An Odd Creation, All For Me, and Awesome Photos!

So, once again, I am up WAY past my bedtime. Although lately it seems that between 1 and 2 a.m. are the norm, so I guess I am getting ready for bed early.

Anyway, before I get distracted by shinny things, I want to tell you real quick about this... well, thing, I made. I will give you a little back ground.

I love to recycle (kinda a duh if you have ever read any of my post, however, if this is your first, WELCOME!). Lately my obsession has been t-shirts. I like to cut them up in to strips, then stare at them forever before I finally decide what to do with them.

Tonight's creation came about because I had been trying to get my studio straightened back out (oh, and Emma was starting to hint tonight that she would like some company at bed time, i.e. she wants to sleep in our bed again ). I was trying to find a home for some of the strips of t-shirt that I had cut up when I decided to try making myself a makeshift loom.

-I just bought one of those little loom kits for kids for Emma to try out. She loved it and so did I. I wanted to try the loom with my t-shirt loops, but, well, the t-shirt loops are about 50 times bigger (maybe a little less)-

So, enter a cork board, some jumbo push pins, and my t-shirt loops. Another obsession I have had lately are the Iowa State colors (cardinal and gold). Yes, Jared is going to school at ISU, but we are not really all that involved in anything other then ROTC.

To continue (this is not turning out to be very quick, sorry). I had about 14 strips already cut up. So I started weaving. Thought it was looking cool. Then I ran out of loops.

"Huh, wonder what will happen if I just flip these guys up from the bottom and then start to weave back?"

So, that is what I did. I have no idea the actually steps involved, all I know is this is what I ended up with.



Didn't turn out anything like I expected. Well actually, seeing as I didn't really expect anything, I would have to say it turned out fine :)

Onto a few other items that I am happy to say turned out better then I expected.
All For ME!!

Meet my new best snuggling buddy. I have not thought of a name for her yet, but she is all for me. I got this incredibly, ridiculously, exquisitely soft black sweater from a place called Harmony's Closet, right down the street from my house. All of the clothes there are free. I like to get clothes to wear from there, as well as check for any wool. I am not very comfortable getting stuff from there then turning around and selling it so I have decided anything I make from the stuff I get will be either given away or donated.

Or kept, as is the case with my new square friend. She fits perfectly under my arm when I am sitting and typing away. She is so incredible soft. I love to snuggle her up against my cheek :)

I there are a few other things that I have made over the last few days, but they are unavailable at the moment. The are getting ready for there 15 minutes of fame, which brings me to...

The Awesome Photos!

Paula, at This Day Photography is an awesome lady. She happens to be an awesome dental hygienist (that is how we met), as well as an excellent photographer. She contacted me a little while ago asking if she could use Emma as a model. She had been asked to take some specific pictures for a book being made for kids, and wanted to know if she could use Emma for some of the photos.

I didn't have a problem with it, but then she mentioned she would do our family photos for free! There was no way I was saying no!

We drove out to Paula's brand new studio. Emma picked out her own clothes and she looked great. I even let Jared pick out his clothes and he looked great as well:)

To kind of ease Emma into the picture taking mood, Paula started by taking pictures of some of the things I had made. Then we asked Emma if she could hold some of the stuff and she was more then happy to play with and wear my creations.

I have no idea how long we where there, but I do know we got a lot of great photos and we are excited about our next session which will be outside!

Anyway, because I was too lazy and tired to upload each picture individually, I created a collage. If you do want to see them individually, you can go here.



I think that is about all for tonight (well, this morning). I am headed to bed. Hope you all have a crafty and creative day!