SheezKrafty!

Make that Switch!

2011-02-05T10:48:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to remind you all to make the switch over to Bifftastica where I've been a posting machine thanks to all of this snow! There's a tutorial on how to make old cards into recipe cards, some super fuzzy goodness, my second Project Restyle which I'm quite proud of, AND MORE!

Ch Ch Ch Ch Changes

2011-02-01T11:36:00.000-08:00

Well, hello! Nice to see you here on this record-breaking winter day! I've taken complete advantage of being cooped up and have finished up this and that in order to give you

Operations are changing and while you'll still see bits of SheezKrafty around here and there, the place to be from here on out is at Bifftastica! There will be lots of fun features including outfit posts from yours truly, around the house posts, much better pictures thanks so a new camera (!), and much more! So please, take just a minute to do what you must to keep on coming back! I've been so excited to share this with you and am elated that I finally am :)

So here's to the future of Bifftastica! Cheers!

Fuzzy Friday: Flyin' Around

2011-01-14T10:46:00.000-08:00

I know I've been MIA lately but I wanted to stop in and say hello with a ridiculously cute and funny video! I'm in the process of moving my creative businesses around and will be debuting all of these changes soon! Excited to share it all with you! In the meantime, enjoy my fuzzy home :)

Homemade Christmas Cards

2010-12-29T08:09:00.000-08:00

Yes, I know I posted yesterday about how Christmas has come and gone but I thought I'd still share my Christmas cards with you regardless :) There are plenty other holidays and, I'm sure, birthdays that you could make a variation of these for!

Because I'm insane and don't think I have enough to do already, I decided to make my own cards this year! Using super old card stock from my middle-school scrapbooking days, I scored the middle of the paper and created a card. I then used a corner cutter to round the edges of the card. I took an old book of poetry that was falling apart and on its way to the trash and pulled out poems involving winter, the new year and holidays.

Then I played around with crazy scissors and cut out the shapes of Christmas trees and snowmen. The snowmen didn't go so well so I only made a couple of them :) I just eyeballed my cutting. You could do a heart for V-day, a shamrock for St. Paddy's, a cupcake for a b-day and so on! Main rule here is to be creative!

I used my trusty ol glue stick to stick these puppies on, affixing them off-center just a bit.

Next I found some old ribbon I had stashed away - the kind with wire in the edges. I found the wired ribbon was super easy to work with on this project. I cut the ribbon about an inch longer than the card so I could fold it over the edges. I simply used double-stick tape to adhere the ribbon to the cards! I had intended to cut another sheet of cardstock to affix to the inside of the cover so you wouldn't see the ribbon folded over but ran out of time and figured my recipients wouldn't care :)

My finishing touch, which I of course didn't photograph, was to sift through my fortune cookie fortune collection to find some touching or funny fortunes for my message! I just glue-sticked the fortune on the inside where a traditional greeting would go and VOILA I was done!

The best part about this project? I bought nothing except for the envelopes to mail them in which I'm sure I could have made but time was of the essence :)

So did you send Christmas cards this year? Did you make your own? It's a tradition that I hope to continue well into the future!

Twas A Good Christmas!

2010-12-28T08:36:00.000-08:00

Hard to believe that Christmas has already come and gone! This year my sister was in town which made the holiday that much better! We began our festivities the day she arrived by having some toddies, pizza and decorating cookies with my folks! I don't believe we've done that since I was a little kid!

For the next couple of days we did last minute shopping and had lots of meet ups with old friends! One of my favorite things about the holidays are all of the imported friends that show back up!

As has become tradition for the past six years, my sister and I headed to Borders on Christmas Eve morning to wrap presents to raise money for StreetCats. It's such a fun day to be volunteering! People are in a different, uplifting spirit and it's so enjoyable to help out a bit :) Doesn't hurt that I love to wrap presents!

After wrapping, I hurried home to pack up the car and head to my mister's hometown of Okemah for the night. Sometime that morning, I decided it was a good idea to make scarfletts for practically all of my family members! I believe I ended up making about 10 of them in 24 hours?!? My brother-in-law snapped a pic of me working on one of the many.

Since my mom had restocked the cookie-making supplies for our decorating night, I thought it would be fun to decorate again with our nephews! I have never seen such heavily iced and sprinkled cookies! They had a blast :)

Sure hope Santa isn't diabetic! ;)

After opening presents and seeing what Santa brought on Christmas morning, we packed up and headed to Broken Arrow for brunch at my Papa's. We ended Christmas day hosting my family, Mimi and uncle with a spaghetti dinner, presents and a little Mario Kart! It was such a wonderful way to end the day :)

I suppose now it's time to pack up Christmas and begin to look towards the new year! Seems a certain fuzzy is ready to help pack up the Christmas cards....

A Make:Christmas Recap

2010-12-19T13:55:00.000-08:00

This past Saturday, a rowdy bunch of Make:Tulsa folks hauled their wares to Ida Red for a Make:Christmas!

We each had a small table area to set up our booths and then 'worked' a ten hour shift to the many, many shoppers! I squeezed all of my goods (minus my bags) into my little space and worked my selling magic! I always find it so interesting what sells at each show. For example, at Deluxe last weekend, my necklaces were being bought like mad but at this show, earrings and switchplates were being scarfed up left and right! You can never tell what the public is going to be hungry for, I guess!

Each maker brought some homemade treats, too! It's a good thing I'm not too much of a sweets person otherwise, I would have gained 15 pounds just from grazing that table during the day!

There was a pretty good assortment of vendors there, in fact, I did lots of my holiday shopping from other vendors! I must keep my purchases hush hush though until after the holidays :)

To my right was Crochet by Sherri Lee and her beyond precious grandbaby who was SUCH a trooper throughout the entire show! I was SO impressed by her! Sherri is the patient soul who retaught me how to crochet - and she made it stick somehow!

And to my left was Gleeful Peacock run by Nikki, who is one of my favorite people! It was a blast hanging out with her all day :) Next to her was SomerKnits who was one of our vendors at the Holiday Open House! I picked up the absolute cutest knitting ornament from her!

Across the way was the ever-inspiring Weather & Noise and Hollyrocks who is guaranteed to put a smile on your face!

I failed in snapping shots of Sunshine and Carousels and The Greener Me but they finished rounding out our crafty family for the day!

All in all, it was a very enjoyable day shared with amazing women in an awesome Tulsa shop!!

I hope you have fantastic holidays, leisurely breaks and safe travels! Happy Holidays!

A Make:Christmas

2010-12-17T12:15:00.000-08:00

If you're anything like me, you've barely begun your Christmas shopping. Oops :) Luckily for people like us, tomorrow Ida Red is hosting a Make:Christmas! There will be a good handful of the make:Tulsa crew set up from 11-9 with all sorts of handmade goods! Did I mention that we're all making holiday snacks too?!? All the more reason to come by!

In addition to bring FORTY brand new switchplates I'll have with me, I'll be bringing some new necklaces! Here's a taste of what you might see :)

The awesome wooden leaf beads were brought to me from Perth, Australia :)

Hope to see you tomorrow!!

Deluxe: Six Hours of Awesome

2010-12-14T15:05:00.000-08:00

Last weekend was the crazy-good Deluxe! It was literally non-stop traffic and non-stop sales! It's been such a joy to see how this show has grown into such an amazing event! Back in winter 2008, I somehow heard about this show and decided to apply! I loved the vibe of the show and the organizers really kicked ass! I knew I would be back for future shows! And now, four Deluxes later, I'm still coming back!

Somewhere in the middle of the day, I finally found time to raise my arms and take some photos of the whole show! Just look at the amount of people shopping!

Then I swung around and took a quick picture of the booth while there was no one in there, which was a challenge! The mister joined me for this show while his brother also spent a good part of the day with us! I was a true treat having them there with me :)

I did take a little advantage of the season and used some snowman props. This guy helped me sell lots of zipper necklaces...

...and this guy helped move lots of rings!

I used some vintage tablecloths that I had bought to cut up but could never bring myself to do! I loved that they added just a little something extra to the booth :)

I hadn't used the ol' drying racks for a long time but since we were taking my tiny car, I couldn't fit the large walls in so I packed a drying rack for earrings and bags!

Since my mister is injured still, my pops helped me finish up a second display board. I LOVED how they looked lined up! I also raised that table which brought necklaces closer to people's natural eye level! I moved SO many necklaces at this show and I believe the boards and raising the table helped immensely in that!

And of course I had to do a little shopping at the show! Picked up a few Christmas presents and bought this kickin' luchador mask for a dirty santa party we attended later that evening! So I leave you with the only picture of me at Deluxe this year. And a fabulous one at that :)

Holiday Open House Recap

2010-12-06T13:05:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was our second annual Holiday Open House and I'm happy to report that it was, once again, a success! Cold as it may have been, people still journeyed out and supported the local handmade community! Here's a wrap, holiday pun intended, in pictures!

HUGE thanks to the talented folks who participated - Carla Hefley Art, SomerKnits, Santiquity Farm Girl Fiber - and to those who came out and shopped!

You're Invited! Holiday Open House!

2010-12-02T12:20:00.000-08:00

It's that time again! Time to support your local artists and shop handmade!

Last year April and I hosted a Holiday Open House at her house on a whim and it was SUCH a wonderful time! This year we thought it would be fun to include a few other creators and we did! This Sunday the works of SheezKrafty, Santiquity, Carla Hefley Art, The Gleeful Peacock, Vanessa Somerville Ceramics, Farm Girl Fiber and SomerKnits will be joining us! We would LOVE to have you come and share this afternoon with us! There will be food, drinks, chatter and LOTS of amazing handmade gifts! The open house is THIS SUNDAY from 12-4! For address and directions, email me at worldlygirly@yahoo.com! We truly hope to have you!

Come, Have a Seat!

2010-11-28T12:58:00.000-08:00

Our Thanksgiving holiday was VERY low key as the mister ended up having to have surgery on his poor widdle middle finger on Wednesday morning. We weren't sure if he would feel up to doing anything, so we cancelled our holiday plans. Instead, we just relaxed and relaxed. Well, he did ;) I cooked a mean traditional Thanksgiving meal and he did his best to eat while I filled myself to the rim! Mmmmmm!!!

Following our meal, I got back to tackling my never-ending to-do list, which I LOVE to do! Seriously! At the top of that list was to put out Christmas!

We usually put our tree in the living room but this year, I suggested we put it in the sitting room. And we did. And I LOVE it! So here's a tour of our tree and of our sitting room :)

Atop my Great Granny's old record player sits a holiday adorned lamp and a beautiful print from Audrey Eclectic.

An old printing press drawer is home to tiny things I just can't bear to toss. You can usually find these pretty inexpensive and the possibilities for them are endless! I've had this one for YEARS. The awesome striped chairs are hand me downs from my Mimi :) I love how perfectly they match the orange theme!

My Granny's horse collection coupled with my turtle collection flanks the other side of the window. Tank 1 of 3 lives in this room filled with freshwater sharks, a rhino nosed pleco that we see about once a year and a catfish that is at least 12 years old. Finishing off this shot is the newest fuzzy enjoying the afternoon sun.

The mister helped the best he could with his one good hand - he hung ornaments in our little bar. Or as he likes to call it, his vanity (not to be confused with my vanity :)

Now a look at the tree up close!

I made this ornament back in 1992, which would have made me about 13 years old. I remember it SO well. Why? Well, to get the paint inside, you'd use a straw, suck up the paint, and blow it into the ornament. Easy, right? I was great at getting the paint inside but not so much with the glitter that I decided to add at the end. I sucked up SO much glitter right down the hatch that I was pulling it out of my teeth for a week! I have never laughed so hard nor hurt so hard all at the same time :) And the kicker? You can barely see any of the glitter that I did get in there!

This ornament is a result of leaving the mister home alone too long with my crafting supplies. At the time I had been steadily wrapping rocks with a beautiful square sterling silver wire. Expensive wire. I came home to find that the mister had used up almost half of my fancy wire to wrap a rock! He was SO proud and it was SO funny that we decided to tie a string on it and call it an ornament :)

This green gourd ornament was handmade and painted by a local Okemah woman.

This purty green one was a gift from the mister to me on our first Christmas together! He wanted us to start building our tree together :) There once were two of these ornaments but fragile things don't last very long around these parts!

A fun little frog and one of my spool ornaments! As a matter of fact, our tree is COVERED with them! And I love it!

I also chose to include my ferrets' old stockings, Stinky and Segunda. I miss those smelly things all too often.

What special things adorn your tree? Do you have a Christmas tree? Would you like to put presents under our tree? ;)

Fuzzy Friday: Full o' Fluff

2010-11-26T14:54:00.000-08:00

The fluffballs have been busy lounging and being fluffy over the break.

She eventually fell off of the bed.

Protecting her beloved vintage sewing baskets. Or yawning. Whatever.

They hope you are having a wonderfully fuzzy holiday break too!

Add To Your Black Friday Shopping List!

2010-11-26T09:01:00.000-08:00

If you were to head over to my Etsy shop RIGHT NOW, this is what you would find for your buying pleasure :) NONE of these have been made available for purchase until TODAY! Rings will be added shortly! Enjoy and remember to SHOP HANDMADE for the holidays!!!

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An awesome purse made from vintage woodland fabric and an antique National Bank of Commerce Tulsa bank bag.

A beautifully striking bookbag lined with a vintage sheet and made from rare gold vintage bark cloth.

A super loooooooong silver and blue stone cross necklace.

An uh-mazing vintage flower pin necklace made from scores on the Kanokla trip!

Some recycled glass and reused enameled centerpiece made into a killer necklace.

An Indian inspired necklace with a vintage clip earring turned centerpiece. Don't forget the vintage paper-rolled beads!

Aaaaaaaand, something to anchor you down! An anchor necklace with vintage beads!!

Ok now, take a deep breath and head over to my shop and get your holiday shopping started!!! I know I'm going to!!

Fuzzy Friday

2010-11-19T13:01:00.000-08:00

I've been slacking on my fuzzy posts! Here's a few pics to make up for it :)

The beast and his BFF...

The mister (in his own fuzzy greatness), his offensive broken finger (accidental courtesy of my pops) and a very mouthy and needy grey fuzzy...

The beast avoiding the tiny floor of the pop up on our recent camping trip...

And the original fuzzies keeping warm together...

I just realized I have no pictures of the new fuzzy included in this post! Fret not, she's doing grand as well! In fact, her and grey fuzzy each caught a mouse within a week of each other last month! Finally, my cats are acting like cats! ;)

You May Call Me Banana

2010-11-15T18:30:00.000-08:00

I LOVE me some Halloween. I specifically LOVE coming up with fun costumes to make! You may remember the Tea Bag costume from last year.

Growing up with a name like Briana, classmates often poked fun by referring to me as 'Banana'. As a child, of course, I hated that nickname! Once I started teaching English as a Second Language, I found my students remembered my name and its pronunciation much easier by introducing myself as Briana Banana. I had finally embraced being a banana!

When toying around with Halloween costume ideas, I kept going back to being a banana. Earlier this year, we acquired a large box that came with a new piece of furniture. I made the mister keep that blasted box for MONTHS, meanwhile shuffling it to every corner of the garage until the witching season was upon us. I KNEW I would use that box somehow!

I simply pencil sketched a gigantic banana profile and used a box cutter cut out one side of the fruit. After cutting the first side, I easily traced and cut the second half as well! Easy as banana cream pie!

Next, I spent an evening spray painting the boards in the backyard. I ran out of yellow spray paint so I sprayed a blob of brown on the back, thus I was a slightly bruised banana ;) After waiting for the pieces to dry, I simply sandwich-boarded the two halves and wore my banana with pride!

The mister was at a loss for costumes this year until last minute when he decided to rent a gorilla costume to go along with the banana! Hilarious!

Easy, effective and above all, funny! What were you this Halloween?!?

Born Again Display Boards

2010-11-15T18:24:00.000-08:00

Once upon a time, about 4 years ago, our booth looked as so:

Not so fabulous, eh?

At the time, I was soooooooooo proud of those boards and thought they were the answer to all of my display prayers! They were not. They were cumbersome and dangerous with nails sticking out every which way and much jewelry got lost in the background fabrics. They were short lived at shows and spent the rest of their young lives in a pile in the garage.

Periodically we would take one apart to use the wood but mostly, they sat unused. The mister was losing his garage-space patience and was ready to throw the old boards out until I stepped in and saved them! Actually, he saved them for me ;)

We stripped the fabric, batting and many staples and the mister got to measuring and jigsawing.

We turned the boards on their sides and I had the mister cut out a series of tiny little slots that I could slide a necklace down in. The little cuts did take a while but proved to be SO worth it!

The mister happily broke out his new sander and sanded this puppy down for me so I could stain away!

I am SO happy with how the display turned out! No nails to fight, no ugly fabrics to take away from the jewelry, clean and modern look, and easy, easy transport!!! We're in the process of making a second one and I've got a few more similar ideas tucked away in my little head that I hope will make and appearance in the near future!

You can see the new board in full action in my Indie Emporium recap!

A Belated Birthday

2010-11-03T11:41:00.000-07:00

I'm so behind on my posting but better late than never, right? So a few months ago I celebrated another stinkin' birthday. Yay ;) I was dying for a birthday camping trip but September was jammed packed full of obligations! It wasn't until a month later that the mister, myself and a few friends packed up and headed back out to Cove Lake, Arkansas! If you remember, we spent some much-needed time out there this spring as well. It was such a treat to go back on a non-holiday weekend and to share our much loved camping spot with friends!

The days were in the mid-eighties while the evenings hit the mid-fifties. PERFECT camping weather!

I spent MUCH time in the car and around the fire diligently working on my massive crocheted blanket. I anticipate it shall finally be done in another week or two!

It was just chilly enough during the early morning hours that I got to use my sleeves-turned-fingerless-gloves to work in!

The beast had a blast too, of course, and had a friend to share the good times with as well! A well-dressed friend to be exact!

The mister was handsome as ever.

And I was not the only lady with yarn and sticks in my hand!

A great weekend spent with great friends with great weather. What better way to spend a belated birthday? ;)

Indie Emporium Recap!

2010-11-01T18:00:00.000-07:00

Indie Emporium has again come and gone! Here's a little recap for you!

Friday night there's always a long line patiently waiting and secretly hoping to be one of the first fifty in the door to get a swag bag full of all sorts of goodies! Here's that fun rush of folks!

This year I set up on my own (I usually set up with one or two other lady friends) so it was fun to have free reign over the booth design and only have my creations out! I was also very selective as to what I put out as I sometimes feel our booth gets overwhelming with all of the merchandise! It felt much simpler, more organized (which I LOVE) and easier to navigate!

I was very excited to unveil a new display I had the mister whip up for me. It had been a display once before but was in a sad state. This is light years better than what it was! I have a post planned for this transformation! It was so simple and so effective! We've got a second one in the works and I can't wait to use them both at a show!

The zipper necklaces made an appearance as well. I decided to separate them out from the other jewelry to give them more of a focus.

I really wish I had taken a few steps back and gotten one shot of the entire booth together but alas, I did not. You can see one of my awesome neighbors in the background from Two Dog Designs. I got the COOLEST belt buckle for the mister from them! SO glad I got to share the show with them!

I tried out a different way to display the rings this time around and it really seemed to do the trick - I moved lots of those puppies!

In past shows, we usually fill the grid wall with necklaces since we have so many but this time around, I hung up my bags! The response to them was wonderful and really made my weekend :) I was truly nervous as I'm not the master seamstress as so many of my peers are!

In addition to my rockin' belt buckle, I got a super cute knit pinchhat from the talented Knit-o-matic, the coolest vintage postcard card that will sail far away from here from Seeds of Hope, and finally two chomping necklaces for two of my favorite expecting ladies from Tweet Baby Designs! One of my many favorite things of independent shows is scoring loot from the talented artists I am lucky enough to share space with!

So kudos to the Indie Emporium team and here's to next year!

Pamper Me

2010-10-17T15:29:00.000-07:00

Saturday I dropped by Pamper Me on Brookside to drop off some more necklaces and to take some pictures to share with you! Pamper Me is located directly across the Channel 2 building and is FULL of a variety of goodies for you!

Pamper Me provides HANDMADE and ORGANIC soaps, scrubs, creams, and makeup (just to name a few) and offers relaxing retreats, young girls' weekends and so much more! They are all about making you feel relaxed and let me tell you, just hanging out in their shop alone does that!

For the holiday seasons, they are featuring other handmade, local artists and their products! I've been lucky enough (along with some REALLY amazing ladies) to share my goods there! Here's a photo tour :)

If you've been itchin' to get one of my new bags, there are plenty of them here! And I am loving their uber comfy screen printed shirts!

Rings and rocks galore!

Be prepared to fall in love with the works of Hollyrocks, Weather & Noise and Grey Eye Designs as well!

Of course you'll find some whimsical switchplates there as well :)

And bags and bags and bags :)

Shop early for the holidays! And shop handmade and local :)

Fuzzy Friday

2010-10-15T10:57:00.001-07:00

Apparently the fuzzies enjoy a night of crocheting and tv watching too :)

The Fall Lineup

2010-10-15T08:12:00.000-07:00

Life's been a bit crazy lately, but that doesn't mean I haven't had time to sneak in a necklace here and there! Here's some of the new ones you can expect to see at Indie Emporium, October 29 & 30 and Deluxe, December 11!!!

My Kind of Weekend

2010-10-03T08:30:00.000-07:00

It makes me so happy to say that I had a fabulous weekend! I've been so glum lately that being able to say that makes me giddy inside!!! So what made me so happy?

Hitting up the Tulsa State Fair with the mister on Friday night.

Stopping by Pamper Me on Brookside to check out the AWESOME displays of the goods and to already see such positive public reactions to my merch!

Having some RIDICULOUS luck on garage and estate sales! More on this later...

Enjoying uh-mazing weather with friends while they enjoyed their pigskin game in the front yard ;)

And I've still got one more day left to finish off this great weekend! Hooray! What's on the plate? Cleaning, laundry, bachelorette party planning, lesson planning, relaxin' and perhaps a little Dexter watching later today!

Fuzzy Friday: Spoiled

2010-10-01T13:18:00.000-07:00

Bags & Baggage

2010-09-30T12:59:00.000-07:00

No need to fret! I am alive! I know it's been a while since I last posted but to be honest, life's been pretty freaking crazy! A brief recap involves my mister losing his grandma, me losing an old college friend in a very tragic and hard-to-comprehend way, a week of lots of sadness, a couple overnight trips here and there, my 31st birthday (eh), witnessing some unacceptable animal neglect by my fabulous *sarcasm* neighbors...it's been quite a time. Not to mention I'm knee deep into the fall semester so any moment I have left to breathe is full of grammar fun, writing tests or grading papers! And to think, just a month ago I was so bored ;)

I'm trying to make a bit more time again for creatin' though since I learned I was accepted to Indie Emporium again (YAY!!) and since I'm going to have some goodies hanging out at Pamper Me on Brookside starting tomorrow! I'm working on some big top secret changes around here...

Here's a few of my latest bags which will be heading over to Pamper Me! Each of these were made from vintage, awesome curtains! And I've got plenty more coming! Enjoy the crappy pictures, errrrr, sneak peak! ;)

The Scores

2010-09-12T08:33:00.000-07:00

So you may be wondering, what did you buy on your 100 mile road trip??? Well, here you go! Spent just under $40 all weekend when I thought I'd be spending LOTS more...

A few broaches and an Indian head slider that I will be keeping for myself :)

Some fun fabric that will soon be bags for Indie Emporium!

Some PJs for moi :)

My first sewing book! So far, I've just been self taught so this will be a great way to learn how to fix those things that frustrate me so!

A beeeeeautiful (and heavy) curtain that will also become some slammin' bags!

Another jar to match my granny's set. You'll see a distorted pic of the mister and myself behind it :)

My most exciting score - a dress form! It needs a few kinks fixed, no biggie. It was cheap and awesome! I'm SO excited about using something other than myself to make clothes on!

Box 'o patterns for a buck! I get so frustrated when folks mark these up SOOOO high so it makes my day to find a score like this!

A book by my fave author EVAH! What's funny about this is that I finished reading this book THE DAY BEFORE I FOUND THIS ONE and was late to work rushing it back to the library! Bought this copy for the mister to read and to add to my CM collection :)

An old chip clip rack to hang earrings on :)

And perhaps my favorite find. There is something about this painting that I can't get over. The yellow sky? The creepy old man flying kites with the kids? The perceived wind? The desolation? I don't know but I FREAKING LOVE THIS.

So there you go! I wish I'd taken photos of my dad's stash - military issue Coleman lanterns, MANY light fixtures and electrical parts...the list goes on.

Did you find any gems this weekend???

Recap: The 100 Mile Sale

2010-09-12T07:37:00.000-07:00

Yesterday afternoon, my dad and I returned from the 100 mile garage sale whirlwind with a truck full of goods and lots of laughs and memories under our belt. Hit more garage sales, rummage sales, flea markets and antique shops then I can count! Here's a little recap.

We began right outside of Bartlesville, OK in an awesome antiquing town called Dewey. As a matter of fact, the mister and I spent time in this first shop on our honeymoon! It's a lamp-lover's dream.

I love it when shops arrange little vignettes or group things together according to style. For example, if I'd had the money, this retro-mod sitting area would now be in my living room :)

Always a fan of making up words, I LOVED this Magnetail pin the tail on the donkey game!

I was loving this kitchen stove. If I were born in a different time, my husband would have surely tired of hearing me talk about how much I wanted this!

Along the road, we took a break at a burger joint for some cooling refreshments. My pops enjoyed a classic Coke float :)

On Friday, we made it up to the peak of the 100 mile trip to Independence, KS which is a small town full of beautiful buildings and beyond friendly folks.

We came across the stunning Booth Hotel on Main Street where we had chowed down on some tasty Italian (my fave) and had some drinks at the lounge.

It was also along Independence's Main Street that we came across this hilarious front door of a pawn shop....don't worry, we left our snowcones in the car :)

On Day Two, we found ourselves in Dearling, KS, a speck of a town but with a building full of treasures for my dad. As an electrical contractor often working in older homes, my dad is always on the lookout for unusual or hard-to-find electrical components and fixtures. Well, this was his holy grail. The couple owning the building (which also houses the town's post office) bought it from a man in the sixties who ran his own electrical contracting company out of it. This place was FULL of electrical goodies. I pulled up a chair and hung out with the older couple while my dad dug and dug and dug. An hour later and a shockingly low $15 dollars poorer, we were off!

Across the street, we went into this antique shop...which I soon realized was actually the front part of a house! I spied an open door behind the register which revealed a large kitchen complete with a couch and tv...I assume the only 'livable' room in the house! This place was stuffed to the rim with collectibles! He seemed to have a thing for the circus...

Chickens, guineas, mallards. Oh my!

Braved some beautiful breezes and amazing temps to check out this flea market ;)

Trains with pipes chased us around...

...so we detoured into Turo, KS to happen upon a huge antique car show!

My first car was almost a Thing, yellow, not green though :)

I was REALLY hoping to see someone take this bike for a spin!

So pretty, so expensive.

We cruised back into Tulsa around 3 on Saturday leaving us an hour to peruse Tulsa's Flea Market!!! It was the perfect way to end the trip! Although, we could only buy small items there as the truck was a bit stuffed :)

So here's to making memories, exploring the country, digging through junk and getting out on the road! Cheers!

It's In My Blood

2010-09-10T06:44:00.000-07:00

I'm learning that some things are genetic lately. Like my high cholesterol and my love of antiquing :)

My pops is an antiquer extraordinaire, even donning himself as 'The Master of Fire and Light' which is quite the true statement! Internationally known for collecting lighters, he also has amazing collections of lanterns, flashlights, flint and steel, light bulbs and any other 'light' producing instrument. I've learned about history, cultures and how to appreciate and respect the past from antiques. It's astounding what an object can teach you about yesteryear.

It was a common occurrence growing up to hit the road on the weekend to explore small towns in Oklahoma and surrounding states and their antique shops and flea markets with my dad. I attribute most of my childhood travels in the U.S. to attending lighter, flashlight, lock and bottle shows in various cities. I learned at a young age to be comfortable around strange old men, how to barter with anyone and how to recognize quality in antiques. My dad loved taking me antiquing with him growing up because I could see items on lower shelves better than he could! You could say I'm a trained antiquer ;)

The picture below is one of my pops a few years back at their old house in his room o' light. Just a small example of the bits of history that surrounded me growing up.

All of that being said, you can imagine my elation that my dad and I are taking a long awaited antiquing road trip this weekend! We're packing up here in a few hours and are going to take in Kan-Okla, a one-hundred mile stretch of flea markets and garage sales! It will be like I've died and gone to heaven :) My mental shopping list keeps getting longer and longer...

Perhaps you're jonesin' to stretch your antiquing muscles? If so, you should take a short trek up north and enjoy the weekend's weather while perusing all that the past has given us (and some junk too ;) Say HI if you should see myself or my pops!

Fuzzy Friday: A Fiver

2010-09-03T11:46:00.000-07:00

A Song From Your Favorite Band

2010-09-02T13:33:00.000-07:00

TV on the Radio - Wear You Out

Man, this one is hard! Actually, lots of these are hard! As most, I have several bands that I could classify as my favorites in different genres. I'm going to share my fave 'modern rock' band, TV on the Radio. The mister and I went and saw them a few years ago on St. Patty's Day in KC and I went with VERY high expectations, which of course I knew I would probably be disappointed...it was one of the best shows I've ever seen. Small venue. Ridiculously talented musicians. Awesome crowd. Songs very different than the album which I wouldn't typically be down with BUT they did them all soooooo amazingly well. They went above and beyond my expectations. What I wouldn't give to see them again. Soon. We even met three of the guys during our stay at the casino/hotel/venue and they were cooler than cool. I just told the mister the other day that Tunde's voice is one that I don't think I'll ever tire of and that I will like ANYTHING that he does. Oh how they make me swoon, especially this song...

A Song That You Can Dance To

2010-09-02T13:19:00.000-07:00

Michael Jackson - Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'

It may be cliche to choose a MJ song as the one I can dance to but I speak the truth. I can shake my butt off to this song. Have loved this song ever since I was a teeny-tiny kid. I have fuzzy memories of my first walkman back around '83 or so and dancing my tail off in the kitchen while my mom cooked. I STRONGLY believe that the Thriller and Off The Wall albums are two of the best ever made. His style of dance has always influenced me greatly and his joy for singing makes my heart happy. As with the rest of the world, I was devastated to hear he had passed. It hurt. I cried. Make fun of me if you will. I never cared what he may or may not have done. All I've ever cared about is that this man made music that makes me smile like no other music can. Makes me dance like no other music can. Thank you, Michael.

Put your slidin' dancin' shoes on!

Puerto Rico in Pictures

2010-08-29T11:48:00.000-07:00

Here's Puerto Rico! Lots of pictures of the mister and I. Boring I know yet it was just us two! We loved it. Loved it all. The mixture of Spanish and English. The vibrant music. The beach. The pool. Each other. The beach. The pool. The leisure time. The everything. Here you go, our trip in pictures in an absolutely nonsensical order (with a bit of commentary, of course ;)

24 hour hotel *amazing* pool? Yes, please.

Swim up bar and restaurant? I'll take two. Of everything.

Rented a car and took a day trip to the only rainforest in the U.S. Parks Department.

The man who knows no fear at La Coca Falls.

Hours before a loooooooong night of dancing...

Crazy Puerto Rican rain forest snails. EVERYWHERE.

My long quest for empanadas finally fulfilled.

Amazingly, only a slight burn was acquired by me on the trip. And now, I can say that I am tan. Well, tan for the whitest gal this side of the Arkansas River!

Amazing sunsets from our hotel's beach. Heaven.

View from the room.

My record is still going: Clubbed in every country I've gone to. Puerto Rico? Pretty high up there on the club awesomeness scale.

I've also eaten spaghetti in every country I've visited. Puerto Rico's? Nothing to write home about.

Frugal travelers, we are.

El Morro. Sore feet and sweaty. Worth it.

Old San Juan. Tourist central but beautiful.

Hard to believe that a week ago today I spent all day on the beach and at the pool reading. Seems like a dream. A fabulous and much missed dream. Sigh.

Baggin' Up Dustbowl

2010-08-29T10:19:00.000-07:00

Greetings! We returned from Puerto Rico late last Tuesday and life's been in full g0-mode ever since! ESL classes start back up tomorrow and I'm teaching FOUR of them so I've been quite busy with planning for that. I've missed the classroom greatly!

Also scrunched in our few days back has been preparing for Dustbowl Arts Market, which was yesterday in Norman! The mister and I awoke EARLY yesterday and headed that way with the beast. What I enjoy about Dustbowl is that the weather is typically in your favor, the vendors are AWESOME, Norman is a blast, it's dog friendly, it's FREE and there's great music all day long! I didn't take toooo many photos but here's a few!

I was excited and nervous to show my bags to the public for the first time but, to my elation, they were well received...and they sold! Yay!

As usual at outdoor shows the beast set up camp under a table, periodically sticking his head out to surprise shoppers and lick their toes :)

The lady April met up with us as well, looking oh-so-fashionable as always, so it was a fun-filled, sun-filled day!

Here's a closer look at the bags I brought. One bookbag isn't photographed as I finished it up late Friday night! Brought fifteen, sold 4! I was pleased for their first time out!

This odd puppy was made out of the sleeves of a dress I cut up to make a strapless number! I thought it was fun :)

The aforementioned non-photographed bookbag was out of this same material, a velvety checkerboard. So luxe :)

My most popular fabric of the day...

A cool old skirt was what this guy was made out of!

Another *bright* skirt...

Remember the old tablecloth purses? This satchel went quick! Actually, all but one of my satchels sold!

Another old skirt...

The first one to go (and the mister's fave)...

Twas a good weekend! Back to lesson planning! (or procrastinating....)

A Song That Reminds You of a Certain Event

2010-08-16T13:27:00.000-07:00

Do You Realize by The Flaming Lips

I met the mister at the end of July 2006. It took me but a few weeks to realize I was completely smitten. I journeyed to OKC to go to the epic 'UFOs at the Zoo' concert by the Lips. It was really our first 'real date'. And I was nervous. And excited. The show was amazing and I remember allowing myself to realize I was with a fantastic man. That feelings like that were rare. That I needed to let my guard down and allow myself to be loved. I realized that I was in love. If that's not an important event, I don't know what is. I also remember that his car got towed that evening from parking in a non-parking spot and hitching rides with friends to get home. I remember spending most of the next day at impound trying to get his car back. I remember not caring how nasty it was there or that we were in a seedy part of town or that I was supposed to have returned home hours before. I only cared that we were together and that I was learning to love. I had realized.

This is that song from that exact concert :)

A Song You Know All The Words To

2010-08-16T13:22:00.000-07:00

Hyperballad by Bjork

LOVE singing along to this song. Makes my soul feel good. In my head I sound like an angel singing...to others, not so much ;)

Fuzzy Friday: Fuzzies of Friends

2010-08-13T13:17:00.000-07:00

Not only am I a big animal lover but so is the lady April! While she was away last week, I watched over her fuzzy farm and here's photographic proof :)

A Song That Makes You Fall Asleep

2010-08-13T11:59:00.001-07:00

Max by Future Sound of London

I'm going to go out of order from the original song list. What can I say, I'm a rule breaker ;)

In high school, I got made fun of a bit for listening to 'beep boop bop boop' music, or electronica others will call it. FSOL was one of those 'beepy' bands but I loved them so. Still do. They really do transport you to la la land with their creations. My favorite album, Dead Cities, was one I would put on repeat over and over again while I was trying to unwind or crash for the evening. (I would program my player to skip over We Have Explosive though...if you know they song, then you know why ;) Max is one of my faves on the album. It does something more than just relax you, it makes everything feel OK.

A Song That Reminds You Of Somewhere

2010-08-12T12:51:00.000-07:00

La Corrida - Francis Cabrel

After I had finished my undergraduate degree in 2002, I packed up to travel around Europe for a month. A friend of mine was studying in Germany at the time so I spent much time scooting around with her. After a few weeks, we headed south to meet up with a friend I grew up in church with. He was living with his father in the south of France, an area I had never explored before. My previous time in France left me with a bad taste in my mouth so it was good for me to give it another try. After a few days on the beach, we were offered an unexpected trip up to La Mas, a tiny, pretty much abandoned, French village in the French Alps. The bus would only take us so far and after that we had to hitchhike, for lack of a better word. The roads were ridiculous and with my car anxiety, I'm amazed I didn't have a heart attack on that drive. We finally reached our destination and stayed for three days living off condensed milk, spaghetti, peas, 50 year old white wine found buried in the cellar and pixie sticks. We should have hit the store before we left ;)

The house we stayed in was my friend's grandfather-in-law's. Let me explain the history because it's a truly amazing story. My friend's grandfather was an American soldier in WWII in France. His plane was shot down near La Mas. The soldiers made their way to the village and for months, the inhabitants of the village took care of the soldiers, even hiding them in the forest when the Nazis came hunting for them. My friend's grandfather-in-law lived in this village at the time. They were eventually rescued and time went on. Then, about fifteen years or so ago (give or take) a reunion was held for descendants of the village inhabitants and the rescued soldiers in France. It was at this reunion where my friend's father and now stepmother-in-law met. They married shortly after and he never left France. Amazing, non?

Back to my song ;) So, as one can imagine, we had to entertain ourselves during our stay in La Mas. We played LOTS of cards and did a lot of gabbing. The house was full of hidden doors behind curtains, tiny rooms with one piece of furniture filled with surprises and, we swear, ghosts. :) The three of us never separated in that house after dark! Spooky! Then one day while exploring the house, we found a tape deck and a Francis Cabrel tape! We listened to that tape over and over and over and over again. This one song takes me right back there and beyond. Enjoy.

A Song That Reminds You Of Someone

2010-08-12T12:20:00.000-07:00

Elvira - The Oakridge Boys

Honestly, I could probably go through every person I know and assign a song to each of them that reminds me of them. In an effort to not bore you with a never ending post, I've decided to go back, way back, to my Great Granny.

Born a week and many years apart, my GG and I are mighty similar. She was quite organized, an animal lover, very particular and a bit OCD, much like myself. She was the first person to let me 'teach' her with my nonstop 'classes'. I LOVED spending time with her. I could go on and on about my memories with her but I won't, again with your sanity in mind :)

When first entering her house, you'd find yourself in her formal living room. This room was used for the occasional Christmas party and the storage of all things pretty. My favorite pretty in this room was her console record player/radio which we now have in our sitting room, along with her record collection. I have very fond memories of her putting on records and dancing around in that seldom-used room. Her old, grey poodle Sugie would stand on her hind haunches, front paws in my hands and dance around with me.

There was one song in particular that I couldn't get enough of. I LOVED dancing to this song with her. And yes, I have this record still that we used to dance to and play it on that same player :) Here's to my Great Granny!

A Song That Makes You Sad

2010-08-11T12:11:00.000-07:00

It Could Have Been A Brilliant Career - Belle & Sebastian

Though B&S typically make music that makes me smile and bounce around a bit, this song tends to bring back sad memories of being in Phoenix in March 2006, visiting my sister with my mom and getting word that a close, close family friend (basically family) had suffered a massive heart attack at a surprise 50th birthday party, my dad in attendance. It was our first night in Phoenix and this song came up next on my playlist. I listened deeply to the words. I've never been able to listen to that song the same way ever again. :( I do love this song still though even though it tugs at the ol heart strings.

A Song That Makes You Happy

2010-08-11T08:59:00.000-07:00

Otto Titsling by Bette Midler

Before you judge me, hear me out. I only saw the movie Beaches once and I think I slept in my seat while my mom cried watching the film. I was young so I don't remember much from the movie other than it being sad, probably recalled from my mom's reaction. She must have bought the soundtrack after that because I listened to it ALL of the time. I don't really know much of Bette Midler's work aside from this soundtrack but I do know that that soundtrack is killer. Say what you will :)

I spent a lot of time at my grandparent's house growing up, often figuring out things to make or perform for them. I have a distinct memory of performing this song for them (acting it out all of the while) and being wildly embarrassed singing the word 'tits' to them which is ironic because 'torpedo tits' was a widely used phrase in that household growing up. My family is a bit offbeat ;) I probably coughed or sniffed through that part :) The fact that the whole song was about boobs didn't bother me though!

This song makes me happy for a number of reasons. It makes me laugh. It reminds me of my grandparents. It reminds me of my mom. It has humorous operatic parts that I LOVE to sing along to. In fact, you should have heard me singing along while searching for the video. Makes me smile big time :)

28 Songs

2010-08-11T08:48:00.000-07:00

So I'm going to jump on the bandwagon and share some tunes with you over an extended amount of time. I've enjoyed these posts immensely on friends' blogs. More than likely (especially with a vacay on the horizon), I won't be posting on this everyday and there's a chance you may get more than one in a day! I know this has nothing to do with crafting YET music is a grand creation in itself and I do enjoy my tunes so here you go :)

Note that I'm skipping day 1 and 2. For one, there are WAY too many songs that are contenders for my fave so that would be next to impossible to decide upon and for two, there are too many craptastic songs in the world to choose one that would be my least fave. So there. Day 3 coming soon.....

day 01 - your favorite song
day 02 - your least favorite song
day 03 - a song that makes you happy
day 04 - a song that makes you sad
day 05 - a song that reminds you of someone
day 06 - a song that reminds of you of somewhere
day 07 - a song that reminds you of a certain event
day 08 - a song that you know all the words to
day 09 - a song that you can dance to
day 10 - a song that makes you fall asleep
day 11 - a song from your favorite band
day 12 - a song from a band you hate
day 13 - a song that is a guilty pleasure
day 14 - a song that no one would expect you to love
day 15 - a song that describes you
day 16 - a song that you used to love but now hate
day 17 - a song that you hear often on the radio
day 18 - a song that you wish you heard on the radio
day 19 - a song from your favorite album
day 20 - a song that you listen to when you’re angry
day 21 - a song that you listen to when you’re happy
day 22 - a song that you listen to when you’re sad
day 23 - a song that you want to play at your wedding
day 24 - a song that you want to play at your funeral
day 25 - a song that makes you laugh
day 26 - a song that you can play on an instrument
day 27 - a song that you wish you could play
day 28 - a song that makes you feel guilty
day 29 - a song from your childhood
day 30 - your favorite song at this time last year

Tablecloth Turned Skirt

2010-08-06T10:48:00.000-07:00

Last weekend at the Flea Market, I came across this pretty little tablecloth! I loved those colors and the size seemed a good one to cut up and play with!

I laid the fabric out on the floor (meanwhile shooing animals off of it left and right!) and laid out a cute wrap skirt that I inherited from a friend (and that I love!) to try and recreate something similar.

Unfortunately, the cloth was just a teeny tiny bit shorter than the original skirt but I crossed my fingers and figured it wouldn't make a difference! Well, it did make a difference. BOO! Not a huge difference though. Wrapped over a bathing suit or a slip and all would be fine OR if I were to drop just a few pounds, that would work to ;)

I dropped the ball picture-wise here so I'll do my best to explain without pictures! Really, it's mighty simple! After cutting out the skirt, I just had to hem the sides as the bottom was already hemmed! Easy! Following that, I cut two loooooooong strips and made straps/a waistband out of it. You want this to be super long because that is what wraps around and around you! Finally, about four or five inches from the center of the waistband, make a buttonhole. This is where you slip one of the straps through to tighten your skirt! With a bit of the extra fabric I made two little pockets because nothing is complete without a pocket or two! Voila! You're done! Thirty minutes top :)

I'm thinking I'll be packing this for our trip to Puerto Rico in a few weeks! That's right, we're going to Puerto Rico on a semi-controlled whim! ;) This will be mine and the mister's first trip out of the US together and my first trip to a Spanish speaking country in over ten years! I can't freaking wait!!!!!! Don't worry, I'll bring back LOTS of photos, stories and goodies to share!

Until later!

Fuzzy Friday: Facts

2010-08-06T10:15:00.000-07:00

Fact: The beast's head is bigger than mine.

Fact: The beast shares a name with one of the new Project Runway designers :)

Fact: New fuzzy prefers to pay us for her meals even though room and board is free.

Welcome To My Vanity

2010-08-02T12:48:00.000-07:00

The mister and I moved into a small, midtown Tulsa home a little over three years ago. Our house has one tiny, TINY little bath (so tiny the beast can't turn around in it - he has to back it up to leave!) and I have a not-so-tiny collection of baubles, naturally, being the jewelry gal and all :) I foresaw some issues with my 'collection' and our lack of space until one day....

While scrubbing down the shelves in our hallway linen closet, I noticed how perfect the height of the bottom shelf was to actually be a standing workspace of some sort! I timidly called up the mister (at the time we weren't even living in the same town) and passed along the idea of removing a shelf and turning the middle portion of the shelves into a vanity! He bit! Probably one of the greatest gifts he has given me ;)

Now, before I move on, let me apologize beforehand for the photos. This time they were not taken with my phone but I had a heck of a time with lighting in this small space! So, you get what you get.

As I can barely reach the top part of the shelves, the sheets get thrown up there so don't mind the mess :) I took a 'messy' photo of the vanity to begin with yet forgot to take a clean photo! Oh well, this is usually how it looks! And actually, it's a great segue to explain one of the other great functions of the vanity! I usually leave jewelry EVERYWHERE around the house. What is fabulous is that when tidying, I can just toss it all in there, shut the door and be done with it! I'm typically not the 'just throw it in the closet' type of gal but for this, it works great!

Another item of note is that my perfumes and lotions make the sheets and blankets smell great all of the time, a fact the mister pointed out! Ha!

So now, a tour. The mirror was from the mister's old apartment. The frame is PLASTIC and not the prettiest thing in the world so we were going to get rid of it when we thought of trying it in there...and it was a perfect fit!

While this may look like a big cluster, there is actually much organization to my necklace groupings! Metals, Vintage, Worldly and Modern Handmade.

In the corner next to necklace-fest is a scarf with pins, pendants (just clipped on with safety pins) and sunglasses.

Down below on that side is the box 'o earrings. I know many people like to hang their earrings up to store but that has never really worked for me. I have them color grouped in the various drawers and just dump them out to pick out a pair to wear!

Next to that is my take-out box, formerly a childhood Easter basket, full of nail polish. You can see Shiva a little better in this picture (explained below).

Directly under the mirror is my bracelet and ring army. While you can't see the white fist on the right side of the photo due to the BLINDING FLASH, you can see the second of the pair on the left side. I posted once about finding these and another white hand dish at a garage sale in high school. The board with the hands hung above my sink in college as a towel rack and now lays in my vanity as a bracelet holder. You can easily slip one of the dowel ends out of the fist to pull off bracelets that don't clasp. I also tend to lay often-used earrings or hair clips on the board portion. At the left end of the photo, you can somewhat make out a Shiva figurine which I have donned with many rings :)

And if you'll look to your left, you'll find the culprit of the good smells! That jewelry box was made for me in college by one of the two people responsible for me meeting the mister! The top of the box has actual jewelry cemented into it! I tried to get a photo of that but no luck....

My mom sold Mary Kay cosmetics for many years, hence my large collection of scents and lotions. It takes me FOREVER to finish these things off! I've issued a hiatus on good-smelling gifts for many years now! I hang my headbands off the top of the perfume basket yet, they always seem to fall down. Anybody else have a headband storage system that actually works???

Looking up you'll see a bamboo shelf that has been everything from a toilet paper storage shelf, knick knack holder, plant stand and now lotion storage! I would say I have successfully used every last inch for storage in my vanity!

I always jokingly tell people that this is my favorite part of our house which, I suppose, is pretty close to true! It's a space I've made completely my own and is filled with so many things that, may not be worth much monetarily, but are worth the world to me. Minus the lotions :)

Fuzzy Friday: Fuzzy Foursome

2010-07-30T06:12:00.000-07:00

Again with the phone pictures! Please ignore the quality of the photo (and the dirty clothes ;) and just pay attention to ALL of the fuzzies together! Whatever room you lounge in, they will be there with you. I never feel alone with my fuzzy army behind me. :)

Skirt Turned Top

2010-07-27T07:49:00.000-07:00

Another sewing post for you! Aside from making bags recently, I've also been altering this and that to make summer frocks for myself! A few weeks back, the mister and I stopped by Cheap Thrills to check out their semi-annual half price sale! One of my finds was a 70's teeny-tiny skirt with a print I about fainted over! Now, this picture below is not the actual skirt but a great representation of the style of the skirt before I started cutting it up!

I didn't try the skirt on when I bought it but I could tell it would be too small. I figured I could do something with that fabric though! While I could barely fit the puppy over my hips, it sat nicely above the girls so I decided to attempt a top!

I began by flipping the waistband under and pinning. When I reached the zipper portion, I unzipped and pinned the zipper under as well. Working with that zipper cut and not trying to fix it, created a nice V shape in the back! I then sewed down where I had pinned.

Next, I cut off the waistband just a bit off where I had sewed it down. The waistband would now become the strap to keep me modest :) Turns out, the waistband was the PERFECT length for the strap! I just pinned and sewed down the raw edges of the band followed by pinning and sewing the ends to the top! And VOILA! A new one-of-a-kind summery top!

It's All About the Hunt

2010-07-26T09:10:00.000-07:00

The past weekend was a much welcomed one...one without plans or obligations! Saturday morning, the mister and I awoke quite early and headed off to the flea market. While I usually score some awesome finds there, I only walked away with some golf balls (for the mister, of course) and a dog bone (for the beast). We scooted along town hitting the vet, bank and a few garage sales. I'm usually pretty lucky at garage sales as well but again, wasn't having any luck. We took one more turn down a random neighborhood street and FINALLY we came across a half-price estate sale! The mister and beast hung out in the air conditioned car while I ran in, fingers crossed, hoping to find some goods!

Alas, my luck had finally changed! While my scoring quantity was low, the quality was high. I picked up two vintage plastic spool and bobbin organizers which made me SO happy as I LOVE to organize and was tired of my previous ziploc storage situation. The first thing I did when we returned home was color organize those puppies! Next I picked up four 'Workbasket' magazines from 1974. There's LOADS of crocheting and knitting patterns in them. Not to forget the heeeeee-larious photos tucked away in those pages! They just might end up as switchplates in the future! And finally, the COOLEST cream, blue and green tablecloth with a little avocado green fringe!

I got back in the car a changed woman! Smiling from ear to ear and already planning what to do with my findings! There's something SO satisfying about hunting and hunting for good finds and finally finding what you didn't even know you were looking for! It's possibly one of my favorite things to do :)

As you've probably picked up on, I've been having fun playing around on my sewing machine and attempting to make this and that! After my successful satchel experiment, I decided to cut up the tablecloth to try some more bags!

First, I made another bag that mimicked the satchel from last week. Oh, and for your bit of history today, all of these purses were shot hanging from an antique electrical switchboard from Tulsa's own Sequoyah Elementary school.

Second, a smaller, more dressy number! I even did a little pleating on it! I'd never done that before! I guess I should also mention that I didn't use patterns or anything of the like, I just did my best eye-balling and finger-crossing!

Third, a more triangular handbag. I'm absolutely in love with this one :) I love how it showcases the purty birds from the fabric, the shape, the little pocket inside and the fact that I made this one with the leftover scraps from the previous purses!

Lastly, another scrappy creation, this time made from the leftovers from the satchel bag! Topped this guy off with a little whimsical cock-eyed pocket :)

I think I'm hooked on making these! I plan on searching a bit more this afternoon for some curtains, more tablecloths or blankets to cut up and make more! So here's my question for you: Do you think I should make some of these to sell??? Do you think the world would eat them up??? Is the world ready for them??? :)

Satchel Tutorial

2010-07-22T07:48:00.000-07:00

As I've briefly mentioned before, I've been dabbling in sewing lately. Now, It's DEF not my forte BUT I sure am having fun creating stuff! I've mainly been ravaging my closets and drawers for old clothes to cut up and revamp but last night, I brought an old, shrunken wool blanket back to life with the help of my mister :)

I'm so pleased with the outcome and the ease of the process that I thought I'd attempt my first tutorial! I find it a bit ironic that myself, a non-talented sewer, is creating a sewing tutorial. He he :) Hopefully it all makes sense!

To begin with, I had an idea in my head but wasn't quite sure how to execute it. I dug through the depths of my drawer 'o bags (I have a bit of a bag problem) and pulled out this guy whose style I liked and thought I could somewhat mimic.

Step two is figuring out where to cut! I'm not much of a measuring type gal so the fact that I had the checkerboard pattern to go off of helped a lot! I also had the help of my mister with this part. He's REALLY good at design and was an immense help to figuring out the logistics of the whole thing. Plus it was really cute to have him in there helping! :)

Please, if you are an actual talented sewer and find ways this could be done better, share your comments and ideas!

What I really loved about making this piece is that it is one continuous piece of fabric! There's minimal cutting and minimal sewing, making this a quick and easy process! I made my cuts right where I would sew as my edges will not fray so I did not need to hem anywhere. Depending on what type of fabric you use, you may need the extra hem space.

Again, I only took pictures with my phone so I apologize greatly for the quality and the lighting. In an effort to make up for the crappy pics, I whipped up a diagram (below) to help you make sense of everything!

The red lines indicate where you would fold your fabric. I first folded in the wing flaps and sewed them down to make little internal side pockets (one of the mister's great ideas!). You can keep them as super long pockets but I sewed a little line across the middle of the pockets so I could easily reach my phone when it's in there. You may want to make your flaps on the middle portion of the bag though to make your pockets on the BACK part of the purse. I'm fine with the way mine turned out but I think you could change it up a bit, should you like.

I used a long zig zag stitch throughout the entire bag for two reasons, 1) it's extra reinforcement and 2) it's the one stitch that I don't fight my machine over!

I next folded the bottom portion up (the portion with the now-sewed down flaps/pockets) to meet the middle section and slowly sewed the edges together. I only have one size sewing needle and all of these layers together were THICK so I took it slow and steady to not break the needle!

After you've sewed the bottom section to the middle section, just fold down the top for your fringed flap! I made a super long strap out of the scraps so I could carry it over my torso instead of just over the shoulder.

And the end result! Pay no attention to the blonde behind the curtain! ;)

And the inside! Since there were two flaps, I have a pocket on each side. I think something like this would also be cute for a little kiddo to carry around and stash rocks, cool leaves and perhaps a frog or two in during nature walks :) Perhaps out of an old pillowcase?

I'm SUPER pleased with how it turned out! So much so that I began carrying it today! So glad I didn't get rid of that blasted shrunken blanket!

So what do you think? Do let me know if you try it and of course, any pointers are greatly appreciated!

Thank You, Woody

2010-07-19T08:33:00.000-07:00

Another Woody Fest has come, gone and delivered good times as always. The heat this year was pretty brutal but nothing a loose fitting outfit and lots of water couldn't fix!

We usually camp throughout the entire festival but this time we only camped the first night before running off to my in law's house for A/C and actual bathrooms rather than port-a-johns!

Even though Woody can get pretty toasty, there's always places to hide out and listen to music. For example, Brick Street has a gigantic basement that some awesome acts play in during the day. I was lucky enough to have one of my high school friends pass through on Saturday during a trip from her home in Wisconsin. It's always a joy to show off Okemah to friends!

One of the few remaining theaters in the state, The Crystal Theater, also showcases many amazing musicians throughout the festival with Arlo Guthrie kicking the whole festival off on Wednesday night there!

The main street in Okemah, Broadway, is not only home to the Crystal and Brick Street but is also home to a beautiful Woody Guthrie park and statue.

To beat the heat while our misters played golf, April and I drove a few miles out of town to swim for a bit in Okemah Lake. It was a perfect break from the heat.

One of my few photos of folks, dark as can be. I wasn't the best picture taker this weekend, as you can see. As a matter of fact, I only took photos on my phone! Shame on me!

And the only picture of me mister and I, celebrating five years of meeting each other.

Another reason I was gung-ho about not camping as much this year was due to my sweetness to the mosquitos! I was eaten alive on day two! I was so itchy on the last day I even wore jeans in 100 degree heat to avoid more bites!

While the next location isn't indoors, it's still a perfect place to spend a few hours during the festival. Grape Ranch Winery is only a few miles outside of town and also has non-stop music playing. We were lucky enough to be there when the legendary Randy Crouch was playing!

In the evenings, the action is at the Pastures of Plenty where the big stage is full of fantastic acts.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, Okemah produces the most amazing sunsets!

This is also where we set up our booth and sling the goods!

The ending act each year is Jimmy LaFave, a fave of my mine and my mister's. The last few songs Jimmy brings all of the singers and musicians on stage to sing together. This year was the first year I actually went up to the stage to watch closely and might I say, it was incredibly moving (AND I saw two ladies on stage that had bought jewelry from us that weekend!). They always end the festival with the entire pasture and those on stage singing This Land is Your Land together. It's so moving and is the perfect way to end a perfect and meaningful festival.

I truly hope that one of these years, you'll join us at Woody Fest and experience how special this event truly is.

Take My Word

2010-07-14T12:37:00.000-07:00

This weekend is a very important weekend for two main reasons. First, it's Woody weekend! Second, it's the five year anniversary of meeting my mister!

The Woody Guthrie Festival is SUCH a good time. Yeah, yeah, yeah it's hot, I know this, but it's totally worth it! What this festival celebrates and how they celebrate with non-stop, feel good music and wonderful, wonderful people makes it a festival I won't miss! It's family friendly, FREE and only an hour away from Tulsa and OKC, making it a great 'meet in the middle' spot for friends from all over the state! I will refrain from going on and on and will leave you with my posts from last year selling the festival and recapping the weekend.

We will be there from Thursday on so if you see us, make sure and say hi! It's truly a good-for-the-soul type weekend :)

Los Nuevos

2010-07-14T11:56:00.000-07:00

A few more new baubles for the summer collection!

Ziiiiiiiiiiiip

2010-07-14T11:27:00.000-07:00

As I've mentioned many times before, I've got a problem with flea markets, garage sales and estate sales. A problem as in I buy waaaaaaay too much when I go and then have piles of surplus sitting about! Every once in a while I'll come across a heck of a steal, as I did a month or so ago. I picked up a HUGE bag full of old zippers and bias tape for a few dollars and played with lots of ideas on how to use them up. Well, the bias tape still sits unused but the zippers have been getting a lot of action lately! (that last sentence made me laugh :)

Introducing Zipper Necklaces! I'm enamored with them! They lay well, are all different colors and styles and are using up unused goods! Here's the lot I'm taking to The Woody Guthrie Festival with me!

Alliday & A Widdle More

2010-07-09T07:07:00.000-07:00

Ok, so here's my *brief* recap of the Alliday week with pictures stolen from my sista :)

We held our first annual (perhaps semi-annual???) Alliday Show on June 26th and am happy to declare it a success! The show was held at the Tulsa Fairgrounds and I must say, I enjoyed working with them greatly! It was a one-day FREE show which, I believe, was one of the key components to its success! The atmosphere was perfect, smiles were upon everyone's faces and sales were aplenty!

We learned so much from producing our first show! For example, next time around, we will be investing in much LARGER signs! (and perhaps taller ladders to hang them with ;)

Setup began on Friday afternoon while April and I were live on Oklavision! I was quite surprised how many people took advantage of setting up a day early! I know I appreciate that option when participating in a show, so it was important to us to provide that to our vendors! We even took advantage of it and here's proof. We usually stand around and stare at our tables for a good while before we finally decided how to set things up :)

There were so many wonderful and fun moments during the show, it's hard to recall them all! One highlight was getting to see SO many family and friends! My sis snapped a picture of me blabbing on about something to my parents! By the end of the day, my face hurt almost as much as it did after our wedding from smiling and talking so much!

The Monday before the show The Tulsa World contacted me about wanting to do a piece over the show! I quickly scrambled and got two absolutely fabulous Alliday artists, Nicki from The Gleeful Peacock and Beth from Art by Bethany, to join me for the interview! We really had NO idea what to expect but were SOOOOOOOOO pleased to open up the paper Saturday morning to read this fantastic article!!! It really helped bring people to the show! While we were chatting with the reporter, my sis snapped some, uh, really flattering photos. ;)

After the show and cleaning everything up, April, my sister and I journeyed back to my house to pop open a bottle of champagne! It felt so good to put my feet up and relax!

I know, I know, I keep mentioning my sister and you keep asking yourselves, "but I thought she lived in California??" Well, earlier this year, we planned a surprise homecoming trip for her around the show! I am NOT good at keeping secrets so this was ridiculously difficult for me but I did it!

Actually, everyone knew about the trip home except for my dad! She flew in ON Father's Day a few hours before the fam met at Kilkenny's for dinner. I strolled in a few minutes before the mister and my sister joined in so I could tape it and make sure everyone was situated. He was truly speechless and, I think, a little confused! It was a GREAT surprise and SOOOOOOO very nice to have her home to help out and hang out that week!!!

Not only was she here for Father's Day and The Alliday Show, she was also here for her 25th birthday! In fact, the Tulsa World interview was on her birthday! It was great fun getting to celebrate all together :)

Af and I spent hours watching old home videos together during that week which was such a great stress reliever! She usually stays with our folks when she's in town but this time, I got her! (mainly because she was my show worker bee all week!) In addition to old home videos, we found this old coffee cup at our grandpa's. Told you I've always loved green! ;) Check out our, uh, stellar fashion sense.

After the show and a busy, busy week, Af and I ran away to the woods to our family's cabin. It was much needed and well welcomed. During our drive out there, I had to slam on the brakes at one point to avoid hitting a bird. A peacock to be exact. Yes, a peacock in rural Oklahoma wandering the streets. Naturally. Apparently the folks who live there use peacocks as their guard dogs, and it worked! We pulled over to take a pic and the beautiful thing started barking at us! Hilarious and so strange all at the same time!

We talked, listened to music, ate, ate some more, and swam with the beast. It was the perfect end to the perfect week. Always hard to say goodbye.

And there you have it, my *brief* post! It's impossible, I'm long-winded! :) You'll get even more Alliday in the coming weeks as I'm picking up our professional photos tonight!!! Yay!!!

Did you come to the show? Did you have as fantastic of a time as we did????

Home Improvement Staycation

2010-07-08T06:06:00.000-07:00

I know, I know, I've been virtually hiding out for a little while now. I've needed a little decompression time since the Alliday Show which, was fantastic and will be covered in depth here and on the Alliday blog in the near future. We are already SO excited for next year and *whispering* are toying with a Holiday Alliday!

In the meantime, check out what's been filling my time!

The mister has been hard at work on our deck roof and is now halfway done! With all of this rain lately, it makes me dream of sitting on our future screened in porch reading with my fuzzies while the rain comes pounding down! Can't wait!

While the mister has been sweating outside, I've been busy sewing in cooler temps with the fuzzies. Sewing is NOT my forte but I sure have been having fun making summer tops for myself! I've also been making LOTS of new necklaces which, of course, will debut on here shortly!

As for the 4th of July holiday weekend, well, we opted to bunker down and hideout after two years of unfortunate 4th accidents. Instead we cleaned, organized and painted our kitchen! We got SO much done over the break!

I've been doing lots of joking about us living in PeeWee's Playhouse due to the plethora of colors that decorate our walls! We now have a yellow kitchen, pink bathroom, bright blue bedroom, blood red bedroom, green hallway, goldish living room, orange sitting room and brown office. Shew! We're just lacking black, purple and grey! Although, the mister is hinting towards painting the garage grey when we get to that point! I grew up in a house where repainting a room meant getting a fresh coat of Spanish White so I LOVE living in our bright and colorful house!

So here's the kitchen in progress! There really wasn't too much wall space to paint which made the job a quick one with the exception of keeping fuzzies out of the paint! They sure do like to help!

And the after! It's a bit of a dark picture so it doesn't quite show the bright yellow quality :) I whipped those curtains up while the mister did the taping! Previously there were some awesome eighties country curtains there. NOT our style.

Here's a sunlit picture that DOES show the bright yellow! Our cabinets are this sweet shade of green from the seventies so the yellow complements them greatly!

And finally, a little revamping of the front room. We removed our old Mayfest posters and replaced them with these cool wall art pieces from our neighbors. Much more mature in my opinion :) Moved some of the knick knacks around, placed our elephant table next to the piano and voila! Yes, we have a elephant table. And I love it :)

What do you think???

Fuzzy Friday: A Reflection

2010-07-02T07:25:00.000-07:00

In addition to a photo full of fuzziness today, I thought I'd speak on the fuzzy subject!

I'm a cat lady. Some may even go so far as to call me a crazy cat lady. And I'm OK with with that :) Growing up, we ALWAYS had at least one cat thus, I've forever been comfortable with the feline variety. Our family didn't have dog until I was in middle school so dogs weren't as natural for me to deal with. Didn't help that our pup was raised in a four-cat household so she was part feline in a way!

Years passed as did our family's four-legged friends. As many of you know, death of a fuzzy friend is NOT easy to deal with. Perhaps it's the true unconditional love. Perhaps it's the crazy antics that keep you laughing for years to come. Perhaps it's the cuddling. Whatever it is, it's not easy.

Unfortunately, our family went through the loss of three elderly kitties and my grandpa within a short amount of time shortly after I received my undergrad and moved back to Tulsa. I lived in a sad little basement apartment during the winter months. Underground winter living = Inadequate emotional healing space. I needed to cope. I needed a fuzzy friend.

It was during this time that I discovered StreetCats, a non-profit, no kill cat rescue organization, who I have been volunteering with for the past eight years. I took a trip to 'just look' and came home with my grey fuzzy who is the epitome of lap cat. I think she has attachment issues. Seriously. A few months later, orange fuzzy was added to the mix. Those two little ladies got me through some lonely, tough times. They still continue to light up my life.

We've since been lucky enough to welcome two other fuzzies to the family - the beast and new fuzzy. I can't imagine a life without daily fuzzy entertainment, love and companionship. I write this, not to sadden anyone, but to briefly share (because I could truly go on for days) what joy animals bring into my life.

To end, a Fuzzy Friday photo finally :) Here's the o.f. (original fuzzy) and her new friend both waiting for the perfect moment to jump into their food-giver's warm lap. :)

Do you have fuzzy best friends? Has an animal changed the quality of your life?

Fuzzy Friday: Extreme Closeup

2010-06-18T10:49:00.000-07:00

This is typically how you see this fuzzy. She's always as close to your face as she possibly can be!

Photo courtesy of an old friend and house guest a few weeks back :) Fuzzy was camped out on her chest even though she's allergic.

Mooooooooore Neeeeeeeeeew

2010-06-15T11:30:00.000-07:00

And here are my new ones which will also be at The Alliday Show NEXT SATURDAY!!! Don't forget about the triple switchplate giveaway which ends next week!!! Enjoy all of the newness!

This next puppy is a converter! Wear it as a long necklace...

...or wear it short with a matching bracelet!!!

This next one is so looooooooooong it takes up two screens! Made from all reused and vintage beads and three metal bracelets! Not to mention that it wears perfectly!

This statement piece can be flipped around for a totally different look!

Which one do YOU like???

Neeeeeeeeeeeew

2010-06-15T11:19:00.000-07:00

April's new little baubles, hot off the press! All of these lovelies will be debuted at The Alliday Show which is only ELEVEN days away!!!

An Alliday Giveaway!!

2010-06-11T07:42:00.000-07:00

Hey kids! I've got a treat! A treat in the form of a GIVEAWAY!!! I have NEVER done a giveaway before even though I've talked about it for the past year! Better late than never! ;) So to kick this thing off right, we'll have THREE winners! What can you win? A pair of switchplates made from old magazines! Here they are:

The Loungin' Pair

The Offbeat Pair

The Watery Pair

Ok, so how can you win? Simple. Spread the Alliday word. It's only 15 days away and we need everyone's help letting the world know! How do you do that? Here are your options:

* Blog about the Alliday Show

* Tweet about the Alliday Show

* Mention the Alliday Show on Facebook

* Or link this giveaway to the world!

See, easy! After that, just leave a comment on THIS blog so you can be entered! If you don't have a blogger account, make sure to leave an email address for me! This contest will end at 12:00 a.m. Wednesday, June 23rd so you have a week and a half! Winners will be randomly chosen! Good luck!!!

Here are links you can use to share:

The Alliday Blog

The Alliday Website

The Alliday Facebook Page

In other news, I finally bit the bullet and am now on Twitter! Find me! It's taking a while to learn all of the ins and outs but I'm learning, slowly but surely! @Sheez_Krafty

ALSO, if you're new to the craft show circuit and are wanting some pointers, check out my post on our Alliday Blog for LOADS of tips!

Until later!

Fuzzy Friday: Workin' Out

2010-06-11T07:20:00.000-07:00

The fuzzies always manage to get some exercise, one way or another...

Fuzzy Friday: Seeing Red

2010-06-04T10:46:00.000-07:00

Here's the three feline fuzzies in shades of red, yet not seeing red :) Have a great weekend!

A Weekend in Paris...

2010-06-03T10:48:00.000-07:00

...Paris, Arkansas to be exact.

So as I've mentioned before, life's been pretty chaotic lately and while I've been jonesin' for some R&R, the mister's been jonesin' for some fishing and camping. We decided to take a few days off of work and drive the three hours to Paris, Arkansas to go camping where I grew up camping, Cove Lake, halfway up Mount Magazine, the highest point in Arkansas.

Beginning when I was about four years old, my family would pack up and camp out there with friends at least twice a year for about a week at a time. I knew that place like the back of my hand and have memories upon wonderful memories associated with the small lake and trails. The last time I was there? When I was 17 or 18 years old which would be about 12 or 13 years ago. Lay your eyes on this gem...I was probably about 13??? This is on the top of Mount Magazine with my little (now taller) sister. Check out my fashion tastes!

One of the nicest parts about this trip is that it was just myself, the mister and the beast. Granted, we made lots of Arkansan friends out there, but all in all, it was just the three of us for four glorious days.

When I was in my late teens, my family went through some pretty hellacious storms atop the mountain and decided it would safer for us in situations like that if we stayed in a camper, thus a pop-up was purchased. My folks still had that same pop-up and after a few minor repairs and replacements, it was ready to be used again! It was so much fun to go back through those drawers and be thrown back into my teen years!

We cooked most of our meals over the open fire with the exception of our breakfasts which I cooked on the propane stove hooked up through the camper. Here's the beast and myself during said breakfast time :) I'm modeling my apron I tie-dyed on my birthday last year!

Cove Lake is a mighty small area but has some very special spots tucked away in it! This gigantic rock is affectionately known as Turtle Rock. Throughout my years there, I've even seen someone pitch a tent and sleep all night on this rock! The beast had quite the time getting to the top of it :)

The lake is quite small as well but perfect for canoeing and hiking around which I used to LOVE to do growing up! I took my menfolk on a three-mile hike around that puppy on our second day! Here's the only picture of us from the trip together! Guess we need to pack another photographer on our next trip ;)

On this particular hike, the beast pointed out an armadillo to us (thank goodness he was leashed or that armadillo would have been mincemeat!) who then led us to three more armadillos! It was a rolly poly family! The only place I have EVER seen live armadillos are on that mountain!

Another cool little hidden special spot is an old marker along the hike that notes where a couple was married in the late 1800's and then later buried in life together there. Unfortunately, things had overgrown quite a bit so I was unable to find the exact spot. Next time...

We had SUCH a perfect time out there singing, reading, crafting (coming up on another post!), cooking, eating, talking, laughing, swimming, breathing deep and just enjoying each other and the beautiful smells and sounds of Cove Lake.

It couldn't have been a better trip than what we experienced. We are already compiling our list of what to pack next time...which will be soon :)

Camping Crafts

2010-06-03T10:25:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned before in my last post, I brought camping crafts with me to keep my hands busy! I left the jewelry goodies at home and just packed up a bag of old clothes and embroidery thread to get rid of!

Firstly, I had this dress that I used to wear ALL of the time in high school. I'm smitten with green and I have always loved the feel of this dress, hence why I still have it after 15 years! It didn't fit quite like it used to and the bottom was all torn but I knew I could figure out something to do with it!

Since it was only the bottom of the dress in bad condition, I decided to chop it off and make a tank out of it! The mister was ALL about using his box knife to make my cuts for me :)

Then I sat and worked for a short while on sewing a new hem.

And TaDa! I have a new tank! Project #1, Complete! But what next???

Up next on my crafting plate was to make something fun with this old shirt that, again, I've loved but it just didn't fit quite right anymore.

We found a tupperware lid that seemed to be the right size for what I was dreaming up so the mister did some cutting...

...and I had the beginnings of a bag!

I've only done a small amount of t-shirt projects but I have learned that it likes to sssssstrrreeeeeeettttttch out so I decided to line it with the bottom of the leftover dress from earlier so it wouldn't stretch as much! I sewed my little heart out for quite some time while the beast slept and the mister heckled ;)

After I put in my lining, I took a little more of the leftover green fabric and created a 'neck' into the purse. Not only did it make the bag a little deeper, but it also made it a little stronger. And you can never go wrong with more green!

Finally, I took what scraps I had left and made some checkerboard straps for the bag!

All the while, I used a large rock as my handy side table and filled it with random scraps, pins and beverages :)

And after many hours of hand-sewing in the fresh air, I had finished my first purse! And I've been carrying it for days now! Here's the beast doing a little modeling :)

For not being much of a sewer, I must say I'm pretty proud of myself! I'm also quite proud of the mister for all of his help and input :) One more thing that made our trip perfect!

Barkin' in the Park

2010-05-24T07:15:00.000-07:00

I've been lacking on my Fuzzy Friday posts lately and I've no excuse except that I've been beyond busy lately! We've got only THIRTY-THREE more days until the Alliday Show (!!!!!) so I've been busy getting all of that together! Yesterday though, I was able to take a breather and enjoy a day at the new Tulsa Driller Stadium for Bark in the Park! We met up with another couple and their red dog who is the beast's girlfriend! There were SO many dogs everywhere and they were all SO well behaved! It was a bit warm so we kept pouring water on the pups and soaked their free bandannas in water to cool them off. Of course the beast did some awesome panting which got him on the Jumbotron! He was famous! Here's some pics to sum up our day in the park :)

Monday Mish Mash

2010-05-17T12:43:00.000-07:00

So my awesome, awesome AWESOME friend over at Free Therapy hooked me up with this little blogger award, which, I believe is just some doohickey devised to kill time. I need to kill some time and yes, I just typed doohickey ;)

Rules for this time killer? Share seven little known doodads about yourself. A few of mine are even inspired by FT.

1. I've been wearing men's Old Spice deodorant for over ten years simply because I LOVE the way it smells.

2. During my teenage years, I was in three beauty pageants. I know, it's hard to believe. I'm glad I did them though because they changed me. They made me realize who I DID NOT want to be. They made me who I am today. As a result, I abhor children's pageants. Any sane person should.

3. I've never seen any of the Star Wars movies, Indiana Jones movies, Rocky movies (even though I LOVE Sly) nor any of the Lord of the Rings movies. I figure when I'm on my deathbed I'll just have a movie watching marathon to say I finally watched them. <--that probably won't ever happen ;)

4. I don't eat fish. We have three tanks at home and I've always grown up with them. I have a hard time getting over the idea that I'm eating my pets. They are just so cool to watch! On the flipside though, I do enjoy the peacefulness of fishing! But I can't touch the fish if I catch one. And I always throw them back.

5. I have an extraordinarily long tongue thus, I have a plethora of tongue tricks. The ultimate one? I can swallow my tongue. It's great when I think I have strep as I can feel if there are little infected areas in there! Gross, I know. That's another fact I guess. I get strep more than the average person. Perhaps it's because I can swallow my tongue...hmm...

6. I can pop almost every bone in my body. The most random? My tailbone. And if I don't pop it about once a week or so my hip HURTS. Like right now. It's been needing to be popped for about three days now. Any day now, fingers crossed.. The one that is most chill-inducing for others? My elbows and wrists. I don't even notice that I do it.

7. I feel like this last one should be something mighty spectacular! Alas, all I have is this one - I eat spaghetti in every single country I travel to. The best? It's a toss up between Mexico (mmm, spicy ghetti) and the Czech Republic (lots of cheesy goodness!).

So now I'm supposed to link some more folks onto this award-winning time killer. Since I'm lazy today though, I tag you if you want to be tagged :)

Blue Dome Recap

2010-05-17T10:50:00.000-07:00

Well, Blue Dome has come and gone! Last year we fought high winds and sunburn weather while this year we fought lots and lots of rain! The first day of the festival, Friday, was the rainiest so we weren't quite sure what we were going to do...we finally decided to go for it! There weren't many people set up that day and there weren't many people out shopping BUT the people who were out shopping were actually SHOPPING so sales were great that rainy Friday!

Our tent had few little leaks on Friday but thanks so a little ingenuity, an umbrella and zip ties, the leak was fixed! Plus it made people smile :)

Friday night our friend Sarah of Santiquity came to join us! The mister and the beast came up for a while on Saturday and snapped this pic of us ladies. Makes me laugh :)

A while back at the Flea Market I picked up this antique wire display stand for the goods! It's from the mid-twenties, folds up and is PERFECT for our needs! I rigged up two broken neck forms to hang on the top of the rack so we could display more necklaces without taking up precious table space! Yay! I also got to use my little aluminum serving trays, which were also a Flea Market find, to display our rings, pins and wrapped rocks! This area was my fave!

We also figured out a way to put the wire display walls to better use! One of our biggest problems with them is that the feet are SO big that people always trip over them! The mister supplied us with some zip ties and VOILA! hanging walls that can't be knocked over! Plus with all of the rain, we needed to use our tent walls which made the necklaces POP!

Here's the lady April saying hello :)

Some bracelets and Sarah's scarves and necklaces.

One more new display addition were these wire leaves that April found for $3 at Hobby Lobby! She picked up 4 of them and we used them for earring displays! They were great! Everything just seemed to come together for this show!

Here's a view from our end of the street. You can see a big water mark on the street which was from the tops of our tents periodically dumping water out on folks. Pretty funny, actually! :) I was actually QUITE a fan of the weather this year! The winds were fairly non-existant so you weren't having to fight to keep your displays upright, the sun wasn't barrelling down on pale folks like myself and the temperatures were PERFECT for being outside all day! sure there were some sprinkles, but they made the experience that much more of, well, an experience! :)

If you didn't make it out this year, make sure you don't miss it next year! The beast will be waiting to say hi!

New for the Dome!

2010-05-13T09:15:00.000-07:00

Here's a little teaser of the new goods we will have at Blue Dome which starts TOMORROW rain or shine! Don't forget the HUNDREDS of new switchplates, LOADS of new rings, and TONS of pins! You won't want to miss our booth this year! OH! And did I mention the MASSIVE half price bin! That's right, we're spring cleaning which means HOARDS of savings for you!

A few of my new ones....

...and a few of Aprils!

My Fave Five

2010-05-12T08:10:00.001-07:00

So today, in an effort to kill sometime, I decided to share with you five blogs that I LOVE. Enjoy!

The Call of the Small - I never knew I liked miniatures until I came across this blog! It makes me wish I was a miniature so I could live in the rooms she creates!

Free Therapy - One of the funniest blogs out there, in my opinion! I went to college with this gem and boy oh boy can she make you laugh!

Ann Wood - I am enamored with her creations, especially the large owls and the dreamy ships! Her creations take me to different la-la land :)

New Dress A Day - Talk about inspiring! This lovely lady has committed to creating 365 outfits within 365 on a budget of $365. It's amazing what a few minutes and some ingenuity can create!

Alliday Everyday at www.allidayeveryday.blogspot.com (for some reason the embedding isn't working on that link!) - Didn't think you'd get away without a little Alliday plug, did you? ;) Lately we've been showcasing some our vendors for the June show! Soon, we'll have tips for vendors and much more!

What are some of your favorite blogs?

Blue Dome THIS WEEKEND!!!

2010-05-11T09:45:00.000-07:00

It's that time of year again! Springtime storm season! Oh, and Blue Dome! ;) This festival is SOOOO much fun and is packed to the brim with local artisans!!! It's a fabulous, FABULOUS time! We will be there with ALL sorts of new goodies!!!

The festival begins on Friday, the 14th from 11 - 9; goes into Saturday, the 15th from 11-9; and wraps up on Sunday, the 16th from 11-5!!! You can easily find us on the North side of 2nd Street!!!

Don't forget that there are TWO other arts festivals in the streets of downtown this weekend as well! Take the time to visit Mayfest and The Brady Arts Festival! Of course, come by Blue Dome first ;)

Can't wait to see you!

Fiber Fest, With Hay and All!

2010-05-04T13:26:00.000-07:00

This past Sunday was Fiber Fest! No, it wasn't a festival to make you eat more fiber but rather a celebration of the fiber arts! I learned so much! This event was organized and put on by the fabulous make:Tulsa which I STRONGLY encourage all those who love to make things to join! You won't be disappointed!

We were the ONLY jewelry artist there which made our sales fabulous! A show where we are the only jewelers? Well, it's happens about as often as Hailey's Comet comes around! Here's our humble abode. Small corner? No problem! We'll make it work! And we did!

I was introduced to so many new things at this show! Have you ever seen a knitting machine??? We had two right next to us! Talk about an intimidating looking contraption! A weaving loom? Much less intimidating and much more intriguing for myself :) There were even spinning wheels made from PVC! Awesome!

It was such a joyful, peaceful vibe there. A perfectly relaxed show with wonderful people and good music :)

Did I mention the show was in a barn located on a picturesque field? Did I also mention that the weather was absolutely killer? I SO wanted to lay on the lawn and take a nap!

It's only been two days since the show but I'm already ready for next year! Maybe by then I won't be as intimidated by knitting :)

Until later!

Switchplate Facelift

2010-05-04T12:19:00.000-07:00

Let's hear it for compound nouns! As you can see, my switchplates display takes quite a beating during a show and since I've been in the middle of the switchplate factory and need more room, I decided it was time for a facelift!

The gold wooden box was once an old Dr. Pepper bottle case. It had a layer of paint on it when I inherited it so you can only see a faint outline of the logo. I love the size, the rustic feel and above all, I love how easy it is to transport! I then had my heart set on another similar type of bottle case.

I searched high and low through the flea market week after week which is, of course, one of my favorite past times! It wasn't until Easter weekend when the mister and I headed to Okemah that we came across one of those side-of-the-highway flea markets. Most of the merchandise there varied from confederate flag bathing suits to half used bottles of this and that. It was THAT kind of flea market. BUT, to my elated surprise, I found another bottle case for $5! I probably could have done some haggling with the price, as I usually do, but I was ready to get the beast and mister back in the car to continue our journey.

The case had little dividers in it which the husband took great pleasure in knocking out with a hammer. I then took to scrubbing the puppy down. I'm pretty sure it had been stored in a barn or the like for a number of years. Took a while to get all of the mud-dobber nests out. YUCK.

As I looked at it more and more, I noticed that the logo was for Favor Flavors which, according to Tulsa TV Memories was described as this by one of their contributors.

The soda place on Admiral was called Favor Flavors (I don't know why I remember things like this). I remember being impressed when the crates of soda were pushed along the series of rollers that acted like an assembly line (I was easy to impress as a child).

I also learned from that site that it was located just east of Memorial on Admiral and you could buy a whole crate of soda along with the crate which is more than likely how I ended up with one!

HOW COOL!!! It made my $5 find priceless! I asked my dad if he remembered Favor Flavors as he knows all about Tulsa history. He responded by saying that was that rapper guy with the clock. Close, Daddy. Close. ;)

Moving on. I also decided that it was about time to purchase a laminator. I realize how big of a nerd I am for wanting a laminator BUT I can use it for SO many things, like school, shows, my folks' office and more! I did some photoshop nonsense with a photo I took of finished necklaces hanging and really liked the effect so I made them into my new switchplate signs!

I also jazzed up my labels for two reasons: 1) I was bored with what I already had and 2) I needed to broaden my categories! There's a few that actually made me laugh out loud :) You'll have to come visit us at Blue Dome next weekend to read all of my signs AND to see the hundreds of new plates I've been churning out!

After my laminating and trimming session, I then cut some foamcore to fit the insides of my cases so the plates wouldn't become a jumbled mess during a show! Such an easy fix! Wish I'd thought of it years ago!

Finally (and not photographed), I stuck some large rocks from the backyard behind each row to keep the plates in good position and so they could lean back in a leisurely fashion :)

Ending this post now with an unrelated flea market find, this one from our own Tulsa Flea Market! I found this over a year ago, again for 5 smackers! Remember, my mister is from Okemah and it's also where we met! Imagine my glee when I came across this! Check out that phone number!

The moral of this post? Visit your local flea markets and learn more about where you live. You'll be amazed at what you find!

Until later!

Fuzzy Friday: Special Edition

2010-04-30T12:33:00.000-07:00

It's a special Fuzzy Friday around these parts for two special reasons.

1) We got a Flip camera so now I can share video! Yippee! Now you can see how crazy the fuzzies can really be! AND we can video shows, tutorials and I can (prepare for a big nerd moment) make grammar videos for my students :)

2) Well, our newest fuzzy has had a bump in the health road. About a week ago, we noticed a growth forming on the end of her nose. Well, within two days time, it doubled in size and didn't look like something we should ignore. Long story short, new fuzzy had to have part of her nose cut off and sent off for testing. We should know results within a week. She is still playing like a nutjob and acting like nothing is wrong! I'm hoping we caught this early :) Here is evidence that she is young at heart! This is the night before the nostril expansion ;) Enjoy!

New For You

2010-04-28T10:25:00.000-07:00

A few new pieces that will be debuted at this Sunday's Fiber Fest!!!

Fiber Fest THIS SUNDAY!!!

2010-04-27T07:16:00.000-07:00

Come play in a barn with us and so many wonderfully talented people at the Spring Fiber Fest! There may even be some fuzzy animals for you to pet...need I say more?? :) For more information, check out this link. See you there, I hope!!

I AM AN ARTIST!

2010-04-25T14:57:00.000-07:00

Photographic evidence of the switchplate assembly line. So far I've completed around 100 yet I still have another 100 or so to go :) Obviously, there will be LOTS of new ones at our upcoming shows! One of which is next Sunday....more info on that show soon!

I was also busy finishing up my 5x5 last week! Here's the finished product! I call it, "Beetty Was a Cutup" and yes, of course I have reasonings :) If you recall, I have never really produced much wall art at all and was quite apprehensive in tackling this! Then I remembered, art if subjective. There's not template for what art is and we all create it in our own ways! Just as good 'ol Beethoven made amazingly complex and beautiful music, I cut crap up and put things on string. Yes, I may not change the world with what I create BUT I am creating, nonetheless. So yes, I am an artist :) Sometimes I just need to remind myself of that :)

I basket wove some of my century old sheet music as my backdrop, and covered it with Beetty and crafting scissors. On two opposite edges, I shaved off the backs of some vintage buttons and affixed them for a little something extra. I quite like the way the buttons FEEL on the side! I'm quite pleased with it which, is quite important in ANYTHING I create but especially this one as we may end up with it back if it doesn't sell! Ha! I wouldn't mind this hanging in our house :) Whimsical and odd as it may be, I like it :)

(a few more buttons were added to the sides after this picture was taken and can somewhat be seen in the above switchplate drying photo)

Hasta pronto!

Fuzzy Friday

2010-04-23T13:26:00.000-07:00

The beast is loving springtime just as much as we are! AND he's loving hanging out in the front yard without a leash! Such a big boy now :)

Small Canvas, Big Nerves

2010-04-21T17:31:00.000-07:00

So my mom and sister are artists. As in they can draw, paint, charcoal...the whole nine yards. Myself, well, I draw horrible stick figures on the board in class to convey my messages. Pretty entertaining really. So my mom is going full force with her painting, all the while documenting it here, and got me interested in the 5x5 show! I know I'm not artsy in the artsy sort of way ;) but I sure can create with magazines and beads!

I decided to pull out the old '73 magazines found in my grandpa's house and got to snipping! The mister questioned my ability to put all of the cutouts on the small 5x5 canvas, rightfully so. I'm trying to teach myself to edit more, as I can tend to go overboard when I design :) I'm a bit over the top in general :)

I scaled down the pieces I wanted to work with and ended up definitely going with Beethoven (which was an image on a child's sweatshirt) and an array of crafting scissors! Here's a sneak peak!

My century-old sheet music made it in the mix as well! I'll be putting finishing touches on tonight and will share the finished product soon! I've never attempted to make 'art' art before...a little nervous about its reception!

Until later!

Fuzzy Friday

2010-04-16T15:18:00.000-07:00

Something to Smile About

2010-04-13T19:19:00.000-07:00

Last week was a busy week of random small shows, one of which was at my grandma's retirement community which is also one of the places I teach ESL! While I knew it wouldn't be a high dollar show, it was rewarding in so many other ways! I LOVE this community and I LOVE spending time with my Mimi, who is one of the most creative and vivacious women I know!

Isn't my Mimi adorable!?!?!

Unfortunately for sales, most of the vendors were jewelry artists BUT I was lucky enough to be next to a mother/daugher/daughter trio of amazing artisans and wonderful women! One of the sisters, Dawn makes the most uh-mazing hand-stitched beaded jewelry! I'm a beader but I can't imagine doing this much detailed bead work by hand! My jaw was constantly on the floor looking at her stuff! Check out how amazingly talented she is here.

It never seems to fail that when we participate in a show that is not monetarily successful, we always end up meeting the most amazing people! Much like Nikki, at the Gleeful Peacock who I now consider a friend! There's always something good that comes out of every show :)

Remember the other small show we did at TCC last week? Well, we won the Viewers' Choice Award! Looks like I'll be getting a gift certificate to Hobby Lobby! Woohoo!

If you've got a little time and are wondering who will be at the Alliday Show, make sure and check out our Alliday Blog which we are beginning artist interviews on! Yay!

Until later!

Fuzzy Friday: Spoonin' Fools

2010-04-09T07:41:00.000-07:00

Small Shows = Big Emotional Rewards

2010-04-08T07:47:00.000-07:00

You may remember last year when we taught a beginning jewelry-making class at TCC to my ESL students. Well, TCC gave us another awesome opportunity yesterday when they had their first Arts & Crafts show at my campus! It was rather small and short but so much fun!

We were encouraged to demonstrate our craft and have activities for attendees to do so a fellow teacher and I set up an earring making station! During the two-hour event, I helped about 15 people make their very own pair of earrings! It was SO rewarding to see people so proud of their creations and to see them make something they didn't know they could do!

We had a small little setup which was ideal for me since I didn't have time to set up a large booth nor lug everything around as I was doing the show between two of my classes!

Attendees were encouraged to vote for their favorite booth, hence the 8, which will be the Viewers' Choice Award! Below is one of my current students who was the first to make her own pair of earrings which she promptly gifted to another teacher. So cute!

Another fabulous thing about this event was the variety of vendors! We had a quilter, who I spent much time speaking with about the quilting process; a former student who makes flowers out of colored pantyhose and wire; a knitter; a booth with hand scrubs made from coffee grounds; a tutorial on how to make flowers out of bar napkins (ha!); fine jewelry; and a talented charcoal artist!

Randomly enough, I have ANOTHER middle of the week show tomorrow at my grandmother's retirement village which is also where I teach another ESL class! They do a small arts and crafts show there twice a year and I was lucky enough to be sought out to participate! My grandmother is SO excited about helping me out! I'll share photos and deets from that show soon!

Until later!

Tis the season...

2010-04-05T10:14:00.000-07:00

...for gardening and hanging outside!!! Hip Hip Horray!!!

Props to the mister for taking some purty pictures :)

Happy Easter...

2010-04-04T16:15:00.000-07:00

...from 1984ish!!

I threw out my neck...

2010-04-02T12:44:00.000-07:00

...working on these for you! Don't worry your pretty little heads though, I'm much better now! Enjoy!

Fuzzy Friday Double Time

2010-04-02T07:21:00.000-07:00

Making up for missing last FF with a double dose of fuzzy :)

On the Road Again

2010-04-01T08:00:00.000-07:00

Howdy Folks! Grand apologies for missing my last Fuzzy Friday post but the past week has been a whirlwind! A week ago today, I packed up my overnight bag and my vintage briefcase to head to Oklahoma City and Norman with an old and awesome friend of mine! It's not often that I get to take a day off of ALL of my work and play around in a different city!

Since my friend had other business to tend to, I planned on doing much Alliday Show pimping and some store networking! I packed up Alliday flyers, many business cards, a selection of necklaces, earrings and rings and my tools in case some jewelry needed fixin' :) I laughed at myself several times while carrying around my briefcase filled with business! I think I'm going to single-handily bring them back!

I'm a big fan of face-to-face interactions (which is one of the many reasons I love selling my goods in person!) so I had a fabulous time visiting all of the awesome shops and talking to the kickin' people who run them! I was also elated to have Birdie take a few of our items into their shop! If you've never been in there before, make sure and plan a trip! SO many beautiful things to want to take home! Good thing I was broke, otherwise I would have needed a rolling suitcase to take home all of the beautiful things! Ha!

Here's a shot of my lovely friend and I enjoying a cold one at the Oklahoma City McNellies! I can't even begin to tell you what a wonderful time it was to catch up, laugh and spend a few days together!

My friend and I returned back to Tulsa late Friday, just in time for me to repack and head to the Hard Rock Casino to spend Saturday night with my mister for our two-year anniversary! I'd never been there before and what quite impressed with our little Vegas! The mister and I had a fabulous time dancing, laughing, sharing cigars, talking, unsuccessfully gambling and just plain having fun together! Amazing that it's already been two years!

And now I find myself almost through with yet another week. And in another month. Time flies is quite the understatement :)

Have you had any exciting road trips lately? Or days worth celebrating?

All Good Things Must Come to an End...Like Spring Break

2010-03-21T13:32:00.000-07:00

The last day of spring break is today. Bittersweet really. I've LOVED having the mental free time to work on the Alliday Show, www.allidayeveryday.com, and to prepare for all of our upcoming Spring shows! I've also missed being the crazy teacher that I am! I've missed acting things out, standing on desks, drawing stick figures to convey meaning and I've just missed being immersed in the international classrooms I find myself in! A break is always nice, yet is always nice to get back into the game!

So what have I been doing this week besides being sick, reading, cooking and sleeping? Well, I've been making millions of switchplates! Ok, maybe not millions but at least a few hundred! I've never made this many at a time and I must say, it's becoming a bit monotonous. BUT while it can be mind-numbing, it's a craft that I can sit around and do ANYWHERE with anyone around! At least this phase I can do anywhere :) Here's some photographic evidence for you...

Have you recently celebrated a Spring Break? Or any sort of break? What did you accomplish and what did you do to relax? :)

Fuzzy Friday

2010-03-19T10:22:00.000-07:00

Today's Inspiration: 1973

2010-03-18T07:10:00.000-07:00

Hello out there! This week hasn't exactly gone as planned. I've got a million and a half items on my to do list to knock off this spring break YET I go and get sick! I spent the last two days curled up in bed with all the fuzzies and the Twilight series - don't judge! I'm FINALLY feeling back to normal and must work overtime to get my list completed! Thought I'd give you guys some eye candy first though :)

If you remember, I'm in the process of hammering out a few hundred switchplates for our upcoming spring shows and during said process, I'm come across some stellar '73 mags from my g-pa's house. The lovely ladies over at Mama Says Vintage often share old magazine articles, recipes and much more from the past and, taking a cue from them, I decided to share some of the fun stuff I found in one of the mags...at least the only one I've scanned in so far! :)

If you found yourself bored in 1973, you could always order the patchwork place mat and pillow set to make! Wouldn't that make a splash in your house!

Or you could get a steal with these marked down needlepoint kits! Funny how that little owl is such a fascination right now, just as much as it used to be!

Then, of course, there's the things that 'make my eyes happy' as my mom says. I love all things green so of course I fell in love with this green and white sitting area. Especially loving the Asian figures on the wall! Reminds me of these little statues my Mimi has that I've always loved.

Then there was this pretty little ad. Green hues, peaceful girl curled up with her fuzzy! Perfection!

Sometimes we get so caught up in the here and the now that we don't think to look back; to look at things that inspire us from the past. What things from the past inspire you today?