I did do craftiness this weekend...I did, I did ;)

Hello there!! Been a while since I've posted!! Things were so crazy leading up to Thanksgiving - we hosted for the first time ever - AND my sister-in-law and nieces came to join us from New York. So, needless to say, it was a busy few weeks.

Anywho... Did you get last month's Scrapbooks Etc. issue??? If you did, you may have noticed something pretty cool – NO I HAVE NOT BEEN PUBLISHED :(. But I saw these super cute little paper stockings on a random page & decided that I NEEDED to make some for my office. Here’s a looksie at the finished product (and Kathy's head there to the right ;) oopsie).
There were no instructions, and I have no clue who actually made them, so I was on my own as far as making them. I started off by making a template on the copy machine at 200%. I traced/cut the (copied) stocking out as a whole and cut that out on black DCWV paper. For added dimension, I cut off the top of it and made a template with that as well. Then I grabbed my Christmas paper of choice this year, Basic Grey - Jovial - and went to town. I used my sewing machine to stitch the stockings - leaving a hole at the top, stuffed it with plain old tissues, then sewed around the top piece as well and glued them together using my glue of choice, Glossy Accents. We are a small office of 5 - 2 attorneys and 3 secretaries/legal assistants, so I didn’t have to go crazy. Here's a closer look of each individual stocking:




I finished them off with Papertrey Ink buttons, American Crafts Thickers (for the names), handmade flowers of different sorts, and bakers twine from The Twinery. I have to say it, I’m in love with them!!!! So much so, that I’m working on something else that I will share tomorrow of Thursday!! Hope you likesey - I'd love to hear what you think ;). Happy Tuesday!!

Success!

Morning, all. Hope the weekend was wonderful for you. Mine was good, but totally exhausting! The Bargain Hunt on Saturday was wonderful. It went on from 8am to 2pm, and while it started off slow, in the end I made $150.00 for The American Cancer Society's Relay for Life - just by my selling my crafts!! I'm so happy and proud of myself! My cards literally "flew off the shelves" and all of my pretty spinning photo boxes and recipe boxes that I made sold :D. I'd definitely say it was a success!!

I was too exhausted to craft all weekend though. I WANTED to, I really did. I had my new Lawn Fawn Stamps and had SO many good crafty ideas for them, but my mind was too exhausted! I don't like to craft in a state like that (I wont be happy with ANYTHING I make if I do). I just rested, enjoyed the time with my hubby and babies, taught Sunday School on Sunday and then helped with the children's program that night. It was a nice weekend.

After the kids were asleep Sunday night I started getting the itch ;). I tried to ignore it, because I really was just...tired... but I scooped myself up and went through all my pictures (seems like a never ending pile - sheesh!!) and got out a few stacks to make some books. Then, yesterday, I finished this little cutie mini!
The pics are from last April ('09) when my sister-in-law and niece came down from New York. My son always has the BEST time when they're here and basically has a smile on his face their entire visit. So, I used a Maya Road mini and painted the edges if it different primary colors with acrylic paint. After it dried, I got out October Afternoon's Seaside collection that I've been hoarding for about a month now and went wild. I just LOOOOOOVE this paper!! I couldn't wait to get my hands on it - and it seemed like it took FOREVER for me to find it. I finally snatched it up from 2Peas, but my LSS just got it a week or so ago, and I totally went in and picked up a few extras ;). Here's a looksie at the inside pages:








(I know, my camera apparently SUCKS at taking pictures of my crafts. Random pics come out blurry, I don't know what to do about it. Sigh. Sorry.)

To make it complete - and funky fresh ;) after distressing all the edges, I added bunch of the Seaside sticker elements, some black rinestones (to the crabs' eyes) and pearls (both Keiser Crafts) (to the sand dollars), some Papertrey Buttons, bakers twine from The Twinery,a ticket, a kite stamp (also Papertrey), a bunch of random ribbon and fibers, and the fabulous flowers I learned from Cosmo Cricket (I looooove these flowers, and absolutely LOVE making them!!!). I know it's hard to tell, but the star fish are also heat embossed with a really cool multi-colored embossing powder.

I added in some hidden journaling. and I kept the back of it pretty basic, just used the waves and the little boy playing with the sailboat from the sticker element page. My son had a fit until I stamped it with my "Handmade By" stamp. He just LOVES that thing and thinks no project of mine is complete nowadays without it. My sweet boy. so encouraging to my craft (or habit as my husband says).

Well, that's my share for today. You like?? Hopefully there will be more to share later this week. I was going to start another mini today (Christmas themed) but I'm pretty sure I'm getting sick - and I feel awful, so I may not be into it. We shall see. Hope you have a wonderful {crafty} day!!

What will I be doing this weekend...

...well, besides the Bargain Hunt - which is Saturday from 8am-2pm - I will hopefully be enjoying my newest addition of Lawn Fawn Stamps :D I just scooped up Critters in the Burbs and Jessie's ABCs, and cannot wait to give 'em a go! I've even already added them to my "Lawn Fawn Loveliness" binder :).

Yep, that's right... I'm just making crafty goodness for pure enjoyment. I'll also (hopefully) be creating a few projects for a Design Team I'm trying out for (at my Local Scrapbook Store). We'll see. I've been feeling so overwhelmed with stuff to do/make for the Bargain Hunt that I have felt like my craftiness was more of a "chore" than my favorite past-time. I mean, don't get me wrong, I still had fun making these goodies, and had that joy of seeing the finished product, but the deadline of it was hanging over my head this entire time. I was like a madwoman - making project after project for the past month now. Kind of exhausting, ya know! It really makes me wonder how you gals who do multiple Design Team gigs do it?!?!?!? Hats off to ya!

As a side note, I just want to say that I really appreciate how sweetly (and super quick!!) Lawn Fawn sends out their stamps. Each package coming with a note and a little "thank you" stamp from Kelly Marie. This time I got "Merci" - with a sweet lil heart over the i and everything! I love this. I love buying from companies like this! They really take the time to make you feel connected and appreciated as a customer. I love Lawn Fawn, woot woot!!
Hope you have a great weekend. Say a prayer for me for the Bargain Hunt - trying to raise bunches of cash for the Relay for Life - woo hoo!!

Christmas Ornaments for the Bargain Hunt

Hello there crafty friends. I'm super excited about today's share :D. About a year ago, or so, I started saving these Bo Bunny Button/bling packs: I had seen some neat ways of recycling them online by making cards and such & knew I'd want to give that a try at some point...

I decided to use them to make ornaments to sell at the Bargain Hunt. I used both the dome piece and the piece that interlocks into the dome (to securely keep the buttons inside). I cut both circles out very close, but left a small lip for gluing purposes. Then I took a Maya Road House (chipboard coaster) mini and traced them onto October Afternoon's & Fancy Pants Christmas paper (left over from last year). I traced coordinating paper to cut a circle the size of the domes. Then I stamped & paper pieced away. The owl/snowflake stamps are from Hero Arts and the sentiments are from Lawn Fawn's Cozy Christmas Set. I colored the owls in with copics and popped them up with foamies. I then added Marth Stewart course glitter to the and circle and added Glossy Accent to the edges of the domes and glued that to the stamped papers. Let them dry & had the cutest ornaments ever!!



I covered the backs of the houses with coordinating paper, and then I used the "Merry Christmas" stamp from the Hero Arts Owl set & wrote in 2010. I buy a dated keepsake ornament every year, so I thought that'd be a nice touch.

I just love them, heaps of love!! I also had a neat idea: I'm going to have a mini artificial Christmas tree to display all of the ornaments I've made...smart ;).

Well, that's my share for today. Hope you likes ;). have a great day!

Crafty for a Cure!!!!

Hi there. Hope everyone had a nice weekend. As for me, I was in full-on panic/craft mode!! With the Bargain Hunt this coming weekend, there was just no time to waste. I've made SO many goodies and will have much to share this week :D.

So, I've been wanting to make a banner for my crafty space (which is essentially my kitchen table and a giant bookshelf packed with goodies) for a while now, but...eh, didn't know where to begin, and I just always have so much I want to play with, try, or do; so, the idea of it has basically been sitting backseat for a while. Then, on my Birthday - of all days, I get an email from Maya Road that they had some "Creating Art - A Banner Process" kits left over from CHA. It was just too good of a deal to pass up - and I had just gotten some birthday cash - WOO HOO!! - needless to say, I snached of those babies up right away! Oooooooh-weeee, it came jam-packed with Maya Road goodies - WAY more than enough to make the banner (which was supposed say "ART").

Anyway, when it came in, I just put it aside because, with all this Bargain Hunt maddness, I didn't want to take time out for goodies for me... Well, yesterday, I finished all of my Bargain Hunt crafts, and then it came to me, yes, I wanted the banner for my crafty space, but I was thinking, it would be perfectly awesome to go further and use it as a decoration for my table at the Bargain Hunt!! So this is what I came up with:




I absolutely love how it came out. The kit was awesome - just packed full of goodness - with EXTRAS!!! Almost everything (and oh, so much more!!) I needed to make this entire (extended) banner was included in the kit! I added sparkly Evergreen Glimmer Mist for the Chipboard scallops. I also added a page from a Fancy Pants Bracket Mini Book I've had stashed away, along with my own October Afternoon Thrift Shop goodies to complete that. As you can see, I played around with my Cosmo Cricket flower again & made a smaller version of it annnnd I actually got it perfect this time!!!! I also used Crackle Accents on the letters of the bracket page - love the effect.

After the Bargain Hunt, I will take off the bracket (will use that for something else later) and hang my "crafty" banner up on my scrappy shelf, looking like this:
So, best of luck to me this week - to tie up all of my loose ends - and for a successful Bargain Hunt. I've got lots of craftiness that I've made to sell, and will share most of those goodies with you through out this week. I hope I do well, all of the $$ I make from this Bargain Hunt will go directly to the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life, which I'll be walking in March. Thinking happy thoughts. Wish me luck!!! Have a blessed day!!

Another awesome project!

Ok, I don't mean to toot my own horn...but I made something totally awesome this weekend (so says me). It's another goodie I'll be selling at the Bargain Hunt. So, I've mentioned before that my goal here was to use up my stash - and not buy new stuff - but, for my B-day, I got a Michaels gift card and had a few extra dollars on it to spare ;)...so... I picked up a few plain wooden swivel picture frames. They were $2.99 each. Started out just plain old wood, and I turned them into this:

What-do-ya-think?!? I’m thinking I can sell them for at least $10 bucks - maybe $15 (I’m getting mixed reviews on that one). I just looooooove this paper. I've used it a few times and it just seems to multiply in my stash, I can never seem to use it all up!! Maybe that's because when I got it, I loved it so much, and got lucky because one of my LSSs was moving and had a big 50% off everything sale - so I picked up quite a bit of it. Anyway...I've STILL got some left over.

Anyway, I painted the box's edges with acrylic paint (only the edges - didn’t want to paint over spots that would just be covered with pretty paper). Then I measured and cut the paper, for the picture squares, I used a craft knife to take out a 3 and a quarter inch square out of the middle. Then I used Elmers craft glue - worked like a charm - to glue the paper to the wood. I was really worried that it wouldn’t work (stick) because it doesn’t SAY it’s for wood, but it stuck on beautifully!




For that amazing flower, I used this video tutorial from over on the Cosmo Cricket blog. Let me tell you, it’s just an awesome tutorial - go check it out!! I don’t have a 3 inch circle punch though, so I used a cup ;). I kinda messed it up, when assembling it, but I don’t think you can really tell. Also, my flower isn’t exactly like theirs. I used less circles, and didn’t do it exactly the same, but I am happy with it. Since my paper was not patterned on the back I chalked the back of the paper with ColorBox. Then I added a Papertrey Ink button and some yummy bakers twine from The Twinery. Here's a closer of look at my flower:

When all was said & done, I filled it with my own pics for now - to display at the Bargain Hunt (AND because Sal kept on saying it looked like a bird house - ???). The boxes open up. I have an idea for the inside... I’m thinking to take clothes pins and cover them with this patterned paper and make them into magnets for the fridge. Just a little something to stick inside, we’ll see. I’m hoping they’re good sellers. Trying real hard to make things I think will sell and raise the most $$ for my Relay for Life walk ;).

Well, I hope you have a rockin day - OH!! P.S. you should totally be checking out the Lawn Fawn Blog for your chance to win some of the new releases!!!! They’ve got some awesome new sets coming out tomorrow, their design team has been making beautious goodies with them, and my fingers are just itching to buy (hopefully win!!) Some of these new stamps - especially the new font they have - Jessies. Go. There. Now. ;)

More Christmas Cards for the Bargain Hunt

Good morning! Like I said yesterday, I went into absolute craft mode this weekend. Honestly, I had such a crazy week, last week, busy busy every day (glad that week is behind me) then I crafted weeeeee into the evening every day on top of all the craziness - It was fun though ;)! I have to, there are only 2 weeks until my church's Bargain Hunt, and I'm dedicated to being as prepared as I can be. Ready to make/sell crafts to make $$$ for the (American Cancer Society's) Relay for Life I'm walking in March.

I'll get right into it, first of all please excuse my wonky pictures. I'm sorry, I was having issues. Anyway, last Monday for my Birthday, I got a little load of cash from family. To my amazement, my LSS just started carrying Copics that very same day!!!!!!! I invested in a few of them, and I just can’t tell you, I. Am. So. Super. Excited. I love these little Christmas lights in my Lawn Fawn Cozy Christmas set, but was kinda avoiding them because I DID NOT want to paper piece them, and didn’t have anything to color them in with. Plus, Kelly Marie did an awesome video tutorial where she colored these lil lights in with Copics and then used Glossy Accents to make them pop. Now that I have my beautious Copics, this was the first thing I wanted to try!! I made both Christmas Cards and also mini Gift Tag type cards using Kelly Marie’s awesome technique. Hope you like them. I just adore them. Don't mind me, I haven't gotten to putting yellow/blue buttons on yet. Tonight, tonight, The twine is from The Twinery, I got it here. I am just absolutely in love with Bakers Twine. It makes me extremely happy!!




For these litttle Gift Card Tags, I used more Hero Arts stamps and white ink (and buttons) from Papertrey Ink. I added some stitching so that the snowflakes didn’t look like they were just floating in the middle of no where. I love love love how stitching looks, but hate hate hate how time consuming it can be (even stitching in a straight, short line - especially when you have a 10 card assembly line going on). But I honestly love how they came out!!

Lastly I made these pretties using this lovely Hero Arts Stamp - got it at Michaels with a 40% off, and I love it - along with Tim Holtz Distress Inks. Here's a looksie:


Well, that's all I have to share for today. I’ll have more crafty items to share later in the week, but, I wanted to focus on the plethora of cards I made last week/this weekend. I have about 60 Christmas cards made as of today. All different variations and styles AND there will be more to come! I haven't taken pics of my other projects just yet, so hopefully, I'll share them tomorrow. Hope you have an awesome day!!!

The Halloween Maddness is Over!!

With the Bargain Hunt getting closer and closer, I feel like I’ve been busier and busier!! This weekend I made a ton of cards.

I actually had a completely hectic weekend. I took Thursday off to volunteer at Christian’s school for his Halloween Party. He was so happy to have me there!! They didn’t let the kids dress up in their Halloween costumes, instead, their theme was “Fairy Tale” characters, and they all dressed up as such and marched in a little fairy tale parade. Christian chose to be Jack & the Beanstalk. We got good and crafty (last weekend) by making him a beanstalk (paper chain) out of green cardstock. He did all the stapling and everything - and was VERY proud of himself. I also took a bunch of marbles, some paper, bling, and a little box and turned them into Jack’s Magic Beans. We used his Christmas shirt from last year and cut off the sleeves to turn him into a proper Jack:


Also, Thursday night, we had the “kick off” party for the Relay for Life. Each team had to pick a TV show as their “theme”. We decided on the A-Team because we knew Christian would be a super cute little mascot - so we dressed him up as Mr. T. It was great!! He was super cute, and kept saying “I pitty the fool” the entire time. It was also really nice to get psyched about the Relay, which is on March 26th!! So inspiring and motivational!! Here’s my lil Mr. T:

Then on Friday, I volunteered at Alivia’s school for her Halloween Party. It was adorable. She had a blast!! Who wouldn’t?!? I almost wished I was a kid again!! Here’s a looksie:

Saturday we has a Fall Festival at Church. The kids had a blast. Learned how to bob for apples - and loved it!! Then last night, of course, we went trick-or-treating. It was the most precious thing ever to see my little Lulu running up to doors at the speed of light to say her “trick or treat” and “thank you”. She was the sweetest Lady Bug ever!! Christian was a Bakugan. If you don’t know what that is, well, you’re lucky ;). Basically, he was a dragon. My niece, Paige, was a “Midnight Maiden”. Her wig and makeup was the most exciting part for her, and she looked super cool!! As we do every year, we trick or treated with our friend Cherie, her daughter Taylor (who was Maiden Marion, from Robin Hood). Cherie's grand baby, Jayson also came along, he was super cute lil vampire, so Alivia had her own little Edward ;) hee hee. My mom was a clown. Made her costume herself - that crafty lady!!




It was great fun. The kids had a blast and it was just so wonderful to watch them enjoy themselves!!

I’ll share all of my craftiness tomorrow. I’ve gotta warn ya, I made a ton of cards ;). Have a great day - hope your Halloween was awesome!