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My life is one big jumble of kids, pets, crafts, friends, food, home and business.

Thing a day update

Some of my things were sucktastic, you can see them here Venus

Here were some of the better ones...

Teagan wearing my hot glue necklace covered in glitter glue
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Button magnets
mag

Etched glass ( I made the stencil, go me)
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I finished an order
spicoli

And I transformed my craft space
Slideshow

A true blahg

This is something that I posted recently on my parenting board and I wanted to x-post it here. It is regarding kid's activities and when enough is enough...



It is OK to set limits... at least that's what I'm telling myself. I'm feeling very stressed lately and I'm trying to decide if we really are doing too much or if I just need to up my game.

we have

* Tea's dance clas 2x a week - and they are performance based so then quite a few driving around town to diff venues to perform :twitch I'm also supposedly the parent committee president but I'm stepping down after this year.

* Cam on teen committee, its a drop off but it conflicts with her dancing so I have to think about it weekly and organize the pick up of him while I'm dealing with her

* HS meeetings but they are only 1x a month so thats easy peasy

* Cam bowling league 1x a week

* Chess 1x a week, might move into 2

* Ice Skating which I think we have officially ditched gah

* he was just invited to go play heroscape every friday with other hs boys

* I make all of our bread products from scratch and try to make dinner pretty much every night of the week, it gets dicey on Tues/Wed because those are longer days and I'm usually gone until after or right at dinner - I'm making soups this week so I can do them early.

* my biz is expanding irl and online and I need time at home to keep up and get ahead so I can stock the stores that want to sell my stuff.

* my podcast 2x a week which is honestly one of the few things that keep me sane.

I know it's not that much but some of it is the timing of the activities and I think I need to work on time management. I really feel inferior compared to some of the Super Moms I know and I don't know why I'm having such a hard time of it all.

:paranoia Wow, that was a big ol vent. Sorry...
this has just been weighing on me a lot this week and I sort of gushed. I feel like I really can't talk about it with RL friends because they are doing just as much if not more than I am and coasting along beautifully.


So you other moms/parents... how do you do it? What am I missing? lol Do you ever feel stretched so thin you think you must be see through?

Best find ever!

Ok I just finished recording with Nic and Monty during which my chair broke so I did the podcast on my yoga ball... work your abs while becoming a famous podcaster, thats how awesome I am.

So I go to take my chair out to the dumpster grave and I find THIS!!! My Thelma and Louise insisted I bring it home and I am but a monkey puppet.

I think it needs a name, no?

meow

Maybe we can paint it like the cow parade statues! lol

Happy Valentine's Day!

My heartfelt 14th thing. ;)

heart1

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Thing of the day 12 and a finished order


dinotrent
Originally uploaded by ItsVenus
Again I combine my t-a-d and an order, this time it is for my friend Pierced's brand new boy Trent. *love*

I'm especialy proud of thing 13

I really love this. It's a spider pin cushion ring from mostly recycled materials.

pinring2
sidering
pinring1

This is why we stay in the south


school2
Originally uploaded by ItsVenus
My two sweeties this morning around 9, starting their school work.

Yes, outside at 9am, in Feb... you may now turn green with envy if you live in a frozen wasteland. High of 75 today. :D

10th thing

Knitted Mardi Gras Beads

model
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knitting progress
knit onneedles

Scarf-ish
side scarf

A finished order and Friday's T-A-D all in one

I've spent all morning finishing this toy so it is going to be today's thing! Frig ordered it for her niece so I hope they both like it.

bunny

Thing-a-day update...

Feb. 6
One of the great this about living in Southern Louisiana is, of course, Mardi Gras. We went to quite a few parades and I couldn’t wait to craft with the ton of beads we got.

I decided to make a bowl. I had planned on making a few melted bowls but quickly changed my mind. I swear this bowl nearly killed me. I knew it would stink but holy cannoli!!!

This started out being iridescent/clear, pink and white… I promise! They took forever to melt, the fumes became unbearable and after 30minutes or so I had to call it done. I draped it over a bowl… I think I should have used a cup for more shape, and let cool. Then some of the foil stuck to the bowl. Sigh

Oh, well. Not every Thing turns out the way we hope.
yuck1 yuck2


Feb 7
A blown "Dragon" Egg
egg

Another day, another thing

Today I made fun recycled flowers, enjoy.

flower

flowerclose

The thin line between inspiration and theft in the craft world

I'm "stealing" this post, in part, from my dear friend Diane because I think this is an issue that applies to quite a few of us.

Please read her blog entries for today... Here and Here

i just have to write about this since it makes me sick to see the rampant stealing of ideas in the indie craft world. there is a HUGE difference between being "inspired" by someone else's work and blatantly STEALING someone else's designs.

in this age of over exposure by way of the internet via blogs, craft sites, etsy, etc. is an original idea a thing of the past? not unless you are a true artist and not an opportunist. there is a GIGANTIC difference here. an artist is someone who comes up with unique, original ideas and is inspired by the world around them...an opportunist is someone who takes an artist's designs and passes them off as their own.

~ an excerpt from Diane's post




Anytime you share your craft with the world via real life or the web you run the risk of people saying "Oh hey, I could make that!", but when you are making a profit from another persons idea you have indeed crossed that fine line. Tweak an idea, be inspired to try new things, step out of your craft comfort zone. But put your own spin on that idea, improve on a craft you see online, don't just paste your name to it and call it a day.

There are many crafts that are universal, how many of us haven't made and possibly sold marble magnets? But if you are crafting with the intent to sell and become a name then you really have to respect your craft community and decide which side of that fine line you want to be on... just something to think about.

Sock Tooth "Thing"

It's day 4 of thing-a-day and my thing was a new sock Tooth Fairy Pillow.

They are little, cute, fun and fast to make.

toothything



Thing-A-Day

Day 3

Nothing impressive today, just a quick little project.
day3

A few paper beads coated in Sparkle Mod Podge. They may be used in another day's thing, we'll see.

Cajun Spirit

My kids went to their first Mardi Gras parade of the season today. It was the Children's Parade and they had a blast!

beadkids
With their beads and a box of throws they caught during the parade.


And Mr.T, Mardi Gras style!
beads

Her face is pink from her fancy mask, not sun. Look at ALL the beads!!! I cannot wait to make something with those. I have a few craft ideas but I'm not sure what I'm going to do yet, stay tuned. ;)

Thing-A-Day, Day 2 wow today was a trip

Ok So I found a pancake recipe I wanted to make for the kids and it said it made 12 so I figured hey I’ll double it to make 24, thats a grand idea. My first warning was that the recipe called for 10 cups of buttermilk and 10 cups of flour…

griddle
Here is the huge amount of batter the recipe made. That is my largest bowl, I couldn't lift it. I had to bring my pathetically tiny griddle over to the sink.


pancakes
Mountain of pancakes. 52 regular (about hand sized) and 12 plate sized. Makes 24 my butt!

bake
Pancakes as far as the eye can see and fresh bread... that's pretty much ALL I did today.

Sigh, this wasn't supposed to be my thing. I'm not very happy with it as my thing but I guess crap days are going to happen. Tomorrow's thing will be much better. :D

Thing-A-Day Day 1

For my first thing I made Mock Ice cream Sandwiches using homemade whipped cream. Smush some cream between two graham cracker squares, decorate and freze for at least 4 hours. Next time I might add some fudge sauce to the cracker or flavor the whipped cream chocolate or mint... or both. *drool*


Setting up the decorations. We have Barbie Valentine sprinkles, are there any other kind? ;)


Starting to whip the cream. Have I mentioned how much I love this mixer?





Whip it, baby! This is the first time I have ever tried to make (or tasted for that matter) homemade whipped cream. I think it came out ok, it was whippy and the family thought it was great. They are the only judges that really matter, right?



Look how cute!






Little sandwiches all wrapped up and ready for the freezer. Yum

What's better than free?

Not a damn thing, that's what!

Sleeping Mommy is giving away a Bluetooth headset thingy. It looks awesome. I know just what I'll do with it if I win. *love*

http://sleepingmommy.com/?p=484

Feb. 1st... big day here

Ok Thing-a-day- starts today and I have today's thing planned so you will see some pics later. But I decided yo post a list of thingaday links for you all to follow.

Me = http://www.thing-a-day.com/author/venus/

Nicole = http://www.thing-a-day.com/author/randomnicole/

Laura Smith (Smiths Occasional Podcast) =http://www.thing-a-day.com/author/laurasmith/

Michael (QCastCT) = http://www.thing-a-day.com/author/qcast-michael/

Merlot (msg board friend) = http://www.thing-a-day.com/author/merlot/


Ok those are all the friends I'm pretty sure of the name. If you are participating please send me your name/link and I will add you to the list so we can watch your progress through the month. :D

Good Luck, Loves *smooch*