sproutingoxygen.com

10 Reasons My Kindle is the Bee’s Knees

kelsey — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 19:28:51 +0000

Warning: while this post has nothing to do with DIY, it does contain facts that need to be shared with the world

I am an avid analog reader. When I make purses one of the main considerations is, “could it fit my book?”. Even though I loved the idea of an e-book, I swore that I would never give up my paper pages. However, after receiving the Kindle 2 for my birthday in July, I quickly saw the light, which is why I am here to convince all you book-lovers that the kindle is the best thing ever.

above: actual reenactment of kindle reading

10. Smaller than a book. i.e. fits in every purse. Yup, even that one.

9. You literally don’t have to lift a finger to turn the page. Seriously. You don’t realize how much energy you exert while turning pages in bed; its exhausting! But now, just “boop” – page turned!

8. $$$$$$$$$$$ Did you know that kindle books are wicked cheap? They are. Plus, there are tons of free books on Amazon. I am reading Brothers Grimm Fairy Tails for f-r-e-e. I hear there is some sort of Library sharing too, but I’m not that advanced yet.

7. I sat at Panara Bread, ate a bowl of soup, and read my book, only this time, I didn’t smear my precious paper pages with soup fingers. Because if you’re smart and resourceful you can get your kindle to stand up on the table. BAM.

6. A plethora of sweet accessories. I’m pretty sure I had my amazon window open for 4 days before I finally chose this lovely beaut of a case.

5. The Coolness Factor. You know how every time you see one of these amazing kindle commercials you’re like “man, I wish I was that person acting out crazy scenarios set to music I like!” With a kindle, I feel infinitely cooler. On a bus, on the beach, whatever, you probably want to be my friend.

4. Finished your book? No biggie. Because you have a trillion more of them stored. And if you don’t, then..

3. Use some Whispernet. Google it, it takes too long to explain. But I will tell you that I checked my email and downloaded books while in some extremely remote areas.

2. When your dad calls you lame because you don’t have a smart phone, you can counter that you have a Kindle. Really, it makes a great winning argument for any dispute that arises.

And the #1 reason why my kindle is the Bee’s Knees: Hot tub. With one of the many options for waterproof cases surrounding my precious e-book, I sat in a hot tub in Aruba and read my stories. I think I even dropped it once, no biggie.

The bottom line: dear boyfriend got a lot of points banked for this one.

Blue and Red, but not Patriotic

kelsey — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 01:50:06 +0000

I mentioned before that I have a new job. New job = new clothes. No, shh, don’t argue – that’s just the way it is. So the first installment in the professional wardrobe: The Blue Dress. As S would say, “hey lucille ball! whats shakin?”

Anyway, this was the huge original lump of a thrift store dress:

And after an entire day (yes) of altering and realizing how much I hate set-in sleeves:

I basically deconstructed and reconstructed the dress. New sleeves, tailored bodice, flared skirts, and, yes, pockets.

By the way, inspiration was from the DI Denizen, who has sadly stopped blogging, but whose blog deserves a read nonetheless.

Tuesday Tunes

kelsey — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 21:06:29 +0000

Did you know that the lead singer of Bloc Party has branched out into a solo album? Well learn it, ’cause it’s boss.

“Everything you wanted” by Kele

Milk Jug Storage

kelsey — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 20:09:54 +0000

You may have already picked up on this, but I am obsessed with the Craftzine Blog. They had a feature yesterday about a crafty and green way to store your art supplies, which was originally posted on Recyclart. These will come in particularly handy when I start teaching at my new school in august (oh, p.s. – I got a new job *jumps around*)

See the original story here

The Mustard Skirt

kelsey — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 23:32:13 +0000

Very rarely do I make something and think “wow, I am completely happy with that!”. There is always a wonky seem, or awkward pocket, or huge mistake that would just take entirely too long to remove. However, this may be the first piece of clothing that I am completely happy with. Free drinks for everyone!

And yes, that is a watermelon. Home grown.

Initially, I was inspired by this skirt from American Apparel:

And after making a couple elastic waist skirts using this tutorial from Freshly Picked, fate led me to some amazing yellow colored linen and I fell in love. 2″ elastic, 1 yard of linen, and some thread later, the Mustard Skirt was born. Even though it may seem to be rouched, like the AA skirt, my skirt is actually elastic waist with a seam through the middle of the elastic.

By the way, this tutorial from Rebecca Turbow is great to learn to hide your elastic

All in all, I think this is something I’m going to be wearing for a long, long time.

5 months later..

kelsey — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 20:05:14 +0000

..I’m back!

My needed absence makes me wonder if all bloggers/crafters take a hiatus every so often. I think its difficult to constantly be on the spot to make and report on fabulous creations without sometimes taking a couple months to hide in bed and tend to all those personal things that build up. Like doing the day job that pays the bills. And going on vacation in Aruba. Nonetheless, I’m back.

Lots of ideas bouncing around for the future of Sprouting Oxygen, but I suppose priority number 1 is to get making.

I’ll leave you with something to fill your ears, and might be the start of a regular feature: Tuesday Tunes

“colours” by Grouplove

Shoe Makeover

kelsey — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 21:54:36 +0000

I just wanted to give some wardrobe refashion *snaps* to Sherrie from Domestic Days for this awesome shoe makeover! I love pleating, and this was totally brilliant (and cheap! made with ribbon and 10 dollar strappy shoes).

Wow

kelsey — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 17:42:16 +0000

This just took my breath away.

Thanks to Moonstitches for her amazing pictures of the Tokyo Great Quilt Show 2009

Little Peices

kelsey — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 15:26:16 +0000

I used to belong to the “oh man, quilting is LAME” school of thought, but since I’ve been blizzarded in the house, I’ve begun to realize how cool it is to be able to use up otherwise-trash scraps of fabric to create something new. Here has been some of my quilting inspirations.

Awesome Paintbox inspired Quilt by Oh, Fransson! Tutorial and Quilt-along found here.

(pssst, her website is straight awesome)

Cathedrial Quilt Tutorial by Hyena in Petticoats

Craft Vol 7 has a great idea of how to use up old clothing scraps to make a Yosegire Quilt, which, thankfully, can be done on the fly without planning or (too much) measuring. Tutorial

And, while it may be a little high-brow for this little blog, here is a gorgeous Compass quilt courtesy of the Wisconsin Museum of Quilts

Working on..

kelsey — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 14:37:38 +0000

Simplicity 2733!

Note: I hate patterns. I am much more of a “work it out” kind of sewer. This, of course, leads to a vicious cycle of making clothes: try, fail, try, fail, try, try harder, try extremely hard, throw it away. In an effort to knock this off and actually succeed in some of the garments I sew, i’m going to be (sigh) following instructions, well, sort of.

This was a terrible pattern to start with because:

1. It looks like its for tweens. Seriously, project runway, sell out some more, okay?

2. Very cute idea (shirt on the left minus the hideous sleeves) but the directions are ATROCIOUS! It is more confusing to read these instructions than than eat soup with a slotted spoon.

3. Apparently I bought the wrong sized pattern, we’ll see if I can work around it.

Anyway, pictures to come soon!