Close to my heart gathering

Here I am at my first Close to my heart gathering today. I would say it was a SUCCESS. It went very well and I had a lot of fun. I'm looking forward to hosting more parties to come. Let me know if you would give me the honor of having a gathering in your home. We will go over the idea book together and then make something fun for you to take home. It's sure to be a fun time.

Close to my heart consultant

Well it's official. I have signed up to become a Close to my heart consultant. I thought long and hard if should start this journey or not. The reason I decided to take this path is because I love their products and I would love to share my love for paper crafting with other people. To be honest I've never been to one of their parties but since I love the products so much I know that parties will be a lot of fun.

So If you would ever like to place an order or host a party I would be honored if you choose me to help you. Let the creative process take shape and start thinking about all the ways I can help you.

http://foryourcreativeside.ctmh.com/

My cricut craft room giveaway

Go to this link for a huge scrapbooking giveaway!!!

http://mycricutcraftroom.blogspot.com/2012/07/giveaway-time-again.html

Cricut received

I received my cricut expression a few days ago. I haven't gotten a chance to use it yet but I'm looking forward to using it. So hopefully I'll get some time to work with it and can post some cute things.So now my next task is to sell my little cricut. I'm planning on putting it on craigslist.

I'm getting a bigger Cricut

I currently have the personal cricut machine that I bought from my co-worker. I really do love it but it's an expensive hobby. Well it's even a more expensive hobby for me now because I just got a super good deal on the bigger one. It's not the newest one but it's the Cricut expression, which is the larger size. They are very similar machines but this one can cut full size paper instead of me cutting the paper down. plus, I think it has a few other perks. Well anyways, I'm excited to get it and can't wait to start using it!!

Making soap and being busy

Well it's been awhile since I have posted and it's because I have been really busy. I've been apart of some craft fairs and I was trying to prepare for those. At the craft shows I sold the beaded silverware that I make, ornaments, and soap.

Unfortunately I didn't get around to take any pictures of the soap... shame on me. But it turned out really pretty. I actually bought a couple of those soap making kits that they sell at michaels. With each kit I was able to make 10 bars of soap. And making the soap was actually really easy.

First you take glycerin and cut it into small pieces. Next, You put it in the microwave for about 40 seconds, stir, and put in there for maybe 5 more seconds until it's all melted. Once melted you add as much fragrance, and coloring to it that you would like. Once satisfied, You pour it into molds. After it sits in the mold for approximately an hour or until it's hardened then you pull it out. This is probably the hardest part. I had to spend a considerable amount of time working at it to get it out of the plastic molds. Once I pulled it out it was really cute depending upon the mold you used. I used some molds that said "Handmade", "Natural", and then some that had floral designs on them. Then to complete it I used some ribbon to tie around the soap. This gave it a classy look.

All in all I would for sure make soap again. It's actually quite easy and it would make great gifts. If you have any suggestions on how I could pull the soap out of the molds please let me know. It would be nice not to have to work at it to get it out.

Making soap

My newest adventure is going to be making soap. I've made it before with a friend of mine but I want to attempt it again. I bought a soap making kit and now I'm just waiting until I have more time... So I'm really looking forward to it. With the soap kit I got you use wooden stamps to decorate the soap molds. So when I get around to it I'll let you know how it goes. If you have any tips for me please pass it on. Looks easy enough (Famous last words). Come back soon for pics of how it goes.

Free online papercrafting magazine

Click on this link for an online paper crafting magazine. It has some great ideas in here for all you paper crafters out there. So check it out.

http://www.scrapbookandcards.com/current-issue

Beaded bobby pin

I have a million beads. Ok, Maybe not a million but I love a ton of beads. So I'm always trying to think of new ways to use them. At some point I came up with the idea to bead bobby pins. I guess it's because you can put them in your hair and show them off. I experimented and this is what I have so far. So far I only have this blue one but I'm sure I'll eventually add more to it. I'm not sure if I should add more beads or just change the colors. So if you have any ideas let me know.

This was pretty easy actually. I just took beading wire and wrapped it & the beads around the bobby pin. The ends were a little tricky but I just wrapped it around a few times.

Wedding card box

My sister asked me to make a card box for her wedding for her wedding over labor day weekend. When she first asked me I had no clue what to do or how to even start. I found a friend of mine that had a used & handmade card box that she passed around. The bottom was two circles with white satin fabric over it. Well I had to coordinate her wedding colors so I knew I had to change the color. First, I went to the fabric store and looked around for about 2 hours. I finally settled on the black satin fabric, hot pink/ teal shear fabric. I had no clue how I would use the fabric at first... After I experimented I finally I settled on putting the black satin fabric on the bottom layers, I added a rectangle square on top with the teal fabric, and then put the hot pink fabric inside. Lots of hot glue... Then I added the hot pink flowers and added color coordinating embellishments. I don't think the pictures do it justice but I was quite proud of my first card box. So heres a pic of the front & the back.