Time to Leave.

I've never been so excited, but terrified at the same time. People keep asking me why...but why not? I am not happy in Saginaw. So honestly, Walla Walla can't be any worse. But it's not going to be bad, it's going to be freakin' awesome. Straight up.

Last day in hell.

Classy way to clear out your office. 

These awesome homie-g's (plus Andrew) came all the way to Saginaw from Canada and Ypsi/Detroit. Seriously the best night ever. Plus they helped me pack, who does that?

After of hours of fighting (with my padre) and awesome Tetris work from Alex, Andrew, Caitlin, and Alex, the U-Haul was finally packed.

Interview.

First step of getting out of Saginaw: get an interview. Check. I got an interview and they flew me to Walla Walla. Yes it's a real place all the way in Washington. And it went amaze-balls!

Flight out of Saginaw.

Cutest luggage ever.

Finally in Walla Walla.

My future boss left me sparkling cider and chocolates :)

Awesome little restaurant. 

Beautiful. 

There's a 7/11. I can move here!

That sunset is real. 

Overall, it went really well. I was terrified to fly all the way across the country by myself, but it was totally worth it. I really hope this all works out! I should hear anytime! 

Good Riddance 2012. Welcome 2013.

2012, to put it simply, was possibly one of the worst years of my life. I don't even want to dwell on how horribly it sucked. 

2013 will be my year. 

Goals for 2013:

1.  Move out of Saginaw.
• Simple. It's time for me to leave. I am not happy here. 
2. Find a job I love and want to go to everyday. 
•  I have paid a bajillion dollars for school and I feel at my current job I am wasting my money. I love what I do, just not where I am doing it. I am sick of dreading going into work everyday. 
3. Lose weight and keep it off. 
• I lost a bunch of weight in 2012 year. Stress brought it all back. Hopefully, better job = less stress = more control over eating = better weight loss = keep the weight off
4. Blog 75% of all projects that I complete. 
•  I always have a project going on. Why not document them all?
5. Organize my life.
• I try to be organized and have a hard time keeping on it when I am so busy. I am going to actively keep my entire house OCD organized so there will be less opportunity for me to get disorganized again. 
6. Clean for 30 minutes everyday. 
• If I clean for 30 minutes everyday, I won't have to spend a whole day on my weekend cleaning right?
7. Keep in better contact with my friends. 
• My friends are my life. I don't talk to them enough. And yes, this means learning to use Skype. 
8. Walk my 4-legged children more. 
• It's hard walking my dogs at my current living situation because of the threat of something bad happening. If I move, I will hopefully be in a better place and resume our daily walk routine. 
9. Take more pictures.  
• I have an awesome camera and don't use it enough. I want to take more pictures to capture the anticipated awesome changes that will be happening this year!
10. Work out more and find a routine.
• 2012 I found CrossFit, along with swimming and running again. Unfortunately, I had every weird injury possible. This year, no injuries, lots of working out. 
11.  Pay off my credit cards and save more money. 
• I received a significant amount of money for Christmas. I will be using it to pay some of my credit cards and save some. I will making more of an effort to pay them off and not use them at all. 
12. Get a new tattoo. 
• Can't really screw this goal up. Simple and easy. 
13. Have more fun and smile more. 
• Whatever it takes.

I'm already working hard on my goals today. I've spent the entire day organizing my craft room and will be finishing tomorrow. Tomorrow may also hold the key to the rest of my future. Wish me luck! 

Holidays in the City 2012.

I was lucky enough to stumble upon the Holidays in the Heart of the City this weekend. I wasn't sure what to expect, because well, it's Saginaw and nothing ever goes as planned. I would have to say though, I was very impressed by this event. It was definitely nice to see the pleasant side of the city. Plus it gave me the opportunity to take some sweet photos! 

dog bandanas!

I want to learn to make dog collars, but my current sewing skills aren't to that level yet. In the meantime, I made dog bandanas! This was a really simple project and instead of tying the loop onto the collar... I always think dogs with bandanas are so cute and well, mine are the cutest of them all! 

quilling.

Due to Pinterest, I have re-found my interest in quilling. Simply, it's twisting paper, but it has awesome effects! Here are some of my recent quilling projects!

For my sister's roommate for graduation.

Mom for mother's day.

Sister for graduation (Actual green is closer to the first one...)

PREVIEW!

Preview of ALL the fabric I am using for my upcoming projects! I have become a sewer!
Be excited!

Lindsey Leedom, M.A. CF-SLP

FINALLY....After a million years, I am officially graduate with my masters! 


I had to leave in style, of course. I couldn't just have a plain cap! I had a get together with some of my speech girls and we all decorated our caps. It was awesome to see what everyone came up with and how they all matched our personalities! 

My masterpiece! Honestly one of my favorite things I've made in quite sometime! I think I need to go into the cap decorating business!:)

Our Caps!

Another supervisor painting...

Like I've said before...I hate making paintings for people because I never know if someone really likes it or they just say the do and throw it away when I leave. With this in my mind, I decided to make my supervisor a painting, because I didn't have a ton of money to spend and if she hated it then she could just throw it away! 

It honestly started as a hot mess, straight up. I washed all the paint off 3 times before it started to look presentable.

My signature ric-rac. 

I loved the final product! It was so colorful and happy, perfect for my supervisor's therapy room. I believe my supervisor was genuinely happy to receive my painting. She hung it up in the room right away! It makes me happy when my art make someone smile! :)

FoolMoon and FestiFools

My life is random and I like it.

I love to find random, out of blue things to do. It makes life more interesting! I found this random festival online and I had to go!

This first night was call FoolMoon. People were encouraged to make their own light up lanterns, meet at one of the constellation starting points, and meet up for a parade and some foolery. I had come straight from puppy class so I had Lucy. After carrying her heavy little butt down from the top level of the parking lot, we ventured downtown. It was perfect for socialization! People were actually very polite and asked if they could pet her and she loved every minute of it! Well, that was until the one man band walked by and not only terrified her but me too! He was definitely a weirdo!

It was really cool to see all the different lanterns people made! The kids walked by so proudly and it was wonderful! I loved the celebration of art! I unfortunately forgot my camera and all I had was my phone...I was planning on taking some awesome pictures..boo. This is the only picture I got from my crappy camera phone... I found a movie on YouTube that shows some of the cool lanterns: FoolMoon.

On Sunday afternoon, they had FestiFools. It was rainy and yucky, so I was not planning on going. I ended up going to Cupcake Station (amazing!) for my friend's birthday so we passed by quickly! The puppets were awesome and the best part was the little kids who made their own costumes. It was awesome to be in an environment were music, art, and foolery were all welcomed. Most of the time, art like things aren't such a spectacle! It definitely gave me inspiration to do some wonderful art! :)

Infinity and Beyond Scarf...

Everyone has strengths and weaknesses. 

My weakness = sewing. 

I had been looking for a warm, but lightweight scarf. I had searched everywhere with no such luck. Most scarfs are so heavy and well, I get too hot, too fast.  

I found this pattern online at luvinthemommyhood. Flannel is my favorite fabric! It's so soft and cuddly! I also loved the idea of being able to wear it all the different ways. I was a little hesitant because I suck at sewing. After getting some encouragement from my friends and family, I decided I might as well attempt it. Plus, flannel was on sale! 

Well, to put it simply, I love it! It was so simple and easy! If anyone is looking for a cute simple scarf (which I know it's a little late and is starting to warm up), I would recommend this scarf. You can wear it a million different ways, it's super cute, and simple to make! 

Here are some pictures of my finished product:

Here it is! Its buttoned and cozy! I made it a little longer than the pattern and I love the extra length!

I love to wear it this way too! This way you can see  the awesome buttons and rubber-band hooks!

Close-up of the buttons and rubber-bands...probably my favorite part of the whole scarf! It's something completely different, and people always comment on it!

My own episode of Hoarders.

I've recently determined that I am a paper hoarder. I keep every stupid sheet of paper from school, the mail, my apartment complex, etc. Some of these papers are important, and by some I mean 10%.

I recently was on "winter break" at my internship, so I decided to have an intervention. I could no longer use my desk or find anything in my bookcase...so it was time!

This is how my desk area started (which don't do justice!):

So...after taking approximately an hour to unload all the crap, I went through it all; a keep and toss pile. This was my toss pile:

Hot Mess.

It literally took me 4 hours to go through everything and organize, but it was so worth it. I finally have my desk back to craft, sew, and paint! Plus, my bookcase doesn't look like it's going to fall over or vomit all over the place. 

Here is my final product:

Now it's time to get back to crafting! :)

Sunday Morning Inspirations.

Starting out the week with some much needed DIY inspiration.

I've been seeing alot of awesome lamps recently...so this week's inspiration is lamps!

I can't until I can have a house so I can have some awesome decor...ha.

Design Sponge

Vintage Revivals

Frou Frou

Kara Paslay Designs

Addicted 2 Decorating

Paintings.

I always am nervous to give paintings as gifts because I don't know if the person actually like it or they just say they do because you are standing right with them.

After realizing I didn't have much money last semester, I decided for a thank you for my supervisors I would make them paintings. My one supervisor was really excited (after she looked at the front and not the back when she thought it was an ugly picture frame...ha) and the other I could read. I figured even if they didn't like it, they could hang it up and make the drab hospital office a little better, throw it away when I left, or regift it...ha.

I only took pictures of one, but I think they turned out pretty cute...

Christmas presets...yep It's March.

So, I haven't been diligent about blogging. I guess my final semester of grad school has finally taken a toll on me. After a day filled with crazy kids, researching, playing with the dogs (and new puppy...well, not so new, but new since the last time I blogged), and cleaning, the last thing I want to do is blog. The pillow is a better friend...ha. As I approach the last few weeks of grad school, my goal is to blog more often because I have a feeling that the next few weeks are going to have some interesting experiences!

Well, for my sister for Christmas, I made her this really cool polyptych painting. Yep, I just used a big word. For those of you who don't know, a polyptych painting, is a painting that is over more than 4 canvases...I'm so smart...lol. My sister goes to State so I decided to make her a big Sparty. This project took longer than it should have and was alot of work, but really turned out cool in the end.

So first, I drew a huge Sparty head over multiple pieces of poster board

Then, I cut his head out and set it aside.

Next, I painted a billion canvases (I think they were 8x10). I used green paint underneath, painted over with black, and then did an almost antiqueish looking technique.

Then, I collage MSU student newspapers on the Sparty cut out. I got a ton from my sister's roommate. All the newspapers that I got were from MSU's Big Ten Football title. My sister loves MSU football so it worked out perfectly.

This was the hardest part, cutting out all the lines for the canvas breaks. It took forever, literally forever. 

Here is the final project (minus the clear protective coat that I did at my parent's house), on my carpet. I asked my sister for a picture of it hanging up in her house and well, she sent me a text message once and they definitely were not all centered and even; it was one hot mess. The next time I go there (which maybe never...ha) I'll get a good picture

This was a ton of work, but I think it looks pretty awesome. I don't like Sparty or MSU but this was a good trial run if  I did this again in the future!

less cake {more frosting}: It's a GIVEAWAY! An Epic Giveaway!

I haven't updated in forever. I have done a million projects recently, taken photos, but have been too lazy to update!

I just wanted to let the 3 followers I have know that there is an awesome giveaway happening at less cake {more frosting}! It's for an Epic Letterpress Combo Kit ($169 value!) and you know me, I can't pass up any craft supplies! You all should enter and if you win invite me over to your place to play with it!

less cake {more frosting}: It's a GIVEAWAY! An Epic Giveaway!:

"Hello Less Cake {more frosting} readers. I have something for you today, that I've been bursting to share!! BURSTING! First ca..."

christmas mess #3.

When St. Nick came to visit this year (St. Nick Legend for those of you who don't celebrate), he gave me a whoppie pie kit. What is a whoppie pie? Well, here is the picture from the box:

The looked delicious and seemed fairly simple to make. I was hoping since my first 2 cookie experiences were bad, maybe this would be the charmer. 

I followed the simple directions on the box and was feeling optimistic. I put the batter on the pan, let it cook for the allotted amount of time and this is what I got....

Crap.

I can even explain what happened. They were about as flat as 15 pieces of computer paper. Even though they looked like poo, I tried to complete them by filling them (with the recipe provided) and candy cane them up.

This is what I was expecting them to look like:

BUT...

This is what I ended up with:

I guess they didn't taste horrible, but I couldn't get past the looks. I guess I learned this year that maybe Christmas cookies aren't my thing and maybe I should stay with the pre-cut Gordon cookies like my mom did....ha. But at least I tried?