I went batty.

I'm not someone who usually decorates my home for holidays. I should be that person. I WANT to be that person, but I'm just not.

However, this last Halloween I went batty (pun intended) and cut creepy-crawlies-and-flyies from scrap cardstock and hung them around the room with thread and tape. (My favourite trick is to tape them on the inside of a lampshade so they surprise you when you turn on the light. GAH! SPIDER. Oh right, I did that.)

Oh course, the cats removed them, one-by-one, so all I had to do after Halloween was pick them off the floor and put them in the trash.

Are you a crafty decorator?

does that surprise you?

I Elevated some Envelopes again (if I do say so myself.) The theme of this season was "Malicious Surprise" and so I decided to make an interactive envelope to extend the suspense.

Each envelope is a tiny bit different (I did them by hand, after all), but each has the same paint-by-number styled surprise.

I included a mailable brush (adapted to be as flat as possible), a palate of watercolors, instructions to "paint in the * spaces", and several extra pages for water color doodling or postcard sending. 

I am all about the multipurpose. You might be so clever that you can tell what the surprise is from these photos, but if you can't, and can't live without knowing, click the next photo for a deconstruction of Tara's envelope.

Also, stay tuned- I might have painted versions to share from my pen-pals.

Wanna see what I did last time? Or the time before?

that I got Elevated (Envelopes).

Here it is- my stack of Elevated Envelopes (otherwise known as an awesome way to de-hoard business envelopes, and doodle like crazy.)

Each of my envelopes is actually a doodle book made of repurposed junk mail. (It's my thing....)

I simply grouped, trimmed and stitched the envelopes into books and sealed them...

with a pull string (made by machine-sewing label paper, cutting it into strips and leaving a little thread on the end to pull.)

Jovi doesn't approve, but hopefully the recipients do.

Hopefully they get them, tear 'em open, and doodle like nuts.

of my shabby phone case

I drank the kool-aid. The iPhone flavored kind. So of course I had to put together a case so that it doesn't get destroyed in the hurricane I call my purse.

This one's made out of jean scraps, a cute cotton print, and reinforced with chipboard inside the front and back. It may be a little shabby chic for me, but I'll deal with it for a while at least.

even though it's way after Thanksgiving.

For the past few years we've invited other transplants over to share a non-traditional Thanksgiving with us. Each of us makes and brings the food we miss most from eating with family. (We usually have multiple varieties of bread and potatoes. It's GREAT!)

I decided to pair my Sharpie and my Drinking Jar* collections to make glasses that each person could personalize.

It was tons of fun to do, and see. Almost all the colors came off easily in the wash- the blue was the most permanent. (Now you know!)

Here's a few more photos of awesome people, and awesome things they made.

*Drinking Jars are common in my family. I resisted at first, but my love for salsa was providing me with too many opportunities! I have plans for their futures, but I thought I would share my jar harvesting tips. After many hits and misses I found out if I fill the jar with hot water, it will soften the glue and the label falls right off! (Basically.) Yay!

I made envelopes out of stuff I found.

Tara over at Ephemera has started a great new project called the Elevated Envelope. It's just what it sounds like, a chance to brighten some people's day with an artsy envelope (made by you); and you get cool envelopes back! The theme was "Summer," so I used my summer obsession with handmade paper to my advantage.


I started with a blended concoction...


which included cotton paper scraps, cut off pieces of cover paper, and (of course) junk mail. I did my usual process (blend, screen, roll out, dry) with one big change.

For these envelopes I did some quick-pressing to get plants I could add into the paper. I used the microwave, board and rubber bands to get nice flat pieces I could embed.
When I pulled the screen out of the pulp, I laid a few leaves on top, and gently poured more pulp over them with a spoon. I then went ahead with the rolling and drying process.

(drying.)


A few days later (so I knew it was really dry) I trimmed and scored the paper to fold into an envelope. I decided to stitch the ends together with my sewing machine rather than glue it like a normal envelope. (This was both creativity and laziness on my part.)

(a finished envelope, ready for addressin'.)

I included an extra piece of handmade paper inside of a little story. Some of the pieces were seeded with wildflower seeds. (If you want to add this to your paper, make sure you have really small seeds, and add them before straining your pulp. Don't blend them or try to sprinkle on top.) I put the whole thing together and sealed the flaps.

So now these little envelopes are headed out all over the world. It was an awesome excuse to do my favorite summer things (wander around my yard picking flowers and making paper.)

Now back to the real world.

I can eat anywhere.

I go through jeans like something someone would go through quickly. Could be that they are my main means of coverage.

Like most everything else in my (hoarder's) life, I try to find a second use for what's left of the denim. I was inspired by this project in Ready Made magazine, and my constant search for a great picnic blanket.

Of course I gave my own spin to the piecing and construction.

I used the quilting from an old heated mattress pad to back it. (Look at all that upcycling!)

Now if things would just settle down enough for a picnic.

and there are some new ways to say...

Along with the FlipOver agendas, I have added some new cards to the shop. So now there are a few new ways to say...

I'm super glad you were born.

It's your day; don't let anyone tell you differently.

You're super special, and I like that.

(PS- This card is super special too. The paper for the card was made by my two hands out of junk mail and other saved packing paper. It's 100% post consumer.)

I hope you like them. I'm going to be making some notecards out of more handmade paper- this time it has wildflower seeds!

I can make paper OUT. OF. PAPER.

I finally did it - made the paper leap when Rachel came over for a crafty retreat. You can find documentation of my Adventure here.*

I have big plans for the outcome, but you'll have to wait and see...

*I should warn you, before you attempt this yourself, that now I look at everything differently. I've been thinking of stealing flower petals, and I have been stealing the recycling.

that everything is a cat toy.

I had a lot of "help" as I was getting some new cards ready today. After trying several methods of distraction, I cut a piece of scap cover stock back and forth to create a long springy strip, then taped it to the chair next to me.

Thankfully, I was granted a few moments of relief– till he tore it to pieces.

we finally finished the sofa.

Old upholstery is gross... almost too gross for me. We stated by taking the pieces all apart, and removing the dust cloth from the bottom.

c- We found the tag. The company now makes office furniture. While taking the upholstery off we found little bits of avocado green vinyl and a tag giving instructions for the original upholstery. The frame is teak.

d- It took hours to remove all of the staples and padding. We reused as much as we could. This is one half of the seating frame. The two pieces are completely separate and connected by screws to the frame.

The main cause of the sagging seat was a lack of enough springs. We decided to remove the springs altogether and replaced them with a wood base. It makes for a firmer seat, but it will last forever.

g- Here's the wooden base.

h- We put the cotton padding back down on it, as smooth as possible, and covered it with acrylic batting. We wrapped the edges around and stapled it to the back.

i - Did the same to the other side of the frame, and the other half.

j - The main covering pieces were not as complicated as they could have been. Each cover (one for the seat, one for the back) was made of four pieces sewn together to make a partial box. (The tricky back comes later.)

I know you probably wanted to see more of the covering process, but we had our hands full with shaping, staple gunning, and stretching. If you do a project like this yourself, make close notes about how the piece was upholstered in the first place. The professionals know best... really.

Anyways, it just took moments for the cats to be back on the upholstered pieces. I guess that's success?

k - The back portion was maybe the trickiest. We reused the tack-bars from the original. They were evil, dull, and bent but Patrick took care of them.

l - The tack bar had to be pushed into the side of the fabric, which was turned under. The top of this portion was stapled to the top of the piece (turned under) and then the tack bars were nailed in and stapled again at the bottom.

m - The result looked pretty good. I am glad to say we didn't crew anything up too much.

n - The two seat portions were screwed back into the frame and voila...

the cats have a new seat. They will defend it with their laser eyes.

and this is where is now sits, in our little entry way. Now I need a little coffee table....

in the meantime...

I know, I know, but my sister said "Don't you name it Owlbert," so I had to.

More radio silence over here... for a couple of good reasons. ONE, the weather is horrible and I can't seem to shake the "it should be summer" blues. TWO, I'm assigning myself (and my helper) big projects to get the season rolling.

First project was a little kitchen repaint that Patrick did. (I will reveal what shade of Alisonblue it is soon.)

Second has been to address the reupholstery of this little mid-century gem. The upholstery was necessary because the moment we brought it home it was sat upon and mishapen by the cats. (Can you see the cat imprint?)
Additionally, the upholstery fabric made Jovi do this...
Which seems like the first line of a very sad story.

Anyways, we just have a couple of steps to go to finish the arduous task. Then I'll show you the final piece, and maybe a couple of progress shots.

(BTW, this burgundy fabric is the result of an unwise recovering. Originally, in 1966, it was covered in avocado green vinyl and had 5 lovely buttons on each back cushion.)

I kept my hands busy with this jersey flower.

I feel like I've been mending, reconstructing, and adjusting clothing a lot lately. Here's an example. I bought this shirt in a darker gray, DIRT CHEAP.

You can tell why, right? It was a great gray color but the little tabs on the shoulder, which are supposed to be... leaves?... look more like loose dragon scales. So I took them off, and was left with all these little jersey petals...

I kinda think it's cute.