Crafty Carnival

I'm here... but I'm on a little break too :)

I've been getting some emails :)  I know... I've been a really bad blogger.  So I thought I would check in and let you all know that I'm taking a little break.  I expect to be back to crafting around the fall of 09.  In the mean time, I will be doing my best to make my house look a little more like this.  I'll take one of each of these rooms please :) 

I'm also helping my dh coach my daughters softball team, playing taxi to my four year old and her softball team, and trying to do a little more work at the school.  I expect that after summer vacation I will have had enough of a break and be really back into crafting 100% again :)  Thanks for checking back then! 

Free Valentine Printables for gift giving or card making

As promised :)  My oldest has a fabulous 2nd grade teacher.  The theme to her room is bees.  She gives bee bucks, and the students are worker bees, and everything is bee themed.  So, I made this bee graphic to use on Gracie's Valentine giveaways.

I really wanted to use those adorable heart shaped red lolli pops to make a cute treat for her to give to her school friends.... but NOOOOOOO.... she wanted to give fun dip.  So I had to re-think my plan.  What I ended up doing is this:

I used the cute pink striped cardstock from American Crafts, and cut it into 3.5' x 6.5" strips.  Then folded those strips in half.  I punched two holes, and then used that cute "xoxo" ribbon that I got at Walmart (super cheap too!)  Gracie helped me staple the edges to turn the strips into pouches (I'm sure there is a better, cleaner way to do this, but I had to do this 7 year old style).  Then we punched out the bee graphic using my Marvey Scalloped Oval punch (the pink one) and stuck those on with double sided tape.  We folded the fun dip packs and stuck them in the pouches.  :)  Super fast, super easy, and kid friendly!  Here's a pic. of the fun dip unfolded and the cardstock print out.

Here is a Download Valentine bees no name of the bee graphic for you to use if you wish.  I took Gracie's name off of it of course :)  Have fun!  I'm sorry it's so late!

P.S.  I have something different in mind for the teachers and staff... so if I have time to do it, I'll post pics soon!

I'm here! I'm here!

I've been a bit out of commision, sorry!  My kids are huge... off the charts tall, and so therefore they are heavy.  The dr. told me long ago that they are way to big and I need to quit carrying them.  Well, I didn't listen, and I was carrying Daisy in from the car wrapped in a blanket, so she was dead weight (50+ lbs), and I dropped the keys to unlock the door, and bent down to get them and aye aye aye!!  It was all bad from there!  I'm feeling a lot better now, but I have to admit, I did sleep a lot those first few days because it hurt so bad!   Does this lil face look like she would hurt her mamma?  I don't think so!!

 

I had the BEST time when Nicole was here!  We threw a little bbq for me and my husband because it was our birthdays, and I couldn't have done it without her!  She helped me shop and get everything ready and decorate.  I don't even have to tell her what I need... she is already doing it before I even ask for help.  I'm very lucky to have a bff like her!   We went to Cheesecake Factory for drinks and apps on Friday night and this is us being silly before we left.  Then Sat was our party, and Sun she flew home!  I miss her so much!  Next year we are going to Vegas for her birthday... hopefully we will all still have jobs!  LOL!

I made these cards for thank you cards for all my fabulous friends that came to my party.  But I haven't mailed them out yet, so you just get to see this one which I'm adding to my etsy shop.

I also made these cute little journals for my etsy shop.  They just have plain drawing paper inside them.  They are Martha Stewart journals that Nicole sent me awhile back when she was cleaning out, and I just embelished them.  (SEE!  I told you I was lucky!)

 

 

 

I made this little bear with her little baby bear in a back pack too.  I will add her to my etsy shop.  (See, I haven't been doing NOTHING... I just haven't been able to post!  LOL!)

   

 

And then this bear... never made it to my etsy shop, even tho I made him awhile back.  I really like him.  He's huge, and he's been brightening up my sewing room.  But if he finds a new home, I'll be cool with that too :)

I will end now, because I am hoping that I really am feeling better, and this isn't just a fluke, so I hope to update a little more often.  I need to take more pictures of the other stuff I've been doing too.  (And I'm hoping to have a download available for Valentine's.  If you are behind on your to do list like me, you can use it... but I'm sure most of you are already done with your children's valentines!  LOL!)

Oh!  One final note... Nei Nei is updating her blog now!  My heart goes out to her and her family.  The least I can do is read her blog and support her blog sponsers.  She is a strong woman, and a fighter.  It's very inspiring to read her up-beat and happy posts!  Thanks Nei for the inspiration! 

Winner Winner, Chicken Dinner!!

The chicken dinner part has NOTHING to do with anything but my whole family always says it when we win something....  and the winner winner chicken dinner is.... Sandra Tsiu!!  (In case you are wondering, I used random.org and did the random integer generator... it's really quick and easy! and hence the picture of the robot... I think of the random number thing as a robot)

And, I really want to thank everyone for all of the blog comments that were left on my post below!  It makes me feel so warm and fuzzy inside to see the comments.  I have most of them saved in my in box because I had intended on thanking you each individually and surfing all of your blogs, but unfortunately, that hasn't happened yet! So I will say one big group thank you, and hopefully still get around to surfing those blogs this week :)

I hope I'll have some more updates for you this week with some Valentine's Day fun!

Year of the Ox - Chinese New Year 09

Happy Chinese New Year!  Well... apparently it doesn't happen until Jan. 26th, but what the heck... I had to get an early start :)

I'm going to have the best year EVER!  I just found out that my bff, Nicole is coming here for my birthday at the end of the month!  WHOOO HOOOO!  She booked her flight two days ago, and I've been excited ever since!  It's my birthday, but my husband is turning 40 that week too, so we are having a big little shin dig.  I'm so happy Nicole will be here to celebrate with us!!!  I'm gonna pick her up at the air port, take her to a bar (that serves lunch of course), and get the weekend started quickly!  LOL!

But in other news.... the stuff you might actually care about... LOL!  I'm giving away the two projects I made below, as well as an ox stamp and a word stamp to one person.  All you have to do is leave a comment on this post and you will be entered.  Please leave your email addy in the comment if you do not have a blog to link to :)  Thank you!!

I was commisioned to make a cute little Ox stamp for A Muse.  Stephanie really wanted some for her store, and she wanted something cute... not mean and fiesty lookin :)  So I came up with this little guy.  I've had him in my hot little hands for a few weeks, but I am just now getting around to sharing!  This stamp is available locally at The Paper Garden, and via the internet at A Muse!

The first little project I made is this calander plaque thingy... that's the scientific name.  I told you I'm loving stamping on wood these days.  These little pieces of wood are available at Michaels for about 60 cents a piece.  I added some cute paper, stamps and a little calendar I got at Stephanie's store.

The second project I made is my other current obsession... making people with punches.  I used the Marvey punches to make this cute little girl.  The pink circle punch is her face and bangs, and the yellow scalloped circle punch is her pony tails.  I used the speech bubble punch from Fiscars, and I finished it off with another one of those cute little calendars.

In other news... I listed two Pottery Barn duvet covers on ebay here.  Does anybody still do ebay?  I don't even know, but I was cleaning out some closets over the winter break, and these have to go.  I bought them for my girls' room, but I never got around to using them because I would have had to repaint to match them, and now I'm over it.  I found something I like better at Ikea.

And just one quick picture to show you why I LOVE living in California (nevermind the budget crisis, and levy problems, and high property taxes... ) we get to have 75 degree weather 2 days after Christmas and the ice cream truck came by while the girls and I were outside cleaning out rain gutters and washing out cooler boxes!  HELL YA BABY!  THAT'S my kind of winter!! (If I had zoomed out a little bit... you would see the wreath still hanging on my door, and Christmas lights still up!  I'll need to think about that next time!)

I love Christmas!

 

 

 

Santa and Mrs. Clause Paper gift tags or ornaments

I have been obsessed with the paper source for about 2 years... I first learned about them when I was looking to buy a Gocco.  (My gocco dreams have since been burst, but I still love the Paper Source!  LOL!)  So I was flipping through the catalog when I saw these tags...

Loved them so much I had to make my own version here:

And then purely by accident, I discovered it would be pretty easy to make a Mrs. Clause version too:

I'm going to use them as gift tags on presents, but they would be cute ornaments or a garland too.  I used my marvey punches to make these.  I used the Mint Scallop for the beard, the purple circle for the hats and hat bands, and the pink circle for the faces and for Mrs. Clause's hair.  Then I used a Martha Stewart burst punch for the pom on the hat, and the yellow Marvey scallop for Mrs. Clause's bun.   I think everyone NEEDS a white opaque pen too!  I used my souffle pen from Sakura Japan for Santa's eyebrows, but a white sharpie would work good too!!

My new favorite thing... stamping on wood.

So I have sent all of the swaps out for my atc swap, but there are a few people who have still not recieved them, so I'm only gonna spoil things a little bit!  I'm going to share my cards, but not the rest yet! 

My new favorite thing to do is stamp on wood discs.  You can buy them in a bag of like 25 or so, for about 3 bucks at Michael's.  I used hearts and two different size discs for my cards.  I think the possiblities are endless with this.  I want to take the smaller discs and make ear rings out of them by drilling a little hole in the top and attaching them to wires.  OMG!  So cute!  And fun and I love the feel of the wood!!

Here are my two cards for the swaps:

 

Christmas means secrets.... which means no posting :(

It's really hard to post right now!  I have all of these wonderful things to share, and I can't cause I don't want to spoil any surprises!!  This is a pic of an ATC from and OLD swap.

 

But here's an update on the ATC card swap.  Cards were due Sat but there are still quite a few trickling in... everyone has checked in tho and they are in the mail!  So I should be mailing them out the day after TG or on Saturday!  I will definately share pictures after I'm sure everyone has recieved their packages, but I don't want to ruin any surprises until then :)  But oh man... there are some YUMMY atc cards sitting on my desk right now... whooo HOOO!  (and if I haven't emailed you telling you I've recieved them... I just haven't gotten to it yet, but I HAVE recieved them... LOL!)

And I've been making penguins... they are super cute and fun... can't tell you too much about that either.  The girls are getting cheetah print ones (per their request)  but here's a little sneak peek of those, I'm naughty.  LOL!

And I went to Disneyland again, let my daughter drive... and barely survived... that was fun... other than that... I got nuthin.  Nuthin but lots of secrets!  :)

Free Christmas Printables - letter to santa- reindeer food - home baked cookies

I made these cute printables for Christmas and I thought I would share them!  The first is a letter to Santa (fill in the blanks), the second is labels for home baked goodies, and the third is for reindeer food!

 

To make the reindeer food.. simply print out the bad toppers.  Use a paper trimmer to trim off the excess on the side, and then trim out the bag topper leaving a good size block of white as shown in the top picture.  Add some oats and some glitter to zip lock baggie.  Fold the bag topper over the top of the zip loc baggie, and staple it on the sides to hold it in place.  This is a really fun and unoriginal (it's all ready all over the web... LOL!) project, especially for pre-school kids!

 

Download dear_santa_letter.pdf

Download mrs_clause_cookie_label.pdf

Download reindeer_food.pdf

Please do not sell or profit from the things you make using these printables.  They are (c) 2008 Missy Ballance, but I didn't print that on the printables because I didn't want to mess them up for you :)  Thanks!!  xoxo