Being Cool

Hey at least I can now say I'm an Uber Cool Nerd.

I've been Tagged!

I have been tagged by my good friend kdj at Stamp Garage. Once you are tagged, you blog 7 random facts/habits about yourself, post the rules and then choose 7 other people to be tagged and list their names. Don't forget to leave them a comment telling them that they have been tagged and to read your blog!!

Here are mine in no particular order:

1 – I play violin, piano and sing. Being musical was a pre-requisite in my family. Now mostly I play music on my iPod and sing along. LOUDLY! But I am sitting down at the piano more to practice and loving it.

2 – Whenever I get involved in a new hobby I seem to collect all the supplies possibly needed. I have such good intentions, just not enough time. I think the hobbies now include sewing, quilting, knitting, glass fusing, collage and just about any paper craft. My newest additions to my supplies are a Cricut and Cuttlebug machine and a glass fusing kiln.

3 – I am third generation Californian and can’t imagine living anywhere else.

4 – I am fairly well organized at work, home is a completely different story. A few areas are kept presentable for guests, but there are forbidden zones.

5 – I grew up in dairy country and loved to play in the hay and grain storage sheds as a kid. Sometimes we would even get to sit on the cows as they were being milked.

6 – I met my husband on a blind date when I was 19. We have been together now 24 years and married 19 years in August.

7 – I’m going to learn to ride a motorcycle in a few weeks, something I swore I would never do!

Ok, now I need to come up with 7 other people to tag.

And We Did!

The party is over much to my son's disappointment. He is such a social butterfly. There were games, food and entertainment. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. It was a beautiful day to be outside as well. The entertainment was Twistyman (www.twistyman.com). He came ready with much patience and lots of balloons that were made into all kinds of fun things. We set up little straw bales for a fencing ring and later for the kids to sit on during the entertainment part. Twistyman really kept the kids entertained and most important of all, my son. In every picture of our little guy, especially during the entertainment, he was just beaming. It was his special day and he was so proud and happy. He watched out the front window as all his friends left at the end of the party.

Since Saturday was not the official birthday, the celebrations did go on until yesterday which was the official day. I'm afraid today was a bit of a let down for my son as he birthday celebrations have come to an end.

Before the party we had to get the house and backyard ready. This is always a daunting task, but it does get it ready for the summer as well so that we have a nice space to enjoy for the summer months.

Now to plan the next event/activity for our family, but hopefully I can get some rest before then. Looks like Father's Day is next!

Gonna party like it's 2007!

There's going to be a Knights and Dragons party here pretty soon for my son's fifth birthday celebration. Today I worked on the invitations, at least the outside. The castle and crown were cut with my Cricut machine and the other decorations are stickers from the local scrapbook store. This probably way too much effort for an invitation, but it was fun to come up with the card. I did get some help with ideas from the Cricute online forum. I need a few more knight stickers to finish up the remainder.

Inside will have a parchment looking paper with the invite details.

Not the only creative one

In my not so humble opinion, I have a creative genius for a son. Well I think so anyways. My son brought this creation home from pre-school on Monday. From what we could understand, he says it is for when you get out of the space ship and something about shooting things. There are many things going on here, with some interactive bits as well. Unfortunately, the picture does not do this justice.

April showers bring Valentines cards?

A little late, but I finally edited the pictures to post here. My son and I made Valentine's day cards for his classmates. I purchased a Cricut machine about a year ago and this was a perfect project for it. We had a lot of fun putting the puppies and hearts together. I put a sticker on the back that said Happy Valentine's Day! and my son signed his name.

At first I had no idea if I would really use this cartridge with all the puppies, but it was just great for the valentines. I think it worked well for either boys or girls.

Button, button, who's got the button?

My very first glass fusing project on my very own! We have set up the basement, I have procured some tools, supplies and of course the kiln that my dear and loving husband gave me for Christmas.

Some of my purchases have been small molds. I have been reading about using molds, but have never done it. Would my worst fears be realized? I put the kiln wash on and hoped for the best. I figured that the glass would not fuse properly or that the buttons would be stuck in the mold forever.

I watched through the little window in my kiln as the glass frit melted and made some notes on temperature and times. When all looked good, I finished up the firing of the kiln and finally turned it off completely to cool.

In the morning I ran downstairs to check out my project and low and behold, the buttons came right out of the mold.

Well, they aren't the most beautiful buttons in the world, and there are some spikey things on them that don't quite sand down, but they are mine and as far as I'm concerned it was a successful project!

Buzz, Buzz

A couple of years ago I donated a cake to be made in the theme of the winning bidder's choice. It was a friend of mine and she wanted the cake for her daughter's third birthday. The theme was bees. That's all she told me and let me do what I wanted. Here is the cake.

A New Hobby - Glass Fusing

A few months ago I took a glass fusing class for the first time. What a fun and creative outlet. You don't know exactly what you will get. Since I really had no idea of what to do, I put a lot of different things together just to see what would happen. The whole class put their projects in the kiln and the next morning we all got to open and see everything together. It was like opening a treasure chest.

Last month I took the intermediate course. There were even more surprises when we opened the kiln the next morning.

Now we are getting our basement fixed up a bit so that I can have a little workshop down there. I have a small kiln and some supplies. Just a few more tools and I will be set to start experimenting on my own.

The picture quality isn't the best. I'll be working on my photography skills as well in all this blog creating process.

Welcome to my blog!

Ok, I set up a blog. And it has the oh, so original title of Caryn's blog!

My idea is to talk about stuff I've been doing and pictures of what I've been making. Maybe it'll be inspiring to get me off my butt and start creating more.

I love doing all kinds of things. I see a new craft and I get all the equipment and supplies. I must have enough art/craft/sewing supplies to open my own store.

I do enjoy it all and go back to things that I have started before.

Craft therapy is what I need. And a place to share it!