Creative Juice Studios

Creative Juice Studios 2008-08-20T22:54:15Z http://blog.creativejuicestudios.com/atom.aspx Quick Blog Panama!!! tag:blog.creativejuicestudios.com,2008-06-18:dc4b2be2-662b-43b7-8612-805289e104cf Creative Juice Studios 2008-06-20T22:34:43Z 2008-06-18T21:52:35Z

My loving husband is an awesome salesperson who was ranked in the top 4% of his companies sales force last year and won this trip as a reward for his hard work.

See you in 10 days!!!]]> ETSY Front Page - Entry 2 tag:blog.creativejuicestudios.com,2008-06-18:32e463a7-bc08-4d1d-b875-acdf1d231cb6 Creative Juice Studios 2008-06-18T08:16:38Z 2008-06-18T07:32:00Z
I have to give a big THANK YOU, to beadznthingz's for including me in her Treasury. If you get a second, check out her etsy store - she makes the most beautiful polymer clay beads. I'm not sure how she does it, but alot of them look like glass. They are very cool! She sent me a screenshot of the treasury actually on the front page, here it is...

Well, as "high" as I am about this, I'd better get back to work...

]]> I MADE THE ETSY WEBSITE FRONT PAGE!!! tag:blog.creativejuicestudios.com,2008-06-17:f92d9447-e503-465e-b485-5251e465df01 Creative Juice Studios 2008-06-17T22:20:46Z 2008-06-17T21:54:00Z

Only in my wildest dreams did I think that one of my items would be included in a Treasury on Etsy. A Treasury is a group of favorite items that is selected by members or administrators. They are usually grouped together by color, style, medium, etc. The front page Treasury changes several times a day, and is selected by the Etsy administrators from their favorite Treauries. And for that Treasury to make it to the FRONT PAGE of the Etsy website was not something my mind could even imagine. I guess dreams can come true...

As you can see, "My Cottage Charm Quilted Pillow was on the FRONT PAGE of the Etsy website this afternoon...

I was not on-line to see it actually on the front page, but my cousin captured a screen shot of the treasury for me before it expired.

If you want to see the full treasury of Colorful Circles and Squares, before it expires on Wednesday, June 18, 2008 at 10:46 am... , click here.]]> The Lake - Week 2 tag:blog.creativejuicestudios.com,2008-05-29:21005874-b4d4-4e02-a86f-cc3d917e3a33 Creative Juice Studios 2008-05-29T08:14:25Z 2008-05-29T08:00:00Z
Memorial Day Weekend is typically opening day at the cottage, so there is usually lots of work involved, but in addition, we always make time for fun...

We got the boats in the water, and Hubby, C and P even went fishing, and caught this huge walleye...

Grandma and Grandpa M came for the day on Sunday. Grandpa enjoys the screen porch and his suduko.

I made time to get my plants potted...

All in all, it was a great weekend...

]]> Don't Try This at Home... tag:blog.creativejuicestudios.com,2008-05-28:75c7316b-a37e-4161-b4a9-c9d9633ef85b Creative Juice Studios 2008-05-28T08:15:19Z 2008-05-28T07:28:00Z
Well, being the stubborn Irish girl that I am, I decided that this would not stop me, so I did some experimenting and found that if I used an open foot and set my stitch speed to a medium speed, that I could move the fabric freely enough to take a "stab" at it. I don't use the foot control, I just use the botton on the front to stop and start the machine and set the speed.

Well, to make a long story longer, I was in a hurry, as I was trying to finish in order to get to my daughters school to see her end of the year pep session (she is a middle school cheerleader). I was rushing, and not paying as close attention to where my fingers were in relation to the needle in the open toe foot, the fabric was being pull by the machine in one direction, and I was trying to move it in another, and low and behold, I did something I did not think was possible...

I sewed right through my finger - nail and all...

It would not stop bleeding, and I was afraid I may have hit the bone, so I wrapped it tightly, and drove myself to the emergency room.

2 hours, and a $50 co-pay later, I walked out with a heavily bandaged finger, but without any stitches and having not hit the bone. They did notice in the x-ray, 2 very small pieces of metal in my finger - remnants of the needle (which broke into 3 pieces - one still in the machine, and 2 imbedded in the fabric), which they said would "work themselves out".

Needless to say, I missed the pep session, but under the circumstances, my daughter was very understanding.

Once again, being the stubborn Irish girl that I am, I went down later that afternoon, bandaged left index finger and all, and finished the quilting on the pillow top. All things considered, I think it turned out pretty good, and not one drop of blood was shed on the fabric.

]]> First Garage Sales of the Season tag:blog.creativejuicestudios.com,2008-05-21:c887dcbb-aa3d-4796-9107-ad78082868e5 Creative Juice Studios 2008-05-21T13:02:20Z 2008-05-21T12:17:00Z
Here are a few of my recent finds...

Griffith's vintage milk glass with red top spice jars. Even with the original holder. I have actually been looking for one of these in a price I could afford (or more aptly willing to pay) for our lake cottage for 5 years! I scored this one for only $10!

This great small Fiesta ware black pitcher. It too will go to my lake cottage. I scored this in the original box for only $5!

All these "yummy" home decor and garden books. I got all of them for $10! The list prices total up to $200 if I bought them in the store at retail price!!

I also scored this brand new Vera Bradley bag and card holder. In addition I got 3 new Vera Bradley shirts (not pictured) - I didn't even know Very made shirts. I got the whole lot of Vera stuff for $30! The list price on the bag alone was $72 and each of the t-shirts were $28 - they all still had the tags. Not sure how much the card wallet was - that was the only one without a tag, but I can tell it is brand new too!

I also got an overhead projector for $5 - not sure what I will do with that one, but just couldn't pass it up. If nothing else the kids can use it to play "school".

It was a good day!!!]]> Lake Season is Offically Here! tag:blog.creativejuicestudios.com,2008-05-12:d56db976-7b46-4109-900c-d77b696b36ae Creative Juice Studios 2008-05-12T11:03:09Z 2008-05-12T10:25:00Z

We have a small "summer cottage" on a lake an hour north of our "real home". We purchased it 6 years ago and have enjoyed it the entire time. We have "fixed it up" and decorated it on a shoestring budget. It came furnished, but the majority of the new furnishings came from friends, yard and garage sales, clearance racks, thrift and antique stores. I love decorating the cottage. One of the fun things is turning trash into treasure - which I just love. The other is doing some things there that I probably couldn't get away with in our "real home".

The cottage is our home away from home. It is my refuge. When we get into the car to head to the lake, all cares and worries are left at home. We have no phones - hit or miss cell service, no internet - we have not even been able to "borrow" wireless from our neighbors (although I have to admit we have tried), and no cable (there is a long story to that which I will not get into here).

Everything is laid back at the lake. Friends and family are always welcome, and we love sharing it with them. It is a ski lake, so the only thing fast there is skiing and tubing.

In honor of the upcoming lake season, I want to share my refuge with you too. At least once a week, from now until September, I pledge to dedicate my blog space to some aspect of the lake.

Today I share with you some of my favorite treasures I have found and use to "decorate" my space. I have many more, but quickly took a few photos as we were leaving on Saturday...

My cousin and his family come up for a weekend every summer. Lori (his wonderful wife) and I always spend one of those days hitting all the thrift stores, antique stores, garage sales, barn sales, church rummage sales, etc... A lot of the treasures posted here were found with her. But this one always reminds me of her, because we scored it together, and she painted the words "Crooked Lake" on it for me. In another post, you will see the other amazing work of art she did for me at the lake.

]]> Happy Mother's Day tag:blog.creativejuicestudios.com,2008-05-09:3a0a5051-b8fe-44ef-811f-d4ef68d89166 Creative Juice Studios 2008-05-09T10:45:38Z 2008-05-09T07:29:00Z
There aren't words to describe my mom, and her generous heart, her faith, and her everlasting dovotion to her family. I truely have a wonderful role model in my mother. Thanks mom, for all you do.

The second is my mother-in-law. She too is an inspriation to motherhood. Loving, helpful, and kind. Raising 6 kids of her own - one of which is obviously the love of my life.

I am truely blessed to have such wonderful women in my life.

Happy Mother's Day to you Both!

Here are the Mother's Day Cards I made for my Two Moms...

]]> "Done is Better than Perfect" tag:blog.creativejuicestudios.com,2008-05-08:49fadf81-5471-40b2-af3b-3d145d061ff9 Creative Juice Studios 2008-05-08T11:24:21Z 2008-05-08T10:43:00Z I was wandering though some other blogs yesterday, and came upon this statement...

"Done is Better than Perfect"

That statement has haunted me for the last 24 hours or so. I am one of those people who will start a million and one projects and complete 10 of them. That is due in part to a variety of factors... procrastination, lost interest, lost pieces, and just plain poor follow-through. But one of the other reasons is that when I do something I want to make sure it is "perfect". The perfect color, the perfect fabric, the perfect pattern, the perfect whatever...

But the problem with that is that in all reality it will never be "perfect". And I waste a lot of effort on trying to achieve what I know is impossible.

So I pledge today to make this my new Motto... Done is Better than Perfect!

I began working on it at about 3 am this morning when I woke up and could not get back to sleep. I have been working on a memory quilt for my friend for a year now. The top has been finished for almost 10 months , and I was originally going to hand quilt it. But it was taking way to long, so I took out all the hand stitching I had already done and gave it to a machine quilter to do the actual quilting. When I got it back last Saturday, I realized that she had put the backing on "sideways", so that the sides both had too much backing and batting hanging over the edges, and the bottom of the quilt had a 3 inch gap with no batting and backing. Needless to say, I was not very happy. My reaction - the part of me wanting everything to be perfect - was to take it back and make her take out the million stitches and redo it. But even that would have been action, and rather than take action at that point I just put it away and decided to worry about it later. But this morning while I was laying wide awake in bed, my new motto came back to me. So rather than drag this project out any longer trying to make it perfect, I went down to my studio, trimmed the excess batting and backing, trimmed the top and bottom borders down to match the batting/backing and began to bind it.

Yes, it is a little shorter than I had planned, but in the grand scheme of things it really doesn't matter. Here is a quick photo of the quilt as it is right now - only partially bound. I planned to finish the binding today, but my lack of sleep is catching up with me, and for right now a nap is calling me - before my kids get home from school.

]]> Success! tag:blog.creativejuicestudios.com,2008-05-07:ceccb069-a6bf-4a41-89e9-524ecd1beddd Creative Juice Studios 2008-05-07T11:19:05Z 2008-05-07T11:00:00Z

I am actually quite sad to see it go...

Now I am on to finishing my daughters quilt that I started almost a year ago, and binding a memory quilt I started a year ago for my dear friend who lost her husband. A quilters work is never done!

I am also working on some small purses/wristlets/clutch bags. Here is a picture of one I made for myself...

]]> Perfect Spring Day tag:blog.creativejuicestudios.com,2008-05-04:bf7727f2-7267-4883-bb66-07bda24cc718 Creative Juice Studios 2008-05-06T18:36:59Z 2008-05-04T12:52:00Z

Prints of these and some other pictures I took are available for purchase on my Etsy store. ]]> My Dream Job tag:blog.creativejuicestudios.com,2008-05-03:0ed9b7a2-618c-48e6-bc25-fefc4d5fb24c Creative Juice Studios 2008-05-03T07:04:43Z 2008-05-03T06:32:00Z
Here is a picture of Camile and some of her new fabric line... Cotton Blossoms. If you get a chance, stop over and congratulate her! You can get to her site by clicking on the Simplify listing in my favorite blog list.

Way to Go Camile!

I will be back posting about my own stuff later, but just wanted to give a shout out to Camile!]]> Free Quilt Giveaway! tag:blog.creativejuicestudios.com,2008-04-29:f12e0ffe-177c-4b49-87fa-6fc3b39f70fc Creative Juice Studios 2008-04-29T11:13:08Z 2008-04-29T10:56:00Z While wondering through some other blogs, I came across a new favorite blog. Simplify or Thimble Blossoms. To celebrate the one year anniversay of her company, is giving away a quilt this quilt on May 1.

To enter, click on the link below. Make sure you mention that you arrived there through my blog!!

Thanks.

Quilt Giveaway!!

]]> Quilt Update tag:blog.creativejuicestudios.com,2008-04-29:26e619e7-ac5d-4fd1-9de5-3e95e18f0b4a Creative Juice Studios 2008-04-29T10:35:33Z 2008-04-29T10:13:00Z I promised you some more pictures of the quilt I am making. I received it back from the machine quilter yesterday, and wanted to share some of the pictures with you. I told my kids this morning I will be kind of sad when it is done and I have to ship it off. It such a fun and bright quilt that I have really enjoyed designing and making it.

I am very happy with how it is turning out...

Front of Quilt

Close up of Front Corner

Quilt Back

I even gave her two more - a vintage top I scored at a garage sale a few years ago that I added an fun 40's inspired border to, and a memory quilt I have been making for a friend whoes husband passed away for a year now. I'd started to hand quilt it, but didn't like how it was turning out, so I took the hand quilting out and passed it on to her to do the machine quilting.

If you are looking for a good, reasonably priced machine quilter in Northeastern Indiana, let me know and I will be happy to pass her name along to you.

Well, a woman's work is never done, so on to grocery shopping, laundry, etc. then I can do down to my studio and work on the binding for the quilt and 2 other "projects/jobs" I got from my Etsy store... 2 custom pillow covers and another rick rack pillow case like this one...

]]> I'm BACK... tag:blog.creativejuicestudios.com,2008-04-23:1d24c0b7-694e-4140-9e5d-d4aaf522c4cb Creative Juice Studios 2008-04-23T08:36:31Z 2008-04-23T08:25:00Z
I've made some new things while I have been gone, and will be posting pictures of them for you to see, comment on and what not!

One of the things that has been taking up a lot of my time is the custom quilt I have been making. In one of my upcoming blogs, I will post pictures of the entire process, from designing it to laying it out to piecing, etc. But I have to get all my pictures together, etc. .. But here is a "sneak peak" of it...

I designed this quilt myself, so please do not copy it without my permission. Thanks.

Well, back to the studio, I have to piece the back so that I can get it to the machine quilter tonight.

Please continue to check back, I promise to be more faithful to my blogging!]]> Happy St. Patrick's Day tag:blog.creativejuicestudios.com,2008-03-16:ffb41a89-192d-41fe-ae19-b7be90a1a2fd Creative Juice Studios 2008-03-16T18:14:41Z 2008-03-16T14:44:00Z Luck of the Irish to you and yours!

I love St. Patrick's Day. I am very Irish (about 85%) and grew up with a very Irish "Mc Name". When I got married - almost 15 years ago, I lost my "Mc" and became a "ski". Now don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with "ski's", but I still feel 15 years later that I really lost part of my identity when I lost my "Mc".

So we celebrated St. Pat's day this weekend. Our local firefighters turn our river green and have an all day celebration Irish style.

In addition to "greening" the river, there are bagpipes...

And a Leprechaun...

The girls in the white and red coats on the right are our soon to be 13 and 10 year old daughters. Our son is in the orange coat in the front.

That's my "ski" in the black coat & orange hat that I sacrificed my "Mc" for. Although I miss my "Mc" around St. Patrick's' day, I by far got the better end of the deal in the trade off!

Our son is a true "clone" of his dad! Can you see the resemblance?!

All this St. Pat's day fun, and the day hasn't even arrived!

I am a lucky Irishwoman!

"Luck of the Irish Sale" at my Etsy Shop

To share my luck, I am having a "Luck of the Irish Sale" at my Etsy shop. It was suppose to be a one day sale - tomorrow, but I decided to start it early, so from now until Tuesday morning when I change all my prices back to normal, all items in my Etsy store are discounted 10%. If there is something you were considering, now is the perfect time to do it. If you have questions, please do not hesitate to contact me. All prices are already reduced the 10%, so just check out as normal and you will automatically receive the discount.]]> Feeling Humbled tag:blog.creativejuicestudios.com,2008-03-08:7ef40002-b0e0-4016-948c-f0bb5eab60b2 Creative Juice Studios 2008-03-08T21:18:12Z 2008-03-08T13:03:00Z When I started this blog, I wasn't really sure anyone beside my "cousin-in-law" Lori - who turned me on to blogging, would actually find or read my blog. In the last few days, I had 2 new people check out my blog and leave me comments. When I received the first one I was very excited that someone had actually "found" me. Then when I received the second one I was floating on cloud nine because I was asked by the "commenter" to make a custom quilt for her 4 year old daughter. I was amazed that she had found my blog and that she found a pillow she liked so much that she wanted a complete quilt made to match.

After the excitement of it wore off a little, I reread her email and was struck by what had recently happened in her life and why she would need new bedding for her 4 year olds room. You can read her full comment on the right hand side of my blog under the comments section.

Call me a skeptic or maybe just a realist in todays internet age. But just because someone tells you something or posts it on the internet doesn't necessarily make it true. So to relieve my curiosity, I "Googled" the commenter to "check out her story" and what I found humbled me.

This is an amazing family who on the surface would seem has been to hell and back in the past few years, but their faith and their true belief that God has a plan in all of their sorrow and loss is inspiring.

I could try to tell their story, but the best way to hear it is to click on the following link that will take you to a website dedicated to the Buck family. You can see pictures, and hear/see an actual interview with Josh and Shelly Buck. If you would like to help this family, there is also information on the site on how to help.

The Buck Project

Lets take a moment this weekend to thank God for all he has given us, both the good and the bad and ask him to make all of those things work to His good.

Thank you Shelly for finding me! I am honored and look forward to working with you on your quilt project.]]> Trying Something New! tag:blog.creativejuicestudios.com,2008-03-07:531f493a-ce89-4b8c-a8d7-e171cfdc523f Creative Juice Studios 2008-03-07T16:03:44Z 2008-03-07T15:26:00Z I've been in the mood to try something new over the past few days. So in addition to all the regular mundane daily tasks (laundry, cooking, cleaning, dishes, etc...) I have stolen a few minutes here and there to create some new objects. I'm not sure I am "sold" on any of them yet, but they may have potential with a few adjustments.

Card Cases

I made these 2 card cases for my daughters to use as wallets. The black and white one is for my soon to be 13 year old (her birthday is in 12 days!) and the pink and green one is for our 10 year old. They have the contrasting material on the inside and each has a center divider.

ACEO Cards

Until a day or 2 ago, I had no idea what ACEO Cards where or even that they existed. ACEO's (Art Card Editions & Originals) are tiny works of art. The only stipulation in making ACEO's is that the finished card has to measure 2.5" x 3.5" and that they be signed on the back by the artist. They can be made out of any art medium or mixed media. After seeing these on Etsy and doing some research on them, I found out that people collect, display, trade and sell them, and that it is a relatively new way to distribute art. That being said, and since I have lately been very into sewing and such, I decided to try my hand at making one. I titled this one "A Day at the Beach".

Fabric Postcards

Another new thing I found on Etsy was fabric postcards. These are also small works of art (4" x 6") and can actually be sent in the mail like a regular post card. Or at least that is what everyone says on their listings, and people keep buying them, so I'm assuming its true. I sent one of these to one of my bestest friends as a test to see if the USPS can actually deliver it. I will let you know the results of that test as soon as I find out.

The first one is called "Fireworks at Night" and the second one I call "The Mod Squad".





I'm not sure my calling is in any of these items, maybe I will just stick to my pillows for now.  But it is fun to try something new, and you never know where your talents lie if you don't stretch them from time to time.

Have a great weekend! I sure plan to!

]]> Pillows, Pillows Everywhere tag:blog.creativejuicestudios.com,2008-03-04:772bb5e1-249b-486a-8585-431e2a8edaf6 Creative Juice Studios 2008-03-04T22:44:21Z 2008-03-04T22:02:00Z I've gone pillow crazy. I just can't get enough of these pillows... everytime I turn around I think of a new design I want to try...

Pillow #1

Pillow #2

Pillow #3

Pillow #4

Leave me a comment and let me know which pillow you like the best. If you don't like any, let me know that too. I am interested in some honest feedback. Thanks.

All of these are listed on my Etsy site if you are interested in any of them.

]]> Kids Rooms tag:blog.creativejuicestudios.com,2008-03-02:211720e9-3648-4ce9-bf92-2142c72c7a3f Creative Juice Studios 2008-03-02T19:28:31Z 2008-03-02T16:24:00Z One of my first blog posts included a picture of my eldest daughters new room. We have just recently finished our middle daughters room (was the room the my 2 daughters were sharing), and wanted to share some pictures...

My hubby made the suspended loft bed. The "bottom bunk" used to be the other suspended loft that belonged to her sister (before she moved to her own room).

I love the ceiling in this room. So cheerful and fun!

And so as not to leave out my son, here are some pictures of his room...

The friendly dragon and the mouse in the window were painted by one of my very favorite people in the whole wide world... my "cousin-in-law". She is a wonderful artist and was nice enough to do this for our son. What little boy wouldn't love living in a "castle". I made the castle out of "blocks" of different textured wall paper.

]]>