I’m deep in the midst of sorting/organizing/cleaning out/purging. I started a little bit in January, but for some reason, it’s taken until the end of February to really hit it full force. This does not explain my absence. I’ve also just been super busy with other commitments. And, to be honest, thanks to The Thrift Project and Purposeful January, I’ve finished most of my quick projects from my to-do pile. What I’ve got left are some big ones that I don’t really know how to finish yet. So far, my seam ripper and I have become closely acquainted again. I’ll have a nice, big project for you soon.

You may have noticed that I got a new camera for Christmas. The photos have greatly improved with my new fancy-schmancy camera, and I don’t even really know how to fully use it. (I do remember a few things I learned in AP Physics about aperture and shutter speed, and I think there’s something important called f-stop – I definitely need a refresher.)

So today, as I was doing my daily clean out, I found my old camera. It still works well, and it takes decent photos, so I decided to box it up and send it to my Mom. She usually comes to visit with a Kodak disposable camera to take photos of the kids (because, let’s be real, nobody really takes photos of the parents anymore). So I called her and told her, if she promises to never buy another disposable camera, I will send her my digital one with all its components, including a user’s manual – something that usually never lasts more than 48 hours around these parts.

Before I boxed it up, I thought I should make sure I’ve got all the photos downloaded. What did I find? Oh, just photos from a project I forgot to post and BABY GIRL’S FIRST BIRTHDAY! Good thing I checked. I mean, I do have a few birthday pics from my iPhone, but the ones from the camera are some really cute ones. She’s wearing a pink tutu, for goodness sakes, and shoving a chocolate cupcake in her mouth. Priceless!

I want to share the project photos with you. I made this cardigan for my mom for Christmas. It’s a variation of the Advanced Placement Cardigan I made for 31 Days in October.

For this project, I used a short sleeved sweater in navy blue (a favorite color of Mom’s). I played around with several options of colors before deciding on red and gray for the embellishment on the opening. I love how these colors work together, especially the pop of red sandwiched between the neutrals. (Click here for a full tutorial.)

I even made her a cute little card with my suggestions on how to style it. Because really, I want one just like this to wear myself. I think it would be great over a crisp white oxford and a bold, red necklace. Or maybe go simple, just layering it over a long sleeved white tee and a long necklace. So, obviously, I need to get my own – it’s time to go thrifting. I haven’t been in WEEKS. Maybe that’s why I don’t have little projects to work on – I’m out of them! Putting a thrifting outing on the calendar right now. I’ll let you know what I find!