Unfinished Business

A To Do List

My friends and family often ask "What are you working on?" Often, the answer is this blog, networking, some more networking...I think a fairer question might be "What are you NOT working on?" I have a whole host of unfinished projects. Some of them only still in the "Yeah, I ought to do that!" stage. There is that old joke that goes around about Dr. Phil saying you ought to finish things to feel a sense of accomplishment--then the writer goes on to say she finished a whole bottle of tequila, a box of Godiva chocolate, a novel she's been reading etc. But all joking aside, once I took a bit of inventory, I realized--Dang! I've got lots of unfinished business!
First, and most avoided on this list is the tidying up of my sewing room. Right now 75% of the stuff in there is Christmas decor that needs to be sorted and put away. Usually I go in there to get supplies. After clambering over mountains of stuff, I grab my scissors/pens/thread and hightail it out of there. That room is pretty overwhelming. I don't know where to start with it so I don't.


There are so many cool ideas I get from the internet (maybe I ought to stay offa there?) I found this cute skirt pattern by Oliver & S on the mmmcrafts blog. You use a ribbon for the hem, it's really simple and so cute! I'm going to make one for my daughter out of this pink frog fabric, hopefully before summer has come and gone.

I saw this really neat diy bind your own mini book tutorial--can't find the link to that so I am improvising. I found these charming grommets at Wal-mart and the covers are going to be made of a recycled cardboard box. I'll glue some of my original art over them to make it paisleyfied. If it comes out half decent I'll offer them in my Etsy store.

There are projects I started long ago and forgot about; it's been buried under other stuff I forgot about. I started this ladybug beanbag chair (also for my daughter) before Christmas. Perhaps I'll get it done for her birthday....

Another vague idea I had was felt appliques--they look great if they're done right and you can sew them on clothes or purses or whatever. This is an attempt that I've made at one. It needs some tweaking. I also took a stab at sewing in a circle which you can see if you look very closely at the denim piece in the corner. Not sure what I'll do with that but it's got potential!

Recently, I discovered ACEOs. This stands for Art Cards Editions and Orignals. They're the same size (and idea) as baseball cards only instead of athletes, you put your own artwork on them. I just bought one from TRMack Studio just to see what a good one looks like and because it is an easy way to purchase some great artwork without paying a small fortune. I'll be offering these and more ACEOs in my Etsy Shop too.

Found these two shirts at Goodwill. The one in front I HAD to buy. I really can't resist anything periwinkle. It's a sickness. My plan is to paint some small paisleys on them using this freezer paper technique I found on Celtic Mommy's blog.

Sometimes I know when I should just leave the creating to people who do it really well. I had been toying with the idea of making a polymer clay covered pen for myself. I really wanted a paisley one (did I mention that I like paisley?) But then I found Silver Fairy Creations Etsy shop and she does a great job. The one on top (guess which one) I had custom made--isn't it cool?

So I have my work cut out for me don't I? (At least I got to the cutting out stage!) Now the next thing to do is decide which project to finish first.

Happy St. Patrick's Day and good luck with finishing all your own To Dos :)