Tiny Worlds

My latest craft craze has been Terrariums. I'm really enjoying finding different jars, succulents and accessories for them. 

xx

Smorgy

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2012 So Far

I've had a very busy year so far and right now i am officially on holidays for a WHOLE week.

On top of maintaining (and recently re-designing) this blog, my partner and I have bought a house, moved out of our family homes and started living on our own for the first time. I also work a full time job. My title (recently self-promoted) is Office Administrator. I do SOO much in my office, most offices would hire two or three to do the work I do. This puts a lot of pressure and strain on me daily and to finally have a small break to collect myself and focus on some other things is something I'm so excited about. 

This post is to just re-visit some of the things i've created and worked on this year so far. I'm really happy with how things are going. I feel like I'm improving in my blogging skills and I plan to spend some time this week in my craft room, getting inspired and creative.

xx

Smorgy

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Wedding Gift - Personalised Toasting Glasses

The work colleague that i made the Bridal Shower Gift for has almost reached her big day and I wanted to make something special for their wedding gift.

Personalized Toasting Glasses!

This wasn't a first time etching glass for me but it was an experimental way of doing it which I've not done before. It was quiet fiddly and sometimes frustrating.

Trying and get these two glasses to match was a painful task. There was a lot of tape involved and a lot of pauses were i would walk away for a little bit (so i didn't end up throwing the glasses).

I wanted to have them ready early enough to give to the bride and groom to be before the wedding day in the hope that they would like them enough to use on their wedding day to toast and celebrate with.

I'm soo happy with how they turned out. It was worth all the stress for the finished product.
Have another wedding coming up in October and thinking of doing the same thing... But obviously with their names hahaha.

If you want to see more photos go to my Facebook page.
Let me know what you think of my etched glasses.

xx
Smorgy

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Goals - February

I gave up on setting goals last year when things just got a bit crazy in my life.
This year I'm going to try hard to set at least 5 goals each months to complete. It doesn't matter how big or small the goals are. They all count.

So here is my goals list for Feb:

1/ Garden tidy up - The garden at our house is in need of a nice cut back and clean up. We plan to get some people over to help us and try to finish it all in a day.

2/ Finish making place mats and coasters - I started these before Christmas but ran into a few hiccups which caused me to push them to the side. But this month I'm going to finish them.

3/ Get Cooper more comfortable with staying home alone - He doesn't like to be alone and at mums he never really had to be so now i need to teach him that it's ok to be alone.. I will probably involve a LOT of treats.

4/ Organise and host our housewarming - We've picked a date but now i need to do the rest. Lot's of little things to do.

5/ More some time into organising my craft room - It's not going to be done in a hurry but i need to lodge some time in there often to get it sorted.

So there is my list for February. I will keep you posted on how I'm going with my list.
Fingers crossed I get them all completed

xx
Smorgy

PS: Tonight BJ and I are having a date night. We are going to see Mariachi El Bronx play at Billboards. I'm super excited as they are a great live band and I get to see them with my man.

Date Night Outfit

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Wild Bore Xmas

Soon after BJ and I start our podcast Fork This BJ and our mates Pat and Speds started an audio podcast called Wild Bore. (I recommend you all listen to it as it's very entertaining.)

Not longer after they started the podcast BJ and I went garage saling and I found a chocolate mold of bore heads.... That's right!!

I decided right then that i would spend the 50cents and buy that chocolate mold and make the members of Wild Bore a christmas present they'll never forget.

Now i know i've already blogged a little bit about this as we did a Fork This episode of us creating these presents but i thought i'd show you some more photos of the finished products and also the faces of the recipients.

If you missed the episode of Fork This here it is ...And this is the final product

 

Speds

Pat

BJ

 
I didn't noticed till just now that none of them look happy about their gift in their photos hahaha.

I'm soo happy with how these turned out. A couple of issues i had were that the mold was difficult to release the chocolate without it breaking (I had a chocolate bore graveyard by the end of the day.) I was also planning to 'mount' the bore head to a cookie but had a few issues making that work. I think the shield with the Wild Bore logo turned out awesome.
Also, they were a BITCH to wrap.

I plan to make lot's of bore heads in the future. Think i'll try and do a resin bore for something.

xx
Smorgy Pin It

My Goals - September

July's goals dragged over to August and i successfully ticked off most of them by the end of the month.

This month I'm starting some new goals.


1/ Resin, Resin, Resin!! - About a month ago BJ and I got out the resin and had a play and i was soo happy. I finally made something that was worth sharing with someone (Which I'm going to blog about soon). SO I want to get it out again and see what else i can create.

2/ Take more photos - Lately we've been taking my SLR out with us and I love that. I want to go on adventures and take photos of what i see.

3/ Purchase something for our future home - BJ and I are saving for a house and I want to try and pick up small things that we will need to prepare ourselves for when we are ready to purchase.


4/ Make a new piece of Jewelry - When in the States last year i bought back heaps of awesome crafty bits and have barely touched any of it. I want to break it out and make something awesome this month.

5/ Get re-measured - Since I've been losing weight of course my boobs have shrunk and the expensive/correctly fitted bra's i purchased last year don't fit me anymore. The discomfort isn't nice.

6/ Wear something different - I've been trying to step out of the box a little lately. Wearing dresses, tights, girly things. And i want to try and do it more regularly. Sometimes I feel like i need and occasion to wear these kinds of things, but really i can wear them just because i want to.


7/ More Garage Sales - BJ and I went Garage Saling this weekend and had soo much fun. I want to try and do it one Saturday a month and see what we can find. It's a great way to tick off number 3 as well.


So they are my goals for September and i intend to tick them all off THIS month.
Wish me luck.

xx
Smorgy Pin It

Goals - July/August

I really failed at my July Goals. A lot of them just got pushed aside until all of a sudden it was the 31st and I'd only ticked off two.... Booo Smorgy, boooo!!!

This month I've managed to tick off a few more of July's goals mostly because i can't really think of any new goals to set for this month.

BJ and I have started cook every Sunday... Weather it's dinner for the family like in episode 9 of Fork This

FTI TV - 009 from BJ Carter on Vimeo.

or a sweet treat or dessert (Which MIGHT be coming up in a future Fork This episode for you).

Last Saturday I got my resin out and BJ and I created some new molds and pieces. It was pretty successful and i have BJ to thank for that. He motivated me to get it out and gave me the postivite vibes to make it work.

I now have two new ring molds and some awesome Diamond molds.
I still have to sand and polish my pieces but i'm really happy with how some of them turned out.

I haven't really gotten much more hoop practise in apart from at class. But last night i learnt some AWESOME new tricks which ill try and get some footage of them to show you.
My hands are sooo bruised right now and i coped the hoop to the face and have a nice red mark on my lip.

I rang the insurance company and the idiot who hit me made some cock and bull lie about how he's been away all this time EVEN THOUGH i've recieved contact from him. He is trying to make it that it's my fault and i will not have that. SO i'm taking the matter further and now the insurance company wants me to draw them a pretty little picture of the incident... Because apparently a drawing can only tell the truth.

So because i can't think of any more goals for this month i'm going to continue with July's goals and hopefully i can have them crossed off and have some new ones come to mind by September.

Fingers crossed.

xx
Smorgy Pin It

My Goals - July

I did so well with achieving my June goals that today i wrote up a list of 10 goals for July that i thought i'd share with you.

1/ Cook once a week - I dont care if it's dinner or just some cookies but i want to get in the kitchen more

2/ Re-organize my wardrobe & tidy my room - My wardrobe is overflown and i need a better system for my clothes

3/ Get my resin out - It's been SOOOOO long since i did so this month I'm going to make it happen

4/ Find some memory boxes - I  have two things i collect and i need an appropraite place to store them

5/ Eat less fast food - I'm not eating it too much these days but still think I could cut it back a bit more

6/ Practice my hooping more regularly - I recently did an 8 week hula hooping class (and have started another 8 weeks) but i find it hard to get in some time at home to have a spin

7/ Call my car insurer - I put a claim in after some guy hit my car back on March and STILL haven't heard anything from the insurance company... I'd like to know what the hell is going on

8/ Start a glory box - My partner and I are saving for a home but obviously we are going to need lots of things when it is time to move out. So i want to get a start on that

9/ Clean car inside and out - I've had Norman now for 9 months and only given him one bath in all that time, he's waaaaay overdue

10/ Finish BAS - This one is work related. Every time the BAS comes up i get swapped with work and always have to rush through it last minute while I'm stressing out... Not this time!

So they are my goals for July.
I'll keep you updated on how i go with them

xx
Smorgy Pin It

Monthly Goals Update

I woke up yesterday morning in the mood to blog. But unfortunately my day did not allow that to happen. SOOOO today i decided to make some time to come on a give an update on how my June Goals are going. 

With only 6 days left of June AND the fact that i didn't set my goals at the beginning of the month... I think I'm doing pretty well with achieving them.

The first three goals are all ticked and completed.

I FINALLY posted out the earrings that i made back in March. Two lovely ladies i know saw photos of them, told me they liked them and that was it... The earrings were there's. They just had to wait for me to get off my bum and get them in the post. I sent a few extra goodies as well which i wont mention just in case they read this before receiving them.

I made several new things, but nothing jewelry related. I can't really discuss them on here as they are top secret. One of them i will be able to talk about soon though.

I also decided for the moment i would not renew the hosting of www.silhouettesofknights.com. I'll keep the domain going, but put a hold on the hosting for the moment, until i feel more motivated to revamp the website and put some more effort into it.

Changing my hair is still playing on me... I'm kind of thinks about just letting it grow for the moment and see where that takes me... But it always gets to a point that i cannot stand it and since i work right next to my hairdressers, i just go straight up, make an appointment and get it all chopped off again.

I have been blogging a whole lot more recently then i ever have. And i have plans for it to happen even more in the near future. I'm happy to tick that one off my goals list as it's something that gets me motivated to do other things. And when i see that people are actually reading my blogs, commenting on them and enjoying them... That just makes me want to blog even more.

I've gotten my Diana out to play a couple of times... No SLR though. I've take some interesting photos with the diana. On one of them i used the splitzer and it came out really creepy.

Goal number 8 was to continue with my diary.. This i have not done, and don't know that i will this month. But it wasn't high on my list so I'm not too worried about it.

The other three that I'm yet to cross off are 'Find a way to make new friends', 'Listen to more music' and 'Smile!' - I'm working hard on the friends thing but don't quiet know If that will get a tick just yet. Music is always hard fit in because Podcast's take up a lot of my driving time. But I'm making the effort to change that. And lastly, to smile... I think this month I have gotten to a better place in my life and smiled a whole lot more then last month. But i won't tick that off until the end of the month.

So that's an update on my goals... I think I've done pretty well with them and in 6 days i will have to come up with a new list for July. 

If anyone has any suggestions of good goals that I should try to achieve. I'd love to hear them

xx

Smorgy

P.S: I'm really loving Hanging with Friends. I'm 'Smorgy!' come and hang with me. 


P.P.S: My car (Norman Bates) clicked over to 6,000 this week. I took a video to mark the occasion.

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My Goals - June

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So I've decided that I'm going to set at least 5 goals at the beginning of each month for me to achieve. 

Nothing ridiculously hard, just things to get me moving and motivated.

And I'm going to blog my goals each month to make myself accountable.

So here are my goals for June:

1/ Post out earrings to Ellen and Erin (with a little extra something special for the wait)

2/ Make something new! Don't care if it's jewelry, resin, clay - just something

3/ Decide weather or not to renew www.silhouettesofknights.com and my store

4/ Change my hair in some way - New colour? New Style? New cut?

5/ Find a way to make some new friends

6/ Blog more!

7/ Get out my SLR and Diana at least once for some photo fun

8/ Continue with the diary i started last month

9/ Listen to more music

10/ Smile!

So they are my goals for June. I will keep my blog updated on how i go with them, and will also post if im looking for ideas or help with any of them. (I'm always open to suggestions.)

xx

Smorgy

PS: These are the earrings I need to send out to Ellen and Erin. I made them in March (I've been really slack)

For Ellen - Star Earrings

For Erin - Record Earrings

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Honesty

I recently decided to start up a diary again. It’s been years since I had one and I’ve kind of gotten to a point where I need to get a lot of things out on to paper. (virtual paper)

The last couple of months I’ve been struggling a lot, with myself. I’ve had no motivation to craft or do anything that i really enjoy - and it doesn’t seem to be getting any easier.

I’ve had a lot of history come to the surface, a lot of personal things to sort through, a car accident in my 6 month old baby, my puppy having an operation and other bits and pieces that have really brought me down.

I’ve come to realise that I only have one friendship that is there for me always and helps me when I’m down. I don’t have anyone that I can just call up last minute and go hang out with. I seem to just have a lot of acquaintances but very few friends and that’s making life hard.

I make all these beautiful pieces of jewelry which I’m really happy with and I think are awesome, but I have no one to give them to.

I know that everyone has it tough and I’m not THAT person who thinks that there life is the worst and everyone should feel sorry for them… and that’s the last thing I want. But the past 10 years of my life have been a total roller coaster. I’ve lost a lot of people who I cared a great deal about. Some in death, some in disagreements, but a lot of them I couldn’t tell you why because I don’t know myself. (I wish I did)

I do so much for the people in my life, the people who mean something to me. At the drop of a hat I am there for them, they need something made – I do it right away, I am supporting them every way I can… But I don’t seem to get anything in return. All I want is a thank you but mostly; I get nothing.

I’ve given up on going all out and giving 100% to people that just don’t support me back.

I’ve decided to set some goals for this year to improve my head space and get me enjoying life again:

1. If something is bothering me, im going to say something. Im not going to bite my tongue and just pretend there’s nothing wrong.
   
   
2. I’m going to spend more time doing things for me. Im all about helping friends/family, but I need some time for myself too and when they don’t help me why so I put in soo much of an effort?!
   
   
3. I am going to re-design my website. I’ve hated it since about a month after I launched it… I don’t think anyone goes there and I want to change that.
   
   
4. I’m going to craft more. This works with ‘2’ because having some time for myself means that I CAN do ‘4’.
   
   
5. Im going to try and focus on the positive things in life.
   
   

These five goals are a starting point. I have more that I a bit too personal to post. Im going to try and accomplish these goals and improve where im at currently.

I’ve been reminded recently that this year I turn 25.

I just don’t know where the years have gone and I want to be able to look back in another 10 years and see that I am no longer where I am now. That I am a happier, confident and positive person.

Im sorry about posting that on a blog that is ment for craft but I don’t think anyone actually reads my blogs anyway and I had to get this out into the world.

xx

Smorgy 

I dont want to be this person anymore

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Learning something new

Over the last week i decided i wanted to learn to make these cute little ribbon things.

They've come out looking really awesome and i'm having lot's of fun coming up with ideas of what to do with them.

Here are a couple of things i've made.

I've made one other pair of earrings. Which i will reveal next Friday at my friend Broni's album launch which everyone better be coming along to. You can purchase your tickets right here

xx

Smorgy Pin It

Just a quickie

I've not felt motivated at all to do any crafting. Finding it hard to find the time when i am motivated.

Went away on a 10 day cruise which i will blog about soon i promise.

But just to give myself some presence on my blog, here are some photos of the last lot of resin pieces i made last year.
They aren't great - The pieces or the photos. But resin takes practice. 

 

Blue sparkly Skull

 

Clear Gun

 

Clear Space Invaders

More pics can be found on my facebook page

xx

Smorgy

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Memories from 2010

So 2010 was an exciting year. A lot happened and here is a short list of some of the more excited things.

January

Was mostly spent working on my website and try to get it to a point that I was happy to upload it for the world. (Note: it is now in desperate need of an update)

February

I had my first attempt at working with resin and loved it. Even though I haven’t perfected it yet, I still enjoy getting it out and making a mess.

March

BJ and I went to the Mary and Max exhibition in the city. Had a visit from one of our USA friends Chappy. BJ and I also got to experience Tapas and Korean BBQ for the first time… Delicious!

April

I met Rich Fulcher!!! We appeared in our friend Broni’s music video and took my niece to the zoo for the first time.

May

BJ’s car decided to break down in the middle of a major road and the police had to push him out of the way. 

 June

Their was my niece’s 4^th birthday (not to mention a heap of other birthdays). I started re-organising my room and our good friend Kelly came to visit us from Canada (via Canberra).

July

Was BJ’s birthday where he got the AWESOME Freaks and Geeks yearbook box set. I bought a new massive tv for myself, got a little crafty for a friend and got out our box of souvenirs from our last trip to get us excited for the next.

August

Had me crafting some more before the trip. We saw Stephen Lynch Live. BJ and I celebrated our 5^th anniversary together. Then we headed back to the States for a month of travelling and catching up with great friends (Oh and had many trips to Disneyland)

September

We continued our time in the states. We got to go to Nashville and visit the honkey tonks, we spent a weekend having a massive barn party. But the biggest highlight of all… we calved our first pumpkin J

October

I bought a new car!!! We saw Mariachi El Bronx live and up close. Went to the Tim Burton Exhibition. Oh and it’s was my birthday

November

Saw me spending time with the people I love with a trip to the Miniature Trains and I clicked over the 600 kmh mark in my car. (Slow month)

December

I got a little creative again. My niece and I made a gingerbread house for Christmas. BJ and I had our first paint balling experience. I got my old car ready to sell and we bought in the new year with some good friends and fun.

Good times, Good times... Looking forward to move fun in 2011. 

xx

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No Motivation

I haven't been blogging lately because I've not been feeling very creative lately. 

I don't know if it's the weather or the full time job but when i do get some time on the weekends to myself the last thing I've felt like doing is making something.

I haven't gotten many online ordered from my website which has left me unmotivated to create new things and put them up. I have gotten any negative feedback, and the site is getting well over 300 hits a month, but nothing is coming from it.

I was thinking about taking it down but I'm still not sure. 

I usually get motivated when a birthday comes around and i that a creative gift would be nice, but there haven't really  been any recently.

On top of working full time i am also saving and planning for a trip back to the USA. I'm excited for when i get there and i get to go to their craft stores... I will bring back some awesome new supplies which will hopefully get me more motivated. 

If anyone has any suggestions of what they might like to see on my site, I would love the feedback.

xx

Smorgy Pin It

More Resin Fun

I spent my Sunday messing around with some ideas and trying something's I'd never done before. 

Here's what i came up with:

 For more pictures and descriptions please go to  My Silhouettes Of Knights Facebook Page

xx

Smorgy Pin It

Resin Course

I had an awesome weekend, let me tell you.

As some of you know i had a bit of trouble with my resin when i first started using it. I was getting a LOT of bubbles and really wasn't happy with my finished products. So this Saturday i went out to Richmond and dis a Resin Jewelry course to see if i was doing something wrong or if i just got a bad batch. 

I came out of the course with a beautiful matching ring and cuff bracelet set. And a not soo beautiful one. hehehheee.

My Success!

      

My Failure!

The successful one came out as a shimmery copper colour. I think it is just stunning. 

The failure. Was ment to be a transparent orange with black wire embedded inside. With others on the day having complications also, we decided the failure was due to a bad batch of resin. Which is a shame because it would have been super cool.

I bought some more supplies whilst there. More colours and I have a heap of ideas to test out. 

I'm going to make some different molds and have a play with colours and embedding and ill see what i can come up with.

I would love you know what you think of the bangle and ring styles in my pictures. The Copper one is a cuff, with a square top ring, the reject is a unusual shape with a ripple around the outside of it, and a square ring which waves in and out.

xx

Smorgy

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Mailing List

Just a short blog to let everyone know my mailing list is up and running. Go to the website http://silhouettesofknights.com/ and sign up by clicking on the mailing list speech bubble.

You will be updated with what's happening with the site, new things I've created, special offers, etc.

I am currently trying my hand at making resin jewelry. I really enjoyed my first attempt and it came out better then i expected. I hope to get good enough to be able to add resin items to my store :)

xx

Smorgy

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Say hello to www.silhouettesofknights.com

It's FINALLY up and working. Silhouettesofknights.com

I am soo happy to finally have the site up after all the issues i had getting it created and the way i wanted it.

Please go and check it out, and let me know what you think.
I can't wait to get some online orders so i can start creating some custom pieces for people.

Silhouettesofknights.com - Go there - Go there now!!!

xx

Smorgy Pin It

Christmas Crafting

I got an order last week from a friend for 7 necklaces and a bracelet... She basically let me swim in my creative juices and come up with 8 beautiful pieces that i am soo proud of.

I had different ages and genders that i needed to suit and i think (hope) that they will please everyone.

More pictures up on my Silhouettesofknights facebook page

I am hoping a will get some time this week to work more on my website and FINALLY get it up and running. It will offer soo much, but if anything isnt on there, PLEASE as me because if i can create it, i will. email me at silhouettesofknights@gmail.com if you would like any custom orders made.

xx

Smorgy

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