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December 22, 2018

Tea Time Bookmark

DIY Simple Bookmark For a last minute gift or for yourself It’s been a while since I created something other than a card with my Joy Clair stamps. I wanted to do something a little different, or maybe a little obvious, with the Tea Time stamp set that includes a stack of books and so many great sentiments. Instead of a card, I’ve created a cute miniature bookmark, that can also be used as a gift tag for the holidays. There are so many ways you can create your own bookmark, but I kept this project quite simple, yet still fun and bright. Directions: Start by creating a base for your bookmark, using either a die cut, by hand, or with your electronic cutting machine. I used a Christmas tag die cut for mine. Using your choice of two colors, blend your oxide inks (or any—I just like the oxide effect) onto your card base. If you’re using oxide inks, splatter a little bit of water so that it activates the inks for those fun water spots. Next, using your MISTI and black inks, stamp the stack of books, from the Joy Clair Tea Time set, onto a piece of white cardstock. Color the books with whatever medium you enjoy best. I used three different color blue markers. Once you’ve colored your books, carefully fussy cut them out. Now, place your bookmark onto your MISTI and take a moment to align the sentiment of your choice on top, using your cut out books as a guide. I already knew that I was going to trim some of my books for the final look. When you have your layout together, stamp your sentiment from the Tea Time set onto your card base. Lastly, adhere your books, trim if needed, and add some fun bakers twine to the top! If you really wanted to, you could laminate your bookmark for a more sturdy placeholder. I’ve never made a bookmark, but I think I’ll make a couple more for Christmas gifts this year using my Tea Time stamp set from Joy Clair. What other projects would you create with this stamp set? SUPPLIES USED: MISTI Stamping Tool – The Most Incredible Stamp Tool Invented Shop at: SB | AZ Permanent Adhesive Dots Roller – 6 pack Shop at: SB Spellbinders – Platinum 6 – Die Cutting and Embossing Machine Shop at: SB | AZ Imagine Nocturne Versafine Clair Ink Pad Shop…

December 16, 2018

Winter Wonderland Ornament

I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas and Blue and Teal and Silver I have a fun and easy project today that includes a lot of the wonderful items included in the December Glittery Hands Box! This project was inspired by all the beautiful snowy Winter wonderland photos that I’ve been seeing lately. We don’t get any snow, or a Winter for that case, here in Florida, so I wanted to bring a little of that to my tree this year. You can definitely customize this ornament by using different sequins and glitter color, but I loved the ones that came in my Glittery Hands Box, so I’ll show you how I created this one. Directions: I started by picking out my favorite wooden snowflake that arrived in my package. Using glue, or mod podge, cover one side of the snowflake and then sprinkle the blue and silver glitter all over. Once that dries, turn it over and cover the other side too. How beautiful does that glitter look on your snowflake?! Then, it’s time to fill the clear, round ornament with the blue and teal sequins, the silver bells, and one of the silver glitter stars. I went ahead and poured some of my own silver glitter onto the other side of the wooden glitter star. You can fill your ornament with just about anything you want that will fit. Get creative and have fun with it! Next, close up the ornament and randomly place the silver snowflake stickers all around it. I didn’t want to put too many so that you can still see all of the filling inside. Lastly, I added some fun black and white bakers twine and one of the silver tags to the top. This project was so fun to make and so easy! If you have little ones, this would be such a fun project to include them in this season.

December 15, 2018

My Top 3 Money Making and Saving Apps

My 3 Go-To Apps Plus, Bonus Recommendation I’ll first start off by saying, none of these apps will help supplement your income in any way—that’s not the point. The goal, or at least mine, is to help with groceries, which is one of my largest budgeted areas, in even the smallest way. While working on my New Year’s Resolutions, I’ve started putting together a budget plan as well. While I can’t take these apps into consideration while planning my budget, they will at some point help. One of these apps gives you direct cash rebates that you can redeem from Paypal (how perfect is that?!) and the other two are built on points which you can then redeem for different gift cards (I’ll be redeeming for Amazon gift cards). How I’m Planning My Grocery Budget I’m still in the beginning stages of working it all out, but I plan on using 15% percent of my paycheck for groceries. This will not include pull-ups, diapers, dog food (that’s a whole separate budget with 5 large dogs!), or any other “household” products. I’m talking strictly food and drinks (again, not going to include our wine habit). Since our meal boxes from Marley Spoon have been delicious, I’ll continue those, but possibly on a once a month basis instead of a weekly basis like I’ve been doing. Side note: We’ve tried all sorts of home delivery meal kits, and although Marley Spoon is a few dollars more than others, we feel like the recipes and ingredients are way better than others. Okay, so I also have an Amazon Chase card, which I plan on using for food (such as Whole Foods 365 products) as well as gas and other expenses. This means I’ll start racking up Amazon points, giving me EXTRA bonus help for later food expenses. Plus, during my recent Christmas shopping, I noticed Amazon has an offer going on that when you chose “No Rush” delivery, they give you $5 credit towards your Whole Food online order. You do have to be a Prime Member, but at this day in age, who isn’t!? Of course, if you are THAT person, you can always try Prime for free for 30 days. Grocery Budget Conclusion So basically, I’ll start by planning my recipes out, starting by going through our pantry and using up whatever we already have. Then, write out a menu that includes budget-friendly recipes. I’ve…

December 15, 2018

New Year’s Resolution Planner Stamps

Start Your Resolutions Today Create Custom Layouts with Joy Clair Stamps Today I’m going to show you how to use both the Joy Clair New Year New Me and Lightbulb Moment stamp sets to add a little extra planning to your yearly planner! Both of these stamp sets are full of sentiments and sayings, and all sorts of fun designs to accompany your daily life. For this project, I worked on my New Year’s resolutions, along with adding a few extra elements to my Create 365 planner. Directions I started by laying out my stamps onto my month in review page. This may take some time to figure out where each stamp will fit and how to make it work if your planner has existing elements already. Both of these stamp sets are perfect for bullet journaling too! I love the resolutions stamp, 1- because the font works perfectly with the rest of my planner and 2- because I can see this used for some fun New Year’s cards. The New Year New Me stamp set has a ton of clever and funny resolutions, like my favorite, “same hot mess”! Can’t we all relate?! The numbers can also be used throughout your planner for the months, like I used. For my planner, I added a couple of the stamp resolutions and then used the straight line from the Lightbulb Moment set, so that I can go back and fill them out with my own resolutions. I continued to add “New Year, New Me” to the right side, which you can barely tell that it wasn’t printed like that! Lastly, I used some of the smaller shapes as bullets where I’ll also list events and dates. Both the Lightbulb Moment and New Year New Me stamp set from Joy Clair make the perfect addition for any planner girl. I’d love to see what projects you come up with once you get these two stamp sets.

December 13, 2018

Christmas Woodland Gift Tags

Christmas Woodland Creature Tags Plus Granola You Need to Try It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas over here—mostly because Florida has finally seen our Winter. Also because I had been getting ready for my family’s early Christmas get together. With our family all living in different parts of the state, we usually all gather at a certain time that may or may not be on any given holiday. So, instead of having another couple weeks to get all my gifts in order, I had to finish them before the 1st of December this year. Not to worry, since my Glittery Hands Box came just in time! And oh boy, was it filled with all sorts of seasonal goodness. I picked up these fuzzy little woodland creatures as soon as I opened my box. How adorable are they?! To my surprise, they fit perfectly on the tags that were included as well. Yes! I immediately had an idea that would work perfectly with my homemade granola. Homemade Granola Rave Can I just stop and speak about this granola for a hot minute? I’ve never been one to eat it often, for no real reason at all. BUT, I now make it religiously. Recently, I’ve been on this new “no processed food” kick, thanks to my new job, and it’s been great. This granola is extremely easy to make and can be stored in an airtight container (like the ones my parents got me for early Christmas) for up to a week. Honestly, it barely lasts that long! Ok, back to the tags… Directions: First, blend your desired color ink onto each tag. I left a little bit of white at the top of each tag. Then, flick a little bit of water onto the tags to activate the inks. I LOVE oxide inks 🙂 Once these have dried, place the silver glitter snowflake stickers where you please. I held my woodland creatures up to each tag to get a better idea of placement. Next, glue your felt woodland creatures onto each tag and then finish off with some fun bakers twine or ribbon. Now that you’ve got your Christmas Woodland Tags, place them on your gift, whether that be a mason jar, box or bag, using the washi tape that was included in your Glittery Hands Box.

November 8, 2018

Treat Yo Self Everyday DIY Sugar Skull Banner

Trick or Treat Yo’self Today (and every day) Letter Board and festive Sugar Skull Banner Just because Halloween is over, doesn’t mean you can’t keep the holiday spirit up for just a little while longer. Today I’m showing you a fun and witty letter board, and a quick DIY sugar skull banner to adorn it with. I received my The Glittery Hands Box the day before Halloween, so I didn’t get the chance to really embrace all of the spooky products on time. That doesn’t mean I’m not going to see what I can create and use until Thanksgiving arrives. I was able to give my son’s trick or treat bag a little pizzaz with the skeleton ribbon; you can take a look here if you didn’t catch it on Halloween eve. When I opened my TGHB my eyes immediately saw the sugar skull die cut. It was love at first sight and I have SO many other ideas. Halloween may be over, but you could possibly use this for Cinco de Mayo, too. This sugar skull banner is super quick to whip up, so let’s get started. Directions: Start by cutting out either manually or with die cuts, two rectangles. Then, cut out the sugar skull using any type of double-sided adhesive paper. I tried it with the Sizzix brand first, but ended up using my Silhouette brand; it worked much better. Adhere the layers of paper and once you have secured the sugar skull down, peel the top layer off and pour the provided black glitter from your TGHB on top to cover. It gets a little messy, but that’s the fun of DIY projects. Your box comes with a handful of fun phrases, so choose your favorite to add to the design, and throw some sequins on there for good measure! Now, use a 1″ or 1-1/2″ round punch on both of the provided skeleton printed paper. I happen to have a link punch which worked perfect for this banner, or you could simply use an x-acto knife to cut slits or end up stringing them all together using twine or ribbon. There’s plenty of options out there for banners, which makes this project friendly for everyone. I wanted to keep this sugar skull banner up for a little bit even though Halloween is over with, so I found this cute phrase and added “today and every day” to the end.…

November 3, 2018

Early Amazon Black Friday Craft Deals

Why Wait Until The Last Minute Start Planning Your Craft Supplies With Black Friday on Amazon I’ve never been one to wake up ridiculously early just to stand in front of a store and fight the crowds to save $5. I’ll save my, and your, sanity by doing some of the virtual heavy lifting for you. As most of you know, Black Friday is THE shopping day for the holidays, well, that and Cyber Monday. But, here’s a little secret you may not know – most retailers, online and brick & mortar, have been starting to give us access to some great deals way before Black Friday arrives. This makes grabbing your gifts and personal supplies, much easier and less stressful. Now, some say there’s a well thought out schedule as to when to buy certain products (i.e. electronics, clothes, etc.) but personally, if I see something on sale NOW, I’m probably going to buy it NOW and save myself the headache later. Here’s a short list of my favorites from the Craft Deals on Amazon’s Early Deals right now. {This post contains some affiliate links. Every little bit helps this stay at home mom out!} Craft Deals: Pens and Markers I personally have a large collection of Tombow markers and know that my local craft store doesn’t sell them at this price! Are you into hand lettering? Creating posters? Designing personalized mugs? Ecovue Paint Pens are a must! I love trying out different watercolor techniques, so these watercolor pencils are the perfect price if you’re looking for something new to try. Machine Deal: I LOVE my embossing machines. I’ve tried a few different ones and they all have good qualities. Check out Sizzix Sidekick for small spaces. For just a few more dollars and a few more inches of space, you can grab a larger Sizzix embossing machine. Papers & Vinyl: New to the world of vinyl? This is a great adhesive vinyl starter kit to help get you started. I’ve taken some drawing lessons back in my day, so sketch pads are littered throughout my craft room. Hey there Harry Potter Fans, check this amazing pattern paper set created just for you! I’m just going to call Washi Tape paper! You can never have enough of this stuff. There are TONS more great deals that have already started. Amazon even has their Lightening Deals…

November 2, 2018

It’s the Season with Joy Clair Stamps

Snowy Greetings with Joy Clair Stamps A Christmas Blog Hop Who’s ready for Christmas? I sure am not :-/ BUT, at least I have the Joy Clair Design Team to get my butt in gear with Christmas cards. Today is our “It’s the Season” event, and we have tons of wonderful inspiration for you to view. Hop through each of our design team’s blogs to see all the newest Christmas stamps. For this card, I’m using Snowy Greetings and Vintage Christmas Ornaments. If these snowmen don’t make you smile, then you and the Grinch can move right along! 🙂 I kept with a beautiful blue color scheme to bring out the cool winter feeling. I can’t remember who posted a card design similar to this online, but it helped bring my card to life. Such an easy layout that can be used for so many other themes. Directions: Start with a sheet of light blue cardstock. Use the large snowflake from the Vintage Christmas Ornaments stamp set, along with the small ones from the Snowy Greetings, and randomly stamp on the paper. Heat emboss with gold embossing powder. Does anyone else find it extremely magical and fun to watch gold embossing powder heat up? Next, take two different color blue inks and blend them from dark to light onto the stamped paper. Once finished, take a clean paper towel and wipe off excess ink from all the snowflakes. I always forget that you can ink on top of embossed images, which makes created different backgrounds so much more diverse. Then, cut a small strip of the same original light blue paper tall enough that you can stamp your favorite sentiment onto. Once you do that, cut your background paper, leaving a gap that fits the sentiment piece. Stamp the three snowmen from the Joy Clair Snowy Greetings stamp set onto a sheet of white cardstock and color with markers or pencils. I chose to keep it simple with only a blue and grey marker. Fussy cut your image. Lastly, simply adhere the two background pieces using foam tape, and use regular tape or glue to adhere the sentiment piece. Use foam dots for more dimension to adhere the snowmen on the right side of your card. Is this not a beautiful winter wonderland card? I’d love to see your designs using your new Joy Clair Snowy Greetings stamp sets. SUPPLIES…

October 31, 2018

99 Cent Custom Halloween Candy Bag

DIY Halloween Candy Bag Cheap On a Budget Silhouette Heat Transfer Vinyl

Kid Approved. Crafty Mom Approved. DIY Halloween Candy Bag in a Pinch I’m not even embarrassed to tell you that I made this tonight, the night before Halloween, because my son needed a candy bag to bring to school in the morning. Really, I’m okay with that. At this point, I wouldn’t even be surprised if I made it first thing in the morning tomorrow! I’ve been so busy with life that Halloween came up way too soon for me to remember to get everything done. It’s now 10:00pm and I STILL have to finish “customizing” his costume! Why? Because I’m THAT crafty mom. #extra This bag literally cost me 99 cents at Publix. While checking out yesterday, I happen to see them on the end cap and grabbed one. It’s all black with small green font; I can totally make this work. AND I DID! Best part of this Halloween candy bag is that the white HTV is ……. GLOW IN THE DARK! Also, the added details on the handle arrived yesterday in my The Glittery Hands Box. It was like it was all meant to be. Directions: I’m going to make this short and sweet because it’s just that simple. I created my design using Silhouette Design Studio. The bat design is Design #13973, and I used Trattatello for the font. When you go to cut your design always remember to Mirror your image. Next, if you have any unwanted design or text on your black bag, cut an appropriately sized piece of black HTV to cover, and heat press onto the bag. I loved that this all black bag only had a small section that I had to cover up. When it’s only 99 cents, you make that work for you! Then, continue to heat press your design onto the bag, layering the bats first then your custom name. Lastly, add some extra spooky fun to your bag with any matching ribbon you may have. Like I mentioned before, I received my The Glittery Hands Box in the mail yesterday evening, and to my surprise, this ribbon matched perfectly! I applied by simply using a hot glue gun. If you’re way more crafty than I am, go ahead and pull your sewing machine out for a much cleaner finish. I’m really excited about this bag for so many reasons. It came together within 30 minutes and it…

October 18, 2018

Thermoweb and Joy Clair Pumpkin Card

joy clair stamp and thermoweb foil pumpkin card

Using ThermOWeb Foils For The First Time Creating a modern pumpkin card with Joy Clair stamps Have you ever seen those shiny foil papers and thought, “how pretty, but I’m not sure I can do that?” Well guess what? I got the chance to try them out and overcame my fear of trying something new, and it was SO easy! Joy Clair has teamed up with Therm O Web to teach you and inspire you. Today I’m showing you how to create a modern fall card using a sentiment from the newest Joy Clair Thankful and Blessed stamp set along with the Deco Foil Pumpkin Patch toner sheets and gold foil. Directions: Start by using a stitched rectangle die cut. Cut out one large black sheet, the next size down black and white stripe paper and same size using the Deco Foil Pumpkin Patch toner sheets. Creating your foil sheet – Since I’m completely new to foils, I decided to do some research and learned that you can simply use any kind of laminator. I picked one up fairly cheap on Amazon. To apply the foil, cut a sheet of Deco Foil a little larger than the size of your toner sheet. Fold a sheet of printer paper in half, place a scrap piece of cardstock down for reinforcement, then place your toner sheet (dull side up) with the foil (color side up), and finally close the flap of the printer paper. Carefully guide your paper through the laminator with the seam side first. Once it comes out the other side, remove the foil sheet to expose your design. It IS that simple. Next, take your sentiment from the Joy Clair Thankful and Blessed stamp set, stamp it on a sheet of white cardstock using black ink. Then, take one of the gold Deco Frames, trim your sentiment to fit, and adhere together. Lastly, assemble your card by layering the black sheet on the bottom, the striped, the pumpkins, and then the framed sentiment. For a final touch, I added a few orange enamel dots. I hope you “FALL” in love with Therm O Web foils and Joy Clair stamps just as much as I did. They are so easy to use and there are so many wonderful products available. Check them out and share your Therm O Web and Joy Clair stamp projects with us!

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