Happy 2011!

Wow! This holiday season came & went in a flash. I got wrapped up with the etsy shop & the orders that came in. Even the last minute orders! I was happy to see that all my clients (even the procrastinators, and I say that lovingly) got their packages on time. YAY! So with the New Year in less than 11 hours coming, I've already started getting my list of TO DOs for the upcoming year. I'm sure I could go on and on and list them but for now I'll just leave it at one of the most important ones. Getting organized, and keeping to a set time schedule are things I need to learn to manage. I mean I read tons and tons of advice on small/ home businesses, but seriously didn't think how much time it takes out of your day even as you "work" at home. Sam even made me promise that one of the things I need to do at the very least, is not check my email when I'm heading to the gym. So gym time is really me time, no email. From driving over there to working out to coming home and shower, she made me promise to keep that time clear of business type things. She's a smart kid what can I say.
Anyways, the passed two days I've been organizing the craft studio, and I managed to use my cricut (something I put on my list to get more acquainted with in 2011) and came up with this awesome quick project.


I have a ton of binders with different things in them.. I decided to label them.
I used my cricut to cut out the words. I put regular contact paper through it and came out with good results. 

Then I peeled the backing off & put them on the binder spines. 

The contact paper acted as a stencil & I was able to paint in the letters...

I let them dry overnight & peeled off the contact paper in the AM...

"Invoices & Receipts" kept together. "Patterns" will mainly be for my sewing patterns but stencils too.

"Ideas" keep all my magazine clippings for craft ideas, or clothes/ 

outfit. 

 "Nestings" is for all the house ideas I come across & want to try or at least attempt to. They need their own binder, because I have tons of mag clippings for my nesting moments.


So, I'm happy to see that my little experiment with my cricut worked, and she cooperated to crank out these stencils for me.  I've had that poor machine forever. I HAD to have it & when I got it for a good deal off ebay, well...I rarely used it. So, so like I said, one of my other goals is to get more acquainted with it & put it to good use this coming year.
Wish me luck! 
Happy New Year 2011!
Feel free to share any of your new year goals! I'd love to see them! 


shen  

Holidays are here again!!!

I'm so excited. After missing last year's Bazaar Bizarre. We've made plans to go this year!
Taking Sam along with us, should be a fun time up in the city, as always. 

For more information, please visit http://www.bazaarbizarre.org/sanfrancisco/

I'll post pictures in a couple weeks! 

Happy Holidays! 

shen  

nutty holiday season.

The crazy holiday season is upon us again. Things are nuts, and even though I wanted to try and blog at least once a week, I have pretty much stuck to it the best I could. Thanksgiving has come up so fast, and with me concentrating on trying to finish certain items, I feel swamped. I'm not even going to cook this year. Last year, I made an awesome turducken, but this year, I convinced the husband to eat out. So reservations have been made, and this year Thanksgiving is stress free! YAY! 
We'll be going to a local all you can eat buffet restaurant for dinner. Tatami's in Cupertino claims that we will have lobster, turkey, roast pig, and all the sides, PLUS my favorite.. SASHIMI & SUSHI!!!!! wooohoooo!

So no crazy grocery shopping, no getting up early to slave away in the kitchen, no dishes to wash or dirty kitchen to clean... 
It's all so easy, and I feel so guilty. I guess we shall see how I am feeling when we are sitting at our table.

With that said, Happy Thanksgiving Everyone! 
I have to listen to this song at least a dozen times the week leading up to Thanksgiving.. 


Enjoy!






shen  

Why I do what I do...

Crafting, regardless of what the project may be, is my coping method with life. It’s my “quiet time”.  Even when my surroundings are very much chaotic. When I'm concentrating on making something, my mind is clear, focused, and undisturbed. With all the craziness around me, and being in a world of open-endedness this is something I have complete control over. From start to finish, it's something textile, concrete, solid, that I have my hands on & I'm working to complete. If I don’t have a project going, I feel…empty, useless, unproductive… I’m happy when I’m crafting, and the same goes for cooking and cleaning. These are all set steps to get to a final finished vision.

Having the etsy shop open for over a month now has been exciting. Even when I’m just answering questions from random users, it gives me something to do. I like it. Being able to day dream, and figure out the next list of projects to do keeps me occupied. I’m so excited when I make a sale. I honestly think to myself, “SOMEONE actually liked it enough to buy it ?!?! from ME ?!?” I hope that that feeling never goes away.

Life is good. 


Just a snapshot of the current projects...

Click here for more description

shen

holy moly!!! fabric insanity!

There's a local fabric shop here in San Jose, right down the street from the San Jose Flea Market, which I would like to add is another excellent place to go for crafty goodness. 
The fabric shop is called  Fabrics R us... and oh my goodness, you have no idea how awesome this place can be. Not until I started sewing and really getting into it, that I realize what a haven this place  actually is. Yes, it doesn't have the cute little prints like Joann's or Hancocks. But they have tons and tons of other fabrics, all kinds of silks, dupioni silks, polyesters, cotton blends, fleeces, sequenced fabrics, sari fabric...... the list goes on and on. It's definitely worth the trip, and if you take your time to sort through everything you'll come out on top because the prices are excellent as well. I can't wait to go again. I think I'm gonna make some curtains some time soon. 


Check out their reviews on yelp too:
http://www.yelp.com/biz/fabrics-r-us-san-jose

The specific review that hits the nail on the head is a review by a yelper Marlyn A.. So if you go on yelp and check it out, look for her review. 

Don't expect superduper excellent customer service, you basically need to know what you want because they're not going to cater to you all day. 
 
Here are some pics from my little visit...

The selection is so large that there are a few more shops in this strip mall.

You can always ask for help to get pointed in the right direction.

Tons of notions to sort through, including buttons, lace collars, fasteners.

oo! look at that rosey 3d magenta, now image that in several assorted colors! fun stuff!

A sequenced mermaid's dream! isles and isles!

upholstery fabrics can be found here too!

Ton & Tons of threads and ribbons... 

I also love the fact that they tear the fabric from right off the bolt. There's just something primal and not to mention SEXY about that sound of that awesome ripping of cloth. 

Just thinking about it, I need to go again. oh man... I NEED to go again. 

eeeee! i have goosebumps.  

Happy Halloween!!! 
shen 

Weapon of choice..Staple gun!

So although it wasn't the downpour I was hoping for (down in the south bay at least,) I decided to finally tackle a project I've been preparing for a couple weeks now.  It took me a couple weeks only because I was a tad hesitant on how to go about it. 

Well armed with a staple gun, I went for it. 
Reupholstering the old office chair in the art studio to be more...uh..... FUN!  

#1, 5, 6 Before pics
#2 are the tools needed 

• heavy fabric (my specific project took 1 1/2 yards, but I bought more because I'm making matching throw pillows at a later time)
• hammer
• screw driver or drill to disassemble chair 
• a small & medium wood chisels
• heavy duty staple gun & staples
• fabric scissors
• A tube of strongstik DAP glue.

#3, 4 & 9 are pics of disassembling the chair. In my case,I took the back off the chair, and unscrewed the bottom (seat part) off the part that has all the adjustment levers. Then I took the arms off the chair. Taking all these pieces apart is well worth it, your fabric will fit around the sections nicely, and neatly. Lastly, using the chisels I used them to pry the backing off the back of the chair. 


#11 & 12 are the seat of the chair. I took off the staples from the bottom liner & since it was in good condition I reused it (if you need to replace yours you should. Although you will rarely see this area, it just gives it a nice finished look). I then stapled the fabric around  (#10) then put the liner back on & stapled that in place to cover the first round of staples. 
Here's a closer look:

first row of staples

turn your work over as you make your way around & smooth out the wrinkles.

With Liner, put a nicer neater row of staples to finish it off. (#8)

# 7, 14, 15 & 17 are all pictures of stapling the fabric into place.

#15 also shows the straight nails that get hammered back into the other back piece. However, I found this part really tricky & ended up using the StrongStik DAP glue which worked out great! If it doesn't work out for your chair use upholstery nails. 

#13 &16 show the finished pieces of the back of the chair together & completed.

#18, 19 & 20 are pics of the finished project. 

Here are some photos of it in natural sunlight...

baby got back!

 
This took me from around 11:30 to 3 in the afternoon including assembling.  Overall, I'm pretty happy how it turned out. 

More pics later, as I press forward to get the art studio finished & decorated. 

Let me know if you need some clarification, I know this isn't exactly the best explanation.  I was in a hurry to crank out this entry before the end of the night.
shen

A crafty weekend...

So I took  a few days off because I had some online traffic school to finish up.  Thinking I wasn't going to meet the deadline, I took Thursday and Friday off to do it, and just so I had a nice long weekend, I added monday to it. It is now sunday.  I was able to complete the traffic course Wednesday night.
As I watch the Giants vs. Phillies game 2, I am typing out this entry.
I've had a pretty productive weekend considering it started on Thursday. Thursday, being a short day, and I have to get the kids early, I only managed to mail out some orders, and go to Joann's for some fabric therapy. I even had a chance to go to  SJ Japantown, and get some nommy sushi! 
 I was able to re-stuffed my owl pillow.

Made from a few scraps & a favorite sweater from h-school.

It was looking pretty sad and flattened out, painted some frames that will go into the studio and made some clips, and a headband for the etsy shop. And started my dia de los muertos (day of the dead) wreath. The wreath project has me pretty excited. Especially since I'm planning to take the kiddos to a weekend full of the holiday's festivals. One festival is even located in a large cemetery. In attempts to expose them to their Hispanic heritage, I'll be doing more research these next two weeks leading up to Halloween and this special holiday. It was cool seeing the kiddos' interest in a display  at a local store, so now I'm trying to learn more. However, I can't wait until the wreath is done, and I can show you all how it came out.


I attempted to get another printing of the sriracha shirts started last weekend which turned out to be a big fail, and it continued again into this weekend with no luck. I'm going to do a last attempted tomorrow, and then I dunno what I'm going to do. The capillary film is just not picking up the details in the roster part, and it's frustrating the crap out of me. Especially since it seems to be a really popular item, I really want to get the print down and get some shirts cranked out. 


My friday off turned out to be pretty uneventful, as I was busy doing some accounting type things, and not much else. At night I was able to crank out a few hair clips again, work on my wreath, and start on a sewing project, and continued the project on to Saturday afternoon. Saturday night, I worked on a quick project for the studio. A container (old large broth can) wrapped with yarn. Sam decided on the design, and I followed. 

just a hint of color showing through.

Sam's idea.. wish i had orange yarn though.

Sunday, today, was set aside for paintballing, but it finally rained, and we weren't able to play. I worked on my wreath again, and tried out another print with the sriracha print with a big F.A.I.L again...  It's got me really frustrated, but like I said I'm trying out a couple more times this week to see if some of my theories may have contributed to the failure.
I'm still really hopeful.


Tomorrow, Monday, still a day off, I'm hitting up the fabric store again, because I have coupons to use and a shopping list. Stay tuned here and on the etsy shop... I'll be posting up pics of the finished projects soon. 


Hope you are all having a nice weekend too!  What crafty-ness where you up to?




shen

Swirly wall goes bye bye!

So remember the blog from way back... Where I painted my wall with this crazy swirly swirl... I even made a how-to video of it... 

Well, I got tired of looking at it! You don't even understand, it made me feel like the house was chaotic. So I HAD to changed it. Thank goodness.

It was one of my TO-DO's for the summer, and it was completed.

I'm still working on what I want displayed but over-all I'm relieved that I don't have to look at that swirl on my wall anymore.

The swirly madness.

The dining room is almost done, I'm still trying to find the perfect mirror to go opposite this wall, and a nice "buffet" table to go right under it, but with the purchase of my awesome dining table, the swirl just wasn't cutting it anymore.

I had to cover up the swirls first in case a 2nd or 3rd coat was needed.

Lowe's Valspar Eggshell finish in Tawny. Totally perfect.

First Shelf with two tikis  hand-carved from Hawaii.

2nd shelf. The boys putting it up.

3rd & DONE!

I've always wanted to use these IKEA wall ledges.

Really inexpensive, RIBBA picture ledges. 

Taken tonight as I finished up this entry.

I  can display some of my most coveted shells & souvenirs from the beach & beach-side trips. 

But! This just reminds me that I really need to get in gear and put some pictures up. Most of the picture frames I have in the house are blank!



shen

Another Upcycle Project...

The first step is to admit that I have a problem.. Well,I am an addict. I'm addicted to fabric! I love fabric. I can stay at the fabric store for hours and hours. Touching, feeling, and looking and looking with no particular project in mind. I could easily blow all my money at one time. I've gotten better though. I've learned to take pictures with my phone and walk away.  Don't believe me...
Here's proof... I really do stand in the fabric store and snap away, at times I get weird looks from the ladies there, but you know what... bleh! I don't care! This makes me happy.

However, before I learned this money saving habit, I still accumulated quite a stash of cute prints... What did I decide to do with it??? Well I had these old beat up  magazine holders hanging around. Never had the heart to throw them away. I don't know why they were cheap as all heck at IKEA but they stayed around for a while. It's possible, now that I think of it, I had them back at our old condo too. Sheesh!

Anyways, here they are before...

 

 

And with some spray on adhesive, and some of my favorite fabric prints. Careful wrapping & cutting. And.... 

Cute right?

 Now in my Art studio?.....

See my mushroom ironing board? I have a matching magazine box :D

So I thought this is a great way for any fabric obsession to show off some of the stash.

To give them a finished look put felt pieces at the bottom.  

Would you buy these if I sold these on etsy? 

I hope that the photo taking of fabric tip helps you too. Keep the pic files in their own folder, and you can always refer back to them when you find a project to do.

Happy Crafting! 

shen

Whistle while you work...

Before I started posting up items in the shop, I tried to make sure I had everything in place. Shop policies, appearances, etc.... All the paranoia built up in me, and trust me, the Friday before I started posting I was extremely nervous, and freaking out. But now that's its up and running, I'm proud to say, I only had to wait one day to sell my very first item. I feel accomplished. So with that being said, here is an entry I had prepared a few weeks leading up to the Grand Opening.... 

I flip flopped on a few banners, and  finally picked THEE one. 

The lil parasols from my dad's bday...

 The cupcake measuring tape...

Then finally, the "monster eye" beads...

I settled on the "eyes" because they were fun! But with all the practice I've been getting with photoshop, I know I can easily switch it up now & again.

I've made my invoice doc, and it's ready to go.
I've been taking online training classes thanks to the Small Business Bureau. Call me crazy, but I just want to make sure I'm doing everything correctly, and legally. 


shen

GRAND OPENING!

I had no idea how much work & time I was going to spend today on my online "Grand Opening", but I did it!

The shop is open!!!! 

Girly Spazms on Etsy

Some of the items are there, and I'm not even halfway done. I'll get more up tomorrow, hopefully. On top of going on a 20 mile bike ride this morning (thank you Google maps), I'm pretty beat. So it's time to relax, and unwind. Lots of errands to run tomorrow, a few custom orders have come in already, and Sam has a costume she wants me to make. I just thought I'd put up an entry to commemorate this awesome occasion. 

Stop by & check out the shop. I'll be adding more now, as I finish items instead of doing a ton all at once. 

I also wanted to take the time to Thank everyone of my friends & family for their support & encouraging words. You've all been awesome, and I'm totally appreciative to all of you.

Gnight for now! 

shen

My first serger project!

So I never really thought about what my first project would be when I finally got my serger, but thanks to etsy, I got an idea right away. I found an "iron cover" as mention in the previous post My Vintage Serger Overlock and thought, " psssshh, that shouldn't be too hard."

So I did it.
I didn't bother looking for a pattern online, I just winged it & you know it wasn't too bad. I could definitely recreate this. I'll be putting this one up on the etsy shop as a customizable order. 

When I was little (3-4 y.old, don't ask me why I remember these things, I just do.), I remember many nights where my mom and I were home, while my dad worked late.
My mom ironed (all the time) & while she ironed I watched t.v..  I always thought that the iron itself looked like  a ship & at times when my mom wasn't looking, I would play with it. Not plugged in, of course! Everyone rode on the "ironing ship", Barbie, Rainbow Brite, and her sprites... even smurfette!
Anyways, I thought the pirate ship pattern was an excellent choice for this project. I used two layers of insul-bright which is the brand name for insulated thermal batting, and an inside fabric, and tahdah! Done!

I also love this pattern because it has the aqua/ teal in it.

cozy or Kozzie? does anyone really care?

Velcro

Had to add my label.

shen