My Upcycle Life

I have this friend, Wendy that well is a pretty cool young lady.  I won't go into describing her into detail because it would take much to long to do so, but I will tell you Wendy is one of those ladies that could wear a potato sack and look like a million bucks.  Her fashion sense is classy, fun, chic, and it seems to come to her effortlessly.  Wendy has the little ideas and as she said: "I just can't get them out of my head" to make things.  So she has started bringing me things.  Once she brought me a t-shirt and I made her a scarf from it. Another time she brought me a necklace that was broken. I took some pieces off of it and then put it back together for her.  She has brought me little things that I have fashioned into other items but did not photograph.  :(

Wendy's necklace

  Wendy had this dress.  A very cute little dress.  The top half was of t-shirt material and was brown and white striped.  The bottom was a skirt that was made from lace.  I thought about it for a few days...what could I do.  I knew for sure that I wanted some flowers from the lace and I cut out the material that I needed for that. I knew that I wanted to use the ruffled lace waist part of the dress for a ruffle on a card, so I cut that off.  I knew I wanted the lace hem to make a rolled flower and so I made it so.  I still had the bulk of a lace skirt and the brown and white top.

I just started cutting.  That can be very scary but for me, it is usually when I can make it work.  I cut in lace skirt into 3 strips of fabric and sewed those strips end to end.  Then I cut 2 strips from the brown and white top and sewed those unto the lace strip.  Then I folded in half and stitched up the sides.  I now had a very long tube.  There was some part where the lace was pulled or where I had gotten a little too aggressive with the scissors and I just stitched those up as well.

There was just enough left over to make some t-shirt strips that could be fashioned into a bracelet.  I do believe that this up cycle was a success!!!!!  

this used to be the hem of her skirt

The infinity scarf

The sleeves of Wendy's t shirt

You can see that there is an additional project here.  This headband was the sleeve of Wendy's first t shirt that I had made into a scarf.  I cut a strip from each sleeve and reenforced the seam.  This makes a wonderful knit headband!  I just embellished it with handmade flowers and handmade leaves...even included a bit of wire for fun!  And BAM!  I have a little headband for Wendy's daughter.  

 I am certainly glad that I have a friend that likes to get rid of her JUNK! :)

My first Big Kick projects are spring cards

I got a Big Kick for my birthday and the first day I got it I just HAD to try it out.  I pulled a random piece of cardstock from my paper rack and it was carnation pink.  I cut and embossed using every folder that I had...this entire 12x12 sheet of paper.

Today I sat down to do my weekly Mojo Monday challenge and I wanted to use those nice embossed things that I had made.  I will start with this weeks sketch then my creation.

The first two cards feature a Tim Holtz embossing folder and of course Tim Holtz Distress Ink.  The frame is a Sizzix die (another new one) and the You are my Sunshine is by Fancy Pants.   Everything else is from my scrapbin.

The bottom two cards....the pinked edge background is a cuttlebug.  The music note stamp and the script stamp are by Close to My Heart (my birthday stamp set).  All other papers are from my scrapbin.  The love was purchased at JoAnn's.  The "you are the music in me" font is Amienne.

Mother's Day for my favorite MOM!

Today's challenge is brought to you by Crazy 4 Challenges.  http://crazy4challenges.blogspot.com/  I have been checking out their website for well over a year.  They do things that inspire me to think...and when I think I can create.  This time they provided a photograph.....The colors SCREAM my mother!  The organic quality of the balls SCREAM my mother.  And I was all ready needing to do something special for my mother.  I had wanted to make her a canvas....I just didn't know where I needed to go...UNTIL I saw this photograph!!!!  

I stuck with a similar color scheme and used some of the round elements and even some of the earthy qualities....after that I tried to be VERY VERY unique.  

May 8th marked my mother's 40th year of being a mom.  I used a 31 and a 9 to display the 40.  I found a quote that is sort of unique like my mom. I used some steampunk elements because my mom is kind of like a steampunk lady. A little old fashioned wrapped up in modern devices.  That is her!

She is a pretty incredible mom and I am blessed to have her.  I was one lucky baby!  One lucky bald, fat baby.

Here I am 40 years later and never shall I be able to repay her for what she has done for me.  I hope she knows I tried to show her how appreciative I am with this canvas.

I love you MOM!!!!

May they live happily ever after

I have made the two canvases for two fine young woman that I work with.  These ladies are something I would have loved to have been at their age (or even mine)...confident, strong, and gifted.  They each have qualities that are unique to one another and then they have their similarities.

What first made me notice them was that they were Ag teachers.  When I was in school I don't remember a lady teacher (of course that was a hundred years ago).  Then I listened to them.  Kirby gets giddy when she talks about her ducks and the greenhouse.  Brittany puffs up like a cute little mama hen when she talks about how well her students perform in competitions and then there are the horses.  I am not a horse person, but I love that she is.  Their hearts are beautiful and to top it off the outsides of them are too...

I wish them both the best of luck in this new endeavor and pray that Evan and Tyler know exactly how lucky they both are.


  The girls were having a joint shower and I decided it would be best if I made them a canvas.  I love canvas art because you can put a whole life right there

I wanted to make something for the girls that made me think of them.  Something that had some of them, some of their wedding,but also some of how I felt about them too.


 Kirby O'Donoghue gift.  Kirby is a little bit earthy, a little bit farmer, a little bit green inside a package wrapped in lace.  I wanted her canvas to have a frilly romantic feel.  I thought flowers, hearts, jewelry and lace would be display that.  Kirby seems to me like she wants to know about the past and embrace family customs.  I have used old tags covered in new items because they are like Kirby.  The birdhouse was the closest thing I could find to Kirby's beloved greenhouse. 

 .Brittany seems like she can be a firecracker, but can be feminine even while hoeing a garden or riding a horse.  I have heard Brittany giggle about her groom Evan and her wedding plans and with her I wanted to have a few wedding couples.  I found 2 that displayed the yesteryear look and yet that love that I can hear in Brittany's voice when she talks of Evan.  I had to put a bronco stamp on there because of Brittany's horses and the flowers go back to her Ag roots.  The stars represent her being such a superstar and the stones are a throwback (again) to her being outdoorsy but very girlie.    I loved that on this one the B (Brittany) and E (Evan) can also spell out a wish ....BE Happy! 

These canvases are being shared on Unruly PaperArts...cause those girls rock too!  And cause I love what they do!


check them out...

http://unrulypaperarts.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2012-05-07T07:00:00-04:00&max-results=3

Love and Marriage

A couple of the girls at work at getting married.  They are taking two lives and merging them into one.  A path I went down almost 19 years ago, and I love him more today than 1993.  I hope these girls are as blessed in their marriage.  As lucky in their life partner.

One of the best Bible verses goes with my thoughts on marriage:   1 Corinthians 13:4-7

 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

  I made one of these cards for one of them and the other for sale.  Every single item on both cards is from the scrapbin.  A bin that seems to be bottomless!!!  

The Wedding and Have Fun rub ons came in some offer to join a club through the mail.

The inks are ALL distress inks

The pleats and rosette were made with the Martha Stewart scoring board

The crown is from K&Co

The boarder punch is Fiskars!

 The flower is Prima

The buttons are Making Memories

The color scheme is by CR84FN

and

The design is by Mojo Monday

A simple thought and a simple design

Today is just a simple thought....We were at a ball game today getting killed.  The boys were looking kind of rough.  The heat was intense (and it is only May).  The score was very one sided....but my son was still smiling to his friends.  Still giving hi fives, still displaying a good attitude.  I am very blessed in this little boy...very very blessed.  I need to work on that kind of attitude, when things look hopeless I need to find the good.  It's there, I just need to find it. 

This is my first time doing the retro sketch.  When I found it I knew this was a site for me!  Here's my first entry:

I used a Ditto stamp by Hampton Arts for the background.  The ink used it Ranger Archival.  On top of that is a scrap piece of teal and another of pink.  It is a simple design but I think it has a big impact.  

I opted NOT to use the bow because I intend to mail this.  It would not be very post office friendly with a giant bow on the front.  However, it would have looked FANTASTIC!!!

Because I used the color combo for CR84FN I am also sharing it with my buddies there.

If you are a big scrapbooker, or even just beginning I encourage you to check out either of these sites.  Get you a jump start on ideas and have some fun while you are at it.  

Adelle Baby Stool

I have had this stool done for a couple of weeks, but I could not post about it until I have gifted it.  I was trying to make a unique baby gift but could not think of anything.  One Saturday in March my mom and I went to JoAnn's in Nashville and my mission was to find something unique and FUN to make.  I looked at bags, albums, wall hangings...none of that really fit the bill.  I went down the wood aisle because I was looking for an easel and there it was a naked little stool just waiting to be purchased.  

I had already talked to the mom and found out that the colors were in the pastel family so this was going to be easy I was going to make an "old" step stool that Adelle could use as she grows up.

I started with the stool naked. It needed a little sanding so I took care of that first.  Then came on the paint.  I used all Apple Barrel paints today. In minty green, yellow, carnation pink, baby blue, and white. After I painted it I used (what else?) Tim Holtz distress inks, giving it an aged look.  All the collage materials are things I have been finding and collecting...from books, yard sales, the trash bin at McKay's and stuff around my house.

On this stool, I thought I should make the college flat.  This way Adelle could use it.  Hopefully, she will use it for many many years.