Sunday Linky Party #72 + Goodies

Hi all! Did anyone see the opening ceremony to the Olympics in London this Friday? It was pretty exciting, and I liked their reference to their industrial past (especially the floating "molton iron" rings). The James Bond bit with the Queen was pretty cool. The Mary Poppins reference was cute! And of course, England didn't let us forget all of the contributions their artists made to music (but I don't know... the US might have a stronger hold on that one ;) Please don't hold it against me for saying that!

Btw, can you believe what happened at the 400m swim race?!?!?!?!?!?! I won't spoil it for you if you haven't seen/read it, but it's Michael Phelps vs his teammate Ryan Lochte vs the other countries. It's crazy!!!!

Anyway, now for our features!

This will take you a step back to nostalgia, when you probably made little paper boats and set them loose on a pond (or pool or bathtub). Well, with pretty paper and some nice string/twine/yarn, you can have a playful and whimsical origami boat garland! Check this out at Meeha Meeha.

Sunday Linky Party #71 + Goodies

Hi all, hope you're having a good weekend so far! I have something important to talk to you all about, so please read! In the last party, I got a comment from a previous linker (who had been featured several times in the past) regarding me submitting my Sunday Linky Parties to Craftgawker using photos of her projects that were featured during those weeks. I understand where she's coming from, although this had not occurred to me before, so this presents a good opportunity to address the issue. I believe my part as the host of a linky party is to promote the party so that those who link up (and especially those who are featured) get traffic to their projects/recipes from my party. I'm sure you guys didn't join this party just so I can check out your stuff, right? (Although I do enjoy checking out your stuff :) I believe if you get any traffic from my linky party, then my party has been successful in some way, which means I promote each Sunday Linky Party through Twitter, FB, Pinterest, G+, Craftgawker, and/or other social networking or blog/web sites that I discover. When readers come to this party because they're initially interested in one of the featured projects, they'll see the other featured projects/recipes and will hopefully check those out, too. That is the strength in having a mix of projects/recipes on one page, where those brought here by one project will find themselves attracted to the others. I don't always promote on Craftgawker and haven't done so in several months, but I may do so in the future. As you may know, Craftgawker is notoriously picky about the photos they accept (even if your photo looks perfectly fine to most people), which means many blogs with truly noteworthy projects do not make it simply because the pictures aren't clear enough, bright/dark enough, have enough contrast, have good enough composition, are too close, are too far, the colors aren't true enough, etc etc etc. So when I submit a Sunday Linky Party to Craftgawker and they accept the photo, that means everyone in the linky party benefits, and they can thank the person whose photo was accepted. As you can see in every party, all features are properly credited and linked to the respective blogger, and anyone who comes to the Sunday Linky Party page can see that and head to your blog for the full tutorial/recipe. Since I look through every single post, I remember (probably) all the bloggers who've linked up in the past, especially those repeat linkers, some of whose blogs have advanced so much in layout and photo quality over months and even through the past year. Some of these bloggers' photos have really greatly improved, so that in the past, when their featured project photos might not have been Craftgawker-worthy, they benefited from another blogger whose photo was, but now that they have Craftgawker-worthy photos, newer featured bloggers can benefit. It's kind of like a circle of helping newer bloggers out as your blog becomes more stylish and established, just as more established blogs helped your blog out when you first started in these parties. (And then as your blog grows in popularity, you'll probably decide to graduate from linky parties forever).

Anyway, Craftgawker is emphasized more in this post since it relates to the linker's comment, but it isn't actually one of the main ways I promote this party. The point of this post is that, from now on, there will be a disclaimer in the rules of the Sunday Linky Party, which will read: "If you link up and are featured in the next Sunday Linky Party, you give me permission to use the photo that I feature to promote the Sunday Linky Party you are featured in. You are the owner of your photos, but I may use the featured photo to promote the party through Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Craftgawker, G+, and other social networking and blog/web sites. If you do not want your photo to be used, you can either link up and send me an e-mail saying you don't want to be featured, or you can not link up."

It never occurred to me to include a line like that, but having it makes everything clearer for me and all future, current, and past partyers. If you have anything you want to tell me, here's my e-mail: tres.petite.hermine [at] gmail.com (which you can always find at the top right corner of my blog).

Hope you're still having a good Sunday. Starting out with all this seriousness probably wasn't what you had preferred. I prefer having relaxing and laid-back weekends thinking about nothing in particular and getting some necessary housework done (especially since I'm generally tired from working all week), but this post has got to happen some time!

How (frigging) adorable are these viking slippers?!?! I want to know where I can get the fabric because it's fabulous! So whether you have this fabric or some other awesome one, learn how to make these slippers from Sew Can Do.

You Can Die From a Broken Heart

Here's an interesting study I read about on Yahoo. According to a long-term study from the American Heart Association, you really can die from a broken heart!

HEALING - Art print ( mending a broken heart ) by shirae

Sunday Linky Party #70 + Goodies

Happy Sunday all! There are some amazing craft projects this weekend, which I'm really excited about!  Definitely check them out, and the recipes in the feature too :) Hopefully my tastes resonate with yours (which means it's good, right? :) Have a great, relaxing, rest of the day!

These cyanotype prints are gorgeous and would make beautiful cards, stationary, and even wall art! I didn't even know what cyanotype was until I read about it on ArtClubBlog. Great tutorial!

Meet Falcor!

So, I adopted a doggie this past Saturday! He's a dachshund/poodle mix (or so he seems) and he was possibly a stray before the Last Hope Cat Sanctuary took him in. The volunteer who helped me adopt him, plus a few others I spoke to, didn't know how they got him or much about him at all, which is too bad because he's been living at the Sanctuary for 7 months and it would have been nice to learn more. How is this possible? Because apparently there are ~200 cats and ~70 dogs at this sanctuary and they were just running around outside in a huge field. Falcor didn't even know his own (previous) name and when I tried to call him over, a bunch of other dogs plus a cat came running instead while he just sat there.

Anyway, he is incredibly mellow so we paid the adoption fee, picked him up, and took him immediately to the nearest Petco for a flea bath.

Sunday Linky Party #69 + Goodies

Hi all, sorry the Party's late. Hubby and I adopted a dog today and that was an almost-whole-day event (calling in to the animal sanctuary, driving 2+ hours to get him, buying all the supplies, getting him a flea bath, driving back, etc.)  Our new doggie is a poodle/dachshund mix and looks like Falcor the dragon, so we named him Falcor :) I'll post pictures soon! He was a stray and nobody wanted him, but he's soooo sweet. Anyway, hope you all had a wonderful 4th of July, ate lots of barbecue, and enjoyed the fireworks! Check out the great tutorials and recipes this week, there's always something inspiring.

Starfish are such classic summer beach icons, and they are seriously visual wonders! Make a bunch of clay starfish for your living room-- they're really easy! Check out the tutorial at Twigg Studios. Also see her other tutorials: soda can labels, Moroccan tea glass votives, and beautiful flowers made from cardstock (seriously, how many ways can you make paper flowers and still have them look so gorgeous and realistic??)

Sunday Linky Party #68 + Goodies

Hi all, it'll be 4th of July (aka Independence Day) this Wed! Ready for watermelon and fireworks? I'm actually working that day so I'll be cruising on the highway with no traffic (my favorite part of working on holidays, especially since my commutes generally suck) Also, I'll be the only one in the office so that means I get to blast my music! My husband doesn't get the day off (being a resident and all), so I figured I may as well work, too.

Anyway, check out this week's fun and (some) festive projects and recipes! :)

Are you getting hypnotized by this picture yet? Apparently, this 4th of July pinwheel works, because this photo proves it, so find the tutorial with the printable pattern at Nifty Thrifty Things! Check out her diy fabric garland, too.