Crafting on a Budget

These lovely birdhouses are just a couple of the many 3d svg designs you'll find at Dreaming Tree.  With a few fun touches, like little birds and moss from the Dollar Tree and even a few of the silk flowers they have, you can have a beautiful gift for a friend or neighbor, or put a touch of sping in your home decor.


 

Can you believe it?   It's already May!   Are you scrambling for a last minute teacher appreciation gift?  I got the Oracal 651 out and sat down with ecal 2 and made this design for some of the teachers in our life.  I admit,  I had some trouble and had to remove,  re-cut and then reapply my design on a couple of these,  but FINALLY I got the look I was shooting for.
I finished them with some paper and foil shred.  If you make some using the Dollar Tree tumblers, be sure to include a note to handwash only.   Have fun creating!

I've been very busy with little people this last year and a half.  But now that they are getting older and can entertain themselves for little bits of time, I find more crafting time.  I completed bunnies for Easter that I cut out last year but didn't have time to put together.  I was even able to cut a couple more for new babies.

I spent day 11 watching a video tutorial and then designing a word mini album.  Below is a picture of my prototype.

Day nine saw the successful completion of the teapot from SVG Cuts Tea for You and Me kit.  This was a great project to do.  I love how well it went together!  It looks so real and is so sturdy.  This teapot will be part of my Facebook 200 page likes give away.  I will be making the entire kit for the lucky winner!

 For the base I used AC cardstock.  For the panels I used DCWV's The Butterfly Garden stack.  It has a real English teapot feel to it.  I added some little sticky pearls on the lid and lid handle, and tied a ribbon to affix to the top.  It's going to be hard to let it go!

Once again, thank you for stopping by my blog.  Be sure to check in again for more crafting adventures!

Today's post are projects I actually made last night in anticipation of not having time to craft today.

I used my Sizzix eclips2 to cut vinyl for these two tumblers that are bithday gifts later this week.  Both vinyls are oracal 651 that I purchased off ebay two years ago.  I was afraid to use it until now!  After watching a few youtube videos on how to apply it I have been less hesitant.  I'm very pleased with the outcome of these tumblers.  I bought a case of double wall tumblers from Dollar Tree.  This case had the summer colors.  It has the red and blue you see and a really nice green and orange.  I found the images on the internet under free svg searches and then did a trace into ecal2.  I love the wrapper feature!  It curves the words and design so your cup looks more professional.

I'm really having fun spending evenings in my craft studio and thinking about what project to do next!  Last night I made the birdcage from Playful Parlour by SVG Cuts

Well,  I made it.  Got to my first craft show and actually sold a few things!  Unfortunately for the vendors and crafters,  Wichita had a February temp of high 68 so the traffic was a little light.  Most people chose to spend the day in the great outdoors on such a glorious day.  We've had some really cold temps, so I don't blame them!  I met some really nice people and bought some wonderful jams from Steve's Jams and Jellies.  I opened the Cherry Cheesecake right away to try it.  It really taste like Cherry Cheesecake!

Ok, back to my experience.

We could choose to set up either Friday evening, or Saturday morning.  I chose Saturday morning, so I could do a mock set up at home first.  (I also had to finish up pricing and packing my items)  I got up just before 6am, took my shower, loaded my car and drove over to pick up my niece, who was helping me.  We arrived right at 8 am and got busy setting up.  We were done by 9 and I am very pleased with how our booth turned out.

 One of the things my family highly suggested was for me to take the Easter bunnies from last year and see if anyone wanted to order them.  That was the best idea of all!  I ended up with orders for 10 bunnies!

All in all, I am very pleased with my first attempt at craft showing.  I'll be keeping a look out for another small craft show for the future.  In the mean time, I have some bunnies to make!

Be sure to visit my Facebook page and give it a like!

Well, I did it.  I committed to a craft show on February 7 at Explorer School in Goddard, KS.  I have been busy, busy, busy picking, and cutting and gluing lots of things to take with me.  I have a goal to take 100 crafty cre8tions with me to the event.  I admit, this takes a lot of planning and a person really has to dig in to get things done!  And, I'm proud to say that I'm not neglecting the rest of the house!  I have figured out that I can make 6 things each day to meet my goal.  So the most time consuming thing is picking the papers.

Pricing items has me a bit puzzled.  I had pretty much decided how to price my items, but then my husband said, "you're pricing them at wholesale, and this is retail!"  So now I need to involve a third party so I don't end up taking home all my stuff!

Anyway, I'm excited and glad I finally made the commitment!

Stay tuned for the rest of the adventure!

Christmas is getting closer!  Radio stations are playing Christmas music and the stores have been full of Christmas decorations for weeks!  My mind has been filled with Christmas projects as well!  But not every project is planned entirely of paper.  I know!  That's not what my name would suggest!  I do like to stray off the paper path every once in a while, just for something different to do.  This Christmas I have plans to add vinyl to the very popular plastic tumblers that everyone seems to carry around.

Today I got a  Facebook post from SVG Cuts alerting that there was a new free design available for download.  It just reaffirmed why I love SVG Cuts and have since Easter of 2010.
 This was a free file that they offered on 2-27-2010.  It is also the day I discovered how wonderful they are!  Below is what I made for a class of preschoolers for an Easter take home treat.  I had just gotten my Cricut Expression in December, and hadn't really done any crafting like this before.   SVG Cuts taught me a lot!

Hello Everyone.

I went to my local Dollar Tree today to stock up on essentials (face tissue, paper towels, baggies, bread).  I always cruise the other isles, because you just never know.  Today I made some fabulous finds, both for crafting and for gift giving!  Here they are!

Today is the official first full day of Fall.  It arrived at 9:29 p.m. last night, according to the Old Farmers Almanac.

In an effort to stay ahead of special days and holidays that I like to give gifts for, I made these baskets about 2 weeks ago.  Last night I made the easiest pumpkin muffin recipe.  I baked them in the really big muffin tin so each basket just got one.  I put some paper shred in the bottom of each basket, stacked the muffin on top and added a book of stickers (that I keep on hand from the Dollar Tree). The boys took them to school today to give to their teachers.  I realize that it's not a traditional gift giving day, but I enjoy making my paper crafts, and it's even more enjoyable to have an occasion for creating and giving!

The basket is from SVG Cuts Fall Harvest kit from two years ago.  Most of the papers I used were single color AC card stock.  This was a quick and easy project to complete.  The baskets are roomy allowing for one big item or several small ones.  I hope the teachers like them as much as I did making them.  Now on to more Halloween crafts!

Be sure to visit my Facebook page for a chance for TWO giveaways!

Thanks for stopping by!  Craft Happy!

This was a fun project to make.  It takes a lot of  paper, but it's super cute and fun to have out for Halloween.   But a project like this can really exhaust your crafting resources. and put a crimp in your craft budget.  I'm going to share a couple of tricks I used to help keep this beauty below budget.

1.  Use tissue paper instead of Velum.  Velum can cost over a dollar per sheet.  I can get an entire package of tissue paper at the Dollar Tree, for just a dollar!  I can't cut it on my machine, but it's not hard to hand cut the pieces.

2.  If your decorative panels are of a heavy, sturdy card stock, use lighter cheaper paper for the base.  It won't have the sturdiness you would get from a project made of all AC card stock, but no ones going to be living in it.  However,  if the decorative panels are of a cute paper, and not card stock, don't scrimp.  (On the roof I used a sturdy purple card stock and some cute Halloween paper I bought a couple of years ago at Michaels.)

3.  Skip additional embellishments.  This house has so much fabulous detail, it doesn't need any embellishment.  On the trim pieces I just inked and embossed.

4.  Mary at SVG Cuts, put a lot of thought into this project and included lining for the interior to finish if off nicely.  That's a wonderful touch, but I saved myself four pieces of paper by leaving them off.

5.  Don't go cheap on glue.  It is what holds your project together.  I like the quick drying glue from 3M.  Even though they changed the bottle and perhaps the formula, I still haven't found any I like better.  It doesn't make the paper wet like some glue does. It doesn't require much to get the job done. And once it's set, it is set!  (I buy it at Micheal's with a 40% off coupon)

6.  I buy most of my "holiday" papers after the holiday, when it's being cleared out.  So, yes, a lot of the projects I make are with last season's paper, or even several years ago.  But who really knows or cares.  I can get more bang for my buck by shopping clearance sales!

I realize that my tips will not change the course of crafting, but perhaps it will help a few of my fellow crafters enjoy more affordable crafting.  If you have a money saving tip, why not share?

Thanks for reading and craft happy!

Next week, a lot of schools will be celebrating Teacher Appreciation Week.  Most schools discourage monetary gifts for the teachers and ask that the students make cards, draw pictures and/or bring flowers from the garden.  These are all very lovely things for the kids to do, but I like to let the teachers know that I also appreciate their hard work during the year.  In Wichita, we have Dollar Tree stores, and I just love them.  Recently I found these darling compact mirrors and bought up a few for gifts.  (If I like something I try to buy many of them, because the next time I go in, they're usually sold out)  To really dress up my wonderful $1 find, I have made these adorable clutch purses to give them in.  These super affordable mirrors in this clutch makes them an extra special gift for next to nothing!  Who wouldn't love to get one of these purses with a handy compact inside!  And not just for teachers, but girlfriends, sisters and yes MOMS.
These are from SVG Cuts Luxury Handbags collection.  The possibilities are endless!  Super cute and easy to make!