Spring Project-Along: Post your project & action plan!!

[arabella]

Alright, y'all, time to make this happen. Please confirm your projects:

PurpleDoor - packing for a big move
Pearliepie - organize art studio
Barbeegrrll - art room and garden
PrickleyPete - 100 envelopes, sewing dummy, liquor infusion, Scherenschnitte, sweater design
smokingmonkey - basement and office
bookselves - knitting a sweater and office reno
snoopy - sewing a fancy dress
CaliMel - sweater organization and knitting
Shade - build display for crafts
arabella - comprehensive digital organization
weezil - make something for reader challenge in Quilting Arts
lozenge - sew one item
featherstoryaniweda - sewing/organize room/mobile learning area/make easter baskets
Crumb - convert the Crumblette's blog into a baby book
Nemesis - get new house finished, pack up old house, pack up classroom
artichoke - get closets cleaned
mk.carroll - increase business income
StudioMarlowe - increase pattern publishing

and post your action plans below! **if you don't have the every month planned out at least post what you will start on this week! Can be simple!** You have until June 21st to finish! anyone else want to join, holler!

[arabella]

Action Plan - updated April 2nd

by March 31st
- set up new backup hard drive - done
- load all existing digital photos on cd into photo system - done
- plan 3 photobooks to make and create albums in iPhoto - done
- initial selection of all photos for photobook - done

by April 7
- plan 1 video to make and create event in iMovie
- load camera pictures/video and tag and delete immediately
- delete pictures and videos from 10 events
- tag & rate pictures and videos from 10 events
- read through initial editing section of Photoshop elements book
- finalize selection of photos for photobook
- edit 4 photos for photobook
- select all video clips for video
- restore all photos from PC backup and move to Mac

by April 14
- load camera pictures/video and tag and delete immediately
- delete pictures and videos from 10 events
- tag & rate pictures and videos from 10 events
- plan 1 video to make and create event in iMovie
- finish reading Photoshop elements book
- complete editing of all photos for photobook
- post-process all video clips for video

by April 21st:
- locate film photos in storage
- choose digitizing method/company for film photos
- load camera pictures/video and tag and delete immediately
- delete pictures and videos from 10 events
- tag & rate pictures and videos from 10 events
- complete photobook and send for printing
- complete video and upload


By May 21st:
- send film photos to be digitized
- move all personal files from work computer to personal computer
- set up a system to access key personal files from any computer
- add files to online backup every backup day
- update 20 music track names per week
- load camera pictures/video weekly and tag and delete immediately
- delete pictures and videos from 10 events per week
- tag pictures and videos from 10 events per week
- edit 8 photos in Photoshop
- create one photobook
- create one video


By June 21st
- load all digitized photos
- add files to online backup every backup day
- update 20 music track names per week
- load camera pictures/video weekly and tag and delete immediately
- delete pictures and videos from 10 events per week
- tag pictures and videos from 10 events per week
- edit 12 photos in Photoshop
- create one photocollage and have it printed
- create one photobook
- create one video
- congratulate self on having all photos on a computer and backed up!!!

[PurpleDoor]

I'm in! Complicating matters is that I'm not sure exactly when I'll be moving, but I would like to be in good shape to move by mid-June. I don't have an exact new place I'm moving to yet either, but it's pretty good odds I will be downsizing, so I need to declutter/get rid of stuff. I hate the way people throw out a lot of perfectly good stuff when they move in a rush, so I am trying to downsize in advance so I can offload as much stuff as possible in a more low-impact way (donating or recycling, mainly)

My action plan is something like:

March:
-Go through all cabinets/shelves and sort through items, be brutal about whether or not I need/am using things. Trash/recycle/donate items as appropriate. I've already done a lot of this with my clothing and craft supplies, this week I'm planning on tackling the kitchen, next up will probably be my book collection

April:
-Repeat March declutter (I find I will not want to get rid of something and then a few weeks later, once the idea has been planted, I'm ready to ditch it)
-start taking copy paper boxes home from work
-pack up and label items that aren't going to get used before the move (winter clothes, some books and craft supplies, etc.)
-Adopt an aggressive "use it up" strategy with regards to non-perishable food supplies. This may involve some experimental cooking, yay!

May:
-Sell non-essential furniture on CL or put up on freecycle (I have one couch and some patio furniture that is definitely NOT coming with me)
-keep working my way through my stock of dried beans, spices, etc.
-do a deep clean of the apartment so the final cleaning will be easy

June (or whenever moving occurs)
-pack and label remaining items
-sell/freecycle/donate any furniture that's not coming.
-final round of cleaning
-turn in my keys and head off on my next adventure!

[Shade]

arabella, I was wondering what the italics were at first, then I took a closer look and realized. You have things done already! Amazing! :)


I'm still formulating an action plan, but here's what I can do for now:

Week 1
-come up with a list of everything I require in a display
-draw out a design that fits every one of those requirements
-check out the local flea market this weekend to see if I can find any of the major components used
-if I can't, then find out where I can get them new (and go get them!)
_________________
Rockin' Chainmail Jewelry!
If you like me, really like me :)

[smokingmonkey]

March, or what's left of it:
- finish the final coats of poly on new desktop - done
- clear out the space where crafting table will go - done
- build crafting table base - done
- make a light box (box is built, need lights wired.)

April:
- swap desk tops and assemble crafting table - done
- organize work desk
one room of basement per week:
- clear out the "box room"
- clean up the "laundry room"
- clean up the "main room"
- clean up the "dust room"

May:
clean up office:
- sort out paperwork piles
- go through craft bins and edit and purge
- clear out attic storage
- take unwanted but useable stuff to goodwill.

[arabella]

Where are the rest of your action plans?! wopush! wopush! (that was the sound of a whip cracking) Remember if you can't do an entire plan just list this week or next week or anything - just write down a few steps you are going to take to start and when you are going to do it! (I promised we were going to have Accountability on these Spring/Fall projects!)

As I write I am 193 gigabytes into backing up my computer onto my new external hard drive! yay!! Will feel so good to have everything backed up and the backup system set to run on a regular basis! (I did have things backed up, just in different locations due to space constraints of the old external hard drive and my cloud storage)

[lozenge]

this weekend i plan to organise all of my craft stuff i am giving my sister, boxing it up and moving out of the room. then i can unpack the sewing machine!

bonus points if i can at least do some of this - going to the sewing shop and buying some supplies. no fun supply shopping till it is done!!

[smokingmonkey]

[kitchen]

[smokingmonkey]

When I get on a less finicky computer, I want to add
- make a light box

planning on building my work table this weekend and figured while I have the tools out I might as well build this too, since using a flashlight under my glasstop coffee table just isn't going to cut it.

[artichoke]

I'll jump in. I got rid of a lot of stuff when I moved (twice) last year, but I still have a giant closet full of boxes of things I never look at or use.

By April 15:

-go through half the closet and sort boxes into keep/donate
-go through the boxes/laundry baskets of clothes in the dining room

By April 30:

-finish storage closet
-go through clothes closet and get rid of all the damn shoes/shirts I never wear
-drop stuff to donate off at the thrift store


That's all I have for the moment, but maybe I'll come up with something else later.

[bookselves]

Thanks for the whip-cracking!

I actually want to get both the sweater-knitting and the office stuff done this month!

Sweater knitting.

So far I have:
-selected & bought a pattern
-swatched
-chatted with my knitting expert pal
-cast on
-frogged because I misread the sleeve instructions

I need to cast it on and re-knit it.

It's a worsted-weight toddler size sweater so it won't take that long to actually execute, I don't think. Tonight I have a date with some knitters & some mac and cheese.

Office:
I need to:
-buy paint
-track down a helper & a ladder
-paint
-re-frame art
-spiff up my desk
-find some stash storage solutions

My "office" is a corner of the living room so I want it to look tidy before a subletter moves in, haha.

I'd love it if I accomplished a home project per month, but we'll see!
_________________
"My power doesn't come from other people's lust for my awesome vagina, thanks." - Enzyme

So, I have a blog now.

[weezil]

1. reread challenge parameters and theme (Your Signature Color); decide on response to the theme
2. Start sketching out some ideas - at least three different compositions
3. dye fabrics, sort through stash for other fabrics
4. Start cutting and arranging pieces to see how the different ideas might look
5. Fuse
6. Machine stitch
7. Hand embellishments
(8. Scrap the whole thing, start over.. haha)

I'm not sure of the actual timeframe at this point..

1. Done 3/22. I've decided at my signature color is hot pink - I don't wear it a lot, but whenever I'm dyeing things (fabric, yarn, my hair) I'm all, BREAK OUT THE HOT PINK. It's the first dye powder I bought in the giant economy size.
2. Began 3/22, need to put more on paper.
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etsy shop! recent works! Linus in Hats!

[snoopy]

I'm sewing a dress for a wedding I'm attending near the end of May. I already made a muslin.

I bought the fabric last week. It's this exquisite hand-painted Italian silk charmeuse to die for. I cannot afford to mess up on it because A) I bought the last remnant of it so there's no more, and B) it was really pricey! To make it even more daring, I've never sewn with silk charmeuse before, and I'm terrified that its slipperiness is gonna give me all sorts of problems from cutting to sewing. But life is short, and I'm committed to trying this out. At least the pattern itself is pretty simple.

Here's my plan of action so far (I don't have a set date for these things yet):

1. Get together with my sewing-design expert friend and have a "cocktails and consultation" about what to do. I told her she's gotta hold my hand throughout this whole thing.
2. Go over muslin and see if there's any fine tuning that needs to be done on the pattern. I think I want to make the sleeves slightly longer, and cinch the elastic a teensy bit more.
3. Buy sewing notions: silk/fine pins, new sewing needles, maybe silk thread, button, elastic.
4. Muster up some courage.
5. Pin the pattern carefully without snagging fabric or leaving holes.
6. Muster up more courage.
7. Cut the fabric. Eek!
8. Baste everything together and check for fit.
9. Machine stitch (requiring more courage).
10. Put on button.
11. Done?!
12. Admire my handiwork.
13. Wear dress at wedding and hopefully get some compliments on that sucker.

I may have to modify my plan as I go along.
_________________
my unoriginal blog
photo blog

[Nemesis]

My spring project is to get this:

finished before the baby comes. Drywall is finished, now onto the painting, flooring and installation of cupboards.

My other project is to pack the current house and move it all to the new house before the baby comes as well. And pack up my classroom. Oi!
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Everyone thinks I do it to make people stare, but really, it's to keep them from looking too closely.