Something Spontaneous

Life is so busy sometimes and we really tend to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of it all. As you can see that's where I have been lately and not posting. I feel like my work is sucking the life out of me and my blogging. I want to do so much more but in the end I don't do it. So I have been thinking about where I want to take my blog.

I love my cooking, I want to do more decorating and I want to do my crafting. So I am going to take time each day to do a little something. Like this year was the first year that I actually made the potato latkes for my kids (one kid and the rest of the family said they loved them, then the other kid tells me that they were terrible because he could taste the very tiny bit of onion in it).

I am SWAMPED this weekend with The Nutcracker. My little girl is an angel in the show this year so it is a Nutcracker weekend.

So, hopefully in the next few weeks I will be sharing more with you what I am doing around this place and my crafts!

I need to get back to making the things I love.

So here's to a busy weekend and trying to do something spontaneous. Oh, I did do something spontaneous this weekend, on Friday a friend called me after 10 pm and asked me to come over for wine and cheese with some other ladies, I told her I was in bed. She said, come in your pjs and another friend has already poured your wine. So, I did and you know what? I had a great time and stayed until 1 am just hanging out with the ladies. AND I tried this awesome cheese I think it was pecorino and truffles (two of my favorites!). You know that will be served at our Hanukkah party next week.

Ta-Ta

Zizette

School Projects

At the kid's school every year the librarian runs a little activity called "PumpKans." Basically you, umm I mean the kids, make a character from a book they read out of a can.

Maya wanted the Three Little Pigs. We made them out of small water bottles, felt, styrofoam circles, markers, paint and googly eyes. Oh yeah and a very hot glue gun (I still feel the pain on my nail - OUCH!).

We had fun making it together. It was fun. I just had to take a picture of the pigs with our haunted house.

Sam on the other hand wanted to do Dan from Bakugan. We had fun making his hair with pipe cleaners. This is also who he is for Halloween.

At the end of it all Sam said, "Mom, you always help us with our projects. Thanks."

That's what it's all about and I am happy.

Zizette

Lookie What I Made

I have been busy at camp lately.

Great inspiration from a great artist.

I started with a 24 x 24 piece of plywood. I sanded it down, made it real nice.

Mixed up a nice blue and then distressed it with my handy dandy Black and Decker hand sander (a real favorite with my camp buddies).

I wanted a wave and was not confident enough to want to paint it right on the board so I drew a wave out on a piece of contact paper, cut it out and laid it on the board. I then painted it the lighter blue color so the dark blue would be the wave. I distressed that too.

Then I put a white wash over and would apply a little and rub it off. It gave it a nice cloudy/worn look.

I loved the wave but needed something else. I took to the National Geographic Magazines my friend had laying around for the campers to cut and found this awesome pull out of the Titanic - a picture, rather 70 some odd pictures making one, from undersea cameras. The colors were screaming my name.

I then tore the picture for a rough edge. Thankfully the Titanic and a surfboard are the same shape :)

I Modge Podged the "surfboard onto the wave. I sort of put it running off the board.

I wanted some color in there to make it more surfboard like, so I added the yellow stripe.

I have been playing with stamps lately and was trying to think of what to write on the board. I was going to do Surf Shack. My friend suggested "Sam's Surf Shack" since it was for my son.

I tried black but it did not work (thankfully with the modge podge and a clorox wipe it came off real quick).

I decided to use Orange because when I was taping out the stripe I had Orange painters tape and it looked real good, not to mention that I pulled up the color wheel and orange is next to yellow and across from blue. JACKPOT!

I am very Happy with my result and next week I will add the wire to the back and hang it in his room.

Have a great weekend!

Zizette

Project Completion

Ok, so I have been on a self imposed hiatus. Not on purpose just exhausted and too lazy to sit down and do my postings. Believe me I have lots to say and I will try to limit my posts to help me catch up.

A few weeks, scratch that, months ago I found this awesome frame on clearance at Home Goods.

The frame was originally pink with chocolate brown polka dots.

I spray painted it white and then stamped on a zebra pattern.

The frame actually has a little mirror, it is not a picture frame.

The mirror is now in and I will find a place to hang it tomorrow in her room.

Have a great night, and I will be posting more soon...

Stuck in a Rut

I am dying to be creative.

However, I am stuck

in a rut.

I have ideas in my head

and then won't come out.

Is it my motivation?

Is it laziness?

Not laziness to do the project

but to clean up the stuff that goes with it?

I have a spare room that is used as a playroom

computer room

catch all room.

Maybe, I need to claim some of that as my space?

The kids don't play there,

well with the Wii they do.

I think it's time for a major clean out.

Thursday is Bulk pick up day this week.

You can leave ANYTHING on your curb

and the town will pick it up 3rd Thursday of the month.

My parents cleaned out their basement

asked me to get my stuff out.

That means breaking down Maya's crib.

Sad.

I need to shake it up a bit.

Clean up, Clean out.

I think I will make a

guest room/crafting room.

The kids can play in the basement

that's not finished

for now.

But not today, I have camp.

Time to set up my space.

Keeping Busy

I have been super motivated to be crafty.  Some in part to my general crafty nature and part to the wonderful inspiring ladies I have been following through blogging.  In the past few weeks I have embellished clothing, made magnets and started treasure hunting for new projects I have in mind.  

I know I will have some time during my summer break as I work in a Day Camp and run a department called The Design Center.  I am so excited for this summer.  Last summer was my first, so I ordered all my projects late in the game.  This year, I had time to plan things out.  See crafts from all over and see what I could do with the girls that come to me (girls after all are the only ones who want to attend an activity called The Design Center).

Every project I do is based on photos.  The girls go out and take pictures with a few digital cameras and then do a project based on that photo or photos.  We have done canvas bags, scrapbooks, memory boxes, etc.  This year I am able to incorporate some paperweights, magnets, canvas bags, other types of decoupage frames and boxes so I am very excited.  I have always felt that I wanted the kids to bring home something meaningful and not "crap."  Last year I did charm bracelets so this year I tried to get lots of good beads and such to incorporate into funky frames, boxes and whatever else may suit my fancy.

I decided to originally go back to working at camp to divert the cost of sending my kids there and because I loved going to this camp myself.  I always told myself anytime I felt like i hated it or it wasn't for me I would not come back for a second year.  Well, obviously I enjoyed it and I am going back.  I am very excited for this and I am looking forward to it.

I'll keep you posted and maybe someday I will open my own Etsy shop.  I have too many ideas and I just have to start doing them.

My Wisconsin Finds

Lots of little pictures of the Eiffel Tower

A large poster, antique looking of the Tower

An antique Map of France

These are called wrap wall paper, whatever that is.  It has a good consistency, stay tuned for what I plan to do with them.

I found these lovely papers in a great shop in Wisconsin on State Street.  I will have to keep the number handy just in case what I have in mind for them actually works.  Here they are: