Creatively Caught Up Friday (Maps)

Posted on by under Creatively Caught Up, DIY, Home Sweet Home, Japanese

Well hello there! Yes, we made it through the week! Anything interesting happen?

Today I’m Creatively Caught Up in …drum roll…maps!

They’re fascinating and so many are quite historical in themselves. It’s interesting to think that states / countries have been split from land movement (and politics of course) and have change maps over time. Recently, Mas had bought me a Japan & Korea map from Etsy (I swear this is the place to buy anything and everything now of days as well as support small businesses at the same time). I took it upon myself to matte and frame it. Eek! Let’s just say that I’ve one thing crafty that I don’t enjoy that much. I think it came out great for my first time, but there was quite a bit of cussing while working on it haha.

I wonder who keeps up with map information now of days (other than Google). How did Thomas Guide keep up when printed maps were the way to go? The evolution of maps is now of course digital, but I think it’s only making me appreciate printed maps much more.

Growing up I remember my Grandma having a travel globe and would mark each place she had visited. Since I’m now starting to venture into traveling I’d like to start something like this as well.

So I’m going to contradict myself a bit right now eh maybe not, but I’ve found Google Maps to be extremely helpful with planning our trip to Japan. All I have to do is create a “place”, search for a location, drag and drop a marker and “save to map” (using the dropdown to select your saved map “place”). All of the places are saved within one map and appear to the left. Below I have our map so far. If you’ve been to Japan and have any suggestions that aren’t marked let me know! I’m definitely looking forward to seeing friends, Mas’ family and… Sanrio Land haha, yes it exists!

What do you use to keep track of where you have been?




View Larger Map

In case you missed them:

DIY – Wood Wall Art

Happppppy Halloweeeeeen!

DIY - Wood Wall Art

Posted on by under DIY, Home Sweet Home

This past weekend was DIY central around here, I think it’s the change in weather! We’ve been racing our heads on ways to fill our walls with personalized touches and of course DIYs that the two of us could work on together. When we visited Mendocino a few weeks back the bed and breakfast that we stayed at had naturally divine artwork from local artists. The high ceilings were complimented by elongated pieces of beautifully painted wood art. Remembering our love for the art pieces, we thought, hey why not take a stab at creating our own wall art. So off to Lowe’s we went!

Straight to the lumber area! I was surprised by the several variations of wood. At first we were scared of the cost of the project as each wood plank was $20 each and beyond what we needed BUT as we were walking around the store the flooring area caught my eye. Why? You ask. Well, the amazing wood floor samples that were not only already stained but in different colors and textures! Did I mention the low cost? Yup! Only $0.25 each and they are 5″x4″ blocks (roughly 1/2″ thick). Score! We also grabbed 1/4″ / 2′x2′ plywood for the main backing. Lowe’s offers free wood cutting, so we trimmed it down to 14″x22″. Save the extra wood and have the wood person cut a piece that is about 13″x 2″, this will be for the backing that you’ll attach the hardware to.

Onto the stain, both Mas and I had never stained anything before but it looked like fun! We chose an ebony finish and picked up liquid nails (totally amazing for non-hardware owning people) while we were on the aisle.

Steps

  1. Sand the plywood to get the little stickers off.
  2. Stain - apply a coat, let it dry (stain says 24 hours but it was hot out and waited about 4 hours), apply a second coat.
  3. While you’re waiting for the first coat of stain to dry, peel the stickers off the backs of the wood floor samples and sand.
  4. Stain the top & bottom pieces of wood edges so they blend with the background.
  5. Liquid nail time! Yes! Although the wood floor samples snap together, spread some glue to hold them nice and tight together. Allow to dry.
  6. Once the final coast of stain has been applied and dried, evenly spread liquid nail on the backs of the wood floor samples and place on the plywood.
  7. Allow to dry! (we placed books on top to hold them in place and secure the placement)
  8. With the 13″ x 2″ piece of wood, glue to the back of the plywood.
  9. Screw in bracket wall hangers to plywood.
  10. Measure out where the two nails should go and hang!

Supplies + Cost breakdown

(1) 1/4 2×2 Oak @ $4.65
(1) Shaw Siena Hickory Wood Floor Sample @ $0.25
(1) Shaw Frontier Hickory Wood Floor Sample @ $.025
(1) Shaw Pioneer Hickory Wood Floor Sample @ $0.25
(1) Shaw Metropolitan Map Wood Floor Sample @ $0.25
(1) Shaw Cashmere Hickory Wood Floor Sample @ $0.25
(1) Shaw Renaissance Maple Wood Floor Sample @ $0.25
(1) 2″ Foam Brush @ $3.44
(1) 4 oz Liquid Nails @ $3.47
(1) 3m Coarse Grit Sanding @ $2.97
(1) 1/2 pt Ebony Oil Stain @ $5.19
(1) pack of bracket wall hangers (had these)
(2) nails (had these)

Total cost: $23.08 (including taxes)

Supplies

Before

First coat of stain

After

Creatively Caught Up Friday (Paper)

Posted on by under Creatively Caught Up, DIY

The Fall weather has officially kicked in and this week was by far the hardest to adjust to waking up to darkness. Fortunately the Bart gives us that extra 30ish minutes to fall back asleep haha.

This Friday I’m creatively caught up in…paper!

It was around Christmas time last year that Mas and I visited the Glendale Americana and came across a neat little paper store. I looked it up last night for the post and it appears to be gone now, bummer! Anyways, I was in awe of the flocked paper they had. It was at this time that I first learned what flocked paper is. The decorative floral paper has a great velour texture that not only adds contrast, but depth.

I didn’t want to use the paper for just any project, as it was beautiful and a piece of art on its own, so I wrapped it around a 9×12 canvas. Love the way it looks!

Hope you all have had a good week? Any great plans for the Halloween weekend?

Mas and I will be working on a very cool DIY for our bedroom so check back on Monday to see!

In case you missed them:

Fall is in the Air!

Button Up!

Wrap Around Travel Journal

Japanese Coin Bracelet

Japanese Coin Bracelet

Posted on by under DIY, Japanese

I’m excited to share with you a new look to the Japanese Yen coin bracelet! It was inspired by my Japan friends that came to visit and opened my eyes to the beautifully decorated Yen from Japan. I’ve added a clasp to make the bracelet easier to wear and ordered Hello Kitty charms to personalize it. Cute right?

I’m still researching additional materials that I can use, suede vs elastic cord, different color cords, beads & charms. I’m also going to look more into coin money from around the world and invest in a metal hole puncher, not limiting to coins with holes. Necklaces maybe on their way as well. Let’s just say I’ll be pretty busy this weekend!

What do you think of this new beauty?

 

Wrap Around Travel Journal

Posted on by under Japanese

We’re half way through the week and I wanted to give your brain a break for a few and imagine a destination that brings back fond memories or a place you’ve always wanted to travel to. Can you see it? Aww, relaxation.

For our 1 year anniversary Mas surprised me with a Japan Wrap Around Travel Journal that he purchased off of Etsy.com from dailypaper’s shop. I was completely surprised and my excitement to open and explore the journal was a beautiful journey in itself. I have yet to travel abroad, so a travel journal was something new to me. Yes, the clock is a tick’n to get use out of my lonely passport!

The journal design is very unique with its style and shape, the contrast of the pieced map contrasts nicely with the blue/green cardstock paper. The journal closes nicely with a map button and hemp cord to tie around to keep secure. The map on the front is accented by black bird stamp variations and within the journal is another stamp that reads ‘Journey awakens the Soul’.

I can’t wait until I can get use out of my new journal. *wink*wink* Mas :-D

Have you kept a journal while traveling before? What fun things did you keep track of?

Button Up!

Posted on by under DIY, Sew-Easy

This insanely awesome button collection was handed down to me from my amazing friend, Sue. After I discovered my new found love for buttons, Sue promptly emailed me that she would send me her button collection that had evolved over the years. Boy was I surprised when I opened up the box! My eyes lit up and I couldn’t help but to start sifting through the hundreds of buttons! My mason jars have definitely come in handy, I started to separate by color and style. I have some pretty good ideas behind what to do with some of these buttons that I hope to share with you soon.

Thank you Sue!

Fall is in the Air!

Posted on by under Danville, Halloween

We decided to go grab dinner the other night in Danville and came across Amber Bistro. The outdoor patio welcomed by the large open doors that ran the length of the restaurant sold us! The food was delicious and we enjoyed the music from the live band across the way. While we were in the area we saw tons of booths setup… that’s when I remembered that it was the weekend for the Danville Fall Crafts Festival. Yay! So we decided to go back the next day to check it out. There were quite a few very creative people! I totally forgot to take a picture of all of the booths setup, sorry!

We stopped for lunch at Sideboard and I think this place goes down as one of my favorite restaurants. We were welcomed by the cozy, home-like feeling with rustic country style. There was seating inside, on the side patio as well as the front porch, felt very welcoming. They had decorated for Halloween with the perfect dose of fun and scary. Have you had coffee made without a machine? WOW! Noticeable difference with how smooth it is, I will be looking into this method, if you have any suggestions please let me know! Perhaps a French Press? Mas had the BBQ pulled pork sandwich and I had the BBQ pork pulled quesadilla, both were delicious.

Creatively Caught Up Friday (Color)

Posted on by under Creatively Caught Up

I wanted to leave you with a little treat today to end your week with something a bit different from my crafting posts. Today I’m creatively caught up in…color.

I’ve always been so intrigued by color, not just the beauty that it brings to focus but the feeling that overcomes me while taking in its presence. I can’t help but to stop and gaze at a color that catches my eye and soothes my soul. Yes, now my obsession for color is coming out.

I find myself over on ColourLovers getting lost in the hundreds of thousands colors. I have even contributed a few colors of my own: https://www.colourlovers.com/lover/Designerland.

Since it is breast cancer awareness month, I wanted to share one of my colors that I named after my Grandma Rose, who passed away from breast cancer. The cheerful color reminds me much of her personality but also calms me with its presence.

If you haven’t visited ColourLovers, check it out! It’s a beautiful Community with tons of creative people.

Since we’re on the topic of pink, I was looking around and found this awesome concept bedroom. My other obsession, Hello Kitty. Seriously would have loved this as a kid. The styles compliment well with the combo of modern + shabby chic. The chandelier is beautiful and against the pink and white walls really pops.

https://www.chairs.ws , Concept: E.D'Antoni - Arch. P.Vittor , Sanrio

In case you missed them:

Halloween Crafting

Domo Phone Case

Japanese Floral Yen Bracelet

Japanese Floral Yen Bracelet

Posted on by under DIY, Japanese

When our Japan friends visited I saw Yen for the first time and I’m so jealous of their beautifully designed money! I asked to keep a few as I saw the perfect opportunity to add the Yen (with the holes in the middle) as a creative touch on a purse. However, I was walking around SF one day and saw coin bracelets, the light bulb went off and I knew I had myself a great project idea!

I purchased brown suede cord and looked up a few tutorials online to re-learn how to make an adjustable knot. This took me back to the good ol’ days of middle school. It’s not as easy as it looks, but I got it!

I love the intricate floral details on the 50 yen and the contrasting color of the suede cord. I’m thinking about trying one with clasps instead of the knot and see how I like that as well.

Definitely more of these goodies to come!