NEW Farm Chicks and Dahlia Digital Sets, Shabby Tea Room Sponsor and More!

Hello, I have so much exciting news to share today! We have a new Chicken Farm printable paper set for .99 cents! New Farm Chicks Digital Stamps and Dahlia Digital - both with NEW great extra designs added (see all the details below)!  Also, be sure to take a peek at the Spring Pastel Papers coming soon by designer and DT Member Sheila Rumney at the end of this post.

 

We are also sponsors for the Shabby Tea Room #248 Beautiful Blooms Challenge this week and there are some beautiful samples the DT has created like this pretty card below by Tracey in Australia who used roses and paper from our Garden Papers Kit   Plus - you can enter and win a $25.00 Gift Certificate and there are two $10.00 gift certificates up for grabs!

 DT Member Diane Hover is also on the Shabby Tea Room Design Team and she used our Wedding Printable Download to create this gorgeous card.

DT Leader Kathy Clement created a set of 4 very cool apron cards using our Garden Style Digital Stamp Set and with some of our Garden Papers.
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I'm thrilled with how our Farm Chicks Digital Stamp Set turned out!  Designer Cindy van Koll returned to help with this set and we added 16 NEW Designs, so there are 40 total! The original Farm Chicks Clear Stamp Set is just 6" x 8" but we still have a few left for $10.95.

These are the new designs and check out the sizes of each of them and I think you will agree there are definite advantages of Digital Stamps and having the images larger and editable for less money and no shipping with immediate download offers so many advantages!

I had so much fun making this Farm Chicks Rule digital stamp for the set. I left it as a jpg as I thought it would be easier to use and it lost to much detail as a png.

Here are some inspiring samples that ladies have created in the past with the Clear Set. I'm pumped to see what new projects people will come up with using the larger digital set!

We also have a NEW Dahlia Digital Stamp Set which includes our old Dahlia set as well as 15 New designs! Designer Cindy van Koll also helped work on this set as well the original one and check out the detail in the designs! Note: we have a few of the Clear Dahlia Sets left for $4.95

 On case you missed our free gift this month when you place an order is one of my fave printable rose papers.  Just add it to your shopping cart and it will be $0. 

This is such a sweet card that DT Member Sheila Rumney created using an image from our Sew Nice Creative Scraps. You can see details on Sheila's Blog and also check our the pretty papers she has been designing below!

Here's a little peek at the New Spring Pastel Digital Papers by designer and DT Member Sheila Rumney which should be ready sometime this week and I will post details.

Lastly, if you live in the area I hope you will come by the Lynden Craft and Antique Show and see us this week March 19 to 20/15 and ask me for the free gift I promised you here.

I hope you are having a fabulous Monday!
Sandy Redburn
Owner
 
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Christmas House Tour, Cool Ideas, Links and Samples

Hi Everyone, I have a bunch of fun things to share today including a little Christmas tour of my house, crafty ideas I'm doing, funny letters to Santa, the best letter ever by a mom with truth about Santa, wonderful new samples by our talented DT Ladies and Sale News!

 This is one of my fave Christmas decorations, our nativity set we bought over 30 years ago on a trip to Mexico.

 These aren't Christmas but I wanted to show you the darling fairies my dear friend Debi use to make from Fimo with little outfits and hair.

We often look for some trinket to remind us of our vacation and or buy ornaments to mark milestones so the tree is full of memories and fun to decorate each year.

 View from my dinning room so you don't see the treadmill, bouncy ball or junk I need to put away.   I struggle with too much stuff.

 This looked way more 'Christmasey' when I took the photo but the snowflake lights don't show up and you can see the stuffed Rudolph head better below. Pretty ornaments can get buried on the tree so I hung some from the kitchen light. 

I bought Rudolph at a craft fair over 20 years ago and I need to go in the backyard and find him some new antlers. I still love him and think they would be a great seller with the 'deer craze' if you could make a pattern. UPDATE:  I love Google - it can find almost anything and I thought I would type in Deer Head Pattern and look I found a FREE one from charmingdoodle.com and she has a tutorial! She did two and they have fabric antlers but you could modify it if you wanted to use branches. The original branches looked so much better.

 My husband is a sucker for buying ornaments when they go on sale and I didn't know what to do with these because they are so big. I hung them over the sink but I need to re-do my valance with good velcro as the dollar store stuff is junk. You can also make these with glue and different size balls. Do you like my piggy pic from the late 1800's?  I was going to scan it and sell prints as they are so cute.

 I like this Ikea star light which also shines through the window over our door. It's hard to beat Ikea for unique  inexpensive lighting. That's my niece Arissa who comes weekdays while my brother is at work. She's a great helper and super crafty.

 I came across these hilarious letters kids have written to Santa and had to share the link.  I also heard a great tip on the radio to not make all your most awesome presents for kids from Santa because other less fortunate children may wonder why they get such a little gift from Santa when the other kids at school get 3 or 4 amazing presents.

 If you still have little children around the house I thought this idea to make Santa footprints with a wet boot dipped in flour would be fun. 

Okay, this is the best explanation I've ever read on the truth about Santa Claus letter written by a mom to her daughter who asked for the truth. I wish I had explained it like this when my kids found out!

 The whoot.com, an Aussie site has some fantastic ideas for hand and thumbprint art (not all Christmas) but all really great for creating some special family keepsakes. I'm making one of these with my niece and nephew today.

I love these ice candles by Oh My Creative and have fresh cranberries and the greenery to make some but it's so warm right now they will melt real fast. I'm going to do some and hope it gets colder in the next couple of days or save them for our new years party.

  

I thought this recipe sounded yummy - Cranberry and Rosemary Christmas Sangria and it looks so festive I'm going to make a pitcher for New Years. 

 Look how cute this card turned out that DT Leader Kathy Clement made with our Deer Christmas Digital Stamp Set

 I decided to include the PNG files I colored for my Christmas Card Tutorial in with the stamp set. If you bought our Deer Christmas set you can log back in and get the colored postcard and mouse. I'm also going to try and look up the emails of the people who ordered it and send them.

 I love seeing the ideas the DT ladies come up with using our new sets and Darlene Pavlick has been busy making a bunch of cool cards like this one using our Deer Christmas Set. I posted some in our store when you scroll down under each set.

 DT Member Melody Clement created this lovely Christmas card using our Vintage Santa Digital Set and popped up Santa for dimension.

I like this idea DT Member Shantaie Fowler used reverse embossing with white embossing powder to create faux snow on her wreath card. The wreath is from the Deer Christmas Set and if you shrink it the 'deer mouse' can also hold it.

DT Member Diane Hoover created this pretty Christmas card using theDeer Christmas Set as well. Love how she did the holly.

 If you like you can read the list I posted last year of Festive Healthy Holiday Treat Ideas.

Wishing you and your loved ones a very Merry Christmas! Come back for our Big Boxing Day SALE starting 12 midnight Christmas Day until Jan 1 at 12 midnight and save up to 35% off sale price stock!
 
Sandy Redburn
Crafty Secrets

Visit Our CraftyVintageGirl.com  Store
Join Us on Facebook!

This Blog: http://heartwarmingvintage.blogspot.com
Our Website: http://www.craftysecrets.com
Toll Free Phone or Fax 1-888 597-8898
Local Phone 604 597-8817

Crafty Secrets Head Office
15430 78 A Ave.,
Surrey, BC V3S 8R4

USA Warehouse
250 H. Street, #436
Blaine,WA 98230

Christmas Inspiration from the Design Team

Hello, Friends!

It's Kathy here, and I'm just popping in to share some great last minute Christmas inspiration from the design team.  We've been busy creating with two beautiful new digital art stamp sets from Sandy's workshop: Christmas Tree and Deer Christmas.

The Christmas tree set is huge!  There are 39 black and white images in this set along with 29 colorized images.  One of my favorites is the delightfully rustic tree and truck image that DT member Darlene Pavlick worked up into this vintage beauty:

I love the inking she's added around the edges, and the way she colored the images.  The Christmas tree in the bed of the truck is soooo pretty!

Diane Hover created this fun card with Santa on the telephone (calling to check on his parcel delivery, maybe?) using our Vintage Santa Digital Stamps.  I love the pops of red she added to her coloring and the great paper she selected from our Retro Christmas CD.

Diane also had fun creating a window card with the festive wreath in the Deer Christmas Stamps.

 I used this same wreath along with the adorable dancing mice.  When Sandy and I were previewing this stamp set, I fell in love with her adorable "deer mouse."  I asked her to make another one, wearing a tutu, and I was thrilled to find the concept in the final set.  I think you will agree, these are the cutest "mousies" ever!

I added lots of sparkle to their fabulous antler "tiaras."  Don't you just love them?

I'm sure you've noticed the popularity of botanical themes this Christmas season, especially those that use deer.  Look at this chic black and white Christmas card that Dar created with Deer Christmas:

I love the way she's combined the postcards, deer silhouettes and deer in the woods on this card.  All these wonderful images are part of the Deer Christmas set! Black and white is also a big trend in Christmas decor this year.

Everyone needs thank you notes after the holidays, and Darlene's design would be great to use for those, or as a masculine winter birthday card.  So many of the images on Deer Christmas can be carried over right into the winter season, which is always nice! Simply change the red accents to another color, and you have an almost instant card.  The sentiment medallion is also part of this wonderful stamp set.

So, how about you?  Do you have all your Christmas cards sent and all your preparations done?  Not me!  I've been so busy tying up loose ends with design team work, and planning fun events for the 2015 Linky Parties that I still have TONS of prep to do.  The shopping is done, and I've made a good start on decorating...but no baking...and we won't even talk about cleaning!  Yikes!  I'll share a photo with you of my little botanical Christmas tree.  We went to a smaller table top tree this year, and while I was worried that I wouldn't like it, I have to say, this is one of my all time favorite trees!

Here's hoping your Christmas and Hanukkah are filled with joy and creativity!

Cheerio,

kathy, Design Team Leader, Crafty Secrets

14 Ways to Add More Art to Your Home on a Budget

Hi Everyone,

 I thought it would be fun to show a bunch of ways you can add more 'ART' to your home with out breaking the bank. What is art?  Websters description below defines it as "something that is created with imagination and skill that is beautiful or that expresses important ideas or feelings'. That sums it up nicely, except sometimes art can be so simple yet beautiful and may not require any great skill. 

1.Follow your heart to find art.  I like to have things in my home that make me happy and one of my favorite quotes is by designer William Morris who's motto was “Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful"- 1834”.  You may find art in a design you love in a dish or on a T-shirt, it  doesn't have to be limited to traditional applications. This is an obscure record album cover from the 70's my husband Scott loved so I framed it about 35 years ago and it still makes us happy.  

2. Get your favorite art on canvas. One of our favorite artists over the years has been Micheal Sowa who often paints quirky animals like this bunny getting dressed. Scott bought this poster for me as a gift about 25 years ago and we had transferred to canvas which transformed it into a piece of art!   

It looks like Allposters.com sells a 20" x 28" poster for $26.99, or as a canvas print for $155.99 but you should always search for coupons from any major retailers first on a site like retailmenot.com as they have 25% to 30% OFF coupons  for Allposters.com.

3. You don't need to frame canvas prints. We recycled a frame for the bunny print above but you don't have to frame canvas prints. You can have the print wrapped around the wood stretcher frame (you will loose some of the image) or the sides are often left white or painted black. Below is Sowa 'poster on canvas' unframed that I had on my 'want' list for ages. Every time I look at this little pig diving I am reminded to take a leap and go for it!

4. Print our vintage illustrations yourself. It isn't hard and you can print on canvas and watercolor sheets with a ink jet or laser printer. DT Member Vicki Chrisman used CD 2, Creating With Vintage Illustrations to create this wall art below  and printed it on canvas.

5. Save money on printer ink. We have been using quality non generic ink from the Ink  Farm for 3 years, have saved a bundle!  Plus, you can use our Ink Farm Discount Code: craftyink and save 15% and get FREE Shipping Forever - every time you order!

6. Print photos on canvas. Here's a photo Scott took of me on Isla Mujeres that I printed on canvas and used our stamps to stamp the red designs. Our Flourishes Stamp Set is digital now so to get the same effect; you can paste them digitally on the photo in red before printing on canvas. Then I used my staple gun to mount it on a wood frame from the dollar store. 

You can also upload photos and artwork to have printed. Costco offers Gallery wrapped canvas starting at $28.99 for 12" x 16" or 14" x 14".

7. Play and create an altered art board! You can get really creative and add plaster with stencils, stamps, paints, ephemera, photos and all sorts of mixed media to a canvas. Vicki used our Digital Bird Note Stamp Set on left side and layered it with laces, twigs and a nest.  The Bird  on the right is from our Altered Fairy Scraps.

8. Recycle junk into artistic functional pieces.  With a little imagination you can transform old tins, boxes, drawers, suitcases, furniture and more into functional and artistic pieces using copies of your favorite images with Mod Podge or a medium like Golden Acrylic Gel.  If you have an ink jet printer you just need to give your printed paper a spray of Krylon Sealer before you wet it with liquid.  Vicki sprayed papers from CD 3 with Krylon Sealer before decoupaging them on these old drawers someone tossed out and she turned into shelves.

Old drawers can be made into wall shadowboxes or end tables to display a collection, storage shelves, dog beds, a jewelry holder, window boxes, bulletin boards and more.  

 9. Little by little improve your collection. I grew up going to rummage sales and thrift stores with my mom (we still go) and learned early if I saw something better or prettier than what I owned I would buy it if I could sell mine for as much or close to. I've been doing this for so many years with everything from small appliances to dishware, furniture to art everything we own has improved.  I bought this beautiful frame at a garage sale a few years ago and still haven't found the right piece for it so I just display art inside it like these tiles I distressed. I do need to practice the Get Rid of Unloved Stuff Rule more!

10. Display your kid's or friend's art.  You can often find ornate frames at thrift stores with cheap tacky art and the frame can be painted and you can add cork board or chalk paint to the backing board, or pull it out and add chicken wire or string a 'clothes line' to display your children's artwork or show off cards or artwork a friend has made.

11. Get your favorite photos enlarged and framed. You can find inexpensive used frames to begin a eclectic mix of framed photos on a wall or visit a store like Ikea. I had these photos enlarged a few years ago at Costco and was amazed at how inexpensive it was and the perfect photos for our upstairs bathroom.

12. Create lanterns, shades and candle wraps by re-printing layouts and designs at a smaller size on thin copy paper or vellum like the Thanksgiving layout I added to the lantern below or images to create a Halloween lantern next to it.  You can wrap around glass jars and tie with raffia or add a little adhesive. The flowers are cut from paper on CD 3 and glued to a branch.

13.  Add art to fabric and pillows using images from our CD's and Digital Downloads. We have 7 CD's now and each one is packed full of designs and papers you can create with using iron-on transfer paper or transfer pens.

14. Create some fridge art.  Clean up the mess on your fridge and create Art Frame Magnets to organize schedules, shopping lists, display children's art work, family photos with style. All of the frames I used here are from our CD #1 Creating With Vintage Patterns.

I used Photoshop Elements to make the samples above and you can resize the frames and even squeeze or stretch them to change the shape to be more rectangle or square. 
 

You can also easily adjust the color of the frames. You just need to go under Enhance, Adjust Color and Color Variations and the next window will pop up that you see below.

You can see the original frame on the far left side and I clicked on 'Increase Blue' and you can see the result on the right side and a preview of other color variations. Just be sure to save any new colors with a new name to keep your original.

 I hope you enjoyed these ideas.

We just changed web host servers and our email were messed up but fixed now! Email  again if you didn't hear from me sandy@craftysecrets.com 


Don't forget there are only 2 days left to enter any projects in our April Linky Party you have created and receive a $6.00 Gift Card. Plus, 1 lucky random.org winner will receive a $50.00 Gift Card!

Thanks so much for your support and feedback, it's truly appreciated!
 
Sandy Redburn
Crafty Secrets

See Our BIG SALE at CraftyVintageGirl.com 
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This Blog: http://heartwarmingvintage.blogspot.com
Our Website: http://www.craftysecrets.com
Toll Free Phone or Fax 1-888 597-8898
Local Phone 604 597-8817

Crafty Secrets Head Office
15430 78 A Ave.,
Surrey, BC V3S 8R4

USA Warehouse
250 H. Street, #436
Blaine,WA 9823