Snuggle Blanket Drive - San Jose Animal Shelter

I've been sewing a ton of tote bags for the Grateful Garment program as well as for the local homeless agencies. It does take a certain amount of fabric to make the totes, which I pick up at FabMo. There are always end cuts, too small of most home sewing projects. I came across a request for kennel blankets for dogs and cats at one of the local shelters. The poor little things get a sheet of newspaper in their cage if there isn't enough bedding. So taking the fuzzy discards and batting that comes into FabMo every week, I was able to make over 60 (update - over 100 sewn so far) kennel pads. Really easy to sew and I've been able to use up my own stash of batting that I've had for years.  Off today to drop another load of bedding at the Adobe Animal Hospital. Then I have to wait for more fuzzy material to come into FabMo. 

Crafting Up a Storm - FabMo Vendor Thank You 2016

I know I've be really bad about posting my crafting projects, but I get behind in taking photos and then forgetting to post. Some of the projects took a long time to make, so again I was more focused on getting the project done on time.
At the end of the year, FabMo likes to pass out cookies to all the vendors that donate the fabric to us. This year we added a little thank note. In keeping with the mission of FabMo, we try and use what we have on hand. I made over 250 cards using paint samples that were cut down into little squares. I die cut out "thanks" from paint chip samples as well. I also helped make these little baskets out of 8" squares which the cookies went into. It was a team efforts with all the sewing, glue and baking involved but we got it done in time. 

FabMo - Volunteer Thank You Gift 2016

This week FabMo hosted a party for all their volunteers. In trying to stay green and keeps cost down, I made fabric envelopes. FabMo gets a tons of 8" square fabric samples so we try and find as many ways to use them up. In making the envelopes, the type of fabric makes a big difference. I was lucky enough to come across a stash of light weight linen. 
I added the card using my Cricut machine.  It's been a super long time since I used it and I was amazed (once again) all the things is can cut out! Will be break out the my Cricut machine more often!

After Election - Safety Pin

There is so much fear now that we have a new president. The news feed is filled with people feeling free to attack anyone that doesn't fit into the mold for what they think an American should look like.  I live in a liberal state, but even here it's showing up. Living in Silicon Valley, which has a huge Asian population, I'm a little more insulated but I know it out there. I'm not surprised as sad as it is. My X hated what he called "the Asian invasion", even being married to a Asian woman and having children together. He truly believes that the white male was endangered and it is all because of the Asians. 
My family history of enslavement (grandfathers were forced to work on building the transcontinental railroad), then forced to leave their homes and into concentration camps while still having their sons join the military, strip of all property becasue they were Japanese. 
I wasn't sure what I could do to help until a friend posted the "safety pin" idea that was used in England when they voted to leave the union and people were being attacked.
Wear a safety pin as a sign of support and safety for those who may be targeted by bullies. Have a pin on and they know you are there to help, a safe person to sit by, someone to talk to. So Annie and I both will wear a pin to show support to equal rights and help those who need. 

Day 25 Lisa's Mish Mash of Happiness 7 Inktober challenge - slow

When we go up abalone diving, I like to stop at the 2 Fish Bakery. They make a amazing cinnamon buns my kids love. Since I have a gluten issue, I pick up their breakfast granola, which is the best. I decided to try and make some at home after I ran out. With the weather turning cold, baking is a favorite past time. I made banana bread for some friends and my version of breakfast granola.  I used chestnut honey, which turned out to be too strong tasting. The next round I will try maple syrup but over all it turned out well. It's a very slow process to make granola. Everything has to be turn every 15 minuets for over an hour. Well I was doing all that I mixed up a batch of banana bread since the oven was already warmed up. 

Day 24 Lisa's Mish Mash of Happiness Inktober Challenege - little

I know I'm out of order but I was very productive, just forgot to post. FabMo is making 275 of these small square boxes out of 8" fabric squares. They will be the thank you gifts for all the vendors who donate the fabric to FabMo. We plan to fill them with cookies and a thank you note. 
Over the weekend I made about 75. Easy to make and something you can do when you binge watch something on Netflix. I watched Skin Wars, which is a body painting reality show. I was amazed at how talented the artist were. Doing all that work only to have it washed away at the end of the day. The creativity of these artists was very impressive!

Day 26 Lisa's Mish Mash of Happiness & Inktober challenge

I missed this weekend's posts but that doesn't mean I wasn't being creative. In between chasing down my daughter's chihuahua who would take off running down the hill looking for her every time is got out. It was a very long weekend babysitting him. Happy he finally went home. After seeing all the fall leaf card being posted with new stamps and dies, I decided to break out my old punches (very old school) and make one. I made a master sheets (pages randomly covered with color) and then punch out my leaves. Took me awhile to find the sentiment for the middle. Size was an issue. I think it turned out pretty good!

Day 23 Lisa's Mish Mash of Happiness & Inktober "Big"

I'm a very novice knitter, knowing just enough to make scarves. I taught myself how to knit by watching YouTube videos. Being left handed and self taught, I've been told I use a hybrid method when I knit. It sort of freaks people out. :) Can't really tell from the photo but this is super big yarn. Several skeins were donated to FabMo last week. 
 I'm making scarves to donate to the homeless shelters. FabMo does a monthly tote bag drop off and with the weather getting colder thought adding a scarf would be helpful. 

Day 22 Lisa's Mish Mash of Happiness and Inktober "squeeze"

Penny Black Stamp ?

This stamp always cracks me up! I taught myself to knit but still can't read a pattern. If I tried to make anything but a scarf, my sweater would look like what this kitty is wearing!

Penny Black Clear Stamp
Copic Markers
Mini Rhinestones

Day 21 Lisa's mish mash of happiness & Inktober challenge "flight"

Today is a major craft room clean-up day. I'm always amazed on how fast my crafting space can turn into a hot mess! I made this card last night for the Inktober flight challenge using some really old supplies. 
Now there isn't any open space left on my crafting table, so to help keep my creative mojo healthy, it's time to focus on clean-up time. 
Amuse stamps - very old
Quickutz - very old cloud die
Copic markers

Day 20 Lisa's Mish Mash of Happiness & Inktober "escape"

I wasn't sure what I would do for this  Inktober escape challenge. At first I thought of doing a flight of butterflies. Then I looked at my scratch pad and saw all the different colors which made me think of fall leaves. There is always those leaves that escape the trash bag. I decided to bust out my mini leaf punches after I made a master coloring sheet. It was fun going old school with using real punches. 

Day 19 Lisa's Mish Mash of Happiness & Inktober Challenge "battle"

Rubber stamps usually don't have "battle" stamps, well at least ones I like. I made this card because I wanted to use an old bottle of Snow Accents I forgot I had. The snow was a little too chunky so I scrap the first card. Then the light bulb went on. Snowball fight = battle. Pretty cute. ;)
Printworks - snowball the cat
Copic Markers
Amuse - have an ICE day

Day 18 Lisa's Mish Mash of Happiness & Inktober challenge "wet"

This is an old Amuse stamp and another one of my favorites. I rarely stamp anything in the inside of the card but seeing that it was 2:00 am (I'm a night owl) and I didn't want to do the same old thing. After cutting out the circle, I was inspired to keep adding more. 
Today's Inktober theme was "wet".  We haven't seen much rain here in California but I still have several rain coats. Heard a rumor there is rain in the forecast. :)

Day 17 Lisa's Mish Mash of Happiness & Inktober "relax"

Years ago I had a recliner that looked out to my backyard. Listening to the birds and sitting in the recliner, I would always have the best naps! 
Relax is the Inktober word for today, so only fitting it be a recliner. ;) 

Amuse stamp (old)
Copic Markers

Day 16 Lisa's Mish Mash of Happiness & Inktober "tree"

Going through my stash of rubber stamp drawers looking for a tree stamp. This vintage Amuse stamp jumped out at me. I grew up on a farm and there was a huge walnut tree next to the house with a tire swing. Living on a large farm, my only playmate was my cousin Danny. Guess that's why I love the outdoors and being independent. 

Day 15 Lisa's Mish Mash of Happiness & Inktober "scared"

This is one of my favorite stamps and I'm not even a shoe person. The only scary part is wearing shoes with heels that high! Back in high school, I would wear platforms because I didn't want to hem my pants. Wearing those shoes made me over 6 feet tall and for an Asian girl, that's super tall. 
Copic Markers
Stampendous Stamp CRM247

Day 13 & 14 Lisa's Mish Mash of Happiness. Abalone Diving 2016

Abalone in a blue bowl

I'm a little behind on my challenges but when you have no internet access, postings just don't happen. This past weekend I went abalone diving with my kids. Real, my son went diving, I just tagged along. Can't believe it was 35 years ago I started camping and abalone diving. I was always a camper in my youth so it was important to me for my kids to enjoy the outdoors and be comfortable roughing-it. Now I take Annie on camping trips and it's just as challenging as taking young children!

Day 12 Lisa's Mish Mash of Happiness - Hidden

This was a card I made for the Inktober word "hidden" and for my mish mash challenge. I used textured wall paper, alcohol inks and circle punches. I did dream about the design of this card, just wish I could sketch it out better. 

Day 11 Lisa's Mish Mash of Happiness & Inktober Lost

The Inktober word was "lost" and this stamp came to mind. The whole time I was in London and Paris I was never sure where I was. I knew how to hail a taxi so I was never worried. :)  
Old Amuse stamps

Day 10 Lisa's Mish Mash of Happiness - Crows

Crow card sprayed with water

Last week I posted the lower card for the Inktober "noisy" challenge. When designing, several attempts are made to come up with something I'm willing to post. While I was cleaning up my work table (lost my car keys, so it forced a major clean up) and found one of the samples I had sprayed with water. I really liked how it turned out so I decided to finish it off as a card. 
I haven't used mini brads in a long time but after going through my stash of stuff  I rediscovered them!

Day 9 Lisa's Mish Mash of Happiness - Doggie Sympathy Card

Doing both the 365 day Mish Mash of Happiness challenge and the Inktober challenge, I spend a lot of time in the creative zone. Takes the same amount of time getting everything posted, yucky  paperwork. When I was designing a card for the Inktober sad theme, this idea popped into my head. I have a 85 pound (yes, that's a big dog) German Shepherd named Annie. She is my fur baby and my rock through all the rough times in my life. Makes me sad I will probably out live Annie but I really try to focus on the time I have with her right now. Love how excited she gets when we head to the park to meet up with her play group, chasing the deer or making a new friend at the park. Great dog and my best friend!

Inktober Challenge - Hidden

Today's challenge was the word "hidden". I thought about doing a secret flap card or a spinner but that seemed too easy. This morning I woke up with this image of an abstract with things hidden beneath it. 
This card is really metallic silver wall paper that I dyed purple. I punched out circles that hide the gold base card. I really wish I could sketch like a fashion designer, it would save so much time. :)

Day 8 - second turkey card.

This is a second turkey card  I made this month. After seeing a photo of the card, I decided to bling it out with sticklers. This was a stamp I picked up at a used rubber stamp flea market at Cranberry Hill annual sale. Used rubber stamp flea market are the best places to pick up crafting supplies you may want to try or get a great deal. 
Whipper Snapper - Tucker the Turkey
Amuse - Happy Thanksgiving (old)
Copics

Inktober Challenge - "sad" - Penny Black Bashful Bunny

Today's Inktober theme is "sad". I really only have stamps that make me happy, so sad was a tough project to work on. This bunny stamp was one I picked up at used rubber stamp flea market for .50, such a deal!
I do get asked to make sympathy cards since I don't make a whole lot of them.  

Penny Black -Bashful Bunny
SU stamp (old) - with sympathy
Copics
Distress Ink

Day 7 Lisa's Mish Mash of Happiness - Box - Pollock Style

I picked up this box at a family garage sale and decided to make it look like a old artist palette. I was inspired by the used artist palettes one of my junking buddies picked up while we were junking in Paris. 
Splattering paint is a messy business, got just as much on me as the box! As I was painting it reminded me of the artist Jackson Pollock. There is an art to get the paint to go where you want it, something I have not mastered yet. After a coat of sealer, I have to decided if I should make it a shadow box or storage organizer.