5 Swell and Random Things!

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Foiled again!
1. Love this photo I took yesterday of colorful foil!! FYI…a project is in the works.

The Atomic Age
2. Love the cover of this old vintage book! My design heart pitter patters at this kinda thing!

dream_captcha
3.This Dream Captcha by Gus23 is one of the most clever crafts I’ve seen in a while!

needlepoint_fresno
4. I soooooo want this Fresno pillow from Jonathan Adler. I just don’t want to pay $98 for it.

baseball keds
5. Oh, and in 10th grade, I totally rocked a pair of these Keds baseball shoes (I wore mine with laces). I wish I still had them!

Just a few little fun things. I’m in a random mood, what can I say?

Until next time Swellions!

Alexa

Reflections on a middle school poem

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Reflections

So, I dragged out something funny (or perhaps kinda sad?) from my past for today’s post. This was a poetry publication that my class did in 7th grade in Mrs. Robinson’s Language Arts class. My version got a little damage from where I stored it a few years back, but atleast I still have it! I love looking back at old things like this from childhood.

Silhouette

I remember we had a silhouette art project that went along with this. Our shadows wer cast onto the wall and we outlined each others profile. Since that was kinda crafty, I for sure enjoyed that part of the process! Oh, and my lips didn’t really pucker out like that…that’s just water damage on that page.

We had to write a poem that started out and repeated throughout who were were as people. The main line that resounded throughout my poem is “I am a person of many moods”.

DSC_1590

I thought it would be fun if I recited it for you. It’s pretty silly to me, cause back then I was trying so hard to be so serious and grown up.

Do you have any relics like this that you hang on to too? I’m such a sucker for this kinda thing…ya know, personal nostalgia. Anyway, hope you have a great Thursday!!

Until next time Swellions!

Jewelrymaking and other random stuff

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mini ornament pinup jewelry

Tonight I worked on a LOT of projects for my friend Jessica. I was helping her out with some Christmas presents for her fam. I have a big box of earrings that I made a year and a half or so back that are made with lots of pretty beads, but the metal on the headpins and earring backs are tarnished. They had been in a local shop for a year or so and I guess people touching and time tarnished them away. Oh well… I whipped out my trusty pliers and wire cutters and went to work! I also restrung and fixed some of her broken jewelry. Somewhere along the way during this night I found the time (along with her help) to make a couple of illusion necklaces for my friend Tasha’s wedding along with some super cute earrings made with mini pinup ornaments dressed in Santa/candy cane attire (obviously shown above). Aren’t they cute? I need to touch them up a bit (too bad I don’t know a model car maker – these are so small and intricate!) They really aren’t that heavy!

Here’s the illusion necklace that I made:
just an illusion

So in other news, so very random things going on in my world:

1) I only just yesterday bought my first holiday gift. Like many, I’m going to try to downsize this year and do more sentimental stuff like jewelry, personal graphic design projects, and ornaments. I plan on sharing an idea this week that is an affordable/sentimental gift if you are looking to shoot two birds with one stone. Maybe tomorrow that will be my featured project…hmmmmm. Stay tuned!

2. OK, this is a very random thought, but I just saw part of the show, A Real Chance at Love on VH1. I really don’t understand what it takes to be famous these days. This show is a reality spinoff of a reality spinoff of a reality spinoff of a reality spinnoff. Sad.

3. Jennifer Perkin’s did a super cool post and made wall art out of jewelry. Check it out here. It was super clever and inspiring. I noticed in the comment links that Kathy Cano-Murillo, The Crafty Chica left a comment referring to artist Jason Mecier. His work is so inspiring as well and super kitschy. It truly makes me giddy! Oh, and I also love the Brady Bunch floorplan on his home page. I once saw a book that had a wide variety of floorplans from TV shows in it…Hmm…let me google that one…oh look…here it is: TV Sets Fantasy Blueprints book! Truly, what did we do before the internet? I saw this book about 7 years ago in the clearance bin and should have picked it up then and there at the Owensboro Waldenbooks store, but I decided against it! What was I thinking?

4. Obviously, if you haven’t noticed, I changed my banner to reflect the holidays. I’m a Swellette!

Until next time Swellions!

Alexa

Halloween Cupcake Pics/Picks

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halloween cupcake picks

Well, this is my Monday evening post of for my Terrorific Tuesday. Yikes! I always cut it close.

This week, I wanted to create a craft that also helps you remember Halloween’s of the past. Do you have a favorite photo of you, your child, or your friends that you want to remember? Well, it’s super easy to visit memory lane and have a little fun waxing nostalgia with these cupcake picks! They’re super easy to make and something you can whip up in an hour…so let’s get started…

Halloween Cupcake Pics/Picks

Supplies
– Computer with Adobe Photoshop (or comparable photo imaging software)
– Various digital or scanned in photos
– Printer
– Scrapbook papers in various colors
– Glue stick
– tape
– toothpicks
– scissors or circle cutter

Instructions

1. Make a new 8.5″ x 11″ document, now open up your photos. Using circle selection tool, select desired area, and copy and paste into your 8.5″ x 11″ document.

2. Size your circular photos to be approximately 1.5″ in diameter. Once you have them laid up on your page, print out.

3. Using circle cutter or scissors, cut out around photos and set aside.

4. Make larger circles from your scrapbook paper. Now use glue stick to glue photos onto place.

5. Embellish or doodle on if desired.

6. Using tape, tape toothpick to back of image.

If you notice, I used pics of my friends, but I had to use one of me too…it’s not every day that I wear something like this. Ha ha.

witchy cupcake pick

Until next time Swellions!

Swell gets technologically savvy

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swell gets savvy

I have officially entered the 21st century! I got the new iphone. I’ve been wanting one for quite a while, but I was waiting for the 3G version and then for the buzz of the latest one to die down. It’s crazy, but I finally have one in my own hands!

I am not really one to stay up on the latest and greatest technological trends. I’m kinda lazy, actually. For the most part, I have what I need and am content with it. It’s when something goes wrong with an electronic that I seek out the newest thing. I currently am actually in need of a new stereo (my Sony from 1997 is not playing cds anymore and is very temperamental). If I update it, I guess I will need to get a cd/mp3 player, huh? Ugh, I just don’t know. It’s not a pressing concern.

I haven’t had an ipod up until this point either, so I really am a kid in a candy shop. I’m going to transfer my music over at some point…perhaps later this week. I also don’t know how I will do using the itunes store. I don’t want to get too addicted and spend tons of money. I could see how that could easily happen with all the fun little apps, music, and videos out there for download.

It’s crazy how far technology really has come. I’m sure it’s going to advance even more, but I just remember moments in my life when I was amazed by far less sophisticated stuff….like in 7th grade when my parents got a new Gateway computer and I did research on Encarta and drew stuff using MSPaint. Also, I was amazed at an even younger age by Printshop and the banners I could do on a dot matrix printer. In college, e-mail ruled the world and having your own account meant you could send as many forwards (I remember when they were actually “cool” to send) and e-cards that my heart desired.

I just hope that my iphone makes me even nuttier about the internet than I already am (I’m afraid it is going to). It’s so amazing that I can check my flickr and the latest celebrity gossip while in the car or standing in line. Who would have ever thought?

Well, gotta get to bed. Until tomorrow Swellions!

Places to go and things to see

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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