Shop Update: Hand Painted Wood

Shop Update: Hand Painted Wood {an Art School Dropout's life}

I have been trying to mix things up and have a theme for each shop update! This month’s theme was hand painted laser cut wood (with one or two exceptions)

Shop Update: Hand Painted Wood {an Art School Dropout's life}

Shop Update: Hand Painted Wood {an Art School Dropout's life}

I went through my old sketchbooks and picked several designs that I thought would make neat brooches. They are all based off my own taste, but I will be open to suggestions in the coming months.

Shop Update: Hand Painted Wood {an Art School Dropout's life} Shop Update: Hand Painted Wood {an Art School Dropout's life}

I also went through some of my fabric designs and took out a few elements here and there as tests.

All in all I’m very proud of all the new pieces and love seeing them up in the shop.

Shop Update: Hand Painted Wood {an Art School Dropout's life}

Oh and I also threw in some new XL Wall Scissors to mix things up a bit! These are made from 1/4″ MDF with Designer Fabric fused to the surface before laser cutting. They are a great addition to any sewing room (or any space really).

You can find all of these pieces plus more in the shop!

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A Round Quilted Table Topper For Silhouette America

A Round Quilted Table Topper For Silhouette AmericaTwo weeks ago I did a half tutorial over on the Silhouette America blog showcasing the above table topper! It was super easy to put together and looks awesome with my Pyrex bowls.

So if you’re looking for a quick gift or decoration, then go check out the post,! (Theres way more photos too!)

Also, if you are already a Silhouette user, then make sure to check out the Silhouette Design Team Blog Hop Giveaways! Theres just one more day left to enter.

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March Crafternoon

Above it the one and only good (enough) photo I took this month at Heidi’s crafternoon! I even brought my camera, but forgot about it once all the festivities began. I seriously am way too absent minded these days.

This months crafternoon was all about Easter. There were adorable Easter decorations everywhere, plus awesome awesome colorful sweets to eat. If you need a visual, Heidi did a post about it yesterday with some great photos! The craft this time around was dying Easter eggs, something I haven’t done in years! I didn’t know we were supposed to bring eggs (absent minded, again!) so I “borrowed” some of Katie’s home grown eggs!! (thank you again Katie!) They were sooo small and cute! Plus they were all different natural colors. I felt they needed to be super simple and modern for some then layering the different tones. I loved the way they came out! I now feel like this might be the year we start dying eggs at home too, I think CT would love it.

The past couple of crafternoon’s there has been a white elephant gift exchange, which has been super awesome! We can bring anything handmade, thrifted or just bought that is around $10. I usually leave with something food related, and have been happy every time. Plus I get to make something that is for an unknown recipient, I really like that. It forces me to think outside my normal making box.

This time around Heidi tried something different. Instead of the normal gift, we were to bring Easter baskets filled with whatever we wanted. I actually struggled with this a bit at first, apparently I thrive on limits and rules when it comes to blind gift giving, but in the end I decided to do mostly handmade items.

I didn’t do a traditional basket, because I knew I wouldn’t be able to fill it. So instead I did a little bucket. I added some candy, a cast plastic brooch, hairpin, and a ring. I also made a little clay Pyrex brooch (please don’t mind the painting, I haven’t even held a teeny paint brush in almost 8 years) and a set of Pyrex themed pot holders. I hoped the handmade nature of it all would make up the baskets lack of size! Ha.

The recipient who ended up with my “basket” really seemed to like it, which always makes me happy! The basket I got was also really sweet! It contained a bunch of candy (that CT has been getting at), adorable egg ornaments, a little wooden puzzle, sunflower growing kit and some Biggs and Featherbelle soap (which was the main factor in my choosing that particular basket, I LOVE their products!). I seriously made out in this deal.

As always I really enjoyed my day and can’t wait for the next one! I’m already thinking of what I’ll bake and what I might make as my gift. Thank you again everywhere, especially Heidi!

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Collections: Mini Pyrex

Seriously, how awesome is this stuff? It’s Blythe sized Pyrex!!!!

I have been searching for a very long time for these pieces with no luck. It wasn’t until Molly brought some of the matching mugs to last months crafternoon, and told me what they were called!! I seriously got right on eBay the second I left the party, and ordered me some. Oh and for anyone else searching for these, their by Re-Ment and are part of their American kitchen series! (they also have adorable mugs that look like milk glass)

I am over the moon about them. Oh and if you look at the photos you can see one of the pieces matches a piece I already own (which was actually a gift from Molly too!).

I haven’t quite figured out how I’m going to display them, their so damn tiny! I do have a miniature hutch I picked up a few months back, maybe that would work? Maybe I can frame one of these photos for my kitchen? that way the whole pyrex collection is together?

I may be over thinking this…

 

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Handmade Gifts: December 2012

Sorry for the Instagram photos, I was rushing all month to get things finished and wrapped and didn’t get the time to “properly” photograph everything!

From top left…

  • a doctor who pouch for my friend Molly
  • a Pyrex inspired pouch for my friend Tasha
  • the Modern Maples quilt I mentioned earlier this week for my sister Ashley
  • a hedgehog pillow for my sister Cori (using the paper piecing pattern I found here. Oh and this was my first time trying paper piecing! I’m in love!)
  • a pillow for my grandmother using the Modern Maples blocks.
  • a hedgehog pouch for my sister Cori (as you can see, she loves hedgehogs, she even has one)
  • two Tangled inspired dresses for nieces.

I actually made a few other things too, but they haven’t been gifted yet.

It was all a lot of fun to make, but I am beyond exhausted. New rule: Start sewing gifts in the summer!!!!!

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Thrift Finds: November 15th thru December 3rd

I haven’t been feeling like myself lately. I don’t know if its the upcoming holiday craziness, or the lack of sunlight. I just haven’t felt like sharing what I have been doing, with the internet or anyone outside my immediate circle of friends. It’s not like I’ve been sitting on my butt doing nothing, I’m actually doing the complete opposite, working non stop.

To get me out of the house, my husband has been suggesting more and more treasure hunting trips. Antique malls, flea markets, and thrift stores. Any place where we can walk and look at neat stuff. Well, apparently it’s a great time to do this, because I have found A LOT! So be prepared for a long post…

I have been on the lookout for some neat holiday decorations for a long time. I even had my entire family looking this year. None of us had any luck until last week! I found two blow mold pieces at a local shop, the snowman and the Santa in the above left photo. Then this past Saturday I found the little Santa plus the really large candle and what I think is a gnome. That gnome is the same size as CT. ha. I really love these types of decorations for the same reason as I love Mold-A-Ramas, the process behind how they are made is so neat and the colors are always so vibrant.

I also found a, new in package, plastic Santa garland. There’s 10 feet worth of Santa’s that spell out MERRY CHRISTMAS. How cute is that? All the pieces were still there and the Santa’s were in really good condition. I’m planning on assembling them tonight and hanging them tomorrow. I’ll post photos once their up.

I found the above wicker lamp at the ReStore. I walked past it a few times, I really wanted it but had no idea where I would put it. By the third time walking past I figured it out, it can go in my soon to be new sewing room! (The previous room got hid hard by Hurricane Sandy. and is the middle of being repaired, so I’m taking over another room permanently). I also found the glass ship in a bottle at ReStore, I just liked the way it looked.

The dad mug was found this past weekend at a thrift shop near my hometown. It’s milk glass, and I think it’s super funny. I like to think that illustration was done to look like someones actual dad.

Fun Fact: I can’t crochet (or knit), and it upsets me that I can’t. I have been wanting a granny square afghan for years, I tried to make one, but that did not go well. I asked my sisters to make one, but that also didn’t happen. So I started looking for them at thrift stores, but apparently everyone had the same idea as me. Finally this past weekend I found the mother load. An entire aisle of afghans!! I didn’t just stumble on one that MIGHT be the right colors, I stumbled on a bunch of choices. I picked out the above one b/c I liked the colors and the zig zag edges. It’s in great condition too! I’m thinking of placing it on the back of our living room couch. That room could use more color. HA!

No thrifting post from me is complete without some Disney and Pyrex. Well here is the Disney! I found that Disneyland cookie jar a few months back at an Antique Mall for $35, I really liked it, but didn’t want to spend that much. So I left it behind. Well last week I found another one, the one above, for $3! So of course I bought it. It has a small crack on the back that has been repaired, but I’m fine with that. The Minnie and Goofy mugs were the same story. I saw them super expensive at an Antique Mall, but then found them for less than a dollar a piece this past weekend. I just wish I could have found Mickey too.

… and here’s the Pyrex! I have been finding a lot of pieces for amazing prices lately. I haven’t been buying it all because it’s the holiday season and I need to spend at least some of my money on gifts. I was really excited to find the two gravy boats above. I have a bunch of pieces in both patterns, so if I feel like being super silly and matching everything, I can. The little red Pyrex was only $1 and I figured I could find a use for it, maybe for makeup? The best find out of the first photo is that deep pink colored casserole!! It’s so pretty. I don’t think I could use it, but I did find a place to display it in my kitchen.

The best find of all though are these Pyrex plates. Their all in perfect condition and really pretty. I found three sets of 24, plus a pile of desert plates. I only bought the plates and one set of 24. I don’t think I could have found a place to put them all, or enough people willing to trade for them. I had a hard time justifying the ones I did buy. I’m wondering if they came from some restaurant or diner? I know they come in other colors too, because I have some of the tea cups in blue. Anyone know if there are any other colors besides the two?

So those were all the finds I could get pictures of. We also found a complete Playmobil pirate set for super cheap, a littlest pet shop house, a kids Ikea table and chair set in perfect condition, another holly leaf Corelle platter, a few Hallmark ornaments, a bunch of Little Golden books, an awesome Strawberry Shortcake book, some Muppet Baby books and a Fraggle book. I don’t just buy stuff for me when we go out. I think CT makes out the best.

I have a pretty busy weekend coming up. I have a Pie Party to go to Saturday and then CT’s 3rd Birthday party is the next day. I also still have loads of sewing to do. So I don’t think I’ll be thrifting for awhile, but who knows.

Oh and a side note, it felt good to write this post, so I think I’ll be back to my normal blogging schedule soon.

 

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