Did you know that Silhouette America is having a Letter to Santa Contest? The grand prize is fabulous, and includes a Silhouette Cameo! Here's my letter:
And for those of you in Utah, you may be interested to know that the annual American Crafts Warehouse sale is going on right now. They are in a different location this year which isn't quite as convenient for me as the American Fork location last year, but that may be a good thing....
Disregard the Provo location though - for some reason they weren't able to secure the lease there. So you can find them in West Jordan - and find them you should. They have some FANTASTIC sales.
And for good measure, there is also a DCWV sale going on right now at the Holiday Gift Show at University Mall in the old Nordstrom location, in Orem, UT. You can find out more information about this sale here.
I am involved with a ladies' organization at my church and I am in charge of our monthly meetings. The theme for last night's meeting was "A Meaningful Christmas". It's so easy for this time of year to be stressful and hectic, instead of time of joy and hope. I wanted to create an atmosphere that was warm and cozy, and I invited people to share ideas for activities and traditions that would help them have a Christ-centered, low-stress Christmas. At the front of the room I set up a rocking chair, a lamp, and my pretend fireplace/heater. I had LED pillar candles and lights all over the room, and I brought my Wallflowers (plug-ins) that were Christmasy scented. This would mean so much more if I had taken a picture! Christmas music was playing softly in the background as people arrived, and we had a table full of everyone's favorite Christmas treats and recipes to share.
By the glow of the (fake) fire, we started the evening with an inspirational story which was a heart warming reminder of the joy of giving - there wasn't a dry eye in the place! The rest of the evening was full of wonderful traditions and activities that we can share with our families. It was a good night, and I came away with some new ideas for inexpensive, meaningful Christmas gifts for my family.
I didn't take a picture of my set-up at the church, but I do have a picture of the wreath that was part of the decorations.
I've been wanting to make this wreath for a while now, but I had a little extra incentive a couple of weeks ago when DCWV put out a call for Utah-based designers. I live about half an hour from their corporate offices, so I thought why not? This was one of the projects that I submitted. The base is a foam wreath that I picked up at Joann, and the rest is paper from DCWV: from the Recollections Warm Wishes stack, and the DCWV Holiday Collection stack. Oh, and two cuts with my Silhouette: the gingerbread man, and the bow. The rest of the wreath is made of paper accordion flowers, or pinwheels, or whatever you want to call them.
I really need to work on this blogging once a month thing! With the upcoming Christmas season you will most likely be seeing more and more of me. This is going to be a very handmade Christmas - at least, it will be if I get everything done that I have planned. I guess that's the catch, isn't it? I've always had great intentions to get started with my handmade gifts a few months before Christmas, but it never happens. This year I finally figured out why. It's all the canning and preserving I do! From about the middle of July until the end of October there is always something I am either bottling, juicing, drying, making salsa out of, or turning into jam. I guess that's not so bad, especially since I use a lot of the jams and salsas as gifts. Now that I am done with the preserving, it's on to crafting, sewing, and soap and lotion making. I'll be posting pics of these various projects soon.
So, what do I mean by hybrid crafts do you wonder? I have been crafting for about 20 years now, and with living in Utah I am pretty well acquainted with most forms of craftiness. And I have been doing this long enough to see different handicrafts fall in and out of fashion. Toll painting was HUGE 20 years ago around here. But then it kind of disappeared. Have you noticed though, that wood crafts have made a resurgence in popularity? This has been going on for a few years now - I'm actually a little late to this party. What is new and different about it, compared to the toll painting of 20 years ago, is a lot of these projects have combined the absolutely beautiful paper that is available on the market today with the wood. There are a few businesses that have popped up that have absolutely adorable wood & paper projects. Here are the two that I know of:
I painted the sides of the wood blocks brown, and then traced the letters onto various fun papers, which were then distressed, and then mod-podged onto the wood. The papers were primarily from the Apple Cider line from American Crafts, and some are DCWV. Then I finished it all off with a finishing spray, and some raffia and buttons. Funny side note: I think the raffia that I have is older than my children! Do you remember when for a while raffia was everywhere? I bought a package of it about 15 years ago, probably the last time I was toll painting. Low and behold, I was able find it and dig it out of my bin o' odds and ends.
So there you have it - my first successful creation made from wood and paper. And I got it done just in time to have to start getting the Christmas decorations out... ;-)
This week I did something a little crazy. Even though I have about 3 bushels of apples in my house right now, and tomatoes to be made into salsa, I decided to craft!
I love Pinterest, and I have been seeing so many fun projects that are a combination of candlesticks and mason jars to make cute containers, or candle sticks and platters to make cake stands that I decided it was time to do a little experimenting. I saw someone once use glass candle holders to make the cutest pumpkins. She used vinyl for the face, and then filled the containers with orange marbles. So cute! Well, what can I say? I like food a lot more than I like marbles, so I decided to try a variation of that with cute Halloween candy. And then I thought, why not put the glass bowls on top of some fun candlesticks? Here's what I came up with:
What do you think? I'm really happy with how these turned out. Of coarse, my little pumpkin would look better if I had been able to find the candy corn M & M's like I wanted, but that's another story. All of the supplies were purchased at Hobby Lobby. To make them you will need:
Large glass bowl (from the floral department)
Small glass bowl (this one was in the candle department)
Large glass candlestick
Small glass candlestick
Lid - also from the candle department (normally used as a base for a pillar candle). It's not a really secure fit, but it works
Black tulle ribbon
Super incredibly strong glue that is intended for gluing glass. There are a number of adhesives that would probably do the job. I picked one called Omni-Stick because it dries clear and becomes dishwasher safe.
Black vinyl cut into jack-o-lantern shapes. I used some Snapdragon Snippets designs from the Silhouette online store
And here's where they are on display in my kitchen.
And here's what is below:
I have about 3 bushels of apples in my kitchen right now (this is not all of them). So far I have made 32 quarts of applesauce, 7 quarts of apple pie filling, and dried a lot of apples too. Today I thought I would experiment with my juicer:
So we'll see how that turns out. The rest of the apples are going to be turned into cider. A friend in our neighborhood has a cider press and has been kind enough to let us use it. I'll take pictures and post later on that. Oh, and all of this is coming from two apple trees. Ya, just two. It's been a good year for apples.
It has been a long, HOT summer! I'm sorry that I have been M.I.A., but as much as I love creating I love my family more. On that note, for those of you who are fans of My Pink Stamper, she made a very important announcement recently. I can relate all too well to her feelings and applaud her for her decision.
Where does that leave me? It's very liberating actually. I truly loved being a Pink Designer, but I tend to have tunnel vision when I'm working with a particular company. If a product doesn't work or can't be used with the products I'm demonstrating, I disregard them. I was a demonstrator for a stamp company for about 7 years and I had the same experience. So now it's like I get a fresh start! And I enjoy so much more than papercrafting!
I have been doing a little:
followed by a little:
So far I have bottle peaches, made peach jam, dried peaches, lots of peach cobbler, and today I think I may make some peach salsa! I do a lot of canning.
I've also been doing:
My tomato plants are usually prettier than this. It's been HOT and dry this summer.
followed by a little:
OK - the picture was of tomatoes, and this is tomatillo salsa, but you get the idea. The tomatoes aren't ready yet!
And there has been a lot of this:
I didn't know it was possible to produce this much laundry! During the summer you wear less clothes, right? Who know that all that swimming could produce so much laundry?
Soon I will be doing a lot of:
Concord grape juice or jelly anyone?
After that, it won't be long before we'll be enjoying:
Can you see my "Casper" pumpkin hiding in there? We have the most amazing pumpkin patch ever. Apparently it's a good idea to plant your pumpkins where the compost used to be. The Great Pumpkin is definitely coming to our house this year! ;-)
Last but not least, now that school has started, I hope to soon be doing more of:
I think it's really important to have a creative outlet. I love to work with my hands and there are so many crafty/homey things that I enjoy that I could probably putter around all day from one thing to the other. But I have 3 children, the youngest of whom is 5, and they are my top priority. That said, I also think it's extremely important that we, as women, spend time doing things we love - preferably while spending time with other women. We need each other! Honestly, I'm really bad at that part. I love being with my friends, but it's far to easy to get so busy with life and the family's needs that you completely forget your own. My goal over the next few months is to reestablish my priorities, find peace and joy in my family and the gospel of Jesus Christ, and invest some time in making a better me.
Welcome! This month at My Pink Stamper we are showcasing Robyn's newest release: Moo-ey Doodles. This set is available in a great kit that is available at Shop Pumpkin Spice.
What is it about crafting with cows that is so fun? I just love this set! Here are some of the projects I have created:
Moo-chas Gracias card - you can never have too many thank you cards, right?
Stamps: My Pink Stamper Moo-ey Doodles Paper: AC Cardstock Border Punch: American Crafts Knock-Out Border Punch Zig-Zag Accessories: Michaels (ribbon), green eyelets, Copic Markers, Diamond Glaze
Welcome Home Card - too bad I didn't have these a few months ago when I moved!
Stamps: My Pink Stamper Moo-ey Doodles Paper: AC Cardstock, DCWV, Doodlebug Design Inc. Comfy Cozy (background paper), and Doodlebug Design Inc Cute Cuts (house cut on inside of card) Border Punch: Fiskars Apron Lace Accessories: DCWV (buttons), Copic Markers, linen thread, baker's twine
Thanks for stopping by! If you haven't already, be sure to head over to My Pink Stamper so you can be inspired by all the designer's wonderful projects. I know I have been! Have a great day.
Welcome! I'm so glad that you have joined me for Pinkalicious Blog Hop Friday! If you arrived here from Angela's blog, then you're in the right place. If you arrived here on your own tonight, then I invite you to hop over to My Pink Stamper so you can begin at the beginning and see all of the wonderful projects in tonight's hop.
The theme for tonight's hop is a wonderful new set from My Pink Stamper called Moo-ey Doodles! Once again we have a great kit from Shop Pumpkin Spice, and a great new My Pink Stamper stamp pad: Texas Chocolate.
You can do such fun crafty things with cows, and this stamp set is no exception. I have been having so much fun with all the new line art stamps that Robyn has released recently. I love my Cricut, but sometimes you need to shake things up a little to get your creative juices flowing. It has been nice having a reason to sit down and color with my markers. Here's what I made:
Stamps: My Pink Stamper Moo-ey Doodles Cricut Cartridge: Plantin Schoolbook (ovals) Embossing: Cuttlebug Perfectly Paisley Border Punch: Martha Stewart Paper: Doodlebug Design Inc, AC Cardstock, Stampin Up Accessories: Baker's twine, Doodlebug Design Inc brad, Copic Markers
Thanks for stopping by! I hope tonight's projects will moo-tivate you to do some creating of your own! The next stop on the hop is Courtney at Court's Crafts. Happy hopping!
Do you craft for the pure joy of creating? Or do you actually make some money from your wares? I like to work with my hands, so I guess I could say that I started creating for the pure joy of it. It has come in handy in other ways too though. I have done the craft fair circuit selling my cards, I like to give handmade items as gifts (canning season is almost upon me and I will be bottling jams and salsa to be given as Christmas gifts and eaten of coarse), I have even traded handmade cards for piano lessons.
I also happen to teach classes at my local Joann. My favorite classes to teach are the Cricut how-to classes. I love taking people from being afraid to take their machine out of the box, to feeling confident and hopefully inspired to go home and get creating! Once in a while though, they ask me to teach some of their other papercrafting classes. It's at these times that I realize that I might have become a little, can I say, lazy in my creating.
These were a challenge for me! I know it's a little hard to tell from the picture, so let me explain. These are all ATC sized cards that are from the Spotted Canary class Sew Natural Photo Tree. They are intended to have photos placed on the back of the cards, mounted on a dowel and arranged in a vase. But I have found that for display purposes, it's better to arrange my samples in a way that they are mounted away from wandering fingers. These were all made using a Tim Coffey line of K & Company products. Can I just say, I didn't even know stuff like this existed! Well, maybe I know they existed, but I never really paid attention to them. Why would I? I have 2 Cricuts AND a Silhouette SD, so I guess I just don't think about buying pre-made cuts. And I certainly don't take the time to pull out my embroidery floss and hand stitch my projects. It was time consuming, and a little tedious, but I think they turned out beautifully. Hopefully the customers at my local Joann will think so too and want to take the class!
A friend of mine is turning 50 next week, and his wife wanted to surprise him with lots and lots of birthday cards coming in the mail. Isn't that fun? Turning 50 is one of those benchmark ages that can be hard for some people, so I decided a sense of humor was in order. On the inside I wrote that I hope he had an "incredible" birthday.
Stamp: My Pink Stamper Boy Crazy Cricut Cartridge: Best of Pixar Paper: AC Cardstock Accessories: Diamond Glaze, Copic Markers
Welcome! Today is the day that me and my fellow designers at My Pink Stamper showcase our projects, and the theme for this month is the new stamp set Yankee-Doodles! In case you missed it, this set was just released last Friday.
I have been having so much fun with this set! I just love these images, and I love this time of year. I decided to start my celebrations early by trying a new Cricut cartridge. I've had the Tags, Bags, Boxes & More 2 cartridge for a few months now, but I haven't been able to use it because it took me FOREVER to find one of the scoring tips locally. Not to mention, there was an update for the Gypsy, and an update for my Expression...
If you purchase this cartridge, my best advice to you is this - turn off the Material Saver function. Remember this one detail, and learning this new cartridge will be a much happier experience for you! Other than that, be prepared to use up some plain white cardstock (or whatever other color you have in abundance) while you play around with the cutting and scoring features. After trial and error, here is my project:
This is the "cracker" box that is found on the Tags, Bags, Boxes & More 2 cartridge. I know that I'll be using this one at Christmastime, but why not now? I thought the firecracker stamp was the perfect image to accompany a great little gift for a friend or neighbor, or maybe a party favor at an Independence Day celebration. I cut this box using the "Fit to Page" function on the Cricut, which on my Expression happened to be 8.8 inches. Now it's all ready to fill with salt water taffy, or maybe a couple of packages of snaps and some glow sticks.
Stamps: My Pink Stamper Yankee Doodles Cricut Cartridges: Tags, Bags, Boxes & More 2, Plantin Schoolbook (ovals) Paper: AC Cardstock, DCWV (gingham) Embellishments: Copic markers, baker's twine (Doodlebug Design), Stickles
Thanks for stopping by! If you haven't already, be sure to head over to My Pink Stamper so you can see all the wonderful projects made by my fellow designers.
It's time for another exciting new release from My Pink Stamper and I'm so glad you've joined us for the Blog Hop! We have once again partnered with the wonderful ladies at Shop Pumpkin Spice to introduce a new set as part of a great kit. The set that we are introducing this month is Yankee Doodles:
The kit comes with everything you see pictured, and they sell out quickly, so act fast. You can purchase the Yankee Doodles kit here. Join us for My Pink Stamper live and you can have the chance to win your very own kit! Also available for purchase is the new MPS Darkest Night Hybrid ink pad which is the perfect accessory to go with the kit. You will love using this stamp pad with the ProMarkers. Do you want to see what I made?
You can't make a 4th of July layout without adding some bling, right? I have been having so much fun coloring, and I just love this color palette.
Stamps: My Pink Stamper Yankee-Doodles Cricut Cartridge: George & Basic Shapes (circles and stars), Plantin Schoolbook (scallop border, welded with the Gypsy) Paper: DCWV, AC Cardstock (red, dark blue, medium blue cardstock, blue & white stars glitter paper), The Paper Studio (red glitter paper) Accessories: Stickles, misc. buttons, Copic markers, Promarkers
Thanks so much for stopping by! The next step on the hop is Carissa from Sprinkled with Glitter. I have also included the entire blog hop order below. Happy Hopping!
Welcome! Thanks for joining me today for the My Pink Stamper Design Team Post for May. Me and my fellow designers are having a blast playing with Robyn's new line of image stamps, and today we are featuring Girlie Doodles, and Girlie Sayings:
And here's what I made:
So who knew, but the Paper Dolls cartridges work perfectly with the Girlie Doodles stamp set. I cut this little girl at 4.5 inches, which was the perfect size to coordinate with the hat and the bag in the stamp set. Imagine making a bunch of paper dolls, and then stamping a hats and purses that a little girl could color herself. I think that would make a great gift!
Stamps: My Pink Stamper Girlie Doodles, Girlie Sayings Ink: My Pink Stamper Darkest Night Black Hybrid Ink Cricut Cartridge: Paper Doll Dress-Up Border Punch: Martha Stewart Paper: Stampin Up, AC Cardstock Accessories: Recollections (pearls), Copic markers, Offray (ribbon)
If you haven't already, be sure to head over to My Pink Stamper so you can see all of the wonderful Design Team members' projects. Have a wonderful day!
Any other Pinterest addicts out there? I don't know if I have quite reached addict stage yet (yet!) but I really enjoy checking out all the latest pins from my friends and family. Who would have thought that a website that is just pictures could be so fun and so inspiring! You have to be a little bit careful though, especially when it comes to trying recipes. I once saw a pin for "edible glitter", that when you clicked through to the original website, it was actually a recipe for non-toxic glitter - made from salt! Ack!
I have had a few success stories though. Most recently I tried this:
What is refrigerator oatmeal? Personally, I would call this more of a muesli. The end result is YUM-E! I have three growing children, two of which are tween girls that are eating me out of house and home. We've kind of been a cold cereal family. I grew up eating cold cereal, I like cold cereal, my family likes cold cereal, and cold cereal (if you get the good stuff) can be fairly healthy. It's darned expensive though, especially when your family is eating two bowls of the stuff. These really are as yummy as they look, and fairly inexpensive to make - especially if you make your own yogurt, which I do. The only suggestion that I would make, is if you try the Banana Cocoa version, I would use (maybe) 1 tsp of cocoa instead of the 1 tbsp. I think my favorite is the blueberry maple. My family likes them too. Well, except for maybe my husband. He thinks I'm trying to kill him when I make anything healthy for him. I think the chia seeds were a little too much for him to think about...
I am having so much fun with these new stamp sets! If you haven't seen them already, Robyn at My Pink Stamper has released line art! Here are a couple more projects:
Paper: DCWV, AC Cardstock, Doodlebug Design Border Punch: Martha Stewart Accessories: Diamond Glaze, Pearl gems, (Recollections), Color Me Crazy Flowers
Welcome! If you arrived here from My Pink Stamper then you're in the right place. If you arrived here on your own today, I invite you to hop over to My Pink Stamper so you can begin at the beginning. I'm so excited that you have decided to join us today for this very special blog hop celebrating the My Pink Stamper newest stamp release. My Pink Stamper stamps are so much more than our favorite phrases now. Robyn has released line art stamps! There are two sets in this release, and for today's hop we are featuring:
And last, but certainly not least is my project featuring the Birthday Doodles stamp set:
Stamps: My Pink Stamper Birthday Doodles Cuts: Silhouette Nesting Scallop, circle Paper: DCWV Blossoms & Butterflies, Stampin Up, not sure where the polka dots came from (hee hee) Border Punch: American Crafts Knock Outs Scallop Embellishments: Stickles, gem, American Crafts ribbon, Color Me Crazy flowers, Copic Markers
The stamps and tumblers go on sale at 12:00 PM CST, in limited quantities, and if you order by 3:00 pm CST your order will be shipped today via Priority shipping for free! Also, be sure to leave a comment at My Pink Stamper and then join us for My Pink Stamper Live at 11:30 am CST. One lucky viewer will win a free Birthday Doodles kit, and that will be announced at 11:45 am on My Pink Stamper Live.
Thanks so much for stopping by! The next stop on the hop is Carissa at Sprinkled with Glitter. I have also included the entire blog hop list below. Have fun!
Happy Mothers Day to all women. Whether you have children of your own or not, women have the opportunity to nurture and bless the lives of all with whom they come in contact.
If life is art, then the art of my life would be filled with my family, faith, good food, and beautiful music. I believe that everyone needs to have a creative outlet, and my medium of choice is paper!
kschenckATbresnanDOTnet