Impromptu social craftiness (and other stories)

So, as mentioned, had some spontaneous craftiness with a friend who invited me over for dinner on Wednesday. I didn't realize she's as crafty--knew she crocheted, but I didn't know she was into paper crafts too! So we had some fun with that. She worked on a birthday card for her nephew, and I goofed around and made these two. The small butterflies on this one are embosed and then chalked, and the larger one is stamped, heat-embossed, and raised with those foamy glue dots.



And this one is mostly stamped, using markers to color the different parts. I also embossed a swirly border around the edge. It was fun... now I just have to think of what to use them for!




Also made some pretty serious progress on the Eva test jacket this weekend. Did the sleeves and flaps last night, as well as the outer edge of the collar. Today I cut out and sewed together the lining, then sewed the facings, lining, and collar on. So this is basically what it's going to look like...

...though as you can see, I still have some work to do on the lining. And the actual hem, for that matter.

Learned some important lessons from this one:

#1: For the next one, I need to lengthen the lining some so that I can make the jacket longer. I had to cut up pretty high for this one, and it's not going to have much ease to it.

#2: At the size I cut this at, it's not going to button. Though I think this one will be fine without doing so. I thought it would, until I put in the linings and facings and added all that extra bulk. Will have to consider whether to cut a size up and make the next one like that, or to just do an unbuttoned jacket.

#3 While I like the bias cuffs on this one (though I have no idea if I actually did it right), I don't think I'm going to use them for the suedecloth.

Also today: worked some on my CAGW article project, and ordered myself a back issue of the July '08 Burda World of Fashion mag so I can see if this is a system I can handle. Figured a $15 test would be better than dropping the $80 to find that I can't figure out pictureless directions at all!

One final thing I'm pondering: In a small attempt to cut down the size of my stuff (since I have limited living space), I'm considering changing my recipe storage system. Right now, I have them stored in a big bulky binder. (Two, actually--one for things I haven't tried yet torn from magazines, and one for the ones I've actually made and liked.) I'm considering switching to the recipe box thing, because they're much smaller. (With a backup on the computer, of course.) So for you cooking types, I'm wondering-- how do you store yours? If you use a recipe box, is it obnoxious to sort through? And since I have half of the keepers typed up on the compy already, should I just stick with my printouts in a binder? Questions, questions...