It's been awhile.

Wow. Looks like Stef and Beck are on hiatus? Dang! We need to work on this. Good thing fall's just around the corner. Oh well, just thought I'd post to prove that we're still alive. However, I have no crafts to show for it.

General Craftiness

So, this isn't a craft I'm posting about, but I think it goes in life's "General Craftiness" folder. My laptop screen kicked it last weekend. Well, I thought it kicked it. Actually, the backlighting for the LCD screen stopped working. Not accepting the fact that I needed a new laptop since everything else seemed to be in working order, I hit the internet. I found a description of my exact problem. Conveniently, there was a link to a play- by-play describing how to take apart my computer and replace what was broken (LCD inverter). I took a picture of the insides for your enjoyment (the little green strip at the bottom is the LCD inverter that I replaced for a whopping $28!!). See, it pays to be crafty and resourceful!!

The cost of crafting

So in lieu of an actual project post, here's this:

I went to Jo-Ann's today and dropped about $80 on fabric and yarn for a variety of items. On the bus ride home I was reflecting on what I spent and if it were worth it: A lot of people say they sew because it's cheaper than buying ready-made clothes. Yes and no, I think. I bought fabric for three pairs of pants, two sets of pajamas and a beach coverup. I also bought yarn for a couple of baby hats and a hat for myself. If you consider that the pants would probably cost about $20 each at a discount store (I am not overestimating my sewing skills to say it would be more than that!), the pajamas probably about $15 each, the coverup $25, the baby hats $8 each and the hat for me $10, we're looking at about $150. So not a huge amount of savings.

Some people would then add the actual work involved. A lot of people would say "Add in your hourly rate from work to the amount spent on materials and the cost is a lot higher." And sure, if we calculated the hours spent then sewing is certainly not cost effective. Or knitting or crocheting or any hobby.

But in the end the satisfaction I get out of each completed project, and wearing something totally unique -- a wardrobe completed by my own two hands -- made me realize that the cost is immaterial, and the ultimate savings of my sanity and personality, make it all worth it.

A Post-Birthday Post

Stef made me this awesome peanut butter and chocolate cake for my birthday during my visit with her. It was pretty darn tasty.

It's an Adipose

Look! I finally made an Adipose, which was kindly gifted to Doctor What. I can't wait to make a couple more. He was pretty easy. The tutorial suggested using an iron-on transfer pen for the pattern, but I couldn't find one. So, I had to use a heat tranfer pencil, which sucked. Then, I opted to cut out stencils and trace it onto the fleece. All in all, it worked out, and I am quite pleased with the end result.

Where are we? What are we doing? Creating a to-do list!

Man, we suck at posting, don't we Stef? I thought I'd post a to-do list since we have been horrible at posting any crafts! I'm taking the week off and plan to make a few crafts.

- An adipose softie (I know you hate that word Stef - sorry!)
- A Wisconsin tablecloth for a friend
- Perhaps start a stackable cat?
- Start my quilt project for the summer - that's a bit iffy though.

Also, crafts cannot be started until I clean up the crap, I mean craft, room. Man, is that place cluttered right now.

Now that I have this list, I have to be held somewhat accountable, right?

Hemming Jeans

So, I've been wanting to try this method of "blind" hemming jeans for a couple months now. When I found a pair of Bitten jeans for $8.98, I couldn't resist. Of course, the "regular" length is for a freakishly tall super model. So here are the results. What do you think? I was skeptical, but now that it's done, I quite like them and how easy it was!! Sorry that the last photo is a wee bit blurry, but I loved how the cat was all like "what the hell are you doing taking pictures of your pants?"