Happy Holidays!

I wanted to take a moment in the middle of family madness to wish you all a very lovely HOLIDAY! This year has been a tricky one. I haven't been the greatest blogger but I'm really happy I've hung in there! I'm so grateful for anyone who reads this blog and for all the wonderful inspiration out there in the internet world! I'm looking forward to the new year with all the growing and learning that is bound to happen! But for now I'm going to be lazy, indulge myself with sweets and enjoy my crazy family for a while! I wish you all a lovely holiday and may your families and travels be safe!

Homemade Gifts!

This year my family is doing all homemade gifts. I feel like I'm normally good at this kinda stuff but I've felt really creatively stuck lately. Which means I've been terribly slow getting these done. The deadline approaching is really getting me to kick into gear. I wanted to share what I've gotten done so far! I still have to wrap and label all of them. Plus I've got a few more projects that still need to be finished up. PHEW not enough time! 

Tic Tac Toe games! I got this idea from Zoei and I love how they turned out! I got the pieces from HERE and the bags from THERE. I also found this additive from Martha Stewarts crafty line of stuff that you add to acrylic paint to make it fabric paint. I got it HERE and it worked really well. It thinned out the paint to make it easy to lay on the fabric and wasn't crunchy when it dried. Overall a pretty fun project! 
 I made some specialty sets by printing out mini photos! These were a bit more work with the printing, cutting, pasting then giving it a nice top coat. This set is Van Gogh verse Paul Gauguin! (I'm a art nerd I know! But I think my dad will like the cleverness!)
 This one is my sisters dogs! I made this for my brother in law, he loves both these puppies! These turned out hilariously cute! On these ones I also added some funky designs on the sides. It made them look more mismatched then I was hoping but oh well!
Lotion bars! I've been wanting to make these for myself for a while and I thought it would be a good gift for my sisters. I use THIS recipe and bought THIS amazing honey bee mold! They turned out really well and super cute. This recipe is super duper easy and these lotion bars are easy to use! I also used extra bags from the tic tac toe games to gift them in, I just added some polka dots!
 Last but not least I tried my hand at Shibori dying! I got THIS kit and dyed THESE tea towels. I have to admit these were a HUGE pain in the ass! Mostly (my fault) because I tried to do it all in my bathroom. I laid down a plastic table cloth so I didn't stain anything and mixed the dye in a plastic storage bucket that I put in the bathtub. Which sounded like a good idea but that meant I was bent over the bathtub for like 2 and a half hours. My body was killing me! Also the dye has a weird smell and this dying process has a LOT of steps. My advice if you're wanting to do this is do it outside and devote all day to it, not an evening after work in your jammies and socks so your feet don't sick to the plastic! Over all I love LOVE the way they turned out! I think my mom is going to love them!
I took photos of my favorite patterns! Here are the items and techniques used to bind them.
 Left: Accordion fold bound with rubber bands. Right: Accordion fold with wood blocks.
 Left: marbles and rubber bands. Right: clothes pins
There are a TON of resources on the internet for this kinda dying. I looked at serveral different blogs to find my folding and binding patterns.

Phew! All that is left is wrapping and giving! I really could use a few extra days. haha I hope you're all prepared for Christmas!!

Lovely Things: Gingerbread!

Gingerbread and gingerbread houses is one of the holiday things that just escapes me. I blame my family for not having this tradition when I was little. It wasn't until I was older that I got to assemble a gingerbread house and even then I remember it being very frustrating and messy. Also are you suppose to eat them?? Cause you leave them out and they get all hard. I've never quite understood this. It has now turned into one of those things that is now too embarrassing to ask, I'm 25 I should know if you eat gingerbread houses or not! Anyways, I keep coming across wonderful gingerbread houses and recipes! One of these years I'm going to be brave enough to bake and assemble my own house! Until then heres some links I've been oooh-ing and aw-ing at!

Tiny houses over at My Name is Yeh! I love this entire post about her adventures in the White House and those teeny chicken coop houses are amazing!
This one is a rectangle! I'm not sure if that makes it easier or harder? This post shares some really good tips and tricks! Food52
Another recipe! This one looks pretty user friendly, also the result looks more up my ally. Which means easy and doable. Baked Bree
Someone made a gingerbread replica of the hotel from The Shining! Now you're probably like me thinking that movie was a bit creepy seems like an odd combo BUT NO its wonderful!! You need to click on the link and see the other photos. It'll make you chuckle guaranteed! Messy Nessy
Last but not least the recipe that I make when the rest goes to hell and I want something gingery but don't ever want to see a gingerbread house ever again. I've never actually made scone but they are so yummy and pretty. I really should learn how to make some! Sprinkle Bakes

Song and Doodle #64

Christmas is almost here! On this lovely winter solstice evening I'm trying to get my to-lists in order and sort my brain while listening to some Darlene Love. This has been the year of 60's music for some reason, so its only fitting to dig into some old Christmas tunes! I feel this odd sense of scattered-ness and hopefulness and love for everything lately. I guess that the magic of Christmas! I hope all you busy bodies are getting stuff done and preparing for this wonderfully stressful holiday!

List of Thoughts as of Late + LINKS!

1- Time is just flying by. I swear when the universe knows you have lots to get done it speeds up a little bit.
2- Flow Magazine was having a free shipping weekend so I got to snag up the book for PAPER LOVERS! I'm super excited. I've wanted one for a while but the shipping was always more than the book. Eeep!
3- I'm in LOVE love with THESE rosemary mini wreaths! I'd love to do something like this but my cousins have a bad habit of teasing when my gifts are too beautifully wrapped. I can't help it I just LOOOVVEE good packaging! Maybe they are just jealous. haha
4- I'm pretty sure I was over ambitious with my homemade gifts this year. I'm not sure if I'll get it all done but I'll be sure to post photos!
5- I'm obsessed with sleepwear lately mostly cause its cold and cozy so the first thing I do when I get home is bundle up in my jammies. I just ordered THESE cause they were on sale and I'm super stoked. I actually love everything Aerie has and probably spend too much money there.
6- Writing this post I realized that I've recently purchased a lot of things for myself. #treatyoself!
7-The thing I hate most about winter is having to wear shoes. Flip flops are just the best and washing and matching socks is a pain in the bum.
8- She & Him have a new Christmas album and its AH-mazing! Its on heavy rotation this season.
9-One Year of Stitches sounds like an awesome project! I'm not sure if I have that much commitment or will remember to work on it. haha
10-Seems like everyone around me is getting sick. I've been drinking TONS of orange juice and eating blueberries everyday. So fingers crossed that I don't get sick! Tis the season for colds.

November Art Journal!

This last month finished up the last little envelope notebook I made! By the end of the month this little guy got a little bit full, but nothing a little string couldn't hold together. I'm thinking for the month of December I should go for real small journal. Mostly because with holiday events and projects that need to get done I'm not sure how I'm going to find time! So the smaller pages might be quicker to finish. Tis' the season for being overly busy! I can't believe its December! I'm ready for the year to be over, but I still feel like there are things left to accomplish this year. Regardless times waits for no one! I hope you are all ready for the holiday season!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving! I hope all my American friends are celebrating and all my non-Americans I hope you're having a lovely week so far! The idea of Thanksgiving has always been a bit of an odd one, considering our history hasn't been kind or thankful. Even today with all the horrific stuff going on in North Dakota it feels like we haven't really progressed or even learned from the terrible history we have. I'm going to do my best today to stay away from getting into political rants or even dwelling on the terrible in the world. I do want to remind myself of all the good and of all the good that we need to do. We create the society that we want to live in. So for today I'm going to be thankful for all that I have in my life!

If you would like to donate or see what you can do to help the water protectors you can go HERE!

Zine Submissions!

Earlier I made THIS post about some upcoming zines I was planning on participating in! Well I was very productive and ended up submitting art work to both of them. I've been trying to be more adventurous and less self conscious about my art work. It actually feels weird to call it art..maybe I'll just call them doodles. Lately I've been gaining traction on tackling my *style* its something that I've been working towards. Zine submissions have really been helping a ton. Its kinda like when you get a school assignment, I love that it comes with a dead line. PLUS I just send it off and don't have to face any criticism. (Which isn't all that good, I know) BUT for now I need to keep my confidence up and I'm not sure if I could take the feedback to be honest. Is that boob-ish of me? Its something i'll work on! 
This one is for THIS zine about the wonderful things about fall/winter! I choose mittens! I love mittens because they give me a greater appreciation for my individual fingers, keep my hands warm and honestly disconnect me from my phone. I have very little self control when it comes to playing/checking my phone, its terrible! Anyways, I'm kinda happy with how this one turned out. The background is a bit meh, but I didn't want to dwell! So I just called it good and sent it off. Gridzine did have there release party last week. I didn't go because I'm a hermit crab and it sounded like way too much socializing! Also if my drawing didn't make it in and I showed up I possibly might cry in front of everyone then its like high school all over again, NO THANK YOU. I think if you'd like you can email gridzinefest@gmail.com and pay $10 to get a copy. They really do great zine-things around Utah and are totally worth supporting! 
The second submission I did was for THIS zine! The theme was "SLC makes me feel.." I'm really stoked with how this one turned out! SLC makes me feel unique! For the longest time when I was younger I always though hapa haole was a bad thing, but honestly its what I am! I'm half white and half Hawaiian and I shouldn't feel lesser for not being whole one or the other. I'm learning that being one of a kind is a powerful thing! I'm sad that its taken me this long to figure it out, but better late than never! And yes its awkward when people think I'm hispanic, or when I look like I don't belong with my very brown or very white family. But in Utah where everyone dresses the same, talks the same and even believes in the same religion, being unique is pretty awesome. I'm grateful for being raised in Utah and for the neat heritage I get to have! 

Lovely Things: Thanks Giving!

Phew time is getting away from me! I can't believe Thanksgiving is this week! I still feel like i'm waiting around for Halloween to start. I'm afraid if I blink the holidays will be over. Not that I'm opposed to this year coming to a close, I just don't want to miss everything. I'm so afraid of missing things I'm missing things! I feel like theres some poetic justice in there somewhere. Anyways I was working on some crafty Christmas presents when they all started going horribly wrong. So I needed a break and nothing is better then to waste some time on the internet! I found some neat Thanksgiving-ish things that I wanted to share with you!
These pine cones are eat-able!! Eeeek they're cookies!! If I had patients I'd really want to make these, but knowing me I'd only get one done before I got lazy. (Etsy Blog)
Tis the season for cooking! Which kinda sucks for me cause I'm a terrible cook. I had to make mashed potatoes one year and it was kinda of a mini-disaster. I doubt anyone is going to ask me to cook potatoes this year BUT if they do I'll try out this recipe! (A Beautiful Mess)
Secret confession: I've always wanted to have an outdoor dinner party. This list is one to book mark cause I promise one day I'll happen! Ya know once I find friends and learn how to cook and get a table...and find an out door place. (Domino)
 When I have my dinner party I'm going to need a wicked awesome serving tray like this one! I'm tempted to just buy one and serve myself crackers and cheese on it. Nothing says Friday night like being fancy in your jammies! (Cattails Woodwork)
I totally forget that pumpkins are more than a Halloween thing! I'm loving the gold on these. I've never been to a party that had place cards before, is that odd? My hypothetical dinner party is TOTALLY having place cards! (Cashmere and Cupcakes)
Last but not least! Nothing is more Thanksgiving-ish then pie and cranberries! Not a huge fan of cranberries, but I'll basically eat anything that is in pie form. (Annies Eats)

Hope you have a lovely week!

Song and Doodle #63

This weeks favorite song is A Few Honest Words by Ben Sollee. This month is off to a rocky start but I can't say I'm surprised 2016 has been a bit of a hot mess. This past week we just seemed to add to the mess. I feel like most people I'm a bit lost on which step to take next. I think I need to do something, anything but I'm not quite sure what. We need more love, compassion, respect and we need a little honesty. This song happens to enclose all these frustrations but in a very soothing way. In a way that I'm very grateful for. This song means so much in a time like this. I love this life as terrible as it might feel sometimes.

"Just a few honest words
It shouldn't be that hard
Just a few honest words is all I need"

October Art Journal!

For this month I started another little home made envelope journal. After a couple pages I realized that the scrap paper I used for some of the pages was mighty thin, so I ended up gluing in a lot of "backgrounds" to prevent leaking.  When I made this book I though it would be perfect for just one month, but I quickly realized it'll probably fit two months. I'm not too great at calculating how much space I'll need! Overall I'm happy with how these little fall envelope journals are turning out! Plus I'm going though a little bit of a watercolor-y phase lately! Which is making my journals wonderfully soggy!