Project Spotlight: Bucket Bags

by Cynthia Coulon
"Are those pictures of your kids?" the lady in line behind me asked, pointing to the handbag slung over my shoulder.
"They are," I answered with a smile.

She continued, "Where did you get that? It's so cute!"

from Julie: Here I am with my brand new Grand Bucket Bag that I received as a gift from Heritage Makers at Reunion 2012! I had SO much fun designing this, and have had so much fun since then showing it off! I always get lots of comments, not just on the design of my bag, but on all of the beautiful pictures of my family :) 

This wasn't the first time (and won't be the last) a stranger has commented on and inquired about my bag. It's definitely a conversation starter—and I certainly don't mind! I'm proud of my custom handbag because it's uniquely mine, designed by me! I call it my "brag bag" because it's got a cute picture of my kids I can show off wherever I go. It's my Heritage Makers Bucket Bag, and I love it!

"Just what are Bucket Bags?" you ask.

Bucket Bags are designer-inspired photo handbags that let you combine your love of style with the loves of your lives! They let you show off your individuality—and carry stuff too!

"The Little Things"  by Cynthia Coulon, template 104965; "HM Bucket Bag Full Photo" by Marin McKay Barney, template 95937

Bucket Bags include metal feet, a top zipper, 3/4-inch wide straps, an interior zipper pocket, a cell phone pocket and attached key fob. They are constructed of durable fabric and come with black microfiber trim or can be upgraded to leather trim. You can keep one side black for all occasions, or extend your customization from seam to seam with the two-sided design option.

Can you imagine your mom’s face if you gave her a Heritage Makers Bucket Bag for Mother’s Day?

Of course, our Template Gallery is full of beautiful, customizable templates that make it super easy for you to create your own in a jiffy. And you can always design your Bucket Bag completely from scratch. Just follow the design guides in Studio! Click on any of the bag images to go to their templates in the Gallery.

"Jenny's Grand Bucket Bag" by Jenny Erchul, template 95905;  "HM More Wag Grand Bag" by Roxanne Buchholz, template 98416


"Key to My Heart" by Carmen Dolen, template 96009;  "Together Forever Bag" by Lynda Angelastro, template 92962

"Be the Good" by Cynthia Coulon, template 94949; "HM Cheerleading Grand Bag" by Roxanne Buchholz, template 96046

When you look in the Template Gallery, you'll notice that we offer two types of Bucket Bags: the Grand Bucket Bag, and the Bucket Bag. What’s the difference between the Bucket Bag and the Grand Bucket Bag? 

Just the size: 
The Grand Bucket Bag is 15”W x 11.5”H x 6”D  
The Bucket Bag is 12”W x 10”H x 5”D
Remember, carrying a customized Bucket Bag will most likely result in enthusiastic comments and questions from others about your bag and photos.  If you can handle that, then get into Studio and make yours today! 

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Let me call you Sweetheart

Do you remember this canvas that I made of my firstborn, 2 years ago?

Now that Baby #3 is on the way, I figured it was well past time to do up a canvas of our 2nd sweetheart. Don't they look sweet together?

There is room on the wall, waiting for the next canvas :) This'll be a collection to look back on!

I used my first canvas as a template, switching out the pictures and background paper, and adjusting the layout for some variety. I left the white text that goes behind the pictures - lots of positive words like "wonderful" and "loved" and "kind" :) It seemed to have worked for our first child. Hopefully it'll have a similar effect on our current 2year old :)

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My Happy little Valentines

Happy After-Valentines! The time of much sweetness and candy :)

The most exciting thing for us on Valentine's Day is the fun of preparing and sharing Valentines with my daughter's preschool class! This year, I let Gabby pick a pre-designed template to put her name and picture onto, and we used the valentines as tags on giant heart-shaped cookies that she helped me decorate.

We made and fancied-up a lot of cookies. She had a blast :)

The front of each valentine said "I'm just NUTS a bot you, Valentine!" (Gabby thought this was hilarious :)) 

And the back, my favorite part of all, has a picture of my little sweetheart, giggling. Just like her classmates probably would recognize her. Even if they can't read her name yet.

 Gabby came home with TONS of goodies in return...

Lucky for her little sister, she's willing to share!

Check out our fun customizable projects in the Template Gallery, and as always, let me know if you need any help or want the best deal! :)

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It's Beginning to look a lot like...

It's snowing here in Calgary, a LOT! And what better time to start thinking about the upcoming holidays than when it LOOKS like Christmas outside? :)

We just got our annual family photos done, just in time for the snow and the Christmas-card-feelings... and I've been playing around :)

Check out this Igloo Christmas Card I just had accepted to the gallery!


If you want to use it, it is Template ID: 96770 in our Template Gallery! You can find all of my templates by searching "spackman" in the search field :)

There are lots of beautiful Christmas (and other holiday) cards just waiting for you to customize and use this winter! And as always, if you need any help, just give me a shout!

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Template Spotlight: Baby Boxes

What do you do with your babies' infant memorabilia? I have had Hospital Baby Bracelets, 1st Homecoming Outfits, Baby Announcements, etc floating around on the top shelves of closets (where they would be safe) for the last few places we've lived, and it's been really annoying finding these things and thinking "These are special. These need to be kept safe." and not really having a good place to put them. So I finally did something about it!

I went to Michael's Craft Store and bought some plain white photo boxes on sale. Then I brought them home and measured them - our 12x12 individual scrap pages would be perfect! I wanted my boxes to look traditionally scrapped, designed with love. So I made a piece for each side of the box and lid - Pink for my first daughter, Purple for the second :)

When my pages arrived, they looked like this:

Then I used my straight edge cutter to cut the pieces apart. I used a UHU glue stick to stick the pieces to my box. Super simple!

This is what the finished boxes look like! You can find these both in the Template Gallery, along with a boy's version :)

Girl's Pink Box: 81056
Girl's Purple Box: 81057
Boy's Blue & Red Box: 81055

Enjoy!!!

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Gabby's Valentine

Oh my goodness! This is a month late in posting, but I just realized I didn't post Gabby's Valentine! It was so cute, and I got so many compliments on it - so fun to see WHO sent the valentine, and the little preschoolers that can't read yet were able to identify which valentine was from Gabby! So fun :) and I had a BLAST making it!

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Happy Birthday, Grandma!

Happy Birthday to my Grandma, who motivates me to create fun projects because all she ever wants is PICTURES! Check out the latest edition of Grandma's Digest!

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Julie's 2012 Yearbook

I am SO excited for my 2012 yearbook. I've got a routine, and I'm sticking to it, and at the end of this year I am STOKED to get this gorgeous book in my hands so that my family and I can look back on an awesome year! Every Sunday, I empty my camera, sort my pictures, upload them to my HM account, and then do that week's page in our yearbook. I've started it with template ID: 61136, but I really wanted a 12x12 album, so I adjusted it from an 11.5x8.5 to a 12x12 to create more room for journalling.

So far I've got the first 3 weeks done, and the rest of the pages are ready to swap my pictures into and type my stories! Easiest "yearbooking" ever. There are so many incredible yearbook album templates in the Template Gallery - it's never to late to start!

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Gabby's 3rd Birthday!

I have been a publishing DIVA lately, and one of my favorite projects to create was my daughter's Birthday Invitation!

Gabby has a huge crush on Buzz Lightyear. HUGE. She chose Buzz Lightyear pull-ups over the Princess pull-ups for bedtime. She would watch all 3 Toy Stories over and over again if we let her. She thinks Jesse is the coolest.

Did you know that Disney.com allows you to download free images of Disney characters? I didn't until just recently! Gabby and I sat together and she even chose which characters got to be on her invitation. She was a kind girl and included Zurg.

By the way, I LOVE our new 4x8 photo card. They were super-cheap, and I got to customize them EXACTLY how I wanted! 

We also had a really awesome Buzz-approved cake, created by my good friend Jenn! It was a hit!

Anyway, even though her Birthday Party was LAST week, our little girl is officially 3 TODAY. Happy Birthday Gabby!

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Dry Erase makes for Simple Organization

Have I shown you these yet? After we moved and had more house to keep, I re-vamped my existing "To Do Lists", and used our new Dry Erase pages (available in both 11x14 and 12x12) to keep it simple! I got some cleaning/organization ideas from Fly Lady, and then made my own master lists to rotate through. I LOVE these - there are 6 pages, each with a different "zone" in our house, and the things that should be done at least once every few months to keep our home clean and organized (and to keep the momma happy!)

I started off with This Template, because it was just so cute, the colors and everything, and the clean colors made me happy. Then I changed it to fit what worked for me. 

The 2 things I love about these the most:

1.  I have an easier time keeping track of what's been done, even from 6 weeks ago, so that I'm not re-doing things, and leaving other things undone (sometimes I skip things!) 
2. It makes it easier for my husband to know what I want him to do :D 

Check them out! And they CAME ready to dry-erase, I didn't have to laminate them! I just punched 2 holes in each and strung them onto key rings and hung them on my bulletin board (so I can turn a new page each week)

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Success is Hair!

You may remember this post about a magazine I made for my daughter, full of her hairstyles, so that she could choose how we do her hair. Well, it arrived last week, and it's been a huge success! Check out the picture proof :)

By the way, if you'd like to make your own, it is Template ID: 64159!

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Be Happy for this Moment

So a friend of mine emailed me this quote, and I have no idea where it came from or who said it, but I loved it so much that I made a 5x7 print to frame out of it. And then I liked that so much, that I changed the quote to something out of the Quotes Library and submitted it to the Template Gallery, where it went through a review process for quality control, and was accepted! 

Here is my original:

And here is what is in the Gallery (pretty much the same :) Template ID 62139) Enjoy!


Now that I'm posting this, I'm thinking it might be fun to make a copy (with different pictures) for the friend who originally shared this quote with me :)

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Hair 2Day

This is the "hair magazine" that I've made for my 2year old daughter! I'm SO excited for it to arrive! Doing her hair has been something of an ordeal, but now it's starting to become a regular thing, and I'm hoping that with a "selection of hairstyles", it will be something that she will even look forward to!

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Address Labels are HERE!!!

Address Labels are available early! I am SO THRILLED! Check out some of the things I've made - too much fun! Plus, these are such a fast project, being so tiny and easy!

Here is a "Canadian Pride" address label, just in time for Canada Day! This one is in the Template Gallery, Template ID: 61134

  A few others that I had way too much fun making:

  

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This one is also in the template gallery, my picture of it turned out a bit funny, but there is an entire line of photography business supplies for all of you photographers out there!

 

Have fun coming up with your own "address label" ideas! These are found in the new "Business Supplies" section when you start a new project!

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Grandma's Digest

My Grandma is always asking for pictures. It's all she wants ever! And now with our fun new "Booklet", I can make her an entire magazine full of pictures! It's the subscription every Grandparent wishes for :)

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Another one for the Gallery!

Yay! My invitation for a party I'm doing for a friend made it into the Gallery! I had so much fun designing this, and hopefully other people will be able to benefit from my design :) If you like, it is Template ID: 57028

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Fun Felt!

Working on a project, and just felt like... well, Felt! So many cute little felt things, they don't even all fit in this picture :)

A little preview of what I'm working on:

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Tile Crazy!

One of my favorite things to do with Heritage Makers is make tiles. I call this a "hybrid project" because I'm using both a digitally-designed page, and my own hands-on paintbrush/scissors/glue craftiness. :D

First, design your tiles. I use a 12x12 scrap page, and fit as many tiles on as I can. For example, if the tiles that I am making are 6x6, I can fit 4 tiles on. If I'm making 4" tiles, I can fit 9 on a page. You get the idea. The tiles themselves are super cheap from any hardware store, and I just use Mod Podge, which I got on sale from Michael's (I bought my bottle about 2 years ago, and it's still lasting me!)

***Update June 2013: Since this original post, we've started offering a "Pearl Finish" on our 12x12 scrapbook pages (and Greeting Cards :)) So you don't need to put an additional layer on top for a sparkle. AND I've discovered that a regular glue stick (I've been using the purple UHU gluesticks) actually works BETTER than Modge Podge, as the paper doesn't get wet enough to pucker, and it's easier to apply. Have fun! 

Here are some examples of tiles that I've made - some of these you can even find in the Template Gallery :)

 

 

 

 

Once you've got your tile pages, get them together with a straight-edge cutter (or scissors if you don't have one), your tiles, Mod Podge, and a Foambrush/Paintbrush (either one works just fine)

Cut out your pages and trim the edges so that your page fits your tile properly. If your tile has a curved edge, trim your page so that the paper is only as large as the flat portion of your tile.

Using your brush, spread a thin layer of Mod Podge over your tile. Then carefully position your paper on the tile, pressing down in the center and gently rubbing the page flat from the center of the tile towards the edges.

Once you've got the paper onto the tile, add one final layer of Mod Podge over top as a coating. If you have a foam brush (easier) then just use a stipple technique to apply the Mod Podge by pressing down and lifting straight back up, over the entire tile. If you're using a paintbrush, be quick: brush a layer of Mod Podge over the entire tile, and then go back over the tile (quickly!) and stipple the coating to create an even finish. You can leave the finish with a brushed-texture, but unless your picture is one of woods or trees, a brushed-texture tends to be a bit distracting.

Once all of your tiles are assembled and finished, just leave them flat to dry! Any bubbles (from too much Mod Podge, too wet) will calm down if you just leave them alone. These make great gifts and home decor! Think outside the box: Use a family picture or a favorite picture of a loved one on a tile! Great Display!

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