Sea Glass

One of the things we really enjoy about Maine are the beaches. Jason and Ivan love to skip rocks on the water. One day while we were at the beach we noticed small pieces of glass in with the sand and rocks. So while Jason and Ivan skipped rocks I looked for sea glass. It's something that we really enjoy doing when the weather permits.

Here is what our collection looks like now (we also have a bunch of pottery pieces but as you can see we didn't have enough room at the window)

Here are pictures of a few of our outings to the beaches this year.

It was a beautiful day but it was COLD!

Ivan is turning into our little helper :)

We went to a local beach at low tide and found all sorts of treasures!

At first we collected the sea glass to have something pretty to look at. Then we thought maybe we could do something with it. Come to find out there is a large community of people who search for sea glass and make crafts out of them. And you all know how much I love my crafts!!!

This is the first sea glass necklace I made.

Well this isn't sea glass, it's a crochet wire bib necklace I just made :) For the next one, I think I'll add a few more layers.

This is my interpretation of a popular pendent called "Tree of Life". My circle went alittle wonky but it's not bad for my first try.

This was my first attempt at making a wire wrap sea glass pendent. It looks kinda ruff but I learned alot making this one.

Here is a piece of sea glass that I drilled and used a single wire to make a scroll embellishment in the front through the hole and the pendent in the back.

Here is my second attempt at making a wire wrap pendent. I really like how this one turned out. This is one side...

and this is the other side.

As I mentioned before if I can improve my skills I would like to participate in some of the local craft fairs in the area. So stay tuned to what I try next :)

Snotty nose and crafts

Well it's been a long 2 weeks as a cold virus swept through the house. Ivan was first, then Jason and then it was my turn :( Thankfully we are all feeling much better! Ivan's back to school, Jason's back to work and I'm back to my crafts :)

Their colds really wore them out!

My brother, nephew and niece all have birthday's coming up. I did the boring sister/aunt thing and got them all school supplies. I wanted to give them something special so I made them each a money cuff. You could really put anything in there, key, special notes or money :) I sure hope they like them.

I wanted to make sure they worked so Ivan tried it on for me :)

Here is Ivan with his new glasses. We always knew that he would need them with the combination of my horrible vision and his complications from being born so early. We let him pick them out and so far he's only broke them 2 times....we set a record.....3 trips to Augusta (an hours drive from our house) in 3 days to get them fixed. He's doing much better with them now.

I'm loving this necklace! I saw a picture of a necklace made out of 3 colors of chains and I thought it looked great, this is what I came up with. I'm very happy with how it turned out. I'm thinking about maybe adding a piece of blue sea glass to it.

I made two "Buttercup bags" that I posted a few weeks ago. I found it from a tutorial online. I bought the rights to make and sell these bags so I'm hoping to make more and sell them in the near future. Here is the first large buttercup bag I made. If you know me you know I love purple....my mom always called me her purple derple....anyways back to the point....I'm happy with the way it turned out and I learned alot making it.

The front

Cell phone pocket

The other side has a big pocket with a divider for a pen...I hate digging for a pen at the bottom of my purse!

When I was at Joann's (my new favorite store!!!!) and I saw a book about crochet wire jewelry. I learned to crochet a long time ago and have made some blankets. I thought it would be something new to try and here is my first crochet wire necklace. I'm excited to make more and I'm hoping to make some that incorporates the sea glass that we have found since we have been in Maine.

Here's a close up of the necklace

Well Ivan's sick so no school today. This season is so tuff for him. He seems to catch everything out there! He had the same thing happen last year. We almost took him out of his preschool program because he missed so many days from being sick. After a month or two it seemed he caught all the colds that were out there and wasn't sick anymore. I sure hope that's what happens this time!! So right now he's cuddled up on the couch watching cartoons.
With the four day weekend it gave me a chance to do some sewing and crafts.
Here is the original purse from www.warehousefabricsinc.com
And here is the purse I made from the tutorial. This is the first time I used piping and I'm really happy with how it turned out!
I added magnetic clasps and it has a pocket on either side. I didn't follow the pattern for the inside. The original posted made a pleated inside and I really didn't think it was needed. So I modified the pattern but it worked so that's all that matters :)

With all the felt work I'm doing for Ivan's Christmas present when I saw these flowers I just knew I wanted to try and make it!

I made mine smaller then the original and added beads to the center. I haven't decided if I'm going to use it as a broach, add it to a purse or add it to a headband to wear in my hair. I might just have to make more so I can do all three :)

This is another craft that I saw and just knew I wanted to try!

I didn't want to go out and buy the supplies the tutorial called for so I used what I already had. Here is what I came up with. I also learned a few things along the way: It looks alot better if you use beads that are all the same sizes, mine weren't. The hemp cord I used wasn't thick enough but it worked. If I try this again I will try to get the right cording.

Craft'in up a storm!

Now that the weather is changing and we are forced to stay inside I've been crafting. It's something I really enjoy doing and it keeps my hands busy :) My new found love is craft blogs! There are some creative people out there!! I've got a long list of craft projects to keep me busy this winter!

Here's what I've been up to:


I started this quilt when we were stationed in Astoria. I cut out all the pieces but never got a chance to sew it together. Last week I finally got to sew the pieces together and I love the way it turned out!
With scraps from the quilt I put this wreath together. The colors remind me of Fall.

Ivan needed a new trick-or-treat bag so I made this for him. I added reflective tape and glow in the dark thread. Now everyone will see Ivan coming :)

With left over fabric from the quilt and Ivan's bag I made these two purses. I got the tutorial here http://www.made-by-rae.com/ One of the blogs I frequent is http://www.makeit-loveit.com/ She posted about a hemp ball accent tutorial. I loved the way hers turned out. I found hemp cording at Walmart and found 2 pack Styrofoam balls for $1. at The dollar tree. After an hour I had burned fingers (from the hot glue gun) and these hemp balls. So worth it because I love the way they turned out!! The original poster spray painted some of her balls and put them in a wire basket. I still haven't decided if I'm going to add color to them or leave them the way they are. Now I'm on the hunt for something to display them in :)

My other project is play felt food. This is the start of Ivan's Christmas gift. We plan on making a play kitchen for him so I'm making food to go into the kitchen (and I'm doing all by hand!).

This picture has 2 donuts, 3 saltine crackers(gonna make more of those) and animal crackers.

This one has a Popsicle, push-pop, 10 strawberries and 5 green beans.

How cool is this Chinese take out box!?! I plan on making fortune cookies to go in it.

Here are links to where I found tutorials and patterns for the felt food:

http://www.lbbspassion.blogspot.com/

http://www.skiptomylou.org/

http://www.americanfeltandcraft.wordpress.com/

Ivan's 4th B-day

Ivan decided that for his 4th birthday he wanted a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse theme. We had the party at a place called the Playroom. It worked out great. It's a big building full of every toy you could think of. Ivan had 10 friends come and they all had a great time! I took great pride in making most of the stuff for Ivan's party.


These are the invitations I made.

Cut and glued these together to put on the tables.

We decided to do cupcakes instead of a cake...way cheaper!I replaced the water bottle labels with mickey mouse ones :)

I made these for the kids

Let the party begin :)

There were to big bounce houses and the kids had a blast!

Blowing out his candle

Even the dads sported the mickey mouse ears!Ivan opening his gifts.He is very blessed to have such wonderful family and friends!

My birthday boy, he's getting so big!!!