It's a flipping addiction. I am nearly done with my little zine, "zineswap" and I signed up for another swap: book marks. You craft 4-5 book marks and send them out. You receive 4-5 book marks back. I figure it will be a good chance to do some embossing!
I can't decide how I want to upload my little zine. So far, it's all original writing (poetry, short essay) plus an easy sudoku from websudoku.com. I think I'm going to include a little mix cd too (I wrote my 2008 anthem playlist up in my zine) but not sure how that plays into copyright laws.
Yeah, so the writing is good. I went back as far as when I started college. I have my high school journals that I might be able to salvage some good pieces. I also want to do a few etymological pieces. "did you know that ______ came from _____?" I love etymology.
My good friend is getting married soon and we might work on invites with this little wonder. I see a lot of plates I would use for embossing or die-cuts. They're all pretty reasonable (under $5) until you get into the alphabets ($50+).
Having the Cuttlebug has made me seriously question whether or not I could/would use a Cricut. I looked up some reviews and projects and I think I would totally use it but the best part would be the add-on, "Sure Cuts A Lot" ($75-90 retail) where you can use True Type fonts (stencils?!) and cut out them perfectly with the Cricut, instead of using a boring X-Acto knife. Though I sure do love cutting out stencils. I also got a self-healing mat, two rotary cutters, some tiger-eye beads and a Michael's gift card! Eee! Craftyness!
That would save SO much time. I am going to start hunting on eBay and Craigslist.
I'm starting on Greg's shirts. Additionally, I'm making a shirt for him a la Crackdown that says, "Skills for Kills, Agent."
I am probably going to make 3-4 Jesse and the Rippers shirts. I mean, really, who doesn't love Full House?? Awesome.
The cover and a smattering of the papers I will be using. Nothing is done at this point, just a rough idea of how the sizing and papers will look together.
Because Rachel is a scrapbooker, I went over yesterday to use her papercutters and nifty tools to start my zine. I have a few ideas for the contents, but so far I've just been working on getting my paper ready. Then I will type up (or handwrite) my short essays, lists, etc and print (via compy or hand) on the fun paper. The whole idea for me is to look very DIY, very unfinished, raw and kind of sloppy. But Fun! I will post some pics later of my zine. I have a really cute type-set stamp set that really made the cover look cute, it says "zineswap" in a funky broken typewriter/"Problem Secretary" font.
I finished a project for my good friend Rachel who told me she likes "fruity" fragrances. This definitely qualifies. It's uber-sweet, thick and def DEF fruity. She also is going to be receiving a solid fragrance from me (all natural but not vegan friendly d/t beeswax). It might be the most richly scented candle I've created so far. It has a good cold throw and obvi I don't know about the hot throw. It's in a repurposed old POM tea jar. And it's an awful photograph. I have two really nice cameras: one is on non-rechargable batteries and my other needs some autofocus repairs. So I've been using my camera phone for all my pics. Not such a great idea but you can get the jist.
"Do You Know What I Love The Most?" (She loves turquoise and brown, as I do)
(excuse the crappy phone pictures without adequate lighting)
The set has four candles. Two 10 oz candles and two 8 oz candles.
We have:
- Rocks Tonic Juice Magic (lemon and palm trees)
- Coconut (strawberry, coconut, palm trees, ocean breeze)
- Morning in the Moonlight (jasmine and ocean breeze)
- She (melon, breeze, lemon)
Morning in the Moonlight (Jasmine and Ocean Breeze)
"Coconut"
A little explanation of the scent using the lyrics of the song. Each candle has one of these.
She and Rocks Tonic Juice Magic
I love buying things when it includes a free gift. Because lately I'm only buying for others, so the free gift is a way for me to get a little something for myself. It's also important to be able to sample the gift before I give it, if it's a company I've never dealt with before. I have gotten a few little freebies lately. If you suspect you're getting something from me for Christmas and you'd like to be surprised, don't read anything else.
I would def DEF recommend Ten Digit Creations on etsy. She makes fragrance items (lotion, spray, roll-ons, etc). The one I bought for myself is Be Delicious (a yummy green apple floral made by DKNY). It's probably not perfect but my nose can't tell the difference. I also bought a thick "body frosting" (just a thick cream) from a seller named Savvii. I'm not such a fan of the cream because I feel like it needs more fragrance. I smell the lotion base more than I smell the apple but maybe that's just me. I bought those two to sample before I decided to give gifts. I don't want to give the cream to anyone since it's so light. But it was a good buy and I'll def use the rest of it. I might give it for someone who liked a little bit lighter fragrance in their items.
So I bought Ten Digit's take on Heavenly (Victoria's Secret) for my sister (and got Island Fresh Gain[?!?]...yum!) for myself. I bought a "Buy 2, Get One" from a seller named Sassyfraz of "dry oil" perfume roll-ons. I got those two for my friend Rachel who likes fruity smells.
Then I went to good ole' CandleScience (where I bought all my beginner supplies) to restock on wicks. I looked on eBay but the only wicks they had were auctions and I don't have the patience for auctions anymore. So I bought wicks and got a free 1 oz (enough for a lb of wax) fragrance oil.
I also spent about $30 on fragrance oils at Scentimental Gifts, etc. I got a few for me and a few for others.
I went Xmas shopping yesterday and got my boyfriend's mom a few things. My sister is done, I think. Rachel is done. I need to get my mom something. I'm thinking jewelry. I'm going to make her a few candles.
And! I made my solid fragrances. I used beeswax, olive oil, shea butter and fragrance. They came out cute, I just need to get some paper and dec them out.
I'm going to make a bunch of candles. I'll probably need to reorder wax after I'm done. I ordered enough fragrance to make my sister's Saves the Day set but one of the glasses broke. So I'm at an impasse there. I might just make a set of 3. She wouldn't know.
I bought two products from two different sellers. One product is perfect, awesome, I love it. The only hitch was that it arrived a little banged up from shipping.
The second product I'm not that impressed with--it's like the materials the seller used weren't right for the task. I like it, I mean, I can tell what it's supposed to be, but it's not something I would get again or buy as a gift.
I also placed my first order with ScentimentalGifts, for a bunch of fragrance oils for Christmas presents. This was the holdup on a batch of presents. I spent a lot but I think it will take care of 3-4 people. Maybe as many as 5-6. I would like to send out a few little things as small gifts to friends.
I am excited to receive these as they are the last piece of my gifting puzzle. I'm still working on the shirts for Greg. I am also going to make him an awesome Camp Anawana shirt in addition to his "Skills for Kills, Agent." shirt.
AND! I signed up for my next swap. It's something I've wanted to do for a long time but never really had a reason to do. I'm going to be participating in a zine swap! You make 5-10 copies of your zine and distribute it to your craftswap partners. Yay! I'm thinking of a very small book, like 3x3 inches with 10-15 pages that will include a few short poems, a short essay, a few drawings, maybe a short tutorial on something, a few recommendations (books, websites, cds) and that will be it!
