I'm back!

Wow – I didn’t mean to take such a long break! First, I had a few technical difficulties as in my computer burned up. No flames or smoke, but a distinct smell of wires on fire. The nice computer technician in India was surprised enough to deviate from his usual script. After asking what the problem was, instead of saying, “Okay, I can help you with that,” I heard a silence and then “BURNED up?” And, then “Are you having any other problems?” Well, no – that should do it for today.

They don’t even bother trying to fix a burned up computer so I had to wait for the new one to be shipped (fortunately mine was still under warranty) and then set it up and reload everything. It’s hard to take a decent picture of a black CPU, but this is my new one. See the USB ports right on the top? No more crawling around looking for them. And, I love the built-in SD card slots!

And, as the blog title says, I have a hard time keeping everything running smoothly at the same time. So, I used my forced computer break to catch up around the house and to do some crafting!

Remember this? I bought the blue dotted pillow cover on the recent shopping trip to Ikea.

Now, it looks like this! Yep, it's a tote bag.

I cut it down and squared the bottom corners, then pleated it at the top below the contrasting band so it wouldn’t be so wide. I had fun trying out freezer paper stenciling and added a bit of hand-embroidery. I had the beautiful Japanese fabric in my stash which was just begging to be used. I’m very happy with how it all turned out.

Here is a close-up of my little bird? Isn’t he sweet?

And, I finally finished this purse…

I had started it I-don’t-know-how-long-ago and finally added the button and the flower detail.

I’m sort of ashamed to admit that was all it needed. It felt good to actually get some things out of the WIP (Works In Progress) pile.

I’ve also been making a few skirts and having lots of fun with headbands so more to come soon.