Hammerhead Print

I want to begin by wishing Jessica (my sister-in-law) a Happy Birthday!!!  

I also finished my hammerhead lino cut this morning.  I also found my old stencil to compare it to.  

In the afternoon I printed my linoleum block.  I used a sheet of glass to roll out some white paint on, and I used a 3.5 inch brayer to roll the ink onto the hammerhead.  I used a piece of paper I had been storing since my college days.  It has photo chemicals smeared on the surface!

Then I used my small press to print the block.  I laid the paper down, and then I placed the block on top the the paper.  I centered the block under the center of the press, and then cracked the pressure.  

This is how he turned out!  I love the ghostly unevenness to the print.  

Next I used a straw to add some bubbles floating up from the hammerhead.

To complete it I made smaller dots with the back end of a cheap plastic paint brush around the large dots.  

I was going to do my Saturday Blogger Love post today too, but it's already eight in the evening, so I might skip it this week.  I'm pretty sure that only means that next week I'll do two blogger appreciation posts!  Can't wait, I've got some great ideas planned for this coming week!  I'm sticking to making some soap tomorrow.  I've been looking forward to this project all week!  Until then, happy DIYing, chris!

Hammerhead Lino Cut

I worked on my Hammerhead Lino today, as planned, but I didn't get as much done as I had hoped.  I had a bit longer of a work day than I was expecting, and so I wasn't able to start on this project until after dinner.  I used to have a hammerhead stencil I made out of thick bristol paper, and I used that guy for all sorts of projects!  I printed him on t-shirts, spray painted him on sidewalks in Long Beach, California, and I painted him on my cat carrier!  Since we (my husband and I) moved to the east coast I haven't done much printing, but today I decided I would make a more permanent version of my hammerhead stencil.  Maybe I wont lose him this time!  

I began by drawing  the hammerhead shape on a piece of paper, than I traced that onto my 4x5 inch lino block.  I like linoleum blocks that are attached to wood, they are super easy to carve into. 

Then I used my smallest speedball tip on my carving tool, and carved out the outline of the shark.  Make sure to be careful not to damage the shark while carving around it.  

Next, I used the largest tip I have and started digging out the surface area surrounding the hammerhead.  Make this area as smooth as possible, and dig deep without cutting into the wood below the lino.  

I'll finish this project tomorrow, and hopefully I'll get to printing it too.  Happy DIYing!  chris

February in Numbers

I have a confession to make ...  when I made up my planner for this week I kept today as a surprise, because I knew I would be too tired to do much of anything when I got home from work today.  I did manage to put together My Month In Numbers for February.  Remember I got this idea last month from Notes On Paper.

I worked 15 days this month, which resulted in me driving 614 miles, to travel to 10 different schools, and to take 1333 different children's pictures.  I actually took more pictures than that, but I wasn't able to count each day, because I was doubled up on a camera for a couple days.  

I made 29 blog posts, which resulted in 23 completed DIYs, 5 post were food related, and 4 were paper related.

I spent 5 dollars on my blog this month.  Actually my husband bought me extra storage space for my blogger account.  What an awesome husband he is!

All of my hard work on here has resulted in 868 BLOG VISITS (well since I add on google analytics) and 4 new followers!!! Those numbers are super encouraging and exciting!!  Thank you everyone who started following my blog!  

It's getting late, and I have to work tomorrow.  I need to get ready for bed.  Goodnight, and happy DIYing, chris.  

February Wrap Up & Seedling Update

Happy Leap Day!  I'm sorry I didn't plan any awesome Leap Day DIYs!  I love The Dainty Squid's jumping photos!  I want to share photos of my seedling's progress in their paper pulp cups.  I made seed cups out of paper pulp in muffin tins at the end of January.  

This is how the cups looked fresh out of the oven (right), and this is how they look with tomatoes, and broccoli, and cabbage growing in them.  

This is what my little indoor garden currently looks like.  

Now for my February Recap! I completed 23 projects this month.  Here are a few of my favorites.  

I love the Kitten Shelf I made for my cutie Cricket Chicken.  I also made her a cat hat!

I Replanted Cacti together.  Besides the seeds I started I only did one other gardening project this month.  I planted a bit of a ginger root that was growing in my kitchen.  

I cooked up some yummy Chili, cereal killer cookies, and root veggie soup.  I also shared how to store your unused cilantro, and some of my cute bento-inspired lunches.

This is the Valentine's Day Card I made for my husband.  My other Valentine's Day inspired crafts included a heart stick coaster, and 52 Date Idea Cards.

I did a series on Paper Making, with pulp ideas, drying techniques, and what to do with all that handmade paper.

 I made some earrings out of yarn, and another pair with Mardi Gras beads.    I also used the fun yarn to make pencil toppers.

I drew on this clipboard, made a blog planner, and jazzed up a large candle.  I also made an owl birthday card!

Happy Leap Day Blog People!  For the love of blogs I made my first outfit post inspired by some lovely blogging ladies out there.  ((I need to add more to my ever growing bloglovin' list!))

Hope ya'll enjoy! Happy DIYing, chris.

Owl Birthday Card!

Today is my stepdad's 65th birthday!  Which of course makes today's DIY a handmade birthday card.  I love owls! I often resort to making an owl birthday card for no particularly good reason, other than to make an owl.  

I started off making my card by drawing a template on plain paper, and cutting out the different pieces needed to make the owl.  I then cut out the pieces, picked out the paper I wanted to use, and then used the template to cut out all the pieces for the various sheets of paper.  Once I got all my pieces cut out I picked a thick piece of handmade paper.  Using a ruler and a bone folder I made a crease along the middle, and then folded the paper in half.  Then I started gluing my owl down.  Starting with the body, then the eyes and the bottom belly piece.

Then I glued down the two middle eye pieces, the nose, the forehead/ear piece, and the two feet.

Next I glued down two more pieces for the belly, and now you have an awesome owl card!

I wrote 'Happy Birthday' out by hand on the front.  I like the uneven spacing and the way the lettering turned out, but if you want something more precise you could use a stamp.

This is the inside of my card.  I made up the wording myself, and printed it off from my computer.  Then I cut it out, and glued it down.  Andy, my stepdad got a bit of a chuckle out of it, so I was pleased.  :)

Hope you all enjoyed your Monday, happy DIYing!  chris

Cereal Killer Cookies

Hello Monday!  My mom recently bought us a cookie cook book called Crazy About Cookies.  So of course I wanted to try a recipe out from there for Nom Nom Monday!  I've been craving cereal, so I thought this Cereal Killer Cookie would be perfect for my cereal desires.  

WHAT YOU'LL NEED:

- 1 1/4 Cups all-purpose flour

- 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar

- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

- 1/2 cup butter, softened

- 1/2 cup granulated sugar

- 1/2 cup brown sugar

- 1 large egg

- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

YOUR CHOICE:

- 1 1/2 cups Honey Smacks Cereal (the book uses corn flakes)

- 1/4 cup mini chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.  Combine the flour, cream of tartar, and baking soda in a small bowl, and set aside.  

Using an electric mixer combine both sugars and the butter until light and fluffy.  Then add in the vanilla and egg.  Slowly add the dry ingredients.  

Once throughly mixed stop the mixer, and hand stir the cereal and chocolate chips in.  

Using two spoons place rounded tablespoons two inches apart on a cookie sheet.  

Stick the cookies in the oven for 8 - 10 minutes, or until the edges are golden brown.  

Let cool for a few minutes ...

and then enjoy!!!  These were pretty good, I'd love to try these again with other combinations.  The possibilities are endless!  I did buy another box of cereal, so you might be seeing another variation of this recipe sometime soon.  Happy DIYing, chris! 

Weekly Blog Planner Finished

I finished working on my weekly blog planner!

It took me pretty much all day to do it, but I really like the end product.  I mean I really like it a lot.  I'm so happy Cornflower Blue Studio inspired this out of me!  I used 101 Foundation-Pieced Quilt Blocks for my patterns.  I love this book.  I've used the patterns in this book for tons of projects, none of which includes quilting!

Hopefully this will help me keep organized, and on top of my blog DIYs during the week.

Now that I have each day's post planned maybe I'll actually get some of the DIYs done before that day.  Which isn't to say that I'll get a DIY day off.  It will just elevate some of the stress of trying to get a project completed, photographed, and written up to post all in one day.

Photographing a project can add a ton of time.  Yet I'm finding it extremely gratifying when I get a great product shot of my creative wears.  Plus I'm sure in the future I'll be happy I documented all these wonderful projects, which will be long gone by then.

Tomorrow I have the day off.  With my day I'm going to get my oil changed, and buy the DIY goods I'll need for the week.   Oh, I forgot to mention, I worked on my tabs some today, and I think they are looking more user friendly.  I hope this encourages my visitors to look at more of my past projects.  Last week I started using Google Analytics.  It is super addicting watch it live!  I love watching all the little bubbles pop up around the country (and world!) of people looking at my blog! It's encouraging to see that people are interested in what I'm creating.  It just makes me want to get off my bum and make more awesome stuff, sooooo happy DIYing!  ~chris

Weekly Planner

For my Saturday Blogger Lover I was inspired by Cornflower Blue Studio's Goal DIY Rotating Goal List this week.  I started a little late, so I didn't finish the project on saturday, or get this posted quite in time.  

I've been in desperate need to get organized with my blog!  So instead of a goal list, I'm making a weekly blog planner.  But you could make this planner for anything you need help being organized about!  I started by placing seven post-it notes on my sheet of paper, and traced them with a ruler and pencil.  

Then I went over the squares with a black sharpie, and erased the pencil marks.  Second I used a letter stencil to write out 'my weekly blog planner' across the top.  I filled in the letters on 'weekly' and 'planner', and thickened the lines on 'my' and 'blog'.  Then I used some stamps to label each box with a day of the week.  I know traditionally weeks run from Sunday to Saturday on a calendar, but I liked separating the days up this way. 

  I finished by drawing a quilt pattern in tuesday's box, and coloring it in with colored pencils.  Then drawing a scalloped edge around the box.  

I think I'll make more patterns in at least a couple more days tomorrow.  I plan on using post-it notes on each day so I can change them each week.  This is only temporary, until I get the materials to make something more permanent, and not as wasteful as using a post-it note every single day.  Hope ya'll enjoyed!  Happy DIYing!  chris