Crafty: Cards and a Halloween Cat Swag!

Hello, my peeps!  Welcome back!

Today's post is just a few items I made in the past couple weeks. You can click on the pictures to see the original, larger size.

This card was commissioned by my co-worker, friend, and fellow wine connoisseur Julie. Her neighbor was moving to Venice Beach, FL and she asked for a going away card. This might be my most favorite card. I loved stamping it, coloring it, and designing the little sign post. I even looked up the mileage from Auburn to Venice Beach.

Car, Luggage & Phrase: Beautiful Ride stamp set from Stampin' Up (retired)
Fence: Halloween Scene Framelit from Stampin' Up (Current 2016-17 Holiday Catalog!)
Background: Happy Home from Stampin' Up (retired)
Ink & Paper: Don't remember. Stuff I've got laying around.

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This is the card I made for the last Stampin' Up workshop at Teresa's house. 

White background: Some embossing folder. I have a bazillion. And it was cut out using a framelit I got from SpellBinders years ago. They don't make it any more. :(

Flowers: Botanical Builder framelits from Stampin' Up (Current 2016-17 Annual Catalog)

Other Stuff: It's just other stuff. I don't know where it came from. My house???

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This wreath is all Peggy's fault! One afternoon on break, Peggster was checking out wreaths on Etsy. There were a number of them that cost a lot of money. One in particular didn't look too special, but it had a $220 price tag! Of course, I immediately opened my mouth and said, "I could make that!" So, I tried. I won't lie. My wreath is not as nice as the ones on Etsy. But it's not bad! Especially since it only cost me about $6. Most of the items are from the clearance rack or the Dollar Store. It's a lot more colorful and sparkly than the pictures shows. This thing was a byotch to photograph!

Skeleton: Dug it up in my backyard. What a find! (aka Dollar Tree)

Crow: They're a dime a dozen in this town! Especially at the Dollar Tree.

Hat: China! Seriously, I order my mini hats directly from China. I cannot find anyone that makes or sells them in the US. If they do, they're already decorated and cost about $20. Furgit it!

Pumpkins, ribbon, wreath: craft store clearance racks

Boo!: My mother. She gave me a beat-up clearance rack Halloween decoration with the intention that I could pilfer it for parts. And oh, I have! There's some black flowers on this thing (that you can't friggin' see) that also came from the decoration.

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Yesterday, I hung out with my friend Teena and her mother Sharon. Like me, Sharon is a Halloween freak and a serious crafter. I thought we'd just be drinking wine and checking out all the really cool Halloween decorations Sharon has. To my surprise, I was told we'd be making a Halloween swag. 

I gathered up everything I thought I might need.

As usual, I went overboard. But surprise! Surprise! I used something from each of these boxes. The ribbon, tulle, bobbles, bats, and balls all came from these boxes. There are some black mesh bows on the swag which came from Sharon, along with that fabulous cat face. As soon as she showed it to me, I knew I had to have it! KITTY! 

Sharon also shared her wire and the base to make the swag. She even took pity on me and made the bow at the top. In return, I let her take whatever she wanted of mine, including the large spool of pink ribbon that both she and Teena fell in love with. (I'm pretty sure I have another one around here somewhere.) Crafters love to share! The finished product is the ultimate goal, after all. :)

So, that's it for this week! Happy Crafting!

Steph

January 2015

Greetings! For my family and friends and whoever happens to find this, I've decided to give a little summary of my month. 

Here's how my year started... WITH A BANNER!!!!

Or more appropriately, a crappy picture of a banner.

New Years Eve was hosted this year at Stacey's house. We gathered early, ate lots of awesome snacky foods, watched Big Fat Quiz of the Year (an annual British panel show that is our most favorite thing!!!) and drank way too much. That's probably why the picture's crappy. I couldn't be bothered to get off the floor to take it. Incidently, that ball of light is a really cool glowing ornament thingie that is utterly unimpressive when photographed.

This year I decided to be in charge of the decorations. And you know we can't have a party without... MINI HATS!!!

No Al G.! The Xmas mini hats were not a holiday phenomena. Mini hats are for every occasion. Mini hats are FOREVER!

The Front...

The Back...

Funny story about this hat. I turned on my hot glue gun and before the first ribbon was attached to hat, the gun overheated and glue came pouring out of the gun. A glob of lava hit my pinky and I tore at it... like you do... pulling off not only the glue, but a layer of skin. Not to be denied my mini hat, I wrapped my pinky in a wet paper towel to keep it cool and continued until two hats were made.  A red one for me and a black one for Stacey. Unfortunately, I forgot to get pictures of the black one.

Ok, that story wasn't really all that funny. Sorry.

While I made the decorations, Stacey supplied the snacks. She is the sweetest friend and makes sure there's all kinds of things I can eat without suffering a nuclear meltdown in my intestines. This was the night I discovered...

GOAT CHEESE SALSA TORTILLAS!!!

You take a scoopable corn tortilla chip, add a drop of goat cheese and salsa to it, eat, repeat a hundred times. I must have had a few dozen of these. I made up little appetizer platters full of these delicious treats, then ate every single one of them. HEAVEN!!!

Oh look! Another banner! And my BFF! Who will kill me for this.

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Drew's had quite an interesting January as well. He decided to use his Xmas bonus to purchase an item he'd been dreaming of owning for years.

A telescope that takes up half my living room.

  

Drew has had a love of space-stuff all his life. His infactuation of astrophysicist and Nova overlord Neil deGrasse Tyson is nothing short of stalkerish. The only thing keeping Drew from standing outside the Hayden Planetarium with a boombox playing "In Your Eyes" is boobs. I have them; HRH Tyson does not.  And that's where the bromance dies.

While I may not understand the whole telescope obsession thing, I do support my hubby's hobbies. He's been desperate to take the telescope outside and use it, but there is no way we're standing outside in zero degree weather to look at something I can google. So, we hauled it upstairs to the front room and Drew can look out the skylight instead. It's not as impressive as viewing the Milky Way on a pitch-black country road in the middle of nowhere, but at least he can use his toy now without the threat of frostbite.

I will admit, it was really neat to watch the clouds (or whatever they are) on Jupiter spin. Yes, that huge tube of mirrors and lenses can capture Jupiter close enough that you can watch stuff spinning. Creepy cool.

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Sweetpea would like to report that January sucks.

This is how she tells us to turn up the heat. Completely covering a heat register.

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Mardi Gras is coming up next month!!! So I made a wreath.

I did not injure myself making this, but Stacey got a huge blister making hers. She's more dangerous with the glue gun than I am!

See Mom! I used the feathers!!!

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And finally, we end this month with something Drew and I have talked about doing for quite a while.

We switched the dining room and offices around.

The hoosier (including all my glorious Crockpots), wine rack, beer-making center, and table came out into the former office area.

We put up the lighted wife shelving we used a craft shows and put the beer on it. It's only lit up for the photo. I don't keep it on. So don't freak out. There's no beer in the bottles at the moment anyway. Eventually there will be curtains that wrap around it to keep light out. That room's pretty dark anyway.

Now for the craft room/office...

I loaded up the now vacant wire rack in the craft room with my supplies.

My new office!!

I love it! I've got a cork board over my desk to pin up things I need for the book --- original artwork for the covers, trinkets from my last trip to Boston, articles about other writers, a signed picture of Oded Fehr from The Mummy (super squee!!!), and a note a fan sent that inspires me to keep going (even though I seem to have stopped at the moment).

On the side wall, I have a poster from Rifftrax Live! Godzilla. My most favoritest Rifftrax Live! event ever, and my second most favorite Rifftrax movie. My first favorite is Birdemic.

Drew's desk was moved into the room. Looks cramped, but it's not. He's very happy with it. And no, he's not just saying that because of the boobs-thing. Sweetpea's bed has moved to the top of the freezer. She likes it there because the other cats don't bug her. (I'm pretty sure they haven't found her yet.)

And finally, this thing in the middle of the room. It's not completed yet, but it will be a workstation. A crafting island for card making, mini hat construction, and wreath decorating. It's missing a top, so I haven't filled the bookshelves yet in case we need to move them. I'm still debating what to put on top. A thick laminated slab costs over $200. Probably more. I've decided to review all my options at this point in time.

So, that's January. I won't bore you with resolutions and all that gunk. Mostly because I didn't make any. I've decided to adopt life-mottos instead.

#1  Keep an open mind.

#2  Don't be rude.

#3  If you want it done, get up and do it. 

And number three applies to anything and everything. Dieting. Exercise. Decreasing debt. Moving some rooms in the house. I worked relentlessly from 5:10pm Friday until 9pm Saturday night to get this done. Drew was with me most of the way. I am kick-ass.

#4  Be the Brightest Star in your own Universe.

~Steph

Happy Belated Suck-Face Day

Valentine's Day came and went with it's usual annoyance. It's the one holiday that just about everyone hates. People who are single hate it and are usually obnoxiously vocal about that, which leads to me say things like, "I can't imagine why you're still single. You have such a heart-warming attitude." People who are in an established relationship hate it because we're not allowed to enjoy it because of the aforementioned miserable people. Hippies hate it because it's pure consumerism. 

Actually, you don't have to be a hippy to hate the commercialism of any holiday. "Every kiss begins with K." No. No no no. The word kiss begins with the letter K. Most physical kisses begin with some kind of positive stimuli. You've just eaten a good meal with your partner. You're hunkering down into a warm bed for a long night's sleep. You just received a Kohl's gift card. You're on your fifth shot at the bar and will suck on the face of anyone willing to join you for a jello shot. 

I was going to mention an exchange of money for sexual favors might be involved too, but hookers don't kiss. I learned that from television.

The one person who likes Valentine's Day more than anyone else in the world is the girl who is in a new relationship with a guy, and this is their first V-Day. The one person who hates it more than anyone else in the world is her guy. NO PRESSURE TO GET THIS RIGHT, SON!

Despite all that, I do like Valentine's Day for the red and white decor, and the cards. Here's some cheeriness to remind us it's not all bad.

Kat gave me a bag of wreaths that were going to be thrown out as she thought I might be able to re-use them. I found a heart-shaped vine wreath amongst them and re-purposed it into this cute, simple Valentine's wreath. It's ten inches in height and is currently hanging in my living room. I will probably leave it there. It's adorable!

For Laurie's card party last month, we had a card swap with a Love/Valentine's Day theme.

WARNING: My photos are complete and utter crud. I have no idea why they are so blurry, and I'm honestly too tired to go re-do them. Forgive my laziness today.

I feel terrible because I don't really remember who did what cards. I admit to having a bad memory, but I can usually tell who did what. Card makers each have their own style. This time around the cards were so different that I can't honestly tell you who made most of them.

I can say without a shadow of a doubt that the heart basket on the left was Stacey's contribution, and the second card on the left was mine. I mean, I'm thick-headed but I do know my own card. It's a heart puzzle with a piece taken out of it. In its place is the word You. Inside the card was the phrase, "You will always be in my heart." Awwwww. Pretty gushy for me. I had considered, "Shot through the heart, and you're to blame."

More card swap cards. I think Christie might have been the second from the left, and maybe Shirley to the right of hers. Maybe not.

These are the cards we made at the workshop. I never would have picked the colors for that first card, but it works! As Jessica said, "It's very 80's." And the card on the far right was Jessica's swap contribution. It's from SU's Whole Lot of Love campaign which unfortunately ended January 27th. The cards and stamp sets were wonderful. I did get the Follow Your Heart set which has the Eiffel Tower stamp you see on the card. (You can never really have too many Eiffel Tower stamps.) We made the cards ourselves, which is always a treat!

It was a great party, and Laurie's house is perfect for card making. A nice big table and huge kitchen. Which is why I'm having my party there in a couple weeks! I hope to have more (and better) photos from that party. Maybe I'll snag some pics of my fellow card makers at work! I'm sure they'll loooooove me for that.

~Steph

Craft Project: Christmas Wreath #3 plus a Bonus Wreath

Todays' wreath was a quick one. It's a side wreath.

Before I started I googled "how to make a wreath bow" and found several excellent videos on YouTube. I followed the one I was interested in making for today's wreath, and I made my bow the first time in under five minutes. So easy!

I attached it to the wreath, hot glued flowers and berries around it, and finish it off with some tulle. I added a little rope loop on the back for hanging, and voila! One Christmas wreath for my livingroom. I'm so happy with it.

I thought I'd share the below wreath with you too. I made this a couple weeks ago. My friend Teena's mother Sharon has a wreath-making shed! It's amazing! She invited me and Stacey over to make wreaths. This is the real deal! We made the entire thing. Everything from cutting up pine tree branches to form the wreath to attaching the baubles. It was so much fun!

Below is Sharon and the wreaths Stacey and I made. And yes, we do drink wine while we craft in the shed!

Thank you Teena and Sharon! I can't wait until Christmas is over so we can hit the stores for after Christmas clearance deals! Gotta start gathering the baubles for next year's wreaths!

Merry Craftmas!

Craft Project: Christmas Wreath #2 - KHAAAAAAAN!!!

I'm a Star Trek fan. At one point in my life I was a Trekkie. I once owned a cassette on How to Speak Conversational Klingon. My costume box contained Klingon forehead make-up, along with a homemade communicator pin. (I might still have that!)

I'm not as big a fan as I used to be. In fact, if Star Trek is on TV I will probably turn the channel. The original series still keeps my attention most of the time, but I lost interest in TNG, DS9, and the rest of the franchise years ago. The movies with the original cast are still awesome. Can't say as I care for the others. Sorry!

Last week, Jason sent me a link to a picture of a Wreath of Khan and joked that it was a craft I should be making.

Monday morning at work, Jason received the below.

This is quite possibly the coolect thing I've ever made.

QISmaS Quch Daghajjaj!!

Craft Project: Christmas Wreath #1 - Neon Green Tulle, Greenery & Berries

I've been obsessed with Pinterest lately. At first I was only using it to pin to-do items. Cards I wanted to make. Recipes I wanted to save. Articles for reading later. But then I discovered all the wonderful things that other people had pinned. And my to-do list expanded dramatically. Especially in the area of crafting.

I've rediscovered my love of wreaths. I have several I want to make. And this weekend, I finished the first Christmas wreath.

I started with a wire form and tied strips of tulle around it.

I ran out of tulle halfway around and decided to wear it as a headdress. As you can see in the background, my hubby is not impressed with my spontaneous costume.

I bought more tulle and finished the wreath tonight. I cut apart a garland of greenery and a garland of red berries and hot glued them to the tulle.

The wreath is hanging from a satin ribbon with a bow hot glued to the top. I attached a wire hook to the back of the bow so it can hang from the curtain rod.

I'm very pleased with how it came out.

NEXT CRAFT PROJECT:  Christmas Wreath #2 - Winter Paper Rosettes