Valentine's Card Party

Last Friday, I hosted a Valentine's Card Party with a few friends! I have started having a yearly one for Christmas cards, but a friend asked about doing one for Valentine's and I thought it was a sweet idea! 

I recently featured some of my Valentine's cards and was excited to see what the girls would create! At Christmas, I work to make kits for each of the cards, but I figured we couldn't go wrong with some cute paper and some heart punches. 

Homemade Valentine's Cards

Every year at Christmas I get out my embossing gun, stamps, cardstock, and the other hoards of card making supplies I have for my annual card making. For the past two years, I've even hosted a Card Making Party.  I thought - why not expand card making beyond just my Christmas cards this year? Nothing says LOVE more than homemade! I hope these card ideas give you some inspiration!

Valentine's Day Garland

Are you looking for a simple but adorable way to spruce up your house for Valentine's Day? I am in love with this craft - my house will probably have paper garlands draped everywhere!

My sister over at The Life of Jennifer Dawn has a special knack for garlands! Make sure to check out some of hers. 

Fall Back Into Blogging

Whew!  It has been too long.  My new job has kept me busy and sometimes after working all day on the computer I don't feel like blogging.  I decided it's time to 'fall back into blogging!'

This year I decided to go all out for my fall decor this year!  I decorated at the beginning of  September and knew I'd be hosting Thanksgiving this year - so that's 3 months that these decorations would be out!!  Christmas only gets left out for 1 month - what have I been thinking?  

After getting out the few decorations from the previous year and a few too many trips to Hobby Lobby (with 40% off coupons, of course), I had all I needed to deck my house out for fall.  The only problem was... I didn't know where to put any of it.  I had more decor than I could possible need, I just couldn't figure out how to make it come together.  I called my sister Jennifer to the rescue!  She came in and helped magically pull it all together.  Take a look at how it all turned out!  

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Burlap Bubble Wreath

Now that it's summer, I spend a lot of time at the house.  One of the best ways for me to keep from eating out of boredom is  to keep busy!  My friend Rachel came over to craft, so I needed to find a project to work on.  I pulled up my Pinterest crafting board on my phone and found this awesome burlap bubble wreath on Today's Fabulous Finds!  I changed it a little and added a few of my own embellishments.  

Supplies (from Hobby Lobby - make sure to bring a coupon or buy when it's on SALE):

2 jumbo rolls of burlap ribbon - with wired edges.

2 packs of pins with large heads

10 inch foam wreath (you can make it smaller or bigger according to your preference)

For the flower:

1 small roll of patterned burlap ribbon with wired edge

1 wide roll of teal burlap (no wired edge)

1.  My burlap ribbon was 2.5 inches wide, so I cut it into squares (2.5 x 2.5).  I measured one and then used it to cut all the others.  Hold a burlap square by the bottom corner. 

2. Fold the top corner down to the bottom corner to make a triangle.  

3. Pinch the very tip of the right corner of fabric and fold it down to the front.  Line up the corners.

4.  Pinch the very tip of the left corner of fabric and fold it down to the front.  Line of the corners.

5.  Put a pin through the layers.  Pin it to the foam wreath.  Pin them so that they overlap and cover the pins.  Keep laying the bubbles until you have covered the wreath.  I did not cover the back of the wreath since you won't see that. 

 To make the flower, I started by making 4 bubbles with the chevron burlap.  I held them all together and pinned them down to the wreath.  I kept making more chevron bubbles and laying them until the flower was the size I wanted it.  Then I cut 2 longer rectangles out of the teal burlap.  I made a bubble with it and pinned it down under the flower to serve as leaves.  

I wrapped the leftover red chevron through the wreath and tied a knot at the top to complete the wreath.  

Sisterly Craft Wars - Part 2

Yesterday, I told you about how Tombow had chosen my sister Jennifer from The Life of Jennifer Dawn to participate in the "100 Days of Tombow" program.  She was provided with 3 Tombow products to try and review.  We created a sister challenge to each come up with a craft incorporating the 3 supplies, as well as any others we needed. 

Tombow's Stamp Runner Dot Pattern Adhesive, Tombow's Dual Brush Pen Set, and Tombow's New Irojiten Color Dictionary Pencils

Ready for the big craft reveal?

Drum roll please...

My creation was a homemade post card! 

A few extra supplies:

Postcard stamp

City stamp of your choice - mine was of New York

Card stock

Ink Pad  

(I didn't end up needing the ink pad because the Tombow marker set worked so well, I just used them.)

While my husband and I were in New York, we happened upon the cutest stamp store called The Ink Pad.  I would travel all the way there just to go to this store again.  I was looking for a souvenir for my sister and found the detailed New York stamp.  Of course I had to buy one for myself, too. 

   1.  I used the pen set to color the stamp.  The brush side worked the best.  It took a little time to color the stamp the way I wanted it, and to make sure I had covered all the intricate details.  After coloring it, I had to 'huff' (yes - that's a technical term for breathing hot air all over the stamp) to make sure it would all show up.  I stamped it on yellow cardstock.  

2.  I used the color pencils to color in the stamp.

3.  I used the adhesive to adhere the stamped card stock to a larger piece of cardstock in a different color to mat it.  Adding more card stock made it really sturdy.

4.  I used the pen set again to color the postcard stamp and stamped it on another piece of yellow cardstock.  I used the adhesive to attach it to the other side of the post card.  

Voila!  I loved how it turned out, so I made an extra.  All the products worked great!  I especially like Tombow's Pen Set - they worked better than a stamp pad.  I didn't get any unattractive stray ink like you sometimes get from a stamp pad.  The adhesive made the project really easy to assemble.  Overall, I'd give Tombow a thumbs up! 

Now I just need Carl to take me to New York again so I can use my new post cards! 

Head over to Jennifer's blog to take a look at her craft reveal!  Jennifer created Seed Packet Greeting Cards.

She did a great job!  Which one is your favorite?

Sisterly Craft Wars

 Tombow recently contacted my sister Jennifer from The Life of Jennifer Dawn to participate in the "100 Days of Tombow" program.  They are celebrating 100 years of providing office, art, and craft supplies.  Tombow will kick off its "100 Day of Tombow" program by committing to provide up to $10,000 of art products to the Council for Arts Education, a national nonprofit dedicated to promoting and supporting art education and quality art programs nationwide.

Tombow's Stamp Runner Dot Pattern Adhesive, Tombow's Dual Brush Pen Set, and Tombow's New Irojiten Color  Dictionary Pencils

The challenge?

Come up with a craft that incorporates all three products.

So my sister and I decided to each come up with a craft utilizing these supplies for a little sisterly craft challenge. 

Stay tuned... tomorrow we will reveal our final products!

Menu Board

I had a fun afternoon doing Pinterest crafts with my friends Amy & Sierra!

Amy is showing off her new menu board while I am intently paper cutting. 

One of the projects today was a menu board!  (A big thanks to Amy & Sierra for finding the idea and getting the supplies.)  We used a fabric quarter to hot glue fabric to a cookie sheet.  We attached magnets to the back so it attaches to the refrigerator.  Amy found two little wooden boxes that worked perfectly to hold menu ideas.  You could also attach a notepad to jot down your shopping list.  

Simply add mini clothespins and some labels made from scrapbook paper and voila - a homemade menu board.  Now it's time to put it to use!  Hate arguing over what to do for dinner each night?  Tired of last minute grocery runs?  Well this is a great solution!  Also, the best way to stay on track with healthy eating is to plan, plan, plan!  

Amy's  menu board turned out BEAUTIFULLY!