Christmas Card Holder

Meet my new Christmas card holder!

I bought this slat board over at The Wood Connection about 5 or 6 years ago. I never really knew what I wanted to do with it, so I put it in my craft closet and forgot about it.

 So yesterday, I decided to finally do something with it.

After I searched Pinterest for pallet board ideas, I came across this one from

Once Upon a Vinyl by Liv....a Christmas card holder. My old Christmas card holder broke, so I needed a new one!

I love the title Merry Mail and the rustic feel of it.

So I got my fuel ready...Diet Dr. Pepper from Sonic.

I was determined to use what I had on hand, #1 because I didn't want to get out in the sub Arctic temperatures, #2 my daughter is sick and I didn't want to be away from her for too long (me in a craft store can take a while, and #3, it's more of a challenge.

I had red acrylic paint, turquoise acrylic paint (only a little), mini-clothes pins and twine. So I started by giving both the board and pins 2 coats of paint.

I could have hand lettered the words Merry Mail or used vinyl letters but I wanted this to be quick (I have more crafts to do after all),so I'm going to show you a little trick I use in my art room to transfer your practice to the real paper. It's called chalk or graphite transfer. Any type of chalk or graphite will work. I wouldn't use anything waxy.

First, I printed Merry Mail on my inkjet printer in one of my favorite fonts, Pea Ellie Bellie (a free one).

Next, I found some chalk on our menu board in the kitchen and colored on the backside of the words.

I taped the paper in place and used a pencil to outline each letter.

Take off the paper and left behind is a chalk outline of each letter.

I used a white gel pen to outline each letter. Then I used the same pen to add some hatching inside each letter.

Let the ink dry. No really...let it dry overnight. Once dry, use a damp cloth to get rid of any extra chalk.

 Then I took the twine and used my staple gun to tack it in place on the back.

Add the clothespins.

Then add the Christmas cards.

It doesn't hold very many, but I'm going to trade the cards out as we get more.

Thanks for the inspiration, Once Upon a Vinyl by Liv

Wise Words Journal

I've just added this new journal to my Etsy Shop. I'm calling it my Wise Words Journal. It's a place where you can pass along advice to your children, write down your favorite quotes or even document your favorite quotes from your favorite books.

It makes a great gift!

I added the owl to represent wisdom.

I also added lots of ribbon to the rings to dress them up.

There are 21 pages just ready to be filled up with wise words.

I used various paper edgers to give the pages a layered look.

And don't forget.....

Use coupon code FREESHIP2016 to receive free shipping on all orders.

My "Quotes" Journal

I'm a lover a good quote and after rereading my More Series books and her newest one available on Amazon, I was inspired to create a quotes journal because Jay McLean just had so many quotables and having it in my Kindle notes wasn't enough. So go read her series! It will inspire you too! Start with More Than This.

 

So back to my journal.....here's the finished product. 

But it start out as this old school memo book that we've all seen (at least in America). Once back to school supplies shopping begins, I can find them for 99 cents.

My daughter hijacked this one before I could beautify it.

So it went from that to this by wrapping it in scrapbook paper.

You need 2 pieces of 12 x 12 paper that you will cut down to 9 3/4 x 12 (measure the journal 1st, that's just what mine measured as).

Those are used to wrap around the cover. As you can see I had to add strips of coordinating paper to cover the rest because the paper wasn't big enough.

 

For those strips of paper, I cut a 2x 9 3/4 for the outside and 3 x 9 3/4 for the inside. I repeated the same for the back cover.

 

Then I found the cool chalkboard stickers to use as labels. One even had a cute little Jaybird on it. And they really do work but, I had thicker chalk and it just didn't look pretty. So I used white paint pen. I'm going to look for skinny chalk the next time I'm out.

I love this scrapbook paper. It's called Be You by Fancy Pants. This page is all one print. I didn't cut and layer those strips. But it has quotes about being you, being in the moment etc.

Then I added a little washi tape with the alphabet (found in the scrapbook section of a craft store). It comes in tons of different patterns.

Then I added some red ribbon with glue.

I used a little baker's twine to wrap around the front a couple of times to tie on these charms.

I added a mini clothespin to keep my place.

And this is what I ended up with.

*** All measurements given are in inches.***

Being Who I Am in the New Year

The past few weeks have been a whirlwind for me. We've had my in-laws in town from NY and of course it was Christmas vacation which is always super busy. 

During the midst of all this busyness, I tweaked my back and have been trying to get my back healthy. Unfortunately, I've had to take it easy, which meant putting off any organizational projects, crafting projects or Etsy store projects.

Because this injury happened around the beginning of the new year, it made me feel behind. 

Last year at this time I was starting all of these cool journaling projects like......

.....One Little Word....

Last year, in January, I picked a word to focus on along with a bunch of other bloggers (part of the One Little Word movement). Mine was present as in being present. I even signed up for the Ali Edwards class on-line. She sent us prompts each month with suggestions for ways to live/examine your word. I think I made it to March and then got bored/busy. But I made this fun book to chronicle my journey. The book was fun to make, but keeping up with it was a burden. Some journey, huh?

Here's where that journey began and soon ended.

....Project 52....

Last year I also made this fun scrapbook called 52 weeks and the idea was that I'd put a picture a week into it, to look back on the year. unfortunately, I at one point was 15 weeks behind. Right now, I'm at week 40....almost done even though the new year has begun. But I did have fun making the book.

Here's my Project 52.

......Gratitude Journal.....

And then there's my favorite project, my gratitude journal to keep track of a thing a day that I'm thankful for. Nice idea but I just got distracted and fell off the wagon about Feb.

Here's where I made my Gratitude Journal.

As I was sitting here on my couch with my ice pack, nursing my sore back, seing all of these other bloggers doing these really awesome, fun beginning of the new year projects, I began to realize, why do I need to beat myself up over this. Why don't I just embrace my personality, my style, and what I LIKE to do. I love making journals and mini-books. But I don't like a strict timeline. 

I think the bottom line for me this year is to not start any new long-term projects that I have to keep up with over an extended length of time. Maybe just a simple journal that I can create and add pics, journal entries, and odds and ends that doesn't have a specific time line. That could be mixed media. Otherwise, I fall off the wagon and end up feeling guilty.

I will go ahead and try to finish my 52 weeks book and Gratitude Journal, but the Gratitude Journal might be over many years instead of just one. The 52 Weeks is actually pretty easy to fix. I just need to go back through my photos and pick them out. The book is already made, it just needs to filled.

So for me, this year is just to be who I am. To do things because I want to, not because everyone else is. And really just to take better care of myself (like eating healthier and my back care). That way, I can be a better mom, wife, teacher and artist.