FINALLY!!!

I HAVE OFFICIALLY STARTED APT-203!

YAY!!!!!!!

I wrote my welcome post and I'm already thinking about my post for tomorrow. =D

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Lamar and I finally found Value Village this afternoon. So we went back after I got off.  We've dubbed it as his thrift store because he found like 3 games he wanted and a huge crochet blanket.

 Yes, I crochet and I buy thrifted crochet blankets!  Whenever people come to my house, they always ask if I made the huge blanket covering out sofa.  I'm always like, "Nope, got it for 5 bucks at the thrift store." ...It takes too long to crochet a WHOLE BLANKET...  I have no crochet shame ;-)

So, I'm not sure how this blog is going to evolve with Apt-203, but I'm not planning to close it.

Busy Bee...

I decided to take a little break from working... I'm waiting for the Admin Asst to return from lunch so I can go get something to eat... I'm so stinkin hungry... arg... Anywho, in other news, I've decided that tomorrow is going to be the launch day for Apt-203! Yay!

What is Apt-203, you ask?

Apt-203 is my new crafting blog. A few months ago, I was flitting between tumblr and blogger looking for crafty blogs run by ladies of color... only to find maybe 3... that don't post often... *sad face*  I was talking to my roommate about it and she gave me that well do it yourself look. You know the one with the raised eyebrow. At first I didn't want to commit to it because I had all these different worries... what if it sucks... what if no one reads it... what if I can't keep up with the consistency... on and on my mind went until I decided that above all my worries, there's surely some other little crafty black girl wondering where are the crafters that look like her.  And so, Apt-203 was born.

---hours later---

 I'm really excited about starting Apt-203 tomorrow. I was planning to write the welcome post tonight so that it would be all ready to go, but alas, I must go to bed. Wish me luck with my new endeavor! Good night all :)

Good Things: 26th Birthday

Yesterday was my 26th birthday, and it was a very pleasant day. Here's my list. :)

• Roses & a birthday card from church coworkers

• Jewelry music box from Lamar
• Raggedy Ann doll from Lamar

• Lots of doggie cuddles :)

• Afternoon naps
• Bones marathon
• Polka-dot wrapping paper

• Crochet works in progress
• Birthday cheesecake made by Lamar
• Reading crafty blogs
• Deep conditioning
• Craft project planning
• Gifted bags from strangers (This girl came in the office Wednesday & I told her I liked her bag. She thanked me & said that when she gets a new one I can have it. I thought she was just being nice, but today she came in & gave it to me ^.^ How nice!)
  

Kids are Awesome ^.^

At Lamar's basketball game tonight, I met a 5-year-old named Alexis. She was sooooo bold. I was just sitting & working on a crochet legwarmer & she walks up to me like 'What are you doing.' So we started talking & she asks to play a game on my phone. Now, most of my games are not easily translated to a 5 YO level (chess, sodoku, scrabble, etc) but I do have tangrams. At first she was trying to move & fit the pieces herself, but it wasn't working so we worked on it together. It became this educational shapes session, lol. Her dad even made a point to ask me if I'm an education major. (I really should've been a teacher... oh well)  Anywho, my phone died & we played I Spy for a good 15 minutes before her sister came to pick her up.

I know that some people may not understand why playing a couple games with a first grader would be a highlight of my day, but there's something about the clear & unbiased way kids do things. It's so plain & simple.

I think that often times we lose that in the hustle of everyday.  Matter of fact, I know I do.  So here's to resurrecting a child-like clarity in my days & finding the fun in the ordinary.

Crafternoon Project

Today's crafternoon project was this lovely gingham circle skirt! I've had the fabric for... probably a year & the yellow bias tape used in the waistband for longer. o.O

I used the pattern found here and it was really simple to follow. The only snafu I ran into was running out of fabric, but in the spirit of Tim Gunn, I made it work by sewing scrap pieces together to fill out the needed space. I also covered a little button with the same fabric & put it above the zipper. The bottom still has to be hemmed, but other than that, it's all done. ^.^

Little Dirty Thrift Store

Cherie & I took a therapeutic trip to the thrift store yesterday afternoon. Normally we go to the main store in our area 'Thrift Mart,' but this time we went to Break Free Thrift Store aka Little Dirty Thrift Store. It's really dusty & dark & filled to overflowing with thrifty goodness.


[Miss Super Reader was so excited about finding these two books. "They are my hearts," she said.]


[I don't know if you have ever felt eel skin, but it is the weirdest thing I have touched thus far... Plus some lady in the store said if you put your credit cards in an eel skin bag they will get demagnetized because of the charge of the skin... interesting.]


[Tag from the bag.]


[Our thrifting haul.]

These were our thriftings of the day. All of this cost us a whopping $2! Two sewing patterns, 3 books, a bow-tie, a mug, & 5 crochet hooks... the cashier looked at everything & told me $2, I looked at her like "huh what?" Then handed over my money & promptly left lest she decide to charge more. So yay for the little dirty thrift store!

February Photo-a-day Challenge: Week 2

Ok, here are my photo challenge pictures from Feb 8-14.

Day 8: Sun

The view from my balcony.

Day 9: Front Door

Apartment 203, Home Sweet Home.

**Launching Soon "APT-203.BLOGSPOT.COM" my new craft blog! Yay!**

Day 10: Self-Portrait

Tired face on lunch & wearing one of my absolute favorite over-sized sweaters. It's a chunky maroon cardigan from Thrift Mart, my go to thrift store. :)

Day 11: Makes You Happy

Lamar & I went to Cheddar's for a dinner date & this was our dessert. A HUGE wedge of cake with 2 scoops of ice cream. He was in heaven! Such a sweet-tooth... shakes head...

Day 12: Inside Your Closet

This is the beautifully colorful sweater section of my closet! I loves dem ^.^

Day 13: Blue

Thrifted blue American Eagle top & little miss bad dog.

Day 14: Heart

My hand + Lamar's hand = oh how cute... *.*

I am really enjoying this photography challenge and I'm glad that I'm actually keeping up with it. Yay Me!

R...A...N...T...

I am finding that working with ms battles is more & more irritating everyday. She has not only told me that I can't play any "hard gospel music", but today she says my nails are not upholding the principles of this office, and that I dont get paid to use my laptop.
Now, I'm not even going to rant on the stupidity of Adventists having issue with nail polish when they allow much worse behaviors to continue uninhibited... Ugh! The amount of gossip & double-standards you see if you just take a minute to look is ridiculous. But at least their nails are flesh colored... -__-

This laptop thing kind of pushed me over the edge today. I understand that it is true that I'm not getting paid to "surf the net" on my computer, but when you havent given me ANYTHING after I've asked MULTIPLE TIMES!!!! What is a girl to do? I am not the type to just sit twiddling her thumbs... not in the least... she better be happy I left that scarf I'm working on at home. (just to interject... she STILL HASN'T GIVEN ME ANYTHING TO DO!!!!!)

I am completely ready to kick sh*t over in here...

So what I'm going to do, now that I've ranted, is take a breath, organize my purse, & set up a blog entry for my Photo challenge week two ON THE OFFICE COMPUTER!!! And when she finally decides to give me something to do, I'm going to finish is quickly & quietly & then go back to blogging... I need my own office...

*breathe*baby*breathe*

Don't Forget to Zig!

I did my nails last night using this tutorial I saw on LoveElycia & The Danty Squid. (Both quite lovely blogs.)  I mostly like how they came out, but in the future I'm going to change a few things. I'll write that later. Anywho, here are my progress shots. ^.^

Step 1: Cut strips of tape with your handy zig-zag scissors & stick them over your solid painted nails. (I used regular scotch tape, but it was a bit too sticky even after sticking the tape to my hand a couple times... next time I think I'll try drafting tape or something less sticky.)

Step 2: Paint your contrasting colors. (On The Dainty Squid, she said to pull the tape off while the paint is wet. Mine was a bit tacky by the time I pulled it off, so the edges aren't as clean as they could be. Lesson: follow the instructions, lol.)

Step 3: Cover your awesome chevron nails with a clear topcoat.

Step 4: Enjoy!

I really liked this idea. It was simple & fun. I'm thinking about taking these colors off in a couple days & doing it again.  I also want to go back to walmart & get all the little decorative scrapbooking scissors to make more pretty stripes ^.^ Oh the possibilities!!!

Ugh... Just Ugh...

I am currently at work and very frustrated because I am sorting through incomplete travel reports... nearly a year and a half of them... Why is this frustrating? Because not only am I adjusting to a new work environment, I have to finish the work that the last person didn't. So I'm getting further & further behind while trying to tie up the ends left before me... Why am I blogging right now?  Frankly, if I don't give my brain a break from this foolishness, I'm going to kick some stuff over!!!

I feel a tiny bit better right now...

February Photo-a-Day Challenge: Week 1

I am currently working on the February Photo-a-Day challenge.  I tried to do the January one, but I missed a day & then fell off completely. :(  Anywho, Lamar said that the challenge for me wouldn't be to take the pictures, but to get them posted. So my goal this month is to get them posted! That being said, here is the challenge list followed by the first week of February.

Day 1: Your View Today

[What's with these rainy Mondays?!? Come on Alabama, get it together!!!]

Day 2: Words

[This is my Serenity Prayer bracelet that I wear everyday. I rarely ever take it off. It's a really good prayer to have around, especially in stressful times.]

Day 3: Hands

[Yin Yang Hands ^.^]

Day 4: A stranger

[College students at an intramural basketball game]

Day 5: 10AM

[So technically it's 10:35, two days later, but whatever]

Day 6: Dinner

[Burger King... Dinner of Champions]

Day 7: Button

[Close up of my skirt today. $1 from Thrift mart! woot!]

New Blog

I'm trying to come up with a title for my new crafting blog & everything I'm thinking is already taken... AND most of them are blogs that haven't been updated in 5-10 years!!!!
WHYYYYYY?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

... and it was a good night.

Big Fro Head Banging

So. Much. Fun.

It wouldn't be a party without the electric slide.

911 Reporters, Art&Soul Poetry Club, & Oakwood USM presented a Soul Lounge Poetry & Music Show.  During the last song by the 911 Reporters "Haters", dancing broke out :)  Now, I'm normally one to shy away from dancing in public, but my roommate pulled me up. It was a wrap from there. Such a good time :)

Check out the 911 Reporters performing 'Haters'

Puppy Love

Lamar & Toot

Me & Kiva

Shoe Refashion: Mod Podge + Fabric

Ingredients for tonight's project. Mod Podge, fabric, shoes chewed up by a bad little dog. (not pictured: scissors, straight razor, hot glue, & sand paper)

I have a couple pairs of shoes that a naughty dog, named Toot, chewed up & I am determined to salvage them.  The black pair have only been worn ONCE! (ugh... rolls eyes)

After watching a video by Corinne on Youtube, I decided that if she can mod podge a doily onto her shoes- I should be able to mod podge fabric onto mine.  I did a little more youtube research & found one video of a girl covering a shoe with fabric. So I picked up some more podge from walmart, grabbed some fabric from my stash, & got to work. 

Here is the first shoe with podge drying.

At first, I was going to cover the shoe with a solid piece of fabric, but that turned out to be a bit harder than I expected... So I cut the fabric into strips & overlapped them all around the shoe.

Podge mostly dry, waiting for the heel wrapping to begin.

Next, I trimmed the edges & glued them down on the inside. After all the podge dried, I wrapped the heel... didn't like it... unwrapped the heel & wrapped a different way... didn't like it... unwrapped the heel & wrapped another way... didn't like it... unwrapped the heel & wrapped yet another way... finally liked it (lots of podge was wasted... sadly)

The finished shoes!

I have to replace the heel ends because they were chewed off & spray a layer of water-proofer on them. When I started this project, I was thinking I'd wear them to church tomorrow, but that's totally not happening... Better luck next week. They came out really nicely though. Of course, pictures of them on to come ^.^

I'm quite proud of them. :)

Fingers at work... I love this.

 creating something from a ball of yarn…

On my hook...

Currently filling an order for a child size scarf. If you can't tell in the photo, the black parts are horizontally ribbed & the red letter is flat. I like the change in texture, but I did have a couple hiccups with forgetting to rib the little black sections. So there was a bit of frogging & re-stitching. But the letter is done now & I have about 2 feet left of black to do on it. I think I'm going to put another couple of red stripes at the end, but I haven't decided yet. I hope the little boy likes it when he gets it. My goal is to have it completed by Friday & mailed off no later than Monday.  Ok, enough of the talk, here is the progress shot:

About 13" of kid-sized scarf.