Wow I’m pooped!

I exploded everything I’ve been working on for the past bunch of weeks onto the kitchen table Friday night to impress myself with my industrious creativity. Check it out!

So are you impressed with my industrious creativity?  I sure was.  I thought it would be 100 things but when I checked my inventory list it was just over 80, still impressive.  Then I packed everything up and enlisted my husband’s help in getting all the sticky a-straw-was-here patches off the juice totes while we watched Glee, Modern Family AND The Office.  Yeah, it took a while.  When we were done it was almost midnight and I opted for some sleep instead of trying to get one more thing done.

The show was fun, I met some nice people and saw some neat crafts.  Some people made suggestions for items of modifications to my items which was cool.  The juice pouch totes were my best seller, a little boy picked one out for his mom for mother’s day, it was cute.  A lady approached me about being in a show strictly for upcycling items so now I’m thinking up new ideas to expand my inventory to include more than tea cup pincushions and juice pouch totes.    My photographer friend Joanna took a pic of our tables, I’ll share them once she recovers!

At the silent auction I bid on Joanna’s friend’s sock monkey sweatshirt and won! The creator is Robin and she makes super cool and nifty sock animals.

Apparently the traffic wasn’t what is should have been and some of the other vendors were upset. It was slower than last year so vendors who had been there in the past were a little disappointed. But I had a fun day out, met neat people, got some new ideas, hung out beside my friend and had some me time away from the kiddies.

When I woke up this morning I didn’t want to even look at crafts let alone do one . . . . but there are these rag quilt squares all spread out on the floor downstairs and I think I hear them calling my name . . . .

Craft show prep continues!

I finished my cute little tray for the show. I even sprayed the back with chalkboard paint and figured I might be able to use it as a sign if need be. I wrote on it with one of my bright chalkboard markers, which I finally relocated!

I also made 4 rag quilts to try out. Nothing like adding an item at the last minute! They’re really fun to make and I have oodles of flannel to use up. I went on a binge just cutting it all up into squares so it’s easy to grab some piles and plan a layout.

I love the one with the little monkeys and bananas floating in space.  The other ones have vehicles, monsters and aliens.  They’re all really fun.  Hoping to get 2 more done tomorrow in some girly colours,

Tomorrow (today?) I’ll post some of the ideas I came up with for displays, I think they’re super neat!

Tell Your Story class! My book and some useful sites.

Started my art journal for the Tell Your Story class.  I ordered some neat ephemera online and went to an antique store and found some old readers and kids books to tear apart.  Here’s my first two pages.

Can’t wait to fill more pages! And shop for more fun paper supplies . . . . just what I need! Another crafty addiction.
On this page I just used some crafts paints (the heart was just a smear of pink left on the brush but it started to look like a heart so I went with it), a sharpie, a colour swatch from the Home Depot flyer,  some scrapbook word stickers and a free printout of school book labels from Martha Stewart.

Despite all my arty and crafty supplies I didn’t have graph paper! Google to the rescue, just went here and you can choose the grid size you want and print it out. I ordered some really fun stuff from thryftypyg, which I will share in it’s own little special post. The packaging and printing on the envelope was sooo beautiful I decided to use it as my pocket.

I’ve been saving folders and folders of crafting ideas, PDF’s, tutorials, images . . . you name it!  Sadly I didn’t keep track in the beginning of where things came from and I’m kicking my self for that now.  But I do have some fun things to share, with proper credit and links!

LollyChops has some awesome free printables that I think would be great for the class, or just your craft projects.

Just Something I Made has neat labels and such. If you look under her ‘free art’ tab.

Get some free airmail stationary, and other fun freebies, from Linda at Tortagialla.

Creativity Prompt has some super neat journaling tags, just in case, like me, you happen to be addicted to them too. I love the graph paper ones.

And of course, the place I run into most of my awesome printables is One Pretty Thing. That’s also the place I open the most tabs and lose most of my time when at the computer. Thanks Rachel!

Hope these few links can help you with your art journals!

Organizing and a change of pace.

I had this idea ages ago for putting pictues on the bins for the toys in our house, but Wesley pulled off most of the pictures and mangled them.  He was younger then.  So today I took some pictures of the craft supplies in our kitchen, that are neatly stored in our handy IKEA shelving thingie (thanks bff!) and printed them out in wallet size.  Then I laminated them with some little quick and easy card sized laminating sleeves from the dollar store.  I switch them to the bins with little velcro dots, also from the dollar store.  Then if toys change or we switch things up a bit it’s easy to fix.

I also re-labelled the toy bin in the living room and then we had a HUGE toy cleanup.  Things were a bit of a mess after the weekend.  All the toys were tidied in about 15 minutes, which with a 3 year old and 1 year old is pretty good!

I managed to finish 5 taggie blankies today.  They were already in various states of completion so it wasn’t too hard.  I’ve been going a bit bug eyed creating the same things over and over in preparation for the craft show this weekend so I opted for a change of pace.  I pieced together a rag quilt I’ve been wanting to try.  I’ve never made one so here’s hoping all goes well!

Playing along, at last.

Joining in on the fun thanks to Freckled Nest.

1. Favorite hobby?

Things I do here. It used to be papercrafts but now I’ve moved more into things that involve fabric, sewing and embroidery.

2. Favorite tv show?

I think I have to be lame and claim a tie right now.

3. Favourite restaurant food?

Anything spicy and not something we could make ourselves (or at least not as well as the restaurant).  Pad thai is fantastic . . . . and naan freshly made at the restaurant . . . . and fattoush . .

Source (and recipe!)

4. Favorite thing to shop for?

Books!!! Books!!! Books!!! Right now they all seem to be sewy or crafty books.

5. Favorite animal?

I love giraffes! I’ve got the perfect picture I took at the zoo one day.

6. Favorite song?

I’m all about soundtracks lately.  This is pretty much on repeat in the van, otherwise the Wiggles get requested.

7. Favorite word?

I make words up a lot, I figure years of university to get an English degree gives me the right. I’ve always liked words that are fun and silly to say, French has a bunch of those, like ananas and pamplemousse. Then I found these guys, which makes pamplemousse an even cooler word!

8. Recent favorite youtube video?

We’ve been sharing childhood favourite with our son. It’s fantastic to watch him crack up with the giggles over things that made us laugh too. This one has been asked for many times.

9. Favorite movie?

10. Favorite childhood memory?

Meet Sparky, he’s my big pink elephant. My mom’s bff gave him to me pretty much the day I was born, I’ve still got him. I spent a HUGE part of my life cuddling him at night while i slept. Once when I was little I remember having to go to bed without him and being so upset. I remember my mom bringing him in to tuck him under my arms when he came out of the laundry. He was still all warm and smelled like Sunlight, it was awesome. Even in my sleepy state it was great.

If I had a little girl I think her room would be cupcake themed!

Imagine!

Sources

Cupcake Pillow – pattern free with sign up

Quilting Arts
Cupcake messenger type bag from XcessRize Designs
Amigurumi Cupcake Crochet Pattern from AmyGaines
Cupcake pillow case dress from mysweetangelboutique
Scrabble tile pendant by missturtledesigns
Cupcake bedding (and other decor) from Vision Bedding
Cupcake socks from We Heart It

100th post, the end.

81.  Twitter is still a bit of a mystery to me.

82.  Collecting fonts is lots of fun, thanks Fonts for Peas.

83.  Some things sell better in person rather than online, especially soft cuddly things.

84.  Sometimes making your own _____ is more meaningful and fun than buying it.

85.  Hot topic is a good place for goofy laptop stickers.

86.  Changing a bobbin seems to really slow you down.

87.  Birdcages and little birds are cute.

88.  Embroidery can be cool.  Thanks for the freebies, and the purchases.

89.  Online swaps are a lot of work, but really fun when your package arrives.

90.  My life would be easier with a Cricut and Sure Cuts a Lot.

91.  I like Dainty Squid‘s blog.  I like her is easy, I just have to open my ‘note to self’ email every time to remember how.

93.  BFF’s support you and buy your stuff.

94.  Brainstorming with other people generates amazing results.

95.  You need a day off, even from doing what you love.

96.  Travel fuels creativity.

97.  Never write a post listing 100 things.  It’s harder than you think.

98.  Keep Calm at all times.

99.  Sleeping less can make me happier if I’m using that awake time wisely.

100.  Writing your 100th post happens quicker than you think ;)

Tote #1 finished . . . .5 months later!

Remember this? That I was soooo excited about? Yeah, it’s been sitting neglected in my craft area all this time. That’s a little embarassing. Last night, for a change from taggie blankies and juice pouch totes, I picked it up and finished the little sucker.

The handles are made from a belt I thrifted and the main white fabric with the brown plantlike print was on crazy sale for $3 for a big huge remnant. I love the little detail of the brown inner fabric peaking out at the top. I’m pretty happy with the results considering it was my first attempt.

100th post part 4

61.  Family members join fan pages because they love.

62.  Collage art work is so fun, like here at Cabin and Cub.

63.  People want to feature me because I’m so cool!  Thanks One Artsy Momma.

64.  The internet is bad (good?) for my tote and bag addiction.  Thanks Kimmykingsbury and Hot Butter.

65.  Other bloggers are friendly and helpful!

66.  Happy mail is super awesome fun.

67.  WordPress is pretty easy to use.  Except for the HTML part.

68.  My hubby doesn’t like programming for me late at night.

69. Multitasking has become my friend.

70.  Watching Lost distracts from writing blog posts.

71. When you talk about doing what you love the people listening get inspired too.

72. Your hobby can get even more fun as you share it with others.

73.  Getting featured when you’re away at Christmas at a resort with no internet stinks.  Thanks for the link Sew Mama Sew!

74.  I can share my creations with people who appreciate it more than my husband, toddler, baby and cats.

75.  Vintage Dick and Jane readers are harder to find than you think.

76.  My phone headseat is super handy for crafting.

77.  Apparently changing from a 2 column layout to a 3 with is tricky.

78.  Getting an email that someone commented on your blog is a little thrill.

79.  Ringing phones distract from writing blog posts.

80.  I’ve never used so much thread in my life.

100th post part 3

41. Mentioning to your handy with wood working friend you need a display pays off, thank you Derek.

42.  Blogging is addictive.

43 & 44 Canadian girls are awesome!  Thanks for all your answers, teaching and neat ideas LA.  Vintage is so fun, Jill makes it so.

45. Home decor is funner when you can make it all yourself.

46.  Sometimes it can be surprising what a person can suffer and how positive and inspirational they can be, thank you for your blog NieNie.

48.  Shopping online is waaaay to easy.

49.  My hubby is happy I have someones elses to talk to about crafts.

50.  Word of mouth is great exposure.

51.  Unique gifts are always a hit.

52.  The people at MOO rock!

53.  Maintaining an internet presence take a lot of work.

54. Posting pictures of my face and body didn’t kill me.

55. An RSS feed can eat up a lot of  time.

56.  Giveaways are fun.

57. An iphone is super useful.

58. Ephemera is a word I have no idea how to say.

59.  Thrifting doesn’t make me weird.  All the cool kids are doing it.

60.  I can craft with small children underfoot (just not well sometimes)