Fun with my Instagram App

Balls
Tonight I went over to my friend Patty’s house for dinner and crafts with 5 crafty friends. Here’s some of the fun photos I took and wanted to share! The photo above is of Patty’s pretty yarn! She was working on a scarf

Colors
This is a photo of a rainbow of colors on the cardstock packaging.

Cherry stars
Celena used her Cricut machine and made a layered cherry. She attached it to an envelope that Kim had made with her wooden envelope folder (using Dollar Tree metallic star paper).

Funny faces
Silvia and I made funny faces.

Stacy
Stacy posed for the camera. How adorable is her lifted paw?

Donna and Orange Kitty
Here’s a happy Donna and Orange Kitty.

Orange Kitty was not happy
And here’s a very angry Orange Kitty wearing a Sew Doggy Style party hat! Orange Kitty doesn’t want to party just like it’s his birthday!

Until next time Swellions!

Alexa

Follow The Swell Life

Wow, the weekend’s over already?

I hate how quickly weekends seem to come and go. I need another day! I’d give my left arm, but I think I might miss it.

I did a whole lot of nuttin’ today. I did craft today and made some jewelry that I plan on submitting to a mag. I also watched a lot of TV. On my set today was MTV’s True Life (I’m Deaf and I’m a Compulsive Shopper), Tori and Dean Home Sweet Hollywood, and Pride & Prejudice (I could watch that one over and over).

I didn’t take too many pics this weekend, but I did take some foodie pics. I made yummy fruit salsa + cinnamon chips. The recipe for these is loosely based on this one…Annie’s Fruit Salsa & Cinnamon Chips. The cinnamon chips are a cinch as well…I just cut up tortillas, spread butter on both sides and sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar. It is a nice sweet summer treat!

fruit salsa

cinnamon chips

Here’s a pic from my friend Jessica’s 29th b-day gathering on Saturday. She is the last of our little group that is turning 29, so on comes 30 next for all of us. Yikes! Here she is (she’s the brunette) with Dana.

dana&jess

Oh, and Tasha made these really yummy strawberry cupcakes…she’s been getting into cake making as of late. They were so good!!!

cupcakes

This was the group I went to see the Dark Knight with. I ended up seeing it at the drive in and I don’t know that it’s the best venue to see that movie in. It was soooo dark (the lighting in the film) and I couldn’t see details that would have better clued me into what was going on. I don’t know about you guys, but even though it was a good movie, I find action-packed movies like that hard to follow. Maybe I’m a little slow or lacking on the intellectual front? I don’t know. It just seemed that the plot was going back and forth and it was hard to keep up with all the characters. I will say that Heath Ledger was awesome. He stole the movie. He was so freakin’ creepy and the mannerisms and voice was very eerie. It’s so sad that he’s gone!

And finally, wanted to give a shout out to my friend Crafty Chica for her Innovation Award that she won at CHA Summer! Winning an award of this nature is a huge deal and hopefully a great sign of things to come in the marketplace…I’m tickled for her!

Until tomorrow, Swellions!

Places to go and things to see

In the world of swell, there is always something going on. Tonight, in fact, I am going with my friend Chris to take photos around downtown Lexington. Chris is an amazing photographer and we are Flickr compendres. If you aren’t familiar with Flickr, I suggest you get familiar! It’s a great way to meet like-minded creative folks who love to share photography and interests. So you are not into photography? Peruse the many craft groups, shoe groups, kitsch groups, fetish groups, etc. Whoops. Did I say fetish groups? No, there’s some truly bizarre stuff on there. I have found that out by randomly clicking on members icon (don’t let this scare you off, though, it’s not all bad). Who knew there was a fetish for old school Reeboks? I’m not saying just regular shoes, I’m talking a specific kind of Reeboks! Yikes. I find this out by clicking on a profile of someone complimenting my sexiness (ha ha) while sporting a pair.

Anyway, that should be super fun. Also, going to whip into shape and do a set the timer for a ten minute cleaning frenzy. Does anyone else do this? I just hurry and rush around and clean as fast as I can. Kinda reminds me of some skit from Sesame Street while “Flight of the Bumblebee’s” is playing. Wouldn’t it be pretty funny if we could have soundtracks like that in our life while we did stuff? It would make things a lot more interesting.

I was planning on my Tuesdays featuring products/trends I saw out in the marketplace, but I don’t want to force myself into following such a rigid blog schedule. I do want to incorporate that as much as I can, but I don’t think I have anything to prove to myself or my readers, so I will do as I darn please, when I darn please.

That being said, these things are so darn cool

that I just have to share…I’ll let the pictures do the talking…just click on the links below for more info…

Get Well Soon masks (from Samira Boon) for the sickly people around you…
orang_utan_mask__codeMaikoGetWellSoon
Find it here…

Porcelain paper plates (by Virginia Sin)…a must for avoiding a baked bean catastrophe.
porcelain-paper_LRG
Find it here…

And is it so wrong that I want this organizer from Close to my Heart, cause it reminds me of Connect 4?
IMG_0172_1
Find it here…

And finally, a crafty shout out to the Impatient Beader, Margot Potter in her completion of second crazy and fun craft video. Check it out…

I don’t know about you, but I’m gonna have to try some of that Utee for myself! This makes me want to video blog too! One of these days, one of these days.

Until tomorrow, loyal Swellions!

Alexa

not too pure to be pinky and other fun news

not too pure to be pinky mini lunchbox

I made this last night for my friend Kristy who is moving away. Kristy is one of the most genuine, fun, laugh out loud girls I know and I wish her luck as she makes her way in the big state of Louisiana! Her name on flickr was Pinky, so hence the nickname. She is also called “Posey” as well. Hmmmm, I bet you can’t tell it by that pic (my friend Chris took it by the way.

So, got my project on Craft Magazine’s blog. It’s my first time to be featured! Hopefully it won’t be my last 🙂 Been trying to get some exposure online and in some mags as of late. Not having as much success with the mags, but I’m going to keep trying. The editors must be overworked, on deadline, or short-staffed, cause most times when I send a submission in, I hear absolutely nothing back. I guess I expect that with the scrapbooking mags (they even tell you a lot that they may not contact you about your submission), but I guess I thought I would have better contact with the smaller mags. There’s still lots of time, so no worries.

So I’ve been thinking about a redesign as of late for my web site. I really need to revamp it and make it more current. I like the look of this one, but I did it all in html and I have no clue how to design any other way, and that is a problem. I need to read up, consult with a friend on some ideas, and layout some general content and a ladder for how I want it to flow. If you’ve never created a web site, you really have to think of all of this stuff before you begin or it is a nightmare to go back and fix. Everything on your web site is an extension onto something else and you have to not only concern yourself with the design, but also with the navigation and flow of the whole entire site. I think I have a good eye for layout, but as far as executing it, that’s a whole other story. I think for the content, I’d like to incorporate more of my sites, my blog, my photos, and my crafts, rather than it strictly being a graphic design site. I think I’ve evolved a lot in the 3 years or so since I designed it and I’d like it reflect my growth and knowledge. I still like the overall concept (me as different roles). I think just needs to be expanded upon or tweaked. So stay tuned.

And finally, here is the packaging I have spent the past 8 months of my life art directing, laying out, photographing (the whole shebang)…it’s for Laurie Speltz’s Instant Images. It’s a fun, new painting program that we are offering at my company, DecoArt. By the way, it is available now at Hobby Lobby. For more info on the line, check it out here.

i designed this packaging

OK, off to bed. Until tomorrow, Swellions.

Alexa

All content/photos copyright, © Alexa L. Westerfield, 2008

Cookie party 2007

cookie party mosaic

So, I went to the cookie party tonight. This is the 5th year, I have gone and my friend, Donna does put on one helluva show. She’s amazing…the food is like a spread you would see in a magazine (and you wondered who really had time to do that stuff – she does…she’s hyper organized and on top of things).

I should have known, though, that the night wouldn’t go as planned, when I realized that I had forgotten the earrings I had made for a friend who owns a shop that I sell my jewelry in. She was at the party, too, and I was going to hand over the jewelry for her to sell in her store. Well, I left it at home, and that was a mini bummer, after I had stayed up late to make the cards and get them ready for her.

Everything started out fine. I was a little bummed that game after game, I was never the recipient of a prize. Now, this sounds childish and silly. I don’t get that upset over such things (and the prizes were “chance” prizes, nothing based on skill). I just never got one and pretty much everyone else did and sometimes little things like that can make your day.

So, I had planned to make beaded bracelets…purchased mini boxes, organized the beads by color category, etc. Then while setting them out (and everyone oohing and ahhing over the beads) that I didn’t have the Stretch Magic I had bought the night before. I went out to my car to look to no avail, so I came back and apologized, kinda embarrassed about the whole thing. Donna said we could do it during our luncheon, but I had wanted to do it at the party and I was bummed. Around this time, with my mood at an all-time low, I started to really feel some cramps comin’ on.

Cramps + a bummed mood = a not so nice/spunky Alexa. I am usually the entergetic one at a party. Jovial, upbeat, and a cheerleader in some ways. When I’m sick, I’m withdrawn, sad, isolated, and quiet. Everyone kept asking me what was wrong, and I would muster up a quick answer. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to be there…I just was disappointed by my own mistakes and my current state of being. I’m not the type to be all babyish or “look at me”, I just want to be left alone and it just sucked. I always look forward to the cookie party, and this just wasn’t my night.

I guess we all experience such things from time to time. I hate being the buzzkill, but you can’t help how you feel, and I’m sorry, but putting on a fake smile just isn’t my thing.

I’m fine now. I took some medicine, watched me some Hills and beaded some when I got home. I finished a cute bracelet using some clearanced “Stuff by Duff” charms from Michael’s. I’ll post a pic soon.

I just wish my night had gone better, but I guess that’s how things go sometimes.

Weekend Update

Geez oh pete. This weekend went by waaaay too fast. I wish i had one more day to get together, but I guess I’ll have to accept it for what it was.

Friday, I compiled all my ingredients for my cookies and did some shoppin’ at Hobby Lobby (bought some beads, like I needed more of those-ha!)

Then Saturday, I got up and going and made my cookies for the cookie party I will be attending tomorrow night. They were Butterfinger cookies. They turned out super good and I was really excited about them. Here’s a few pics.

mosaic2653794

I then got together my gifts for a holiday party with my girlfriends. The gift was supposed to be valued at $20, so I got this yummy (and pretty- I’m a sucker for packaging) candle set. I paired it with this jewelry set that I made…

party gift

earrings and bracelet

I used stretch elastic on the bracelet. I saw a bracelet like that at the drugstore a few days ago and thought that was a really good idea, considering that everyone’s wrist size is different and this way, it stretches to fit, but still looks elegant with the toggle and toggle charm. I liked the end result.

I stopped on my way to Jessica’s to help her get ready for the party at our local bead shop, Dandelion Beads, but they were out of the wire I needed. I was bummed.

dandelion beads

I then went on to the party. Everyone brought a dish (I brought pumpkin dip and brownies and cookies – you know, the good stuff). Jessica did a great job on the ham and everything was super yummy.

why does this look last supperish

And, of course, Michaela (pictured) and Parker were totally cute, like they always are. Oh, I totally posed her. She’s so easy to coerce.

an awww moment

After our game, I walked away with this purple purse (thank goodness, I drew the last number!)

P1011030

My Sunday, was admittedly lazy, but once I got out to Michael’s and got to going, I was fine. I just sometimes need that boost of motivation. I also did some laundry, watched some E!, got my cookies ready for the cookie party I will be attending tomorrow night, got some earrings ready to present, and organized my closet.YAY!

closet

So, tomorrow begins another week. Just thrilled.