I (heart) Etsy January 21, 2010

So, I am a huge fan of the site Etsy.com.  If you don’t know what Etsy is, it’s an amazing site where people can sell their homemade goods, supplies for crafts or vintage items.  I highly recommend checking it out.

I purchase a lot of supplies for my jewelry from Etsy, but I have always been a little intimidated by the idea of selling on the site.  Years ago, when I began selling my jewelry over the internet, I gave Etsy a try.  I didn’t have any strategies for marketing my shop, I didn’t have any cool graphics and I had horrible, fuzzy photos that I used to display my work.  Needless to say, my store was not much of a success.  But not anymore….

I am setting a goal to get my Etsy shop up and running by the end of February.  It will be mostly jewelry, but I will also have other crafts available for sale.  I have my strategy all planned out, which includes blogging here, setting up a facebook site with link, and setting up some pictures on flickr.  I will have a colorful, catchy banner.  I will have clear and professional looking photos of my work.  And, most importantly, I will market my site to the best of my ability.  I’m really excited to take on this new adventure!

Look for my work soon at creativityismess.etsy.com!

The Craft Table and My “Trip” Down the Stairs January 11, 2010

I’m sore.  Also tired… somewhat hungry… a little grumpy… but mostly sore. 

I planned on writing in my blog today about the amazing craft table that I finished this weekend.  I was inspired by an old window that my husband wanted to get rid of, but I insisted we keep because I knew I could find a purpose for it.  I came up with an idea to upcycle the window into a table top for a tall craft table to use in my new craft room.  I went to Lowes, got all the necessary materials and a little advice to begin my project.  I set up my garage (equiped with a heater) as my workspace for my table-building expedition.  I took pictures as I progressed in my first attempt at making any-sort of furniture.  I was so truly proud! 

Anyway, I had just gotten the table legs attached to the plywood frame when I had to go inside to grab some more tools.  As I went back out to the garage with my hands full of tools and such, I stepped down on to one of the icy concrete steps leading to our back patio, when suddenly…. Slip, SMACK, BOOM, BAM!!!  My legs slipped out from under me and I fell down the stairs.  There I am… laying on the cold concrete ground, looking like a toolbox exploded all over me, making sure I wasn’t impaled by a screwdriver or shot by the staple gun and trying to hold back the tears…  Thank God my cell phone was in my pocket and I was able to call my husband (who was inside the house) to come and help me.

I did manage to get a few more things done before my body completely stiffed up and was unable to move most of Sunday.  I don’t think I did any major damage.  No bones broken, no twisted ankles, injured wrists or torn knee tendons.  I think my tailbone took the brunt of the fall and it seems to be in one piece.  I do have a nice couple of bruises to show off however (don’t worry – I didn’t take any pictures of those).

I am feeling a little better today, but I may just wait until I have my full range of motion back before I go finishing the table.  Or at least wait until we invest in some ice-melt…  Ouchie….

Scrapbooking without the scrapbook January 8, 2010

So, I am not a big “Scrapbooker”.  I don’t know why, but every time I sit down to put together a scrapbook, I get bored and leave it unfinished.  So I have found that if I use Scrapbook paper and embellishments in other forms of art, I don’t get tired of them as easily and enjoy doing it.  Maybe I have a short attention span… Or maybe I just don’t like the idea of keeping my work in a “book” – I would rather have it out in the open, displayed for everyone to see.

So anyway, I made this paper sign for my niece who has a jungle themed room.  I love the way it turned out and it was super easy to do.

Wall / Door Sign

I cut small squares of cute jungle-themed paper and then glued them on to a large pink square.  Then I glued that on to a slightly larger green square to add a little more “stiffness”.  I adhered some cute chipboard letters spelling out her name and added some monkeys.  Then I simply hole punched a couple of holes and ran a ribbon through to hang the sign. 

a closer look...

Very simple, very quick and I think it turned out pretty cute!  I hope she likes it (she’s 6 weeks old – how picky could she be?).

The Craft Room… December 31, 2009

I haven’t been blogging much lately (or doing much of anything), as Christmas completely kicked my a$$.  However, this weekend I am partaking in a long outstanding tradition in the Larson Household of ridding the house of all the crap we no longer use and making room for all the new stuff we got this Christmas.  In addition, this year I will begin the process of redecorating my master bedroom and revamping my spare bedroom into my craft room/office.  I am super excited.

I found some “inspiration” to start off my craft room at Pier 1 this week….

INSPIRE sign from Pier 1

 I haven’t completely figured out the entire craft room, but I know it will have a lot of color.  I am leaning toward turquoise walls with coral colored accents (like a rug, drapes, etc.), but nothing is set in stone.  I want it to be extremely colorful and lively in order to really get my creative juices flowing. 

It more than likely will be a slow process, but I’m hoping the majority will be done within the month or so.  I’ll keep my blog up to date with pics of both rooms…

Another Cake Ball Recipe December 22, 2009

I just finished another successful batch of cake balls, and boy where they yummy!!!  They taste just like Reeses Peanut Butter Cups, but in ball form.

I baked a traditional chocolate cake.  While it was still warm I crumbled it up and mixed it with 1/2 container (maybe a little bit more than 1/2) of chocolate frosting and 1 cup of peanut butter.  I rolled the “dough” into balls and let them sit in the freezer for a couple of hours.  I melted peanut butter flavored melts in a double boiler and dipped the balls. 

Absolutely awesome….  Gotta love cakeballs!!

“You did what with my old t-shirts?” December 17, 2009

Another day, another craft….  this one turned out really cool!! 

I saw a book the other day at Michael’s and paroosed through it as I waited in the tremendously long line (my fault for going there on a saturday, less than 2 weeks before Christmas).  The book is called “Generation T” and has some awesome ideas to turn boring old t-shirts into fabulous fashions.  I am going to go back and get it for my daughter who loves to make t-shirt designs, but I have to wait for another 40% off coupon.

Anyway, the book had this idea for a scarf made from an old t-shirt.  Which was super cute, but required a little bit of sewing.  Since I don’t have a sewing machine, I went home and googled “t-shirt scarf”.  I found some of the cutest designs, many of which required no sewing at all. 

Next I found some under t-shirts of my husbands that he has never worn because they were too short (being 6′6″ – it happens much too often).  I chose those because they are super soft and have no seams on the sides.  I took some fabric dye and dyed them a light teal color.  Once they were dyed, washed well and dried, I got out my sharp scissors and started snipping. 

I cut across the shirt just under the armpits.  Then I cut off the bottom seam.  This left me with a “tube”.  I laid the tube down flat and cut 1″ wide strips from side to side leaving me with around 10 strips of fabric that formed a circle.  I cut a strip from what was remaining from the t-shirt that was 1″ wide and about 1′ long.  I gathered my 10 strips and tied them together with the extra piece.

Example I found to inspire....

My Pink Tie-Dye Scarf

  I like to double it around my neck for a fuller look and warmer feel. 

Pink Tie-Dyed Scarf wrapped twice

I plan on trying some of the other designs that I found as well.  I’ll keep you all posted on how they turn out!

Mmmmm…. Beer Soap….. December 16, 2009

So I decided to dabble a little in the art of soap making. However, I chose to go the easy, less time-consuming, less toxic route and tried my hand at the melt and pour technique. 

I’ve heard and read all about the different ingredients that you can put into soap and all the benefits that go along with them.  However, the one that has always intrigued me is beer.  It is said to be very good for the skin, plus I know what to do with the leftovers!

I bought some melt and pour glycerin soap at Michael’s that also contained goats milk.  I also bought some different essential oils at Super Supplements (and had a few on hand) like clove oil, orange oil, tea tree, lemon, lavender and peppermint.  I bought some Guiness, poured a can into a cup and let it sit until it was flat and could be worked with.  I melted the soap, mixed in the beer and oils, then poured the concoction into a soap mold.  I  let it sit for and hour or so and then released it from the mold.  Easy peasy pumpkin pie. 

Tip: I did read that your soap to liquid ration should be about 4:1 for it to set correctly.  I see this being a very important tip that may have saved me a lot of time and frustration in the process. 

One thing I really liked about making the soap is that if I didn’t think the scent was strong enough, I could cut up the bar of soap, re-melt it and then add more oil.  It was a no-brainer and I have the facilities for it (especially this time of year).

I am a pretty sensitive skinned person, so I tested some of the samples I made (leftover that I poured into dixie cups for testers) out in the shower the next morning and it was NICE!!!  My favorites were “Citrus and Clove” and “Peppermint”.  They lather up really well and leave my skin soft without irritating it.

I covered them in a little syran wrap, labeled them “Tera’s Drunken Goat Soap” and put them in Christmas cellophane bags with curly ribbon for gifts.  Finally, a craft project without a thousand hic-ups!!

Have I become a Grinch? December 7, 2009

I’ve noticed that in the past few years, I have become less and less excited about Christmas.  I use to look forward to it every year… baking cookies, going out at 4 in the morning on black Friday, finding just the right gift, decorating the house, ornately wrapping presents with fun paper, tags and big colorful bows…  I would do all of it, and I would do it with a smile on my face.

Now I have to drag my butt to the store to find gifts.  I don’t bake nearly as much as I use to.  I put off decorating until I absolutely feel I have to… and I have noticed that half of my decorations never make it out of the box.  I still love the idea of Christmas, but it just doesn’t seem as magical as it use to.  It has become a lot like a papsmear… I know it has to happen, however, I feel it will go a lot smoother for everyone if I could just be sedated the entire time.

I had all these ideas earlier in the year for “Hand-Crafted” gifts that I was going to create for Christmas gifts.  And even though I am still making a lot of my gifts by hand, I have compromised and purchased many “substitutes”.  Instead of sewing or knitting, I bought scarves and purses.  instead of making handmade soaps and sugar scrubs, I went to Bath and Body Works. 

I am so disappointed in myself.  I guess I still have time to redeem myself by getting done some of the projects that I set out to do… but I am not trying to kid myself.  Maybe I’ll start working of presents for next year…

(On a positive note, I have watched either National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, Elf and/or A Christmas Story every day since Thanksgiving.  At least one tradition is still alive and well!)

The Sugar Scrub Experiment November 20, 2009

I have been wanting to make home-made sugar scrubs for some time now.  It just seemed so simple… sugar, oil and stink… How hard is that?

So I decided last night to give it a try.  I absolutely love my Vanilla Chai body wash and lotion from Organics, so I decided that I wanted to make a vanilla chai scrub to compliment my other products.  So I started with a cup of brown sugar and added 1/2 cup of olive oil.  I mixed it up and it turned it to the perfect consistency for sugar scrub.

Next, I needed to make it smelly.  I added vanilla  and then pondered a way to give it that chai smell.   Hmmmm…..   

FYI people… Don’t brew black tea and add it to the sugar base.  I should know that warm water makes sugar dissolve, but everything was going so well up to this point, I think I got cocky and let my guard down.

Starting again from the beginning, I began with the brown sugar and olive oil.  I then added the vanilla.  This time I broke open the tea bags and poured the contents into my concoction.  It took about 4 teabags to get rid of the olive oil smell, but once I added them, it actually smelled pretty good.  Now all I had to do was give it a test run.

Another tip… do not use tea to make sugar scrub.  Especially black tea.  It will stain your sink, the towel you use to dry off with and whatever part of your body that you choose to scrub.

Discouraged, but determined to make some sort of sugar scrub, I threw out the idea of “Vanilla Chai” and pulled out my trusty peppermint oil.  I was almost out of brown sugar by this point, so I took 1/2 cup of brown sugar and mixed it with 1/2 cup of white granulated sugar.  Then I added the oil, mixed and said a little prayer.  I added 5 drops of peppermint oil to the mix and… VOILA! 

I now have some kick-ass sugar scrub that smells like candy cane.  Just in time for the holidays!  Luckily I have some peppermint body wash and lotion to go along with it!  Yay!

My Computer has the swine-flu… November 18, 2009

So, I haven’t posted anything for a couple weeks now.  My computer had the swine-flu or something and decided to eat its own hard drive.  So I said goodbye to the laptop and got a new “more powerful” desktop.  At least that is what they tell me.  Technology… where did our stress come from prior to computers?

Anyways… I have been preparing majorly for my jewelry show in 3 weeks, so most of my creative energy has been centered around that.  I’m very excited about the show.  It is the 3rd “Christmas Open House” and hopefully the biggest yet.  My Christmas shows always seem to do the best and I am hoping this one really does well.  I need it… both financially and emotionally. 

I have been working on some “vintage-inspired” and “altered-art” pieces that I think are going to be a big hit!  I am going to post some jewelry pictures really soon…  Promise!