Be Back January 9th or 10th

Good morning my blog visiting friends.  I hope you all had a safe, healthy and happy Christmas.  We had a wonderful season this year, my mom's on the 23rd, Christmas eve spent at home with a steak and crab dinner, Christmas morning at home and then to the inlaws for a delicious dinner, my dad's on the 26th and then a visit with friends followed by a drive to Kincardine and back on the 27th.  What will the rest of our vacation time hold?  Who knows.  However, I have been banned from ignoring my family while they are ALL off and that includes scrappin' (boo hoo).  So, I am taking a vacation from blogging because I won't have any projects to share with you and I'm all out of things to share that are already complete.  I don't even have anything half done right now.  So I will return January 9th or 10th.  I can't wait to see your bright, shining faces!!!  Enjoy your time with your family!  Go!  E

The Last of the Teacher Gifts

Good morning, I'm glad to be back?  Isn't Cheryl wishing she didn't receive the prototype right about now?  I heart this project with all my heart.  This gift has been given away so it is pretty safe to share, however, I did submit this project to a magazine we'll see what happens.  It all started with me wasting time on Pinterest and now look what I can do.  This one was made using scraps of paper out of my drawer, seriously.  I made the dividers using Kraft (also known as Crumb Cake) cardstock, the labels were also cut using my new Spellbinders dies on Kraft as well.  The butterflies were done with my Beautiful Butterfly embosslit die from scraps of scraps and sanded.  I added the rhinestones from the September Up the Street kit to the centres of the B-flies.  The B-flies are popped up using another one of the place card pins from one of the kits I have bought (love those, will have to get some more).  I tucked a border cut using a MS punch on Basic Black cardstock into the lid, it is also glued on with Tombow glue and then tied using some more lace that I pinched from my mom (thanks mom!).  Once again the cute little box and cue cards were purchased at Dollarama and stamped with my Smash products date stamp.  I need to stop making these so nice, people are starting to request them now.  Thanks for checking in today, come back tomorrow for another great project, IMHO ;)  E.

Holiday Homework

Good morning.  While you are reading this I just might be getting my hair did.  I'm going to look hot for the holidays.  Well, I'll at least have nice hair.  Today's card is another departure for me.  This card is a square (5.25"), I don't normally do squares because I don't have envelopes for them but hey who says you have to wrap up the card?  This card is also fairly involved even though it looks simple.  I cut strips of patterned paper (Recollections) into 2.5" squares and stuck them down in a grid-like pattern.  I then ran the card through the Big Shot using the large dots Texturz plate.  The first card I made I attempted to sand the dots, love this look but it didn't work so well with the holly and words glittered paper.  So I aborted mission and stuck with just texture (you can see the texture in the second photo - the close up).  Next I wrapped some Pool Party ruffled ribbon around the middle seam, for a reason :)   The greeting from Inkadinkadoo was inked using Old Olive craft ink and then embossed with Iridescent Ice powder.  I used my Fiskars shape cutting tool to cut the greetings in an oval, sponged the edges of the white oval and the card base using Soft Suede, and then cut another larger oval in Cherry Cobbler.  I added some chipboard snowflakes to the cards from Basic Grey Jovial collection and then added a  co-ordinating epoxy brad in the centre.  And done!  I really like the colour combo on this one, part traditional part modern.  Perfectly me.  That's it for now, check back on the 27th, I'm hoping to have something for you then.  Have a safe and happy Christmas!  E

The Start of Next Year's Xmas Cards

Good morning!  You read this blog post title correctly.  I have started Christmas cards for next year (or maybe even a few last minute gifts for this year).  I have been finding myself with some extra time lately as I am pretty much all done my Christmas preparations.  For once I have accomplished everything on my to do list and in a timely manner as well.  I guess I'll just start on next year's preparations.  Today's card is something pretty complex for my general style.  I added alot of those if I have time/if I feel like it details such as sponging, texturizing backgrounds and embossing.  So let me get started.  The card base is Pool Party, I used my sanded background stamp and PP ink, then the snowflake from Inkadinkadoo (Ornate Christmas) in versamark and then clear embossing powder.  I used Soft Suede ink and a sponge on the edges of the card base and all the embellishments.  Layer #2 is cut from Cherry Cobbler cardstock and Recollections paper using the Top Note die and the Big Shot (plus a strip of green paper).  I tied Cherry Cobbler twine around the Top Note and adhered it to the first layer using Tombow Multi-purpose adhesive.  The next layer is the greeting, first stamped on Very Vanilla cardstock, then die cut using Spellbinders and again from Cherry Cobbler cardstock.  I added green brads from Basic Grey (Jovial collection) and stuck it down.  The last layer is the snowman, stamped, hand cut, and then sponged.  I added an epoxy brad from Basic Grey (Jovial) to finish him off and stuck him down.  See what I mean?  Lots of steps.  But the entire look is awesome *patting self on back*.  I hope you like it, you just might be the recipient of it next year, LOL!  Come back tomorrow I have one last project to share with you until after Christmas.  We'll see how many posts I can do over the holidays, I've been banned from ignoring my family while they are home... 

Cogs Mini Album

 

 

Good morning.  As promised I am delivering the cogs mini album that I created for my MIL as a Christmas gift.  No worries, she's not very tech savy and won't be reading my blog and spoil the surprise.  As I mentioned in my post yesterday, I bought the two mini chipboard albums about two years ago.  They were really cheap and I loved the shapes of them, cogs for boys and a briefcase for men.  The scrapbooking world really does fall short on products out there with a boy/man theme.  Do you agree?  Back in the early fall I bought the paper from BoBunny at Up the Street Scrapbooking with no plan in mind for it.  It was in the clearance section (yes, I am so totally a clearance rack shopper it's the first place I go), but it was so cute with the space monkeys and aliens I just had to have it.  A couple months down the road and inspiration kicks in.  Perfect!  What I do not like about this album is the ball chain closure, I might have to go find a snap ring to hold it, they work much better.  I like how the title page of the book turned out, I used some Thickers chipboard stickers for the title, hand cut bits of paper for the embellishments and chipboard cogs that came with the album.  The rocket swirl is a Unity stamp (Learn, Discover, Grow), Bashful Blue craft ink and Iridescent Ice embossing powder.  I think it adds a nice little touch and "grounds" the rocket to the page.  To the rocket I added some crystal effects to add a shine to it, just like I did to the windows and lights on the car of the dad book.  The SU! colours used are: Kiwi Kiss, Pumpkin Pie, Bashful Blue, Night of Navy and Real Red.  I used a mixture of fussy cut paper embellishments and buttons and brads (oh my!) to accessorize the pages and add interest.  The twine used is from the Twinery, I love twine!  If you have any questions about the book as always you are more than welcome to drop a line!  Until tomorrow, E.

The Dad Book

Good morning.  Quite a while ago I bought this chipboard album from an SU! mini catalogue, it totally screamed dad to me because it is in the shape of a briefcase.  At the same time I also bought the cogs album, come back tomorrow to see what I've done with that one.  It was supposed to be a Father's Day gift for my husband, I think it was when I started working and didn't have time for crafting.  He didn't receive it for Father's day that year, or the year after (ok, I know I suck).  I did one Saturday (this year) finish it off and gave it to him though and he was even more surprised because he wasn't expecting anything (so now I suck less, right?).  I used the Travel Journey DSP on this project, the colours are Pumpkin Pie, Garden Green, Sahara Sand, Bashful Blue and Night of Navy.  There is so many elements on this book to mention them all, especially since each double page spread has a different theme.  What I will mention is the front cover which I think turned out great.  I fussy cut one of the sheets of DSP so that the car was on the front of the cover, I used Crystal Effects over the windows and headlights of the car to give them a sheen.  Now on to the title of the book.  The words "the" and "book" were done with drafting letters that rub on, easy to use and cheap!  The chipboard letters that spell out dad are a mish mash of different fonts, love that look!  So how did I get the polka dots onto the chipboard do you ask?  Well first I ran them through my Big Shot in the Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder making sure that the positive side (bumpy side) of the folder is meeting with the top of the letters to create an indent in them.  And then, I used my Night of Navy classic ink pad and dabbed them with ink all over.  Because the letters have been embossed the holes that were created do not get inked up.  Neato mosquito!  Haha, I started a sentence with "And" and "Because"!  Well that's that, a pretty quick project.  The most difficult part was cutting out the handles of the briefcases in the cardstock and DSP.  Have a super day, only 5 left until Christmas!  Yikes!  E  

A Honey Love Card

Good morning.  I'm sorry about being quiet over the net waves yesterday, I was a little under the weather and didn't have a completed project to share.  I still don't have a current completed project to share but the next two posts will be a good segway into the third post.  I don't know if I have shared this card or not, I made a series of cards for my husband after our anniversary when he spoiled me rotten and I didn't even make him a card.  With each card or project I included a chocolate bar, his favourite junk food.  I thought this card would be fun and flirty, I added a tattoo just to add some visual interest (I don't have a tattoo on my chest).  The card measures 4.25" by 5.5", I used a circle to create a template for the breasts, the same template to cut out the bra and I used my scallop trim punch to make the lace trim on the bra.  The straps are polka dot grosgrain ribbon in Rich Razzleberry.  I also used a half back pear to add some bling to the card.  I also made a thong card using the same template, I just added DSP in the shape of underwear instead of in the shape of a bra.  Cute?  I have seen cards like this all over the place this was my attempt.  Come back tomorrow for a mini book that I also made for my husband, it's pretty neat.  Until then, E. 

Digital Christmas Card

DISCLAIMER:  NO CHILDREN WERE HARMED IN THE MAKING OF THIS PROJECT MAYBE JUST HUMILIATED A WEE BIT...

Well hello there!  You will be glad you visited today.  This is what I do to my kids in my spare time, and honestly they were willing participants.  I stole this idea from somewhere, can't remember where, but it was probably Pinterest.  I promise I haven't been on there in days, these are just ideas from my first few visits.  Pinterest is a dangerous thing.  For once my kids were allowed to make goofy faces in a photo and do you think I could get them to co-operate?  However, the last shot was the best one.  Kids move way too fast for my camera to keep up sometimes.  I created this card/photo on Publisher, perhaps not as "easy" as doing it on Photoshop but it was probably quicker and more accurate (I'm still learning how to use Photoshop and am feeling the growing pains).  So basically all I did is create a page 6"x4", inserted a photo in a shape with border, adjusted the border colour and added text boxes to create the words.  I kept playing around until I was satisfied.  Thank goodness for the undo button.  The title is a "word art" with a shadow.  Pretty simple and quick to put together.  Time will tell how they printed out as I sent them to the Photolab last night.  I'll keep you posted.  Have a great day, I'm super busy as I'm hosting a Christmas Party tonight...  We'll see if I can get back tomorrow for a post, it may be a late one.  E

Again, Not a Paper Airplane

Good morning, I just wanted to share a quick post with you and a super easy, quick and clean project.  I have to admit I totally stole this idea off Pinterest (I really need to stay off there because I get inspiration overload) but I loved it and it was so doable with the time frame I have left before Christmas.  I made two strands of these pom pom garlands, I originally made one but of course it wasn't long enough.  I purchased these pom poms at Dollarama, they are awesome, they are almost like felt balls, perfect for stringing.  I used a silver jewellery trim that I bought at Walmart last year for like $.50 on clearance.  You could use any cording you want as long as it fits through the eye of your needle and can be threaded through the pom pom.  Now how awesome is this... I was able to make them while sitting watching tv with my husband so that I wasn't completely ignoring him.  So run, don't walk to Dollarama in Strathroy and buy yourself some of these pom poms even if you don't have time to make them this year you could save them for next (guaranteed you won't be able to find pom poms especially like these anywhere next year).  Have a fab Friday y'all.  E

Chicken Little, or Little Chicken

Good afternoon.  Apparently my Blogger issues are resolved.  No, this is not a paper airplane I'm sharing with you today it is a knitted creation.  I have warned you that this was coming.  I found the pattern for this in a book I borrowed from the library, I think it is called Baby Knits.  I did alter the pattern a little (mostly just on the feet) because they wanted me to crochet and I can't for the life of me figure it out.  This is a Christmas gift for my baby nephew, I usually do sock monkeys but the chicken is way cuter.  I love the tail feathers.  Hope you are having a good day, I'm off to help out at the school today.  E

Grade One

Good morning, I don't even know where to start with this one.  But first I must brag about myself a little bit.  I think this is the best scrap page I have EVER completed.  All right enough about me, on to the page...
Would you like to venture a guess as to where I got the supplies from?  That's right at Up the Street Scrapbooking, the August Bookworm kit.  Are you starting to believe me that there is great value in purchasing kits?  You get all the pieces that co-ordinate and like in the kits Tara puts together you get embellishments too.  Not every element on this page came from the kit but a good portion of it did.  I'll start off with the base, a 12x12 piece of textured colour core cardstock by Core-dinations.  I'm just discovering the world of colour core cardstock and I'm in love.  If you sand it the core colour comes through, or better yet emboss it and then sand and see what happens.  In this case I just sanded.  Layer 2 is a piece of 11x11 basic black cardstock, Layer 3 is Simple Stories paper for the bottom two strips and SU! Crushed Curry DSP from the Write Stuff on the top.  The next layer is the photos and what you see in photo #2, let's discuss...  Right now things with banners are hot, hot, HOT.  I have seen this technique in a couple of different places, strips of patterned paper (which were all scraps) with a different border treatment at the bottom "stacked" beside each other. The title was layered on top, it was cut from more scraps of DSP and the scallop frame was cut from more colour core cardstock (Whitewash collection, with yellow core) that I actually bought for another project but worked really well with this one.  I sanded the colour core cardstock to bring out a little of the yellow core, then added some of the alpha sticker from the Basic Grey Oxford collection.  The last layers, the "embellishments" all came from the same sheet of Simple Stories paper.  It is like a collage that you can use as is or cut the various elements apart and use as you wish (that's what I did).  The only stamp on this page is "no. 147" from the Nature Walk stamp set.  The button is Basic Grey and is tied with Cherry Cobbler Baker's twine.  Any questions? 
I can't believe how close to Christmas it is, where has the year gone?  Time to reflect... E

School Days Title Page #2

Good morning!  I have to say that my paper crafting is really on a roll lately.  Maybe it has something to do with my break up with you know who and now that I'm exploring my options I'm expressing myself better.  Now didn't that sound cryptic?  No my husband and I are not having problems, we are so in love, I just wanted to clear that up.  LOL!  Many of the pieces of this page also came from the August Up the Street kit called Bookworm.  I did however add some SU in there for good measure.  I used a product that I previously wasn't so sure I liked but I am now almost converted.  I'm talking about Smooch Spritz.  When I try to use it to "distress" my page I end up with blobs, so I found another application for it.  The big circle in the title was sprayed completely in Smooch Spritz.  It was originally a piece of white cardstock that I gave a bath of spritz.  I let it dry overnight, added the ring and the scallop circle layer, the letters and voila a cute little title.  I really played around with the layout of this page, it was alot of work.  I sponged the edges of almost everything.  What I really like about this page is how neutral it is with a couple pops of colour instead of being colour barf (and we all know how much I hate colour barf).  I just kept adding layers and elements to this page until I was happy.  So after this I was inspired to create tomorrow's page, watch out it's a goodie!  Another piece that I love is that Ryan helped me to create by adding his own name to the "sticker".  I took a big risk letting a five year old write his own name on something that I only have one of but it turned out great!  Get ready this one is supply heavy!

Supplies:
Colours: Crushed Curry, Soft Suede, Basic Black
Stamps: Headline Alphabet, Big Deal Alphabet (both for the A+ on the report card)
Accessories: Smooch Spritz in Log Cabin, Simple Stories paper, Basic Grey Oxford line (paper, buttons, stickers, alpha letters), Big Shot, Scallop Circle die, Tasteful Trim die, stampin' sponge, Early Espresso Baker's twine, Soft Suede SW marker

Ok, that wasn't so bad was it?  Thanks for stopping by again today.  Visit me again soon!  E

School Days Title Page #1

Good morning!  Today I'm sharing with you the title page for Sean's school days scrap album.  My plan is to collect report cards and awards etc. in one place along with individual photos and class photos.  I used the products from the August Up the Street kit called Bookworm.  I think that I previously posted a project using bits from this kit and quoted it as being the September kit, which it is not.  The piece on this page to talk about most is the Kraft border/Title.  I used the stamp that was included in the Bookworm kit to clear emboss and then stamped to make a collage effect using Extreme Elements.  I also added the inspirational stamp that was included in the kit.  The blue strip at the bottom of the page is cardstock that I texturized using Texturz plates and the Big Shot.  I then sponged some Chocolate Chip ink to distress it.  I also added a border cut from text DSP using the spiral punch.

Supplies...
Colours: Bashful Blue, Kraft, Cherry Cobbler, Basic Black, Always Artichoke
Stamps: Extreme Elements and Headline Alphabet (SU!), Learn, Discover, Grow (Unity)
Accessories: Basic Grey paper, stickers and buttons (Oxford collection), Simple Stories paper (report card embellishment), heat tool, clear embossing powder, Early Espresso baker's twine, spiral punch, First Edition Specialty DSP

Check back tomorrow for part two of the title pages for the boys' books.  It's super!  E

Proud Momma Moment #2

Good morning, it's Sunday... just in case you were wondering.  Sometimes I forget what day it is.  Hopefully this morning you were able to sleep in a little.  This card is the one my 5 year old son made for his teacher and unlike Sean's card (shown yesterday), Ryan's card was done almost completely by himself.  Ryan stamped both snowmen where he wanted and coloured them using Stampin' Write markers,  and stamped the snowflakes too!  I think he did a really good job!

Supplies...
Colours: Tangerine Tango, Kiwi Kiss, Bashful Blue
Stamps: Snow Buddies
Accessories: scraps of DSP I can't remember the name of, Kiwi Kiss corduroy button, garage string, SW markers

Are you enjoying the nice cold weather?  I am from the comfort of my stampin' room as my kids play outside.  I love being in the "dining room" where I have a ginormous window to let in lots of natural light and I can watch the little monkeys play.  That reminds me I have yet to share my "new" space.  It will come.  Have a good and slow day, relax, you deserve it.  DO NOT GO CHRISTMAS SHOPPING TODAY, BAD IDEA, MAJOR!!!!  E

Proud Momma Moment

Good morning, it is a bright and sunny wintry day today.  Yep I just checked the current temperature it's -9, brrrrr!  Sometimes I really feel the void of not having a daughter, you know someone to be your sidekick, your partner in crime, your little shadow.  But I do have two awesome little boys who love their momma to bits and like to spend time with their momma even if it means having to make cards together.  They actually like it and look forward to it, Sean had been bugging me for days to make a Christmas card for his teacher.  So this is what we created together, it looks awesome and Sean actually helped a whole bunch.  Sean stamped the trees and Dasher, he also cut the trees out with my very sharp scissors, I also let Sean use the very hot heat tool to emboss the trees and reindeer.  He looked at me funny when I told him to dump the jar of glittery embossing powder on the wet ink and asked "the whole thing"?  Sean also applied the adhesive and stuck all the bits down.  Sean was also allowed to play with mommy's prized possession, the Big Shot to die cut the scalloped circle, he was so thrilled to use his manly powers to turn the crank.  Good to know!  Next time I need a hundred pieces of something cut I know who to call!

Supplies...
Colours: Real Red, Old Olive, Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla
Stamps: Patterned Pines, Dasher
Accessories: Iridescent Ice embossing powder, heat tool, Big Shot, Scallop Circle die, Christmas Jingle SS kit, 5/8" grosgrain ribbon in Old Olive

I hope you are having a super Saturday, the boys have invited friends over and for a couple hours this afternoon it is going to be crazy around here.  Why do I do these things to myself?  Because I love my boys, that's why!  E

Teacher Gift Idea

Good morning my scrappy little friends!   I'm hap, hap, happy today because I woke up to some snow this morning and last night during one of my insomnia moments I was able to complete teacher gift #1.  Yes this is another journal in a box, but a much more revised version.  While at Up the Street Scrapbooking one day I picked up a Spellbinders die set, best scrappin' purchase I have ever made with the exception of my Big Shot of course.  Yes!  You can use Spellbinders in your Big Shot, you just might have to play with them a little but \I discovered that if you put all the tabs on the platform and use the regular cutting plates you get a nice clean cut (I didn't have to add any additional layers).  Then to emboss I flipped the die over and ran through my BS again but this time removing one tab, using a standard cutting plate on the bottom, the embossing squishy thing and then the embossing plate on top (like you would use if using the embossing plates from Sizzix).  So needless to say I die cut twelve of the tabs along with twelve of the text paper labels and then I used my computer to print off the months on vanilla cardstock and cut them with my Word Window punch.  The little flowers were 1 3/4 inch circles punched out and then spiral cut and then re-spiraled into the flower and adhered with glue dots.  The flower centres are 1/2 circles cut from the reverse of the paper and a half back pearl.  Now let me talk about the heart embellishment... how cute did this turn out?  The place card holder pin (that's what I'm calling because I have no idea what it is) came in a kit I bought at Up the Street, I didn't even realize what it was until last night, but I love it and will be tracking down more of them.  So what I did with it is slide the heart and banner into the loop and then pushed the pin through the lace and into the box.  I'm really starting to realize that papercrafting gets easier with the more tools you have, but that gets expensive. 

Supplies...
Colours: Basic Black, Very Vanilla, and I added a little Kiwi Kiss in the banner
Paper: Basic Grey Just the Basics line, left over text paper
Stamps: Smash stamp (for the date), Pennant Parade (hello on heart tag)
Accessories: Big Shot, Spellbinders Blossom Tags and Accents, Word Window punch, 1 3/4" and 1/2" circle punches, Heart to Heart punch, Stampin' Sponges, half back pearls, glue dots, place card holder pin, black lace stolen from my mom's stash (tee hee), Tombow multi-glue
Dollarama: Mead cue cards, "recipe box" 

Phew, that was alot of work!  Of course I have left stuff out, I always do, so if you ever have questions about how I did something or what products I have used by all means contact me, I'm more than willing to share!  I hope the teachers really appreciate these gifts because if they don't they will get a mug filled with teddy bears and cheap chocolates next time *wicked laugh*.  Last night the boys and I worked on Christmas cards for their teachers, will be my next two shares.  I think you will be impressed.  Until then, E.

Quick Pic

Good morning, thanks for coming to visit today.  I hate to disappoint you but I don't have a project to share, I'm spending some quality time with my baby boy.  Here's a peace offering, I will share a recent photo taken of me and my boys at Niagara Falls.  Hopefully tomorrow I will have one of the teacher gifts ready to share.  I need to track down some black ribbon.  See you soon!  E

Don't Eat Yellow Snow

Good morning, I know I said I was done making Christmas cards but I decided to make some as a gift for someone.  This is what I came up with.  Technically it doesn't have to be a Christmas card, it could be for winter or even a winter birthday card.  The plaid paper is out of the Up the Street kit for September, it went perfectly with the colours I wanted to use.  I created a strip of crinkled paper torn at the edge, a spiral strip and a strip of textured DSP inked direct to paper and then torn.  The card base was texturized using the Big Shot and a Sizzix embossing folder.  The cute puppy stamp was purchased at Up the Street for $1.99 or $2.99, it is acrylic which I generally don't prefer but I couldn't resist this one.  I'm sorry but I can't remember the manufacturer because I threw out the packaging to put it in a stamp case, oops.  I watercoloured the puppy and added some yellow snow and then glittered it (you may have to enlarge the photo to see the glittery effect).  I LOVE this card!

Supplies...
Colours: Bashful Blue, Chocolate Chip, Creamy Caramel, So Saffron (for the pee)
Stamps: by Inkadinkado (thanks Tara!)
Accessories: plaid paper from the Basic Grey Oxford line, Vanilla Naturals cardstock, spiral punch, Neutral Buttons collection, Early Espresso Baker's twine, Dazzling Diamonds glitter

My oldest son is somewhat obsessed with eating snow.  I'm trying to stop that by saying that eating snow is like drinking out of a puddle, gross.  I just might have to make him one of these cards!  He does have a winter birthday LOL!  Where did all my snow go?  Please, please, please snow!!!  E

Apron Invite

Good morning friends.  Today I'm sharing something kinda cutsie with you.  I made these apron cards as invites to my Christmas party for those I couldn't reach through Facebook.  As you can see I only had to make two.  These girls are a top fold card with a right angled triangle cut from the two top corners.  I added the 1/4" grosgrain ribbon "neck pieces" (the word isn't coming to me) and then covered them with DSP.  Next I added the ruffled ribbon embellishment and attached it with my Tombow multi-purpose glue, the tie is once again 1/4" grosgrain ribbon attached with glue dots and added the holly and snowflake embellishments from the Christmas Jingle Simply Scrappin' kit.  Have you been keeping track of how many projects I have made with that kit?  I've lost track but I have done at least one 12x12 page, 15 cards and who knows what else.  I think the kits are a great value especially for the beginning cardmaker or scrapper.  I'm a happy camper today, we have a small dusting of snow this morning and hopefully we'll get more.  Have a great day!  Christmas cards are being mailed today, wohooo!  E

Another Gift Idea

Good morning, are you all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed?  I'm not, I'm still in a fog.  We overslept as a whole family this morning and my husband (love you Jasey) had to drive the kids to school.  I didn't create this project specifically to share on my blog, to be honest I wasn't going to share it at all, but this morning when I came into my space I started to wonder what I was going to share.  I'm working on two extensive gifts right now and will share them when complete.  I just might have to share a few knitted creations as well (I'm working in the cutest thing right now).  Ok Erin, on with it!  For this album I did alot of re-purposing.  I used spare 6x6 page inserts that I had taken out of a book to be replaced with different 6x6 page protectors.  I definitely was not going to throw them out, I have a hard time throwing useful things away (yes Jasey, I know I'm a pack rat).  The idea for this book came to me quite quickly.  The book covers are re-purposed as well, they are the backing boards from paper packs.  See?  I don't throw useful things away.  So what I did was cut them 6" by 7", scored along the short end at 1" to make the spine and embellished them.  I "sealed" the book by using four jumbo eyelets, two through the back (do this first so that the rough edge does not show to the front of the book) and then two through the front and cinched them using my Crop-a-dile.  I then tied some bailer twine, also re-purposed from an Up the Street Scrapping kit, through the eyelets and tied in a bow.  For the inside of the book I created a 6x6 page for every month of the year and made a blurb about what Sean and Ryan were up to that month.  I like this idea I just might have to do it every year!

Supplies...
Colours: Kraft, Pacific Point, Real Red, Bashful Blue, Pear Pizazz
Stamps: Full Calendar (for the month titles)
Accessories:  Celebrations DSP, Celebrations accents, garage string, brights buttons, "R" and "S" chipboard from Close to my Heart inked with real red Craft ink, chipboard "&" in Bashful Blue Craft ink, bailer twine,   Big Shot, Sizzix embossing folders (for some of the title frames)
Punches: Modern Label, Scallop oval, Large Oval, Extra Large Oval

And there you have it!  A cute little book to give as a gift to someone you love.  It's raining here again today, I wish it was snow!  Take care!  E

Handmade Gift Idea

 

Good morning friends, thanks for coming back to check out today's project.  When I first got up this morning the lighting was crap and I like to take photos with as much natural light as possible.  So I had to wait to take a photo of the finished project.  The first photo shows the outside of the box and the pretty packaging, the second photo is a bit of a fuzzy close up of the tag, and the third photo shows the inside of the box with dividers.  How cute did this turn out?  Let me tell you that these little things are time consuming, but fun!  I designed the box and dividers, it was actually quite easy, I just measured how much space I would need and then added two inches to the length and the width.  These extra two inches act as the sides of the box.  The dividers were 2 1/2" wide, scored at 1/4", 1 1/4" and 2 1/4".  I even added little tabs (1/4") at the end of each divider to attach to the sides of the box for added stability.  More details to add, the letters on the tags were hand cut from the bingo title on the cards, I used the scallop circle and 1 3/8" circle punches for the "bingo balls" and 3/4" circles for the bingo markers.

Supplies...

Colours: Old Olive, Cherry Cobbler, Very Vanilla

Stamps: Bingo Background, Jolly Bingo Bits

Accessories: left over chipboard, Sizzix Scallop tags die, Spellbinders Blossom Tags and Accents, Itty Bitty flower punch, green rhinestones, hemp twine, 5/8" grosgrain ribbon, Jolly Holiday DSP, jumbo eyelets, scallop circle, 1 3/8", and 3/4" circle punches

I have made three of these Bingo sets as gifts for my nieces, it is just a small token gift, I think they'll like them and will give the girls something to do on Christmas Day.  I hope you are happy you visited today, I'm always happy to have you!  E

Blog post coming today, just waiting for better lighting to photograph my masterpiece.

Special Saturday

Good morning my blog visiting friends.  I am all out of completed projects to share with you, hopefully I will have something ready for tomorrow.  In the meantime I will share photos of my two lovely boys, they are holding their letters to Santa in front of my non-traditional Christmas tree.  Have a great day.  E

P.S. yes, Ryan is always that difficult to photograph because he makes the goofiest faces :(

Remember When?

Good morning, remember when I posted my 500th blog post and I said if you leave me a comment I will draw a winner to receive a prize, a something handmade by me?  And only two people left comments?  And I said that they both win?  Well I'm finally getting around to getting them their prizes.  This one is going to Cheryl, I haven't decided what to make for Patti yet.  What is this you ask?  I am calling it "Journal in a Box", I snatched the idea off Pinterest (yes I'm mentioning that two days in a row now).  Of course I modified mine and it doesn't really resemble the original but I'm sure it is just as fabulous.  Guess what else I'm going to do with these... Christmas presents!  I think they will make a great teacher gift!!!  In essence what a journal in a box includes is a cue card for every day of the year (hopefully) and each day you take that card out and write a little something on it.  A quote that you heard and loved, an idea, happy news/sad news, how you are feeling or something one of your adorable said that made you laugh.  There is space on this journal to write for many, many years to come!  Did you spot my error?  Yep, I stamped with 2011, so to cover my mistake I'm going to write on the card of the day that the project was completed, that I completed it on that day.  You do have to write which year you are writing about unless you have one of these handy dandy date stamps like I do.  You can also write birthdays on the top line so that you never forget a birthday.  The date stamp is a Smash product, I picked it up at Up the Street Scrapbooking no less, you could also get them at Staples (they're more expensive and not as cool).  This weekend is Tara's Open House at Up the Street, you should go!  I am!  Snow again today, yay!  E

The Bootroom is Done?

Good morning!  I don't have a "creative" project to share with you today, just a home decor project.  I got my inspiration from Pinterest (thanks Diane) so I have shared my inspiration photo and the actual photo.  Needless to say, I haven't had very much time to craft lately I've been busy setting up my Christmas tree, decorating for Christmas and putting up Christmas lights on top of designing and building this marvel.  I know it is not complete yet but I wanted it functional for the start of boot season because I definitely don't want the entries to my house all cluttered up.  Not to mention the fact that I don't have the funds to totally complete the project yet... It is Christmas and all.  Have I mentioned yet that all my Christmas shopping is done?  And that I'm working on my Christmas crafting now?  So that's where I stand.  Oh, yeah, I'm also trying to get my Christmas cards signed, sealed, and delivered.  I even wrote a Christmas letter this year.  I do have a homemade Christmas gift idea coming up for you tomorrow, promise!  Until then... E