Apologies

I've said it before and I'll say it again: I'm horrible at keeping up to date with my blog.

My tendonitis has subsided (thank God!) but I haven't really found too much time to craft just yet. One main reason is that most of my craft stuff is no longer in one spot. When we were preparing for my son to arrive we had to turn our spare bedroom in to his nursery. This required us to move almost all items out of that room. Almost all of my craft supplies was moved out. I say almost because I kept half of the closet. I have my paper rack nestled in there and a few other things but the bulk of my supplies is now in other parts of the house. My Cricut Explore Air also remained in the nursery.

My craft desk for example is now in our bedroom and hubby is using it. It's smaller as it has a lift side so it was the better choice for him to use while the crib is in our room. That being said, his desk was left in the nursery and I have to use that one if I want to craft. My desk holds most of my cardstock as well as glue, stamps, Tim Holtz embellishments, etc. Since my desk can't hold all of my cardstock and some patterned papers those are in our linen closet along with some other stamps, embellishments and my Bind-It-All. To finish off the supplies the last of it is in our closet stacked on some shelves. This includes: flowers, die cut pieces, chipboard, bling, and most of my scraps.

So for me to get any decent scrapbooking done I really have to sit and think about what I want to create, gather as much of the supplies I need, then go into the nursery to work on it. FYI, baby doesn't sleep in his nursery yet since the crib is still in our room. That's fine since we will eventually transfer him. Most of the time by the time I gather the items it is getting too late to create. So I will start something then have to clean it all up and put it away until I can get in there again. I can't leave the items out as my son is now tall enough to reach up to the desk and pull things off it.

So that's why you haven't seen me that much. I told you at the beginning this would be hard for me. And I will try to keep posting as much as I can but I may have to change the direction of my posting. As much as I love crafting at this time since I have a baby/toddler (he's not a toddler in my eyes yet!) I want to start posting maybe a few reviews on products or suggestions for baby items. We shall see. Again no promises because I can't always find time to sit and type.

Well that's all for now as I can hear baby stirring and will most likely wake up to nurse again soon. Until next time.

More party decor

So I'm about 5 weeks out until my son's birthday.  Eek! I seriously can't believe he's going to be 1. I don't want him to grow up but he is and I'm happy and sad.  So because the big day is coming I've been a busy mommy and working on decorations for his birthday.  The theme is pool party but I've been primarily focusing on a beach ball for most of the decor. 

Right now I'm working on his high chair banner so I discovered how to make tissue paper tassels.  Now I could post directions on here but to be honest you can just find them on Pinterest. That's what I did.  I didn't want to spend the money on a fabric panner because I know it's going to get dirty.  And I probably won't use the banner again. Plus,  this was cheaper. Since we are a one income family I have to find ways to cut costs and I already had the tissue!

The main focus of the banner is the 1 sign and that is made from cardstock I had on hand.  Again I need to save money as much as I can so I went with primary colors to make his decorations. I'm loving it all. And though the day will bring tears to my eyes they will be sad and happy tears. 

Happy International Scrapbooking Day!

Today is the day we celebrate our love and passion for our hobby (and to snag a few discounts from some of our favorite scrapbook companies!). I had hoped to be able to participate in some challenges from other blogs but when you have a 9 month old who is teething and very clingy you can barely use the restroom by yourself. The little guy is in bed so that's why I am able to write this post. I am going to make it quick as there are still a few hours left of iNSD left and if I can get a layout or 2 out I will be happy.

If you want an up to date on what I'm crafting on then I do highly recommend following my Instagram. I also try and post Cricut tips and just show you what I'm working on. Well off to craft my lovelies! Hope you all got a chance to be crafty too!

Seeking my passion again

It has happened. After 9 months I have finally found the time to craft again! Cue the confetti canons and make some noise! I have been trying to get to this point since my little guy was born and because of constant feedings, sleep regressions, teething and trying to get housework done I had not had the time to create. And I mean really create. I might have done a quick card here or made a quick cut out but nothing big. Now I"m finally getting stuff done!

One thing that is really helping me is that Cricut finally released their Design Space app for android! More confetti! We android users have been waiting for this day for a long time. Now it is till in Beta form but some of the recent updates have made it easier to create. And I have been a designing while I'm nursing or laying in bed with hubby and baby. I've even cut a few things straight from my phone! Completely ecstatic about this. I can't wait for the full version where I can expand my designs even more but until then I can at least start a project on my phone and finish it on the computer after baby goes to bed. So much easier and quicker this way.

So let me tell you what I've been working on. I started an Instagram page solely for my crafts. You can see a preview on the right side of this blog. And if you'd like, you can follow me! My new obsession has been vinyl. I LOVE making wall clings or even personalizing some items for my son and nephew. Now that doesn't mean I've completely abandoned traditional scrapbooking I just haven't had the time. Until now! My first project is going to be my son's scrapbook. I have been taking his hand and footprint every month (which reminds me that I have to do this month) and took advantage recently of Shutterfly's free prints. I had previously printed out a few photos when he was 2 months but needed more photos. So on nights like tonight I will be scrapbooking my little heart out. Oh and writing a blog post here and there too.

So I'm off! The adhesive and cardstock is calling! I'll write to you all later!

My Return

I knew I wouldn't be able to handle a blog. I even said that in my very first post. BUT now that I have gotten the little one on a semi routine I think I can handle writing more consistently. Now I'm not guaranteeing a daily post but at least 1 or 2 a week. I think that's pretty good for a mama. So let me bring you up to speed.

My luvbug is almost 9 months old and I'm planning his first birthday. I can't believe it's been almost a year since I gave birth to him. It makes me sad and happy all at once. He is refusing to crawl as he prefers to stand and will most likely walk before he crawls. He's not sleeping through the night and honestly I'm not rushing him. I love the cuddles we get and enjoy nursing him. He's got 4 teeth with 2 more on the way. Teething is a bitch. Sorry for the swear word but it's been hard on all of us. We took family photos and although I have horrible post partum hair loss and growth they came out pretty damn good. Photoshop really made me look presentable. Hubby and I are planning a trip to visit family in the summer as well. So that's about it

On the crafty side I have really been loving using vinyl. I've been personalizing anything I can! Cricut also finally launched and updated their android app so I can design while my love naps. Only downside to the app is it's still very limited so I'm only using basic images or text. Which for vinyl is not a problem for me. I also have established an Instagram account dedicated solely to my crafting. I used to post on my personal but since I love posting photos of my sweet angel I didn't want to have it mixed in with my crafts. So give me a follow if you like. You can find it at @hmwlbynatalie.

So that's about it for now. I will do my best to include more mommy posts and crafts are coming as I can't throw a party without making something for it. I'll update soon!

Vinyl crafts

I know I've been slacking on the crafting posts and honestly I knew that would happen. It's the whole reason I made this blog, to talk about my lack of crafting. The title of the blog may throw you off a little but it speaks the truth. I'm an ordinary mama who loves to craft. That being said I don't always have the opportunity to let out my creative juices. Being a mama and wife take priority. I will however do my best to give any crafty tips and will post any projects I do get a chance to create. So on to this post.

Vinyl, oh beautiful vinyl. I have found a new expense in my crafty journey and it is vinyl. I made my first vinyl project over a year ago and I got hooked. However I didn't get a chance to do much more with it. This past year though I have made 3 projects so far.

Heat Transfer

Heat transfer vinyl is very easy to use. Placement on the material is also fairly easy. One thing to remember when cutting your heat transfer vinyl is to have the image or wording be a mirror image. I made that mistake when cutting out the big cousin shirt. Luckily I had enough vinyl to complete the project.

So I use my Cricut and Cricut Design Space to make my images. CDS does have a feature that allows you to choose the mirror image option so you don't mess up. I forgot about that feature in my hurry. If you purchase quality heat vinyl (I got mine from bogovinyl.com) the cut will be easy and so will placement. There are tons of videos on YouTube to tell you how to cut and place heat vinyl so I will just give you a quick rundown.

1. Create image in your cutting program.
2. Size the image 
3. Place heat transfer vinyl shinny/plastic side down on mat
4. Load mat to machine
5. Set blade to vinyl or a low depth. You want to cut through the vinyl but not the plastic
6. Press cut
7. Remove mat from machine
8. Remove excess vinyl and weed out any small pieces
9. Place vinyl on material, plastic side down
10. Iron following vinyl recommended heat setting for iron. This may vary. I also don't iron directly on the vinyl but add a small piece of cloth (pillow case) on top of the image I'm going to iron on. 
11. Slowly peel up plastic. This may take a few times as you need to make sure the vinyl gets ironed on properly.

And that's it. Make sure to follow washing instruction for your vinyl. My vinyl was recommended to wash the item inside out

Cling Vinyl

Sorry for the low light photo but this was the largest cling vinyl I did. It was really easy and honestly I loved making it! Now this vinyl is Oracal 631 and it is a matte and removable/indoor vinyl. There is Oracal 651 that is a glossy and permanent/outdoor vinyl but I have yet to use it. I went with removable because I knew in the future this vinyl would be removed/replaced. Again I purchase my vinyl from bogovinyl.com and I can honestly say the quality is amazing.

One of the things to remember with cling vinyl is to always use transfer paper to transfer your image. BUT make sure it is good quality transfer paper. I had purchased some transfer paper from Michael's Recollection brand and it almost ruined my cut. I was pissed. Luckily I had some quality transfer paper from Bogo Vinyl so my cut was saved.

The steps are fairly easy to make cling vinyl. They are very similar to the heat transfer except you are not doing a mirror image. Here are the steps:

1. Again, you want to place the vinyl shiny/plastic side down. 
2. Set your machine to vinyl or a low depth then cut. 
3. Weed out the excess and place your transfer paper over the image. 
4. With a bone folder or scrapper tool or anything that you can rub, rub over the transfer tape to add the image to it. This can take a few tries
5. Align image to surface
6. Rub with bone folder or other tool you used
7. Slowly peel away

And that's it! Layering is very easy as you just put one vinyl color on top of the other. I hope you guys enjoyed this post. I have more crafty things coming just need to find the time.

Hoarding

So I was going through my craft supplies and wanted to weed out anything I hadn't used in a while. Now before my son was born and I knew I would have to give up my crafting space I already purged my stash. This time however I really needed to get rid of things. And that's where the title comes from. Hello, my name is Natalie and I'm a craft supplies hoarder.

My vice seems to be bling. I LOVE bling. Pearls, crystals, swirls, clear, colored, you name it. I have quite a collection because of the Scrapbook Expo and sales at Michael's or Hobby Lobby. But having a son doesn't really allow me to use much bling.  If I had a girl flowers and bling would be on every page but because I have a boy I can't use much of it. So I had to purge my stash. I have so many beautiful blings but they are going to good homes.

Another thing I like to hoard is chipboard books. A few years back that was the rage. Mini books were found on several scrapbook blogs and YouTube Channels everywhere. There are still some crafters who make them but I have steered away from them. I did however purchase tons of chipboard books from Michael's (they were $1.50 or less!) and have stored them until recently. Once again they are going to good homes. I have a few mini books I made that never got any pictures. They were just so cute and fun to make!

The last and probably largest thing I hoard is paper. Ahh paper. It's so beautiful with it's many colors and patterns. And don't get me started on paper pads. I purchased paper almost every time I walked into a craft store. 90% of the time it was because it was on sale. I have donated quite a bit of paper that was unused for many years and the only reason I purchased it was because it was on sale. Now I'm a little more selective but I have quite a bit of paper because of my Cricut. I don't purchase as much patterned paper because of this but if I need a design I will pick a sheet or two up.

So that's it. That is the extent of my hoarding. Well, there is this thing about a guy named Tim Holtz but I'll save that for another post.

Thrifty mama

So I was going through some finances today, paying some bills, things like that when it occurred to me that some of you new mommies and crafters are probably looking for ways to save some money here and there. Now by no means do I have the greatest ways to save money but a few dollars really help.

 A little note: I am no way affiliated with any of the companies or apps I'm about to tell you about. I do however get a bonus for the Ebates and Ibotta links I post.

I'll start with the crafty side. Easiest way to save a few dollars is by downloading an app. You don't get bombarded with emails if you don't want and the coupon will always be in your hand. Michael's, Jo-Ann's and Hobby Lobby all have their own apps where they give you coupons as well as show you what deals or specials they have. If you don't want the apps to take up space on your phone you can always email subscribe or for Michael's and Hobby Lobby you can print directly from their website. Micheal's and Jo-Ann's do accept competitor coupons. I'm not sure about mobile but printed coupons are taken.

Another great way to save a few dollars is to watch for sales. Michael's and Jo-Ann's usually have something you need on sale and it is great to take advantage of that. I learned a little trick to the Hobby Lobby sales. They repeat their sales every other week or every two weeks. So if you need something from Tim Holtz from Hobby Lobby just wait and watch. Every third week Tim Holtz (and Cricut products!) go on sale. You can also do some online shopping but I'm rather picky and impatient and can never justify the cost of shipping.

Now for the mama side. Coupon clipping can be a little time consuming so I have started using two apps/sites to help with my thrifty-ness. The first is an app called Ibotta. This app lets you cash in rebates at grocery stores, clothing stores, and restaurants. Now I will say that they tend to give you a lot of alcohol rebates but there are a few non-alcoholic rebates I have cashed in. Some have been for diapering products as well as everyday groceries. Again you won't be saving hundreds of dollars and you can't cash out until you reach at least $20 in rebates. BUT that can be in the form of a gift card or cash sent directly to you through PayPal or Venmo. I will say you have to go through the rebates to select them to be able to redeem but I tend to do this when I'm breastfeeding and can't move around.

To sign up with Ibotta click this link: https://ibotta.com/r/26thq

The other site I use is Ebates. This website gives you cash back for online shopping. It's pretty simple really. Just go through their site and depending on the store or website you get a certain percent of cash back. They will send you a check every 3 months as long as the cash back amount exceeds $5.01. You can also withdraw the money using PayPal.

To sign up with Ebates click this link: https://www.ebates.com/r/NATALI20684?eeid=28187

Finally, this is the quickest way to save some money for a very specific store. There is no wait time as you get a percentage or discount as you check out. This is the Cartwheel app from Target. I shop at Target for the majority of my toiletries, cat and baby products. They are constantly updating the discounts they offer and make it easy for you to search and look up. I also love that you can scan an item in store to see if there is a discount. You can stack Cartwheel with your Redcard so I do highly suggest getting that as well if you can. I have saved quite a bit using Cartwheel especially on diapers and diaper cream for my baby.

I hope these little tips helped. Like I said, you're not going to save hundreds of dollars each time but when you have a baby or a limited craft budget every penny saved counts.

My Crafting Supplies

So I know I've been bombarding you all with mommy stories and honestly you will get a lot of those. I still consider myself a crafty mama but motherhood is 99% of my life right now. I will do my best to put in craft tips and share projects as my son gets older but he's still very young right now and requires 100% of my attention.

So my first crafty post is going to be about the supplies I use most. I've been a scrapbooker for roughly 12 years or so and I've gone through a few phases. I have also gone out of the box from traditional scrapbooking into a little mixed media and digital scrapbooking. I make cards, banners, mini books, frames, use canvas, etc. I think I have dipped my fingers in at least every type of scrapbooking related phase. 

That being said I could not always purchase the best tools or most recent paper lines. I do have preference for a certain designer and prefer a certain way to scrapbook. But through all this I have come to learn what tools and supplies I really need. So here is my list (in no particular order).

1. ATG Gun

Now this can be a bit bulky and take a little bit to get used to but I love this thing because it takes me awhile to use up the adhesive. I used to use smaller tape runners and would get frustrated having to change it all the time. I can go through a few projects before I need to refill this. My suggestion is to wait for a 50% off coupon to get this as it is a little pricey. The refills are $10 for 2 so I also wait for a 50% off coupon to get my refills as well. 

2. Non-stick Craft Sheet

 Love this! It is a must for anyone who crafts. It resists paint, ink, glue, you name it. It is also heat resistant so if you use embossing powders or a hot glue gun it won't get damaged. I do suggest getting the larger size for your craft area but I also purchased the smaller size for when I craft somewhere else.

3. Cardstock

This is pretty much a given but it is always good to have a variety of solid color cardstock. I make cards as well as scrapbook so I like to have plenty on hand. Size wise I like to keep 8 1/2x11 as well as a few sheets of 12x12. Bazzill makes some great quality cardstock but thickness is really up to you. I shop a lot at Michael's so I do purchase the Recollection's brand and have had no issues. 

4. Scissors

Now I'm a little biased on these scissors only because I am in love with Tim Holtz and everything he makes. But honestly these scissors are amazing! They will cut through cardstock, grungeboard, cardboard, thin plastic and even wire. They have a pointed tip which is great for fussy cutting and the soft grip handles make cutting comfortable.

5. Paper trimmer

Along with scissors, a paper trimmer is very important.Now there are different styles of paper trimmers and prices as well. I use a simple sliding trimmer like the one pictured but you can get a guillotine style or even a roller style. Mine has the arm that slides out for larger measurements but there are trimmers that have a wider surface area too. I don't have a lot of space so this one just worked for me.

6. Cricut Machine

Again I'm a little bias on this as this is the only cutting machine I have owned. But I do love my Cricut. I have several cartridges and now with Design Space you can upload your own images. Because of this machine (and the air is the third machine I've owned from Cricut) I no longer purchase stickers. I have moved on and now cut out all my images. Personally I think it makes the scrapbook pages and other projects a little more sophisticated. As with all my other purchases, I always wait for a deal or sale or try to use a coupon if I can. 

These are probably my top crafting supplies I use on a regular basis. I don't use very many embellishments because I have a Cricut and prefer to cut out images. Every once in a while, especially when I make cards, I do use stamps and ink but otherwise these are the supplies I use regularly. If you have any questions please feel free to leave a comment.