Hiatus

This blog is officially on hiatus... the only thing I'm making is formula.

Check out our family blog at aphillyfamily.blogspot.com.

It's beginning to look a lot like...

...Well, no, no it isn't. But, in efforts to not be doing my typical Christmas calisthenics when I'm ROTUND with baby, I can report to you that my cards are made, written, addressed, and sealed. I'm not posting a picture because why ruin the surprise for those of you lucky enough to receive them? LOL

I'm also almost done my Christmas shopping and wrapping. I'm a basketball. Soon, I will be a whale. It has to all get done. LOL

Mini-Albums

I've been thinking about making the jump to digital albums and I've been trying to come up with ways to use up a lot of my paper. I need to desperately scale down my crafting area before the baby comes, so I thought about using paper for more items for the holiday craft sale... hence, these mini chipboard albums.

BT: 12 weeks

This isn't a crafting post, but it's still awesome:

Baby Thompson (BT) at 12 weeks:



I'm at 17 weeks now and we'll have another ultrasound just three weeks from now! Then, we should know if BT is BBT or BGT.

Mama and Baby

This is a really horrible picture - I love this so much more in real life... I've been making a bunch more in different colors and sizes and also started making pregnant mommies!

More to come!

Angel Wings

Baby Thompson

Well, I've just entered the second trimester (whoot) and Baby Thompson has been much on my mind as a creative inspiration. I've abandoned all other pottery projects to create mother and baby statues and I'm loving the way they're coming out. I need to take some photos soon... I promise.

Also, I got some adorable charms out of the kiln last night. They are angel wings and they came out better than I thought they would. I need to take pics of those, too.

I am so behind!

Oh well. I'm pregnant. Leave me alone. I've been busy sleeping. And eating.

Stamping Royalty

Well, I've been stamping my little heart out. I've made six cards that I plan to submit to the contest. I can't show pictures here (they can't have been published anywhere), but I'm really happy with them.

Send good thoughts!

Stamping Royalty

Each year, Paper Crafts magazine hosts a contest to identify the "royalty" of stamping. I've entered the past 2 years, unsuccessfully, but I'm working very hard this year!! I WANT THAT CROWN!

Do you have what it takes to be crowned royalty? Each year since 2004, we’ve inducted the crème de la crème of stampers into a posh society known as Stamping Royalty. This could be your year to reign supreme in your sparkling tiara. Winners will be royally honored with a prize package containing the latest stamping products from some of the hottest manufacturers. The retail value of each prize package totals over $200! Winners will also have the opportunity to be published in the November 2008 issue of Paper Crafts magazine and be put on the Paper Crafts magazine designer list to receive our exclusive call for submissions.

Send creative thoughts my way!

Swarovski Love

I was inspired to bust out the needle nose pliers to make a necklace for myself because I have a tricky pendant that doesn't hang right on any chains. I'm pleased that I have succeeded! But, feel badly that I forgot to take a picture of it. :(

However, I had such a neat time, that I decided to play with some other things... and I *do* have pictures of those:





Pendants: $20 each
Sets: $26 each

Teaching!

I'm very excited that I have signed up to teach some work shops at the University City Arts League to teach kids how to make those pendants down there...

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YAY!

I hope people sign up... I've signed up to teach workshops before and didn't have enough people sign up to be able to teach them. I'm crossing my fingers!

Paper Collector

More pendants! Using my stash of paper! So, I'm not just a collector and a hoarder, I am a USER.

Of paper. Not narcotics.





Cost: $10 each

Summer can't come soon enough...

...I mean, look how pale I am?? How ridiculously white I am under harsh lights. It's not nice.

Oh... and here are some of those pendants at long last! :-)







More to come... some funky pendants are baking in the kiln as we speak, and I've also been working on using up scraps of my favorite paper with chipboard to create other pendants...


Cost: $20 each

Porcelain Pendants

Lately, I've been very interested in wearing unique pendants on chokers and I've started making a line of pendants out of porcelain clay at the pottery studio. The first of these have been completed using molds that I press the clay into. I've also started experimenting with some stamps to make unique designs... I've just ordered some leather cords and I can't wait to see them all put together...

I hope they are as cool in person as they are in my head... pics coming when I have them!

Cows on Parade

I just love these!

These fun little cows will eventually be magnets... once I get to the craft store or hardware store to buy some magnet pieces! But, I thought I'd go ahead and show them to you because I love how they came out.

Mooo.

Goodbye to February

Just wanted to give another shout out to my friend, Jennifer, over at Jericas Designs for her inspirational challenge about crafting every day for the month of February!

It was a very good month for me of getting things done and I really enjoyed participating in the challenge.

Whoo hoo!

Writing

I'm sorry that I don't have any photos to show you. Perhaps, I can get one of me typing. I've been busy writing: mostly in my book, but a little for From the Q (see link somewhere on this page - I'm too lazy to track it down right now).

The book is going well. It's not going super fast (I'm at about 45 pages), but I'm happy with the progress and pieces are starting to make themselves clear to me, which is a real treat. I can't wait for it to be done so I can read it from start to finish, but at the same time, I'm not in a rush. I feel like if I try to hurry through it, I will miss something important.

But, it's going really well.

ANOTHER Treasury

I can't believe I got another treasury!! Luck is on my side over at Etsy. :-)

This one is a buy and replace and I stocked it full of my favorite sellers:

BNR Beauties!!

Happy Birthday, Rachel!

I want to wish a very happy birthday to my friend, Rachel, who was celebrating over the weekend!! Wishing you lots of health, happiness, and fun over the next year and always!!

Rachel's birthday gave me an opportunity to try some additional techniques at Color Me Mine - stamping with a light color over a dark one. I was so glad to hear from Rachel that she liked the way it turned out!!



Happy Birthday, Rach!!

Guest Crafter: It runs in the family...

Today, I want to share some crafting with you that isn't even mine! It's my dad's!!



Dad has a tendency to embrace his hobbies like a choking victim claws the floor. Meaning, he goes WHOLE HOG or he goes home. It's been a long parade: corvettes, scuba equipment and boat, ham radio, golf, Harleys. Now, he's all about cowboys and shooting enthusiast stuff.

A little while ago, he decided to start working on his own leather projects. These ambitions started small and recently have developed into massive undertakings that I am AMAZED he made himself. He dyes the leather, cuts it, sews it, and most incredibly does every bit of the stamped embossing. And no - he does not have a big flower stamp that he presses into the leather. At Christmas, he showed us the flower design in a book of templates. He then pressed into the leather to match it, using etching tools.



This project is his new gun belt or as he says "his new rig." He decided to make something similar to the Roy Rogers version he wore when he was 10. Sadly, that one doesn't fit anymore.

I think that Dad should start making leather purses and then I can market them and together we can put Coach out of business and then I won't have to go work every day. But, in lieu of that master plan, we should at the very least make him an Etsy page.