Yeah! On vacation! See you soon everybody :)    

Scrapbook Layout and Greeting Card Sketches to Have Fun With

I hope you're all enjoying your summer. I'm leaving for a two week camping trip this weekend with my family and friends and can't wait! This will be a much needed break after my craft room makeover, trying to clean out our shed and organizing my main living spaces. I'm always amazed at how much "stuff" my family accumulates.
  This week I decided to make some sketches for future projects. I had certain borders and flowers in mind, but after making the sketches I realized that many different looks can be created from them.  

  If you decide to use a sketch or more than one I would love to see your interpretation when I return from vacation. I welcome you to place the number(s) of the sketch you used and the URL to your project in the comment section as a reply to "Links". There is an example below. Have fun!

 
 1) Scrapbook Layout Sketch

  2) Scrapbook Layout Sketch
with rolled corners and border punched edges

 

  3) Greeting Card Sketch

 

  4) Greeting Card Sketch

  5) Greeting Card Sketch

Example for sharing your project in comments

Happy Crafting!

Quick Tip: Craft Room Organization

Stay Organized: Quick Tips
Keep a can, bucket or basket handy to place the things you're using when your done with them. This will help in two ways. A basket is easily carried around the room to put your items back in their spaces. A tin can, like the one below, can hold items you still need to use for your projects that you aren't ready to put away. Doing this keeps your workspace clean. For small items that may fall through basket holes I just use a small can or box that sits inside the basket. Another way to avoid losing anything is to place cardboard, paper or cloth in the bottom.  

  Happy Crafting! 

Being Creative - Fun with Blog Decoration: Headers, Backgrounds, Blog Buttons, and Post Dividers

Hello everyone. I've had so much fun the last couple of days making blog backgrounds, headers, blog buttons, etc. Although it does not replace my love of burning my fingers with hot glue, getting paint everywhere and sweeping up paper punch scraps, I'm having fun using my creativity in a different way. So I thought I would share a few of the things I've made. I love the zippers!  

The "zipper" headers began from a photo I took of a green zipper I had on hand. I used Paint.Net to make the background transparent and then Picmonkey to change the color.

 

 

 

The design around my blog name is just a photo of a die cut

I believe this is a Spellbinders Die

This is the header I made for my YouTube account. It started from a photo I took of lace.

 

Then I made a blog background to go with it. I got the sewing stitch from Sweetly Scrapped who has a lot of beautiful things to use.

 

I didn't really like this blog header.

 

 

Now, what about a Blog Post Divider?

 

Although I had to cut the zipper into sections to make it straight and longer. I think it worked out well. So well, that I'm now using it on my blog.

To say the least it's exciting to discover how to do new things and to think that anything I take a picture of can be turned into something useful and creative. I still have plenty to learn and try and to me that's what crafting, art and being creative is all about. So try something new and challenge yourself. You could end up opening up a whole new genre and become addicted :)

If you would like to see how to make an image usable for headers, backgrounds, etc. check out my tutorial here.

Happy Crafting!

 Copyright © 2014 Angela Conklin - Heartedly Handcrafted

All Rights Reserved

My Craft Room Makeover for under $100.00

Hello everyone! 

Wow, I've had a crazy last couple of months, but I'm back and so happy to be able to get back to crafting again and see all of your wonderful projects. 

Scroll down for video

Today I'm sharing my craft room makeover video that takes you through the process (can be found further down this post) as well as a few photos of my finished room. I made a video to avoid making people scroll through a post for the next two weeks. The dramatic reveal moment of the second song makes me laugh every time. Music does wonders. Some of the photos move quickly because they are mostly the smaller projects that were done and can be viewed in previous posts. I still have my chandelier to hang, my floor to polish and an old ceiling to paint eventually, but everything that deals with my crafts is done and in it's place and that is a breath of fresh air. 

I set myself a budget of $100.00 and I'm proud to say that I didn't go over budget.

$$$ Spent

$3.44 can of spray paint
$24.00 cloth storage bins
$16.00 small baskets
$12.99 curtains (cut up to enclose bottoms of shelves and table)
$11.00 satin finish white paint
$12.00 rugs
$3.00 chair
$5.00 chandelier (not hung yet)
$5.00 bag of curtains, clock and miscellaneous small decorations
$7.00 spray paint for chandelier

Total $99.43

 

I wasn't able to finish everything for my craft room makeover such as the painting on the glass of my cabinet and my chandelier is not yet hung, but my room is far enough along to reveal. I'll post the remainder of my projects as I complete them.

Be prepared for an extremely girly room. I love how different it is from the rest of my home which is decorated in earthy tones and has very clean lines. My table skirts make extra storage and can be easily removed and hung back up. I also have enclosed my rubber stamp cabinet that sits on my desk with a curtain, but most of the time it's not hung. I just use it when I have company.

I added a comfortable wing-back recliner chair to my room so I have a corner devoted to relaxation for reading or doing a yarn project. So far one of my girlfriends has made herself comfortable there. I like having somewhere nice for her to sit.

If you have not been happy with your craft room, I hope my project gives you the inspiration you need to make your room, corner, or closet a space that makes you feel good. My craft room makeover was definitely worth the effort.

I would love to hear your ideas of ways you've organized and/or decorated your craft rooms. Please share your ideas in the comments below for other crafters. 

 

Happy crafting!