VIDEO: One Embossing Folder, Five Ways!

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In this world where eggs are $9, I'm on a mission to stretch things! Especially complete luxuries like craft supplies. So I have some stretches for you today!

I feel like people think Valentines themed products can be limiting, but I disagree. The imagery of Valentine's day is all-year imagery - hearts and flowers. But this time of year, we see hearts and we think pink! So I'm taking a different approach to help you transition those fun Valentine purchases into more versatile cards.

The color theory in this first project is one you can apply to ANY layering stencil you have. I'm using this layering heart and flower stencil. All I did was choose two warms and two cools, as you'll see in the video. I also have a very fun and easy trick for lining up layering stencils. These stencils are clear, which I think is the easiest to use. 

I did all my stenciling on top of a card panel embossed with this 3D embossing folder - I think this would be great for St. Patrick's Day because it almost has a shamrock pattern. It's hard to see the pattern in this flat photo - but you'll see it better in the video. I used a sentiment set from this same release, and I separated that with ink blended circles I cut with infinity dies. I added these gems - matching the colors to where they are on the card.

I have to say - using 3D folders is dramatically easier with the universal platform/plates. I struggled SO hard with shims and all sorts of nonsense that came with my machine whenever I tried to use them. Every since Vic on Splitcoast suggested this and I bought it my life is infinitely easier!

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This next card actually is one of FOUR looks you can get with exactly the same process! It's so fun! I used this gold paint, my gel plate, and the same 3D embossing folder and sentiment. All I had to add was a little gold glitter paper to have a really elegant card (plus three more you'll see in the video!)

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Here's the video! Come back for CAKE!

So I made this INCREDIBLE coconut cake this week my friend Bev found on TikTok. As a matter of fact I had a piece with some Earl Greyer this cold morning and it was a DELIGHT. You need to read my notes though.

I realized with this and the tomato bisque recipe I posted yesterday that I've probably exceeded my recommended daily allowance of coconut this week. Sorry not sorry!

I hope you have a great weekend! Loveyameanitbye.

Walter Mitty Inspired - The Bunny Who Wasn't There

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I'm bringing you an absent bunny today, a la Walter Mitty and his secret life. It's the cutest absent bunny though, so I made a quick video (no voiceover) of how it came together. 

This little bunny, the stencil and two little shaker covers are part of the bite sized Sneak Peek option that I think is so cute! You get a snack version of each new release before everyone else. This is a new concept to me and I like it because it's perfect for creating without feeling overwhelmed by where to start with lots of things. 

I also like that there's a color inspiration photo - which I used basically as is to create my card. Sometimes I just want to follow instructions after coming up with my own ideas for videos and cards every week!

Anyway, I find this format charming, so I thought I'd share just some time taken for me to create via the short video below.

I did use a sentiment from an older bunny/Easter set to finish it because I've always loved that sentiment. I created the frame with a simple A2 layers die and popped up the frame with foam tape. 

I hope you enjoy it and have a great rest of your week! I made my favorite tomato bisque this week, and added some notes if you have a little bit of winter left and could use a yummy warm meal.

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Loveyameanitbye.

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Crafty Rewind: Spellbinders Clubs Inspiration Hop + Giveaway

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Is it just me, or is this a long week? I fought that a bit today by doing some meal prep that should last me through early next week + some freezer meals. That helps! A lot, actually. I made my favorite Cuban Picadillo - OMG it's so good, taco meat for easy meals, and roasted sweet potatoes and prepped veggies for salads. If you've never had roasted sweet potato in a salad you need to try it! I'll be using that copycat Chipotle vinaigrette I posted - it's so good I could drink it!

Today I'm rewinding to this months' Spellbinders stitching die club with an inspiration hop and giveaway. Lots of amazing people on this hop, so if you are a club member, prepare to be amazed! Some of this month's clubs are sold out - but you can subscribe any time for future clubs. They are always A+, in my opinion. 

I felt like the bold die for this month's stitching club was crying out for elegant red, white and gold. I used my mirror gold duct tape to cut the greeting - it's so much shinier than foil cardstock. I love these skinny dies and have practically worn them out. 

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Please note, the Large Die, Stitching Die, and 3D Embossing Folder of the Month Clubs are sold out. You will be able to join these Clubs next month, in February. Be sure to join, and don't miss out on our new designs.

  

Giveaway:
To celebrate this release, they are giving away a $25 gift certificate to 3 lucky blog readers – selected from the comments on my blog and blogs on the hop. Giveaway closes on Sunday, January 22nd, 11:59 pm MST. The winner will be announced in this blog hop post the following Wednesday. The winner is responsible for shipping costs, duties, and taxes.

  

Please note, store credit (gift certificate) cannot be applied to Club Subscriptions. Store credit can be applied to shop past Club products, Club extras and regular releases.

Spellbinders Blog
Sandi MacIver
Bibi Cameron
Annie Williams
Lisa Mears
Jennifer Kotas
Jean Manis
Cindy-Lynn Taylor
Linh Van
Mindy Eggen
Michelle Woerner
Jill Hilliard
Lin Brandyberry
Lisa Tilson
Allison Frazier
Joy Wilson
Michelle Short
Hussena Calcuttawala
Jumi Baek
Bonnie Crane
Virginia Lu
Ilina Crouse
💙💙💙 Lydia Fiedler 💙💙💙
Deborah Jenkins
Alanna Moses
Inge Groot
Delois Mirisha Dean
Jess Gerstner
Larissa Heskett
Teri Duncan
Jeanne Jachna
Sara Lihz Staroska
Sheri Gilson
Nandita Garg

Have fun hopping! Loveyameanitbye.

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Southwest Dreams + Two New Classes!

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Y'all KNOW I love the southwest, so I'm super excited about today's card, and I even created two new classes using these beautiful pottery dies. 

For this card, I used two of the terracotta pot dies. These are layering dies, so on the pot on the left, I just used the back layer, not the top layer! I zentangled it with some patterns out of a Navajo art book I have. 

The pot on the right - I used both layers - you can see the top layer has debossed detailing - how I achieved the look on that - well, you'll have to wait for Friday's video for that! (mean, I know).

The backdrop is a torn brayer cleaning sheet from gel printing, and this grey gingham paper. 

Southwestern themed art is pretty much my favorite, as that's mostly the art in my environment. I love the spare quality of it.

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Here's a little peek at the art you'll be creating in my new classes! I'm using my signature move - corners, and elevating them to a more arty look with simple tools and techniques. I hope you join me!

I'll be back Friday with a new video for these dies. 

Loveyameanitbye.

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VIDEO: Colored Cardstock with Colored Pencils

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Happy Monday! I tried not one, not two but THREE new recipes this weekend! My friend Candy YEARS ago shared her recipe for sauerkraut balls with me and I just never got around to making them until this weekend.

I used vegan cream cheese in mine, and I maybe should have squeezed the sauerkraut or added more breadcrumbs because mine would not form balls, so I made little patties and holy HECK were they amazing! I ate three of them! I have three leftover, so breakfast it is!

I was super excited to use a new toy - an Italian made grease splatter guard - sauerkraut has a lot of water, so it will pop - be careful! I found this somewhat obscure site by searching for a few USA made utensils I needed. I'm really short only one kitchen tool - a ceramic vegetable peeler after finally finding an Italian made cookie scoop on Ebay. My kitchen is 100% free from anything made in China, which is harder than it sounds, but worth it. 

Next, I fell victim to a viral TikTok sensation, notably from a trusted foodie I follow - Soogia - revolving around something I've never tried at Chipotle - their steak quesadilla with a supposedly magical vinaigrette. Soogia finally had enough and tried it and raved about it, which was good enough for me - AND it's a pantry recipe, which I love in these expensive food times.

First, I marinated flank steak in a copycat recipe for Chipotle's steak they use in the quesadilla. Easy marinade, and again, stuff I already had. 

Then I made the vinaigrette - I like the combo of the marinade and vinaigrette because they both use something you NEVER need a whole can of - Chipotle in Adobo. I froze the unused portion. THE VINAIGRETTE IS TO DIE FOR. I can imagine many salads/veggies with this. YUM.

I can't have cheese, so I'll just be having fajita tacos with the vinaigrette and I cannot wait - still a few hours away as I write this, so I'm low and slow caramelizing onions. Honestly - even when I could eat cheese, I never liked it on fajitas. Really not on most meat aside from a cheeseburger. My fave quesadillas were plain or with veggies. I'll never understand people who eat cheese on chicken, for example. I know, I'm weird.

So enough about food - let's craft! Today I'm using these ADORABLE little gnomes - I used all of them in the set, this rainbow mini-slimline die and some gems for this scene - with a little time saving tip you'll see in the video for colored pencil coloring! I used these ultra blendy pencils - and you'll see how fast it was to color! I put a little gem on each hat. 

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Gnomeo & Juliet [ CRF ] Holbein Artists' Colored Pencils -... [ BLIC ] Over the Rainbow [ CRF ] Cupid's Heart [ CRF ]

The video will show you how quick and easy it is, and be sure and click "Show More" in the video description for a giveaway and more inspiration!

Have you tried any new recipes lately? Let me know in the comments!

Loveyameanitbye.

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VIDEO: Sculptural Florals + Coloring Hacks

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It's SPECTACULAR weather here right now. Clear, sunny, DRY and cool. My favorite. What people who don't live in Central Texas don't understand is that there are only like four days per year where you can open your windows and let fresh air run through the house. The rest of the year is off limits. 

So I took full advantage of that this weekend - I loved hearing the birds singing all throughout the house during the day - it's normally completely silent, as we have to seal our houses against the hot air. 

Since we had a polar vortex that killed all our plants (I think we are entering an ice age), I'm extra excited to have gotten to make botanicals that make my eyes happy, so that's what I'm bringing you today. 

First up - a stunning, sculptural Bird of Paradise die. This is one of my favorite flowers in the world, and whenever I find art pieces with one, I get it. 

If you took my Decobrush class, you'll recognize how I painted these using the Decobrush markers - they are so bright and vibrant, and the opacity makes them very much like acrylic or oil paints in the finished projects. I love the way these look. They remain so saturated and bright - just makes my eyes happy!

You can see all my classes here - I have two new ones coming later in the month on creating fine art style backgrounds for dies, so stay tuned for that. 

I used these dies to create a black frame the flowers could pop in and out of, and this thanks die. Tip on the frames die - I leave them attached to the packaging and run them through my machine with black and white cardstock a few times before ever using the dies individually. They are perfectly aligned at the factory, so you can get perfect frames without taping! Then I just pop them in my die pocket for later. To make this card I just grabbed one of the black ones!

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This next card is kind of a good news, bad news situation. The good news is, this stunning die is what I'm using to show you an amazing coloring hack with OLO markers. The bad news is - the beautiful botanical 3D embossing folder I used is sold out. However, you can subscribe to get one each month - it's one of my fave subscriptions. There's a non 3D subscription as well. That's what I used to make these handmade quick journals in this post/video.

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Despite how dramatic these are, they are VERY easy to create! Just wait until you see this hack, which I learned from the die designer herself! Genius. Here's the video.

How's your garden? I'm being visited by lots of tiny birds right now. They are perching in my frozen plants and torturing Splotchy. Maddie doesn't really care - she's not much of a hunter. She just sleeps on her heating pad and waits for me to bring her food like a queen.

Speaking of queen - check out the new podcast about Elizabeth Taylor - it's called Elizabeth the First - I really enjoyed the first episode.

In shows, I'm loving Wednesday, Death in the Dorms, and McDonald & Dodds. 

Hope you have a great week! Loveyameanitbye!

VIDEO: 3D Illusions + Giveaway

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I have an unhealthy obsession with matchboxes as craft supplies. Just search matchbox on my blog sidebar and you will see. 

So the theme of this month's Hero Arts kit is right up my alley. It's a valentine themed kit, but it has both a 2D matchbox that looks 3D in the kit AND a 3D matchbox die in the kit!

The dies are phenomenal - my fave is this little match - arsonists - look away! It's SO cute! I colored it with OLO Markers and combined it with the matchbox die and the stripey stencil for this adorable little gift box. THINK of all the things you can do with a match die. I of course have some very twisted ideas I'll do later, but today I behaved and made Valentines!

Also in the kit is the following - SO cute - especially the happy mail and gummy bear! LOVE the little postage die too - you will be seeing that  in my future.

Among the add-ons is a sweet varied heart background. I wanted to see if I could turn the solid hearts into outlines with a dendritic effect like I get on a gel plate. So I started with a brayer cleaning sheet, since it was coated with non-porous acrylic paint, which really helps with the dendritic effect. 

White pigment ink behaves like paint, so I heavily inked up the stamp in Unicorn ink and stamped it several times on the background. Because the paint is non-porous, when the inked stamp is lifted, it leaves little voids in the center of the solid hearts, creating little outlines!

And lookie - the sentiments have dies! I used the tiny heart die from the kit with this green glitter paper for contrast.

Here's yesterday's sneak peek from yesterday with this pink glitter paper. Look how real it looks!

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Now do you want to see something fun to do with matchboxes? Check out this tutorial I did ELEVEN YEARS AGO OMG. I am old. Pardon the strange video size - this was prior to HD and it's formatted for television for when I had a TV show on a local channel :)

Here are all the add-ons this month, including the 3D matchbox.

Want more inspiration?

Check out the full list of blogs starting HERE.

Loveyameanitbye.

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A Summer in Maine (The Coldest Birthday)

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I spent the coldest birthday ever in Friendship, Maine. I lived there the summer after college, and worked at a little store in Camden on the water. Camden was a TINY town, but it was a foodie town, sporting the best bakery I've ever encountered, a phenomenal lobster roll shack I ate lunch at daily, and a little stand that sold HOT chocolate chip cookies and coffee right across the dock from where I worked. It was idyllic, truly.

But it was COLD. Not a fun cold either. A wet cold. Yes, it's true, some places don't have what we think of as summer. Maine is one of those places. 

The wildlife, as usual, was my focus when I was there - seeking out all the critters - the little crabs in the water, clams on the beaches (I use that word loosely - it was cold, wet rocks), and the spectacular birds. So many neat birds I had never seen before. My favorite, however, were the colorful, and LOUD puffins and loons. They were both sort of nonchalant birds, that didn't spook easily, and hung out on the rocks, undisturbed by me and my daily walk before work where I looked for rocks and shells.

Speaking of rocks - the rocky beaches meant mucho beautiful rocks. There was an artist there that I would LOVE to find again - he did these incredibly realistic, photographic looking watercolor and ink paintings of beach rocks. I thought I had bought one, but in many moves, it is lost now and even though I've searched for his name, he was popular before the internet, and so I haven't had any luck. Any of you Mainers out there who know what I'm talking about, please let me know his name! I'd love to buy a print. 

Anyway, today, I'm tickled to find a puffin stamp! These are birds that are so cute they almost don't look real - even in real life!

This little guy is sized just right to color - I colored him with OLO markers and added a strip of a cool turquoise gel print behind him to make the red pop. I cut him out with the matching dies, and the embellishments are these. I love them so much! They were a gift from my friend MaryAnn.

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Crazy that we are almost halfway through January, right? Are you doing any New Year's habits? I don't really do resolutions, but I am trying to just do a little very minimal daily journaling. Just the weather, tracking my water intake, meals, anything noteworthy - jotting it down.

This is what I use my planner for - not planning, more like a diary. I spoke about how I organize my work tasks in this post - this works so much better for me.

FYI - I've closed my PO Box, so please delete that address if you have it saved. 

Loveyameanitbye.

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Never run out of matches!

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I learned something in the past few years about matches, that I'm going to pass on to you. I learned this the hard way after buying thirty billion matchboxes for a matchbox gift project that was all the rage back in the teens.

I figured - hey - matches are useful right? - as I emptied them into a ziploc, put them on a shelf and forgot about them.

Then, during winter storm Uri, I needed to light candles, so I smugly congratulated myself on having ample matches, thanks to crafting. I grabbed one, struck it, and... nothing. Grabbed another one, struck it - nothing. Lather, rinse, repeat. They were all completely useless. 

Matches expire. It's just a fact. I don't make the rules.

You know what doesn't expire? Craft supplies. So there!

Today I'm bringing you a cute sneak peek of tomorrow's Hero Kit, which has a love theme. LOTS of dies, which I have to keep under wraps for now, BUT, this amazing 2D matchbox die that looks like it's 3D is in the kit and it's SO realistic looking! There's a little pullout and these cute LOVE dies. I used a gel print for the box, and this glitter paper.

Come back tomorrow for the full reveal and more cards and (redacted). Here's a link to ALL the sneak peeks so you can see what's coming.

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I have a REALLY good salad recipe for you today from one of my fave blogs - Cookie & Kate. It's a peanut / veggie / soba salad and it's amazing. Five stars.

My recipe notes are here. 

Loveyameanitbye.

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VIDEO: Handmade Quick Journals with Large Embossing Folders

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How was your New Year's? With the exception of some close by neighbors who apparently are in charge of the fireworks display at the Olympics, ours was quiet, like I like it. 

I even made a completely original blackeyed pea dish that I LOVE SO MUCH - and I HATE blackeyed peas. The secret is to remove the evil spirits, by soaking your rinsed and drained BEPs in boiling hot water (off stove) with 1 TBS. baking soda! It's AMAZING the difference this makes. 

Then I concocted a cooked dish with chickpeas and jalapenos and spices that was TO DIE FOR. I was astonished that I loved it because I can detect a blackeyed pea funk at 1 part per billion and it just wasn't there after the baking soda evil spirit removal! I will definitely be making it again. I think I took good notes too!

I have a new video for you today on a SUPER simple handmade journal using this gorgeous large embossing folder, vinyl paint, Dina Wakley paint and a journal stapler. It's so easy it's nearly criminal. 

This is such a fun gift that looks fancy but it's not, or you can just keep it yourself for your car notes, true crime notes or your list of grievances!

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Here's the video - wait until you see how easy this is:

EF of the month [ SPL ] Booklet stapler [ AMZUS ] Gold Wax [ HA ] Cheddar acrylic [ ACH ] Fluorescent Pink Vinyl Paint [ BLIC ] Silicone Spatula [ AMZUS ] Ranger Archival Ink Pad - Sepia [ BLIC ] Rotatrim Professional Cutter - 18' Cut [ BLIC ]

Do you have a New Year's traditional food or ritual? I'd love to hear about it. Loveyameanitbye.

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Is there ANYTHING Duct Tape Can't Do? + 2022 Life in Review & New Year's Wishes

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Happy New Year! Now begins the period of time when we all start crossing out 22 a hundred times on checks and documents. I guess a year long habit is hard to break! Do you have your 2023 calendar out?

Before my cards today, I thought I'd give you a list of tiny, mundane things that made my 2022 better that you might enjoy in 2023. None of these are craft related. Some are recipes. Some are hacks. Some are extremely useful, if not overly exciting, tools. But I liked them, so you might too. I'll put a visual list below too, in the order that I mention them in.

Tips & Tricks:

• I LOVE America's Test Kitchen - it's full of great instruction and you don't need to be a chef to find their tips useful. My favorite subset of their recipes is What's Eating Dan? And within What's Eating Dan, I REALLY love his series on eggs, which starts here.
• This is dumb, and I may be the last person to realize it, but consolidating layers in lasagne actually makes it taste better. I used to do the classic - a bit of sauce in the bottom, then no-boil noodles, ricotta (I use Kite Hill vegan ricotta - it's really good - they also have a whipped ricotta I have not tried), meat or veggies, cheese, sauce, repeat. But last time, I cooked the ground beef and then simmered that in the sauce and combined those layers. I swear it was better tasting, and it saved a dish and a step! PS if you can't have dairy, there's only one vegan melting cheese I use and it's Miyoko's liquid mozzarella, which you can get on Instacart, or your local natural food store. It's amazing. Everything else is weird. My fave marinara right now if I don't make my own is this Sacla sauce with whole cherry tomatoes. It's delicious - imported from Italy. 
• To do lists: I've converted to a combo analog/digital task list and it's really worked for me this year. For all recurring tasks, I use the Due app. It's a BILLION times better than any native apps, easier to set recurrence intervals, dismissing is easy - you name it. So this is ALL my work tasks, house tasks, bills, anything that needs to be done on a schedule. The analog part I switched to this year because a planner doesn't work for me. Most of my work is task based. So I got this nifty holder on Etsy for index cards, with a stand for the one you're working on. Each week I put my MUST DO tasks for work, videos etc. on a card in the pop up holder and color code them with highlighters - red, yellow and green. Yellow and green are less urgent for the week. When I'm done with one side, just flip it over for the next week. When both sides are full, I toss those into my index card art pile for gel printing over, etc. So it's also zero waste. Then I just use my planner for journaling/daily notes etc. Since the index card holds the card in a vertical orientation, I use the cards that are lined for that orientation, not the traditional horizontal ones. 

Hacks (today's cards have a hack too):

• My fave recipe this year was Maangchi's bulgogi and ssamjang. Her cookbook is life changing. Thank you to my sweet friend Yoo-Rah for introducing me to this recipe. Because I love to eat it so often, I came up with some hacks. When filet is on sale, I buy a bunch, shave it, and freeze it in one pound portions. I also double the ssamjang every time I make it and freeze it - it freezes great!
• Sprouting green onions - you may already do this, but whenever I buy green onions, I stick the root part in water - the onions continue to grow and you get twice the life out of every bunch. 
• Making potholders - I love to make potholders for friends when I watch TV. I use this loom, and it's metal. Instead of stretching out a loop to hold all the sides on when finishing, I use use a MISTI bar magnet! It works great! I love the monthly box of loops and patterns from Acorn & Twigs. 
• Cleaning brayers/brushes/tools - the one soap to rule them all is Dr. Bronner's peppermint. I fill a bin with water and a few squirts of soap, and soak them. The paint will bubble up off the rubber and be really easy to remove. 
• Get a dull-ish knife and never peel finicky garlic cloves again with this hack. The people in the group where I found this said a sharp knife cuts the cloves instead of pulling them out cleanly. 

Tools & Gadgets:

• TikTok yielded some amazing tools this year. I HATE all my chip clips, binder clips etc. for all the different chip/cracker/cereal bags. Then Soogia (who also posts amazing recipes), showed this incredibly easy bag closer thing that actually closes the WHOLE bag, not just the center part, so everything actually stays fresh. 
• Also from Soogia - this amazing Japanese sesame seed grater I now cannot live without. I use this when I make the bulgogi above.
• This angled long reach stapler for making simple handmade quick journals. Coming soon to a video near you! :) If you want to see the embossing folder I will use in that video, you can do that here. 
• Wifi plugs. These let us set timers for lights, the Christmas tree - anything you can plug in. 
• Temperature sensors for our freezer/fridges. This saved our BUTTS this year when our GFCI went bad - because our freezer happened to be on that circuit and we didn't know it. You get an alert if the temperature drops. If you have kids who leave the fridge open, this is a necessity. A friend of mine went out of town with her fridge open - it was open for a week! We've been jittery since Uri, so being able to know when something goes wrong is important. 
• We also got water sensors at the same time, and nearly immediately, our kitchen faucet leaked, so that saved us HUNDREDS of dollars in cabinet / molding damage. We happened to be away that day and got the alert and came back. Worth every penny. They are now under the sinks, one by the fridge (a friend's ice maker flooded her house a few years ago) and by the washer. 
• Tomato clips - I had an elaborate system for propping up my leggy sungolds so they don't break every year, and this year we found these amazing clips! You suspend some twine from above the plant, and close the twine in the hinge, then clip them closed around the stem. So gentle and scalable! And you reuse them! I wasted so much time with drinking straws! LOL. Just be sure to use a good outdoor twine - the twine that came with them was not good. 

Pet stuff:

• I found the nicest man in the world this year looking for things for Clarence and the babies to chew on and get calcium from this year. His name is Kevin Lee. He cuts up gathered shed antler that people send him from the mainland - he's in Hawaii - and makes these little nibble sticks my squirrels LOVE. It's really important that they wear down their ever growing teeth, and if you use these, they also give them calcium. He's such a sweet, kind man and has given me little samples if there are any squirrel lovers in my audience - I'm happy to mail you some. Squirrels can be paralyzed by eating foods that are high in phosphorous - peanuts, for example - they dramatically leach calcium from their bones. So feed peanuts very sparingly. Other foods are way better and you can read the list of good/bad foods here. 
• Heated cat beds - STOP LAUGHING. I bought these two days into winter storm Uri, not knowing we were about to be without power and water for six days. Since then, they've been much beloved my kittiots. They are a flat heating pad (very low heat) with a removable washable cover - you just leave them plugged in. They absolutely love these things. They come in different sizes for different pets. Really good for older pets with arthritis, or just spoiled brats like mine. 

Okay enough of that. On to today's hack for all of you, who like me, don't have a foiling machine. I had one for a while, and it was one of those things I just didn't use enough to justify the space it took up. I love the look of it, and I love seeing people who foil beautifully, but I just fake it with shiny and colorful duct tapes! I find that gold cardstock isn't nearly as shiny as this tape - this truly looks like foiling and it's easy. For this card, I just put the tape down onto black cardstock and then die cut it with this skinny thanks die. The background is this stunning, layering stitching die I stitched with white floss - 2 strands. SO fun to put together. 

Here's a closeup of the beautiful, dimensional shiny sentiment - the die curves and finishes the edges so beautifully. These stitching dies are what I do in front of the TV when I'm not making potholders. See how much shinier it is than foil cardstock? 

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Here's the strip of tape I was cutting for today's cards. I can get LOTS more die cuts out of this one piece.

The second card is with this gorgeous die set themed around the ampersand with matching die cut greetings. I used the little flowers with different glitter papers. SO quick and easy and I love the gold tape.

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Here's an older video I did on using duct tape with dies - this remains one of my most popular videos.

Here are some shows we really enjoyed in 2022 - for some you'll have to find the platforms - I don't know how to use a TV 😂

• McDonald and Dodds (British police drama)
• Knives Out: Glass Onion
• Dead To Me (new season)
• Derry Girls (new season)
• Line of Duty (British Police drama)

I hope you have a great New Year's! I will be making my sister's blackeyed pea bean dip, with arepas and sorrel for the greens from my backyard. 

What is your tradition? 

Loveyameanitbye.