A little of this, a little of that... (part three!)

TGIF!  Here's a few more bits and pieces of things I have going on right now... 

Bug Birthday Party Update

Lily's Bug Birthday Party is a little over a week away, and I'm busy putting all kinds of bug things together!  Here's a look at the goody bags I made for the kids.  They are fabric drawstring bags and measure approx. 12x12 inches.  I made eight of them!

 

Sooner or later I'll share with you the treats and goodies that are going to go inside the bags!

You can find me...
Today my May Day Basket and tutorial is being featured over on HGTV's Design Blog!  I am obviously thrilled about this!  Please pop over and check it out!  I'm not sure what time, specifically, it will be going live, so keep checking back!

LAST DAY!
Today is the FINAL day to place an order items from the Two Step into Spring promotion (20% off sets and sneak peak Awash with Flowers set) AND the Occasions Mini Catalog (most products retiring).  This is your final opportunity to take advantage of the 20% off promotion and to order some products that will be going away.  Place your orders at my online Stampin' Up! store TODAY!

Happy Friday!

A little of this, a little of that... (part two)

Happy Thursday!  Here goes another catch all post - hang in there with me while I get you up to speed on a couple of my current projects...

Winner, Winner, Winner!
Since I never heard from my first one, I've drawn a second winner for the baking giveaway...
OKLAHOMA GRANNY please step up and claim your prizes! (drop me an e-mail at joanneroehm@yahoo.com)

Two Step Into Spring -- Final Days!
Tomorrow is the LAST day for Stampin' Up!'s April Two Step Into Spring Promotion.  There's still time to take advantage of this opportunity to get some of our two-step sets for 20% off regular price!

I've been doing some stamping with the Flower Fancy stamp set, which has always been one of my faves, and is one of the sets that is a part of this month's promotion...

Supplies used (card on left):  Flower Fancy Stamp Set, Cardstock in Whisper White, Old Olive and Soft Suede, Inks in Old Olive, Melon Mambo, and Soft Suede.

Supplies used (card on right):  Flower Fancy Stamp Set, Teeny Tiny Wishes Stamp Set, Cardstock in Very Vanilla, Pixie Pink and Gable Green, Inks in only Orange, YoYo Yellow, Pixie Pink and Gable Green, Heat & Stick Powder, Dazzling Diamonds Glitter.

I took advantage of the Two Step promotion myself and picked up the Trendy Trees stamp set.  It's been on my wish list forever!  I made up a couple of mini card sets using this set.  Have I mentioned how much I LOVE making these little 3x3 cards?!  : )

Supplies used (brights set):  Trendy Trees Stamp Set, Cardstock in Sahara Sand, Barely Banana, Pretty in Pink, and Bashful Blue, Inks in Chocolate Chip, Sahara Sand, Barely Banana, Pretty in Pink, and Bashful Blue.

Supplies used (pastels set):  Trendy Trees Stamp Set, Cardstock in Melon Mambo, Old Olive, Brilliant Blue and YoYo Yellow, Inks in Chocolate Chip, Melon Mambo, Old Olive, Brilliant Blue and YoYo Yellow.

You can see the other two 20% off stamp sets, Fifth Avenue Floral and Greenhouse Garden, HERE.

Awash With Flowers
The Awash With Flowers Set is a sneak peak set from the new 2010-2011 Idea Book & Catalog which will be released this summer.  You can get this set in either wood or clear mount for the month of April only, then it will be back in the summertime.  This is the perfect set for summer showers, birthdays, Mother's Day, baby showers, etc.  I've had fun playing around with it...

Supplies used:  Awash With Flowers and Whimsical Words (SAB 2010) stamp sets, cardstock in Very Vanilla, Pretty in Pink, and Chocolate Chip, Big Shot Machine, Texturz Plates, inks in Pretty in Pink, Chocolate Chip, Certainly Celery, slot punch, Pretty in Pink 1/4 inch grosgrain ribbon.

Supplies used ("You're Too Kind Card):  Awash with Flowers and Whimsical Words (SAB 2010) stamp sets, cardstock in Pretty in Pink, Whisper White, YoYo Yellow, Brilliant Blue and Old Olive, inks in Basic Black, Pretty in Pink, Whisper White, YoYo Yellow, Brilliant Blue and Old Olive, eyelet border punch and circle punches.

Supplies used ("the more Candles Card"):  Awash with Flowers and Whimsical Words (SAB 2010) stamp sets, cardstock in Very Vanilla, Rose Red and Lovely Lilac, inks in Basic Black, Rose Red, Lovely Lilac and Certainly Celery.

Supplies used:  Awash with Flowers stamp set, cardstock in Old Olive, Sahara Sand, Very Vanilla and Tempting Turquoise, Top Note die, Big Shot Machine, inks in Tempting Turquoise, Basic Black and Old Olive.

You can order any of these stamp sets, accessories, or other Stampin' Up! products online 24/7 by visiting my Stampin' Up! store!

Scrap Every Day in May
When one of my favorite bloggers, Saucy, announced her Scrap Every Day in May scrap-along I knew it was the kick in the butt I needed to get going with my scrapbooking!  While I know that there's no way I'll have the time and energy to bust out a layout every single day during the month of May, I figure this will give me the motivation to get scrapping at least!

I have two scrapbooks to work on.  One is a travel scrapbook, and the other is my (gasp!) wedding scrapbook.  Yup, I said wedding.  Yup, I've been married two years this June.  And nope, the darn wedding scrapbook is not-even-started!

You can read all the details about Scrap Every Day in May HERE.  Maybe you'll want to play along yourself?  I plan on sharing my layouts with you once a week to let you know how I'm doing... we'll see how well I do!


Don't forget that I'm out of town this weekend (visiting wonderful friends in Washington DC - lucky me!) so although I have posts set up while I'm gone, I won't be checking my e-mail or responding to comments until Monday!  Have a great weekend!

Guest Post: Hair Bow Holder

I constantly find myself in awe of the wonderfully talented people I encounter daily - especially here in the land of blogging.  I share links to some of the fabulous projects I come across each weekend in my Week in Review posts, and now on (most) Wednesday's... at least for a awhile... I'm going to be going a step further and inviting one of those creative folks to guest blog here at Ready, Set, Craft! 

Today I'm super happy to welcome Carrie of Making Lemonade.  I love popping over to Carrie's to get decorating tips, hear sweet stories about her beautiful family, and so much more!  I had a great time guest-posting my appliqued onesies on her blog during her Stork Report project a couple of months back as well!  Enjoy!

  

Don't you just love Ready, Set, Craft?!  I was giddy at being asked to guest post here, and hope I can live up to the awesomeness that Joanne serves on a daily basis.  Since she's got paper crafts covered (and beautifully so), I decided to share one of my other passions: repurposing unloved items into something new and useful.  This can be tricky to post as a tutorial because you want the item to be easy to find and not just a lucky thrift store score.  I think I found the magic item-- something that is easy to find and versatile to boot: turning an old frame into a hairbow holder, message center, or photo collage-- you choose the outcome depending on your needs.  This tutorial shows how to create a hairbow holder with the other options explained at the end. 

The best part of this project is you can find frames everywhere.  I snagged mine at a thrift shop for $5.  It was marked so low because it was missing the glass and was fairly beat up (unfortunate for a frame, but PERFECT for this project).  Besides thrift stores, you can find similar frames at flea markets, estate sales, yard sales, discount stores, and even regular craft stores if you want a more polished look (use a coupon to score it for cheap)!  I also found several in this style for under $10 on eBay... just search for "old oval frame".  Etsy has some gems, too!  The only rule is to make sure it has a wood back.  Stapling metal would be mighty difficult. Truth be told, I don't have an actual "BEFORE" photo because I initially painted the frame years ago before I started blogging.  Here's a similar frame I found on Etsy to give you a general idea of what my frame started life as (picture mine much shabbier and in a duller gold color):

Here's my frame in the guest room as a collage frame, pre-hairbow holder:

Needless to say, it needed some fixing up.  Plus, my daughter needed a hairbow holder!  Here's how I made it happen... Materials: frame spray paint ribbon scissors glue glue staple gun optional: clips for photos or messages Step One: Clean your frame.  If it has glass, carefully remove it.  Remove old, unneeded hardware and other extraneous parts from the back. Step Two:  Spray paint it!  I chose to make mine a "shabby chic" style by not fixing up the missing gesso pieces and painting it white.  You might choose to paint it a bold color as an accent piece, or a neutral color to match your decor.  If you bought it new, you can keep it unpainted for a more modern look.  Here's a cool example from Etsy of a fun, bold color:

Step Three:  Cut ribbon strips larger than the opening of the frame (you can trim them later).  You can use one color or various colors as I have done below.  Then hot glue them to the back in the correct order to make stapling easier.  Trim the ends of the ribbon make the back look neat (make sure to leave room for the staples).

Step Four:  Now that your ribbon is ready, go ahead and staple them in place using the staple gun.  Be sure to keep them as tight as possible, because you don't want the weight of the hairbows to make the ribbon sag. 

 
Step Five:  Staple a ribbon hanger to the back, and go ahead and hang your beautiful NEW hairbow frame on the wall!

Step Six:  Here are a few additional options:

• Not a fan of the open back?  Staple fabric on the back, pattern-side facing forward for an extra pop of color.   
• Collage Frame or Message Board:  attach the items using various methods such as curly paper clips or jazzed up mini-clothespins.  To jazz up the clothespins, glue cutouts (made from paper, felt, or wood) onto the front or decoupage them.  Here's a few examples:

felt duck clips

(source)

felt heart clips

(source)

decoupaged clips

(source)

Spiral Paper Clips

(source)

Thanks for following along with the tutorial.  If you make this project I hope you'll visit my blog, Making Lemonade, and let me know.  Even if you don't make a hairbow holder, we'd love to have you stop on by for some freshly squeezed projects and a little slice of trying to live the lovely life (on a budget).  Happy Crafting!

A little of this, a little of that... (part one)

Happy Tuesday, everyone!  This is one of those catch-all posts, and you can expect a few of these coming your way in the next few weeks.  I have lots to share and lots to do so hang in there with me!

First off, I'm excited to be posting over at The Creative Place today.  Hop on over to Ashley's place and take a peek at my May Day Basket Tutorial!

Secondly... you may remember a little contest that I did awhile back?  You can read about it HERE.  Well, I announced the winner HERE, it was... EVIL_LINA!

But you know what?  I haven't heard from my winner, nor have I been able to contact her through blogger or any other means.  It's been several weeks now, so here's what I've decided to do:

EVIL_LINA... please, please, please contact me (joanneroehm@yahoo.com) by the end of day to claim your prize... if I don't hear from you, I'm going to re-pick the contest winner!  (we can't let those goodies stay unclaimed now, can we?) 

If I still haven't heard from my winner by the end of the day today, I'll have Random.org pick another number from the original entries... so if you entered please stay tuned!  There may still be a chance for you to win some baking goodies!

On an unrelated note, I wanted to share with you the quick notecards I put together for our friends who walked and/or donated to our Making Strides Walk over the weekend.

I was extra lucky to have a helper (thanks, Mariah!) which made putting together a whole bunch of these notecards a breeze.  I've learned that kids LOVE to stamp - and it's so fun to see and share in their enthusiasm!

And finally... you may be noticing a few subtle changes around these parts.  I'm playing with Blogger's new "pages" -- so you should see some tabs at the top of the page under my banner ("Contact" , "About Me", "Stampin' Up!" etc.)  Not all of them are ready to go yet, but by the end of the week you should be able to view all of them.  I'm particularly excited about listing my tutorials in one easy place.

Other changes include some revised labels and archiving for posts (easier searching for you!) and a "Recent/Current Projects" list in the right sidebar - here's where you'll be able to keep up with some of my ongoing projects and catch up with anything you may have missed!

Phew!  Have a wonderful day, friends!

Simple Swirly Scarf... for a good cause.

This weekend, Travis and I walked in our fourth consecutive Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk for the American Cancer Society.  It was pretty grey, drizzly, and chilly out, so I was extra glad that I'd taken the time to make a little gift for the girls on our team the week before - some (pink!) swirly scarves.

My sewing skills are pretty limited as you know, but after a few helpful pointers from my Mum (thanks, Mum!) these scarves were truly easy and quick to whip up.  Here's the how to...

I made four adult sized scarves and two pint size ones for the baby girls using less than a yard and a half of fabric.  Here are some shots of the ladies modeling them at the walk...

 And don't worry, I made sure that Bella looked festive as well! (you can't see very well, but her bandana has pink awareness ribbons on it!)

We had a great time at the event.  Thanks so much to our friends that walked and/or donated - and I hope you'll try making one of these simple scarves yourself!

Week in Review

This weekend's a busy one for us... we had dinner with some out-of-town friends last night, are walking in the American Cancer Society Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk this morning, hosting a brunch for our teammates after the walk, and I'm hosting a Mother's Day card making workshop on Sunday.  Phew!  Not to mention the Spring cleaning and yardwork we need to complete that is STILL very much a work in progress.

 Each weekend in my Week in Review post I share with you some of my favorite crafty links I've come across during the week, from all over the blogosphere.  Enjoy, and have a wonderful weekend!

Mother's Day Rainbow Fruit Cake at i.am.baker

Amanda's blog has quickly become one of my faves - I mean, just look at this cake.  Try telling me you're ever seen a cake look this amazing... I dare you!  YUM!

Cut and Paste Necklaces at Artsyville

I love the simplicity of these - would be so much fun to make with a group of friends, or with children.

Summery Sun Hat at Prudent Baby

This hat is purr-fectly adorable.  And the picture below with the kitty?  Just makes it even CUTER!

Recycled Origami Hearts at Paper Source

These would be a beautiful (and cheap!) way to decorate for Valentines, Mother's Day, or any party!