Marvelously Messy

Friday, April 23, 2010

The Easy and Pleasant Life

"The Inhabitants of Carolina, thro' the Richness of the Soil, live an easy and pleasant Life."

~John Lawson

Our first vacation with the Munchkin was a complete success. We spent a week on the beach in South Carolina and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. It also helped to jump start the spring for us Northerners (though, I'm currently in sandy beach/sundress withdrawal). I took lots of pictures and even did some sandy crafting. We went to a gorgeous botanical garden, spent part of every day lounging on the beach, ate some grits, and saw some gators. I even discovered my inner Kookaburra at a local zoo. Here is a brief photo recap:

We flew.

We found the beach.

We built with an intention to fail.

We gathered.

We connected with our inner Kookaburra.

We sculpted mermaids.

We were thankful we did not have these back home.

We wandered in a garden.

We were jealous of the rosemary (and in awe of the buns).

We giggled at a piggle.

We found tranquility.

We intend to return. :-)

Saturday, April 10, 2010

Mimi's Gift

My Munchkin's Mimi (and my Mother-in-Law) will be celebrating her birthday today at our house. I found a fastastic antique egg scale for her on Ebay and to go with it I made a few things. The wreath above, for one. Here it is in the making:

It was just a plain wicker wreath I found at Goodwill for .99 but I think the yarn turned it into to something a little more stylish. I used beige homespun yarn I found at a lawn sale this past summer and wrapped it nice and tight. Then I made some little cotton flowers to adorn the wreath. The bead in the center of the flowers is a leftover one from my Bead Bling post this past December. Clink the link if you'd like a tutorial on how to make the beads. :-) Here are the flowers being assembled:

I just used some embroidery thread of a similar color and stitched the strip of cotton together (with the bead in the middle) and then sewed it onto the wreath. Moving on!! Here is the egg scale:

I love it. Basically, I love any old farm antique. They have so much character and they are always so well-loved. And, well-used. I made the egg out of sculpey and painted it with acrylics based on a image of a Murre's egg from the book, Eggs by Marilyn Singer.

To buy the book click here. There are some *really* gorgeous illustrations in this book and a lot of great information too. For instance, did you know that the Murre egg is shaped more tapered than the regular egg so that it will roll in a circle (and not right of the cliff, where all the Murre's nest)??

Anywho. I made a little stamped card using cotton paper and some stamps I found at, you guessed it, Goodwill. Most people shop there for clothes.....I go there for CRAFTS. :-)

All in all, I thought the present turned out pretty nice. I love making gifts for people!!

Enjoy your Weekend!!
I joined up with these Linky Parties, check them out!! I guarantee inspiration!!!!
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Weekend Wrap Up Party
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Look At Me Party
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The DIY Showoff
Talented Tuesday
Do It Yourself Day
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Works For Me Wednesday
Penny Pinching Party
BoardWalk Bragfest
Flaunt It Friday
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Plant A Punkin Seed Party

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Iris Folding

This is Katahdin. He was one of the first cards I ever made using Iris Folding. He was also my first cat. A big all-outdoor cat who would eat squirrels (except the tails....because really, who would eat a tail when you can have raw entrails?!?!). I would find big, grey squirrel tails from time to time on the lawn. I never really understood him. But, I knew enough to keep him far away from my Munchkin because, seriously, he tended to Stalk and (obviously) he had an appetite. He ran away this past fall, and I wouldn't be surprised if he had set up his own Squirrel burger cafe somewhere out in the woods behind our house.

I digress: Iris Folding is a craft that on the surface appears to be quite complicated, but when you actually give it a try you realize how very simple it is in reality. I found this great site with a basic tutorial and free templates here .

For my Munchkins first birthday I made this card:

It's really a lot of fun to make these. All you need is an:

Exacto Knife

Cardstock

Decorative paper (origami paper works well, too)

Tape

Template (you can make your own easily enough)

For instructions (with pictures) on how to do a basic template....which will give you an idea on how to do *any* template....click here.

Here is where you can find some free templates (in the center of the page there is a tab for Alphabet templates.....I can really imagine some fun children's room decorations coming out of those). There are some simplistic templates ones here.