Cool tags for your gifts – Easter!

 Tags or Place cards

It’s all in the technique …

 

The technique I want to show you is called “Heat embossing” and when I first became interested in papercrafts this fascinated me and still does.   The design you stamp is raised off the surface of the paper and has a glossy shine to it.   The only drawback to this method is that you do have to purchase special supplies – a heat tool, embossing powder and Perfect Medium stamping solution.

Choose your paper be it a card, tag or a design for framing.   Stamp the design using the Perfect Medium and then sprinkle embossing powder onto that. 

I used a copper color which gives it a nice antique look.   Shake off the excess powder and return it to the container for future use (don’t discard).   Then take the heat tool and heat up the powder which will transform before your eyes.    

Something that adds a dramatic look to the tags or card is taking an ink pad and going around the edge and brushing it with color.    You can see that on the lower flower tags here.   I then took a swan design and using my sewing machine slowly attached the swan to a doily – I emphasize slowly since we are working with paper and you don’t want to tear it by sewing too quickly.

You can further attach this design to a box lid or use as a place card with an added little treat for your guests adding the date and their name so they can save as a treasured keepsake.

Pretty sweet, huh?

Which type of Chocolate do you prefer – Dark or Milk Chocolate?  Vote here!

Added to the “Get your Craft On” blog linkup…Thanks!

Colors to Create – Wordless Wednesday

A Linky for all those participating in Wordless Wednesday… Thanks for stopping by!

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One World One Heart – Meet fellow bloggers!

The WINNER is ……. Yasmintoo.etsy.com  and you can find her blog here

Congratulations!   Thank you so much to everyone who stopped by and commented on my blog …..I will be revisiting and connecting with more of you wonderful folks.  Thank you to Lisa for such a Wonderful Event and for all her hard work!!!

Welcome and thank you for stopping by!   This is the first year I am participating in this fun and exciting event called “One World One Heart” for an opportunity to meet other bloggers across the world!  The Magic Carpet holders joining along in this magical event each have chosen an item to give away as a prize to a lucky person.  I have included the logo and link for more details.

 

 One World One Heart 

                                               Make sure to check it out!

My giveaway is a set of Creative Crafty pot holders that can be used to protect those creative crafty fingers of yours as you cook up some delicious meals!  Included in the set are two hot pads embroidered with a positive saying – one “I am Crafty” and the other “I am Creative”. 

Both embroidered with “I am Happy” on the reverse side. 

The oven mitt has “I Love Life”  embroidered on it.  The set is 3 items – 2 hot pads along with the oven mitt.  All the items are assemblied using Insul-Bright for added protection.

On February 15th I will pick one lucky winner who will receive this creative crafty gift!   What you need to do is leave a comment and a means to contact you should you be the winner.  You can either leave a link to your own blog as contact information or your email address.  If you would rather not post your email address you can send it privately to mailbox@therunninggarlic.com and I will receive it there.  The cutoff time to leave a comment will be 9 AM (my time) on February 15th.

I will be checking out all the amazing blogs participating in this event and hopefully win some cool prizes along the way and make some great friends!

Once again Thank You for taking the time to stop by and best of luck with the giveaway and all your life ambitions!

Homemade Goodness

Homemade gifts are treasured gifts … gifts from the heart created with care and love.  The time taken to create these gifts cannot be measured in numbers and the goodness that flows from the gift cannot be measured in words.  There are many among us that have a natural talent and are able to create crafts with the whirl of a pen or the hum of a machine.  The gardeners in us are able to create homemade goodness fresh from the earth and as we plan ahead for the coming planting season we should think beyond our summer harvest and look to share the harvest with gifts of goodness that will no doubt be received without hesitation.  Canning our summer crops is an art taken and continued to this day from our ancestors and one that  carries a message of our hard work in the garden.  At times it truly is difficult to part with our canned goods but this act holds a true connection to the earth and the homemade goodness we pass along to those we care about as we give them a gift from ourselves.  Take some time to plan for those gifts now .  Grow extra tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers along with your normal plantings. 

Browse some preserving cookbooks and articles to find great combinations or create your own recipes that may become your next family favorite! 

Remember to include herbs which can be used fresh or dried for later use – these can even be used as a great gift …. dried herbs!  

Flowers need to be included in your garden plans as well.  Fresh flowers are gifts that  will brighten anyone’s day and a nice vase brimming with homemade goodness lightens up any room in the home.  Certain flowers dry well and can be used in dried flower arrangements and there are dozens of craft ideas you can create with them.  A few of my favorites are lavender, globe amaranth, baby’s breath, statice and strawflower. 

 

I did have my sewing machine humming along just recently making the new pup her own place to lounge.   Earlier in the year I spent some time creating this doggie bed for the bigger puppies and they seemed to have forgotten all about it until the new pup arrived.

Now they are very possessive SO I had to make the baby puppy one all her own!  It’s so funny – how she knew it was hers!  These doggie beds are homemade and the best part about them is I used old bed pillows and throw pillows to stuff them.  Took the old worn outer layer off and used the insides to make these.  I could have made new throw pillows but I am guessing the pups like their beds better!  Good way to recycle those worn out pillows –

Once I had them all put together I did pop them in the washer for a good cleaning using this Homemade Laundry Soap.  I have been using this soap for almost a year now and I love it!  I have posted these directions in the past and wanted to make sure to share it once again.  I was asked if it works good in a front loading machine. Yes, it does and that is one of the reasons I searched out this laundry soap recipe. Store bought laundry soap is ridiculously high priced and I wanted an alternative and it does a fantastic job!!!

Three simple ingredients – 1 bar castile soap, 3/4 cup “washing soda” and 3/4 cup borax

Probably the hardest part of all this is grating the bar of soap – I found this GREAT grater and it works perfect!  I did try freezing the bar of soap to make it easier, but it really grated the same (it’s a hard soap).

The finished laundry detergent seems soooo clean!  Use 1 tablespoon for light loads and 2 tablespoons for heavily soiled laundry.  For the most part I use 2 tablespoons and the results are wonderful.  I keep a copy of this recipe in the same drawer as the laundry soap so when I am running low I can make up another batch.

 Finished laundry soap

The Chickens all snug in the roost

Greta, Rosey & Ruby are quite content in their cozy coop considering the temperatures outside are in the single digits and with the wind chill, (which has calmed down since yesterday) it was well below zero!  This is our first year with the chickens and insulation was added all around the coop which sits inside our garage at this location and a bulb for lighting along with a mini portable heater are added to the inside……I think they are Very Happy Hens!  They do so want to roam and do some free ranging but they have no idea how bitter cold it is outside.  We are still receiving 3 eggs a day for the most part.  I thought they would be tapering down in this respect as the days got colder – maybe because they are so well insulated.

We have been giving eggs away left and right and everyone is quite appreciative!  These fresh chicken eggs cost $4-$5 a dozen in these parts!  The difference in my baked goods is definitely noticeable.  The other day as I was preparing a salad for my weekly lunches (I make one big salad for the week ahead and if I don’t do this, I rarely eat salad for lunch.  I find it much easier and healthier to have the food prepared ahead of time – otherwise, I pick and eat bad stuff.)  So as I was cleaning the baby spinach, several thoughts came to me.  First, I can and should be growing spinach indoors during these winter months.  Granted the spinach won’t grow huge leaves but baby spinach is just that… baby, so it should work just fine.  I have a few containers started under the grow/heat lamps already of certain seeds.  I just need to wait for a trip down south to our other home to get my saved spinach seeds.   I do look forward to growing baby spinach …. Soon!  The second thought as I gathered scraps to take to the chickens was this idea of Sprouting your own seeds.

I browsed the internet and read up a bit on this process.  I decided to use lentil seeds.  Either I can add these sprouts to my dishes or I am quite sure the chickens will gobble them up!  It will be good for both of us.  I soaked the lentil seeds in water overnight using a mason jar.  Rinsed them the next morning and every 8-10 hours.

  Lentils soaking overnight Day 2 Sprouts!!

They should be ready soon – I am sure the chickens would even eat them up at this point, but we will let the sprouts grow a bit more.  Then they will need to be stored in the refrigerator if there are any left.

I am happy to say that a sewing design I had forming in my head has taken life.  I have mentioned Affirmations and positive thinking on my website and store listings and this wall hanging is almost complete.

It is my own personal treasure and will be hanging in my work area as a lovely reminder.  Affirmations are thoughts you believe and say to yourself throughout the day.  The sayings are somewhat hard to make out in the photo – I am Focused, I am Fit, I Love Life …. eight great positive reinforcements! I may be adding some of these wall hangings to the store in the future, but right now I need to focus on completing the 8 embroidered name pillows for the nieces and nephews …. only 2 weeks until Christmas, the big day!!  I better get going!

Colors Inspire

I was in the fabric store last week checking sales and looking for inspiration.  I realized how colors really do inspire and make a huge difference … in many ways!  While looking at different fabrics I found myself saying  no, that color won’t do; I need warmer hues … where IS that magic color??  I was waiting for the roll of fabric to just jump out and say … here I am!  I decided to actually “look” at each fabric and make a decision.  This was time-consuming, but very important.  In the past I have picked up fabric, brought it home and there it sat (and still sits).  It doesn’t inspire or excite me.

Having just the right colors will influence how you feel about what you are creating.  Your colors can be strong and bold or warm and calm or a combination  of other sorts.  The impact that color has on you is what matters and how we choose many if not all the items in our lives.  We want the colors that make us happy, confident, motivated (all those good feelings) to surround us.  Most people have a favorite color and are drawn to that same color all the time.  Lately, I have been drawn to warm, country colors that invite the feeling of well-being and goodness.  I want to surround myself with all these happy, warm colors!!

While in the store I came across this new product I have never seen before and was immediately intrigued.  The product is called Aqua Gems and they seem pretty cool and amazing!  They start out very tiny -

 

They come in several colors and I wanted one that would Inspire Me! so I picked Hot Pink Topaz.  How they work is you simply add 4 cups of water and they become hydrated – check this out …

 Before

 After

How cool is that?!?!?  It took about 5 hours – directions say 4-6 hrs.  They are non-toxic, completely biodegradable and environmentally safe.  Uses = cut flowers, soil substitute for growing plants, candle accents and plant safe fragrances can be added which sounds totally awesome!  I took a few cuttings from a vining plant I have that I know will root up real good and will see what happens.  What a marvelous invention and inspiring to boot!