Artsy Fartsy

 

I was going for a different element when I made this... Basically, I messed up what I was initially attempting. In short, I made my image AND THEN used Elmer's blue gel glue to create those lovely visible lines and dots. When I washed it (to remove the glue), it made the image washed out and lighter. I wished I kept it like this original but there's more muslim to work on (which I found in the remnant bin at JoAnn's for $3). I'll show you what I was aiming for in another post but thought I'd share my "screw-up" which I really like.

Duvet Cover

 

our last trip, K was gifted a thick, warm comforter from my cousin. A very thoughtful gift as this Winter won't be so kind as last year. I'm sure we're in for a TON of snow (yay) meaning the portable heater will be on in his room a lot. It was just a white blanket and I searched high and low (Target and internet) for a duvet cover. I don't care for the cars, dinosaurs, or the cowboy and sports themes.

with a JoAnn's Fabric coupon in tow, we went there one night. I looked and looked and while G meandered, he came back with a roll of this cute martian-space theme. SOOOO cute. being on sale, we couldn't use the coupon but nevertheless, 3 yards and $9 later we went home. I always wash fabrics first and then G essentially sewed a big pillowcase and we slipped the blanket in. All set for this blistery Fall and upcoming Winter...

Beaded Earrings

My first post :)

Trying to make good on a promise I made 5 months ago to the 6 and 8 year old daughters of my mentor, I spent yesterday making my first ever beaded earrings. Turns out it wasn't that complicated! After a two minute video from YouTube and some hand-holding from my sister, I was able to do them on my own. The hardest part is trying to figure out what beads go together.

Thanks to my grandfather's flea market deals, my mom, sister, and I inherited massive amounts of beads. There really are too many to ever use up. I mostly used beads from our stash to keep costs down. The posts and backings I bought at the bead shop.

The picture is faded out, so it's hard to get a sense of the sparkle on the crystal beads, but you get the point. If I get another free day before I leave for Texas, I'll try to make some more. Once I got going, it was fun. I hope the girls like them.

my farm

this end of the garden bed is extremely crowded. i may have to pull up one of the squash plants to make sure they all have ample room.

but from the bottom of the pic, stuff planted on this end of the farm are watermelons, 3 different kinds of squash, herbs (thyme, basil, parsley, sage, chives), green beans, then the tomato cage.



on the opposite end: 2 different kinds of chili (serrano and poblano), japanese eggplant, then the tomato cage.

from left to right: cherry tree, green beans, tomatoes, strawberry (never fruited), and eggplant

the vine thing growing on the dirt is watermelon. i'm pretty excited about this. i see round lil' pea-sized stuff sprouting. i hope i actually get yummy watermelon.

poor-man's sprinkler system

not exactly "arts" nor "crafts." but since i haven't really gotten around to unpacking any of my beading stuff, i've been using all my creative juices thinking, planning, and executing lil' projects that improve my garden.

this is a project i finished in about 12 hours, but spread out in 3 weekends. lotsa time was spent at the irrigation aisle at OSH, examining lil' drippers, sprinklers, tubes, etc.

anyway, i got a 4-port battery-operated digital timer. eventually, when i have a bigger garden, i can set it up for 4 zones. right now, all the garden beds in the backyard is being watered in 2 zones.

the roses are on individual drippers, rather than sprinklers, because i hear that moisture leads to fungus (which i've also worked very hard to save my roses from!).

my backyard now has a bunch of black hoses all over the place. not exactly pretty, but my plants have been sooo happy since i put this in.

i've got the "farm" (where all my edible stuff are planted) on sprinklers.

Belly Cast II

 

 

 

for some reason, i can't see the images posted (just the html) but it's pretty self-explanatory. remember the cast of my belly when i was about to pop? i did about 3 weeks later. back in April, we finally got around to painting it with the same shade of blue-gray as the bathroom. then, out came our "collection" of fortunes we've been storing in an orange vase for about 5 years from all of our eating out at Chinese restaurants (Wyoming, Wisconsin, Michigan and perhaps a few from Cali). with the help of modge podge, i'm delighted to present our little fortune cookie belly cast... TA DA!

pink and black for bernice

bernice (joe's momma) requested a while ago that i make her a black and pink necklace. she's very good with the sewing machine and she was in the process of making herself a pink jacket/blazer to wear when she and the poodles compete in dog shows. i tried to make her something in time for christmas, but i just could't make it work. yesterday was her bday, so these will be shipped to her as a belated bday present.

other than the colors, she really made no other requests as far as style or length or anything else. so i decided to make her two.

i'm about to get really busy, so these will prolly be my last project for a long time.
for now, i saw adieu to beading.