More App Reviews Coming Soon...

I will be posting another App Review post soon, this time with some more attention to handwriting apps in particular. I've been testing them for about two weeks and have even bought the full version of one of them, I loved it so much! I'll need to come up with a rubric for rating, though and go through them again so they can be scored equally. 

Craft Show Prep #2

I thought I would do a second post detailing my sources of certain products I use at shows. I am doing a women's symposium at a college next month and want everything done before hand. My inventory is no where near done but I have a lot of things cut out to sew.

For now, though:
Fabric Labels: Spoonflower (I got a fat quarter printed with my logo and pressed the edges under, stitched around each one, and added it to my products. I used this tutorial.

Business cards: moo.com - LOVE their mini cards! They shipped them so fast and the little QR code on the back links to my Etsy shop.



Banner: Wal-Mart - I bought a paper pack for five dollars along with double sided tape. I made a paper banner like the ones seen on Pinterest. Way easier than fabric/felt and way cheaper than vinyl (I ended up sewing the second two together after I took this picture).



Photo Price Signs: anywhere.....I have 20 free prints from Snapfish for purchasing HP ink, so I will getting my next set through them. My last ones were from Walgreens for about two dollars. How ironic that I don't have a picture of these yet. But I have designed them!

Bags: my mom and Etsy. I got some big clear plastic merchandise bags from my mom, who is a Scentsy consultant. I got some zebra print t shirt bags and purple merchandise bags from two different Etsy sellers. Talk about pops of color!



Stair-step Display: Dollar General/Wal-Mart - I used the same paper pack and bought foam core from DG. Found the tutorial on Pinterest!



And since I'm sharing, here are my other two DIY Display pieces - no tutorials, just sitting there playing with materials.

This is my therapy

This blog is my therapy. Typing a new post helps me some days. I had a thought about being able to finish my novel that way. I even had an idea for another one surface while going through some old pages where I had penned a random chapter or two. I keep ignoring my diet and coming back to it. I keep starting to exercise and then stopping again. I started eating things I had stopped eating.

I have got to stop relapsing. It's not fair to me or my body. I have to ignore my cravings and replace them with something healthy or just drink a bottle of water. I keep the same bottle around as long as I can and then replace it. I love those sparkling waters, and they only cost 1 dollar and I can walk to the store to get it - 20-30 minutes of exercise right there! I hope you will continue to follow my blog and I hope I can get better with posting more. I promise, I have a notebook full of ideas, I just to have to get it typed!

{Tutorial Tuesday}: CD Organization

I desperately needed some control over my CD/DVDs/video games. It's too much - the cases, the little books, ALL of it. So I picked up a cute little storage box from Staples (under $20 and it came with sleeves!). It holds 80 discs, and I have about 60, so it's a perfect fit for future movies and games - I'm not much of a music CD buyer anymore. I love iTunes and the Amazon Music Store and get most of my music through them now. However, I do still buy movies so I have physical copies to watch.

My station before I got started - the box, all the CDs/DVDs, Martha Stewart labels, and my blue Walmart bag, FULL of cases.

Here is a closeup of the labels I used, available here. (Blue, Pink, Green, Cappuccino)

"I'll Help You Get Organized"

Oh, will you really? I really need to be organized, so keep your promise!!!

Annnnnd here's the mess: laptop for checking CD's that I don't know what's on them or even if they work. Which this lasted for 3 discs, since my laptop is super picky about which discs it chooses to read - I think it's still jealous over me getting an iPad ;-) ; cases out (most on the floor), clipboard so I can sit in my rolling chair to write mini track listings and code labels (for The Sims games); just a MESS.

My mini track listing paper, and the labels for the games codes.

My two guilty pleasures :-) I found the booklets fit easily behind the discs, and the track listings were put in front of those discs, so I can just glance and choose.

My work area after I was finished.

My mess I have to deal with. You can see my nephew's feet as he surveys the mess as well.

But it's done, everything I need to toss is in a big box to go out on recycle/garbage day, so I won't have to see or deal with it anymore.

Natasha, where have you been?

I feel like I haven't posted in awhile...but I have been working on draft posts. I just need to upload and edit the pictures. I have been back and forth to classes, and I finally decided to read The Hunger Games trilogy. I finished the first book in 3 days, the second in two, and the last one in two. The books are amazing, and way better than I expected. I just need to watch the first movie and then I'll be all ready for Catching Fire to come out in November!! Definitely a must read if you haven't already! (I know, I feel late, but I didn't want to read it when the hype was going initially -- I am not an initial bandwagoner-type)

My dad also chose last minute to let us know that someone was coming to do a price quote for new carpet upstairs. I was happy to be rid of the rabbit holes (yes, I had one 2 years ago and she destroyed my carpet) and the stains (flying ketchup accident and my brother spilled my green tea when he was playing around).  I didn't foresee the next issue. Not only did I have to clear out most of my room for the carpet people for the next day, I had to move it all back (STILL SORE). That means multiple trips up and down a flight of stairs and into the garage or wherever we could cram everything from all three bedrooms. I had to do my room by myself, though :(

Anyway, finally get everything back in my room and work on putting it back neatly and moving things and rearranging and whatnot, when I realize (as was said earlier by my dad and echoed by my mom when we first saw the finished upstairs) the purple walls really DO NOT work with the new red carpet! Luckily, my mom showed me a can of off white paint that she had originally bought for the master bath, but she said it was too bright for such a small-ish room. Thank goodness it was there, because I did not want to buy a new can of paint, and I wouldn't know what color to choose! So I have been painting. Still not done yet, as I have to do two coats (as opposed to the one it took the cover the previous bright pink (I was in a different room before)) on each wall and I feel overexerted trying to roll the paint all the way up even on a step ladder.  It feels as if I am trying to reach too high -- it's a weird feeling; hard to describe.

New Blog Happenings for 2013...

I meant to post this earlier today, but better late than never, right?

These will be the themes for each day of the week:

• Mondays will be College Survival - Various tips, random tidbits, etc. There may be some car-related Pinterest pins and tips of my own, specifically for commuting students.
• Tuesdays will be new tutorials as I make them. The ones I said I had are being rewritten but I may end up posting my newer ones before the old ones surface.
• Wednesdays will be fashion. This will cover Go Chic or Go Home ensembles, Thrift Store Revamps, and clothes I saved from the donate pile by changing them up.
• Thursdays will be Room Makeover updates not covered on Tutorial Tuesday. I can't wait to finish my room and have it finally be what I always dreamed of!
• Fridays will still be Foodie Friday, with more of my recipes and some of my favorite pinned recipes!
• Saturday will be Studio Apartment Appreciation Day: The Series. It will be a series of blog posts related to studio apartments because though I don't live in one, I plan to someday and I want to learn as much as I can about consolidating from living in my parents' house to squishing my crap into a tiny space and I want to share that info. on my blog.
• Sundays will be Pins of the Week. I love Pinterest, and without it, I would not be blogging. I get inspired and discover new ideas. Every week (I hope), I will share 5 of my favorite pins (or ones people repin the most through me) and hopefully I embed it right!

Keep in mind there may not be a post everyday. There may not be a post for a certain category every week. But it will be there! And there will be handy dandy categories to help you find what you fancy (:

No new POTD until next week...

I am just so off and out of it this week. My sleep schedule is messed up so bad from this break, but I know I needed it. I will start up again with Pin of the Day next week (probably Monday). I'm working on organizing my blog posts - thanks to a post I saw on another blog...I can't remember the name!! But she linked to several different free printables for organizing blog posts. I chose one that I love that plans it out for the week, and I saved it to my computer and printed a copy so I could get started. There is so much I want to share on my blog this year, and I really hope to bring it to life instead of writing it or posting it and it doesn't happen due to something random throwing it off...oh well! :)