What's In A Name ?

Before I came up with the idea to start a blog, I already had the idea for the Angry Pincushion. He started as a doodle. I doodle a lot in my spare time. One day I decided to take my little drawing and make him a reality. And so, with a simple red tomato pincushion, some pins (of course), and a few more doodles, the Angry Pincushion was born! Cute little fellow isn't he! At the time I started my blog I wanted to make him not only the mascot but incorporate him in some of the posts, so far I have no stuck to that, but that is about to change. But first I feel it is time he receives a name.

Can you help me pick a good name for our little angry/cute friend? Feel free to leave a name idea of your own in the comments section, or send me a little message at sproutedwings@gmail.com if you are so inclined! I will be picking the name on January 31st.

Happy New Blog!...I mean Year!!

Ice clings to the twigs, and lights in my front yard.

If your holiday season was anything like mine you're ready for a break, and a long nap. Hopefully though you had a wonderful Christmas and New Year's. I personally couldn't wait for the new year to start, 2009 had not been a good year. Most recently my beloved cat Isabelle, whom I had since the month after my 15th birthday, passed away in November from an aggressive cancer. She was eleven years old, and had the sweetest and most amazing personality. It was devastating for me, and not a day goes by that I don't miss her greatly.

On a more positive note, I have been working hard on new projects, layouts, etc. for The Angry Pincushion. I came to several realizations as well on my blogging hiatus. I came to the conclusion that instead of trying to create a blog that was uniquely mine I felt I was in a constant competition against other creative and craft blogs. I wasn't having fun doing my projects and posts, and that's really what it should be about: Fun! I was fretting over how many readers I had, mad I didn't have a fancy camera or photoshop, and always reading the popular craft blogs and comparing mine to their's. This will not be the case anymore. I will strive hard to stay true to myself, and my creative outlets, and hope to entertain or inspire a few people along the way!

Under Construction

This site is under construction. Look for our grand unveiling 1-3-10!!

Have a joyous holiday season!

Garden Pictures

While I am working on the new layout, ideas, etc. for Angry Pincushion, my cousin John has suggested I post some nature pictures. Great idea John! Photography is one of my favorite hobbies, and I love to share my photos with others. So here are some pictures taken in my very own backyard...and maybe some in the front yard.

The End...Or A New Beginning ?

The Angry Pincushion craft blog as we..or I..know it is dead. Yes, dead. I have some ideas to rework this blog into something new but we'll see how it pans out. Why have I decided not to continue with the crafts blog ? Here a just a few reasons-

1. Too time consuming-I hadn't realized just how much time it takes to not only come up with an idea, then create it, write down instructions, photograph it, and then blog about it.
2. It costs too much!-Being unemployed at the moment I cannot afford to constantly be going to the craft store to get new supplies, plus even though I have a nice digi camera it doesn't photograph the craft projects as well as I would like. I noticed that most craft blogs that have a large following use expensive cameras and Photoshop, or a similar photo editor.
   
3. Very little or no feedback from readers (if I had any!)-I do know my brother, wonderful friend Kim and the awesome Alaskan Dave would occasionally read my blog and comment but other than that I received very little in the way of comments, or any other type of feedback. At one point in time I posted a poll to see how many responses I'd get, I thought maybe it would be a good way of gaging my readership, I think I got two votes...and one of them was me.
   

As much as I'd love to continue this blog it just isn't worth my time...like I stated above I have considered reworking this site into something a little different but we'll see. If you have any questions or comments please e-mail me at sproutedwings@gmail.com.

Temporary Delay

Due to daily severe weather and hail we've been having here my project has been somewhat ruined...but I am in the process of fixing it and will finish the post by Thursday! Thanks for your patience!

The Kitchen Sink Planter, Part 1

Recession Proof Craft #1::Kitchen Sink Planter: Cost- Around ten dollars


I've had an old sink laying around for a few years now, I couldn't decide what to do with it. I didn't want to trash it, yet we couldn't use it in the house. A few months ago after finding an old faucet in the basement that didn't work either, I came up with a plan for both. Planting the basin with blue flowers to look like water and beading floral wire to insert into the broken faucet to imitate running water! I know it doesn't look like much in these pictures but this is just the first stage. Since this tutorial is pretty long I'm breaking it up into two installments.

Materials-

• An old sink-FREE
• A broken faucet-FREE
• Floral Wire Stems or Floral Wire-1 $ (for a package of floral stems)
  
• Beads in shades of blue, Teal, and Clear-Around 5 $
  
• Wire Cutters
• Dirt
• Blue Flowers-About 5$

Assembly-

1. Find a spot in your yard for the sink. After finding a spot, place the sink either on some bricks or dig a hole to place it in so it is flush with the ground.
   
2. Clean the sink off if it needs it, a squirt with the hose will do
3. Pour potting soil or dirt from your yard into the basin of the sink.
4. Add flowers, I used Lobelia in shades of blue and white to resemble water.

Second Installment will be posted Monday.