My girl with a watermelon helmt for the Great Twitter Race!

Boolyah!

I sold my first Item on Etsy!

Woo Hoo! I feel like throwing a party or something. And I want to personally thank my ficklefaerie buyer who made me a very happy girl by telling me how much she loved my little Amigurumi Love Owl I made. Check her out. I'm kinda sad I didn't make one for myself.

My boss, Sally

My manager's name is Sally. Her nickname is Statistical Sally. This woman knows things that no other human in the world, except for the author of the article she read, keeps in their mind.
I have challenged her to write a blog post to share this random data with the rest of the world every time I call her on it. So, check out her new blog "Statistical Sally Starts A Blog" as I'm sure she'll have it full of new and non-useful facts and statistics in no time.

Enjoy!

The joys of social marketing

It's been a while since I posted last. But this time I think I really am going to stick with blogging. It's a good outlet for me. Plus, it gives me a chance to get my name out there in the world of yahoo and google. Right?

So, to celebrate the techy goodness that is "Web 2.0" let me take this opportunity to put some links out there of where you can find me...Kristen...UnrulyArt...CraftieMomma...5peWebmaster...

LinkedIn
Facebook
Squidoo: FunCrochetHats, CrochetAnimalsAmigurumi, StuffToSquidoo
Twitter: 5peWebaster
Etsy
Delicious Links

Super Sweet 16 Scavenger Hunt

Just a month ago, my daughter turned Super Sweet 16! For years I had dreamed of the party we would throw her; rented hall, DJ, catered food, everyone she's ever met plus all her family in attendance. Alas, on her 15th birthday when we finally asked her what she expected for her 16th birthday, she said she wanted a small party with a really cool theme. She told me that the scavenger hunt I had put together for her 4 years earlier was the best time she'd ever had at a party, but this time she wanted one on a much larger scale. And the idea was born for her polka-dot themed, super sweet sixteen scavenger hunt.

Here's what we did:

• Recruited 3 adults to drive




• Invited 8 people (plus the birthday girl is 9)




• Split the guests into 3 teams at random




• Each adult driver is paired up with a team of 3 guests




• Scavenger hunt started and ended prompty with penalties for lateness

This was a heavily themed party. We started out with unique invitations hand delivered one month in advance to assure proper notice. I purchased white cardboard mailing boxes 6" X 4" X 2". Inside the box I included a bed of "polka dot" themed candies - Skittles and M&Ms. This was mainly to cover up the hidden color coded sticker that was stuck to the bottom inside of the box. This is how we randomly picked the teams. I also included instructions for the hunt, boundries, maps, tips and tricks for codes and ciphers that may be included in the hunt. I also included a secret hidden message that was written in code. On the top of the stack of papers I added a magnet with "Save the Date" information. All of this was printed on my home computer and cut to fit inside the boxes. I'll add more details later.

If you're interested in planning your own driving scavenger hunt and you would like some help, email me at kristen1700@gmail.com.

What do you think of the logo?

This is the logo I'm going with at least for now. Anyone have any comments on it or suggestions for improvement? Just comment below.

Flickr

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

Ready to take on a new project

So, in the past too many years I have come across a lot of useful and sometimes just entertaining websites. So, as my new project I will be compiling these many sites into a useful and searchable list. This will eventually be the go to site for information on all things crafty: scrapbooking, sewing, pattern making, polymer clay. There will be tutorials, directions, pictures, inspiration and ideas. I'll also be posting ideas, suggestions and actual samples of menus, favors and invitations for theme parties I have thrown in the past. They are legend! I look forward to sharing links to other's information as well as some of my own information. Look for it...coming soon.

In mum heaven

It's after 1:00 am and I'm just getting ready for bed. I got some more mums done today. And the girl was nice enough to bring mommy home an order for a full size, pin on, mum. Just when I thought the end was near. Alas, I do love playing with hot glue and fake flowers, ribbons and mirrored glass. OK, a little explanation...my girl has 3 close friends. The first letter of all the names spells CAKE, so they call themselves CAKE collectively. So, each one is a different kind of cake. My cheesy girl is cheesecake, then there's angle food, devils food, and the ever popular CUPcake. So, my girl thought it would be cool if I could put each type of cake on their mum somehow. Here's what I came up with. I love felt right now. What do you think?

It's MUM time in Texas!!

If for no other good reason, just the fact that I get to make Homecoming Mums now is well worth moving cross country. I never even heard of Homecoming Mums until my daughter came home complaining that she was the ONLY girl in the WHOLE school that didn't have a mum the first year we lived here. I'm sorry, but a mum to me is yellow or red or even sometimes purple and it's planted in the dirt, not pinned to your shirt. Alas, I've researched and spent hundreds of dollars and now, I just love the creative outlet mums inspire. Here are some of the mums I've made so far this year...

Wah, wah, wah, wah :(

Well, the girl didn't win Princess, but it was fun while it lasted. She's still mommy's little princess. Stupid cheerleaders.

My new label...

Well, it's a small step, but a step none the less. I have created a logo for myself and used a fabulous scrapbooking technique I learned about printing directly from my inkjet printer onto ribbon to make them. The colors aren't nearly as vibrant as I would like them to be, but it's a start. I've had a lot of comments on my purses lately and it's inspiring me to really stock up on some and try to break into the overly crowded market of "bags".

So, I noticed...

I don't know about you...but Elsie's been reminding me of Ally Sheedy lately. What do you think?

Here she comes, Ms. Homecoming Princess

It must be the year for tiaras since only 1 month ago, we were swept up in the idea of the girl starting the beauty pageant circuit as the recently appointed Miss Teen Cedar Park. Now, daddy has squashed that! Amazingly, she has now been nominated by her class for the ballot of Homecoming Princess. I can't tell you how excited I am! It may be shallow, but this is the kind of thing I wished for when I had my baby girl. I wanted her to be everything I wasn't. And here she is....

They're back...

in school! Aren't I supposed to be happy that the kids are back in school? For some reason, I'm not. I go to call them at least 3 times a day and I can't because now they're in SCHOOL. I can only talk to Sally so much. I miss talking to them. What's wrong with me?...I love talking to my children. They are pretty cool. So, the girl has decided not to be in the musical this year, but instead "help out". They boy has entered ultimate geekdom and joined band. His instrument of choice? The trombone. The case is almost as tall as he is. We'll see how this goes with him trucking that thing to school every day.

Real Estate class - day 2

Day 2 of Principles of Real Estate and I've got about 5 hours of 30 completed. The key is to take good notes. I can't wait to finish this first course and move on to Principles of Real Estate II. Some day I'll be a successful REALTOR (R).

Real Estate

Well, I finally started working on a goal that's been brewing for about 2 years now. I started my first online real estate course today. Principles of Real Estate I through the continuing ed program at UT. It almost makes me feel like a college student...almost. Anyway, so far so good. The plan is that I'll have my license in under a year. Wish me luck!

Purse mania

So, I have started to make some animal head purses for my daughter because along with "dresses" these purses are going to be her "thing" this year. She's a junior in high school. So far, I've made her a bird and a moose and a hippo. I'll have to take pictures and post them later. I've had a lot of interest from people when they see her carrying them. I think I'll whip some up to sell at the local craft shows coming up.

Not that I spend all my time with the girl. I have some groovy new pictures of my boy too. I'll post those when I get home tonight.

Some scrapbook pages...

Some great ideas from Elsie's blog party.

The girl's fashion show

It's that time of year again, for the back to school shopping trips to begin. I've been scarfing up school supplies (which I love to do) and the girl and I went clothes shopping this past weekend. Thankfully, this year she decided her thing was going to be dresses. :) that means no more tight t-shirts with the equally tight jeans. Big and blousy is in. ;) phew

See some of the outfits