I got a treasury on etsy

And I could help but name it after my daughter who shares the same name as one of my favorite movies :)

This also inspires me to make her a garden gnome of her very own.

Bebe shoes

These were my testers for this super cute baby shoe pattern I found here. The pattern's biggest size was 3-6 months so I had to increase it a lot since, well, Ame has some big tootsies, even for a 13 month old. I wasn't even planning on being able to use them but since they turned out decently well, now Ame has her first pair!

The Artist's Way

Isn't it crazy how the universe will answer you when you really need something? So, I am not too keen on new year's resolutions. I find it silly that just because it is a new calendar year, you are going to remake yourself with a whole task list of super high goals that you are going to start all at once. I mean how hard is it to change just one thing about yourself even taking proactive baby steps. And to think you are going to become a new you just because the clock clicked 2008?

Having say that, I got whimsical this past December 31st. 2007 was a good year in some respects but for the most part it really, really sucked. A lot. Like Dyson vacuum sucked. So I got caught up in the "rah-rah it's a new year!" thing. That, and I just am having a REALLY good feeling about this year. I still swear up and down that in 2007 some moon of Saturn was in the wrong alignment of Mercury and therefore we were feeling some negative ju-ju.

But that could just be me.

So this year I did make some new year's resolutions. That and I asked the universe for some help. I will have had my business going for a year this upcoming Feb 1st and while I am happy with it's progress, I really am wanting it to start stepping up to a higher gear. I mean, yes, I love making stuff. But there is this thing, you may have heard of it, it's called money. And you can exchange it for goods and services and say, fixing your car that's on its last leg. And as much as I would love to think my family can all live on sunshine and fresh air, we live in Minnesota where the sun comes out only twice a year.

So what has all this rambling have to do with The Artist's Way (TAW)? Well, I asked the universe to help me become a more creative person. I have had TAW book for about four or five years now. It was a dear present from my wonderful mother-in-law who probably thought that I or my husband would get right on it and become happy, creative people. Well, we had good intentions. But I would always get sidetracked by something silly. I would get a month into it and then miss doing the morning pages once and then just say "screw it!" and forget about it for a bit.

Well the universe being the sneaky bastard it is (meant in only the most endearing way of course) had me stumble upon a creative group that is going to do TAW together. I am always more motivated to do things when I know that others are also struggling through it too. And TAW is a struggle. It starts tapping into these parts of your brain that do not like being tampered with. There is that censor voice that is like "WHAT? You mean to try to drown me out?! Non-sense! You will be stopping this program this very instant!"

So I think I am going to be able to do this time. Like really do it. And I know that in the end both my personal and business self is going to benefit from it.

So, thanks universe.

Painting shoes = awesome

So it was ridiculously cold here in MN over the weekend. I don't think it got above zero and with the wind-chill factor, felt like -15 or worse. So suffice to say that I didn't once go outside the entire time. What to do when you are couped up? Paint your shoes of course :)

They started out as these fine but plain diesel shoes that I haven't worn in a long time:


And magically (okay, more like a whole Saturday later) turned into these!:


Tada!

I used just some thinned out acrylics in lots of layers and then applied a special "leather-only" varnish that is suppose to protect the paint from cracking, chipping, or wearing off. I also did an under layer of white to help with evening out the final color:


Here is the finished one next to the unfinished one. I think they look completely different now:


And more pictures of the finished shoes:





I still have to get some laces for them. I am hoping I can find some fun ones with stars or hearts or I am just going to go with plain grey ones. I also plan to cover up the diesel part on the tongue with some yellow felt. Nothing against diesel as a brand, but I think the khaki color looks just awful with the yellow and grey. Now I am on the hunt for any other leather shoes in our house....

long time, no blogging

Wow, I have been super neglectful of my blog here. Poor blog. But now that all the Christmas hoopla and whatnot is done, I am determined to start up again. This first post of the new year shows off one of the new year resolutions, finally organize my crafting/working area. Yuck, what a mess it was. I wish I had a *before* picture to show just how bad it was but then again, maybe I am glad to not have that image captured. So here is the desk area:


so shiny!

I even took all my junk drawer type boxes and went through them to toss all that I wasn't using. I mean I was ruthless. And then here is the cabinet that also holds even more stuff:



I even have a space up the corner to add to! Which of course gives me a *perfect* reason to go do some shopping, right?