Stamping and Baking

Today I was in the mood for creating stuff. 

I made some little miniature cards with those new stamps I bought. 

Then I baked some mini loaves of pumpkin spice bread with pecans and chocolate chips. 

And then I gave them all away.

(I hope that bread was good. I didn't even try any of it.)

I've Been Hacked!

That's right, my sneaky and subversive husband has hacked my account, and has typed this blog post as a surprise to me. Just so y'all don't get confused, he'll be talking as though he's me, even though I, Janae, had nothing to do with this particular post.

Let's start off by setting down some basics that we can all agree on.

• I'm Janae, and I'm incredibly attractive. Also, I'm lots of fun.
• I have such a wide range of interests and talents that I can hardly keep up with them. I love to cook, bake, sew, craft with paper, scissors, fabric, glue, wood, and just about anything else I can get my hands on
• I have an excellent eye for design and aesthetics, and I love to bring that to play in organizing and decorating my home, and in all those crafty things. 
• I want to learn and do so much more! I've always wanted to go hang gliding, I love climbing but don't go enough, and I love snowboarding, but same problem there. I still need to learn to crochet and a bunch of other crafts and hobbies. 
• I'm hopelessly addicted to Halo. I wasn't very good a few years ago, but after weekly sessions with friends, I can legitimately hold my own. I've even won a few rounds. 
• I really really really want to learn metalsmithing so I can design and cast my own jewelery. Why does everything I want to do cost so much?
• Case in point, I also want to travel the globe. I want to see third world countries and the remnants of the height of European monarchies. I want to see the tropics, the tundra, and be swallowed in the vastness of the Sahara. I want to see all the different places right here in the U.S., from the Painted Desert, to the Redwoods, to Mt. Rushmore, to the Everglades, to New York City, to the coasts of Maine, to the underground Boston music scene...
• Have you noticed how cute I am? I'm seriously attractive, really! Who else do you know that could pull off any hair color, any outfit, any style? We are few and far between. Worship us.
• I throw the BEST parties.       ....E V A R R R.
•  I am one tough chick. If you had any idea all of the crap I've been through in my life to get where I am, you would probably faint. Or maybe you'd relate if you've been there, too. Respect my journey.
• A side effect of all that is PTSD, which I've written other posts about, from time to time. This makes even the most trivial of matters sometimes insurmountable in the moment. Do you get it? Maybe. But unless you've dealt with it, I doubt it.  Like I said, I'm tough. I always make it through it.
• I have an incredible amount of faith, and a very strong testimony of the Restored Gospel. Sometimes the social side of attending church is hard for me to deal with (see above), but I will always love the Savior, the Gospel, and my Heavenly Father. It's unshakable.
• My husband is better than your husband. 
• Did I mention how ridiculously attractive I am?
• Have you hung out with me lately? Why not? I promise you that I am outrageously hilarious, and a load of fun! Seriously, what's your excuse?
• I've changed through about 9 different majors in college (lots of interests) so I know a lot about a lot of stuff, instead of a little bit about a lot of stuff or everything about one thing. Except for sewing- my husband thinks I might know just about everything about that, but I don't really think so; There's always something new to learn!
• I love animals and I really want a dog! We never really got to have one growing up and now that I'm older, I want one. 
• I love my sisters-in-law and I wish I hung out with them more. What do we have in common? What can we do together?
• I'm going to be the coolest mom ever, except for maybe my mom, who is perpetually amazing. My husband has no doubt that I can live up to her legacy, though.

Well, that's about all for now. Comment on this post and tell me how much you love me, because after all, I'm not really writing this, so it's not fishing for compliments, is it?!

projects in the process

I've been doing a lot lately, hence the sparseness or lack of blogging. But here are some things I've been working on:

Somehow I can't ever quit sewing for other people. Last winter I made some clothing for this guy named Jeff who's in a band. He's 6' 4" and weighs maybe 160. He's super tall and really skinny, so it's hard to find clothes that fit him well. His mom found me at JoAnn's one day and just struck up a conversation with me, got my business card, and next thing I know I'm taking his measurements and custom-making a snazzy shirt and an even snazzier blazer for him. Well, the other day he came wanting another shirt and a vest as well, and this time he brought his girlfriend with him, who happens to want a dress made. I started on the dress first, and here's what it looks like so far:

Also, on Saturday we had a small yard sale together with our neighbors, during which we played scrabble and made $30. Also, our neighbors happen to have some small hedge clippers, so we trimmed down some crazy branches off of a bush in front of the house that blocks some of our front window. Then, I'm not sure why, but I made a wreath out of the clipped-off branches. We have some rose bushes in our front yard as well, along with some nice vines growing in the back. Everyone joined in and suggested putting some roses on it and Bob went and clipped some vines for me to use as well. It was fun, and I think it turned out pretty fabulous, considering that I made it all from scraps of whatever was on the property at our house.

Lastly, I'm planning on having a pajama party this Friday. It's been a while since I've had a party of any kind, and I remember throwing parties all the time when I was a little girl. My mom encouraged it and I think she had a lot of fun with it too. So, I'm starting up again. I made up a bunch of invitations and handed them out to friends. The front has lots of colors and different papers used and the back has all the information on it. I wanted them to be reminiscent of pajama pants, but I'm not sure if that really came across or not. Here's what they look like:

I'm planning on putting together some little bracelet-making and card-making kits for everyone who wants one, and I have a friend who is a Mary Kay consultant who will hopefully be able to come and demonstrate the new microderm-abrasion product available and maybe do some makeovers as well. The girls that come can either stay a few hours or sleep over, and then in the morning Bob and a friend (who he's staying with that night, and whose wife will be attending the party) will be making pancakes for anyone who will be staying the night. I'm pretty excited about it! I love throwing parties!

more things I've recently made

So I won the Blog Candy from Aunt Elaine's blog the other day: a set of stamps, pens, some paper, and an ink pad. I've already used those stamps several times in the few weeks I've had them! At Trina's baby shower, to make a get well card, for some magnets my ward mission council made, and I finally decided to use them for some fun yesterday, just to see what I could come up with. I don't have tons of paper or supplies, so it's really simple. But I've learned that frequently, less is more.

And speaking of Trina's baby shower, it was so fun! I couldn't have done it without Ashley, so I definitely can't take credit for it all. She had some fantastic ideas and by the time we got everything decorated and people started showing up, it looked like something people would pay money for! I was so busy that I didn't take pictures of any of it, but I did take some of the gift I made for Trina. I love making hooded towels now, and matching wash cloths to go with them. I'm planning to make some and sell them on my Etsy store (as soon as I have some time!). But here is hers. The photos aren't the best because I was in a hurry, but you can still see how cute it is.

Now I need to get back to work. Bob's been getting onto me about finishing those incomplete assignments, but I needed a break! So back to work it is.

Trina's Baby Shower invitations

After going to Marissa's baby shower a few months ago, Trina said something about me helping to do hers at the end of the summer. So here it is, the beginning of August and I'm trying to get things all planned for it. I've split up the responsibilities between me and three other people, so hopefully it won't be overwhelming and too expensive for me. I'm really excited about it. I love throwing parties and making cute invitations and things.

And speaking of invitations, I got a sample of Trina's done. I love how it turned out! Sometimes I look at the things I make and I think, "Did I really just make something that freaking amazing?!"

So here is what they look like:

And here is what will be printed on the green section in the middle:

Maybe I should just make announcements and invitations for a living. I really enjoy doing it. I just wonder if people would actually want to pay me for it.

Journal Cover

I'm heading to Singapore for a three week study abroad class in less than 10 days. Dr. Todd, the professor heading up the whole trip gave each of the 8 students going these navy blue journals to write down notes, thoughts, epiphanies, and anything else during our travels. I didn't like how the front looked because 1) it was bland, and 2) they all look the same. I like to stand out and be unique. So I pulled out some scraps of paper I had laying around and came up with this:

I also sealed it using about 5 coats of Mod Podge, taking care to make sure the edges of all the paper were sealed to the cover. I did the label separate from the rest of it though. I used this really nice textured, fuzzy mulberry-like paper. I wanted to keep that, so after the final sealing coat had dried on the cover, I coated the back of the label with Mod Podge and glued it on.

 So now I like my Singapore journal much more. I actually want to carry it around with me and write in it.