Spring Break 2013

I'm back in the city from spring break and have a few pictures I want to share with you guys.  If you follow me on Instagram at all, I apologize because you'll have seen all these before.  But over break I started playing around with my drawing tablet a bit (my wonderful Christmas present - thanks Dad!) and put together these fun little groupings.  Let me know what you think about the writing on the pictures, because I quite like it.  Actually I have a feeling that my tablet will start making quite the appearance here at Little Girl!

Happy Monday, everyone!

Wall Wednesday: Embroidery Detail

I embellished this bag way back in January, but totally forgot about sharing it with you guys!  If you're familiar with waste disposal here in San Francisco, you already know that the city tries to be super green and makes both recycling and composting mandatory.  So I use this cute tote (which I got for free  as a reward for donating to PetSmart forever ago) as my recyclables containing in my room.  That way I can fill it up and easily carry it down to the actual bin.

It really isn't anything too special, just a free canvas tote, so I added just this little embellishment with red embroidery floss.  I just sketched it out with pencil first, and ta-daa!

Happy Wednesday, everyone!  Do you have any clever methods for motiving yourself to recycle?

Holiday Idea: Handmade Gifts

I love everything about this time of year: the turkey, mashed potatoes, hot tea, Christmas music, and present hunting.  Although the trend in scaling back gift giving is mainly due to the back economy, I love the idea of only giving gifts that are really thoughtful and heartfelt.  It encourages people to really think about what their loved ones would like, rather than just buying presents to just have presents.

As for me, I'm trying to do as many handmade gifts this year as possible.  Not only do they say "You're important enough to me that I took the time and effort to make you something," but this way you're giving them a something completely unique.  For example, I'm giving my grandma this knitted "Boneyard Shawl" for her birthday tomorrow.

I used a really beautiful, soft Alpaca yarn from Cascade Yarns, and the pattern I found on Ravelry.  It's such a nice wrap that I'm actually making a second one with the left over yarn, which I also used to make this little knit envelope for the card.

This pattern I came up with myself, and will definitely use again.  Even the card was handmade, using some patterned scrapbook paper and an index card.

See?  This way gift giving is not only creative and personal, but also a lot more fun than fighting over items at a mall.  So, do you have any ideas for handmade gifts this holiday season?

Wall Wednesday: Seasonal Coin Purse

I meant to share this little creation last week, but it just slipped my mind.  So here it is, my little crochet pumpkin!  It was originally inspired by this lovely "candy pumpkin," but as I've said before, I really don't understand crochet at all, so I ended up fumbling around and making this one up on my own!  The top is attached with a little string, and I'm currently using it to hold all of my spare change.  I like the little festive, seasonal touch it adds to my work space.

Happy Wednesday, everyone.  Are there any seasonal decorations that you're working on?

Wall Wednesday: Homemade Touches

Happy Wednesday, everyone!  It's been a couple of weeks since I've settled in back at school and my grandparent's house.  I've shared pictures of my room before, such as in this post, though I have to say it's quite transformed.  The furniture is new and now I've started adding my own little touches!

I borrowed this picture hanging idea from my friend Justine.  I just used the nails that were already in the wall, some basic string, and fun little binder clips.  It makes for an easily changeable display for pictures, post cards, and this little watercolor that I bought last year at the Ferry Building farmer's market.  It's one of a kind; the artist had a whole book of these small, Bay Area inspired paintings. 

To cover up those nails I just mentioned, I turned to one of my favorite crafty bloggers, Cornflower Blue Studio and her pattern for crochet stars.  Although I like to say that I can crochet, in reality, I barely can.  That being said, this pattern is super easy and fun to do, and after making quite a few stars withs scrap yarn, I still have plenty left!  Aren't they cute?

I am a big fan of inspirational quotes and collages; my room back home is full of them!  Here, I decided to combine the two, pairing magazine cutouts and quotes from books I've read on fun, patterned scrapbook paper.  I've got about five of these squares up on my closet doors right now, and hope to have them both completely covered by the end of the year!

This is a small oil painting that I rescued from certain doom last year.  There was an assignment to create our own Impressionist painting in one of my art history classes, and at the end of it one of my classmates was just going to throw it out.  It's no Monet, sure, but I actually love the rough feeling of it.

And finally, my most recent addition: a little box for my needles, ruler, and whatever else happens to end up in there!  Remember that day I said I'd been gluing?  Well, here's the finished product!  I used an old box from an Amazon order I'd received, glued some Sunday funnies on it, and knitted it a little band for it.  Although the band it completely my design, I again referred to Cornflower Blue for a bow pattern.  It may not look like much, but I love it.  Nothing like displaying something that you've made yourself!

Just a Peek

It's been a beautifully warm and sunny, crafty evening.  I've done some gluing, and am now knitting while catching the Giants-Dodgers game.  What a life, right?  Neither of these projects are finished, so this is just a sneak peek for now!

Happy weekend, everybody!  Any projects you're working on?

Of Baguettes and Art

For my first weekend back, it has been fairly relaxing so far.  Justine and I have early classes on Friday, and after we decided to go out for our first lunch back in the city.  We went to this little restaurant called Food Inc. Trattoria.  

Now, I've personally heard mixed reviews about this place.  My roommate Christine, our resident foodie, was not really impressed with their dinner.  I personally thought they had good food, but I went for lunch, so take away from this what you will.  Maybe it's more of a lunch place.

I got their Italian Panini, with mozarella, tomato, basil, olive oil and vinegar. It was amazing!

Justine got their pear and brie sandwich, which she loved and absolutely devoured.

All in all, it was a good meal.  We were in the neighborhood to visit a cute little yarn shop called Atelier Yarns.  I'm getting back into knitting, as I discovered over break that it was a good replacement for chewing my nails while watching TV.  Hopefully I will get enough of my scarf done to post pictures of soon!

And in keeping with my New Year's resolution to finish projects before starting new ones, I did a new large drawing last night.  It's a little bit different than anything I've ever done, inspired by some of the mythological pictures I'm studying in my Impressionism class.  I like it a lot, although I'm not sure how I feel about subjects like this for future work.

Happy Weekend, everyone.

Wall Wednesday: Week 1

I'd like to apologize for the lateness of this post, but the past few days have been pretty crazy! School has started back up here in San Francisco, and we've all been settling into both our new living situations and classes. All I really have to say is, so far so good. All of my professors seem fairly nice and all my classes extremely interesting. My class titles thus far are: 19th Century American Classics (English Lit), Introduction to Islam, Art History 101, Prometheus Rising (Lit), and American Sign Language 101. Over all, I should have a very interesting semester, as well as one slightly less frantic than last.

Now, I've been trying to come up with projects to do here on the blog to make reading it a little more interesting. I don't know if you've noticed, but I don't always have a lot to talk about. And when I don't have a lot to talk about, I just don't post, and that's not fun for anyone.

So I am instituting "Wall Wednesdays." Remember the collage that I created on my wall last year? Well, I'm doing it again this year, and have decided that every Wednesday I will post a new picture of my wall so you can follow its progress. I guess it will be over either at the end of the year or when I run out of space, whatever comes first. It's a pretty blank right now, but I plan to rectify that soon enough.

My dad found this in the morning paper the day that I moved back to campus and thought it was perfect for me. Don't you love short jokes?

Twitter News!

Due to the lateness of the hour, this is going to be a very short post. But I thought I'd just like to share with you all some very exciting news.

I have followers on Twitter!

I logged into Twitter for the first time in a while today, and saw (to my utter astonishment and joy) that I now have three followers! Okay, so I'll admit that one of them is me on a joint account I have with my friends, but still. I am entertaining or interesting enough that two people I don't even know want to follow what I have to say. Score! I just got one (or two steps closer) to internet notoriety. Which, don't get me wrong, is not why I do stuff like this. Though it would be nice.

Needless to say, I shouldn't really start getting excited until I get 100 or so followers, but I'm a small-step-glass-half-full type of person. I get excited about the small things in life.

I'll leave you with some pictures of little projects I've finished recently and now have displayed around my room. Happy Friday, everyone!

Cup of Doodles

As of late, my friends and I have found ourselves embodying the college student stereotype and falling in love with Starbucks. Whether we're getting tea, coffee, frappuccinos, we tend to get way too excited for a trip to the local store. It's well worth the three block walk.

I still haven't found time to sit down and do a big drawing, or write something spectacular, or anything else for that matter. With all the reading I have, it's a wonder I even get to writing here once or twice a week! But, last night, while taking a short break, I turned one of our beloved Starbucks cups into a work of art.

How does creativity fit into your life?

Where Does the Time Go?

Well, we've been back for a whole week already, and I'm already wondering where all my time has gone. I'm dying to get back to doing something creative and decided to pull out this picture from over break. I had decided that I wanted to crochet something, and later that day this hat was born! It got a little funky towards the end (I probably should have ended it sooner), but my brother doesn't seem to care.

Meanwhile, I'm trying to fulfill my need for creativity by adding more pictures to my wall. The collage has gotten so big that it doesn't fit in one frame anymore!

Wishing you all a wonderful week!