The Quilt and Craft Sale

This past Sunday, Cherie and I went to a Quilt and Craft sale at one of our nearby churches. I was particularly excited because I normally work on Sundays, but my new job allows me to be able to take a couple Sundays off a month (huzzah!).  We decided to go in the morning in hopes that the goods wouldn't be too picked over.

When we got there, we realized that our expectations were a smidgen too high lol.  We were hoping to see more knit and crochet items amongst the quilted items, but nope.  There was one lady that had a few crochet hats and... nah...  So we wandered around between the tables displaying some really really pretty quilts, but of course they were WAY out of our budgets. Which was completely understandable, by the way.


After a few minutes, one of the volunteers told us about the make-and-take craft room they had set up.  For $5 you could make either a set of napkin rings with felt flowers on or an angel made from a men's neck tie.  I chose to make the tie angel and it was surprisingly a lot of fun.  Mostly because I really got in to the details of the face, hair, decorations, and whatnot.  I was enjoying the craft so much that the facilitator took pictures of me throughout.  Cherie resisted the urge to make one, but she definitely lended a hand with mine.  I'll share the instructions below if you are interested.  It will make a really cute children's Christmas craft.

All in all, the Quilt and Craft sale was nice.  I almost want to figure out who I need to talk to about possibly participating in the sale next year.  I could surely give that crochet hat lady a run for it lol. 

Anywho, I wanted to share something that made me smile.  What's something nice you did this past weekend?

Listers Gotta List: December 2015 Wrap-Up

I decided to do the December Listers Gotta List (by The Reset Girl) a little differently than the other couple months I made.  This time I used a 6x6 paper pad for each list and created a sort of mini album.  I originally had each page inside the album with my December Daily, but that got too fat too quick!  I really liked how thoughtful I had to be for this project.  I put a lot of emphasis on being intentional with memory keeping during the month and since a bunch of the prompts were memory based, it was nice sit an sift through my brain.

So without more ado, here is my December 2015 Listers Gotta List!  Enjoy ^.^

And because I love making them... here's a flip through ^.^  Happy crafting in 2016!

A Craft Supplies Haul

Today I'm doing something I haven't done in a looooong time... A haul! :) I remember way back when I first started blogging I loved sharing thrift hauls. It was always fun to talk about the awesome finds I came across.  These days I'm not thrifting as much, but my craftiness is at an all time high ^.^

I amassed The bits in this haul over... ummm... 2-3 months.  It's centered around scrapbooking and planner supplies. As you can tell I've been enjoying starting up a new hobby :) But can you blame me? There are just too many cute things!  Anywho, on to the haul!

Pebbles 12x12 paper pad ($6.99 from Tuesday Morning), My Minds Eye paper embellishments ($1.49 from Joann's), Hampton Art 6x6 cardstock paper pad ($0.99 from Tuesday Morning), Colorbok photo mats and phrase cards ($3 each from Walmart) and Studio112 6x12 paper pad ($3 from Joann's).

Cricut Premium Stamps ($1.97 clearance from Joann's), Acrylic stamping block ($1 from Joann's), Various letter stickers ($1-$3.99 from Joann's/Michaels/Dollar Tree), Sticker Books ($1 from Joann's/Michaels) and Scrapbook/Photo Stickers ($4.99 from Joann's/ $1.99 from Tuesday Morning).

Scrapbook Album ($5.99 from Michaels)/ We R Memory Keepers pocket pages ($3.97 from Walmart), Washi/ Fabric tape ($1-$3.99 from Dollar Tree/Joann's/Michaels), Journaling Cards ($1.99-$3.97 from Walmart/Tuesday Morning) and Watercolor set ($1 from Dollar Tree).

Le Pen pens ($0.97 clearance from Joann's) and Gelly Roll gel pen ($1.99 from Michaels).

As you can see, I've been squirreling away all the crafty bits and I'm really proud of myself for actually using them :)  I have set up a little scrapbook area with all my papers and whatnot.  I'm really enjoying this new hobby! 

Listers Gotta List: May Wrap-up!

Helloooo!

At long last... after much procrastination... I have my Listers Gotta List May flip through video!
Woooooo!!!

I wanted to take really nice staged/styled photos of the different lists, but then I realized that wanting it to be "just perfect" was keeping it from getting done.  So I sucked it up and snapped these pictures on my phone.  I was all proud of myself for stringing them together in Movie Maker and adding some cute little music I found online.  It's not what I had in mind originally, but I'm glad it's done :)

Aside from completing the video, finishing this challenge was a lot of fun.  I'm glad that I stuck with it even though I did the last week or so on June 1st and 2nd.  There is a certain pleasure I get from actually seeing a project through from start to finish.  It's almost like at some point I thought I wasn't going to finish or it wasn't going to be any good... but then at the end I feel... victorious... but I think that word is a bit strong, lol.  Strong, but accurate. 

Enjoy!

Listers Gotta List: Days 15-21

Hi all :)

I must start with a confession... I have fallen behind with this challenge. *insert shame face now*  But, I have been a busy little bee and caught up on all the missed ones! Hurray!  Feast your eyes upon my craftiness ^.^

(15) If I could have only 5 things on a deserted island.

(16) Three major goals for 2015 & (17) Things I never thought I would do

(18) Things I want to try & (19) My planner essentials

(20) Ways I de-stress

(21) Things I have learned

That's all for this week :) Oh and so sorry for the sub-par cell phone photos... I wanted to get this post up before I got to far into the next week.

Listers Gotta List: Days 8-14

Yello there!

Here are my finished pages for the second week of the Listers Gotta List challenge.  I am really having fun with this challenge.  It gives me a quiet moment to sit and be artsy.  And that artsy time is very relaxing.

(8) Favorite Stickers, (9) Favorite Breakfast Stickers [then & now]

(10) My Strengths, (11) Best Things About Being A... Creative!

(12) Favorite Words

(13) Current Shopping List, (14) Things I Need to Improve

Listers Gotta List: Days 1-7

Hey there :)

Recently, I've been watching plan with me videos on YouTube.  Those videos led me to Cori/TheResetGirl's channel.  Her videos are really fun to watch and you can tell she loves to create and decorate.

Anywho, this past April, she started a challenge called Listers Gotta List.  In it, you're given a daily prompt to write a list about and then you can decorate your pages if you like.  I really enjoyed watching people do the different lists, but I was unsure if it was something I wanted to try.

At the end of April, I found out that she was planning to renew the Listers Gotta List challenge for May, and I have decided to take part! Huzzah!  One thing I really like about doing this challenge is the fact that I'm actually using all the crafty bits I've collected.  So yeah, on to pictures!

I hope you enjoyed my crafty listing :)  I'm having a lot of fun with this challenge so far and I'm kinda treating it as an introduction to scrapbooking.  I think scrapbooking has been calling my name lately... we'll see.  Have a great week!

WIP Wednesday: The Metamorphosis of an Idea

(As usual I have fallen off the blogging bus... but in my defense... there has been quite a bit of wedding to do around here.  And I started a new job, nothing fancy, but it'll do.  I have been handwriting posts in my notebook, but sadly they take forever and a day to get to the computer. *shrug*  I really enjoy writing/keeping this blog, so I'm just going to have to figure a way to make myself do it...  Anywho, on to the actual post!)

So I find it really cool how some ideas seem to grow and develop rather organically.  I mean you start with a thought like this, "I'm gonna tie these thank you tags on with a ribbon.  Than some alphabet charms catch your eye and they get tossed into the mix.  So you sit down and try multiple times to tie a nice ribbon bow.  You know, one that will show off the charms, only to realize... It doesn't quite work.  So back in the bag they go.

Something doesn't click... What is it???
The next idea is to use a bit of chain to hang the charm just below the thank you tag.  Brilliant solution right?!

Not so much... GAH! What's missing?!?!  Back in the bag they go again.
The thing about creation is that sometimes the stars align and suddenly, while packing up beads to give to a friend, it hits you!  They're not suppose to be tied on with a silly bow!  These pieces are meant to be keychains!

Victory!!!
And then this happens.

 So yeah :) These key chains are a part of the gifts I'm creating for my bridesmaids.  I'll be posting a full look-see on the gifts soon.  Hopefully the girls will like them.  A lot.  Like really ^.^

Hexagon Blanket: Crafty Update

It's been a little bit since I've done any crafty blogging on here... It has been a run of moving and how I'm feeling posts. So! I'm here with an update on my latest project. ^.^

During my first week here in Florida I (in true Caleisha fashion) went to visit the local thrift stores. Unfortunately, the thrift stores in this area are nothing compared to what's available in Huntsville... le'sigh... One of the shops I went to was a St. Vincent De Paul store called Second Chance.  It's the third largest shop I've seen so far, after Goodwill and Salvation Army.  Anywho, in Second Chance, I found a basket of yarn balls (HURRAY!) I was a good girl and only got 2 for $0.50 each a blue and a green.  I decided to make a blanket. I created a granny hexagon motif and ran with the colors. It reminds me of flowers a bit.

Layout and pattern notes.

The layout I put together called for half hexagons.  Creating that pattern took me like 2 days! But I got it and whipped up the pieces I needed.

Thrifted yarn and hexes.

I've been crocheting and watching thrift haul videos on Youtube. It makes me happy to see that at least some people have awesome thrift luck.  (Gah Florida!)

Also in true Caleisha form, I buy a teensy bit of yarn and decide to make a huge project out of it... It's not like Jesus is going to miraculously multiply my yarn supply. Luckily, I had similar colors in my stash so I didn't have to buy any new yarn. Yay!

This is the progress shot, complete with Kiva in the middle :) The white bordered part is the middle so this is only half of the piece.  I'm seriously considering adding an additional line of hexes to the left and right sides to make it wider.  What do you think? 


So yep, that's what I've been up to crafty-wise. I'm going to start doing some blanket designs soon.  I've decided that that makes more sense than making hats and whatnot in Florida.  Everyone can use a blanket. ^.^

Well I'm off to wash the dishes or something. I hope you're having a great Wednesday!
~Peace

Calm Jar DIY Tutorial

I think I've mentioned how I like to watch youtube videos while I'm crocheting, and recently I saw this awesome do-hickey called a 'calm jar'.  It involves a jar, hot water, glue, and the herpes of the craft world... GLITTER!!!! (lol)

Steps:
1. Gather your supplies: jar, hot water, clear tacky glue, glitter
2. Fill your jar with the hot water
3. Add a lot of glue (I ended up putting like a third of the bottle & I think I'm gonna add more)
4. Add as much glitter as you want
5. Close securely
6. Shake well to mix.  If the glitter settles too fast, add more glue.
7. When you're satisfied, glue the lid down to avoid any unfortunate spillage.
7. Ta-da!

I have this one on my desk at work and it's really nice to have around. One of the student workers came in and played with it for like 5 mins.  I'm going to make another one in a different shape bottle.  It's such a really quick and easy project, I might as well make a set, right??

Plus, for like the first time in my life, I used glitter and didn't spill a piece!  What?!?! Yay me!

How to: Saving Money on Craft Supplies

So, as a crafter, I spend a lot of time shopping for specific yarn, fabric, or other crafty bits.  If I'm lucky, I can thrift a bag of yarn or fabric, but the downside to that is the yarn is most likely an older brand so whatever I get is all I'll have.  That leaves retail craft stores for filling my stash, and since I'm such a die-hard thrifter, I hate paying full price for anything if I can help it.

Enter CoUpOnS! 

I was never much of a coupon shopper in the past, but the more I pay attention, the more I figure out how to s t r e t c h my dollars.  So here are a couple tips for getting the most out of your craft budget and then I have something awesome to share.  Enjoy!

1) Sign up for the mailing lists.  If the store offers a mailing list, I've joined it.  For example, Jo-Ann's; I signed up for their list and it sends coupons in email and snail mail.  Often times, these will be doubles, which means more savings for me.  Just make sure that the bar-code numbers are different.

2) For smartphone users, download the apps.  The first application I got for crafting purposes was The Coupons App.  My main stores are Michaels, Hobby Lobby, & Jo-Ann Fabrics, and this app has coupons for all three.  There are also standalone apps for Hobby Lobby and Jo-Ann's (Michaels needs to get with it!), and the Jo-Ann's app often give more coupons than the Coupons app.  So check them all out. (All apps available in Google Play Store and Apple Store.)

3) Ask about combining.  Most of the time, the coupons will say "cannot be used with another coupon" or "one per customer per day," but what I've learned is that sometimes, you can combine certain coupons if you ask.  For example, I once had two 60% offs and a 40% off that were expiring the day I went into the store, I told the cashier that I didn't want them to go to waste and she let me use all three in the same transaction. It was a great day.

4) Check out the sales.  Sales are great an all, but it's terribly annoying when I want to use a coupon but the items I need are already on sale, and the sale percent is not as great as the coupon percent.  To remedy this, I occasionally peek at what is currently on sale and plan to go when the sale ends.

5) Visit the website.  Some craft stores like Michaels have printable coupons on their sites.

5) Make a plan.  It sounds a little OCD, but when I have a few coupons to use, I will plan which item will go with which coupon.  It helps me stay focused and not pick up random yarn that I likely will never use...

-------------------

Now, I went through all that to share with you the awesome savings I managed to swing the other day ^.^  Seriously, I went to Jo-ann's on Sunday and I'm still geeked about this today, lol.  Check it out:

So let me explain the awesomeness you are about to witness!  I went into Jo-Ann's with two 50% off reg price coupons and one 15% off your total purchase coupon (including sale items).  So I got a pound of black yarn (50% off) and some crochet hook grips (50% off).  I like to reserve any coupon that includes sale items for transactions with sales items to get the most savings.  Unfortunately, there wasn't any sale yarn that I wanted or needed so I took a peek at the fabric.  Lo and behold, there was a sale on the sale!  What?  The clearance red-tag prices were an additional 50% off!  So I got three different fabrics: a solid red, a large motif, and some red lace.  Now, evidently when you buy almost the rest of the fabric on a bulk, Jo-Ann's has a policy where they will offer you the remnant for 50% off whatever the sale price per yard of what your buying is (did that make sense??)  So I bought the rest of the bulk on the large motif and the solid red.

When I got up to the register, I was expecting to have to do two transactions. One for reg price items and another for the sale so I could use my 15% off coupon, but the lovely cashier let me use all of them together!  So... let me see if I can break this down...
Yarn = 50% off
Grips = 50% off
Fabrics = clearance + 50% off + additional 50% off on remnant
Total Purchase = 15% off

I spent $31.28 and saved $44.18... (let that sink in) I saved more than I spent! When does that happen?!?!?!  Turn up for coupons! ::does happy dance::  So yeah, this was long, but I think you guys understand my zeal for craft store coupons now, lol.  Try it out. ^.^

Coffee & Yarn & Unicorns, OH MY!

Another night in Books-a-Million.

Trying out the Cinnamon Dulce Latte at BAM... ehh... I'll just have my Chai, thank you.

I'm not complaining because it's really easy to concentrate in here.  I mean I've gotten more work done on the tam for my neighbor in a few hours here than I have in a few nights at home.  It's almost done (hurray!).  There's been lots of frogging tho, but I guess that's to be expected when creating an original pattern ^.^

from my instagram @nadiratani

Today, work was a drag, lots of editing student-entered data on the computer.  But I was able to steal away a few minutes to read 'Happier at Home'.  It's shaping up to be just as inspirating (WTF does inspirating mean Caleisha?!?!  Sheesh, that's what happens when you start singing along with music while writing...) inspiring, I mean, as 'The Happiness Project.'  Let see, I've learned a few new words and I'm just getting into the first chapter. ^.^

1. Lassitude- a condition of indolent indifference; languor or lack of energy
2. Beleaguer- to surround or beset, as with troubles
3. Jackdaw- a bird of the crow family that is noted for stealing shiny things
4. Tableaux- a picturesque grouping of persons or objects, a striking scene
5. Gimcracks- a showy, useless trifle
6. Gewgaw- something gaudy or useless, trinket
7. Prescience- having knowledge of things or events before they exist or happen
8. Sitzfleisch- the power to endure or to persevere in an activity, stamina

And I'm only on page 38!  Woot for Gretchen Rubin's awesome vocab!!

In other news, I went thrifting yesterday and snagged some crafty bits (insert devious grin here).  I will write about them later when I have projects to show. I'm rather excited about my new additions, but I simply dont know where I'm going to make time for them... what with Handmade Holidays and this neighbor hat order.  But just the over-abundance of crafty ideas in my head makes me giddy happy. I just want to make things all day...

This is how I feel when I'm coming up with new crafty designs/ideas:

And YES, I googled 'unicorn rainbow out the butt'... no shame.

Ok... too much?? Oh well *shrug*

Well back to this hat. I hope you had a wonderful Tuesday and if you have Halloween plans, be safe!
~Peace

Big Thursday (Ugh... can this title be any lamer?)

When I woke up for work (a teensy bit later than planned) this morning, I didn't think that my day would include so many awesome-tastic things :)

The work shift was what could be expected with a job title of 'Data Entry' so I won't even speak on that. The meat and goodness of the day came in the bits between.  I was able to steal away a few moments of blog reading after lunch and made this awesome discovery:  Shakti made a quote-pic from one of my favorite poems! I love it when others find appreciation and value in something that means so much to me. [Check out her post -here-]

After leaving work, I went by the library to drop off a cd & dvd that Lamar left and first of all, the traffic was insane... ugh... I hate the stop & go life! Anyway, at the library I met a girl who makes natural hair products (Angela Janelle of Natural Beauty Mart).  We got talking about natural hair then sewing then crafting then crafternoons. I was/am rather proud of myself for not chickening out after the brief natural hair commentary. I actually started the convo about sewing after noticing her looking at that section.  Normally I would just quietly sneak away back to my yarny lair.  But I'm making an effort to be more outgoing and social since Lamar isn't here.  I have hermit tendencies... and I need to address this.

Before leaving the library, I stopped in the "Friends of the Library" used bookshop and got these two.

Streams in the Desert ($1) is a devotional that I first heard of from my friend Sharea.  I remember it being timely... and one can never have too many devotional books.  Of course I had to buy this Needlecraft book. Of course! I love the old books. This one is from... 1975 and I paid 75 cents for it. ^.^ Yay for vintage books for the steal!

FLAG ON THE PLAY!!! I just opened the cover of Streams in the Desert and this is what is written there:

10-11-2002

To our Darling Daughter:

I pray that this little devotional book will bless you as mine  has since 1979.

Every time I have been hurt, worried, sick, or just sad, I pick up my book- and it's as if God has a special word for me.

Honey, life isn't easy - but with the Lord's help- we will make it all the way to our eternal home.

Stay close to the Lord. Learn to forgive others & yourself. Be thankful and look for joy everywhere.

Happy 35th birthday - We love you so very much - never forget that.

Always in our hearts & my prayers.

Love,

Mama & Daddy

There was more to my day, but I'm going to end this post on that note. Good night and I hope your Thursday was a wonderful one.

Life isn't easy, but there will be streams in the desert...