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Showing posts from July, 2010

Just Like That, I am Back

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 If I said I was back, would you believe me? Blogging is complicated, and there are so many "get rich quick" blogging schemes that make it look like you are a lost cause if you are not currently earning money blogging. And why are you even blogging if you don't have multiple streams of income and entertainment. If you don't have a brand? I do have this website, but I do not have Instagram, Twitter, TikTok (you don't want to see me dance), or whatever is next.  Heck, I haven't even updated this since before the pandemic. So why am I here, writing about being back and then, probably ghosting for another two years? Life has been rough. It's been painful and overwhelming. I am so thankful for you my readers, or what is left of you. I am so thankful you are reading this post. I am so thankful that you are still committed to making the world a more exciting and more sustainable place.  Keep up-cycling my friends, and you never know, I might be back again with an

Ikea Bags and Luis Valenzuela

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So where oh where have I been? In South Beach... I am so not one for lavish vacations, but sometimes life takes you places that you never imagined you would be. I am so excited because I got to see this work of art by the amazing Eco-Artist Luis Valenzuela . His art is amazing. He creates EcoArtFashions using what some might consider to be garbage. This dress was made entirely out of IKEA bags. I randomly stumbled upon it while walking around the Art Center of South Florida . I was so excited to see the ultimate in upcycled elegance. Honestly, I am truly inspired to make something out of a plastic bags. If I only had a boatload of IKEA bags hanging around my house. Oh well.

Upcycled Awesome #7

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It's time for Upcycled Awesome, your green linky party dedicated to upcycled crafts and more.  As always you have until Sunday at Midnight to post your upcycled project. Upcycling is taking something you already have, something rescued from a thrift store, garage sale, or even your neighbors garbage and making it into something new. For more information on upcycling check out this post . We all need a place to go to find green projects on the web so why not link yours up here and then check out other green crafty bloggers. I know I get some amazing ideas from this linky party. Pretty much anything goes. You can sew, Mod Podge, or redo furniture, as long as it is something that is redone in some way or another. Please do not link up projects made from 100% new materials. I love these products, but they really don't constitute upcycling. Other than that here are the rest of the easy rules: Decide what upcycled project you want to link up (more than one is fine by me!) L

Did You Miss Me?

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Sorry about the brief hiatus but life sometimes takes some twists and turns that don't allow me to post as much as I would like. So I am back, and am so excited that tomorrow is Upcycled Awesome yet again. I only wish that I had something awesome to post. I have some cool stuff planed for future posts so stay tuned. I am also so excited to check out zerolandfill Cleveland this week. They have rescued 80,000 pounds of goodness to be recycled and are offering it up to fellow crafters, artists, homeschoolers, and teachers. Amazing and I can not wait to attend harvest this week. More on how that goes later. Stay tuned,

Upcycled Awesome #6

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It's that time of the week again. Time for Upcycled Awesome. I am making this a regular Wednesday feature. You will have until Sunday at Midnight to post your upcycled project. Upcycling is taking something you already have, something you rescued from a thrift store, garage sale, or even your neighbors garbage and make into something new. We all need a place to go to find green projects on the web so why not link yours up here then check out other green crafty bloggers. I know I get some amazing ideas from this linky party. Pretty much anything goes. You can sew, Mod Podge, or redo furniture, as long as it is something that is redone in some way or another. Other than that here are the rest of the easy rules: Find your favorite Upcycled project Link below to a specific blog post not your main blog address Grab a party button and pop it up on your blog someplace visible, like your sidebar, linky page, or your post. Check out the other upcycled projects and comment on the
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I was honored to work with Andy Davis aka Andyman from 2005-2007 at CD101 in Columbus. Prior to that I was a long time fan of CD101 and of Andyman - the true heart of Columbus radio. I am still in shock that CD101's beloved DJ Andyman passed away this Saturday while vacationing with his family in Michigan. My heart goes out to his dear wife Molly and his three children Johnny, Oliver, and Sammy. Donations can be made to the Andy Man memorial fund at any Huntington National Bank branch or may be dropped of at CD101 I know most of my bloggy readers don't know CD101 and don't know Andyman, but he was an amazing DJ and friend. Oddly enough what I will remember him most for is his deep love for his family and for the kids. He hosted Andyman-A-Thon during Christmas holidays. Andyman would spend 48 hours straight on-air receiving pledges to play song requests. The event benefited children's charities. I just remember one year when he was drunk on lack of sleep and

Upcycled Awesome or Green Linky?

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So I am thinking of changing the name of my weekly upcycled crafty goodness party from upcycled Awesome to something like the Green Linky party. This would kind of encompass all things related to green crafting. I just don't know if this would be a good idea. Really the reason for it is when you are looking for a green linky party what do you type in your search engine? I would type in Green Linky? Or maybe something like green crafing linky. I have no clue. I don't know so I really need some help and opinions on this from my fellow upcyclers out there. I want people to be able to find the linky party because there are so many great upcycled crafts? I am perplexed... Your opinion means the world to me please help... Your confused crafter girl,

Weekly Wrap Up

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It's official I am obsessed with spray paint. Yes I know it is not the most envirnmentally friendly of items so I have to give it up. Oh well I had fun while it lasted (until hubsters reminded me that its bad for the environment to which I responded, so is driving a car). If anyone knows an environmentally friendly alternative to my obsession please let me know. I am postponing my Etsy Shop set-up until August. More on why to come at a later date. My husband can not stop eating Reindeer sausage, my non red-meat eating self is grossed out. And I will be participating in True Colors: Exposed at River Colors Studio & Blackbird Baking Company tomorrow from 12-5. Just look for the girl with all of the T-shirt dresses. I was going to post some of what I will be sewing, but I never got around to taking the pictures.  This event is being put on by the Cleveland Craft Coalition. Check out their facebook page if you have a chance because they truly do rock. I mean how awesom

Yard Sale Makeover: The CSI Project

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I have had this chair in my garage since I bought it for $5.00 at a Yard sale in May. I just loved it and thought it would be great for my daughter after I did something with it. I originally planned to Mod Podge it, but I couldn't find a paper that my daughter loved in the same way she loves the color purple. So I decided to sand off the rust, break out some chalkboard paint, and give her the purple chair she wanted. The chair was pretty beat up. It needed a lot of love so I had to break out the usual suspects: I wanted her to be able to write on the armrest so I broke out the chalkboard paint. I taped this bad boy up, sanded the rust off the legs, and started to spray paint the metal legs with some Rust-Oleum covering it with a oil rubbed bronze for a little shine. Still not a huge fan of the dark purple she picked out I tried a different color called (no joke) stone washed denim. She didn't like it so it was back to purple. I wasn't happy with the res

Upcycled Awesome #5

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It's that time of the week again. Time for Upcycled Awesome. I am making this a regular Wednesday feature. You will have until Sunday at Midnight to post your upcycled project. Upcycling is taking something you already have, something you rescued from a thrift store, garage sale, or even your neighbors garbage and make into something new. We all need a place to go to find green projects on the web so why not link yours up here then check out other green crafty bloggers. Pretty much anything goes. You can sew, Mod Podge, or redo furniture, as long as it is something that is redone in some way or another. Other than that here are the rest of the easy rules: Find your favorite Upcycled project Link below to a specific blog post not your main blog address Grab a party button and pop it up on your blog someplace visible, like your sidebar, linky page, or your post. Check out the other upcycled projects and comment on them.  Don't be offended if I remove your link. Chanc

Upcycled Awesome #4 Hotlist

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Sometimes life with little ones can be quite chaotic and posting goes by the wayside. I just want to say I am still here and Upcycled Awesome will be back for round five tomorrow. I just wanted to thank everyone for posting to my linky party and I have a few new projects to add to my "To-Do" list. You guys are truly awesome upcyclers and I could not be more impressed. I would love to feature all of the upcycled goodness, but I have picked three that I think everyone should try: Swing Time Design has these awesome coasters that I am dying to try. Actully I don't have an old set of mass produced coasters like they used, but I am sure that problem can be quickly resolved with a trip to Goodwill. Check out these out:   Swing Time Design Coasters Zippers seem to be all the rage these days and they are so easy to get a hold of. I would love to upcycle a boring pair of flats into some snazzy Zipper Ballet Flats like Shannon over at Shannon Makes Stuff did.   Zipper Ruffl

Basement Progress

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Sorry about the lack of creative posts, but I don't have my sewing room together yet. We have made some amazing progress, and I hope to have things up and running by Sunday. So here is the basement with carpet: Before After It is a work in progress, but its my work in progress and I love. it. So much more organized (of course this is before I moved any of my stuff back into the room.

Community Shared Agriculture Rules!

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I look forward to Wednesdays, not because I can't wait to find out what amazing projects my fellow upcyclers will be linking to on Upcycled Awesome this week (Although that is fun!), but I find out what is in my weekly CSA. If you don't know what a CSA is here are the basics: CSA stands for Community Shared Agriculture , which  means that you are buying a share of a farm (or collective of farms) and you get a portion of what they produce every week. it is a great opportunity to follow the 100 mile rule when it comes to your food.  I love the fact that my family eats fresh and we know where our produce comes from. The kids love picking out the vegetables themselves. They even eat them sometimes (LOL). They think it is so cool to meet the farmers and learn about how plants grow. Truly a highlight of our week. So what does going to a CSA look like? A little bit of heaven, check it out. Once you pay for your weekly share you get to go through the line and pick out your d

Upcycled Awesome #4

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It's that time of the week again. Time for Upcycled Awesome. I am making this a regular Wednesday feature. You will have until Sunday at Midnight to post your upcycled project. Upcycling is taking something you already have, something you rescued from a thrift store, garage sale, or even your neighbors garbage and make into something new. We all need a place to go to find green projects on the web so why not link yours up here then check out other green crafty bloggers. Pretty much anything goes. You can sew, Mod Podge, or redo furniture, as long as it is something that is redone in some way or another. Other than that here are the rest of the easy rules: Find your favorite Upcycled project Link below to a specific blog post not your main blog address Grab a party button and pop it up on your blog someplace visible, like your sidebar, linky page, or your post. Check out the other upcycled projects and comment on them.  Don't be offended if I remove your link. Chanc

Basement Progress & Some Upcycled Awesome Action

I would have a picture to post of the progress, but I erased the one that I had. Anyway things are going. I officially have pergo floors (yeah!) I am drawing up a petition to make carpet in basements illegal when kids and pets are involved. We have had one to many milk spills and let me tell you the stench of spilled milk does not come out. I am again having a linky party on Wednesday for Upcycled Awesome. I love seeing upcycled crafts and just can not get enough. I mean why buy new craft materials when you can just upcycle something (if only I would stick to that rule I wouldn't be drowning in boxes of unused craft material). I am also doing another craft show in a few weeks. True Colors: Exposed. More info on that later. So I guess I will get back to reorganizing my little world over here. I can't wait to see you all for tomorrows Upcycled Awesome!

Basement Makeover - Before

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I won't be around for a while because I am making over my basement/sewing room/ kids playroom. You might ask why? Well let me show you the horrible over crowded before pictures. Please this is a no judging zone. I mean it is bad. This is where I am supposed to be sewing my T-shirt dresses. Seriously overcrowded and unorganized. The kid stuff is kind of taking over the room. and I don't have any way to get my serger set up on my tiny desk. I guess this is why I avoid any projects that involve ironing your stuff first. Kids storage area turned excess storage area. I really need some help. This is actually where I end up putting my serger to sew. So said because I was supposed to make cushions so this could be extra sitting room. As you can see everything has gotten way out of control way to quickly. I am still seing, but it is such an ordeal that until something changes I just can't work. The good news is the carpet is getting torn out tonight and my hubste

Local Artist Stephanie Urban - Touching Story

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I just want to share this amazing story about a local Cleveland artist, Stephani Urban, that was written up in the Debroff Debrief on Mom Central. I actually saw her work at Bella Dubby in lakewood when I did my first craft show. I loved her beautiful pieces and loved them even more once I found out her story. She makes amazing artwork for nurseries (or anywhere else) out of eco-friendly reclaimed fabrics. The thing is her business was born out of  the loss of her daughter Kaia at 34 days to Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome. Please take a moment to check her story here and her artwork over at her Etsy shop . She also has a website ( www.littleliondesigns.com) with more information on her family, her process, and Congenital Heart Defects. I am currently trying to save up for a monkey print for C2's bedroom. So totally cute. Let me know what your favorite piece is?

Happy Fourth of July

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It's just not the fourth without a tasty treat now is it. I whipped up these white chocolate mint covered oreo's on a stick today and wanted to share them with you. The tutorial is here . Enjoy and let me know how they turn out.