New Years Casual Shirt

So after much time spent trying to shove random fabric into any nook and cranny it would fit in my apartment, I decided to go through it all and get rid of some. Now it all fits nicely in one drawer (well, two, but it fits nicely and that's the important part).

It's very cleansing going through and making the decision that 'no, you won't ever make that sweater so stop holding onto that fabric you don't even really like it' which gives your brain a whole new open slot for ideas. One of which ended up being this shirt.

I took all the measurements, sketched it out onto wrapping paper (now I know why I'll hold onto all my extra paper this year, it's big enough for patterns!), and it ended up working perfectly!

Now I have a fall back tshirt pattern that is simple, looks good, and can be changed up easily with a different curve of the neckline. Sweet!

It was also my first time trying a double needle, and let me tell you: total game changer. No more zig zag stitch finishing for me!

Another first? Sequins. Also a last. This shirt was a labour of love! Having to remove all the sequins from the seam allowance not only took so much time, but my apt was covered in little silver slivers of glitter afterwards. I vacuumed. Still there. There's one stuck to the wall. Never again.

It's really the perfect shirt for the holidays, casual enough being essentially a tshirt, but the flattering fit and the pattern of sequins really makes it do-able for an evening out.

Another one, with cuffs on the sleeves and bottom this time.

The pattern. 

Secret Santa Part 2

So I've shown you what I received, now to share what I sent!

A holiday mug rug, about the size of a sheet of paper. I thought this was really cute and I want to make one for myself, although I have no use for it whatsoever.

Three little ornaments, pictured here before I put the loops on them. The tree is made from wool (and paint, buttons and glitter), and the other two are made from glittery resin (with swarovski crystal accents on the snowman!) He's so adorable. I need to make myself some of these. Haha!

Next is a pendant made of hammered metal, and colored resin. I tried to make it look like stained glass since my partner pinned a lot of stained glass things on pinterest.

And up against the light.

I also sent a package of tea and some little Christmas tree light ornaments.

Secret Santa

So I finally was able to open my secret santa presents, so I can now share everything with you!! I actually had this post all made up and ready to go before I went to Toronto but blogger was acting up so.. Here we go again.

First, what I received!

All wrapped up...

These 3 adorable felt ornaments! Now my Christmas tree has a whole 4 ornaments on it. I think the owl is my favourite one.

These delicious packets of hot chocolate that I can't wait to try. My sender was from England so I've never had these before :).

This amazing hat, and a picture of my foolish face wearing it :P.

This zombie mug, it has I <3 zombies on the other side. Zombie dishes should be a thing since I got a set of glasses last year that I'm still using.

A slytherin coloured knit pouch, fits my phone but I'll probably use it for my makeup in my purse.

And a zombie survival kit including magnets, keychains, and gift tags.

And a better shot of the hat.

I got so friggin spoiled, and I sent more than was necessary. I'll make a post and show you the stuff that I sent out within the next couple days.

Holiday Nail Polishes

Thanks to the wonderful creative minds of people, you can get 'big 3 free' nail polishes that suit any theme your heart desires through etsy, facebook and the like. Handmade with care! With the holidays coming up I wanted to share some of the best festive polishes that I've seen out there.

(To note, I've pulled the pictures off of etsy, but the majority of them come from Chalkboard Nails, a great nail art blog that does a lot of indie polish reviews. She's great, and you should check her out.)

Hurry Down the Chimney Tonight A cute white and red shard and bar glitter topcoat.

I'll Wait Up For You Dear A super fine red and green glitter. Cute!

Peppermint Kiss Ugh! How amazing is this?! I've never seen a nail polish that I've called 'delicious' before, but seriously, it looks good enough to eat. If this was available on their website right now I would already have bought it.

Candy Cane Crush I love hex glitters, this topcoat is definitely great!

Think of All the Fellas That I Haven't Kissed blues, purples, glitter.. A great combination.

Something About Merry I think my favourite part of this one is the light green semi transparent pieces.

Christmas In Bordeaux Square glitter and gold thrown in the mix to keep things interesting. I think it looks best on the right, over gold.

 Very Merry Holly Berry Just red! Looks similar to a polish I ordered in the mail (still waiting on.. It's a brand thats only avail online in the US so I had to go to ebay for it) but this one is a clear base. I really like it.

Up To Snow Good Beautiful! I'm such a fan of teal though, why are we even surprised this makes the list ;P.

I hope this gets you ready to festivfy.. Festivify.. Get those nails festive! I've been looking into making my own polishes (sadly I missed out on the last run of base that was available, and I'm kicking myself for not ordering it even though I was told not to because of the holidays) but I'm sure it'll be available again someday. Until then I'm mixing all my ideas up in topcoat bottles. Works okay, but I need to shake the bottle pretty hard after everything settles. Still! I've gotten quite a few compliments on my last few colors and a woman at work told me to sell her a bottle so eventually when I can make these the way I want to, who knows.. Maybe I'll see some fancy nail polish blogs doing reviews of my work ;P. I'll have to get some pictures to share with you. Sometime. Before the holidays are over...

Eating chips and blogging is where it's at.

Hello! I know, I haven't posted in AGES! I honestly haven't had anything to share with you and so I've been doing other things. I ran out of resin, I've been working, so I hadn't had anything to show off. A few days ago though I made my way up to Michael's, loaded up on resin, and I've got some great new things poured and set :). I'm getting the opportunity to sell some necklaces at work this Saturday so that's pretty exciting! Other exciting things happening Saturday include me being allowed to open my secret santa presents (and show off not only what I got but what I made with you) and my mom is coming up for a visit! Yeah, I'm pretty stoked. She's going to be here until almost Christmas. It's going to be awesome!

Yes, 2 of these spoons I made ages ago and the third I peeled the resin out to redesign the spoon. The 2 smaller are presents.

This is really hard to photograph, but the paint inside is so rainbow-y that it looks blue, green, yellow and pink!

Another shot..

One of my favourite new pieces. The shape of this spoon is astounding!

Weekstagram & The Hintonburg Craft Fair

I realized that I haven't done a weekstagram post in quite a while. Whoops! More like monthstagram, amirite?? I also forgot to mention I hit my 200th post last post, how intense is that? I'm having a blast with this blog and I hope those of you who follow enjoy it too! Now on with the photos!!!

 I love palette knife paintings, especially this one I keep walking by in the mall lately.

This beautifully gnarled tree growing around a dead one while on a mini hike with the Mr last weekend. 

This weeks mani and my birthday gift from mom. Such a gorgeous ring!

An upside down shot of my table today at the Hintonburg Craft Fair, it was a pretty good day!  

I decided to change out the buttons on my coat. Just goth enough while still looking semi professional. 

Hat I made out of some scrap wool I got from work based off the pattern of my favourite hat. I think it came out pretty spot on, if I do say so myself!

The Hintonburg Craft Fair was today, and despite the first real snow of the year, it being freezing, and there being several other craft shows happening at the same time, there was an astounding turnout! There was a steady crowd the whole day, and a wonderful assortment of artists. Two delicious discoveries were these chocolate candied almonds (which I sampled but forgot to run back and buy!) from www.nut-candy-chocolate.com, delicious and gluten free (if that tickles your fancy), as well as some amazing mini cupcakes from Petite Treats. I bought a candy cane mint chocolate, chocolate with an orangey icing (I can't remember what kind it was technically but it was tasty) and a tiramisu one that the Mr claimed was also delish. Baked goods are my one weakness at a craft fair. If I don't buy anything else, I will always but a snack. 

Another fun first for this craft show worth mentioning was my use of the Square card reader, a credit card reader that plugs into the jack of your phone/tablet which allows you to accept Visa and Mastercard. The reader and app are free, and they only take a small percentage of each transaction (less than etsy/paypal do). It was a breeze and I must say not only did it make things more convenient for myself and customers, it made me feel that extra bit more professional.

If you're a vendor interested in expanding your payment options, it's definitely something to look into. The only thing I will note from my research is that the most they deposit in a month is $2002, if you go over that then they hold it for a certain amount of time. If you would be making more than that at shows with the card reader it might be a good idea to look into it further so you don't get hung up waiting for transfers. 

Recycled Sweater Coat

This past Monday was Value Village's 50% off sale, and I had the day off work. Actually I should admit something.. I took the day off work. There were a few things I wanted to make, I knew I'd need quite a few supplies for it, and there was no way I was waiting until after work to go down there. Who knows what I would have missed out on if I waited all day?! Oh no Sir, I got up early and was there within the first hour they were open. I got a few things for a final item in my Secret Santa swap item (which I will show you on or around Dec 8th when we open), and as many good brown sweaters as I could find. I think the total was about 8 or so. This is one expensive project for anyone willing to tackle it.

The end result? This.

It started with a pile of sweaters, then several piles of cut up scraps, and it slowly started to come together.

I actually really enjoyed making this! I learned a lot on how to improve it should I decide to make another one, and you know what? I had so much fun that I'm sure I'll make more.

The hardest thing about making these is I constantly was sewing 'right sides together' by reflex and had to resew pieces the opposite way. I think it would look really beautiful if the seams were hidden though instead of exposed...

Fun facts:
Bottom hem measurement: 174 inches! That's 14.5 feet!!!! That's insane..
One of my serger spools ran dry making this, and I had to trade in one of the black threads for burgundy near the end.
It weighs almost 3 pounds, which doesn't sound like a lot but you notice when you're wearing it!

Thanks to the Mr for putting up with me not once but twice to help me get pictures.

Tutorial: Quick and Easy Clothing Display!

One thing I've noticed a lot online around pinterest and craft sites is that people need display ideas, and are constantly looking. In getting ready for this craft fair I decided I wanted to bring my clothing with me which meant I needed to come up with a display rack, for next to nothing since I had no disposable income for this project, and no car to make it to ikea.

I did however, have one of these in storage.
Before:

Almost the same exact one I had.

Now this project took about 5 minutes to do.
First what you have to do is unhook and remove the top racks going across the top, and the ones holding it up. Now you're left with an 'A' shaped frame.
Next you take the piece going across the middle and unhook that, and rehook it to the very bottom run. This will make it stand more narrow but free up those top rings.
Lastly, using vicegrips (or something similar) pull off the rungs going across on one side. I removed both of them. That leaves room for the things to hang, assuming they're not too long.

Thats it! I covered the places where the bars were with some tape so they weren't rough, and it's ready to go! It's not the sturdiest, but braced against the side of the table at a craft fair it should more than do the trick.

After:

Favourite Things: Winter Edition

Okay, it's cold out. Officially. I have switched out of my moto jacket and into my winter coat. Scarves, hats and gloves are now not only fashionable but necessary.  My favourite things this season?

Cozy winter tights in all sorts of colours and patterns. I'm waiting on this pair to come in the mail. (Ebay, if you're wondering)

Cranberry scented everything! My collection of cranberry scents includes parfume, hand lotion, lipgloss, and this home fragrance oil. Mmmmm.

Cute outfits with cozy sweaters.

This insane sweater! Now I normally don't like this style of sweater much (people make a lot of bad color choices with them I find, neon pink and purple and floor length? Guh!) but the colors in this one are gorgeous. So much so that I am planning a trip to Value Village on their sale day (Nov 19th for Canadians) to get as many brown sweaters as I can to make this. 

The Body Shops new highlighter pencils. I have the palest one, it's a beautiful creamy shimmery highlight that is going to be a regular in my makeup collection this season.

My Purple Urchin mango body butter. It smells amazing and feels just as nice. Support local, make healthy choices with your skin care, and check these ladies out!

And an awesome tutorial I have coming up for you for some super cute holiday jewelry! But you won't see that until after the craft fair when I have everything done. ;)