postcards on the edge- of the hallway

My mom picked up these wire ornament frames from Pottery Barn- for less than a dollar apiece! I wish she had bought even more, there are so many things to do with them!



The silver wire frame holds a 4x6 photo. They originally came with a red velvet ribbon, meant to hang on the Christmas tree as an ornament. However, I immediately had other plans for them.




I took some 1.5" (ish) green satin ribbon from my stash, and threaded it through the top wire loop of one frame, behind the photo, through the bottom wire loop and then through the top wire loop of the next frame, and so on. I made a little loopy at the top so I could hang it on a nail, and secured the ribbon with a few hidden stitches in matching thread.



See how the ribbon covers up part of the wire frame? Behind the ribbon I used some yarn to tie the frame together. This might not be necessary if your ribbon is wired or thick enough, but with three frames chained together, I wanted to make sure they stayed together.



Instead of using photos, I used three postcards I bought when I went to France eight years ago. I love the idea of changing these out seasonally for other postcards, photographs, or even Christmas or birthday cards.

Other ideas:
-Place a festive photo in it and tuck or tie onto an existing wreath
-Glue patterned scrapbook paper onto the back of photos, and use ribbon to tie from a chandelier
-turn the frames sideways and tie the frames together or string onto ribbon for a garland (they are pretty lightweight)

a type of heirloom

Another project in my To Do book is an heirloom type tray. I saw these on Ali Edwards' site a few weeks ago, and fell in love with the idea.



My mom has had a type tray on a vintage sewing machine base for decades- growing up I loved to look at it and have her tell me stories of what's in it:  casino chips from her first trip to Vegas, the ribbons the police department tied on my parents' squad cars when they got married, the hospital bracelet from when I was born. My mom had several type trays, saving them until we were older (or old enough to care, I guess).  



Type trays, old printing blocks, and everything typography is so "in" right now, but back when we were little, my mom couldn't give these trays away! See, this one even has the price tag from a garage sale on it: $12 (fun fact: these stickers are from old ATA seating assignment sheets. We'd get the leftovers as kids to draw on, and we used the blank ones at garage sales)


(Hamilton Mfg Co. was the largest producer of wood type, and based in Two Rivers, WI.)

Ali Edwards used photos and scrapbooking doodads in her tray, but I think I'll keep mine a bit more like my moms- some photos and keepsakes, glue-dotted in so I can hang it on the wall.

to do, or, procrastinating just a bit longer

I've been hard at work on my To Do list today, which is to say that I'm not actually doing anything. I feel productive, because look! A list! Of Things To Do! But what am I actually doing? Uploading photos onto Flickr, reading teh internets, and posting to my blog. I think it goes without saying that I am still in my pajamas, too.

Things on the To Do List:
-Clean the entire downstairs. There are actually 11 points detailing this, but it is essentially: the downstairs is a wreck (I have been gone for a week, left in a shambles when I hurriedly packed before my trip)

Okay, that is really all that's on the To Do List. So instead of mopping the floor, I made a Crafting To Do List too!

• Finish Elbac (not pictureD)- I am about 1/3 of the way through, thanks to four hours on a plane last week.
• Work on my Crafting binder (on my 101 Things list)- I've been printing out or copying projects and ideas for a few weeks. I put them in plastic sleeves rescued from the trash bin at work, and an old binder I found in a drawer here. I also need to make a cover for it.
  
• Sew a dress (also on 101 Things)- from a pattern I bought last year at this time. Maybe this year I'll buy the fabric and next spring actually make it! Ha!
  
• Butterfly collage inspired by Ali Edwards and craftster
• Hoop circles inspired by The Purl Bee. I found most of the circles at the thrift store near my house, although they also seem to be VERY inexpensive at Michael's and Hobby Lobby. I probably paid about the same price.
  
• Wooden Christmas Tree inspired by the ones in this C&B catalog (although it's not actually IN this catalog, just on the cover?). Red and flocked in the photo, mine will probably be a white/blue/green color, though I would love to try flocking some day.
  

missed Christmas

Some how I completely missed Christmas on my blog. It should be the opposite- Christmas is when there are dozens of projects, crafts, ornaments and cards to do every day! But this year...I didn't handmake any gifts, although I did make an IOU for an apron for my mother. I didn't make cards like I did last year, nor did I make any scarves.

This year, I didn't want to feel pressured to hurriedly make gifts for people- I have two jobs this holiday season, which cuts into my crafting time. I also felt burned out on crafting. Now that I read all these fabulous crafting blogs in my Google Reader, I kind of feel like what I make for people is second-rate. I'm not a great sewer or knitter, and my projects are riddled with errors. It's been hard to feel inspired to make a gift.

That said, I have cast on one new/one old project to knit. I'm working on Elbac again, after a two year break, and a new scarf to try to bust through some of the stash I uncovered while "cleaning" (ie. looking for shoes in my closet).

Elbac is now three times as long, despite my many attempts to screw it up last week. I'd take a new picture of it but I lost the cord to my camera. Awesome.

new blog love

I've taken several days off from blogging daily since I finished my 101 Things goal to post daily for the month of October. It was a great exercise, but difficult to come up with something useful every single day, especially as my day job was busy, I was training for my marathon, and was trying to get those baby blankets finished (result: still only ONE done). I'll try to post more often, instead of once every quarter like I was!!

Blogging daily has also forced me to find new and different blogs in an effort to find inspiration and new craft projects. I've realized that a lot of crafty projects by crafty people are created out of necessity- a need for a themed baby blanket, a need for a certain knit hat, a need for a child's costume. I don't have children (Bristow would eat anything I made anyway!), so it's hard for me to craft original projects because there are very few things I need around the house that I can make. Except clothes, but the baby blanket project taught me I'm a crap seamstress (I wrote "crap sewer" first, but thing it looks like soo-er, not so-er. ha!).

I've stumbled upon a few different blogs lately:
One Pearl Button- I think I found her through CraftZine but now I can't find the link
-Sweater Cloche and Gloves- she remakes the cutest things with old sweaters. I want to start knitting and sewing more now!

Zakka Life- I've found this previously a few times, but am loving some of her older projects (or, okay, ALL of her projects). I'm sad we don't have cute Japanese stuff in my town.
-Christmas Star Wreath
-Christmas Card Luminaries, which would be great for using up the hundreds of leftover xmas cards I have from last year's projects
-Vase made out of recycled bottles

Crockpot 365- I've been reading a lot of coupon clipping sites lately, and one of them linked to her. She's gluten-free AND is making a new slow cook recipe every day. Insane! But she has some delicious ones I want to try!!
-Like this Autumn Sausage Rice Casserole. Must have. NOW.

dia de los muertos

I was at the Indianapolis Art Center last week for my running club, and took several pictures of their Dia de los Muertos/Day of the Dead exhibit. I loved their decorations, including those made by local school children. Then, last night at the Dollar Store, in search of a flag lapel pin for my Halloween costume (which I cannot find ANYWHERE), I found these:

Felt shapes, five for a dollar, in bright colors. It reminded me of this:

I love the bright shapes and different sizes of the felt shapes. Plus, I can use them again for birthdays or come springtime! I'm going to join them with a needle and thread, strung through the tops of all of the shapes, and hung from my stairway.


ETA: The Felt Mouse had a similar idea, and added fabric skull accents too. Too cute!

the general idea

I made yet another trip to the fabric store for these baby quilts I'm making. I have lost track of how many trips/yards/patterns I've purchased. I had three rows pieced together for J's quilt, and yesterday when I ironed it, I realized I hated it. I'm not very good at combining patterns. So I'm on version B now!

pink gone wrong:


what's with all the purple?

tiny yarn cuteness!

I finally got Tamie Snow's book, Tiny Yarn Animals, from the library! I've been waiting and waiting for it. Of course, I want to buy my own copy, but this will have to do for now. I know Tamie from back at G*, and then through our LJ community. I love her tiny crocheted animals. I can't wait until I learn to crochet. It's one of my 101 Things, after all!


Tamie did post a tutorial on her PimpStitch site earlier this week, so I will have to check that out.

worldle is endless

Have you seen Wordle? I love it! I've been playing around with it for weeks, and today I created some "welcome baby" cards for several of my friends (two had babies the same night!). I played around with it for awhile to get the word sizes right, and I'm very happy with it. I'm going to print it out, back it with darker cardstock and attach to a simple blank white card.

Here's a tip: numbers don't really show up in wordle, but they'll show up with letters. So for "October 1, 2008", I input it as "october~1st~2008." The "~" indicates a space should be included. I put the basic template for the words I used below. Fill in the baby's name, date, weight/size, and parents name. Obviously, you can add other words like brother/sister, or make it for a girl by switching out all the gender names.



word template for the baby one:
welcome welcome welcome welcome welcome
welcome welcome welcome welcome welcome
welcome welcome welcome welcome welcome

baby baby baby baby baby
baby baby baby baby baby
baby baby babybaby baby
baby baby baby baby

name name name name name
name name name name

dayoftheweek dayoftheweek dayoftheweek dayoftheweek dayoftheweek dayoftheweek
date date date date date date

time~pounds~inches time~pounds~inches time~pounds~inches time~pounds~inches
time~pounds~inches time~pounds~inches time~pounds~inches

family family family family family family family
joy joy joy joy joy joy joy joy
happiness happiness happiness happiness happiness
hugs hugs hugs hugs hugs
son son son son son
nephew nephew nephew
parents parents parents
grandson grandson grandson
kisses kisses kisses
blue blue blue
cuddles cuddles cuddles
bottle bottle bottle
teddy~bear teddy~bear
lullaby lullaby lullaby
gift gift gift
crib crib
bib bib
blankie blankie
crying crying
diapers diapers
waiting~for~you waiting~for~you
special special special special
grandparents grandparents
aunts aunts
uncles uncles
cousins cousins
hospital hospital
onesie onesie
pacifier pacifier
rocking~chair rocking~chair
rattle rattle
nursery nursery
toys toys
naps naps
games games
books books
first~words first~words

mom~and~dad mom~and~dad mom~and~dad mom~and~dad mom~and~dad mom~and~dad mom~and~dad
momname~and~dadname momname~and~dadname momname~and~dadname momname~and~dadname momname~and~dadname


One I made out of Le Petit Prince, the entire text (older books are easy to find online in RTF! just google it)

i read nie nie

I am usually totally in the loop on cool internets stuff. I surf about a billion blogs of all shapes and sizes- craft, television, tech, politics, news, shopping, gardening, gluten-free, etc. But somehow I missed out on these...which is surprising because they are some of the most powerful blogs out there. The story is just heartbreaking, but it does remind me how lucky I am to be healthy and have a wonderful and supportive family, just like Stephanie.

Nie Nie Dialogues


and her sister Courtney's site

halloween decorating

I finally got my fall decorations out yesterday. I put all the leaves into assorted vases, strung up some "Boo" silver garland, and did up my chandelier. The spiders were made by my mother, probably back when I was in 2nd grade or so. She used to help run the Halloween party at school (back when we could celebrate Halloween at school!), and she could do a killer Haunted Laboratory, complete with brains, eyeballs, and other assorted grossness!

101 Things

I'm starting a 101 Things in 1001 Days. My end date is June 29, 2011, so I have plenty of time to finish these!

I sorted them into categories, although some do overlap. I think the first one I'll finish is the Marathon (November 1st!). I'll also try to post on my blog every day until then.


Crafty Things:
1. Post on my blog(s) every day for a month (0/30)
2. Do a Photo-A-Day every day for a month (0/30)
3. Tag/sort/organize all my photos in Flickr (0/1)
4. Tag all my photos on my Mac (0/1)
5. Make extra cards so I have a stash of 20 extra birthday/baby/thank you/wedding cards (0/20)
6. Finish duvet for my bedroom (0/1)
7. Find four photos for the dining room frames (0/4)
8. Make a cork board/bulletin board for the back door (0/1)
9. Make the Bean an Xmas Stocking (0/1)
10. Start knitting group (0/1)
11. Learn to crochet (0/1)
12. Take an art class (0/1)
13. Sew a dress (0/1)
14. Do Wordless Wednesdays for two months (0/8)
15. Buy an original painting or artwork (0/1)
16. Make a felt bowl/box/something (0/1)

Financial Things:
17. Pay down my CC debt (0/1)
18. Pay down my Dad debt (0/1)
19. Pay down my termite debt/Get termites taken care of too! (0/1)
20. Save in Emergency Savings account $500-$1000 (0/1000)
21. Close all credit cards for cards I don't use/Credit check yearly (0/2)
22. Put $5 into emergency account for each task completed. (0/101)

Things for me:
23. Read 21 books off Big Read List (I've read 39 so far) (0/21)
24. Spend a (non-vacation) day off the internet (0/1)
25. Volunteer 101 hours (0/101)
26. Send and receive a postcard via postcrossing.com (0/1)
27. Identify 101 things that make me happy, make a list, maybe a wordle? (0/1)
28. Take a gardening class (0/1)
29. Go to a lecture at the library, IUPUI, Herron, etc. (0/1)
30. Get a tattoo (0/1)

Things for other people:
31. Send ten thank-you or birthday cards (0/10)
32. Send special cards to my mom 30 times. (0/30)
33. Buy my mom flowers (0/1)
34. Donate 30,000 grains of rice to freerice.com (0/30000)
35. Freecycle ten things (0/10)
36. Cook dinner for Mom and Dad (0/1)
37. Take my cousins to a museum/zoo/out for a day (0/1)
38. Take my parents out to dinner (0/1)
39. Vote in (and encourage others) to vote in the 2008 elections (0/1)

For funsies:
40. Go to the movies alone (0/1)
41. See a Broadway/Broadway Across America show (0/1)
42. Watch 20 classic/old movies- get from AFI List (I reserve the right to skip scary movies!) (0/20)
43. Buy a dress from Anthropologie (0/1)
44. Get a mani or pedi every week for a month (0/4)
45. Create an inspiration board or book for crafting and home (0/1)
46. Read five biographies (0/5)
47. Read 35 more of Agatha Christie's books that are available through IMCPL (0/35)
48. Learn to drive a stick (0/1)
49. Win a contest (0/1)
50. Buy red shoes (0/1)
51. Read five graphic novels (0/5)
52. Go to the Symphony (0/1)

Gardening Things:
53. Build raised planting beds (0/1)
54. Plant Way Back garden (0/1)
55. Plant a tree (0/1)

Health and Fitness Things:
56. Run a marathon (0/1)
57. Bake a gluten-free cake, not from mix (0/1)
58. One week without candy- three times! (0/1)
59. Donate a gallon of blood (0/8)
60. Walk the Bean every day for a week 10 times (0/10)
61. Do a triathlon (0/1)
62. Join an Intramural sport (0/1)
63. Sign up for a 5K with Mom (0/1)
64. Take a new fitness class at the gym 10 times (or 10 new classes total) (0/10)
65. Join a running club (Athletic Annex) (0/1)
66. Buy a new bike (0/1)
67. Go hiking five times (0/5)
68. Go rock climbing (0/1)

House Things:
69. Purge and donate 101 Things (0/101)
70. Organize pantry (0/1)
71. Clean out bedroom closet so you can see the floor (0/1)
72. Paint guest room (again) (0/1)
73. Paint hallway (0/1)
74. Dismantle Panic Room (0/1)
75. Document possessions for insurance- photos, registration numbers, etc (0/1)
76. Put together an Emergency Kit/Evac Kit (0/1)
77. Find, buy, or create a headboard/bedframe (0/1)
78. Find, buy or create art for above said headboard (0/1)
79. Buy a hamper, put clothes in it! (0/1)
80. Get another dog (0/1)
81. Escrow monthly for termite contract ($22/month) (0/32)

Social Things:
82. Go to ten local live-music shows (alone, if I have to!) (0/10)
83. Go to Roller Derby (0/1)
84. Go on a blind date (0/1)
85. Have a Girl's Night In for movies and mixed drinks five times (0/5)
86. Go on at least five dates (0/5)
87. Throw a Family Dinner twice (0/2)
88. Host a game night (0/1)
89. Try ten new restaurants in Indy (0/5)
90. Go to a wine tasting (0/1)
91. Go bowling (0/1)
92. Celebrate my 30th birthday IN STYLE (0/1)
93. Go to the Indiana State Fair (0/1)

Travel Things:
94. Travel to one foreign country (0/1)
95. Go to a Cubs game (0/1)
96. Go to Ikea in Cincy/Schaumburg (0/1)
97. Travel to at least three other states (Ohio and Kentucky do not count) (0/3)
98. Spend a weekend in Chicago (0/1)
99. Visit Grandpa (0/1)

Work Things:
100. Get a raise (0/2)
101. Get a promotion (0/1)

new Amy Butler fabric!

I am simply in love with the new Amy Butler Daisy Chain fabric. I saw it online last Friday, and sent a few links to my Mom to check out. My very resourceful Mother called around to a few fabric stores in order to find it. We ended up driving all the way down to Franklin, only to find A) they did not have Daisy Chain, only other AB collections and B) we didn't bring the measurements of the furniture to cover. DOH!

So yesterday, after my 14 mile training run, I stopped by Quilts Plus since it was *right* next to our finishing point. Convenient! They did have the fabrics, and they are even prettier in person.

This is one of my favorites (clematis in forest on the top)


(photo by Rubysdaughter)

I also loooove this handbag!


by poseypatch1956

I can't wait to head back up to the store to get all the yardage I need!

blue and green equals art

I finally hung some pictures in my house. Only two years late! Story of my life.

The downstairs of my house is painted green, and I've been accenting it with blue- blue glass vases, blue pillows (to come), and artwork with touches of blue. I have a large, gorgeous photograph I bought at Penrod several years ago. It's of a bright blue door somewhere in Santorini- I love it, and I can't believe it's been hiding in my closet for two years. It's my first and only true "art" piece so far, and I even tried to find that door in Santorini when I went four years ago. Alas, I couldn't find it. I did, however, take many other "blue" photos in Greece (pretty easy to do; everything there is bright blue!) and I am going to accompany those with some other "art."

I took some square frames from the clearance section at Target- three bucks apiece last winter. I added some pages taken from a calendar we gave my Mom last year. It's a page-a-day type of beaches from around the world. I picked four of my favorites and hung three on a column in my dining room, and added another to an end table that was missing something in my living room.




(sorry the flash blew it out so much)

There are over a hundred photos left, and I didn't want to waste them! I took some photo coasters that had been sitting empty and unused, and cut up four other calendar pages for those. I didn't want a recognizable "beach scene," so I picked four aerial shots that had texture to them- they are all water, but it's hard to tell when a small section is used in a close-up.



Tomorrow I'm going to finish using some of the other calendar pages in more square frames. I love making art out of found pages like this...it's professional photography, but it didn't cost much, and I'm recycling the pages too, in a way.

more on the bathroom front

I finally touched up the ceiling in the bathroom- when I painted the walls I got quite a bit of green on the ceiling back in September. It was time to fix it! Also, you can see my shiny new camera in the new mirror.



The angle of this is a bit strange (why didn't I just stand in the bathtub to take a straight on photo?), but I hung a grouping of white frames on the wall to cover up some poor plaster work (by me, ahem). I wanted to hang some beautiful artwork, but I don't really have any pieces, so instead I went the thrifty crafty route and used scrapbook paper! I chose several different designs from Archiver's, and then picked what looked best against the wall. I cut the pieces to fit, stuck them in some cheap frames from Target, and voila! Instant artwork! Nevermind that the sticky hooks I used to hang them up fell off the walls last night...looks like I'll have to bust out a hammer and nails after all.



On a side note, green walls are really hard to photograph against.

high on envelope glue

I started making Christmas cards back in November. I collected last year's cards from several friends, intent on remaking them into new cards. It got a bit tedious, so I finished up the cards for my office with regular old scrapbook supplies and blank white cards.




a somewhat blurry closeup of one of my favorite cards. Most of them use the main image from the card, scrapbook paper, and some silver-inked stamps. I scored the stamps last year at Michael's after Christmas in the 75% off sale. I definitely got my $4 worth this year, as I used them in some form on every card!!

favorite scarf

for the Handcrafter's Holidays at SewMamaSew

I love handmaking gifts for the holidays. When I was younger, it was often ornaments with my school photo in them. Now, they are more often than not knitted scarves. My first attempts were simple all knit-stitch scarves for my sister, made out of Homespun. I've graduated to many finer yarns and more difficult patterns.

One I enjoy making, and knits up fairly quickly (I am a slow knitter) is from Last Minute Knitted Gifts, and is basically *K1,P1*K1, however wide you want to make it. I have made it with Malabrigo and a coordinating kidsilk/halo-y yarn. The one below is for my friend Steph, and was made for her last year for Christmas. I love the variations in Malabrigo, and with the right coordinating yarn, it looks great!

freecycle rules

I occasionally read the local freecycle messages. I'm never fast enough to catch the good stuff- yarn, fabric, tables, etc. I was able to score some tomato cages a few weeks ago, which was pretty good luck. Last week someone posted two bags of ephemera. I emailed, and I won! I expected two bags of crap like old school papers, magazines and stuff. I was so so wrong. I hit the jackpot!

There was a pile of old family photos, several pamphlets and advertisements, some adorable greeting cards that I am going to decorate with on Valentine's and St. Patty's, and the greatest scrapbook ever.

It was originally an old ledger that a child reused as a sketchbook, then a scrapbook to save articles, poems, and recipes. I'll start posting scans of the old advertisements and recipes soon. Until then, here is some of the stuff I scored:


old family photos from around the Midwest


Several old pamplets and advertisements


Valentine's


the ledger...from 1833 through the early 1900s

a little goes a long way

Here is what $40 worth of craft supplies looks like:


Craft sticky dots, new ink pad (which I don't like), Martha Stewart flower bits, Martha Stewart stamps, acrylic stamp block, and new cards.



I've been wanting an alphabet stamp set for a long time, and I picked this one up at the new MS section at Michael's, thinking I could use my 40% off coupon. Boo on Michael's for not allowing coupons for MS goodies!!! I would buy so much of it. I considered the purchase for a solid quarter of an hour before deciding that I am worth it, and bought the stamp set and goodies to make cards.



I made four. That is not a very efficient means of making cards, as the average cost is a whopping $10. However, I made said cards while watching Casino Royale, so Daniel Craig made up for it.

way behind

I'm only on project #7 of LJ's 50 projects in 2007 goal. Number seven. Yeeesh! On the upside, I've been starting a lot of projects and working on several intermittently. A scarf for my dad, knit during my one-hour bus commute daily, my living room paint job, my bathroom wallpaper stripping/paint job, and constant organizational projects in my house, just to name a few. And the biggest of all: my garden. This kind of takes over during the summer months and precludes any actual fun crafting projects. Unfortunately, nothing is growing yet. Grr.

So here is lucky number seven, a card for my mom. I used little foam pop-up dots and some random scrap paper. She's going to Peru on vacation for 12 days, so this card is supposed to look like Peru. That's Macchu Picchu in front of the mountains :)