Back in the Habit

Sometime around February, you know when you're snowed in, and the cold weather it getting to you, and you just need to find something productive to do because if you don't you just might go bananas, I began to get the nagging feeling of wanting to play around with making jewelry again.

Only around here in February it was actually in the high 60's and low 70's and we were outside playing and soaking up the strange Winter sunshine. (Funny because it's only been in the 50's here for the past few days, in June!) But still, the want was there.

So I did what any other gal in my predicament would do ... I busted out all of my beads and findings, ordered a whole bunch more, and promptly forgot all about my desire to get back into jewelry making while all of my supplies collected dust on my desk.

4 months later I'm oh so slowly getting back into it and I'm falling in love with the process all over again. And even slower than that, I'm adding things to my long neglected etsy shop.

So yeah, I'm back in the jewelry making business again. For now.

Come on over.

Adventures in Quilting

I haven't blogged about my latest crafty project yet ... which I completed over a week ago. 

I'm a slacker, I know this.

You see I have a notorious habit of starting a new project (and not just any old project, it's usually a massive undertaking of some kind) before I finish whatever it is that I'm currently working on.  I like to call if Craft ADD. 

After trying and trying and trying some more to get a halfway decent photo of the four of us with my Canon on the tripod I gave up and declared that we would be having our family photos professionally taken.  I mean, as wonderful as the family shots we did manage to capture are (a blurry Mike trying to get into the shot before the timer goes off, a kid or two with a finger up their nose, and multiple double chins) it's not exactly something I want to send out on our Christmas cards this year.

I immediately started thinking about how I could make our photos more personal. 

A quilt!  We can all sit on a quilt!  Unfortunately none of the previous one's I've made were big enough to fit all four of us on. Neither was the one I was putting together out of found vintage sheets. So a month before our scheduled photo session I decided to make a new, massive quilt.

I had grand plans for this quilt, complete with a pre-determined design.  But because I actually had a time limit with my project that kind of all went out the window.  I can't be too upset though because if it wasn't for that time limit there is a good chance that this project would be one of those ones that takes me forever to finish.

Materials:
California Girl by Moda Jellyroll
Blue Flower fabric from Joann's
Green fabric used to make the binding from Hobby Lobby

Even though this quilt ended up quite a bit more simple than I had originally planned I still think that it maybe one of the most cherished projects ever.  The colors and patterns are just plain old amazing, plus it's a project that I set out to complete in a certain period of time and I actually did it.  That is feat all in it's own. I can't wait to have our family pictures taken sitting atop this beautiful blanket.


Of course I attempted to photograph my quilt on a super windy day.  Thankfully my husband and mother in law stepped in to attempt to hold it down so that the wind didn't carry it off.  Despite the hands and feet in the pictures, you get the idea.

I still can't believe that I managed to fit this thing through my machine.  It's huge, fitting a full sized bed comfortably.  Unfortunately we don't have a full sized bed in our house so it's new home will be on the back of my couch.

It's not crooked, I promise!  It's hanging on a clothesline and was too heavy so we had to find a stick to prop the line up.

The back of the quilt.  I used a pretty found vintage sheet that I picked up from a thrift store for a dollar.  It's couldn't be more perfect.

And that, my dear friends, is my quilting adventure!
Linking up:

A New Love

I've got a new hobby, and it's safe to say that I'm in love.

In some sort of attempt to spice up one of my Project Life inserts I picked up some embroidery floss I had laying around and a needled and made a pretty (albeit crooked) heart on a piece of paper.  And then I remembered that my mother in law gave me a big box of vintage crafty goodness not too long ago.  Nestled inside of which was an embroidery hoop.

The result is this. (excuse the poor quality Instagram photo.  I'm far too lazy to get up to get my good camera)

Not too shabby for my first ever attempt at embroidery.
(Verse is from Song of Songs 8:6)
Watch out world, this new found love of mine could get serious.

Wall Art

As much as I loved these sweet pictures of my boys .... it was time for them to go.  They are beyond outdated, featuring a 6 year old Brayden who is now 8 and an 2 year old Gage who is now 4.  Not to mention that the classic wooden frames just didn't fit well with our colorful living room.

Four multi-picture frames from Wal-mart and a can of blue spray paint later, and we have some awesome new wall art featuring all of our latest and greatest photos, which can easily be switched out with the seasons.

Pretty Paper Flower Wreath Tutorial

Tools:

Cricut: Plantin Schoolbook Cartridge - Flowers cut in two sizes, one at 2in and one at 3/4in - both shadowed to make the inner hole small

(if you don't have a cricut flower shaped paper punches would work excellently too.)

Supplies:

12” wreath form.

3 sheets of 12x12 scrapbook paper for the larger flowers

3/4 sheet of 12x12 scrapbook paper for the small flowers

1 pack of 100 color tipped straight pins. With our size of wreath, the 1-1/2” long pins worked wonderfully.

Instructions:

1. Cut out all the flowers and peel them off of your Cricut mat. Lightly fold the petals of the larger flowers upward to make them three dimentional

2. Layer one of the larger flowers with one of the smaller flowers on top, centered.

3. Hold the layered flowers against your styrofoam wreath form and using a stick pin, push through the center of the flowers until the pin is all the way in.

4. Continue around the wreath, making sure to offset the flowers slightly.  It will help fill the gaps and give you a more attractive and random design.  Remember, you don’t need to fill in the back, assuming it will be hanging against a door or wall.  If you decide to fill the back, you will need far more flowers/pins.

5. Pin a looped ribbon to the back in you want to hang your wreath on your wall or from your door, but remember that this is a paper wreath and if you are hanging it outside to keep it protected from the elements.

Quilt #2

For years and years my mantra is "I can't sew." And by can't I meant that if it involved more than a straight line or *gasp* a square, then that leaves this chickadee right here out. 

Need help with jewelry making? No problem. 
Need help designing a blog layout? I'm your girl. 
Need a hand learning how to Coptic stitch?  Let's go.
Need something sewn for you? Sorry.  No can do.

Or at least that's what I told myself for too many years to count.  And then, after a huge undertaking, this project of epic proportions happened.  Followed by this one.  It took a little time and a whole lot of patience, but as it turned out I can sew, and I'm not half bad at it either.

I've been wanted to make another quilt almost as soon as I was done with the first one, but balked at the work involved and tucked my idea away into the "to be completed" file in my brain.  Quilting is hard.  I didn't have a rotary cutter or a self healing board for my first one, so it was just a trusty pair of scissors and I trudging along through the many hours of cutting out quilt blocks.  It was a process, not one that I'll ever decide to take on again.  In an effort to get the sweet little pink lap quilt that I wanted to make for myself (because as a mother of 2 rough and tumble boys, sometimes you just need a little pink) I thought that I would cheat the hard work of quilting by making a rag quilt.  Raw edges, no seam binding ... piece of cake.

Not quite.

Where my last quilt only took me about 2 weeks to finish this one took me about 5 months.  Granted I didn't work on it every day and I actually went weeks at a time without even glancing at it, but that was all because after I got a taste of the work involved in rag quilting I didn't find it fun at all.  I'm an instant gratification kind of gal when it comes to my crafts.  I like to see results quickly.  Quilting is not for people like me.

But I moved along, even if it was at a snails pace.  And eventually my pile of fabric because a beautiful little lap quilt that I intend to use when I'm sitting outside reading this Spring while the boys play.  Purchasing that rotary cutter and self healing mat certainly helped things along.

The end result: 
A very tired and sore hand as a result of snipping a million little bits of fabric.
A billion little strings covering every inch of my floor and filling my washing machine and dryer lint trap.
One beautiful and happy scrappy rag lap quilt which I'll love forever. ♥

Linking up::

SAVE50

For awhile now I've been pretty disenchanted with the whole etsy thing. I don't know why, maybe it's me, but I'm just not as into selling my wares right now. I want to create better items to fill a shop and sell. I want to craft with higher end materials and take my time doing so. I want to have the time to perfect the things that I make before I list them.

And so that's what I'm going to do.

I've had quite a few personal matters come up in the last weeks, which are providing a nice exit for me for awhile when it comes to peddling my wares. My time hasn't been as free as it used to be, and when it comes to etsy, I've been failing miserably. So it's time to bow out for a little while until I have a better grip on things.

Oh Mandie is closing up shop for awhile. And everything in my shop is 50% OFF from now until it's all gone.

Just enter the coupon code SAVE50 at checkout.

Thanks for the ride OhMandie shoppers. I'm sure I'll see you soon!

New Things

This weekend and the following Monday was a long one for me. The days were filled with a heaviness that I can't write about right now, if ever. But despite the cloud that has been covering me lately, a little sunshine has managed to shine it's way through. Life is funny like that. If you look hard enough, even on those grey days of your being, there is always good to be found.

The other day I had been sitting of my craft room floor for about an hour, cutting fabric for the new living room curtains that I'm making (and maybe playing a little with the new rotary cutter and self healing mat I bought). After I had successfully sliced up 3 yards of the prettiest fabric ever (I get a little teary eyed cutting into a brand new yard of fabric) I got up to go to my trusty old sewing machine and found that it wasn't there. However, there in it's place sat, still brand new in the box, a brand new sewing machine.

Yeah, that husband of mine is pretty amazing with his sneaky Valentine's Day presents!

And despite the fog that this weekend and Monday has brought, I still managed to sew my new (and incredibly amazing, if I don't say so myself) living room curtains.

Fabrics Used - all from Lily Bella Fabrics

• Amy Butler - Full Moon Polka Dot in Lime
• Joel Dewberry - Herringbone in Pond
• Joel Dewberry - Nap Sack in Sunglow
  
  The bottoms of the curtains were two tan colored flat sheets that I picked up from Wal-Mart. A tip my mother in law taught me, when you need a big piece of a plain color, use a flat sheet rather than buy fabric by yard. It's so much cheaper!

The Ruffled Scarf

Christmas is a tight time of the year for me. I have a bunch of people that I want to give to, and a limited amount of money with which to do it in. Thankfully, the majority of the people in my life appriciate the art of handmade gifts. More so in fact than store bought ones as it turns out.

The greatest thing about being a blog reader has got to be the treasure trove of amazing crafty tutorials out there. And this is the time of the year to use them people!!

A few people on my Christmas list this year are going to be recieving a pretty ruffled scarf just like this one. It's simple to make, and super pretty to wear.


Basic instructions are found right here from Made.

Oh yes, I love this scarf! I'll be making a few to hand out for the holidays ... and perhaps a few more to keep for myself.


Linking up::

I Can't Sew

I can't sew. For the longest time that was my mantra whenever someone asked me if I could sew something for them (because you know, when someone knows that you're crafty they assume you can do it all). I have a sewing machine, an old vintage sort of thing from sometime in the 70's, which all I've ever managed to make with it being a very simple pair of curtains and a throw pillow or two. And that is because I can't sew.

When I made my list of 27 Before 27, learn how to quilt was number 24. For about as long as I can remember I've always been envious of people whom have the ability to produce these beautiful quilts. But because I always went into thinking that I can't sew, being envious is about as far as I ever actually got.

As it turns out, when I actually tried to quilt I found out that I could do it. I can sew! My quilt may be a little misshapen and wonky with it's crooked quilted lines and bunched up seam binding, but I don't think I've ever been more proud of something I've made.

Make It: Cupcake Liner Wreath

I've seen these cute little cupcake liner wreaths around the blogosphere for awhile now and have really wanted to try and make my own. The problem is that they looked time consuming and tedious, two things which I'm not very good with. But I thought with a little creative genius I could simplify the process just a bit and make the creating go a little faster.

I didn't take any pictures of myself actually makinging this wreath, but it's so simple that pictures aren't really necessary, to be honest.

1. Grab yourself a styrofoam wreath (you can get them cheap at the Dollar Store) and tightly wrap it completely around in ribbon matching your cupcake liners.

2. Grab a liner and bunch the bottom of it up, folding the sides together similar to a flower. Here's where the time saver comes into play. Everywhere I looked said to hot glue the liners individually to the wreath form. While I'm sure that method would work just fine, I used straight pins to attach them all. It takes a fraction of the time that you would use to glue them on and there is no mess involved, because come on, we all hate those stinking glue strings that end up everywhere. Just make sure that your pins are shorter than the thickness of the wreath form, or else you'll have a sharp piercing backside to your pretty wreath.

3. Work in sections while attaching your liners to the wreath form, doing about 20 liners per section and then filling in the bald areas in between.

4. To make the white flower use plain white cupcake liners, folded flat and places side by side in a circle, forming the shape of a flower. Use those straight pins to make a pretty center.


It's a simple little thing, but it makes me happy and looks pretty fabulous hanging up for all the world to see. Oh and once you tell people what it's actually made out of, they'll oooh and aaaah that much more.

Bouquets for Jaclyn

In just 10 days I'll be loading up the Jeep and heading down to Chingoteague, Virginia. My amazing and dear friend, Jaclyn, is getting married and I'm lucky enough to not only be able to celebrate with her, but to also be a bridesmaid. She and her fiance, Tom, are getting married on the beach, an absolutely beautiful beach where wild horses run in fact. (In case you were wondering, she's getting married on the same island where my family and I went on vacation this year, just about an hour south.) It's going to be amazing, full of friends and love and good times.

Awhile ago, Jackie asked me to make a few handmade bouquets for the the bridesmaids and an additional toss bouquet, so that the girls were able to take their bouquets home as a keepsake from the wedding. Now I have to say to those of you who make these pretty flowers regularly for weddings or for your etsy shops, kudos to you! They are a complete pain in the rump to do in large quantities!! Despite that though, I think that the final products turned out beautifully and I'm excited to be able to stand by my friend and contribute to her special day.


I'm linking up!