crafting this and that

Hi all!  How many tries does it take for you to create something you love?  Can you complete a card or a tag in one sitting or do you change things around often?  Today I wanted to share the process I went through in creating a simple tag.  It was the tag that I made to go along with my crocheted octopus in my previous post. See the tag behind the octopus?  Looks pretty simple, right?  I didn't even have to color the images.  I just stamped them in colored ink but it took me much longer than I thought it would. Try #1.  I thought I wanted to use this cardstock that had the small specks of color in it so I stamped my octopus image on it twice.  And it had to be more than once because "octopi" is plural, right?  I couldn't just stamp it once cause it would be kind of grammatically off.  Yeah, I think my mind is a little picky at times. But then I had a scrap piece of kraft cardstock and I stamped the blue octopus on it and...

Hello!  Did you notice I changed the look of the blog?  Thinking I wanted a change especially since it's the new year and still January, and I noticed lots of things like my bloglist was really out of date.  I guess people don't blog as much as they used to, myself included. Today I have this cute amigurumi octopus to share!  Isn't it adorable?  This is from a pattern by the Left-Handed Crocheter you can find HERE .  She has lots of photos of different octopus she has made and they are all adorable!  I made mine on the smaller size but she also has a pattern for a huge one which I may try at a later time. You can also prop him up on his legs!  I made him using Caron Simply Soft yarn and a 2.75mm hook. Also made this tag to go along with him.  The stamps are from Lawn Fawn and the tag itself is from My Favorite Things and Mama Elephant.  Really a mish mash of dies and stamps. Here they are together!  A cute little gi...

Yay, I finally finished using up all my 2018 calendars from Taylored Expressions.  I swear every year I buy calendars and tell myself to start early.  But the calendars usually just sit on my desk for a good few months before I even open them to make a calendar!  Though I think I did better this past year than previous years.  This year instead of just being motivated, I need to be more disciplined!  I need to finish goals and check off my to do list even if I don't feel like doing anything.  I guess that is the trap you fall into when you work at home and work for yourself.  Here is the first batch of dog calendars I made using Mama Elephant's new dog die.  You can make a lot of different kinds of dogs with the die but I chose to make a simple one because I procrastinate too much.  Here is a close up.  I think he is still pretty cute being a simple dog. This is my second and last batch of calendars.  I used one of the d...

Hi all!  Happy New Year!  Even though it is almost the end of January already.  I'm still trying to get my motivation back after the long holiday break I took in December.  I have mental lists of things I'd like to finish and things I need to start.  I still have calendars to make!  I think that is something that will never change. This is a snowman I crocheted in December following a pattern by Holly from Storyland Amis .  She has some cute patterns in her shop!  I've bought up a whole bunch of her Christmas ones but have not finished them all.  This was the first one I tried and her patterns are simple to follow and there are lots of photos!  I like when there are lots of photos. He is a little larger than the amigurumis I usually make.  I tend to make smaller things because I'm kind of impatient.  But this guy came out pretty cute!  His hat and scarf comes off too!  So you could make a whole other color com...

Hi!  Wow, it's December already!  I can't believe how this year has flown by.  I keep thinking there is still time to craft and make new projects but the days just go by so quickly.  I still had 2 more Christmas projects to complete but after thinking about it, I'm just going to wait for next year.  I'm kind of tired!  And there is still Christmas shopping and wrapping presents, and this year I want to make and decorate cookies!  Maybe if they look decent I'll share them here.  I plan to close up the shop for a short vacation from the 15th until the 26th.  Maybe I'll craft during that time or not.  Mostly I'll be making cookies! I made more calendars using Mama Elephant's Dog Agenda stamps.  The paper is from Doodlebug.  These are adorable!  And I listed them a little while ago in my shop so some are sold out. And then I thought wouldn't it be cute to pair a dog and cat together?  So I did.  And the smili...

Hi!  Hope everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving!  It was nice to relax for a couple of days except for all the cooking of course.  I think one year I may just skip the cooking and get take out!  But my youngest one really enjoys eating all the traditional Thanksgiving dishes.  So maybe I'll have to wait until he is a little older. I'm back to share more coffee cup shaped cards.  These are a bit more cutesy. I used some Doodlebug paper for the front.  The coffee cup shaped cards are made from dies from Honey Bee Stamps.  The sentiment and holly are from Lawn Fawn.  This gingerbread cookie print is so cute!  The sleeve on here is a pale pink color so the colors a bit nontraditional for Christmas. And this one has a bunch of cute Santas! And this is the inside with the gift card holder slot which I made using a die from MFT.  So the whole base of these cards is kraft cardstock. I am still trying to cross everything of...

Hi!  I think after this post I may need a little nap!  My right shoulder is actually feeling worn out from all the typing and photo editing I've been doing lately.  And this cooler weather is making me drowsy.  It's getting cold here already! I made a bunch of these coffee shaped cards using a die from Honey Bee Stamps .  It's a cute coffee set but the die is extra long so it would probably help to have a longer platform to diecut.  I just have the standard sized one so I would pass it through once in my Big Shot and then rotate the cardstock and die carefully to cut the other end.  Manageable but the longer platform would be more convenient! I embossed the front of the card with some pretty snowflakes.  I think this is a Sizzix embossing folder.  And then stamped the coffee sleeve with some Lawn Fawn stamps. This is the inside.  The gift card slot does not come with this coffee cup die set.  I cut that opening with one ...