Game of Thrones Inspired Valentine's Day Cards :: Free Download!!

I think we all know what a geek I am.  So let's just acknowledge it once more and now you can all admit that you're equally as enamored by Game of Thrones as the rest of the world.  What better love story is there than that of Khaleesi and Khal Drogo??  I mean, it's glorious.  There's no other way to put it.   I was feeling especially inspired by their words of love, so I made some Valentine's Day cards out of it... and I turned them into free downloads for you guys!!

These print perfectly onto the Recollections Cards and Envelopes from Michael's - size 4.25in x 5.5in. I used InDesign to print mine.  I created a print preset, setting it to Half Letter and landscape... this way I don't have to customize the settings every time I print a card.  

You have the option to either download the PNG file or the InDesign file.

Moon of my Life Download

InDesign File Download

My Sun & Stars

InDesign File Download

Until the Mountains Blow in the Wind Like Leaves Download

InDesign File Download

Happy Valentine's Day my loves!  Enjoy!!

A Veteran's Day Tribute

Today is an amazing day. We recognize the sacrifice and risk taken by those who have fought for us, for our freedom, for our comfortable lives. I’m sure all of us have someone in our family that is either currently serving or has served. I find it incredible that so many in our nation take such pride in defending what we believe in.

And I am SO thankful for it.

My grandfather, Charlie, served in WWII in the Marines. He never spoke of it to me or my siblings.
We only knew he had seen things during that time that he didn’t want us to know about. Even after the war ended, after his service concluded, he was still fighting for us, keeping those terrible memories to himself to protect our tiny naïve minds from the horrors he witnessed while defending our country and helping to give us a good, happy, care-free life.  

One of my fondest memories of my grandfather, Pops, was how every time I'd see him I'd sing "Jesus Loves Me" to him and he'd give me a quarter. Then there was the Lava Monster game. My grandparents had this horrid mauve carpet (because it was the 80s and that was the thing, I guess)... but my brothers and cousins and I would pretend it was lava and lay a path of cushions down. The goal was to get through the living room without touching the lava... if you did, the lava monster (Pops) would grab you and tickle you until you peed yourself.

Then there were the trips to Myrtle Beach every year... Pops would put me on his shoulders and wade into the deep water, making sure the waves never crashed over my head.  And the trips to Disney when the exhaustion would get the best of me and Pops would carry me for hours through the park.

I never saw Pops as a soldier, but I always saw him as my protector. And even now, though he's not with us anymore, I know he's still my guardian angel.  

Find a vet… someone you know or don’t… and try to imagine the things they’ve experienced in order to preserve our amazing lives… then tell them “Thanks”. 

They deserve it more than you’ll ever know.

Happy Veteran's Day!

"Kiss Me I'm A Vet" Sticker + FREE DOWNLOAD

Veteran's Day, to me, is one of the most underrated, under-recognized, under celebrated holidays in the US.  We so often fail to see the sacrifices that so many have made so we can live our amazing lives.

I designed these stickers so the people that deserve to be recognized and deserve the honor they've earned by their sacrifice can be given the proper thanks on Veteran's Day.  You can either use this with your Cricut or simply print it on sticker paper and cut it out yourself.  So easy.  Just download my image here.

#MichaelsMakers: Harvest Inspired Tablescape Using Craft Pumpkins

I'm not even going to acknowledge the fact that summer is over.  I love fall, but, this year, I feel like I need a little more summer in my life.  This challenge of using craft pumpkins seriously was a challenge, just because I had to break out of the summer mentality to get the autumnal feeling in order to find proper inspiration for this.  I cheated a little, though.  I kept things green and did away with the traditional red and orange colors that find their way into most fall decor.  I really really really love the look I came up with for my mom and dad's dining room table.  They always host our gigantic family Thanksgiving dinner, so I figured it was the perfect place for this.  

For my craft pumpkin DIY I kept it simple.  I drilled a pattern of holes all around them.  Then one bigger hole in the bottom.  I stuffed a bunch of twinkle lights inside and voila.  I think it adds the perfect amount of shimmer to the table without being too obnoxious.  

I also made this adorable little bunting with doo-dads I found near all the scrapbooking supplies.

These little flags that I used for place cards were also near the scrapbooking supplies.

I grabbed a few hay bunches and log slices and a bunch of eucalyptus, as well.  I placed the eucalyptus into pottery I had made in high school that my mother, so lovingly, still keeps displayed all over her house. (Do you see the little unicorn that photobombed my shoot???)

For the big centerpiece, I picked a bunch of fake flowers from Michaels that I thought would give this the perfect rustic-ish, harvest-ish, fall-ish feeling... there are even some feathers in there, too.  Oh, and a little wooden owl hiding in there for the kids to find.  This was so much fun to put together with my mom!  She's definitely the one I get my craftiness from.  

Here's my project from last year, that I still adore!

Now go check out all the other incredible craft pumpkin projects from the rest of the Michaels Makers team and GET INSPIRED!

An InLinkz Link-up

Faux Cross Stitched "Love" Shirt

I love the look of cross stitching on clothes. It can really add a lot of personality to a dull, plain shirt. With Valentine's Day coming up, I thought it'd be fun to try out a little faux cross stitching on my daughter's shirt by using my CAMEO to make the stitches rather than hand sewing - and I gotta say, I love the result!!

The "stitches" are actually little X's made of transfer material that spell out "love." This shirt couldn't have been easier to make! And while I used my CAMEO, you could also achieve the same result with fabric paint and freezer paper stenciling if you're willing to take the time to cut out lots of little X's.

This shirt is the perfect project to make for your little Valentine :) Let's make one!

SUPPLIES: white shirt, Silhouette or Silhouette CAMEO, red heat transfer material , Silhouette cut file HERE, iron and ironing board.

Download my free Silhouette cut file HERE, or to make your own I opened up Silhouette Studio and typed out "love" in a bold font. Then, I filled in the blank space inside the letters with X's using the grid as a guide. After you've filled your wording with X's, click and move the wording off of the design area so that only the X's will be cut.

Before cutting, be sure to click and group all of your X's, then mirror your image so that your wording won't be backwards. Cut.

Follow the instructions on the heat transfer material to iron onto your shirt (I personally ignore the instructions and instead set my iron to "satin" and iron directly on the shiny plastic material on the back of the heat transfer. Then I peel off the shiny part and swipe a few times directly on my heat transfer material to make sure it's set.)

The result is an adorable faux cross stitched shirt that my daughter can wear for V-Day and beyond!

Love her little furry boots that I got from Target! They've been sooo handy during these snowy days we've had lately. When we get up the motivation to leave the house on these snowy days, that is ;)

Also, leggings are made by me using this gorgeous buffalo plaid from Girl Charlee.

Love is in the air!

DIY Wood Burned Picture Frame

I've been wanting to try wood burning for the longest time. Every so often, I like to try new crafting methods to see what I can make, and this one was at the top of my to-do list. This month, Michael's challenged us to make a handmade gift for a friend or family member, so I took that as a sign that I needed a wood burner stat, so I picked up a wood picture frame and wood burner and sat down to make something (hopefully) awesome for my parents.

As someone who hasn't drawn anything more than a stick figure since high school, I was a little intimidated by the thought of permanently burning something into a piece of wood that my parents would have to look at forever (or at least when we visit and they have to dig it out of the closet.) After trying out a few simple designs on a piece of scrap wood though, I was hooked. It was way easier than I expected and the result was a really fun chevron-burned frame that I know my parents will love!



Moral of the story? If you're scared of wood burning, don't be. I can barely draw a stick figure, but I still managed to make this awesome frame without burning a finger - and that in itself is a Christmas miracle.

So let's make a wood burned frame!

SUPPLIES: a wood burning tool, unfinished wooden picture frame, photo, wood stain or paint (I used watered down acrylic paint by Martha Stewart), pencil, ruler, scrap wood -optional but highly recommended if you've never tried wood burning before, sealant.

If you've never tried wood burning, I recommend getting a piece of scrap wood and practicing first instead of jumping in and hoping for the best. You'll learn that different woods burn differently, and you can change the look and texture of the lines by bearing down on the wood burning pen differently. Practice until you're comfortable!

ONE: for a similar chevron design like I did, use your pencil and ruler to draw lines on your frame. I didn't make them symmetrical. I was going for a rough, sketchy look.

TWO: following the directions on your wood burning pen, heat it up and use a steady hand to trace over your drawn lines.
THREE: after your main lines are burned, draw chevron lines with your pencil and ruler

FOUR: trace over your remaining lines with your wood burning pen.

FIVE: stain with wood stain or, as I did, water down some paint and paint on with a paintbrush. Let dry.

SIX: after your paint has dried, seal with preferred sealant (I used a spray on matte sealant.)

After my frame was finished, I went to Target and had an 8x10 of my family printed up and put it in the frame. I can't get over Connor's face...the kid does NOT like having his picture taken! We actually had to have a pep talk about smiling for his school pictures this year, not that it helped any.

For the finishing touches, I picked up some bell ornaments, wood Christmas tags, and red twine from Michael's to wrap up my handmade gift.

I wrapped it simply in kraft paper, and tied the twine around it with the ornaments attached. For a special touch, I decided to also wood burn the tag. The pack came with 12, so I'm excited to make more for the other gifts I'm wrapping.



PS, wood burning curves is not easy :)

And that's it! A beautiful handmade gift that I know will get a LOT of use at my parents' house, especially as the grand kids grow over the years.

I hope you enjoyed my handmade gift and wrapping! Check out the other amazing handmade gifts from the Michael's Makers below to get you inspired for the holidays.

An InLinkz Link-up