Art and Whimsy

wrapping along!

2010-08-16T09:44:00.000-07:00

The great thing about beading/jewelry making is that it is a portable hobby (unlike most of my other ones!) I just came back from a camping trip, and while I was gone I managed to finish 2 pendants and 4 bracelets (one bracelet I'm not sure I will try to sell, as I am becoming attached to it).

I also recently started wrapping silver coins. Small ones, like a "Winged Liberty" dime (also known incorrectly as a "Mercury" dime) and a buffalo nickel. The great thing about wire wrapping them is that you can see both sides, and if you wanted to take the coin out you could (you'd destroy the wire, but not the coin). Of course, I'm not starting out with MS65 coins or anything like that...I use good to fine quality. They say "I'm a collector" without worrying that you will scratch up a totally valuable collector's piece.

I will have to post some pictures when I get a chance to take some!

My LBS is going up for sale :-(

2010-08-01T05:39:00.000-07:00

I got an email yesterday that the local bead store was going to be going up for sale...apparently they were just going to close up, but they wanted to see if any of their customers were interested in buying the business instead. They thought of me! I was incredibly flattered (or possibly scared that I buy so many supplies they thought I could actually afford to buy a bead store!) but I hope someone does buy it, and it doesn't just end up going away. (maybe I should save up for clearance sales, JK)

I have to say, the thought of buying a bead store had me day-dreaming a little. I pictured setting up my kids computers in the back room, so they could be doing homeschool while Mommy was working. When there were no customers I would be working on projects. Of course my supplies already threaten to take over the world...I can't imagine what my stash might look like if I had constant exposure. Or would I finally learn to only buy enough for what I was working on at that moment, and not worry about it "not being there" the next time I went shopping?

a good book for wire working

2010-07-29T13:50:00.000-07:00

I mentioned yesterday that I'm getting the hang of this wire thing. I thought I would mention that the book I read was Dale Cougar Armstrong's "Wirework". It's available on her website wire-sculpture.com. There is also a good website here, that has tons of valuable information on it. you can get a trial week for $1, and there are tons of video tutorials. Once you master the basics of the patterns, you can tweek them for any size or shape of stone. here are some more lovelies:

I've been playing with wire

2010-07-27T15:10:00.000-07:00

I've had a lot of fun lately playing with wire. I've learned how to wire-wrap cabachons, and I'm actually pretty impressed with the way they are turning out. I've been doing this for a while now, but I've been following the directions on several good wire websites, and I think I finally have the hang of it. here are some lovelies:

PInk invitatonal

2010-04-16T12:52:00.000-07:00

Last month my daughter got to participate in the "Pink Invitational" gymnastics meet to support a breast cancer organization.

GK leotards was a sponsor, and each girl received a pink leotard to wear for the meet and take home. They got a lot of other loot as well. It was late at night (we were in the last group) but it was very nice. My daughter got a lead crystal trophy for 10th place all around. It really was a beautiful event. We were in another meet (we...I mean she, just because it consumes so much of MY time....) this month, but I didn't get any pictures (bad lighting). We have sectionals next week. nothing like a little pressure!

crafty party!

2010-04-15T07:42:00.000-07:00

This year for my DD's birthday we decided to have it at Michael's. She wanted to invite her gymnastics team, and over the course of the year there have already been pool parties, a bouncy house party, one girl had hers at the barn and the girls got to ride the horses, we wanted to do something different.

So the girls decorated tote bags (they had a blast but I never realized exactly how loud girls can get!) and when there was extra time the lady who worked there had several other projects they could do. My daughter said it was the best birthday ever.

instead of a traditional cake, I made a cupcake tree. I used the idea from the Wilton cupcake book to use star shaped cookies on a cupcake stand, and we iced them in pink. I made cake decorations and a birthday banner using my cricut. It was a lot of work, but it was afterall, the best birthday party ever!

I really need to get better at this!

2010-03-16T13:32:00.000-07:00

Am I the worst blogger there is? I seem to be sort of posting impaired. I suppose it's because I have just so many irons in the fire...after all, I'm sewing, I'm making jewelry, I home school 3 kids.

I recently entered a contest in which you were supposed to make a snowflake out of wire and decorate it with crystals or pearls. I haven't heard who the winners are yet, but since no one has contacted me yet my hope is flagging (just a little)

So here is a picture of my entry, for you to see, and if there is a chance to vote on it, I will post that here too. I have also been working on a "Twilight inspired" charm bracelet for a swap I am doing. I really want to post it, but I am afraid my swap partner might check here (sorry Debbie, NO pictures of it here ;-)

2010-02-02T09:40:00.000-08:00

I apologize if you tried the link I had to Wire sculpture.com last month. apparently I forgot the .html at the end.

As promised, here are some new pictures of what I've been working on. some of the plain stones I bought are just so pretty it's hard to use them...I have to come up with a piece that does them justice, you know!

Anyway, here is the link to the wire sculpture tools I was talking about. While you are there, check out Dale Cougar Armstrong's book

Wirework: An Illustrated Guide to the Art of Wire Wrapping

It is well worth the price! I have a few variations I have done with projects in the book and I find the instructions are easy to follow, and the pictures are really helpful.

TTFN!

never a dull moment!

2010-01-14T09:37:00.000-08:00

This weekend my daughter has another meet. The home meet is never my favorite, because we have to work it (last year my husband did video for all five sessions) and I put in hours making notebooks for them to sell.

At least this year he is only doing set up, and I am doing once session of selling at the leo store. I'm patiently (okay, impatiently!) for a shipment to come in so I can work on some birthstone sets. We have another meet next weekend too!

Is it really 2010?

2010-01-01T06:15:00.000-08:00

I'm not sure where last year went, but it really flew by! I haven't updated my blog in a while...my hard drive crashed and we had to get a new computer. At any rate, I hope everyone had a nice Christmas.

Ours was green, although I think everyone else on the East Coast was buried in snow.

Well, now that the holidays have settled down I have been getting ready to work on some more jewelry for my etsy shop. I found this great website that has a free videos and wire wrapping patterns. They also have a very nice selection of supplies and beginner DVD courses available, as well as a great selection of tools.

As soon as I figure out how to get pictures into my new box, I will share some of my new work.

Happy new year!
Valarie

2009-12-07T08:41:00.000-08:00

Here's another picture of Mushi mushi. Is he lovable, or what?

2009-12-07T02:13:00.000-08:00

Meet Mushi-Mushi. Unfortunately, Cinders didn't get along with the dog...after she launched the 4th of many sneak attacks that left Jam bleeding, we decided she just had to go.

We took our dog to the shelter with us to pick out another cat, and Mushi was "the guy". He loves Jamie (we say he likes his women tall dark and hairy) and he loves to get attention (of course he has wanted attention at 3 AM the last two nights, what's up with that?) but so far he's a great cat.

2009-12-05T13:30:00.000-08:00

Winter has finally arrived at our house. My dog acted like she needed to go out potty, but she just wanted to go have a good roll in the snow. I guess this weather just brings out her husky side.

what are you making for the holidays?

2009-12-03T03:06:00.001-08:00

I admit, it's later than I think. Here's the thing though, I started my holiday planning early this year, so I'm not nearly as behind on my holiday crafting as I *usually* am for this time of year (Christmas is approaching like a speeding train though!)

I have mentioned a website called "you can make this" before, and I wanted to mention they are doing a series of videos of frugal and quick gift ideas (and maybe a little decorating too)

at any rate, you can find the website here, and the blog with the videos here. If you sign up for their newsletter they have a lot of fun free patterns too. I love the 18" doll sized patterns.

So there's my little infomercial about YCMT, If I can get my camera functioning, I will try to show some pictures of what I have been up to lately.

-Valarie

2009-10-22T09:36:00.000-07:00

I got into a fun swap on the cricut boards. you had to make two cards, two titles, two accents, two journal tags and some other random smaller accents. we also had to add two candy bars, and some brads or other fun embellishments. I di one for fall, and one for Halloween

Here is what I got back. I can hardly wait for the next one, which will be for winter and Christmas.

Meet Cinders

2009-10-10T09:39:00.000-07:00

Recently we had a cat show up at our house. while we have feral cats all the time, but this one came right up to us! My husband, a long time advocate of "cats are okay for others, but I don't want any" was melted when it rubbed up against his leg.

He decided we should let the cat become a house pet (and an indoors pet) lest it become coyote chow. So anyway, here she is!

more fun crafts

2009-10-06T17:59:00.000-07:00

The boo bag was a big hit with the kids. The little boy plays with my kids and he nudged his big sister and said "ask her" she then asked if we sent the bag. Of course, I was evasive..."what bag?" and they proceeded to tell me all about it. They probably know we did it, but hey, it was fun anyway.

So I promised more crafts. If you ever wanted to try dyeing wool yarn, check out this link. I HAD to try it, so I used Patons winter white (do not get the kind that says "superwash") and after it was dyed, I felted it. I think I'm going to make potholders or something, maybe a table trivet. I used four packets fruit punch koolaid for the red (I could have gotten away with 3, it didn't absorb all of it, and none of it washed out) and four packets of pink lemonade koolaid for the pink. I left a healthy space in between so I would get some white too.

Halloween is on its way!

2009-10-05T12:07:00.000-07:00

If you go on over to the graphic depot, you will see the trapezoid printable I created using Roxanne's great graphics. There will also be a "boo" set available soon, if you want to surprise your friends and neighbors with this fun tradition.

The bag was stamped before I added the graphics and filled it. This set will probably be in the store very soon!

Along with that note, there are some great pumpkin (as in really cute pumpkin, not Charlie Browns "GREAT PUMPKIN") earrings in my etsy store. My kids are getting into the "spirit" of things too, we have been decorating the house, and getting ready for my mom's visit later this month. I sure hope my neighbors don't know I have a blog, LOL

I'm a designer!

2009-09-04T14:23:00.000-07:00

Okay, I've long thought of myself as a designer of many things, but my "new thing" is designing printables for The Graphic Depot. You can find them at http://thegraphicdepot.com. I'm really excited about it, because Roxanne has some really cute graphics on her site. go check them out!

I'll be sharing more as I finish some.
Valarie

I've been blurfing again.

2009-05-20T02:52:00.000-07:00

on my minor quest for blog candy, I came across a blog getting ready to launch. It's called "the next level" and you can find it here. They are set to launch the first of June, and they are offering a couple nice prize packs (the pink and brown one reminds me of cupcakes)

I will probably post again today, as I have some photos to retrieve from my camera.

Have a great one!

2009-05-01T03:29:00.000-07:00

Here's another blog giving away blog candy

I guess I went AWOL for a while

2009-04-27T03:18:00.001-07:00

I've been "blurffing" (blog surfing) and boy have I seen some nice blog candy!

Check this out if you are into Scrapbooking or card making. Here's another one, but you better hurry, it ends today!

The boxes above are projects I have been working on. One is for my cuttlebug embossing folders, and the other one is, well, was meant to be for my folders until my DD saw what I had done to her box (that she didn't want anymore and had said I could have) so she took it back!

That's okay, I like them both. Have been working on some jewelry endeavors too, but I'm not quite ready to post them.

Valarie

5 years!

2009-04-08T03:18:00.001-07:00

Okay, believe it or not, my twins are 5 today! I don't have any pictures to post yet, but I almost can't believe it. If you've never been through the whole preemie experience, it's hard to understand, but having them in the NICU, and not being able to hold them for almost a week (It may have been longer than a week with Wyatt, God has erased much of that time from my memory) I think I was suffering from severe PPD. It's just so amazing that those little guys who were covered in wires and tubes and hooked up to all sorts of alarms and monitors are now two rambunctious, intelligent (although maybe not in a "common-sense" kind of way ), mostly adorable boys.

Whoever said that Boys are just noise with dirt on it knew what they were talking about!

Happy birthday to my little guys!
Valarie

2009-04-02T03:15:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite websites for make it yourself patterns is giving away a new Janome sewing machine. you can find out how by checking here!

Like the picture says, they have patterns for lots of different things, and the also have a lot of free patterns you can try.

some close ups of individual projects

2009-03-28T07:22:00.001-07:00

While You were out!

2009-03-28T05:59:00.000-07:00

Have you ever seen the show, "while you were out"? They take a family, and send one of them away for a weekend, while other loved ones decorate a room in their house. When they get back, "surprise!"

While my hubby was away on business, I decided to redecorate our bedroom (one of the last places in the house we hadn't painted yet) Here is the headboard which I re-upholstered, I also put new lampshades on and added a decorative shelf on the right.

In the corner you can see that I finally added a valance, and moved the hanging candle holder to the corner. I also de-cluttered (a lot!)

I stencilled the border, made the elk clock on top of the hutch, did both of the flower arrangements and put up some framed artwork (I actually printed the pictures on my printer...they are from PC crafter, by Dwight Kirkland)

Anyway, my husband was shocked, and very happy, and I'm glad that I finally have a room where things match. Now all we need is new carpet.....

2009-03-24T15:51:00.000-07:00

Here is a card and a little pincushion I made for my mom for her B-day. The shoe was my daughter's, and the fabric came from an old Christmas dress of hers that I have long since re-purposed. I just wanted to share!

2009-03-10T14:00:00.000-07:00

More shameless bragging- My daughter won gold on the floor exercise at the state championships, level 4. She seemed a little surprised that many of the "big" girls gave her heartfelt congratulations. I told her that a lot of people get to move up in levels without ever "winning" a state!

It was a nice way to wrap up level 4. She has one more meet at level 5, and then our season is probably over (maybe not, but we'll just have to see how she does)

2009-02-28T04:58:00.000-08:00

Here is the Valentinte I made for my DH. the heart is cut out of close to cocoa card stock, with a black shadow. since I accidentally got some glue on the shadow, I dusted it with copper pigment powder. I thought this would be good for the BBTB challenge. The background paper is patterned, I'm not sure you can tell from the picture. It is a sort of damask tone on tone. Even hubby said 'beautiful card"!

Clank Clank! We Have medals!

2009-02-16T06:04:00.000-08:00

Here we are coming home from our meet in New York.

The picture of the girls laying on the mats is after the meet while they were waiting for the awards announcement...it had been a long day, and most still had to spend 4 hours in the car heading home. I can't tell you how nice it is to have a pilot in the family!!!

Sabrina won 5th on floor, 6th on vault, 4th on Beam, and GOLD on uneven Bars. She's been chasing that one for the whole season, so we were very proud to see her up there on top!

She also won third place all around, which is the picture of her on the podium. Sorry they are so grainy, my little Kodak can't deal well with distance pictures indoors. I also put in a picture of Sabrina with her head set on inside the plane, and one of the sunset we saw, just before landing on the way home.

gymnastics stuff

2009-01-11T07:23:00.000-08:00

My daughter competed in her second meet of the year yesterday. She picked up a 4th place all around, which was pretty nice, but she is mad at herself, because she let things get to her. It was really cold in the gym, and a lot of girls has less than stellar performances, but the ones who really shined were the ones that were able to block everything else out and just do what they knew they had to. Perhaps I should learn to apply that idea to things in my own life!

I made several items for the gift shop at the meet, the most popular were gymnastics themed notebooks. I will post a few here, but if you like them, there are more on my etsy shop.

2009-01-05T11:28:00.000-08:00

I suppose I should mention that my etsy store can be found here

2009-01-05T11:18:00.000-08:00

I finally did it! Not only do I have a blog, but now I have a shop on Etsy! I'm so excited! I have a lot more to post on there, but here are a few examples. Now if we could just get some warm weather so I can go back to taking pictures outside...taking jewelry pictures inside is really difficult!

2008-12-21T10:16:00.000-08:00

Happy first day of Winter! Yesterday my daughter had her annual gymnastics Christmas party, and since we were going to be down in the area anyway, we took a drive through Nay Aug park to see the Christmas lights display. Some of the local residents get into the act too. We have been a little sad that we didn't get our lights up this year, but we have had yucky weather every weekend, not the kind of thing that makes you want to climb up a ladder outside! Oh well, think of the electricity we probably saved, right?

Only 4 days left until Christmas, Yikes! hope you are all on the nice list!

busy busy!

2008-12-19T03:35:00.000-08:00

This seems to be such a crazy time of year. One where I would gladly lock myself in my sewing room and not emerge before Christmas eve, but with so many others depending on me, that's not really possible. I find this year I am more behind the 8-ball than in years past, because when you homeschool preschoolers or kindergarteners, they require constant supervision, and it becomes tough to find a quiet moment.

At the same time, I am trying to teach them all the reason for the season, and the value of giving home-made gifts. Yesterday we had a huge production of making chocolate dipped pretzel sticks! My daughter is pretty much over the thrill of doing this, but the boys wanted to help, especially where sprinkles were concerned. There was a lot of re-washing of hands.

Anyway, I hope that you find a quiet moment in your holiday season!

Val

slightly closer up

2008-12-15T02:40:00.000-08:00

It occurred to me as I was looking at the last pictures that you could not tell how cute my daughter was in her competition leotard. She is the blond. This was after they were done, and I have no idea what the coaches are laughing about, but they obviously had fun! Sorry the picture is grainy, they don't allow flash photography at meets.

2008-12-14T16:12:00.002-08:00

I haven't posted for a few days, because my daughter had her first gymnastics meet of the season yesterday. Between that and the season in general, life has been pretty hectic.

She did really well, placing 3rd all around out of about 70 kids!

I hope to have more fun craft pics to share soon, but for now, I'm braggin'!

I have some mighty cute pics of the little twins too. They look so innocent. Don't let it fool you!

2008-12-10T10:29:00.000-08:00

I know, you're wondering why two posts in one day...I finally have some fun cricut/cuttlebug stuff to share. the cocoa boxes each contain a land of lakes premium cocoa packet. If you haven't tried them, they are really yummy! The advent tree was entirely done on my cricut, including the little envelopes for the ornaments.
Thanks for looking!
Val

some little projects I've been working on:

2008-12-10T02:32:00.000-08:00

Here are some more things I've been working on: The snowmen are hershey bars have hats that are actually a pair of girl's socks. I realize they would look better if I put a scarf on them.

It's hard to see from the picture, but the gingerbread on the wreath is made of poly-clay, and each one of those gingham strips has a cookie cutter tied to it.

The candy cane holders are a quick and easy craft, they are just one piece 4.5"wide by 5.5" tall, folded not quite in half so there is a flap to glue, then glued across the bottom. pop two candy canes in and you are done.

Hope someone finds these inspiring!

Til next time,
Val

It's beginning to look a lot like...well you know

2008-12-07T11:53:00.002-08:00

This weekend, the Christmas spirit exploded at my house. My kids made ornaments, We bought a tree (went out and cut one down, in the icy weather) and we made a gingerbread house. I have scarcely started my Christmas shopping, and I feel like a person standing in the road while a semi is heading my way (or maybe it's a reindeer!)

My calendar is telling me there's still time to finish the pile of projects on my "to do" list, but I'm a little worried. I may send out E-card this year, LOL.anyway, here are some pictures of the various activities:

2008-12-05T10:29:00.000-08:00

Honest, I'm going to add a list of blogs I follow when I figure out how!

Here are some earrings I've been working on. I have them at a craft shop right now, but I'm thinking of opening a shop on Etsy, What do you think?

Val

following the 50

2008-11-30T15:14:00.000-08:00

one of my favorite sites is Youcanmakethis.com

follow the 50 challenge

They are challenging people to make their Christmas gifts on a budget. I can't wait to see where this leads!

2008-11-30T14:44:00.000-08:00

here is a picture of a card my daughter did for the BBTB Christmas card challenge:

She used JOTS for the stockings, fireplace and cuffs, she added glitter for the fire, and stickles on the cuffs of the stockings. She's 8, I think she did a great job!

Well, here we are!

2008-11-30T08:53:00.000-08:00

I guess I have a blog now! that was easy. Mostly painless. I figured since I 'm always posting pictures on message boards, it might be nice to have a place to call "home". Now if I can just figure out how to post pictures and things, I can fill this thing up!
-Val