neonfoxtongue

Friday I'm in Love: Circles Table

Last week was about DIY Home Decor, but this week's love is for this beautiful handmade table.

 

I stumbled across Michael Arras' circle table several months ago and I'm still smitten with it.  It would definitely be a splurge purchase for us, so it's relegated to the 'wish list'.  I love that he now has a DIY kit too though, which cuts the cost quite a bit.  I just wish it wasn't $75 to ship it outside the U.S.  Oh well... maybe someday.

Looks great in ebony too.

(Friday Love font is Little Lord Fontleroy by Nick's Fonts)   

nft made: Three Little Birds mobile

Several months ago, when I was still living in jolly old England, I posted that I wanted to make something that was inspired by the song that The Leopard and I play (or sing) when we're feeling a bit overwhelmed and/or stressed about something.  And let me tell you, that song got a fair bit of play in the last few months when we were both unemployed and living in The Leopard's parents' basement.  So when I found (and bought) a little 2D wooden chickadee at The Paper Place this Spring, I knew it would be the perfect template for a little paper project.

 

It was a really simple project, but it took me a couple of months to finish it. The reason it took so long is that I couldn't decide which colour combination of paper to use and kept putting it aside until I felt more decisive.  Hence, I now have a few several little birdies to us in other projects.  I tried to use paper scraps whenever possible.

 

Side 1

I used really cute ribbon made out of threads from Mokuba, another West Queen West institution. 

A little bow at the end and we're done!

Now we have a little visual reminder that everything little thing *is* going to be alright!  :)  I can't wait to hang it up in our new place!

Creative Goals Monday: Sneak Peek and Commissioned Cards

Some weeks I just barely meet my weekly creative goals and last week was one of those weeks.  Yes, I did all the things on my list, if you count 5 minutes of knitting and a few minutes of picking out potential papers and colour schemes for a card I'm going to make this week.  I did finish the paper project though and will post pics later this week.  Here's a sneak peek though:

I don't usually work with this much pink, but it was a fun project.

This week I'm going to be getting back into card making; my Mom has commissioned two cards from me and I definitely have to get one of them done this week.  It's for a wedding, which is cool because I really like making wedding cards.  I also have a birthday card to make for the week following, so that should keep me busy.  And I am determined to do more knitting - hopefully for more than 5 minutes!

And to add a bit more visual stimulation to this post, here's a card I made to celebrate the arrival of a friend's baby boy. I haven't met him as he lives in Belfast, Northern Ireland, but from the pics I can tell that he's pretty darn cute.  His name is Sebastian.

The gingham and plaid papers are wallpaper samples.

Wishing you a lovely and creative week!

Friday I'm in Love: DIY Home Decor

We signed the lease for our new place on Tuesday and I can't wait to move in next month!  It'll be so nice to have our own space and to actually *have* space, after our year+ in a one room flat in London, UK.  It'll also be great to have all our possessions in one place, instead of in three different cities across Ontario.

I'm also looking forward to doing some DIY decorating.  We're renting, so I'm not planning on doing any major renovations of course, but we're likely going to need a few pieces of furniture, particularly of the storage and shelving variety and I'm thinking that finding inexpensive pieces that we can refinish and/or refurbish in thrift stores and Craig's List might be a good option.  I'm always amazed at the great results in Design*Sponge's Before and After posts.  I also love the idea of re-purposing something into something else.  Check out this great modular bookcase made from salvaged drawers, courtesy of Craftynest:

Hellooo fabulous!

I also really love this idea for creating almost invisible book shelves by May December Home which I found via each penny pretty.

 

Amazing what a couple of L-brackets can do!

I've been collecting cool DIY decor ideas for a while and I can't wait to put some of them into action.  You can count on some of them making their way into my Creative Goals Monday posts!

Happy weekend everyone!

(Friday Love font is Little Lord Fontleroy by Nick's Fonts)  

Planet Craft: Fabric Snack Bags

I thought it was about time for another planet craft post, especially since it was easy to come up with a topic: finding crafty and planet-friendly ways to make and bring my lunch to work.  My goal is to bring a lunch at least 4 days out of 5 because it's healthier and helps me save a lot of money.  It also provides me with an opportunity to be eco-conscious about how I prepare and pack my food.  I already use non-disposable cutlery and use plastic containers whenever possible.  And I try to re-use plastic resealable bags for dry foods whenever possible.  But I know that some crafters and makers have also found ways to make more planet-friendly food storage options.  So after a bit of searching on Etsy, I found and bought some great reusable fabric snack bags from Rosy und Posy.

 

Love this green peapod fabric from How About Orange, who also happens to be one of my fave bloggers.

 

And how cute is this cherry fabric?  They look very well made too, don't they?

I can't wait for the bags to arrive so I can start using them.  They'll perfect for dry snack like nuts, dried fruit and cookies.  And I will definitely see if they work for slightly messier food like grapes.  If they work out, I might try and make some myself as they'd probably be good for sewing practice.  In any case, they're definitely going to help me cut down on my lunch litter, which is great.

I've got a couple of other ideas for ways to have more planet-friendlier lunches and I'll be sure to post about them as I put them into action. 

Hope to have a crafty and planet-friendly day!

Creative Goals Monday: Mending, Baking and Relaxing

Ahhhh - what a wonderful weekend!  Apart from the great gig The Leopard had on Friday night, I had absolutely no obligations and it was awesome.  I did laundry and groceries.  I surfed the interwebs.  I watched a really good (but slightly unnerving) movie.  I caught up on my sleep.  I went for a run.  It was great!

I didn't do any crafting and I'm kind of glad.  I just needed a mini-break from it.  Instead, I did some mending and fixed two pairs of pants, a jacket and a pair of slippers.  So glad to be all caught up with that. 

I also did a bit of baking, which is something I don't do a lot of, but always enjoy.

(Pic is from the PC site - food styling is not my forte)

I found the Applesauce Bran Loaf recipe a couple of years ago and it's been a great baking staple since then.  Very easy, very yummy and healthy enough that you don't feel guilty about having a second third slice.  I've used all-purpose white flour in a pinch and it's still been great. 

After such a relaxing weekend, I'm ready to take on my second week of work.  I'm also ready to set some creative goals:

• knit!
• finish up a paper project that's been hanging around for a while
• start planning cards for some upcoming celebrations

Do you have any creative goals you'd like to accomplish this week?  I'd love to know about them, so feel free to comment below!

Friday I'm in Love: The Handmade Office

I'm so glad it's Friday!  My first week in my new job has gone really well, but has also been very tiring. I know I'll get used to this five-day work thing again, but right now I can't wait for the weekend and a bit of a break.  I feel I was a bit spoiled by the four months I had off.

But my new job is spoiling me in another way.  For the first time in about six years, I have my own office!  No cubicle; no open concept - an actual office with a door and large windows!  Total score!

So this of course means that I have to make it my own.  Our office manager has already said I can bring in whatever I'd like to personalize my space a bit.  So I thought that for this week's instalment of Friday I'm in Love, I'd post some of the handmade (or indie design) items that I think would really jazz up my (or any) office space.

I'm a HUGE tea drinker and also enjoy the occasional cup of coffee.  My new place of work has mugs in the kitchen, but it's always nice to have your very own.  And I really like the colour and shape of the Midnight Java Mug ($16) by Toronto's Lurearts Pottery.

I've heard conflicting information about the benefits of using a wrist pad at the bottom of your keyboard, but I happen to like them.  My new desk happens to already have a gel one, but I'm really intrigued by eightXeight's Flaxsac ($12.95), which can be used as a wrist pad as well as a hot/cold pack for aches and pains.  I'm loving the fabric and the fact that it's got lavender in it too, which is one of my favourite scents.

I don't have my business cards yet, but once I do, being able to display them in this re-purposed fork Business Card Holder ($12.77) by Go or Send Jewelry would be very cool!

There are no plants in my office, so I'm incredibly tempted by this Office Garden Moss Terrarium ($25) by Greenbriar. I'm not sure I can order live plant material from the U.S. though, so I think I might have to try to make my own terrarium with local moss at some point.  Our new apartment has a small (overgrown) garden, so I might even find some there.

Finally, there is only one piece of art on my office walls right now - a very lovely print of a landscape. But there is a lot of blank wall space. The above "Do your best!' poster ($10.99) from The Poster List caught my eye.  Everyone needs a bit of encouragement at work every now and again, right?

I'd also like to make a few things myself, such as a decorated a pen/pencil holder and maybe even document organizers.  If I do end up making anything for my new office, I'll be sure to post about it.

Hope you have a lovely, relaxing weekend - that is certainly my goal! :)

(All prices in in US dollars)

(Friday Love font is Little Lord Fontleroy by Nick's Fonts)   

nft made: using alcohol inks

This post is long overdue, but I kept finding other things to post about first.  You may remember I took a workshop a few weeks ago at Bizzy B Stamp & Scrap on how to use alcohol inks.  Alcohol inks are a great way to create multicoloured paper and acetates to use as backgrounds for cards, scrapbooks and ATCs.  They're easy to use and can produce a variety of effects. Take a look at what I made in a two hour workshop.

These were all done on glossy paper. Alcohol inks are applied with cotton pads that act a bit like sponges and a bit like stamps. You can also blend and lighten the colours with a blending solution.  The more you work on the paper, the more the colours blend.





They dry pretty quickly and then you can stamp on the paper with StazOn ink.



For this one, I created a purple/blue background, then dripped yellow onto it and stamped on the yellow circles that were created.



These are the acetates. You have to coat the acetate with the blending solution and let it dry first so that the inks stay somewhat in place when you drip or stamp it on.





And you can stamp on the acetate once it dries.

There are a lot of colours as well as metallic inks, so the possibilities are pretty much endless!  One thing I quickly discovered in the workshop though is that you can't guarantee that you'll get the results your envisioning because you can't completely control how the inks are going to work together.  The best approach is to work on a bunch of different papers at once, using the colours you like.  You'll be able to make several backgrounds at once and can pick the one you like best. 

I really enjoyed working with alcohol inks and I think I'll to get some of my own at some point.  And it might be sooner than later.  The Leopard and I found out today that our application for an apartment was accepted! :) That means that in August, I'll be able to start setting up my very own permanent creative space.  I can't wait!

Creative Goals Monday: work first, craft second

So I'm a workin' woman once again!  Today was my first day of work and it went very well.  My new colleagues are really nice and the work is interesting.  I think it's going be a great place to work.

Starting a new job isn't so great for crafting though.  It's going to take me a week or so to get settled into the 9-5 schedule and make sure I get whatever else I need/want to get done on evenings and weekends.  So I've decided I'm not to to set any creative goals for myself this week.  If I do do any crafting, I'll consider it a bonus.

As for last week, I made a couple of thank you cards for my references:

Paper from The Paper Place

Short post today - I'm wiped!  I'll post more later this week - with pics of the items I did made with alcohol inks!  See you then!

Friday I'm in Love: Birthday Treasures and Treats

Thanks to everyone who helped me celebrate my birthday on Wednesday with their good wishes via comments, twitter, e-mail and facebook!  I had a really great day, so for this week's Friday I'm in Love feature, I thought I'd share some of the handmade things that contributed to making it extra special.

As I enjoyed a breakfast of crêpes and fresh strawberries courtesy of my father-in-law, The Leopard presented me with this beautiful necklace made by our friend Jasmine Virani.  I'd been eyeing it for a while so I'm very happy to have one of my very own. 

And yes, it's just a beautiful in person!

Later in the day, my Mom brought me a lovely bouquet of flowers from the florist we worked with for our wedding.

Same flowers from our wedding too - just in different colours.

After dinner, we enjoyed the very yummy cupcakes that The Leopard had made.  Martha Stewart's one bowl chocolate cupcakes with caramel buttercream (note: these recipes might vary slightly from the ones The Leopard used).  They were really delicious - not too sweet, very moist...yum!  I can't wait to try more recipes from the book.

Sooooo good!

And last but not least, I bought myself a little birthday treat - a screen printed tea towel from the Sevilla Rock collection by skinny laminx.  I really love Heather's work, especially the Sevilla Rock collection, which is based on ancient cave paintings near Cape Town, South Africa.  I'm seriously considering getting some yardage to recover our kitchen chairs, but I'll have to wait for a few paycheques first.  So for now, I'm just going to enjoy this beauty.  Heather's having a WOO (Window of Opportunity) Sale right now for her lovely tea towels too - shipping (from South Africa!) is only $0.50 until July 6.  Be sure to take advantage if one of her great designs catches your eye!

 

So lovely!

Of course, celebrating my birthday with my family, including my two grandmothers, was the real treat.  I couldn't even remember the last time that happened.  This is definitely one of the benefits of living closer to your home town!

I'm starting my new job next week, but I'm determined to keep up with the blogging.  After four months off, I'm looking forward to working again, but I know I'll have to be more organised with my time, especially with regards to my creative goals and activities.  I think I'm up to the challenge. :)

Hope you have a great weekend and happy 4th to my American readers!  

(Friday Love font is Little Lord Fontleroy by Nick's Fonts)