Lilyboo Designs Big Heart Tree

Happy Saturday!  I have a fun card to share with you today using Lilyboo Design's Big Heart Tree.

My card is for the Operation Write Home Midweek Throwdown challenge, the theme is Love/Hugs.

I picked this cute tree image by Lilyboo Designs because I think it just says it all.

It's colored with Copic markers:

E30, E31, E33, E37, E47

R32, R35, R46, R59

C0, C1, C2, C3, C4

YG01, YG13, 

B0000, B01

T5, T7

W1, W5

I kept the layout simple to showcase the cute digital image.  My paper choices are Neenah Kraft & Red Pepper Linen and Copic X Press It.  I lined the inside of my card with white card stock to make it nice and hearty to write home on for Operation Write Home.

Thanks for visiting my blog today!

Challenges:

Operation Write Home Midweek Throwdown Challenge - Love/Hugs

Hambo Stamps Southwest

I'm back in the Hambo Hoedown again! 

Our digital image for this week's Hambo Hoedown is called Southwest and the challenge theme is to use this image or any Hambo Stamps image/rubber stamp and make a masculine card.  I added Hambo Stamps Rattler digital image and sentiment to my scene.   

I live in western Arizona where beautiful sunsets, picturesque mountains and rattle snakes can be seen almost any time but was kind of stumped on how to go about coloring this image.  I printed it twice and jumped right in and somehow it came to life on it's own, or so it seems.  

I kept my card simple to show off the scene.  The scene is colored on Copic X Press It, layered onto Via Vellum Black and added to a Astrobrights Solar Yellow card base.

I hope you'll play along in the Hambo Hoedown with us this week!

Thanks for visiting my blog today -

Challenges:

Homemade Lotion Bars Tutorial

Hello blog friends!

I'm gathering supplies today to make homemade Lotion Bars, I hope you'll join me in my step by step tutorial.  As you can see from the picture above I have Shea Butter, Avocado Oil, Vitamin E Oil, Raw Honey, Scented Beeswax, a Pringles can and my scale.  

Are you wondering about the Pringles can?  Don't worry you'll see!

I've weighed out my ingredients on the scale and have them melting in a double boiler.  I left out the Vitamin E Oil and Raw Honey, I'll stir that in when it comes off the heat.

When the Beeswax is melted into the Shea Butter and Avocado Oil take it off the heat and stir in your Vitamin E Oil, Essential Oils of your choice and in my case raw honey.

Here's where the Pringles can comes in...  it's my lotion bar mold.  I cleaned the inside with a paper towel and greased it with lard, you could also use Crisco or Coconut Oil.  I used what I had on hand.  I set my cooling lotion bar aside to cool and cleaned up after myself.

A couple of hours later I unmolded the lotion bar - tore the Pringles can off...

Can you see the upper left corner there is a dark spot?  That's some of the raw honey.  When I unmolded the lotion bar the raw honey was in the bottom of the Pringles can.  I was having a hard time blending it in and now I know why - it didn't.  I scrapped off all the raw honey from the bottom of the lotion bar and sides to be free of the sticky mess and made a mental note not to add raw honey to my lotion bars.

I was thinking since honey is great for holding moisture in our skin, it would be a nice added benefit.  

Well I guess not, lol. 

I did my best to cut the lotion bars into uniform widths using my soap mold with cutter.

They aren't perfect but they'll do nicely.

Using a Pringles can as a mold makes the lotion bars the perfect size to fit in 4 oz. metal tins.

Great for gift giving and/or carrying in our purses.

I have the recipe for you to try below.

Homemade Lotion Bars

3.6 ounces shea butter
  3.6 ounces avocado oil (the weight of my 4 oz. bottle of oil)
  3.6 ounces beeswax
  1 teaspoon vitamin E Oil
1 teaspoon essential oil of your choice (optional)
 

I hope you enjoyed making lotion bars with me today.

Thanks for visiting my blog!

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An Original Belle

Trendy Treehouse Create & Share

Natural Mother's Network - Seasonal Celebration Wednesday

Farm Girl Fridays

Lilyboo Designs Cutest Puppies

I have a fun Lilyboo Designs card to share with you today!

This digital image is called Cutest Puppies and is colored with Copic markers:

Dress - Y06, Y15, Y17

Skin E000, E00, E01, E11

Hair - W1, W3, W5, W7

Pups - E21, E23, E34

Shoes - N1, N3, N5

Background BG0000, BG01

Pebbles - W1, W3, W5, W7, N1, N3, N5

I went through my Copic markers the other day before ordering refills for some of them, while I was seeing if they were low on ink I tried out some new color combinations.  At first I was mixing shades of the same color family, coming up with nice blends but not writing anything down!  Now I have scraps of paper with Copic color combinations I'd like to try, maybe my next project should be putting them in my Copic coloring book?  We'll see if I get that done with all the other fun holiday stuff to create!

The color for the dress is a new Copic color combination for me, I was trying Y06 & Y17 and found I got a nicer blend adding Y15 with it.  The puppies are a new combination I hadn't tried yet too.  E23 & E34 blended well on scrap paper but needed a lighter tone so I chose E21 to highlight a little. 

My time and heart have been kind of divided between paper crafting and other crafty adventures lately, new color combinations have rekindled my passion for Copic markers and coloring.  

Thanks for visiting my blog today & I hope you have a nice weekend!

Challenges:

Simon Says Stamp - Anything Goes

Artistic Inspirations - Anything Goes

Crafty Boots - Anything Goes

Make It Monday - Anything Goes

Doodle Pantry Mini Bethlehem

I have a quick Christmas card to share with you today!

I used Doodle Pantry's Mini Bethlehem colored digital image and sentiment for my card and mass produced sixty Christmas cards for our church.  The digital image is printed on slightly glossy photo paper and cut to 3.50" X 4.75", I used my Corner Chomper to round the corners.  The dark blue paper is by Treasures and called Dusk Blue with a nice linen texture.  The base of the card I put through the printer so I could have a straight, centered Christmas verse on the inside as well as my name and info on the back.  After scoring and folding it into an A2 size I attached the blue and white panels for finished cards.

Thanks for visiting my blog today -

Challenges:
Challenges 4 Everybody - Anything Goes
The Corosive Challenge - Anything Goes
Stampin' Sister's In Christ - Christmas

Homemade Orange Honey Lip Balm

I'm gathering supplies to make Orange Honey Lip Balm to go in some of my Christmas gift baskets!

I hope you'll join me for the process of making lip balm on my blog today.

This is my second batch of homemade lip balm, I don't think I'll ever go back to buying it at the store, it's simple & fun to make and works great - my kids even like it.

Pictured above are the supplies I used to make the homemade lip balm:

Shea Butter

Cocoa Butter

Grapeseed Oil

Vitamin E Oil 

Beeswax

Raw Honey

Orange Essential Oil

My plan is to make lip balm in twist up tubes and half ounce tins.  The white thing you see is a tray that connects to the lip balm tubes for easier filling.  You can buy the tray, lip balm tubes and tins at Elements Bath & Body.com

Here's a side view so have more of an idea of what the tray does.

I've measured out all my ingredients except the raw honey and Orange Essential Oil and have them melting in the double boiler on the stove top.  

In case you're curious about my double boiler, it's a Pyrex Flameware set that was my Moms from the 1940's, perhaps a wedding gift?  I found a vintage ad just for fun - wow... it sold for $3.45 in it's day!

I've checked them out on E Bay and Etsy and they're selling for between $25.00 and $50.00 today.

 

Back to the lip balm...

After the oils and beeswax melted I needed to let the mixture cool so it wouldn't damage the lip balm twist up tubes and also it needs to cool a little before you add the essential or fragrance oils.

I've been working on a gift basket featuring Orange Honey products so I'm using raw honey and Orange Essential Oil to scent my lip balm.

I measured out the raw honey and Orange Essential Oil and mixed it into my lip balm.

The next step is to get it into the twist up tubes and tins.  The tins are pretty easy to fill.  The twist up tubes are easier to fill when the lip balm isn't quite as set up as I have it here but I managed!  I have a 4 inch scraper that I push the lip balm around on the tray to help get it into the tubes.  Next time I won't let it cool quite as much as I did today - learning as I go!

I wanted to show you the finished labeled project.  I also made Orange Honey Sugar Scrub the same day as the lip balm, it's super easy and I'll do a tutorial for it in the weeks to come.  To make the labels I went to Avery.com and used their online software,  printed the labels I designed on heavy card stock then cut them out with my Spellbinders circles dies.  Avery makes circular labels but I didn't have all the sizes I needed at this time so I just made my own. 

A side view of the Orange Honey Sugar Scrub and Lip Balm.

My last picture is of the gift basket I made up with all the Orange Honey Skin Care products I made recently.  Christmas is coming...  

I also have the Lip Balm recipe to share with you today from Elements Bath & Body.com 

Orange Honey Lip Balm

1 oz Beeswax
1.1 oz Shea Butter, refined
1.1 oz Cocoa Butter, deodorized
3.3 oz Castor or Grapeseed Oil
MELT: Add all ingredients in a double boiler.
When above ingredients are melted, add the following optional ingredients:

.1 oz Vitamin E
1 TEASPOON ORANGE ESSENTIAL OIL

1 TEASPOON HARD/RAW HONEY (if possible)
POUR into Lip Balm Tubes . As the batch cools, it will coagulate & become difficult to pour. 

Fills approx 30 .15 oz lip balms.

Thanks for visiting my blog today!

I'll be back next Tuesday evening with another homemade project to share.

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The Girl Creative

Hambo Stamps Skater Girl

I feel a little slow getting back into my groove after the Thanksgiving holiday.  The kids are back in school so it's time for Mom to get back to creating fun stuff before they get home!

My card today is for the Splitcoast Stampers Clean & Simple challenge 198, "Inspired by a quote".

The quote is from Galileo - "I have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night".

I looked at the design team and CAS198 gallery for inspiration and loved design team member Kelly Collins card so I C.A.S.E.d it using Hambo Stamps Skater Girl and Hambo Stamps Whee Wish You... rubber stamps.  I hope she's flattered!

I colored Skater Girl with Copic markers:

Dress/Hat - YR04, YR16, R17, R27, R0000

Skin - E000, E00, E01, E11

Scarf/Gloves - E42, E43, B23

Skates - B0000, C1

I had fun combining the Copic Yellow/Reds with the Red Copic markers for her dress and hat.  The idea for the color combination came from my color wheel - one of my favorite color combinations is this blue and orange but I wanted her to be a little more the color of Christmas.

I have a couple of old color wheels and I especially like this one because it has different color combinations using coordinating & complimentary colors.  

Here's a close up for you, the top color is Ballet Blue.

So my paper choices are Mohawk Bright White, Discount Card Stock's Royal Blue, Stampin' Up! Brushed Gold & Copic X Press It.  The embossing folder is by The Paper Studio, the gold star is a punch and I dug out my Stampin' Up! Night of Navy stamp pad for the sentiment.  Oh, the white ice skating "pond" is made from a Spellbinders Mega Ovals die and trimmed to fit the front panel. 

Thanks for visiting my blog today!

Challenges:

Splitcoast Stampers CAS198 - Inspired by a Quote
Addicted to Stamps - Christmas Time
Challenges 4 Everybody - Anything Goes
The Corosive Challenge - Anything Goes
Stamptacular Sunday - Winter Bliss

LIlyboo Designs Autumn Clean Up

I've been intrigued by this little elf boy for awhile now but wasn't sure I could do him justice, I have to say he was really fun to color.  You may be seeing more of him from now on!  He's by Lilyboo Designs and is called Autumn Leaf Clean Up.  He's colored with Copic markers:

G99, G94, G82, G12, YG01, YG03, YG23, E30, E31, E33, E07, R17, YR14, YR21, YR24, E00, E01, E11, R20, E41, E42, E43, BG000, BG01, W1, W3, W5

My layout is another sketch I found on Pinterest.

The cardstock colors are Via Vellum Black, Stampin' Up! More Mustard, Ruby Red & Garden Green along with Copic X Press It.  I used the Tim Holtz Woodgrain embossing folder for texture and three black half pearls.  The dies I used are a Die-namics postage border, Papertrey Ink Double Ended Banner & a Spellbinders rectangle.  

Hey, it's Black Friday!  Do you go shopping for all the deals today or do you stay home and recover from Thanksgiving?  I have to say I've never been out Black Friday shopping.  The main reason is I used to always have to work today, now that I stay home with our kids I just never have.  

Thanks for visiting my blog today -

Challenges:

Bugaboo Stamps November Calendar Page

Happy Thanksgiving!

I have my November 2012 Mini Calendar page to share with you today!

I used two of Jodie's Bugaboo Stamps Bobble Heads and colored with Copic markers E44, E43, E41, E81, YT24, YR21, Y21, N5, N3, N1, E47, E44, E17, E0000, E15, YR14, YR16, YG21, YG23, YG25, Y04, YR02, YR04, YR07, C00.

My papers colors are Via Vellum Basic Black, Neenah Kraft, Copic X Press It.  I also used a border die from My Favorite Things and added a scrap of grossgrain ribbon.  All I need to do now is punch the holes with my Bind It All...

 

I hope you are having a wonderful holiday today with family and friends.  Our family is going out for dinner this afternoon with family.  None of us have a big enough house anymore to host everyone so we thought this might be the next best thing - leaving the dishes to someone else sounds good too!

Thanks for visiting my blog today - 

Challenges:

Hambo Stamps Mushrooms

My card today is one of my last Hambo Stamps rubber stamp cards for this design team term.  

Starting December 1st I'll be using Hambo Stamps digital images and participating in making the sample cards for our weekly Hambo Hoedown!  By the way our Hambo Hoedown is a two week challenge because of the Thanksgiving holiday this time so you have plenty of time to play and enter your cards.

I used Hambo Stamps #2902 Mushrooms & #2909 Real Fun-gal for my image and sentiment and had fun coloring with Copic markers:

Outlines/Background - B0000, B01, YG11, YG23

Mushrooms - E41, E42, E43, E33, E49, E30, E31, E33, E39

Leaves - YG01, YG11, YG13, YG17, YG23, YG25, YG61, YG63, YG67, G20, G21, G24, BG90, BG93, BG96

Flowers - YY13, Y15, Y17, YR16, BG11, BG23, BG32, BG34, T5

Bee - Y00, Y11, Y13, B60

My card layout is a sketch I saw on Pintrest:

I used three different embossing folders for added interest and texture.  The card stock colors I used are Hero Arts layering card stock Pool & Mango, Neenah Kraft, Via Vellum Black, Copic X Press It.

Thanks for visiting my blog today -

Challenges: 
Fairytale Challenge - Embossing 
Inspire Me Friday's - Anything Goes

Homemade Miracle Salve

Are you wondering what that thing is in the picture above?

It's a 20 pound brick of pure Beeswax.  

I live across the street from our local Bee Farm and was given this slab of pure Beeswax by the Bee Keeper.  When I make homemade soaps and balms or any homemade product that uses their honey or the by products I usually take over something for them.  

This is the under side of the Beeswax, can you see the Bee in the corner?

How about now?  

I've always bought my Beeswax online all cleaned up and in small packages so this was quite a surprise for me.  The smell is heavenly sweet honey!  

Making balms and salves is a good way to use some of my newly acquired Beeswax so

I'm going to show you how I made Miracle Salve today. My recipe is from Andrea at Frugally Sustainable, it's a fun and easy recipe that went over really well with my family and friends.

I've gathered my supplies, a re-purposed ice cream bucket of Beeswax chunks, my quart jar of herbs that have been soaking about six weeks in Olive Oil making a wonderful infusion, Lavender & Eucalyptus Essential Oils.

While I wait for the infused oil to drain through the strainer I measure out the Beeswax chunks to almost four ounces.  

 Next I use a double boiler to melt the Oil and Beeswax, then let it cool to about 145 degrees before adding the essential oils so they don't lose their wonderful fragrance. 

I poured the slightly cooled salve mixture into 4 oz. tins and 2 oz. twist up tubes and the left over into smaller containers to use for samples or purses.  

I made a double batch of the Natural Miracle Salve and now have five 4 oz. tins, two 2 oz. twist up tubes, two half oz. tubs and two half oz. twist up tubes.  These will be perfect to add to my holiday gift baskets for family and friends.

Natural Miracle Salve: The Recipe

Ingredients

2 1/2 cup good-quality olive oil

 0.6 ounces dried calendula flowers
0.6 ounces dried plantain
0.4 ounces dried St. John’s wort
0.4 ounces dried Oregon grape root

0.4 ounces Comfrey Leaf
3-4 ounces beeswax
-essential oils

I used a ratio of approximately 10% essential oils to the volume of oil/beeswax in the recipe.

I hope you enjoyed my Miracle Salve making tutorial of sorts today and might be inspired to trying making some too!

Do you need supplies for your homemade salve?
My favorite place to shop for the herbs to infuse my oils is The Bulk Store!

Thanks for visiting my blog today -

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