say it with letters! wooden wall letters, wall decor and so much more!

Butterfly Wall Collection

2012-02-08T22:40:00.000-05:00

Happy February!! It is the shortest month but sometimes it feels so long because we usually have a ton of snow by now. This year we've been pretty lucky and haven't much at all. Just enough snow in the back yard so my kids can slide down our small hill and love it! I actually love the month of February. It's my birthday month for one thing. But it's also the month of love! I love little Valentine cards and little presents and now I get to do school Valentine's with the kids. We aren't doing anything fancy but they are very excited because their Valentine's include pencils and erasers. :) No candy allowed so we had to do something fun.

I'm SO thrilled to show off our new {butterfly collection} available in our Etsy shop. It's such a sweet set of shapes and the Design Team has yet again out done themselves!! I mean seriously!!! Check these out...

Pamela created some dimension with her layers of butterflies. The buttons and coordinating papers are so pretty.

Raechelle's are so soft, pretty and SPRINGY!!! I love the flowers she added.

So pretty...

Kim has such pretty colors with the papers she chose. I especially love the quotes she added.

And of course the family photos....

And a little bling never hurt anyone!

Look at this cute little guy. :)

Gorgeous, gorgeous job ladies!! I have two more projects to add including a tutorial so please check in again soon. Hope you're all enjoying your February.

You & Me Wall Letter Tutorial

2012-01-31T06:00:00.000-05:00

Hope you're not sick of hearing about our new {word set} yet. :) The design team had so much fun working with these. Our final project using these new letters is by Cathleen. I love the black and cream with touches of red!

If you've ever ordered our letters you'll know they come to you fully sanded and ready to decorate to your hearts content! :) I love that they're so versatile and just so much fun! Cathleen created this great tutorial on how she created her letters. Have fun reading along...

1. Begin with your bare wood letters from Say It With Letters. I'm using the new "You & Me" letter set - which can also be rearranged to read "Me & You".

2. Next, choose your decorating medium. These wood letters can be painted, stained, decorated with paper, material, yarn, ribbon - you name it! I chose the Le Creme collection of papers from Die Cuts With a View.

3. Since the papers I chose are black and cream, I wanted to darken the edges so as to add a little dimension. I used a Prismacolor black marker, but you could also use paint or stain for a slightly different effect.

4. Next, I traced each of the letters onto a sheet of my paper choice. The back of the letters will be facing you as you trace each shape. Notice how each letter has a special carve out keyhole, which makes hanging your finished creation a breeze!

5. Once your letters are traced, cut out each piece and adhere to each letter using an adhesive that is conducive for adhering paper (or your other medium) to wood. I used Beacon's Zip Dry. After I adhered the paper to each letter, I did a little bit of sanding on the edges to give it that distressed look that we all love. I also used a little ink on the distressed edges. I picked Clearsnap's Fluid Chalk Ink in Creamy Brown, but any of your favorite colors will work.

6. Once my letters were decorated and ready to go, I got to thinking that Valentine's Day is just around the corner - that meant red hearts and ribbon! I added red chipboard hearts (painted in metallic red paint), red ribbon and black lace, and a few strategically placed black buttons. Happy Valentine's Day!

The ribbon and lace is tied onto the letters, and the buttons are adhered with adhesive glue dots.

So sweet! What a fun project, Cathleen. Thanks for the inspiration!

You & Me, Me & You, Sweet Letters for you and your honey!

2012-01-29T20:57:00.003-05:00

Hello my friends! I am so loving our new {word set} featuring these 'you & me' letters! These can be used for your Valentine decor OR my favorite way is simply decorated hanging in your master bedroom on the wall or above your bed. So sweet!

Take a look at what our design team created with them this month!

Joyce used one of my favorite color combinations of pink and brown! Polka dots for her and hounds tooth for her hubby. :)

The key to her heart. :)

This little vintage image is a sweet touch, don't you think?

Dawn went with a kind of glitter grungy look which is pretty cool! She used tissue paper then glam glitter with webbing spray from Krylon. The couple and the words are cut from the Silhouette. She put a great tutorial on her blog to show you how she created the look. You can find it HERE.

Stacy did some paper piecing with her letters. Don't they look cool?!

She cut small 1 inch squares of paper and glued them on the letters then wrapped parts with Tim Holtz tape.

Awesome job ladies!! We have a tutorial we'll be featuring from Cathleen using these letters too. Hope you're all doing well. xo

you & me sweet letters

2012-01-13T08:29:00.000-05:00

So I kind of couldn't wait to post these with the other Design Team projects. I'm really loving this new {word set} of ours so I really wanted to share! :)

These were designed by original Design Team member, Julie Ann Shahin. Her work inspires me every month. She's the type of designer who just always does something a little unexpected but oh so cool! I think you'll agree...

She had a favorite sweater that had a hole in the stomach and couldn't wear it anymore. She knew she didn't want to throw it away so she upcycled it!!

I love the little fabric tag too! Details.

These are a sweet letter set. They're not just for Valentine's. They're really fun and personal to hang above your bed or in the bedroom. I hope you enjoyed looking at them! Happy 2012!

Handmade Classroom Gift Ideas {Preschool}

2011-12-13T10:35:00.002-05:00

So, I've been thinking about some small gift ideas that I can give to my kid's Preschool classroom. Keeping in mind that I need to do enough for two classrooms so I know it has to be something fairly easy, and fairly inexpensive. They have this silly - 'no food' gift rule so candy, cookies and the like, are out. These are a few of the ideas I've been tossing around.

We've made these alphabet crayons before. They're really darling and I have lots of candy molds in assorted shapes, letters and numbers that I could use. But they're a bit time consuming. We made some as birthday party favors one year. Tied in a ribbon it's really sweet.


Tutorial here

I love these crayon rolls and have seen many variations of them and super cute fabrics to coordinate would be adorable. And I love giving them something cute and functional. But let's be serious - having to make 28 of these is a bit much for this somewhat beginner sewer. Although the tutorial looks fairly easy.

Tutorial at this lovely blog

And just look at these adorable little jars of homemade finger paints! What preschooler wouldn't love playing with these! Bella's favorite project at school is the paints. And the rubber stamping. :) I think we'll have to save this for an at-home project since I don't have a bunch of little jars or containers for them all but they sure are cute.

Tutorial found at Easie Peasie

I think I've decided on this Peppermint Play Dough. My kids LOVE play dough. They added some glitter to the dough so it's sparkly and fun. We'll package ours in sandwich baggies with cute little toppers made from scrapbook papers. I like that my kids can help with the project too.

Tutorial found at The Artful Parent

I'll be sharing teacher appreciate gifts this week as well. What have you given as class or teacher gifts?

It's beginning to look a lot like...

2011-12-02T14:26:00.001-05:00

We finally started decorating the house today! It felt like we were a bit behind with decorating so I'm happy to have some festive ornaments and Christmas-y touches around the house. The kids love it too. We have ornaments hanging in the windows and they will point and oooh and aaaah at them. It's so much fun!

I'm super excited to share our Design Team projects this month! They've gone above and beyond with their Christmas projects! Our STANDING CHRISTMAS TREE is definitely our top seasonal item! I think probably because it's so versatile, which you will see below. The paper flower tree (above) is by the ever-fabulous Julie Ann! She rolled the paper flowers and glued them on the tree. It's sooo pretty and girly, isn't it?!

This collaged Vintage-bird tree, by Cathleen is so pretty. The sheet music, beaded garland and word quotes are just lovely touches!

Look at the papers and details.

And I love the bird topper. Just beautiful!

Kim went with a white Christmas tree with lots of Bling! A girl after my own heart. :)

Look at the pretty jewels.

Julie's looks more traditional where she took ribbon and gathered it on the tree to create a pretty look and topped it with a cute red polka dotted bow!

We also had our WREATH shape as a project. Laurie has all KINDS of goodies on her wreath! It's so bright and fun and festive, isn't it?!

She has some of her signature Trinket's (her Etsy shop) embellishments on the wreath too.

Pamela put a family Christmas photo in the center of her wreath. She took a circle punch and crumpled all the pieces of paper to give it a dimensional look. It has a sweet, Vintage look to it I think.

Pretty bow and twine.

Pretty...

Look at the adorable Snow people! Joyce created this fun little wreath and added snowflake embellishments too.

In the meadow we can build a snowman. Too cute! I can't help but sing the song. :)

Cute hat and mittens too!

And Dawn has a more traditional look, doesn't it?! With big, beautiful flowers and ribbon!

I told you each one was really unique! That's what I love about our shapes. They create the canvas to do so many different things!

Thanks ladies for all the inspiration! And thanks to you for stopping by Say It With Letters. xo

Paper Christmas Tree {Tutorial} by Stacy Rodriguez

2011-11-29T13:45:00.001-05:00

Hello my scrapping friends! I hope you're having a nice week. We are slowly getting back into the swing of things after our long, holiday weekend.

Today I'm excited to share the first of our Design Team Projects. Stacy took our standing Christmas Tree shape and added some fun garland and embellishments and it's hanging out in her scrap room! Read on to hear about her project -

Hello everyone, Stacy here today sharing with you my new Christmas tree for my scraproom. I had so much fun decorating this, I have to say this is a must have!! First up here is what the tree looked like before the altering began.

Available in our Etsy shop HERE.

The first step is to lay your tree on the paper you are going to use and trace the tree. You will need to do this for both sides of the tree, then simply cut out. You will also want to do this for the base of the tree as well. I used 2 different papers for the tree and the base. I applied a liquid glue with a painbrush to adhere the paper to the tree.

Now for the sides of the tree, you can cut a 1/2 inch strip of paper for the edges. Simply cut the strips to the length needed and then adhere to the tree. Once you have completed this here is what your tree will look like.

Now would be the time to ink the edges if you would like before trimming the tree. Next it's time for the fun part....decorating. I used some super fun chipboard stickers on the tree and added some to the base as well.

Here are a couple of close up pictures as well. (Look at the cuteness!)

Thanks so much for stopping by Say It With Letters today, and I hope I have inspired you to create your wooden tree for your scraproom.

Thanks everyone! Have a wonderful Tuesday! xo

Gift for Teacher

2011-11-28T13:19:00.001-05:00

Did you enjoy your Thanksgiving? We had a really nice day going to my sister's house. We ate tons of yummy food and then went to my in-laws later in the day for more food. :) I guess that's what it's all about though, isn't it?!

And now I'm thinking ahead to all the handmade and store bought gifts on my list. Do you have a teacher or two to give something to? How about something handmade like this adorable owl Pamela created. She took our owl shape and made this adorable and hip (check out those sneakers!) little scholar.

I love the tassel and button eyes.

And this quote.

She also created a matching card. What a thoughtful teacher gift. Thanks for sharing Pamela!

I hope you all had a happy Thanksgiving. Thanks for stopping by.

Stitched Autumn Leaves Tutorial by Julie Ann Shahin :: 12 Steps to Halloween Project with Altered Bottlecap and Clothespin

2011-09-28T06:19:00.000-04:00

Design Team projects keep coming! Don't you love it?! I sure do. I'm thrilled to share another tutorial with you this month by original Design Team member, Julie Ann Shahin. She inspires us every month and I personally look forward to what she will create for us each month! The following tutorial is being featured on the Studio Tangie Baxter blog so you can check that out for more inspiration! Read on to hear about how she created this fun, vintage looking Halloween project!

Today I’m going to share with you a fun tutorial for a Halloween Decoration using Tangie’s Collage Printable from the Midnight Mischief Collab with Sherrie JD. First of all, I was inspired by all of the black and white Halloween decorations that I have seen on Pinterest. For instance, this blinged pumpkin, this fun sentiment, this Halloween vignette, these details, and these stenciled pumpkins.

TUTORIAL

Step 1

Step 1. The first step is to take these Leaf Shapes from Say It With Letters.com and trace them upside down on felt. Do not adhere yet.

Step 2. Next, embroider with french knots and additional stitches. Adhere to leaves.

Step 3. Print Tangie’s Collage from Midnight Mischief. I printed it onto matte photo paper for my inkjet printer.

Step 4. Adhere Tinsel Ribbon (My Mind’s Eye) to a recycled bottle cap.

Step 5. I put the bottle cap on the collage girl, and traced around it, then cut out the collage girl. She fit into the bottle cap perfectly. Adhere. (also see photo below)

Step 7. Take second bottle cap, and trace around boy image on collage sheet. Cut out and insert into bottle cap. Adhere. Take tinsel ribbon and adhere to outside of bottle cap.

Step 8. Take clothespin, and trace around on zebra border. Cut out and adhere to clothespin.

Step 9. Cut out tag with moon from collage sheet. Adhere to middle-sized leaf with a feather underneath it. Add trim. Adhere bottle cap.

Step 10. Take chipboard frame with a feather, and set on small leaf. Use trim to wrap around leaf and tie in knot. Adhere decorative button.

Step 11. Layer doily, vintage bingo card (or print one from one of Tangie’s kits!), chipboard frame, feather, trim, and bottle cap. Adhere all to leaf.

Step 12. Add clothespin to doily and bingo card for finishing touch!

I told you the project was fabulous!! Thanks Julie Ann for your inspiration!

COZY letters Tutorial by Pamela Young

2011-09-27T06:27:00.000-04:00

I'm so excited to share another COZY project with you. I am *loving* these adorable and cozy letters that Pamela Young created! She used the Autumn Splendor collection from We R Memory Keepers, which works so perfectly with our COZY letters! Please read on for a wonderful step by step tutorial.

COZY Tutorial by Pamela Young:

Hi everyone! It's my first post here and let me just say that I am so excited to be joining the design team...I have loved Say It With Letters for so long! I was thrilled when I received my first project, the new 8" Cozy letters in the mail.

Here's what I did with them:

Now...

Let's break it down..

I started with my bare letter.

I covered it with adhesive.

I turned my letter over and laid it on the backside of the patterned paper I wanted on it.

I like to turn it over after that and use my brayer to run over it all to make sure it all gets adhered down, with no air bubbles or lumps.

Do this to each of your letters with 4 different pieces of patterned papers. :)

Depending on what adhesive you used, you may want to allow it to dry some at this stage. It's up to you...I don't always. ;)

Then I turn my letter over and I take my craft knife and cut the paper off around my letter.

Then you should have something like this:

I like to sand my edges some just to make it look smoother.

And then another thing I always like to do is paint the edges of my wood.

All of mine:

Then you have the base for your projects. You could leave it at that and it would look beautiful, but I am an embellisher. :) So I took each letter and added a few things to it.

Here are my letters embellished:

I added two chipboard photo corners. Those leaves are hand cut and stitched around, and I added a chipboard tag on top.

Wasn't this tag just perfect to use with this project? I placed it over the middle (popped up) and added ribbon.

On my z, I decided to change it up and add some patterned paper behind the wood (you can cut holes for the mounting holes on the back of the wood). Then I added another one of my leaves and some chipboard that I again popped up.

And finally, for my y I added some more chipboard photo corners. Then I wrapped some ribbon around the y, twisting and knotting. Then I printed the words for "a cozy home is a happy home", layered them on paper and popped them up on my y. :)

And there you have it....a lot of pictures, but hopefully that all made sense.

Here's my Cozy letters for you one last time.

Thanks for stopping in today! Have a fantastic day!

Pamela

Pamela's also created a Blanket Stitch tutorial on how she hand stitched around the leaves on the letter C. I think it creates such a handmade, cozy feel. You can use the blanket stitch for so many projects too!

What a beautiful project, Pam!! Thank you so much for the awesome tutorial! Please visit Pam's blog for more details, including the Blanket Stitch tutorial. Thanks everyone for stopping by.

Autumn Leaves Decor and Rockin' Skulls!

2011-09-26T06:29:00.002-04:00

I'm trying to sneak this post in before all the kiddos wake up. We'll see how much success I have. :) I gave Bella a new pair of Princess sneakers so she is happily trying those on and ooohing and aahing at them. She is SUCH a girly girl, which of course I love. Then she just noticed they light up. Too cute. Three is a fun age.

I'm so thrilled with our new design team! Have I said that?! They are all so talented and they've shown such diverse ways you can use our products! What a fabulous group of ladies!

Julie is a former Design Team member and I've really missed seeing her work! Her projects always seem to have a warmth to them and these Autumn Leaves are no exception!

Look at the pretty punch work. She used a nail to punch the holes on the larger leaf. They're fairly simple but really make a statement.

New Design Team member Joyce was a Guest Designer for us last year and created a beautiful (and FUN) pumpkin project here. And after seeing her Autumn Leaves project where she created this tablescape with candles it really shows her range of style. What a pretty centerpiece! You can find a tutorial on Joyce's blog post HERE. Nice work, Joyce!

And once again, Laurie is inspiring us with her unique fabric work and bright colors! She took the leaves and created a pretty Fall wreath to hang on her door! Isn't that clever?!

Look at those acorns! Beautiful work!

Another fun Design Team project is our SKULL shape! Look what new Design Team member, Stacy created with hers! I am loving her headband and EARRINGS! :) And I really like the jeweled eyes! LOVE the Halloween decor she created! You can find more info on her blog post HERE.

And check out Rae's girly skull! Lovin' the girly skull designs ladies. :) She created hair and of course, hair bows. Adorable!

Look at those pretty pearl, flowered eyes. Check out Rae's blog for some cool Halloween ideas. Would be great for party favors or school treats too!

Thanks ladies for the inspiration!! I am loving all your ideas and can't wait to see what you do with next month's projects! And thanks to each of you for stopping by the Say It With Letters blog. I hope you enjoy your day.

Warm and Cozy! New Design Team Projects!

2011-09-21T22:11:00.001-04:00

How has your week been? My kids had three days of school and then the entire house got sick! They were so miserable, poor things. Just runny noses but enough to feel blah. But then Tuesday came along (they don't attend school on Monday) and they were still miserable and whiny (did I say that?) and I asked them if they felt well enough to go to school and that perked them right up! Yes, Mommy!! It's so nice that three year olds really WANT to go to school, isn't it?

I was so excited to see what the new Design Team created with their first project and I'm happy to say they didn't disappoint! Wait'll you see the projects I'll be posting this week!

We have a new COZY {letter set}and the ladies did such a beautiful job with it! Each one just feels cozy to me and yet they are each unique and different.

One of our newbies, Kim created her letters for her Cozy Kitchen. :) I just love that. Sue used these pretty papers from Webster's Pages. I've always loved their papers.

Look at this pretty ribbon and seed packet!

And I think the canning jars are my favorite! She cut them out of the scrapbooking paper (clever idea, Kim!)

More xacto work with the bird and butterfly cutout.

Such pretty work, Kim! You can check out Kim's blog post HERE for more details on the paper line and instructions on how she created these.

These yarn covered and felt COZY letters were created by Dawn and don't they just scream COZY? :) She used a heart that she felted on her felting machine and organic coconut buttons.

And this is the pretty felted heart she made. So cool! You can visit Dawn's blog HERE for further details on her project too!

Cathleen has created these gorgeous, collaged letters that are just so beautiful! I have always loved the vintage feel of sheet music and once again, it's a perfect touch here. The silk ribbon and butterflies are such a sweet touch.

Love the glittery touches too.

'Dare to fly.'

Silk ribbon.

'Everything I need is right here.' Perfect sentiment. Such beautiful work Cathleen. You can visit Cathleen's blog for more info on what supplies she used HERE. You can also see her beautiful photography work too.

Check in again this week for more design team projects and another Cozy design plus a tutorial! Thanks ladies for the inspiration! And thanks everyone as always, for stopping by!

Starting School and What's New in the Shop!

2011-09-17T21:16:00.003-04:00

I shared these pictures on Facebook but couldn't resist sharing them here too. Hope you don't mind. :) My kids started Preschool last week! They had one week (well, 3 days) and they already seem more grown up to me! How is this possible?!

They are already talking about their new little friends and finger painting and story time and songs. I love hearing about their day. This is Stevie will his cool new 'do! His hair is kind of at an in between hairstyle. We buzzed it for the summer so it's too short to do much.

And I hear Bella throughout the day talking to her dolls about school. She'll play teacher and tell them, "Over hear is your cubby. When the bell rings, it's snack time.". They sure make life interesting.

I hope you're all enjoying Back to School time as much as we are. Now, if I can just keep track of shoes so when we leave the house it doesn't take 20 minutes finding them, I'll be all set!

Also, wanted to share a new {letter set} now available in the shop! You can find our COZY letters in our Etsy shop (click on the COZY word and it will bring you there). I love them so much! Look for Design Team inspiration very soon!
Have a wonderful weekend. As always, thanks for stopping by.

It's September and Announcing... the NEW Say It With Letters Design Team

2011-09-08T12:45:00.004-04:00

September?? Where did August and summer go? Everyone is right into the swing of Back to School and it's feeling very Fall-like around here. We even have a few leaves changing colors. Stevie and Bella will be starting Preschool next week. Tomorrow we have an Open House and visit their classrooms. You guys all know the drill.. it's just the first for us. :)

I really wanted to thank everyone who applied for our Design Team call. I thank each of you for wanting to be on the team and for your interest in Say It With Letters. It means a lot to us.

It was a difficult decision to narrow things down but I'm SO thrilled with our new Design Team! It's a perfect mix of ladies and I think and hope everyone will be inspired by the new designs they create! We have our senior designers - two have been with us since the beginning (Hi Laurie and Julie Ann). Some are people I've known online for years. Others are designers who used to be on the Team and applied again. And some are new designers whose work I fell in love with! I'm so excited to get to know them and to see what they do with our letters and shapes!

Announcing... the Say It With Letters Designers....

Senior Designers:

Designers:

You'll be seeing their work shortly with a new {letter set} and shape set from us! Think COZY and Fall thoughts. :) I hope you're all doing well and as always, thanks for stopping by!

W is for Whale

2011-08-03T15:20:00.001-04:00

I had a few ladies from the Design Team create some summery projects using our Whale cutout. I wasn't quite ready for Fall designs yet. :) Next month.

I hope you've been enjoying your summer. It seems to be flying right by. We are busy busy around here. We are probably on our third bottle of sunscreen already. :) We go out for a bit, run through the sprinkler and slip n slide and then come in to dry off and then we go out and do it all over again an hour later. ha ha. We are enjoying our summer. Tomorrow we are heading to the ocean. Max's first visit. Stevie and Bella have been to the ocean but not around here. I'm excited to see what they think.

On to these cute projects! Miss Laurie Star created a SIGN showing everyone the way to their new pool. How cute is that?! I love the polka dots (of course). Too too cute! Look at it hanging off her picket fence.

And look at this charming school boy whale (that was my husband's description of it). :) More polka dots. I think the whale must just scream polka dots! This design is by Dawn Gallop. I really like the crackle effect and isn't that hat fun?

I hope you're all enjoying your summer too. Thanks for stopping by. And thanks for the inspiration Laurie and Dawn. We have a couple more of these I'll be posting soon too. Take care.

Design Team Delay

2011-07-21T13:45:00.002-04:00

I'm a bit delayed in choosing the new Design Team. Thank you SO much for all the awesome applications! I've loved seeing your work. I will be in touch very soon.

Don't Forget Dad

2011-06-14T14:28:00.004-04:00

We've been posting pictures from our Teachers Blog Hop for teacher appreciation but then I realized that Father's Day is just around the corner (June 19). Anyone else have a hard time getting Dad a present? Here's a few ideas I thought I'd share. Handmade and simple. Always the best gift in my book.

We just added these DAD letters to our shop. And our friends at Sassy Frassy Kids did this fun project with her three children. They each painted one of the letters too. Aren't they sweet? What a fun project. I just found this project on one of favorite party blogs, Shindig Parties TO GO. These are a printable that is available to you as a download for FREE. It's so adorable!! Even if you only make one of the items. The tie banner is fun and would make Dad certainly feel special.
She just asks that you LIKE her on Facebook. While you're there, Like Say It With Letters too. Thanks everyone for stopping by. Hope you're having a fun week!

Teacher Appreciation Blog Hop :: Day 3

2011-06-11T07:09:00.004-04:00

Welcome to the final day of our Thank You To Our Teachers Blog Hop! If you have arrived here from Scrappy Scavenger then you are on the right track. If you just happened to stop by my blog for a visit and want to hop along with us, start from the beginning with Memories with Jen. This is a week long hop and we will be posting on 3 separate days. (June 5th, 8th and 11th). Please make sure you hop on those days or throughout the week to see all the wonderful inspiration on what to make our teachers for thank you gifts.

I saved my favorite project for last. I think I'll be making a bunch of these for all of Stevie's teachers. They're fairly easy to make and let's face it, who doesn't love cake?! Especially cake that looks this cute! :)You can make a bunch at a time. You can even bake the cake in the jars. Very easy. You can find the tutorial at Bubba Chic.

Finish it off with a cute little tag. And don't forget to add a spoon!

We're also having a Giveaway as a thank you for visiting each of our blogs. Just leave a comment here and include your e-mail address. You can "like" us on Facebook for an extra chance (leave a separate comment). If you follow us on Twitter that counts for an extra chance (leave a separate comment). We'll pick a winner next week and send off a box of Say It With Letters shapes and/or {letter sets}.

Your next stop is my good friend, Laurie Star. Thanks everyone for stopping by!!

Teacher Appreciation Blog Hop :: Day 2

2011-06-08T06:03:00.000-04:00

Hello and welcome to Day 2 of the Thank You to our Teachers Blog Hop. I hope you're having fun and finding inspiring ideas as thank you gifts for our wonderful teachers.

This is actually my first year having to think about teacher thank you gifts since my son just started preschool in April. Here he is on his first day of school. :) He started on his birthday and the teacher gave him this crown to wear while he was at school. He wore it all day at home too he loved it so much.I've been doing a little searching on some of my favorite blogs for some simple but thoughtful handmade Teacher gifts and I thought I'd share a couple of my favorites that seem pretty easy to make.

These Spiffy Scissors are fairly inexpensive and easy to make if you have multiple teachers to give gifts to. "You're a cut above the rest" is what the tag reads. How cute is that?!
You can find a full tutorial at the blog, Crap I've Made.

These Magnetic Memo Boards are another fun project and something you can find at the Dollar Store (one of my favorite places to shop). Can you tell what the base of the project started out as? A burner cover for a stovetop. :) And look how pretty it looks. Make some fun magnets to hang notes and pictures and you've got a darn cute gift!

Here's a couple other designs. You can find the full tutorial HERE at TipJunkie. Project designed by Madigan Made. You can find pebble magnet info here too.
Thanks so much for stopping by. You can follow the Hop to my talented and good friend Laurie Star. Remember to stop in again for the final day of the Blog Hop on June 11th. We'll be having a GIVEAWAY!!

If you get lost here is the lineup:

Jen R www.memorieswithjen.blogspot.com
Kimmarie www.kimmarieskorner.blogspot.com
Kimi & Pamela http://www.lovebugcreations3.blogspot.com/
Tanya Stilwell http://scrappinkymomma.blogspot.com/
Jen www.jenscraftcorner.com
Scrappin' Crafter www.scrappincrafter.blogspot.com
Alex www.youhadmeatcraft.com
Tanya www.scrappyscavenger.blogspot.com
Deb http://sayitwithletters.blogspot.com/
Laurie Cass-Griggs www.lauriestar.blogspot.com
Anita www.anitaandbugs.blogspot.com
Claudia http://claudiaandcompany.blogspot.com/
Liz - http://www.mywhichcraft.blogspot.com/
Nancy http://blog.fancywithnancy.com/
Lori Boyd http://byloridesigns.blogspot.com/
Amy http://www.lovetocrop.com/
Shannon - www.purplelionpaper.com

Say It With Letters Design Team Call

2011-06-07T21:13:00.002-04:00

Say It With Letters is looking for 3-5 new design team members who are creative, motivated,talented and versatile! We design custom cut letters and shapes and need your talent to show them off in creative ways!

We will be accepting applications through Sunday, July 17th. Winners will be e-mailed directly and we'll make a formal announcement on or before Wednesday, July 20th. The position will begin with a July project (you’ll receive your letters or shapes shortly after you accept the position) and will continue for six months. After the six month period, the position may continue on a month to month basis, if agreed upon by both parties.

Needed:
. Submit 3 to 4 altered projects that show off your personal style (1 scrapbook layout or card is acceptable.) Photos should be clear and no larger than 500x500 pixels. They do not need to be created especially for us but, they should be something fairly new that shows your current style. Using our products is a plus! Send pictures to deb@sayitwithletters.com with a subject of "DT Submission - your name" no later than Sunday, July 17th at midnight and include the following:

. Name, mailing address, phone number and e-mail address.

. Link to your blog.

. Link to other online galleries (include your screen name) that currently show your work.

. Link to design teams you are currently on (prior DT experience not necessary.)

. Just a little background about yourself, your scrapping style and why you’re interested in a DT position with SIWL!

DT Requirements:

. Complete 1 to 2 altered projects a month using any medium you want or have at home! [NOTE: We will not be sending papers and embellishments for you to alter our shapes and letters so you have the freedom to create with whatever inspires you!]

. Maintain a regular presence on the SIWL blog.

. SIWL does not have a message board, so we will rely on our DT to promote SIWL through your blog and other message boards and forums you visit.

. You agree to release the rights of your designs to Say It With Letters for display on the company blog, store and in company materials and publications.

. Promote SIWL whenever possible by posting your altered items on galleries, forums, facebook, your blog, etc.

As a DT member of SIWL, you will get…

. Free Product!! A free {word set} and/or shape (or shape set) each month to alter for the DT

. 25% discount in our Etsy Store

. Featured in our monthly mailings and on our blog

If you have any questions please email us at deb@sayitwithletters.com

Thank you and we look forward to seeing your work!

The Say It With Letters team
www.sayitwithletters.com
www.sayitwithletters.blogspot.com

Thank you to our Teachers BLOG HOP

2011-06-05T11:35:00.004-04:00

Hello there and thanks so much for visiting the Say It With Letters blog. Welcome to our new Blog Hopping friends.

I'm super excited to share a design that was created by the talented Lauren Meader. She took our APPLE cutout and created a sweet and thoughtful piece of art for her child's teacher. The shapes are so easy to work with and can be painted, altered and used for mosaic work. You can find martini glasses, girly dresses, whales, thought bubbles and other fun designs in our Etsy shop.

If you're new to our shop and products and love to alter, check back soon for our new Design Team Call. :)

Thanks so much Kimmarie for including us in the Blog Hop. Hop on over to Laurie Star's blog to see some darling handmade pillows. Thanks for visiting.

Hoppy Easter to you!

2011-04-23T11:41:00.003-04:00

Wishing you and your family a wonderful Easter.

{bunny design by Julie Ann Shahin}

Spring has Sprung at Say It With Letters!

2011-03-28T06:43:00.001-04:00

Good Morning, my blogging friends. I'm so excited for Spring!! I'm loving this month's Design Team projects and they're all spring inspired!

I've always loved these BLOOM letters and this design by Laurie is so cheery, bright and oh, so Springy! She painted the sky blue background and painted the clouds on them. The fabric blooms can be found in her Etsy shop, Trinkets.

Closeup of the blooms...

So so pretty...

Julie Ann felted her Bunny Family shapes. I adore these little guys. :)

She used this hand painted wool top that she bought at the Underground Art Fair last year from The Fuzzy Bunny. Julie Ann has more information on her blog too (check it out!)

Stephanie's Bunny Family is too cute! Definitely my favorite project of hers so far! She painted them , then put white tissue paper on top, then used her Cricut to cut the cap, eggs bows and ears. Too cute!!

Beach umbrella, anyone??! Michelle used our Umbrella shape with shells and a little seagull to create a beach umbrella.

And last, but certainly not least is Jennifer's adorable and Springy (are you catching on to our theme) :) umbrella!!

I love those polka dots!!

I'll be posting a new Design Team call in the next week or so. If you're interested in playing with our products for FREE each month, keep checking in and send in your work! Thanks for reading.

I'm Buzz Lightyear. I come in Peace!

2011-03-27T20:44:00.005-04:00

I had to smile when I peeked in on a new blog find of mine, This Blessed Nest. She posted this picture of Buzz Lightyear and it reminded me of my Stevie. He is completely obsessed with Buzz Lightyear, Woody and all things Toy Story. I actually love the movies too. Of course, we will be having a Buzz, Woody and Jessie (for Bella) party for their upcoming THIRD birthday!! More on that soon.

Stevie's been quoting the movie lately. We have two small Buzz Lightyear's and he'll take them and say, "I'm the real Buzz Lightyear. No, IIIII'm the real Buzz Lighyear". The boy is too cute. He's Buzz Lighyear and Max is Woody (per Stevie because of course Max has no idea what he's talking about) and of course Bella is Jessie. It sure is fun having kids.

Visit her blog. She has the greatest idea for a fairy door! Such a sweet idea.

Say It With Letters sponsor at Scrappassion Challenge

2011-03-11T21:57:00.003-05:00

Hey everyone!! Wanted to send out a quick post to tell you to go visit the Scrappassion Challenge Blog! Really beautiful layouts and fun altered projects too!

Bloom letters and Fabric Dyeing Tutorial

2011-03-11T14:43:00.006-05:00

Happy Friday, my friends! I'm so happy that the weather here has been warmer each day, snow is melting and I can almost see my entire deck in the back yard! :) Spring really is coming!

I'm excited to share this adorable design team project by the talented, Dawn Gallop. Aren't they just so Spring-y?! I love it!! The colors are so bright and pretty. Dawn created a great tutorial showing us how she created these BLOOM letters

Head to Dawn's blog to learn all about dyeing fabric and how she created these beautiful letters!

Happy weekend everyone. Thanks for visiting. xo

Love you rain or shine

2011-02-24T11:57:00.004-05:00

Hello there, my blogging friends. Are you enjoying your week? It's school vacation week here and I'm watching my niece. We've been coming up with some fun things to do. Today is Pajama Party and Pizza Day. :) Now they are crashing on the couch, tired from playing and running around. I know I'm tired. It's been fun having her though and good for the kids too, I think.

It's also been a bit warmer here, which has been wonderful. Reminds me that Spring really is coming. I've been wanting to share this adorable project by Lauren Meader with our umbrella shape. I love her style. The outline of pearls, buttons and bow are beautiful finishing touches.
I love how she outlined the shape with paper.

Adorable stamping. I love you Rain or Shine. So sweet.
Thanks for the inspiration, Lauren. I'm off to sort laundry and load the dishwasher. :)

Home is where your story begins

2011-02-18T12:10:00.004-05:00

Happy Friday, my friends. We have a fairly busy weekend, but I'm looking forward to it. We're having a surprise party for my Mom on Saturday. Well, I say surprise but she actually knows about it but we're pretending she doesn't. :) Should be fun. The kids and I went shopping yesterday for a few things and they were all excited about Grammy's birthday party. Probably because they know with a party, there is also cake.

One of my favorite things with this business of ours, is seeing what you all are doing with our products! Our friend Annie, e-mailed me her blog post with this adorable, little creation! She drilled some holes in our 'happy home' shape and created a mini album! So clever and her details and embellishments are really adorable! I loove the zig zap stitching she did.

And the buttons on the chimney - can you stand it?! Beautiful work, Annie. Thanks so much for sharing!Hope you have a wonderful weekend. xo

more Letters for Birthday Parties

2011-02-16T11:46:00.004-05:00

I've been doing a little (well.. a lot) of blog searching for inspiration for my little Max's 1st birthday party. Yes, I said FIRST. In about two months, my baby boy will be 1. He's such an amazing little guy. We're going to be doing a new room for him in the next few months (a rocket ship design) so I think his birthday will be tied into that theme.

This party just spoke to me though.. it's for a little girl named, Arie. The Mom created this "Year of Firsts" table with sweet outfits and pictures and little tags telling about each "first". I really like that idea.

And of course, these letters as a centerpiece are really beautiful. You can find more pictures at this blog. Soo beautiful.

And thought I'd share a picture of my two little guys. Stevie calls Max his "little best friend". They are so sweet together (most of the time anyway). But every time Stevie wakes up from his nap or wakes up in the morning he always asks about Max. They seem to have a bond already. I'll enjoy seeing that develop over the years.

1 Month 2 Win It :: Auditions are Open!

2011-02-11T05:23:00.000-05:00

Hey everyone! I'm really excited to be involved with the 1 Month 2 Win It competition (we're one of the sponsors). It's a cool crafting competition where anyone can WIN! Head over to The Country Chic Cottage for more info. Submissions close in 4 days. To audition you can link to any of the projects you've blogged about so it's really easy (for now!) :)

Here's a project submitted by The Sweet Life - An Alphabet Wall! Of course, I love it! So clever and such a fun variety!

Head over to HERE and link up your projects! Good luck everyone!!

Cause Chaos and Run Amok

2011-02-10T08:00:00.002-05:00

This print really spoke to me this morning. :) My twins have been playing SO much more together, which is completely awesome on so many levels (like, being able to sit down and write a blog post for a couple minutes while the baby is sleeping). However, they are also completely trashing the house! So, this seemed appropriate for my 2 1/2 year old twins! You can find more info on the print here.

Have you checked out the 1 Month 2 Win it submissions yet? Head over to The Country Chic Cottage to see a few. There's still time to enter too!

1 month 2 win it

2011-02-08T15:52:00.004-05:00

Calling all Crafters!

I have some exciting news! Say It With Letters is one of the sponsors over at the

'1 month 2 win it' site! Hot off the tails of 'So You Think You're Crafty', four of the contestants from that competition have started '1 month 2 win it', a crafting competition. You can visit the site for more details on how to enter or even just to see the projects. I'm excited to see the talents of the crafty peeps. Anyone can win it!

Do you think you can make the cut?

What is it?
One Month to Win It is a monthly craft competition that anyone can win!

How do you join?
Audition info can be found here. For Season 1 (held in March), the auditions will be on The Country Chic CottageFebruary 9th through 16th. Watch for a linky party!

The judges will pick 11 contestants from the audition and the 12th contestant (The Wild Card) will be chosen via randomizer.org. Yep -- anyone can win this competition!

Who are the judges?

Angie with The Country Chic Cottage

Mandy with Sugar Bee Craft Edition

Jessica with Running with Scissors

Kalleen with At Second Street

Kirstin and Jordan with kojo designs

Wanna learn all about the judges?? Head on over here and read all about us!

Are there prizes?

Yep there will be prizes....you will have to stay tuned to find out what! SIWL is one of the sponsors. :)

Ready to join in the fun?

Be sure to follow One Month To Win It to keep up with the competition! And get your projects ready to link up at the audition starting February 9th at The Country Chic Cottage! Grab a button and tell your friends! The more the merrier!

Birdcage + Victoria's Secret Heart with Wings

2011-02-03T13:17:00.006-05:00

Hello there, my friends. I'm so excited to share a little heart with wings shape inspiration. It's definitely a favorite shape of mine and very popular with some of you too. It was also a design team project this month and check out what they created...

Dawn totally outdid herself with this beautiful French inspired Heart with Wings shape. The tulle gives it such a soft look. Love that birdcage!

And a closeup shot

Erika's has a bit of Victoria's Secret feel to it, don't you think?! The beads are soo pretty, the locket and feathers - aren't they fabulous? Simply beautiful.

Here's a closeup shot.

Gorgeous, gorgeous ladies! Thanks for your inspiration. I'm planning our Valentine's dinner and can't quite decide on what to make. Something simple but with some extra, special touches. Have a wonderful day.

Snowy Design Team shares :: adorable wood mittens

2011-02-02T05:38:00.001-05:00

Hello dear friends. Since we are expected to get a TON more snow today, it just seemed appropriate to share our adorable little design team creations using our pair of mitten shapes and our new, super cute SNOW letters (you can find them if you click on the links in the word in the SHOP).

Laurie's are so adorable and brightly colored with the sweetest heart embellishment and ric rac trim. Simply adorable!
She also created a contrasting design by painting the sides black and white. A really nice touch!

Michelle's are a pretty touch of nature and used Webster's Pages papers. I like the pockets on the mittens.

Stephanie's SNOW letters are a fun mix of patterned papers and snowy snowflakes! Really adorable, Steph! Here's a closeup of the snowflake.

And Regina used some paint to create "snow" on the letters. Very clever! I love the effect.

Kory's are blinged out SNOW letters. :) Don't you love the gems she used on the center here?
I love these!!
There you have it, my friends. Lots of snowy inspiration for our snowy days! :) Hope you're all staying warm. Enjoy your day.

We've been watching the bluebirds

2011-01-25T13:49:00.004-05:00

Hello there, my friends. I hope you're having a nice week. We had a bit more snow today, but nothing compared to last week. We have piles and piles of snow in our back yard!

I'll be posting more design team projects in the next few days, but I was just *so* inspired by these adorable stitched mittens (using our Pair of Mittens set) created by Julie Ann Shahin. Julie Ann has been on our DT since the beginning and each month she outdoes herself with her creativity. She is truly an inspiration and so wonderful to work with. I hope you enjoy these photos of her mittens.

She used an embroidery pattern from Sublime Stitching by Jenny Hart that she modified. It says, "We've been watching the bluebirds". Simply adorable!

Winter Wonderland

2011-01-12T07:45:00.007-05:00

Brrr.. it's cold outside! So, it's not even noon yet and we must have a foot of snow outside! My kids have been looking out the window all morning saying, "Look at all that snow!". The cat keeps trying to go out and when I open the door she turns and runs away!

I hope you're having a happy new year. My kids are going through new schedules and we're trying to get adjusted. Mr. Max is sitting up and sleeping much less. Stevie and Bella are getting ready to start preschool in the next few months after then turn three. It's amazing to me how much more grown up they are. They were doing puzzles the other day (Stevie's a wiz) and he was helping Bella and he'd say "Great job, Bella (which he pronounces more like Beya), Great job, Beya". Too cute.

photo source

This year I'm inspired to do a little work to our rooms. We've been in our house 8 years and I'm afraid to say some of the walls were painted just after we moved in and I need a change. I've been feeling very inspired by this blog, The Stories of A to Z. She posted a few Winter Mantel Ideas on her blog and I'm loving it! There are so many great blogs out there!

I hope you're all staying cozy and enjoying the day.

From our Family to Yours

2010-12-21T12:44:00.003-05:00

Wishing you all a VERY Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and all good things for 2011! Thanks for visiting and all your continued support. xxooo

Say It With Letters Guest Designer, Ellen Sosnoski

2010-12-08T06:16:00.000-05:00

Good Morning, my friends. We are on day 3 of the House of Sick! My poor kiddos are just not themselves. I think the only good thing about them being sick is that they are taking extra long naps. The ones where you check on them all the time to make sure they're still breathing.

I'm excited to share with you this month's Guest Designer, Ellen Sosnoski. She posted a comment on our blog a while back and when I visited her blog, I loved her style and asked her to be a guest designer. She did a gorgeous job with our "NeST" letters. Read on a to learn a bit more about Ellen and see the project she created.

Hi! I live in a small town in Northeast PA but am a city girl at heart. Though the small town life has been a nice change of pace for me, I love the action and excitement of the big city. So I keep busy by working two part time jobs, hanging with my family and friends, and papercrafting. Like so many crafters I draw inspiration from color and texture and life around me. I love, LOVE. love to alter so I was beyond thrilled when Deb asked me to guest design. You can see my work in various scrapbooking publications and with leading manufacturing companies.

I adore the colors she chose and especially how she photographed them! Look at the darling little bird she created.

Love love the mix of patterns and colors she chose.

Sweet little butterfly sitting there.

Beautiful job, Ellen! Thank you so much for your inspiration. And as always, thanks to each of you for checking in.

Design Team Projects :: Family

2010-12-05T05:09:00.000-05:00

Good Morning, my friends! I hope you're having a lovely day. We spent yesterday morning getting Christmas photos done. What a crazy group of us but I think we got some good shots! The afternoon was spent at Stevie and Bella's little friend's birthday party. All the kids kept talking about beforehand was that they were going to eat cake. :)

I'm excited to share the second half of our design team projects this month featuring a *brand new* set of wood letters, the "Family of" set! These have been something I wanted to create since we first started the company and I found my inspiration from the wonderful, Layle Koncar. She has a home decor piece in her house made with vintage letters she's collected. So, I e-mailed her to ask if I could use her for inspiration and she said, of course! :) I really think the team has totally outdone themselves!! The work is so gorgeous and each one is so different and unique.

Erika has such beautiful colors in the papers and embellishments. Look at the details in her letters...

I love the mosaic texture on the edge and texture on the letters.

These flowers are amazingly beautiful!

And I love the button work throughout.

Gorgeous! You should visit Erika's blog because she's involved in Helmar's Holiday Blog Hop and there's lots of fun things and giveaways galore!

The colors of Laurie's letters just make me smile. They're so cheery and fun to look at. She plans on hanging them in her hallway, which I love! I love the '4' pictures of them on the number.

Her cute kids... :)

And I especially love the sayings she chose to include on them. Beautiful work, Laurie.

Regina's has a really classic look. They're simply embellished, which I really like here because I think the papers didn't need a lot of extras.

The '5' is the statement piece, with her family photo and beautiful flower.

Kory's are sweet and fun with her metallic mix of papers and glitter!

Flowers and sweet sayings...

Love the number!

Thanks so much for stopping by! Have a wonderful day. xo

Design Team Projects :: Nesting

2010-12-01T07:53:00.010-05:00

Good Morning, my friends! I'm so excited to share the first part of this month's design team projects. Back by popular demand are one of our most popular set of letters - the "NeST" letters.

Bonnierose was undecided on how she wanted to decorate hers. Her initial thought was to stay very simple and just paint them (nothing wrong with simple). Then inspiration hit! Don't you love that?!
Here's how she created the look!

I first lightly painted the letters with white paint, then adhered dictionary papers with Mod Podge. Mod Podged over to seal then lightly brushed more paint and finished off with green and blue bows.

You see, hubby and I are gonna be moving down south, that's the 5 year plan anyways... and one day... we want our home to be a beachy theme... so I did these using blue/seafoam green ribbons.

And here's a few more details....

Beautiful Bonnierose! I love the shabby look!

Dawn's are so beautiful and have such soft colors and a natural-ness to them (I know that's not a word, ha ha!) And then she outlined them with Glass Glitter.

Look at the gorgeous papers too!

The sweet bird and branches.

The "N" has a felt flower that she made (you can see a better picture on her blog post HERE).

Love these branches.

And now for a totally different look (isn't this fun?!) Julie Ann has an eclectic mix of papers and embellishments creating a fabulous design!

And LOOK, she outlined the letters with feathers!! I think they really soften the whole look.

And some closeup details...

Gorgeous, gorgeous! I love all the sayings and details. You should also visit her blog for some really inspiring pictures from Shimelle's class, Journaling Your Christmas. Love this idea!!

Michelle's pretty flowery mix is really sweet. I love the pinks and blues and those bows. :)

Winter . Spring . Summer . Fall I really like how Stephanie went with a four seasons design.

Awesome job, ladies!! I love seeing the new designs and love what you created with them!

As always, thanks everyone for checking in.

Amy Powers, Inspired Ideas + Sugary Houses

2010-11-23T06:11:00.001-05:00

By now, I know you're all familiar with the sweet Amy Powers of the blog, Inspire Co. I thought I'd share the link to this online magazine FILLED with so many adorable, little projects and holiday inspiration! You can view it online HERE. It has projects by Mary Engelbreit, Charolotte Lyons, Amy herself and so many others! You'll love it! The best part? It's free!

A couple years back I had the pleasure of working with Amy when she was our Guest Designer. She created an adorable village of sugary houses in her signature style. I thought I'd share it with you today.

Base paint the entire little house the color you'd like for the house to be. Once the paint is dry, paint the details like the roofline, chimney, doors, windows. If you're shaky, use tape to mask off areas where you don't want the paint. Add polka dots and stripes and more details when that coat dries. Alternatively, you could cut out bits of paper for details like the shutters, doors, and windows and glue them into place.

For the piece with an open doorway and windows, glue paper bits to the back of the piece.

Add accents like tiny Christmas balls, millinery flowers, beads, pom-poms using hot glue. Have fun with this part and look at everyday things with fresh eyes. Let yourself play!

Coat the entire front of the piece with craft glue using a broad paint brush. Put glue over the bits and bobs too.

With a piece of paper underneath collect the run-off, pour a generous amount of clear glitter over the entire piece. Shake off the excess.Ta-dah!

Isn't it adorable?! Just a little holiday inspiration. Thanks for reading.

"A smile is a light in the window which shows the heart is at home." Martin Buxbaum

Chalkboard Tutorial featuring Jennifer Priest :: Christmas Giftmaking

2010-11-22T05:18:00.004-05:00

I posted last week our awesome Design Team projects and mentioned that a tutorial was on the way for Jennifer's COOL Thought Bubble Chalkboard. Well, here it is!

Won't these make great Christmas gifts? We have a chalkboard in our bathroom and my hubby and I are always leaving little notes for each other. Supplies:

Thought Bubble - Say It With Letters (available in our Etsy shop HERE)

Chalkboard Paint - Valspar ($15 at Lowe's)

Magnets - Unknown ($3 at Lowe's)

Vinyl, Diecutting Machine - Silhouette

Hot Glue Gun - Unknown

Font- Honey Script

Paint the entire front of the wood shape with chalkboard paint and allow to dry. Apply 3 coats of paint.

Cut a vinyl saying on the Silhouette or other diecutting machine. Remove the excess vinyl from the diecut and apply a transfer sheet to the front of the vinyl. Carefully peel the vinyl saying from the backing sheet.

Apply the vinyl saying to the wood shape.

Hot glue magnets to the back of the wood shape. Place them in each corner so that the shape will not rock when someone is writing on it.

Apply to the nearest metal surface or refrigerator.

Happy Gift-Making!

A B C's featuring Leslie Marsh of Snips and Snails

2010-11-19T14:57:00.003-05:00

I hope you're enjoying your week. Its Friday! I'm sitting here drinking some hot chocolate which is a new favorite afternoon treat for me. I can only drink a bit of coffee and would probably drink that if I could but I definitely don't need something ELSE keeping me up at night since Max does a mighty fine job all by himself. :) My kids are napping (all three of them) and I'm enjoying a little quiet time.

I thought I'd share these *beautiful* creations by my friend, Leslie. I've had the pleasure of doing business with Leslie several times.

It all started with these letters she ordered for this cutie, Kiran. Since then I think she's ordered 3 other times. We love repeat customers! :) I got a nice e-mail from her the other day telling me she had shared the letters on her blog. They're completely gorgeous!!

She worked on the the SOPHIE letters with Sophie's mom. That's really sweet (and so are they).

I love the colors in these LILY letters.

And I think these NADIA ones are my favorite! I love the deep colors and her embellishments are so unique and beautiful! Here's a closeup of one of the letters... you can see the shiny finish she gave them.

You can see more of Leslie's work and details on her blogpost HERE. She also shared with me how she created the shiny finish.

I use Envirotex Lite, which I buy at Michaels, over the letters once I've painted the sides and covered the tops with scrapbook paper. It's a two-part resin that dries in a couple of days. I set the letters on disposable plastic bathroom cups on disposable aluminum trays when I pour the Envirotex over them and then go back and 'paint' the resin on the sides of the letters with a foam brush and the stuff that gathers in the tray. Then I check closely with a flashlight to make sure I've covered everything and try to brush the drips off the bottom. Then, after about five minutes, I remove the bubbles by running a match or grill lighter lightly over the areas that have them. The letters will dry in about 24 hours, but it takes 3-4 days for the resin to completely cure. Then I sand the drips off of the bottom and embellish!

Thank you so much Leslie for sharing! Beautiful work.

If you have some creations you'd like to share, we'd love to see them! Thanks for reading. Enjoy your weekend.

What are you grateful for? Design Team inspiration with Julie Ann Shahin

2010-11-15T06:40:00.006-05:00

Good Monday Morning! I hope you had a nice weekend. Saturday was completely beautiful and I was grateful for warm days in the month of November. This is New England so tomorrow it could very well snow. :)

I was completely inspired by design team member, Julie Ann Shahin's design team project this month (really, she inspires every month!) Julie Ann's inspiration were the Thought Bubbles that are popping up on blogs where people are using them for Christmas cards (adorable idea!) She took our Thought Bubble and had a Thanksgiving gratitude conversation with her husband and the finished Chalkboard design. Here's her little conversation with her cute hubby!

My latest DT project for Say It With Letters was to alter this unfinished Talk Bubble.

I painted it with Plaid Chalkboard Paint, which now comes in a variety of colors!!!!

My husband and I had a Thanksgiving gratitude conversation via my finished talk bubble:

HER

What are you grateful for?

HIM

My Loving Family, Our Health, Our Freedom

What about you?

HER

Today I am grateful for a sense of humor and laughter.

And so I ask you my friends, what are you grateful for?

I have so many things to be thankful for and among them are each of you! Leave a comment and we'll do a giveaway sending some of our product!

The winner of our Girly Girl Closet is Jen. Congrats, Jen! I just e-mailed you for your address so I'll get the dresses out this week.

Chalkboard tutorial coming soon!

More Christmas trees and Thought Bubbles!

2010-11-09T20:30:00.006-05:00

Hello, my friends. As I write this I'm waiting on a batch of old fashioned peanut butter cookies to be done baking in the oven. You know the kind - the ones with the cross hatched fork marks on the top. Yum! I've been craving them for a couple days now and finally made them tonight (my lucky husband). :)

I'm excited to share more design team projects! These are the remaining projects (except for one special one that I'm saving for a later date. You'll LOVE it!)

This beautiful standing Christmas tree is by new design team member, Erika Taylor. It has an old fashioned feel to it, doesn't it?

I love the vintage looking image and if you notice in the close up photo, she used a crackle medium. Here's how she created the look.

I used Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist and Glimmer Glam to paint the tree. Stamped swirls on it with Versafine, then added Crackle Medium to really age it. Went over bits and pieces with a sanding block, then started embellishing.

So pretty, Erika.

And our new Thought Bubble was a HUGE hit with our Design Team girls! They really created some fun designs too!

Regina made her shape into a CLOCK! How cool is that?! I love the "Once upon a time" saying and the swirly bling she used! You can visit her blog for all the products she used.

Super cute, Regina!

Say what? It looks like I'm not the only one obsessed with chalkboard paint! Jennifer created this *awesome* fridge chalkboard with super heavy duty magnets! I love it, Jennifer! We love leaving notes for each other in our house. What a fantastic gift for Christmas too. Tutorial coming soon...

Alright, my friends. I need to get to bed. My cookies are done (I was eating them while writing, don't mind me). :) My Max is the most amazing little baby but he's still up about every 3 hours and I'm feeling it tonight. See you soon.

Birdhouse Tutorial, by the sweet Joyce Gleason

2010-11-04T20:33:00.009-04:00

Hello again my friends. I figured since I had posted a bunch of other tutorials this week I may as well continue with another fun tutorial by my friend, Joyce Gleason. She's taken our HOUSE shape and created this sweet birdhouse with little wreaths you can change out for the season. Is she clever or what?! She always puts together a really wonderful mix of papers too. I especially love the ruler for the roofline. She created this for a swap she participated in. Here's the steps she took to create this sweet birdhouse.

I chose a wooden house shape from Say it With Letters (one of my favorite resources). {Thanks Joyce!} :)

The quality of these pieces is excellent and I never even have to sand them. I think the hardest part of any paper piecing project is choosing the papers to use. Once I decide on the papers, the work goes relatively quickly. These were the papers I picked for Mary's house.

I like to mix patterned paper with text paper or sheet music and also ledger papers work well with patterned papers also. I love that ruler paper and thought it would work out for the roof line.

It was coming together nicely. I wanted to add a door to hang a wreath on but the
proportions were not quite right...

I decided to turn the house into a birdhouse....

Here are the wreaths...one for the fall and one for winter. They were made using stamps from Papertrey Ink (another favorite resource) stamped onto cardstock and then mounted on cardboard from a cracker box (the perfect weight, right Elizabeth?)

You can see that I've used small pieces of hook and loop dots (Velcro) on the back of each wreath... there is also Velcro on the front of the birdhouse. This way, the wreaths can be changed out at the seasons.
So that the wreath not being displayed doesn't get lost...on the back of the birdhouse there is more Velcro to store the extra wreath...

Mary needed a tenant for her new birdhouse so I covered a chipboard bird with
some patterned paper and attached it to the front of the house.

Next some details were added. Stamped flourishes were next and a bingo marker with the #26 which is Mary's real house number. Here is the fall look with the twig and berry wreath...

and the winter look with the leaves and berries...

Take some time to visit Deb at Say it With Letters. She has a large variety of wooden shapes and letters in different fonts. Any piece can be cut in sizes ranging from very small to very large. I have been using Deb's products for years now and am always delighted, and, she's a heck of a sweet lady, too!

Thank you Joyce for the nice words and the awesome tutorial!! I love seeing what you all are doing with our products.

OK, now I'm off. I'm watching gymnastics. :) Good night everyone.

Guest Designer, the sweet Alison Steadman of Oopsey Daisy

2010-11-04T14:00:00.001-04:00

Good Day! As I write this, Max is sleeping and my older kids are completely engrossed in Toy Story 2 (we haven't bought Toy Story 3 yet but we WILL!) The funny thing is they have never seen any of the movies (until now) but they just have toys and other things with Buzz and Woody on them and LOVE them! They've only recently had interest in movies.

I'm excited to share our second Guest Designer this month, the sweet and talented Alison Steadman of a fun blog, Oopsey Daisy. Her blog shares pics of her adorable children, fun craft projects, GREAT kids projects, home decorating and yummy recipes (like these Snickerdoodle Muffins that I made lasy month). YUM! She also has some great free downloads that you can find HERE. Read on to learn a bit more about her. She also shares a tutorial for our Standing Christmas Tree Funny how she had the same idea as Jody with a Christmas countdown. I think everyone's excited for Chrismtas! I know I am. :) (EDIT: An unfinished tree can be found HERE).

Hello, my friends! My name is Alison, and I am the lady behind Oopsey Daisy, my own little creative outlet. Once upon a time, I was a first grade teacher. Now, I am a happy stay-at-home Mom to a handsome toddler. My husband travels all week long, so I keep myself busy with crafts. I love a good project, and I especially love to make things for kids. I am also a holiday NUT--just ask my family! I love all things festive. I am thrilled to be a guest designer today!

Come along with me, and see how I designed this adorable 12" Christmas Tree.

Imagine my excitement when this package arrived at my door! The tree stands perfectly using the second piece as a stand.

As soon as I saw this tree, I knew I needed to go shopping at my local Archiver's scrapbook store. I cut strips of the new Mind's Eye Christmas paper and used my Fiskars scallop punch on some of the strips. I overlapped the paper strips and mod-podged all of the paper onto the tree. I covered both sides of the tree and even the edges. Then, I trimmed it all up. I even sanded the edges so there were no sharp paper edges.

I decided that this tree needed some BLING. I gave the tree a thick coat of mod podge and started dumping on the glitter! Next, I added red sparkly ribbon and green sparkly ribbon stripes. This little tree definitely shines!

I decided that it would be fun to use this tree to count down the days until Christmas. So I found some glittery snowflakes and used E-6000 to secure magnets to the back of each snowflake.

Using my Cricut, I added vinyl numbers to the snowflakes so we could count down the days until Christmas!

Using chipboard letters, I made the "days" sign. I also distressed the edges.

I just glued some thick magnet tape onto the tree so that the snowflake numbers would stick. I topped the tree with a big red ribbon bow.

I glued these fun epoxy buttons all over the front and back of the tree. I love that they look like ornaments!

I found this cute star box at Hobby Lobby and spray painted it red. Then I mod-podged paper and ribbon around the box's edges. Now I can use this box to hold the extra snowflake numbers! I am excited to start counting down the days until Christmas!

Enjoy your holiday season! I hope you'll come stop by my blog and say hello!

Isn't it adorable?! Thanks for your inspiration, Alison! It was fun working with you! Please visit the Oopsey Daisy blog for some fun finds and tell her we sent you!

Welcome Everything Etsy readers :: Girly Girl Closet Tutorial and Giveaway!

2010-10-31T22:06:00.020-04:00

WELCOME Everything Etsy readers to the inspiration blog of Say It With Letters! We are SO excited to be a part of the HUGE Giveaway Week!!

Please read on for a tutorial on how to create your own set of *adorable* Girly Girl dresses created by our fabulous design team member, Julie Ann Shahin. Read the bottom of this post to see how you can win an unfinished set of dresses to create your own at home! (And did you enter the giveaway over at Everything Etsy too?) You could win a decorated set of our dresses designed by Julie Ann on their site and a bunch of other cool things too! Here's the tutorial:

Say It With Letters Tutorial

by Julie Ann Shahin
featuring"Girly Girl Closet"Dresses

Welcome friends and fans from the Everything Etsy Giveaway Extravaganza! I'm excited to have designed a set of dresses for you to win (on Everything Etsy's site) and now I'll share with you a tutorial on how I made those dresses, so that you can get a pair of unfinished dresses from Say It With Letters to make for yourself, and for gifts for upcoming holidays, birthdays, shower gifts, etc.

Pictured above is a sampling of the supplies you'll need: about 3 patterns of paper per dress, one or two pieces of chipboard cardstock in total, 7 small buttons in total. Then you'll need adhesives and tools such as my favorites: Fabri-tac or Golden Gel Medium Matte, Scissors and/or an X-acto Knife, Ruler, and something round to trace such as embroidery hoops or small plates, and a writing utensil to trace with.

Instructions
First, I sketched out my ideas for the trio of dresses with colored pencils. I had a patterned paper in mind from my stash or you could go shopping for just that right pattern.
Then I started making the largest dress first. I knew I needed a solid base for the skirt/apron so I used chipboard/cardstock from For The Luv of Art . I half-traced, half-created my design for the skirt by tracing the scallops then tracing an embroidery hoop as seen in the photographed steps.

Next, I used the negative space left from the chipboard to decide where I want my patterned paper to line up on my skirt. You can use a lightbox to trace the skirt or hold the paper up to a lightbulb and see where they line up. Remember to trace on the wrong side of the paper. Then I used Golden Gel Medium Matte as glue on the chipboard to adhere the paper to it. Set it aside for now.

For the top, I decided where I wanted the top to be on the patterned paper and again, used the lightbulb technique to make sure the shape lined up before I traced it on the wrong side of the paper. Then I cut it out and adhered the pink top to the wood shape. The next step was to cut a striped skirt, so I traced the wood shape and cut and adhered that to the shape. I could now adhere the skirt and add a blue ruffle to the skirt.

I also wanted to make a ruffle to add to the striped skirt so I traced the scallop twice as shown in the photographed steps. I cut it out and adhered it to the wood shape.

Now it's on to the medium dress shape. I have three patterned papers, three buttons, and my tools. First, I trace the blouse portion. Then I trace the scallops for a ruffle.
I know I want a certain portion of the pattern included on the sleeveless apron, which is the peacock shown in photograph #1. Again, I use the lightbulb technique discussed above. I trace the dress, and be sure to leave off the sleeves. I adhere the blouse I cut previously, and then the sleeveless apron. Next, I make a second ruffle that will be centered on the larger ruffle. I then add the buttons to both the large dress and the medium dress.

Here, I am ready to start the third, and smallest dress. This dress also requires a chipboard cardstock base for its' apron. Again, I half-trace the dress, and half-trace the embroidery hoop for the skirt. This one also has a center flare. Then I use the lightbulb technique once again to trace the apron onto the wrong-side of my patterned paper.

I traced and cut the skirt that goes underneath the apron, as well as a contrasting hem for it. I adhered both to the wood hem and then the apron, and the buttons. There you have finished your trio of Girly Girl Closet Dresses! I hope you are feeling artsy and inspired!!!

Please leave any questions on the Say It With Letters blog and I'll be happy to answer them!

Thanks everyone for stopping by!! I'm going to do the same idea from Everything Etsy's giveaway.

Say It With Letters {shop link}
Say It With Letters {twitter link}

Visit Say It With Letters SHOP and leave a comment telling us your favorite item on our site
Follow Say It With Letters on Facebook
Follow Say It With Letters on Twitter

Subscribe to Say It With Letters blog
Tweet about the particular giveaway
Post to your Facebook about the giveaway
Post to your blog about the giveaway

Winners will be selected by random number generator on Monday and posted here.

Good Luck Everyone!! Thanks for stopping by!

Guest Designer, the talented Jody Morrow :: Christmas Countdown Calendar

2010-10-31T15:09:00.007-04:00

Hello everyone! You're in for a real treat today! I have an AWESOME tutorial for you from our Guest Designer, the sweet and talented, Jody Morrow aka The Ribbon Addict! She has a really inspiring blog and was so wonderful to work with on our standing Christmas tree project. Isn't it adorable?! I love what she did with it. Here's a closeup of the tinsel-ey base. I totally love it!

Read on to learn a bit more about Jody and also a step by step tutorial on how she created this fun project. You can also find more info on her blog, Confessions of a Ribbon Addict HERE.

Hi there! My name is Jody Morrow, and I have a confession: I am a paper-crafting addict. I love to shop for and collect supplies just as much as I like using them. I have a feeling I am not alone! LOL I have been stamping for about 8 years. From the moment my hands touched a stamp, I was hooked, and went full-steam ahead. I love making cards and gifts! I am a mother to three amazing kids and wife to a great guy (who supports my hobby in every way). I am honored to have been asked by Deb to be a guest designer. The products at Say it With Letters are great, and I enjoyed creating the Christmas Countdown Calendar using the 12" Christmas Tree.

Here is a step-by-step tutorial for you:

These are the 2 pieces included in the Christmas tree.
First, I "painted" the edges of the tree with a SU Soft Suede reinker (watered down a bit) using a water brush. I also used a sponge for the larger areas. I got totally messy, and that was fine. I didn't try to be perfect. The flat sides will be covered up anyway.
I grabbed The Best Glue Ever, and squirted it liberally all over the tree (next pic).

I laid my tree over an entire sheet of 12 X 12 patterned paper and allowed it to dry for several hours. I am not a fan of tracing with a pencil and then cutting out and trying to match it up. This removes a step AND has better results. ;) After it was dry, I sliced along the edge of the tree with my craft knife. This was pretty easy to do. The tree gave it support and I just sliced away.
Here it is all trimmed.
Repeat the steps above for the other side. I used a cuticle tool (for nails, that I bought as a stamping tool LOL) to scrape the excess glue from around the tree before I set it aside to dry. It worked like a charm.
I used a round Basic Grey sanding tool to sand the inner corners of the tree to make sure it was nice and "clean". Here is the other side, finished.
Now, just put on your thinking cap and decorate. I opted for the Christmas Countdown idea!

And here's a few more details too.

I completely LOVE it, Jody! Thank you so much for the inspiration.

Did you know there are less than 57 days until Christmas?! Time to start crafting! :) Thanks for stopping by. xoxo

Design Team project :: Christmas inspiration!

2010-10-28T20:57:00.005-04:00

So, I know this weekend is Halloween and I probably should wait until NEXT week (or more) to post these projects, but they're just so fun, and I just couldn't wait!!

I'm excited to share one of our NEW design team members, very first project! Bonnie Rose, created this pretty and glittery tree using our standing Christmas tree and even included a tutorial on how she created it.

Step by step:
I painted all the edges and the base of the tree, white - using acrylic paints. Let dry.

Cut out the tree shape using two sheets of 12x12 paper and adhered to wood shape using ModPodge. Let dry.

Added Christmas word stickers (Girls' Paperie) and some MME embellishments and some of my Brave Girl Truths that mean the most to me and adhered using more Mod Podge. Let dry.

Brushed on ModPodge onto sides of tree and sprinkled Silver Glass Glitter on the edges for some real shiny sparkle! Shook off excess glitter and let dry.

Adhered some big bold sparkly tinsel snowflakes, 2 per side (Girls' Paperie) onto the tree. I wanted this tree to really mean something to me this Holiday season.

I really love how it turned out, Bonnie Rose! The sayings really are inspiring. So is the project! Beautiful job!

Laurie's is so, well, "Laurie Star"! :) With her bright colors and pretty fabric. I love that it's not Christmas-y. Eventhough I KNOW she loves Christmas and is probably listening to Christmas music already. I love that it can be kept out year round. She could even put some of her cute flower embellishments on it.

Here's how she created it:

I used fabric strips that were frayed - I purposely let the edges fluff out on each layer, and I love the look of it! My daughter told me it was her favorite project of mine so far - so that's good enough for me! :)

Really adorable, Laurie! Keep checking in this week for more design team shares. Have an inspiring day! xo

Design Team shares :: NEW Word Bubble shape and more Christmas Inspiration

2010-10-27T21:31:00.000-04:00

Hey everyone!! I'm loving sharing all the new projects by our design team! I've been dying to post them and now I can!! :) I hope you're all enjoying your day.

We have a new Word Bubble shape that's really COOL! Customers are using them for chalkboards, Christmas cards and Stephanie used hers for her 15 year old son's room! She says it sort of shows what his attitude has been like lately. :) I'm sure many of you can relate. I love your project, Steph! The skull and crossbones are a nice touch too.

And I know Halloween is almost here but I'm starting to share our Christmas projects pics because I love 'em so much!

This is Dawn's take on our standing Christmas tree. Soo creative! And I love the beach-y theme.

Here's a little info on how Dawn created her tree: The tree was made from using Webster's pp By the sea of course I altered over and over. The trims are handmade clay ornaments, canvas, inks, handpainted whimsical mermaid, shells, hand strung beads (yeah laugh now). The flowers around the tree are Webster's bloomers.

Check out the mermaid! So cool!!

Michelle has a Victorian look to her flowered tree. It's so pretty with the flocked papers and flowers! Here's a little info on product she used for her project:

The flocked velvet background paper is by Paper Bouquet DMD. The brown velvet paper I used for the trunk was in my stash. I fussy cut the flowers which is by WR memory and I added vanilla Smooch Spritz to the top of each for more sparkle. I used Queen & Company pearls and rhinstones. The 1st tree the rhinestone flower for the tree topper is by Basic Grey. The flower on top of the paper flower are millinery flowers I bought from an Etsy store. I added Shimmerz paints in chocolate color to brighten the flowers up. The ribbon on both trees I purchased at Walmart. The tree topper on Tree #2- are all by prima that I layered. I also added a little tulle behind the flower in a light champagne pink but you can only see some of it at the bottom of the flower.

Thanks for all the inspiration ladies!! And thanks to each of you for stopping by! xo

Thanks C&T Publishing and Julie Ann Shahin!

2010-10-26T07:39:00.005-04:00

Good Morning! We have another kind of dreary day today. My kids are working away on puzzles that Grammy bought for them. Thank you Grammy!! They loove puzzles and this has been keeping them VERY entertained. :) Don't you love that?!

We were excited to see Julie Ann Shahin's skull tutorial featured on the CT Pub Blog using our SKULL shape. This is a fantastic blog full of really cool ideas. They also feature a cool shadow box tutorial on working with resin.

And I especially liked this cute little black cat tutorial made with grocery store paper bags!! They're certainly easy to come by and it looks really easy.

Hope you're all enjoying your week! Thanks for checking in.

Sis Boom Fabulousness, by Jennifer Paganelli

2010-10-22T07:15:00.005-04:00

Good Morning and happy Friday!! All of my little ones are sleeping!! I really can't believe it. I've been up for a good, half hour and they're still asleep.. although I think I can hear someone stirring a bit.

I thought I'd share these fabulous letters by the lovely and talented Jennifer Paganelli, from Sis Boom Day Dreams. She actually did them quite some time ago (EDIT: You can find the original post HERE). But she just re-posted about them so I thought I would too. Thanks Jennifer!

I love the outline of vintage glitter she added for some real sparkle!

OK, now I really need to run. Have a wonderful day! xo

Everything Etsy Giveaway

2010-10-20T20:58:00.006-04:00

Hello my friends,

What a week! My laptop died and I've been trying to work on my old laptop but man, the thing is slow as molasses! My wonderful hubby is working on fixing the new one but in the meantime, he's fixed my old one so it's MUCH faster now. I have a new appreciation for it. :)

I'm excited to share that we'll be participating in the Everything Etsy giveaway beginning November 1st! We'll be giving away a decorated set of our Girly Girl Closet dresses over on the Everything Etsy site. And come back to visit the SIWL blog because we'll also be giving away an unfinished set of the dresses too. Lots of fun going on!!

The fun begins the week of November 1st!!

Letters for a Birthday Party

2010-10-15T20:53:00.004-04:00

I've been so into Party blogs lately. I tell ya - you have kids and your world completely changes. I find myself loving to look at kid's party pictures. My husband thinks I'm nuts because I've even started talking about Max's first birthday party and he's not even 6 months yet! :) I don't want to rush time, but I just love planning parties, I guess.

This is a sweet picture of a woodland party for the sweet Elle found on this inspiring blog.

I hope you each have a wonderful weekend. xo

Hot Cocoa Day + Glittered Goodies + a Giveaway at Violet's Cottage (and free tutorial download!)

2010-10-14T08:33:00.005-04:00

Today is rainy, and so dreary outside. I thought we'd all enjoy a little hot cocoa to get our tummies nice and warm. The kids had their first cup and mmm mmm, liked it! Their's was actually just warmed up chocolate milk :) but that's always yummy!

What a week it's been. I'm not sure if it's the change in the seasons or what, but my kids are fighting naps and just kinda cranky! Yesterday my day started with Bella saying, "I need to go potty.". Me: "OK, Bella let's go potty". Bella: "No, I don't WANT to go potty!". Bella: "Can I have some milk please, Mama". Me: "Sure, Bella. Let's go get some milk". Bella: "No, I don't WANT milk". She is such a girl already! Can't make up her mind. :) But she sure is cute.

I did get to do a little crafting this week. We're having fun doing some decorations for the kid's little Halloween Party playdate at the end of the month. I'm glittering some "eek" letters, which is just about as simple as you can get but SO pretty and cute!

And I thought I'd pass along another banner tutorial for this "CURIOUS" banner that my friend Carrie has on her blog. There's a tutorial and at the bottom of the post she's having a giveaway for some really adorable items. Go over HERE to check it all out! Spend a little time visiting her blog too - it's FULL of inspiration.

I hope you all have a wonderful day! And if I don't get to post over the weekend - enjoy yourself!

BOO to you!

2010-10-13T13:01:00.004-04:00

Happy Tuesday to you. Or, I guess it's Wednesday. Well, happy Wednesday to you! It's another beautiful day here in New England. The sun is streaming in my windows and the leaves, when you look out the window are reds, yellows and beautiful orange! The temps are perfect and I'm really itching to get outside.

My kids, on the other hand are fighting their nap for a second day in a row. I think I finally hear them settling down. I guess there's too many other fun things to do than have a nap. :) I can't blame them. Although, a nap sounds awesome in my book!

You've probably already visited this fun, little blog, eighteen 25. But I just recently found it and am totally hooked! Right now they're posting tons of Halloween ideas and inspiration. It really gets you in the mood. I found this BOO mantle to be really festive and really EASY (which is always good in my book!) They have a tutorial and download for the cute little banner! You can find that HERE. Oh, and if you happen to need a set of BOO letters, we just happen to have a set in the SHOP. :o)

My kids are napping so I'm off to load the dishwasher. Back to reality... Have a WONDERFUL and FUN day! xo

Spooky Chic SKULL Tutorial, by Julie Ann Shahin

2010-10-12T12:05:00.006-04:00

Using My Mind's Eye papers and our cool SKULL shape, Julie Ann created this fabulous project. You can find more info on the For The Luv of Art blog and also on Julie Ann's blog. Here's the step by step instructions:

TUTORIAL

Step 1. On the back of your paper, place shape face down and trace lightly.
________________________________________________

Step 2. Cut out the tracing with scissors or your craft knife.
________________________________________________

Step 3. Cut the eyes & nose out. Cut slits for the mouth and teeth. Then, holding the paper and shape in place, face up, press the mouth and teeth paper in, and crease where it needs to be cut. ________________________________________________

Step 4. Repeat the above step for the side slits. Adhere the paper to the wood shape. Then embellish and hang.
________________________________________________

I finished her off with a ribbon bow, chandelier earrings, prima flower eyes, and misted a white feather silver!

I totally love it JA!! Thanks for the Halloween inspiration!

Tissue Paper pom poms and Hand Print Spiders {tutorials too!}

2010-10-11T13:03:00.007-04:00

Are you all enjoying your Fall? What a gorgeous weekend we just had!! It's so beautiful this time of the year. The kids and I have been doing some Halloween crafting around here. We're having a Halloween Party Playdate with their little friends at the end of the month so we've been having fun making decorations and crafting. And our kitchen is looking might cute if I do say so myself. :)

I made my first tissue paper pom poms {tutorial found HERE or HERE}. I've been wanting to make them for a while. They were incredibly easy and now I'm completely addicted!! I bought my tissue paper at the dollar store but Target even has them for cheap. I used one package of tissue for each flower. Now I'm picturing them in different colors all over the house. They'd be cute in the kid's rooms but I was thinking even hanging in our bedroom. Anyway, they're very fun.

Last week we got nice and *messy* with black paint to make these adorable hand print spiders {tutorial found HERE}. They loved getting messy!!! Maybe a little too much.. ha ha. Any project involving the kid's handprints are keepers in my book.

I hope you all have a fun week!!

The NEW Say It With Letters Design Team...

2010-10-05T20:55:00.003-04:00

I'm thrilled to announce our *new* design team! Firstly, I wanted to thank everyone for sending in your work and for your continued interest in our company. It's always such a difficult decision and I wish I could add more people to the team because there are so many talented people out there.

I'm excited about our new team and can't wait to see what they create with our products! So, here they are...

Senior Designers:

Laurie Cass-Griggs

Kory Dordea

Jennifer Priest

Julie Ann Shahin

Designers:

Stephanie Ackerman

Dawn Gallop

Michelle Hodges

B0nnie Rose Kempenich

Regina Robidoux

Erika Taylor

I also wanted to say a special thank you to our previous Design Team! They're an amazing group of ladies and I enjoyed working with each of you.

Look for new design team projects VERY soon! Thanks for stopping by!

Say It With Letters Design Team Call

2010-09-07T21:50:00.003-04:00

Hi everyone! I guess summer has officially ended. Our days have been cooler here and a definite fall feel is in the air. I love summer but there's just something about Fall that I reallllly love. I love the cooler days, apple picking and baking and cooking and and and. I could go on and on.

I can't believe it's Design Team time again! I've been so inspired by our current ladies. Each month I get excited to see how they outdid themselves from the month prior. I'm going to miss seeing their work. But... I'm also excited to see some NEW designers! So here's all the details... read on and then send in your work! I'd love to see it. :)

Say It With Letters is looking for 5-7 new design team members who are talented, motivated, and versatile! We design custom cut letters and need your talent to show them off in creative ways.

We will be accepting applications through Sunday, October 3rd. Winners will be e-mailed directly and we'll make a formal announcement on or before Wednesday, October 6th. The position will begin with an October project (you'll receive your letters or shapes shortly after you accept the position) and will continue for six months. After the six month period, the position may continue on a month to month basis, if agreed upon by both parties.

Needed:

. Submit 3-4 altered projects that show off your personal style (1 scrapbook layout or card is acceptable). Photos should be clear and no larger than 500x500 pixels. They do not need to be created especially for us but they should be something recent that shows your current style. Using our products is a plus! Send pictures to deb@sayitwithletters.com with a subject line of "DT Submission - your name" no later than Sunday, October 3rd at midnight and include the following:

. Name, mailing address, phone number and e-mail address (Sorry, we are only accepting US residents at this time due to costs and timely submissions).

. Link to your blog

. Link to your online galleries (include your screen name) that currently show your work

. Link to design teams you are currently on (prior DT experience not necessary)

. Just a little background about yourself, your scrapping style and why you're interested in a DT position with SIWL

DT Requirements:

. Complete 1 to 2 altered projects a month using any medium you want or have at home! [NOTE: We will not be sending papers and embellishments for you to alter our shapes and letters so you have the freedom to create with whatever inspires you!]

. Maintain a regular presence on the SIWL blog.

. SIWL does not have a message board, so we rely on our design team to promote SIWL through your blog and other message boards and forums you visit.

. You agree to release the rights of your designs to SIWL for display on the company blog, store and in company materials and publications.

. Promote SIWL whenever possible by posting your altered items on galleries, facebook, your blog, etc.

As a DT member of SIWL, you will receive:

. FREE product!! A free {word set} and/or shape (or shape set) each month to alter for the DT.

. 25% discount in our Etsy shop

. Featured in our monthly mailings and on our blog.

If you have any questions, please e-mail us at deb@sayitwithletters.com

Thank you and we look forward to seeing your work!

The Say It With Letters team
www.sayitwithletters.com
www.sayitwithletters.blogspot.com

Is this thing on?!

2010-08-24T12:13:00.005-04:00

Happy end of summer to you! We've sure had a good one. I've thought about my blog here several times and even attempted a post a few times, but life just got in the way. :) I'm sure you can each relate. We've had a wonderful summer and my kids are growing like weeds! Here's a few pics from the last few months. We had some blueberry picking fun last month and I baked two yummy blueberry pies from it. Delish! I wanted to make some jam but think we ate so much and baked too much for that to happen. But we sure enjoyed it.

We had a nice weekend at the end of June for Max's baptism. Family came from Canada, Texas, Virginia and Delaware for this little boy. It was a really special day.

Max is just amazing!! I feel like I can enjoy things more this time around. I'm not a new Mom with two screaming babies. HA! No, it's all been awesome but Max is just SUCH a good baby. He's now 4 months old and laughs and giggles a lot. We just started putting him in his excersaucer. I think he really likes sitting up and being able to see everyone. And his brother and sister seem to be getting used to him and are a big help too.

Here's a few more pictures. Haven't they gotten so big?! Stevie and Bella are awesome too. Stevie's just started talking in the past few weeks (he's said a few words but not too much) but now the boy won't stop! I love it! :) So, all is good. My next post will be SIWL's related and we'll tell you about some new products and some other fun stuff too. Hope you're all doing well. xo

It's hard work being 6 days old!

2010-04-29T10:46:00.000-04:00

Baby Maxwell has arrived!

2010-04-24T08:37:00.002-04:00

Our family has grown by two feet!

We welcome with love,

Maxwell Christian
April 22, 2010 . 7:36am
8 lbs 15 oz . 22 inches

Everyone is happy and healthy!

More Design Team Shares - SEW Fabulous!!

2010-04-18T21:33:00.007-04:00

Hello there. I've been so busy doing all last minute things for Baby #3's arrival! :) I'm so ready at this point and anxious to meet the little guy. Think good thoughts for me please.

I'm SO excited to share these Design Team projects using our new SEW letters with the Chunky Monkey lettering style! This is Project 1 of the DT projects this month and I KNOW you're going to love them!! Kory's are SO adorable! She picked such pretty papers from Crate Paper and used actual sewing embellishments on the project. She sewed around the edges of the paper and used bobbins with coordinating thread and a zipper to decorate. Oh, and cute little PINK scissors with straight pins and flower buttons. This project is SOOOO cute!!

Aren't Laurie's so bright and cheery! She covered hers in fabric and used handmade floral embellishments and embroidery floss around the edges. SO fun!

And I'm thrilled to share Julie Ann's project that was just featured on the Bad Girl's blog. She used vintage notions from an antique store, vintage patters from a flea market and then added sewing themed scrapbooking embellishments and buttons. I LOVE the finished design! She also graciously provided a tutorial on creating these very cool letters yourself!

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. To make the letters, I traced the letters upside down on dark grey felt.

2. To make the rag quilt border, I cut a tiny slit in the fabric, and then tore the fabric into strips at the desired width. You can tell that my strips were quite slim, less than a half inch.

3. Then I cut the strips into 1.5" lengths.

4. I put the patterns in order - yellow, blue, multi, pink, yellow, blue, multi, pink, and so on, and so on, and attached the ends with fabric glue.

5. I then sewed this new border created in step #4 onto the edge of each letter.

6. I added vintage notions, vintage pattern designs, vintage measuring tape, buttons and chipboard thickers to each letter using either fabric glue or embroidery thread. I set this aside.

7. I made a ruffle from a vintage patter, and attached to the side of each MDF letter with adhesive.

8. I trimmed each ruffle with decorative scissors, scalloped pattern.

9. I attached the felt portion to the top of the letter with fabric glue. I repeated this for each letter.

Don't you love these letters??? All the vintage touches are perfect!

Thanks ladies for all your inspiration! You've outdone yourselves. Enjoy everyone. xxooo

Happy Spring and Woodland Collection :: Design Team Shares!

2010-04-12T20:31:00.009-04:00

Hello my dear blogging friends! These design team projects are long overdue and I decided I needed to get them posted before our latest projects are due OR before I have a baby. HA! :)

Happy Spring! Seems funny to say since today it was so chilly and we woke up to a bit of snow on the ground. But other than today, we've had some beautiful days here in New England. My kids love being outdoors. My Mom bought them a wagon for their birthday and I wasn't sure if they'd like it since they *love* running around, but everytime we go outside, Bella sees it and says "wagon" "go", "wagon" "go". They are too cute. They are now officially TWO! I almost can't believe how quickly the time went by.

But enough of my gabbing... I'm excited to share the Design Team projects featuring our butterfly shape, which was actually one of our first shapes we did and I still love it. You must look on to see what Rae did with hers - moss covered. Simply beautiful! And we also are featuring a *brand new* collection of shapes - The Woodland Collection. I love it so much!

This first Springy butterfly is by the lovely Laurie Star Griggs. It's so bright and cheery that I wish I had it hanging in my kitchen! She covered it in fabric and the posie embellishment can be found in her shop, TrinketsNH. Go take a peek. There's an adorable birdcage with a bird's nest inside. So cute!

This pretty pearly butterfly was done by Rachel Hope Baird. It uses some of my favorite papers and the accents of daisies and beautiful pearls gives it such a soft look. Very pretty.

And I have to say, this is SO much fun! Raechelle covered hers with moss. Don't you love it?? I love the branches she added and the glass beads and flowers. Gorgeous job Rae!!

And the Woodland Collection features a fun flower, a mushroom and our adorable snail shape. It was inspired by an outfit that Bella was wearing one day and I loved it! :) Kory covered hers with fabric and also used some batting to give it a 3-D effect. I love the rolled fabric on the snail and the cute little eye she added too. :) She created them for her daughter's playroom. Super cute!
Jennifer created a different look for each of her pieces. The snail hook is so clever. And very fun to come home to! And speaking of home... "no place like gnome". How cute is that?? And the flower is my favorite. But of course! She used pretty papers and Vintage glass glitter - my favorite!

And last, but definitely not least. The fabulous Julie Ann Shahin created an Alice in Wonderland collection with hers. I LOVE love love it!! The buttons on the snail are gorgeous, the felt mushroom so fun and the cute little Alice on the mushroom - the finishing touch, wouldn't you say?! And check out this flower - simply gorgeous!

Gorgeous job ladies! Thanks for visiting everyone. I'll keep you updated on when the new little guy arrives. :) xo

What's been going on....

2010-03-23T14:57:00.014-04:00

I know it's been far too long since I last posted. I've thought about it so many times, but honestly, I'm just pooped these days! My two little ones are keeping me busy during the day. And did I mention that I'm pregnant?? :) Actually.. I'm almost 36 weeks pregnant and this last trimester is kinda kickin' my butt. I used to use the kids naptime to get things done, but now I try to sleep. Most days I just rest because I can't stop thinking about all the things I could and should be doing. I'm sure you can relate. However, I'm also happy to have the time to relax because it's a long day if I'm not able to at least lay down for a bit. My father in law just said to me today - boy, this pregnancy must be so much easier than your last. And up until this last trimester I would have said a most definite YES! Not having to deal with bedrest is certainly a plus, however having to deal with twin toddler's keeps me hopping. :)

Speaking of.... I can hardly believe this, but they are almost TWO years old! I know - when did that happen?? Their birthday is next month (April 11th) but we are having their party this weekend since it's such a busy time with Easter and other family events. We are having a Sesame Street party (notice the little hand reaching for Elmo in this picture??) :) I made their invitations out of a cut out "2", of course. Each one is slightly different. I bought some die cuts from a great Etsy shop and some of them I used stickers that were sent to me by the sweet Kimmarie. When she had seen the kids were so into Sesame Street, she mailed some to me. I was so touched. I saved some to do a little birthday album too.

And here's my two cuties during a sweet moment. :) There are many of them, but they are typical siblings where they love to fight too. Bella's the talker of the two. Such a girl. Stevie will point to pictures in a book and she'll tell him what they are. :) They really are at such a fun age now.

Thanks for still checking in on me. I have some really incredible design team projects that I need to share so next week, hopefully I'll get those up.

I hope you're all enjoying your Spring! I'm so loving this warmer weather and seeing the sunshine beaming in through the windows.

simple Valentine crafting with my little girl

2010-02-01T20:22:00.004-05:00

Well, I'm glad to be feeling better. I had a bit of a stomach bug that knocked me for a loop for almost a week! The worst was probably about 3 days, but it's taken me a while to get back into the swing of things.

Thought I'd share a few pictures from a little Valentine crafting that my girl Bella and I shared. Stevie had no interest. :) It's a really simple project and took about 4-5 sheets of patterned paper.

First, I printed a template for the hearts on a sheet of cardstock. The template only printed two per page so I just cut out the cardstock and traced it on the back of the paper and got several hearts per sheet/paper. If you had a cricut or something fancy like that, it would have taken less time. We don't, but it really didn't take long to cut them out. Then I pierced two holes in the hearts evenly using my paper piercer and strung the hearts onto baker's twine alternating the paper to your liking. You could use ribbon or whatever you have at home. I hung them in the kitchen and also the kid's room. I hung them during their naptime and Stevie noticed them as soon as he walked into the kitchen. :) Bella now says "hearts" when she sees them. Quick and easy Valentine crafting that will surely bring a smile to your face when you see them.

I'm waiting for my hubby to get home and then we're watching 24. Have a good night.

Vintage Inspired Wooden Pull Toy Tutorial

2010-01-25T20:15:00.011-05:00

Hello my blogging friends! Since I've been in a nursery decorating mood, I thought I'd share this adorable project today.

Isn't this pull toy darling?? I was thrilled when I received an e-mail from Roeshel sharing what she created with our elephant shape. It's posted on a fabulous blog, the DIY Showoff which is filled with some really great projects.

Please note:: This project is for decorative purposes only. Wouldn't it be sweet up on a shelf or bookcase? And really, it's a pretty inexpensive project for the cuteness that it creates. :)

Materials:
Wood shape from Say it with Letters
Scrapbook papers
Wood filler
4 wooden toy wheels
2 - 2" screws
washers (she used 8 metal ones)
2 nuts
1 yd. decorative rope
2 wooden beads
spray paint
spray laquer
mod podge
tools: drill, 2 disposable craft paint brushes, xacto knife, or scissors

Trace the wooden shape onto the back side of the scrapbook paper.

Flip wooden shape and trace on the 2nd scrapbook paper.

Cut out paper shapes. Helpful hint - trim smaller than the actual tracing so it doesn't hang over the edges of the wooden shape.

This elephant is meant for a wall hanging and has keyholes in the back for hanging so I filled with wood filler and sanded. ** If you're buying a shape for this project, just ask us to cut it without keyholes. :)

I used a pencil to mark where the wheels would go so that my husband could drill holes for the axles. (She used a mechanical pencil with the lead out more than normal)

Next, spray paint the elephant and his wheels. I used a satin oil-rubbed bronze color. My new favorite color of spray paint! A rich dark, chocolate brown with bronze/gold flecks.

I almost wanted to leave him like this:

But then I remembered my pretty scrapbook papers (I love pretty papers!) So, I used a brush to apply Mod Podge to one side of the elephant...

And the back side of the paper...

And applied the paper to the glue-side of the elephant. Slide it around a little until it's perfectly in place.

Smooth out with a dry towel. I used a wooden skewer to poke through the paper where the drilled holes were and rotated it around a little.

Let dry.

Once dry, repeat the same steps with the other side and let it dry.

Next I used coordinating paper to cut out the elephant ears. Apply Mod Podge to the back side and put in place. Smooth out with a dry towel.

Repeat on the other side.

Once everything is completely dry, I took a clean brush a applied Mod Podge to one side to seal everything up. I use circular motions for texture. Let it dry again.

It dries clear.

Then repeat on the other side.

I then took it outside and sprayed a coat of stain lacquer finish. Once dry, I flipped and repeated.

I used a piece of decorative rope and threaded it through the cut out for the eye for the pull string. I tied knots and used beads. I also used thread and super glue to make sure everything was secure and didn't make the string too long. Again - this is a decorative accessory, not a toy.

This is also hard to explain/photograph. Hopefully you can figure out a way that works best for you or revert to finished pictures.

Once that was done - I was ready to apply the wheels, which I bought at Michael's (1 1/2" wooden toy wheels). Mr. DIY and I made a trip to the hardware store for bolts, washers, and nuts to use as axels. We spent a great deal of time trying to figure out the best way. A dowel rod would also work since it's only for decorative purposes.

And here he is... all done!

It's a lot of steps, but it's so easy! I think it'll be a perfect hand-crafted (with love) keepsake gift.

I think it's absolutely adorable Roeshel! I'm so glad you sent it to me!

Hope you enjoy the tutorial. xo

"A mother holds her children's hands for awhile, but their heart's forever." Unknown

Peachy-Keen LOVE!

2010-01-21T06:51:00.001-05:00

Hello my blogging friends. We got dumped with a bunch more snow this week. Oh my. I can't believe what a snowy winter we've had! The kids are so fascinated with the snow and climb up on the couch to peek out the window to get a look outside.

I have one more design team project so share. I really love the simple and sweet design to Rachel's scalloped heart. I love the outline with the buttons and the swirl and flower are super sweet. She says she's going to add a name to the inner part of the heart depending on who she gives it to. I love that idea!

She also coordinated the hanging ornament with the papers she used on the scalloped heart. Don't you love the touches of bling?? You can visit Rachel's blog for details on the products she used as well as more detailed photos of her project.

And I had someone post a question regarding one of the design team projects. (Bee, I hope you're reading).

She asked what Rachel used to make her letters glossy. Here's Rachel's response:

They LOOK glossy, but really it's Decoupage Gel to attach the paper, which dries Matte, and then I highlighted the flowers and a few details of the pattern with Stardust Stickles after the decoupage Gel dried.

Hope that helps Bee. Thanks for writing.

Have a wonderful day everyone! xo