Butterfly Magnets - Pretty Little Studio

Hello! Just popping in to share a cute set of magnets that I created. I used the beautiful Marigold collection by Pretty Little Studio.

I used the Epiphany Crafts large round tool to punch the patterned paper circles and add the epoxy sticker tops.

I'll be setting this beautiful collection aside to work with new Pretty Little Studio lines. Be sure to check out You and Me, as well as The Gold Mine. The Gold Mine is filled with metallic foiled tags, papers, vellum, and more. It is oh-so-pretty! Also, join the Pretty Little Studio facebook group to see sneak peeks of the next line, Treasure Island. It is gorgeous!

Thanks for stopping by today! Have a good one :). Tessa

Summer Bucket List - Epiphany Crafts

I've been looking into a summer bucket list for my little family for several weeks now. I want our summer to be filled with magical moments; not magical because they took a lot of planning and effort to pull off, but because they were meaningful, simple, quality family time moments. I found most of my inspiration from this Pinterest board (she has more, too!) and I'm all giddy over the fun stuff we will do this summer. To plan and document our summer, I created this summer bucket list ensemble:

Using my Epiphany Crafts round 25 tool (the large circle), I embellished a pen for writing down ideas and a mini album for documenting the events as they happen. The boys insisted on an actual bucket, too ;).

 

One of my favorite bucket list items is to read a stack of books as tall as Mom. My reading list is currently to my knee caps, and I'm still adding to it. With the way my boys read, I'm sure we can get this one done :). One of the books on my list is The Great Gatsby. I figured I needed to give it a re-read after seeing the movie.

 

You can see this project at the Epiphany Crafts blog here. Be sure to check out the Epiphany Crafts blog all week for summer-inspired projects. There are quite a few mini albums that are absolutely adorable! Thanks for stopping by and have a great day! Tessa

Buds - Epiphany Crafts

It's hexagon week on the Epiphany Crafts blog, and I have to say - I love working with this shape! When hexagons first got trendy, I think I got hexagon-overload. However, now that all the fuss has calmed down a bit, I am really enjoying adding a hexagon here and there, where they really belong. The new hexagon tool by Epiphany Crafts is definitely inspiring me.

This layout is about my son and his good friend. If every one had a friend, or could be a friend, like this boy, the world would be such a happy place. I'm really glad Colten has this kid in his life :).

I'm finding that more and more, the hexagon tool is a shape I reach for when designing decidedly masculine layouts. I love the angles and filling the bubble caps with graphic designs.

I used the April Scrapbook Circle kit to create this page. Yes, I'm a bit behind when it comes to using up my kits ;). I went with a kraft/gray/black color palette. It was fun to take a break from bright color!

Oh my goodness, and I'm just realizing...hahaha! It looks like the "swell" speech bubble is coming from the dog die-cut's derriere. Oh dear. I did have that speech bubble up higher, like it was coming from Colten's friend, but I dropped it when I was adding it to the page. I couldn't adjust it because I used liquid glue that would smear all over the vellum I backed the wood chips with. Ha! On a technique note, backing the wood chip with vellum helped it pop off of my page more, without losing the pattern behind it. I ran the wood chips through my Xyron sticker maker (they barely fit, but it worked!), then attached them to a sheet of vellum. I trimmed the pieces out and used liquid glue behind the wood sections to attach them to my page.

You can see my post at the Epiphany Crafts blog here. While you're there, enter to win your own hexagon tool and accessories!

I've got a busy, long weekend ahead of me. When everyone else is cheering for the work week to be over, I'm gearing up to go to work. It's our last competition of the season - rehearsals today, compete tomorrow. Wish us luck! Tessa

Mother's Day Corsage - Epiphany Crafts

Between filling orders for the shop, I've been collecting many, many new fabrics for the upcoming Summer update. One in particular just seemed to call to me when I sat down to make my latest Epiphany Crafts project:

I just love the deep coral-pink and the floral print! You can read through the post at Epiphany Crafts here for the how-to. All of the flowers you see here are currently or will be in the shop for the update, June 1st.

I love using my Epiphany Crafts tools to create the flower centers. I used the oval tool and the small round tool here. The settings are spray-painted gold, but the original silver finish they come in is very pretty, too.

As I mention on the Epiphany Crafts blog, making my mom and mother-in-law fabric flower corsages for Mother's Day has become a tradition. I love seeing them wear their flowers with their Sunday best, on Mother's Day and other days throughout the year. And I know my mom is always happy to tell anyone who asks that her daughter made it! You gotta love Mom :).

Have a great day! Tessa

PS - I'm entering this brooch in the Mother's Day Your Way contest, Best Craft/DIY category, found here. It's all about great Mother's Day gifts under $25.00. My brooch came in well under that mark. Wish me luck :).

Edited to add: My brooch received an honorable mention :). See here. Thank you, NerdWallet!

B is for Buys - Epiphany Crafts

One day a new friend came over to my house and noticed my collection of letter B's on the wall. She stared at it for a few moments then said, "What does B stand for?" She was a little embarrassed when I explained they were our family monogram - B for Buys. She thought my last name was something completely different! So, just to clarify, the B is for Buys, my last name :).

Epiphany Crafts challenged me to put the round tool to use, and although I have used the round tool for everything from layouts to cards to jewelry, I had never used it for home decor. I decided to finally decoupage this wooden B that I've had for nearly a year and the Epiphany Crafts round tool was just what I needed to bring it all together.

I used sewing pattern paper and book pages to cover the B, then fabric flowers and felt leaves to embellish it. The circle epoxies were the perfect embellishments to add a little color.

You can read my tutorial for the B here. And in case you want to know more about that really big B, here is my post from a couple of years back about it.

I hope your April is off to a great start! Thanks for stopping by :). Tessa

Upcycled Easter Gift - Epiphany Crafts

I love to reuse things if I can. I hate to throw away perfectly good boxes and bags if I think I can repurpose them later. When I was challenged by Epiphany Crafts to create a last-minute Easter gift, I thought instantly of an empty stationery box that I had:

The orange stripes were original, and since the box was in perfect shape, I didn't change a thing. If your box is a little worse for wear, you can recover it with pretty scrapbooking paper.

To dress it up, I simply added a fabric flower (like these from my Etsy shop - this particular fabric will be available very soon!). I made a flower center with my Epiphany Crafts round tool and a vintage setting. I love the pop of green!

Lastly, I added a tag (SRM Stickers labels by the dozen).

Filling the box with pink grass and yummy Reese's Peanut Butter Eggs was my favorite part. If you look closely, you'll see that the wrappers of the candy actually inspired my colors. All in all, I'd say the project took about ten minutes :). Easy-peasy.

Visit the Epiphany Crafts blog for more Easter projects and the chance to win some great Epiphany Crafts product. I hope you have a wonderful Easter weekend! I'm excited for the egg hunts, family time, and Sunday services. What a great time of year! Have a good one :). Tessa

Lucky Green Necklace - Epiphany Crafts

I told you I had more St. Patrick's Day crafts coming! I was challenged by Epiphany Crafts to make something along the lines of green and/or lucky. I haven't made any jewelry with my Epiphany Crafts supplies lately, so I decided to make an accessory to wear on St. Patrick's Day. I wanted to be able to wear it for other occasions, too, so I designed this necklace with versatility in mind:

First, I spray painted the silver-toned charm gold. I made an epoxy with the Round 25 tool and a patterned paper by Websters Pages. I loved the yellow rose and deep green leaves! Right up my alley :).

I attached beads to a gold chain, graduating in size and switching up the colors, finishes, and shapes.

I know this necklace is going to get a lot of wear, on St. Patrick's Day and beyond. What will you be wearing to avoid pinches on St.Patrick's Day?

Have a good one! Tessa

I Mustache You a Question - Epiphany Crafts and Bella Blvd.

Yes, I am still rocking the mustache trend! My boys love funny facial hair and if a mustache on a stick will get them to cooperate for photos, I love it, too! This week Epiphany Crafts and Bella Blvd are teaming up for a cross-promotion that is filled with eye-candy and fun. I'm up first on the EC blog with this mustache-adorned paper bag album:

Bella Blvd's Kiss Me line includes a patterned paper covered in mustaches and hearts. The design inspired the title of my album, which led to a little photo shoot and Q & A session with my boys. I normally start a project with photos or a story, so this backwards process was a fun departure.

Because mustaches were the main idea, I created big mustaches for the cover and each pocket page. First, I cut mustaches that were about six inches wide with my Silhouette Cameo. Next, I covered the mustaches with adhesive. I used my tape runner, which mostly worked, but I resorted to my hot glue gun to secure ends and stubborn spots. Starting in the middle and working out, I wrapped the mustache shapes with yarn, pressing into the adhesive as I went. Once all wrapped, I embellished with an Epiphany Crafts heart.

Each boy has his own page spread, which includes his photo and a short list of things he loves. Opposite his photo page is a pocket page that includes a journaling card and a little brown bag that holds more journaling.  I plan to add a list of things I love about each boy in those little bags. Someone just asked me recently where I found those - Michaels, in the gift wrap aisle. In the large pockets created by the paper bag openings, I plan to include a love letter for each boy :).

I embellished the pages with a scattering of mist splatters, blue rhinestones, wood veneer hearts, and Epiphany Crafts round bubble caps. The navy blue vintage settings were a perfect match.

I had a lot of fun working with Bella Blvd papers for this album. The cute designs made this lovey-dovey album just charming enough for my boys. Be sure to check out both Bella Blvd and Epiphany Crafts this week for more projects combining these two great companies :).

Thanks for stopping by! Tessa 

Blessed - Epiphany Crafts and DCWV

Hello! Wow, what a week. A lot has happened in the past several days to our little family. Nothing serious, but enough to cause concern and stress out this mama. I'm looking forward to a fresh, new week :). In spite of our challenges, I have felt very blessed, and that is the reason I created this page for Epiphany Crafts:

We were challenged to find inspiration from a project on Pinterest. I found this pretty partyscape and used the clustered paper flowers as the creative spark for my clustered embellishments.

Pin - Original Post

I used several Epiphany Crafts tools, including the circles, the round buttons, and even the flower. Scattering mist, sequins and rhinestones was fun, too.

The most fun part, I think, was working with such a girlie collection of papers. This is a brand new stack from DCWV called Dear Jane. Think Jane Eyre, Pride and Prejudice, etc. Books, roses, lace. Cameos, pink, red, gold. It's gorgeous! And you will be able to find it at your local JoAnn's soon :).

Thanks for stopping by today! I hope you enjoy your weekend :). Tessa

Celebrate This - Epiphany Crafts

With the start of a new year, we are celebrating at Epiphany Crafts! I get to kick off this fun week on the blog today with this layout of our sister trip to San Diego:

On my sister's birthday we went to the San Diego Zoo. We started the day with a tour of the park, and this is us on the top of the bus. The driver sang Caitlin Happy Birthday (well, kind of - his own goofy version) over his loud speaker. It was funny, and I wanted to document that moment on a page.

I used Epiphany Crafts' pennant tool to create arrows to accent my title and lead your eye to the journaling. I simply cut the corners off of the flat end.

I also used Epiphany Crafts' vintage charms in red to create the fun red flowers with yellow centers. I love those charms!

Speaking of Epiphany Crafts, have you seen their new products? Debuting this weekend at CHA, Epiphany Crafts will now offer a HEXAGON tool and bubble caps! I am so excited for this shape! And that's not all. They've introduced more charms for the jewelry makers - rhinestone circles and squares! Be sure to stop by the blog to check it all out :). Have a great day! Tessa

Christmas Storybook Countdown - Epiphany Crafts

Hello! Wow, what a week! Getting sick followed by Thanksgiving is a good combination for not getting a lot of blogging done! But, the week was good (in the end) and I'm ready for a new one. Before Monday gets away from me, though, I wanted to post my latest project for Epiphany Crafts.

This year we are counting down to Christmas in a new way - with a Christmas Storybook Countdown. My boys all love to read, so I thought this kind of advent calendar would be a great fit for our family. Epiphany Crafts teamed up with Simple Stories, and I was given the Handmade Holidays collection to play with. I cut apart the title/journaling cards and created 25 tags, one for each book:

I embellished the tags with stars, banners and circles by Epiphany Crafts. I also added a bit of gold airmail washi to each one.

I wrapped up 25 storybooks in tissue paper and matching yarn, then clipped the tags in place.

I decided to use clothespins so that I can save and reuse the tags next year. No sense in tearing them with the wrapping, right?

Now my boys are getting excited for bedtime stories and Christmas. I hope this is something that turns into a tradition for us :). For more Simple Stories/Epiphany Crafts wonderfulness, stop by the blog here (and enter to win!). Thanks for stopping by today! I am sharing another advent calendar tomorrow, featuring one of my favorite holiday stacks by DCWV. See you then! Tessa

Attitude of Gratitude Day 26: I am grateful for my health, and the health of my family. I don't mind the little bugs we catch when I know how other families are suffering through incredible, physical hardships. I really can't complain and am truly blessed.

Happiness is a Grateful Heart - Epiphany Crafts

Epiphany Crafts challenged me to make a fall decor piece. Inspired by one of my favorite quotes about gratitude, I created this:

My fall decor consists of traditional autumn colors, with a bit of pistachio green thrown in. I wanted this project to be all about the green, so I pulled my favorite green-blue papers from Crate Paper's Acorn Avenue line (picked up via Scrapbook Circle). I used Epiphany Craft's round and button tools to create custom shapes, and I filled in the smallest spaces with rhinestones.

I love the sparkle! With all the natural fibers and materials in my fall display, it's fun to have a little bling now, too :). You can find my project at the Epiphany Crafts blog today. Be sure to enter to win their giveaway!

Attitude of Gratitude - Day 13: I am grateful for my boys' teachers. It always so happens that parent-teacher conferences happen during November, and after meeting with my boys' teachers, I am always reminded of how hard they work. I am grateful to them for their dedication to my children's education. And for their patience, and sense of humor. :) :) :)

Thanks for stopping by today! Enjoy your Tuesday :). Tessa

My Girl Mini Album - Epiphany Crafts and My Little Shoebox

I had the pleasure of working with My Little Shoebox for a recent Epiphany Crafts project. I don't have a little girl, so I made a mini album for a friend with the darling My Little Shoebox papers I received:

I used 4x6 chipboard pages as my base. I simply covered each page with patterned paper and created a pocket on every other page with a patterned paper strip. I used the journaling cards as in between pages and tags.

I embellished the front with a MLS flower and Epiphany Crafts buttons and a vintage setting. I also used the buttons on the inside of the album. I love that they are dimensional, but also flat and completely custom - great for mini book embellishments!

Thanks to My Little Shoebox for the opportunity to play with your sweet, sweet products :). You can find the post at Epiphany Crafts here (and enter to win an EC/MLS prize, too!).

I've slipped in posting my Attitude of Gratitude thoughts here on the blog, but I have been posting them on Facebook and Instagram. It was a rough week with a pulled muscle in my back and a little boy with the flu, but it was a good week. Just one where I wasn't on the computer much ;).

Attitude of Gratitude - Day 6: I am grateful for the country I live in. I really, truly am.

Day 7: I am grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ because it gives me hope and peace.

Day 8: I am grateful for Jaxon. He does this thing where he blinks his eyes rapidly with a devious little smile when I'm trying to scold him. He knows it will make me laugh! I love this kid with all my heart and soul. I am so grateful that Heavenly Father saw fit to send him to me.

Day 9: I am grateful for my job. There is a lot of sad talk around here about jobs - strikes, unemployment, underemployment, etc. As a dance teacher, I am offering a service that is pretty much a luxury. I would imagine that it's one of the first things that gets cut when families are having a tough time. And yet, I have classes that are past their maximum and I have had to turn down private lesson students due to lack of time. I do not take this for granted one bit. I work hard to offer my students the best class every week. I love my job and my students know it. The income I am able to bring in to our family budget is a HUGE blessing and I am very, very grateful for it.

I hope you had a great week, too! Thanks for stopping by today :). Tessa