GreenCrafting Kind of Weekend

I'm busy greencrafting this weekend getting ready to submit some artwork to the next issue of GreenCraft. In the spirit of things I thought I would do a small post of a few of my favorite projects. Inspired by GreenCraft magazine I regularly create a green project for the Studio for Stampington & Company. I few of my favorites that i have done are probably the easiest. Happy GreenCrafting!

Tin Can Charm

Reuse something as simple as a tin can and turn it into something pretty (and useful).

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Don’t Fly Away

Primitive Bird Cages

Transform wire hangers into miniature decorative bird cages!

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Green Gift Wrap

Use old calendar pages to creatively wrap gifts!

Cover Girl x 2

I was really excited when I made the cover of the Summer 2010 issue of Take Ten. So when I made the Winter 2011 cover of Take Ten I was seriously excited, and simply felt so fortunate to make two Somerset magazine covers within such a short period of time. When the summer cover hit the newsstands I must of been going through a crazy busy patch because I never got to the bookstore or craft store to see it on the shelf :( which I really regret. But when the Winter 2011 issue hit the newsstands you better believe I was at Joannes and there it was on the shelf taking up not one but TWO spaces. YES! Unfortunately I was shopping solo so I didn't have someone to take my picture with the magazine but I was able to snap a quick picture with my phone. I could of asked a total stranger but I get embarrassed way too easily and would of felt all kinds of awkward... Anyhow, I'm just excited to be the cover girl of Take Ten not once, but twice!!!

A Handmade Girly Gift

We celebrated my nieces 2nd birthday yesterday and since I have been on a "handmade gift" roll recently I decided to alter this plain white t-shirt for my niece. Currently I'm crazy for gingham so I decided to do a few fabric flower yoyos in red gingham. I'm so mad for it that gingham will be the pattern of choice at my daughter 5th birthday party that is approaching... So I simply created three yoyos and machine sewed them onto the shirt, then with some thin strips of brown fabric I sewed the stems on. Finally I hand stitched a button onto the center of each flower. Just be careful using buttons if you are creating wearables for a small child (choking hazard) so if the child still a peanut then leave out the buttons. If you want to learn how to create the fabric yoyos then watch my demo in this free how-to video.

Artful Anthology Etsy Shop

A few years back I opened an Etsy shop but never really got into selling seriously. I decided that with the New Year i would make it a resolution to start selling in my shop and add some fun handcrafted projects (primarily accessories). I'm just going to dabble in it and the goal is more or less to have some fun and create projects that inspire me. I've been making a habit or giving handmade gifts recently and have had a number of people to me that I really need to open an Etsy shop so I decided to just go with it. To start out I have added a few different items including rosette brooches, hair clips and some ephemera packs. Stop by my Etsy shop and take a look (shop if you like) and enjoy!

One of my favorite items (lots of additional designs coming soon) are my yoyo hair accessories:

And my other favorite thing to create these days is fabric rosettes!

2011 Resoultion #1

With the new year here i have been thinking today about my resolutions for 2011. As i was hanging up my new 2011 Papaya Art calendar this morning I was thinking about the Papaya organizer i had in 2010 and how much I will miss it... In case you never got to see or own of these lovelies i have posted a picture below.

I think the cover of the organizer pretty much says it all, right? Simply follow your bliss. Dream, Vision, Create, Imagine. I also love the cover of the accordion folder inside the organizer. Life In Progress.

While looking back through the organizer and its inspiring pages I realized that the beautiful inner pages cant go to waste, they are just too pretty!

So one of my goals for 2011 will be to green craft these pages into something special. Crafting a greener world will be more of a priority.

So as I'm hanging up new 2011 calendar....
i cant help but get excited about the green crafting potential of my 2011 calendar!

If you are ever in need of a little green craft inspiration pick up a copy of GreenCraft magazine. Another favorite of mine for green inspiration is the Crafting a Green World website.

My Ten Minute Asymmetrical Necklace

I was so excited when i put together this necklace in less than ten minutes!! I'm not exactly a "jewelry artist" so this was the perfect jewelry project as a beginner. The Vintage Groove line by Making Memories makes is so easy! After I create a project the next step is to photograph it, which can sometimes be a real challenge... I decided to prop it on a dress form and grabbed the first shirt i saw in the stash of "clothes props" at work. I feel like it was the perfect choice! This picture actually ended up taking much less time than i thought so I was one happy camper. One of my biggest influences for style comes from my favorite store - Anthropologie. I'm starting to see how that reflects my photography sometimes! Everyone is (usually) their own worst critic and I'm usually pretty hard on myself but for once I couldn't be happier with the end result - project and photo!!

Little Touch & Sew

So i decided to go back to my favorite thrift (the one that's closing in 2 weeks..) to see if there was much left.. Everything is still 50% off, soon to be 75% off so you can imagine my reaction when i came across this mini Singer for $5 which ended up being $2.50 with the 50% off discount. I seriously feel like i hit the jackpot.


Every time i find i deal like this at a flea market or thrift store i almost want to pinch myself. I actually look around to see if anyone else is eyeing the same thing and about to try and snag it from me.

And then i just count my lucky blessings. My thrifting karma.

So this beauty is battery operated. I will be giving it a whirl this weekend to see if it works. But if its doesn't I'm not the least bit bothered. Because for $2.50 even if it doesn't work it will simply just look amazing as a funky piece of home decor.