Get Crafty

More snow fell today. We have so much up north here in the Great Lakes region it is hard to tell how much was added to the mess. I am so tired of being cooped up, tired of cold bones. I have been surrounded by papers. Ugh, tax season...goes so well with cold and grey.


I did manage to get some of my "to-do's" done this weekend (some started last weekend). One of the big ones was to finish my Valentine Swap project. I need to make 5 handmade Valentines using thrifted and/or items around the house. I thought this would be easy seeing I am a "hoarder", but the project turned out to be challenging. This is mainly due to my unpracticed craft skills. I haven't had time to be arty nor crafty in many months (maybe even years!


OK, if you are swapping with me (I have no idea if you read this blog), stop here if you want to be surprised. The photos will follow the text to hide them from eyes which do not wish to see. I am putting them up here for advice (but respond quickly because they need to go out Monday!)
The items I used are almost all thrifted (the exception is some scrapbooking elements I had from a project I did in 2009). Even the thread was thrifted (and the sewing machine I used was a display model I bought over a year ago and have never used).

Originally, I planned to make something like these organic fabric beauties. I love how each one is unique and imperfect (like the crafter says: just like the human heart). I found my stash of vintage quilt blocks and scraps and quickly sewed up 5 hearts. I then glued old music sheets to some postcards I found in a dumpster (old, but not cool vintage). I sewed a heart onto each postcard. This is where I lost my confidence. I am a horrible sewer and one of the hearts turned out horribly. I didn't have time to redo it (I had planned on finishing them in KY and mailing them last week, but travel got in the way as usual).

Later in the week I was surfing the 'net and found these cute things that I now cannot find the link to show you. Picture little handmade Valentine people with vintage photograph faces. I thought about scrapping my fabric heart cards and making something similar inspired by this art. However, I just couldn't let the heartcards go. I came home and looked around my junk. I found some extra vintage baby photos I had from the same scrapbooking project aforementioned (a cookbook/scrapbook for my MIL a couple of holidays ago). All of sudden I knew what to do!

Now I am not saying these are great. I know they are lacking something (and I may never get to participate in another swap! ;) However, I like them a little and hope they are not too amateurish for the other participants (fortunately we are swapping to five total not just one or otherwise I would feel really sorry for my partner!) The best part, if the recipient dislikes it, she can tear it apart and use the elements in other projects! Do you have any suggestions on how I can improve it? It is definitely rough looking! The funny thing is the one I sewed all wonky turned out to be my favorite of the five (the one with the baby with the red heart on his chest).

I hope to be more arty/crafty again. I used to be years ago and over time just lost the priority to be crafty and play. I love paper arts especially and made several collages and mixed media works at one time or other in the past. I miss it! I also collect paper ephemera and have boxes of items to be used as such.

Maybe participating in this Valentine Swap was just the spark I needed!

(Forgive the glare on some of the photos...)

Thrift Share Monday: Blizzardy

It is Monday again already? Do you ever feel like your life is just flashing by and the weeks just seem to blur together? I have no idea where the last 15 or so years have gone, so you can imagine how this may feel on a smaller week-by-week basis!

Spouse and I ventured into a thrift on Sunday while kids were at the circus with grandma. DH found a catcher's mitt and I found the trims and photo album. I almost bought a sweater too, but ended up putting it back. I have not even scrounged together my thirty items for this challenge. The point for me in doing this challenge is to see if I actually will wear some of the clothing I have thrifted in the past year. If I don't wear it, out it goes and I will stop buying that sort of thing while out (e.g. maybe I like it, but it looks hideous on me! Thrift Confess Time: I have been scolded by thrift store staff for trying to take my cart into the dressing room. I am afraid my items will be taken while trying on clothing so I rarely try items on unless I can put them over my t-shirt or pants. Sad, huh?) I did find a great thrift store in Detroit area full of wonderful clothing items. I ended up with a full cart, but in the end put most of it back (I did bring home three cute blazers, a couple of vintage slips, and two pairs of shoes).

I am also trying to be a bit more choosy when it comes to knick knacks. I took that jerk's "hoarders" comment to heart (as my friend told me and she also said to stop caring...!), but I really do need to make a rhyme or reason to all these items I thrift. I have gone through this before having been a thrifter since my high school days. I have purged, re-collected, purged, re-collected many times over. My style is always "early American garage sale" and it tends to lean a bit on the cluttery side. Of course, the judgement was thrown on a dumpy apartment I really just use to eat and sleep when in KY. Believe me when I say it is no palace, but it could stand to be a little more "pulled together". I am also not a reseller (at least not yet), so my clutter is simply a collection of items I like. Case-in-point: I love animals and have a fondness for beastly figurines. My collections range from birds to woodland creatures to domesticated beauties. I have been collecting animal planters since the '80's (and have actually pared that collection down over the years). For this Thrift Share Monday, I'll give you a sampling of recent $0.50 to $1 bird oriented finds (plus two CDs, a small brandy glass I use to make terrariums, and two cherub candle holders for a future project-all found in Detroit). The owl is a bank.

I love to thrift and it takes all I have not to go into the many I pass in the course of my day (almost stopped today, in fact). I have a self-made pact that I need to sort, theme and purge my stuff before bringing in much more. I have been achieving this a bit in the main house, but I still have a long road to travel!

Check out Apron Thrift Girl and Her Library Adventures for a collection of fun thrifty discoveries.