So many opportunities, so very little time

I have so many opportunities to go and sell my stuff and get some advertising, but as soon as I hear about them I have no more time to even think about getting ready for it ... it's saddening, really. I'm mainly talking about the ASN Craft Fair that was this last weekend. I had heard about it during the Art Market downtown the weekend before, but knew there was no way I could possibly get ready in so little time (and a mountain of homework I had been distracting myself from really needed my full attention). So hopefully I'll be there next spring, will lots of new stuff and all my original works.

I didn't get a chance to show my newest handmade item. I made them specifically for this last month's Art Trail, but had made some last summer. I worked on them day and night, and finally perfected them. These are some of my favorite things to make!

The flowers in the picture are Gerber Daisies, from the 3D Flowers Part II from SvgCuts.com.

These next ones I designed myself: Spring Primroses. My favorite.

I made almost 4 dozen of these flowers. I was naive and thought they would take the weekend to make; I worked on them every night for about 3 weeks. Haha silly me! All of these flowers are from svgcuts.com

I was so excited to make all of these new flowers that I really stressed myself out! I even developed a cough for awhile that literally didn't go away until after the show was done. I thought that was ridiculous!

But alas, lots and lots of time and energy and willpower went into these flowers.

And lots of glue. Super glue, Hot glue, roll-on glue...

I wanted them to look as real as possible, so each and every one had to be somewhat different. I guess it's not that hard to make them all different when you're handmaking them. And luckily I didn't have to go buy paper to cut petals from, I had lots of scraps from past projects that were perfect for this. The purple pattern in this picture is from the very first canvas art I did last spring. I just love that lavender and white pattern.

These were so cute! They're really itty bitty and it was just one petal piece to cut out. Add a button and voila! Instant cuteness.

And tomorrow I'm heading home to be with my family for Thanksgiving, and I'm taking all of my stuff with me! It'll be a pajamas all day - crafting constantly - coffee & movie - take a nap when I feel like it kind of holiday. And I'll also be coming back with some completely new stuff, but it's a surprise!!

Fall is here!!

So I haven't been here for about 2 months. Shame on me for not writing about all of things that have been happening!! It will take me a few more posts to come up with everything that's happened. First things first? Yes.

So I was very blessed to be able to know just the right people to be able to enter myself into Lubbock's Friday-Night Art Trail. Ohhhh it was so exciting to get ready for it! I would finally have my own little display, and tons of wall space to showcase everything I started making. I literally had only my cards when I first signed up, so my inventory grew to a ridiculous size very fast! My sketch book was full of new ideas I wanted to get started on immediately, so I chose mixed media canvas art first. Here's the first one that was completed. I wanted the design to fit with the upcoming season (Fall is my absolute favorite!), and I would be able to use the design in mail-outs or something...

These were the first two I made. Neither reflected what I was seeing in my head, but I loved the way they both turned out. I wanted to do more pieces that had lyrics, or verses, or quotes by famous people or my favorite music artists. People like Regina Spektor, A Fine Frenzy, or the book of Psalms. Those are just a few; I have an entire word document full of quotes I've collected over the past few years. Quotes are beautiful things. Like little pieces of a memory, thought, or perception someone else has and is able to share. I love it.

More tomorrow? Maybe? If I find a break from my mountain of homework...

I'll always remember you

Something's causing fear to fly
Rising like a dark night in silence
Traveling slow with broken boats
Heading for the sky and I'm an island

I watched you disappear into the clouds
Swept away into another town

The world carries on without you
But nothing remains the same
I'll be lost without you
Until the last of days

The sun is in the east
Rising for the beasts and the beauties
I wish that I could tear it down
Plant it in the ground to warm your face

And I built myself a castle on the beach
Watching as it slid into the sea

The world carries on without you
But nothing remains the same
I'll be lost without you
Until the last of days
Until the last of days

I'll always remember you my dear Grannie. I'm happy you are no longer in pain, and that you are rejoicing in Heaven with our King.

One thing I can tell you...

I've been so very busy working on so many different projects and orders, I've had no time to blog about any of it! Sadness!

Here's a few interesting new things though:

1. I now wear glasses. I've never ever had to wear them, and now I must get used to them. It really is a bother.

2. I built a website! I went ahead and did my internship this summer, and they had me build a webpage for a department on campus. As of now, it's very near completion.

3. Someone I barely know knew about my products in the shops besides the bookstore. I was so elated when she asked me about them; this whole time I've figured no one knew about it. Score!

4. My wonderful Dad found himself a part-time job as a Bible teacher!

And now for a menu of some of my latest projects, there are so many!

These small pallet canvases are a new inspiration from the girl clubs on campus, and also a development of my huge collection of club cards that are sold in the bookstore.

I won't be selling them in the bookstore, at least not now. But I hopefully will be able to sell them to individual club members, and make them customizable!

This new addition is currently on sale at Bo'Dazzled. The owner has begun to bring in many Tech-related products, and many of her sellers make Tech memorabilia. So I wanted in, and made these! Each one I make will be one of a kind.

And another... I made damask stencils and painted the back ground myself.

Then I wanted to take a twist on the same idea, and make some more inspirational canvases. This is a great quote from a Beatles song (which I constantly get stuck in my head). The canvas I used for this one had been half finished by my sister when she let me have it. So my color-palette was already set for me.

The font was fun to pick out on this one; it needed to be out of balance to go with the idea (being "hippie-ish" I suppose you could call it.) I stamped the corners with a spiral block stamp, then mod-podged over all of it to make the ink from the stamp bleed into the paper.

And yet another amazing Beatles quote that will last forever and be inspirationally iconic.

I'm still working on a few more projects, and I may get down to posting pictures. But school starts in a week, along with a musical, along with a job, etc. etc. I may not have time (oi!)

Hannah

A Special Gift

Recently I had a relative give a generous gift to my family, which helped us immensely. Especially me, who has no summer job at the moment (yeah...I know). My Dad reminded me to thank her properly, and so I had to think of something more than just a card or an email to send. At the time I'd been working on some house decorations that I was making by hand, and I figured I could turn that creative path into a gift. This is what I came up with:

The past few weeks I've been creating and designing this simple paper flowers. I think they're cute and quite simple and could bring a bright element to any space. I've been originally doing them for my kitchen and living room (coffee house themed with reds, browns, and warm golden patterns), but wanted to take on some perkier colors.

They're really easy to make. Each layer of the flowers are just different sizes of the same SVG from SCAL. The chrysanthemums aren't exactly like the ones from the free download I found. The others are primroses. I mod-podged the top of each flower, set aside, then looped each layer onto twisted floral wire, then looped the top after each layer was pushed to the top. Then I crumpled them or curled them; however I liked. Then I mod-podged the under side of each layer and let it dry. Then I wrapped the entire stem with floral tape. Ta-da!

I'm thoroughly thankful to those who give.

Custom Vehicle Vinyl Decals

So I had a custom order from the new assistant director's wife from Camp Blue Haven a few weeks ago. Permanent staff usually get vehicle decals of the camp logo, but they hadn't had them made in a few years. I always had it in the back of my mind that I could make them, since I have a Cricut machine and Sure Cuts A Lot. But since I graduated years ago, and am no longer a camper, I have no affiliations with the camp anymore...

So I'm going to give a rundown as to how I made them! They were very simple I figured out; I hadn't used these materials before.

1. Supplies:

• Cricut Vinyl - can get this at any craft store or Walmart ($9.99), or even by it on Etsy from CarolinaVinyl ($22)

• Cricut Transfer Tape - also at any craft store or Walmart. Also $9.99.

• Cricut Machine (in this tutorial I am using the Personal Cricut (6" by 12" mat).
• Your design picked out. I am using SCAL to save as much on space as I can.

2. Check your design and load the appropriate size of vinyl into the cricut machine. The vinyl consists of to pieces: the actual vinyl, which has a sticky back, and then a layer of paper to cover the sticky (if you're using the Cricut brand vinyl it should be light blue). Cut out your design.

3. Peel off the decal from the mat and arrange on flat surface so you can see how it will actually look like when put on a vehicle window.

4. Next you will be working with the transfer tape. Cut out a piece from the roll that will fit your entire decal. Then carefully peel apart the the 2 pieces of the transfer tape (one will be extremely sticky and thin; the other is sturdier and somewhat glossy). Set aside the sticky tape piece.

5. Now take each piece of the vinyl decal and peel the back of each piece off (you'll be peeling the light blue paper off). Discard the blue paper. Carefully arrange all the pieces of your vinyl decal on the glossy piece of the transfer tape sticky down.

6. Now take the sticky piece of the transfer tape you set aside and place that right on top of the decal, matching up with the glossy piece of the transfer tape. Thoroughly rub the tape into place with your hand or with a tongue-depressor.

So now when you've pressed the 2 pieces back together, you can peel the sticky paper back up, and the vinyl comes with it, ready to be placed on a window. Make sure when the decal is placed on a window, it is a clean and dry surface. Press all over the decal to make sure it is all stuck to the window and peel the tape off. Then you're all done!

Hope this was helpful to anyone who wanted to try these :)

And if anyone would like to have some of these of their own, but don't have the supplies to make them, send me a comment or convo on Etsy, and I'll get some made for you!

Onto other fun projects!

Hannah

Crafting in the Bathroom

It's not what you think. Aha.

I've been wanting to move onto different paper projects other than cards. So now I'm onto mixed media. Yes.

I moved off-campus into a new apartment with my brother, and I've taken this huge opportunity to make this place really reflect my creativeness. So to start off with the bathroom. Might as well make it pretty since I spend a bit too much time trying to make myself look pretty.

I absolutely love this verse. It's Proverbs 3:3; it's such a beautiful thing, and I think of it often.

I used paper my mom gave me for Christmas 09, and it happened to match the shower curtain I bought. (score!) So I've made this first canvas, and am planning another.

Here are some more close-ups:

I'm looking forward to making more canvas art such as this one, but maybe not as complicated and busy, haha. I didn't realize it was such a busy piece of artwork...aha, oh well, better next time.

Hannah

First post everrrr

So I finally have a blog! I'm really hoping this will turn out well for my business.

I'm gonna have to think of things to post in between projects...

Stick around for some more

www.Dollmark.etsy.com