Did ya miss me?

So yeah. I definitely suck at writing a blog...or at least at keeping up with one. If you know me, this should come as no surprise ;) Now to get back on track here. A few weeks ago we had a "girls only" meeting at work to remind everyone of our dress code restrictions. Which means no more flip-flops for me. In case you are unaware, I basically live in flip-flops (or bare feet) from March-ish through October. I totally get the reason behind this rule, but it still sucks since I have little to no contact with clients. I just sit behind a desk all day. Beside the point. Since "sandals" (i.e. blingy flip-flops) are considered approved footwear I set out on a mission to bling-ify a pair of plain, boring flip-flops. Yes, I really am that stubborn. Ask my husband. Plus I can never resist a challenge, especially a crafty one :)

So....BEFORE:

Old Navy flip-flops that I got on sale last summer...


and AFTER:

Maybe not the greatest, but I only spent about $5-$6 on the bling -- clear stretchy jewelery cord, a package of beads from the clearance section, and a fabric scrap (fat quarter) all from Hobby Lobby. At first I only added the beads, but then I wanted something extra to go on the toe and I came across a blog tutorial for these really easy (no sewing required) fabric flowers so I made a couple to finish the sandals off.

Close-up with flash

Close-up without flash


Forgive the blurriness...I'm still working on my photography skills. Since I only have time to make pics at night it's difficult to work with much natural light. The blurry one shows the colors a little better or I wouldn't make you suffer through it :) Anyway, there you have it! Super easy and I happen to think it's pretty cute. I have also recently invested in some chalkboard paint which is awesome. I'm trying it out on everything in sight. Guess what the next post will be about.....??? ;)

It only matters if you let it...

So...it's been a rather disappointing day. I found out this afternoon that the Lampo Expo is kind of a dud. Due to liability issues and overbooking of the conference center, it's not open to the public and has been cut down to 3 hours on Friday night. It's not really worth the effort of taking the entire day off work, hauling all my stuff down there and getting it all set up to look pretty for 3 hours of nobody except the few poor souls with no Friday night plans that we can drag over from Lampo after they get off work. Although I've been a little over-stressed about having everything ready, I'm pretty bummed that it fell through. I'm trying to keep a positive attitude though, because I've said all along that even if the expo wasn't a success, having a deadline has forced me to get busy and actually make some new products. This just means that rather than spending time on stuff for the expo this week, I'll be hard at work getting it all listed in my Etsy shop!

I've had a blast experimenting with soaps over the weekend! I found a great blog -- SoapQueen.com -- with recipes and tips that I can't wait to try out! Here are some of the ones from last weekend...

I love the way this one fades into different shades. I'll definitely be trying this with more different colors.

Soap with oatmeal and lavender essential oil...it smells nice and relaxing, plus the oatmeal is good for your skin! Also, lots of little bottles of lotion that I mixed up with vanilla scent. It came out a little sweeter smelling than I had planned. I guess now I know why vanilla scents usually have something spicy like cinnamon mixed in when you buy them at the store. In the meantime, I think mine will be "Vanilla Ice Cream" scented ;)

Also, I've always wondered how to make those big loaves of soap that you see at craft shows and such...apparently they use soap loaf molds (imagine that) which I discovered can be pretty pricey. While shopping for craft supplies this weekend, I ran across this at the Dollar Tree:

It's a drawer organizer. But it's also kinda similar in shape to a soap loaf mold. And it's only $1 so I figured, why not give it a try? And guess what?

It worked! I just mixed up my colors and scents with the soap base, poured it in layers into the "mold" and once it had hardened, the whole thing popped right out! I forgot to take a picture before I sliced it up into individual bars, but you get the idea. I was pretty happy with the result! :) This one is "Peach Smoothie" and it smells wonderful!

Unfortunately, I killed one of my kitchen knives while trying to slice up the soap. It just couldn't handle the strain. Poor little thing.

Anyway, that was my weekend. I've already almost used up all the soap base that I bought on Saturday, which means I've got to get some of this stuff listed online (and hopefully sold!) so that I can fund more supplies! lol Check in with my shop later this week to see the listings! Plus, I'm thinking about doing a giveaway on my Facebook page...details will be provided later this week (when I make up my mind! Haha!) Hope you're all having a better start to the week than I did! I'll leave you with some lyrics from one my favorite music groups. This song popped into my head when I was feeling down today and it made me feel better. I love it when God surprises us with little things like that :)

It all comes down to this
You take your best shot, might miss
You take it anyway
You're gonna make your move today
Got the will, you'll find the way
To change the world someday
Grab this moment before it's gone
Today's your day
(chorus)
And the view will never change
Unless you decide to change it
Don't feel like it today
Just show up anyways
And though life will take you down
It only matters if you let it
Get up, go through, press on
Today's your day
(chorus)
And though you wanna quit
Don't think you can get through it
You've come too far to walk away
It's not gonna be today
And no matter how you feel
It's what you do that matters
This is your moment to be strong
Today's your day

CHORUS:
It's on (and on)
it's on (and on)
it's on (and on)
today's your day so come on, bring it on (and on)
it's on (and on)
it's on (and on)
today's your day so come on, bring it on

"It's On" by Superchick

I'm in a hurry to get things done!

In case you are unaware, I run a small online shop on Etsy. So far it contains pre-made scrapbooks and handmade greeting cards, but since my crazy self signed up to have a booth at a small local expo I am currently working on some new products that can be stockpiled rather quickly. Scrapbooks take a while to get just right, ya know? Which means I have been making cupcake toppers like a mad woman for the last week or so...

I just finally got a few pictures made last night. What do you think?

My lifegroup (small bible study) gets to eat my photo props tonight :)

Also, since my mom cleaned out her garage and found some leftover soap and lotion-making supplies, I've been working on those, too! I'll be using my 40% off coupon at Hobby Lobby this week to stock up on some more soap base because I'm already out. Not sure how cost-effective this will be, but it's a lot of fun coming up with different designs. Last night I tried mixing up some with coffee in it - I've read that it's great to use in the kitchen because the coffee acts as an exfoliate and a deodorizer. I added just a little bit of vanilla scent so these smell AWESOME! :)

This is the one I'm keeping for myself...


I'm off to work on more crafty-type stuff! I've got a lot to do before I'm ready for the Lampo Expo and it's only a couple of weeks away!

Meh. I've got nothin'

I really wanted to come up with a really cool title for my first post. I really did. Something cute but with kind of a deeper meaning so that people would see it and just HAVE to check this blog out, because it's that awesome. No such luck. After putting this off for several weeks (in my defense, I have been insanely busy during that time) I remembered something that Jon Acuff, blogger and author of the book "Stuff Christians Like", tweeted a couple of weeks back:

90% perfect and published always changes more lives than 100% perfect and stuck in your head.

While I don't believe that anything I write here will actually change anyone's life - except possibly to waste a few minutes that you'll never be able to get back - the principle is sound. Also, I am currently reading "48 Days to the Work You Love" by Dan Miller and so far a lot of the message is along those same lines. Stop wasting all your time doing something you hate, or even something that's just "meh". Get off your butt and actually make an effort to change something! It seems like this theme has been popping up everywhere I turn lately, so much so that I yelled "OK! OK! I GET IT!" while driving in my car the other day...which probably scared the guy in the car next to me at the red light, since my window was down at the time (I am LOVING this weather, btw!) Anyway, I figured the best way to get over my "writer's block" is to just throw the first one out there. Hopefully it will improve from here.

Just to lay out some basic goals for myself and to give you an idea of what to expect, this blog is going to include some personal thoughts as well as some crafty-type ideas that I can come up with. One thing I'm discovering about myself is that I love creating and making things with my hands WAY MORE than sitting in an office all day. I have no idea what this means for my future career prospects, but at least I'm learning what makes me happy. I'm not making any promises about blogging every day. I know myself too well for that. It will NEVER happen. However, I will try to post something on a fairly regular basis - let's say at least once a week. Right now, this is part of my personal project to stay motivated and get out of this rut! Feel free to join me on the journey!