It's been about a year since I last posted a blog. I've been very busy studying as a nursing student and I'm happy to say I've graduated! I will sit for the boards very soon, and I'm so very excited to get back to my creative side.

My mother's birthday is coming up, so I figured this would be a great opportunity to come back to my creative side and make her a birthday card. I absolutely love making greeting cards; being able to pull in each persons individuality and make it truly special. Since my mother loves green, I decided I wanted to incorporate that color. I had some watercolor paints lying around that I never used, because I've always felt incapable of painting. But I have to say this card came out looking quite nice. Just goes to show what can happen when you step out of your comfort zone and challenge yourself.

Start off by taping down the watercolor paper. This will make things easier when you apply water. The water will cause the paper to warp, so having it taped down keeps it flat and easy to work with.

After your watercolor paper is taped down, go ahead and apply some water to the paper with your paint brush. Mix some water with the paint color of your choice. Note: that the less water you use, the darker the color and the more water you use the lighter the color. I find keeping the paints well mixed with water gives better results, but that's just my preference.

Since my mother's favorite color is green, I used two types of green, some blue and yellow. I honestly had no idea what I was doing at this point, I just made sure to have fun in the process and not get frustrated if what I envisioned in my head was not being translated on paper.

After I put down some color and got the affect that I was looking for, I went ahead and used my heat tool to dry it down. This is important especially for the next step. After it was dry, I went ahead and stamped, "Happy Birthday" and used embossing powder. If you don't dry completely, the embossing powder could stick in places you don't want.

 Use your heat tool to set the embossing powder. It's going to end up looking like this:

Next the fun really begins. I wanted to add some sparkle to this card, so I used this iridescent confetti and star glitter that I picked up at Michael's Craft Store.

 I went ahead and applied the confetti to areas of the card where I felt needed some sprucing up. I used Aleene's Tacky Glue to accomplish this. I put down some glue, and then just sprinkled the confetti on top. Using my fingers I set the confetti in place.

Next I applied the star glitter. I used a dotting tool with a little bit of glue on the end to help pick up the tiny stars. I just placed them all across my work.

When that was completed, I went ahead and got some green glitter card stock and cut it down to size to fit the front of a card. I placed some 3D adhesives to the back of my work and placed that on top of the card. This is the end result!

I just love this card so much. I think it looks magical! And I know my mother is going to love it just as much as I do. I'll be sure to list the supplies that I used down below. I also made a video tutorial on how I made this card. Please go ahead and check it out and subscribe to my youtube channel if you haven't :) See you in my next video!!

Check out my video:

S U P P L I E S 
*Reeves 24-Pack Water Color Paint Set: http://amzn.to/2jOFktf
*Aleene’s Quicky Dry Tacky Glue: http://amzn.to/2iwGk4b
*Watercolor Paint Brushes: http://amzn.to/2jn2Pgu
*DCWV Glitter Cardstock 12 X 12” (closest I could find): http://amzn.to/2jVkgW7
*Tsukineko VersaMark Dazzle Pigment Inkpad, Frost-Clear Shimmer: http://amzn.to/2j0V0cC
*Pop Dots Square Dual-Adhesives: http://amzn.to/2jOO7uW
*Scotch Blue Painters Tape: http://amzn.to/2jQS8Py
*Creatology Confetti Glitter at Michael’s Craft Store (could not find link)
*Detail Embossing Powder by Recollections (White): http://www.michaels.com/detail-embossing-powder-by-recollections-signature/M10263090.html?dwvar_M10263090_color=Silver#q=recollection+embossing+powder&start=8
*Recollections Signature Glitter Caddy, Metallic Shapes: http://www.michaels.com/recollections-signature-glitter-caddy-metallic-shapes/10403790.html#q=recollections+glitter+caddy&start=1

DIY | Polymer Clay Heart Earrings :: Gifts for Her

Many years back I got into making jewelry, anything from beads to polymer clay. In keeping with my holiday spirit and celebrating Valentine's Day (over a month early hehe), I decided to make these super cute polymer clay heart earrings with a touch of pearl. You can watch the video here. 

Supplies:

• Polymer clay
• Heart shaped mini metal cutter
• Gesso (unless you have colored polymer clay)
• Acrylic paint (unless you have colored polymer clay)
• Sculpey Gloss Glaze
• Glossy Accents
• Flat back pearls of various sizes
• Stainless steel earring posts
• Hot glue

I should mention, and maybe this will be a tip for others, that the polymer clay I had was from several years back. Needless to say it was kind of dry. I ended up putting the piece of polymer clay I wanted to work with in a ziplock bag, and then I placed that bag into a bowl of hot water and let it sit for about 30 minutes. It softened up the clay enough to work with!

Roll out your clay!

Next I took the heart shaped metal cutter and cut out a couple of hearts. As you can see it was a little off on the lower right side, so I just took my X-acto knife to even it out a bit. 

Then I popped these girls in the oven at 275° F for 15 minutes.

Before I painted, I hot glued the stainless steel posts to the hearts. 

I first applied Gesso as a base, and then 2 layers of paint. Again if you have colored clay, you can skip this part. I'm just too frugal to go out and buy colored clay. hehe.

This is my favorite product, Sculpey gloss glaze. I applied 2 layers of this as well, waiting 30mins between each layer. This glaze is just amazing. It adds a beautiful glaze and it fills in any imperfections. 

And I don't know what happened with the lighting, so forgive me, but lastly I applied these flat back pearls. I used Glossy Accents to bond the pearls to the hearts. 

And there you have it! Cute heart earrings. You can switch up the colors and the bling. 

DIY | Valentine Bookmarks!

First of all, I love a good book. I would love to receive some cute handmade bookmarks. These Valentine's themed bookmarks are super cute for the book lovers in your life! And it's really easy to make. Here I show a video tutorial on how to make one of these bookmarks, but I have faith you will be able to go off on your own and use your own creativity to make some originals. You just need some inspiration.

Pink Heart with Pearls Bookmark

Supplies:

• Markers or colored pencils
• Ribbon
• Card stock
• Flat back pearls
• Corner punch

Directions:

Cut out a piece of card stock 4 x 5.5". Then at the 2" mark, score the paper to make a fold. 

I used a Cuttlebug embossing folder to make this heart. If you don't have a Cuttlebug or this particular embossing folder, you can always just free hand this heart or any heart of your choice. 

A little bit of Aleene's Tacky Line Runner will close up this bookmark.

Then you want to round out the corners (if you want to :))

I then colored in the heart with my Copic markers; colors RV02 and RV04. Any marker or colored        pencil will do. 

I decided to accent the embossed dots and placed some flat back pearls. I used Glossy Accents to adhere the pearls to the bookmark. Totally optional. Some may not want too much bulk to their bookmarks. 

Lastly you just want to punch a hole at the top and add some ribbon!

Purple and Pink Rose Heart Bookmark

Supplies:

• Markers or colored pencils
• Ribbon
• Card stock
• Heart Stickers
• Corner Punch

Directions:

This one is even simpler. I just used some cardstock, used the same measurements, corner punch, Copic marker BV08, and added some purple ribbon at the end.

I was trying to stamp the word "Love" on the bookmark. Unfortunately the "E" was offset. So it didn't come out as I wanted. Instead of wasting the bookmark, I decided to color in with a purple heart. I then used this sticker heart in the center.

And there you have it!! A few bookmark ideas to get you started for that loved one on Valentine's day, or any day of the year!! Can't go wrong with a bookmark!

DIY | Valentine Heart Tree

As a continuation to my DIY Valentine Mason Jars, I have added a video on how to make a Valentine Heart Tree. Very simple and cost close to nothing. Most items bought at the Dollar Store and the branches were found right outside in my backyard! Click here to watch the video!

Supplies:

• Branches
• Liquitex Gesso
• Sculpey Gloss Glaze
• Eva Stickers; 100 hearts from the Dollar Store
• Elmer's School Glue
• Studio g extra fine glitter; pack of three - from AC Moore
• Sew Easy baker's twine from Michael's Craft Store

DIY | Valentine Mason Jars

Valentine's is just around the corner and because I've been in such high holiday spirits I thought why stop after Christmas and New Years? So I have gone on to decorate for Valentine's Day. 

 Now the hubby and I don't particularly celebrate Valentine's day, in fact it's unlikely that we will even exchange gifts on this day, but that doesn't mean you can't decorate for the occasion. 

 I will have a series of videos coming out within the next month catered to all those who love to celebrate love.

This particular video is part of a two part series actually. This first one will go through the steps to decorating a few mason jars to make them into a vase or candle holders. You can watch that video here. Most of the supplies I used to make this are either from the Dollar Store or I had laying around the house. 

Supplies: 

• Liquitex acrylic paint; Basics line; in colors Light Portrait Pink and Quinacridone Magenta
• Floral Garden Lace Ribbon (heart ribbon had no specific name except "ribbon") - both from the Dollar Store
• Mason Jars
• Studio g extra fine glitter; pack of three - from AC Moore
• Sculpey Gloss Glaze
• Eva Stickers; 100 hearts from the Dollar Store
• Elmer's School Glue
• Studio g extra fine glitter; pack of three - from AC Moore

Stay tuned for part two in which I go through how to make a Valentine's heart tree to go along with the mason jar. 

Happy New Year!

I can't believe it's already 2016. I remember when it was 1999. I was 14 years old and for some not so bright reason my mother decided it would be a great idea to go food shopping on New Years eve. Yeah, that didn't go over too well. We were in the check-out line for well over an hour. Everyone was stocking up on batteries, gallons of water, and canned goods. Do you remember Y2K? Everyone thought the world was coming to an end. Luckily for us it didn't. But it seemed like just yesterday I was that 14-year-old girl wondering why the grocery store was so packed with people! 16 years later and so much has happened. Most of which I don't remember (I have the memory of a 90 year old, not because I'm a boozer).

2015 has been an amazing year for me. I got married to the love of my life, got accepted into the nursing program, and bought my first car! (yes at my age). And currently my husband and I are in the process of purchasing our very own house. I can't even imagine what will be in store for 2016. 

Cheers to 2016!

Hilarious | Student Nurse Catheter Story

If you're a nursing student reading this, or even a nurse, you know you've been there! I know I have. It was my first semester in nursing school when my clinical instructor asked me if I wanted to put in a catheter for a female patient. I thought, "I got this!" and enthusiastically agreed. I got straight A's in A&P and thought I knew the human body head-to-toe. Umm... no. Do you know where the female urethra is?! Luckily my instructor wasn't the one described in this video, but it still didn't stop the embarrassment I felt at that time.

Take a look at this video and enjoy the laugh. And if you are a nursing student currently, don't feel discouraged if this has or will happen to you - hopefully it won't.