Well, friends- I’ve made it through one whole month of my #OneLittleTag craft challenge! I have 31 tags for January all done. (You might know this already if you follow along on Periscope.) Take a look at my photos below to see the tags I did for this January! Now, if you are inspired and want to play along, you can do so a few ways: Post your tags on Instagram with the #OneLittleTag hashtag so we can find them […]
Friday Round-Up and Week In Review
The summer has officially started at CTD WHQ, and it’s been a doozy. It actually started last week with my trip to the studio set of Scrapbook Soup and the days and days and days of prep that went into that. Then, on the same day, my 91-year-old grandfather passed (you might remember the photos I shared of him in my Memorial Day post)… and then of course a week of mourning, traveling to services, visiting with family, etc. This […]
Crafty Love this Week and Fab Friday Giveway!
I asked my Facebook Crew today if I should share some crafty inspiration I found on the interwebs or do a giveaway of a mystery craft box. You know what they said, right? BOTH. *duh* Okay, I guess I can do that. SO here are some wonderfully crafty thinks I found on the interwebs this week that made me happy! Overview of iPhone Camera Apps from Julie Fei-Fan Balzer. Damn, I love this woman!! First, she admits that 90% of […]
The Best of Craft Test Dummies: Top Ten Posts of 2012!
I love the end of the calendar year- it’s a great opportunity to look back and see what projects, reviews, and articles resonate with you, my readers. So here are the most-viewed posts that were written in 2012. Just click the photo to see the full post, if you missed it this year…. I’m pleased too see that the tutorials that I create for you made the list (6 of them!) as well as guest posts (the Perils of […]
CTD Week In Review & Pinterest -ing Finds Week Ending 7/28/12
Holy cats, it’s been a busy week! We got home from CHA Summer 2012 last weekend, and it took me a full four days to unpack, do laundry, and catch up on sleep. Then this week my son was in volunteer camp and soccer cam every day, so I ran around like a mad woman. Throw in the mix a VERY important meeting on Wednesday, getting the rest of the CHA posts up, the Olympic opening on Friday, and prepping […]
CraftTestDummies Week In Review Ending 5/12/12
I’m always surprised at how quickly the week flies by and it’s time to look over the week again. This week, many of us were crafting for Mother’s Day- and in fact, here are 3 projects you can make in 2 hours or less, so you still have time to craft today and give tomorrow! InLinkz.com From Vicki O’Dell the Creative Goddess, Martha Stewart, yours truly, and The Zen of Making. OK…now onto the week that was! #TeamCTD member Angie […]
What to Test Next? Craft Test Dummies Week In Review (Ending 5/5/12)
It was another whirl-wind week at CTD WHQ. Lately I’ve had so cool products coming in, I’m having a hard time choosing what to test next! Some of the great products include: Candi By CraftWorkCards from the UK- lovely little dots to use in crafting. SweetHeart Inkers by We R Memory Keepers. Those handles are a brilliant idea! Crafter’s Clay from Martha Stewart Crafts by EK Success- those silicon molds are gorgeous! Color Box Scentz scented embossing powders. Cute idea, […]
Adventures in Crafting and the Week in Review ending 4/28/12
This weekend has been SO much fun that I am a day late in getting my Week in Review post in. But it just goes to show that sometimes you have to postpone blogging about crafting so that you can have more time DOING it! This week, my dear crafty BFF Vicki O’Dell make the trek to CTD WHQ and did some mano-a-man0 crafting with me. We had a brand-spanky-new box of Martha Stewart Crafts goodies to play with, and […]
Scrapbook Soup and the Week in Review Ending 4/20/12
Id barely recovered from last week’s trip to Washington, DC when I got a fabulous call to come tape a segment for the PBS show, Scrapbook Soup. I’d chatted with the producer months before….but like so many things, it was kind of in a holding pattern and nothing was set. So I scrambled to get some product together for a quick segment on adaptive tools for the scrapbooker. I’ll have more on the trip this week, but I did get […]
Spring Break at the Capitol and the Week in Review Ending 4/13/12
This was a one of those weird weeks at CTD- I was traveling all week with my family over our spring break and wasn’t even at CTD WHQ. However, I was out and about in Washington DC, snapping pics, getting inspired, and thinking of all the projects I have bubbling as a result! I’ve got some photo essays planned for the upcoming weeks, but I just had to share these few photos with you: So… on to the Week In […]
I {Heart} April and the Week in Review Ending 4/7/2012
This is one of my favorite months. Despite my birthday being in March, all of the pretty spring flowers bust out in April. And there is both Easter and Earth Day, so I get to surround myself with “renewal.” I generally hit the recycle-crafting big time, and that makes me happy. So let’s take a look at what reviews graced out pages! First, we had a review of the Fuji Instax 7S Mini Instant Camera. If you love Smash-booking, you […]
Bye-bye, National Crafting Month & The Week In Review ending March 31 2012
Oh, it’s been such a great month! I’ve taken some crafty field trips, met up with crafter friends, hosted quite a few crafting giveaways, and shared some craft tutorials. And now National Crafting Month is OVER. But is the craftiness over at CTD?? Of course not! We will use April, though, to spotlight crafting companies with “green” practices, craft tools that will help you upcycle/recycle, and craft products that are healthier for you to use. I can’t wait! But before […]
Happy Birthday to ME- the Week in Review ending 3/24/12
So, yea- it was my birthday this week. Since the actual day was Tuesday, it was pretty low-key. I got a nice dinner with my family, and my CBFF (and #TeamCTD member) Vicki O’Dell made the trek up to see me the day after and give me some wonderful homemade gifties. I’m so lucky. Home-made gifts are the BEST! Now, on to the Week in Review! Now, last week we had a giveaway sponsored by the nice folks at Artterro…. […]
Kid’s Craft Week in Review at Craft Test Dummies
I have kids in elementary school, and I really love encouraging them to craft. Not just because it gives us the chance to bond over a shared activity (and n0n-verbally) but also because it teaches my kids to problem solve, work through frustration, and value the things that are made by hand verses what is bought at the store. Love is hand-made. So I really enjoyed the following kid’s craft reviews on CTD: From top, clockwise: Glam Art Kit Review […]
Mood Indigo and the Week In Review
Well, after weeks in which I took trips to the ER and suffered a hacking, this week was blessedly quiet. I discovered a new obsession- fabric dyeing. However, if you know me, you’ll know that I didn’t/couldn’t escape unscathed: Blue dye sloshed onto feet (with slippers) = blue tootsies. And now blue slippers, too! Luckily I only looked like Smurfette for a day or two. So let’s get to the WEEK IN REVIEW…. shall we? Monday I reviewed the aforementioned […]
My First Time and the Week In Review
Well, my friends- there is a first time for everything, and this week was the first time…. my site was hacked! It was a very stressful 36 hours, but thanks to an amazing friend and technical guru, CTD was hacked, secured, blacklisted by Google and cleared all within 48 hours. I’m happy to report that there was no damage to anything except my state of mind, and for the most part the week went fairly normally. So now lets get […]
Week in Review: FrankenThumb and Other Happenings
Well, this week was certainly….interesting. It started on SUNDAY with a trip to the Emergency Room. Contrary to logic, I did not suffer a crafting accident. Instead, it was a sad mishap involving a very sharp ceramic knife and an avocado. Public Service Announcement: If you are trying to pit an avocado with a knife, please place your non-dominant hand on your HEAD. Do not attempt to hold said avocado while you pit it. Thank you. I’ll spare you photo […]
Craft Test Dummies Week in Review Ending February 18, 2012
It’s hard to believe that February is already half over. This week at CTD WHQ we are wrapped up our CHA Winter 2012 show coverage and started getting in new samples to review. You are going to LOVE some of the reviews we have coming up! But in the meanwhile, here are this weeks posts, just in case you missed them. CHA Coverage: Sara shared her “Top Picks”, including photos from Heidi Swapp, Tim Holtz’ new Distress Markers, and Lawn […]
CraftTestDummies Week in Review: Ending 2/11/012
Whee! This week we chose winners for the CTD 4th Blogiversary Giveaway! Our winners were chosen at random from the folks who are subscribed AND CONFIRMED members of the CTD email list. (If you didn’t confirm your subscription, you email didn’t get added to my list.) But anyway, here are our big winners: Michele from Maine won the Sew Easy Paper Piercing Set from ConsumerCrafts.com Brenda from New York won the Elmer’s Crafters Prize Pack from Elmer’s Mary Lee from […]
Craft Test Dummies Week in Review Ending February 4 2012
Holy moly- what a week! It was the Craft and Hobby Tradeshow this week, starting last Saturday and ending on Wednesday, February 1st. It was both exhausting and exhilarating- the new products, the gorgeous displays, the wonderful industry friends, and best of all…all of us Craft Test Dummies were together for the first time! Sadly, we missed the opportunity to get a pic of it, but we all had a marvelous time at the tradeshow. Lucky for you, we also […]