Prepping for the Craft Show, Part 1

Craft show season is upon me once again! So while the weather was gorgeous this weekend, I was working away on the porch (out of the sun!) on the latest batch of Modge-Podge projects. :)

I love how well my tile coasters come out (and honestly, how well the sell at the shows!) so I was working away making more of those. Gotta keep those designs fresh! My almost-brother-in-law had the great idea of making trivets as well to coordinate with the coasters so I'm giving those a try this time as well.

I started off upstairs during nap time cutting up all my new papers. I have to say, the new Recollections pads from Michael's are ADORABLE!

Small squares are coasters, larger ones are trivets

Aren't they pretty? I love how well they cut up and coordinate

I'm such a sucker for nature prints

After slicing & dicing, outside I went to start putting them on my tiles. They're looking so pretty!

Yes, you DO see clothespins in the back! I FINALLY found the large clothespins again!!! Yay!!! They got decked out in fun kitchen-y paper and will have their recipe cards added to them soon. I haven't seen any of them in my local stores since January. It's been killing me not to have them!

After all the clothespins and trivets dried up, it was time to work on the coasters. It's so nice being able to be outside - everything dries so fast!

How do I know when I have enough coasters? When the table is full!

Other angle. I love the new patterns!

Ok, time to hit 'play' on the Cookie Monster DVD again...or so I'm told. :) Besides, I need to get back to work on magnets!

Happy Crafting!

Lawnscaping Challenge - Coloring, part 1

Whee...now on from Easter cards to a different kind of spring time renewal: babies! Seems like many of my family and friends are having them at the moment. Not only did my sister-in-law make me an Auntie right before Easter, but a friend of the family is due in July as well! More boys for my little boy to play with, yay!

Of course, I had to start with a girl card just to get it out of my system:

I stamped the background using the Lawn Fawn Plus One set and colored them all in with watercolor pencils. I layered some green shimmer paper scraps around the edging to create a binding and have it look like a little baby blanket. I made stitching with a white gel pen, but you really can't see it. Boo. Next time, darker gel pen. The little stroller is from Plus One as well and I colored it up to match the blanket colors. So sweet and girly...with no girls to give it to!

Come see all the entries over on the Lawnscaping Challenge blog. I'll brb with my little boy card!

Craft Show Season is Coming...

...and boy am I not quite ready! Yes, that's where I've been instead of blogging: locked in the craft room coming up with items to replace all of my holiday things. Somehow I don't think people want to buy Christmas ornaments in March...I could be wrong, but better to play it safe. I've been scouring the web for cute ideas and collecting them on my Pinterest board. Of course, the time has come to stop collecting and start making, especially since the first show of the year is this Saturday!  Eeep!

So while I'm about to head upstairs and start assembling magnetic grocery lists, here's a peek of what my dining room table looked like Tuesday:

Of course that's my coffee cup. Like I craft without it?!?

Yup, tile coasters! I made up an entire case of them (one case = 80 tiles). There they sit, drying, hoping that no kitty or toddler gets their grubby paws on them. (Thankfully they were safe, but it was a valid concern.)

Closer shots of the patterns (yeah, they're not great, but it was my camera phone into direct sunlight. Give me some credit!)

One half of the table...

...second half of the table

They came out really cute. Now hopefully they'll all get nice homes on Saturday! If you're in the area, stop by the Johnstown High School and adopt a few sets, hmm? :)

Ok, off to play with grocery lists and Modge Podge...erm, though not together.

Happy Crafting!

Take a Note!

I've been hunting the web for new ideas for craft shows. Hopefully I'll be in two come March and was faced with the problem of what to fill the table with instead of, oh, Christmas ornaments...I know, what a thought. In my wanderings I came across these cute little Post-it note clipboards and had to try them myself.

Ridiculously cute, right?? Off to Staples I went to stock up on Post-it notes and binder clips (two of my favorite things). They're so, SO simple to make as well! Here's what you need:

• chipboard or really stiff cereal box cardboard cut to 4"x4" for the base
• pretty paper cut to 4"x4", two pieces for each clipboard
• medium-sized binder clip
• more pretty paper cut to 1.25"x2"
• adhesive
• sandpaper
• ribbon
• corner rounder or crop-a-dile
• Post-its

From here, it's really simple. Take your chipboard and put a piece of the 4"x4" paper on each side, sticking it down with adhesive. While that dries/sits, cover your binder clip with the smaller paper strip tacking it down with adhesive on each side. Round the edges of your chipboard with your crop-a-dile, corner rounder, or scissors. Use the sandpaper to even out all the edges and give it a slightly rustic look. Clip the Post-its to the chipboard with your decorated binder clip, tie a ribbon on it, and you're done! Here's how mine came out:

I'd love to see how yours come out if you try the project! Happy crafting!

Here's where I'm linking up to this week:

Time to Get Organized!

So my craft room had sort of gotten to the point where it was, well, a semi-organized mess. I knew it wasn't great, but with craft shows and the holidays there simply wasn't time to clean up. I started thinking about organizing again while at Target...their dollar bins had letter trays and assorted organizers. Ok, time to clean!

I spent two hours the other night sorting, sifting, filing, organizing, and tossing. It was almost embarrassing how many canvas boxes I had still in their wrappers! Those I used for my Cricut cartridges, Sizzix supplies, and boxes of card blanks. Those along with my Cricut, Big Kick, and new Spellbinder machine fit nicely in the one corner.

The wood you see is my laundry rack. Great in the summer, too cold this time of year!

Moving all of those around freed up space on my side table. There my stamps were slightly reorganized (I moved Christmas/winter to their own bin), Sharpies neatened in their bin, stamp pads sorted, and my assorted 'other things' neatened. Now I had space to add a letter tray for finished projects, one for open online orders, and get my tin o' templates where I can actually find it!

Business cards & mailing inserts are right by outgoing orders...think of it!

Next up was my work space...ugh. Paper scraps were taking up the majority of it, followed by punches, partially completed projects, pieces leftover from projects that could still be used...yeah, it was a mess. I started by using my $2.50 Target find - an over-the-door shoe organizer! It fit nearly all of my punches, just the really big ones are left on the table.

Tiny ones bunched together nicely and seasonal is on the bottom

After another 30-40 minutes of figuring out what was left on my table, it cleaned up well. The large paper scraps I moved to an empty 12"x12" scrapbook paper container I had picked up exactly for that purpose. All of my card base paper I use all the time I tucked under the table (easy when my "table" is actually a huge piece of wood on top of a bunk bed!). Out of the way, nice and flat, and very close by when I'm making cards.

Chipboard, envelopes, kraft paper...and it must be Valentine time with all that pink & red!

That cleaned off a LOT of space up top! I put stamps back away, moved Christmas back to its storage bins, and threw out some scraps that were miniscule and I was silly to keep. Now I had room to put my standard tools where the punches had lived, get my cutter out of the way, and had a much more manageable stack of scraps. The last letter tray I used to corral all those bits 'n pieces I was keeping so they don't get lost or destroyed. I left out the season I was currently on (Valentines!) but hey, there was actually room to do so! Wow!

A much, MUCH more organized end of the table!

Now I actually have room to lay out my supplies for whatever I'm working on AND have a ton of space leftover to work. See, I was already painting puzzle pieces!

My new, clean workbench! Yes, that is a Care Bear in the corner...he keeps me company

It was so great being reorganized that I made four cards last night - woohoo! It's amazing what you can do when you can find your supplies. :)

If you're curious about what the puzzle pieces were for, take a look in the shop: You're the Perfect Match

How have you organized your crafting space? I'd love to hear from you!

Happy Crafting!

Lawnscaping Challenge #26 Winter Wonderland

Where has the week gotten to?? We finally have snow here which helped with my inspiration for this week's Lawnscaping Challenge. Of course between snowshoeing, helping a friend build a deck (I was the only one he trusted to cut 45 degree angles on the miter saw - go me!), general running around, and spending some quality time in the craft room here it is Saturday already and I'm just sitting down to write!

So this week's challenge was Winter Wonderland, something that has finally happened around here! I was really excited about this one. My Christmas present to myself this year was a Sizzix Big Kick and a bunch of cartridges that were on deep sale on Black Friday. My husband was thrilled because then he had an easy time shopping for me this year...hehehe... I had picked up one of the snowman cartridges (cartridges? punches? someone correct me if my terminology is off, please!) and a snowflake embossing folder. Better still, the Lawn Fawn Ornate Ornaments stamp set that I have includes a snowflake stamp - perfect! Put them all together and see what you get:

Isn't he adorable?? I love how he came out. Here's how it started out:

What I used:

• white linen cardstock (paperandmore.com)
• purple striped scrapbook paper (my stash)
• brown cardstock (stash)
• black cardstock (bazzill)
• purpley/bluey cardstock, cut to 5.25"x4" (bazzill)
• orange metallic cardstock (paperandmore.com)
• white glitter cardstock (Joann's)
• ivory linen cardstock, measures 5.5"x4.25" when closed (paper and more)
• Memento Paris Blue ink
• dark gray rhinestones, two sizes (Michael's)
• clear Stickles
• silver Stickles
• Lawn Fawn Ornate Ornaments stamps
• Spellbinders snowflake embosser
• Sizzix snowman cartridge
• glue
• Zots 3D

Start off by making your card base. Emboss the purpley/bluey cardstock with the snowflake background and attach to the base card. Cut a piece of the white glitter cardstock to fit across the entire width of the card, then freehand cut it to make it look like a snow mound (I had this piece left over from cutting out larger snowmen). Attach it to the front of the card as well. Using the little snowflake in the Ornate Ornaments set and the Paris Blue ink, make some snowflakes floating down from the sky.

Cut out the snowman using the Sizzix cartridge. This is where the rest of the paper is used! You could probably use fabric for the scarf as well, but I loved this pattern for a scarf. To assemble and attach him I used glue on the scarf, carrot nose, and arms to attach them to the snowman. I then used the 3D Zots to attach the snowman to the card, putting him where I thought he looked cute on the snow mound. One last Zot for the hat right onto the card and he was assembled!

I then went back and decorated the hat with the silver Stickles and the snowman with the clear Stickles, just to give his snow some sparkle. Rhinestones for his eyes and buttons and we have a snowman!

On the inside I simple wrote "Thanks 'snow' much!" for a sentiment and the card was done! It was nice to build a snowman inside where it's nice and warm.

Have you built any real or paper snowmen lately? I'd love to see them!

Happy Crafting!

Homemade Coasters

It was a very handmade Christmas at our house. Not only was it a financially-sound option, but it was really satisfying to see someone really excited about gifts we made them.

For my sister and her fiance we made two sets of handmade coasters. Each set had four coasters and were actually very simple to make. We did one set with a monogram (luckily, their last names start with the same letter! It's even funnier that the same thing was true with my husband & I...lol) and the second set was with kitties & a puppy. They have several cats and a dog so it was fitting to give a nod to their furbabies as well.

So, how did we make them?

Warning: the photos came out awful! I had no idea until after the holidays, of course...sigh...

•  4"x4" ceramic tiles that we found at Lowe's for $0.16/each
• Mod Podge, matte finish
• spray Mod Podge, matte finish
• 3/4" felt furniture circles, 4/tile
• foam brush
• 4"x4" design*

*for these personalized tiles I made up my artwork in Photoshop, but you could easily use scrapbooking paper as well

Trim up your paper to 4"x4" and set aside. Lay out your tiles on a covered surface and get your Mod Podge ready. Lightly coat your first tile with Mod Podge and carefully lay your paper over the top. Smooth it out to remove all the bubbles and set aside to let dry. Keep smoothing bubbles around the edges as needed while it dries and don't be afraid to go back in with your finger and more Mod Podge to tack it all down. Continue for all of your tiles and let them all sit & dry.

Once dry, give them a second coat of Mod Podge. Once that coat is dry, spray them all with the spray Mod Podge to give it a sealant against spilled liquids...coasters do seem to attract those. (ba-dum-bump) Once everything is dry (we let them sit for a day or so), apply the felt circles on the bottom to give them that non-skid goodness we expect from coasters. Ta da, beautiful handmade coasters that didn't break the bank!

Monogram coasters with the letter 'L'

 

Kitty and puppy coasters

If you're Photoshop-savvy, here's how you make the custom artwork: open a new file and size it to 4"x4". Let your creative self go crazy! You can fit four printouts on a standard letter-size sheet for printing ease. I used a lightweight cardstock and I would not recommend going heavier.

Where did I get the idea for making coasters? Pinterest, of course! I am truly loving that site...all crafters should hang out on there. Feel free to follow my boards on there for inspiration of your own! If you do make coasters, please let me know so I can see how they came out.

Happy Crafting!