Great Deals at Cricut Are Expiring Soon!

**This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking through my links. 




Cricut has some of the best deals of the year right now which are perfect for the coming Holidays! From an extra 20% off new sale items, to free shipping, and even 35% off digital products, the deals going on now at Cricut.com are too good to miss!

These great deals expire soon, so be sure to check them out today! 

• Cricut 12 days of Christmas: Shop amazing deals through 12/16
• You can also get 35% off all digital products, plus free standard shipping, at Cricut.com with Code 35DIGITAL through 12/15!!
• And get free shipping on all orders with code FREESHIPDEC at Cricut.com through 12/31

My ETSY Shop

Hi there!!! I love crafty stuff and making handmade cards, planner stickers and so much more. Please visit my Etsy shop - Queen Bee Craft N' Stuff for your planner stickers (which can be used for calendars, journals, notebooks, and other stuff you want to decorate!) and other crafty accessories to make your planners pretty and glam!


SHOP:  QUEEN BEE CRAFT N' STUFF

New items!

Note pad sticker kit

Halloween Dogs

Thanksgiving Bounty

Fresh Fall

More items to come! Shop now!

My December Erin Condren Planner Decor

I am having a ball of a time decorating my Erin Condren planner because it makes my planner more colorful, fun and interesting. Erin Condren planners are already colorful and fun as they are but with my own personal touch, I feel it is more befitting of my personality.

December month is the most fun month to decorate because I was able to use my old patterned papers from My Mind's Eye. I like how the cute, whimsical Christmas characters from My Mind's Eye made my December pages extra cute!

The whole month of December is adorned with snowman, kids in winter clothing, polar bear, snowflakes, stars, Christmas tree and some stickers from my other patterned paper stash. I am very happy that I kept my patterned papers because they are very useful with the design process of my Erin Condren. As you can see, there are also plenty of washi tapes all over the pages because I got hooked on the latter quite late. I wonder why I never discovered the many wonderful uses of washi tapes. However, I am glad that I managed to snag some great designs at very good prices in Etsy.

So, here are my Erin Condren December decors. If you also want to have one of these life planners or any products from Erin Condren, please feel free to sign up here and you will get your $10 upon your first purchase:  https://www.erincondren.com/referral/invite/clarindacervantes0315

First week

Second week

Third week

And my favorite page - the week leading to Christmas!!!

Don't Toss It: Make a Charming Rag Quilt in a Weekend

Photo credit: patch-to-patch.blogspot.com via yahoo images

Wait! Don't throw away all those old clothes. You need them. For what? For a rag quilt, of course. It sounds a bit strange at first, but a rag quilt can become your child's (or another child's) most prized possession. A rag quilt is essentially a quilt made out of old clothes – rags, quite literally. 

Watch Videos

Before you start, you should check out some of the videos out there on sites like Vimeo and YouTube. Get a feel for the process. See what others are doing with their quilt projects. Then, download a few videos using something like http://youtubedownload.altervista.org/ so you have a good reference saved to your own hard drive. In fact, you should consider saving a few of the best videos, as long as they're not copyright protected. If they are, ask the owner of the video for permission to use them for your project. Make sure you remember to respect intellectual property.

Get The Materials

You're making a quilt, so naturally, you'll need materials. Fortunately, this is the easy part. Rags. All you need are rags. Old shirts, pants, jeans, even underwear if there's enough material (you'll be cutting it up a bit so it'll be unrecognizable). 

Cut The Material and Batting

Cut the material for the quilt and the batting that will go inside. For the material, you'll need 180 squares of flannel cut into 6 inch squares. You'll also need 132 squares of rags, and 8 squares of each of complimentary fabrics. 

Now cut 180 5-inch squares of batting. Make it easy on yourself. Use a rotary cutter and cutting mat. 

Put Everything Together

Place a 5-inch square of batting on a 6-inch piece of fabric. Now, top it with another piece of fabric. Align the edges of the squares of fabric. Repeat this process to create 90 squares. Make 42 blocks of the main fabric and 48 blocks of complimentary fabric. 

Prepare For Sewing

Now that you have the basic batting sandwich done, it's time to align everything. Get a ruler and draw a diagonal line across each of the squares from one corner to the other. Now, repeat the process, making an “X” in the center of each square. This will form the basis of your stitching  lines. Make sure you're using water-soluble pens. You want these to come off when you wash the fabric.

Sew It Together

Sew everything together. Follow all of the stitching lines on the quilt. Here's where your sewing skills will come in handy. You'll need to sew everything together to form the quilt. Use a half-inch seam allowance when sewing the blocks of fabric together. Make sure that the seam faces the front of the quilt. 

The first row should have 9 blocks – this will give you a guideline for the rest of the quilt. Just keep sewing everything together, layer by layer, until you run out of blocks. Pin the first row to the second and repeat the process using the ½ inch seam allowance. When you're done, clip through each seam allowance about ¼ inch. Stop snipping at about 1/8 an inch from the stitching line. Clip around the perimeter of the quilt as well. 

Lisa Harold is a passionate crafter. She loves recycling old things to make beautiful and useful new things.

4 Easy Easter Crafts For Kids

Easter is one of my favorite occasions while growing up. I love coloring and decorating eggs. I love making baskets out of used newspapers which my siblings and I would paint in cute, pastel colors.

Easter is a great time for kids to let their artistic and creativity come alive through their lovely Easter creations. Here are some easy-to-make crafts for kids to enjoy. Just make sure you are there to supervise for the cutting. Have fun and decorate your place with these awesome kids' creations!

Bunny Envelopes

(From MarthaStewart.com)

What you'll need:
Envelopes (you can choose pastel colored ones too!)
Pink construction paper
Glue
Colored Pencil
Pom-poms
Bunny Ears template (you can get it here)


Steps:
1. Seal the flap on the envelope and draw bunny ears on the sealed side. You can follow the template from Marthastewart.com.

2. Cut along the lines through both layers of the envelope.

3. Flip the envelope over. The side of the envelope becomes the bottom of the treat holder.

4. Then cut out some pink construction paper and paste on the ears. You can draw eyes and mouth using the colored pencil. Stick a pom-pom for the nose.

5. Fill with Easter sweets and treats!

Peep Show

(From Delish.com/photo from Michael Partenio)

What you'll need:

Lots of pastel colored jelly beans candy
Several Peeps Bunny or Chicks snacks
Egg holder or small glass or tea cup
Small flowers or blooms (optional)

Steps:

1. Make sure that the egg holders are clean.

2. Fill with colorful jelly beans

3. Put Peeps on top as decor

4. Decorate with small spring blooms to add pizzazz!

5. Place on tables or window sill for effect

Muffin Cup Flowers

(From DIY-enthusiasts.com)

What you'll need:

Muffin liners with patterns/decors (the colorful, the better!)
Scissor
Glue
Button

Steps:

1. Cut the edges of the muffin liners in various shapes like scallops or zigzag.

2. Layer several muffin liners and glue together.

3. Glue button on the middle.

4. Paste on blank stock cards or tie on a string like banners and hang.

Tiered Egg Stand

(From Spoonful.com)

What you'll need:

2 pcs. Tissue roll cardboard tube
Disposable plate, saucer and bowl (for the tier stand)
Glue
Shredded papers
Eggs
Water color paint

Steps:

1. Glue the bottom of the disposable bowl to the bottom of the big plate, then glue the tube on the middle of the plate.

2. Glue the saucer on top of the tube and glue the remaining half tube on top of the saucer.

3. Paint some eggs with fancy designs and colors.

4. Put some shredded papers on the two plates.

5. Once the paint on the eggs are dry, arrange them on the tier and place in the dining table for decor.

Simple Felt Crafts To Do

Felt is one of my daughter's favorite craft material to work on. She loves stitching chibi dolls and keychains. So, there are plenty of felt materials in our craft stash that can be made to more beautiful crafty projects.

Here are some photos I got from BHG.com which are great felt projects you can make. They are simple and yet colorful and easy to make. You can hand stitch them or sew by machine. It does not matter how you tackle the project because the result will be fabulous!

pin cushion

framed felt leaves

owl pen holder

felt coasters

tablet case

(all photos from bhg.com)

Running Out Of Craft Supplies

Update: I no longer make handmade cards and my Facebook page is already unpublished. Thanks to those who believed in my ability to create beautiful and special cards. :) 25 July 2014

----- oOo -----

When you are a crafter and your juice is just flowing ever smoothly, the last thing you want to happen is to run out of stocks. Yes, it happened to me just when my momentum is soaring. I found out that I only have few patterned papers left, no available embossing powder with Christmas themed colors, few metres of adhesive tape left and very limited supply of paper flowers that I need for my shabby chic and Victorian themed cards.

I have made my list so I can visit the scrapbook supplies this weekend and I am pulling the weekend already to come fast. I am yearning to create my Christmas projects and finish them soon so I can post them in my Facebook page. I am still waiting for that breakthrough that someone will actually place the first order and the rest will be glorious history for my cardmaking biz.

Anyway, do visit my Facebook page and check out my handmade cards. Please feel free to purchase anything you fancy. :)

Also note that I have created an album for my Christmas cards and other stuff. So come back again soon!

More Arts & Craft Supplies Arrived From The Mail

I am on a roll! I love my craft supplies from Etsy! I just got two parcels over the weekend from the 2 shops in Etsy and they are adorable.

I bought some cute and tiny charms to use for my cards from Mondopuro. The rose cabochons, cameos and organza flowers are from jqloveh. These two sellers in Etsy are really prompt and their shipping charges are fairly reasonable too. Aside from that, they gave me discount vouchers for my next purchase and that's really so nice of them. So, if you're into crafts, I do recommend that you pay them a visit at Etsy and you'll find throve of trinkets and cabochons you can use.

Also, I got my 6th batch of supplies from my daughter who bought all the nice french laces, antique looking buttons, ribbons, tulle and Victorian-esque colors of satin fabric. I know what to do with them so I'm just waiting for my daughter to come back so she can help me sew small flowers out of the satin fabric.

I also have my ephemera and other Victorian era images taken from the public domain which I can incorporate in some of my shabby chic/Victorian inspired cards. In fact, I was too excited that I already made one card the other night.

Lastly, my very supportive hubby ordered a customized rubber stamp of my very own "logo" with my new email for my handmade cards and party supplies mini-business which I hope to launch before the holiday season. I'm just running the logistics and other legalities as I need to respect the commercial license of some of the images, shapes and stamps I wish to use in my designs. I hope I get everything sorted out including the shipping rates so I can finally open  my small business.

Please support handmade.

More Art Stash! More Creative Projects!

Oh, I can't wait to get my hands on the art supplies I got today! I wish the weekend is longer as I have plenty of stuff in my head and the creative juice seems to be flowing freely lately. Thank you Lord for that. I thought I'll never be able to create stuff anymore after that long sabbatical.

I made a grunge/Victorian/Shabby inspired tag last night. I'm starting to get the hang of making shabby chic projects. I have yet to learn the tips and tricks of masking, embossing, distressing and mixing inks to have that old look and feel. I'll get to that. Meanwhile, I need to sort my arts supplies and better find a bigger table to accommodate my expanding tools.

I bought a heating tool for embossing, some dye/pigment based inks for stamping, some patterned papers and card stocks and finally got my much awaited cutting tool - Silhouette Cameo! And all these were purchased from the fruits of my blogging earning. I'm so happy and blessed to be able to follow my dreams and actually live it.

I hope it's always weekend! I have so many projects to do and so little time!

Why Buy Handmade Cards? Part 1

I am a staunch supporter of anything "handmade." I believe in making things special and out of love. I have nothing against commercially made greeting cards but what I don't like about it is that, it is mass produced so that particular feeling of uniqueness and crafted out of passion and love is gone.

Before my hiatus from card making, I used to sell my creations during holidays like New Year, Valentine's Day and Christmas. I make customized cards too for friends who have specific preference and much as I wanted to cater to their budget, I just couldn't "underestimate" the value of my labour of love.

People ask me these questions over and over each time I approach them to check out my creations and buy few ones for their special someone. Trust me, selling my work was never easy even if I knew they should sell well. People just don't support the idea of handmade because of many reasons and lack of proper information about the craft.  Here are the common questions I encounter with my handmade card passion:


Why is it expensive?

Here's my question back, do you put a price tag on someone that you love? It's just like that.

• A single handmade card, before it is even crafted by the maker, is well thought of. I have a sketch pad of my ideas, the color scheme I would use, the patterned papers I would cut and in what shape and border, the ribbons I would add and even the kinds of embellishment I would put.

Few pages out of my sketch or doodle pad for layouts and ideas

• Aside from that, I don't make handmade cards when I don't feel like making one. I don't want it to look like it's rushed or forced to be done. It has to come from the heart so you can tell that each card that I made and will be making is made out of love. Hence, Handmade with Love is my card brand.

• I scout for materials and they are not cheap. I buy my stuff in the U.S. whenever I am on vacation and I don't spend less than a $100 dollars for my craft. I spend more than that just to be sure that each card I will make last long, the glue will hold the pieces together, the papers and ribbons won't fade and the papers are acid free for archival purpose.

• Right now, I am trying so hard to make embellishments on my own so my next batch of cards will be slightly cheaper than the first ones while maintaining the value of my craft.

• No two cards will ever be the same. I guarantee you that. Even if I try to copy my previous work, it will never come out exactly the same way as the original. So the recipient of my handmade cards are assured that they are the only ones who have that kind of design.

• Lastly, I buy commercial licence from designers too. Handmade card makers know these (well at least the ones in my circle do). We have to respect the copyright of these designers. If we use a stamp in our designs, we have to make sure we abide in the "angel policy" of that designer. Same goes with die cut shapes and sentiments used in cards. Everything has to be noted and well credited. We don't want to end up in an ugly law suit just because we used someone's design without permission.

You see, all that goes into a single card that we make. So, the next time you see a handmade card in your local craft store or bookshop or when I approach you to sell my craft, remember what you have read here. Don't say, "That's too expensive" because when you do, it's like insulting us and degrading the love we have for our craft.

A lot of love, time and effort has been put in that single card to make someone very special happy. And that is priceless!



Do you earn a lot in card-making?

Honestly, no. It is not even break even, well I am speaking based on my experience. There are well established handmade card makers in the US, UK, Australia and Canada who are really earning a lot. I'm not yet there, not even close. Like I said, I love to make cards. I have tons of ideas in my head which can't be translated into words. I have to let them out and card-making is my medium.

I am hoping that my future venture into this card-making business will be received warmly by people. I am in the process of building up my stocks, looking for great deals with shipping companies here and checking out tutorials so I can make my own embellishments. That will reduce the price of my cards without sacrificing the quality. And I do hope and pray that you will support me in my journey to become an entrepreneur someday.


More questions in Part 2. Please visit again.

MyMemories Suite Project - Spring Flowers

Check out these great freebies courtesy of MyMemories.com!
They make great Party Favors! Easy and fun to make!

Use these to decorate your lawn or string them together and hang them.
Perfect for spring birthday parties or anything else you can think of!

Available free until May 5th. You may download the free template from my blog. Please check the right side under the FREEBIE header. Please do not sell or re-distribute. This is for your personal use only. Thanks!

If you don't have MyMemories Suite Software yet, you may purchase it from http://www.mymemories.com/digital_scrapbooking_software and use my 10% discount code for your purchase: STMMMS30652

Have fun!

(Photo credit: MyMemories.com)