feelin that artsy feelin

ive been wracking my brain the past few days trying to figure out what i wanted to make for my dear friend for her birthday. i wanted to continue the tradition of handmaking gifts for my friends when i can. i think it means more because it comes from the heart, and you know, i'm broke. :-P after looking around for a while i thought of something great. something fun for her, fun for me to make, and useful! :D

here's a hint. ;)

the lovely elsie flannigan made one..

also, i drew this today. its me! :D

paint markers on wood panel

no-cost handmade birthday card tutorial

ok maybe this is cheating. i say no-cost but its really just no cost to me because i got lucky. i work at a craft store where they do custom picture framing. a customer had a work framed and they trimmed off the extra paper and gave it to me. so i got high quality water color paper for free. try this with other papers; it could work!

well the first step is to cut your hard to size. again, i eyeballed this project. then tape it down to your work surface. my dear friend kristin is turning 18, so i lightly drew a big 18 on the front. but you can do any picture or design or word or name of number you want. the idea here is just to diy rather than to buy from the store.

i made sure to get every part of the paper wet except for the 18.

i just plopped color blobs on like tie-dye. i wanted it to look springy.

 then i went back with micron pens and added details.

and i have terrible handwriting, so i printed out a little saying for the inside in a cute font and traced it with tracing paper, then went over it with micron pen.

turned out pretty cute, right? :D

gifts from the heart

today my very good friend Kristin turn 18! :D note:
KRISTIN, IF YOU'RE READING THIS BEFORE YOUR PARTY SATURDAY NIGHT, STOP! DON'T SPOIL THE SURPRISE!!!!

ok well, you might remember in the months of september, i vowed to NOT SPEND ANY MONEY for a whole month. well, last month i went a little overboard and i think another swearing off spending is in order for the month of february. although its only 4 days into this month and i've already spent $30 in korean stickers- more on that later- and a bottle of nail polish and floral wire.. ok ill just stop there. EEPS! :-S  well this project cost me NOTHING! :) but its from the heart and it turned out super cute so i know she'll love it. ;) the only thing i spent money on was that i got her a disposable camera to go with it. $3.50. i can live with that.

*clears throat* okie dokie then. well TRYING to be frugal,  here's what i made, a photo album, posing with one of the cute handmade owls that the lovely Brina gave me in the Surprise Ball Gift Swap a while back. <3

cute, right?  want to make one? well here's how! :D
Materials:

1. cardboard
2. fabric
3. fabric glue
4. ribbon
5. eyelets and eyelet tool
6. clear plastic page protectors
7. scrapbook paper
8. sewing machine / needle + thread + patience 
9. scrapbook paper

optional for decoration:

1. fabric paint
2. felt
3. small beads
4. embroidery thread

ok so first thing, cut your cardboard. (i got my cardboard from the packaging insert from a calander - $0)

the back cover is 5 X 8 inches, and the front is two parts so it has a hinge. the larger part is 5 X 6 1/2 and the smaller part is 5 X 1 inch. i poked 3 holes in the small part, and 3 holes in the back cover. make sure they line up!

next, chose your fabric. i chose solid pink with a striped pattern on the inside. the fabric for the outer cover should be roughly 8 X 9 1/2. just as long as you have enough to fold over, really. i cut the fabric for my inner cover the same size as the cardboard, 5 X 8. for the inner fabric, cut out the corners, pin about a half inch inside, iron and sew. (fabric scraps i had laying around for over a year - $0)

yeah, i know it's crooked. i eyeballed this project. i wasnt exact on everything. :]

ok so now you have your covers (front and back, inside and outside) all cut out. time to make 'em pretty! :D

you can do whatever you want for this step, but i chose to use felt and spell out PICS with beaded and embroidered detail. these are all things i had on hand. $0. booyah.

cute cute cute.

i embellished the inner covers with a little fabric paint. i taped off sections and brushed over it with gold fabric paint. i tried one with stripes and one with zig zags. i liked the zig zags  :]

next,  spread fabric glue all along the cardboard out to the edges. place the cardboard on the fabric, centered. make sure when you glue on the front cardboard (the two pieces)that the gap between then is 1/2 inch, so together they are as long as the back cover, 8 inches. and keep in mind that you'll need to glue the 1 inch cardboard to your left side, since you're glueing it to the wrong side. so once you turn it over it'll be on the right.. i know that should go without saying, but hey, its something i would do. :-P

 now cut the corners out of the outer cover fabric and glue the flaps in.

   now cut the corners out of the outer cover fabric and glue the flaps in.

 next, glue on the inner covers. i shifted mine over so it would be easier to poke holes through the pink fabric for the binding.

now you'll need to add the eyelets for the binding. this part was tricky. just make sure you make your holes big enough to put the eyelets through where they won't get tangled in the fibers of the fabric.

the way eyelets work is this: they come with a little shaped piece of metal, and another one that's a little longer. you put your eyelet between them and hit it with a hammer. the two pieces bend the back of the eyelet down and hold it into place. if that doesn't make sense, there are instructions on the package of eyelets. and they're cheap. like $2.50 for a 24 pack with the special metal pieces included.

well, your cover is DONE! :D mine got a little warped and wrinkly.. :( so sad.

now for the inside. cause it's what's inside that counts, right? riight?

for this part i took regular page protectors and cut them down to 5 X 8 inches.

now stitch up the bottom and right side. make sure you leave the top open so you can slide in paper and pictures. the left side won't matter because it will be bound with ribbon at the end.

i decorated the edges of some of the page protectors with sharpie and stamps. (if you use stamps, make sure you use the Stayzon brand. other brands won't dry on the plastic and will just smear. ew.)

i also added a few random pages of paper and magazine pictures so my friend can journal on them.

now the binding part is rather tedious, but don't give up now, you're so close! :D

the hole punch i had didn't punch a clean hole through the plastic. it more like, popped it? so i had to add each page one by one and kind of struggle with it. but it was worth it. :] tie ribbons in bows and finish ends with fray-stop or clear nail polish. cute, right?

 what it looks like with photos. this is one of a good friend of mine with my kitty when she was a baby. *aaaw she was so cuuuuute!!!*

 a journaling page

another journaling page

warning: this project is likely to make your room look like this!

gaaaah! D:

wasn't that fun? gift wrap and card tutorial coming tomorrow! ;) stick around.

i'm back!

Long time no see, blogosphere. I missed you.

I've been feeling really off lately- just not myself. I haven't felt like doing any of the things I normally like to do, like blogging, or crafting, or studying Korean. All I like to do lately is clean my room and watch tv. I've been feeling really bored with things lately. I want to get back into the swing of things. i feel like life has been kind of empty since I stopped doing the things I love. So here it goes! I'm back! This is what I've been up to lately!

WARNING: VERY PHOTO HEAVY POST! I had a big weekend. :)

My 22nd birthday was Thursday, Nov 11th. It had a slight damper since I got basically "dumped" by the boy I was seeing the night before. In his defence though, he was going to wait until after my birthday. I was the one who was like, "Ok, so what's the deal with you and me..?" But I think him and I are on good terms still, so I didn't let it get too me too much the next day.

I went to breakfast with my parents and sister in the morning, then my sister took me to the mall, where she got me a cute Abercrombie shirt with winter owls on it, and I got myself a pair of sequin shoes. Then we went to a Mexican restaurant where I got a margarita and didn't get carded, which I thought was weird, because I know I look like I'm 17.

My bestie picked a nice Thai place in Dayton to take me to dinner. He made reservations for our group of friends, which I thought was nice, since he knows I hate using the phone with strangers.

 jake: "Dude, Angie, you just got photobombed by James Dean!"

 The waiter stared at my ID for like a whole minute. I've been legal a whole year, people, come on.

 I'm so lucky to work with such great girls. I love them to pieces. Michelle, Amber, Craig (Amber's BF)

On Saturday after work we all went bowling. I hate bowling, but I thought it would be something fun to do with the girls. I was right. We had a blast!

 Kathleen and our pink ball.

The lady at the bowling alley also thought I was in high school.
"I'd like a medium coke, a Bud light, and a small pizza."
"A coke and what??"
"Bud light?"
"..That's what I thought you said.. Can I see your ID?"
"Here. I'm older than I look.."
[inspects ID] "Yes you are."

I'm a lightweight. I was pretty happy after just one. My [underage] friends went up to ask for another one for me, and the guy who rents the shoes out apperently just gave them one to give me, which I thought was nice, but I know he totally just did it because he was trying to get in my pants.. lol Sorry dude, no thanks. Although I did go give him a hug- I was drunk. :]

 mustache party! Kristin looks distinguished.

 I really hate Ohio.

Kathleen and me lookin sexy!

 "Wait, who put their name in as 'Oatmeal'? Adam, did you do that?" "No, Oatmeal is Helen!" "Oh. Oatmeal, you're turn to bowl."

 in my beloved korea, Nov 11th is Pocky / Pepero Day. Like another Valentines day.

 Melissa of Oh My Darling sent me this. :) I thought it was suuuper sweet that the thought of me even though I haven't blogged in like a month. This was super funny too. Here's some of my fav pages below:

 I may just have to try this. Sounds like a good time. :]

 Well of course!

 My ex sent me this card. He and I dated for years and we decided to stay friends. So I thought it was super sweet that he sent me a card. It actually made me burst into tears when I read it. lol Because he had a lot of problems when we were together but I stayed with him for a long time because I wanted to be someone he saw as being "on his side" while he thought the rest of the world was against him. I had always wanted to be his little "ray of light." So this really made me happy. :)

 we have a very unique way of talking to each other.. lol

 adorable owl stickers from April

 April also got me this owl pillow from the etsy shop "Fong's Studio." Very cute!!

 And a cell phone charm. i love it! it's a piece a' bread! :)

 my crafty friend, Alyssa made me a cute cute card and these little ornaments. Aren't they fun?

 this was a little present to myself! My new favorite shoes.

 My bff Amber got me this pretty handpainted box.

 She also got me this pretty asian hair pin and a Hello Kitty change purse, where I now keep my business cards.

And this  is my cat wishing she could fit into a tiny box.

I hope you enjoyed peeking in at my birthday celebration! I enjoyed sharing with you! Hopefully I won't take any more long blogging hiatuses.