Birthday wishes from afar

Sometimes living 1500 miles away from family is a little tough, like on Birthdays. The kids are a bit young to realize how hard it is on our hearts to not be around our family. Most of the time they miss their cousins and grandparents but I don't think they truly realize how hard it is on the birthdays of our loved ones, and how both James and I wish that we could be there to share in the moments.

It is one of the hardest parts of living in Colorado. Family. We miss our family a lot, and although we have built a life here in Colorado, it truly is never complete without family.

This year, I had an idea to send a special birthday wish to James's dad. Today is his birthday and well, I knew he would be at work today... I asked a special friend that works in his office to help with a birthday surprise.

ScanNCut Birthday Letters

One thing that I loved about ScanNCut is the ease of use and that my kids could use it. I know it seems like an expensive item to let kids use, but with supervision I have enjoyed allowing my kids explore their creative sides and being able to create art along side with them.

Because of ScanNCut's built in 300 DPI Scanner and ease of use, this birthday project was super easy and took just a few minutes for the kids to create.

To Begin I had the kids each write a little note from the heart.

Next, they loaded their messages onto the low tack mat and into the machine.

 Hit Scan.

 Scan to USB.

 And Start.

 And that's it...

ScanNCut saved the images as JPG's to my USB. I then used the computer to crop them down and sent them to my friend at my father in laws office to print and leave on his desk through out the day...

The kids and their creations :)

 And of course this lead to a mini photo shoot.... Here you will see the kids posing "normal"

 And here, well posing like models...

 And here... like gorillas...

 And here... like our daughter is their boss...

It only took a few minutes to create this fun birthday wish. I love having these moments with the kids and pray that it stays with their hearts as their grow up and have their own families.

Of course.. we can't have a birthday post without wishing a BIG HICKS BIRTHDAY to the big guy himself...

Happy Birthday Jay! Thank you for being an amazing father and grandfather to our family... You are a wonderful example to us all. We are so very blessed and fortunate to have you in our lives. We love you and hope that you have a wonderful day!

So although we are far away, I am grateful for technology, our fun little family and sneaky friends who are always up for the challenge to help (Thanks Lisa!).

I hope this inspires you to give a little shout out to your loved ones today, and maybe use ScanNCut too!

~Liz ♥

The Wishing tree...

With the new year rounding the corner, I thought it might be fun to take a tutorial that I did for Brother International and give it a different twist. I created a glittering Christmas tree for the holidays using a beautiful assortment of glittered cardstocks and my ScanNCut. I created this tree with my family and used a few other sizes and let the kids make their own trees for the holidays.

With what has been happening in our lives lately, I thought it might be nice to allow this tree to act as a yearly reminder to our family of where our hearts are at the end of each year. So instead of this being the Glittering Christmas Tree that I thought I would share on my blog... this is going to serve as our families Wishing Tree.

We spent the holidays with our family in California this year. Due to my Grandmothers diagnosis we planned a quick impromptu trip to visit our families and see her one last time. It was hard. Hard on all of us as we knew that as we said good bye, this was most likely the last time that we get to see her. As hard as it was, there still was some peace in our family that she would not be in pain for much longer.

After returning home, I got to thinking of our kids and how hard this must be on them seeing not only their great grandmother ill, but also seeing their grandmother and mother saddened. I didn't want this to haunt their holiday so I got the idea to take this Christmas tree and give it a new purpose.

The Wishing Tree

 This tree is decorated with thumb tacks that have designs glued to them. These tacks press nicely into the tree form and allow you to post pictures and cards to your tree.

I thought it would be nice to have the kids take some time and write down wishes and add them to the tree. We can store the tree through the year and when we bring it out the next holiday season, the wishes will be there as a reminder of where their hearts were the year previously. This is a wonderful way for children to see themselves grow and for parents to see growth in character through the years. Have your children date their wishes and you can keep adding to your tree each year.

    

For full directions of this project click here.


I hope this gives you an idea of a fun family craft that can be created easily during the holiday break and perhaps start a new family tradition in your household. It is never to late or to bleak to share hope with your children, I am excited for my kids to open up their wishes next year and see how much they have grown.

Thanks for the great year, wishing you and your family the best this New Year!


~Liz Hicks and Family ♥

Handmade Holidays hoppin' GIVEAWAY

With Halloween done, I am excited to get into the holiday season. When I was younger, Thanksgiving was always a time that my family would drive into Los Angeles to see my grandparents. MY mother's family would all gather together, and I would have a chance to see them all and catch up with my cousins. I have fond memories of spending Thanksgiving night with my grandfather passing out our leftovers families less fortunate than ours and that maybe didn't have a whole lot of family in the area to celebrate with. I can still remember the grateful happy faces each year as we brought our meager offerings that meant so much to these families.

What I love about Thanksgiving is the beautiful memories that I have of my family spending time together. It fills my heart each year. This year we will not be able to go home for the holidays so we will be on our own for Thanksgiving in Colorado. Although it does make me a bit sad, my hope is that I can help to create new memories for our family and make the best of it. Nothing beats family, but even just a little family of five getting together is enough to be thankful for.

This year I am making custom name tags for the five of us. It isn't much but it will help to give our kids a little something personal to have on their seat when we sit down for dinner.

 Leather and Wood ScanNCut holiday Place cards

supplies: ScanNCut electronic cutting machine by Brother International (TM) , Wood veneer paper by Splash of Color, Cardstock by Die Cuts with a View, Leather (found at local craft store) button from Little Yellow Bicycle, Ink from Clearsnap ink and stamps are Liz Hicks artisan designs for Unity Stamp Co.

For this project I started off with a few simple items. I had a left over leather flower that I had cut out with my ScanNCut by Brother International (TM) so I knew I wanted to add it in some how.

I picked colors of cardstock and a wood veneer paper to create a warm color concept with some text.

 

 First start by cutting 5x5 squares out of your base cardstock. For your next piece (the wood veneer paper) cut it 1/2 inch smaller than half of your card (so when the card is folded, cut your second piece a 1/2 inch small then the front of your folded card)

Proceed to adhere your wood veneer paper to our card.

Next, take your off white paper and cut it 1/2 in smaller than your wood veneer paper. Use your favorite stamp to add accents to your white on the right side. For this project I used my licensed  stamps set from Unity Stamp Co.

Next take some foam squares and crafty power tape and put your name card together.

 Here is the card blank, You can add names and stitching if you'd like to make it more decorative.

I have added my name to this one... I think I will make a different one for each of us based on what we all like, or it might even be fun to have a member of the family decorate each others...  overall the basis of the name cards is to have something special at your dinner and to provide some family fun time.

Here is a bit of detail of the leather I cut in my ScanNCut. I used my deep blade at a 12 setting and cut it twice to make sure it cut all the way through. Now this may be to deep for your settings, so always make sure that you start low and and work your way up.

So here is a list of the other blogs that are participating in today's hop but I want to make sure that you head on over to Denise Hahn's blog as she is next on the list from here... Check out her AMAZING work here: Denise Hahn- http://inmyblueroom.blogspot.com/

And if you want to pop around to the other participants here you go!

November 3:

Clearsnap http://blog.clearsnap.com

Craft Attitude  http://www.jonathanfongstyle.com/blog/

Smoothfoam http://www.smoothfoam.com/blog/

Donna Salazar Designs  http://donnasalazardesigns.blogspot.com/

Walnut Hollow http://walnuthollowcrafts.wordpress.com/

100 Proof Press http://www.100proofpress.com/_blog/Blog

Graphic45 http://g45papers.typepad.com/

ICE Resin http://iceresin.com/icequeen/

Stampendous http://stampendousblog.wordpress.com/

Sizzix – Eileen Hull Designs http://eileenhull.blogspot.com/

Jamie Dougherty http://www.jamiedoughertydesigns.com/#!blogger-feed/c12za

Nathalie Kalbach www.nathaliesstudio.com

Jen Goode http://www.100directions.com/

Kathy Cano-Murillo http://www.craftychica.com/site/

Tanner Bell   http://www.craftteen.com

Jennifer Priest http://hydrangeahippo.com

Jen Cushman http://jencushman.wordpress.com/

Adrienne Ford http://bry-and-i.blogspot.com/

Joanne Fink http://www.zenspirations.com/home/

Vicki O'Dell http://vickiodell.com/

Liz Hicks http://blogerisms.blogspot.com/   (YOU ARE HERE, Yay!)

Denise Hahn http://inmyblueroom.blogspot.com/

Courtney Chambers http://www.alittlecraftinyourday.com

Tami Mayberry http://tamimayberry.blogspot.com/

Norma Rapko http://normarapko.blogspot.com/

I love this time of year and that I get to work with some amazing designers... It really starts to feel like the holidays when you can get together with friends and feel festive in a fun and crafty way. It is a warm welcome to some family time and I love it so much ♥

I hope this project encourages you to take even just a quick minute to create a custom and personal feel to your holiday... there are so many ways to do this, I would love to hear what you are planning.

Thanks for stopping my today!

xoxo,

Liz Hicks

Creative DIY- Fall Edition

So I have joined forces with some of my creative friends to bring you some Halloween/Fall Inspiration. Today I want to share with you a custom tote I made for my daughter to collect her candy in this Halloween.

The nice thing about this tote is that it can be used year round, but also has a bit of the seasons flair.

 

Supplies: Tote (local craft store), Fabric Paint (I love to Create), Pens (Sakura of America Permapaque), Stamps ( Liz Hicks studios for Unity Stamp Company), Ink (Clearsnap Ink), embroidery machine and cutting machine (Brother International), Fabric (Unknown, from Joann Fabric)

This project was so much fun... I had a blast creating this, using color, texture and adding some stamped detail for that "handmade" flair ♥

I used my Innovis 950-D by Brother and a darning foot to create some free motion stitching through out my bag. I love having the freedom to stitch as I please :) What I love about this machine is that it has all of the features of a sewing machine and embroidery machine, but not the heavy price tag of the upper end embroidery machines... I can have fun and not worry to much about the expense.

I added some text with a Sakura Permapaque paint pen... as well as some creative free motion stitched flowers colored in with Crafters Ink by Clearsnap Inc. (flowers and heart).

I used my ScanNCut machine to create the starts out of jersey knit and seasonal silver faux leather.

 

And last but not least... here is a shot of the stamps I designed and are sold through Unity Stamp Co. You can see them here.

So you can see how adding some different elements make for a fun tote that is good for all year around, but also artsy... My daughter loves it and already has big plans for her new tote.
Note: all paints and materials are washable with the exception of the Sakura Pen, it is water soluble and will wash out. I recommend using the pen to create your text and then going over it with the Clearsnap Crafters Inks for permanency. The pen has a great tip to create beautiful script and the inks will make it permanent :)

If you like this, thank you will love what me and my family share here on the blog as well as my other social media sites... I encourage you to take advantage of the giveaway below and maybe check out some of the other ways we share some artsy family fun ♥

Click your favorite social media site below to follow ♥

And to add to the fun, we have a second chance giveaway on a prize that wasn't claimed on our Facebook Page a few weeks back...

Take advantage of the options below to be entered into a random drawing for this prize package.


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thanks so much  for stopping by today!


Happy Creating ♥

~Liz Hicks (and Family, aka crew)

Fall is in the AIR... (Family Fun Time)

 So being from California, I am still getting use to the fact that I now live in a state that offers a true Fall/Autumn season. Although this year may be a short Fall, it is still gorgeous to see the trees turn colors, the mountain sides glow with different trees and the crisp sweet air that only fall can bring.

This weekend we have a chance of snow, yup you heard me SNOW. So in order to truly share what I have loved about our fall so far I thought I would write it in a post. We do get snow here early, but non the less.. until the last leaves fall it will still be Fall to me.

Fall brings the start of school, and well all that school offers. This year our kids are involved in a lot of activities which keep us super busy in the afternoons. Our daughter is in Soccer, Running Club and will begin Girl Scouts soon. Our middle son just finished his summer schedule of little league and is involved in Running Club as well as the TV broadcasting program at school. Our eldest is in Band and WAVE (aerospace enrichment program).

Soccer... this is our daughters favorite. I love that she is now feeling that confidence of playing and recognizing what to do.

This shot was from last weeks game. I just love how the beautiful colors of Colorado show through on this pic (no filter or edit).

 

In the Fall we also prepare for Halloween and costume parties. We love dressing up and although we don't participate in the goriness of the holiday, we still have fun dressing up and having fun with friends. Our daughter is using my old costume from a few years back and is going to be a flower witch.

 Fall also ushers in the baking season for our family. We love cooking and being that we watch our budget, we try and come up with health recipes that the whole family loves. This last week me and my daughter made an Apple Crumble.

It is a family favorite and tradition...well as long as daddy doesn't eat it all :)

Fall brings in a whole new vibe for our family. It is almost like a new year as we re-prioritize our lives, begin new traditions and prepare for the cooler months to come. Fall is such an amazing time of year. I can't help but love everything about it. (Especially the fashion and being able to wear boots and coats again!).

Here is a gorgeous picture of some crumbles we made for friends a few years back... it is a yummy and super easy recipe.

For the recipe check out my blog post here. Liz Hicks Apple Crumble Recipe

I would LOVE to hear about your family and Fall... Leave a comment and let me know any recipes or traditions that your family share this time of year.

Thanks!

~Liz ♥