Some crafting and an Etsy update

I finally posted some new things in the shop and I thought I would give you a peek here too. This is my newest growth folio with an owl theme (and MUSHROOMS!)... I am totally loving it. The owls were suggested by a friend who is interested in having a chart made, she was telling me how she is planning to decorate her daughters room (they are moving soon) and I loved the idea so I went ahead with it... and of course added a little more. Why didn't I think of doing owls sooner?! The chart is loosely based on the pottery barn kids Brooke bedding.
So while Mum was busy making me the skirt I was commissioned to decorate some onesies for Kara whose shower Mum missed because she was visiting me. I had such a blast with this I listed the designs in the shop.

This one by far is my favorite! I almost didn't let her take it ... but since I can make another I figured I would be nice!

This is ubers favorite and I also LOVE this one. They're barrel of monkeys!

A silhouette of a black-handed spider monkey...I know totally obvious right?

and lastly a rhino... wouldn't a very small one of these be SOOO cute as a house pet?

I just went and looked at all the onesies you guys made and they are SO cute... though I am confused by the octagon one?!? Anyone want to explain? What a lovely and thoughtful bunch of gifts! I love seeing baby showers with handmade items. The nursery is great!

Art Walk and the Beach

Saturday we went to check out one of the Art Walks that goes on in Jacksonville. I have heard about quite a few but they all seem to go on at inconvenient times (for me). This one is newer and is on Saturday which fits into my schedule!


It's held under one of the large bridges downtown on the river. In the area right on the water they have a stage and terraced seating. It's a fantastic setup which is saying a lot because that just doesn't seem to happen around these parts! Also if you are wondering you can't hear the traffic above.

Along with the art vendors they have a small farmers market, which was pretty nice by our standards. The cantaloupes were from Florida and scrumptious!

REAL fresh bread- YUM! (yes as opposed to the fake kind...)

Florida didn't disappoint and provided us a short torrential down pour for our afternoon... we took advantage and ate pulled pork and french fries and while listening to the music

Here's the view.

There were a couple of really neat vendors there that I might have to stop back by (Ubers groaning!)

Monday we FINALLY got out to the beach. I like to spend my time catching animals and making who ever is with me take pictures...

This guy was funny he REALLY wanted that fish... we were getting in his way

I don't know what this is exactly but it was squishy!

Mum takes great pictures doesn't she?

Yawning life guard

Searching for pretty shells and sharks teeth... We love to search for teeth I will show you our haul later!

Mum is so cute!

This pictures make me laugh every time. 'nough said.

Monday evening we went went out to dinner with some friends at the beach.

I would just like to show you that my Mum abuses me...and I have evidence

Okay well maybe it is because I did this to her....

This is the only one that turned out of us (me) not goofing off.

Uber and me... this could be a cute picture...

Are we sensing a theme?

Yeah, I'm not either.

Here's the only decent shot... and he doesn't like it. Ah well.

So my goal is to stop making so many faces when the camera is pointed at me... : (
Also note for all of you wanting to know what crafts we were up to. The skirt I am wearing is one Mum made for me. The pattern is the wrap skirt from Weekend Sewing by Heather Ross and the fabric is Art Gallery Fabric by Patricia Bravo, French Riviera Collection and I love love love the fabric. I am sure Mum will give you more of the specifics as to her changes to the pattern since she is the one who sewed it. All I have to say is I LOVE IT! It is very comfortable! She made one too so check back and eventually I will get to pictures of that!

We interupt your reguraly scheduled programing to bring you this important weather alert

Uber took this video out of his office window... lovely huh?

I'll be back tomorrow!

So I'm a little behind...

We had a fantastic time with my parents! They aren't quite done with their vacation but I left them yesterday in NC with my grandparents and headed back home. I am trying very hard not to be totally bummed out!

So mums and my posts are going to overlap since we've been doing the same things so I am just going to try to use different pictures.... or at least I hope I do.

We took them out Gigging the Friday night after they got here. Basically you get to stab flounder from a boat. Awesome right? We met the boat at the dock at sunset.

These little crabs are everywhere and there are a TON of them. They are so small that I thought they were spiders at first .... I was very happy to see that they weren't!

Here's the boat and Captain Mac, as Mum said on her post he was a very nice and informative guy.

Some quick posing for the camera on the way out

I can't believe we hadn't seen each other for a year and a half!

So for my take on the gigging I was prepared to be totally stoked and was rather disappointed. This activity was recommended to us by Ubers boss who had a blast going out with his family and they caught a bunch, so my expectations were very high. Unfortunately for us the fish seemed to be hiding the night we were out. Which was a real bummer since I was planning on having a freezer full. I definitely enjoyed the experience though and of course the company was fantastic. I am glad that we did it, but I think if I am going to pay to charter a boat again I will stick with deep sea fishing. For close to the same price the trip is longer, there are more fish and the fish are MUCH larger... plus it is during the day and you can work on your tan...

Here's us with a fish. This is one that the captain caught.

And for the fun of it I will leave you with a video of me tormenting my mum.... we thought he was taking pictures at first... as far as the clip don't ask why I don't know... I'm wierd and she's fun to bug.

Quick hello

ST Designs on Etsy featured me on her treasury she is from Tel Aviv and also does pillows. Go check it out if we get enough hits we can get it on the front page!

http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=65548

We are having a blast here with Mum and Dad I will be back next week some time.

Instead of getting things done....

I have been goofing off with my pen tablet the last few nights instead of getting anything done on my VERY long to do list....I'm sure Mum and Dad won't mind if my house isn't clean... ahem...

Anyway I thought I would show you some sneak peaks of what I am working on... I tried to kind of protect it so please excuse the words behind the pictures.

The first three are scroll work that is painted in the Casa Monica Hotel in St Augustine I have been wanting to do something with it since I first saw it... of course I was just thinking I could use it in my house... I never thought I would be able to turn it into a graphic.

I made this one up as one of two options for the invites, the other won... I don't think this one will go to waste though.

The more I look around at people who do the invites and letter press...and most all design... the more I am realizing that most people take a lot of their images from old books and architecture. I guess I need to find some old books!

Randomness and a few completed projects

I walked downstairs yesterday evening to see this. The lamp is not on, the sun coming through the kitchen window hit it just right it was gorgeous (far more colorful in person) and only lasted about two minutes... I hope it does it again!

So I got this idea a few Sundays ago when we were having the crazy storms and have been slowly working on it since when ever the weather agreed. I don't have a lot of jewelry and most of it I don't wear often. I love it all but mainly I have a few pieces that I wear constantly and the rest I just store in various jewelry boxes that never seem to have enough room. After untangling my necklaces for the hundredth time I came up with this idea.... I don't think I have ever seen anything like this out there before. But I am sure someone else has probably done it already. I searched the craft stores and came up with what I was looking for at Michael's ... of course in a terrible color. It is a front opening collectors cabinet it was on sale so it ran about $25. Here it is in pieces-

I didn't like the light wood color so I sanded it down and spray painted it in a semi gloss white. This took two cans... very annoying they really should have more paint then that in a can at $8 a pop...

I had a very clear image of how this was supposed to look and I wanted to use these hooks I searched everywhere for them and finally located them at Office Max... of course they don't carry them in store and they wanted $8 for shipping which I thought that was outrageous so I bought 16 gauge wire, pulled out my thing-a-ma-jig and made them myself... here's a quick example in case you want to make some:

I think they turned out pretty well....and they want $2 for 6 I made 13 for roughly $2.50

This is the backing for the collectors cabinet which I recovered in a pretty natural linen. Then I slid in all of the hooks spacing them out for various items I knew I would want to hang.

Here it is all put back together.

I tucked it away behind the door so people shouldn't really be seeing it... which is perfect. It's on my side of the bed though so I get to see it everyday and it makes me smile

A lot of this stuff I haven't worn in years and is just for sentimental value. My mums charm bracelet, my class pendant, a necklace my grandma gave me when I was maybe 6... and other things like that

My OCD tendency's are very obvious here. Everything has it's place.

Oh I also stuck broaches right into the board - I can't tell you how long I have been looking for a way to display these! I just love looking at them they are so sparkly. Joan and Mum should recognize them. They each gave me one of them when I was 9 I think? I don't know why they did I don't remember it being a special occasion or anything but I just remember feeling really special and loving them. I have no idea how I have held on to them for this long, a lot of my stuff disappeared during moves.

The invites came in! Kodak said to estimate 5 days printing 5 days shipping. They were printed the day after I ordered them and we got them in the mail just a few days later, less than a week for the turn around! Love that!

I think they turned out pretty awesome... even if I do say so myself. I've had wonderful feedback so far. Judy (who they were made for) about fell out. She said 'She didn't like them, she LOOOOVVVVEEEEDDDDD them!' (said with southern accent) And then I got a very long hug. Really you can't get better feedback then that I am thrilled. Now I just wish I could find people that want to pay me and that I would feel comfortable charging (just to note I was offered payment for my time on these but Linda and her family are incredibly good to Uber and I so I only do things for her if she accepts them as a gift)

My photos are lame sorry about that but I wasn't really sure how to photograph it.

More swaroski bracelet's for Ubers Mom (I've created a monster) She mailed me these beads so I could string them up for her. I am mailing them back to her tomorrow.

So I have been contemplating selling graphics that people can buy and then use to print up their own invites at home. I dont really want to go in the scrapbooking direction I am more into invites and party things. I have seen some people doing this - any feedback from you guys?? I would love your thoughts/suggestions!

Well I hope you all enjoyed my rambling! Not sure what I am going to have to show you next.... Ive got a million things started and not much even close to finished.