Sunday, April 22

confession:

I'm a wannabe. 

I wannabe Martha Stewart, on a budget.  I want to make a can of white spray paint and some ceramic animals my bitch like the Youngsters.  I wannabe homemade with fine Italian papers like Katie & Gadanke.  I wannabe down to earth and crazy in the kitchen like Darby, and Steph, and Amanda. I wannabe the hostess with the mostess like Shannon. I wannabe organized to the max like Shelley and Jen.  I wannabe BFF's with the Bowers and go thrifting with Rhoda and Layla.  I wanna be a glue-gun wielding craft maven like Ellie G and the gals of eighteen25.

But I'm not a crafty maven.  Most of my projects get halfway finished and then end up stashed in the office closet. It's been great to get back into crafting when I have time.  I try and I have fun.  I am slowly accepting that crafting isn't the field of perfection.  But it's great for taking yard sale/thrifty finds and making them work for our nest. 

I'm one of those people who loved arts and crafts growing up.  Many times, my parents would just stick me out on the deck with newspapers and a bucket of flour-glue and I would paper-machie my heart out.  I was one of the few kids in the family who (thanks to our linoleum floors) was allowed to finger-paint inside.  I made puppets, I learned to sew, I made my own GAK (anyone remember that?).  I come from a crafty, build-it, do-it yourself family.

This is why crafting has and always will be a part of my creative life.   I've let a lot of my skills slip into latency.  (Sorry sewing machine-- I'll get you a checkup soon.  My apologies knitting needles-- I'll find your mates one day!)  And now that I have a little more time,  I find myself always wanting to try new projects.

This is where my slight obsession with home decor/baking/craft blogs comes into play.  I am never without ideas now.  I have too many.  I have pages saved in my e-mail, entries flagged in my Reader, endless "Pins" and files of ideas added to my inspiration binder all the time.

However, recently crafty goodness and the ever-loved home improvement projects have taken a bit of a hit.  They're all on the back burner as my attention shifts between the two big W's... working and wedding.

So here's my confession...  I have been neglecting the nest a bit.  Okay, that's an understatement.. I haven't posted much of anything here at the nerdy nest.. but dear readers -- at least those who still are hanging around-- I also haven't let go of my overly high (sometimes to a comical degree) crafty ambitions.  Instead, I've been directing my "great ideas" and my "i could make thats" towards our nerdy nuptials.  But back to my two W's..

First, on the working -- I've been working like a fiend since things have been shifting even further into the corporate mindset of "do more with less" which to me means:
 "Let's work everyone like crazy but it's okay for Eva because she and the Man have a wedding to pay for so she doesn't mind the overtime and 50+ hour weeks for a while until she burns out and can't take it anymore, but damn those checks looked good, right?" 
 and for most everyone around me means
 "What the hell is up with Eva?  She hasn't been painting or building or decoupaging or wreath-a-rizing or speaking or smiling much lately? What a B!"

And now, for the other W -- the wedding.  Any creative energy, free time, or unnecessary obsessing that I would normally focus on certain areas of the nest in need of improvement, recipes that need testing, mantles that need to be seasonally decorated. or closets/cubbies/nooks that need organizing I've been directing at planning/dreaming/"pinning"/crafting/obsessing over our nerdy nuptials.

So.. if you're wondering where I've been.. or if I've finally given up the glue gun and painter's tape.. no worries.  I'm still crafting and dreaming.. and trying my damnedest to be just a teensy bit like Martha.  I've just vanished temporarily into a fog of future wedded bliss.. and tulle.. and tissue paper.

If you want to join us on the journey-- find me here at:
(I'm sure I'll paint a room/re-organize something around the nest eventually.. I can't go too long without re-arranging something! In the meantime, any of the bloggers listed in the first paragraph are simply ah-may-zing and totally deserving of adding to your reader.)

Saturday, February 18

milking it..

The Dad has been preparing to move and downsize. Part of that process is cleaning out 30+ years of treasures. 
A few weeks ago, when working on the office of his shop, we found this crate and I fell in love.  The Dad was kind enough to give it to me as long as I promised to give it a good home.
You know I can't resist a basket. This vintage milk crate is just too cool.
It has some rust and quite a few layers of gunk from years of sitting in the shop.
I don't want to damage the metal, and I'd prefer to avoid painting it.  Any suggestions for how to remove the gross and rust damage without messing up the patina?