Japan Relief on Etsy

my heart goes out to those in japan and the loved one coping with tragedy and loss. before i begin this post, i want to tell you a little something i overheard at work. a coworker told me at her church they all put a red dot (symbolising the "rising sun" flag of japan) on their hands, and every time they see it, they say a silent prayer for japan. i thought it was a good idea and thought id share. :)

if you'd like to donate to japan tsunami relief, please do so at the red cross website, or text REDCROSS to 90999 and the donation will be on your next cell phone bill. or, if you love to help as much as you love to shop and support art, you can donate by purchasing certain items in etsy! many etsy sellers are banding together to raise money for japanese tsunami relief and i encourage you to be a part of it.

 dream BIG for Japan -flower seeds watercolor cards by treespacestudio

kokeshi doll stackables by stackblocks

29 paper cranes by MadeByJo

screenprint for japan by Pinipiru 

lucky bamboo in aquamarine pot watercolor by TheJoyOfColor

matsushima tshirt by uzura

a bear hug for japan by sleepyking 

(i <3 sleepyking, by the way)

earlier in the week i donated $10 to the red cross. i wanted to give more but im totally broke.. but while making this post i saw these stickers and said oh, what the hey. :) i went ahead and bought them.

japanese animal stickers by Squidbombed

pray for japan <3

what a fun blog: Creative Kismet

i found the blog "Creative Kismet" today. very inspiring craftyness, clever and low cost ideas, and great tutorials!

these are all crafts that have diy totorials. check them out! :)

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

keeping my hands and heart busy

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Lately I've been kind of down. :( Just a little depressed. You may have even noticed I haven't been posting every day. The reason I've been sad is that the house that my family was planning on moving into for the last three months- well, the bank won't give us a loan to buy it, since the house is a "fixer-upper." Which breaks my heart. In my head, I've been feathering this new nest all summer, planning out paint colors, and furniture placement, and decor. And now the dream is crumbling before my eyes. We're gunna keep trying, seeing if there's any loopholes or anything, ANY way that we can get this house.

And off topic (but I'm getting somewhere with this) I blogged about my love of the diaries (and photo staging of the diaries) at atseoul.com. And you may have noticed that I was being a little cynical about it. As much as I love (love love love love) these diaries and the photos of them, I thought they were a little unrealistic, at least for my life.

Well they really inspired me to make some changes. One of the major beliefs that has driven my life the past year or so is the idea that if there's something in your life that you aren't happy about, change it! I know I can't change the fact that the bank won't give us a loan, but letting out some of my creativity has really helped me feel less depressed. I've started an art journal because I was inspired by the diaries at atseoul.

And today I spent the ENTIRE day cleaning my room, rearranging all my little knick-knacks, and even my posters. I had been itching to decorate my "new room" for months, so I took that energy out on my current room. And it feels great.

I'm still disappointed about not getting my dream house. (although still hopeful that we can work something out) But I've been finding ways to change my life to be something better.

 this is the opening spread. kind of an "introductory" page. i made another page too, about my obsession with the korean soap opera Playful Kiss, but i'll post that one later.

 I have so much jewelry.. SO much. I went through it today and sorted out the things I wear VS the things I don't. I'm planning on listing the 4 pound shoebox full of unwanted jewelry on etsy as supplies for reconstruction. anyone interested?

and yes, i finaly posted my latest creation. this is kevin. he needs a home. he's now listed in my etsy shop, for anyone who's ever wanted a cute little owl buddy.  ;)

this seems to be working..

I've figured out how to get finally tackle my ever-growing, never-shrinking To-Do List. The key: Baby steps. Each day I've decided to tackle one thing. That way it doesn't get so overwhelming. Even if I don't feel like doing anything off the list, I tell myself, "Just DO it. It won't even take that long!" I tried this approach every day last week and it really seemed to work for me. Among the things I FINALLY got accomplished were listing some things in my etsy shop, writing back my Dear Darlings Pen Pals, making some new clay owls and painting them, sewing a button back on a cardigan, and studying.

 can you even see him through all that clutter??

there he is!! :) isn't he cute?

I'm hoping to list this little guy on Etsy soon. I actually made 5 owls, but they all dried a little lopsided. Not sure why.. This is the sole survivor of the batch.

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I'm planning of seeing Legend of the Guardians in 3D tomorrow with a friend. I'll let you know how it is. I've heard it contains "epic owl battles." Sounds *awesome!* lol 

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Also, I have to admit something super dorky.. I'm totally addicted to the show Playful Kiss. It's a Korean TV series about this girl who lived with her dad, and their house collapses in an earthquake. They go to stay with an old friend of her dad's, and it turns her dad's friend is the father is her crush! Her crush who had publicly rejected her *in a really mean way* at school that day!! XD So now she's living with her crush and he's so mean to her but you know she still likes him and it's all like "omg does he like her back? Is he gunna kiss her?? Is he gunna kiss her?? Omg they came so close to kising but they didn't! AAAAH!"

.. .. *deep breath*.. OK, I have to regroup here.. I told you it was dorky!.. *I'm too old for this sort of thing..*

Seriously though, I LOVE it.. It's funny, sweet, romantic, and you know.. the star of the show, Seung Jo, is toooootally hot..  *sigh*And I so have a girl crush on the guy's mom, too. She's super cute. :]

If you're *ahem* into this sorta thing, like I am.. *embarrassed a little* you can watch it here.

old stock

I'm planning on putting a lot of my older jewelry stock up for a clearance sale soon in my etsy shop. I feel like I have a ton of stuff just sitting around, not selling. I want to clear it out and hopefully, HOPEFULLY, get some new stuff up in my shop here shortly. So look forward to reduced prices on some cool and pretty things. :) And look forward to fresh and exciting changes.

: just to name a few ;)     Sometime this weekend will be the big markdown day.

gettin crafty again

As promised, today I made some time to make some crafts. I was getting a little jealous of all the cool fall ideas I'd seen on people's blogs, so I just had to join the bandwagon.

 I'm planning on using this in a scrapbook once the month is up.

I collected these leaves four years ago, from the house I grew up in. I'm glad I finally found a use for them, rather than just keeping them pressed in a book in a drawer.

The pennants are cut out from paper bags I got when I ordered clothes from ShopRuche.com.

These are just little things. I did them in about an hour. I don't want to get too into decorating my room because I'm probably going to be moving in a month, but I wanted to get into the fall spirit. And like I said before, I was jealous of all the other cool stuff people were making. :-P hehe

Spread the Love Week- Day Two

Spread the Love Week has been a lot of fun so far. Last night I made these little cards to pass out. I wanted to spread the word about Spread the Love. If anyone would like to have these cards to pass out, email me and I will send you the PDF file. (angiemayhandmade [at] yahoo [dot] com)

Last night I had the idea to make little bracelets and stamp "I LOVE YOU" on them. (inspired by these wish ribbons) But instead I decided to make my own stamp. I had bought a stamping block and carving tool a while back for Elsie's Style School, but I never got around to using them. Well today I finally did. I think I can count this as something on my goals list, too.

It reads, "Serang heyo," my favorite Korean phrase. It means I love you, and it was the first thing i learned to say/read/write in Korean.

I made a bunch of ribbon bracelets. Aren't they cute? I made a trip to Jo Ann Fabrics today to pick up fabric paint, and while I was there, I saw this cute little egg whisk. My mom had mentioned she wanted to get a whisk, but she doesn't like to spend money, so she hasn't gotten one. At first I passed it up, thinking, "If she really wants it, she can buy it herself," and started walking on. Then I stopped dead in my tracks and remembered what this week is all about.

My mom's gunna have the cutest, happiest, most cheerfuly rainbow whisk ever. I hope she smiles every time she makes eggs. Oh, and after I checked out, I gave the cashier one of the cards I made, and told her about Spread the Love Week. Which was awkward for me cause I'm super shy. :] But I did it anyway. Is anyone else out there taking part in Spread the Love week? Let me know all about it!

Serang heyo. <3

summer nights, staying in

i made something yesterday. this little owl. i think he's cute. :) i haven't put him on etsy yet because i haven't taken pictures of him (other than these). he's sitting on my korean folder. it says, "hangumal" which is korean for korean. (like how we call it "spanish" but they call it "español," you know? we call it "korean", they call it "hangumal.") anyway, i thought i'd share my newest owl, and a little sneek peek into what i spend every night doing...

eating snacks, studying korean, drinking wheat grass juice, and watching music videos on youtube. i'm up till 3 am most nights doing the same thing. and i love it. this is the best summer i've had since i was a little kid. i couldn't be happier with the way things are. well, things could always be better, but i can't complain!! =D

my friend alyssa made me this hello kitty cutout with her cricket machine. (i mentioned alyssa here- where she decorated some really awesome Tom's Shoes.) well, alyssa was on TV last night. if you watched the show bridezillas on WE at 9:00, you may have seen her. she was the maid of honor, and her friend alex was the bride(zilla). if you missed it, you can catch the second half next week. Sunday, WE network, 9:00. don't miss it! alyssa is a really good friend of mine. i've been working with her at hobby lobby for almost 4 years now. if you like, you can even check out her etsy! she makes REALLY cute resin jewelry.