Sunday Funday: Doing What I Love

This was one of those weekend that a crafter dreams of: research, projects, new skills, progress. It was a balm for my busy week and cluttered mind.

 I had an absolutely stellar trip to my local library!

 I am so excited to dive into these books as I plan projects, posts and gifts :)

  We also had a great stop at our local reclaimed sewing supplies store. 

I was able to score this awesome horde for only $16.74!

 Weekends were made for this kind of dinner with my sweetie. 

Cheeses, rice crisps, apples, olives, almonds...LOVE!

 Followed by pumpkin carving...so much fun!

 I indulged in some awesome treats for myself. Yay for 50% off coupons and inspiration!

Spent some time redoing my double crochet/lemon peel project. 

It will make a great holiday gift!

Stay tuned for some great roasted pumpkin seed recipes. As you can see, it was an absolutely wonderful weekend full of many blessing, quality crafting and bonding time, yummy dinners and much project progress. I am one lucky girl!

Sunday Funday: Winding Down

Summer is sadly winding to a close. I am trying to hold on with all my might and wring out the very essence of summer before it slips away. Our time together on the weekends is even more precious as the semester has begun and it is nearly time for school and rehearsals. Our time no longer will be our own.

This weekend we have an almost perfect balance of frenzied activity and restful repose.

Friday evening, we went to a local town fair and soaked

up some ambiance.  The view from the ferris wheel was humbling.

Afterward, we went to a local creamery and sampled some

handmade ice cream. Delightful!

Saturday was a day that summer dreams of being: a morning

at the Community Garden, followed by the Farmer's Market. 

An afternoon of swimming and innertubing at a local waterfall.

A locavore feast on the deck followed by a moonlit stroll. In short, bliss.

Sunday low-key and relaxing: Brunch under the morning sun, 

running through the sprinkler, reading, napping, cleaning up, 

Vietnamese take-out, now to sack out in from of Blue Planet and

rejuvenate for the week ahead.

Good luck to you as you start another adventure!

Sunday Funday: Making Memories

Today, I did not make anything--except wonderful memories.

We took advantage of a beautiful summer day, a free schedule, and the ability and desire to enjoy each other's company.

We brunched. We scoured the flea market. We stopped at an ice cream stand. We explored a forest. Had an unusually fun cemetery photo shot. We hiked. We swam. We reveled in the best burger in our town. Together. And it was glorious.

Sunday Fun Day: Button Headband

Some days start in the middle of the night. Today was one of those days. Mid-August marks the peak of the Perseid Meteor Showers. When you have a sweetie that was an astronomy major in college, this is a big deal.

 Hence, a Sunday that started very early, had a flurry of activity early, and was never destined for huge projects (MAJOR disaster this afternoon trying to do a project that was just too much...more on that later). The button headband project was made for sleepy days like today--easy to make, necessary when doing your hair is just not a priority and ideal to wear when life hands you a day to beautiful to stay in the studio. I wore mine on a gardeny photo shot (more to come on that front too) and while augmenting our bounty at the farmer's market and it got a lot of smiles.

Big buttons, teeny buttons, nothing matchy...perfect for the weekend.

I started with some of my very favorite mismatched buttons,

a headband with an elastic back (you could also make your

own headband or sewing them onto elastic), an embroidery needle 

and some white floss.

I forgot to take a photo of the inside, but I simply placed 

and fit each button, sometimes overlapping them, and secured them 
through the button holes with the embroidery floss. I did 

not cut and tie after button, but rather went right from one to the next.

I love it--easy, fun, and it goes with everything!

Stay tuned to hear about my misadventures in spray paint

and to check out my current photo project :)

Thanks for reading and have a great week!

Sunday Funday: Back in the Saddle...again...

Life sometimes just takes you away from what you would like to be doing. Granted, so many aspects of my life are astounding. I haven't been able to make many things lately (or at least record many)--I have run a huge race and am training for another, I have had a really great summer jewelry show (and VERY stupidly got NO photos of the work that I made and sold), and have been loading up on quality time with my sweetie before the busy autumn overtakes us.


That being said though, I feel a little hollow not producing things and sharing them on this blog. It is not that my readership is huge. Some posts, I am the only one. But in times of uncertainty, it has lent so stability and predictably to my life.


So, here I go again...dusting of the Weasinart and giving her priority again. Baby steps, but any steps are better than standing still. 


Tonight, my sweetie and I made a lovely vegetarian feast, full of produce that we grew or got just 'round the corner. And I finally took photos of it...enjoy.

Salad that we grew, squash and tomato tian and pesto rice...yum!

To make the tian, I sliced up two yellow squash, two zucchini,
and two heirloom tomatoes. 

I layered them in a casserole dish and topped with thyme.
It baked in a 400 degree oven (covered with foil) for 30 minutes.
I then sprinkled a light layer and shredded Parmesan and
baked, uncovered, for an additional 10 minutes.

We had a load of basil in the garden,
so we whipped up a couple batches--one with walnuts
and one with pine nuts.

We mixed one scoop with some basmati rice and sprinkled on some cheese.
The rest we scooped onto a parchment lined sheet and popped them into the freezer.
Once they are solid, we will individually bag them to use thus fall.

After dinner, I walked by the studio and noted that I wouldn't be likely
to make anything when the bench was still cluttered from my
last session.

Ten minutes later, and I am ready to work again soon.

So, here I am again. Feeling a teeny bit more focused and ready to zip into autumn with scissors in one hand and my lap top in the other--ready to share it all with you.

Sunday Funday: Getting back in the swing

Trying to become a regular blogger again has been a bit of a challenge. Given the absolutely gorgeous weather this weekend, we have spent the entire time outdoors, getting things done. Which means that I have done nothing to prepare for the coming week's blog.I also have made those pesky quilt blocks yet. Nothing has been made, much less photographed. 


Luckily, I did today's project just before the hiatus.


It is forecast call for rain tomorrow night, so I can buckle down and get things cranking again!

Bought these awesome bird patterns from So September.
LOVe Corrine's work!! Also, kind of in love with the colors that I chose.
And, yes, I am stitching on a fabric napkin that I picked up at Goodwill
for $.25. 

The finished trio on my inspiration wall. 

It's a lil bit fuzzy, but you get the idea!

Sunday Funday: Rick Rack Roses

Today, just a cute little post to make cut little roses. I added mine to hair clips for instant adorable!

Supplies:
rick rack (I used two colors of vintage)
Hot glue gun
Hair clips

Cut two strips of rick rack about 20" long.
"Braid" the two strips together.
Roll to form bud. Occasionally add a drop of glue.
Fold down some of the edges to form petals.
Glue to hair clips, a pin, or anything that needs a little spring!

Not perfect, but later attempts came out wonderfully.
I love them all the same.

Sunday Funday: Lace Bowls

Today is a simple post, a simple craft, and a simple joy. Now I can look at lace everyday without feeling like I am a doll or a Mrs. Havisham.

Using a lace bowl to display shells that we collected
on our last vacation.

Choose bowls of several sizes to match your doilies
or pieces of lace. Cover entirely with plastic wrap.

Totally saturate the entire doily in liquid starch.
I looked at the local grocery stores, pharmacies,
and Target and had to resort to buying it at Wal-Mart.

Drape each saturated piece of lace of the bowl
to mold it. Smooth down and shape as necessary.

A beautiful way to display items throughout the house.\\
I am using one for bananas in my kitchen :)

Sunday Funday: Let the sun shine in!

Today is a grey day, inside and out. The weather is going downhill...it was 90 on Monday and flurries are in the forecast for tonight. Ugh. The up-and-down weather is going hand-in-hand with my mental roller coaster. I am trying to make some life-changing decisions. Scary stuff. Right now, I need a little more sunshine to help me out. 

Luckily, earlier this week, I finished a quick little sun catcher project to keep the sunshine in.

It is nothing super-difficult like stained glass. It is a project that you could easily do with the kids!

My sun catchers add a little something extra
to my studio windows.

First, I traced my designs onto vellum paper. I purchased
mine at a local art supply store but you can
easily find it online.

I cut some tissue paper into squares to decoupage
onto two of the circles. 

They curled as they dried, so I sandwiched them
in plastic wrap and weighted them as they dried.

I painted others with watercolors that I heavily diluted.

These curled as well, so I used coins to weigh
down the edges.

Once the dried, I mounted them on the window with
double-sided tape. If you wanted to hang them, you could create
frames from card stock to mount them in.

You could also use vellum to add a little something extra to cards and invitations.

Sunday Funday: Crafting through the Crap

Today was not what I expected. Last night, I was incredibly excited to get up at make things. And then, I actually did get up. All the problems of my real life kind of piled up and knocked me back down. I am having a down day to be sure--insecurity, career fears, monetary issues--things that we all deal with but I have been having an especially hard time with them this week. It is hard to think about just creating when everything brings up another issue.


After a long talk with someone incredibly dear to me; I got up,  put on my favorite working ensemble and put up my hair. I got out some supplies, turned on Mad Men and got to work on today's projects.


 I was, and am, distracted. I mis-measured some of my fabric because I was thinking of something else. I had to pull out seams because my mind wasn't completely on my task. I struggle to stay in the zone. After a while though, I got into more of a groove. Cutting table, sewing machine, ironing board, cutting table, sewing machine, ironing board...


My seams are not straight. My composition could have been a little better. But I made something. I intend to make more as the night goes on. I have two more days to do whatever I want. I have a huge list of blog topics and an even longer list of projects to work on. My mood is still not great. My mind is still flitting, thinking of problems. But it also thinking about thread, fabric, glue, tag board, and metal. 


Many people say "Fake it 'til you make it." I say "CRAFT THROUGH THE CRAP."

One of my two fabric inspiration boards.
I chose several fabrics that I hope to incorporate into
a quilt. I decided to put it on my cutting table to keep
me focused and inspired.

Sadly, this hair means business.

Four themed fabrics sewn into a panel.

After sewing together and pressing, I wrapped the panel around
the glass of a frame that picked up at the thrift store.

For my second panel, I used an old gilt frame that I also picked up
at the thrift store. It was trickier since it was older
and had last been used for a professional
framing job.

Added it to my inspiration wall near my sewing machine.

Fabrics that I absolutely love.
I am definitely making this into a girly
birdy quilt.