Recycled Magazines

Photo credit:  via Pinterest/ Girls at Lincoln Park 

In-Style, Harper’s Bazaar, Southern Living, Martha Stewart Living, Real Simple, Parenting, & Us Weekly are my go-to magazines.   I go-to each for different reasons obviously.   US Weekly provides my essential fluff.  (A girl’s got to know what is going on with Ashton and Demi, right?)   Real Simple & Parenting are my mom guides, Southern Living and Martha Stewart keep me extra domestic, and In-Style and Bazaar keep me lusting after fashion trends I cannot afford.    But what’s a girl to do with a stack of magazines she’s already read?

Angie Holden had a crafty idea.   It captures two trends:  going green & the latest ombre look in fashion.   It’s a picture frame made from strips of recycled magazines!

Start by ripping ads out of your mags, then organize them by color.   Cut with your paper cutter or good ole fashioned scissors, and work your magic by gluing onto an old frame you’d like to repurpose.   Add the ribbon around the edges for a more finished look.    Angie incorporated PSA Essentials stamps using Smirk Peel & Stick.   She stamped Kick Ass Babe and Hell on Heels from Smirk Fashionista.  See all of our Smirk stamps here, they have real pizzazz.  http://www.psaessentials.com/smirk.htm

This is a fun idea, don’t you think?

This was posted to Design Dazzle!

Lynne's Mad Hatter Blog Hop

We're late, we're late - for a very important date!   Welcome to Lynne’s Mad Hatter 60^th Birthday Tea Party Blog Hop, I am sorry to be so unfashionably late to joining this celebration.   In this exciting two day hop, you will see projects from talented designers with different styles – all celebrating Lynne’s milestone of turning 60 years old.  If you are just starting out, you will want to know about all the great blog candy being offered up to celebrate Lynne’s birthday!

• SVG Attic at http://www.svgattic.com/ -  a $20 gift certificate
• Creative Kuts has offered a $20 Gift Certificate to http://creativekuts.com/
• Deborah Marie Foti of http://www.scrappingmamma.net/ will make one of her original birthday cards, Crafty Friends Sentiments Large Sheet by www.gettingcricky.com AND $10 Little Scraps of Heaven Designs Gift Certificate
• PSA Essentials -  www.psastamps.com.blogspot.com - 1 stamper, 2 Peel & Stick packs of winner's choice. MSRP is $55.
•       Pat Catan's has donated a $25 gift card for shopping at their store, if there isn't a Pat Catan's in your area, we can transfer that out for you 
  ·         Karber Digital Images at http://www.karberdigital.com/ -  2 digital designs of the winner's choice
  ·         Digi My World at http://digimyworld.com/shop/ - $10 gift card 
  
  

To be eligible to win, you must comment on each stop of the tea party along the way - and be sure to wish Lynne a happy birthday!    Please also become a follower of the PSA Stamp Camp blog to be eligible to win the PSA Essentials prize.   

Are you familiar with PSA Essentials?  PSA Essentials manufacturers personalized self-inking stamps with interchangeable Peel & Stick technology.   We have thousands of designs to choose from – ones for each holiday, sentiments, occasions, and licensed ones from Hello Kitty, Peanuts, Smirk, UBU & More.   Check out all of our designs here:  www.psaessentials.com/peelandstick.htm.     We have a fantastic design team that makes cards, scrapbook layouts, home décor, party gear, crafts & more which we showcase weekdays on this blog, PSA Stamp Camp.    Hope you join us daily for crafting inspiration!

To celebrate Lynne’s birthday, we are sharing a card by Jennifer Holmes – it’s called “Party Animal.”   And I think judging by the size of this blog hop, Lynne IS one big party animal!  The card uses stamps from PSA Little Bunny Peel & Stick stamps.   The adorable elephant and dog nestled in the grass come from that collection.  She’s colored the stamps up with her Copics to bring them to life.   I love the twine from The Twinery & beautiful coordinating cardstock base from A Muse Studio.    Isn’t it wonderful how Jennifer has rounded the corners of her card?  It gives it a more professional look.   Something to think about on your next card making venture. 

Happy Birthday, Lynne!  Now hop on over to Lynne's blog to say happy birthday!  http://slasewcraftiness.blogspot.com/

Handmade Dress

I haven’t learned how to sew.    When choosing electives in junior high school, I stayed far, far away from textiles and continued to avoid anything to do with sewing well into art school.   I have always been impressed by those who can sew, who can follow a pattern, who create their own patterns, and who can make clothing out of fabric – because it’s not something I ever learned how to do.   It’s on my bucket list.

My good friend Susan (and design team member at PSA Essentials) has become very domestic since her engagement and wedding and has been putting her sewing machine to good use.   Coming from someone who doesn’t sew and who is impressed by those that do, I was blown away with Molly’s 2^nd birthday gift.   It’s a dress – that Susan MADE.

Knowing that Molly loves birds, Susan created lovely bird dress from her husband’s comfy t-shirts.   The dress is so soft!  It’s stylish, too.  Don’t you love the detail on the shoulder?    She downloaded the free pattern and instructions here:  http://www.dana-made-it.com/2008/07/warhol-dress-pattern.html

Always incorporating PSA Essentials into her work, Susan designed a tag for the dress, using the outer ring stamp from PSA Essentials Carriage and then sewed a “2” onto the tag.  I asked her if this is the name of her dress line…. She said she doesn’t plan on venturing into that field. 

Too bad though!  Because I think it’s the cutest.    Will update this post when Molly is big enough to wear this adorable dress.  The way she eats and grows, it won’t be long… 

This was posted to Funky Polka Dot Giraffe!

Supply spotlight. 

• Dress Free Pattern & Instruction Download - http://www.dana-made-it.com/2008/07/warhol-dress-pattern.html
• Materials: 2 Men's T-Shirts.  Stamp: Carriage Pack (PSA Essentials). Paper: White Gift Tag (Recollections). Materials: Pink Floss (Loops & Threads).

Cupcakes!

The next time you are having company, consider these sweet treats by Mae Armstrong.  She went the extra mile to decorate them with cute cupcake holders and festive toppers!  She’s used our PSA Essentials Smirk Martini Mix stamps and the outer ring of PSA Archive Peel & Stick stamps for this adorable topper that really stands out.    I just love this adorable character holding a bottle of champagne and a glass – it really says “celebrate!”   You can also color her up to match the theme of your party and make her stand out even more.   Enjoy this recipe today!

HERSHEY'S "PERFECTLY CHOCOLATE" Chocolate Cake

Ingredients
2 cups sugar
1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water

Directions: Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans.  Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour batter into prepared pans.  Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely. Frost with "PERFECTLY CHOCOLATE" CHOCOLATE FROSTING. 10 to 12 servings.

"PERFECTLY CHOCOLATE" CHOCOLATE FROSTING

Ingredients
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine
2/3 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa
3 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:  Melt butter. Stir in cocoa. Alternately add powdered sugar and milk, beating to spreading consistency. Add small amount additional milk, if needed. Stir in vanilla. About 2 cups frosting.

WHIPPED VANILLA FROSTING:

Ingredients

1 cup confectioners' sugar

1 cup butter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 to 2 tablespoons whipping cream

Directions:  In a standing mixer fitted with a whisk, mix together sugar and butter.  Mix on low speed until well blended and then increase speed to medium and beat for another 3 minutes. 

Add vanilla and cream and continue to beat on medium speed for 1 minute more, adding more cream if needed for spreading consistency.

Posted to Beyond the Picket Fence

DIY Wine Party

The girls and I had a total blast last week going out for sushi & wine (or hibachi chicken & water for some.)  I value the time spent with my girlfriends – I feel energized and I’m reminded that I am not just a mom and a wife.   I’m a real living-breathing social creature!  Plus I got caught up on real life and celebrity gossip.  (What were Jay-Z & Beyonce thinking with that baby name?) But going out is not always budget friendly and sometimes it’s just nice to be home with friends.   Mae Armstrong had this wonderful idea to host a blind wine tasting.   We could all adopt this one!

She started out by creating wine bags.  She’ll place different bottles of wine in each bag, code them with letters, and have guests write honest feedback about each wine on a corresponding card.  This way no one is influenced by fancy labels or gimmicky names of wines.   The tasting will be based on taste alone. 


To recreate, use an old wine tote bag as your pattern like this one here.    Mae used natural canvas and retro fabric for the accent.   Sew the printed fabric on the front side of the canvas and sew the top opening to prevent from fraying. Then turn inside out and sew all sides leaving the opening.

Mae stamped onto pre-cut doily themed circle tags with PSA Essentials Archive Peel and Stick stamps.  She stamped the letters A, B, C, D – the number of letters she needed for the number of wines she was serving for the tasting.    She picked a nice thick yarn for hanging the tags.  

Cute, right? 

For the tasting cards, she used the same doily tags stamped with PSA Archive Peel & Stick stamps and the corresponding letters to match the wine totes.   To recreate, thread the yarn through and knot both ends to secure the tag.  It's easy if you use a crochet hook to pull the yarn through.   Mae also used a bamboo stick to create the holes.  This card measures 4"x9" and you can create it using Microsoft Word or In Design.

As Mae always does, she took her project and party two steps further.  She sewed a matching canvas favor bag stamped with the initials of her guests. You can fill the jars with any edible treats, Mae used olives. She used the same yarn color to tie the top of the tote bags. It all coordinates perfectly!

She created some cupcakes, too which I will share the recipe & details of tomorrow!  Look at this complete set of crafty goodness.  Now that’s better than a $30 sushi night!

This post was posted to Singing Three Little Birds 

This was also posted to Home Stories A-Z 

Guest Designer Call

Guest Designer Call - 2012 

PSA Stamp Camp is looking for 3 Guest Designers to be featured on PSA Stamp Camp blog this Winter & Spring 2012.  

Perks:

•  Designer will receive 2 stamp sets of choice, 1 Stamper, 2 inks, 1 alignment tool.    MRSP: $85
•   Blog candy/giveaway of  1 Peel & Stick pack on their blog  

Requirements:

• Designer must come up with a minimum of 3 projects using PSA Essentials Peel & Stick stamps.  
• Must have your own blog with 1500+ followers
• Some restrictions on the giveaway, details to be provided if you are accepted 
• Designer to display “Guest Designer” blog badge on blog for 1-week leading up to the feature, linking to PSA Stamp Camp 

How to apply: 

• Email libby@psaessentials.com  with 1 example of your work,  blog URL,  and the number of followers on your blog. 

Chinese New Year Blog Hop

Feng Li - Getty Images - via The Today Show

Ni hao and welcome to the Chinese New Year Blog Hop!   I was recently introduced to April by The Scrapbooking Queen.   April recently adopted a boy from Taiwan.   Now her fourth child - April is one busy woman to be hosting a hop, too!    To celebrate Tuan's culture, she wanted to share some Chinese New Year inspired projects with you.   Since this is the last stop - I hope you have enjoyed all the creativity!     If you just joined us, please go back to April's blog at www.curlsandgrins.blogspot.com to see everyone's amazing creativity from the beginning! 

In case you aren't familiar with PSA Essentials - we manufacture self-inking custom stamps with patent-pending Peel & Stick technology.  We have thousands of stamp designs - one for each holiday, sentiments, licensed ones from Hello Kitty, Peanuts, Smirk, UBU & More.    They're perfect for all your crafting needs! 

We have a great card for Tuan & April's family.  Here's:  It's a Boy by Jeanne Streiff.   This card uses the carriage stamps from PSA Carriage Peel & Stick stamps.   It appeared in the September/October issue of CardMaker magazine! 

There's some great blog candy to offer from April Nourse of Curls & Grins Creations and PSA Essentials. To be eligible, you must simply comment on each blog on each day's post. We'd love for you to become a follower of each of our blogs too.


To find out more about PSA Essentials, visit www.psaessentials.com or like us on Facebook! 


Start at April's! 

1. April - http://curlsandgrins.blogspot.com
2. Lynne K. - http://slasewcraftiness.blogspot.com/
3. Ashley - http://theglamoroussideofscrapping.blogspot.com/
4. Amy - http://www.lovetocrop.com/
5. Vicki - http://mawmawsthoughts.blogspot.com/
6. Jearise - http://lorbysworld.blogspot.com/
7. Shannon - http://www.purplelionpaper.com/blog
8. Inga - http://mommahobbit.blogspot.com/
9. Maria - http://www.mdcraftcorner.blogspot.com/
10. Janet- http://www.createatdreamscrapbooks.blogspot.com/
11. Dena - http://missdjones.blogspot.com/
12. Jennifer - http://jenrubio.blogspot.com/
13. Theresa- http://www.thescrapbookingqueen.com/
14. Ellen - http://cardmonkey-business.blogspot.com/
15. PSA Essentials - www.psastampcamp.blogspot.com/

Repurposed Crafts

Our design team member Angie Holden was tasked with designing something thrifty this month -- something that didn't cost our readers a boatload to recreate. Inspired by glass bowls, vintage cake stands & a shabby chic look like above, Angie repurposed a candle stick and a wood bowl to make a pedestal bowl. This serving wear can be used for just about anything – a candy display, dessert bowl, or any of your entertaining needs. (Angie chose a candy cane holder!) 

To recreate, find an old candle stick and wood bowl that aren't in use. Paint both your desired colors and when dry, stamp the bowl using the outer ring star stamp from PSA Anchors Aweigh on an acrylic block. This is a bit tricky on a curved surface, so be patient with it. When finished, paint with a clear-coat sealer like Mod Podge to finish it off. You can really get creative here with what types of materials you repurpose and what you design!



Happy thrifty crafting!  This post was posted to The Graphics Fairy, LLC  and also Saved By Love Creations 

The Graphics Fairy

Thrifty Thursday at Saved by Love Creations

Gift Tags

Do you have gifts to give this January? I have plenty of them… a lot of important people to me were born in January (my mother, my best friend from college Kristin, my best friend from home, Danielle.) A great way to spice up your gift giving is with handmade tags and special gift wrap. Even if the present itself isn't out of this world, you can knock the recipent's socks off with a great wrapping job. I envision these tags on top of some great great metalic color, gold or silver wrapping paper, like these purple lace numbers from Martha Stewart.com/via Pinterest. 

Kelley Eubanks created these tags using PSA Vanilla Peel & Stick stamps.

To recreate these tags and bring the wow factor to your next gift, follow these step by step easy instructions:

1. Die cut tags and punch star
2. Adhere star with removable tape
3. Stamp border, mist and remove star
4. Stamp letter
5. Tie twine and ink edges

 
Happy Gift Giving!

Eating Well in 2012

About.com Guide created a list of the Top 10 Most Common New Year's Resolutions. Did yours make the list?

1. Spend more time with family and friends
   
2. Fit in Fitness
   
3. Tame the bulge & loose the weight
   
4. Quit smoking
   
5. Enjoy life more - less stress
   
6. Quit drinking
   
7. Get out of debt
   
8. Learn something new
   
9. Help others/volunteer
   
10. Get organized!
    

If #2 or #3 are on your list like most people, you want to get fit, eat healthy and maybe lose some extra pounds. I tasked Mae Armstrong on our design team to come up with a creative way to stay on track with your goals. She answered with a beautiful calendar.



This is a simple reminder each month to try and buy organic products, supporting local farmers, cook more at home and making wise decisions to create a healthy life style. Mae used a 5"x7" layout, created the monthly spreads and drew the vegetable and fruit monthly theme using Adobe Illustrator. This took Mae hours to do – she is quite a talented graphic designer! All the artwork is 100% original by Mae Armstrong. She added starburst as a background to unify each page – each month is a different fruit or veggie that corresponds with the season. She printed them out and cut them individually.

To identify the months , Mae used PSA Essentials Peel & Stick Vanilla stamps and stamped the letters to complete the calendar. After stamping the letters, she used her circle punch and glued the month to the card.

After setting the stamped circle cards, Mae chose the zigzag stitch and sewed a straight line through the circle tags. It's easier if you glue the letter accents down before sewing. This is an extra step that takes this project one step further!

When all 12 cards were done, it was time to punch them. She used her mini Zutter Bug to punch the notebook holes. She also used a nice silver wire coil to bind the calendar. 


Before binding, use a chip board and cut two 5"x8.5" cards to serve as the calendar backing/stand. Score 1.25" edge of the card and fold. Punch holes and bind with the rest of the calendar. And here's the end result!

If you'd like to do this calendar at home, you can purchase the template from Mae on her Etsy store. She's selling it for just $9.99! http://www.etsy.com/listing/89708672/printable-2012-calendar-intro-special

 
This post was posted to Mad Skills Tutorial Link Party!

Mad Skills

 

 

 

 

Weekend Project – Organization!

This weekend I spent hours organizing my scrapbooking and crafting supplies. Nerdy, right? My mom's friend Dayle Thomas very generously dropped off three large boxes of scrapbooking supplies. Inside were hundreds of dollars of stickers, embellishments, ribbon, paper, scrapbooks that have never been opened. Combined with my impressive collection of PSA Essentials Peel & Stick stamps, inks, and products we've swapped with Helmar USA, Mod Podge, The Twinery, & Prima – I have an entire store of products at home! (Mental note: less trips to Michael's…)



Check it out! I snapped these quick pictures because I was so impressed with myself. I've organized my new rolling cart into bins for each need – punches & cutting tools, adhesives, embellishments, stickers, neutral papers, and seasonal papers.

Thankfully I have lots of options for adhesives!

This bin is full of stickers – some for each holiday, baby, wedding, travel, food, & more.

This bin is a crucial one – all my scissors and punches. I am currently storing my markers in here, but as soon as I get my Twin Touch Markers – I'll be creating a separate bin for markers!

The bottom two drawers are devoted to paper but I had so much I couldn't fit it all in the bins. Here's the over flow.

And here's a portion of my PSA Essentials Peel & Stick stamps collection. I've stored the packs in clear sheet protectors in a three ring binder. This makes finding them super easy!

Now this organization is nothing compared to my idol Carly Robertson ( see her amazing craft room here:  http://carlyrobertson.typepad.com/thesimplethings/home-tour.html) but we all have to start somewhere…..it's a start. 

I have a BIG project to start working on – so this organization is going to come in handy. Thanks to Dayle Thomas for the very generous donation of her scrapbooking supplies. I will be sure to put them all to excellent use! I really appreciate everything she gave me.


 

 

Martin Luther King Day - 2012

What's wrong with this picture? 

Imagine living in a world where whites and blacks had separate entrances to restaurants. Separate drinking fountains. Separate library books. Separate schools. Separate bathrooms and toilets. It wasn't long ago that Jim Crow laws were in effect – in fact, it was only 47 years ago that they ended. Without getting too heavy (we're a crafting blog and I'm not here to preach civil rights & liberties!) let's remember Martin Luther King, Jr. today. Sometimes with federal holidays that aren't Christmas, New Years or Thanksgiving – people tend to overlook why we have the day off from work. But today's an important day to stop and reflect. With his forward thinking and unwillingness to settle for "separate but equal," Martin Luther King moved our country in a better direction.

Our designer Jennifer Holmes created this adorable card to celebrate diversity in the world. She's stamped all the characters from Smirk Caffeine Confidents (see them here: http://www.psaessentials.com/smirk.htm) and colored them up to represent different nationalities. I just ADORE this card.

She's used her copics to illustrate their skin color differences! Simply perfect for this holiday.

I am so happy Molly is growing up today as opposed to 1960. Her two best friends are African-American and I hope she will be blind to the color of people's skin forever. Aren't they all cute?   (This isn't the best picture of  them but I rarely have my camera there.... so imagine Yolanda and Kayden are smiling!) 

Have a wonderful holiday!