Category Archives: Cool Things

May4

Oh hai bloggers!

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I feel bad that I’ve been neglecting my blog for so long. Since Christmas I’ve been super tired. My work schedule is kind of poopie, so I nap a lot. Plus I had that crazy 3 week long flu that was going around. Man, I felt like I had been run over by a truck. It was rough. But now, spring is here, the weather is nice, and I’m hoping this will be a good summer.

the only crafting I’ve really been doing lately is sporadic, and just for swaps I join online. Little one offs kind of thing. The only time I’ve spent in the craft room lately has been to clean and organize. I do love to organize things, especially in the craft room. I could sit in there sorting beads and buttons all day.

i do have a fantastic rug hooking project in the works. Rob scored me a set of old French doors a few years ago, and I cleaned them up and varnished them, and they now look awesome. I’m going to use one on its side and hook a multi-paned piece in the window holes. I’m in the process of gathering all the wool for it; I want a wide variety of textures, so it’s taking me a bit of time. I think it will hook up fairly quick though. Then, it’s just to figure out where to hang it. It’s a piece of a door, so it’s super long, so finding a wall long enough in my little bungalow might be a challenge. :)

Dec2

DavidsTea Advent Calendar Day 2 – Chocolate Rocket

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Today’s tea is a David’s classic that I had actually never tried, Chocolate Rocket. It’s fitting that I had a mate as I was up at 5 am this morning, on my day off! Chocolate Rocket smells wonderful, very chocolatey. I found it a bit weaker than I normally like my teas, but it was still pretty good. Being a mate, it’s supposed to give you energy, but I didn’t find it as effective as David’s Fruite Mate.

I give Chocolate Rocket a 3.5 out of 5.

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Dec1

DavidsTea Advent Calendar Day 1 – Organic Buttered Rum

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Rob and I were both stoked when we got the latest David’sTea newsletter, showcasing the advent calendar they released for this holiday season. My dear husband ran right out and bought it for me, much to my delight! It wasn’t until I got looking it over later that I realized I’ve already tried a lot of the teas included, most of them are David’s classics and best loved teas. That’s ok, it’s still. Ice to get a different one every day, try a few new ones, and plus ill have 24 cutesy little cans to use in the craft room afterwards! :D

The first tea is “Buttered Rum“. If Im not mistaken, i think this black tea was introduced with the winter collection a few years ago and they kept it on as part of the permanent collection because of its popularity (I’m glad they do this with the best teas!). I’ve purchased this tea in the past, I like its warm wintery heartiness. It works great as a hot cocoa alternative on cold winter nights. I don’t consider myself a huge coconut fan, but the coconut in this tea adds a mellowness that rounds it out nicely.

I give Buttered Rum a 4 out of 5. :)

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Sep13

Waking up in New York City

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I’m here, finally here again. New York City. The city of all cities. My favorite place in the whole world. It’s been almost 3 years since I last visited, but it feels like so much longer. I’ve been wanting to do a girls only trip to NYC for a long time, and this is it, we’ve finally done it. We had girls sign up and girls drop out, but in the end I’m here with my mom and my best bud Heidi. I couldn’t ask for two better travel companions. :) . We left home less than 24 hours ago and it’s already been an unforgettable trip.

Mom did fantastic on the flight, a lot better than I thought she would actually. She said she didn’t want a window seat on the plane,but the she kept craning to see out mine. Hehe. She even stayed calm for the takeoff and landing. Good job girl!

I have finally found something about NYC that I don’t like though. They do their roadwork in the middle of the night. 3am sharp we awoke to a road crew using a jackhammer out side across the street. I’m thinking about marching across the 8 lanes of Queens Blvd and kicking his ass. Hehe. Joking aside, I feel bad for mom because I don’t know if she’ll get back to sleep. Heidi can sleep thought anything, and me, this is the time I get up in the morning for work, so I’m up and wide awake for the day. But poor mom, she’s going to be zonked today.

I’m not sure what we’re doing today. I have a loose itinerary done up, but not really anything set as to which days we do what. I’m thinking we’ll hit manhattan for some of the bigger things, like Grand Central Terminal, Times Square, and a little Midtown shopping. I love playing tour guide in NYC. :) I love sharing my love and wonder for this city with people.

Hmmm, I’m not sure how to post a photo, as I’m posting this for my iPad, and I normally post from my pc. So, alas, this post will be boring, with no pic. :( . I’ll figure it out later, or maybe I’ll bug rob to walk me through it. Hehe

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Oh, nevermind, there it’s! Oh WordPress, thank you for the awesome iPad app!

May19

Peggy’s Cove, Nova Scotia

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Sunday, May 6 we had a great day. We got up and on the road early. I dropped Rob and his buddy off in East River, NS, for a paintball tournament, then I had some time to kill before I met up with my bestie Heidi in Halifax. I checked google maps on my phone, and saw that I wasn’t far from Peggy’s Cove, which I had always wanted to visit, so away I went. What a beautiful little village.  Rob is from a very small fishing village in Newfoundland, so I thought Peggy’s Cove would be similar to that, but it’s way smaller!  It only has a population of 50 people! hehe  Here’s a few pics I snapped while there.  I had a wonderful time there, then all day in Halifax.  What a great weekend!

 

Mar4

Tutorial – Adding Lace to Shelving

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In my previous post, I showed a photo of the bookshelf I bought and refinished for my craft room. Once it was all painted and cured, I jazzed it up by adding some lace to the bottoms of the shelves.  It was quick and easy, and here’s how I did it.

First, I chose my lace. I had this lace in my stash. It’s a sew-in lace, so it has an unfinished edge on it. If you’re going to buy lace, look for this type. Also make sure to measure your shelving to know how much you’ll need.

The first thing I did was cut the lace to the proper size to fit each shelf.  I wanted the lace to hang down along the tops of the shelves, so I folded it lengthwise. I wanted just the actual lace to show, so I folded along where the lace ended and the plain seam material began. This way, the plain material would be against the bottom of the shelf, and the lace would hang down, at a 90 degree angle.  Be careful ironing, as it’s tiny, so you could easily burn your fingers. If, unlike me, you have a quilting iron, then it would be much easier!

After ironing, I stuck the unfinished edge of the lace to double-sided tape.

After that, I just lined the lace up along the bottom of the shelf, and peeled the backing off the tape as I went. I didn’t take a photo of the lace itself once it was up, but here’s a pic of my much-loved, yummy shoes, sitting on one of the shelves, so you can see the lace on the bottom.  Isn’t it cute?? And did I mention how much I am in love with these shoes? ;)

Feb21

Art, on Me

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It’s about time I do a post about the art I carry around with me at all times.  My tattoos!  I love tattoos.  I have 3, and have plans for more. If I had unlimited finances, I’d be covered in them I imagine. ^_^

I got my first tattoo when I was 19. It was before the tattoo craze started, so there were only a couple of places in town to get tattoos.  A friend of mine called me up and said “A bunch of us are getting tattoos today, you in?”.  Being 19, and having a student loan burning a hole in my pocket, I quickly agreed to go.  I didn’t know what I wanted, I just had the idea in my head that if I was getting a tattoo, going through all that pain, I wasn’t going to get something “girly”.  So, I picked out a snarling wolf’s head from a book of the artist’s work.  Am I happy with it? Not overly. It’s not the greatest quality, and it kind of looks more like an Alaskan Malamute than a wolf, but oh well.  It’s on my left shoulder.

My next tattoo I got when I was 24…or was it 25?..  I put some thought into this one. My Little Ponies were one of the best parts of my childhood, and at the time I got the tattoo, I was a My Little Pony collector.  MLP brought me much happiness. So, a My Little Pony tattoo was not too much of a stretch.  She’s on the inside of my right leg, a couple of inchies above the ankle.  I placed her here because it bugged me that I couldn’t see my other tattoo, so I wanted her where I could see her.  I’m not really happy with this tattoo either.  It’s not great. The artist really screwed up the eye, MLP have a very distinct eye, and well, this isn’t it. Meh.

Now, for the piece de la resistance!  I got my 3rd tattoo for my 32nd birthday. I’ve learned a lot about tattoos since I was younger. You get what you pay for, for sure.  Unlike my other tats, this one cost me a LOT.  I got her from Brad Dawe at Hell or High Water Tattoo Parlour.  She’s a half sleeve, on my right arm.  How it happened: a few years ago my mom of all people cut an article about a local up and coming tattoo artist.  With the article, there was  pic of a skull he had done.  It was amazing!  I went to the studio and checked out more of his work, and had a loose idea of what I wanted.  I walked into my appointment and said “I want a 3/4 view skull, with Day of the Dead markings, Bettie Paige hair, pigtails, and work cherries in there somehow.  He grabbed a marker, and freehanded her on me! It was awesome.  And here she is!  Sorry for the wonky yellowish pic – I took it myself in my bathroom, where the lights are apparently yellowish.  She took a couple of sittings, one for outlining and black shading, one for colour, and then a short touch up for the yellow and orange.  I LOVE her. <3

Apr10

365 Days of Creativity – Days 27 Thru 35

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I am behind on posting! I didn’t mean to go this long without a post, so here’s a big one!

Day 35 -Today Rob, Mom and I went on a little road trip to Amherst, Nova Scotia.  We did some shopping around town, and found this liquidation store that was just full of random things.  I got 2 rolls of really cool printed packing tape, and tonight used it to cover the little art journal I got in Hali a few weeks ago.

Day 34 -I did the background of green and copper paint for this page awhile ago in my art journal, and I knew almost right away I wanted to use it to make a New York themed page.  Collage and mixed media.

Day 33 -Today I found my inspiration for my project at the dollar store.  I bought this darling little canvas (a teeny 2.75″), and it came complete with the wooden easel.  Some paint, and a card from a game, and here it is:

Day 32 -Today, I finally finished a culinary masterpiece a week and a half in the making;  I finally took the plunge and made real French Macarons!  After reading the intense instructions, including aging your egg whites for 5-7 days, and then aging the baked and filled cookies for another 3 days.  The end result was well worth all the trouble.  I’ll be making another post with a little more detail and lots more photos soon, but for now, here’s a taste. They are plain macarons with Fleur de Sel caramel filling.

Day 31 -For today’s craft, I made a cute little pic with the rubber stamp I carved yesterday, using a couple of stamps from another stamp set I had bought awhile back.

Day 30 -I have been wanting a wood grain rubber stamp for awhile, so today I finally broke down and made one myself.  I had some stamp carving rubber, and a carving tool, so away I went. It didn’t take me as long as I thought it would!

Day 29 – Today I hauled out the clay (air dry pottery-type, not polymer), and made a few components for pieces I’m working on.  I’ve missed working with real clay!  Someday I’m going to have a kiln damnit.  I’m going to sand the edges, and attach them to the piece.

Day 28 – Today I finished up a couple of recipe cards I was working on.  I make these and trade them just like other mail art.  I always made 2 of each recipe, so I can trade one and keep the other for myself.  The left shows the fronts of both cards, and the right shows the backs.

Day 27 – Today, I didn’t get any projects finished, but I was in the craft room, cutting out some quilt pieces!

Mar22

365 Days of Creativity – Days 12 Thru 16

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Day 16 -For today’s craft I continued working in my new little sketchbook, and I doodled what’s called a zentangle.  A zentangle is just a doodle, usually randomly divided, with all sorts of different patterns in each little space. They’re fun to do, in all sizes from inchies to big BIG!  My favorite zentangles are done in black ink, but I wanted to do something a little different, so I used a light blue fineliner. (note – ignore the eraser booger at the top by the spiral binding, hehe)

Day 15 -I’m super excited about the new little sketchbook I got at Deserres in Halifax, but then again, I have a thing for shiny new EMPTY books! I get all excited thinking about what I could put in said book.  This particular little book measures a mere 3″ X 5″, is spiral bound, and made by Strathmore.  It’s super thick too!  I meant to buy the mixed media one, which has thicker paper, but grabbed a drawing one instead. The paper in it is still pretty sturdy, so I’ll have to give it a try with mixed media too.  Today we received a very beautiful wedding invite in the mail, in black and hot pink <3, which was the inspiration for the colors of this doodle.  The style of flower was inspired by my friend Roxanne, she draws lots of cute little flowers like this.  And the quote is from “Get Happy”, originally sung by Judy Garland, but I’ve been hooked on the rendition they did on House a couple of weeks ago. The whole thing was awesome! They jazzed it up, added dancing, a top hat, bow-tie, just crazy awesome stuff.

Day 14 -Today Rob and I went to Halifax for a road trip.  We actually went to see Sue the T-Rex, the largest and most complete tyrannosaurus skeleton ever found.  She was amazing!  For a period of about 5 or 6 years when I was a kid, I had my heart set on being a paleontologist. I’m not sure whatever happened to that dream, but I’m still feeling the dinosaur love apparently, because I was SO excited to see Sue!

While in Halifax, I of course had to visit Deserres, a big art store downtown.  I was so excited to score a supply I’ve been looking for for awhile.  They’re called Shiva Paintsticks, and they are oil paint in a solid crayon shape.  They feel somewhat similar to oil pastels from what I’ve seen so far, except you can manipulate and blend them with a brush, palette knife, or your finger.  And, unlike oil pastels, they actually dry after about 24 hours.  I played with them a little in the car on the way home.  I just played with blending a few colors, but that’s the only crafty thing I was able to squeeze in on our road trip, so this is it.  I played in my new little chunky sketchbook I also got there.

Day 13 – In keeping with my spring mood, I created some little wearable chocolate bunny brooches!  They are felt, and all hand stitched, on Easter-colored backings of course (except for baby yellow – pale baby yellow felt apparently does not exist!)  These measure about 2″ High, and will be listed on Bubblecup.etsy.com tomorrow, :)

Day 12 – For day 12, I created some much-needed labels for some buttons I’ll be listing on retroheart.etsy.com this week, using Photoshop.  Watch for them!