Tuesday, July 7, 2015

She's Crafty | You Are Awesome

As much as I can't stand the heat, Summer without a doubt makes me happy. The sun is out and spreading its rays of . Birds are chirping at all times of day. My cats are no longer restless from being cooped up all winter. And the cobwebs are clearing from my brain.

However, even just a few weeks ago I was battling a bout of lingering winter blues. In an effort to raise my spirits, I sat down one day and browsed the internet for books with fun little crafts, which is when I came across You Are Awesome: 21 Crafts to Make You Happy by Abbey Hendrickson. Sounds like the perfect medicine.


You are awesome combines a beautifully designed book with content that is whimsical, colorful, and quirky. The projects look fairly easy and seem to come together pretty quickly too.


Cardboard mailbox.

Ring toss!

Since I'm thoroughly in love with gems and geometric shapes at the moment, the "Faceted Necklace" project spoke to me loudly, saying, "Go ahead and make it for yourself. We both know you'll rock it."

Yes, yes I will.

This project uses polymer clay to simulate gems. In the book they use black clay and it ends up looking like shiny chunks of coal, which is pretty cool if you ask me! 
I wouldn't mind finding this necklace in my stocking!
Instead of black, I choose an assortment of neon and pastel colors. Narrowing down my color combinations and refining my palette instead of making hundreds of beads of every color possible ended up being the hardest part of the project. Once you get your clay and your colors all figured out, the rest is easy peasy. Roll some balls, skewer them to make beads, bake them and use a craft knife to shave of bits and pieces to make facets. My favorite part is shaving the facets into existence. In fact, this project fullfilled its creator's promise and made me happy.

Polymer clay in a few of my favorite colors.
Shaving the beads. I found this to be the funnest part.
Goes pretty quickly once you get the hang of it.
Wanted to keep the flakes but I made a deal with myself
that I could no longer save anything unless I
had a clear idea of what to do with it. Alas, I do not.

I call this my Wilma Flintstone necklace.
There's a w-i-d-e variety of things to do in this book. It's not just for kids or just for adults, or just for women, or just for men. These are rainy day crafts, last minute gifts to make for friends who appreciate a little handmade smile to brighten their day, crafts to spark the imagination and be silly, and crafts to fill a nice summer afternoon with fun and happiness.


Try these other books out for more quick, handmade happiness:



Stay awesome!

Malia

Monday, July 6, 2015

Just Life| Travel Photos

Travel photos are great treasures. You can look at them years later and somehow they can transport you back in time.

I just got back from vacation last week and I am still in vacation mode. I love taking pictures with my phone. It's so darn convenient, but I have to admit that I believe the picture quality is nowhere close to an old fashion camera. 



So, if you have a favorite travel photo, please send it to me and I will try to post it on a future blog.

















Please email me your favorite travel photo to: 

panteha.paknahad_jabarouti@stocktongov.com by July 16th, 2015.


Here are some travel books from your local library:

  • Discover California : experience the best of California
  • Fodor's Puerto Vallarta
  • Art of adventure

Signing off until next Monday- Panteha