So Guess Who's Behind Schedule!

Last week, I was supposed to share my Christmas cards with you.  I didn't do that, because I haven't finished them yet.  Last week, I hadn't even started them!!!
Did you gasp?  Me too! Now I have at least started making my Christmas cards, but they still aren't done! Was that another gasp I hear?! I know.  Mum and I received our first Christmas card of the season yesterday, and I haven't even finished making mine either! The exclamation points are not at all too much... they exactly enough much.  Hehe.

I have a few prototypes, practice cards I made before deciding which style was just right for mass production.  If you want to see the cards I massed produced last year, click here.  Now let's check out these simple cards.

I tell you what, a bit of heat embossing can really make a card something else completely.  Can you guess which card I decided to make in bulk?  Let me know in the comments! Maybe, when I finish them I will show you.

I also found some gorgeous Christmas patterned paper in a stash of papers someone gave me.  It was so beautiful.  So, I cut it up and made a few cards.  Get out your patterned paper girls!  It's not too pretty to cut up.  It's made to be used!

Next week, we will start the Advent series that we were supposed to start today.  EEK!

Happy Thanksgiving if you celebrate it! Happy almost December if you don't.
Love

Top 10 Gifts for your Crafty Friend - a Guide for the Non-Crafter

Do you have a friend or family member who loves to make cards or do craft?
Do you have trouble buying gifts for them?
Does the craft store overwhelm you?
Look no further.... this list of great gifts can all be purchased at your local hardware store, discount variety shop, or department store.

My sister recently took my nieces and nephews shopping at Kmart and the Reject Shop (like Dollar Tree).  Their goal was for each of them to buy me a gift.  They wanted to be helpful and I received several things that they thought I could use in my craft room.  Some items were huge winners!  A few were not so useful.  This got me thinking.  It must be so hard for non-crafters to buy the right gifts for their crafty loved ones.  Us crafters have high standards when it comes to our supplies, right?  We know what things you can buy for cheap and what needs to be quality.  So, this list is crafter approved.  You can buy most of these items for less than $20 and you are almost guaranteed to put a grin on your crafty friend's face!

1. Adhesive: 

While many crafters have a favourite glue and a bunch of different glues depending on the different purpose.  Cheap adhesive can be very frustrating for a good crafter.  So, don't buy cheap adhesive or try to guess at what works.  Go to your local hardware store,  I go to Bunnings, and get the largest roll of double sided foam tape you can find.  These can range in price from $10 to $100. I have used the $10 tape and the $100 tape. The $10 tape works well enough.  If you are paying much less than that, don't bother, it will only frustrate the crafter.   You can also find liquid adhesive at the local hardware store, Elmer's glue all and Boyle's craft glue are both good quality. Mod Podge is another quality brand that any crafter would be happy to receive! Glue Dots are also a great addition to any craft room (especially the repositionable kind).

2. Clean Erasers

I am always looking for my eraser and I need a clean one! Some good quality, white erasers would be a great gift for the crafter in your life. 

3. Post-it tape

Full back sicky notes, post-it tape, and even low-tack painters tape are all great supplies for the craft room.  Painter's tape can be purchased at your local discount store or hardware store.  Sticky notes and post-it tape can be purchased at most department stores, or office/ stationery stores. These are consumable and no crafter can have too much of it.  They will always be able to use it! These repositionable sheets of paper can be used for masking off areas on a project, holding things in place temporarily and making templates.  

4. Fine tip pens in various colours

I have a set of these, however I wouldn't say no to another one.  In fact, one really great fine tip pen would be so appreciated! Unless you think your crafty mate has too many pens... although I don't think that is possible! 

5. Postage Stamps

It might sound crazy.  Okay, it sounds crazy.  I make loads of cards.  There are literally heaps of cards in my craft room. Why don't I send them out more, you ask?  There are several reasons for this, however the main one is that I can never find enough postage stamps.  It costs more money to post cards and I would rather spend my money on stamps, inks and tools.  A book of postage stamps can be purchased for as little as $5 or if you want to go really crazy, buy $20 or $30 worth of stamps and make it possible for me to send my artwork instead of piling it up in my craft space. That's how I see it anyway. 

6. Sequins, Gems and Stickers

You can find the cutest embellishments at the discount store (dollar tree/ reject shop/ bargain centre) if you know what to look for.  You would be surprised at how many of these things us crafters go through.  You might think a bag of sequins is not a useful gift, but we will go crazy over them.  You will be the new favourite.  I promise! 

7. A self-healing cutting mat/ Oven liner/ Silicone Mat

Again, these can be purchased for around $10 and while I have lots of these, I could use another one!  I wouldn't be able to justify the purchase using my own money.  Remember, I want to spend my money on stamps, inks and card stock.  Oven liners are a non-stick mat that can be used as a craft mat for ink blending or other crafts that work best on a slick surface.  They can protect a work surface from messy crafts such as paint, ink or even glue.  Silicone Mats are usually used for welding, but they can be used for mirror stamping, as a water colouring surface, and a protective surface for heat embossing, gluing and using alcohol inks.  

8. Magnetic Sheets

I have found magnetic sheets for about $2 each.  These are perfect for holding dies in place in the die cutting machine or storage of your metal tools.  You could even use some magnetic sheets to make this awesome Craft room accessory! 

That's that then.  Plenty of options for the non-crafter to purchase for a crafting friend.  Now get shopping! ;)

This Week.. Just a Quickie

This week, I went to a job interview to be a Differentiation Coach at a local Catholic school.  Yesterday, I received a call from the principal of the school telling me that they would like to offer me the role of Numeracy Coach instead. I will also have the opportunity to team teach a senior Maths class.  I'm so excited! This is the dream for me.

It's a brand new opportunity.

This week has been busy and exhausting and a huge rollercoaster ride.  Therefore, I'm taking the week off the blog.

See you next week. ;)

Colouring on Cards

I bought myself a small set of alcohol markers earlier this year and I'm really enjoying them.  They are a less expensive brand (not Copics) and they were good for me to have a play with them and decide if I want to invest in a proper set of colours.  Let's check out some cards I have made using images I have stamped and coloured with my alcohol markers. FYI: my set is a random selection of colours as a sample pack.  It cost about $30 plus shipping, which was less than $10.

Make a Wish Birthday Cake

I love this cake, and it looks good on a card simply stamped as an outline. When coloured like this, it really pops and becomes a gorgeous feature of the card.  I created the background with Crayola water colour markers scribbled onto an acrylic block, then smooshed onto the paper with lots of water.  I stamped a few small 'burst' stamps to give it more texture.

One Hot Chick 

This stamp set from Avery Elle is so cute!  Unfortunately, the set has been retired by Avery Elle, however, it is available on sale here.  Colouring the 'chick' was easy.  I only used two shades of yellow, where as most people would use three different yellows to colour an image like this.  I didn't have enough yellow alcohol markers that were close enough together to blend well.  As I'm still learning, I usually stick to a two colour blend.  I might occasionally try a three colour blend, but those images don't usually end up on a card.  The background on this card was a light blend of "It's a Boy" ink from Catherine Pooler Designs, through a hexagon stencil by Kazazz.  I love this card.  One of my friends who has a great sense of humour and frequents the gym, should get a kick out of this.
By the way, I attached my 'chick' using an action wobbler, so little flick makes this chick bounce and shake around.  It's so much fun.

Koala Birthday 

Finally, I have a card which took me ages to create.  I stamped out and coloured the koala and I was so happy with it.  Then, I couldn't decide how to make it into a card! I couldn't decide on colours, a background or even a sentiment.  I had to walk away several times and make other cards before I could finally come back to this.  Eventually, I got it together and made this gorgeous card.  I'm so happy with how this turned out.  The koala was from Lawn Fawn's Critters Down Under stamp set.  The sentiment was from Young at Heart.  The balloons, party hat and streamers on the background were from an awesome set called Ring in the Celebration, by Winnie and Walter.  This set is so versatile. 

Check out this beautiful card! 

BONUS Cards... Layered Stamping

I bought a card magazine recently because it had freebie from Altenew!  A layering stamp set and stencil.  Altenew is known for their layering stamp sets which are easy to use and make stunning cards. I find layering sets a bit challenging at times, mostly because it seems to take so many steps to stamp something out.  However, these stamps are easy to line up and the finished images have so much dimension!  My mum was so excited when she saw this card.  

Can you guess which inks I used?! Lol

The outline stamp of this poppy flower can be used without the coloured layers too! 

There are some great ideas in the magazine to inspire you as well.  These cards don't even use the stencil so I will definitely be making more cards with this set.  You gotta love freebies!  Have you started your Christmas cards yet? Let me know in the comments. I really need to get onto that.  

Have a great day! 

Great Reasons to Exercise Regularly at Home

We all know that physical activity is important to being healthy. We all know that a balanced diet, exercise and certain lifestyle choices contribute to good health.  The truth is, I have always struggled to include exercise in my daily routine because I don't love it.  I like it even less since my medical condition set in and I have chronic pain.  I wake up with pain, I go about my day in pain and I go to bed in pain.  I have pain all the time. Sometimes, I find it hard to get out of bed, shower, get dressed or even eat.  You can imagine that when these things are so difficult, physical activity of any kind is practically impossible.  

The thing is, too much inactivity can cause me more pain because my muscles get stiff.  The same goes for too much exercise.  If I exercise beyond my limits, I get too sore to move and then I get stiff again. Exercise, for people like me, is a balancing act.  I have to remind myself that it's worth it and it's important.  So, let's get to it. 

1.  It's good for your health!  Even if it doesn't feel like it.
2.  Fun! You can make it fun. Use TV show workouts, like this one from Pinterest, or dance workouts like this one from Cocolime Fitness (specially designed for beginners and people with chronic illness). You can walk, run, play a team sport or swim.  Find something fun that you will enjoy and make it part of the weekly routine as well as your home work outs. 
3. It doesn't have to be hell to have an impact!  In fact, you will see better and more lasting results if you complete a low impact 10 minute workout everyday, instead of a one hour workout three times a week.  
4. It's a great stress reliever.  Exercise releases endorphins (they are happy hormones) and forces you to take some time out from work, adulting and all the stuff. 
5. Stretching is dessert for your body.  We often spend time sitting at desks or on couches for long periods and we need to stretch our muscles.  Every exercise routine should include at least some stretching. If you are doing it right, it should feel good. 
6. It can be free.  You don't have to spend anything to get some movement into your daily routine.  There are several YouTube channels that step you through simple workouts.  You can improvise an exercise mat with a few towels or use a chair to help you balance. Small canned foods can be used as weights.  Alternatively, a walk around the block is totally free.  You don't need a treadmill or big bulky equipment.  Small dumbells, yoga mats, foam rollers, resistance bands and exercise balls are reasonably priced if you know where to shop, so you can build up your equipment as you go. 
7.  You can do it anytime.  As I mentioned earlier, YouTube means that you can attend various exercise classes at home anytime it suits you. In fact, Cocolime Fitness is the main reason I have been able to maintain an exercise regime over the past year. When I get home from work, I can turn on a video and get my exercise with little fuss.  If I feel like exercising in the morning, I don't waste time travelling to the gym or the pool.  
8.  You can wear whatever you want! You don't have to look cute! I started exercising in my oldest pair of track pants or shorts and t-shirt.  Now I have some clothes that are a little more practical and look a bit cuter.  I love that it doesn't matter how I look when I exercise in my studio at home.  It's just me and my cat.  
9. Nobody is watching!  Woohoo. It doesn't matter if I mess up.  I can stick my bum in the air, modify the moves, even 'fart' if I need to, all without worrying what anybody thinks. This makes it so much easier to focus on the business of holding in my abs or breathing.  

There you go people.  Exercise is important and I'm so glad I can do it at home.  Okay, time to get off the couch and do something good for myself.  

Until we meet again!