The Final Countdown...

It's the end of the semester, and what have I done. Well, I know what I haven't done. I haven't written about tv shows much, but if you haven't yet... you need to watch Arrested Development. Come on.

Okay, now down to business. I know I've focused more on local things for this blog but since I've been talking more about crafts and vintage stuff, I thought I would share a few more great Etsy shops with you for this last class post. Not sure if I will continue the blog or not, since my track record with keeping up blogs has not been so great in the past. I hope, though, that I will keep crafting and finding new things that I can share here. Maybe you can do some holiday shopping. : )

First, I'd like to share a few artists from whom you can buy prints. I never thought of art as being very accessible to me before I discovered Etsy. There are all kinds of artists from whom you can buy original art or prints for not a lot of money. Not only are you able to support an artist, but you have a unique piece that can't be found on allposters.com! Here are a few of my favorites:
thisisalliknow has the most magical looking prints and original paintings for sale... I've saved a few of the images to use as backgrounds on my computer because I find them so hypnotic.
HideNSeek is another one of my favorites.  I have a copy of this print on my wall, and it's lovely and wintry in a nice way. She also uses her prints in jewelry, hand mirrors, and other items.
jessgonacha has delightful, colorful prints and other items.
SophieBlackall may be my all time favorite artist on Etsy... she bases many of her paintings and drawings off of "Missed Connections" from craigslist.com. The sweet and poetic
ones, not the creepy ones.
RetroWhale's paintings of movie characters (lots of Wes Anderson) and other random things are truly awesome.

Of course, Etsy also hosts a countless number of great jewelry and accessory designers:
LaraLewis, another one of my favorite Etsy sellers, sells vintage Estate style jewelry and has a huge selection, most of which is quite reasonably priced. (And when I say reasonably priced, I mean the price of something you'd buy at Target, not something that would be in a magazine's "just barely under $100" section).
Louloudo of Super Duper Things makes cute, every-day-wearable jewelry and accessories.
flightpathdesigns is cool. What else can I say? Awesome graphics put to use on belt buckles and necklaces.

I also love to find (maybe not to buy, but to be inspired by..) cool paper-craft sellers on Etsy.
Julianna Swaney of Oh My Cavalier  sells nice, seasonally-appropriate cards.
katygromball has a set of great, unique postcards.
LineaCarta's shop is chock-full of interesting cards, as well as other items like pencil cases.

Au revoir! Enjoy!

Only At Christmas Time

Well, here we are less than three weeks until the end of the semester, and what is on my mind? Christmas gifts of course! I pretty much have nothing to write about except crafts/gifts I've been making, because it's the only thing other than finishing up the semester that my brain has had space for. This may not be such an interesting post, but it's kind of fun for me to show  a few things I've gotten done in the past few weeks (other than homework). 

This first craft was something I decided to start doing at the beginning of the year and spent all summer flea-marketing seeking out proper found objects with which to adorn: decoupage boxes. I bought some plain wooden boxes from a hobby store for a couple dollars each (depending on shape and size) and used mod podge matte glue to attach pieces of old sheet music, then used hot glue to attach this interesting wooden picture onto the top. It's a pretty simple, relatively cheap craft and a good gift for female friends, my main craft demographic as of right now. 

This second project was something I replicated for a few different people, and it was also quite cheap to make. You can buy sturdy styrofoam wreath forms at craft stores and do pretty much anything you want to with them. I was inspired by Smile and Wave and especially this wreath from Anthropologie (priced at $148... mine may not be as perfect, but it was a heck of a lot more cheap, and fun to make!)

I basically just twisted sections of yarn around and hot glued on the backside of the wreath periodically, then sewed on a handmade felt piece. To finish I attached a strip of ribbon with twist pins to the back. 

Here's a close-up of my felt piece.. it is supposed to be a cardinal. I used some old fabric and a button to sew the layers of felt together. 

 This year I got inspired to wrap gifts up in really simple brown paper, adorned with yarn and doilies or these easy-to-make ribbons. I simply bought a 3-yard piece of muslin and cut the piece horizonally into 1 1/2- 2 inch strips, then used acrylic Christmas stamps to make simple ribbons for gifts. I'm trying to think of other things to do with these, as I've made about 7 3-yard chunks of ribbon and still have leftovers. 

Here's one last simple gift idea: button earrings. Most of these were buttons I bought especially to make into earrings, but one could easily make matches of buttons they already own. You just need a hot glue gun and earring posts and backings. I like to attach mine to cool papers or in small boxes I save from receiving jewelry, sometimes covering the lid in pretty paper. 

These are a few of the things I've finished so far, now I'm off to create more. Hope I haven't bored you to death. How's the Christmas planning going on your end? I love preparing for Christmas during the entire season... but I'm also one of those people who packs for trips months ahead. 

The Mid-November Christmas Itch

.... I can't fight it. I love getting ready for Christmas, even before Thanksgiving Break arrives. I know many people who can't stand any mention of Christmas until at least Black Friday, but I can't stop thinking about it and I don't care who knows it. I briefly mentioned in my last post that I'm attempting to give mostly (if not completely) homemade or repurposed Christmas presents, and that's quite a challenge. I've already begun planning, and I thought I'd share some of my inspirations on this blog. The idea of giving people gifts that take time and effort, love and care to create really excites me. Sometimes when I buy people gifts and wrap them I forget what I'm even giving them... another great part about homemade gifts is that they are usually less expensive!

Creature Comforts is a blog I visit time and again for craft and decor ideas - it's bright, joyous, and full of inspiration. There are a lot of great, relatively simple craft ideas (both holiday-themed and not) and a tab on the homepage where you can download printables like labels, gift tags, fonts and project templates. She has a few posts up about different types of homemade wreaths, a gift idea that I'm right in the middle of working on myself.

Smile and Wave is another eclectic blog that's jam packed with cool ideas that I recently discovered. I've been searching the handmade and holiday tags for inspiration and have not been disappointed.

Bugs and Fishes is another one of my absolute favorite craft-type blogs; this one is mainly focused on felt crafting, which is something I haven't tried much of yet, but it seems to be a popular medium right now. My favorite parts of this blog are the Christmas tutorials with instructions on how to make simple Christmas tree decorations and such and the Gift Wrap Ideas section, with tons of interesting and new ideas of how to wrap all your wonderful homemade gifts.

Hopefully I will be able to take a few photos of things I'm working on and get more into Christmas... but I'll wait a little while. Are you ready for Christmas? Got any projects going? Please share!