my crafty life
[3.22.10]
Bike Path Learning
I was working on this website yesterday and was so proud of it I wanted to show you guys. Not sure how the client feels about it but alas, I like it…[more]
[3.15.10]
Free Polka Dot Alphabet
I got all of my animals finished…[more]
[3.15.10]
Jewel Box
I went to a friend’s house last night in order to help her sort through some of her grandmother’s stuff. Little did I know that by sort through, she meant, give me a pillowcase full of costume jewelry…[more]
[3.10.10]
Animals and Polka Dots
Sometimes, I get really bored when I’m sitting in front of the computer, and I end up doing silly things. Like animals in polka dots…[more]
[3.1.10]
The Making of an Inspiration Board
Valerie did a little interview with me about the process of how I create my inspiration boards – head over to her blog for answers…[more]
[2.27.10]
Giveaway Winner(s)!
Thanks so much to everyone who entered! It was super nice hearing your comments. I’m glad that you all like the inspiration boards as much as I like making them….[more]
[2.9.10]
Bookplates
A friend of mine lent me a book a month or two ago, and I felt bad about being so late in returning it. So, as a way of saying thanks (and helping out in future book-lending endeavors) I created a set of custom bookplates that I sent along for the ride…[more]
[2.7.10]
Bridal Shower Invitations
I just finished these bridal shower invites for a friend – fun to put them all together, as she wanted a variety of colors and patterns…[more]
[2.3.10]
LOST Cupcakes
I made a last-minute batch of cupcakes last night to take to a LOST party – pina coloada cupcakes, to be exact! I love the way they turned out…[more]
[2.1.10]
First Month of 365
Well I’ve finished my first month of 365 photos – I missed a day or two (oops) but I think it’s the overall goal that I’m going for. The spirit, if not the letter, I say…[more]
[1.30.10]
Treat Bags
Made some blueberry scones for people to take home the other night, but I found myself totally out of pretty bags to wrap them in. I decided to improvise, and I think that they turned out pretty well…[more]
[1.28.10]
Going Away Party
I made this going away party invites for my aunt who is moving to Indianapolis. It was the first time that I’ve ever used my gocco – I was kind of scared of it, but it’s so much fun! That thing will print forever. The little drawing of a house is actually of their new house in Indiana…[more]
[1.20.10]
A Gnome Adventure
One of my very good friends growing up had this thing for garden gnomes. It was ever since he was a little kid – I think he got in trouble for stealing them out of people’s yards and then it kind of grew from there. More stolen property, christmas and birthday presents, all of these added up to quite the little gnome army…[more]
[1.15.10]
Prohibited to Mail
Once, when trying to figure out mailing rates to Europe, I stumbled upon a magnificent list of things that were prohibited to send to Italy. Human hair, shoes, cured meats, and more. Most of all, it got me thinking about the story behind all of these prohibitions – perhaps Italy has a robust human hair industry of its own? I delved further into the mailing restrictions of certain countries and found the results simply delightful, and decided to turn something somewhat mundane into a fun little project…[more]
[1.11.10]
Life Cycle of Yarn
Here’s an update to yesterday’s post about the scarf I made – the yarn from beginning to end, courtesy of Robayre…[more]
[1.10.10]
Lace Scarf
I just have to post this because I’m very excited about it…[more]
[1.2.10]
New Year’s News
I’m starting a 365 project this year. I’m usually not very good at keeping up with this kind of thing but I’m really going to try! It will be a fun challenge for the year. Below is my picture for yesterday; if you’re interested you can keep up with the project on my flickr…[more]
[1.1.10]
Colorful Cowls
I’ve been working on some new knit cowls that I’ve added to my shop. Each cowl is made up of many different yarns in different colors, creating a completely unique and wondrous look. They’re each very sturdy and thick, as there are probably 4-6 total skeins in each cowl. They can we worn like a long scarf or doubled for when the cold hits…[more]
[12.24.09]
Happy Holidays!
I’m signing off for a few days so that I can enjoy the holidays, family and the snow! I hope that you all have a lovely time, whatever you do…[more]
[12.22.09]
Holiday Decorations
The holidays are a great excuse to dress up your house, if even for a short while. No other event throughout the year calls for such fun in staging decorations. For me, fairy lights are the best part! I look for any excuse to put them up. Growing up the Christmas decorations always came out on November 2nd so I got a little overwhelmed with Santas. Now, I like to decorate in a bit more laid-back and less obviously Christmasy way…[more]
[12.19.09]
Birthday
It’s my birthday today, so I apologize if I’m not posting! Having a little birthday adventure later at an awesome Denver establishment called Casa Bonita…[more]
[12.16.09]
Jungle Cat
I’m lucky enough to have a ton of southern-facing windows where my computer is, so I get great light all winter long. Thankfully, it’s meant the preservation of my bougainvillea and orange tree through the cold Colorado winter. My sister’s cat has discovered the big table full of plants and the animal in her came out. Since it is the internet, I thought I’d share some cute pictures of the jungle cat…[more]
[12.9.09]
Previous Holiday Cards
I am getting my holiday postcards for this year printed as we speak (a little late, it seems) and I was looking at the postcards that I did for the last few years, and thought that I would share with you here…[more]
[12.4.09]
Special Delivery
Since Felix is in Afghanistan and the only way to get anything there seems to be by greasing a few palms, I’ve been trying to think of things to send him. Never one to miss an opportunity to be a creative geek, I like to go with a themed package (which thankfully (hopefully) he appreciates). This week’s theme was “Air Mail”…[more]
[11.28.09]
Texas Lehmans
My grandpa wanted to make a website for their side of the family, and wanted it to be very western and rustic. This is what I came up with, and he loves it…[more]
[11.19.09]
And I’m Off
Felix is headed off to Afghanistan today and I’m heading back to CO. I’m going to take the long route back to Colorado so I’ll be offline for a week or so. If you’d like to keep up with Felix’s army adventures he’ll be keeping up a blog…[more]
[11.14.09]
Holiday Card
Every year, I like to design a postcard to send out to loved ones for the holidays. As I deeply dislike having pictures of myself taken, I figured it’s more fun and unique to come up with something that reflects my life over the last year…[more]
[10.24.09]
Savannah
I’ll be in Savannah for the next couple of weeks, so I’ll be posting sporadically. However, I should be posting some interesting GA related stuff so stay tuned…[more]
[10.13.09]
Knit for Aids
If you’re a knitter, why not donate some of your fiber skills to benefit AIDS research?
It’s based in Europe, but you can still contribute. All you have to do is create a one-of-a-kind scarf that will be labeled and sold at auction to benefit AIDS research…[more]
[10.11.09]
My Handwriting
[more]
[10.6.09]
Calling Cards
My sister was doing an internship in DC over the summer and was looking to network so that she might be able to find a job when she gets out of school next year. Since she doesn’t exactly have a profession, we couldn’t make her business cards, and since writing your phone number on the back of the receipt is tacky, I thought, why not make calling cards…[more]
[10.5.09]
Watercolor Portraits
I never used to paint small, but I’m finding it really appealing lately. You can get a lot of detail without spending too much time working on any one thing. I’ve been painting some portraits of old men from pictures that I’ve found from the Library of Congress…[more]
[10.5.09]
Scarecrow
This one is a few years out of date but I was digging through old Halloween photos and found this.
Do you remember the Scarecrow – he was the bad guy in one of the new Batman movies. One of my friends wanted to be him for Halloween so I made him this super-scary mask and sewed in a voice modulator over the mouth and everything. It was slightly terrifying…[more]
[10.4.09]
Jellyfish Costume
I made a couple of Halloween costumes last year for myself and my sisters. I was originally making a jellyfish for just myself but then they got wind of the project and wanted one too. I don’t have a picture of mine, sadly, because I was making it up to the last minute and I didn’t get a chance. There are about 1,000 people in Boulder, CO that have a picture of it, however, so if you’ve seen it, now you know…[more]
[10.1.09]
Birthday
I haven’t been too creative lately – been having a bit of a crazy week. I did, however, make a birthday card for my grandmother to go with her watercolor squash…[more]
[9.30.09]
Cupcakes
There’s a great bar in the town that I used to live in that has a dart board in the basement. It’s a really popular place to hang out on the weekends, so there’s always tons of people there, writing all over the walls and ceilings in the chalk that they give you to mark your score. Most of the time these sayings and signatures get written over or erased, except for one. Above one of the dartboards, someone has written “cupcakes on your mother”…[more]
[9.26.09]
Fall in Watercolor
One of my favorite things about fall is all of the funny little gourds and squashes that you can get at the market. Some of them are pretty normal colored, but some of them are warty and strangely shaped and well, just plain ugly…[more]
[9.22.09]
Dog Days
The day is soon approaching when I will finally be able to get a dog. Since I can’t have one right now, I like to do a little research and that tends to get me through the day. I have a lot of breeds that I like for different reasons, but I thought I’d put the question out to the general blog public…[more]
[9.21.09]
Masquerade
Halloween is around the corner, so I’m starting to think about potential Halloween costumes. I was a jellyfish a few years ago, and I spent so much time on the costume that I feel like I need to break it out again to get some mileage out of it. I actually spent about 60 hours on it, which is bad enough, but I made three of them in total so that my sisters would have Halloween costumes too. Yikes…[more]
[9.21.09]
Reading Room
Doesn’t this look like a cozy place to curl up? I could do nothing but read until the end of my life and be totally happy. I’ve made it my goal to one day settle down in one place and read every book in the library. Ambitious, yes, but I think it would be quite the accomplishment…[more]
[9.20.09]
Anthropologie Audition
So I was applying for a display job at Anthropologie, and they have you create a little project and bring it in for your interview so they can see how well you make things. The terms were very loose – just choose one material and make 3 things out of it – one small, one medium, and sketch the large. I thought long and hard, and I had come up with a thousand different ideas before I settled on coffee filters…[more]
[9.20.09]
Kitten!
My sister just got an adorable kitten. She blends in with everything in our house, which makes it hard to get a good picture, but here’s one that sort of turned out ok…[more]
[9.15.09]
An Expedition to do Good
When I was in college, I toyed with the idea of studying archaeology. I didn’t really have any practical experience with the field so I wanted to try it out before I devoted several years of study to it. I found an excellent nonprofit called Earthwatch. In return for a donation, you’re able to go on a specific scientific expedition of your choosing. The money goes to funding research worldwide, and you get an excellent, interesting trip while also contributing to the greater scientific knowledge…[more]
[9.12.09]
Modern Tie-Dye Tutorial
Don’t get me wrong, I love tie-dyed shirts just as much as anyone who went through a hippie phase in high school, but there comes a point where it just isn’t acceptable to wear brightly colored tie-dyed shirts in real life. By creating them in one color, especially a dark one, you can make the shirt visually interesting without the flower-child overtones…[more]
[9.10.09]
The Long Move
One of the things that I like most about driving on big rural interstates is the fact that you can get some really epic views without ever having to really leave your car. Perhaps that’s something that is found more in the West than say, New England. Plus you’re able to cover a lot of ground, and see quickly whether it’s going to be a good picture or not. It’s photography for the lazy…[more]
[9.2.09]
Moving Day
Sorry if I’ve vanished for a few days, but I’m moving back to Colorado. I’ll see you soon, I promise…[more]
[8.26.09]
Facebook Fan Page
That’s another thing I’ve been working on – a facebook fan page! They seem to be all the rage nowadays so stop by if you’d like and say hi! Is there anything you’d like to specifically see (or not see) on facebook from this blog…[more]
[8.25.09]
Changes
Fall is coming, and to get ready for the season, I’m changing up the blog a tiny bit. Please bear with me as the changes happen! It will all be over soon…[more]
[8.24.09]
Security Envelope Art
Have you ever looked at the patterns inside security envelopes you get in the mail? They come in such a gorgeous variety of colors and patterns. I know, weird to find something good about junk mail. I thought I’d make a little art project out of all the junk mail I finally dug through…[more]
[8.21.09]
A word from our sponsors…
OK everybody – here it is, the shameless plug.
I figure, fall is just around the corner, and with it comes cold weather. So I’ve got some new scarves/cowls in my etsy shop, along with some jewelry and some cool skirts I made from vintage slips and tons of other elements…[more]
[8.19.09]
Meet Omar
We took the plunge and bought a car. We definitely needed one, since we both do totally different things and my big yellow car (seen in the background) is great, but it doesn’t get the best gas mileage. We looked and we looked, and the only car that we could find that had everything we wanted was a 30 year old Mercedes 240D…[more]
[8.18.09]
Green Craft Magazine
I want this. Reduce, reuse, and recycle, without being stodgy or covered in patchouli. I bet there’s lots of fun projects to be found in this cool new magazine…[more]
[8.16.09]
Road Trip
I went on a short (2 day) road trip a few weeks ago with a friend. It ended up being really fun, and kind of hilarious! I’ll explain why, with pictures…[more]
[8.13.09]
DIY Carnation Centerpiece
Carnations get a bad rap. So often the flower choice of a forgetful boyfriend at 8pm on Valentine’s day, they’re often dismissed as being cheap and ugly. My mother abhors them. I tend to think that they have a lot of potential…[more]
[8.10.09]
The Winners!
Thanks to the lovely random number generator at random.org, we have a winner! Two, actually. Everyone’s comments were so nice and I really appreciated them so I thought that I would giveaway two prizes…[more]
[8.5.09]
You Can Win!
I feel like giving something away today! And I haven’t been doing much crafty stuff, so an etsy-type giveaway wouldn’t be so much fun. A lot of you readers have been sweet enough to compliment my photography, so I figure, why not give away a photograph…[more]
[8.4.09]
Old Timey Photos
The best thing about living near Tombstone, AZ is how many places there are to get old-timey photos taken. I know you can get them everywhere, but it seems to just fit there…[more]
[7.25.09]
Vote
I need a little help deciding on something, and I figure, who better to help than my lovely blog readers? I’m working on a project, and I need a pattern to fill it out. I love the way that Mediterranean tile work looks, so I was going for something like that…[more]
[7.22.09]
Native Fibers
Here’s a project I feel very strongly about.
The Navajo Nation is pretty desperately poor. If you’ve ever driven across northern Arizona, you know what I mean. The standards of living there aren’t keeping up with the rest of the US. And unlike many tribes that rely on the income from oil contracts, or gambling, they don’t have too many sources of income. A few months ago I stumbled across a little shop that was selling beautiful yarn from the rafters…[more]
[7.20.09]
DIY Bunting Tutorial
After finding so many delicious fabric bunting examples on the internet, I thought that it was time to try to make one myself. I have a big box of vintage hankies that I used. It’s easier when the edges are already finished, it looks a lot more polished, and it gives it a fun eclectic feel. Want to make your own? Here’s how…[more]
[7.20.09]
Casual Summer Lighting
After a really good rainstorm, I always find branches on the ground. In the peak of summer, it’s such a shame to see that much greenery going to waste. I’ve used large branches in the past for floral arrangements (takes up a lot of space and has a big impact without using too many flowers)…[more]
[7.20.09]
T-Shirt Yarn Tutorial
Here’s another I found that I just had to try. I’ve never really figured out what to do with old t-shirts instead of just giving them to Goodwill (or making a big quilt out of them). I’ve found that cutting the shirt into smaller strips than you would expect works best…[more]
[7.18.09]
DIY Padded Mailers
I wish I could take credit for this idea too, but no such luck…[more]
[7.17.09]
Easy Pincushion Tutorial
I wish I had come up with the idea, but sadly, no. I thought these were going to be hard to make, but they turned out to be really easy! And don’t worry about them being perfect – they can put up with a lot of little mistakes…[more]
[7.2.09]
Air Mail
Do you like getting things in the mail? Do you order things online just to have an excuse to check the mailbox every so often? Does it make you sad that the art of handwriting and stationery and stamps seems to have disappeared? If so – have you heard about sites like sendsomething.net and swap-bot…[more]
[6.29.09]
Weekend Illustrated
Not a terribly eventful weekend, all things considered, but still nice. Saturday was too hot for words but the rains have started and now it’s mercifully cool outside. Bought some gorgeous bougainvillea at the flea market, along with a really cool globe from the 1940’s. French Indochina, anyone? I think there’s about half as many countries on that globe as exist today…[more]
[6.29.09]
A Sneak Preview…
I’m working on some super-secret crafty things around here, but I can’t wait to show off what I have so far! The details aren’t fully fleshed out yet but here’s a little preview…[more]
[6.25.09]
Changing Directions Sale
Have you seen the Collective Noun collages yet?
It’s a series of 8.5×11″ collages I did featuring various animals and their collective nouns. All handmade and one of a kind, they are made with various papers, embroidery and ink…[more]
[6.21.09]
Furniture Finds
This is my big, fabulous new piece of furniture. It’s actually two – there’s the chest of drawers, and all of these little mail slots on the top piece. I love the details – there are little stamped brass numbers for all of the mail slots, and the copper handles on the chest of drawers are all polished by the opening and closing hands…[more]
[6.20.09]
Long Overdue – Thanks for the Award!
I know, I know, I’ve been a slacker. The lovely Cabin + Cub passed along a blog award a few days (now we’re being generous) ago and I’m just now getting around to it. Sorry! Here are the requirements…[more]
[6.17.09]
DIY Magnetic Display Board
Growing up, I used to race home from the bus after school. When I got there, there was always a snack waiting for me, and my mom would be in the living room ironing and watching Oprah. I have really inexplicably fond memories of that, as well as the :::screeettccchh:::: the ironing board made when it was set up…[more]
[5.1.09]
Creative Mercenary
So I’ve been running into the problem lately of people asking me what I “do”. I do lots of things, but I find that I’m always at a loss for words, there’s an awkward pause, and I try to find a way to explain all of my creative endeavors to someone who just asked a simple innocent question and didn’t want a 10 minute answer. I’ve been playing around with the idea of labeling myself a “creative mercenary” since I usually just appear for short periods of time to work on a specific project…[more]
[4.23.09]
Spring means babies!
I guess I’ve hit that point in my life where everyone around me is starting to have babies. Don’t get me wrong, I love babies, but I also love giving them back at the end of the day. Since I have no plans to reproduce any time soon, I get my baby fix by knitting baby blankets for all of my friends…[more]
[4.11.09]
Blog Redesign and Visual Resume
I’m working on updating the layout and design of the blog – here’s a little sneak peek! It’s a lot of work, figuring out all of the code and that nonsense but I think it will look a lot better and be a lot easier to navigate! Also, I’ve been working on what I’m calling a “visual resume”, even though it’s more of a portfolio. I have a lot of different crafty endeavors and like to have my fingers in lots of pies. That’s the sort of thing that’s hard to communicate via a resume…[more]
[3.31.09]
Monday in Pictures
1. I inherited a bunch of my great-grandmother’s buttons last year. My mother and her sisters used to spend rainy afternoons digging through the big bin of buttons. There’s been some great finds, including a heap of hand-carved (what looks like) ivory buttons that must be at least 100 years old, if not older. I’ve been trying to organize them in my type cabinet drawers which is very soothing for my OCD tendencies…[more]
[3.16.09]
March Giveaway Time!
So I’m doing the Sampler again this month (I’m an addict – not only do I get to give products away to people who might like them, but I also get to get some inventory out of my house!) and I thought that I would do a freebie for you lovely readers out there. This month, I’m concentrating on my Maleficent shop. This shop rotates around a theme, but we’re still doing Beanie Baby Hunting Trophies…[more]
[3.5.09]
Pretty Spring Collages
I’m in a spring mood lately, so I did a few flower-themed collages to celebrate the season. I also pre-framed them because frankly, I hate when I buy prints and they are some weird size and it’s impossible to buy a frame to fit them. Plus, I’d rather buy more art than an expensive frame…[more]
[3.4.09]
Handmade Revolution
This is something that I’ve been thinking about for a while, and I’m probably going to struggle to put it into words but I hope you’ll bear with me here because it’s something I think is very important.
The economy has taken a nosedive, people’s lives are filled with uncertainty, international relations are threatened, and it seems like there’s very little good news. Despite all of the adversity, I think that we’ve been given a real opportunity to change the way that we interact with the world…[more]
[2.18.09]
Pretty Spring Skirts
I’ve been really enjoying my new project. I have tons of vintage trim that I keep collecting and that I can’t find a use for. Same goes for vintage scarves. And I really love these vintage slips that I was dyeing – they are great for lightweight wear in the spring and summer. Plus, I figure, it’s spring! And what a better way to beat the winter doldrums…[more]
[2.17.09]
Sampler Time – Giveaway!!
So in honor of my sending off this month’s contribution to the Sampler, I thought that I would offer a giveaway here…[more]
[2.13.09]
Treasury
My biological sampler was included in a geektastic treasury on etsy today. Here it is! I made it along with the knitted lab rat – one of my all-time geek favorites…[more]
[2.5.09]
Crafty House
Some days I just can’t concentrate on actually making anything or doing anything productive. Today was one of those days – all sorts of things are going on, situations are being managed, etc. and I just cannot pick one thing! I bought a new desk for my studio – it’s still stuck in the back of my car, so no pictures today, but I’m really excited about how it’s going to fit in with my existing aesthetic. There aren’t too many good shops in this town but the thrift shop that I discovered on the army post was pretty rocking! In addition to the big desk I got a little side table that I’m working on spiffing up (pictures to come) and an awesome little plant…[more]
[2.3.09]
Old Artwork
I’ve been digging through some old slides and pictures and keep coming up with funny work that I did over the years. It’s funny to see the similarities and differences…[more]
[1.29.09]
the beanie baby hunter is triumphant
So I had the idea of using beanie babies and turning them into hunting trophies for a while, but I thought that it was a little too creepy, or something more interesting came up, or whatever. Plus I had to track down all of the materials and do all of that fun stuff, so the project just kept getting put off and off. Finally, I decided in a fit of “git-er-done” that I just had to do them, and I did it all in one big push…[more]
[1.26.09]
Personalized Stationery – Envelope Liners
So yeah, I know it’s lame, but I like the inside of my envelopes to look as good as the outside! And you know, if you’re going to go to the trouble of creating something that’s totally yours you might as well go all out…[more]
