Man, this going back to work thing has been kicking my ass in a major way! Well, at least when it comes to trying to do things when I have some free time. On weekdays, my brain seems to have turned to mush by the time I arrive home, and I’m still working on pushing myself to do fun things on weekends. We’ll see if this keeps up though, but I’m trying to be crafty, I really am.

On Labor Day, I got together with Amytha and some other crafty friends to help her prepare some Halloween decorations for a party she’s going to throw. I mostly worked on painting a cardboard cutout of a scary clown, as part of a gory circus theme, and it was fun to just dive in and go to town with a paintbrush. There’s more work to be done, so we may have to gather again sometime before Halloween.

The painting continued at our September South Bay Craft Group meeting, with a demonstration on decoupaging wooden boxes, led by Amytha. Painting was optional, of course, but I thought the cut-outs I chose would look better on color than on plain wood. Here are a few photos of what I created:

Here are a few more photos of the box, if you’re interested.

Otherwise, I’ve mostly been buying more craft supplies I really don’t need. Amytha and I went to a rubber stamp show in San Jose, and I left with a pile of more origami paper (for making small envelopes) and some Japanese stickers from Hanko Designs. I bought some supplies to make some of these cotton webbing keychains, though I have yet to actually try to make one. I just haven’t felt like sewing much lately.

Instead of sewing, I really want to work on another cross-stitch or embroidery project, even if it takes awhile to complete. I have plenty of floss and various pieces of Aida fabric, so it all comes down to the pattern, which is the most difficult part of it all. I’d rather not create my own design, just due to the extra work, but then everything I see at local stores is just awful. I’ve lamented about this before, but there really needs to be a total revival of cross-stitch, and with better designs than the crap that’s out there now. There are plenty of cool things being crafted these days (just look at all the stuff on Craftster), but not enough in cross-stitch patterns. I don’t think it’s because there’s anything inherent about cross-stitch that prevents it, but someone needs to get the ball rolling, and with something more than just phrases. I want images and colors, people!

Anyway, enough ranting for now. I’ll just have to work on my own patterns in the meantime, and I’ll make sure to post anything I come up with. I’ve got some swaps to work on in the meantime though…

Before I go, I just want to thank Alicia at Posie Gets Cozy for linking to me this week. I’ve noticed a huge spike in my traffic, with lots of referrals from her site. Thanks to her and hello to anyone coming from there!

After working on a number of projects involving squares, I’ve been playing around with another simple shape: the circle.

I was inspired by the design on Metromint bottles, which have lovely silver labels with blue or green circles, depending on the flavor. It’s a very simple design, but I thought how it might work nicely as a card design, so I started punching out circles and making measurements.

I didn’t really get very far with the card idea, beyond making sample circles and sketching out some ideas, but I did end up making some bookmarks with circles of cardstock. I needed to finish off my last swap for the month, which is a reading themed swap, and I whipped up these bookmarks and laminated them before adding the ribbons at the top.

Very easy to make, and it gave me some ideas for color combinations to try out. Part of my inspiration came from these postage stamp bookmarks, which I’d seen in a local bookstore recently. I might try out my own version with the various stamps I’ve got saved, but that’ll be for another day.

Oh, and I almost forgot! I wanted to share some lovely items I recently bought from a few Etsy sellers. As part of preparation for my new job (which officially started today, though I only had to sort out paperwork), I’ve been doing clothes-shopping and picking out a few new accessories. I poked around Etsy for a bit to find a new purse and managed to find some really pretty ones.

First, I bought this gorgeous bag from Mint Workshop, which, even if it’s a bit larger than I’m used to, is so wonderfully made and beautiful to boot.

(More photos are available here.)

I also managed to find a cute business card wallet in a matching fabric, made by Keyka Lou, which I plan on putting my own business cards (when I get them) inside.

(More photos are available here.)

The quality of these pieces is so amazing, and I highly recommend checking out both of these sellers’ items. I try to support other crafters, and especially when I find pieces as great as these, it makes it even easier to do.

I’m still waiting on another Etsy seller purse to arrive soon, and am also looking for some nice, handmade pendants or necklaces for myself. (Recommendations are quite welcome!)