Seashell Tea Lights

50 crafts of 2012 project. 48 remaining.

I've been wanting to make these for a while, but wasn't sure how to get the shells now that I'm not living on an island. If I was still back in the cape odds are I could go walking on any beach/boardwalk and find something suitable to try this with, though probably not the same size as what I lucked out and found the other day.

I`m stoked on how these came out and want to get some more wax to make more. I think these would look amazing as a centerpiece of a table in a long rectangle glass dish, filled with sand or maybe those tiny glass fishtank decorations.

Also, may I mention how amazing the song Sail is by Awolnation?? I know it's gotten increasingly popular lately and many people have already heard it, but I've listened to it many times already today after having forgotten about its existence. It's definitely getting my creative juices flowing. Saying that, I'm hoping to scratch another of my 50 crafts off the list tomorrow! Wish me luck on not procrastinating this anymore...

Gone Thriftin'

Yesterday I put visiting Value Village on my to do list and came home with a few fun things.

This smaller frame, which will probably hold one of my photographs within the nearish future (I'd love to have some of my photography on the walls).

This larger frame, which will either become a jewelry holder, or just get used as a frame (I'm undecided..)

These silicon icecube trays, which I will test out as epoxy molds. I don't know if it'll work without mold release but I'm willing to try! (That stuff is EXPENSIVE and I don't want to spend my money on it if I don't have to!)

And these shells, which are on my list of 50 crafts.. You'll see what they become!

Over all I thought it was pretty good for $20, considering the black frame is really good quality. AND I got a bunch of supplies in the mail the past couple days. A whole bunch of jump rings, clasps, chains and shoe clips. Have you seen shoe clips yet? I think they're so great and I want to make some :). I won't really get to use them until the spring/summer but I'm willing to wait.

So on I go to craft away, I'll show you soon what I end up with!

Katimavik: For young lovers of travel and making a difference.

Stanley Park, Vancouver BC

My first time visiting Ottawa, hugging the giant spider statue.

I know I've mentioned a few times about how I participated in a program called Katimavik, but I wanted to tell you guys a bit more about it since I really think its a great program.



Its a 9 month long program where you travel in a group of ~10 across Canada, living in 2 english areas and 1 french area for approx 3 months each. While you are there, you do 35-40 hours volunteer work for non profit organizations, and evenings/weekends are spend doing group things and other volunteer stuff (we did everything from dancing, to glass bead making, helping with a tattoo/body mod art show, to working at an organic farm for a day..). The groups are made up from youth (17-21) from across Canada, divided up between provinces. (For example, only one Maritimer in each group, then we had 4 from Qc, a couple from On, etc, etc).



When I did it, it didn't cost anything to do except $20 to insure your stuff and for a couple pre-voyage things, and all your travelling, food and lodging is paid for, plus you get a couple dollars a day (it used to be $3, now I believe its $5). It isn't much, but it's enough to get you a couple drinks on the weekend, or what have you.

Getting ready for a halloween parade, where we did thriller through the streets.

When I participated I lived in Carleton Place, On; Shawinigan, Qc; and Kamloops, BC. I worked in a thrift store which raised money for a womens shelter, a historical museum, a Salvation Army foodbank & thrift store, and a centre for elderly/persons with multiple medical conditions.



You also get to plan weekend trips with your budget, so we got to travel to Ottawa, On; Montreal and Quebec City, Qc; and Victoria and Vancouver, BC, visiting museums, historical sites, going to interesting restaurants, hikes, with free time to do things like shopping and checking out local clubs.

Second language plays a big part in this program, so while you're in the area of your second language, you get tutoring to help you get by. Doing this program made me realize how much I loved the french language and I eventually went to university for it and it was one of the best decisions I made for myself.

And if you think 'hey, all I'm getting out of this is $3 ($5?) a day? Screw that..' You get so much more than that. Friends I'm still in contact with 5 years later, an amazing volunteer section on my resume, so many stories and learning experiences (hey, remember that time we took raw fish camping in BC and saw that bear? Or that time we got locked inside the bank? Or that time we thought it'd be cool to go door to door with cookies to give to our neighbours and kept having half naked people open the doors?) and if you complete the program, you get a $1000 bursary. Which is pretty sweet, but honestly didn't feel as good as knowing I was one of the people that didn't quit, didn't give up, even when things got hard and the snow was as high as the house and you couldn't see out the windows and I wanted to punch all my housemates..

Yes, there's some rules, and a project leader in each city to enforce them (you can get warnings, and can get kicked out, but it takes a lot), its a house full of sneaky young adults and you learn ways to get away with things. There are also 2 groups in your general area (1-2 hours away) that you make visits with on a semi frequently basis.



If anyone wants more information, feel free to contact me for the cold hard truth, or check out http://katimavik.org/ for all their information.

The organic farm.

Easy Sweet and Sour Meatball Recipe

Since the Mr and I decided to make a new recipe every week, for my first turn I decided to pick something quick and easy.

Queue looking at my recipe list from pinterest. Sweet and tangy meatballs with only 3 ingredients, served over rice.

Photo and recipe from Six Sister's Stuff.

How good does that look?! Tastes just as good. :)

I've never used store bought meatballs before, but they weren't bad (guaranteed to be a better recipe if you make your own). Put them in a crockpot with a jar of chili sauce and some grape jelly (the recipe asked for a whole jar, I used about 1/4) and let them stew away. Delish!

I'm honestly surprised at how great these tasted. Super tangy, without tasting like they're made with jam. Try it, I guarantee it won't disappoint.

Tutorial: Quick and Easy Mittens

50 crafts of 2012 project. 49 remaining.

My boyfriend has been needing mittens forever, and I finally got a day off to make him some. Now I've seen quite a few mitten tutorials online, but most include two pieces cut out with the thumb jutting out at the side. I don't find this the most comfortable or logical, so I ended up making this pattern. Now I'll show you how to make the pattern to fit you, and how to sew it together.

First, to make the pattern:

Lay your hand down, fingers together, on a piece of paper. Trace a general shape around, making sure to add about a cm on each side of your hand to allow for your hand to fit through.

Draw a line across right where your thumb attaches.

Draw a second loop on the side for your thumb. Make that as long as your thumb plus a little bit, and as wide as, plus a little bit.

Make two of these, and cut them to look like these pieces. Cut 2 pieces of fabric for each, one from one side and one reversed. (The piece on the left is to be paired up with the piece on the right, not to be cut alone.)

Now you're ready to make your mittens!!!

Lay two pieces right sides together and sew above the thumb line, sew them together.

Now, take your third piece of fabric and put that between the other two. The next area you want to fold is the thumb and the thumb line, so make sure you have the right sides together.

When that is done, flip up the thumb area and sew the rest of the mitten, the wrist part.

Trim all the edges down, making sure to cut as much excess off the corner of the thumb and the top as you can, those parts won't lay right if there's too much extra fabric.

At this point you can hem the bottom and be done with it, but for his mittens I wanted to add a sweater like cuff to the end to keep them super snug on his arms. I took some ribbed knit fabric and measured it around his wrist. The piece shown here was cut in half to make both sides. Sew up that line.

Fold the sewn piece over, this way you don't see any seam on any part of the mittens. It makes everything look a lot smoother.

Insert that piece into the mitten and sew it on using a zigzag stitch or any stitch/sewing method you have for sewing stretchy pieces. you may have to stretch the cuff to fit properly inside the mitten when sewing because that piece of fabric will be more narrow.

Your new mittens are ready to go! Stay snug!

Goals For The New Year

I don't normally do the whole 'New Years Resolution' thing, but since I was deciding to make some goals in my life anyway, I thought I'd officially start today.

In real life:
I want to eat healthier. Working in a coffee shop filled with tasty baked goods is definitely tempting, and so I'm going to make an honest effort to not eat as many garbage-y foods (and especially drink less super sugary albeit delicious drinks) while at work. Also, where we're finally getting somewhere in our apartment, getting settled and whatnot, it's going to be easier to put some extra money into groceries at home to buy better things, more veggies and fruits, and healthy snack things instead of pizza pocket snack things (although I'll still buy those too, shh).

To continue trying to be active. It seems like every other week I'm either trying to get myself in shape, or forgetting about wanting to get myself in shape. I've got to be more aware of this goal and not forget to take the 10 minutes a day. And when the weather gets nicer, I want to get myself a bike. I haven't had one in years.

Find more fun things to do in the area. With all the things things to do in Ottawa and area (from free museums on Thursdays, to sketchy bridges covered in graffiti) there's a lot to do here. There's no reason we should be bored, and no reason why we should be in every night when there's a whole world to explore.

Taken in the same place as my last post.

Cook a new recipe every week. My boyfriend and I have decided to try out a new recipe of our choice every week. I'll start, next week, and he'll continue the week after that. It will be fun and easy way to try new things without having to go out and drop some big bucks at a restaurant all the time.

Online:
I want to be more active/friendlier in the blogging community. Which means if I go to a blog and I like something, instead of just favoriting it, I'll also make the effort to let the blogger know. I know how much work goes into trying to get a blog off the ground, and how many people may look at a site but don't say anything. It's nice to get some positive feedback every once and a while.

I want to be more active in putting things in my store. It's not hard for me to make things, but to drag out the light box, the equipment, set up the flashes, take (then convert, edit and crop) the pictures and write up a description?? Yuuuuuck. Not fun. But I've got things sitting here that aren't being seen by anyone because no one besides myself knows they exist. Way to disrespect my own art.

So those are my plans in a nut shell, not for new years but for the future in general. Make life better, funner and more interesting on and offline. :)

50 Crafts of 2012 & The Dino-Winner

Happy New Years everyone! This past year has been amazing, and I'm so excited to see all that the new year brings. Thank you to everyone who has taken interest in my blog and who has been following along with me.

This year I plan to complete a list of 50 crafts, all of which I will share with you, make tutorials for, and/or offer in store. I've got a huge list (far over 50) and I'm sure it'll grow over the year. The point is theres 50 things, 50 specific things that I want to make, that I will make, within the year. (And probably, knowing myself, much more than that).

The first one, and the longest one to complete, will be a memory calendar. Each year I plan on writing down a memory of each day, and then if I can make myself do this for a whole year, to do it all again the following. That will be by far the hardest thing on this list. Wish me luck!

I hope you all join me and follow along, and by all means, join in if you'd like! Share a list of crafty things you want to do this year!

Here's a few items I want to make:

A recycled leather purse. (..Like this one maybe?)

A piece of artwork for the walls.

An attempt at glass etching.

Tank top tubes.

A little black dress.

A makeup stand. Done! Though I can't count it because it was actually finished in December. Though I'd like to make it much prettier than what it is (currently eyeshadows stuck on a baking sheet, hahaha).

A place to organize my jewelry.

Paper quilling.

A fork pendant I actually like.

Spats.

Do you have anything you want to get done in the new year?

~

Now, on to the winning free stuff part of this post (I put them together to avoid 2 posts in a day :P). 

Thank you to everyone who participated in my blog's first contest!! I've tallied all the votes and used random.org to select the winning number.

Aaaaand the winner is... Ashley Murray! Congratulations :). I will send you a message to get your mailing information.