'Tis the Season....

Yes...it is. It's time to start thinking about your Christmas cards if you intend to make them!! I found this link at Scrapbooks, etc. with 30 different cards...you're sure to find one you like! Some are quite traditional, some are not. Some are quite simple, some are a little more complicated. So there is something for everybody in this collection of cards!

Quick & Easy Christmas Cards

Think PINK -- and win a prize!!!

So I promised a PINK challenge for Breast Cancer Awareness month...and that's what you'll get. I intended to get it on here earlier, but well...life happened. So here is your prize...it's a 40 pc. box of chipboard (black and white and glittery), a set of four PINK chalks and a cool PINK maribou Breast Cancer Awareness pen!

Now here's what I want you to do. I want you to create a card or scrapbook page that depicts HOPE in PINK. It can be any layout or design you choose. Then I want you to e-mail a photo of your work to me at TheCozyCraftCloset@yahoo.com along with your name so I know who I'm getting the photo from! Have all entries to me by midnight on October 30th...that gives everyone an entire week to get their creative juices flowing and get their work of heart in to me. From there, I will put your name in the drawing for the prize...your work won't be judged on skill or creativity because different eyes see different types of work as creative. You will simply have a chance to win for participating.

Good luck and Happy Crafting!!

Tin Can Lid Ornament Tutorial

I found this idea at the Heart 'n' Soul Lake Geneva crop and wanted to share it!


You will need:

glue dots
adhesive
Stampin' UP Whisper White craft pad (or white paint would work as well)
scissors
Crop a dile
ribbon
stipple brush
ruler
cardstock
embellishments of your choice

tin can top that was opened with a safety can opener. I got mine from The Pampered Chef (I have an order open until tomorrow if you'd like to order one or anything else PC for that matter! Let me know and I can let you know how to order online.)

I also used my Cricut to cut the circle of cardstock out.

Flip the can lid up so that the "lip" is directed up. Measure across the can lid inside the lip. Using the Cricut, I cut a circle the next size up from my cardstock.

My circle was a bit too big, so I hand trimmed it to fit inside the can lid.

Apply adhesive to the back of the circle and adhere it onto the can lid. Mine wasn't too straight around the edges, but once you stipple the edges with paint or ink, it won't be noticeable.

I chose a plastic snowflake ornament that I had on hand. I bought these last year at a dollar store (Dollar Tree maybe?) and got several in a package for a dollar. I simply snapped the hanger circle off so it would look better and more uniform on my ornament.

Adhere snowflake/embellishment onto the cardstock using glue dots.

Dab the stipple brush on the ink pad or paint and stipple the edges of the cardstock and can lid.

After dabbing the edges of the ornament, you can heat set/dry it with an embossing gun or simply let it air dry.

Using the Crop a dile, punch a hole in the lid to run your ribbon through.


Cut approximately 8-10" of ribbon. Run ribbon through the hole and even the ends. Tie in a knot.

I also added a rhinestone to the center of my snowflake to finish the look.

Lazy!!

Wow, I've been a lazy blogger for the past couple of weeks. In my defense, we have had a LOT going on as a family and I also went out of town to Illinois and then on to Lake Geneva, Wisconsin for a scrapbooking crop with Susie, Julie and Jenny. While I didn't do a lot of scrapbooking, I did get some cards made for the crop challenges at Mommysavers. While I was there, I got a ... errr ... compliment? Julie says under her breath to Susie across the table from me..."Well, she might be a hillbilly, but she's a crafty hillbilly!!" LOL!!! However, there was someone else there who was from farther south than I...and we'll just leave that as that. She was something else!

I also found a cool idea for the tutorial I am going to post today!! I made one when I got home and I really liked how it turned out and it was so super easy. I will make that a separate post, though, so it will be easier to find.

Anyway, I'll also be posting a Pink Challenge tomorrow for those of you who would like to do it. There will be a prize involved as I will draw a name out of the hat for anyone who enters it and e-mails me a picture of their work. And you'll all get recognition because I'm gonna post your work on my blog! So be thinking...and I'll post the challenge and a picture of the prize tomorrow!

'Til then...Happy Crafting!

Sincerely,
The Crafty Hillbilly :o)

Freebie Frenzy

Some of you know me well enough to know that I LOVE FREEBIES!! I don't care what they are, I just love them. If I can't use something but I know someone who can, I will enter my information just to get something besides bills and junk mail in my mail box! So I don't want to be selfish. Go to the bottom of my page and check out my money saving sites. You will find two sites (Thunder Fap and The Freebie Cart) that are nothing but lists of freebies that you can sign up for. Sometimes they will also offer really good coupons. I WILL suggest this: set up a junk mail account. Go to Yahoo, Gmail, hotmail...wherever...and sign up for a free account and then use that address to sign up for your freebies. This way, you won't have spam or junk mail flooding your inbox. Most of the freebies listed are legitimate, I've learned through experience. The most sure freebies are Wal-Mart's freebies. Their site lists around 4-6 freebies at any given time and I have always, always received those freebies. So...all of that being said...go check out the freebie sites. One of them even offers a place to sign up for a free 24 count bottle of Advil!

Oh...and one more site that's not listed on my blog...they give away free money! Yep, for real. MyPoints is a place where you can sign up and then they send you e-mails with special offers. Each time you click on the link inside those e-mails, you earn points. Then if you happen to like the offer and take advantage of it, you get either so many points per dollar spent OR a lump sum of points just for taking advantage of it. This helps save money in two ways: #1, you do get some really nice offers sometimes that you might not otherwise learn about (free photo prints, free business cards/stationery, low priced magazines, etc.). #2, once you have saved your points up, you can purchase gift cards with your points. I used a $25 gift card earlier this year and now have enough points to purchase TWO $50 gift cards to use toward Christmas gifts this winter! While it does take some time to save up your points, it's not difficult and it IS free money, after all! If you don't have an account set up with them and you decide to set one up, please use me as your referral!

Happy Hump Day!!

I had a great afternoon out yesterday browsing Hobby Lobby and Wal Mart's craft department. While Wal Mart's scrapbooking selection continues to dwindle, I did discover that their Cricut mats are WAAYYYY cheaper than anyone else's ($8 for a pkg. of two) and they had some great Martha Stewart clear stamps on clearance...$2.50 - $5.00 a set. I actually got a set and it's now reserved (along with a few other goodies!) for the upcoming Crop Out Diabetes blog hop that I will be participating in! I will be posting more about that in the coming weeks...so keep checking back!

Sales aren't too special at Hobby Lobby this week...for me, the best was half off paper singles and half off Paper Studio punches. I've been drooling over some projects I saw done with border punches so I checked them out. Unfortunately, they only had two...on the positive, they were only $7.99 each so I got two punches for $7.99...when other brands sell for $14.99 each! I also got a couple of nice things on clearance there too, but really nothing to write home (or blog) about!

Lastly, if you're following my blog or visiting it, I'd love for you to leave me a comment today. I want to issue a challenge (with a prize!!!) for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. While out and about yesterday, I noticed EVERYTHING is coming up PINK!! I felt inspired and wanted to do something to show my support for those fighting the battle as well as those who have won the battle...and in memory of those who were simply taken from the battle to go to Heaven. But I also want to know that I will have participation...so let me know that you are interested and I will try and issue the challenge by the weekend.

'Til later...keep looking up and Happy Crafting!!

PS. Today, I am SO thankful that Julie will be joining us in Lake Geneva! I am SO excited!! Please keep praying for her job situation.

Check out my side bar...blog candy!!

Check out my sidebar and click on the blog candy photos. This will take you to blogs where you can enter to win digital stamps in one link and a whole host of other cool stuff in the other link! I will try and post a few more freebies later on...but this should be enough to get you started!

Thanks for passing these along, Jess!

Happy Crafting and good luck!

My latest...and quickest...creation

I had planned to join a mini crop on Mommysavers.com this weekend and there was just too much going on. I learned today that I still had time! However, I got sidetracked cleaning (UGH! Cleaning!) and ran out of time. Well...I did create one card that I hated and it won't make it to any internet posting to be seen by anyone! Then I realized there was an open challenge linked to the same crop...closing at midnight tonight! The challenge was to CASE someone else's work...so I did.

I chose the birthday card in this set (belonging to LeeMP22):

And made this card:

That's one of the fastest cards I've ever made because I only had a short time before the submission deadline. Maybe that can explain the sad quality of the photo as well!? BUT...that's as crafty as I got today. I'm seriously looking forward to the Lake Geneva crop in a week and a half....I'm SO excited!!

Speaking of which...a prayer request. One of my best friends' mother learned recently she may be losing her job and soon. She is near retirement age but not close enough to truly retire and not financially able to, either...at least not in THIS economy. Please pray that if she doesn't keep the job she has now that God would just send her a better one!! I know God will provide for her. Just pray for peace and comfort for her in a very scary time...and that she will still be able to join us for this upcoming crop. Thanks!!