Eve of Commencement

I've been thinking about how I would form my words and if I should even post for about a week now. The fact is, I can't believe I'm actually about to type what I am and tomorrow, experience what I will.

Tomorrow I graduate from college. I have earned a Bachelor's of Fine Arts in Fashion Merchandising. Tomorrow I will be getting a diploma with my name on it. It's something that no one can ever take away from me. My education. Mine, all mine.

I am a planner, I am the person who plans everything. I am the person who probably more than others looks forward to the night before a big event as much as the event. Tonight, is my night as much as tomorrow will be my day.

The night before big life events is something I really enjoy. It's a time to reflect, a time to plan, a time to be proud and a time to look at whats ahead and get excited. It's also a time to be nervous, scared and worried, but I have found that those feelings and thoughts are quickly getting trumped by my excitement for what tomorrow holds for me.

Because, this time tomorrow I will have a college degree. In a major that I love, that I have passion for and excites me everyday. I will have an education. I am a woman, with a college education. Many many years ago, that was unheard of, but I am proud to say that I have a college education.

It hasn't always been the easiest of roads that I have chosen but it has been the most rewarding. Sometimes it really sucked, sometimes I wanted to give up, sometimes I chose things over my coursework, sometimes I played hooky to catch up on shows with my best friend instead of attending lecture. But more times than I thought have I  found myself captivated by what I was learning. To be able to then apply it to my work life and everyday life. Tomorrow I will be a graduate.

There will be many things that I will miss about the last four years. Too many to name, to be completely honest. But there are more things that I am looking forward to... In my four years as an undergraduate I have learned more than I ever could have imagined about myself, about life, and mainly my career path. Some of the things I expected to learn, some I fought against, and some I didn't know I was even learning them until a situation presented itself where I needed to apply my knowledge. Some I still have yet to learn, because I believe we truly never stop learning.

I'm not sure who originally said this or where it even came from, but I have heard that education is what sets you apart from the rest, that knowledge is power. I believe this, right down to my core, do I believe this. We are all human, we were all made the same way, we all entered the world the same way, but what we did with our lives sets us apart from one another. Now I'm not saying I'm better than anyone, because I'm not, no one is better than anyone, but I have something that only a few have, its something to be proud of. Tomorrow I will be a graduate.

As the clock keeps ticking closer to my time, my time to shine...I find myself wrapping up on my reflections. I'm finding myself filled with emotions all of the positive emotions. I am so proud of myself. Tomorrow I will be a graduate.

I want to give a huge thanks to some of my closest supporters:

My Mom, Judy and Step Dad, Tim for pushing me everyday to go to school and showing me how important education is, for supporting me, for pushing me to be the best version of myself, and offering me advice on everything whether I have asked for it or not, and for putting me through college. Mom, I want to say thank you for EVERYTHING, but for also letting me cut up, paint, draw and complete all my projects on the kitchen table, when I can I will buy you a new table, I promise. Thank you for being the best parents, I hope I have made you proud.

I want to thank my sister, Jackie for her support and for pushing me making me look at the big picture, for always offering a hand when I need her for life or school, and for being the best big sister I could have asked for. I hope I have made you proud.

I want to thank the love of my life, Daniel. For teaching me about life and supporting me through all of it, for patiently sitting beside me as I have completed coursework instead of doing other things because I left something until last minute, some nights you literally watched paint dry but you were always a comedic relief and my support system. Thank you for being the best boyfriend. I hope I have made you proud.

I want to thank my brother in law, Mike for always being honest about how the work world truly works, for giving me advice when I ask and for being the brother I never had. Thank you for it all, I hope I have made you proud.

I want to thank my grammy, Gloria for being my support system, for letting me know how important education is and when I failed my accounting course and had to take it over 3 times (that class is no joke. study people!) you were the first to quickly come to my rescue and offered to be my personal tutor. I thank you for all of it. I hope I have made you proud.

Last but not least, I want to thank my friends. You all know who you are, you are all very important to me. I want to thank you for your endless support, in life and with school. Thank you for the moments we have shared, the trips we have gone on, the secrets we have shared, the venting sessions that may happen planned or unplanned, the much needed happy hours, cram sessions and skipping class dates. I want to thank you for allowing me to grow and standing beside me as I go through this journey, we have all gone through it together. I hope I have made you proud.
_______________

To the graduating class of 2014:

We did it! We actually did it. The stress, the cram sessions, the laughter, the projects and assignments have brought us to this day. Our day. Today, we are graduates. We are the class of 2014. For some the road was bumpy, for others it was smooth. However our journey was we all get the privilege to say, "I belong to the class of 2014, I am a college graduate". The next chapter of our lives is about to begin. Some of us have things lined up, some may not. But it's life. It's our life. We have earned this life. We are graduates. Although one chapter is closing and another is opening it is one of the best chapters to begin, because we have the rest of our life to be shining, to be amazing, to show why we are the class of 2014. We are superstars. We are smart. WE ARE THE CLASS OF 2014!!!!

Congratulations to all the graduates of 2014.

Mothers Day

Happy Mothers Day to the best Mother out there, my mama bear. Thank you for being my support system, my best friend, my advice line, my partner in crime, my shopping buddy and for just being you. 

I am so proud to call you Mom. Thank you for teaching me all that you have. Here are a few of my favorite life lessons you have taught me, shown me or told me over and over until I got it. 

1) Thank you for showing me that if you work for something you really want it will pay off. It has taught me to not give up.

2)Thank you for always being the parent that was and still always is there. Even when you got sick. It has taught me about loyalty and love.

3) Thank you for being a full time working 3rd grade teacher. It has taught me that as a woman you can do it all and still help others. We run this world! 

4) Thank you for telling me to keep the flame down low when I cook. It has taught me to be cautious and aware. 

5) Thank you for always pushing me and believing in me. It has taught me to believe in myself. 

6) Thank you for being a patient, kind, accepting, understanding and a loving person. It has taught me to be that same kind of person.

7) Thank you for teaching me to not overload the washing machine. It has shown me that if you push something too hard that doesn't want to be pushed it won't work out in the end the way you imagined. 

8)Thank you for explaining and showing to me how important it is to plan and be on time. It has made me a more organized person. Even though my bedroom is NEVER organized.

9) Thank you for making me believe there really is no stupid question and if I ever need to tell anything to anyone, it's always you first. It has taught me that asking and confiding in people will get you far. 

10)Thank you for the constant love and support. I love you so much.

11) Thank you for being you. 

Of course there are other things that you have taught me and will always continue to teach me. Thank you thank you thank you. I love you so very much, Mama Bear.

A wooden box with no home

Before I get into the bulk of this post I just wanted to say stay safe and warm everyone in Buffalo,NY today. Don't travel if you don't have to! I can actually believe I am typing this sentence, which is sad, but I can't believe I am actually seeing this happen...To say this winter has been bad is an understatement. Today we got issued a blizzard warning until 2am Thursday. This is the second blizzard warning we got this winter. We are expected to have storm totals of 16". Craziness. Yesterday it was a high of 48° today, we have a march blizzard. Cool. 

So one of our local craft stores in the area is closing, which means crazy close out discounts. Right now they are running 40% off everything and they will eventually get to 90% off. This little wooden box caught my eye as I was running around the store grabbing as much as I could. 

How charming and precious is this little box that could? This was very unlike me to buy something that I had no end use for within crafting. But you know what? I'm so glad I grabbed this, and for only $2.99 if it didn't work out its not like I broke the bank.

For this project is was thinking a tri tone with a nice beefy stain on where the cut outs are to showcase the beautiful craftsmen ship.

I've used these stains once before, and I'm kind of obsessed. They are just as small as a normal acrylic craft paint bottle and they go on very easy and they don't smell as much as normal stains. I started first by doing the staining.

I decided the oak stain was getting lost with what I envisioned so I took the walnut stain and applied it over my oak stain, the result was actually exactly what I was looking for.

Then I just started to paint a lighter grey around the top edge and a darker moody grey on the bottom half.

The inside of the box I wanted a pop of color, but before I could do that I had to apply the stain to the inside cutout panel. 

With all staining you want to make sure you are removing excess stain and to stain with the grain. 

I just painted the insides and the lips of the wood pieces the same colors as the outside and the I chose my pop color, a lilac.

Four coats later, that's right four coats! The wood they used to make this was very absorbent. But once it was painted I really really liked it.

Once it was dried, it need a home. Currently it's been living on a small shelf in my bedroom, but I have a feeling it will be moving around my home a bit before it finds it's perminant home. 

It's actually not too bad there. It's been on this shelf now for about two weeks so I'm definitely living with it a bit before I move it. 

The Aqua Lent Challenge

Oh man do I chuckle at these someecards. Sometimes I find myself looking at them for hours and laughing out loud...by myself. GUITLY! I haven't found one yet that wasn't funny. But this one is kind of true. 

Every year we are, I don't want to say expected but well expected, to give something up for Lent. 40 days. Doesn't seem too bad, until it's day 2 and you realized how much of a whimp you are and you're sneaking what ever you gave up back into your routine. *raises hand because I gave up 1hr into it*. 

Every year I give something up. Every year I make it one more day longer than I did last year. Not this year. This year I'm going to really try to make it the full length of Lent and I challenge you all to do the same! 

I don't like to post about religion or my

beliefs because that's not what I'm here to do. But it's only fitting that this gets some blog time. We all know that one person who tries to push their beliefs onto others and make everyone guilty when they think otherwise. That's not me at all. But I am asking you to join in this challenge with me! 

What's the challenge you ask?? I'm calling it the Aqua Lent Challenge! 

Doctors and research shows we should be drinking 8 glasses of water a day. To me that's crazy. I don't even like water. It tastes dirty to me. I've tried all waters and all different ways for me to like it, it doesn't happen. So I don't even drink it....I'll wait while you make some crazy remark, I've heard them all....done? Ok, good. Continuing on...

So this is a little crazy but I'm challenging myself and anyone who wants to join on a 40 day water challenge. For Lent I will be giving up any drinks I normally drink on a day to day basis and putting water in it's place. But there are some let's say rules that I and anyone who wants to join should follow. (See how I said should and not has to, you can alter this for your lifestyle or your own liking).

Rules of this challenge:

- You are allowed one cup of caffeine a day (this way no one will get a headache from no caffeine, you'll thank me for letting me keep your coffee) 

- You are allowed to designate one day during the week where you are able to "cheat" and go back to your old drinking habits. This day you can choose on your own to whatever fits your lifestyle, I still have to decide on mine. I hope by giving a "cheat" day this challenge will be easier to follow through with. 

- You cannot get "creative" and tell me you have water in your ice tea mix. Been there, tried that, drank it while you weren't looking. You may however, add any natural sweeteners like fruit, veggies, raw sugar, etc to your water. 

- You must make sure water is the main drink you are drinking throughout the day.

- You must start tomorrow, Ash Wednesday, March 5th and end on Easter Sunday. 

- If you are joining this challenge with me keep me posted! I would love to see how you're doing with it! 

Here's to hoping I make it the full week! You think I'm joking but I'm not. In all seriousness, I think this will be a healthy, helpful and interesting challenge! 

Just call me the Wreath Whisperer

Wowzers! It's been way too long since I've posted something for you fine folks. A month to be exact! Lots have happened in those 4 weeks. Of course there has been crafting, have you met me?! But I also went to Las Vegas MAGIC market week, which is a 3 day trade show held for the fashion industry that buyers and vendors attend to and I got the great opportunity to attend this year! I may post about that but if I do be prepared for tons of pictures and me yapping away! It was such a great opportunity I still can't believe I was able to go!!! I also caught the flu when I returned to buffalo from my trip and the a head cold right after that. I couldn't catch a break! I'm finally feeling back to myself. You don't know how grateful you are to be able to breathe out of both of your nostrils until it's taken away from you overnight. Seriously, try to eat something with your mouth closed like your mother taught you and you can't breathe in either of your nostrils...it's not fun or a cute picture.

Enough of my life recapping! Let's get to that post I've promised you. Now that you all probably have 50+ felt rosettes made during the time I was gone lets put them on something shall we?

This wreath was made for valentines day, but you know what...everyday is valentines day so it's okay that it's now march and I am just posting now about the day of love...

 

Surprisingly since this is now my 3rd wreath that I have made I didn't have any of the supplies on hand to decorate the wreath. So I just went to Joann's (a local craft and fabric store) to pick up the wreath mold, the yarn, the LOVE wooden sign and felt. With the use of a 40% off coupon (they always have them, get the app you won't be disappointed, and they take competitor coupons too!) this project came in at about $10. Music to my college student ears!

I just started to wrap the wreath with the grey yarn like I have in the past for other wreaths. You can see a better step by step tutorial here. This took me a little longer since it is a shape I'm not use to wrapping.

Once the wreath was wrapped completely with the yarn I started to make the felt rosettes (which you all know how to make since I have given you plenty of practice time!!) here is a better tutorial for some of you folks who have no idea what I'm talking about...

After I made a good amount of the rosettes, I made a bit more than I used and made some smaller or bigger depending on how I cut the felt out. I then moved onto painting the LOVE sign a nice red and hot glueing that to my wreath. I glued it on an angle, which my photo skills here are not up to par but trust me its on an angle.

Then I just glued the rosettes in smaller clusters towards the end of my heart wreath...

I had so many left I decided to add some to the very top of the wreath. I'm really glad I did this because without it it would be one undecorated heart. More roses are always a good thing, am I right or am I right ladies ;)

Thankfully at work we just happened to do a massive prop purge the week I made this wreath and this burlap ribbon that I took home with me was the perfect addition to this little project. So introducing the free yet appropriate burlap ribbon. I hot glued the ribbon to the back of wreath this time and have found I like this way a lot better than what I've been doing previously. When in doubt, hot glue it.

Three hours later I found myself the owner of a nice new lovely wreath! I still have it hanging up in my kitchen, at this rate I may as well keep it up until next Valentine's day...

 

 

Have you ever found yourself making the same crafts over and over because you just simply love them? Or found yourself surprised how fast life can go by and you realized you've left your readers hanging? (sorry again, I love you all!!) Here's to many more crafts and better scheduled posts!!

Simple Rosettes

I am one of those people who go on Pinterest, pin something and then either one of two things comes out of my mouth:

Option one "wow, this is amazing I'm going to do this, save this for later and it will look/taste exactly like what I pinned" (which is said about 95% of the time but I end up forgetting I pinned it! never get around to it or the pinned item doesn't end up like how it's suppose to when I try)

Option two " lets pin this and try to find an easier way and just use this as a guideline" This is what happens 100% of the time. If I can find an easier way to do something, a cheaper way or a way to use it as inspiration and create my own thing in the end, I'm all in. 

So option two it is. I have seen these fabric or felt roses around Pinterest all the time. I have read tutorials, I have watched YouTube videos. My roses never looked like anything anyone should be proud of or put their name on. I'm a very creative person, so it annoyed me to no end that I couldn't get the cutest detail in all of crafting to work. That is until the night I just did my own thing...

Isn't it just the cutest thing you have ever seen????! You better be shaking your head, smiling or clapping while saying "Yes". If not, don't worry I'll say it for you. I am still so proud I figured this out. It's not the best rose but you know what, it's cute, it looks like an actual flower and I did it using two tools anyone who doesn't craft has in their house. Now tell me you're not excited to find out how I did this!

I'm a very visual person but I also welcome the fact of directions as a crutch. Just in case something doesn't go right, or my phone dies (because let's be honest that thing is always on my person and where I google) I can rely on written directions.

1) To create the roses, you will need a piece of felt, a pair of scissors (tool #1) and masking or painters tape (not pictured, tool#2)

2) with your scissors, cut the desired amount of fabric you want, however big you want your flower just make sure you cut a square or rectangle. But don't cut the square or rectangle as big as you want the flower, if that makes sense. You will have to cut it and twirl it so you'll want to accommodate for that.

3) This is your fabric you will be working with before you "mold" it

4) Start at one end and in a circular motion cut in a swirl-ish direction. That's totally a word, ok probably not but let's pretend! Think Apple peels, or porkie pigs Q tail, or a spiral.

5) Your felt should now look like this or something similar once you are done cutting

6) With your scissors you want to create the "pedals", to do this you just cut scalloped edges into the swirled cut felt. The bigger and wider the scallops the bigger and wider your pedals. 

6a) Not pictured because I needed both hands, sorry. Take the smallest end of your swirled felt and fold it into itself, this creates the bud of the rose, then just wrap the rest of the fabric around the bud, it should start to look like a flower, make sure the bottom of the rose is flat. When all the fabric is wrapped, just take a small piece of tape and tape the end to the side to keep it together. You can also hot glue it closed as well. UPDATE: I have had my roses taped now and hung somewhere for over a week and they are holding up just fine and haven't unraveled. 

7) you just made your first rose! Keep going at it!! 

These roses are a sneak peek for a post coming later this week! Stay tuned!

Lovely lil sign

One night my sister! Jackie, and I went crazy with the crafts. Over two nights we each did three crafts. We're talking more than an hour crafts, that's serious craft time. I loved every minute of it and what came of it.

Spending time with my sister is one of my favorite things to do but crafting while doing it is a double bonus. Now that it's finally close to valentines day...how is it only in eleven days?! I can finally share with you some of the crafts we did.

I love love. I also love cute inexpensive DIY crafts. And I love to paint. I love that this little sign is all that and more. It has so much potential in this world. Can't you see it on a bookshelf? Or a desk? Or a mantel? Or shelf in the living room? On the living room end table...seriously stop me I'll name every surface for this lovely sign to rest.

Isn't it just so adorable? I found it at Joann's on an end cap and it was marked down from $5.99 to $4.99 then 50% off? WHAT WHAT! Cue Cupid coming in on his wings, I was in L-O-V-E.

It didn't always start off this charming...

It's a very thin wood material, like most of the wooden crafts at Joann's and Michaels, but I didn't care. I didn't have a plan for this little nicknack, which is very unlike me. I decided to just paint it all white with acrylic paint and a craft brush in hopes that a crisp white surface would give me an idea.

From there I had it! I was going to paint the LOVE portion red and use the crackle medium acrylic paint over it. I apologize for not taking a picture of this step, I was just so excited. All you do to create the crackle effect is paint the surface your color you want your cracks to be, then after that dried you paint the crackle paint over top. This paint is very soupy and almost looks like snot, you think I'm kidding but I'm not it's the best comparison I could make. Wherever you paint the crackle paint is where it will crackle. You let that dry, then paint over everything your final color, once that dries the cracks will form and you will have a rustic crackling sign. It took about an hour for the crackle paint to dry before you could put the final paint layer on.

Then, once it was all done, I left the base white, I decided it needed something. So I turned to washi tape. This is a recent obsession of mine. There are so many cute patterns and you can get a roll for under $2 and it will last you for a long time. Trust me, I did a whole Disney scrapbook with a roll and still have some left. 

Again, I didn't take a picture of this step, sorry! Eek! But I chose the red hearts, I just laid the pieces of tape down onto the base to cover it and clipped around the edges so it was all the same length.

And now it lives on my end table! I love easy crafts like this, and seasonal crafts!