Altered Nook HD+ Case

So my wonderful mother got me a Nook HD+ for Christmas, and a few weeks ago  she gave me money to buy a case. I really liked the KIQ cases on Amazon, and they were super cheap. They didn't have the right size in pink, so I had to get a light blue.

Pink Multi-Strand Bracelet

Lately I haven't been feeling myself. I haven't made much of anything. Now that I am feeling better, I've been spending time with Pinterest trying to get back into that creativity flow. The other day I made a cute simple bracelet.

WhimseyBox #1

My first WhimseyBox came. Actually it came awhile ago I just never got around to showing it. I was pretty excited and took too many pictures. 

So this is my first WhimseyBox, it's a kit to make your own lip balm. It's pretty cool, but the oil they gave me for flavor was peppermint and I want to try to find some other flavored oil before I start to make it. 

Inspiration Journal

I have always been wanting a journal of some sort, but I never keep up with it. My life just isn't that interesting. Then I found out about artist journals, which are a more creative way to record your life, and are completely different from art journals, which I always describe as a multimedia sketchbook. I started an inspiration journal. It's basically a multimedia journal of things that inspire me. I feel it will help inspire me on bad days. I'll just open it up and flip through the pages. It's also a great way to stop all the project ideas I collect from Hobby Lobby from piling up and taking up precious space. I'm absolutely in love with my first page. 

It's obviously Spring inspired (yes, I know it's the wrong time of year), and I love the colors. I used different color paints with different textures for the background. After cutting out what I wanted and placing it on the page, I glued them down, and added washi tape and stickers. I spent maybe 2-2.5 hours on this and enjoyed it so much. 

Beautiful Macramé Bracelets

Macramé bracelets are probably my favorite thing to make and wear, and I live exploring new styles, and new beads. Normally I just use seed beads, and a lot of them. But for these ones I chose to stay away from the seed beads, and add some charms.

The frog charm is a charm I've had for years and didn't know what to do with because it was my favorite charm. I think it goes nicely with this pink and green bracelet. It gives it a nice princess-y look. Hope you enjoyed this post! 

*Linking up to these fabulous parties!*

Book Review: The Beader's Bible

I have been buying books left and right these days, and my most recent purchase is my new favorite. I got The Beader's Bible: A Comprehensive Guide to Beading Techniques by Dorothy Wood for $12.54 (including shipping & handling) from Amazon. I borrowed it from the library (which I just got a membership to, and I'm super excited about it!) to make sure it was something I was going to want to keep. What can I say? It's amazing.

This book covers loom beading, stitching, embroidering, knitting/crocheting, fringing, wire work, and much more. I especially love how she explains the types, materials, sizes, and finishes of beads, as well as going into a variety of color schemes and how they work. She also covers tools such as pliers and needles as well as bead reamers and thread conditioners. She shows us different types of bead looms, mandrels, and wire jigs. I love that she uses a lot of pictures, but is also very descriptive. She doesn't rely on just one or the other. I love how much this book has taught me and I was so glad my boyfriend bought it for me! I'm constantly picking it up when I have forgotten something or just need some inspiration. Did I mention it has over 30 projects to inspire in addition to all the techniques it covers? She also includes some bead charts and a list of great suppliers. Definitely a book worth checking out.

Thrift Store Finds

One of my favorite things to do with my grandma is going to garage sales and thrift stores. When I was younger, it was because I loved all the cheap clothes. Now it's because I love all the cheap craft supplies! 

I got some Knifty Knitters for $8 that would normally run me close to $35 brand new. And to top it off, this set had the good colors. I just had to have it. 

I also got a pretty punch embroidery set for only $2. It came with all sorts of thread and transfers. 

It's very cool, but I'm missing the dial-a-loop punch needle. Once I get it I will be all set to start punch embroidery. 

It's taken a while to post because my home got broken into a week ago. We have been focusing on getting our stuff back and preventing it from happening again. It was definitely a scary experience. We now have our windows locked and blocked. I hope everybody is having a good week! 

Craft Area Reveal

So I'm finally getting back into the swing of things. It's taken us awhile, but we finally got the house all set up and organized. I was gone for a month because we had a lot of things to get done before the move, and I was too stressed to do too much. I started a new, painful, and tiring job at a factory. I knew I wasn't going to stay there long, but I got out sooner than expected. I was enjoying my 4th of July weekend with a full house of guests, then Binder Park Zoo called, and I started working there on the 8th. I absolutely love it. Every morning and every evening, I play with Raj, our 1-year old Snow Leopard.

He is adorable. He'll go to the back of his exhibit and watch me, then when I crouch, he crouches and runs to me, pounces on the window, and we take off running along the wall of his exhibit. It's definitely the best part of my day. The guests love watching us play, and I love making the kids happy.

Well, now that I've bragged about how cool my new job is, I guess it's time to brag about my new craft area! While I was setting it up, I've realized that it would not have been possible without my crafty grandmother. She has not only passed down her creativity to me, but she has also given me a new work desk, 2 4-cube storage units, and my wall shelves. She has tried giving me more, but I have a limited space to work with.

I'm thinking about painting my wall shelves white to match everything else, but it's not a top priority.

This is the left cube storage unit. I still have some empty space. I've never had empty space. 

This is the front facing side of the right cubic storage. Sorry for the blurry photo.

 On top of the desk I have my crocheting caddy. When I learn to knit, I'll have my knitting things in there, too. 

Underneath my work desk is where I keep all my tin cans that organize various other things. 

My blue and green footstool also opens up and is completely empty, which tempts me to go shopping. Everything that I used for organizing has been given to me or bought from thrift stores, garage sales, or the dollar store. The jars that hold my buttons were actually bought from Hobby Lobby, but they were only a dollar each. 

I am so excited to start working in my new space! I also have a few ideas to save even more space. 

Organizing with Clothes Pins

So Brandon and I finally got our own place on the 1st. I'm still unpacking and getting my craft area set up. I lost my keys for about 20 minutes (they ended up being behind the tv), and decided I needed to make a place to put them. It's a small place we are living in, so I made key holders out of a couple clothes pins, super glue, thumb tacks, and washi tape. 

I made 2, even though Brandon never loses his keys. I was so happy that he was still using it though! I also had my little sisters over for the weekend, and they wanted to make bracelets, but kept tangling my cord. I took a couple clothespins, and quickly wrapped them all up and stuck them in a jar. Clothespins just make life so much easier. 

I hope you enjoyed this quick little post! I gotta get back to unpacking! 

*Linking up to these parties today!*

WIP-Granny Square Blanket

So I recently learned to crochet, and I'm working on my very first project! My grandmother used to make gorgeous blankets for us when we were children, and now I have to. I watched a great tutorial by Michael Sellick on Youtube. Definitely check out all his videos, he makes it super easy to learn. I bought some yarn to start practicing, ended up liking how it was turning out, and wanted to add another color.

I picked out the bottom yarn, Brandon chose the one on top. 

This is right after I switched colors. 

I also learned to switch colors from watching another tutorial by Michael here. He's pretty awesome. 

I'm at the end of my first skein of yarn (the darker colored one). I bought 2 of each color, I'm not sure if it will be enough. Like I said, this is the first thing I've ever made. I can't wait to finish it. My hands finally stopped hurting and I can work for longer periods of time. 

*Linking up to these Parties!