Sam & Hailey Designs

The Valentines Day 6 for $6 Grab Bag is here!

2012-01-31T11:09:00.001-07:00

It's here! After much tribulation and wrestling with my mouse, I've managed to come up with a little Valentine's Day treat for you! I collected up six of my newest Valentine's Day designs and bundled them up into a Grab Bag for you. Just $6 for 6 awesome cutting files!

The Grab Bag includes a Love Memory Book, a Love Word Book, two Card Shapers, a new set of Valentine's Cupcake Wrappers, and a new set of pretty heart motif Rosettes!

AND, I've got a little extra bonus for you! Buy it now and get my Lollipop Lips & Staches design for free!

I'm going to use these for my kids valentine's this year. Won't it look cute to have a whole class of Kindergartners wearing lips and mustaches while they eat their lollipops! Love it!

I hope to get creative again soon. I've got to replace my Wacom pen so I don't have to use the mouse on my computer. I have carpal tunnel syndrome in both of my hands and the mouse just aggravates it so much! Once I get that, I should be able to blog regularly again, too. I'm seeing a TON of cool stuff coming out of this years CHA Winter Trade Show!!!

Time to get crafty, people!

Cards to have in your stash

2012-01-21T00:01:00.003-07:00

Does this ever happen to you? You are going about your life, humming along a mile-a-minute as usual and then... BANG! An occasion arises that requires a card. You don't have time to make one. There's no time to stop at the store for one. What do you do?

This happened to me today as I realized it was my turn to post a card over on the Card-A-Day blog! What do I do? I run to my stash, pull out a blank card, put a sentiment on it and GO!

I came up with a simple card. It may not be flashy, but it's not boring either. And in just a couple of minutes I was ready to post it. I'd already done the work of cutting and assembling the card a long time ago. The hardest part was picking which sentiment to put on it!

I started out with one of the cards from my Flip-Flop cards cutting file set. I used a masculine color scheme for the ones in my stash. It's nice to have a few masculine cards ready to go, don't you think?

I added a rub-on and a bit of ribbon to dress it up on the front.

Another rub-on on the inside. I like that when this card is unfolded, whatever was on the sides of the card on the front is still visible! Plus there is lots of room to write a little something.

If you throw a few basics in your stash like these, you can quickly dress them up for any occasion!

Looking for this cutting file? Here's a link:

Here are a few suggestions for more fun cards to put in your stash:

Time to get crafty, people!

Happy New Year!

2012-01-04T11:40:00.001-07:00

It's a new year alright. I checked to be sure. We are back from visiting the Grandparents. The kids are back in school. I'm still in my jammies at 11:00. Yup, things are business as usual here at Sam & Hailey Designs.

Our Christmas was so nice. It wasn't too crazy, just family, a few friends, and some fun. We decided to throw a last minute trip in to see the folks one last time this year. As usual, we played games until our hands were to sore to shuffle cards one more time. The girls enjoyed playing with their cousins and even met some second cousins they didn't know before. Lots of fun. Sure hoping we left my parents without any cold germs. I'm thinking we probably won't be able to visit again until cold and flu season is over.

I know there are a few of you out there who got new digi cutters this year for Christmas. The hot new models being the Silhouette Cameo and the KNK Zing. A big old "Welcome" to you if this is your first time visiting us. Next week we will be back to posting our normal routine. That means I have to get busy and come up with a new batch of stuff to write about.

Before I go, I wanted to let you know about this month's product specials! Everything Itty Bitty is 25% off. These are big collections of little designs especially for cutting out small for cards, tags, ATCs or other tiny projects. Fun fun fun!

~STOCK UP SALE!~STOCK UP SALE!~STOCK UP SALE!~

Get 25% off everything Itty Bitty

from Sam & Hailey Designs

through the end of January!

Click to shop!

~STOCK UP SALE!~STOCK UP SALE!~STOCK UP SALE!~

Time to get crafty, people!

On the 12th Day of Christmas Creativity...

2011-12-23T12:09:00.001-07:00

Happy Christmas Eve Eve!!!! It's Chris's turn to host the very last day of the 12 Days of Christmas Creativity!

Hailey asked me if we were going to open presents tomorrow morning. She was so bummed she would have to wait another day. I fear this will finally be the year that my kidlets will have a hard time sleeping. They are sooooo ridiculously excited!

I still have tons to do, so I'm attempting to keep this short. I've had all kinds of preparations for this blog post this morning and I'm hoping to go have lunch with hubby!

First up! The 12 Days of Christmas Tags Collection is up in the store! Before you run off to buy it, make sure you check to see if you won it, below!

I've got something special for you if you do want to purchase the set. It's a fantastically special price!

First, the regular price of the whole giant set is over 30% off the individual file price. I know, you already got 4 of the twelve, so you don't want to buy the whole set. Let's see, you have 1/3 of the set, so I should give you 1/3 off, right? I think you need more though, how about 50% off the set! That's a massive savings over the individual file price!

And really, it wouldn't be Christmas without presents, right? So, I have another present for you! Buy the set, and get my newest card design, Super Quick Card - Peace Dove absolutely FREE! Just in time to make some for you last minute Christmas letters!

Here's what you'll need to do. First put both items in your cart. You'll notice that the card design will show up for free! Yippee! Then scroll down and put this coupon code JB12DAYS in the coupon code box (you need to be logged into the store for this to work). You'll see a discount of $12.50 just above your total! Sweet!

This special deal is good through December 31st. Party on!

Here are some quick links for you:

Buy this:

Get this free:

Coupon Code: JB12DAYS for 50% savings!

The Winners!

Okay, are you ready for some drawing winners???

Prize: the 12 Days of Christmas Tag Set

Winners: Kelly S, Denise Foor, Esther W-B

Prize: $10 Sam & Hailey Designs Gift Code

Winner: Sandra from NC

Prize: $10 Michaels Gift Card

Winner: Anna Dowdy

Prize: the December VDBC Grab Bag

Pam in SD

I don't have the coupon codes quite ready for you all yet, but I will this afternoon. Anna, I'll need your mailing address. Congratulations to all the winners!

I hope you all have a very very Merry Christmas and a Happy and especially Prosperous New Year!!!! Thanks for joining us on this fun 12 Days of Christmas Creativity blog-fest!

Time to get crafty, people!

On the 11th Day of Christmas Creativity...

2011-12-22T00:01:00.011-07:00

Phew!!! Are we almost there yet? It's been a fun two weeks counting down the 12 Days of Christmas Creativity with you. Today is Ileana's turn to host, so be sure to head over there and give her some love!

Today I'm thinking about stockings. When I was a kid I had this cute felt stocking my Aunt Shelba made for me. It had santa on it and my name. I still have it! We always got an orange in the toe of our stocking, then it was filled part way up with nuts, then some candy. I recall we always had that hard ribbon candy. I wonder if you can even get that anymore? I haven't looked because it wasn't really my favorite. I doubt that it was in our stockings... too sticky! When I got married, I picked up my hubby's family stocking traditions. Among those are to always get a new toothbrush in your stocking. That still strikes me as a little funny, but I go with it! Gotta have the marshmallow santa in there, too. As long as there are Reese's Peanut Butter Trees in there, hubby will be happy, so we're always good.

Speaking of stockings, this year I had this great idea {usually words that cause hubby alarm}. I wanted to make new stockings for my girls. My idea was to use my KNK Maxx to cut fabric for appliques. Sounds great, right? It actually was great!

They aren't quite done, but I have high hopes for getting them completed by Christmas Eve. It's the hand stitching that's taking me so long. Once I get that completed, I can sew them up!

The girls are excited about their new stockings. I had a hard time deciding what to put on them. They both wanted something like a princess on it. Christmas Princesses? What is this, A Very Disney Christmas? I was trying to convince them that they wanted birds instead of princesses. After all, there are a lot of bird related themes... think 12 Days of Christmas! Tons of birds there! So, we were looking through my new 12 Days of Christmas Tags and of course, they both wanted the Nine Ladies Dancing design. I decided that nine was a lot of ladies to be trouping around on a stocking and settled on three. I think they have turned out very cute so far. Here's what I did to cut the fabric.

Cutting Fabric Appliques on the KNK Maxx with the Fabric Blade

Materials:
Cotton quilting weight fabric
Wonder Under
Very sticky cutting mat
Fabric Blade

1. Iron your fabric nice and smooth.
2. Iron Wonder Under or other transfer material to the back side of your fabric. Do not peel off the paper backing.
3. Place fabric, paper side down, on a very sticky mat. {I used a brand new Cricut Mat}
4. Cut on a slow speed {100-200} with a pressure of 110-120.
5. Peel paper backing off and iron according to manufacturers instructions.

If you are cutting quite a few different materials, as you go along, your mat will begin to get less sticky. I found I was able to successfully cut with the fabric side down and mirrored my image. I'm really impressed with the fine details I was able to cut!

Only one more day to enter my drawings!!!!! Here are all the details:

Here are the prizes:

1) Three Prizes: The whole set of 12 Days of Christmas Tags
2) $10 gift code to Sam & Hailey Designs
3) $10 Michaels Gift Card
4) The December VDBC Grab Bag (or a $7 gift code to Sam & Hailey Designs if you have already purchased it)

How can you win them? On the 12th Day (that will be the 23rd for our little blog-fest) I'll hold a drawing for each one of the prizes (that's ~~four~~ six drawings in one day... I think I can handle it!). All you have to do to enter is comment on my blog to enter. You can comment on my blog on each of the 12 days so you'll have up to 12 entries in the drawings! Each day I'll have a new thing I'll ask you to include in your comment so keep an eye out for that. It's as simple as that!

Today's comment requirement:

Leave a comment with your family stocking traditions! What goes in them, where do you hang them, etc.?

Be sure to include some way to contact you in case you win the drawing (for example, your VDBC forum name, your email address, etc.). If you don't, I might not be able to get your prize to you!

Oh, before you go, here are the last two 12 Days of Christmas Tags! They'll be up in the store later today, and I'll have a great deal on them for you this weekend!!!

And here's the whole collection together!

Time to get crafty, people!

On the 10th Day of Christmas Creativity...

2011-12-21T00:01:00.009-07:00

Yay! It's time for me to host the 10th Day of Christmas Creativity! Woo Hoo!

This has been so much fun! I'm glad I still have two more days to post, even if it's not hosting. Don't forget to read about the giveaways at the bottom of this post.

It's just a few days away from Christmas. I'm feeling a little bit sad that some of our family is so far away. Okay, not just a little bit. I'm really hoping that one day we'll be able to spend Christmas with everyone together. Thank goodness for Skype and Facetime or we would feel really disconnected from our son, daughter-in-law, and granddaughter in Connecticut. We will hopefully be able to do some visiting with our own parents over the holidays, though, so at least we will see some of our extended family. I'm looking for some ideas to draw us together over the long distances. If you have any, keep them in mind, I'll be asking you about them later on in this post!

Today I've got my last freebie for you! It's tag #10 in the 12 Days of Christmas Tags series. Hopefully you've picked up the other three I've given away so far. If you want the whole set, be sure to enter the drawings. I'll also be offering these for sale for a super good price at the end of the week, too. I might even come up with a challenge or two to go along with them.

It was a challenge to figure out how to fit ten lords leaping around on one little tag. This is my solution! The concept works on a lot of the other bigger number tags, too. Can't have you cutting a billing tiny lords and accessories out and then trying to figure out how to assemble them!

Boring but Important Legal Stuff: My terms of use are included in each zipped download. If you have any questions about how you may use this file, please read it. By clicking to download the file, you are agreeing to abide by the terms. If you'd like to share it, please don't. Rather, send your friends a link to this blog post. Once it's no longer available as a freebie, you might be tempted to share it with someone. Please don't! 'Nuf said!

SORRY! This download has expired. Please look for it in the Sam & Hailey Designs Store!

Okay, remember those drawings I mentioned? Here's how to enter!

Here are the prizes:

1) Three Prizes: The whole set of 12 Days of Christmas Tags
2) $10 gift code to Sam & Hailey Designs
3) $10 Michaels Gift Card
4) The December VDBC Grab Bag (or a $7 gift code to Sam & Hailey Designs if you have already purchased it)

How can you win them? On the 12th Day (that will be the 23rd for our little blog-fest) I'll hold a drawing for each one of the prizes (that's ~~four~~ six drawings in one day... I think I can handle it!). All you have to do to enter is comment on my blog to enter. You can comment on my blog on each of the 12 days so you'll have up to 12 entries in the drawings! Each day I'll have a new thing I'll ask you to include in your comment so keep an eye out for that. It's as simple as that!

Today's comment requirement:

Leave a comment with an idea for connecting extended families who are far away at the holidays. This could be any idea for grandparents, grandchildren, deployed military family members, college students, missionaries, etc.

Be sure to include some way to contact you in case you win the drawing (for example, your VDBC forum name, your email address, etc.). If you don't, I might not be able to get your prize to you!

Oh, if you want a sneek peak at the tags included in the whole 12 Days of Christmas Tags set, here are a few more!

Time to get crafty, people!

On the 9th Day of Christmas Creativity...

2011-12-20T00:01:00.020-07:00

It's the 9th Day of Christmas Creativity, and that means it's Chris's turn to host. It's also the 2nd Day of Christmas Vacation, an that means I'm slowly losing my sanity. Just kidding! I love having my kids home, when they aren't fighting or demanding to be entertained. On the positive side, they got their own lunch today. On the negative side, it was grapes, goldfish and rice krispie treats. Grapes are good for lunch, right?

I'm trying to get all my Christmas projects done and I have another one to share with you today. This one is surprisingly quick and easy, even though it involves spray paint. Come to think of it, it involves three of my favorite things, spray paint, pretty paper, and Mod Podge. I thought you might enjoy this one, too.

Shhh... don't tell, but I'm attempting to make sets of these to give as gifts. If you get a set, please act surprised.

Today's project is... Clothes Pin Gift Tags

Materials:
Wooden Clothes Pins
Spray Paint
Patterned Paper
Mod Podge
Permanent Marker

Directions:

1. Spray paint the wooden clothes pins. I recommend using a quick drying paint. I used a Krylon metallic silver. Allow to dry completely, then turn over and spary the other side.

2. Cut strips of paper to fit the tops of the clothes pins. Mod Podge them onto the clothes pins. Allow to dry. This step is optional! You could just paint and write the names on them.

3. With the permanent marker, write To and From and names on the paper. See one I left without paper. I think it looks cool, too.

4. Clip them onto the ribbon around a gift.

I hope you've enjoyed my little tutorial! Here's another portable version for you. Click it to open it large and then save it.

Be sure to check back tomorrow! It's my last day to host the 12 Days of Christmas Creativity!

Oh and don't forget about my giveaways!. Be sure and enter by commenting on each day!

Here are the prizes:

1) Three Prizes: The whole set of 12 Days of Christmas Tags
2) $10 gift code to Sam & Hailey Designs
3) $10 Michaels Gift Card
4) The December VDBC Grab Bag (or a $7 gift code to Sam & Hailey Designs if you have already purchased it)

How can you win them? On the 12th Day (that will be the 23rd for our little blog-fest) I'll hold a drawing for each one of the prizes (that's ~~four~~ six drawings in one day... I think I can handle it!). All you have to do to enter is comment on my blog to enter. You can comment on my blog on each of the 12 days so you'll have up to 12 entries in the drawings! Each day I'll have a new thing I'll ask you to include in your comment so keep an eye out for that. It's as simple as that!

Today's comment requirement:

Leave a comment with your favorite Christmas-time activity to do with kids. I need some ideas of what to do with these munchkins all week!

On the 8th Day of Christmas Creativity...

2011-12-19T00:01:00.003-07:00

'Twas the last Monday before Christmas
and all through the house
crazy people were running around saying,
"Only 6 days, till Christmas! What the CRAP?!?!"

Okay, maybe only one crazy person... named Jan.

It's the 8th Day of Christmas Creativity! Today is Ileana's turn to host again. I hope you've been enjoying her fun trivial questions!

For my part today, I've got a relatively quick and creative gift idea. It looks pretty involved, but actually didn't take that much time at all! I found a tutorial for it on Chic & Cheap Nursery. I modified it a little bit for my kids to use as gifts for their teachers.

Crayon Monograms

I'm not doing a full blown tutorial here. Mainly because I was really pressed for time to get these done for the last day of school before winter break. I didn't take the time to take step-by-step pictures as I went a long. Here's what I did in a nutshell:

1. I used a "floating frame" which is two panes of glass together with no back.
2. I printed out my letter as big as I could and taped it behind the glass.
3. I used super glue to glue the crayons on to the front of the glass, following the printed letter as best I could.
4. I cut the crayons using a sharp knife. I held the knife over a candle before I cut the crayons. I also rolled the crayon under the blade of the knife to cut through the paper before I cut all the way through. This resulted in a nice clean cut through the paper and the crayon.
5. I printed the sentiment on some nice cardstock, matted it, and the mounted it between the two panes of glass.

Done! The whole project took me about 90 minutes. The frames were 11"x14". I used a box of 96 crayons and got two monograms out of it by using the cut-in-half crayons on both projects.

Before you run off to try this, be sure to enter my 12 Day of Christmas Creativity drawings! In case you missed it yesterday, I've decided to give away more copies of my complete set of 12 Days of Christmas Tags. Be sure and enter by commenting on each day!

Here are the prizes:

1) Three Prizes: The whole set of 12 Days of Christmas Tags
2) $10 gift code to Sam & Hailey Designs
3) $10 Michaels Gift Card
4) The December VDBC Grab Bag (or a $7 gift code to Sam & Hailey Designs if you have already purchased it)

How can you win them? On the 12th Day (that will be the 23rd for our little blog-fest) I'll hold a drawing for each one of the prizes (that's ~~four~~ six drawings in one day... I think I can handle it!). All you have to do to enter is comment on my blog to enter. You can comment on my blog on each of the 12 days so you'll have up to 12 entries in the drawings! Each day I'll have a new thing I'll ask you to include in your comment so keep an eye out for that. It's as simple as that!

Today's comment requirement:

Leave a comment with either an idea for a teacher gift to make or a last minute gift to make.

On the 7th Day of Christmas Creativity...

2011-12-18T00:01:00.011-07:00

Iit's my turn to host the 7th Day of Christmas Creativity! Woo Hoo!

Well, now, it's exactly one week until Christmas! So exciting! I really love this time of year. I know, I know, I complain that Christmas is coming too fast. And in a way, the really complaint is that I wish the holiday season lasted longer. Why do I take on so much? Why do I think I have to do so much? I wish I could just relax and enjoy the season. Does this happen to you, too?

I need to find some way to bring myself back to what's really important. Oh right, remember what I said on the 1st Day of Christmas Creativity? Service! Time to get out and do some more service. That will bring me back to reality. Then I'll realize that all that stuff I thought was so super important really isn't and that it's okay to let a few things go.

I know, I know, what you are really here for is the next tag in the set. Are you excited to see some swans a-swimming? I love swans. The look so serene swimming on a beautiful lake. Let me tell you though, they aren't very nice. Not to be negative or anything. Ever come upon one? I have, and these things are big and don't like people near their nests or babies! I prefer to enjoy from afar, thank you very much!

Boring but Important Legal Stuff: My terms of use are included in each zipped download. If you have any questions about how you may use this file, please read it. By clicking to download the file, you are agreeing to abide by the terms. If you'd like to share it, please don't. Rather, send your friends a link to this blog post. Once it's no longer available as a freebie, you might be tempted to share it with someone. Please don't! 'Nuf said!

This design will only be up for today, so be sure to grab it while you are here! Click to download your favorite file type. Remember to click and not to right click! You need to go to the download page or you won't actually get the zip file!

SORRY! This download has expired. Please look for it in the Sam & Hailey Designs Store!

Before you go be sure to enter my 12 Day of Christmas Creativity drawings! In case you missed it the other day, I've decided to give away more copies of my complete set of 12 Days of Christmas Tags. Be sure and enter by commenting on each day!

Here are the prizes:

1) Three Prizes: The whole set of 12 Days of Christmas Tags
2) $10 gift code to Sam & Hailey Designs
3) $10 Michaels Gift Card
4) The December VDBC Grab Bag (or a $7 gift code to Sam & Hailey Designs if you have already purchased it)

How can you win them? On the 12th Day (that will be the 23rd for our little blog-fest) I'll hold a drawing for each one of the prizes (that's ~~four~~ six drawings in one day... I think I can handle it!). All you have to do to enter is comment on my blog to enter. You can comment on my blog on each of the 12 days so you'll have up to 12 entries in the drawings! Each day I'll have a new thing I'll ask you to include in your comment so keep an eye out for that. It's as simple as that!

Today's comment requirement:

Leave a comment with something you do to try to remember the true meaning of Christmas. I need all the ideas I can get!

On the 6th Day of Christmas Creativity...

2011-12-17T00:01:00.007-07:00

It's the 6th day, all right, I checked. Half-way through? Really? Sure is going by fast, isn't it? Today it's Chris's turn to host the 12 Days of Christmas Creativity. Tomorrow it will be my turn to host, so be sure to come back for a freebie!

Today I've got a project to share with you. I know, normally I post projects on Wednesdays but I didn't get this one done in time for Wednesday. I didn't think you'd mind too much. I've got a tutorial for it, too!

Today's project is... All-Occasion Countdown Blocks!

I've seen a lot of countdown blocks for Christmas and I think they are awesome! I wanted to make some, but I didn't want to just limit them to Christmas. After all that work, why put them away for most of the year! These are All-Occasion Countdown Blocks. I made them black and white so there wouldn't be any particular event or holiday associated with the color scheme. I added the words "Day's until..." on the base block. Then I glued a small $1 drawer pull from the hardware store next to it. A tag with the word Christmas is hung it from the drawer pull! Easy and cute. Plus it uses Mod Podge which I'm slightly addicted to.

I'm seeing countdowns to birthdays, summer vacation, other holidays, visits from Grandma, etc. in our future!

All-Occasion Countdown Blocks

Materials:
2 - 2" Wooden Cubes
1 - 2"x4"x1" Wooden Block
Paint
Mod Podge
Patterned Paper
Die cut letters and numbers or stickers

Directions:
1. First, paint your blocks. If you want, you can just paint the outside edges of the cubes. The paper is going to cover the rest, so you can save some paint. The base piece will need to be painted all over.

2. Cut squares of paper to fit just inside each side of your cubes.
3. Mod Podge the paper on to each side.

4. Glue the numbers onto the cubes. Here's how you'll want each cube to be set up:
One cube will have the following numbers on it:
0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
The other cube will have these numbers on it:
0, 1, 2, 6, 7, 8
Note: Make sure your number 6 can double as a 9 when it's turned upside down.

5. Glue your letters on the front side of the base.
6. Finish off all the blocks with a thin coat of Mod Podge.

7. Glue a small drawer pull on next to the letters on the base.

8. Create tags to hang off the drawer pull for your favorite holidays, events, birthdays, etc.

One of these days I'll get a cutting file finished up for the whole set and post it in the store. Wait... Did someone say EIGHT days until Christmas? Aaaaaaaahhhh! Must get back to work now!

Here's a portable version of this tutorial for you. Hope you enjoyed it!

Don't go yet! There's still a chance to win free stuff! I've decided to give away more copies of my complete set of 12 Days of Christmas Tags. Be sure and enter by commenting on each day!

Here are the prizes:

1) Three Prizes: The whole set of 12 Days of Christmas Tags
2) $10 gift code to Sam & Hailey Designs
3) $10 Michaels Gift Card
4) The December VDBC Grab Bag (or a $7 gift code to Sam & Hailey Designs if you have already purchased it)

How can you win them? On the 12th Day (that will be the 23rd for our little blog-fest) I'll hold a drawing for each one of the prizes (that's ~~four~~ six drawings in one day... I think I can handle it!). All you have to do to enter is comment on my blog to enter. You can comment on my blog on each of the 12 days so you'll have up to 12 entries in the drawings! Each day I'll have a new thing I'll ask you to include in your comment so keep an eye out for that. It's as simple as that!

Today's comment requirement:

Leave a comment with an idea of how to countdown to Christmas Day! It can be something you do each year or just something you've seen.

Be sure to include some way to contact you in case you win the drawing (for example, your VDBC forum name, your email address, etc.). If you don't, I might not be able to get your prize to you!

Check back tomorrow to see what we have in store for you on the 7th day. I'm hosting and it will be right here! And yes, you'll definitely be able to download some swans a-swimming!

Time to get crafty, people!

On the 5th Day of Christmas Creativity...

2011-12-16T00:01:00.006-07:00

How-de-do, friends! Are you enjoying our 12 Days of Christmas Creativity? Sure hope so. I know I am!

Today it's Ileana's turn to host. Be sure to head over there and give her some love!

I've been thinking about holiday traditions lately. We have a few, but over the years it seems they've evolved. We have two generations of kids and some things have carried over from the older generation to the younger. For example, we like to have a family shopping day where we all go to the stores, split up and shop for each other. The challenge is to hide your purchases from the person you are buying for... without being charged with shoplifting or something.

My parents have a tradition that we have carried over to our marriage. Their first Christmas together as a married couple they bought (or received as a gift, not sure) a pair of stuffed animal puppies with Christmas hats on. Every year they go under the tree (even today) and keep watch over the presents. I loved those Christmas Puppies when I was a kid. It made me feel so connected to the past. Victor and I also have a pair of Christmas Puppies that go under our tree. I think they were from Hallmark. They have little magnets in their noses that make them kiss. Awwwwwww.... Whenever I see them, I think of my parents and the Christmases of my childhood. In our house, the doggies have to hang out up on the tree with the ornaments. That way they don't get eaten by our actual dog, AKA The Christmas Bandit.

One last tradition to share with you. Every year for the past several years, I make tons and tons of baked goodies. We make up plates and take them around to people we love or people we think need a lift. The kids love doing it and so do we!

Today, I have another awesome Christmas cookie recipe for you. Thumbprint cookies have got to be my hands-down favorite Christmas cookie of all time... ever. Here's my recipe.

Jam and Butter Thumbprint Cookies
Makes: About 4 dozen cookies

Ingredients:
1 cup butter, softened
4 oz. (1/2 of an regular size package) cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
1 egg yolk
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt
2 1/2 cups flour
Seedless jam or jelly

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350° F.
2. In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter, cream cheese and sugar together.
3. Beat in egg yolk and vanilla and beat until light and fluffy.
4. Add salt and flour and mix well.
5. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 1 hour or until easy to handle.
6. Shape dough into 1 inch balls and place 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.
7. Form 1/2 inch indentations in the balls with the back of a small round measuring spoon or end of a wooden spoon.
8. Fill each indentation with about 1/4 tsp of jam or jelly.
9. Bake at 350° for 10-12 minutes or until sides are just set. Don't allow to brown.
10. Remove from cookie sheets and cool on a wire rack.

These don't stick around very long, I'll promise you that! I made a bunch to give away last weekend and my family was so mad they couldn't have any. I had to make a double batch on Monday to make up for it!

Hey, don't go yet! We've got prizes, remember? Here are the details:

Here are the prizes:

1) The whole set of 12 Days of Christmas Tags
2) $10 gift code to Sam & Hailey Designs
3) $10 Michaels Gift Card
4) The December VDBC Grab Bag (or a $7 gift code to Sam & Hailey Designs if you have already purchased it)

How can you win them? On the 12th Day (that will be the 23rd for our little blog-fest) I'll hold a drawing for each one of the prizes (that's four drawings in one day... I think I can handle it!). All you have to do to enter is comment on my blog to enter. You can comment on my blog on each of the 12 days so you'll have up to 12 entries in the drawings! Each day I'll have a new thing I'll ask you to include in your comment so keep an eye out for that. It's as simple as that!

Today's comment requirement:

Leave a comment and tell us one of your family's holiday traditions!

On the 4th Day of Christmas Creativity...

2011-12-15T00:01:00.004-07:00

It's the 4th Day of our 12 Days of Christmas Creativity blog-fest! Yay! That means it's my turn to host again!

Before I share a freebie with you today, I want to talk about Christmas Music. One of my favorite things about the Christmas season is the wealth of beautiful music available to celebrate the season. If I had to pick a favorite song, I don't think I could! For many years, when we lived in Connecticut, I sang in a concert choir. It was one of my favorite parts of celebrating Christmas. I really miss it so much. I think we need to start one here in Arizona! Through that experience I really fell in love with choral music.

I was thinking about the song the 12 Days of Christmas which is fun but also very, very long. We like to do sing-a-longs at our house during December. This one is generally not my favorite just because it seems so endless. Once at a Christmas party we did something fun with this song, though, and I thought I'd share it with you.

Here's what you do. You need a good amount of people at your party to do this. Divide everyone up into 12 groups and give them each one of the 12 Days. Each group sings their line when the times comes in the song. Some people are very serious but others will really get into it and do crazy things for their line. It makes the song so fun and no one seems to mind that it's super duper long when you are cracking up the whole way through it. Make sure you give your wackier groups the lower numbers since you'll get to hear them more often than the higher ones. Have fun at your next Christmas party with it!

On to the freebie! It's the 4th Day of Christmas, so of course I'm going to share with you my Four Calling Birds Tag! I was struck by how many bird related items are in this song. Kind of funny, isn't it? Good thing I can think of lots of different ways to draw birds.

Want em? Here's how you can win them!

Here are the prizes:

1) The whole set of 12 Days of Christmas Tags
2) $10 gift code to Sam & Hailey Designs
3) $10 Michaels Gift Card
4) The December VDBC Grab Bag (or a $7 gift code to Sam & Hailey Designs if you have already purchased it)

How can you win them? On the 12th Day (that will be the 23rd for our little blog-fest) I'll hold a drawing for each one of the prizes (that's four drawings in one day... I think I can handle it!). All you have to do to enter is comment on my blog to enter. You can comment on my blog on each of the 12 days so you'll have up to 12 entries in the drawings! Each day I'll have a new thing I'll ask you to include in your comment so keep an eye out for that. It's as simple as that!

Today's comment requirement:

Leave a comment with your favorite Christmas song (if you can possibly pick one)!

Be sure to include some way to contact you in case you win the drawing (for example, your VDBC forum name, your email address, etc.). If you don't, I might not be able to get your prize to you!

Check back tomorrow to see what we have in store for you on the 5th day! Ileana will be hosting, and I know it will be fun!

Time to get crafty, people!

On the 3rd Day of Christmas Creativity...

2011-12-14T08:21:00.001-07:00

Happy 3rd Day of Christmas Creativity! Today is Chris's turn to host. I know she has something awesome over there for you. Be sure to check it out!

Today I have a quickity-quick holiday idea for you. Remember my Subway Art on a Shutter project I made for Thanksgiving? I didn't want to put it away after all that work. So, I turned it around and... instant Christmas Card Display! I could put a little Christmas sentiment on it, but I kind of like it plain so the cards really stand out.

Okay, so want to win some stuff? Here's a recap in case you forgot:

Here are the prizes:

1) The whole set of 12 Days of Christmas Tags
2) $10 gift code to Sam & Hailey Designs
3) $10 Michaels Gift Card
4) The December VDBC Grab Bag (or a $7 gift code to Sam & Hailey Designs if you have already purchased it)

How can you win them? On the 12th Day (that will be the 23rd for our little blog-fest) I'll hold a drawing for each one of the prizes (that's four drawings in one day... I think I can handle it!). All you have to do to enter is comment on my blog to enter. You can comment on my blog on each of the 12 days so you'll have up to 12 entries in the drawings! Each day I'll have a new thing I'll ask you to include in your comment so keep an eye out for that. It's as simple as that!

Today's comment requirement:

Leave a comment and tell us how you like to display the holiday cards you get each year. Then what do you do with them afterwards?

On the 2nd Day of Christmas Creativity...

2011-12-13T00:01:00.014-07:00

It's Ileana's day to host the 2nd Day of Christmas Creativity over at her blog, I Scrap Designs. Be sure to head on over there and give her some love today!

My thoughts on the 2nd Day of Christmas Creativity are.... "What did you say???? Less than two weeks until Christmas? What the heck?!?!"

Oh sorry, I was supposed to say something serene like, "I hope you are having a most blessed and merry Christmas!" Right? Sorry! Well... I hope you are having a most blessed and merry Christmas, but seriously??? Less than two weeks???

Time to get some holiday baking done. We always like to take plates of treats around to our friends and neighbors the weekend before Christmas. The girls really look forward to it. Samantha is now old enough to help with the baking, which is fun. And by help, I mean stand next to me and ask, "Can I do that?" for every step. It's sooooo hard for me to give up control but I want her to learn to do things, too.

On some of the days I'm not hosting the 12 Days of Christmas Creativity, I thought I'd share a few of my favorite Christmas treats recipes! I hope you'll enjoy them as much as we do.

Today I'm sharing my recipe for Melt In Your Mouth Sugar Cookies. These are frighteningly addictive so watch out. Normally, I prefer a soft chewy cookie over a crunchy one, but I make an exception for these. I didn't tell Samantha the name of these, I promise, but when she and Hailey were taste testing the first batch out of the oven, she turned to Hailey and said, "Wow! These just melt in your mouth, don't they?" And they do, they really do. Give them a try!

Melt-in-Your-Mouth Sugar Cookies
Makes: about 4 dozen cookies

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup shortening
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 egg yolks
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 300° F.

2. In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter, shortening, and 2 cups sugar.

3. Beat in baking soda, cream of tartar, and salt.

4. Beat in egg yolks and vanilla. Beat until light and fluffy.

5. Mix in flour.
6. Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Dip tops in sugar and place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets.
7. Bake in the preheated oven for 12 to 14 minutes or until edges are just set. Do not let the edges brown.

8. Cool cookies for 1 minute on cookie sheet. Remove cookies from sheet and cool on a wire rack.

You can store these in an airtight container for a few days on your counter. If you need to store them longer, just put them in layers between waxed paper and freeze.

I made the ones pictured above dipped in colored sugar. I actually prefer them with sparkly white sugar, but the girls are always after color, so that's what we did.

Hope this recipe helps you decide to get creative in the kitchen!

Remember that I said you would have a chance to enter to win my prizes every day? In case you forgot what the prizes were, here's a recap.

Here are the prizes:

1) The whole set of 12 Days of Christmas Tags
2) $10 gift code to Sam & Hailey Designs
3) $10 Michaels Gift Card
4) The December VDBC Grab Bag (or a $7 gift code to Sam & Hailey Designs if you have already purchased it)

How can you win them? On the 12th Day (that will be the 23rd for our little blog-fest) I'll hold a drawing for each one of the prizes (that's four drawings in one day... I think I can handle it!). All you have to do to enter is comment on my blog to enter. You can comment on my blog on each of the 12 days so you'll have up to 12 entries in the drawings! Each day I'll have a new thing I'll ask you to include in your comment so keep an eye out for that. It's as simple as that!

Today's comment requirement:

Leave a comment and tell us your favorite holiday treat! Share the recipe (or a link to the recipe) if you feel so inclined!

Be sure to include some way to contact you in case you win the drawing (for example, your VDBC forum name, your email address, etc.). If you don't, I might not be able to get your prize to you!

Time to get crafty, people!

On the 1st Day of Christmas Creativity...

2011-12-11T23:09:00.005-07:00

Welcome to the 12 Days of Christmas Creativity! Chris from Visual Designs by Chris, Ileana from I Scrap Designs, and I have teamed up to take turns hosting fun activities, giveaways, and holiday tips for the next 12 days! I hope you'll have fun joining us.

I have the honor of hosting the first day, but don't forget to check out the other's blogs today, there might be some hidden gems and/or surprises on their blogs today, too!

First, I want to share a freebie with you today. Then I want to tell you how you can win some fun prizes from yours truly so don't leave before you read about that.

We are always looking for ways to keep Christ in Christmas around our house. I find that giving service to someone else instantly reminds me of what Christmas is supposed to be all about. Here's an idea you might try. Find a family or individual that you think needs a little holiday lift and do a 12 Days of Christmas service project for them. If you want to do the 12 days before Christmas, you'd want to start tomorrow (the 13th) to end on Christmas Eve. You could prepare a different treat to leave on their doorstep each day or find other simple acts of service to do like shoveling snow or washing cars. Do it anonymously if you can!

Here's a little freebie to get you started with this project. It's the first tag in a series of 12 Days of Christmas Tags I'm working on right now! On each of my days to host, I'll be giving one of these tags away as a freebie. Stay tuned for how you can win the whole set of tags!

I tried to take a modern twist on this classic Christmas tune. I hope you like it! Even if you don't use the number one on the tag, it would make a cute tag all on its own.

Boring but Important Legal Stuff: My terms of use are included in each zipped download. If you have any questions about how you may use this file, please read it. By clicking to download the file, you are agreeing to abide by the terms. If you'd like to share it, please don't. Rather, send your friends a link to this blog post. Once it's no longer available as a freebie, you might be tempted to share it with someone. Please don't! 'Nuf said!

This design will only be up for today, so be sure to grab it while you are here! Click to download your favorite file type:

SORRY! This download has expired! You can still enter the drawings (see below) through December 22nd!

Okie dokie, now you've gotten your freebie for the day, are you ready to hear about the prizes you could win from me?

Here are the prizes:

1) The whole set of 12 Days of Christmas Tags
2) $10 gift code to Sam & Hailey Designs
3) $10 Michaels Gift Card
4) The December VDBC Grab Bag (or a $7 gift code to Sam & Hailey Designs if you have already purchased it)

How can you win them? On the 12th Day (that will be the 23rd for our little blog-fest) I'll hold a drawing for each one of the prizes (that's four drawings in one day... I think I can handle it!). All you have to do to enter is comment on my blog to enter. You can comment on my blog on each of the 12 days so you'll have up to 12 entries in the drawings! Each day I'll have a new thing I'll ask you to include in your comment so keep an eye out for that. It's as simple as that!

Today's comment requirement:

Leave a comment with an idea for an act of service or kindness you could do (or have done) for someone else at Christmastime!

Be sure to include some way to contact you in case you win the drawing (for example, your VDBC forum name, your email address, etc.). If you don't, I might not be able to get your prize to you!

Have a fun 1st Day of Christmas! Be sure to hop over the Chris's and Ileana's blogs to see what they have going on today!

Time to get crafty, people!

Project Wednesday: Frame-able Cards

2011-12-06T22:01:00.002-07:00

Yes! I'm still here! Like I mentioned last week... it's run-around-like-a-chicken-with-your-head-cut-off-season. Also known as the Christmas Season. Soooo.... much to get done. My goal this week is to get all my projects finished up before Friday so my wonderful hubby and mail them out to the four corners of the earth. I think for the past few years he has had to ship things out overnight. A pricey procrastinator... that's me! So, all regularly scheduled blog posts may or may not happen for the rest of the month. Just letting you know up front!

Today I have a really cute project for you! I'm excited to share it. It's also my opportunity to guest-post on the Card-A-Day Blog. Be sure to hop over there to see what this month's challenge is. You could win something fabulous! Plus, it's just an all around great place to get some inspiration.

Today's project is... Frame-able Cards

I love making handmade cards. One year I made dozens of different designs and mailed them to all my friends and family. Then I cried when I mailed them, knowing that 99% of them would be thrown out and the other 1% would probably end up with the dust bunnies under someone's sofa. As I was contemplating the card I had planned to make today, I decided I couldn't allow this to happen to this one! Why not make it a jumbo card that could be framed as a piece of holiday decor?

I started by creating this cute digital stamp of my daughter Samantha. {Sadly I realized as I was coloring it that I'd left off her trademark freckles but oh well, what's done is done.} I love this sweet pose and serene expression. It needed a little something Christmasy so I added the present on her lap. As I was drawing it, the song "My Favorite Things" from The Sound of Music kept running through my head. And... suddenly... a sentiment was born! This is an awesome grandparent card, in my opinion... who wouldn't love to hear that they are one of your favorite things!

After I colored it with my Copic Markers. {Don't look that close, I'm not that great at it.} I framed it out with some pretty Christmas scrapbook paper. The finished size is 8"x10" so it would fit nicely in a frame! I didn't make it into a traditional card, I'll just write a note on the back {or more likely have my girls write a note}. I love the idea of making something to display and keep rather than something I know will likely be tossed away.

Since I don't think I'll be getting another Freebie up this Friday, I thought I'd share this Digi Stamp with you! I hope you will get some use out of it. This design includes the stamp with and without the sentiment, plus a separate stamp of the little present so you can layer it. There are also cutting lines for the girl and the present so you can do a print and cut on your digital die-cut machine!

December Grab Bag with Bonus Digi Stamp!

2011-12-01T09:30:00.003-07:00

Hi Everyone! Sorry for not posting much this week or last. It's that time of year. And by that time of year, I mean when I run around flitting from thing to thing, from project to project, but never actually getting anything done. Yes, it's December folks. And all I can say is, "What the heck?"

I wanted to pop on here really quick and let you know that I'm in the VDBC Grab Bag again! Yup, the December VDBC Grab Bag is up and ready! Some super cute things this month.

There is a super cute bonus if you buy in the first week. Becky from Articrafts has created a digital stamp to go along with her Santa Pants file. It's hilarious, I know you'll love it! It a cute tag that reads, "We looked for a stocking, but we couldn't find a spare. So we ended up stuffing Santa's red underwear." So, if you want it, you'll need to grab up the Grab Bag this week!

Here's a closer look at the three designs included from Yours Truly:

Time to get crafty, people!

And the Winner is..... PLUS Cyber Monday Sale!

2011-11-28T13:01:00.000-07:00

Okay, my friends.... have you had a great Thanksgiving weekend? I sure did. I only ventured out once on Black Friday. To go to Michael's, of course, and pick up some delicious Christmas paper pads for a great deal. Sweet! Now, I have to make something with them. Hmmm.... stay tuned for that one.

First, I must get down to some business. Who has won the VDBC November Grab Bag? It's only available for a few more days, and one lucky reader is getting it for free! Let's see who it is.... I think that Random.org should have a little drum roll sound effect when I click the Randomize button. They don't, so you'll just have to imagine a little drumroll right now in your head. Go ahead, I'll wait while you summon it up... Ready?

Drumroll please!

The winner of the VDBC November Grab Bag is...

Congratulations, Tammy Bartlett!

You'll receive a message from either me or Chris shortly with details on how to claim your prize. Yay, you!

Before you go, just wanted to let you know that my Super Cyber Monday sale is in full swing! Get 40% off everything in the Sam & Hailey Designs section of the store. If you head on over to my Facebook page, you might be able to find a coupon for additional savings if you look hard enough!

Also, be sure to look down on the next post. I'm leaving my Thanksgiving Freebie up through the end of the day!

Time to get crafty, people!

Happy Thanksgiving Freebie + Grab Bag GIVEAWAY!

2011-11-24T18:16:00.003-07:00

It's the Sam & Hailey Designs

Black Friday Blowout Sale!

50% off Everything Sam & Hailey

Friday and Saturday only! Shop early starting Thanksgiving Day, too!

Click to Shop Now!

Happy Thanksgiving to all! I hope today you've given a few minutes thought to all the wonderful blessings in your life. Here are my top 6 {not necessarily in order of importance}!

1. My Heavenly Father and my Savior, Jesus Christ

2. My hubby and kids

3. Grandbabies

4. Being together with my brothers and sister on Thanksgiving for the first time in years

5. My Mom and Dad

6. The fact that chemotherapy seems to finally be having a positive response for my Mom! Best news I've had all year!

Okay, number 7 definitely has to be all of you! Faithful blog readers, new friends, old friends, customers, and those who've just stumbled upon me for the first time. You are all wonderful and I'm so grateful for you. So, this weekend, In order to give back, not only am I having the amazing sale {see above}, I've also got a little die cut design to show you all how I feel. I hope you can use it to show someone else how you feel about them! After you've downloaded your freebie, be sure to keep reading to find out how you can get a chance to win the November VDBC Grab Bag GIVEAWAY!

This one would be a nice addition to a card or scrapbook layout. Have fun with it!

Sorry! This download is no longer available. Look for it and more in the Sam & Hailey Designs Store!

Okay, want to find out how you can win the fabulous November VDBC Grab Bag? This is a grab bag chock full of awesome cuts. Three from Sam & Hailey Designs, three from Show Me Scrappin' Cuts, and three from Chris Durnan! Sweet! If you already have this November Grab Bag, it's okay, I'll trade it in for a $7 gift code to the Sam & Hailey Designs store!

Here's how to enter:

1. Like Sam & Hailey Designs on Facebook (if you already do, that's okay, you can still enter).

2. Leave a ♥ or type the word "Love" on the Sam & Hailey Designs Facebook Wall.

3. Come back here and leave a comment saying that you did so! Be sure to include your name and a way to contact you. You'll want to leave your Facebook name in your comment so I can verify you completed steps one and two!

This giveaway will be open until Sunday night 11/27. One winner will be chosen at random on Monday from all entries that qualify! Don't forget to do all three steps or you won't be able to win!

I hope you've all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and have a wonderful weekend!

Time to get crafty, people!

Make Your Own Monday: Shrink Charms

2011-11-21T10:53:00.002-07:00

It's here isn't it? Thanksgiving week! Aaaaaaaahhhh!!

I sound so negative don't I? That's terrible!

We're visiting my parents for Thanksgiving and I'm really excited about it. So, why the negativity, you say? Well, I've been saying it for a while... time is going by way too fast and Thanksgiving week means only just a few more weeks until Christmas. I had hoped to have Christmas gifts put together to take to my family this week. Nope, it's just not going to happen. At the rate I'm progressing, they'll be lucky to get something by Valentine's Day.

With that said, I'm probably not going to blog much this week. I've definitely got a little something planned for Black Friday though, so stay tuned for that. Other than that, this will probably be it for Thanksgiving week blogging. There, I just rid myself of one thing on my to-do list. I feel better already.

I couldn't let the week go by without mentioning the good happenings around our house. Next Sunday is Hailey's 6th Birthday. Happy Birthday, Hailey! The poor girl was cursed to be born during the holidays. That means that partying for her birthday is always last minute. We decided last week that the only way we were going to squeeze a party in would be to do it this past Saturday. I'm so blessed to have a wonderful best friend, Heather, who also makes amazing cakes. So, I begged her to make me one. She consented and I immediately regretted it when Hailey announced she wanted a Dinosaur Train cake. Great, fondant dinosaurs? Heather is going to kill me! Luckily, I found a motorized train set with some figurines and Heather was able to use that to decorate the cake. I'm glad it relieved some of the pressure of decorating a last minute cake for me. We called all of Hailey's friends on Friday and surprisingly 12 out of the 14 we invited were able to come! We did dino face painting, jumped on the trampoline, whacked the crap out of a dino pinata, ate yummy cake, and opened presents. Before we knew it, the time was up. In the end it was fun even for a last minute party. Hailey was thrilled. I'm not sure I can really believe that she is going to be 6 years old.

Aren't they just two of the cutest dinosaurs on the planet?

Happy realization for me? Remembering that we have an every other year party rule... no big parties next year! Yippee!

Okay, on to some crafty stuff. I've been noticing a big resurgence of things made out of shrink plastic lately. Remember Shrinky Dinks when you were a kid? Well, now it's graduated from kids stuff to a "legitimate" crafter's material! I have enjoyed using it for some time now. I was just thrilled to discover a couple of years ago that my KNK MAXX digital die-cutting machine would cut the stuff! An endless world of opportunities for shrinking cute things down to minuscule size opened up before me. I thought I'd share one quick and fun technique for shrink plastic with you.

Today you will learn to make your own... Shrink Charms

Pin It

The charms shown above are approximately 1" across. Cute, aren't they?

A few notes before we get started:

I'm using my Itty Bitty Charms and Pen Doodles - Autumn Leaf digital cutting designs. You can do your doodling by hand if you want. You could even cut your charms by hand it you want. The cutter is optional but makes this lots easier.

I'm using Transluscent Shrink Film by Grafix. I love how it cuts. Nice and smooth. For a pen, I'm using a plain old fine point Sharpie marker.

For software and cutter I'm using the KNK Studio MAXX software with my KNK MAXX cutting machine. You'll want to check to make sure your cutter can cut shrink film before you try this.

Materials:
Shrink Plastic
Fine Point Permanent Marker
Die Cut Machine
Sticky Cutting Mat
Itty Bitty Charms (Optional)
Pen Doodles - Autumn Leaf (Optional)

1. Open your charm cutting design. Make your charms the size you want them to be when you are finished shrinking them.

2. Size everything up 200%.

3. Overlay your pen doodle design on top of your charms. I deleted out the parts I didn't need and moved a few things around. Let your doodle design be larger than your charms so the lines spill off the edges.

4. Get your machine ready. Test cut your shrink plastic and draw with your pen tool so you'll know exactly what settings you need before you start. Be sure you've got the pressure set correctly for your pen or you will squish the nib of your pen. I've done this... sad!

5. Draw your doodle design with the permanent marker. Position your starting point so that the rollers won't roll over your doodles. It takes a while for permanent marker to dry and it will smear if the rollers go over it.

6. Cut your charms out.

7. Carefully remove them from the mat. The ink will be wet!

8. Shrink them via the manufacturer's instructions.

9. Ta Da! Cute little guys aren't they? Let them cool before you touch them. They will be hot!

I also wanted to add that you can color these with Copic markers. You'll have to wait until after they are shrunk though. I tried a sample piece before and it just dissolved the marker lines. After shrinking it worked fine! If I get a chance to color some, I'll post a finished photo.

Here's a little portable version of this tutorial. Pin it or save it... whatever works for you!

Pin It

Coming up... Some fun things happening on Black Friday! There will be a freebie and giveaway this weekend along with a fantastic sale! 50% off everything Sam & Hailey! See ya then!

Time to get crafty, people!

Fantabulous Friday Freebie: Thanksgiving Cupcake Wrapper Sample + Recipe

2011-11-18T12:33:00.007-07:00

Weekly Wrap-Up:
Make Your Own Monday: Chevron Paper
Trendwatch Tuesday: Chevrons
Project Wednesday: Subway Art on a Shutter

Soooo..... Thanksgiving is really next week? You aren't kidding me? I know any moment I'm going to wake up and it will still be October. Pinch me... please!

No? Well, I suppose it's time to face reality. And that reality is that I'm way behind on just about everything!

If you are feeling like me, be sure to check out the VDBC Annual Holiday Gift Giving Guide for quick and easy gift ideas. It's so huge, we had to do it in two parts!

VDBC Annual Holiday Gift Giving Guide - Part 1

VDBC Annual Holiday Gift Giving Guide - Part 2

If you are going ahead with this "Thanksgiving is next week" concept, I might as well help out with a little recipe and a little free sample. Who doesn't love free samples? Oh, and there's going to be another BOGO deal in the mix, too.

First, I'd like to share with you the easiest and most delicious muffin recipe you'll ever taste, make, or lick the bowl from. It's No-Measure Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins. It took longer to type that name thank it does to make them. Seriously easy and hilariously delicious. I'm also sharing my secret muffin baking methods. I guess they won't be secret anymore. But it's too good to keep to myself.

You may have seen as similar recipe floating around the pinterest-sphere. That recipe insists that just the cake mix and pumpkin will make great muffins. I'm sure they'll be fine, but I think the eggs are my secret ingredient for getting fluffier muffins. I wouldn't make them without the eggs but you certainly can try.

And as for the chocolate chip addition... welll, duh! What doesn't taste better with chocolate chips? Okay, maybe a few things wouldn't but just go with me here. They totally enhance the muffin experience, so put them in.

FYI, you can also substitute other cake flavors. Spice is my favorite, though.

Pin It

No-Measure Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

1 box Spice Cake Mix
1 can Pumpkin
2 eggs
1/2 bag of chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 400° F.

Combine the first three ingredients in your mixer and beat. Stir in chocolate chips.

Fill muffin tins and bake for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 350° F and bake for 15-20 minutes longer.

Remove from muffin tins and cool on a wire rack.

Jan's Tips for Big Muffins

You know you want big muffins with a high dome, right? But every time you make muffins they come out looking like measly little cupcakes, barely risen out of the pan. Here's my secrets for getting the highest, fluffiest dome on a muffin.

1. Fill your muffin cups almost full (not 2/3 like some recipes will tell you). This will require that you have a fairly thick batter. If your muffin batter has a cake batter like consistency, add some more flour until it's more like brownie batter.

2. Fill any empty muffin cups with water. The recipe above will make about 14 standard sized muffins. If you only have 1 muffin tin that makes a dozen muffins, don't fill all the cups the first time around. Leave a few empty and fill the empty ones with water. A nice humid oven is good for muffins.

3. Bake the first 10 minutes on a higher temperature. Then lower down to the regular temperature for the rest of the baking time. Why does this work? I have no idea, it just does, so I go with it.

Seriously, just look at the size of the dome on that muffin!

Now, what's a delicious muffin without a pretty wrapper? I couple of weeks ago I tried making Pumpkin-Apple muffins using some pretty autumn patterned cupcake papers. Wow, what a mistake that was! The muffins stuck to the wrappers like undeserved fame on a Kardashian. Won't make that mistake again! For Thanksgiving, how about cutting out some "post-baking" decorative Cupcake Wrappers!

This one is from my Cupcake Wrappers - Thanksgiving set. So easy and so pretty! Just pup the muffin inside and you've got instant eye candy.

Before I give away a little free sample, I want to let you know that if you buy the whole set of Thanksgiving Cupcake Wrappers from the Sam & Hailey Designs store this weekend, you'll get my Thanksgiving Placecards set absolutely free! More fun and easy Thanksgiving decorations for free? Why yes, thank you! I'll have seconds! Remember to get the deal, you'll need to put both of those products in your cart at the same time. Don't make me have to track you down to give you your free file!

Okay, on to your free sample! Gobble up this Pilgrim Hat and Leaf Cupcake Wrapper right now!

This design will be up until Monday. Get it while it's hot! Click to wrap up your favorite file type:

Sorry! This download has expired! Look for this design and plenty of others in the Sam & Hailey Designs store!

Don't forget about that BOGO deal! Only good through Monday!

Time to get crafty, people!

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Project Wednesday: Subway Art on a Shutter

2011-11-16T05:00:00.038-07:00

Every once in a while I venture out of my hermit-like existence. I like home. I'm the epitome of the term Homebody. When I do make it out, it's usually to go shopping. I try to go with a purpose when I do shop. Sometimes, like last week, I just feel like wandering the aisles. Lucky for me, I did this at the local thrift instead of Walmart or Target. Also, lucky for me, they happened to have some interesting things. Like this sort-of-old shutter. It was marked $4. It really must have been my lucky day because all yellow tags were half of. Score! A $2 shutter!

My dear husband, if he were reading this, would roll his eyes and say... "Oh great, how I'm going to have an old shutter hanging around the garage." Well... to him I say... Ha! I actually did something with it! "It's a miracle", he says... I know him as well as he knows me.

I decided that I would take one of the designs I made for the November VDBC Grab Bag and make a Subway Art piece for Thanksgiving decor. SO, without further ado...

Today's project is... Subway Art on a Shutter

Here's my fabulous find from the thrift. The paint job on the shutter was more bad-paint-job than vintage-paint-job. So, I skipped the vintage look and went for sleek shiny painted look. Either way works for me! Just call me eclectic... really... do... I prefer it to scatterbrained or cluttered.

I first painted the side I plan to apply my vinyl to. About 30 seconds into the paint job, the nozzle miraculously stuck open. This might be a bad thing, but I used it to my advantage and painted the whole thing in one gulp {so to speak}. It sure saved me from getting "spray paint finger" for which I am grateful. Luckily, I was able to turn it off when I was done.

In all, it took two cans of paint to cover both sides of the shutter. I think it turned out quite nice! Since I wasn't planning to actually use this as a shutter, I didn't bother taking any of the hardware off. I just painted the whole thing. Remember, deep down, I'm lazy.

After allowing the paint to completely dry, I applied some nifty vinyl decals to it. I cut them from my Subway Art- Thanksgiving design. This is only available as part of the November VDBC Grab Bag in case you were wondering.

Pin It

I took each part of the design, sized it up, and moved it around so it would fit my shutter slats. I absolutely love how it turned out. Now the only question is... where to display it? It's in my entry way at the moment. I like it!

Time to get crafty, people!

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Trendwatch Tuesday: Chevrons

2011-11-15T05:00:00.003-07:00

Another week closer to Thanksgiving and you know what that means. Another week closer to Christmas! Last Friday on Veteran's Day the girls were off school so we went and did a little Christmas shopping. It was a relief to get a few things off my list. I want to do a lot of handmade gifts this year. It's kind of hard to do that for little kids though. "A homemade wall art piece, gee thanks Grandma!" Yes, I am a grandma, and yes, I do want my grandchildren to like me. I bought toys.

Now that I've mentioned them, I just have to share a picture. Here are our girls, Samantha and Hailey with their two nieces Zoey and Alana. Aren't they just the cutest! They didn't love the photo shoot much. Thank goodness for baby cheetos.

I wish one of them was wearing chevrons on their dresses. That's what we are going to discuss today!

Today's trend is... Chevrons

Been browsing around Pinterest much lately? Chrevrons are quite the thing these days. I've certainly been seeing it pop up in the paper crafting world as well as elsewhere in home design and fashion. If you are thinking, great another trend that I will have to run out and buy stuff for, never fear! Check out yesterday's Make Your Own Monday for a tutorial for DIY Chevron Paper!

In paper I've got a few choices for you:

Most notably, in my opinion is Echo Park Paper Co.'s many selections. I like their basic chevrons in a variety of colors.

Black - The backside of SEU4004 Black Flourish

Yellow - the back side of SEU4007 Yellow Flourish

Teal - the backside of SEU4010 Teal Flourish

Grey - the back side of SEU4013 Grey Flourish

These basics are also available in dark and light pink, brown and green. Echo Park also has some delightful chevron patterns in their holiday collections. Holly Jolly has a green on green pattern and my favorite:

HJ20006 HOLIDAY WRAP

Another favorite of mine is from Amy Tangerine by American Crafts. A couple of nice basics there:

Is It Any Wonder - Fabric Finish - 35556

Here and There - 35562

Okay, how about chevron use outside of papercrafting? Have I got some finds for you! Check out these tutorials I found for fun stuff to make with chevrons:

Create a Chevron Pillow on Make It Do:

Create a Chevron Background with October Afternoon... okay this is papercrafting after all. But it does involve sewing and it is a tutorial. I thought you'd like it:

A Painted Chevron Rug at Tater Tots & Jello:

Ombre Painted Chevron Curtains from Remodel Aholic:

Make a Chevron Pillow out of striped fabric on Dana Made It:

I sure hope this has inspired you! Be sure to check out yesterday's little Make Your Own tutorial to make Chevron Paper!

Time to get crafty, people!

Make Your Own Monday: Chevron Paper

2011-11-14T10:02:00.007-07:00

Happy Monday! My house is so quiet right now... just the clickety-clacking of my keyboard. Silence fuels my creativity these days. It seems like my mornings are the best time. When the kids get home we immediately start hustling to get things done, then my piano students start arriving. Then there's that horrible moment when I realize it's 5:30 and I have no idea what I'm making for dinner. But mornings... ahhh.... it's my time to think and be creative.

Time for a little Make Your Own fun!

Today you will learn to make your own... Chevron Paper

Pin It

Chevron patterns are popping up all over the place. Even here! Check back tomorrow for my upcoming Trendwatch article about the popularity of chevron patterns in design and crafting.

I was looking through my own papers and realized, I have not one single piece of chevron paper! What? It could be that it's been a while since I've purchased new paper. The trend in paper seems to have just arrived. That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!

Anyway, since I didn't have any chevron papers, I decided, why not make my own? And that's what I did! It took a little experimentation and turning my brain on to figure out the best way to do it. But eventually I figured it out. And now I'm going to share the secret with you! I've got two methods, using horizontal striped paper (or vertical depending on which way you hold it) and diagonal striped paper. The diagonal striped paper is definitely easier and wastes a lot less paper. You'll get a larger piece of paper in the end by using diagonal stripes, too. Why don't I share that with you first, then!

Chevron Paper from Diagonal Stripes

Materials:
One or Two sheets of 12x12 Diagonal Striped Paper
Paper Trimmer
Adhesive

1. If you only want to use one sheet of paper, first cut your sheet into 6x6 squares. You'll only need two squares and will get one sheet of paper about 5.5x10 in size. If you use two 12x12 sheets of paper, you should be able to get two large sheets of paper at least 10x11.5 in finished size. For these photos, I'm using two 6x6 pieces of paper.

2. Cut one of your squares of paper into strips. I made mine about 1.25" wide. The wider your strips of paper, the wider your chevrons will be. Here is the really, really important part so listen up.... You must turn your second sheet of paper 90 degrees before cutting it! You want your stripes to be going the opposite way or when you glue them together you'll end up with paper that is still just diagonal stripes! Look at the two sheets sitting side by side up there in that first picture to see what I mean.

3. Lay your strips down in an alternating pattern. See the chevrons starting to show up?

4. Glue your strips together overlapping them slightly. You'll want to make sure your patterns match up as you go along.

5. Tada! Now go and trim the uneven edges off!

Here is my finished piece of chevron paper. Mine turned out about 5.5x10. Remember, this is from one sheet of 12x12 paper. You'd get a much larger result if you used two sheets of 12x12 paper. I realize now that over there on the left hand side I should have trimmed about 1/4" off so that the pattern matched. Looks cool though, doesn't it?

Here's your "to-go" copy of this tutorial. Click on it to grab it, save it, or why not pin it?

Pin It

Okay, that's method #1. Method #2 uses horizontal/vertical stripes. It's probably the more common paper to use. If you are looking for a decent sized piece of paper at the end to do something other than cardmaking with, I'd suggest you use TWO sheets of 12x12 paper rather than taking one and cutting it into squares. You can still do that, it will just be a much smaller end result. This method is a little trickier because you'll have to cut part of it by hand with either scissors or an xacto knife.

Chevron Paper from Horizontal Stripes

Materials:
One or Two sheets of 12x12 Horizontal Striped Paper
Paper Trimmer
Scissors or X-Acto Knife
Adhesive

1. Start with two sheets of 12x12 paper, or cut one sheet into 6x6 squares.

2. Cut one of your sheets in half, diagonally, from corner to corner. You'll probably find this won't fit on your paper trimmer. This is where those scissors or xacto knife come in handy. I folded my paper in half and used a pair of scissors to cut along the fold.

3. Cut your paper triangles into strips. Since I used a wide stripe, I decided to use my paper trimmer and just cut as narrow as I could without damaging my paper. This turned into about 3.75" wide. Since I was using a wide stripe, this was just fine. If you are using a narrow striped paper, you'll probably need to use that xacto and a ruler to cut those strips.

4. Cut each strip the same size. Discard any little leftover bits.

5. Do the same for the other piece of paper. Before you run off and do this, you must listen up here! You have to turn your second piece of paper 90 degrees before you start cutting. If you don't, this will not work! You'll just end up with diagonal stripes and then you'll be all mad at me. It won't be my fault if you don't listen!

6. Lay your paper together, alternating the stripe direction. You'll want to use your longer center strips for this.

7. You can make smaller pieces out of any shorter sections.

8. Glue the strips together with some tape or other adhesive.

9. Overlap the edges, making sure you match the stripes up exactly.

10. Here's your finished piece... almost! Trim up the edges so you have a finished rectangle.

Now you have a finished piece of chevron paper! Mine turned out about 8.75x14. You may get different results depending on how wide your stripes are and how wide you decide to cut your strips.

Here's your portable format! Just click to enlarge and save.

Pin It

Now, run off and make yourself some stylish and trendy chevron paper! Don't forget to stop back tomorrow for my Trendwatch Tuesday article about chevrons!

Time to get crafty, people!

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Fantabulous Friday Freebie: Christmas Card Shaper Sample + 3 Tutorials

2011-11-10T22:01:00.003-07:00

I'm so excited for today's post! I've been working on this all week long. Even skipping my regular Project Wednesday activities to get this all ready.

I've been invited to join the blog Card A Day as a regular contributor! What a fun opportunity! Before I forget, click over there to check out this month's challenge. Participants have a chance to win fabulous prizes! It's okay, click over there, I won't be offended. Unless you don't come back. Then I'll be highly offended and will yell "I'm not gonna be your friend anymore!" while I run away crying. Oh wait, no... that's just what Hailey would do. It's okay, I won't be offended if you click.

...Just be sure and come back...

It's been a while since I've focused on cardmaking and I think it's about time I got doing it again. This was the perfect opportunity to jump start my cardmakery. And surprise! It is my turn to post the card of the day! I really had a hard time deciding what to do. So, as usual, I just started making stuff. In the end I made two cards. Now, I know that the blog is called Card A Day, not Two Cards A Day. But, of course, I just have to rebel a little posted both! I'm excited to be able to share these cards in more detail here.

On top of the cute cards I'm also sharing three tutorials for techniques I used to make them... AND if that weren't enough, I'm sharing a freebie so you can create one of these cards for yourself today! Woo Hoo! Don't ever say I never gave you anything.

Here's our first card today. Run, run, as fast as you can. You can't catch me, I'm the Gingerbread Man! I'm kind of lazy, so I usually just call him Gingerman. It's like a new super hero... Gingerman! Faster than an old baker woman, more powerful than a barn full of farm workers, and able to leap tall cows in a single bound! Sadly, not able to outsmart a fox. I guess he's not all that super after all. Super cute, though!

Anyway... where did all that come from?

I cut this little guy out from one of my newest card sets: Christmas Card Shapers 1. Rather than cut the decorations separately, I cut them out of the brown along with the outline of the cookie shape. The card base I cut from white cardstock, so it just looks like I decorated him with white icing. This way my embellishments really stand out. I made my own little pompoms out of embroidery floss and tied a tiny bow using a fork. Homemade pompom and a bow on a fork, you say? Why, yes, would you like to know how? Oh, that's too bad, I'm going to tell you anyway.

Tutorial #1 is: Twine or Floss Pompoms

First, up, how to make pompoms using Baker's Twine or Embroidery Floss. Or Baker's Twine made from Embroidery Floss. Take your pick.

Materials:
Baker’s Twine or Embroidery Floss
Crochet or Heavy Thread
Fork
Scissors

I chose to use embroidery floss to make my pompoms out of. You could use a couple of colors of embroidery floss or your favorite color of baker's twine.

1. Wrap bakers twine or two or more colors of embroidery floss around two tines of your fork. Make sure the two tines are the same size or your pompom will be lopsided. Wrap 20-30 times around. The thinner the twine/floss the more times you'll wrap.

2. Tie a piece of crochet or other heavy thread around the center of your twine. Tie it as tightly as possible. I mean... really tight... or you may have trouble with your loops slipping out when you start to cut them.

3. Slide the pompom off the fork.

4. Using a pair of sharp scissors, snip the loops on one side of the pompom.
5. It will initially look very flat. Use the scissors and give it a trim to shape the pompom into a more round shape.

6. Repeat for the other side.
7. Roll, pinch and squish the pompom into a nice, round, fluffy shape. Repeat after me... pinch and squish... pinch and squish...
8. Clip off the ends of the crochet thread.

That's it! Pretty easy. I like the idea of making whatever color pompom I need to match my project. Here's the tutorial in a nice easily portable form. Perfect for taking on the road. Just click to enlarge and then save.

You may also notice that there's a cute tiny bow on that card. That's the one I made with a fork. Yes, a fork is the newest hottest crafting tool around! Here's how I made that cute little thing.

Tutorial #2 is: The Fork Bow

What I love about this bow is you can use a very small amount of ribbon and still end up with a nice bow and not lose any hair over it.

Materials:
Ribbon
Fork
Glue (Optional)

1. Take your ribbon and wrap it around your fork once. The end that’s in front of the fork should be on the right hand side.

2. Take the end that is behind the fork and bring it up and over the other end, then down through the center of the fork tines, above the bow.

3. Take the end that’s in front of the fork, bring it up and over the other end and down through the fork tines underneath the bow.

4. Turn the fork over, pulling the ends of the ribbon tightly to the back.

5. Tie a knot in the ribbon.

6. Optional: To secure the knot, add a dot of glue. This is less bulky than tying a double knot, in my humble opinion. Let the glue dry before removing the bow from the fork.

7. Slide the bow off the fork and there you go! Instant adorability in a tiny bow.

Once again, here's a compact form of this tutorial for when you just have to save it for later. Click to enlarge and save.

Okay, that's what I used to make card #1! Ready for card #2?

I call this my Twinipop card. Yeah... dumb name, but I've typed it and I'm too lazy to go back and change it. This is another card from my new set, Christmas Card Shapers 1. If you are interested in getting a deal on this set, just stay tuned after the tutorials are done.

Tutorial #3 is: Baker's Twine Lollipop

Materials:
Card Base
Baker’s Twine
Liquid Glue
Button (Optional)

The lollipop card by itself is pretty cute, if I say so myself. With the addition of the baker's twine swirly-doo and the button, I think it's downright delicious!

1. Prepare your card base. I used my cutting file JB00511 - Christmas Card Shapers 1. Any card base will do. Just a square of paper and some ribbon for the stick would be just dandy!

2. Begin rolling your baker’s twine in a circle on a flat surface. I find it’s better to do this before you try to glue it on. Less mess and you will know how much glue to use.

3. Apply a circle of glue to the center of your card base about the size as your twine circle.

4. Pick up your twine circle if you can. I had no trouble picking mine up, but mine was made out of thicker homemade baker's twine. If you can’t pick it up you will have to re-roll it on top of the glue. It's okay, if you didn't do the "pre-roll" on the table, you wouldn't have known how much glue to put on your card base. No one likes a card with oozy glue showing on the edges.

5. Tuck the outside and inside ends of the twine to the back side of your circle.
6. Lay the cirlce on your glue. Adjust the shape as needed.

7. Optional: Add a button to the center of your twine circle. I love these vintage buttons still on the card. It almost felt like a crime to take one of them off!
8. Let the glue dry.

Ta Da!!!! Card #2 done in no time flat!

You knew it was coming... here's your condensed soup version of this tutorial. Click to open larger and save.

So, are you interested in those Christmas Card Shapers? I actually have three whole sets of these I made out of some of my most popular Christmas die-cuts. Easy to cut and assemble and look cute to boot!

The collection includes all three of the Christmas Card Shapers files at a 25% savings:

I also created a set of simple Christmas Ornament Card Shapers. These would look so cute with a photo inside!

Are you interested in a good deal on these? This weekend only, I'm offering another BOGO deal. Buy the Christmas Card Ornament Shapers Collection and get the Christmas Ornament Card Shapers designs for free! Your Christmas cards could be done in no time flat with these little guys! The deal will be good through Monday 11/14. Remember, you have to put both items in your card to get the deal!!!

While you are there, check out one of my other newest designs! A beautiful pen doodles file of an autumn leaf. I love using the pen tool on my KNK Maxx. You can choose any kind of pen to put in that machine since it doesn't need a special tool. Just put the pen in the blade jaw and doodle away!

Okay, time for the thing you've all been waiting for. The Freebie! I asked Samantha which card she liked better. She chose the Lollipop, which was good because that was the one I'd decided to share with you anyway. I'm sure the day will come when I will no longer be able to influence my children's decisions. That day is not today, though!

Today I am sharing my die cut design: Christmas Card Shapers Sample

This card is pretty cute by itself. You know you want to try that Baker's Twine swirly-do though! Do it!!!!

This design will be up until Monday. Don't miss out! Click to gobble up your favorite file type:

Sorry! This download has expired! Look for the Christmas Card Shapers in the Sam & Hailey Designs store!

As always, if you make something with this design, feel free to post it on your blog or in the VDBC gallery and post a link down in the comments section!

One last thing! It's VDBC Newsletter time! You can get another free file by Sam & Hailey Designs in last week's edition. Click here to get it!

Time to get crafty, people!

Color Swatch Thursday: Vintage Thanksgiving

2011-11-10T11:18:00.000-07:00

I've got a huge blog post with lots of tutorials coming tomorrow. Since I've been spending my time working on that I totally missed yesterdays blog post. Sorry! It will come next Wednesday.

I almost decided to skip today's Color Swatch, but then I came across this vintage Thanksgiving card and couldn't resist!

This week's color swatch is: Vintage Thanksgiving

You can download an Adobe Swatch Exchange File for this color scheme from Adobe Kuler.

I love the colors in this card. Soft and muted. The turqoise, green, and red together make a nice triad. I've included the card here for you to download. It's not very big but it's so cute. I love the look on the turkey's face. It's like he knows he's just being fattened up for Thanksgiving but he just can't help himself. That innocent little girl just leading him to the dinner table. Cracks me up! Click on it to open it larger for saving.

Time to get crafty, people!

Trendwatch Tuesday: Subway Art

2011-11-08T11:24:00.001-07:00

What do you think of when I say that words "Subway Art?" Okay, you can't actually hear me saying them, just imagine with me here. What do you think of? Graffiti? Spray paint? How about typography?

Typography, you say, Jan? Yes! Typography! A new hot trend is the combination of different font faces with words or phrases on a theme. The inspiration is vintage subway signs. Today's designers are taking the original concept and turning them into delightful works of typographic art.

Here is an authentic vintage New York subway sign from the mid-1900's. This is one of many on the SubwaySigns.com website. Pretty cool, huh? Want one? It'll cost you a cool $799.00.

$799.00? Whoa! If you are like me and don't have that kind of dough to drop on a vintage sign. Why not make your own? A lot of folks are!

Most designers creating subway art typographic posters have moved away from just one plain font and are using a nice mix of serif, sans serif, and scrip typefaces. Many even throw in a little graphic here and there, usually just a silhouette. I especially like those that mix negative space fonts like stencils on a colored background.

In fact, I've got a little roundup of several free printables for Christmas and Thanksgiving! Be sure to read to the bottom for a link to a tutorial to make your own in Photoshop. There's also a link to where you can purchase a Thanksgiving themed one to cut on your digital die-cut machine. It's a good deal. Don't worry, I won't steer you wrong.

First from the wonderful eighteen25 a gorgeous Christmas printable Subway Art Poster plus a banner! Bonus!

Here's one from Mine for the Making:

There's a whole set of gorgeous Thanksgiving printables over at Blooming Homestead. This one's my favorite:

Lots of colors to choose from on these from Today's Fabulous Finds: Christmas...

and Thanksgiving versions!

If you want to make your own from scratch, here's a good tutorial from The Daily Digi to make one in Photoshop.

Lastly, if you want a file you can cut on your cutter, here's how to get it! I've got a great Thanksgiving themed one in the November VDBC Grab Bag. It's only $7 for $45 worth of designs!

The Subway Art - Thanksgiving design also includes two printable versions (light and dark backgrounds) for us lazy folks who just want to print and frame! No, I didn't call you lazy, I called ME lazy! I'd totally print it. But, you who are not lazy might want to cut the design out of vinyl. I know you will, so go on and do it!

Time to get crafty, people!

Make Your Own Monday: Embossing Mats

2011-11-07T10:03:00.001-07:00

I said to my husband this morning, how can the first week of November be gone already? I'm starting to enter pre-panic mode. That's where I think about panicking but don't actually. It's one of those internal struggles. I tell myself, "Get going! Those Chirstmas presents aren't going to make themselves!" and then I tell myslef, "Self, just be quiet and eat another pumpkin muffin... you know you haven't even decided WHAT you are making for Christmas presents so there's no point in running off to make something!" At which point I eat another pumpkin muffin and wonder what to make for Christmas presents this year.

Here are some ideas on my short list:

Photo Magnet Boards... ok, who am I kidding, I did these last year. BUT I didn't post the instructions on my blog so you know that will be a future Project Wednesday coming your way.

Christmas Countdown Blocks... I'm pretty serious about making these. I've even got a set half made. We did these for our Super Saturday crafty day with the Relief Society ladies at church. Guess I should get those finished up and make three more sets! I suppose I really only have a couple of weeks to get these done before it will be too late.

Stockings... My girls need christmas stockings! I made them some when they were babies, but I have never liked them. I'm thinking something cut out of felt on a felt stocking. I feel a new cutting file coming on!

There will be something made with heat transfer vinyl on T-Shirts... just don't know what yet.

Re-useable clothes-pin gift tags. I'll explain later... I'm just tired of buying gift tags every year. Think a set for each of our families would be fun.

Hmmm.... need more ideas! Help me out here!

So, speaking of ideas... It's time for a very frugal Make Your Own Monday!

Today you will learn to make your own... Embossing Mats

If you have a digital die-cut machine, like a Silhouette, Pazzles, KNK, etc., perhaps you've wondered about trying an embossing tool in your machine. Well, I'm here to tell you, I've tried it in my KNK Maxx, and it works fantastically! Perhaps you've considered purchasing a special mat for embossing. Pazzles has an Embossing Mat you can purchase for around $15. That's a little pricey for something I might not use that often.

A while back, I decided to try making my own embossing mat and found it quite successful! Here's how I did it:

Materials you'll need:

A piece of chipboard or an old cutting mat. I used the back of a paper pad. Free!
A piece of self adhesive craft foam. You can get this at a craft or discount store for less than $0.50 a sheet.
Krylon Easy-Tack spray adhesive. This runs about $5-$6 a can. I have a can anyway to re-spray my mats. One can lasts you forever. I consider this Free for this project since most of us with cutters have it around anyway. {Please don't tell me you've been running out and buying a new mat whenever yours becomes un-sticky.}

1. Stick the craft foam sheet down to your cutting mat or chipboard sheet.

2. Spray with Easy Tack and let dry.

3. Stick your material on the mat and an embossing tool {appropriate for your machine} in your cutter and emboss away!

Make sure you run some tests before you go crazy on your material. Start with the lightest pressure and work your way up. That way you won't poke through your material instead of making pretty embossing lines.

Also, if you want a raised "embossed lines" you'll want to mirror your image before cutting it. If you don't, you'll get "debossed lines" instead. Which I quite like, so it's your choice.

Here's a project I did a while ago for Samantha's Kindergarten teacher that uses this technique. I embossed {really debossed} the title on a sheet of metal for the cover. Nice look, if I do say so myself!

I also used this same method on some swirly ornaments. I used much lighter pressure on these.

Now, don't you want to give this a try? Here's a tutorial you can save for later. Just click on it to open it larger to reading and saving.

Time to get crafty, people!

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Fantabulous Friday Freebie: Swirly Style Leaves Sample

2011-11-04T05:00:00.115-07:00

Yup, you've made it through another week. Can you believe it's November already? I say that at the beginning of every month. I think the only time as an adult that time drags is when you are ill or pregnant. When we were expecting Hailey, that's about the last time I can remember thinking, "Won't November ever end?" Now, the thought of November starting strikes fear in my heart.... less than 55 days until Christmas. And have I started any gifts or shopping? Nope, not a thing. Dang. I'm considering instituting the homemade gift rule again this year. What do you think?

So, I've got lots of happenings for you today.

First I wanted to let you know that you can get 25% off all my Fall and Thanksgiving themed designs and collections all November long! Click HERE to shop {or click over there on that nice ad, isn't it pretty? It just begs to be clicked on}!

Second, I've got some fun new designs in the store! I wanted to give you a little taste so be sure to read all the way to the end to pick up a free sample.

My newest files include some fun cupcake wrappers, a couple of pretty swirly leaf sets, and well... a little late, I know, but an awesome Halloween vinyl design. Check 'em out!

Want to know how to get some of these files absolutely FREE! Yup! FREE!!!! Well first of all, you can get the Cupcake Wrappers - Thanksgiving file just for joining the November Bingo game on the VDBC forum! Totally free, just for signing up for a game to win more stuff? Sweet!

Also, I've got a little BOGO deal for you on the Swirly Style Leaves designs. Buy the Swirly Style Leaves 1 file and get the Swirly Style Leaves 2 file absolutely FREE! You'll need to put them both in your cart to get the deal. Plus the Swirly Style Leaves 1 file is already on sale for 25% off, so it's super duper deal! This deal is only good through next Monday night {11/7/11}, so don't miss out!

Okay, at last, here's the little free sample. It's one of the leaves from my Swirly Style Leaves 1 set! These are so pretty and very easy to cut. I'm planning to cut a whole boat load of these files for a bulletin board project this weekend.

Color Swatch Thursday: New England Autumn

2011-11-03T05:00:00.004-07:00

With the crazy weather that's going on back in New England this year, can I say that I'm sad we moved away? Nope. Sorry. I do miss my friends and family back there, though. I sure hope everyone get's power back soon. If not, just come on out here for a visit!

I always said that Autumn in New England was my favorite time of year. I love when there's a bite of cold in the air. You can smell the wood stoves and fireplaces start up and everything just has the promise of warmth and coziness. Plus, with the holidays right around the corner, what's there not to love about Autumn?

One of my favorite things was leaf crunching. You know, going for a walk and crunching every dried leaf on the ground along the way?

This week's color swatch is: New England Autumn

You can download an Adobe Swatch Exchange File for this color scheme from Adobe Kuler.

I came across this photo a couple of weeks back as I was reminiscing about Autumn in New England. I love how the camera captured the vibrance of the time. With most of the leaves on the ground you can see the grey-blue of the tree trunks. It always cracked me up to be driving down a road I'd traveled before and realize there are several houses back in the woods that I never knew were there.

This palette is a little non-traditional, and that's what I like about it. You've got the brown, orange and tan in there, but a little punch of subdued turquoise along with a big punch of bright green thrown in as well. Perfect for some contemporary fall crafting projects.

Feeling inspired yet?

Time to get crafty, people!

Make Your Own... Wednesday? - Bakers Twine - Take 2

2011-11-02T09:53:00.003-07:00

You know how when you burn a piece of toast and you can't get that smell out of your house, your hair, your nose. Yeah, that's me today. Oh the horror of burnt toast!

So, as you will probably be able to tell, I've become obsessed with the idea of making my own homemade Baker's Twine. Even to the point that I'm skipping today's Project Wednesday to talk about it again.

What's the big deal, you ask? You've got me but I laid in bed last night thinking... there's got to be a better way than the marker method. It looks okay, but it's not the real thing by any stretch of the imagination.

And then it hit me.

Didn't the girls get to make their own jump ropes at the pumpkin farm the other day? See... look I have proof below...

I started thinking about how it was made and wondering if I could do it myself without their fancy spinny thing.

The process was this: the three strands of rope were put in the ends of a device that twisted each individual strand when a person turned a crank. Then after it was twisted for a while they slid up a metal thingy {technical term} that each strand was threaded through. This allowed the three strands to twist together.

Hmm... twist together.. twist together. That got me thinking!

Could I do this with embroidery floss? Sure I could try twisting a few strands of embroidery floss together but what would hold them together? Once I let go, they would just unravel. The secret, I soon discovered, is in the twisting of each individual strand first! That farmer dude was a genious, I tell you!

Here's how I did it.

Today you are going to learn {AGAIN} to Make Your Own... Baker's Twine... Take 2!

All you need is two or more colors of embroidery floss and some masking tape. Sooooo easy! I used three Christmas colors because I have Christmas projects on the brain today.

I'm going to give you the play by play first, then everything will be packaged up in a nice little tutorial for you to download. I'm just so excited about this! Maybe you will be, too!

Oh, and please excuse the messy work table. Creativity happens here, people! It's going to get messy!

1. Cut equal lengths of embroidery floss and secure the ends together. Tape them to your table.

2. Twist each individual strand until is twists back on itself. Secure each strand to the table while you work on the next. I honestly think I could have gotten away with less twisting. Would have made the twisting together go a little more smoothly. Will have to work on it more.

3. Once all your strands are twisted, gather the ends together and gently pull them out straight, allowing them to twist together. Don't pull to hard or you'll end up pulling it out from the tape on the table. That's very annoying when that happens. Even if it does, it should still work out okay. Just pull from both ends.

4. Run your fingers up and down the twisted strands to even out the twist. You may have to pull on one color individuall to get it to all even out. Sometimes the ends aren't as pretty as the middle, just clip off the part you don't like.

5. Secure the ends. I tied mine with knots.

That's it! It worked like a charm and actually looks like the real thing. If you want it to be a little skinnier like real Baker's Twine, just divide the embroidery floss down to less strands. That's the beauty of using embroidery floss for this. You can make it as thick as you want!

Here is an compact and easily downloadable version of this tutorial. Just click on the image to open it larger to read and/or save it.

Time to get crafty, people!

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Trendwatch Tuesday: Baker's Twine

2011-11-01T05:00:00.062-07:00

Okay, my goal is to keep the blabbing to a minimum today. I know, you've heard that from me before. I'm skeptical, too. Let's just jump right in and see how it goes, shall we?

Today's Trendwatch is: Baker's Twine

Baker's Twine is HUGE right now! Did you check my previous post on how to make a reasonable facsimile of Baker's Twine? Well, don't forget to do that before you go. It's the post right before this one. EDITED TO ADD: Be sure to see tomorrow's post for a different method!

Baker's twine is the new "ribbon equivalent" of today. I think it's taken the place of all those fuzzy fibers that used to be so popular. It's much more in line with the vintage-hip feel of today's crafting community.

There are several places that make Baker's Twine. A lot of crafting companies have hopped on the twine-wagon to put out twines that coordinate with their other products. That's so nice of them!

Of the companies that exclusively manufacture Baker's Twine, my favorites are: The Twinery, Twisted Sugar Twine, and Whisker Graphics {not exclusively twine but has a big selection}.

What I really like about all three of these fantastic places are their fantastic blogs with endless inspiration! Here's just a sampling of things I saw on all three:

A tutorial from The Twinery on making tiny pom-poms from Baker's Twine.

Also from The Twinery, a twine cherry! Cute!

Once again from The Twinery, twine grass!

From Whisker Graphics, check out this awesome Halloween Wreath! That would take a LOT of twine, my friends!

A very pretty wrapped vase from Whisker Graphics.

Wrap up a die-cut instructions at Twisted Sugar Twine.

String Art with Baker's Twine from Twisted Sugar Twine.

Lastly, a cute idea for a woven background from Twisted Sugar Twine.

I hope you enjoyed a little inspiration about Baker's Twine! It makes me want to buy some in every color! Don't forget to check out the Make Your Own Baker's Twine post below. It's not the same, but it's pretty cute, anyway! I've posted a couple of my recent projects that use Baker's Twine below, too. I'm thinking there will be quite a few more coming!

Time to get crafty, people!

Make Your Own Monday: Baker's Twine

2011-10-31T05:00:00.095-07:00

Happy Halloween!! I know I'm a day late in posting this. But it will go along with today's Trendwatch post, so just stay tuned for the next post and you'll see! EDITED TO ADD: Be sure to see Wednesday's post for a different method of this project!

I figured I'd take the chance to post a few Halloween pictures. If this is going to be late, I might as well make it worth it, right?

I have to say right up front that my Halloween photos aren't the best. Yet again, I insisted to myself that my iPhone camera would be just fine. I think I need to just put some electrical tape over the camera port to stop myself. What is wrong with me?

Saturday night we went to a party at Trevor and Molli's house. It was so much fun. The girls were beside themselves with excitement! Here they are in the car on the way. Right before they both fell asleep. You heard it right, from overflowing excitement to comatose in about 30 seconds. That's Bryson kids for ya! It didn't help that they had a sleepover at their friend's house the night before and there wasn't much sleep happening. We should call them stay-awake-overs instead.

As we discussed last week, Hailey wanted to be a Black Cat and Samantha, a Native American girl. Here they are waiting for the bus on Halloween morning.

Yes I did make Samantha's costume. It was surprisingly easy. I don't know why I was dreading it! I picked up some faux leather material at the Walmart fabric counter. Then, honestly, I just drew the pattern right on the fabric and cut it out. I can't believe it worked! Hahahah! The face painting is what makes Hailey's costume. I got a little kit and just followed the instructions. She was thrilled and it was so easy!

The funniest part of the whole day was trying to get Sam to say she was a Native American and not an Indian. She kept saying, "But Mom, I'm dressed like an Indian!" We had tried so hard to make something somewhat authentic but she just couldn't get the more politically correct term. She wanted to be Kaya from the American Girl books. I copied one of the costumes from the illustrations and the face painting we copied from the historical information at the back of the book. It was fun and she was thrilled that I took the time to make the costume. She only had to harass me every day for two weeks to get it done. That's actually pretty good for considering my normal track record on things!

Look, even Bandit got in the Halloween spirit!

Poor Bandit was very annoyed by the costume. He didn't like to walk around in it so I had to carry the little guy around. He hardly even had the courage to bark at any of the trick or treaters! There was some subdued barking at a kid or two in scream masks and at a couple of little ballerina girls but that was it. Oh yes, and at the pizza delivery lady dressed as a cop. At least I think that's what she was. She had on a police shirt and badge but was wearing a tutu. And she gave me pizza. So I guess we're good with it!

Okay, on with today's little tutorial!

Today you are going to learn to Make Your Own... Baker's Twine

Baker's twine is a the new hot "ribbon equivalent" these days. You can buy it in lots of colors now. Unfortunately, it's pretty pricey. So, I figured, why not make my own? I've seen several tutorials around for making it. Here's my version. Do I think it looks just like the real stuff? No, not really. But it does look pretty on a project and if you aren't too picky, it will do.

The process is simple. Put some tape on a ruler, wrap some string around said ruler, then color the string with permanent markers. That's it!

Variations above are from left to right: Black Sharpie on White Cotton, Pink Copic on White Cotton, Mixed Copics on Ecru Cotton, Navy Copic on White Cotton

I tried a couple of different markers. The Sharpie-type of permanent marker works good for getting fairly precise lines, but I found that the color often didn't make it all the way through the string so it looks kind of spotty when it's removed from the ruler {see the one all the way on the left in the picture}. My Copic markers worked really well at getting the color all the way through but because of the bleed factor it didn't make very clean precise lines between the color and the white. Overall I liked the Copic look better on the finished product. Copics have the added advantage of being blendable so you can get just the right color. You could try both and decide for yourself!

For the string, I used cotton crochet thread for the string and I think it worked just beautifully. It's easy to tie and knot in general so it's a nice product to use in crafting.

Here's the tutorial, just click on it to open it larger and/or to save it.

And, here are a couple of recent projects I made using my homemade Baker's Twine. What do you think?

Blue and white Baker's Twine on my Joy Fold Card.

Orange and White Baker's Twine on my Halloween Wreath.

What kinds of things will you make with this tutorial! Leave me a comment below. And if you do make something, leave a link below in the comments section. I'd love to see it!

Time to get crafty, people!

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Fantabulous Friday Freebie: Last Minute Halloween Decorating + Product Special

2011-10-28T10:48:00.002-07:00

Happy Friday and Happy almost Halloween! And for me and Victor it's Happy Anniversary! We've been married for eleven years now. Time sure flies when you are having fun.

Or does it? If you are like me, when you look back on 10+ years it is astounding how much has happened. Frankly, I'm astounded by how much happened in the first year. I remember everyone in the office thought we were cursed. Two weeks after our wedding, Alex, my youngest step-son {11 at the time} was in a terrible car accident where the driver was killed. He was sitting next to her in the front seat and was lucky enough only to suffer two broken legs. It was a very, very sobering experience for the whole family. Well, I doubt it was sobering for Alex, more like traumatic. I'm so grateful he wasn't hurt worse.

You'd think that would be enough, but just a month or two later, Victor was in a car accident and ended up upside-down in a small river near our house. Amazingly, he wasn't hurt at all. Take that, curse!

We thought we were home free for a while, then just over a year later on New Years Day, 2002, at about 8:00 in the morning, our apartment complex had a terrible fire. Thankfully, no one was hurt. The apartment next to us was completely destroyed by the fire and we found ourselves homeless. We truly believe we were spared by Heavenly Father. In addition to the destroyed apartment next door, the fire destroyed the attic above our apartment. All we suffered was some minor smoke damage and some melted plastic in our storage closet on the landing. The five of us lived in my brother's attic for the next three months while we shopped for a house.

Such experiences surely strengthened our marriage and our family. So take that, too, curse! Some pretty awesome things have happened over the past 11 years, as well. Two beautiful little girls were born into our family. Samantha and Hailey have certainly changed our lives in amazing ways. Two of our boys have gotten married and started families of their own. Those two little granddaughters of ours are the greatest gift our boys could ever have given us. In the meantime, we moved to Arizona. AND I got to pursue my dream of having my own creative business. Who could really ask for more? Of course, I wouldn't turn down being magically skinny or large buckets of money, but hey, who would? I'm happy with what I have though. Life is good.

What's that annoying cliche that you see done up in vinyl a little too often? Oh right... "All because two people fell in love." It's super sweet, but I suppose it's true. Maybe I'll cut it in vinyl and put it up in the house somewhere. Hmmm.... probably not, but it was a nice thought there for a minute.

Blah, blah, blah, blah.... enough with the chatter, Jan... you promised us a freebie, remember? Oh right! Sorry, I got all caught up in the reminiscing. I'll get to the freebie in a minute, I promise. Gotta tell you about my last minute Halloween decorating first!

The other day, Victor said to me, "Are you going to carry the bat theme inside the house?" And I said to myself, "Hmmm... why not?" And then I made these awesome Chandelier files. And by awesome I mean, amazing! I'm totally in love with these things! I've just got to show you since they are up in the store now:

Did you know that I have a special offer going on these right now? If you buy the Swirly Style Chandelier Collection this weekend you'll get the Halloween Chandeliers for free! That's an awesome deal! ** Remember you have to put the Halloween one in your cart when you buy the collection to get the deal. **

I cut the Halloween Chandelier in some black wall vinyl and put it over my Halloween display. Because I only have 12" wide vinyl, I used the 1/2 chandelier and cut it twice. The second time I mirrored it before I cut it out. Then I just lined them up on the wall. You can't even tell it's two pieces. One of my piano students asked me, "Did you paint that on your wall?" Hahahaha!

Because I wanted to continue the bat theme, I also threw some more bats on the wall to go along with the chandelier. This time I used the bats out of my Halloween Twisted Tree file. I think these are my favorite bats of all my designs! Who knew that one tiny element in that whole design would be so integral to my overall decor?

I couldn't decide what to do on the shelf. The pumpkin eventually made it's way outside by the front door.

One of the bats even made it's way onto the clock. Here's a good creepy story for you. The night after I put the bat on the clock, the clock stopped working..... ooooooooOOOOOooooooooohhhhh....scary! Nah, was just a dead battery.

Okay, here's your freebie. I know you are thinking, FINALLY! I decided that since I liked that bat so much, I'd share the design it came from with you. So without any further yakking:

Today I'm sharing my die-cut design: Halloween Twisted Tree

Color Swatch Thursday: Pumpkin Patch

2011-10-27T05:00:00.000-07:00

Halloween is upon us! Don't forget to take lots of pictures at the pumpkin patch. I always seem to get there without my camera. At least I have a semi-decent camera in my iPhone. It does the job in a pinch. After you get those photos, don't just let them languish away on your computer. They will feel so neglected! Time to preserve those memories in a scrapbook. And I've got just the right color scheme for you to use for it, too.

This weeks color swatch is: Pumpkin Patch

I snapped this photo of the price display at the farm last Saturday. They always get the most perfect pumpkins for their display. I only seem to be able to find malformed ones that look like some bald guy's head. Oh well!

You can download an Adobe Swatch Exchange File for this color scheme from Adobe Kuler.

This swatch set includes some vibrant oranges, of course, but also a nice dark chocolatey brown, a splash of soft green, and don't forget the blue of the sky on a gorgeous day at the farm!

I hope this inspires you to make something. Feel like making something with this color swatch set? Feel free to post it on your blog and leave a link in the comments section below.

Time to get crafty, people!

Double Project Wednesday: No-Carve Pumpkin + Halloween Wreath

2011-10-26T12:15:00.001-07:00

Are you excited for Halloween yet? My kids are, as usual. Hailey has decided that she wants to be a Black Cat. I think I can handle that! A friend of ours has a tail and ears she can borrow. I just need to pick up a black body suit and tights and she will be good to go! Samantha, on the other hand, has it in her mind to be Pocahontas. Not necessarily the Disney Pocahontas, but a Native American girl. She's been reading the American Girl books and one is about a Native American girl. That's where the idea for the costume came from. That leaves it to me to pull it off! Last year I made princess dresses for the girls. Hailey was Cinderella and Samantha was Tiana {from Princess and the Frog}. They were so cute! Once again, I neglected to blog last Halloween {did I just take the whole year off, or something?}, so I guess I should share some pictures from last year. The photos aren't very good. I don't know why I continue to insist I can take good pictures with my phone. I guess you just go with what's handy.

So, although I am completely capable of sewing a Native American Girl dress for Samantha, I'm totally not wanting to do it. Last year I wasn't really working and so I had a ton more time to do things like that. I need to just do it. I shouldn't allow work to keep me from doing the things I love with my kids. In later years, Sam might not remember what she was for Halloween this year, but she will remember that I took the time to do this service for her. I'll have to keep it simple, though. Last year I think I went a little over the top. Gotta keep it all in perspective.

Okay, now that I've made you look at some pictures of my kids, it's time for some quick and easy Halloween decorating ideas!

Project #1 is: No-Carve Pumpkin

First up, the easiest way to decorate a pumpkin. You will need a cutting machine for this project. If you don't have one... well.. why not? Maybe just become best friends with someone who has one.

I don't particularly enjoy carving pumpkins. My main reason is because of the mess. Now, if you know me, you'll know that my house is one big pile of mess. I always point out my lack of housekeeping skills when people say how creative I am. Perfect, I certainly am NOT. The truth is, I don't like the mess of the pumpkin guts because I don't want to have to clean it up! We got a large pumpkin at the farm last Friday and I've agreed to allow carving as long as it's done outside and I don't have to clean up after it. I'm trying, just barely.

I prefer pumpkins in their natural state. Then I can bake them into pies. Mmmmm... delicious! My solution is to decorate them with vinyl! I think it took me longer to get out the vinyl and cut it off the roll than it did to cut it and apply it. I'm not even writing a tutorial on this. Just do it!

I used the tree, raven and bat from one of my new designs, Page Scene Haunted House. You can use whatever design and you'll be done in no time! It certainly adds an extra element to my creepy shelf. This is on top of my piano music bookshelf. My students are loving it! The effect is especially cool on a white pumpkin. I wonder if these are good for pie? I guess we will find out!

Project #2 is: Halloween Wreath

Here's another relatively quick and easy project idea. No vinyl, this time {shocking, I know!} but I did use my cutter to make the banner. I'm sure you could use a pre-made banner or even cut your own by hand if you don't have a die cut machine. I went with a little E.A. Poe theme. By the way, you can read all about the popularity of Ravens on this weeks Trendwatch Tuesday and also watch a great rendition of Poe's The Raven while you are at it.

I looked all over the craft store for a black wreath but couldn't find one. I purchased a plain grapevine wreath about 20" in diameter for a few dollars. I figured since I was painting those little pumpkins to look like mercury glass, I could just spray paint the wreath while I was at it. It definitely took a lot of paint to get in all the nooks and crannies of the wreath. I think it turned out great. I love the glossy look of the paint. I used a few of my painted pumpkins in the wreath, too.

I also decided to use some autumn flowers I got on sale to add to the wreath. For extra creepyness, I painted them and a few leaves black, too. I didn't want to add a lot, but I love how these few little things add to the wreath overall.

My only word of warning on this project is... while it may seem like an easy task to spray paint a few flowers and leaves, you may be surprised when you blast that first leaf with the paint and it flies away. You will then be tempted to just pick up the leaf and hold it while you spray it. Trust me when I say, this is really not a good idea. Unless, of course, you want to be best friends with a cotton ball and bottle of nail polish remover followed by a scrub brush for the next hour. Better to use a stick or something to hold the leaves and flowers in place while you spray them. I'm sure I'll remember to do that next time.... right.

Do you need a tutorial for this one? I used hot glue to assemble everything. The banner is made from my Flag Banners 3 design with some letters added. The patterned paper is from Teresa Collins and the solid is Colormates Treasures. I tied it all together with some homemade bakers twine. Easy peasy! No tutorial necessary just get out some of your supplies and get inspired.

Do you feel creative yet?

Time to get crafty, people!

Linked at:

Eighteen25

Trendwatch Tuesday: Ravens

2011-10-25T05:00:00.068-07:00

Whoa, one week before Halloween and the feathers are flying! Raven feathers that is! It's been the year of the bird and the year of the owl in the design world recently. Could it be the year of the raven? Will we be seeing the raven dressed up in a Santa suit? Bunny ears? Probably not, but this certainly seems to be the "Season of the Raven." Raven's are popping up everyone. And, frankly, I'm loving it. I'm not a blood and guts Halloween fan. I'm more of an Edgar Allen Poe Halloween fan. I prefer the creepy, vintage macabre of Poe over just about any other form of horror Halloween.

My favorite Simpson's episode? It has to be the very first Annual Treehouse of Terror episode featuring James Earl Jones' reading of Poe's The Raven. Best episode ever, in my humble opinion.

Linking for the video. Hope it works!

So, with that little introduction...

Today's Trendwatch is: Ravens

They're perching just about everywhere and the site I've seen the most on? Definitely MarthaStewart.com.

Check out these lovelies hanging out on a front porch. There's even a tutorial on how to make them.

Here's a tutorial on how to make cobwebs from MS. But what caught my eye were the ravens eating out of the candy dish. Love it!

Lastly, why not make your own No-Sew Raven Costume! I'm not much for dressing up but this one tempts me.

Another Go-To Decorating site is Better Homes and Gardens (bhg.com). Lots of ravens spotted there, too.
Ravens in a dead tree, a spooky centerpiece.

This ~~Bed~~ Dead & Breakfast sign with the waiting ravens cracks me up.

Add a little classic Poe to your decor with the caged bird.

In the Papercrafting universe... AKA the Paperverse... why not try a little Raven Flocked Paper from the My Minds Eye Haunted line. Ravens? Flocked? On Kraft Paper? Why yes, I'll have seconds please!

Even Stampin Up is getting on the Raven bandwagon in their 2011 Holiday Mini Book. Their raven is dressed up as a clown, though. How humiliating. Nevermore!

How about a printable sheet from The Raven by EA Poe before you go? Click to enlarge and then right click to download.

Hope this gets you all riled up for some spooky {but not gory} Halloween fun!

Time to get crafty, people!

Make Your Own Monday: Faux Mercury Glass Pumpkins

2011-10-24T10:02:00.003-07:00

Ahhh... Monday again... most people are not a fan of Monday's and I'm not really either. It means I have to get up at 5:45 and wrangle the girls to the bus. But I do enjoy the absolute quiet that settles over the house when I get back from the bus stop. It's still early enough at 6:45 to have that super quiet feel. Love it!

This past weekend we went to Apple Annie's in Willcox, AZ for a day of fun. We had such a great time last year that we had to do it again! This time we wen't with some of our older kids, Trevor with his wife, Molli, and little girl, Alana, and our other son, Alex. We had lunch in the orchard, bought some yummy fudge {which I had for breakfast today, shame!}, got happily lost in their ginormous corn maze, ate some shaved ice, and went on a hayride to pick pumpkins. They day was only marred by Hailey splatting face first in the pumpkin patch {those vines are prickly!} and someone making off with the big pumpkin Trevor and family had picked out. Overall though, it was a great day! I took some cute pictures that I just had to share.

Eat a hotdog in the middle of an apple orchard? Why yes, I think I will, thank you very much!

The girls got to make their own jump ropes with a rope maker. They thought this was awesome!

The apples of my eye, for sure!

The corn maze was awesome. There was a bridge we came upon in the middle of it that allowed you to see the whole thing from the top. Towards the end, Victor and I were "accidentally" separated from the others. We could hear them but they didn't know where we were. It was too funny to hear the girls talk about what would happen if we got lost in there.

Gotta share cute little Ali hanging out in the pumpkin wagon. She was starting to get pretty tired.

Hailey in the pumpkin wagon being... well... Hailey.

My favorite picture of the day: Ali trying to help herself to the Tip Pumpkin. Hahahaha!

Okay, now that I've forced you to sit through a slide show of our family outing.... on with the show!

I've decided to try a little something new on my blog. I want to attempt a new Monday series called "Make your Own Monday." This series would focus on making your own versions of popular products for less, plus some interesting tutorials on crafting techniques, with the occasional project thrown in.

Today you are going to learn to Make Your Own... Faux Mercury Glass Pumpkins

I came across a tutorial on the blog-o-sphere for doing this recently. I'll be darned if I can find it again! In looking around there are several tutorials out there for creating a mercury glass effect. Some are more authentic looking than what I've done, but they seemed a lot more involved. I like how easy this method was and it looks pretty cool. I might try some other methods later.

Essentially, you start out with a cheap-o pumpkin {or other object there's no saying this has to be pumpkins} and end up with a cool-shiny-mottled-silver-and-black pumpkin.

^-- This... to That.. --v

What you'll need is some pumpkins or other objects, a can of shiny black spray paint, and a can of shiny metallic silver spray paint. I discovered later that there is a product called Krylon Looking Glass Mirror-Like Paint. If I do this again, I'm totally trying that instead of the regular metallic silver I used. Don't forget the newspaper and most importantly, folks, do this outside! Do I need to tell you that? Yeah, I probably do. Maybe not YOU specifically, but it's those other people who've never spray painted before. I was a little woozy after doing this outside! Spray painting inside is just right out.

You can see in this photo the difference between just painting them silver. The little gourd at the front is just spray painted silver. The one next to it has the mercury glass effect. Totally different, don't you think?

The wet black spray paint under the light coating of silver really gives depth and dimension to this project.

Here is the tutorial. If you are having trouble reading it or would like to save it for later, just click on the image to open it larger.

As always, if you make something based on this tutorial, feel free to post it on your blog or in the VDBC gallery and post a link down in the comments section!

Time to get crafty, people!

Linked at:

Eighteen25

Fantabulous Friday Freebie: Simple Favor Box

2011-10-21T05:00:00.003-07:00

It's Friday, again? Why didn't anyone warn me! This week has whizzed on by without stopping. It seems like the schools are conspiring against me. They just don't want us to be on a regular schedule anymore. First we have a day off school for no good reason, then there's fall break, now this week it's parent teacher conferences and that means half days on Thursday and Friday. Next week, I'm sure there will be something different, too. For a routine hungry person like me, these kinds of weeks are no fun at all. It's not that I mind having the kids home. I love being with my kids! We just seem to function better when the daily routine is sort of the same every day. Throw off the routine and my children turn into hungry wolverines and I turn into "Angry Mom" sort of like a super hero, except fire shoots from my eyes and rather than saving innocent people from certain death, I cause innocent, and not-so-innocent children to run crying to their rooms. And I shoot fire out of my eyes. So, I guess not really like a super hero at all.

Okay, enough of that nonsense! Time for a freebie already!

Today I'm sharing my die-cut design: Simple Favor Box

Halloween seems to mark the start of the big season... you know... the wrap up candy in a cute little package season. We've all done it, haven't we? Why not make the cute little packages as easy to assemble as possible? This little favor box is super easy to cut and put together. I'm sure you'll enjoy giving people more candy than they really should have in it! Dentists everywhere will be thanking us!

Sorry! This download has expired! Look for this design in the Sam & Hailey Designs Store!

As always, if you make something with this design, feel free to post it on your blog or in the VDBC gallery and post a link down in the comments section!

Time to get crafty, people!

Color Swatch Thursday: Black, White & Orange All Over

2011-10-20T05:00:00.015-07:00

What's Black, White & Orange all over? A tiger? A zebra hiding in an orange crate? No! It's today's Color Swatch set! I loved the colors of yesterday's Project Wednesday project that I had to make a palette out of it for you.

This weeks color swatch is: Black, White & Orange All Over

You can download an Adobe Swatch Exchange File for this color scheme from Adobe Kuler.

This one just grabs you with it's bold graphic colors. When using this color palette, I'd suggest sticking with the black, whites, and greys for your major color scheme. Then, add in pops of the bright oranges. I think you'll love the look!

Time to get crafty, people!

Project Wednesday: Button Pumpkins

2011-10-19T05:00:00.063-07:00

Seems like all I can talk about lately is pumpkins! Pumpkins, pumpkins, pumpkins! Have you heard enough? No? Oh, good, because I'm going to talk about them again. Actually, maybe I've only been thinking about pumpkins a lot and not talking about them. Anything is possible in this jumbled brain of mine.

What's so great about pumpkins anyway? Well, they are very tasty, for one. Pumpkin Pie is probably my hubby's all time favorite dessert. Next birthday, I'm going to make him a Pumpkin Pie instead of cake. He's not much of a cake-eater. And pumpkin cookies? Yum Yum! The other day I made the most delicious Pumpkin & Apple Muffins. Mmmmmm! My house smelled amazing. I even used homemade pumpkin puree I had frozen last year and instead of the oil I used homemade applesauce I canned a year or two ago. Pure heaven and I felt so frugal using all that homemade goodness!

Aside from pumpkin's tastiness, which no one can argue, what else is so great about them? I think that it is their place in {at least American} society as a true icon of Autumn. The fit in just about any autumn theme. Perfect for Halloween as jack-o-lanterns, but also perfect in any Thanksgiving arrangement, too. Maybe that's why I don't like carving them. I don't want their useful lives to be over once the thrill of Halloween Night has passed. They are the all-purpose, go-to, decorating essential for the Autumn season. Don't you agree?

We are heading to the Pumpkin Patch this Saturday with our girls, two of our grown boys, a daughter-in-law, and our darling granddaughter. I'm so excited! We first went to Apple Annies in Willcox, AZ last year and became hooked. Who wouldn't love to spend the afternoon with your family on a farm, picking pumpkins, riding in wagons, eating kettle corn and lost in a corn maze? It was awesome and I'm sure this year will be even better with some of our non-residential family along. Last year I snapped some adorable pictures of the girls. I can't believe I didn't blog the event last year. {Hanging head in shame}. The girls were so cute in the corn maze. The walked a lot of the way holding hands. Now, THAT doesn't happen every day around here!

Okay, so the title of this post promised you a project! I'm sure you are wondering where the heck the project is, already! What's with the discourse on the virtues of pumpkins and the meandering down memory lane? Sorry! You know how I am.

Today's project is: Button Pumpkins

This is a fun and easy project you can do with kids. My girls were a huge help in sorting and re-sorting the buttons many times over. They had a ball and a project got made!

For this project, I used my Itty Bitty Pumpkin Patch file to cut a stencil. You can use any kind of stencil you'd like, or hey, even free-hand it. I'm not going to judge you.

We discussed the resurgence in the popularity of buttons a couple of weeks back on Trendwatch Tuesday. I think you'll agree that this new trend has many applications. We've been seeing Button Monograms for a while and this technique would be an easy way to make those, too. Maybe closer to Christmas I'll have to make some monogram ones up for a Christmas project article.

For my Button Pumpkin, I used a 6" square piece of masonite-type fiberboard as the base. I have a bunch of these pieces left over from a project I did last year. Gotta use what you have, right? You could use cardboard, chipboard, a frame, a piece of wood, or just about anything you have laying around. The size doesn't matter, just as long as you have enough paper to cover your board, you are good. Notice I used the black and white paper for the background. If you didn't read yesterday's Trendwatch you might want to! I think this project would be fine if you just wanted to do the outline of the pumpkin instead of leaving this eyes and mouth clear.

Here are the instructions. Click the image to open it larger on your screen.

I hope you enjoy this little project! It's easy and quick, just like I like them!

Time to get crafty, people!

Linked at:

Eighteen25

Trendwatch Tuesday: Black & White Halloween

2011-10-18T08:48:00.002-07:00

You know how when a man gets a cold, we say he has a "Man Cold?" Okay, at least I say that. It's the kind of cold that at the slightest hint of the sniffles a man, {say for example, your husband, not that I'm pointing any fingers} wanders the house looking pitiful until you order them to bed for the tenth time and they finally go. Then they get to sleep blissfully with no interruptions for as long as they like? Yeah, that's the kind of "Man Cold" I'm talking about. Well, I have a "Mom Cold" this week. That's the kind of cold that no matter how bad it gets, you still have to get up and do all the Mom stuff you'd normally do. Make breakfast, get kids up and dressed, make lunches, get kids home from school, get homework done, make dinner, get kids ready for bed, etc. I'm grateful that I was able to get a little extra sleep yesterday while the kids were at school. I'm also really grateful for the numerous texts my husband sent me during my naptime to see how I was feeling. He's so caring! No really, I am grateful. He took the kids to the bus stop yesterday on his way to work. That was a huge help as I just couldn't see myself walking a block down the street. Today I'm feeling a smidgen better. I figure I can at least sit and write for a while before crashing in bed again.

Okay, time for a little Trendwatch fun! I hope you still have some room for Halloween decor, because these ideas quite possibly will inspire you to get creative and actually make something! Shocking, I know!

Todays trend is: Black & While Halloween

The other day, I was perusing the Better Homes and Gardens website for Halloween Decor. Lots of great Black and & White Halloween ideas.

Here's an idea to make your own creepy dishtowels in Black and White:

I love this idea for using white plates with images and numbers to display your house number! I think it would be great to change out the images for each season.

Speaking of plates, why not add the black and white theme to your table decor. Having a Halloween party??

Lastly, from BHG is this white pumpkin idea. I've got a white pumpkin downstairs that's been staring at me, just daring me to put something on it. I'm not a huge fan of carving pumpkins. I don't much care for the slimy mess. But slapping some vinyl on one? I'm all over that. I wish I had that hat, though.

Enough of you BHG, let's switch over to the iconic Martha Stewart. Here's a cute idea. At least, I think it's cute. My kids would probably refuse to go into the bathroom. This would be cool done in some removable glass etch vinyl:

Also from Martha, check out this skirt! Of course, as cool as it is, I just couldn't bear to wear a spider on me, even if it's fake and two-dimensional. Spiders of any kind are not welcome in my house. It would be an awesome witch skirt though, wouldn't it?

Elsewhere on the web, this fun party decor idea from Room For Dessert is an awesome blend of black, white, sliver, and awesomeness. I love it.

Speaking of parties... why not some black and white party food! Here's an idea from myrecipes.com for Bittersweet Chocolate Skeleton Cookies. Those boys are just sitting around all year long doing nothing, flirting with the angel cookie cutters, leaving crumbs around, etc... let's put them to work a couple of months early! Time they earned their keep around here. These are so cute I just want to bite their little heads off!

I sure hope this inspires you to include a little more Black & White in everything from your Halloween decor to your Halloween food! Have fun with it!

Time to get crafty, people!

Taking a Sick Day

2011-10-17T06:52:00.000-07:00

Happy Monday, Everyone! It's certainly been a fun weekend with the Anniversary celebration over at VDBC. I hope you were able to join in some of the fun! Unfortunately, I'm am feeling quite under the weather this morning. The girls are safely ensconced on the bus so I think I might actually go back to bed and get some sleep.

So, no Monday Super Steal this morning. What I am doing though, is to leave my 40% off sale up until tonight! That's way better than 50% off one item. 40% off everything! The little "Special Offer" signs are gone, but the sale is still there, I promise.

I even uploaded a few new designs over the weekend. I know! It's a miracle!

Here are a few samples to tempt you:

What are you waiting for???? Go shopping! It will really help me feel better this morning. Don't you want me to feel better?

Time to get crafty, people!

Fantabulous Friday Freebie: Swirly Style Cupcake

2011-10-14T00:01:00.031-07:00

Phew! What a week! There are a few days that are a bit of a blur. Wednesday was my birthday... yippee!! And this weekend is the VDBC Anniversary Celebration. Lots and lots of work put into the preparations for that this week. Top it off with my kids being out of school for Fall Break and... stick a fork in me... I'm done!

Speaking of the VDBC Anniversary Celebration, in honor of the big event, I've put all my individual designs and collections on sale for 40% off. Get on over and go shopping, people! Sale ends Sunday night at Midnight.

Did you get a chance to check out the fabulous challenges and games that are going on during the celebration? There are quite a few. I'm even hosting several myself. Hence, the preparations I was telling you about. If you are at all into paprcrafting {and not just my Mom reading my blog hoping for pictures of the kids} you should totally check these out. Here, I'll even give you some links and a brief description of each:

Challenge #1 - Fill the Gallery - Just like it sounds, people. My new gallery at VDBC was looking so pitifully empty! Fill it with as many pictures of your projects that include my artwork and you could win big prizes! Click that link to find out more!

Challenge #2 - Color Swatch Challenge - This one involves making a project {any project} based on one of my Color Swatch Thursday blog articles. You totally have to check out this awesome FREE digital scrapbooking kit - Just Beachy - made by my friend and talented designer Aussie Caz. She based it off my "Old Glass" swatch set. What a gifted and generous person she is! Hey, there's a prize for this challenge, too, so click to find out!

Challenge #3 - Trendwatch Challenge - This one's feeling all neglected since no one has posted anything yet. I always root for the underdog... don't you? Check it out if you like trendy stuff and prizes! Who doesn't like prizes, people?

Challenge #4 - Halloween Decorating Contest - If you like decorating for Halloween and you like using a digital die-cutter, then this is the challenge for you! Did I mention prizes?

Make-n-Take: Joy Fold Card - Like free stuff just for signing up? I know I do! All you have to do is say you want to participate on the thread in the forum and I'll send you your very own link to download an awesome free cutting design. But wait, there's more! If you post a completed project by Sunday night you'll qualify for another free file PLUS be put into the hat for a drawing for a huge prize pack! You just can't beat this one with a stick!

As if all that wasn't enough, I've got a celebration freebie for you! This one will be up all weekend long so be sure to tell your friends to jump on over and grab it.

So, what a celebration these days without cupcakes? Here's a yummy one for you!

Today I'm sharing my die-cut design: Swirly Style Cupcake

Don't you just want to eat it up? So cute!!!!

Boring but Important Legal Stuff: My terms of use are included in each zipped download. If you have any questions about how you may use this file, please read it. By clicking to download the file, you are agreeing to abide by the terms. If you'd like to share it, please don't. Rather, send your friends a link to this blog post. Once it's no longer available as a freebie, you might be tempted to share it with someone. Please don't! 'Nuf said!

Sorry! This download has expired! Look for this design in the Sam & Hailey Design's Store!

As always, if you make a version of this card, feel free to post it on your blog or in the VDBC gallery and post a link down in the comments section!

Time to get crafty, people!

Color Swatch Thursday: Grandmother's Cameo

2011-10-13T05:00:00.001-07:00

A Quick Note: It's Anniversary Celebration Week at VDBC! There are tons of challenges and prizes to be won. Click here to find the spot where all the challenges will be posted (there are already a few posted by yours truly). Also, be sure to sign up for the VDBC Newsletter so you'll get the Anniversary Guide that's coming out soon!

There's even a Color Swatch Challenge going on right now!

But wait there's more! Want a free cutting design and a chance to win fabulous prizes? Check out Sam & Hailey's Make-n-Take at the VDBC Anniversary Forum!

It's day four of Fall Break! We've had a ball together all week long. Only a few bumps along the way as you might expect for a Mom who's used to having her own time and two girls who are used to being kept busy at school all day long. On the bright side, I've only had to chase Bandit, the tiny dog, down the street twice this week. So far. I guess we are doing okay if that's the only real stress we've had.

It was my birthday yesterday. I generally like to keep it low key. I kind of made the mistake last year of saying I didn't wanted to pretend I wasn't turning 40. So we um... pretty much ignored it. My sweet husband always takes me at my word. Hahaha! This year I didn't make any such demands. We went out to dinner and the girls made me some homemade cards. They also woke me up about 6:30 am, not my favorite birthday gift, but it is what it is. Thank goodness for Facebook announcing to the universe that it's your birthday. It sure boosted my spirits to have so many well wishes on my wall all day long. Thanks, everyone!

So, it's the big 4-1 this year. I don't know how I managed to get this old. And yet here I am. A few months ago we listening to the radio news in the car. The story mentioned the word "middle aged." Samantha piped up and said, "That's like you, Mom!" What??? Me? Middle-aged? She continued on, "You are in the middle, because you are a grandma, but you are still young!" Ahhh... phew, thanks for clarifying that point there, Sam. I usually get a kick out of telling people I have two one year old granddaughters. I love the look of surprise on their faces. But then, someday, I know it will happen.... no one will look surprised anymore and then I will know I've reached true middle-aged-ness.

Speaking of grandparents. I was pondering mine as I was thinking about Cameos on for Tuesday's Trendwatch. When my beloved Aunt Shelba passed away 11 years ago, I inherited some of her jewelry. I am not a jewelry person usually, but these pieces I absolutely love. It's a little blend of the old and the new. There's a modern crystal cameo with a silver hoop around it, a large opal with rhinestones around it, the silver heiroglyph pendant my Aunt bought in Egypt with her name on it, and my favorite, my Grandmother Thomas's cameo. I wore her cameo on my wedding day. I love feeling connected to her by wearing it. It's not very big, as far as cameos go, but it's so special to me. I decided to share these pieces with you for today's color swatch.

You can download an Adobe Swatch Exchange File for this color scheme from Adobe Kuler.

I love the soft subtle nearly-mono-chromatic palette. Cameo pinks with a pinch of soft gold. This would make a lovely color scheme for a wedding scrapbook layout or something with a vintage family history flavor. I hope you'll enjoy it, too.

As always, if you make something with this color swatch set, you are more than welcome to post it on your blog and then post a link in the comments section below.

Don't forget the Color Swatch challenge going on right now on the VDBC Anniversary Celebration Forum!

Time to get crafty, people!

Project Wednesday: Vinyl Halloween Decor

2011-10-12T05:00:00.006-07:00

A Quick Note: It's Anniversary Celebration Week at VDBC! There are tons of challenges and prizes to be won. Click here to find the spot where all the challenges will be posted (there are already a few posted by yours truly). Also, be sure to sign up for the VDBC Newsletter so you'll get the Anniversary Guide that's coming out soon!

Well hello there, friends! Nice to see you again. It's the third day of Fall Break and I still manage to have my sanity mostly intact. Funny how quickly I've gotten used to having the house to myself all day. To be honest, though, I've really enjoyed having the girls around. They've mostly gotten along and I enjoy sitting and listening to them play when they think I'm not paying attention. The think I'm not paying attention most of the time until they hear me yell at them from the other room. Hee Hee! It's always fun to hear the scramble as they realize they've been caught up to something they ought not to have been up to. Mostly it's involved jumping on the bed. I think I can handle that.

The biggest issue I'm having with the kids is with Sam these days. That girl cannot stop herself from raiding my craft studio! I'm pondering moving into the guest room and installing a padlock. The girls have have their scissor privileges revoked recently. That was after I discovered Hailey's bangs cut to about 1/4" at the peak of her forehead. And then everyone denied cutting her hair. Well, I knew it wasn't me. So, no more scissors. However, no matter where I hide them, Sam manages to find them. She's not very good at being sneaky. For example, she brought me a pre-birthday present she'd made from cut up paper. Hmmm... and where did you get the scissors? I ask. Sigh. And I've repeatedly told her that I'd be happy to let her borrow them as long as she asks first and returns them when she's done. Apparently, she thinks I'll say no even if she asks. The problem is, she never gives me the chance to say yes! So, yesterday, I did my best to be trusting and let her borrow scissors several times. This time all she sneaked out of my office was a nice full sheet of scrapbook paper. I suppose that wasn't on the banned list specifically. Time to lay out the rules one more time.

Okay, time for the easiest project EVER!!!!

Today's project is: Vinyl Halloween Decor

The other day I was trying to think up some quick and easy Halloween Decor ideas. I said to myself. "I've got my cutting machine and yards and yards of vinyl, so why not use it?" So, that's just what I did!

I decided I wanted to make it look like a whole bevy of bats {I know the correct term is "swarm" but I like bevy so much better} was flying past my house and casting shadows on it. I cut a bazillion bats out of some glossy repositionable wall vinyl. Okay, not a bazillion, somewhere around a hundred. Anyway, it took about 8 feet of vinyl to do it and was quite possibly one of the easiest vinyl applications I've ever done. I simply weeded the parts out I didn't want and then stuck them on the house like stickers. The girls even helped me put them up with no issues at all. I didn't bother with transfer tape since they weren't particularly intricate. We only had one or two issues with the vinyl sticking to itself like a sheet of plastic wrap. I was using the repositionable kind so it wasn't too hard to straighten them out. The girls loved getting into the act, too. We tried our best to make sure the bats were all flying in the same direction. The girls wanted to put them up however they felt like so I had to make occasional corrections, but all in all, it was a fun hour long project to do with them.

I was concerned that they wouldn't stick to my stucco finished house, but they stuck just fine. And when it got hot in the afternoon, they melted a little like shrink plastic to conform to the contours of the house. Not bad at all, if I do say so myself!

Sam decided to count all the bats and came up with about 93.

If you have a cutter, you should totally try this. I used my Itty Bitty Halloween Scene design for the bats. I cut them in sizes ranging from a few inches wide up to about 15" wide. I would recommend something that doesn't have a lot of detail. I don't think you need it. If you don't have a cutter, find someone who does, or just stop on by! Okay, maybe call first.

We've even had neighbors come out for a walk just to see our bats! Awesome!

You too, can make this!!!!

Time to get crafty, people!

Linked at:

Eighteen25

Trendwatch Tuesday: Cameos

2011-10-11T05:00:00.002-07:00

Websters Pages has some gorgeous silhouette designs. Very pretty and very detailed. They have quite a few Christmas cameos, too.

The Girls' Paperie also has some pretty cameos in traditional and floral styles. These are from their Vintage Whimsy line.

For papers, here's one of my favorites from Bo Bunny. I know you're saying, "Hey it's missing the cameo, Jan!" What I like about it is that you can add your own!

Want some more great frames to add your own cameos to? How about these from Teresa Collins' Notations collection? Wait, I think this might be my favorite.

Also from Teresa Collins, a lovely cameo paper from the Posh Collection. I think this paper is unique because the silhouettes themselves have a more 1950's style to them rather than a Victorian style. I like it!

Here's another great cameo paper. This time from Hambly Screen Prints. Their cameo paper comes in four awesome colors: Black on Kraft Textured Paper, Antique White on Vellum, and either Antique Pink or Antique Teal Blue, both on White Gold Metallic Paper. Ok, I lied this is absolutely my favorite.

Can't get enough of cameos? Be sure to check out all the Halloween Cameos I found for last weeks Trendwatch: Vintage Halloween article. You won't be sorry. Oh, and be sure to take a peek at the tutorial below for how to use your digital die-cutter to make your very own custom cameos!

Time to get crafty, people!

Re-Post from 6.24.08 - Vintage Girls

2011-10-11T04:00:00.020-07:00

Happy Tuesday, Everyone!

Today was one of my favorite days... Mommy Play Date Day! Two of my friends and their kids come over and we just work on whatever projects we've got going on. Sometimes we don't get much done but it's really fun to just hang out with some adults for a while! And the kids just love to play together! Today I've been working on some silhouettes of the girls.

I started with these two pictures I took of the girls:

I manipulated the photos in Photoshop a little bit to make the outline nice and clean and then I traced them in Illustrator. After cleaning up the tracing line a ton, I stylized their hair a bit and their shoulder profiles. I cut the out on my Klic-N-Kut and take a look:

I love how they turned out! Now I just have to find some frames to put them in and find a good place to hang them!

Here's a Parenting/Hailey story for you. Yesterday, Hailey came into the kitchen while I was making lunch and was very upset. She kept pointing to her throat and then inside her mouth. At first I didn't understand what she was trying to say, but then once I realized that there might be something wrong, I went into full Mommy mode. I got down on the floor with her and was trying to get her to tell me if she had swallowed something since she's always putting things in her mouth and chewing on them. I had visions of safety pins, magnets, coins, who knows what! She opened her mouth really wide and I peered inside to try to see what if anything is in there. Suddenly, she hiccuped really hard. OH! I nearly cried with relief and then laughed really hard. The hiccups! That was all I was panicking over? Phew! I'm glad it was nothing serious and now I have a funny story to tell her when she gets older. She was so upset about having the hiccups and after lunch when she realized they were gone she did a happy little dance. It was so cute!

Everyone have a happy day!

Ready for the tutorial? Here it is! This tutorial uses my Silhouettes Busts and Hair cutting design to stylize the hair and body. You can stylize the hair and body yourself. My design just speeds up the process a bit! After all, you do your kids hair every day, right? With this method, their real hair can be a wild as they want, and you can make it look pretty with no screaming, yelling, hiding in the bathtub, etc.

Just click on the image below to open it larger.

Time to get crafty, people!

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