Tag: arts and crafts

Review: Minted Sugar’s Erin Condren Dashboards & Ways to Use Them

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This week, I finally got my Minted Sugar dashboards/dividers for my Erin Condren planner! I was so happy to pick up the package the day before my birthday, because one of the dashboards I got was a custom version of this one: “Start each day like it’s your birthday.” What perfect timing, since my birthday was March 18.

With a gorgeous planner like Erin Condren, what is the purpose of a dashboard or a planner? In this review, I’m going to also discuss the uses I’ve found for these, and provide some further links to shops that sell adorable dashboards for you to look at.

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Do-It-Yourself: Confetti Business Cards, Thank-You’s & Bookmarks

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Have you ever handed someone your business card, or perhaps a thank-you card, and felt a sense of disappointment as they glanced at it? You were pretty certain they were about to throw it into the recycling bin (or worse, the trash), never to be seen again. Goodbye, $3. Goodbye, the few minutes I spent writing out a carefully thought out thank-you, or the hours I slaved away on the design of my business card.

But what if you could show off your creative chops at the same time as showcasing your business, or genuinely thanking someone? That’s where confetti and vellum come in.

This is my business card:

Business Card

Cute, simple, and to the point. It tells you my name, what I do (I’m a writer, editor, designer and photographer primarily, although I do more), how to contact me (that phone number is no longer mine, in case you’re thinking of stalking me), and where my blog is if you want more information and samples. But it tells you more than that. It tells you that I’m creative and I’m a risk-taker, because my business card is more than a boring card with my information. It’s vellum and filled with confetti. It tells you that I have sparkle and pizazz, and that’s why you should be working with me.

In this do-it-yourself tutorial, we’ll go over the basics of making this card, as well as how you can use the tutorial to create thank-you cards, bookmarks, and other trinkets for you and people you love.

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“Love Always:” Incorporating Late Loved Ones into Fashion

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I mentioned in my previous post that one of the ways I cope with losing my mom at a young age is incorporating her into my fashion sense. I really wanted to expand on how I do this, and how you can find creative ways to do this with all of your late loved ones – and maybe even loved ones who haven’t passed away, who you just adore and miss.

Incorporating your loved ones into fashion isn’t hard to do, it’s just about thinking creatively. I don’t replicate my mom’s style. I don’t think I could. On a daily basis, she wore oversized cat sweaters and Mom Jeans. She didn’t wear makeup and wore minimal jewelry: just her claddagh ring and a locket that I gave her. But I do find ways to implement thoughts of her into my daily style, and that takes creative flair to do.

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Crafting the Perfect Gift: Cheap and Unique Ways to Express Your Love

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Okay, confession time: my girlfriend (and yes, to my politically correct readers, we use the term ‘girlfriend,’ but you are free to say partner as well, ’cause it makes me feel like we’re partners in crime and that’s kind of cool) and I have been dating for 6 years, and we don’t celebrate Valentine’s Day. We never have. Valentine’s Day, to me, means giving chocolate or cards to my friends and gifts from my parents when I was a kid. My mom used to give me a locket every day on Valentine’s Day, because lockets are my fave and they’re in abundance around the time.

We do, ironically, celebrate February 15, which has meaning to us – it’s the anniversary of our first kiss. So what do we do on Feb. 14? Nothing. We spend time with our friends, mostly. I make chocolate covered stuff for people, and bake cookies, or whatever.

The trouble with celebrating Feb. 15 is that our yearly anniversary is only a month beforehand, and it’s always an expensive ordeal. We’re doing photo shoots, going places, and we spend a lot on dinner and after-dinner drinks. And we’re also young, and saving for our future. So who can help but want a cheap, but creative, way to express your love to someone, whether it’s romantic love or not? This year, and every other year, I try to find ways to show her I love her beyond just a hefty diamond with an even heftier price tag.

Vcard2

(A photo of the front of my card to my girlfriend.)

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4 Things That Happen When You Lose a Parent Young (and How Art Can Help!)

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I lost my mom when I was 11. It was August, and she had a seizure as a result of her back pain and depression medication. She was brought to the emergency room. Her death was sudden. It wasn’t expected, or part of a terminal illness like most people originally assume when they hear of how young I was. I’ve written about my mother’s death a lot – including this three part series (1, 2, 3) on Janice Beetle’s blog, and my memoir about losing my mom.

But I haven’t written about her in quite some time, and lately, I’ve been inspired to talk about this a little. Recently, I met up with one of my professors, a hilarious woman who, like me, lost a parent at a young age. And something she said about how it “shakes up your worldview” got me thinking about 4 Things That Happen When You Lose a Parent Young. I’m going to sprinkle this list with ways that art and writing projects have helped me to remember my mom and heal after losing her, because it is those projects that give me the strength and happiness that allow me to talk about it without breaking into tears.

Mothers Day

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Planner Project: Erin Condren Life Planner Decorating

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This year, I wanted to come up with some new positive life projects. In 2014, I made a Good Things Jar and every day, I wrote down at least one good thing that happened that day (usually more) on scrapbooking paper. There was some decorating, and the jar itself was decorated. It was a wonderful project – one I continued in 2015. But I wanted something else.

As an avid scrapbooking fan and someone who is constantly making her own new art projects, I was looking for something daily, that was also artsy and decorating related, and would bring positivity into my life. I decided to make my goal to find a planner that was cute and customizable, and that I would write everything good in it each day (along with my jar) and I would decorate it.

I met the Erin Condren Life Planner via my Instagram obsession. Erin Condren’s website is here, and you can use this link to get $10 off your purchase!

Alaina Planner

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