Challenge #9: Flip Flop Upcycle

So what’s not to love about the flip flops you can buy practically everywhere these days?  Old Navy are my favorites.  Cheap, so many colors, comfortable, and they last for awhile (assuming your puppy doesn’t chew through one of the straps).  Except the only pair I have that has survived said puppy are fading. 

 

So I did some research and decided to paint them.  I considered painting a design, but decided I wanted to put a quote on them, and then spent a ton of time deciding how to do that, where to put it, should I free hand it, etc, etc, etc.  So here are a few steps to an easy flip flop upcycle.

 

Wash and dry your shoes!  Paint won’t stick to dirt.

Pick a color.  Paint those flip flops!  I used acrylic.  And decided to go dark because I wasn’t sure light would completely cover the dark blue. 

This step is completely unnecessary if you have shoes in a color that you already like.  The paint is a little spotty, but I don’t mind. 

Get some stamps!  Or if you are feeling brave, then free hand.  I tried, but the little ridges on the straps proved impossible for me to write on legibly. 

Pick a quote that will fit on the area you want to quotify.  I found it was much more effective to use a really thin brush and carefully dab the paint onto the stamp, rather than dipping the stamp in paint.  More time consuming, but looked better in the end. 

Admire your hard work.  I knew what quote I wanted early on.  “She acts like summer and walks like rain” is a lyric from Train’s “Drops of Jupiter”.  It’s perfect for flip flops because (1) summer = flip flops (2) using the word “walk” on flip flops = terribly punny. 

Seal the acrylic.

Wear your shoes around!  Get lots of compliments.  Be surprised at how the paint doesn’t chip, crack or rub off.

Enjoy the crazy in your life.

 

places we seek inspiration.

Challenge #9: Shoe gazing

So.. It's been a long time. A reaaaaaaaally long time. Too long. Life just sort of gets in the way and blogging is hard to do when you're juggling a million billion other things and stressing out like a crazy person. Am I wrong here?

And once the stress piles up it's that much harder to do things that calm and soothe you so that you end up in a vicious cycle because you can't do the things that make you happy, no matter how simple they may be.

I hit a wall a few weeks ago and Maggie was kind enough to remind me to take some time for MYSELF and do something I enjoy- crafting.

So I took these shoes, and with a little modpodge, electrical tape, embossing powder, beeswax and a heat gun, I heat embossed and waterproofed these canvas shoes (http://lifehacker.com/5959735/waterproof-canvas-shoes-with-beeswax)

Yeah it kind of looks like I painted them... And probably would have been less effort if I did actually paint them... But it was an experiment and I know that the gold on my shoes won't peel or scratch off at least. And it made me happy to do this and get back into the swing of things.

Apologies if the formatting is a little strange, I'm blogging from my new phone. Apparently there is a blogger app for android now. There really is an app for everything!!
Katelyn

Challenge 8: Warm Love

Like Maggie mentioned in her version of this challenge's post, we decided to make this challenge really open-ended. And by that I mean, there were no rules. Something about Valentine's Day. That's it.

I'm the kind of person who loves Valentine's Day when in a relationship and hates it when single. I am not the kind of person who buys cheap chocolate the day after. I like to spoil and be spoiled. Perhaps not the most flattering view of me... but when I give a Valentine's gift, I like to make it thoughtful and suited to the recipient's taste.

Have you ever heard of Dr. Who?
Until recently, me neither. I never watch it, but apparently it's all the rage to some people. It's a British Sci-Fi that has been running for about a billion years. And in an old, old (ok in the 1970's-ish) versions, there is a version of the Doctor wearing this scarf:

And using this, from a Dr. Who fanatic I found thanks to Google Images:

And my person of interest, being the nerd he is, got a version of his own (yeah.. picture quality could be better, I know):

As I stated in my last post, I have recently learned how to crochet. This one took me about 5 weeks (it's about 12 feet long!)

Katelyn

Challenge 8: Engagement Photos (Maggie)

For our first challenge of the year, we decided on a Valentine’s Day theme. It was very open ended and I had a lot of ideas and a lot of different directions I wanted to go. But it occurred to me that this is the only Valentine’s day that I will carry the label “fiancée” so I better make it count.

I was really unsure of this “engagement photography shoot” idea that seems to be a must-do lately. I loved the idea of having these photos, but I was stressed out about a lot of things—what to wear, who to take the photos, where to take the photos, etc. So for this challenge, I’ve assembled a list of of how to minimize the stress and maximize the bliss.

5 Steps to Perfect Engagement Photos

5.  Find a photographer who fits your vision.

Lately, I have had lots of friends and family that have gotten married.  Each set of engagement photos are so different—some are modern, some are classic, some are edgy, some are relaxed…  I knew I wanted something in the middle.  I didn’t want too modern (have you seen those photos where you are left wondering if the couple even loves each other because throughout the entire shoot they are scowling the entire time…?)  I didn’t want too classic, because sometimes that seems too safe.  So I sought to find a photographer who had a balanced vision.  Someone with an artistic eye but also someone who truly wanted to capture our love. 
I had the great fortune that my uncle is friends with an extremely talented photographer.  After glancing through his portfolio, I knew he had that balance I was looking for.  If you’re in the Denver metro area, I would recommend him to anyone.  In the photo on the left, you can see that he has a unique eye for incorporating art into his photography.  On the right, he was able to capture how entirely enamored I am with my fiancé.  The absolute perfect balance.

4. Wear clothes that make you feel confident.

This is fantastic advice I received from a friend who recently took her own engagement photos. So I sought to find clothes of colors that I love. I would also suggest pops of color, We were al little more monochromatic than I originally planned for, but that was a little out of my hands (see #3 below). But there were a couple of pictures that included the small pops of colors and they are lovely.
 

3. Some things are out of your control, but sometimes those things make for unique photo opportunities.
Somehow, we booked our engagement photo session on a day that Colorado decided to dump about 2 feet of snow. I figured the photographer would cancel and we’d reschedule for another day. To my surprise, he wanted to go ahead and go for it. I’m so glad we did. I love, love, love the snow.
But on occasion, I did have to tell myself that it was going to be ok that I wasted a week planning an outfit that would be mostly covered by a jacket. Or that I wasted an hour straightening my hair. The snow certainly did frizz it out, but bygones. So be it rain, snow, or shine (or wind, or clouds or whatever mother nature chooses for your day), confront it with a smile. If the pictures don’t turn out exactly how you want, at the very least you and your fiancé will have a good story about it. But my guess is it will provide for photo ops that will set your photos apart from all others.

Frizzy hair?  Yep.  Am I mad about it?  Nope.

2.  Bring your ideas, be open to others.

I spent a good amount of time on Pinterest looking for my favorite engagement photos to try to capture similar moments.  Our photographer was open to all of our ideas.  I returned the favor by being open minded to his as well.  Especially when I heard him say, “Hey, you should kick snow in her face.” Wait, what?  Is this really happening?  Yep.  Or “Hey, run down this sidewalk and then I want you to tackle Maggie.”  I could have fought it and said “Thanks, but not thanks.” But that would have been a shame--they turned out great.  It’s like Andrew (the photographer) knew us at our core—that we are goofs and are playful and ridiculous. 

1.  Pretend the photographer isn’t even there. 

The greatest moments happened when Andrew told us to go about as if he wasn’t even there.  We had real conversations, we made jokes, and we loved every moment.  It was perfect.

If you are in the process of planning your own engagement photos, best of luck and enjoy it!  xoxo—maggie.  Find some of our favorite places to visit.

Challenge 8: A picture’s worth.

            

Challenge 7: Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

People are so creative and are capable of making beautiful things. I often get green with envy at all the things that I see on the internet and think, "Why didn't I think of that? How can I make it?"

I am constantly looking for new things at my favourite places of inspiration, Design*Sponge and craftgawker.

So though I have so many things on my crafting bucket list, I chose to emulate these fabulous Moroccan-style jars.

The originals found here, done by Katie Steuernagle

My version

I didn't have glass paint, like the DIY called for, so I mixed food colouring with Mod Podge. And I didn't have Puff paint, so I used a metallic paint pen. :>

 Grab old glasses or jars and make sure all labels are off and everything is clean. Lids are optional but I chose to keep them away.

Using a few drops of food coloring and generous amounts of Mod Podge, mix together everything with a paintbrush or popsicle stick until well blended

 Swirl around the mixture until the entire insides are coated

Let dry. It will take a long time.

When dry-ish, you can use puff pain or the paint pen to decorate however you like! I'm not so good drawing freehand, especially geometric patterns. As you'll see.

 The paint pen exploded all over me while I was drawing on the red glass, making me look like
C-3PO. :(

Almost dry!

I have a huuuuge list of crafts I want to try.  I am continuously amazed by everyone’s level of creative genius, and often feel like my attempts pale in comparison to others.  Needless to say, when Katelyn decided on the copycat challenge, I had more than enough options to choose from.  Like here, here, here or here.  And maybe in the future, I will copy one of those…  But not today. 
I needed a craft that wasn’t too time consuming and ideally requiring few materials.  Which brought me to Katie @ Knitstorm’s Eco Tutorial – Shopping Bag to Shipping Envelope. 

((Disclaimer:  I am not in any way, shape or form claiming any ownership of Katie’s ideas, instead I would like to credit her with a great idea, and a wonderful tutorial))

I am blessed insomuch that I have some wonderful friends.  Some that, sadly for me, live far away.  Washington, Illinois, Canada, Indiana, Iowa, etc.  I’m a big fan of mailing them letters and packages.  Typically, I buy those bubble-package-envelopes, but those are surprisingly expensive.  (Well, that, and I am extremely cheap, but that’s besides the point)  So when I found Katie’s tutorial I was pretty excited to find a green, budget friendly, homemade envelope!

What you will need:

I followed Katie’s steps for the first portion of the craft.  So instead of explaining step by step, I will let you visit Katie’s tutorial for directions and show you via pictures of what I did. 
                   
I wanted to make the envelopes about the size of a CD case, so…
                 
                    
                  

This is where I slightly deviated from Katie’s tutorial.  She wraps whatever she is sending in a plastic grocery bag before putting it in the envelope and sending it out, to make it waterproof!  Instead, I wanted my envelopes to more closely resemble bubble-wrap-envelopes, so I decided to cut plastic bags in square pieces.
               
Then I cut out square pieces of scrap fabric I have (I’m always looking for ways to use my ridiculously abundant collection of scrap fabrics).  And layered the plastic bags on the envelope, then the fabric, and then pinned everything in place.
                 

I experimented with several different scissors, fabrics, envelope dimensions, types of bags, etc and eventually compiled a group of eclectic envelopes.

And then I was off to the sewing machine. 

Finally, the finished products. 

Instead of sewing them shut like Katie did in her tutorial, I think I will use small amounts of tape.  Ideally, I would like people to be able to use these envelopes again (taping blank paper over the address and return address and writing on the new recipient—I typically reuse bubble wrap envelopes this way, as Katelyn already knows…((NOTE FROM KATELYN: Haha actually I did not know this, I thought that customs was always really interested in what I was getting and that's why the envelopes had been preopened.)))







Basically, to sum everything up…I think Katelyn and I immensely enjoyed emulating other people’s crafts.  I think this is a challenge we will definitely have to repeat again in the future.  And here are some of the places that offer us inspiring new crafts that we just might have to attempt for ourselves in the future!!  Happy Sunday!