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Crafty constipation

For the longest time after I had my son, I simply had no time to craft. When I was able to squeeze in a minute, I gravitated towards my mainstay - knitting - because I could easily do it while watching a baby crawl (or even cooler, while he nursed). Now that he's older, I still struggle to find the time, but I'm having an even bigger issue. The last 3 times I've actually made the time and set aside the perfect crafting music, I've gone downstairs to my craft area and just SAT THERE. I rummage through books mindlessly, and every single craft I want to make I either don't have all the materials for, I realize it's something I won't actually use, or it just makes me tired to think about it.
Tonight it was the reusable bag tutorial featured on whipup. I have been dying for reusable bags and I had a great amount of fabric scraps that would be perfect for it. But when I sat down and read the tutorial, I became annoyed by the fact that it could not be printed so I'd have to haul my computer down there to figure out the instructions. I don't like computers mixed with dusty basements. Plus, I'd be lining the bags with cotton. Would all my pretzels get mixed with cotton lint? ew, gross.
Then I debated about the button and wire brooch from craftypod. Only to realize, I have approx. 5 brooches back from around 2005 and I have NEVER worn them.
I looked at the collection of supplies I have: soapmaking (I realize I hate the smell of Melt & Pour), rubber stamps (how many handmade cards do you really NEED at one time), fabric (nothing in a large enough quantity to make ANYTHING exciting). Let's not talk of the stack of books I have circa 2004.
I just seriously want to toss it all in the trash and start over. Please tell me why I shouldn't.

Free craft patterns!

Free and craft in the same sentence. If that ain't frugalcraft, I dunno what is.

I own about half these books already, but the other half are almost all on my Christmas wish list!

Check out STC Craft's free patterns!

Other things I've been wanting to say:

• Black Bean and Tomato Quinoa is a fantastic lunch. Even if you put in too much onion. As I did.
• Stuff Under Twenty is the reason that I've been lacking in budget lately (but not lacking in way cute cheap clothes)
• I'm back on the 2nd half of the Shawl that Never Ends (aka this scarf x 2)
• And I love, love, love Pink of Perfection's list of 30 quintessential fall activities
  

Saving money by not saving money

A lot of my posts deal with saving money on food. And you can read about this all in the frugal blogosphere too - brown bag your lunch, make coffee at home, etc etc. I'm sure for most, it's good advice.
However, I'm starting to wonder if I'm taking it to the extreme. That is, buying a ton of stuff that's an incredible deal. I wonder if I'd be better off NOT buying much of anything, shelling out a few extra bucks at my office cafeteria, and not ending up with a bunch of crap I won't use.
I think I'm going to attempt it (not this week, because, well, I already have my coupons together :) ) and will let you know the results. Even if there's not a money savings involved, perhaps the sheer time factor (I spend way, way, way too much of my weekend and weeknights making breakfasts and lunch) may be worth the money spent.
Let's find out.

hello blog

well, it's been a while. I've been sorta busy having a summer, comprised mostly of the following things:

* making jam. lots and lots of jam.

* working on the longest knitted shawl project ever (3+ months and it's STILL only halfway done).

* having many, many sewing failures

* working on my own "professional" website

* and oh yeah, hanging out with two cute dudes to the left. can you blame me for putting blogging down on the priority list?

Been checking out lately...

A few fashiony and cheap things I've been enjoying lately:

TULLE - have you discovered it yet? Their ridiculously cheap sales have been posted on Slickdeals every week. And now, thru July 31, there's an awesome 35% off discount code luckybreaks3 (thanks to, well, the only fashion magazine I regularly read, LUCKY). I recently shelled out $30 and got a lightweight cardigan and a dress. The best part? FREE RETURNS! A good thing too, because the dress was a little too clingy on my newly size-8 bod.

DSW - hello, I must have been asleep, when did shoes become so cheap? I spoiled myself on a pair of 39.99 Life Stride wedges this past weekend, and spent far too long drooling over clearance prices on a plethora of other great deals. Then I stumbled on their website. They've got a $10 off $49 code right now, and free shipping for "members" on orders of $35 or more! I sense a new pair of running shoes in my future!

Finally, I discovered a great blog (where I just found out about the DSW deal). Budget Girl is like an online version of my fave magazine, featuring "look-for-less" posts, updated deals, and tips for cheap entertaining. I've already gone back and read all the archives and found a ton of stuff I've missed (like swimwear sales! gar!). Update your RSS - she's a great writer with some unique content!

Oh my God, Holy F, I made a dress!

My husband got me a sewing machine for Mother's Day. I hated him for it. Not because I didn't want the machine, but because I knew it would make me want to do nothing with all my spare time than to pursue crafty ventures. So far, I have done nothing this weekend but peruse whipup, Craft, and Craftster for the perfect first project. Every pattern I found either required far more things than I had, too much fabric, or would have taken weeks to complete.
Then I stumbled upon a customizable pattern from Volume 5 of Craft. The only thing that had stopped me from making it before was that I didn't have 1/2" elastic. Lo and behold, I bought some at Field's earlier today.
So off I went, dealing with issues as I came upon them. No craft paper? I made my pattern outta two sheets of newspaper taped together. No measurements? I guesstimated my waist size.
The results? I got through a ton of my podcast archives, and ended up with something that I would not be ashamed to wear out someday. I do want to modify it tomorrow - it's kind of tent-like, so I'm going to hack off about 3 inches and see if I can make a belt out of the remainder.
The best part is, the pattern is totally reusable, so I'm going to make myself about 10 of these bad boys this summer! It's totally versatile, so I'll make some into skirts, some dresses with straps, maybe even some sleeves if I think I can muster them. My new machine is rad, and I didn't have to rethread once!!!! The sewing bug is here to stay!