7.31.2010

JP's Birthday

Last night Jeremy and I went to Jersey for our friend JP's Birthday Party. JP and Shannon have the most adorable house and I can only hope that one day I'm lucky enough to have one like that. As soon as we got there, we walked into the backyard and JP was lighting candles in these lanterns that were hanging from various branches in one of their trees. I never would have thought to have lanterns hanging from a tree but now...I totally want that! I was so pretty and I thought it looked like there should be some fairies flying around but Heebs (who I was having this discussion with) thought there should be some kind of Lord of the Rings type dude with a cape and sword standing there with his cape blowing in the wind, haha!!
They also have a sweet fire pit with these awesome carved stools around it. JP of course carved the stools. He is an extremely awesome wood carver. At some point Jeremy and some other people went downstairs to see JPs workshop. When Jeremy came out, he had this sweet little carved man. To me he looks like an old man who would live in the woods and maybe have some awesome connection with the forest and probably smokes pipes. JP gave it to him and luckily Jeremy forgot it was in my purse this morning, so I got a picture of him.



Shannon is also super crafty, she bakes cakes and does amazing thing with the frosting and/or fondant. I didn't get a picture of the top of the cake but it was a Grateful Dead dancing bear riding a mountain bike! Very awesome. As JP was cutting it, she said there was a suprise inside. I imagined a toy for some reason..like out of a cereal box. Sometimes when I reflect on my own thoughts, I wonder where I come up with certain shit, LOL BUT instead the cake was rainbow!!! AAAHHH!! It was freaking awesome. I only got a phone picture of this and that was after Jeremy inhaled two giant pieces but it still looks awesome. She even said she could do it zebra striped...which I would be totally partial to *wink, wink*



Later we played a rousing game of WLD (win, lose or draw) for those not in the know. WLD is such a fun game, it's so easy to understand and everyone loves it! There were so many people that we had to break into 3, that's right, 3 teams! This was a first but it actually worked out quite well. I only remember a few of the drawings...apparenlty Jeremy's team had "Captain Abraham" which Liz had to draw but turns out they really mean t "Captain Ahab" Haahahaa!! Within 30 seconds I got my team to guess Hibiscus which I thought was pretty amazing. And I also guessed Chaise Lounge in like no time at all for my team! The best part of the game was that I didn't know anyone on my team, but they were all very awesome and loved the game as well.

All in all, it was an awesome time and I love all my Jersey friends soo much!

Prompt 15

Journal Prompt 15: Today I would like you to brainstorm some goals for the upcoming month. A short list of goals that will be attainable to accomplish in one month.

It was perfect timing for this prompt because tomorrow is the first day of August and I do have a few things that I need to get done before the month is over.
Plus it's half way through this challenge, yaay!!

7.28.2010

Wanna Make Wednesday

I love when blogs have themed days so I decided I would do one too. So I'm going to start "Wanna Make Wednesday"s. I spend alot of time cruising around the internet looking for patterns and things that I want to make at some point. I've been on a massive cross stitch and embroidery kick and since I made that panda now I want to crochet a million things!!
Here are just a few...

My feet are always cold, like ice blocks! It doesn't really bother me but it bothers others (Jeremy) when I touch him with my frozen feet. I think these would be soo adorable to wear around the house. I love granny squares and I attempted a blanket made out of them but I got so bored making the same thing over and over again =(


from SylvChezPlum's Etsy Shop

I love Owls...shocking! And I also love Cross Stiching so it only makes sense that I love this pattern. The little ones within the big ones belly are amazing!!


I will one day buy this pattern from bellastitchery's shop!!

Besides Owls, I also love Bats! I just think they are so adorable and I would love to have one as a pet. At a horror convention I went to a few years ago a woman there had rescued an Owl and a Bat...needless to say I was insanely jealous of her. However, she was super awesome and let me pet them both =)
In the mean time I would love to make this little guy. I shouldn't call him little though, I've made one of her patterns before. It was a big cat for Liz so I'm sure this guy is a good size too!


DeliciousCrochet has the most amazing crochet patterns!!

This is an embroidery pattern that as soon as I saw it, I knew I wanted hanging in my apartment. I love the illusion of it being an outdoor scene but it's also a skull..oooo!!



This pattern is from Urban Threads. They have so many awesome patterns and they're so cheap too, always a plus for a broke bastard like myself!

I bought this pattern Monday after finishing the panda. I plan on hanging him in my bathroom and maybe even making a second so he has a friend! I am making them to match the color scheme of my bathroom. I can't wait to show him off once he's done.



from EssHaych's shop

That's all for now but I assure you, that isn't even close to all the things I have saved and want to make!!

Prompts 11-14

So I've been severely slacking on keeping up with this 30 Day Challenge and this blog. I didn't want to do the one Journal Prompt so I just kept finding something else to do. My computer at home has also been acting up, ugh!
I finally caught up on the Journal so here we go...

Journal Prompt 11: Hello friends. Today is another one of my favorite pages. And speaking of favorites, this is a page all about your faves!!
We are going to list your favorites in each of these four categories:
* TV shows
* Music
* Food
* Splurges

Reading this is pretty self explanitory.



(This is the one I didn't want to do...I don't particularly care about trends so it was annoying to do this one!)
Journal Prompt 12: Journal 12 is all about trends. Whether you consider yourself "trendy" or not, I bet there are a few trends that you find yourself gravitating to. If not, you can create a page of trends that you think are lame too, it's up to you :)



Journal Prompt 13: Silly insecurities....we all have them unfortunately. If you don't, you are my hero :) Today I want you to document your insecurities, face them, write them down, reflect on them, and get them out of your system. Somewhere on your page I want you to write "BUT..." This will lead in to tomorrow's prompt :) This is definitely not a fun prompt but it's kind of necessary in order to move past them.

This is also self explanitory, I just wrote and drew some of my major insecurities.



Journal Prompt 14: Ok, now that we have all of the yucky insecurities out of our system, I want us to completely focus ONLY on the things that make you the amazing person that you are. What are the qualities that you possess that make you so wonderful? Don't be shy and don't be modest either on this one :)

Mostly I'm just awesome for my crafty abilities and that I make people laugh, the rest are just other extras that add to my awesomeness LOL

7.26.2010

Personal Swap

So as I've said before, I love craftster!
I saw this adorable needlebook that CraftyDebs made. I complimented her on it and she offered to make me one!! I asked her what she wanted me to make her in return and since she is such an awesome Aunt...she asked me to crochet a panda bear for her niece. I haven't crocheted in what feels like FOREVERRR!! But, I found this adorable free pattern online and got to work.
I really do like crocheting but I hate sewing all the pieces together!! I had to take this little guys legs off and resew them twice because he kept falling foward, arrgg!!
I popped him in the mail Saturday and got into the weirdest conversation about Flashlights with the guy behind the counter, haha!!
Crocheting this little guy has got me in the mood to crochet some more, I think I want to make a jellyfish for my bathroom.


7.22.2010

Prompt 10

Journal Prompt 10: This prompt is all about collections. Do you collect buttons, clothes, shoes, friends, parking tickets, whatever!! Illustrate your collections. This will be fun to look back on someday and see how your collections have grown or have moved on :)

I have alot of random things that I "collect". Anything that has to do with sewing and images of old sewing machines. I hope to one day have an antique Singer that I can keep in my craft room! I also collect halloween decorations...mostly just bats and skulls. Although, I do love the vintage halloween stuff but I don't own anything. I also love vintage pyrex and I like to get mugs from all the different places I've been. Oh and I love all things New Orleans which sort of manifested into a love of the fleur di lis.



Descriptions below...

I took pictures so you can see my favorites of each, I do have a ton more and it was hard to narrow them down but I think I got it!
First is a tea pot that is a sewing table with a Singer style machine on it!!! It belonged to my mom's boyfriend, Dave's mother. She recently moved and when cleaning out here house I found her collection of so many interesting teapots and they said I could have this one. I feel very lucky to have it.
Those little blue owls are actually salt & pepper shakers from the 50's. My sister got them at a bazaar for me =]
It was between this mug and the one I got in New Orleans. This one I got in GA during the first road trip Liz and I took. It's hand made and is painted with a beautiful scene of Colorado, at least that's what the carving on the bottom says.
This is a tattoo on got on the road trip Jeremy and I took last year. I got this in New Orleans the day after Mardi Gras. Jeremy got a crawfish in the shape of a fleur di lis on his shoulder.
The bat is pretty dark but he is so detailed an awesome for just a rubber halloween decoration. He was part of my halloween themed surprise birthday party that Jeremy threw for me last year.
That is a vintage pyrex bowl given to me by my mother. I don't know when she got the set but I remember always making chocolate chip cookies in the big pink one when I was little. This is part of a set of 4 and I love them all but this one I use the most.
And last but certainly not least is my super blingy skull! I got it at Michael's two years ago and I imagine that it is a take off of Damien Hirst's Diamond Skull "For The Love of God"
It was fun looking at all the cool stuff I have ;P

Craftster #2

OMG!! Now Jessie's birthday shoes have been moved from the "Hot New Projects" to the "Featured Projects". I feel EVEN MORE special!!

Every two weeks they pick the favorite 15 projects that Craftster readers have voted for with the “This Rocks!” button. Here are their latest picks which were lovingly and painstakingly chosen (so many amazing projects to choose from!), this time by jungrrl. We hope you enjoy them!

7.21.2010

In other news...

I got these ADORABLE plugs from Omerica Organic.



They have the most beautiful, handmade, wooden plugs and I want soo many of them. However, because they are handcrafted and so beautiful they are also not cheap. Well it turns out that any of the ones they make that are even slightly flawed, they sell on ebay. So when I saw these owl ones I had to hope they were on ebay, and they were!! woot!! or should I say hoot, haha!!
I was in a bidding war down to the last second with someone (I'm sorry whoever you are) but I won! They were still the most expensive plugs I've ever bought myself, but cheaper than if I bought them on the site.
Although, I do plan on buying more from them once I'm no longer a broke bastard.

Take a look at their site and tell me you don't swoon!
Omerica Organic

My ears are currently a 0 and the ones I bought are 00 so I will have to go up a size but I plan to keep getting bigger for a while anyway so no worries.
And if you don't like stretched ears or don't understand it, I don't need your criticism. It's my body and I like the way they look so poop on you!!

Craftster!

So most people who know me, know that I am obsessed with this website, Craftster.org
I have been lurking around and posting my crafts in their forums since 2007 and it has definitely played a major role in the crafting part of my life.
Well for the first time in the 3 years of projects I have posted on their site, I had a project featured in the "Hot New Projects from All Categories" section.
They were Jessie's bloody shoes!!

Craftster

I feel so special, when I logged in this morning, there was a picture on the front page, woot!!!

Prompts 8 & 9

Prompt 8:
Today, I want you to illustrate an "inside joke." I want this to be a page that only you and a few other people would get. Inside jokes are always fun (well, when you are apart of them I guess).
Easy enough :)

So this isn't actually an inside joke for a few people, it's just me and Liz. It's from our first road trip and the mayhem that took place in North Carolina.



Journal Prompt 9: Choose another person who is vert significant in your life right now. It can definitely be the same person that we wrote about on day 3, but I chose to do someone different. Anyway, this prompt is going to be all about those wonderful adjectives, and typography. Describe your special person with as many words as you can fit. For each word, try to use a different font or writing style. This is a great way to practice fun typography!

I guess I had Liz on my mind after the inside joke page. Even if I didn't though, she is my best friend in the whole world and I am very, very lucky to have her in my life. These are only a few of the immediate words that came to mind, I could fill a whole journal with adjectives that describe my Captain!

7.20.2010

Kristin's Present

So I didn't get to give Kristin her birthday present this past weekend in Atlantic City because I'm a dolt and forgot the embroidery hoop at home!! I had everything else I needed, I just had to finish embroidering the "Mother Hen" bit on the car ride down. I had the backing and all the supplies I needed except for the oh so crucial hoop. I was extremely pissed to say the least and let fly a few choice expletives.
Although, my allergies did erupt into a full blown attack about 1/3 of the way there so I doubt I would have had this ready to give to her had I brought the hoop. I was too busy sneezing, blowing my nose, searching for tissues and pressing on my sinuses to try and relieve the pressure.
Allergies are the bane of my existence and although I know there will never be a cure for them because doctors and pharmaceutical companys make FAR too much money, I have a pipe dream that one day I will be cured of this disorder.
Anyway...
Last night I put it all together and here it is. I'm pretty happy with how this turned out except that I think I am going to start filling in more of my embroidery pieces with satin stitch, instead of just having outlines.
This was my first try at stem stich and at first I was a little leary about it but eventually I got the hang of it.
This was also the first time I did not have a pattern already on the fabric and just eyeballed it. Looking for images of hens and baby chicks online, I found these amazing stamps on etsy by sideshowstamps
I used them for the most part, changed the designs on the chicks a bit, made up one of my own and stitched them all a little smaller.
This was also my first time embroidering on a patterned piece of fabric AND using maximumRABBIT's super awesome tutorial on how to frame embroidery in the hoop with a lovely finished back and puffy look.
I am in love with this now and will definitely be doing this with all my pieces that I plan to keep in the hoop.





The Hen is Kristin and there are 4 chicks (Jess, Shannon, Liz and I)
I am going to give this to her at our next book club meeting on August 2 when we'll all be at The Haskell.
I don't gamble but we went last year and despite the rain, had a lot of fun. I actually made a dress that I've yet to take pictures of...hmmmm....

7.19.2010

Marilyn Bicycle

So Jessie's boyfriend Jason refurbishes old bicycles, like 1930's and 1950's bicycles. He not only cleans them up and fixes them so they ride like new, but he does AMAZING paint jobs on them.
I've sewn some clothes in my day, especially corsets so he asked me to make a corset seat cover for this bicycle about a month ago. I am extremely envious of his artwork and what he does with these bikes so when he asked for my help, of couse I obliged!! He had all the fabric, supplies and ideas...I just had to construct it and since it's not really for wearing and included no boneing...it was a piece of cake! I gave this seat cover to him last weekend at Jessie's birthday party and he has it all put together now.
This bike isn't actually meant for riding, it's an art piece and really just to get his name out there so he can start getting some more commisions. He doesn't have a blog or anything but he does have all his stuff on Myspace which I'm pretty sure you can look at here.

Here is the before picture of the bike


The after picture


My contribution


Marilyn Detail that Jason stenciled on


Jessie's lips and a close up of the awesome lace pattern Jason does so well!


I really enjoyed being a part of such an awesome bike and I'd love to do it again in the future. Next time I won't be such a procrastinator about it either!!

Prompt 7

Journal Prompt 7: Today is an easy one... How are you feeling today? Sometimes it's really good to reflect on your feelings and try to figure out why you are feeling a certain way.

After this great weekend in Atlantic City to celebrate Kristin's Birthday, I'm feeling all sorts of ways!

Prompt 6

Journal Prompt Number 6:
It's time...
It's definitely time to do something. It may be a new season for you in your life, or a time to make some goals, or it may just be time to relax (because it's Saturday right?).
Draw something that represents the word time and then make a list of things that you need to do at this time in your life, or day, or week :)

These are just a list of immediate goals that are constantly on my mind.

Prompt 5

Journal Prompt Number 5:
We are all obviously bloggers right, or else you wouldn't be here :) Even if you don't have a blog, I know that you read them.
This page is dedicated to your favorite blogs!! What are they? Are there any blogs that you can't go a day without checking?

I've only recently started looking at other people's blogs but now I'm totally hooked! I've only got a few favorites right now, I'm sure this list will be growing! I just wrote everything down, no drawing, sketching, doodling anything...kinda boring now that I look at it =(

Prompt 4

I've been a real slacker about keeping up with my journal entries because I was finishing up Kristin's present but last night I caught up on them all.

Journal Prompt Number 4: What does your heart look like? It can be literal, it can be symbolic, it can be broken and need fixing...anything!

Mine's pretty literal...

7.14.2010

Kristin's Birthday!

In other news...this Saturday we're (we is Jeremy, Justin and I) are going to Atlantic City to partake in the festivities of Kristin's Birthday. There will be dinner at the Irish Pub, Karaoke singing in our own private Karaoke Room at Planet Rose in the Tropicana and then who knows what else the glitz, glam and scum of Atlantic City holds for us!?!
She said "no gifts" which as a crafter and self proclaimed awesome gift giver...is pretty hard for me to abide by! Plus I've been watching Curb Your Enthusiasm (netflix <3) and it just so happens that the disc I have right now has an episode where "no gifts" at a birthday party is discussed and agreed upon that no one ever really means!!
I have thrown myself head first into embroidery and cross stitching lately. Which turns out was perfect timing as it is the cheapest damn craft out there I'm pretty sure!! We (we being my Jiggas [Jiggas being Kristin, Jess, Shannon, Liz and I]) sometimes refer to Kristin as Mother Hen so I decided...why not embroider something up for her reflecting that exact sentiment!?
I've wanted to embroider on a patterned piece of fabric for a while and decided this was the perfect time. I also happened to be looking at the Feeling Stitchy Rainbow Stitches Contest and love the idea of stitching something entirely in one color. I also want to learn different stitches because I do everything in backstitch right now with the occasional french knot. I decided I want to do stem stitch and if I'm feeling frisky a chain stitch or two.
I started tonight and only go 1/2 of a chic done after sketching up the general idea. Oh, and I'm doing this without drawing onto the fabric first. I just realized how much I'm attempting for a first time with this project!!
Oh the chics are still just going to be backstitch with the occasional french knot because they're so small. I only got this far because my allergies are going berzerk today and I'm very irritable and having to stop to blow my nose after 3 stitches gets pretty annoying pretty quickly!!
I'm gonna work on it tomorrow, I can't wait to get more of it done!

Prompt 3

Journal Prompt Number Three: It's always nice to share with someone why you love them. Today, I want you to draw a picture, doodle, sketch, of a person who you love, or admire. Then, write that person a letter telling them why they mean so much to you!
If you are intimidated at the idea of drawing a portrait of someone, draw objects that represent that person or draw their name in a creative way.

So I drew a sketch of my dad and some doodles of the two main things I think of when I think of him...playing the drums and fishing. I also wrote him a letter telling him a few of the reasons that I love him, only a few though as the page is so small. I even got a little misty eyed with random memories running through my head (that would be the giant heart part I mention). I was actually really nervous to draw the sketch, sketching people is so overwhelming but I love how it came out like a cartoon. It actually reminds me of this cartoon "Mission Hill" that I used to watch on Adult Swim when I was laid up.
Oh and I tried a different color other than black...green!

7.13.2010

Prompt 2

Journal Prompt Number 2: What is the BEST part of your day?
Is it working out?
Is it "quitting time" at work?
Is it dinner with the fam?
What is it?
You can write about it, draw it, sketch it, doodle it, anything you like!

So as nerdy as it is...depending on whether I see Jeremy or not, the best part of my day differs.
If it is a day that I do see him, there is nothing more that I love than laying on the couch together watching tv. I lay in his "nook" as I call it and he twirls my hair. There isn't anywhere else in the world I would ever want to be. <3
On the days I don't see him, I love getting my good morning text message as I'm warming up my car before going to work.
I was in a sketching mood tonight I guess b.c I just sketched up a quick image of these two things.

7.12.2010

Prompt 1

Here is my first page in the 30 Day Challenge.
Journal Prompt Number 1: Create a full page design introducing yourself :)
Highlight your name many times in the midst of your design.
Have fun, be creative, don't stress, just jump right in!!

So I did just that...used my name a bunch of times, added some doodles of random crap I like and then just mindlessly filled in the white spots. It was very relaxing, I think I'm really going to like this challenge!!

Amazing Weekend!

So this weekend was jam packed and oh so wonderful!
Saturday was Jessie's 25th Birthday and it was no regular party..oh no! It was a redneck themed birthday, complete with the amazing 3 piece bluegrass band The Midway. It was an awesome time with alot of awesome kids and music!
I have a million ideas for things I want to make her but I finally narrowed down what to give her. About a month or two ago I was at her house hanging out with some people. We got into a conversation about the prospect of her getting a pet squirrel. I being the natural born pessimist that I am asked a million questions and basicall,y tried smashing her dream of having pet squirrels that would live outside during the day but come home at night. Of course this was a slightly intoxicated conversation (although I'm sure it would have been damn near the same if we were totally sober)and in her crushed dream sadness she uttered "I could get a squirrel to love me....If he knew how much I loved him..." After laughing hysterically for a few minutes, I put this gem of a quote into the back of my mind for crafty possibilities!!
This is what I came up with!



I also made made her a pair of "blood" splattered heels with adorable bows on the back. Making these was such a mess, it still looks like a massacre took place on my roof!!





My Dad said he was going to make an appearance but didn't. He didn't want to "cramp our style" which is ridiculous because if you know my Dad, he's pretty bad ass and everyone loves him!! I mean, who doesn't love a rockstar?! I was bummed he didn't come also because I had this insanely late Father's Day gift for him. I usually give him presents that have to do with his love of music because it's also a love of mine. However, he is also an awesome fisherman and even though I don't really do the whole fishing thing, I wanted to make him a little something. This is a pattern from Urban Threads that I hand embroidered and framed in this sweet old frame I got at the VNA Sale in May.



(There is nothing crafty in this next bit, it's just part of the awesome weekend)
Sunday night Jeremy and I went to see Iron Maiden at the PNC Bank Arts Center in Jersey and it was an awesome show!! The night started off just right when walking through the area between the seat sections, Jeremy spotted Eddie Trunk and Jim Florentine!! We both yelled "Eddie!!!" threw him the horns, which he promptly threw back!! Then they were walking up the side of the seats which was closer to use and Jeremy ran over to shake both their hands and let them know that we love them! If you don't know who Eddie Trunk is well...you suck!! He does a radio show and also a half hour show on VH1 Classics called "That Metal Show" and it's all things Metal. Jim is a comedian who is also on the tv show. They interview bands, review shows and CD's etc. Eddie knows pretty much everything ever about Metal, it's ridiculous!! Anyway...then came Maiden \m/
It was mostly all newer songs with a few "old stones" as Bruce Dickenson put it, thrown in. There was also a great tribute to Dio (may he RIP)...to look out over a sea of horns thrown up is really something to behold, and make any metal head proud to be a part of!!


At one point a GIANT animatronic Eddie (their mascot) came out on stage, he was twice the size of the band members!! Look at the guys with the guitars..that giant green thing is Eddie and he was walking around and even played a guitar at one point, WHAT?!


It was such a great show, I have never seen such an energetic band in all the shows I've been to, it was unreal!! ALSO, I've never seen so many kids at a show, I'm talking under 8 years old!! So awesome, my kids are definitely going to shows..once I have them, ha!
Sorry for the crappy phone pics of the show =(

7.09.2010

30 Day Challenge

So as I was making my blog, I was cruisin around checking out other crafty blogs because I honestly can not get enough of crafts and I love to swoon over other people's amazing artistic abilities.
I stumbled upon iheartrunswithscissors and her 30 Day Challenge which unfortunately started last month but I really want to try this even though I'm late. I am always looking for ways to get the creative juices flowing and sometimes I feel all stuffed up with creativeness...if that makes sense. I do however, have an issue with starting things randomly in the middle of the week...i have no idea why but I'm totally one of those Monday starters so...starting Monday I am going to be participating in this 30 Day Challenge, I can't wait! Plus I figure this will be an interesting thing to get me used to this whole blogging scene!