46/365

45/365

My dad and his friend is staying with me tonight. They are road trippin'. We ate at Black Angus. It was really good. It was a kinda overwhelming atmosphere. Interrogation-like almost...ha ha. Anyway, it was a good visit.

44/365

My dad and his traveling buddy will be in town tomorrow. So, I had to bust a move tonight and clean my apartment. If you know me, you know I hate to clean. I'm very good at staging stuff to appear it looks good, but behind the scenes, everything is randomly orchestrated as shown here in my closet...

Oh, and obviously...above, I am doing laundry.



Yeah, notice my projects...the paper lantern and the scrapbook papers for my wall. Honestly, everything that is in here should be carefully looked through and sorted, but I didn't have time. It would take me days to do that. Ugh, I wish I had a personal organizer. A maid would be nice too!

Oh, I even vacuumed too.



Until next time Swellions!

Alexa

43/365

41/365 & 42/365

41/365

Today wasn't a great day or a bad day, it was just a day. honestly not trying to be negative, but I kinda have cleaning over my head. I could go on, but basically, I don't have a very good method for cleaning /organizing and it doesn't come naturally to me; therefore it wears me out. I have visitors next week and I want my place to be somewhat in order. I made some progress, but I still have a lot more to do.

42/365

I love this wall that's in the Tower District. It was so colorful. I don't want to post all the photos tonight, but I'll post more in the upcoming weeks of this wall and some of the other building art in that area.

39/365 & 40/365

39/365

An ordinary day. Nothing too exciting happened. There was this very weird small stream of light at my apartment entryway that intrigued me, so I got on it quick. By the time I finished the 3 minute photo shoot of my shoes it was practically gone. I like the natural little vignette it created.

40/365

This plastic chicken is a fixture at work. The guys always squeeze it as they walk by and it quacks. I though I would have fun with it today.

creativity overload

https://vr.shapeservices.com/play.php?hash=d0dbd85b94dc556469999e74395b1b4763ce6bac872733ac2

38/365

Standing outside of Anthropologie. I didn't go in (was about to close and I just went 2 days ago). I don't go to the mall too often, but I went to Sephora and Urban Outfitters to check out their books and gifts. They had some great stuff there. Oh, and they sell Wreck this Journal there as well.

Did go to Panera tonight with a co-worker! What can I say? I can never get enough!

Until next time Swellions!
Alexa

Where to find Wreck this Journal!

A few people have been asking me about where they can get their copy of Wreck this Journal by Keri Smith. Well, right now it is just under $10 bucks at www.amazon.com. You may have to pay additional moolah for shipping but if you order it with another book, you may be able to get shipping for free!

I purchased my book in store at Barnes and Noble several months back, but you can also order it at the Barnes and Noble web site. The copy in store is a few bucks more than online. I'm sure a lot of other stores carry it as well, but you may want to call and see before you trek to your local bookstore and leave empty-handed. You could always call a few days ahead and most local bookstores will order if for you.

Hope this clears up any questions on where to get the book!

Until next time Swellions!

Alexa

37/365

Kelly, the Duncan photographer, asked me to hold this test meter card. I obliged. Of course I had to pose too!

36/365

First off, this was a pain in the butt to shoot. Mainly cause my tripod is super crappy. I need to invest in a new one, but I may have to wait a couple of months for that.

I wanted this to be a little bit more visually interesting than my photos have been, so I added this Holga frame and desaturated the photo. I took several poses like this. This was actually the best and only usable one in my eyes. The other ones weren't very flattering. This one is kinda awkward, but at the same time, very model-like, so I'm ok with it.

In was actually going to shoot with my wide angle before the sun set. Well, I saw a new neighbor and we chatted for 5-10 minutes. In that time frame, the sun set considerably and I missed the shot. When I used my flash, my wide angle adaptor lens only lets me shoot so narrowly (not incredibly wide). It's leaves a flash shadow, as seen below. Bummer, eh?

I swear. I almost think it does more of a fish eye effect rather than a wide angle look. Do you think so too?

3 more pages in my Wreck this Journal

Fill this page with Circles:

Seriously, of all the pages I've done, this one has taken me the most time. I would say this page took 4 or 5 hours, since I was so intricate with the circles and their detail. It's one of my favorite pages.

Color outside the Lines:

I did this tonight while sitting at the picnic table in the middle of my apartment complex. I noticed a couple of strange/questionable looks as to what I was doing, but noone asked. I don't really care regardless...I was just having fun creating!

Do a really ugly drawing; Use ugly subject matter: Gum, poo, dead things, a badly drawn bird, mold, barf, crud.

This last one is a little outside the norm of a drawing for me. I don't make a habit of drawing gross things; however, I channeled my inner Garbage Pail kid memories and knocked this out. If you can't read, I drew these things:

– A face with zits and ugly rotten teeth
– Mold leftovers...Ewww!
– A doo doo cupcake...Surely someone out there has turned the cupcake trend into this, am I not right? It would be perfect for a baby shower. Har har. It's not much grosser than that baby diaper/melted chocolate game.
– The snuggie...it is pretty darn ugly.
– Puke being covered up by sawdust. When I was in grade school at Wayland Alexander Elementary, anytime a kid threw up (I always remember it being on the hardwood hallway floor), they always covered it up with orange sawdust. I guess this helped make it easier to clean/disperse the smell. I can just remember now how the kids would walk single file and weave around this sawdust creation. So disgusting.

Now that you have insight into my ugly drawing, have any of you gone out/or bought one of these journals online? Maybe as a collective effort, I could post pages that people do in this blog a couple times of month. If anyone is interested in participating, please leave a comment and I'll try to organize something!

Until next time Swellions!

Alexa

Crafty Blogger Links

It's time for this weeks helping of crafty blogs. Check them out and get inspired with a new project, book, or idea!

Vickie Howell's Pop Goes Crochet
Vickie's latest book, Pop Goes Crochet, hits stores in 2 weeks! Get a sneak peek of 5 accessory projects now though, including designs by The Breeder's Kelley Deal, The Stitch Diva and The Crochet Dude. Give 'em a gander and enter to win a free, signed copy!

The Impatient Crafter
Check out the new YuDu home screen printing machine in this brand spanking new The Impatient Crafter video hosted by Madge. While you're there, follow the link to her interview with fellow crafty blogger Sister Diane of CraftyPod on personal branding!

The Crochet Dude
Drew recaps an amazing Southern Caribbean Crochet Cruise!

Stefanie Girard's Sweater Surgery
You'll have a "ball" stitching yarn scraps into beads with a little help from the new book: Strands by Jacqueline Myers-Cho.

Naughty Secretary Club
Jen shows you how to wear your stuffed animal collection as a bracelet. Plus enter to win a free copy of her book The Naughty Secretary Club!

Cross Stitch at About.com
See how Kitchinstitchin used an old window and a piece of crazy quilt for an unusual framed Cross Stitch project.

CraftyPod
Sister Diane reviews Betz White's new book, Sewing Green.

Crafty Princess Diaries
Become a professional crocheter with the help of an organization designed for those who are interested in make yarn craft a j-o-b.

About Family Crafts
Discover many creative projects all made using paper plates.

Cathie Filian
Cathie Filian is calling all Colorado crafters! Stop by the Colorado Women's expo April 25th & 26th. She will be doing presentaions on both days - the topic is...Living Creatively by Re-Crafting and Recycling.

Craftside-A behind-the-scenes peek at a crafty world
Craftside is in full bloom with an inside look into the soon to be released: Collaborative Art Journals and Shared Visions in Mixed Media by L. K. Ludwig along with a full tutorial on stitching a bird cage on a card, a how-to for embroidering barbed wire, cleaning and cutting Acrylic and how to paint a checkerboard floor.

Blisstree Arts
Miriam Schaer makes books from materials that you would never think to use! Come see how she pushes the boundaries of bookmaking.

Alexa Westerfield a.k.a. Swelldesigner
Create a very cool, colorful accent wall on the cheap using scrapbook paper!

34/365 & 35/365

34/365

Took this while watching Southland. That show is actually pretty good. I may watch it again. Looks like Tom Everett Scott (remember him from That Thing you Do?) has gotten a regular gig. Also, I could have swore I saw Wil Wheaton. I could do an imdb search or look at his twitter stream, but I don't care that much.

35/365

Got my hair cut today and had the guy style it straight. It's a nice change, but a little bit flat overall. I think I may need to be a little bit skinnier to pull off the look.

32/365 & 33/365

32/365

I took this with 5 minutes to spare yesterday, so it was a quick attempt

33/365

On the other hand, this one I shot several times for like an hour and I honestly didn't get a photo I just loved using these light sticks (I remember in the 80's when these things were like gold at festivals). Now you can buy them 15 bracelets to a pack for a buck! That's kinda sad, if you ask me. There's nothing special about them if you get them at the Dollar Store.

Anyway, hope all of you Swellions had a great week and have an awesome weekend!

Alexa

31/365

Wrecking my Journal again!

Tonight I wrecked my journal while watching A.I. I started and finished 2 activities.

Admittedly, I enjoy the artistic activities more than the physical (flinging, dropping, etc.). I will have to find a way to document those, but at the moment they aren't doing anything for me. I just want to draw and doodle.

Anyway, here's my "Trace your hand" page:



I bought some Crayola markers a couple nights ago. I wish I had the Prismacolor kind. That would be an ideal gift. Cough. cough, but the Crayola skinny markers work pretty well. I got a pack of 50, so lotsa color to go around!

Here's my "Scribble/Write on the Edges" effort. I like the first photo best (more from a photographic standpoint (love the purple and pink reflection!), but I dig the bokeh (those tiny blurred lights in photos..usually created when you see Christmas lights) in the second one.





Have you gotten yours yet? Let me know if you get one!

Until next time Swellions!

Alexa

30/365

This is my 30th day and I'm 30 years old. Signs of it are starting to show, as evident in the wrinkles on my neck. Blech. I hate them. This was the less offensive of the shots today. I really hated the way I looked in the others...very double chinned.

It was really windy out today and I tried to document it, but my photos were kinda not very good. First off, my new wide angle adaptor lens does not work well in certain situations. For example, if I hold i out looking up at me, it makes my head look teeny tiny and my chest look big. I don't know, but that's not the kinda look I am aiming for.

Crafty Blogger Links

Check out what is hot this week with me and the rest of the Crafty Blogger group!

About Family Crafts
Find a wide variety of egg related projects! Everything from creative easter egg coloring to cute agg crafts

Aileen's Musings
Aileen's offering freebie Spring images for you to download and use in your art. Happy Spring!

Alexa Westerfield a.k.a. Swelldesigner
Swelldesigner shows you how to make rainbow tie-dye rosettes!

Blisstree Arts
Unexpected results abound when you use this easy method to create background papers for your work.

Cathie Filian
Cathie Filian is having a spring fling with 11 different spring projects.

Craftside-A behind-the-scenes peek at a crafty world
Craftside's got mixed-media art from Lisa Engelbrecht and an ATC by it, a free Amigurumi knit antler pattern, a couple of Art Nouveau jewelry designs with a how-to on making a wire ball bead and some pretty greeting cards with a tutorial on an Easter card made with stiffened fabric die cuts.

Crafty Princess Diaries
ArtFire Crafty Princess Shop is Live! Tammy is kicking the tires, testing the waters, and basically, trying to figure out what the deal is over at Artfire.com.

CraftyPod
Sister Diane offers lots of creative ways to use Sharpie Paint Markers.

Naughty Secretary Club
This week Jen explores using fabric to make jewelry.

Stefanie Girard's Sweater Surgery
Martha Stewart's New Encyclopedia of Crafts is my muse this week to create a Hoppin' cute Easter Card

The Impatient Crafter
Madge shares her three pronged approach to success and a link to her CraftCast interview with Alison Lee.

Two more pages in my Wreck this Journal!

I finished up my scribbles page tonight (added color in with my new Crayola markers) and whipped out a lines page as well :)



I really like the look of the silver paint pen on this one!!


I stayed simple with this one and I'm happy with the results!

Have you guys tried this journal out? If not, you should totally purchase one and get inspired!

Until next time Swellions!

Alexa

29/365

Not feeling incredibly photogenic for today's photo. If you hadn't noticed (and if you are actually following my 365 photos), I really like to create interesting portraits looking through stuff. I guess it's a fall back that I do. I will continue to do it...esp. on less enthusiastic days, but I will try not to use it as a crutch and if I do use it, it will be in an interesting nature. And if you were wondering...these were two vases sitting on my table, and the orange glow is from my lamp. I think it created an interesting photo.

28/365

Colorful Mosaic Wall on the cheap!!!

Like a lot of people, I live in an apartment. The type of apartment complex that doesn't allow painting of any kind. I really try to jazz up the blah eggshell walls with color, whether it be colorful artwork or colored lampshades that cast a hue on the wall. Well, I wanted to step it up a notch with my décor beyond that and do something totally different with my bedroom wall that would make visitors come in and say, "Wow! You did that?" And the cool thing is that I did it all for under $20! Yep, for $20 bucks you can get a totally rockin' wall that is full of color and will brighten up any room!

What do you need?

– Multicolored scrapbook page packs (I purchased mine at Target and 50 sheets came to a pack; I purchased 2 packs)
– Aleene's Tacky Dots (available at Michaels)
– tape measure

So, I'm not going to do a full-blown step by step tutorial, but I'll give you a very easy rundown of what I did. I measured out the length of my wall, then I figured out how many square 12x12 pieces of paper would fit into that length. I picked out 9 different colors from a multi-color pack that I liked and placed them in a random fashion. Starting at the top, I horizontally placed the paper (to adhere to wall I put dots in the four corners of the paper and pressed). I then began on the next row. My goal was to not repeat two colors in a row vertically or horizontally. It was a challenge, but not that hard once I started doing the mosaic. I tried to not get too many colors together or have similar colors sitting next to each other. I wanted it to look like a mosaic of color that looked random in placement and aesthetically pleasing overall. Does that make sense?

Honestly, I'm not a by the book/measurement kinda girl, so a lot of this was eyeballed. Oh, and word to the wise. The dots need to be carefully removed. If you tug the paper off the wall, the Zot will remove the paint (OOPS!).

I'm really with the way it turned out and am excited to finally show it to you!

Until next time Swellions!

Alexa

27/365

Took this in downtown Clovis today. This storefront had a lot of fun neon Easter illustrations. I'm not a big fan of Easter hoopla, but I thought I would do something seasonal for today's 365.

26/365 I wrecked my journal!!!

This is my first official completed page in my Wreck this Journal. A couple of other tasks like breaking the spine have been done. I plan on working on it more in the upcoming months.

Here's my page and one my friend Allee did!





Until next time Swellions!

Alexa

25/365

I've been too emo these past few days. I promise some funny stuff is coming up!

Like the following (my alternate)...even though I left KY, some things never change. This just goes to show, wherever you go, there you are.

Tie Dye Rosettes

Sometime last month, I saw an image of a varigated rainbow rose that I just thought was stunning. I thought I could achieve it myself, so I did! And the cool think is that I got a rainbow of colors using just 3 dyes! I was super pleased with the end results!

Here's how you can make your own...

Tie Dye Rosettes

Materials:
– cotton fabric (I used a cut up t-shirt for my material)
– Tulip One Step Ultimate Tie Dye Kit™
– needle and thread
– scissors

Instructions:
1. Cut out a pre-washed 14x14 square of material (or larger if you want your roses to be bigger than mine shown).
2. Prepare dye. To achieve coloration similar to mine, squirt lengthwise strips of color in following order: Fuchsia, Turquoise, Lime, Fuchsia, Turquoise. Let colors blend together. Let dry and launder material. Note: I didn't get a photo of me doing this, but look in the step by step photo below to get an idea of how I did it.
3. Cut into approx. 1.5" strips. I eyeballed this, but you may want to be more exact.

4. Thread your needle and do a running stitch along bottom of material.

5. Pull thread to gather.


6. Pinch at one end and roll to create beginning of bud. Stitch along base of gather, pulling thread as tension is needed. Shape as you go. Knot and trim thread.


Create an entire craft project around these roses! For example:
– pins for hats or jackets
– headband accents
– custom fabric corsages
– pillow embellishments
– pretty adornments for purses or shoes

Hope you liked this swell project!

Until next time Swellions!

Alexa

24/365

I took a lot of photos today. Sometimes I have a dilemma with this. I either have a lot of pics of interest that I have to choose from to be my 365 photo of the day, or I have several of the sameish quality photos that I have to pick from. I didn't find that I took anything super out of this world today, but I did find this photo to be very visually interesting in that the hair and lighting were really nice and the focus was on point. My friend Chris says that I don't have to have the most inspired shot to have a visually appealing shot. I just have to remember that.

23/365

Took some pics outside today, but they looked too much like yesterday's, so I went to work utilizing 2 fuchsia bubble wrap envelopes (these were what my resume went when I sent them out). I like the results and the focus.

A few things I'm loving...

In no particular order:


– This painted sheet set from flickr member Eklektick. Love it!



– This doily clock from andfurthermore's Etsy shop


This mini tape gun from Fred Flare.


– These amazing cassette tape portraits from Artist iri5 via Curbly.


My Pixie Cat! Check out some photos of her many moods here.

Hope you enjoyed this eye candy!

Until next time Swellions!

Alexa