Christmas Gifts created with Love

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November is here already and  that means we are getting down to the wire as far as handmade gift giving.

Using your electronic cutting machine to speed up production is a  great way to create unique gifts for everyone on your list. From T-shirts to personalized blankets you can"t go wrong with a couple of rolls of iron on vinyl and some blanks from Michael's, Amazon

,Scrapbook.com or Dollartree.

Another great gift is a personalized planner or printed wall art. You can create these at home with your printer or save your files and have them printed at Staples.

Check the aisles at Walmart for clearance frames and laminating pouches. Use the frames for the wall art and pouches for planner covers.

The easiest and cheapest (free) software to use to create your designs is Canva. It will allow you to arrange your pictures and text in endless designs. It is super user friendly and you will be cranking out personalized designs in no time.

Another great resource if you are looking for photos to use as backgrounds is Pexels. They have thousands of royalty free images to choose from and again, it is a free resource.

If you want a more painterly background or a special font I would suggest signing up for Creative Fabrica. They send a daily email with 3 new free downloads every day. The files are usually a font, a graphic collection, and a craft file. I am thinking of using some of the cute gnomes I downloaded last week.

Remember, you don't need to break the bank to shower your friends and family with thoughtful gifts to make their Season Bright and Merry.

Christmas Angel Ornament : Lindsay Angel Wings Rubber Stamp

My new stamp just came in a few days ago and I have been dying to try it out. The name of the stamp is Lindsay and it is from Angel Wings Rubber Stamps. I have never used one of their stamps before but I was quite impressed by the fine detail and quality of the stamp. When I saw this stamp online I fell in love but was not really sure what I wanted to use her for. While clearing away some clutter from my desk I came across some glass ornaments that I have left over from a project last year and decided a Christmas Angel ornament for one of my besties was a perfect choice.

I used brown Memento ink as I was not sure exactly what medium I was going to use to colour sweet Lindsay and I figured that left the most options open for me. I started out by colouring with my pencil crayons only to find that 3/4 of the colours had been spirited away by aspiring young artists that love to play in my studio....and with my electric pencil sharpener. Needless to say, the project design was changed up as I could not see this little girl with green hair and an orange face. The entire dress and wings were done with plain old crayola pencil crayons and then I used my spectrum noir markers for her hair and skin. I found her eyes were extremely difficult to get right as they are impossibly small. I think that this is one of those stamps though that are just to sweet for one little spot to ruin the look. After she was all coloured I inked her with Tim Holtz distress ink in Tea Dye. I used a small amount of stickles on her wings.

Here is how she turned out.

My Christmas Gift List: Trophy Wife Aprons

As you know I love all things vintage and rarely do I fall in love with something this cute and trendy. It does have the vintage vibe since it is an apron...but let me tell you...these are certainly not your Grandma's apron. Not mine anyway. They are so cute you will want to get one for all the women on your Christmas List. Emmanuella is a true artist with her sewing designs.

Hi everyone, my name is Emmanuella Koenig with Trophy-Wife Aprons.

I started to sew as a teenager on my mom's sewing machine. I bought my very first portable sewing machine at 21 years old. I felt like a queen with my new toy. I worked in an office up to few years ago and made all my clothes. Fabric was less costly then.

I have 2 sons which sometimes, as you know, can take-up quite a bit of my free time. I have the best husband in the world... sorry ladies, he is mine and all mine!

I love wearing aprons and because it was impossible to find nice ones out there, I decided to make my own. I am a perfectionist, so it my own aprons had to make me feel pretty. I bought an old Halloween costume pattern at Value Village last winter. It was a nurse uniform. I changed it, changed it and changed it some more until it became the aprons that I sell now.

I overlap 3 individual skirts to make my aprons. All of it is cut on the bias (sideway), so it takes "a lot" of fabric to make one. I buy my supplies at retail like all of you. One day, I will qualify to buy at wholesale, but for now this will have to do.

My husband came-up with the name Trophy-Wife Aprons.

I opened my Facebook fan page last January 10th 2013. I guess word-of-mouth took off faster than I expected. I now have over 7000 fans and still growing. I hope you all can visit it at www.facebook.com/TrophyWifeAprons.

Thank you for taking the time for reading my story.

I wish you all the very best for the Holiday Season.

Emmanuella XOXO

My Christmas Gift List : One Earth

There is something magical this time of year that resounds in my heart like no other time of the year. People make that extra effort to try to make the world a better place. Many of us try to make a difference every day and even small gestures can cause large ripples in the tides of happiness.  The next lady that I want to introduce you to represents a company that is trying to make a real difference. One Earth's mission statement says it all. You get to feel that warm fuzzy feeling knowing that your beautiful gift will be appreciated by the recipient as well as the developing nation where the product came from.

Heather Ferguson Donavon

Born and raised in Belleville, Ontario Canada and now residing in Frankford, Ontario Canada with my husband of twenty years and two teenage sons. After being a stay at home mom and raising two very self sufficient, independent boys what was I going to do for the rest of my life? One Earth excited me and I could truly make a difference by helping people in developing countries. What a unique and amazing concept. One Earth is going to revolutionize the direct sales market and I’m proud to be one of the first to sign up. Join Me! Make a difference, it’s about people helping people.

View the entire One Earth Catalogue Online One Earth Catalogue

My Holiday Gift List : All I want for Christmas

Christmas Gift Ideas Series

Just today I was on Twitter and someone said "Time to stop counting the months, we are down to weeks until Christmas". Weeks! Honestly I have not even started my Christmas shopping. I do however know what I am intending to buy for most of the folks on my list. This year I am trying to purchase the bulk of my gifts from independent business owners. Walmart gets the majority of my business all year so its only fair that I try to support small business with these year end purchases. I have some really fabulous small business owners that I am going to share with you. You can do your Christmas shopping in your jammies this year. The great part about this is that these ladies are so incredible you are going to want to continue doing business with them year round. Grab a cup of tea and let me introduce you to your new best friends.