So frustrated!!

I know I said that I hurt my arm--I am in a large brace now, and I think I am slowly getting better. Slowly being the bad word here----------my crafting is very limited, so I am climbing the walls with nothing to do---well, I do have schoolwork, bit besides that....I love to sit and watch TV while working on a craft, and that is very hard now...besides all of the other frustrations, like getting dressed and needed help for two-handed things, this is the worst by far!

Even when I'm better, it may be awhile before I can do what I was doing before, so I will have to put my dresses on hold for a while.  I want to start adding some project instructions on here as well--I have always wanted to write a craft book, but it never seems to be the right time, so maybe this will be the best outlet to get it out in!

ouch---I'm hurt!

I hurt myself! I was helping my mom move some stuff, and now I have a very bad case of tendonitis, which has all but stopped my crafting and restricted my typing......so I will be down for at least another 2 weeks until things can get back to normal for me...also, I have created an account on Storeenvy, a social shopping site so check me out there!

Busy, busy, busy....

These past couple of weeks have been very busy for me at school. I have 5 classes this semester--4 is considered a full load. This week, I have had 2 tests, a presentation, and a paper to work on that is due tomorrow.

I have also been sewing a few of my little girls dresses---I have made a few cute ones, and I hope to get some pictures up tonight or tomorrow--I still want to make ACEO's, but I like the dress idea too...I might add some little purses and crochet hats to the mix after this semester is over.

A new direction--I hope it works!

Ideas for things come from the strangest places! I admit that I watch "Toddlers and Tiaras." I think that show is funny--the pageant moms are too much! Anyhow, I noticed how at the end of the pageant, the girls would wear a cute, but not "pageant-y" dress for when they get their crowns. And I thought, "Hey, I can make a cute skirt or dress like that---frilly, cute but not over the top. Then, I can sell them!" So, I started looking at dress styles, and decided on the pillowcase dress, and with a few ruffles, flowers and pieces of lace, I think I can make some truly cute dresses. I am making my first one this weekend, and giving it to my friends' daughter, so I will have a pic of it up this weekend. I may add some skirts, if I can create a good pattern---I like tutus, but there are soooo many of them on Etsy!

San Francisco---I love you!

After a budgetted trip to L.A., my daughter and I took a weekend trip to San Francisco, CA this Labor Day weekend.  Besides the trip to Fisherman's Wharf to see Boudin's sourdough factory (the food was delicious!), and the Aquarium of the Bay, we also went to the Musee Mechanique, which we saw on a map of Fisherman's Wharf. This is a museum of beach-front attractions and old and more-recent arcade games.  We used a few quarters to play Skee-Ball, watch penny-arcade flip picture movies and a French execution (very interesting!), and I also got to play my favorite arcade game, Centipede, and got my initials up--twice! We went to Japantown, and shopped at my favorite store, Ichiban Kan, which sells all sorts of Japanese home goods, stationary, and general fun stuff including supplies for making bento lunch boxes---guess what's for lunch now?! Besides some lunch-toting items, I also got a couple of craft punches, including a little bow I have been looking for. Most of their items are in the dollar range. There was also a new store there called Daiso, which sells everything (unless marked!) for $1.50!! They have lots of craft items, so I got some cute paper punches, coin purse supplies, and a book of how to make some cute stuff----yes, its all in Japanese, but Japanese craft books are great, because they use lots of illustrations. Japantown is always a stop on our SF itinerary, but I know I will totally go back to Daiso!

In sad news, one of the rubber stamp stores I had visited in Fairfield had closed--I hate when a place is still advertised in a magazine, but its already closed its doors. We have a store like that here in Reno---its changed ownership twice, and changed its name but its still listed as the old store in a magazine. I also stopped at The Stamp Art Shoppe, a cool rubber stamping store in Roseville; its small, but full of great stuff.

So now I have some great stuff to work with, and work on! Although I wanted to do just ATC's, I really would like to go back to making my coin purses. That trip to Daiso has really inspired me, and I hope to have some cute ones online soon! I'm also in love with little pincushions, so I have been entertaining that idea as well.

Feeling Artsy....Denied!

Well, I have been looking forward to heading back down to my hometown of Los Angeles, CA for the past few weeks....well, not exactly looking forward, since we have some family business to attend to, but we were also going to do a little craft shopping.  L.A. is such a great place to go craft-shopping, since there is a wonderful variety--much more than I can find here in Reno. I was expecting to get some money, but of course, I forgot to click this and that, so now that money is delayed, and I won't have it, at best, until Friday. Boo-hoo! We are still going down there, due to a family obligation, but I won't have much extra money for my shopping. I told my daughter I would make it up to her, and take her to San Francisco for Labor Day.

I have had some things in mind that I wanted to make---a few purses, and lots of items for ATC's and ACEO's. I also have some new ideas--maybe some patterns and projects you could download here.  For many things, I would rather create the pattern and directions than the actual projects to sell.

Foiled!!! Oh, and a zine....

So, I went to the final closing day of a Ben Franklin's craft store in Sparks this morning. There is another Ben Franklin's in town, but they have different owners, so a lot of the merchandise is different. We went on Thursday,and they had merchandise at 80% off--wow, what a discount! And, there was still quite a bit of stuff left. But today, they said if you paid $5 for a bag, you could fill it with whatever would fit, and you could buy more than one bag. They opened at 9, and I wanted to get there early, but didn't get up on time, and we got there around 10. Well---------in the parking lot, there was a lady going to her car with about 5 bags in a cart, and we were hopeful, until we saw the CLOSED sign on the door. The man at the door said everything was gone, save a few packets of quilting patterns, some prints to hang on the wall, and a few bits of Christmas-looking stuff. Ack! We missed the entire thing!! Later, at the fabric store next door, we heard that there was a mob there at 9 and they cleaned everything else out.

Oh well...in about a week, we are headed down to L.A. and I can get my craft store thing on there....

In other news, I have been busy designing a zine to give out with my Etsy orders. Soon, soon, I will be adding ACEOs to Etsy.....

New Blog!

So here I am, just created a new blog here on Blogspot! OK, well, its not new---I had one before, but I only used it about 5 times, so I'm making a new one now. I hope to chronicle some of my crafty adventures, and add a few things about me and what's going on in my life. I will also be adding lots of pictures of my work too.


The latest thing that is going on, is that I had an appointment with my adviser today at UNR to change my major. As a Secondary Education major, you pick a concentration, and mine was Art. I started thinking about it more, and have a friend that's a music major, who has been struggling to find a job---I didn't want to go to school for all of this time, and not be able to find a job. So I decided to change it from Art to English--English was already my minor. My adviser asked if I wanted to add ESL as an endorsement, and I quickly agreed. So that means I will be able find a job teaching English and teaching English to those that don't know English. I made Art my minor, and if I finish that, I can add that as a class I can teach, but I'll just work on the English and ESL for now. I enjoy reading, but I like writing even better, so English will be fun for me to teach---but not as fun as art.....I am scheduled to graduate in Spring of 2013!! Esh......soooo far away!

I have also decided to stop selling jewelry on Etsy--there are sooo many people selling it, my pieces are just lost! I wanted to sell ACEOs---which means Artist Cards, Editions and Originals---basically, they are ATCs for sale. I want to have a mix of hand-drawn, collage/mixed media, and fabric cards for sale. I also want to offer paper packs, since I have some great old books that are perfect for use by other artists. I will be dropping my Artfire account, since they will no longer be offering their free account, and I'm not willing to pay for an account where I won't be selling a lot of stuff.