reworked

2011-11-03T15:09:00.000-07:00

i worked up this little chevron striped quilt for my niece. i have only made one other quilt before, so it's definitely got its flaws... but i enjoyed making it, and i think it turned out pretty well.

2011-10-29T10:01:00.000-07:00

i made this little dress for my midwife's baby that is on it's way. when i finished it, i showed paul and asked him what he thought. he hesitated for quite awhile and then said carefully, "is that for hudson (our baby)?" when i told him it was a dress, he let out a little sigh of relief and gave his stamp of approval.

i finished one for my new little niece, evie, as well...

2011-10-25T09:46:00.000-07:00

i made a new necklace design for my etsy shop. want one? stop by my store...

2011-10-22T09:10:00.003-07:00

so, i'm back... maybe! i have been crafting some and have taken pictures of my projects, but my last step of blogging has not been happening lately! i did look at my august list i posted on here and was cracking up... here are my results:

august goals:

write at least one more blog post (completed)
finish dresses for my upcoming niece spawn, evie (finished one out of three)
read a book... any book that is not about birthing, breastfeeding, or babies! (did it, did it!)
scrabble wall art (i cut the wood out... that counts for something right?)
geometric painting (done done done!)
cook a couple of meals (more than a couple)
trim the bushes... (yeah.... still didn't do this... and they are looking pretty bad....)

but i have done some other things since then too, and i am scheduling them in for upcoming posts, i'm writing them all today so there are some guaranteed posts coming up! here's what i have actually done crafty wise:

made two paintings
finished evie's quilt
made a baby blanket
did some applique on a onesie
made two baby dresses
made a necklace
and filled tons of orders for my etsy shop

i also set myself some goals to help me out.

spend way less time on facebook
work on one, and only one, project at a time so my house doesn't get so trashy
hire someone to clean my house

we'll see how october and november go! more posts to come!

2011-08-13T22:34:00.002-07:00

i have been seeing some great stuff on etsy lately, so i'm saving my nickels and dimes for:

this lovely ring:

this print:

and this necklace:

oh, and if i didn't know that i would just kill them, i would want these sweet plants:

i also have been salivating over everything in this shop:

2011-08-07T09:22:00.001-07:00

i was really hoping i'd be able to do at least one post a week post-childbirth, but i do not think that is going to be happening for awhile! july flew by and here we are in august. i have started some crafts, written down some craft ideas, but have finished very few crafts this month! however, i have really enjoyed my time at home with my new little critter and i am headed back to work on monday, so we'll see how life's balance continues!

i did see this great set of alphabet rocks on etsy, so i made a less fancy set for my friend's son. i think they are pretty cool, and i'm thinking a boy might like to learn the alphabet with rocks, right?

august goals:

write at least one more blog post
finish dresses for my upcoming niece spawn, evie
read a book... any book that is not about birthing, breastfeeding, or babies!
scrabble wall art
geometric painting
cook a couple of meals
trim the bushes...

2011-07-14T17:04:00.003-07:00

when my brother and sister-in-law were here visiting over 4th of july weekend, becki and i each made mobiles for our babies. i had seen a similar one to this on etsy and liked the idea of using paper circles. we set off to cutting out tons of circles and sewing them onto ribbon. i just got it hung up yesterday, and i used a plant hanger to mount it... i think it turned out pretty well and it felt good to accomplish something crafty. i mounted it with my cordless drill and the baby strapped onto my chest in a moby wrap, it felt funny to use a power tool while holding a baby...

2011-07-07T12:07:00.001-07:00

well, i took a look at my ambitious list for june... i had written it thinking my baby might come late, so i wanted plenty to do to keep my mind off things. so that list kind of flopped! but here's what i did do from my list:

1. made a blanket for my incoming (or outcoming?) niece, evie.

2. made the quilt top for evie that matches her room, but the quilt back and binding has not been started (and i don't even have the fabric for it yet)

3. read the shack... my opinion? eh.

4. birthed a happy, healthy child in the comfort of my home. he came a week early, which is why i didn't get most of these projects anywhere near done... not that i would have finished them all in a week...

welcome to the world, hudson!

dear july,
i hope to survive you and enjoy you, even with minimum amounts of sleep. if i manage to make something, i will feel an extreme sense of accomplishment. i'm not making you any promises.
good night,
alyssa

2011-06-04T00:26:00.000-07:00

if i had $675 to drop on a lamp, i'd snatch up this handmade beauty:

love.

2011-05-30T07:35:00.000-07:00

it's the end of may... i really did not do a whole lot of crafting this month! i did a lot of resting and a lot of working, but other than that, i have been a bit out of the loop with making things. but i have some big plans for june. i found out my brother and his wife are having a girl (evangeline) due in october, so now i can start making things for her. i have some things in the works. and i need some things to keep myself distracted while i'm waiting for this little baby to decide to pop out. here are some of my goals for june:

to make:

*a blanket of this style- i've made several like it before because they are so quick and easy, but soft and pretty. i love making them in bright colors like this one.

*a zig-zag quilt from this tutorial that my friend, sarah, showed me- i want to make it bigger and in the colors of evie's nursery

*a pinafore dress- i absolutely love these and love that they can be a dress for a little one, but a top as your kiddo gets bigger. and they can be reversible! even better. here is a pattern for one that i'm going to use.

*i also bought some fabric to make one of these pillowcase dresses for the charity Dress a Girl Around the World. here is a tutorial if you want to make one too, but they are really simple, if you sew, you probably don't need a pattern for these. below is a picture of one made by one of my favorite sewing bloggers, emmyloubeedoo. i first heard about this charity on her blog.

*make a good stock of my vintage beaded necklaces so i can continue shipping them out quickly once i have a little creature needing attention.

to read:
*a little history of the world by e. h. gombrich
*the shack by william p. young (so i can finally give it back to my dad when he comes next month)
*jane eyre by charlotte bronte (off the 100 books to read before you die list that i saw on sunday morning sugar)
*the stack of magazines sitting on the floor by my favorite chair

alright, now that it's in print, maybe i'll be more likely to get this stuff done. the whole reason i blog is to keep myself motivated, so i'll let ya know what happens!

2011-05-25T07:11:00.000-07:00

one of the many reasons i love living in arizona is the availablity of cheap and delicious produce. paul and i made our bimonthly (or so) trip to the fruit store in mesa today and loaded up a cart full. it is always such a steal there and i always talk it up to my friends, but wanted to show just how good of a deal it is... here's our spread from today:

five ears of corn
seven mangos
rhubarb
five pounds of bananas
two large watermelons
five long green chiles
cilantro
a yellow squash
asparagus
a sweet potato
five quarts of strawberries
a cantaloupe
two pints of blackberries
a pound of roma tomatoes
ten jalapenos
four pounds of oranges

are you ready for the grand total? $20.88

love it. as soon as this picture was taken paul stopped hovering behind me and devoured a mango. i consumed a pint of blackberries. yum...

2011-05-21T15:11:00.000-07:00

very little crafting has been going on lately, but i'm trying to work up the energy! paul's mom had a birthday last week, so i made her a necklace/bracelet. i tried to channel her love of turquoise (like mine). hope she likes it! it's up for sale in my etsy shop as well if you want one of your own. i think i'm going to make one for myself someday...

2011-05-05T16:44:00.000-07:00

it's really a good thing i finished my ten projects when i did because a sense of sheer exhaustion has taken me over the last week or so since i finished! i don't know what would have happened if i had waited any longer. i am 33 weeks now and apparently that's when the life starts getting sucked out of you again!

needless to say, i haven't crafted this week at all. so here are some things i've gazed at on etsy instead that are catching my eye.

i am loving these prints by januaryjones. i would love it if she made a world one where i could put little red heart stickers on the places i've visited.

the tree hugger in me loves that every lovely thing at colorstory designs is made from recycled magazines.

any great finds for you lately?

2011-04-28T20:53:00.001-07:00

project 10

10 projects in 20 days challenge:

i'm done. i did it! so what if i started out planning to do all this in a mere 12 days. i'm pregnant and working, and yes, i'm going to pull both of those cards now to justify my use of time. there were truly a few days were i just couldn't face raising a finger after i got home from work. but i managed to get 10 rather involved projects completed this month, so i still think that's pretty good.

my last project had been looming over me. i saw this beauty long ago (somewhere, didn't keep the link, sorry!) and loved the idea and colors... but this person used canvas (expensive) and a $40ish set of vinyl decals. not in my non-existent decorating budget...

i'm sure vinyl would have made my project much easier, but i figured, i can cut paper, right? and although today i can barely straighten my finger from exacto knifing for so long, i found that i can in fact cut paper pretty well.

i had the perfect spot in mind, over my bed, so i got a long piece of wood cut to size ($5), grabbed a couple bottles of acrylic paint ($1.50 each), and got to work.

i sanded and painted the board with the green of my choice, then started in on the hard part.

for the flowers, i sketched out some flowers on the back of the paper using ideas from the above picture and from searching for other vinyl flower decals online.

then i spent a whole lot of time cutting all of them out with my trusty exacto knife.

i flipped them over to get rid of the pen marks and laid them out on the board. i would have liked to have more flowers and more dimension like the original project i saw, but by the time i got this far, i just couldn't face cutting out any more! and there is my dog involved as usual.... she kept walking across the board just when i'd get the paper laid out like i wanted...

i glued them down with just a glue stick and am thinking i want to find something to spray on to seal it, but i don't want to change the texture.... any tips?

i'm going to add picture wire to the back and mount it, so once i have it up, i will have our bedroom finished! i'll post pictures once it is in it's new home.

2011-04-28T20:19:00.000-07:00

project 9

10 projects in 20 days challenge:

i had originally put on my list that i wanted to get those last three boxes unpacked from our move almost a year ago... you know how some boxes end up with just your random junk thrown in when you just have a few things left to pack up? three junk boxes in closets for a year, time to be purged. except there turned out to be a lot more than three hiding out....

there were a total of 7 boxes of junk... holy pack rats! but now they are empty and that is what matters! note the furry helper present in my pictures. she can't miss the action.

2011-04-27T21:11:00.000-07:00

my last two projects are finished, well, technically i am finishing the last one right now, but it will be done before the night is over. and since it is night 20 that means i met my goal! and i already had the ice cream to celebrate it, just because it also happened to be 31 cents a scoop night at baskin robbins. my friend, sarah, always knows about these types of deals and clued me in! tomorrow i'll get both projects posted, one is a tricky, time consuming tutorial, but is turning out great!

also, my shop, and specifically my copper coil earrings, were reviewed in a vlog at writrams.com, a great blog that makes me laugh out loud about the crazy things that happen to her. she is doing a giveaway of a necklace or earrings of your choice, so hop over to her blog and sign up!

see you tomorrow with my last two projects!

2011-04-20T19:10:00.000-07:00

project 8

10 projects in 20 days challenge:

this project wasn't on my list either... but i have etsy loved it for so long here at and furthermore. sadly for that shop owner, i am too cheap and decided to go forth and create my own. i won a bid for three plastic doilies on ebay and they came this week, so i just had had had to make it and hang it up right away. and it only took me a few minutes to stick together!

ta da! a long loved doily clock, all of my own. and for cheap.

2011-04-19T13:37:00.005-07:00

project 7

10 projects in 20 days challenge:

this project actually wasn't on my list, but it has been in my head for a long time and i was in the mood for it this weekend! when we went to paris last year, i had been wanting to find eiffel tower art that i liked, but hadn't found anything that i liked or was in my price range. so i found a vinyl eiffel tower cut-out and decided to make my own piece of art. i think it turned out great! you could use this eiffel tower art tutorial with any vinyl cutout...

you need:
a light color paint
a top color paint
vinyl cutout
1/4" plywood cut to the size you need
nuts
screws
washers
drill
sander

i bought a piece of 1/4" thick plywood and cut it to a size just larger than my vinyl piece.

i sanded both sides and edges down to smooth them out and then put on a thin coat of off white paint. i didn't worry too much about getting great coverage because this is just an undercoat to peak through in the areas i distress.

after it was completely dry, i put on my top color. i had a really hard time finding the shade of green i wanted, so i lightly mixed two shades. i didn't mix them completely to give a little bit of a streaky depth to it.

after this coat was dry, i took my sander and it the edges and corners to rough them up a bit. i also went over the whole top to tone it down a little and bring a little of the white through in a few areas.

the next step was a two person job, i measured out where i wanted the vinyl piece placed, and then paul helped me lay it on the wood straight and smooth it down.

i drilled holes in all four corners for the mounting.

then i used self drilling screws, nuts, and washers for the mount. the nuts went behind the picture to give it some space between the wall and the picture.

i wanted an exposed hardware look and for it to float on the wall, so i used the washers, nuts and bolts to mount the picture (another two person job).

here is a shot so you can see the space left behind by the nuts, i liked this extra touch!

pretty simple and you could use any cut out of vinyl you want. i wish i had one of those fancy vinyl cutters so i could make more!

2011-04-18T13:16:00.000-07:00

project 6

10 projects in 20 days challenge:

this weekend i worked my little tail off cleaning and cleaning and cleaning our house. and i spent a large chunk of time in my craft room on one of the projects on my list: cleaning it the heck up. it still has a couple piles because there are projects in the works that i didn't want to totally put away and forget about, but it is a huge, huge improvement!

before

after

before

after

all done! i have a fun tutorial for my next project that i'll post tomorrow!

2011-04-17T09:47:00.001-07:00

project 5

10 projects in 12 20 days challenge:
so it's been 10 days... and i've kind of done 5 projects, kind of. i'm cheating a little on this one today... see, i put on my list to make a new necklace design and the one i had in mind totally flopped. i had quite a lot of jewelry orders to fill this week so i made lots of necklaces, including a new color of my vintage beaded necklace design for my shop. i'm going to say that is my new necklace design for the list, even though it's not really a new design... kind of a cop out! but i have been busy all weekend and will have more projects to post soon!

i don't think i'm going to make my 12 day deadline at all... maybe i'll shoot for 20 instead, but either way i'm still taking myself out for dessert when i finish these 10 projects!

2011-04-12T21:39:00.001-07:00

project 4

10 projects in 12 days challenge:

project 4 was a fail. i tried to make this great necklace i had been thinking about, but it did not come out like i had planned... at all. unpostable. so i'm gonna have to think on it and replace that project with something else.

my next project is these earrings. i have lots of ideas for stringy hoops and want to try adding some beading into the string, but thought i'd start simple just to get down some technique... which was really pretty simple, but i like the result. what do you think?

2011-04-11T17:07:00.002-07:00

project 3

10 projects in 12 days challenge:

my third project was attacking my messy car. it was getting out of hand in there....

grossest find: a melted sour gummy worm that had hardened under a seat- sour gummy worms were one of the only things that sounded good in my first trimester so i kept them in my car to eat on the go. apparently there were casualties.

most valuable find: a roll of quarters!

before:

after:

2011-04-10T17:06:00.001-07:00

project 2

10 projects in 12 days challenge:

i have been a busy girl this weekend getting some of these projects going! i finished these owl prints that i hung over the crib. i was actually going to only make one, but i decided it would be too small and lonely... so can i count that for two projects?

they're very similar in design to the baby quilt that i want to make, but i thought i'd try them with paper first to get the feel for piecing them together. i was trying to decide on what to put on the quilt and prints, so i asked paul if owls were boyish enough. he thoughtfully said that they are masculine, because they are fierce predators... so there you go!

2011-04-07T16:39:00.008-07:00

project 1

10 projects in 12 days challenge:

i started small. these plants bit it big this winter when we had some unusually cold arizona nights. they have been sitting dead on my patio since january, making me feel the guilt of a murderer.

so i hit up a nursery and planted these beauties to liven up my patio. i'm hoping they are tough enough to survive our upcoming summer. my husband already told me that they will definitely die...

in their new home...

and i had a happy little helper rolling around in the grass while i planted....

we'll see what project i can complete tomorrow!

2011-04-04T08:17:00.000-07:00

it's done! mission accomplished and in plenty of time! i had about five other projects planned for before the baby comes, but i refused to start any until i actually finished this one, and i'm glad. i think it turned out great and will be great for him to hang out on, because it's pretty thick and soft. on to the next project....

2011-04-02T08:37:00.000-07:00

i have a very ambitious friend who is doing 10 projects in 10 days on her blog. i am not quite as ambitious..., i mean, really just 20% less ambitious. how about 10 projects in 12 days? that way i have two get out of jail free cards in case i just don't have it in me? if anyone else wants to join in, you can link up at her fabulous blog. we are working april 7th-17th (or 7th-19th for other slackers like me).

here's my list of highly ambitious goals:

1. clean out my car, seriously clean, like with a vacuum and sprays and rags and stuff (this includes finally taking the huge piles of plastic grocery bags floating in the backseat to the recycling tubs at the store).

2. make a crib sheet

3. clean my craft room the heck up

4. make a new design of earrings that has been on my mind for weeks

5. finish my over the bed artwork

6. plant some new plants to replace the ones that died from our rotten deep freezes this winter

7. make a print to put over the crib

8. make a new necklace design

9. design and buy fabric for a baby quilt

10. unpack (or throw away) the last 3 boxes from our move almost a year ago.

ok, if i can actually do all this stuff, i'm gonna take myself out for a deliciously unhealthy dessert. or two. yum.

2011-03-30T06:57:00.000-07:00

i have been doing some serious cleaning and decorating the past couple of weeks, and i've finally almost gotten our bedroom to look like i want. i just have one more piece of art to finish for it and then i'll post pics.

this simple little print i made found a new home in our bathroom in a smaller frame and i realized i never posted it before. i stole the idea for the paper bunting, but oh well. the "celebrate your life" wording is a little mantra of mine, so it's in a good spot for me to see it each morning and remember to never take a day for granted.

2011-03-27T19:39:00.000-07:00

i felt like cooking this weekend (i haven't felt like it for quite awhile), so i made some delicious pasta last night that tasted just like some we had in italy over christmas. i had also been dying for some cinnamon rolls, and not just the kind from a can. so i used my bread maker to get them going and made these beauties. it made 15 cinnamon rolls and within 2 hours, there were only 3 left. i only ate 2... guess who ate the rest? that's right, paul said he was protecting the baby from getting too much sugar by eating most of them so i wouldn't. how sweet. but they were pretty fabulous!

then for dinner, i made a favorite of mine that i don't make too often because paul's not a big fan.... falafel! yum, lots of veggies stuffed into pita with falafel (from a box, so?). love it.

i crafted quite a lot this weekend on several projects, but nothing is finished, so some posts will be coming up on the two pieces of art i'm working on to hang, the diaper bag i'm sewing, and the blanket that is almost almost finished!

2011-03-13T20:58:00.000-07:00

this week was exhausting and thank goodness i have now hit spring break paydirt! tomorrow i head out to missouri to see the family and get some relaxation in. not much crafting has gone down last week or will go down this week. however, i've managed to almost completely crank out that blanket i started... i just have one more row of squares to do and then add the orange edging and i'm done! how's that for focusing on one project at a time (ok, so i've started about ten others, but still, i'm focusing)? here it is, sorry the lighting is so bad, but i wanted to take the picture before i left town in the morning!

also, i am usually a one book at a time kind of girl, but people have been throwing all these books at me lately and i am trying to get some birthing books read as well. i finally finished this book that i think i started in january. i really enjoyed it and would recommend it if you like slightly depressing, yet fascinating memoir. this author takes you through the world of his childhood and it's quite a walk in his shoes.

i'm off to pack, have a great week!

2011-03-06T22:18:00.000-07:00

i have been getting so inspired lately by some of my latest craft blog browsing. i have a lot of projects that have given me ideas for things i can tweak to create something similar, but still my own... unfortunately, i usually just drag and drop pics into my "ideas" file and lose where they came from, so sorry that i'm pretty much not crediting anyone here. here are some of the things that are making my mind bubble and brew!

i am so loving this shade of green and want to put it somewhere in my house on something! i just haven't decided where it will end up yet....

i have been trying to figure out what i could put in the big bare space over our bed for quite some time. i want something long and narrow, but this vinyl on canvas project gave me something to toss around in my mind. not sure paul would go for the flowers... maybe trees? or if i really want him to like it, steak.

i think i've clearly expressed that i have no love for things that look like baby items... and i just really can't get excited about carrying around a big pastel diaper bag with bears on it. sorry if you have one of those, it's a personal problem. i think it comes from my deep seeded fear that i will lose my identity and get sucked completely into mommyhood. i am sure that if i can just have an awesome bag, that won't happen, right?! so i'm gonna try to make a diaper bag that is similar in shape to the one below....

ok, i'm not kitschy.... there are more things i don't like about this picture than i do. however, i like something about the tags with the letters on a clothesline. so i'm thinking this might inspire me to make something someday that has elements of this involved.... but not with a big bow on top.

i have loved this doily clock for so long... i have watched it and tried to figure out ways to make my own for months. i saw it on etsy but it's more than i can justify paying, but i have the perfect spot for it. so low and behold, i found plastic doilies (that are even awesomer than this one) on ebay and have placed my bid. maybe soon i'll have my own, partly handmade, doily clock. sorry etsy seller, i really do love your idea.

what's inspiring you lately?

2011-02-27T16:34:00.000-07:00

i am generally not a fan of a lot of the store bought baby decor... like pastels and things with little cartoon animals on them. girls have a better selection (as always), but little boy stuff just isn't my taste when the choices are between baseball sheets or plane and train sheets. so i thought i'd try my hand at making bold colored crib sheets, and they are super easy to make! i followed this tutorial and made my first set.
here they are:

2011-02-21T17:17:00.000-07:00

my copper coil hoop earrings are one of my best sellers in my etsy store, but i know not everyone loves copper like i do! i decided to try out a silver pair and see if i liked them. i still love the copper ones, but i think these came out great too! they are now for sale in my shop. do you think i should try colored wire?

my brother is giving away a pair of my earrings this week over at his awesome blog, check it out and enter to win!

2011-02-12T12:40:00.000-07:00

after waiting a couple weeks for inspiration, i finished my second chalkboard, because i wanted one for my kitchen and had the perfect spot for it. i think it turned out great! i used paint marker to put a permanent border on it, but the message is just in chalk. i almost wrote MENU on it permanently with the paint, but then i thought about how little i have been cooking lately and changed my mind! now i can always add the menu if i want or just leave up a message.

2011-02-06T10:04:00.000-07:00

a loong, loong time ago, i started a granny square blanket. and no, i still haven't finished it. instead, in my typical fashion, i started a new crochet project before finishing an old one! but this one i'm determined to finish! i have 19 weeks before my baby is due. last week, when i found out i'm having a boy, i started thinking of all the things i want to make. i definitely want to make him a blanket, which might be weird for an arizona baby born in june, right? so it's not to keep him warm, but for him to lay on and look cute. when i was visiting my parents awhile back, i took all my mom's old crochet books, including this one.

i am working on the blanket on the left, but a modified version. i'm not big on pastel anything so i'm making it navy and white, and am thinking about orange edging? i'm also making it a lot smaller than this one, which will maybe mean i will actually finish it... i've got two squares done, 18 more to go!

2011-02-03T12:07:00.000-07:00

i'm a sponsor this month on one of my daily blog reads, sunday morning sugar, and there's a giveaway there for me this week for a pair of earrings of your choice. check it out, enter to win, and browse this fun blog!

2011-02-02T08:17:00.002-07:00

i found a great tutorial over at studs and pearls. there have been some great diy tutorials there, so be sure to take some time to browse. last week i came across a tutorial for this bracelet and i love the mix of string and metal. i might be making a lot of these for gifts, because i love how mine came out!

2011-01-30T16:01:00.001-07:00

i posted a few weeks ago about these super cute chalkboards that i found on etsy:

i have been dying to buy or make one since i saw it, so when i was garage sale shopping a couple weeks ago, i knew just what i could do with these that i got for $1 each:

i picked up some chalkboard paint and acrylic paint, and now i have little chalkboards of my own.

i just painted over those palm trees with two coats of chalkboard paint, then taped it off to paint the frame my favorite color. i have another one i'm finishing with a yellow border.

i haven't decided if i'm going to add a permanent message on it or not, i'm waiting for some inspiration to decide. i have paint pens waiting if i decide to...

what do you think?

2011-01-23T06:51:00.000-07:00

a couple of necklaces sprouted from my craft table this week. i fell in love with these beads when i was visiting paul's family in texas back in october and brought them back with me. they had been calling to me for months and now they are finally in use! they are for sale in my etsy shop.

2011-01-20T08:40:00.000-07:00

i went garage saling this weekend with my friend, amber, and hit paydirt! i got some baby stuff that was on my list for cheap and i also got this sweet sweet chair that i am in love with. i realized when i got home that i didn't even try it out before i bought it, and when i sat down in it, i found that it rocks as well as swivels! i had been looking for a rocking chair on craigslist, but i'm hoping this will do since it is way cuter than any rocking chair i'd seen. looooove it.

2011-01-18T21:11:00.000-07:00

okay, so my friend sarah just told me about this place called ebates where you get money back after you shop online. basically if you are going to buy something from target.com, you can click to target through the ebates website and then you get a percentage back later, like a rebate. most places i shop seem to be around 2-5% back, so it will add up. the reason i'm telling you about this in addition to it hopefully being helpful for you, is that i can also get money for referring people who sign up (free to join). one of the rewards is a flip camera so i can shoot little videos of my newest family member to my family. anyway, if you shop online much and are interested, please sign up through my referral link http://www.ebates.com/rf.do?referrerid=0EF8fhpaxokLyYejkc51VQ%3D%3D. thanks, guys!

2011-01-16T15:40:00.000-07:00

i eased back into crafting this week with a small project. i had been saving up my ladies nice things money for a nook reader and when i got it last week i wanted to get a cover for it but they are expensive! and i have so many other expensive things on my list to buy that i decided i'd just make a little pouch for it with scrap fabric laying around. i really only wanted something to keep it safe when i throw it in my bag. i think this will do!

2011-01-09T07:19:00.000-07:00

so my goal this week is to get back to blogging (if i have any readers left out there) and to do it realistically. i found out in mid october that i am expecting a little baby and pretty much have felt horrible since then! after work each day i basically came home, sat in my chair, stared off at the wall or tv, didn't really matter which, and tried not to get sick. needless to say i did not do much crafting! i am seeing a light at the end of the tunnel though as i'm feeling quite a lot better lately. so, i'm going to try to get back to blogging and crafting. my goal is just once or twice a week max for now.

today i was surfing on etsy and found some beautiful things. this was one of my favorites and i am currently dying to buy one.

her shop also features lots of other sweet signs, i love their sunny, vintage feel, and attention to detail even down to the labeled chalk and erasers!

2010-10-27T12:12:00.000-07:00

here are a couple of the lovely things i've spotted lately:

these crocheted peacock earrings

this sweet doily clock that i'm dying to hang in my newly painted living room, but i need a bigger version...

and check out what this great little shop has done with concrete!

2010-10-24T12:05:00.000-07:00

i'm in a bit of a jewelry rut, but i bought a bunch of great beads when i was in texas, so i'm hoping for them to inspire me soon.... until then, here's the only newly designed bracelet i've made in months!

2010-10-22T11:56:00.000-07:00

i happily got around to make this awesome, unique skirt that i'm in love with. i shamelessly made mine the exact color of the tutorial and by accident ended up with the exact trim! i went to the store to get some trim and looked around and picked this one, then got home and looked at the tutorial and realized it was exactly the same. i guess it had subconsciously burned itself into my mind's eye. but i love it and you can find the tutorial here.

here's the original:

and my not so unique interpretation:

not bad, eh?

2010-10-19T12:07:00.000-07:00

my strong and very kind husband dug a hole in the rocks of our new backyard so i could start my fall and winter garden on time! i wanted to start small and decided i may add on another box of the same size if this one goes well, but i'm trying not to get ahead of myself. last weekend i planted my herbs and some seeds for different lettuces. i have arugula sprouts! i've been watering the heck out of this little plot of earth, so hopefully it will reward me!

2010-10-17T11:55:00.001-07:00

i feel so behind on my whole life right now, and i realized how long it has been since i posted a thing on here and i miss it... it's not that i haven't been doing anything, i've just been doing too much, i think!
i had fall break at the beginning of the month and was in texas for a month visiting paul's parents and his little sister, daisy (she's the one on the leash). here are some pictures paul's mom sent us from our little trek to the river. that was a beautiful day and we sat outside for lunch and ate this crazy jalepeno summer sausage with jalepeno jack cheese on jalepeno cheese bread. holy jalepenos, that was a good combo.

2010-10-02T15:55:00.000-07:00

i have a giveaway featured at smile and wave this weekend. the winner will be drawn monday. don't sign up for any of the other sponsor's giveaways though, i'm trying to win!

for my giveaway you can win a vintage beaded necklace or your choice of two pairs of earrings from my shop!

2010-09-28T16:49:00.001-07:00

so many people are having babies right now, i've been cranking these sweet little blankets out. they're easy and they are so pretty and soft.

2010-09-25T12:45:00.001-07:00

i headed to boston last weekend to see two of my best friends in the world. it was beautiful weather and relaxing all around, we spent hours each morning drinking coffee outside and catching up. and we went apple picking....

2010-09-13T06:12:00.001-07:00

my friend, maggie, had a great pair of bright colored hoops on the other day that inspired me to come up with this design.... i love them!

they're for sale at my etsy store!

2010-09-11T06:10:00.001-07:00

some barnes and noble gift cards were burning a hole in my pocket.... i ordered these books that i've been wanting to read... now for a rainy day off (that's not likely to happen anytime soon in the desert...)!

anybody read any of them?

2010-09-08T11:04:00.001-07:00

last weekend my friend amber and i dragged each other garage saling bright and early.

this was my big find:

i don't know why, but i love it so much- it's sitting on top of my kitchen cabinets. paul thinks it's ridiculous and that amber should have stopped me from spending a grand two dollars on it.... kinda makes me love it even more...

after i get my garden planted, i might find him a new home there, unless he's become too much a part of my kitchen....

2010-09-06T11:04:00.000-07:00

i took advantage of the three day weekend to paint the living room. i have been wanting to for awhile, but painting has a way of sucking up your weekends, so i've been putting it off! my friend amber came over to help me paint and her husband came to play video games with paul while i tried to paint around the tv...

snack break...

finished!

2010-08-28T17:42:00.000-07:00

i stumbled on this gorgeous tutorial and am going to be hitting up a fabric store asap to make one of these. i am in love with it and think i want to do the same color as the picture. here's the tutorial for this pinwheel skirt. i'll post my finished product when i get it done!

2010-08-25T09:36:00.000-07:00

i have a few friends with babies on the way, so i thought i would try my hand at making some cards... until today i've never made a card without the supervision of my friend sarah and her mad paper skills. unfortunately sarah has moved cross country so i'm on my own. sarah? pass your judgment.

2010-08-24T16:09:00.000-07:00

there's a great giveaway over at a sunday morning sugar this week- check it out!
you can win these two things, a gift card to jacques and jill, and a secret gift!

2010-08-21T17:49:00.000-07:00

back to school syndrome has killed my blogging ability! i haven't made anything in weeks and i'm dying to make something and blog about it! my crafting list is calling, but i have a whole other list related to teaching and my masters class that i have to address first... so sad. in need of a crafting fix, i ordered these beautiful prints from etsy today. i can't wait to get them and hang them in our bedroom!

2010-08-10T18:01:00.000-07:00

i saw these wine bottle torches on design sponge, and i am dying to make some of these to put on the posts on our back patio- i love blue glass and i think it would make my outdoor oasis perfect! if you drink wine in a blue bottle soon, save the bottle for me!

2010-08-08T17:41:00.000-07:00

last weekend we had an abnormally cool day for phoenix, 88 degrees! so we took advantage by laying outside on our new grass with our dog....

ah, peace and relaxation...

now i just wish i had a quilt like this to lay on- a future project! (and another time that i've lost the original creator's link! so sorry!)

2010-08-05T17:56:00.000-07:00

a long time ago, i posted that i wanted to try making something like this (sorry, i lost the link for who made it!):

i started my own way back in october and it sat on my to do pile for ages.... a couple weeks ago i sat down with an exacto knife and finished it up. after two weeks, by fingers are still sore from all the pressing on the exacto knife so hard! i think i did permanent damage... but i love the final product, just can't decide where to put it...

2010-07-29T19:53:00.000-07:00

i am totally loving what this amazing seller on etsy is doing with vintage zippers. who knew that you could turn them into such beauties?!

2010-07-25T12:26:00.001-07:00

can you tell i am loving the turquoise and dark red combo? i wonder how many different ways i can work it... these will be going up in my shop this week!

ruffle pillow tutorial

2010-07-21T23:42:00.000-07:00

i just got back from a great trip visiting my family in missouri and kansas, so i've been a little scarce this last week. i also started back to work this week, summer break is over... but i still have lots of projects on the horizon and almost finished my summer list! so here is the long ago promised tutorial for the ruffle pillow i made this summer. it was a much more involved process than i had planned, not difficult, just lengthy!

ruffle pillow tutorial
you need:
1 1/2 yards of fabric
dental floss
string
pillow stuffing
sewing machine

1. start by cutting two squares of fabric an inch larger than you want your finished pillow to be. i went with 19 inches.

2. cut strips of fabric that are the pillow's length and a half (so mine were about 30 inches long). depending on the size of your pillow, you can decide how wide the ruffles should be. you can also do them longer if you want your pillow rufflier (is that a word?). i cut my strips five inches wide so they would stick off the pillow about 2 inches after being sewn on. i hemmed the edges by folding them over twice, ironing them down, and sewing them which left me with a 4 inch wide strip. i used 7 strips, but again, this depends on the size of your ruffles and the size of your pillow.

3. there are many ways to gather a ruffle, i tried just doing two parallel baste stitches, but my thread kept breaking, so i found a dental floss trick that worked very easily! set your sewing machine to a zigzag stitch as shown. then you just lay the dental floss down the middle of your strip (doesn't have to be perfect) and you zigzag stitch over it, leaving the floss running down the middle between the zigzags. make sure the dental floss is a little longer than your strip before you sew. after you have sewed the zigzags, you can pull on each end of the floss and slide the fabric to gather it. you've got ruffles!

4. now you're ready to sew your ruffle on. take one of your fabric squares and place the ruffle where you want it. i didn't even pin it on because i didn't want it to look to straight and measured. i sewed right down the middle of the ruffle where the dental floss is on each ruffle and made sure i didn't leave too much space between ruffles so it looked full.

5. once you have your ruffles like you want, lay your two squares together and pin the sides. be sure to lay the ruffles face down since you'll be turning the square inside out. stitch around the edges leaving 6 inches or so open so you can turn the square inside out.

6. now all you have left is to flip the pillow inside out so the ruffles are on the outside. stuff it to the fullness you want with filler and then i folded over and sewed that last six inches closed on the machine. all done!

if you make your own pillow, please link it up so i can see your work!

2010-07-12T12:07:00.000-07:00

yum. i had been wanting to try a few new recipes during my summer break and i haven't done as well as i was hoping because paul just wants to eat leftovers for dinner so he can eat his precious peanut butter and jelly for lunch. foiling my plan! anyway, i made this spinach ricotta pizza from cooking light and paul rated it a 9 out of 10 which is super rare! it was pretty easy and so fresh and summery.

2010-07-09T11:35:00.000-07:00

i finally picked a color for our bedroom and after two hot, arizona afternoons of slapping paint on the walls, it's done! i love it, it's like warm sunshine on the walls... a forever reminder of how hot it was when i painted in here. i had to take down the blinds, so the sunlight was streaming in full blast and my a/c would not keep up.

paul hadn't trusted me to pick a color he liked, but he also wouldn't give me any input besides, "just leave it white." ho hum. so when he first saw me painting this color, he didn't like it because "it's yellow." by the time i finished, he was surprised that he actually like it. point for me.

i haven't gotten much up on the walls yet, i'm still trying to decide on what i want to put in there. let me know what ya think!

2010-07-07T07:26:00.000-07:00

i can check another thing off my list! i made sarah a flannel baby blanket, the first i've ever made. i found this super easy tutorial at abmatic and while i loved the bold and off beat fabrics she used, i couldn't find any like that which were also gender neutral! it was easy to find great fabrics if i knew it was a boy or a girl, but no go. so i think it still turned out pretty cute and hopefully sarah's as of yet genderless baby will love it! it gave me an idea on another style of baby blanket to try for the arizona climate for another friend. i'll post it when i get around to it.

2010-07-04T14:29:00.000-07:00

painting my craft room wasn't on my list of things to do this summer, but it is taking me awhile to decide on the color i want to paint our bedroom. i knew exactly what i wanted to do with the craft room, so i painted it on friday afternoon and love it! just what i wanted.

2010-07-02T08:30:00.002-07:00

i have been selling quite a few of my vintage style necklaces so i tried a new color and really like it. it's so sunny and light. it's for sale at my etsy shop!

what do you think? should i try some other colors too?

2010-06-29T17:51:00.000-07:00

i have three weeks of summer before i head back to work. one of those weeks i'll be visiting my family in missouri. so i figure i have two weeks left to make my summer wishes come true. here's the list of projects i started the summer with:

*finish my painting- a big painting i started has been sitting there for about a year waiting for me to take a day to finish it off

*paint the eiffel tower- and by that i mean, paint a sketchy black outline on a white background. simple... easy... hopefully. after our trip to paris in the spring i've been longing for a good picture.

*make throw pillows for the new bench- done! i always like to put things on my list that i already did to make me feel better.

*cook some new recipes- i haven't had time to cook in ages and i'm ready for some new stuff. so far i made my mom's chile verde for the first time and some crock pot mac and cheese. yum.

*paint the bedroom-

*make a paper wreath- check! :)

*create my oasis on the new patio- plants, wind chimes, etc.

*make a baby carrier wrap and some baby blankets for my newly pregnant friend, sarah.

*finish these books:

wish me luck!

2010-06-26T10:22:00.000-07:00

i wanted to post earlier, but i'm at a resort in tucson this weekend for my husband's work. a fancy resort. so fancy that internet is $10.95 for 24 hours! so i found a sweet spot in the hotel lobby where the internet is free and here i am.

the last few days i was working on some fancy throw pillows that i'd had in my head for awhile. this one i had seen at pier 1 and it was quite a project. it wasn't hard but took a long time, so i'll post a tutorial soon so you can learn from my mistakes!

then i had seen this photo and loved the idea, but i'm not big on bows, so the purple one is my version.

i lined up the pillows where i wanted them on this great bench that paul's mom got us. i showed paul and he said, "i really like the green one you made the best because it's flat and won't get all in my face." of course, that is the only one i didn't make... i got it at world market... but he's too practical for his own good so i'm not too highly offended!

2010-06-23T13:42:00.000-07:00

it is amazing what i can get done when i don't have to go to work! my summer break officially started friday, and after a great camping trip, i'm ready to get back to my crafting, blogging, and relaxing. things had been hectic with classes, work and a move, but now i'm feeling a bit more settled and my new house is in need of some craftiness.

after searching high and low for my glue gun, i found it, next to the bottle of honey i'd also been searching for. in the closet in our workout room.... then i set off to work on this wreath i had been wanting to make for months. the original tutorial is here at living with lindsey.

and today i feel like sewing... hmmm....

2010-05-01T17:09:00.000-07:00

i've been busy at work this week getting ready to move into a new house, but i did manage to fit in some crafting! my friend just adopted two little boys, a 14 month old and a 14 day old, and she needs the hook up with some cute things. she agreed to be my guinea pig, so i made her a baby wrap carrier and this mobile. it was hard to get a clear picture of the mobile because those birds wouldn't hold still.... hopefully i'll get a pic of my friend in that wrap with her baby soon!

2010-04-21T18:22:00.001-07:00

so i love these quizzes, but know they're a little dorky. i saw this one on smile and wave and i was in the mood for one! if you do it on your blog, be sure to link back or comment so i can check yours!

1. When do you feel happiest?

when i get off work and go home and or be outside

2. How do you take care of yourself?

drink tea, do yoga, make sure i have lots of free time to do what i want

3. Are you internally (by yourself) or externally (by others) motivated?

internally only- i think that's my stubborn streak of "if i don't want to do it, good luck trying to make me" yes, i'm like a 5 year old with that.

4. What do you do for fun?

make things, read books, hang out with my friends, husband, and dog, and travel

5. What intimidates you?

big parties where i only know the host and eating things that swim

6. What is something you're proud of?

my happy little life in general... and that my dog is the best behaved dog in the hood.

7. Finish this sentence. I never _____________.

want to grow up.

8. Favorite vacation spot.

italy

9. Today is a (rate from 1 - 10).

10! most days are...

10. Finish this sentence. If you knew me really well you'd know _____________.

that i involuntarily make funny faces when i eat lemons and i act like i eat healthy, but i eat a lot of candy

2010-04-19T15:24:00.000-07:00

long long ago, i started my granny square blanket. no, i'm not done... not even close. and now that the weather is warming up, i'm not too inspired to sit around crocheting. but for now i have this cute little stack of completed granny squares to look at until i'm done turning this:

into this:

2010-04-17T18:08:00.000-07:00

okay, so i usually get excited about buying chips, but today i was excited for a different reason. i was at my favorite little market and i see that sun chips have new packaging for their chips that is 100% compostable! how could this be?!

it looks like a metalish bag, but it sounds like crazy crackly thick cellophane. apparently it is made from plants and will biodegrade in your compost pile in 14 weeks or so. sun chips are sold by frito lay, so i'm curious if it will soon follow suit and why sun chips are flying solo.

whatever the reasoning, i'll be voting with my wallet and am crossing my fingers that this thing actually biodegrades and that it will catch on soon! i'll also be annoying my husband with that crackly sound as i munch on my new sun chips.

2010-04-13T17:45:00.000-07:00

i have been so pumped that the things in my garden have grown so well this year. i have finally figured out what grows well in that area and when and i possess a new found love for swiss chard! and they all grew from tiny little seeds...
i've got:

sunflowers just for general prettiness,

delicious swiss chard:

marigolds to keep pests away:

and herbs, herbs, herbs- dill, mint, and cilantro:

yum!

Make Your Own Business Stamp Tutorial

2010-04-10T17:52:00.000-07:00

so i was inspired by a craft done in my classroom a few weeks ago where the kids made prints using styrofoam. i thought i would try making a stamp for my little business the same way, and while i haven't perfected it, it's something you can mess around with until you have just what you want. it's also a great way to find a new use for that pesky styrofoam that can't be recycled! i cleaned up a takeout box to make my styrofoam stamp.

you need:
styrofoam scraps
a pen
your business logo
ink

first, i took my business card because i wanted my stamp to have a logo that matched as much as possible. i made a copy of it on paper because you need to be able to trace it to make an indentation on the styrofoam.

if you want your stamp to have writing, you have to make it in reverse, so i flipped my paper over, print side down, laid it on top of the styrofoam and traced the writing with medium pressure with a pen.

then i lifted the paper off the styrofoam and used my pen to trace over the indentation with a little more pressure on the styrofoam. you don't want your lines too deep, but deep enough that the lines won't pick up ink. again, it's not easy to trace perfectly on styrofoam, so your stamp will have some character!

now you are ready to stamp- dip it in ink or paint it lightly and stamp away....

not bad for a first try!

2010-04-08T18:05:00.000-07:00

lately i've sold enough of these red necklaces that i decided to experiment with another color and i like it! i like the vintage feel and i think the blue lends itself well. any other color recommendations? they are for sale at my etsy shop!

2010-04-07T18:10:00.000-07:00

my sister-in-law showed me a picture of a cute necklace awhile back and i finally got around to getting the supplies and trying something similar... i made the pendants, now i've just got to decide on a chain...

2010-04-06T17:36:00.000-07:00

so my very talented friend, carly cavalier, was kind enough to design me some paper products for my jewelry. i am loving them, don't you? i feel like i have a serious business now... thank you, carly!
and don't worry, local friends, you'll soon be given a stack of my business cards to pass out to all of your friends.

2010-03-29T16:18:00.000-07:00

one of my favorite blogs, slipcover your life, is doing a giveaway on her blog each day this week to launch her brand new etsy store. i'm loving her super cute modern cross stitch. who knew that cross stitch could look like this?!

2010-03-23T18:09:00.000-07:00

i had a lovely trip to paris last week and am a little bummed (and jet lagged) to be back at work. however, the break refreshed me and i'm ready for my next trip! where to next?
my pics are up on flickr.

here were a few of my favorite things:

crepes

the eiffel tower at night

the louvre

and notre dame

2010-03-14T16:00:00.000-07:00

i am now so completely done with doing homework while staring at this:

yes, i love you macbook, but i am so over my master's class that finished this week.

and now this week, i am moving on to stare at this:

and this:

and hopefully this:

i'll link up some pictures when i get back.
au revoir!

2010-02-28T17:42:00.000-07:00

my master's classes are slowing down, so i had time to make a few jewelry creations this week that are now in my etsy store. a necklace i really like is in the works, but i keep taking it apart so i can get it just right. hopefully i'll have it done by the end of the week... this first necklace already sold, i love it, so vintage looking. what do you think?

2010-02-24T15:13:00.001-07:00

holy ukelele, sophie madeleine was blogged about on one of my favorite blogs, cakies and i checked her out on youtube, heard this song and was sold. she's just so sweet and whimsical with that ukelele. what do you think? you can download her album here for $5 minimum (name your price)

2010-02-22T14:55:00.001-07:00

i am absolutely loving this gorgeous leather work i saw on etsy...

2010-02-20T08:58:00.001-07:00

paul's parents were here this week and his mom brought this train wreck below for me to make wearable. yes, that giant turquoise chunk is on the side of the necklace, asymmetrical jewelry at it's worst?

paul's mom typically likes chunky pendants, so i made her this quick necklace with that gigantic turquoise bead. reworking one piece of jewelry into something new is one of my favorite things to do. do you have any jewelry that you need to be reworked?

2010-02-14T15:45:00.000-07:00

it's the weekend. a three day weekend in fact and i am almost finished with my homework! i feel a profound sense of freedom as the sun is shining, my patio door is open, and the fresh air feels lovely. i made a trip to the bead store and i have lots of ideas floating through my head.... but then i spotted this on etsy.

aren't they so very pretty? and perhaps so very makeable? i just got this great little ceramic cutter that i was planning on using to cut designs out of fabric, but i think i might try it for this to cut some pretty designs in paper... and all i need is fabric and a hole punch, right? hmmm.... if i get one made, i'll put up a tutorial....

2010-01-31T17:20:00.001-07:00

i had a free night this week and made this necklace that i'd had in my head for quite some time. it felt quite good to sit down and make something, so my hope is that this week i'll have some time to work on the next project on my list, that paper wreath in my last post. what's your latest project?

2010-01-20T21:12:00.000-07:00

i'm having a creative block and it's not because of lack of ideas, but because of lack of time to consider them! i am much busier at the moment than i like to be and i haven't made a single thing since my last post. class started back up for my master's degree and i'm either gone to class, working on homework, or at work all the time. i'll stop complaining now... or i won't! i will be posting less for awhile, which is probably fine for everyone but me. and just keep in mind, that while i'd like to be making this:

or this:

i'll actually be reading this:

and this:

all of which are contributing to my genius... don't get me wrong.
have a great week!

five for friday...

2010-01-08T13:52:00.002-07:00

part of my goals for my new little business this year was to make five, and only five, things a week for my etsy store. i was having trouble with either overdoing it each week or underdoing it and in the process i was neglecting other important parts of my life in order to make beautiful jewels! so, i decided i am going to work on my five things each week and hopefully that will give me a goal to work towards and a limit for when i need it. i am hoping to build enough inventory to enter a show in the late spring. each friday i'll be posting my five jewelry creations of the week. be sure to vote in the poll on the right to let me know which ones you like best!

2010-01-06T09:50:00.000-07:00

i am sure you are all wondering how my closet cleaning project turned out. it is awesome! but i think having a closet that actually has a place for everything is turning me into a psycho clean freak... i'm not sure if that's possible, it's most likely short term, because i am absolutely a mess. but for the time being i am hyper anal about my closet and it has been this clean for over a week. here are the before and after pictures.... please don't judge me. i bet your closet sucks too.

2010-01-04T09:36:00.000-07:00

ah, 2 weeks off work for christmas = time to cook a meal!
i made this soup that was recommended by my brother: turkey sausage-gnocchi soup, except i used spicy chicken sausage and added these gigantic indian mustard leaves from my garden. aren't they crazy, huge?! i have had no idea what to do with them- the seed packet said to use them for salad, but they are kind of furry and prickly! i can't imagine eating it raw, but it's good cooked...

i also made this salad that my friend, sarah, made for us one time and i loved it. she used blue cheese but i didn't have any so i used goat cheese instead. it was delicious! it is just lettuce, a chopped up granny smith apple, sugared almonds, goat cheese, and poppy seed dressing. love it when i'm not too tired or cranky to cook! and my husband deemed the meal a success. yum!

2010-01-02T21:24:00.003-07:00

i had a great christmas in missouri. the whole family was there geared up for some holiday cheer!

i was cranking out granny squares for my jemaine blanket while we watched movies, and my new sister-in-law said she wanted to learn how to knit and crochet. we spent quite a few hours on the couch, and she is a very determined person and a fast learner, just look at her on the left!

i was working on a fast, big, chunky scarf, but had trouble with it curling and i have no idea how to fix it or why it did that.... susan, help?! i have so much to learn....

how did you spend your holiday?

2009-12-31T09:27:00.000-07:00

ahh, a new year. i always leave behind a year with mixed feelings of excitement for the year ahead and sadness that a year has passed. i enjoy my life very much and don't like how fast it is flying by! i never set serious new year's resolutions, because i am a realist about how quickly i will break them. however, i do like to think of what i want to accomplish by the end of the next year. the year is mine to create and i don't want to just hope for a new year but to plan for it.

what do you have planned for 2010?

2009-12-21T09:21:00.001-07:00

i was at my friend kate's this weekend and saw her awesome rectangle wreath she made last christmas and decided i wanted one of my own. of course, making a wreath is not anything i've ever tried and i had no idea where to start, so kate kindly rescued me at michael's and told me what i needed. this morning, after bending hangers and springing glitter everywhere (including my poor husband's face as he got ready for work...), i completed my silver and berry wreath and i love it! thanks, kate! i decided to keep it indoors so i could see it more often...

2009-12-19T17:01:00.000-07:00

i have not been this productive in a very long time! i've been cleaning like crazy so my house will be a nice place to be when i get back from visiting my parents in missouri for christmas. i finally got my studio set up in an organized way.... at least organized for me... and now i actually want to get to work in there! next place on my list to organize: my closet... just the thought sends chills down my spine. i'll post some before and after pics... but for now i think i'm going to go watch a movie and crochet some more granny squares- my pile of finished ones is growing!

2009-12-15T20:36:00.000-07:00

i just cannot stop adoring this beautiful little shop on etsy called all the numbers. the quilts and little dresses are absolutely out of this world sweet. don't you think?

2009-12-12T07:00:00.002-07:00

this week was for the birds....
tuesday, as i was trying to give my 1st graders a silent standardized test, a flock of birds flew into our windows and one of them crashed to the ground with a broken little neck. most of my students were extremely disturbed, except for the one boy who could not stop laughing. as for me, my day was totally ruined as i thought about that poor little dove.
the next day, i'm working in my garden and my precious dog turned into a viscious killer and showed up with a dove hanging out of her mouth. what?! so i can't get her to drop it and i was screaming at her because there is no way i was touching it. i finally just went inside to scream and left her outside and she just stared at me through the door...with a bird in her mouth... wagging her tail. holy dog. my dog is a freaking animal. a flesh eater.

above: the mark the bird left on the window...
below: the vicious killing animal