How 1 project can make me loose control

A big reason my blog has suffered so much is I have not been crafting. I have not been crafting because I have this thought process in my head that I simply can not move on until I finish a big project or class. Well, the bestest signed me up for a copic online class for my birthday A YEAR AGO! I just finished it up today and would love some feedback on my progress. 

 I can not for the life of me get a hold of that dainty flick thing! CAN NOT! It is aggravating beyond all belief and this is why it took me so long to get through the class. Then a week ago, I decided no more procrastinating and just sat down and did it. 

Add that to my goal of quilts and well you see where this is going...

 I have 3 quilt tops done but now I am in the process of hand quilting the designs. You know the part that is huge and will take FOREVER! Lucky for me, this is my evening craft because this can be done sitting ,watching movies with the family so more crafting shall be had! If I have not lost all my readers what do you think I could do to help combat this way of thinking that I simply can only do one thing at a time?

I read therefore I live many lives

Back on the Second of January I shared my reading list for the year. I said I would check in and share how I was fairing.

The Star Wars Bounty Hunter Code . 

The Book Of Sith

Star Wars  Death Troopers

The Walking Dead the Fall of the Governor part2

a positive self talk book called Start my dear friend Desiree gave me.

A dance with dragons(games of thrones 5)

Alice in zombieland

Through the zombie glass

my camera manual

Well, I finished one book completely. I crossed out the A in A dance with dragons because I am reading that one but I am only 200 pages in...only 768 more to go. It's a long book. So, hopefully, when I check back in that one will be crossed off completely along with one or 2 more.

 I had found on amazon this book lovers journal to keep track of what you read, your thoughts on the book and a place to write what you want to read. I really wanted to buy it but I knew I wouldn't use all aspects of the book. I had several unused journals and decided to make my own. I used this awesome journal my friend Desiree gave me for my birthday! Love it Desiree!

I only really wanted 4 things out of this. To keep track of what I read, a place to write what I want to read , and a section where I could write any books I lent to someone. and a small place to write a list of what I have of extensive sets or authors . ie, my Star Wars Saga, a in order list of James Patterson's  Alex Cross books, and my Achilles heel WHAT NICHOLAS SPARKS BOOKS I HAVE AND HAVE READ!  It's small enough to carry in my purse and I carry pens with me so I can easily write any notes I may need and cross off books as I read or buy them.  This is the beginning of a beautiful obsession.

I am trying something new

I have been so bored the last few weeks, I started to watch youtube for some sort of inspiration. I found it in a sewing tutorial when my brain clicked of.... hey I have zippers I never did anything with.  Oh wait, I have a ton of fabric left from Cynthia's quilt....I can so do that. My zippered pouch came together quite easily and took about  an hour and a half to make two.  Kyla claimed this one ...

 Guess she wanted to have some place to keep some art supplies...or her make up brushes...or hair clips...or make up.... It's so universal that she just wanted it. The boy then decided hey I need one to hold my art stuff. So here is his...
   

I had intended to make one for Cynthia but sorry girlfriend the kiddos beat ya to it. 

I did break 2 needles in the process which is why I was afraid to work with zippers. but I think I am over it and I think I am gonna try sewing some other things in the near future.

Camera love

 

 

 

I have been obsessed with the idea of custom camera straps for awhile now. I wanted something other then the rough fabric/plastic of the ordinary strap against my neck.  True to her throw yourself into your passion ways, Cynthia pinned this tutorial/idea of someone using mink.....HMMM. Could it be worth it?  I hate my neck being hot with a passion..how badly would it make me sweat? With my doubts I forged ahead and went to joanns for some mink and VIOLA! MY Star Wars Camera strap was born.

 

 

 I will say this, I went for a bumpless mink. I wanted something my husband wouldn't be afraid to wear. Working with mink in my sewing machine....nightmare. That stuff slips and slides like it was a greased monkey on a waterslide. I also did all my sewing to the inside. I like the way it looks. The biggest pro OMG the thing feels awesome on my neck! Even my kids were like wow what an improvement. I have a feeling I will now have volunteers to take pictures for me!

 

May the force surround you

This is one of my projects I have been doing to keep me busy. I finally got around to making my bestests Christmas present. LOL I know, I know its February. We always celebrate in February so I am on time technically. I love that she FINALLY got on board with the Star Wars obsession.

 



 

This was a fun one. Picking out the fabric, I ADORED the pattern , and I even loved the green. I am so excited to give it to her.  She's gonna love it. I know I do.

 

 



 

Another year to put things in order..

I had an original post about putting a family binder together here. I have found it surprisingly helpful except in the Christmas season when everything in my life revolves around work , sleep and trying to get the holidays in order. Ironically, I started my binder with the calendar from Organized Christmas. But I wanted something that had holidays and daylight savings time already in it. Since then, I have been on the hunt for cute, functional free printables for my binder and I believe I just found the calender for the year...

I love everything about it . Its cute plenty of room to write notes. There is even a weekly view you can add to the monthly calendar, for you uber busy types out there (IE Cynthia). You can find all the free , yes free, printables here.  I am also including links to where I got my other printables. My dates to remember, last years calendar and password log I got here from DIY home sweet home and my contact and bill info I got here from The Good Wife. Have you started a home binder yet? If you have, have you found stylish free printables you love? Leave a link and comment below I would love to have a sneak peek at what everyone has.and does it work for you?

 

This post is brought to you today by...

 

the lovely, beautiful Bridgett Owens. She has invited me to take part of her weekly Friday Finale post where each Friday she will have a Friday Finale project that she has finished and ready to share with all of you.  To see her wonderful creation click here.

 

 

So by now I am sure you have all heard about this little website called Pinterest right? If not well you are missing out. I am actually behind the times because I do not have a follow me button on my blog. But I digress. Bridgett and I were chatting late, late Wednesday night when she asked me to join up. I thought what can I whip up in a day? It dawned on me I wanted to replicate this pin for awhile now. 

 

 

 

 

A trip to dollar tree for supplies ( minus the jars which I had at home) and here is my version.

 



 

I opted for my favorite color instead of blue (well ok not by choice Dollar Tree didn't have blue flowers or stones.)but I love how they turned out. Thanks to Bridgett for inspiring me to have a goal to strive for this week. 

 

Saving for a (not so) rainy day

There are a lot of things I want to do in the next few years.  A lot of trips and vacations we want to save up for. So I told my husband we need to some way to visualize our goals. Something even the girls can look at and decide if they want to contribute they can.

Then I remembered having these around the house...

 I know right ? Why would I move empty cheese ball containers around with me , but I guess I got my answer because I have turned them into my savings jars.

First up my Disney Cruise jar....

 in that big empty space I plan on getting a jolees Disney cruise sticker which I have yet to procure.

 I had a lot of Creative Memories Disney sets and tags from swaps years ago that helped me add to the fun of  Disney feel.  And Yes my kids have gone through their change already  and have added some to the jar! They really want to do this cruise! Thank you Netflix for showing them what fun it'll be!

My big thing is I want to do a Star Wars Celebration event. The only thing is they only do them once like every 3 years...pouty face , pouty face!  But it gave me the reason to play with Star wars paper :)

 I really didn't have to do much since the paper was awesome all by itself but I did add a title(?) and a stamp from Simply Betty Stamps.

I  gorilla glued the lids and ,yes I did decorate those ,but failed on getting a picture. So now we have a start to a couple things we want to do in the future. Now I just need more jars for a trip to Australia and a trip to Disneyland and I want to go ...LOL my list is never ending!

Soft as a cloud

Here it is,the latest project idea via Pintrest and the bestest. She wanted pillow beds for her kids when they traveled from here to Texas. Something comfortable for the kids to sleep on when they are at someone's house. So here you have it the pillow beds...

This is the top of the pillow bed for Lucas (mind you I am using flat standard pillows and not the full new queen pillows that Cynthia bought.) Plus Kaiser's lazy butt on his bed LOL

 

Here's the back side where you can see this is obviously made for bigger fluffier pillows...  

Here's what it's going to look all folded up....again with flat pillows. The newer ones will be way poofier.

and here is baby girls....un stuffed just flat.

And they seem to love them so score one for Auntie Christina!

REDROOM, REDROOM

Our first home renovation project. We decided we will start small and not over extend ourselves. We would start by painting the small weird shaped half bath.  Here is the standard beige the house came in bathroom....

  

And here is the new redroom , redroom bathroom.....

I  love it! I can't even claim I picked the color out. MY HUSBAND DID! Yup, he did good! While they say dark colors make a room smaller with the light ceiling and light fixtures it looks taller. Kinda like the elevator in the Haunted Mansion at Disney. So you aren't feeling all smooshed in.  We even picked out a new sink and mirror combo that we want in there.  I was still feeling like the house wasn't really mine yet. I have made payments, I have hung photos , but I think it took this drastic thing that I could not do in a rented or military house to make me feel like this is truly mine. I am finally HOME!

Bridgett Strikes Back

Never in a galaxy far, far away did I think I would ever find a use for me to buy any of the Star Wars line of papers.

Then Bridgett came and showed me the error of my ways. She made made notepads out of Stampin Ups dvd cases for her hostess club gals, which bestie Cynthia is apart of. She inspired me to make my Christmas organizer. Then in the middle of putting the organizer together it came to me like a flash frozen Han in carbonite.  I can FINALLY BUY STAR WARS PAPER!  I flew my trusty Falcon to a local craft store and while the selection was limited I did find something and here is the results....

 

My absolute favorite paper was the laser cut Stormtrooper heads. I think I secretly long to belong to the dark side some days. I cut a row added some to the front and back of the dvd case and then cut some black cardstock mounted a small version of the paper on it and added it to the inside.

Ya that's the evil dark army staring you down...scared yet?

 and here is the inside with the pad added with the foil star wars paper decorating the top of the pad.

Now when ever I need to take notes I can strike fear into the heart of the people who think Star Wars is just a lame movie....That's right I am a girl that likes Star Wars....I am that geek....I wear it proudly!

 

Post Christmas bliss

 I like to plan for Christmas year round. Less stress on the wallet if I shop year round plus then if I see anything at really good prices I have extra cash to get it and put it in my gift area.

To stay on task I have a holiday planner. I found the print outs and idea over at Organized Christmas. It is a great resource for holiday planning. For a while now they have had pocket planner printouts  so you can make a mini version to carry with you in your purse instead of carrying a 3 ring binder with you everywhere.  I have put off making a mini one for years because I knew a paper one would just get trashed in my purse. Not sure if these have made waves over the internet yet , but I have seen people use Stampin Up dvd stamp cases to make a notepad holder. Then I had an idea I could use the case to make my own non easily trashed pocket planner!

Here it is...

 

When you open the case I have an envelope to hold any coupons I might need. You know the ones you collect from Bath and Body , Old Navy and other stores but you always seem to leave at home.  Then I have my Idea planner where I can write down gift ideas for people in my life.

The second page ,if you will, is gifts to make. If you are a crafter you know when you're in your craft store and genius hits. Then 2 months goes by and oops you forget.  Well this gives you a spot to write who ,what, supplies needed and when it was completed.  There is also internet catalog order pages for when you find that perfect gift on the net but don't buy it then and there. Well it has spots to jot down where,  item , when you ordered it and cost (there's even a spot to write down when you received it).

The last page is my gift closet inventory.  This is where you write down stuff you already have ready to be given. That way when you are in the store and you remember ohhhh no I forgot a gift for so and so. Get one then go home and realize you already had one. It will help avoid all confusion. And yes I do already have some gifts in my inventory. I also have an envelope for receipts so that they don't breed like rabbits in my purse. 

While making the pockets I was wondering how I was going to glue the back in because it needed to kind of slide with the opening and closing of the case. Then it came to me don't glue it! Why? It is the perfect spot to put purchased gift cards! I don't know about you , but I am always losing those little buggers.

Then just for fun I added some more 3 dimensional stickers in the back to complete the look.

So now I have a spot to keep all my holiday year round shopping corralled in one spot then when time allows I can transfer all the info into my big binder at home. I can not tell you how happy this little idea has made me. I am ready for Christmas 2012 BRING IT ON!

Memories of the Christmas past

I know it seems a bit late to be posting Christmas crafts, however I had to wait until Christmas was over to do this project. I have always hated throwing away the wonderful cards people have given me over the years. Until now I kept the cards in a kind of file folder. Until I saw this idea on pintrest....

Doesn't Yoda make a great model?  Anyway, back to the project, it will make a great holiday decoration displayed on a plate holder.  I want to make one every year to hold all of our special cards. The great thing about it is you can open every card and still read the inside What a great way to shre the memoroies of previous Christmas'.  To make one of your own all you need is 2 pieces of chipboard , your favorite christmas papers, embellishments, 3 jump rings and your favorite adhesives. Share with me if you make one I would love to see what you come up with.

Original ideas from eighteen25 here.

I never showed you...gasp!

With everything that happened before we moved I never got to show you the other2 completed quilts we made for Desiree's daughters. How dare I? 

So the first one is for her middle daughter whose favorite color is blue and who is in band....

This one is for her youngest daughter who has a varied interest and whom we wanted to have a patch of fabric that everyone picked out to represent themselves....

Aren't they a hoot? I am so glad we were able to get all three done before I moved. I wish I had room to sew here in the apt. I still have my quilt with everyones patches to finish for me. I really should get it done before winter so I have a cozy lap quilt.