A little bit of this and that

So I have been contemplating what crafty thing to do lately... but have been finding it hard to get that motivation.  It seems like when I have time in the morning to do it, I just want to drink coffee or go lay in the pool. Hah.

But, I have have a few times the past week or so when I was able to focus that sporadic energy into something crafty.

I found some little crafty card things at Big Lots (of all places.. I know.. but sometimes they have cool things).  I made these cards out of the little bling things that I found as well as these cool chipboard letters that I used on these cards:

Also, I finally got around to trying this melted crayon art stuff that I wanted to try for so long!  This is the only  completed one that I have so far: (well.. mostly completed)

I've been doing a whole lot of cooking lately too. I think maybe that is where my craftiness has been channeling through.  Last week I made a few interesting menus:

1. Radish and bulgar wheat salad; steak; apple stuffed buttercup squash
2. Baked fish with brushetta topping; corn on the cob; baked jalapeno poppers with a homemade greek yogurt ranch dipping sauce
3. Baked chicken; home made tatziki sauce; home made hummus; tabbouleh 

Ok.. that's all I can remember, but they were all pretty tasty meals. 

Next week the family is trekking up to Pennsylvania for my little sister's wedding.  9.5 hours plus stops. Hah.. Long trip.  I have to find something to occupy me in the car.  I think the sock monkeys will be taking a trip with me as well to get them finally completed.  2 are complete; 7 are assembled, but need eyes and a mouth; 3 still need to be assembled.  Its close though. I think that I can finish all that in 9+ hours.. ok.. well I guess it would be more like 6+ hours because I'll be driving for part of that time too. BUT! They will get completed.  

Oh.. and I repurposed a large shirt into this:

Shoulder strap with eyelets! I love how this looks!

Owl midriff 

What the shirt looks like as a whole

Anywho. Happy crafting all! And happy Friday!

Sewn cards

Another day of summer break.. another blog post... another set of cards!

On Pinterest (broken record here) I saw something about how to make a mini-book out of a single piece of paper...  And from there this is what happened..


I got a box of random scrapbook paper and stickers for free! One of my mom's co-workers knows that I make cards and she picked up this box from someone off of Craigslist. For. Free.  Say what?? But awesome. So I got a box of free paper. That is always okay with me!  So looking through this box, I saw papers that had stitches on them, which looked so neat! Also in there were papers that looked like home made paper, which is really a neat effect. I decided to use one of those home made looking papers to turn into a book/card. Then I hand stitched around the edges to hold it together.  After the second card, I decided to try to sewing machine.. which miraculously made the process much easier.  Who'da thunk? Hah! Anywho.. here are the ones that are just sewn, not decorated:

And this is the finished one:

Outside view

Front of card/book

Second page

Third page

Last page- left blank so that it can be written on

I also spent part of my day trying to make french bread, which turned out tasty, but not very nice to look at.  And also I made this as an experiment based on stuff people had posted on Etsy and Pinterest:

Ribbon and pearl bracelet

And the biggest news of all: 

I opened my Etsy shop! And if you are interested in any of the stuff here, you should check it out! 

Have a wonderful day everyone!

First day of freedom: craft time!

Schooooooool's out for summer!

And so are teachers.

My school year ended teacher workdays yesterday around 1:45. I came home and contemplated life and what to do with my summer.  I have some home repairs to do (and by some I mean a lot- and the thought of it gives me a terrible feeling in the pit of my stomach, so let's not talk about that right now). I went out with some friends yesterday who took my mind off the things that made me want to be upset and so today I felt ready to be crafty.

My secret pal at work gave me a final gift of card making stuff and a $10 gift card to A.C. Moore! So, of course, on my first day of summer break, I went over there.  Before that though, I spent a while talking crafty stuff with a friend who moved away (also, the person who got me started on Pinterest!). So, I was ready to go!

I got these flower beads off The Plaid Barn recently.  I had seen some in California last summer, but have not seen them ANYWHERE since! I was super pumped to see them on The Plaid Barn!  (The Plaid Barn is a really neat site that only sells one thing a day, but at super awesome prices. If you are crafty its a fun little email to get every day!) So this idea came to me while I was in the craft store:


The flowers are linked to a green chain.  I like to think of it as a vine holding the flowers. The earrings are that dark gunmetal color that I so very much love on jewelry. I think they are pretty fun and I'm thinking I might start my selling on Etsy with these beauties!

Next up: Gift for the boyfriend.  Random. Inexpensive. Thoughtful.

Its a wooden scorpion that had to be assembled.  I colored it with a brown marker and mod podged it.  I think its pretty awesome, personally. And, seriously, what California, born and raised dude would not love the gift of a wooden hand colored scorpion from their girlfriend. Right? Right!

Moving on: Cards

While the staff at school was cleaning out the supply closet, they decided to throw out this large roll of long stripe stickers. I scooped it up and decided to use it on cards.  Free stickers for cards? Yes, please! I have another roll of similar stuff, but that is more like Easter-y or baby shower-y.  I'll keep it in mind for those sorts of things because I know I'll have like a bazillion more of those things to go to. So these are the cards that I ended up making today. One with seashells off a cheap necklace; one with woven stripe stickers; one inspired by pinterest:

Last up: Duct tape craft (also inspired by Pinterest!)

I gave it to Mom. 'Cause Mom always deserves flowers.

So yeah.. I guess it was a productive (in a crafty way) day.  Now what to do with the REST of my summer. Hah!

Things I'm working on still:

• Sock monkeys
• Bridesmaid dress
• Loading stuff on Etsy to sell
• Twirled paper cross