Friday, April 29, 2011

New. You're So New.


In my constant quest to do as much crafty stuff as possible - I did it. I took the plunge, and did some hand embroidery. Finished my first project last night/this morning while watching the footage of the Royal Wedding.


Went to the craft store, grabbed myself some iron-on transfers (80's themed. Can't wait to do the floppy disc, rubik's cube, boom box, and bulky cell phone). Being from the desert, I'm slightly obsessed with marine life - so I picked the whale to work on first (why there was a whale in a pack of 80's stuff, I'm still trying to understand. Not going to argue tho) I thought he was cute, and would look great all stitched up.
While working on him, Keith brought up the fact that my whale looked a lot like a 'Fudgie The Whale' - an ice cream cake made by a company called Carvel from Keith's neck of the woods. (They also make a cake 'Cookie Puss' which totally gets a hearty giggle from me every time I hear I. I know. I'm 5 years old.)



Fudgie The Whale by Carvel

My stitched up 'Fudgie'
Gotta say, I'm really patting myself on the back (which I rarely do). I was so scared that this project was going to be way beyond my realm of capability. I don't know why I always do that.... Mentally setting myself up for failure is not a good quality. Probably need to work on that.
Anyhow - enough with my therapy session.

One more picture!


I want to take a minute and give a big shout out and "Thank You" to 
my Twitter friends 
for giving me the nudge I needed to even attempt 
embroidery. 
♥ xoxo ♥  

Until Next Time... Happy Crafting!

Monday, April 18, 2011

You Are An Obsession, I Cannot Sleep


I've gotten into the habit of basing my blog post titles around a song. My goal is to set the overall tone for each post. Also, I just really love music and have the most random taste. :D

I'm a bit of an obsessive person- but not in like, an obsessive compulsive sort of way. I have a tendency to get hooked on something quickly and go full force - an addictive personality, some might say. I can't ever just do anything a little. In fact, I come from a family of "aholics". Mom is a workaholic, Sister is a danceaholic and Dad...Well, his addiction is something more serious, but I don't want to get into that. Whole can of worms I'd rather not open on my blog... Onward, HO!

It's springtime. Easter is only 6 days away. Keith has been out in the yard, tending to the garden (Dude has an unbelievable green thumb. I call him 'The Plant Whisperer'. He doesn't think it's as funny as I do).  and what the hell have I been doing? I've been working on my fake garden -- making frickin' fabric flowers like they're going out of style. Of course, there is a purpose to them; Giving 'em away as Easter gifts. In a panic last night, I was afraid I wasn't going to have enough time to get them done this week. Any normal person would have objectively looked at the schedule for the upcoming week, and found a spot to make time.

PFFT! Who does that?! Certainly not me! 

What did I do? I stayed up until 7am making flowers! That's right. If that isn't sick, I don't know what is. Plus, I got one pretty wicked burn on my left hand from an unfortunate placement of my index finger. My glue gun may be little, but that thing packs some heat!

I think they came out pretty nifty. Each set of flowers has it's own mini terracotta pot.
:)

 I even broke out and tried making some roses

♥ 

Went with gems instead of buttons

I can't seem to stop wanting to make more flowers. I think about them all day long.
I remember when I first discovered Amigurumi. I started making bunnies. Oh. My. GOD... I made so many of those freakin' things. I had family members crawling out of the woodwork, asking me to make a bunny. 
Bright Bunny I made for my Mom
They weren't hard to make, but after awhile... I was feeling stagnant. Sure, I changed up the colors and the pattern, but I needed more. 




Am I alone here? 

Is there something you make repeatedly, and you can't find the strength to stop? 

If any of you out there know the secret to a life of moderation, please share.

Until next time, Happy Crafting!


Sunday, April 17, 2011

Nails For Breakfast, Tacks For Snacks




So, this post isn't about Pan!c At the Disco, or my uncontrollable love for this song... It's about something Even COOLER!!
Now for some backstory before we continue on! 

If there is anything you need to know about me, it's that for as long as I can remember - I've been a nail biter. I've tried it all to stop the habit :
  • Liquid pepper, sour apple (which I both find very tasty)
  • Press-On/Glue-On Nails: They work, but I get sick satisfaction when ripping them off (I'm disgusting. I know) 
  • Acrylic Nails: This has worked for a LONG time, until the last time I got them done - They got infected and I realized... I can't function as a normal human being with them on (even if they make my hands look downright sexy) 
So, Now... I'm trying to quit cold turkey. The only thing that seems  to be working is keeping them short, and constantly painted.

About a week ago, my sister showed me a video that rocked my freakin' world.  Do yourself a favor and watch the video.

Must. Have. This! 

My sister bought couple of these, and I got to see them today up-close and personal. She was at work, so I took a few minutes and tried it out for mah-self.

Not too shabby for a first attempt

  I was sitting on my parents bathroom floor with a small metal plate, a few jars of nail polish, a scraper thing, a stamper and some Q-tips. As innocent as all of it looked, the act of it made me feel like a total druggie. Of course, it may have just been the nail polish fumes...

 *Couple quick things: You can order all this stuff from wowsocool.com (They offer free shipping to the US and Canada on orders more than $20)  or check out Amazon.com. (Pretty sure you can find some excellent deals there, too)
* With these stamps you can use ANY BRAND of nail polish... Even cheapie 99 cent, drug store stuff :D Total bonus
(Seriously, I should be getting some free swag for promoting this stuff- hahaha!)

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

(Nothing But) Flowers - Finished Photos




So happy with the results, I could just cry!

OH! OH!
I almost forgot...

Here's the LINK to my tutorial guest post on
'Domestic But Not Martha' 's blog :) 

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

(Nothing But) Flowers



So... I know I said I was going to take a break from crafting. Well, I lied. I can't do it. I just can't. Since I decided to "give it up", I've been frickin' miserable. I can actually feel my hands ache from not making anything.

I am, however, going to cool it down a bit. Try to not throw myself completely into every project that comes my way. I do need to get back in the swing of things.

My friend Leslie just moved back to Delaware, and needed to de-clutter her belongings before her depature.
 This was her parting gift to me:

A tub full of thread!
 Totally overjoyed with happiness, my eyes glazed over staring at my tub of new thready friends. Why let this thing sit around, and go to waste? That would be wrong. I have a few pillows for my pillow project that need to be made [One for March and another for April].

Over the next few days, I'm going to get supplies together to make some of these:

www.weddingchicks.com/2011/03/11/diyweddingbouquet/

I was talking to @apockylypse on the Twitter machine. She posted a pic of the flowers she's making for her wedding bouquet, and I totally loved 'em.. Me, being a fan of flowers that don't die and DIY stuff,  I inquired about the flowers. Genius. Simple, and totally adorbale. Now, I'm not getting married - these will just sit in a vase/jar/ glass cylinder - so they would be everyday nifty!  Although, I'm going to a friend's wedding in June. I might even make a bouquet out of the wedding colors, and give the bride the bouquet as a gift! (Thank goodness the bride or groom doesn't read my blog. hahaha!)

[big, painful sigh] Besides, I have a glue gun I've owned for the last 5 years that has never been opened/never been used. Shame, right? [Hangs head]

Off to water my plants! :D

Until next time, Happy Crafting!