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craft

2014 New Year’s Resolution

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what a mess craft suppliesI feel I dread to make a new year’s resolution every year; yet I still manage to come up with one every year (2010, 2011, and 2013). I stuck to my last year’s resolution pretty well. Although I did not sketch every day as I wanted to, I sketch and doodle a fair amount and at least have gotten over the fear of sketching. I want to continue to improve this are this year as well, but my real goal this year is to stay organized. I am not naturally a super organized person, and if you let me, I will have piles of papers all over my ironing board. But since I started sewing, selling my clothes and working from home, I have realized that I save more time being organized, even if the organization process may take some time. On top of that, I watched a few youtube videos by Alejandra (just happened to come across while I was searching something else) and it really motivated to create a neat and clean space.

As a starter, I decided to organize one of the drawers I keep some sewing supplies. In it, I have all kinds of stuff – zippers, laces, buttons, belt buckles, stamps, snap buttons and more! I went to 100 yen shop to buy a couple of plastic containers. I picked plastic containers as opposed to other filing and organizing tools since I can reuse them in the kitchen if I no longer need them. I separated all the trinkets and labeled them using washi tapes, which are also removable.

One thing I noticed while I was organizing was that I was buying more than I needed. My natural instinct is to buy items like lace, zippers and elastics in bulk, because you always need them; however, while I was organizing I found many of the above items that have not been used for more than a year. I’ve decided not to buy any more sales zippers unless they are white or black, invisible zippers. I have many zippers in moss green, brown, navy blue or pale pink that I can’t find any use for.

I feel so much better having a clean drawer! I am planning on tackling one drawer at a time. organizing supplies for craft itemsafter organizingplastic containers

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Mommy’s Diary: Gold Dot Sticker Art

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mommy's diarykiko and gold stickers2

I wrote about incorporating kids’ art in your home in the past, and today I’m sharing an easy project Kiko and I worked on the other day when it was rainy. Since moving to Tokyo, we have gotten rid of the car due to the fact that parking is so expensive ($300 a month) and we really didn’t need it because we can get around easily with bike, bus and subway. But on rainy days I wish we still had the car. Usually in the afternoon I take Kiko out for a walk to go to a park or the mall but rainy days take too much prep time required to do those usual activities.

This project was really easy and simple: I gave her white copy paper and gold circle stickers and let her put them on any way she wanted. I’m making a small gallery near my sewing studio wall, so this simple dot decoration will be a perfect addition to it. She was very proud when she saw her creation hanging up on my wall, and said “Kiko did it!”. kiko and gold stickers1kiko and gold stickers3 kiko and gold stickers4 kiko and gold stickers5 suppliesVivat veritas sewing stuido gallery wall Vivat veritas sewing stuido gallery wall2 Vivat veritas sewing stuido gallery wall3ChieSignature

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Sewing Studio, Lately.

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vivat veritas studio3{“Open me” stickers (via etsy) to add to packaging to lovely customers}vivat veritas studio5

{colorful threads}vivat veritas studio4

{These big clips are useful in organizing frequently-used patterns}vivat veritas studio2 vivat veritas studio1{wall pockets to hold many small notions and metal wire baskets to organize my silk painting supplies}

It’s hard to stay organized with ever-increasing sewing and craft supplies. I’ve been trying to utilize my limited space as wisely as possible. I feel like I spend as much time putting stuff back in order or in its original place as sewing itself. The small space gets overcrowded very quickly if I get lazy. Still, my sewing space shows a vast improvement compared when I first started shop on my dining table back in 2008. I used to keep all my fabrics in a trash bag, and stuffed it in my small closet in our small Philly apartment. How do you stay organized with your sewing supplies?

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