Inspired

Back from the craft lab, and what fun I've been having! I was so inspired by Resweater that I went right to work on making some fun berets with felted sweaters from my craft stash. These were so easy to make and even Mr. Peanutbutter liked them (for girls). Shown is my blue beret, but I've made 3 others already!I got the pattern here, although I had to make some minor modifications for my size large cranium. Big brains like mine need room to breathe, yo. I did make it adjustable with the brown ribbon, so that little brained people can wear it, too.

So much to do.

I have so many crafty ideas floating around in my head, so many things to do and what do you think occupies my time? Yep....blogs.

Me: Hello everyone. My name is Jelly and I'm addicted to blogs.
Blogosphere: Hello Jelly.

The irony of it all is that the support group for blog addicts is MORE blogging. Ugh...I'm doomed.

However, if you're here then you know that blogging is one of better addictions to have because you meet really cool people and learn really cool things! In fact, I've been learning all sorts of stuff from two of my latest blog stalks. Please let me introduce you to Skip to my Lou and Resweater.Now I don't have children, but the crafts at Skip to my Lou will keep anyone of any age busy and smiling for hours. In fact, I was printing off all sorts of stuff at work last night for other co-workers who were busy looking over my shoulder at this blog instead of working. It must be really hard to find good workers these days. jeez.

OMG! She even has this great tutorial for making bath bombs.
This is so on my list for next year's handmade Christmas gifts.

Ok, so you know that besides everything french I love to recycle things into useful objects, art, whatever. Well, Resweater is the jackpot o' upcycled sweater projects. In fact, I'm so inspired by all of her stuff that I'm going down to the craft lab right this moment and cooking up some pure crystal craft.

Craft show madness

Dearest Blogosphere,

I'm soooo excited! I just opened my acceptance letter to a local indie craft show that I've been really really wanting to be a part of. So, it looks like I need to get very busy and start crafting! I hope that all of you who are or will be in the St. Louis area over March 13 & 14 will stop by! I'll be sure to post photos of pieces as they come off of the press....

xo,

Jelly

Indie Craft Revolution

What Not to Wear: Kitchen Style

When we bought our house, we fell in love with everything except the kitchen. It's small and somewhat outdated. And even though the house came with new appliances, they're white - and that's just not my style.

I wish we could win some HGTV 100,000 sweepstakes and Candice Olsen could come redo our kitchen......but, that's probably not going to happen. So, I'm taking baby steps in updating our kitchen, starting with those icky white appliances. It was a little nerve-wracking at first, but I decided to paint the refrigerator and dishwasher. Surprisingly, it went pretty well and was relatively easy. (If you're considering doing this, I would highly recommend the Ace Hardware brand appliance paint over Rustoleum. It goes on a lot better and dries faster/more evenly.)

Here is the before:Here are the afters:

The refrigerator still needs one more coat, but you have to wait 5 days between coats. On the dishwasher, the panel is a hammered gold but it doesn't come out well in the photo. For the refrigerator I used 4 cans of black appliance paint, and 1/2 a can of plastic paint for the handles, etc. I used the same plastic paint on the dishwasher, and maybe 1/2 a can of appliance paint.

I also repainted the (white) ceiling fan. There's a really nice metallic finish on everything but the blades, but it doesn't come out well in the photo either.The next step is wall paint and laying floor tile. I'll be sure to post more photos!

P.S. This project was posted on DIY Day at A Soft Place to Land, The Shabby Chic Cottage, and Beyond the Picket Fence.

Eye Candy

(sigh)

I'm working a lot over the next few days at my real job, so that leaves me little time to play in blogland. Even though I'll be toiling away in the world of emergency medicine, I'll leave you with these gorgeous photos for inspiration.

Photos from top to bottom:
Anthropologie, Trouvais, 3 Fine Grains, Bella Notte Linens, Bruxelles Antiques, Cote de Texas

Recommended Reading

Last night while watching House Hunters International, Mr. Peanutbutter and I were daydreaming about our own french farmhouse. We decided that the perfect place would be a rural town in the south of France, surrounded by lavender and cyprus. Since we're not members of the European Union, we would only be able to stay in France for up to 4 months out of the year on a traveller's visa. The south of France would be a great getaway from these horribly long and cold midwestern winters. Of course, all of this rests on winning the lottery. We're hoping to have our winning ticket any day.

All of this daydreaming reminded me of one of my favorite authors: Peter Mayle. If you love France, then you may have heard of him. If not, I highly recommend his books. His are stories of the life of an English writer living Provence, and all of the hijinx he gets himself into with the locals. They are hilarious and heartwarming. But beware, you will want to move to France if you read them - even if you're not a french-freak like me.

The first in the series is A year in Provence, followed by Toujours Provence. He has several books out now and I wish I could say that I've read them all. Looks like I'll be spending some money at Amazon this week.

Feeling nostalgic

Mary Alice was a very special person. Not only was she an amazing woman, seamstress, and role model but she was also my grandmother. I miss her very much. I think that if she were still here she would love blogland with all of the creative people and things you can find there.

In my little profile, I mention that I look like her. I realized, dear blogosphere, that you probably don't know what I look like, much less Mary Alice.

Here you are.....

I love and miss you grandma. Kimmer.

Trash to Treasure: Bowling Pin Accents

One bowling alley's trash is Jelly Girl's treasure.

Let's just say that I got a big tip on some trashed bowling pins. I've been so excited about my find, and have loads of fun ideas about how to fix up these beauties. I started simply by painting and stenciling a few - just to see how it would work out. So far so good.

Another HTML secret: Creating your own button

Editor's note: If you've been to my blog before, let me tell you that I fixed my button. I thought I would save everyone else in the blogosphere the same trouble I've had by giving a tutorial on how to create your own button.

Every one wants to be noticed, right? Well, in the blogosphere anyway.

A great way to get your name out there is by creating a button. These are little images that others can copy from your blog to put in the side column of their blog, and that others will use as a tool to link directly back to you.

You don't have to be an expert at HTML to figure it out. Even if you're still nervous don't worry because I'm going to give you all of the information that you need.

First of all, you need to find an image that you like and that you want to be your button. Most people just use a smaller version of their blog banner. Go to whatever editing software you use, and open the photo/image that you want. You don't need any kind of fancy software here. In fact, whatever photo editing software that came with your computer will probably work.

Once you have your photo open, you will need to crop it into more of a square shape if it isn't already. After cropping the image down, you will need to decrease the size of the image to around 200 pixels. (if it's already less than 200 that's ok) In the tool bar section you will find a tab for image, and somewhere within this tab is the option to change the size of the image. After doing all of this, save your image in a file where you can easily find it later. (For all of my blog stuff I've created a file called Blog Info, and I save all of my images there so that I can find it right away)

Onto step 2....
This is the super easy part. No need to upload your image to a public sharing photo account (which I have found out for your through my own trial and error).
Open your blog and click on customize in the upper right hand corner, and then add gadget. (BTW this is for blogspot users) Click on add photo, and upload your new image and save. Now go to view blog, and right click on your new little button image. In the menu it will say copy image location, click this.Amost done.....
Go back to customize, and add gadget HTML. In the text box, hit ctrl 'v' and the location of your button will show up.

This is what it should look like:

Now, we will have to add your HTML code for your button. This is what we're going to add:


This is what you should have when you're done (substitute your blog info where my highlighted information is):Now, click save and then view blog. You should see something like this:

Now, go back to customize and drag the HTML box you just made below the photo box of your button image. You may want to add a caption in your photo gadget to explain to other bloggers how they can add the button.


This is what you should have:
Congratulations! You now have made your own button. Please leave me a comment and show me how I can see your button if you used this tutorial. I'd be so flattered if you added my button to your blog. Also, if you have any problems or questions about this tutorial I'll be happy to try and help.

Distressed Matchbox Project

You know what they say...Necessity is the mother of invention.

And I needed a matchbox. Anytime I want to light a candle, I have to search all over the house to find a book of matches. So, I decided to repurpose an old tin to hold our matches and put an end to the game of hide & seek.This project is super easy. I started by spray painting the box with black satin paint. To get the stripes, I used scotch tape to make each stripe. I like using scotch tape for smaller projects because it's a nice way to know that your stripes will be even. After taping everything off I painted the stripes first with white acrylic paint, then with a layer of gold.Using an old English-French dictionary, I scanned in the definition of match, and then printed it out so that I could affix it to the box. To give the box a distressed look, I gently sanded the whole thing with a fine grit sanding sponge. And for the final touch, I added a few rub-ons to the front.
et, voila:

More changes

I've been spending some time thinking about changing the overall look of my etsy store, and business image. Jelly Girl is who I am, but I don't think that really encompasses the french-inspired-eco-friendly creative process I go through and use to make all of my stuff.

So, with the help of Mr. Peanutbutter, I have come up with BLEU: creative miscellany for your body and home. These are my new buttons and banners.Don't worry, my blog won't change a bit. I mean, I am still Jelly and always will be. This blog is about my life and creative process - BLEU is the product of those things. I'm still working on changing everything over at etsy, and this may be a while yet. My other etsy store Jelly B. Green, will continue to be open but will sell more vintage goods and supplies. Stay tuned for more updates...

Viva Europa!

Ok, so you all know that I have this ongoing love affair with France. But, I have to say that within that love is an appreciation for all things European....the food, the history, the architecture, ooh la la.

I love looking out the window of my imaginary Parisian apartment (thanks to Paris Daily Photo), but now (thanks to my blogger friend Eleonora at Aglio, Olio & Peppercino) I can vacation at my imaginary villa in Rome. Each day after my cafe au lait in Paris, I visit the cobblestone streets of the piazza at Roma Every Day. Who knew I would grow up to have such a lavish lifestyle!

All photos courtesy of Roma Every Day

HTML Secret: Create your own blog link

Opening up your email and having comments on your blog is such a wonderful find. Moreover, leaving comments on other blogs is a fun way to meet new bloggers, and for other folks to link back to you. But how do you get the link into the comment box?

It's a lot easier than you think! Just insert the HTML code below in the comment box, and your blog will show up as highlighted text that others can use to link directly to your blog.


This is an example of what it should look like:
This is what it should look like when you're done:

I hope this helps!

P.S. Give it a try and leave me a comment.

Victorian Shoes

During my recent 'Girls Only Weekend' in Atlanta I was able to see the new Sherlock Holmes film with Robert Downey, Jr. What a great movie! Not to mention the costumes and sets were amazing - very steampunk.

I now seem to have Victorian on the brain, and have been going through some of my vintage shoe ads. Here are a few that I've cleaned up a little bit.

Be sure to click on each image for a larger view.

Home Improvements

Why call them resolutions? They're really just life improvements, aren't they?

Well, I've been giving my 2010 life improvements some thought and I've had plenty of time to do this over the last week during my mini me vacation. Nothing better than a week off work spent with one of your favorite gal pals in Atlanta. Great company, great food, amazing beers and I-K-E-A! 'Nuf said.

So, back to my improvements....

I won't regale you with promises to lose weight, live a healthier life style, save money, etc. Why would I when I can't even promise myself those things?

Let's be realistic blogosphere....I'm a crafter, an artist (pronounced ar'teest) if you will. My goals this year are to spend more time on my art, more time being creative, and spending time with other creative folks. I really want to tell you that I'm going to post a new item on Etsy every day this year, but that would be lying. So, I'm going to tell you that I'm going to try to post a new item on Etsy each week. That way I'll seem like a creative genius who has her sh** together if I post more than once a week.

With that said, may I present to you this week's Etsy installment (the first of 2010 I might add):

Ruskie Mittens in Red

I love making these mittens and actually have another pair that I'm going to post today (see 'creative genius' above). They're entirely made from felted upcycled wool sweaters and they are oh-so-soft and thick. I've also been making more gloves, but they take a little longer. Plus, I forgot to take photos of all of the gloves that I made for Christmas gifts. Sorry.

Please visit my Etsy store, and stay tuned for more here at A Jelly Girl...