I've been very busy making these earrings.  I'm going to be participating in a art/craft fair at my local botanical gardens in December and need to get some inventory up for that show.  I've been very pleased with the results.  One can actually produced 6 completely different looking earrings.  Plus its they are fun to make.

My husband and I visited Lakewood zoo in northern Wisconsin this past weekend.   We have a cottage near this family zoo (animal rescue).  This past August we visited and found out they had some baby tigers.    The one in this picture is only 7 weeks old so she can't be touched yet.  She has 3 sisters. 




The other 4 were born 3 weeks before the one above.  As of September 24th you are able to touch, pickup and play with the first set which is now 10 weeks old.

Yes I'm kind of on this recycling kick.  Of course that is not a bad thing.  My work is giving out water bottle this week to people that come in.  Alot of empty bottles are ending up in the garbage  and I thought, what a waste.  So I took some home and thought what can I make out of these.  Well here is my first attempt at flower.  I used oil paints to color the pedals, which really took very little paint to coat.  I wanted retain some of the clear transparancy so I didn't want to completely cover the plastic in paint.

I like to call them re-inCarnations.

Yes these are made from aluminum cans.  The only new thing on these is the brad in the center.  Otherwise I used an empty can and some spray paint my husband had left over in the garage.  I put a clip on the back of one that I can use as a pin.  I haven't decided what I'm going to do with the other one yet.

Update:  So I tried to make some more of these.  I used the same method but this time I tried to paint the pieces before I put them together.  I think I put the paint on too thick because as it dried it started to crack on me.   Good thing is I didn't have alot invested in the materials.  The other problem is I painted these outside as it was starting to get dark.  As they dried the crackling in them actually added some character so I'm going to use it.  I did find a better coloring material.  Alcohol inks !!.   I've had a set of these that I used like once on something and didn't like it.  My co-worker suggested I try them on the aluminum.  Oh my,  I'm in love with alcohol inks now.  Went out and bought 2 more sets of 3.  I now have 9 colors.  I bought the the little stamper thing for the inks and found that they use simple felt stuck to the velcro on the pad.  So I bought a big sheet of white felt and cut it into squares to use on the stamper.  Cost me $0.25... much cheaper than the $4.00 they charge for the pre-cut ones that Tim Holtz packages.  I can't believe anyone would buy those.  I also found out that you can use punches on the aluminum as well.  Its a bit hard but if you put it on the floor and push your knee into the punch it goes right through. 

For those of you who are stampers, there is a really unique new company that I learned about today.  They are called Raisin Boat.  I don't really get the name but the concept they came up with is an excellent idea.   They have a really great assortment of original stamps that you have the option to buy straight out or you can rent them.  Yes I said rent them.  Just like Netflix.  They have different rental plans that you can sign up for and the shipping is free to you and back again.   Its great for people who don't have alot of room to store stamps or if your like me, you just can't see investing in a stamp set that you may only use for one project. 

Here is their website if you'd like to check them out.  http://www.raisinboat.com/

My co-worker asked me if I could put names on some re-usable water bottles she bought on clearance at Kmart.  Her and her girlfriends are going to have a girls weekend up north in July and everyone brings something.  She thought it would be neat to have everyones names on the water bottles so they wouldn't mix them up.  So I did that for her using outdoor vinyl so when the bottles sweat it wouldn't fall off and of course then they would be washable.

My father passed away a little over  a year ago.  Although I miss him so much I am so gratefull to have my Father-in-law.  He has been really great and treats me like I am his daughter.  This is the card I made him for Fathers day this year.

My nephew, like most 12 year old boys, likes skateboarding.  He's likes to watch it and dress like them more than he likes to actually skateboard.  So I made him a shirt with t-shirt vinyl for his birthday. 

I haven't been able to craft much in the last week and a half as I have been in pain from what I thought was a shoulder issue which seems to come out of nowhere.  I've been told by the doctor and my chiropractor that the pain in my shoulder is actually a result of a pinched nerve in my neck.  I am finally feeling somewhat better today after the doctor prescribed me some anti-inflammatory medication and one for pain.  So decided to work on something for my husband. 

About a week ago my husband asked me if I could buy him some cheap candles.  He likes to burn them while out in the garage.  It warms the garage a bit and makes it smell better.  Rather than buy new ones I chose to recycle some of the old ones.  You know how after you burn a candle as much as it will burn, your left with all sorts of leftover wax around the edges and the center part is burned all the way down.  I'm talking about the kind that come in some sort of glass.   Well here is what I did to recycle these old candles into new ones. 

1) You need an old pot to put water in for boiling.
2) Fill half way with water and boil on stove.  Turn down so it's not rolling but still very hot.
3) Place one or two (depends on the pot size) into the boiling water. 
4) You will need at least 1 empty jar and some wicks (bought at the craft store, candle making area).
5) The wax will begin to melt just by having them in the water.  Once the wax melts you will need to pick up   the jar. I used an old gardening glove so It was easier to handle and just in case I slipped I wouldn't burn my hand with the hot wax. 
6) Set the new wick in the empty jar and slowly poor the melted wax into the jar.  Continue doing this until the jar is full with the wick sticking out enough to light.  You can mix the colors if you want.  I layered two and the other two are the same solid color.
7) Once all the melted wax is out of the jar I wiped out the jar to be used for the next one.

I was actually able to make four new candles for only $2.99 which is the cost of 10 wicks.  I can still make 6 more so really that is only .30cents a candle.  Its kinda of time consuming but was fun.  I still have some old candles to make more so when he needs more I know how it do it now.

I wanted to make t-shirts for my two nieces who's birthdays are at the end of this month.  They both are in gymnastics and I thought that a gymnastics shirt would be great for both of them.  I bought a sample pack from Nick at http://www.craftvinyl.com/.  The pack comes with 9 (4x9) pieces in 9 diffrent colors. Included is the teflon sheet you need to use with heat vinyl.  Nick includes fabulous directions with the vinyl and all I had to do was follow those and her is my first shirt:

I didn't complete any projects this week but almost.  I added some new crafting site favorites for you to check out.  I order a sampler pack of t-shirt vinyl from http://www.craftvinyl.com/.  I placed the order late last Friday and recieved it today.  Nick at craftvinyl so rocks.  I couldn't believe how fast I got my order and he put these really awesome directions on how to use the t-shirt vinyl in with my order.  I am definetly going to order from here again.  I also order some quilling supplies today around 10am.  I couldn't believe my eyes when I checked my email at 11:00am, they had already shipped my order...all I can say is WOW. 

I also sold 10 of my cards today to the Mitchell Park Domes gift shop today.  I'm so excited to see how well they sell.  They are so confident that they are going to sell that they are paying me outright for them rather than on consignment.  I'm very excited.   I'm hoping this weekend to replenish the card supply, get some coasters done and I need to make two t-shirts with my new vinyl for my nieces who's birthdays are comming up.  I'm feeling ambitious this weekend. :)

I found these glass candle holders at Hobby Lobby. They only had 5 left and they were clearanced at $1.20 a piece.  OMG, how could I pass that up. I bought all 5 of them and even took the holder they had them in.  I was going to etch the 1st one but had a bit of trouble placing the vinyl down so I decided that it was just easier to vinyl it instead.  I had to put the vinyl on transfer tape and then tape that down to my desk.  I then flipped the glass upside down and ever so carefully lined it up with the vinyl and set it down.  I pretty much had just one chance to get this thing on their straight.  I'm sure it wasn't skill but rather first timers luck I got it on their perfect the 1st time.  I'm going to glass etch my next one. 

I've been trying to make at least 1 card a day.  Sounds easier than it actually is, especially after putting in a 8 hour day at work and then trying to get things done around the house.  But last week I had two days off from work so I was able to get these cards done.