criss-cross will make you...

it takes approximately six squares to make one coaster. 24 squares to make a set of four. 120 to make five sets. plus the additional square of fusible interfacing needed for each coaster. who knew such a little thing would take so much work and use so much fabric. here's one set i finished before we left on holiday last week. i should take a pic of the stack of squares sitting next to my sewing machine. we've been working solely on christmas decor that i haven't gotten a chance to finish. goal for today.

we got back sunday. a nine hour drive from cdale to boone. a venti, mocha frap and an ipod full of good tunes made the drive tolerable. good times in the dale. i have to remember, one night of too much fun early on can ruin the rest of the week.

we got to see everyone we wanted to see. how we did it in such a short span is still a mystery. next trip...maybe a short stint down to florida in a few weeks to see dana and the kids...and perhaps mickey. i'd be flying solo since aaron will be heading to washington state for his christmas hike with tom and crew. still have to look into a plane ticket.

this year we're hosting christmas in the carolinas for my family. we've been in holiday overdrive since returning from illinois. aaron dragged out box after box of christmas decor from the basement. who knew we'd accumulated so much. one of aaron's patients gave us an eight foot christmas tree that is now standing in our front foyer. a fraser fir, it looks awesome!! last night we trimmed it together. how quaint. i'd post pics but i wanna keep it a surprise for the family. i'll probably give a little teaser in an upcoming blog. i'm off to clean up a little...our house looks like it's been ransacked by little elves.

another felt creation

i gotta a little sidetracked on my way to making criss-cross coasters. yes, felt hair clips. 24 of them so far. i had bought a packet of snap clips a few weeks ago, knowing i'd eventually get around to making them. now is eventually. i first practiced using craft felt. quality isn't great, but served it's purpose. they're the neon looking ones with somewhat morbid designs. the pastel ones are made of wool felt. what a difference in quality. aaron convinced me to stick with cheery themes when making ones i want to sell. makes sense, a majority of the population would rather put cute than creepy on their child's head. i'll still do a few creepy quality ones, but unless there's a popular demand i'll stick with cutesy. now you'll know what will be occupying my time on our drive back to illinois monday/tuesday.

in action

i finally snagged a photo of carrie wearing my creation. yes, it's been "carrified," i mean sexified. it looks 100x better with the wider neckline. remember i didn't like the seam down the middle to begin with. i'm impressed she was able to make it work. damn, it looks good!

postsecret

postsecret is an ongoing community art project where people mail in their secrets anonymously on one side of a homemade postcard.

new site find today. interesting to see what secrets people keep. do i have any skeletons in my closet i'm dying to share? anonymously, of course. i'll have to dig deep.

every sunday it's updated with new postcards.

i make me laugh

what do you do with intimate items you know you'll never use?

for the last few months i've been taking said items over to jill and jerome's. when they were distracted, i'd duck into their bathroom and toss an item under the sink. after leaving about five items i started to wonder if they'd come across the stash. jill and jerome are clean freaks and i remember seeing cleaning supplies in there so i know someone's had to have seen it by now. finally after two months i couldn't hold my tongue, i asked jill. "what!?! you've been putting that stuff under there? i thought it was jerome trying to hint at something!" too funny.

what items am i referring to? everything i got at my bachlorette party last year. kama sutra body lotion, spanish fly, penis straws, jenna jameson bubble bath and...
after an evening of drinking, you know someone's gonna be wearing edible underwear. let's just say it wasn't someone of the female persuasion.

go bold, go home

seriously considering going bold with wallpaper this time around. where? still pondering that one. i know it's going to be too much for an entire room. but as an accent wall, i'm sure it won't be too overwhelming. only thing i'm worried about, applying the wallpaper. it'd be a first for me...and i can already anticipate frustration. it'd be a challenge but if i start fairly small, i think i can pull it off.

bookmarked

i received a small bag of bamboo tiles in a supply swap a few months ago. i honestly didn't have a clue what i was going to do with them. after some brainstorming, here's the end result. fashion bookmarks. supplies: bamboo tile, paper scraps, hemp cording and plastic beads. great stash-buster.

this was the first time i used a high-gloss varnish. it took longer than i expected to dry but it was well worth it in the end. i also made a few pin-up tiles that i couldn't bear making into bookmarks. i think they would better serve as some type of jewelry. what type...i have no clue. i'll have to ponder on that one a bit longer. next project: criss-cross coasters. i think i'll alternate between sewing, crafting and home improvement projects.

i just dropped aaron, jerome and patrick off at the asu football game. i really don't think it's gonna be much to see. they're playing the worst team in the conference. jerome and his buddy patrick came over a few hours beforehand, had a little tailgate at the house. i did have to drop off three very drunk football fans. maybe the alcohol will keep them warm cause it's a bit nippy. go asu!

pocket pouches

i'm gonna fudge here. i made these a few weeks ago for yet another swap. the sweat shoppe swap. you make five like items and swap them for five different items. in this swap i get to choose the items i want and if they're available i get them. i got most of what i asked for so all is good.

the pouches resemble the clutch i made a while ago, only smaller and with a wristlet. i tried to accommodate peoples likes and dislikes so there's a wide array of style. i'll revisit these in a few weeks as a daily craft.

i am working on a craft right now. bamboo tiles covered with various papers. most of them will eventually be made into bookmarks similar to the one i made angela in the last swap. i used varnish on them to give them a high gloss look and it's taking a while for them to dry. i made more than ten so i guess that counts for two days of crafting. i'll post pics tomorrow of the finished items.

one a day

they've come back to haunt. garden gnomes! when in asheville a few weeks ago, our lovely host had an abundance of these little devils sprinkled throughout her yard. i started snapping away, knowing i'd be doing something with them somewhere down the line. first project: gnome notes.

man, does it suck not having a desktop publishing program. quark, indesign, anything is better then using microsoft word. i was able to punch out 3 sets of cards before my printer went kaput. inkwell is now dry. i gave a set to jill for her birthday and am selling the other two in my swap shop. i'm not too happy with the colors...wanted them to pop. once i get the bugs ironed out i'll make some more. hopefully i'll be designing aaron's office website and i'll be able to afford creative suite. how to break down the difference between programs: creative suite is equivalent to a lexus where microsoft word is a fiat. dumb comparison, since i haven't ridden in either. but you get the gist.

my swap shop is basically a place for my practice projects. i've been trading practice projects for more materials, i.e. buttons, fabrics. it's kinda nice having that option. they'd be going to waste otherwise. i've gotten a few cool items, but i'm finding my style and everyone elses are very different as far as finished products go. so basically i've been sticking to supplies.

i've also found that i need to give myself goals. otherwise i push things off and they tend to never get done. i've decided to do a project a day. at least attempt to. five items. two for practice and three to sell. unless, of course, they are perfect from the get-go. i am finding i am a little OCD when it comes to setting up shop. the sewing needs to be perfect, the photos have to look great and the marketing materials have to shine. at this rate, i should be open....never! ;)

this time last year...

pretty much the phrase of the weekend. the whole phrase: "can you believe this time last year we were in jamaica getting married?" jamaica...oh how we miss thee! seriously, we do.

we've officially got a whole year of marriage under our belts.

we thought we'd try and take one of those "spur of the moments" vacations/weekends, but that didn't pan out too well. (i don't think those work unless you live in a city with a major airport.) we even considered reliving the moment in jamaica. poor planning on our part. two nights cost just as much as five days. so that was a bust. instead we decided to have a date weekend. friday night we went out to dinner at one of our favorite "fancy" restaurants, the artisanal. food was fabulous.

saturday we went to the movies and watched dan in real life. a cute, romantic comedy. yes, cute. we don't like spending $16.50 on a movie we know is going to be so-so. we bit the bullet and splurged.

on our official anniversary we went hiking. a big difference from last year. since this was going to be the last nice weekend of the year, we decided to take advantage. we climbed 1000 ft. in a little over a mile. elevation on elk knob: 5520 ft. i thought i was going to die. it was pretty much uphill the whole time. but when we made it to the top it was totally worth the climb! aaron slathered on the zinc sunscreen so his lips are stark white in the pic. but we wanted to commemorate the occasion with a photo. slightly resembles the photo we took last year this time!

it was pretty much a low key anniversary. we shared a few gifts, relaxed, and were probably a little more lovey-dovey than usual. i think we both agreed we'd plan a little better next year. this time next year, i can't believe we'll be in jamaica! ;)

i swap a lot

angela received her tin today so i can post photos of what i made. above is the top of the tin. i went with her asian/orient theme. i love the theme myself so i absolutely enjoyed making everything. i practiced a little more using polymer, both inside and out.

unfortunately the blossom pin didn't make it. one of the petals broke. boo! :( everything else arrived intact. also included: a large marble magnet, blossom bookmark, origami crane earrings, fortune cookie cell phone charm and 6 marble thumbtacks. it was a great swap, especially it being her first!! you go girl!

brother brian asked me to make steak and potatoes. i told him steak is "so not cute" but he insisted. here's my version...i even made the little plate it's sitting on. i may redo the steak, it's a little too rare for his taste. he wants grill marks, the works. everyone's a critic! i should have put a dime in there for scale. it's pretty small, it can fit in the palm of my hand (to give you reference).

take the tour

per request, here are photos of the interior of the house. it's still a work in progress.

swap gone good

since my last swap was a bit of a disappointment, i decided to do a personal swap this time around. angela and i basically followed the guidelines for the altoid tin swap from craftster. gave each other a list of interests and presto! we have a swap. i think this is the better way to go. i know her skill level and she knows mine. she did not disappoint! she went with my "day of the dead" theme and did an awesome job! pictures to prove it. thanks, angela!! i'm so ready for another one!

a tad OCD

aaron and i have discovered that marley is a little ocd. especially when it comes to this chew toy. it can no longer be put it in the bin with all the other toys, it has it's own spot on top of the television. when we get home she runs and sits, staring up at it, begging us to get it down. she's also a clever dog. she's figured out if she scratches to be let out it'll get us up and then she quickly runs over to the television for the toy.

the other day, after throwing it a countless number of times. i put it on top of my car for a break. forgetting it was there, aaron took my car to run some errands and the toy fell off somewhere along the way. i walked down the driveway...nothing. he got back, took his bike and rode down the gravel road...nothing. marley sat in front of the t.v. staring up at nothing. poor dog. i pulled out some other toys to spark her interest...no love. i decided to try and find something that would/could replace it. while i was out searching aaron called. he had seen it along the road on his way to work yesterday morning. thank goodness. he stopped on his way home, braved traffic and got marley her bone. she, of course, is thankful and has yet to put it down.