Next month I'll be attending the SNAP! conference where creativity is at your fingertips.  In addition to sponsoring, Kustom Kissers will also be vendor in the Queen Bee Market.  I've been brainstorming table set-ups and lip balm designs which got me thinking - If two heads are better than one, all my social media friends' heads combined must be brilliant!  So, you want to help?

I'd like to have a wide variety of lip balm designs available for purchase at the Queen Bee Market, and I want YOU to design them!  You don't have to be a professional designer.  You don't have to attend SNAP! either.  All you have to do is come up with an orginal graphic sized 500 x 500 pixels at 300 dpi.  It can include a photo, text, illustration, etc.  I want each design to be as unique as you are, so that's all the direction I'm providing.

Did I mention you could get paid?  If your lip balm design is chosen to be produced and for sale, I'll give you a cut!  Lip balms, which are organic by the way, will be priced at $4.00 per tube.  Designers get $1.00 of every lip balm sold with their design on it.  Cash in your pocket (via PayPal).  Easy peasy.

All designs must be emailed to Heather@KustomKissers.com by April 1, 2013, and that's no joke.  Kustom Kissers reserves the right to reject any designs.  Have questions?  Send them my way!

I can't wait to see what you all come up with!

Are you in the Love Club?

I had the pleasure of meeting Kashoan Ward at a craft retreat around this time last year.  We stayed up late chatting about owning a handmade business and taking it full time.  Kashoan has since made that dream come true through Krafty Kash Designs.

Krafty Kash Designs has evolved into a family business including Kashoan’s husband and two teen aged children.  Together they create unique jewelry from old maps, dictionaries, and bibles and scour auctions for thrifted treasures.  I ordered a necklace for myself that reads ‘Kisser’ cut from a vintage dictionary.  I’m the only one in the world who has one, and that is SO cool!  Compliments come flowing every time I wear it.

Some other neat jewelry I’ve seen in her shop have map locations of places people are from or where a couple met, inspirational words such as ‘dream’ and ‘hope’, and even photos of animals, cameras and hearts from vintage pages.  Kashoan has an extensive collection of old texts to draw from.  Have a word in mind?  I bet she can find it for you.  Just ask!

I wish I lived closer to Kashoan in Nebraska because she has begun speaking at events and exhibiting at junk sales.  Go ‘Like’ her on Facebook for sneak peeks and the latest info.  Heck, go follow her on all her social media outlets.  Kashoan is incredibly supportive of handmade businesses, and I’m happy to call her a friend.  Reunion planning is in the works!

Blog - http://www.kraftykash.net

Shop - http://www.etsy.com/shop/KraftyKash

Twitter - https://twitter.com/kraftykash

Facebook -http://www.facebook.com/pages/KraftyKash/   

Pinterest - http://pinterest.com/kraftykash/  

Instagram: @KraftyKash

There is a very limited amount of the lip balm sets shown above available above here.  Get 'em quick!  To guarantee reciept of lip balms monthly, join the Kustom Kissers Lip Balm of the Month Club.

I had a box of lip balm stragglers left over from various events last year, and decided to have a little fun with them.  My Facebook and Instragram (@KustomKissers) followers were given the opportunity to purchase a grab bag of two lip balms and a surprise for just $5.  They had no idea what would be on the lip balm, and I had no idea what I was sending yet!  A few of the designs are pictured above.

The response was much greater than I anticipated, and it was fun for me too.  I might have to do that again.  You should follow me to find out.

Do you have the summer blues?  Becca from Our Crazy Boys designed this month's lip balm to keep you focused on the sunshine that is sure to return.

Becca was the first blogger I ever met.  A few years ago we connected on Twitter in the days leading up to Bloggy Boot Camp Phoenix.  She discovered that it was my first blogging conference and made a point to introduce herself in person during the event.  That little story is just one testament to Becca’s kindness, and I’m grateful to now be able to call her a friend. 

Becca’s blog, Our Crazy Boys, is lighthearted yet extremely helpful. Each post about her tween sons, desert dwelling, conference going, etc. is written in a manner that always makes me chuckle. One post and you’ll fall in love with Becca and her whole family too. In fact, her blog and social media presence has grown into a Digital Media Consulting by Becca Ludlum business. That’s right. You can hire Becca to turn you into a blogging social media maven just like her. Did I mention she’s been published in iPhone Life magazine? Yeah. She’s kind of a big deal.

Go show Becca some love!

Blog - http://ourcrazyboys.com

Business - http://beccaludlum.com

Twitter - @beccascrazyboys

Facebook -http://facebook.com/ourcrazyboys

Pinterest - http://pinterest.com/bludlum

Instagram: beccaludlum

If you would like to purchase Becca's designs or join the Kustom Kissers Lip Balm of the Month Club, email Heather@KustomKissers.com.

Hello 2013!  Aren't you a sneaky devil?  I'm not big on resolutions, but I am a planner.  If you look at my blogging history, there is always a post on my plan for the new year.  This year, I'm not doing one.  Yet.  First I'm going to tell you what my world looks like at this moment in time.  You have to know where you are to figure out where you're going, right?  Here's a current week in the life of Heather:

Monday through Wednesday I ride the bus to an office downtown where I work as a Grant Writier/Coordinator.  This is a photo of an actual outfit I wore there.  In a sea of gray, colorful tights are all I've got!  Most work on Kustom Kissers during these three days are done during the bus ride.  Oh, how I love my new iPhone 5!

My coworkers and I completed this puzzle during lunch breaks.  Who wants some ice cream?  I'll work it off later with a run or boot camp.  Did I tell you all that I'm no longer teaching boot camp?  I realized that all I really wanted to do was workout rather than worry about the schedule, curriculum, students, etc.  Call me selfish, but I quit.

Thursday and Friday I catch up on Kustom Kissers lip balm orders and craft projects.  I Love to Create sent me this box of goodies for writing the blog post about my car mats.  I'm not sure what all I'm going to make yet, but I do need to concoct an outfit for The Color Run taking place later this month.  Lucky me won registration from Becca to attend with a team of Arizona Bloggers.  So fun!

On Friday night this guy comes over.  I met Dave in November, two weeks before he was scheduled to donate a kidney.  Read his story here.  (I built the website myself!)  Saturday and Sunday are for blogging, shopping, napping, cooking, cleaning and an occasional trip to the theater.  Tonight it's Peter Pan with Mom.  Be jealous.

Ready for that 2013 plan?  You'll have to wait for the next post :)

Remember all these awesome designs from the first six months of the Kustom Kissers Lip Balm of the Month Club?  They have become some of my favorites.  It is so much fun seeing what designers all over the country come up with to put on lip balm.  They think of things I never would, and you all seem to love it.

Club membership is steadily climbing, and I've got several goodies planned for 2013.  Becca's designs for January are being shipped tomorrow.  Will they be in your mailbox?  Email Heather@KustomKissers.com so they can be.  An annual fee of $50 gets you three lip balms per month for an entire year.  (Makes a great gift too!)  The graphics are always a surprise.  No hints for January yet.  I'm such a tease.

Do you believe?

Is it really December already?  The last blog post I wrote was on September 30th.  Some bloggers post every day or even multiple times per day, but I post when I'm inspired to write.  I don't want to fill space for the sake of filling space.  It's important to live life away from the computer since that's usually where inspiration comes from.

So do you want to know what I've been up to during the last two months?  I'm working part time as a Grant Writer, soaking up the 75-degree Arizona sunshine, wearing colorful tights, shopping (notsomuch buying), crafting, putting up multiple Christmas trees, reading, running (::gasp::), and dating (::double gasp::).

I've been filling lots of lip balm orders too.  The website needs to be updated to keep up with brower upgrades, so the Design Your Own Lip Balm feature isn't working.  That won't stop us though!  I can still process your order manually.  To get started, email the photo you would like on your lip balm to Heather@KustomKissers.com.  I'll then send you a proof for approval and invoice for payment.

If you have a lip balm lover on your list, you can gift them an annual membership to the Kustom Kissers Lip Balm of the Month Club.  Each member recieves three unique, organic lip balms per month for an entire year.  The cost is $50, and the first shipment will include a note stating who the gift is from.  Email me for that one too, or anything else for that matter.  I'm still here!  Promise.

Did you just gasp when you saw this photo?  Tell me that isn't the cutest car mat you've ever seen.  I dare you.

I got the inspiration from one of my favorite crafty peeps, The Crafty Chica.  She posted this DIY, and my wheels started spinning (punny).  My mom sourced clear car mats (to make a set for herself) and found the cheapest at Walmart for $7.77.  She bought four sets and gave me two.

Then I heard that The Crafty Chica was launching a new line of craft materials at Michael's and needed bloggers to try them out.  Um, yes please.  I received the Juicy Fabric Inks but wanted to do more than just write on fabric with a marker. (I'm not the best at drawing.)  Since they said 'ink' right there on the tubes, I colored a lips stamp with the marker, then applied it to fabric.  Perfect lips!  It also worked on paper and felt.  Let the collaging begin!

Once I had a collage in the shape of the mat complete, I taped it down with packing tape on the back to keep in place.  Next, I placed a second car mat over the top (pokey things down) and sealed the edges with Seal-All.  I intended on duct taping around the ages, but the sealer dried clear, and it looks pretty awesome just the way it is.  It was so easy and makes a huge impact in my all-black car.  Can you say 'Christmas presents'?  How about one for every season?  Your favorite sports team?  A photo collage?

Click here to see if a Michaels' store in your area is carrying the Crafty Chica line.  As I stated above, I received complimentary Juicy Fabric Inks from CraftyChica.com as part of the Crafty Chica Design Team and was asked to share an original DIY.

How would you decorate your car mats?