Bella Dia

Cricut Crafts & Contest

I was sent a Cricut Expressions machine
to try out! So many possibilities, so little
time! One of the first things I did was make
scallop trim for my plain white shelves...
then I used the new Winter Wonderland
cartridge to make this little house and 3d
trees! There are several different house
and building designs so my single home will
soon be part of a village.

There are several contests going on so
you can have a chance to win a Cricut, the
four newest cartridges, Provo Craft's latest
design device, the Gypsy, and more! See
all the details at The Crafty Crow.

Green Craft Magazine

Have you seen this magazine
yet? If you haven't then start looking
for it now! I think this is one of the most
beautiful craft magazine issues I've
seen in a long time, right up there
with Japanese craft books and Marie
Claire Idees.

All of the projects are beautifully
conceived and photographed and of
course each one uses materials that
are typically thrown away, thus,
Green Craft :)

You'll find Maya*Made's newspaper
buntings along with Pam Garrison's coffee
filter garlands, and Charlotte Lyons'
cardboard tube creations plus much more.

And just so you know, I'm not being paid
or pampered to promote the magazine,
just overwhelmed with the goodness
and wanted to share :)

fused flowers :: Tracie Lamp
cardboard dress :: Sarah Hodsdon
memory blanket :: Sadie Fox

Pocket Stitch Book

I created this little Pocket Stitch Book
for Sew, Mama, Sew's Month of Hand
Sewing. It features 7 different stitches
with illustrations and how-to's. The
book is one page to print out, then
folded to create a convenient little
book that can be slipped into your
sewing basket!

I'm trying to get back to blogging
here at Bella Dia on a more regular
basis. I've got lots to share - thrift
shop finds, books, WIPs and FOs,
and even a tutorial or two.

I'm blogging at The Crafty Crow
five days a week and it keeps me
really busy but I'm anxious to catch
up on my postings here as well.

Happy Mother's Day!

Let us be grateful to people who make us happy,
they are the charming gardeners
who make our souls blossom. 
~Marcel Proust

Happy Mother's Day
with love to
my Mom
jhvta3hx6f

Label Maker, Label Maker, Make Me A Label!

The good people at Brother sent me a P-Touch labeler (PT-1280) to try out and tell everyone what I thought; I know, lucky me!  I have to say that I love organizing stuff and I love having a place for everything and everything in its place.  I just think better when the area around me is nice and neat, it calms me.  The reality is my surroundings are rarely like that - single crafting mom to three kids at home all day plus a dozen+ animals just doesn't make for a neat-as-a-pin kind of home and honestly I have had to work hard to find a comfort level that works for me - balancing my ideals versus reality.  Anyway, one of the simplest things you can do to organize a space is to label everything.  You might have a drawer for scissors, a can for markers, a plastic tub for yarn, but by putting a label on the container those items have laid claim to that space and it really does keep away the stray marker in the scissors drawer or stuffing in the yarn box because, after all, the label says scissors or markers or yarn and those labels mean business, darn it!  So, onto the labeler; well, it couldn't be any simpler!  I'm usually a read-the-directions-first kind of person but since I didn't have my reading glasses nearby, ahem, I just started poking around on it. Put in the batteries, add the tape, turn it on and start typing up labels.  You can change the size and look of the letters which is nice plus there are different color tapes, even clear, if you want to get fancy.  A little tip, when you are printing out a lot of labels, just put spaces between the words and cut them apart later rather than printing one label at a time - you'll save a lot of tape that way.  It works just as well in the kids rooms as the craft room and letting the kids organize and label their own space is a great first step in learning to organize and keeping things put away in the right spot. 

One day I'll share new photos of my studio.  I moved all my things into a new space and it's workable but I don't have it prettied up enough to share just yet. 

 

Free Gift Tag List Updated

   

I'm just letting everyone know that I have updated the list of free gift tags that I've been collecting from the internet for the last few years.  There are lots of new beauties this year so be sure to take a look. The link is always in my sidebar under "Pages". 

Click over to Maya*Made and see what she did with some free gift tags and ideas for green gift wrapping :) 

Fall has not taken leave as quickly as it first seemed it
would and I am so happy for that (knock on wood). 
Instead of snow we've had lots of rain and that's just fine
by me. It just doesn't get much better than falling asleep
to the sound of raindrops.

DIY City Mag Feature!

I've been meaning to post this for awhile but as usual I am behind.  Anyways, I am very excited that the nice ladies over at DIY City Mag featured a page from my inspiration journal!  DIY City Mag is an online magazine that spotlights a different city each issue and shares all the best DIY resources and inspiration to be found there.  I am so flattered to be included so I hope you will take a look if you get a chance.