Yes...We Cried!

How can you not get a little teary with something as touching as this? Pets are the BEST!!! We LOVE all of our animals and can’t even begin to imagine how dull our house would be without them. They are family and we love them unconditionally (even if they do chew our craft books) because they love us unconditionally! Here is one of our little guys that keeps us company! She is sporting her newly created and embellished sweater!

“And in my human frailty,...I can’t match their love for me.”

Thank you Lord for your unconditional love and for our pets!

And to Think...it All Started with a Little Jamba!

Two little birdies informed me the other day at Jamba Juice that our blog couldn’t really be complete without mentioning food! Well, we kind of already have (AJ’s Bagel House and the current cupcake!) but just to be sure that we would get good blogging karma we wanted to get another food post in. Also, this will give you a little insight into how our minds work.

1. Saw some friends at Jamba Jucie.
2. Gave our blog a shout out.
3. Was informed that we needed to incorporate way more posts about food.
4. Ordered a Matcha Green Tea Mist.
5. Jokingly said that I would post this smoothie.
6. Thought that it might actually be kind of cool to post this smoothie if it could be connected to art in some way.
7. Spilled some of the smoothie on a napkin because some of it was coming out of the top because it was too full (that always happens to me...maybe it’s a sign to look at the glass half full...it’s so full it’s overflowing!!!).
8. Admired the awesome green color instead of getting annoyed that it had spilled.
9. Remembered when a friend of mine painted with colors derived from fruit and vegetable pigments (shout out to Three and his wife!!!).
10. Thought...green tea would make a pretty awesome dye!
11. Went home.
12. Constructed the Tinsel Tree (you can tell that this project has been in the process for awhile now)!!!
13. Took some muslin and dyed it with green tea.
14. Cut out three leaf shapes.
15. Sewed them together.
16. Thought of the two little birdies that started this all!!! :)
17. Remembered the saying, “Everything comes full circle!”
18. Spun around in some circles and then consulted Threadbanger!
19. Saw this rad tutorial!
20. Created a "circular" flower.
21. Used up some extra fabric from a pillow I had made earlier for a friend in Estonia!
22. Killed two little birdies with one stone! HAHA!!!
23. Just kidding my little birdies (K-Sal and Captain)! Thanks for inspiring us you two!

P.S. That’s right! We stuffed the pillow with all the scraps from all the other projects we made in the previous posts! We use it ALL! :)

Cupcake...

anyone?

"Duct tape is like the force. It has a light side, a dark side, and it holds the universe together." - Oprah Winfrey

It seems like it has been forever since our last post, but I promise we are being productive! As a matter of fact, we have a million things going on right now! So, whenever I get that little voice in the back of my head questioning our creative abilities I just tell it to look around at the chaos that is our house and that quiets that little guy right down. I love that our house looks like a tornado went through it at times. I love that there are paint brushes by my toothbrush in my bathroom sink. I love that it is almost February and there is a tinsel tree in my room! I love waking up with paint still on my hands and I love coming home to be greeted by a home that has been decorated with our creations. There is nothing complicated about it...I LOVE “Living the Creative [Teen] Life!” AND...I love how we utilize duct tape!

The Baker’s Dozen!!!

So, yesterday was the last and final day of the “Twelve Days of Craftsmas.” It’s actually pretty sad to think that it’s over, but WE DID IT!!! It’s been crazy trying to get everything done, but it all came together! This has been such a wonderfully unexpected way to start the New Year! We are going to keep going with the crafting, but maybe space it out just a little so we can actually get some sleep. :) Of course we are going to continue to be inspired by Threadbanger (we have big dreams to make all the projects they feature), but also take cues from Design*Sponge as well as others. We will also be creating more of our own designs, ideas, and patterns. BUT...before all this takes place, we must end this little “Twelve Days of Craftsmas” journey with the piece that inspired this whole idea and that is the RETRO TINSEL TREE!!! If this isn’t the coolest tree then I don’t know what it is. The whole idea was to make this before Christmas so...we could view this as we are way too late, but instead we’d like to think that we are way ahead of the game for next year! Get your Christmas in January here!

Plushies!

We were inspired to create our cute little guys below after watching today’s Threadbanger episode. Get motivated to create your little woodland creatures here.

Quickies!

Threadbanger has added a new show to their already super awesome lineup. This one is called “Quickies” and is packed full of tips. So in honor of their new show...a quickie update for you. I have something very exciting to share that I got in the mail not to long ago! It’s from a talented graphic designer who is a dear friend of mine! I’ll snap some photos soon and then get them posted on here! They are too cute!

Here are some hints:

Warm...

http://www.linnadesigns.com/

Warmer...

http://www.etsy.com/shop/gobirdie

“Fresh like ughhh...sleves!”

“Usually once you get it started you can just rip it [the seams] apart.” HAHA!!! Not as easy for us. :) This project gave us plenty of laughs along the way due to the fact that we were constantly messing up. Aside from all the other problems we had, the best one was sewing the hood on crooked. Of course this was documented for your viewing pleasure. Also for your viewing pleasure is the tutorial! There are no words for how much Saint Olive hearts Ruffeo Hearts Lil Snotty! We love everything about them! They have some other videos on Threadbanger so go check them out! Right now “Little Doggies!” They exude creativity and style and are just plain fun to watch. I knew from the start that one of our projects would have to be something from these two. So without further ado...we present to you...the Space Helmet Hoodie! “A little bit with a twist!”

Bombs Away!

Take a dive into crafting by making this “bomb ass bomber hat” here! We were actually able to make two bomber hats and the purt all from one shirt! Whoohoo! And we have two cuffs left over that we are going to turn into bracelets, extra freebie buttons, and some scraps for stuffing!

Plaid is Rad!

Plaid is one of my favorite fabrics because you can get it for next to nothing at thrift shops and it has lines for the print which makes cutting and sewing a breeze. Big thanks to my dad who tied the tie for us! Make your “purt” here! *Snip, snip, snip!*

A Crafting Staple...

could possibly be the jean purse. I think at some point in a crafter’s life a jean purse must be made or, at the very least, old jeans must be used for a project. So, in order to make the above generalization true for at least me I headed out to my new favorite stores...Goodwill and the Discovery Shop! I got some great deals on jeans, flannel shirts, and an old pair of boots! I also scooped up a few old records from the Discovery Shop so I could make those rad record bowls! They are still in the bag, but not for long! Speaking of bags...make yours here!

When in Doubt...

go with florals! The flower has always been my “go to” image and is always a source of inspiration for me. If there is ever any new technique I want to try or if I am at a loss for ideas I know I can always count on the beloved flower! I still think the most beautiful use of flowers was for my Aunt’s wedding. She was married in the mountains and my mom and I picked the wildflowers and tied them together with soft green ribbon about an hour before the ceremony. Nothing beats a tussie-mussie in my opinion! With our overflowing love for flowers, we could not pass up this next tutorial!

Scherenschnitte!

Okay, check out this awesome lamp here! It is gorgeous and made out of paper! When I saw this video, I had to research this art further and found many other wonderful artists and designs. I wasn’t too confident with creating my own designs, so I got these amazing free downloads here! It’s actually not as easy as it may seem and takes a lot of patience and I think I had used up all of mine for the day, so I just went with the deer pattern. My mom, on the other hand, rocked at this new technique! She finished up the floral pattern I started, cut out all of the bell, and even created her own design! She is awesome! This craft made me realize again just how much I love art and creating! I was amazed at all the talented artists that specialize in this art and was in awe at what they were able to create with pretty much a blade and paper!

Do You See What I See?

Yes!!! There is a pin still in the “S,” but we ran out of bobbin and didn’t have the strength to reload. I swear...the bobbin always runs out on me. It never fails! I used to get all bent out of shape when that happened/happens, but now I just laugh that this occurs on such a regular basis. Anyway, along with doing these projects each day from Threadbanger, we also have a few other things going on. We are working on some more needle punch art and are working with muslin and gesso to create soft bodied pieces. The little guys we are making are turning out to be pretty cute (they are pretty and they are cute), but they are messy because paint is involved. I used to be very careful not to get paint on myself in the past, but now I fling it all over the place. So, it’s about time we did this next staple project...the apron! Aprons are IN and we couldn’t be happier because we love them! Of course, we had to add a POCKET!!! Without a pocket it just would not be complete. The only other detail that is missing from these cute coverups is a little gesso and paint splatter, but that won’t take too long to happen. We may even have to cook up some tasty treats with these awesome artistic aprons! Make yours here!

We tired to be a little witty (aka...cheesy) with our words tonight. The traditional “beet” is spiced up with MJ’s “Beat It” and the bacon and eggs is soy of course. :) What’s the material you ask? Goodwill jeans!!! This only cost us $6.50 to make and we got two aprons and we have material left over to make some other projects! Awesome! We would have used our own jeans, but we have not yet worn them out completely. Granted...one of my pairs has huge holes, but we just going to patch them up! No need to recycle just yet.

Recon Nation!

I have watched this tutorial too many times that it would be silly of us not to at least give this one a shot! So, I took a trip to the local Goodwill and snagged the red tee along with some others and the gray one is an old exercise shirt. The other shirts actually turned out to be too cute to chop up just yet, so I will be sporting these $3.75 shirts as is for now. The video was right on and it took about two hours for us to complete the project. It’s beyond comfy and it has POCKETS!!! Pockets are the ultimate accessory in my book! I LOVE a good pocket!!! So, what’s the moral of the story you ask? Well, it’s simply not to trash those old tees...reconstruct them!

Tee-Rific!!!

So, today (well...more like tonight) we have the tops to go with yesterday’s bottoms. These were so much fun to create!!! Quick and easy with minimal sewing. This is a great way to use up those old shirts and upcycle!!! Join the movement here and here! The shirts were made from Megan Nicolay’s book...a must have for DIYers!

The Third Time is NOT Always a Charm!

¡Ay, caramba! Late yet again and this time it’s for reals! But, we have a good excuse...we were supporting the arts by attending the Empty Space Awards! Such a great evening of celebrating local theatre! So, since we got in a little late tonight, we had to ditch the pants and trade them for panties! However, this proved to be a more difficult task than anticipated. Disaster after disaster took place (bunched thread, icky thread, wrong tension, about ten broken threads, etc.), but we persevered and ended up with a win. I guess we are going to go with the saying “better late than never” this time around. Make your unmentionables here!

It's 12:00...

now 12:01! Do you know where your blog is?

Procrastination!

Another last minute post, but we made it (11:54 pm)! Oh the thrill of making a deadline! Anyway, we had to search high and low for a feather duster, but we found one and were able to create these cute head pieces. Accessories are the best! Such a fun way to add a little excitement! Enjoy!

P.S. If you pull out the feathers delicately from the duster it will still be intact so you can continue to use it! So, now you can dust in style! Make you pieces here!

Good Intentions for 2010!

“It’s the thought that counts” is sometimes effective; however, Saint Olive would like to put more of these “thoughts” into action for 2010! For example, I had this great idea to do “The Twelve Days of Craftsmas” twelve days before Christmas. But, I thought of this idea two days after the twelfth day. So, then I thought I could do “The Twelve Days After Craftsmas,” but that came and went! So, NOW, in the new year, I am going to do it! Starting today, January 1st, 2010 my mom and I will be doing a project a day from the Threadbanger channel! I have been so wanting to do their projects and what better way to start the New Year than with a BANG from ThreadBANGER!!! Yahoo!!! Happy 2010 EVERYONE!!! May you have more fun this year than the last! FELIZ AÑO NUEVO!

Want to make this throwback mirror? Check out the tutorial here!

P.S. This was posted at 11:48 pm. We just made it! Phew!!!