2012...keeping old promises, making new ones

Oh my craft heart.  How have seven (7? really 7?) months gone by and not one crafty blog post?  I must admit, many crafty things have occurred and yet I have not documented one of them.  Shame on me.  I promise 2012, I will try harder and make this blog more of a priority.  I had high hopes of updating you weekly with adorably creative projects and witty posts when I started you.  My hopes are still high.

Here are the highlights of the latter part of 2011 and the beginnings of 2012:

- Decorated some blank notepads for gifts.  So easy and functional, everyone needs a little notepad for writing grocery lists and to-dos.  I used Basic Grey's Nook and Pantry paper and embellishments for these notepads.  They have a little magnet on the top to close them.  Sadly, my favorite place to obtain the blank notepads, The Paperzone closed.  I will need to find a new place to source the blank notepads for future projects.

 -I also made a Halloween home decor piece using a cheap wooden frame and Echo Park's Apothecary Emporium paper line.  I especially like the picket fence detail. I used the tops of the pickets to make a banner for the top of the frame.

 - In October I also took a Wilton cake decorating class at my local Michaels.  I can't wait to take more classes.  It was a lot of fun and my co-workers enjoyed all the cupcakes and cakes I brought to work.  This cake was my final project.  I made a spiced cake with caramel apple filling.  The top is supposed to mimic an apple pie. Surprisingly the hardest part of making this cake was getting the frosting to be a true red color for the apple decorations.  There are three more classes in the Wilton series.  In the next class I will learn to make royal icing and flowers.  Then I believe it is onto fondant and fondant flowers. 

- For Halloween co-worker treats I also made hand sanitizer holders.  I got a great deal on Halloween mini hand sanitizers at Bath and Body works (I think it was 8 for $2).  I will have to track down a photo to post along with easy directions. 

- The best part of 2011 was selling my crafts for the first time.  I was nervous at first when Holly asked me to be involved in her holiday home shopping event.  Would my stuff measure up? Would anyone want my hand crafted paperstuffs?  I worked furiously making wreaths (like the one on the left), notepads, gift card pop-up boxes, Christmas tags, and ornaments.  All the late nights I stayed up working was all worth it though.  Even if I didn't sell a thing, it was a big step for me to even put myself and my crafts out there.  I ended up making some cash and bartering with other vendors for some delightful stuff.  I hope to get my business license this year and start selling at local craft fairs.  That is certainly one of my goals for 2012.  I want to one day open my own crafty boutique.  A girl can certainly dream. 

- Finally, what I think it my greatest craft organization idea ever.  I love ribbon.  I hate trying to organize all those ribbon spools.  I could never really figure out the best way to store my ribbon collection and also be able to visually see what colors, patterns, textures I had on hand.  After combing Pinterest for a while (where I saw a number of amazing ideas) I came up with the best solution.  I used three sheets of 8 1/2 x 11 photo paper, a 1"circle punch and the bottom of an old roller shade to create this ribbon organizer.  I folded the paper in half width wise and then used permanent adhesive to glue the halves together.  I was careful not to glue to the fold, because I knew I wanted to be able to slide the wooden piece through the top.  I punched holes and threaded my many ribbons in rainbow order through the holes.  My sweet husband mounted it to the wall and viola!



So my hopes for 2012 include updating this blog more frequently and taking more pictures of the projects I am working on. 

I most bummed that I failed to take photos of the baby shower I threw for my dearest friend Melissa.  It was adorably owl themed and the invitations and decorations all coordinated so well.  Hopefully this is a lesson learned and I will take more care to remember to take photos. 



Half way through 2011 and I am a little behind.

As far as my crafting resolutions for 2011 go, I am a little behind. 

I did succeed in creating a Birthday/Anniversary Calendar and have mailed a number of cards out this year.  In fact, I just mailed three cards out this morning.  I made lovely Valentine's day cards using Echo Park's Be Mine collection. I am getting a little better at taking photos of my work as well.

 

 

I did submit work to Papercrafts magazine and although I did not get selected, I plan to continue submitting work.  Hopefully one day I will see one of my cards published.  Here is the birthday card I submitted.  It was a color challenge and the project need to incorporate teal, yellow, light blue and green in one card.

I set out to accomplish ten goals and so far I have managed to complete four, not too shabby and I still have 5 months left!  I probably won't be at any craft fairs or farmers markets this year.  I simply cannot produce enough product to fill a booth.  Maybe one day. 

Clearly my intentions of updating my blog regularly has fallen by the wayside.  I am not quite sure how it ended being the end of July, but I hope to get back on track now.  I am still a little overwhelmed at the thought of scrapbooking.  Cards I find to be less daunting.  The massive amounts of photos and ideas for our wedding scrapbook may simply be too much for me to start to imagine tackling but I plan to muster up some courage soon.  We are going to be celebrating our 4th anniversary in September and it is a shame all those memories are squirrelled away in boxes.

And finally, a lot of blogs are talking about Christmas in July.  Here is one of my projects from last Christmas.  I was invited to a cookie exchange and made pizzelle cookie packages using American Crafts Merrymint paper. I am enamored with pleated paper flowers.

I hope to post some pictures of my craft room in my next post.  I am really proud of how organized it is and I am planning to paint the walls and do a little more decorating in there soon.

My 2011 Crafting Resolutions

I realize it is now the 29th of the month and most people make resolutions on the first.  I however am not like most people (shocking, I know). Instead of making the same resolutions I always make (eat healthier, exercise more, save money) I am instead going to make craft resolutions and goals I hope to accomplish this year.  I also figure if I put them out on the internets, someone might hold me to them. 

1. Make time to craft at least once a week in my lovely craft room. 
2. Create a Birthday/Anniversary Calendar to keep track of everyone's personal holidays.
3. Mail handmade cards to people on their special days and "just because".
4. Update my blog, www.ihearthello.blogspot.com regularly.
5. Start and finish our wedding scrapbook. 
6. Learn to knit.
7. Make and send cards for Valentine's Day, Halloween, and Christmas (and maybe St. Patrick Day and the 4th of July).
8. Start making more paper crafted items (home decor projects, decorated picture frames, banners, cupcake toppers)
9. Muster enough courage to actually sell my items at a local farmers market or craft fair.
10. Submit work to be published in a crafting magazine.

I have high hopes for 2011! Ten goals and resolutions shouldn't be too hard to manage, right? I hope you can help me to achieve them. 

Originally I wrote this on my facebook page on January 11th.  I am happy to say that I have already accomplished a couple of things on the list.  I finished my Special Event Calendar this week and hope to post pictures of it soon.  

Making goals and being "sew inspired"

I took a big step and submitted a project to a papercrafting magazine this week.  I wasn't selected, but instead of being deterred, I think it has motivated to keep trying and perhaps one of my goals for 2011 will be to get published. 
Here is the project I submitted.  The theme was sewing inspired papercrafts.  I made a wall hanging using Cosmo Cricket's Material Girl line.  Honestly, I am a huge Cosmo Cricket fan.  They are one of my favorite lines.  I love their creative themes, color palettes and whimsical patterns. 

Ironically I do not sew.  If I can make it out of paper, ribbon and glue I will, but needle and thread and sewing machines intimidate me.  Perhaps that will be another goal for 2011, learning to sew. 

Now I need to figure out someone to gift this to.  Anyone out there enjoy sewing and need a decoration for your sewing room? 

Also this weekend I went to the the CK Convention in Bellevue.  Slightly overwhelmed by all the amazing product and the sheer number of crafters that were there.  Happily returned with a number of great things which will soon be showcased on this blog. 



Christmas Advent Calendar Project

It is almost November and I am starting on some Christmas crafts. While I was out shopping for supplies for my Christmas cards, I was pretty excited to come across this DCVW Advent Calendar kit at my local Joanns last week. 

The kit is amazing.  It includes two 12x12 red and white chipboard background pieces, 25 envelopes, three sheets of 8x8 decorative paper, ribbon, rhinestone jewels and tons of stickers and chipboard pieces to decorate each day. 

It also comes with an idea sheet, but you can decorate the days as you wish (with the exception of the 4th, it is printed on the sled, so you are pretty much stuck with the sled for the 4th).  I used the decorative papers to cover the envelopes for some of the days.  The kit includes a red snowflakes patterned paper, a green plaid paper and a light blue polka dotted paper that resembles snow. I also used Stickles to accent the envelopes for the 21st-25th and I utilized my Crop-o-Dile to add eyelets to the corners to thread ribbon through.  I am not sure I like how long the ribbon is at the top, so I might incorporate a larger ribbon bow at the top to take up some of the white space when it hangs on the wall.

I have the perfect recipient for this advent calendar, my friend Melissa's son Mason.  He is four and when I found this kit I knew instantly I needed to make this for him.  I have to find some tasty treats to fit inside each envelope.  I am hoping that Ghirardelli chocolate squares will fit perfectly in the first twenty days and I am thinking I will fill the last five days with lollipops or candy canes since those envelopes are smaller.  Maybe I will fill the envelopes with a little note too!

So I am still learning all the features of my new camera, so these pictures aren't the best, but at least it gives an idea of what the project looks like.  I think taking pictures during the day might be helpful in reducing the flash glare.  As you can see, the chipboard background has a glossy sheen.  I figure the more posts I write and the more pictures I take, that this blog will show gradual improvement with time.  I hope to showcase some of my completed Christmas cards in my next post.  I am currently using the Jolly by Golly line from Cosmo Cricket and also the Noel line from Making Memories for my holiday cards this year.  Look for my next post in the next couple of days.  Thanks for reading!

Camera issues and Christmas Projects

Honestly, I have had some issues trying to update this blog.  To take the photos of the Halloween cards in the previous post I borrowed a digital camera from my parents (it is 4 years old, only 4MP, has crappy battery life and apparently new SD cards are too advanced for the camera).  We had a pretty awesome digital camera until this past summer when our home was burglarized and someone stole it.  We had been meaning to replace it and hadn't gotten around to it until I realized I wanted to start this blog and photos of the projects I was working on were kind of necessary. So we finally bought a new camera last weekend. Hooray! Costco had a great deal on a Fujifilm 14MP point and shoot camera and it also does HD video. Hopefully I will find the courage to do some tutorial videos for the blog soon. 
My plan for this weekend to is to upload some photos of the Christmas projects I am currently working on. I am almost finished with an advent calendar that I am making using a DCWV kit I bought at Joanns and I started crafting some Christmas cards.  My plan is to hand make all my cards this year.  In years past there have been two lists of card recipients; the handmade card list and the store bought card list.  A friend outed me on facebook about the two lists, so I figured this year I better start making cards sooner so everyone gets some handmade love. 

Halloween in Wonderland cards

Truthfully, I made these card in the beginning of September. 

I have been waiting until the calendar page turned to October to send them out.  Last year a friend mentioned to me, "I didn't know people sent cards out for Halloween".  Oh, little did they know that I do not necessarily need a holiday to send cards out.  I think that is the best part of making cards, being able to send a little note to someone out of the blue. 

Back to these Halloween cards.  I just love this Graphic 45 Halloween in Wonderland paper.  I especially love the tags and the playing cards.  Tracking this paper down however was a little bit of an adventure.  I try to support local scrapbook stores as often as I can.  I often find myself calling stores in search of a particular line or brand of paper.  In this case, Halloween in Wonderland was a tricky to track down.  I could find none in Tacoma, but truthfully there is only one scrapbook store in Tacoma (Scrap That! which I love).

I was able to find a few pieces at Papermuse in Sumner, but they were almost sold out (and that was back in the beginning of August). I was able to track down the remaining papers in the line and the tag sheet at The Scrapbook Nook in Kent. 

One free Sunday afternoon, a little bit of ribbon, some basic cardstock and some Stickles later, viola!