Catching up & Iron Craft # 4

So I have been a bit lax with blogging as of late. I needed to take a little breather because pesky responsibilities have gotten in the way. Here is what I have been up to lately...

You guys know I am a nerd but I now have earned some more nerd cred. This past Friday a group of my friends and I played our first game of Dungeons and Dragons. Tim, the Dungeon Master has been pouring over the books for the past month. It was fun figuring out all of our characters. Our friends are just out right ridiculous people (that I love) so it made for an entertaining evening. My friend Joe was really excited about his barbarian character, Kodiak, who loves axes. I was inspired to do a little doodle and this is what I came up with. I am going to try and eventually doodle all of our characters.

This past week I received my latest whimsey box full of craftacular wonders! I got stuff to make a memo board. I painted the wood block, but used a cloth to gently paint it. I felt like experimenting and I tried to paint it so the wood grain would show through. You can kind of see it but it came out fine. I used the washi tape that came in the box (big fan of washi tape) then I mod podged it down to adhere to the wood. The rubber bands then hold the note pad in place.

Last week was another Iron Craft reveal day! Michele came over and we made some magic in the craft dungeon. The latest challenge was inspired by award season and crafters were given the task to create something inspired by movies or TV.

A few weeks ago I had gotten this pretty sweet Marvel Comics fabric from Joann's Fabrics and I have been making some tablet cases with it. I have been ending up with some scraps and since this fabric is so cool I wanted to find ways to utilize every piece I can! So headbands seemed like the perfect project!   Also the Avengers was one of my favorite movies from the past year so I was glad to end up with an Iron Man head band. 

Michele came over and used some scraps from my Star Wars fabric and made her own headband! It was also her first close encounter with a sewing machine and she did really good! 

Countdown to Christmas!!!!

This year the Christmas season has been pretty easy going. I think thats because it is my first year not having to worry about finals... I get to actually enjoy the season! I have even had some time to catch up on some craft projects!

I made this main organizer because I am getting really tired of huge mail piles. I bought burlap fabric with vintage skeleton keys at Joann's. I didn't have a project in mind for it but I just really wanted it so boom, impulse buy. I put this together on a canvas we had laying around and viola! It came out pretty snazzy looking. I am in the midst of creating a tutorial for it, so look out for that soon! 

I have also been trying new types of crafts at work. Recently I did a craft with youngin's (ages 2 - 3) we  used shaving cream and food coloring to make a really neat marble effect when mixed on a paper plate. You then lay a piece of paper flat on top, then wipe away the shaving cream. I had some wintery type shapes for them to slap on it. I called it snowscapes. It wasn't as messy as I thought. Here is how my sample came out.

Getting back to Christmas fun time! I was excited to get my latest Whimsey box that was chock full of gift wrapping items! I also got a bunch of ribbon from my mother in law, which has been going to good use. I have been using brown packing paper to create my own wrapping paper. I have those sharpies left over form my mug craft and used those to make some fun whimsical wrapping paper. I think I got the wrapping thing down this year and proud of my skills! Here are the presents under our tree so far. 

I mentioned the mugs earlier and I got a bunch more for some customized christmas presents. I am working on a mustache for my friend fond of facial hair, Margaret and one for my sea cow loving friend Laura. I hope she will enjoy some mana-tea with it! 

Also don't forget about my friend Michele and her epic giveaway for the entire month of December! Go check it out at Short Girl, Long Island

26

So today is my 26th Birthday. Wooo! I have accomplished quite so far and I am looking forward to more, bring it! 

Tim got me a three month subscription to Whimseybox. If you are going "whimsey what?" Allow me to explain, you sign up and create a profile where you include your crafting interested then they will sound you a box full of random supplies and you are charged with the task of creating some projects with the items in the box. I can expect my first delivery at the end of the month. Have no fear I assure you that I will be documenting my Whimsical adventures.

I am also due for a phone upgrade, do you know what that means? Phone upgrade! This bad boy is on order and I can expect it in a few weeks (curse you back orders!) but I am just excited to finally have an iphone! I had another smart phone (that shall remain nameless) and I loved it at first. I was prepared to stick with this thing for the long haul. Then after a year it just started to suck big time. It makes the upgrade all the sweeter.

My mother in law is perhaps one of the sweetest people I had ever met! She sent me a card with a picture of this in with a message saying that it is on order. So it will arrive around the same time as the phone! If you want a swanky phone case check out threadless because there are tons of amazing designs for phone cases and t-shirts.

Later today my church is doing a blessing of the animals (for St. francis) so I am dragging the pooch out to get blessed. It's raining here so she may just have to wear her raincoat (stay tuned for pictures!). After that I am going to enjoy some delicious sushi with the fam. All in all it will be a good day!