CraftyJulesBlog

Crafty Jules is GETTING MARRIED!!!

2011-08-29T01:04:00.007-04:00

This past April, my boyfriend of about 5 years asked me to marry him! I couldn’t be more excited and I’ve been meaning to share this amazing news with the world on this blog for some time, but you know how it goes...

First things first.. Here’s a picture of the ring.

It couldn’t be more perfect! I absolutely love it and I couldn’t be happier with it!

Next, the proposal. I always like to hear these stories from the guys point of view.. to me its so exciting to hear how they thought it all up and how nervous they were, etc. Paul actually wrote a story about his proposal, and it was posted on a popular Disney Vinylmation website. Check it out if you like: "When Paul met Julie"

Now that you all know the news.. I plan to post some of my planning progress along the way. I find A LOT of inspiration online, browsing websites and different blogs, so I figured I’d contribute to the world that is so helpful to me! Hopefully one day someone will stumble upon my blog and find something that helps or inspires them!

For all the other future brides out there.. happy planning! :)

UGH! My nail polish CRACKED!

2011-02-25T23:03:00.005-05:00

Ok, I’m not sure if you’ve all seen this new fad with nail polish. Popular brands like OPI and China Glaze are coming out with this new style called “crackle” polish. Every beauty guru that I follow on twitter, YouTube, Blogger, etc. seems to be loving them. . . I’m just not getting it. Coming from a girl who loves all different colors from mute to vivid bright tones, and even wild designs.. I think they are hideous! I’m not in love with any of the colors, and the style of the “crackle” -eh.

[ above: OPI & below: china glaze ]

What do you guys think? Have any of you actually used it? Let me know... Let’s see if you can sway me! :)

Where do you go from here?...

2011-02-25T03:51:00.005-05:00

This blog post has been brewing for quite some time now.. and I’m considering taking this blog into a different direction completely, possibly posting more frequently and more from the heart. Speaking into some unknown abyss of probably zero readers, I have little issue with using this as a more personal, therapeutic form of expression.

Something that’s been on my mind a lot lately is my future. I’m coming to the end of my college years and fear that I have made all the wrong decisions for far too long. In less than a year I will be graduating with an English degree and a minor in Education. My plan a couple years ago was to become a High School English teacher. A teacher..... something I never thought I’d be. But hey, you get summers off, great benefits, you’re home early every day, and every time you turn around there’s another holiday with paid days off. Not too bad for someone planning to have a family. So what’s the problem you might wonder? Well, the closer I come to the end of my education, and the more time I spend preparing for teaching, or actually in classrooms, my lack of passion for the job is becoming more and more prevalent. For the passed few years there has been a hiring freeze in NYC schools, and just a week or so ago Mayor Bloomberg announced his plan to eliminate 6,000 more NYC school teaching jobs. I feel like somehow this grand-scale situation is speaking to me personally... like its God, or fate, or something yelling loudly in my face.. “this is not for you! you’ve been wasting your time and you’ve made a huge mistake!” I don’t know if everyone goes through this at some point in their life, but I feel hopeless. At the age of twenty-six I feel that I’m at the end of my road. It seems like such a shame, it seems like that’s way too young of an age to be stuck, but that’s the harsh reality that I’m sure many others also face.

At a young age you never really can grasp how much what you do (or don’t do) early on will effect your life later. I despise the idea of regret and thus far have been able to avoid it’s ugly wrath, but recently I can’t help but feel overwhelmed with it. When I was younger I had such grand plans for myself. I went through stages where I wanted to be a physiologist, an animator or illustrator, a fashion designer, a chef, or even a zookeeper. I never knew what I’d do, but those were some of my dreams when I was a kid. What’s interesting is that most of those things that I was passionate about when I was younger still get me going today. Actually, throw any of those careers my way and I’d jump at the opportunity. Recently I’ve been thinking about this more and more, and I’ve been regretting how I stopped doing certain things. I stopped drawing and didn’t pursue it in my higher education. Right now if I could have any job in the world, It’d probably be an animator for Pixar, but that’s something that I would have had to been committed to for a lifetime to be good enough to get. I feel like someone should warn you at the age of like six or seven that if you find something you love, you should pursue it as much as you possibly could. Who knew back then that your career 20 years later may very well depend on your commitment at such a young age. It seems so unfair, this society that has been constructed for us to live in. I don’t want some mediocre job that just gives me enough money to get by. I want something that I love to do. Something that would make my younger-self happy and proud. The earliest advice I can remember hearing about choosing a profession was “make sure it’s something you love.” Well in today’s economic situation that doesn’t really seem like practical advice. Advice today sounds more like “take any job you can get.” The worst part about my situation is not that I’m scared about my future or that I’m confused or worried about what I’m going to do.. the worst part is that I’m disappointed in myself. I always thought I’d be a better person, doing bigger and better things then I’m doing, and I’ve let myself down. I’m just a girl, on the brink of starting her own life, lost in disappointment before it can even begin.

Cute as a button!

2010-05-17T22:40:00.008-04:00

So... it's been a while, I know! Here's a great card for a baby shower, to welcome a newborn, or even a first birthday. Enjoy!

I will be posting this on to Kristina Werner's blog -Color Choice Inspiration challenge! Take a look at the other entries, and join in on the fun yourself!

Yummy Desert Pizza

2009-08-31T14:00:00.005-04:00

Serves Eight

Ingredients:

1 Banana, sliced into thin rounds

5-10 Strawberries, sliced into thin rounds

about 8-10 ounces of Nutella spread

20 sheets of Fillo (or Phyllo) Dough

1 stick of butter, melted

1/2 to 1 cup of mini marshmallows

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

1. Coat a pan or cooking stone with non-stick spray or melted butter.

2. Lay out layers of Fillo dough sheets, making sure to brush in between each layer with a thin coating of melted butter.

3. Bake Fillo dough for about 15 minutes or until it becomes a lightly toasted brown color (not too dark because you will be putting it back in the oven).

4. Remove and let cool for a few minutes.

5. Once cooled, spread Nutella all over the Fillo Dough, leaving about 1/2 to 1 inch around each edge uncovered. (this step is tricky because the Fillo dough is crispy and flaky, so it makes it difficult to spread, but do the best that you can, it doesn't need to be neat because you won't see it in the end).

6. Sprinkle your desired amount of marshmallows over the Nutella-covered Fillo Dough, and place back into the oven until the Nutella spread melts and the marshmallows become a nice toasted color.

7. Remove from oven and scatter the strawberry and banana slices over the surface of your dessert pie.

8. Using a pizza cutter, slice pie into 8 slices. Enjoy!

Lady Bug Birthday Card

2009-07-26T01:31:00.006-04:00

This is a very simple birthday card that I made for my grandmother who turned 85 (God bless her.. i love you grandma!). We are throwing her a big party and it's theme is lady bugs, which is why I chose that for this card.

I found a poem that I loved for the inside:

Like a rainbow, you bring

color to ordinary places.

Like a sunset,

you add brilliance.

Like a river,

you know the way.

With the patience of the

forests, you wait for

your dreams to grow.

And like the most special

flower in the garden…

you grow stronger

and more beautiful

every day.

Have a beautiful weekend! ;-)

Fun Summer Strawberry Nails!!

2009-07-22T04:10:00.015-04:00

Strawberries are by far my FAVORITE fruit of all time.. and of coarse they always remind me of summer.. so being that it is finally starting to feel like summer here in NY, I decided to adorn my nails with my favorite fruit!

The products I used were:

- Seche Plus Fortified Strengthener (base coat)

- OPI Nail Lacquer in Deer Valley Spice (red)

- Art Club in Aquarius (green leaves)

- Art Club in Black (strawberry seed dots)

- Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat (top coat)

If you would like to recreate this look, it is actually quite simple.. just follow these five steps:

Step One:

Apply your base coat. I use Seche Plus Fortified Strengthener because it doubles as a nail strengthener.

Step Two:

Apply OPI Nail Lacquer in Deer Valley Spice for the red of the strawberry. Any other bright red color would work just fine.

Step Three:

With Art Club in the color Aquarius draw little "V" or triangle shapes at the base of your nail, and fill them in. These Art Club polishes come with very thin brushes so it is easy to get into the small details. If you already have a green polish you could use an old eyeliner brush or a toothpick to get the same effect.

Step Four:

With Art Club in the color black make small dots scattered all over the red portion of the nail. Again, you could use any black polish that you have and if you need to, can use a toothpick or eyeliner brush for this as well.

(Final) Step Five:

Apply your top coat.. I forgot to take a picture of mine, but this is the bottle that I use.

Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat

(It is AMAZING stuff!.. It literally dries your nails in minutes!)

Hope you enjoyed this adorable summer look! If you try it, leave a comment and let me know how it came out! Look out for some other great nail ideas that I already have stored up! :-)

Happy Summer!!

Owl Birthday Card

2009-07-17T21:37:00.003-04:00

This owl birthday card is a re-creation of a card that I saw in a magazine. I thought it was adorable but it called for a die cast machine, which I don't have nor can afford.. So I wanted to show that with just a little extra work, we don't have to look past projects that we would love to do because we don't have all the machinery. I drew out the owl shape and cut it out, and embellished the card similar to the site. This is a perfect card for my brother, because he thinks that he is a genius!

Public Enemies Review

2009-07-08T23:42:00.001-04:00

View my Public Enemies review at FLICKBUSTERS

4th of July Nails

2009-07-06T01:10:00.005-04:00

I know I'm about two days late.. but HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!!! In honor of celebrating our Independence Day I did a fun little fireworks design on my nails. An easy clear base and some red, white, blue, and silver star and fireworks shapes made for a very festive design. Enjoy!

25th Birthday Card

2009-07-01T23:41:00.006-04:00

So.. I'm obviously on this shaker box kick, because as you can see the last two cards I made had them, but to be fair I had this card planned out in my head for a long time. Anyway, I made this card for my amazing boyfriend who turned 25 two days ago. His favorite color is blue, so I chose a blue cardstock as the base and light blue striped paper that I cut the "25!" out of with a blade. The shaker box itself was adhered to the inside of the card, and an oval was cut out of the front of the card, so you see the shaker box on the front and on the inside of the card once it has been opened. Just like my last shaker box card, I used plastic packaging from something that I had purchased for the front of the shaker box itself. My favorite part is the exclamation point that I made as a birthday candle. Some orange cardstock and yellow velum paper was used and applied beneath the striped blue paper, but above the plastic piece to make the flame. Some faux stitching around the numbers polished off the shaker box. As for the rest of the card surrounding it, the white stitch squiggly line surrounds the words "You're turning," and some fun polka-dot paper and green ribbon adorn the bottom. A round-corner punch was used to round off all the edges.. and there you have it.. card complete. My boyfriend loved it.. so it was well worth the time it took to make (shaker boxes always take me FOREVER to do.. but I love they way they look!). Here's the finished product (hope you like it!):

This idea could really be used for any age.. and I actually think it would be great for a children's card, with bright or bold colored papers. Well anyway, have fun!

No Doubt 2009 Makeup Look

2009-06-28T03:07:00.008-04:00

OK, so I'm no pro.. and don't even do my makeup all that often, but last night I went to see No Doubt in concert at the PNC Bank Arts Center (they were AMAZING btw!), and a concert is a great place to go a little more vivid with your makeup than you normally would. Well, the colors of their tour are yellow and black so I decided to be festive and do yellow and black eyeshadow. I think it came out cute.. again, I am no expert. This was my inspiration:

In case you're wondering, I used shadows from an 88 palette set from Coastal Scents. Great shadows at a great price.. check them out at Coastal Scents

Baby Shower Card

2009-06-25T02:04:00.009-04:00

This past weekend I visited my family in Rhode Island, which I love doing. This time, however, there was a special reason that we were visiting.. We had a baby shower to attend! The baby is going to be a girl, so I decided to create a little pink shaker box baby bottle for the front of the card. Inside the shaker box I put small pink beads, some glitter, and some punched hearts and butterflies. I found a poem online and modified it slightly to be the greeting on the inside of my card. It read:

"Tiny fingers and tiny toes,
Little itty bitty clothes.
Dresses, ribbons, and hair to curl,
I can't wait to meet your little girl!"

P eco-crafty tip: Keep plastic packaging! I had this hard plastic packaging from something that I had previously purchased, and that was used as the front of the shaker box.

Real Simple - New Uses For Old Items - Paint Chip Place Cards

2009-06-13T01:47:00.009-04:00

So I got my July issue of Real Simple magazine delivered yesterday and among the great recipes and helpful hints was the cutest idea ever. There is a section of the magazine each month where they give typically boring and old items new life with new purposes and uses.

Well, they displayed a table spread using old paint chips that you get from the home improvement stores when you're deciding what colors you want to grace the walls in your home. By cutting off two color squares and folding it in half, write the names of your guests, and they become cute and colorful place cards for dinner guests. I think this would be super adorable used at a house warming party, or the first dinner party in a new home! What a great way to get another use out of something that would typically be discarded after its original use.

Oh, an don't forget that those paper strips are recyclable once you are done with them! :-)

Check out the site to get tons of other great ideas.. www.realsimple.com

The very first post

2009-06-10T23:40:00.000-04:00

This is a brand new blog.. the entire site is under construction. Look forward to crafty ideas such as card making, scrapbooking, DIY home decor ideas, and maybe even some beauty and/or cooking tips and suggestions!