Newfangled New Year

I'm back.  Mostly.  I have the majority of my programs loaded and working well on my (fantastic!) new laptop.  I can find all of my files (bonus points).  There is a cool feature on Windows 7 I found where if you right-click on a program that was designed for an older system, it allows you to run it with a previous version of Windows.  Yep.  I am a computer genius (patting myself on the back). 

I seem to start the year with reorganizing.  I volunteer at a local Thrift Shop and have gotten my fair share of deals.  I concentrate on wool, silk, leather and suede garments and I never have a problem coming up with a few prime pieces.  I have found that if I deconstruct the garments and wash them prior to storage it takes less room to store the items, and they are ready to go when the mood strikes.

I plan to spend more time this year on mixed media work.  I am obsessed with image transfer and seem to be leaning toward tags and small book making.  I was blessed to get a Darice spiral bookbinding machine for Christmas that I haven't had a chance to play with, as well as a small kiln for glass fusion and Precious Metal Clay.  I have 220 running out to the shop building, but I need a dedicated outlet and area set up for the kiln.  As busy as my husband is at work right now, I'm guessing May or June before that will get accomplished.

Not to worry.  I have plenty to keep me busy until then.  :)  This Mid-Century bookcase is one of the teak pieces I got at auction last year and had every intention of selling until I just fell in love with it.  

I removed the glass and cleaned and oiled the whole thing and put the glass doors back.  I decided that it looked good in my entry with my crafting/art books inside.  I am still adding books and organizing but I am happy I decided to just keep it.  

Good news is that I am back on track, have my scanner working with this new laptop, and I will be scanning in dozens of dressmakers pattern sleeves from the 40's, 50's and 60's that I recently picked up.  I plan to use them in mixed media collage, but will make the files available for everyone to use as they want!