Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Bracelets for Everyone!

I am fascinated by hands.  Just think of all the things you can do with them.  Right now I am using my hands to communicate with all of you through this blog post.  I use my hands to make jewelry, to crochet and to turn fabric into different things.  I use my hands when caring for my children or to hold their hand as we walk.  Hands are useful in so many ways.  A simple handshake can make a deal, a hand on a shoulder can show you care.

Another thing I like are bracelets.  I've always liked the way that bracelets look on people.  Whether it's a simple chain around a wrist or a wide piece of leather (faux for me please).  I think everyone should wear a bracelet, or a watch if you prefer.   I love for people to wear bracelets so much that when you spend $20 with eSpecially You.  you get a free one!  If I could, I would make a bracelet for everyone.

 This is a bracelet I made yesterday.  It is a mens bracelet, the length is just under 8"  For a claps I used two large lobster clasps.








Another bracelet I made yesterday was this mens bracelet.  This one is on stretch cording.  This one is 8"


The Following can be purchased here: Piled Up Pre Mades








Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Cold, warm, cold, warm, cold... warm?

Well, I suppose we can say that spring has officially arrived.  Sadly, spring seems to sneak out for a bit on the weekends.  Yes, it could be colder but...  I enjoy a week of 70+ degree weather only to find myself oh so cold when the temperature hits a high of mid 50's on the weekend!  We do all our best outside work on the weekends, why so cold?

So, it's a lovely day today, temperature creeping up towards mid 70's today which is awesome.  But guess where I am?  That's right, on my cozy couch corner writing to you.  I should be outside but I've blogged out there and it wasn't very easy.  The glare on the screen was blinding and it was just too nice to focus.  So here I am, sipping a Detox Drink (not too bad), baking bread and writing this post.  I can hear both Angry Birds and some other game in the background along with some road work.   Oh the glorious sounds of modern life, te he.

What am I working on this week?

Well... nothing, really.  I started to work on a monkey for my son but didn't make it any further than the head.  No motivation to work on it.  I'll get back to it, I promise.  Then I made a crochet friendship bracelet which, in my opinion, has a bit of a tie dye look to it.   I haven't made any jewelry lately other than that friendship bracelet.  I love making jewelry but my pre-made box is seriously a mess and I hate to add to it.  Want to buy a necklace?

Oh dear...
I think I broke the bread...
So while mixing bread, blogging and scrolling through Facebook I seemed to have let the bread mix too long.  So I added extra flour like normal but that didn't seem to go well because apparently it was too much.  The kids loaf of bread weighs a ton, hopefully it still turns out.  That's not the worst of it... I add sunflower seeds to the second loaf of bread, which I did... but it was still so tough so I added water, just a little (errr... a lot-ish) which made it super wet and gross so I tried to remedy that with some soy flour which turned it into something gross.  It's in the oven, lets hope I didn't ruin two loaves of bread or I may cry, seriously.

Here are a few pictures of some stuff I've made over the last week.
An "L" pillow (requested by my kiddo)

A shopping tote, because I love this fabric :-)

A lumpy elephant.  I don't love him.  Would you like him?

And I'd like to end with my current Facebook status:

So many people are worried about our children and their future. 
What we need to do is raise better children. Don't raise them to be harder or tougher. Raise them to love, to have empathy, kindness and heart.
If you want a better world, start at home.

*be the change you wish to see in the world - Gandhi*

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Sunshine and Beating Autism!

Good Morning!
I'm writing this from my deck :-)
The glare is beyond ridiculous, more like a mirror at this point but I'm not going to let that stop me.  Today is GORGEOUS!  Sunny skies (okay, a little cloudy), slight breeze and WARM!
Can you tell I'm excited???

On to some Autism talk.
Autism is a developmental disorder that appears in the first 3 years of life, and affects the brain's normal development of social and communication skills.  
Thank You, wikipedia.

Each year, for the past few years, I have been making simple beaded bracelets to help raise money for autism research.  One hundred percent of the money made from these bracelets goes to Beading to Beat Autism.
Beading to Beat Autism was started by a little girl living in Louisville, KY.  Her brother has autism and she wanted to help.  So with just a little bit of money she started making bracelets.  This grew into such a large thing.  So many people are helping her raise money!  That's where I got started.  I signed up for a kit, so that I could make bracelets too.  And after the 30 days was up I decided to keep going.  I'm still going.  I sell them year round but really talk about it during April.  These are just simple bracelets made on stretch cord.  Occasionally I'll add other beads to them also.  With a donation of just $3 you'll receive a bracelet as a reminder of your help.


Let me know if you'd like to help out by making a donation to Beading to Beat Autism!  

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

It's Wednesday!

Back to school!
My oldest headed back to school this morning.  He's been off since last Thursday for Spring break.  It was nice to see him go.  Oh, how mean did that sound?  I'm just glad he's getting out of the house and will be back to learning.  He's so smart!  Plus, he'll get to see his friends.  Hopefully they are all there, no sickies!?!

So I'm still working on this Care Bear but the good news is, I have lots of pieces now.  A head, main body, 2 arms and 2 legs.  I haven't pieced it together yet but soon, soon!  I think I may actually hit my goal of finishing this thing by Friday!  YAY!

In the mail today I'll be getting some fabric scraps from Butterbeans&Chicpeas! I always miss her scrap packs that she posts so last time I saw some I bought two!  I have no idea what I'll do with them.  Last time I made some bunnies.  Do you remember the Snuggy Bunnies?  I'm considering some Snuggy Bears, what do you think?

Oh and here... it's me on this lovely (yet still cold) Wednesday morning.
I swear this looks like a repeat from another Wednesday.  This tells me I need to go shopping! HA!
On the top: off white tank and long sleeve orange shirt (Target)
On the Bottom: Best jeans ever, WallFlower jeans (amazon.com)

I need a hair cut.  It looks okay in the picture but in person it's not so pretty.  The split ends are taking over.    I want to keep it long but need it cut.  Maybe 4" off??  We'll see... 



Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Is it Spring, yet?

Seriously though! Where is my warm weather?  Blooming trees?  Is it time to put away the long sleeve shirts?  Boo!

Did everyone enjoy their weekend?  Whether you celebrated a holiday or not, I hope your weekend was fantastic!  We did our little  Spring activities and then went to visit family on Easter Sunday.  Yummy food was eaten, children got spoiled, and a good time was had by all.

Instead of eggs, we do tie dye.  It's a lot of fun and the kids get some cool new shirts!  Here is one of the 15 that I did.
It's a heart!

Now, what have I been up to craft wise?  Well... I've been working on my first EVER Care Bear.  He is so slow coming along and I feel just awful but I'm writing the pattern while working.  There has been a lot of pulling out and redoing.  I'm getting there though.  And am hoping to have him finished by the weekend.  If so, I'll be sharing him with you next week.   As for jewelry.. I just haven't gotten anything new made.  I've been so busy with everything else.  Three kids will definitely keep a SAHM busy, that's for sure!  I am thinking about doing some birds nest pendants if I can find some free time.  We'll see!  Here is one from last year.

Have a fabulous day everyone!   See you tomorrow for What I Wore Wednesday!