Nothing

That is what everyone has missed in my lack of posting...nothing. Unless you want to hear about the long hours I have been putting in at the office, or about my new haircut.

In an attempt to spark my creativity I have started an art journal, and up to this point there is about as many entries there as there was blog post in January. I really need to get myself out of this funk.....I just don't know how.

How do you spark your creativity?

Keeping Busy

Ever go looking for coasters at the store.....they can be expensive, or not fit in with your decor, or if you live somewhere remote or small (like me) where stores don't carry them. Here is a quick and easy way to make your own personalized coasters.

You will need:

• One 12" x 12" square of cork material.


• One sheet of 100% wool felt (craft felt will work as well, just may not hold up as well).


• e-6000 adhesive.


• Dimensional fabric paint.


• Tools to cut and measure.


• Your imagination!!

Directions:

Start by cutting your 12" x 12" Cork into nine 4" squares, and cut the felt into 3 1/2" x 3 1/2" squares (one sheet will make 6 squares).

Using the E-6000 adhesive, glue your felt to the cork. For best results spread the glue in an even layer. It is also easier to apply the glue to the cork instead of the felt. One more thing...you can use lots of adhesive. I chose the E-6000 because it is water proof and very strong.

You now have the base for your coasters. At this point it is up to you to be as creative as you feel like.

Using Dimensional Fabric Paint, I decided to go simple with three dots in each corner. Feel free to go crazy, just remember you want your glass to sit on an even surface.

A Look Back

Happy New Year.....it's Twenty-Ten, shouldn't we be riding in hover cars by now? I love watching old movies and giggling about how we envisioned the way the future would be.

2009 was a good year!

1. Bought my first home.


2. My husband and I celebrated our one year marriage anniversary.


3. Met my adorable niece in September, she turned one this October.


4. Did two craft shows...they weren't the greatest, but I did them.


5. Tried Woodburning and Reverse Print making for the first time. Love Woodburning, not so much into print making but fun regardless.


6. Started learning bookkeeping, I am now the Receptionist/IT/Internal Bookkeeper for the company I work for.

And many more ups and downs, but all in all a great year! Cheers to 2009 and on to 2010!

Being Lazy and Happy Holidays

I had a wonderful Christmas, and I hope everyone out there did as well. I was actually able to take the entire week off, and not a single person called me from work all week. I went out to lunch, cleaned house, crafted and did some last minute shopping. It was wonderful!

My husband bought me for Christmas a Drimmel tool, which I am very stoked about. There are so many possibilities. From carving wood to cutting tile...well, you name it and the Drimmel can probably get the job done.

My first project was a tree house for The Beatles. I bought these Beatles figurines when I was 14 or 15 years old and they have traveled with me to each and every place I have ever lived. I have been planning this shelf for months now and very excited to have it complete and up in the my craft room. I plan to make a rope ladder that will hang down from the shelf, and add some drift wood decoration. As always a work in progress.

Busy Little Elf

Each night I diligently work on Christmas presents. It is always a big undertaking to hand make most of the gifts but the final projects are well worth it. Above is my "Soups in a Jar" gifts. I plan to make some more, just need to buy the ingredients.

These are very simple gifts to make. All you need is a jar, ingredients, small amount of fabric, and ribbon. I used a recipe book specific to Soups and Chilies in a Jar, but I am sure you could do the same with your favorite recipe. Measure, layer, seal and decorate with fabric on the lid and Ta Da, your done! I hope the receivers of these love them as much as I enjoyed making them.

Not My Cup of Tea

A good friend of mine invited me out the other night to attend a Reverse Print Making class. We were told to draw a design that would include three colors. You start by drawing your design on the rubber thingy...(she didn't tell us what any of the tools or materials were so thingy is what I will call it) and carve out only the parts that you want to stay white. You then apply the first color of ink, which will be your lightest color, mine was the pink and "stamp" as many prints as you'd like. Once you have made enough prints of the first color, the thingy is washed off and you carve more away from your design, anything that you want to stay the first color is now taken away. You repeat this process till all three colors have been applied. My first color was pink, then green, and then black.

I had a very hard time carving away at my design. The whole time I kept thinking why can't I just create three of the same design, each with a different part carved out. The teacher also in my opinion did not teach the process very well. She just kept saying you'll just have to see, I can't explain it you will see when you do it. Print making reminds me of stamping and I will say, I prefer stamping to print making...print making is just not my cup of tea, but learning a new skill and spending time with friends is alway fun.

I Heart Crochet

Every time I try other crafts (which I love to do), I always come back to crochet. I am so glad that my mother taught me at the age of nine this wonderful craft. Granted she only was able to show me the chain and double crochet stitch, but that is where my love affair with crochet began.

In only two nights this lovely hat was born.....


The pattern is, Swirls Cap by by Sophia Kessinger. I found the pattern on Raverly. It was easy to follow and the pattern was written perfectly. I added one row to the increase rows and one row to the decrease rows. I really like how it turned out...a great new addition to my hat collection.

27 Days

There are 27 days for me to get all my handmade Christmas presents done. I have decided to do mostly handmade gifts this year. Some will be very simple...a jar of jelly, crocheted snowflake ornament and handmade card. Others will be more take a little time, but I hope by starting and planning early, I can get it all done and mailed off in time.

Here is my start, decoration for my jelly jars...

Another One Bites the Dust...

Craft Show #2.....I definitely won't be quitting my day job anytime soon. Although this bazaar was much better than the first one, it still wasn't what I am used to. The ladies running the bazaar did a great job. They advertised in the newspaper, on the radio and put out sandwich board signs along the roads. The layout was very shopper friendly. They went around and talked with each vendor. And they played Christmas music the whole show. It was very well put together.

Dissapointment

My first craft bazaar was anything but successful.

All last week I worked myself to the max, crocheting, cutting, tie dyeing and sewing...and all this happened after long 8 hour workdays at the office. The night before the show, I stayed up till 3:00am to get the final touches on some of the product. Like I said I worked myself to the max! My alarm clock screamed at 6:30am the morning of the show. I got ready, packed the van, and picked up my friend I was sharing the booth with. We arrive at the show with an hour and a half to set up...plenty of time. We both were very excited.

Within an hour of the show opening up to the public, the place started to get packed. Looking good I thought, should be a good show....then....no sells. Lots of people but no bags in their arms. What is going on I thought?

The 6 hour show went on forever! Our booth wasn't a total bust, we did have a total of 8 customers buy. But 8 customers in 6 hours is just not enough. For the biggest bazaar of the season, it was just not what I expected, and quite frankly not worth it.

After asking around to a couple vendors, we weren't the only ones. Most people said that they were down from last year. We both went home feeling very much defeated. All that work for practically nothing in return and for our first show, very disappointing......

Working thru the Pain

I am signed up with a friend for the Annual Holiday Bazaar at the local high school. I was too indecisive toward the beginning of planning for this that I don't have as much product as I would like. My mother has been selling her crafts for over 20 years and has always taught me you need lots of product! So needless to say each night is spent working my fingers to the bone. Up until now I haven't realized how bad my arthritis and carpal tunnel is...but I will force myself to work through the pain because I have to get out there. It was my fault for not planning better and that is why they make pain killers, right?

I am really excited, but then again really nervous about the bazaar. Maybe because I am a shy person, don't like being judged...I am not sure. I think that is where the indecision and procrastination came from. I am pushing thru it though, especially since this is what I really want to do, sell my crafts.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

Pattern is from Knitty.com....the hallow wig.

The Spirt of Halloween

My favorite holiday to decorate for is halloween, not sure why though. Maybe it was because growing up halloween was always celebrated to the fullest. My mom decorated the house, dad helped make costumes, we as a family carved the pumpkins and rosted the seeds and my sisther and I trick or treated until we were way to old to be trick or treating. It's fun to dress up, get a crazy sugar high, carve pumpkins, roast seeds and decorate.

Untangled

Most of my jewelry ends up in my jewelry box in a tangled mess at the bottom, which means I don't wear any of it. I always mean to, but when it comes down to it at 7:30 in the morning it is not a priority. In the attempts to organize and decorate my bedroom I made two simple racks.

They were very simple to make. And I am very happy with the way they turned out.

Supplies:

• One 4' x 4" piece of wood, cut in half
• Craft Paint
• 14 nails

I wanted the racks to go with the theme of the room, "Starry Night". The white dots were created using the eraser end of a pencil. The rest is pretty self explanatory, but if you have questions please feel free to ask.

Working my Fingers to the Bone

Things have been insane at work. October 15th was a tough deadline with 150 returns to finish and get out the door. Which has meant this past week has been met with long hours and non-stop work. I got through it though, exhausting yes, but done with a smile non the less.

I was even able to relax a little at home and get some crocheting done. I am working on getting my inventory up for the annual High School craft bazaar.

I have definitely come to the conclusion, even though I love doing all different kinds of crafts my favorite by far is crochet.