Craft arrest update

Alright. So at the beginng of the week I said I was not doing any crafts all week in an effort to get my house cleaned and back to where it should be.  Here is how that has been going. I just started being a consultant for marykay (www.marykay.com/jstuber) and met with my director and friend on Monday to get started.  Until I got home and had dinner, the evening was pretty much gone. Tuesday night was GREAT! Cleaned the kitchen and living room including dusting and vacuuming. Wednesday was non productive because I went to my parents for dinner and stayed there until almost 10:30pm- oops!! Yestersday started with a bang when my husband called at 7:30am to tell me he had been in an accident on his motorcycle on the way to a training for work. Thankfully he hadn't gotten too far and was still only a few minutes from home.  He was ok as luck would have it but the bike was towed to a local shop until the insurance company could get out to assess it today. That being said and being completely exhausted from all of this, I took some felt to work and was able to make these flowers (and a few more done after I took this picture) in my downtime.. even got an inquisition on how much I charge for them.. WOWZA. Who would have thought? Maybe I will make more and see where it takes me. Either way this was sadly my only craft for the week so far. I am trying to think of something fun and exciting to make next week because I am off work Monday and Tuesday and have a nice chunk of time to devote to a nice project. Needless to say, the bottom half of my house is clean, and the top half not so much. Once I get all my MaryKay products this will probably spur a huge house reorganize so that's ok too :)

What has everyone else been working on this week?



CRAFT ARREST

Okay- I do have things I can share, but unfortunately these things are going to be limited to gradually sharing some of the scrapbook pages created for my nephew, Aydan's book. With the whirlwind of projects I was working on for different reasons, my housework has suffered (and by that I mean really nothing got done). That being said I am taking the next few evenings after work to try to play catch up and get my house back to where it should be! I will be doing a guest post for Keri @ Shaken Together  early November, so rest assured, there will be some crafting as soon as my house is sparkly again :)
I will do my best to post a few layout pages later today or tomorrow- until then, have fun!

Cigar box upcycle

Alright friends- here is a project that sadly got put to the last minute but one I was SO excited about. Over the summer, my mom and I visited Olde Factory Antiques (which, yes, I visit somewhat regularly) and I saw different types and sizes of cigar boxes. These are great because they range from $3-7 for the most part and vary in condition, color, etc.  Well on that trip, I picked out this little guy. (On subsequent trips, I have picked up a few more)

So there you have my starting point. From here, I decided to spray paint it, but later regretted it so I don't recommend it. It didn't allow the spray adhesive to adhere the way I would have liked and combined with the curves in the box, this was a source of frustration. So with that being said, I reveal the final product. I did realize that I didn't get a great picture of the overall look of the box, but tried to take some detail pictures of my favorite parts. I did use the Timeless Type - DCWV stack which I picked up at Michael's and love to pieces. Loved the character of it all. Also used a tiny bit of a Recollections pack (from Michael's but can't find online to link)  There are of course more pictures than included here (because I am super duper picture taker with EVERYTHING!!!) but I didn't want to bore anyone to tears.  



"Whole" box view




Clock set to 10/17, our date!!

      

Totally in love with this clock & the initials for hubby



Fun ribbon and upholstery tacks on the sides

  

Inside with felted bottom

 

Inside Close up



 

 

The only thing that I would do differently and will in the future is not use a box with the rounded sides(although very cool so maybe this is a lie) and not spray paint prior to using spray adhesive. As hubby so lovingly pointed out, spray paint is hydrophilic (or was it phobic??) so it doesn't allow it to stick. Silly me?? I never did like chemistry! His response to his gift was "So does this mean I can buy more watches?? I haven't been buying any because there was no more space." Oh my. Whatever makes him happy, I guess.

So, what do you all think??? Has anyone else ever upcycled cigar boxes- if so for what purpose?

Old drawer flower box

Well my apologies for no weekend post or earlier in the day Monday post, however life has been a little busier than usual. I ran a 5k Saturday morning at a great time in the COLD, then came home to shower and head to Lebanon Valley College's homecoming as we have now been graduated 5 years!! I really can't believe it, but nonetheless its true!! Sunday we finally had my mom and dad over to celebrate my mom's 50th birthday, so here I am to finally share some photos of the gift I made her.
First, a nice view from above to show the different types of flowers I made.

 



 

 



 Next a few close up shots of some of the flowers (and the SO FUN buttons!!!)

This is an awesome close up of the really original neat drawer pull as this box was, at some point, a drawer and didn't house these fun handmade flowers. I found this drawer at this awesome store that I love (sometimes a little too much) Olde Factory Antiques found in Hummelstown, PA which is about 20 minutes away.

I love this pictures because it really shows the awesome character of the "drawer" and that I used real sticks from a tree in our yard to make the stems for a lot of the flowers.

So there you have it. This was actually the beginning of the flower craze that took over my brain for at least two weeks. My mom really enjoyed her gift and sent me a picture last night of where she put it when she got home. It was no surprise that she loved them, because we share a very (to a scary point) similar taste in decorations and love the old/country/primitive stuff. If anyone wants to know specifics on how I made flowers, please let me know. I believe I have previously posted the tutorials I followed for each type, but I will gladly link to them again.
Hope everyone had a great weekend and a decent Monday. Craft with you all soon!

Breast Cancer Awareness Part 2

And the madness continues. Once I began to make flowers, I just couldn't stop. I found different ways to make flowers nad came up with some other ideas. The frame below has been seen before, but I love it so much I thought I'd share it again.

and a nice up close of some of the flowers in the "vase" (aka mason jar!!) I also wrapped the jar with burlap and ribbon to give it a little more of a finished look. Burlap flower tutorial was found on pinterest from Snugasabugbaby. The rolled flowers, I can't remember where I first saw the tutorial, because they are everywhere these days. I just adore them all.

And then there were more felt flowers. Again, the tutorial from icandyhandmade. I had also seen some basic flat flowers on Nest of Posies and just made simple little ones.

Hope you  enjoyed all the pink :) And that my creations inspire you to create and remind you to self-examine!!

Some fall/halloween love

Well this won't be the longest post in history, but I wanted to post some of what I have been so busy working on that I couldn't put down the glue, buttons, felt, or paper long enough to post.
Last week my awesome neighbor had a little banner out as a decoration and I commented on it.. this led to her asking me if I had any letter cut outs... and this led to me saying I HAVE A CRICUT, WE CAN MAKE ANYTHING!!!! So the next day she and her daughter came over and we created some SPOOKY Banners

I ended up making another SPOOKY banner last night because the one I originally made for me, was taken to my sisters, for her boys to enjoy. So anyway, then my neighbor thought it would be fun to having a Witching hour one as well. I wasn't sure exactly how she would want it, so I just got it all ready for her (my personal favorite part is my little witches hats- NOT from cricut)

So for my last little project I will share tonight- I used some fun little bar coasters (actually from Germany, I think) that I bought from a little, well big actually, store Antique Marketplace in Lemoyne. The coasters were super cheap, like I think I paid 2 bucks for 10 or so of these things, and when I bought them I was actually thinking of them for a sign like this. My mod podge for some reason didn't get along with my Target dollar section scrapbook paper from a few years ago, and I got a crinkly look, but love it.

I hope you enjoyed my little creations of fall. I am hoping to post some more of my breast cancer raffle items that I have also been (obsessively) working on lately. Also in the line-up to share is the arrangement of flowers for my mom's birthday and my favorite pages of the scrapbook I just finished.

Crazy Busy Life

So I feel like I really need to apologize that I haven't posted since last week!! Its been busy between projects I am working on, needed to finish, and waiting for my new nephew to arrive. Of those things, I finalized a scrapbook for my almost 2 year old nephew (he loved it!!), finished my mom's birthday present (lots of cloth flowers- pictures coming) and got to meet my nephew Saturday (also lots of pictures to come). Hopefully by Wednesday I will get a chance to do all these things and share with you. Also tonight I have been working on more breast cancer auction items for work- pictures will be shared when complete :)

Have a great week!

Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Over the past week I have been going back and forth between numerous projects and today I am featuring just one of them- given that it is the start of October, this is most appropriate

So far I have made just these 3 felt flowers that I am in love with. These (and any others I make before then) are being donated for an auction at work which will raise money to go to the Breast Cancer Foundation. Too many women's lives are taken by breast cancer each year and I hope that these flowers will not only remind people who wear/display them to self-examine regularly, but also remind those who see them.

I want to focus on this one, because when I posted it on facebook, I was asked how I made it. The tutorial for both the center and the main flower are from Design Dump. I actually made the base of the main flower bigger and it just worked out that I had this space in the middle that I wasn't 100% sure what I wanted to do with. From there, I had a reject "rose" flower that I just on a whim placed in the center and LOVED!!! Why do I call it reject flower, you ask? Because when I cut the spirals for the flower, I made them very skinny and as I glued the flower together, it got tall instead of wide.  All in all I totally love how it turned out and hope it helps contribute nicely to the auction money!  The flower on the left was made in the same manner and the one on the right was made with a tutorial from icandy handmade and although I was initially annoyed with the cutting, after completion I am more than happy to do it again.