Sweet Teetle

Stampin Up Demo Christmas Party

2011-12-07T06:07:00.000-07:00

My Stampin Up upline demo threw her Christmas party for all of us in her downline. We got to hang out, do a make and take, did a card swap, and participated in a homemade white elephant exchange. For the exchange, the item had to use mostly Stampin Up products.

Since my craft room is mostly boxed up at the moment, (see post about my closet) I was somewhat limited on what all I could make since there was only so much I could actually FIND and get to. :) Thanks to Pinterest, I saw an idea about making bookmarks out of ribbon. Since my Stampin Up ribbon is in a big box, I grabbed out the first ones I saw and got to work.

These we super easy to make so I made a bunch of them. Great gifts or gift toppers for the readers you know. I did a mix of sizes depending on how big the pendant I used.

I love the polka dot ribbon. Anything with polka dots makes me smile. The crosses, butterfly, and clear flower were pendants I've had in my jewelry box forever. I've either lost the chains or use them for other pendants so I figured I'd give them new life.

The velvet ribbon is from a package that was on the SU clearance rack for awhile. I bought the pack for the ruffled ribbon, but never found a use for the velvet until now. The love, #1 mom, shoe, and purse were all part of a charm bracelet I bought for like $8 so I took them all off to use for multiple gifts instead. There's still more charms on the bracelet which means more bookmarks in the future :)

These were so easy to make. A few jump rings, some jewelry pliers, and the ribbon clamps are the only extra things you need. It's a great way to reuse jewelry that's no longer your style or that pair of earrings where you lost the mate.

I've had these magnetic picture frames forever so finally put them to use. I put some stickers from the Simply Scrappin kit on some coordinating paper and slid them into the frames. They are reversible so 2 patterns per frame.

I hot glued on the mini clips from SU. I think I got these from the clearance rack too? Then clipped in some Whisper White cardstock for memos. These are super easy to switch out for different seasons and since they are magnetic, they are really handy.

Instead of buying gift bags or trying to wrap the items, I decided to re-purpose some more of my JewelMint boxes. I have 100's of these lying around my house and they are too nice to just toss. I made a post before where I covered some, but I'm also using them for Christmas gifts.

They have a magnetic closure and are the perfect size for little gifts.

Since my gifts for the white elephant were pretty simple, I made them for my demo as well.

Bonus on the JewelMint boxes: they are the PERFECT size for my cards. So I decided to put my cards for the swap in one too since I would need a way to bring my new cards home.

Now I just need to cover a ton more to "wrap" other packages for family/friends. The boxes are so sturdy that they can easily be reused or they can be used for decor to hold small items during the holidays.

For the card swap, I stuck to the Simply Scrappin kit since it was what I could find. I also used the Jolly Bingo Bits stamp set.

They were all slightly different because I used all the bingo stamps. The rickrack was from the same ribbon set as the velvet from SU and the twine was from my recent SU order.

Considering I had limited resources with my craft room a mess, I think I turned out pretty good gifts/cards. I only used 1 Simply Scrappin kit for all 16 cards, the card boxes, and the frames and I still have some left over! The only other paper I added was Whisper White card stock. So those SS kits really are a great deal even if you aren't using them for scrapbooking!

If you are wanting to buy any of the Stampin Up products, please shop my website: http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/crystalmincher/ or contact me! And if you are interested in signing up for a demo, let me know. I don't do workshops like some do, I just enjoy the discount and it's worth it! I love it.

Where have I been?

2011-12-07T05:03:00.000-07:00

Yep, I've been busy. I have been a super bad blogger and haven't posted in MONTHS! I was crazy with school and after some set backs, I'm taking online classes this semester. My husband also came home on leave which is always fun, but also always hectic! We only had 2 weeks this time so it was the shortest leave yet. We spent most of our time doing house stuff since as anyone who owns a home knows, it's never really finished. lol

In about March, I had pretty much all the rooms most of the way done. They were organized, things puts away, etc. Just needed some accent walls painted and some extra decorations on the wall. Well, then the hubby decided to give me the greatest gift EVER. It's like my Christmas, Birthday, Anniversary, etc gift for the next year or 2. He gave me a room turned into a closet!!! One of the only things I didn't like about our house is the small master closet. It's not really THAT small, but compared to my old closet, it's tiny. So I told him if I got my own room for a closet, he could turn our closet into a gun space. I never thought he'd actually go for it though. So, now I'm in the process of completely moving 3 rooms full of stuff around. By myself. While taking classes. And around the holidays. haha So, very little has been finished so far.

Of course the rooms I'm moving are some of the hardest rooms because of all the STUFF. The craft room is going to take the longest because everything is so small. And as I move my closet, I'm going through and getting rid of clothes and switching everything over to matching pink hangers. It all looks more pretty that way. lol

Almost all the building is now finished in the closet. I have a few shelves and bars to still hang. Most of the delay is because Ikea's stock is terrible. I've had to make so many trips for out of stock items. I'm also having the hardest time finding seating for that room. I really really want pink chairs/chaise but the few I've found are way out of my budget. I *might* attempt reupholstering so I can pick my fabric. We'll see how that goes.

Here's a sneak peak of my dream closet. This was just the beginning with only 1 wall done. I wanted pink walls, but hubby and my mom convinced me that blue would look better so I'm accenting with pinks and purples.

Final pics will prob be up after the holidays. Not sure I'll finish before then.

Nurse thank you card and cake toppers

2011-12-07T04:50:00.000-07:00

For our clinical group for nursing school, we had a fab teacher and hospital to help at. So, we wanted to show our appreciation. For our instructor, we took a group pic and framed it. I bought a plain frame from Michael's and decorated it.

I made the scrubs for the paper doll nurse to match our school uniforms.

Card to match

Since it was such a large staff, we brought them some baked goods so I made these toppers to put on them. Just taped them to toothpicks and I was good to go. I made a bunch of them, but these were all the different patterns. Super easy.

I was so busy the weeks coming up to that day that I made all these the night before so they were definitely simpler than I had planned.

Baby shower decor to wall art

2011-12-07T04:37:00.000-07:00

Since I've been a terrible blogger, I have a bunch of posts that I haven't made in forever. One of them is this pic from a few months ago. I posted about the baby shower me and another friend hosted. We made really cute 12 x 12 hangings for decor. I LOVE that the mom framed them and used them for decor in the baby's nursery.

It's also a super inexpensive way to decorate. Baby stuff can get pricey. Cute paper + frames=great deal!

Be good...or else...

2011-12-07T04:24:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine sent me a message awhile ago and asked if I could decorate a spoon. It was for a joke gift for her husband's aunt since apparently there was some old joke about her using a spoon to "correct" bad behavior. lol Well, I had NO clue what to do! But here's what I ended up with. The aunt loved it and said "I can't hit anyone with it cause it's to pretty!" LOL

Close up of the tag. I wish I had better handwriting, but other than that I like it. lol

I love these glitter letter stickers that I randomly grabbed at Michael's

I added ribbon to the top so it could be hung for display.

I really love how it turned out. There were MANY times however while making it that I always threw it out and started over. LOL Decorating something in this shape is HARD. There's lots of curves and indents and angles. I had to cut little slits all around the spoon part to get the paper to lay flat. And most of the ribbon is in place mostly to hide the "seams" from the paper. There's ribbon along the side of the spoon part as well.

Found this pic that my friend took and it reminded me that I actually added more pearls at the last minute. I felt that the tag needed more and the handle needed some bling. :)

Upcycled JewelMint boxes

2011-07-14T05:53:00.000-07:00

For those that don't know, I have a *slight* obsession with JewelMint. I did a review of them month's back after I placed my first order (http://sweetteetle.blogspot.com/2010/11/jewelmint-review.html). After that first order, I didn't stop and have since ordered countless items from them. Which brings me to this post. They package their jewelry in really nice boxes. So nice that I feel bad just throwing them away. But I have no use for stacks and stacks of boxes that say JewelMint on them. Finally, I got around to doing what I've been meaning to, turn them into even cuter boxes. :)

Here's what I started with. See?! Too nice to end up in the trash!

Ok the pic is terrible, but here's the finished product. Keep scrolling for individual pics.

I had some random feather in my craft room and knew I had to use it on one of the boxes.

Great for keepsakes from a baby's 1st year.

I love skulls so there had to be one with them. Made the skulls more girly by adding flowers, dragonflies, and sparkles. (Stupid ribbon looks crooked in the pic!)

Cherries and polka dots. 2 other faves. I'll probably use this one as a gift box.

I took out the inside packing that holds the jewelry and removed the name cards. I put solid cardstock on the inside of the box to cover the blue/green color. I think I'm going to use that area to write notes to the person I give it to or add favorite quotes to them. Haven't decided yet. I painted the edges of all of them black which next time I'll prob wait to do last so I can distress the edges of the paper too.

I've got about 100 more boxes that I can eventually cover. I'll use most as gift boxes in place of wrapping paper.

If you haven't signed up for JewelMint yet, please sign up using my link: http://jmnt.me/gq8lXy They often have Groupons or promos for new members so you can try it for a lower price.

Shoe comparison

2011-03-18T15:31:00.001-07:00

When I joined Sole Society, I noticed right away that the Anouk shoe looks identical to the Steve Madden Haylow which I have in the gold glitter. So I decided to buy them to compare and, well, because I LOVED the coral color.

Rather than flood the FB wall with a bunch of pics of the 2 side by side, I decided to just do a quick blog post comparing them for anyone that's interested since the SM ones were brought up a few times.

The SM's run anywhere from $70-$95 depending on material. The glitter ones are more expensive than the patent and satin ones. The SS's run $50 or $40 if you buy before 3/31 and use promo code SS10.

Here's a side by side of both. Very similar. Small differences are that SS has elastic on both sides and SM has elastic on just the inner side. Not sure which I prefer. On one hand, it's nice to not see it on the outer part of the shoe, but on the other hand, having it on both sides makes it easier to get into. The platform is also more angled in the SS one than the SM's.

Back view. The SS is slightly higher and at more of an angle than the SM's

Top view. This is where I like the SS ones more. The straps are thinner and more delicate. I also like the more rounded toe on the SS.

Anouk on.

SM on. The straps fit a little looser on the SMs

Top of Anouk on. The straps are a little loose around the toes, especially when just standing still. Don't think it will be a problem though.

SM's on. These fit better in the toes than the SS.

Overall, they are both great shoes. The SS fit TTS. With the SM's, I went up a size because SM usually fits me small. I'd have been fine w/ only 1/2 size up I think but they didn't have my size in stock when I got them. If you like the color or would rather save the money, go with the SS Anouk since they give the same look. I can't decide which I like better. I love both colors equally, but since the SM are glitter and the SS are fuax suede, it's hard to compare since they are so different. I do like the toe shape and straps better on the SS, but the SM's are more fitted in the toes. The SS also have a type of fabric bottom which is interesting and I've never seen before.

Hope this post helps! If it does, and you haven't signed up for SS yet, please sign up through my referral link: http://www.solesociety.com/invite/CMincher989 After signing up, or if you are already a member, here's the direct link for SS Anouk http://www.solesociety.com/product/539 (And don't forget SS10 for $10 off before 3/31)They come in the coral I showed and a really pretty royal blue. The SM's can be found on stevemadden.com and amazon.com, as well as a few other shoe sites. Let me know if you have any questions. :)

Baby shower decorations/gift

2011-03-12T21:32:00.000-07:00

Since the baby shower is over, I can FINALLY post the pics of everything we made. It was soo hard not to share them, but I didn't want to run the risk of my friend seeing them. This post is going to be really picture heavy.

Banner over the gift table

cupcake tower

favors

And now on to part of my gift to her. Love how they turned out.

Sole Society

2011-03-11T22:12:00.001-07:00

So ANOTHER shoe of the month club popped up the other day. Of course, me being the shoe obsessed girl that I am, HAD to try it out. They are slightly more expensive then their competitors ($50 instead of $40), but some of their items are real leather and they say their quality is better. The rest of the details are pretty much the same (free ship/exchange, referral bonuses, skip by the 5th, etc).

I chose 2 pairs of shoes to try them out so I could see how they compare. My love for SD has dwindled so I'm looking for a replacement for my fix. I still LOVE JF of course though. I went with Karla, an adorable polka dot peep toe bootie and Kayla, the sexy snakeskin pump.

These are the Karla. LOVE them.

They are adorable!

The backs and heels are a faux suede. The polka dot is a light chiffon fabric over mesh.

Kayla. HOT!

Faux Snakeskin

Closeup

So, how does SS compare? So far, I am a BIG fan! I love both pairs as much as I thought I would and neither have any defects. I was definitely nervous about Kayla. After buying pump after pump from SD, I've come to expect "elf toe", "nippling", and "cellulite" on the toes. It's sad but true. However, the quality on these is amazing! There is none of the problems that are seen on SD. Which, in turn, means no more having to deal with exchanges. No reboxing and driving to UPS. No waiting a week or more for your credit to be available. No having your shoe sell out while waiting for your credit. And most of all no more disappointment when you get home and open your new purchase!

In my opinion, it's worth the extra $10 if you can afford it and I didn't even get ones that are real leather. The Karla is unique and fashion forward IMO and the Karla is a great sexy, but still basic pump. I can see both of these getting a lot of wear since they seem very comfy for the heel height.

As far as CS, I haven't really had to deal with them yet since both were great. I did send one email and got a somewhat sloppy response (bad grammar which drives me crazy when from a company). However, when I mentioned it on FB, a CS rep immediately messaged me asking me to forward the email so they could handle the problem. I also got a PM the next day from the director of member care apologizing and explaining things. All this, for something that was so minor, was very impressive.

I also LOVE that their FB reps actually seems to take the time to read what they are responding to. There's nothing worse IMO, than form responses that dance around the question without actually addressing people's questions. So far, they have been quick to help and actually respond with the answers needed.

Ok, so that was REALLY long winded, but hopefully it helps those of you that are hesitant about joining. It can't hurt to try it. There's no cost to sign up, but read the FAQs if you've never done a "of the month" club so that you understand how it works, most importantly the skipping by the 5th after your first purchase. If you have any questions, leave a comment and I'll get back to you as soon as I can.

AND, if you are considering signing up, PLEASE use my referral link so that I can get points towards a free item. http://www.solesociety.com/invite/CMincher989

You can also use promo code SS10 for $10 off your order right now. Not sure when it expires, but great deal!

Cutest Baby shower invites EVER!

2011-02-15T18:53:00.001-07:00

Me and a friend are planning another friend's baby shower. This is the first one I've planned and so far it's been a ton of fun! She's having a little girl and doing a jungle theme. After looking around at shower invites and seeing how boring they were, I decided we should just make them because well, it's way more fun and soo much cuter.

We got together the other night and designed what has become my fave card so far. This card was somewhat hard for me because the mom to be isn't very into pink and these are for a baby girl, and I LOVE pink so it was super difficult to not just make the pinkest, girly card. I think we did a good job of toning down the pink, incorporating the theme, but still adding a small touch of pink/girlyness with the flowers and ruffly ribbon.

Here are the 3 variations in colors since we only had so much of each color paper.

I seriously LOVE them! We were giggling while putting the flowers on since they were so cute.

The inside has a cute giraffe stamp in the corner.

And to finish it off we stamped the envelope with a lion :)

Originally we were going to do 1/2 monkeys and 1/2 giraffes, but the monkey was too cute so we ended up making more monkeys. Here's the giraffe though and since we'd already cut 14 of them, we found a new way to incorporate them into the shower decor. It's going to be super cute of course, but can't say yet in case the mom reads this. :)

Wedding gifts

2011-01-17T16:44:00.000-07:00

Finally getting around to posting these. My cousin got married on Jan 1st and I decided at the last minute to make the gifts.

I've had this Love hanging/frame for awhile but hadn't gotten around to doing anything with it yet. I picked some paper that looked weddingish to start and mod podged it on.

The started adding rubons and stickers with their wedding date.

I also used rhinestone accents in various places. I did each in groups of 5 because they have 5 kids. :)

Then I inked around the edges to give it a distressed look.

I also did another etched vase. It's hard to get a good pic of it, but it has their last name and their wedding date on it. Used vinyl and etching cream.

Christmas cards

2010-12-03T04:32:00.000-07:00

Saturday is my first demo meeting since becoming a Stampin Up demonstrator. Since it's Christmas time, we're all doing a card swap. We're also each bringing a handmade gift using Stampin Up products for swap.

I LOVED the Candy Cane DSP from the holiday mini so I knew I had to use that for the cards. I love that the colors aren't the traditional red and green. The pinks and blues are so pretty. Since we had to make 16 cards, I ended up doing 8 one way and 8 another so I didn't run out of paper. I kept everything else pretty much the same though.

I actually used things I rarely use in these cards. I typically have a pattern that I do for all cards and always forget extras like punches and embossing. But, I thought the corner rounder on everything made it look so much better. And dasher just looks way better embossed. I do wish I'd sponged the background on the pink set now, but too late to change it. Seems too pale, but when I first did sponging on the red set, it was too busy so I skipped it.

I decided to make another set of glitter ornaments for the gift.I chose to go with traditional colors since it will match more people's decor. I used Green Galore and Real Red reinkers. This is a good way to use those retired colors! The snowflake is cut in the big shot out of the white decor elements vinyl.

Supply list for the cards:
Candy Cane DSP
Real Red cardstock
Blushing Bride cardstock
Light Pink gingham ribbon
Basic Gray taffeta ribbon
corner rounder punch
scallop trim border punch
silver embossing powder
Dasher stamp
Delightful Decorations stamp set (for Merry Christmas circle)
Northern Lights stamp set (snowflakes)
Baja Breeze ink

Quick favors

2010-11-26T22:15:00.000-07:00

The night before Thanksgiving (well actually around 4am on Thanksgiving lol) I couldn't sleep so I decided to throw together some favors for the next day. I ran to Walmart and grabbed some candy. Then I got to work.

I decided to make the sour cream containers since the don't require a lot of work and I had all the materials on hand. All you really need is some cute paper for whatever event you are going to and a paper crimper. I decided to add tags and ribbon too, but they look cute w/o them too.

Close ups.

I used the Day of Gratitude stamp set for the tags. I love the leaf designs from this set. I actually originally bought my paper crimper just for this project about a year ago. I popped the tags up with a dimensional.

The paper is cut at 4 1/4 by 5 1/2 so you can get 4 containers out of 1 8 1/2 by 11 piece of cardstock.

JewelMint review

2010-11-22T19:14:00.000-07:00

So I've been a member of shoe/purse of the month clubs for awhile now, but recently, a jewelry club popped up too. It's the same concept as JustFabulous and ShoeDazzle. At the beginning of the month, they send you selections based on your style (they do a style quiz when you sign up). You can skip the month if you see nothing you like. The items are $29.99 each and there is free shipping/exchanges.

One thing I like about the showroom is that you can add more items by choosing the see more option. From there, you can click "like" if you want to see it in your showroom.

I finally decided to make a purchase because they were having a BOGO event. For every item I purchased, I will get a credit on Dec 1st. So that makes each item only $15 shipped. I figured I had nothing to lose at that price. My first selections were the Poseidon Disc necklace and the Pearl Bouquet ring. I got both today and I love them.

Love the packaging! Definitely ready to be given as a gift.

Pearl Bouquet ring. Soo pretty. And really good quality. Their rings come in 3 sizes (6, 7, 8).

Poseidon Disc necklace

Here's the ring on. It's the perfect statement ring. Good size w/o being overwhelming. (Notice I'm hiding my need for a manicure!)

Close up of the pendant. Really hard to get a good pic.

Back of the pendant is engraved with the Jewelmint logo

Here it on. (Excuse my no makeup/slobbiness, I've been cleaning all day.) It's a really long necklace, but you can wear it shorter.

Overall, I love the items. They seem to be good, heavy quality. Don't feel cheap. And they look just like they photographed on the website. I don't see having a problem using my 2 credits in December.

Shipping was relatively quick, I order on Wednesday and got them on Monday. It is Fedex smartpost since it's free which means Fedex delivers it to the post office who then delivers it in your mail., But, I'm only a state away so I got it quickly. People on the east coast will prob have a longer delivery time.

One thing I REALLY wish they had, was a color option. There's many items that I'd buy if they were in silver rather than gold. I am really pale so I don't look good in gold but it seems there is more gold than not. I would love the Poseidon necklace soo much more if it wasn't bronze. But it will probably end up being a gift. There's a pair of pink drop earrings that I love, but since they are gold, I won't buy them.

There are a few things that I think they could improve. They are a very new company though so I'm sure some thing will improve. The website is the biggest thing I think could easily be improved. The zoom option doesn't appear to actually zoom. It brings up the picture, but it's about the same size or smaller. I'd love to be able to really zoom in to see the details since it's jewelry. I also wish the order history actually showed the date you ordered. Right now it just shows the status of the item. Also, if you buy 2 items at the same time, they both ship together (which I prefer), however, I think they should include the tracking # on both items to avoid any confusion.

I also think they should add a FAQS page. All I see in the How It Works section is videos and most people don't have time to pay attn to those or can't if they are working. Would be much easier to have an area that lists the info.

Another big thing is referrals. Unfortunately, you can only refer by sending an email. :( Having a link would be so much more beneficial since you can post it anywhere. But, you also get 1 credit per referral (if they purchase) so that is a great bonus.

If anyone is interested in becoming a member, please send me your email address so that I can get a credit. You can become a member w/o having to buy anything. :) They also don't ask for your credit card # until you make your first purchase.

My Digital Studio 50% off!!

2010-11-22T03:31:00.000-07:00

I know a few friends, especially ones with kids, have asked about digital scrapbooking software. Well, Stampin Up is having a GREAT sale right now on their My Digital Studio software. It's normally $79.95, but now through 11/30, it's only $39.98 if you order through a demonstrator (That's me!). You can use the software to make scrapbooks, cards, or calendars and you can print them through Stampin Up or print them on your own printer. Even if you aren't local, you can purchase through me since you can have it sent right to your house.

The software comes with some digital products already loaded, but there's also many more you can buy to add later for special products. Some of the Christmas products are also on sale right now for 20%-40% off. I think I'm going to buy some of the Christmas ones for making cards next year.

My Digital Studio is easy to use and I've seen the final results on a few of my friend's projects and they look great! I can wait to get my new laptop so I can download mine! It's a great way to get started in scrapbooking because you can easily fix anything you don't like without the waste of pictures or paper.

For more information about the program, check out this link: http://www.stampinup.com/us/enu/15872.asp

If you'd like to order, go here: http://www.stampinup.com/ECWeb/ProductDetails.aspx?productID=118108 or go to stampinup.com and choose store on the top right and search for My Digital Studio products.

Please make sure you register and add me as your demonstrator. You can search by my name and city/zip Maricopa, AZ 85139.

Another amazing opportunity is to sign up as a demonstrator yourself. They currently have 1/2 off their demo starter kits. You can get the digital starter kit which includes the My Digital Studio as well as a ton of supplies for only $87.50. You get over $310 worth of supplies in the starter kit. Even if you don't want to sell, becoming a demonstrator can get you a great discount on great products. If you are interested in becoming a demonstrator, please let me know so I can send you more information and you can sign up under me. :)

Shoe crafts

2010-10-24T06:06:00.001-07:00

Welcome to Teetle Insomnia night. For those who don't know, my other love besides crafts, is SHOES! So, while unable to sleep, I thought, why not combine the 2?!

I bought these shoes at a wholesale store for only $10. I thought they were cute and well, you can't beat the price. But, it's been a few months and I still haven't worn them. They are just a little plain.

I was getting ready to put them in the sell/donate pile, but they were a good fit so I decided to experiment a little. I figured if it didn't work, I'd only be out $10 and a few hours. So, yes, I took glue and glitter to my shoes.

And here's the finished product! Pretty sparkly gold shoes! I kept a similar color since I wasn't sure if any of the original would show through.

There's a little loose glitter I need to wipe off still, but I'm pretty happy with the results. I definitely think I'll wear them now.

Then I decided to give my shoes more options. But this time, less permanent.

I made a few shoes clips that just clip on and off so I can use them on any pair and put them wherever I want. This was my first attempt so they aren't the best, but I think they're kinda cute.

I added a green and orange flower to my Coffee no Cream Bliss. This will go really good with my orange purse. Then since feathers are popular this season, I added a clip to another $10 pair from the wholesale store. Most feathered shoes I've seen are really pricey. So, for $10, I'll take my DIY pair. (The feather came off a free belt with a pair of jeans, hated the belt but saved the feathers)

I LOVE how this set turned out. Great way to add some color to a basic black shoe.

And as you can see, you can place them wherever you think looks best for your outfit that day.

Here it is with my black patent Bliss.

And a way to add a girly quality to a edgy pair of shoes. Got these for $10 at the wholesale store too. LOVE that place.

What do you think?! I don't love the top 2 shoe clips but they aren't bad. I love my new sparkly shoes and love the pink/black clips though.

And to show you just how obsessed I am with shoes...here's my shoe closet for those who haven't seen it yet. If you think that's a lot of shoes, you should see my craft room! I seriously love this closet. Thankfully I have an awesome hubby that not only understood my need for a closet just for shoes, but he bought and built the shelves for me. AND carried all my boxes of shoes into the room for me. :)

How to: For the glitter shoes, I mixed a bunch of mod podge with a bunch of glitter. I didn't measure just put almost equal amounts and added more glitter as needed. I put on 4 coats, letting them dry for about 30 min between each coat (I waited til it became clear since it goes on white).

For shoe clips:

Black/Pink: I used the Big Shot with a flower shaped die and cut all 4 sizes in both fabrics. I used my Crop-a-dile to punch a hole through the middle of each and set it with an eyelet. I then hot glued in onto a metal shoe clip.

Feather: I punched out a small circle and hot glued the feather to that. Then just hot glued that to the metal shoe clip.

Green/Orange: I used some white flowers from the Stampin Up Pretties Kit and sponged them with Stampin up ink. I added a flat back pearl from the pretties kit to the center with a mini glue dot. Then attached it with hot glue to the metal clip.

If you want to buy the Stampin Up supplies I used (Big Shot, Crop-a-dile, mini glue dots, pretties kit, circle punch, eyelits, ink, glitter), here's a link to my Stampin Up site: The flower die is used isn't available any longer but there are others for sale. http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/crystalmincher/

Custom ornaments

2010-10-23T06:36:00.000-07:00

Mom, if you are reading this, STOP! Don't want you seeing your gift. :)

Yep, TWO new posts in one day! This is what happens when I can't sleep.

I decided to finally do something with the clear ornaments I bought last year. I've seen a few tutorials on how to make these really pretty glittery ornaments using Stampin Up reinkers and glitter and have been wanting to try it forever.

I started with these plain clear ornaments I bought for $5.

And this is what I ended with. Much prettier! I used Bermuda Bay and Dusty Durango for the colors. Since I was making them, I decided to go with colors that aren't the usual colors for Christmas.

Since there were 4 in the pack, I decided to make these for my mom and I monogrammed them with each of her kids initials. The snowflake and the letters are vinyl.

Here's a close up so you can see the glitter a little better. I tied matching polka dot ribbon to hang them.

This was definitely not a clean project. My hands are covered in ink at the moment. But, it was fun to do and I LOVE the finished product. Hope my mom likes them too.

To do this yourself: Add about 25 drops of the reinker of your choice into the ornament. Then slowly swirl it around starting at the bottom and working your way to the opening. make sure to cover the whole area. Keep something plastic to catch the drips at the end. Once it's coated in ink, let it stand upside down on the plastic to get the leftover ink out. Then, start adding glitter. I just poured a little at a time using a piece of scrap paper folded in half. Put some in, cover the hole with your finger and shake it up. Keep adding more glitter as needed until the whole thing is coated. Make sure to not wait too long after the ink since the glitter needs to adhere to it.

Finally!

2010-10-23T06:15:00.000-07:00

My new craft room is finally unpacked! Almost everything is put away, except for a few things that I'm still trying to decide the best way to store. Need to bring my sewing table upstairs too, but that's all that's left.

So, I finally got a chance to do some NEW crafts! Yay!

My first project back was just a card. But, it's not exactly your typical card. I took a "tassle twirling" class for fun. Express MiE, where I took my pole classes, was hosting it and I figured why not?! When else will I have the chance to do a class like that?! And the studio is only for women and it was a small group. It was a blast! Miss Kitty Victorian was an awesome teacher. Of course, I had to make a card for it!

I ripped some ribbon to make the string for the tassles and thread it through a green sequin. And I just realized I forgot to put on her makeup! I need to do that before sending it out. So yeah, like I said, not your typical card, but fun none the less :)

Halloween Crafts

2010-10-21T02:20:00.000-07:00

Since I didn't have a blog last Halloween, I haven't posted these on my blog yet. These are from last year but I wanted to share them.

Boo blocks

From another angle

2 signs

Closeup

Skull mini album

Hope you enjoy!

YAWYK update

2010-10-09T03:29:00.000-07:00

Yes, I have been keeping track of my You Are What You Keep Challenge. I have kept a notebook on the table and have been keeping tallies and writing it all out. Well in the 2 months since my last update, I have gotten rid of A LOT of stuff! 732 items! To be honest, there were definitely more items, but some things I counted as one since I considered them a group and because it was much easier to count.

Since there was so much, I won't list them all because that would take forever. But, I'll tell you where most came from.

Probably the biggest amount came from a garage cleanup. Since my husband was home, we built shelving for the garage. And since we already had cabinets and a cork board that came with the house, Josh actually went through his tools and boxes. He got rid of a bunch of duplicates that he had bought when his stuff was all cluttered. Before he would just go buy a new one because it was easier than going through bins. He also thankfully went through the dreaded wire bin. I HATE that bin because it was a jumbled mess of random wires that Josh would NOT get rid of saying he'd always need that 1 wire someday. When in reality, when he needed a wire, he'd just go buy it. Somehow I got him to go through it. Turns out, only 2 out of the whole thing were worth keeping. Half was to things were to things we don't own anymore.

The next big area was my craft room. Now, there will definitely be more from this room in the future. Most of the stuff I got rid of (heading to garage sale), were things I had already set aside to sell but kept in my craft room rather than actually making a place for garage sale stuff. We'll see if I go through the rest in time.

Another plus to cleaning out the garage is that I was able to make a space to keep all things that are going to the garage sale pile. This will make it easier when I'm done and ready to get it all together. I'm soo nervous about doing a garage sale because I've never done it and I'll be doing it alone.

Not sure that I'll actually make it to 2010 items, but I'm certainly going to be close. I've made HUGE progress in the last 2 months and I'm glad I was able to convince the hubby to do some too. I have gotten better at deciding to let things go that I don't use. When I started in July, I 2nd guessed myself many times and it was really hard to get rid of stuff because I *might* need it someday. Well, other than the 2 dog things I took back because we got a puppy, I haven't missed anything.

So overall, I have gotten rid of 911 items in 3 months. Wow! There's still 1099 items to go and only 2.5 months left. Which means about 375 items a month. We'll see how the rest of the year goes. Either way, I'm happy so much junk is now gone.

Where have I been?!

2010-09-22T23:11:00.000-07:00

Wow, I have seriously been SLACKING in my blogging. I suck! I've had such a busy few months though. Here's what I've been up:

I've fully moved in to the new house and have renters at the old one (and they signed a 2 year lease!!!). Of course there's still plenty to do around the new house and it feels never ending. Here's a link to some pics of the new house (they are pics from the listing) http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=182971&id=757844115 I absolutely LOVE it and feel so lucky to have such a beautiful home.

August started a string of great vacations all in a row. First up was a girl's weekend in Vegas. I drove up with a friend I've known since HS and reconnected with about a year ago when I found out we both moved to AZ. The rest of the girl's that we met there were friends we were meeting for the first time in person. Sounds kinda crazy I'm sure, but we all met through our love of shoes on a Facebook page and became friends and decided it was finally time to meet up. We all had a blast and got along great! It was like we'd known each other forever and I can't wait to see them again.

Next trip was back home to IL for my 10 yr high school reunion. I almost didn't go, but I hadn't seen my family in awhile and I figured why not?! The only real cost was the plane ticket since I could stay at my moms. I'm soo glad I went. I had way more fun than I expected and there was a really good turnout. I got to hang out with some of my best friends from HS and FINALLY got to meet my friend's adorable little girl. I wish that I lived closer to them still but I'm so happy that I stay in contact with them 10 years later. And that through moves, marriage, kids, etc, we can pick right up where we left off. I also got to spend the day at 6 flags with my niece, nephew and sister.

A few days after I got back from IL, my hubby came home on leave!!!! YAY!!! I hadn't seen him since April so it was a long time coming. It was extra weird for him this time since he was coming home to a new house that he'd only seen once before we'd even found out the offer was approved. He is still here but leaves in about a week. We've been relaxing and doing house stuff (all the things I can't do alone). Oh and playing with our new puppy! (more on that in a second!)

He had almost a week before it was time for our 3rd trip. This time we went to Playa Del Carmen, Mexico. My sister lives there and she was celebrating her 40th birthday. We had an amazing rooftop dinner one night and then her big party was an Undead party. Everyone had to be in costume. I went as Miss Argentina from Beetlejuice. It was a blast dressing up and celebrating my sister's bday on the beach. This trip was awesome. One day was spent swimming with whale sharks. OMG it was an amazing experience. These things are HUGE. We also went snorkeling 2 times (got my little brother who is scared of water to go one of the times!). I also taught my brother how to swim!!! He did great considering he learned for the first time at 25. We had tons of amazing food also. Here's a link to some of the pics. There are more that I haven't gotten around to posting yet. http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=240044&id=757844115

So, last major new thing is the puppy! I got her on the way back from Vegas. My husband has missed having a dog to come home to each leave. He loves having a running buddy. So, we decided to go for it and I figured I'd do it in time for this leave. She is a beautiful Weimaraner. She is now about 14 weeks old and growing soo quick. During the week we were in Mexico, she lost that puppy face! We named her Zuker, which means Sugar in German (since they are German dogs, they have to have German names IMO). It took a lot of emails back and forth to decide her name (I can only imagine how hard it will be to pick a name when we have a kid!). We narrowed it down to Anka (means graceful) and Zuker. Well within 10 min of meeting her, she'd fallen over about 20 times so obviously Anka was out of the questions. But, she was as sweet as can be so Zuker worked perfectly. She's definitely a handful, like any weim is, but she makes me laugh out loud pretty much every day. It's nice having someone else around when my husband is gone too. Here's a few pics of here. http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=201651&id=757844115

Ok, that might be the record for the longest blog ever, but like I said, it's been a busy few months. Now that the house is mostly unpacked and the hubby will be back in Afghanistan soon, I will be better about blogging. I miss my craft room and want to start making stuff! I just knew if I unpacked that first, I'd never get anything done! lol

Cricut Imagine

2010-07-27T22:12:00.000-07:00

Have you guys all heard about this new machine? What do you think? Anyone going to take the plunge and order it?

While it seems like a really innovative machine, I just don't see myself even wanting it. Sure it can print and cut all on one, but I think it's kinda taking away the fun out of crafting. Not to mention, the super high cost. The machine is $600, although I'm sure it will actually sell for closer to $400ish at most online stores. Still, way too expensive if you consider most people that would be interested have already invested about $200 on an Expression and $200 on a Gypsy. Then the ink refills are around $30 each.

Personally, I'd rather save my money for all of the really cute cartridges that have been and will be released this year. I won't say I'll never get want it, because I insisted I'd never want the Gypsy and I love that.

But part of what I love about crafting, is the dimension and personal touches that I get to add. I hate projects that are one dimensional. Layering, while time consuming, is fun to me.

They are also trying to say that it's a printer, expression, and gypsy all in one. But it appears that the gypsy feature is attached. That kinda takes a way the main selling point of the gypsy being able to craft anywhere.

I wish PC would stop trying to beat their own competing products. Their current stuff is great, why change it? If this was a download or upgrade to the current expression, that would be one thing, but a whole new machine is too much.

more stuff gone

2010-07-27T21:58:00.000-07:00

I've had a busy week. The summer is just flying by for me. Trying to get as much done in the next 2 weeks before I go to Vegas. After that trip, I have 2 other ones planned every 2 weeks just about. So yeah, need to get my butt in gear and get stuff DONE!

Here's my updated list of trash/donate/sell. It's a long one

For trash:
3 old catalogs
3 old magazines
1 ratty tshirt and 1 pair of boxers (there will be more, I just saw these in the laundry)
1 old martini mix that I forgot I had.
1 postcard
1 stained makeup bag
1 carpet sample
4 receipts that have been sitting in a purse
1 broken ice pack
2 prescription bottles (combined 3 since they have same exp dates and are same medication)
6 bottles of old hair product that I never use
7 sample products that I never use
6 lipsticks that came in sets but don't look good on me
2 old packs of gum
4 half used lotions that I don't like the scent of
2 half full boxes with samples
1 tiny loofah that's too small too even use

To donate/sell:
1 over the door hanger (doors too high in the new house)
5 magnets (trying to get rid of clutter on the fridge)
3 diffuser sets that I didn't love the scent of
1 kleenex holder for old bathroom set
2 full large bottles of lotion
2 full large bottles of body wash
2 full mini bottles of lotion
4 full mini bottles of shower gel

woo! That's a lot. Lots of little things that just got thrown in drawers and forgot about. I won't let the new house get that way. I don't want drawers of crap everywhere that I won't use! So...64 more things added to my list! So, I'm up to 179. Still a long way to go but it's going good so far and it feels nice to get rid of all this stuff that I will NEVER use. And the next few weeks will probably add a lot since I'll be doing a TON.

unpacking/YAWYK progress

2010-07-17T00:02:00.000-07:00

Unpacking is taking FOREVER! Part of it is because I haven't been home much. Had to get the other house ready to rent (all that's left is carpet cleaning and getting the lease written up) and I've been spending some time relaxing with friends since I consider that a requirement after all I've been doing.

The other reason it's taking so long is because I am really taking my time and going through everything and putting it in the right place. Moving was sort of sudden because we weren't sure until the last minute (we had issues with short sales before so I didn't want to get my hopes up until the papers were actually signed). I ended up packing in about 2-3 days so I had no time to go through everything beforehand and purge so I just kinda threw things in boxes. Also, we have a bigger house now and the rooms are set up different so it's hard picking where to put what. In our last house, we ended up changing our minds a few times and having to move everything all over the place and I'm trying to avoid that as much as possible this time by really picturing things and figuring it out. When I have to make these decisions w/o my husband's input other than in pics, it's even harder since I have that added pressure of what if he doesn't like it!

Anyways, it's definitely going SLOW! And I haven't been focusing on just one room really so there's no pics yet. I will post when I have some ready though for sure!

Anyway, here's my addition to my YAWYK challenge for today. Not too much since I did mostly kitchen stuff and I use most of it except the special occasion stuff that I won't get rid of:

Going to trash:
2 user manuals for items we no longer have but were still sitting in the drawer
1 broken key chain that was in the junk drawer
3 shopper loyalty cards for stores I don't even shop at
1 almost full bag of pretzel m&m's. I hated them but felt bad throwing them away so had just put them in the pantry
1 almost full bag of Doritos. Same as with the m&m's, tried a new flavor and they were gross but didn't want to throw them away.
1 chipped margarita glass. I loved the glass so I kept it but since it has a chip in the bottom I never use it.

Going to garage sale pile:
1 small dog collar. We don't have a dog anymore, but it's a cute sparkly pink collar and I was like well I'll keep it for when we get another (which may be never so no need to hang on to it!)
1 clicking training tool for dogs (again for if/when we get one again)
1 full roll of doggie trash bags (see a pattern here! and it's all inexpensive things I can easily buy later if we do get another)

So 12 items gone today :)

New purses

2010-07-16T22:40:00.000-07:00

I mentioned Justfab.com in a post once before and so far, I have ordered 6 bags from them! (Shh...don't tell my husband!). I have to say, the quality has been awesome on all of them. And I love getting to see the new styles they recommend each month. Here's the ones I've purchased (not including the Rockstar that my other post showed).

I can't pick a fave, because I really love them all!

This is my newest one: Anthology in pink. Has tons of space inside and the flowers are soo cute! This one also comes in black

This is the Oscar Worthy in black/white. LOVE this clutch. The handle has rhinestones all along it and it's big enough to hold more than the typical clutch. And the zebra print sequins are awesome! This also comes in bronze.

This one is the Special Effects. I LOVE the vintage feel to it. It has a decorative border and clasp with rhinestones. It also comes in black and gold.

This is my least favorite and I ended up exchanging it. It's very cute and nice quality, but I'm just not sure that I would use it much since it's all white and I already have a tan bag that's similar in size. This also comes in black and a pinkish color.

This is the tan one I just mentioned. It's the Take A Bow. I loved the bow on it and it's a really pretty cream. I don't use it as much as the others because of the color and not wanting it to get too dirty. But very cute.

And last, but not least. This is the one that is on it's way for my exchange. It's the Prop Master in pink. I love the pics and have liked it for a few months but worried I'd never use it enough. But after seeing how much I loved my other pink bag from them, I figured I'd get another one, but in a clutch instead. It also comes in a greyish color.

OOH and while typing that, I decided to check tracking on it and it showed delivered! So I just ran out to my mailbox and it's here! It's very cute and will be great for dressy events. Each of the rosettes has glitter along the edges. :)

So there's my newest additions to my closet :) Don't worry, I didn't buy them all at once, it was a couple months worth. If you want more info about Justfab, let me know (or check out my previous blog post where I go into more details). If you decide you want to sign up (it's free!), I have a referral link at the top right corner on my blog. That way I get referral points towards a free bag.

Oh yeah, and you ALSO get point for every purchase you make. After buying 5 bags, you get 1 free (Or it can be shoes or a combo, I've just only been buying purses). So, one of these was actually a free bag that I bought with credits. And exchanges and shipping are free too. So if you don't like something, it's very easy to send it back for something else. Their customer service has been beyond amazing too which is rare these days!!

Facebook

2010-07-15T15:27:00.000-07:00

I decided to start a FB fan page since I'm always on FB. Figured it would help me keep this blog updated. It's so easy to let it fall to the wayside and not update it. I'll be posting past project pics up over there later in the week. I already put up most of my cards.

Please join! It would be a great place for everyone to also share their projects and blogs. I know I don't get a chance to check out everyone's pages as often as I'd like, but if it's all in one place, we can all share our creations and get inspiration from each other. :) And a place to just chat about anything going on in our lives and get to know each other better.

Look up Sweet Teetle and it should come up! Hope to see you over there.

Good start

2010-07-14T01:18:00.000-07:00

Since I won't have my craft room unpacked for awhile (I'll probably do it last since if I did it first, I wouldn't get anything else done. lol), most of my posts right now will be other stuff like the new challenge I just started (2010 in 2010) or my other loves (shoes and purses).

Today is the first day I started the YAWYK challenge. Well, I started with 100 because I know last month I got rid of well over that when packing. I kept it going by finally getting rid of some things that were broken. I kept saying oh yeah, we'll fix it someday or it was so expensive that I can't bear trashing it even though it's broke. Well, this challenge broke me out of that mindset, because really, I will NEVER end up fixing these things. And even if I did, the time and money put in wouldn't be worth it in the end.

Here's what I trashed:

broken elliptical~this was one of those I spent so much, I don't want to toss it things. But, to fix it was going to be at least $250 just for the service call (broke at 13 months right after the warranty expired) and I ended up buying a new one awhile back for only $600. So this has just been sitting in the garage taking up space.

Outdoor gas grill~another semi expensive item. This was also our first housewarming gift a few years ago when we bought our first house so it had a sentimental attachment in a way. But, it heats unevenly and there seems to be a prob with the gas valve. I normally would have freecycled something like this, but since there was a gas vavle problem, it seemed risky and I didn't want to put anyone in danger.

stainless steel trash bin~the foot pedal stopped working to open it, so again, I threw it in the garage and bought a new one awhile back. Well, it's finally in the trash.

So, only 3 things gone today, BUT they were large items that took up space and were heavy. Feels nice to have them gone. And I got lucky that I was able to set up bulk trash for free.

Rid your house of 2010 items!!

2010-07-13T13:26:00.000-07:00

Ok, so my friend, Tabitha, over at youarewhatyoukeep.blogspot.com is committed to cleaning out clutter at her house and getting rid of unused/unwanted things. She is attempting to get rid of 2010 things. Seems like a lot doesn't it?! Since I just moved and am slowly unpacking, I'm seeing a ton of things I don't really NEED. Well, I figured, why not join in and see if I can do it?! I mean, even if I don't quite make 2010, I'll still be more clutter free in the end right?!

So...I am starting NOW! Anyone dare to join us?! Come one, you can do it! Just imagine how much more time you will have to do things you enjoy when you aren't constantly dealing with clutter!!!

Check out Tabitha's blog for what kind of stuff she counts/doesn't to get an idea and to see her progress so far. :)

New house

2010-07-02T16:15:00.000-07:00

Sorry I haven't posted in forever. As some of you may remember, we were getting really close to closing on a short sale property. Well, we FINALLY got it! It has been soo busy since then getting it ready to move in, all the paperwork, packing, etc. We've been trying for over a year and a half and none went through until this one.

So, my craft room is all packed up which means no new projects. And unfortunately, it will prob be awhile until it is unpacked and ready to create again. I have to get our old house ready for move in for the renters and then unpack the daily things here first. Tons of work means no time for fun. :( But, hopefully it goes quicker than planned.

Gypsy review

2010-06-17T17:01:00.000-07:00

I used my gypsy for the first time earlier in the week to make those piggy cards. Now, I was one of the few people that was not in any way excited about the gypsy and never thought that I would want to buy it. But, my old laptop broke and I'm only on a mini laptop for now and my DS doesn't work on it since the screen is too small. I decided to take the plunge and bid on one on ebay. I ordered from seller proudparents2005 and got a great deal. They seem to have plenty of them and shipping was quick. I'd definitely recommend them to anyone wanting to buy one. Best deal I've found.

My fave option on the gypsy and what really got me to finally want it, is they have currently added the option to hide features. This made it possible to save TONS of paper by not having to cut things I wouldn't use.

Since I made 20 of these, I did each separate thing in a row. Cut all the paper together, stamped all the faces in a row, etc. That way I didn't have to constantly keep switching tools. Made it go soo much faster. If you are making things in bulk, I definitely recommend the assembly line style.

For the pig base (the darker pink layer), I used main pig image and set it to 2.75 and set the cricut on autofill. That set it at 20, which was perfect! So with 1 piece of 12 x 12 cardstock, I made all the bases. Since I wanted to use the cute pig face stamps (They are from Peachy Keen stamps...Critter faces medium size), I didn't need all the layers. I decided to use layer 2 since I wanted the dark pink to show through on the ears, feet, and hands. This is where the gypsy came into use. I was able to hide all the other cuts so that the face parts didn't come in. After I made one on the gypsy w/o the extra cuts, I was able to copy the image 4 times and lay them side by side. Then, to make it even easier, I was able to select all 5 across and copy that 3 times. So I was able to quickly make 20 hidden faced pigs to fit on one mat!! Seriously LOVE this option.

While that layer saved me tons of time, the next cut I did is where I saved all the paper that I would normally have cut. I still wanted the layer with what looks like a dress?! But, on layer1, the dress cuts with another pig layer. Well, here I hid all the face cuts AND the pig. Then I copied just the dress 19 times and laid them all in a row. I saved a whole sheet of cardstock by having this option! No more waste!

Sorry, I'm so wordy as usual. But, I wanted to share how happy I am that I got the gypsy. I recommend it to everyone now! I still can't believe how quickly/easily it won me over. I now wish I'd bought this ages ago when it came out (although I sure saved a lot of money by waiting). If you don't already have one, go get one! If you have any other questions about it, let me know!

The paper I used is all Stampin up, the punch is my free one from Sale a Bration (I'm impressed I remembered to use a punch for once), stamps are My Pink Stamper "Punny-licious" and Critter Faces from Peachy Keen, the ribbon and flower are from Michael's. Also used white gel pen, blue stampin write marker, chalk, watercolor pencil and blending pen for coloring the pig face.

Hope that helps anyone who has been thinking about the gypsy. :)

Rhia's pigfarm & Superstition Farm

2010-06-16T14:55:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, I saw a post from my fave local farm, Superstition Farm, about how they were selling some stuffed piggies that a 9 year old girl made to raise money for the Ironwood Pig Sanctuary. I was touched that someone so young could be so involved in something she's passionate about. So, I messaged the farm to let them know that I would donate some cute pig cards they could sell as well to help her out. Figured it was the least I could do, plus it gave me an excuse to buy the Create-a-Critter cartridge that I've been wanting. :) Win/win right?!

Well I finished them up and dropped them off to the farm today. Here's a pic. For the crafters that follow, I'll have a more detailed post about what items I used and a review of my the gypsy since I got to use it for the first time on this project. Quick review is I love it! lol But I'll tell you why later this week.

I made 20 total, 10 "stinkin' cute" and 10 "hog wild"

If you'd like to check out Rhia's FB page, look up Rhia's Pigfarm. I bought one of her cute stuffed piggies today too. Her name is Swirly. I'd post a pic but I can't find my SD card!

And if you are local, please make sure to support your local dairy farm, Superstition Farm. They have a FB page as well. Some of the nicest people, super clean farm, and cool shop. I bought some fresh milk and some new milk mix ins today too. :)

Cricut circle

2010-06-14T21:01:00.000-07:00

Did any of you get the email that finally explains the Cricut Circle? It's pretty much what I guessed it was and like I thought, it's WAY overpriced in my opinion. It's a membership based program and you get 4 exclusive cartridges a year. That's really the only major benefit. The other stuff (discounts on cricut.com for example) are no use to most people since most buy online at other places to save money. It's $275/year or if you do quarterly payments, it's $80/quarter. So much money for what you get. Especially since you don't even know what the cartridges are yet.

Anyone considering signing up?

I'm also not very impressed with the Cricut Lite cartridges that are exclusive to Walmart. The only one I will probably even buy is the Slumber Party one since it has different images than other carts and it's cute. But, again, I think these are overpriced. They only have 50 images and limited extras for layering. But they are $40. I don't even pay that much for brand new regular carts. I think PC is making it really hard for most crafters to be able to keep buying their product. They are releasing too much in one year IMO. Between the cake, gypsy, cricut lite, and cricut circle. And it's all soo expensive!

Storage Tin

2010-06-04T15:30:00.000-07:00

My aunt had asked for something that she could put on her nightstand for a small amount of storage. I couldn't decide what to make and then I realized I had a couple of storage tins in the closet that I never got around to using so, I decided to see what I could come up with.

The paper is from Imaginisce "Twitterpated". I love the set since it has cute birds and rabbits and foxes. The So Tweet stamp is also from the set and I heat embossed it using a black embossing powder. I adhered it with modge podge and did a layer over the top as well.

Unfortunately the handles were broken from shipping so I used a few coordinating colors of ribbon and threaded it through the handles holes instead.

Last week, I got a GREAT deal on about 21 tubes of Tim Holtz alcohol ink and I've been itching to try it. Well, since I was using tin, I figured I'd use it for the top. If you've never used these before, you totally should! I sponged on 3 coordinating colors and then added the gold mixative. It was clogged so it came out WAY too much! Luckily with the inks, it doesn't matter and you can still get a really cool effect. After I got it all on, I used some blending solution to lighten it a little bit and give it a better blend. I LOVE the way the top turned out. I can't wait to use the inks again.

I heat embossed the deer and bunny using gold embossing powder. Both the animals are from Stampin Up "Forest Friends". The tree, "life is good", "love," and "happiness" are all rubons from SU "Bright Delight". To add a little dimension, I popped up a polka dot flower. I couldn't find a matching smaller flower, so I sponged a white one to match the dots. Then added a corduroy brad from SU.

I hope she likes it.

Mini album

2010-06-04T15:29:00.000-07:00

Get ready for a picture heavy post! Since I was sending my aunt the tin, I decided to also make a mini album for her too. I used a lot of scraps and random pieces from my stock so I won't be able to say what brand some stuff is, but I'll try. Almost all of the patterned papers are from 3 different sets so I'll abbreviate throughout in case anyone is looking for a certain type of paper. The 3 main sets I used were Prima Marketing Rock on Love (ROL), Die Cuts with a View "Glitter Sweet" (GS), and Die Cuts with a View "Rockstar" (RS).

I bought a few of these photo albums about a year ago on clearance and they have just been waiting for me to do something with them. I really should get better about using stuff I have before buying more! Well, the album by itself, while cute, is just too boring for me. I made a mini layout to fit inside each 4x6 page.

The pages are accordion style rather than the usual flip through albums. So when you first open, you see the "Family" page. The pink paper and the guitar paper are from ROL. One of my cousins plays guitar so I added 2 pages with them for pics of him. I LOVE the metal key I found in my embellishment drawer. It's from Making Memories and has a little bird on it. I need to buy more of these! The Family cut is from Cricut "Home Accents". Cut at 2 inches.

The journaling mat and green paper are from ROL. The black and white paper is from scraps and the pink is from RS. Hard to tell, but there's a cute gem that says sisters in between the pink photo mats. It's from Etcetera. They have really cute epoxy stickers with different sayings and images.

Blue paper is from RS and the patterned paper at the bottom is from my scraps. I cut the top note from Accent Essentials at 2 inches an then added lines for journalling.

Papers from ROL. The polka dot is a sticker border.

This starts the backside. Memories is cut from Home Decor. Green paper from ROL, pink is from GS. The rest is just random embellishments.

Blue paper from GS and there's another of those epoxy stickers. This one says cute as a bug with a little lady bug. The guitar paper is from RS.

Papers from ROL. All the rest is random embellishments.

Top paper is from scraps and the blue/brown patterned one is from RS. This top note was cut at 3 in. The blue and the pink ribbon are Stampin Up. Blessed Life are both rubons from 2 different sets that just happened to go together.

After all of the embellishments, it was too thick to close! Well, after all that work, I had to figure something out. I went to my hair bow drawer and found this really cute flowered hair tie and it matched perfectly. It holds it together and the bow fits right at the top to hide the clasps.

See, told you lots of pictures! But this was a really fun project and surprisingly was fairly quick. I took it one page at a time and wasn't too worried about being too matchy matchy since I just wanted bright colors that went together. I also was really good about using my scraps for all the plain colored mats. I usually end up grabbing a new piece of paper and cutting it, but I resisted and I easily found matches. Now if I could just stick with that, maybe I'd be able to close my scrap file folder again!

Gypsy

2010-06-04T01:02:00.001-07:00

I have been eying the Cricut gypsy for awhile not but could never justify the cost since I'm not sure I'll love it. Well, with the new updates, it can do so much more than when it first came out and after watching some fellow bloggers videos, it's made me want one more. But, again, they are pricey. I got lucky though and won a bid on ebay for a great deal. For $130, I got the gypsy, the floral carrying case, the Heritage cartridge and the Hannah Montana cartridge. Plus, it was free shipping! When I figure the difference between what the extras would have normally cost at my fave discount online store with a 20% off coupons and shipping, it's like getting the gypsy for only $40. And considering that all this stuff in a Michael's/Joanns would have been around $450 even with their current sale, it's a steal!

Anyway, just wanted to share my excitement! If you are looking for a good deal on ebay, check out the seller proudparents2005 That's who I got it from and it looks like most of the bundles (without the HM one though) have gone for under $140 so it looks like you can almost always get a great deal. They also have a ton of cartridges for around $20. I can't wait to get it and start playing with it!

Shoe/purse of the month club

2010-05-30T19:36:00.000-07:00

Not a craft post for once! If any of you love shoes and purses, you should check out justfab.com. They are a shoe/purse of the month club. Basically on the 1st of the month, they email you 6 shoes and 6 purses that they think you will like based on a style survey you do when you sign up. From there, you can rate the choices and if you don't love any of them, you can request alternate selections. When you ask for more, you have questions about what you are looking for.

The cost is $39.95 per item. You don't have to buy anything each month, if you want to skip a month, you just have to sign in to your acct and clip skip before the the 5th of the month. Also, you aren't ever charged until you make your first purchase so you can be a member for as long as you want with no charges until you buy. They also have a rewards program where after 5 purchases, you get a free credit for a purse or shoes.

Shipping and returns are free which is nice since sometimes things look different online or if the shoes don't fit. If you are interested in signing up, please use this referral link. http://www.justfab.com/invite/48979 That way if you decide to purchase, I will get credits towards a free item. I joined earlier this month and I love them so far. Their customer service is amazing! When I wanted a purse that wasn't in my selections, I wasn't able to call during their office hours, so they went above and beyond and called me after hours to get my purse ordered for me. (You only have to call to order if the item isn't in your choices).

Here's some pics of my new purse. This is the mustard "Rockstar". I absolutely love it. The color is bright and summery. There's TONS of space. And it's really well made. Great deal at only $40 especially since it's not like a ton of people will have the same purse as me. Let me know if you have any questions about how it works. And please don't forget to use my referral link if you are considering signing up. Remember, there's no charge to sign up. Happy shopping!!!

MPS Father's Day Challenge

2010-05-29T05:24:00.000-07:00

I'm sure most of you follow Robyn's blog at mypinkstamper.com. Well, right now she is doing a challenge to be entered to win a Cricut Expression. It's chosen at random if you submit a qualifying project. Check her blog for details!

The challenge was to make a Father's Day project. I don't really do Father's day things because I don't talk to my dad, but the chance to win a Cricut made me make one just because. If you are like me, making a masculine card is not that easy! It's so hard to not add bows, sparkles, pink, and flowers! But, I managed.

I decided to make something that I thought my husband would like. Maybe I'll save it for a few years til we have kids. lol The motorcycle image is from Cricut "Going Places" I cut it at 2.5 inches and used the shadow feature as well. I ran the green paper through my Cuttlebug using the "Diamond Plate" embossing folder. I needed some sort of pattern in there, so I used the Stampin up skull paper since it's still manly. After embossing, I realized I couldn't really stamp the sentiment on the base, so luckily I had a Father's Day stamp that ended up fitting perfectly on the motorcycle. It's from Stampin Up "Well Scripted".

I still needed ribbon somewhere since I don't feel like I completed a card w/o it for some reason. But I didn't want a bow, so I decided to use a criss cross pattern with black ribbon. Took a little longer, but I like how it turned out. Then to add some dimension, I put buttons for the wheels.

Mermaid card

2010-05-29T05:10:00.000-07:00

During pole class the other day, we learned a new trick that had no name. Someone said it looked like a mermaid and it reminded me of the Mermaid Treasure stamp set I got from Bombshell stamps that I haven't even used yet. So, decided to finally use it.

I had a white top note already cut and the mermaid stamp just happened to fit perfectly. I stamped the image and colored it using my Stampin Write markers. Then I decided I didn't want to have a white background or a border around the image. So, I stamped the same image on another page and cut it out to use as a mask. You can't tell, but I ended up using about 4 different blue inks so stamp the water because I kept deciding to go darker. I used the mask again so that I could add the plants in the water. Then threw a bunch of fish around her.

I then used a shimmery white for that layer, but it seemed to stark so I added some blue sponging to that as well and then added the treasure chest and the "Check out the booty". All of the stamps used on this card are included in the Mermaid Treasure set.

Of course then I decided, gotta add some bling. I stickled the mermaid fin and added some gold stickles in the treasure chest too. The green sequins are stringed together. My mom sent them to me awhile ago and I'm glad she did since it's not something I would normally think to add to a card, but I love the way they went with it.

So You Think You Can Dance

2010-05-28T20:40:00.001-07:00

Are any of you SYTYCD fans?! I LOVE LOVE LOVE this show. So excited it's back. I made a list of some of my fave dances on my FB page if anyone wants to go rewatch some of the best routines.

http://www.facebook.com/note.php?created&&suggest&note_id=426225183922#!/notes/crystal-mincher/so-you-think-you-can-dance/426225183922

If you are a fan, what are some of your faves?

Stamp club scrapbook pages

2010-05-18T16:03:00.000-07:00

So this month in stamp club, our Stampin Up demonstrator mixed it up a bit. Rather than having 3 cards ready for us to make, we were given free reign! I was a little worried since it's hard to think up stuff and be creative on the spot sometimes so I wasn't sure I'd come up with anything cute.

So to start, we all got 1 piece of 12 x 12 plain paper to do what we wanted with (cards, scrapbook page, etc). Then there was accent paper, punches, stickers, and brads set out. I decided since I have plenty of cards and 1 scrapbook page didn't make sense, so I decided to fourth the paper and make 4 6 x 6 pages.

Here's a pic of all 4 completed pages. The papers and stickers are all from the Sunny Day Simply Scrappin Kit. I LOVE the colors in this set and may have to buy it to make a whole scrapbook out of. It comes with printed cardstock with matching solid colored cardstock. It also comes with 6 pages of stickers/borders.

When I do scrapbook pages, I like to make the 2 pages match, but typically flip them so that they aren't identical. Here I cut the trim paper at 2 x 12 and then cut that in half. I used the scallop edge punch on all of the trim pieces. I adhered that about 1/2 in above the bottom so that I could add the strip underneath it. The pink strip (and green on the other 2 pages) is a sticker from the kit.

The circles and flowers are both punches from Stampin up and I just added stickers from the kit to the center. I used a brad for the bird's eye on this one. (The bird's eye on the other page is just put over a dot on the paper). The photo mats are cut at 3 x 4. I used dimensionals on all the punched out pieces.

I think they turned out super cute and I adore this bright, summery kit. Now I just have to decide if I want to buy the set. I think for these 4 pages, I might just punch a hole in the top to make it a mini album and use a connector with ribbon.

Bombshell art #2

2010-05-18T15:43:00.000-07:00

So, I loved this project so much that I had to make another one. I made this one for the owner of the place I take my pole classes on. Since I have SCAL now, I was able to make a super cute cherry printed dress for my Bombshell Angel stamp to coordinate with the background papers. I also used SCAL, to make a pole! How cool is that?! It's not like you can get a pole on the Cricut or in any stamp set!

To switch it up a little bit, I used black lettering and black and white ribbon instead of brown. I also cut around the stamp rather than sponging the area. Not a lot of changes, but I didn't want it to be identical.

Here's a close up of the pole and the dress. The paper is all Stampin Up, even for the dress. I used just a plain grey paper for the pole and then used stickles to give it a shiny, metal look. This is the same dress I used on one of the other projects, but it's so easy and I love it! The cherry print is adorable and I want a dress in real life that looks like that!

Possible new house

2010-05-11T18:25:00.000-07:00

I know I've been MIA again lately. After over a year of trying to buy a short sale home, we *might* finally have one. I've been busying dealing with all the paperwork type stuff that goes along with that, so crafting has been the last thing on my mind. Hopefully, this one will go through and we can finally be done looking and living in limbo, not knowing if we are staying or going. Please send good vibes, pray, cross your fingers, and anything else that this goes through.

I love my uncle onesie

2010-04-30T00:25:00.000-07:00

I have been wanting to try cutting fabric with the Cricut/cuttlebug for awhile now. But, it's one of those things, I never got around to doing. I usually have to have an actual reason to make something to try a new technique. Well, when a friend mentioned that her brother couldn't find anything to buy his niece that says "I love my uncle", I figured, what better time than now.

This project turned out to be much trickier than I thought. Mostly because cutting letters is too small with the Cricut. I recommend only using the Cricut to cut large/bold items that don't have a lot of curves to them. If someone else has tried this and can recommend a better setting, please let me know! It also could have been the fabric I was using. I plan on trying different fabrics/shapes to get a better idea of what works and what doesn't.

So, I ended up instead using my Cuttlebug. I have a Sizzix alphabet set and the size just happened to be perfect for a onesie. I still cut the heart out with my Cricut though. Did you know you can use Sizzix dies in the Cuttlebug? No need for multiple machines and you have more variety. :)

I used a polka dot fabric that way it was mostly all pink, but had hints of brown and green in it.

Here's a close up of the lettering.

I think it turned out super cute and I hope that she loves it. I used wonder under to adhere the cuts. One thing that I noticed though, don't use the wonder under on extra fabric if you don't plan on using it anytime soon. It loses it's stickiness and won't be able to be adhered to fabric later.

Photo holders round 2

2010-04-24T15:20:00.001-07:00

Here's another set of photo holders I made the other day. I used the same brand of paper, just different patterns. You will probably see a lot of these eventually, because they are so easy to do and I have a ton of them!

I made these for 2 sisters that have birthdays a week apart. Since they live together, I wanted them to match, but not be exact, so I just used different embellishments on both of them.

Pic from the side. I used buttons and rubons on the top.

And I gave them the birthday cards I made yesterday with the Bombshell stamps. You can't tell much, but one has brown hair and one has red hair just like the sisters. Rather than put the cards in an envelope like I usually would, I just put them in the place where the photo would normally be and I gave it like that, no wrapping or anything. I think I just loved the cards too much to cover them. LOL

So, really simple and inexpensive gifts to give to someone. Especially, if you are like me and just like to bring gifts for people.
I bought the photo cubes at Oriental Trading if anyone is looking for them.

SCAL + Bombshell

2010-04-22T05:55:00.000-07:00

I mentioned the SCAL and Bombshell stamps last month. Well, after some playing around with it, I finally cut some clothes to put on my stamps! I love this idea and I will get soo much more use out of the Bombshell Angel set now than I ever would have thought when I bought it. There are more outfits that you can cut, skirts, shorts, pants, etc and with all the different paper, the outfits options are endless!

I made 2 almost identical cards with it today. The dresses are slightly different, but I cut them both so figured, I'd make it easy and make 2 cards at once.

I used the same paper as my project yesterday, We are Memory Keepers "Tiffany" for the dress and the mat on the cards. I had some random polka dot ribbon that was just barely enough to use on both.

I finally remembered to actually use my punches for once! I used the Fiskers threading water punch on one and the other is a free set I got during Stampin Up's Sale-a-bration. The "Happy Birthday" is from Stampin Up "Well Scripted".

I added some buttons in the centers of the flowers on the paper since the area looked a little too bare. I kinda threw these together quickly because I just wanted to show off the awesome outfits.

Here's a link to where to get the digital download for the Bombshell outfits. http://www.bombshellstamps.com/catalog/item/7118197/7818930.htm You also will need to buy the "Bombshell Angel" stamp set so that you have something to put the outfits on. You will LOVE the stamps from there. They are seriously my favorites ever!

If you don't have SCAL, and want to buy it, go to the link I listed in my blog and use the promo code I listed. Should make it only $54. http://sweetteetle.blogspot.com/2010/03/scal-sure-cuts-lot.html That's the link to the post with the info for you.

Photo holders

2010-04-21T03:19:00.000-07:00

Sorry it's been so long since I've put anything new up! Here's a fairly quick and easy project I did. I bought some 3 x 3 photo holders awhile back and they are so easy to cover with cute paper and embellish. I have probably 30 of them just waiting to be decorated.

I've made a couple sets in the past, which I'll post pics of at the bottom, but here's my most recent set.

I used papers from a We R Memory Keepers paper stack called "Tiffany". The embellishments and rubons are from my stash. The ribbon, I just bought on clearance from Stampin Up in a set. I love the bunched together look of the ribbon.

Picture of the other sides/back.

And here's a few other examples I've made.

Yep, if you look closely, that's me as a baby! :)

These are my favorite types of crafts to make because they are small and squared off so they are so easy to cover without having to do too much extra cutting with a craft knife. And you can easily personalize them for anyone. You can never have to many photo holders IMO. I have another 2 that I'll post in a few days that I'm giving as gifts. I'll just put their cards in the photo part.

New projects soon

2010-04-16T14:44:00.000-07:00

I promise I will have some new stuff up soon. As I mentioned in a post earlier, my husband was home on leave for the last month. Since he was only home for a month, we had a ton of stuff to do and I wanted to spend as much time with him as possible, so I really haven't spent ANY time in my craft room. He left again Wednesday night :( But that means, I will have more time to craft to get my mind off him being gone.

Sorry I haven't posted much lately. I'll try to make up for it with a bunch of posts in the next few weeks. :)

Hope you are all having fun and being creative!!

Bombshell art

2010-04-03T02:55:00.000-07:00

For those that don't know, once a week, I take a workout class that is the most fun and exciting class ever. It's called Pole~ah~tease. It's a sensual pole class that combines yoga, pole, dance, etc. I look forward to it each week and the class has made me so much more confident than I could ever have imagined. I know people are probably thinking "um, pole, like stripper" but it's not really like that at all. I took the first level last year thinking oh this will be fun and I'll do it for the 6 weeks and that's that. But it was so awesome, that I kept signing up for the next level. I'm now starting level 6 next week!

Ok so you are probably wondering what this has to do with crafts. Well our level 5 graduation was on Thursday. I've had the same teacher since level 2 and she's been completely awesome and makes everyone feel like they can do anything and that they look amazing. So, I decided to make her a mini gift for graduation so I could give something back to her for all that she's done for us.

Of course, this meant I HAD to use my Bombshell stamps. I mean, how can you not. My teacher is a bombshell and deserves only the hottest stamp ever. I decided to frame a layout that I made using the stamp as the main focus.

Here's a cull picture of the completed project. I love how it turned out. I used retired Stampin Up cardstock that I found on ebay. I'd been trying to find the cherry paper from them and so glad I finally got it.

Here's a closeup of the stamp. It's the "Bombshell Angel" stamp. I will probably be using this set a lot soon since there is a SCAL option for the cricut to make different outfits. The bombshell wording is also from the set. I used my Stampin write markers to do the coloring (after using Staz On ink for the outline). I of course added some stickles to do the outfit and hair flower. Then I just sponged on some chocolate chip and I think real rust all around the image.

Another closeup with the working. Express MiE (putting the I back in me:)) is the name of the fitness studio I take the classes at. They have so many different fun classes that make working out enjoyable. I cut the letters out using my Cricut and then stickled all over them. I had to use mono adhesive since the glitter made it too thick for the zig 2 way glue. The "Be yourself...everyone else is taken" is from my favorite "Close to my Heart" stamp set.

I'll also point out the way I fixed a mistake. ha ha That red strip at the bottom, well it wasn't going to be there. But I smudged ink there on accident. So I quickly cut a trim piece of the cardstock from the top and adhered it over the smudge. That's why I like crafts, you can easily cover your mistakes. And, that's also why I decided to put the bow on the ribbon. It was going to just be a strip of ribbon, but the stamp made a mark and I covered it up with the bow.

Ok finally, here's the card I made her. I didn't want to use the same stamp set since I thought that would be too matchy matchy so instead I just pulled out the polka dots and a similar ribbon.

The stamp is Stampin Up Medallion. I think this was my very first SU purchase. I love it, but it is VERY hard to ink up all the way since it's so large. I recommend turning it over and putting the ink over the top rather than pressing it on the ink pad. That way you can see where you miss. I used a bronze embossing powder and heat embossed the medallion.

Hope you enjoy! And if you have any questions, just ask. Also, if any of you are in the Phoenix area and want to find out where to take some super fun workout classes, let me know and I can get you all the info.

SCAL (Sure Cuts a Lot)

2010-03-30T18:10:00.002-07:00

I mentioned this program yesterday and how I really wanted to order it for the Bombshell stamps. Well, I decided to go for it!

If this is something you have been considering buying, now is a great time. They are having an Easter special discount. Also if you use the link I give you, you can also get an extra 10% off using promo code 8774959. This promo code is valid until 4/12. I'm not sure when the Easter special ends though. If you want to buy it, please use the link provided and the promo code. It takes the downloaded version down to just $54 from the usual $75.

http://www.craftedge.com/index.php?rfid=8239212&ref=25a8b4e173f42feea5e140964ee96c6e

I'm very excited to get started playing with this software as an addition to my DS. Let me know if you have any questions.

Awesome news about Bombshells stamps

2010-03-29T23:39:00.000-07:00

I'm posted a few cards using the Bombshell stamps I bought and I just absolutely LOVE the designs soo much. Well, they mentioned on their Facebook page the other day that they now have digital stamps of the Bombshell designs that way you can print on any paper. I responded saying they should see about working with one of the die cut companies so that there would be no need to cut out each design and you could really customize the outfits with cute paper.

I got a message today and they were able to make this happen!! I am so frickin excited about this because I hate cutting out a bunch of stuff which is why I have my Cricut and Cuttlebug. For those of you that have SCAL (Sure Cuts A Lot) for the Cricut, you can now buy the SVG. It's only $10 for 25 mix and match pieces that fit on the "Bombshell Angel" stamp. Luckily, I already have this stamp so now I need to look into buying SCAL. I never felt the need for it until now. Hope it's not too expensive.

Here's a link to how to purchase the SVG. http://www.bombshellstamps.com/catalog/item/7118197/7818930.htm

And here's a link to the stamp set that the pieces fit on to. http://www.bombshellstamps.com/catalog/item/5305856/5276722.htm This link is for the unmounted ones where you mount it onto EZ Mount yourself. They also sell it mounted for clear blocks as well for $10 more.

There is going to be soo many possibilities now for this stamp set and I can't wait to get SCAL and start creating! I'm happy that my idea/suggestion really worked out for them and it's cool to be a part of that in some small way. I'm also impressed by how quickly she made this idea a reality! I commented on Saturday afternoon and here it is Monday and it's already for sale!!

Sorry for the long post, I'm just super excited about this. Also stay tuned for a really cute project where I used the Bombshell Angel set. I made it last week but have waited to post it since it's a gift for someone. But I think it turned out fabulous.

Photo Cube

2010-03-27T23:20:00.000-07:00

Made another cute photo cube. This is one of my fave things because it's so easy since it's all flat and square edges. No curves to deal with. :) I wish I could find more of these blank photo cubes to cover because I would do these all the time.

I sponged Stampin Up Chocolate Chip on all the edges and used an avacado acrylic paint on the white areas that weren't going to be covered. Wanted to give it a bit of a distressed look.

The "angel" and flowers were rubons.

I love this sparkly bird. It's from a Martha Stewart sticker set. They are a thicker sticker and the colors are beautiful.

The flower and cherry are stickers. The "Memories" was cut from I *think* Lyrical Letters and welded with my Design Studio.

The "young at heart" was from a paper pack, as well as, the chipboard embellishment at the bottom.

This is the top. There is some space inside for storage.

I used modge podge to adhere the paper and I also did a layer coat over the entire cube when I was finished.

Blogger Award :)

2010-03-27T16:13:00.001-07:00

Yay! I got my 1st blogger award thanks to Melanie AKA Scrappy Mel. Here's a link to her blog to check it out when you get a chance. http://scrappymel.blogspot.com/ She has some simply adorable cards over there. I'm so honored to be listed in her Beautiful Blogger list, especially since I am so new to this whole thing. So awesome.
Apparently, by getting this, I let you know 10 things about me and then nominate 10 blogs that I read/enjoy.

1) I started crafting a year ago when I saw a pass it on post on Facebook where you make 5 things for 5 people and those 5 people make 5 things for 5 others and so on. I've found I really enjoyed it and I'm not too terrible at it either.
2) Last year I finally decided to go back to school. I'm going for nursing (if I can ever get off that dang wait list) and the stressful classes make crafting my go to place to destress.
3) I am completely OCD and have many weird habits because of it.
4) I've been married for 4 years and my husband was gone almost 1/2 of the time working in Iraq. :( But he's home now. :)
5) I spend entirely too much time on Facebook. It's too addicting!
6) I absolutely LOVE shoes. I don't even know how many I have anymore. But it's a lot. I'm in the process of making a photo album of them, but I've only finished 50 of them so far.
7) I love "bad" tv. Lifetime movies, WB teen shows, reality tv, etc It's my guilty pleasure.
8) I miss my family terribly but I don't see myself moving back to the cold Chicago. Miss the city too but I love being nice and warm in AZ.
9) Because of my mom, I'm a HUGE worrier. I always think the worst has happened. Not good when your husband works in Iraq. Lots of sleepless nights.
10) I love movies. We have over 300 DVD's. There's some movies that I could watch over and over and never get sick of them.

Ok...onto the bloggers that I'm going to nominate. This is hard since my faves were all on my computer that died and unfortunately I've only been able to remember so many. Some may have already gotten this already too. But here goes.

Stephanie at http://pinkstarcreations.blogspot.com/ I LOVE the stuff she makes using the Bombshell stamps. They are my new fave stamp sets and her projects make me want to buy the ones I don't have yet.

Wendy at http://cricutcreationswithwendy.blogspot.com/ Love her Cricut stuff. Inspires me to use mine more. Just wish I had more cartridges.

Joy at http://joyslife.com/ Love her tutorials. She's great at explaining how to do different features on the Cricut

Robyn at http://www.mypinkstamper.com/ She's like everyone's fave. I learned how to use my Cricut before I even got it in. Her projects are easy for people to do which makes it nice for newbies like me.

Nicole at http://canadiannickelscrapn.blogspot.com/ Love all of her cards. I don't think there's a single one I don't like.

http://heartstring-designs.blogspot.com/ She makes super awesome paper flowers. Makes it sound easy and it's stuff I've wanted to try, but they look so difficult.

Tanya at http://scrappinkymomma.blogspot.com/ Super cute cards.

My friend Tabitha at http://azlehmans.blogspot.com/ Inspires me to workout and eat better. She does it while having 2 little boys running around so I have no excuse!

Breanna at http://breannamaichel.blogspot.com/ Great cards using the Cricut.

Cindy at http://www.cricutintheclassroom.com/ More awesome cricut projects. Makes me want to take on the recipe book that she's contributing pages to.

So there you go! Hope you all got some new blogs to look at for inspiration. :)

Glass etching round 2

2010-03-22T15:34:00.001-07:00

Ok so I decided to give the glass etching another go. My friend's wedding was this weekend and I wanted something tangible to go along with the card/check so I decided to etch a vase. I have a few vases laying around that never get used because they are all the same. I get them when flowers are delivered and don't throw them away but have no use for them. Well, by etching them and personalizing them, it's giving use to something that would just sit.

Anyways, I once again used my cricut for the lettering. I used the Lyrical Letters cartridge for the wording and cut it out on vinyl from Oh My Crafts. The small lettering and curved surface made it a little difficult to apply. Took a lot of time and patience to get it straight and get rid of any bubbles in the vinyl. The last project, I didn't get the vinyl down in all spots so the etching cream bled a little. I also used a smaller brush instead of the foam brush this time. I think it worked better to get all the small spaces and left less room for error. I left the cream on for a full hour this time and it worked much better, no need to redo any areas.

Here's a picture. It has their last name and wedding date. I heard from the bride and she is already using it for her bouquet today. :) That makes me happy!!

Here's another picture I got from the bride of her bouquet in the vase the next day :)

The card I gave her is from a stamp club class using Stampin Up products.

Sorry I haven't had much posted lately. Been spending time with the hubby. Enjoy!

Update

2010-03-15T15:51:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone! I may not get a post up this week. I'm going to try, but my husband called me a couple days ago and told me he'd be home soon. For those that don't know, he's been working in Iraq for almost 2 years. The last time I saw him was back in July so it's been a really long stretch this time. He decided to quit his job though and is supposed to be home tomorrow. So, I'm going to be too busy cleaning the house up and getting things ready to get any crafting done. I'm going to a wedding this weekend and I had planned to make something as part of the gift, but now I'm not sure if I'll get to. If I do, I'll post if for you all.

I attended a small craft class at my Stampin Up demonstrator's house last week, so I may put up pics of the items we made so that I have something new to show you.

Sorry! But I hope you understand.

Birthday and Bachelorette gifts

2010-03-08T01:44:00.000-07:00

So I've been slacking lately when it comes to crafting. Just haven't been too motivated for some reason. But, this weekend I had a bachelorette party to go to. Yay! Fun! Well, it also just happened to be the bride's birthday too, so I wanted to make 2 separate gifts. As anyone whose birthday is right around Christmas knows, it's much more fun to get 2 gifts, then 1 combined one. Get ready for a picture heavy post!

For the bachelorette gift, I decided to do a cute mini album. I've made one very similar to this before for another bachelorette party. It has a very girly theme and it's a perfect album to have ready for any pics taken at the party. I surprisingly did not use my cricut or any stamps on this project! Crazy. Most of the stuff was either part of the album kit or in my stash of embellishments. The hardest part to this, was cutting the paper with the scalloped edge of the chipboard.

Here's the front page. There are 3 different sizes of pages and you can see them all from the front.

Back page:

Ok, now on to the birthday gift. One of my very first craft projects ever, about a year ago, was a few plain photo cubes that I covered. Well, I managed to find a few more awhile back. I decided to make another one for her birthday gift. The next 5 pictures are each of the sides and then the top. You can use the inside for small storage.

See, I told you there would be a lot of pictures in this post! Only 2 more to go.

The first card I made to go with the bachelorette gift. I used another Bombshell stamp. This one is from their "Bombshell Angel" set. I still just adore these sets. I used my Stampin write markers to color them in. And of course had to use some stickles to add some bling.

The birthday card is one that I've had in my stash. I made it a few months ago at a Stampin Up class. It's using the "On a Pedestal" stamp set. And again, had to add some stickles! It's not a card w/o some glitter!!

Hope you enjoyed these projects! Sorry it was such a long post but I thought it would be easier than making 4 separate posts. Let me know if you have any questions about how anything was made. :)

Stamp-a-stack

2010-03-06T01:09:00.004-07:00

Today I went to a stamp a stack class that my Stampin Up demonstrator was doing. It was fun to just make some cute cards with other people who love crafting too. We made 8 cards (2 each of 4 styles). Thought I'd share with everyone.

This is my fave of all of them. Made using the Greenhouse Garden. This was my first set that I bought from Stampin Up and I just love it. So Springy.

Next set was using the new Butterfly embosslits die. It cuts and embosses at once which is so much easier than having to line it up a second time and run it through again. Plus, who doesn't love butterflies?

The next set is using the "in-colors". These are the only colors I don't personally own since they change each year. We used a cute embossing folder on the middle area. For some reason, I never remember to use my embossing folders at home. I have tons but just don't think about them. That's why I love going to these types of classes, it reminds me what I have and maybe eventually it will catch on and I'll use them more.

And finally, the last set was more of a simple, masculine set. I'm never good at making cards that aren't too girly and pink. These are simple enough that I can give them to my husband. We used a different embossing folder on the black paper to give it the dotted look. I love the clean, modern look to these. Another type that I would not do normally so it was fun to do something different.

So there's how I spent my night. If anyone in the AZ area wants to join in, let me know. We do a monthly stamp club and there's usually at least 1 other class each month. I have fun with it and I end up getting a good selection of different types of cards to have on hand.

I'll have another post up on Sunday or Monday so check back then. :)

Bridal shower gifts

2010-02-21T15:40:00.001-07:00

This weekend was my friend, Somone's bridal shower. Since for the last 6 months or so, almost all the gifts I've given have been handmade, I figured I'd keep that trend going.

This was the push I needed to finally try glass etching. It definitely didn't turn out perfect and I learned some things to do differently last time. My biggest issue was not getting the vinyl down enough in a few places which made the etching off in some areas (mostly the lettering). Also, need to leave the cream on for at least an hour next time instead of just 40 min.

I also finally had a reason to try out the paint can tins I bought awhile ago. They were larger than I thought they would be and not the easiest to cover the first time.

Overall, I think everything came out pretty good though and I hope she liked her gifts.

This is the "Bridal Emergency Kit" I made her. It is stuffed full of all the random things you would need day of. Mostly little things, you don't think to bring but then wish you had. After the wedding, it would make a great keepsake tin to hold all your wedding cards and little momentos in one place. It would also be cool to make it like a time capsule, where you open it on say, your 5 year anniversary and see all the cards and memories again. :)

Back side

Top view. I later added a ribbon pull tab to make it easier to open.

inside view. This is when it was only half full. By the end, it was stuffed.

Toasting flutes. Etched their names on one side

And an image of a couple on the other side.

Little bit better lighting so you can see both sides

I just realized, I forgot to take a picture of the card I made too. :(

EDIT: Few more pics added from the shower. Better view of the inside once it was full. And 2 pics of Somone opening it and showing it off :)

Blog candy

2010-02-17T18:28:00.000-07:00

Hey all you crafters out there. Check out this awesome blog. http://pinkstarcreations.blogspot.com/ She has some great designs using my new favorite brand of stamps (Bombshell Stamps). And right now she has a chance to win some prizes! See her blog for details and make check out her beautiful cards. Although, it's making me not want to wait to place another order after seeing some of her stuff. :)

Shoe card

2010-02-13T22:15:00.003-07:00

I found the cutest stamps ever last week. I finally got a chance to use them and make a card. I absolutely LOVE this one.

This set is from Bombshell Stamps. It's their "Girl's Ruin" set. It was so difficult to not buy every stamp in their collection, but I narrowed it down to 3. I can not wait to have the money to buy some more!

Tote-ally Tess card

2010-02-07T09:40:00.001-07:00

Here's a card I made trying out my new Stampin Up stamp set. It's a fave already. It's also my first time using my Aqua Painters to apply the colors. As always, I had to add stickles somewhere so I blinged up her shirt and shoes. I love the sentiment that came with this stamp set "the best things in life, are made not bought". Hopefully my friends and family think that too since almost all of my gifts lately have been handmade!

I will be using this set a lot! I think it's soo cute.

Also, here's a card I made in November that I never got around to posting. Thought I'd add it here.

Boy version

2010-02-06T03:07:00.004-07:00

Well I figured I couldn't exactly show up with a gift for my friends daughter and not have something for her little boy too, so I decided to try out a boy one. Almost all the crafts I do are very girly, sparkly, and pink so this was a challenge for me.

I ended up filling them with a box of candy hearts, tootsie pops, and chocolate. They loved them! The little girl carried hers around half the night. :)

This one I had to throw together fairly quick since I was in a hurry. Only had about 20 min total and I'm not that quick with the Cricut yet so that wasn't a lot of time.

I think overall it turned out pretty good for my first boyish project. If I'd had more time to pick out colors and accents, it would have been better. Either way, almost all of these that I've seen have been girly so thought I'd share this one.

The colors showed up a little funny in the pictures. I swear the colors match much better in real life.

Mini mailbox #2

2010-02-05T06:59:00.003-07:00

I just love these mini mailboxes. I bought TONS of them so I'll be making them forever. This one I made for a friend's daughter for Valentine's Day. I'm gonna fill it with assorted candy. This one turned out so cute and I loved the colors together. Hope she likes it!

Side view:

The Front: I love the Everyday Paper Dolls cartridge. It's one that I never thought I would want to buy, but it's one of my most used ones! Especially with the peachy keen face stamps! Also used stickles to make the dress sparkly. She's a red head, so of course, the doll had to hair red hair too!

Back View:

Photo Calendar

2010-02-03T02:26:00.017-07:00

Just realized I never got around to posting this one.

January: Cuttlebug "Ice Crystals" die and embossing folder for snowflakes.

February:

March:

April: Used Cricut cartridge "From My Kitchen" for the Easter eggs.

May: My fave page. Cricut cartridge "Everyday Paper Dolls"

June:

July: Cricut cartridge "Stand & Salute"

August:

September: I think the bus was from "Going Places" but not 100%

October: Cuttlebug die and embossing folder "Pumpkin Spice"

November: Cuttlebug die and embossing folder "Maple Leaf"

December:

Older stuff

2010-02-02T20:30:00.003-07:00

Figured that rather than spending hours transferring all of my stuff from my facebook profile over to here, I would just post a link to that album. That way if anyone comes across this before I get more posts up, you can see some of the stuff I've made.

Enjoy.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=82798&id=757844115

Biggest Loser week 2

2010-02-02T20:20:00.003-07:00

Only down 1 lb this week but I figure that's better than nothing. As motivation, I have decided that if I win, I will buy this gorgeous dress. I have wanted it for about a year now, but it's more than I usually spend.

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=20884355

So let's all hope I win so I can buy this beauty!

Pink Stamper "Cold Days Challenge #2"

2010-01-31T00:43:00.001-07:00

Poor Robyn is still cooped up in the cold so here's to day #2 of challenges. This time it was to create something for spring or summer.

The first card I made, I didn't really like how it turned out so I ended up making 2. I'll still post them both, but definitely not loving the bird one.

I decided to do the bird after seeing the picture Robyn posted of the red cardinal on the ice covered tree. Figured I'd let the bird into spring too. :) I ran a piece of white cardstock through my Cuttlebug using the Bird Call embossing folder. I then just sponged on a some green, blue, and red. I used glossy effects on the bird to make it stand out a little bit more.

My 2nd card came out much better IMO. I just used a some scraps for this one. I used Stampin Up set Greenhouse Garden.

Pink Stamper "Cold Days Challenge #1"

2010-01-29T17:04:00.000-07:00

Ok so Robyn at mypinkstamper.com just posted a challenge. She is stuck inside due to an ice storm where she lives. Makes me feel a little guilty that I'm cold today and snuggling under a blanket when it's only 63 here.

The challenge was to do something using your favorite color with black. Well, like Robyn, my favorite color is PINK!!! I actually made this project a couple of days ago but it fits perfectly with the challenge. And I got the idea for it from mypinkstamper.com too so even better. I have too much to do today to get a chance to get into my craft room. Hopefully tomorrow I'll be ready for the next challenge.

Here's my version of the adorable mini mailbox she made. Enjoy!

Week 1

2010-01-24T12:48:00.000-07:00

Today was the end of week 1 for the competition. Managed to lose 2.5 lbs!!! Very excited since I didn't work out as much as I'd like and I slipped a few times with eating bad stuff. Hopefully I can keep it up.

LA Fitness had been emailing me a promotion for no enrollment fee and less money than what I was spending when I canceled a year ago so I decided to go ahead and sign back up. Think I'm going to try a Zumba class tomorrow night. Everyone I know who has done one seems to love it and I've been wanting to try it for awhile now.

Biggest Loser

2010-01-19T12:33:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I have joined a Biggest Loser competition with some people in my area. I figured if I had to write about it, I'd be more likely to stick with it. So I decided to start a blog. I'll also use this to post the craft stuff I make.

Day 1 of the contest, I woke up early and did a 30 min workout. Today is day 2 and while I am not feeling great, I did a short workout. Only 15 min, but it's better than nothing right?! Later in the day, I'm going to be doing some housework so I figure that will account for a bit of a workout.

While I am not brave enough to actually write my weight on here, I will at least list the lbs lost each week. That's hoping there is lbs lost each week!

Wish me luck!