Earlier in the year, I posted about giving 2008 a stink eye due to all of the crappy events that had occurred. Little did I know that I was only jinxing myself by posting that back in.....June?, I believe. 2008 continued on the path that it had set for itself during the 1st few months, going out with a bang on December 14th, when I required an emergency appendectomy spending 5 days in the local hospital. Not a great Christmas gift, if you ask me, but at least I won't have to worry about my appendix every again as long as I live.
So for 2009, I have decided a few things.
- I will not have any unnecessary surgical procedures requiring time off of work. Total time off work in '08 was 6 weeks. Four when I had my foot nearly chopped off for a plantar wart issue, and then 2 for the appendix going rogue.
- I am going to continue to move toward my goal of being more healthful by renewing my motivation in my Weight Watchers group and being more active.
- I am not going to dwell on negative situations or people and strive to be happy with my life and my choices every day.
Okay, so I realize this is a super serious, semi-sappy post, but everyone is entitled to one once in a while right? I should be posting very soon with some fantastic Christmas and New Year's pics.
I found an awesome tutorial for felted candy canes at the feltcafe blog. I have been wanting to
try to make felted items for a while, but just hadn't found quite the right project to inspire me to do so. Everything I saw just looked a little too over my head as far a beginner for felting went. This tutorial looked to be right up my alley ,and the perfect chance to make little package embellishments for the all the wrapping for the holidays.
After some searching on Etsy, I found 2 sellers to purchase small amounts of wool roving from to get started. I purchased my white wool roving from 7 Yaks Designs and a crimson pink roving from Wind Rose Fiber Studio. I was able to pick up all of the supplies needed for a little bit of nothing.
The process was very easy and only took me about 15 minutes to make 3 candy canes. I think if you wanted to produce a ton of them, it would not take very long at all. I've included a few pics, although I admit, they aren't the greatest. I may try a felted heart outline for the upcoming Valentine's holiday using the same materials and technique and tie a ribbon to use as a valentine's ornament. Happy crafting!
A few weeks ago while doing my daily cruising at Etsy, I came across these fantastically altered vintage flocked reindeer (seen in 1st pic to right) from Magpie Ethel's shop. After inquiring if she planned on having anymore available, I happened upon two of the unadorned treasures at one of my local antique shops, Fairmont Avenue Antiques, in Fairmont, WV for a very meager $3.oo each! (seen in pic to left)
I quickly snatched them up and set off to beglittering their antlers and hooves.
It was a very easy process using Martha Stewart's glitter and glue that I picked up at Wal*Mart for about $6 if I recall correctly. It was a very easy process that took only about 15 minutes to complete both reindeer.
So next I had to decide how I was going to display my fabulous new "flamboyant" deer as my husband put it. Little did he know that there was much more to come! I ended up ordering a couple of adorable handmade pink bottlebrush trees from Magpie Ethel's shop as well. She graciously offered to make necklaces for my deer to make them as sassy as the ones she had done. I found the last piece of my vintage puzzle at another local antique shop, Sweet Memories, also in Fairmont, WV....a set of 5 pink glass ball ornaments. I took a strand of white lights and laid a blanket of glittery snow over it, at the advice of a good friend. Also you can see our ceramic lighted Christmas tree in the background that we purchased in Gatlinburg, TN last year at their giant craft show.
I arrived home from work today to find that my lovely beer mug stocking had sold. I absolutely adored the idea of it, and loved the finished product even more. I held off on making multiples because who needs 10 beer mug stockings? Actually, who DOESN'T need 10 beer mug stockings? But I digress, the first one has finally sold. As soon as I finish up my first wholesale order for a shop in NY state, I will set off to make many more mugs of beer for your walls, or mantel, or wherever you may want a mug of icy cold deliciousness!
Granted it may be a little late to be thinking about making Halloween crafts, but I couldn't resist when I saw this because it's so simple. It also led me to another great blog at Skip to My Lou. These adorable pumpkin and ghost votive holders would take virtually no time at all and would be great projects to do with you kids too. They are made using baby food jars, Mod Podge, black construction paper, and crepe and tissue paper. How easy is that? If anyone tries these and wants to post pics, that would be fantastic. I can so picture these sitting along your walk or driveway to light the way for all the little ghouls and princesses coming for your treats on Halloween night!
Fall always seems to fly by so quickly, probably because it is my favorite time of year. I always want to get the decorations out just a bit earlier than I should, but thankfully my husband keeps me somewhat in check with that and I return the favor when he pushes to get out Christmas decor before Thanksgiving rolls around. Shopping for Halloween candy is always fun. We just need to place it strategically or buy it at the last minute so that we don't eat most of it ourselves. We decided we didn't want to be a one of the houses that gave out crappy candy, so we get the good stuff....chocolate! We have averaged around 40-70 trick-or-treaters in the five Halloweens that we have lived in this neighborhood. I think that it's the perfect number. I hear stories of people elsewhere that get into the hundreds and have to turn off their light when they run out of candy. Last year we actually had some left that we had to get rid of! The highlight is definitely seeing what our next door neighbors are going to dress as to go along with their 6 year old son. We've had Dad as batman (secretly my favorite year) and another year as Scooby Doo in a full-on costume. I hear this year the son will be Harry Potter and Dad will either be Hagrid or Dumbledore, but whatever he chooses, I'm sure he will go all out in the costume department!
After having my Etsy shop open since April, I have finally moved into the real world and fashioned myself an actual business card! I have not really promoted much amongst my friends and family due to the fact that I didn't feel professional enough. Well, watch out baby because here I come. I also just recently had my first request for a large order based on merchandise I had listed in my shop. And I've sold a few items within the past month. Things are definitely looking up for me. When I started out, I decided it was just for fun and if it ever turned into anything more that would be fabulous. I'm still a long way off from it turning into anything more, but it's still an exciting prospect. It'd be nice to have enough income from my craftiness to cut back my hours at my day job by one day a week. That is my ultimate goal at this time.
Meet the newest addition to the family...Charlie Murphy! Charlie just had his first birthday and is a miniature dachshund that needed to find a good home where his owners had more time to pay attention to him. Although, I worry about our other dog, Ramona's, mental health at the ripe old age of 12, I'm hoping that she and Charlie can come to some sort of agreement. Charlie kisses on the mouth, unlike Julia Roberts in 'Pretty Woman' as seen in the picture. Charlie likes to shower me with kisses after a long hard day at work. Ramona and Charlie have actually both sat with me on the couch on 2 separate occasions now without growls or barks. Charlie's true last name from his previous owner was Murphy, and if you have ever watched Chappelle's show, you surely understand why we will continue to call him Charlie Murphy. Murphy will just be his middle name now. Ramona will be dressing this Halloween as a "puppy hog" in a pig costume, and Charlie will be going as a vampire if he fits into the costume. I'll be sure to post pics of that for all to enjoy.
I've finished up some original designs for a couple of Halloween cuties this week for my Etsy shop. I'm really pleased with the way they turned out....so I'd like to introduce to you Grace the Goofy Spider and Frankie the Frightful Bat. They've both had a rough start in life and are hoping to find their way to stardom. More Halloween is being planned...how I just have to get crackin'!
For some reason, I have been terribly nostalgic lately. I'm not one for the overly sentimental, so I'm quite perplexed as to what is going on to make me feel this way. I have been searching for images of childhood cartoons and toys that I remember on the internet. I felt sad that I hadn't held onto more of these "collector's items". It's not that I have a desire to have them to sell for a profit. I think about wanting them to pass along to any future child or just for my own selfish comfort of knowing that there are around still. Maybe it has something to do with seeing my friend after 11 years. Maybe it's my birthday looming with the big 3-0 ahead. Maybe it's not having any children yet when I thought that surely I would have children at this point in my life. Who knows? I do know that if anyone has a white popple (with the yellow hair that looks like a furry boiled egg when it's all rolled up) that I'd love to talk to you about a lucrative deal.
While searching for even more cool projects, I rediscovered this one that I had seen a few weeks back and forgotten about. I really want to make this Bird Mobile by Spool. It has a free pattern.
