Christmas Printables 2011

Just thought I would share a few printables I made for my home. I just sent them off to the printers this morning! I will share my Christmas decor when they arrive and I get them put up!

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And if you're looking for subway art, here are some prints I designed previously: Go HERE

I'm join these fabulous link parties each week: Flamingo Toes,  I heart naptime, Under the table and dreaming, Not your ordinary Recipes, Not just a housewife, The Project Queen, Creating my way to success, Craft Couture, Funky Polkadot Giraffe,The Kurtz Corner,  Krafty Kat, Polly want a Crafter, Blue Cricket Design, Southern Lovely, Ginger Snap Crafts,  Women who do it all, Eisy Morgan, Laugh, Love, Craft,  Clean & Scentsible,  House of Hepworths, Somewhat Simple, The Shabby Creek Cottage, The Shabby Nest, The Speckled Dog, Tatortots & Jello, Simply Designing, Chic on a Shoestring, Just a Girl ,Someday Crafts, Reasons to skip the housework,  The Idea Room ,Between U and Me,   Home Saavy
Pocket full of pink, For the love of cupcakes, , Junk in their trunk 

December Calendar {free printable}

Here is the December Calendar...click here.

My New Shutters

I have been totally inspired by all the shutter projects out there and fell in love with the look of barnwood shutters. Specifically the ones found here. I have looked everywhere and could not find any...so I decided to make my own version. Now, this project would have been a breeze if I would have had some real tools...but I made it work. (Keep in mind I am NOT a builder...so I am sure there is a better way to go about this...lol) I went to Home Depot and got some standard (1x3) pine boards. I had them cut them 36" long. I then got some (1x2) boards that were just at the end of the isle and I took the home and cut them myself. I can't remember how many of those I bought. I think they were 8 feet long so I bought 2, but not sure. Anyways, I bought miter box and saw to help with my cuts. Now...this is the first time I have used a miter box, and maybe I am just a wimp...but it was so hard. I knew better than to ask my husband....he would have just mocked the idea and said we don't need barn shutters in our house! :) So I tackled this all on my own. Anyways, this project was kind of just me using trial and error. I cut the boards and then cut cardboard to use as spacers.(I have my measurements diagrammed at the bottom of this post)

I set out my angled piece and put that in place so I knew where I would want my top cross pieces. I clamped these and used liquid nails to set them in place.

After I got them all set in place I used a few finishing nails by hand to secure the pieces. Then I sanded it down a little but wanted to leave these kind of raw. I wanted these to look natural and like old barn shutters uneven and all. I used white paint that I watered down a little so that after I painted them the wood grain would still be visible. Kind of white washed.

For easy hanging, I attached picture hanging wire to the back of each shutter.

And here are my shutters. I'm pretty happy with how they turned out especially since I am such an amateur!

And my current holiday decor.

Here are my rough measurements:

I'm join these fabulous link parties each week: Flamingo Toes,  I heart naptime, Under the table and dreaming, Not your ordinary Recipes, Not just a housewife, The Project Queen, Creating my way to success, Craft Couture, Funky Polkadot Giraffe,The Kurtz Corner,  Krafty Kat, Polly want a Crafter, Blue Cricket Design, Southern Lovely, Ginger Snap Crafts,  Women who do it all, Eisy Morgan, Laugh, Love, Craft,  Clean & Scentsible,  House of Hepworths, Somewhat Simple, The Shabby Creek Cottage, The Shabby Nest, The Speckled Dog, Tatortots & Jello, Simply Designing, Chic on a Shoestring, Just a Girl ,Someday Crafts, Reasons to skip the housework,  The Idea Room ,Between U and Me,   Home Saavy
Pocket full of pink, For the love of cupcakes, Positively Splendid, One Stop Shoppe Party

Guess what I have been doing??

After browsing the links you guys sent to me (Thanks again!) I decided to give these Cabochons a go. At first, I decided to try the acrylic to color them. I tried several colors and here is how they basically all turned out.

Speckled, the color didn't mix in. Not to mention it caused a lot of air bubbles on the back. They weren't smooth. So...I ran to Hobby lobby and bought a few pigments to try. Using the exact same method, here is the difference. (back view)

Notice using the pigment made it completely smooth and the color is so creamy as well. I did lots of color shades/combos. Only bad thing was they didn't have black pigment so I am going to make more once that comes in for some darker neutral shades.

Overall, this was actually pretty easy. A little expensive since I had to buy the pigments...but since I was going to be buying these for myself and to make as gifts the cost will balance out. Plus, it was kind of fun to conquer the challenge. I had read horror stories about how difficult resin is, maybe certain types and techniques are. This was very simple. I might put together a detailed tutorial on these with the products I used and costs since there are so few, but for now I will just share the sites I used. Now I can't wait to assemble them into jewelry pieces and use them for some other projects as well! Thanks again for the comments/emails with website suggestions. You guys rock!
For info on making Resin Cabochons go here:

http://go.tipjunkie.com/hm/897/greylustergirl.blogspot.com/2011/04/resin-tips-from-novice.html

http://skinnerstudio.blogspot.com/p/resin-tutorials.html

2012 Youth Theme Printables

Oh and I totally forgot to include this one so we'll call it #11.

1. Multi Go here
2. Houndstooth Go here
3. Red Go here
4. Grey Go here
5. Pink Go here
6. Purple Go here
7. Teal Go here
8. Colors on Black Go here
9. Blue & Yellow Go here
10. Black & White Go here
11. Orange Go here

Your Assistance is Needed!!

Okay, sorry for the random cry for help, but I am in need of your assistance. Ya'll know about those rose cabachon earrings/rings/necklaces you see everywhere? Well, I have bought from several shops and I love them. I have decided I want more colors to match my outfits...but I had a whim and decided to try and make my own. (what was I thinking?). I found some molds off etsy that are the perfect style and detail, I bought some resin called Amazing Cast Resin and I have no idea how to use it. In the spring, I came across a blog that had a full tutorial. I bookmarked it but since I moved and we reinstalled our computer software I can't find the blog. I have googled myself silly and cannot find any helpful tutorials. I guess everyone is keeping the secret under wraps. :)

Anyways, I need your help. If you know anything about how to make these and would be willing to offer advice I would love it. I am not planning on starting up an etsy shop...so no worries there. :) This is all for personal use.

If you have come across a blog or tutorial with info...please pass it along I would love to check it out. I know there was at least 1 out there...I just can't find it now!

Also, anyone know how to color the resin? I found the dyes but they are quite pricey and plain boring colors. The whole reason I wanted to do this was to make custom colors and jewelry for me and my needs. I read somewhere that some resins can be colored with acrylic craft paint. Anyone know?

Thanks for any advice or info you can offer!!

Thanksgiving Printables

I made up a few new Thanksgiving season printables. These are jpeg files.(8x10 ratio...which means they can be printed larger as long as it is an 8x10 ratio) Let me know if you have any problems!

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For more Thanksgiving subway art go here.

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