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

Time for Crafting Inspirations

I started these aprons and towels back in October, hoping to have them in my Etsy Shop by Christmas. Well....that didn't happen. I kept procrastinating. And now I've missed the Christmas shopping season. I had so much fun picking out the fabrics but when it came to actually sitting down to sew, I was just not motivated.

Here's my sewing room, a.k.a, the formal dining room.

I even had some really cute patterns to use.

So, I decided to put it all away, take a break from these projects for my shop and refocus on crafting and artsy fartsy-ing for fun. For my own creative sanity. I realized that about 5 years ago, when I started my shop, all my creative focus has been on my Etsy shop and not on creating art for fun.

About 6 or 7 years ago, when I started crafting, I started going on line and getting really good deals at scrapbook shops on supplies......some I've never even used (like this Cricut cartridge).

Or this board....

and these frames....

these distressing inks (I wonder if they even still work)....

....sticky backed canvas sheets....

...foil sheets, stencil sheets (you can create your own stencils using your Cricut to cut it!!!)....

And this packet of papers and burlap....speaking of burlap...I need to go pull out my red burlap I haven't looked at in 6 years.

So you see, these supplies are begging to be used. And I'm answering the call. I'm putting my creative needs first.

Now, to go get sucked in to Pinterest for inspiration. Follow me on Pinterest to see what's inspiring me (my board called Crafty Inspirations).

So many possibilities!!!!

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.

Texas Rangers Clipboard

I took a break from journal making to work on something for my school nurse (I'm an art teacher). She asked me to make this for her probably about 6 months ago....a clipboard decorated in honor of her favorite professional baseball team, the Texas Rangers. I'd been gathering the materials for a while but finally found the time to create it...love summer break!

So here it is...front and back.

Front

Back

I found the clipboard at Hobby Lobby. It was $4 but less with a coupon.

They also had some cute baseball and rustic looking papers that I bought as well.

I found the Texas Rangers duct tape at Joann's.

This is one project where I just didn't know when to stop. It just didn't feel finished.

So I kept adding and adding.

The final step was to Modge Podge the front and back to make it more durable. I used a ring used for making my journals to hold the metal clip up so I could Modge Podge underneath it and allow it to dry without messing up the finish.

Now back to my journal making.

And don't forget to visit my Etsy Shop, Kaminski's Creations.

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