Another Birthday Wish

WooHoo for the weekend for everyone!

April is a busy month in my family, filled with birthdays! Here's a peak at the card I made my brother!

Again, very basic ... I'm trying the "Manly" card thing, remember?

I used my Gypsy to weld the word Happy together, then did some dotting around the letters to give it a little more finished look. I used a simple black ribbon to hide the seam from where the 2 pieces of paper meet.

I love these silver dots ... the card needed something extra and I don't think my brother is a pearl or gem kinda guy ... so these work out well! I finished it off my chalking the whole outside of the card to give it a rustic feel ... well at least I think so!

Here's some of what I used!

So another birthday down and who can even count how many more! I hope you liked my card and enjoy your weekend! I'm looking forward to some family time this am and then tonight we're hosting the UFC fights at our home, so I guess I need to clean before I head back up to the craft room! Whatever you end up doing today have a BLAST!

Happy Crafting!

~Meg



Alcohol Ink Birthday

WOO HOO! Today's my Friday!

Ok, I know I promised that I wouldn't rub it in, but it's been a LONG week!

Here's a card that I made for my Uncle who had a birthday last week!

I have a hard time with "Manly" cards, so I'm in the mindset that "Less is more" I used some glossy paper and my alcohol Inks for the background of this card. A simple brown ribbon down the side and a sentiment from My Pink Stamper

I used a swirly (is that a word?!) motion when I was applying the ink and you can see it after it dried which I thought was neat! The cut is from a Creative Memories Cricut Cart that I got a while back (and yes it's the only cartridge that I paid more then 20$ for!) I did some stitching around the top cut to make it stand out a bit more!

Here's some of what I used for this project!

Hope you enjoyed my card, and the rest of your day!

Happy Crafting!

~Meg



An Alcohol Ink Project ...

Good Morning!

I hope everyone is making it through the week! I love Wednesdays because you've already worked more days then you have left! And this week I'm off on Friday so today's actually my Thursday! I'm sorry I won't rub it in anymore!

Here's a project I did with my Alcohol Inks!

These are just regular ole' dominoes that I picked up cheap at Walmart! I flipped them over so that the dots were on the bottom.

Then I picked out what colors of Alcohol Ink I was going to use ...



I then put drops of each onto my felt

NOTE: The metallics (gold, silver, bronze and pearl) are VERY concentrated so I put multiple dots of the other colors all over the felt but only 1 drop of the gold!

Then I blotted away! You can keep re-blotting over the same spot until you get the color your looking for!

TIP: I keep my old cricut mats on hand for my Alcohol Inks and glitter sprays ... it gives you a surface to work on that won't ruin your table or other items.  They do sell craft paper for this, but why buy it when you have old cricut mats around!

The first round of blotting didn't give the color I wanted, so I went back and blotted them again to make them darker! Don't forget to blot the sides as well! The Alcohol Ink dries in less then 30 seconds, but if you're impatient you can also use a heat gun to dry them quicker!

Then I used my favorite Staz On ink in the Jet black to stamp images on top of my dominoes once they dried. 

NOTE: Stamping on these is slippery! Make sure you come straight down with the stamp firm enough to make the ink take but not too hard that you might slip and pull your stamp!

I waited a while (but for the impatient folks you can again use your heat gun) and then put a coat of Diamond Glaze on top to seal the dominoe!

Finally, I used a hot glue gun to adhere magnet to the back of the dominoe to make them into magnets! Then I packaged them up with a cute little top and they're ready to go!

Clean Up Tip: I always end up wearing alcohol ink, so don't wear your nicest clothes! Some people use gloves but I end up fumbling around! I've tried MANY things to clean my hands afterwords and the best thing is Acetone nailpolish remover! Cleans skin in a breeze, then just wash afterwords to get it off your hands =)

I'm super excited about how these turned out! I'm thinking I might start making them now for Christmas presents! Hmmm, that gives me an idea ....

Enjoy your day and as always,

Happy Crafting!

~Meg



QUICK and I mean QUICK treat bags!

Happy Easter Everyone!

I don't know about you, but I was hoping for things to slow down this weekend but NOPE! So my hopes to make super cute treat bags had to be tossed to the side and the realistic stepped into play and I decided quick and easy is better then not making them at all! Afterall, I had all the treats!

So here they are! QUICK and easy! I didn't even use the cricut on these, just the  Cuttlebug for the tops of the pouches!

When I say quick, I mean I ended up having about 20 minutes to get these little guys done before I had to run out with some in tow!

I couldn't even find my stapler to close these little guys, so I used my fascinator (yikes I don't know if I spelled that right!) which ended up being a cute touch!

I used my scraps for the tops of the bags!

So there you have it! Nothing special but the kids that have gotten them so far have LOVED them so I'm happy! I guess in this case it was the thought that counted!

Have a FABULOUS Easter with the people you love!

Happy Crafting!

~Meg

Another E2 Giveaway!!

Wow! Feels like Christmas!

Head on over to Everyday Cricut for your chance to win an E2!!

And while you're at it, Follow these fabulous crafty ladies too!

Good luck (Although I'm hoping I win!)

Happy Crafting

~Meg



Friday Fav

Hey Everyone! I hope you all made it to the weekend in one piece ... I know for me it was a little rough! But the weekend is here and here is today's Friday Fav!

These are some of my FAVORITE on-line sites for great crafting deals!

LOVE JoAnn Fabrics! I hop on-line from time to time and they have some of the best deals ... I got glossy paper last week for 2.99 a package, and everywhere else was 8.99 and up!

Cricut Machine has great deals when it comes to our favorite cartridges! Keep you eye on the prices as they go up and down almost everyday! They also run shipping specials too, so ask a friend what they want and do a joint order so that you can cash in when they have free shipping!

I might have to take advantage of this sale, they actually have some cartridges that I want now for 17.95!

Custom Crops is another great favorite! I just recently found a pattern that they posted online so that you can make your own cricut dust cover! AND it was FREE! Doesn't get much better then that! I always find great deals here!

Have I ever mentioned how much I LOVE Ebay? Just checking! I have about 45 cartridges and 44 of them were under 20$ ... I HATE paying a ton of money for cartridges, can you tell? (the only one I paid full price for was a CM special edition one) You have to be patient, but you WILL eventually get the cartridge that you're looking for, and if you aren't good with Ebay, ask a friend who is! I keep my eyes open all the time for friends!

So there you have it, this week's Friday Fav! I hope some of these places help you find deals like I do!

Happy Crafting!

~Meg

E2 Giveaway!!!

Good Morning Everyone and even more important,

HAPPY FRIDAY!

Sorry I've been lax about posting this week, it's been super busy around here and there was just not enough time in the day, BUT I've got some great things lined up for you this weekend! Later with that, here's some BIG news!

Robyn over at My Pink Stamper is giving away an E2!!

Check out your CHANCE TO WIN  an E2 HERE!

Good luck to all (although I secretly inside want to win myself!!)

Stay tuned later today for my Friday Fav!

Happy Crafting

~Meg

Well aren't you Fabulous!

Good Morning!

I was picking up the scrap room (as I always seem to be!) and decided that today's project was going to be to use some scraps! So with that said, here's what I came up with!

This is a basic A2 sized card which due to some of the embellishments but not be machineable at the post office!  You might recognize this paper from a birthday card I did a little while back ... I told you I was going to use my scraps! The sentiment is from the Fabulous Phrases set from My Pink Stamper.

I used pop dots to make the "frame" and flower come up off the page to give the card a little something extra!

The bottom boarder is run through the Cuttlebug with the Swiss dots embossing folder and then I used one of my new Stampin' Up Ink pads in Not Quite Navy and rubbed it over the embossing!



I've been on a card kick lately, but I've also been working on a present for a friend of ours who has their first wedding anniversary coming up this month! I've been doing a scrapbook of her wedding! I'm so excited to be working on this and am even more excited to finish it to give to them!

I hope you get some crafting done today!

Happy Crafting!

~Meg

An Inked Thanks ...

Happy Weekend Everyone!

Does anyone else feel like it takes forever for the weekend to get here? Because I sure do!

Today I'm spending time at Survivors' Day with Sue-Ann and my mom as Sue-Ann does TONS of work for the Rays of Hope and mom and I are helping out at today's event! So in my absence I figured I'd post a little project for you!

I've been playing a little more with my alcohol inks lately and looking up new techniques to use them! I recently ordered packages of glossy paper to use with them but of course got impatient and tried out a project anyways! It would have looked different had it been done on the glossy paper as suggested, but I'm still excited about the outcome!

I used 3 different colors of Alcohol Ink and the blending solution.  Alcohol Ink dries in seconds, literally which is why the glossy paper helps in the crafting process, but did I mention I'm impatient and couldn't wait?! So I tried it with regular cardstock and it didn't come out half bad! The Thanks stamp is from Stampin' Up and was actually in a free set that I got during their March    
Sale-a-bration!

I didn't want to take away from the inked area and stamp so I just used a simple black ribbon to give the card a more finished look.

This stamp is from a Martha Stewart set that I bought a while back super cheap and FINALLY used for the first time! (I love when I use things for the first time, makes me feel better about the money I spent! ha ha) I used Stayz On for the stamp because it's VERY black and I knew it would be able to show up over colors in the back.

So there you have it, a quick and easy card! One piece of advice, this ink stains! So make sure you protect your crafting surface! I used an old Cricut mat that didn't have enough stick for the machine anymore but will still hold the paper for something like this! A great way to get a little more out of your mats, and your money! Stay tuned for more Alcohol Ink projects once I get my package in from Joann Fabrics.com!

Thanks for taking the time to stop by!

Happy Crafting!

~Meg



Friday Fav

Welcome back to this weeks edition of the Friday Fav!

Today I want to share a fabulous deal with you that I got on some ribbon pieces on Ebay!

So for those of you who don't know much about me, I LOVE Ebay ... like seriously, I buy everything on Ebay!

Anyways, I bought some Precut 3/8" Premium Dot Grosgrain Korker Ribbon on Ebay, as well as it's plain non-dot counterpart.  Each pack came with 120 pieces (so 240 total) and only cost me like 10$! (shipping included!) I was so excited, my mom and I split this little haul because I'd never use it all.

Here are some of the little guys! And of course I store them in an old Yankee Candle jar ... I worked there for years so I always find different ways to re-use my jars once I'm done ha ha

Here's what they look like stretched out ... they aren't very long, but when stretched out they can go across one way of an A2 card ... but there's tons of other uses for them as well! For these I use my ATG gun and run tape along the entire back and that holds them down nicely without the worry of re-twisting.

These came from the Ebay seller ohmymini ... who is a top rated siller with a great sales history!

So there you have it, this week's Friday Fav! Hope you enjoyed!

Happy Crafting!

~Meg

Trying something new ...

I LOVE pictures ... maybe that's an understatement ... Pictures are my life! ha ha ha but seriously I love to display and look at my pictures as much as possible, because they all have meaning and remind me of amazing moments in my life. 

I'm trying to spruce up the scrap room and put up more pictures, so I'm starting by dressing up some photos to frame!

Again, here's Rambo!

I cut this 4 x 6 picture down just a bit so that I could frame it out with some blue cardstock from The Paper Company.  I then did a little doodleing on it, to give it a little something extra.

Then, I took out the Crackle Accents ... I've never used this before, Ever! So this is trial and error to the fullest, so learn with me!

I cut a piece of black cardstock and wrote Rambo's name down it in Silver Gel Pen, I then used a painbrush to apply the Crackle accents to the paper. Don't forget to move the paper over a bit after you've applied the Crackle accents because if you don't it'll stick to the surface you're working on!

Once the section dried and crackled I used my ATG fun to fasten the strip to the photo.  I also used a bone button for a little accent on the bottom corner!

It's a really neat product! I put it on thin so it gives a subtle crackled appearance, but the thicker you go the more dramatic it will come out! Now This will go in a frame and keep me company in the scrap room! Now I need to work on some stuff for Zeus!

Happy Crafting!

~Meg



The Crafting Misfit's New Season, New Skill Blog Hop!

I'm so honored to be a part of Rebecca from The Crafting Misfit's Blog hop! If you got here from Tammy's Page then you're in the right spot! If not hop on over to The Crafting Misfit to start from the begining so that you don't miss anything! PLUS she's also got some blog candy to give away today!

So the theme of this hop was to do something new, something you haven't used or done before, hence New Season, New Skill!

I came up with 2 projects for you guys today and I hope you enjoy!

First I did a card.  I'm sure that you've all heard me talk about flower soft, I've got tons of colors, but hadn't had the guts to use it yet, so I thought this to be the perfect chance!

This is a 5 x 7 card with the flower cut from the Mother's Day Bouquet cartridge at 2.29 on my gypsy.  The Sentiment is from the Wild Card Cartridge.

When using Flower Soft, make sure you "fluff" it first, which means loosen it up because they pack a TON of it into the container! They recommend a glue with low water content so that it doesn't drip or run and will hold the shape that you put it in, bascially it's tacky glue, so save yourself the money and buy that! Once I had the Flower Soft down, I used some of my Martha Stewart giltter to fill in the spots where the Flower Soft wasn't.

I used one of my EK Success boarder punches and a thin strip of ribbon across the bottom.  I added the faux stitching because I felt that the card needed something extra, but I'm not too sure how I feel about it!

Flower Soft is definitely trial and error but I'm glad I finally tried it!

Next up is an accordian album that I learned by watching the tutorial on the My Pink Stamper website.  I thought that it would be fun to try to learn to make this myself! So here's my first try!

This is the outside front of the mini album (The measurements of the book are 4.25 x 4.25 inches for the covers and the inside of the book measures 4 x 4 inches) I used thin chipboard for the album front and back and covered them with adhesive backed paper from a DCWV 6 x 6 stack.

This is the open album!I had tons of fun mixing and matching the paper for this project!

I used this stamp in a couple places to help with the journaling of a couple of the pictures once they're put in!

Album about to fold up

That's it!

Thank you so much for hopping over to Crafting with Meg for the New Season, New Skill blog hop hosted by Rebecca from The Crafting Misfit! I hope you enjoyed all my trials and errors as I learn along with you!

Next on the hop is Amanda!

and just in case you need it, here's today's line up!

Teachdanz

Melissa

Sue-Ann

Lolis

Tammy

Meaghan <-- You're here now!

Amanda <-- You're last stop!

Happy Crafting!

~Meg



Blog Hop Today!

Good Morning Everyone! 

Later today (at 5pm to be exact!) The New Season, New Skill Blog Hop kicks off and I hope you can swing by to see what all the crafty ladies have made! But for now, I'll leave you with a laugh for today!

My husband is like many other guys ... he takes pride in his lawn ... it has to look just so! The front of our house usually does quite well, we did all new mulch beds last year as there weren't any, and the lawn generally looks pretty good!

He's proud of this lawn, but the backyard ... that's a different story! The people that owned the house before us didn't do much with it ... in fact I don't think they did anything with it! So this year he's at it again!

He raked and seeded this section to start, and then had to "rope it off" due to these guys ...

So as silly as it sounds, I'm honoring my husband and his "craft" today as I wish him tons of luck with his back lawn ... because otherwise I'll never hear the end of it! Hope this gave you a good laugh to start the day!

See you later tonight for the blog hop!

Happy Crafting!

~Meg