Getting Crafty

Good news: the marble magnets were sent to the lucky winner the very next day! It felt great to shove that off the old to do list. Because I love etsy and I was so late sending off the prize, I asked the recipient to pick something from an etsy site of her choice that I could have sent to her as a “Sorry I’m a terrible procrastinator” gift. The beauty of this plan was that I didn’t have to be responsible for ensuring it reached her in any amount of time! These etsy shop owners are pros at this sort of thing.

I decided to browse etsy too and see what I could get myself. So far I’ve just been looking and drooling over on etsy:

Art Under Glass
This crafter makes soldered pendants and each piece has a scrapbook/collage look to it that has completely charmed me. She can put any image you want under glass, or you can go with one of her own designs. I’m rather partial to the pendant below, mostly because of the poppies (I hope it’s ok for me to borrow a picture from the site):

(Image is the property of Art Under Glass)

Lisa’s Pieces
I’m a big silver jewelry fan and I’m forever doodling spirals so this site that creates (among other things) spiral shaped pendants with inspiring messages on them was an instant fave. You can even choose the words you want to have stamped on to your pendant. Since hearing that it was Gandhi who said that we must be the change we want to see in the world, I’ve been hooked on those words.

(Image is the property of Lisa’s Pieces)

In the end it was the monogrammed aprons offered at Pink Chameleon that caught the eye of my prize winner. With a move to my own place imminent, I must keep an eye out for a cute apron for me too. If only the donning of an apron would give you super cooking powers, and work in the same fashion that capes do.

Creating has been hellish: I can’t seem to do anything that doesn’t turn out looking awful.

I continue to struggle with the magnets—have I suddenly become anal-retentive, agonizing over every excess dot of glue, or am I just not able to make them like I used to? I am still having trouble putting the right amount of silicone sealer to the marbles: too much and it globs all over and looks juvenile; too little and you can see it under the marble. It’s enough to make me scream, especially since this is that prize that is so overdue that I have to send an apology card and throw in an extra gift too I think.

A friend of mine, knowing my love all things crafty, sent me a picture from Cosmo magazine of a knit slouchy beret that she is in love with. It’s the “it thing” right now, as you can see from this clipping, which shows a number of young popular stars wearing the very cute berets in a number of ways. This is not our grandmother’s beret, that’s for sure:

(Image courtesy of Accessories Studio)

I would love to make one for her, because this friend has been nothing but kind for me, but the pattern I found (a very popular knit pattern that’s going around right now is Wendy Bernard’s Le Slouch) uses double pointed knitting needles and Jummy has never had the pleasure of fumbling about with dpns (as the cool kids call them). I’m sure I can direct my questions to Barbara over at Knitting Passion and I may have to, but in the meantime I better get some dpns!

WIBW is late this week, not because something wasn’t bought but because the purchased item was misplaced. But it has surfaced:

I love these fabric flowers, and they come with jeweled brads for their centres. Who can look at these bright colours and not be happy? Certainly not I!

These would brighten up any card, or they could be arranged in a cluster at the corner of a photo if you’re scrapbooking. I see these being used on yellow or black paper; the colours would really “pop”. And one day, instead of talking about how you could use them, I promise to actually use them and let you see what I’ve come up with.

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The biggest obstacle to crafting has been time, and this obstacle remains. Between my two jobs (one full time and one part time) and other obligations, I come home drained and want to do nothing more than sit in front of the computer screen, reading about other people’s lives, barely taking it in but just vegging. Or, I like lying down with a good book, an inspiring or motivating book, then promptly falling asleep the moment I crack it open and read a few words. That’s been happening a lot lately.

Needless to say, it is hard to create when you’re weary, and it’s even harder to get “unweary” when the same routine keeps happening day after day. But before you lose all hope, a lovely day is upon us: Valentine’s Day!

So, Happy Valentine’s day to you! If you need some last minute crafty ideas, may I point you to Martha Stewart? She’s got some beautiful things up that you must see. Enjoy!

What I bought Wednesday will be skipped for this week because in the past week I haven’t bought anything! Shocking, I know. It wasn’t for lack of trying though, at least from the dollar store. A couple of thing tempted me but they were firmly from the brads category and we all know I have far too many brads.

I haven’t been the least bit creative lately, and besides time, the biggest impediment to creating has been clutter. Clutter sometimes inspires people; but it can also be a hindrance because you simply don’t have a clear place in which to create. Everything is a mess, and even if you have an idea, the process of searching for just the tools and materials you need can be an exercise in frustration. Trying to find something in the midst of chaos is a good way to go insane, let me tell you.

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