Just felt like blogging...

Today marks the last day I have to stay at work until 10 or 11pm! Yeay! I set everything up for lab tomorrow so I can just go in, run an experiment, and leave, so hopefully I'll be out at a decent time! Even just to see the sunshine would be good!!

I also got my order from Popalicioustoo today!!! I love love love love love that store!!!! In fact, I loved my order so much that I had to go back and get more! Here's a link.... oh... it is linked to their name :) haha- I am still figuring out this blogging thing... Tonight I worked on my layout so it didn't look so terrible!!! I have to figure out how to make the tables not opaque, but I'm too tired to do it right now... Maybe tomorrow morning I will take pictures of the awesome stuff I got :)

On a sadder note, I have to pay my respects to Michael Jackson. He was a great inspiration to many and his music really opened the doors for some of the other genres. Even though we really haven't heard from him in the past few years, or at least, heard anything positive, it's sad to know that he'll never be able to influence music and people in the same way again.

We went to dinner tonight at Friday's and they played a few of his songs... This made me want to go out dancing tonight because I can just imagine that all the places will be blasting his music up and down the street and he had some great great dance songs! But I was a good girl and went home... It's almost midnight, but I've only been here like 45 minutes and need to unwind!! So I'm going to read some blogs and call it a night. Nighty nite :)

Kaelynn's project- Finished!!!

Here are some pictures of the finished Wicker Drawer Set!

Isn't it adorable? I didn't want to make it too baby-ish because I wanted her to be able to use it for a loooong time. Oh, did you see Hello Kitty? :) hehe. Just had to add that in there. And did I mention, I love bows and ribbon??? Couldn't tell, could ya :)

Wedding Day

Today I'm going to a wedding for Matt's cousin. So, of course, I had to practice my card-making skills... (Which aren't many!!!)

And here's a swatch of fabric from the dress I'm wearing. Isn't it pretty? It's so not me, so I don't know why I like it!! But it's shiny and fun- it's a handkerchief dress- hide those extra pounds... well, maybe not hide them, but at least cover em up in pretty fabric! lol

Hm... looks like it needs ironing... Guess I'm off to do that!!

Yeay!

Yeay! I've posted my first wood item on Etsy! I think I started thinking about how this would look a few weeks ago! It's cool to see it really materialize...

Pink Hello Kitty Jewelry Trinket Treasure Box with Mirror

I love the mirabou :)

I got these papers from a Hello Kitty origami pad I had from way back when, aren't they so cute?

Last night I was trying to make another one of those wooden signs. It looked really cool. Before I decided to coat the whole thing in varnish!! Well, the varnish wasn't the problem... It was how much I put on!! I basically slathered the whole thing up and left it on my craft sheet- but it pooled onto the back of what was to be a two sided sign... So that wasn't good!! I ended up throwing it out... Yes, another thing I had to throw away!! I have another piece of wood though, so hopefully I can just make it again today. I am also really close to finishing two other pieces, so that's great! It is kind of fun working on more than one thing at once. But I wonder if I worked on the same kind of piece and just did a bunch of them if it would go faster. Hmm... I will have to think about that. The auction for the charity event is tomorrow, so I'm trying to get stuff listed in my store so that it's kind of ready if people meander there on Saturday... That and tomorrow night I start working until like 11pm at work. Ugh!!! 2-11.... I will have to do all my crafing tomorrow morning! I was trying to find something to be able to take all of my stuff with me, but so far, I've only acquired a cropper hopper for all my papers, ok, not all of them, but most of them!! Oh, and those tackle boxes for my embellishments. Matt says he has a bag I could use... Maybe I will see tonight if everything will fit in there. haha- Crafting at my desk at work :)

Treasure?

You're looking at it!! This is the treasure box I made for Mauricio. We'll have to see if he likes it!
All he said was that he wanted an old look to it-- I might add a spinner thing to the front... Boys always want something to play with!! lol

Update: I added the spinner :)

My First

Last night I actually put my first item in my store :) Actually, it wasn't what I thought it would be either!! I listed 4 of these Hello Kitty tags.



Luxury Distressed Hello Kitty Tags- Pearlescent Green, Cream

These came out really cute and were pretty easy to do. I love the gold ribbon on the top. I think it pulled everything together. Let us hope there are more Hello Kitty fans out there!!

This weekend, I went to the Allentown Arts Fest. I guess it was an arts AND crafts show, but I really didn't see too many crafts. This one lady was selling these painted wood pieces- they were all shiny and black with hand painted teeny tiny flowers and things on them. I couldn't believe they were made of wood! They looked like they'd be heavier somehow. Other than that, there were lots of paintings and jewelry... Basically, things that were waaaay too expensive for my budget!

I gave Rachelle her jewelry box and my mom her card, and I ended up giving her the Home sign, too. My mom was surprised I was into crafting. Rachelle said the jewelry box smelled like Matt's cabin! I thought that was funny :)

I didn't end up putting my clothespin and jewlery box in the store because they weren't perfect. Actually, I ended up disassembling the jewelry box so I could take the flowers back. I think I'll hang on to the clothespin though. I'm working on a recipe box to go with the clothespin, so if that comes out well, I'll probably just make another pin to go with the box! I also have a couple other projects going, too but I'm finding I have to buy more stuff to accomodate each one! Like, I'm making a treasure chest for my friend, Mauricio, and I had to buy this one compass stamp. But then I decided I wanted to emboss it, so I have to go get embossing powder. And I had to get red felt to line the inside of the box. Even though I see all these things that are on sale and I think I'll need them so I end up getting them, I always need something else!! Thank God all the stores have 50% off coupons this week!! I think the people working at Michaels see me everyday! Matt and I end up going to Valu almost every day, too!

One problem I'm having is getting ribbon to stick to the wood. I was using Mod Podge to glue it on there, but if you put the ribbon over it too early, it will soak thru the ribbon. But if you put it on too late, it won't hold. I have this spray adhesive, for my cricut mat of course, which Matt said to use on the felt lining to stick it in the box- because the super glue I used leaked right thru the first pieces of felt I put in there- so I was thinking of using that for the ribbon, but the ribbon's so thin as well as the wood pieces. So I'm not sure if that's the best idea since the spray from the can is pretty wide. Everything will be sticky! So any suggestions would be helpful. :) Thanks!

Done!

Tonight I finished Rachelle's jewelry box. It came out pretty well except for a few things. For one, I put the felt in the bottom of the drawers before I put sparkle podge in the inside of the drawers. I made a little bit of a jagged cut when I was using the Xacto knife, but I covered it up with a flower :) One of my ribbons got too much glue on it. The darker pink ribbons on the sides didn't adhere very well. And the pink I used for the monogram wasn't dark enough. But I think I'm getting better...

Pretty Things Make Me Feel Better

So... today I came home and ended up crying for half an hour. Poor Matt. I'm lucky he is so caring and understanding. I think I am getting to the end of my rope in regards to school. I am done with classes and have been since December. But they won't give me my Masters until I finish a project. So I have been working on something since August 2008, but it hasn't been going well. A few weeks ago, I was told that there was basically no room for me to continue my work in because of scheduling problems so I should think of something else to do to finish my Masters. So basically what I was being told was that everything I did since August wasn't going to count. That and things not working right lately has really started to bother me. Yes, I realize this is just a job and I shouldn't care as long as I get a paycheck, but somehow it just depresses me to know that no matter how hard I work, there is no guarantee that any benefit will come of it. This is how I know research is not for me. Matt said 99% of research fails- and that's true. But they don't tell you that when you start. Actually, they spin it and say that even in failing you learn something new. Well failing doesn't get me a degree. I feel like I can't move on with my life until I have a degree because technically, I am ending up in more debt every year being in school even though I have a job. Sigh sigh... I really don't see the benefit of going to college- there are so many people out there who didn't go and make 3 times what I do. Plus they aren't in $100k+ debt.

Anyway, after I stopped freaking out for the evening, I made my first card. I don't think I've ever made a card before, except in like 3rd grade or something! I looked at a bunch of handmade cards online to try to come up with ideas for it because cards are intimidating to me. I mean, there is just a blank sheet of paper, waiting to be covered in art, but it just seems to stare back at me. It's like trying to write a paper....

I stole my idea from a tag or something I saw online. Well, not exactly stole... but you would definitely see the similarities looking at the two! Here's how it turned out:

It's for my mom. Her birthday was Monday, but we aren't celebrating until Saturday night after Rachelle's dance recital. Hopefully it will not go directly into the garbage when she gets home!!





I couldn't find any sparkley cream paper, so I made my own using cream cardstock and white glitter (and mod podge of course). What a mess I made!! Good thing Bella did not get covered in sparkles too! The cake was made with 3 different papers and 7 different kinds of trim. Then I put paper flowers on it- mainly to distract you from the flaws. :) I bought some word stamps that I'll probaly just stamp the inside of the card with "happy birthday".





I also made this sign the other day...

You can't see it very well in this pic, but it has gold "perfect pearl" spray all over it and shimmers in the light. I just love it!! Must work on my stamping technique as it's crooked hehe :) Matt says it just adds character. But I think I am bothered by the asymmetry for whatever reason. But it's still cute.

Now I have to go to bed. Hopefully tomorrow will be better! One day closer to the weekend :) A huge art festival is this weekend, too :)

Art Haven

Susan asked everyone to put up pictures of where they create artwork so here's my contribution!

Something new...

Someone from the message group posted something about how we should learn something new every day... Well, tonight I spent the night learning by trial, error, and googling tutorials for PSE and here's the result!

Ok... this took me the entire night!!! Oh, PS- this is JUST a picture... not anything tangible. Matt thought I made it- like a scrapbook page or something... Nope... just pixels!!

This is Matt's new niece- and my new niece-to-be! She was born yesterday in the wee hours of the morning. I wanted to make this because his sister and husband have just been uploading pictures to their facebook pages from their cell phones. But they don't have time to sit and fix the pics, as they're all sideways(!), so I figured I'd make them something pretty. I'm still working on that other thing for them, but it's not done yet... Actually, I kind of don't know what to do with it!!

Yesterday, we went to the craft fair, but it was so tiny that I think we spent more time walking from the car to the entrance than actually at the fair!! The website said there were accepting applications for up to 60 vendors there, but I honestly don't think there were more than 20! Since we only spent like 10-20 minutes there, I convinced Matt to go to the flea market!! So we went there, but I didn't end up getting anything. Matt bought a wooden mallet- to which the vendor told him "Don't use that on anyone here!" hehe.

Then I convinced him to go to the better flea market out in Clarence. What a gorgeous day to walk around outside! There were much better items there, but I didn't see any vintage cards, which is what I was looking for. A lamp with feathers around the bottom of the shade caught my eye, but it was already being taken away by the lucky new owner. There were also some old risque magazines- those tiny little ones- which I thought about buying because I thought I could do something with a pinup girl theme, but I didn't end up getting them. All in all, I didn't buy anything(!) but it was still fun looking. :)

I went to the craft store tonight after work to look at different jewelry boxes since Ewelina wants me to make one for her, but didn't see any large ones. However, I did end up buying a bunch of ribbon, some more stuff to make pretty, flowers, charms, and things that I can't remember because the bag is still in my trunk because I was trying to hide it from Matt!! Lol- guess it won't be a secret anymore after he reads this post. :) He made my favorite dinner tonight- veggie spaghetti!! Garlic, onions, peppers, zucchini, yellow squash and tomatoes over wheat spaghetti! Yum yum yum!!!!! A happy girl I am :)

Banner 2

Yeay :) Improvements already!!!

Yeay!

I made a banner!! Lol- I've never used PhotoShop before!! Cool! Now, I am going to go to a tiny craft show in Tonawanda and might actually go golfing this afternoon. Then it will be back to making better banners!

Phew!!!

Sorry no post yesterday! I was busy setting up a domain name (http://www.splendidlysweet.com/) and an etsy
shop... AND finishing up the birdhouse for the charity event today. Got through a lot last night, but had to get up this morning at 7:30 to work on finishing it up! I got almost to the end and Ran out of paper flowers!!! Ahhhhh! Well, not all the flowers, but the purple ones. So I had to run out and get some more.

Well, I thought I had bought them at Michael's. But apparently not. So I racked my brain until I just figured I would go to AC Moore and stop at JoAnn's if they weren't there. As soon as I walked into ACM, I just knew I had bought them from there the first time. But they were all sold out! I ended up getting a $7 bottle of paper flowers with purple ones, even though they weren't the same shape or color.

Stupid me- I ran out after I had started gluing them to the fence part.... But anyway, I got the whole thing finished and Matt put it back together for me before I had to leave, so I was glad. The only thing I didn't have time for was putting criss crossed ribbons up the post and over the sign, but I guess it's ok...

Arggg... this picture posting on here is messing me up.... I really need to learn how to use this thing because I think all my pictures look out of place!!

Anyway, the event was nice- it was a great day out; sunny and warm. I had my first Sangria, well first and Second! Lol. I ate some amazing potato pancakes with some kind of sauce and a slice of roast beef curled up around a sprig of green onion- delicioso! Dr. T. was in a good mood and it was good to talk with Ewelina and her for a bit. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be! :)

However, I didn't have time to figure out a logo or font for my store... So I just hand wrote it on a tag I had cut out- I know, cheesy.... Well, I guess we all must start somewhere. The women there all loved the bird house, so that felt good. They couldn't believe I made it! I guess I just don't look like the crafty type! Lol. That's ok. I'll go incognito... It will be interesting to know how much it goes for at the auction. I think I probably would have posted it for $50-75... it was over $32 just for the unfinished wood!! Matt says I shouldn't buy my wooden stuff anymore. He said it probably would have cost $5 to make it ... But I don't cut wood! I donno... I guess $32 is pretty expensive to spend on something that's not even finished! :)

Then I came home and had said I was going to clean up all my crap. It was allllllllllllll over the floor! It was so bad that you could bearly walk in the kitchen without stepping on something!! So I tried to clean up some stuff, but realized I had nowhere to put it. Up until now, I've literally just been using the plastic bags they give you at the store to take all your stuff home in. So we went to Dicks to get a tackle box... Well, those were way expensive, and I just needed a plastic box with dividers, or so I thought, so we found a pack of 3 for $13. I came back and put all my stuff in em... And look!

Waaaaay better! But I still have all these ribbon rolls.....

So we went to Valu and Matt bought all the stuff to make me a ribbon rack!!! Then I can decorate that for myself! Maybe he'll even have enough left over to make me one to put in my shop :) Awww...

So cranky...

I was so cranky last night from not having gotten any sleep the previous night that I didn't even feel like crafting once I was able to get home! I know. Isn't that terrible?!!

Today I have pictures of the things that I had almost finished up the day before.

This is my giant Yummy clothespin. I loved the frosting design on the paper- my mouth watered the entire time I was making it!

This is the tiny trinket/jewelry box I did. The other day, I thought it came out really well. But today, I don't know why, I just don't think it's that great. Oh well....

Hopefully tonight I'll be in the mood to make pretty things... I am inspired all day long from a message group I joined- they all make such gorgeous things! And I constantly visit Sugar*Sugar and Holly Doodle Designs just in case they update! Lol! I'm becoming

such an art stalker! :)

How did you get that name....?

So how did I come up with this name... Well, let's see. I currently live in a duplex with my boyfriend, Matt; chinchilla, Binki; and miniature dachshund, Bella. It's a two bedroom, so you'd think I would use the extra bedroom and turn it into my crafting room, but there's no central air and we only have two window air conditioners, so that won't work for the summertime! Matt has recently started wood carving, and decided to use the living room floor for his projects. There were wood chips and pieces all over the floor until just recently! Bella really enjoyed picking each piece up and moving it to the couch where she chewed on it for a few minutes, or until she got bored, and went to get another! Lol! So... once I got the idea to make a recipe box for his cousin's bridal shower I had to set up in the kitchen... But mail and magazines and dishes on the table left me with no room up there, so alas, I was left with the kitchen floor. Thus, the name of my blog!! :)
Since I'm just a baby in the world of craft, I'm not too bothered with this set up. Yet. I usually spread papers or magazines out on the floor to lay my items on to dry, however, I am noticing that Mod Podge leaves the surface a bit tacky, so I'm having the problem of picking up pieces of the papers, even on completely dry parts. I will have to google how to get rid of this problem.
Last night I was up until 2am... Mostly because I didn't get to start working on things until 10pm and Matt wanted to stay up to watch that guy... I can't think of his name now... on Man vs. Wild. Hmm... he's the guy from- oh ya. Will Farrel. So I was able to finish (98% at least) a couple projects. I will post pictures later on. But the thing that is going to be a race to get done is the birdhouse project I'm working on for a charity gift. My boss/advisor invited me to her sister's "party" of sorts. We're supposed to bring an item to donate to a fundraiser for prenatal health. The theme was Garden, and when I saw this piece in the store I just thought it would be perfect! Last night I was able to start painting and this morning I taped off some stuff so I could get started later on today. I find that I can't wait to get home and start making stuff!
Ok, well it's off to the grind for me. There is no running water here today, which sucks. Not only can I not go to the bathroom, but I can't even wash my hands! My allergies are going to go crazy, I'm sure. Hopefully my eyes won't puff up so I can't see to make anything tonight!!