DIY at Your Doorstep

Did you know you can get an entire craft project delivered on your doorstep in two days?  My Facebook is typically the bane of my existence, that is until a few days ago when it suggested I like the page "Darby Smart".  I'll admit, I mostly clicked the link because my sister has a dog named Darby… how random is that?  When I got to the website… I fell in love with Darby Smart.  LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT!  (site? hehe).

First you have to sign up with them, then you have access to their full site.  They have a selection of craft projects; ring dishes, candle holders, purses, and new projects all the time to choose from.  They're fun AND affordable; not to mention that you get $10 off on your first purchase just for signing up.  The project I am going to show you now was $19 but I got it for $9…  did I mention FREE two day shipping???  FREE!

They have several different options for crafting: you can buy a kit with enough for a Girls Night In project (enough materials for four projects) or you can get a monthly subscriptions for $19 and get your monthly craft project shipped right to your home!  Isn't that cool?

If you're already typing in the website at this point follow this link for $10 off which also gives me a great bonus: Darby Smart

For those of you who are less convinced (and those who are!); check out my first project below:

Here's the beautiful package that arrived at my door:

Pretty, yes?

I decided to purchase the Critter Ring Dish kit with a landmark theme.  The kit came with instructions, two ceramic dishes, super glue, a gold paint pen, four landmarks, and a glossy sealant.

First, I painted my chosen landmarks: this kit came with the Arc de Triumph, Taj Mahal, Tower of Piza and the Statue of Liberty (others included Big Ben or the Eiffel Tower).  They also have dogs, cats, and dinos as choices.

Lady Liberty

                       Leaning Tower

Next, I made my design on my ring dish.  I was REALLY nervous, I didn't want to mess it up and ruin the project.  HOWEVER, the marker did come off with a wipe or some gentle scratching and I was able to start over a few times.  Instead of a design that I would agonize over being perfect, I went with words:

Next, I did the rim of the dish with the gold paint.  On the "I love NY" dish I did the gold rim without any assistance, as you can see there are a few rough edges.  In the "Ciao bella" dish, I used tape around the edges to guide the paint pen, which worked great!

Then, you can use the spray sealant to seal in the gold paint on your monuments.  I skipped this step for now since it's not safe to use those kind of materials in an area that's not well ventilated (or in my case, a room with a bird and old doggy).  

Lastly, it's time to add the super glue and put that monument on the dish:

And finally, we have the finished products:

Not too bad if I do say so myself, for a project that arrived in 2 days and only cost me $9 plus tax.  I've already purchased another so you should be seeing that one soon!

I hope you enjoyed this craft and learning about Darby Smart.  I really recommend it for someone who's passionate about crafting but might not always have the time to get the supplies… or if you're like me; you might just need a website to choose the craft for you since you really just want to do EVERYTHING!

Kayla Sucy: Amateur Interior Designer

I am obsessed with decorating my living space…  I've mellowed out a little bit since I've been at my current place for going on 3 years but even still, I am always picking up knickknacks or making something to add to my space.

For those who might not know, I live in the upstairs of my grandmother's home.  It is a nice sized room which is the entire second floor of her small home.  The ceilings are slanted which makes it difficult to rearrange but there are lovely built in dressers and book selves in one of the short walls that help a little with the storage.

I started with my color scheme…  Could you guess what my two favorite colors are by looking at my blog?  Of course, it's green and blue.  So I used these colors paired with a tan color to make over my room.

I have my bed with its color matching duvet cover and also a single bed that I've made up to look like a couch, of course using the colors once again.  I'm not sure where I got the idea, but I decided to take a curtain and turn it into my very own canopy.  Take a look:

(excuse the wrinkly bed!)

I used curtain rods at both ends, however the one and the head of the bed is more for show.  The curtain is actually nailed into the wall at the head of the bed with small hidden nails.

My chandelier is the pride and joy of my bedroom.  It has pretty lotus-like flowers all over, the bottom one twists out and has a place to put a candle.  I used battery operated candles to avoid wax dripping especially if it were to get bumped…  which may or may not have happened before.   I found the chandelier at Marshall's for $14.99.  What a steal!  They even had a larger one that I stopped myself from buying.  I've found that Marshall's is incredible for home goods.  The deals are amazing and if you go in there often enough then you're bound to find something amazing.

(You can see my built in drawers with my painted knobs)

My lamp and side table are from Kirklands.  Another great home goods store with really reasonable prices.  I have two lounge chairs in my room from Kirklands too and a few other miscellaneous items (also matching my color scheme).

The candle and lotus candle holder are other Marshall's items that I picked up for just a few dollar as little accent pieces.

Lastly, I'll share with you a piece that I created for my place.  I have one full height wall (without a window) in my place and it's probably only five feet wide.  It's the only wall I can put my dresser against.  Needless to say, it needed some artwork.  Check it out:

It was very simple.  I purchased a pack of nine 3x3inch canvases, two paint stamps, and the colors of my choice.  It all came together very easily.  I chose a pattern for my colors and decided where I wanted the stamps.  I suggest it for anyone looking to add a little something to their space.

I can't wait to show you some more of the items I've made for my home, jewelry and all sorts of random fun crafts!

The Steampunk Wedding

Steampunk…  I'm hoping you know what it is…  Don't worry though, I didn't know what it was either.  That is, until my brother announced his Steampunk themed wedding.

Steampunk, noun- a genre of science fiction that typically features steam-powered machinery rather than advanced technology.

Sounds sort of cool, right?  It REALLY is and the elaborateness that became my brother's wedding really was amazing.  It took a village to get it all together; the blimp card box, faux gas lamp candelabras, steampunk cake pops, etc, etc.

The costumes were a whole other story...  You'd think people would be hesitant to dress up in this bizarre kind of dress, however, all but a handful of the 150 guests were dressed in their very own steampunk attire.  The couple and their closest relatives, myself included, commissioned a few Etsy shop owners to assist us in creating our dream outfits.

I used a wonderful woman from the shop CurvyWench (www.etsy.com/shop/curvywench).  In my mind I had hodgepodge of designs.  Lizzie listened to all of my random and crazy expectations and turned them into exactly what I had hoped for.  I had wanted an off the shoulder peasant blouse with buckle straps, a layered uneven skirt with buckles to raise the front, and the buckles attached to a waist cincher.  And this was the final result:

(photo by Sarah Myers Dengler)

I have over 80 messages between me and the designer.  Lizzie went through every detail with me down to added D rings for my skirt hoist.  She truly was fabulous and worked hard to make every thing (even financing) as seamless as possible.

The accessories took the outfit to a WHOLE other level.  I used a Christmas themed tin (the hat of a snowman) to make my hat.  I added ribbon, clips and veil.  Here's a closer look:

Lastly, maybe you caught a peek at this last picture above…  I made my own jewelry and it was BY FAR the most complicated piece I have made to date:

I was definitely inspired by the steampunk theme and another piece of jewelry I had found online.  It is one of my proudest jewelry pieces and I cannot find it in my heart to give it up. 

There was so much inspiration surrounding the wedding and it's theme.  The wedding was just as fun as it was to make all of these pieces.

P.S. I also made a pair of earrings and a ring to match for my sister's wedding in May of 2013.  Here's a peek: 

You can find a similar version in silver at my Etsy store: 

https://www.etsy.com/listing/163125670/crystal-drop-bow-earrings?

The Amazing Maze of Social Media

So, if you've read my previous blogs you're probably wondering why I posted three posts on the same day…  Well to answer your question easily: they were previously posted to another blog of mine.  Why did I do that, you might ask?  Let me explain.

It's nice to have new ideas.  My ideas have given me so many of my favorite projects.  Like my shadowboxed shark teeth collection, my excursion into the area of painting, and many others... all of which I would love to share with you soon so keep an eye out!

These ideas become a problem when they start to become a little less cohesive.  For example, I have my personal Facebook account.  Under that account, I have several pages I administrate such as my Mary Kay business page and my Kayla's Creation's page which started as an outlet for my Etsy store.  Then I have two gmail/google accounts.  One started out as my personal email as a teenager and then I decided to go for a more professional sounding email…  Each account has it's own google+ profile.   Each google+ profile had a blog (very sad blogs).  And then there's my Etsy page.  It has gotten to be too much!

My desktop with my email and Kayla's Creations Facebook & Blog.

So what do I possibly get rid of?  Or better yet, what can I merge.  So I merged my blogs under one google+ account and essentially deleted the other.  I have to keep both emails, but I continue to use one strictly for business.  My Facebook page continues to be an outlet for myself and both of my businesses.  And my Etsy page continues to grow and be publicized on all my great sources of social media.

My Etsy page really is the foundation for all of this media though.  It started when I realized that I had made so many items from crafting that they only thing I could really do was sell them.  Then, I created the Facebook page to bring up revenue.  And lastly, I created the this blog to document all of my crafting adventures.

I'm trying to master my various forms of social media, so forgive me if you find yourself without an update.  I'll do my best to keep the gears turning on my end.  I've got plans to redo all of my jewelry items with Sterling Silver and silver/gold plated findings which will greatly improve the quality of my jewelry.  I've also got some great new projects coming in the mail from a place called DarbySmart.com.  I'm very excited for some new things and even more excited to share.  So please stick it out with me and I'll try to keep you amused!

How It All Started...

I've always enjoyed hands-on crafts.  Even the ones I'm not quite good at, I really just enjoy giving it a try.  So, I'm sure you'll see a few fails down the road but hopefully it gives you some entertainment or at least some ideas of our own.

One of the first few craft fads that I got hooked on was SCRAPBOOKING!  By now, I've spent way too much money and had to buy storage boxes to organize it all.  At this point, I've scrapbooked the past four years of my life.  I've done all four years of college (in one book due to lack of photographic evidence) as well as my last three summers spent in Nantucket.  Where do I go now?  Re-vamp my own childhood with the flourishes that scrapbooking of the 1980s fails to achieve?  I hardly take enough pictures to make a scrapbook for every event and family function.

On the left is a page from my college scrapbook.

On the right is a page from my Nannying in Nantucket scrapbook.

Trust me, this is only a small portion of my  supplies.

One of my containers.  I've expanded recently.

One idea that I've developed, is to scour my room for pieces of my youth and memories that I've refused to throw away.  Programs from school musicals, concert ticket stubs, love letters from my 6th grade boyfriend; all things I've held onto that never fail to make me smile.  They sit, collected, in a large storage container waiting to be sorted and put into scrapbooks... 

I was sitting in my parents house writing this when suddenly, I stopped.  I trudged up the stairs and into my childhood bedroom.  There it sat, that menacing storage container.  Determined to do SOMETHING with it, I hauled it down the stairs; feeling a familiar ache in my lower back.  Last night, I brought it back to my "apartment" aka the upstairs of my grandmother's house; laid it all out in piles and used various shoe boxes and organizers to hold it all.  It now sits in several boxes divided up into "Family", "School-Age", "4-H", "Nannying" and "College".  There's also a random bin filled with things that failed to find their own place.  It's an unsightly mess sitting in the corner of my room, so now I'm going to HAVE to do something about it.  First, I'm determined to scan all of the pre-digital photos into my computer.  Then it's going to have to be scrapbooked.  Stay tuned...

My Inspiration

Of course I can't say that this was my first craft...  After all, gluing marshmallows in the shapes of constellations in Kindergarten was a craft.  But let's just say that my taste in crafting has blossomed as I've gotten older.  Now, instead of Joey S. eating my marshmallows, my biggest problem is how to focus on one thing!

I am constantly saving scraps from magazines with ideas that I want to duplicate or creating ideas in my head that I want to accomplish.  What to do with them all and how to get it all done?!?!

My obsession has increased in the last few months...  I was inspired by a fellow bloggers post about making an inspiration board.  Check her out at Chic Geek Design listed in my Blogs of Interest.  I WISH mine had come out as classy as her picture, but I made due with what I had.  My inspiration board is made of my favorite colors and shapes, all hand painted, glued and decorated with some of my dreams and crafting goals.

I used cork adhesive squares on a pieces of thin board. 

Then I cut rounded cork for embellishments along with

the green painted clothespins and circles which allow more space

to pin goodies.

This inspiration board helps me focus on the plans I've got and keeps me on track and able to build more plans.  It sits on the wall next to my desk, sometimes I hardly remember that it's there but when I do- it makes me smile with all the possibilities of the things I can accomplish...

Filled with ideas...

plus a few faces to brighten my day.

Take a closer look at my Inspiration Board in future posts.