Saturday Round-Up: 10/4/14

Happy Saturday kittens! Since it's the weekend, I thought I'd use today to post a few of the things I've been watching/reading this week, news or not!

http://vimeo.com/26612612 - How To Sew A Skirt In One Hour
I'm trying to learn how to use my sewing machine... so I've been watching a lot of videos like this and stocking up on the supplies I need! I went and bought fabrics for a few Christmas presents this week, as well as elastic. Any tips for a newbie sewer??

https://screen.yahoo.com/videos-for-you/baby-adorably-flexes-muscles-dad-173502964.html
Do I even need to explain this?? Basically, any video with babies in it is my thing and I'll probably watch this one again a few times for good measure. EEEEE

https://gma.yahoo.com/york-principal-joins-student-epic-laser-cat-yearbook-162943243--abc-news-pets.html
If I had a cat, we'd take pictures like this!!!

Besides Internet, I am:
-Reading 'Salem's Lot by Stephen King for my book club (which is taking up quite a lot of time - it's nearly 700 pages long!). I've dedicated myself to reading 50 pages a day... I'm on page 410 now.
-Watching The Simpsons! I'm on Season 3 so far - I've honestly never watched it before now. I am enjoying it so far, even though my friends say the best is still yet to come!
-CRAFTING! I've gotten a few things started for Christmas presents (a scarf, some collage bits). I'm excited to get back to making things for the people I love.

What have you been reading/watching lately? Please let me know! I could always use suggestions <3

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Picking up some hobbies...

It's been a weird time transitioning between being a student and being a worker. Since I'm still searching for a full-time job, I feel a little bit stuck. I'm between many things right now.

In trying to find my current place, I feel a bit lost on the hobby front too. When I was in college, I had a lot of time to work on hobbies or try fun new things. I love to knit and crochet, as well as collage, sketch, and create. However, with a lot of my time and energy going towards job hunting and my current temp job, I find myself in a hobby rut. I haven't had time to simply just make anything!

I've been thinking a lot about Etsy - many of the blogs I follow have really cool writers who also make amazing things on the side. I would love to be able to craft or create something that people would be interested in and maybe even want to buy.

Last night, I got out some scrap yarn and my trusty ol' big needles. It felt good to watch some TV and just knit a little bit. I'm hoping that once I get a job, I can start learning how to use my sewing machine. It'd be nice to make some cool things with all my fabulous fabric (see previous post). I'd also love to make some jewelry and learn how to quilt. I have a lot of things to knock off my crafting bucket list!

Do you have any recommendations for a hobby or craft to try? What do you do/make on Etsy? I'd love to know!

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London Graffiti...

J and I are back from our big adventure abroad! We got back one week ago, and we both have started our jobs. Things are really busy. I'll work on a longer post about the travels, but I thought for now that I would post some of the images I took in London at the Brick Lane market. It's really popular for street art - and as someone who loves graffiti, I was really impressed. These are some of my favorite pictures!

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A Bit of Shimmer...

I am obsessed with Sally Hansen's new line of top coats! I already own Big Matte, but I just recently purchased Big Shimmer, and I have to say it's fabulous. It is going to completely transform all of the colors in your collection you may be getting bored of . It works really well and makes the polish shimmer and shine!

Below is one of my recently purchased Julep colors, Courteney, with just one coat of Big Shimmer on top. I love it and can't wait to experiment more!

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Fun Fabric...

I had such a nice weekend with my Aunt who loves to craft! We went to JoAnn's and I bought a yard of a few different fabrics that I thought were just adorable.

Yes, those are little hot dogs in sweaters, a Simpsons print, a breakfast print, a map, some piggies in mud, and flowers!

Does anyone have any great projects for using only 1 yard of fabric? I'm going to start doing research on fun small projects to do. I'm not great with my sewing machine, but I'm going to learn! 

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Being Cord-ial...

I'm working on a project right now for someone that involves preparing some fishtailed paracord bracelets! I've never worked with the material before, but it's so much fun! I look forward to possibly making some of these for myself in the future.

Ta-da! The neat finished project!

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Craft Yr Own: Nail Polish

I read something on a website about how to make your own nail polish using just clear polish and eyeshadow.  As a thrifty crafter, I had heard of doing this before but was unsure of how it would really turn out.  SPOILER: IT WORKS & IT'S COOL!

Tools that I used:  

NYC HD Colour Trio Eye Shadow in Electric Funk

Spoiled (by Wet n' Wild) clear nail polish

Paper and tape

Plastic ziplock bag

Knife

Open up the eye shadow and choose the color you like. Place the trio inside the plastic bag and use the knife to scrape all the polish out from the outside (that way the knife stays clean and mainly, so do you!).  Once you've gotten all of it out, seal it up and use the knife to tap and gently push out any chunks.  Next, take the brush out of your clear coat and set it aside.  Roll up a little funnel out of paper - make sure the tip is wide enough so that it doesn't touch the top of the clear coat once you put it in the top of the bottle.  Then, open up the plastic bag and tap the shadow into the funnel leading into the clear polish. 

Once you've got all the powder inside, place the brush back in and seal it up tight.  Now, roll and shake it up so it's all evenly distributed.  VOILA! You know have your OWN custom-made polish!  Below are pictures of my bottles - I will post an update when I use them to show coverage and color.

One of my final creations!

Both of my new creations!

You can see swatches on the right side of the paper towel.

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fun valentine's day card.

I love to craft. I'm not great at any specific medium, so I always try to dabble in a lot of different things to see if one will stick.  My lovely Aunt is a real life Martha Stewart, and she always has amazing tips and tricks for me.  For my birthday, she sent me a decorative rotary kit, I presume for scrapbooking or photo books.  I thought it would be really fun to use for cards!

Above is a card I made for my mom for Valentine's Day.  It was easy and so much fun!  The kit I received comes with a rotary tool that punches little holes in a pattern.  I just went through with my sewing needle and red thread and stitched the pattern.  I finished off with little black dots with Sharpie in the open spaces.  Of course, the center is made of hearts from a reddish paint chip (I am a bit of a paint chip horder!).  This card is so easy and relatively cheap (or free) to make - you can also make a zillion variations for any occasion!

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