Craft Classes

I've started teaching paper crafting classes at my local Michael's store!!!
Some of the classes are ones that Michael's designs and some are "Instructor's Choice" classes that I create.

Here are the projects for the Handmade Holiday Cards.

The pop-up snowman card is really cute and fun!  There is another snowman on the front! :)

The Christmas stocking is actually a gift card holder.  The top part of the stocking (the part where there'd be fur) pulls out and that's the part that holds the gift card.

The wreath card is quick and easy!  The kids can easily help you make a bunch of these....they can punch out the circles and spread the glitter glue on the circles once they are glued down.  Of course, depending on their age and craftiness, they can do more!

I taught classes at a different craft store that has been closed for almost 2 years now.  There are definitely differences in the way the classes are set up.  One of the benefits of the Michael's classes is that the classes are set up so that most projects can be done "by hand," meaning, you don't have to have a huge supply of crafting tools/materials.  They are great classes for both beginners and experienced crafters alike.  The embellishments are stickers - which can be cost prohibitive IF you are making a lot of them. But the upside is that if you have some kind of die cut machine, you can replace the sticker images with ones that you can cut.  You can easily make many of them.

This is a class created by Michael's. So even if you aren't local to me :), you can take the class at your local Michael's.  ENJOY!!!

Monkeying Around!!!

I had a blast making these monkeys!  They are going on top of diaper cake table centerpieces for a baby shower.   :)
I didn't make the diaper cakes though, so I don't have a pic of the finished product.  I'm hoping my client will send me some photos!

The monkey and tree cutting files came from My Scrap Chick.

My customer was so excited about the picks that she ordered more upside down monkeys for a banner she had made.

These monkeys were part of a two pick set I created.  The standing up monkey was on one pick, by himself.  He is double sided so that his face is seen from both sides.  The tree is double sided and although each hanging monkey is only single sided, there is one facing in each direction so a monkey's face can be seen from both sides of the tree.

Have a great day!  Do something crafty to make your heart smile today!

Wow - time sure flies when life gets busy!  Time to get back to the blog and share some crafty fun.

In an effort to get myself crafting and create a stash of cards, I started a Card Swap Club with some friends.  Some are local and a couple are crafty friends who have moved away.  There are directions for each month...sometimes the direction is just a theme with free reign from there.  Other times the directions include specific materials that should be used.  It's been a lot of fun.  We are only a couple of months in but here is what I have come up with so far.

Month 1:  Create a general "hello," "thinking of you," type card using Washi tape.  Also, include an envelope with some type of coordinating item on the envelope to tie the card together.  I need to get better about saving packaging so I can list brands of product used.  But a lot of this is stuff from my stash that has been around awhile and the packaging is long gone.  I do know that the "thinking of you" stamp is from one of the Stampin' UP! Paper Pumpkin kits.  The card is simple but I really like it.

The teal cardstock is the same color on both sides so on the inside I added white card stock so there is a good place to write a message.

Month 2:  The directions for the card were to make it 3x3 card (and include an envelope).  The theme of the card is birthday and the size makes it easy to attach it to a gift bag.  

The scalloped circle and "It's Your Day!" are from Cricut Design Space.  The card is from a package of 3x3 cards (all the same color with matching envelopes).  The color fades from one side of the card to the other.  The gold dots (hard to tell it's gold) are on a wide washi tape.  The ribbon on top is a peach color.  The inside of the card is white.  Again - a simple card.  I love having simple cards available. I keep them in a fun photo box that I bought at Michael's.   Since the box is decorated, I can leave it out (in sight) and it looks like it is part of the decor.  But I know that my cards are easy for me to access when needed.

One more thought on simple cards....I know that many people do not save greeting cards they receive whether they are homemade or not.  I understand and respect that some people are better about eliminating clutter than I (LOL).  Simple cards allow me to send hand crafted cards to friends without another thought about whether it is being kept as a keepsake or not. I like sharing my crafts with friends and certainly don't want them to feel obligated to hold onto them nor do I want to feel hurt that my hard work was tossed aside.  It's a win-win!!!
Simple doesn't mean non-creative or attractive - it just means I didn't spend hours on it and it didn't cost $15 worth of materials.  :)  But all the love is still there! 

Month 3:  The only direction for the third month (August) was to create a tic tac toe from this board and include those items on your card!  This tic tac toe came from Michele Andrews @ https://www.facebook.com/groups/scrapbookchat/.  She was kind enough to share several "game boards" with me.  But they are easy enough for anyone to make who wants to use them for a card swap!

My cards came from the the diagonal tic tac toe that includes: Summer, die cut and sentiment.
the bicycle and "hello" are from Cricut design space.  The cards are from a packaged set.  (I didn't have enough of one color - so some are getting green and some are getting orange.)

Thanks for stopping by and checking out my latest crafty fun!!!  Feel free to use these ideas when setting up a card swap with your friends!!!  I haven't gotten permission yet from the other swap members so I am not yet showing their cards.  If they all give me the thumbs up, I'll start including photos of the fun cards I'm receiving!