Tale of the Multi-Tasking, Craft-and-Design-Loving, Mother-of-Two, Singaporean-Living-in-US, Corporate-Working Mom Named Grace Hester

The Motherhood Chat: Handmade Holiday Decorations

Today, I am hosting a chat with four other craft bloggers at The Motherhood.  So take a early/late work lunch or if you have the week off or work from home, make a hot cuppa cocoa and join us from 1 - 1:30 PM Eastern Time.  Here are the details:

What:  A live, text-based chat in The Motherhood.  With Thanksgiving and other special holidays on the horizon, we will focus on tips for creating fun, crafty and kid-friendly holiday decorations, making show-stopping holiday tablescapes and other fabulous projects to wow your holiday guests!  Come to share your own ideas (and photos and videos!) and get inspiration from other creative minds!

When: Monday, Nov. 21, at 1 p.m. ET.  We will chat for 30 minutes!

Where: The Motherhood, here - http://www.themotherhood.com/talk/show/id/62301

I will be co-hosting with four other talented DIY craft bloggers:

Ashley, Mommy by Day, Crafter by Night - http://mommybydaycrafterbynight.blogspot.com/
Grace, Grace Hester Designs - http://www.etsy.com/shop/gracehesterdesigns
Jen, Tatertots and Jello - http://tatertotsandjello.com
Jess, Craftiness is Not Optional - http://www.craftinessisnotoptional.com/
Joy, Creative Mamma - http://creativemamma.com

Hope to see you there!

String of Holiday Ornaments from The Stamps of Life and The Twinery

 

The {Stamps} of Life and The Twinery Design Teams are playing together for this hop!  Are you ready for some fun?

About The Twinery:

Our twine is made from 100% cotton, it’s eco-friendly and made in the USA. Whether you’re gift wrapping, crafting or tying up baked goods to give to a friend, our baker’s twine adds a fresh, yet nostalgic look to any project at hand! Our baker’s twine comes in 14 delicious colors and is uniquely twisted against a bright white hue, creating an eye-popping burst of color and a creative embellishment! Our twine has lots of color which lends to a fun, candy-striped look. For creative ideas & more…visit OUR BLOG!

About The {Stamps} of Life:

We feature high quality, made in the USA, clear stamps and digital stamps/brushes for stampers, card makers and scrapbookers. Feel free to browse our gallery with more than 2500 samples using our stamps, watch our free how-to videos and join our club!

As you make your way through the hop make sure you comment on each and every post. There will be 2 prize winners chosen randomly among the blogs:

One winner will win 2 stamp sets  (winners choice) valued at $12.95 -total retail value: $26.90 per prize! from The {Stamps} of Life.

&

One winner will win the Ultimate Color Sampler Pack ($25 value!) from The Twinery!!!

The prize winners will be announced on The {Stamps}of Life and The Twinery Blogs on Wednesday November 16th.

Here's my card that combines the baker's twine from The Twinery and the fun stamps from {Stamps}of Life,

I used the Holly4Christmas set and the Buttercream, Blossom, and Honeydew baker's twine from The Twinery to make this card. There's some holly stamps included in the Holly4Christmas set that would work well with the twine too.  Hope you like it!  Now round back to The Twinery Blog for the full list of participants to make sure you did not miss anyone!

Handmade Holiday Shadowbox Gift

Welcome to the Handmade Holidays Blog Hop!!!

 

Calling all crafters! We’ve gathered designers from some of our favorite manufacturers to show you ways to create something from the heart this holiday season. This 3 day Hop includes over 60 stops with inspiration brimming from every corner. Explore all thoughtful and frugal handmade gifts you could make for the holidays, all in one place on this Hop!

To sweeten to Hop, we’re offering a gift for you! For every comment you leave on the blogs in the Hop, you’ll be entered to win a prize pack from one of the participating manufacturer sponsors!

The Twinery is going to be giving away THREE of our Ultimate Sampler Packs to one lucky winner...that's enough for you to keep and then some to give away to 2 special friends for the holidays! 

 

 

To Enter on This Blog,

Leave a comment answering the question,
"What was the best handmade holiday gift you've ever given or received?"

For Extra Entries...

Like Grace Hester Designs on Facebook

Follow Grace Hester on Twitter

Be sure to leave a comment for each action as well for the extra entries.

For this blog hop, I had the opportunity to play with some of Clearsnap's fun products, Designer Foils and Smooch Spritzes.  Here is my handmade creation - a tree made from resin stones and framed in a shadowbox, ready for gift-giving!

 

For the background paper, I used a page from the Tradewinds paper stack from Die Cuts with a View and spritz it with the Clearsnap Gold Glow Smooch Spritz.  It leaves a purrrty shimmer on the paper.  Here's how I embellished each of the elements on the collage,

1)  I cut out a star from chipboard, covered it with white glue, and then applied the Clearsnap Glitter on it.  I also spritz it with Clearsnap Gold Smooch Spritz since I don't get to play with glitter too often. :o)

2) I punched out a green circle and glued it to the back of the resin stone, then I wrapped The Twinery's Peapod baker's twine around it.

3)  Same technique except I left the back of the stone clear, and I used The Twinery's Maraschino baker's twine.

4)  I used the Holly Border Design Adhesives from Clearsnap and the Irish Eyes Designer Foil on a small square of cardstock and then used Tim Holtz's Distress Ink to add color to the background.  Then I punched the circle shape out of the paper and glued it to the resin stone.

5)  Hand-stamped the word "JOY" onto a small corner of the remaining paper from #4, trimmed in the shape of a ribbon and glue it onto red paper.  Then I punched a circle from it and glue the word strip onto the red circle, then onto the back of the resin stone.

6)  I just punch out a circle from another page from the Tradewinds paper stack that had a gold brocade pattern.

7)  Spritz a square of cardstock with the Clearsnap Cherry Ice Smooch Spritz and punched a circle out of the paper.

8)  Stamped a butterfly (from Martha Stewart's Doily Lace Butterfly stamp set) onto paper, distressed with distress ink and then punched a circle from the square.

9)  Stuck three glitter stars onto white cardstock.

10)  Use an alphabet stickers (using "E" for the gift recipients "Eames Family" and adhered it to cardstock, then punched a circle from it.

11)  Used a label tag to act as the base of the christmasd tree and slid a tag with the family's name.

The resin stones did make the page heavy so I adhered the page onto mat backing to make it more sturdy.  And now it is ready for gift-giving!

Here are the other blogs participating in the blog hop.  Leave a comment on each by Nov 7, 2011 at 11:59 PM PST. There are projects from the previous two days as well so have fun exploring,

Clearsnap – http://clearsnap.blogspot.com
Spellbinders  http://www.spellbinderspaperarts.com/Community/Blog.aspx
Hampton Art - http://blog.hamptonart.com/
Zutter – http://binditall.blogspot.com/
Graphic45 – http://g45papers.typepad.com/
Donna Salazar Designs – http://donnasalazar.typepad.com/
The Twinery - http://www.thetwineryblog.com/ 
Authentique Paper http://authentiquepaper.blogspot.com/
Glue Arts - http://gluearts.blogspot.com/
Sabrina Alery – Clearsnap http://sabrinaalery.blogspot.com/
Laura Denison – Graphic 45 http://www.followingthepapertrail.blogspot.com/
Karen Taylor – Donna Salazar Designs - http://creativeyearnings.blogspot.com/
Beverly Sizemore – Hampton Art  http://bevscreativepath.blogspot.com/
Kazan Clark  – Spellbinders http://nunutoolies.blogspot.com/
Janeen Shember – Authentique Paper  http://suburbngypsy.blogspot.com/
Charlotte Jenkins – Clearsnap http://suepup.blogspot.com/

== YOU ARE HERE ==

Grace Hester – The Twinery http://gracehester.typepad.com/

== YOU ARE HERE ==

Nicole Eccles – Graphic45 http://nicoleeccles.blogspot.com/
Audrey Pettit – Donna Salazar Designs - http://audreypettit.wordpress.com/
Nan Paturzo – Zutter http://scrappynan.blogspot.com/
Jeannie DeGruccio – Authentique Paper  http://polkacabana.wordpress.com/
Tamara Tripodi - Glue Arts http://happylifecraftywife.com/

Cheers to creating gifts from the heart this holiday season! Happy Hopping!

Just Called to Say Card (The Greeting Farm and The Twinery Blog Hop)

Welcome to our combined Blog Swap/Hop today featuring two fantastic companies,  The Twinery and The Greeting Farm!   If you're just getting here from Denice Bartucci's blog, WELCOME!  If you have yet to begin the hop, please visit the TWINERY BLOG to begin!  Hooray!

We are so excited to bring you a fun hop, loads of inspiration when the world of TGF Rubber stamps collides with the quality baker's twine we've all come to know and love, and some of the most talented designers in the industry with new and fun projects to share!

Did we mention PRIZES? There are definitely a few of those too so you'll want to check out our event today! Thank you so much for coming!

The Greeting Farm first sprouted into the stamping world in 2008 as a small dream and has cultivated into something wonderful because of wonderful customers like you! With three years of farm-fresh images under their belt, TGF is going strong and love brings you fun-loving, animated characters, including the best-selling "Anya" line. The Greeting Farm brings you cute, charismatic images that are LOADS of fun to COLOR! There is truly something for EVERYONE on the Farm and we are so glad to be teaming up with the Twinery today!

As for the Twinery, twine is made from 100% cotton, it's eco-friendly and made in the USA. Whether you're gift wrapping, crafting or tying up baked goods to give to a friend, this TOP quality baker's twine adds a fresh, yet nostalgic look to any project at hand! The Twinery twine comes in 14 delicious colors and is uniquely twisted against a bright white hue, creating an eye-popping burst of color and a creative embellishment! It has lots of color which lends to a fun, candy-striped look.

I was provided the Cheeky Chat rubber stamp for the project contribition and made a simple "I Just Called to Say" card that tied-in with the fun graphic.

I also used The Twiner's twie to tie the note to the front and then sewed around the box to anchor it a little better on the card layout.

Now...I DID mention something about PRIZES, didn't I? ;) There are TWO prize packs up for grabs and you will have until Sunday, October 23rd at 5pm CST to comment on ALL the blogs and enter for your chance to win one of them!

The Greeting Farm is giving away their ENTIRE November release EARLY to one lucky winner- that is four stamps in all and EARLY nonetheless!

The Twinery is giving away one “COLORFUL BUNCH” sampler pack!

That's TWO great prizes, TWO chances to win...and endless inspiration beginning HERE:

The TWINERY Blog

Julie Ranae

Jessica Diedrich

Emily Leiphart

Lori Craig

Caroline Stender

Carisa Zglobicki

Angelica Suarez

Tracey Pickersgill

Tifany DeGough

Denice Bartucci

Grace Hester <=  YOU ARE HERE

Kim Yu

Becca Fabozzi

The Greeting Farm Blog

Thank you SO much for stopping by today!   Now it's time to head over to Kim Yu's blog, thanks so much for sharing in our SUPER fun event today!

Spanish Counting Album (Sweet 'n Sassy and The Twinery Blog Hop)

 

Hello visitor!  If you have arrived from Monika’s blog, then you’re staying on-track on today’s The Twinery and Sweet ‘n Sassy Stamps blog hop!  But if you did not, and would love to get started from the first stop, simply return back to The Twinery’s blog for the full list!

For this blog hop, The Twinery’s Design Team was challenged with creating something using Sweet ‘n Sassy Stamps and The Twinery’s baker’s twine.  I chose the Polka Dot Silhouettes Clear Stamp Set from Sweet ‘N Sassy stamps to create a Spanish counting book for Gianna, my 3.5-year-old. 

I started with an American Crafts 6 X 6 mini album.  On most of the 6 X 6 pages, I repeated the stamps to match the number for the page and printed some tags (using Fei-Fei's Coming Home digital kit) with the number and object name in Spanish.  I also distressed each page by shaving the page edges using Tim Holtz's Paper Distresser, and then using his Distress Inks on the raw edges. 

But to add a little peek-a-boo element to the book, I punched a hole in each page and reinforced it with kraft hole reinforcements.  Then I threaded The Twinery’s baker’s twine through it to create a string “pull”. 

When you pull the page up, the page underneath reveals the Spanish number and word that corresponds to the picture.

To give the stamping a more dimensional look, I stamped the [motif] is a light solid color first, then inked the edges in Versamark black, and stamped it for a “screenprinting look”. 

I really love the versatility of this stamp set.  You can’t go wrong with polka dots on silhouettes!

Now the details on the giveaway:

There will be TWO prizes awarded for those who leave comments on all participating blogs.

The Twinery will give away to one winner:  One Ultimate Color Sampler Pack (retail value $25)

Sweet & Sassy Stamps will give away to one winner:  One Season of Change Stamp & Die Set (retail value $28)

You need to comment on ALL BLOGS to be eligible to win.  The deadline to hop/leave comments is 11:59 EST, Saturday Oct 22^nd.  The Twinery’s winner will be announced on The Twinery’s blog and Sweet ‘n Sassy Stamps’s winner will be announced on their blog on Sunday Oct 23rd. 

Your next stop is Taylor’s!  Enjoy her lovely creation!

Crochet Flower Using Baker's Twine from The Twinery

 
If you are coming over from Jenny's blog, welcome!

This is going to be a fun week over at The Twinery as The Twinery Design Team is putting up a blog hop with three-days worth of good ole' craftin ideas using The Twinery's Baker's Twine and prizes at each blog to be won!  UPDATE AS OF 9AM:  The big prize to be won is at The Twinery's Blog - don't miss it!  Here are my fellow Design Team mates kicking off the blog hop today,

The Twinery!

Stephanie Johnson

Deena

Monika Wright

Jenny Suchin

YOU ARE HERE =>  Grace Hester

 

NEXT STOP =>  Jen Carter

 

Hera Frei

Emily Leiphart

Here's my crafty contribution to the blog hop,

I love those little crochet flower embellishments that have been popping up in scrapbook lines and wondered if I could make one myself.  So I learnt how to crochet a flower watching YouTube videos (What would a crafter do without YouTube?) and ended up with a few flowers made.  One of which I took and made into a flower clip by layering a crocheted flower, felt flowers, paper flowers, a vintage button, and more twine!  I used an old clip and since this is for my young daughters, I wrapped ribbon around it so it would be gentler sliding it on and off their hair.  It turned out alright for a first attempt. :o)

  
  
Now I am thinking of all sorts of things I could crochet with baker's twine!  Oh no . . . .  ;o)

But I am not done yet! To REALLY kick things up a notch on this blog hop, The Twinery is offering up ONE ULTIMATE COLOR SAMPLER PACK per Design Team Member! Which means that you can a chance to win one of 18 sampler packs just by commenting on each of our post. Ba-na-nas!

 
So just leave a comment listing 2 of your favourite The Twinery colors to combine.  My current favourite is Buttercream and Stone!  I love the yellow-grey palette these days.  But I also love the Cappucino and Buttercream combo.

I will draw a winner on September 24 Saturday 8 PM Eastern Time and announce it here.  International entrants welcome! (Woo Hoo!)

Then head on over to Jen Carter's blog for the next inspirational idea!

 

Sewing Hoop Craft Ideas

Started a Pinterest Board with Sewing Hoop Craft Ideas,

Enjoy!

First Day First Grader

 
Digital Kit:  Coming Home by Fei-Fei at oscraps

Journaling:

excited about:
new supplies and hello kitty backpack
nervous about:
not making any new friends



The Twinery and Scor-Pal Blog Hop - Chinese Lantern

It's an exciting week for The Twinery who is turning 1!

 

Thanks for joining me here for the 1st Anniversary Celebration blog hop with The Twinery & Scor-pal.

 

 
If you came here by way of

Julie Koerber's blog,

you are on the right track.  If not, make sure you start at the beginning over at The Twinery's blog because there are terrific prizes for those who complete the hop by commenting on each blog.  You'll have five days to enjoy this hop, so relax and have fun!

Today The Twinery has teamed up with Scor-pal for an amazing line up of projects that will show you the wonderful things you can create!  From boxes and bags to cards and 3D projects the creativity by these two teams is sure to please.

I have been meaning to try out an updated approach to the chinese lantern I used to watch my mom make using red packets.  I cut out my own squares out of cardstock and used the Scor-Pal to create the four-folds per square that I needed. 

 

The tool really helped make that step so easy and my scor-lines were crisp and all evenly spaced with little measuring needed.  Then I used The Twinery's baker's twine to hang through the top.

 

I only made one so far and am studying my "prototype" to see how I can improve on it.  For instance, to reduce the gap between each square, I may score the paper a little more inwards.  Ultimately, I want to use larger pieces of paper to end up with larger lanterns and hang them from the ceiling in either of my girls' rooms.  I also want to add a baker's twine tassle below it. :o)  Loads to improve on!

Well, I'm so glad you stopped by!  Please make sure you leave a comment on this post because there are terrific prizes for those who leave comments on each designer's blogs! 

 
The deadline for commenting is 11:59pm EST, Friday, August 19th.  Your next stop on the hop is:

Gini Cagle!

Free Printable Tags - Three Uses

 
A few days ago, we celebrated with The Twinery on their launch of three new colors and I shared three sets of printable tags for you to enjoy.  Today, I am highlighting three uses for these tags so you can explore using them for your own projects.

First up, there's the most obvious function - as a gift tag,

 

Use one or multiple tags to spell a message.  Or adhere photos in the back for an even more personalized message to the recipient.

 

You can also print out the letters and colors you'd like and string them together to form a banner.

 

I also designed these to work for the 8.5 X 11 page dividers for baseball card sizes that is o-so-popular right now in the scrapbooking world.

Here are some other uses for these free tags,

1)  Monogrammed Bookplates

In addition to the monogrammed tags, print strips of names and adhere right below the tag on the inside of a book.

2)  Monogrammed Cards

Cut the tags and adhere onto matching colored folded or note cards for the cover.  If using a folded card, tie a matching baker's twine from The Twinery into the fold for a nice touch.

3)  Monogrammed Shadowbox Craft

Adhere the initial(s) or a word with double-sided foam squares against a matching background cardstock and frame it in a shadowbox or printer's tray for a personalized decoration.

I would love to see what other uses you find for them.  Please do share them with us on The Twinery Flickr Group and/or leave me a link to your blog post!  The Twinery Design Team has been known to visit a few blog posts here and there. ;o)  AND I'd love to share your project on my Pinterest board filled with fresh project ideas using baker's twine!