Scrapbook Paper Wall Art - Vol. 2 and 3

I know I've been MIA for a little (make that a long) while. But I do have progress to show for it!!!

Previously I posted my teal flower-themed wall art I made. It was really simple to make, but because of life and distractions, my other canvases stayed on my table for months. Tragic really. However, after a weekend of ice left me trapped in my apartment this weekend (which in North Carolina means a half inch of sleet), I was able to finish the full set.

I love them! And they add such a nice splash of color to my poor, empty walls. I decided teal, pink, and purple would go well together, and they flowed together well since the patterns match in each color selection. 

My original.

Flower: Part 2

Flower Art 3: Revenge of the Flowers

And the final look at my cluttered dining room...

More projects to come! 

Nativity Silhouette Experiment

Experiment time!

Back in high school, I used to do dot art. Think Seurat's pointillism, but with ink pens. One of my really good friends and I just went back through my high school art collection and my old pieces inspired me to try another version of the art and transfer the dots into calligraphy (of sorts). I also saw something similar at the Craftsman's Classic craft show Thanksgiving weekend and couldn't wait to try.

First I took some versions of nativity silhouettes from the internet (thanks Google search!) and modeled my own quick sketch after them. Then I penciled in the Christmas story from the book of Luke. I'll admit I was totally inspired by Linus's recitation from A Charlie Brown Christmas. I retraced my pencil words with pen, erased the pencil marks, and was left with my finished product:

Here's a closer view...

I followed the manger around, did a few words around the star, and then did the story from Joseph to Jesus to Mary, ending with the words proclaimed by the angel as the ground.

And for all fellow translation nerds, the words came from my New Revised Standard Version: Catholic Edition bible. 

I won't say it's my favorite piece I've ever completed, by the message behind definitely ranks number one in my book.

Any nativity crafts to share? Let me know in the comments!

Celtic Band Sampler

One would assume that a sampler project would probably be the first a budding needle artist would attempt. That would make sense. However, I never seem to do anything the way I'm suppose to in the crafty world, so I've started my first sampler now.

The beautiful pattern was made by Homespun Sampler and I love it. I did take some artistic license with the colors and changed the various olive tones to more golden hues left over from my Hogwarts Crest. It was a choice that helped me save money (granted, about $0.65)...and I'm just not really big on olive. The colors seemed to mesh well with the other original choices, so I'm happy with my decision so far.

This part would have been a lot easier had I not jumped in and overlooked the instructions to stitch "2x2." For those of you who (like me) prefer to ignore any directions you don't understand, stitching 2x2 means to use two threads of floss (which I did) over two threads of fabric (which I did not do). Which meant my first attempt was half the size it should have been...Oops. Thank you, internet, for helping me figure out my mistake.

 
Also, an interesting face about old, or old-styled, samplers. They often do not include "J" or "U" because those letters weren't really used in English yet. I didn't realize this when I bought the pattern and the OCD part of me really wanted all the letters to be included. After a little finagling, I was able to scoot the "I" onto the first line, turn the original "I" into my "J," and shoved a "U" into the third line of letters. Yay!

 
This has been my first venture into any stitches other than the basic cross stitch. I'm in love with the more detailed areas. I will admit I completely failed on the French knots that are supposed to be in the "strawberries" in diamond one above. I just turned them into cross stitches instead.

 

 
Much clearer pictures. I apologize for the blurriness of my camera/relative inexperience.

 
More detail work. I'm loving the darker burgandy color in this section.

And here is where I currently sit. I need to keep working on it, but I've gotten distracted with more Christmas crafting.

What are your long-term projects? Starting anything new this holiday season?

The First Noel (I Made Myself)

I. Love. Christmas!

I know we aren't quite to Thanksgiving yet...but I couldn't wait to get started on more Christmas decorations for my apartment this year.

Yarn crafts + Christmas = magic...so obviously I had to do yarn covered letters. I picked out some sparkly red, green, and white yarn and tag board letters spelling "NOEL."

For the "N" (the hardest letter for me), I tried using small pieces of yarn on the tops and bottoms of the letter to cover the edges. It was a lot more work than the second method I discovered after a little extra hunting online. On the "E" and "L" I wrapped each entire letter up vertically and then went back over each letter horizontally again. (The "O" was as simple as going around and around and around through the middle.)

I used Tacky Glue to secure the end, but I would suggest hot glue or something else that might adhere to yarn more quickly. After holding the ends in place for 10-15 minutes, my glue worked out all right though.

I don't have a tree skirt (and I'll admit my tag board isn't wide enough to stand up by itself the way more boxy cardboard letters would), so I laid them out around my little 3' tree as a psudo-skirt.

And in all it's beautiful majesty...

Who else is excited for Christmas already?

Websites I Love

(Note: I was trying to make this a new page for the blog, but it wasn't showing up on my current layout. I guess it's another one of those things IDK how to do and I'll need some time before I can DIM(yself). Still wanted to share though!)

I get my inspiration from all over the internet, but there are certain sites I can't help but revisit...nearly on a daily basis. Here's just a small sample of my must-sees:

Crafts Galore

Pinterest. Obviously. Everybody I know has become obsessed with this site, and for good reason. You can find anything and everything on Pinterest. I have gotten a lot of my ideas, recipes, and tutorials from the links they provide.


Craftgawker. Very cool website with a Pinterest-y flair, but stays completely and totally focused on crafting. You don't have to wade through the weight loss plans and random cat pictures (not that I don't love a good lolcat) to get to the real projects of interest. I don't like the web interface as much as with some other sites; however it does give a great number of ideas per page, so you don't have to spend so much time scrolling through pages.

Home Organization/Decor

IHeart Organizing. So...I'm kind of obsessed with organization. Whether or not I accomplish it, I always have these grand ideas for how to make my home and work spaces run more efficiently (and look great while they do it). I Heart Organizing always shows me envy-worthy spaces that make me look forward to my own dream home. 

School Counseling

Elementary School Counseling - Marissa's Blog. As much as I love crafting, I am an elementary school counselor at heart. And Marissa Rex is the counselor I want to be when I grow up. She is also single-handed the reason I want my own personalized muppet for classroom guidance.

I (Heart) School Counseling. Run by a personal friend of mine, this blog is just simply awesome. She touches on all aspects of counseling at her school (and makes some pretty cool stuff at Vistaprint). 

Just for Fun

GeekCrafts. I'm just a geek. I love anything fantasy, sci-fi, or a little crazy. Therefore, I *love* this website. I mean, who doesn't want to knit or crochet their own arm of adorable Daleks?

A Riot Patch of Pixels. I am simply in awe of her cross stitching skills. It makes me want to go play Zelda or Pokemon while stitching. Not sure that's possible, but I want to do it anyway.