My New Hobby!

First off, thank you to everyone for the awesome comments from the Glue Dots/Basic Grey/Lindy's Stamp Gang Blog Hop! It was my first video tutorial, so it was all trial and error, but I think it turned out pretty well! (click here to go back and see it!)

So it's no secret that I'm super super busy at my job, and to top it off, I have over an hour commute each way. I leave early, come home late, and find time to sleep and eat occasionally. That leaves crafting times few and far between, because family always comes first in this household! While I'm not giving up on my crafting by any means, I wanted to find something that was a little more portable, a little easier to pick up and put down as needed, but still getting my crafty fill. Hmm.

I've referenced her before, and I'm sure this won't be the last time: I get huge inspiration from Christy Tomlinson! (Her blog is here and her online store is here!) I subscribe to her monthly kit club (happy birthday to me from the amazing hubby!), and following her blog, Pinterest, and Facebook is a constant source creative fuel! She started doing 'faces' a while back, and they look AMAZING. Now, I thought...She's an artist. I'm an artist-wanna-be. I put the idea of my being able to draw faces out of my mind...until last night. I thought, what makes an artist? Talent? Skill? Sales? Careers?  Nope! Just the love of the art. And that I have.

So I'm going to draw faces.

Portable, time-friendly, and crafty. This could work. I scoured Pinterest, came up with a few good tutorials, and drew this:

Ok, admittedly a little scary. Cross between a police sketch and an alien with death-ray eyes. But for a first go, I'm pretty proud of this gal!
I didn't add hair at first because I was afraid of completely messing her up, so I took her to work, made copies, and went all beauty school on her head.

Hair Number One

Hair Number Two

Ok, so hair number one was ok, but hair number two was good! I started shading things a bit on her, too. Cheek bones, skin tone...even added a flower to her hair.

So it's a start! I'm going to keep playing. Keep creating. Maybe some day she'll even make it to a canvas :)

Summer Travel Blog Hop

Welcome!! We're hopping along today with Lindy's Stamp Gang, Basic Grey and Glue Dots® seeing the Summer Travel projects the design teams have made! If you need to get back to the beginning of the blog hop, click here!
I have to admit, this was a super easy project to create!! Basic Grey's new line, Carte Postale, is PERFECT for all of your travel -- and any other themed -- projects. The fabulous folks at Lindy's Stamp Gang sent a plethora of amazing sprays to play with, and they easily coordinated with the BG paper. And, of course, my Glue Dots® were right there to hold it all together!!

If you've stopped by my blog before, you'll see that this post is a little different for me...it's my first video blog!! I'll admit that I was super nervous while I was filming this, but somehow I edited it into a semi-presentable movie (with thanks to my tech-savvy brother, Tracy, and Miss E. at Glue Dots!)

So, without further adieu, here's the show!! 

(Here's the link for all of you mobile viewers! http://youtu.be/nAEhFVMH6R0)

Here are some pictures of the finished product:

Finished product!

Oh, how I wish these tags were real souvenirs!! This memoir box would be full!!

Notice the dyed bakers twine??

I LOVE the rich colors from these mists!!

How fun!! Big thanks to Basic Grey and Lindy's Stamp Gang for sharing such awesome supplies! I can't wait to see what everyone else came up with, so let's get going to the next stop!!

Glue Dots

Erin (you're here!)

Samantha (go here next!)

Smitha

Lindy’s Stamp Gang

Jessica

Kate

Sharon

Basic Grey

Ann-Marie

Jana

Kelly

Supplies Used:
Cardstock - Carte Postale - Basic Grey
Mists - Lindy's Stamp Gang
Glue Dots® - Mini, Micro, Lines
Paper Mache Book Box - Hobby Lobby
Letter Stickers - Dear Lizzy
Bakers Twine

I wrote this blog post while participating on the Glue Dots® design team

Birthday Cake Decor with Glue Dots®

Eek! A month since I last blogged! Sheesh! Things at work continue to be crazy, and I'm traveling from one end of the state to the other a few times a month. The good news is that there's light at the end of the tunnel (let's hope it's not a train!!), and things should at least be slowing down pretty soon!
I was thrilled when the lovely ladies (and possibly a few gents!) at Glue Dots wanted us to create some birthday decor. Little Miss O's birthday was earlier this year, and I was just waiting for a good opportunity to share how to make this cute little cake banner!

Banners seem to be all the rage right now with decorating, especially for a party. Anyone who knows me when it comes to my kids birthdays, I tend to go over the top with their cakes! This birthday was not the exception, either. A banner on the birthday cake? Genius!
While I was perusing the party section at Wally World, I came across some clearance flags on toothpicks. A pack of 30 for 50 cents! I wasn't sure how they would work, but the colors were perfect. The first step was getting the toothpicks out of the equation.

Use your fingernail (or whatever else you'd like) to tear one side of the flag's paper. This gives you a great little space to adhere them along your string. I used Micro Glue Dots® and bakers twine.

I used Mini Glue Dots® to adhere some K&Company chipboard letters to the front of the flags.

Leave enough extra twine to be able to wrap and tie the ends of the banner around the supports. I used paper straws from Target (again, on clearance! Score!)

So, a little over the top with all of the other decorations, but Little Miss O loved it...and I'll admit...I kind of did, too!

If you're wanting to see more of this la-la-lovely LaLaLoopsy party, check out my post here and here!

Supplies used:

• Micro and Mini Glue Dots®
• Baker's Twine (The Twinery)
• Chipboard Letters (K&Company)
• Paper straws (Target)
• Toothpick flags (Wal-Mart)

I wrote this blog post while participating on the Glue Dots® design team

Buttons Galore and More Blog Hop

Hi! My name is Erin and you've made it to my stop along the Buttons Galore & More Blog Hop. Thanks for joining us! If you came here first and need to get back to the beginning, click here!

I was super excited for our Glue Dots® team to partner with Buttons Galore & More for this hop! They have the cutest buttons, and I am thrilled to work with them for my project today.

I created a gift for graduation for my project today. It feels like I always get stuck in a rut of a card and some moolah as graduation presents. It's easy, right?? Well, this project is just as easy, and it gives the student something to keep for years to come (and it still can include $$!).

I started with a simple, clear ornament. I made a graduation cap to cover the top of the hanger.

Knowing my weakness of getting anything glued onto an ornament straight, I started this time using a small rubber band. I stretched it around the ornament until it was nice and straight, and used that as a guide to put my Thickers foam numbers on. Oh, and BONUS! My empty roll of Glue Dots® is perfect to hold the ornament while I work on it!

hehehe...kind of a self portrait here, too!

 To finish this up, I added an cute little football button from Buttons Galore & More using Craft Glue Dots® (after I cut the plastic shank off the back using nail clippers). I made a tassel and added that to the top of the cap, then rolled up some money, tied it with some rick rack, and adhered that on with a Mini Glue Dot®. 

 

This is a great project because it's quick and completely customizable with different colors, buttons or even adding their name.  

Thanks for joining me along the hop today! 

Here's the complete line up:

Dawn Barrett 

Donna Budzynski 

(You are here!! --->) Erin Bullock

(Go here next!)  Joy Dickson

 Holly Gagnon

 Danielle Hunter

 Smitha Katti

 Michelle Philippi

 Anita Scroggins

 Laurel Seabrook

 Samantha Taylor

Materials used:

• Clear glass ornament
• Thickers - Sunny Glitter Foam Letters
• Canary Rick Rack - Wrights
• Green string
• DCVW - The Silky Smooth Cardstock Stack
• Football Button - Buttons Galore & More
•  Glue Dots®: Craft and Mini

I wrote this blog post while participating on the Glue Dots design team

A Quick Mother's Day Treat

So I'll start by saying that if you happen to be Marty, my own, personal mother, STOP HERE! Ha! Spoiler alert!! You'll be seeing this very shortly in person, so Happy Mother's Day in advance!!

Let me say that I am becoming very aware of the fact that I'm an extremely good shopper! I have an eye for bargains, and I know exactly what styles I like to work with. That being said, my space is extremely limited as far as storage and workspace. I've put myself on a shopping freeze (except for my monthly kit subscription...I need my Scarlet Lime!!), and I'm forcing myself to use up the enormous stash that I have. 

I picked up a cork board at a crafty store for $1 (before the shopping freeze!), not knowing what I would eventually make with it (but seriously, for $1?!? I could come up with something, surely). I have a bag of flower petals my best crafty friend was getting rid of (free!), and a super huge stash of Thickers -- one of those craft items I like so much I never want to use! Add some American Crafts ribbon, some Craft and XL Glue Dots®, and you've got yourself an awesome cork board for someone special!

Quick, easy, inexpensive, and a Mother's Day present your mother might actually use :)
Happy Mother's Day, Mom!!

I wrote this blog post while participating on the Glue Dots design team

Playing Along with The Play Date Cafe!

I always check over with The Play Date Cafe to see their color creations for the week, and this week was irresistible! I've been feeling in a creative rut recently, so this was the perfect pick-me-up to get going again.

Here is the inspiration picture (which I kind of love!!) they pulled their colors from:

And here is what I came up with!

I love this color combo, and I love even more that a new paper pad I got from Basic Grey matched this combo perfectly!! I'm kind of excited about this card, too, because it's going to a special cousin who's graduating college soon. So proud of her and the accomplishments she's making in her life!!

I love these pins from Little Yellow Bicycle, and I'm always looking for a chance to use them :)

I stuck everything down with Glue Dots, and I added an extra little dab of Elmer's Craft Bond on the stick part of the pins to keep them in line.

So, congrats, Heather! So proud of you.

EcoScrapbooking eBook Launch Party

 

 You've made it to my stop along the EcoScrapbooking eBook launch party!! If you missed the first few posts, click here to start at the beginning!
My name is Erin and I'm glad you've joined us today. I first want to wish Danielle a very happy belated birthday, and much congratulations on releasing her book! She's put a lot of hard work into this project, and I'm so fortunate that she included me in it.


Eco-conscious scrapbooking has always been in my brain, but I'd never put a name to it until I met Danielle! I love repurposing old or found items and including it in my work. There's something about using vintage materials that gives pieces just the right 'look'!


Check out Danielle's new eBook, EcoScrapbooking: Crafty Ideas for Eco-Conscious Scrapbookers by clicking here! Feel free to check out the PDF version here, as well.

I thought I'd throw whip us a super quick and easy eco-friendly project for you. I know this eBook is about scrapbooking, but I love the reuse of these materials to make a mouse pad!

My workplace was redoing their logo, and all of their current promotional items were getting tossed. Although I knew I didn't have much use for 23 mouse pads, I couldn't see them get thrown away, either! I was sure I could repurpose them.


I trimmed my paper down to the size of the mouse pad, ran lines of Continuous Glue Lines around the edges, and adhered the paper. See? Super easy!! I finished it off with a top coat to seal the paper.

 

Kudos on your eBook, again, Danielle!!
Keep of hopping, folks! Thanks for stopping by!

Danielle Hunter | EcoScrapbook

 Zaira Sierra | Hacer Scrapbooks

Lisa Troch | The Cherry on Top

Cathy Sanders | What's up with Cathy

Jules Hollis | Inspired Jules

You are here --->  Erin Bullock | Deeply Rooted Life

Go here next! --> Stephanie Medley-Rath | Scrapworthy Lives

Renee Joy | Charms Buttons & Bows

Andrea Friebus | Lights C.a.m.era Action

Jody Spiegelhoff | SpiegelMom Scraps

 

 

Materials for the mouse pad:

• Mouse Pad
• DCWV The Green Stack 8x8
• Continuous Glue Lines
• Mod Podge