Crafty Dayeseye

Luuurve.

Can I tell you how much I

Seeing people smile?

 

Like,

A LOT.

 

Now I'm not just talking about the times I say something and someone smiles, or I meet with a friend and he/she greets me with a smile.  I am talking about any genuine, toothy grin on any 'ole stranger. 

A smile of joy.

A smile because they have an awesome secret.

A smile thinking about an old memory.

A smile they just can't help but share with you.

I. LOVE. THAT.

 

That's kind of what inspired my  leave 100 art cards that inspire, from my Stupendous Life List.

I hope the someone who finds each card smiles.

 

card 17/100

*you are free to print and distribute to friends, family, and strangers, but only to brighten their day!

 

 

 

My Newest Obsession: Making Paper Cloth

Have you seen this?  Have you made any of this? It's paper, but it's cloth...what the?  Well, I'm in love.  Tutorial coming soon!  My friend Terry from The Raven's Whim taught me the other day, and I'm gonna teach you.

More paper cloth over here, on Art Every Day.

Time with Friends...Just Add Paint

I crossed a mountain and painted a four piece, canvas mural for a special 5 year old this weekend.  5 year olds are fun, they sing, they dance, they talk A LOT, some times they flip-out, but for the most part they smile and flit around like brainy little fairies...well this one did!

She loves all things mermaid and pretty, (read Ariel and pink and purple) and to save her mother's head from exploding by having to look at one more Disney Princess we concocted a lovely little mermaid to watch over her at night.

The colors are cool and refreshing and the canvases are able to be painted over easily when the 5 year old is 9 and not so into mermaids anymore, you know, when she goes goth.

Not Sure

about all of this BLUE.  Wondering if surrounding the page in blue was subconscious.  I may rethink it soon.  But, not tonight.
Tonight I want to thank everyone we spent New Years Eve with!  We had a blast, and I am finally sooo sober.

Only one more sleep til Chistmas!

That makes today the 12th Day of Christmas.  Tomorrow is going to be such fun, I'm very excited!

Look what I made today!

She is a cousin of the little guy from yesterday.  This was another variation I sketched, which led to another...which I will not be making tomorrow...Christmas Y'all!  I like the key hole shape of the body, AND the fold over of the green guy...somehow want to incorporate both.  Next time.

It's too bad the FLUORESCENT light in the kitchen is well, FLUORESCENT, because the color in yesterday and today's pictures is atrocious.  It was dark by the the time I  finished sewing, and I don't have access to a light box, or even just more light at the moment.  The body of this little gal is really like a burgundy, think of a glass of delicious Sangiovese....it really is lovely.

I hope the little folks who will be receiving these love them!

I'm also thinking...cat, dog, giraffe, pig....I dunno, suggestions welcome!

2 days...wait! 1 day til Christmas

Okay, to tell you the truth, I just looked at the clock and realized it is after midnight...  I still consider it Christmas Eve-eve.  But really it's Christmas Eve!!! 

I spent the day with my husband, traveling around and tonight, sewing for fun.  I made a dog toy, to be discovered Christmas morning, by a handsome puppy. ( the other two pups are getting bones, they don't love soft toys so much.) I also made a little owl, using wool felt and fabric scraps. 

The owl came out pretty well for no pattern and no hand-sewing ability what so ever.  I really need to work on that, as well as piecing parts together in the right order.  I had a time of doing things inside out and flipping properly, then barely left a hole big enough to stuff it full. 

I was thinking the folded over top bit would double as a beak, but I'm not sure if it doesn't look like a LOOOOONG nose.  I'm gonna try shorter next time around.

In the end I learned a few things and came up with other ideas too, it was good!  More practice is definitely needed. Trial and error, my favorite way to go.

T minus 2 days!!

That makes today the 10th day of Christmas!   Well, for the next 8 minutes, as I am typing this it is 11:52p.m.  Why am I still up?  Because I had a great idea and wanted to make it happen!

I made a last minute Christmas present, that I never planned to make.  In fact every gift is already done, shipped, wrapped.  But this seemed like a fun and simple (and it was) gift. 

I made a little memory game for my nieces.  I used only scraps, left over material and upcycled materials.  I have drawers full of bits and pieces of fabric, and this was a great project to use some of them!  I made 15 sets ( 2 each) of matching scrap fabric "memory" pieces.  I backed each piece with leftover dark green wool felt from our Christmas cards this year.  That gives them a little stability and cohesiveness. 

I placed the pieces into a bag made from a piece of leftover navy blue t-shirt, that I used in the Scarflace project the other day. 

The bag looks dirty, it's not, just linty from the thread and t shirts I've been working with.  I lint rolled it after I saw this pic...sorry didn't get another picture.

9 days til Christmas!

Our Christmas cards go out tomorrow! Loving that wind-blown look, it's okay, it was a great day and that's really why I picked this picture.  Plus, had to have the furbabies participate in the Christmas fun!

Making an Upcycled T Shirt Scarflace

And one project that has become a gift.  I don't think the recipient really reads here so I'm gonna show you how to make this upcycled T shirt scarflace> it is a warn cozy scarf, and a cool chunky necklace.

I mixed three gently used t shirts for the first one, and a knit print from the fabric store and a gently used t shirt for the second.  I am only showing the HOW on one of the scarflaces.

Three shirts... shirts with out seams along the side work best, but one of my shirts had seams and I used it anyway, I like the knobby effect it added.

Cut across the shirt right below the armpits.
Trim off the hem too.

Cut the t shirt into one or so inch strips, so that you have giant loops.
If you couldn't tell, I am recommending the use of a rotary cutter, but scissors will do the trick just as well.  After cutting all of the shirts into strips you will have a big pile...like this.
Stretch each loop as far as it will go, and then hang them all together.  They will each curl up on themselves, like little knit tubes of fun.  Tie them together with a scrap from one of the shirts.  Presto...Put it on!
This is more of a chunky necklace, a pin or brooch would look cute on it too.
Classic scarf action.
This is the second one I made.  This is where I learned the biggest lesson about the knits!  They curl the way THEY want to, not necessarily the way YOU want them to.  If you look closely the lighter fabric has a print on it.  So...If you have a print you should do a test on the direction the fabric will curl to make sure you like the outcome.  I can't figure out how to reverse the direction of the knit curl.  So on this one you are seeing the wrong side.  I still like the muted colors with the vibrant teal, so it's a go.
I'm sure not all knits will curl so the wrong side is showing, but I will test it from now on before taking the time to cut all of my strips.
 
 


  This is all of the strips tied together with a loop at the top so the wearer can easily find the middle, or starting point. Just a note: The first scarflace had 38 strands, and the second had 26.  You can make them as thick or thin as you like, all depends on what you like around your neck.Happy Making!

Shrine WIP

Working on this for my design class.  The theme is the Great Depression.  We were told to create something, anything to memorialize, remember, tell a story, whatever, around the Great depression.  After talking with my grandmother and some other folks, these are the things I took away..

it was a time of great uncertainty, families became disjointed, what was, vanished, But there was still beauty and joy, it was just a little harder to find and everything felt less free, due to monetary restrictions. 

This is just a piece of the depression, and obviously doesn't encompass every person's experience, some worse, some better. 

Just like our current situation.

 

Crafty Dayeseye at Market in the Park

Saturday I, along with my mom and a friend did a craft show.  My first one ever.  It was GREAT!  The weather was amazing, the crowds were big and full of really nice people.  The response was really good too.  Thanks for all the support from everyone who stopped by the Crafty Dayeseye booth.  I'm really looking forward to doing another one soon!

I knew the weeks leading up to the show would be tough, but I never expected as much school work to be piled on at the same time.  Whoa, what a few weeks.  I am glad to have some time to relax now, for a bit at least.






I didn't get a good picture of the whole booth after we had set everything up, so this one above (before we adjusted the table cloths and moved the boxes) will have to do for now!  Soon I will have a full color, amazing banner, instead of the cruddy b&w one I used.  Hey, it was better than nothing, not much better, but better.

We had button flowers/bouquets, great bags my friend J made, and beautiful baby slings from my sister at Saffron Slings.

I didn't sell out of flowers, like I had hoped to.  But, got a good idea of what people are looking for, and had enough to last all day, which was a plus.  I was worried that one of two things would happen...1.  No one would want ANYTHING, or 2.  People would want, but I wouldn't have enough inventory.  Luckily  neither of the two happened, and I hit a happy medium.  Next time I will have more hand cut paper flower stems, as it seemed everyone wanted at least one in their bundles.

Okay!  Off to class in a bit!

Sunday, Lovely Sunday

Swap, change hands, exchange, shift, switch, trade, transposition, commute....

Thats what these are for.  My first swap.  Hopefully the gal I am sending them to will like them as much as I enjoyed making them.

They are simple but sweet. 

I wonder if she will mail them?  Trash them?  or just hold on to 'em?

I just love the quote by Emily Dickinson "Find ecstasy in life; the mere sense of living is joy enough." put on the 2nd card.

 

Also I made 2 pairs of earrings for my etsy shop, you can check them out here but buy over there. 

Reading

Yesterday I was introduced to Loise L. Hay. Okay, a book by her."You Can Heal Your Life."  It's all about the power of your own thoughts.  She has some affirmation cards as well.  Yesterday I chose one blindly from a box, it had to do with creativity, pretty apt, I thought...or wait, did the card choose me?  hmmm.  The book I am reading is pretty interesting, it basically says 'if we are willing to do the mental work, anything and everything will happen.'
I will give it a shot.  It can't hurt to try and improve my quality of life through my own thoughts. I will bring great things to ME!  I will share with YOU too!
Journal page based on " My Thoughts are Creative" from Hays.
More under 'Scrappy Shots'.

SOLD

Just a little update, the earrings below from yesterday have been sold.  Interested in your very own pair?  Just drop me a line.

Upcycle

So, here is part of what I made tonight, what I like to call part of my 'upcycle' collection.  So it's not just and item recycled into something else, it is 'upcycled' into something BETTER, in this case some cute earrings.  The silver bits are all BRAND NEW, but the colorful bits at the bottom are pieces of thrown away empty gift cards from various stores.  Because there are so many different colors they go with everything!   

The large circle is the size of a quarter, that may give a little better idea of the size.

I also made a clippy, bookmark thing for a friend.  I need to get it mailed out ASAP to Phil-adelph-ow!
You can see pictures HERE.

Cheater screen prints

Check out my cheater chicken screen prints....no squeegee necessary!(although it would have been fun!)  Pictures are HERE!

Bed Head

Working on my headboard as soon as M- gets home.  He will be cutting the wood and helping me cover it!  I am excited because we haven't had a headboard for a while now.  Here is a sneak peak of the covering.  I will be following these instructions mostly, except it will be a tad bit bigger.  It will be about 6'10" long and 55" high.  hopefully it will impart the "drama" we are looking for (just ask my dad).

Good Times

The past five days have gone by fast and furious!  My mom, Dad and one of my sisters came to visit Thursday.  We had such a nice visit!                                                                                                          My mom and I totally re-did my bedroom, and read it here....We actually have a real room, it doesn't look like a college room anymore!  I am so excited.  It's not fancy, but comfy, organized and relaxing!  Okay, so there is one other project that is left to be completed, but I should finish it very soon.  I'll post pictures when It's done!

J-, my sister helped with some laundry and we watched some great movies together.  That is her favorite thing, she will be a director and/or a screenplay writer one day.  She is so smart, always looking at the camera angle, the way dialoge is delivered, and the way the actors take their position and the effect it has on the audience.  We also made some cool earrings together, we picked out glass beads together and from the same materials came up with totally cool, but different earring designs.

J- was supposed to take the train home Sunday night because she wanted to stay one day extra and my mom and dad left Saturday p.m.  Well, don't we all just love Amtrak? (J- likes to take the train when possible, she feels it is more rustic, romantic and relaxing. Plus she can sit back read and dream.) I know we do, especially when all of the trains on Sunday Nights seem to run about 1.5-3.0 hours LATE!  This is the second time we tried to get J- home on a train when we have run into this.  Both times were Sunday nights.  Not. doing. this. again.

Long story short Daddy ended up driving back here to pick her up mid-day.  We had a nice lunch together and said "Bon Voyage".

Sleepy Time

Well, it is about 6:15 p here and I have to be up at 1:45a for dog walking and to go to work tomorrow morning.  That being said I wanted to put a picture of the finished mobile I made for C up.  I finished it yesterday and she picked it up this morning.  She really seemed to like it, and I enjoyed making it as well. 
Okay so this is a photo my father In law took.  Thanks R.  I didn't get the chance to take another photo so,  I tried to photo shop the surrounding bits out so now it looks funky, but hopefully you get the gist.

The mobile consists of Filament, beads, large sequins, quilted fish, ribbon and tulle bubbles, or jelly fish like bubbly things.  All in all, it has a very floaty, water like feel.

Well, I am so out of it!  Off to bed.  I should be normal tomorrow after work and a nap.  Yes, I am already planning a nap.

Pachinko

We had one of these growing up... anyone else ever play with one?  Apparently they are all the rage in Japan, and they are played in a casino-like setting.  We played ours on the cold concrete of our garage floor.  It's kinda like a pinball machine in vertical form.  There are holes, and you try and get the balls in specific holes, in some holes you lose your ball, other holes you earn more balls.  We would play and play and play.

That seems kinda like how my head works.  I put a great deal into it, sometimes nothing comes back out, other times my ideas are fruitful and full of life.  I have been trying to be better in this area. I need focus.  Really, simply put that is it.  Oh well, till then I will continue on this screwy path I am traipsing along.

I am making a mobile for a customer of mine.  She is decorating her baby's room with everything
"Finding Nemo" and apparently there isn't much in the way of choices for that in the market, so she is having everything made....hence the mobile.  So far everything is going well and I think it is adorable.  I have made a few other mobiles, but they were much more abstract.  This one is much more structured.  I will have to put some photos up as soon as it is finished.  Just think, Floating Fish...

Back to ME!

So I have been so sick lately., First my awful wisdom teeth, TMJ incident and then just plain rotten feeling!  This morning is the first time in days that I have woken up and felt like a human being instead of some yucky sewer troll!

Enough about that.  I did have one day of fun during all of this.  I spent the afternoon with my friend J-.  She and I have a great time together.  We both enjoy sewing, making, doing, and together it is double the fun. 

I wanted to try and make a glass pendant from microscope slide style glass.  I got all of the materials together and thought I was good to go when I realized  I was missing the copper foil tape for the edges.  I went to every big box home style store that you can think of, yup even that one!  Finally, I found a great little stained glass shop that sells supplies as well as beautiful art work.  The shop is about 30 minutes away from the house with all the traffic, but it was well worth the the trip.  The shop owner was super helpful and friendly.

With supplies in hand I met up with J- and she and I played with glass for hours.  We made a couple of pendants out of stained glass bits I picked up at the shop, and kinda taught ourselves how to use a soldering iron--way too much fun! 

2 days later I made a couple of microscope pendants for my mom and my sister.  I made a collage with my niece 's picture then scanned it into the computer and then had them printed professionally.  I've made a couple other collages, and scanned them too, I would like to make a collage and actually put it in between the glass, but right now I have my reservations, I guess I just need to try and do it!

Last night my mom told me about a breast cancer fund raiser she and some of the nurses are doing for the Susan G Komen-Race for the Cure.  She liked the pendant I gave her so much, she wants me to make some to sell at the hospital yard sale for the team she is on. 

                 Here is the first mock up of "Touch your Boobies" >> now, now, thats to promote breast self exams, and nothing else.   

it is paper cut-outs from all sorts of collage sheets scanned in the computer, and saved as of now.
Any and all the money will go to SGK.