My first try...

Last night when I was at Hobby Lobby grabbing a few things I needed for some keychains that I am working on for my shop, I decided I might as well start on one of the things on my "To-Do" list of hobbies to pick up this year. So I wandered around the aisles until I found the felt -- they were 5 for $1, so I grabbed 10 different colors and added them to my cart.

When I got home I realized I had absolutely NO CLUE how to sew felt... I mean, I have hand-sewn miscellaneous other things before, but never felt. So after a little bit of searching, I came upon this futuregirl.com craft blog tutorial, which helped me out and got me started.

First things first. What did I want to make? Originally I wanted to make a pin out of a little stuffed critter, but since I couldn't find my stuffing, I settled on making myself a little pouch. I need something to keep business cards and coupons organized in my purse anyway. I debated on colors a bit, but finally decided on brown because it's one of my favorites. I sorted through my embroidery floss to find a color that coordinated, then sat down with my scissors and started cutting.

A few hours, google searches, random breaks, and spontaneous thoughts later, I had myself a finished project:

Ok, so it doesn't look at that great. My least favorite part is the button hole, as I feel it looks like I did it whilst blindfolded... the buttons and such are all sort of random, but I just wanted to play around with and make it colorful. The back is still kinda boring, but I might add something later to practice a few different things. All you felt people out there, try not to make fun of me too much!

Things I Want to Learn

One of my goals for the new year is to learn a new hobby. In reality, I'd like to learn a lot more than one new hobby.... And I'm hoping to expand my Tangerine Sunshine shop into something a little more eclectic - I think that would better suit my personality rather than just focusing on the jewelry as I am now.

Some things I'd like to do, or work with:

• sewing -- mini zippy pouches, fun bags and skirts... mostly for myself, really, but some stuff to hopefully go into the shop. All I am missing right now is the sewing machine...
  
• knitting/crochet -- one or the other, I'd really just like to learn. So far my experience with attempting to knit has been disastrous, but I am willing to give it anther shot!
• felt -- I see SOOO many cute things made with felt - little buttons and brooches, fun pouches, hair accessories... I just want to give it a try :)
• keychains -- I want to make my scrabble tile pendants into keychains as well. This one is going to be the first one of this list to actually happen, since I am pretty much in the process of working on them right now...
• perler beads -- I used to play with these all time time as a kid, and I totally want to go back to them! I've seen some really awesome stuff made with perler beads on Flickr, and I want to make awesome stuff too!
  
• cross-stitch -- I already do this a little bit, even though it's a "grandma thing." Whatever, I think it's cool! I am more in to fantasy stuff like dragons and faeries, and video game themed stuff.
• and some things I'd like to work with eventually but don't have the money to start up on... lampwork beads, polymer clay, soldered jewelry... maybe some day.
  

So... If anyone has any supplies for some of these things that they'd be willing to destash for cheap, comment or email me! Or if you know of any good resources for getting started on them, that would be appreciated as well!

Resolutions -- to make, or not to make?

My original plan, as it seems to be ever year, was to make some new year's resolutions and see how long I could keep them for. This year, however, I am only going to set myself some goals. Resolutions are something that break easily -- goals are something that I can work towards for the entire year. In the grand scheme of things, I think that goals are more manageable (for me at least).

• Completely pay off all of my credit cards by May 9th (my college graduation)
• find a 'good' job after graduation
  
• List 5-7 new things in my Etsy shop each week
• reach 250 sales in my Etsy shop (currently at 77)
  
• blog at least once per week
• learn a new hobby
  
• keep a somewhat regular-basis 'diary' of my eating, sleeping, etc habits so I can learn which foods and habits make me sick, then cut them out of my diet or change certain habits to make myself healthier (and happier!)

I think that each of those goals is something manageable, and nothing is too 'lofty' of a goal for me to accomplish in the next 365 days.

what about you -- are you a goal maker, or a resolution maker?

Oh rice cooker, how I love you...

I managed to hold out on post-Christmas shopping for the entire weekend, but today I just had to give in. I had gift cards in my pocket, and a list of things that I wanted but hadn't gotten for Christmas.

I got a few little things, and some random necessities that I needed (contact solution, toilet paper... you know, that sorta stuff). But my ABSOLUTE favorite purchase -- my rice cooker :) I've always wanted a rice cooker, because I am a pretty big fan of rice. I also happen to have a fondness for kitchen appliances. Usually I just cook rice on the stove, but ever since I moved into the new apartment with the gas stove, cooking rice on the stovetop has been sort of a disaster.

After reading the instructions and seeing that it could also be used to 'steam vegetables and meats', I figured I would test it out. I wasn't really sure what to expect, but I figured that, worst-case scenario, I could throw everything in the oven if it didn't work out. Well, I put the rice and water in the bottom, set the steamer basket on top, plopped in two thawed tilapia fillets and a handful of frozen veggies from the bag in the freezer, set the lid on, and wandered back to my room. I had NO clue how long it would take, but it was supposed to automatically switch from "cook" to "warm" when it was done. Out of pure anticipation I think I went out to the kitchen to check every 5 minutes or so, but after about 25 minutes, the light had switched to cook. I desperately wanted to take off the lid and look at my food, but I waited the extra 5 minutes the instructions said.

Well, 5 minutes was up, and off came the lid. As I said before, I wasn't sure what to expect, but boy was I surprised! My fish and veggies were perfectly steamed, and the rice was white and fluffy.



Only one dirty pan, 25 minutes, and I didn't have to sit there watching anything... Perfect! Now I am on a quest to try out all of the recipes that I have found for rice cookers. If you have any good ones, feel free to share!

Happy Holidays!

I hope that everyone enjoyed their respective holiday festivities. I had a last-minute change of plans and ended up going home to see my family. It was nice to see everyone, especially my cousin's baby that I haven't gotten a chance to see yet. It was also nice to get some food other than ramen, fishsticks, or ordering pizza....

2008 is almost over... I can't believe it! I will be posting my resolutions soon... we'll see how long I can actually keep at them this year!

Ooops...

I am pretty bad at the whole "keeping my blog updated" thing. Life gets in the way...

Anyway, aside from all of the cooking, cleaning, crafting, Christmas card writing, and present wrapping that I have been doing today, I also updated my Flickr account -- lots of photos, if you're interested!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tangerinesunshine/


Christmas went very well for me at my Etsy shop - lots of sales, which is awesome :) Now I need a little bit of a break...

Stress + Lack of Motivation = Disaster

Do you ever have those days/weeks/etc where it seems like your To-Do list grows at a rate at least triple that of your ability to actually accomplish those things? That is the stage I am at now - I feel like I have far too much on my plate to handle at this point, and I have so many lists floating around I can't keep them straight. Some days I look at my calendar and want to say "Screw this, I'm gonna lay on the couch and play video games" And then there's the occasional day when I DO lay on the couch and play video games instead of getting things done... Then I spend the next day stressed beyond belief and mad at myself for not getting anything done. And now I'm getting myself to the point where I am fairly certain that there is no possible way for me to ever get caught up with everything that needs to be done - even looking out to November/December, it seems like I just have too much to do and not enough hours in each day to be every play I need to be...

So, my question to you -- what are some good ways to deal with stress, get yourself motivated, and try to avoid procrastinating?