Fun but fiddly

Some of you may have read my rant over on Facebook re my problems with my internet dropping off and the hassles with my provider.  While I had nothing to do (???) - no computer, only my smart phone, which isn't very smart at times, I had a little play with some stuff that I've been wanting to do for some time.

I made mixed media beads.  Not your usual glass or fancy beads, but ones made from paper; felt; and thread.  A lot of fun, a tad messy with zapping the felt and thread ones with a heat gun and also using glue on the paper ones. As the title says fiddly.

I was only able to make a couple with the felt - loved, loved the way these turned out - they completely went into a different shape than what I started with. It is winter here and I wasn't able to go outside with the heat gun, and the fumes from heating the felt and nylon thread set off my fire alarms - of course I was working on my kitchen table within arms reach of the sensor.  Duh!   And I sort of left the heat gun on a bit too long and they kind of got burnt!  I threw those ones out. I also love the way the nylon thread melted into the felt and also formed tiny beads.

Anyway here is the finished result - I will be making more of these little bitty things:

The felted ones are the odd-shaped blobs, supposed to be elongated but they shrivelled up. As I said earlier I love them.

My repurposed pantry cupboard

The other day I was reading a friend's blog here and she was talking about moving back into her new sewing room and the number of plastic tubs/drawers she has for organising her fabric.  I sent her a message telling about my purchase some years ago of a free-standing pantry cupboard with louvre doors. The doors are great because they keep out the dust and the light but still allow air to circulate. She asked if I could post a photo.  I did post a number of years ago about my room organisation, but will show this part again, so if you have already seen it, please close your eyes now.

Here is the cupboard closed - note the louvres are also good for hanging things on. Some more tubs at the side with more 'organised' scraps, i.e. 2" stips, 4" and 5" plus some strings.

 Now with the doors open.

I keep all my Fat 1/4s in here sort of organised by colour on the top two shelves, then on the next is 1/2 yd pieces; 1 yard pieces and others up to 2 yard pieces.  On the lower shelf are a couple of my tubs with some of my scrap stash.  Anything larger than the 2 yard pieces (mainly for backings etc) are in another repurposed cupboard - actually an antique gentleman's wardrobe.  I also have tubs under my cutting table and sewing table with specific materials; such as reproduction; batiks; hand dyed etc.

This beauty is the gentleman's wardrobe, not big because it is only supposed to hold shirts and jackets.

You can see the 'hanging rod' for the coats and shirts.

I love using old pieces of furniture for something other than their original purpose. I never sand and paint - just repolish and sometimes restain.