Crafty Inspiration

Welcome to another round-up of crafty inspiration from around the web!

First up is this cupcake pin cushion from Dollar Store crafts. I LOVE these! So for those cupcake obsessed gals (you know who you are). Fun huh? Plus they have a tutorial on making these on the cheap at dollar store crafts, check it out

Altering my own clothing is high on my achievement list this year so I loved this tutorial on instructables for at home screen printing! I'm thinking customizedworkout clothing!!! 

Noodlehead shared this great little project recently, complete with tutorial. I loved how she gave us options too for future projects! So fun! Check it out. 

As it's the New Year I am sure lots of us are on the fitness, healthy, weightloss resolution train, and I thought this was a very cool project! It's an iPod holder for the treadmill! I often use an armband but this would work too, and be a great gift idea! Full details and tutorial on Laura Bray blog

Etsy Corner
Each week I'll profile an Etsy seller, just as a heads up. Usually this is something that just caught my eye on Etsy. If you'd like to have your Etsy store featured just drop me a line either via email or link me up in the comments below

This week I wanted to highlight a papercrafter on Etsy and these notecards by zany caught my eye. Her store is full of bright colors and fun patterned paper designs. Totally retro, which I love! Check out zanys Etsy store!

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January free card printable

Time for another free card printable, this one is January and features a birthday theme. You can download it here

• To use download the file & unzip
• print onto letter size cardstock
• cut sheet in half, fold each piece in half to create 2 cards
• add patterned paper as shown
• add embellishments

I love the simplicity of printables! Perfect for quick and easy cards. I opted to ink the edges of my papers and cards but I could have simply left them clean if I wanted. Honestly I think I'm going through another inking phase right now....

Supplies: My Printable Download; Papers: Boxer; Ink: CTMH;

The second card I chose to put the paper all the way to the edges and a little wider. This left room for a small accent, so I chose some rhinestones to accent the sentiment.

Supplies: My Printable Download; Papers: Boxer; Ink: CTMH;

I love that these were quick and easy to make! In future I may just print out a few of these sheets and have them handy whilst creating other projects so I can use scraps of paper up! This design is perfect for those 1"-2" strips we get left over on some projects!

Enjoy!

Di

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Scrapbooking.com Change of Style

New article is up and available for viewing at Scrapbooking.com, my article project is below. This month I am sharing a project I made in November 2010 to use in December 2011. I know most people go from 1st Jan - 1st Jan but for this I wanted to start a little earlier on my 39th Birthday, so I could journal my thoughts through to my 40th Birthday in 2011.

My article this month is all about getting outside your "style" box and I think I did that with this project. Totally not my usual style. I realized the reason I never keep a journal long term is I have this strange desire to make it perfect. I need it all linear, all written nicely, and so it continues for a few months then the desire to journal wanes.

I am hoping that making this journal more fluid and adaptable that I lose that desire for perfection. I want to be more free flowing with my thoughts. I have enough regimented life in my fitness career I don't need the same in my crafting. I love having this free flowing design, being able to add as I go, drawing items from daily life and incorporating them into my journal.

I even included some packaging materials, which for me is a HUGE step! None of the pages are organized and I have partial pages too, which is something I never usually do. In all this project is a turning point. I love the art and design of Cathy Zeilske but also love the free flowing design of Ali Edwards, plus the messy techniques of Donna Downey. I'm hoping that by embracing the styles of all 3 I can learn to let go of my desire for perfection in crafts.

You can find my article along with many more on Scrapbooking.com

Di

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one little word 2011

In the past years my one little word has helped so much to keep me on track for the year. Previous years words have been: focus, change, adapt and balance... this year sees more of a proactive stance as my word is ACHIEVE.

As with previous years the word found me more than me searching for it. I have SO MUCH I want to do this year and being slightly ADD I get sidetracked easily so this year is the year I achieve, and stop procrastinating. 2010 brought MANY changes in my life and 2011 will see those changes blossom and grow into an even bigger and brighter career. Also there are many home, and personal goals I want to achieve this year so my word seemed to encompass a lot of things with the main priority of getting things DONE!

I have an accountability partner who has chosen this journey with me, although she is working in a different field the goal of this OLW challenge is to keep each other on track and focussed. As such I thought it would be interesting to see if I am more likely to keep up with things if I posted a monthly goals list here on the blog, then updated weekly or monthly to see how I did. So onwards to January's list

• HABIT - to-do list EVERY DAY
  
• Decide on easy facebook url for fitness page
  
• get business cards done for classes, promoting website/FB/twitter
• Supercross (8th)
• Survive first week/month back at work
• listen to the CPT lectures #2 and fill out forms
• post on fitness site 5x week
• 19th - charity donation (got one box already! Bob is on board for donating more too)
  
• buy 1 new music CD - 130bpm for step/power pump
  
• listen to the CPT lectures #3 and fill out forms
• get promo photo's done - group fitness
• sell Scrapbook supplies I don't use (sizzix stuff etc)
• sell old bra's on ebay (almost new!)
  
• get group fitness promo pack done and apply to more gyms etc
• get group fitness website done (dihickman.com)
• AFAA Yoga Workshop 22nd - get cover
• Get Boxer projects done for tradeshow and ready to mail (16 cards, 4 layouts)
  
• Do Scrapbooking.com article for February
• Do Scrapbooking.com article for March
• attend Fitness Expo in LA (30th)
• PROJECT - OVERHAUL my office! Fitness business based rather than crafts! Need space to work on routines/exercises and get video's done in here if possible!

• • Tidy desk
  • filing cabinet cleared
  • closet organized
  • tidy table
  • floor pile cleared
  • sewing table stored in closet
  • purge SB supplies (again! ruthless!!!)
  • move embellishments to shelves
  • move 1 desk out completely!!! 
  • transition stuff onto ONE desk
    
  • paint walls?
  • shorten blinds
  • Add curtains?
  • Bookcase in corner?
  • make dog beds for dogs

I figure that's a good start :)

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Workout Wednesday

Time for another edition of

Low energy linked to magnesium deficiency
Spinning playlist January
My fitness goals for 2011
Setting goals for 2011
New Year, New You!
Things to look for when joining a gym
Jane Fonda makes a comeback!
Too much choice zaps energy levels

Remember to stop by the fitness blog for health & fitness updates, articles, workout tips and more! I have LOTS planned in the New Year including video's, reviews and so much more!

Di

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Sketch of the month - January layout

Happy New Year! I had some time off in December and used that time wisely to get ahead and get craft projects done for January :) Yes I started the New Year off already ahead! I did this because I have decided to focus on FITNESS for 2011. Last year (weird saying that huh?) was all about transition for me and finding balance between fitness and crafting. Well this year the balance is gone, I've paired down my crafting responsibilities and I craft for fun and just 2 teams now. As such I am dedicating more time to those two teams rather than spreading myself thinly. 

So onto the New Year and a sketch a month. It may be 1 a month it may be more, I haven't really decided I'm just going to go with the flow! So here is the layout sketch for this month!

Naturally I made a layout with this sketch and decided to combine it with a Boxer project. Maybe that will be my "theme' each sketch? Anyways here is Nancys cute little girl Bella in a layout I made for Boxer. All products except cardstock are by Boxer and available online or in your local scrapbook store.

Wishing you all the best for the New Year! 2011 is going to be a great one, I can feel it!

Di

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Crafty Inspiration

Another round-up of crafty inspiration from around the Web!

A girl and a glue gun shares a tutorial on making this bracelet. I was especially interested in this because I have a hard time with bracelets. You see I have narrow wrists so most chains just slip right on and off without me noticing, so I tend not to wear them for fear of losing them. Now I feel like I have more options with this tutorial!

I've seen tutorials before on how to make your own lightboxes but this one  by (never home)homemaker seemed especially made for crafters. I really think these are invaluable to anyone who sells on Etsy or has a handmade business. Good photo's are essential to great sales! Check it out!

I love this fun market bag from Noodlehead! The pattern is available online, but I just love the bright colors! It's like all my shopping bags, just more fun! I just wanted to share because I love the patterns and colors :)

Regular readers will know I'm a tad geeky, I embrace my inner nerd ;) so I had to share Craft magazines video tutorial on making this firefox pendant. For those still stuck with Internet Explorer, Firefox is a great web browsing alternative, I tried it years ago and LOVED it. So much better than IE!


Etsy Corner
Each week I'll profile an Etsy seller, just as a heads up. Usually this is something that just caught my eye on Etsy. If you'd like to have your Etsy store featured just drop me a line either via email or link me up in the comments below

This week I thought I'd feature seller TrustHemp1320 on Etsy that creates items with natural products. I love natural direct from nature, no chemicals products and so this sellers items caught my eye, especially this Jade pendant on hemp necklace. Check out their store on Etsyhttp://www.etsy.com/shop/trusthemp1320?ref=seller_info for more natural jewellry.


More inspiration from the web every Monday!


Di

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