Make and Take - Birthday Gift Card Holder

Recently Hayden and I went to a Make and Take. For my non-crafty folks :-) a Make and Take is where you go to a craft get together, learn how to make something and then take it home with you. They are so cool, and Hayden and I had a really good time.

The project was a gift card holder. I had seen pictures of one online, but never tried my hand at it. It was sooo easy, and fun, and they turned out super cute.

Hayden's (standing up) and my (laying down) gift card holder.

I was so proud of Hayden's creativity. He really went all out - inking the edges of his white cardstock, using two sentiments, making his candle multi colored, coloring in his sprinkles, and he even got his candle perfect. As you can see one of mine is kinda' floating. Oh well, I still like it.

Inside (open) view. You can decorate the inside too, we just didn't.

Another inside view. The gift card fits perfectly!

View from the top.

Altered First Aid Kit Treat Holder/Purse Tutorial

Here's my second tutorial. This time I altered one the First Aid Kits you can find at Target or Walmart for $1. It turned out really cute. So, for $1 I got a really cute project and some bandaids too boot :-) Hmmmmm . . . maybe I can figure out how to make a card with the bandaids!! You laugh, but if you ask my husband he'll tell you - I'm only half kidding :-)

The outside of the Treat Holder/Purse

A sneak peek at the goodies inside.

Yummy! Now that I look at this picture. I guess I could decorate the inside too. What do you think? Necessary, or would it just take the focus off of the important part - the CHOCOLATE!

The Video Tutorial

If you click play and then click on the video again, it will take you to my YouTube channel where you can leave a comment. Which, by the way, would be really cool ;-)

My First Tutorial!!

I finally got my voice back enough to record a voice over for my first tutorial. Then I ran into editing problems (ie. I know enough about Windows Movie Maker to get me in trouble and had to wait for Christian to fix my goofs.) I learned a lot and will do some things differently next time. But, overall all I am happy with how it turned out.

Thanks to all of my family and friends!! I didn't have the patience to mess with the credits to much. If I had, credit would go to:

Adam - new 'puter to make this video on :-)
Christian - editing

Hayden - camera set up
Dawn - Pearl Ex (Christmas gift)
Sarah - Heat Gun (Christmas gift)
All My Craft Buddies - inspiration
All My Blog and YouTube Buddies - motivation

Some of My Other Recent Projects

Here are some of the other fun things I have been making. If you would like to try some of these for yourself, each caption is a hyperlink that will take you to the written or video tutorial for that project.

ENJOY!!


Milk Carton Box


Accordian Card - Peace


Origami Box

Accordian Card - Joy

Diaper Fold Pouch

Envelope Pouch

Explosion Card

Meander Book

2-5-7-10 Box

Arts vs. Crafts

Arts and Crafts!!! That is a term that has brought joy to my heart for many years. Attach those three words to just about anything and you are guaranteed to peak my interest. An Arts and Crafts section in the bookstore - where? An Arts and Crafts class - how do I sign up? Arts and Crafts DIY videos on YouTube - chances are I'm already subscribed :-)

But, although the two terms go together most of the time, it's the latter that is the hook for me. You see, if you asked me to go to an Art Gallery, I'd have to check my schedule. If you asked me to go to a Craft Fair, I'd say "What are we waiting for ?!?!?!?"

The difference between Art and Craft . . . there lies my dilema.

Many times when people see some of the things I have made, their typical response is "You're so artistic!" While I truly appreciate the compliment, that comment has just never set well with me. It has always felt like I was getting undue credit. I just DON'T think I am artistic. My definition of an artist is someone who paints, sculpts, draws, etc. I don't paint, I can't sculpt, and I would be hard pressed to draw anything other than stick figures and cartoons. What I am is someone who has a talent for making things. Sometimes that means copying something that someone else has already created (giving proper credit, of course). Occasionally, it means coming up with my own original ideas. What I am is not an Artist but a Crafter.

So, I have decided to invent a motto for myself.

"I'm not Artistic, I'm CRAFTASTIC!"

I might even have a T-shirt made :-)

I really hope this is an original saying. I did an internet search to make sure that I was not copying anyone. And, while I did find several references to the word "craftastic", I did not see it used in a phrase anything like this one. Please let me know if I am mistaken.

My Little Corner of the World

I thought I would post about my little crafting corner. All my life I have loved making things. I have tried just about every craft known to man. Right now, I am really into papercrafting - making cards, mini albums and little gifts out of designer paper. It's a ton of fun!! But, I needed someplace to store and display all my pretties. What to do, what to do???? Dum da da daaaaaaaah! Adam and Hayden to the rescue!!!!! They put up these four wonderful floating shelves for me. They are so cool, and they let me show off all my fun creations. It makes me happy just to look at them :-)

We got the shelves at Home Depot. Adam and Hayden had them hung up in less than an hour. I am so happy with the way they turned out!!!

Here is a look at my creative corner. The black thing, to the left of the chair, is my Crop-in-Style tote. It is full of paper, stickers, embellishments, etc. It is so handy when I go to a crop. Everything in one place and on wheels. The hardest part is getting it in an out of the van. Did I mention it was FULL of paper - it's just a little heavy :-) The white shelf on the right holds my stamps, inks and various other really fun tools. I absolutely LOVE having everything at my fingertips.


Recently I participated in a supply swap sponsored by a fellow blogger. It was a lot of fun. It worked like this - we all filled up an envelope or box with supplies we didn't want/need/like anymore. The items could be brand new or well loved. You could send unopened things or even the last few sheets of a paper packet, or a half a package of stickers. Then, we all sent our boxes ,along with enough to cover return shipping, to Marion (the fellow blogger). She took the contents out and then mixed them all up. Then she filled the boxes back up and returned them to us. Somehow, she managed to make sure people didn't get back the same things they had sent. It was like Christmas seeing all of the neat things that I received (see picture below). I got a lot of things that I would never thought to buy or try.



WOW three posts in less than 24 hours!!! And I'm not even caught up yet :-) See ya' later I'm off to go craft.

Happy Birthday to Hayden

My baby will be 12 tomorrow! I can't believe it. By this time next year, Adam and I will have 4 teenagers - YIKES! Tomorrow is going to be another crazy day so we let Hayden open his presents tonight. Yes, we had to twist his arm . . . but ;-) He asked for a lifetime supply of Stride gum. We figured 18 packs was enough to last him for a month or two. We got him the spinner that he was fascinated with at the toy store a few weeks ago. And then he got the 2009 Guinness Book of World Records - the 3D edition. So he is a happy camper.

Guinness Book in 3-D with a mouthful of gum.

Hayden's Word Cloud Card.

I am so pleased with how this card turned out. The words were printed on white cardstock with a free program I heard about. It's http://www.wordle.net/ Check it out if you have some time to kill. You enter words and the computer randomly places them. The more times you enter a word the larger it appears in the final product. You can control things like color, capitalization, and whether the words are mostly vertical, mostly horizontal, or both. But the placement is random. So, if you don't like the look you can have it rearrange the words. I clicked about 12 times before I got the large words right where I wanted them. Anyway, it's fun - go check it out.

Gearing up for a BUSY weekend. The Emerald Coast Marching Classic is this Saturday. We will be volunteering all day at the school. So pray for nice (not hot) weather for us. Oh yeah, and for LOTS of people to come. This is the bands biggest fundraiser of the year.

Weekend in Review

This Friday Choctaw played Niceville high school. That is always a big game because both schools are "local" (we play teams as far as 1.5 hours away sometimes) and they are pretty big rivals. The Fort Walton Beach vs. Choctaw game will be bigger, but this is the second biggest game of the year. Anyway, we lost :-( But apparently it was a good game. I wouldn't know because #1 I don't understand football, #2 I don't care about football (might be why I don't understand it :-), and #3 I was busy selling 50/50 tickets until halftime. Then I watched the halftime shows and went home. I did manage to sell the winning ticket again - YEAH! The winner and the band each got $284 this week.

Christian went on a field trip this week to the University of West Florida. The Newspaper, Yearbook and News Staff went to a workshop. For those of you that don't know, Christian is taking a TV Production class. He is part of the crew of WBGI - the school TV news program. He is really enjoying it. He recently received his "All Access" News Crew ID. What were you thinking Choctaw :-)

I had a really good time scrapbooking/card making this weekend. A bunch of us get together once a month at the church and scrap Friday night and Saturday day. It's a lot of fun!! Sometimes we do more talking than scrapping, but it is still a great time. Here are some of the things I made.

More Craft Pics

I thought I would post a couple more pictures of some things I have made recently. I just love making stuff!! Both ideas came from splitcoaststampers.com. The first is a card that fits in an envelope, but then opens up to become free standing. The second is a mini album made out of badge holders. Too cute and it keeps your photos safe and handy. Much better than when they were in my wallet getting dog eared.

Click here for tutorial

Click here for tutorial
Hope you enjoy. Have a great day!!

Julie

A Few Cards I Have Made

It's "Hump Day"!! Just got home from work. As most of you know I am a substitute teacher. Today I subbed for 6th grade Math. A busy day, but still fun. So far this year, I have been able to work exclusively at my 3 favorite schools. Today I was at Hayden's school. Got to keep an eye on my babies :-)

Anywho, when I 'm not at work I really enjoy creating things. Thought I would share a couple of my latest cards. I got both of these ideas off of splitcoaststampers.com - AWESOME website!! They have easy to follow tutorials, along with gallery photos and cool clubs.

This card uses a technique called a Dahlia fold. Click Here for Tutorial

The next card is a Swing Card. Simple and Fun!! Click Here for Tutorial

Well, guess that's all for today. I will post more pics soon. I'm having so much fun making all of these and love sharing them with you!!

Until Next time :-)

Julie