Jadedmind

Chubs!

2012-02-11T08:51:00.000-08:00

Meet the newest member of my family, Chubs! Isn't he so cute?

Skool Days

2012-02-10T11:59:00.000-08:00

Rainy day, lots of calculus and a burnt mushroom, ham & provolone quiche. How sad :(

The Big 29!

2012-02-08T19:37:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday to Me!

Doing my part.

2012-02-07T16:46:00.000-08:00

300 to 1. I'll take those odds! I finally made the change from icky disposable plastic bottles to ONE refillable plastic bottle.

Homemade Love.

2012-02-06T20:05:00.000-08:00

Brisk day, homemade banana bread, and a geology exam.

History.

2012-02-05T08:21:00.000-08:00

An overcast day, lots of history homework, and a living room preview.

Springtime Sprouts

2012-02-04T12:43:00.000-08:00

Despite that pesky groundhog, spring is coming and I have proof!

I LOVE Cupcakes!

2012-02-03T11:07:00.000-08:00

Yummy Valentine's Day cupcakes ready for the oven!

A little bit of sewing.

2012-02-02T17:52:00.000-08:00

Some of what I have been up too.
Hand embroidered patchwork drawstring pouches.

Tis the Season

2011-11-30T12:34:00.000-08:00

Just when I think my stress level can't get any higher, I realize Christmas is right around the corner. Dare I say I haven't begun shopping? I haven't bought or made even one gift. I haven't even put up my tree and we usually do it every year the Friday after Thanksgiving. Honestly, I'm not feeling the Christmas vibe. I'm originally from the mid-west, so I'm used to a different kind of winter season than we receive here in southern Texas. The first Christmas we were all pleased to have a mild winter, it was new and very exciting. The second was great because my dad came to visit. This year just doesn't feel very joyous. To help get it the spirit I picked up a few ornaments.

Some old vintage ornaments:

A cupcake gifted from my mum:

My new favorites:

There. Now I feel a bit more jolly. Happy Holidays!

Reality check. Paint, check.

2011-11-25T15:01:00.000-08:00

Whoa! I can't believe it's been over three months since my last post. Apparently time flies when your not having fun. I think I have said before that I'm an adult returning back to school after over a decade. This semester has been trying both academically and personally. I have a chemistry class that is absolutely killing me. I spend 20+ hours outside of the 8 hours I spend in class on homework, labs, studying, and reading. I have managed to budget about 30 hours of homework time a week total. This class is completely monopolizing all my time. I can't wait for it to be over! I have even been depriving myself of any sort of creative time, no shop updates, blog posts, or crafts of any kind in hopes of getting a decent grade. This was a terrible idea in retrospect. Lesson learned.

Moving on, I was doing a bit of yard clean up, which I had been neglecting, and I decided to take a break...just for a minute. I sat down on the back porch and noticed this sad little table adjacent to my larger patio set. I don't remember this table, where did it come from? Then it dawned on me it was the girls indoor play table that they brought outside one summers evening. Oh dear! It was so sad looking, wobbly legs, all signs of varnish missing, and cracks everywhere. I realized that I had been neglecting everything and now the girls play table was ruined. Then I began to wonder is this how I look, worn and forgotten? I starred at this poor pitiful table, it said it all, I have failed to keep up all my obligations. I failed.

I brought that sad table in, fixed its wobbly little legs and cleaned it up the best I could. It still looked so pitiful. I'm going to skip homework and paint it! I rummaged through my paints. Tan? No, kind of boring for a kids room. Dark blue? Better, but still not right. Then I saw my rather large basket of acrylic paints. Screw it! I'm painting it every color! Well not every color. I only painted it colors I felt like painting, it was very freeing!

Here is the before:

And here is the after:

So much better, right? A life without beautiful things is no life at all!

Giveaway!

2011-08-12T14:23:00.000-07:00

Today is a pretty good day so far. I woke up early, got a ton of stuff checked off my to-do list. I did some back to school shopping, made some appointments and even found some time to sew! As I sat down to share my good day with you I instantly felt kinds sad :( See, I even made the sad face. :( there it is again. I was sad because I only have a few readers, everyday I hope for more. BTW, I love you guys! So, I decided to host a giveaway. Do you like free things? I sure do!

So here's what you get:

~If you win, you will receive the cutest patchwork pincushion, a felt needle book with a few pins and a 18 inch silver horseshoe necklace. (everything pictured below.)

~If Someone you refer wins, you get your very own horseshoe necklace and they get the pictured prize.

Here's what you gotta do:

~Follow my blog and then comment telling me you did so!
~To get a second chance tell someone else to do the same, have them say you sent them in their comment. If they win you get a horseshoe necklace sent to you too!

* If you already follow my blog just comment and tell me so I can enter you too!

The deadline to enter is Midnight on Thursday August 18th central time and I will be announcing the winner around lunchtime Friday the 19th.

Good Luck!

And our winner is:

New Cushion!

2011-08-06T14:27:00.000-07:00

I am so happy to share what I have been working on. Last year when I bought a new couch my mum decided to surprise me with some very nice cushions, very nice and very matching cushions, and by matching I mean matching the color of the couch identically. While this may be a good look for some, I'm just not a monochromatic person. I like colors, lots of them. After about a year of having to look at them on the couch, always thinking "Why didn't she buy any other color?!" Finally one of the littles spilled red juice right on the pillow and it stained! So, I can't just let them go to waste can I? Of course not! So here it is...tadah!

What do you think? I just love it! Off to work on number two...

Just Relax.

2011-07-28T15:23:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was the last day of my summer classes. I'm so glad it's over. I have about three weeks of no work, no school, and no deadlines! Today was my first day of "freedom" and I had no idea what to do with myself. I ending up doing pretty much nothing, which was so very nice. I have a lot of project that I have wanted to start when I had a little extra time. The hard part will be deciding what I am actually going to attempt with my limited free time. Too many ideas and not enough time! In the meantime a little embroidery will suit me just fine!

Summer hooky.

2011-07-18T17:13:00.000-07:00

Things are so hectic around here during the summer months. The kids are home for the break. The family comes to visit. I have a love/hate relationship with the summer. Its hot, busy and long but its nice to have less things that I "have" to do and spending all the time I want with the kids is great too! The days seem long but not long enough to squeeze any me time in them. I find myself sneaking away to do a bit of hooking. What is your guilty pleasure?

Neon

2011-07-15T15:24:00.000-07:00

Well I've wrapped up my third exam, only one more to go. Yay! So I rewarded myself with a bit of crafting. I love how the 80's are back and neon is everywhere. I got some neon fabric spray paint and I was so excited to try it out.

It was fun but to get the really saturated colors that I was looking for, I had to spray a lot on. The colors bleed on the thinner cotton fabric. I suppose I could have avoided this by waiting for it to dry between colors but I'm pretty impatient. I think the canvas that I used to protect my table turned out better. Maybe it was the texture that did it? One thing I know is that more experimentation is needed!

Sniffle, sniffle...

2011-07-14T17:43:00.000-07:00

Sorry for my short disappearance. I have been busy, busy, busy! All I want to do is:

All I have been doing is:

**sighhh** I long for the days where the only thing I have to do is craft.

Write it down!?!

2011-07-08T16:40:00.000-07:00

I think sometime this weekend I'm going to actually sit down and compile a list of all the ongoing projects that I have floating around the house. I am rarely at loss for fresh ideas, in fact I'm usually overloaded with them. I also have this nasty little habit of not writing things down and then forgetting about them as soon as a new idea pops in. I definitely have to work on that. I wish I could just take a snapshot of my newest ideas in my head and get back to what I was doing, maybe a virtual to-do list or a scrapbook of some type. Wouldn't that be nice? Anywho...this is part of a project I am working on. I will be sharing the details soon!

Mama D's Pasta Salad

2011-07-04T13:21:00.000-07:00

This has to be my favorite go-to recipe when I have to bring a dish to a party. Super fast and easy. It doesn't need to be refrigerated so it transports beautifully.

Ingredients:
1 - 12oz bag of tri-colored pasta
1 - large cucumber
1 - small can black olives, sliced
1 - pint cherry tomatoes
8oz(half a bottle) - fat free Italian dressing(you can use regular if you like)
1/4 cup - Parmesan cheese, grated

Start the water boiling in a large pot. While waiting for the water to boil I start chopping...dice the cucumber, halve the tomatoes, and open the can of black olives, dont forget to drain it. I just throw all this right in my large mixing bowl. Drop the pasta in the water as soon as it boils and follow the instructions on the bag. I usually take my pasta out when it's still a little firm. Do not wait until the noddles are super soft, you will end up with mush...bleh! Drain the noddles and run them under cold water to stop the cooking. Make sure they are cooled all the way and properly drained before adding them to the bowl with the veggies or you will end up with mush...again! Next add the Italian dressing and the grated Parmesan cheese. Toss untill everything is evenly coated. Now here is the secret to great pasta salad, make it the night before! The pasta is so much better the second day after the noodles soak up all the goodness.

Hope you love it as much as I do!

Stripes!

2011-07-03T20:31:00.000-07:00

The other day I came across a post about jello molds at the Manhattan Craft Room. I usually get stuck making deserts for holiday parties. This year has been especially busy with school and family. Going back to school as an adult is harder than I thought it would be. It's been so hot here that I didn't even want to think of turning the oven on. Then I saw the jello mold...Perfect! It was a little time consuming, but it was well worth it. It actually helped me to get some much needed extremely boring history reading done while I waited to pour each layer at the proper time. She's a beauty, I love stripes!

Long Hot One.

2011-07-01T18:01:00.000-07:00

Today has been one long hot day. Despite this never ending homework pile staring at me, I managed to get a bit of hooking in..hehe! I also have been working on this crazy jello mold. Hopefully I will have some pictures tomorrow. :)

Watcher.

2011-06-23T08:41:00.000-07:00

Summer is here! Well it has been here for a while in southern Texas, but now it is officially here. My days have been filled with water activities and homework. My nights have been filled with lots and lots of movies while trying to recover from heat exhaustion and dehydration! I'm not one that can actually sit and watch an entire movie. I must "do something" while watching a movie, like embroider or crochet. Is anyone else like that or am I the only one?

Last week my mum showed up with a small bag of goodies which she usually does. She never visits anyone empty handed, not even me! Inside was a strand of old wooden beads and some fabric swatches. What am I going to do with these beads? Maybe I could paint them, or use them as is? Lately, I have been embroidering so my thread case was fresh on my mind. I know, I will cover them in thread! So I did...while watching The Adjustment Bureau.

Lazy Days.

2011-06-17T16:12:00.000-07:00

I have been busy hiding from the searing heat today. The last time I checked it was 103...yikes! It looks so beautiful outside but once you step foot out that door you feel like your walking on the surface of the sun. I really don't feel like doing much of anything today. I tried some cleaning, not for me. Maybe some crochet, nah, no interest. What about that mound of homework, not a chance! I did manage to get a bit of embroidery done. Now it's time to go relax. I'm beat from all that hard work today! :P

Craft Hope.

2011-06-13T14:35:00.000-07:00

Today I packaged up and sent out the bracelets that I made to donate to craft hope. When I read about project 12 I felt an overwhelming sense that I had to contribute even if only in a small way. I planned to make tons of bracelets but between school(I am full-time student)and family life I managed to get seventy-five done. I am still very happy with the outcome because that is seventy-five little arms with a reminder that someone out there cares about them.

Granny Love.

2011-06-10T08:28:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was another fun filled sun packed day. I woke early to do a bit of estate shopping and found a great granny throw for $12 bucks! I spent the afternoon at the water park. I look like a scorched raccoon from wearing my sunglasses! In the evening we decided to have a family BBQ. What a perfect way to end a hot summers day!

Lovely.

2011-06-08T16:55:00.000-07:00

The days have been so hot here with no sign of letting up. If you plan on doing anything outside not water related you better do it early. So today we planned an early outing to the zoo with the fam. I was a nice way to spend the morning. As the heat began to rise and time neared for us to leave I was overcome with the realization that soon I would be home. Soon I would have to face the fact that I would have to tackle that huge pile of homework waiting for me. I was dragging my feet all the way to the front door. As soon as I arrived I saw a package. Whats this? It's the vintage fabric scrap bundle that I bought from sosovintage

Oh I love it! So lovely! Instantly I was in better spirits. I am dieing to get into this fabric but only after that homework is done!

And Again.

2011-06-04T13:52:00.000-07:00

So, I have had this blog for about three years now. I have revamped it tons of times and was never really satisfied with the outcome. Recently I started moving old photos around and importing them in to Picasa. Unfortunately in the process I managed to delete 90% of the photos that where on my blog. Doh! I was left with two options either go back and replace three years of photos or just start over. I'm starting over!

It actually came at a good time. When I started Etsy four years ago I had no idea what I was doing. Most every resource I found then suggested keeping your shop simple and sticking to one type of product i.e. Jewelry, knits, bags. That’s what I set out to do; it took lots of time and countless revisions. After four years I can honestly say, that is crap! At least for me it is. I love to create. I knit, crochet, embroider, make jewelry, and sew. I want a shop that has everything I enjoy making and that is what I am going to do. I have let my shop dwindle down to a mere fifteen items. Right now I am working on building stock, making patterns, updating my shop and revamping my blog (for the one millionth time.) Soon I will start listing brand new items in my shop. So here’s to new beginnings...again!