Changes and Excitement!

I should be in bed right now. But what fun is sleep when I have all kinds of exciting things to share?

Well, not really all kinds of exciting things, more like just one super exciting thing.

I NOW SELL SOME OF MY FLOWERS AT Kaza Designs IN CONCORD, NH!!!

Lisa, the owner, is a super great lady. I have known her since I was a kid (she use to babysit me), but we fell out of touch along the way. Thanks to the awesomeness of facebook, we have become reacquainted and it turns out we have a lot in common such as she has a super cute shop specializing it recycled/handmade/local items, and I sell super cute handmade recycled crafts.

Technically I am not local (unless I am visiting family), but I was born and raised in NH, so I think that should count for something.

Would you like to see the cute stuff I sold to Lisa (and she has turned around and sold 5 of the flowers I sold her!)?

Here is a picture of one of my flowers in her shop.


So much fun to work with and sell to such an awesome lady!

As far as changes go, you may have already noticed that I have changed the layout and look of the blog a bit. I plan to make more changes as I go. Feel free to let me know what you like and don't like, or if there is something you would really like to see added.

I appreciate you stopping by and I hope you have/had a wonderful day!

Hand Print Gift Ideas

I don't need to remind anyone that times are tight right now. Lucky for me though, I love crafting and giving. Even better for me, most things I make I created from recycled items. A great way to cut costs even more.

Holiday gifts will be handmade this year. I even convinced my sister to jump on my band wagon :)

I have to tell you, I love my daughters hands. Ever since she was a baby, my favorite thing to do with her, is trace her hands or paint them and make hand prints. It is a great way to follow her growth in a fun and different way.

So, here are a few projects we have made. I have added a link for where I found the idea, and they all over tutorials, so go on over and check them out!

Hug Pillows (found here: From An Igloo)

This will be a pillow for one of the grandparents (if you happen to be reading this, pretend to be surprised at Christmas). We have 4 of the 6 grandchildren on here.
For this project, I actually purchased fabric. I really try not to purchase fabric, but if I do, I make sure to shop in the clearance section and use a coupon. Some of the fabric for this pillow did come from clothes destined for the thrift shop, so I guess it can be considered partially upcycled.

For the hug pillow, I also created some less...formal ones.

These are made from upcycled clothes. The stuffing and thread are new.

High Five Pillows (just a slightly different take on the hug pillow).

These are my nephews pillows. Emma and the boys had great fun using them for a pillow fight.

This project came about due to an oops. A few weeks ago I had Emma and her 3 cousins make some tie dye t-shirts. In a moment of laziness, I bought each of them a package of 5 plain white under shirts. Apparently, they run small :( The shirts for Emma and her youngest cousin, T-Bear, didn't fit. We were able to use the shirts from Emma for T-Bear, but I wasn't sure what to do with the shirts from T-Bear. My sister suggested making them into t-shirt pillows. I loved it! Having 5 t-shirts, and 4 kids, I made a t-shirt for each. I thought adding their own hand print to their shirts would be fun.

Hand Trees (found here: At Second Street)

My oldest nephew didn't want to make one of these so it was just Emma and two of her cousins. I was a little frustrated that Emma and G-Man didn't want to add more leaves, but it is their trees, so I decided to butt out (and not add more after they left the table).

So, this is some of what we have been up too. I hope to get more pictures, but it is slightly slow going as my camera eats batteries. I manage to take about 10 pictures before the batteries are dead. So, now I remove the batteries after each picture taking session. I hope that helps.

Thanks for reading, I hope you find some inspiration here!

Back with a Bang!

Emma and I have gotten back into crafting now that school has started back up for Jared. We have actually gone a little crazy with it, but we are having fun and the only house looks like a small tornado went through it.

We have decided to try to bring out friends over to the crafty side, so we will be hosting a Craft Party on the 11th. We are so excited!

What is a craft party you ask?

Well, for us, a craft party is an excuse to have friends come over and make a crafty mess.

We will be tie-dyeing. Emma and I first experienced tie-dyeing a few weeks ago at Prairieland Herbs Sample Sunday event.

Here is a picture of what Emma made.

We didn't really have anything to tie-dye, so the morning of the Sample Sunday I whipped up a cute jumper, attached a previously freezer paper stenciled design, and away we went.

We also discovered hula hooping during the same event, but that will have to be a story for another day:)

Saturday Spotlight - Shops With Less Than 10 Sales

Starting this week I will be picking a few of my favorite items from four of my fellow guild members shops. This weeks fun finds,


Baby in a Fish Bowl


Boutique Karma



Craft Baby Hope


Jewelry By Sherry


Have a great weekend!

Feature Friday - Baby in a Fish Bowl

The newest member of the Shops with Less Than 10 Sales is Baby in a Fish Bowl.

Some fun stuff to be found here!

We could really use something like this at our house, especially now that the weather is getting nice and we are spending more time outside.


I have started loving skirts. Not sure what it is, but I love them. I want this one.


And how cute is this! I love the idea of being able to buy one piece of clothing for Emma and having it last for a few years!


At Baby in a Fish Bowl you can also find baby carriers, wood working, and a bunch of other fun goodies, so make sure you stop buy and check them out!

Giveaway - Bags Galore

Ok, sticking with the bag theme, I am giving away a 'book' bag, a clutch, and a tote (that I had planned to enter into the April Stash Bust Challenge, but I ran out of red thread and didn't want to use a different color).

The 'Book' Bag - This was my second attempt. I am not super happy with the way it came out, the fabric inside is a bit wrinkly. Still pretty darn cute though!

This bag currently does not have a closure, but if the winner would like one, I can probably whip one up.

The Clutch - This was my first clutch, and aside from it being pretty plain, it came out great! The glittery fabric is so much fun (but it does tend to glitterify everything).


The Tote - I made this from some of my fabric swatches. I love the slightly patriotic theme. Great tote for general use.


Entry Rules:
1. Leave me a comment before noon (central time) on May 31st.

That is all. If you decided to follow my blog, that would be splendid! If not, I am ok with that also.

If you like what you see, feel free to check out my ArtFire Studio.

Thanks, and good luck :o)

Feature Friday - VA Beach Quilter

I would like to introduce you to a great shop VA Beach Quilter, run by the truly awesome, Kim.

Kim has been a machine quilter for about 10 years. She does do some work by hand, but sticks mostly with machine piecing.

Her items speak for themselves. Here are a few of my favorites.

First up is a wallet that I really want. Might have to actually buy this one:)


Next I have a cute little Vee Bee Creature for your enjoyment (or for the enjoyment of any child in your life)


And what post about a quilt shop would be complete without a few awesome and fun quilts to show you?
I love the bright and crazy colors of this quilt.



And this quilt has got to be the coolest thing I have ever seen! I wish I had one of these when Emma was little. Heck, I bet she would still get a kick out of it!


Ok, before I get completely lost in Kim's studio, I will end this post (I just bought a bunch of books at a yard sale today and I am excited to make them into purses!!!).

Before I go, I just want to mention that aside from all the quilted items Kim makes, she somehow finds the time to do all the hard work involved in running the ArtFire guild and blog, "Shops with Less Than 10 Sales." The purpose of this guild is for artisans on ArtFire to help promote each other. Kim does a lot of work, and I really appreciate it all.

Congress and the Nation Vol. VII 1985-1988

This weekend I discovered another area of crafting that I think I will really enjoy; altering books.

A few months ago I ran across this video tutorial. I loved the thought of turning an old book into a purse and knew that one day I would try it.

Last week while Emma and I where at the Ames Public Library, I found a huge, hardcover text book on the free shelf.

Actually, I found four, but figured I should only take one. I didn't need to add more junk then I could handle to my already ridiculous stash. Although, I am kicking myself now because...

Today ended up being the day.

I started this project at about 3:00 this afternoon (Sunday 25Apr10). I didn't expect to finish it today, but I wanted to at least get it started. I hadn't made anything for the last few days and I was starting to have withdrawal symptoms.

To my great surprise, this project turned out to be pretty easy. The hardest part was trying to decide if I wanted to cover the entire book with fabric, or if I wanted to leave the outside the actual book. The second hardest part was picking the fabric.

I knew I wanted to use the serpentine belt that Jared had saved for me as the handles. (I know, what a great husband to think of me as he is fixing his Jeep!). After washing the belt and drilling some holes it it, I was ready to make the rest.

I followed the tutorial, for the most part. If you have read some of my other posts, you might remember that I am not so good at following directions. He (they guy in the video) uses glue for a lot of the heavy stuff, I decided to sew everything together, then glue it into the book.


I even added 2 pockets!

I also learned a very valuable lesson. When sewing pockets into a bag, don't sew them flat. Make sure there will be room to open up the pocket so you can put more then a credit card in there.

(Yeah, my pockets are good sized, but they don't really open so they really can only hold very thin items...)

Even with the pocket mistake, I love how the bag came out. If Emma and I venture into Ames tomorrow, I will be stopping at the library to see if the other three books are still there...

Studio Feature - Swirl Jewels

I love this necklace.


Swirl Jewels is "Shops With Less Than 10 Sales" featured shop this week. Trish makes some fantastic jewelry (which you can see already with the necklace that I love). Some of the other pieces of hers that I really like are;
Red Star and Black Onyx Necklace
and
Agate Dagger Necklace

Trish has plenty of other good stuff in her studio, so stop by Swirl Jewels and see for yourself.

p.s. Mothers day is just around the corner!!!!!

Featured Friday - jYOUlry

I have another great shop for you today!! I have to tell you, the thing I like the most about being part of Shops With Less Than 10 Sales is all the cool new people I am meeting.

With that being said, let me tell you a little about Lisa, and her shop jYOUlry, "Where the jewel is YOU."

"jYOUlry was created by a WAHM. Lisa is the mother of three boys and an interior designer but when she and her family recently relocated to Panama, she had to close her firm in Florida and become a stay-at-home mom. While her kids keep her life very busy, she was in need of a creative outlet. Lisa was looking for something different, unique, something she could make but also sell.

Years ago Lisa had bought a necklace with a photo pendant of her two older boys on it. When she was pregnant with the baby, she called about ordering a new one, but sadly they were no longer making them. It was then that the idea was born, “I’ll make one myself” Lisa said. So she began her new business venture with the idea to replace the simple necklace she had. Though it didn't take long for the designer in her to shine through, and the custom designed collection of photo jewelry was born!

Best of all, Lisa believes in low, affordable prices! “I wanted a product that was an amazing gift and still affordable in this economy.” You will find other comparable products online at double her prices. jYOUlry is a unique gift idea and each sterling silver piece is a keepsake. Your photo is reproduced and permanently sealed onto the charm or pendant of your choice, with a water and scratch resistant resin, giving your gift a beautiful glass-like finish, guaranteed to bring a smile to its recipient; but beware… sometimes you get tears too!"

I love jYOUlry, but I have to admit that Lisa's shop makes me a little sad also. Sad that I don't like to wear jewelry. Although, some of her pieces make me want to give it another try!

Here are a few of the pieces that I really like:

Custom Photo Keychain. This I could probably manage, as I don't actually have to wear it.


Custom Photo Bracelet - 5 round links (mothers day is just around the corner!!)


Custom Photo Wine Glass Charms. How perfect would these be for someones wedding or for an anniversary party?

Lisa has a lot of other super awesome stuff in her shop, so take a minute and visit jYOUlry, "Where the jewel is YOU."

Tutorial - Homemade Recycled Postcards

Emma loves horses. Like, REALLY. LOVES. HORSES. Anytime I ask her what she would like to learn about, it is always horses. I decided to be sneaky about learning. If all she wants to learn about is horses, that is fine. We can use horses to learn just about everything she needs.

How, you ask? Well, did you know that the first horse was the Eohippus and it lived about 50-60 million years ago? Emma does. Did you know that the Shire is the biggest horse and that it originated in Belgium? Emma does.

We try to focus on one or two horse breeds each week, and we check out a bunch of fiction and non-fiction books from the library on the breed she picks. We learn geography, history, relationships, etc.

We are also learning about math. For Emma's Thursday horse lessons, we decided to make horse biscuits. Measuring is a good way to learn math... This sounds like a future post for my family blog, Ready, Set, J.E.T.

Umm... Sorry. You probably came here for the tutorial on how to make postcards :)

So, after reading about Postcrossing, I thought it seemed like a neat way for Emma to get mail, and also a neat way to learn about geography and languages. We have asked that people write 'horse' in their language on the postcards they send to us:)

Being cheap, I decided to make our own postcards, which bring us (finally) to the tutorial.

Materials:
Cereal, granola, cracker, etc. boxes.
Cutting device (scissors, rotary blade, etc)
Ruler
Blank paper (we use printer paper that has been printed on one side, sticker paper would work well also)
Glue stick

Step 1. Making the Postcard
Select boxes that are big enough to give you at least one flat section that measures 4 1/4" X 6".
(I checked the USPS website before making these, then stopped at the post office to double check that the finished size was ok, it was)

Measure out a 4 1/4" X 6" rectangle.


Cut out your rectangle.

(if you want to, you can use this as a stencil for future postcards)

Step 2. The back of the post card.
You have a few options:
Option A. You like the design on the card.
If that is the case, you can simply fill out the back of the card as you see here (stamp goes in upper right corner, to: address below stamp. Return address can go in upper left or lower left. Write "Postcard" top middle).


Option B. You want to use the blank side to decorate.
If this is the case, I like this site for a free printable postcard template.

Once you download the template, you can delete the business name stuff and just do your own thing (leave it blank to fill out later or fill in as much as you want).

Print the template on the blank paper, cut it out, then glue it (we found a glue stick produced better results then the white glue) to the printed side of your postcard.
(I initially used a different template, but like the one linked better)

Step 5. Decorate the blank side of the postcard.
-Emma used her markers to draw on the postcards. If the material you are using is waxy, I would use sharpies, or even glue another piece of blank paper to the front of the card.


-I glued some of the map pieces from my previous post to the front of my postcards.



Step 6. Mail them!!
As of this posting, shipping domestic postcards cost $.28 and international postcards are $.98. You can buy stamps in both of those amounts. (We did).

I hope you make a few postcards. If you do, please share them with me on my Facebook Fan Page.

We love to send and receive postcards, so if you are interested, send me an e-mail (kaotickrafter@hotmail.com) with your address and we will send a postcard your way!

Don't Judge a Book by it's Cover

I think that saying is suppose to mean that just because the cover looks boring, doesn't mean the book is. I also learned that just because it looks kid friendly, doesn't mean it is. Even if it is an atlas.

Emma and I where at Broders. I REALLY wanted to go to Joann Fabrics, but I am trying to actually stick to my April Stash Bust pledge. Little did I know that I wasn't even safe at Borders...

We started our shopping in the clearance section. My favorite, next to free, is clearance. My first stumble with the Bust pledge was when I ran across a cute little kids kit for making stuffed bears. I immediately thought of my friend, Des. Des just recently introduced her daughter to sewing (here is her post about it)and I thought this little kit would be perfect! There was only one, and it was super cheap, so I decided to get it.

My next stumble, was totally unintentional. Emma and I where browsing through the atlas clearance section when we ran across this book: Atlas, Schmatlas. I flipped through it quickly at the store and I LOVED the hand drawn maps. I figured it would be a good book for Emma to just look through until she was ready to read. The info looked pretty good also (though geography is not my strongest subject).

Anyway, I got home and decided to sit down and look through the book. I read the first page and started to wonder what exactly I had bought. The more I flipped through the more I realized this was not a kid friendly book. When I found the first "F bomb" I knew Emma was not going to be reading this book. As I got a few pages further and found a digital cartoon drawing of two people having "relations" (not explicit, but you could tell what they where doing), I decided then and there that I would use the maps to make postcards. I had cut up just about all of the maps in the book, scanning each one as I went, when I cam across one map that also had the f bomb on it. Great. Now I have to go back through each and every one to make sure they are all rated PG or lower :(

Oh well, you win some, you lose some.

The reason I decided to make them into postcards? Emma and I signed up at PostCrossing to send and receive postcards. Being thrifty (or cheap), I decided to make our own postcards. With Jared's addiction to Sunbelt granola bars, we have the perfect recyclable material for making our very own postcards!

I am putting together a postcard tutorial for my next post, so check back!

Getting Involved in ArtFire

I was browsing through the forums and such at ArtFire the other day when I ran across a guild called 'Shops With Less Than 10 Sales'. (They also have a blog)

How cool is that? A guild right up my ally. The guild has a few requirements, and stuff you have to actually do on a weekly basis, but they are AWESOME at promoting the guild members.

So, let me introduce you to a fellow guild member, Boutique Karma.

She sells some wickedly cute Mug Huggers,


Coffee Sleeves,


and Eye Pillows.


She also has a few other super cute items.

So, if you love coffee (or tea) or know someone else who does, surf on over to Boutique Karma!

Journals, Freezer Paper Stencils, and Laid Up but still Crafting

I want to thank everyone who offered their advice on the handmade journals. We are still interested in what you think, so feel free to leave comments.

I was super excited when Gramma came down on Sunday and brought with her the latest batch of journals that Mary had filled and zuttered.

Here is a picture of the box of goodies.


And some specific pics of individual journals. Most of these journals are 8 1/2" X 5 1/2".

Journals filled with recycled manila envelopes.



Journals Filled with recycled paper used for packing and moving.




Journals filled with recycled office paper folded in half.


Journals filled with lined paper from old school notebooks.






I love them all!! I will have them up in the Artfire Shop by the end of the month. If you can't wait, just e-mail me and we will see if we can get the one you want into the shop sooner.

So, onto some more freezer paper stencils.
I realized that I could send the freezer paper through the printer. Opens up the world of possibilities! It also saves paper. Now I don't have to print onto computer paper and then cut out both.

So far the only thing I have printed directly onto the freezer paper is butterflies.

Emma painted the big butterfly, I painted the little one. We will probably end up adding a few more to the back of this tank top to cover up some stains.

I asked Emma to draw one of her creatures on the freezer paper. This is what I ended up with.

I love it:) Reminds me of the Little Miss and Little Mr. characters.

Here are my free hand stencils.


About all I can do right now is sit on the couch with my ankle up. The surgery went well, but I am really kinda sore. Walking around or sitting with my feet down makes my ankle even more sore. So, I have piled a few crafts around me on the couch.

With the X-Box on and netflix running some chick flicks, I set to work. I didn't get a whole lot done today, but I did manage to make these wool beaded coasters.

I saw the tutorial on Resweater and she found it here, at The Lavender Tree. Thanks to both ladies for giving me a project I can do while laid up!

Well, I think that is about all. I have no idea what I will be doing tomorrow, but I am sure you will hear about it :)

Oh, and help make me feel better by leaving me a comment!!