Cave In At The Craft Cave

Every thing's calm now, but I have been off line due to a major cave-in at the craft cave.
That last batch of thrift goodies kind of set off some sort of crafty, critical mass, stash avalanche. By the time I heard the rumbling, I was buried under 6 feet of exquisite thrifty craft treasure, I can't possibly live without...all quite shoddily stored, in an inadequate and badly lit space.

Before the end, I would be injured, and it would take Lassie, Oprah, and several volunteers from the staff at Martha Stewart Omnimedia before I could be located.

The buttons are now all sorted by color, into various adorable vintage tins. My life is perfect. I can die content.

It is amazing that if you take a full walk in closet and empty it into a full sized house, (Well, a very moderate full sized cabin, really.) the items will fill the entire house. And then comes the occasionally fun, and usually utterly confounding step, of categorizing and containing an entire house full of artsy and esoteric random "items of great potential". This is daunting.

If I got rid of it, where in the world would I ever find another one of.. whatever these are.

At this stage we lost Oprah, Lassie, and a good 1/3 of the MS gang. I was left with Little Miss "Good Things For Organizing", some little masochist from the recipes cross reference section, and a couple of interns from RISD. Basically, I was on my own.

I know it's really crazy but I kept the old labels on these boxes I thrifted.
They amuse me. They were driving the Martha Stewart Interns crazy.
( click image to enlarge)
I am assuming these were for correspondence, and not anything more horrifying.

However, in just under a week and with a minimum of actual blood loss, we were able to cram a sufficient amount of irreplaceable craft treasures back into the hole I love to hate, and this week the craft is back on.

It's true. I was really injured. and for those of you who are really paying attention That is my right index finger, otherwise known, by bloggers everywhere, as the typing finger.

Seriously though, I really learned a lot from going through all my huntings and gatherings. I learned
A) I'm totally lucky to have such a cool bunch of junk.
B) Organization is not my best attribute.
C) The New Vintage Wardrobe just has to come back, bigger and better than ever and...
D) If your stash doesn't make you stronger, it just might kill you.

this is the first of the new batch of patterns to be sewn.. stay tuned!

The Friday Finish Line (Saturday Edition)

I am back to my "School Week System" of making a list of what I managed to get done Friday to Friday.
What did I get done this week?

I canned tomatoes with my friend Meridith.
This is just batch number one. 17 Jars. 8 for me, 9 for her.

It is beyond addictive to set in stores for the winter.
It appeals to me on a
"wild frontierswoman/ Survivor of the Great Depression"
kind of level.

I sent StressBunny II: The Return of StressBunny
off to his new home in The British Isles.

I got my haircut. Only 12 weeks overdue.

Took Puppers to school.
He isn't the best puppy in class, but he's close.

Talked to the track coach about some nasty foul mouthed little creatures
who have NO Idea What Sportmanship Looks Like.

I made a new "pup with stuff" for a sweet friend

Finished His Dark Materials trilogy.

Bought "pricey" vintage toy kitchen. Photo Essay to follow.

Ordered more tomatoes to can.

Finished a crayon tinted vintage embroidery bit.

And went to watch track meet number one featuring "the reluctant runner: Jacob Mann".
He was not last.

Put off regular housekeeping chores with a level of procrastination that is difficult to explain,
let alone justify.

It was a pretty good week.