birds

Here is a screen shot of my coloring page on the Sampler! You can now go there and download the PDF file to make it easy to print and color! I can't wait to see what everyone does with it. :) Have fun!

promotional swap?

We ordered our love,joleen promotional postcards today! This is a lesser quality image because otherwise it would have taken a year to upload. Haha. Anyhow, if you own a shop and are interested in a swap of promotional materials to include with orders please leave a message, email me, whatever! :)

and still we so no peace.. all we see is..

changes! I hope you like the new look! :D I wanted my blog to vibe with the shop's look. We have a nifty little button you can use to link us too:

Enjoy!

oh! how fabulous!!

I ♥ ♥ ♥ to trade! All of those fabulous goodies above came from the wonderfully inspiring and talented Tania of taniahowells.com. Below is a gorgeous(!) necklace from Kathleen of liquidskyarts.com. She makes the most beautiful jewelry and now I am the proud owner of this painted capiz shell necklace! Thank you so much ladies! I will be getting your goodies out to you this very week! *big hugs*

beaded bracelets

After the kiddo went to bed-e-bye last night we watched Alias on DVD (netflix is awesome! :D) and I beaded a few bracelets. These two charm bracelets are among my favorites so far! I really like the bead combinations. Click for larger images. :)

Here is the jewelry I made before but never took photographs of:

love & kisses

My 11 year old sister, Deana, came to visit Alex and I this weekend. We have tons of fun projects planned! Tonight we made monster pillows in our pj's! :D Mine is "love" and Deana's is "kisses"! Click on the images to see a larger version!!

a pouch... my deer...

I've been wondering how I should use this lovely silkscreen deer patch from Heidi from My Paper Crane for a while now. I decided tonight to make myself this fury pouch! This beautiful faux fur fabric is from Kathy. (Thank you!) The zipper is lavender and the inside lining is pink with white polka dots. I love how this turned out! :D I really need to make patches...

finally!!!

Oh-my-goodness! I am finally finished with my Sampler contribution! I finished making all 20 of the birds tonight.

Everything is packaged and ready to go out tomorrow morning.

I think this is going to be the link I use on the website:

small birds

i didn't have enough pea brain charms to make all 200 necklaces nor enough ribbon to make the charms i did have into necklaces for the sampler. eep! therefore, i will be contributing x amount of necklaces, some charms, and then 20 of these small birds. never will i procrastonate like this again! well, in all honesty i never thought this project would be so time consuming! i will finish tonight and overnight them tomorrow. i am considering doing a larger version of this bird for the shop. what do you think?

sampler coloring page

I created this coloring page for the Sampler to be posted at the end of the week. Click on it for the full size. Please print and color! Then you can scan it and post it if you'd like. Make sure to let me know if you do! :) Enjoy!! Here is mine colored:

read a book!

What's your favorite book? Read any good ones lately?

decorate your walls

Alex and I have really enjoyed purchasing and collecting paintings and art prints since we've been here in H.B. My favorites are the prints Trim by Heidi of My Paper Crane and Apple Pan Dowdy by Sarah of The Small Object. I've also recently purchased these postcards from Boygirlparty which I plan to frame. Remember back in February when we bought this painting by Jelene Morris? I have this right over my craft table as an inspiration!

There is still so much artwork we would love to add to our collection! Sarah recommended a website called tiny showcase for small artwork with small ($12!) prices.

Alex must have Landscape by Matthew Curry.
I must have Transparent by Aly Redding.

I would also like Katey's Diver print on One Good Bumblebee.

We would love anything from momomoggie & Amy Ruppel!!

What are your favorites / recommendations?

totally smitten

I am so completely smitten with this bird mobile by india*romeo!! Ileana created this on HGTV's Crafter's Coast to Coast but I missed it! :/ I am so glad to have found this because I must have it! Other lovely finds there are the molly handbag & beaded hair pins.

the small object rocks my socks!

I got my order from the small object today and it's friggin' awesome! :) oh, how i ♥ it all! I purchased these collector cards and album, as well as this (now, sold out) apple pan dowdy print. It actually isn't 100% like the link because she worked on it more before putting them in her shop but you get the idea. :) I love it so much! I framed it and now it's in my kitchen above the stove.

meet lucy! isn't she so totally adorable??
see her in the garden, lying out, and in her new home:

I got lots of other fun goodies that you should get too- like the I'm Rubber & Your Glue Sticker Set! Thanks Sarah- once again your objects rocked my socks off!

my lil' porch garden

We live in a townhouse which could much more accurately be described as an apartment in my opinion. I've been wanting a garden for a while now but with the nice weather it became a must have. :) Yesterday I bought all kinds of fun stands and other odds & ends from TJ Maxx & More and Pier 1 imports. Today I went to Walmart and picked up colorful plants and flowers and a few pots. On the way home I wanted to pick up some fresh flowers for my living room vases so I stopped by the cutest little flower shop near my house.

I've driven by it so many times and it was nice to be able to check it out. The girl there was super nice, there was a wonderful floral selection and the prices were great! I was a little nervous when no prices were listed but I got my entire bouquet for less than 12 bucks!

aquatic

This week's Illustration Friday theme is: Aquatic

rubber stamps

Look what I made tonight! :) I had gotten the supplies in a kit from Michaels a while back but never did anything with it. Then the other day, Heidi starting talking about sending images in to make rubber stamps and I felt like giving it a go. I still have to clean 'em up a bit and put them on wood blocks but I think they turned out well. :) I especially like the bird (of course)!

catch up day

Well, last night was Star Wars which was awesome! We got home around just before 4:00 am this morning and I went straight to bed. I was lucky to have gotten today off of work and was quite surprised when I didn't wake up until 1:00 pm! Wow! :)

Today (with what's left of it :/) I get to do all sorts of fun things- like laundry. Haha. I am also going to fulfill my trades!!!!!! <<<*determined*

Yay! My May Sampler arrived on Saturday actually, but I hadn't had a chance to photograph it. It came with all sorts of fun goodies. Be sure to click on the image for better viewing. What's funny is, I am not a huge fan of eggs but one of my favorite things (that I've already worn!) is a little egg necklace from faeriesmak! She has some of the cutest food jewelry. I also got a super cute ice cream door knob buddy but she doesn't say who she's from. :/

Okay, now time to get to work!

return of the sith

What are we doing tonight, you ask? (Okay, so let's pretend you asked.) My husband and I, along with a friend, will be with the rest of the weirdos staying up to un-godly hours- all to see a little film called Star Wars Episode III: Return of the Sith. We need to get to LA around 9:00 pm to stand in line for decent seats for a movie that starts at 12:15 tomorrow morning. So it's 3 hours, at least it's not 3 days! :D By the time I get home tomorrow it will be around 4:00 am. Yikes.

*1:00 pm Thursday* Well, we saw the movie last night and it was great! :D Can't wait to have our own lil' marathon now. haha

Summer Sampler Contribution

Here is my Summer Sampler contribution, along with more pea brain pouches. The plan is to send 200 pea brain shrinky dink ribbon necklaces along with this little card printed on kraft colored cardstock. The happy pea says, "now, don't go getting us wet and don't lose us!", and the not-so-happy pea says, "please, please don't try to eat us!" Well, I think it's rather funny, anyway! :D Each of these charms are hand-drawn.

awww and look at my sweetie helping! He was so helpful in cutting ribbons to size, putting charms on jump rings and onto the ribbons. :)

pea brain pouch

oh! I love how this turned out. :) I've been wanting to turn my lil' drawings of these guys into something for a while now. I got 100 of those scarily bright green zippers off of ebay (the color looked different) so I want to use them! And look! I actually did a decent job sewing the zipper! :D I am cutting out more for the shop. They probably won't be there until the first update. wow! look at me planning ahead...

OMG

I just recieved this fabulous Chunky Book ("OMG") and it's absolutely wonderful! I wanted to post it to those of you that aren't exactly sure what a Chunky Book is. This is a wonderful example! With the deadline only 4 short days away Lending Talents is still looking for participants for our Tsunami Relief Aid Chunky book. I am willing to extend the deadline until June 1st but we really need to wrap this project up. We still need participants and would LOVE for you to join us. If you could post about this project on your own blog that would be wonderful and I would love you forever! If you have completed your page and are waiting to send it, send it. :) Thank you! xoxo

first photo shoot

Today love, joleen had it's first photo shoot. We had such a great time and the pictures turned out fabulous- fun and colorful! A HUGE thank you to our beautiful model (and my sister) Aimee! You can view all my favorites here. Also, thank you to Sarah (another sister) for modeling for the children's purse at the end.

saturday night

I didn't have a chance to post yesterday but I really wanted to! I had such a wonderful day. I spent the day crafting and making the last little bit for the grand opening of love, joleen. All unfinished product will go in the first update.

Last night Alex and I met up with my sister, Aimee, and her husband, Vince at downtown disney. We had dinner at the ESPN Zone, one of eight in the country. It's a pretty fun place and we got to watch a live taping of a sports show as we ate. Afterward we went to all the little shops there to kill time before our movie.

If you see one movie this year, please see Crash. I think it has a lot to do with my own experience but it was a true 5 stars. It's one of the best movies I have ever seen. It's harsh and honest. If you see it and then want me to explain how it touched me so much please email me. Coming from "LA" and having experienced many of the topics, it really touched home. Go see it!

birthday girl

I made these two mixed media collage paintings for my Mom for her birthday last month. I didn't have a chance to scan them before giving them to her so she took photos for me. Sorry they're a bit blurry because they're framed and behind glass, but you get the idea! :) These were created using watercolor, marker, colored pencil, specialty paper, and a vintage advertisement on watercolor paper. Thanks for the pictures, Mom! :)

pretty knit

Isn't this a pretty knit?? I got this handspun merino yarn today in the mail with my order from My My Distro made by Crafty Ass Chick. It is so soft and beautiful! It isn't much but I had to make something for myself. I knit it up to one half a clutch purse. It actually turned out a bit wide because it was scrunched up on a short needle (my long needles are in the car) so I couldn't tell the length but that's okay. It'll just be a bigger purse. Oh, how I love these pretty purples!