Collaborative Creations

New Home Cards

2011-08-02T12:35:00.001-07:00

I have a lot of friends/family moving this summer, so I needed some cute new home cards. Here's what I came up with:

The stickers are from doodlebug designs. I dusted them with baby powder on the back so they wouldn't stick, and put them on the cards with pop dots. The paper is from Archiver's and I'm not sure about the stamp. I printed the inside with "...on your new home!" on my computer.

Very happy with the result!

Valentine's Day

2011-02-10T11:24:00.000-08:00

The kids and I made these out of foam for Scott and their grandparents (I cannot get the picture to flip even though it is correct on my computer):

I got the idea from an Oriental Trading Company catalog.

I made this cute card to send to a few relatives:

Got the original idea from my friend Diane.

Project Life

2011-01-26T11:19:00.000-08:00

I did Project 365 in 2009 and was really happy with it. Mostly how I could tell the big stories and little ones that might never make it into a traditional scrapbook. So I bought Project Life for 2010. And didn't do any of it until my girl's getaway weekend. I knew I might not have a photo-a-day in 2010, but thought I could just fill it in with what I had. And until I did some of 2010 to decide if I liked that approach, I wasn't going to buy one for 2011 no matter how cute it was! Here's me ready to go on 2010:

And I did like how it was coming together, so here is my 2011 edition:

I'll keep you posted on how it goes!

Tutu

2011-01-21T11:09:00.000-08:00

I made a tutu for Jillian's Halloween costume and it was so easy, I tried to figure out what other little girls I could make them for! My Terp friends may be seeing these (cheerleading skirts, right?) in the future!

Working on 2011 Cards

2011-01-21T11:08:00.000-08:00

Can't show them to you until the end of the year, but something new: I am signing and dating the back of every one!

Frames

2011-01-16T11:05:00.000-08:00

I made these frames for a few of my girlfriends for Christmas this year. I modge-podged paper from their schools onto an inexpensive wooden frame from Michael's. then painted around the edges and on the back.

2010 Cards

2010-12-25T10:57:00.000-08:00

Last January, I posted about my great plan to make all the birthday and anniversary cards I needed for the year all at once. I couldn't ahow them then, because many of my readers would be receiving them. Now that the year is over I can share. Birthday card #1:

And #2 (which I realized I needed if I was going to send cards to husbands and wives):

Anniversary card:

And something many of you have already seen, our Christmas card:

I opted to make it this year since I couldn't get the St. Jude's cards from Target anymore. Might not be doing that again next year.

Now to figure out my cards for 2011!

Christmas Ornaments

2010-12-24T10:53:00.000-08:00

Ryan's ornament this year is a soccer ball made out of felt, with the black pieces hand-appliqued on. Jillian's is a painted wooden cat made to look like Amore. She loves her "Meow!"

My MIL's Creation

2010-12-24T10:50:00.000-08:00

My mother in law gave me this at Thanksgiving and I thought it was very creative! I didn't think I was going to use it, because I already have a way I display my Christmas cards that I like, but it turned out to be good for the non-photo cards I received.

It is made out of a sewing hoop with clothespins adhered with hot glue. They're in sets of three with two pointing outward and one pointing inward and spce between each set.

Magnetic Photo Displays

2010-11-05T10:34:00.000-07:00

When Scott and I went out in Charlotte back in May I found this great magnetic photo display and thought, 'I can make that!' I bought this one so I'd have a model, and proceeded to make 4 that I will be giving away for Christmas this year:

It is a 5' long, 1/4" metal cable you can buy at the hardware store, a ferrule and stop set, some tiny but super strong magnets from Amazon.com, and formy set, I glued buttons on the magnets instead of the little flowers. So easy and so cute!

For teachers, I covered a metal roofing tile (about 5 x 7) with pretty paper, rounded the corners wth Kelley's crop-o-dile corner chomper and punched holes so it can be used as a hanging photo holder:

or, if you put a screw and nut though the holes, it can stand up (I saw this at a craft show and was SOOOO excited because I really wanted these tiles to be able to stand and had no idea how I was going to do it. Brilliant!):

Again, I packaged these with the super strong magnets. This was Kelley's brainchild originally, though I never did get to see how hers turned out. A few of us went in together on the tiles, which she could only get in sets of 100.

Necklace

2010-07-13T10:18:00.000-07:00

I bought a necklace and some waxing poetic style charms, but really wanted to add a pearl drop, too. The ones I was finding online were like $25, but my mom thought we could make me one and she already had some pearls. Came up with this:

I think it looks good together!

Happy Father's Day

2010-06-20T10:26:00.000-07:00

Made this card for Father's Day. It's a copy of something I got in an Eclectica monthly card kit, but I simplified mine a bit. Got manly colors for Father's Day.

It's really simple: Pick 4 coordinating patterned papers and a matching solid color for the card base. Punch 1 square each from the 4 patterned papers and round 1 corner on each. Punch the center piece from a solid (I think I used water color paper) and edge everything with a stamp pad or chaulk. Stamp your sentiment and assemble, placing the center piece on with a pop dot.

I think I will be making more of these for a variety of occasions in the future!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

2010-03-17T10:06:00.000-07:00

Made these rainbow cupcakes for St. Patrick's Day.

A bit labor intensive and they make fewer than they would if you just made cupcakes like the box says, but look how cute they come out!

We topped them with gold cholate coins.

Jillian's Dress & Cake

2010-03-13T21:57:00.000-08:00

This is the dress two of my friends bought for their daughters and have been adding a candle to every year. I had a really hard time with the $70+ price, and I thought maybe I could make it myself. I knew I could make the jumper, but wasn't too sure about the applique.

With a lot of help and encouragement from my friends Gretchen and Paula, a mom from St. George's who did Jillian's name, and some finishing help from my mom (who always comes to my rescue!), I made this:

It is no where near as perfect, but I am so happy with it!

Next up was a cake. Kellie loaned me her cake decorating tools and expertise so I could create this:

When I care enough, I make it myself!

Christmas Craft

2010-03-05T10:12:00.000-08:00

I like to make little crafty gifts for my girlfriends for Christmas. Usually it's because I find a cute craft and need an excuse to make it. It's also because I like to let my friends know how much they mean to me (without spending a ton of money!).

This past Christmas, I made monogram stationary:

It was VERY simple! I printed out the monogram on cardstock (I buy 110 lb 8 1/2 x 11 paper by the ream at the office supply store because I use it in so many of my cards. You can just cut any 8 1/2 x 11 paper in half to make two small cards.). Then I added some bling. Easy!

Invitation

2010-02-18T07:57:00.000-08:00

Made this for a friend's brunch. I don't color in my stamping much, and I like how this turned out. May need to make her some thank you notes to go with it!

Paper & Stamp: Archiver's, Ink & Blending Pen: Stampin' Up, Fonts: Print Clearly and at mahogany.

Snow Day + 3 Hour Nap = Creativity!

2010-01-29T13:20:00.000-08:00

Everyone stayed home today because of the snow and ice. Jillian took a three hour nap, so I finally got some projects done!

I am an assembly-line card maker. Every now and then I make a special, one-of-a-kind card, but mostly I mass produce. I like to find one card that I can replicate to send to lots of people or that I can make sets of to give to friends as gifts. I like it even better if it's a card that I can use for several occasions by just changing the sentiment.

So, my big plan for this year was to make all the birthday and anniversary cards I needed for the year in one setting (rather than make a few at a time and run out and be late getting new ones to the next batch of people).

This part of the post is kind of anti-climatic, because I am not actually going to show you the card...you will have to wait until your birthday (or anniverary)!

My other big project is a book of Christmas cards. A local scrapping celebrity used to do these and now that she's not, she sent a customer my way to do it. All I did was bind together all her holiday cards between two self-designed covers. I've never done this for myself (though I think it's a great idea) because I make a collage in the end of my yearly family scrapbook of my cards. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. Now I'm working on 5 years worth of cards from this woman's sister.

If anyone out there is interested, I could do this for you, too! Cost is $25 for up to 25 cards and $5 more for each additional set of up to ten. Leave me a comment and I'll get in contact!

Girl's Weekend

2010-01-18T07:40:00.000-08:00

Another January, another Girl's Weekend. I think I realized this time why I love it so much...it's a few days where I am responsible for no one but myself. I don't have to listen to see if Jillian is waking from her nap. I don't have to make dinner (well, I did, but just because that was the meal I had signed up for). It's nice to have a little freedom like that every now and then.

For some reason, we were not as productive this year (I hit a jam when my slice stopped working...grrr), but it was still a blast!

We got everyone in the picture this year, but some didn't want their faces in it so early on a Sunday morning.

I did 18 pages, and was really happy with how a few of them came together. The one below was in my head and I almost bought some road trip stuff at Archiver's, but thought I'd see what I could do with what I had. I'm really hapy with how it turned out, and all with supplies I already had!

Similarly, the one below was the result of just playing with supplies I had on hand. Fun! Plus the pictures are really funny!

Once I got home, I kept going. Love this one. Scraplifted from page 43 of 2/10 Creating Keepsakes.

The left side of this one is a scraplifted from page 49 of 2/10 Creating Keepsakes. All those embellishments, are definitely not my style, but I am glad I tried something different and pleased with how it turned out.

I love the combination of color and stripes in this one, and again, I used old paper from my stash. This is scraplifted from this fun crafter. I really like her style (and she has an adorable baby girl a few months older than Jillian).

Thanks for looking!

First Place!

2009-09-10T12:56:00.000-07:00

I created this mini tag book off of a design by Cathy Zielske. She had it set up to be a month long album, but I thought it was perfect to tell the stories of our very fun Spring Break in 2008. It was fun to make, as I used all products that I already had, put in photos and memorabilia as full pages (although they were all small since it's a mini album).

So, when I was reading through the Delta Fair guide for entries and saw a category for scrapbooks, I thought, 'What the heck' and was rewarded with this:

Catching Up

2009-08-09T18:50:00.000-07:00

Here are some things I created this summer, along with the inspiration from them.

I ripped this from an old LIFE magazine years ago:

And finally created in Ryan's room:

It was pretty easy to do and inexpensive with cabinet knobs and picture wire.

And this was in a Creating Keepsakes this summer. I'll be making them for many family members, so don't be surprised if you see one in your mailbox!

Thank You Cards

2009-06-15T05:21:00.001-07:00

I am an assembly line card maker. I do not make really elaborate cards, but stick with a simple design that I can replicate in a large quantity either to have for myself or to give as gifts (or both). So when I saw this design in an Archiver's flyer, I couldn't resist!

BTW, you can find all sorts of creative card ideas at Archiver's website.

Here's what I made:

And a variation:

Supplies: Paper: Archiver's, Stamps: Hero Arts, Flowers: Prima, Crystals: Hero Arts & Mark Richards, Die cut: Your's Truly (Archiver's).

TFL!

National Scrapbook Day Sketch

2009-06-04T05:13:00.000-07:00

Many of you have seen Becky Higgin's Sketches in Creating Keepsakes. I am not a big sketcher myself, but I do like to use them and my friends are way into them now, too. So for National Scrapbook Day, I did my first sketch!

Here's my quick sample:

One from my friend Jennifer:

And one from my friend Kellie:

I'm pretty pleased with the outcome and will probably try it again!

Storage for Clear Stamps

2009-03-01T12:45:00.000-08:00

My sister and husband both gave me a bunch of empty CD cases, and I finally got around to going through, organizing and pitching all our old CD's today while Scott worked on taxes (not often that we are both upstairs in the bonus room at the same time).

I know that the cases make a cute frame and I may use some to do activities for kids in the future, but I also wanted to use some to help organize my clear stamps (most of which were still in the plastic wrap they came in).

I organized them according to theme (like the journaling blocks below)

and then put them all in a little bin (from Bed, Bath, and Beyond).

I have many more cases if anyone is interested in trying this...just let me know!

Baby Girl's Album

2009-02-28T23:15:00.000-08:00

I finally have gotten started on an album for Baby Girl. I am following the same formula I did for Ryan...calendar pages detailing the nine months before her birth. I'll then do calendar pages for her first year. When I did this for Ryan, it took me two volumes. Everyone says the second one gets fewer pictures, so we will see. :)

Here's a sample:

I am also keeping it very basic...I bought some cheap paper on sale at Archiver's to do the background, punched the month with my quickutz from cream watercolor paper, and on the second page, I am doing a write up on some paper ripped from a notebook (for the edge effect), and including a few family pictures highlighting the month. Makes for rather quick work, and hopefully I will be caught up to March by the time she arrives!

Valentine's Treats

2009-02-07T06:03:00.000-08:00

All the kids seem to give out Valentine's Day cards with treats attached these days, so the Scooby Doo cards I bought at the end of the season last year, just don't seem to make the cut. Ryan and I made these instead:

I printed out the bag toppers that I designed from Microsoft Word, Ryan filled in his and his classmates' names, and together we made the pretzel-kiss/hug-m&m treats!

Very happy with how they turned out!

Valentine's Day Wreath

2009-02-06T06:01:00.000-08:00

Finally took the Christmas wreath down and replaced it with this:

Made from a grapevine heart-shaped wreath covered in red feather boas. Fun!

Project 365

2009-01-24T05:52:00.000-08:00

You can read about the whole Project 365 saga here, but today's post is about me finally doing it!

I have decided that this will be my family album for 2009. This way, instead of being a year behind, I can easily work on it a bit at a time and be done by the end of 2009 (or soon thereafter). Plus, my album will contain lots of little things that define and illustrate us as a family, rather than just the big events. Big events may get their own pages within the album, or a mini album all their own. As for the biggest event of the year (coming in just a few weeks!), she gets her own album anyway. :)

So, everyday I take a picture, and everyweek or so, I print them out, journal about them and put them in the album. I am not doing much extra...an ocassional stamp or sticker, but pretty much using what came with the kit and getting it done. May be the first time in my scrapbooking tenure (12 years worth) that I am "caught up."

Here's my workspace:

And a few completed pages:

Charming

2009-01-04T05:28:00.000-08:00

I did this layout digitally through Creative Memories Storybook Creator Plus software.

I bought the program awhile ago and have been using it for little things here and there. Have been making due with the free downloads, and the papers and embellishments that came with it, but may buy some other downloads as I finally begin my 2008 album (still thinking it might be digital!).

Here's another project I did. I have been making my Mom and MIL calendars every year, and this year, I did them digitally, so I only had to create one set and print it multiple times.

I actually printed 4 copies, giving my sister and myself one, too! SO EASY!

Christmas goodies

2008-12-13T12:41:00.000-08:00

Wow! From Halloween to Christmas. Can you tell I haven't had a lot of time (or energy) to be creative lately?

Here's some things I'm working on for Christmas:

First, the fleece tie quilts that Kellie introduced me to. Many kids in my life are getting one of these. They are simple to make, although, kneeling on the floor to cut them with my big belly right now is tricky. I need to find some Terps fleece to make one for Ryan and I.

Next up is the containers for Ryan's teachers' gifts. I've had these Chinese take out containers for awhile, but can't stamp or paint on them. Then I got the idea from Paula to do rub-ons. Now they are almost gone! We are going ot fill them with chocolates.

Then, there's Ryan's ornament for this year. I knew I wanted to make him something related to pirates, pandas, soccer, or fishing (all big this year). I saw this ornament in a Bass Pro advertisement...they had the kids make them one weekend at the store. Thought it was perfect!

And finally, some cards. I do not make my own Christmas cards anymore. Too many, and I like doing the St. Jude ones at Target because they are cute and money goes to St. Jude. I do, however, like to make a few to send gift cards in or as thank you notes. The paper is from Archivers, the flowers are Making Memories, the stamps are Stampin' Up (Warm greeting) and Hero Arts (THANKS).

Hope you are getting the chance to be creative too!

Halloween Album

2008-10-08T14:10:00.000-07:00

I have long thought about making a few holiday albums where I can document an event that happens over and over every year, and thus, stop documenting it in such great detail in my family album. I have finally done this for Halloween.

Two things led me to this, 1. Creative Memories came out with a really cute orange, fall album, and 2. Jessica Sprague created this album in October's Creating Keepsakes that I could scraplift:

A lot of hers is digital, but I did mine all traditional. Here's how it looks so far:

I was just going to do it for Ryan's (and future children) pictures, but since I named it "Beatty Family Halloweens" I thought I'd go back and see if I couldn't find any halloween shots of me and Scott before Ryan arrived. My favorite is the year we went as University of MD's basketball and football coaches. Both sports were doing great at the time and it was fun to dress up that way.

I had a bit of trouble/am not totally satisfied with how the white lettering turned out. I used Stayzon ink and some clear stamps. Rub-ons might have worked better, but that would have been a lot of rub-ons. I also have done a few extra pages so they will be ready to go in future years (see the last page that says, "pirate" for this year?). Happy that it's done.

BTW: this is also the first time I have used CM's new side load pages. I did these pages front and back on 1 piece of 8x8 black paper each and just slid it in. Worked great! Hooray for CM finally doing this kind of page!

TFL!

An interesting piece on scrapbooking

2008-10-06T12:58:00.000-07:00

It will come as no surprise to anyone that I think a lot about scrapbooking. I wonder how it has become what it is today. I wonder (especially since I sell products) what will happen to it in the future, especially if the economy continues to falter.

I do not see it as a frivlous act, I believe in the importance of recording and sharing one's stories. I also love the community it creates.

What I don't know is how I feel about the fanciful celebrity of it all. I mean, do I really need the latest and "greatest" product, paper or embellishment? I like to be innovative and creative (creativity is probably the other big reason I scrapbook. Being creative makes me happy), but do pages need to be perfect to be important or satisfying?

I came across this post today. Be warned, the site from which this comes is kind-of snarky, but they have their purpose. And I found today's post important and in line with my reasons for scrapping. Check it out and let me know what you think!

Clear Cards

2008-10-03T14:40:00.000-07:00

Archiver's had a make and take many weekends ago, and one of them allowed us to try making a card with clear acetate (kind of like heavy duty transparencies). I had seen this, too, on Hero Arts blog (lots of great ideas here!). I got sucked in, bought some acetate and stayzon ink in white. Here's the result:

I stamped a variety of flower stamps (all from the same set by Hero Arts) in white stayzon on the clear, then stuck a smaller white card inside where I stamped "Happy Anniversary." This way I can still write a message inside. I also used a little bling in the center of the flowers.

TFL!

Acrylic Albums

2008-09-30T09:45:00.000-07:00

Back in August, I attended a class at Archiver's to make an acrylic album. I had only used acrylics as covers and wanted to see what could be done with them in a controlled setting (where someone else had already done the grunt work!). I learned a lot about what can be seen through (like the "Laugh every day" circle that shows through the cover, but is actually on the second page) the acrylic and how to take that into account when creating the album (and when to say, 'screw it, I don't care what shows through!').

Here's how the album turned out:

I thought I was going to use it for pictures of Scott & I, being that we just celebrated our 10-year anniversary, but the album had lots of friend stamps in it. I thought it'd be great for pictures of our college friends from the wedding. While at the wedding, I kept this in mind as I took pictures, and when I returned home, it only took me one morning to print and adhere the pictures into the album.

While at Archiver's that day I bought another acrylic album and decided to use it as an album of Ryan's summer vacation pictures. I had the idea for this last summer and had the papers already, so it was just a matter of printing pictures and figuring how to get it to work in the acrylic album. Because it was smaller, I did not put much thought into what showed through, but did try to line up the pictures/rectangle mats and the journal circles (which were all printed on the computer with CK Journal font).

I also decided to theme it more specifically around the times Ryan got wet this summer.

Anniversary Cards

2008-08-07T14:33:00.000-07:00

I have not sent any anniversary cards this summer because I ran out of handmade ones and didn't get out to Hallmark (lazy, I guess). Finally had a few moments yesterday while Ryan napped to make these:

I bought the felt for something else that didn't happen, and then I saw this idea somewhere. Also embossed for the first time in awhile!

Brag Book

2008-07-23T11:13:00.000-07:00

I totally stole this from Archiver's. They are so good about letting you take pictures of their samples and they have lots of great ideas!

I have done baby albums in the past for friends who scrap. The idea is they can just fill in the vitals and add a few pictures each month and have a nice coffee table album of their child's first year.

This one is for a non-scrapping friend. It is made of 12 A2 Scallop notes from Archiver's "yours truly" line of stationary. Two more pieces of cream A2 Scallops that I had lying around from another project make the covers. I scored it (with Kelley's score pal, or whatever it's called) for the "hinge," punched it twice with a crop-o-dile, and fastened it all together with pink glitter brads from Hobby Lobby.

I stamped some swirls on each page with versa mark ink, and adhered the "height, weight, milestones, favorites" journal box to each page. These I created myself (for the aforementioned baby album) and if you would ever like them (they are in a word document) just email me!

Some recent creations

2008-07-21T12:51:00.000-07:00

When I find a card I like, I make a ton of them, and here's my most recent:

I got an idea for this one at the Paper Source in Georgetown. The card was a letter press card (meaning the image was pressed into the card). I just stamped it. Finally found one of the trendy new scallop punches from fiskars to make the top and bottom borders with. Made these in green, pink, and blue, so now I have a bunch just waiting for people to have babies!

Finally, a page that's been in my head for awhile. Took the picture at Little Georgie's this spring before picking Ryan up. He didn't realized I was sitting there in my car snapping away. The page came together after I found one to scraplift (I'll have to post that later).

I also did a bunch of work on my 2007 family album while away at the beach. Hopefully I will finish that up soon and get going on 2008. TFL!

Much talked about...

2008-07-21T12:39:00.000-07:00

So I hosted a crop back in June and it's taken me awhile to catch up with the 3 or 4 other people who have already blogged about said crop. It was actually my National Scrapbook Day crop, but May is just too busy, so I did it when Kellie and I first had a summer weekend available. It was not as large as I had hoped, as a matter of fact, I had to cancel the second day of it due to no interest, but that doesn't matter.

You see, we had a ton of fun that evening. I do not even know all the silly things that were said, but you can check Paula's blog for more of that info. All I know is, people had fun, I sold a lot of inventory, and the chocolate bars were a big hit.

Plus, we did a make and take with the new tag maker. Cute little card.

And Jennifer discovered something else you could do with it. Cut a 2 inch strip. Feed it in from the bottom (as pictured below) and punch.

Then take it out, feed the other end in and punch again. When finished, it make a cute title or name plate.

Mini Albums

2008-06-16T13:10:00.001-07:00

I have not done any work lately on my family albums or Ryan's, but I have been busy with other projects. In May I tackled a digital album and loved it. Still doing it from pre-designed pages, but moving things around a little more. I did it for Ryan's class and some of the other parents bought copies, too. Such a nice plus to digital-you can easily do multiple copies!

Then I finally did my little Team Trek album. I've doe a little journal style album all three of the years I have accompanied our juniors on the trip. This one was very easy because I just made it 4x6 and zuttered it together. Didn't have to paste many pictures in, just punched them in with everything else.

I plan to do something similar with all the prom pictures I have of my kids.

Finally, I completed an album for my sister for her birthday of our adventures from her birthday last year. I used a kit I bought last fall and all the goodies in it. She got it this weekend so I can show pictures now!

Birthday bracelet

2008-06-16T13:06:00.000-07:00

My mom made me this for my birthday.

A few years back I made her a "Nanny" bracelet for Christmas and I kept meaning to make a "Ryan" one for me. I was so surprised and excited to get it. She even made it a little small, as my wrists are one part of me that have stayed unusually tiny, and she used turtle charms on it! So cool! Thanks mom!

I can finally post this...

2008-05-09T06:45:00.000-07:00

I made three special projects awhile ago (with my wonderful zutter). They are envelopes bound together to hold letters to children.

I stuffed the envelopes with pre-printed stationary reading, "A letter from Mom/Dad on your first birthday" from 1 all the way to 18.

Made them for my friends Katherine and Drew (who are adopting, so the usual Baby's First Year album just doesn't work), Kirsten and Rich, and Cory and John (all of whom just celebrated first birthdays with their little ones).

They were so fun to put together and I know that years from now the kids will love them!

Got her game on!

2008-04-26T13:28:00.000-07:00

With Scott out of town and a free Friday night, I emailed my crafty friends to see if anyone wanted to come over. Only Carrie took me up on it, and here's some of what we created last night.

I knocked a few more things of my "to be created" list with these cards:

these were based on some cards made by a woman at my school (remember Katy? It took a little while, but I found a smaller scalloped square punch).

and these were inspired by the ones Katy made a few weeks ago when she was here. Both are gifts for a friend.

Carrie, inspired by a set of felt letters and doo-dads she had, got her game on with this little album:

All she needs is to put in pictures! What a satisfying evening!

Zutter

2008-04-17T19:51:00.001-07:00

Is my new favorite tool. I have made five albums using it and it is so easy! You can bind together all kinds of stuff (I have just started!). Mostly, I like that I can make it the way I want to.

Here's one project. I need to take pictures of one other. Both are gifts where lots of friends wrote messages, I took pictures of those people, and then binded it all together. Easy!

Love this new stamp, too!

I also have another project I did, but can't post that yet because it has not been mailed. Stay tuned!

Craftapalooza 2

2008-04-12T19:47:00.000-07:00

My sister is in town and we are feeling crafty! I was working on a "Words of Wisdom" album for a friend's "green" baby shower, while Katy made these lovely cards.

At one point she asks, "Do you have any green?" To which I just laugh. This is what my workspace looked like:

Getting creative with paint!

2008-03-28T17:34:00.001-07:00

I finally had some free time today and Ryan and I used it to paint. First I finished a layout I had started over Spring Break with pink paint and a foam florish stamp:

Then I made some cards that I'd been imagining in my head for awhile. 4" x 4" card (you can make 4 of these from a piece of 12" x 12" card stock) from free Archiver's cardstock, ivory paint swirled in the background, and a "Me and my Big Ideas" jelly sticker:

Finally, a page I've been thinking about for awhile. I've had the pictures printed, the title in my brain, and a bunch of supplies collected to do it. Today, I went by Archiver's (I have coupons that expire on Monday burning a hole in my pocket) and picked out new and different paper to do the layout:

Bazzill, Archiver's and CM cardstock, paint (made the circles with the top of a wine glass!), and BoBunny patterned paper. Wanted to do it 8 1/2" x 8 1/2" to go in my moments albums, but too many pictures led to a 12" x 12" layout. Not sure what to do with it now, maybe a frame.

TFL!

Story Tag Book

2008-03-15T15:12:00.000-07:00

Cathy Zielske posted this idea on her blog, and at first I thought, I could do one little tag every day in March.

Wrong! But I can do one little tag for every day of Spring Break!

It's not completely finished (but then again, neither is spring break), but I am very happy with the product. I did not buy any new items for this project, only used things I have been given and have collected over time. I do not even know all the products I used, but if one sparks your curiosity, ask me and I'll try to figure it out!

Feeling too creative!

2008-03-14T22:25:00.000-07:00

Apparently 2008 is the year of creativity for me. I am working on a few projects this evening (that I will post sometime this weekend when I get pictures taken) and I was thinking that I have made a few fun, creative things this year, and fortunately I have started this blog and I will be able to keep track of them seeing as most of them have been given away as gifts!

Then I remembered one I had not posted. And truthfully, it would be part of a 2007 collection, but who's really counting?

I made gratitude journals for my sister and for my dear friend Cory for Christmas. I know I stole the idea from someone, but I do not feel like finding it right now. I believe Cathy and Ali posted it, but that it may have orginally been Emily Falconbridge's idea.

My journals involved a 6 x 6 album made from 52 pieces of paper, one for each week of the year. I even tried (as my sister noted on Valentine's Day) to match seasonal paper to the correct week. The crazy part was that I wrote a quote on each page and stamped the numbers 1-2-3-4-5-6-7 on each page. I will probably not do that part if I ever do that again. Here's a look at the inside...the page on the left was actually a transparency:

So now, they can each write down 7 things they are thankful for each week. The other cool thing is I used Hambly clear acrylic sheets for the cover and the back. The title is on the clear acrylic with stickers:

I am eager to see how they turn out.

Valentine's Day and Spring Break Check List

2008-03-11T18:29:00.001-07:00

I thought I lost the pictures I took of this little project, but found them the other day. Got the project straight from Ali Edwards' "Weekend Creative." I love it when people share their projects, even supply downloads for some of the pieces, as Ali did here. Check out her others, too. Every weekend it's something different, sometimes a project, sometimes something to think about.

I made two of these, one for Scott and one for my sister. Very cute. Next thing I am trying is this. I really wanted to do the whole month, but have decided to just do spring break, because we are having some serious fun over spring break, and we aren't even traveling! A big woo hoo to that!

And on today's spring break check list, 12 pages done (total, but ok, two still need some touch ups) thanks to Kellie having us over today to crop and her mom for keeping an eye on Ryan and Arlan while we did! Also, cleaned out the old email inbox last night (some of you may know this because you got long overdue emails from me!). Nice to cross a few more things off. Now if I could just get to painting that wall...

Spring Break Checklist

2008-03-08T11:25:00.001-08:00

Only one day into Spring Break and I can check a few things off. Finally made this frame I've had in my head for awhile:

The stamps are Autumn Leaves (stamped onto the mat) and the rub-on letters are American Crafts (rubbed onto the glass). Pictures are the front doors of the two houses Scott and I have owned.

I've also done two scrapbook pages, two loads of laundry, and built a snowman. So far, so good.

Scraplift

2008-03-08T09:34:00.001-08:00

I posted this layout on my other blog but wanted to show it here with the inspiration. This LO came from an ad in Creating Keepsake's Magazine. The scan and zoom have lessened the quality, but it will give you an idea:

And here's mine:

Pretzel Kisses or Hugs

2008-03-08T09:31:00.001-08:00

I made these for some little Valentine's Day gifts and a few people asked about them, so I thought I'd post the recipe:

1 bag pretzels (the square snaps work well, but even better are small circles if you can find those!)
1 pkg. M&Ms (I use the appropriate holiday colors when available)
1 pkg. Hershey Kisses or Hugs

Place pretzels on baking stone or sheet. Place a Kiss or Hug on each pretzel and bake at 200 degrees for about 8 minutes (just watch for the Kisses/Hugs to melt). Remove from oven and promptly place an M&M on each pretzel, pressing into the melted chocolate. Allow to cool before serving. At room temperature, this takes SEVERAL hours. I would recommend making these the day before you plan on eating/delivering. Or you can put them in the refrigerator to speed up the process.

Inspired Cards

2008-03-08T09:18:00.000-08:00

One of the things I wanted to share when I started this sight was something I created and the inspiration from which it came.

Here are some cards made by the incredible Becky Higgins. She is a big time scrapping celebrity, and originally from my hometown of Frederick, Maryland, and I am a BIG fan.

Here are my copies (some of you saw these at Christmas!):

More cards from Becky (she used the Making Memories tag crimper thingy):

And my copies (I used a bunch of tags I had leftover from other card projects):

TFL!

VDay goodies!

2008-02-15T12:09:00.000-08:00

I have a bunch of these Chinese carryout boxes that I had ordered for favors for a friend's shower, then not used because they are too slick to stamp or paint on. So I pulled a few out for VDay and stuck paper things to them. Plus I got to use my fun scallop punch that I got awhile ago and hadn't used yet! Filled them up with chocolate buttercreams and pretzel kisses. Maybe I will post those recipes later.

Shine

2008-02-12T12:52:00.000-08:00

Another original page. Creative Memories has been selling 12x12 page display frames for a little while now, and recently added the 8x8 frame as a gift. I finally got around to doing a display in mine!

I've wanted to use this quote ever since Ryan was a ring bearer in my cousin Sarah's wedding a year and a half ago! Her father-daughter song was "Father and Daughter" by Paul Simon. The whole chorus goes

I'm gonna watch you shine,

Gonna watch you grow.

Gonna paint a sign,

So you'll always know.

As long as one and one is two,

There will never be a father loved his daughter

More than I love you.

The last line doesn't fit me and Ryan, but the rest does.

The paper is from the Everyday Power Palette by Creative Memories and the fonts are Pharmacy and MA Sexy both downloaded free from the internet.

First Upload!

2008-02-11T10:04:00.000-08:00

Ironically enough, after my manifest in the previous post, my first upload is a totally original page! I have had the idea in my head for awhile now. I'm really happy with how the page turned out, but it's the idea...the journaling that is the moat important part to me...the whole reason behind the page.

The paper is Bazzil, the title font is pharmacy (downloaded free from the internet) and the photo credit goes to Matt Bailey. I have been drooling over this font for awhile and finally downloaded it this weekend. I'm sure you'll see more of it in the future. The page is crooked because of the scan...I'll have to work on that! TFL!

Welcome!

2008-02-10T15:09:00.000-08:00

In the past year I have discovered that I am "collaboratively creative." I do much better when I have others off whom I can bounce ideas, gain inspiration, or build off of. This happens in many facets of my life.

One of my favorite math lessons, "The Bear Problem" came from a simple math puzzle my department chair shared with us, and turned into a full class lesson with different levels for different abilities in Algebra 1 and 2.

Many of my scrapbook pages are "scraplifted" from magazines and the internet. I use my own pictures and tweak things to make it my own, but the inspiration- the light bulb, ah-ha moment- was courtesy of someone else.

This used to make me feel like I was totally un-original, but I think it just makes me a different kind of creative. I also love to share my ideas and pay it forward, if you will, so please feel free to steal any ideas you see here!

Enjoy!