My Crafty Life

Guest Posters WantedUpdate

Posted on August 1, 2010, 5:00 pm, by admin and received Comments Off.

I am looking for a few guest posters to help write posts about scrapbooking, knitting and beading. These are areas I have limited knowledge in so I figured I’d open up spots for others to shine!

If you are picked to be a guest poster I will give you a contributor account so you can post (with restrictions of coarse).

You will receive loads of credit and I will post a link to your site if you have one.

If you are interested please email me at admin @ craftylife.net (no spaces) or use my contact form above.

Thanks!

**Update** I also am expanding to artist of all kind…digital, paint,sculpting etc…..

Back to School Organizational Craft Tips via@ImperfectWomen

Posted on September 1, 2010, 12:10 am, by admin and received 1 Comment ».

Don’t forget to check out my Back to School Post on Imperfect Women:

Hobby Lobby

Back to School Organizational Craft Tips

The kids are heading back to school. Craftymomof3 helps us get organized and have fun too!

Read the full story…

More to come……

Tags: back to school, crafts

Foam Pencil Topper Craft. So cute (via Caboose.com)

Posted on August 26, 2010, 10:12 pm, by admin and received 1 Comment ».

I found this craft on caboose.com and my daughter thought it was really cute so I thought I would share!

Foam Pencil Toppers

By: Amanda Formaro

Difficulty: Very Easy

Age: 6 and up

Click to view larger

With this project, the only limit is a kid’s imagination. Whatever creature, shape, or theme s/he can think of could be living on top of his/her pencil!

Be sure to visit all of our back-to-school ideas including back-to-school crafts, school lunch recipes and great printable activities.

What you’ll need:

Craft foam sheets or shapes
White craft glue
Scissors
Wiggle eyes
Pom-poms
Pencils

How to make it:

Start with two identical sized shapes, such as a circle or heart. Put glue around the border of one of the shapes, leaving about ¾” where you will insert the pencil. (See photo.)
Press the second shape onto the first, sandwiching them together. The glue will need to dry for several hours, preferably overnight, but you can decorate the outside now.
Decorate the outside of the craft foam shape using pom-poms, wiggle eyes, other foam shapes, glitter glue, sequins, whatever you like. We made a black bear using pom-poms for ears and a nose and a couple of wiggle eyes. (See photo.) We also made a flower using several pom-poms and a bird using wiggle eyes and other craft foam shapes. (See photo.)
Once the toppers have dried completely, insert the eraser end of a pencil carefully into the opening.

Tips:

Drying time is important for this project. If you try to insert the pencil too soon, the glue may still be tacky and could pull away from the foam causing your topper to split open.
You can use white craft glue as we did, or you can purchase special glue made just for craft foam at a craft supply store.
Craft foam comes in convenient value packs in various shapes, sizes, and colors.

Tags: caboose.com, kids, kids crafts

FYI If you posted a real comment lately it may have got dumped with the spam.

Posted on August 26, 2010, 10:05 pm, by admin and received No Comments ».

I opened my blog today and the spam was so full I couldn’t possibly read them all and I dumped them so if you left me a real comment and you don’t see it please repost it or send me an email through my contact me form.

I apologize and thanks for understanding.

Tags: spam, update

Guest Post: Are Photo books Stealing the Last Scrapbookers?

Posted on August 11, 2010, 11:18 pm, by debbie and received 7 Comments ».

Are photobooks stealing the last scrapbookers???

Are photobooks meaningful? Or are they just another digital shortcut? Debbie gives us the low down on photobooks vs. scrapbooks. Is the thought really there??

~ After the stress of being back home with a new baby, I started really enjoying getting back to scrap booking. It had been years since I spent hundreds of dollars on stickers & books, cutters & blades. What made it so fun again was getting together with my cousin & my friends every other week at each others houses. We kind of “forced” ourselves to sit down and create mini masterpieces where one spread took 4 hours. But at least having each other made the creative juices flow and I got my scrap booking “mojo” back. I loved the feeling of seeing the beautiful page I created slide into my book for my kids to enjoy. And of course having one more “memory” in the can so to speak. Those that love the peaceful feeling Scrap booking does for you will understand this. ~

~ So imagine my surprise and disappointment when my cousin to tell me she wasn’t scrap booking anymore! She was explaining that she also wasn’t coming with me for our bi-weekly unnecessary trip to Michael’s for more stickers & paper either. “I sent away for a photo book” she told me. “I really loved how it came out and I barely did a thing. It was also cheaper!” I was devastated. How could she possibly use the ol “scrapbook cop-out” and not want to create a 4 month heavy masterpiece with about $200 worth of stickers in it that weighs about 10 pounds? Don’t get me wrong, I understand that with most people now using digital cameras, Kodak needed to find a new way to make money. And these photo books ARE easy to create, light in weight, and much cheaper that what it costs to create just one scrapbook. But where is the creativity? Where are the hours you spend on placing the photos and using the blades to create the borders? And what do you do with the 50 or so Jolee stickers that you paid $4.99 each for? Worst off, she had just bought a Cricut Expressions package after a late night QVC tirade for something like $300. So needless to say I re-questioned my love and loyalty to my still un-finished 5th album and thought about giving into the cop-out called the photo book. ~

A scrapbook is full of creativity, thought and care that you just can't reproduce in a photobook.

~ As the weeks went on, I lost my tight knit circle of friends to the almighty photo books. They just didn’t have the time, or the patience to give our little group the chance to fully get its creative mojo back. As hard as it was not having that boost of having my friends over to force me to sit down at night and actually scrapbook, I decided that the beautiful brick of a book was still for me. Photo books are an ideal way for those that are too busy to create a quick, cheap way to preserve their memories. But at that point,stick them in a box like everyone else does and be over with it. I still love going to my craft store and picking out what pieces of paper I want to go with each set of stickers. What borders I want to create for each of my photos, and what story I want to tell. I gets me excited to put the kids to bed and spread out all my goodies I got for each of my photo “stories”. Try your hardest, like I have, to force yourself to sit down alone one night and just DO IT. You may be surprised at the beautiful page you create and the joy it will bring you that no photo book ever will! ~

xoxox Debbie

Tags: crafts, crafty project, guest post, hobbies, scrapbook, scrapbooking

Lunch Money Locket. So cute via @FamilyFun

Posted on August 8, 2010, 5:26 pm, by admin and received No Comments ».

I don’t like to always have my daughter use her lunch card for silly things like buying milk or a parfait at her school so I thought this would be a cute idea for her (a girl version of coarse!)

I found this on my favorite go-to kids craft site Family Fun!

Lunch Money Locket via @FamilyFun

A kid will never lose his lunch money again if he keeps it in this homemade — yet eminently stylish — locket made from a common mint tin. Dress up the lid with a toy plastic animal, fake jewels, stickers, and more.

Materials

Small metal mint tin (Ours measured roughly 2 by 2 1/2 inches. Make sure it has a hinged lid to pull a string through or around. We found ours at Target and CVS.)
Acrylic paint
Paintbrush

String or metallic craft cord (You’ll need about a 3-foot length. Be sure it’s thin enough to fit around or through the tin’s hinge so the lid can still close.)
Tacky glue
Small plastic animal or fake jewels, stickers, etc.

Instructions

Clean the inside of the tin. Paint the top and let it dry.
Thread the string or metallic cord around or through (depending on the type of tin) the tin’s hinges. Pull both ends of the string tight, so that they fit snugly around the hinge, and then knot them together at the top.
Glue plastic animals or jewels to the top of the tin. Let it dry.

Some other crafts you might like:

*I have no affiliation with Family Fun other than I think their website rocks.

Tags: crafts, crafts project, family fun, kids, kids crafts

Marriage….Any thoughts…

Posted on August 4, 2010, 11:04 pm, by admin and received 1 Comment ».

Okay this post is food for thought. I don’t usually get this deep with my posts but this Note on Facebook struck a cord in me. What do you think?

Vicky Gray Deaton: MARRIAGE…A MUST READ!

Saturday, July 17, 2010 at 9:03pm

MARRIAGE

When I got home that night as my wife served dinner, I held her hand and said, I’ve got something to tell you. She sat down and ate quietly. Again I observed the hurt in her eyes.

Suddenly I didn’t know how to open my mouth. But I had to let her know what I was thinking. I want a divorce. I raised the topic calmly.

She didn’t seem to be annoyed by my words, instead she asked me softly, why?

I avoided her question. This made her angry. She threw away the chopsticks and shouted at me, you are not a man! That night, we didn’t talk to each other. She was weeping. I knew she wanted to find out what had happened to our marriage. But I could hardly give her a satisfactory answer; she had lost my heart to Jane. I didn’t love her anymore. I just pitied her!

With a deep sense of guilt, I drafted a divorce agreement which stated that she could own our house, our car, and 30% stake of my company.

She glanced at it and then tore it into pieces. The woman who had spent ten years of her life with me had become a stranger. I felt sorry for her wasted time, resources and energy but I could not take back what I had said for I loved Jane so dearly. Finally she cried loudly in front of me, which was what I had expected to see. To me her cry was actually a kind of release. The idea of divorce which had obsessed me for several weeks seemed to be firmer and clearer now.

The next day, I came back home very late and found her writing something at the table. I didn’t have supper but went straight to sleep and fell asleep very fast because I was tired after an eventful day with Jane.

Continue reading this post »

Tags: food for thought, marriage

@Ebates and @theBlogFrog have collaborated to form #FrugalLiving !

Posted on August 3, 2010, 10:55 pm, by admin and received Comments Off.

I am happy to announce that BlogFrog and Ebates have joined together to form the #FrugalLiving Community. Ebates is a great cash back shopping site that automatically credits your rebates back!

Ebate Info:

I wanted to tell you about Ebates, a shopping site that gives you up to 26% Cash Back every time you shop online. You can shop at over 1000 stores
including eBay, JCPenney, Macy’s, Nordstrom, Overstock.com, Walmart, Kohl’s and Home Depot. Plus you get additional savings with exclusive coupons,
free shipping offers, and limited-time sales!

Happy shopping!

To sign up go here:

Ebates

Another great incentive….refer 50 people and get an iPad! for each level you get a great prize. Always a bonus.

Tags: blogfrog, ebates, fun, shopping