• Blog

    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.

    sewing

    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.

    cards

    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. 🙂

  • Blog

    T Tuesday: the monogramed mug edition

    20130805_2899I picked up a new mug from the clearance rack at Menards, of all places.

    One lone mug with my initial…I had to buy it.

    It’s much bigger than my standard size so I’m not sure I’ll use it for coffee or tea.

    20130805_2901

     

    Maybe I’ll use it to hold my paint brushes….

    I usually keep them in a cute little pink bucket.

    Hmmm….decisions.

     

     

    20130805_2907

     

     

     

    Although, it might work better here on my desk.  I’m going to leave it here for a day or two and see how I like it.

    Next on the list for today is knitting group, Target and grocery shopping.

    I actually have been  get some projects finished while attending my knitting group.

    knit dishcloths

     

     

     

     

    Here are a few dish cloths to prove it. 🙂

     

    turning leavesAnd can you believe this!?! We have leaves starting to turn already. I haven’t even picked a ripe tomato yet. Our growing season was majorly shortened this year.

    Alright …enough blather from me…I’ve got things to do, people to see, blogs to visit.

    What are you doing today?

    You could stop by the home of T stands for Tuesday for starters.

    mystery solved

     

    EDIT: For those of you helping me on my flower/weed identification…here she is! A sunflower!

  • Art - Blog - Photography

    A beautiful day

    beautiful dayWe’ve had such gorgeous weather lately. It inspired me to create this journal page day.

    Blue sky and puffy white clouds.

    A field of flowers…beautiful day full page

    I think I was also inspired by a recent trip to the MN Landscape Arboretum.  So many beautiful flowers. I took well over 100 photos in the 1.5 we were there.

    I’ll share more of that day in a later post.

     

     

    coneflower

    This was the last photo I took that day as we were walking back out to our vehicle. That’s it straight from the camera…no edits…no fussing with color balance etc….with the exception of my watermark, of course.

    coneflower edit

     

     

    Here’s the same photo after playing around in Photoshop. It has a completely different mood.

    I could play in the digital world all day but there are things in the real world that need my attention today.