Diary of a Craft Room Transformation

OWH Challenges #1, 4, 5, 6 & 9

2012-02-11T13:08:00.001-06:00

I've already linked these pictures on the OWH challenge blog posts using my Flickr account, but also wanted them posted here for your enjoyment. All of these cards are part of the 100 that I made to donate to the church ministry. My next goal is to make 100 for Operation Write Home, so the remainder of this week's challenges will go in the box for OWH.#1 is called Hot Tropics and uses hot pink, green and yellow.

#4 is Beachy Thinking of You.

#5 is a Birthday card.

#6 is called Sand and Sea - Use Blues and Tans

#9 is called Cut it Out! Die Cuts and Punches

OWH Sketch Challenge #107

2012-02-11T11:58:00.001-06:00

I've been busy using up my scraps and previously cut out embellishments. It seems to be perfect timing because OWH has a series of challenges this week. I have a bunch more to post later today, but for now here's the first one based on their current sketch challenge.
Operation Write Home Sketch Challenge #107

I wore red and I won!!!

2012-02-06T18:54:00.001-06:00

This is just toooo cool! I forgot to post on here February 3rd, well actually February 2nd, to remind everyone to wear read on the 3rd to raise awareness for heart disease. Well I did post it on Facebook and WordPress (my healthy life/diet blog). Anyway...... I WON A PRIZE for posting a picture of me wearing my red sweater which, btw is being retired due to the fact that it fit 30 pounds ago, but hangs on me now.... WOOHOO!!!!! What an irony, huh? I am getting healthier and the clothes are going bye-bye! Actually the Snoopy cardigan I was wearing today is going to be transformed in to a pillow for my husband's Snoopy den. Not sure what I'll do with the rest of it, but am thinking about making a shrug? We'll see... guess I'll post a tutorial when the time comes. So here's a pic of the prize I won. It's a Color Mist package from Studio Calico.

and if you want to sneak a peek at the entries, go hang out at Ella Publishing's blog here.

Using up scraps from my stash

2012-02-05T13:31:00.002-06:00

I've been creating up a storm the past couple of weeks and finally made my first goal of 100 cards for a church ministry. The two below are a couple of my favorites, possibly because I love that paper was actually designed after some fabric that I have in my stash. Sorry that I can't tell you what brand it is, but I won it and it was unmarked. It has been great being able to use up scraps of paper and ribbon knowing that someone would get such pleasure out of receiving each card with a handwritten note by someone at the church. Don't you love that ribbon slide on the bottom picture? Would you believe it's metallic cardstock cut using a new die set that I got on sale over at StampingScrapping. The sentiment, oval and label punch are from Stampin Up. The ribbon is seam binding.

Linking up to these challenges:
Pollycraft Monday Challenge Favorite Things #125
Mojo Monday 226
Hotshot #3
Operation Write Home February ODBD
Stamping Scrapping February Flower Challenge

Join The Fun at the Gotta Have It/Gotta Blog Link Up Party

2012-02-02T18:41:00.001-06:00

I'm participating in a new kind of party over at the Mercantile Muse and think you'd enjoy it too! She's got all kind of goodies laid out for us to enjoy (that is, if you enjoy looking at all the luscious art and handiwork of some uber talented artist!) If you've got a shop or blog you'd like to show off or would just like to come look around please stop by for some fun!

Take 12 on the 12th Year Long Project Begins Today!

2012-01-12T21:33:00.000-06:00

One of the Christmas presents I gave myself this year was an e-book by Ella Publishing Co called Take Twelve and it started today. The goal is to take 12 pictures on the 12th of each month for 12 months. The book is full of inspirational ideas, photography tips and checklists, among other things. I'm excited about it and have asked my daughter to join me. It'll be fun to compare notes and look at all the pictures. Here's a little collage made with the 12 pics from today. Sorry about the watermark, but I'm trying out the program. The theme is all about inventories and includes things like calendars, lists, household organization, and so on. I just couldn't resist taking a shot of all the dogs lined up patiently awaiting their supper, then HAD to zoom in on my husband. Isn't he cute in that ski cap that he wears ALL the time in the winter? Yeah, I thought so too!

Challenge for the New Year

2012-01-08T08:53:00.000-06:00

I can't believe it's been an entire MONTH since my last post! Where has the time gone??? Unlike some of you who have very busy lives with children and/or grandchildren running around the house during the holidays, it's just me and my dear husband and menagerie of dogs and cats. Sure we have an occasional visit with our daughter and son-in-law, sometimes along with one or two of their dogs; but for the most part it's just the two of us. I think that my mojo got sucked up in the thick atmosphere and blew away for a visit somewhere else!

What have I been doing? I dare not show any pictures because of the perpetual mess my craft room is always in, but I will tell you that things are moving along. Like some of you I am trying to use up what I have on hand in my stash. This MIGHT be the time for me to finally make the switch from paper to digital design, BUT not until I've gotten my stash down to a reasonable amount. Here are some thoughts I've had lately:

Create card kits to sell on Etsy.
Create scrapbook page kits to sell on Etsy.
Put stuff together for a swap with friends.
Donate a bunch of stuff to groups that make cards for charities.
Make cards to donate to Operation Write Home.
Make cards to donate to a local church that in turn donates to homeless shelters (currently doing this one.)
Make card assortments along with boxes to put them in to have on hand for gifts.
Offer some blog candy (coming soon, so stay tuned!)

So there you have it! The past few days I've been digging through my stash and pulling out all those assorted paper embellishments that I cut or punched out in bulk for who knows what reason (just because!) and am attempting to use them to make card assortments. Isn't it funny when you look at something that you've hung on to for several years and you can't for the life of you figure out what you were thinking when you made it??? The paper-hoarder in me finds it extremely difficult to throw anything away that might possibly be used on a card, scrapbook page, collage, jewelry or whatever. Don't you love seeing and reading about all the cool things people make out of what would normally go in the trash? Sorry folks, but I've actually begun throwing away those little bits of paper that are left behind when cutting borders with the scalloped border punch! Yes they make squares look like postage stamps, BUT if they haven't gotten used in over two years they're GOING BYE-BYE!

One last thing I'll kind of share with you is that I have a huge reason for needing to downsize, but am not quite ready to post in for the public yet. I guess I don't want the plans to get jinxed somehow, so will wait until time gets closer, but trust me, this will be a big life-changing and very exciting thing! No folks, I'm NOT pregnant (way too old and the plumbing's been removed since 1994!); but it DOES have something to do with family. Like one of my favorite movie characters once said, "That's all I have to say about that."

Christmas Cards I've Made

2011-12-08T18:19:00.001-06:00

I'm just about done making Christmas cards and wanted to share a couple of them with you. The first one is extremely clean and simple (CAS) using only one piece of cardstock embossed using my Cuttlebug, a bow and a brad and some tape to adhere it to the front of the folded cardstock. The second got a little more involved and took much more time to punch all those little branches and get them lined up, but I love the way it turned out. The last one is super fun because it's in three parts. I got the instructions for it on Julie Davison's site and found all kinds of tutorials that I want to go back and try. The snowman stamps and the sentiment are from Stampin Up. What really makes this card special is the custom die that I used for the outer circles. It's called Embroidery Anglaise Circle and can be purchased here by itself or with matching stamps. Cindy at StampingScrapping has some awesome custom-designed matching stamps and dies and also has a TON of other products in her store. The Merry Christmas sentiment on the white card with the branches is from the matching set of stamps. She even gives discounts to subscribers of her Yahoo group. Disclaimer: I am not getting any compensation for telling you about her store, I just personally LOVE it and wanted to share the love! Ok, back to the cards.... enjoy!

A Holiday "Cheer-io" Giveaway

2011-12-06T09:21:00.001-06:00

Please hop over to Danica's Daily to enter her fun giveaway in partnership with cheerios. As you know, my dad and I are both army veterans, so this means a lot to me.

I think God is trying to tell me something...

2011-11-16T17:52:00.001-06:00

If you're new to my blog and haven't seen last year's slide show about my father, a 21 year veteran of the U.S. Army, please take some time after reading this to view it on this post. Something I just now noticed while watching it for the umpteenth time is that in the picture of him peeking his head up over the top of the dining room table if you look directly over the top of his head you'll see a picture of me from my Army days. Yes, I also served in the Army as a WAC and was honored to serve on the same base with him in Germany in the early 70's!

Ok, so what's all this got to do with God and craft rooms and scrapbooking? Well, on Veteran's Day in 1991 the condo that I lived in with my young daughter blew up from a gas explosion, killing the neighbor boy and severely burning his older brother. My daughter and I escaped the burning building from the 3rd floor apartment and lost almost all of our belongings. My scrapbook from those Army days was tucked in the back of a huge walk-in closet situated right next to my waterbed and against an outside wall not exposed to the heat. Let me show you what my albums look like today. Now friends, when I say scrapbook please keep in mind that we're not talking about the elaborate one-picture-per-page full of embellishments that we do these days. We're talking plain cover, black pages full of pictures with some writing (who ever heard of journaling back then? Wasn't that for teenagers with diaries locked up and tucked under the mattress?) The first picture shows where the albums landed during recovery efforts and where they have remained to this day. Yes I've had them out a couple of times, but I guess the memories of that day have been too painful to want to actually DO anything with these albums. One I didn't photograph is from my year in California when I went out to attend LIFE Bible College, so it needs a whole album to itself.

The next two show the front my two albums from right before and during my 3 years in the army.

Miraculously none of the pictures appear to be damaged even after 20 years in that bag! *knocking on wood here at my desk!* The page edges are singed like the covers, but the pictures are fine as you'll see in the next picture. You'll be able to see a pic of me and my dad (I'm the one with the dark shorts on) with my Drill Sergeant. Yes I even got my hair cut and frosted just like her! Oh and pay no attention to those girls fooling around in the bottom picture. Things got a little wild and crazy around the barracks every now and then.

OK, moving on.... why do I bring up the past like this??? Well today I found out that I won a prize from a great gal over at Above Rubies Studio. It was graciously donated by a new company called Uniformed Scrapbooks of America and I get my choice of albums. Well for me it's a no-brainer and that link takes you to my choice.... ARMY!!! They'll even custom embroider the name and insignia rank. Since my dad and I had the same last name during that time period it will be just perfect. I've asked if they can do two insignias, one for each of our ranks, but even if they can just to one I'll be happy. What an awesome gentle reminder from God that it's high time I got busy re-doing these precious memories!!! My niece has recently uncovered a few boxes of Dad's military memorabilia that I've already laid claim to for a memory album. Hmmm, looks like I might need more than one, huh? lol! I also have every intention to do an oral history with him and now that they have all these recordable books it seems the time is right for that too. Oh so much to do with sooooo little time!

While you're over at Megan's studio you MUST watch her videos and find out about her new exciting product that I can't wait to try out! She does some awesome tutorials that you'll want to subscribe to on YouTube so you won't miss any of them.

Oriental Trading Post Haul

2011-11-05T13:56:00.000-05:00

Ok Ya'll, please don't laugh, but I finally made a video to share a haul with you. I discovered that my daughter has the best place ever for making videos, so might just have to spend more time granddogsitting in the future. Or I guess I could just go when she's there to keep the dogs out of the room. Anyway, here's a video showing all the cool stuff I got from Oriental Trading Post.

Winner Winner Come for Dinner!

2011-10-30T09:33:00.000-05:00

Well it might be kind of far to drive for dinner, but it'd be fun anyway! The lucky winner of my blog candy for gratitude is........ *drum roll please...*.......................................

Lisa T said...

Wow, lucky you! How nice of you to share. :) I added your blog candy to my side bar. (I'm on the SCAL list with you.)

October 2, 2011 8:17 PM

Lisa I will send you email. Please send me your full name and mailing address so I can get your package sent out. Congratulations!!!

How to turn a big screen tv in to a desk protector

2011-10-28T19:58:00.001-05:00

Being the perpetual upcycler that I am when it came time to dispose of our broken 52 inch tv I absolutely could NOT throw away all the parts. Like that pop-off lens cover thingy in the pretty see-through smokey brown color. What could I do with it? Well, combine one huge desk that desperately needed protection from a messy crafter with one equally huge hard plastic surface and VOILA! I have to warn you that unlike my idol Brittany over at Pretty Handy Girl I don't have the best tools or knowledge of which drill bits to use on plastic OR the excellent camera skills that she has, so if it's REAL tool skills you're looking for please hop over there because she's started an awesome series of video tuts for folks like me who aren't afraid to use a tool, just lack a tad bit of knowledge and need her expertise. So, now on with the sheee-ooooohhhh.....

My go-to tool is the Dremel. Mainly because it's the only one I can reach and it doesn't weigh a ton. Plus I bought a ton (no kidding, well not a ton in weight, more like a gazillion) bits and attachments for it that haven't seen the light of day since being slipped in to the fancy 3-foot tall rolling tool box I bought for it. First I laid the plastic on the desk (please note the completely empty desk because you will NEVER see it this way again!).

Then I traced a line where the edge of the desk was so I'd know where to cut it.

My handy Dremel with the tile-cutting attachment and the bit that said it was for plastic.

After cutting only about 3 inches I brought in the reinforcements, ear plugs and the cotton swab to clean my ears before inserting the plugs. For someone with severe tinnitus you'd think I'd know better than to expose my ears to the extremely high-pitched whining the tool made while cutting the plastic!

Here's what the edge looked like after cutting. The plastic actually melted to the drill bit. Sorry no pic of that.

Ah, note to self, NEVER cut all the way to the end of something without supporting the piece about to drop off or you'll have a mess!

Another view of the rough edge. Actually, come to think of it this picture should come before the one up there with the white edge. That other picture shows what it looked like after I sanded the edge.

The metal sanding bit I used on the edge. Now go back up to the other picture to see what it looked like.

Since the edge was still a little sharp I dug out my handy-dandy rubber shelf liner, cut strips and laid under the plastic. Go figure, had to protect the desk from the desk protector!

The finished product! Ta da! I'll post another pic when I get my stuff put back on the desk, but for tonight I've got two get well cards to make (mom's in the hospital) and you know what that means. Yup, messy desk!

Oh, if anyone reading this has advice for the right bit to use or method for smoothing the edge please let me know. Thanks!

Time to get organized!

2011-10-24T09:33:00.000-05:00

What do YOU do when you take time off from work? Well if you're like me you work even harder at other things. Whether that means gardening, cooking, sewing, taking kids to doctor appointments, cleaning house, caring for elderly parents, or like me, organizing your craft space; it usually requires a lot of work. I've taken the next two days off to clean up my two rooms dedicated to my crafts. Yes you heard me right, TWO ROOMS!!! AAACK!!! For those of you who are now wallowing in jealousy over the fact that I have two full rooms for my crafts (one for paper, the other for sewing) let me tell you that I'd have more room on my dining room table than in both rooms put together! More space means more STUFF!

On Saturday my daughter and I had a very successful sales event in Lawrence, Kansas. There were a dozen Etsy vendors set up in a room at a downtown restaurant, Pachamamas (with absolutely FAB food that we've promised our husbands we'd taken them to later!) The crowd was awesome and steady throughout the entire day and the other vendors were all so friendly and talented that just meeting them would have been well worth the time.

Anyway.... I've finished doing inventory and now it's time to make a dent in the mess called my craft room. Hopefully I'll be able to spend tomorrow cleaning up my sewing room. I have every intention to finally get both rooms to the point where I can actually walk in, sit down and do some creating, then eventually start creating tutorials. What would you like to learn how to do? Is there a paper craft that you've seen here that you'd like to learn all the steps? Maybe you've seen a finished product somewhere else and just can't figure it out? I used to do training as part of my job and I guess you could say that it's in my blood. There are already soooooo many awesome tutorials out there and I don't want to repeat things that are readily available, so pray tell, what can't you find? Not that I can guarantee I'll be able to figure it out, but it'll give me something to shoot for when this old antique computer gets replaced by a graphics capable one. Oh, please also tell me if you're more of a visual, auditory, textual or hands-on learner. I'm one of those people who needs to do all four: see it, hear it, read it and do it. If you're anything like me you do best when there are written instructions to go along with the video tutorial so you can concentrate on soaking in all the visuals and listening rather than scrambling to write everything down.

Ok, NOW I'd better get out of this room and get to work in that craft room! Hopefully I'll have some success stories and pictures to share later. Oh, OH OH! Don't forget to sign up for my October Blog Candy Gratitude Giveaway that closes at midnight on October 29th!

Hear Ye Hear Ye Read All About Kansas Handmade Market!

2011-10-14T17:46:00.000-05:00

Our upcoming Handmade Market for Kansas Etsy shops was featured today on the front page of Lawrence.com. We are sooooo excited and hope to see some of you there!
http://www.lawrence.com/news/2011/oct/14/hands-sellers-kansas-etsy-artists-featured-single-/

Halloween Cards upcycled from food boxes

2011-10-11T19:26:00.000-05:00

I've been busy lately preparing for our upcoming Handmade Market in Lawrence, Kansas for Etsy artists from Kansas. Would you like to see a few of my Halloween cards? Well you're in luck because I have posted a few pics below beginning with the blob that was supposed to be a spider. Maybe it'll adorn another card as The Blob, ya think? I tried homemade shrinky dink stuff using some plastic cut from something like a salad container and well, it must be the wrong kind of plastic! I ended up just stamping a spider on the plastic and marking over the image with a Sharpee to thicken the lines.

I like the way this bakers twine spider web looks. I cut tiny slits along the edges of the card to hold the twine in place, then tied the spider on to the center of the web.

What you can't tell about the pumpkin below and I can't photograph it is that it's painted with glow in the dark paint! Believe me, when I turned out the lights it was really cool looking! Oh yeah, the web on this card is painted on with Epsom Salts and looks awesome, kind of like ice crystals.

The little bats are stamped on the card using Versamark clear ink. The black dots around the orange circle are done with glitter glue and look great, just hard to photograph.

The spider and BOO below are done with a puffy black embossing powder that feels grainy.

Don't you just love the Stampin Up mesh embossing folder? I can't get enough of it!

Now for those who are just happy it's Fall, here's the perfect card for them. Very simple, yet elegant.

Below I've used a circle to mask off a spot, then sponged orange ink all around it. It really makes the paper cutouts pop, don't you think?

Luscious Heavenly Fabric Goodies!

2011-10-08T18:23:00.000-05:00

Look what came in today's mail. Oh before I show you let me encourage you to head right over to SuziQu's Threadworks after you're done drooling over the contents of my package. The pictures she takes are much better than mine, plus you can see all her other beauties!

I knew the package was from her because, well, I currently don't have any relatives or friends living in Australia. New Zealand, yes, but the aunt who used to be a missionary for Wycliffe Bible Translators in Australia has long since retired and returned to her roots in Wisconsin. Ok, I digress and I know you're chompin at the bit to see my surprises, so here they are:

So what will I do with this lovely fabric journal? Well for now I'm just going to admire it, pet it and soak up it's yumminess. Then I think I'll let IT tell ME what it wants to become! Maybe something to house some of my favorite fabric swatches. Or how about swatches from clothing my daughter wore growing up? Or pictures printed on fabric and sewn to the pages? Oh there are so many possibilities! I'd love to hear what YOU would do with one of these!

Blog Candy for Gratitude! -- CLOSED

2011-10-02T17:31:00.001-05:00

If you've been reading my blog you know that in one week's time I was the recipient of four blog prizes. This past week has been an all time high for me, making me feel almost guilty, but mostly grateful and appreciative of the generosity of others. The best way for me to show my gratitude is by paying it forward, so ..... drum roll please.... I've got blog candy!!! Yup, I put together a package of ephemera, vintage ribbon, buttons, vintage wallpaper, handmade embellishments, twine, silk flowers and other fun things that would be great for making mini albums, embellishing scrapbook pages and cards or anything else your imagination desires. This blog candy will run until October 29 with the winner announced on October 30. To be eligible all you need to do is the following:

Become a follower if you aren't already
Leave a comment
Tell someone else about the candy. If you want to post this on your sidebar that would be awesome, but is not a requirement. You can just mention how you are spreading the word (twitter, facebook, blog post, etc.) in your comments.

Oh and please leave me a way to get in touch with you. Here's a picture of what I've gathered so far. I will be adding more as the month progresses and if I get over 50 comments I'll start another box. Woohoo, let the fun begin!!!

You're not going to believe this!

2011-10-01T14:51:00.000-05:00

Ok, truly now, if any of you want to hop right over and rub my hand for good luck I'm home the rest of the weekend! Oh yeah, I WON AGAIN!!!! I got the message that I'd won an awesome Stampin Up stamp set from Holly and The Dog over at Ink Paper Stamps while checking my mail on my cell phone in the car and let me tell ya, it's a good thing Mr. H was driving or I'd have gone off the road!!! We were on the way home and I promptly instructed him to stop at the next location that sells lottery tickets! Silly me made him come in with me because, well, I honestly don't know the first thing about buying lottery tickets. No really! Here is the lovely set that will be in my grateful hands soon. You've GOT to go give Holly and The Dog a shout out and enjoy her crafts. She's got some great tutorials if you're looking for inspiration!

I have been truly blessed!

2011-09-26T18:33:00.000-05:00

This past week I was notified by not one, not two, but THREE very generous bloggers that I had won something!!! Can you believe it??? No, I couldn't either, in fact I told my husband that this would be a good week to buy a lottery ticket!

So what did I win? Well how about some pictures?
First I was notified by the lovely and extremely talented Suzy over at Suziqu's Threadworks that I had won a gorgeous embellished lace and linen doiley needlebook:

and some luscious yummy trim:

This uber talented artist has all kinds of beautiful fiber art on her blog and also can be found on Etsy as suziqu.
Oh and did I mention that she's from New South Wales, Australia? I happen to have an aunt still living in New Zealand and had one serving as a missionary in Australia for many, many years. Coincidence? I don't know, maybe just good karma! Actually the karma will come when I put together some blog candy and have the pleasure of giving it away, so stay tuned!

Okay, so still guiddy from Suzy's notification and tired from spending the whole day on Saturday at a scrapbook crop (where I was without a cell phone signal) I get home and find a message from my favorite Stampin Up consultant, Shelly May, that I've won these awesome Christmas cards!

OMG I told her that I would decorate my mantle with them because they're so gorgeous! I can't wait to see all the detail that went in to making these because everything Shelly makes is beautiful!

Now last, but not in any way least, is a digital scrapbooking software program from my friend Linda over at LadybugLair. The program is called My Memories and looks like loads of fun! I just downloaded it and hope to play with it as soon as I finish this post. You should hop over to her blog and see some of the things she's already done with it. Oh and you've got to see the funny card she just made for a friend turning 60. So funny!

I am genuinely touched and feel blessed to have received all these gifts. Now, the question is.... what can I give away that even comes close to these things? I've got some ideas bouncing around in my head and will let you know when I decide. Until later.....

Hugs and kisses...

Let the rivers clap their hands

2011-09-17T10:10:00.000-05:00

Sometimes I like to make pictures of words in my head, kind of like Dr. Temple Grandin describes in one of my all-time favorite books, Thinking in Pictures

When I read my daily devotional from Guideposts this morning I was inspired by the scripture in the heading. Being the pictoral sort of person that I am I immediately conjured up images of what a river would look like clapping its hands...

Perhaps it would look like this...

or maybe this...

but I kind of like the idea of gentle clapping, like this:

Now isn't that a picture that makes you feel like singing?

Psalm 98:8

English Standard Version (ESV)

⁸Let the rivers clap their hands;
let the hills sing for joy together

Awakening a fuzzy brain

2011-09-10T11:13:00.000-05:00

What kind of title is that??? Well how about a happy one from someone who has experienced a week-long attack of fever, chills, head congestion, cough and general body aches and pains. Why would that make me happy? Well coming out of that illness makes me appreciate life even more! For the first time in months (yes I said MONTHS) I can actually breath through my right nostril. I have no idea what was going on prior to this week and honestly don't really care much as long as it stays away.

Tuesday I had my annual physical and the cold had just hit me on Monday after severely pruning a 10 foot bush, actually two grown together like brambles. I left the doctor's office with three new prescriptions, none of which had anything to do with my cold since it's no doubt just a virus anyway. One of the meds I just started taking to treat suspected narcolepsy is a generic Ritalin. Yeah, you know that stuff they give kiddos for ADD? Well you've heard me talk about having CADD before, right? That crafter's attention deficit disorder that makes us flitter from one project to the next and the next and the next, never completing any of them. Well it should be interesting to see how this new drug effects my CADD. I can tell you that it is keeping me awake during the day (PRAISE GOD!!!) My boss actually thought I was joking when I told him I'd been falling asleep at work, then I had to explain that I never actually slept at my desk because I always got up and walked around or did something that kept me awake, but was constantly struggling to keep my eyes open and head up. My doc said it's most likely caused by the fibromyalgia, but could also be narcolepsy. As much as I detest taking medication, especially anything with potential side effects, when something interferes with my ability to carry out daily activities and responsibilities then it's time to take action. The other one I finally succumbed to was for my high cholesterol. With my weight and family history it was time to give in and take something that can lower it.

Lastly I got something for this teenage acne. Yeah, go figure! At 57 you'd think that wouldn't be an issue, but at certain times it is. I have known for several weeks that an illness was going to break out because the first sign is always a huge zit that is traditionally followed by one or two or more, typically in a trail across a part of my face. This year the first one was by my left eye, then left eyebrow, then several more moving across my eyebrow lines over to the right side. Ok, so I know ya'll didn't really need to know all that, but hey, isn't that what blogging is for? If nothing else I've got a written record so I can go back later to find out when it happened.

Now on a much lighter note, how about some pictures of this morning's excitement? Our county has an annual hot air balloon festival right down the street from us at Lake Shawnee and this morning they took flight. We are in the flight path and turned out to be the landing field for many of them because of the thick air that kept them from gaining altitude. I was giddy as a kid watching them fly overhead and land next door! The first picture is kind of fuzzy, but you get the idea. That Jack in the Box was the cutest thing ever!

The first one down was the tiger. I really thought they were landing on a house across the street!

Then down came Jack!

ReMax stayed up high and kept floating.

See that flame?

The two pics below show them deflating in my neighbor's side acre.

And on another note, I really have been working on crafts lately. Here's a card I made using a sweater from a catalog for color inspiration:

Now I'm off and running to get some last minute errands done in preparation for tomorrow's HUGE craft show over in Lawrence. My daughter and I will be selling our Etsy crafts and jewelry at the Lawrence Annual Fall Arts and Crafts Festival. We'd love to see you!

Oh boy I just received a check in the mail for $3,990.00!!! It looks like the real thing and came with a letter from G.T.Express Financial Services Inc. in NY, although the check itself has Presbyterian Village in Little Rock, AR on it as the owner and it came in an envelope postmarked Little Rock with no return address. Hmmm, time to investigate.... Oh yeah, the check is to go towards the "applicable Government Service Tax (GST) payable to the Revenue Department through your assigned tax agent" so I can get my $120,000.00! Sheesh! If only....

Update on weight loss

2011-08-29T17:56:00.000-05:00

Today I got my third star for losing weight. That means I'm down 15.8 pounds. When I got home I took my measurements and have lost 11 inches (that's bust, waist, hips, thigh and arm) and feel pretty good about it! My clothes are fitting better and this morning I thought I felt a trickle of energy that wasn't there before. I'm still giving semi-regular reports on my WordPress blog, so you can follow me there or just check back here once in awhile.

Upcycled Envelope Mini Albums

2011-08-23T17:38:00.000-05:00

Here's a sneak peak of what I've been working on the past couple of weeks. They are all made out of junk mail envelopes and decorative paper from my stash. No two are alike and they were a blast to make. There are more than what you see in the picture, but I'm having brain freeze about getting the flash to stay on while taking closeups. The one closeup is of a double-embossed cover that's made to look like leather. First it's embossed on the Cuttlebug, then with extra thick embossing enamel powder. What do you think? I saw a tutorial somewhere using this technique to make wallets and thought it would work equally well as an album cover.

Steampunk Mini Album

2011-08-15T19:13:00.000-05:00

I've been very busy for the past few weeks trying to get inventory ready for the craft show in Lawrence next month. Emily and I are so excited about finally being in a venue that really appreciates the concept upcycled crafts and jewelry. I keep hearing about this thing called Steampunk (or is it Steam Punk?) and figured it was high time I got on the bandwagon and try my hand at creating something along that line. I went to my favorite site for finding free vintage graphics, The Graphics Fairy and grabbed a bunch of steampunk and vintage graphics for this project. I used cereal boxes for the covers and embellishments, upcycled junk mail envelopes, keys and metal washers from the garage (actually I think the keys came from my father's old collection), my new favorite purchased embellishments from K & Company and paper/cardstock from my stash. Here's a look at the finished product. I'd love to hear what you think of it!

The grunge flower on the front is done using a technique I learned while at an awesome Stampin Up retreat held by my favorite demonstrator Shelly May. I happened to pick up some 2 inch wide rolls of floral ribbon on clearance at Hallmark and was able to cut a strip 15" x 1" for this project. Then I cut slits all most all the way through at about 1/2" intervals, wound it around in a circle on to some sticky tape and zapped it with the heat gun. The finished product was just perfect for this album, don't you think? Oh and that button in the center is one of those spares that came with a jacket that has long since gone bye-bye. I tucked a bit of lace around one half of the flower to stay with the vintage feel.

I love this little graphic of the fireman running with a ladder. I colored him in with red pencils just to make him pop, then found some red ribbon studded with clear bling (the stuff is great to mimic dog collars in the pet albums!). The tag is held in place by some clear acetate.

One of my favorite keys from the collection is this one from Sears. Paired it with a Graphics Fairy pocket watch and an old rusted metal washer.

Yes that really is a picture of a young girl peering through some paint on the junk mail envelope page. She was just far too cute to paint over completely and makes me smile every time I look at her!

The envelopes are sewed together in groups of three (called signatures I think?), then attached with black cardstock which is held together with a binding made out of some leather-look cardstock/paper (thin adhesive cardstock from Sizzix).

Don't you just love the eye peeking through the window envelope on this page? It is enhanced with a metal washer over the eye and another very large washer serves as the tab for the tag.

I used platinum UTEE on the edge of the tag below, then embossed it quickly with a border stamp.

Here's some of that K & Co I told you about. The clock is a Graphics Fairy, the rest is K & Co exept the picture of the book cover for Lady in the Attic (more junk mail, although the book does sound interesting!)

I just had to show you the page below which I so fondly call my lemonade page. You see that upside down bicyclist? Well that was totally unintentional, but when the tape ended up in the wrong place (gee, can't imagine how that happened!) I decided that it was perfectly ok, no beyond okay, it was awesome!

Well that's all for now. I am currently working on mini albums made out of #10 junk mail envelopes and will post pics of those later. Like I said, I'd LOVE some input. What would you expect to pay for something like this?

T-shirt Transformed into Jazzy Ruffled Purse

2011-07-27T16:46:00.003-05:00

I've been seeing a lot of ruffles around lately.... ruffles on blouses.... ruffles on headbands.... even ruffles on greeting cards! While making a ton of upcycled t-shirt totes for the Farmer's Market and upcoming craft shows I found myself with a pile of strips left over. So what's a girl to do with all that great t-shirt fabric? Why.... ruffle it of course! Here's what I came up with:

It has been quite a struggle NOT to just pile all my stuff in it and carry it around, but I convinced myself that there was a future owner out there somewhere who just couldn't live without this fun purse. Maybe I'll have to make another one soon! This project is also linked at the Passionately Artistic linking party
where you can find a ton of really awesome projects from yummy recipes, to colored glass jars, hand-sewn quilts and well, you name it it's there!

I'm featured this month in Scrapbook News and Reviews!

2011-07-20T08:38:00.001-05:00

I'm soooooo excited to finally be able to share with you the tutorial just published on the Scrapbook News and Reviews web site! It was such an honor to be asked by Dana Tatar to be a featured artist in July. I chose to write a tutorial for making grunge flowers out of upcycled book pages. Please go take a look around their site and leave me some loving in the comments so I know you were there! Here's a sneak peek at one of the flowers:

This project is also linked at http://www.passionatelyartistic.com/2011/07/hgtvs-cash-cari-with-linking-party.html

Birthday surprise from Emily!

2011-07-10T17:43:00.000-05:00

We celebrated my birthday today even though it was on July 6th and I was surprised by these awesome necklaces made by my daughter, Emily. She has sold quite a few of these at the Farmer's Market and in our Etsy shop and I've always admired them. NOW I am the proud owner of two handmade upcycled washer necklaces! These lovelies are 2 inches wide and will surely receive loads of compliments every time I wear them!

Oh and my wonderful husband gave me a Michael's gift card. He sure knows what I like! My present to myself was a 24 hour slumber party called Crop for Hope that was a fundraiser for the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. It was hosted by a long-time friend of mine who sells Stampin Up products. Please go take a look at her blog Stamp Crazy Girl. It was held at the Circle S Ranch bed and breakfast and let me tell ya, the place is out of this world awesome! You can go see it online at http://www.circlesranch.com/ and even take a tour of the rooms. Mine was the Kansas room here and was just steps away from the table I used for scrapping. I made an entire scrapbook for my dog, Tucker, who died last October from cancer. I'll post some pics of that later, but for now I'm ready to go play with some of my new toys!

Mom's Memory Album

2011-06-27T19:20:00.000-05:00

For my mom's over 80 Birthday I made her a memory album and want to share it with you here. The front and back covers are chipboard covered with quilt batting and fabric. The rest of the pages are made out of cereal or other food product boxes. I made copies of a bunch of old pictures and tried to cover the span of years from the time her and Dad got married up through their 60th anniversary this past year. Here's a peek inside some of the pages:

The layers below are made out of an upcycled junk mail envelope.

The tags are upcycled manilla folders.

That's me in the Army uniform with my mom, grandma and grandpa (her parents).

Isn't this the cutest picture below of my daughter at my college graduation in the WSU Shocker outfit I sewed and then there she is as a graduate. How time flies!

Slide show of Dad's 80th

2011-06-26T11:20:00.000-05:00

Come Help Me Pay It Forward

2011-06-25T14:32:00.001-05:00

I found the this post over at Yolie's blog, Just Yolie, Just Create and decided to join her in the Pay It Forward. Here's how it works:

"Pay It Forward" is the idea of blessing someone with a random act of kindness without expecting anything in return. It’s passing on a kindness, hoping that your recipients will do the same, and forming a never-ending chain of goodwill. But it isn’t only kindness, it is also a means to connect and share.

"I promise to send an original creation to the (1st) 5 people who leave a comment here. They must, in turn, post this on their blog, and send something they make to the 1st 5 people who comment."

Here's what you need to do:

1. Leave a comment on this post. I will send a handmade gift to the first 5 commenters.

2. Create a post on your blog offering the same.

3. Send a handmade item to your first 5 commenters.

4. It must be sent to your 5 people by end of the year.

Please do not sign up unless you are fully committed to making your 5 items!

Upcycled bowling shirts lap blanket for my Dad

2011-06-15T19:46:00.001-05:00

For years my dad has been asking me when I was going to make the blanket out of his old bowling shirts. Well my sewing room is in as bad a shape or worse than my craft room and I just simply had NO idea where those shirts were! I've recently started making tote bags out of upcycled t-shirts and noticed two of my boxes marked, "old t-shirts". Hmmm, wonder what THAT means? well duh! Yup, you guessed it! Amongst all those old t-shirts waiting to be recycled was a clear plastic upcycled bag containing squares cut off some of my dad's old bowling shirts! PHEW!!! Since he has his 80th birthday AND Father's Day this month I decided it was high time I dusted off my sewing machine and make that blanket. He uses a wheelchair to get around so I made this lap-size. All I did was iron on some paper-backed interfacing, peel off the paper and iron the squares on to a big piece of blue terrycloth that I got from my mom's fabric stash when she quit sewing years ago. The terrycloth is pretty thick and soft, so I didn't add any other layers. I think he'll like it even though he can't see much anymore. Oh, then I zigzagged around all the squares. There's even some pockets he can stick things in! You've GOT to zoom in on the picture of the single square and read all those sayings. It's SOOOOOooo my Dad!!!

My project is featured on Scrapbook News and Reviews today!!!

2011-06-08T17:11:00.001-05:00

This is such an honor to have my embossing folder holder featured today on Scrapbook News and Reviews! This site is a great place for tutorials and reviews of all things scrapbooking and paper-crafting. If you haven't been there yet please go take a look and I'd really love some lovin. Who said public displays of affection were a bad thing? Not me! :-)

Birthday Card for my Mom

2011-06-06T20:28:00.000-05:00

I made this card for my mom's upcoming birthday. It is also part of my month-long gig as a guest designer for Fresh Brewed Designs. If you look very closely at the lettering you'll see the font is made up of coffee beans! Perfect for the java theme of the coffee flowers! The ribbon ruffles and bow are made using seam binding.

I'll be a guest designer this month on Freshly Brewed Challenges!

2011-06-03T16:32:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow the card below will be featured on Freshly Brewed Challenges which is run by the lovely Heather who creates these awesome and adorably cute digi and rubber stamps. You can find them in her shop Fresh Brewed Designs. I had so much fun with these two digi sets that I can't wait to make my next one! Hop over to see what her design team has made and join in her monthly challenge For the Guys.

Free SVG file for 3 x 5 Spiral Notebook cover

2011-05-30T09:14:00.002-05:00

Yesterday I created a file to cut out covers for 3 x 5 spiral notebooks on my Cricut. I know many people have purchased a special machine to do the cutting and insert the spiral binding, but I'm kind of a cheapscape when there's a way to do something without another piece of equipment to find room for in my overcrowded craft room. If these turn out to be big sellers at Farmer's Market, craft shows and Etsy then maybe I'll reconsider, but for now I'm sharing my poor-woman's file with you so you too can decorate your common little spiral notebooks. The picture I'm sharing is of the upcycled Twinkie and cereal box covers. Today I'll make some out of decorative cardstock with embellishments and will post pics after those are done. Hopefully you can dowload the file by clicking on the green picture below or using this link http://www.box.net/shared/tcycvjb2eb. If not please holler at me and I'll send the file to you directly. Oh yeah, blogger's comments are being persnickity, but if you click on the contact me form I'll get your note. Enjoy!

I actually removed the spiral binding and replaced the front cover with what you see below. Aren't these little cowboys and waving wheat squares just the cutest things? We don't normally have Twinkies in the house, but dh "got them on sale" and I couldn't resist using those boxes! The back cover is such a nice sturdy chipboard that I left it there and will adhere the decorative cover to it. If you don't want to remove the spiral binding you can always cut slits above each hole and use your fingernail or other object to slip the cover on. Oh and you'll want to round the corners to match the existing covers and paper. I use the small Stampin Up corner rounder and it's absolutely perfect! If you're really good at manipulating files you can probably alter the file to make rounded corners, bit since my paper punch was perfect I decided not to mess with it. Here's what I made yesterday.

Vinyl Sunflower cut to cover an "oops!"

2011-05-29T18:05:00.000-05:00

Happy Memorial Day weekend everyone! After working at the Farmer's Market yesterday I spent most of today cutting out decorative covers for 3 x 5 spiral notepads. I sold one yesterday that was kind of a test product and decided to cover the rest of the two packages of a dozen each that I had bought at SAMS. Tonight I'll assemble some of them while watching the traditional Memorial Day specials on TV with DH. Speaking of DH...

My wonderful husband has caught on to the way crafters think. He wants to sell an old stereo cabinet that we bought second hand a few years ago and thought it would look better if we could cover a bad spot on the lid. The lid is pressed board covered with a vinyl laminate similar to contact paper, so when he accidentally spilled some scented oil on it the chemicals ate a hole about 3 inches in diameter in the vinyl. Kinda makes a person wonder what's in those scented oil plugins, huh? I pulled out some vinyl, fired up my Cricut and Sure Cuts a Lot and Voila! No more ugly hole! I forgot to take a before picture, so just use your imagination and I think you'll agree that the after picture is much better. Oh did I mention this thing has an 8-track in it??? If you're looking for one and live in the area we're participating in Berryton's city-wide garage sale (which is funny since we don't live in the city, but they'll have maps to all of us rural folks's homes.) We're doing it the first two weekends in June. Good thing DH is done with the school year because he's got a lot of work to do to get ready!

Part of my organized craft room

2011-05-25T18:33:00.000-05:00

This wall display is one of the areas of my craft room that stays organized no matter how the rest of the room looks. It holds all my punches, crimper and some ribbon. My makeshift clip-it-up sits below it. Isn't that plant lovely? I have several plants in this room and find them to be inspirational and calming.

Here's my reality... a perpetually messy desk with that tinsy winsy little spot for creating. Can't you just hear my desk crying, "help me I've disappeared and can't find myself!"

I have been invited to participate as a guest designer for Fresh Brewed Designs in June and also as a featured artist in July for Scrapbook News and Reviews, so the next couple of months will be very busy for me. I'll post more details about both of these exciting projects as they happen, so stay tuned. In addition to those fun projects I continue to get ready for Farmer's Market and Top City Thursdays. Now if only I didn't have to work for a living 8 hours a day and could put all my focus on creating....

Here we are at Rails to Trails in Burlingame

2011-05-21T20:26:00.001-05:00

Here's a shot of our setup at Rails to Trails in Burlingame this morning. We had slow traffic early due to threat of rain, then things picked up a bit when the sun came out. I'm still looking for suggestions about enhancing my display to make things pop. It is really apparent when I look at pictures that I need to make changes. Any ideas?

I wish I'd had my video camera with me to show this amazing Border Collie herding the geese as part of the parade. OMG this was awesome to watch! Makes me want to train our Katie to be a real Border Collie!

We met Emily and Matt for supper tonight to celebrate her birthday early (it's on the 25th) and sat at Chipotles eating with tornado sirens going off watching the hail and rotating clouds. Toto, we really ARE in Kansas!!! Then we went next door to shop at Michaels and found the doors locked, but the manager came and opened the door, informed us that if we came in we'd have to huddle in the back hallway with them, so hey, what better place to hunker down than Michaels, right?!? We ended up getting let out right before the all clear was sounded, drove home thinking we'd find a Border Collie stroked out (she HATES storms!) and it was completely dry here. The tornadoes are hitting further northeast of here and another storm is headed up the turnpike towards us, so I'll send this on its way and think about getting some rest before the next round of thunder. Have a great weekend everyone!

CSI:Topeka in action near my home

2011-05-16T22:34:00.000-05:00

http://www.wibw.com/home/headlines/Gun_Battle_Leaves_At_Least_One_Victim_Authorities_Searching_121958164.html?storySection=photo

The injured man ended up lying on my neighbor's driveway after banging on her door for help. I came home to what could have been a filming of one of my favorite CSI shows. Well on a more positive note, our new lawn mower was delivered! Yup, the Sears truck followed me all the way down Croco and I bet they were also very surprised to find all those flashing lights. The lawn mower has a very smooth ride and cuts very well, what more can I ask for?

Garage sale loot!

2011-05-14T15:24:00.000-05:00

What a great morning of garage sailing (ok so spell check doesn't like "saleing" or "saling") with my daughter! We didn't find any jewelry that we could salvage, but did find a bunch of other needed items like t-shirts for tote bags and t-shirt yarn, genuine StampinUp stamps and brayer (much needed!), acrylic blocks for unmounted stamps, drop-dead gorgeous burgundy wire-edged ribbon, StampinUp fiber pack and journal, wire basket for card display at Farmer's Market, jeans and some Peanuts stuff for DH. Oh and the last two pictures show some tiles. I tried drilling a hole in one of the small square glass tiles and it broke both the drill bit (titanium dremel bit) and the tile (covered both sides with painter's tape). Anyone know how to drill holes in glass tiles to insert jump rings for jewelry? Here, take a looksy:

It's a Mother-Daughter Day!

2011-05-14T09:01:00.001-05:00

Yippee my daughter is on her way over and we get to spend the day together. We're going to scout out some garage sales looking for things to upcycle for our Etsy shop and Farmer's Market. It's just so much fun finding things that might otherwise end up in the landfill and transforming them in to something useful that will bring a smile to another person's face!

After our shopping trip we're going to make a valiant effort to cut my little Harley's hair. He does NOT like having his face, neck, legs, or well, just about any place touched by metal. I managed to hand cut the fur on his back and have snuck up on him and cut off some mats around his neck, but as soon as he discovers that I've got a scissors he tries to bite it or me. Wish us luck!

The perfect gift!

2011-05-09T20:10:00.000-05:00

Here's what my awesome daughter got me for Mother's Day. I can't wait to start using it!

You can read all about it at http://www.hungry-girl.com/books/6

Fresh Brewed Blog Hop please vote for my cards!

2011-05-04T12:25:00.000-05:00

Please join the Fresh Brewed Designs Blog Hop today to see some awesome cards made with their newest rubber and digi stamps and while you're there please hop on over to Vote for card kit creation and vote for #3 (that's me!) There are some very talented designers and I completely understand if you want to vote for someone else, just have fun doing it. I made five cards using their new card kit and had a blast doing it!

Challenging challenge card

2011-04-30T08:25:00.002-05:00

I came home from work totally exhausted AGAIN yesterday and made this card for the Latte Lounge Beach Party challenge. Even though it's certainly not my best work it was a fun challenge. You should hop over there just to see the amazing cards and tags made by the other talented artists! Oh btw... that is supposed to be embossed clouds, not blue dust flying through the sky. The basket, ice cream cone and castle are all brand new, not-yet-released digis from Fresh Brewed Designs. I'm determined to try this again after running errands this morning with DH and DD. The riding mower broke AGAIN, so we're replacing it with a new one, then WATCH OUT GRASS cuz this old gal is ON A MISSION!!! lol! Hmm, wonder if there's a stamp for that one? I've seen the fluffy gal on a bicycle, but haven't seen her on a riding mower yet (hint, hint to all you designers out there!). If anyone has seen a stamp or digi like that please send me the link. Thanks!

Mother's Day Card

2011-04-27T18:11:00.000-05:00

I recently became aquainted with a talented stamp designer, Heather Dennis, at Fresh Brewed Designs and have just begun using some of her digis. The card below was made for a challenge in The Latte Lounge that ends tomorrow night, April 28th. The hot latte and cupcakes were fun to color with my Staedtler colored pencils. I love the ergosoft material and the triangular shape that makes it so much more comfy for these arthritic hands of mine (sigh). The challenge is to use one of her stamps (digi or rubber) and flowers. I forgot the red stickles on the cupcakes until after I had submitted the picture. That really jazzed them up a bit. The two cupcakes in the diamonds are cut from a DCWV stack. I made another card for my MIL but can't show that because she might see it online.

Happy Easter from Our House to Yours!

2011-04-24T12:01:00.001-05:00

Happy Easter from Matt, Emily, Mike and Sharon!

and now for the outtake (we didn't realize the camera was set to video!)

Pot decorations for fundraiser at work

2011-04-20T17:34:00.000-05:00

On Friday we're putting on a fundraiser at work called Spring Fling and will be selling, among other things, gift baskets. One of the themed baskets is gardening, so I immediately thought of that Cricut cartridge that came with my machine called Walk in my Garden. Here are some of the picks I made to stick in the basket and some of the plants we'll be selling. I think they're the cutest things and might just have to make some for around my house! I love how the faux stitching looks, especially the blanket stitch on that purple butterfly! I used bamboo skewers for the sticks and glued them with Diamond Glaze. What fun!

Upcycled seed sacks become waterproof tote bags!

2011-04-18T17:34:00.000-05:00

This is something I've been wanting to do for a long time, even had saved bird seed bags in my garage. It wasn't until I saw someone selling them on Etsy that were made out of horse and chicken feed sacks that I decided it was time to get to work. Only thing was I didn't have any horses or chickens! Well call in the reinforcements.... tada!!! My daughter asked around at work and found someone who had these nylon bags that she couldn't burn and VOILA! I absolutely LOVE them!!! These three were donated back to my daughter, the lady who knew the lady with the bags and of course, the lady with the bags. They've promised to be my guinea pigs of sort to test them out before I try selling them. As I was struggling with my standard sewing machine my husband walked in the sewing room to ask how things were going and I mentioned that the long-arm sewing machine I'd been talking about would come in very handy for this new project. We'll look around, probably check out the special sales at the State Fair in September. Any suggestions for types or brands would be helpful. In addition to using it for tote bags I also have plans to do t-shirt quilts and other "normal" quilts that need the extra space.

New Upcycled Ties Brooches I made

2011-04-16T22:09:00.000-05:00

These are made out of upcycled ties and some beads from my stash. They are posted in my Etsy shop now.

Eco Chique Boutique at Farmer's Market

2011-04-12T18:19:00.000-05:00

Here's a bigger and better picture as promised!

Here we are (or were ) at Farmers Market!

2011-04-09T12:57:00.000-05:00

I'll have a better picture later, but this is what Emily posted on her Facebook page right after we got set up at Farmers Market. It was a great day, a little windy and hot towards the end, but the crowd was awesome!

Last minute brooches for market

2011-04-08T11:07:00.000-05:00

I think I might have already mentioned that I'm a last minute sort of gal, right? Well in less than 24 hours, uh 20 to be exact, my daughter and I will be standing or sitting under our brand new vendor tent at the Downtown Topeka Farmers Market and what am I doing? Yup, STILL making stuff!!! Anyway, here's a sneak peek at what I'm working on today. Oh by the way, if you check the vendor directory online we're still not in there, but the manager has promised me that we will be soon. Eco Chique Boutique really has a nice ring to it, don't you agree? In case you're wondering what that black stuff is on those two brooches it's leftover screening we used on our sliding back door. The stuff really IS dog-proof!

Banner for our vendor booth

2011-04-03T18:23:00.000-05:00

One of my projects for today was to cut out the vinyl letters for the banner on our vendor tent for Farmers Market. I had just enough black vinyl in the size needed (phew!). I used my Sure Cuts A Lot program to lay out the letters to cut out on my Cricut. I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out. Can't wait to show you the booth all set up next Saturday!

Upclycled washer necklaces my daughter made for Farmers Market

2011-04-03T11:01:00.000-05:00

Please stop by Emily's Facebook page and give her some luvin for these awesome 2 inch upcycled washer necklaces she made for Farmers Market. She might also start selling them in our Etsy shop soon if there's enough interest. These are made in several different ways, decorative paper, upcycled book pages and hand painted. The girl's got talent, what else can I say? Yup, very proud momma here!!!

Covered Button Tutorial and Badge Reels I made with them

2011-03-27T17:33:00.000-05:00

First I'll show you what I've been making this weekend for Farmers Market, then I'll explain how to make the covered buttons. What fun it was to find the vintage fabric in my stash and pick out designs I thought might appeal to a wide variety of people! Of course with this being Kansas and all AND with it being a Farmers Market, when I came across remnants of the John Deere fabric that I'd used years ago when my husband has his school kids make 12 inch squares for a quilt I just KNEW those HAD to be included! Heck, if nobody buys them I'll wear them with my badge at work! And don't you just LOVE those sunflowers? Also remnants from another quilt his kids made blocks for and I sewed together.

The pink, blue and green fabric on the left is from upholstery samples and the black is beautiful velvet left over from a skirt I made for my daughter years ago (come to think of it I never finished that skirt...)

The buttons below are made from a variety of fabric. For instance that purple and gold one is from an old tie, as is the red paisley button. The pink, yellow and green watermelon fabric is left over from a cute little jumpsuit I made my daughter some 20 years ago and the pink dotted fabric is actually new, but without a home or project in mind, just got a good deal on it (yes ladies, I KNOW you ALL know what I'm talking about!)

This gives you an idea of the different colors of badge reels that I used. What I had available was white, dark pink, blue and black, so I just had to make it all work together. I think they turned out great!

OK, NOW on with the tutorial. First you'll need to gather your supplies. The only real necessity for making the covered buttons is the button kit. It will include a base (the round white thing) and the pusher (blue round thing that isn't a badge reel) along with a few button blanks in two pieces. You will want the blanks that do not have shank backs, although the shank piece is easily removable if that's all you can find. The package has a template on the back showing how large to cut your circles for the size of button you are using. The circle cutter on the right is strictly optional. I bought one because I thought I'd be making a bunch of yo-yo's, but it's a little more cumbersome than I'd hoped and hasn't gotten as much use as I'd expected. It did come in handy for this project though, so I'm glad I had it. My glue of choice is E-6000 because it is VERY strong when cured, but you can use whatever you prefer, just make sure it will create a permanent bond to metal. Oh and the last thing, of course, is your fabric. The one below turned out to be just a bit thicker than normal, making it a little tricky to get the back of the button to push down into the front, but I made it work anyway (where there's a will, there's a way, but I won't be demonstrating THAT part of it here today...)

Step 1: Cut your circle according to the size indicated on your package template.

Step 2: Line up your button front in the center of the fabric circle.

Step 3: Place the fabric with the metal button front on it over the top of the white base and push down evenly.

Step 4: Smoosh the button down so the white base hugs it really tight, then using your fingernail, evenly smoosh the fabric down all the way around. When using thinner fabric this step isn't a necessity, but with the thicker fabric it makes a much nicer button.

Step 5: Place the button base over the top of the smooshed down fabric.

Step 6: Place the blue pusher thingy over the metal button base and push down in the middle. Ok, so this is where it got really tricky with the thick fabric and the blue thingy just kind of bent rather than pushing the base down into the fabric, so I'd suggest starting with thinner fabric.

Step 7: What the button looks like after you've pushed the base into the button top. (Or what the other button I made with thinner fabric looked like anyway since the thicker fabric one got a little bent up by my alternative method.)

Step 8: Tada! Your beautiful finished button! I love this one so much that I think I'll wear it tomorrow!

Step 9: Go check on the dog (or cat or kids or spouse or whatever!) LOL! and find out it's snowing AGAIN!!!

Getting ready for Farmers Market!

2011-03-26T13:48:00.001-05:00

Woohoo I am soooooo excited about our upcoming debut at the Topeka Farmers Market on April 9th!!! While on vacation last week I made 22 boxes of candy-decorated cookies. The boxes were cut on my Cricut and hand assembled by me. They have clear acetate on the lids so the lovely cookies can be viewed. I didn't take pictures after everything was put together, but will post pics of our booth after April 9th. Each box is tied with brown and white baker's twine and includes a matching tag ready for gift-giving. The tag is made out of the square that was cut out of the box lids, so every little bit was used. Oh and I've made more tags out of what was left after cutting the lids and will offer those for sale too. Here's a peek at the cookies:

Most are decorated for Easter, but since not everyone celebrates Easter I also made some sunflower decorations. I think that white one with the yellow center looks a bit like a sunny-side up egg!

Here's all the lids waiting to be plopped on the boxes.

Wish us luck!
Ooooh oooooh ooooh!!! I just entered to win this awesome blog candy over at Angelwood's Crafting Corner. She also has a daughter, although much younger than my Emily, that loves to make cards too and she has showcased some of her work on the blog over at http://angelwoodcrafts.blogspot.com/2011/03/make-it-colourful-kiddies-challenge-and.html

Go take a peek and enter to win one of three sets of awesome candy!

Official Hive Creative Challenge - SPRING

2011-03-17T19:16:00.001-05:00

I love this green trellis yarn necklace I made to celebrate my Irishness! Well I'm one quarter Irish anyway, love, love , LOVE green and needed something to wear with my green shirt today, so what do you think? I know I know, they're sideways, but for the life of me I can't figure out why because they are NOT sideways in my picture program!

Trellis yarn necklace I made

2011-03-10T19:00:00.001-06:00

I was so excited this morning when I put on my new trellis yarn necklace that I made and found out that it matched one of my favorite tops just perfectly! Not only that, but it also matches the badge lanyard my daughter made. These pictures don't show the true colors, so please just use your imagination and trust me.... they really do match! We're getting geared up for the Farmers Market and just got in a new order of yarn, so watch our Etsy shop for more exciting colors to come! We'll also put some of the lanyards in the shop and those can be used either to hold your badge reel or just plain as a necklace by itself or layered with the multi-layered necklaces. What fun!

You Need Groupon!

2011-03-08T19:12:00.001-06:00

One of the hottest trends these days are sites like Groupon where you can get awesome deals at very reasonable prices. Most are at least 50% off the normal price. If you use my link I'll get a great reward and you'll get a great price, so please click here to find a great deal! I promise that you won't be disappointed!

Earrings my daughter made and cards I've been working on

2011-03-06T22:51:00.001-06:00

Ok, so after showing you my horribly messy desk I think it's time to show you that I really DO get some work done, but before that let me show off the earrings my daughter made for me using an Arizona Tea can and some flower punches. These are absolutely amazing and very similar to some she is selling in our Etsy shop, Eco Chique Boutique
If anyone knows how to make these pictures maintain their angle instead of importing sideways please let me know. When I save them prior to importing they are right side up. Very perplexing!

The next group of pictures is a bunch of stamped images that I colored with colored pencils. The book I am using to attempt to become a better artist is also shown. I hope to learn how to draw realistic things like they show in the book, but even if I just improve my skills I'll be happy. They don't use stamped images, but I'm just taking baby steps (channeling Dave Ramsey now...)

My Project Desk

2011-03-06T09:37:00.000-06:00

I will let this picture speak for itself. You'll have to click on it to zoom it so you can read all the text identifying some of the objects. This is my usual state of chaos and is a good representation of my CADD (Crafters Attention Deficit Disorder). Funny thing is that one would expect a person to function much more efficiently without disorder, right? Maybe that's true, but this is always how I end up after a couple of weeks no matter how often I clear off my desk! Anyone else have this same dilemma?

Going to see Dave Ramsey today!

2011-03-05T08:51:00.000-06:00

Thanks to the generosity of our daughter and son-in-law's Christmas gift we get to attend a Dave Ramsey seminar today (Mike calls it a concert... lol!) If you don't know who he is you can read all about him on his site here. In a nutshell he's a Christian guy who made it big fast, lost it all, then learned how to life life, including his budget, from a Biblical standpoint. We gave our daughter and SIL tickets a couple of years ago and they are well on their way to being completely debt-free. Although Mike and I don't use credit cards we would like to learn how to manage our meager salaries a bit better and be confident that when our time comes to retire we'll be prepared.

I know I've promised to post pictures of my newest homemade stamps and probably half a dozen other things that haven't shown up here yet. If you haven't figured this out, this gal is very easily distracted! Perhaps tomorrow I'll get some pictures posted. There's a Yahoo group for the TC Stampmaker that I've joined recently and have received some encouragement from them along with some good tips. Maybe there's hope for me after all!

Our newest addition, Harley the Wire Fox Terrier, is fitting in quite nicely and keeps us on our toes. Do you remember having to childproof your house when you had babies around? Well we're learning all over again what needs to be hidden, latched, and so on. This little guy is very feisty and must stay busy all the time unless he's asleep, so if we aren't entertaining him he finds things to entertain himself, like chewing on our arms or pulling the protective covers off the furniture, or running at full speed past one of the other dogs and snapping at their head or tail (or maybe both). We have spray water bottles in nearly every room and use them when one of the dogs gets out of control. Usually all we have to do is point it at them and they stop dead in their tracks. I suspect that little Harley will actually get to liking that water and treat it as another one of his little games!

I hope you all have a great weekend!

Fabulously Artsy -- Stamp Kissing Technique

2011-02-24T19:01:00.001-06:00

I just watched this video on YouTube and wanted to share it with you. Now I'm going to try it! So cool I just can't wait to see what I can come up with... now if only I had the same stamps...

My conclusion about the Teresa Collins Stampmaker

2011-02-22T18:15:00.000-06:00

I spent one of my four days off designing and creating polymer stamps using my Teresa Collins Stampmaker and have come to the conclusion that it was probably not a good idea to buy it. Why? Well in addition to the polymer packets being rather expensive, the time spent creating the designs and the mess associated with cleaning the stamps after they have hardened in the stampmaker is just not something that I would recommend to anyone. Sorry Teresa, but what sounded pretty awesome on your videos just turned out to be messier and more difficult than I expected. If you have one of these and don't wear rubber gloves (like Teresa didn't wear them in her videos) I'd warn against it. I'm pretty gullible and since she says the polymer isn't harmful and since she didn't wear gloves I followed her lead. Now I have a rash on my left hand. There's no guarantee that it came from the chemicals, it actually might be from the day-long exposure on and off to Dawn for Dishes, but I did develop a rather icky headache by the end of the day.

I might decide to take some pictures of the stamps and resulting images later, but quite honestly I wouldn't pay money for these stamps if I saw them in the store. It's really odd that the tinsy winsy 8 point font stamp done with a plain font turned out great, but the 28 or larger point font with decorative swirls lost part of the swirls during the cleaning process. I even did those by hand rather than with the really horribly icky black wooden handled scrub brush provided in the kit. Why is it icky? Well that polymer apparently gets embedding in the wood and no amount of Dawn could get rid of the stickiness! Then the black paint stained my fingers. Did Teresa even use this product more than just for her videos? I'm sure she's a really nice lady and I've enjoyed some of her other products, but I've got to give this one a rather failing grade. Since the money has been spent on it I will no doubt buy more refill packets to make more stamps, but will only do a few at a time so I won't get exposed to the chemicals for so long, or maybe do it outside in the summer.

Ok, so my ranting and raving is over now. If anyone reading this has suggestions for making the process easier please, please pass them along to me!

Getting ready for four days off!

2011-02-17T18:51:00.001-06:00

First I have to say that I'm watching the most ridiculous and incredibly "Saturday Night Live"ish commercial about some kind of electronic cigarette. The people they show smoking these things look, well let's just say, less than desirable, and make me so very thankful that I gave up that nasty habit years ago! I honestly thought I was watching some rerun of SNL with those crazy made-up commercials that start out looking real.

Ok, back to my subject line... I am off Friday and Monday, trying to burn up vacation hours ya know! Tomorrow I plan on a major cleanup in my sewing room, so even though it's not my craft room I'll take some before and after pictures just to hold myself accountable. With temps in the low 70's here today I must say the prospect of being holed up in the basement isn't too inviting, but then again they said tomorrow won't be as warm.

My daughter called tonight to go over our Farmer's Market application. Wow, it's getting real! We're taking the plunge and hope to have a successful season. More incentive for me to get my sewing and craft rooms cleaned up so I can make more products to sell! If any of you have any suggestions for ways to display things like greeting cards, embellishments and jewelry please let me know.

My contributions to the bake sale for Project Topeka

2011-02-11T18:35:00.002-06:00

For our last fundraiser for Project Topeka I made some chocolate covered Oreos, candy hearts and candy heart pics to put on cupcakes made by a co-worker. I love how the boxes turned out! The little red hearts went on some other cupcakes made by another person who baked over 100 cupcakes. WOW! We also had a chocolate fountain with all kinds of goodies for dipping, but I forgot to ask for permission to include the picture of the lady who ran it, so might be back later with that. Our group made just over $2,000 that will go to local charities who are all in much need of food and other supplies. It's been a very cold and snowy winter! If I forget to say it later, happy Valentine's Day!

The Surprise of My Life!

2011-02-05T19:14:00.000-06:00

This morning my husband and daughter teamed up to take me on a secret trip. They would not tell me where we were going even when we arrived at this humongous shopping center in Lees Summit, Missouri. Oh boy, there's a huge Michaels store! Wow, I thought, how nice of them to drive over an hour just to take me to this big Michaels! Well I kind of figured that it was more than that, but just kept my mouth shut as I found some good deals (more about those later). Then when they took me to Petco I got a little more suspicious and when we walked in the front door and I saw a woman standing there with a young Wire Fox Terrier the surprise was revealed! Of course her asking if my husband was Mike Huffman was a dead giveaway. Those of you who have been following my blog for a while know that October 1, 2010 our 14 year old Wire Fox Terrier, Tucker, lost his battle with cancer and I've been broken hearted ever since. My husband said that Angel Tucker brought Harley to us and when you watch the slide show below you'll see that he even looks very much like Mr. Tucker. He will have his own blog soon, as in later this evening if my computer stops crashing, but I wanted to share my excitement with Blogland, Facebook and Twitter. My Border Collie, Katie, will be posting a video of her running around in the back yard with Harley, so you can hop over to her blog later to watch that. Oh, I forgot to tell you, I actually cried when I saw Harley and found out he was mine! He's a real sweetheart and all full of energy and love!

I've been blessed with another Blog Award!

2011-02-05T08:55:00.000-06:00

Thanks to my virtual sister blogger Linda over at LadybugLair I have been blessed to be the recipient of the Chery on Top Award! Wow, what an honor to be chosen for this. Makes me want to run to the store, buy some cherries, bake some cupcakes and sit here eating them with my coffee while reading blogs!!! BUT, for now let me fulfill the requirements for acceptance of this award... if I could just stop singing along with Jason and Kelly (thanks to Linda for her awesome music on her blog!) That reminds me, I've still got music on mine, but you have to scroll down and click on the start button. I found myself wanting to listen to music on other blogs or watching YouTube video tutorials and always had to turn mine off, so thought I'd leave that as an option for you.

Now on with the instructions/rules for accepting the award:

1. Thank the person who gave it to you.
2. List 3 things you love about yourself.
3. Post a picture you love on your blog.
4. Pass the award on to 5 other bloggers.

Although I've already thanked Linda, words are not enough to express my gratitude for her positive and uplifting blog and kind notes she sends me. She's a real WINNER in my book!

Three things I love about myself - these are all things I've been told by others and I'll trust their judgement.
1. I'm a good listener.
2. I have artistic talent.
3. I'm a fast learner.

Oh my word, do I have to choose just ONE picture that I love? Well I tell ya what, since every time I see a new picture of my daughter's artwork I feel my heart racing with pride, so how about her latest creation? She just posted this in our Etsy shop yesterday, so if you're interested in owning a pair for yourself or to give to someone special or just want to look around, just hop on over to Eco Chique Boutique.

Ok, now comes the hardest part, choose only five of my blogger friends to pass this along to:

1. Diann over at Diann's ARTspot
2. Sandie at My Scrapbook Nook
3. Emily & Matt (guess why I chose this one!)
4. Michelle at Heartfelt Balance / Handmade Life
5. Susan at Susan's Day Off Creations (I'm so far behind reading blogs that I just found out that one of her cats just lost her battle with cancer. Please hop over and give her some lovin!)

Paper Rosettes I made today - Hurray for snow days!!!

2011-02-01T23:26:00.001-06:00

Boy I tell ya, I could get used to this staying home thing VERY easily! We get another snow day tomorrow, so more crafting for me.... YIPPEE!!! Here's some of what I got done today.

Oh and remember that awesome husband I told you about? Well here he is after doing a little snow shovelling. I had some hot chocolate waiting for him and made him promise to dress a little warmer next time he went out. What is it about these men? Don't they realize how quickly one can get frost bite out in sub-zero weather with all that wind blowing???

SNOW DAY!!!!! (and some snowflakes I'm going to make)

2011-02-01T09:09:00.001-06:00

YIPEEEE my dh and I both had snow days today!!! After coming home yesterday feeling like a zombie warmed over (whatever that is)... translated as completely zonked out... well some of you might not know what that is either... How about just completely beyond exhausted without the excuse of just having done a 500 mile marathon? Well aparently that's a biproduct of this crazy thing called Fibromyalgia, or maybe it's actually Chronic Fatique... who knows? All I know is that I am completely a gazillion percent blessed and thankful to have such an awesome husband who spoils me rotten and takes such good care of me when I'm unable to function!

After getting caught up here on the web and e-mail I will head in to my craft room (where by the way, the cinnamon rolls have been so lovingly placed by my dh to rise since that's the warmest room in the house) and will get to work on some of those projects I've found throughout the past week or so. I can't wait to make some of those paper rosettes with a punched border like the one I found over at Mami Doodles that look kind of like snowflakes.

Another card for Operation Write Home

2011-01-27T20:41:00.003-06:00

This card is for this week's OWH challenge to make cards for kids. We are challenged to make cards for our heroes to send home to their kids. Big kids, Little kids, Birthday, Miss You, Love You, Thinking of You are some ideas to start off with. I thought this little guy "fetching you well wishes" would be good for a soldier to send to a sick child or even just to say "hi!" If you'd like to join along and make some cards too, go to the OWH Blog here.

Other challenges entered:

Stamps R Us - animals

Creative Craft World - cuddly

Cutie Sundy - Anything Goes

Free SVG, PNG and SCUT2 file for the Paws in Hearts Design I made

2011-01-23T21:34:00.003-06:00

This is my first attempt at posting a file I made to use with Sure Cuts A Lot to cut out shapes on the Cricut, so here goes....

SCUT2, SVG, PNG, JPG and PDF

ps. Please feel free to grab this design for personal use, but I ask that you not use it on anything you intend to sell without clearing it with me first. I'm really new at all this so probably need some kind of standard disclaimer or something. That will come later I'm sure with the help of some of my awesome fellow crafters. I hope that you can bring blessings to someone who either recently lost a pet, got a new pet or is just plain in love with their pets as my husband and I are (go see their most recent romp in the snow on Katie's blog here.)

Pet sympathy card using my very own SVG cut file!

2011-01-23T19:28:00.002-06:00

What's a girl to do when she's got a totally cute stamp set by Clear Dollar Stamps, but not the perfect embellishment to go along with it? Well, she gets on her computer and starts designing her own! I made an awesome svg file using Sure Cuts A Lot 2 and cut it out on my Cricut Expression. I also created cut files for the stamps to save my arthritic fingers from that pain that comes from too much fine detailed cutting with scissors. There are still some adjustments to be made to the cut files matching the stamps, but for now I'll use the ones that turned out ok. Don't you love the cloud embossing on this card? That has got to be one of my favorite roller/embossing combinations!

This card is currently listed in my Etsy Shop, Eco Chique Boutique along with a bunch of other pet cards. My daughter and I are donating a portion of the proceeds from all the pet cards to our local animal shelter, Helping Hands Humane Society where we have both adopted dogs and cats.

One of the Loss of Pet Sympathy Cards I made

2011-01-18T18:31:00.001-06:00

I've had several requests for sympathy cards for folks who have lost a pet, so finally got some made and posted in our Etsy shop, Eco Chique Boutique (see sidebar). Here is one that I think is so adorable. I also made some happy ones for "Happy Barkday" that could be used for a pet's birthday or a human, either way they're really cute. The pictures for this series all came from the back of a calendar, so they are partially upcycled materials. Since two of our remaining dogs were adopted from the local shelter we are donating a portion of the proceeds to the Helping Hands Humane Society here in Topeka, Kansas. The fact that my son-in-law works there has nothing to do with it, but he assures me that they will be VERY thankful for ANY amount we can raise! I used a Clear Dollar Stamp set for the sentiment and a variety of card stock. The embossing was done with my Cuttlebug. What fun!

WOW! Awesome earrings made by my daughter!!!

2011-01-17T08:17:00.002-06:00

My daughter never ceases to amaze me at her artistic talent, but I've got to tell you that her latest accomplishment just took my breath away! Yes of course I'm very proud of her, but hey, you've got to admit that the earrings below are very pretty, unique, jazzy, snappy, luscious and well, I could go on and on and on, but I'll let the picture speak for itself. They are available in our Etsy shop Sharon and Emily Designs.

Sneak peak at today's projects

2011-01-15T13:41:00.000-06:00

I've promised a couple of my Etsy buyers that I'd get busy making cards for pet owners or their dogs. I spent some time matching up decorative paper and cardstock with some awesomely cute dog pictures I found on the back of a calendar that was destined for the recycle bin and today I'm making them in to cards.

I thought the paper below needed a little something extra, so I held it in place over the Cuttlebug Swiss Dots folder and sanded it until the dots showed up. I think it turned out pretty nice, don't you? I 'll show the cards later. We're going to our daughter and SIL's home tonight and she's got the light box and good camera skills.

Inspirational Quote

2011-01-12T06:44:00.003-06:00

"See the rocks in your path not as obstacles, but as opportunities to climb higher."
---Eleanor Wiley, maker of contemporary prayer beads

Inspirational Quote

2011-01-10T06:45:00.000-06:00

Faith is not believing God can; it is knowing that he will.

—Ruth Park, Guideposts reader,
Escalon, California

More cards for OWH

2011-01-05T21:48:00.002-06:00

I just sent another shipment of cards to Operation Write Home today. Half of them are Valentines that I already posted during the November blog hop. The rest are "I Miss You" cards for kids. Here are pictures of some of them.

Another OWH Card using one of my new stamps

2011-01-03T20:14:00.000-06:00

Whew! We've made it through another one of those Mondays following a holiday!!! I don't know about you, but after getting spoiled on those days off it sure is hard to get out of bed on Monday morning. Maybe I should start taking Mondays off after holidays, except then Tuesday just becomes Monday....

Ok, so I've decided to make some more cards to go with the Valentines cards for Operation Write Home (OWH) and since they need Missing You cards for adults to send to their kiddos I made a couple of stamps Saturday that fit the theme. While digging through my old stamps I came across this darling Honeybear from Fiskars (do they even make stamps anymore?) and then found the perfect paper in a pad from the angel company called "Country Cottage". The Honeybear stamp has stars in the background, so I dug out my homemade stars embossing folder and got to work making a couple of cards. I ended up regluing that corner you see sticking up in this picture. To meet the OWH Sunday Challenge #50 I used the sketch below. If you're interested in joining you can enter your card here. The sketch is below before my card.

I am entering this card in the following challenges and invite you to join in the fun too! (Thank you Lisa for the inspiration! You've GOT to go look at the card she made over at The Purple Place!)

Operation Write Home - Stars & Stamps Blog - Sketch # 50 (no glitter)

CES Challenge Blog - Challenge # 17 - Anything Goes

Creative Inspiration Challenge Blog - # 50 Something New (New DSP)

Alphabet Challenge Blog - The Letter 'I' - I is for Infants

Mark's Finest Papers - Challenge #36 - Use Something New (DSP)

Success with Teresa Collins Stampmaker!

2011-01-02T22:48:00.000-06:00

I finally made some stamps today with my Teresa Collins Stampmaker and they turned out great! Now if my photography skills would improve you'd get a better feel for what the stamps look like, but here goes...

If you're wondering why one of the "I miss you" stamps is backwards, well let's just say I turned lemons in to lemonade when I discovered that I'd done it wrong. I made a second one the right way and will use the wrong one as a reflection, maybe in a pool of water... or how about a pool of tears?

The stamp above is of a boy hugging his teddy bear. So cute!

You can see what these two stamps look like below. The tree has hearts for leaves. I cut it a little too close at the top, so will have to manipulate it a bit to get a full circle. The whole process from start to finish is quite time consuming and rather tricky, but all in all I'd say it's worth it to do some custom stamps.

Oh and the piece de la resistance is this one...

WOOHOO!!! These are my daughter's designs for our two Etsy shops and one of the main reasons for buying the Stampmaker in the first place. Eventually she'll create some more art that I can make in to stamps for our note and greeting cards. I am so blessed to be working with my daughter even if it is just a part time side venture for both of us, it still gives us time together!

My Mother's Art!

2011-01-01T08:54:00.000-06:00

I always knew that my mother was an artist at heart and that when her five kids took over her life she put her art aside, but little did I know how talented this woman really is until seeing this picture hanging on her wall while visiting her yesterday! Seems it's been well hidden all these years until my sister found it, had it framed and mounted on the wall of their new independent living apartment. All I can say is WOW! and that now I know where my daughter's talent comes from. Anyway, before I head out to find some good sales this morning I thought I'd share a few pics with you. First is her drawing (it's about 24 by 36 inches), then a shot of the four of us together and also a shot of my sale finds at Scrapbook Garden yesterday. Ok, no matter what I do to her picture it insists on importing sideways, so if anyone has a clue as to what I'm doing wrong please let me know. I've saved it rotated, but it still imports sideways...

I have been trying to find the old Fabrico brand stamp pads, so was very pleased to find them on clearance yesterday. They even had two of the refills available. My most exciting "find" was the Stazon refill which our local stores have not carried for a long time. The cardstock in the back on the left is actually embossed and is soooo what I was looking for to go with that new vintage paper. When I take pictures of a gift that came in the mail last week you'll understand why I was looking for vintage paper. I let a friend borrow part of the gift and will wait until it comes back next week to take pictures. I hope everyone had a safe New Years Eve and will have a nice relaxing and productive day today!

Have a safe and happy New Year's Eve!

2010-12-31T22:18:00.000-06:00

We took a fast trip down to Wichita and back to visit both sets of parents, pick up Christmas presents and do some shopping at an awesome place called Scrapbook Garden today. DH and I zonk out way before midnight, so I'm headed to bed, but wanted to wish everyone a safe NY Eve. I'll post more tomorrow about my great finds at the store and also have to tell you all about the Crafter's Devotional that I'll be using next year. Now it's time to crash, so goodnight all!

New card for Operation Write Home

2010-12-28T16:47:00.000-06:00

I made the card below for the current OWH Sunday Sketch Challenge (my first!) and while reading the blog I was reminded that January 7th is the deadline for mailing your Valentines cards! WOW how time flies when you're having fun, right??? Wasn't it just yesterday when we were all hopping around looking at all the awesome cards made for the OWH Valentines Blog Hop? If you're not sure how to go about making and mailing cards for OWH please read all about it on their blog. I also found out that the soldiers are asking for "missing you" cards they can send to their kiddos, so will get started making some of those to put in with the Valentines. I figured this "Happy Barkday" card could be used either for a kid or a dog, either way I think it turned out kinda cute, don't you? I used a stamp set by Clear Dollar Stamps.

OWH Stars and Stamps: Featured Friday: Merry Christmas from kids!

2010-12-25T09:20:00.001-06:00

OWH Stars and Stamps: Featured Friday: Merry Christmas from kids!

If you really want to be blessed today please go read these awesome notes from kids to soldiers serving overseas. These kids are true crafters in every sense of the word, innocent, honest and grateful for the sacrifice being made for our freedom!

Christmas Wishes

2010-12-25T09:03:00.004-06:00

Happy Christmas Eve and a peek at something I made!

2010-12-24T09:43:00.000-06:00

I hope this day finds everyone in good spirits and ready to celebrate our Savior's birth! After yesterday's post I thought it was time to add something a bit more cheerful or you'd all run and hide and never come back to read my blog again. Since this is supposed to be about my crafts, how about a sneak peek at something I made? I can't show the whole thing or even tell you what it is yet, but promise to post pics of it and the accompanying surprise after Christmas. I'm also sharing this cute little guy that although I didn't make, he's certainly cheerful and would be very easy to make if I can get my gourds to grow next year!

Reflecting on the Season

2010-12-23T18:40:00.000-06:00

I am sad and I am happy all at the same time. Sadness fills my heart because a co-worker who just retired on December 10th suddenly died on Tuesday night. I am sad for his family who are now left without a husband/protector/provider/father/good listener/grandfather/caring soul. I am sad that he didn't have time to enjoy retirement. He was two years younger than me and had lived with Muscular Distrophy, lived a valiant life, always volunteering to serve on committees and boards that would help make life better for others, especially others with disabilities. He always had a smile on his face even when the rest of us were complaining about silly little things. How could I complain about the pain in my feet when he couldn't walk? How could I complain about the sore shoulder when he couldn't lift his arms? You get the picture, right? Anyway, another source of my sadness is that just when I think I'll make it through a Christmas season without the painful memories of the loss of a dear soulmate of mine back in December of 1996, this happens and it opens up the hole left in my heart by that loss. I know this is the time of year for rejoicing in our Lord and Savior's birth, not the time to cry over the loss of friends, but in all honesty I find it difficult to celebrate this week after what has happened. What do you say to the woman whose life has been yanked out from under her, who is finding it difficult to take her next breath and who right about now wants nothing to do with the world? I remember those feelings all too well! I remember the hours I spent crying and the hoarseness in my throat from the screaming at the top of my lungs because I was so darned angry. The shower became my friend because somehow the warm water and the noise it caused made me feel, well I really don't know... safe?

Ok, now on to happy. What kind of memories do you think about this time of the year? I always think about baking sugar cookies and decorating them with my daughter. We'd spend HOURS at the table making wonderful messes and having a ball! We'd eat so many that we'd be blue in the face... or was that blue from the frosting? It seems that this time of the year gave us permission to act silly and to eat too much without caring. If I go back even further I remember Christmas as a child growing up with two little brothers and two big sisters, children of an Army Sergeant on a very limited income. I don't remember ever feeling deprived or that I was lacking anything that I needed. That was the way life was for us. My daughter tells me the same thing. She never felt like there were things she wanted that she couldn't have... well for the most part anyway, she always had what she needed. These are the kinds of things for which I am thankful and that make me happy. Love, life and FAMILY! (oh and did I mention how happy it makes me to read your comments? hint, hint, hint!)

The Christmas Story

2010-12-22T18:52:00.000-06:00

This is absolutely the MOST PRECIOUS version of the Christmas Story I have EVER seen! I found it on Sweet Paper Treats who today share the most scrumptious hot chocolate on a stick recipe that I'm dying to try!

Christmas Food Court Flash Mob, Hallelujah Chorus - Must See!

2010-12-21T17:26:00.000-06:00

Finally finished the Christmas goodies!

2010-12-19T17:07:00.002-06:00

Here is the finished product that I've been working on for the past three days and below it is a brief tutorial showing how I assembled the box. I don't remember where I found the cut file for it, but have it saved in the altered state as a SCUT2 file that can be cut on the Cricut ~~and would be happy to send it upon request~~. ~~If I figure out where the original file came from I'll post the author.~~ Woo hoo, I just found the site containing the original file for this box! You can grab it on this post at Images by Heather M.

So this is the finished product. I only had two sheets of this beautiful blue card stock which turned out to be an absolutely perfect match to the snowflake candies, so one is going in the basket for our office gift exchange and the other to someone very special. Inside each box are four chocolate cookies dipped in vanilla candy melts and topped with two snowflakes. There is some sparkly edible glitter on the blue snowflakes that really makes them pop and shine.

Here are the basic steps after cutting out the components. First is the base for the box. I used some old flat rate envelopes that according to my local post office have been replaced.

Now grab some of your handy-dandy double-sided tape and stick some on each corner flap. You could also use glue or your adhesive of choice, but I found big packages of this stuff at SAMS, so tend to use it whenever I don't need an acid-free tape.

Fold up the flaps, putting the smaller flap to the inside and forming a box.

I forgot to mention that scoring the bottom and lid makes folding easier. I used my Martha Stewart Score Board for this and found it to work really well. The score lines are every 1/8th inch, so most scoring projects fit nicely. The only suggestion I'd have for Ms Stewart would be to make the scoring tool larger and preferably with an ergonomic handle. My arthritic hands complain quite a bit after a few minutes of scoring. It's also quite sharp and tends to tear the paper easily if it's not really thick card stock like what I used for this project. I usually end up getting out my regular bone folder which is larger and more comfortable.

Score the lid, fold and do the same thing with tape that you did for the bottom of the box.

Cut some clear acetate (overhead projector sheets) to 4 1/4 x 4 1/4.

Adhere with Crystal Effects or your choice of clear adhesive to the underside of the lid. You can do this either before or after assembling the lid. When making a bunch of these I did it before scoring so they could be stacked up to dry while I worked on the next step.

Now get all your inner parts folded. Since I made these out of thinner paper rather than card stock I found it was faster to just fold without scoring. I also found it was easier to stick them in the box without actually gluing them first because they kind of stuck together. Then I just stuck some tape here and there wherever needed to make it look better. You'll understand when you try it. Maybe I should do a video sometime?

The inside of the box with four compartments. For most of the other boxes I had the paper upside down so only the white showed because that looks better with the cookies, but for this tutorial I thought the striped paper was easier to see.

Fully assembled box. Don't you just love that rock star card stock?

You can see the scalloped edge of the box lid in the picture below. The inside compartments are also scalloped.

Below is the same box shown at the beginning. Aren't those lovely cookies?

Hey if you're wanting some great inspiration and a chance to win some awesome blog candy go check out Prairie Fairy's site.

Guess what I'm making!

2010-12-19T09:44:00.000-06:00

I've been busy all weekend making last minute goodies for Christmas giving. Anyone want to guess what this is for? Not all the components are showing in this picture, so you really have to use your imagination. My next post will show the completed products. These were all cut on my Cricut Expression using a file that I altered to fit the product that will go inside. BTW, that was a hint! :-)

I won another prize!!!

2010-12-16T17:43:00.000-06:00

I can't believe it because I NEVER win, so how could I possibly be the lucky recipient of yet another prize (aka blog candy)??? Could it be good karma for the blog candy that I gave away? Or maybe God giving me an extra special blessing because He knows how stressed I've been lately? Well not REALLY stressed in a bad way, just extra busy at work and then coming home to projects that I put off far too long. Anyway, I am truly blessed to be the winner and want everyone to go look at the awesome cards on Brenda Weaver's blog Sweet Paper Treats. That link will take you directly to the first of her 12 Cards for Christmas posts and will show you what I have won. Brenda is an awesome and talented crafter who has given me enough ideas to keep me busy for a really long time. Thank you Brenda!!!

Tour Our Home for Christmas!

2010-12-15T19:27:00.000-06:00

While perusing some of my favorite blog spots I saw that The Shabby Chic Cottage was doing the Holly Bloggy Christmas Home Tour, so grabbing my camera I walked around our home and took some pictures to share with you. Sorry about the sideways pics, but for some reason when they import in to the slide show they turn sideways if they're a tall picture. You've gotta love the very last picture showing our dear Border Collie, Katie at the top of the basement stairs with her soft cone on her head. She has stitches on her side and so I pulled out the cone I'd made for Tucker when he had his tumor removed. I've gotta say this is one VERY patient dog! Love how Charlie is peering around her to see what's happening! Anyway, I hope you enjoy the show!

Getting ready for Christmas

2010-12-15T17:13:00.000-06:00

Does anyone else absolutely LOVE this time of the year while at the same time looking forward to it being over? I find myself overwhelmed by all those last minute projects that I put off far too long, then comes the cards that must be finished, addressed and mailed, the stocking stuffers and family gift bags to be assembled, oh and did I mention that my dear husband is a school teacher who always waits until the last minute to decide that he should get something for his kids? If I would just plan ahead all of this would be done and I'd be able to relax, but noooooo, that's not how I function! So if I've been a little scarce that should explain it. Tonight we'll be putting the bags together for his school kiddos. Luckily I had a bunch of those hot cocoa holders and Hershey's nuggets boxes left over from the craft show and won't have to come up with anything at the last minute. It's all fun and I enjoy the creative outlet, but as I said earlier I'm looking forward to December 26th when I can sit back and relax! How about you? Any big plans for the holidays? Have you finished all your projects yet?

Badge Reels I made

2010-12-11T16:44:00.000-06:00

Our office participates in a charity fund-raiser each year, so I made a bunch of badge reels to donate. We sold about half of them, so the rest will probably go in my Etsy shop eventually. These are all made out of upcycled ties and were loads of fun to make! I'm going to experiment with some other fabrics, like maybe lightweight upcycled denim that can be stamped with initials or other cute things (birds, dogs, flowers, etc.)

OWH Won 2nd Prize of $25,000 in the JoAnn Craft for a Cause!

2010-12-08T07:08:00.000-06:00

Dear Sharon,

I am so proud to announce that you all have DONE it. We won the second prize of $25,000 in the Jo-Anns Craft for a Cause contest!!! Your faithful daily voting made it happen! Ciara was so excited she made a little video :) You can see Jo-Ann's official announcement on the CFAC page here: http://joann.com/craftforacause

We want to congratulate the other organizations as well - Project Linus (first place) and the American Cancer Society (third place). Both are fantastic organizations that do important work - and we're thrilled to be in their company! For a little org like us to even be in the finalists round, much less take home 2nd prize, is a great honor. THANK YOU to the voters who made this possible - and to Jo-Ann's for their incredible generosity!

What now? Our first purchase is new tape guns for our shippers - LOL! And our board of directors will be discussing the expenditure of the prize monies next year. My hope is that we will continue covering our shipping costs with the donations from our crafters and supporters - it's amazing what everyone's $5, $20, $50, and $100 gifts have achieved so far, keeping those boxes going out the door! With the prize, we have the chance to take care of some big ticket items - including attorney fees (for our trademark application), costs for the website and videos, and some professional help that is much needed to keep the org growing. What a blessing this is for OWH!

Celebrate with us! We know you want to cheer! So leave a message on our Facebook page, drop a comment on our Homefront Blog post, and then please send a thank-you card to Jo-Ann's! Wouldn't that be a lovely expression of what we love to do? Here's the address:

Jo-Ann Fabric & Craft Stores
5555 Darrow Road
Hudson Ohio 44236

The best celebration of all will be redoubling our efforts to keep making those beautiful cards and getting them out to our heroes to write home on. Let's keep up the great work!

Thank you all so much for your support!

Sandy
President, Operation Write Home

My Blog Candy is Here!

2010-12-05T17:23:00.000-06:00

How exciting to return home from our trip out of town to find that my blog candy from Karen at Feline Creative had already arrived! It is just beyond awesome and I feel so blessed to be the prize ricipient! Here's one picture of what it looks like laid out and one that I had fun changing to a line drawing.

OK, so I'm just slightly giddy from opening my present AND from lack of sleep last night (forgot to take my nightime "meds" which include Tylenol PM and Melatonin), so while in Roxio Photo Suite I clicked on the wrong button and thought it looked pretty cool. What to you think? Anyway, guess what I'll be playing with tonight?!?!

Look what I made with a Coke can and Martha Stewart punch!

2010-12-04T09:13:00.000-06:00

Oh my gosh this is just TOOOOOOooooo much fun! Look what I made! I didn't use my light box, so the picture quality is a little poor, but you'll get the gist of them anyway. I'm wearing them now and they are absolutely as light as a feather and so pretty. Hmmmmm, wonder if these will show up in my Etsy shop soon? What fun and how festive they are! I can also picture these gracing the front of a Christmas card. If you've ever used Martha Stewart's snowflake punch that comes with three matching acrylic stamps you'll know that this was no easy task as her punch is difficult to use even with just paper. Anyone else have a problem with it sticking? I was thinking that maybe using the lightweight aluminum cans would loosen/sharpen it a bit, but it still sticks and requires a few good WHACKS to get the cutting component released. Anyway, let me know what you think of these cute earrings!