Upcoming Charity Stream on Twitch!

On February 9th I will be doing a 12 hour charity stream for the National Psoriasis Foundation.

I chose this charity because as many of you know that I suffer from issues with psoriasis, including psoriatic arthritis. I've had psoriasis since I was in high school and started dealing with the arthritis symptoms at the age of 24. Psoriasis/psoriatic arthritis is an autoimmune disease that affects the lives of 7.5 million people in the United States and more than 125 million people across the world. Around 30% of people with psoriasis develop psoriatic arthritis which is an inflammatory form of arthritis.

During the stream we'll be playing Golf With Your Friends, Jackbox Party Games, and of course I'll be doing some crochet. I'm working on some small giveaway items for the stream as well. Anyone who wishes to enter to win must be a follower of my twitch channel (twitch.tv/LadyCrafts) and have watched my stream for a minimum of 2 hours.

Anyone who would like to contribute but can't make the stream is welcome to do so. All donations are greatly appreciated. The fundraiser page for my campaign is already open, and will remain open until the end of the month.

I hope to see you during my stream so we can have some fun playing some games together!

Click here to donate. :D

Twitch.tv now has a creative section for streaming live!

Hi all!

I wanted to stop in and tell you all about an alternative to a site that a lot of us as crafters have used in the past to host classes and craft live.

Twitch.tv has been a platform for gamers in the past, but it now has a new section where we can be creative live! I have used Twitch in the past to play games live online and look forward to using the new creative section. I am in the process of setting up my channel, and will add a link to this post (or maybe make a new post) when I get this complete. It will be linked directly to my YouTube channel as well, so that when I stream, the video recording will be automatically added to my YouTube channel. One great thing about Twitch is you don't have to deal with the constant load issues this other popular site has. Twitch is dedicated to providing the best experience possible to live stream your creativity.

I hope to see you all soon!

Hugs,
Christy
a.k.a LadyInnominate

Vintage Folding Chair Makeover

I was super excited to find these two vintage folding chairs at a garage sale for only $1 each. They were screaming, "Take us home with you!" So I did.

My little helper helped me to sand them in readiness for the really pretty aqua color I chose.

To remove the seat covers, I had to pry up the tabs on the bottom of the frame with a screwdriver. They came off pretty easily.

While waiting for the paint to dry on the frames, I got to work designing the textile for the seat. I had a piece of white fabric that I'd also picked up recently at a garage sale for $1. I measured the spaces between stripes starting with 1/2 inch, then 1 inch, and finally 1 1/2 inch spaces with masking tape.

I spray painted the fabric with the same paint used on the chairs to ensure a perfect color match.

To allow for ease of changing in the future, I simply secured the fabric to the seat frame (for lack of a better word to use for it) with masking tape. Since this area will be sandwiched between the seat frame and the chair frame it won't be seen.

These rectangular holes are where the tabs on the bottom of the seat frame fit, and are folded back down to attach the seat.

And, the finished product...

My battle with depression...

It's hard to say when the depression started... I just know now that I am. 

I feel like I am constantly fighting a losing battle with myself. I have no motivation. It's hard sometimes just to get out of bed in the mornings. In the back of my mind I know that there are things that I could be doing, and some that I should be doing. Yet, I can't seem to find the motivation. I'm tired all the time and my weight is steadily increasing. I constantly feel like crying and it has become increasingly harder to hide it. 

Yes... I hide it.

It's one thing to just have to deal with normal every day stress, but add in two chronic illnesses that leave me fatigued, tired, anxious and foggy brained and it gets worse. Have you ever been so tired you feel as though you can't stand anymore and when you lay down, you can't fall asleep? I have, almost every night. The medications they've given me to help me sleep don't seem to help. I struggle with going to the doctor for fear that they will tell me that yet another part of my body is failing me.

I also have three amazing children. I can say that because I'm biased. Others might look at them and wonder where I failed. Sometimes I think I have with at least two of them. My oldest is 18, living in another state, and expecting her first child. She seems happy and is well educated and up to date on current events with the elections coming up and tracks politics like a boss... My other two? My middle child, a 16 year old girl struggles daily with being bipolar and the battle with managing her out of control emotions, weight issues (she's a comfort eater and hides food), and social issues... All of which I struggle with for her as well. How can I not? I'm her mom, and I love her. My 12 year old son has recently been diagnosed with ODD which was added onto the ADHD diagnosis he already had, and will be seeing a specialist soon to be evaluated for Autism Spectrum. He recently spent two weeks in a psychiatric facility, and it broke my heart.

I went back to college a year ago with this amazing excitement to learn and further my education. To earn that degree that I left behind years ago. I was making perfect grades with nothing below an A for a while... Now I'm failing. The textbooks can't hold my attention for more than a few minutes and I struggle with the assignments. I'm contemplating quitting before I get any farther in over my head.

I don't share this for pity, nor do I do it to explain my absence in the crafty world I have always loved (I still do). 

I share this to bring awareness to the fact that everyone struggles with something and to challenge anyone who reads this to do the same...

Share your story, be it happy or sad, and give yourself the opportunity to be built up instead of torn down.

I had the opportunity to demo for The Paper Cut at the Orlando Scrapbook Expo...

Just thought I'd do a quick share. Sara's site has some amazing products that I couldn't help but let my followers know about. Hopefully I'll be demoing some of her products on my YouTube channel very soon.

If you'd like to check out her store click here.

Have a wonderful day!

USTREAM Class (Tutorial for my Mini top hat pin cushion)

I'm so excited y'all!!!

I'm hosting my first USTREAM class tomorrow night at 6pm Eastern time.

I did the tutorial for my top hat pin cushion and wasn't happy with it, so I didn't upload it.

I decided to try out USTREAM and see how it would be to do it live so that folks can ask questions in real time and maybe get a better understanding of the process.

I will be starting from the making of the pattern and going all the way to embellishment.

I hope you can join me.

I will be adding the video from the class after it is finished in case anyone can't make it.

Hope to see you there!

:0)

Live Laugh Love Art Journal Page...

I thought I'd share the art journal page I did today. I discovered a new technique (well, new to me anyway.) and used it for this page.

Hope you have a great day!

:o)