Christmas E-zine Round-up!

Hey!

So I'm SUPER happy lately.Why? I won this giveaway, that's why! Sparkle Mod-Podge, paints and brushes! Woooh! Now I just have to decide what to make!

This, perhaps? Very festive! 

Speaking of festive, there's a lot of Holiday e-zines out now that are really good! Emily Henderson's is, of course, fabulous, full of gift ideas and great diys! You can check it out here.

Don't be fooled by the child-like felt snowmen on the cover of Tickle the Imagination - this is a stylish, and beautifully well-put-together magazine, full of gorgeous crafts for your home and others!

 

Another one worth a browse is Splendidly Homemade. There's some good gift ideas here. I especially love the Yo-yo embellished gloves and socks! Very cute!

Creature Comforts is one of my favourite blogs, so it's no surprise that Ez comes up trumps with her wonderful publications of Gifted magazine. Last year's is full of free printables and diys. This years is simply full of wonderful presents to get for others. Put aside plenty of time for both - you'll be enthralled!

All of the above mags are FREE! Yay! But if you're willing to spend a little bit on an online publication, Amy Power's  Inspired Ideas is for you! All the issues are just so wonderful to look at and sigh with crafty happiness!

So there you go. My round-up of must-see Christmas e-zines. have I left something crucial out? Please don't hesitate to tell me! What is your favourite magazine to read during the festive season? Leave a comment - Don't be shy!
S xx

 

 

Pretty Pinterest!

Hey!
So I haven't posted in aaages, but lets not talk about that and instead, let's admire the new shiny Blogger look! What do ya think?! Pretty fancy, no?
So I've been kinda addicted to Pinterest of late, (no change there!) and have found some super pretty things over there! So here we go, my latest round-up of Pretty Pinterest!

1) I orginally found a picture of this a while ago, but I happened upon the actual link via Pinterest. It is going on my Christmas list NOW! It is Deborah Lippmann Glitter Nail Color! (A.K.A. PARTY ON YOUR NAILS!) It looks so fun and glittery - I want it sooo bad! :)  

2) Next, I found this gorgeous online magazine called "Etzcetra" The first issue is so cute, filled with lots of crafty little things to make and do. Also, as it's the first "pilot" issue, it's FREE! Yay! Who doesn't love free cuteness? Crazy people, that's who! Check it out here!

3) Do you like penguins? Do you like paperclips? (Clearly those are rhetorical questions, I mean seriously, Who doesn't?!) Well, now you can combine your two great loves with these! Yes, ladies and gentlemen, there are now paperclips that are shaped like penguins! WOOH! And if you're too cheap to fork out $7.99 for a box of paperclips, you can try and diy some. This tutorial shows how. Just substitute mustaches for penguins. (That has got to be the weirdest sentence I have ever written)

4) Next, I found these! Sick of the paparazzi following you around and taking photos of you in embarrassing situations? (Hey, we've all been there.) Then you need these! (This post is sounding more and more like an overly cheesy ad as it goes on. I apologise.) Anyway, these are "censored" shades and look so cool! Is it weird that I really want a pair?!

5) And finally, I found this supermegafoxyawesomehot (A Very Potter Musical inside joke. If you're a hp fan and haven't seen it, getcha self over there FAST!) blog called Colour me Katie. Seriously, put aside some time to go through the archives of her posts. She lives up to her name and her apartment is filled with the cutest paper cut-outs in the colours of the rainbow - Mucho inspiring! She also posts about Improv Everywhere, a "New York City-based prank collective that causes scenes of chaos and joy in public places." Like I said, really inspiring and funny! You can't help but smile at Katie's wonderful posts abut her cat, creatively fixing problems, things that make her happy, and crazy costumes!  That's all for now! Byee! S xx

Make a Gift Bag!

Hi! How many times is it actually acceptable for me to apologise for not posting?! It's getting so repetitive, there's just no point any more. I'll stop. OK once more, Sorry!!!

Anyway, did you know, it's only
78 Days,
8 Hours, and
56 Minutes 'til Christmas?! That's less than 11 weeks away, and if like me, you're planning on making all your cards, and gifts, it's time to get cracking! (If the prospect of this freaks you out, or you are one of the people who hates people who talk about Christmas before Halloween, bear with me! I may turn this into a bit of a "Preparing for Christmas" feature, but I'm super busy right now, so no promises!)

You could also make this little gift for any Autumn/Winter Birthdays! I made this little bag for my cousin's birthday a while ago.

I  followed Angry Chicken's fab tutorial for snack bags - I know, but they work great as any sort of bag! And it is SO easy! I don't have a sewing machine and am a complete novice when it comes to any type of sewing at all, but I did this in literally 10 minutes!
The monogram took a good bit longer. I opened Microsoft Word, and then played around with lots of different fonts till I found a nice chunky "E"! I printed it off big-ish (Don't you love my precise instructions!?) I then pinned it to a nice coordinating felt, and cut it out. Sewing by hand around the corners was a bit tricky, but I managed it!) Et voilà! A lovely little bag! I filled it with some stickers, a mini notebook, pen, and some little toys! And you have a great personalized gift! It would work for boys too , maybe in red, navy, or green, and a monster, robot, >> etc. sewn on?! Any simple silhouette would work great! That's all for now! S xx

My version! 

Hey!
So I haven't posted in ages - I know, I'm sorry, but I have been SO BUSY!  I'll post whenever I can get a spare moment!

Anyway, I found this fab tag tutorial on Saltwater Kids (via Pinterest, of course.) I saw it and decided I needed to try it!

I've become completely addicted to Pinterest lately (as if that wasn't already SO obvious!) BUT I don't actually try any of the things I pin! I've done a few, but I currently have 3239 pins, so I think I'm slightly behind. This is me trying to rectify that.

Since I already have a Picnik account (again, evident from previous posts!) this was a piece of cake! I can't believe I never thought to try it before! >> This was my first attempt - WAYY too big when I printed them off - Go smaller than you think! - but now I know how to do it, my mind is buzzing with ideas - Christmas ones? teeny-tiny ones?  How about "Made with Love" ones??

 Saltwater Kids version!

 If you want to try making your own tags, check out the tut here! Much cheaper than store-bought ones - They're pretty much FREE, in fact, and you can personalise them with names, special occasions, anything! I'm thinking New Baby ones would be adorable, with the name and date of birth of the child!  That's all for now folks, Byeee! S xx

Sorry! (And Good News!)

OK, I've been completely MIA lately. I haven't posted in ages! I'm sorry, and I know there's no excuse, but I'm going to make up one anyway! It's September, so I'm back in school again, and it's just realllly hard to get a post finished! I'll do my best, but no promises! ;) You can check out my Pinterest boards if you get withdrawal symptoms! Somehow, I always find a spare few seconds to pin one or two lovely things!
In other news, I've just found out that my comments OK, comment, :) will we featured in the September/October issue of House and Home, a great Irish home and interior magazine! I commented a while back on a room on their website. As I am ever-so-slightly opinionated, it came quite easily to me! Imagine my shock when I checked out the digital preview of the mag, and there was my name! It's not a huge piece, just a little snippet, on Page 13, but made me so giddy! :) I can't wait for the issue to come out - not just because of my comment, (!) but because they have what looks like it'll be a great feature on Design*Sponge, one of my all-time favourite websites for decorating and DIY Projects! I actually buy it anyway - so no sponsoring here, just excited-ness on my part! If you don't live in Ireland, I'm afraid I don't know if you can get it, but you can browse their cool website! Click on preview in the top right-hand corner! Until then BYE!

Picnik!

Hi!
I have been messing about on Picnik, which is now my new obsession -

• It's free, 
• You don't have to download ANYTHING, and...
• You can alter your photos, play with them, add fun stickers and shapes, allll kinds of stuff! It's so much fun! 

Here's >> my first photo attempt! - not the most prettiest pic ever, but I think good for a first try! Of course, it's still sideways. In Picnik it was the right way round, so maybe Blogger just doesn't like me. I'll (hopefully) post again with better attempts, but I wanted to show this to you first!
 Ladies and gentlemen, If you'd just like to squint and crank your neck to the side, you will see my efforts! :P That tiny writing right there is ze blog name. I've seen tonnes of photos on blogs with a kind of "watermark" on them, saying the blog owner's name, the name of the blog, etc. I always thought you needed a super-fancy-schmancy photo-editing program to do it, or that it was really hard, but actually, it's not! It's so simple!
Just click "Add Text", type in your blog address, choose the font, and the colour and the size, and position it where you want it. BOOM! Your own customized watermark!
At the top is another pic I altered. My "workspace" has actually changed a LOT since I took this photo, but there it is! I rounded the corners, "matted" it, and added text and an arrow! It's so easy!
I also think it would be a great idea to take a picture of, say your kid,  and add text to it to use as a party invitation! Try it out here!  (And NO, this post was NOT sponsored by Picnik, this is just what I think about their awesome website! ;)
 

*Update*
I wasn't lying yesterday when I said I was making word art after reading Centsational Girl's tutorial! Here << is my first shot. What do you think?! I loved the quote, so I typed it up, played around with some of the awesome fonts they have, et Voila! This version is just black and white, but I will definitely be exploring different colours soon! (And if you like it, feel free to right-click on it and open it in a new tab, nice and big, ready to print off! I'd be flattered!)  S xx

Making DIY Word Art!

Hi!

Sorry for the lack of posts of late, I should be back with a Cardmaking on the Cheap post in the next few days, but today, I'm trying this. Making my own word art! I've done very basic stuff in Microsoft Word (don't judge!) but was thinkinhg of doing something a bit more "advanced" with Picasa or Piknik, and today, via Pinterest (Of course!!!)  I found a tutorial to do just that! I've pinned so many awesome quotes on Pinterest, the difficult part will be picking which one to do! Hmm, maybe I'll have to do a few!

AND I might try out some Lego jewellery! Hey, my brothers have wayyy to much, anyway! ;) I'm thinking rings, too! What will YOU be doing this Tuesday?! S xx