Tag: crafting

Rainbow and summer diamond paintings for Etsy

On By Michel McDonaldIn crafts, diamond paintingLeave a comment

When I first started Diamond painting in April this year, I had no plans on making Diamond paintings to sell, but, I didn’t rule it out entirely. My main focus was to collect the leftover Diamond drills for using in my papercrafts and if I found that I liked making the diamond paintings, then perhaps I will sell the product that came from it. My Etsy Shop focuses mostly on things that are rainbows because it is a gay Etsy shop and rainbows are a big part of the gay community, so, I like to make things with rainbow colors to sell to people in my community.

Over the last few months I have been buying rainbow themed Diamond paintings and these six are ones that I do plan on making. I have made one of these, the tree of life on the very bottom left and it did not come out as well as I thought it would, but it is still a nice Diamond painting. I think that the other ones will look a lot better based on the way they look on the canvas with the squares and symbols in them.

Most of the diamond paintings that I’ve bought from Michaels are summer themed and I do plan on selling those as well, and those are the ones that I seem to be working on mostly rather than the rainbow diamond paintings. I will be getting to the rainbow ones, but I would like to focus on finishing all of the Michaels summer diamond paintings so that I can put those in a single listing first, and then when those are finished, I will start working on the rainbow themed Diamond paintings and put all of those in one listing.

I have so far only completed four of these, believe it or not. I still have so many more to make. I made the surfboards first and then I made those two little ones with the rainbow umbrella and the Adirondack chairs and then the beach scene which is called beach chairs and I just finished working on the fourth one called colorful street. The next one that I’m going to make is the one with the pink flamingo in the swimming pool.

I swear the Michael’s Make Market diamond paintings look like they were taken from real pictures. They look so lifelike. I just don’t know how they can make them look so real. And they are Diamond paintings which means they’re pixelated. It’s just the oddest thing that when you’re standing back or even looking at a picture of it, it looks so real. It almost looks like a photograph. I think that’s what makes me so attracted to this brand as opposed to any other brand that I’ve found because these look like they are actual pictures.

Another thing that I love about these summer Diamond paintings is that they come with their own frames. So I don’t have to worry about buying frames for all of these diamond paintings because they’re already in the box. It makes it so much easier to sell something if it comes with its own frame because then I don’t have to spend extra money and then also charge extra money for the frame. I did however have to buy frames for the Rainbow Diamond paintings from Amazon because they don’t come with frames. The summer Diamond paintings from Michaels are all 11×14 and the rainbow ones are 10×14.

I want to focus on the summer Diamond paintings so that I can list those on Etsy first, because summer won’t last forever, but rainbows do. Although, if you love the beach, you’re going to love it all the time. I will have the summer Diamond paintings in there until they’re all sold out.

Another year…

On By Michel McDonaldIn Blog, UncategorizedLeave a comment

Well, another year has passed. I can’t believe time seems to be moving a bit faster every year for me. It seems like 2024 would still have another 6 months left, but no, it’s almost finished. 1 more day.

What have I accomplished in a year? Well, my Etsy shop was very busy this year, busier every month this year since I started. Mainly due to a single item though. A simple friendship bracelet.

I added a listing for lesbian friendship bracelets with the same designs I have for my rainbow friendship bracelets, but I used the lesbian pride flag colors. I also did the bear flag colors and that wasn’t as popular as the lesbian. So this is the bracelet that someone wanted. They sent me a message asking me if I could make this bracelet and they took a screenshot from the Disney+ show Agatha All Along. I said let me see if I can do it and I opened up my friendship bracelet designer program on my computer and figured it out. Of course I did have to Google the design and I found it right away. I just had to change the colors to these specific colors which are the lesbian pride flag colors.

After I sent this bracelet off to this person, I decided to add it to my lesbian pride flag friendship bracelet listing and wouldn’t you know it? Some other people did a search for Agatha all along friendship bracelet and they found it and they bought it and so many people wanted this bracelet. I added three sizes so that it could accommodate small, medium and large.

Two people from Germany bought one (each) and someone in Norway bought one and someone in Ireland wanted to buy it, but they couldn’t afford the shipping from the United States. I got sales on this bracelet in many states and after making it so many times, sometimes everyday, I had to remove the item from my listing because I was in agony. These bracelets take time to make and they take a toll on my hands and my back.

I will eventually make up a whole bunch of bracelets for that listing and I’ll make a whole bunch of the Agatha bracelet as well because I know people will want it again. And I’ve already bought the string for it and have cut it and it’s all ready to go, I just have to start working on them. But I need a break because I’ve been working my fingers to the bone on crafts this whole year, and my hands are about ready to fall off. Not really, but you know, jokingly.

So other things that I’ve been working on are Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas box cards as well as a Christmas Advent calendar and also I’ve been knitting Christmas stockings.

The Advent calendar went to my cousin for his son and of course the whole family could enjoy it because I filled it with so much candy LOL. The Advent calendar is from SVGcuts and the fireplace box card that you see on the left side is actually from simply crafty svgs. And then there are two Christmas friendship bracelets in the front that come from an Etsy shop called The One Eyed Artist.

The Norwegian Christmas stockings are from Arne and Carlos. I posted about the stockings a couple of months ago when I made them. I’m making more because I bought so much yarn that I don’t know what else I’m going to do with it other than make a ton more stockings LOL. I’ll probably be working on these until it gets too hot to work with wool yarn.

I’ve also been reading a lot more. I made it a mission to read everyday no matter what. Even if I just read one or two chapters a day, at least I’m reading. I did the Goodreads challenge this year and challenged myself to read 30 books and I exceeded that by reading 48 books. I’m still reading a book and was hoping to finish it to make my Goodreads challenge 49 books, but I don’t think I’m going to make it.

There is one book that I have that I would like to read. That is the entire Wizard of Oz story, but it’s all one book which means there are 15 books that will count as one book unless I decide to add the books individually on Goodreads as I read them. It will most likely take me forever to read it because this one collection in one book is over 2,000 pages and I think I’m going to need to read it in stages lol. So I will add each individual book to Goodreads as I read them.

I have a lot of other books in my Kindle library to read, so I have no shortage of books to keep myself busy with. I also have a lot of books in my Nook that I can read as well.

I’m not doing the New Year’s resolution thing because I think that’s stupid. Especially when a lot of times people never follow through with it. They always say I’m going to start losing weight and I’m going to go to the gym and then they never do and they end up gaining weight. I’d rather just do it if I’m going to do it. I did lose 75 lb in 2023 with ozempic, and then it stopped on Thanksgiving Day and 15lbs have come back on gradually, but I’m still doing ozempic and I’m still trying and I’m doing my best despite the constant junk food being put in my face and constantly being asked if I want to go to fast food places. I have the ability to say no, but I don’t seem to be doing that very well. So that’s something I have to work on.

I am having heart issues because apparently my pulse is too slow. It was 41 the other day at the doctor’s office and they’re sending me to a cardiologist. I’m sure it’s nothing to worry about. I checked my Fitbit watch and my pulse seems to be around 100, but then I checked my pulse on my blood pressure machine and it’s around 40 something to 50 something.  So, I guess my fitbit is not really telling me my true pulse rate. I’ll see what happens.

Well, Happy New Year and let’s hope that this year is a good year.

Cricut Maker 3

On By Michel McDonaldIn crafts, CricutLeave a comment

I’ve had a Cricut Explore Air 2 for almost 6 years, and over the last few years it has been slowly wearing down from use. I don’t use it every day, but when it’s time to start making box cards for certain holidays, it’s turned on daily and for at least 4 hours straight.

The first problem I had was the doors stopped opening when I pressed the button, I’d have to press the button and then help the doors open, and then when I cut my cardstock, the lower door would lift which caused the cutting mat to lift up while cutting. I don’t think that affected its cutting function, but it was rather annoying. Then it started making a grinding sound. The final thing it started doing is cutting the paper all wrong. This is 1 leaf cut 4 times for 4 cards of the same design. You’ll notice the 2 on the top are thinner, which caused them to break when removing them from the cutting mat, and they wouldn’t be very stable if I had to use them in my box card. I wasted 3 sheets of paper trying to correct this, and it wasn’t just this leaf, it was other leaves and all the twigs.

So we went to Michaels to buy a new Cricut Explore 3, but they were out and the salesperson brought out a Cricut Maker 3. I decided a long time ago if I were to need to buy a replacement Cricut that I would buy the Maker, but I didn’t feel like I should because I couldn’t justify the extra cost. Well, I decided you know what, screw it, I’m getting the Cricut Maker 3.

I used to use chipboard to make the box cards sturdier because the 65lb cardstock is a little flimsy and can cause the cards to sag over time. I think that put a lot of strain on my Cricut and eventually it wouldn’t even cut the chipboard anymore. I discovered Michaels sold 110lb cardstock, and so I’ve been using that for the pieces that need to be harder like the actual box part of the card and the layers inside that need to stand up straight that hold all the elements. and I’ve been using the 65lb cardstock for the elements that will stack on each other to create the different things, like leaves and flowers.

I discovered the Cricut Maker 3 needs a special tool for cutting thicker material like leather, wood and chipboard. I went to Amazon and bought a Cricut Maker 3 knife blade and housing for such things, and now I know they have wood and I’m going to see what I can make with wood. I knew it could cut leather, and now that option is on the table.

The score tool on my Cricut Explore Air 2 stopped scoring cardstock years ago, and now I can use the Cricut score wheel tip and housing. Because the score tool stopped working, I’ve been cutting the score lines for everything that I buy from SVG Cuts and Simply Crafty SVG’s. They come with score lines that actually cut the lines into your projects, so it’ll be nice to see how well the score wheel works.

I haven’t really cut many things that are vinyl or iron on, and my Cricut Explore Air 2 was able to cut those, and I only cut them when I needed to, but not very often. Now they sell vinyl and iron on that will cut without the need for a cutting mat, which will be nice if I ever make those things. I would love to make my own T-shirt designs, but I haven’t had very much luck with the iron lol. I’ve burned 3 shirts. I need to buy the Cricut heat press because it has a timer and will fit on most or the entire iron on, but I can’t justify the cost.

Oh I bought the foil thing when it first came out and I didn’t have very much luck with that. But I think it’ll work better with the Cricut Maker 3. I’ll find out eventually.

I did use the new Cricut Maker 3 to finish making all the leaves and twigs for the card I was going to make for Christmas, and they cut them out normally, which was a huge relief. I have many more box card designs for Christmas to make and I think I’ll have an easier time making them. I’m going to use the new score tool. It’ll make it go so much faster.

Making puzzles with my Cricut

On By Michel McDonaldIn craftsLeave a comment

So I did a thing. Well, I tried to do a thing and was somewhat successful, and I’ll tell you my mistakes and how I’m trying to fix them.

So I am a member of Design Bundles and they have these $1 deals, and one of the deals was puzzle templates. So I went to Cricut Design Space and uploaded the SVG file for one of the templates and a screenshot from The Elder Scrolls Online. The screenshot above is a second attempt because the first one was too dark, and with my bad eyes, I couldn’t make out what the piece was for.

So, the template isn’t the entire puzzle that you print an image and then have the Cricut cut the entire puzzle on your image. When you go to cut the puzzle, it cuts puzzle pieces. So the only way to cut is to have the image in Cricut design space and slice the image in 250 pieces. It took awhile lol. This is what it looks like on the print and cut sheet.

That was the darker image I was cutting.

So here are the mistakes I made. I printed these on 8.5×11 65lb white cardstock. I put the glue on the paper and then placed it on the Chipboard and then ran it through the Cricut. It was too wet and I didn’t use a thin amount of glue, so it just ripped the paper. Take 2 was to use a glue stick. Unfortunately, the glue would dry before I got it all over the area I had to glue. I decided to use a repositionable glue stick because you are supposed to let it dry before you stick the paper on, but it doesn’t stay on lol. So my alternative is to buy glossy sticker paper because the cardstock wasn’t glossy and sticker paper will actually stick permanently. Not using anything glossy was a mistake and using a dark image was a mistake. Also, I’ll have to print using Best so it prints out with the best graphics it can have.

I haven’t bought the sticker paper yet because I’m having surgery soon on my right eye and I don’t want to risk it coming the day of surgery.

To make the box for the puzzles I will use the same box I use for Paracord bracelets, except I made the box bigger.

I used a light chipboard which is 22pt for the puzzle pieces I did manage to cut, but I would like to try using the 30pt chipboard to see if it would be better. I will use the 22pt chipboard for the box. I’ll also change the text I made for the box lid.

This is just a test to see if I can make a puzzle with a box. I would like to make puzzles to send as gifts. I think people would like that.

Update: I tried and it just didn’t work out with the materials that I have. I bought some glossy sticker paper that I have used to make actual stickers with, but I’m having trouble with my Cricut not reading the registration lines. I have done all the necessary things to make it so that the Cricut can read the registration lines on glossy paper, like putting matte Scotch tape on top of the lines and if that doesn’t work then go over those lines with a sharpie. For some reason it just does not want to read the registration lines. The only thing I can think is to use regular cardstock and hope that the glue stays on the chipboard and then just put mod podge over the puzzle pieces after they’ve been cut out. I can’t think of anything else to do that would work.

This is the most frustrating thing lol. If somebody has any other bright ideas, I would sure love to know them. It seems like the light on the Cricut that reads the registration marks for print and cut isn’t as bright on the lines as it used to. Maybe it’s my Cricut. It seems to read the registration lines on regular card stock though, so I don’t know.

Style Me Up i-Loom

On By Michel McDonaldIn crafts4 Comments

I bought this i-Loom from Amazon in January 2018. At that time I had a 10 inch Nook hd tablet that fit perfectly in there, but it stopped working and now I use my 7 inch Samsung Galaxy tab a6 Nook. It is a bit tiny, but it still works.

Style Me Up doesn’t seem to offer any help with their app, which by the way has been discontinued for Android. It’s now only available for iOS iPad. The app still works on my tablet though. My issue with the app is there are 6 duplicates of each pattern in the app and because of that, I can’t make any custom patterns.

I would love to see an app that has a simple interface that allows you to create patterns in the app and not just allow you to make bracelets from patterns they create.

I have program on my computer that allows me to do that, and I can save patterns and the image of the pattern and look at it on my tablet, but it doesn’t show me which row I’m on, I have to just remember where I’m at or put a piece of paper on the row I’m on. But it would be nice if that program is an Android app.

I copied their interface and added the pattern like this, but I had to create 48 pictures just to be able to keep better track of where I’m at in the pattern. It would be nice to see an app similar to this that allows you to insert the image of a pattern, and then tap the button to go to the next row.

The Style Me Up i-Loom is an awesome product, and I don’t understand why they have given up on it. They haven’t posted anything on social media since 2016 and their website doesn’t exist anymore. It’s such a brilliant idea, and it would be nice if there were more apps available.

Christmas in July

On By Michel McDonaldIn craftsLeave a comment

Trim the Tree Stocking Counted Cross Stitch Kit
In 2010 I made some Christmas stockings for my life partner’s grand nephew’s Andrew, Jordan and Noah. Andrew and Jordan got the embroidered stockings and Noah got the felt stocking because he was a baby at the time and it was a baby stocking in my opinion.

These were all stocking kits that were given to me when a friend passed away. She was a hoarder who had TONS of craft supplies that she never used and held onto for decades. Those stocking kits (link above) were from the 1970’s and I’ve seen them recently on eBay for as high as $250 each. Not the felt one, but the embroidery stockings. I wanted to make Noah a more adult stocking in the same style, but I can’t seem to find any that I can afford, so I bought a counted cross stitch pattern instead.

I would much prefer to make the embroidered stocking like the one Andrew and Jordan have, because they are easy to make, but I will have to work with what I can afford in this case. So I sent my life partner an email with a link to a website called The Stitchery with the stockings in the search box, and he picked the one in the image at the top of this post. I think it’s a nice stocking for a child, but it doesn’t quite match the other 2 stockings, not that it has to match, but they are a family, and they should have stockings that sort of are in the same family of stockings. But, the stocking Noah has now isn’t in the same family as the embroidered stockings for Jordan and Andrew, so I guess it doesn’t matter anyway.

This stocking project will keep my brain busy and I won’t have any time to obsess over every little thing happening in the news that I see on Facebook, which is good because I’m close to having a nervous breakdown. Crafting calms my brain, and my heart, and I have high blood pressure so this will do the trick to keep me alive to see another day lol. Crafting has always been something that I’ve used to calm myself down. Everyone has their own coping mechanisms, this is mine lol.

Kenmore Sewing Machine

On By Michel McDonaldIn craftsLeave a comment

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I want to say about 10 years or so ago my partner and I were at Sears buying bags for our vacuum cleaner. The vacuum cleaners are with the microwaves and sewing machines, so while we were there, he decided I needed a sewing machine. I want to laugh because that sounded funny to me.

So he bought me this sewing machine and I used a piece of paper to check out what the patterns are that you could sew, but as far as me learning how to actually sew something, it was hopeless. The sewing machine basically just sat in the hallway closet until recently. I wrote a blog post about The Enchanted Cottage recently, and I shared some pictures of a Zafu cover and Zabuton that I made with the sewing machine.

I bought a box of 11 sewing machine feet from Wish, which you can see in the picture above next to the sewing machine, but here is a close up of those feet. They all fit my sewing machine with the exception of the 2nd from the left on the top row. That is a zipper foot, but the sewing machine came with a zipper foot so I didn’t really need this one.

Sewing machine feet

Now that I’ve made the Zafu and Zabuton, I’ve decided I wanted to make more things. My partner basically lives on the couch and he uses a bed sheet which I’m always seeing him adjust, so I would love to either cut up some of our old sheets that we never use to make him a fitted sheet, or buy some new fabric to make the fitted sheet. I also took an old dog shirt that never really fit our dog and took out the stitches so I can use as a template to make her some clothes from our old t-shirts. I can print some dog images on iron-on paper to decorate the shirts so they’re not plain. Of course I will start with our old t-shirts as practice, but I’d love to buy fleece or flannel fabric for winter clothing.

I figured while I’m learning to make clothing for the dog and fitted sheets, I might as well learn to make actual clothing that we can wear. They sell patterns at thrift stores that I can use to practice.

I attend YouTube University (heh a phrase my aunt used the other day) and I learn from watching videos. Today I learned how to make little bags with zippers and I also learned to make grocery bags for the store. I would love to learn to make wallets because my wallet is falling apart and my partner’s wallet is also falling apart. His wallet has a zipper on it and I would love if mine also had a zipper.

It took 10 years for me to get excited about using a sewing machine, but at least I got there. What’s funny is that I was excited about getting it until we actually got it and I realized I had no clue what I was doing, then I guess I rejected it. Well, that excitement has been renewed, and that’s good.

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

On By Michel McDonaldIn crafts, Daily Blog, Etsy, Health, Hobby5 Comments

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I was diagnosed with Carpal Tunnel Syndrome in 2007 after 20 years of crocheting started to take its toll on my hands. I didn’t just have it in one hand, I have it in both hands. I was given wrist splints to wear at night when I went to bed. I was told I didn’t have to wear them during the day, that they should help me when I sleep. Okay, no problem. I’ve worn them every night since then up until last year when I stopped using my bipap machine for my sleep apnea because I didn’t need it anymore because I had lost 70lbs. Wearing the bipap mask became uncomfortable because suddenly the pressure was too high.

I wore these wrist splints faithfully for 6 years from 2007 to 2013. They did help and last year I started making keychains and opened an Etsy shop. Since then I have added dangle, hoop and stud earrings and hemp and friendship bracelets. I received an order for 8 tassels for a company who makes purses, then they placed another order for 34 tassels and that took a huge toll on my hands. Someone else ordered 60 rainbow keychains. I made 36 of those and had to stop because it was hurting too much. She wanted them for her June wedding which apparently has been pushed back to November. That gives me more time to finish the rest of them, but I’m not quite sure they will follow through with buying them from me. I’ve had several people place a custom order and then not pay for it.

I’ve been working day and night making friendship bracelets over the last week. I really love making things. I don’t know if it is a gift or a curse. A gift that I can make something wonderful out of raw material with just my hands, but a curse that something I love to do can cause so much pain.

The pain is just too much on my hands. I wake up every morning with painfully numb hands and this morning my right hand was still numb for an hour after I woke up, and it was extremely painful. I put my wrist splint on and the pain and numbness eventually went away, but I am going to continue wearing the wrist splint for the rest of the day and perhaps wear it every day and night while I take a rest. I hope that helps.

Here are just a few things that I’ve been making. I am very proud of the hard work that have been doing that is ruining my hands lol.

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I had all these plans for the camouflage bracelets. I bought the different colors to make a red version and a blue version. I also had planned on buying the different shades of brown to make a brown one. People have suggested I go with a complete rainbow and make orange, yellow and purple camouflage bracelets. I can’t see that happening now.

The rainbow braid bracelet on the bottom is actually a bracelet I wanted to make for a very long time for a specific person. I actually wanted to make 2 of them, and I made this yesterday and last night I started a second one. I listed it just because it was very easy to make and if someone ordered it, well I could make another one. But now I’m not so sure about that. I do still plan on giving this one and the other one away to the specific people just because I like to give people gifts.

Well, that’s all for now I guess. Today is the first day of my new vacation from crafting. I love what I do, so I don’t know how long I’m going to be able to stay away from it. It’s addicting for sure lol. I will try though, because my hands are more important to me than making something that no one will appreciate or even buy even though they asked for it.