Orange you glad again?

Another treasury feature...this time it's my orange flower barrette that made it in:

Etsy Orange!

 

What a lovely treasury by Experience :)

Top 5 Best & Worst of Being Unemployed

This isn't exactly craft-related, but it's been on my mind. Today I was doing some thinking about the whole state of being unemployed...in between job applications, of course. I know so many people right now who have been affected by layoffs or other kinds of downsizing. It just seems to be getting worse :( On the whole, I feel pretty positive, but this is still not an easy situation.

So here are my thoughts about the:

Top 5 crappy things about being unemployed

1) Money worries and guilt. Highly miserable, regardless of your financial situation.
2) Feeling isolated and disconnected socially at times. This is strange because I have lots of plans with friends--but few with mere acquaintances, folks I don't know well, or new people. There's not as much opportunity for this, unless you seek it out.
3) Magnifying other areas of your life that aren't going ideally. Spending lots of time by yourself has a way of doing that...and now you don't have the excuse of work or "no time" to hide behind for why you haven't fixed things.
4) The waiting game.  The whole job search process is slow and it's just not much fun.
5) Feeling unproductive/like you're wasting time. Not that I didn't waste tons of time on the weekends before...but now it comes with FREE automatic guilt since you're not getting paid!

However, there are also the

Top 5 awesome things about being unemployed

1) Less stress! Seriously. And not as many migraines :) Huge.
2) Time for myself--for crafting, for seeing friends, volunteering, reading books and blogs, taking care of long-overdue errands, spending time with my pets, and CLEANING MY HOUSE. I've been oddly busy--I have plans to get out and do something pretty much every day.
3) Did I mention that my house has never been cleaner?
4) Being able to help out friends. Some of my friends needed a babysitter for a few hours...others needed rides from the airport, company/moral support during unpleasant errands, or a pet-sitter. It's nice to be able to say, "Sure, I'd love to help!" instead of "I can't, I don't have time."
5) Getting in shape--ok so I haven't met my goal yet, but I feel at least 85% healthier. And yes, I clearly got that percentage in a scientific manner. Actually, most of my friends have commented on how much better I look now that I'm not stressed out and working too many hours.

In general, it's been a great time to get my life in order. So it sucks sometimes, and it ain't vacation...but it's not all bad.

Some good lists and columns from others:

Top 5 Benefits of Being Unemployed

The Unemployment Blues

Unemployment Blues (another one)

24 Ways to Beat the Unemployment Blues

7 Myths About Being Unemployed

100 Motivational Blog Posts for the Unemployed

100 Tips, Tools, and Resources to Help You Survive Without a Job

Ten Fun Ways to Kill Time When You're Unemployed

Weaving again!

I had taken a weaving hiatus for a few weeks, although the warp has been sitting patiently on the loom waiting for me. Yesterday I finally got started...

I planned this "Windowpane Plaid" scarf months ago and am pretty happy with how it's turning out--just like I imagined. Although it does kind of remind me of a dishtowel plaid, haha.

It's an off-white chenille yarn, with a synthetic novelty yarn for the stripes. And it's a pretty easy weave, too...so I should have it completed by the end of the week. More pics soon!

Another fall treasury!

Here's an etsy treasury curated by earlykooka, featuring my Autumn Leaves Purse:

 Autumnal Tribal Tones

Awesome colors and patterns. Please visit and take a look!

Sneak peek--baby collage!

My friend Melissa asked me to make a name collage for her new baby's room...I finished it this afternoon and really like how it turned out.

The baby's name is a secret till he's born though, so I must wait till then to show the full picture!

Day trip to PA

This past Saturday, my younger brother and I took a trip to visit our older brother, who lives in Wilmington, DE...so we explored the nearby area in PA. Here are some photos from Marsh Creek State Park.

Why is it called a creek? It is clearly a LAKE.

Can't you just hear the bugs and bird sounds?

This is one of my favorite shots.

These boats reminded me of shiny fish.

Love how striking the birdhouse shape is against the sky.

Still life with life jackets.

Another fall treasury feature!

Yesterday my Autumn Leaves purse was included in another etsy treasury, this time curated by Sherri Conley:

Autumn Leaves

Thank you Sherri for making such a lovely treasury!

Cleaning!

I must apologize for being somewhat MIA on the crafty project postings. I have a part-time job I'm working a few days a week now, and my other major project over the last month has been cleaning the heck out of my living room.

For the first time in years, I now can truly say my living room is presentable. Usually I felt I needed to apologize for it when people come over.

Right now you can sit on the couch without (gasp!) moving a whole bunch of crafty crap. My craft stuff is organized in a way that makes sense and I am working through using stuff up.

I live in a small apartment and junk piles up fast here...it has literally taken me months to get my living room back to this state.

 

How did I do it? Getting rid of stuff! Quite a few things found new homes via craigslist, Planet Aid and other donation bins, Jyoti's neighborhood yard sale, and also gifts to my friends' closets :)

It turned out my biggest clutter nemesis was papers--I am taking out a huge bag of them to recycle each week. Why on earth was I saving work papers from 6 years (and several jobs) ago? They weren't interesting and I certainly never looked at them.

I also used the help of a few Feng Shui books that finally made me feel it was ok to part with some of this stuff:

    

I haven't painted my door red or anything (I'm pretty sure my complex would object to that, although this door has never seen a new coat of paint!) but the books were really helpful about putting the clutter items in perspective.

I still don't have the heart to take down my collage wall...

Or to completely trash my magazine collection...

But there is definitely room to breathe now!

More treasury love!

Check it out! My autumn leaves purse was featured in another beautiful etsy treasury, this time by fuchsiabloomstudio:

Prelude to Autumn

Treasury, Hooray!

Check it out--HannahsHands featured not one but TWO of my pieces today in her extremely lovely "Warm Autumn Colors" etsy treasury.

Great colors and great items...I definitely found some new favorite shops :)