Easy DIY Teen Cell Phone Case

As promised here is the doodled Dollar Store phone case video tutorial featuring Sakura Glaze Pens.
Its a super easy idea that uses a simple dollar store phone case. What a great way to add a little fun to something so inexpensive. Its the perfect way to add a little hand made to your holiday this year.




I am finishing up some of the other videos I worked on for the Handmade Holidays Blog Hop, so stay tuned for more inexpensive and easy hand made fun.

If you are looking for more inspiration, make sure to look at my original post for all of the blog hoppers and their ideas for handmade gifts. There were over 100 project ideas in total with this blog hop so you are sure to find some great inspiration.

Thanks for watching!

~Liz Hicks

Easy DIY Girls-Teens Gift Set

Welcome to day 2 of the 4th Annual Handmade Holidays Blog Hop! A few years ago we were looking online for handmade gift ideas and thought it would be great if there was a resource dedicated JUST to handmade gift ideas. Enter the Handmade Holidays hop! We've gathered over 100 of our creative blogger friends in the craft industry as well as some of our fellow product manufacturers to bring you a plethora of inspiring gift ideas you can make now to give to your friends, family, and colleagues. Pin and bookmark these ideas for this holiday season and to use throughout the year! Each day of the hop features approximately 30 gift projects and you can "hop" from one blog to another to check them all out.

I don't know  about you but shopping for tween girls is tough. You can't buy them princess girly stuff, but (as much as they would disagree) you also can't just buy them stuff they are just not ready for yet. To add to this, you have to be very specific about colors, designs... no princess, well maybe just one but if its the wrong one, well then... it could really mean ANYTHING.

I am going through this 8-12 age range with my daughter. I have really enjoyed it but am still baffled as to what style she enjoys (especially since it changes... ALL THE TIME).

SO with this in mind, I thought it might be fun to share some fun, EASY DIY gift items that will still be age appropriate yet make this age range of developing girls feel special, appreciated and acknowledges for the age and "maturity" that they are.

Here are a few of the ideas I came up with. Make sure to check back in the next few weeks for some more simple DIY gifts.

Tinted Vintage Vanity Tray- using Clearsnap Surfacez Solvent permanent Inks

This old brass vanity tray got an updated and chic make over with the help of Surfacez Ink by Clearsnap.


 Available here:Surfacez Ink Pads and Refills


Doodle Iphone Case using Sakura Glaze Pens

Here is a beautiful custom $1 store cell phone case using Sakura of America's Glaze Pens. The pens are great for doodling on non porous surfaces.

 

This tutorial will be one of the videos I will be sharing within the next few weeks :)

Available here: Sakura Glaze Pens


Floral Travel Bag using Oly-Fun fabric

Available here: Oly Fun

Like I said, I will be posting more videos and quick tutorials featuring these or other projects within the next few weeks... I just didn't have enough time to feature all of my projects in this one post :)

Are you ready for lots more creative handmade gift ideas and projects?? Follow along on our blog hop! Simply click on each of the links below to be taken to that post with additional information and photos on how to create a handmade gift project. Have fun and pin away!

 Clearsnap  Ellison Educational Equipment  Walnut Hollow  Graphic 45 Hydrangea Hippo Westcott Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L Rowland Technologies Neat and Tangled ICE Resin Therm O Web Elizabeth Craft Designs Pink and Main The Buckle Boutique Clearsnap - Vivian Keh Ashley Rader - Giddy Upcycled ICE Resin - Jen Cushman Candy Spiegel- Candy Scraps Graphic 45 - Andrew Roberts Rina Gonzales - Mothership Scrapbook Gal Therm O Web - Amanda Niederhauser Cori Warner - The Flying C Yana Smakula - My Cardmaking & Scrapbooking The Buckle Boutique - Shawn Mosch Eileen Hull Designs - Eileen Hull Angela Muir - Handmade in the Heartland Krista Winters - eat, knit & d.i.y. Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L - Erica Houghton Katie Smith - Punk Projects Elizabeth Craft Designs - Karen Aicken Jeanie Hevener - Create & Babble Ellison Educational Equipment - Hilary Kanwischer Fancy Shanty - Stacy Molter Liz Hicks - Blogerisms 

 a Rafflecopter giveaway

Follow our Handmade Holidays Gift Ideas Pinterest board for even more inspiration!

Follow Jennifer Priest of RainMaker Media Works + Hydrangea Hippo's board Handmade Holidays on Pinterest.

A huge thank you to our sponsors for this hop - please visit their blogs below and follow them. And be sure to come back tomorrow for another 30+ amazing Handmade Gift Ideas!

 

Clearsnap || Ellison Educational Equipment || Walnut Hollow || Graphic45 || Westcott || ICE Resin || Therm O Web || Rowland Industries || Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L || Pink and Main || Elizabeth Craft Designs || The Buckle Boutique || Neat and Tangled

Additional Sponsorship provided to bloggers by:

Sakura || Fairfield Processing

Product has been provided by sponsors for this blog post although opinions are entirely that of Liz Hicks Studios. No monetary compensation was collected for this blog post nor for links. Links provided are for educational purposes. This blog does not receive compensation for purchases made from these links.

Thanks so much for check out our blog hop today :)

~Liz Hicks

Lucky All Year Long...

As fun of a holiday St. Patrick's Day is... there really isn't a time other than today that you see shamrocks, green beverages and people dressed in green.

I like this fun little holiday because well, it breaks up the monotony of the year and like today... makes a Monday a whole lot more fun.

I like many other busy crafty moms... like to make the most of these one time events or items required for these types of events... so I took the theme and gave it a twist in this greeting card.

Lucky Me Card

Supplies: Brother ScanNCut, Bazzill Cardstock, American Crafts Glittered Cardstock, Sakura Micron pen, Roc-lon multi-purposed cloth and various embellisments.

With this card, I wanted to make sure that I could use it beyond St. Patrick's Day yet still tie in a bit of ye' ol sentiment. I cut the same shape out of matte cardstock and glittered cardstock to create a monochromatic base.

I then added a simple title using the Roc-Lon MPC, it is similar to canvas and cuts beautifully.

And last, I added a sweet sentiment to change the feel of the card from St. Patty's to a sweet love note.

I like being about to take items that may only be used once a year and make other uses for them... I am sure I am not the only one, what are your thoughts on re-purposing holiday themes for other occasions?

For this and more projects check out my PINTEREST Boards

Thanks for stopping by today... hopefully you do not get pinched too much today!


~Liz ♥

Valentines Day Cards in a non traditional sense- Unity Stamp Co.

I think we all can agree that my style of crafting is not exactly... well traditional. I have grown to really love what I do and through the process I have come to the realization that I tend to lean towards the artsy, colorful and re-purposed style of crafting... and I couldn't be happier.

I am trying to expand my horizons, as I have found that the reason that I do lean towards the artsy distressed style is not because clean and simple couldn't be a style I create... more or less to draw or cut a straight line kinda frightens me. I hide my mistakes with paint, flowers and inks... lol. But I am going to try and create some simpler designs because I love love love the look of it.

Today I created some non-traditional "Not yo' momma's" Valentines Day cards. These cards were for examples at CHA, of the New Crafters Inks by Clearsnap Inc. Both of these greeting cards were created using my new background stamps from Unity Stamp Co.

4 YOU greeting card

Products used: cardstock (Bazzill Basics), Inks, Glitter, and embossing powder (Clearsnap Inc), Stamps (Liz Hicks Studios for Unity Stamp Co.), Pen (Sakura of America), sequin and vintage paper (Unknown), Dry adhesive (Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L) and wet adhesive (Beacon Adhesives)

Foreground and background: use rich colors to create your focal point like I did using Collage of Digits here. I added some visual interest to the background by layering my stamps over tinted vintage paper. Using Dinged Dots and I.Kat along the side helps to break up the boldness of the main stamp.

 

Layer Colors and Patterns: The happening trend right now in fashion is not only color blocking BUT also blocking with complimentary patterns. Use analogous or complimentary colors with my stamps to create beautiful layered effects like you see above. I used three different colors and 3 different stamps to create this colorful collage.

Isolate a number and use it to your benefit: Here I added glittered embossing powder to the #4 to use it for my sentiment.

 Love You Card

Products used: Cardstock (Bazzill Basics), Inks and embossing powder (Clearsnap Inc.), Stamps (Liz Hicks Studios for Unity Stamp Co.), Pen (Sakura of America), Punchinella and Vintage paper (unknown), Dry adhesive (Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L) and wet adhesive (Beacon Adhesives)

Make a bold impression: Use a repetitive pattern (Like the hearts here) in bold colors to allow the stamped background to fade. Taking the visual interest off of the background with this bold heart pattern allows the viewer to see the hearts first and notice the background secondary, which translates really well as perceived depth.

Outline to define: Use a dark pen to outline letters or patterns that may otherwise get lost in the background.

Since this post IS a part of our Launch Party with UNITY STAMP CO. I want to remind you of our giveaways taking place till February 2nd 2013. Check them out here. 

I used ALL 4 of the background stamps on the first card and Dinged Dots & my alphabet on the second.

These background stamps are on sale for only $8.99 AND my Alphabet is only $20 right now. To add to the amazing prices... $1 of every sale goes to help Melody Ross with her work for Full Circle Exchange in bringing awareness and assistance to those involved in Human Trafficking. Sale is for this weekend only so grab them while you can. You can order your Unity Stamps right here.

Also make sure to check out the brand new LIZ HICKS STUDIOS facebook page that we created to keep track of all of the good stuff we are doing with Liz Hicks Studios. If you didn't know... Liz Hicks Studios is not just me, it is my family as well but mostly me and my husband. This is our families joint effort and I would love for you to check out what we are doing next by checking out our page here.

There is a whole lot of fun things going on this year... this is just the beginning. I hope you enjoyed these cards and the details that I have shared. With explaining them as I did, I hope that you can take this info and find ways to make it useful in your crafting.

Thanks for stopping by!

~Liz Hicks

Who I was...and Where I am now... PAJWLH

A few weeks ago I was in a mood to try something different. I really love when that happens because its times like this I can dig into the products that I have and truly delve into what they are. I knew I wanted to try a different substrate (surface). I had some products that my friend Lisa Fulmer had given me at CHA. Lisa knew I loved Mixed Media, so she introduced me to the world of Lutradur .  Funny thing is that Lutradur actually started out as a roofing material. It is now used in Mixed Media and Art quilting and has some fabulous effects that can be created with it. It is a synthetic material that is woven, a bit stiff and is similar to interfacing for sewing.

Another fun product that I wanted to try out were Koi Coloring Brush Pens by Sakura of America. You are probably familiar with Sakura because of their wonderful Micron Pens, as well as their wonderful selection of artist materials. Did you know that they have a great resource of videos for you to view as well? Their YouTube channel has recieved over ONE MILLION views? They are a wonderful wonderful wonderful resource for artists and crafters... So if you can go check it out and subscribe. They have some great artists working with this.

So with these two products in mind... I decided to have some fun in my art journal... This is what I came up with :)

Who I am- Art Journal Page

(click on the image to make it larger)

 Flowers Stitched with thread in a star burst pattern.

Leaves organically stitched to add texture.

 

And a close up of my words (I used The Sakura Permapaque dual edge pen for my title)

This pen is great because as it is wet, you can dilute it with water, but when it is dry it becomes permanent and you can watercolor over it. It works on any surface too.

 

So with this page, I was just ready to have some fun. I have learned through the years that through the good and the bad... be  grateful. It is a tough lesson to learn... but I think having gone through tough times in life. It teaches you to be grateful. We all make mistakes and well this is something I don't always remember. For some reason (I blame human nature) it is so easy to feel like you are an island. To feel that you are the only one that is going through your situation or that has ever dealt with the amount of problems you have dealt with. It is really easy to look at your situations add them up in your head and consider it failure. It's not fair. Truly it's not. 

What if instead of looking at each issue that comes our way as a bad ending we decided to look at the bigger picture and see the full story of our life that is being written? When we view ourselves and our failures as an accumulation of things gone wrong, it is so easy to forget to recognize the little blessings that our lives are made up of. I have had to re-adjust myself PLENTY of times, not ashamed to say it! Perspective is so important in order to maintain a healthy outlook on life. I have found that when I accurately account my mishaps and forgive myself, I am a happier person moving forward. I have a tendency to assume responsibility for things gone wrong in my life... I have always been that way which has made it really tough for me to talk to people that have hurt me. As I have grown older I realize that the responsible thing isn't necessarily to just assume responsibility... but to accurately observe the situation and from there talk about it openly to figure out what direction to go. It is so easy to shame ourselves into believing it is our responsibility to make this world work. In all reality, it is much to big of a task for one person to handle :) But yet we all find away to feel responsible or guilt ourselves into believing it is our responsibility to fix what has gone wrong.

The truth is, we are all learning. We go through some great highs and some enormous lows...but we get through it. My goal is now to respect my past and bring that knowledge into my future. Not to judge myself because of who I was then but to realize that I am still that person, maybe just a little bit smarter or older. this is me... and well that is just fine. I am not perfect, I don't live a perfect life, but I really like it this way. I can only hope that I can remember to take this knowledge with me each day as I live. I will still make mistakes, but I have my values that I hold dear that I hope to stick by as I travel along this road called life. I won't get far if I constantly meet the same road bumps or read the same story over and over again. I believe that my past has happened to me for a reason, and that at some point all of the bad things that have happened will come full circle and help those that can learn from my experience. I have already been able to relate to so many that share my stories, so I know that this is true. Truth and love have a great way of rectifying the wrongs in life. Be KIND to yourself and remember that you as well as those around you are still learning.

****Oops... forgot to add the art journal prompt :) (edited to add prompt)

Journal Prompt: What is your story telling you? Do you agree, is it accurate? It is your story.

Creative Prompt: Use a new substrate, use a surface that you have never used before. Here I used lutrador. You can use anything that you can later stick into your art journal. Fabric, Cheesecloth, aluminum, canvas, tissue paper, wood... use something different than you are use to.
 

So I am still a little under the weather, more tired than anything. Our week has been filled with parental obligations... I am hoping to finish the page I promised to you all that coincides with my DIY shadow Box video this weekend and post it Monday. For now... I am going to take a break, maybe a nap and try and rest myself up.

I pray that this blog post meets your heart in the right place and that it perhaps will help some that might be a little down or critical of themselves. Know that you are not alone, we are ALL critical about something in ourselves and at some point we realize what matters most and that is to live a life that you love, part of that is loving yourself and your story.

Thanks again!

~Liz♥

Fly...

It's funny how it is so easy to give someone advice yet so hard to take the same advice that you give.

I guess it all depends on where you are in life... and where you are headed. I created this for our fun little blog hop between myself and Rebecca Gawryl. This prompt was "What encourages you" and the product prompt was paint.

I guess what encourages me is possibilities. Knowing that even if things go completely wrong... they seem to work themselves out. I had a friend once tell me:

"Things always work out in the end... and if they haven't worked out then it isn't the end"

another friend told me:

"It is never to late... never ever...


This spoke volumes to me, and in all reality it really helps to take the pressure off of things always working out perfect. Or having to hurry things along because fear is pushing you to do it before time runs out. And the truth is that... things tend to work out, maybe not exactly how you had envisioned them... but they work out. Taking that first step forward towards your goal is the toughest... but if along the way there are loved ones to support you, goals to reach and possibilities.... that seems to be a pretty good start.

So here is my page... it is actually a canvas (I got a little adventurous!) It is called FLY

FLY... It's OK Really

products used : Plaid Paints (Folkart Pigments) and Mod Podge, Sakura Glaze Pen (black), Font-bohemian typewriter

I think sometimes we need a friend to remind us that we can do it. That we can achieve our goals... that we can strive for good things and not feel guilty or vain. I believe that in each and everyone of us is a God given ability, it is not the same in all of us, it is unique...but never the less it is important for this world to see it. So if all you need is permission to let this ability out and share it with the world, then this is it. DO IT.

Remember this... you are one of a kind... created perfect in who YOU are... it may not be what the world exhibits as perfect, but none the less you are just as important. And that goes for your goals, your strengths (and weakness's) and everything else that this world may be telling is not enough, futile or worthless. If you believe in it, then let it develop who you are to be in this world.

So from my heart to yours... it's OK to Fly... really it is... even if you have to take a break here or there. It is OK to soar... truly it is what you are meant to do. There is nothing wrong with having goals and trying to achieve them. As long as you are able to balance your everyday life... why not? There are possibilities out there waiting to be experienced... and although things may not always work in the way you thought they would, at the end of the day... there are still opportunities for blessings to shine through what you are doing... whether it is you receiving the blessing or sharing your story unto someone else to bless... you were made for this... and anything else that may come your way...



~Liz ♥

This and That

This weekend for all of you So Calies, I will be at scrapfest doing a Make and Take Sponsored by Prima, Tattered Angels, Sakura of America and Beacon Adhesives (try saying that 5 times fast). It is a totally cute card using IOD paintables on IOD paper with bling, flowers and lace. We will be altering them with a variety of fun Sakura pens and Glimmer Mist and nailing down to the card with my go to adhesive, Fabritac ( I LOVE this stuff!!!). I hope to see you all there!!!

Next weekend...

I was just asked to be the special guest over @ Urban Anthology a totally chic scrapbook and kit club site. I was able to get a sneak peak of their October kit and I drooled! It is now posted in their shop so stop by and check it out, you are sure to be "Bewitched".

I am doing things a little different over there. This time I will be doing a start to finish project. I will start the page from pic, go through my editing process, and then add a little hybrid effect and continue on to my paper project. I will be using some fun stuff from my Prima stash and well anything else that will stick to the page for that matter. I really hope you all will come on over and check it out, step out of lurkerdom and take advantage of this FREE crop. It starts on Friday the 17th and will continue till Sunday. I will be on and off through out the weekend but will be on for a live chat on Saturday (not sure of the time yet, have to see the boys soccer schedules). As always I will be doing a few giveaways, I will possibly do a goody bag or two of some Prima stuff that is out of the package, not to sure what but it will be good! Also they have a super cute album kit for sale that is only $25 and $10 of that will go to the Susan G Komen Foundation. Now THAT is cool!

So stop being shy, come on over and join us for a fun filled weekend that will totally rock! And is TOTALLY FREE!

See you there!

Pics from my latest class

~Collage of students creations~

students with their masterpieces

Students hard at work

Joe the winner of the Prima limited edition Aloha box!!!

So here are the pics of my class that we had this past weekend at Scrapbooking Heaven.

Everyone had TONS of fun breaking in my new glimmer mists. There was lace, flowers and bling flying all over the place too! We altered everything that was in our sight! Nothing was safe.

I was mistaken in my last post in regards to my next class, it will not be this next weekend. It will be the weekend of the 4th in Irvine at Scrappin-Escapes. This weekend we are going apple picking in Oak Glen.

I will be teaching two classes at Scrappin' Escapes. One will be a creative paintable class and the other Tips and Techniques with using Acrylic Albums. Both classes will be full of Prima product, altering, techniques, glimmer mist and Sakura Pens ( have I mentioned how much these rock?!?!), not to mention tons of prizes to give away (glimmer mist, prima yummies, and sakura pens!). Jessica (the coordinator for Scrappin Escapes) just told me that she is offering a KILLER deal for the retreat, only $95 for 3 days of scrapping PLUS tons of giveaways!!! The classes are offered seperately so that you can pick and choose which you would like to take.

This week, I will be posting the last half of my Mistology and all I have to say is one word...

Glimmer Glaze!

So be prepared!!!

I am so excited to share with everyone some of the fun stuff I have been doing.

Also I will be posting anothe sneak peak of my project for Scrappin Escapes.

thanks for peeking!!!

~liz

Wanna Play??? Free glimmer mist!!!

I debated whether or not to post a pic of the package I recieved today, but I just had to share my joy with the only people who would understand! Not to say ANYTHING bad about my family but I really don't expect my husband or kids to understand the magnitude of my happiness!

YES, today I recieved my design team package from Tattered Angels and along with what I already had I was able to have at least one of each of the bottles the carried in stock!!! So starting in tomorrows class, I will have EVERY COLOR of glimmer mist for my students to play with!!!

Things are starting to pick up in our area, I am teaching at Scrapbooking Heaven tomorrow, Scrappin' Escapes the next weekend, and I was just asked to teach at Scrapfest for Sophia Trujillo of Strictly Scrapbooking where I will be teaching one of her classes and also be doing a FREE make and take at the Strictly Scrapbooking booth. And you better believe that these bottles of glimmer mist are going to tag along for everyone to play with!!!

With over 100 bottles of glimmer mist, TONS of Sakura pens, and TONS of prima product to play with you are sure to want to catch at least one of these events. PLUS I will be giving away TONS of product from Prima, Tattered Angels and Sakura.

For more info click on the links to for info.

To celebrate, I thought I would do an RAK of 5 (1oz.) bottles of glacier glimmer mist to kick off these events. I will be randomly drawing names from anyone (local or out of state) that has signed up for my feedblitz newsletter. So all you have to do is sign up and you will be added to the drawing. I will randomly pick winners throughout the rest of September. So you have till the end of September to sign up. International bloggers, I am not to sure about shipping rates, so I will have to figure out shipping charges before I can enter you in the drawing, so feel free to email me first if you'd like.

What will you get if you sign up? Info on upcoming classes, challenges and contest. Also I will continue to do RAK's of my stash, so this will give you advanced notice. All in all it is a great way to keep up with me, my giveaways and any contests or classes that I will be hosting.

So here is to free stuff!!!

XOXO,

~Liz