How to Make Something Out of Nothing

Check out the bottle cap buttons!

2010-01-16T03:32:00.000-08:00

I found this on the Interwebs, and you should see it. I can see these being used on toys and upholstery. Totally cool, go look.

http://ohnoelia.blogspot.com/2010/01/buttons.html

Giveaway for Baby Mamas

2010-01-01T15:14:00.000-08:00

I'm totally obsessed with all things baby since I met my great-nephew Parker. Here's a cool giveaway:

http://ow.ly/16fv79

Good luck!

T Shirt Remod

2009-09-08T18:09:00.001-07:00

My roomate Jim wanted a tank top for the gym,

so here's the trial run. I cut out the armholes and

neck, removed the pocket, then bound the

edges with strips from another butchered tee.

Add an iron-on transfer (probably illegally

obtained from the interwebs) and there you go.From

a plain pocket tee to a snazzy tank top in three easy

steps. Well, there were more steps, I had him try it on

a couple times in the process. He's super picky about the

fit of his clothes, so I cut down the holes a bit at a time

so to get it where he wanted it. It was easy, so I'll be making more for him. Next is one with the Sackboy

stencil...

Free Stencil Downloads

2009-08-26T15:01:00.000-07:00

http://www.verybestbaking.com/promotions/free/stencils.aspx

I just came across these while entering a contest at Nestle. The stencils are for cakes and cupcakes, but since the download is a PDF file, they are easy to resize. I can imagine using them for many things, such as:

1. Use in a repeat pattern as a wall border.

2. Stencil some paint on fabric or paper.

3. Use those scrapbooking inks to stencil on cards, etc.

4. Use as patterns to make ornaments from fabric, paper, or recycled plastic. :D

5. Print coloring pages for toddlers.

And that's just off the top of my head. Now go make something!

Last Cards for Receive Your Own PC Swap

2009-08-26T10:23:00.000-07:00

Three more postcard, this time it's a wrap. Receive Your Own PC crossed off the list. On the right is one inspired totally by the papers. It's a shout-out to Jasper Johns, I love his encaustic American flags, and while this one is not a flag, it is flag-like.

The idea for this one came totally from an article in the Dallas Observer a while back, it's all about the famous $30,000 millionaires of Dallas. The Dallas skyline with some beautiful oriental paper. Orange and blue make me happy lately.

(If you care to read the article, go here: www.dallasobserver.com/2007-11-29/news/douchebags-in-the-mist/).

This last one is a cutout of a dragon shape in a nod to my partner's penchant for oriental themes. You can't really see the dragon, and this picture shows the colors badly, but I love this one. I coated it with gloss sealer to protect the orange print paper and all those little cut edges. So now what will I work on??!!

Last Night's Swaps: Handmade Handbag and Craft for a Craft

2009-08-24T23:13:00.000-07:00

This was for a handmade handbag swap. After two (2) false starts, I came up with this bag. It's made from a bargain buy so great I won't even say how little I paid, a placemat and napkin set I got a while back from the clearance rack. The placemat was heavy enough not to need interfacing, it's lined with the stripey napkin fabric, with an elastic loop and button closure. (Three stacked buttons there.) I bound the side seams on the outside, then squared the botton with a stitch across the corners inside. Easy, and cute, and from almost nothing!

This swap was a craft for a craft, and my partner likes Americana, red/white/blue things, so I made this heart-shaped potholder. All fabrics from my stash, and I used a new potholder from Landa for the substrate. Cut it, cover it, bind it, and voila, a new from nothing pot holder. Funny story about the applique stars....they were born to cover the tiny brown spots I managed to get on the front side midway through. That's me, destruction equals creation all over.

Two Cards

2009-08-17T18:40:00.000-07:00

Here's another PC for the Receive Your Own PC swap. I have a penchant for cutting out images, do I layered this one with some bright card stock. You can't tell in the pic, but the purple background is handpainted with a slight texture. All from the stash Russ sent. I have tons more stuff, and lots of time, so stay tuned ...

A really bad picture of a card made for a friend. I loved this image I cut from a magazine. It reminds me of the time I lived in San Diego, and of stopping for fish tacos on the the drive home from Ensenada.

"dude you should check out the giveaway over at V and Co. sponsored by csn mattresses for a chance to win the most gorgeous pillow"

2009-08-15T17:29:00.000-07:00

You should know I'm all about the free stuff, so check this out:

http://www.vanessachristenson.com/ There is a gorgeous petal pillow here that I will probably recreate at some point.

And to top that off, here's my dream site: http://www.totallyfreecrap.com/ They mean what they say, so much cool free crap it took my breath away. I'm still a little weak in the knees, let me go sit down.....

Indoor Fireworks

2009-08-10T04:44:00.000-07:00

Here's a PC I made for a swap, and I am totally in love with it. (Sniff, sniff, goodbye sweet postcard!) The swap was "Receive Your Own Postcard" and the idea was to make a PC from materials sent to you from your partner. Well, Russ sent me SO MUCH great stuff, I was overwhelmed, and for about a month, I just looked through it over and over. This effort came from a combination of a calendar cutout of fireworks, the red/white paper and some of the card stock I got, and an EC song. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a response, I hope it's well received. I have a huge amount of all kinds of supplies left, so I will be making more. It was most definitely an inspiring swap, so much fun.

Pnut Envy

2009-08-09T18:49:00.000-07:00

Here's another PC from the last group made. I cropped it for the pic, it was shiny and had lots of glare. On the back, I explain that Pnut is in the throes of jealousy, she wants sparkly fur in a bad way. The glitter coat on the bottom left Pnut photographed poorly, in real life, it is colorfully sparkly. Also , there's the punny title. Ha.

Last Night's Efforts

2009-08-08T15:59:00.000-07:00

Okie Dokie, here are the PCs I did last night. I'm currently too exhausted to try and make the pics go where I want them, so I'm going with what I've got. The top left pic is a detail from the card to the right of it. This was my go at a lesbian-themed piece (my partner listed these in her likes), and I hope it's not insulting. (I dunno.) Two random magazine images, the 'woman controller' is from a holiday advert, the boots from some fashion mag, and presto, together they are a humorous PC. To the right of that one is a print of my Warrior Cat drawing. And lastly, the yellow one is another Amelie tribute. I printed the pic out, used two kinds of nail polish on the rabbit in the clouds, a little sparkly nail polish on the girl's hair, and sealed it all under a coat of clear nail polish. Ta-da.

I just don't know why every idea must percolate for so long before I'm able to enjoy that first first cup of creativity...

Freida Kahlo Post Card

2009-07-29T16:21:00.001-07:00

I had this clipping of a Frieda Kahlo painting that I loved, so when I wanted to make a postcard for my painter friend JJ, I grabbed it. It is made of fabric stitched over paper, and the pic and words have plastic stitched on top to protect them for mailing. As you can see, when I'm in the throes of creativity I can rarely manage straight lines and right angles. Oh well, at least one knows it's handmade....And I really do want that unibrow sometimes.

Free Candy, Anyone?

2009-07-23T04:15:00.000-07:00

What's better than chocolate? Free, free, totally free chocolate, of course. Follow this link, they will send you an e-mail alert. Starting at 8am Central Time each Friday till September 25, you can log on and get a free candy bar. The number is limited to around 250,000, so be timely. Also, I think they limit you to four free candy bar coupons. I just got my first one yesterday; Snickers here I come!!!!

https://realchocolate.com/default.aspx

Get Some Free Paint

2009-06-25T12:35:00.000-07:00

This link was on my Facebook from Craftster, I think, and I was tickled...not pink but Candy Apple Red, the free paint I'm getting!

http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.glidden.com%2Fpromotions%2Ffree-paint-giveaway.do&h=fe496e3feaa5e82e03b3bde32755c759

Swap Birthday Cards

2009-06-23T09:28:00.000-07:00

These are some birthday cards I made for a swap. I used card stock/envelopes from a birthday present last year for some, and 2 ply printer paper and cardstock for others.

The glittery party hat here came from a gift bag Landa gave me; it's like a snow globe inside.

The candle graphic is from a free Avery Dennison program.

The silver paper here is from food

packaging.

More Birthday Cards From Almost Nothing

2009-06-22T22:46:00.000-07:00

Birthday cake in Carnival colors.

Candle exclamation mark with some stenciling. I used the background piece from a set of punch-out cardboard shapes someone sent me for the stencil.

There was a cat person in the swap who was also into witchy things, so I did this one for her.

Altered Baby ATCs

2009-06-07T21:24:00.001-07:00

The swap was Altered Baby ATCs. First I had to hunt for baby images, that was the easy part. After many fits and starts, I got here. Above, not much altered in the baby image, but too cute to pass up. The letters S M I L E are my secret craft staple. (Ask me if you want to know what they are, or comment if you think you already know.) The baby makes me laugh every time. Below is an image I found in a mag, the baby was pretty much diva-ed out already, I just enhanced with silver pen. I re-used the base from an ATC I deconstructed and put to separate uses. I hope no one I know takes their baby to a photographer who would do this to a helpless infant.

What's Black And White And Red All Over?

2009-06-06T04:52:00.000-07:00

My Fairy CraftMother Landa gave me a giant roll of laminating plastic that was in the trash at her job. I tried laminating things with an iron, and it works perfectly if one is careful. I laminated once with the steam accidently on, and it made a pretty cool effect with moisture bubbles trapped between the two layers. So far, I've laminated a feather, a shake-n-bake box and magazine covers.

This butterfly I made from lamination samples and nail polish. I really like the enamel effect you can get from dollar store nail polish. It's a little extra I included in a swap recently. The underside is painted bronze and yellow, I think. Forgot to snap the other side, oops. I just cut some slits in the body of the butterfly for the wings and antennae, which have tabs corresponding to the slits. I found a paint pen at Office Depot for a buck, and I love that thing. Used it to draw around the edge of each antenna. This was fun to make, I'm thinking I'll laminate some sheer fabric to make more.

Next time I'll show my dollar store glasses transformed with dollar store nail polish...if you eat all your broccoli, that is.

What I Got In The Swap

2009-05-30T17:38:00.000-07:00

Here's me and the tote I got in the Thrift Store purchase swap. It matches the shirt I wore! It's big and roomy, I had Tara's lap quilt in there plus the regular takealongs. There is a center divide, and she used the shirt pocket on the inside of the bag. Neat!

Towel Wrappers For The Whole Family

2009-05-30T17:26:00.000-07:00

I made these for my ex Bill and his new family. He met his sweetheart through Match.com I think, and is getting married again. I'm real happy he found someone, he deserves happiness more than almost any one I know. Bill sent me the towels a while back to make into wraps for the gym. When he got engaged, I decided to do one for each of this new family: Bill, Deb, and his new daughter Sophie, who is five or six. The striped towel I used for the hood was on hand, and what do you know, Landa still had the matching bath size towel, which she donated for the trim on the rest. And the three hearts on Sophies towel stand for the three of them. I hope they like them, but I know Bill appreciates anything I make.

Weirdest Found Silverware Yet

2009-05-22T00:25:00.001-07:00

I can't figure out how this spoon got that way. A car ran over one side and rolled it, then the spoon flips and another car rolls the other half of the spoon bowl the opposite way? Someone rolled it up on purpose and threw it out the window while driving down Audelia Road? Is it some king of drug ingestion device? Someone hates soup? It exists simply to puzzle me?

Free, Free, Totally Free Samples

2009-05-21T23:53:00.000-07:00

I just got my free samples in the mail, these are some terrific little glue dots. She sends samples of different types; high and low profile, heavy and light stickyness, and some removeable ones. They are so cool, I've already used a bunch. I will definitely try to fit these into my budget when the money tree gets ripe.

http://www.buygluedots.com/free_glue_dot_samples.html

Thrift Store Quilt Swap

2009-05-20T19:16:00.000-07:00

I just finished this tote for a swap. The deal was to buy a thrift store shirt with 5 or more colors and transform it into something quilted. I loved the giant burnt orange flowers on this fabric, and the shirt was only $1! For the trim, I used fabric from a blouse I made two years ago. It never fit right, thus was worn once only, so I cut it up. The fabric from that blouse came from, you guessed it, my Fairy Craftmother Landa. Beautiful fabric, too nice to have no future hanging in my closet as a reject blouse. Instead of batting, I used part of the sweatshirt I bought to make the cat hoodie. For the handles I used blue webbing from an old tote bag covered with fabric. The trim arose from the need to cover seams in the thrift store blouse, so I used the divisions for different quilt patterns. The outline quilting on one panel doesn't read well, though. It was a fun swap, can't wait to see what I get!

Hurry Hurry, Hurry and Maybe You'll Win

2009-05-14T22:45:00.001-07:00

You must drop everything you're doing and sign up for this giveaway. These papers are so much more gorgeous than they look below. Maybe one of us will win! What have you won in contests? Me? A pair of tickets to Tom Jones, a movie soundtrack (with cool French music, wish I could remember the name of the movie), Comic Relief video tape, and movie tickets come to mind.

Here's the link, yall.

http://www.curbly.com/bruno/posts/6602-giveaway-handmade-marbled-paper-2-sets#jump

The Saga of the Knife Found in Parts

2009-05-14T03:02:00.000-07:00

Here's an assembly of some stuff I found on my walks around Audelia Road. I put them in a frame whose glass I had broken, and it finished quite nicely. (I must tell you that the large square on the right is a little different now, I removed the nuts with pennies and the fork portion.)

Now here is the crazy part. I still pick up a lot of junk from the sidewalks, lately more metal objects than colorful ones. About three months ago, I found this knife with it's tip broken off, and believe it or not, yesterday I found the tip of the same knife!!! It is an exact match...what are the chances of that? They were found about a city block apart. Maybe I'm easily impressed (which is true) but this just boggles my mind. What do you think?

Biggest Bargain Ever

2009-05-05T16:49:00.001-07:00

I found 2009 calendars at WalMart marked down to five cents each. I bought 17 calendars, fodder for all kinds of future projects. Come back to see what becomes of these gems!!

I hung three of them next to my Katrina Quilt, the months were chosen because the red in the pics looks good next to my quilt, but one happens to be the current month!

2009-05-03T13:17:00.000-07:00

New case for my camera. I take it along a lot more these days, and it needed protection. This case has a hard shell and magnetic closure. And it was only $3 at DD's Discount, home of bargains galore! Good buy because though I could make a functional substitute, the price here was so low, it makes sense to grab it and use my time on other wondrous pursuits.

2009-05-02T12:12:00.000-07:00

Found this site that is right up my alley!!!

http://dollarstorecrafts.com/

So much cool stuff, I'm flabbergasted! WOO-HOO for the Dollar Store!!!!

My Apartment Sweet Apartment

2009-04-26T16:07:00.001-07:00

Took some pics outside toay, and here's where I live!! Doesn't look like a high crime area, does it? But so I read. Anyway, the wreath here was made from flowers from my Fairy Craftmother and a coat hanger. Free, free, totally free, as Monicatz and I love to say.

Impromptu Hanging Knife Rack

2009-04-24T20:24:00.001-07:00

My roomate has bought knives that not only must be hand washed (yuk) but also cannot be stored in the drawer with all my apparently inferior knives, so I came up with this last night when I finally got fed up with seeing them lying atop the kitchen bar. It matches my jeans potholder, and it's pretty funky, so I like it. I may explore this idea further for my Etsy shop. I became obsessed with hanging things on the wall when I lived in my studio apartment in New Orleans; I hung everything from kitchen stuff to my answering machine. I have a little more room here, but my kitchen is still tiny enough to touch the walls standing still, so I do hang all the measuring cups and spoons, bowls, cutting boards, etc.

Latest ATCs

2009-04-14T23:22:00.001-07:00

Here are the ATCs made for my latest swap at SwapBot. The category was monoprints, and I had a blast making these. The fleur de lis was of course for New Orleans, the shell because my swap partner likes them, and the house one is what I saw outside. I love the goldfish best, and it was an accident.

I haven't gotten my partner's monoprints yet, can't wait to see them.

ReVamped Vamp Pocket Mirror

2009-04-14T23:13:00.000-07:00

Landa gave me a plastic pocket mirror recently which I remade thusly. I love the red lips. Fabric from my stash: raw silk left over from sewing job, red shiny fabric from pajama bottoms (Landa largesse too), and some cardboard and thread. If I were a girly girl or a vamp, I would love this, but I'm lucky if my pucker gets a bit of Chapstick slapped on. So it's in my Etsy shop.....

Around the house

2009-04-14T22:59:00.001-07:00

Here's my new coffee pot vase. This is the second coffee decanter I broke in like ten days, so now it holds some fake plants. Real ones get depressed around me, for some reason. Anyway, it's cute...it sits on a mat made from a paint rag cut up and pieced together. The picture below doesn't relate to making stuff, aside from the yummy cheesecake pie, but I love the fork. The garbage disposal turned it into a "Live Long and Prosper" fork, now my favorite eating utensil.

The Great Cat Hoodie

2009-04-05T22:10:00.000-07:00

Here's the hoodie I made for a girl through the Alchemy section at Etsy. It was so much fun to make, and the story of her huge clothes-wearing cats was hilarious. The picture I saw showed one cat in a cowboy outfit complete with bandana, bolo tie, and Stetson. (okay, it wasn't a Stetson, but I wanted to paint a picture). Shown is a dummy cat I had to make since Pnut was not into being a fit model. Three hours of under bed hiding after a few measurements!! Harrumph!

Here's Pnut being swallowed by the hoodie. She is being held down against her will.

2009-03-25T19:27:00.000-07:00

These are ATCs I made for an online swap. If the idea of swapping anything appeals to you, they have everything from recipes to you name it, check out http://www.swapbot.com/. I am currently obsessed with it, I've done several email survey swaps, which is a lot of fun, but not for everybody; other people have jobs and kids and not as much time to fill as I! Aside from this ATC swap, I did a candy bar swap, see the Australian candy I got below, and am currently in swaps for kitty stuff, dollar store Easter stuff (love it! an excuse to go to the dollar store!!), potholders (right up my alley, see post of 3/19/09), and mono prints. So much fun! I love waiting for my swaps to come in the mail, I'm so much like a kid.

Now about the ATCs. They were for a movie quote themed swap, and I chose what I thought the recipients might like, based on their profiles. The Sabrina card features some gold paper from a Godiva shopping bag, moon and star shapes cut from Halloween themed fabric from Landa, a crescent moon print made from a wooden cutout plundered from a Halloween themed something (again from Landa), scraps of netting and fabric, and some gold paint. All free, free, totally free. Not really, I did at some point buy the paint and thread. So I'll say made for practically nothing.The recipient loved it, I included the bracelet below and some tiny pieces that I called imaginary maps made from dried paint peeled off an old palette (wish I had taken a pic) that she said she will frame!! How awesome to hear that about your work, and I use that word very sparingly, not thrown around at the drop of a hat like they do now!

The Mame card is a cheater, I printed a black and white illustration from the web then painted over it. It was fast, and I was on deadline. I like it as well, but have not heard from the recipient, she has limited Internet access and lives in Brazil, I think she must have gotten it by now, but has not had a chance to check in. For extras in her package, I sent some articles and illustrations from a beading magazine, and stickers for her kids. I want to earn hearts, you see. I love the feedback, and the good feeling that comes when what you share is appreciated....

I am so proud, I finally figured out how to make the pictures go where I want them. Woo-Hoo!!!

Lamp Shade ReMod

2009-03-22T21:19:00.000-07:00

Neglecting the blog lately, are we? Yes, but I'm here to make up for it. Below is my lamp revamp. The shade was too short for reading in bed, the bulb glared out at me. I used some fake flowers and leaves (from Landa, my supply fairy) to make a skirt to lengthen the shade, then went wild with the flowers. Weird, I know, but what can I say? I like it, and it was free, free, totally free!!!!

Current project, and a cat litter tip

2009-03-02T08:36:00.000-08:00

My latest projecy is directly from a Craftstylish tutorial:

http://www.craftstylish.com/item/39345/how-to-crochet-a-rug-out-of-t-shirts

I didn't have a crochet hook, so I'm doing it the way I used to make tailor tacks in the alteration shop, it's basically the same chain stitch done with your fingers instead of a hook. I made some mistakes in the beginning, particularly forgetting to stretch the strips before chaining, it makes a big difference. And it's another thing I can take on the bus with me...reading makes me sick! I plan to use multicolored tees, probably with random placement. The thing I love about this project is there is no perfection involved....it's very forgiving.

So here's the cat litter tip: For years, I have been using shredded newspaper instead of litter. It works so well for me - it's free, the odor problem is much diminished, and I don't have the dreaded litter tracked all over my carpet. I had real problems with getting the litter out of the carpet, and even a covered box didn't help. I'm sure it's better on the recycling front than cat litter, as well.....

American Craft Guide

2009-03-02T02:45:00.000-08:00

I fell in love with this place...it is a true time suck, but lots of interesting conversations and information. Plus, you can win stuff!!! Check it out:
http://americancraftguide.ning.com/

Carnival Time

2009-02-24T10:14:00.000-08:00

Happy Mardi Gras everyone!! Here in Dallas it's just another Tuesday, but my spirit longs for the days when I walked out of my door on Tchoupitoulas Street at 8am on Carnival Day and being greeted with all of humanity dressed up and partying outside my front door. The truck parades lined up there, and my mother and sister lived within two blocks of us,this was back in the eighties. My mother always had an open house with her home made hot tamales and gumbo, it was always very mellow except every year one person would make an ass of themselves. Not always the same person, but you could count on some one to make the day. I won't say if that was ever me!

Here's my Mardi Gras earrings and necklace, made from the dollar store necklace beads and paper clips.

Throw me something, mister!

Deconstructed Earrings

2009-02-16T16:00:00.000-08:00

Today I'm showing you how I made use of a portion of the dollar store earrings from the Feb. 10 post about what I spend actual cash for. I used the outside silver hollow hearts from said earrings, combined with another red pair I was getting tired of wearing. Those red earrings were recycled from a thrift store, I think, they used to have a horrible pattern on them until I painted them red. I added some chain links from an old broken bracelet, and wore them for probably at least a year. Now, ta da, new earrings! I painted the silver heart with clear nail polish since it was such a cheap, I mean inexpensive, ornament in the first place.

Have a swell day, and remember Mardi Gras is Tuesday! Throw me something, mister!!!

Oven Mitts and Pot Holders

2009-02-16T15:47:00.000-08:00

There was a lot of excitement in my kitchen the other night. I accidentally left a Pyrex pan on high , and when I saw it I tossed it onto the counter where a damp dishtowel was. The pan EXPLODED. Some pieces flew almost four feet and blew a hanging mesh basket off it's hook. Good thing only beer huggies were in there, or I might have been injured by potato shrapnel.

Of course, the contents of the pots on the stove had to be thrown out so as not to poison my roommate with ground glass. Luckily, I had chicken stock in the freezer so I did eventually finish the corn bread dressing I was making. Because I don't throw anything away, I had stock from wing tips and necks, very handy freezer item.

So in honor of the detonating Pyrex pan, here's my kitchen related post. All my kitchen gear came from Landa's largess when I moved into my apartment in 2005. My oven mitts and pot holders finally wore out, so I reupholstered them. Then I had an idea to make a t-shirt and jeans pot holder/mitt set. So there.

Why can't I throw anything away? Do I need a 12 step group?

2009-02-14T11:10:00.000-08:00

What we have here is a portion of quilting hoop that stretched it's last fabric sandwich. It was a cheap one, and it came apart in layers. I soaked some in the sink and formed this heart shape when wet. Don't know where it's going from here, but you'll be the first to see what comes of it

Another ring

2009-02-14T10:58:00.000-08:00

Here's a doorstop spring I found at the bus stop. A piece cut from it, polished up, with some wooden beads from the dollar store, and voila, a ring.

2009-02-14T03:23:00.001-08:00

Here's what became of the plastic beads from the aforementioned necklace. I made the rings by threading the beads on large sized plastic coated paper clips, then curling and twisting the clips. I tried some with smaller paper clips, and they did accept smaller beads, but the wire insides are flimsy, and I threw away a lot of my first tries. Too, I needed the larger clips to fit my sausage shaped fingers.

I made about 6 rings so far with lots of beads left, and that's from a dollar store necklace and paper clips, under $3. So another purchase well worth it.

What I do spend a few dollars on

2009-02-10T18:19:00.000-08:00

I still can't figure out how to put which pic where, so I'll start off topic. This is a valentine I made for my friend JJ, out of scraps most of which were 4 to 5 years old. I never throw anything away, bless my heart.

Sometimes I'll buy junk I want just for the fun of it, if it's under a dollar. Below, my Transformer watch for 75 cents, and the fake doorbell shocker for 99 cents. I laughed at the doorbell shocker for one entire day, and still giggle every time I spot it, so it was definitely a worthy purchase.

I mostly use what's on hand and given to me, but when I have a little extra cash, I head to the dollar store on the corner and see what I can find. Today I bought three bottle of nail polish, two packages of hair beads, a pair of earrings, and a bead necklace and earrings. That last will be separated for use in earrings, the pony beads I plan to make some kind of My Aim is True Elvis Costello thing (because the album background is tiny black and white squares, I always refer to this pattern as EC checkerboard), and I use the nail polish to paint frames, charms and whatnot. The big black heart earrings I wanted to actually wear, but they are the kind that make a lot of racket, so I can't. Those jangly earrings drive me mad. So they will be cannibalized for parts too.

Next time, what became of the plastic bead necklace.

Here's My Deal

2009-02-09T17:20:00.000-08:00

I've been making something out of nothing as long as I can remember, and that's a good thing; since 1999 I have been on a miniscule fixed income and art supplies are a long way down the list after important things like DSL and food. I am ever so lucky to have a dear friend who is downsizing, and lately she brings me loads of goodies to transform. Also havings so little ready cash has forced me into things like making my own shoe lifts--one leg is longer than the other--because the shoe shop charged $60 for one pair. And although I am not a shoe nut, I did want a few choices in footwear. So I learned how to do it myself with things like Shoe Goo, the bottoms of flip flops, epoxy, and in a pinch, hot glue.

Another example of making something out of nothing happened while I was a live-in Mother'a Helperfor a 6 children family. One of the younger boys, Ethan, wanted to made a dream catcher. I cut the center out of a margarine lid, poked holes around it, and strung embroidery thread every which way across it. Then we raided his sisters bead collection for decorations, and went to town. Ethan was very happy and always had sweet dreams.

So that's how I roll, making stuff wise.

Some of the 50 birthday cards

2009-02-09T10:39:00.000-08:00

Okay, my first something out of nothing to show is a portion of the 50 birthday cards I made for my ex's fiftieth birthday. I used mainly manilla folders, drawing paper and markers from the dollar store. Of course, I save everything, and I used up some cardboard and I did splurge on some colored card stock from a regular store, and I was given a gift of Avery half-fold cards and glossy photo paper on my birthday. It was a fun project, and I felt sad when it was done....