Good luck to me!
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Last minute Giveaway entry.
I TOTALLY forgot to enter the giveaway over at The Clip Cafe. So you will probably have no chance to enter yourself by the time you see this, but it necessary for me to post about it so I can WIN the darn giveaway hehe.
Good luck to me!
Good luck to me!
Calendars and Trains
#30
Well here I am. Second last post. I'm sorry, but I am amazing. I haven't missed a day. And all of my posts have been half decent. No cop out poems, or a paragraph about how I'm busy. I was determined!
But I have a piece of paper to thank for that. This piece of paper kept me going. It kept me on schedule. It was even at times my source of ideas.
My Blogtoberfest Calendar!! Yay!! It was available at the beginning of the month on Tinniegirl's blog. I printed it out on day one and have relyed on it since. Did you use yours?
Now let's talk about trains.
My nephew Spencer loves them. I decided to do a handmade gift for him this year. I found a 4 pack of train shaped wood cutouts at the cheap store last week. I knew I had to get them! I wasn't sure what I was going to do with them right away, but I knew regardless of what I chose to do, my nephew would adore them and talk about them for hours.
So last night I had an idea. I would paint them into Thomas the Tank Engine characters!! I'm nothing special with a paintbrush but I figured he was 3 and wouldn't notice my crooked lines, and they were basic enough that I should be able to get it right. I just had to remember which 4 characters he loved best, but also I knew they needed to be all different colours.
So I first of all sketched the different trains.
Well here I am. Second last post. I'm sorry, but I am amazing. I haven't missed a day. And all of my posts have been half decent. No cop out poems, or a paragraph about how I'm busy. I was determined!
But I have a piece of paper to thank for that. This piece of paper kept me going. It kept me on schedule. It was even at times my source of ideas.
Now let's talk about trains.
My nephew Spencer loves them. I decided to do a handmade gift for him this year. I found a 4 pack of train shaped wood cutouts at the cheap store last week. I knew I had to get them! I wasn't sure what I was going to do with them right away, but I knew regardless of what I chose to do, my nephew would adore them and talk about them for hours.
So last night I had an idea. I would paint them into Thomas the Tank Engine characters!! I'm nothing special with a paintbrush but I figured he was 3 and wouldn't notice my crooked lines, and they were basic enough that I should be able to get it right. I just had to remember which 4 characters he loved best, but also I knew they needed to be all different colours.
So I first of all sketched the different trains.
Thomas
Hiro
Percy
James
So that was my starting point. I photographed the sketches because I knew I'd paint over the details and would need the photos as a reference when it came to decorating later on. Last night I did as much as I could. I only had green, black and blue paint. The rest of the paints and all of the glitter paints I bought from the cheap shop this morning. I got them all finished up as fast as I could because there was plenty of other things that needed to happen today.
Here are the finished products.
Thomas
Hiro
Percy
James
All I need to do is pick out some ribbon and I am making a vertical garland, which will go on his wall. I showed my sister a picture of them and she has confirmed that he will pee his pants in excitement when he see's them Christmas morning. I'm just glad they turned out!!
Well tomorrow is the 31st. It is also the close of my giveaway. And there's a little suprise in stall. I'm not going to expand on that so don't ask. You just have to be in it to win it.
Until tomorrow...
Friday, October 29, 2010
Personal touch
#29
I thought I'd share a little about myself today. I don't think I have before. And it's probably about time you knew a little more about me.
I am Australian. I am 25. I have been married for 1 1/2 years. I am a Mormon. I have 1 niece and 1 nephew. I'm a trained Hairdresser and used to own my own mobile hairdressing business. I lived in America for just over a year in 07 through to 08. This is where I met my husband. He's Texan.
I have a calling (responsibility) at church as the Young Women's 2nd Councillor. Young Women's is a program we run that is for girls between the ages of 12 and 18. I look after the 12 and 13 year old girls. It's HARD work but I love it.
I have always enjoyed crafts, but have only really got stuck into them over the past 6 months. I have my own selfishly awesome craft room filled with all my goodies.
I work in an Accounting Firm as a Receptionist. Not my most favourite thing in the world but my co-workers make it bearable.
I love to shop for bargains. Proof is here, here and here. These are just three examples of goods I've found this month alone.
And that's the basics about me. Now for some fun facts that I usually don't tell people. I have a few quirks. My husby often looks at me and laughs. I think he laughs so he doesn't cry.
- I hate odd numbers. Even writing the word 'odd' makes me feel uneasy. Luckily I was born on the 22nd, or else we could have problems. I was born on the 3rd month though, but I ignore that and just call it March. I never refer to it as the third month. The volume on the TV and radio must be even. But for some reason I can accept 5. It doesn't bother me the way that 1, 3, 7 & 9 do. Ugh.
- I am obsessed with wearing accessories. I must be wearing at LEAST 2. One day I forgot to put any accessories on, and didn't realise this until I got to work. I was a mess all day. Most days I wear earrings and a flower in my hair. Necklaces and bracelets are optional. The other two, not really. I feel ugly without them.
- I have super long eyelashes.
I probably should have cropped this photo but I'm lazy. But it's a good photo of the length of my eyelashes. Problem is, they shed alot. I love them, but it makes wearing glasses and sunglasses difficult to wear because if I am wearing lots of mascara, they touch the lens as I blink. So on a daily basis I barely wear any.
- I hate being tickled. It makes me angry. Quite literally. My husband learnt this the hard way.
- I love tropical everything. Flavours, fruits, drinks, smells, the whole lot. My favourite fruit is mangoes. It is currently Mango season in Australia and it makes me VERY happy.
- I have a really deep belly button. I can fit my entire pointer finger inside it. All the way down to the joint. A few years ago we thought it would be funny to see how many sultanas we could fit in it. I think we got to around 40, then we (I think it was my sister and me) ran out of sultanas. There was still room for more. We peed ourselves laughing.
- I hate Mac products, but own an iPhone. Figure that one out.
- Green is my absolute most favourite colour. I want my bedroom to be green one day.
- I can play the piano. Not as well as I used to, but I can. Once I got so good, that I could play awesome classical songs like Moonlight Sonata and I also started to steer down the path of Rag music - I mastered Black & White Rag arranged by Winifred Attwell. It was incredibly hard to learn, but hell I was awesome! I can still actually play the first part of it. I found her playing it on YouTube but for some reason it won't let me embed the video. You can watch her play it here, or go here to listen to this arrangement which is more along the lines of what I played. They can play it a little faster then I could :P
- My parents could have been famous. My mum sung in the Sydney Opera House and had opportunities to advance in a singing career but didn't. My dad qualified for the Commonwealth Games back in the 70's I think it was, to do backstroke. He turned it down after qualifying and decided to focus more on the direction he wanted to go in. If I remember his story correctly, his personal best time for that particular event in backstroke was faster then the guy who won the Gold Medal at the Commonwealth Games he was supposed to go to. And it remained that way for a few Games afterwards.
- I have less sensation in my finger tips then a normal person. All those years of hairdressing must have killed off some nerves. I probably should have worn gloves more often. Oopsy.
- I don't really have any friends. I have lots of acquaintances. If you want to be my friend, you're most welcome too. I miss having friends. The trouble is I'm opinionated and not afraid to share it. And there is no such things as grey to me. Either it's black, or white. No inbetween. It's either right or wrong. The end.
- I don't like gold jewellry.
- I hang my clothes in colour order darkest to lightest, each in their own category. My husband has given up trying to put my clothes away for me. He puts things on coathangers, then puts them on the doorknob ready for me to put away. My shoes used to be like this, but then I got sick of bending over.
- I hate ironing. I have stopped buying clothes that require ironing. I have a shirt that I bought about a year ago. It required ironing. I think I've worn it 3 times.
And that's me. I'm full of quirks, but I like me. So it's all good.
Hope you had a creative day! I'm excited to see all the giveaways I'm going to win over the weekend. None for you, all for me!! :P
I thought I'd share a little about myself today. I don't think I have before. And it's probably about time you knew a little more about me.
I am Australian. I am 25. I have been married for 1 1/2 years. I am a Mormon. I have 1 niece and 1 nephew. I'm a trained Hairdresser and used to own my own mobile hairdressing business. I lived in America for just over a year in 07 through to 08. This is where I met my husband. He's Texan.
I have a calling (responsibility) at church as the Young Women's 2nd Councillor. Young Women's is a program we run that is for girls between the ages of 12 and 18. I look after the 12 and 13 year old girls. It's HARD work but I love it.
I have always enjoyed crafts, but have only really got stuck into them over the past 6 months. I have my own selfishly awesome craft room filled with all my goodies.
I work in an Accounting Firm as a Receptionist. Not my most favourite thing in the world but my co-workers make it bearable.
I love to shop for bargains. Proof is here, here and here. These are just three examples of goods I've found this month alone.
And that's the basics about me. Now for some fun facts that I usually don't tell people. I have a few quirks. My husby often looks at me and laughs. I think he laughs so he doesn't cry.
- I hate odd numbers. Even writing the word 'odd' makes me feel uneasy. Luckily I was born on the 22nd, or else we could have problems. I was born on the 3rd month though, but I ignore that and just call it March. I never refer to it as the third month. The volume on the TV and radio must be even. But for some reason I can accept 5. It doesn't bother me the way that 1, 3, 7 & 9 do. Ugh.
- I am obsessed with wearing accessories. I must be wearing at LEAST 2. One day I forgot to put any accessories on, and didn't realise this until I got to work. I was a mess all day. Most days I wear earrings and a flower in my hair. Necklaces and bracelets are optional. The other two, not really. I feel ugly without them.
- I have super long eyelashes.
I probably should have cropped this photo but I'm lazy. But it's a good photo of the length of my eyelashes. Problem is, they shed alot. I love them, but it makes wearing glasses and sunglasses difficult to wear because if I am wearing lots of mascara, they touch the lens as I blink. So on a daily basis I barely wear any.
- I hate being tickled. It makes me angry. Quite literally. My husband learnt this the hard way.
- I love tropical everything. Flavours, fruits, drinks, smells, the whole lot. My favourite fruit is mangoes. It is currently Mango season in Australia and it makes me VERY happy.
- I have a really deep belly button. I can fit my entire pointer finger inside it. All the way down to the joint. A few years ago we thought it would be funny to see how many sultanas we could fit in it. I think we got to around 40, then we (I think it was my sister and me) ran out of sultanas. There was still room for more. We peed ourselves laughing.
- I hate Mac products, but own an iPhone. Figure that one out.
- Green is my absolute most favourite colour. I want my bedroom to be green one day.
- I can play the piano. Not as well as I used to, but I can. Once I got so good, that I could play awesome classical songs like Moonlight Sonata and I also started to steer down the path of Rag music - I mastered Black & White Rag arranged by Winifred Attwell. It was incredibly hard to learn, but hell I was awesome! I can still actually play the first part of it. I found her playing it on YouTube but for some reason it won't let me embed the video. You can watch her play it here, or go here to listen to this arrangement which is more along the lines of what I played. They can play it a little faster then I could :P
- My parents could have been famous. My mum sung in the Sydney Opera House and had opportunities to advance in a singing career but didn't. My dad qualified for the Commonwealth Games back in the 70's I think it was, to do backstroke. He turned it down after qualifying and decided to focus more on the direction he wanted to go in. If I remember his story correctly, his personal best time for that particular event in backstroke was faster then the guy who won the Gold Medal at the Commonwealth Games he was supposed to go to. And it remained that way for a few Games afterwards.
- I have less sensation in my finger tips then a normal person. All those years of hairdressing must have killed off some nerves. I probably should have worn gloves more often. Oopsy.
- I don't really have any friends. I have lots of acquaintances. If you want to be my friend, you're most welcome too. I miss having friends. The trouble is I'm opinionated and not afraid to share it. And there is no such things as grey to me. Either it's black, or white. No inbetween. It's either right or wrong. The end.
- I don't like gold jewellry.
- I hang my clothes in colour order darkest to lightest, each in their own category. My husband has given up trying to put my clothes away for me. He puts things on coathangers, then puts them on the doorknob ready for me to put away. My shoes used to be like this, but then I got sick of bending over.
- I hate ironing. I have stopped buying clothes that require ironing. I have a shirt that I bought about a year ago. It required ironing. I think I've worn it 3 times.
And that's me. I'm full of quirks, but I like me. So it's all good.
Hope you had a creative day! I'm excited to see all the giveaways I'm going to win over the weekend. None for you, all for me!! :P
Thursday, October 28, 2010
It's the FINAL COUNTDOWN *dun na na na, dun na na na na*
#28
After this post, there are only THREE left to do.. and technically my post on the 31st will be announcing the winner of my giveaway so there is only TWO more blog posts I have to come up with. YAY!!!
Well I finished the box. It is slightly more amazing then last time. Some of you know the story, and others may not. Basically I bought the plain wooden box and painted all the edges a Antique White which turned out to be a darkish cream colour and then glued the paper on, and then distressed with brown ink. The colours don't show up too well on the camera but all three colours/designs clashed and I hated it! So here is the before.
And then came the not so fun part. Getting it all off. Hello lactic acid in the arms!!
The cream paint was THICK. I did SO many coats of the stuff. It started like this..
And I sanded it down to this...
It's hard to see the difference but I pretty much got it back to the original wood. I did this to all the painted parts of the box. So the rim around the top (in the picture), the underside of the lid, the interior of the box, and the trim around the outside of the box. It took forever.
Then it was time to spray paint! Luckily for me the sun was shining nice and bright and it only took about 10 mins for each coat to dry. So it was all done in about 30 mins.
But there was already a dilema. I used cheap and nasty spray paint and on the trip upstairs I managed to chip paint off in three places. I immediately felt discouraged, but got over it quickly and came up with some solutions. Next was glueing the paper down. Last time I just cut the paper to size, put PVA on the wood and stuck the paper on top. This time I wanted to seal the paper in so it couldn't be water damaged. So I put PVA over the top aswell. As I stuck down each piece of paper, I used my hairdryer to dry the glue before putting on the next piece. This made the process 10 times faster, but the sound of the hairdryer going for about 2 hours gave me a headache (which isn't hard to do). But I just ignored it because I was determined to finish the darn box!
The paper rippled. I did my best to smooth it but in the end decided to get over it and pick my battles. This was a battle I didn't have the patience to deal with. I'm glad I ignored it too, cause in the end you can hardly see it.
Next came some sanding in random spots, distressing with black ink and a sponge, and then a coat of glitter paint to seal it all (so there is no more white paint being chipped off!) to finish it off. I did this on the underside of the lid, the trim on the lid...
...the interior of the box, and then the bottom trim of the box. Then I glittered the rest of the box and dryed it. And I ended up with this!
But I wasn't done yet.. I still needed a knob on top. I thought that I'd love a glass or clear plastic knob, but when I went to Bunnings this afternoon, I quickly discovered it wasn't going to happen. I could have ventured to craft stores to find the exact knob I was looking for, but I felt sick, weak and hungry and decided to just get this handle..
It's a kitchen one, but I like it. There were SO many to choose from but this one was my absolute favourite. Now all I need to do is wait for hubby to attach it. I'm not game to use his brand new manly power drill yet. I know how to use them. It's just his is new and he probably doesn't want ME to use it hehe. But isn't it SO MUCH BETTER now!! Yay!! I'm so glad it turned out this time :)
All this fuss is for this little angel..
Who loves vegemite :)
Next on the list to get done before our trip in TWO WEEKS (woohoo) is for my nephew. I need to paint Thomas the Tank Engine characters onto these 4 wooden train cut outs I bought. Then I'll make it into a garland to put in his bedroom. My nephew loves many things. Thomas & Buzz being probably the main two, closely followed by being a Kangaroo carrying his Joey.
I'm thinking of making him a pouch and tail next year. He loves to dress up and use his imagination.
Well that's all from me for the day. Thank you all for the lovely comments you leave on my blog every day. It is so nice to be appreciated and to get to know all of you and what you get up to in your spare moments.
Friday tomorrow!! YIPEE!!
Until then...
After this post, there are only THREE left to do.. and technically my post on the 31st will be announcing the winner of my giveaway so there is only TWO more blog posts I have to come up with. YAY!!!
Well I finished the box. It is slightly more amazing then last time. Some of you know the story, and others may not. Basically I bought the plain wooden box and painted all the edges a Antique White which turned out to be a darkish cream colour and then glued the paper on, and then distressed with brown ink. The colours don't show up too well on the camera but all three colours/designs clashed and I hated it! So here is the before.
And then came the not so fun part. Getting it all off. Hello lactic acid in the arms!!
The cream paint was THICK. I did SO many coats of the stuff. It started like this..
Then it was time to spray paint! Luckily for me the sun was shining nice and bright and it only took about 10 mins for each coat to dry. So it was all done in about 30 mins.
But I wasn't done yet.. I still needed a knob on top. I thought that I'd love a glass or clear plastic knob, but when I went to Bunnings this afternoon, I quickly discovered it wasn't going to happen. I could have ventured to craft stores to find the exact knob I was looking for, but I felt sick, weak and hungry and decided to just get this handle..
Next on the list to get done before our trip in TWO WEEKS (woohoo) is for my nephew. I need to paint Thomas the Tank Engine characters onto these 4 wooden train cut outs I bought. Then I'll make it into a garland to put in his bedroom. My nephew loves many things. Thomas & Buzz being probably the main two, closely followed by being a Kangaroo carrying his Joey.
Well that's all from me for the day. Thank you all for the lovely comments you leave on my blog every day. It is so nice to be appreciated and to get to know all of you and what you get up to in your spare moments.
Friday tomorrow!! YIPEE!!
Until then...
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
The big Five-O amongst other ramblings.
#27
Well I'm almost at 50 folks. Only two more to go. Pretty exciting actually.
Did you know I actually don't own a sewing machine? The one I use belongs to my mum. She bought it when she was 18. Bernie has been going strong all these years. Bernie usually lives at my house, and has some quite some time. Recently Mum asked if she could "borrow" her sewing machine. I said no, I was in the middle of something, and she sheepishly said ok. Then I thought what an awful daughter I was denying access to something that actually belongs to her, so I took it over and we have now been apart for a week (it feels like a month).
So my creativity has halted to some degree. I suddenly feel like I can't do ANYTHING without a sewing machine. (and Beverley doesn't help by always telling me to make bunting haha)....
BUT I have an idea. It was about the 20th idea I had tonight (the first 19 ideas required a sewing machine). You know that box I made for my niece? The one I hate. The one I told you about and showed you and you all thought I was crazy for thinking it was feral?
(this is the box incase you're not up to date)
Well I have another idea. I don't know if it's going to work, but I'm giving it a bash and I'm excited.
It requires sandpaper, glue, an old music book from the Op Shop, white spray paint, black ink, and a clear plastic knob that I will find at Bunnings (or else I might cry) and some elbow grease. That ugly box has a new life ahead of it and I hope like hell that it works.
Isn't that music and picture awesome? Reminds me of my old piano learning days. Tomorrow this book will be in pieces!
And I'm suddenly wondering if these awesome paper doiley's might come in handy for the box. I'll just have to have a play around.
Here's to better luck this time around!!
And right about now I want to do a linky party thing where people show me their failures and how they fixed them, but that's just way too advanced for me right now. I only just got a sign off name so one step at a time Christy!
Here are a few other things I picked up the other day.
I bought these pins cause everyone seemed to have them. I didn't understand WHY until tonight when I took them out of this tub and put them in my pin cushion. They are MEGA long! Awesomeness!
I'm excited to give binding making a go. I've done it once before using he pin on the ironing board method which was mega fiddly. This should be fun!
And these are the ingredients of something I've been wanting to make for ages. I don't even know if its going to work because that is strap fabric, and I need a more fabric blend, not synthetic but I'm going to give it a burl anyway. I am going to make my own belt. I HATE leather belts with buckles. They stretch and then there is a giant buckle portruding through my shirt. I want a flat belt that stays firm and keeps my darn pants up!
What are you working on at the moment?
Until tomorrow!
Well I'm almost at 50 folks. Only two more to go. Pretty exciting actually.
Did you know I actually don't own a sewing machine? The one I use belongs to my mum. She bought it when she was 18. Bernie has been going strong all these years. Bernie usually lives at my house, and has some quite some time. Recently Mum asked if she could "borrow" her sewing machine. I said no, I was in the middle of something, and she sheepishly said ok. Then I thought what an awful daughter I was denying access to something that actually belongs to her, so I took it over and we have now been apart for a week (it feels like a month).
So my creativity has halted to some degree. I suddenly feel like I can't do ANYTHING without a sewing machine. (and Beverley doesn't help by always telling me to make bunting haha)....
BUT I have an idea. It was about the 20th idea I had tonight (the first 19 ideas required a sewing machine). You know that box I made for my niece? The one I hate. The one I told you about and showed you and you all thought I was crazy for thinking it was feral?
Well I have another idea. I don't know if it's going to work, but I'm giving it a bash and I'm excited.
It requires sandpaper, glue, an old music book from the Op Shop, white spray paint, black ink, and a clear plastic knob that I will find at Bunnings (or else I might cry) and some elbow grease. That ugly box has a new life ahead of it and I hope like hell that it works.
Here's to better luck this time around!!
And right about now I want to do a linky party thing where people show me their failures and how they fixed them, but that's just way too advanced for me right now. I only just got a sign off name so one step at a time Christy!
Here are a few other things I picked up the other day.
What are you working on at the moment?
Until tomorrow!
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Failures aside
#26
Well today has brought about success and yeterday's failure has been put behind me for now - until I come up with Plan B.
After dropping husby off to work this morning, I dropped into the local Op Shop on a hunt to find Christmas coloured fabrics on the cheap so I could make my Christmas Door Wreath. I had started the night before using what I had and didn't get far. Whilst in the Op Shop, I noticed that the rack in my size with all the skirts was unusually full. Apparently a lady who is my size has either put on a stack of weight, or lost a whole heap cause she has cleaned out her wardrobe of all her skirts!! I wanted to buy them all but chose two skirts that were $6 each. They're awesome!
I also had other successful finds.
I'm going to put it up on the door tonight. Yay for Christmas!
Well today has brought about success and yeterday's failure has been put behind me for now - until I come up with Plan B.
After dropping husby off to work this morning, I dropped into the local Op Shop on a hunt to find Christmas coloured fabrics on the cheap so I could make my Christmas Door Wreath. I had started the night before using what I had and didn't get far. Whilst in the Op Shop, I noticed that the rack in my size with all the skirts was unusually full. Apparently a lady who is my size has either put on a stack of weight, or lost a whole heap cause she has cleaned out her wardrobe of all her skirts!! I wanted to buy them all but chose two skirts that were $6 each. They're awesome!
I also had other successful finds.
Cheap fabric offcuts...
I have plans for this little fellow for my kitchen.
A fat quarter I just couldn't leave behind at the fabric store whilst there to buy needles for the sewing machine.
And then of course there is my Christmas Wreath which I've purposely put at the bottom :)
I'm going to put it up on the door tonight. Yay for Christmas!
Oh and look below... my husby finally coded me a sign off name. Yay!! It's so much prettier.
Until tomorrow...
Monday, October 25, 2010
Uninspired and Uninterested.
#25
Yesterday I finished decorating a trinket box for my niece for Christmas. I hate it. It just looks wrong. The paint I chose on the wooden edges is wrong, the brown I used to distress is wrong, the paper doesn't "POP", and the colours clash. You get the idea. I don't really want to show you a failure, but I guess it makes me normal?
I'm mainly bothered because I had such high hopes for this little box. I was excited to use a new skill for the second time. I'm not sure whether to just leave it, try and work on it more, or scrap it and start again. You see it has to match her room. Although my niece is only 1. My sister is slightly OCD with the co-ordination of colours in my nieces room. The colours are mainly cream, brown and I think there is a touch of musk. Maybe I just need to find a different paper and that'll fix everything.
I'm a bit lost as to what to do. And I have lost my vigor for adventure with crafting lately. I guess I'm just tired.
Until tomorrow
Christy
Yesterday I finished decorating a trinket box for my niece for Christmas. I hate it. It just looks wrong. The paint I chose on the wooden edges is wrong, the brown I used to distress is wrong, the paper doesn't "POP", and the colours clash. You get the idea. I don't really want to show you a failure, but I guess it makes me normal?
I'm mainly bothered because I had such high hopes for this little box. I was excited to use a new skill for the second time. I'm not sure whether to just leave it, try and work on it more, or scrap it and start again. You see it has to match her room. Although my niece is only 1. My sister is slightly OCD with the co-ordination of colours in my nieces room. The colours are mainly cream, brown and I think there is a touch of musk. Maybe I just need to find a different paper and that'll fix everything.
I'm a bit lost as to what to do. And I have lost my vigor for adventure with crafting lately. I guess I'm just tired.
Until tomorrow
Christy
