Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Getting It Together for the New Year - Make it Yourself

As the New Year approaches super fast
I am trying to get all my crafts ready and more organized
 
I usually have my crochet and knitting together since they both use yarn
but not anymore,
I found that having them separated it helps me keeps my projects in order.
 
So I made my own basic crochet kit
you can add more to it as you learn to make more things
but this will do to start with:
 
Scissors
Yarn
Yarn Needle
and a Crochet Hook
 
 
 
For a basic knitting kit
all you need are:
 
Scissors
Knitting Needles
Yarn Needles
and Yarn
 
 
 
I do like to do Art Journaling also
for which I have a little more than the basic stuff
and of course you can add a lot more than this
 
 
Besides my Journal, I have in my basket:
 
Scissors
glue
water colors
markers
colored pencils
gesso
acrylic paints
chalk
artist tape
and index cards


 
For my basic Embroidery kit
you only need:
 
Needles
I like to keep them in a needle book that I made
pincushion
pins
embroidery floss
and you can also make your own thread bobbins out of milk jugs lol
scissors
embroidery hoop
and fabric
 

 
 
Besides these I also do Traditional and Digital Scrapbooking
 
 For the Traditional Scrapbooking I have
repurposed an entertainment center in my garage,
just like art journaling the materials to use here can be unlimited
but a basic kit would have:
 
Patterned Paper
Cardstock
Scissors
Acid Free Glue stick
Double sided tape
Paper cutter
 
 
And here in my drawers you can see:
 
Punches
Stickers
Brads
Ribbon
for which I made my own ribbon organizer
and different types of embellishments

 
I took me a while to get organized, specially the scrapbooking part or it
but seems like I finally got it done.
 
I just have to set all my crafts in baskets that I can carry along with me :)
 
I hope this helps you and inspire you in some way :)
 
 
 
 

Monday, December 30, 2013

Watercolor Journal Page


I finally had the opportunity to Art Journal
while my daughter was playing with her coloring book
I took advantage and pulled out my Art Journal
and started drawing the anchor that she had in her coloring book
then I just decided to play with my watercolors
to give it a stain glass look to it
Now I just can't think of a catchy title,
can you?
 
Thanks for visiting me :)
 


Tuesday, December 24, 2013

What's Happening???

So what do you do when you see your life turning little by little in every direction possible?

I never thought in the last 2 weeks before the year ends, my life was going to change is a lot of ways, it hasn't yet but I see it turning little by little, changes that I wasn't expecting, but I new they would happen eventually. So what do you do when you thought this was going to take maybe a couple of years and you see it coming NOW?

Weird! But I believe that God does things for a reason, and in this case I go with the flow. We knew my husband's job was going to expand to another city 2 hours from where I am and eventually He was going to be involve somehow, we thought maybe in a year or so, but his boss talked to him about 2 weeks ago about it, they want to expand now and my husband will be in change of it, Nice!!! Awesome opportunity to grow! but 2 hours away from here, talking about long commuting or... who knows.

Another thing was that my daughter's school called me (she is 8 y. old) that they wanted to see me before the Christmas break started, so practically I had to get dressed that same day and go there, for them to give me the results of her test, letting me know that she is gifted!!! with strong points :) That is awesome!!! and to me that means that I have to do something about it, another school or program, where she can expand her curiosity and intelligence, so that will keep me busy right there.

Then, for the last 4 months my sister has been battling with her illness in and out of the hospital constantly 2 weeks in, one week out etc. Talking about nerve racking, nail biting, teeth grinding.

After that I received a phone call about a job offer, something that I applied for 2 years ago lol and I wasn't really looking for now, but it's a Monday to Friday job, they are letting me choose the hours, and on top of that is 3 minutes (already timed it) from my house. Yeap! it's like a dream job, my husband says. The pay is not great, but will do, I mean nothing is perfect, right?

But why all this now? Now when I was searching for the path of my life?

You see... I like everything, lol, I mean... I like to do and try a little bit of everything that is artsy and crafty, I like to knit, crochet, scrapbook, embroider, art journal, mixed media, and everything else that you can think of.  And for the past month or so, I noticed that since I like everything I've been jumping all over the place, doing all kinds of handmade Christmas gifts, but not dedicating myself to one specific thing, where I can expertise on it and grow from there, to make it my main income, offering classes, etc.  So I've been praying to God to help me see the path of my life more clearly and not so confusing, where I can become more determined on what do I want to do with my life.

So now you see with all this ups and downs, my life is turning in all directions, to the point that I haven't post anything in a couple of weeks :(  I promise to get better at it, I just have to get my time organized one way or another.

Thank you so much for reading all this and being here for me,  please don't hesitate if you have any questions for me, I'll be happy to answer them :)

Have a Merry Christmas to all of you who celebrate it





 

Friday, December 13, 2013

I am a Winner!!! Mixed Media Postcard Tutorial

Yay!!!  I am a winner of the Mixed Media Postcard Tutorial


I have to tell you receiving the news that I won was very exciting,
but receiving the postcard was another story,

This is what I wrote to Michelle from Mixed Media Art about the postcard she sent me :)

It is amazing!!! I love it!
It is amazing!!! I love it!
People need to know what this postcard means to me:
Yesterday I came home all down from some bad family news that I received,
but when I got home I checked my mail, and then...
the postcard was here :)
the moment I touched it,
I felt it...
the texture...
the work put in it...
the details...
the inspiration it gave me is amazing,
so much that I want to set up a little space to start doing art on a regular basis.

Thank you so much for inspiring one more soul :)
 

Once you have that piece of art work in your hands, sometimes your whole life changes, for the better of course :) and like I said before, thank you so much for the inspiration.

And to all my readers thank you so much for all you comments and inspire me to keep on going :)

(I wish it was a little cold here in Florida lol )


 

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

Digital Layout

Last year my daughter was in love with
green and blue colors.
 
So here I decided to make a layout
showing when she received her school awards :)
 
 
I hope it inspires you in any way :)
 

 
 
 

Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Finished Crochet Sunglass Case

Finally!!!
I've been so busy with family over
not only for Thanksgiving but the whole weekend :)
It was actually fun!
So yesterday I caught up with house cleaning,
but today I caught up with my crafts :)
 
I finally finished my Sister's Christmas Gift
A nice red crocheted sunglass case
 
Not to worry, she won't know,
because nobody in my family knows about this blog
(I hope lol)
 
Anyways, you can see the whole process by clicking
here for the first part
here for the second part
here for the next
 
Now to the process of closing the case
simply backstitch the sides with the same red yarn
and a plastic needle (light blue color)
(they sell those in the same crochet area in the craft stores)
 
 
Once both sides are sewn together
flip the case the right way

 
And close the top
here you can either use a button
or a velcro closure.

 
I hope you like it.
If you make one please come over and let me know
I would love to see it :)
 
I am also participating in the link share Wednesday party # 19
 
Now...
 
Onto the next project :) 

Thursday, November 28, 2013

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Thank you to all of you who take a little time to check my blog here and there :)

I am very thankful for you all :)

 

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Challenge Day 26 Revive a Wrinkled Ribbon

Wow! What happened to me? with all the rest of the challenge days?
Well, Life happened lol
I've been trying to get creative everyday, but planning for Thanksgiving :D
But here is my creativity of today :)
 
Making a wrinkle ribbon look like new
instead of using the regular iron
I took my hair iron, warmed it up,
and run the ribbon like if it was your hair,
that's it!

You can see here how straight is half of the ribbon
(on the back) sorry couldn't put it on the front
managing my camera in one hand and the rest on the other hand
wasn't that easy,
I guess I need a tripod ha!
I know what I am asking for Christmas lol
 
thanks for stopping by :)
 


 


Friday, November 22, 2013

Challenge Day 22 Sunglass Case part 2

I think this picture doesn't do justice
to all the work I put in this little piece of fabric hahaha!
 
I went to the store to get a red fabric to match my crochet piece
and this one I found is just perfect!
is hard to see in the picture, but it has red and some of that
dark red that the yarn has,
anyways, I do not do good sewing in a sewing machine
at least I think so,
so I am sewing this by hand
 
 
but to get it ready, I cut my piece of fabric 1/4" longer than what I need it
and fold that 1/4 by pining it and ironing it
to keep it from moving when I go to sew it :)
 
It shouldn't take long to do this
if you have all the materials at home
but since I don't do this often
it took me a little while to get it done
 
but... I did my creative part for today :)
 
thanks for visiting,
 


 

Thursday, November 21, 2013

Challenge Day 21 Blocking

Today I decided to try a new technique for me
Blocking
 
 
Where you use steam on a crochet or knit item
to either stretch it, make the edges even or simply
just make it look better

 
The piece has to stay with the pins for a whole day
after steaming it
So I'll check tomorrow for the results :)
 
thanks for visiting :)
 


 

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Challenge Day 19 & 20 Mug Cozy

 Today I am super happy that I got another project done :)
 
I worked on this project for about a week on and off
three to four rows at the time
and finally today I woke up and said:
that's it! I am finishing it today!

 And here it is
 
and on the side I put a button so is easy to put it on and off
in any mug :)
 
Now if you want to make it here are the instructions:
 
I used knittin needles # 3
and yarn # 4
(one of the regular yarns that you see in the craft stores)
 
Cast on 17 sts.
and knit rice stitch until you have 24 cm. or 9 1/2 in.
bind off.
 
Then in the middle of one of the sides
 make 5 chains with any crochet you have around
to make a look for the button.
 
On the other side sew the button
in the middle of the row.
 
And you are done.
This is a project you can make in a day
but my lack of time didn't allow me :)
 
Please share yours if you make one :)
 
thanks for visiting
 
 
 

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Challenge Day 18 Color Palette


I found this picture in the net some time ago
I love turtles and I just love this colors together
maybe I'll use them someday in my embroidery :)
 
that's my short time creativity for day 18 :)
 



Monday, November 18, 2013

Challenge Day 16 & 17 Digital Scrapbooking

Is really hard for me to use the computer during the weekends
so here I am today with my challenges from saturday and sunday
trying to be creative in a different way
I have play with my pictures creating a digital scrapbook :)
 
I work with PSPX2
 
for this picture I only added 2 diffent frames
but I colorized them with her favorite colors
 
 
This one has a charcoal effect

 
 
Pencil Effect choosing a pink color 
 
 
Pencil Effect with a white color 


 
Brush Stroke effect


 
For this picture I darken the background and
used a mask as a frame


 
 
 This picture took me a lot of time,
as I had to remove all the background from the picture
make it a tube and then make the rest of the frame
using borders and inner bevels
 
 
 And for this one I didn't remove the background
just added some borders
and decorate them with patterns to make it
stand out a little bit
 
Well, that was my creativitiy for the weekend,
let's see how do I get creative today
and hopefully post it tonight :)
 
Thanks for visiting
 


 


Friday, November 15, 2013

Challenge Day 15 Art Journaling and Mixed Media

 
 
Today I wanted to share an art journal page
that I did for my teenage daughter for her birthday
 
I am a beginner in art journaling
and I tried experimenting with acrylics and watercolors
different sponges and bubble wrap to print
handmade swirls (not the best lol) with permanent markers
and of course her favorite Bible Verse
which I chose to add a little mixed media to it
by sewing the corner, putting some rick rack ribbon and a button :)
An! and her favorite colors :)
 
Thank you so much for taking a look :)
 


 

Thursday, November 14, 2013

Challenge Day 14 Coasters

I am making this cute little crochet coasters
 
 
Here are the instructions:
 
I started with a magic ring
thenk 8 single crochet(sc) into the ring
join with a slip stitch(sl. st.)

Row 1: Chain 1 and 2 sc into the same st. then 2 sc in each following st
when you get to the last st. join with a sl. st.
Row 2: Ch 1 and 1 sc in the same st. then work *2 sc in the next st. and 1 sc in the next st.* and repeat from * to * then join with a sl. st.
Row 3: ch 1 and 1 sc in the sam st. then work *2sc in the next st, 1 sc in the next two st.* and repeat from * to * then join with a sl. st.
That's it! you are done :)
 At the end leave a little yarn to weave through the last row you made for a neater look :)

I hope this encourage you to make your own

Enjoy!


 
 


Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Easy Crochet Heart

I made this crocheted heart
following the picture of this Pin
 
 
But I started with a magic ring
then I followed with double crochets and single crochets
like the picture says, but I stopped
at the row where is all single crochet all around the heart.
 
I hope you like it, if you make one plese share :)
 


 
 

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Challenge Day 11 & 12 New Crochet Stitch

(Sigh) I couldn't post yesterday because
my sister came to spend the day with us :)
and since I am making this for her
I couldn't pull it out and take a picture of it
 
I am working on a new crochet stitch for me
that I found in Pinterest here
 
It doesn't look quite the same since the yarn is a little bit thicker
than the sample on pinterest
but is coming along good I think
 
 
I don't have a lot left to crochet here
but better, since I've been reading a lot about crochet
and know what to do now for a better finished look :)
which I'll share in another post
as my project goes along :)
 
Thank you for stopping by,





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