My favorites of 2012

I did a whole lot of creating in 2012.  I have compiled my top 5 6 (I couldn't narrow it down to 5) to share with you, in case you missed any of them.

In no particular order:

READ ME Bookcase

An awesome project creation that I made for my son's preschool auction.  I bought it back, I was so happy and proud of it that I just couldn't let it go.  It was also the perfect bookshelf to hold all the odd shaped kids books we have.

Bird Feeder

This has been my only craft to really go viral.  It's been pinned thousands of times, ripped off and posted in more languages than I can recognize and also received the most scrutiny (apparently I am making squirrels obese with it).  Either way, I love it, I get to see some of my local wildlife, squirrels realized quickly that their success rate in getting into the feeder was not high enough and I haven't had a squirrel in there in about 5 months.  I've made a few as gifts for others that love watching/feeding the birds as much as I do.  It's funny to think that my 15 minutes of crafting fame is  a bird feeder made from cheap melamine plates I bought on clearance at Target.

Continuous Shooting and Animation

I have been doing lots of free online tutorials to better myself in Photoshop.  Even after 14 years experience using the program, there is still a lot more to learn about it.

Stone Patio

This was definitely the year to improve our back yard.  This stone patio was the major undertaking and I am still very pleased with it.  Now if we could only figure out a really good way to get rid of mosquitoes and we would be all set.

Test Tube Vase

(Tutorial)

This was created for SYTYC.  It was the first piece I created that felt like fine art to me.  I love how it turned out and I was able to play with a few new techniques (like dying wood). 

Arts and Crafts Stained Glass Mirror

 This was my finale piece for the SYTYC competition.  It is still hanging in my entry way and I love it just as much today as when I first completed it.  It holds a serious sense of pride for me.  I cannot believe that I built it in 4 days!  I also am elated that it was the piece that got me first place in the competition.

Top 10 Things I Learned From Competing

I just wrapped up being the winner of So You Think You're Crafty's 12th season!  Oh yeah!  I learned a lot being part of the competition and just as the new season of competition has started today, I am passing my lessons learned onto everyone.  Especially you season 13!!!

10.  Plan ahead.
This seems totally obvious, but you are given each week's theme in advance.  If nothing else, write down a few ideas...do this while not browsing Pinterest.  I felt that if I looked at Pinterest when thinking about what I could do, I wanted to match other people's ideas up for the theme, not my own.  You want to know what's great about planning and brainstorming multiple ideas?  You have a back up for the ultimate craft fail.  I had a massive fail the week of summer bounty and my beach angels were made while on vacation in Cape Cod, MA.  I had to find a glue gun to buy so I could do it.

9.  Don't copy Pinterest. 
The weeks that I feel I did the best were the weeks that I didn't take my inspiration from Pinterest.  If you have seen it on Pinterest, or a version of it, so has probably every other crafter and half the voters.  Originality is key!

8.  Pinterest is Evil.
 No...totally kidding here, kinda.  I do love Pinterest, just when it isn't hindering my ability to be creative.

7.  Go inspiration hunting.
I find that getting out of my house, away from my computer and out into nature I get the most inspiration.  My next best place for inspiration is museums.  When competing, the last few weeks of the competition I really started to just run out of inspiration.  So, go out, get inspired. 

6.  Stay away from trends.
I almost went home the second week into the competition because I decided to jump on the trend of the men's shirt refashions.  I saw another great project go home that jumped on a trend later in the competition.  I am guessing people thought it was overdone by the time I jumped on board.

5.  Embrace the challenge.
I had the HARDEST time doing something for ombre week.  I just couldn't embrace the challenge.  I hit the crafting equivalent of writer's block.  I just was at a total loss.  I didn't embrace the challenge and was stuck at the last minute turning out a great piece, but dreaded the entire week and didn't have enough time to take a great photo. 

4.  Stop worrying what everyone will think.
You can drive yourself crazy thinking, "will other people get it?  Will they like it?  Will they vote for it?"  The only thing you need to ask yourself, is if YOU like it.  If you like it, chances are other people will like it.  I would rather go out on a piece that I loved making and loved the outcome.

3.  Stage your presentation.
Present your craft in a wonderful way.  Use humor or whimsy.  Use nature, break out of the white background.  I was definitely guilty of completely staging a shot.  Realtors stage houses to sell them, stage your craft the same way.  That's my hallway, I was standing (climbing/falling over things is more like it) in the hall closet to get this shot.  My house is dark, so the only way to allow the natural light in was to open the front door.  That table belongs in our great room. 

2.  Learn to take great product photos.
I can take some really great nature photos, I get some great photos of my kids, but I have always struggled with product photography.  Bad photos don't sell.  I saw many great crafts not get (what I thought) was the best ranking because I glazed over them the first time around due to poor photography.  My turned bracelet.  I thought this was the best product photography I did all season...and it won!  So, I would suggest really practicing taking photos of inanimate objects until you get the hang of it. 

1.  Have a support team.
If I didn't have a wonderful husband who I bounced ideas off of, who helped watch the kids while I used power tools in the garage, I wouldn't have even made it past week two in the competition.  My friends and family were so encouraging throughout this entire process.  They made the entire competition worth it. 

Arts and Crafts Mirror Tutorial

I wanted to let everyone know that in case you missed it, the Arts and Crafts Mirror Tutorial is posted over at So You Think You're Crafty. 

And The Winner Is...

ME!!!  I am so excited to announce that the Season 12 winner of So You Think You're Crafty is me!

I want to take the time to thank my family and friends, my blog readers, friends of friends (and so on) and the total strangers that voted for any of my projects.  I loved being a part of the competition, even if it did cause me to go a little crazy at times.  Don't worry, I will post all about how crazy this competition really did make me go, as well as some of the lessons learned in an upcoming post.

Along with winning some awesome prizes, I also get to proudly display a Winner's Badge!

Again, a big heartfelt THANK YOU! to anyone and everyone who supported me through this journey, especially my husband and children.  Without their support, I wouldn't have made it through the first round.

Take a look over at So You Think You're Crafty for Season 13 which is beginning soon as well as my tutorial about my Arts and Crafts Style Mirror which should go up this week.

Hand Turned Wood Bracelet

Hey everyone!  The tutorial for my Hand Turned Wood Bracelet was posted yesterday over at So You Think You're Crafty.  You should go check it out by clicking HERE.

I'm In The Finale!!!

Today is a big day; seventh wedding anniversary, first day of kindergarten for my oldest and I am in the finale of So You Think You're Crafty!  Could today be any more exciting?!?

The Finale is a wild card.  We could do whatever we wanted and my philosophy was to, "GO BIG or GO HOME!"  I went big and hope you love my Arts and Crafts mirror as much as I do.  I spent a lot of hours building this entire piece.  Each and every detail was done by my hands.  I would appreciate it if you go and vote here. 

SYTYC Reveal - Test Tube Vase

After a second place win this week, it secures my spot into the final three!  YAY!  I am so excited that I have made it this far into the competition.  Here is my thrift store piece.

The thrift store I went to was amazing.  The Texas Art Asylum.   After striking out at thrift stores in my neck of the woods, I remembered this place and decided to drive into Houston to check it out.  It was exactly what I needed.  I found more inspiration in there than I had every other thrift store combined.  Look at this place, how could you not be inspired?

The aisles were packed with all sorts of goodies that could be reused.  There were old tools, a barrel full of corks, flooring samples, fabric, glass bottles, wine crates, empty frames, etc.

Among this hoarders paradise, I was able to bring home a few things, but I ultimately settled on using these test tubes for my So You Think You're Crafty project.

I will show you next week how to build my test tube vase and how to dye wood.  This build was so much fun and didn't take a lot of time.  My husband was even surprised at how fast it all came together.

I really feel like I didn't just craft this piece, but created fine art.  Being a trained artist and an avid crafter, sometimes I feel like the two worlds pull me in opposite directions.  Other occasions, they come together in a perfect marriage.  This piece is what came from my background in both.

I couldn't be happier with it.  I now want to plant more flowers that I can cut just to have flowers in it all the time.  I might have to settle for some real looking fake flowers while I wait for more flowers to bloom in my garden.

Click here to go to the tutorial.

Showing this off over at:
Tatertots and Jello - Weekend Wrap Up Party 

SYTYC and a Recap

This competition is really heating up.  We are officially half way through the competition and I honestly think that last week was the tightest the competition has been thus far.  Let's Hear It For The Boys, everyone stepped up their game and it was so difficult to even attempt to predict how it would end up.  I was so close to getting a win, so close!  My cufflinks came in a close second, two votes out of first.

I will post a tutorial later this week on how to do your own custom cufflinks.  It's really easy and you can really customize it for that special guy in your life.

This week's theme is, "Out and About."  I had a lot of fun crafting for this week and hope you head on over and vote for your favorite.  I always hope your favorite is mine, it always makes me feel good when it is!

You can click on the link above or the photo to be taken to this week's challenge post to go vote.

I also wanted to share a recap of all the projects that I have done so far.  I hope to make it all the way to the finals!

Audition Week - DIY Birdfeeder

Click here to go to the tutorial

Week 1 - Scrappy Crafts

Week 2 - Upcycled Crafts

Week 3 - Summer Bounty

Week 4 - Ombre

Week 5 - Let's Hear It For The Boys

SYTYC: Let's Hear It For The Boys and A Reveal

I survived another week, thanks to all your voting!  I have my husband to thank for the suggestion of doing a sunset out of stained glass.  I actually went through a couple ideas, trying to come up with one that I determined to be good enough.  I will show off the other finished piece that I did later this week.

This piece is really hanging up in the window of my art/craft room.  I love it and it makes me smile every time I walk in there.  I wish that I could have showed off the look of the green glass a little better, it had an amazing white/light green swirl at different opacity levels.  It really makes it look like you are gazing upon a mountain.

This week's theme is, "Let's Hear It For The Boys."  It looks like some tough competition this week.  I would love it if you hopped on over to So You Think You're Crafty and voted.

SYTYC and My Reveal

It's that time again, the polls are open over at So You Think You're Crafty.  This week's challenge was ombre.  Go check it out and vote!

I also want to share with you my craft from last week.  I did the Beach Angels for the theme Summer Bounty. 

I loved how these turned out.  I am still laughing at my inspiration for it.  Have you ever seen the movie, "Sahara," with Matthew McConaughey in it?  Well, he picks up a pair of clam shells and says they are called angel wings.  Yup, that was my inspiration.

This was such a fun and easy project to do.  I did it while on vacation in Cape Cod.  All the shells came from the beaches there and I picked up a hot glue gun for $5 and the jewelry cord for $2.

The thing that surprised me the most, that these aren't already being made and sold in beachy tourist spots.  Well, maybe it is being made and sold is some beachy tourist spot, just not the one that I frequent.

Week 3 - Go Vote

The new crafts for this week are up at So You Think You're Crafty.  There are so many great looking crafts this week.  I hope to make it through to next week.  So, go vote...hopefully for mine! 

I can't wait to reveal which one is mine.  So proud of my creation...I even completed it on vacation!  (seriously not trying to sound like Dr. Seuss there)

Update

Sorry I have been MIA.  I have a few updates to post.  First, I was on VACATION!!!  I try to refrain from posting where I am and for how long for obvious reasons.  It was an amazing family vacation in Cape Cod, MA that was shared with grandparents, a great grandmother, brother, future sister-in-law and other various family members on my husband's side of the family.  Many, many photos to come, but here is one of my favorites that I have edited so far that I call, "Hi Tourists!"

Mother humpback whale with calf, both fin slapping

Sigh, only about 1000 photos to go through and choose which ones to edit.   This might take a while.

Second update, I just squeaked by in the last round of So You Think You're Crafty.  Thanks to any and all who voted for my Manly Pillow Covers.  I was very proud of them, but realized that I NEED to take better photos and my house is not a great place to take photos.  My house is so naturally dark and I think that played a key factor into the lack of votes for my project.  Mental note to self...take better photos!  I could be completely wrong, maybe the men's dress shirt refashion has been over done.  This was my take on it and I may have showed up late to this party. 

I am so happy that I made it through to next week, I cannot wait to show you what I came up with for the theme of, "Summer Bounty."  I will be back to posting rather regularly now that I am back.  Look for an update of photos for my Photo 366 tomorrow.

SYTYC and a Sign

I am so honored to announce that my bird feeder (yup, I did the bird feeder) took first place in the audition round!  There were a lot of great crafts that I was competing against, so I am blown away that my craft was first.  How do I follow up?  I'm a little nervous now and racking my brain on what to do next.

Well, I will try my best through the competition and hope you follow my journey in doing so.  You won't see my week one craft for a couple weeks as the final week of the current season will continue at So You Think You're Crafty.  Go check it out!

I will post the full tutorial for the bird feeder on Thursday.  I hope it will answer any questions that you might have.

Now for the sign.  I was contacted by a friend of mine with a request for a sign that she saw on etsy.  I took that as my inspiration and mocked up the sign in photoshop.  Once I got the approval, I moved forward with painting and the lettering.  I think it turned out beautifully.  I used an acrylic transfer technique found all over the web.  I would point you to my original source, but it no longer exists. 

My friend is the maid of honor for a wedding and wanted to present this to the bride-to-be at the wedding shower.  The bride-to-be loved it and even the groom approved.  My husband now would like one to hang on our wall.  Maybe then we could actually remember what day we were married.  It only took us 4 years to get it right!  seriously not kidding...we are so terrible!  Hopefully the soon to be newlyweds will have better luck remembering their wedding date when their anniversary rolls around!  :)