Advice please

I've done a lot of thinking lately and I've been considering opening my own etsy shop. 

Starting this blog for me was a huge step because I don't always have the confidence in myself that most people seem to have.  I have so many things that I've made piling up around here and they seem to be taking over.  My honey says I should consider selling them, but I'm just not sure I'm ready to take that leap yet. 

One of the questions I have would be, If I only have 31 followers here on my blog and I can't seem to keep people interested or get more followers what should I do differently?  I know that if I can't get the followers here on my blog (which would be one of my main sources for my etsy shop) how would I get enough sales in my shop to keep it open?  This is not meant to sound like a pity party, I just need some advice from those of you that have etsy shops or several followers on you blogs. 

Is there anything that you have done on your blog specifically that has increased the amount of people that your blog attracts?

What are you more interested in seeing on craft blogs that I may or may not have on here that I could improve?

I would appreciate any input on this.  Thank you so much in advance!!

Opinions please...

I need your opinions, I changed the header of my blog.  What do yall think?  Does it need to be changed again?  Does it look ok?  I'm planning on making some more changes to my blog, but I wanted to start with the header and let it lead the way. 

Rules are meant to be broken (right)

I'm finally back from my unwanted break.  Viruses all gone and all systems a-go. 

I've got several things that I can't wait to share with yall but first off I must ask a question.  Are there rules to creativity?  I mean I know that there are certain things that we learn to help for instance..... How to use a sewing machine, quilting techniques, how to cut using a rotary cutter , ways to paint, and in kindergarten we learn how to cut and paste.   I bet you're wondering where I'm going with all of this don't you?  Well what I'm getting at is this, is there really a proper way to be creative or can you just sew how ever you want to sew and create however you want to create?

The reason I'm asking is because I cut out a whole bunch of squares the other day from scrap pieces of material that were just taking up space and cluttering my entire craft area.  Tonight I started piecing the squares together to make my very first quilt (well I've made a rag quilt, but that was very easy to make and didn't involve any serious techniques).  As I was sewing them together I realized that some of them had gotten stuck in the machine while I was cutting them and they weren't all the same size......... So....... Not all the strips are the same size and some of them have more squares than others, but I'm loving it!!!  That's all that counts right?  Well as of right now I don't have any pictures to share because it's very dark in here and my camera and I aren't the best of friends right now (does anyone else's electronics ever seem to have a mind of their own?).  So since I don't have photos to share I thought I would show you some very lovely things I've found out in the great wide web.......enjoy!!!

(Source)  I would love to have this pillow!!! 

(Source) I love the whimsy-ness of these. (and yes if that wasn't a word before, it is now)

(Source) I want this for my wedding!!!

(Source) Oh I am in LOVE!!!

  Ok in case you didn't notice.... I  LOVE  me some burlap!!!  I just thought I would share some of these wonderful finds with yall!!  Enjoy and until next time............

Happy Crafting!!!

Busy days and computer viruses

Well for the next couple of days I probably won't be posting much because my computer got a horrible virus this weekend and I'm trying to get everything loaded back onto my computer.  People who create viruses should be prosecuted they are so horrible and they are so stressfull!! But anyways, I've also spent a big chunk of the weekend working on a few wedding projects for our up and coming nuptuals which I will be sharing in a few days when I can get back to blogging.   So until next time.........

Happy crafting!!

Sharing a few facts

I've noticed on a few of my favorite blogs they've been sharing a few facts about themselves here lately so I thought I would take this opportunity to do the same.  I think it's so interesting learning new things about other people and seeing how different we all can actually be.  Feel free to take part in this fact sharing adventure and I hope you enjoy reading my answers.  I can't promise I'm really all that interesting but I'll give it a try.

1. What time did you get up this morning? 7 a.m.  It would've been sooner but I convinced my youngest son to crawl into bed with me and snuggle.



2. How do you like your steak? As done as done can be!!  I should probably eat pink meat since I have an iron deficiency, but pink meat really grosses me out.



3. What was the last film you saw in the Cinema? Toy Story 3 for our sons birthdays



4. What is your favourite tv show? Hmmm...  this is a hard one I don't really get to watch my favorite shows unless the come on netflix or as a re-run.  But I would have to say The Closer, Criminal Minds and Dexter.



5. Where would you like to live if you could choose anywhere in the world? Somewhere green with mountains and lots of beautiful trees!!



6. What did you have for breakfast? Nothing, unless a cup of coffee counts.  I'm not a breakfast person, never have been.



7. What is your favourite cuisine? I love love love Pork Roast, Red beans and Corn bread and several casseroles



8. What food do you dislike? Anything textured like oatmeal, cream of wheat and bananas



9. Place to eat? Anywhere really.  We are a stay at home and eat type of family so anytime we go out to eat, it's my favorite.



10. Most annoying habit? Clinching my teeth together when I'm upset and grinding my teeth in my sleep.



11. you are....? Afraid of dentists.  That is why #10 is such an annoying habit!!



12. Favourite clothes? Comfy jeans and tank tops



13. Where would you visit if you had the chance? New York City!!  Oh I have dreamed for years of visiting NYC



14. Cup 1/2 empty or 1/2 full? I would have to say 1/2 empty



15. Where would you want to retire? Somewhere Green



16. Favourite time of day? From about 10 a.m til 2 a.m



17. Where were you born? A little po-dunk town in West Texas



18. What is your favourite sport to watch? Football anytime the Packers are playing



19. Bird Watcher? I'd say I'm more of a bird listener, I love to hear them chirp and sing their little songs but I'm not much for watching them and trying to figure out what kind of bird that was.



20. Morning person or night person? I love the sunshine but not too early in the day, but I would have to say I am definetly a night person



21. Do you have any pets? Not at the momment, the last pet we had was a smiling dog that my we named Bacon



22. What did you want to be when you were little? I had several dreams of what I wanted to be when I was little. A teacher, a high powered buisness woman and a nurse



23. What is your best childhood memory? This is a tough one, I would have to say right now since I've been thinking about my Grandma today it would have to be when I would go to her house and we would walk to the mexican restraunt close to her house to eat dinner.



24. Cat or dog person? I love them both.  Cats are so funny to play with and Dogs are so loyal



25. Married? By common law yes, but I will be married by God's law in May and I am so excited!!



26. Always wear your seat belt? I didn't use to, but now yes I do.  After the boys are strapped in I strap myself in before I even start the car.



27. Been in a car accident? Yes 2 or 3 acutally, but nothing to seriouse



28. Any pet peeves? I have several.  My 2 biggest are judgemental people and the way people park at gas pumps.  There are 2 pumps for a reason pick one and park by that one only!!



29. Favourite pizza topping? Sausage, mushroom, bell peppers and onions



30. Favourite flower? Pansies are my all time favorite, but I love all flowers.



31. Favourite ice cream? Butter Pecan just like my Grandpa



32. How many times did you fail your driving test? I actually didn't have to take a driving test.  I was taught by my dad and when I was 16 that was acceptable by Texas law as long as he filled out all of the paper work. 


33. From whom did you get your last email? My dad.  It was some very interesting info about the arthritis in my spine.



34. Do anything spontaneous lately? I'm not a very spontaneous person.  I use to be when I didn't have babies, but that's all gone now.


35. Like your job? Yes I love my job!!



36. Which store would you use to max out your credit card? I don't have a credit card, but I would blow all of my money in a thrift store, antique store or flea market.



37. Broccoli? I love broccoli and any vegetable for that matter.


38. Favourite vacation? I love going anywhere with my family, my dream vacation would be NYC of course



39. Last person you went out to dinner with? All 3 of my guys



40. What are you listening to right now? My 2 year old trying to get out of taking his nap


41. Favourite colour? Blue, Red, Beige and Black



42. How many tattoos do you have? Yes I have 11 tattoos


43. How many are you tagging for this quiz? No one, but feel free to jump in and participate


44. Coffee drinker? Yes, it is my kick in the butt every morning

45. Smoker? .Unfortanetly yes



46. Irritating habit? I cannot sit still durring a movie or show I have to be making something.  I think that it's more irritating for my honey than it is me though.

47. Guilty pleasure? Dr. Pepper and Chocolate


48. Frustrated...? My arthritis is very frustrating.  I'm 25 and I don't have to ability to do alot of things because of my back



49. Favourite game? I love playing games with my boys



50. Coast or inland? I'd love to visit the coast but I don't want to live on the coast.
 
I hope you enjoyed learning a little bit about me and if you decide to do this on your blog please let me know I would love to check it out.  I hope yall have a wonderful weekend!!!

Thrifty Thursday

Happy Thursday everyone!!!

How is the weather where you are today?  It's frigid here today (well considering the 80 degree weather we had yesterday) and windy.  This cold brisk weather didn't stop me from making my weekly trip to the thrift store it just caused me to add a few more layers to my outfit. 

I have been wanting to make another rag quilt since the first one I made a couple of months ago.  It was a lot of fun to put all of those prints together  and make a beautiful quilt.  I've been collecting vintage sheets for awhile now so I could start on my second quilt.  I'd like to say who it's for, but there's a chance she might see this and I don't want to ruin it so that will have to wait until later.  I've also been looking for sheets to make a quilt for a new family member we will be getting in the next couple of months.  My brother-in-law got married Dec. 31 and him and his new wife are expecting a baby so I'm so excited to have the opportunity to make my new niece or nephew a quilt.

Ok, now back to the wonderful treasures I found today at the thrift store, and to top it off all these great things were only $8.  I got 4 queen size vintage sheets, 1 full size vintage sheet, a beautiful vintage kings size pillow case and a lovely green knitted shrug.  Not bad huh?  Now on to a little show and tell............

This is the beautiful king size pillow case.  I love that green and the stripes and those pretty little flowers.

This is only one photo of all the really cute prints on this sheet.  I don't know if it's just mine or if it's blogger all together, but for days now blogger has been warping my photos and turning the opposite way.  So needless to say I can't show you the rest of this really cute sheet like I had planned.

There were 2 of these so I snatched them both up.  This photo doesn't do it justice, there are several shades of blue and a really pretty shade of lilac.

I love all the flowers and colors in this sheet.  Matter of fact these are all (can't say who's) favorite colors.

I love how the flowers on this one look like they've been painted with watercolors and they are also the same colors as the one above.  Perfect match!!

I'm very disappointed with this photo too!!  This is a more vibrant green in person, but you can see the great detail really well in this photo.  I can't wait to wear this out somewhere.

Well that about wraps it up for this Thrifty Thursday, what thrifty things have you found lately?

Happy Thrifting!!!

Reverse applique Denim coasters

These were made to fit in with Valentine decorations.  I don't usually decorate for any other holidays other than Halloween and Christmas, but I figured that since I'm trying to blog more this year I would try to get more into it. 

As a crafter I seem to have hoarding tendencies towards crafts supplies and scrap pieces of fabric (ah I finally admitted it).  Isn't that the first step to recovery?  Ha Ha anyways back to what I was saying.  So because of this I have plenty of pieces of denim laying around that are just waiting to be used.  I'm saving the larger pieces for a quilt later down the road, but I figured the smaller pieces would be great for projects like these. 

I love the way the denim looks when it's frayed on the edges so I just top stitched the two pieces together so that the edges would fray.  I used a darning foot for my sweing machine so that I could stitch around the hearts and write Love on the coasters. 

These were very simple to make and lots of fun.  I've made several more I just didn't manage to get photos of them.  So until next time........

Happy Crafting!!!!

Simple flower brooch with wrist warmers (mini tutorial)

These flowers are everywhere in my house right now so I have lots of things planned for them.  This is another project using them. 

These are wrist warmers made from the sleves of an old sweater.  The booches that are on them can be taken off and swithced out to match other outfits. 

I have started to love the color red !! I also love all shades of turquoise and aqua but there's just something about red.  Seeing it in the winter time seems to bring me out of the winter blues and brighten my day.  Does red effect any off yall that way?  Or do you have a certain color that just puts you in a better mood everytime you see it?

Oh and if you look at these photos very closely you can see some of my many rings that I was talking about in my last post.  And while I'm talking about my last post, I think these are something I will wear unlike all of the jewelry I've made.  I love them and as soon as I made them I just had to wear them.  They are so comfy and I think a big part of that is because they are made out of an old sweater. 

These brooches can be worn on the wrist warmers or on a sweater of shirt.  They could even be attatched to a headband.  This is a pretty simple project that only took me about 10 minutes to put together.  Below is a pretty simple step by step tutorial for these brooches.

Tutorial For the Brooch

1. Follow this tutorial to make the flowers

2. Cut about a 13" of lace and stitch a running stitch along the lace and pull the string to make a ruffle when you get the the end.

3. Tie a knot in the 2 ends of the string to make a circle.

4. Cut a small circle of felt to hot glue onto the back of the lace circle.

5. Cut a leaf shape out of a green colored piece of felt and hot glue wherever you want it on the top part of the
lace and then glue your flower ontop of the leaf.

6. You can use a safety pin or a brooch back on the circle piece of felt that you hot glued to the back of the lace.
If you are using a brooch back you can hot glue it, but if you're using a safety pin I suggest sewing it to the back of the felt.

I hope that this mini tutorial was detailed and simple enough.  If there are any questions please don't hesitate to ask and I will do my best to clear it up for you.  So until next time..........

Happy Crafting!!!

Simple flower bib necklace

This bib necklace is made out of these flowers that I showed you last night. 

I don't know if it's just me, or do these flowers look like poppies to you too?  I'm not wearing the best shirt to model this necklace in so please excuse that they don't compliment each other very well.

I found this photo via Google search

 I made so many of these flowers that I'm sure there will be several of these necklaces made in the next couple of days along with a few other projects.  I'm not much of a jewelry person other than my rings (I have a ring on almost every finger) so I'm not sure what I will do with all of these necklaces.  Do you ever see an accessory that you just love but isn't really your style?  Well it's nice to know that I'm not the only one.  I seem to have this problem quite a bit and because of this I have so many things that I've made that I love but I just don't wear.  My honey would probably love it if I would quit adding to my pile of loved and unworn jewelry. 

Well now that I've confessed and gotten you to confess too while I was at it ( ahhh I feel so much better now) I guess I will call it quits for the day.  So until next time.........

Happy Crafting!!!

Simple flowers and a mini tutorial

I'm sure most of you have seen these flowers all over blog land, but I had to try my hand at making them.  They turned out perfect and I love them!!  Not to mention how easy they were to make.  I have lots of plans for these in the future.  I can't wait to show you what I come up with!! 

Oh and if you haven't seen these or have and don't remember how they are made.  This is a simple process that I can explain for you.

1.  Gather your materials.  (silk material or material similar, I found that different types of material work the same way, but be very careful some will just catch on fire instead of melting the edges. Candle, needle nose pliers to hold onto the material so that you don't burn your hands, string and buttons)

2.  You are going to cut your material into different size circles.  You can use as many as you like and layer as many as you like.

3. With your pliers you are going to run the edges of the circles through the candle flame so that they melt.  You can also run different parts of the circles through the flame to make different effects to the petals.

4. Layer your petals and add your buttons with the string.  Then you can apply these flowers to pretty much anything you can think of.

So until next time.........
Happy Crafting!!!

Monogrammed Magazine coasters

YAY it's Friday!!! 

I was given a bunch of magazine's back when I was making Christmas trees out of magazines for a craft show, and needless to say I was given more than I could use at the time.  So I've been doing a lot of thinking and crafting to come up with things I could make out of all these extra magazines.

One of the projects I came up with were up cycled monogrammed magazine coasters.  These two that are in the photograph are covered in iron on vinyl to protect them so that they will last longer.  I felt like I was making ransom notes when I was cutting all the different letters out of the magazines.  These were very simple to make and didn't take much time at all.  It is so wonderful to know that I helped by not cluttering up the dump ground with more trash that could be used for something else!!

I will be posting a few more things that I've used these magazines for in the future so keep checking back for more posts.  So until next time........

Happy Crafting!!!

Thrifty Thursday

I haven't posted a Thrifty Thursday post in quite sometime and it hasn't been becaues of a lack of finds I just haven't taken enough photos lately.  BUT this is not the case today!!  I may have only taken one photo but it was well worth it.  I did find many things and what was great about it was I only spent $5.25 because our local thrift store has had a half off sale for the past two weeks.  I found a really great sheet set that has owls all over it (I am head over heals for owls here lately), 4 vintage pillow cases, a cloche, 2 very nice 100% wool jackets (that I will be felting later), a very nice shirt for my honey, 18 different sized mirrors ( the largest is about 10" round and the smallest is about 2" round), lots of scrap fabric and this wonderful embroidered bear that is in a lovely green frame!!!

Look at all the beautiful hand embroidery and all those beautiful colors!!  Oh and I forgot to mention he was actually free!!!  Yes free!!  They have a free section where they put things that they don't think they can sale and the put a small X on the back of the item so they know that it's from the free section.  Oh how I love him it makes me so happy just looking at him. 

I've been contemplating opening an etsy shop to sale some of my homemade things and some of my vintage thrifted finds.  I would truly hate to part with this beautiful bear, but if I can't find a place for him he may be one of the first items in my shop.

 I've got lots of things planned I have been crafting like crazy and have alot of things set up to photograph tomorrow so there will be plenty of posts to read soon.  So until next time.........

Happy Crafting!!!

Kanzashi style flowers

I've been working on a few things the past couple of days and I wanted to share the kanzashi flower brooches I made.  I plan on making some hair baretts out of them too and I was even thinking of making one into a vintage style hair piece to wear in my wedding.  I've made several things the past couple of days, but I'm saving them for later posts so I will have plenty of things to share.

So until next time........
Happy Crafting!!!

Security Envelopes

I love to recycle security envelopes because the inside of them is so pretty and there are so many cool things that you can do with them.  I was checking out some blogs I like to read and was going through some of their projects and I came acorss these security envelope napkin rings.  They are so cool I love them!!!  You should check out all of the other cool stuff she's made she's very talented!!

I hope yall had a great weekend!!  Until next time.....
Happy Crafting!!!

Your Ideas!!!

The idea of this post is for yall to help me come up with a crafty way to use all these things without having to throw them away. I will choose 1 or more of your ideas, make something and post some photos of the finished product and the process of how it was put together.  Is anyone interested?

These are the materials.
1. Denim
2. Cereal Box
3. Scrap Fabric
4. Tuna fish can
5. Floral wire
6. Magazine

I have all types of adhesive and a sewing machine, so anything you can think of I'm sure I can put together.
I can't wait to hear your ideas!!!

Happy Crafting!!!

Help please!!

Ok, does anyone see the annoying shadow that borders my posts and my gadgets on my sidebar?  I got rid of the borders and changed the beveling to transparent aswell, but it doesn't seem to be working.  Does anyone have any suggestions on how to get rid of those shadows?

I would also like some advice on my header, I would like to change it but I don't have any ideas on how to make it look nicer.  Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.  Thank you in advance!!

Denim bracelet

This was a quick throw together project that I did last night it took me maybe 20 minutes all together.  This was more of a way to get me back into sewing.  I haven't sewn anything in over a month and my machine was crying out for some attention.  All I used were things that I had on hand, scrap pieces of denim from an old skirt and leather samples I got for free from a garage sale.  This is a 100% upcycle project.  I'm not much of a bracelet person so this one will probably go to my oldest niece.  I plan on making a few more so I will come up with a tutorial in the near future incase anyone is interested.  I hope everyone is haveing a great Wednesday and I hope the rest of you week is even better.

So sorry for the horrible photos, I was having to shoot one handed so they didn't turn out as clear as they should have.  So until next time.......
Happy Crafting!!!

Vintage Sheet rag quilt

This is the first quilt I've ever made.  I have to say I am very proud of it considering it was a spur of the momment idea.  It's made completly out of thrift store vintage sheets and vintage aprons that belonged to my grandmother.  I finished the quilt around the 1st of December but I'm just now getting around to blogging about it.  I hope yall like it, I plan on making more quilts in the future maybe some more complicated ones considering this one was pretty easy.

Happy Crafting!!!!

Thank you Ladies!!

I really appreciate the kind words and the boost of confidence!!  I did alot of thinking last night and thought of a few things that I should do to my blog so I hope that with in the next couple of months I get them all done and can get a few more followers and a few more comments on my blog.  In the process of all of the thinking, I realized that I haven't been commenting nearly enough on the blogs that I follow either.  While realizing this it also dawned on me that if I feel this way I'm sure there are a few other people out there that feel the same way so not only am I going to work on my blog but I'm also going to start commenting on other people's blogs aswell.  

Last month was a very tough month for me because for 1 I've never had much Christmas spirit (it is not my favorite holiday), but I try my best because of my boys and I know how excited they get about it. My second reason is because of the loss of my cousin.  I didn't go into much detail before about how he passed away, but I feel like I need to so that I can start to move on.  He passed away on the 7th of December.  He was 27 years old and was more of a brother to me than a cousin.  He took his own life and this has left many unanswered questions and many unsaid things.  I hope that no one ever has to experience this type of tradgety, but if you do or if you have my heart and prayers go out to you because I know how horrible this is to accept.

I know this post is a little on the depressing side, but I promise to post happier more up beat things in the future!!  Just stick with me please as I work to improve my blog this year!!!

I love you J more than words can ever express and I miss you more than anyone will ever know, but you will live on in my memories and in my heart forever!!!     ‎"Death leaves a heartache no one can heal, love leaves a memory no one can steal."

Anyone out there?

This is my first post for 2011.  I'd like to say that I'm excited to start a new year, but I'm really not.

2010 started great but ended pretty tragicly.  My family and I found a new home, bought a new (to us) vehicle, I started this blog and I lost my cousin tragicly.  This blog doesn't seem to be very popular so I'm going to try to keep it going in the new year but there are no promises being made.  It is very discouraging to keep at something that doesn't seem to be interesting to anyone other than me.  So we'll see what happens this year.