Coupon Time

It's finally happened!

If you like my Facebook page, Merritt's Marvels, you will receive a coupon code for my Etsy shop for 15% off. Just in time for Labor Day.

Go on over and like Merritt's Marvels and get you a coupon!

Work In Progress

In my aimless hours of hanging out on Pinterest, I found this Pin.

Beaded Bracelets

I loved them. I already had/have an obsession with making bracelets of the string variety so, this would be perfect. 

My family recently participated in a Kidsignments sale. (Kidsignments is a MEGA, and I truly mean mega, consignment sales for children's clothing, toys, furniture, and maternity clothes.) Somewhere in the midst of it all, all the hama/perler beads that I ever had were sold, of course. So I went to one of my favorite stores, JoAnn's in search of some.

I was on a bit of a tight budget when I went to JoAnn's. Lucky for me, I was armed with a 50% off coupon. I picked up the needles that would prove to be extremely useful in making one of these bracelets and went looking for beads. 

One bag of 1000 beads, all the same color, was $1.99. One of those sets with the boards and 2000 different color beads was $7.99. Remember when I said I was cheap thrifty? Well, with that in mind, none of these combinations were working for me. I finally found a bucket of 6000 different color beads with some boards for $9.99. I thought, "Finally, it's on the high end of my budget but, it'll work." The buckets came in two different colors schemes and as I was looking at the schemes, I found a bucket with a dent in it. I then became more excited because I knew I could get a 'damaged' discount. I went up to the register to check out and ask about the discount, expecting for them to tell me it would be like 10% or something and the cashier told me it would be 75% off. Score! I was also able to use my 50% coupon on the needles. That's $12 worth of materials for $3.50 after tax. Words cannot describe how excited I was. Can you tell I like to save money.

Now that I have bored you with my savings story, let's get to the crafting part of it all.

I followed the instructions to get started and made my own pattern from there. Here is the result after about 15 minutes. The weaving didn't take that long but, picking the beads out of the bucket took awhile.

Check back soon to see the final results.

Third Time's the Charm

So I guess the saying is true. After two previous attempts at stenciling, once with paper, once with freezer paper and with mixed feelings about the results, I finally feel like I hit the nail on the head. 

A family friend recently purchased the Damask Decor cartridge for the Cricut. This cartridge is simply amazingly beautiful and gorgeous. I was kinda scared to use it for the stenciling because I thought all the little pieces might be too much to handle. Lucky for me, this cartridge has a Silhouette feature that simplifies the images to the perfect level for stenciling. 

Once I had the image cut out, I took plenty of time ironing down the paper so I wouldn't have any bubbles and seepage. I probably took to much time since I may be a rather staunch neat freak so, if the pieces of the stencil didn't line up, it drove me crazy.

I then proceeded to paint over the stencil with yet another jar of 50 cents paints, let it dry, remove the stencil, and perceive a wonderful feeling of elation of a project going totally right. 

A Break

I realize we're just getting to know each other but, the time has come to take a break. 

School has just started. I'm enrolled in high school, college, and working part-time. Needless to say, spare time is fleeting. While I try to get a firm grip on my schedule, there won't be many posts but, I'll try my hardest to keep them coming.

I appreciate everyone who will continue to keep stopping by. 

I'll be posting a coupon code for my Etsy shop, MerrittsMarvels, on my Facebook page, Merritt's Marvels, in the very near future. Make sure to like the page and watch your NewsFeed.

Tribal Digital Print: Skinny Arrows

Here is the second tip to help you re-create this Tribal Print.

Skinny Arrows

Step A.

Go to the stickers tab, select arrows, and select the without the shaft.

Step B.

Line up the arrow with the edge.

Step C.

This is where the trick starts. 

Right click the arrow and select duplicate overlay.

Step D.

Change the color of the second arrow to the color of your background.

(I gave it a background so you could see arrow.)

Step E.

Line up the second arrow on top of the first to create the desired width.

And there you have it, Skinny Arrows.

Come back soon for another great tip and another step closer to making your own Tribal Print.

Tribal Digital Print: Triangle Band

Here is the final tip to help you re-create this Tribal Print.

Triangle Band

Step A.

Go to stickers, select Geometric, and select the triangle.

Step B.

Line the corner of the triangle up with the edge.

Step C.

Right click the triangle and select Duplicate Overlay.

Step D.

Line up the second triangle with the first. I recommend leaving space between the corners but, that's up to you.

Step E. 

Repeat Step D until the band spans the length of the background.

(I let mine be cut off a bit.)

Step F.

Right click a triangle and select Duplicate Overlay. Change the color of this triangle to another color in your color scheme.

Step G.

Use the Flip Vertically button to invert your differently colored triangle.

Step H.

Position the triangle between two of the black triangles.

Step I.

Right click the different triangle and select Duplicate Overlay. Repeat this step and Step H until the spaces between the black triangles are filled.

And there you have it, Triangle Band.

That is the final tip to help you make your own Tribal Print. Use your newly found skills well.

Tribal Digital Print: Skinny Stripes

Here is the third tip to help you re-create this Tribal Print.

Skinny Stripes

Step A.

Go over to stickers, select arrow, and select the flat ended banner.

Step B.

Line up the blunt end of the arrow with the edge.

Step C.

This is where the trick starts. It's a little lengthy so, stay with me.

Right click the arrow and select Duplicate Overlay.

Step D.

Line up the second arrow on top of the first. Repeat this until the stripe is the length of the background.

Step E.

Duplicate another arrow and change it to the color of the background.

(I gave it a background so you can see the arrow.)

Step F.

Line up the white arrow on top of the black one to the desired width.

Step G.

Repeat steps E and F until the now skinny stripe is the length of the background.

And there you have it, Skinny Stripes.

Come back soon for the final tip and last step to making your own Tribal Print.

Tribal Digital Print: Quarter Circles

Here is the first of four tips to help you re-create this Tribal Print.

Quarter Circles

The inspiration uses quarter circles on the top and bottom rows of their print.

Step A.

Go to the stickers tab, select geometric, and select a circle.

Step B.

Line up the circle with the edge to where it makes a half circle.

Step C.

This is where the trick starts. 

Go back over to the stickers tab, select symbols, and select the music note without the flag.

Step D.

Change the color of the music note to that of your background.

(I put it on top of something so you could see the music note.)

Step E.

Use the top of the music note to split the now half circle.

And there you have it, Quarter Circles.

Come back soon for another great tip and another step towards making your own Tribal Print.

Tribal Digital Print: The Beginning

In case you haven't noticed, the tribal trend is crazy hot right not. Another thing you may not have noticed, Pinterest and I kinda have a thing. It supplies endless inspiration and a place to show off my jewelry and projects.

I recently found this print duo on Pinterest.

I loved the tribal print on the left and decided to use one of my favorite websites, PicMonkey, to recreate it and create a tutorial.

Step 1. 

Create your background.

If you don't know how to do this or what I'm talking about, see this post. 

Step 2. 

Go back to the Homepage.
Select Edit a Photo.

Step 3. 

Pull up your background.

Step 4. 

From here on out, I'm going to show you tricks on how to re-create the elements from the inspiration.

You can then use any combination of them to create a tribal themed print that suits you.

There will be a posts soon for the tips on how to re-create this Tribal Print.