Kaoru Marie

I once mentioned something about the Wall Street Journal to my husband and he asked if I wanted a subscription to it. " Oh Gawd No! " I exclaimed. He knows I'm a bit of a personal finance nerd, but I don't read the Wall Street Journal for finance, investing, and other money tips and news. I love clicking over to the WSJ website for the complete opposite reason: to find obscure articles that don't have much related to Wall Street at all. Not many {fun} articles are available to non-subscribers, so usually the pickings are slim. But this week there was an article about Marie Kondo, a Japanese lady who is apparently the Queen of Organization . I had never heard of her before and the further I got into the article, the more I felt like I was missing out on a recent trend. Organizing. De-cluttering. Tidying Up. Something I always want to do, but never really get around to doing for excuses A through Z. Check out the article because it's pretty inspiring, even...

In sticking with my 2015 goals , I decided to get more edumacation by signing up for a Letterpress class!! I've had my eye on this class for at least a year. I first became interested in letterpress when I was planning my wedding and saw all those beautiful letterpress invitations. Sadly, I couldn't justify spending that much money on wedding invitations so I never got them. But my fascination with letterpress never waned and I always wanted to learn how to do it. The class I signed up for is through the Otis Design School and is a 10-week program. I feel like such an impostor for taking a class there because I am so not an artist. We recently had our first class and it was so much fun. I feel like a total weanie for admitting that I was worried about being too tired (it's from 7-10pm, but only one day a week). I should have known that night classes you choose to take for fun are way more enjoyable than those you're forced to take for school. So what did we learn...

I was thrilled {{THRILLED!!}} to be asked to test the latest Closet Case Files Pattern, the Carolyn Pajamas . Not gonna lie, I was totally thrown off by pajamas. When Heather Lou had hinted on her blog that several patterns were in development I did not expect pajamas at all. But who doesn't want cute and coordinated pajamas? {and sexy, if you go that route} I don't think I've had coordinated pajamas since I was a kid so this pattern definitely filled a wardrobe hole, something I had been thinking of making ever since seeing Peneloping's cat pajamas . Just be aware that this review is of the pattern tester version . There have been several changes, including sizing, in the final version, but I wanted to post about the tester version because I'm so happy with how it turned out. The pattern is available as a pdf, which of course involves printing, cutting, taping.....lots and lots and lots of it. Not gonna lie. There is a fucking shitload of paper in this p...

Don't forget sewing peeps, there will be an LA-area Sewist meet-up this month!! Come join us to view awesome costumes, meet fellow sewists, and shop for fabric together! When: Saturday, February 21st at 11:45am** Where: Hollywood Costume Exhibit (afterwards at Mood for fabric shopping) 6067 Wilshire Blvd, LA 90036 (the Wilshire May Company Building on the corner of Wilshire and Fairfax) Exhibition Ticket: $20 for adult ticket Purchase tickets using this link . I apologize for the short notice, but hopefully you read about it on Instagram or on some of the sewing bloggers' websites { Marrie of Purls and Pleats , Kathy of The Nerdy Seamstress , and Erin of Miss Crayola Creepy }. This is a super informal, casual get-together. I had so much at the last meet-up in June that I really wanted to have another one and meet more amazing sewists, but I'm not so into planning large events, hence the non-polished meet-up announcement (and lack of organized lunch, which Erin did...