Crafty Habit

SNAPSHOTS OF MY CRAFT ROOM

2012-05-27T11:14:00.000-04:00

These are Instagram (attempts at using that blurry dropper icon) shots of my craft room. I used these shots to play around with Pugly Pixel's photo layout template as well as learn more about my newly acquired Photoshop. Fancy schmancy!

One day I hope to take incredible photos and use all kinds of photo templates to make the images on Crafty Habit even better (#justsayin').

POTTING UP PERENNIALS

2012-05-19T21:20:00.000-04:00

I finally got around to potting up the perennials I bought two weeks ago at Home Depot and I'd like to say I'm pretty proud.

I placed Styrofoam peanuts in my plastic whiskey barrel, topped it with soil, added my plants, gave it a good watering and stepped back to admire.

A few more touches and my balcony will be ready for summer! Take a peek below.

Perennials all potted up!

Roses from my backyard.

I need cushions for my chairs. Thinking a purple and orange combo would be nice.

Psssst! Check out my pinterest board for more outdoor inspiration.

GARDENING ADVENTURES

2012-05-03T06:00:00.000-04:00

Hello, I'm slowly returning to the Blogosphere where I'm expected to post at least once a day, everyday to gain popularity and be "successful". I'm going to skip ~~all~~ some of the rules and just go with the flow. The flow of my life. This means I will post as time permits since blogging isn't my full time job. I do this in my spare time for enjoyment and I believe it's also know as a hobby :) I hope you will enjoy reading Crafty Habit; if you don't, I promise not to be offended. Just try not to disturb your neighbor as you slip out [very quietly]. I'll try to keep it short and sweet, (that's a challenge in itself) so be nice and we'll get along just fine or not.

I've been working on my green thumb, or lack thereof and below are photos of my adventures in gardening. Last year I killed ALL my house plants including a sweet pink and green speckled leafy plant that I really adored. This year I'm growing tomatoes, arugula and herbs from seeds (squeal). Keep your fingers crossed. So far, so good. Take a look.

I also dig the occasional flower arrangement.

And browsing the Union Square green market.

MAIL DROP

2010-10-05T00:00:00.001-04:00

When I came across PuglyPixel, I fell in love immediately. It's such a great blog and had exactly what I needed. Pugly Pixel had both the doily and tape clip art I needed to make my ~~new~~ old blog header and it was free. How lovely and kind!

Katrina Tan is the author of a few blogs (3 total, I think) and they are ALL really great.

Then I noticed Katrina's Etsy shop and I had to visit. CUTE, CUTE, CUTE!!!!!!

I received my lovely print via snail mail. This snail was particularly special because it seemed as if he drank a red bull before coming over to my place. My lovely print was packaged in a sweet brown envelope with the cutest mailing sticker ever! I even received a gift from Katrina (thanks a bunch). It's a beautiful postcard which I plan to keep (I'm not mailing it to anyone, way too darn cute!).

Check out PuglyPixel and all that Katrina has to offer. After all, any blog "Powered by Pastries" can only be chock full of goodness.

TEA TIME

2010-10-04T00:00:00.004-04:00

Good morning beautiful people!!! How've you been?

On Saturday I wandered upon a herbal store in my neighborhood that I'd never seen before. The display windows looked really old and I was expecting to find piles of dust inside with lots of old stuff.

Never judge a book by its cover!

The store is a quaint little place with a kind of rustic feel. There were many jars of dried herbs, rose buds and spices. Raw wooden shelves were stacked high with teas and wooden barrels were filled with steel cut oats, wheat bran and an assortment of nuts. A vintage commercial refrigerator was used as a shelving system filled with bottles of apple cider vinegar and it's a shame I didn't take photos.

I got really giddy in this store, like a child in a confectionery shop! I felt like twirling around. I immediately summoned SW to join me while I mused over all the herbs and spices, I said to him, "I never knew this place was here" and he replied rather nonchalantly, "Yeah they've been here for a few years now".
A few years now??? Thanks for telling me buddy!

After all my oohhhs and ahhhhs and finger pointing, I left with a box of Indian Tulsi tea and senna pods. I wanted to see if the tea tasted like fresh Tulsi tea we made back home and as for those pods, let's just politely say they clean you out.

I made the tea yesterday morning and sweetened it with a touch of Mr. Honey Bear and added a splash of milk. It passed the taste test and was very much like the fresh tea we made back home, yummmmm. Paired with coconut buns, I felt like I was back in Guyana, except for the chilly fall air that lingered in my kitchen.

P.S. The photo overlays are from Pugly Pixle. XOXOXO

~~P.S.S I will post the recipe for Coconut Buns later this week :)~~

{ E-magazine Love } Lonny

2010-09-16T06:02:00.002-04:00

Hi there,
I'm back from my Toronto trip with a bit of sad news. I wasn't able to explore the craft stores and flea markets :( My sister was really sick with the flu and this caused her tonsils to flare up. A few friends and I tried to nurse her back to health so we could enjoy the remaider of our vacation. I especially enjoyed seeing my sister.

Now back to my current posting. I've been reading and loving this e-mag for a little while now and have seen numerous posts on the web and other great design blogs about Lonny. Indeed it is worthwhile reading and even better because it's a free e-magazine. I know you like that. If you've never seen Lonny Magazine then click here to experience pure fantasticness (another one of my random made up words, at least I don't think its real and would love to take the credit for making it up).

This is a visual compilation of my top picks (for now) from Lonny Magazine. I hope you enjoy salivating over these beautiful images. I will also keep my fingers crossed and hope they provide you with the same inspiration they provided me. Happy ~~Monday~~, ummm Thursday! Yikes I'm jet lag and didn't even visit a different time zone!

P.S The lovely Vintage Fabric deco tapes were provided by the lovely Pugly Pixle.

FREE PRINT: I'VE GOT A CRAFTY HABIT

2010-09-15T05:00:00.002-04:00

As you all may (or may not) know, I've been working on fixing up my craft room/guest room/ really hoping we don't have guests room (just kidding) and I wanted something to remind me of my love for crafts. Immediately I started with inspiration from my blog, a little bit of puglypixle clipart and the graphic I like to call "my little man in thread". Ten minutes later I came up with this cute (well I think it's cute) poster (8.5 x 11") that I intend to frame. If you like this print, you can have it too! I've embedded a pdf file for you after the jump.

I've Got A Crafty Habit Poster

EAT PRAY LOVE

2010-08-26T06:51:00.002-04:00

I was strolling through Barnes & Nobles about two weeks ago when I noticed a book called Eat, Pray Love with a picture of a woman that looked like Julia Roberts on the cover. I turned to my sister and said hey that woman looks like Julia and she said, "Well it's Julia". I like Julia Roberts and wondered about the book and why she was on the cover. I picked up the book flipped it over, and then one of the workers at B&N asked if I needed help. I Immediately placed the book back on the shelf without reading the reviews on the back and asked where the interior decorating section was. I completely forgot about Eat Pray Love. A few weeks later I went to the movies with SW and saw the title on the menu bulletin (or whatever the screen is called). We didn't see it but I became curious about the book. That week, I asked my co-workers if anyone had seen the movie and one co-worker said she had the book and would lend it to me. So here I am 43 pages later, enjoying the read. I really like the title and I refuse to see the movie before I'm finished reading. Have you read the book or seen the movie? What are your thoughts, without telling me what its all about :)

By the way, this is the first book I 'm reading for leisure since graduating college. Seems so much like a treat!

Images from Bre Beauty ,Annie Eats, World Market & Krystyle.com

BY FRYD

2010-08-23T06:06:00.005-04:00

I came across this beautiful e-magazine on issuu and was truly inspired by the imagery, textures and colors. By Fryd uses white as a main background palette and jazzes things up with pops (sometimes even more) of color. The effect is a wonderful juxtaposition of calm and energetic. I wanted to share this e-magzine with you since I was blown away by its intricate details. I hope you like and appreciate all the beauty and inspiration By Fryd has to offer.

Open publication - Free publishing - More travel

Happy Monday!

FEED YOUR SOUL

2010-08-18T06:06:00.001-04:00

We all know it's very important for one to feed his/herself but what about one's soul?

I feel it is especially important that we feed our souls and take care of our bodies from many different aspects (mentally, physically & spiritually). I came across this site and loved everything about it. The principle behind it is wonderful and thoughtful and the work is simply beautiful. Feed Your Soul is a free art project that provides readers with free art. Yes I said it! FREE art :) I also appreciate the about page which provides information about the gracious and generous contributing artists. It makes me feel as if I know tham a little more.

I am very fond of many of the prints and will be using a few of them in my decor process of the apartment. Below are some of my top picks.

Now it's time for you to Feed Your Soul.

BLOG LOVE

2010-08-03T06:00:00.004-04:00

I fell in love again after I came across this beautiful and organic blog recently. I was scrounging around the internet (with the best of intentions) for graphics that I could use on my new blog design and PuglyPixel came to the rescue. I wanted tape and doilies and found both. YAY!

Here is the wonderful "Paper Buffet" from PuglyPixel. Don't you just want to devour it all?

NEIGHBORHOOD STROLLING

2010-07-02T19:38:00.000-04:00

I couldn't help myself while taking another weekend stroll through the neighbourhood and this time I covered areas in NY and NJ. I saw this house while driving and was driven to hop out of the car and get a few snaps. So there I was in the middle of the street with camera in hand ready to ambush the house and much more. Seems as if I'm turning out to be a habitual scenery stalker :-O Another day another Crafty Habit!

DIY: SILHOUETTE JEWELRY DISPLAY

2010-06-24T01:52:00.000-04:00

Hi everyone! I wanted to share this really quick tutorial on how to make my Silhouette Jewelry Display that I used at my first flea market event.

Materials:

White Craft Foam Sheets
Black Card Stock
Silhouette Template
Scissors
Glue (I used regular Elmer's white glue)
Pin/needle

Instructions:

Obtain picture of Silhouette and print onto a letter size sheet of paper (8.5 x 11). I had to enlarge my silhouette to fit the sheet. Print this image and cut around edges to create a template.

Using paper template, trace the image on to black card stock and then cut out image from card stock. You can use this as a more sturdy template and create others using this one.

Glue silhouette card stock images to foam sheet and place a heavy object like a text book on top to hold it in place while it dries.

Leave for a few hours or overnight to dry.

Estimate where you would like to hang your earrings and pierce a hole at this point using a needle/pin.

Insert earrings and when ready attach to wall using poster putty.

You can even frame these if you like.

Change up the colors for a twist.

Mommy and I :)

NEIGHBORHOOD STROLLING II

2010-06-07T16:30:00.000-04:00

Spring/Summer is finally here (thank Heavens!), so I decided to take a casual stroll around the neighborhood and couldn’t resist admiring all the beautiful garden attire and no I’m not talking about floral print summer dresses. I didn’t have a camera on hand so I used my BF’s handy new camera phone. Pics weren’t too bad considering the device and I included a house I absolutely loveeeeee!!! Read more for more of my new habit…I hope the neighbors didn’t think I was a stalker :-O

SCHOOL SCENERY

2010-06-06T19:31:00.000-04:00

I’m taking summer classes for the first time and couldn’t help but admire the beauty of my campus. Makes me want to skip classes and sit out all day, but that wouldn’t work out too well would it? Enjoy the scene with me and look for more updates.

Check out this cutie that came to enjoy the scenery too. She's my friend's puppy, adorable!

KRYSTYLE'S MOTHER'S DAY COLLECTION

2010-04-20T09:03:00.009-04:00

Hi guys, I have been working on new jewelry pieces for my shop and they are all up now :) Here is a collection I did for Mother's Day and a few others. Check out www.Krystyle.com for more.

GIFT FOR TRIXIE

2010-02-16T11:38:00.002-05:00

Hey everyone! It's snowing again in NY!!!! Yay :( I was hoping classes would be cancelled so that I could snuggle up in my warm bed but nope! To divert from the topic of snow, here are some pictures of a gift I made (except the book....duh!) for my friend's birthday. It's an embellished cardigan and matching rosette headband. My friend likes to go by the name Trixie! Hehehe, that name just tickles me :)

FASHION FORWARD: ALICE & THAT BUNNY

2010-02-15T05:26:00.009-05:00

Last week I posted about finding this dress pattern and Suzannah at Adventures in Dressmaking was so kind to find a pattern and send a link to me. I proceeded to buy it! I am waiting for it to come in the mail and then I will purchase the fabric :)

In the meantime, here is the Fashion Forward collage that inspired me to attempt to re-create this beautiful dress and below it is a take on Alice all grown up :)

Happy Monday and pop over to Katherine at Paper Pocket to see all the other wonderful Fashion Forwards put together by fab ladies :)

Alice and the Bunny! by kdstyle featuring French Connection shoes

Alice All Grown Up by kdstyle featuring Christian Louboutin shoes

HOPE YOU CATCH THE LOVE BUG

2010-02-12T13:24:00.004-05:00

I made some handmade valentine's cards last week! Behind says, hope you catch the love bug :) Heheheh! Happy Valentine's everbody :)

DIY: GOLDEN PAPERCLIP NECKLACE

2010-02-02T01:53:00.000-05:00

I was inspired by all the latest hardware fashion trends and wanted to create my very own unique piece. At first I wanted to use giant safety pins but didn’t have any on hand and I didn’t want to buy any because as I was thinking about this project my mom called me and told me that she had a box of odd and ends for me and it contained pins, so instead I went to my local stationary store and picked up gold paperclips. I initially wanted to make some sort of top with them but figured the box of odds and ends would be better for that so I proceeded to make this simple (in instructions) but bold (in design) necklace. Here are the instructions. Hope you like! I will also put one in my etsy store in case you rather purchase than DIY!

Note: The way I make this necklace for my etsy shop is somewhat different to this tutorial. I seal the clips to prevent the strands from getting undone and also to avoid quick tarnishing of metal.

Materials:

144 small gold paperclips

2 jumbo gold paper clips

Black Organdy Ribbon

Instructions:

1. Connect paper clips in strands. I started with a strand of 8 paper clips and lengthened every new strand by 2 until I reached a strand of 24. So I had nine separate strands of paper clips each one longer than the other by two paper clips. The lengths were 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22 and 24 paperclips (I hope this is clear).

2. String all the strands onto the jumbo paper clip in descending order(LONGEST STRING FIRST!!!! MY LAST PICTURE ACTUALLY SHOWS THE SHORTEST STRAND JUST TO MAKE THE PICTURE EASIER TO TAKE) using the first paper clip on each strand. When this is complete, do the same thing with the other jumbo paper clip, this time using the last paper clip on each strand.

3. Tie organdy ribbon onto ends of jumbo clips using the loop method pictured and viola, your necklace is ready to wear.

Tips:

• Pair your necklace with a plain black T-shirt and jeans or a simple black/any color dress. Check out the way I wore it. I took pictures in a black tee so that you guys could see it better in the photos but I would actually wear this and throw on a boyfriend blazer.

My Outfit:

Black and white stripe top F21 and Black T-shirt top from F21

Black Ruffle Back Booties GoJane

Levi Skinny Jeans from Macy's (got it on sale in store)

DIY Golden Paper Clip Necklace (available here at Krystle.com )

Initial Charm Chain Panja( two in one ring and braclet) by Krystyle (will available to custom order at Krystyle.com soon)

I AM WORKING ON OTHER PROJECTS WITH THESE PAPER CLIPS AND WILL SHARE THEM ONCE COMPLETED :)

EMBELLISHED BABY COUTURE

2009-12-07T19:11:00.000-05:00

My neice celebrated her 2nd birthday three weeks ago and I wanted to create something special for her (even though she probably won't remember it). I embellished 3 long sleeve tees and a cute little curdoroy dress. More pics below, hope you like them.

I am thinking about doing a giveaway for a special mommy/aunty/daddy/any person who is realted to a toddler. Could you guys make a suggestion of which style tee you like the best and what size should I make it in for the giveaway (I'm thinking either a 4T or 5T). I will choose the most common answer and create the giveaway! So let me know please ;)

~~I am also considering putting a few of these as well as my ruffle scarf in my etsy shop for the holidays. What do you think?~~

Muppets do Bohemian Rhapsody

2009-12-04T06:59:00.001-05:00

Hope this makes your weekend!

ANTHROPOLOGIE INSPIRED TUXEDO SCARF

2009-11-16T12:11:00.000-05:00

I saw this scarf on anthropologie.com and loved it so much that I decided to make one. It isn't too pricey for non-college students working for $$ (its just $38.) but I thought it would be fun to make my own especially since I've been wanting to sew a scarf since forever. Follow the tutorial to make your very own tuxedo inspired scarf.

Materials:

2 yards of knit fabric (It required less than 2 yards but that is what I had, maybe more like 1 and 3/4 yards.

Groovy scissors

Sewing machine/or you can hand sew if you have the time :)

Instructions:

Using your groovy scissors cut a long strip of your fabric measuring 20 inched wide x 66 inches long (the length of the fabric I bought). Your scarf will be half as wide as this since you will be folding it in half

Cut smaller strips of fabric 6" wide and long enough to make ruffles to fit scarf (I joined 2.5 66" strips to cover my scarf.This will depend on how tight/loose you want your ruffles to be)

(Join the smaller fabric strips to each other by stitching seams at ends to form one long continuos strip. I did this with 1.5 of my [2.5] strips after the light bulb came on!)

Sew a running stitch (DO NOT backstich at either ends) down the middle of the small strip

Gather this strip by pulling the bobbin thread (stitching thread that is underneath the fabric) from both ends (DO NOT pull bobbin thread out of fabric as this will unravel the stitch. Pull from both ends a little at a time to get desired ruffle).

Fold long, wide strip of fabric in half (length ways) and determine middle of this piece. Pin ruffle in place on top layer of this piece of fabric, being very careful not to pin through to the underlying layer of fabric.
Open out folded fabric so that ruffle seems to be off to one side more than the other.

Attach the ruffle to this piece of fabric by sewing a straight stitch at medium tension down the middle of the ruffle. You can use the running stitch as a guide.

Fold fabric with ruffle back in half length ways, right sides facing, and stitch around edges using a 5/8 seam allowance. Leave a wide enough hole open at one end of the scarf, so that you can turn the scarf inside out.

I had excess ruffle that fell on the inside that I trimmed off once sewing around edges. Also I made a boo boo and got extra fabric caught in while sewing my ruffle down, see how it bunches up at some points? Good thing I can turn it over and no one will ever know, well except for you guys =)

Trim off excess fabric as close to seams as possible(my photos don't show this, sorry) and snip edges at an angle to eliminate bulk when scarf is turned over. This also produces nice sharp edges ;)

Turn scarf inside out and push out edges. Fold in edges of open hole and slip stitch closed.

Iron your scarf (or not) for a nice finish
Wear!

NOTE: Due to the nature of the fabric there was no need for me to finish the edges of the ruffle by sewing a hem or doing a merrow/serger stitch (I don't even have a merrow/serger machine)

HOW MUCH IS THAT DOGGY IN THE CAR WINDOW

2009-11-09T12:10:00.000-05:00

About two weeks ago I was walking through the parking lot to go into the Applebee's when I heard a dog barking ferociously. My first thoughts were, "Oh my gosh! Someone's dog is on the loose. It's going to get me!!!!" But when I turned around this was what I saw:

He even stopped barking, so that I could take the pics. I didn't have my camera on me so I used my phone. This has kept a continuous smile on my face for the past two weeks, maybe it will do the same for you.

NEW BUSINESS CARDS

2009-09-30T12:07:00.000-04:00

My new business cards for my etsy shop just arrived and I am very proud of them :) I designed them in photoshop (my first time using photoshop, hence why I am proud) and I just like how they look exactly like the image I made in photoshop (as if it would look different). Anyway I wanted to post pics of the card for you to see :)