Shoe Addict Thriving

Binge v. Budget: Canvases

2011-02-23T14:28:00.002-05:00

I went to go buy some canvases for the wall art collages in Ben's mancave. I took Ben with me because I was getting some pretty large canvases and needed his large manly arms to carry them through the store for me. (He did very well at this task except for when we got to the registers and he turned abruptly towards me to ask me a question and hit me in the face with them.) He gasped quite loudly and protested greatly when we walked around the corner and he saw a 16x20" canvas on sale for $50.
I quickly explained that this was the professional grade, heavy duty, gallery wrapped canvas....we were going for the cheap stuff - back stapled, on sale, and about $20 (sale price) for a 24x48" canvas. If you are a professionally trained artist and you are planning on doing high-end works of art worthy of the MoMA then by all means get the professional high quality canvas.

However, if you are like me and just dabble in DIY wall art made on the cheap so you don't feel guilty when you swap it out in six months, then I suggest you get the cheap stuff. Here are some fun article ideas for DIY wall art on canvas.

Getting back into the swing of things

2011-02-21T14:32:00.000-05:00

{Image Credit: Travelpod.com - pops4}

Well, I am back from vacation and trying to get into the swing of things again. Crafting has been the last thing on my mind since I got back on Saturday, and it probably won't be a high priority until the million other things on my to do list are complete.

My first priority and motivation were pretty clear. I started the Holiday season with 3lbs more than my "ideal" weight. After taking the cake decorating class and eating through the Holidays I added about 8lbs to that. By the end of the cruise I just got back from I felt like all of my clothes were too tight. I figured I gained a couple of pounds, but when I jumped on the scale out of curiosity when I got home I gained 6lbs! That is one pound per day on the ship!

This shouldn't have been surprising because there is always food readily available everywhere and anytime you might want it. You start getting into the deplorable habit of eating every 90 minutes. The day starts by room service bringing you breakfast...this you keep somewhat healthy: scrambled eggs, apple juice, wheat toast and jam, and some fresh fruit. Then you venture out into the ship, onto the boardwalk section where the free donut shop is. You adore donuts. They are you favorite food, and they are free. So you have ~~one~~ OK two donuts.

It's 11:30 or so by now so you wait and hour and then go grab lunch from the cafe. You grab a fairly healthy sandwich...and then a cookie. Deciding to stroll about the ship while nibbling your cookie you find yourself on the pool deck just as you finish it. Your tiny hand is feeling bereft and needy right as you look up and see the self-service frozen yogurt machine. So you take a cone of fro-yo as you pass. You manage not to eat much more than maybe another cone of fro-yo for a long while and then you're wandering around the ship with 2.5 hours left until dinner and you think, "I should go grab something to hold me over." And you do...you go get a piece of pizza because it's free, and you might get too hungry before dinner actually starts.

Finally, you manage to make your way into dinner. You would think by now that the amount of calories consumed would make you feel sick and you would just pick at dinner. But the formal dinning room has the best food on the whole ship. Everything is made with heavy cream and butter and is extra delicious. You can order whatever you want...even two of something if the mood strikes you. You feel a sense of accomplishment with every bite you get down while cruising. So you eat 3 sourdough rolls, a vidalia onion tart, sea bass with asparagus, the dessert sampler, and a piece of the cheesecake. And after going to your show you stroll down for another cookie while waiting for the late night entertainment to start.

Really now that I think about it the miracle is that I ONLY gained 6lbs. So armed with determination and an empty refrigerator I decided to do the South Beach diet and cook all my food instead of buying it. I managed to cook every night so far - and each meal took less than 20 minutes to throw together. Our menu so far has been:

Night 1: Chipotle seasoned Mahi Mahi burgers with sliced avocado
Night 2: Garlic and Herb marinated Mahi Mahi with steamed green beans
Night 3: Grilled sirloin steak for Ben, Gardein for me and the rest of the steamed green beans
Night 4: Mahi Mahi burgers with mixed green salad with pecans, tomatoes, red peppers, and avocado

Throughout the day we munch on raw peanuts and pistachios, sliced red pepper and broccoli dipped in hummus, skim milk cheese snacks, or mozzarella and tomato salads.

Tip For Tuesday ~ Crafting on the go.

2011-02-01T15:05:00.001-05:00

I am in the process of packing for my vacation and I always take along a few things with me to do on the plane. I usually take a small crochet project and a sketch book with me. Here are some tips for taking crochet on the plane.

1. Get yourself some bamboo or plastic hooks. This goes for knitting as well as crochet. Crochet hooks tend to look less threatening than knitting needles. This article has great tips for knitting. While plastic hooks are cheaper I have to say I would invest the money in the bamboo. I purchased them a year and a half ago for an Orlando, FL. vacation with my husband and they are now the only hooks I use.

2. Small, blunt craft scissors with a blade under 4 inches are allowed on the plane! TSA's prohibited sharp objects list shows that "Scissors - metal with pointed tips and blades shorter than four inches" are allowed in carry one. I am always paranoid that they are going to take away my craft scissors even child ones with blunt tips. Also, the cruise line that we are going on has notorious crazy scissor confiscation stories and a whole message board dedicated to ways to outsmart the scissor police. So here is an out of the box option - Empty Floss Container!

3. Don't get to carried away. Be realistic you will probably only work on it during the flight so work on something with only a couple of colors.

Cake Testing - Pineapple upside down rum cake

2011-01-28T12:36:00.000-05:00

I recently tested out this recipe from cdkitchen.com. (I have had pretty good luck with their recipes) It was for a Pineapple Upside Down Rum Cake. My co-worker has been asking for a cake like this since I first started the cake decorating classes back in August 2010. I have never made a rum cake or a pineapple upside down cake before and so I had no idea how to tell if this was a good recipe or not.

I purchased this adorable individual pineapple upside down cake pan from Amazon. Well, my co-workers birthday was yesterday so although the cake was not delivered to him on his actual birthday due to snow...I baked the recipe last night and made one pan of these. (I had left over batter, but was way too lazy to bake it up.)

I have a pineapple allergy so I made three with pineapple rings and made three like regular rum cakes. I used Myer dark rum and while it was pretty expensive I read up and found that this was a recommended dark rum for baking with. Remember when cooking with liquor - you are cooking out the alcohol and are being left with the taste/flavor. You don't want something that is cheap and tastes gross...it is good to put your money into what will soon be in put to the test on your taste buds.

Without delicious pineapple :(

It was not a hard batter to make it was difficult to put into the pans because it was a thicker batter and did not pour and settle like a typical boxed cake mix. The difficulty to this recipe was really that it had multiple components with the glaze, fruit, and batter. I baked it 5 minutes less than the recipe called for and when I did the toothpick test the cake was still gooey. I let it bake for the remaining 5 minutes and although the cake is still moist...it probably could have cooked for a couple minutes less.

I like my rum cake rummy so I also poked some holes into the bottom of the cakes and put a little of the left over glaze on the bottom as well. Overall, I really liked the recipe it had really nice flavor and texture. My co-worker had a great suggestion for me to add peach rings to the bottom of the pan as a substitute for the pineapple I am allergic to. I am definitely going to make it again and try that out!

The birthday boy's cake...two cherries instead of just one!

Hat Pin Heaven...And Gluing My Fingers Together

2011-01-27T09:56:00.001-05:00

I finally got my hat pin findings in and with cruise a mere 7 DAYS AWAY!!!! I was excited to start putting together some hat pins. I got a very good start on them and made myself a variety to go with the different things I might wear on the cruise.

Hats are going to be a must on the cruise...staying out of the sun for a very fair skinned melanoma survivor is priority number one! I quickly discovered a couple of things about the hat pins:

1. They are very very sharp.

2. They did not come with a nail head like pictured.

3. They are a lot more bendable than I expected

To try and prevent the top bead from sliding off I used a bit of beading glue - essentially super glue. I managed to glue my fingers together and to the hat pin finding the last one I made for the night.

So with one hand and some nail polish remover....

I tried to get my fingers free. 5 minutes later I had one free.

5 more minutes together and I managed to get the rest of my hand free. I will admit to still having super glue remnants on my fingers this morning.

Here are some of the results.

Project Pictures - Practicing with Mod Podge

2011-01-26T09:33:00.000-05:00

I have been wracking my brain and searching the Internets to figure out how to achieve the look I wanted for the wall art in Ben's man cave. I wanted to mount the pictures from the University of Maryland on canvas and then hang the canvases on the feature wall of his room.

When I searched the Internet there were many websites that had snarky answers such as, "Why would you want to mount a photo on a canvas? Why wouldn't you just have the photo printed on the canvas?" I had basically given up on the idea and just decided to do the collage in giant frames from the craft store.

Luckily at the homemade gift exchange last Friday my friend introduced me to the little product known as Mod Podge. I am not quite sure how I have made it this long without knowing what Mod Podge is, but am I glad she let me know about it! I searched Mod Podge the other day and found that there are many how to articles on how to mount photo's to canvas with it.

digitalscrapbookplace.com had a lovely tutorial on making art on canvas. They used one print out to cover the entire canvas. Check it out for lovely ideas for canvas art.

ehow.com had many articles on how to use Mod Podge on canvas. They say to use the fabric kind to mount things on canvas.

For my test run I simply used the matte finish regular kind. I used an old canvas and painted it blue with left over latex wall sample paint. I then took pictures of my niece, nephew, and dad to make a canvas "scrapbook page" for my dad and mom.

I didn't do the most perfect job on it - some of the pictures are mounted crookedly. I really just wanted to get an idea of how the product would work. I was pleased with how easy it was to use, how it adhered the photos to the canvas, and how the finish looked. I believe I have found the technique I am going to use...now to plan out the canvases themselves.

Tuesday's Technique ~ Tying Up Loose Ends

2011-01-25T10:00:00.001-05:00

Crochet patterns always instruct you to weave in the tail of the knot after you end a color. I have never liked the results of this method. The kind of yarns I like to use are often very soft and sort of slick. It tends to loosen and slip out of where you have woven it in.

I sew down each knot in order to eliminate the worry that the crochet product will unravel or come loose. This is how I do it:

1.) I take needle and thread that closely match the yarn and sew through the yarn knot 3-4 times in different directions.

2) Then I tightly loop the thread around the "tail" of the yarn 3-4 times to make a tight hold on the tail.

3) I then guide the needle down the middle of the thread holding down the tail and make a knot and then cut the tail off close to that knot.

This leaves me with a nice finished end that I don't have to worry will come loose.

Man Cave Madness

2011-01-24T10:00:00.003-05:00

Here is my inspiration board so far for Ben's man cave project. Ben is all but twitching from all the color infusion going on around our house. I want this room to be for his comfort and enjoyment while also being accessible to guests. I think I am going to go with a monochromatic room in two shades of gray on the walls and with a white media center and black denim recliners.

Man Cave by shoeaddictthriving on Polyvore.com
Not the typically tacky man cave - an eclectic collection of traditional sideboard, flat screen TV, sheepskin rugs, and modern recliners.

I want to incorporate Ben's interests without the room getting too themed or kitschy. Also, since the TV and furniture are going to be big ticket items I want to do the decor and accessories in the room on a tight budget. I am going to do a series of collages for the wall art from University of Maryland yearbooks I have been collecting from flea markets and EBay. I am using the photos of buildings and the sports section of each yearbook. I am also trying to think of something that can incorporate the University of Maryland red in the room without being overwhelming.

I have a couple more project ideas that I need to develop, but I feel like the man cave inspiration and plan is mostly in place. Next I need to plan out when this will all start happening.

Homemade Gift Exchange

2011-01-22T16:30:00.000-05:00

I recently participated in a homemade gift exchange with my friends. We agreed to make or buy gifts for each other for a $10 limit. I decided to make scarves for everyone doing different color / pattern combinations for each girl.

I took a basic pattern and then changed it up for each one to make a different pattern of stripes.

My friend Mrs. Oomph was a part of the gift exchange and made these awesome book page wreaths for us. I actually had these on my list of projects to try, but a whole lot of deadline projects were way ahead of trying to make them. I immediately picked the tiny one featuring an adorable owl ornament and it looks perfect in my room.

Despite the questionable literature featured on the leaves it is an awesome, unique, and handmade treasure that I love!

Budget Buster - Wilton Class

2011-01-20T10:00:00.001-05:00

I was very excited to start the Wilton cake decorating classes at my local craft store. It seemed a pretty good bargain too at $27 for the four week course (one night each week). With $5 off coupons for the two follow on classes I figured I was getting a pretty good class for not too much money. The course ends up being a budget buster though. Here's what I ended up spending:

$71 for the class "tuition"
$99 for the toolkit that I thought would provide the tools I needed for the first two courses (not the case)
$50 for the course 2 and 3 class kits (after the 40% off coupons)
$50 for decorator icing
$8 for chocolate decorator icing
$11 for colored fondant
$20 for gum paste
$7 for white fondant
$3 cake leveler
$10 cake lifter
$9 cupcake decorating kit
$10 tip covers
$6 couplers
$6 various decorating tips
$8 icing colors
$4 piping gel
$6 meringue powder
$14 turntable

GRAND TOTAL $392!!

This doesn't even include the cost of parchment and wax paper, cling wrap, cake boards, and ingredients for making the cakes. Now this all was spent over 12 weeks so at $32/week it really sneaks up on you. I didn't really have to buy everything that was on the list. If you are interested in the class here's some tips to make it more budget friendly.

$72 - just buy the class kits with the 40% off coupons and it ends up being cheaper than any of the bargain tool boxes
$7 - make your own butter cream and cut down the cost of frosting significantly
Skip the colored fondant - I didn't really miss it and I just used the $0.99 color to tint it for the class
Skip the cupcake kit - the cupcake nail was stupid and I didn't use it at all and the only tip I needed was the filler tip - order online before you start the class.
Skip the tip covers - or buy only one pack when you get to the royal icing class.

Grand total $234 a $158 savings! To save $30 more skip the extras like the cake lifter, extra bag of gum paste, extra tips, extra colors, and extra couplers.

Tip for Tuesday ~ Online Sources

2011-01-18T10:00:00.000-05:00

I get all kinds of ideas online. I also do a whole lot of my supply shopping online. Here are some of my favorite online sources and what I use them for.

Knitting-warehouse.com
This is my go to resource for buying crochet supplies online. My favorite products on this site are the travel OK bamboo crochet hooks, Caron's simply soft and simply soft eco yarns, and Bernat's satin yarn. My all-time favorite purchase was the Eagle good to go knitting tote which unfortunately the website doesn't carry anymore. I would highly recommend getting one if you can find it somewhere!

wilton.com is my go to for all things cake decorating. From ideas, techniques, to purchase of specialty cake pans I check this site to see if I can find it here.

goodybeads.com
I get many of my beads here. My favorites from this site are the lamp work beads, the metal spacers, and metal round beads.

crochetpatterncentral.com has a huge library of free patterns for crochet. I tend to scan this website for ideas when starting something I have never made before. I usually get an idea of how it is put together and then change it up with colors and pattern to get exactly what I had in mind. For the most part I have had success with the patterns and have had very little failures. Tip: (pretty much all yarn brand websites also have a free pattern section for both crochet and knit.)

ehow.com is a vastly useful site. I have used it to get everything from instructions on how to recover lamps and dining room chairs to making my own stencils. I love browsing through ehow to research projects that are on my list and to find shortcuts and directions on things I haven't done before.

Monday Motivation - Transforming Ugly Storage

2011-01-17T16:00:00.012-05:00

I was motivated by a comment on my first Monday Motivation post about ugly storage solutions. Often times innovative and ~~cheap~~ free storage solutions are pretty ugly. I have a super ugly free storage solution for my cat food in my kitchen - a rinsed out empty litter bin.

I decided to go with the simplest and fastest solution available to me today. I took some of the spray paint I recently got and spray painted the bin straw flower yellow. It took four coats of spray paint to cover the bin, but the end result is OK for now. I may try to add a pattern to it with the left over colors of paint from my canvas project when I have time.

The bottom line is that for $3.87 I was able to make it look like a cute yellow container versus a old litter container.

Spray Paint - Why I love it and why I feel like a criminal when I buy it.

2011-01-14T07:22:00.001-05:00

I love spray paint. I received a gift card to the Depot of the orange and white logo for Christmas and thought about what I could get with it. I decided on spray paint because I can always use spray paint. I love it. It makes for a quick update on items around your house. It is easy to use, dries quickly, and goes a long way to breath new life into old things. I always feel like a criminal when I buy it though. You may think to yourself, "Why would she feel like a criminal? Maybe that's guilt coming up...maybe she is a criminal!" All not true, however, the depot treating it like a controlled substance may have something to do with it.

I always feel a little conspicuous at the depot anyways. I come in with my knee-high boots, crazy patterned tights, girly dress, and a feathered headband in my hair. The male population of that store always approach with a John Wayne strut....hitching up their belts to cover more of their belly they saunter over. I can practically hear the spurs in my mind as they say, "Anything I can help you with little lady?" At first the feminist in me bristles at the "little lady", but then I realize that I am a lady compared to the normal clientele and I am quite little. Maybe they are just literalists.

I quickly say no and make a beeline to the paint department. I know my way around the paint department. Like I said before I use paint all the time. (Especially spray paint - like the dining room chair I redid by spraying straw flower yellow.) I quickly go to the spray paint part of it and start grabbing what I want/need. Now here is where I start to feel a little conspicuous. They sort of follow me over as if the thought of a woman in the depot not needing help is out of the realm of reality, or maybe they just noticed I didn't have a basket and think I may need help carrying stuff as my arms are tiny and practically useless much like a T-Rex. Whatever their reasons I can't help but feel watched, and when I feel watched in a store I feel like they think I am up to no good.

I worry that they are going to see me grabbing spray paint cans, remember that I am in the store several times getting more and more spray paint, and then somewhere out there will be a person who decides to graffiti this...

{Image Credit: morganico-com.deviantart.com}

...and they will totally think it is me! So feeling watched, my arms full of spray paint cans, imagining the cat graffiti someone will finger me for I begin my way to the checkout. I prefer going to self checkout whenever I can and so I go over and begin to scan my items. As I swipe the first can the self checkout kiosk blares out, "Assistance needed. Must show ID to purchase this item." I have to then wait and try not to fidget out of impatience - fidgeting makes you look extra crime-y. Finally the Grand Poobah of the self checkout section comes over and allows me to check out the rest of my items.

I always feel as I make my way out to the car a small thrill - like I got away with something. It takes me a few seconds to remember that I am just buying spray paint to paint my old wall art a different color.

Project Pictures - Cake Testing DISASTER!

2011-01-12T10:00:00.000-05:00

I wanted to test out my 3 mini-tier cake pan that I just got. My cousin is getting married in August and asked me to make her a wedding cake with a small tier that they can freeze for the one year anniversary tradition. I immediately had feelings of stress and anxiety:

I have trouble saying no to people.
I have never done a stacked or tiered cake before.
The wedding is more than two hours away from where I live.
The wedding is an outdoor wedding which means fondant - and fondant is not my strong point.
It is for some one's wedding!!!! Stress!!

So when I saw her over the holidays and she asked me about it I started with a firm no. Then I felt really bad and said... "Well, I can make you a cupcake. Literally one cupcake for you to do the cake cutting ceremony and one for you to freeze." When she said it could be the tiniest cake in the world and said it could be kept inside so that I can use butter cream v. fondant I caved like a cheap Ikea bookcase. I felt infinitely better about the whole thing when I ordered a mini 3-tier cake pan. They are supposed to look like tiny cute wedding cakes and so last night I tested baking and decorating them.

They are evil Satan Spawn!!!

I now give you pictures of the disaster also known as the demon cakes that refused to be iced by any means.

The Damage in Total

This one was an attempt at poured frosting...frosting failed.
Ben still ate it and said it tasted great.

This one was iced, re-iced, attempted quick-set fondant,
scraped off quick-set fondant, and iced again.... I gave up.

This one I sort of liked. Basket weave is the way to go.
There were two color flow birds that looked like they
were kissing, but one broke... one by itself = not so cute.

Tip for Tuesday ~ Project Planning Part I

2011-01-11T10:00:00.003-05:00

Projects go a whole lot smoother if you take the time to plan the project. It helps if you have a plan in mind. The first thing I do is make a list of all the projects I (1) need to do and (2) want to do.
My list right now looks something like this:

Finish girl's night gift exchange gifts
Alter mom's cruise dress (20 min)
Line Christopher's blanket (1-2 hour)
Start hat and Scarf for Sam
Neck/Ear Warmer for Tricia
Bathroom Redo
Ben's Man cave (several projects)
Cake testing for Lauren's cake ceremony/1 year anniversary cakes
Cake for Ken's b-day (January 27th)

I try to keep in mind if any of my projects have a deadline, if they do they move to the top of the list. I use a dry erase calender that I use to write out everything I need to do marking the deadline days for any projects with deadlines. I then make an estimate of how long it is going to take me to do each project. For things like crochet projects or lining blankets I have a good idea how long it takes me to complete because I do those more frequently. I also know that the cake decorations I can do in one evening and that making frosting the cake and placing the decorations will take an evening as well.

For things that I have never done before I first do Internet research to get an idea how to do the project. If I know anyone who has done anything similar I ask them how long it took them to do the project. Tip: When you estimate time for a project always take a third of the time you think it will take you and add that to the total time estimate. It always takes longer than you think!

Once you have your list of projects, time it will take you to complete the projects, and your deadlines you have - you can lay out the times on your calendar. For example:

1) I marked deadline items on my calendar

2) I add my to do list for each deadlined project onto the calendar in one color.

3) I add the other projects that I think I have time to work on in the "in between" times on the calendar with another color.

4) I add in breaks and time's I won't have time to work on anything in another color.

This is how I do my overall project planning. For individual project planning check back in for Project Planing Part II.

Monday Motivation - The Three R's

2011-01-10T05:00:00.002-05:00

Real Simple.com - Coffee Mug to Plant Holder

This morning's motivation is all about re purposing. I love using old things in new ways and having it make a visual impact in my home decor. I just started going to flea markets this year when my good friend Mrs. Oomph took me out to show me the ropes. Our first time out was a great hit. I got tons of things for really cheap and promptly became addicted to flea markets, thrift stores, and antiques.

One of my favorite parts of flea marketing is going through a bunch of junk and looking into what will make a great treasure. I almost always think of what things can be outside of their original purpose.

Mrs. Oomph already covered how you can re-use and re-purpose old frames in her blog entry 5 minute oomph: wicked easy wall art. One of my favorite sources for re-purposing ideas and inspiration is the Real Simple magazine website. They have an awesome section of their magazine and website titled New Uses for Old Things. (Side Note ~ if you had to only get one subscription to one magazine I would definitely get Real Simple. My husband got it for me two years ago and it is like Christmas every time a new issue hits my mailbox.)

Here are a couple of my favorite re-purposing projects - What are yours? Submit them to this email to share sewhandcrafted@yahoo.com.

Milk pail for $2 at flea market - re-purposed to a plant holder.

Ivory Soap crate - re-purposed as a towel shelf.

Desk Rant

2011-01-08T08:00:00.002-05:00

Style of Desk I wanted - not actual desk.
{Image Credit: www.holmesian.net }

I have been putting money aside for 4 months saving up for this really cool antique, drop-top desk I wanted. I arranged with the owner of the antique store to set it aside for me and arranged to pick it up yesterday. I got my dad to take time out of his very busy day to drive me over to the Eastern Shore an hour away to go pick up the desk in his truck.

We had a wonderful time chatting and looking at the view from the truck windows. We finally got there and at first we poked around outside and looked at all the stuff that was stashed all over the store. We went inside and the owner started clearing off the desk to get it ready to load into the truck. He cleared paths and made sure there was enough room to get through the store with the desk. He chatted with my dad about various items he had in the shop and talked about how slow sales were lately.

Then before we took it out of the store he uttered these words, "Well, lets get the financials straight and taken care of before we do this." For some reason the way he said it struck me as odd. Then we went up to the cash register together and he said, "Oh, I lost the tag off of it. Do you remember what it said?" When I told him what the tag had said he told me that he thought the desk was $52 more than what the tag was for. I couldn't believe that he was trying to raise the price on me as I stood there to pay. I told him that I was an auditor and one thing I remember is numbers. He wouldn't budge so my dad and I walked away and left the store with no desk.

So after wasting two hours of my one day off I said good bye to my dad, apologized for wasting his time, and headed home. I was almost home when my phone rang with a number I was unfamiliar with. I answered with my hands free and it was the owner calling to tell me he found the tag and he was wrong and I was right about the price. I have been a repeat customer with him for a while now and I really hope he realizes that his antics and attitude not only lost him a large sale today, but also future sales.

If you happen to be driving through Easton, MD on your way to Royal Oak down by way of Royal Oak Road and see a very large antique place with storage on either side of the road....keep driving.

I've Made a Huge Mistake - Scarf Disaster

2011-01-07T09:00:00.000-05:00

{Image Credit: http://www.patonsyarns.com/}

So it all started with my love of Paton's Divine yarn. It is the fuzziest, softest feeling, puffiest looking yarn ever. I fell in love with it. I promptly made myself my very first crochet project of a scarf and matching hat. I made scarves and hats for a few of my friends. Unfortunately the yarn contains 10.5% wool and 10.5% mohair. I discovered quickly that I had reactions to wearing anything made with any kind of animal hair. Rabbit hair, mohair, wool, cashmere...all out.

I always look longingly at the cashmere displays in the department stores. I run my hands over soft fuzzy knit hats, scarves, and sweaters immediately begin itching and break out in a rash from face to belly. I had to give up my first scarf and hat. I now religiously read labels to see what the fabric contents are, and I constantly search for soft fuzzy yarn that is made from acrylic or some other material that will give me the same feel of the Paton's yarn.

Recently I went to my local craft store and saw a new brand of yarn in its expanded yarn section. There on the shelf with a shaft of the purest light shining upon it was the yarn - Loops & Threads Sante Fe Striped Brushed yarn. It looked so inviting, the color combinations pretty, and I thought to myself, "It can't be soft because it's probably wool." I ran my hand over it. It was soft. I held my breath as I pulled it off the shelf and looked at the content... a host of angels began softly singing as I read - 88% acrylic 12% polyester.

I was so excited. I broke my budget rules and binged. I got three skeins of each color, and at $4.99/skein it was not a cheap bill. I got home and began my scarf. I used the skein that was hand painted in reds, pinks, and oranges. Well, I made a huge mistake. Almost at the end of one skein I looked down and realized - It looks like I skinned Animal from the Muppets and made him into a scarf.

Not every project turns out how you pictured it in your mind, but in crafting you learn from these happy failures and move on. There is always the good and the bad and the unintentionally ugly. I am still going to wear the scarf...it does have some kind of retro 70's appeal to it. If you realize early on that your project is headed for disaster try to abandon ship. If you realize it half way through try to think of a way to correct course and fix it. And if you get to the end look down and realize you have created a great big pile of fugly - toss it, donate it, or wear your mistake proudly.

Animal {Image Credit: Muppet Central.com}

Budget v. Binge - Yarn

2011-01-06T09:16:00.000-05:00

I have two modes when purchasing yarn for projects: budget or binge. Usually binging wins out and I end up with way more yarn than what I need. I end up buying too much because I but it online. One of my favorite resources for all things yarn is http://www.knitting-warehouse.com/. When I get on the website to order the color and quantity I need for a new project I end up getting distracted by all the other colors available. I think to myself, "Well, that's a really pretty color and I can always use that in another project."

Well, now I have ended up with 6 bins overflowing with various yarn - some colors I have never used. So I still end up binging, but I have made myself practice discipline when it comes to new projects.

Are there situations where it is actually good to binge? The answer is yes. I am constantly re-ordering my neutrals. White, Cream, Tan, Camel, Light Brown fly out of my bins faster than anything in my hobby room. I also make baby blankets so colors like the softest shade blues, greens, purples, pinks, and yellow are good to have on hand in larger quantities. Crochet is one of my most participated in hobbies so I do dedicate more of my hobby spending money and organization space to yarn. I still order my neutrals and baby blanket colors online when I am running low and order large quantities of them. I have been mid-project and lost steam to finish it because I needed more of a color. However, I have started practicing budget when it comes to special projects and non-typical colors.

One thing that really undermines my budget mentality is when I go to the store, they don't have the yarn I need, and I have to go online to order it. My binge temptation is always online, but yours may be when you go in the store and see all the lovely colors and types of yarn. Know your weaknesses and try to use avoidance as a method of dealing with it. If you can be disciplined online then don't drive to the store or stay away from the yarn section when you are there for something else. If online shopping makes it too easy for you to order en mas then drag yourself out to get supplies for the project that you are starting. (Project planning helps with sticking to your budget - post on this topic coming next week.)

When to budget - when your spending money is tight. To help budget:

Plan out your project.
Look at your inventory - can you adjust your plan to use something you already have?
Shop around - don't just go to Michael's: look for prices online (don't forget to add shipping into the price/skein), think Walmart, and use coupons (http://www.michaels.com/ always has 40% coupons).
Only buy what you need.

When to Binge - when all three of the following are making the perfect storm:

When you have extra cash on hand.
When you have a need for yarn (some of you standard colors are low/gone in your inventory)
There is a sale on yarn.

So, keep in mind that planning, budgeting and discipline help eliminate overspending, overflowing mess, and unnecessary inventory.

Project Pictures - Finished Hobby Room

2011-01-05T02:00:00.001-05:00

My new Ikea Storage

My brother re-purposes the old shelves to clean his room up.

Finally have room for my dress form in my hobby room.

(You can see all the mess I still have to sort through on the side)

Tip for Tuesday: Fake it

2011-01-04T05:00:00.000-05:00

Chair from Arhaus furniture

I decided that I am sick of buying generic wall art even if I get it cheap from somewhere. I figure... even though I don't really know what I am doing.... I can fake it. I recently made a series of wall art for my kitchen makeover. I was inspired by a new chair with a unique pattern that my husband let me get for our anniversary. I really wanted to tie in the pattern, colors, and feel of the chair into my whole living space. I started by taking pictures of different "pieces" of the pattern that I liked. I got these photos printed in the size of the canvases I was going to paint on. I got a cheap 10 pack of canvases for about $10 at Michael's for this. I probably could have achieved the same look by just framing the prints, but I love the texture that canvas and real paint add.

I then traced the larger shapes and parts of the pattern onto tracing paper in order to make a stencil. I used an exacto knife to cut out pieces of my homemade stencil and then traced the overall shapes onto the canvases. For example: in the following picture I first cut out the "meat" of the bulb and the stem shapes. You can see on the left where the red arrows are pointing on the photo. I after I had the basic shapes traced on the canvas I added in the details by hand. As you can see the patchwork pattern on the largest part of the bulb is not remotely the same, but it still gives the overall appearance and feel of the original pattern.

For paint I had already purchased sample interior latex paints from colors in the pattern to decide what colors to carry over onto the kitchen walls. I used the sample paints to paint in the details of the patterns. I ended up doing at least two coats of each color. The paints cost about $3 each for a total cost of $39. I would have used regular acrylic paints, but didn't want the sample paints I had already purchased to go to waste. In total the project cost me $49 and gave me a large statement wall in the kitchen.

It took me about 2 hours to complete each canvas. The latex paint dried fast and I was able to start the second coat as soon as I had finished the first coat. When I finished all of my canvases I just arranged and re-arranged them on the floor in front of the wall they were going on until I had what I wanted.

For those that will look at this and say, "I am not artsy at all. I don't know how to paint." Try this for a similar look. Get stencils of patterns at your local art/craft store. Stencil the patterns on various canvases and then paint them in. (If you want to do it really fast you can use spray paint or roll one color on with a mini roller!) You can do the same pattern with the canvases facing different ways like above or you can really mix it up and paint the pattern in a variety of colors and color combinations to make your own one of a kind wall art.

You don't have to be a trained artist to have original art hanging on your walls - just fake it with confidence. If you have any suggestions of DIY wall art add it in the comments!

Monday Motivation

2011-01-03T08:34:00.000-05:00

On New Year's Eve I was over our friends house and saw a shelving unit in her children's playroom that made me go ooooooohhhhhh! I was immediately inspired to organize my room of shame. The shelving system was from Ikea and although it was designed to be storage for children it is perfect for my craft room. Then the next day I got this article in my email Better Homes and Gardens - tips for organization room by room. While the rooms didn't include an office, craft, or hobby room alot of the tips are applicable.

TROFAST storage (credit http://www.ikea.com/)

So now thoroughly motivated, I dragged poor Ben (husband of 5 years) out and then spent hours and hours in Ikea. I will say that I had some extra cash so I was able to get 5 of the shelving units which gave me 5 shelves and 27 bins worth of storage for a cool $313. Now if you have to purchase organization that is not to bad as far as cost goes. By the by.... the other storage I had in the room which didn't hold all my things that well and I had slowly purchased on what I thought what was the cheap over the years actually had cost me $518.21!!! Not to name names, but this system was from a large chain with a distinct red circular logo. (Lest you think me wasteful it is bring re-purposed in other room closets for storage. Now that I added it up and know how much in total it cost it's getting used until it falls apart.)

Drawer Storage - jeanettes.typepad.com

If you do not have the extra money lying around, however, and you already have plastic storage units I would recommend using the bins you already have to save money. Another out of the box, cost-saving storage unit is using bookshelves purchased from yard sales, flea markets, Craig's list, or even better free on http://www.freecycle.org/ and utilizing extra boxes and baskets as the organization bins. (The dollar store does have small plastic craft organizers and baskets.)

Does anyone else have any out of the box storage ideas? (Comments and ideas welcome!)

Lesson: "Let it Go"

2010-12-31T20:38:00.000-05:00

Have you ever looked at a tarted up, wrinkly old lady in Juniors glittery pink tank top, skinny jeans, and a pair of heels her over bleached hair stiffly framing a botoxed face and thought to yourself...."just let it go already"? Well, sometimes when it comes to hobbies and craft projects - specifically your own - you are just as blissfully unaware as that old lady.

Oops...that's not an old lady....other stuff still applies.
(Photo credit: www.vh1.com)

It is really hard to let projects go. Every time you pass that half finished thing you think, "I am going to finish that...can't throw that away!" Well, you need to let it go. Let that bad boy get into the figurative age appropriate shapeless track suit and let it be comfortable in its sunset years.
Go through your supplies and projects and organize them into something resembling the following piles:

This will be divided up into multiple postings...one per type of pile

1) Haven't used in over 2 years.
2) Less than 25% complete.

3) 50 % done.

4) Almost complete - just some finish work

5) Still in the planning stage

For pile #1: Any craft that you haven't participated in for 2 years needs have some serious thought given towards it leaving your supply pile. Ask yourself (and be honest and realistic) Am I going to use this stuff anymore? If the answer is no - and it should be no if you haven't used something in over 2 years.. find someone to give it to or harvest it for parts.
P.S. If your answer was yes you can apply to be on the show hoarders here.

For example: I have a glaring pile of wrinkly old lady cleavage in the form of a paper making supplies, a pile of denim, and yards and yards of fringe. I haven't used the paper making stuff since before I graduated high school (over ten years ago). The denim was when DIY project turning a pair of jeans into a cute funky skirt was popular - seams were split and then promptly shoved in a corner (at least 7 years ago). And the yards of fringe I ordered for a great deal on eBay and when it came instead of the lovely silvery blue in the picture it was more of a garish royal blue. (about 5 years ago)

Here's how I dealt with the items. The pile of denim was irredeemable. The denim was stained, bleached out. ripped apart, and let's face it the project is never going to happen. I have long gone all establishment on my former inner-hippie. I have no reason or inclination to dress in a multi-denim DIY skirt. So I relegated these particular items into the rubbish bin and called it a day.

The fringe was harder to let go of. While to most it probably would look like I murdered cousin it and hid him in the bottom shelf of my craft room. I have an unnatural affinity towards fringe and just seeing that perfectly great pile of it that I had forgotten I even had brought back urges of holding on. "I could use this for something" I thought to myself. And then I remembered why I was doing this to free up space in my room of shame. So before I could hang on I put it on free cycle. It isn't bad quality and I had managed to bleach it out to a pleasing bronze-beige color. If someone else has something they can legitimately use it for then it shouldn't go to waste.

Finally I got to my paper making supplies. I remembered fondly that I loved making paper. I would use my mother's blender to make pulp....add in rose petals and lavender to sent the pages. I used to make it all the time for homemade cards and little love notes. I thought I should use this again. (No one ever said letting go was easy!) Then I remembered that the screens were broken years ago and all I had left of the stuff was what was in this box - bits of cut up construction paper, lavender so old it had no smell any more, and a disreputable moldy looking sponge. The top of the box was pretty damaged but the base was good. The stuff and lid joined the denim and I re purposed the base of the box to as a drawer organizer to hold my paints.

So for stuff you haven't used in over two years try to ask yourself the hard questions:
Do I need it?
Am I going to actually use this?
Is it usable?
Can someone else use it? ....and....
Are there things I can use in hobbies I actually still participate in?

New Focus - New Blog

2010-12-30T14:37:00.000-05:00

To see my history visit...
www.shoeaddictsurviving.wordpress.com

I may occasionally post some Melanoma related things on this blog, but mostly I will be showing my many projects I get myself involved in. I am one of those people that loves to get into everything. And I do mean everything....I have piles of half finished projects lying all around the house. I am constantly signing up for lessons of some sort and I have a "room of shame" full of supplies for crafts some of which I haven't actually done in years.

I have learned a whole lot of lessons of the years of getting into ~~every craft known to mankind~~ a bunch of different hobbies. I plan to share the projects, tips and tricks to doing them, and what I have learned about being a hardcore crafter.