Sixty and seventies styles are making a comeback. From wide lapels, hip huggers, and bell bottoms. A favorite of mine was laying back and…
Sixty and seventies styles are making a comeback. From wide lapels, hip huggers, and bell bottoms. A favorite of mine was laying back and…
Craft shows can be a wonderful place to find gifts and one of a kind treasures or a money pit for crafters.
Craft| kraft |noun
Verb [with object] exercise skill in making (something).
I like to consider myself a crafter, or better yet an artisan. Unfortunately, that means I think I can make anything or recreate anything. And typically, I would say I can, with enough investment and/or money as well as time. Rarely can we make a quality product on the first try.
Recently a dear friend visited from Hawaii. As a house warming gift she gave me a beautiful board with resin waves (the Hawaii theme). The artist is Marr Artworks on Oahu and can be found on Etsy, Marr Artworks. My friend knows my crafting passion, and has been the recipient of many a ware from my studio, so she says “you can make one like it”. And the wheels started to turn.
How hard can resin craft be. Now I won’t be giving you a video tutorial, or step by step instructions on how to fail at making a resin board. Like most crafts today, just go to YouTube and you can find a lot of instructions with detailed tutorials if you want to give it a try. Now don’t get me wrong, if you are a creator, and love to try new crafts, please give this one a try. Just don’t expect to have the same outcome as the board from Marr Artworks.
The real question is, when do you just buy the item and enjoy the artwork, and go down the rabbit hole. If you have a craft room that looks like mine, it is full of past craft supplies, that makes you wonder when you had time to do them all.
As I have spent many a Sunday, at our local Farmer’s Market, I can say some of my jewelry and wire crafts (quartz necklace) were quite popular locally. That said, I would sometimes see a piece of jewelry or other item I became enthralled with only to spend hundreds of dollars on supplies and hours recreating, only to find I didn’t love the process. I may have come close to making the item, but should have just bought the damn necklace and returned to what I love making.
Below is a list of items I purchased for my poor attempt at recreating the lovely art board. Note, they are links to amazon, but that is where I got the items to give this a go. I won’t give the prices but a total of what I spent vs. just buying the board for $45 from Marr Artworks, @marrarrworks.
List of items purchased:
Resin Disposal Cups and Sticks
Set of two Bamboo Cutting Boards
Rough edge cutting board from Home Goods ($7.99).
I had plastic cups for leveling (see one of the many videos), painters tape (the blue kind) and a hot air gun from my embossing days. Even with the items I had, my experiment cost me close to $100.
Notably, my white was pearl, and so didn’t get the white. I put way to much epoxy on, wasting a lot of material. and used too many colors.
I think I will try again, but won’t be selling them any time soon. I will stick to my coffee scoops and jewelry. Hopefully I will see you at the Wheeler Farm Sunday Market in Utah, and show off some of my art!
Now we are back to the question: should you buy or make. In this instance, epoxy is really not my thing, I would just buy! Come back soon to see some of the tie dye. That one I chose it as passion (all my family and friends can attest), and hope you would like a item or two.
Please go to Marr Artworks and order one of their pieces, they are beautiful!
Certain things we take for granite; breathing, sun rises, electricity, and walking about. Unfortunately, sometimes life gets in the way. In this case, an over strained ligament from toes to foot. Geez- getting older can be a literal pain. So what to do? Not walking or doing Jazzercise isn’t an option! So a little curative ice water, purple Ninjas and a new pair of Tenni’s will fix you right up.
A little stretching everyday goes a long way in preventing plantar fasciitis
Best Walking Shoe with Arch Support: Asics Dynaflyte 3
Best Cushioned Walking Shoe:Hoka One One Bondi 7
Best Walking Shoes for Wide Feet: Asics Gel-Contend 5
Best Value Walking Shoes: Ryka Devotion Plus 2 Walking Shoe
Best Travel Walking Shoe: Adidas Edge Lux Clima
Spring is in the air, which means it is almost time to hang up the skis and break out the boots.
From the Rockies to the Smokies, mountain trails provide a little peace, quiet and a little fresh air. Each area has it’s own beauty as well as pitfalls. Best advice to give, is know the hike rating, have plenty of water on hand, and have good boots (or in the case of my husband in his younger days, a good pair of Birks)!
Loved our trip to Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg TN. If you ever have the chance, rent a house from Timber Tops Cabin Rentals. Beautiful cabins located in the Smokies, and close to both Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg. Do a little research and plan your hikes before taking one of Gatlinburg's legendary Moonshine Tours! Can't wait for the pandemic to ease, and we will be back in Tennessee!
Our favorite hiking is only half-hour or less away. We are fortunate to call the Wasatch range of the Western Rockies home. We can literally be on a mountain in ten minutes with any range of hike within a half hour. If you are looking for an app, I would suggest the All Trails App, ranks the hikes, gives you the map of the hike and tips on terrain. A local start-up in Utah has created TREK DECK- a deck of cards with 52 local hikes all ready mapped out and tested for you!
Above is a photo of a hike we took while visiting Zurich. Actually, any place we go, we are able to find a hike, walk or trek, to appreciate the natural beauty of the place we are visiting. Not only is it a nice break from the bustle of travel, but you meet some great people along the way!
Well spring is almost here, and the trails are calling!
Took her a few weeks, but she has now settled in and learning to love her human and fur baby family. She has come along way from her lonely shelter days.
My daughter decided another little one was needed in the house. Not sure why, but she was on the hunt. Finding a rescue anything during the pandemic was no easy task. Interviews were standard, along with demonstrating you were equipped to rescue a little life that needed a bit of care.
After a couple of weeks of disappointment, she got the call, and off to the shelter in Park City she went. There she met Freya. A twice abandoned kitten, for of all things, being too shy. Well it was love at first site- if initially a one way affair.
Once home, we realized we had our work cut out for us. She was really, and I mean, really shy. Her comfort zone was under the bed, in the middle, where no one could get her. After a few days of patiently laying by the bed, and loving her from a far, we realized a bolder approach was needed. She was happy as could be to sleep in the middle of the floor, under the bed, with someone in the room. No human interaction needed- but we knew she could change.
So- we moved the bed- lovingly carried her down stairs, and introduced her to the Fur Baby Clan (Tonks, Stark, Solo and Libby). That was all it took. Off she went, and the play time began. Following their lead, she began to play, and interact with her humans. Her little cross eyes, sometime meant she would run into them, but no harm no foul.
The best part, was when she started to talk. Cat’s don’t talk to each other as adults, just to their mom. However, they do learn to talk to their humans. At first it was a growl, but soon turned into a MEEWISH sound. She hasn’t mastered the classic MEOW, but the little MEW will do!