My Konmari Journey Part #18: Sewing Tools

I'm finishing up the sewing stuff today! We're almost through Konmari and I'm so excited! Check out this video to see how I do in this last category.



Once I finish up my Konmari, I'll owe you guys another sewing room tour. I'm still working on it but I have moved a lot of stuff around. If you missed the first one from right after we moved it, here it is!

Camping is coming!

Way back in January 2015, I blogged excitedly about the potential for period camping trips. After dabbling in the SCA in Ohio, I was ready to dive right into new and exciting costuming opportunities in Florida. Well, it's been over a year but I'm finally getting to go on my first period camping trip this weekend! Huzzah!

Can't wait to be more than just a Ren Faire girl!

And even more exciting, the hubby is on board for joining in on the fun which means I get to make menswear! Yay! :D I'm so excited to get back into costuming. I have so many lovely things that I don't get to wear very often plus you can never have too many new dresses.

One of the new things I'll have to take into consideration when costuming is that pretty much all of our events will be outdoors in summer type weather. Bring on the linen! While it's not very exciting, my first project for me will need to be more linen shifts. I do have some nice cotton ones but Florida summers are going to require linen.

 1160-1180, England

As for my man, I'm deep in the researching phase. He's not at all interested in Elizabethan (too frufru) so I'm digging way back and looking at 12th century menswear while he's starting at the other end and looking at armor. Hopefully, we can meet in the middle with a time period he likes both the armor and everyday clothing for.

Yumminess! (Portia and Brutus 1486-90)

Meanwhile for me, I'm dreaming of 1490s Italian loveliness! I still have my Borgia dress to finish plus I'd love a more working class version because it's so pretty!

Where I do Bible Journaling

Between my Konmari Journey and picking up Bible Journaling, I've done some serious rearranging and reorganizing in my crafting room. (See the before here.) Once I completely finish, I'll do a full video tour but I did want to give you a peak into wear I do my Bible Journaling.

This 50s kitchen table is one of the few vintage pieces of furniture that I have in my home. Vintage is not my husband's interior decor style so I don't think I'll ever live in a perfectly retro home but I do have a few touches here and there. I try to keep a minimal amount of supplies out since this space also doubles as my sewing space.

I keep most of my stamps in a small basket. I adore stamping and I have a lot from my scrapbooking days. This allows me to easily flip through them and find the stamps I'm looking for.

Next to it, I have a small pile of bits from Illustrated Faith that I keep handy incase I want to use them. If I had more of these tip in bits, I'd probably want to keep them in a box or bin but since it's just these few, they don't get out of hand.

In the opposite corner, I have the box my journaling bible came in which I use to hold my Illustrated Faith devos and some other bits that I want to keep handy. I love the print on the box so I'm glad that I found a place to use it since my bible is now too fat to fit in it! I also have my Whatever is Lovely scrapbook paper, my Illustrated Faith daily chart and a book for a bible study I'm taking.

In my Illustrated Faith baggy, I have my most used supplies: washi tape, my faith based stamps and one of each size of my black micron pens as well as stamp blocks and a tape roller. I think of this as my on the go bag. All I'd have to do is throw in a few inks and I can journal on the go. I don't like to store my inks in here since storing them flat is better for them.

My other supplies live in this rolling storage tower. Pens, pencils and colored pencils live in the top drawer. Gelatos, inks and my stamp cleaner in the second drawer and stickers and microns in the bottom drawer. This is not full by any means but it was a storage container that I already have and it works really well for me.

The other things I keep handy on my desk are my journaling bible, of course, my journal where I do my daily written journaling and a list of verses I want to journal on. I get theses verses from loads of places-sermons, bible studies, my daily reading on days when I don't have time to art journal.

 One of the biggest changes I made to this room was putting my table in front of the window! I love the natural light I get in the morning and it's great to look out and see all of that Florida loveliness while I'm hanging out with God.

 Do you enjoy having a neat and tidy work area or do you prefer a creative clutter for your creations? Do you have a separate crafting space or do you work in a common area of your home? If you've blogged about your crafting space, I'd love to see it so leave a link in the comments!

My Konmari Journey Part #17: Sewing Patterns

Today I'm going to Konmari my sewing pattern stash. This means taking out every. single. pattern. I own and laying them out on the floor all at once. *gulp* When they are all packed away, it sure doesn't look like I have that many.... I have an extensive collection of vintage patterns and quite a few reproduction patterns plus historical patterns that I've drafted myself. Ok. I can do this!



 I included a nice pan over of all of my sewing patterns and while you can't see 100% of each cover (not enough space!!!), there are some really cute ones! I ended up deciding to purge about half of my vintage patterns. Now before you panic, they are not going to go to a donation center (alas, most places just trash vintage patterns :( ) and I'm planning on selling some of them but I haven't gotten around to that yet. I did pitch a few modern and repro patterns that I cut up and made alterations to because they won't really be useful to anyone else.

It was really liberating to let go of these patterns. I have a much different sense of style than when I started on this vintage journey and it's nice to let go of patterns that aren't me or that I don't think I'll ever make. Instead, I can just focus on the ones I really, really love!

Have you ever let go of patterns? How large is your pattern stash?

Mix and Match for Spring

Spring has arrived in Florida! It's sunny and bright and very pollen-y. Grr! My allergies have been going haywire but it could be worse. I'm in Florida after all!

This outfit is a new combo that I've been loving lately. And I actually did a bit of sewing for it but no new pieces.

If you think this checked blouse looks familiar you're right! It started out life as a late 1940s dress (which you can see here). Since I have decided that I like war era 40s better, I decided to shorten the length of this dress a bit to help it fit an earlier look.

 A bonus of this is that the dress is short enough for me to throw a skirt on top of and wear it as a top. Surprise!

Layering does not have to be limited to your top half. This is a great way to get extra looks out of your wardrobe. Just be sure that the waist band covers the waist seam on your dress and no one will know the difference!

I also took this opportunity to bust out my Erstwilder Toucan. He is so cute and definitely adds a fun factor. A great novelty brooch is an excellent way to add personality to even a modern outfit.

I love having a wardrobe full of things that I love to wear! These shoes are one of my favorite pairs. They match pretty much everything and are so comfy. So you'll probably see them again and again but that's ok.

Mixing and matching pieces is a fun wardrobe challenge. And very make do and mend on top of it! :D

 And I'm getting super excited about my hair grow out process. It's coming along although I still have a few months to go. It seems to be growing faster this go around. Not sure if it actually is or if I've just been busy with other things (Konmari....) and it doesn't bother me as much.

 Hope you all are starting to thaw and see peeks of spring!

Which Inks for Bible Journaling?

I love stamping in my Bible! It's a super cute and easy way to add pictures and journaling and you might even have some stamps and ink in your crafting stash already! But those thin Bible pages come with some extra challenges-bleed through!

So today I'm going to show you the different kinds of inks I use in my Journaling Bible and why I like or don't like them. All of these examples are done on unprepped pages since I don't bother with page prep.


Dye Based Inks

I have a nice collection of dye based inks from my scrapbooking days. They are by a company called Close to My Heart and these ink colors coordinate with the colors of their scrapbooking papers which makes my Type A heart squee with joy. Since this is what I had already, these are the inks I started with.

I love all of the colors that I have! And these little inks are fast drying. They make nice crisp stamped images and are easy to find.

But they do bleed through. You can really see the difference between the ghosting of the pen verses the bleed through of the inks. In the ghosting, you can tell there is something on the previous page but the ink is all on the original side. With bleed through, the ink has actually seeped through the page.

Depending on the age of your dye based inks (newer=more juicy=more bleed through), the brand, the color you are using and how hard you stamp, there can be more or less bleed through. They work really well for scrapbooking and other paper crafting but not bible journaling.

I also have a Distressed ink which is dye based. Distressed inks come in loads of yummy colors and are designed to help you create a distressed look in items but you can use them just like regular inks.

I find that it stamps quite well and makes a nice, clean stamp. And the rainbow of colors is a huge plus.

I have had mixed results with the bleed through though. Mostly, I get this: part bleed through and part ghosting. Sometimes, it's pristine ghosting and sometimes it bleeds through so much that it stains the page behind it. While I still use this stamp pad, I probably won't buy anymore for use with stamps.


Pigment Based Inks

I have recently added some Tsukineko Dew Drop pigment inks to my collection and I love them! This set is actually shimmery and sooooo pretty!

Pigment based inks are thicker and sit on top of the page. This causes them to take longer to dry. I've also found the stamp pads to be juicier so I don't need to press so hard when inking up my stamp.

And the ups side is all ghosting and no bleed through! Pigment based inks are harder to find but they are great for bible journaling.

A word of caution with these Dew Drop ink pads. This brand comes in pigment based and dye based as well as chalk based (which we'll get to next) so be sure to check the packaging carefully before you purchase.

Chalk Based Inks

When I first heard of chalk based inks, I assumed that was a third type of ink. However, I have found that there are pigment basked chalk inks and dye based chalk inks and I happen to have some of each kind.

Dye Based Chalk Inks

My dye based chalk ink is also from my scrapbooking days and I have two colors-brown and dark blue. Both are designed to add a distressed look but not for stamping.

This chalk based ink is definitely less pigmented that the dye based inks and gives sort of a distressed look when stamping.

And I have found that the brown one gives very little bleed through. My blue one, however, bleeds horribly. I haven't really found other dye based chalk inks on the market but I'd be hesitant to purchase especially in deep colors.

Pigment Based Chalk Inks

Most chalk inks are pigment based like these Dew Drop chalk inks. They also come in a wide variety of colors and they are sold in packs of four coordinating colors like gelatos which I think is really fun.

Like my Close to My Heart chalk inks, they also give a softer, distressed look especially on larger stamps. I had a hard time getting the centers of the stamps inked without over inking.

 But again there is no bleed through and these dried much faster than the pigment based ones. I'm definitely going to be purchasing more of these.


There are loads more brands of inks out there but I did want to share a sampling of what I have experience with. Most inks will list on the label what kind they are but if you can't find it or if it's worn off, there is a very easy way to tell if you have a dye based or pigment based ink pad.

 Dye based inks (top) have a felt like ink pad while pigment based inks (bottom) have a sponge type ink pad.

 Happy Stamping!

My Konmari Journey Part #16: Fabric and Notions

Ah, the dreaded sewing stash. Full of unrealized potential, fabrics to precious to use, impulse purchases and all of the tiny scraps we're hoarding. I have been actively working to stash bust over the last few years and my stash has remained at a mostly manageable size but we're still going to Konmari it.

This may scare a lot of seamstresses but I have some good reasons to purge my stash. Having moved to a wildly different climate than where most of this fabric was purchased, I have very different wardrobe needs. How much wool can a Florida girl wear after all?

I've also come to realize that I really don't like having two different pieces made out of the same fabric. Projects made from the leftovers never seem to get worn. So I'm going to let go of some of those leftover bits even if they are large enough to use.

And the scrap pile..... At this point in my life, I have no interest in quilting so really, why am I keeping all of these tiny scraps of stuff??? I'll keep some swatches in my swatch book and let go of the rest.

Ok, let's do it!