Ten on Tuesday

10 Countries You'd Like to Visit

Peru
I'd love to see Machu Pichu, and I love Peruvian music. Plus, my cousin lives there.

Czechoslovakia
Some of my ansestors came from the Bohemia region. And I really want to see the Czech glass bead factories.

India
I love everything Indian, I love Bollywood, I love the food. I want to see the good parts, of course, and skip the caste stuff.

Ecuador.
Because I was going to put Galapagos, but I needed to look up if they are their own country, and turns out the islands are a province of Ecuador, the islands are part of Ecuador's national park system. I want to tag Galapagos penguins.

Australia
I'd love to see the countryside that was traveled across in "Priscilla, Queen of the Desert"

Italy
Other ansestors came from Sicely, I'd love to see that country.

Switzerland
I was there in college, and didn't get to see everything. I'll have to add Holland as an extra, because we went there on the college trip, too, and I didn't get to see enough of it, either.

Egypt
Piramids? Need I say more?

Jamaica
Would love to vacation there, mon.

Ireland
Some of my further back ansestors came from there, and my kids have plenty of Irish in them, they're both redheads. My guy is Irish, too. I am drawn by the Celts.

Bracelet Kit

Bracelet Kit
Originally uploaded by seeshells.

As I was on my way home after work, I realized I didn't know what my Thing would be for today. I was going to the grocery store, the hardware store, and the thrift store, so I decided to give myself a little challenge. I would find something at the thrift store that cost less than $5, that inspired me to make something out of it, and that I could finish and post before the end of the day. Boy, did I luck out. I found several kid kits mixed in with the toys. This glass and wire kit was the best of the lot, I found a deck of cards I wanted, too, and I spent less than $5 total between the thrift store AND the hardware store. Score!

Bracelet Kit
Originally uploaded by seeshells.

The glass pieces look sharp, but they really aren't. Five pieces of blue glass, five of clear, including one with little bubbles on it. I don't know what's up with that. The wire is greenish in color. I read through the instructions, which were pretty vague, if I were a kid that had never done a craft before, I don't think the instructions would have been sufficient. I debated a bit about making something different than a bracelet with the supplies, but I couldn't come up with anything better.

Wire we Creative?

Box of Wire
Originally uploaded by seeshells.

Once upon a time, about 10 years ago or so, I was working at my wonderful job, in a dongeonly cube, and some rewiring had to be done right above my head. So for a few weeks, off and on, there would be a ladder and a electrical dude in my cube with me. I got to be aquainted with my electriction intruder, and when he'd cut chunks of wire off and toss them to the floor, I'd look at them, and just wonder what I could do with them. More and more chunks found their way to the floor, and I finally had to ask him what would happen to that wonderful colorful wirey pile? The trash, he said, it was useless stuff now. Useless to them, perhaps, but not useless to me!
So I asked him if I could have the wire he was throwing away, he was curious, but agreed. I first made a tree sculpture (no picture available) with thin copper wire, the kind that there are 100s of inside some of the plastic coating. I wound together a big bunch for the trunk, seperated into smaller bunches for branches, and seperated them all individually and put beads on the ends for the leaves. I used yellow, orange, and red beads because they looked good with the copper, so it was a fall tree. I brought the tree to work, partly to show the elecrition what I was doing with his junk wire. He thought it was very cool, as did all my coworkers. One guy fell in love with it so much that he had to have it, which is why I have no picture.

Wire Flower
Originally uploaded by seeshells.

This flower was one of a set I made. Back at my wonderful job, one thing they encouraged was every employee setting up a team of fellow employees that would be their cheerleaders, kinda. Like a set of coaches is maybe a better way to say it. I made one flower like this for each of my coaching people, and this one for me. I hope they still have theirs, and think of me sometimes when they see it!
So when I wanted to make something quick, and I had just brought up a box of wire for the chair project, I thought of this flower, and luckily, I had a tiny bottle to put some wire flowers in.

This project was my Thing for today.

Ten on Tuesday

(Yes, I know it's not Tuesday anymore, but it's my first week)
I searched around a lot for a good Tuesday Meme. At first I wasn't sure if this was the right one, but considering that one of my internal projects right now is gratitude, and this week's list is 10 Nicest Things That People Have Done for You, so I guess this is the right one after all.

10 Nicest Things That People Have Done For You

The counselor and CNM (Certified Nurse Midwife) team that helped me have a VBAC (Vaginal Birth After Cesarian) with my second son.

My boss BC at my wonderful old job (the job that 'left me'), when after three years of agonizing over the toughest decision I ever had to make, and I finally told her I couldn't move with them, she told me that she would have done the same thing if she were me.

My guy, 20 years ago or so, when he switched seats at a hypnotist show, and started a spark that neither of realized was there at the time.

My high school art teacher, Ms. D, who really helped me see myself as an artist.

My Dad, always fixing my cars. And not to leave out my Mom, who always finds cool things for me, ideas and problem solving, stuff at the thrift store, or stuff from her basement. ;p

Good friends who listen to all my craziness! (you know who you are, but specifically C, R, J, B, K, and AL)

My brother, for being the 'cool uncle' that can (and will!) take my teenagers places that they wouldn't be caught dead with their mother, and I wouldn't be caught dead letting them go by themselves. Like their first concert, or a late night outdoor movie.

My junior high vocal music teacher, who explained to me that being a Second Soprano wasn't like being second best, it was the harder part in the middle that needed especially strong singers. That analogy has held true for me on a lot of things. Plus, she inadvertently really taught me the 'when the door closes, a window opens' theory is very true.

People who stopped when my car broke down a few years ago, and everyone who stops when they see someone broken down. As the world is more and more full of cell phones, some people might assume the broken down car doesn't need help, but it's so great when they stop to check if you're alright. (I consider people stopping to help as a benefit of living in Nebraska-one big small town)

Right this minute, at this step of my life journey, I have to put Allison Lee of Craft Cast on this list. I've been listening to every single one of her podcasts in the last couple weeks (I'm almost caught up, then review time), and she has such a great theme to her show, no matter who the guest is. "Find your creative voice" "Put your butt in the chair". You know how all the things you hear, see, read, etc, all combine together and change who you are? Without getting too personal here, I'll say that this was just the right time for me to listen to her shows. It all goes together so well. There is a plan, we just don't know yet what it is. Like the quote on my computer wallpaper at work: "Be willing to relinquish the life you've planned so as to have the life that is waiting for you." --Joseph Campbell

Computer Art: Flower

Here's an old piece of computer art I did a few years ago. I really like the colors and lines.

I don't like Tuesdays

I have come to the realization today that Tuesdays are my least favorite day of the week. Today is sucky, and today is not the first Tuesday that is sucky, see my Haiku's of Tuesday Suckiness from a few weeks ago, on the other blog. Every other day of the week (is fine, yeah) has different specific things to look forward to, but not Tuesday. So my strategic and creative brain, like usual, as soon as it comes to this realization, jumps into how-can-we-fix-it mode.
Since it's when I get to work that I first recognize how sucky Tuesday is, my first thought is a work treat. A Tuesday Treat! I could stop for coffee on Tuesdays. Or something more decadent, like a muffin for breakfast. I could have a specific art project at work that I only get out on Tuesdays. Or a special pen to only use on Tuesdays, or a special mix of fun music. I could update my iPod on Tuesday mornings, get fresh poddy goodness. All these things could definitely help a yucky day.
I've also been thinking about setting goals about updating this blog, and I remembered that on my first old blog, I would have a weekly quote &/or a weekly link of something I found out on the interweb that I found particularly inspiring. I could revamp either of those on Tuesdays. Then I thought about memes. I haven't done a lot of memes, but I know they can be fun and thought provoking. So I decided to look for a weekly meme that posts on Tuesdays, that wouldn't necessarily be about crafting or creativity, but would be something fun to think about, and could keep my brain occupied, and help the day not be so sucky.
And I'll probably still go for coffee.

Ta-Daa!!!

So this is my new template! Isn't it great! Thanks a million to Zoe at Chic & Sassy Designs for making me this awesome template. I've also updated the sidebar some.
Let me know what you think!

Beaded Felt Barrettes: The Rest of The Story

After seeing Angry Chicken's cute felted barrettes, and working on my bead embroidery techniques with felt, I was inspired to combine the cool idea with my colorful beading. I didn't find the traditional clip barrettes, but I found these.
There are some colors I'd wear as is, but a couple I'd really never wear, so those could become felt barrettes, and it's a win-win.
I used the beaded blanket stitch all around the sides, and left the back plain. I thought they looked pretty good. In her tutorial, Angry Chicken mentioned that the felt part could be slipped on and off, but she chose to sew the felt to the barrette, but I thought I'd just leave it to slip off.
That wasn't going to work well with this style of barrette, as the felt and the barrette liked to move in different directions. So I sewed the felt to the barrette, and sewed a little row of beads over the stitch marks, and now they are beautiful!

Trio of Mr. Bills

The new one is rather bright for a photo.



So how many total should I make?

The Craft of Sleep

I had a great dream last night. A crafty dream extroidenairre.
I've been listening to Craft Cast with Alison Lee (podcast review to come soon!) and on the episode I was listening to yesterday, she and Daniel Vosovic (from Project Runway) got to talking about the movie The Science Of Sleep. I just watched it myself last weekend! They were talking about the part of the movie where the main character was mixing up a recipe of sorts to 'make' his dream. I remember loving that scene, too, it was so on target. The ingredients he was throwing in the pot included things rattling around in your subconscious, random things you saw/heard that day, and various other random or familiar bits. Having this dream last night, after just seeing the movie last weekend, and just hearing Alison and Daniel talk about it yesterday, was so cool. It was a perfect blend of things I had recently seen or heard, people I knew, situations I would like to be in, and great ideas.
Here's the dream:
My whole extended out-of-town family and I were going to a giant craft fair / flea market type of thing. And I do mean giant. It was in a very large building, possibly a school. Actually, I think it was the community college my brother just graduated from, several large rooms at the ends of long hallways, with lots of medium sized rooms along the way. Some rooms opening into the wide hallways, or into each other. In the dream, every room or section of hallway was a different style of art or craft. And every manner of supply you could imagine. Not just the church basement craft fairs that are prevalent around here, but more art. More extreme. More retro. More kitchy. More dark and gothy. More fun. (Like all the wonderful sites that I like to visit for inspiration.) One room was painted toys. One room Latin art, lots of Frieda Kahlo and Crafty Chica kinds of things. One room all manner of piratey things, crocheted hats and parrots, skull and crossbones on silk purses, and a coat tree made with hooks.
One room had all sorts of rocks and minerals, in the form of beads, or pendants, or larger for wall hangings. Some were being sold as supplies, some already made into fantastic sculptures and the like. The whole room was dark but sparkily and even the walls were covered with gorgeous rocks, it was like walking into a geod.
There were more things in the dream than I knew I could ever remember, but I just soaked it all in as best I could. The feeling was very empowering. This was the right place for me.
In one hallway a table was set up where a random person that I know (the clerk at a mom-and-pop store I frequent) was selling colored sand. There were huge piles of sand just all over the table, and the floor surrounding, and (only because this was a dream) none of the colors were mixing with each other. Since I knew this guy, I went over to say 'hi' and I saw that he had made a wire chair. The chair was about two feet high, and made completely out of wire. Thicker orange wire was spiraled for the legs, and thin tan wire was woven for the seat, and for the life of me, I can't remember what the back was like. The wire was the kind of wire I have collected over the years, colored electrical wire that I have a couple boxes of.
I was close to waking up at the point that I was looking at the chair. It wasn't for sale, so I was examining it to see how I would make one similar, and I knew I was close to waking up, so I made a mental note to remember the chair. Before the dream ended I had to run back to the geod room to buy three black stones. I don't know what they were, they reminded me of coal, but they were polished.
And then I woke up. Excited to think about making a doll-sized chair out of wire, and wondering where I could go buy a few nice black stones...

Crafty Family

In my family, hand made things have always been treasured. There have been times, when it's felt embarassing to have not planned ahead enough, and to have to actually have to buy something for a gift.
Since my folks have been going through some of their old slides and making the photos digital, I've been noticing the cool crafty things in some of the pictures. And I have things in my home that were crafty gifts. So I had the idea to kinda collect the crafty goodness in a photo group, and also to write my history with crafting. I'll write bits of my history as I go along.
Lots of my family on my mom's side was in town this week, and we were congregating at my Grandma's, and I looked around, and saw sooo many cool crafty things. Things that Grandma has received as gifts over the years, things Grandma made herself, and some that Grandpa had made, too. He was quite the woodworker.
I intend to add many more photos, and stories to go with, but this new flickr set is a good start.

Check it out here.

Matching Dresses

Matching Dresses
Originally uploaded by seeshells.

I've mentioned before that I really like to make matching things. From purse/bag/wallet combos, to dolly and me matching, to jewelry or hair accessories matching the outfit, I just really get a kick out of it. I think that is one of the reasons I love being crafty.
I call it being a crafty geek, to make things all match. But I'm glad to embrace my inner geek!
This set of outfits, made by my mom is just one of a few that we had that matched. I don't think my doll had a dress like this, but other sets, my doll matched us, too.
I don't really remember watching my mom sew. I just remember it being part of everyday life. And by this age, I think I had already begun sewing myself.