Signage

Lately I have felt the need to make the place I rent feel more like my home for the next couple of years. I have a craft room, an office, and my bedroom upstairs and then a large living room and large kitchen downstairs. Once the Christmas decorations came down, it looked pretty bare. So I thought why not add some signs to denote which room is which. I am terrible at painting things free hand or even painting in traced lines. So I did my signs just a little differently.

What You Need

Wood

Paint

Stickers/Decal

1. Start by painting your wood where you letters will be in the color you want your letters.

2. Place stickers on top of paint.

3. Paint over stickers the color you want your sign to be

4. Let dry for 30-60 minutes

5. Peel off stickers

6. Touch up as needed

7. Hang

See super easy! Would be a great projects for kids to do to make signs for their own room and the results look professional.

Behind the Scenes

For the most part I just blog about one of the most exciting parts of my life, my creations and then some small tidbits on the story surrounding what I made. I thought I would take some time and tell you about the person behind the scenes, where I came from, and how this all started.

I'm your typical 20 something lady, in the way that I am completely not typical at all. My life is hectic, amazing, and a mess. I have an incredible family that you would need a diagram to understand. I love to work and I love to create things. I have tons of guilty pleasures and other things I love that I am not as embarrassed to admit. I have dedicated my life to the people I love and to my passion for medicine. I was 8 years old when I decided I wanted to be a doctor. No one in my family had gone to college rather than graduate school, but I was never concerned with the barriers. I was accepted to an accelerated 6 year program where you get a bachelors degree and medical degree simultaneously right out of high school. Let's just say life hit me in the face and all of the sudden I wasn't the smartest, hardest working person in the room. I was in a room full of the best of the best. I was 19 when I failed for the first time. Biochemistry and I just were not a match made in heaven. Or maybe it was that my life seemed to be falling apart at the seams and I couldn't focus. I remember my biggest fear was calling my grandparents to tell them that I would have to take another year and that I had failed. You see they have cosigned all of my loans and here I was a failure. Bless my grandpa's heart, all he said was "failure builds strength, maturity, and character." They weren't mad, they actually seemed to be happy that I failed. They saw it as a stepping stone, something I needed to experience and overcome. Two months after my failure I hit rock bottom. I questioned everything about my life. Who I was, why I chose this path, where I was headed. Life had already not worked out the way I had planned. But over time and with the help of therapy(which I highly recommend for absolutely everyone), I rebuilt from rock bottom. It is from this experience that I believe everyone has the ability to start over and that one should always remember that everyone is fighting some kind of battle.

When in comes to love, I have definitely had my share of love and lost.  I've been looking for the one man I wanted to spend the rest of my life with since I started dating. I have always been one to just go for what I wanted and dive in quickly. I have created some wonderful memories, but not a bond made for marriage. I have learned a few things over the last few years though that I hope I remember the next time I find myself falling hard.

1. Family is super important. If you don't like their family or they don't like yours or their family doesn't like you or vise versa you are in for a rough road and it probably won't work out. 

2. Find someone who can be with your friends and family without needing you to hold their hand. If they can't have a good time with the people you love if you aren't around they may not be what you need.

3. Find someone who makes you feel beautiful even when you are in sweats with no makeup on. It is easy for someone to tell you that you are beautiful, it is harder for them to make you feel beautiful.

4. Never compromise who you are to be with someone. In the end you both end of miserable. 

5. Take your time and give yourself options. 

6. Be happy with who you are first. No one can make you love yourself. That is something you have to learn to do on your own. 

7. Be with someone who is willing to fight for you and is excited to see you. Someone who is looking to share their life with you, not just someone who is willing include you in their life.

8. Opposites attract is only true for magnets. The things you love about them that makes them so different from you are the things you will not like later.

9. Lastly, the person you chose to spend your life with will help determine how happy you are. They will be your support system or the person you knocks you down. So don't settle and don't sell yourself short.

So with all the lessons learned, I am totally clueless on what I am looking for in my future husband, so my love life is non-existant right now and for the first time in my life I'm okay with that. I am taking time to focus on who I am, what I love, and studying for my board exams. When boards are over, I will revisit the idea of what I want from a relationship.

So... how did this all start???? Some of you may think that I am probably totally artistic and have always been very crafty. This however is completely untrue. I can't draw to save my life. I use to think I was completely uncreative and hated working on projects. I didn't even know there was a store named JoAnns(which I spend half of my life in now.) So what changed? I did. My life started to change. I was expecting my first niece, I was in love, I had a place of my own and so many ideas. I started with quilting. I was going to make a baby quilt. I never finished it. But, it was the beginning. I then made bows for my niece(she still doesn't have enough hair to wear them.) Then quilts, then painting, and then my most popular post, the birthday signs. I rarely make things for myself though I do occasionally. Mostly I make things for the people who make my life wonderful and I enjoy watching their reactions to the things I make. Homemade gifts are one of a kind and no one else in the world can give them what you created. It was after finishing my first couple of big projects that I started blogging. I wanted to share my ideas and excitement with other people who loved to create things or wanted to learn to. I figure if someone like me could make it, then anyone can make it!  I get extremely, EXTREMELY excited about my crafts. In a way that is incredibly difficult to show in a blog post. I can stay up all night working on a project and I keep a notebook devoted to keeping track of my ideas(though I am constantly changing my mind.) I blog to share this excitement with the rest of the world so they can create that excitement for themselves. I love seeing other people's creations and the ideas they get from my ideas. 

So there it is. This is me in a nutshell. 

Settling In

So I must say I am in love with my new cricut and it's vinyl cutting abilities. Though you can always cut vinyl by tracing out what you want onto your vinyl and cutting it with a blade, the cricut makes it so much faster and easier. I am still learning how to use it and playing with it almost daily. I decided on doing this little project to test out its vinyl capabilities and I loved the results. As someone who rents a house, I have very limited options on what I can do to decorate, but vinyl is removable. Starting to decorate makes this place feel a little more like home. I used two different fonts for the outside and inside and it has been a couple of weeks and the vinyl is sticking well both on the inside and outside.(we have even had some rain and some snow)

What You Need

Cricut or blade and stencil

Vinyl(you can find this at most craft stores or try vinyloutlet.net)

Transfer paper

Basically you cut out your vinyl and place it the way you want it. Stick your transfer paper to your vinyl and remove the sheet on the back of the vinyl. Stick on clean surface.
Use a craft stick to smooth out your vinyl and make sure it sticks well.

A Touch of Color and Memories

Hello! I am Katie’s (slightly) older sister, who also loves all things crafty. I have loved crafty stuff forever, but I typically dabble. This sister of mine is taking things to a whole new level, and inspiring me! Today I’m going to give you a little tour of my daughter’s nursery. She is almost 10 months old, and at her 1^stbirthday party I plan to unveil a complete room redo. I love to redecorate so she will probably have many different bedrooms and as she gets older, she can help make them.

I had a really hard time settling on one theme when I was pregnant. I love so many different designs and colors so I never really ended up choosing one. Her dresser was gifted to me by my grandparents. It was the dresser my grandmother bought for my father when he was born. It was raw wood when she purchased it and she stained it a dark color she liked. I, however, need color. So as you can see we created a rainbow effect with the drawers and the frame of the dresser is a pale yellow. I love the vibrant colors! With the same paint, I created a little wall art. I printed off several animal silhouettes on cardstock and cut them out. I painted the entire canvas the color I wanted the animal. Then I stuck the animal cutout to the canvas with some scrapbooking dot adhesive (you can find this at Wal-mart). Next, I painted the entire canvas and let it dry. Then just peel off the silhouettes. Keep in mind that the darker colors that you used first may be difficult to paint over with a lighter color.

I have loved the look of gallery walls since the first one I saw on Pinterest. (An updated one coming soon in the new room!) So for the back wall of her room, I ordered a copy of a Paul Goble book from Ebay and bought a bunch of cheap frames at Goodwill and Wal-mart. When I was a child I loved Paul Goble stories as they were about Native Americans and the pictures were beautiful. My grandmother was from Canada and was a Native American and I was very close to her. She read me these stories and I hope my daughter will cherish them as much as I do. So I cut out the illustrations in the book and hung them in an aesthetically pleasing arrangement. 

Our rocking chair also sits over in the corner next to a canvas sling bookshelf. I feel like this is the safest and best way for my daughter to access her board books. Next to the chair sits a small table I found at a consignment shop. We sanded it down and painted it in four quadrants with the same paint I used for the dresser.

So I ended up having a variety of things with no main theme in our nursery. But I love it! It’s meaningful, colorful, and functional. I can’t wait to show everyone the new room in March!

Glass Etching!

Today I tried about my hand in glass etching. Actually I tried it earlier this week and it was a disaster, but this time it was a success. They turned out awesome and now I am excited to try some more as gifts. This is pretty easy to do and the supplies are not that expensive either. Plus they are one of a kind.  I etched 2 pyrex pans for my sister and my step-mom and then a wine glass because I'm addicted. I made the stencils by cutting vinyl with my new Cricut. If you don't have a cricut though you can still do this project.

What You Need

Armour Etching Cream

Glass

Paint Brush

Vinyl

Cricut or blade

gloves(I suggest Mr Clean vinyl disposable gloves)

face mask and eye protection is debatable but I wore them to be safe

Well ventilated area

alcohol

cotton swabs

1. Start by wiping down your glass with alcohol

2. Cut out you vinyl. If you have a Cricut this is quick and easy. Use speed 3, pressure 3, and blade 3. If you don't have a Cricut then you can either get a stencil you want to use or print out a design you like, trace it onto your vinyl and cut it out.

3. Peel out the letters or design and use the outline left and put it on the glass.

4. Make sure the vinyl has no bubbles around the outside. You can use a popsicle stick to get any bubbles out.

5. Put on gloves, go to a well ventilated area, and put on other protective gear if desired.(Armour can cause permanent damage to anything it touches so use with caution)

6. Using your paintbrush, brush your Etching Cream onto the glass. I used a coat that was thick enough that you couldn't see through it and on the Pyrex I found leaving it on for 40 minutes yielded better results. On glass about 10 minutes is enough.

7. Wash off the etching cream with water, peel off your vinyl and wash throughly.

2013: The Year of Craft Overload..and study

Though this isn't a new project, this is me screaming my excitement about upcoming projects to expect in 2013. Sometime this week I am going to try to get my craft room up and running which consists of me getting it picked up and organized. It will be on ongoing process that is constantly improving, but I should at least get the Christmas wrapping paper off the floor. One day I hope to organize it into stations depending on what I am working on. I have seen lots of ideas for how to put it together that I love and can't wait to try. I am also getting ready to start a bunch of different projects. I took my Cricut out of the box tonight and let's just say I am beyond excited!!! I have tons of projects planned for my new toy, but don't worry if you don't have a Cricut you will still be able to do them on your own it will just take a little more time. I also am going to start trying to make my own applique for onesies which I am very excited about. I also have a number of other projects I am excited to try for an upcoming baby in our family so be on the lookout for all of those. Then there is the projects I hope to work on for my own home. I'd like to make some signs for the rooms in my house and give my bedroom dresser a makeover. Then there is the repurposing of a small table and reupholstering some old chairs my grandparents got when they first got married(a few decades back.) I'm going to try my hand at making my own cards, my own take on crayon art, and making my own wall decals. I have a rather big project I am going to be working on for my sister's birthday which isn't until July, but of course I am already planning. Speaking of planning, my sister and I spent a couple hours this evening planning out our big dinner for our grandparents which I am looking forward to not only put on, but to blog about. It was a brilliant idea of my sister's on what we could do for our grandparent this year for Christmas, but more about that soon. Here in about a week you can look forward to my sister's first guest post. So many exciting things coming up in 2013 and I can't wait to share it with all of you! Happy New Year!