Quilling!

A few months ago Ann from All Things Paper contacted me and asked me if I’d be willing to do a quilling commission – I have to admit…I was scared! But I said yes. The client and I “talked” a bit via email and I sent her some ideas and this is what I came up with!

She wanted the word “love” and she wanted it in purples, pinks, and blues…hydrangea colors. I’d have to say the scariest part of this project was keeping it clean lol! I was terrified I’d touch it with smudged fingers or get a glop of glue in the wrong place…I like how it turned out! She framed it and sent me a picture -

Doesn’t it look pretty in the frame? It tickles me to no end to know a piece of artwork I created is hanging and loved by someone on the other side of the country!

Speaking of artwork – I attended a benefit a couple weeks ago and bid on a painting in a silent auction…and won!

This watercolor was created by an 85 year old woman – who has obviously honed her craft! I am so happy to know you can be 85 and still crafting!!!!

Hmmmm…in other news I finally tried a little digital scrapbooking. I don’t have many “supplies” but I came up with this -

There is a lot to learn…this was a ten minute try and all elements were free. :) I love free! Shoot! I bet I should link to the free elements but honestly…I have no idea whom they belong to…I kinda went nuts on National Scrapbook Day downloading all the freebies out there…I’ll try to do better next time… This is going to be so cool! Someday I’ll have everything scrapbooked and then I can upload/download them to Walmart or whatever and have a book printed out for each kid! They could even have the same pages!!!! I have around a hundred scrapbooked pages in VERY HEAVY and BULKY albums and if a kid even breathes on them wrong I have a fit. The digital versions are replaceable…

Happy Crafting!!!

Painting tips … and crafts

(Picture taken by my husband…sorry for the blur)

I think this has to be my favorite polymer clay piece I’ve made so far! I love how the leaf turned out and the color of the pendent. I tried to recreate that color the next day (the brown)…and spent at least two hours blending clay until I got it close enough! I have to take notes when blending clay from now on. I’ve actually started taking a picture of the clay with my phone camera and emailing it to myself with the list of colors used. Sheesh! I hope that saves some serious time in the future!!

(Picture taken by my youngest son…)

Do you have a favorite pair of socks? I have a few and this is one of them! I’d worn them so much there was small holes and the sock was getting very thin…so I darned them. I think I’ve talked about darning before…I’m acquiring quite a collection of darning yarn from thrift shops and my granny! I darned this pair as we were driving “home” for Easter. It took the entire trip there and most of the trip home to finish them…about 3 hours total. I wouldn’t do this for a regular pair of cotton socks, but if it is a pair of socks that fit nice and don’t sag and bag around my ankles I’ll give it a try. Someday I’ll buy a pair of beautiful knitted socks…someday…(I can’t knit!)

(Picture taken by me – look at all that stitching!)

Since I’m out of certain polymer clay supplies, and don’t have plans to get them this week, I’ve decided to tackle a problem…this is the problem -

 

(Handle is stretched around the chair)

 

(Purse is hanging properly but picture is too dark…color in the first picture is the true color)

The problem is I like the inside of this bag but have never liked the outside of this bag. The main problems are the color of the bag and the flap. Hate that flap. I’ve had this bag for a few years now and used it for a few months. My neighbor gave it to me…when you’re a hoarder crafter people give you stuff. Some stuff works out and some stuff has to be modified, and some stuff has to just go into the recycle/donate bin. I’ve had different ideas over the years about how to fix this bag but never “got around to it”. Well, the day has come. The bag is currently on my kitchen table getting a make-over. It already looks better and if I can’t find the supplies to do anything else it’s better than it was. If it doesn’t turn out it will get recycled into something else. It wasn’t doing anyone any good to be sitting on my shelf for the past few years. You’ll have to wait for the big reveal until next week.

Oh – and here’s your #1 painting tip! When you are going to paint a room DON’T clean it first! As a matter of fact, wait until it’s plenty dirty and dusty! That way the paint spatter sits on the fuzz and cleans up easily. I was telling my mom this and it blew her mind. I thought everyone painted this way lol! I finished the living room ceiling this week and will be off to the paint store soon to get the wall paint. I let my family pick out the color because I couldn’t stop dithering…green? no gray!…no YELLOW!…no sage!…no GRAY! I drove myself nuts.

Oh – and here’s a note…I sometimes get asked why I don’t do many tutorials. Well, it’s because a lot of what I make goes to the Bazaar at our church and I don’t want anyone else in the area making and selling the same things. We do good things with the money we raise (heat share, buy chickens for a community in Africa, help the soup kitchen…just to name a few). So, if you live outside of my area and want to know how I did something just contact me via email and I’ll tell you. I don’t mind sharing!

Happy Crafting!!!

Welcome Pea Brain…

“Pea Brain”

Meet “Pea Brain” the newest member of our household. We are all debating on new names for her, so far the leading names are Phoebe, PB, and Peanut. Now we just have to see which one sticks. We needed something that sounds at least a bit like “Pea Brain” lol! She is the half sister of our other dog Edith.

“Edith”

We brought her home on Easter Sunday…she’s fitting in pretty well. Edith is an alpha dog and packs a lot of attitude into her small size. Luckily Pea Brain is very submissive and while they aren’t best friends (yet) Edith tolerates her, smells her a lot, and has to know what she’s doing all the time, lol! I think it’s going to work out! They are both mutts with Chihuahua, King Charles Spaniel, and Jack Russell in common. They are also very FAST!!! I found out Pea Brain is very fast today when Julie and I took them for a walk. The leash holding Pea Brain got fumbled and she took off like a bat out of hell. There was no way I was going to catch her but I tried anyways, luckily she stuck to the sidewalk and was headed for home. Julie managed to get in front of her while I distracted her by basically almost crying… on the ground…on the sidewalk. PHEW! I got my cardio in for the day…didn’t know I was in such poor physical shape…and I don’t want run/jog to change that thank you very much. Running sucks! Note to self: train Pea Brain to come when called by bribing her with hot dogs until she does it instinctively!

Today I started painting the kitchen ceiling. It makes such a difference!!!! One coat on in one part and I’ve just started the, I don’t know what you’d call it…coffered ceiling part? I decided to paint the edge of the wood – have a look -

You can see in this picture where I’ve caulked and need to re-caulk. Caulking is why I’m painting the wood. I couldn’t get the seams caulked without getting caulk on the wood. And the seams were/are big! I think when it’s all done it will be a much cleaner look. I know I should have re-caulked and then started painting but since I had all the stuff out and full of wet paint from the first part of the kitchen I decided to give it a first coat, then caulk, then a second coat, then see if it needs a third (please NO!). My neck is getting sore from being cranked up all day lol!

Happy Crafting!!!

Christmas went by so fast!

We barely had time to enjoy the decorations! This is how I decorated the top of the hutch this year. I loved it. And now it’s packed up until next year…

I put up six Christmas trees this year. Here are three of them. (I count the tiny one on top of the hutch as one of the six). I wish I had taken more pictures…I had a lighted Nativity inside the hutch that was really pretty…oh well, I’ll take a picture next year. Also to do next year…replace lights on garland that is hanging at the top of this photo. I never got that done! And – make a tree skirt for the top tree. And - replace the twine with fishing line on the gold snowflake from the top photo. And – take proper photos, not cell phone photos!

We also took our fish house up to Lake of The Woods to fish. All five of us went. It was the first time ever…and the first time we all stayed in our fish house. Everyone did very well and thank goodness we got the big fish house! I didn’t get much crafting done…I wasted most of Saturday just laying around. Sunday I started needle felting some bird bodies but haven’t finished them yet. Now, today, I went in a completely different crafting direction and made a bracelet that I’ll show you next time. I have to find a clean spot in the house to take a photo lol! I’m really feeling the need to get.rid.of.STUFF! A garbage bag of ball caps went out to the garbage today…I’m going to go through my closet next. Do I really need a stack of turtleneck shirts “just in case”? I don’t even like wearing turtlenecks! I’ll compromise and keep two. And that pair of jeans that fit great for about ten minutes then bag out everywhere…GONE! Less stuff=less mess. Period. And I promise, I’m not going to think about how the turtlenecks would make good t-shirt yarn…or how the jeans would make a great quilt…I’m not…it’s all going to The Salvation Army – intact.

Happy Crafting!!!

TV Dresser top…

I think I promised a picture of this a long time ago… back story – I sanded this down thinking I’d just seal the wood and low and behold I found out the top wasn’t wood, it was laminate! And I sanded the grain right off the laminate thinking it was wood. Couldn’t seal that soooo….

Well, we actually had SUNSHINE the other day and I remembered to snap a couple photos! The top of this dresser/TV stand is … napkins! Camo napkins!! I used Modge-Podge to glue them down and then seal it. I ripped the straight lines off all the napkins and tore them into big chunks and started gluing them down with no plan. I love it. It feels like leather, it’s durable, it cleans up beautifully and it doesn’t show dust. I saved a pack of napkins and keep them in one of the drawers just in case I need to touch something up. So far I haven’t had to do a thing.

Happy Crafting!!!

Valentine Heart Completed

Done! I made a bunch of these…on some I added a wire hanger, on others I added a loop to hang them on a cabinet knob. This one didn’t get anything yet. I’ve also made up six kits that will be for sale at the yarn shop when I teach my class. Phew! A lot of work and thought goes into making a kit! I still have to write the instructions for this heart but I’ve made labels and gotten most of the supplies included. So much to think about!!

I also thought you might get a kick out of seeing where I do most of my crafting. Other bloggers have shown their spaces and I’m always fascinated! Well, I snuggle up on that chaise at the end of the couch. The swing-arm of the lamp has a full-spectrum bulb in it (thanks Julie!) and that keeps the colors of thread and roving “true”. I just got the couch from a neighbor this week. I lost my previous crafting chair during the couch switch with no pictures to show where I spent hours and hours in the evenings…bummer. It looks pretty clean now but usually I’m surrounded by bits of wool roving and snips of thread.

I have a plastic bin under the end table that I keep my roving in (it pushes back all the way when I want it to) and I’ve commandeered part of the top shelf of the cabinet the swan sits on. The game table you see to the right is also a great place to craft or set up the laptop. I have to repaint the whole room soon. And after I’m done re-hang the pictures. This couch is taller than our old one. And the next project I tackle is to make some pillows for the couch…I haven’t sewn in a long time. Just in case you’re curious my husband’s recliner and another end table is to the left of the couch. So even though I have an office and a craft area in the basement I find myself always crafting either in the living room or at the kitchen table. I give up trying to change. :) I just try to clean up after myself better…

Happy Crafting!!

The TV Stand redo

Well, if you’ve been with me for awhile you’ll remember that I once complained that I had a B-A-T (Big Ass TV). We still have the BAT but it is now on a better stand. The old dresser we had our TV on was smaller than the TV. It looked silly and drove me crazy! Here is the before -

And here is the after -

We’ve had this dresser for years and years. At one time we actually used it as a dresser, then got painted green and was in our front entry to store mittens and DVD’s, then it got painted BLUE and was in my son’s room. THEN it got redone and has finally found a permanent home…as a TV stand. Here is a closer look at the details-

If you can tell, the brown color is actually the wood grain. I sanded the whole dresser and then cut my “picture” out of contact paper and stuck it on the drawers. Then painted it black. Then took off the contact paper and sealed the whole works. The top got it’s own special finish that I’ll show you another time. Now I just have to figure out what to do with all the cords. And, the stand that is next to the TV is ugly. Just sayin’ it’s UGLY! I’m waiting for just the right piece of furniture to redo and haven’t found it yet. But most of the fun is in the searching, I should know because it took me about a year and a half to actually finish this dresser. lol! Happy Crafting!

Craft Drought…

I spent one day this week running errands, another day really cleaning my house, the next pressure washing my decks and other yard work, and the next (yesterday) cleaning the upstairs. Cleaning the upstairs (where my kid’s bedrooms are) became a 6 hour event. Holy smokes. I’ve warned the messiest that if he can’t keep his room clean…I’m going to donate anything I find on the floor to the thrift store. No matter how hard it is. Even if I made it for him. Now I have to follow through. Grrrrreeeeeaaaaaatttttt This is the only crafty thing I have for you today, if you have tiny little flowers and no vessel small enough not to swallow them, fill the vessel with little tiny rocks. Kind of a “duh” but there you go! I’m painting a shelf for the youngest today…while I wash the FOUR baskets of dirty clothes taken from upstairs…actually…the youngest is going to wash most of them…and fold them…and put them away…It’s going to be a loooong day. smile.

Happy Crafting!!!