Garden!

It was finally nice enough to plant my little vegetable garden today! I put my tomato plants in the ground along with my peppers (there turned out to be 2 of those plants--score!). I also sowed the seeds of some carrots, zucchini, chives and basil. I am worried I planted them a little too deep but I'm hoping they still sprout. I want to add some regular tomato plants and some summer lettuce. Strawberries would also be nice.

 Check out the awesome purple pepppers.

 Lex really liked being outside. I think it's because there were so many new things to look at.

Gardening is serious bidness!

Recycled Shipping Envelope Tutorial

I'm so excited to be guest blogging over at A Law Student's Journey and sharing a tutorial for making a shipping envelope out of recycled materials. Check it out!

SILHOUETTE MACHINE GIVEAWAY!!!!

SILHOUETTE MACHINE GIVEAWAY!!!!

Sorry about the short notice, but I just saw this. Today's the last day, so hurry up and enter!

Preparations

I'm pleased to say that I am one step closer to finally having a garden of my very own! Our former neighbor, who owns a landscaping business, bartered his building skills for the mister's computer skills which means I got two raised beds built and filled with "super soil." I also got some yellow pear tomato and Cherokee purple tomato plants along with an Aculpulco pepper plant from Whole Foods. I also have several seed packets for various vegetables and herbs. I have not been able to plant anything yet due to rain, but I'll be ready when it lets up.

I'm excited! I can't wait to see those little sprouts popping out of the soil. :)

Swap-o-rama!

Phew! It has been a busy few weeks around here. The boy has been sick again but is now feeling better. I'm hoping that with the weather warming up he will stop getting these nasty viruses! I have also been keeping busy with swaps.

Thanks to whoopdwhoop.com, I have been making hats like crazy. Also, a friend of mine on Facebook started a craft swap group and we completed our first swap a few days ago. The theme was Sci-Fi, and it was really cool. I received my package on Friday, and I was thrilled with what I got. Check it out!

I was amazed at all the cool stuff I got. She made these great hairpins and ring out of bottle caps and filled them with an epoxy.  It was crazy that she made me stuff from bottle caps because I had planned on making her a necklace with one (but it did not work out). And how great are those shoes!? It looks like she hand-painted them. (If you're my swap partner, Allison, stop reading!)

And here's what I sent my partner. I was late sending my package (sorry!) so my partner probably hasn't gotten hers yet. She was a fan of the movie District 9, so I made a couple things with that in mind. Here are some pics:

Here, I tried to replicate a sign from District 9. I put the image together in PhotoShop from some pics that I got from a Google search. I printed it out, minus the red part (because I don't have a color printer), painted in the red part, and then used spray adhesive to stick it to some foam core. I then sprayed it with some Krylon glaze to make the paper a bit more durable. I considered using Mod Podge, but just painting it caused some wrinkling, so I knew Mod Podge would make a lot more wrinkles. Then, I used some brown acrylic paint to make it look dirty. I am really pleased with how it turned out.

These earrings are made from an old circuit board. I had seen some like them on Etsy and decided to give it a go. I used a Dremel to cut out the pieces, and it ended up being more difficult than I thought it would be. I also sprayed on some triple thick Krylon glaze to make them look a bit more polished. I think they turned out pretty well for a first try.

Space food! Who hasn't always wanted to try astronaut ice cream? This I put in as a reference to another of my partner's favorite Sci-Fi movies, Moon. 

I'm most proud of this shirt. I used a freezer paper stencil, and it turned out great! Now my husband wants one. :)

This bag was made from Dana of Made's tutorial for the Hobo Sack. The only adjustment I made was lengthening it in order to accommodate the sign I made. It was made completely from remnants I had from previous projects, and it was a nice way to wrap everything up. My partner has a baby boy, so I figured the bag will come in handy with him eventually, too.

Now I wish I wold have gotten a picture of my package all together, but I'm sure my partner will when she gets it. :)

So, that's what's been occupying my free time lately, plus a few other things here and there. I'm really loving this swap business. I've gotten so much cool stuff from Whoopdwhoop, and I LOVE getting little packages in the mail. :) Our next Facebook swap theme is woodland creatures. It's going to be super cute! Let the swapping continue!