One Project a Week Alternative

Several people have mentioned that they are interested in following along with our little 365 challenge, but they really don’t think they can do an entry every day.  I just want to remind everyone that there are no grades in this.  You won’t be counted off if you start and don’t finish, you don’t have to turn anything in, and you certainly don’t have to made something creative every day. 

The idea behind a 365 is just to get you going.  To help with your motivation and to get you creating on a regular basis.  So if the 365 thing is what’s holding you back, then please, please, please just throw it out the window!  One of our participants has decided to turn the 365 into a 52-Week project and that’s just GREAT!  Since everything after Week One will be posted in a weekly format, it lends itself perfectly to a weekly project.  When the list comes out at the start of the week, pick one of the prompts that moves you and go for it!  If you feel like doing more than one, more power to you!  I can’t say it enough, there are no rules here!

If you do decide to participate on a weekly basis, you are still welcome to add your projects to our Flickr.com gallery, and be sure to title and tag your entries as “Week # - Day #” so we know which prompt you used.  Adding the “Week #” part lets us know you are doing a 52 project.

To upload your projects to our gallery, create a Flickr.com profile and join our Crafty Neighbor 365 group.  When you complete your projects, take a picture or scan them and upload them to your profile.  Once they are on your photostream, you can share them with our group using the “add to group” links.  It really is that easy.

So what are you waiting for?  Go find your power word and get ready to do something creative!

One Word of Truth

Well this is it! I am fully committed to my 365 project for 2013. I found my perfect word, and on Saturday, I went down to the little thrift store down the street and found this cute little book. It has 361 numbered pages and about 10 unnumbered pages, so that should give me plenty to work with. I love the size of it. I was really intimidated by the thought of doing a book in the first place – the cards were so much more appealing to me, but trying to keep up with 365 of them would have been a hassle. This book is perfect. So now I’m ready to start really living my word and working on my 365 project!

On Friday, Christen and I created our list of 365 prompts, which we will be sharing with you over the course of the year.  I will begin posting a daily prompt for the first 7 days beginning on January 1.  I will also post a photo of the work I did from that prompt to give you a little inspiration.  After the first week, I will post the next seven words weekly along with some examples from the previous week.  My daughter, Christen, is going to be working the project along with us, so I’m hoping we’ll get to post some of her work as well.

To help keep you motivated and give you some inspiration, we are creating a Flikr.com group for posting daily projects.  Simply set up a Flikr.com account and join the group Crafty Neighbor 365.  Once you have joined you will be able to upload your artwork to your Flikr.com account and then share it with our group using the “add to group” links.  If you’d like, you can tag and caption your photo with the date of the prompt to make it easier for others to find related entries.  You can go ahead and join the group now if you are ready and don’t forget to pick your power word if you haven’t already done so.  You can download the worksheet and help guide at ChristineKane.com/word/.

P. S. I have a prize for the first person who can guess what my word is.

Two Days Left in 2012!

Wow!  I can’t believe how quicky this year has flown by!  Just two days left until 2013, and do you know what that means?  You only have two days left to get in on this sweet deal for our Scrapbook Garage sale!

Register before January 1 and get two tables for just
$10

See our website for more details

Also coming in January, we will be restarting our weekly Mothers-Day-Out crop in January.  The first meet-up will be on January 10^th.  We are waiting to hear from Every Last Scrap in McKinney on whether we can meet there.  If not, we will meet at Personal Scrapbook in Allen.  After that, we will meet most every week at a different location.  Some of our favorite locations are:

Personal Scrapbook – Allen

Googly Eyes and Craft Supplies – Irving

Crafty Neighbor Studios – Carrollton

and more….

For more crops and events, please see our website.

And finally, as promised, here is the Christmas present I made for my mom.  She hasn’t seen it yet….shhhhhhhh…….

Three Cute Calendars to Start Your New Year!

Calendars are a popular purchase this time of year, but why not make your own?  Here are three examples of handmade calendar projects that we think are pretty darn cute!

Simple:  This simple calendar is made from a coaster! 

Cover the coaster with patterned paper.  The background was cut with a die cutting machine (check out the Cricut Story Book font for lots of suitable backgrounds).  Adhere a mini calendar (I got no less than 5 in the mail from insurance agents and real estate brokers!) and a cute embellishment.  This one is magnetic.  We used our Stampin’ Up Itty Bitty Shapes punches to cut cute little florets out of a self-adhesive magnetic sheet.

Middle of the Road:  For a cute and creative project that won’t take forever to complete, try this desk calendar made from a CD case. 

Disassemble the CD case and put it back together backwards to create a free-standing easel.  Each month is displayed one at a time on it’s own page using pages from a mini calendar, or one that you print yourself.

Each month has a mat for one photo

A piece of 4 5/16” x 7” piece of cardboard makes a sturdy backing.   

Not shown:  a binder clip attached to one side will hold the calendar in place.

Over the top:  If you want a calendar that speaks volumes about your creative style, then this is the calendar for you. 

Made from a cookie sheet and found objects, this magnetic perpetual calendar can be customized to fit any color-scheme or theme.  Your imagination is your only limitation.

A NASCAR themed calendar

Coaster calendar designed by Sharon Armstrong

CD calendar designed by Stephanie Gannon and Sue Norris

Cookie sheet calendar demonstrated by Sue Norris.

All projects were created and assembled by Cindy Murray

Four Great Ways to Get Photo Prints

In case you haven’t noticed, we’ve been counting down to the New Year with our blog titles.  Today I want to tell you about some deals on photo prints that you might not have thought about.

1. FREE Prints:  Christen discovered this one a while back.  Did you know you can trade in your Coke Rewards points for free prints from Shutterfly?  Just go to MyCokeRewards.com to set up your account and start collecting points.  50 points will get you a voucher for 50 prints.  But hurry, this offer ends 1/31/13.
   
2. QUICK Prints:  CVS Photo has a special running through 12/29/12 for inexpensive prints in a hurry.  Order a minimum of 75 prints for in-store pick-up and get them for just 10¢ each.  Use promo code PRINTS10 when ordering.
   
3. CHEAP Prints:  Snapfish is offering  Penny Prints again!  Get 99 Prints for 99¢ through 1/1/13.  Use the code NEWYEAR13 at checkout.  Shipping and handling are extra.
   
4. LARGE Prints:  I was all set to tell you about a website I use for printing large-format pictures (think 12x12) and digital layouts.  It was the only company I knew of that printed 12x12 photos at a reasonable price.  Alas, when I went to the website to look up pricing – they’ve gone out of business.  But have no fear beacause then I found Persnickety Prints!  They are currently running a special on 12x12 prints for just $1.99 and they have some free digital scrapbooking downloads, too!

Now I think I’ll see about getting some of these digital layouts printed for my scrapbook!