A Piece of Peace

A while back I heard about a website that was looking for book reviewers and offered to join their roundtables and do some reading. The first book they sent me was a pre-release copy of “Vulnerable Faith” by Jamie Arpin-Ricci. My review is here. (SPOILER ALERT: I really liked it!)

Most recently, I finished reading one of the spring book club selections, "Sanctuary" by Terry Hershey. My review is posted here. Check out the roundtable on this book (and others!) at the Patheos Book Club.

A Little Freedom

Facebook Freedom.  I had thought (very passively) from time to time about getting off of Facebook.  I knew I was spending wasting too much time scrolling through my feed and more over I was too often left feeling bad in one way or another after going there.  Either because of the content or just the fact that I had once again distracted myself and misused time that would be better spent elsewhere.  It was becoming one of those things where I knew I could and should do better but it was easier not to.  I never really allowed myself to think about it though.  

Then I found out a friend of mine had deleted her account and I really did think about it - at least a bit.  Was I afraid of something?  Was I afraid I'd miss something?  I'm not quite sure what the resistance was but I decided that I could at least try living without Facebook.  Perhaps the fact that it required such thought meant it was time to step away anyhow?  So after a few days of deciding I would deactivate my account (and not doing it) I began deleting pictures and content from my account.  For some reason I needed to make it into a project, but bottom line, I did it.  Now who knows whether anything was actually deleted or deactivated but I got my time back.  And the weird thing is...I don't care.  I haven't really had to get used to it or make any transition I just don't use Facebook any more. So - Yay for Mommy!

8 Words For The New Year

As we start a new year I'm trying not to get caught up in too many promises to myself while still remaining open to and encouraged by a new start.  Clicking around Pinterest for the first time in a long while on New Year's Eve lead me to this gem:

Someone already wrote my motto for the year for me!  Thanks!

SIMPLIFY  I had the word simplify in my head already as a better way to categorize decluttering.  Decluttering sounds like a problem to fight and something that hangs over you until it's completed...and really, when will I ever be truly free of clutter?  Simplying, though, sounds sort of zen.  It sounds like something that can be found within the uncluttered messes for a feeling of peace amid chaos.  It's a mindset not an overwhelming to-do list of decisions and garbage collection.  It also speaks to me about perfectionism.  Letting go of expectations and just simply doing and being.  I like it.

BE INSPIRED  I've hesitated to make great declarations about blogging, sewing, creating, selling or anything that feels like a mandate to myself.  I really believe I need to start small with something I do just because I want to do it.  If I'm inspired the momentum can carry me to bigger places.  Focusing on the big place seems, well, big.

BE ORIGINAL  As I look through blogs, Pinterest and other people's work I think "I can do that!".  Yet I don't.  Besides the fact that what I'm seeing has already been done, I think I'm trying to back into what I can do rather than what I want to do.  Defining success as doing what I want to do the way I want to do it is authentic.  And original.  

WORK HARD  As a stand alone, this one feels a bit harsh to me - working harder is not always better.  When I'm struggling and should be gentler on myself and those around me "work harder" can bully it's way in to save the day when really, it just compounds the problem.  In context of this list, however, I think it fits.  I'm not afraid of hard work - it brings a sense of accomplishment and self-worth.  Rest and play are essential for balance but need to be balanced against work.

ENJOY  None of the other things mean much without taking time to enjoy.  Enjoy the calm of simplicity.  Enjoy the creative process.  Enjoy being original and true to myself.  Enjoy the satisfaction of a job well done.  Enjoy the doing and the not doing.  Enjoy what's done and what's left to do.  This one, for me, is to capture mindfulness and being in the moment. A reminder that I can chose joy.  To live in joy and ENjoy.

Charmed, I'm Sure

Once it was brought to my attention that there are PRINTABLE (like ink jet printer printable) Shrinky Dinks I knew my sewing projects had some competition for my attention.   I tested out a version of this project and it came out so-so but mostly because my printer was running out of ink and everything was kind of orange!  Then as I thought and thought and pondered the possibilities, an idea for a birthday present for a Shrinky-Dink and wine loving friend took shape.  Here's my tute followed by the rocky road I took to get to the finished product...now that I know what to do (and what NOT to do) it's a neat and easy craft.

First off you of course need supplies:

- Printable Shrinky-Dink plastic (I got mine at Hobby Lobby)
- An ink jet printer (not laser ie heat printing)
- Image files
- Software to lighten the images
- A hole punch
- Jewelry wire
- Jump rings
- Pretty beads
- Magnetic closures (optional)
- Patience (not optional)

To start you'll need to prep your image files to be printer-Shrinky-Dink-ready.  You'll want to estimate the final piece(s) to be about 30% of your starting size.  I printed pictures sized so I could cut pieces that were 2.5 inches round and they shrunk to about the size of a dime. Your image files need to be lightened quite significantly as well because when they heat and shrink they darken.  This was a bit of trial and error for me especially since I had a range of pictures and colors/darknesses.  In the example below you can see the second image looks very washed out - I'd make it even lighter if I were to print and shrink it again.  Don't be afraid of the light(ness)!


The Shrinky-Dink package has directions for lightening - about 50% should work.  You can make transparent in Photoshop or I found www.splashup.com to be a nifty option as well.

Once you have your files set, be sure to print a test sheet on regular paper in case you see something isn't how you're expecting it. I get a little impatient with the prep work myself but that just leads to rework.  I cut my printed image on my Cricut but you could of course do it by hand or use another type of cutting machine.  I'll put the settings details at the end of this post for anyone who is interested.  NOTE that I cut a 'charm' shape that included a little top 'loop'.  That allowed me to attach the finished piece.  If you cut by hand you'll need to punch a hole (regular paper punch is fine) BEFORE you bake or you'll end up with a disk and no hole for your wires!

Now for the FUN part!  The oven!  Shrinky Dinks are fairly forgiving within the 290-300 degree range but again, a test run is advisable.  I find 295F works well for me, but read the package instructions.  I use parchment paper under the shrinky plastic piece but brown paper bag paper works fine too.  It sure is fun to watch the magic as they curl up and recover so nicely!   I heated each of the six I made individually so when they came out of the oven I could press each under a tile to make sure it was completely flat (they cool super-fast so you don't have enough time to press a bunch)

And here's what I got:

Once your nifty little pieces are cooled they need to be sealed.  I tried both ModPodge and clear nail polish (spray acrylic is another option).  Here's another place you may want to do a test run to decide what you prefer.  I think the nail polish brought out the colors better and didn't leave brush marks so...I love ya Mod but I'll save you for a later step!

Next up - building the charms.  I attached a small jump ring to each of the charms.  Then I cut pieces of stiff wire (about 3 inches depending on how large you want your charm to be) and bent them into a ring.  I bent one end of the wire into a small loop, hooked on one end of the magnetic clasp and tightened the wire around the clasp end.  Next I strung on a small bead, two larger beads, the charm, two large beads and a small bead.  Of course you can design yours however you please.  To finish it off I bent the other end of the wire and hooked on the other end of the magnetic clasp.  Make sure everything is bent together nice and snug and you've made yourself (or a friend) a cool charm!

To finish my gift in style I made up some little cards to attach the charms to that also brought the 'theme' together.  Welcome back Mod Podge thanks for your help!

And here are some examples of the finished product...

Cute eh?  Despite my occasional FAIL as I worked through the details it was really fun to make these.  A set for Mother's Day with "All-Time Best Moms" might be cute - June Cleaver (of course), Mrs Cunningham, Shirley Partridge, Carol Brady and of course your own Mom!

So my lessons learned are as follows:

- Test and retest the images on regular paper before printing on the plastic.  It's too expensive to waste as much as I did!  ;-)

- Test your shape and size so you know how much shrinkage there will be, my first charms were too big.

- Decide on and practice your cutting method and shape.  The Cricut is a GREAT option but I had to work on blade placement to get the images properly positioned.  

- If you don't know anything about jewelry making ask someone who does what wire to use (and make sure your beads will fit on your selection).  I used memory wire which was a good stiffness and size but hard to shape.

- If you don't want to use the magnetic clasps just bend the wire ends into hook shapes that can link to each other.

Have fun, be creative - Shrinky Dinks ROCK!

Cricut Settings:

- Doodlecharms Cartidge

- Charm round

- 2.5 inches

- Low/Med speed

- High Pressure

- Center (be sure you determine the center WITH the charm top loop in mind)

- Multi cut (two times through worked fine)

Email me if you have any questions! Please send a picture if you try this or something similar yourself!

Arrgh Maties!

The pirate (room) adventures continue. We've been doing bits and pieces for months (well we've also been doing nothing to the room for stretches too!) and are pretty close to calling it 'done' - then again when is anything every really "done" in a house? Here is some photographic proof that we have indeed (sorta) finished a pirate room!

We started with a wave pattern - darker 'water' below and 'sky' above then added an island and pirates...


The island wraps around the corner wall a bit...


Here's the back wall...


A wooden piratey name thing I made...


...and the 'phew! I finally finished it' addition ...the closet curtains. We took off the doors when we first made what was my office into the nursery. I was able to match fabric to the wall colors fairly well so now the water/sky design follows through the room.


I still need to do something to fix up the dresser because when it was a changing table, the changing pad scratched the heck out of the top. I also need to do something about the window curtain. I made what is supposed to be a big sail/mast as a curtain but I have to add a way to 'open' it in the daytime (right now it just gets flipped over the rod to let in what sun there is in February! I'll update when there's new news!

(Foam) Heart Attack!

Trying to channel my inner Martha Stewart, I whipped up a batch of cupcake batter. OK OK, it was a boxed mix (Martha FAIL!) BUT I made the butter cream frosting from scratch (Martha WIN!) My first round was an attempt at heart shaped mini-cupcakes. I put little wedges of tin foil in the side of each to make a heart-ish shape. Well Martha FAIL! on that because I filled the cups too high and they baked up over the edges and most of them looked round. I ditched that idea and baked a 'normal' pan of 24 mini-cupcakes and ended up back in the WIN! column. Then somehow the idea of heart picks came to me. So I grabbed Jake's tub of foam hearts and a box of toothpicks and peeled and stuck (and peeled and stuck and....). That was clever of me so I took it up a notch and printed some little sayings in a cute font and cut them out. I used the 'frame' hearts with a large solid heart as the backing and liked that result too. So I'm going to give myself an A-...Jake played with the 'bad' first non-heart-shaped batch (a pirate ship full of cupcakes? ARGH!) and I frosted and stuck another 24 minis and even pulled off a few regular sized cupcakes with the remaining batter. Homemade frosting and heart thingies make up for the Betty Crocker made cake AND they were at least a pretty Valentines-y cherry chip!

Booty Call!

Since all my blog posts at www.feltsilly.blogspot.com seem to start with some sort of acknowledgment of my, um, lack of consistency in posting, I'll skip that part here and just post.

Recently I treated myself to my first pair of nice dress boots. All my pals seem to have a pair so I decided I had to too. And 'treat' probably implies they were expensive but I got them for like 60% off the list price. So now as a new boot owner, I took notice of a cute idea from a craft blog for boot insert thingies - do they have an actual name? Ever willing to just forge ahead not sure what I'm doing with a craft or sewing project, I did. I got a cute flannel fabric remnant and winged it with that and supplies I have around the house. It took several tweaks on the first to get it right but that made the second one go lickety split. Now I have happy boots and another notch on my sewing belt!



Sad boots :-(



Happy boots! :-)



Jake calls them 'candy'.