Art on My Main Blog

Cherry Blossom Joy Art & Poem:
Copyright © by Phyllis Wheeler, May 2013

This year I've been busy organizing and have cut back on arts and crafting. Cut back, but not stopped entirely. Just in case you weren't aware, I have an inspirational blog at http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com and post some of my artistic photography and general art projects there. Today I posted some of my sketches (cherry blossom and pear). If you haven't been, I'd love for you to visit! Happy spring!

Free Crochet Along With One Dog Woof

I absolutely love this idea and started following ChiWei's One Dog Woof blog today because of it. Not only is she hosting a free to follow crochet along but she's teaching people how to crochet as part of the process. As if that weren't nice enough, there's the added fun of voting on which one of eight projects you'd like to do the most (you can vote for 2 projects). My first choice was the reusable gift bag so of course I hope that gets picked. But I've tried (with rather pitiful results) to crochet before so I'm hoping this will be the attempt that works.

Source: http://www.1dogwoof.com/2013/02/cal-pick-project.html

Super Cute, Fast and Easy Personalized Craft Gift

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Paper Wings posted this fabulous, easy and frugal personalized post it note holder gift craft and I thought it was so neat I had to share it with you in case you're looking for some last minute gifts that won't break your budget or take a crazy amount of time to make. You can probably make them for under $2 each if you already have enough extra scrapbook paper, embellishments and ribbon lying about. Her original post and instructions are here: http://violetpaperwings.blogspot.com/2010/12/post-it-present.html. Merry Christmas, happy Chanukkah, happy Kwanza and greetings of the season dear crafting friends!

Happy Birthday Banner Card to Celebrate Craftsi's First Birthday

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It's hard to believe that this blog is already a year old! Happy 1st Birthday, Craftsi! In celebration I thought I'd share this beautiful happy birthday card. I don't know that I'm going to ever make it but I do adore it. I've seen it on Pinterest and was thrilled to find it's source and instructions at Martha Stewart's crafts department. What are your favorite happy birthday crafts? 

Sources/original links:
Balloon card image: https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-TGVqGFkS45U/TZpD2n25hcI/AAAAAAAARIk/_xnKmiH8sPM/8.jpg?imgmax=512
Happy birthday banner card: http://thecraftsdept.marthastewart.com/2011/04/happy-birthday-banner-card.html

Cute and Easy Snowman Ornaments

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Simply Cute Creations made these adorable, cute and easy snowman ornament crafts from clear ornaments, baby socks, fake snow and bits of ribbon and string.  I love them. Here's the how to link: http://jhagfeldt.blogspot.com/2010/12/snowmen-ornaments.html. You could turn this into a recycled craft by using scrap ribbon and string and/or repurposing some baby socks.

Can you believe the holiday season has begun already? Merry Christmas! Happy holidays! Happy Hanukkah! Happy Kwanza! I wish you joy, peace and happy crafting!

Cat Painting

This is my first cat painting (as far as I remember, anyway). It's from a paint by number kit but all the mixing got complicated and I suspect I didn't quite do the kit justice. However, I still love the painting, even though it's far from perfect. Probably because I love cats and sleeping cats are always cute. What kind of crafts are you doing? I'd love to hear about it! Happy crafting!

Bath Rug from Recycled Towels

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Fine Craft Guild's easy tutorial for making a soft bath rug from recycled towels caught my eye today. You could use recycled bath towels, kitchen towels, face cloths or even tee shirts. This looks like an easy do-in-front-of-the-tv craft and I live that I'll be able to custom size it for my weirdly shaped bathroom. Have you ever made one of these kind of rugs? How did it turn out?

You can find the tutorial here: http://www.finecraftguild.com/eco-friendly-bath-mat-fun-diy-project-to-do-in-the-easter-break/

Happy crafting!