Sisterly Love Card Co

Out of the blogging world...

2008-11-01T07:18:00.000-07:00

I have been out of the blogging world for quite sometime!! My family has been sick for the past two weeks, just passing colds, coughs, fevers to each other. No Fun!!

Well, today I had it all planned. We were going to launch our new site (new name and all) and do a giveaway. But, because of my sickness, that has kinda set me back! I am really excited about the new site, that I am just going to post about it anyways and the giveaway will be on Monday...with new things in the shop as well! Awesome new things in the shop!!

Introducing...

Crafting in Laymon's Terms

Go check it out! So from now on...all of our posts, crafting ideas, tutorials, and everything else will be posted on the new site. Hope you like it :)

My new found love with scrapbooking!

2008-10-20T10:03:00.000-07:00

I have discovered DIGITAL scrapbooking!! I know it has been around for awhile now, but I have just recently started using it and I love it. I have made some cute pages, cards, calendars, and blog layouts so far. I think it is fun to create these things using all the cute digital scrapbooking kits, papers, and embellishments. Fun! I thought I would share some awesome digital scrapbooking sites that I have found:

Scrapblog

Free Digital Scrapbooking

Shabby Princess

The "Kreative Karma"

DigiFree

Digital Scrapbook Place

I know there are other great sites, but I haven't found them yet!

Awesome Giveaway on SITS

2008-10-18T09:33:00.000-07:00

How cute is this Tot Tote?! Visit SITS (The Secret is in the Sauce) site and find out how you could enter to win one!!

Recycled Capri Sun Items

2008-10-17T17:41:00.000-07:00

I thought this was a great idea. My daughter went to a b-day party last weekend and everything was "green" for all of the people trying to recycle. They gave these out as goody bags.
They have some great ideas. and products. www.terracycle.net

I also found this great link to Skip to MyLou's website where she does a tutorial on how to make them.http://www.skiptomylou.org/2008/08/13/a-recycled-pencil-bag-for-the-first-day-of-school/

Coming soon!!

2008-10-07T22:15:00.000-07:00

I went to a baby shower tonight and I thought this monkey would be really cute to make and give as part of the gift. My favorite thing about this monkey is the face and the twisty tail! So cute! And...I am almost done making another one and it will be up in our etsy shop soon. I am so excited about this, because I love making these monkeys and they are so cute!!

I also made these Bakerella cupcakes to bring to the shower. Both of my little girls loved helping me make these. And they are yummy!!

Also...here is a little sneak peak of what is coming to our etsy shop soon!! So check back by the end of the week to see the whole picture :)

Chipboard Boxes

2008-10-04T16:45:00.000-07:00

Another great idea for a quick and easy gift or to give away. I did these boxes up for my 5 yr old daughter's birthday party. Instead of favor bags, I did these boxes. She is having a Disney themed gymnastics party so I ended up mod modging disney paper onto the 4 sides of the boxes and then the top. For the sides, I took stamp pads and stamped around them and then I added a bow to the Cinderella one, and paper to another one.

Mom-prenuer Shop-a-thon!!

2008-10-04T08:58:00.000-07:00

Laurie at Tip Junkie is amazing! She has started a Mom-prenuer Shop-a-thon to help support the hard working Mom-prenuers...including us :)

Click here to find out all the details about the shop-a-thon. And look for Sisterly Love Card Co's etsy shop too!!

Homemade Tortillas

2008-09-29T06:29:00.000-07:00

Today's post is about cooking not crafting. But, these homemade tortillas were really good so I thought I would share the recipe.

My sister and I made our own tortillas yesterday for our taco dinner. I was surprised that they are really easy to make and the best part...you can store all the extras in the freezer for a very long time. My kids and I love quesadillas and eat them every day, it's the only thing my picky eater will eat. So storing the left overs for a couple of months is really nice. But, the ones we made yesterday did not make it to the storing process, because we ate them all :)

Enjoy!

There are lots of recipes out there, but this is the one that we chose to use. Click here to see the recipe on Insta Spanish website. We did double this recipe and made 19 tortillas.

Ingredients:
3 cups of flour
1/2 a cup of shortening (Crisco)
1 tablespoon of baking powder
1/2 tablespoon of salt (salt to taste)
1 to 1 1/2 cups of hot water

Cooking Tools:
medium sized mixing bowl
rolling pin
measuring cups
measuring spoons
cutting board or flat surface to roll tortillas on
skillet or grill

In a mixing bowl combine all of the dry ingredients. Then add the shortening & knead it into these dry ingredients. Slowly add the hot water (we added a couple of tablespoons at a time, kneaded it, added some more tablespoons of water, etc) and continue to knead slowly until it forms a dough like consistency. Make sure not to add too much water - as this will result in your dough being too sticky. If your dough begins to get too sticky, just add a little more flour.

Let the dough stand for about 1/2 hour. (I kneaded the dough a few times before I rolled them into little balls). Then you can make little balls of dough. These little balls of dough should be about about 2 to 3 inches in diameter.

(we had 19 balls rolled out, I just took the picture too late!)

Then you take the balls and roll them into tortilla like shapes with your rolling pin. (they probably won't be circle, they are going to be an odd shape). Roll the tortilla so it is about 1/8th inch thick...or very thin.

Once you get the desired size, put them 1 at a time into your skillet and cook over a medium flame. Cook the tortilla on each side for about 30 seconds.

You can use a spatula or your fingers to flip the tortilla over once it looks done. You'll know when they are overcooked, becase they will begin to burn!

Gently roll the rolling pin over the tortilla while it's on the grill (we did not do this step and ours cooked evenly). And that's it!

Ta Da! Our tortillas!

We used this site to help us know how to knead the dough and roll out the tortillas. It was helpful for us!

Wow!!

2008-09-25T07:42:00.000-07:00

First it is a wonderful day because it is my BIRTHDAY!!

And then I found out that we are featured on Tip Junkie today for Teach Me Thursday. How awesome. Go look at all the great features that are on the Teach Me Thursday today :)

Etsy Shop

2008-09-24T21:25:00.001-07:00

New products in our Etsy Shop. Click here to check it out!! Here is some of the new items.

Tutorial Tuesday

2008-09-23T06:51:00.000-07:00

Shirt-Dress:

When I am making dresses for my little girls, I do not enjoy making the sleeves. So I thought that I would try something a little different. I took one of my daughters plain t-shirts and turned it into a dress (it's all she wears!!)

First get a plain t-shirt, and cut it a few inches below the sleeves. You can cut it wherever you want depending on where you want the skirt part of the dress to start.

Then go measure your little one and cut out the skirt part. It's going to be longer then a normal skirt since it is attached to the shirt near the chest area. And remember to leave some length for the hem. (Cut 2 pieces, one for the front and one for the back)

I don't have a picture of this, but....turn the shirt inside out and cut along the side seams (very carefully) about 1 3/4 inches (you can see the cut in the picture below).

Then put right sides of the shirt and fabric together and pin the skirt along the cut edge of the shirt. I found it easier to pin both of the sides first and then pin the middle.

Then sew along the edge.

I sewed along the edge twice.

Then cut the extra fabric off, but be careful not to cut the stitching off.

Repeat the above steps for the back of the shirt too.

Then pin the sides and sew.

Last step - Hem the bottom of the dress.

Ta Da....a shirt turned into a dress! It was really easy to do this and my daughter loves it.

(I hope my tutorial makes sense, you can always ask questions if you don't understand something :) )

widget

2008-09-17T17:47:00.001-07:00

Tutorial Tuesday

2008-09-16T07:55:00.000-07:00

This weeks Tutorial is about Candle decorating. It is so easy to do and they make great gifts.

You need a pillar candle, alcohol, and rub-ons. Put some alcohol on a papertowel and rub it on the candle to clean the sides. This just helps things stick to it better. After you let it dry a minute or two, then you are ready to go. Take you rub-ons and put them on the candle and you are finished.

I decided to do flowers on the bottom and then some indiviual flowers all around it. I cut around each flower that was going to rub-on to make sure that nothing extra would rub-on as that happens sometimes.

New product in Etsy Shop!!

2008-09-14T19:21:00.000-07:00

It's here!! Scrapblock set for sale in our etsy shop. I am so excited about this, because I really like these scrapblocks. They are so cute. Go check it out

Letters and Shadow Box Picture Frame

2008-09-12T09:39:00.000-07:00

I just finished making these letters for my daughter. The wooden letters were only a $1 at Michaels...awesome! I love how they turned out. I think I am going to attach some cute ribbon to the back and hang them on her wall.

I had this shadow box picture frame laying around forever so I decided to try and do something cute with it. I saw the little clothespins at Michaels and had to buy them. They were cheap and so cute! First I drilled two holes on both sides of the frame for the ribbon to go through. Then I painted it blue and put some cute paper on the back. And hung my girls cute pictures with the clothespins. Cute!!

Busy, Busy, Busy!!

2008-09-10T16:44:00.000-07:00

I am so behind on my blogging!! I have just been so busy with school (taking two classes this semester), my girls, and with crafting. I have some great projects that I am finishing up. I am so excited to post them so stay tuned. By the end of the week, hopefully, I will get my new sewing and crafting projects posted :)

In the meantime, check out this awesome giveaway! Two words...CIRCUT EXPRESSIONS!
Click here to go visit the SITSa at The Secret is in the Sauce and find out all the details about the giveaway.

Party Favor help

2008-09-08T19:40:00.000-07:00

Okay all you creative people, I need your help. My youngest daughter will be turning 5 next month and is having a gymnastics party. There will be both boys and girls at her party. Her theme is Minnie Mouse, but she let me change it slightly to include all Disney characters, since everything is so cute. I think we are inviting 15 kids.

Now for the problem, I would really like to come up with at least 1 really cutesy craft idea that is easy, and cheap, to make to give away with goody bags, or instead of goody bags.

I feel like I am getting the same things like tattoos, pencils, make-up stuff. Things like that, which is fine and I know kids love that stuff, but I would love to come up with somthing to kind of help my sister and I get our name out there, with people like WOW! What a great idea.

Decoupage Picture Frames

2008-09-05T07:28:00.000-07:00

These are a couple of picture frames that I made. I love them!! You can also see them in our etsy shop.

Freezer Paper Stencils

2008-09-04T08:33:00.001-07:00

This post goes along with one that Katie posted a tutorial for a little bit ago about the great idea we saw about Freezer Paper Stenciling. I did attempt it this morning and made a t-shirt for my daughter. Here is how it turned out.

I am big on the Cricut and I use it a lot for my projects since it makes lettering and other shapes so easy to do. I used it to make a stencil of the Gymnast word. I also used acylic paint for both designs and then put sparkly blue fabic paint over the words. So they are actually a slightly darker blue than the girl.

Mini Notecards

2008-09-03T05:25:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to share a card the I made. It is a 3x3 size card and I used my Cricut to cut out the flowers. It is a perfect size just to do something quick and simple, yet still look nice.

Blog Trip - Day 2

2008-09-02T12:41:00.000-07:00

Join the Blog Trip!! If you haven't heard about the Blog Trip and want to join us click here for details.

Day two of the blog trip...Welcome to Tucson, AZ and Cape Carteret, NC!!

How Much is Gas?

Katie in Tucson, AZ - I just filled up my gas tank for $3.44/gallon. The price of gas went down a couple of weeks ago in my area from 3.85/gallon. Its so sad, because I thought 3.44/gallon was so cheap!

Amanda in Cape Carteret, NC - The current gas prices here are 3.69/gallon. Maybe I should move to Tucson with Katie. She has the lower gas prices :)

Tutorial Tuesday

2008-09-02T09:28:00.000-07:00

Button Shirt to Toddler Dress

Click here to view this great tutorial on how to turn a mens button shirt into a toddler dress. It is super cute and easy. This is the dress that I made out of one of my husband's shirts that he doesn't wear anymore. My daughter, the picky dresser, likes her new dress and hasn't changed into a different outfit yet so that is a good sign :)

I couldn't decide which picture of the dress I should post so I put both of them on here.

Look at that morning sun shining in!

This next dress isn't much of a tutorial, I just wanted to show it to you! I bought a dress on the clearance rack at Target and thought to myself This looks easy to make. So I had to buy this cute dress so I could have a pattern to look at.

Dress from Target

My version of the dress

Back of dress

She refused to stand up and show off her pretty new dress so this is all I got!

Scrapblocks

2008-08-29T15:25:00.000-07:00

I call these SCRAPBLOCKS...

(Probably should have turned the blocks around before I took the picture, so the letters were going the same way)

I finally finished making my scrapblocks. I love them! I saw these in someone's house and attempted to make them myself and it worked. I tried to find a tutorial online on how to make these and I couldn't really find what I was looking for. So I wanted to share with you how to make them if you wanted to. The following is an attempted tutorial.

First, I went and bought a 4x4 from Lowes. Then my husband cut the wood into blocks for me.

Then the sanding began. I tried to sand them by hand, but that made my hand sore and took a long time. So I went and bought a sander. I have to say that I love power tools. The sander was awesome and made the sanding so much easier.

After I sanded the blocks, I wiped off each block so they were clean and there was no more sand dust on them.

Then the fun started! I measured different papers to each side of the block and measured my pictures out. Added embellishments. I used mod podge to glue the papers down and then I put another coat of mod podge over the paper, so it is more durable. I put a letter on each block that spells out "family" when the blocks are all stacked together.

Overall, this is a cute project and I enjoyed making them.

Vanilla Joy Craft Giveaway

2008-08-27T14:01:00.001-07:00

Vanilla Joy is having an awesome craft giveaway. Click here to go check it out!

Holiday Cards

2008-08-27T07:16:00.000-07:00

This is about the time that I start thinking about the holiday cards that I will be making and sending out to all of my friends and family. I like to start it early so I am done with it by the time the holidays start (it doesn't always go that way though...) Check out some of these christmas cards that I have made. I am trying to decide which one I would like to make for my christmas cards. What do you do for holiday cards? Do you order photo cards online, buy cards, or make your own?

Tutorial Tuesday

2008-08-26T07:30:00.000-07:00

Freezer Paper Stencils

I saw these freezer paper stencils on Grace Violet yesterday and she has a link to the tutorial here.

Yeah, the tutorial today is not from me, but I love this idea. It is super cute and easy! At least it looks easy - I have to go buy my freezer paper today and try it out on my kids plain t-shirts.

Birthday Card Set

2008-08-25T22:17:00.000-07:00

We are still here!! Summer has ended and the school year has started. Check out our Etsy Shop to see the newly added Birthday Card Set. The set includes 5 birthday cards that are blank on the inside and envelopes for each card.

Sisters and Baby

2008-08-13T19:40:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to share some new photo mats that I did for some gifts. They are so easy to do and so nice. I just purchased a cricut machine and I am LOVING it. It makes cutting out lettering and flowers so easy and quick. I am still new to it and just playing around. I can't wait to go out and buy some new cartridges.

Twilight Bookmark

2008-08-13T16:37:00.000-07:00

For all of those Edward and Bella fans out there, I made this really cute bookmark. I should have made it a little bit more narrow but I think it still turned out cute and so easy to make.

Another dress

2008-07-30T08:22:00.002-07:00

I just finished this dress for my other little girl. She saw the dress I made for her sister and wanted one. And this is what I came up with for it.

What we are all about!

2008-07-27T17:16:00.001-07:00

I realized that we started this blog, but didn't even introduce ourselves. So I wanted to tell you a little about ourselves and what we are about.

My name is Katie and I am new to the blogging world. My sister-in-law actually started my personal family blog for me. I didn't think I would really get into that much, but I love blogging now. I make sure to take pictures all the time so I can post them on my personal blog. My husband and kids are starting to get use to me bringing out the camera all the time. I live in warm Arizona where my husband is a firefighter. I have two wonderful girls that have loads of energy and always keep me going.

My sister's name is Mandy and she is also new to the blogging world. I got her hooked on it! Mandy is currently living in North Carolina. Her husband is a marine and she has also has two wonderful girls. Mandy is always on the go with her family.

We both really enjoy scrapbooking, making handmade cards, and creating new things. My sister and I would really like to open up our own scrapbooking and craft store. We would love people to come and scrapbook, do crafts, and make new friends while in our store. Well since my sister and I live on the opposite sides of the US, I don't think our store is going to happen any time soon. It is a nice thought though! Since we can't actually open up a real store, we did open up a shop on etsy.com. Go check it out! Our shop and blog are still being updated so please have some patience while we find the best layout that we like and put new products on our shop.

We started a blog so we can share the things that we love doing with you and make some new friends along the way. We hope to be able to inspire you and give you some new ideas like others did for us. So leave comments when you see something that you like and you can even subscribe to our blog to know when we post something new. (I do have to know if you are actually reading our blog!)

Thanks for checking out our new blog!

-Mandy and Katie

Crayon Roll-Up Cozy

2008-07-24T19:49:00.000-07:00

I got this cute idea from Kristen of Grace Violet. She has a great tutorial on there. I still have some work to do on my next ones but I felt okay with my first attempt. I also have not sewn on my sewing machine for awhile and am not too familiar with it anyway, so I need to get used to getting back into it.

Chore Chart

2008-07-24T19:41:00.000-07:00

When I was looking at Tip Junkie the other day, there was a post all about chore charts. INSPIRATION - my family could use a chore chart to help us stay organized. This is the chore chart that I made. Addi is very excited to stick the chores that she did in the finished pocket. And when she has five chores in the finished pocket, she gets a special treat. I am not sure what yet, but I will think of something. Cam is excited too, she just can't voice it yet :) Now let's see how long we actually use the chore chart!

Switch the days out depending on what day it is

I put everyone's name at the top and then put the different chores on with velcro

All the finished chores are put in the cute finished chore pockets

My Mod Podge Project

2008-07-24T19:31:00.000-07:00

I did my first Mod Podge attempt. I really loved working with it. I decided to make my daughter a wood plaque for her room. I put the mod podge all over the wood and then put the paper on top and the did a coating of mod podge on the top of that. I let it sit a dry for about 30 min and then put stickers for the saying and gymnasts. Then I put another layer of mod podge and let it sit again for another 30 min until it dried glossy. I was happy for my 1st result.

Picture Frame

2008-07-23T18:46:00.000-07:00

Since I bought the wonderful Mod Podge, I had to try it out. I think I have about four projects started...

I bought a plain wooden picture frame from Michaels for a dollar, I do like spending just a dollar!! Then I measured the cardstock for the frame and cut it out. I did use different colored cardstock and then sewed the pieces together with a zigzag stitch. I got that idea from the Grace Violet site.

After that I applied Mod Podge to the frame and put the paper on. Then I did another coat of Mod Podge over the paper.

Then I had to add my own little touches with ribbon and buttons, because I love adding ribbons and buttons to everything!

This is my first attempt at a tutorial so if it didn't make sense, I am so sorry :)

Mod Podge

2008-07-23T18:37:00.000-07:00

I discovered Mod Podge and I am now addicted!! I first heard about Mod Podge from Kristin at Grace Violet. She is always using this stuff for a lot of her crafts. And she does have the cutest ideas that always come out so cute!! So I decided to try it out. And it is awesome!! Kristin had a great post on her site about Mod Podge.

Photo Collages

2008-07-22T18:51:00.000-07:00

I love doing these for gifts. They are quick and look so nice and are different than just doing a simple page with pictures on it. Here are a bunch I have done. If you would like to see more, please check out our shop on etsy.com

Different Kinds of Mats

2008-07-22T18:07:00.001-07:00

I also get into craft moods and I start looking at stuff around my house thinking about what I can do with them. Last year I started decorating photo mats. I was getting bored of them all looking so white. I have done a couple of for birthday gifts and baby gifts and they always seem to go over really well. Here are some I have completed. If you are interested in seeing more, please check out our shop on etsy.com

Crafty Craziness!

2008-07-21T11:15:00.000-07:00

So I have gone into this crafty craziness streak right now. I just want to make something everyday and it is so easy spending hours looking at all these great ideas on everyone else's blogs and sites.

So I had my husband cut these 4x4 squares out and I finished sanding them today. Stay tuned to see what comes of them. I am not quite sure how they will turn out!!

One tip for you: Don't sand in the kitchen, even if the sander has a dust catcher. Dust still gets over EVERYTHING!!!

I also have these two skirts that I am trying to do something with. I'll keep you posted on what happens with this project!! (I might be buying myself a new skirt after this sewing attempt)

Wedding Album

2008-07-19T14:45:00.001-07:00

Here is a wedding album I did last month that my Realtor hired me to do for his Anniversary. He surprised his wife and she loved it. Here are a few pics and then I will put the website if anyone is interested in checking out the rest. Please remember I love to do this and if interested please let me know.

http://picasaweb.google.com/mandyjane76/ChrisKollarWeddingAlbum

Disney Scrapbook

2008-07-18T19:46:00.000-07:00

I did this scrapbook for my girlfriend, who went on this vacation with us. It was a Disney Vacation and cruise. I used the Creative Memories Disney 12x12 Albums and pages. The elements and pages are from lots of different Disney things. I am putting up a few pictures of the album here and then the link if you want to view the rest. Scrapbooking is what I love to do and if you or anyone you know is interested in hiring me, please let me know.

http://picasaweb.google.com/mandyjane76/DisneyPhotoAlbum

Thank you card

2008-07-16T10:58:00.001-07:00

I haven't made any cards in a long time so since I actually had a spare moment this morning, I made this thank you card for someone.

First Post!!

2008-07-14T19:55:00.001-07:00

This is our first official post in the blogging world! Maybe we will start crafting soon and add other posts.