Speaking of Apronpalooza...

I was fiddling around with Flickr yesterday, and I came across a link to another etsy shop that I absolutely love! Now, I'm pretty ADD when it comes to crafting, but the one thing I'm not-so-good at is sewing. I mean, I can sew a straight stitch, but when it comes time for the patience to really jump in and learn--hasn't happened yet. So of course, I'm always impressed when I see good sewing. All that to say that I found an awesome shop with gorgeous aprons yesterday!

Joyful Abode

You can check out Joyful Abode and drool over the aprons right along with me. And I'll let you kow if I ever sew something worth selling. Ha!

Some Good Stuff

Apronpalooza

Check out this fun contest on Nan's blog to win one of many cute aprons this week. I have never seen so many great aprons in all my life!

Also, I have been trying not to spend more money on Etsy than I make. You know it's kind of like it would be if I worked at a scrap store or someplace like that--I would probably spend my paycheck and then some. However, I did break down and buy some soap from Bathlife yesterday. It just looked and sounded so yummy. I'll try to give a review once I get it in my hands.

I'm in the middle of working on several custom bracelets for an order(which I'm always glad to do). I got the rest of the supplies to finish them today, so I hope to have pics of those very soon!

And...I've been trying to figure out Flickr this week. I'm not so savvy with it yet, but I hope to be posting photos of all sorts of things there. Do you have any great groups that I should check out?

And finally, I'll leave you with a pic of a notecard set I created just because it makes me happy!

A little more playing around

I've been trying to get some more items ready for my etsy shop. I have so many ideas rolling around, but I don't have enough time to make them all happen just yet. Here are some of my latest things I've been working on.







I think I've scored all I can score from the fabric store that is closing. They are pretty much wiped out. I did pick up some cheap ribbon and felt today, though--and some more felting needles.

Also, I wanted to remind everyone that scrapsupply.com is having a birthday party tommorrow afternoon. This is an awesome scrap site, and part of the party will be an exclusive cupon code. Wendy always plans the greatest bashes with Bingo and challenges and all sorts of fun stuff! You can find more info on their site.

Finally...some BoH jewelry

I did some working and reworking on the pendant cluster for the necklace, but I think I really like how it turned out. Of course, these are my favorite materials anyway--turquoise with black and sterling silver.

The idea in these is to create the piece in sterling silver as the rest of my jewelry is, but to have the little bee charm in gold to make it stand out. Of course, a silver version would be available upon request. Turquoise and the bee are signatures for Breath of Hope which is a nonprofit support organization for families facing battles associated with CDH (Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia).

I decided to take a pic of the bracelet on this time because I don't think the pics of them just lying there do them justice.

I'd love any feedback on these pieces. As you can see, they follow my usual style, but I know there may be some out there who would like something a bit more traditional. I haven't made it that far in the designing process yet. Any suggestions are certainly welcomed!!

I'm a little sad...

...that a local fabric store is going out of business, although I'm not sad that I've been able to get some great deals. I scooped up all these cute buttons for a great price! That makes me happy. It's been bad, though, because I keep going back for a little here and a little there--some flannel, corduroy, fleece, tulle, fat quarters, embroidery floss. It starts to add up after a while. One of the last times I was in, the check out lady couldn't believe all the stuff I was getting for the price it came up. My stash, however, is beginning to overflow the closet again. That's not good!

I'm sad because I haven't really gotten into buying fabric online yet. It just seems so difficult because you don't get to touch it. Do any of you know of any good sites? Do you know of any that offer swatches or samples?

Be on the lookout...

...for new stuff in my shop. I am finally getting around to photographing some things I've had and finishing up some others. I'm not going to post them all at once to try to get a bit more exposure, so I thought I'd share some of the new things here.







There are a couple of cute felt flowers. At least I think they are cute. My sister thinks they are elementary school. They come with a pin on the back so they can be worn on your lapel, on a bag, or anywhere you'd like to pin them!















I also have some new earrings. One pair is olivine Swarovski crystals and glass beads and the other pair is capri blue Swarovski crystals and turquoise beads. They also hang from posts.




















I have a necklace that was created using a patterned paper and dimensional glaze. I like the little beads along with the pattern.







And, of course, I'll have to add some tiny notecards. These come with white coin envelopes to tuck them inside and are just a little larger than a business card.

Just a few...

...of the pages I was able to get done last weekend... I thought I'd share so you all would know that I am still into the whole scrapping thing. If you could see my closet that I had to completely reorganize (again) because it was spewing stuff, you would know I'm still at least buying scrappy stuff! I think I'm getting comfortable in the whole scrapping just because it's fun and I want to do it and there's no pressure to create a magazine worthy page groove. A list of challenges helps, too. When I have too much time to think about things, I tend to make it waaaay too hard.

So this is where I am, and this is comfortable. I might be a bit more comfortable if I had a scanner so my pics of my pages looked better, but I'm working on that.

So...

...practice, practice, practice. Really the only way for me to learn my way around an unfamiliar program is to jump in and use it. So that's what I've been doing. With digital scrapbooking, it's often the little things that make a difference--like drop shadows. It has been fun learning shortcuts for some things, and also taking things from to tutorials and finally being able to apply them to other things.

I don't think I will ever really get into digi scrapping for real. I'm so slack when it comes to printing things and stuff, and I like having books to flip through. Nevermind the fact that my printer stinks... BUT the same techniques are so useful for other things. I definitely like the possibility of using digital elements on paper layouts by printing them--whether that be sizing a journaling tag or label just for a particular layout or creating a grid of pics before printing them. There are also so many possibilities for creating photo cards and storyboards. I think I'm finally getting over my PSE fear.

BTW everything in this layout except the staples (designer digitals) and the title is from the Echoes of Asia kit by Jessica Sprague. I did also pick up her computer tricks book, and it's great. If you're just getting started in PSE, then this is a great place to begin learning specific things you can use for scrapbooking. It covers photo enhancement, titles, embellishments, and then even some mini album stuff.

AND... I have a newly reorganized scrap storage system. It's not perfected by any means, but everything fit into the closet , and things are pretty much where I can get to them easily. That's a major problem I was having. So... now it will be waiting for me --hopefully along with a box of Scrapsupply goodies--when I get back from my short happy birthday escape, and it will all be just in time for some National Scrapbook Day fun this weekend! What do you have planned?

I'm learning...

When I first got PSE, I sat down to do a few things, and I almost instantly realized that ever doing what I want to do with that program would take work. I'm not used to that. I'm used to being able to feel my way around new programs, but his one seemed like it was from another planet. The basic photo editing (at least to my standards) wasn't so bad--especially if the photos are in RAW, but I won't tell you how long it took me to learn how to just draw a rectangle outline. I have made a bit of progress, and I have to say I owe it all to one oh so talented person. If you haven't checked out Jessica Sprague's blog yet, and you're remotely interested in learning how to use Photoshop, you should. I'm not really interested so much in doing fully digital layouts, but I do like to play around with other things. Her tutorials have helped a ton--even in teaching me how to draw a rectangle.

Here's just a photo I played around with from one of her exercises.



I like actually being able to do stuff. I have heard great things about Jessica's new book about PS, but I haven't had the chance to see it yet. I'm thinking I must get this one. If any of you are in the area, she's actually going to be at Carolina Memories next Saturday, and she's supposed to have a make and take. I don't think I'll be able to make it in time, but I might have to stop in for some shopping! Every now and then i just need to see and touch the goodies...

Finally!

I promised some people I would update when I got the pregnancy and infant loss awareness stuff together. Well, it finally happened. So far I have a bracelet and a necklace.







The bracelets will be $25, and the necklaces will be $30. Anyone interested can see more details and actually order them here. I can also do custom bracelets with Swarovski crystals in birth month colors and a butterfly charm and necklaces with birth month colors and a butterfly charm or a cute silver bead that says angel. I'm even working on a Breath of Hope version with black and crystal Swarovskis and a little gold bee charm. Definitely let me know if you're interested in any of these. Drop me an email at cawebster79@yahoo.com.







Yep--that's right. If you actually click the link I gave you above for the bracelets and necklaces, you will see that I finally jumped in over at etsy. I officially changed the name to Handcrafted by Crystal, and you can find it at www.crystalnale.etsy.com. Yay!! It will be a good little outlet for all the ideas I have rolling around in my head.

Speaking of which...I have another project to share. This one is a felted messenger style bag. This one took a while and a lot of yarn since it had to be so huge in order to shrink it down. I made up the pattern as I went along, and I really like how it turned out. I also broke out the felting needles that had been in my bag for months and worked out the design on the flap. I literally broke 2 needles in the process and decided I'd probably be better off investing in a felting tool with several needles on it. It was a good use for some little pieces of that black yarn I had left over.



I think my husband is hoping I will get all this stuff I've been working on out of my system soon. What can I say? I had been saving it up for so long. Now my problem is that I seriously need to reorganize my space, but I already whined about that--didn't I?

We're going on vacation next week, and I'm looking forward to it. I'm also looking forward to starting fresh with some new scheduling and structure. We've been just floating through for long enough, I think.

Don't look at my desk.

Oh boy can I make a mess. I've had all sorts of things going, and I my organization has given out. There just isn't a good place to put everything where I can still get to it. I've organized and reorganized, but now I really need to come up with a system that will work. I have too many different things going on.

Here are a few things I've been playing around with.

These are some cute little birdies and a lone Easter egg. The plan was to have the eggs up on etsy for Easter, but I obviously didn't make it in time. This one already has a home. I do hope to start loading the shop soon, though. These are all backed with pins so they can be worn or used to embellish a bag or something. They are stitched and mounted on chipboard.

These flowers are fun, too. They are made with pins on the back as well.

These earrings were made to match the necklace below. They are sterling silver with 8mm aquamarine Swarovski round beads--simple yet oh so pretty.

I love this necklace. It's made with different sized Swarovski bicones and round beads in aquamarine, crystal arora borealis, and capri blue as well as a single turquoise oval bead. All these are hand wrapped onto a 9mm sterling silver soldered jumpring.

Can you tell I've been having fun? Now you see why I have such a mess. I have beads & findings, felt & embroidery floss, paper & ribbon left over from cardmaking, chipboard and lots of tools all piled around on one little table. It's crazy. I won't be posting a pic of that!

For Me

I've had all sorts of stuff rolling around in my head since I am so ADD when it comes to crafts. The fact that I've been trying to settle on what sorts of thing I want to try out at the farmer's market definitely adds to that, too. In all the craziness, I often think so much and then accomplish nothing. I made myself sit down this weekend an work on some ideas I had for stuff for me--stuff I can wear.

I'm so weird about colors and matching and all (but I'm trying to get over it some), so I ended up making these earrings with the Czech rhinestone thingies, and some black glass beads. These are similar to the ones I made for my sister-in-law for Christmas except hers were all rhinestones, and bigger silver beads.




This is really a charm bracelet to which I added swarovski and silver bead wraps. I am loving this whole wrapping thing. It makes for some interesting combinations. I think I am going to offer this bracelet at the market only it will be made from a different base chain and will just have the awareness ribbon charm. They can be made with all different colors that represent different things, but the pink and blue is for pregnancy and infant loss awareness. The idea is to create a base piece, and then people can add charms for lost pregnancies or babies. I haven't quite found any charms that I love for those purposes yet. I'll probably offer other colors for special order. I'm just hoping I can work out the pricing to a reasonable level, but I'm so bad at knowing what's reasonable.




I'm getting frustrated, too because it's so hard to photograph jewelry in a way that really shows it off--especially with limited lighting. Ggrrrr.

This is what you get...

...when you're scrappy energy has been spent making 25-30 thank you notes and then you forget to take a photo before they are all in the envelopes. They mostly came out of my scrap box and used those cute little acrylic stamps from Michael's. Those things are just right for card-making. Anyway, I think all of the cards were pretty much different except for a few pairs here and there. I'll have to remember to take a pic of the next ones. I'm sure there will be more.







I'm pretty much trying to get back in the groove of things without putting too much pressure on myself. Perspective is so much. Some things that people get so stressed about just aren't that important in the scheme of things. I'm enjoying having a pretty free schedule again, although, I do need to get on the ball a bit more as far as actual schedule goes. I'm still trying to decide if I want to try to have a table at the Farmer's Market when it opens this year. I just can't seem to get it together and decide what I would be able to sell that wouldn't be insane to keep up an inventory and that would actually sell. I really need to get that going if I plan to do it. So I guess I'll be brainstorming in the near future. I do have a few ideas.

Ordinary

That's how I feel about my scrapping now. When it comes to calls and submissions, I know that editors and DT coordinators are looking for outstanding and innovative work. These things do not describe my stuff. I accept that.

So, now I'll just keep on going with what feels good to me and have some fun in the process. After everything we've faced in the last several months, I realize I don't want to spend my time trying to please someone who might pay me a few bucks for my work. I want to focus on fun and enjoying my family and getting out and living life. Who cares if no one ever requests any of my layouts. If they preserve the moments of our lives, then I have succeeded.

All that said...I thought I'd share another page. They are few and far between right now, but I'm getting back in the swing of things. Also I think I mentioned the whole non-cooperating scanner thing, so I'll have to do my best to photograph the layouts for now. It's never the same, but it works.

Some stuff to share...

So I was trying to motivate myself this week to actually do something with all the supplies I've been collecting. I thought I'd share what came out of it all. My scanner still makes lines through everything, and I stink at taking photos of stuff like this, so you'll have to imagine their are nice and clear.


I have been thinking some about whether I want to jump back into the whole submitting thing or not. I might have to save some of my thoughts on all of that for a post of their own, but my answer for now is I just don't know. I just don't know if it's worth it at all.

Here is a memo board that was inspired by something I saw in a Pottery Barn Kids catalog. It's funny how I like to put stuff like this together, but then I have no idea what to do with it.

Finally... a little something.

OK. I'm trying to get my mind off of the fact that I'm bummed about missing out on the new Fontwerks goodies in the Free goodie Friday over at Scrap Supply. Someone was really fast and beat me to it. I must have these new papers. I don't care if I can't get anything else from CHA, I am in love with them.

Instead of sulking because they aren't available anywhere yet, I tried to take some pics of one of the items I finished for my Etsy shop. I'm hoping to stock up on items to list and then Crafted by Crystal will be open for business. OK, so the name might be a bit hokey, but it explains it all and identifies me and those are two major goals--especially for possible local business. Now I just have to find a way to get a better setup so I can get some great pics to post.



I knitted and felted this little bag a while before Christmas, and then it just sat there. I finally pulled it out this week, made a liner, and then added the flower (which is on a pin by the way) and the handles. It's measures about 6 inches x 10 inches x 4 inches not counting the handles. I love felted stuff because it's so fun to see the process. It ends up being a lot sturdier, too.

Anyway, I hope to be able to get my store up and running in the near future in spite of all the craziness we'll be diving into. We'll see if it happens. Hey! At least I decided on a name. That's a big step for me.

I've been thinking lately...

...that it might be about time to start looking for a replacement trimmer. I have been using that old grey Fiskars thingie forever, and it can be sooo frustrating. The only thing is that every trimmer out there geared towards scrapbookers has its share of haters as well as lovers--and they are definitely priced for the niche market. So I've had my eyes peeled, and I used the new one my husband got for the office at church which happens to be very nice. It's by Xacto, and after some investigating, I found this nicer version with a laser guide and everything. I might just have to hold out for one of these babies.




This is my first attempt at making a sketch in PSE.



I won't tell you how long it took me to figure out just how to draw a rectangle. This is definitely one program that you can't learn so much by assumption. It's so different in how you have to go about things. I'm slowly learning. Anyway, it was adapted from a sketch I already had in my notebook probably from a magazine ad, and I would like to try it out sometime soon. It's pretty basic, but there's a lot of room for interpretation. I thought I'd share, and if anyone feels inspired, I would love to see what you come up with. There may even be a little RAK in it for you! Wouldn't that be fun?

I think I'm almost there.

...almost ready to get back in the groove. I have some possible plans beginning in the spring that are spurring me on a little, but so much is up in the air as far as the near future. I can't really make concrete plans, so I just have some little goals.

I have a few knitting projects I'd like to get done in the next two weeks while we're waiting for the baby excitement to finally be here. I finished up a blanket that I had been working on forever, and I have to admit I'm frustrated with it. Apparently I got off a decrease probably around the time I added the new skein of yarn. It's not so obvious to some, but it glares back at me. It still needs some major blocking, too. We'll see what it's looking like after that. After I finished this one, I realized that I like the pattern for the one I made Jonathan a few years ago so much better, and it's really not that much harder to work.



Since I have to go to the doctor twice a week now, I sometimes take advantage of that opportunity to run in a few places sans 3-year-old. Our new Sam's club opened recently, and I have been slowly uploading pics one at a time to have printed, so I decided to do a test run this morning. I only sent about 6, but it was so nice to see how they came out. It was nice to be able to just walk in the door where the photo counter is the first thing and pick up my already-paid-for, matte prints--no going in and finding out the machine is down...again.

Some of the pics I sent in were several stitched onto a 4x6, so I'll see how that works out with the scrapping. I often want to use more than one pic, but I don't do well with several 4x6s and I can't really crop the ones I like down any. PSE has made the whole stitching process a lot easier, so I'm trying that route.

And then...I remembered that some cute frames I had seen at Target were marked down last week when I was there, but only like 30%. I decided I'd just run in today, and if they were marked down any more, I'd pick up a few. When I got there, the sign still said 50% off, but apparently they were in the process of marking them 75% off. Those little red tags are evil. I just couldn't resist or control myself. Hence the stack I now have to find a place to store until I decided what I'm going to do with them all. I mean, the most expensive one was a 12x12 shadow box for around $4. I love the freedom of shadow boxes! And who could resist the chalkboard frame. It even has a cute little holder for the chalk.



In addition to all of today's excitement, I have successfully spent all of my gift certificates for scrap stuff, taken advantage of some great deals, and cleaned out my paypal account. Needless to say, I should have tons of new inspiration from all my new goodies. I even rearranged some of my supplies and cleaned out a bit more. Since I actually have a stack of pics that have been printed, I really should be able to crank something out now. I think I'm almost there.

Good Stuff

Most of my impulse buying has been online of late since we don't really have any super great stores near us. Although, I did have to resist some yarn that wanted to come home with me at Michael's last night.

It was nice to be able to catch a glimpse of some things in real life. I hate to ever hear that a scrapbook store is going out of business, but I am still more than willing to help them find a new home for anything that might jump out at me. Not to mention the fact that I had a GC for Archiver's that was begging to be used. Anyway, I was restrained--probably because I got like 4 phone calls while I was shopping. I did walk away with some fun new goodies from the two stores. Now if I had been driving a truck, you can bet I would have come home with a table or two from the LSS crop room. Maybe I can find some inspiration in this pile. I mean I have to get on the ball before all the new goodies start hitting the shelves!

Finally...

I really did a lot of crafty-type stuff before Christmas, but it's funny that I didn't take any pics. I was so intent on getting stuff finished that I never broke out the camera, and now it's all gone. Let's see...I ended up making 1 knitted scarf, 1 pair of earrings, 4 sets with planners, post-it note holders, and pens, another set with a planner and address book, a knitted bootie and hat set, and all sorts of edible goodies. I still have my planner to do, so maybe I can remember to post it.

Probably my favorite online SB store had several different special sales over the last few months which I couldn't resist. I had done pretty well convincing myself I don't need to buy scrap stuff if I haven't scrapped since June. Anyway, I finally sat down and used some of the good stuff I was unable to resist today. This comes only a week after finding my table under the remnants of all the Christmas stuff. Anyway, I'm obviously going to have lots of pics to work with from the last year, and here are the first of those. It's a good thing I'm not hung up on doing things in order or being "caught up."