Category Archives: Getting My Crafty On
Quick and Dirty Ethnoplunder Solution
No, this post is not about looting foreign museums. It’s about walls. Specifically, walls in government housing, which are ALWAYS covered in flat, white paint. Decorators will tell you that there are dozens (if not hundreds) of shades of white. Even Home Depot sells two shades of stock white for builders: Swiss Coffee and Linen […]
Destructive Procrastination
Last week, I was looking forward not-so-eagerly to a lot of work in the New Year. My regular part-time job, a book editing project, and another online editing course. Plus, a German conversation course, which I am taking out of pure masochistic pride. And, all the usual family CEO duties. You know, laundry, cooking, cleaning, […]
Geeking Out in the New Year
OK, this actually started a couple of months ago with the Great Computer Crash of 2012. Like most apparently organized people, I had one place where I dumped all my junk and forgot about it. That place was my PC, which pretty much doubles as my office. I not only am the family CEO, but […]
Creativity Can Be Messy
Or not. Or, at least not all the time. Hopefully. In my current apartment, the only place to put my office/studio is the living room. So, I’ve had to put some extra effort into making it organized and reasonably attractive. This is a good thing. Yesterday, since I was feeling a little mopey after putting […]
My New Obsession: Rag Baskets
So, a couple of weeks ago, I posted about ways I am trying to creatively use my big stash of Foreign Service craft supplies. The rag basket, in particular, was a hit. I’ve made a couple more since then because they are FUN. I’m learning as I go along, and I’m not all the way […]
Scrappy Happy Hippy Dippy
You may have heard that we’ve been having a little cold snap in Europe lately. As in OMIGOD IT’S FREAKIN’ COLD! Not as bad here as some places, of course. (Not that I would crazy enough to live in those places, anyway.) But it’s definitely been a good couple of weeks for lots of online […]
Just a Quick Quilty Post
On the way home from Prague the week before last I came down with the Crud from Hell: an especially nasty cold to which my family has little resistance because we all got it. Yep, must be the first six months at a new post! On the positive side, while stuck in the apartment sucking […]
On a Cold, Rainy Day in Vienna
I am so glad to be a crafty introvert. Seriously: to be able to amuse yourself for hours at a time with nothing more than a stack of fabric, a sewing machine, and streaming NPR? This can only be a good thing in the Foreign Service. But there’s a downside. I had a little setback […]
Getting it DONE
There are probably some people out there who enjoy feeling like they are in a constant state of transition. I am not one of those people. I freakin’ hate moving. I usually have my HHE unpacked in two or three days. Not perfectly unpacked, but I want those boxes out of my sight as soon […]
Getting My Crafty On
One of the things I was looking forward to about Vienna had absolutely nothing to do with being in Vienna. It was having a room of my own for arts and crafts. I wasn’t sure I would get one, because most of the apartments here wouldn’t be big enough. But we got lucky, and as […]
Craftiness
Love this weekly round-up concept. It’s like a writing prompt! This week, Whale Ears and Other Wonderings is asking for posts on crafts. One of my favorite subjects, and in fact, crafts have been key–absolutely key–to my sanity in several Foreign Service situations. Particularly those in which there was no electricity for many hours at […]
