Strumpet's Crumpets - arts & crafts by Becky Farley

Golden Office Birthday!

2012-01-27T12:28:00.001-05:00

A few weeks ago I mentioned that my Golden Birthday was coming up! Well it's almost here!

My best bud Daniel from work spent last evening gliding my desk! :)

You may remember my desk at last year's birthday - the Dexter Kill Room! SO perfect!!

Golden Lego People Banner - AMAZING!!

So incredibly stoked!

And to top it all off he got me the Harry Potter Lego Board Game! How awesome is that?!

I'm so excited for this birthday weekend!!! EEEEEeeeEek :)

Oh Strumpets Valentine Giveaway!

2012-01-22T23:20:00.000-05:00

Head over to Oh Strumpets to signup for our Valentine Giveaway!

It's a good one! 3 awesome 3D Adventure Print from Shawn Hileman!

Blythe Crazy

2012-01-18T22:30:00.000-05:00

I made this little strawberry blythe crocheted cap last night! SO many ladies to blame for my new blythe addiction hahaha started with Amber - I met her Blythe and realized how awesome they were, then I traded Virginie a handmade blanket for Charlotte (doll in photo) and now my sweet Olivia is keeping my blythe addiction going- strong! hahaha! So crazy in fact, Olivia started Oh Strumpets and Blythe Too! We didn't wanna overload you non-Blythe lovers, which I totally use to be one ps! But not anymore!
So go check Oh Strumpets and Blythe Too! if you love Blythe! Contact us if you'd like to be featured on the Blythe Blog :) Heck or any Strumpets blog for that matter!
Yay for the week being half way over!!

Crafters against SOPA

2012-01-18T12:13:00.005-05:00

Normally, I'm not too serious, but this is something very important to me. Congress is trying to pass SOPA; the online piracy act - it is bad news bears! If you use google, blogger, wordpress, flickr, twitter, pinterest, instagram, etc you will be affected - in a major way. Please read about it and form an opinion! If SOPA goes through life will change in the USA, and not for the better.

Tell Congress: Don’t censor the Web here

Help raise awareness about PIPA & SOPA

add this button to your blog if you feel the same

Polar Bear Crocheted Hats

2012-01-17T23:07:00.000-05:00

Once Eli told Brian and I he wanted to be a Polar bear at our wedding haha why you ask? Because he's our ring bear duh and white is most appropriate for a wedding! He really is so hilarious and cute!

I just love him! We told him he could 100% be our ring bear!

This weekend I tried my hand at making polar bear hats

- one for Eli (human kid size) and one Blythe size! Eli could not be more cute!

I have fallen in love with Blythe ps. I always thought they were SO weird, but now I just love em! The first one I ever saw was Amber's in MO - I never knew their eyes changed when you pulled the string!!! Now Olivia and I are Blythe CRAZY!

We made a separate Oh Strumpets Oh Blythe Blog for Blythe Lovers :)

I also made a few Blythe Bear Hats for the Oh Strumpets Shop!

So if you want one you better go grab one!

Cutest Cactus Ever

2012-01-17T13:51:00.001-05:00

My sweet friend Virginie makes THE cutest things - just look at this amigurumi (not sure if I use this word correctly ha) cactus! Too cute! She has a blog and a etsy shop you should go check out! :)

Hope your Tuesday is going well or almost over for those of you stuck at work! ;)

My365.........first half of January

2012-01-16T15:24:00.001-05:00

Instagram is my favorite!! If you don't have an iPhone, then you may not be able to use it, which is a bummer! I wish all my family and friends had it! I don't have Facebook and twitter is ok, but Instagram is the bomb.com! haha! I'm currently doing a my365 on Instagram. my365 is another app that displays the images in order. I'm following a specific list of daily things to photograph (see below). Today is the half way mark of January, so I thought I'd show you all my month so far!

Photo A Day Challenge

1. You 16. Morning

2. Breakfast 17. Water

3. Something you adore 18. Something you bought

4. Letterbox 19. Sweet

5. Something you wore 20. Someone you Love

6. Makes you smile 21. Reflection

7. Favorite 22. Your shoes

8. Your Sky 23. Something old

9. You routine 24. Guilty Pleasure

10. Childhood 25. Something you made

11. Where you sleep 26. Color

12. Close-up 27. Lunch

13. In your bag 28. Light

14. Something you're reading 29. Inside your fridge

15. Happiness 30. Nature

31. You, again

Even if you don't have instagram you should give it a go! It's fun! :)

oh and if you have Instagram find me: Becksorange or Becky Farley :)

Hope your first half of January has been good! I'm really looking forward to the second half!

Valentine Paper Heart Chain DIY

2012-01-14T11:45:00.000-05:00

We finally took down the Christmas tree yesterday and the house looked so bare.
(if you look close you can see the Christmas tree on the back porch in these photos haha
and in the last one the wind blow the tree over haha)

Eli and I decided to make Valentine's Day decorations :)
Saw this paper chain project and thought I'd give it a try!
It's a bit tricky for little ones (eli's 7 and it was difficult for him)
You have to hold 4 pieces of paper in place while stapling - I think it requires adult coordination.

You just need paper, scissors (or a cutter), and a stapler with a ton of staples ha!

This would even be great for Christmas as garland on the tree! Need to remember that for next year!

So we chained a bunch and hung them in our back window! Turned out really pretty!

If you make some, send me the link I'd love to see yours!

Happy Friday the 13th

2012-01-13T11:47:00.003-05:00

Have a very wonderful day! :)

lucky 13 embroidery I did for my sister awhile back

Photos by Me :)

Oh Hey! Don't Forget!

2012-01-09T16:09:00.000-05:00

Go signup for the Oh Strumpets Valentine Craft Swap!

It's gonna be awesome! :)

Calendars for the New Year

2012-01-09T15:04:00.000-05:00

You all know I have a love for paper crafts, well here are to very different but equally wonderful paper calendars you can download and use for free! Wootwoot!

First is the very talented miss Jeannie Huang from Jeannie Jeannie! She created a beautiful 12 month calendar you can download for free! It's perfect for your desk at work!

And of course the Go Scout Creative monthly paper craft calendar!

I did all 12 last in 2011! I need to take a photo of them all together! :)

Do you know of any great paper calendars? Let me know!

Oh and don't forget to sign up for the Oh Strumpets Valentine Craft Swap!

Oh Strumpets Valentine Craft Swap!

2012-01-06T19:29:00.000-05:00

Olivia and I are hosting an Oh Strumpets Valentine Craft Swap!

Go check in out at Oh Strumpets!

My 2011

2012-01-05T12:32:00.000-05:00

1. New Years in South Florida, watching Kooza a Cirque du Soleil with my fella! 2. Snowboarding in Breckenridge 3. & 4. Best birthday to date! Daniel turned the office into a Dexter Kill Room Birthday Party!

5. Buying my wedding dress with my best bud up in Boston! 6. Got Mickey tattooed on my arm haha!

7. Trip to the fair with my wonderful family! I love them so much! 8. Lauren moved home to Tampa!!

9. Easter traditions 10. Lauren and Eli spent the summer together AKA Camp Lauren! :)

11. Lobster Season in the Keys with the boys! 12. Most awesome trip to MO and Chicago with my sweet friend Amber Cox! Plus we went to the Renegade Handmade Craft Fair! Amazing!! 13. My Little brother Danny graduated from FSU and my sister Lauren graduated from grad school at Vanderbilt!

14. Watching the last shuttle launch irl! 15. My BEST friend was pregnant and had the most precious baby boy ever ever ever!

16. Eli turned 7! Wootwoot! We celebrated with a 007 birthday party! 17. I finished Brian's 1up crocheted pixelated mushroom! 18. Had a ROY G BiV birthday bash for Lauren! 19. We had our annual Halloween Party! This year was the Haunted Arcade! 20. Oh of the most exciting things that happened this year - Olivia and I started Oh Strumpets! We did 3 craft shows together! We've been having THE most awesome time with Oh Strumpets! I am so stoked for 2012!!

Golden Birthday

2012-01-03T18:08:00.004-05:00

When I was in 3rd grade, my best friend at the time Krysta Matheson taught me about golden birthdays. Your Gold Birthday is when your age is the same number as your birth day, for instance I'm turning 29 on the 29th! You only have one Golden Birthday! I'm pretty excited about the idea of a Golden Birthday. I'm definitely make this a big thing when I have kiddos, I've already told Eli about it. He and I have the same Golden Birthday; we both were born on the 29th day (different months).

So I pinned a bunch of my Golden Birthday inspiration!

To see my Golden Birthday board on Pinterest just click here!

If you have any Golden Birthday stories or ideas please leave em in the comments! :)

Happy 2012!

2012-01-01T21:15:00.000-05:00

Hope your 2012 is an awesome one!

Decided to make happy 2012 glitter cards to send to our friends and family!

I REALL y love the Martha Stewart glitter! It's just pretty!

Do you all do resolutions? I do not, but I'd like to hear yours! :)

Our Christmas!

2011-12-28T13:57:00.000-05:00

We had a pretty wonderful Christmas!

Eli, Lauren, and I made gingerbread houses on Christmas Eve Eve ha!

Here is last year's gingerbread house - look how much Eli has grown- crazy!

We finished our Lego Star Wars Advent Calendar! The 24th door was Yoda as Santa! They still have these calendars at Target and on Amazon - you should get one! They're SO fun!

Eli's grandma and great grandpa came over on Christmas morning to watch Eli open gifts and have some yum Challah Bread french toast! We watched pieces of A Christmas Story, because TBS plays it a llllll day on Christmas day! :)

Then Brian and I headed over to my Nanny's for some Farley fun!

We opened gifts there, chatted, ate - a lot, and just had fun!

It was a good Christmas :)

How was yours? Do anything interesting!?

2011-12-25T14:00:00.001-05:00

:) Hope you're having a wonderful Christmas! Love, Becky

Farley Family Cookie Day 2011

2011-12-21T12:46:00.001-05:00

Every year since we were little we've had Farley Family Cookie Day! My aunt Jackie is the most awesome! She lets us make any and every cookie we want! When we were younger she'd made a zillion pounds of sugar cookie dough, then we'd cut out shapes, bake and decorate us little hearts out - creating the biggest mess ever! Aunt Jackie is THE best! :)

So this year was no different! We invited our friends (our little cousins couldn't make it). Charlie and Daneil had their first cookie day with us and loved it! Lydie came over to bake and crochet! It was such a fun day! We ate a lot, all day long haha!

Eli took cookie decorating very seriously - it melted my heart! He wore a little apron and everything!

Here's the sugar cookies Lauren, Charlie, Daniel, and Eli decorated!

The cookie I picked is my favorite coconut cookies! So so good! I'll post the recipe sometime next week!

It was an awesome day!

Past Cookie Days found here!

Do you have a special tradition you do every year around the holidays?

You Sneaky Elves!

2011-12-20T13:16:00.000-05:00

Oh our crazy elves! Pitt and the gang were caught trying on Charlotte's blythe doll clothes! Cross dressing elves! And look Pitt made himself a cup of black (soy cause).

Then just when I thought Elves were pacifists, we catch them routing on the Rock Em Sock Em Robots! ;)

Check out our crazy elves here!

ps typically I hate watching goofy youtube stuff hahaha but this is the funniest thing EVER!

Watch it to the end! You sneaky Mom!

Straw Star Tree Topper DIY

2011-12-19T18:40:00.000-05:00

We didn't have a special Christmas Tree Topper, so Eli and I decided to make one!

What you need:

1. foam ball

2. paper towel roll

3. straws

4. glitter

5. spray glue

6. one awesome, crafty kiddo's help ;)

We stuck the paper towel roll into the foam ball (I took the hot glue gun and put a bit on there so it'd stick well) then I let Eli go to town stick'n the straws all over! Took longer than I thought haha! Then we sprayed the glue all over it and poured the glitter on! :) We let it dry over night! Then we took red streamers and wrapped the paper towel roll up. Brian had to put it on the top on the tree! Eli said he liked the way it turned out, and that's all I wanted! :)

Our Christmas Tree is Up......

2011-12-19T17:42:00.002-05:00

....finally! haha! Christmas is so close haha!
We got a tree last week, but there were giant red ants on it - no good!

Friday night we got all the ornaments out and decorated the whole house!
Oh and Eli and I made a Straw Star Tree Topper! We took a foam ball and a paper towel roll and straws. Oh and LOTS of glitter haha! I'm gonna do a DIY!

Eli and I put up a teeny tiny toy tree! We collect Heidi Kenney's chain keys and we used them as ornaments! We also got together all our Holiday Dunnys! What do you think? I LOVE it!

haha! I wish our whole tree was like this!

Tada! It's a giant tree - thanks to Brian haha! Eli still has a few more flakes to make to fill the windows! He did pretty good though! *note in this last photo, on the couch, see that little arm? That's Eli, asleep! He's so so cute! He fell sleep watching the Holiday Myth Busters with his dad!

Got my crocheted star garland out from last year!

Haha We have a lot of wreaths! I didn't know what to do with them exactly so I hung them on the coat rack! I made all of them, but the 8 Bit Wreath of course! Yarn Wreath is just yarn wrapped around and around and around (hated making it), the Straw Wreath is my favorite, and the paper wreath is from last year! I'll be back in a bit with Farley Family Cookie Day photos! :)

What is your favorite part of decorating during the Holidays?

Perfect Paper Snowflakes DIY

2011-12-16T12:46:00.001-05:00

Eli has started making his snowflakes again this year! I just LOVE that he wants to fill the windows! Makes me so happy! He still has a ways to go!

Everyone has been asking how the snowflakes turn out so great, the secret is in the fold!

Last year I did a how to make the perfect snowflake tutorial!
It should help with the folds!
Trust me your flakes will look awesome! :)

Here's last year's snowflakes! So beautiful! I didn't wanna take them down! :)

If you make the perfect paper snowflake please email me photos! I'd love to see them!

Christmas Crafts I Love

2011-12-14T17:10:00.000-05:00

One of my most favorite people/crafters, Virginie made these awesome "unbreakable" tree ornaments haha! Yarn Balls! So SO perfect for a house with little ones racing around! If you have cats though you may wanna watch out! ;) So you should go over and check out Virginie's Blog - she's sorta super awesome! Her etsy shop, The Happy Apple has the cutest crocheted creatures! Go see!

These adorable and kid made ice skate ornaments by Katie and Hope from SkunkBoyCreatures! I think Eli would like to make these for his mama or teacher! I want to make them for my bud best!

Pretty Doily Light Garland by Free People! This could stay up til Valentines ;)

These Krampus Card are my favorite by the Crafty Hag!

I love all things Krampus ps but these take the cake!

You better be good or the Krampus will GET YOU!!! dundundun!

Our Elves on the Shelves

2011-12-14T00:30:00.000-05:00

We have elves (plural) on our shelves! :)
They are so tricky! Just look! I made a whole flickr set for them! Pitt is our top Elf, see the last photo, you may know him I think he's starring in an Elf On The Shelf movie soon! Ha!
Do you have an elf or two on your shelves? ;) Ours are in the fridge, playing chest, hanging out in drawers, making snow/flour angels, spelling words with letterpress blocks, etc. :)

Oh Strumpets Christmas Tags & Postcards!

2011-12-13T23:53:00.001-05:00

Oh hey :)

Over on the Oh Strumpets Blog the first 12 people get Elf'n Christmas Tags and Postcards!

If you don't make it in time, you can still get them over at Oh Strumpets here!

Go see if you can get free ones! :)

Oh Strumpets at the Atomic Craft Bazaar!

2011-12-12T15:33:00.000-05:00

This weekend was the Atomic Craft Bazaar in Sarasota and Oh Strumpets was there! Olivia, Lauren, and I brought all our handmade goodies! It was an awesome experience! We met so many great crafters! Check out more about it here on Oh Strumpets! Have you ever been to the Atomic Craft Bazaar?

Oh and tonight there will be new handmade goodies added to Oh Strumpets! Wootwoot! Look at these perfect bows Lauren made! So cute!

Miss Larissa Bree is Having an Elf'n Giveaway!

2011-12-08T13:28:00.000-05:00

Oh hey! You know my friend Miss Larissa Bree?! Well she is a super sweetheart and you'll love her blog!

She's giving away a set of my Quit Elf'n Around xmas Cards! Go check it out! :)

Holiday Craft Loves

2011-12-06T13:00:00.000-05:00

Rachel from Smile and Wave is always making the prettiest things! Her Flower Bauble Wreath is no exception! The colors she chose are wonderful! She posted a DiY on her blog so you can make one too!

Completely in love with this Scandinavian Inspired Star Garland from Creature Comforts! It's so perfect! I think Eli could help make it too!

Over at the PurlBee, they are making these adorable cross-stitched ornaments! I've been itching to cross-stitch! This may be a great project to start on!

Anna Maria Horner is one of my favorite crafters/designers/quilters/mama - she does it ALL! Aren't these glitter covered bulbs too pretty!

Do you all have any Holiday DiYs you're loving!? Share em!

Happy Gamer Holidays

2011-12-05T15:21:00.001-05:00

8 bit holiday wreath from Think Geek - yea I got it with my Geek Points for FREEnintynine! ;)

Holiday Space Invaders Tee from Don't Blink Tees!

Pacman cookie cutters! YES PLEASE! I can't use this Wanelo site without a Facebook? Is that the case? I don't have Facebook but I want to order stuff from here!! I'm annoyed!

Here's a DIY Pacman Cookies! No fancy cookie cutters needed! :)

I am in LOVE with this Pacman and Ghost Garland! I saw it on Danielle Thompson's amazing blog! She's doing a 55 days of Vintage Christmas! Everything is so great! Her home is AMAZING!

Anyone have any other awesome Happy Gamer Holiday ideas!? I'd LOVE to see em! I should make a Pinterest board just for these huh?! I think I will! :)

New Baby

2011-12-05T13:45:00.000-05:00

Last weekend my best friend had a perfect baby boy. They named him Wolfie (wolfgang) and he could NOT have been cuter! Or more giant - he was 9lbs 5oz! My friend is very very tiny, it's amazing to me that she was able to carry him! This is my first friend to have a baby, so this was an incredible learning experience! I have a HUGE new respect for all moms!

I could have held Wolfie forever! He smelled so good! He didn't cry a ton, even when he did it didn't bother me much haha! He was just so sweet and snuggly! Of course this make me want a baby more than I already did! Though I saw it's no walk in the park - my friend and her husband were so so tired. And breast feeding is pretty trick huh?! But obviously necessary!

My friend's parents and I stayed there a few days helping with the baby and just normal day to day things. I wish I could have done more! It was such a good experience and I am SO SO happy I got to be there with them! Meeting little Wolfie was so wonderful!

While I was there I explored Alexandria, VA which is so pretty! The weather was perfect! I sat outside near the water and crocheted one afternoon - it was heaven! In Old Town I fell in love with The Paper Source shop - just look at these paper crafts! I wanted everything! I got a few paper crafts for Eli and I to do together- pretty stoked about those!

Sure was sad to leave! I'm sure Wolfie will grow very quickly! :)

Oh Hey December, you snuck up on me.......

2011-12-01T00:07:00.000-05:00

This weekend I headed to DC to be with my best bud when she gave birth to her beautiful new baby boy! I love him and did NOT want to leave! I'll post adorable photos soon ;)
Well December is here and way too fast! I made my Go Scout Creative paper craft tonight - he's a jack-n-the-box nutcracker! Pretty cute! Download it!
Hope you have a wonderful December

Sign Up for Oh Strumpets! Giveaway Now

2011-11-25T22:46:00.000-05:00

Hey did you sign up yet? You should! :)

Click here and sign up!

Pinball & Crochet Weekend

2011-11-25T21:44:00.001-05:00

I suppose since it's almost the weekend I should finally post last weekend's fun! We all headed to Orlando! Lauren, Eli and I went to hang out with Sara and her adorable little gal Lilly - you know them from Prairie Hen! Of course I wished we lived closer, she's such a sweet gal and Lilly is too cute! Here's Eli and Lilly playing with their pup Liberty! Then we headed over to the Southern Pinball Festival!

It was a ton of fun, watching Eli is the BEST!

Love this last photo of Lauren and Eli SO much!

On Sunday we headed over to St. Petersburg (yes we literally drive a zillion miles in all directions) to see the Fox families. Eli is about the same age as two of our little cousins and they all have a blast together! They played in the pool all afternoon, then we ate the best steak my aunt grilled on a giant salt block, and then I taught the kiddos to "crochet" ha! Mostly they just chained, but it was so cute and they made a bunch of crocheted bracelets! SO cute!

It was a great weekend! I'm really looking forward to this up coming weekend! My best bud is having her baby boy! I'm so so so excited for her! Have a wonderful weekend!

2011-11-24T22:05:00.000-05:00

Oh Happy Thanksgiving gang!

Wanted to let you know Oh Strumpets! - Olivia and I will be at the Holizaar Four Craft Show Dec 3rd in St. Petersburg, FL. It's a little over a week away, so mark it in your calendars! We're so stoked about it!!

Hope to see you there! :)

Oh and don't forget to sign up for the Oh Strumpets Holiday Giveaway! Go GO go here to sign up!

Oh Strumpets! Holiday Giveaway

2011-11-22T21:24:00.000-05:00

Hey everyone! Go check out Oh Strumpets! for a handmade holiday giveaway! :)

Our Elf on the Shelf

2011-11-18T18:40:00.001-05:00

Strumpet's Crumpets is not really a mommy blog hahaha by any means, but I do have Eli, my soon to be step son (hate the step connotation - thanks a lot Disney!) Anyways, I LOVE all my time spent with Eli and I LOVE getting his mind going! Brian's mom gave us the Elf On The Shelf book last year, it is the BEST gift ever! Ever! I don't know who has more fun, me or Eli?! haha! He named our elf Pitt and Pitt showed back up after Halloween. Since then he brought a bunch of buds with him! I don't really follow the book or website of Elf on the Shelf, but the book does have a great explanation for kids - no touching the elf, behave because the elf is looking, etc. I have a whole Flickr set just for our crazy elves! Our elves leave Eli teeny tiny notes ;) Sometimes the elves get a bit nutty!

I know Eli is growing up and honestly I'm not sure he totally believes, but boy does he get excited every morning to see where the elves have moved or if there's any new guys! Sometimes I think he just goes along with it for me haha! One day we'll have a good laugh about it ;) We staying up late, trying to think of a clever hiding spot, the image of me climbing on furniture and the counter to get the elves in tricky places - haha! Can't wait to have more kiddos and have Eli help me hide the elves!

Do you do Elf on the Shelf?

If you're an aunt or uncle or best bud you should get this for a kid in your life - it is amazingly fun!

If you have any clever ideas please pass em along to me and everyone in the comments!!

Thank you and have a very wonderful weekend! :)

Oh Strumpets! Tattoo Pillows

2011-11-18T14:18:00.000-05:00

Lookie what I made! My little loves' names tattooed on to pillows!
And for the next few weeks I'll be making custom pillows for Oh Strumpets' customers too!
Click here for more info!

Vera is my hero!

2011-11-16T22:26:00.000-05:00

Many of you may know Vera from Seni with Love, but you may not know she completely came to my rescue this summer! She is officially my hero! This summer my best friend Kris and her hubby got pregnant - they were OVER the moon! And I was over the milky way! haha! Kris and I chatted everyday about the baby. One day we started talking about the baby shower and what she would want, and she or I (I honestly forget who) thought a Jip and Janneke baby room/baby shower would be incredible! Jip and Janneke are these two clever/mischievous/funny story book characters from the Netherlands. Problem is- you can only find/buy them in the Netherlands. After that conversation I went straight to the HEMA website (think Dutch Target) and put every single Jip and Janneke item in my cart and I couldn't check out - whompwhomp!!! They wouldn't ship to the states. I racked my brain! Who could I ask!?! Then I remembered Vera! I followed her blog and Flickr since I started blogging. I felt SO odd asking her for help, not because I didn't think she was awesome because I did, but because I feel like it was a pain in the butt for her to do, but I got over that and emailed her! haha! She said yes!!! I was so so stoked! And Kris was going to be stoked too!

As a thank you, I asked Vera to pick out colors for an afghan! She picked pink, purple, white, and grey - loved it! So during our zillion emails back and forth, me paypaling all my Jip and Janneke monies to her, tweets, etc. I crocheted this blanket just for Vera and all her amazing help! She deserved 10 blankets!! :)

Vera basically set me every Jip and Janneke item HEMA had haha! Kris' baby boy better LOVE Jip and Janneke! Kris' mom and I decorated the her baby shower in all Jip and Janneke stuff - it was perfect! Vera sent 4 boxes filled with Jip and Janneke stuff all the way from the Netherlands, and I know it was n't easy! She's such a wonderful lady! Thank you so much Vera!

Kris is due any day now! I just can't wait! Thank you Vera for making Kris the happiest pregnant gal ever! You are the best!!!

Weekend Adventures

2011-11-14T18:49:00.001-05:00

This weekend the boys and I stayed in town (next weekend is the pinball show in Orlando haha who's going!?). We half cleaned up the Halloween decorations - who still has theirs up? haha Please tell me I'm not the only one! My friend Daniel came over Saturday night to take photos of our pinball games, because Brian and him are making a pinball calendar! And so am I - mine it going to be the Girls of Pinball (not actual girls, just the ladies on the pinball machines; bride of pinbot, pride of Frankenstein, etc! :)

We thought it would be fun to go the Rib Fest in St. Pete Sunday, but we got all the way there and there was a sign - NO DOGS ALLOWED! whompwhomp! No big deal! We made the best of it and went to the dog friendly Dunedin! We ate at the Dunedin Smokehouse - it was SO good! Then we took Eli to a skate park/regular park - played a bunch.

I finished my most favorite afghan yet for lil Leo, a friend's adorable little boy! I'm so in love with this one! Wish I could hand deliver it to them! :)

Also this weekend Olivia and I added a bunch new handmade items on to Oh Strumpets and we've started an Oh Strumpets Blog! To take a look - it's brand new! We are so stoked about the new shop and blog! Hope you love it! We are going to have a holiday craft swap very soon! Get ready!

Oh Strumpets!

2011-11-13T23:04:00.003-05:00

(click on the photo above)

Last weekend Olivia and I were in a craft fair together and this week we........

joined up to create Oh Strumpets! We are taking baby steps (we both work full time jobs and have full time families) but it's really coming together! We are adding more daily! Go check it out and let us know what you think! :)

Veteran's Day

2011-11-11T17:50:00.001-05:00

I know a few veterans, but the most nearest and dearest is my grandfather, Ray C Farley. Here are some photos, here, and here. Here's more about him. He was in Vietnam, traveled all over the world, he was in the air force til he retired. He'll always be larger than life to me, he past away when I was a year old. I still love hearing stories about him and I can't wait to tell me kids the stories. For example: he would breathe fire for all the kids in the neighbor where my dad grew up, he was so big and tall, that when I was bored he held me with one hand (I loved that story as a kid - he was a Paul Bunyan figure in my eyes), he raised birds and albino rabbits, he made my grandma all her jewelry from gems and stones he collected around the world, he photographed EVERYTHING, he was as handsome as a movie star, he was a bit wild in his younger years - luckily he had my grandma, Billie June Farley, simply the toughest, sweetest person I know.
That said, I want to honor the ladies (and fellas) who stay home with the kiddos while there other half is away! That is the MOST difficult job. My grandma just it - for a long time. And her kids turned out 100% awesome too! She's amazing! AMAZING! She's the best person I know.........
Go give a veteran you know a hug and their other half a bigger one! :)

St. Petersburg Crochet Class by Oliveoh

2011-11-08T18:34:00.002-05:00

So what are you doing Nov. 26th Florida gals? I'll be at EugeniaWoods on Central Ave in St. Pete FL learning how to make the cutest crocheted cupcakes by Olivia from Oliveoh! Olivia is one of the cleverest, craftiest gals I know! If you live in the Central Florida area this is your chance to meet her and learn to make awesome amigurumi cupcakes!
At our house we have a normal christmas tree and then we have the totally awesome, fantastic toy christmas tree that Eli and I fill with Domos, Dunnys, and now crocheted cupcakes!

So here's all the info!
November 26th at 11am
at EugeniaWoods
645 Central Ave Arcade Building #10
St. Petersburg FL 33701
It's $35 for the class and ALL the supplies!
Beginners WELCOMED!!
Trusted me you're gonna make an awesome cupcake even if you've never crocheted!

Go check out Olivia's blog, Oliveoh
-go see all the awesome stuff she makes - food, blankets, scarves, pouches, gardening, etc.

Signup here (quick because space is limited) for her Crocheted Cupcake Class!
I can't wait to see you there!

Oh Strumpets - our first craft show!

2011-11-07T22:49:00.008-05:00

This past Sunday Olivia from OliveOh and I did our first craft show ever! We were both pretty nervous!
My friend Mo from the wonderful MityMoDesign told me about the Craft Show and I was stoked to join, but not without Olivia! Ha! I can't remember if I said, "wanna do the craft show with me" OR "ok we're doing this craft show together...." :) haha! Together Olivia and I made "Oh Strumpets!" Tada!

Olivia made the cutest crocheted creatures! Everyone wanted a fat headed bear - they're the CUTEST!! Also a bunch of gals were super interested in learning to crochet the cupcakes! Olivia is teaching a class Nov. 26th at the lovely Rachel's shop, Eugenia Woods. I finally met Rachel over the weekend - she's so gorgeous and sweet! SO if you're in the Tampa Bay Area and wanna learn to crochet go sign up for the class here!
Ok where was I?! The Craft Show! It was just so fun! The nervousness went away and we had the best time! It was a small craft show, but perfect for two beginners! The whole Farley gang came out to say hi and make my day! Eli tried to steal our business haha ;) It was just a ton of fun!

1. Olivia's adorable crocheted cupcakes - sign up for her crochet class here! 2. Jennifer and her hubby Jacob had the most awesome table EVER! Those two are gonna have some crafty, clever kids! 3. Eli, being so precious! 4. Charlie and Daniel came by to give their support so we gave them buttons! I have such awesome buds! And a huge thank you to my family for coming out and being so sweet!
It was a very awesome day and we're ready for another craft show soon!!!
I'd love to hear your craft show stories!!
We sold a bunch of stuff - more than I thought we would haha! I will be having an etsy update tomorrow - pretty excited about that! :) Have an awesome week!

Also I'm thinking we need an Oh Strumpets! Holiday Craft Swap - what do you think!!?!?!
I'd love to hear your ideas and if you'd be interested!

Happy November......

2011-11-03T11:24:00.000-04:00

......3 days in, I'm a bit late!

Here is Go Scout Creative's Paper Craft Calendar for November! I really love this one! The colors are so great! The story goes, this Toucan wants nothing more than to be a cuckoo bird and live inside a beautiful clock! Tada! Wish came true!
Here are a few paper craft calendars from past months!
I'm excited about November! Olivia and I will be doing a Craft Fair this weekend over in St. Petersburg, if you live in the area you gotta come by and say hi! Please! :) Learn more here! Hope to see you there!

Haunted Arcade Halloween Party

2011-11-02T22:13:00.000-04:00

This Halloween our party theme was Game Over, A Haunted Arcade! I made the invitation to look like a pinball game, I used images from Haunted House and Monster Bash and combined them to make one game haha. October has been crazy, I would have like to make it cooler, but I just ran out of time!

My family all dressed up, because they are awesome! Brian and I were Mario and Princess Peach - arcade themed ;) But my grandma had the best costume, she was a panhandler hahaha in Tampa we have a HUGE panhandler problem - she's so cute!!

But the Belle of the Ball was Daniel dressed in drag as me hahahaha yes it was disturbing, but hilarious! Daniel and I work together and are best buds at work - I'd go crazy without him. He said he was going to be me when I asked him about Halloween and I just laughed and figured he'd be some video game character, but nope he was me haha! His sister drew tattoos all over him, he got a bleached wig, ring, Starbucks cup, and a Mickey plushie!

He posed with Brian haha, my siblings and my whole family as me!

The cherry on the cake was his Gay Laced tattooed legs, my legs say Straight Laced hahahaha so Daniel made the tattoo work for him - it fits! I did his eye makeup ps ;) This made my Halloween ps!

Everyone played lots of games and ate lots of food! Brian got BBQ for us and it was the best ever! Lauren and Eli made a zillion yummy cupcakes, all perfectly decorated for Halloween!
Here are some Haunted Arcade decorations - Boo Ghosts from Mario! Here's some more and more.

The kids bobbed for apples, a Halloween tradition around our house! Eli really had to work for it - he cracked me up - he was soaked! He finally got one though and then preceded to get all the apples (once everyone went) he likes to be the best haha.

It was so much fun, but went by too quick! I need another week or two of Halloween please!!!

How about you? Are you a Halloween lover too?!

Our Halloween

2011-11-01T22:09:00.000-04:00

I'm so sad to see Halloween go! So let's make it last a bit longer by going through all the photos haha!
1. We decorated all day Friday and Saturday for our Haunted Arcade Party, Mickey obviously helped too! 2. I made Pacman Pumpkins for our Haunted Arcade Party! This Pumpkin was to tough to carve, so it worked out perfect because I just painted it and the gourds! 3. Eli picked orange and black to put in Mickey's hair - Mickey doesn't have a clue haha, he just looks cute! 4. Lauren and Eli cut out cats and owls Friday - they looked awesome! 5. On Sunday we brain stormed about what pumpkin we should carve, I picked a domo, Lauren picked a sugar skull, and then Eli said, "Dunny!!" And Dunny is was! It was ok for our first try - haha I am NOT a good pumpkin carver ps. 6. That's a giant chocolate rat I made for a fellow at our office, who happens to have a rat named Possum hahaha - perfect for Halloween!
I'll be back to share all our Haunted Arcade Party pictures soon!
I hope you had a super spooky Halloween! :)

Happy Halloween from Strumpet's Crumpets

2011-10-31T00:00:00.001-04:00

I wish you all a very wonderful, creepy, cute Halloween!
Give out lots of candy to stimulate the economy - Candy vendors get monies and dentists get monies ;)
Can't wait to share all the photos from our Haunted Arcade Halloween Party with you all!
And I can't wait to see all your costumes and Halloween party photos!
Happy Halloween!

Halloween Goodie Bags & EyeBall Roses

2011-10-28T09:35:00.000-04:00

Getting ready for the Halloween Party this weekend! Got a bunch of Halloween goodies together for Hag Bags - witch goodie bags! I filled them up with temporary tattoos, vampire whistles, skeleton hands, candy, bouncy eyeballs, etc. Last year I made Witch's Broom Goodie Bags! And for Eli's class we made Trick or Treat Bags! And I made a beautiful bouquet of Eyeball Roses! Told Brian I'm going to use them in our wedding too - jk! ;) I wish I could have a Halloween wedding- Jk again - kinda!
What type of Halloween goodies are you making!?
Only 4 days til Halloween! Wooowhoooo!

Costumes of Halloween's Past

2011-10-26T21:06:00.003-04:00

As you may know I LOVE Halloween - very much! I thought it'd be fun and funny to share some past Halloween costumes me and the Farley family have sported! In no particular order.......

1. VampOween: We were all vampires!! Got on that bandwagon obviously! 2. 1930 Circus Freaks! 3. I went to a buds Halloween party and I had to be a dead person, so I was Jayne Mansfield! 4. Last year we were dead things, i.e. Mummies!

1. One of my favorites from the first Farley Family Halloween Party, Oz Fest or more commonly know as the Wizard of Oz! 2. Oh yes, the year I was Cyndi Lauper! Would that be the equivalent of letting your 5 year old dress up as Lady Gaga?! That's a real question! 3. bahahahaha Farley Kids - just funny! 4. A smurf!

1. My best bud, Kris and I were Britney -during the Black Out album, when she was all a mess and Kris was Lindsay Lohan = Train Wreck Costume! 2. This year we really got into face paint! hahaha 3. Highschool years - geez, so creative I was a cat (eye roll) 4. Dr. Danny, Miss America Becky, and cute little witch Lauren!
We've had some good Halloweens!
Thank goodness I have such an understanding and awesome family!
Thank you Farleys for always dressing up and being the best!

What was your most favorite costume you've worn?! Have you ever been in a group costume? I wanna know! :)

Halloween Eyeball Wreath

2011-10-26T10:00:00.002-04:00

One of my favorite little crafters over at Oh My Deer made the MOST awesome Eyeball Wreath and she shared her DIY with everyone! Take a look! I had to make one!

While we were at Target one day, Eli saw the eyeball string of lights and I thought maybe I could add it in the eyeball wreath and TADA! It's pretty easy, you'll just need eyeballs, hot glue (burned myself pretty good with mine while making this), and a foam wreath.

Check out Oh My Deer's DIY!

Only 6 days til Halloween! :)

Paper Bat Flakes

2011-10-25T23:14:00.001-04:00

Last Christmas Eli became little obsessed with making snowflakes haha see here! It's not even Halloween yet and Eli was asking if he could make some snowflakes haha -I hate saying no to any creativity so I thought we could make BAT Flakes!!!!!!!

So I bought a bunch of that scrapbook paper in black and used these bat templates I found on Pinterest. I learned how to fold the perfect snowflake last year, here's my little tutorial - and I folded the black paper (you need a square - that's why the scrapbook paper was perfect) then drew just half the bat on the folded piece. I let Eli cut them out from there! They turned out pretty awesome I think! We also tried to make spiderweb too - those were a bit tricky!

Let me know what you think of our Bat Flakes and if you make some I'd love to see your flakes! :)

7 more days til Halloween!! I can't wait!

Weekend Adventures

2011-10-24T23:20:00.002-04:00

We LOVE a good carnival - as you may know! ;)

We rode rides, eat funnel cake, and had a blast with our family!

I also got to take a second photo of Eli in front of the Scrambler ride, which is called Big Eli. I took the first photo when Eli was teeny tiny! Made my whole weekend! He's such an awesome kid!

On Sunday we taught Eli how to use Twizzlers as straws and celebrated my uncle and moms birthdays! My aunt made the best German Chocolate Cake EVER!!

After the awesome cake we took Eli to the Bro Bowl of Tampa! Brian skated there as a kid, then it had different surroundings, but it was the same old Bowl.

Eli instantly loved it. He just wanted to get in it, but there's rules to skating - no snaking a spot in line! So he watched all the big kids skate and practiced on the sidewalk. Brian showed us he was still awesome and skated the Bowl! He took Eli around it a few time and it was very precious! We told him we'd take him again next weekend! :)

It was a very good weekend! I hope yours was awesome!

Did you celebrate any birthdays or learn sometime new!?

Local Art Show Coming Soon!

2011-10-24T18:23:00.001-04:00

Hey mark your calendars!! Olivia from OliveOh and I are going to be in A Holiday Affair Art Show! We're pretty stoked about it! It is the first art show either of us have done! So if you're local or local-ish please come by and say hi! We will have afghans, crocheted awesomeness, paper goods, hand sewn goodies, etc. Hope to see you there! And I'd love to hear from you veteran Craft Show Gals - if you have any tips for us that'd be amazing!! :)

ROY G BiV Birthday Party

2011-10-18T22:30:00.002-04:00

This last Saturday was Lauren's Roy G BiV birthday party! She was stoked!
Here are Lauren's ROY G BiV birthday invitations - I added a little card telling everyone to wear a specific color - see last photo for the reason why!

If you're wondering what ROY G BiV is, it an acronym for the colors of the rainbow - Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, and Violet! I learned that handy acronym in 2nd grade I believe.
So I really tried to ROY G BiV this birthday party out for Lauren!
Starting with her ROY G BiV birthday cake (minus the i - Indigo). I've seen lots people many these cakes, so I thought easy peasy - not the case haha! Sorta a pain, but totally worth the out come!

We had a pinata, because we always have a pinata because they are the most fun! ;)
We killed the cake, but not before Lauren made her 25th birthday wish
- she can't tell or it won't come true!

Oh but Mickey's wishes all came true - Rainbow Puppy Mohawk! Wootwoot!

I know some people may feel putting food coloring in their pups hair is wrong, but not this gal! I think it's totally awesome and adorable! I just put alil food coloring on my fingers and brushed it into his hair! My hands were a ROY G BiV mess, but I didn't care! Cute right?!

ROY G BiV Beverages anyone!? Yes!!!! With the cutest straws from HeyYoYo! Not shown is Lauren's favorite Cream Soda - didn't fit in the rainbow! I also made ROY G BiV goodie bags for the little kids and the big kids! See here, here and here!
Oh and I made the ROY G BiV Paper Streamer Chandeliers!
Rainbow Birthday Banner just for Lauren!
Sport'n Rainbow Suspenders!
And of course played lots of pinball and arcade games!

Know how I know we have the most awesome family and friends - because they made the RAINBOW!
Pretty awesome group huh!? :)
Kinda sad I have no more ROY G BiV busy at the moment, but I suppose Halloween will make up for it! ;) Can't wait! I made a Halloween Flickr Set and a Birthday Flickr Set to share ideas!

Paper Streamer Chandeliers DIY

2011-10-14T19:05:00.001-04:00

Here's a super easy DIY for Paper Streamer Chandeliers!
What you'll need:
1.party streamers
2. scissors
3. embroidery hoops
4. yarn/string

Cut as many streamers as you want, maybe a yard or so long. Then put those streamers in the hoop, take the other part of the hoop and close it shut! I flip the streamers over the hoop, so you can't see the hoop.

Take three pieces of yarn or string and tie them evenly on the hoop. And then repeat, repeat!

These Paper Streamer Chandeliers are perfect for the ROY G BIV birthday we're having over the weekend! Wish they could stay up all the time! :)
Pretty easy huh!? So now if you make them link my the photos and add them to the Strumpet's Crumpets Craft Flickr Group!
Have an awesome weekend!

Pumpkin Seed How To

2011-10-13T22:02:00.001-04:00

I love pumpkins right down to their tasty seeds, I know I'm not alone! ;)

Once you've picked out the perfect pumpkin, gut that puppy, and get all those seeds out!

I use a colander to collect the seeds. I rinse them out and pull all the extra pumpkin guts off the seeds!

For every cup of seeds you have add a tablespoon of veggie oil and as much salt as you can handle - mix it all together!

You oven should be set at 350 degrees and put the seeds in there for 15 mins and TADA!!! Perfectly salty pumpkin seeds ready to eat! I like them warm from the oven, but to each their own!

You can give the tasty seeds as little gifts, maybe your child's teacher, your buds at work, etc.! Fill up a mini mason jar, add a pretty ribbon, and fall/Halloween fabric!

Oh and ps kids are great helpers in the gutting process!

This is from last year but I needed it tonight, so I figured maybe you all did too! :)

18 more days til Halloween! Wootwoot!

Happy Birthday Lauren!

2011-10-13T08:45:00.001-04:00

Help me wish my sister, Lauren the BEST 25th birthday EVER! :)
Lauren, I LOVE you so much! Have an awesome day! Hope you're stoked about your Roy G Biv Partaay this weekend! :)

Granny kinda Weekend

2011-10-10T23:03:00.000-04:00

On Saturday, Olivia came over for a crafting day and taught Lauren how to make a Granny Stripe Afghan! Olivia gives a great explantation here ;) Now Lauren is totally hooked (bahahaha) on crocheting! I'm so stoked about it! She text me today: "I wanted to crochet all day lol" I LOVE it!

Here's her blanket so far! She's using a J hook and "I Love This Yarn" yarn. This photo doesn't show the colors in their true tones - RGB boo! That red is actually orange and it looks so great!
I'm so proud of Lauren! I just think her blanket is perfect! I can't wait til it's finished......and then she can start another, and another, and another! ;)

I worked on some Granny Square Blankets I'll be taking to A Holiday Affair Local Art Sale in Nov. I'm doing with Olivia! We are both pretty stoked, this will be our first time! :)

What'd you make over the weekend?
If you want to learn to crochet you should take a look at Olivia's Granny Stripe Explantation!

Things I Want!

2011-10-07T15:59:00.003-04:00

Over at Knitxcore, he made the cutest fabric pumpkins! The fabric are so wonderful!

Hopefully I'll have some time before Halloween to make a few!

Holy Moly! I LOVE this Cross Stitch iPhone Case! You can buy a DIY one here! And just so you know the new iPhone 4S will be the same size as the iPhone 4 so it's safe to buy this case if you were thinking about upgrading! Wootwoot!

How awesome is this Leprechaun Cake!?!? I'm thinking about making it for my sister's birthday - it's a ROY G BIV themed birthday!

OMG I'm in love with Twinkie Chan's Jack O Lantern Fingerless Mitts! baaaaaaa I WANT them! Aren't they great, but I need some cool weather first hahaha!

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!!

Florida Keys Weekend Adventure

2011-10-04T22:27:00.001-04:00

The weather is get'n chilly, but not in south Florida! We packed up and headed to our pirate hideout in the Keys. I guess there's not too many more weekends of warm water and warm waters, so Brian got some more lobsters.....and zero fish hahaha! Eli caught one though ;) The Gulf water is filled with these beautiful but harmful Moon Jellies (see second photo)! Luckily no one got stung. We at a the Lorelei Restaurant, which is named after that giant mermaid in the 4th photo, told Brian we have to name our first baby girl after her hahaha! I think he'll go for it, what little girl wouldn't wanna be named after a mermaid!? Eli and I stopped in the gas stations of the way home to get goof Florida toys-always fun! ;)
I made a lot of progress on a blanket for one of the cutest kiddos ever! And now were home! So much laundry to do, so much work to catch up on!
I've been feeling a bit guilty lately - I have been neglecting my REAL camera and my favorite blogs, know why? - Instagram! DundunDundun!! It's my favorite new social networking tool (sounds funny to say)! Who needs a giant camera?! Or blogs haha Instagram is the best, except you need an iPhone but if you don't there's always instagrid, here's mine! My favorite holiday is coming up so I'm going to start taking REAL photos with my REAL camera, Halloween deserves the REAL thing ;)
Oh and don't forget about Flickr! I miss Flickr too! Here's our Fall on Flickr so far!
Anyone else have this feeling lately?
Hope your weekend was great and I hope your week is even better!

October Paper Craft Calendar

2011-09-30T16:20:00.000-04:00

Tomorrow is October first! Wootwoot!! Scout Creative has the most awesome paper craft calendar yet! It's a mix and match Monster Mashup! October is my favorite month with my favorite holiday! Hope your weekend is wonderful!!

A Tuesday Mickey Montage

2011-09-27T17:03:00.000-04:00

There is nothing that makes me more happy than my fat pup Mickey! He's a character! He's completely rotten but so so sweet! He's one of a kind-that's putting it nicely ;)
Mickey's interests are food, Starbucks, lambs, and sleeping. He always seems to be smiling, except when he's specifically pouting. Check him out him! hahaha!

That's all! Just had to share my puppy love today!
Hope you have a great day!

First weekend of Fall

2011-09-26T22:51:00.001-04:00

This weekend I got some things done! :)
I finished my Thank You Blanket for Vera, cut out two stacks of hexagons for my Grave Yard Quilt, and started my sweet friend's afghan for her kiddo (just the cutest kid ever ever ever!)!
My sister and I went to my aunt's house all day Sunday and sewed and ate and sewed some more, it was the best!

To start the weekend Olivia came over for a craft night, mostly we ate awesome Venezuelan food and Mickey cuddled with lambs and Olivia hahaha! Olivia has been making these wonderful cowls for her friend Rachel's new shop, which is opening Saturday Oct. 1st in St. Petersburg FL. If you're in the area you sure stop by Eugenia Woods grand opening!

The rest of the weekend I cleaned, hung out with my favorite pup, and relaxed a bit!

Now I'm looking forward to the weekend again! haha!

How about you? Looking forward to the weekend already?

Loving.......

2011-09-22T18:34:00.000-04:00

Always in love with Alexz from Bird Trouble's Bags and Wallets! She is one talented gal!

Every bag is one of a kind! The one in the photo below is probably my most favorite!

Completely love these teeny tiny embroidered necklaces by Oh My Deer! I don't know which I love most! They're all so cute!

I was very stoked when I checked my email a few days ago and saw an email from Beth, a fellow crafter/book lover. She sent me the MOST awesome link to vintage paper dolls that you can print! And guess what - freenintynine! Wootwoot! I loved paper dolls as a kid, my dad would buy me a book of them and I would carefully cut each set out and play with them so cautiously haha! I knew they were so delicate! If you have a kiddo or are a big kiddo you should check out this site!

Thank you Beth for the link! :)

Hope you all are having an awesome week!

Remember if you have any Roy G Biv or Rainbow party ideas let me know! :)

One Roy G Biv Birthday coming up!

2011-09-21T15:48:00.002-04:00

In the Farley Family birthdays are a big deal! My sister, Lauren is going to be 25 in October, so I was thinking a Roy G Biv birthday is in order! Why? Because rainbows are awesome!!! I've been busy on Pinterest looking for ideas, as you can see below! Yesterday I ordered rainbow suspenders from Amazon haha! I'm also getting pumped about using a bunch of food coloring! ;)

If you have any ideas I would LOVE to hear them! :)

How do I dye my hair rainbow? It's bleached enough to work ;)

Can't wait to see your ideas!

Ahhhhh! Larissa just tweeted me this link! AMAZING!!!!

Best Bud's Baby Shower!

2011-09-20T20:22:00.000-04:00

Over the weekend we celebrated Kristin, my dearest friend and the little peanut in her belly with a Jip and Janneke Baby Shower! I hadn't seen her and her belly yet because we live in different states. I teared up majorly! She looked so beautiful!

Here are the Jip and Janneke invitations I made! Her mom and I decked the house out in Jip and Janneke decorations! This was a bit tricky because no one in the states sells Jip and Janneke anything! Thankfully, (and will need a blog post all her own) Vera from Seni with Love came to my rescue! Thank goodness for blog friends - I'm telling you! Vera lives in the Nertherlands, which is the only place Jip and Janneke items are sold, reason being is Jip and Janneke are Dutch storybook characters! But in this story Vera is the hero! I am so thankful for everything she did - I'll have a post about that very soon!

I also made a bunch of the decorations thanks to Illustrator and Photoshop and of course the wonderful printing company Sonic Print ;)

Kristin specifically doesn't like games haha! Can't blame her, I don't want to melt chocolate bars in diapers, so we're a good pair! I saw this photo on Pinterest while back and decided to make a Kristin Baby Shower folder check it out!! So we turned this photo into a fun activity - I was a bit nervous about it because not everyone is crafty, but EVERYONE loved it and everyone painted/decorated a letter! It was a hit and now Kris' baby boy will have the whole alphabet on his wall! I made cards with the ABC Directions, see below!

Everyone got her awesome gifts! Thanks to Vera I was able to give her every Jip and Janneke item ever made hahaha! Be careful what you wish for haaha ;) We ate the best food thanks to her mama! She got the cutest cupcakes! And I kept my hand on Kris' belly most of the afternoon! I find baby belly moving and kicking AMAZING!!!!

A friend of Kris' family made her a Jip and Janneke blanket! So impressive!!!

I'm sad that she had to go back home and that all the planning is over, but now I can plan for the baby's arrival! I'm stoked about that! Plus we have so many Jip and Janneke decorations that kid's 1st birthday is already planned! ;) Here's more photos from the baby shower!

I'd love to know if anyone has ever heard of Jip and Janneke!? :) I'm curious! I only know of them from visiting Kris in Belgium during college! So let me know!

My trip to Renegade Handmade

2011-09-18T10:25:00.001-04:00

Finally blogging about Amber and my awesome trip to Chicago to see the Renegade Craft Fair! It's been a crazy week- getting back to work, planning a baby shower, etc!

So I packed up and headed to Kansas City MO where Amber lives. We've been blog buds for a while now and last summer we met in real life and instantly became buds! We talk/email/text pretty much everyday - she's the best! We decided to take a train to Chicago from MO, it was such a fun time on the train! We talked and crocheted the whole way! It was awesome!

We drink ALOT of Starbucks! :) We needed the caffeine for all the walking we did!

The Renegade Craft Fair was huge! Over 300 vendors and thousands of shoppers!

Amber and I shopped alot and met a bunch of awesome artists!

We met up with Alexz from Bird Trouble! We've been blog buds for a bit now - she is seriously the CUTEST!! She makes the most beautiful OOAK bags and wallets! She is one of the most talented people I know! Just go look at her etsy shop for yourself!

The next day we went shopping on Michigan Ave and went to check out Cloud Gate (the bean). The Bean never gets old haha, it's just so neat! We took a zillion photos!

That same day we took the train back to MO. The train was a two story train and it had a viewing cart! We just had the best time ever! Amber and I wanna go again next year and take my sister and Olivia! It was that awesome! Chicago is such a great city! Oh but I also want to go back to Kansas City - who knew it had more art museums than any other city in the USA! haha Amber's husband, Scott is a bundle of knowledge and he knows SO much about Kansas City! I had my own personal tour guide! Mostly I want to go back and just hang out with Amber and Scott - they're are so wonderful!

Here's all the photos from our Renegade trip! If you get a chance to go to any of the Renegade Craft Fairs you should definitely go! Here's the Renegade schedule!

Have a wonderful Sunday! :)

Back from Renegade

2011-09-13T19:10:00.000-04:00

Just got back last night from the most fun weekend ever! Spent all weekend with my sweet sweet friend Amber from Hoot-n-Annie! We took a train from Kansas City, MO to the Renegade Craft Fair in Chicago! I'll be back later with all the fun stories, our loot, and a bunch more! :) If you went I'd love to hear your stories! Here are a few of our Renegade Photos!

Harry Potter Birthday!

2011-09-08T14:53:00.000-04:00

Daniel is my bestie coworker! We've worked together for 3 years at Sonic Print! We always had cool birthday office parties for each other, just see here, here, and here! He out did himself with the Dexter Kill Room Birthday! hahaha! So this year he got a Harry Potter Birthday! Lucky we week at a printer, because most of the decorations were printed! The Birthday banner was 5x7's using the dafont.com Harry Potter font! I got the chocolate frog boxes and the Bertie Botts boxes from this etsy shop. You just buy the PDFs and print out the boxes and put them all together. I'm not gonna lie the chocolate frog boxes were a HUGE pain in the butt to put together! I downloaded the ButterBeer labels here and just put them IBC rootbeer bottles! Here's more free labels. I made the undesirable No. 1 poster here. I made a bunch of chocolate frogs last night, but forgot them at the fridge at home :( I was so bummed!

Daniel was pretty stoked, and that's all I wanted! :)

Happy Harry Potter Birthday to you Daniel!!!

oh hey!

2011-09-08T12:25:00.000-04:00

Hey gang! Go check out the new cute blog Southern Sisters! I did a guest post there today! :)

Oh and who's going to the Renegade Craft in Chicago!?

Paper People Shadow Box

2011-09-07T11:07:00.000-04:00

A few weeks ago I put together this awesome paper people by Illustrated Ink and I wanted to display them in a cute way. Many of you suggested a shadow box! So tada! They're hanging in there by strings. I positioned their bodies how I wanted them and closed it up. Pretty easy! Go check out Illustrated Ink the blog and if your in love with the paper people (which I'm guessing you are because they are amazing) go check out Illustrated Ink on etsy! Can't wait to hang this up in the house! :)

Angry Bird Cupcakes!

2011-09-06T18:15:00.000-04:00

You may remember we LOVE Angry Birds! I've been wanting to make Angry Bird Cupcakes all August, mostly for my dad's birthday - he's a huge Angry Birds fan! I finally found time this weekend to make them with Eli. I let him cut up all the candy to decorate the birds - he was stoked!

We bought a bunch of candy to decorate the birds- orange slices for the beaks, black licorice for the eyes and eyebrows, marshmallows (both big and small), jelly beans for the eggs and pig ears. Oh and we used green, blue, red, and yellow food coloring on the icing!

Hahaha check these guys out! We've got the yellow triangle guys, the tiny blue ones, and the big fat red ones! We also made a few piggies, a nest, and a (pretzel) sling shot!

By the end of the night I was sick from eating SO much candy haha! Eli is a marshmallow fiend!

We had some friends and family over Monday for Labor Day and everyone had Angry Bird Cakes! We taught my Nanny all about Angry Birds and Eli gave my dad some pro-tips haha! ;)

I hope you had a wonderful weekend! Hopefully some of you have a short work week! :)

September Paper Craft Calendar

2011-09-05T08:44:00.001-04:00

I've been really looking forward to the month of September! First I am going to hang out with the wonderful Amber Cox from Hoot-n-Annie and were taking a train to Chicago to see the Renegade Fair Fest- SO STOKED!! Another equally excited event is my best friend's baby shower- can't even put my excitement into words!! And there's birthdays even another weekend! :) I'm happy September is here!

I was finally able to print out this month paper craft calendar from Scout Creative (aka Curiosity Group-they changed their name). I had a bit of trouble printing from the pdf, I ended up taking screen shots and printing from those haha! May not be the highest resolution, but that doesn't really matter! ;)

So anyone else going to the Renegade Craft Fair this year!? If you are let me know and we can meet up!

Happy September 1st.......60 days til Halloween!

2011-09-01T22:20:00.000-04:00

Today I wasn't able to print the Curiosity Group's paper craft calendar, because it kept wrecking photoshop and the digital printer - whompwhomp - maybe tomorrow! So in the mean time I wanted to remind you my favorite time of the year is right around the corner- HALLOWEEN! To celebrate I got a new phone cover, and not just any cover, but a MyPaperCrane Halloween iphone cover, which I LOVE so much! If her etsy shop is out you can find her adorable honey bear iphone cover at Nordstroms! Here's the link!

I'm getting excited about our family's annual Halloween party! Plus both my siblings are back in town, so it's going to be better than ever! We just need to brain storm a theme and costumes! A few years ago we did Vampires - here's our costumes and here are the in-bites! Last year we were dead things - here's the invites; black on black! In 2008 we were Side Show Freaks or Freakie Farleys! My family is AWESOME when it comes to Halloween! I'm stoked! We have the best time together -in my opinion it's better than 10 Christmas combined! :)

I'd love to hear any Halloween themes you've done in the past or if you have theme you think would be great for our party! Seriously let me know in the comments!

Happy 60 days til Halloween!

Our Weekend

2011-08-29T14:59:00.005-04:00

It was a stay at home weekend! I don't mind, sometimes I feel like we gogogogo! I went to a few book stores in search of a certain magazine; Mollie Makes! Finally found one at Barnes and Noble - pretty stoked! Mickey and I cuddled a bunch this weekend ;) We ate pizza from our favorite pizza place, build legos, watched Iron man 2 (is he really a super hero? no!) and crocheted!- it was good!

This photo pretty much sums up the weekend! :)
Hope your weekend was a good one!
PS - I want to live here! and I LOVE Holly haha!

Many Mini Mickeys

2011-08-27T12:14:00.001-04:00

hi! So many of you know I'm a bit nutty when it comes to my pup Mickey! He's my little love! I also have many crafty friends who feed my craziness! I appreciate them all so much haha! The other day I finished my Mickey-like amigurumi, so I thought I'd round up all my many mini Mickeys!

The first paper Mickey is Steph Dillon's ADORABLE Mickey illustration! Can't even tell you how much I love it, plus she sent it to me in the sweetest way -she's just the BEST! The second little fabric Mickey was made by Dana from Wonder Forest, she has a maltese pup too! The third is the amigurumi Mickey I just finished. The fourth is a felted Mickey I made awhile back-from that I learned felting is tricky and a bit dangerous haha! The last crocheted/amigurumi Mickey was made by the amazing Karla from Itsy Bitsy Spider! It's completely perfect! Aren't they all so awesome!? I can never thank them all enough! Thank you thank you thank you! :) Here's some more Mickey fan art!

Hey Mickey you're so fine, you're so fine you blow my mind! Hey Mickey! hahaha!

He just cracks me up! Love this little mutt! I got him tattooed on me haha! We celebrate his birthday as if he was a person - don't tell him he's not! ;) The Fancy Lady made Mickey cookies for me once haha!

Here's some more Mickey Love! Oh and here on flickr!
Are you completely crazy for your pet?
Hope your weekend is wonderful!!

Amigurumi Puppy Love

2011-08-24T17:56:00.000-04:00

Last week I started my lil crocheted Mickey pup! It was tricky without Olivia there telling me what to do every stitch haha but I did it! I followed the pattern from the book Ami Ami Dogs. The maltese didn't really look like my Mickey but I still made it. I got the eyes and nose from Joann's - nothing special. But I found this etsy shop with awesome eyes and noses!

So tada! One little crocheted pup! I'm stoked about this amigurumi business haha - makes my fingers a bit sore, but I love the finished product!

I read this post over on SkunkBoyCreatures Blog, it's a really awesome post by a very awesome gal! I've been wanting to learn to crochet creatures for so long and never tried hard enough to learn, then Steph sent me a book all about it and I'm lucky enough to live near Olivia (crochet queen) and tada I'm learning - slowly but surely!

What new craft do you wanna learn? I want to know! I want to set up a swap of crafts! For example recently I sent a friend a package filled with embroidery stuff so she can learn! Maybe we can partner up and send each other new crafts - It's not all thought out, I've just been brain storming so if you have any ideas let me know!

I'd like to be as awesome as my dad at wood work haha maybe one day! :)

Jip en Janneke Baby Shower

2011-08-24T15:00:00.005-04:00

My best bud is having a baby!
She spent some of her college time over in Belgium where she fell in love with Jip en Janneke. There are many Jip en Janneke books and toys, but the problem is (at least for us here in the states) they're are only sold in the Netherlands and the stores that carry them do NOT ship to the states - whompwhomp! Luckily I've found a way around that-that's all I can say for now! ;)
Here's a Jip and Janneke teaset my friend gave me years ago! I LOVE it!

My friend's mom and I made the baby shower invites! She found this adorable Jip en Janneke image and I put together the invitation! Thanks to Sonic Print, I printed them right up and scores them, and her mom sent them all out! I was stoked about them! My friend has received hers so it's ok that I'm blogging about them! She just loved them! (I also sent her a fake invite with kewpie heads, because she hates kewpies)
I ordered the envelopes from Action Envelope, they're prices are awesome and they delivered so quick.

I also found put together cupcake toppers with cute Jip images. Jip is the little boy and my friend is having a boy so no real need for Janneke haha!

Feel free to use the images I put together; invite and cupcake toppers.

I'm very excited about the baby shower! She's my first friend to have a baby and she's my best friend, so I'm super stoked! I'd love to see links to baby shower ideas if you know of any good ones! :)

Crocheting like Crazy

2011-08-19T18:07:00.003-04:00

I received the last of my squares from the Blogger Blanket Project hosted by the wonderful Courtney and Heather! I have lots of pretty granny squares to crochet together! They are doing a 2nd round if you are interested - signup here! It was lots of fun! Here's some squares I made for the swap and here and here! I forgot to take photos before I sent all of them!

I've started to love crocheting creatures! Thanks to Olivia I made this monkey! And now I've started a Maltese pup just like Mickey! I have to change the pattern a bit to make him a tad fatter, so it can be JUST like Mickey ;) I got this book Ami Ami Dogs I while back because I really wanted to learn haha and finally I have! Woohoo! It's easier than I thought, but I still have a ways to go.

Wish me luck on this lil fat Mick!

And last but not least, I'm in the process of making a Thank You gift see above! There's a huge story behind it and I cannot wait to share it with you - but not yet :) But soon!
I hope you all have a fantastic, wonderful weekend!

How's the wedding planning?

2011-08-17T18:10:00.000-04:00

What planning!? haha

I never have time to think about planning our wedding! I tell Brian we should just elope! But I really want a party AND wear my dress! So that's my problem!

I do think about it often and whenever I have a minute I Pin-terest all my wedding ideas! Here are a few below and a link to my board!

So will the planning bug just bite some day soon? I'm excited to marry my wonderful fellow, I just don't have the focus or time! I have some awesome ideas! I need to pick a date huh? That's be a start! Any advice for me?

Weekend Adventures!

2011-08-15T17:05:00.001-04:00

Me and the gang headed to Orlando this weekend for Game Warp! We collect pinballs and arcade games, so we're always up for an arcade expo/auction! We had family and friends meet us there!
It was a bunch of fun! Nerd fest 2011 haha used a whole bottle of hand sanitizer there!!

We did sneak out of the expo for a bit and hung out at the pool.
We raced back to Tampa for my Dad's birthday!!! I LOVE my dad so much! We went to S. Tampa's best Chinese Restaurant for a birthday dinner! They sang to my dad and it was hilarious- he got all red!

Here's the boys at dinner! All so handsome!
Happy! Happy! Happy Birthday Larbear!! :)
Hope you all had a wonderful weekend! Go on any adventures? I'm excited for next weekend - staying home and crafting hahaha! Seriously I'm stoked - there's no place like home ;)

Creepy Cute Crochet

2011-08-12T17:59:00.000-04:00

This was a group effort! Thanks to Steph Dillon and Olivia I have finally learned to crochet little creatures, well one little creature haha, but more to come! Steph sent me the Creepy Cute Crochet book, which is so awesome! She's seriously a wonderful friend! And Olivia walked me through building this little monkey. I learn best when I'm shown how to do it. If it wasn't for Olivia I'd still be lost haha! I'm stoked, I want to start a new creature asap!

He turned out pretty cute - his ears are my favorite! His a bit fatter than the one in the book haha! I didn't have the plastic eyes so I used buttons - not great.

So I wanna say a HUGE thank you to Steph and Olivia! :) Thank you x 100!

I hope everyone has an awesome weekend!

Lately.......

2011-08-09T13:24:00.003-04:00

Oh hey! Long time no blog ;)

I miss the blog world SO much! But I have been having some crafty fun IRL haha! Olivia, my sister, and I went to a quilt show in Dunedin a few weeks back. Olivia and I have been online friends for a bit now and finally met - I've never had a blind date, but I feel like this coulda been one! haha I was nervous and excited. We had a fun time - she's very awesome! We went to Rainbow's End Quilt Shop too, I got some Halloween and baby fabric- I wish I had more time to quilt!

Olivia taught me how to crochet little creatures (Amigurumi) I'm stoked about it! I started the little monkey above. Steph Dillon sent me the book Creepy Cute Crochet - I've wanted the book for so long but never got it for obvious reason - I didn't know how to make them! Thanks to Olivia now I do! Wootwoot!

Mickey got a new lamb over the weekend, my sister, Lauren got Lasik eye surgery so Eli and I made her that eyeball card up there, I've started another blanket, and I got the new 8 inch Mad Dunny!

I tested out my new chocolate molds over the weekend. Made some staches as you can see above haha! Eli looks hilarious in this photo! They were super easy to make - maybe a little bit messy - but pretty quick and cute!

I've been loving Pinterest lately! It's so perfect for collecting wedding ideas! Have you tried it out yet? I think you may need an invite to join-I'm not positive though. If you have one come follow me!

I hope you all are doing awesome! I need to catch up on blogging!! I MISS YOU!! :)

I heart tees

2011-08-05T11:59:00.000-04:00

Here's a month or more of my favorite t-shirts! If I could I'd wear t-shirts and sneakers everyday!
Here's my tees left to right, top to bottom: 1. BlackOut Florida tee (now Palehorse design) 2. Thug For Life tee - obviously 3. Fancy Fox tee 4. Batman tee 5. Kidrobot tee - Toys Ease My Pain 6. Arty tee 7. Skunkboy tee 8. F is for Fox 9. Taken tee 10. Riot Kidrobot tee 11. Renown tee 12. Good is Great but Bad is Better tee

Thank goodness I don't have to dress fancy at work! Perk of an online company! ;)
Do you have any favorite tees? Can you wear them to work?

Paper Dolls by Illustrated Ink

2011-08-04T17:26:00.000-04:00

Remember my love of paper crafts!? Well this is my heaven! Leila from Illustrated Ink is an amazing artist - look at these paper dolls! You can get your own at her etsy shop!

I'm in love with the Sword Swallowing gal, she's my favorite!
Take a look at the Mr. and Mrs. LOVE em!

I've had them for some time now, and last night I put them all together! I didn't want to be rushed putting them together! Last night was the perfect time! I'm trying to figure out how I should display them in the house - any ideas?

Last year I put together her mermaid paper doll -see here! She hangs up in my office still! So pretty!

There's a few more doll I want from her shop - Illustrated Ink!! Any ideas on how to display them!? Let me know! :) Hope your Thursday is very wonderful!

Kewpie Labels

2011-08-02T17:19:00.000-04:00

Do you know how much I LOVE these!? Like ALOT!

My sweet friend Jessy from Apparently Jessy knew! She always links me to the best stuff! Especially awesome kewpie stuff! She found these cute labels on My Poppet.....the blog. I 100% want to use these for my best buds baby shower - though she'd kill me because kewpies creep her out! You may remember this post! hahaha! I'm going to print them ASAP!

August Paper Craft Calendar from The Curiosity Group

2011-08-01T18:21:00.000-04:00

I sure do beep bop boop, Robots! That's I love you, Robots in robot speak ;)
The Curiosity Group came out with the most awesome Surfing Robot Calendar for August! You can download yours here! July's was the cutest, at least the Domos thought so! I've been building these paper crafts every month for the past 8 months - I LOVE the Curiosity Group!
Happy August! My dad's birthday is in August! :) Wootwoot!

Get'n Lobsters

2011-08-01T11:54:00.000-04:00

Last week started Florida's lobster season, so the boys and I headed to the Keys!
I couldn't go out on the boat, which bummed me out ALOT, but Eli and I made the best of it and explored the Keys! We went to the History of Diving Museum which is very cool. I want Brian to go next time we're down there! The fellas caught 44 lobsters - that's nuts! There are very strict lobster laws(thankfully) and the guys followed them to the letter, but they did say there were people out there who were not, but there were so so so many cops out! It was a fun trip all in all and we'll be having lobster for awhile haha! Here's my instagram photos from the trip!
Have you ever been down to the Keys to get lobster? Can you get dive for lobster up north? Or is the water completely different? In the Keys the water is crystal clear, you can see the bottom from up in the boat-it's amazing!

Painted Lady Embroidery

2011-07-30T09:41:00.000-04:00

Hi Gang! Wanted to share my newest embroidery project with you! Again I used Angelique Houtkamp's linedrawing book, because I just love her! Here's the one I made a few weeks ago!

The water colors get tricky because they bleed so much on the fabric. Her eyes look a bit wonkie to me haha! practice makes perfect right?! Gotta keep practicing! ;) Below is the piece in the different stages! I embroidered her entire turban, took a while but I think it turned out nice!

The lower left square shows the back on the piece - I LOVE the back any embroidery for some reason! :) And below is a new one I've started! I just love her eyes!

I'm stoked to be embroidering again! What have you been working on!?

because I had to

2011-07-23T22:36:00.000-04:00

It's always Wizard Week in my heart! ;)

My bud showed me how to make these Undesirable No.1 Posters today and they crack me up! Remember in Deathly Hallows when Harry is Undesirable No.1, now you can make your own posters here! So I picked the two most desirable little ones I know and made posters for them! Tada! Partners in Crime - Mickey & Eli! Bahaha I'm planning a Potter birthday for a friend of mine, so I'm obviously making this their birthday card! Have fun with it!

Awesome Wedding Invitations

2011-07-22T15:46:00.001-04:00

I had to share Lauren from Active for Fashion's super cute and clever wedding invitations! She and her sweetie Dave are getting married on 9.10.11 - cute! She emailed me telling me she got the idea from Eli's Secret Agent Tunes CD. I was so stoked about the idea and told her we, meaning Sonic Print, could definitely print them for her! We have a machine that can print short runs so it was perfect!

Now as cool as the CD look is, the design and photos are even cooler!! Look at how cute they are!! AND she had a Kozue handmade stamp of her and Dave made! I love it! Have you ever seen anything so cute!?!

She did such an awesome job! I bet they made everyone who got one smile real big!! I just think they're wonderful!! Go hop on over to her blog, Active for Fashion and tell her how amazing they are! :)

Anyone else have awesome wedding invite ideas! I'd love to see links! :)

1up Pixelated Crocheted Mushroom Blanket

2011-07-21T12:04:00.000-04:00

It's finished! The pixelated crocheted mushroom I started in Oct. 2010 is finish! The date is printed out on the directions that's how I know hahaha! You like how organized I am - see below haha not very! ;)
I found the directions here on the blog appropriately named Pixelated Mushroom!

Making this blanket was pretty easy, I just got bored with it alot! I would stop for whole months at a time. But if you can make a granny square (well 192 granny squares) you can totally make this blanket!

Once I had all 192 granny squares completely I felt so accomplished! Then I realized how what work I had ahead of me! Once I got going it went quick, and having to stay in bed helped haha -only good thing about it! Here's the mushroom in the making!

As I was making the grannies, I'd lay them out to see how many more I needed. The first time I did it I was stoked to see it look like a mushroom (see top left photo). I stitched my squares together with a yarn needle, but you could just crochet them! I did a single crochet (think that's right) around the edge because I wanted to give it a clean edge!

Tada! One pixelated crocheted mushroom for our new game room! Here's a photo to show it's size. I'm excited about it! I want to make more pixelated things - Pacman & Ms. Pacman perhaps!? Any ideas!?

hi gang!

2011-07-20T11:24:00.002-04:00

Hello!
Still here :) Just been resting from a tiny surgery! Nothing to worry about, I'm completely find just can't do a whole lot! Along with resting I've been listening to all Brian's arcade cabinet adventures, hanging with Eli and fat Mickey (and his piggie snoring), built some Tron paper toys, got all 3 stars in Angry Birds (the summer one), Rio Angry Birds is so difficult haha, and crocheting and even more crocheting! I go really nutty when I have to sit and do nothing - it's a bummer! Seriously I'm great and I hope you all are too! I'll be up and at em soon! Have a great week!

Happy Wizard Week!

2011-07-14T17:03:00.003-04:00

How are you celebrating Wizard Week? hahaha Casting spells, trading Chocolate Frog Cards, maybe some Quidditch? Daniel (bud/coworker) and I wish we had a Marauder's Map - like everyday to keep track of coworkers! Sara, a fellow Florida gal, from the wonderful Prairie Hen, has been in the Potter spirit ALL week! So cute! Her blog is very awesome ps - go look!
Here are two of my favorite Potter Crafts!
First the Dark Mark CrossStitch from BombaStitch on etsy! Thanks to Olivia I've been wanting to start cross stitching again! Look at her Star Wars cross stitch!! Awesome! You can get Harry and the gang cross stitch here at WeeLittleStitches!

Look at this Harry Potter Plush by Heidi Kenney from MyPaperCrane! So great! I need to get on a PC so I can download the instructions to build a Potter myself!

We aren't going to see the movie today, because I haven't seen the last three. I've just read all the books. I can't wait to start reading the books with Eli! I'm thinking I'll start a Gryffindor Scarf over the weekend!
Maybe tonight we can start watching the Potter Movies we haven't seen OR start from the beginning!!!! Here's my Flickr set of our Adventures in Harry Potter Land! :) Have a happy Potter week! Let me know what you're doing to celebrate!

Happy Tron-tastic Birthday Brian!

2011-07-13T13:46:00.001-04:00

Doesn't matter if they're 7 or 33, boys love Tron! :) So Eli and I made Brian a Tron-tastic Birthday!
I printed out tiny Tron light discs, light bikes, and the Tron arcade game for cupcake toppers at work! Now Tron colored cupcakes were tricky - I used blue dye in the cupcake mix and black in the frosting (but only enough to make a grayish color-no one likes black icing).

Eli left Brian a note on our Smile and Wave speech bubble! We got him an iCade from Think Geek- it's a small arcade cabinet for your iPad - pretty neat! Perfect for an arcade lover!
We made a birthday banner too! We're thinking about being Tron characters for Halloween!
If you haven't seen Tron The Legacy you should, even if you don't love video games it's good! Did anyone else think Kevin Flynn was The Dude haha from The Big Lebowski?
Well Bri, Happy Tron-tastic Birthday! ;) Cuban food tonight! Wootwoot! I love you so much!

Embroidery DIY

2011-07-11T15:31:00.000-04:00

This weekend I decided to make something special for my Aunt Jackie's birthday! I have this great tattoo linedrawing book by Angelique Houtkamp, who I LOVE and I picked one of her drawings to embroider. I chose the devilish looking teapot gal, because it's most fitting for my aunt hahaha! She's the best aunt ever ps and I love her so much!
If you'd like to embroider from your favorite drawings here's what you'll need:
1. embroidery thread and needles
2. your favorite illustrations
3. fabric to embroider on - you don't have to use white, sometimes it's
awesome to use a dark fabric and then use light/bright embroidery thread
4. Honestly I'm not sure what this is used for - clay - it's almost like a carving tool, but it's blunt
I didn't want to use a pen, because I didn't want to mark up the book
5. Graphite Paper, which you can buy in black or white
6. embroidery hoop - ps I paint mine, because I keep them as the frame!

So you'll begin by placing the fabric under the graphite paper and the actual drawing on top of both the fabric and graphite paper. You may want to use tape to hold all three in place, because if you move it the tiniest bit it'll look strange. As you can see I don't press very hard, because I've been known to rub the graphite blackness on the fabric - looks bad, so be gentle!

Once you're finished tracing your image you can start embroidering! I felt a bit rusty yesterday! I use to embroider all the time, but I've lost my precision, I need to practice! My aunt actually taught me how to embroider and when she wasn't around I'd use Sublime Stitches website and kits to help! Here's Sublime Stitches How-To page! If you're a beginner this is a great kit - here!
So because I chose a tattoo linedrawing image, I decided to paint it as if it was a tattoo. I searched the house for watercolors and Eli only had metallic ones haha, but it turned out pretty cool.

I put Jackie's nickname on there -JAX :) She liked it alot, I was stoked!
Here's some of my embroidery I've done in the past!
Do you embroider? Who taught you? Know of any good embroidery sites? I'd love to share them with everyone!

Our Last Space Shuttle Launch Adventure

2011-07-09T20:25:00.001-04:00

That a crazy two days! Lauren, Eli, Brian, and I left work in Tampa at 6pm on Thursday, drove to Orlando, picked up our tickets to the launch (because they got lost in the mail-so mad), dropped off two ticket to two lovely Germany fellows- they came all the way to Florida for the launch, went to a hotel for 2 hours to sleep, then we head to the buses at 12:30am! The bus in Orlando drove us to the Kennedy Space Space and we arrived at 3:30am.

Normally Brian and I go to bed pretty early, so this was a bit tough, but I think my excitement took over because I was zippy, so was Eli! This was Lauren, Brian, Eli, and my first time at the Kennedy Space Center, which is strange because we all grew up in Florida. Eli announced that he was more lucky than Brian because he got to go at a younger age than Brian haha rotten tot!

We only had a short time to look around Kennedy Space Center, but the time we spent there was awesome! My FAVORITE part was the Rocket Garden! It was absolutely amazing! All these actually used rockets standing straight up in all their glory - amazing! I loved watching Eli bouncing around SO excited, looking at everything, asking questions - awesome!

Then we waiting in a HUGE line to the bus for a little over an hour. This was a test of patience let me tell you! It was 5:00am and everyone was so tired and everyone was wanting to get on the bus! Thankful we made it, Lauren and I cracked each other up in line. :) I am so thankful to have such a wonderful sister and friend, she really is the best! I just love her so much!

Once the bus go to the Causeway, the sun had risen and we were ready to go - it was 7:00am! We set up our chairs and towels. And everyone took a nap, even me for 30 mins or so! I was just to excited so I got up and crocheted a bit. Eli fell asleep 5 mins after he sat in the chair til 10 mins before the launch, he got a good nap! Brian bought us breakfast, those Lauren and I ate pistachios and twizzlers on the bus. I didn't want to drink a ton of water, because I did NOT want to use the portapotties, but I think I was a bit dehydrated - Never had to use the portapotties though haha!

Brian woke up Eli because the shuttle was only 10 mins from launch! He was so sleepy, but he was a good sport! We were so nervous all morning because the weather was terribly overcast. Over the speaker NASA said everything looked good, but my dad texted me saying CNN said it didn't look good. Oh CNN and their dramatic news coverage! So the countdown began and at 30 seconds they stopped it and then again at 9 seconds - my heart sunk then it was a GO!!!!

It is the most amazing site I have ever witnessed! The sound and the light! The light was incredible! I think we all teared up. I had such a feeling of pride, proud of what exactly I'm not sure - the USA, the world, the knowledge the NASA scientists have, how far we've home as a civilization, who knows! But I was all choked up! It was sad too. I really want to believe this won't be the last launch, I want to believe that somehow we will send people into space again. At least I hope. Here is my video of the Launch!

Once we were on the bus again, the tour guide for the bus, Stephan, made us all sing Rocket Man, and I really teared up then hahaha Lauren laughed at me haha! I was overly tired and emotional haha she had good reason to laugh - I laughed too and we both sang Rocket Man :)
Now the 4 1/2 hour bus ride back to Orlando was the WORST 4 1/2 ever - it only takes 1 hour normally haha. We inched along in the most uncomfortable bus seats - good thing the Launch was amazing haha, but man was that ride rough! Completely worth it though! We sleep 13 hours last night!
Here's my Flickr album of our Launch Adventure! I'd love to hear your launch stories from the past! Leave your stories in the comments! :)

Our Red, White, & Blue Weekend

2011-07-06T22:42:00.002-04:00

This weekend it was just me, Brian, and Mickey! My family wasn't in town and Eli was with his mama. So this is how we sent our weekend: 1. got to wear my new Batman tee, which I really love and I love even more because it was like $6 bucks! 2. Brian went to the grocery store and got Mexican cokes and Hershey's chocolate bars, which I melted and made chocolate covered bananas! 3. We went bowling (we never go bowling and we've gone twice in the pass two weeks) look at our patriotic bowling shoes! 4. Brian and I made a July 4th dinner, which was so perfect! 5. Then I made Starcakes! 6. We got a new arcade game called "Ice Cold Beer" (here's a youtube video of the game-not ours) - neither of us really drink haha but this game is pretty rare and super fun! 7. Fat Mickey sitting right on my 1up Mushroom I'm crocheting! 7 - 9. should follow the Starcakes because I did this right after I baked them hahaha Mickey was just sitting there looking cute and rotten. He was begging for food - like he always does because he's a fat boy. I decided he needed a little blue in his new mohawk, which Brian's sister and I gave to him a week ago. He looks even more cute with the blue! Here is Mickey's 2010 St. Patrick's Day hair! I can't wait to show Eli! :) Maybe we'll do it to him too - totally just kidding!

Oh Mickey! He yet is my favorite little pup!
Did you do anything over the weekend to make yourself laugh? :) Dye any pup's hair? See any cool fireworks?
I'm SOOO excited about this Friday, did you know it's the last shuttle launch EVER (hopefully not ever ever-it just can't be)!? My sister, Brian, Eli, and I are packing up and heading over to the How do you feel about the space program? I'm a HUGE fan haha and I'm really sad that NASA will no long be launching shuttles - crazy! I get the whole national debt and all, but NASA shuttle launches are what dreams are made of! Ancient civilizations just got to look up at the stars from the ground and now we have the ability to send women and men up into space and we're throwing in the towel? Ok I don't wanna bum everyone out! I've never been in Cape Canaveral when there's been a launch, so I'm SUPER excited!!!! Have you ever been to one?! I promise to twitter my heart out while I'm there, so you can see the last launch! :) Fingers cross it doesn't rain!

Oh don't forget to check out the post below and leave your baby/pregnancy knowledge! Old wives tales, scientific facts - I want it all please! I'm collecting it for my best bud and me and you all too :)

baby stuff

2011-07-05T23:48:00.002-04:00

Tonight my best bud and I were filling each other in on last week because we live far apart - mine: I was sick and that I asked Brian's little sister to be one of my bride's maids (ps she was so stoked and I was so glad - she has a dress and everything!!). Now my friend's news was baby news - she's almost 5 months pregnant and she's only feeling sick at night, where a few weeks ago she was barfing all day long! I can't put into words how happy/excited/stoked I am that she's having a baby! I will listen to her barf stories for hours with a smile!! Completely over the moon!! She's the first of my close friends to have a baby, so I'm a bit clueless with baby stuff. I do know pregnant women can't eat sushi, farmed tuna, carry heavy things, etc. Today while we were talking she made the joke that the doctor's office doesn't give you a booklet of do's and don'ts or a how to guide haha! Wouldn't it be helpful!!?!??! For example I learned in college pregnant women shouldn't eat pomegranate while there pregnant because it causes the uterus to contracted - googled it for you here ;) but after pregnancy you should eat lots of pomegranate because it helps flatten your belly. So I was thinking I could use Strumpet's Crumpets to collect all your baby knowledge for my bud and all the other soon to be mamas out there! What do you think!?! Help me make a list of need to know baby information- things doctors don't tell you. Thank you in advance!! :)

Note: My bud has been doing research, but she also moved to a new state, so she doesn't have her normal friends around to give her daily advice. Plus I just thought it'd be awesome to help each other out! :)

Happy 4th Starcakes

2011-07-05T19:27:00.000-04:00

Hope you had a fun weekend! We just stay close to home! I decided to be festive yesterday evening and make these Starcakes for everyone at work! I forget where I found the Star pan, but I'm sure it was Target or Michael's. I love any reason to use food coloring, though I know it's not great to consume a bunch, every once in awhile is okay! I overly mixed my cake mix, that's why there's massive air bubbles haha! How was your 4th? Do anything special?