Keeping busy.......

Hello all and Happy Good Friday,

Just a quick hello to say that my husband and I are doing fine. Staying in the house for us is the "normal" for the most part. I must admit I do miss going out to my favorite craft and fabric stores, but I have so much "stuff" at  home, that I find plenty to keep my mind (and hands) occupied. I'm a homebody so this is not too tough for me (staying home).

Our little town of Madras, Oregon has been very diligent in their ways of handling the "social distancing" and most businesses closed very early. Those closures started right away back in early March, so we are very happy that there are no cases of the virus here.

And I must say, the easiest way for me not to get all upset and anxious is to "bury my head in the sand" in my craftroom, for the most part, only coming up for air now and then to watch a little bit of news - I can get very overwhelmed if I let myself watch too much. And I can get very overwhelmed and nervous about all of this.  I like being home and surrounded by all of my favorite things. I feel safe here. 

The only other place I feel safe is driving in my car.. and I do now and then take a little drive around my town, appreciating the smallness of it and how everyone is working together to keep our little corner of the world safe.

Enough said. I do just want things to get back to normal and not be worrying about my friends and family getting sick. And I worry about the entire world right now, and what the outcome will be for everyone, after this virus has swept through so many lives.

In February, there WAS a bright spot when I won and received a wonderful surprise from one of the YouTubers I watch. I won this darling Valentine's Day paper bag album, plus a ton of goodies, from  Lyric Lover Crafts. I love her channel and her fun and wonderful creations!

This album is made entirely of brown paper bags!

An entire box of goodies for Valentine's Day:

I spend alot of time in my craftroom.  It keeps me sane. Here are a few things I've been doing, and most of them  have been inspired from the various YouTube channels I watch.  My main entertainment lately. has been watching YouTube, crafting, and eating (and hardly any exercise). I've GOT to change that.

I made a "bill box" that is pretty, that can sit out in plain sight and not be an ugly mish mash of papers, envelopes, flyers, stamps, etc. This was inspired by Eve at Scrapbooking with ME.  I haven't made the lid yet.

It looks so pretty siting on my china hutch. There was such a mess before! It holds our current bills, extra envelopes, flyers, misc. papers and ads and stamps. 

 I made some cute Easter baskets and paper carrots, in anticipation of an early Easter dinner when my son and his fiance were coming on March 23rd.. but they decided not to come, so hubby and I will get to enjoy them I guess. I even bought Easter candy early, to fill all the baskets. Now I'm not much in the mood to use them or decorate our Easter table. I may just save them for next year.

Some birthday gifts and mini albums were made, just for fun. My sister's birthday was recently, so I made her a little "shoe" mini album, from some cards I had purchased from The Dollar Tree, with photos in it of just her. She really enjoyed it.

And I made myself a favorite things mini album, just for the fun of it. And another cute little 3x3, again just for fun.

Hum.m.m.m.m. everything has pink in it! Pink just cheers me up. I don't particularly PLAN to use pink, I am just drawn to it and end up pulling those papers and colors out of my stash. I also love the touches of gold foil.

I love making unusual cards, so made my sister a pretty Star card.. inspired by another YouTuber but now I can't remember her name! 

It stands up on a sort of "tent" that  you slide the "star" piece in after you take it out of the envelope.  It comes in two sections. I thought this was very unique and I had never seen this type of card before. 

I made a 6x9 envelope to fit these large pieces into. My sister loved it! I do too.

And last but not least, I've been sending cards and little notebooks to my friends and family, just to cheer them up and let them know I've been thinking of them.

I've also made some cloth masks and donated them to one of our local hospitals, as they sent out an email asking for us seamstresses to make them... and they even sent us the specific pattern to use. I made ten, which doesn't seem like enough to me, but I spent two days making them. They were quite detailed with a pocket and the ties rather than elastic. I will make more if the hospital requests more. I also made one for me and one for my husband.

Lots and lots of bias ties! 

I made sure I had clean hands when I made them (I should probably have worn a mask myself when I made them).. and packaged them up in a new zip lock bag. I felt good about doing this. I want to do more.

Of course, as most everyone has been doing, I've found myself doing some spring cleaning and organizing drawers and cupboards that have needed it for years! I also put up some new drapes to replace my "granny" style curtains, and just feel the need to simplify my colors and patterns to something more soothing.

My flowered "granny" curtains - and the mess on my trunk. How does it get that way???? The gremlins must do it.

The "after" - much more soothing, and the gremlin mess got cleaned up!

I'm so thankful that I have this wonderful passion of making and creating, that keeps me busy and my mind off my worries.

What have you been doing to pass the time while staying home?

Hang in there..........

~Marilyn~