Girly Spazms of my craftiness...

Kimchi Salad Recipe

2012-02-07T08:32:00.000-08:00

Did you know that there are health benefits to kimchi? Well there are! A little bit of a microbiology lesson today? Kimchi has probiotics that help your own body’s little microorganisms to digest. Don’t believe me, then go google it for more info. Kimchi! It's good stuff!

Aside from crafting up a storm, I also love to cook... Call me crazy but when I cook, I like to pretend I have my very own cooking show, and I narrate what I am doing in my head. I should take that back... I do have my own cooking show, with an audience of one.

So I know a few of you have asked for my kimchi salad recipe back in December, and I’ve finally put it together.

I’m sorry it took so long. It’s pretty simple, so I hope that you try it. Let me know how yours turns out & if you’ve tweaked your salad to your taste, share what you’ve done.

I have no specific measurements, because I don’t stand there and measure the portions. Like most of my cooking endeavors, I kind of eye-ball it to see how much I will need depending on how many people are eating & season to taste.

So you can use this combo to make a one person salad or a 20 person salad if you so choose.

What you’ll need:

CHICKEN!

You can get fancy with your chicken, or you can even switch it to pork if you’d like. I don’t really recommend beef unless maybe it was medium rare. Teriyaki chicken is my favorite. I prefer my chicken in my salad cold, but you can do what ever you like.

This is completely to your taste and liking. If you like more of something, by all means, put more of it.If you’re lazy, you can even get a ready-to-go rotisserie chicken from the market.

Shred the chicken

Then shred some cabbage & make a bed of it on your serving plate.

Then place the following ingredients on top.

CHOPPED GREEN ONIONS

KIMCHI (Your brand)

PICKLED BAMBOO SHOOTS (your brand) (drained unless you like all that oil in there. I’m not judging)

Then as dressing a big dollop of KEWPIE MAYO (Japanese mayonnaise)

SRIRACHA to taste.

Tadah!

Now present your salad when it’s in a cute organized plate, and when everyone has sat down you mix, toss & serve.

That’s it! See I told you it was pretty simple. ;D

shen

Crazy Thrift Shopping...

2011-12-06T08:40:00.000-08:00

I am fortunate enough to have children who like thrift store shopping with me. You never know what cheap treasures you'll find...A perfect relaxing day off for me is taking my time shuffling through the knickknack shelves. More recently though, I'm in search for fun colorful bed sheets (Project coming soon) & old cable knit sweaters (revamping into throw pillows)....
The kiddos and I had a crazy day of thrift store shopping just recently. This was prompted by Sam's spirit day at school "Crazy/ Ugly Holiday Sweater Day".
Although we didn't find anything aside from a $20 cardigan at a nearby Goodwill, we did find a couple laughs along the way.

Evil Demon Squirrel needlework

Is it a bear? Is it a moose? you tell me.

Sammie ended up buying a crazed snowflake turtle neck that she's wearing with a crazy green Christmas tie.
(pic coming soon)

We're gonna make her a sweater when the Christmas crazy dies down & the tacky appliques are on clearance.
I'll let you know how that goes..

shen

garland fetish?!?!

2011-12-05T09:49:00.000-08:00

Ever since my hubs FINALLY put up my huge mirror in the dining room, I've been obsessed with decorating it with whatever holiday season it happens to be.

Although I have plans for a few more garlands to hang about this holiday season, here is one I finished...

The garland of snowy evergreens & pine cones I bought at Michael's on sale for $6.99 (Regular price $12.99). I bought two so that it would be long enough to go across the mirror...

Then I bought a couple cheapy sprigs of berries (also on sale for 69¢).

With Anthony's help we dismantled them on a cold evening...

When I asked him to help me do this, there was no hesitation.

When pulling the berries apart, I had to be gentle & make sure we didn't rip the wire out from the berry. We only had one casualty which could easily be fixed with a lil bit of glue & popped back on, but Anthony wanted to play with it...so he kept it.

We then grouped them in couples & threesomes, and kept some singles & placed them randomly throughout the garland.

Yes, yes... I realize pine cones and berries don't grow together in nature, but you know what, they do in my fantasy world!

And here we go!

I used white on white wire LED lights in the back for that nice glow at night.

Happy Holiday Decorating!

Christmas is gonna barf all over the house this up coming week!

shen

Doing things differently...

2011-11-30T07:58:00.000-08:00

Inspired by A.steed's life's blog Dated Design Wall Art (pictured above), where she goes into a photoshop tutorial to get your numbers to the correct size to fit your frame..(Don't worry if you aren't into playing around with photoshop, she has a few versions available on zazzle. Just check out her links!)... I set out to make our own version.

I debated whether or not I should put Sam's B-day before or after, consulted with the BFF Linda, and with her convincing, and calling it a "modern timeline" I went forward...
After all, we all do things differently...
Armed with a ruler, measured my frame, determined what size numbers I needed, and used my cricut to cut out the numbers & a nice linen fabric for my background. My pink little hearts were paper punched from a paint chip.

I think it was good use of an empty large frame. I'm still a little weary about having my age out there, but eh... I'll get over it.

shen

Quick Halloween floral arrangement tutorial!

2011-11-16T18:32:00.000-08:00

You can use this tutorial for any holiday flower arrangement, but I was inspired by a ready made one at Michael's. I liked it so much that I actually was considering buying it for their price... $49.99... Oh boy that would have been buyer's remorse BIG TIME! So after pushing it around in the cart & carefully inspecting it, I figured out what I needed to make my own.

A craft pumpkin in your color choice... scalped.

I usually am very anal about perfect straight cuts, etc, but I was pressed for time. So I used a butter knife stabbed it around as much as I could, then ripped the rest of it off.

You won't see the edge after all the flowers are in it.

A stereofoam ball big enough to fit into your pumpkin.

I found this to be very light & if you have a top heavy floral arrangement, well, you're gonna need more weight in the base. So I suggest getting rocks or sand, putting that at the bottom, and then squeezing your ball or putting a half ball into your base...

Again, I was so pressed for time, so I just popped this sucker in there & went on sticking my floral pieces in there. I'll probably undo it & weigh it down next Halloween, but for now it's staying packed in the containers in the garage AS IS.

Now for the part I didn't show you... I did this a few weeks before the actual arrangement making. Got a few dollar store floral sprigs (your choice) & spray painted them black. It doesn't have to be completely coated. It actually gives them a neat look when some of the color still shows through the black...

In this photo you can see, some of the orange parts I missed.

All I did was spread out the sprigs as much as possible, put them out on my very abused dropped cloth & sprayed away. Flipped it over and sprayed some more.

I use to be very shy when it came to spray painting things... Now, not so much! Let me at it!!! :::evil grin:::

I did buy a few "pricier" pieces for my arrangement though. These were found in the christmas holiday section of my craft store. They were fun and glittery & acted as "focal points" to my otherwise black arangement.

And ta-dah!

I have a nice halloween foral arrangement.
This project cost me about $13.

Instead of the crazy price they were asking at the craft store. I am going to revamp it a little more next year. Maybe add a spider or two, some purple.. But there you have it.

I wrapped some cute glittery fabric around the pumpkin & put in on the coffee table & called it a day! :)

Let me know if you have any questions!

I'm thinking of making one for Thanksgiving, possibly going for the rustic w/ vintage lace vibe.
In any case, I'll let you know!

Thanks for stopping by!

shen

Halloween tour VIDEO!

2011-11-15T10:08:00.000-08:00

I decided to make a video/ slideshow tour of all Halloween things around the house instead of the same ho-hum entry with picture after picture. I'm starting to finally work on new projects, both personal projects for home, and for the etsy shop. I'm scheduled to reopen the shop by this coming Sunday November 20th, but I'm not too sure yet. I'm kind of liking taking it easy.

I'm definitely enjoying being home, crafting, cooking, cleaning and resting when I need to. I've been able to just focus on family & household things and it's really really nice.

The capelet was definitely fun to make. I'm considering making more next Halloween to put up in the etsy shop. I tweaked the pattern a lil bit but I got the pattern from: http://www.fleecefun.com/red-riding-hood-cape-pattern.html

It's a easy pattern to follow.

You can use any material with this pattern. I used a really thick silk material when originally I wanted a very soft flowy satin, and only found it when I already got my fabric cut. DOH! (Tip: always take the time to look for exactly what you want or just ask.. Yes, I know I could have easily abandoned my cut fabric, but I'm not a douche!) Anyways, I'm thinking a fleece one is in order. It would be nice a cozy.
This whole red riding hood thing, now has me in search of the perfect red pea coat. I HAVE to have one!
Anyways, here's the video! I'll have a Halloween flower arrangement tutorial coming up next. So..... ENJOY!

Demo video of Tony's mask....

shen

Halloween!!!

2011-10-28T08:59:00.000-07:00

October has been such a busy month. Today marks the one week countdown til my surgery. I’m nervous, but we’re preparing. The etsy shop will be “on vacation” by the time I re-open I’ll have an action plan for the holiday rush. I told myself I wasn’t going to decorate much because of the upcoming events but of course I didn’t listen to myself & decorated the house for Halloween. I do need to give myself credit though. I didn’t put out my Nightmare before Christmas village, I’m bummed but at the same time it would have been more work to put out & put back. So I get points for that right???

So I just wanted to do a quick update. It’s Halloween weekend, and with all the costume making and decorating, I didn’t blog AT ALL this month til now. I’ll be sure to make up for it, with lots of pictures and descriptions in the next entry. I am so excited about this Halloween, because although I love Halloween, I haven’t dressed up in such a long time. I’ve always focused on decorations. This year I have four costumes to make and only one done. So I’m really pressed for time. Even right now as I type this out I only have one done, and that’s only because today is Halloween dress up day for the school. We’ve got a few parties to get to over the weekend, so tonight & tomorrow is basically all I’ve got to finish the other three.

Wish me luck! Can’t wait to give you a “tour” blog-wise of the festivities of Halloween. Next year we’re throwing a party!

shen

Getting Legit..

2011-09-14T10:44:00.000-07:00

So here I am. It’s already mid-September & the numerous incomplete blog entries are just sitting there waiting to be completed and posted. Oh, well…

I figured I’d have plenty of time when I’m on medical leave in November to do all the miscellaneous interwebbing task I’d like to catch up on. Read other blogs, put up some entries of my own, upload a ton of pictures on flickr… facebook…

I’ll stay busy.

So for now I’ll share what some of the main goals I’m trying to accomplish by the end of 2011. I’m going legit. Sellers permit, business license, and fictitious name papers will all be filed by hopefully October, but if it stretches out until November/December I won’t mind.

Why the push? Well, I want to be ready to sell & have a booth/ table.

I’m starting to be more confident of the items I make, and I’m ready to put myself out there a lot more.

I recently attended (with the hubby & kiddos) the San Pedro Square Sign lighting ceremony, in beautiful downtown San Jose. We were able to do a walk- through of the whole floor plan, and I can honestly say I’m very excited about the vision the higher-ups have for this place.

If you’re interested here is their website. http://www.sanpedrosquaremarket.com/

Well during our walk-through, I noticed a “rental table section- $20 a day” which got me very animated about the whole idea. So excited that when I got home that night, I emailed to get more information. So now I’m preparing…Sellers permit, I figured was the easiest, because that’s what everyone else wants you to turn in when you are doing a booth at a festival. Now I will have one of my very own. Yay!

I also went out and got a PO Box for Girly Spazms. I figured with Christmas coming & the busy times I had last year, I’d like to mail things out from the new PO instead.

So if anyone comes across this & feels the need to send some snail mail, send it on over. I’d love some.

Girly Spazms P.O. Box 59661 San Jose, CA 95159

I have new business cards designed and ready to go, but I’ve placed them on hold until I get down to at least half of my other supply of the old cards.

I’ve been busy making lunch napkins & I am planning to add bento box sets to sell on my etsy shop as well as the table later.

I have my little brainstorming book that I carry around with me. As much as I love my ipad, there is nothing like being able to write w/ good old paper and pen.

My cute little idea notebook.

Quick update on Sam's elections. She didn't win, but to reward her for her bravery, we went out for some awesome udon & sushi dinner. We had a great time & over-all I think she's coping well with not wining.

Now the kiddos (+ her bff) are asking for Halloween costumes & I'm slowly designing them.

Oh! Halloween is coming! My favorite!

I also started commissioning Sammie (aka meowstachio) to start doing my graphic work on photoshop since she's such a whiz kid at it.

So that's it...

I made another entry! yay me!!!

shen

Learn to laugh at yourself..

2011-09-02T14:20:00.000-07:00

Sometimes you just have to learn to totally laugh at yourself.

So with the kiddos back in school.(I still can't believe I have kids in high school and junior high) we're back to making lunches, (happy that my kiddos love bringing lunches to school) I had this wonderful idea of making cute little cotton napkins for their lunches. Reusable, washable, and did I mention CUTE! oh yes, I did...

Well, I've made quite a few. Some for the kiddos (if you haven't noticed by now, I am keen on the word "KIDDO"), some for the etsy shop. Quite excited with my stack of cute little napkins, I decide to do a search today on etsy, and the number of hits sent my head spinning. Yes, I know, I know... Napkins isn't exactly an innovative idea, but I just thought this was an awesome idea. Turns out I'm not as genius as I thought. It's okay though, the practice was good for my sewing skills, and now I'm on a search to find the perfect fabric to make into our dining napkins. So what can you do... Just laugh. I'm still going to put up my little sets in my shop. Why not right? I mean it's something else to add to my endless growing number to the shop.

In etsy shop news, I can't believe it's already September. One more month, and October will be a full year since I opened my shop. I'm excited!

Latest & greatest: Sam is running for Freshman VP, so she put her crafty mama to work & this is the results of that. Elections are today & she finds out next week...

380 mustaches to hand out

handcut

holes punched & turned into necklaces to handout

Silkscreened Sam's shirt for election day

After I had been cutting out about a hundred, the hubby comes in & cuts 2 & says "out of all the machines you have, none of them can cut this?" So now I'm looking into either the "sure cuts a lot" program or cricut software as a gift for myself in the near future...

Again you just laugh...

It's finally the weekend! Happy Labor Day everyone!

shen

Scrapbook Expo- My First time

2011-08-15T13:47:00.000-07:00

I've got a few blog entries saved that should have been posted over the course of the summer. Did that happen? Nope. So I figured I'd be able to get this one done quickly.

So I'm sitting in my craft room on my last day of my four day weekend, the kiddos are still at school. It's their first day, and to keep me busy I've got a long To-do list to keep me distracted.
So far so good, because when I sit to really think about it my stomach starts to hurt. It's a new school for both of them, oh well I'll find out in a few hours how it went.

To start off my first day of my four day weekend, I went to my first scrapbook expo held at the Santa Clara Convention Center. My co-worker (who has become what I consider a really good friend) took me. She has gone consecutively for 5-6 years now, and lemme tell you. I had so much fun.

So much to see, so much excitement. I even won a door prize of $10 to one of the booths at the expo.

Alright, here's my confession. I do not scrapbook. Yes, I shall repeat. I DO NOT SCRAPBOOK!

At least not yet. I just looked through the papers I have and whoa...baby. I need to stop getting some for a bit. I use the patterned paper as backdrops in my etsy shop photos. I just have a lot more than I need.

I came out of the expo with a few cute sheets of patterned paper, some stamps, stickers, and a huge regret of not buying a pillow box die cut from a particular booth. But it's fine, I was able to look up the expo map layout & flip through the few business cards I took & ordered what I wanted online. So it'll be on it's way. Next year... My motto "JUST GET IT!"

Along with a nice lunch, and great company, I totally had a good time, and can't wait to go again next year.


A blurry iphone pic of just some of the things I came home with. From Left to right. 1. cute birthday clear stamp set, 2-3-4 things I found at the booth I won a gift certificate from.	.

Yay! I finally was able to finish an entry!

shen

A tid bit of my crafting history.

2011-05-04T13:00:00.000-07:00

I love that my daughter & I are connecting in so many different levels as she gets older & older. I shared this story with her on a quiet afternoon after school while I prepared dinner & the kids finished up their homework. I thought it would be a nice story to share on here too, since it’s been a while.

Although I opened my etsy shop just 6 months ago & started bringing in some cash for my crafty creations, I actually started way back in high school. I had a jewelry making class during my senior year. (So although my crafts are all over the place, it all actually started with jewelry, and although I rarely do jewelry pieces now, it's always nice when I am able to put something together.)
I was allowed to take a few more electives because I had met the requirements to graduate already thanks to the private school I had transferred from. I was excited because I had always been interested but never had the chance to get my hand on jewelry making. When I was younger, my mom considered all my craft things “junk” so it was really hard to do things, I mainly stuck to drawing & sketching. It was the easiest to hide & avoid criticism from my mom.

Anyways, this class was so much fun! I made jewelry, and got A+++ on projects from my teacher who was so encouraging & supportive. I’m ashamed to admit it but I can’t remember the name of my art teacher, yet it has been a while so I shouldn't. I started with a B... can I get some points for that at least? ;)
All I remember is that she was a small petite blonde lady, maybe in her mid-30s, who was completely insane about George Clooney. She put together an art show for an upcoming open house that year & asked me to sell my pieces. They all sold that night! AND it was enough to pay for my equipment fee for the class (I think it was about $25) & go towards buying more materials for me. I was ecstatic that people actually bought my earrings, and necklaces that I had designed. ME!?! A measly little high school senior.

So I started buying my own materials. See, the reason why I had transferred from private school was because there was a change in household, and I was now living with my dad for a brief time until I eventually rented a room a little later with Tony (my boyfriend back then, my husband now), so I was able to start my little supply of materials without someone coming in & throwing everything out or ransacking my room. I started making more and more jewelry, and started selling at school. I had price tags on each piece, and took cash. I sold out of my backpack during break & lunch. On occasion I would sell in class because the teacher was very lenient & allowed me to. There was even a teacher who asked for custom made pieces. It was a lot of fun. It made some extra lunch money, and it kept me busy.

Sam smiled as I told her this. I’m guessing she likes hearing the history of my crafting since she has only seen the recent. I hope you enjoyed this little story as well.
Quick update on the etsy-business...

I recently installed the Square app on my phone, and was sent a credit card reader that attaches to the jack of my phone. This will allow me to accept credit cards when I finally set up a booth at a art show/ festival. I also plan to use it at the Pride Parade this year, as I sell some cute rainbow flowers out of my backpack. Ironically enough, just like high school.
I am also planning on opening a booth at local farmers markets & festivals soon. I'll keep you updated, as for now I'm building up inventory. I have multiple projects going on everyday. The studio is a disaster, and on top of it I'm still filling orders on etsy.
Life is good. Busy, but good. And the weather has been amazing. I'm hoping it stays like this now. Love the hot sunny weather. Can't get enough of it.

shen

Upcycled VHS drawers...

2011-03-29T17:48:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, I posted on freecycle (an online community of people who freecycle- a beautiful think BTW) that I was interested in VHS drawers. VHS?!? You know the old movie tapes from the 80s &90s.Before CD, DVDS, and blueray!!! Well I was able to track one down & although I want more here is what I did with it. I am quite happy with the results, and I look forward to upcycling more. What do you think?

For a better look click here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/shen_nanigans/5572950918/

shen

Music Moment...

2011-03-15T12:20:00.000-07:00

If you know me, you know I'm picky when it comes to chick singers...
Here's a good one, I'd like to share....

The Joy Formidable- Whirring

This much delight

Fills columns to new heights

All these things about me you never can tell

Colors burn bright

They burn pictures so bright

All these things about me you never can tell

Make me sleep so badly

Turn the dial on my words

I can feel them fall short

Turn the dial try my love, try my love

Wash these hands

Turn the dial on my words

Love can't stay here

These steps shadow

Life's will gone shallow

All these things about me you never can tell

Make me sleep so badly visible friend (X2)

Turn the dial on my words

I can feel them fall short

Turn the dial shine the light, shine the light

Watch these hands move apart

Turn the dial on my words

Love can't stay here

shen

champagne & sorbet....

2011-02-17T12:14:00.000-08:00

If you've never had some, you are sooooo missing out.

Even with the cheapest champagne & the bucket of sorbet, you have an instant party guaranteed....And with that said, today I'm feel pretty social, and would like to plan a little get-together/ party sometime soon.....

LONG WEEKEND ALERT!!!!

Is it bad that I’m looking forward to getting home & cleaning the house??? I love cleaning. I love cleaning so much that sometimes I take pictures after I've cleaned like a crazy mad woman. You don't believe me? I have pics of the fridge after I've bleach cleaned that sucker.. I DO!

Anyways, on to the weekend.

TO-DO-LIST for Presidents weekend:

Thursday afternoon:

· ~Clean up the house

· ~Try out the gocco print

As much as it pains me, and linda has given me her blessings to try it out & make sure it all works, I feel guilty, but I think it is really necessary to try it out.

· ~Prepare screen for 2^nd gen sriracha shirt

Let’s hope that this one will work out & I’ve got my new screen.

· ~Make new pincushion.

That stupid tomato is looking pretty scraggly, so possibly a cupcake pincushion. Not sure yet.

· ~Cut out sam’s mustache pillow & pin

· ~Play with paper punches

Friday:

· ~Gym & shower

· ~Get lisa & hit up Beverly’s

She’s buying felt. I forgot what I was suppose to look at aside from EVERYTHING… maybe we can hit up RAFT too!

· ~Then spending most of the day hitting up thrift shops. Savers, GoodWill, Salvation Army, look out!

I’m actually looking for some glass containers, hoping to make more terrariums, since my previous terrarium projects have been doing well.

· ~Depending on the outcome of yesterday’s screen, make some shirts

· ~Design some gocco prints, and possibly a girly spazms shirt

· ~Make some bike flowers & possibly some felt flowers (post on etsy)

Saturday:

· Linda & I are having a gocco playdate!

She’s bringing champagne & sorbet. I’m thinking it is to celebrate the gocco awesomeness.

Sunday:

· ~More crafting. Projects TBD

· ~BOILING CRAB with the homies! Yay!!!!

Monday:

(depends on weather) if it’s raining, we’re probably staying home & I can do more crafts but if it’s nice & sunny. We’ll be out & about having some fun times with the kiddos.

Hope you all have a wonderful Presidents weekend!

Have a great time with your lovies! I know I will.

shen

OCD: Obsessive Crafting Disorder

2011-02-13T19:25:00.000-08:00

In all honesty, WTH is wrong with me? I find something I like & that's it. Head over heels I fall in love, and it becomes my obsession for however long. It can be months, it can be a few weeks, heck it can be a couple hours.
But I can never just like something, I go literally crazy like a drug addict.
Take for example just these passed couple months into the new year.. I have become over obsessed with the following:

paper punches- after years of avoiding these scrapbooking-type things I bought one heart paper punch, and suddenly within weeks I now have a collection. I've visited every craft store, looked online for hours on end, and gotten most of the paper punches I wanted. There is a pattern though. I love hearts, and so so far the majority has been heart-type ones.
the start of an addiction
gocco- if you aren't familiar with the Japanese screen printing system, well, you should be. I learned about this several months ago when an old h-school friend of the hubby, Jose, left a comment on my yudu pics on Facebook, and mentioned he was interested in the yudu, but has a gocco. Well, I did some research on it, and didn't touch the idea again, since I had my yudu, but for some reason the BFF, Linda brought up silk screening on paper & well... That sparked the interest again, and one thing led to another, the youtube videos sucked me and I BAM! endless searching for projects other people have done, finding supplies, etc etc. Apparently Riso (the company that makes the printing system has discontinued this item, but there is a cult following online. This is a great site to go to for more info: http://www.savegocco.com/what-is-gocco/ Of course, Linda & I are researching on how to "hack" the gocco. Needless to say, Linda bought one & we were to share custody, and even planned a playdate, which I am very excited about. But to my surprise the hubby bought one for me as an early Valentine/Anniversary gift. So now, the search for all things gocco continues. Just type in "gocco" in the search field on flickr, and you'll get a ton of images to comb through. I'm sure I'll blog about my gocco experiences at some point.

stickers!!!!

stickers- I always loved stickers since I was a kid. I remember at recess & lunch sitting around with the other little girls with all our sticker books, trading this for that, and yada yada. I still have my sticker collection from those days! I should take some pictures to share. Well, I started to buy stickers again. I've managed to refrain from buying any random stickers, and just get the ones that i absolutely adore!
paper- i've avoided all paper craziness for as long as I started crafting. That endless isle of decorative paper in the local craft stores was always unvisited....until recently. I started to buy papers because it was on sale. (tell me 6 sheets for 96 cents when the papers are usually 99 cents each isn't a good deal, and I'll slap you) now, it never fails I visit the paper isle as well, and if i think it's cute, or will make a good display background, it's mine. So so bad.

Restraining myself is definitely something I need to work on. I often joke around that I'm going to be the crazy homeless lady with a cart load of crafting items yelling at people to get the heck away from my things....
What helps me and this addictive behavior? Like the fabric, I take pictures, or print pictures out if I'm searching online. That way it's something I "have", and I won't feel the need to actually buy it.

oh man, what am I going to do with myself... this is insane.... I'm insane... I need to go to Crafters Anonymous. Is there such a group? oh lord, we'd probably go on a crafting binge & buy out the entire store if possible... Wouldn't that be funny?

Ending for now.
Happy Valentine's Day! <3 & Happy 11th Wedding Anniversary to my hubby!

shen

I will be trying to blog more, as it is a form of therapy for me as well.

Happy 2011!

2010-12-31T14:11:00.000-08:00

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!!!

2010-11-29T12:26:00.000-08:00

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.

2010-11-21T20:56:00.000-08:00

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...

2010-11-14T22:47:00.000-08:00

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!

2010-10-31T16:47:00.000-07:00

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!

2010-10-24T21:50:00.000-07:00

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...

2010-10-17T19:54:00.000-07:00

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!

2010-10-10T23:14:00.000-07:00

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...

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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...

2010-10-05T22:43:00.000-07:00

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...

2010-10-03T20:26:00.000-07:00

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!

2010-10-02T22:58:00.000-07:00

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!

2010-09-27T12:36:00.000-07:00

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

My Vintage Serger/ Overlock..

2010-09-15T13:03:00.000-07:00

Whatever you want to call it, it's mine!!!

Finally, after months and months of debate, and even contemplating the idea of getting a very high end serger. I finally have one to call my own.

Those cute sweet little old ladies in those sewing shops try to sucker you in, and get the machine there, make you think you are totally incapable of threading this on your own, saying "with just a puff of air, your machine is threaded." Shoot! I was ready to sign my $ away & get one. I was strong, I resisted, even with a migraine and frustration of searching and searching, reading review after review thinking this torture would never end. I finally have one.
I can even recall burying my face into a pillow a couple times and screaming.

After yet, another frustrating weekend of looking, visiting shops, and searching endlessly online during Labor Day weekend, Monday night (Labor Day) on ebay, a buy it now, I fell in love. Seriously, I'm so happy. Priced well below my budget, I love her! She's a sergemate Campanion 5040 made several years ago, by a company associated with babylock (don't take my word for it, I found that info on a forum online). FedEx took longer than I thought, but its here!!!! It came with the manual. I threaded it, which I will admit can be a little confusing since I consider myself a beginner, but when everything was finally in place, it ran well, and I can't wait to make something with it.

I just ran scraps through it. I even had the kiddos try it out, and they were pretty impressed. Everything seems to be running smoothly, and the ebay seller said it was barely used, so I totally scored with this one. Best of all my hubby bought it for me, and got me a serger book that I really wanted. I was just chatting with him about it, and showed him through IM & BAM! I got the email confirming it was ordered and on its way.
I'm totally a lucky girl!
I think the best thing is that while I was really panicking about the cost of spools of thread, because this was such a great deal, the money we would have spent to buy a low-end machine can now be used guiltless-ly on my thread supply.


Isn't she cute! Pink!!!!

Girly moment... I've never really been a "pink" kinda girl, but she's cute, right!? :D

I think for my first project, I'm going to make myself an iron cover. Like this...

Iron Cover from etsy.

I'll update when I'm done. Hope you all are having a nice day! Happy Hump Day! We're almost there. Oh! And the Santa Clara Arts & Wine Festival is this weekend too! I'm volunteering! yay!!! Life is good..... :) <3

shen

Bubbly goodness.

2010-09-09T13:00:00.000-07:00

A crafty friend of mine, Nicki from Hey There Cupcake put together this awesome necklace. Nicki is this wonderful cupcake designer, you can check out her awesomeness on
her flickr account nickisalbum.
She twitpic about it a couple months ago, when she made one for herself, and I knew I HAD to have one too.
Totally cute, custom made length. I'm wearing it today. I love it. I'm not normally a jewelry wearing kinda girl, unless its durable & can withstand my clumsy/ boyish behavior, but this is one of those... HAD TO HAVEs

w/o getting into any technicalities, the iphone4's front facing camera is really grainy. Plus it was at night, as I lay bored out of my mind on the couch. I actually was taking a break from some bead making.


I love my bubble necklace! yeee! It's so fun!

Back in my college days, I use to carry a bubble gun in my car. At red lights, I would turn it on, and there would be a steady stream of bubbles coming out of my driver side window. I stopped doing it when a car accident between two other cars occurred. LONG LIVE THE BUBBLES!!!!!

shen

A crafty summer...

2010-09-06T21:33:00.000-07:00

So I haven't been really updating this summer. It's been crazy, so I'm hoping to bring you up to date on what I've been up to.

My revamped beach sign

My new Ironing Board Cover (IBC)

Shell w/glass beads wind chime

cocktail umbrella gardland deco for my dad's 60 bday luau

multi-color streamers for the luau too.


knitted seat for my bike

my japanese alcohol apron


Sam's ipod touch kozy I made Linder's a pocky one but for some reason can't upload the pic from FB Linder's pocky cover

a fun & easy tissue cover (beach style)


a revamp of my iphone holder for my bike

Yup, that's it. That's all I can show you for now. All the other stuff has been items I'm working on for my girly spazms etsy shop, which is due to open in a couple weeks. It's been slightly delayed because as I prepared items to sew one late night, and cut out all the patterns. I sat down at my sewing machine ready to go, and then bleh! Nothing. I fiddled with it forever, and finally decided it was actually time to take it in for that long put off servicing. Keep in mind, my machine is over 10 years old, and I only started really using it the passed 2-3 years. Yeah.. yeah.. I asked for it.
So as it sits in the repair shop, I've been looking seriously into getting a serger. I mean, I've looked into it before, and had an idea of what I've wanted but the passed week, and Labor Day weekend I've been hunting one down to a point where I had a migraine, and was completely fed up with looking for one.
I flip-flopped on getting a decent "starter" serger/overlock VS getting a higher end version.
And finally, as I looked on ebay, I came across one that I think will be just fine.
I'll blog again when I get it, and have it set up. I may even broadcast in my craft studio, something that I've been meaning to do, but haven't gotten around to doing.

Hope you all had a wonderful Labor Day weekend... As for me, it wasn't as eventful as I had hoped. I basically worked all weekend. Housework, or worked on crafting projects.
So my Labor weekend, was full of Labor. Go fig!
Now, it's time to get into the full swing of the school year, and work mode. Bye-gye summer. Oh how I'll miss you. Til next year...

Goodnight for now!

shen

Time flies...

2010-08-12T13:05:00.000-07:00

August?!?!

Geeze, this summer went by quick. In little over a week, the kiddos will be back to school, and we’ll be back to our same weekday routine.

I’m not complaining. It’s been fun, but I’ve felt like such a bum that, getting back to an established routine is very much welcomed & definitely needed.

I’ve been working a lot more on crafting when I can (while we're watching tv @ home, knitting in the car at lights, or when I'm not driving), and I've tried to finish a small quick day project while working on a larger project. So just a quick update on latest and greatest.
I working on a few pieces to put up and set up shop on etsy. Finally.

I got some business cards made up. I’m pretty happy with them but I could have made the font a little bigger. I’ll be sure to do it in the next batch.

I also got my logo done on a rubber stamp, so as to have something versatile for tags, jewelry cards, etc. When I ordered them I expected it to be larger, unfortunately I should have zoomed in more & cropped it before submitting it in for the order. It works though, and I will eventually get a larger one...

I went a little stamp happy when it arrived.

At this point, I've set up my etsy shop. There isn't anything for sale yet...
but it's there!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/girlyspazms

There's so much more to do on there besides post my items up... Shop policies. Maybe I'll get to work on that a little bit tonight or over the weekend. I need to get that portion set up before I start selling.

I'm ending for now. Remember to leave me a comment so I know you stopped by.
Thanks for coming by! :)

shen

home project: Living Room wall gallery

2010-07-26T14:50:00.000-07:00

I started this home project last year a couple months before my 30th birthday. With a long piece of yarn, Tony & I determined the area of the rectangle, and this was my border to follow...

I eagerly told myself that it would be done in time for my big party, and my guests would have something awesome to look at. As the time came & went.... the project went unfinished for a whole year.

It was a constant reminder as I looked up at the wall... "UGH! I need to finish that!"

I carried a picture of my progress on my iphone so when I was fortunate to find a frame to my liking I could figure out if it fit in a particular spot...

I'm proud to announce! TA-DAH! it's done... well kinda. The frames are all up... Now I'm working on which pictures to put up. I wanted to put up my favorite pictures of friends & family.... Not necessarily studio portraits, but pics I enjoy looking at. A nice mix of color, black & white, and if anything scenery... I'm hoping this portion of project will go a lot smoother and FASTER than the first half...

But this is what I carry around now. I shall update later when all my pics are up w/ a story or brief description.

The summer has been absolutely nuts, and just when I think I can take a breather. The kids will be back in school in about 4 weeks, so I'm gonna take the time to play & be mom a little longer until we're back to the ho-hum schedule of school days again. So much for working on more projects before Summer came to and end.
I am, however, finally getting my business cards, and a rubber stamp of my logo. I'll post as soon as I get them..

In the meantime, I will be putting together a collage of the summer crafts I've made, so I can finally share with you the things I've been up to.

shen

My attempt to make a beach sign...

2010-06-16T17:31:00.000-07:00

I recently redecorated a wall in my house, and I'm hoping that I'll have an entry up soon to show off what I've done. In the meantime, here is my attempt to make my very own beach sign decor...

I've had a stack of these pictures in the garage for a while. I bought them at Home Goods...

I actually had to visit a few lunchtime visits over at the Mercado shopping center by my work (which reminds me, I've got to go again!) but got lucky each time. 70 cents?!?!
WIN!

Front of sign says: He who plants a garden, plants happiness.

Moving on.....

1) Taped off the ends so I would have a clean edge.I wanted to keep the solid black "frame".

2) Played with the word "BEACH" on MS word. (After a while, playing w/ fonts, "beach" started playing mind games with me, and I actually had to do a spell check because it looked so wrong!) Printed it out & made sure the size fit "just right" on the sign.

Then I taped the printed letters onto contact paper. I cut around each letter carefully using a exacto knife to get the small details in the letter. Make sure you secure the letters onto the contact paper as needed, to retain the shape of the letters. If you have a cricut/ die cut machine, you could also use a cricut to cut out the letters for you on the contact paper if you want to skip this part. I actually got this contact paper use idea from this "how to make subway art" blog ....

3) I painted the sign with extra house paint I had left over from an old project... I loved the color, and had to use it over again. It's Ralph Lauren's Iced Mint in a satin finish.

I let the paint dry, and then I peeled the backing off the contact paper and stuck my letters on... Use a ruler to make sure your letters a straight... Trust me. You'll soon see why..

Contact letters on.. and ready to go.

4) Then to get that white-washed look, I took some cream acrylic paint and a paint brush, and a paper towel. Dipped the brush in paint, then wiped the excess on the paper towel and dragged the semi-wet brush across the surface... Later I took the paper towel and dabbed and wiped areas where the cream color seemed "too thick". It's important that the color behind the white wash show through...

See the streaking action?!?!

5) After the paint dried, I peeled off the contact paper. It came off very easily...

I think I got a little too excited about finishing, and rushed this project... My sign is a little crooked. Like I said use a ruler... But it was so fast & easy that I will be correcting it over the weekend...

Updated: June 20th. It really REALLY bugged me. I had to fix it....

I took this picture in the evening. I'll post a pic with natural sunlight as soon as I get a chance.

shen

Tutorial for weave cork board.

2010-05-30T18:18:00.000-07:00

Materials you need:

cork sheets (depending on how large your corkboard is, you may need multiple rolls, for my project I used two)
frame, prepared to your liking
scissor and/ or craft knife
craft glue/ spray adhesive
cardboard or old corkboard (you want this peice to be thick enough so that you aren't poking completely through & hitting your wall, or it defeats the purpose, and you'll have a ton of wholes when you decide to take your board down)
cutting mat & rulers
heavy books, like dictionaries/ phone books, etc.

1) Determine how you want your cork board to look. I wanted mine to have a diagonal look & not the typical "checkered" horizontal design, so I knew that I would need to start with long strips. I measured my board from one corner to another like so...

And I cut the strips about 1 1/4" wide. Depending on how thick or thin you cut your strips you'll achieve your own unique look.

2) Now with your strips of cork start by lining them up side to side in one direction...

then begin to weave more strips, over & under, going the opposite direction...

Tips: Start from the middle of your project and make your weave as tight as possible. Leave at least an inch extra , you'll cut your weave later to the size of your board/ backing.

2) Finish weaving your board until you have a surface a little larger than the backing.

3) Glue. You have a choice of using craft glue or spray adhesive. I used both. Cover your backing evenly, and very carefully place your weaved surface onto the glue. It might go a little easier if you enlist someone to help you with this placement process. When everything is in place, use the heavy books to hold it down. Let the glue dry overnight.

4) With the glue is dry, your weaved surface should be securely attached to your backing. Cut sides evenly.

In this pic, I was still waiting for glue to dry. I held it down with thumbtacks while I was cutting.

4) With my edges trimmed, I very carefully started to place my frame securely around my weaved cork board...

If you run into any problems or have any questions, let me know.

Thanks for stopping by & be sure to leave me a comment so I know you visited!

shen

Being bug friendly....

2010-05-30T15:59:00.000-07:00

A few months ago our hippie & earth child (I say this jokingly, of course) Sam was over at her BFFs house. She noticed a bag of water with pennies, and asked them what it was for. They explained to her that it was to keep the flies away & she came home to share. We looked up a few sites online just to check out the theory...

http://www.waycooldogs.com/a-ziplock-bag-of-water-and-4-pennies-no-flies/

http://www.lifehacker.com.au/2009/07/repel-flies-with-a-bag-of-water/

What you need:

plastic bag, we used a zip lock
pennies (four per bag was the recipe)
water (tap is fine)
thumb tack, twine, tape ( to hang up the bag)

Being the long Memorial Weekend, we had the opportunity to finally try it out.

So the theory behind this method is that the reflection the water gives off confuses the flies because their "compound eyes". They will then avoid the area.

I'm sure a few of the neighbors might have been confused too. Especially with a bag right above the entry way... Not exactly welcoming...

Anyways, this method is great if you are trying to stay earth friendly. It's kid-safe & pet safe.

Try it out. It works! We haven't had any flies in the house all day.
My Sammie is such a smart cookie! She just turned 13 & although you can't see it her shirt says, "Love our Earth"

Sam with "Beatles" cupcakes made by our wonderful family friend, Linda @ Baking Foodie.

Hope all of you are having a wonderful Memorial Day weekend. Remember to take the time to honor the men & women who have passed serving our country.

shen

easy upcycle jar project...

2010-05-23T21:52:00.000-07:00

So I've had these huge kimchi jars (large enough to stick your fist in them) sitting & soaking on the kitchen counter for quite some time. I've wanted to re use them, but didn't know what for. Then I decided that I'd put them in my craft room, but the bright red top had to go... so I spray painted them white. And when I said "I" , I really meant that I did them this time, no help from the hubby & I must say I did a pretty impressive job..

I didn't want the red to show through, so white was the safe color for me..

Spray painted inside & out... Not to thick, or it will peel off the plastic..

See not too bad right...

I did about 3 coats of very light spray painting just to cover up the red enough..

Then with some heavy duty jute cord from the local hardware store (In my case Lowes) & some craft glue....

I began from the side of the lid & worked my way to the middle of the lid...

It looks tidious, I know, but seriously it didnt take that long. May 10 minutes the most for each lid... Then ... ! Beautiful!

One of them now holds scraps of cork board from my recently completed cork board project...

The others... I'm sure I'll find something to put in them soon...

I love that I was able to reuse these containers...

Now, with probably more than 100 feet left of jute...I wonder what else I can do this too! hee hee hee... ::evil grin::

Thanks for looking, hope this inspires you to upcycle something wonderful!

shen

Succulents, a sleepy little gnome, and an old song...

2010-05-22T09:42:00.000-07:00

Another succulent garden endeavor.

I can never just like something, I have to love it passionately.

My little garden gnome. I didn't want to bombard my little garden with these little guys. That's just freaky. So with the help of the hubs, I got the sleeping one.

In Tony's words, "Get that one...He's lazy.. like you."

Thanks, hunnie. :D

On the other side...

shen

Keeping me occupied....

2010-05-12T12:25:00.001-07:00

I have a severe issue with being bored, hence my erratic crafting, and hobbies. Although, I have tried not to, I shamefully admit that I succumb to the urge of poking at the hubby & pouting (at times, yanking on his arm) and saying “I’m bored! Entertain me!”

My latest “bright idea” is designing my craft room…

And so, with a new notebook tucked into my “craft bag” I take to work, I am now searching and sketching up some designs for my little craft room. Which is in horrible disarray & in dire need of major major organization. Aside from my "throw it in this container" philosophy... I’ve found some really great ideas, and as I do, I print the pics out & glue them into my notebook…

If all goes well, I’m hoping to have my craft room done by the end of the summer…

Did I ever tell you I’ve had a strong infatuation with Owls since I was 4? I shall tell you the story some day. But here are my cute little owl notebooks. The larger is where I am putting all my craft room inspirations in. (You’ll see the pictures below.) The smaller is a bit thick & I’m using as a “fabric” journal… I’ll post pictures of that at a later time.

It has been over 20 years since I’ve done any needlework. I definitely need some practice, but I thought I would try out my logo. I plan on putting it up in a loop as décor in my craft room.

Just a few things I want to incorporate into my craft room.

Aside from my Crafty Room day dream. Here are other craft projects I’m currently working on…

1. Knitting a recycled t-shirt rug.

Making a patchwork similar to the above image.

2. Continuing to make vinyl covered sandwhich wraps.

3. Searching for new fabric & planning to make my new ironing board cover. She needs a makeover badly.

4. Gathering material to use the seashell hangings I plan to make. I got a "craft drill" over Mother's Day, and I can't wait to use it!

COMPLETELY COASTAL

Great Items, and an Etsy shop too!

Anyways, here is a song by OK GO.... I think I've played this a ba-zillion times already.

Hope you are all having a great day.

The sun is shining again & its beautiful out.

shen

for the momma.

2010-05-07T17:31:00.000-07:00

I stumbled on a blog by a lady named Arlette http://mousechirpypolkadotpineapple.blogspot.com a few months ago, and now I make a conscious effort to check for updates. I totally love the things she makes, and (I'll admit) I'm a lil bias when it comes to all things Hawaii.

I particularly liked Arlette's tutorial on Wire edged fabric flowers & when I decided to try it out, I found it to be addicting. I didn't know what to do with them all 'til one morning, I thought I would try to put it on a circle felt wreath I was making. Tried it, and hated it! Way too much.. So, as the project sat on my living room floor, and I continued to make these cute little flowers.... it took me a couple days and one sunny bright morning and a lil Hawaii home sickness, and tadah! This idea was hatched into my head. With mother's day just around the corner, I decided to make one for my mom too. My mom's fave color is lavender.

So please refer to the Arlette's tutorial for the flowers as for me this is what I did.

Aloha sign

Used a wood piece (found in the wood area of the craft store)
Burnt the edges lightly to give it that aged beachy bonfire kinda look.
As for the lettering, I just used a font I liked from MSword, sized it accordingly, printed it out, pinned it to the felt & cut it out. Then I glued my pieces on w/ regular craft glue. You can always do this w/ a cricut if you have one. I was transporting this project back and forth from home to work, so I did everything travel friendly.

Wreath

Spray painted some inexpensive grapevine wreaths (3 coats) . (here are pics of the hubby spray painting them in our driveway, they're on old drawers so it would be easy to transport between coats) I like playing the helpless chick when it comes to spray painting my projects because he does such an awesome job.

Decor

Hot glued everything in place.

That's it! What do you think? Let me know if you have any questions.

I hope my mom likes it....

Happy Mothers Day to all the moms out there!

shen

SUCCULENTS!!!!!

2010-05-04T08:54:00.000-07:00

This is quite possibly my new favorite word. SUCK----YOU- LENTS!!!

haha...anyways, I was at the walmart a city down from me, and I was perusing the garden section when I ran into a specific section full of these beautiful plants & I fell in love.
Aren't they beautiful?

ooohhhs & ahhhs...

So, I continued on walking through the store, and I started to think... where am I gonna put these? do I have pots for them?

SIDE NOTE: I am a plant killa' ... so notorious, in fact that even Sam ( my soon to be teenager) has always given me the "oh brother, rolling eyes" look all the time I look at plants... SINCE SHE WAS TWO! TWO!!!

So, trying to salvage my reputation, I read the little info tab of each plant, and all said they needed lots of sun. So perfect spot? The loft/ den. It gets plenty of afternoon light & we needed plants in that area! ( I have since started a collection of houseplants a year ago, and everything is going well. :::knocks the closest wood::: )

Then I happen to go down the glass container isle in the home decor section, and TADAH!!!!! Terrarium idea born!

So here is a short and quick tutorial on what I did. They didn't turn out to be exactly a closed terrarium, but the look is there, and I eventually want to make a closed one...

So this is what you'll need...

plants or plants (depending on how big your container is)

tip: it's always good to have similar plants together, it will make your plants happier if you've got a theme going... if you're all over the place, you just make plant vomit and your plants will wilt & eventually die.

river rocks ( I bought aquarium river rocks) & placed them evenly across the bottom of the container

moss/ activated charcoal ( I actually had a huge container of charcoal from our old turtle tank) Place this on top of the rock layer. About an inch layer of moss or charcoal should do the trick.

please remember that there are not exact measurements. EVERYTHING will all depend on the size of your container.

Regular potting soil, you can eyeball where you want your "ground level to be & then figure out how much soil to put in..

Place plants as you see fit. (w/ mine, I had one plant in each so it was easy)

NOW COMES THE TRICKY PART. (at least it was for me)

You need to get soil to go around the plants base ( the part that was in the pot) & down between the glass. I used a piece of paper to prevent the soil from dropping onto my plants, and (in handfuls) tried the best I could to get that gap filled in. I used chopsticks (disposables ones) to scoot things into place & after lifted the paper up and out. It worked... The chopsticks come in handy when working with a narrower opening, and to move little figurines around.

Like I said I want to take a stab at an actual closed glass terrarium soon. I'm gonna hit up the local thrift shops this weekend to see if I can find an old vintage candy jar type container.

I finished up by placing some rocks on "ground level" with my plants.

The middle plant was an early Mother's Day gift from the kiddos.

So here it is, my little indoor garden of

SUUUUHHHH---CKKK----YYYYOOOOOUUU---LENTS!!!

Com' on admit it you like sayin' it too.

shen

promises to myself i need to keep.

2010-04-27T10:57:00.001-07:00

It’s been a while since I last blogged. Wow! More than a month. I’ve been really busy. I’m working on my “summertime aloha” wreath, but I’m not really liking how it’s turning out, so I might have to scrap it, reuse the main part for something else, and start over with a new idea I’m having…. We’ll see. I’ll be sure to post up pictures as soon as I am done. The fam & I were at Barnes & Nobel the other day (romantically wasting the Saturday afternoon away), looking at books. It’s one of our favorite things to do with the kids, and I ran across a great crafty idea, sandwich wraps!

See this site for details: http://sewing.craftgossip.com/tutorial-sew-a-reusable-sandwich-wrap/2009/03/27/

Well… the book said to use Polyurethane Laminated (PUL) fabric, and to my dismay (trust me I LOOKED all Sunday, at the stores & online!) could not find any. Online search had all “sold out”! This material is in very high demand for cloth diaper users. If we had another baby, I would seriously consider the cloth diaper thing BTW.

Anyways, as I searched and searched, I ran across other blogs that used Heat’N Bond Iron On flexible vinyl. So I’m going to get me some of that stuff the next time I go to the Local Craft Store.

Wish me luck. If it turns out well, it’s another project to add to my inventory. Thinking Sets of 4 would be nice.

At this point, I’m really considering doing a giveaway. I just don’t know what yet. I’d really like to get more crafters to follow me… my blog & my craft twitter… I plan on crafty blogging a lot more especially with this long list of TO DO’s I’ve got going.

Summer is right around the corner, but you can’t tell with the horrible rain and cold weather we’ve been having.

COME ON CALI WEATHER!!! LET’S STEP IT UP ALREADY!

Sam’s 13^th birthday is coming up. I need to talk to Linda about making some sushi cupcakes… I think Sam will love them. http://blog.craftzine.com/archive/2010/04/sushi_cupcakes.html

And, once again, as I blog, many things are popping into my head, and many other unfinished projects as well. Back to my art book & planner. There is never enough time in the day for all the things I want to do… There never is.

shen

wine cork bath mat?!!

2010-03-26T07:48:00.000-07:00

What a great idea I came across... Now I need to save all my wine corks!
Check out http://www.craftynest.com/2010/03/wine-cork-bath-mat/

for instructions! I'll post pictures when I make it!

The invasion of fingertip oven mitts...

2010-03-21T19:29:00.000-07:00

I'd like to proudly announce that I am starting to get the hang of this sewing business.

Thanks to a few crafty people on youtube & other craft sites, I feel more and more confident with each finished project...

Lately I've been practicing by making my fingertip oven mitts.... Here are a few pics of finish & unfinished pairs...

PINK! (special request by Jo)

A stack of unfinshed mitts

These are my keepers. It matches the oven mitt I made a couple weeks ago...

I think she's great, and I'm glad I went to youtube to find some of these fun tutorials.

I'm considering getting a bias tape maker now, because it gives the projects a nice clean edge.

Here is a video of the machine:

So this is the crafty things I've been up to.. Check out my personal blog by clicking the home button for a more personal update on things.

I'll be updating again in about a week or so to post some pics of the things I made for a baby shower.

Cut Out & Keep

2010-03-16T11:44:00.000-07:00

My friend Linda introduced me to this website..

I thought it was pretty cute, and i published my first tutorial...

Check it out if you get a chance.

http://www.cutoutandkeep.net/projects/another-textured-painting

If you sign up or are already a member don't forget to add me!

A quick update....

2010-03-12T10:09:00.000-08:00

I've been stepping up my sewing lately, and I've actually got a little basket going of the things I'd like to sell. I have a ton of projects that I've cut out & pinned, but I'm missing a few finishing touches so they're piling up. I'm hoping to make it to the store this weekend to get what I need.

I found a book that I'm really interested in reading.
It's called "Crafty Superstar", and I'm hoping it will give me good ideas on finally getting this up & running, but I think I've been pretty productive with my little crafts.
I'm thinking to add jewelry to my repertoire & I did managed to hunt down my old jewelry making tools & I'm considering it.
I haven't made anything significant since high-school & when I started college so I'm hoping that I can jump back into that & make some pieces soon. In H-school I use to run around with all my jewelry & sell them to my schoolmates. That was fun.

I think at this point, I really need to focus on my projects, so I won't be blogging as much.

If you want to look at any of my progress please add me on flickr.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/shen_nanigans/

This is the quickest way for me to update what I'm up to & making.

I'll blog if I learn something interesting & fun to share.
I occasionally run across some really good projects to try, so I'll share those when I can.

Wish me luck, I'm really excited. Hoping that my other crafty friends will be joining me in this endeavor.

Til my next update.

Pee pee teepees!

2009-11-28T21:36:00.001-08:00

I'm so making these for the baby!!! Pictures to follow...

http://littlebirdiesecrets.blogspot.com/2008/11/i-laughed-out-loud-when-i-heard-name-of.html

The holidays are coming... gift time!

2009-11-14T02:47:00.000-08:00

The holidays are here and there are many crafty fairs in store.

Here is the first etsy crafty ho down blog,

http://handmadehodown.blogspot.com/

and here is the site...

http://www.handmadehodown.com/

I'm hoping linda will come and check it out with me...

It's on a Thursday, and at that point I'll be done with school, so it might be nice to go...

We shall see...

Bazaar Bizarre!!!...its coming!!

2009-11-02T12:42:00.000-08:00

An event I've been to before, and can't wait to go again.

Lots of fun, and interesting things to see...

I always find craft fairs helpful when I'm looking for ideas...

For more info visit their blog: http://www.bazaarbizarre.org/sfblog/

Baz Biz SF 09 Banner

Mark your calendar because we've got an awesome show for you! The 2009 Bazaar Bizarre San Francisco is a TWO DAY Handmade market, Indie entertainment extravaganza and D.I.Y. Festival all under one roof!

SHOP HANDMADE & SHOP LOCAL

Bazaar Bizarre San Francisco will feature over 120 carefully juried artists and designers. You'll find the crème de la crème of indie goods: art, pottery, letterpress, silk-screened t-shirts, baby clothes, body products and more! Handmade food will also be for sale in the form of luscious cupcakes and udon soup with sushi rolls.

FREE WORKSHOPS AND ENTERTAINMENT

Groove all weekend with our crafty DJs including the genius of Slide and Spin Studios. Swing by the Maker Shed and Craft Magazine booth to create D.I.Y. projects for FREE! Capture the moment by posing in the Magnolia Photo Booth, FREE to all customers! Pick up some FREE swag from the Yelp and Kaboodle booths, enter product raffles from Chronicle Books and Craft Magazine. Attend Book Signings and Crafty Workshops with indie superstars such as Jenny Hart of Sublime Stitching.

REFASHION YOUR HOLIDAYS WITH SWAP-O-RAMA-RAMA

Jump into the D.I.Y. spirit! For $5 and a bag of clothes you can enter the WORLD FAMOUS clothing swap and workshop Swap-O-Rama-Rama. Swap-O-Rama-Rama's D.I.Y. experts will help you cut, sew, print and personalize your up-cycled fashion finds!

HELP US TO GIVE BACK TO THE COMMUNITY

50% of this years door fees will be donated to the Out of Site Center For Arts Education and Keep Turning Heads. Out of Site offers SF students free programs in visual and performing arts. Turning Heads provides vocational arts instruction, entrepreneurship, and leadership training for high-risk youth in San Francisco.

WHERE AND WHEN

Saturday December 12th 2009 12:00 PM - 6:00PM

Sunday December 13th 2009 12:00 PM - 6:00 PM

San Francisco County Fair Building Golden Gate Park, San Francisco

$2.00 Per Adult ~ 12 & Under FREE

50% of Admission Fees Go To Charity

So you're in right? Show us some love and RSVP on....

Yelp Facebook

BAZAAR BIZARRE NEEDS YOU!

We're looking for a few good volunteers to help us with our winter extravaganza! Be a part of our creative community by offering just a couple of hours of your day in support of the Baz Biz vendors and organizers. It's great opportunity for anyone interested in learning about this indie craft community. Please contact bazaarbizarresfpress@gmail.com if you're interested in helping us out.

The sriracha project

2009-10-12T18:26:00.000-07:00

This was my first yudu project, and it was a lot of fun. Putting the art together was a tad bit annoying, but I wanted it to be as accurate as possible, so I took a picture, and played around with it in picasa and paint for a little bit. Some of the characters were not clear so I had to go online, and try to get a better image.
When I finally got it all together, I caught my misspelling, and had to go back and edit it again.
It took me a little more than two hours. I left out some things from the bottle, but I think when I make a new image (larger), I will add a couple of the features.

The project didn't go flawless, I screwed up an emulsion sheet (the photo film), and had to use another. I got excited and forgot to take of the plastic sheet backing, burnt the image on, and well...I couldn't peel it off after. You need to be able to remove it or the ink won't go onto the object you are trying to print.

When I first got the yudu, I was, of course, trying to get everything for the yudu, a lot of "yudu" brand things are pricey (even on ebay) and you don't get a lot of it. Then I started finding little "cheats" here and there, and well...I ended up getting speedball (brand) ink at University Art . I have one right down the street! I love that place. I also bought the emulsion remover too.
Anyways, despite the disclaimer from the yudu company, you can TOTALLY use speedball ink. Acutally, I recommend it. The quality is so much better.

So anyways, where did I go wrong? Well, through my excitement, I didn't let the screen dry completely and some of my images spread on the shirt. Its not as noticeable, but if you know me, I NOTICED!!!

The story behind the project
My brother-in-law, Robert (AKA DJ Otrebor) loves sriracha. He's even a "fan" of it on facebook. Well, he's about to turn 30, and I thought this would be a nice gift for him. I hope he likes it. I'm hoping that I can get a good shot of him wearing it when he's spinning.
If I do, I'll put it up for sure.

Thanks for looking, let me know if you have any questions. :)

Mixer cozy...

2009-10-07T21:46:00.000-07:00

I found a pattern online for a cozy for my kitchenaid mixer, so I decided to make one just for fun! I found a cheap scrap of upholstery fabric.

Then, I made one for my bestfriend Linda for her bday. BUT I made it reversible!

The how-to on the wall art...

2009-09-28T19:05:00.000-07:00

A little bit of crafty home decor...

2009-09-28T16:02:00.000-07:00

I was going completely nuts trying to figure out what color to paint the dining room wall, and after having swatch after swatch taped on the wall and hanging there for days, I finally decided. I was gonna go for something different...
I thought it would be the perfect thing to add a little splash of my favorite color instead of the whole wall...

So here it is...

BEFORE...

AFTER...

And then a lil extra...

NOW A FULL PIC OF THE WALL...

It's a little blurry. Took it with the iphone.

TUTORIAL WILL BE UP SOON!!!

Slow & Steady....Wins the race!

2009-09-06T23:43:00.000-07:00

Slow & Steady…..wins the race!?

I’m back in school until November, so the production has come to a crawl… I did manage to make some labels with my logo tonight, so I decided to celebrate the occasion by blogging!

I have been making things here and there, but they haven’t been for sale. I’ve been giving them away as gifts. I should also mention that I have finally sold the old iphone as unlocked. The first auction on ebay was a fail, the buyer totally flaked, and we had to dispute it with ebay, but the second time around was a go! The buyer did a “buy it now”, and well…. My yudu is going to be in my home soon. I can’t wait!

I was thinking of broadcasting the first time use, but I’m thinking I need to concentrate. As easy as the videos all make it seem, I probably should pay attention, and having the chat on will just distract me. I can’t wait to get my silkscreen projects started.

Anyways, I’m ending for now.

chalkboard art..

2009-07-24T00:07:00.000-07:00

This chalkboard usually is decorated for someone's birthday, holiday, or important reminder.
Its in the stairwell going from the garage up to the kitchen floor. In other words, its hard to miss it because we constantly come in & out through our garage which is on the ground floor.
Anyways, this was done with chalkboard markers. I found them at Daiso, the Japanese "Dollar store".

My first crafty blog! Finally...

2009-07-07T23:23:00.000-07:00

I'm finally getting to blog for the crafty part of me. I recently relocated my crafty area to my downstairs kitchen desk area. I was tired of finally sitting down to open markers, and missing supplies, so I figured that the ideal spot is to be in the kitchen (main floor) where I can see everything. Now, I'm seeing that my desk is not big enough and things have already started to accumulate on the floor. I think I'll have to get more storage and work space eventually, but overall this was a good move, its right in the kitchen, and I will need to use the sink when I start with the silk screening.
So here are a few pictures of what I have set up. It's off to a slow start because of the summer. It seems that every weekend has something planned. Festivals, concerts, trips up to the city, but that's what the summer is for, and the friends have more free time as well...
Most likely by Fall, I'll have a steady project list going, and finally get some stuff up on etsy.
Phew! I'll end this blog for now. I feel accomplished...

My signature bottlecap magnetboard. I make them on my spare time.

My cricut was in the box for over year... I'm finally using it!

The desk is in the kitchen. It'll be useful when I get my silk screening machine. The sink is steps away.

My sewing machine is on the floor. I need more shelves, and storage space already!