Project Plaza ... DIY 3 Tier Craft Stand Tutorial

Well, I was hoping to do a Technique Thursday Tutorial today on how I created the background for my Life is Beautiful with You in it! page. But time was not on my side this week. I've been busy driving up to 3 hours a day taking kids back and forth to camps and evening activities. That leaves very little extra time for me. I do have a fun announcement though!

JessicaSprague.com recently launched a new series of hybrid project tutorials called Project Plaza. Today my first project, 3 Tier Craft Stand Tutorial, was released. You can read more about it and purchase it here if you like!

I'm working on the tutorial for my next project as we speak, so tune in August 6th to see what else I have up my hybrid sleeve. ;)

And hopefully I can find the time to get that Technique Thursday Tutorial up next Thursday. 

take care. xoxo - jenn

Workshop Wednesday

We were on a little vacation last week, so my Etsy shop was closed and I wasn't home to work on crafty things in the studio this past week. But I do have something to share from our first week of summer vacation. The girl and I did get a decent head start on our Happy Go Lucky Stitch Along, but we still have a long way to go. This is a class that was taught in June by Amy Powers at Big Picture Scrapbooking.

 Supplies ready!

The project is a sampler of 25 (or more ... or less ...depending on how you set up your grid) things you love. The photo above shows my piece of fabric with my grids sketched out. Now it's time to sketch my 25 little things onto the fabric. 

Here, the girl is sketching out her Things That Make Her Happy.

 

My embroidery hoop all ready and the first stitches started! 

 Getting the hang of stitching on a hoop.

 Doing a lovely job on her first square ... a cute little bumblee bee!

And here is my project with just 2 squares finished. We have a long ways to go, but we have the whole summer to work on it, bit by bit ... hopefully together! :)

thanks for taking a peek. hope you are working on something fun & crafty, with someone you love!
-xoxo jenn 

Workshop Wednesday

Last week was the last week of school and it was a whirl wind of a week ... with a moving up ceremony, 2 trips to Waterparks and 2 pool parties... just to name a few of the things that were on our agenda. I'm not sure how I managed to get a few wholesale orders completed, but I did! Here's my studio share of some of the felt flowers that went out last week to retailers.

A collection of hair clips and pins in bright, happy summer colors!

And lots of felted wool flowers made with scraps of found wools upcycled from sweaters and such. Love making new things out of old forgotten items!

-xoxo jenn

January Goals and Organizing

The 1st month of the new year is almost behind us and I've been busy organizing and setting goals, both in my personal life and my business life. I've spent the month scouring the web for free downloads to help with my organizational needs and have put together 2 binders that I hope keep me on track for the  year.

Here are links to some of the free printables I used in my binders for both home/family life and business:

Printables Your Way

Get Buttoned Up

Grocery List Printable

The Peaceful Mom

Polaroid Frame by Splendid Fiins found HERE.

One of those sites, linked above, has a video showing how she organizes her binder. It was way too involved for me. I really just wanted a central place to keep everything for important family matters. I do have some detailed grocery list sheets and menu planners in there that I can pull out when I need them. Usually I just use my iPhone Calendar for our family schedule & the Note app for smaller grocery lists. But when I need to do a huge grocery shopping event, I do pull out that printable grocery list. My business binder is the more detailed one that I find myself using every week to stay on top of my to do list and projects. When you work from home, time management is key. But all in all, I now have a place to keep track of internet passwords for myself and the kids, a place for my business schedule, all my To- Do lists & home projects and can see my business goals at a glimpse. It has helped. Big Time.

With January being the big planning/organizing month for me, Febuary is usually the big DOING month that follows all that list making. I know I have lots of closets, drawers and a home studio that need a good cleaning. We'll see how that pans out! Is it spring yet?

A bunch of new pages... and back to school for you!

I have a bunch of new pages to share with you today. When I look through my photos of my son, I see snap shot after snap shot of him with some random bug or critter he has found. I need to do a collage page highlighting all his finds. Another day, I suppose. For now I choose one recent moment, where he scooped up a praying mantis and let it crawl all over him until releasing it back outside.

Creatures of Nature

{Creativity by Crystal}
Me & My Brother Paper Packs 1 & 2 {coming soon!}
Playground Elements Add-On Pack -red heart epoxy
Playground Papers -red dots

{Jessica Sprague}
Template + v.3

{splendid fiins}
@ the office paper pack add-on 2 -graph paper & blue circle paper

{queen of quirk}
Father Time Element Pack - Butterflies

{katie pertiet}
Let Your Light Shine Template - jewelry tags
Tied Fasteners No 3

{lynn grieveson}
Wild Weekend Alpha (title)

fonts: Steelfish (title), Centry Gothic (journaling)

This one is just a moment from last month, after the kids caught the ice cream truck going by our home.

Celebrate Summer {iKari Designs}
Save the Date Vol. 5: Curvy Labels
Glitter Spills

{Creativity by Crystal}
Me & My Brother Paper Pack #1 {coming soon!} background paper
Artisan Label Templates No. 1

{liv.e designs}
Summerific Labels - recolored
Softly, Gently - The Kit Elements - green string and tag
Not Quite White Paper Pack

{Queen of Quirk}
Fathertime Paper Pack
Collab with Paislee Press - You are Here Full Kit - red floral, blue flroal, red border, bow

{katie pertiet}
scatterings no.4

{anna aspnes}
curvy corners stitched borders -recolored

{lynn grieveson}
wprn page edges no. 4

And a hybrid project using Elle's Studio Birthday Bags & Birthday Banners ... decided these would be cute as little treat bags for the lunch box for the 1st day of school when it arrives. I also printed out a little label and wrote a love note for my kids. :)

Lunch Box Treat Bags
{Elle's Studio}
Birthday Bags - Boy Hybrid Project
Birthday Banner - Boy Hybrid Project
In the Moment Journaling {coming soon!}
Banner Letters Brown - Hybrid Project {coming soon!}

{Creativity by Crystal}
For 12x12 Layout:
Playground Element Pack -heart
Playground Element Add-On Pack - happy face epoxy
Doodley-Doo Borders

Fonts: Stamped Act, Hanoded Hand

American Crafts felt hearts, Martha Stewart's Twine

And if you are looking to get your self back to school with some fun classes this fall, check out JessicaSprague.com.
Classes starting soon include:

Now We're Rockin' in Photoshop Intermed. Digital Scrapbooking

all new updated class, register today, starts Aug 30

ABC Inspiration by Carina Gardner - register today, class starts Aug 13 $35.00

Oh Shoot! Beginning Digital SLR Photography

register tonight at 9pm EST!

Crystal Wilkerson will soon be teaching a new Blog Design Basics for Bloggers class! More Details coming soon!

That's it for now. -xo

Teacher Summer Themed Gift Can

Don't know where the time has gone. I meant to post these photos a few weeks ago, but somehow forgot in the hustle and bustle of the end of the school year.

I wanted to make something creative and cute for my daughter's teacher for the year end gift from the class. All the parents chip in to get a gift card, but I thought it would be extra special to present it something other than just a card, tin or mini gift bag ... so taking Laurie's lead as seen here at jessicasprague.com, I created this faux "paint can" to present the gift cards.



I found the plastic, light weight "paint can" at Hobby Lobby. Wrapped it with pretty summer inspired paper.



Added similarly colored embellishments with a summer theme on the lid and front. Tied some pretty matching ribbons along the handle.



Then I stuffed it with goodies: Crystal Light Lemonade & Iced Tea mix, citronella candle, bookmark, candies (that just happened to match the papers and color of the summer theme: orange, blue and green), a summer flip flop box, and of course the gift cards.



Then topped it with crimped paper filler in matching colors. Cute as can be.




Had my printer been cooperating, I would have printed out some digital papers and used Kari Holt's awesome Gotcha Covered: Paint Can Template, but my printer has been acting up lately so I had to do it the hard way.

Get Crafty with Kids

So this little gem of a blog appeared in my inbox this morning courtesy of Craft Magazine Daily:

Spring Wardrobe Update by Kristen Sutcliffe from New House Project

Kristin writes: I often find vintage embroidered handkerchiefs at estate sales and flea markets, but I don't have a good use for them. I decided to use one to transform one of Saya's plain tank tops for spring. Even if you are not a big sewer, you can do this project. I promise it is very quick and easy.

How cute is that tank top? I read the tutorial & it does look super easy! Now you have an excuse to peruse your local flea market or garage sales ... or ebay if things haven't warmed up in your neck of the woods.

The whole blog is dedicated to crafting with children. Reminds me of my early stay at home years with my kids. We lived in California where the weather was almost always beautiful and we spent many an afternoon out in the yard making endless works of art and mucking up our plastic PlaySkool (is that how you spell it?) picnic table. Had I had this little blog at my disposal back then, I would have been a happy mama. Not saying I wasn't a happy mama, but I did spend an enormous amount of time searching for kid friendly craft projects or trying out my own ideas (not all of them were a success let me tell ya!) Everything looks easy, fun and best of all ... for most of the projects, you can use ordinary household items and even do some recycling.



Here is another adorable project: Heart hand stamps by Khali from Little. Lovely.