Enjoy the Journey {and craft something!}

Happy Saturday! Here it is noon-time and I am still in my jammies, I have been crafting all morning with the kids and the household has been very peaceful. I recently re-arranged my craft room and found all sorts of treasures I had forgotten about. there is something about moving stuff around that makes it fresh and new all over again. I made this card today using a SU! set that I bought last year (and only stamped once-oh the shame!) and my I-Top brad maker that I got as a gift last year and forgot about (double the shame) and the paper was actually scraps lying next to my paper trimmer ready for the garbage. You see, the scraps were too small to file away but too pretty to toss so I made this card:

 

I don’t know about you but I love creating a card from scraps that would otherwise be tossed in the recycle bin, it makes me feel so resourceful!

So, as I was saying about the re-arranging of your spaces, here are some reasons to do it from time to time:

1. You will have different supplies at eye level, it will make them more convenient to use. It will also be inspiring because you won’t be looking at the same old junk…er, I mean treasures everyday.
2. A reorganized craft room will make you want to create and also because everything looks nice and is so handy you will want to creat more! C’mon, if your craft area is a dumpy corner of a guest bedroom how inspiring is that? Spruce it up girl, you are a crafter, you have the skills!
3. Stores do this and they call it merchandising, even if they have no new product they move stuff around so it looks new to their customers, think of you craft room as a cute shop where you can get anything you want, how fun!
4. You deserve this. Fix up your craft area, even if it is just a card table in the corner with some plastic carts shoved underneath. You can always add a table-cloth and a cute tool caddy (cover some soup cans with pretty paper-you don’t need to buy something new) and make it a space you want to be. There is no excuse folks;) If I can make a corner of my unfinished basement a retreat you can work with what you’ve got too!

Thanks for listening to may rant. Maybe you can find a couple spare hours to spruce up your craft area this weekend, if the kids are underfoot set them down with beads and string and they will learn to love your craft area as much as you do! Plus if the kids are busy crafting than mommy can get some crafting time in too. Have a great weekend and til next time happy crafting!

Camping fun!

Anyone planning on camping this weekend? Last night (because I was too lazy to cook a proper meal) I make a campfire and let the kids roast hot-dogs for supper. I was impressed with the fire I made too, it lasted for 2 hours. when I started it I stuck some potatoes wrapped in aluminum foil in the bottom of the fire and forgot about them until the file went to ash, oh my they were FABULOUS! Who knew you could bake potatoes in a camp fire? You just need to start them an hour before everything else! Here are a couple of camping pages I made with the camping line of papers and brads from BoBunny:

 

The banner and letters are from Pink Persimmon, I love adding banners for a quick and easy title, I stamped directly on my background paper:

 

Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend and til next time happy crafting!

40% off today at Lindsay’s!

Howdy folks, just a quick note that everything at Lindsay’s stamp Stuff is 40% off til midnight tonight so go check it out!

I have a couple new sets released this week including a fun, funky retro paper pack called Mod Summer.

Don’t wait the 40% off sale at Lindsay’s Stamp Stuff is over at midnight tonight!

Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!

A Sock Monkey Birthday Card!

I love to make cards for kids and one of my go-to stamp sets for making a quick kid card (say that 3 times fast!) is the Sock Monkey stamp set from Stampin up.

 

Isn’t he cute? The trick to making it quick and easy is watercoloring. And I mean easy, I just slap on the paint and I do not worry about staying in the lines because I will cut it out. To show you how sloppy I am here is a look at the banners I stamped and painted for the card. This awesome set is from the Banner Set (Small) clear stamp set from Pink Persimmon, I add these cute little banners to EVERYTHING!

 

Neatness does not count if you are going to cut it out! Save time and have fun and paint OUTSIDE the lines! Yes, you are a REBEL! Be proud 😉

Here is a straight-on view of the card. I am trying something new and photographing my cards made on white cardstock against black, what do you think? I can never tell what looks better 😉 also I have to point out that the layout and paper I chose was a happy accident, I took the few scraps left over from a scrapbook page, matted them on white and pieced them together. Actually I had the background done and sitting on my desk ready to go when I started to stamp. Also I punched 3 small 3/8″ circles from green cardstock and embossed the back of them with a stylus on a mouse-pad to make fake eyelets. So really it was mostly scraps here, a card from leftovers, gotta love that! Oh, another great thing about watercolor is that you can use the cheap GP cardstock and it looks as good as any other, not so with markers, so let’s hear a big hurrah for watercolor!

That’s  it for today ant til next time happy crafting!

A manly anniversary card!

I hope you are having a great Monday! Last week my husband and I celebrated out 10th anniversary and here is the card I made:

I stamped the game spinner (Stampin’ Up-Take a Spin set) twice, one with black pigment ink and once with red and cut out the anniversary piece and glued it over the same spot on the black stamped image. I first tried using watercolor markers to multi color ink it all at once but it did not stamp as well as i liked, the pigment ink gave much crisper results. I used the beach/seaside themed paper from Graphic 45 (man, it pains me to cut into any of my G45 papers, they are so pretty!) and I made faux brads by punching 3/8″ circles and rubbing them on a mouse pad with a stylus (there is a great tutorial here on splitcoast on making these but I don’t think it is necessary to make the cardstock template, just rub them on the back in a circular motion with a large ball end stylus.)

That’s it for me today, it is so nice out I’m hitting the beach! Til next time happy crafting!

Easy Earrings {you can make in minutes!}

I hope you are having a great weekend! The weather is beautiful in my neck of the woods and I am enjoying lots of time outdoors. No one wants to be stuck inside on a beautiful day, even so sometimes you just get that itch to create. How about some quick and easy earrings that you can make with simple tools in under 5 minutes? Sounds good to me! You will need: Round nose pliers, wire cutter, headpins, “fish hook” earwires and beads. Check out the video and see how easy it is!

My kids saw me making these and they wanted to get in on th action (especially when they found out that I sold mine for $5 a pair at a local craft shop) and my son made 11 pairs to sell and the proceeds are going towards a drum kit, one of my daughters made 9 pairs and she wants a piano, I made 11 pairs and I’ll be buying earplugs LOL! Just kidding, I totally encourage my kids to make lots of constructive noise! Look how pretty all the earrings look packages up, I think they will be hot sellers 😉

Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!

Chic Double-Duty Party Favors and DIY Cakestand!

First off I want to remind you that Everything at Lindsay’s Stamp Stuff is 35% off through Saturday! OK now that the business is done let’s have some fun! I love making cute party favors for my parties but what’s better is when the favors actually serve as party decor, check out this paper cake made with the Cake Favor Box SVG kit:

Isn’t that fun? The bottom layer of the cake is 12 individual cake slice boxes. I cut them out with Sure Cuts a lot software and my electronic die cut Each box cuts in seconds, then you just need to score, fold and glue. The boxes open on the end so they can be opened without destroying them, great for make ahead favors!

Here is a quick party decorating tip: Use pretty wrapping paper (the black and white damask print is from the dollar spot at Target) as a table runner! It adds a lot of style and cost’s next to nothing!

The kit comes with cupcake wrappers and fancy labels too, I love coordinated party decorations!

So, I was trying to think of a way to make a cute cake stand and it hit me:

I simply covered a tin can with pretty paper and placed a shallow round casserole dish on it! It is so easy and you can make as many as you need for a party then everything can be put back afterward (no awkward cake stands to find a home for) also it is nice because party food looks so much nicer displayed at different heights and levels. You could even dress up the bottom of the can with crepe paper fringe or a ribbon ruffell.

Here is a look at the Cake Box Favor SVG kit.  There are printable templates in the kit too as well as a SCUT2 file with the above project all laid out for you for best use of cardstock.

Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!

Some Scrappin’ and some SALEin’ going on!

Hi there! I decided that since this is my birthday month, and I turned 35, I should have a 35% off sale in my Lindsay’s Stamp Stuff MyGrafico shop {better late than never right?}

I mentioned earlier how I have been lacking creative mojo this week and was making myself forge ahead and create but I want to amend that a bit…create something a little different than usual. If you usually paint, try knitting, if you usually make cards create a scrapbook page instead…and that is what I did! I used the paper dolls from the Laundry Kids SVG set to create the dolls in these pages of my daughters bridging from Daisy to Brownie Girl Scouts:

Now let me point out the “moldy-oldie” products on these pages: Chipboard letters at least 5 years old from the Dollar Spot at Target, “Clipper Clips” from Around The Block holding a folded daisy to the edge of the page and a journal tag to the lower page. The stamp set that the journal tag came from (Autumn Leaves) is a couple of years old and the silk flowers go back 8 years….no, I am not a horder. 🙂 And because I have twins I had to make a page featuring each of them {well, DUH.}

The Laundry Kids SVG set is really versatile, I cut a bunch of extra dolls and outfits from paper scraps so my girls could play with them. This is a great way to use up your scraps! You can mix and match the separated to create unlimited outfits! I made the vest by cutting the tank top in half, easy peasy and it is on sale too! Here is a look at the kit:

Thanks for stopping by and be sure to check out the 35% off birthday sale at Lindsay’s Stamp Stuff going on now through Saturday! Til next time happy crafting!

Stamp something, you’ll feel better!

Happy Wednesday folks! I have been suffering from a lack of creative mojo this week but if there is one thing I have found is that the best way to get out of a funk is just to make yourself create. This won’t win any prizes but at least I made something {and it is always good to have extra “guy” cards on hand.} Also I like how the card looks like and old-fashioned radio;)

 

I punched some pattern paper circles and placed them face down on a mouse pad and rubbed over them in a circular motion with a large ball end stylus to make the large “faux brad” and adhered them with a pop-dot to punched circles.

Tip: If you paper does not want to punch heat it for a few seconds with a heat tool, it will wick away the moisture in the paper and make it punch crisply, also I got a better punch by folding the paper over and punching to layers at once 😉

 

Stamps: Take a Spin set: Stampin Up!, Texture plate: Fiskars, Pattern Paper: My Minds Eye, Ink: SU!

That’s it for today, til next time happy crafting…and go stamp something!