It’s been a bit of a hectic weekend:

Yesterday was spent in Des Moines (first trip out of the area in…well…I can’t remember how long!) visiting the old gang from college. I wish everyone could have been there (big hugs!) but it was still great to see those who could make it.

Did some work for…work.

Today we finally got around to cleaning the back porch (aka alternative post-flood storage) and used it as a temporary office. It was lovely.

Lots of great late summer breezes.

I also finally got around to painting an odd bust I found while thrifting a few weeks ago.

While it was drying the backyard, I happened to get a glimpse of it from an upstairs window. It looked like a bright orange explosion! I’m sure whoever painted it its original faux-antiquey finish would have wanted to vomit at the sight of it. Yay!

My health behaved for the first time in a while, which made me very very happy. All in all, not a bad weekend.

I’ve been a bit behind since the first day of this project, but today I’m finally caught up and have 12 boxes for the 12th of August.

August 8: made from a recycled manila envelope and appliques.

August 9: made from recycled packing tape and layers of raffia.

August 10: made from British candy wrappers.

August 11: made from layers of tissue paper and plastic beaded trim.

August 12: made from layers of raffia and rhinestones.

I have more boxes to show off…

August 4: made from pages and graphics from a vintage Red Cross lifeguard manual.

August 5: made from a brown paper bag and a plastic tag from a laser printer we just bought.

August 6: made from Italian candy wrappers.

August 7: made from a FEMA flier, a band-aid cut to size and a penny.

So life’s been holy crap busy lately. My health’s been up and down and up and down, but we’ve been getting by. Sumi freaked out the other day when I bought a new blanket for the couch. Clearly changing the most minor thing in the house turns his world upside down. Hopefully he’ll settle down soon.

In addition to all the craziness, I’ve decided to take on a project to keep my mind occupied and to stretch myself a bit creatively. I’m decorating a match box a day for the month of August. So far I’ve got three photographed:

August 1: made from origami paper and embroidery floss.

August 2: made from a paper bag, typed with a typewriter, and a vintage metal elephant charm.

August 3: made from white drawing paper and bubble wrap.

I’ll post more shots as I have them. Hopefully I’ll actually stick to finishing this project.

I just finished making a sketchbook:

It will soon be for sale at CoffeeCat for $9. If there’s interest, I’ll make some more.

I made a Father’s Day card for my dad this year. More fun with vintage First Aid illustrations. Take a peek:

My buddy Cat asked me to make some more cards for the coffee shop. The top two are made from a recycled paper “library card” and images from a first aid book from the 70s. The bottom two have origami paper from my stash. Rather than use a plastic sleeve to keep the card and envelope together, I used an odd-shaped paper clip to keep everything recycled/reusable. I’m also thinking of experimenting with block printing on them. Think I should make more like these?

It was such a nice day outside today and I’ve been itching to work on a project, so I made a new welcome mat to replace our old one that didn’t make it through the winter.

I made it using outdoor carpet and astroturf bits I bought at Menards, then cut them with a box cutter and taped the pieces together on the back with duct tape specially made for outdoor use. The whole thing cost about $10 to create.

Here’s where I got my inspiration for the project.

I want to learn how to crochet if only to make this:

Found via Craft.

This eBay item looks pretty amusing, although shoddily put together.

The least they could have done was sew a little prison jumpsuit for the doll rather than spray painting it. Ooh–maybe they could have gone further and made other tacky versions of the jumpsuit…and maybe one for her little dog, too!