Candice's Jewelry Creations

Funky earring for someone fun and into fashion.  These earrings will add a big statement to your ears.  They are about 2" in length and include glass beads in blues and greens.  $7

These asymmetrical earrings will add a piece of art to your ears.  They are about 1.75" long and have pink, orange and red beads.  They will jazz up any outfit with a great necklace.  We can make a simple  necklace to match these bold earrings.  $7

Jewelry for Sale!!

All the items that you see listed on this posting have been hand made by myself.  I can also do custom jewlery in the colors that you choose if you let me know what you are interested in.

Turquoise blue shell earrings.  About 1.5" long oval shaped.  They are very bright and could add pizazz to any outfit.  There is a wire design that lays in front of the shell adding dimension and shape to this cool piece.  $7

Vintage Button necklace.  This is made out of an old button.  The front of the button is bright blue in color and the back of the buttom has a metal do dad on it that was used to attach the button to the garment.  About 1" in diameter.  The pendant is hung off a black cord and clasps with a lobster clasp.  This is a funky piece of history to wear around your neck.  $10

For those of you that like simple designs and are crazy about dragon flies and

lady bugs then these are for you.  The red bead in these earrings

sparkes in the light, don't let my pictures fool you these are beautiful. Approximately 1.5" long.  $5 ea.

Purple Earrings.  Simple and elegant.  I can make a
 necklace to match.  Approximately 1" long.  $5



Black Clay wrapped in interesting wire design.  These are very black
and would go nice with that little black dress.  About 1" long. $7



Fun flair made with glass beads in blue and green. 
These will give a beachy feel to any outfit that you
pair them with. About 1.5" in diameter.  $7



Hats For Sale!!!

Stuff for sale.  Just email me (karadumbo@msn.com) or comment on the post if you are interested.  All of the items that you see are made by hand by me.  I also do custom orders.  If you are interested in a pattern of design and want it in a different color we can work it out.

 White Adult Hat with bubble pattern and pom pom.  $10

 Newborn baby blue hat.  This yarn is really soft and perfect for a new born. $7

 Army/Olive Green adult hat with ear flaps.  The yarn is eco friendly 77% bamboo.  It is super soft and an awesome texture with the stitches. $10

White Adult lacey hat with bubble design.  $7

Sorry folks but these hats are already spoken for.  I made these custom for Kaitlin and Josh with the colors that they chose.  If you are interested in any of the designs above or anything that you see on the street.  Just take a picture and let me know.  I can do pretty much anything so if you want something custom we can work out a price and delivery date.

Septmeber Craft Night Results

This was a super fun craft and I think that everyone enjoyed the creativity of it.  Here are a few pictures of last nights fun.




As you can see we came up with a varitey of different ways to paint the ghoulish holiday on wine glasses.   Come up with your own and share with the rest of us.

New Picture of my nieces

My sister in law, Candice, sent me a text today with a cute picture of my little nieces.  I wanted to share the new picture with you all and show you how cute that they are.



Malaya Jade is the almost 2 year old and Mila Juliet is the little one that will be two weeks old tomorrow.

I just love these little girls!!!

Septmeber Craft Night

Tonight is craft night and as I have promised I am going to share our craft with you.  Tonight we are making votive pumpkin candle holders.  To make these you need a variety of wine glasses in different sizes and shapes.  A great place to buy cheap wine glasses is the thrift store.  Take a look around all the breakables and I am sure that you will be able to find something. 

From the craft store you will need acrylic paints in green, orange, black and white.  You will need paint brushes (sponge ones work the best for large surface areas) both large and small.  You will also need a paint sealer for painting on glass.  You should be able to find this in the paint section, it will most likely come in an arysol can.  You can use sharpies and craft pens in black and white to do the eyes and mouth if you feel more comfortable with that.



Paint the bulb of the glass orange and the stem of the glass green.  Wait for the paint to dry completely and then decorate the faces anyway that you choose.   Place around the house to decorate and put a votive candle holder on top to bring these festive guys to life.

To put another spin on it decorate your bulb with paintings of leaves (or real leaves sealed on with mod-podge).  Decorate with straw ribbon in a pretty bow low around the stem of the glass.

Happy Halloween Everyone.

Boston

It would have been really great if I would have learned to do my blog by phone before I left for Boston, but alas I did not.  I am writting now though.  Aaron and I went on a 5 day, 4 night adventure to Boston.  It was a great time and we got to see a lot of sites.  I will post some pictures later as soon as I have a chance to download them.  But in the meantime I will give you a synopsis of our trip. 

On Thursday we flew in and found our hotel (beautiful view from the 23rd floor).  Then we went on a walk up to Quincy market and the North End.  The north end is the italian district.  It was so cool with everyone out in the streets.  It was a very lively place with streets that smelled like heaven (aka garlic and bread).  We went to a place called Ristorante Ricardo.  The food was good, but unfortunately I did not like what I ordered.  Then we went to the place called Mike's Pastries.  We got a cannoli and a lobster tail.  They were both cream filled goodness.

On Friday we took the Emily tour (the friend that we stayed with the rest of our trip) of Boston.  We did most of the Freedom trail and had lunch in Qunicy Market.  When we left town we rode the subway back to Emily's car and headed out to what she called "the country".  I am still convinced that it is basically a suburb of Boston.  The only difference between what we call a suburb in Denver and what they call the country in Boston is the fact that you cannot see anything past the road that you are on because of all the damn trees.  While I am on this subject - I do not like the fact that you cannot see anything past the street that you are on.  I mean I like trees and all but there is no real change in elevation so you never get over the tops of trees to see anything.  It feels like you are constantly going through one of those hedge mazes.  It was getting to the point of being claustrophobic for me. 

On Saturday we took a drive to the north shore and got to see some fishing towns.  We went to Rockport and Ipswitch.  Rockport is apparently where they filmed part of the movie The Proposal and Ipswitch is famous for their "Crabshack".  I would not recommend it however unless you want a heart attack on your way out the door.  My only regret to the north shore is that we did not get any fresh seafood.  I wanted them to cook a live lobster in front of me and chow down on it.  Next time.

On Sunday we went to relive history.  We went and saw where Paul Revere did his night ride and saw where the first shots were fired.  Seeing the birthplace of America's freedom was a very cool thing.  And knowing that they are trying (now) to preserve this history is an amazing thing.  We also went to a farm.  There are actual farms there and they make and harvest everything and sell it out of their shop/barn thing.  They are super busy places and have the most tastey apple cider donuts and fresh apple cider.  Aaron and I decided that if we lived there we would be broke and fat.  The Nashoba Winery was a fun place to visit.  They are still new brewing their own beers, so they are yucky.  I would give them a few years to get better at it.  The fruit wines were delicious and refreshing.  I would also recommend the spirits (mostly the brandys, but not the vodka).  The peach brandy is so refreshing and crisp that I really wish that I could have one on a hot day while sitting in the shade.

On Monday Emily took us to the airport prior to the sun being up and then we headed home.  Our flight landed 50 minutes early.  Must have been good weather.  Anyway if you have not been to the Boston area I would highly recommend it, but make sure that you get the lobster!

The Crafting Part

So I guess that up until this point you are wondering why I have a blog that is called Auntie Kara's Crafts.  Well now that you know that I am an Auntie and that my name is Kara.  The only thing that is left to explain is the crafting part.  I have grown up making things and creating things since I was little.  My mom taught me how to paint (which I am not very good at) and etch and all kinds of other stuff.  My grandma taught me how to sew, crossstitch, crochet, and how to follow a pattern.  By the time that the women in my life taught me how to do all these things they were sick of me and my constant "so how do you do this", so I had to learn a few things by myself along the way.  I taught myslef how to knit, embroider, write patterns, make jewelry, and a ton of other things.  I have really enjoyed crafting in general.  I even have a craft group, just a bunch of ladies, that get together once a month to make different crafts.  I love this stuff.  It is amazing that you can make so much with so little.

Each month that we have a craft night I will post the craft that we are doing, so that you can enjoy doing it to.  I will also show you our finished results and give you any tips and tricks that we find as we are doing it.  You can think of us as your guinea pigs if you want.  I hope that you will write me back after you have tried the craft too and let me know how it goes.

What is the old saying - "Those who can't do, teach".  Well I am changing that one up a bit and saying "Those who can't craft, buy".  I know that some people in this world are just not crafty and can't for the life of them figure out the difference between knitting needles and crochet hooks.  With that in mind I will be offering to sell my handy work to you.  On this blog I will post things that I am working on and let you know if they are for sale and for how much.  Also if you have a specific request or colors that you want I will be happy to oblige and make something custom just for you.  I will mostly be selling jewelry and yarn made goods.

Who am I?

I am Kara.  Formally I am Karaline Melinda.  The first name is pronounced Kara -lean.  I am named after my two grandmothers.  My paternal grandma is named Karen, thus the Kara.  And my maternal grandma is named Darline, thus the -line.  I love my name and I have yet to meet another, especially pronounced the same way.  I actually wish that people would call me Karaline, but most people cannot pronounce it.  They butcher it and call me Care-o-line or Car-a-lean or even Care-a-lean-a.  Where they got the last one I have no clue.  But do to people's lack of trying when it comes to trying to remember or to pronounce another persons name correctly, I will go by just Kara.

A little about me - I am 26 and live in Denver, CO.  I have lived here pretty much my whole life and I enjoy everything about it.  I love the mountains and the cool air at night and just about everything inbetween.  I like to do a lot of things outdoors, but love getting to come home to my comfy house when I am done.  I live with my boyfriend Aaron and his dog, Luke, and his cat, Scooby.  We are slowly remodeling bits of the house to make it a little more of our own space.  It is coming together, but takes time and money, so bit by bit we go.

For my "day job"  I am a structural engineer.  Basically what that means is that I design buildings and draw the blueprints (it is all on computers now).  I am also going back to school for my masters degree.  Time is definitely limited, but life is worth enjoying every minute of.  I will just go as hard as I can for as long as I can.  I hope that the journey will not end soon, but I am looking forward to some major turns in the near future.

Mila Juliet

My second niece was born just last week.  She is different from Malaya already.  She has a full head of black hair and she is not such a chatter box (well atleast no yet that is).  Like her sister she was born with dark grey eyes.  Malaya's are turning blue even though I really hoped that they would stay grey.  I have a feeling that Mila's will probably turn blue eventually too.

She was 7 lbs 9.4 oz and almost 19" tall when she was born.  Her name is Mila Juliet, the first name is pronounced Mee-lah.  I looked up the meaning of her name like I always do with new people and babies.  Her name has two meanings: one latin - rival, emulating and the other greek - friendly, soft, or plesant.  For her parents sake I really hope that it is the second of the two, but knowing that we have extremely strong willed women in my family it is more likely to be the first.  She is lovely already and I can't wait to see her again.

Why Auntie Kara?

On November 3, 2008 my first niece Malaya Jade was born.  She is a bundle of joy and a handful to her parents at the same time.  Practically since the day she was born she has been making noise.  She always has something to say and no one has a clue what she is saying.  She thinks that she is the cutest thing since puppies and I would have to say that she is right. 

When I found out that I was going to be an aunt I was thrilled.  I knew that she would be beatiful and could not wait to see her.  But the thought of becoming an "ANT" or "AWWWNT"  was just disturbing to me.  I did not want to be called "Ant" Kara from her on.  I frankly did not want to be called anything, but knew that I would be called something eventually.  That is when I decided that I was going to be a Auntie.  Some may say that it sounds old, but I think that it fits just right.  Now I just have to wait until she is old enough to start saying to reap the rewards of my preplanning.