Last Krafty Girls Challenge for the Season

Hi there!

Today starts the last Krafty Girls challenge of the season. This is bittersweet for me. This was my very first Design Team to be a member of, but this also means I made it through all the way. :) I learned a lot, and had so much fun! This weeks challenge was an "Anything Goes" challenge. I had so much fun using some supplies I had been hoarding. I am really happy with the way this card turned out. I had to put it down and walk away a few times, but I think it was so worth it! I love when projects come together, especially when there were more than a few "I'm just going to scrap it" thoughts. 

The printed papers are from the Highline paper pade from Basic Grey. The sentiment is a cardstock sticker from the same collection, and yes, there are 4 mats to that sticker.  The silver border is a Martha Stewart punch, and it was a foil paper. I felt the card needed some silver to balance out all the brads I added. Don't you love that ribbon? I received it as a gift from a Unity Stamp Co Purchase. I have it in red too :D

I tried to make the flower colors mimic the ones on the bottom corner of the tag.  The two smaller flowers are Prima, they were white, but I used inks to dye them. The larger flower was a pack from Hobby Lobby by The Paper Studio, and they also started out white. The gems are also from The Paper Studio.  I used Smooch spray for the glimmer :)

I had so much fun creating whatever I wanted, and I hope you all will hop on over to Krafty Girls to share a project of your own. Remember in this challenge Anything Goes, so be creative or just show who you are and most importantly HAVE FUN! I can't wait to see what you guys create :) Thanks for reading!

~Dusty Rae 

Try-It-Out Tuesday

Hello Fabulous Friends!

 

Welcome to the first ever Try-It-Out Tuesday. :) I hope all of you are doing well. It's a stormy night here in North Western Oklahoma. I really love to listen to the thunder and rain, but when it's tornado season it loses some of the pleasantry. I had planned on taking pictures of some of my purchases, but the day got away from me. My husband also came home early, and with him being a Chief Resident(I'm bragging on him here since he won't let me in person), I don't get nearly enough time with him. He's my favorite person :) Don't fret about the pictures though, I have plenty from something I tried out!

 

So for our first Try-It-Out Tuesday, I made my own enamel dots from pony beads. I had been seeing these all over YouTube, Pinterest, and the blog-a-sphere. I decided to try them for myself. In the town I live in there is only a Hobby Lobby as far as crafts go, and they don't have enamel dots. They used to, but not anymore, and the next closest craft store is an hour away.

 

The gist of making these is baking the pony beads until they meld and form a pretty dome on the top. I had read that they give off bad fumes, so I got out the toaster oven (a wedding present from almost 10 years ago) and headed to the garage. The kids road their bikes while I melted beads. They turned out alright. The pictures will explain better.

 

 Really all you need is an oven, a pan, parchment paper, and pony beads. They should be baked at 425°F for about 6-10 minutes. Now that's with a toaster oven, the video I originally watched said 8-12 minutes but it was a regular oven. Make sure when you lay them out, you keep a good distance between them, and you place them hole up and down.

 

There was definitely an odor as they were cooking. I'm glad I was in the open garage. They look so amazing as they melt. I was certain they were all perfect when they were cooling. 

 

 

Many did turn out amazing, the solid traditional ones(right), turned out better than the iridescent ones on the left. They look okay in the picture, but in person you can see a void of shimmer in a circle where the hole was. I noticed some colors melt better than others do.

 

 

As you can tell from these pictures, some don't turn out so well. With one batch I put them in before the toaster oven had time to heat up, and they burned. You can see how the bottoms look.

 

 

All in all I would say this trial was a success. I know much more than I did before, and I feel prepared to try it again. There will absolutely need to be a trip to buy more solid colored basic ones.  I had so many that turned out well, and my kids had fun helping lay them out. I have heard you can do the same thing with perler beads, but they don't smell and they turn out smaller. I think those have to be on our list to try. I hope you all enjoyed Try-It-Out Tuesday as much as I did! Thanks for reading you guys :) I'd love to hear what you all think.

 

~Dusty

Update and I Bought Stuff! :)

Hello Wonderful People!

    

    Well it has been a little longer than I expected since my last post.  I'm sure you all understand how it is when life gets in the way of all the things you want to do. I have been on a mission to get more organized, so I updated my Filofax. I moved from the black A5 Finsbury into the Fluro Pink A5 Domino. Getting my Filofax set up the way I need it is much harder than I anticipated. After almost a year I got burned out on trying to customize it, but then I realized I was expecting too much from one little binder. It would never be all I was trying to make it into.   

     Previously, I thought having multiple planners was ridiculous, but here I am needing more than one. I think I am going to start with a Home Binder, Filofax, an Erin Condren, and possibly a binder for each child since they'll both be in school this year( I don't know if I want to dance or cry, maybe I'll just cry while I dance) . I'm sure the home binder is pretty self explanatory, I'll use it for chores and Flylady routines.  I have decided to use the EC for my scheduling and day to day and my Filofax as a bill/finance planner.  We are finally to a point where we're financially secure, and I want to keep it that way ;) Student loans payments are about to get very "surious" around here, so I need to get a budget in place and stick to it. 

   I have a Martha Stewart binder that I have been dying to use, but haven't had a reason. Once I get some things figured out with this blog and schedule, I can use my blog planner printables from "Clean Mama" in the pretty mint colored MS. If you haven't heard of Clean Mama, you should definitely check her out, or at least her printables.   This is a link to her Etsy Store. When I found her, I was searching for prayer binder printables, and her "Prayer and Blessings Kit" fit the bill perfectly.  She had an awesome sale a while back, and I bought a huge amount from her. (Just so you guys know I'm not getting anything from her for this. She has no idea who I am. I just find her stuff super helpful.  ) 

    In the last post I mentioned some blog improvements to come, I have several ideas still, but I have decided one for sure. "Try-It-Out Tuesday" where I will have a post nearly every Tuesday trying something new. It could be a technique, an experiment, using a supply or tool, maybe something off Pinterest, who knows? Just something to try out. I'm thinking it will mostly be crafty, but same as most of you, I can't be crafty nearly as much as I would like. Being a grown up STINKS sometimes. As I mentioned, I have a few other ideas, most are full of alliteration since I like the way it rolls off the tongue... Artfully Amazing Alliteration. haha! I was thinking of "Weight Watcher Weekend, or Weight Loss Weekend"(That way it can be Saturday or Sunday) and possibly "Flylady Friday". I am also considering "Thank You Thursday" I use Thank You Cards more than any other, so I bet I could make 52 in a year.  If any one has an idea or a preference, let me know :) I'd love to know what you all think. 

 Now for the Shopping:

   I have been to Jo~Ann, Michael's and 2 Hobby Lobby's in the past week. (plus all the online shopping)

It seems everywhere is having some major clearance happenings. Though it makes sense retail wise, it is the end of a season. I have taken a few pictures of a couple things I have gotten, but when the sun it out I can take more, or even possibly film a HAUL VIDEO. It would be so much faster to just film it all and talk to my phone than type out everything, you guys let me know what you'd prefer :) I'll add a couple of pics and make another post of everything else. Please don't judge my junky craft closet, it's so full of packages and junk lol

All the items pictured are from Michael's. They had a HUGE Recollections sale last week. I think there is more, I just have to search :)

I have been contemplating making a Project Life purchase for a while. I'm not a traditional scrapbooker, I love looking at scrapbooks and others layouts, plus my daughter ,who is almost 9 ,is a major scrapbooker. 

I just personally prefer more pictures than what are typically on a page( I can never choose). Which is why I like Project Life. I feel it allows you to use all of the pictures you can't choose between. Thats my craft closet with online purchase boxes,  there are shelves with tubs and bins, and im betting there are some shopping bags in there too. Also those boxes you can see are almost entirely full, though that is a couple months worth. See why I need a budget? ha!

Once the sun comes out again I will take more pictures. I just hate the way my pictures look with regular house light. I know I have a few new followers, and I want to say "Hello" to you all! Many of you are from a group on Facebook that I have been wonderfully blessed to become a part of this weekend. I am so excited to be involved with you all in this group , also to learn from you, and to swap and share projects with you of course :)  Any other new followers, "Hello!" to you too! I am super grateful for you all, and I'm glad you're here  :) If any of you have time, drop me a line, let me know how you found me, or what you would like to see. Thanks for reading you guys! I'll be back on Tuesday if not before :)

~Dusty

WRMK Letterpress Custom Pates and Huge Blog Improvements to Come!

Hello All :)

   I have made a decision to really start working on this blog.  I enjoy it so much, and I still don't have many followers. This has been a source of discouragement for me.. a BIG one. Then I realized I am writing this because I enjoy it, and to share parts of my life, plus I literally do nothing to advertise.  All I have been sharing is my paper crafting, but there is so much more to me than that.  I am a mom who is on a weight-loss journey (with weight-watchers/The Daniel Plan), I struggle with keeping my housework up (so I follow the FlyLady), and I try to constantly improve things in my home (meaning I spend way too much on decor and organization items).

    This weekend I am going to get out my planner and get to work making a schedule. I'm going to commit to 3-4 posts a week. Right now I have (including this one) 12 posts. When I get to 20 I am going to get a new custom blog design. I have never been good at delaying gratification. I'm an "I want it now" kind of person, so this is something to work towards.

    I am going to step-up my paper crafting and start entering some challenges, applying for additional design teams, and participating in some blog hops. I also plan to start participating in more of my FB Groups I am a member of. Who needs New Years for resolutions when you have July 4th? ha!

   Now on to my custom letterpress plates.  I ordered the WRMK Evolution Advanced with Letter-press from HSN.  It came with a certificate for custom plates. I read some reviews of the machine, and one lady was very angry that you had to use Illustrator or Photoshop to create the files. I kind of took that as a challenge. I am a HUGE WRMK fan, and I'm not really sure why. (It's kind of like my loyalty to Cricut, not sure why I have it, but it runs deep like my Razorback blood and OK State Cowboy Love) Well, I decided I had to prove this woman wrong about how awful this would be.

     So a free-trial, 5 YouTube videos, and about 2-3 hours later, I had my jam packed Illustrator pdf.  It was so easy.  I mean it was I-think-I-want-to-go-to-the-Vo-Tech-and-take-some-graphic-design-classes...easy. I had to use the tips and tricks on the WRMK website to make sure I used the correct sizes and what-not, but it was so much fun! I filled that puppy up with phrases and such that I want to letter-press. They said to use all the space, and I used it so well that now it looks like subway art. 

Isn't it so exciting? There is a large white border because I had to print it to scan it as a jpeg and it's a 6x8 image printed onto 8.5x11 paper. It will be quite a while until it gets here, but that just gives me extra time to practice :)

  Well I am very excited for these new changes to come, and I hope to gain more readers and bloggy friends :)  If you guys have any requests or questions, feel free to message me or leave me a comment. Don't forget to follow or subscribe. Thanks for Reading!!

~Dusty Rae

Hippo Hooray!

Hello again you beautiful people!

    It has been too long since I have made a post, but I am here now. That's what counts right? I am here to share another Krafty Girls challenge project.  In this challenge we had to be "Punny".  This was so much fun! I had so many ideas going through my head, I still don't know how I chose one.  I created this very late at night/very early in the morning, so there are some minor mistakes. I also had some trouble with my cutting blade or cardstock. Do you guys ever get cardstock packs where certain colors are almost like construction paper? I do. You can literally feel the difference in texture color to color.  I'm sure it's because I use The Paper Studio multi packs, but it's so convenient when Hobby Lobby is less than a mile away. Enough rambling... on to the card!

 

This is my first ever gate-fold card. It was much more fun to create than I expected. The super awesome plaid-like paper is from Doodlebug, and it's in the "Fruit Stand" 6x6 pad. The other patterned papers are from an 8x8 pad by The Paper Studio. It's called "The Basics", and it is SUPER THIN paper, but I love the basic patterns with all the rainbow colors.

Ignore the torn paper. :) The image and sentiments are from Unity Stamp Company (I'm sure you're surprised) It's an "itty bitty" set called "Hip Hip Hooray". I thought it was "Punny" and perfect for Krafty Girls. I colored with my Spectrum Noirs, and stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black. I used Glossy Accents on the jumper, and stickles on the gift. I also added some detail with a white gel pen.

 

 



I felt the sentiments needed a little something too. I used Smooch Spritz spray. I just got this on clearance at Hobby Lobby for $3.60, and it was originally $9.99. What a great deal! I may go look for more. I love this stuff! The sentiment is stamped  in a pigment ink by American Crafts, and I edged with a WRMK Sweetheart Inker.

 

 



More Smooch! Also a close up of the Stickles. The yellow is actually "icicle" I love how it takes on the color of what it is put on. The Stamp had a solid line for the bow and ribbon, so "black diamond" Stickles fit perfectly. The sentiment is another AC pigment ink, and the edge is inked with another WRMK Sweetheart Inker.

 

 



I love this ribbon! It came from Michael's, it's Craftsmart. The ric-rac is from Michael's dollar section. I thought it added some whimsy to the ribbon.

 

 



 

Even with the flaws, this is one of my favorite cards. I am slowly, but surely discovering my crafting style. I love fun with bright and bold colors. Not too shabby for a 2 am card huh?

 

 

   So I am really excited to see everyone's creativity shine with this "Punny" Challenge! So, be sure to head over to Krafty Girls to submit your projects. I can't wait to check them out! Thanks for reading guys :) Feel free to subscribe, comment, or message, I love the feedback!

 

~Dusty