board on my wall). I have a to-do list (a top wire-bound legal pad sitting next to me). I have an agenda of school homework (this). I need things very uniform. Each class has the same amount of lines and blah blah. YES every class is orange here. Who knows why. That's rhetorical, as even I don't know why. UNIFORMITY MAYBE.

Now we're in stupid zones. I am a highlighting aficionado (a word I would have never memorized the spelling and meaning of in high school without being insanely organized). I have (I'm actually going to count now) 13 Bic Brite Liner highlighters. I will use no other kind. Since I have so many I feel I have to label the ones I'm using. So I draw squiggles on them with a permanent marker. The yellow reminds me of Charlie Brown's shirt. ANYWAY. I do this with all my stuff. I only use the Pentel RSVP with the least amount of ink in it. I only use the body lotion with the last amount left in the bottle. Same for shampoo, cereal, and basically anything else.

So I want to use these highlighters up before moving to the next one.

I feel exposed and weird right now.

In other news: My date with Casey today (per Katie's request) will include dinner (we never decide before leaving the house) and a movie. Sounds boring. BUT, we're seeing a movie we've wanted to see for AGES, but the post-poned the date and ruined our livelihoods. Don't Be Afraid of the Dark. We're seeing that. Night terrors rejoice! I'm excited. But until then I have to drive to my parents house and do laundry... (I don't want to waste quarters when they live so close, plus I get to see my dogs!).

And in other other news and on a more serious note: I hope everyone on the east coast (most especially Emily and her family) stays safe through the hurricane.

I hope everyone has a fantastic and safe weekend and be sure to check out the shop update I posted about yesterday.

Toodle-oo.

Cosmetic Bags Shop Update

Whipped up (I say this, but these suckers take a lot of time to complete) a few more cosmetics bags for a shop update over the past week or so.

The polka dotted one is by far my favorite. I think when I perfect my pencil case pattern I'll make myself one in this exact combination.

I don't have much else to talk about really. I've been working hard on school and the shop re-name/make over things. I landed on a definite name and have downloaded tons of fonts (yeah, right after my font minimization).

I'm definitely ready for the weekend. Casey and I are going on a DATE.

Check out the cases here. Tell me which is your favorite!

Nails of the Moment Vol. 12

BARE NAILS.

I haven't been painting my nails for awhile for two reasons. First and foremost, I haven't had a lot of time to do so. Secondly, because it's healthy. My nails get sort of yellowed and peely when I paint them continuously for a long time. So enjoy your breather, nails. 'Cause it won't last too much longer.

I'm Nothing if Not Organized

I started classes today. I only have on-campus classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays (thank you thank you thank you), but have two online classes (which I've never had). I procrastinated...yeah, the one who never procrastinates has fallen. I'm not terribly organized yet. So today has already been filled with frantically throwing extra crap out and printing labels and syllabi and taking quizes (really, on the first day).

So a moment of peace comes when I halt to blog. I've also got really exciting news. Which I'm going to go ahead and save for tomorrow, when my thoughts are in better order.

For today, this little update is all I can dish out. This Friday Five is going to highlight specific obsessive organizational tools I've found helpful. Which is just the funnest thing in life. Funner. I've written that word because my computer didn't underline "funnest", so I was curious... Why isn't it doing that?

God, I need a nap already.

I hope everyone else's first days aren't quite so chaotic. And I'll be back tomorrow with exciting news and HOPEFULLY a more organized life.

I'm Alive

I guess I didn't realize I hadn't posted since Wednesday. I've been busy and a bit stressed what with school coming up and some problems with financial aid and yadda yadda yadda.

ANYWAY. What to expect this week:

• Monday: School and Organization
• Tuesday: Project Minimal
• Wednesday: Nail Post
• Thursday: LC Documents
• Friday: Friday Five

I started keeping a little schedule so I don't fall behind on certain things. Hopefully I don't go MIA again.

I hope everyone had/is having an awesome weekend!

Cosmetic Bag Success

So yesterday I made that list of things I needed to make and do. I kind of procrastinated the sewing part because I knew my last cosmetic bag wasn't up to par and I really wanted to finish Lauren's request before too long.

So I lugged out all my stuff, made my sewing mess and made V3 cosmetic case. And. It. Is. Perfect. (I'm going to gloat about it.) I'm really proud of it.

So I got up the courage to make Lauren's too. And it turned out pretty much the same.

I love the fabric she sent me for the inside. And that's basically it! I'm going to list both cases on Etsy now. The rose one is up for grabs for anyone and obviously Lauren's is for Lauren. Not sure where I'll price the rose one. These take a hell of a lot more time to make than the pencil cases.

I'm going to stop rambling and end this post. Expect more cosmetic bags in the future!

Bogged Down

I've been busy. Or lazy. But mostly busy. I have a giant list of "need-to-make"s and "need-to-do"s and it's only getting bigger. I keep putting off things in order to clean the apartment...which looks pretty damn good. But motivation lies in throwing your business on the internet. So here's my list.

Need-to-Make (bolded when completed)

1. Lauren's cosmetic bag

2. Katie's iPhone 4 case

3. Michelle's iPod Touch case

4. V3 cosmetic bag

5. Cotton Candy square bear

6. Appleseed square bear

Need-to-Do (bolded when completed)

1. Clean out front closet

2. Clean out other closet

3. Super clean apartment for Wednesday dinner with Casey's mom

4. School supplies shopping/prep.

These are things I hope to accomplish this week. I start classes next Tuesday. 1 week. Having some projects and cleaning out of the way would really help clear my mind for all that.

So I'll update this until I'M DONE. And if I accomplish everything then you can love me.

Garage Sales and Lord of the Rings

As I mentioned in a previous post, I went to Mishawaka on Saturday. Along the way we passed a few garage sales where I found three really awesome things for under or at $1. (PS: the picture above is dedicated to Emily. This is what 95% of our drive looked like. Corn and blue skies.)

And this. I really tried to get a better picture but the guy turned off the highway. He was a tool. He was driving a Jaguar convertible and look at his license plate. Just look at it.

First find: this Native American beaded coin pouch. The inside is lined with leather and it's in such good condition. I got this for a quarter. Granted I make most of my own coin pouches...but I am not skilled at beading. And this is just awesome.

Second find: I have wanted a typewriter forever. I've had a few here and there but none as beautiful as this. The above pictures are "befores". It was a pretty giant mess.

There's a very little amount of ink in the ...ribbon? But as you can see here there was plenty ink to write "butt".

It's still pretty grimey. If you look closely you can see I've managed to clean one row of keys. Guess which. But when it's perfect and I've found a good spot for it, you bet your "butt" I'll show you.

Third find: Password! My mom and I are board game junkies. We play for hours. I did some minor repairs, but all the pieces are there and I think it'll be interesting to play. There's a spinner with all the Addam's Family characters on it? Weird.

Before and afters of the box and innards. I love cleaning up thrift/garage sale finds.

So that was my Saturday (the first part). That night I went to a friend's and played Apples to Apples for a very long time.

Sunday Casey's and my friends Danny and Brittany came over for a Lord of the Rings marathon. We got through the extended versions of the first two and called it quits. I think next Sunday we'll finish. The four hour extended version of Return of the King. My favorite of the trilogy.

What did you do this weekend?

Seven Things Tag

Since I'm alone on a Friday night (commence the giggles), I thought I'd blog. I saw that Emily did this "7 Things" post, so I took it. And did it. And here it is.

+ New iPod cases for my friends Michelle and Katie. +

+ A truly flawless cosmetics case. +

+ A nail polish rack. Sturdy and big enough to fit my stupid collection. +

+ A pie for Casey. +

+ Successful Christmas presents for certain people. +

+ A proper mix for the car ride tomorrow. +

+ A cuter and more professional looking craft show booth. +

+ Drivers who don't use turn signals. +

+ People with no sense of civility. +

+ When people name their dogs things like "Brownie". +

+ When the Taco Bell employees don't offer sauces to me. +

+ Casey's snoring. +

+ Eating sounds. +

+ Zooo0o00ey Dechshchenel's fame. +

+ FROZEN COKES. +

+ My sticker collection. +

+ A clean room. +

+ Hanging out with Katie and Kristin. +

+ Cocoa and Fruity Pebbles. (Not mixed.) +

+ The phrase "don't let's be silly". +

+ Matilda. Movie and book. +

+ The Shining. +

+ Pan's Labyrinth. +

+ Philadelphia. +

+ Good Burger. +

+ Harriet the Spy. +

+ Duck Soup. +

+ Rise of the Planet of the Apes. +

(It's not too soon for the last one. It just isn't.)

+ A puppy. +

+ A passport. +

+ A frozen coke machine. +

+ A car with better gas mileage. +

+ My own store. +

+ An iMac. Yeah... okay. +

+ I really want a puppy though. +

+ Tokyo, Japan. +

+ Iceland. +

+ Alaska (FOR WHALES). +

+ Germany. +

+ India. +

+ Cheat Alert: all 50 states. +

+ ...uh. The bathroom. +

+ Neil Young - Only Love Can Break Heart. +

+ The Cure - Close to Me. +

+ American Football - Never Meant. +

+ Owen - Play Possum for a Peek. +

+ The Beatles - Martha My Dear. +

+ David Bowie - Queen Bitch. +

+ Journey - Lovin' Touchin' Squeezin'. I said it. +

+ Asbestos. +

+ Radish. +

+ Booger. +

+ Plethora. (It sounds like vomit. Say it out loud right now.) +

+ Gorge. +

+ Fallopian. +

+ Cake. +

If you do this, post a link...as I have nothing to do at this point in my day.

Friday Five (Vol. 12)

This week went really quickly. But looking back, a lot happened. Though nothing life-changing, definitely Friday Five-worthy.

+I completed Version Two of my cosmetic cases.+

Though I have a few new kinks (as I mentioned on Tumblr), I improved a lot since the first version. I even ordered a bunch of YKK zippers from Zipit on Etsy. Super good prices and she shipped them out so quickly. Definitely pleased thus far.

+Fabric that Lauren from Gamine sent me.+

She wanted a custom cosmetics case, and ended up sending a beautiful card and truly amazing extra fabric. I can't wait to use these. Thanks again, Lauren!

+An evolution chart of the new iPod cases.+

They obviously still need refinement, but have come a loooong way since my very first one. I don't even have a picture of those, but I distinctly remember. Anyway, I added a ribbed top to them for extra protection and think it looks like a little sock now. No, I don't want to make socks.

+This blog. And this post in particular.+

I found this blog through a thread I started awhile ago on Etsy and loved it. I'm not usually one for photography blogs, but this one is seriously note-worthy.

+The fact that I'm going to Mishawaka tomorrow.+

I need a good mini-vacation. I get to go shopping with my mom and Becky. She deserves an into considering she'll probably pop up quite a bit. Becky is my mom's best friend and basically an aunt to my brothers and I...much closer to us than any of our blood relatives. She's with us on Christmas and Easter and birthdays. She's an amazing artist with the coolest house and garden. She has an amazing eye for things and thus, my mom and I love her as a shopping companion. The three of us like thrifting and zoo-going. So I'm excited for tomorrow.

"That's all I have to say about that." -Forrest Gump

Nails of the Moment Vol. 11 and Polka Dots!

Orly's Pixy Stix (3 coats)

My polka dots. Even Casey liked them, and he doesn't typically pay much mind to my nails.

In case you're wondering: it's really easy to do polka dots. I just pour a little nail polish on a piece of thick paper and dot them on with one side of a bobby pin. No biggie!

Maybe I'll pull out the Konad plates for next time!