Meet my new friend:

This is my new (to me) sewing machine. Have I ever mentioned that I like to try new things? I have so many half-baked projects* in my life, but I can’t seem to help it. I love trying new creative outlets. And the latest one is sewing. I can’t wait!

I spent most of this afternoon/evening trying to teach myself to sew. I am here to tell you, folks: the manual that comes with a Singer sucks if you don’t already know what you’re doing. Those people need a new technical writer (ahem…).

Struggles aside, I learned to wind the bobbin, insert the bobbin underneath, thread the upper thread, and finally, thread the needle & pull up the bobbin thread. I learned about the presser foot and the feed dog; I feel like I’ve learned a secret language.

And then I learned, in detail, how to take all that shit apart as things got tangled over and over and over.

I turned to YouTube for help, and watched a girl with horrific teeth and grody bare feet sewing like it was no big deal. If she could do it, why couldn’t I? Hours passed before I successfully sewed a stitch. There was a huge gap for me between threading the needle and actually sewing, and my manual didn’t offer any advice.

I finally figured out that the scrap fabric I was using (an old bandana) was just too flimsy for my current setup, and it was getting jammed. I switched to a sturdier scrap—an old cloth napkin—and, like magic, it worked.

When I finally sewed that first line of stitches, I felt so victorious! Those hours were frustrating (and I mean really frustrating), but now I really know my setup. The best way to learn is from your mistakes, right? Right.

Now I’m on the market for simple projects to get me started. Any recommendations? I’d eventually like to learn to sew clothing, but I know I need to start on a much smaller and simpler scale.

*Half-baked projects include: scrapbooks, a smash book, a journal, card-making, paintings… and those are just the recent ones. I have markers, pastels (oil and chalk), colored pencils, and paints. I make random crafts like beaded charms, floral hair clips, magnets, and Shrinky Dinks. I also threw pottery in college ♥. Are you beginning to get the picture? That list doesn’t even include the stuff I do on the computer…

I love working on a college campus. And you know when I love it most?

When it’s empty.

Ahhhhhhhh… that’s nice.

The thing is, those college students are a mess! Working on campus, there are so many things I want to say to the students.

Dear students, please look before you walk out into a street full of cars. I know you’re late for class, but if I hit you, you’re going to be really late.

Dear students, please put on some clothes.

Dear students, please save your highest heels and your biggest makeup for Saturday night… not for class.

Dear students, please save your rattiest sweats for the dorm… also not for class.

Dear students, please don’t argue loudly on the phone with your mommy while standing on a hall full of offices. We can hear you.

Dear students, don’t take yourselves so seriously.

Dear students, please take your classes more seriously.
{you learn that one in grad school, by the way.}

Dear students, it is in poor taste to yell to your buddy across the parking lot, “Ohhhhh, duuuuude, I am so hungover, I got retarded last night.” Extremely poor taste.

Dear students, you all drive like assholes, and please, PLEASE turn that crappy music down.

Lest you think I’m preachy, here’s a gratuitous photo of me as a college student (circa 2005), being every bit as stupid as any college student I run across today.

I wish I could tell that girl a thing or two.

I wish I could have a chance to be that girl again: to live on this beautiful campus, to drive my little 5-speed manual Civic (drive it like an asshole, of course), to listen to too much Dashboard Confessional and Incubus and John Mayer. I’d love to do a few things differently.

(I know, I know, I wouldn’t actually go back and change anything… because I ended up where I needed to be. Yada yada yada. Just humor me here.)

PS, it feels good to be back.

Woodgrain pattern from subtlepatterns.com

Last night, I had the surprise opportunity to attend a 3-hour master class with Bryan Kest. Ah-may-zing, and I have so much I want to say about it. I need to ruminate on the ideas a bit more first, though. So that’ll come in a few days.

Tonight, I had to work on my final project for class…. especially since I didn’t work on it last night as I had planned! (Sometimes, school doesn’t come first. With good reason. Bryan Kest was worth it.)

That’s my excuse for the radio silence. Until next time, I made you a doodle:

Gratitude. What are you grateful for today?

In 1 week and about 24 minutes (at the time of writing), my final project of the semester is due. So that’s probably going to consume most of my next week. I’m just doing my homework… and doodling with Marten, my Wacom tablet… oh, and writing a blog post. Procrastinate? Me?

Now on to the post…

Why is it that my best advice is the advice I give to others? And why is it that the advice I give is often the advice I need?

This morning, I emailed Megan and told her to “Light a candle in your office, drink some tea, listen to some good music, and manifest some good shit in your workday.” And then I thought, heck, sign me up for that!

And recently, Scott and I were talking about our struggles with diet. We both know that eating Paleo works wonders for us, yet we also fall prey to the lure of junk food. (As I read recently in Cooking Light, the part of your brain that drools for the doughnut is not the same part of your brain that knows you should go for a jog instead. It’s not a willpower issue; it’s a wiring issue.)

I gave Scott the same advice that I received (and ignored) from my therapist about 6 months ago: stop worrying about what you can’t eat. Instead, focus on the things you can DO (do = positive; can’t do/can’t eat = negative) to get back on track: plan meals, pack lunch, have breakfast at home. If you’ve set yourself up with easy, readily available “paleo-compliant” food at hand, you’ve made your job so much easier. There won’t be that much room to screw up when you have 3 meals plus snacks ready to go; if you do cave and have a junky treat, you still ate right for 90% of the day. And you’re less likely to turn that afternoon treat into a binge when you know paleo dinner is waiting at home.

Ummm, HELLOOOOOOOO really good advice that I, myself, needed to hear.

Anyone else do this? Why do I have sensible advice for others, then realize I should have told myself the same thing a long time ago?

And then there’s the advice I need to hear at this moment: “either work on your project, or go to bed. stop procrastinating.” Yup.

Y’all, I think I have a problem.

I have got to stop thrifting multiple times a week. I am super-cheap and don’t spend much, but multiple trips of “not spending much” really do add up.

sigh.

But I found some fun stuff today, for a grand total of $12! If that’s the price of keeping me entertained while Scott works weekends, then I guess it’s not so bad.

Ceramic kitten, 50¢. (Come on. 50 cents, how could I leave her there? She might become the new videos of kittens mascot, too.)

Red tin tray featuring a little chef guy, $1. (Again, 1 buck, how could I not bring him home for $1? And check out his beer steins and ping pong table. Dude.)

Swedish 70s linen wall hanging, $10. That’s a little more than I like to spend, but I’ve been looking at these funky wall hangings at Dupre’s on the square for a few months. I dig them, and I feel like they suit the style of my funny little house. The hollyhocks are so pretty! The booth owner said she was “in the mood to sell today.” It was marked around $20, and she told me $12… I came back with $10. She only hesitated for a few seconds, so I probably should have offered lower! But it’s pretty, and now it’s mine.

Here’s another one of the Swedish wall hangings that I didn’t buy:

I think it’s funky and I like it, but I wasn’t sure Scotty would agree.

And lastly, a little cross-stitched froggy I saw at Goodwill earlier in the week:

“You’d be happy too… if you could eat what bugs you.” And he looks quite pleased with himself, if you ask me! I didn’t buy him, because he was priced something ridiculous, like 5 or 10 dollars (Really, Goodwill? Really?). But the photo has made me smile all week long.

PS, I used the little froggy to experiment with the latest Pugly Pixel tutorial. Fun!

PPS, WAY more fun than the final project I should be working on right now. Yup.