Peek at My Weeks (April 4-17)

While I usually do these roundups weekly, we started vacation last weekend, and I wanted to hold off on my peek. Today is the last day of our staycation, and I just can't stand the thought of putting a peek off any longer. So, here's a look at the last two weeks. 

Sunday was Easter, and we weren't expected at my mom's until after noon. We had a slow-moving morning, but I still went out to kick the bamboo. While out, I spied these two shapes (above). At first, I thought it was some kind of wasp nest remnant, but on further inspection, I realized that they're decaying seed pods from a Sweetgum tree. I kept them to possibly use in an art project at a later date. 

At my mom's, she was still frantically trying to get lunch made and had my niece add the frosting to our traditional strawberry cake. For some reason, it's always a mess no matter what my mom tries to do. Despite the toothpicks, the cake layers still slid. And, then my niece added ALL the icing which pooled and dripped from the cake plate. In spite of the way it looks, it was delicious along with the rest of the meal. 

Monday was nothing special of a day really. 

While Pat took Zoe out, he found this little gem of a rusty keyhole and surprised me with it. That man really knows me!

I struggled with what to do the day (besides grocery shopping) and landed on an idea from my list of busy-work tasks I keep on hand.

I cut down old belts to make cuff bracelets. I've actually always struggled with cutting the thick belts but saw somewhere that using a rotary cutter would work. It totally made the task so much easier!! I had this pile in no time. 

It seems that I spent a good portion of Tuesday working on making and business-related tasks. . .after dealing with the bamboo. That time outside always gives me a chance to discover the beauty in nature. 

This little spiral vine caught my eye.

Before long, I headed to Southern Antiques and Accents to update the booth with a few new pieces.

Then, I focused on those cut belts and turned them into bracelets.

Adding snaps is always a bit finicky, and I did waste a few, but now I have a good stack of leather cuffs to accent. Yay!!

On Wednesday morning, I was drawn to the dewy blueberries.

A few hours later, Pat and I headed out to get the first doses of our Covid-19 vaccines. 

After that, we waited around almost all day for the concrete guys to show up to work on the building. They were four hours late and only worked for two hours once they did get there. This whole process is breaking our hearts as it moves at a snail's pace. 

This is what our dirt pile looked like Thursday morning pushed around on the old slab. 

While checking the mail a few hours later, I spied these tiny blooms.

I spent much of the day watching art videos and eventually worked on some of the techniques that were taught.

I got my chores and a few other tasks accomplished on Friday but seemed to be focused on the natural world as my camera roll was full of pretty outdoor pictures. 

This fungus on a downed limb had me tromping out into the briars to get its picture. I think they look like little rainbows or seashells. 

Our big Japanese Maple has been in bloom, and the tiny flowers always mesmerize me. 

Speaking of blooms, I've never seen these little buds on the Horsetail reed before. Aren't they cool?

That evening, we met a few friends for dinner and drinks. In the wee hours of the morning, a horrible thunderstorm rolled through the area, and I woke with a bit of a hangover from the margaritas and lack of sleep. But, it was Bead Soup Swap reveal day, so I occupied myself with hopping through the participants and making sure my post was up.

I also found some buried treasure when I willed myself outside for a bit. 

Treasure may be a bit of a stretch. It's really just an old, rusty hedge trimmer.

And, I made sure to take in the glory of the many colors on the Japanese Maple tree. 

This post wouldn't be complete without a cute kitten picture.

I spent some of Sunday hopping back through the Bead Soup participants I had missed.

And, I discovered a patch of honeysuckle in the yard. 

Since it was the start of our vacation week, we kicked it off with a sunset ride on a friend's boat up Fish River.

The river was eerily calm and perfect for getting some reflection shots. 

On Monday, I took my niece for her second vaccine. Back at home, we fired up the grill for the first time to make sure the day had some sense of vacation to it. 

Tuesday was a friend's birthday and we headed down to Pirate's Cove for lunch and Bushwackers.

After we left there, we took a bit of a detour.

We ended up taking a peek at Bamahenge! It's a full-scale reproduction of Stonehenge. The area also boasts dinosaurs, Greek statues, and a "Lady of the Lake" (which we didn't go see because we're pretty sure the hurricane damaged her.) After that, we took another Fish River boat ride before having dinner with the same friends. 

Wednesday was mostly about catching up on errands and a few chores in the morning. That's also when the rain returned.

And, it's rained every day since. It put a real damper (literally) on our staycation. But, I stayed busy with making art and watching art videos.

As it rained pretty much all day on Thursday. I sat on the couch more than I really should have. But, I chalked it up to vacation. 

I finally started working on the altered-book journal for the Transformation class from Tiffany of Southern Gals Designs. 

As we watched TV in the evening, I worked on these flower fairy doodles that have become a bit of an obsession. 

Pat told me that I need to learn to draw arms, and now that's messed with my head and my process. Dang!

It rained much of Friday, finally clearing up for a little while in the afternoon. As the rain kept me inside, I searched for something to keep me busy. 

I decided to tackle one of the items on my list of jewelry techniques that I've been wanting to learn: sawing metal. Y'all, this skill has intimidated me longer than I care to admit, but I bit the bullet and went for it. I still have loads of practice that I need to do, but it doesn't seem as intimidating anymore. Whew!

When the rain cleared for a bit, I ran a few errands and stopped in the parking lot to take a picture.

I can't help it. I have to capture the beauty that I find no matter where that may be. 

Saturday was utterly dreary as it rained ALL DAY LONG. I barely got anything accomplished as I spent a good portion of the day on the couch. We had dinner out with a friend to get out of the house and enjoy something about the day. 

Here's some of the inspiration I found over the last two weeks. 

• Learn how to natural-dye fabrics with this tutorial at Cut Out + Keep. 
• I love to have old photos at hand for printing out for art journaling. The Graphics Fairy is good about keeping me in stock. These 9 Vintage Women Photos are perfect for so many uses. 
• Door 44 Studios shared a Pendant Wire Weaving Tutorial that's really pretty. 
• For Beaded and Wire-wrapped Jewelry Inspiration, head over to Nunn Designs. And, here's Part 2 of that series. 
• The Yellow Birdhouse has 19 Floral Hand Embroidery Patterns. 
• Take a look at these little ink sketches. They're full of details. 
• Learn to make a Polymer Clay Pendant with another Cut Out + Keep tutorial. 
• This Sea Foam Cuff at Halcraft includes a tutorial. 
• I am in awe at the details in these tiny Bonsai Treehouses. 
• Roben-Marie shares her tips for success for the 100 Day Project. 
• Here are a couple of Inspired Craft Books if you're looking to learn something new. 
• Cut Out + Keep has had quite a few new jewelry designs lately. Here's a caterpillar bracelet (the picture is misleading). Try making the Polymer Clay Daisy Earrings. And another pair of easy Polymer Clay Earrings. 
• These wood sculptures have me oohing and ahhing. I love them!
• Julie Balzer shared her 3 Best Organizing Tips for Art Supplies in a quick video. 
• Learn this easy technique for beaded backstitch in embroidery. 
• I'm so going to have to try this - Thread Wrap a Tassel without Glue, Knots, or a Needle. 
• So, I mentioned above that I need to learn to draw arms. This tutorial on How to Draw Cartoon People might help. 
• Check out the beauty of these assemblage Polymer Clay Canes. 
• I've long been considering ways to use old ceiling fan light fixtures since I always see so many of them in thrift stores. These light globe candleholders are definitely one cool option.
• Here are 11 DIY Felt Flowers. The description says they require no sewing, but a few of them do involve some stitching. 
• I really love the shape of this Crescent Moon Wreath from Epbot. 
• This Wood Burned Welcome Sign was made with something called a scorch marker. I may have to look into those a bit more.

And, that was it for the weeks for me. The sun is actually out today so we're going to tackle a few yard chores before the grass gets too high to mow. HA! I hope you're well and enjoying the spring weather. What creative activities have you been up to?

How to Rivet for Jewelry Making

It came to my attention earlier this week that I didn't have a quick tutorial on how to rivet. While I include riveting in at least three of my YouTube jewelry tutorials, there's not one just for the basic skill. So, I created one!

These are the supplies I use to rivet

I like the EuroPower Punch for its ability to punch holes in a variety of metal gauges and hole sizes. However, it doesn't come with a 1.5mm punch that is best for most nail head rivets. But, those can be purched. I also use a fairly basic pair of heavy-duty wire cutters. To flatten the rivet, I use a small bench block and a small ball peen hammer. In addition, I like a fine tip permanent marker to help mark where I'm punching. And, you'll need your metal. 

This quick video on Using Rivets in Jewelry Making will show you how I do it. 

Here's a better look at the two pieces I riveted together in the video. 

Of course, you can get a better idea of how rivets are used in some finished pieces. Here are examples from my Etsy Shop. 

Roy G Biv Earrings

Red Door Necklace

Orange Rose Earrings

If you're interested in watching me create pieces with rivets in them, here are those videos I mentioned above:

DIY Floating Riveted Earrings

DIY Altered and Riveted Pendant (the red door pendant above)

Ghost Tassel Earrings DIY

If you have any questions about this, let me know in the comments. I'll do my best to help you. Have fun joining some metal together!

*As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Peek at My Week: Nov. 4-10

At the conclusion of each week, I like to share a glimpse into my real world followed by the inspiring links I found during the week. Here's your peek!

Sunday was slam-packed full of activity. I decided to tackle this mess of a craft cart.

As always, it got messier before it got better.

Since it was a beautiful day, I did take a break to head outside for a walk along the Bay.

Once home, I did finish organizing the cart.

And, I put it to good use with some play in my art journal.

While working on a project on Monday, I realized that my tin pieces resembled tacos. 

It totally cracked me up!

Tuesday was Election Day, and I did my part.

Waiting for the results made me a little restless, so brownies were made (and consumed).

Wednesday was even less fun.

On Thursday I treated myself by checking out a new local boutique. The stencils above the hooks in the dressing room tickled me. This is exactly how I sort clothes when I shop.

I made another trip out later in the day to work at a local coffee shop.

Since I had done a bit of brainstorming along with my coffee consumption, Friday was a day of creating.

I even pulled out some of my buttons!

I can't say that Saturday was very productive as the majority of the day was consumed with football-watching. However, I was finally able to catch Zoe sunning on her back!

Doesn't this pose just make you giggle?

Anyway, here's some of the other inspiration I found throughout the week:

• This Yellow Submarine Cross Stitch Pattern is too cute!
• Here's an article on How to Declutter Your Studio for Maximum Productivity.  Maybe that's what had me itching to get that cart organized.
• Art Professionals share What Not to Do at an Art Fair. Some of the tips are helpful, some are kinda funny. 
• This inexpensive DIY Fall Wreath is made from embroidery hoops, fabric, and felt. And, it's so neat!
• Nunn Design featured the felt art of Samantha Stott. Her designs are fantastic. 
• At Beading Gem, there's a feature on the Copper Metal Work of Aviceya. It's sublime!!

Now to figure out what this new week holds and how to make it exceptional. Here's hoping you find loads of inspiration in it!!

Pinning With Purpose | Volume 2

I hope y'all have had a wonderful, inspired, getting-stuff-done kind of week. I feel like I did. Now it's time for Pinning with Purpose, a chance to use and show off what you did with some of those Pinterest pins you've been saving.

As a reminder, here are the pins I picked to work on this week (please go to the original site if you want to pin these projects also, don't pin from here.)

Tiered Pie Tin Organizer from MaryJanes and Galoshes

General Tso's Tofu from Appetite for China

Rust and Patina from Treasures from the Heart

Here are my results:

The Tiered Pie Tin Organizer: My bathroom counter was absolutely driving me crazy. I'm not one to use many products (seriously), but when I do I want them within reach. However this was out of control.

I collected a few pie plate pieces and some glassware (rather than the candlesticks as suggested in the tutorial) for my organizer.

Some E6000 glued the pieces I wanted to glue quickly and easily enough. Now the right side of my counter looks like this!

It's a breath of fresh air! I still need to do something about the left side as well as the lotion collection. . .I'm thinking a loaf pan would be cool to hold those. What do you think?


General Tso's Tofu: This recipe came together pretty quickly and was so, so good!

Pat raved over it. I'll definitely be making it again.


Rust and Patina: I've been wanting to find a natural way to color metal, something that doesn't seem so toxic. This how-to definitely fit the bill. Here are the metal bits I gathered for this tutorial. I recognize that some of them are already rusty, but I figured it couldn't hurt.

Here's how they came out.

I know it's kinda hard to see a difference (clicking on the pictures should bring up a larger view) so here's a close up of some of the keys where you can see some rusted, some patina-ed, and some didn't do much of anything.

Before rinsing, there was a bit more color on the metals, but I'm glad to know not to trust what the colors are before they are rinsed. Granted, this isn't a super quick method for coloring metals, but it definitely works for batches of items.

I'm really happy with all three of my Pinterest trials this week and am looking forward to trying the following out next week.

• All Natural Strawberry Ice Cream Bars from Happiness is Homemade off my Healty-er Eats board.
• Homemade Laundry Soap from Natural and Thrifty (I'll admit, this is a cheat for me because I've made this before and need to make some more in order to wash clothes next week) from my Good Ideas board.
• Button Bobby Pins from Christina Homemaker off my Just Do It . . .Yourself board.

Now, if you also decided to work your way through some of your Pins and join in on 'Pinning with Purpose', please share your results here! I can't wait to see what you did.

An InLinkz Link-up