Sunday, September 19, 2010

IHF - Smirk

Boo, it's the beginning of a new week... 
but YAY that means it's time for I Heart Faces picture time!

This week, the theme is "Smirk". 

I immediately thought of some pictures I took of my nephew...looking cute as always, but being very hesitant to smile for pictures! 


To check out more 'Smirks' or enter your own go here:

Friday, September 17, 2010

Photo Friday - Ant that Beautiful?

Hey everyone, it's my second ever... 
I was going through some recent pictures and had a hard time deciding.. 
but found one I will for sure use closer to halloween! 

Several weeks ago, there was a nice humid rain right after our neighbors flowers had bloomed, so I decided to practice some up close shots and came to find this little guy taking a rest on the flower.



My goal for upcoming shots is to use a picture taken that week! 
(Helps me to get recent pictures taken on to my computer!)

Do you have any pictures you'd like to share on Photo Friday?
Email me: callie.callender (at) gmail (dot) com

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Wonderful Works Wednesday!

I am working on getting days set up with specific things I will do for that day... like this past Friday was Photo Friday and today is now going to be Wonderful Works Wednesday.
I will share with everyone great things I find on other blogs or etsy!
Let me know if there is any 'works' you'd like me to look up for you!

I'm going with the Wine theme today!


Watermellon Happy face Wine stopper!

Vampire Wine Glasses

Costers/That's My Glass!

Flattend Wine Bottle/Cheese platter

Great Wine Print!

Wine Bottle Pouch
And last but not least!
The wine we made for our wedding!
Tell me what you think of the above wonderful works...or share your wine love products!

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

IHF - Vroom, Vroom

Here is my entry for I Heart Faces, 'Vroom, Vroom' challenge this week! 
Nothing too fancy, but my husband doing what he does well, concentrating on the road.... 
he loves to drive... 
(could be because I get speeding tickets... 
okay, well not all the time, but my first one TODAY in 5 years!)


Friday, September 10, 2010

Yay, a winner! and Photo Friday

Congrats to Julie for winning the Paper Wreath I was giving away through
Thank you to Angela for hosting this giveaway! 
Too much fun! Hopefully I can do something like this again soon!

I decided recently (like 2 minutes ago when I was thinking of what all to write about) 
that I am going to start a weekly special post on Fridays...

Photo Fridays 

(get it, ph and f make the same sound so they go together well!)
Well, here is my first photo for my new Photo Friday!




This is my baby, Stevie... He posses so well for pictures! 
I can't wait until I Heart Faces does another pet faces category! 

Once I learn how to do a linky party I will ask you all to share a photo with me on Friday's too!

Monday, September 6, 2010

Paper Flower Tutorial

Want to learn a great new way to make paper flowers?! 
Read the post below! 

Here are some photos of the flowers I created for my wedding.
They were (as you can see below) the center pieces, 
the aisle/pew decoration and the flowers on our cake. 



       Flower #1 (Directions below)  Flower #2  (Direction in later post)  



This is then the original wreath I made from the flowers that were my center pieces.


So, after completing this, I knew I'd want to make more... and this is how I've made them all! 

Supplies:
Fun paper of your choice (1 sheet for 2-4 flowers)
Floral Wire
Scissors/Paper cutter
Mini hole punch
Needle nose pliers/wire cutters


1st- Choose a paper you would like your flower to embrace (for the wedding I choose sheets of music, for the giveaway I choose a $1 book from the library, for the tutorial below my friends chose bright fun paper)

2nd- For flower #1 use regular scissors or a straight edge paper cutter and cut 1/4 to 3/4 inch strips of your paper (depending on the size you'd like your flowers to be, 1/4 would be great for thin petals and a smaller flower while 3/4 would be good for a large bold flower)


3rd- Once you have your strips cut, take one strip, put one end to the other end, with loop in the middle, to test the size of your petals. If the loop is to big just snip off a couple inches of the strip to make smaller petals. Use the size you find while testing to size the other strips. 

4th- After deciding the size of your strips/petals, punch a mini hole in both ends of the strip of paper in the center of the end. 


5th- String one end of each strip on to the end of floral wire (8-11 strips - depending on how full you want your flower)


6th- Once you have placed all strips on the wire at one end, take the bottom strip of your pile and string the other end on top of the pile/the last strip to make your first loop/petal. Continue that sequence, by taking the most bottom strip available and stringing the remaining end on top until all flowers are placed on top. 




7th- After completing each petal, take your needle nose pliers, grab the top end of the wire and curl the wire around the tip of the pliers. Once it's curled around at least one, bend the curl flat on the base of the center of the flower. 

8th- Be sure to press all layers of the center of the flower tight to the curl on top then add a curl under the flower with the stem coming out straight from the bottom. Use your wire cutters to trim the stem to your desired length. 


**Add a button on the center of the flower for added cuteness!**




Your flower is finished!

Thanks to Kelsey and Hilaneh for your help with this tutorial!

 



Thursday, September 2, 2010

Me...

If you have any of these things in common with me, you can head on over to Unexpected Elegance and enter to win the handmade book wreath I created!

-I work for a University
-I love helping people
-My middle name is Marie
-I have a wonderful dog
-I am about to celebrate my 1 year anniversary (of being married to this wonderful man)!
Taken by Brit K Photography - Our engagment photos

-I have a wonderful friend who lives in Tennessee
-My favorite place for lunch is Noodles & Co. (Wisconsin Mac and Cheese)
-I was the editor of my high school year book
-I drive a Honda Civic

If I see any more entries, I will add more things for you to possibly have in common with me!

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

The time is here

Alright kiddos, the time is here... the giveaway from me, on Unexpected Elegance has started! 
Go here, see the rules on how to enter by September 8th, and give it a whirl! 

I will share the tutorial on how to make the beautiful flowers that are part of this prize 
by Friday evening. 
(Tomorrow night is out because the whole in-law family is coming over 
to cheer for the Buckeyes! Yay! And I had homework due tonight! Boo!)

For those of you checking me out to enter, I will shout out some interesting things about myself tomorrow, so you can have even more reasons to enter! 

Be sure to click on that lovely follow button to the right, so you can stay informed about my handmade life! 


Go Buckeyes!!