Lifestyle Crafts "L" Review & GIVEAWAY!!!

Giveaway Closed!!! Winner Announced on February 8th.

I am so so so excited about this review and giveaway! Lifestyle Crafts has brought the art of letterpress into the home with an affordable and portable letterpress for your very own!

Be sure to read the review, check out the site and enter the

giveaway for a Letterpress below!

What kind of projects would you make if you had your very own letterpress? Beautiful Christmas cards? Business cards? Announcements? A coordinated wedding package from the save the dates all the way to the thank you cards all printed beautifully in your own home?

Image courtesy of lifestylecrafts.com/blog

Maybe you are just wondering what a letterpress is? This is what Lifestyle Crafts has to say about it...

"Not sure what letterpress is exactly? Well, it's one of the hottest trends in stationery and it's been around for hundreds and hundreds of years. Letterpress is an ancient printing technique that involves printing words or designs with ink while simultaneously debossing the image into thick, soft paper. See the images above? The photo on the left shows the deboss aspect of letterpress with no ink applied to the printing plate. The photo on the right shows the combination of the deboss and ink.

The letterpress look is elegant, stylish, high-end and simply amazing. Nothing can beat the touch and feel of a letterpressed project. Unfortunately, it's has been somewhat difficult for a home crafter to create letterpressed projects. Until the L Letterpress, letterpress tools were antiques that were often expensive, large, heavy and hard to find."-Lifestyle Crafts Blog

Click here to see a little video about how to use the Letterpress....

I had the amazing opportunity to review one of these, and can I just tell you how my head is spinning with all the possibilities?

First of all the packaging is just beautiful for everything. I love the ink boxes, I want a display of them! :) Everything is really great quality and really easy to use.

It may look a little intimidating, but once you get going, it is super easy and so much fun! I am a very hands on and visual learner, so watching the video tutorial and doing it at the same time made it a piece of cake.

The "L" Letterpress runs through the Epic 6 die cut machine, and when you buy the combo kit you get some nesting circle dies to go with it. Super fun to emboss, and print on the different size circles to nest on your project. Lifestyle Crafts sells lots of great dies to use with your machine.

The printing plates themselves come with quite a few designs in each collection. The "L" Letterpress combo kit comes with enough to really get you started in the art.

What I am most excited about though is that they offer custom plates! You can design your own plates to use for weddings, business or just for fun-how great is that for branding your Etsy shops or Blogs?

You want to see what I made with my new "L"?

These fun CD covers for some valentine day presents! I ran some paper CD envelopes through the Letterpress with the Blossoms Tile Printing Plate. I also ran some white bias tape through to make my own custom ribbon. Then I punched some shapes with the die cut machine and used the Letterpress for the greetings.

We love "mix tapes" in our house, and my kids all have different favorite songs to dance around to, so I thought it would be super fun to give them all their own CD for Valentines day with some of their favorite songs, their individual lullabies that their dad sings to them each night and some other fun songs I think they will like. I love the fun envelopes and I think I will make some for friends, my hubby and maybe even for some teacher gifts too!

Do you want to buy one?

Lifestyle Crafts is offering a deal to all of you cute readers until Feb 6th...

Receive 20% off your entire order with code LC2011BLOG01.

(Better yet, give your hubby a wish list of items from Lifestyle Crafts for Valentines Day and give him the code so he can buy you more stuff!)

Do you want to win one? I thought so!

Lifestyle Crafts is giving one lucky reader the

Epic 6 tool/Letterpress Combo a $170 value!

It comes with everything you see here;

Epic 6 Letterpress & Die-Cutting Tool | L Letterpress Tool | Clear Packing Mat with Grid Paper Placement Guides | Ink Base | Ink Brayer | 10 A2 Flat Cards | 9 Printing Plates with Adhesive Sheets | 1 Black Ink | Circle Cutting Dies

To win just leave me a comment letting me know what you would make if you had your own Letterpress.

For extra entries, blog, tweet, and/or facebook about this giveaway and leave me a comment for everything you do. If you go to the bottom of this post there are little icons that make this easier! :) Winner will be announced on Tuesday the 8th!

Disclosure: Products reviewed were sent to me by the company in exchange for my honest opinion of the products. My opinion & review is my own and is no way influenced by any other part.

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Making the World Cuter Monday; BONUS giveaway; Liv'N Chic Boutique

Have you entered the Melissa & Doug giveaway yet?

It's giveaway central over here lately!

Be sure to come back tomorrow...when I will be reviewing and giving away an AWESOME prize package from Lifestyle Crafts. :)

(It may or may not be, but most definitely is your very own home printing press and die cutting machine! I hope you understand the coolness of this statement! It will make your world much, much cuter!)

Now for the giveaway bonus for today!

Get ready to meet one super cute and trendy chick! Her name is Liberti...I mean how cute is that?

She sells her wares over on a Facebook Boutique called Liv'n Chic...and I am coveting just about everything over there because it is all so dang cute! And her prices are ahhh-mazing! I really want that mustard yellow messenger bag down there....

Here is what she has to say....

"Liv'N Chic has been around for a couple of years, mostly I've mostly been doing local boutiques but recently decided to offer an online option as I get asked all the time "can we find your stuff online?" well, here it is! :) I love that I can offer darling boutique items at an affordable price AND that the quality is still there!

Our most popular items are our big Flower's -they're so great as they can be worn as a Brooch (SO cute!) OR as a Hair Clip- and our Chunky Rings -these get so many compliments-!

Recently, I've brought in the "mini" messenger bags that are PERFECT for vacationing, a bag just the right size for the necessities - I wish I would've had one when I visited NY last year!! I'm so impressed with how cute they are (the pictures don't do them justice!) Stylish & Functional, what more could you ask for?!

Our FB shop is so fun because you can see everything we have in stock AND shop right from there! Just click the "shop now" tab and check out what your looking for through the "browse category" drop down menu, load up your cart and pay through paypal - so easy!"

Today there will be two winners! Liberti is giving away a super fun Teal Carnation Brooch to one winner and a big beautiful Chunky Black Ring to another! :)
Everyone who links up is automatically entered, but if you want an extra entry for these giveaways and a chance to win a FREE bag of your choice as well all you have to do is...

"like" Liv n' Chic on Facebook

...and who wouldn't like her stuff? It's the stuff cute is made of! :)

Just leave me a comment letting me know you liked her, and I'll give you another entry! Good luck! I hope you win! :)

Link up your cute stuff here, and please link back to me either with a text link or a button...

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Check out these other Linky Parties too!

Disclaimer: Anything posted may be used in an upcoming feature including pictures, (linked back to original owner of course). If you don't want me to use your pictures, please don't link up.

If you would like to do a giveaway on Making the World Cuter Monday-please contact me! :)

CSN Stores Review-Melissa & Doug Toys

Don't forget to enter the Melissa & Doug giveaway!

CSN stores has SO many great things that I would love for myself, but once again I picked up a few more things for my kids! And once again I turned to their Melissa and Doug toys for my selections.

The reason this time was because my daughter got the Victorian Doll House for her birthday, I have been coveting this for her since she was a baby...because every little girl needs a beautiful doll house and they just don't come much prettier than this one!
Well the doll house didn't have any official residents besides the Littlest Pet Shop pets and Lalaloopsy dolls that occasionally made an appearance so the first thing we found at CSN stores was this Wooden Family Doll Set. I love this set, super cute, simple and comes with the whole family including gramps and grandma!
I let my daughter pick two rooms this time to furnish in her doll house and she chose this adorable kitchen furniture. It is really cute, and all the drawers and doors open. I love that it is all wood and such high quality.The other room she chose to furnish was the master bedroom with this super cute bedroom furniture. Once again all wood, all quality, all working drawers and doors. Needless to say she's pretty excited about the new pieces for her doll house!
And just so my boys wouldn't feel left out when Bekah got a box of goodies in the mail-I picked out these Lace & Trace Farm toys from Melissa & Doug. These were some of my favorite toys as a kid, and my kids are loving them just as much. Great for their hand eye coordination and for keeping them quiet and focused when they need to be-like at church, or at home during quiet time.

CSN stores has so much more than toys! Whatever you are looking for, be sure to check there first!

Disclosure: Products reviewed were sent to me by the company in exchange for my honest opinion of the products. My opinion & review is my own and is no way influenced by any other part.

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Friendly Friday-A Girl in Paradise

Don't forget to enter the Melissa & Doug giveaway!

Another Friday-another new friend! Today we have a fun little post from Ann-A girl in Paradise. Love the simplicity of these cute fabric flowers! :) I'll let her show you the how to...

So, I have been going a little crazy with the fabric flowers lately .... and I have become obsessed with buttons, who has the best selection, when they go on sale, and how best to use my coupons. I even dragged all three kids to a door buster sale at 8 in the morning, to get an extra 10% off. Don't worry they got rewarded for their good behavior with a trip to the playground and a box of munchkins. :) To be fair, I am making them into headbands, hair clips, and brooches for a craft show. Also, there are a few girls on my Christmas list who will be receiving these as gifts. Every little girl needs a flowered headband, don't ya think?

They are super cute and very easy to make, and since you don't need much fabric, no need to hit the fabric store. What you have in your stash will probably do.

You will need six 2-1/2" squares, strong thread, and a needle. I use cording as thread because I will be selling them and like the extra strength. Makes me sleep better at night to put out a quality product.

Fold your square in half diagonally and use a running stitch along the edge, to pull the pedal together.

Pull tight and knot after each pedal.

Repeat....

Once you have all six pedals done, connect to the first as shown above, to close in your flower.

Pull a button through the center and tie off.

This is where my button obsession comes in and dreams of vintage button stashes lull me off to sleep. I have found that buttons at least 7/8" work best to cover the raw edges. Have fun, and be creative, how about vintage earrings or rhinestones? The flower is just the starting point. Where you take it is up to you.

Here you go! One super cute fabric flower, that was super easy to make.

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The ideas, and opinions expressed on Friendly Friday do not necessarily reflect the owner of this blog. Friendly Friday is a day where new blog friends are invited to share a post of something they think makes the world a cuter place. If you are interested in participating in Friendly Friday, please send a post in html format to tiff@makingtheworldcuter.com, with the subject Friendly Friday. Thanks! And keep it cute! :)

DIY Play Magnetic Fridge

Don't forget to enter the Melissa & Doug giveaway!

Sharing another tutorial over at DIY club inc. today! Go HERE for the tutorial.

While you are there be sure to check out the new ezine and check out the new contest they have going on right now-do you have what it takes to win the GRAND PRIZE? It's an awesome prize package that's for sure! :)

Here is my little naughty baby with his new play fridge. He loves it! It's wooden, gender neutral, has a place to hang their aprons and hot pads...and oh yeah-it's magnetic! Super cool huh? He sure thinks so!

For this project I used the Norton Sanding Bug & Glass Knob from Rockler, Magnet Paint, Pewter Gray & Black Spray Paint from Krylon & Wood Glue from Gorilla Glue.

Makes the job SO much easier when you use quality products!

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Melissa & Doug Review & GIVEAWAY!!!

edit: Giveaway Closed: Winner announced

I may have squealed a little when I got an email from the people at Melissa & Doug asking if I would like to do a review and giveaway for them. As any of my regular readers know, I LOVE Melissa & Doug products!

Read on, and then be sure to enter the giveaway!!!

I am slowly thinning out my kids toys that drive me crazy-you know the plastic ones that don't have a place, and all the electronic stuffed animals and pretty much anything that isn't great quality. If I don't think it's nice enough to keep for my future grandkids, I really don't want it in my house. I am just tired of the clutter, ya know?

I have been building a little collection of Melissa & Doug toys for awhile now, and was super excited to add to the fun.

We decided on some play food and a Green Trunki

What's a Trunki you ask?

I actually hadn't heard of them either until I visited the official Melissa & Doug website. Then I couldn't live another minute without having one! This has got to be one of the smartest, coolest, cutest most fun inventions in a long time!

Well it's a hard suitcase...

It has wheels, easy carry handles, and a strap with an ID tag.

It is super well made-of course-it's Melissa & Doug after all!

It is also regulation carry on size-super handy for a kids suitcase right?

Well that's all good and great-but you just wait, it gets better!It's also a ride on toy!

That is ingenious my friends-INGENIOUS!

It holds up to 100 pounds-so while you're waiting for your flight at the airport, your kids can be riding their toys and not whining about being bored.

But wait it gets better!
The carry strap is super sturdy and can be used as a tow strap, turning your Trunki into a pulling toy.

I can see this being handy for my 4 year old when he starts whining that his feet hurt while making our way to the very last terminal that seems about 100 miles away when you're travelling with kids!

Plus my kids are having an absolute ball pulling each other around the house on it.
There is also plenty of room inside for necessities with security straps to hold things in place.

While not travelling it can be used as toy storage.

So practical-it's killing me!

I am so excited about this product-that I am buying the tiger striped one for Porter and the ladybug one for Bekah. While I'm at it I will probably buy the blue one for Oliver to use when he is older.

They all have fun names, and even accessories you can buy. Like saddlebags, (a messenger type bag that attaches like a saddle to the Trunki) and stickers to either make a face on their Trunki or their name or places they've traveled!

So cool, am I right?

I am, trust me! :)

The next thing we got is the food groups wood toys in the food play section.

I am a HUGE fan of the play food from this company.

It is the BEST quality and it's cute and imaginative.

The plastic food at my house is the first thing that gets thrown out.

My kids love playing kitchen, store, restaurant...pretty much anything with play food. The home school mom in me is really loving this set because it teaches the kids a lesson at the same time they are playing!

They are learning the food groups, and it easy to show the kids that they need to eat enough of each of the food groups each day. Dinner has even been a little easier since they can now realize they haven't had enough veggies yet for the day and have to eat more broccoli or salad. :)

Another perk to this set, is that they all come in their own little crates, which fit perfectly into their play fridge and adds organization which to me is a little bit of heaven!

Nothing makes me happier about toys than organization!

Except for maybe when you can cut them with a play knife and cutting board with cute little chubby baby hands! Melissa & Doug Cutting Food is perhaps one of my very favorite sets of toys my kids have, and it is definitely one of theirs as well. My 2 year old plays with this set for hours, putting it together and then cutting them apart again. These are life size foods which in my opinion makes them even that much more fun! :)

Once again the wood crate to keep it all organized is a major bonus for me! :)

Don't you just LOVE Melissa & Doug?

Yeah me too, I have a major crush on this company!

You want to win these awesome toys for your kids?

One lucky reader will get everything I've talked about today;

The Cutting Food

The Food Groups Set

& The Trunki

Can you say YIPPEE! :)

Your kids will...or at least something similar...

All you have to do is leave me a comment telling me which Melissa & Doug toys you love!

Bonus entries if you tweet, facebook and/or blog about this giveaway-just leave me extra comments for all the things you do!

Easy right?

I hope you win, I really do! :)

I will pick a random winner next Wednesday, February 2nd.

Open to US residents only.

Disclosure: Products reviewed were sent to me by the company in exchange for my honest opinion of the products. My opinion & review is my own and is no way influenced by any other part.

Giveaway open to all US residents. No purchase necessary.

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Girly Felt Treasure Map

After making my boys each a treasure map-I knew my little girl would love a more girl-ified version! I was right, she loves this thing! She is always playing with it and her Littlest Pet Shop toys and her Lalaloopsy mini dolls.

Here are some close up looks at the details...

Unicorn Forest, with the magical pink trees...
The Whale Water Way....
Every girly map needs a castle for the princesses to live in...
Then there is the secret garden with a mischievous little garden gnome, "what's the secret password?"
Then candy cane lane, where the gingerbread man is your friend...or is he?

I've heard it both ways. :)
And of course since it's a map, there is a compass and a bright pink 'X' to mark the spot where the treasure is, or the princess, or the prince, or the lost puppy...my daughter has quite an imagination!

I think it's my favorite of the three-but of course I'm kind of drawn to cute things! :)

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Making the World Cuter Monday

Happy Monday! I am so glad my weekend is over-that is something I rarely if ever say! But, I got through my list and now I'm ready to start a new week! What have you got that's made the world cuter-I can't wait to see it!

Once you link up, I would love it if you link back to me, here's where you can get a button if you prefer to go that route! :)

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Check out these other Linky Parties too!

Disclaimer: Anything posted may be used in an upcoming feature including pictures, (linked back to original owner of course). If you don't want me to use your pictures, please don't link up.

Well this is my to do list...yuck!

Weekend plans:

Finish wood project for kids playroom (yay!)

Finish art work for dining room (yay!)

Continue work on portfolio website-due in two weeks.

Write a talk, that I have to give on Sunday, gulp!

Create business card and letterhead-due Sunday for class.

Write a 4 page essay on a short story-due Sunday.

Do a 2 page worksheet on proper comma usage-(yawn)

Write up a proposal for companies website I got hired to do.

Finish handouts for another church talk I'm giving to the youth on Sunday, yikes!

Take care of baby, and three other children.

Fold all the laundry, and do all the dishes-piles of both I'm telling you!

Babysit 4 kids all day on Saturday.

Ummmmm...anyone want to trade weekends with me yet?

Sure there are a few fun things on my list, but for the most part, I kind of want to gauge my eyes out. Ya know what I mean?

One bright spot. CSN stores is letting me review another product from them, so I have that to look forward to! They have EVERYTHING! From kitchen stuff, to corner TV stands to toys to shoes...I could spend hours looking at all the fun stuff...Trust me it's not a bad thing! Love it!

What is on your weekend plan list?

It's got to be better and less crazy than mine right?

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Friendly Friday-Shape Moth

Happy Friendly Friday everyone! I have a new friend, Kirie from Shape Moth here to show us how she made this fascinating little bird. This girl has a lot of talent and a lot of patience! I'll let her tell you about herself and this little birdie....

Hi, I would like to present you one of my latest posts about making a fabric bird. I'm quite new in the blogging world but I try to create unique things from fabric and felt: toys, mini quilts, mug rugs, etc. Please visit me over at Shape Moth!

I think everything started when I signed myself for the Birdie Swap (disclaimer :) : this bird isn't for the swap; it's to settle down my creative itch). I started to search in the net for the inspirations, pictures of sewn birds, softies, felt birds, ornaments and whatever you can find when you type 'bird ornament' or 'sewn bird' or 'bird pattern' in google. There were some free pdf patterns available, but somehow it wasn't for me. I had to do something else. So I started. I started with thinking what I want to achieve. How it should look like.

It was hard to imagine for me where to start. I decided to make a sculpture first. To plan the pattern, shape of my bird and where to piece the fabric. The one on the photo is already reshaped, cause the first attempt was not so good. You see many lines... finally I did something completely different than I had drawn:

Here is already 3rd try to make the bird. This one looks like chicken, but 100% better than the first 2 ones ;) I started with felt, couse it's better for hand sewing and you don't have to plan the seam allowance:

another try... still some thing were to correct. The big minus of starting with felt is that it's completely different from cotton. After I had the pattern based on felt ready, it worked out that I have to change it completely for the cotton.

I don't have any photos of the stages of creation the cotton bird, I was just throwing away the ugly birdies.

But this is the 'almost' final version. It took me few days to create this bird but I'm absolutely proud and happy of the result. It has wired legs, fabric beak and embroidered eyes.

Now... to check if I did well... a riddle: which bird is it?

EDIT: Tuome was the first to answer :) It's an eurasian jay.

That means that I didn't do such a bad job ;)

photo from: http://www.birdforum.net/opus/Eurasian_Jay

Thanks Kirie! :)

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The ideas, and opinions expressed on Friendly Friday do not necessarily reflect the owner of this blog. Friendly Friday is a day where new blog friends are invited to share a post of something they think makes the world a cuter place. If you are interested in participating in Friendly Friday, please send a post in html format to tiff@makingtheworldcuter.com, with the subject Friendly Friday. Thanks! And keep it cute! :)