Thursday, December 30, 2010

Cricut Old West Cards

Hi again!
Today I wanted to share two new cards I made using the Cricut Old West cartridge. I got this cart as a present from a family member!! I made these adorable boot cards to send to some family I've got in Texas.
Howdy Pardner:



These cards are cut at 9" x 5", making it a 4.5" x 5" A2 size card.
The Boots are cut a 1.25" and 1.5" ( I was having some size troubles with layers on my gypsy, haha)
The words are also cut at 1.25" and 1.5" with the shadows as well. 
I used the DCWV glitter stack for the boots and Colorbok wood patterned paper for the words.

This cart has two really great fonts on it, the wood letters shown above and a rope letter font as well! I can't wait to make some more stuff with this one.

Happy Crafting,
CHC

Cricut Paisley Card

Howdy Friends! Today I am going to attempt to get several posts up. I've been having technical issues these past few weeks. Today I am showcasing the Paisley Cricut Cartridge. This cart is really cute and has some great images and matching words to go with it. 

A card for the Miss Priss in your life :

I cut the card at 9.5 " x 5.25" which makes a 4.5" x 5.25" card (A2 size).
Words cut at 1.25" with shadow key feature, and the kitty is cut at 3".
I used DCWV glitter stacks for the top layer of the kitty, the crown, pillow tassels,and words.

Hope you enjoy this purrrdy card!

Happy Crafting,
CHC

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Glass Blowing with Studio 1688

Hope every one is having a happy holiday season. I thought I would share something really cool I had the privilege to partake in this past week.
Glass Blowing and Flame Working
with Teresa White
This is Teresa and Sunny (a very dear friend, and the one who gifted the class to me)

Teresa teaches out of her glass studio at Hollywood and Broad in Midtown, be sure to go by her site and to check out Studio 1688. I was overjoyed to learn that i would be in the 2 day 10 hour classs. The amount of art you get to make yourself and take home is worth the tuition alone, not to mention all the knowledge and help you get during the process. I just wanted to plug a little bit for Teresa and show everyone how much fun we had.
Drawing Designs with glass onto glass... amazing!
Actually blowing the glass in the flame...this is how you make a hole.
Stretching, Pulling and Twisting....
Well this was just a little photo update and plug for some awesome local art. I'll be back later today with another crafting tutorial, so come on back a little later.

Happy Crafting,
CHC

Thursday, December 9, 2010

How To... Decorated Wooden Letters

                          

Hello There,
Today I thought I would share with you a project that is fun, really easy to do, and super cute!
These are wooden letters that can be purchased at any craft store (these are from Michael's) and with a little bit of paint and some paper, can be turned into adorable wall art.

Supplies:
Letter- wood or chipboard
Acrylic Paint
Cardstock or Heavy Duty Paper
Mod Podge
Foam Brush
X-Acto knife
Emery Board (nail file)
  1. Gather your letter, paint and paper in coordinating colors, and mod podge.
  2. Give the letter a base coat of the acrylic paint. Allow to dry.(the lime green is my base color)
  3. Cut 1" and 1/4" strips of the coordinating colored paper.(teal and light blue)
  4. When the letter is dry give a healthy coating of the mod podge.
  5. Apply strips of paper in the order you want them. There will be excess paper hanging over the sides.
  6. Once the mod podge has dried take your x-acto knife and carefully trim the excess paper from the edges of the letter. This will take a little finesse and time.
  7. After you remove the excess paper take an emery board and gently file around the edges you trimmed off. This is to prevent the paper from flipping up around the edges.
  8. Embellish! I painted the green stripes with a green glitter and then gave the whole letter a spritz with some gold glimmer spray.
  9. Give the letter one last healthy coat of Mod Podge. (I do 2 coats just to be on the safe side.)
This is a favorite project of mine, because of the versatility of mediums you can use on it. There are a million kinds of patterned papers and colors of paint you can use, so these can be adapted to fit any kind of decor. 
I hope this was useful to you, and that you have a blast trying it out.

Happy Crafting,
CHC

Just Getting Started...

Hi there!
If you're reading this, then somehow you've made it to the Candy Hill Blog! Thanks so much for stopping by. I'm very new to this whole blogging thing, so it will definitely be an interesting journey! Here we hope to showcase the crafts we create, and even how to make them for yourself, as well as learning new things from others in the crafting community and sharing them here with you.
Heres a little bit of info about the Candy Hill Creators!
Hillary and Candice


So now you see where the name comes from. Candice and I have been crafting partners for a few years now, and friends for even longer.  We think so much alike that we are always on the same page, yet we both always have fresh ideas to share with the other.  It's a match made in crafting heaven!  :) We just recently got a booth at Handcrafted Creativity in Bartlett,TN. If you're in the Memphis area please go check it out, there is a ton of awesome hand made items for sale.We offer a variety of unique hand made including jewelry, home decor, cards, and other paper crafts.

PRICING:  We are firm believers in not overcharging for our goods.  We price all of our creations by considering the amount of materials and time we have invested in each piece.  We cater to the everyday person because that's what we are.  We think it's ridiculous to pay $18 for a pair of earrings, so we certainly aren't going to ask you to pay that.  We can make a beautiful pair of earrings with glass and/or crystal for less than $10.  You're happy to get a good deal, and we're happy we made a few bucks....everyone's happy and that's the way we like to operate.  We want everyone to be able to buy themselves or a loved one a special, handmade, one of a kind item and not spend a fortune in the process.

CUSTOM WORK:  We are always happy to try to accommodate special requests.  Perhaps you have a wedding coming up and would like to incorporate your something old, new, borrowed, and blue into one pretty necklace.  Maybe you have an inside joke with a friend and would like a handpainted decorative wall sign to present them on their birthday.  Even if you have candles laying around your house that have more wax than wick left and would like you money's worth, we can turn it into a new candle for you in a lovely glass container of your choice.  We sometimes hear people say that they have the creative ideas, just not the actual "know-how" to actually make it themselves.  Whatever the case, we are happy to help bring your ideas to life or work with you to design that perfect something for that special someone.  You just tell us what you want and we will do our best to make it happen. 

GOING GREEN:  "Going green" seems to be the hip thing to do these days.  Truth is, we've been doing it for years and just called it being "crafty" or "thrifty."  We were just blessed with ability to turn the undesirable into the desirable!  This is another way that we are able to offer such good prices.  Using recycled or reused items helps lower the cost of materials for us and allows us to offer lower prices for you!  We also feel that it's important to not be wasteful, and often find a fun challenge in trying to reuse an item.  ("What can I make out of THIS?")  People are often surprised at how beautiful some of our projects turn out when we tell them what we started with. 

We try to reuse as much as possible.  Not only are many of our goods made from recycled/reused items, but we also try to incorporate the idea into the way we operate.  Instead of buying new bags with a fancy logo printed on them, we save and reuse plastic bags from stores we frequent.  We use packaging from items we have purchased for our own use as storage and packaging for our products.  Plastic boxes and pouches (even medicine bottles) make great storage containers for beads and other small craft items.  Even some of the materials we purchase to make accessories with are made from recycled materials.  We have developed a few "green lines" under the CHC umbrella of goods:


OLD FLAME CANDLES:  Everyone has had a candle that the wick burns all the way down, be it in a container or just a pillar candle, and has a bunch of wax left over.  We take that leftover wax (and the glass containers) and make new candles out of them.  The wax is melted down, often mixed with new wax or more recycled wax with a complimenting scent, and the result is a new candle with a fabulous, unique scent.  Each candle is different.  Imagine Yankee Candle's Buttercream mixed with hazelnut or a rich vanilla or perhaps multiple floral scents that combined, create the aroma of an entire Spring bouquet.   Mixing scents, colors, and using fun containers means that each candle is unique.  Reusing glass containers, wax, etc. means that there is less waste to end up in a landfill.  *Donations of candles, wax, oils, containers, etc. are always welcomed  and appreciated - whether it be for a custom made candle, a discount on your next purchase with us, the feeling of knowing you're doing your part to recycle and put your waste to good use, or just out of the kindness of your heart.


GREEN BEAD JEWELRY:  Our Green Bead line consists of beautiful pieces of jewelry that are "recycled" in many ways.  Some pieces are made from broken jewelry - perhaps a string of beads broke, an earring lost its mate, etc.  Sometimes we even dissect jewelry and incorporate the beads and findings into our own creations, mixing old with new.  Some items truly are made from recycled things.  We make beads and charms from magazines, paper, bottle caps, etc.  A little creativity can go a long way when designing pieces!


SCRAP MATERIALS:  Many of our home decor pieces are made from the scraps of fresh, new wood that has been cut to build something else.  These scraps would normally have gone to the dumpster and ended up in a landfill, but we intercept the wood before it hits the dumpster and turn it into things that hopefully make people happy.  Some of our larger pieces (like furniture) were just sad things we rescued from the curb.  We breathe new life into these old things.  With a little paint and decoupage, we turn it into something fabulous and find it a loving home where people will hopefully enjoy it for years to come!

Thank you so much for joining us here on the internet, and we hope you'll come back often to see what new things we have up.

Happy Crafting,
CHC