Sunday, September 20, 2009

My daughter's craft area.

I've been working more on organizing than crafting lately. Hopefully soon I'll have my spaces fully set up for some scrapping and card making. But in the meantime, here's what we set up for Abby, my 5 year old. She loves to "craft" and make gifts. This desk fits nicely in a corner in our dining room/kitchen.



She didn't want to stop using it so I could get a photo of the desk without her. Too cute! The boxes on the left and the organizers on top are from Michael's. They've been on clearance and have 2 of her favorite colors. Pink and lime green. The top and side to the right Greg made from press board. We can easily change the top to a new one when she needs a bigger desk or if it gets too dirty. I also found 2 tins from the Target dollar bins in matching pink and lime green to hold her pencils etc. She's standing in front of the pink one.

I'm making Abby a scrapbooking gift for Christmas. I'm collecting papers, stickers, flowers, embellies and a bag so she can go to some scrap events with me. I know she's going to be so happy and now she'll have a good place to keep them.

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

A New Blog

I've started a new blog. I'm making a commitment to get myself back into shape. I've started Project 71.3 (click to view) to record my progress. A friend recommended the title using a take on Project 365. I long ago gave up on Project 365 but this new one I'm very excited about because it means a positive change in my life. 71.3 represents the weight I need to lose. It's a lot but I know I'm going to do it.

I'd love to have some more followers on the new blog. I plan to update it a few times a week with motivational sayings, recipes, and my progress. Plus a few other ideas as I work out the kinks.

And a big THANK YOU to Michael for the help with the new title! He has a great sense of humor with a great blog.

Sunday, August 16, 2009

Recent Cards

It's always my plan to keep this blog current but to do so, I need to make sure I'm crafting! I've been making a few cards lately, here's just a small sampling.

This is a fast card I made for DIVA meeting swap. I used the Merry Moments paper from Stampin' Up and the Snow Swirled stamp set. The brads, ribbon and solid red paper are Real Red from Stampin' Up. For a card that I needed to make fast and make several copies, I think it turned out cute.


This is another simple card using both Stampin Up and my Cricut. I used the now retired paper line, Parisian Breeze Specialty, from Stampin' Up. The paddles are cut from Paper Dolls. I kept thinking they look more like spoons but had to use what I had at my disposal. I made this for a friend that had talked himself into deep waters during a light hearted chat. I couldn't resist teasing him, thus the card.



Sunday, May 31, 2009

Back on the Blog

I have had a very busy spring. I have some blogging to get caught up on!

In April I attended the MN Cricut Swarm, that was so much fun! I have pictures I need to post from it. I also managed to get a number of layouts done, always a bonus!

In April I also decided to become a Stampin' Up demonstrator. It's been a learning process but I am having a great time. I am definitely getting better at my cards. I actually want to sit down and spend time on them.

Because of this new endeavor I knew I needed a better space for my supplies. I want to keep my Stampin' Up materials separate from the rest of my crafting. Not an easy challenge. We have a 5 bedroom house with 2 unused rooms in the basement. But it's a full basement so I rarely spend much time downstairs. It's time I changed that. We spent last weekend pulling everything out of the extra rooms and the storage closet. Wow, do we have stuff to get rid of and a mess to clean up downstairs! With both Mom's having passed away and we have all our childhood items, those rooms were packed. Not to mention, we still have some baby items. And Greg has so much computer junk plus guest room furniture somewhere in the mess, the basement is a disaster!

We got the one room cleared out, primed and it's painted. I picked a pale Cricut lime green. I used the Cricut to cut out stencils using Accent Essentials and painted purple and grey circles on the one wall. I absolutely love how it's turned out. Now I'm just working on setting the room up. It's going to be challenging to keep my stamping and scrapbook supplies separate. When the kids are older I'll probably keep everything in one room but for now, I have my scrapbook space in the living room, my stamping in the basement. I really hope it works out!

This is a mural the previous owners painted. I was so happy to finally paint over it!


This is one half of the room before we emptied it.


This is the other half of the room after some of the painting. Thankfully we have an egress window so I will get nice light during the day.


The colors didn't photographed right. The green looks fairly close. The grey is off and the purple looks more pink. Maybe when I have it all set up I'll take a photo in the morning and get more natural light for a better photo.

Sunday, March 29, 2009

Abby's Toddler bed layout

I finally did some scrapping this weekend. I only worked on a few pages. The rest of the time I put together layout kits for the April Swarm.

These photos are from when Abby got her toddler bed. She was ready to be a big girl! She had to load the bed with her animals, that has never stopped, even when it leaves her almost no space to sleep.

I only used some basic Cricut cuts for this one. I was giving my Expression it's first test drive. I'm ashamed to admit how long I've had it and I'm just now using it! I used Plantin Schoolbook for the letters and the swirls are from Accent Essentials. I had to make sure the included carts worked too! I went over the letters with Stickles to make them stand out.

The title I took from Goldilocks and the 3 Bears. "This bed is JUST right!"

Project 365 update

I have been trying to keep up with taking photos for the 365 project. I think I've done pretty well, I've only missed a few days. But, I haven't done much else. I haven't sorted the pictures, haven't printed them and haven't kept up with the pages. Maybe this next month I can take a day and get caught up.

This picture is from March 27, 2008. The cat was very comfortable being craddled and poor dad was feeling abused. In this particular photo Abby was trying to feed the cat some popcorn, he was too happy being held to care about food. A true rarity for him!



Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Decorated Tins

Today I'm putting photos of some of the Provo Craft tins I've decorated in one spot. I'm still searching for pictures of 3 others I've made, I hope I took photos! These are so addicting to make and they are easy. I use Making Memories paint on the top, various ribbons on the handles. I pick papers I like and adhere them with Modge Podge. I also go over the outside with the glue to help give it a protective covering. I use a hot glue gun for the fabric flowers and some of the ribbon.


This first tin I made for a swap on the Cricut MB. I filled it with scrapping goodies that were good for spring and items related to things the recipient scrapped. I also put her favorite Bible verse on it for personalization. Unfortunately, she is no longer on the Cricut MB and we have lost touch. But I still had fun making it for her.


This tin was part of another swap on the Cricut MB for the holidays. It's one of the smaller tins and was only a portion of the items in the swap.


This tin is my favorite that I've made. I think I used Base Camp for the tags and Alphalicious for the letters. The Flowers might be from George. I didn't write down what cartridges I used, I won't make that mistake again! This tin was a Christmas gift for my niece. I used her favorite colors, purple and pink. She had recently turned 11 and was starting to get into beauty items. I filled it full of items for nail care. She really liked it, even showing it off to her dad.

Friday, March 6, 2009

My poor neglected scrapbooks......

They are crying as I sit here. They are lonely, begging for more pages to be stamped, trimmed, embellished and adorned. Sigh. It's been such a busy tax season for me. The numbers and papers are taking all the creative energy from me. I haven't made a page in months. I haven't attempted a card in so long I may have forgotten how.

Will my scrapping supplies take revenge on me? Will they work properly when I sit to use them or will they forever hold a grudge?

Dare I find out?

Sunday, February 1, 2009

GOING BUGGY: Blog Candy

GOING BUGGY: Blog Candy

Check out this great blog for a chance to win some great blog candy. She posts some great projects so look around if you haven't seen her work before.

Friday, January 16, 2009

How Long Till it's Spring?

I am ready for this cold snap to end. This morning our front door was frozen shut. It took a few good kicks to get it to open. It was only -22 outside. Brrrrr. Now it's 6 degrees, finally it's above zero. I will be very happy when it's spring outside as will the kids. Anyone else feeling too cooped up this winter?

Thursday, January 15, 2009

Project 365

Like many on the Cricut MB I have jumped on the Project 365 band wagon. I'm trying to take one photo everyday to chronicle 1 year. I haven't decided how I'll display or scrap them. I might look at getting 12x12 collage prints from Costco. I'd like to do one Layout per month but that might be pushing it to get a month on one layout. Most examples I've looked at are doing 1 week at a time. Either on 1 or 2 page layouts. Another option is finding an online album. I have some research to do.

I need to download more pictures but here's the first 6 days of pictures.


Picture 1
January 1, 2009
I'll start off with a shot of the calendar. It wasn't very full, now it's packed with all my activities.


Picture #2
January 2, 2009
My little girl on her 5th birthday.

Picture #3
January 3, 2009
A day we didn't do much so a picture of the cat fits today's photo. This is Anabelle, she's 3 years old. She's not a lap cat but she's very friendly.
Picture #4
January 4, 2009
My new embellishment center. This is before it was completed.


Picture #5
January 5, 2009
For several days all Abby would eat was cereal. Breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks was cereal.



Picture #6
January 6, 2009
These are my prescriptions pills I take daily, only one is "take as needed".
One of these I'll probably take for life, the rest I hope to someday stop. The ones for my headaches I'll probably be on until we find the source of them.

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

There's No Place Like Home

My favorite show is about to start this season. A few years ago I started watching Lost on Netflix. It is one of the most confusing shows and I am addicted. Tonight they are replaying the last 3 hours of last season. Next week starts season 5. Happy Dance!!!!!

Tonight starts with episode "There's No Place Like Home" in homage to Wizard of Oz. I love the titles of the episodes, the Writers include them in the mystery of the show. With each viewing, titles included, more pieces of this show come together.

I'm looking forward to this new season.

Sunday, January 11, 2009

Name tag contest....what to do....

Plans are being made for a Swarm in April. I had lots of fun at the one last year and so far some people are returning so that's good. I'll be heading up the Name tag contest. Hmmmm.....I have to admit, I'm not sure what to do. Tomorrow I'll do some online research, get ideas. One good starting rule might be, they must have at least one piece cut from the Cricut on the tag. It is a Cricut Swarm afterall! Let the bugs unite!

Background

abc