Shop the Swap

I have been involved in a swap on craftster.org called Shop the Swap. I totally love it!
This month is round 17 and I joined at round 14. Basically, points are currency to "buy" items in other shops that have joined the swap. You get 3 points to start and you "price" your items accordingly. Here is my shop for round 17: Reese52's Swap Shop

A few items that I have "sold":

Floppy Disc Pen Holder

World of Warcraft Notebook

Guitar Picks made from recycled gift cards



Bookmarks made from recycled keyboard circuit


Here is what I was able to "buy" from other participating shops:

Custom carved stamp w/ my original design
(by: loves2experiment)


Glass Pendants (mine were in red and black)
by: Moonfairy


Original Artwork by PhizzyChick "Whimsy"
I love her work!


Original Artworks by the_bees_knees
printed on cards and I happen to have a frame that fit perfectly

Stamp Up Workshop

I attended a Stamp Up workshop last night and here are a few things I learned how to make. I was invited by Ashley who is a colleague's wife. We both like to scrapbook and do crafts. We finally met and I had a great time. I'm definitely going to host one of my own. My favorite is the red, black and white card. Of course, since it has my favorite colors.

Mini Cooper S 2007

Here is my all black Mini Cooper S 2007. Thanks for the great photo, Stephanie. I tried to locate a used one when I was shopping for it, but had a difficult time finding exactly what I wanted. I went ahead and special ordered it from Charleston, SC on my husband's insistence. I bought her exactly a year ago this month.


I recently attended my first Mini Cooper meeting this past weekend. We met at Sonic on Montgomery Crossroads, but the location will be changed to Starbucks on Victory Drive next month. If you happen to read this and you are a Mini Cooper owner, join us there every first Sunday of the month at 10 am.


There were only five members there, but it was really cool to see all the Minis lined up at the front of the parking lot. Christian drove his Lotus Elise and Heather recognized it right away. She's driven a Lotus before and we are hoping to ask her for some pointers since she is a race car driver. Maybe the the group will "adopt" Christian's car since it is a British car, but not quite a Mini. ;-)

Record Notebooks

I've always loved records. I still have a small collection of my own. I've seen a few record covers turned into journals and have wanted to give it a try.
I also love to thrift shop and go to garage sales. On a recent visit to a thrift store, I found an interesting cover to an Anne Murray record. I thought it would make a great recycled journal. Anyway, here is what I made. Tell me what you guys think. Any constructive criticism would also be appreciated.

New Lotus Elise

My dear husband is a sports car enthusiast and he has been scouring the web for a Lotus Elise. These cars are difficult to come by. It is originally manufactured in England and is put together by hand, therefore a limited amount of these cars are made.


Anyway, after trying to sell the 350Z for over a month and dealing with crazy con jobs on-line trying to buy it, we decided to see what we could get on a trade. There is a dealer that specializes in Lotuses in Jacksonville, FL. We decided to drive there and see what they would give us for the 350Z with no intentions of buying a Lotus. Well they got one from Arizona an hour before we arrived. The salesman had emailed 41 people including us who were interested. Needless to say, we came home with the newly shipped Lotus. It hasn't even been detailed. We will have to go back and have them fix a few things before it is in show room quality. We both can't believe that we own one of these beauties.



The salesman kept calling it an "exotic" car. Keep in mind only a few banks will even consider financing an exotic car. You can't even look up the value on Kelly Blue Book. This is the fourth sports car we have owned. Actually 6 if you count my del sol and Mini Cooper S. Granted I haven't had a chance to drive this one, but I've always liked driving the 350Z even though I always claim that I don't since it isn't my own. God forbid I come home with a scratch oh his new "baby". My mom actually asked if she could drive it. Right.................maybe when she stops driving like a maniac.


One thing about this car is that it is a pain in the @$$ to get in and out of it. It sits so low to the ground and feels like you are sitting in a cockpit. It definitely takes practice and finding your own way of getting in and out of it. It does make is a little bit easier with the top down.


I'm looking forward to having it detailed and seeing how good the thing can really look. We both finally have cars that we consider our "dream" cars. I still can't believe it. Here's hoping we are not dreaming. If we are, please don't wake me up!

Cassette Tape Wallet

Here's another crafting project I did recently that was inspired by another craftster user. You can see the original project here: http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=222019.0
I drafted my own pattern since there was no tutorial for this one. I decided to hand sew this, but I think for the next one I make, I will try using the sewing machine instead. I'm pretty happy how it turned out, but will make some changes to the pattern.

Microscope Glass Slide Pendants

I finally got around to trying soldering pictures under microscope glass slides. I got the tutorial from another craftster member. You can see the tutorial here http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=39105.0
This took some getting used to and I couldn't get it as smooth as I would like it to be. I'm fairly satisfied with the outcome and hope to get better with practice. Both pieces are reversible.

Cassette Tape Single Mini Journals

These were inspired by this post: http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=6883.0
I love making these mini journals. These are available for purchase at my etsy store reese52.etsy.com.

Buster and Cleo

Here are a few pictures of our other "children". I figured since I posted about are cat Azula, I could at least post some pictures of our pet chihuahuas.