Handmade Gifts For Men

OK, so is it just me, or are the men in our lives really hard to find handmade gifts for?

It's obviously not creating the gift that's the problem, it's the endeavor of thinking/searching for something that we know the male recipient will like.

Be it for a birthday or your anniversary, it don't matter!

I can find hundreds of handmade gift ideas/tutorials for females – mothers, grandmothers, mothers-to-be, teenagers but for the male gender, that's a whole new ballgame!

Just the mere thought of handmade gifts for DH are giving me more grey hairs than I already have!! 

We all want to make something more original than a handmade CD, a jar with cookies, or a grilling apron. It needs to be more personalized...right?

In a previous post here, I said that hubby would rather have something handmade than bought. I love the thought of saving money for umm...maybe more crafting supplies! 

Since Tom drinks coffee(decaf)almost 24/7, this is what I finally came up with for his birthday. 
A paper mug filled with goodies! 


The mug tutorial is from Traci Cornelius ~ here.
Then I created a saucer to add a little more detail. 

The patterned paper is Tim Holtz French Industrial.
Hubby's name was cut out with Cricut Learning Curve via Cricut Craftroom

Tom also loves chocolate, so I wrapped some M&M's and Reese's Piece's with cellophane. The cellophane looks like it has pink in it, but it is actually all gold in color.

Here's his birthday card I created 

The faux tree bark/wood grain was created with my homemade texture paste combined with acrylic paint onto The Crafters Workshop Wood Grain 6x6 template. 

XOXO.... is Hero Arts Everyday Sayings clear stamps putting black enamel flat backs on the O's.

Well, that is it. Till the next time I need to make a handmade gift for the males in my life, then I will do it all over again..search and think and search!

Question....are you ever in the same boat?


TTFN and Happy Crafting!

aka The Rebel Blogger

Once Upon A Time

Another Mother's Day has come and gone without my mother and the bittersweet longing has not become any easier. 

I haven't heard her voice in 8 years. 

We spoke to each other almost everyday. What I wouldn't give to hear her voice, calling me on the phone just to chat.

Like many motherless daughters, I talk to my mom occasionally, just not the way people with living moms do.
I call on her in difficult times and ask her to be with me.

There are still occasions, all these years later, when I think -for just a split second- "I need to tell mom that."

I sometimes think I smell her White Shoulders perfume.

I was truly lucky to have a great mom, she was my best friend.


Mothers who have passed on deserve as much recognition on Mother's Day as those who are living. 

For many of us who have lost our mother, Mother's Day and in the days leading up to it can be difficult.
The bombarding of commercials and the card displays in stores are everywhere and is a glaring reminder of our loss.
To most though, it brings joyful memories of laughter and love.

For me, Mother's Day is still about my mom, and honoring her.
I try to visit her grave site once every couple of months. 
But every Mother's Day since her passing, I like to think I make it an extra special visit and carry along some Spic and Span and water to clean her gravestone.

Also on this Mother's Day I decided to go through some of mom's old photos and create a scrapbook layout of her.

I chose a photo of her holding me. 
She had the date May 1957 written on the back, which made me about 2 months old. 

By the looks of the photo, I was not a happy camper, taking a fit about getting my picture taken back then and still fuss about it today.....I haven't changed!!

I love the soft colors and vintage look of Cosmo Cricket's Evangeline collection.

The flowers were fussy cut and attached with pop dots to add dimension.

The 'corsage' is made of Prima Sugar Bloom Sparkling and Prima Coventry Rose Printery flowers. 

I added a leaf that I painted gold with hubby's can of spray paint. 

A delicate little string thing from my stash was intertwined (for the life of me I can not remember what it is called...it's not ribbon or lace or twine, oh my...my age is showing!!)

Mother's day is a special time to reflect what our mothers have done for us.
I hope we take that time to appreciate the sacrifices of our mothers, not just on Mother's Day but all year long.

TTFN!

Happy Crafting!

aka The Rebel Blogger

Encouragement for Beginning Scrapbooking

National Scrapbooking Day was May 3rd.

So I thought what better time than to encourage and enlighten those of you that are hesitant to begin scrapbooking.

I spent the day with hubby at the casino and horse races (it was his birthday gift from me!) so I missed all the action with the crafting community on the web.
Classes, giveaways, blog hops and all kinds of stuff was going on!

I started scrapbooking around (can't remember exactly!) 10 yrs ago.
The first scrapbook album I had ever seen was my sister's and was immediately hooked!
She had generously given me the basic supplies to start with. 
And that's how I began!

Wow, how simple it seemed back then!

{a brief thought} I should insert a photo of my very first layout here.....
naa, don't think so!!

Fast forward...to today!
The inspiration, techniques, and variety of supplies are so immense, that one even thinking about scrapbooking can feel strongly overwhelmed!
Do not fear!

When trying to figure out where to begin, scrapbooking can be as simple or as complex as you would like to make it.

Start out simple and in no time soon your inspiration and creative mojo will grow and grow, along with your supplies!!

Don't be intimidated by the seasoned pros on the Internet or magazines. You don't have to be a professional artist to scrapbook. I'm not!!

Don't feel bound to chronologically scrapbook your mounds of photos from way back when.
In no particular order, I will chose a photo or two that I especially like, it can be from years ago, then for the next layout I might chose a more recent photo.

There is no right or wrong way to document your precious memories.

Though I have not embarked on Project Life, it is a great format for beginners. It's a simple and straight forward memory keeping system that incorporates pockets for photos and journaling cards, without a lot of embellishments.
No glue, no fancy tools needed!!

You might benefit by purchasing a scrapbooking kit club available on the Internet.
They offer a collection of coordinated papers, embellishments, etc. that changes from month to month. Companies like cocoadaisy.com and studiocalico.com or clubsei.com are just some of the many clubs that offer great one of a kind kits.

I find oodles and oodles of inspiration online!

It's okay to scrap lift - getting layout ideas from others.

Do a Google search for 'scrapbooking sketches' for creative ideas from sketch images. A awesome place for tons of free sketches is pagemaps.com.

Check out sites and galleries, such as Pinterest, scrapbook.com, splitcoaststampers.com, and acherryontop.com.
Twopeasinabucket.com was my very first station for inspiration!

Search YouTube for great tutorials and ideas from crafters all around the world.

You don't have to scrapbook every single photo you take or own.
Let's say you want to make a layout or two from the many photos of last Christmas. Pick out just couple or so of your favorites and go from there.

Not comfortable with journaling–then don't! That's me! But I have not totally disregarded it yet!
Instead, incorporate a couple words or short phrases that pop in your head when you look at your photos that you have chosen to scrapbook.

Don't think you have to create the perfect page using the perfect supplies!
Handmade is not supposed to be perfect! And what exactly is the perfect embellishment ??

Embrace the imperfections, make it your own unique style, your own special memories.

Most of all, enjoy the process, without any guilt!

It's all about having fun!


TTFN and have a great week!

Happy Crafting!

aka The Rebel Blogger