• Blog - Crafts

    T Tuesday: post birthday week edition

    May 10, 2016 - By 

    Welcome to another edition of T stands for Tuesday.

    T stands for Tuesday

    Last week I was lucky enough to stretch my birthday celebration out over several days. On Tuesday (which is one of the reasons I missed last week) I was treated to lunch with friends. We actually celebrated two birthdays. We had a great time although I never snapped any photos. I did receive this wonderful violet from the other birthday girl.

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    On my actual birthday. May 5th, I was running errands in the morning and picked up my free drink from Caribou…the best chain coffee shop in my humble opinion. (not affiliation…just a very happy customer)

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    Since it was a hot day, I decided on a cold press coffee with room for cream.

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    Mr. G surprised me by not only coming home early that day but also with a lovely bouquet of flowers. I have no idea what the orange ones are but they are so cool! I was really worried Marvin wouldn’t be able to resist them but he was surprisingly restrained after a few initial attempts to get to them.

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    The look of innocence.

    I did see a very strange sight during the week as well.  I was taking J to the eye doctor when we saw the Mystery Machine from the Scooby Doo cartoon.

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    Stranger yet was the very old police car ahead of it. It was as if it had rolled off a movie set or something. I’d guess late 1950’s classic black and white with a single cherry light on top.  When I shared this photo on FB, my cousin suggested that perhaps they were on the way out to Paisley Park which was just another mile up the road. No clue…just one of those things that really makes you do a double take. Glad I had J to quick snap a photo for me.

    On Saturday, Mini-me and I went shopping using some of the birthday coupons and specials I had received then picked up yummy sushi to bring home. It was a really nice cap to a great week of celebration.

    I actually have done a bit of crafting…

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    I used a skein of cotton yarn to make 4 small dish cloths. I like them small so they can fit down inside skinny glassware more easily.

    I’m also continuing work on the commissioned scrapbook album. I’m half done with the pages. Eventually I’ll show another little peek at it. It’s always a tough endeavor to show a scrapbook without showing photos.

    I’ve got an outdoor project in mind with some leftover fireplace stone veneer I was given. Hopefully I have enough to do my plan. When the rain stops, I’ll have to lay things out and see.

    What are you doing today?

  • Blog - Crafts - Creativity

    Catching up…again

    April 25, 2016 - By 

    I feel like I’m always behind in posting lately. Not sure why that is but it happens all too often in my opinion.

    Last time at craft club,  I was trying to replicate this card that I had found many years ago in my dad’s room at the nursing home. It was such a sweet card with a clever design. I knew one day I wanted to try it for myself.

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    I decided to use a pack of cards from Michael’s that were color-coordinated as my base.

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    Of course this is just a start.

    I’ve also started work on a commission. I’m making a scrapbook album from a children’s board book.

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    I started by ripping the printed images off all the pages.

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    So far I’ve only gotten the outside background papers in place. I realize that I can’t force it…either I’m feeling creative or I’m not. Evidently I’m not feeling scrapbooky right now. 🙂

    Mini-me and I were out of town this past weekend for our annual mother daughter retreat. More on that tomorrow.

  • Art - Blog - Crafts

    A second look: Upcycling Projects

    April 2, 2016 - By 

    Secondlook

    Since it’s April and this month is Earth Month I thought I’d share a second look at a bit of upcycling from a few years ago.

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    Oct 6, 2013

    Upcycling Projects

     

    We all know how to recycle and I’m sure most do it daily. Newspapers, cardboard, glass and plastic are all readily recyclable in most cities, at least across the USA.

    This is wonderful! But I’ve been really focused on upcycling lately.  Finding a new use for something that would ordinarily be tossed out.  Wine corks, bottle caps, worn out clothing, stained linens, broken plates…you get the idea.treesI showed a sneak peek of these a while ago. I made a wine cork tree last year but this time I decided to change things a bit. I used a Champagne cork cut in half for the trunk.  I think they turned out really cute.

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    I’ve also been using some scraps from previous projects such as the denim remaining after completing a quilt or two.  As well as the remainder of the dress shirts that I made wine bottle gift bags from.

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    In addition I’ve been making a bunch more cards. I’ll show more of these last two projects at a later date. The cards have much less upcycling in it’s truest sense but I am still attempting to include elements that might otherwise be considered unusable such as tiny scraps of fabric and yarn. As well as photo trimmings. I have a cigar box full of photo trimmings…they have such vibrant colors that it’s a shame to toss them out.

    It doesn’t have to be Earth Day to be a little “green”. Do a little more every day to be kind to our planet. Last time I checked…it’s the only one we have. 🙂

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    If you’d like to see more recycling and upcycling projects please use the tag cloud on my sidebar.