Envirocraftiness

Pinterest Project#3 - Photo Board

2012-01-22T22:14:00.000-06:00

Here's another Pinterest project!

This one is by Jamielyn from I {heart} Nap Time and shown off at Infarrantly Creative.

I made 2 of these, one for each of my grandparents for Christmas.

Again because this is a Stashbusting project, I used acrylics I had on hand.

I painted the boards as well as the clothes pins, cut out vinyl with my Silhouette, and glued on the clothes pins with Gorilla Glue.

Voila!

For my grandma

For my grandpa

I put the same picture hangers on these that I did on my other letter sign.

Again, another almost free project - I had to buy the clothes pins ($1 for a bunch) and the picture hangers, the boards, paint, and vinyl were all on hand!

Wedding Cake Adventure

2012-01-19T21:43:00.000-06:00

Alright, I took the leap. My sister (Leslie @ Try To Keep Up) asked, er, well I think the more accurate word would be begged me to make her wedding cake.

Leslie & Me wedding dress shopping last summer

Don't worry, this isn't actually the dress she bought - that will be a surprise!

I was really hesitant at first. I mean, it's a lot of pressure. I've made a couple cakes before, and played with fondant a couple times:

1. Fondant attempt #1 2. Fondant attempt #2 3. Skor cake - aka bad stacking 4. More fondant (purchased)

I really don't care too much for fondant. It looks alright, but I think that it's gross and difficult to work with.

One of the reasons Leslie wanted me to make her cake was because she already has to pay for dessert with the meal, and so she really doesn't want to pay a lot for a cake.

So...the more I thought about it, the more I do kinda want to do it. Should I? Maybe not, but I like a challenge.

The cake that I found that I'm taking my inspiration from is this one.

(source)

However, I don't want the stress of working with fondant - especially in Vancouver in August, can you say humid?!

AND if found this killer tip for smoothing buttercream.

Using a high density foam roller!! I've gotta try it!

So I think I'll be experimenting with buttercream and possibly cream cheese icing (we're leaning towards carrot cake for one of the layers!) It'll be cakes for every occasion from now until August!

For the most part, I'll be taking my advice from Make It And Love It for stacking & icing cakes, but I'd love to hear from you who have done this before. What do you wish someone would have told you?

More funny vinyl "families"

2012-01-15T22:01:00.001-06:00

This one was a present for my boss's 30th birthday. He's the one who I made this for (for his girlfriend for Christmas)

The tall guy on the left is meant to be my boss, I'm the girl, and the guy next to me is a co-worker who works closely with us, but is technically supervised by someone else.

Now before you go thinking my boss is a big jerk, let me explain. I'm an electrical engineer, and so a large part of my job is creating drawings for my designs in AutoCad (I'm sounding really cool now, huh?) As part of the drawing control procedure, someone else has to officially check the drawing (my boss). Last summer, my boss was out of the office, and I was going through my drawings that he'd checked and on one of them I missed something really obvious and written on the page in big red letters was "DO BETTER!" I BURST OUT LAUGHING. I also realized that that's kinda my boss's catch phrase. So "Do better" has kinda become a joke around the office.

One of the best things about this - it cost me nothing.

I figure this probably isn't going to be the last twisted vinyl family I make. And yes, I would take orders.

http://www.creatingreallyawesomefreethings.com/

Irritating Initial

2012-01-13T12:28:00.001-06:00

About a year and a half ago at a crop that I went to, I got this in my goodie bag:

Super sweet right?

Well the problem is that almost 2 years later I still don't know what I want to do with it. And I don't know where I'll put it, so that doesn't help either.

What do I do? Head to pinterest!

I really like this photo collage, found here and pinned here

How great is this paper covered T?? You could probably also do fabric....

Found here, pinned here

Covering it in beads and buttons might be fun

Found here, pinned here

Moss??

Found here, pinned here

Twine (LOVE)

Found here, pinned here

Shells? (not my favorite, but still in the running)

Found here, pinned here

What are your thoughts? Have you done any of these? I love to see them!

New to us furniture

2012-01-10T07:23:00.001-06:00

With the bad, there usually comes a small glimmer of good. In this instance I'm referring to the passing of my boyfriend Adam's great aunt and our acquisition of some of her furniture as the good.

Adam's house was built in 1930, and has a lot of charm and character. No, I don't mean it's old and run down. I mean that it has sweet glass door knobs and big old-style furnace grates, etc.

Anyway, we've been trying to keep with that style for a lot of the furniture, and so receiving this furniture from Adam's aunt was fantastic.

The first piece was a much needed dresser. It even came with a matching mirror!

And something else cool? This stamped on the back of the mirror (you know you're a crazy blogger when you tell your boyfriend to hold the mirror up when you're in the middle of figuring out how to hang it because you saw a cool marking on the back that you have to take a picture of RIGHT NOW!!)

Here's the before of this corner:

From this post when we painted the room

The second piece I'm even MORE excited about - but I think that's because of Adam's suggested use for it. Check out this small cabinet for the dining room:

Adam and I have been talking about me moving in soon, and well...he said that we could use this cabinet for my craft stuff! YAY!!! Although I don't think he realizes that that alone won't be big enough! LOL

Isn't it precious?!

Things I really love about this furniture:
1. It was free - can't go wrong there
2. It was from Adam's great aunt - his family is small and close knit, so stuff like this really does mean a lot
3. It fits with the style of the house
4. It's real wood (not crappy particle board full of harmful off-gassing components)

Yup. I really love it. Can't wait to move in ;)

Pinterest Project #2: Word Canvas

2012-01-08T18:37:00.002-06:00

This Christmas I was trying to make some Stashbusting Christmas gifts and combining that with my desire to make some of the things that I've pinned (Things to make some day)

I've seen signs like this all over, and I really like them.

(source)

This one costs about $550 USD! Are you kidding?!

I wanted to make this with just stuff that I had on hand, which didn't include small wooden letters.

So instead I used chipboard glitter letters I had on hand as a stencil & plain chipboard.

I cut them out with scissors

I then glued them onto scrap wood that I had. I used Gorilla Glue because I didn't want them going anywhere, but the glue expanded (as it tends to do) and that was a problem.

So I took my craft knife and carefully trimmed the glue off. It worked really well.

Much better!

Then I took some cream acrylic paint I already had and painted the whole thing. This would have been much easier and quicker with spray paint, but I didn't want to have to buy anything.

Second coat:

I felt like the letters didn't stick out quite enough because they're just chipboard, so I decided to dry brush some brown around the letters.

But it looks a bit too dark, so I painted some cream overtop to soften it a bit

Look at the difference between "rest" and "relax"

When it was all done like that...

I didn't like it. lol

So I painted all over the brown, and returned it to it's original cream.

I put picture hangers on the back that I picked up at the dollar store.

Unfortunately, even the shortest nails were still too long, so I accidently put one through the board. Whoops!

I fixed it by using a couple pieces of balsa wood that I had lying around to make some space behind the hangers.

Much better!

Total spent on this sign:
$1 (for the hangers)
Wood, chipboard, paint and gorilla glue was all on hand.

I know it wouldn't have cost much more to go buy wooden letters, but I was really challenging myself to use what I have!

Silhouette Vinyl Family

2012-01-06T19:43:00.002-06:00

This was a special project I was commissioned to make by my boss for his girlfriend for Christmas.

(in the end it was in a black frame, but I liked the red better, and it's my blog, so that's what I'm posting!)

Most of us at work think these families on cars are pretty ridiculous, so the original idea was just the thought bubble on the right. But then my boss decided that if he went with that, he might be single. :P So then the idea was to do all 3 scenarios, but we ran into "logistical" problems when trying to figure out how to frame it. I did have some 12x12 scrapbook frames kicking around, so I suggested the thought bubbles, which he really liked, and voila!

His girlfriend loved it...word has it she cried!

Pinterest Project #1 - Creative Wrapping

2012-01-04T00:00:00.002-06:00

I have a whole pin board just on gift wrapping! This year I started to make some of my gifts really pretty and was stashbusting at the same time, but then ran out of time at the very end, so I did use a little bit of "real" wrapping paper.

This one combines 2 ideas:

Source/pin

I wrapped it in old patterns...I may or may not have a giant box of them that I'll never use... (3 of those boxes have fabric, and the one my left hand is on is FULL of patterns!)

And then I stamped the clothes pin with my sister's name!

Source/pin

This one is just a Lush shopping bag turned inside out, stamped, and tied with a reused ribbon!

Thanks for taking a look. I really liked using things that were going to be thrown out anyway as wrapping!

For more cool wrapping ideas, check out my pin board!

New Years Wedding!

2012-01-01T15:11:00.001-06:00

I got to ring in 2012 at my best friend's baby sister's wedding - and it was the perfect way to start the new year.

It feels like I've been to so many weddings lately & I've learned that something (maybe multiple things) will always go wrong, but it's the atmosphere of the wedding that your guests remember. This wedding was so beautiful...LOOK!

Prairie Shadows Imagery

The picture doesn't even do it justice!

And the couple is so fun and have an easy-going, light-hearted approach to life, and that's what they will be remembered for. I mean, have you ever been to a wedding where you got Rick-Rolled?!!? (seriously, the groom incorporated the lyrics into his vows & the wedding party walked out to the song! It was awesome!)

Prairie Shadows Imagery

Alright, now for some fun candid shots of the night!

My lovely sister Leslie (who came to "crash" the dance) and my bestie Amy!

That's better...but blurry!

Amy in her MOH dress & me (this dress was actually a Christmas gift from Adam!) - one shouldered dresses, so hot right now (Zoolander anyone?)

Adam & Amy's husband (also the best man) Landon

Eeeeeee!!

Ooooooh!

Happy New Year!

New Years Resolutions

2011-12-29T00:36:00.000-06:00

For my view on resolutions check out my post from last year here.

This year I saw a really cool idea over at One Tough Mother. She made word art with all her goal works on it over at picnik and printed it out to hang where she'll see it regularly.

I liked the idea so much that I made my own but instead of printing it, I'll be saving it as my desktop picture so I see it every time I turn my computer on.

I pretty much followed the directions she gave, but as for the size I found out my desktop pixel dimensions (if you have the white macbook it's 1280x800) and made a blank template in paint that size. To get a colored background, use the duo tone effect and choose the color you want as your second color.

Do you have any goals for 2012? I'd love to hear it! Even better, make your own word art and share it!

Christmas Cards - part 3

2011-12-14T21:50:00.000-06:00

Here's the last installment of Amy and my card making night. If you missed it, check out part 1 and part 2.

This one was really fun:

Left: Amy, Right: Jill

These two turned out really different from each other!

Top: Jill, Bottom: Amy

I glimmer misted my card, and popped up the tree. Amy popped her tree, and I love how she used the rhinestones as "ornaments"

These ones turned out really similar.

Top: Jill, Bottom: Amy

This was one of my favorites:

Left: Jill, Right: Amy

I again used a rub on from the Happy Holidays set by Fancy Pants Designs.

Thanks for checking out all of our Christmas cards they were super fun to make! I actually put together some kits for myself to do later, so there will be more cards coming up.

This was my first time really working from kits and I loved it. It takes a lot of the indecision away because you're not overwhelmed by choices. The cards we made were about 4x6, and they fit well in ziplock sandwich bags to make kits.

Christmas Cards - Part 2

2011-12-10T11:44:00.000-06:00

Our card saga continues....

If you missed it, here's part 1

We really loved the colors of this next one:

Top: Amy, Bottom: Jill

We went with a very similar idea. To make the embossed paper pop a little more we inked it a little with white chalk ink - it was the perfect touch! I added sticker letters and Amy stamped hers!

Here's an example of how we ended up with VERY different cards when starting with the same items.

Left: Jill, Right: Amy

I used the back side of the paper, and Amy used the front. I then cut an oval the same size as the inside of the frame and placed it overtop to shield the inside from the glimmer mist (Coffee Shop) that I sprayed over top of the curly bits. Lastly I added the nameplate thingy that I think I picked up at the dollar store.

Amy stamped her, added brads, and a sticker to her card.

**We interrupt our regularly scheduled card making for some silliness**

**back to the cards**

I really liked this one, and they ended up pretty similar.

Left: Jill, Right:Amy

These were cards that we made out of stuff that was kinda leftover.

Left: Amy, Right: Jill

Thanks for checking out part 2. There's one more part in this card making series, so stay tuned!

Christmas Cards - part 1

2011-12-07T22:53:00.001-06:00

My friend Amy and I had signed up for a Christmas card making event at the Scrapbook Studio.

Unfortunately my dad passed away that morning, so we didn't go, but were still able to pick up the card kits to make at another time.

So we got together and had a card-a-poloza! The event was to make 12 cards in 6 hours or less! We did manage to finish them all in one night. But because there were no instructions with the kits we really just winged it. I'm going to share all the cards with you in 3 installments, showing you both what I made and what Amy made, and how different some of the cards were, even when we started with the same things!!

Let's get started!

This was the first one we did. We were trying to figure out how it was "supposed to go." Nothing too fancy with this one. Mine is the bottom one, Amy's is the top.

Inside:

Top: Amy, Bottom: Jill

This one we gave up on "rules" and each did our own thing. We laughed when we were done because we both chose poinsettias independently!

Top: Amy Bottom: Jill

I added a poinsettia rub on (Fancy Pants Designs Happy Holidays Rub-ons)

This next one gave us some problems. It came with a bunch of punched snowflakes, but the little balls on the end kept breaking off and we couldn't figure out how to use them effectively.

Amy was frustrated with her card:

"It looks like there are dead bugs stuck on there!"

Top: Amy Bottom: Jill

The "winter" rub-on I used is from the same holiday set as the poinsettia.

The third one we did was super cool embossed paper:

Top: Amy, Bottom: Jill

It didn't need much on the front, but we sanded it a bit to add a little more definition. I think I might still add some gold glitter to this one.

Here's the insides:

I like that these ones are very similar, yet quite different.

Top: Amy, Bottom: Jill

We each chose different sides of the two-sided paper! Amy chose not to use the tag and square of card stock, and I added rub ons from the Fancy Pants Double Alphas set.

Stay tuned for 4 more cards in part 2!

Linking up:

Adorable Indie Craft Sale

2011-12-07T07:15:00.000-06:00

This year my sister-in-law-ish (she's really my sister's SIL, but because our families are close, she's like my SIL too) was a vendor at this awesome craft sale called Mix and Match Marketplace.

It was pretty small, but the quality of the merchandise was really good. There was a variety of clothing, jewelry, buttons, accessories, crocheted items, and more!

My super awesome SIL was selling French macarons.

Don't those look perfect?!?!?!

And isn't she adorable?!

Chandelier Happiness!!

2011-12-04T15:26:00.000-06:00

**Time to get back to blogging! I took a break over the last couple weeks because my dad passed away on November 19th. There's still a lot to take care of, but things are starting to get back to "normal" now.**

Have you seen all of the amazing chandelier makeovers out there?!

Great before and after by Marni at Sassy Sites! The shades are super cute!

I really like the more subtle shades here too! (Eliesa, Pinterst Addict)

Isn't this one stunning?!?! (Suzie from Suzie's Cottage)

I love this one too from Laura at Style-For-Style!

For the longest time I've admired all these lucky people who have the good fortune to come across chandeliers for cheap or even free.

Drum roll please...........

That's right! This baby is mine - FREE! My boyfriend's mom was sick of it hanging in her dining room so it was replaced, and I think a while back I had mentioned I'd be interested in it, and TA DA!!!

Now the hard part is going to be to decide what to do with it. Oh yeah, and did I mention I don't have anywhere to hang it? lol

Those painted "drips" on the "candles" will have to go. And I think I would add beads and/or crystals, but I'm not sure what color I'd want to paint it.

Let me know what you would do!

Have you re-done a chandelier? Add a link in your comment and I'll stop by and take a look!

Knocking things off the Pinterest List!

2011-11-17T07:01:00.000-06:00

If you've ever checked out my pin boards, you'll notice that I have one called "Things to make someday." Pretty self explanatory.

I'm still trying to bust some stash, and with the coming of winter, I'm compelled to play with yarn and crochet. So with some of the yarn I had left over from making my sister this hat and scarf for Christmas a couple years ago (for pattern & yarn details, click on the link to go to that post!)

And also leftovers from this project from my Craftster days before I had a blog!!

My inspiration were these GORGEOUS hot mats from OneFlewOver's Ravelry project

The colors are great, and even better together!

The pattern comes from Free Craft Unlimited and can be found here.

Ready to see mine??

I think I might add little loops on them for hanging...

Unfortunately I made them out of acrylic yarn, so I won't be putting anything too hot on them (ie. Melting = bad) but they should do.

The hardest part is folding all the "petals" over.

I did it wrong the first time, took it apart, and decided to pin it for the second try, which worked well!

I'll definitely be buying some cotton yarn to make more of these - they're really easy and look great! Maybe once I get rid of most of the yarn I have now (mostly acrylic!)

Thanks for checking it out! If you're interested in more of the things I plan to eventually make, check out my pin board.

Thank You Cards

2011-11-13T17:39:00.001-06:00

Alright, so some of you may have noticed that I have seemingly fallen off the planet lately, and in some ways it feels like I have. My dad's been in the hospital for the last 5 weeks, about 3 of those were in the Intensive Care Unit. My dad is doing better, but it is still a long and uncertain road to travel. Things are somewhat getting back to normal, but still pretty hectic!

My family and I have been completely floored by how amazing the ICU staff have been. A few years ago my grandma was in ICU at a different hospital in the city, and it was a very different atmosphere than this time. The staff caring for my dad have been amazing. My sister and I made cards for dad's nurses, and some of the other staff who were fantastic.

Here are the ones I made. A couple of them are from my Pinterest card inspiration board.

Inspired by this card

This one is created with the scraps from that Bo Bunny Layout I did at Think Pink

This card inspired by this one

There just aren't words to fully thank the incredible nurses who took excellent care of my dad, but I hope that they enjoy these cards! Nurses are often overworked and under appreciated, and it's definitely something that I wouldn't be able to do, and it makes me appreciate them that much more!

Don't forget to thank people who are important to you!!

iphone & blogging?

2011-11-06T21:49:00.000-06:00

Alright. I did it. I finally bought myself a new cell phone, and and iphone 4S at that!

Absolutely no buyer's remorse whatsoever! I'm already a bit of an apple enthusiast (she said as she types this on her trusty macbook, while charging her nano...)

Loving everything about it so far!

BUT I thought because this is new territory for me I thought I'd check in with all of you. Do you have an iphone? Smartphone?

Do you use it in your crafty-life? How?

I've only downloaded a few apps (Michaels and pinterest to list a couple)

Are there any apps you can't live without?

Let me know! I'd love any advice!

Play Make-Up

2011-11-02T21:59:00.002-05:00

Two years ago I found the coolest tutorial ever. It was for faux make up for kids. It was on Not So Idle Hands (I love her blog - so glad she's back at it now! This is one of the first ones I started reading!)

I've been saving my make up containers for a while now to give this a try.

The first thing you need to do is clean them up really well with soap and water (I also used a toothbrush just to get into those hard to reach places!)

Next I took some of my nail polishes that I don't really use/that are getting old. Picking up cheapie stuff from the dollar store would work too!

After giving the polish a good shake, carefully pour it into your containers. If you can, do this outside. It will be smelly (unless you have low VOC nail polish!)

Pour carefully, or else....

I just picked it out and tossed it because the bottle was empty.

When doing the bigger ones, I found that it looked "ugly" when I poured them, so I gave them a little swirl with a q-tip to make them look prettier.

I also mixed 2 colors for the power compact (again, swirl with a q-tip)

Note that they shrink quite a bit as they dry, so you might need to top them up after the first "coat" dries.

Voila! No-mess make up for those little girls in your life! Include some make up brushes and you're set!

Make sure you check out Not So Idle Hands.

Linking up to:

Non-Scratch Dish Scrubber

2011-10-28T11:01:00.000-05:00

Last year when I was at my craft sale, my mom bought a non-scratch dish scrubber from one of the other vendors. It is fantastic! It works great, but is starting to get old, and gross.

So I was enlisted to create some more!

I tried a few different patterns, and I'm sharing the one I liked best with you! (and of course I can't actually follow a pattern, so a created my own from looking at others!)

What you're going to need:

Crochet hook - size 5.5mm

Tulle - 2-3 inch wide strips (lots)

large yarn needle

Legend:

Ch – chain

Dc – double crochet

Sl st – slip stitch

**Note: I've never actually written a crochet pattern before...so bear with me. I'm wanting this to be good for newbies, because even thought I'm a pretty good crochet-er I hate patterns that assume too much knowledge. If there are any questions, send me an email!

Start with your slip knot, ch 1

Round 1: Dc 8 in the first loop (your slip knot), Sl st in the first Dc. Ch 2

Round 2: 2 Dc in each Dc of round 1, Sl st in first Dc. Ch 2

Round 3: 2 Dc in each Dc of round 2, Sl st in first Dc. Finish and leave a long tail.

Create 2 of these circles. Weave in the beginning “tail.”

Using the end tail, stitch the two together and weave in remaining tail.

Use these scrubbies for cleaning stuck on gunk from dishes, or on soap scum in bathrooms. Put in the dishwasher for easy cleaning!

Dinner Party!

2011-10-24T16:26:00.000-05:00

Last year Amy and I threw a "fancy" dinner party.

This year we decided to go for a more casual feel - think burlap and lace!

To take some of the pressure off, we decided to do a bit of a potluck. Amy and I made a roast, potatoes, and carrots for a main course.

Briana and Darren brought scrumptious appies!

And Megan and Dale brought A-MAZ-ING angel food cakes - that's right, plural!!

Decor was simple, light and fresh!

(if you like the place cards, come see how I made them HERE)

And if you can handle a few more, some lovely photos of our guests.

Briana & Darren

Megan & Me

Amy & Landon

We had a lovely evening full of food! Briana and Darren had also brought over bottle of dessert wine from Australia - we drank it on the patio - it was super tasty!

Thanks for stopping by - Amy are already thinking about our next party - or TEN!

Messy-Inky Fun Tag Tutorial

2011-10-21T12:57:00.000-05:00

Remember back here when I teased you with a tutorial for these sweet tags?

Well here it is!!!

Here's what we're making today:

Place cards!

What you're gonna need:

- 2-3 different colored ink pads

- Tim Holtz splat mat OR wax paper

- Glimmer mist

- edge distressing tool OR scissors

- ink blending tool (or smoosher as Amy and I might call it...)

- sticker letters and/or other embellishments

- manilla tag (whatever size you like)

Step 1:

Take your lighter colored ink and "stamp" it all over your wax paper

Step 2:

Take your darker ink and do the same thing (you can add as many or as few colors as you like, but start with light & work your way to dark)

Step 3:

Spray the whole mess of it with some glimmer mist until it "bubbles" a little

Step 4:

This is where it gets a little messy! Take your tag and run it through your "mess" until it's all covered. The ink should be uneven, and the glimmer mist should be a little "drippy" (are you noticing all the "technical" terms here?!)

TIP: See that really dark one in the back? That's the first one I did...it was too dark, so when I sprayed on the glimmer mist, I sprayed some water to the mix too!

The tags might curl a little, but they'll flatten out when they dry.

Step 5:

Take your distressing tool and rough up the edges a little. If you don't have one of these doo dads, I cheat and use scissors, just hold them so they're open a smidge (think pacman) and run them along the edge of your tag

Step 6:

*Just before this next step was when we stamped our tags with the script stamp*

Take your ink blending tool & whatever color ink you like, and smoosh some color around the edge of the tag (it'll make the distressed edge show up a bit better)

Step 7:

Embellish.

I cut out names with my silhouette sd & adhesive vinyl. It's great to be able to make your own "sticker letters" - you never run out of vowels!

I also added some "conversation questions" to the backs!

I wanted to cut some shapes out of grunge paper with my silhouette - but it didn't cut all the way through. Instead, I trimmed around the edge with scissors. I painted them green & added some glitter!

I took some of my plain white paper flowers and started by pressing them against an ink pad. Then I dry brushed a little bit of acrylic paint onto the edges, and of course, followed with some glitter. When they were all dry I found it useful to crunch these flowers up a bit to make them less flat!

And here's what you get! (I added some jute to tie them to the napkins too)

Thanks for dropping by! I'll definitely be using these techniques again for another project!!

Auction Sale Find - Chair Score!

2011-10-16T18:55:00.003-05:00

Last weekend I spent most of my Saturday at an auction sale. It was my mom's aunt's sale. After my great uncle passed away they were selling the house and most of the contents – hence an auction. All my mom's brother's and sister were there, and I forced a photo op – it's not that often that they're all together and even more rare that we get a picture of them!

Going to events of my mom's extended family is always funny because, well, look at this:

(left: my mom in her 20s; right: me in my 20s)

(I don't think I can claim that I'm adopted!!)

Now if you've never been to an auction, I'd suggest going at least once just for the experience. It's really funny to listen to the auctioneer trying to sell items that aren't moving. The things that come out of their mouths is hilarious!

I was hoping that this auction would have quite a bit of kitchen and dish stuff like my grandparent's auction a couple years ago, but there was a lot more furniture instead.

My mom and I found the most adorable chairs that are so in.

(Pier 1 - $169.00 on sale)

(World Market - $179.99)

We picked up two of these!

The springs are still in great condition...

Are you ready to hear what we paid for them?!

$9.00

(and that was actually for 5 chairs total - 2 like this, and 3 other random chairs!)

I love the burlap!!

Aren't they awesome?! My mom is in the process of re-doing her whole bedroom (nothing has really been done in there since we moved in) and these chairs are a great addition. I'd really love to see her do something like this with them!

(Source)

She already has a piece of furniture that my grandpa built that would look great in between them.

Stay tuned to see her bedroom transformation! There'll likely be several posts on that (including reupholstering the chairs!)

Think Pink - Wrap Up!

2011-10-10T20:41:00.000-05:00

By the number of posts I've done on this Think Pink crop you might have forgotten it was only a single day event!!

Recap:
Think Pink Tee Shirts

Think Pink Make & Take - TAGS

Think Pink Make & Take - CARDS

Think Pink Layout Class

Now I want to show you all the "work" I got done between all of that!

This is from my friend's wedding last summer!

I ended up re-doing this page because the card stock I had previously picked wasn't right. Also, their names are cut out from the invitation itself, and the ribbon is from it too!

This is the original layout, this green is more the color from their wedding, but the other one went better with the second page I did!

This started off from a Top Line Creations kit I'd bought a year or two ago. It just so happened that I had the perfect patterned paper and other embellishments to go with it!

Detail shot! This chipboard ampersand was something I'd bought on sale just because - it matched perfectly!

This is one of those pages where you finish it and think "oh well, it's done now." It's one of those that just didn't really work for me.

This is the page I made from the kit post I did while ago. I'm really happy with how these ones turned out!

There's still some titles to add and journalling to be done, and some of that will require the use of my silhouette, which I didn't bring with me.

Thanks for checking out all the fun I had at Think Pink this year! I hope I can make it again next year!

Think Pink - Layout Class!

2011-10-05T23:35:00.001-05:00

I hope you all remember Amanda from her card make & take! If not, check back here to catch up!

Amanda took us through the steps to create a sweet layout with a few papers from the Bo Bunny Fall Forever Collection.

Are these not some of the prettiest papers you've ever seen?!?!?!

We used the red back side of this one

and took the details from the brown side

and finished off with the small tags on the front side

To create this:

I loved getting ideas on how to use some of these wonderful pattered papers (even though I thought my hand might fall off from cutting all those sunflowers out from the brown paper!)

The overlapping and layering and 3D elements on the page came together so nicely!

As a side note, as I was searching for the papers we used I came across this card:

image source

Also gorgeous! I think I might just have to hit up the Scrapbook Studio again soon (after Stashbusting September of course!) and make a similar card... unless I use the leftovers from Amanda's layout class and cook something up with those...hmmm...a little creativity is a dangerous thing!

Think Pink - Card Make & Take

2011-10-02T20:21:00.001-05:00

Meet Amanda.

She's the driving force behind the Think Pink crop that I've been talking about for these last couple posts. Looking at this picture of her now you'd never know she had breast cancer. But she did, she fought, and she won. And she continues to fight for all those who might be going down the same path she did, and for those whose journeys had a different end.

Amanda did both a make and take and a layout class.

This is the card she helped us make.

The focus of this class was to remind us of lost techniques like creating your own patterned paper from scraps (enviro-crafty for sure!)

First we stamped our license plates & the word HUGS and cut them out. Using a black pen we traced around them on the black card stock.

Then we adhered our patterned paper scraps to the card between the outer edge and the line we drew around the license plate, overlapping it a little.

Next we roughed up the patterned paper with a sanding block and inked it a little to add some character.

We attached the license plate to the front of the card with pop dots.

To finish it off, we made another license plate for the inside, with your choice of KISSES or PRAYERS. HUGS and PRAYERS comes from Amanda's personal blog about her journey; it is her personal signature.

Ta DA!!!

Amanda chose this project because when she was sick she really appreciated getting cards from friends and family, but much prefered the uplifting ones (ya know stuff like: you can do it, keep fighting, sending lots of love) as opposed to the "downer" cards ("sorry to hear you're sick", etc.). I love having extra cards on hand, you never know when you just might need them!

Stay tuned to see what Amanda created for the wicked layout class!!

Think Pink - Tag Make & Take

2011-09-29T12:02:00.003-05:00

We did 2 fantastic make and takes at the Think Pink crop and one layout class.

The first one I want to show you is the awesome Tim Holtz inspired tags we made with Sheryl. Sheryl is my creative idol! She makes some of the most incredible things out of seemingly nothing sometimes!

(photo taken by another talented friend - Karen of KMP Photography)

She has 2 blogs of her own - Sheryl's Place where she shares her scrappy genius, and Project 365 a 365 day photo challenge. Her work has been published in Canadian Scrapbooker Magazine several times - because she's awesome like that! (Not gonna lie, I feel cool by association)

Here's the finished project:

Now I wish I'd taken a picture of the ziplock bag of goodies I started with. Everything was bland - a plain manilla tag, grungeboard cutouts, white ribbon & lace. I never would have been able to do this on my own! I've already started to use a bunch of these techniques on my own!

Sheryl's class was super dangerous...I ended up buying glimmer mist...

...which I'm still convinced I'm not responsible enough to own!

and a Tim Holtz ink blender

and Tim Holtz Grungeboard!

Hopefully I'll be able to convince Sheryl to guest post for me sometime to share some of her creativity with all of you! This make & take was fun and I definitely learned a lot!

You'll have to wait just a little bit to learn some of these techniques... I'm currently working on a tutorial where I put my own spin on this!

Think Pink Shirts

2011-09-26T07:52:00.001-05:00

A week ago my friend Amy and I went to a scrapbooking crop called Think Pink - it was a breast cancer fundraiser. (Remember that post on packing for a crop? This is that crop!)

Because the theme was PINK I decided Amy and I needed funky shirts!

I started out with these pink ones from Michael's. I love their tee shirts for crafty project like this - I snagged the pair of these for $5!!

I'm kind in love with all those 50s/60s housewife pictures with the funny captions on them:

So that's where I started. I found this cute picture:

Using picnik.com I made it black & white:

Then I imported it to Silhouette Studio and used the trace function to get something I could cut out.

I cut it out of my red vinyl to make a stencil. Normally to do shirts I'll use freezer paper as a stencil, but this design was fairly detailed, so I wanted to make sure it stuck in all the right places.

Using transfer paper I stuck it to the back of the shirts (make sure you put some cardboard in the middle of your shirt so that the paint doesn't bleed through)

Using black fabric paint and a foam brush I painted them.

And...

Ta-DA!

I also added the thought bubble and pink ribbon on the front.

The shirts were a big hit!! I got many requests for shirts for next year! Looks like I have a mini-fundraiser to run...time to start stockpiling tees when they're on sale! :P

Stashbusting Tile Coasters!

2011-09-22T22:13:00.001-05:00

Alright, if you aren't sick of tile coasters yet...

I do have a new technique for these ones though!

I liked the look of these tiles. Kind of a yellowish tan & marbled with wavy edges.

This is the project that I was referring to here when I bought Staz-on ink. This stuff is pretty cool. It "sticks" to all that stuff that regular ink wouldn't. It's kinda like the awesome sharpie of the stamping world.

I used a bunch of my favorite $1.50 stamps from Michael's to finish them off!

And all of them together:

And of course I stuck some of these things on the bottoms:

Thanks for checking it out! I can't wait to try stamping more with Staz-on!!

Yay me!

2011-09-18T23:04:00.000-05:00

Know what this is?

It's the awesomely cool headband that I won over at ADOR!

I never win anything! She was having a 200 follower giveaway and I won! Can't wait for it to get here :)

If you haven't check out Melissa's blog you really should.

Packing for a crop!

2011-09-13T23:24:00.000-05:00

This coming weekend I'm attending a crop and bringing along my bestie Amy - who has never been to any kind of scrapbooking event. She wasn't sure how she should pack/what she should bring and wanted a little bit of help, so here it is!

There's 2 main ways to pack for a crop:

1) Page kits - for the organized

2) Take (almost) everything - for the rest of us

Page Kits:

This method of packing is for those people who are organized and have the time before hand to prep. I am not one of those people - I'm far too indecisive.

Making page kits is a pretty simple concept. You collect your photos, paper to go with, and embellishments to match.

A kit might look something like this (taken from memory workshop pdf):

o 1 or 2 sheets of patterned paper

o some kind of sticker or embellishment

o Title material (sticker or rub on letters, diecut, page topper, etc)

o 1 or 2 sheets of cardstock for your base page

o 1 or 2 sheets of cardstock in different shades for matting and accents

o Finishing touches (ribbon, flowers, brads, eyelets, etc)

All these items can then be stashed away in a large ziplock bag, and there you have it. In addition to your kits you'll need to bring the basics (adhesive, scissors, trimmer, pens, etc)

Things to consider when packing with page kits:

-Be realistic. If it takes you 1 hour to finish a layout, packing 20 page kits for an 8 hour crop is probably not the best use of your time.

-if you like making mini albums a crop is a great way to complete one or two. You can pack only what you'll need for that album and be done with it!

Method 2 - Pack everything

Alright, when I say everything I don't really mean it. This is the way I pack and it works well for me because at home I don't have a permanent scrapbook area, so things are packed and stored away more of the time. Keep in mind I don't have a lot when it comes to supplies... well compared to a lot of people!

Paper:

I have a whole little suitcase thingy full of it. It's arranged by color because I'm like that.

Scraps:

I can't bear to cut one little shape out of a fresh piece of paper, so my scraps come with me all the time. Mine are organized in one little box. Each color is in it's own page protector, making it much easier to find and use.

Embellishments/finishing touches:

Mine are stored between 2 containers. One is a fishing tackle kit (these work great because they have all the compartments you need without the high price of some of the stuff made specifically for scrapbooking - although there are some good organizers out there for that too!) this keeps all my brads, most of my ink pads, ribbon, flowers, etc.

Container 2 contains mostly rubber stamps.

My stickers & rub ons, sadly, are currently housed in a Michael's bag! *gasp* These will be coming too.

Somewhere to put finished work:

You want to be able to protect your finished work. Maybe it's a full 12x12 album, but for me, it's the box my MacBook came in. It fits 12x12 paper perfectly! I usually store some idea books in here to take with me too!

Things to consider with this packing method:

-how much space is there? Some crops will be limited for space, and you need to consider your fellow scrappers! If you don't know, pack light, or leave some things in your car!

-consider how you will spread out your belongings. If you can't see it, chances are you won't be inclined to use it!

I usually keep this guy out & fill the lid part with stickers & rub ons (ie contents of plastic bag) and that way things I need are handy!

-how long is the crop? Is it worth loading every brad and sticker into your car for a 4 hour crop or are you there all weekend?

-is there a shop? Often crops are hosted by people who have shops or consultants who sell product. If there is a shop, maybe every rubber stamp you own doesn't need to come with.

-do you have friends attending? Sometimes you can cut down on what you would like to bring because you have friends that you could share with. For instance, you don't all need to bring every punch you own because Suzy and Sally own them all too. Coordinate if you need to!

-another big thing lately is the use of Cricuts and Silhouettes. Some crops outright will advise you not to bring them. I understand both sides of this debate. From the host's perspective, they take up space, not everyone has one, and they can get in the way and can take away from some of the fun. From a scrapbbooker's perspective, it's nice to have - just in case! Keep in mind that each one of these devices needs to be plugged in, and outlets might be limited. Perhaps you have a few doo-dads that you like to use regularly, pre-cut these, or some titles so that you don't have to bring your machine with you. (again, consider the length of the crop & space limitations!)

-consider what you use the most. Do you own 500 rubber stamps but find yourself using stickers most often?

General things to consider:

-bring scrap paper and/or post it notes (I always find these useful!)

-if the crop allows, you might want to bring snacks (be considerate of your fellow scrappers & don't bring really messy things - no body likes someone else's coffee stains on their layouts & cards!)

-BUTT/back pillow - always a good idea!!

-layered clothing - you never know what the temperature of the crop room will be!

-label your tools. Sadly things go missing suspiciously at crops sometimes, but if you put your name on your stuff you'll be likely to get it back. This is important if you plan on sharing amongst friends (who brought the crop-a-dile again?)

There's a whole bunch of resources out there, and I know that I didn't cover everything, but it's a good start if you've never been before. I found this link from memory workshop particularly useful. It talks about page kits, but has some other general information that's good to know too!

http://www.memoryworkshop.ca/010~Home/packing_for_a_retreat_or_crop.pdf

How do you pack for a crop? What are your must have items? What do you wish someone had told you before you went to your first crop?

Labour Day Trip

2011-09-11T21:16:00.000-05:00

For Labour Day my boyfriend and I took a little road trip to Edmonton - mostly to go to West Edmonton mall and IKEA (the boy had never been there before!?!?!)

(image)

We left early-ish Saturday morning, and had a fairly uneventful drive (in this case uneventful is good! Seeing as how my car already had hail damage from a storm a few weeks ago...but details on that at another time!)

When we got in we were told our hotel room wasn't ready yet (1/2 an hour before official check in time). So we went for a drive. Now I'm familiar with parts of Edmonton because my sister went to school there for 2 years but because back then I wasn't ever driving, I really didn't know anything :P We went the only way we could (gotta love one way streets :P) and soon ended up at my sister's former school. I decided we should go exploring!

This is me in our traditional dancer pose, with bad turnout and my weight too far forward. And yes, Grant MacEwan Arts Campus is ORANGE on the outside!

I found these neat art projects along one of the walls

The assignment was called "Dreamscape" and was a first year project based on surrealism and aboriginal culture.

I was particularly drawn to this one

How cute is this?!?!

Eeeee! Baby cakes (not just a term of endearment anymore :P)

The artist here was Katie Miller.

Other things of note: This giant guitar!

Anyway, it was a good trip down memory lane, I'd been to the school many times before when visiting & to see my sister's performances.

By the time we got back we could check into the hotel. It wasn't long before we decided to hit up the mall.

If you've never been to West Ed it is probably worth your time. It's big, and there are definitely some neat things, but I do have to admit I was more impressed by the Mall of America.

THE highlight of the mall for me was discovering there was an Anthropologie store. I had no idea. And I found out it is as wonderful in person as it is online. Actually, even more so.

It's one of those bloggy things where you spend so long idolizing it that when you finally get there you think you're going to die. Like if I were to meet Jen of Tatertots and Jello in person.

Even Adam liked it! Although his degree is in Anthropology, so I don't know if there's some kind of connection ;)

When it was time for supper we checked out the restaurants there, but they were all packed and had a wait. Adam had overheard the front desk girls talking about the hotel restaurant being really good, so we decided to head back and try it.

We were not disappointed!!

It was called Home Fire, and when we walked up to it (it is detached from the hotel) it smelled like campfire due to the wood burning stove - I'm already sold at this point!

We normally aren't "appetizer people" but when we saw that bannock was an option, we had to try it. It showed up warm & with maple butter! YUM! I thought I was going to die of amazingness and happiness!

Adam went with the pork ribs which were incredible!

I decided to try something that I'd never had before - bison meatloaf with Saskatoon berry sauce!

Who orders meatloaf at a restaurant?! ME! And it was DE-LIC-IOUS!!

Other things that I liked about the place? I overheard them telling other people that they don't serve fries! Now that's refreshing!

The next day we went to IKEA and hit up the mall again!

No big purchases at IKEA, but we started the day off with meatballs! (We missed $1 breakfast :(

Thanks for checking out our Edmonton adventure!

The ones that got away

2011-09-08T08:34:00.000-05:00

The other night I was shopping at Plato's Closet - a second hand store that pays you for your brand name clothing but not like a consignment store, you get your money on the spot!

I love checking out this store because things are always changing and they're 'one of a kind'

I found these shoes

A-MAZ-ING Right?

Yup. But I didn't buy them. I was being "sensible" and thought they were too high. BUT they were only $13. However, I used to be known for buying a lot of cheap shoes and then never wearing them and I got rid of all these only a couple years ago, and I have since tried to avoid that.

I spent all the next day thinking about them. So I went back for them.

They were gone! *insert the sound of my heart breaking*

Well, I've learned my lesson. I hope. Just wanted to share these amazing shoes with you.

Guest Blogging!

2011-09-06T00:28:00.001-05:00

Today I'm guest blogging over at the T-Shirt Diaries for Stashbusting September! Head on over to check it out!!!

Another Baby Card

2011-08-30T08:02:00.001-05:00

This one was a "copy" of this card I found on pinterest

I really like the colors used and all the layers (I love cards that use lots of paper... sometimes I find it hard to use my "expensive" embellishments on things I'm giving away! )

Here's my version:

I finished it at 10 PM and it was being given away the next day, so I apologize for the crappy lighting!

I made my card longer because this was for a girl my mom works with and it was to be from their whole office, so I made it bigger so that people had more room to sign.

My color inspiration came from the yellow patterned paper.

Cro-hooked Baby Blankets!

2011-08-26T06:47:00.003-05:00

A couple of the guys I work with at work both had babies within the last little while. My mom used to make the best baby blankets ever, so I decided to give it a try.

They're crohooked blankets. What's crohooking? It's double ended crochet. In my opinion, I think this is actually EASIER than crocheting!

When googling "crohook" I actually found the pattern for the blankets I made (surprising, because it's from 1973...which may or may not have been a while before I was born...)

I made the patticake blanket pictured on the right hand side. When my mom used to make these, she did them with blue and pink yarn, as shown on the front of the pattern.

I decided to update the look and picked more neutral colors (I started these before I either baby was born, and I didn't know anything about the nursery decor or sex of the baby!)

I went with Linen 2332 and Light Thyme 7898 (which looks absolutely nothing like the color on the website - below)

For 2 blankets, 3 skeins (312yds/285m each) was the right amount!

Both babies came for a visit at work a couple weeks ago - they were both so cute! Landen had just reached 2 months and is such an adorable chubster and Hayden is almost exactly a month younger and is very LONG and beautiful - she was sleeping and making the cutest Zoolander "blue steel" face!

Self Stashbusting Challenge

2011-08-24T22:44:00.000-05:00

Alright - I'm imposing a self challenge here for Stashbusing September.

A large majority of my stash is scrapbooking stuff & fabric. So I plan to challenge myself to work extra hard to bust some fabric & paper stash.

Paper is the easy part. I plan to shoot for 3-5 cards/layouts a week. For inspiration I have a pinboard found here with some spectacular cards like these:

The fabric is going to be a bit more of an issue. I no longer have a good sewing machine, so most of my fabric busting will have to be sans-thread.

Again, I've started another pinboard for it!

I definitely need to make this:

I have the letter, fabric and mod podge!

And some of these tulle scrubbers!

My mom bought one like this at the craft sale I was at last year, and it works great! Might make some for Christmas and stash them away!

Keep your eyes peeled for all the crafty goodness I come up with! Watch for my guest post over at The T-Shirt Diaries on September 6th!

Baby Cards

2011-08-22T18:19:00.001-05:00

Here're some cute baby cards to go with some baby gifts I made (more on those later!)

This one was for a baby girl. I used some chipboard, rick rack, ribbon, jumper rings, and buttons. All stuff from my stash, so I can't even tell you where any of it came from!

This one was for an adorable baby boy. This one is ribbon, chipboard, self adhesive pearl thingys, and stickers. Again, all from my stash!

This card was "just because" there are a lot of people around me reproducing! lol

Stay tuned for the gifts that accompanied these cards!

My New Home - The Scrapbook Studio

2011-08-21T16:11:00.000-05:00

I'm so excited I might just burst! A brand new scrapbooking store just opened in Saskatoon and the owner is a wonderful lady I met a year or two ago at my favorite annual crop.

Lori has made her dream a reality and it's really just getting started!

Let's take a look at her baby:

Lori has brought a ton of wonderful lines to Saskatoon. I'm not sure if I love her or hate her because I wanted to buy EVERYTHING!!

The store is full of wonderful ideas - look at all those layouts on display! Did I mention she's hired an extremely talented team to help her out working at the store?!

How cute is this?!!

Details, details, details! Each section is labelled with those cute little banners! Here: Fancy Pants Designs & Imaginisce

I LOVE these rub ons! I wanted to buy them all!! Right now there's a little bit of empty space around the store because Lori didn't want to stock old products - only the newest and the bestest! :)

OMG! WANT!

Wha?! Glitter brads? Why, yes, I do want some of those!!

I love how Lori has incorporated decorative storage into her shop. This wall currently has a bunch of white products, perfect for wedding season!

Ummm, do you think she'd notice if I stole this adorable wire dress form?! You do? Oh. :(

And here she is - the superstar herself! Lori & Me!

If you're in the Saskatoon area, definitely stop in!! Check it out on Facebook, or their webpage!

And now more details on what I spent my money on!

Lori had a whole section of Wizard of Oz stuff - perfect seeing as how I just saw WICKED!! That yellow & grey patterned paper - I've been looking for something JUST like that for a while now to go with my grey & yellow obsession (for my office!)

The Scrapbook & Cards Today magazine was a bonus with my purchase! Whoot! AND that neat bag - buying one of those means that every time I come back to shop with it I get entered into a draw!

See - I really do love the dress form stuff - I had to buy the rub ons! The glitter brads too!! Glue dots are a staple in my world - if you haven't tried them, you must! GEEK IS CHIC - I don't think I really need to explain this one!

And I finally bought myself a pad of Staz On ink. If you haven't heard of this stuff before you're missing out. Staz On work on things that normal ink would rub off of - like plastics, glass, metal, etc. I have a project in mind already that I'll hopefully be able to show you soon!

In addition to the above pictured goodies I bought a membership at the store. They have 2 levels of membership - regular & gold. I went with the regular membership for now, but can always upgrade later if I change my mind (the gold membership gets you a discount on classes & kits - not sure if I'll make use of that yet...) I get a 10% discount when I shop there, and there's a little something special on your birthday too! There's a little more to it (getting to use their crop room, etc.) but I've misplaced my sheet with all the deetz!

Lastly - like a lot of other scrapbook shops they have a stamp card & when you spend XX dollars you get XX dollars free. BUT unlike a lot of other stores they ROUND UP!! Whoo! So if I spend $26 I get $30 stamped on my card! I'm pretty sure the other stores in my city don't do this! :)

Well, there you have it! Brand new scrapbooking store & things are only going to get better! The store is far from where I live right now, BUT super close to work... delightfully dangerous!

Cards!!

2011-08-15T23:34:00.001-05:00

I love this one! I got the idea from here:

http://pinterest.com/pin/89571524/

The owl stamp and Celebrate stamps are from the $1.50 bin at Michaels. I modified the Celebrate stamp from saying "woo hoo" to "woo hoot" Yup. I think I'm clever!

Adam and I have a lot of weddings coming up, so I thought I would do up some wedding-type cards.

This card was inspired by this one:

http://pinterest.com/pin/62466763/

I put this vellum sentiment on the inside:

Busy-but AWESOME-weekend!

2011-08-14T21:03:00.000-05:00

This weekend was incredibly busy for me! Busy and FUN!!

The fun started on Friday night when I had the opportunity to go to the Saskatchewan Roughriders game in Regina. Aka leave work early & drive about 250km (160 miles) to go watch a football game. I know. Sounds crazy, but people here do it all the time!

We have a fan base like nowhere else. Sadly, the team has only won 1 of their 7 games this season (yikes!). But people still come out in droves to see them.

Here's what the stands look like empty:

And here's a picture of the other side of the stands that I took at the game - Sea of green, right?!

Yeah, pretty incredible. I'd be willing to say that 90% of people there were decked out in Rider gear! I can't explain it, it's definitely one of those things you just need to experience!

Right now the boyfriend and I love that we are child & pet free and can take off at the drop of a hat to do things like this! By the way, we acquired tickets from a co-worker of mine who has season tickets & couldn't make it and was trying to get rid of them (11 hours before kick off!)

Saturday morning I had to be up early (after getting in late!) to teach my fitness class. I love the people who come out on Saturday mornings, and it really wasn't so bad!

Saturday afternoon I took a trip out to see my bestie Amy to start planning our next dinner party! We're pretty psyched!

Here's a couple inspirational pins to make you jealous! (p.s. K.O. If you're reading this, do a little happy dance, you and your man are on the invite list!)

http://pinterest.com/pin/106439411/

http://pinterest.com/pin/112260960/

http://pinterest.com/pin/112262612/

It's a vintagey "shabby chic" potluck. More details to come! (P.S. K.O. we've already discussed that you need to bring macaroons, or whoopie pies!)

The rest of the night was pretty low key.

Sunday I got to go to WICKED the musical. It was great! I knew the premise of the show, but I really didn't know the story which really was my favorite part. It was cleverly written and really plays on your knowledge of the Wizard of Oz. It really is quite brilliant!

I ended up buying myself this cute tee! I'm not usually a merchandise buying person, but this time I just HAD to. And I found out when I got it home that it's organic cotton. BONUS!

My mom and I went to the show together, and then went for supper. It was a really good night!

Now it's time to do some more laundry and have a bath before heading back to work tomorrow!

Help & Advice Needed! Aka more tile coasters

2011-08-11T18:36:00.002-05:00

My obsession with tile coasters continues with this grey set. The plan was to use these at work and continue decorating my cubicle

This time I wanted to use my silhouette! I JUST learned how to use the trace function and it blew my mind a little! (WHA?! You mean I can cut out any image I want?!)

I found a quatrefoil design I liked and cut it out of white vinyl to fit my coaster.

(hard to see here, but...)

(a little easier to see once I removed the stuff I didn't want)

Using transfer paper I stuck it to my coaster

And then removed the transfer paper leaving my nice little stencil

I then painted it in with yellow acrylic.

The problems began when I started taking off the vinyl.

It looked great, but the paint didn't want to stick to the coaster. :(

I'm not sure what to do with this now.

Do I:
1) Continue on, and then put a million coats of sealer on it and pray it turns out
2) Peel off everything including the existing paint and....
2a) Spray the coaster with some medium so that the paint will adhere to it and start over
2b) Try again with spray paint instead of acrylic
3) Ditch the idea all together because I'm considering going for a green/white/zen kinda feel for my desk

Let me know what you think. I have one half finished coaster sitting here and it's driving me nuts!

Garden Lanterns

2011-08-08T22:15:00.002-05:00

I was given these lanterns by a friend who won them at a steak night and didn't really want them. The second I saw these I thought - SPRAY PAINT!!

I really didn't care for the colors, and I didn't like that they were all different.

I thought they'd look much better with some Krylon Ocean Breeze!

And they did!!!!

In the picture, the fence looks shabby chic, in real life, it just looks shabby. lol

Bricks that we have for the front flower bed project make great displays for the lanterns!

Love these! I have them out on the boyfriend's patio right now, and want to put citronella tea lights in them to help keep bugs away. :)

Delicious and dangerous - Muddled Lemonade

2011-08-06T23:48:00.002-05:00

My bestie Amy and I every once and a while find a wonderful recipe on one of the blogs we both read that we decide we MUST make!

This time it was the muddled lemonade from Big Girl/Small City.

Muddled Lemonade

16 oz. cup Ice
1 muddled lemon (about 4 lemon slices)
2 oz. Citrus Vodka
2 oz. Fresh Squeezed Lemonade
2 oz. Sprite Shake it well!

We used frozen lemonade and didn't have a shaker, but they were still great!

We may have drank a few too many of these... lol

Cake Balls - Again...for the last time

2011-08-03T08:03:00.000-05:00

Some of you might remember when I made valentines cake balls...

That post ended with "In they end they turned out pretty well, but I probably wouldn't make them again."

Well, apparently I didn't learn my lesson.

(source)

We thought it would be funny to make blue cake balls for work if one of the guy's who's wife was expecting had a boy. Yup. Blue balls....

This is seriously the last time I'm ever making cake balls!!! They're just too much work, and I find them too sweet! I'd rather just do cupcakes! I did think up a delicious idea in the process: Cupcakes, dipped in candy melts (just the tops) and then iced! YUMMY!

Chloe's Cold Rolls

2011-07-31T19:25:00.007-05:00

We've had a SUPER hot summer so far! It took a while to get here, but now that it is - look out!!! It's always hard finding those things to cook when it's so hot out! So I made these delicious cold rolls that a friend I used to work with at Lush used to make when we had to do inventory! These are her exact words, except where I added stuff - in purple!

What you're going to need:
Rice paper wrappers (the 22cm-sized ones work pretty well)

Filling:
100g (3 1/2oz) thin rice vermicelli noodles (about a handful-I usually use quite a bit more though)
1 Tbsp rice vinegar
1 large carrot, peeled and shredded
15 cooked shrimp, peeled and deveined (I don't like shrimp and sub in crab)
1/2 cucumber, peeled if necessary and cut into thin sticks
Small handful fresh cilantro, torn up or left whole (mint or thai basil works too - I don't like cilantro, but it's necessary, just use an itty bitty bit!f)
1/2 cup chopped peanuts (optional - I use!)
*You can pretty much add whatever fillings you want. Crab is tasty, also red pepper, snow peas, sprouts, mango...go crazy!

1. To prepare the filling, place noodles in a bowl of boiling water and let stand for about 3 minutes (or as package directs) to soften. Drain well and place in a medium bowl. Add carrot and rice vinegar and toss to combine. Cut the shrimp lengthwise in half.

2. To assemble the rolls, fill a shallow dish (I use a frying pan) with hot water and lay a clean towel over your work surface. Soak one rice paper round at a time in the water for about 10 seconds, until it's pliable, and lay it on the tea towel. Pat the surface with the edges of the towel to absorb any excess water.

3. Place two shrimp halves, a stick of cucumber and some noodles down the middle of the round. Sprinkle with cilantro and peanuts. Fold over one long side to cover, then fold up both ends. Roll the whole thing up as tightly as you can without tearing the wrapper.

Makes about 15 rolls, best eaten on the same day (not difficult). If you're curious as to why not to save them...well the rice paper starts to break up, and then they become really messy!!!

I also always make peanut sauce whenever I make the cold rolls, because it's super easy and also delicious. So, just in case you're interested... (DO MAKE THIS!!!)
PEANUT SAUCE
2-4 Tbsp chicken or veggie broth
3 Tbsp peanut butter
3 Tbsp soy sauce
2 Tbsp brown sugar or honey
2 Tbsp rice vinegar or lime juice
1-2 cloves garlic, crushed
1-2 tsp grated fresh ginger
1 tsp sesame oil (optional)
1/4-1/2 tsp curry paste (optional)

Combine all the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Keep it in the fridge. Makes about 1 cup.

These are so great! Perfect for summer!!! Enjoy!

Laptop Vinyl

2011-07-27T21:38:00.004-05:00

I finally found some time to play with my silhouette and all the vinyl I bought to go with it.

I've had my laptop for a few years now and after hauling it around university for years, it's not the newest looking thing. Never fear! Silhouette is here!!

I used one of the basic images that comes with the software, and repeated it, resized it, and added a few of the extra tear drop doo-dads to come up with this:

I'm pretty happy with it. I also like that if I get bored with it, I can change it up. :)

Summer Scrubin' Had Me a Blast!

2011-07-25T08:15:00.001-05:00

It's been a while since I've posted a new scrub recipe. I love making scrubs because you control the ingredients in them (no artificial preservatives, or perfumes) and they're so much cheaper!

I made 2 for summer time and I think I found my new favorite scent combination!!! LIME and EUCALYPTUS!! Sounds a little weird, but it's awesome & fresh.

TIP: if you're ever unsure what scents work well together, take the 2 (or more scents) in one hand, and wave them under your nose together, this will give you a good idea of what they smell like together!

Now on to the good part - the recipes!

This one is a body scrub because it has a high oil content in it. I stored mine in an old scrub container.

I also wanted to exfoliate my face too, so I made another scrub, this time a salt scrub. I prefer salt because when you get a little water in it it won't clump together like sugar does, but for large scrubs, sugar is usually easier.

Orange & Lemon Face Scrub
1/3 cup salt
2 Tbsp baking soda
1 squirt (~1 tsp?) honey
3 capsules vitamin E oil
1 to 2 tsp glycerin
3-4 drops orange essential oil
3-4 drops lemon essential oil

Mix baking soda and salt, add the other ingredients and mix well. Store in an air tight container.

TIP: I usually avoid adding oil to face scrubs, Vit E was an exception here. Looking for glycerin? Look no further than your grocery store/pharmacy... you'll find it with the laxatives. Yup.

Making scrubs is so very easy once you own the basics. Here's everything I needed to make these two scrubs:

It takes a while to build up your collection of essential oils, but you can get by with one or two for quite some time!

Check out some of my older scrubs:
Lime & Tea sugar scrub
Autumn spice salt scrub
Peppermint lip scrub
Basic citrus scrub