Festival of Trees Votive Box & Tent Card by Laurie Zoellmer

We all need little gifts to hand out during the Holidays, right?  This Festival of Trees Votive Box & Coordinating Tent Card by Laurie Zoellmer comes to the rescue!  This votive holder is easy to assemble using the Envelope Punch Board!  It makes a great teachers gift, hostess gift or thoughtful handmade gift for anyone!  The coordinating tent-card and envelope add just the right touch!  Get the full step-by-step instructions by heading over to Craft Project Central and subscribing to the month of November!

Mini-Collage Challenge #6

Today's Lesson From The Craft Room:  Allow Art To Help You Manage Your Emotions
I have been a bit stressed about a work trip to a place that is very different from the place where I live.  I want to be sure that I am respectful of the culture I will find myself in - that I don't do anything that might cause offense unintentionally.  The stress has been eating me up quite a bit and I finally decided to pour that feeling into this tiny 2" x 2" space.  It felt good to let it out - to try to acknowledge and manage my feelings by creating something inspired by the feelings.  Art is a wonderful place to work on acknowledging and managing your emotions.  I'm feeling better already :)

Mini-Collage Challenge #5

Today's Lesson From The Craft Room:  Faltering Doesn't Mean You Have To Abandon The Effort
I gave myself the challenge to create one 2"x 2" mini collage every day...at least for 30 days.  And I admit I have already had a few days where I don't get to the collage early in the day, the day gets away from me, and then I don't find the energy to go and create my mini collage.  I falter.  At first I got down on myself - the usual, "Come on Michelle!  It's only 30 days and you can't even keep up with that?!?"  Then I allowed myself to accept that I am doing the best I can and just because I falter one day does not mean I have to abandon the effort.  I have even been finding that some days I may skip making a collage and other days I make more than 1!  I am going to keep moving forward with the challenge!!!
Today I am sharing the collage I made on Halloween :)  I used a combination of paint, painted tapes, washi tape and chalk marker.  I am enjoying allowing the inspiration come to me in whatever form it takes - a flower on a walk, a holiday, a question I am pondering, a feeling inside of me.  I'm curious to see where this mini-collage journey continues to take me!

Mini-Collage Challenge #4

Today's Lesson From The Craft Room:  Let Go Or Be Dragged.  -Katie Holmes
Yes, I looked at People magazine on-line...I admit it...I am trying to kick the habit...For once though, the mindless reading actually provided some much needed insight!  There was an article about 5 words that have impacted Katie Holmes' life and those 5 words are let go or be dragged.  Letting go seems to be a theme that is running through my life (and my veins) right now.  It is a lesson I learned in the pool the other day when we were told to try to only breathe every fifth stroke instead of every third stroke.  It became harder to do the more I tried to hold onto my breath!  I started to tell myself, "Michelle, you need to be just as willing to let it go as you are to let it in."  Yes, let go or be dragged.  Oh there is so much that I allow to pull me down right now.  I need to be willing to let go...
Today I am sharing my fourth collage in my mini-collage challenge.  This one incorporates quite a few pieces of tape that I painted.  I then added some dimensional paints and a bit of Sharpie poster paint marker.  The green tape I used in the background was part of an experiment I conducted with heating acrylic paint.  I love all the texture it created!  I hope you like it...and if you don't...let go :)

Mix & Match Winter Holiday Boxes & Tags by Yapha Mason

This festive holiday packaging by Yapha Mason includes four different size square boxes along with four gift tags that can be mixed and matched. Using shades of blue and silver, there are options for both Hanukkah and Christmas, with designs that will work for either one. This project set is great for a stamp camp, a class, or just getting ready for the upcoming holiday season. It includes instructions for two square holiday cards as well.  Head on over to Craft Project Central and subscribe to the month of November for full step-by-step instructions!

Mini Collage Challenge - #3

Today's Lesson From The Craft Room:  You Can Create An Entire World In A Tiny Space
I have been enjoying the challenge I gave myself - to create at least one 2"x 2" mini collage every day.  When I approached the first collage I was quite uncertain about what to do.  Now that I have completed three, I am beginning to realize that you can create an entire world in a tiny space.  2"x 2" can seem so small at first glance.  Yet the more you dive into what seems to be such a limited space, the more you realize how much you can do in the expanse of 2" x 2"!  Ideas seem to be flowing to me right now - we'll see if that lasts!
For today's mini collage I turned to some painted tape that I had made.  This allowed me to skip using any other type of adhesive for my mini collage.  After tearing and adhering the bits of tape, I cut out a few pieces of the tape to create the house.  I then used some markers to add a touch of shading and a bit of outlining.  Yes, you can create an entire world in a tiny space!