Some Much Needed Craft Time

Good Grief! I can't believe how long it's been. I have been crafting. Really. I just keep forgetting to make time to blog about it. Life with Teenagers gets crazy sometimes!

Last night was horrible. One of my SD cards got corrupted. I'm not sure how. But, I lost all the pictures that were on it. Most of them were older, so hopefully, I already backed them up on the computer. Nevertheless, I'm very distressed at the thought of losing all my work. The silver lining in my cloud is that I found my other SD card and was able to retake some of the pictures of my crafts. So, YAY!

Here's a small sample of what I've been working on recently.

 I love this Unity Stamps- stamp. It is currently one of my favorites.

 I have always been a big fan of Riley Moose. I especially love the ones with snow themes.

I altered this tin to put stamps in. It's cute and functional. I love that. This is a Unity Stamp from the KOM. Sometime in 2010. I can't remember when exactly and I don't have time to look it up. I have to get dressed and head to church. My sister and I are folding the information pamphlets for Sunday.

Oh, and I'm super excited! We are in charge of Decorations for the Valentine's dinner at our church. We are doing burlap place mats ( among other things). I'll take a picture and share when I get the chance.

Have a blessed weekend.
K

Saying Goodbye

This morning we went to say our final farewell to my grandmother.  It was more difficult than I had anticipated. 

When I got the phone call last week I wasn't surprised. She was 86, had lived a very full life and had been ailing the last several years.  I wasn't overwhelmed with sadness. I was sad that she was gone. Sad for my Dad, and my cousin Michaela ( she was mostly raised by my grandmother). Perhaps I was even a little sad that I didn't have what I would consider a typical grandmother/granddaughter relationship. It's difficult to maintain a relationship with someone when you grow up feeling inferior because you were born the wrong gender. There were other issues, but this was the primary one.

 Don't get me wrong, I have no issues with being female. I don't believe that my male cousins are somehow better than I am just because they were born male. I like being female. I like the fact that at the end of my life I'll be able to look back and remember that I was able to do things that they couldn't do. Because I am female. I gave birth to 3 beautiful children all of them over 8 lbs. These 3 children are my legacy. They are here because I met, fell in love with and married their father. But, I gave them life. It was both an amazing and painful experience. I was able to labor for hours to bring them into this world because I am female. I am female and I wouldn't change a thing. 

Sitting in the second row of the chapel with my family this morning I wasn't overwhelmed. 
* There was music
* Reading of Psalms
* The pastor spoke and I was okay.

* When my Dad got up and gave his eulogy. Suddenly,  I was overwhelmed. Listening to him say his final goodbye to the woman who gave him life was more emotional than I had anticipated. For the first time I saw my grandmother through his eyes. How he saw her. Seen through his eyes she was an incredibly strong, fearless woman. A woman who when she walked into her kids' school the Principal and staff quivered in fear. A woman who wasn't afraid to speak her mind and stand up for what she believed in. A woman who was generous with her time and had a strong sense of responsibility. Looking through my Dad's eyes I saw a woman with a strong sense of family. I saw a woman I would have been proud to call my friend. Hearing the emotion is his voice triggered this overwhelming feeling of sadness. I didn't know this woman. I knew a different woman. One who made me more miserable than not during my childhood. I felt such sadness.  Sadness that we missed having a loving relationship because of her preconceived notions of ( what felt like ) my unworthiness. I wish I had known the woman I saw through my father's eyes.

It's Pinterest{ing}

I have a confession to make. I LOVE Pinterest. It's one of my all time favorite things.  A site that you can collect ideas. It's wonderful.  I have other things I need to do during the day so it isn't practical for me to be online for hours at a time. So, I try to be smart. I limit myself to once or twice a week, usually on the weekends and [almost] always at night. Perusing Pinterest at night means I'm usually not disturbed and I can window shop til my hearts content. I consider it a reward. After all I was good all week, no one died on my watch, laundry was washed, dishes were done, dinner was cooked. These are all good things and deserving of a reward. And Hey! Pinterest browsing is fat free! Big bonus there.  So, I'm going on and on about this latest fad... I have several folders with A LOT of info inside them. However, I'm not just collecting information I am also trying new things and stepping out of my comfort zone.  I have tried several of the recipes I have saved ( that will have to be another post) and a few of the craft idea's I've saved as well.  

Today I am going to share my experience making (sewing) a messenger bag. You can find this tutorial at crazylittleprojects.com/2012/09/messenger-bag-tutorial.htm .  Before you see the pictures of my messenger bag I need you to keep in mind that despite the fact I have a sewing machine, I have use it very little. When I have used it, my projects have been very basic. Curtains for my living room, my girl's room and my room. Quillo's were also made ( many years ago). If you're unfamiliar with the term quillo, it's a quilt that folds into a pillow. It's an amazing thing. Really.

Amber's instructions we pretty basic and fairly easy to follow. Any mistakes that were made were my own.  One of the bigger challenges I had was reading it straight off the computer. If there had been ink in my printer I would have printed the directions out. Also, when cutting out the material I made several mistakes and at least once had to go back to Joann's and buy more material. Learn from my mistakes people and CUT THE BIGGER PIECES OUT FIRST. You'll be happier for it, trust me.   I found that despite the fact that my scissors are really excellent, I wasn't happy with the way they cut the material. It was choppy in places. I think my scissors are better suited for cutting out actual pattern pieces. If you have the money go out and buy a rotary cutter ( I love mine- I bought it after I messed up the first cutting) and a self healing mat ( get the size you need). Also a yard stick is a beautiful thing. When used with a rotary cutter your cuts will be straighter. 

I found a pin showing someone using a pony tail holder as a guide for sewing straight lines with your machine. I gave it a try and found it worked surprisingly well.  Over all I didn't have a lot of trouble sewing the bag together. Most of my issues were I sewed too far in from the edge of  my material. Which if you sew, you know that means you have a smaller area when you're all finished. I also had some issues with the handle. Most of that was due to the fact that I'm not really comfortable with my machine and didn't know how to move the material in a way that would allow me to  sew multiple layers in order  to make it sturdier. 

Over all, I am pleased with my first try. Pleased enough that I already have material bought and cut out for my second bag. Which I hope to make before I leave on my trip next week. :) We'll see how much I get done between now and then.

Thanks for stopping by. I hope your week is full of sunshine.

                                ~K

It's been so long...

I can't believe how long it's been since I last updated this craft blog. I have been crafty, just not as much as I want to be. Life keeps getting in the way of my crafty-happiness.

I have a couple of goals that I'm hoping to follow through with this upcoming year.

* weekly dlemma posts
* Organizing my house
* I'd like to get up the courage to get some of my things published and or try out for some kind of design team.
* My sister and I are also going to work harder at developing our Spritescubed store. We have some really cute items up for sale.


What are some of your goals for the upcoming year?

Can't Keep Up

I have been working on some crafty stuff. I promise. Just not as much as I would like. We have been incredibly busy as a family and I just can't seem to find the time to craft ( or blog ).

What I'd like to do today is show you some of the projects I've been working on.

I made this sign for Emma's Piano Teacher. She recently got married and this is their favorite Bible quote. I like the way this turned out so much that I almost kept it for myself!

Emma and I made these for her classroom library. I made them using my Cricut Expression, vinyl, Stampin' Up stamp set ( retired ), printed paper from my stash and Stampin' Up! card stock.

Set of coasters made using tile, Stampin' Up! printed paper, Mod Podge, and varnish.

First set of coasters I made. Using a paper pack from my stash. I love the fact that these are so summery. Living in Washington, I really feel the need to have something that looks and feels like summer.

These are pictures of a mini album I've been working on when I can find the time. It's not quite finished. I can't quite figure out what I want to do... so, like I said. Definitely a work in progress.

I am hoping that with summer vacation nearly here ( June 25TH is the last day of school here- I can't believe it's so late this year!) I'll be able to get some more things done.

I'm looking to revamp my craft storage/area. I've already started spray painting some of my older baskets in red and aqua. I think I'll feel better about everything when I have matching/ coordinating things. I'm just anal that way. I also plan on hitting Joann's or Michael's and buying about 10 wooden crates- and painting them a very pale aqua ( that way they'll still coordinate with the colors in my room). I also planted a flower container garden this year - using my old flower pots, repainted in red, white, and aqua. I even painted an old ladder flower stand ( I got it from my Dad a while ago). Which is where I am storing several pots. I feel pretty good about recycling my old pots- I only spent about $10 on spray paint, so I saved some big bucks. Especially since a lot of my pots were fairly large. We have also planted tomatoes and strawberries in Topsy Turvies this year. I am hoping for a really nice crop. If the weather warms up some I should be okay.

What are your plans for the summer? I'll be heading back to Twenty nine Palms Mid August to visit my sister and her family. I'm going by myself. I need a break and I only feel a little guilty about leaving. We just don't have the money for all of us to go- and my sister is paying for half my plane ticket. It's a HUGE help. I love it that I have her back and she has mine. It's a beautiful feeling.

Thanks for stopping by. Have a wonderful week!
~K

I Crafted Happily This Weekend

I spent some time this weekend crafting happily. Here's what I made.

I made these framed initials for my girls room. I'm pretty happy with the way they turned out. I used the Storybook Cricut Cartridge. I got the frame from the dollar store and painted it light blue(using Martha Stewart paints). They go nicely with they're room decor. I love making decorative items for our home.

Here's some more glass etching. I used the Storybook Cricut Cartridge for this project as well. I think this is my favorite glass etching project to date.

I made these cute little boxes for Easter this year. I was tired of buying baskets and having them end up on the floor. This seems to be a better solution. At least this way if they get torn up they'll fit in the trash can.

I'm feeling really productive today. I made these things and got them posted withing 2 days. Go me! It is a momentous occasion. For Real. Not only that- but I got my bathtub cleaned this morning as well. We have hard water issues- so it can get pretty nasty. I used an idea I got from my sister and tackled it with a Brillo pad. Now everything is much cleaner and shinier than before. THANKS SARE! Hope your week is wonderful. I'm hoping for some sunshine. It's hit or miss here in the Pacific Northwest.

Our Trip To The American Girl Store

In February we took my daughter and her best friend to the American Girl Store. It seemed like we were in the car FOREVER. I am so glad that my husband was around to do the driving. I hate city driving ( and a good portion of the trip was highway/city driving) and would do ALMOST anything to avoid it.


The girls were hoping to eat at the restaurant. Unfortunately, I didn't do my research until the morning we left. Turns out you need reservations to eat in their restaurant. The only available time they had was 7pm. We were not willing to hang around that long.

The store itself was pretty amazing. We walked in and it was wall to wall dolls. They had some gorgeous displays. We walked out of the store $90 poorer and Emma walked out with a new doll and two really cute doll outfits. One of them was a raincoat, and rain boot set- which is appropriate considering we live in the Pacific Northwest.  I'll have to get a picture of the new doll and her two outfits.

We have promised our girl another trip to this amazing place- we owe her a meal there. It's a long way to go just to eat-but, she's only going to be twelve for a little while longer. We don't want her to miss out on being a kid.