Craftastictimes with Heather

Organizing.... well... a whole heck of a lot of crafty junk :-)

2012-01-16T08:57:00.001-08:00

Yes............ My name is Heather and I have a problem..... it is...... collecting crafty treasures. I do use my stash - I mean - you have seen my blog, right? However, I am extremely frugal with it all as well as frugal in my ways of organizing and purchasing. I refuse to spend more on storing something than the cost of the item itself. So I have gotten a few awesome deals and nabbed a few awesome finds from thrift stores. Also, I this is my 3rd and smallest craft room in the last 3 years and I no longer have the same furniture for storage as I had before... so sad but it never would have fit in this tiny room anyway.... Can you tell that I am sort of telling you all of this as a disclaimer?

Also, I do not think any of you are prepared for what you are about to see... I'm not showing you these pictures because I have a completely awesomely designed quaint studio with neat and tidy areas and a few crafty supplies in there... I am showing you to help you organize your chaos because I know I am not the only one with tons of scrap supplies. What can I say? Ross and Tuesday Morning have been good to me and I haven't had to pay a whole lot for this stuff at all. Think of it as couponing for crafty goodies and bargain shopping 101 in there... Okay... let's get it started in here....

Storage can be pretty. I get all my jars and apothecary goodies at Thrift stores or on 50% off sales at Hobby Lobby... All of these are from thrift stores though - I usually buy the bigger expensive ones on sale at Hobby Lobby...

This is my desk area with a decorative hutch placed on top. This desk if very deep so of course there is a lot of stuff on top of it. I keep my ink pads in an old cassette holder from Goodwill and containerize everything. I also end up with a lot of little things that don't have a place - with no drawers in this desk - I just place them on cute soap dishes and trays on the desk.

This picture shows you how to use every corner for storage. Here I have placed two bins on the outside edge of my table facing out - and I still have room to slide my chair underneath. I use the spice or can organizers on that shelf to hold trinkets that are already containerized but tend to be difficult to display. Always think vertical and use every inch of space if you can...

Another vertical storage of my twine sample bundles placed on a high cake plate with lots of room for (junk) underneath :-) At the very bottom of the picture you can see I place labels, tickets, and decorated tags inside an old floppy disk holder.

These wire bins are the perfect dimension to store your cards in without stacking them on top of one another. I got mine at Ross but I have seen them pretty much anywhere organizational stuff is sold. On the right is a vintage crate that I propped up as a shelf. And on top - an inch or two to containerize stuff with the Target dollar spot buckets...

Baskets from Goodwill help contain supplies vintage or shabby chic in nature. The plastic envelopes are great for keeping things together like specific lines from certain Mfgr's that all go together - or placing everything in them for a specific project that you are planning. Keeps everything together and is great for a grab and go option when you are on your way to a crop.

Crappy... Yes... crappy plastic shelves are placed to hold decorative completed projects, my cuttlebug and accessories, and the heavy magazines that I collect on the bottom...

Normally - I would say - out of site = out of mind. But I just couldn't pass up these awesome colorful boxes when I was working at Tuesday Morning's... They hold things like all my metal accents, and misc stuff... Apparently I need to label them because I really couldn't tell you what is in each one right now... um - out of site - out of mind! Oops..... On top is an old pampered chef kitchen organizer I keep my deco scissors in. I find that sometimes I use them for making a quick border and my kids use them too - so I haven't gotten rid of mine like everyone else yet :-)

Mess alert! This may look messy to you - but it is actually organized chaos. I keep all my cardstock scraps here - right on top of my work surface at all times. This encourages me to clean up by placing scraps in there straight away, and also to pull from my scraps bin first for projects.

This is an old kitchen island that I place smack dab in the center of my room. Mind you, this is not a super large room - but you can walk around it - so it works out okay. I use the metal surface so often - perfect for hot glue projects and messy paint or ink projects. Also, I can hang a towel there which I use a ton because I use glue sticks as my main adhesive usually and I dry my stamps off all the time, etc.

This little diddy was a great Goodwill find. It has a stadium style to it that works great to see all the product that is stored in there. If I see something at a thrift store that has potential and is cheap - I grab it even if I have no idea what I will store in it yet. Also - I am not opposed to painting an old something to give it a new look.

Cheap Michael's jars for button storage. I cannot stress to you how important it is to separate you buttons by style or color if you collect them like I do. This is only 1/3rd of my stash and the rest are in more decorative containers... but they are not sorted so I have to dump them out every time I want to find the perfect one.... kind of annoying to put them all back without some falling to the floor and getting pushed all around the house by my cats...

Not the cleanest area in my room - but showing this to you to help you remember to store under things as well. I keep alterable projects, old photos, and mat board under there. I still have plenty of room to scoot under the desk - but my table is pretty stinking big...

Office supply organizers are great for storing tons of stuff - even tools. My heat gun, crimper and paint brushes all find a home here - not just paper supplies...

Two things here to check out. One is a coffee mug holder that I spray painted red to hold my scissors. If I remember to put them away each time I use them - they are always there waiting for that next project... Also, a free standing magnetic board helps me to sketch or hang a project to dry, etc.

These are just cardboard magazine organizers that I grabbed at Ikea for a minimal price. I only keep the most recent 2 years of magazines on hand and purge out the old ones every year. Of course - that is all I have room for now :-) I gave away 5 years worth of crazy crafty magazines before we moved here... yes... you missed it :-)

My stamps that are in containers are vertical on the bottom shelf of my island. Thinner acrylics are in plastic bin drawers around the room... These shelves also help me to store large containers or kits that I want to keep together...

Don't forget the back of the door! I string ribbon through album rings and attach to over the door hooks here and my scrap bags go there too. All my Stampin' Up! paper and my silhouette fit easily behind the door since the houses here have this weird but cool design where the doors are at an angle to the rooms...

This calendar style slotted organizer was probably for someone's bills - but now holds my flowers that are still in their packages... It could work well for stickers too. Another thrift store find... and an awesome one at that!

Yes... I did stack stuff on top of my paper holder... but only because it takes it like a man! Don't be afraid to go vertical like this - especially when you live in a rental home where you cannot just go hammering into the walls with umpteen billion shelves and cool punch and stamp racks...

A 3 tiered dessert stand used to hold so much stuff... adhesives, distress inks, paints, etc... You can even containerize within this type of storage with the metal buckets or baskets... Uber functional...

My one splurge - a Clip It Up from extreme clearance. I couldn't believe it when I saw it on clearance - the store just decided not to carry them anymore - so bonus for me!! Also, more baskets holding goodies that are too long for the clip it up and I keep all of my rubons together in front...

After many years of different punch containerizing - this is where they land for the time being. Again - being in a rental does not allow me to hang up 50 cool towel bars to lean them against or screw a huge shelf into a stud... so I just organized them all on this wire laundry cart from Walmart... However - it is super heavy though so it doesn't get wheeled around much :-)

Expedit shelving from Ikea holds 12x12 paper well, but doesn't really organize it per say... The individual cropper hopper's are too tall to store inside the cubbies on these shelves... so they are just piled in there for now...

See how I had the Expedits horizontal under the window then vertical flanking the window? And another vertical shelf on top of the Expedit? Now your thinking :-) Take up all of the space girlfriend - it's yours to use!! And not a nail in the wall here...

A shelf that I bought at a garage sale that was supposed to be mounted but I flipped it upside down and it stands upright just fine using the top of the shelf now becomes a stabilizer instead. Again - no nails and this just rests on top of an inexpensive MDF shelving unit...

Well, I hope I gave given you some good ideas on how to get the most of your craft space without tearing up the walls and without spending a fortune. Most of all - group like items together and clear storage or display will help you to keep your supplies fresh in your mind. It's hard to be creative when you can't see all that you have to work with...

~HH

Just a few quick and cute cards...

2012-01-16T08:44:00.000-08:00

Here are a couple of cards going out this week. Both were super simple but just give the illusion of difficulty :-)

This card was made for a new teacher. We had to move classrooms mid-way through the school year, which has weighed heavy on our heart but is completely necessary. Our new teacher will hopefully give us the extra help that we need to play a bit of catch up and work through a few learning barriers.... I cut the apple using my Silhouette SD and then just layered everything on card stock that was already lined like notebook paper. Finished off with some Twinery Cherries Jubilee twine and punched the edges to look authentic. The letter stickers and the ruler ribbon are both Girl's Paperie - both are from a Xmas line if you can believe it...

This next card is going out to my niece for an early birthday. She is a leap year baby - and doesn't get very many "real" birthdays - so we are going to let her spend her birthday money early this year :-) I created a recessed panel by floating the top layer and punching holes to show the patterned paper underneath. I created this tissue paper bow by fringing and twisting the tissue paper just like you would say something like a ribbon rose.

If you can't tell - I'm totally "in" to fringe lately :-) Love those Martha Stewart fringe scissors - makes quick work of creating cute fringe...

Hugs and hope everyone gets some time to create something beautiful this week!!!

~HH

It's a digi world, and I'm a digi girl....

2012-01-12T20:24:00.001-08:00

Hello crafty ladies!! I am so excited to share a couple of projects that I made this week using some Fresh Brewed Designs images that I received from my dear, dear, dear friend, Heather's shop... did I mention she is an awfully dear friend??? Anyway - she has a wonderful assortment of digi images and I she has branched out and is actually making rubbah stamps out of some of her images... yes.... I said rubbah :-)

This little front door step image is amazing and comes with accessories such as a wreath and topiaries, or just plain... I don't know how she knew this is my exact front porch - but when I saw it - I knew I had to work with it right away...

The first thing that I made is a valentine using the plain image and I designed it to look as if someone had left a box of chocolates on the doorstep... wishful thinking I guess :-)...hint, hint, wink, wink....

The second thing I made is a small Easter shadow box using the image that is decorated with the front porch accessories... I really don't have much in the way of Easter stuff since our move... and in keeping with my whole homespun theme - I am making what I can for each holiday this year before I buy stuff...

Lots of Anna Griffin products on this shadow box... I just love the colors in her work - such a great balance of vibrancy paired with pastels... Some of these pieces were from one of her card

kits and some were from the individual banner kits that she offers... and believe it or not - the shadow box itself is leftover packaging from scrap supplies... a set of buttons and paper shapes and such...

I know one or both of these doorstep images will be made into rubber stamps soon if you would like to purchase them in either format, just give her a click. Sometimes it is easier to color images that have been stamped in ink rather than try to color the printed images... but then again... not all of us have an awesome supply of Copics... seething with jealousy here..... someday I will have a whole mess of those... mark my words :-) For now - I just have a few for shading and I used them on my images with some Stampin' Up! markers as well...

Well, I have been organizing in my craft room this week and have some great pics to post for ideas on how to tackle difficult storage for crafty supplies and such... so stay tuned!!

Heart,

Me :-)

12 Days of Christmas continued... done and done!

2011-12-31T20:38:00.000-08:00

It was important to me this year to have a nice decorative holiday without breaking the bank. So I used my existing craft supplies and a Michael's/ Hobby Lobby coupons to liven things up here for our first Christmas in Texas.

Day 4 project - Remembering the reason for the season!! I was quite touched when my 9 year old son handed me a letter to God and asked me to please deliver it. We had a wonderful time going over the Christmas story in the bible and remembering the reason for the season!!

Day 5 project - Pottery Barn knock-off time!! Make a NOEL sign similar to Pottery Barn - but much much much cheaper... I grabbed these antiqued gold letters at The Hobby Lobby at 50% off - which made all 4 letters a whopping $20. Which is a far cry from the $149 that I really wanted to spend for the NOEL sign in their catalog... I used the E6000 adhesive and broke apart a paint brush to help hold it together... It dried overnight and turned out very lovely!! I actually like the gold for the holidays much better than the original brown wood anyway...

Day 6 - Make and send out cards...

I usually go very elaborate with hand stamped cards for the holidays... but with all of these projects going on - I used the same kit from the ornaments in my previous post to put together cards for the family. Easy to assemble and very pretty...

Day 7 - Decorate a nice.... fake... tree..

This is the first year in my whole life that we have had to have an artificial tree for the holidays. Living in Texas brings many challenges, and obtaining and maintaining a nice and real tree is no small or inexpensive feat... So my hunny traipsed down to the local Home Depot on Black Friday to get us an inexpensive tree for our first year. We figure we can buy a bigger and nicer one when they go on even better sales.... I am really into the Pottery Barn decor this year - but won't be paying for an all new Pottery Barn holiday wardrobe anytime soon... so I grabbed some upholstery webbing online and went to town..

I was fortunate enough to have some dollar store ornaments left from our move, and my mother in law sent us some of her beloved ornaments to keep our tree from being bare... I was also happy to have saved a small box of the children's memory type ornaments from the years

past.... thank the Lord!!!

Day 8 -

Make your own ornament wreath. I saw this pinned so many t

imes and I thought I would attempt it myself. "All" you have to do is string your orna

ments on a wire clothes hanger that you have made into the shape of a wreath.... yah - mine had to be strung individually with wire since the ornament holes were so small.... It took a very long time and a whole lot of ornaments - but I am happy to be able to say that I made one in my lifetime... cross it off t

he bucket list - but I probably won't attempt this again... kind of frustrating for me!!

Day 9 - Deck the Halls!!! Here are a few pics from my decorations this year - I continued the Pottery Barn knock off theme with the banister as well and so glad I got my upholstery webbing for less than 50 cents per yard - instead of the crazy $25 for 24 inches or something like that they wanted for that stuff in their catalog...

With no fireplace no fireplace or mantel to decorate here in Texas - The stockings were hung at the dinner table with care :-)

Day 10 - It's a sign!!! Make a sign from cheap supplies from the craft store and your stash...

Day 11 - Make a count down or advent calendar... My advent calendar is packed away but I did save pics of our count down chalk board style plates. I grabbed these plates at the dollar store and cut down some chalkboard vinyl to fit in the middle. I used a white paint pen to write the permanent plates and the chalk doesn't show up too well on the numbered plate - but in person it looked just fine... Very easy and cheap project if you already have chalkboard paint or labels laying around...

Day 12 - Make your gingerbread house... and eat it too :-) I let the boys devour our little candy house as soon as they made it this year so that they could consume as little dust as possible...

Well I hope you are all inspired to have a home spun holiday season on a craft budget next year. It was a goal of mine to have a fabulous home and not take away from the present funds - so I feel accomplished in that regard. I look forward to pulling out my Christmas pretties next year and having far less on the to do list - that's for sure!!!

12 Days of Crafty Christmas... days one through three...

2011-11-23T20:55:00.000-08:00

Hello again crafty ladies!!

Since our big move, we really have minimal Christmas holiday decorations compared to the lovelies that I have posted in the past... boohoo... okay enough crying over that.... So it is with great necessity that I make my Christmas decor this year with minimal Michael's intervention and whatever I have on hand in my crafty stash... which is pretty huge :-) Not gonna lie :-)

The first project I made was this wreath for my front door featuring my family here in Texas. I had purchased a grapevine wreath at the Goodwill and I found these decorative frames in the $1 bin at my local Michael's. I printed the photos myself and used ribbon from my stash. The berries were on super sale plus coupon at Michael's (I won't pay full price for anything these days :-) Here are photos of my supplies and the finished product:

These are more $1 bin frames that I decorated with 3 layer stickers from an Anna Griffin Christmas card making kit I purchased earlier in the year off one of the shopping networks... I am going to string some satin ribbon through the backs to hang them on the tree...

This tray is a hybrid of two examples that I saw and wanted to make this year - one was from Katie Watson's blog, and the other was a painted try found in Country Woman magazine. The tray was originally a dollar store plain silver tray - I actually found it at Goodwill so apparently I paid too much for it (found the dollar store sticker on the back a little too late :-( Anyway - I spray painted it white first then I used chalkboard paint to line the inside. I used glue dots to hold the berries in place - not sure how long they will last... I might have to hot glue it but I don't know if hot glue will hold up to painted surfaces or pull the paint off.... I started out with chalk on this but it wasn't showing up very well - so I ended up making it permanent wording with a sharpie paint pen. Pops a lot more now... I will place it on an easel for Christmas day....

The ugly before...... yucko!! But potential :-)

I'll post more projects as I go and maybe you all will be inspired to have a hand made Christmas and skip the Pottery Barn catalog this year :-) Seriously... you don't know how much I wanted to whip out the credit card and order everything in that catalog for Christmas this year!!! I am sure no one would fault me since my worldly Christmas possessions were spread out on my driveway in Washington and given away to strangers.... but I am trying not to be bitter, and I am trying not to go into debt replacing things:-)

Hugs and I hope everyone has a nice warm meal and reflects on their thankfulness on this glorious Thanksgiving 2011!!!!

Holiday pretties...

2011-10-31T19:36:00.000-07:00

Here are a few projects that I made for Halloween gifts this year...

Hybrid digi project from Rhonna Farrer that I made to fill with goodies for the teachers this year:

These are hand sanitizers from Bath and Body Works that I made a little holder for and decorated for a friendly goody swap... I found the tutorial here.

These are candy bars decorated by my friend Steph that were included in the goody swap... so pretty!! The fan folds are so popular right now and they really added something pretty to the candy...

This is the sign that we had to put out on the porch on Halloween night - the flu had taken over the household... boohoo...

Hope your Halloween was to fun to be spooky!!!

Protesting Turkeys, Birthdays, and Other Stuff...

2011-10-24T08:30:00.000-07:00

Well - I am managing this Texas thing better than I thought I was going to - and I am finding more and more time to get crafty... I had purchased the cutest Turkey image last November from a dear friend's site - Fresh Brewed Designs and I have finally had time before Thanksgiving to play with it and make this card... I did a lot of paper piecing with this one and colored with markers as well. I don't have more than a couple of Copics - so it is hard for me to pull off coloring - but I made it work okay... Since this is a digi image - it was hard for me to keep the ink from my printer from bleeding in... I decided as soon as I saw this guy - that he looked like he was on a coffee break - and then I thought of the "eat chicken" theme and went all out. I am not sure if I am going to send this one out as I had originally planned - he is just too cute :-) tough decision!!!

Here is a peek of my holiday decorating for Halloween... my entryway and laundry room here in Texas... it's still weird for me to say Texas... but it has finally cooled off here to below 90 some days - so I consider this a blessing and at least bearable for every day life. And yes, I said laundry room... I even decorate there too :-)

Look who turned 9!!!! Seriously!!!! 9?!?!?! My twin baby boys are growing so fast! They had a super party at our local pizza buffet/ video gamery joint. Complete with face painting and prizes - it was a fantastic night! This is the first year that any kids invited from class even showed up - so we were so grateful to have our friends there to celebrate with!!

As soon as the Halloween decor comes down, I will be going all out Fall in here... and I am finishing up some home decor projects that I can share soon as well... Funny how I hate to decorate - but I keep messing with this house trying to get it to look better and more "me"... Its hard to go from an 80 year old cottage home to a dated tiled floored debacle we now call home. But I am bound and determined to make it look fabulous!! And I will! Blessings and hugs to all!!

Ch... Ch.. Ch... Changes.....

2011-06-27T09:30:00.000-07:00

Wow............ No one told me how different living in Texas would be. Of course, if they had - I am not sure if I would have been on board with moving at all.... Sooooooo different from our soggy, cloudy life in the PacNW. I have traded my sweats, bulky sweatshirts, and furry boots for flip flops, shorts, and tank tops on a daily basis. I don't think it has been under 90 degrees since we arrived here. Of course - everything is different here. Food, driving, people, climate, stores, brands, how you plan your day, schools, pet ownership, the houses, the insects, snakes, and NO rain!! I didn't know that virtually everything that I experience on a daily basis would drastically change. It is very hard to adapt for this Northwest girl!!

Here are a few projects that I have been working on and that will soon go out in the mail...

Made this sundae card from punches for a dear friend that

has been ill rec

ently. Super fast and easy

to put together. All circles and an oval punch for

the banana.

Made this sign for a friend who lives in my home away from home in Washington. She c

an either put it on an easel to display, or she can punch grommets and string some ribbon

through

to hang on the wall... It would be cute to cu

t out black and white figures of the family and place on there as well... Getting this one in the mail this week - I promise Chelsea!!

This card went out to my dear mother who is celebrating her 25th year anniversary of being CANCER FREE!!! We are so fortunate to have had her in our lives for 25 years since her diagnosis - and we look forward to at least 25 more!!

Let me tell you a little something about living in Texas.... there certa

inly are clouds here... but these my friend are severe thunder clouds. I have never seen the likes of such electrical storms until I moved here. Crazy lightning, thunder rocking the house, and inches of rain in like 30 minutes... so awesome but scary at the same time!!

We did get a chance to visit Six Flags Fiesta Texas together as a family and this pic shows our "winnings" from the games booths. The twins are still learning that most of those games are designed to take your money and not give you prizes - so the grown-ups had to step in and win them some prizes.... and yes... those are squids on their heads :-)

Taking some time out to make home made bubbles and get some outside time. It is 96 degrees outside in this pic - and the boys are really trying to play outside... poor guys - most of their outside time is done after 8:00 pm now... you just can't take much more than that here right now.... can't believe I am saying this - but I can't wait until winter!!!!!! oh man.........

I am missing my baby girl who is attending college in Oregon on the West Coast right now... I hope she gets a chance to visit soon.... Well - most of my time right now is consisting of improving our home that we have moved in to here in Texas. The houses here are not really my style - very builder generic and tile floors everywhere... Since I am really into "granny chic" right now - I am having a hard time incorporating any vintage elements into this house.... we'll see how things turn out and I will post pics of some things I have done here in a bit......

Have a crafty day "ya'll"....... yah - I went there :-)

Big Changes, little projects....

2011-05-23T10:58:00.000-07:00

Well as evidenced by my silent blog for the past few months, my family and I have spent the first part of this year relocating 2000 miles away from home. My husband's job has taken us to Texas and you cannot imagine what type of planning and work goes into something of this nature. However - my craft room is finally up and running (amazingly enough) and I have made a couple of projects over the last week that really delight me and help me feel more at home here...

The first is a shadow box that I altered using the Echo Park Sweet Summertime line. I found the shadow box at Goodwill - it has some hiddeously painted pieces glued in each window and the frame was very dirty and scratched up. I took it apart and painted the frame. I then designed each window as part of a summer time theme (which will get used a lot around here since it has been over a hundred several times since we got here already). I have a feeling it will feel like summer most of the year here :-) Anyway - here are the pics - I love how fun and happy it turned out. All I used was the Echo Park Sweet Summertime kit, some SU! Real Red cardstock, some bakers twine, and misc buttons....

The second is a fan folded fairy wand made for a friend's daughter's birthday. I was giving her a gift card (because what girl doesn't like to shop?) and I wanted to make it a bit more special of a presentation... I just used some random papers and embellishments and a doily from the dollar store. You can find the dowels for this project in the craft section at Walmart - or at hardware stores. They have all different widths of them so you could go really big with this type of thing. The trick to getting it right is to use at least 3 pieces of your paper, all the same size. Score and fold them then fold each one in half and glue in a circle together. A glue gun will ensure proper adhesion on this type of thing - trust me - you don't want to fool around with a tape runner on this one...

I am having a hard time with getting my new home together - making it look homey. We had to get rid of many of our belongings in order to trek across the USA 2000 miles, and now it just feels like everything is so "without character" and builder generic in our home. I am setting my sights on decorating this house room by room and I will try to post some pictures of my organizing and solicit ideas from everyone out there in blogger land - I need as much help as I can get to make this house a home :-)

Have a Happy Day All!!!!!!!

~Heather

New Year... New projects...

2011-01-15T11:23:00.000-08:00

I guess a project a month isn't too bad... definitely a lot less crafting than I want to but I am glad to have found time to make at a couple of things...

I have been making these flowers for my purse in different patterns and colors to suit the seasons. I make them during basketball practice or while watching the news at night. I just can't sit and do only one thing at a time - I have to be flipping through a magazine, crocheting, or sewing something... This one was for Christmas - definitely full of holiday cheer. I have just been hand sewing them since I don't really have room to set up my sewing machine right now.

This is a little mini that I constructed detailing a backyard berry picking adventure with

my twin boys. I am not a mom who really cares about scrapping every picture of my boys in a boyish way - so I went all out on the pink and purple for the berry theme here... teehee...

I didn't have any really berry related embellishments - so I just made the emby's up as

I went. I like that it turned out more of a garden feel than a berry one anyway....

I had different pieces of leftover chipboard books leftover - so I just combined them all in one book. Once you cover them with paper - they really go all together just fine - so save all your leftover blank pages and just make one big book from them....

I would love to be able to tell you all the fancy names of products I used in this book.... However, there aren't many. I do have some Prima flowers and some K&Co. brads here - but the trim is from a garage sale and the letters are dollar store finds.

I combined some tags/ words from a kit that I had lying around with some Prima felt flowers and Maya Road stick pin leaves. That's as fancy as it gets here :-)

$0.99 vine stickers with the Prima felt flowers here. I had a Heidi Swapp bling circle laying around so I though that would fit in nicely here. Again with the dollar store letter stickers...

I just threw together random punch outs from my old kit and I threw in a Sassafras Lass flower and some bling. I took 1 inch card stock punched circles and folded them to make a layered border. I inked them around the edges for some depth - but I don't think you can see that in the photo. It makes a difference in person though - so if you are gonna try this technique - I recommend doing that...

Just some journaling thrown in to remember our story. I hate my handwriting - so I don't add it on every page - just all together in a designated journaling area...

I combined some KI memories rub-ons with some bling, Target dollar spot ribbon, and some more bling. This is the back of the journaling chipboard piece and I did not want to attempt to cover that sucker with paper with all those scallops.... So I just used the edges as a border and I like how it turned out...

If you have ever looked back through my blog - you will see that I looooove loooove banners. So of course I had to add a mini one in there somewhere. These are my Crocs - and yes - I wear them around the yard or the house... I am not embarrassed to wear them since they are the loveliest shade of aqua and they are soooo comfy...

I used the Sassafras Lass flowers again here, cut up some Prima's for a border, and free hand cut the cloud out of the matching patterned paper. I made a little folded border at the top and also on the next page. I advise using stronger adhesive than a tape runner for these after you get it all laid down because mine kept coming up and I had to glue stick it...

A little piece of Sassafras Lass border on the bottom and another folded border.

Well - I wanted to continue with the white lettering here - but it didn't stand out too well on the patterned paper for this page - so I went with colored letters. I don't like it in the picture - but it looks okay in person so I am going to leave it... I made the little roses and threw together the other embys by layering the elements.

The fruits of our labor - a blackberry pie. It was so tasty!!

I layered bling onto heart shaped brads and more Prima's for layering. I love this photo of my Sammy - and you gotta love those eyelashes :-)

Last page of the mini - I just ran some bling and made a title. I took this photo at a wonky angle - and I like it kind of sideways. But you won't find very many sideways and angles in my work - I am way too OCD for that....

All in all - I love this album. It really makes me remember our summer days together picking berries and exploring the back yard. I heart it so!

I think I have shown that you can really make something that you cherish without a huge amount of expensive and name brand stuff. Everyone that throws out their stickers or old chipboard should really just think of new ways to use them. Layer them, add stamps, bling, doodles, etc to them.

Have fun creating and Happy New Year!!!!!!!!!!!

Holiday Cheer...

2010-12-16T15:33:00.000-08:00

Things get so hectic this time of year, but I have had a tiny bit of time to be crafty... Just wanted to share a few photos of some decorating and projects I have snuck in... We are in a new house this year so it took some time getting used to decorating... Well - a new to us - but very vintage home... 1938 to be exact :-)

Hung different sized wreaths from simple red velvet ribbon in my kitchen window. I will probably put a valence or something up later...

Worked with my exiting holiday decor - but I don't have toooo much vintage stuff so I just made it work...

Nothing says vintage Xmas like Grandma's ornaments and snow globes :-)

We went into the mountains for our tree this year - so it isn't quite a perfect shape. But it was 12 feet tall... I just put as many ornaments on it as I could :-)

Brought out my red and white for Xmas in the kitchen too...

Made a vintage style doily garland/ banner for the kitchen as well.

Here's where it ended up... in the window seat :-) It was too heavy to actually hang anywhere...

I love the K&Co. vintage holiday goodies... Can believe that I have actually resorted to buying my scrap goodies at Safeway now? There isn't really anywhere else to shop for crafts here in our new town :-)

I love the glitter and houndstooth... I wish it was Christmas all year :-)

Okay - I am off to make holiday cards now. I am thinking I will go with cutesy instead of elaborate this year since I always have to make so many... Happy Holidays!

Looking back at the Thanksgiving table setting I made this year, I am glad that we will be visiting family for Christmas. I stayed up all night making that silly corn husk & burlap table cloth! It will be nice to relax and let someone else do the cooking for Christmas :-)

The bain of my existence....

2010-11-15T23:43:00.000-08:00

Just a quick post promoting my latest addiction.... You see - I have lived most of the last 6 years with a total of 6 stinky pets, 3 stinky men, and now - I am living in a home that is 70+ years old. Sometimes, no matter how clean your house is, it is still just stinky. I have tried Febreeze - but I can't seem to find a scent that I like from them - plus it kind of goes away after a bit anyway... I have the good old standby of watered down fabric softener on the soft surfaces of my home. But there aren't that many since we have lived with hard wood floors and leather couches to minimize the stinkability in the first place...

So - I have tried the oils with diffuser reeds. These are okay but can be expensive and you can't really have them too many places around kids or cats. Which we have exactly 6 of around here... so - I have decided to go with a combination of candles and plug ins. Okay - so the plug ins that I have tried from the stores don't last very long and they seem to either be soapy smelling or super fruity smelling. Neither are my thing... I have also tried the Scent Story discs and that contraption that "plays" the scent discs. It works good if you are sitting near it to smell the air flowing out - but I didn't find it to "diffuse" through the room much at all. And as soon as you turn it off - the scent is basically gone....

But - thank goodness for Bath and Body Works. First of all - their candles are very expensive - I must admit - $19.50 for the larger version. But - they are still cheaper than Yankee candles by far (which don't smell up an entire room larger than like 10x10 very well - JMO :-). The pluses are that they are self consuming, burn evenly, do not leave soot at all, they have a lead free wick which burns so cleanly, and they can smell up even a huge room in no time. The lid is a modern silver style that sits atop nicely, and after the candle burns completely down to the wick clips - you can still use the jar and the lid for something else - like your crafty supplies - hint, hint...

I have tried every candle from Target, Walmart, in-home party sales types, etc... I have just found these to be the most fragrant and longest lasting. Trust me on this - I burn candles all day long and I haven't been able to find anything better - if you like your candles strong that is.... At least for what's available to me in my town. Of course - I suppose it depends on which scent you purchase as well - some scents are stronger than others. I tend to go with the warmer - musky scents.

Anyway - I just wanted to give a quick testimonial on this because it has driven me nuts spending money on candles - and having them leave black yuckiness on my walls, ceilings, and moldings - and only smelling good if you get up close to them...

I am burning the Leaves version during this next couple of weeks in tribute to Thanksgiving - it smells kind of like apple pie to me without the huge cinnamon smell. I am also a big fan of the Fireside scent which completely smells like a crazy combination of a campfire and a scrumptious man... Reminds me of happy memories camping plus a little cologne smell in there...

If you burn these candles - what are your favorite scents? Do you mix any scents - or keep the scents consistent through your house?

The company that makes them is Slatkin & Co. and I think you can find them other places besides B&BW. I know I saw them on some home shopping network recently like QVC or something...

Bonus!! - The Wallflowers that they offer are wall plug ins that you can buy to match your favorite candle scents - so basically my house is gonna smell like apple pie for the next month - and I am totally okay with that :-)

It's almost here...

2010-11-12T17:58:00.000-08:00

Here's a sweet card that I made for my daughter's 18th birthday... I used an awesome digi image from a dear friend's own hands... Heather has blossomed over the years as a paper crafter - and now she has her own digi shop and rubber stamps... Wow - I am so proud of her.... You can check out her shop here - http://www.freshbreweddesigns.com/

I love her playful style - and I couldn't be happier than to use her image on Jessa's 18th birthday card....

Well, it's almost here.... the day I have been dreading since she was born... yes - my darling first born daughter is turning 18 years old tomorrow. I say "dreading" because every parent knows that adult life is scary and as her mom - I am happy and scared at the same time... What a weird feeling... As I look back on the memories over the years - I can't help but still think of her as a little girl. Where does the time go??? These are the ones that stick out the most to me...

When you were born - you used to have a bit of blond mixed into the mountain of hair on top of your head. People actually asked me if I had "frosted" your hair... really?!?! I know I was young - but I wasn't stupid :-)

Your first real Christmas - you were the center of attention all day long (and of course you liked it). Which is still the case today :-)

Leaving you at daycare every day - it tore my heart in two... Not you... You loved every minute of it - and waved goodbye confidently every day to flutter off and be the social butterfly of the group... I was just chopped liver at that point...

Your first "big girl" haircut - it turned out great! I hate to say it - but I was glad to see that long hair go - so we didn't have to keep it untangled and looking nice... Now - all you want to do is grow your hair long :-)

Your first bicycle from Santa - oh how you shined.... ("shined" me on of course - since you already knew about "Santa" but hadn't told me yet :-).....

The birth of your twin brothers after being an only child for 10 years - you were so excited! (Until you dropped one of them on the floor and cried so hard and said you were "never going to hold them again!".... which of course you did :-)....

Your first serious boyfriend. The love and the pain this relationship brought into your life has changed you forever. Looking back - you can see that it has made you a stronger person. He may have been the first - but he won't be the last. Just trust your heart babe - even if you think you might get hurt again. Sometimes the love you get is worth the risk :-)

All the dance lessons, the sports, the braces, school dances, makeup, driving, and everything else in between - well it's just hard for me to believe that you are on your own now. Please remember that you are truly never "on your own". Your family and God love you and we all can't wait to see what your life becomes. The choices are yours, and above all - be happy in life and true to yourself - and you can't go wrong sweetie.... I love you!!! You know I have to throw in a few words of "wisdom":

1. Macaroni and Cheese is a very flexible food. Practically anything can be mixed in :-) practically....

2. "Remember dear - your teeth are not tools. Especially ones that cost $10K like yours..." Now I have said that for the 101th time...

3. An oven can be used to store dirty dishes in a pinch when company comes over (since I know you will never do your dishes)... Just remember to take them out before cooking up your addiction of cookie dough :-)

4. No, dollar store shampoo is not the same as other shampoos... as evidenced by your split ends and unrelenting frizz :-) Mommy will buy you nice shampoo if you need it :-)

5. Do not accept rides from strangers... yes - this one still applies - and will probably apply until you are in a nursing home girl!

6. Make friends and influence people... in a good way of course :-)

7. Only ask for money if you really need it - but if you really need money - then ask for it :-)

8. Be the best woman you can be, and find yourself the best man you can find.

9. Do your homework, wash your sheets, and call your mother :-)

10. Have fun!

~Mom

Got my MOJO back....

2010-07-22T08:29:00.000-07:00

I baked twice this week - plus had time to participate in the Mojo Monday sketch #148.... It's a birthday card for my sister in her favorite colors. You caught me - using DeLovely again. I actually had enough scraps from my banner kit for this one.

The inside of the card....

I'm going to go eat some of these now.... banana bread muffins and Oatmeal Craisin cookies... You'd never know it was summer here - I still bake like it's winter all year long....

~He@ther

S-U-M-M-E-R and a little addiction....

2010-07-14T23:38:00.000-07:00

Finished! Finito!! All done.... I finally finished my summer banner using the kit I purchased of DeLovely stuff from Scrapbook Trends . Do cut me some slack - since we have only recently started to have an actual summer here in Washington... I had a little trouble with this because my kit was missing quite a bit - but I made it work... It would have also been nice to have a Scor-pal for the fan folds, but I will get myself one in due time... I am working on a Slice right now, so I'll keep you updated on that... I want one sooooo baddy bad bad....

I only added a little bit to it - I thought it was a wonderful design to start with. I have been trying to lighten up the house for summer color wise - so this did the trick...

Okay - on to my newest addiction. Since my favorite fruit is strawberries - but I get hives when I eat them - I have latched on to berries instead. I have always loved marrion berries - even eating an entire marrion berry pie within a few days all by myself (uhh - several times I am afraid..). However - this treat takes those lovely, yummy, sweet berries to a whole new level. This is the Marrion berry pudding cake from Safeway - yes Safeway. Not some fancy schmancy bakery - aha - easier to attain you see..... I have eaten 2 of them all by myself already - having a little for breakfast - and then a little after every meal for the next day or so... They are just too good... really - toooo good.... It's really not fair because it is pure sugar and it calls to me from across the bakery - "buy me, eat me, love me....". You get the picture....

My other addictions include a daily Low Carb Rockstar - yes every day... and buttons. Really - no one person should be aloud to own as many buttons as I do. Especially when I will only use them if I can part with them or if they aren't super special. I guess hording is a better description... They are so lovely, each unique and so beautiful. Running you hands through them is so theraputic... I could go on and on....

What are your addictions (healthy and legal ones of course :-).....
~He@ther

Kabobin' it and sneak peak...

2010-07-12T13:42:00.000-07:00

Well it was kabob crazy in the house last night for dinner. I have a hard time finding lighter things to cook because I am a die hard crock-potter and Paula Dean Recipe follower. So I decided to try out a new sauce that we purchased at Costco and made kabobs. Let me tell you, this sauce is amazing - if you like teriyaki. It smells amazing while it is cooking, and tastes even more amazing when it is done... It is called Soy Vay Veri Veri Teriyaki. It has a wonderful layer of sesame seeds marinading and well - it is just pure yum!!

Our BBQ is out of commission at the moment - so I just cooked them in the oven. They still turned out super good....

I love the way the produce looks this tim

e of year... so colorful and full of yumminess....

I also took advantage of the great summertime fruits available and made fruit kabobs with the leftover skewers... notice no strawberries since I am allergic.... grrr... still can't get used to that one cause I love em so!!

Well - here is a sneak peak of all that I have accomplished with my DeLovely summer banner... not much - I know. It takes a long time to cover all that chipboard! But my Basic Grey Precision file set is helping a lot with the s u m m e r letters. I will finish this soon - I just have to... it is halfway through summer already!!

Anybody else have some super light summer meal ideas??

~He@ther

Quick Card...

2010-07-06T16:21:00.000-07:00

Don't you hate it when you are baking a cake at 10:00 PM and you only have enough frosting to frost half of it?? Do you present the cake half frosted and say, "Happy Birthday!?"... No you do not... you run to the 7-11 - only to find they have no chocolate frosting... knowing it is too late to try a different sort of frosting since you have used an entire can on it already, you head to the Fred Meyer's which is open until 11:00 PM..... Which leads me to the 15 minutes I ended up having leftover to make this card... I really wanted to try the old "put real candles on the card" trick... but I didn't have any that weren't numbers... so I just used paper instead... This is a pretty common card - candles on the front... not my design necessarily but a quick option since I could not find any of my stinkin' birthday stamps in my hurry...

I always turn to simple layouts when I need a card in a hurry, and online sketches can also help in a pinch... If I had time, I would have either stamped a pattern on the candles, or ran them through my crimper for added texure. I also would have continued the stitching theme throughout the card - but this is what you get with 15 minutes and a bunch of patterned paper...

~He@ther

Holiday decoration...

2010-07-04T16:09:00.000-07:00

A little whippy cake decoration for my hair today... I had a whole great outfit planned to go with it - but of course the weather is terrible here so luckily my cute headband goes with anything... including sweathshirts :-)

Happy 4th and be sure to take lots and lots of pictures!! (To scrap of course :-)

Out with the old, in with the new....

2010-07-03T23:56:00.000-07:00

Finally got the Spring banner down.... This was from last year, an oldie but goodie. I am going to end up with a banner for each season/ holiday so that I just have to change them out and not have to make anymore... They are super fun but can take a while...

And I squeezed in some time to decorate for the 4th...

These are Martha Stewart holiday decorations from last year, Big Lot's finds I think... I have an awesome summer banner coming - just have to finish it... I got my hands on some DeLovely - and yes - I must say it is quite lovely for sure!!!

I hope you are all able to relax and enjoy your 4th of July!!!

A year in pictures....

2010-06-22T23:21:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it has been over a year since I last blogged. I have had many life changes in the last year or so - haven't we all?? Anyway - I have taken a full time job, worked crazy hours, quit the job, had family move in, have them move out, had the swine flu, home schooled my high school senior's last term of school, taken in 3 stray kittens, taken a new part time job, volunteered at the boy's school, been without a car quite a bit due to mechanical problems, had my fridge die, had my clothes dryer die, had my high school senior graduate, broke down on the freeway, lost 20 lbs, gained 10 lbs, and much much more.....

But - there have also been lots of great things happen in our lives this past year. Here is a collection of pictures of events and projects that have taken me away from blogging...

We played in the snow....

We learned to ride our bikes!!

We tried martial arts and loved it!!

We went bowling with far away friends!!

I finally scrapped Kindergarten memories (not too far behind since we were only in 1st grade this year)....

We baked special Valentine's treats for our teachers....

We made special Valentine gifts for daddy's desk at work...

We took senior pictures...
My daughter is in the blue sweater, her friend Sara is in the purple tank top... I got lots of experience in photography with these shoots - it was fun!!

We explored the inside of a fire truck...

Sam played flag football for the first time. Even though he was the smallest on the team - he loved it!!

We ate cake.... lots of cake!!!

Had a field trip to the zoo in the rain....

I made a special banner for my mom to display on Mother's Day. This banner is my take on Melissa Phillips Love banner from long ago...

We caught fish... Lots of fish!!!

We had a senior prom.... My girl is in the coral dress... isn't she beautiful??!!

My daughter Jess graduated High School!!! We are so happy for her to start her journey into the world as an adult. Congrats baby!!

I scrapped this page... This is my baby girl 17 years ago, circa 1992...

We watched a parade....

And that's most of it anyway!! I hope you all had some wonderful memories from the past year and took lots of pictures to scrapbook!

MSW DT work...

2009-03-25T23:47:00.000-07:00

Here is my contribution for the April sketch at My Sketch World. I used some new KandCo goodies. I got a fab deal on some new paper at Michaels this week - and I swear that the Que Sera Sera paper from KandCo is probably the most beautiful paper I have ever seen in my whole crafty life!! You have to see it in person to appreciate it - it is just pure art.... I added some SU! ribbon, lace, Heidi Swapp chipboard, faux stitching, and gems. Be sure to check out MSW April 1st for another fabulous sketch...

Thanks and hope your week is going well!!

Card Frenzy...

2009-03-04T23:50:00.000-08:00

Just posting some cards that I had for my gals at stamp camp tonight. I didn't have a lot of time to prepare, so most of these are fellow demonstrator ideas with a Heather twist... I offered a few floral mixed with a few outdoorsy cards tonight - a little bit of everything I guess :-)

Masking and sponging to create a nighttime background. Natures Silhouttes stamp set...

Watercolor pencils and an Aquapainter with watercolor paper and StazOn ink... CB background... On the Fly stamp set...

Petal Pizazz set with the scallop punch. Simple and pretty - would work for a Mom's day card too...

Pick a Petal set used for the tulip petals and the leaves... Green Galore, Tempting Turquoise, and Riding Hood Red with AC patterned paper...

Heartfelt Thanks window card with CB background. RH Red, Certainly Celery, and Barely Bananna papers...

Wish you were here to make cards with us tonight - it was quite a gab fest :-) We experimented with a few different techniques tonight and chatted up a storm...

Time flies when your AREN'T having fun...

2009-02-26T01:27:00.000-08:00

Ahhhhhhhhhhhh - alas - my crafty days as a SAHM are finally over... My hubby's company has been cutting back his hours, so I am once again in the land of the working mommies after 5 years at home. I was fortunate enough to find a Management position with a local family fun center. The hours are quite late, but it's a job and I am happy to have found one with such a great company... I do miss my kids though - I didn't realize it would physically hurt me to be away from them... I know it will get better as time goes on, but man - this is pure torture!! Sniff, Sniff...

So just as I am going back to work - I learn that I made a card design team that I had applied for in January. I am so happy but I am having a hard time finding crafty time. Luckily, I am only committed to designing 2x per month, so I know I can make it work. I am designing for My Sketch World for Lucy Chesna. I have been a follower of her sketches for some time now, and she is finally moving her site to a chat style forum with a gallery, so that is exciting to be a part of. Be sure to check it out for sketch inspiration for cards and scrap pages...

Here is a Valentine I made for an online swap recently using a sketch from My Sketch World. It was for Sam, and she loved it! I did a lot of distressing, stamping, faux stitching, and I used a pretty doily and pearl stick pin for added texture.

FINALLY! I found a little time to scrap - and I am glad that I did. I love the simplicity of this layout, because it tells such a story for me in my memory. The twins were part of a Christmas Pageant in Preschool, and it was such a hilarious night. The kids all looked so sweet in their little costumes - but they made the mistake of putting Jake right next to the microphone stand. Of course, he was grabbing it and "talking" into it during the whole performance. Not singing, mind you, but talking. Saying something about how, "you know that baby Jesus over there is not a real one" and "I am a Shepherd and these are my sheep" and stuff like that... I had to grab a spot Criss Cross Applesauce in the front row to get him to stop it. It was hard to scold him and not laugh - I am sure you have all had times like that with your kids. You try so hard to be stern, but you have to turn your face away to hide your laughter.

And the thumbs up - Jake was on that thumbs up kick for like a year... it was totally funny because he thought that is what the "cool guys" do... Sammie was one of the 3 Kings, and he was begging to keep his crown and "gift" for baby Jesus. It really was a memorable night, and I am glad to have finally gotten these pictures in the book...

This is from my most recent installment in the Got Sketch series 103. It is almost over, and I am just getting started scrapping... grrr...

Thanks for checking in, and wish me luck on trying to be Supermom - with work, home, and the kids... I don't know how you all do it - but it seems impossible right now...

Like mother, like sons...

2009-01-20T21:33:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I don't realize what a crafty influence I have on my twin boys until things like Valentine's day comes along... I gave them the choice to purchase any of the Super Hero Valentines from the store, or getting down to crafting them ourselves at home. To my surprise, they both headed straight to my supplies and started picking out colors, punches, and misc embellishments to use. It was really fun to see them using crafty techniques themselves like "Rock and Rolling" their punches in colored ink, and matting shapes with larger ones behind. Sam even got out the templates, traced some images, and then filled them in with foam hearts.

When did my boys grow into having big boy hands? No longer chubby little toddler hands... This picture says a lot to me as a mother, my babies are growing up so fast!!

Can you believe it? I actually let the boys use my brand new/ right out of the package Heart to Heart punch from SU. (But you know I'm not letting them anywhere near my ink pads :-)

I was able to snap this gorgeous photo just as the sun was setting and reflecting off of the mirror... One for the scrap page for sure:

Please excuse the horrible outfits today. These are actually beach wetsuits that the boys won't let me get rid of even though they have had them since they were 2 years old... You don't even want to see the pictures of the "whole outfit" - it isn't pretty if you know what I mean. I am going to have to throw them in the give away bags while they are asleep or something...

Here are some shots of another banner that I made this week. I started with a round die cut from the Making Memories Spring Banner kit - and added the pennants, pleated some streamers, buttons, etc...

A card that I made for Chelsea's newest arrival - Charlotte is finally here!! And - I must say - she is absolutely perfect in every way!! Congrats Chelsea and Christian!! I used a pattern from the demo site for this card and free hand cut it out. Still no Cricut here :-)

And some Macro shots from the week....

Some nifty new books from the Goodwill store... All were over 20 bucks originally and I only paid $2.99 for each one... Some pretty goodies in there too.... Couldn't get this one to focus in manual so I had to use high Iso mode - which turned it a bit yellow... sorry :-)

The others that I tried turned out totally yucky... It is hard for me to focus my camera if I get the image in full frame - still learning here....

I hope the rest of your week goes well and I hope you get a chance to make something pretty...

Hugs!!!

I just can't quit you...

2009-01-13T23:26:00.000-08:00

So I am going to try Chritina's 365 days of Macro challenge - but I might miss a day or two here and there... I don't have as fancy of a camera as you do miss Christina - but I'll try my best....

http://sometimescrafter.blogspot.com/2009/01/no-more-yellow-custom-white-balance.html

This is my biggest addiction - yes - bigger than crafting...

Yes - I know it's bad for me. No sugar though.... But coffee just doesn't do it for me unless I drink it all day long.... I might go back to coffee though because it is definitely cheaper than Rock Stars... I like to think that I am a Rock Star when it comes to crafting though - so I guess this picture is fitting....

Bonkers for Banners....

2009-01-13T22:09:00.000-08:00

Oh my - what an addiction do I have.... not the bad kind of course - just the crafty kind... I followed these tutorials by Lori Genitle - and made a totally cute banner. And - I am trying to use more pastels (probably craving Spring after all the snow we have had).... I always tend to go for the bright and dark colors - so my Crafty New Year's Resolution is to try things that are out of my comfort zone. So - this week - pastels it is....

I used the Marcella K line by KandCo called Lucy's Linens for my paper - it is really feminine and frilly... Here are the links to the tutorial that I used on youtube. I didn't have the Maya Road Chipboard banner thingy so I used my good old standby - Cereal boxes (the chipboard of champions....). I folded a piece of paper in half and drew a line from one corner to the other at the size I wanted my pennant template to be.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzVLk9r9UaY&feature=channel (1)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XShN0cTfZU&feature=channel (2)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9u_3Q7NCx-8&feature=channel (3)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVcooReT48U&feature=channel (4)

If you make one too - please post a link so I can see it - I just love them soooooooo.......

~Heather

Feeling piecey...

2009-01-11T23:55:00.000-08:00

Oh how I hit the jackpot this week with vintage goodies (well - the crafters jackpot anyway :-). I was able to pick up some great notecards and file folders at just a few dollars - believe it or not - I found them at Ross Dress for Less... I think Ross and Tuesday Morning actually have the best selection of feminine stuff like fabric covered boxes, file folders, and desk stuff like that...

So I knew as soon as I saw these that they would be perfect for cutting and piecing - but I really liked the background as well. So - I just pieced it onto itself to create dimension. I added a sash with a sentiment and lots of glitter... This one is on it's way out to an awesome girl as a Thank You... I have a few more thank you's to send out - so please be patient with me ladies :-)

Just a plain notecard but I love the vintage feel...

After.....

Okay - so I really fell in love with these file folders at first sight. I found them like 10 feet in the door - and held onto them during my entire shopping trip... But - I just knew exactly what I would create with them and I was instantly excited. I think it actually turned out way better than I could have imagined...

Before -

outside....

inside...

After - I decided to go with a 360 degrees type of file folder album - and in the end - I really don't know which side I like better :-)

So don't forget to keep an eye out for beautiful things like these while you are out and about. Even though most of the work is done for you - you can still make it even more beautiful....

Happy Monday!!!!!!!!!

Separating the twins...

2009-01-04T01:12:00.000-08:00

I don't always have pics of the twins together to scrap - in fact it is rare that they are both looking at the camera at the same time :-) I think it is important to treat them as individuals - not as one entity. I took Jakob with me by himself last week to do some shopping - and all he could say all day was, "Oh boy - too bad Sam's not here to see this - it's too bad he is missing this...". He is so dedicated to his brother that he started getting sad that Sam wasn't there with us to see everything that day. He is just toooo sweet... But I do scrapbook separate pages of the boys and I have had this great pic of Sammie since last soccer season. This Pencil lines sketch was the perfect layout to showcase his smiling face.

I used some old Wild Asparagus papers and added some hand stitching to make it as "manly" as possible. I tend to buy mostly feminine scrapbooking products even though 66% of my children are male :-) I am a real sucker for flowers or polka dots. But I added to the masculinity with some edge distressing and inking.

So I am still organizing my scrap studio - but here are some recent pics of more of my storage options. I have reorganized my desk area - giving me more space to scrap. I am getting better at not spreading everything around the room now :-)

I moved an old hutch from upstairs down to my desk area. It is not as deep as the setup I had there before so it gives me more vertical storage and more desk space....

I grabbed some vintage wooden spools at my favorite antique mall downtown. I was lucky enough to get a few hours out of the house by myself while my hubby was on vacation.... They work well for my scraps of ribbon that are less than a yard.

I used to collect vintage molds when I was in to soap making - but now they are just used as containers for organization.

I am still using my old muffin pans to hold misc loose embellishments. They stack nicely inside my drawer - and these were retired after much use :-) What can I say, my children are addicted to my banana chocolate chip muffins...

Finally got my trims sorted and organized in these small containers. The slots are perfect for organizing a lot of different things - and I like having my trims sorted by color... These are just the cheap sectioned containers from Target - but I think they have them other places as well...

I recycled my kids crayola art box for my chipboard alphas. Lots of people break up their sets and store them by letter - but I just don't feel organized if the sets aren't together. The snap and lock system on the right was purchased at Costco...

I am still using my Goodwill finds to store my paint, stickles, and misc desk objects. I also save every last bit of my dimensionals for projects...

I am getting ready to add another tier to my lamp shade clip it - so I'll post that whenever it is finished...

Happy organizing and crafting to all!!!!!!!

Happy New Year!!

2009-01-01T02:13:00.000-08:00

Hello Hello... Happy New Year to everyone - I hope it is the best yet.... I was finally able to visit my hometown of Eugene, Oregon this week to share the holiday with my family. While I was there, I was able to make a stop to the Fifth Street Public Market. This is an eclectic little shopping center that just happens to be the home of one of my favorite stores ever, Mindy's Needlepoint Factory. This store is a scrapbookers dream - wall to wall ribbon, trims, threads, buttons, wools..... Your heart will seriously skip a beat if you visit - and my pics really don't do it justice. But here are some of the pretties they have there....

We also visited the fountain, the candy store, and some kitchen supply stores....

And of course - I was scrapping into the late hours tonight staying up to ring in the new year... I finally used my Sassafras Lass papers. After searching the internet for ideas - I finally made this page. This paper was a bit of a challenge to work with - and most people that used this particular paper cut it apart. So piecing it really helped...

I hope 2009 is a good year for everyone!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks for visiting....

The Goodies and The Happy Dance...

2008-12-26T00:51:00.000-08:00

First off - let me just say that if I sound a bit crazy in this post - it is only because I have been cooped up in the house for the most part of a week due to the snow. I was, however, able to make a quick trip to the Safeway - and there just happens to be a Hancock Fabrics store next door. And - Hancock Fabrics just happened to be having a 75% off "holiday" goodies - which did include some pieces of my favorite brand of goodies - KandCo!!! Oh yah - go me - it's my birthday... Well, not really my birthday - but can you see me doing the happy dance right now? I got all these goodies for $11 something including tax!! Ahhhh - shopping therapy for stir crazy mama stuck in crafty basement due to extreme weather conditions... good....

Aren't they yummy? KandCo is one of my favorite lines ever! Mostly because everything that they have coordinates so well - and most of the work is already done for you. Don't get me wrong - I love me a good altering session where paint, chipboard, and the scissors are flying. But sometimes - you just really want a little special touch without tons of effort - and they never let me down :-) I don't have the matching papers to these new goodies right now - but I am going to go through my existing supply and try to match them up. Do you think the pink ones will go well with pics of the boys in pajamas opening presents like the Clone Trooper video games and such?! teehee - but does that really matter to me?? naw.......

I got started with another Page map and made this cute page about my DD when she got a new bike from Santa. Again - sorry for the crappy pics. I didn't start scrapping until the twins were born = so I feel it is only fair to go back to my "prescrapbooking era" pictures and get in some memories for her too...

It is all about her "happy dance". Oh man - was she the queen of that one!!!!!

I love how I actually got all these shots of her progressively being surprised, opening the package, and then jumping for joy. See - there was always a little photographer slash scrapbooker inside me even when I had a crappy little point and shooter...

Let me say that I am not doing the happy dance about how this title turned out... But when I practiced outlining these Thickers - it just looked so un-clean compared to

the rest of the page that has more clean lines. And on top of that - these (&^%#@$!) Thickers are the vinyl ones -which means that most pens bead up on them or turn a bluish black - so I had to use paint dots instead. But - it is the memory that counts for this one - and my DD loved it - so okey dokey then...

Well - I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas day today. I know Santa did - just look at all the goodies that the boys left for him... Handmade cards, snowflakes, stickered up letters, and cookies from the toaster oven... So Santa tried to eat all the cookies and got to feeling sick (at midnight of course) before she remembered that she could just feed them to the dogs to get rid of the evidence... But "she" is feeling better now :-) Happy Holidays to all!!!

In case you are wondering what the note read - it said, "Enjoy your cookies and please don't leave us coal!" (Which my speech challenged twins pronounce as "cold"). They had many conversations about whether they thought Santa has been watching them when they fight with one another or have bad manners and they were seriously concerned about getting "cold" from him... Oh man - am I gonna miss this charade in a couple of years - it has been super leverage for good behavior for 6 years and running....

Xmas hugs..

2008-12-24T02:03:00.000-08:00

Sending Christmas hugs out to all my pals - thanks for all of your friendship :-) I am sure if we all lived closer - we would huddle in each others craft rooms for days at a time :-) I worked a Page maps sketch this time - perfect for the holidays!! According to my boys, don't forget to leave cookies for Santa and Jesus :-)

Snowed in...

2008-12-20T20:06:00.000-08:00

Ahhh - the lovely fresh snow outside has made it impossible for me to get anything done outside the house. Bummer - I guess I'll have to go craft crazy instead.... teehee... It snowed all day and we are up to about 7 inches now tonight. Not as bad as other areas in the country right now - but still cold and yucky just the same...

Well - I have been wanting to alter some items to match the theme of my red craft studio - so I have been covering some things with paper and such...

Here - I took some crappy old nesting boxes that I got from freecycle - and made it into vertical storage for my yarn....

Okay - I have this hideous decorative thing that goes outside in the spring sometimes - well - hardly ever because it is so ugly... But - I figure it will be a great place for my crafty lady friends to place their payments when they come over for classes... So - I uglied it up a bit more - only in a red theme....

Okay - a storage box from Goodwill in an old world theme. Normally not a problem - but I wanted it to match the room - so I covered it with some Wild Asparagus papers... This one was hard to cover due to the fact that I couldn't remove the faux leather pieces because of the grommets - so I had to use a border of red cardstock to make up the difference...

Cupcakes anyone? I crocheted this cupcake pin cushion for my husbands Grandma who is a quilter. I plan to make her a set - but we'll see if I get them all done before Xmas.... I actually finished this one a month ago - but I recently got some good ideas on how to jazz it up from crafty gal Kara's blog (http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_jXzwspOlTpY/SSGf7-NdkhI/AAAAAAAAEhE/xktDVlUVaPQ/s1600-h/13.jpg )

I was able to attend a class where we made this Podium style scrapbook from Club Scrap. It stands up freely on my mantle so people can flip through it easily - it is pretty cute - and useful... It is only half full right now though - on my to do list...

Present for the sister - for her "furry child". I put Crystal Effects over the embies on the front because it will be for her to keep in her purse. This one took me quite a while though because it was originally a Wiggles Alphabet book - with 24 stinkin' pages.... That is a lot of covering, painting, and filing... I am leaving the pages plain with just the patterned paper because it only measures 3x3 and I want her to have enough room to put decent sized photos in there - not have to trim them down to micro size.....

Well - I hope your to do lists are widdling down and your holiday spirit is high. Tomorrow, the boys have chosen to bake cookies "for Jesus because his birthday is coming up". They say, "There's only two things I like about Christmas. Getting presents and Jesus' birthday!".... So sweet - I am so glad they remember the important things :-)

Lollipop Lollipop oh lolli lolli lolli......

2008-12-15T00:54:00.000-08:00

Man oh man did a lot of effort go in to actually getting this page accomplished... I have had these lollipop themed pics on the PC forever and a day (okay - just since Halloween) - but still - I am trying to scrap current and catch up at the same time... Okay - so I was a good girl and sent the pics to Walgreens dot com photo printing last night so that I could pic them up today. Well - then I got lazy and didn't actually get ready to leave the house until the afternoon. Hmmm - upon trying to leave to pick them up - there was a strange white powder whirling around the air.... It was snowing - ughhhh - I totally hate snow. Probably because I am a really bad driver in any kind of inclement weather conditions. This probably stems from the fact that my parents would never let me drive in the snow because it was "too dangerous" rather than actually teach me how. There were many a snowy Friday game days where I could be found walking to school in my Cheerleader uniform with long johns underneath..... freezing my butt off of course...

Okay - so yes - I actually made it to the Walgreens - car and family in one piece. My boys of course had to remember that Walgreens is actually a great place to find Backugan Battlebrawlers when they can't be found anywhere else. So since I was going to pick them up for stockings anyway - I decided - sure - go ahead and pick them out yourself. Upon paying for the photos and Backugan figures at the photo counter - I realized that I had left my wallet near the computer at home when I was paying bills online. Crap!! So - yes - I went home and got it and came back for the whole lot. Yes - still snowing (yuck!).

Okay - photos - check. Sketch and Paper - check. Embellishments to match my theme - NO check. Hmmm - what in the world am I going to do to make a lollipop themed page with no lolli's... So I had to make them myself with stamps and punches. And of course - I added some bling even though it is a boys page. Everything could use a little bling in my opinion....

Well - I hope you can see how you can make embies to match your theme even if you don't have any premade ones. I used SU! stamps and these SU! punches: Word Window, Scallop Circle, 1" circle, 3/4" circle, 1 3/8" circle, 1/16th hole punch, and scallop border. Big Thanks to GS ladies for offering a free mini class this month - I completely loved this sketch :-)

Happy Monday everyone - here's to a great week!!

'Nother gift...

2008-12-10T14:18:00.000-08:00

Here is a little recipe book that I made for my mother for a Xmas gift. I just used the thin little pieces of chipboard that come inside your products like embellishments or paper. Viola - free bare chipboard. There are really hundreds of things you can do with these little gems - so whatever you do - don't throw them away!!! Here is a list of a few ways to use them in projects -
Mini-album covers

Die cut them

Have a favorite image on your Cricut cartridge? Cut it out 6 times all in the same size, pop a ring through a hole near the top, and you have your own shaped mini book. these can cost upwards of $8 at the craft store...

Paint them

Texture/ emboss plate them

Cover with paper for your own chipboard accents to match any project

Pierce shapes and cover with Crystal Effects for your own epoxy style buttons

This type of material works excellent for die cut letters for titles

Cut and use them for your own templates for future projects

Tags, tags, tags....

Use for sturdy labels around the house

Door hanger signs

Here is a project I used mine for this week. It is a recipe book for my (55 year old) mother. Her kitchen theme is Hello Kitty, so I just went with it. Normally I wouldn't do things so cutesy - but I am trying not to let my personal taste get in the way of a gift idea. I swear - if there is something that a 13 year old girl would like - my mother would love it... Anyway - I placed the holes at the top instead of the side so that it could stand freely while she is cooking... I used the "From the Kitchen" set from Stampin' Up! - it worked out really well for this project...

I also grabbed a matching pen when I grabbed the sticker set for this project. I was going to attach it with a long ribbon but I think I will leave it free so that she can use it whenever she wants to...

More gifts on my to do list - so stay tuned :-)

~Heather

Quick and Easy gift idea...

2008-12-06T22:35:00.000-08:00

Hello Hello! I went to a class tonight that I thought I would share with you. We made this great make and take Candy Dish from Cardstock. It turned out pretty cute - and I'll probably make several of them for gifts... You can fill them with cookies, ornaments, candy, whatever you like! Here are the instructions that I received from the class:

Materials -

1 sheet 12x12 cardstock
9 squares of patterned paper cut to 3 3/4 squares, with 4 of these being cut in half again on the diagonal to form triangles.
Scoring tools
Metal loose leaf ring, as large in diameter as possible
hole punch

Directions:

1. Score the length of the 12s12 sheet of cardstock at 4" and 8", turn 90 degrees and do the same thing again. The score marks create a grid of 9 squares.

2. On the 4 corner squares only, score a diagonal line from the outer corner to the inner corner, now you have formed two triangles from these squares. (Do not extend this line through the center square - only the outer 4).

3. Fold on all score lines and crease them towards the center. (The diagonal folds in the corner squares will be "mountain folds, and the horizontal and vertical folds will be valley folds.)

4. Center and adhere your cut patterned paper triangles to the inside of the triangle folds in the four corners of the paper. Center and adhere the squares to the remaining 5 squares on the inside. You can repeat this process on the outside of the dish if you wish as well.

5. Punch holes in the 4 corners of the cardstock by pinching together the two folded halves of the 4 corner squares. (I used my Cropodile which worked well).

6. Insert the metal loose leaf ring through the 8 holes and tie ribbons around the ring if desired.

Note - you could start with a smaller paper size to create a smaller version of this bowl that would be great for centerpieces, place cards, etc.

(Original class taught by Susan Mast....)

Here are some helpful pictures of this project....

Have fun and post links if you make your own :-) I would love to see different variations of this project...

Scrap happy again...

2008-12-06T01:30:00.000-08:00

I was finally able to sneak in a scrap page tonight - it has been a while though... These pictures are of my Dd when she was getting her first real haircut. We didn't have a very good camera back then, but I was determined to scrap them anyway. Thank goodness for the advancement of digital photography - which I have yet to master - but at least I stopped using my flash on everything :-) This page is based on a sketch by Val Salmon (aka: my scrap idol)...

Have a Happy Scrappy Weekend!!!

For me?! Blush Blush...

2008-12-05T17:26:00.000-08:00

I have been presented this blog award from my Gal Pal Nenamarie at http://alohanmabuhay.blogspot.com/ . Wow, what a nice surprise!! Marie has really challenged herself to learn everything she can about card making - and I think she has learned faster than anyone I have ever seen!!
The rules are:
1). Display the award on your site.
2). Put a link to the person who sent you the award.
3). Give the award to 8 more people.
4). Notify them of receiving the award.
5). Advise them to pick it up at your site.

Following is the translation of the Portuguese words and the rules for the award:
"This blog award invests and believes in proximity -(creating friendships)!" [meaning, that blogging makes us 'close' -being close through proxy]. These are the other words to be included with the award:
These blogs are exceedingly charming. These bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in prizes or self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbon of these awards are cut, even more friendships are propagated.
Please give more attention to these bloggers!Deliver this award to 8 bloggers who must choose 8 more and include this written text into the body of their award.

The following recipients are:

1. Heather (the great :-) @ http://joemamainks.blogspot.com/ . A wonderful card maker, spiritual inspiration, and good friend...

2. Christina - my talented neighbor @ http://sometimescrafter.blogspot.com/ . Her quilts are so awesome, not to mention that cute baby of hers!!

3. Jessica - another fellow card maker with such great style! @ http://jessicanorthwest.blogspot.com/ . She is also a fabulous cook to boot....

4. Valerie Salmon @ http://gotsketch.blogspot.com/ . She is dedicated to providing sketches that never cease to amaze me. As popular and busy as she is - she still takes the time to answer my questions and her classes are the best!! Seriously....

5. Lisa - a dedicated card maker who strives to learn anything and everything! She reminds me of myself when I first got bitten by the card making bug. @ http://lisabeesponderings.blogspot.com/

6. Beate - a totally awesome chic who loves to alter as much as I do - and all around great person :-) @ http://creativepaperprincess.blogspot.com/

7. Daniel @ http://danielshobbyblogg.blogspot.com/ . My friend Beate turned me on to his blog - and I have been hooked every since. He has such a gift for altered art with mixed media, and he is very inspiring to my young sons as well...

8. Jill @ http://isthismylifereally.blogspot.com/ . A dedicated scrapbooker and extreme hockey fan. She makes me laugh and keeps me inspired to be productive with my scrapping :-).

Thanks for always inspiring me crafty people - and be sure to pass on the love!!

Stocking Stuffers from your scraps...

2008-12-05T17:10:00.000-08:00

I have been collecting these ideas for a while from my fellow demonstrators out there - and I was finally able to execute them for myself... I will feature them in an upcoming class on Friday the 12th - so shoot me an email if you would like to join in the fun...

I was able to create these cute punched pals from my SU! punches and my scraps of cardstock. Arent' they the cutest??

Here's a list of the punches that I used - all by Stampin' Up!:

Large Oval, Wide Oval, Small Oval
Circles - 1 3/8, 1 1/4, 3/4, 1/2, 1/4
Scalloped circle
Trio Flower
5 point flower
Word Window (You can also cut straight accross on a scallop to accomplish this one)

That's it! I just punched away and adhered. I was lucky enough to have examples to follow provided by my fellow demonstrators - but let's see what you guys can come up with :-) Once the candy bars are eaten, these pieces will make excellent additions to any winter themed scrapbook page :-)

Here is a quick card that I made yesterday thanking my aunt for all of the kids' Birthday money that she sent. If any of you know me personally - you know how I believe the color purple was put on this earth to be my personal nemesis. I can't make a card that I like with purple for anything!! But - this one is close. I think the issue is that there are so many ranges of purple from warm to cool - and I don't really own anything that matches hues correctly. So whenever I go to put everything together - it just doesn't look right to me... Oh well - the card is simple and elegant - so mission accomplished....

I wasn't happy with the starkness of the image on the white paper, so I traced over it with a Copic Marker in Warm Gray No. 1. I also gave the edges a little trace as well. In person, you can see it much better - but it is really a nice effect.

Thanks for visiting - and have a happy, crafty weekend!!

Deck the Halls and wedding bells.....

2008-12-03T20:57:00.000-08:00

It will be my 9 year wedding anniversary tomorrow - so I thought I would wip up a quick card for my sweet hubby. Hmmmm, card yes, quick - not at all... But I wanted to make it fancy and masculine - so this is how it ended up... I started off with Jen D's Sketch for You to Try and went from there... she really keeps me fresh with ideas...

Jen's sketch...

My hubby surprised me with our Xmas tree as I was cleaning up after our Thanksgiving day celebration, so I was able to get it all decked out on Saturday. It was a nice peaceful crafty time with holiday music playing and sparkling apple cider. Although that was probably the only time I would describe as "peaceful" so far this week :-)

I wanted to fiddle with it some more - but I think I will leave it for now... I don't think the little branches can handle much more :-)

Long story short - we ended up having to be married in our home 9 years ago due to abrupt changes in our work schedules. All of our wedding plans went down the tubes, and I wondered how in the heck I could make our home look nice enough for a wedding. I decorated a tree with these gold bows and the gold garland and it turned out really beautiful in all of the wedding pictures. So I have used them every since.

I treated myself to a rustic tin star ornament this year. I try to grab at least one new one every year to weed out the old broken ones...

The twins ornament that was given to us by my MIL the year they were born. It has taken a licking but keeps on ticking (having been dropped on the floor at least 10 times...)

The little hand print snowman ornaments in the background, so sweet but broken to bits and held together with Scotch tape... boohoo...

The fragile glass ornaments were put away years ago (post twin arrival). We have used these plastic ones from Target every since. They have really saved me from yelling and loosing my voice every Christmas... Between my kids and my dogs, we are lucky to have any still hanging on the tree by Christmas morning - but it is nice to look at for now :-)

Ahhhhh, the Spongebob ornaments in the background... I am sure I will miss decorating my tree with Spongebob once the kids are all off to college... I'll probably pull them out and put them on the tree anyway...

Just a quick garland over the dining room mirror, I think I will add to it later. Maybe photo's??

Well - deck your halls and be merry :-) But above all, find time to relax and of course to craft!!

Lots to catch up on...

2008-12-03T20:06:00.000-08:00

Wow, has it been a month already? Been having trouble with browsers and posting, so I just gave up until my hubby could fix things... But I am back with a vengeance... teehee... Here is what I have been up to lately -

Cooking up a storm for Thanksgiving day. I was so blessed to have my husband and all three of my children at home for our meal this year. It has been so long that I haven't had to share my daughter with her father and that my husband wasn't working on the holiday....

Me slaving away in my tiny kitchen for 4 hours, just so we could all eat our meal in about 10 minutes flat... Hallelujah for leftovers :-)

I set the table as festively as I could - it was a busy day and I don't really have a plethora of Turkey day decorations. I did have time to make place cards out of my scrapbook scraps though - they were cute!!

One of my place cards for the table setting, they were all different but I didn't get all of them photographed...

I like to make sour cream biscuits and a green beans and potato casserole instead of the traditional mashed potatoes and rolls. I think it brings a little something special to the meal - plus it makes for a super awesome turkey pot pie later in the week...

This was the tenderest and juiciest turkey I have ever cooked. My hubby helped me to brine it. This process was rather time consuming - but I highly recommend it if you can swing it. It was completely tasty - and the drippings were just the right blend of saltiness for a tasty gravy... mmmmm, can't wait for Christmas dinner now...

I have hosted 3 holiday card classes and a workshop - so not much crafting going on. But I have had a chance to make these Holiday cards -

One version of a holiday card I will send out this year. I love the monochromatic look with the pearls.... tah dah :-)

These are cases of Alex M's apple cards from earlier in the year. I just made them a little Xmasy for the teachers holiday gifts I will give them...

Trying out a little Baroque Motifs for the holidays. It's not traditionally a holiday set, but I think it lends a little formality...

A baby card with a retired SU image... it was a cute one - too bad it didn't make it into the catty...

An RAK for a friend - who just happens to have the bestest name in the whole world... Heather :-) Love ya girly!!

Here is what I found my twin boys up to when I tried to sneak in a shower at like 3:00 in the afternoon... They had grabbed every blanket and pillow in the house and threw them on the floor. After a sneaky little jump off the couch fest, they were so famished that they had to sneak chocolate chip granola bars and cartoons in too. Yah, I wanted to wash every single blanket in the house anyway.... not..... the little turkey's, gobble gobble....

I hope you and your loved ones had a lovely holiday, and now on to the next big one...

2008-10-30T12:12:00.000-07:00

Okay - so my friend Sprytebyrd tagged me to reveal some things about myself so here it goes...

The Five Tag:

Five Years Ago:
1. I was working 14 hours a day as a Mfg Supervisor for an Internationally successful company...
2. I was (happily) boxing up my breast pump and drying up my milk...
3. I had been married for 4 years...
4. I lived in another state...
5. I was getting ready to purchase my 3rd home which was a repo/ remodel project...

Five things on todays to-do-list:
1. Take the kids to Chuck-e-Cheese to spend their birthday money...
2. Pay bills...
3. Make my husbands favorite dinner tonight...
4. Spend time making holiday gifts...
5. Dishes, laundry, cleaning the floors, giving the kids a bath, shower myself... oh yah - only five... teehee...

Five snacks I enjoy:
1. Hot Tamales candies
2. Diet Dr. Pepper
3. Golden Grahams cereal without milk
4. Right now I am addicted to candy corn...
5. Chips and Salsa - the hotter the better... mmmm... makes me want some right now!!

Five Places I have lived:
1. Creswell, Oregon
2. Eugene, Oregon
3. Veneta, Oregon
4. Leaburg/ Springfield, Oregon
5. Vancouver, Washington

Five jobs I have had:
1. Salad bar girl
2. Lead Teller
3. New Accounts Rep
4. Manufacturing Supervisor
5. Mom - the most important one of all!!!!!!

So now you know a little more about me - hope you find time to comment about yourself and your lives...

Finally squeezed in some scrapping tonight...

2008-10-25T22:58:00.000-07:00

I have had these pictures in one of those sticky style old photo albums for 15 years now... They are of my precious daughter at Christmas when she had just turned ONE... Next month - she will turn 16. I don't know how I am going to take it - I know it is such a milestone for girls especially - but it just makes us mom's feel so darn old... Oh yah - and I changed the date on this layout after I took these pics - noticing that I am so stuck in the 2000's - but these photo's are actually from 1993 (hence my stretch pants :-)...

I focused on a lot of layers and wanted to distress it but also make it feminine. I added distressing chalk ink, stickles, silver pearl paint, and lots of fingernail distressing.

I was able to incorporate some Cricut cuts that Beate sent me a few months back. Thanks again girl - they worked perfectly for this project :-)

I swear I would have added more layers on this one if they would have fit. Luckily - I stopped and just let it be... and you all know how hard that is for me :-)

Here is a picture that my 6 year old son took of my husband, Sam, and myself. Not a bad photographer - I must say. At least it is in focus... I don't really need the top of my head anyway...

Here's Sam's try at it - not really focused - but it is nice anyway... Me and Jake...

I hope everyone enjoys their Sunday - relax, give thanks, and craft... Nothing better :-)

Planning ahead...

2008-10-25T11:37:00.000-07:00

Hello crafty friends! I have promised myself that I will be completely ready for the holidays this year right down to the last detail. I wouldn't go as far as to call me Martha Stewart, but hey - I girl can hope - right?! So there will be lots of handmade gifts and decor going on this year. With the economy the way it is - maybe even a little more handmade than usual in our house. So, I whipped up this little planner last night to organize my thoughts and projects. I am a little crazy when it comes to making lists and writing down my ideas. I have tons of notebooks full of stuff written down. When one gets full, it's on to the next one. However, I keep them all in case I need to refer to them for anything... You should see me flipping through the pages like a mad woman looking for something - I am sure it is fairly comical to watch... But it is a hard habit to break...

For this project, I started with a lined spiral bound notebook from the dollar bin at Michael's. I grabbed my (coveted) Basic Grey Fruitcake, my spiral and tab punch from SU! and my book binding glue from my LSS. I decided to make my own wreath embellishments with a holly leaf stamp and some bling for berries.

I didn't want to froufrou it up too much with tons of ribbons down the side (after all - it has to be functional and fit nicely in my purse). But I did want more ribbon accents on this project. So I stapled ribbon tabs at the top to coordinate with each tabbed section instead.

The tab titles I chose are Decor(ations), crafts (to make), cards (guest list and sketches of cards to make), gifts (handmade and list to buy by person), to do list, meals to plan, and travel plans. All of these titles fit nicely (with a little fandangling) on the SU! tab punch when I used my Carolee's creations alpha's.

Thanks for stopping by and here's wishing you an organized holiday season!! I will be posting my holiday projects as I complete them - as long as my family promises not to peek here to see their gifts....

BTST #9

2008-10-21T15:02:00.000-07:00

Here is a little something for Beyond the Sketch #9. I originally was going to make it a card - but I remembered that I had an unfinished project from a previous class calling my name. This project is from my class I finished months ago - Got Sketch 101 (completely fabulous btw - you should take her classes if you can - well worth the money...). The challenge was to create an easel for my scrapbook sketches using this 4x6 acrylic free standing frame. I got mine at Michael's for $2.99.

Here is the sketch - feel free to make this sketch into anything you want - and be sure to add a little something to it yourself...

Here is my finished project. I used my cropodile to punch holes in the acrylic - but I don't really recommend this method. Since it was two layers thick - it was quite hard to punch through and my acrylic cracked a bit. Val S. recommended that you use a Fiskars drill for this procedure. So now that it is done, I just paste the sketches I have into a Word document and shrink them down to size. Print, trim, and place in order on my easel - and viola. No more bending my neck to see the sketch I am working with. I also put my own hand drawn sketches in here - and look a bit more professional in this type of setting...

I used piercing, Cuttlebug embossing, SU! tab punch, Basic Grey Infuse papers, and 1" binder rings from Staples.

Have fun with this one - there are so many upcoming holidays that you could experiment with here like a desk flip calendar with family pictures, or a recipe easel, etc... If I can get ahold of my hubby's drill, I might make all of those ideas for stocking stuffers... hmm....

Young love...

2008-10-20T14:50:00.000-07:00

Awww - seeing my daughter all giggly over a boy just takes me back to the good old days. The Football games, pizza dates, holding hands.... it was all so exhilarating. My daughter committed to her first real boyfriend over the weekend, and it was so sweet to watch. She would kill me if I spilled any details, but I must say that I am grateful that there are still some young men with manners and romance at her age. This is a card I made to congratulate her on this life changing time for her. I know with young love comes pleasure and pain, good times and bad. But the life lessons that she will learn are priceless and will stay with her heart forever.... I wish her luck, love, and tons of butterflies :-) This was inspired by JenD's SFYTT this week - it is one of my favorites!

Projects and cards and tags, oh my!

2008-10-14T15:12:00.000-07:00

Just posting a few cards and projects that I have worked on this last month... We have finally settled into the school routine and I am finding time for myself again :-)

This is a little tag that I made inspired by the sketch challenge at triple the sketch. It will hang on our "grateful tree". It is basically a miniature fake fir tree from the craft store that I decorate for Thanksgiving and then in December for Christmas. I let the kids draw little pictures and write what they are thankful for - and then we hang them on the tree. I'll be sure to post pics when it is ready....

Here is a card that I made for my teenage daughter's allowance money. I wanted to make it really grown up and feminine so I stuck with the pink and black and a little bling theme... Used a sketch from 2 sketches for you...

Here is a card that I made for my neighbors to give with a batch of cookies. I used thickers and a pieced the little house and tree together with scraps (still no Cricut for me:-)

Another little piecing that I will frame and eventually have a full set of season inspired wall hangings....

You'll notice a common theme in my patterned papers on many of my projects here, including my grateful garland ( http://craftastictimes.blogspot.com/2008/08/fall-garland-papercraft.html )... I am a fairly frugal gal - so I told myself I couldn't break into any new paper until I was down to unusable scraps from these papers. Incase you are wondering, yes - I have wittled them down to close to nothing... but you never know :-)