Forever In-Progress

Good Morning!

I think I'm procrastinating again...

I'm in the middle of working on a new kind of banner and while part of me is saying "Don't think, just do!" The other part of me is still moving along ever-so-slowly.

I posted my glitter letters while I was glittering them. Here they are drying from the clear acrylic coat I just sprayed on them.

Last night I finally decided to try to make this happen. This was how it went: I would go near it for a bit, hang something, walk away, drink some water, read news on my phone, hang something else, look through Instagram photos, look something up on the internet, ask my boyfriend his opinion, and finally I hung the last strand of fringey trim and promptly went to bed.

It's not finished. I'm still well in the stage of figuring this one out. I think the huge amount of problem solving is getting to me but I really do love the progress so far. I want it to be amazing! After seeing it hung on the wall like this I realize the gold needs to come up in the middle. Also, there should probably be feathers. I can't do anything without feathers.

I feel like by tracking my progress here I will be more on the ball getting this done. Maybe by the end of next week it will almost be finished. / :
What I have really been keeping up with are these animal jars. I want to get a lot of them done so should I do art fairs I will have plenty. They are really addictive to make. Here is a family portrait.
And here are a few wanting special attention.

Since I started making these I've been trying to figure out how to package them. So far I like them like this with tissue paper and a ribbon. I may buy fun little cheapy toys to stick inside so each one comes with a surprise.

Have a fantastic day today. If you find yourself in a procrastination cycle think of me. No! Don't think of me! Think of your project and how to finish it!

xoxo

Procrastination At It's Best

Sometimes I move at such a snail's piece when I'm working in my studio. I have ideas for projects and I get really excited and can't wait to get started but when it comes to the execution I stall. I started cleaning little messes that I find on dressers and tables. I decide I should vacuum my rabbit's cage. I make lunch and watch a tv while eating. Finally I realize the day's almost over and I haven't even started yet. I know it's because I'm so scared of failure. I've always been this way with my work. I'm afraid that I won't be able to make my ideas come to life or if I do they will be terrible. Now that I know the problem why can't I just fix it?

Are you this way? What do you do to get out of that funk?

I have a new banner that I'm very anxious to see finished but after spending a whole day hem-hawing around it all I managed to do was get my letters glittered. To be fair this did take FOREVER! Now what? I have an execution problem I'm dealing with but mostly I'm just finding new things to clean.

Now that I've whined a little bit my plan is to finish this up and get a handle on this fear. I don't know how many times I've told others that if it doesn't work just try something else. It's time I tool my own advice...

I'm also working on a cupcake liner garland, too. I'm sure it will be finished by 2013. ( :
Happy Tuesday!

Factory Girl

In the last few days my studio has turned into an animal lid making factory. It feels like magic watching these animals turn into solid gold. Well... you know what I mean.... I figured if I'm going to start getting serious about art fairs I need to start making lots of stuff.

There'e also a custom-ordered black Corgi in the mix.
I struck jar gold when my future Grandfather-In-Law gave me all these jars he had been saving. These glass fruit jars are some of my favorites. I love their shape.
Here's a cuty-pie fish I made a while back. He's been hanging around in my studio for a while now. I think I like him in there. He's sort of my muse.

You know who else is my muse? Luxie. If I could have one wish it would be to let her talk so I could know exactly what she's thinking. It drives me crazy that I don't know. Any rabbit whisperers out there?
I hope wherever you are the weather is unseasonably warm and fantastic. I also hope this isn't a sign of global warming. Eep!

Animal Chalkboards!

Hey, y'all! I have a new goodie from the studio to show ya!

I had a collection of these larger horses and a dinosaur that used to growl but has since become passive and doesn't growl anymore. I didn't know what to do with these guys until I got myself a can of chalkboard paint. So I began to spray and spray and spray.

I also got my hands on a silver tiger I spray-painted a couple of months ago. And now... chalkboard animals!

You can leave notes for loved ones in a way that is way more creative than boring pen and paper.
Hey may not roar anymore but he sure makes a cutie-pie blank canvas for all your doodle needs...



I'm thinking about putting some of these guys in my shop but I'm also thinking maybe it's time I start doing art fairs. I've made many many more animal lid jars and I'm discovering new ways to make banners. Maybe an art fair is the perfect venue for me.

What do you think? Do you do art fairs? Any advice?

Have a fantastic Monday. Listen to some music and dance around before work. I'm going to...

Crafting Anthem

My good friend Adrienne sent this to me on facebook. This should be the anthem for every crafter. I'll be working all day today in my studio and singing this song at the top of my lungs!

If you don't know Leslie Hall check her out here. She's super duper neat-o!

Animal Lids!

Thank you to everyone for the sweet comments on my engagement photo! We got the Save-The-Date postcards in yesterday and they look good which is a relief. I was worried something would potentially get lost in the screen to paper translation but it worked out fine. Phew!

Yesterday I had the day off and I really made the most of it. I also inhaled a lot of spray paint fumes but it was all worth it. I have mentioned before my love of the app Craftgawker. I get so many great crafting ideas from this site. For a while now I have been wanting to make jars like these submitted by The Daily Telecraft.

The night before my day off work I was brainstorming ideas and decided it was finally time to make the animal jars so that was my plan. And then a crazy moment happened when my friend Jessica posted this blog on my facebook page and recommended I check this out.
I think the universe was telling me something so I definitely gave it a go.

I bought a pack of animals, spray paint and jars. The biggest pain was figuring out what glue to use. I originally used a glue that I thought worked well with metal but I was wrong wrong wrong! Little animal feets were popping off left and right. I was bummed but not ready to give up. My boyfriend finally suggested epoxy so a made my millionth run to the stores for the day and finally found a proper solution. I'm still a little scared to tug too hard on the animals but I think they are mostly staying in place. I like the gold and silver spray paint best for a more polished looks but may try this again with different colored paint. I have some light cool blue paint that might be nice. I love this project! It's easy to do and the material are very easy to get. From now on every pickle jar I empty is going to be made into an animal lid jar! The possibilities are endless!

I can't wait for my next day off!

xoxo

Wake Up!

Forever ago I made this green and blue banner and knew I wanted to put words on it but I couldn't commit to what it would say. Finally last night I caught the crazy crafting bug and made myself pick something. Our bedroom has always been the eyesore of our place. We once had plans to frame a bunch of art and hang it above our bed but that's been over a year and I'm not sure if it's ever going to happen so I decided to hang the banner there. And what better for the bedroom then something encouraging you to Wake Up? My boyfriend said I should have hung it on the wall in front of our bed so we would see it in the morning but I think I will instead make another one for that wall that says Good Morning. Or, I'll wait another year and maybe we'll finally have framed art.

Want a banner for your place? Write me at abeautifulparty at hotmail dot com.

More Crafting Goodness

I'm back with a few more images of my crazy crafting weekend.

On one of my walls I had a cluster of art but it was starting to drive me crazy. Frames kept getting bumped into and nothing ever hung straight. I finally took them down in a mad fit and immediately filled these wooded looms with fabric. I've seen this done a lot and thought it was the perfect and cheap way to decorate. And, they are circles, you can't tell if they have been bumped.

This wall is definitely a work-in-progress but this is the start.

I also made a couple of paper flowers. This will go well with the fabric loom wall. It was really easy to make. Click here for a tutorial from A Subtle Revelry. It's crazy how many blogs there are out there surfing around on the web. I could spend full weeks just reading them all.

But instead I'll spend a couple of hours and then get back to crafting.

xoxo

I recently discovered this band called Twin Sister and you can download one of their albums for free right here. A very sweet holiday gift. I like what I've heard of them so far.

My girlfriends are coming over today for a craft day. We are going to attempt to make yarn wreaths. I say attempt because I don't really know what I'm doing. I do, however, know how to make mimosas. That's an important thing to know when you're crafting.

I'll post results later... Wish me luck.