A rare paper project

I was lucky enough to get in on a giveaway from Robins Nest for her beeswax gift pouch tutorial. Aren't they adorable?!!! I have to say it's one of the few times I've had satisfaction when working with beeswax.

Can't tell you how they're made but you can find out if you pick up the tutorial on her Etsy site...It's a very easy to follow project and you can't help but think of all the possibilities once you start making them...

Have a great day,

Angie

Apple Picking 2010

It's that time again...apple picking season. This is a long standing family tradition, we haul ourselves almost an hour away marvel at how abundant nature is and then try to take a share home.

Acres and acres of apples, depending on what weekend we can make the trip determines what apples will be available to pick.

This year we were about a weekend earlier than usual and we picked a 1/2 bushel of granny smiths..(yum) also Melrose and Golden Delicious. Unfortunately I didn't get pictures of all the fun because the batteries in the camera died and the extra batteries were in the car.

This years crew included a last minute pickup of two school friends and what were excellent pickers they were...over 60 pounds of apples...they don't even look tired!

All of our friends can expect a bag of apples on their doorstep this week. Happy Fall!

Angie

Carla's One Year Blogiversary & Giveaway

Come on over and leave a comment on Carla's CosmoGirl blog for a chance to win some of her incredible Halloween creations. If you love gardening, decorating, cooking, and paper crafting then this is the blog you need to follow.

Take a peek.

Angie

Dreaming of Fall

It was 90 degrees here yesterday and it looks to let up no time soon. In an effort to ignore this Indian summer I have my eyes set on Fall.

Lets start here with delicious caramel apples from the grocery...they were so very yummy, Robert and I polished them off in a couple days.

I loved this comment by Artybecca... she says that the only way to make it to the front page of Etsy is to have an acorn in your shop...how funny...yet so true it seems. I had picked up a few acorns while out at an account last week, left them on the kitchen table and worked out plans to create some out of polymer. !
These are my first attempt..I had more..but alas they tumbled to the floor while still warm from the oven and if there is one thing to know about polymer it is most fragile when warm. I'm looking forward to making more and with just a few changes in mind for the next go 'round. (like not dropping them)

Did you notice my 'new' little prop? It's a very old ceramic piece, a 50 cent garage sale find last week...sweet!

Angie

A day of play

I did get to play Tuesday and again last night altering some of the techniques taught in Stephanie Lee's class. I splurged on some Envirotex Lite with a 40% off coupon and a gift card at HL. I've used ICE resin before but given that that when I need more it would need to be ordered and then shipped so I decided to try a brand I could get locally. The first pour was not good at all.... tons of teeny tiny bubbles (see the bottom two). I reread the directions, it suggested slightly warming the resin and hardener before mixing and the 2nd pour came out better but still some bubbles.

This one I wore today while working to get a feel for how it lays and to make sure it's not to heavy, by the end of the day I decided it's a definite keeper. I'm looking forward to taking part of tomorrow to begin the process of making more.

Never one to stray too far from polymer I also made some etched buttons. With the left over resin from the charms I glazed them. Love the shine, but it sure makes them hard to photograph they look darker than they really are.

That was my very productive week.. so far, feeling really good about it all and hoping the trend continues.

Angie

In a treasury today

Had an Etsy convo this morning, one of my NYC slides was placed in a treasury. It's beautiful, after all the recent documentaries on 9/11 I am feeling a great sense of attachment to this marvelous city.

Thank you so much MademoiselleChipotte.

As for me today is a day off! Work has been busy, our life has had some bumpy turns this past week, and I just want to to take a day to make something.

Angie

Weekends fly and now she's 8.

Our family has had two very full weekends with sports obligations and family celebrations. What a whirlwind, but I am so sad that they're over.

Today is Maria's 8th birthday, I'm amazed at how fast she is growing. We had a family brunch yesterday to celebrate. Brunch would not have been my first choice but with cousins playing sports of their own and my brother's family headed back to Idaho today it seemed the only way to get them all together...so instead of cake and ice cream we had coffee cake and donuts!

With a clean house and all the party goers gone, I found some time to list the slides made last week. Trying something new though, I left off the jump rings and listed them in supplies instead of jewelery. I am so slow when it comes to creating finished necklaces and pendants, perhaps others will want to buy the piece as a focal to put in their own designs.

This one was my favorite of the bunch, a glimpse into 1910's and pedestrians walking the Brooklyn Bridge.

Angie

Halloween Images

Just a brief moment to say hi! Work is plugging along, eight accounts down and two to go, tomorrow is Friday so I think it'll all get done just fine.

Since I'm spending a better part of my day looking at Halloween cards , I thought you might enjoy some Halloween images to craft with.

Boo!

Angie

Circus Train Car - Finished!

Always finishing up projects last minute! Last night it was the circus train car for "Bricks along the Journey". Luckily I have good friends who keep after me and prod me along (you know who you are) . Can't believe it's done, it was a bit over-ambitious trying to turn a brick into a circus train car. The weight of the brick caused structural issues, once that was solved it came down to figuring out the wheels, last night it all came together.

Now seriously I have to get to work.

Angie

My first online class

I cannot give Stephanie enough kudos for her Homesteader's Metalsmith e-class. I learned so much and had a thoroughly enjoyable time broadening my horizons. If your interested she's opening up registration in just couple days for the November class.

Here is a sampling of the pieces I made over the 4 weeks.

Below are some of the bezels I filled with resin, eventually I'll get around to drilling holes for jump rings. One is a memento with the 'homestead' definition encased, that one will be kept around the studio as a reminder that if I can get comfortable using a micro torch then what else can I attempt.

It will be a feverish week at the job, summer cards come down halloween and thanksgiving go up...probably will take a full 40 hours, this part-time girl is tired just thinking about it. I don't anticipate I'll get much time to create so it may be quiet here.

Angie

Sweet weekend surprise

It always amazes me that as large as Etsy is someone can find one of my listing and place it in a treasury. This one is called Applesauce and Sassafras and it includes my sassafras memento necklace.

Thank you Neesie Designs !

It will be a fantastically busy weekend here. Today we are spending time with family that has arrived from out of town. Relatives not seen for many years, a new baby girl to greet, and lots of kiddos to play together. I hope everyone has a safe Labor Day weekend.

Angie

Polymer clay recipe cards

Do you ever find yourself thinking about something random and it shows up??

I had been thinking for a while I'd like to work with some new polymer clay colors but I have zero interest in mixing colors to see what I can come up with, I just use whatever colors the Premo brand offers.

While browsing under 'polymer' on Etsy I came across a listing from Craftsbychris for recipe cards based on seasonal Pantone color selections. I did a little happy dance and hit the 'commit to buy' button.

I'm so excited to try these and just had to give Chris a shout out because now I don't have to think about it anymore..lol.

Angie