July Make-N-Tales at Memory Bounds

My cards are Memory Bound's Make-n-Takes for July So....

Join me at Memory Bound in Ankeny for their make-n-takes every Wednesday in July from 1-6! I will help you along the way! 

The watercolor cards are worth the $3.00 to make, you can't buy cards that cheap, and you can't make them without the help of Memory Bound for that price!! While you're creating these cards you can learn a new technique in the process! I will be at Memory Bound in Ankeny from 1-6 every Wednesday in July! I hope to see you there! The Awesome thing about Make-n-Takes is that you don't need to bring anything just yourself and $3.00 to make one card. (some of these cards you may want to make more since they are so cute and addictive to create! there is no limit on how many cards you want to make.)

July 12 1-6 You don't want to miss this one!

You guys, this is my new all time favorite way to make some fast and easy flower cards, with the help of a Penny Black stamps and the MISTI you can make a bunch of these pretty easy. I can't wait to share with you how I did it, when you see how easy it is to make this card you will be addictive (I need more of those Penny Black stamps! 

July 19th 1-6 Two Toned Stenciling 

Learn how to get a designer look with stencils and die cuts, I will have some really fun ideas on how to use this technique in other occasions, This is such a fun way to use watercolor, it's one of my fun go to techniques!

July 26th, 1-6 waterbased backgrounds with die

Once you do this inking and stenciling technique you will be amazed at how many ways you can use this technique in card and paper crafting projects! The Die cut on this is one of my favorites from Memory Box! The card is sure to make someone's day special with this delightful watercolor card. the Sentiment can be changed, it came from the Lawn Fawn Scripty Sentiment

This two stenciled watercolor background, it's sure to have the receiver wonder how you created it, we blend Scribble Sticks, heat embosses, and lift color out to create this beautiful card! 

When designing these cards, I had in mind to make watercolor irresistible to card and paper crafters alike! Join me at Memory Bound  Make-n-Takes, I can't wait to share my love of watercolor with you!

Learn to watercolor for free this summer with Giveaways!

I don't know about you but June was a crazy busy month for our family, I hardly had time to turn around let alone to paint/craft! I have no idea what it's like to raise a family sometimes, my kids needed my attention a lot this month. It is with this thought in mind, that I hope to let my kids have some unstructured time (playing with toys, using their imagination) so I can maybe have time to be in the "art room" to create or to practice my painting muscle memory. 

My favorite Artist: Angela Fehr is running a month long challenge to help out her students: hobbyist, professional(wanna be), or Card Crafter (that's me) learn techniques and tips in watercolor through Angela's youtube channel or Here is a playlist of some of her best classes I also have a youtube playlist of tutorials that I thought helped me learn watercolor! Art doesn't have to be expensive, and if you are looking to learn more this is the month to try, July is National Watercolor Month!

Need a good challenge to help you "create" in watercolor?Angela's Prompts are sure to help you feel inspire you for each day of July! I printed it out and have it on my Art Room wall to cross off each day (I like to cross off things from a list...)

To learn more and enter into her challenge each week go here, WITH WEEKLY GIVEAWAYS AND A GRAND PRZE!

watercolor resist for a card (not finished yet).

HERE IS HOW TO GET STARTED:

enter into her challenge by enrolling in the course

 you will need to log in into her class website, and while you are logged in if you haven't yet, enroll in her free Joy of Watercolor Class you should! This is where you learn some simple demonstrations to florals, and landscapes that are explained a bit more than in her YouTube channel.

DON'T forget to enroll in the summer challenge, that way when you are ready to post to the challenge all you have to do is upload a photo to her class website.

 I can't wait to see what you post, I have a bunch of watercolors waiting to be "finished" hopefully I can find some time to do finish them off this month!Good luck at winning some fabulous art materials! 

DIY Flower Crown

Every little girl I know dreams of having a flower crown at some point in her life, why buy one when you can make it? I thought I would make my daughter one for the father daughter dance that they attended. I hope that she will also wear this during the summer when we like to play dress up.

I found the instructions on Creativebug with Lia Griffith's class Paper Wedding Crafts. I loved her down to earth tips as she assembled the paper flowers, and I also enjoyed that with her paper flowers you can really use them any way you want, not just for a flower crown.

I love crafts that don't use a lot of materials, this one did that well I thought. I only needed to go to Hobby Lobby and get the brown twine floral wire. This project was fairly inexpensive which helps if you need to make more than just one.


As alway I cut my flowers, then assembled them and then glued them onto the wreath (the floral wire) and then attached the ribbon, there wasn't really anything too hard or special about this project but it was very entertaining to watch Lia Griffith create the flower crown because she had such wonderful tips along the way!

I hope you can find the time to make a flower crown. The project is what I call a no risk craft since you are using materials that don't cost too much just your time the risk of making a mistake and needing more material is low.

Happy Creating!

Why I haven't bought face moisturizer for two years!

I have the best face moisturizer! it's my favorite, you can't beat it, and it's not that expensive to make....

This is my amazing face moisturizer recipe I have made. You can thank me later!
I would not double the recipe unless you use a double boiler,  and you plan on giving it away, the shelf life is for about 3 months, and a little goes a long way! I always seem to run out of one batch three months later. So if you double give it away. You can also melt the ingredients in a microwave, I would do 1 min. intervals.

Best Ever Face moisturizer
3 Tablespoons of Shea Butter
1 teaspoon of shaved or pellet size beeswax
1.5 Tablespoons of Aloe Gel, I like the clear gel
1 teaspoon of a carrier oil, I use coconut or grapeseed oil

+ EO's that you like, I use Frankincense 10-15 drops, lemon 10 drops, and lavender 10 drops in mine, but use what you have, I have been known to do just put lemon and lavender in the moisturizer.

Melt the shea butter and the beeswax until it's all the way melted. I use a melting pot from Ranger, but you could use a double boiler or a microwave for this.

Then once that is all melted, I add the aloe gel and the carrier oil, let that all melt together then I pour the moisturizer into a glass jar with a lid and add your oils, and mix that up.

Let it stand for a day or so, it needs time to rest, I don't know why but waiting a day makes it better.

And that my friend is how you make face moisturizer, remember if you go outside add some sun block to your face, I like SPF 30 for my face!

To break down the price, you might laugh, but here it goes

$12.97

$14.17

$9.38

Grand total for the base of this amazing moisturizer is $36.52 without Eo's

The math of the breakdown:
you use 1.5 oz of shea butter per batch, so there are 10 batches of shea butter for one jar! so for $3.65 plus whatever EO's you use, it's very cost effective! and that my friend is why I don't buy face moisturizer.

Dont' you just love when you can make something you use all the time for cheaper than you can buy at the cosmetic counter?  I mean you know what you put in it, you can customize the scent to whatever you dream up, (I have made a night time one and a daytime one with different scents.)

I have been making this for over 2 years now, and I still have half the jar of Shea butter, and a lot of beeswax left. Use what EO's and carrier oils you have on hand you will love this!



the Pharmacist wife is coming out, here is the why I use the bulk ingredients:

Shea Butter Benefits: Moisturizing: The concentration of natural vitamins and fatty acids in shea butter makes it incredibly nourishing and moisturizing for the skin. 

Aloe vera contains something called proteolytic enzymes which repair dead skin cells. It's a natural anti-age agent, it feels amazing on your skin, especially in the winter when your face is windburn or sunburn. 

Beeswax carries antiviral, anti-inflammatory, and antibacterial properties that are essential in fighting chapped skin and bacterial infections that tend to affect us most in the dry, winter months. It forms a protective wall by sealing in moisture in our skin without smothering and clogging up the pores

Stand Out In A Popular Marketplace with CreativeLive Food Photography class

Business of Commercial Food Photography 

is broadcasting live today and tomorrow, You know I am a big a fan of Andrew Scrivani, I loved his last class, go here for that post  Here is what is going to be taught today and tomorrow (march 1-2 2017) 

Being confident in your photography is only the start of growing your success as a food photographer. Knowing how to pitch yourself to clients, communicate with vendors, and set yourself apart from a populated market are just some of the business techniques that are essential in seeing you profit from your work. Andrew Scrivani joins CreativeLive to help you take your photography and business to a place where you can start making it a successful career. He’ll cover: 

• How to get work in the Food Photography Industry 
• How to promote and network yourself to grow your client list 
• Techniques on communicating with your vendors and clients on set and off 

Make your photography work for you and make money while shooting what you love. 

We are blessed to have CreativeLive bring in some amazing talent! 

CreativeLive broadcast their classes live every single day so you can really learn and understand the business of art and photography!

This blog post does have affiliate links, by clicking the links you are supporting my blog.

My love affair with Silhouette

I thought I would share my top 5 Silhouette projects I have done and posted about!

Birthday Bouquet

 My Favorite project to do with the Cameo Silhouette is to make flowers, So This post was a favorite of my all around, enjoyable to create, fun to write about, and entertaining to see where it leads me! This project would also work well for any wedding bouquet, just add more flowers. Need an impressive hostess gift that will be cherished, you got it! (frugal alert: I buy vases at my consignment shops for about a dollar!) 

Christmas tree stencil card

I am a mixed media artist by Nature, and this project in one of my favorite projects, I like to use what I have on hand, ( use what you got.)  So I came up with a way to make a bunch of Christmas cards that are all unique in a way, that doesn't break the bank but looks like you really spent a ton of time on. I had a lot of fun playing with watercolor techniques, this project is an open-ended one, use a stencil that you find on the Silhouette Desing Store, resize it to fit your card size, and play with watercolor. You don't have to be a seasoned watercolorist to do this card. Instead of Christmas trees do flower stencil, or a geometric stencil, So many ideas!

Santa washi tape

Crafting with the Cameo Silhouette and Washi Tape is a match made in heaven! Christmas can bring out the best in the crafting world, and although this is all about Santa, can't you see the colors and the theme to change for any type of season, Washi tape adds just enough pizazz to make clean designs look amazing! Check out my other post that used washi tape with the silhouette for a fast card

Silhouette Mint and watercolor pairs nicely together, I love that I can design stamps to fit my size, and my style, as always I wanted the mixed media(watercolor and ink) to stand on its own, add a bit of stamping to go with it and you have a really nice card. I loved how both turned out. This project is great for those color challenges that are popular right now!

A flower candle holder is perfect for so many occasions. I like how easy and elegant this project was to make. It's a beautiful piece that makes me smile when I see it in my house. I like it because it only takes two Design Store files flowers and a candle holder to make, and they are both files that I use on a semi-regular basis, both files are very open ended.








As you can see, I am a crafter that loves to use clean and simple design elements to enhance the project, I love watercolor and mixed media to produce a unique piece that doesn't break the bank, or dip into my family's grocery budget! (see my post about why I use coupons and try to save money.) 

Get into Nature

As a mother I am always finding an excuse to get out side and to get into nature, I pat my self on the back that 1.) I got them out side,  2.) Nature is way more fun than any tv show. So I was excited to see that there is a book about getting outside, and into nature. Thank you to PBS for solidifying my firm belief that nature is full of inspirations. It is.

Fall is the best time to get outside, I dread the winter like most of us, so when I saw that Downtown Bookworks published this Stick and Stones book  Our family had to have it! I am grateful that Downtown Bookworks partnered with PBS Kids, they have some really neat kid activity sets if you are a PBS nerd like I am! They also have a wonderful field guide A Walk In the Woods that helped us identify our leaves, trees, rocks and a snake that was coiled up along the trail, which my boys were like can we keep it? NO!

I felt more inspired about getting into nature. Into The field Guide A Walk in the Woods is jam packed with content that will help even the most curious mind understand the habitat of the "woods." I just wanted to do some fun cheap children crafts that they could really connect learning and art together. I plan on using these books for our son's 5'th birthday party with his pk friends, the kit has everything you need, just add sticks or rocks, or pine cones and let them create! an easy art activity!

What is it about being outside in nature that makes you feel amazing? I feel like a million bucks when I take my kids onto a trail, it soothes and calms my soul. Families bound better when they are outside don't you think? What better way to make some memories than being out side on a trail. While we were walking my oldest daughter was talking about fairies that live in nature, I was half listening, and half watching my younger sons walk together, and all of the sudden while my daughter was talking,  a gentle breeze flowed by and gently leaves started to fall at the same time for a perfect mother daughter moment,  Thank you Fairies!   It was one of those memories that I will never forget, it stopped us in our foot steps as we witnessed the simple beauty that nature provides. That is what it means to get into nature, to make some memories!

We are very lucky to have a state park with in walking distance from our house, I don't know how we got so lucky but I am grateful for it. Here are some of the things we have made using nature and Downtown Bookworks inspiring books to help us.

Stick people, there are so many fun ways to make them, in the Stick and Stone Craft kit had all the inspiration to let me kids run  with the idea of making stick people. They painted them and then used washi tape for their "clothes" I have the maon jar with popcorn kernels displaying the sticks in a window sill as if they were flowers, it makes me smile. I think my kids just like seeing the transformation that googly eyes make, googly eyes transform anything ordinary into a magical creature don't you think...

 I had no idea that you could create cute little creatures out of simple things outside,  you can use anything to make some really unique critters (I'm putting these cuties on our Christmas tree when the time comes.)

We all giggled when we saw  the googly eyes transformed a simple nut, corn flower head. I shelled the nut (maybe a hazel nut, I found it on the forest floor while walking.) The shell was used as the ears, the whole inner shell was the head. Then I glued googly eyes that came with the kit.

The painted sticks were just fun to paint! we may or may not do anything with them. I know of some artists that love painting on sticks, I was inspired by one that paints on cat tail stems! it's a fun way to learn about nature even if you are a parent to a boy that loves sticks and paint.... why not combine the two.

I am always trying to find artful ways to help my kids learn, these two books solidify my belief that we can feel more deeply when we learn through hands on experience. These two kits/ books do that for our family, along with the memories that have been made from our walks in the woods.

Sale on Craft items!!!

Craftsy is at it again!

If you are looking for some candy melts, they are on sale here 

It's the season for more making! The changing colors call for new projects, and we want to help you start the season with all the supplies you need. *This promotion ends Sunday, October 16, at 11:59 pm MT. 

Bubbles!

I love when we have a perfect day for playing with bubbles! it's my favorite activity to do with my kids. You can get bubble wands on amazon for way cheap, add some water and cheap bottle of soap to that you bought with a coupon for .75 cents to a tub and you got some good kid entertainment. My pre schooler is still out side playing with the bubbles.

Mary Murphy's watercolor class on Craftsy

This summer it was my goal to learn and develop my watercolor skills, I believe I have achieved that goal in the fact that I *did* it, I am not a professional water-colorist, but when I paint I love it, I am in that zone where all my doubts, and time just goes away, I am in the moment and that I love!

With the help from Craftsy and Mary Murphy, I now have a ton of little skills to help me paint better, or at lest not have the fear of a blank canvas to get me started. I love that watercolor is a very unpredictable medium, and that it's fun to just play around with.

Mary did an excellent job of working through her Simple watercolor technique class. Her content was really remarkable, her responses to my work that I posted in our class projects were a huge help, including ADDING MORE COLOR, and watching my values in my painting, she met me where I was as a artist and built onto that, which I respected a lot. Mary Your awesome, I do feel like I got to know Mary as an instructor while working on her class at my pace.

Here is the link to the Stunning Tecn
Here are some of my projects

Heartland Landscape (expressionist style)

Sky study on canvas paper

Value study from a black and white photograph, with a lose style

miniature inspired  painting of a tulip

Here is a video of what the class entails, it's a good one! If you are thinking about starting watercolor, or even if you are more advanced, and want to boast your skills this class is worth it! 

Let me know in the comments if you take this class so I can follow you on Craftsy!

And to keep it real here is a picture of my work space, Mary I took your advice and had my water colors out all summer so I could paint when I needed too, even at 5 am!

cards that I have been working on

I have been busy making and giving cards out, I wanted to share what I have been doing, most of them are easy to do and all you need is a bit of time and tools and you can make some really cute cards. 

Birthday cake, pink textured card stock and glitter paper from Micheals 

Silhouette file :46992

 pink textured cardstock and glitter paper from Micheals 

Silhouette file: 38893

Cuttlebug christmas embossing folder, inked pressed onto white cardstock. tied up with holly ribbon from Hobby Lobby.

Cuttlebug inked pressed embossing folder, Sizzex Christmas Tree cut out on iridescent coated card stock with red gems adhered to the Christmas tree, with ornament ribbon for accent.

Silhouette Design ID #42687

Cut base of card onto cream card stock

cut out accent pieces from DCWV Pet Stack paper (I chose the paw print, print) 

cut out the circles in coordinating colors, then add a cute dog sticker, adhere the circle embellishment to the card using pop dots.

Fall Wreath Card

to cut the wreaths at 2"

Silhouette Design ID #11151 cut on red paper ( I used DCWV harvest memories paper stack, red paper) then embellish the berries with red stickles

Silhouette Design ID #14465  cut on green paper ( I used DCWV harvest memories paper stack, green paper.)

 Christmas holly embossing folder onto cream card stock. spray with gold glimmer mist

use a gold glitter ribbon for accent, add a strip of red to card to add to the composition to the card. 

A close up to see the detail of the card, this card to easily be made into square card.

Pumpkin harvest gate fold card:

emboss Tim Holtz pumpkin embossing folder onto orange card stock.  

Holly leaf embossing folder, print and cut Mrs Kate Cuttables file (not on the website any more tis the season to be jolly.) green card stock, i red gem and three green gems.

Sizzix Minnie and Mickey mouse under the mistletoe cut in lime green glitter card stock. glued onto pink patterned paper, add sentiment backed on the same green glitter card stock. embellish with 2 pink gems. 

layer three different paper, embellish with sequence, add pink satin ribbon, Print and Cut the sentiment: file Design ID #45712 add a pink hue to the file, cut it at 1.75x 1.75  adhere it with pop dots.

make a hot glue stencil  out of heart, I used this file : doodle hearts  and printed in on copy paper and traced it with my hot glue gun onto my silicon mat. (here is a video tutorial) 

Then spray your water color paper with red ink, before it drys blot off the ink so you have a pink back ground water color paper. then put on your heart hot glue stencil and spray with the same red spray with a couple of coats, you want it nice and red. let it dry, remove the stencil.  add velum, sentiment, and heart.  it seems really involved but once you have the stencil you can use it for so many projects. I really am pleased how it turned out.