What have I been up to?

Lets see.  I have been busy with Corrigan Care as their Volunteer Director and Secretary. www.corrigancare.org.  I'm still making crafty things.  www.dodettes.com.  I'm a Rep for Jewelry in Candles. www.jewelryincandles.com/store/alicia

That's about it for now.  I plan on blogging more these days, so stay tuned.

Mermaid Jewels

I've been working on making some wonderful Mermaid Jewels from all of the treasures I collected on the beach this past summer. This first necklace was a gift to my kids' music teacher.



The one below will go to my Etsy shop in April.

I've also been making some simpler necklaces which are already available in my Etsy shop.  As I collect more shells this summer on the beach I plan on making sets of similar necklaces for brides maids.  I think they would be perfect for a beach wedding!

Recycled Powdered Drink Bottle

This video shows a nifty idea to reuse those plastic bottles that powdered drinks come in. I'm sure those of you who crochet could come up with a cozy/carrying case for it. Although any strong strap would do the trick if tied around the narrowpart of the bottle. If you aren't fond of the foam decoration I would suggest letting kids go at it with sharpies.

My Etsy Site.

Just a peek at what's available on my Etsy site.

Please be patient.

For all of those who came here through www.aliciag.com.  Please be patient while I redo my site.  In the meantime you can view my gallery.

Enjoying the summer.

For those of you who don’t know, my “craft room” is an ongoing struggle.  I put the quotes around craft room because right now it’s a sea of disorganized boxes.  Today I managed to do a bit of sorting and sweep the floors.  It had quite the collection of dead bugs.  EW!  I’m hoping to spend the next week, a few hours a day, working on the room and I do feel determined to get it to a usable state before school starts.

We’ll go to Myrtle Beach in a few weeks and I’ll get some beach combing in.  I wish I could find more sea glass or beach pebbles there.  I do find a lot of worn down shells which I think would make great jewelry if I actually sat down and did it.  Here is one of the necklaces I have made this summer. It is made on antiqued copper chain with stone beads.  Approximately 17” long. 

Fiber Necklace Idea

I'm really getting into the whole fiber/fabric and wire thing. I am drawn to experiment with fancy yarns, fabric scraps, wire and re-purposed beads. I think I'm on a recycle kick. I may be submitting this one to my kids' school auction. I'll have to set it aside and look at it later to really decide.

I've been busy.

I've been working on some jewelry to send to The Sampler's Oscar gift lounge table. Some of the highlights of my pieces were that they used a lot of re purposed beads. (Beads I took from old unwanted jewelry) They also used my ClinkIts, which are made from stained glass scraps from a glass company, and recycled fibers. The fibers I used were from sari scraps and some scraps from my kids' art class in school. Here are some photos of what I sent.

Back in the swing of things.

I'm back. I know it's been a while, blah blah blah. I am happy to say that I made progress in my studio this past month, thanks to my friend Julie. If you don't remember the before pic, you can see it here. I know it still looks like a wreck, but overall I'm pretty pleased with the progress!


I was telling a coworker about my struggle with organizing my studio and I mentioned how I thought that having to organize it was my punishment for being so messy in the first place. She called it my 'Craft Karma," and she is right! At least I can see the floor now!

Takin’ a break.

I’ll be taking a break for the next week an a half. Wow, that was a summer long break! Yay Spring!

Here is a Butterfly Origami Video I found on You Tube by Mademagonline.

Earth Hour Tomorrow

While you won't find me hugging any trees things to help minimize our impact on the environment is always a good idea. I have to say that my kids will definitely have the lights out during this hour because they are usually asleep. Not sure if I can convince them to give up the night light, but it is at least an LED light. I did find a website that has more Earth Hour info and other activities for kids and teens. It's earthhourkids.org.

And here is Earth Hour 2009 video:

Who I am NOT (The blogger quoted at SXSW).

I recently received a comment at my old blog address, craftymom.wordpress.com.  The comment mentioned a BBC article written about SXSW and a self proclaimed “geeky mom” named Kim who was quoted as saying "thankless, horrible, awful job that nobody should actually have to do for free - but we do. So blogging is our outlet."  I am not the person quoted in this article and it somewhat saddened at the fact that someone would actually feel this way about being a mother.  Perhaps she could learn a few things from Dr. Laura.  While I disagree with how Kim felt when intereviewed for that BBC article and I did agree with some of the things the comment on my blog said, I did figure one thing out.  Please make sure you are commenting on the right person’s blog before you say anything, especially if it’s a tad on the rant-ish side.  It just makes for good netiquette.

Also, I do believe moms are underappreciated a lot.  So take the time to say ‘thanks’ to your mom or the mother of your children, it’ll make any mom’s day!

Fun Friday

Since the weather in Atlanta is so great!  I thought I’d share some places for paper airplane tutorials and other wind powered outdoors things for the kids. Enjoy!

Paper Airplanes:

Instructables.com

Wonderhowto.com

Zurqui.com

Other Fun Toys:

Kai-lan Paper Pinwheel at Nickjr.com

Paper Gyrocopter at Go.com

Twirly Bug at Crayola.com

Butterfly Mobile at Go.com

Twirlers at Go.com

Thursday Thoughts

Not much going on upstairs today.  Busy with taking my daughter to gymnastics/dance class and then the kids to the park after school today.  The weather in Atlanta is lovely today.  She’s outgrowing her no-sew tutu that I made.  I picked up some headbands at the dollar store (To use as waist bands instead of the plain white elastic from the craft store) so I could make her another.   I also think that I will use at least 3 yards of tulle, perhaps 3.5 to make it really poufy.  If you’d like to see how I made it, click here.

 

My no-sew tutorial was featured on Jan 29th, 2008 on Whip Up.

What am I up to? Trying to set up my studio.

The intended purpose of this room is to be my studio.  A place to work on my ClinkIts and my handmade items.  As you can see, it’s far from usable, but that’s not forever.  I’m going to spend several hours each week sorting and going through my mass of supplies.  I’m committed to donating some, destashing on Etsy, getting rid of the trash and organizing the rest.  My friend Julie is helping me too.  She and my other friend Melanie are exceptional organizers and I plan on having them help me.  I have to admit that right now I’m somewhat embarrassed to have anybody in this room.  Posting this before photo is quite painful for me.  However, I know that plenty of other people have rooms like this and perhaps my hard work will inspire them to do the same, or at the very least, feel less embarrassed about their own rooms!

Ok, phew, it’s over with.

Tuesday Tutorial: St. Patrick’s Day Makeup & Face Painting

Monday Mom Stuff – What is St. Patrick’s Day?

Several times I’ve been asked by in my In-Laws what exactly is St. Patrick’s Day is.  The first year I was a bit lost as to what to reply.  I knew some vague story about a guy (Saint Patrick), snakes and Ireland, but in all actuality, it really meant wearing green, eating green and adults drinking green.  My great grandparents on my mother’s side moved to America from Ireland shortly before 1905.  So this is something I should know. Many times growing up I was told that I had “the map of Ireland” on my face.  It wasn’t until I was older that I figured out that it meant I looked Irish.

St. Patrick's Day is a national holiday and feast in Ireland celebrated in March 17th. This day celebrates the patron saint of Ireland, Saint Patrick.  He lived around 385 to 461 AD.

Saint Patrick was credited with banishing snakes from Ireland.  It’s said that Ireland never had any snakes to begin with.  Nevertheless, Saint Patrick also helped teach many Irish people about religion and is remembered for converting many people to Christianity.

To read more about Saint Patrick and his day, visit Wikipedia’s article. Above Image Courtesy of LeeHansen.com.

Also visit:

DLTK’s Printable Worksheets for Saint Patrick’s Day.

Sunday Eye Candy: North Georgia Street Team & Green Etsy Favorites.

Silly Saturday – Jodie Flower’s Silly Head Beads

Silly Head Beads by Jodie Flowers

Fun Friday

Here are some fun St. Patrick’s Day craft ideas for kids!

Pom-pom Shamrock

Pot of Gold Greeting Card

Felt Shamrock Pin

St. Patrick’s Day Hat

Even more St. Patrick’s Day Crafts.