Friday, December 26, 2014

Have A Moo-tiful Day!

Hello everyone!

Thought I'd share a birthday card I've recently created using the Birthday Farm Animals stamp set from Simon Says Stamp.



This card was super quick and easy to put together.  I used copics to color in the adorable farm animals, die cut the animals out, adhered them on a sheet of wood print cardstock (I used scotch foam tape to pop up the cow), and then matted that on some polka dots! After it was all assembled, I added some Stickles to the balloon and Wink of Stella to the party hats, cupcake, and birthday banner!

You can find the stamp set here and the coordinating die set here.

I am just starting to teach myself how to color with copics and I almost just color with them like a kid colors, with no shading or gradients (although I do try to shade, it just doesn't seem to stand out sometimes).

Do you enjoy using copics?

Thursday, December 18, 2014

Little Tangles Challenge: Bling Bling


Today I am delighted to be contributing as a guest over on the Little Tangles challenge blog.  I am absolutely over the moon that I was asked to join in! This challenge this week is Bling Bling.  The card I created helped merge my crafty side with my nerdy side!


When Neat and Tangled came out with the A Long Time Ago and Time Warp stamp sets, I didn't even hesitate to snatch them up! They were perfect for this challenge.  To me, nothing is more blingy or sparkly than space and millions of stars! 

I started by using Distress Inks in Peeled Paint, Faded Jeans, Chipped Saphire, and Dusty Concord on the background.  I started with the lightest color and moved darker while randomly placing the color. 

For the stamping, I used VersaMark Ink with Hero Arts white embossing powder to make it pop.  

Silver stars and Wink of Stella were added for the finishing touches. (I *promise* there is Wink of Stella on them- it just doesn't photograph well! I concentrated it in the middle and swiped it in the direction of the space lines.)

After I created the middle panel I matted it onto silver glitter paper and black cardstock.

Here are some close ups.



If you'd like to play along, check out the Little Tangles Blog and join in on the Bling Bling challenge.  





Wednesday, December 17, 2014

That time of year...

Time to send out your Christmas cards!

I hope everyone is having a fantastic holiday season.  More importantly I hope you were able to get Christmas cards out before I did this year (hint: mine just went out today!).  However, if you weren't lucky enough to create yours yet, or you forgot (ha!), I'd like to show you what I threw together and hopefully inspire you to create yours!

The following cards were all made using the Simon Says Stamp Ugly Sweater Stamp and Die Kit found HERE


 




I hope that this inspires you to create some holiday cards if you haven't already! 

Monday, October 27, 2014

Yummy in a Jar

Who doesn't love miniture desserts? Well I can't resis them! Especially when it comes to apple pie!

Last weekend I had an pretty great weekend with some awesome girls and I wanted to make them a little something! With fall among us, I really want pie of all kinds all the time.  I get this way every year, but with eating healthy lately I don't want to spoil my hard work on dessert.  So I got to thinking there had to be a way to have pie without managing to overindulge.

Hello mason jars!

I figure people put all kinds of dessert into mason jars so I decided to put my apple pie recipe into pint sized jars and make everyone their own personal pie.

I started with pre-made pie crust (because let's face it- it was easier) and cut it into fouths.  Each mason jar got a fourth of the crust.  I used a wooden mortar to make the process of getting the crust into the jar just a tad easier.  Drape the crust over the mortar, turn the jar upside down, and then slide the jar over the mortar.  Then use your fingers to press the dough to the sides of the jar.  I probably spent way too much time on the crust since I was being a perfectionist and didn't want any holes.

Next, fill your crust with any type of pie you like! I filled mine with apple pie.  If you make a pie with fruit, be sure to dice the fruit up smaller than you normally would so it fits better in the jars.

Then, I used a cookie cutter to cut a piece of dough to put on the top pie to fit into the mason jar.

Here's a look at the pies before I put them in the oven.


I baked them for about 16 minutes a piece.  Be sure to let them cool completely before putting the lids on the jars.

I then custom made labels with my Silhouette to put on top of the lids and tied some wooden spoons onto the jars with some twine.  Here is the end result!


I really enjoyed seeing everyone love their personal pies! Jennifer seemed to really like hers!



I hope mason jar pies are all in your future after this post!

Let me know in the comments below what your favorite pie is!

Tuesday, September 30, 2014

Everyone Needs a Little Glitter!

What girl doesn't like a little extra glitter? I do!

A few weeks ago my mom and I were hosting a bridal shower for a childhood friend of mine and we wanted to do something special for the favors.  I immediately took to Pinterest to look for a unique DIY gift.  I saw some glitter wine glasses and just had to make them!

Here are the supplies you will need:
  • Wine glasses (I got mine cheap at IKEA)

  • Acetone

  • Cotton balls

  • Martha Stewart Crafts Decoupage Glue in Gloss Finish

  • Martha Stewart Crafts Fine Glitter

  • Sponge Paintbrushes

  • Krylon Acrylic Spray Pain

  • Press n Seal or Saran Wrap

Step by Step:
  1. Clean the area of the glass you'd like to decorate using a cotton ball soaked in acetone.

  2. Use a foam paintbrush to paint a coat of decoupage onto the wine glass (I decided to only do the stems of the glass).

  3. Sprinkle glitter over the decoupage while it's still wet.

  4. Let the glitter and decoupage set.

  5. Repeat steps 2-4 if one layer of glitter wasn't enough.

  6. Let glasses sit overnight.

  7. The next day, use Press n Seal to "tape" off any part of the glass where there isn't glitter.

  8. Spray the Krylon Acrylic Spray over all the glitter in light even burts.

  9. Apply 3-4 coats of Krylon Acrylic Spray.

  10. Let sit overnight.

  11. Wash glass by hand, drink, and enjoy!

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We decidecd to put the girls names on the glasses with some ribbon and tags.

Hope you enjoyed this tutorial and can't wait to see what you create!


Please note: These glasses can only be handwashed.  We have washed ours a few times now and no glitter has been removed but be careful with cleaning them.

Tuesday, September 23, 2014

Zinzinnati!!

I promise I know how to spell Cincinnati! But this weekend was Homecoming for UC and our theme for Homecoming was Zinzinnati Oktoberfest! This year I was a float judge for the 3rd year in a row! I really enjoy judging the floats because I get to see all the work that went into them close up! Having a great seat to watch the parade helps too!

I really enjoyed that UC incorporated the Oktoberfest theme into Homecoming since it was also the same weekend in Cincinnati! It made for a great atmosphere and bigger crowds.

This year, since Nippert Stadium is under construction, our Homecoming parade was held down at The Banks between the Reds stadium and the Bengals stadium! I'm enjoying having this seasons games down at Paul Brown Stadium because we can tailgate and also have lots of restaurants and bars around the stadium for before and after the game!

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Sunday, September 21, 2014

One Happy Whovian

This weekened was without a doubt an epic experience!

Why you ask? I got to meet the 8th Doctor at the Cincinnati Comic Expo!

(He even signed my book, spontaneously hugged me and *gasp* kissed me on the cheek! Yes- I had a fangirl moment!)

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If you have never watched Doctor Who before, you may not understand why I find this SO awesome!  So let me explain.  I have been a Doctor Who fan (or as we call ourselves: a Whovian) for quite some time! Doctor Who is the longest running science fiction show in history and first aired in 1963.  Even though it is the longest running TV series, it has had quite a few actors play the role of the Doctor, 12 to be exact.  The show is marvoloues because it can get away with changing the actor who plays the main character by having him "regenerate" into a different actor.

Unforunately, I have come to realize that as a Whovian, we cannot fully explain the greatness of Doctor Who to a non-watcher without sounding completely insane while doing it! So I won't try to here! But I will urge anyone who hasn't seen the show to please go to Netflix and do so.  You'll thank me later.

Here are some of my other favorite moments from the Comic Expo this weekend!

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So let me leave you with some wise words from the Doctor.

“We’re all stories, in the end. Just make it a good one, eh?”
— The Doctor, Season 5, Episode 13


Monday, September 15, 2014

I've got sunshine...

Good for you if you didn't sing the rest of those lyrics after you read the title of this post! I had it stuck in my head while I was making this cake!

This past weekend I made a smash cake for Kinley, an adorable one year old.  Her theme was sunshine and this was what I came up with!

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I was so happy to hear she dug into the cake a tiny bit when it was time! One of these days a kid will just destroy a smash cake I make! Isn't she just such a cutie?

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So glad I got to see Elise when I dropped of the cake! I don't see her often enough and can't wait to spend Halloween with her in New Orleans! 

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Hope everyone has a little sunshine in their week! 

Sunday, August 10, 2014

Project Life Storage

Hey there crafty people! I have not posted on my blog in forever and I wanted to fix that.

Lately I have been working on purging, cleaning, and organizing my craft space. I am feeling so much better now that there is less in my space and organizing has been pretty fun.  Today I have come up with my ideal storage solution for Project Life cards! I'm pretty happy with how it turned out!

The cart and main plastic divider are from IKEA (Links to find everything will be at the bottom of the post.) The four front bundles of cards are in little paper boxes I made with my Silhouette (the pattern for the box is the "3d vertical journaling card storage box" by Lori Whitlock) and I only used the smaller boxes of the pattern.

Here is a top view just to show just how much you can fit in the cart!

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From the front, you can see the dividers I created with my Silhouette to divide my sets of Project Life cards. (Side note: See that little basket on the side holding my Stickles? It's the Bygel container from IKEA and they hang beautifully off the side of the cart!)

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A close up of the dividers:

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Here you can see how the box I made on my Silhouette fits up and under the Antonius divider.  I had to slightly angle the divider up and slip the boxes under before setting the divider down.  Then I  filled them up!

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Hope this helps you with organizing your Project Life cards!


LINKS:

The Raskog IKEA cart can be found here.

The Antonius divider from IKEA can be found here.

The Bygel containers can be found here

The Silhouette box file can be found here.

The Silhouettte divider file can be found here.