Crafty me

So I've been told over and over again that engineers aren't supposed to be that creative. But the thing is, a good engineer has to be creative. Just not necessarily crafty. But I consider myself an engineer and a crafter, though sometimes it is hard to let go that handmade things are 100% perfect. So I decided to show off some of my crafty projects.

I am most proud of the one I finished today. About 4 or 5 years ago I read an idea for recycling (well, reusing if you ask me) jeans to make a jean blanket and started saving jeans that were worth keeping (boys can make clothes really icky over time). And every time I started hunting through my craft and fabric piles, I would find this stack. So, when the trim on our ottoman finally started coming apart (and I had gotten tired of the color), I got the idea to expand the blanket idea to an ottoman cover. It didn't quite turn out exactly like I wanted with the bottom but it covers the ottoman, which no longer matches my living room colors (you can see it in the first 2 pictures), and shouldn't fall apart any time soon. Plus, it provides a great place to store remotes! We're pretty sure we'll have to clean it out regularly once Beca figures out all the pockets can hold her necklaces, bracelets, rings, and all of the shoes that she has taken off her baby dolls the second she gets them. My next favorite craft has been making cards. I use mostly Stampin' Up stuff for the same reason I use Creative Memories mostly for my scrapbooking. Because in either case, if I go to a general crafting store and just start buying stuff, I end up doing more collecting of products than actually using! Beca now loves to help me stamp and make cards. I can't wait for our craft area to get set up (many more things to do before that happens). What I will say about stamping cards is that you honestly don't have to be creative at all as long as you can copy what some other creative person did. And, most importantly to me, your own personal stamp shop is open at 10 pm when you realize that you forgot to send a card to someone for something, which I realize almost weekly and still never get a card out. It still saves me when I really, really want a cute card though. Anyway, here are some of the cards I made without any assistance (i.e. ideas from Christi, my Stampin' Up consultant because I'm too lazy to go hunting online to figure it out):

A Virginia Tech theme for my cousin Sara for her graduation present - I even had orange wrapping paper! and I put glitter on the flower! A birthday card for Steve's grandmother using Creative Memories cutters.
A birthday card for Steve's nephew Corey who turn 16 in April - so I put 16 presents on the inside! Various cards - some I used for Mother's Day, but not the birthday ones below.

So, lastly, my "craft" project has been getting some photography hung up in the house. I spent a bunch of time hunting through Michael's and finding frames for some photos I have taken. I am very excited they are on the walls and hopefully, I can get some of those posted at some point.