Craft With May – Page 69 – no rules, just happy crafting

Brother Blogger Bash!

** Give-away now closed. Congrats to LynneR! **

Today I am so excited because not only do I have some ScanNCut projects fresh off my table to share with you, but I also have a give-away! As I always share I do work with Brother with the ScanNCut, something I simply love doing! (official disclaimer as always – I am a paid consultant for Brother, but all ideas and opinions shared on this blog are my own) The lovely ladies I work with at Brother reached out to me about doing a particular product feature and a give-away as a part of a “Brother Blogger Bash” that they are doing. Please read on to get more information about that, and of course check out the project I’ve created with the stamp material!

The stamp material Brother offers for the ScanNCut is a really fun accessory to play with because it allows me not only to make my own custom stamps, but once cut I can utilize those stamps 5, 10, 100 times. However much I like! I’ve done several videos in the past, here are two:

SNC stamp material

Stencil with leftover stamp material

and here is my new tutorial, where I will share how I created my own floral stamp design, cut it out, and even cut out some paper accents to really amp up the texture and fun on this holiday tag.

link to YouTube

I love that the colors and theme are holiday – but with a more playful flower element! I have a few tips to share with you when making your own stamps:

Consider how the stamp will be to work with once cut out. For example, I enjoy single stamps vs lots of small parts so a flower like the one I am showing here works well for me.
If for some reason you lose or throw away the plastic covering that must be over the top of the stamp material: soft plastic like a sandwich or freezer bag works wonderfully. How do I know? Well let’s just say a dog ate mine and I had to get creative! No way was I going to waste stamp material!
Take a ruler to your projects past. Consider what a good usable size would be and what size would work most often when cutting a stamp. I get tempted to go big – but stamps around 1-2″ get the most use here.
The pigment ink pads (usually the ‘spongy’ style ones) work the best with this stamp material. I also enjoy paints with them though that can get messy and fast!

I hope you’ve enjoyed this in-depth look at the Brother ScanNCut stamp material. It is available online as well as in stores such as Brother retailers. Today I am giving away an Acrylic block set, the stamp starter kit, and a deep cut blade and holder so one of you lovely readers can get creating your own stamps with your ScanNCut!

** Give-away now closed. Congrats to LynneR! **

This give-away will remain open through 11/17, and on 11/18 I will use random.org to pick a random comment # and that will be our winner! I will notify the winner via email, as well as updating this post to include the information. Thank you SO much to Brother for providing this generous give-away! I hope that you’ve enjoyed this video tutorial – and that you stay tuned. I have a whole week of ScanNCut projects and ideas to help jump start holiday crafting lined up for you.

a merry (rose garden) christmas ornament

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The colors aren’t what you might expect for a Christmas ornament – but for me it works! I just love the combination or pink, green, and gold for a less traditional take on holiday decorating! This ornament was so much fun to make – I keep making them! Here is my video tutorial on YouTube

Rose Garden is one of my new 28 Lilac Lane shaker mixes – now shipping/in stores! Don’t know where to find it? Stay tuned! As I see this mix show up in stores I will be sure to share information with you here.

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I just love having a new fun project to create with my embellishments. Especially since this project uses up the empty ornaments I got last year that “someday” I was going to figure out projects for! Got to love using up the stash while having a lot of fun and shaking up the holidays!

What is your favorite holiday color combo? Or are you a monochromatic kind of holiday décor gal?

Back from teaching weekend in Orange, CA

Miss E and I are just back, unpacked, and all dogs (and her sister!) have been collected from our whirlwind trip to Orange, CA for classes at Stamp Fever. It was an absolutely wonderful trip and if you have the chance I strongly recommend visiting and taking classes there! Not only was the staff really wonderful but all the ladies that attended were lovely and the classroom was fun to teach in.

I taught three different classes over 2 days – a canvas, card making, and a giftable items class as well. These were so much fun – and it was great having an assistant too! Here are some photos of setting up and the shop:

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We had so much fun creating and sharing ideas. My favorite part? Always seeing how the students take ideas and make them their own. Watching ladies come up with their own spin, direction, or otherwise playing in ways that make them happy! As much as I love teaching online there is definitely something special about in person events. Of course the prep and hard work is intense – but it’s worth it! We had such a good time that we’re already plotting a return visit for spring or early summer…

Stay tuned, because I think we will try to bring more classes in California and beyond in 2017! Have a favorite store or place you wish I’d visit? Let me know!

How to pack light for crafting?

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As I type this I am hours away from leaving for my only teaching trip of the year. I am at that phase of the cycle where you want to grab ALL THE THINGS and shove them in the suitcase. “What if I need gold and platinum stickles?”

“… and 4 instead of 2 foam blending tools”

“… and what if 3 bottles of adhesive isn’t enough?”

“…and what if…”

You know that feeling. That “quick! Grab the kitchen sink!” that grabs us whether packing for vacation or a crop. Well today as I keep my fingers busy typing so I don’t “what if” any more paint or ink I will share with you my rules for crafty packing.

Whatever you’re thinking… you’ll only accomplish 1/2 or less. I recall the trip where I was going to crop in hotel rooms at night. I did once. For thirty minutes. I did not need 1/2 a suitcase worth of stickers and paper.
Anything you can add on later – leave at home. This includes beloved pounds of embellishments, finished/folded cardstock for cards, and yes, even the random colors of stickles/glitter glue.
Have a plan, theme, or color scheme to keep your supplies focused.
Limit yourself on space, and stick to it.
Bring things that multi-task. For example, white acrylic paint can be gesso or mixed with mists or paints to make colored paints and can work with stencils too. Or PPA can be the ‘everything’ liquid adhesive. Pick things that have many uses vs super specialty items.
Do all the punching/die cutting ahead and at home! Need special letters or shapes? Save those projects for back home.

I used to be such a heavy packer and what I found was that I spent too much time sorting and less time doing. I’ve also found there is a joy in the creative challenge of simply working with whatever happens to be on hand. As I enter my “freeze! no more buying!” phase of the year I will get deeper in my stash (oh there are plenty of new things here… time to use them!!) and instead of visiting the craft store I will make it work.

I will be sure to share more about my classes after this weekend including pictures and details on what I did pack (haha!) when I get back. For now, I’m off to get some rest because it is about to be a wild 48 hours here in my world!

Altered Christmas Tree

I know it’s only November 1, but I can’t wait any more to share this. You see on a recent trip to Michael’s I picked up a little wood tree. It was ok as it was… but I wondered what some paint and buttons could do to amp it up…

The answer? Results that I absolutely love! I created a YouTube video if you’d like to see my tutorial here.

Looking for supplies? I’ve got links (affiliate) listed below for what I used. This came out better than I hoped – and I can’t wait to add it to the holiday table. I may not be able to wait until after Thanksgiving I like it so much.

The buttons I used are from my new Yuletide Greetings bottle – and in stores now! Including Ellen Hutson.com (Link) – you can find all six new bottles there! Love seeing the line in shops!

I also used green and gold acrylic paint, and sealed it all with crazing medium (EllenHutson.com link). As always, I used PPA adhesive (link) for my buttons. Can’t recommend that enough!

Have you spotted the new bottles in stores? Let me know! I’m so excited to see what you dream up and create- or alter – with them!