FaveCrafts Product Review - Fiskars AdvantEdge punch

hi everyone!

quick post for ya on a Product Review I did for FaveCrafts.com on the Fiskars AdvantEdge Punch System.  if you are OBSESSED with punches, especially border or ribbon punches, like i am then you will want to check this out!  i started by making a couple of cards:

just look at those intricate ribbons across the middles!  to see the full review and a how to on these cards head over to favecrafts and check out my review as well - AdvantEdge Punch System.  In addition you can check out my video demo and tutorial from the Favecrafts you tube channel!

i will be sharing more projects with this tool in the coming weeks.  i have to add that after doing all of my projects with this tool i went back to some regular border punches for something else and wow did i really miss the advantedge method!

tie dye fun and FREE book!!!!

counting down....

last week before school starts!  of course i am thinking of all the things i wanted to accomplish/do this summer that i didn't BUT i did do quite a few things i wanted too.  got the school haircut done.  my regular girl wasn't there so i didn't get one but i am going to go back and have big plans *wink* 

one of the things we got to do this summer that was on our list from the beginning is tie dye.  pezza asked about it in the spring and then i got a call and was asked to do some to promote the new FREE eBook on favecrafts - How to Make Tie Dye Shirts, Decor & More: 18 Tie Dye Patterns. 

How lucky is that!?!?   We were so excited when our fabulous Tulip Tie Dye kit arrived


Oh just look at those luscious BRIGHT colors.  now i have not done tie dye since my boys were small - that's a long time ago!  we rushed out and got ourselves some white clothes and got started - Pezza had two shirts, I had a skirt and a pair of shorts and i also had some white fabric i wanted to dye too.  I was uncertain how many pieces of clothing I would really have enough dye to do - we could have done more with JUST the first pack of dyes and we still have the extra packs of each color to do more!

I covered the table with a plastic painter's dropcloth from when we painted the foyer.  we started by doing several different tieing configurations - this is what determines your patterns!

 The Dye is so easy to mix - just add water.  We got to work and added our dyes to our stuff

bubba thought we needed a supervisor...

 The white fabric i had to dye had this pretty white design printed on it which resisted the dye so dyeing it made the pattern really stand out which i was happy about!

After adding the dyes the items have to sit COVERED for 8 hours at least.  This was accomplished by simply folding the long edges of my drop cloth over everything

after sitting i thoroughly rinsed everything to get the excess dye out.  then we laid them out and checked our handiwork

LOVE LOVE LOVE how bright these colors are!  not washed out AT ALL!

a quick run through the washer and dryer and we were ready to model some

where DOES this kid get this stuff?

hollyn was behind the camera directing me on how to pose for mine

SO pleased with our stuff and such fun!  we will be happily making more stuff with the rest of the dye packets.  so grab that FREE eBook and make some goodies for yourself and/or the kiddos too!

a video basics for ya!

hi all!

is winter hitting anywhere else?  it has actually been pretty mild here temp-wise but NO SUN the last few days.  and i am FREEZING all the time.  which is weird since i usually have the opposite problem but i swear i cannot get warm.  it's like my bones are freezing!  craziness!

many people have been asking me about Pezza.  you may or may not know but i had to pull her out of pre-school AGAIN last year because her behavior was so bad.  Then we thought she might be on the Autism spectrum and had that worry.  so many of you wanted updates so i thought i'd share.

for starters she is doing really well in school this year.  why?  i don't know :P  could be several things 1. she is in a class of older kids not younger like before, 2. her class is doing more advanced work than the younger set would be doing - it is a little bit more kindergarten-like, 3. the class is VERY small - only 7 kids total.  being a november baby she is one of those kids who misses the cutoff date and has to wait a full year to start school.  being as smart as she is (and she is creepy-smart) starting a year later is NOT going to help matters and neither will being the oldest kid in the class.  so while she is doing very well now, none of those 3 factors will be possible when she starts kindergarten so i am still a bit apprehensive.  on top of that i already went through the public school system with a very smart kid and it was an absolute total nightmare.  at this point hollyn is reading step 2 books by herself, knows addition and subtraction, basic fractions and beginning multiplication.  add in the hyperness and stubborn-ness and we are all in for a wild ride!  according to her doctor there is no autism.  that's a good thing.  we did discuss her "quirks" at length and she says it's a combination of high intelligence, hyperactivity (the H without the ADD) and personality.  in other words - have fun with that one :P

she IS getting a bit more self control and self discipline so maybe some of it will get better as she matures...you know, right before she hits puberty and the PMS starts!  in addition i have scaled my work load WAY back (as you can tell from my lack of blog posts) in order to concentrate more on her.  we instituted a pom pom reward system which has been very helpful too.  and then yesterday i came up with something brilliant (can't believe i never thought of it before with the boys).  when she misbehaves she goes to her room.  then we have to watch the clock and the whole timing thing and go upstairs to get her.  last night she kicked her shoe off into the tv so on her way up the stairs she asked how long.  i need her to clean her room so i said you can't come out until you have put away ALL of your train tracks.  i figure this is a win win situation for me - punishments should not punish the parents!  she would either refuse to pick them up and stay in her room longer (more peace & quiet for me) OR she would want to come out so she would get all of it picked up (again good for me).  so that is where we are at for now.

on to some crafting - NON holiday of any type crafting :)  i have another video sponsored by FaveCrafts.com - it offers tips for working with patterned papers.  here is the card I made:

 the embellishment came from my stash - the pink flower is die cut from a sheet of dried viva decor modeling grass and then layered with a fabric yoyo and teeny pardo clay flower.

I will be doing more video basics for FaveCrafts soon so be sure to look for those!  i will be doing perfect pearls and alcohol inks.  do you have any topics you think i should cover?  be sure to suggest them to me and i can put them on my list!

we just completed the next issue of Through the Craft Room Door too so if you don't get it SIGN UP! if you already get it - i think you will really love it!  i know i do!