Decopauge

Decopauge......mod podge.......I just love it.  Called me silly!  I like the look of the paper when it's shiny and I like that it's waterproof, washable......protected!! Miss Sophie gave me a cute little mini-album and I used one of the 6x6 My Minds Eye paper packs that I got as a daily special from MyCraftChannel to rip and piece together for the outside of the album. 

I prepared the album by roughing it up a little with sandpaper and using mod podge to glue on Kraft paper as a base.  I cut the Kraft paper to fit the album like wrapping a present.  I then modge podged my pieces onto the Kraft paper overlapping and tearing randomly. Once all the pieces were on I modged the entire outside of the album.

The inside of the Album is just the paper itself in pockets waiting for my daughter to add pictures and embellish herself. I put papers back to back so she has two sides to each page for more fun.  

Of course I added some bling and embellies for more fun! Quick, easy--great project for kids too!

Starting the project!

Front View

Open view of Cover

Love this paper!! 

Done! 

My "little" scrap space......

In terms of scrap rooms, my space is almost non-existent!  When my husband and I built the room he offered to make it larger and include the window but I assured him I did not need that large of a room. **Yes, I do realize how wrong I was!  The room was flooded several times before we were able to remove the garage doors and stop the flooding.  Subsequently, I lost my wood floor that we had worked so hard to install (imagine installing a pergo wood floor around a water heater--yeah not fun and a lot of &*%$#) and decided not to try again.  So at this point it is painted cement with a rubber mat for standing on.

In small spaces you need to use vertical space!  My one set of shelves on the right have not been painted yet but will also be Summer Squash Yellow when weather permits.  The counter is standing height and underneath are several wheeled plastic containers all labeled with craft items that are "less used" than other items.  The items that are used on almost all projects are kept handy in the top drawer of my white craft station, on the counter, in the plastic labeled bin on the wall, in the labeled boxes on the shelf or on the magnetic holder just above my counter. I also have a wire rack that is not pictured on the wall to the left of the water heater that holds my mini albums that I purchase on sale and keep there for anyone in the house that wants to make a quick album. My husband made a wooden cover for the sanitary tub for one of my machines and when I need the tub I just pop off the wood cover.  Great for when I am doing perfect pearls or stamping cleanup! The machines fit on my counter-but I prefer them to the side of me and the counter kept for layouts and embellishments only.

My cartridges are Not in the box!!  I know--- Blasphemy of Craft proportions!!  I do have all of my boxes and they are kept nice and clean and in a sealed plastic storage bin in the attic along with all of my craft paraphernalia boxes.  But seriously.......I can grab a cartridge in seconds and use it and since I am ADD and OCD for me this is how crafting went with the boxes: 

• Start a project
• pull a cartridge box
• open the box, take out the cartridge, take out the overlay, take out the booklet
• use the cartridge for 1 cut? or a few layered cuts
• put the cartridge back in the box, put the overlay back, put the booklet back
• put the box back exactly where I had pulled it from since they were "in order" 
• open the next cartridge box and start the process over

 Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!! I spent more time pulling out and putting away then crafting.  I am very happy with my No Box choice and highly suggest you kick the box habit!! I need to get another container as my one is very full at this point! These containers are $2.19- $2.50 at Walmart and have nice sturdy snap sides. I have pulled the curtain back to take a picture below so you can see one of my rolling carts.   That is actually the smaller one angled in the corner with my stamping supplies!

I do love my little space, everything is within 1 step of me.  I used an area of the house that would have basically been wasted space and turned it into my little haven. 

Counter View- We bought the counter at Lowes and had it cut by them to fit.

Need another Shape Carts Container!

These Shelves have been painted. 

Sanitary Tub- will paint the wood base Mango!

The Slice

Hello Everyone! 
I am trying to find a clearance Slice machine for my kids.  This is perfect for taking to the school for making posters and such!! 
I have 15 cartridges for my daughters and I have 4 brand new  for trading.  I just need the machine!  Anyone have any left in their area?  I know that RI, MA, CT, NH are sold out at Michael's.  I was in A.C.Moore about 4 weeks ago and they had it reduced to clearance also.  Would love the Fabrique, but any would do!

For trade: Jungle, Wedding, Music & Dance
Looking for many but especially- Sports, Under the Sea, Family Words

**Update! A circle member has located a Slice at M's! How super nice! She wanted the Bon Appetite so that is no longer available for trade as it will be going to her!! 

TAG

I played around last night with the Vagabond and made a few tags for the girls to put in their Smashbooks.  I need to get pictures of the others--but I do have this one to post tonight!  

Recipe:  Kind of Obvious-- 
Vagabond
Bingo Embossing Folder by Sizzix
Concord Grape, Marmalade, Antique Photo Tim Holtz Distress Ink
Perfect Pearls purple
Organza Ribbon in Brown
Purple ribbon from an HSN Kit purchase 6 years ago!  
Recollections Bling
Handcut flowerish thing

 

Amazingly Happy !!

I am thrilled with my newest deal!!  I am a bargain shopper and I love a great deal.  To spare the long details...lets just say I went into A.C Moore last Thursday to buy tape & blades for a crop I was having and I saw "him"-- Mr. Vagabond perched on a high shelf.  I did not take the plunge at that moment but rather 4 days later!  I was shocked it was still there, but then again I seldom look up and I assume most other shoppers are the same way.  

I had bought the cricut cake mini for Christmas because I just had to have it.... well she sits unopened and unused along with the toolkit so I have decided to sell her and keep Mr. Vagabond.  I am so tempted to "flip" him into cash but then I will just regret what I had and sold!  I am meeting her on Wednesday to sell the Cake and even after Mr. Vagabond I will be $40.00 to the positive.

Smashbooking

I had a little fun playing with my Smashbook the other night with my daughter.  We were both going through our stashes of stuff that we wanted to Smash.  The hardest part was deciding on if this was going to be of my past or for the present. I decided it would start in October of 2011 since I vacationed with my family for the first time since I was a child!

My favorite parts so far......... I love, love, love the tags I made.  The one is double sided self adhesive chipboard with the words cut out of the hat I got from Krispy Kreme at Mohegan Sun the other night.  I inked it, added a little glitter and used a paperclip to hang it in the page and the other is a tag made with Tim Holtz's embossing folder BINGO that is distressed, glimmer misted and perfect pearled! 

I'm working on a transparency page to add in between some other pages I am working on.  I am not sure how I am going to insert it yet--but it's fun experimenting! 

I really think a Smashbook would be the perfect Recipe book for my kids for when they move out because I could make the recipe cards with Kates Kitchen or From My Kitchen and use the pockets/make pockets to tuck the recipes in after I laminate them.  The Smashbooks are meant to get "aged" and messy looking and I think it would be eclectic looking for them.  A lot of stores  have them for $6.50 right now and I am pretty sure I just talked myself into this idea!!  I am in a recipe swap right now and since it's a 6x6 swap I believe they would fit nicely in a Smashbook!

A little Help from a Friend!

Ahhh, Liz V posted on the board about the Creative station she found at J's for $34.97 and I checked out the picture and thought--wow that's a great deal!  I have been wondering what to spend my $20 gift card from Kelsey on at J's and heck that made it $18.00 with tax!  Even better.

I grabbed one on my lunch break with my co-worker who also got one for her sewing station!

I had a doctor appt and then came home around 7:00 ish to an empty house.  I just couldn't let it sit in the car so I slid it out and "walked" it to the door and "walked" it up two steps into the kitchen--it weighs 88 lbs so lifting was out of the question.  I took the pieces out of the box upstairs and carried them downstairs and laid them out for assembly.  Step 1 was easy, Step 2 was a little challenging on my own but nothing I couldn't handle! The rest was a piece of cake.

I was going to put it on wheels for my girls so they could store their stuff on it--(was)--but then after measuring it I realized it would fit perfect in my craft room if hubby removed the shelf he made that I never really finished.  So he is going to take that shelf down this Thursday and I will move it in there.  He did come home as I was doing my drawers and I asked him to cut a piece of 3 inch plywood to add the wheels to, but then I decided to nix that and I had him cut the wood down a little more to put inside end to end to stop the sway.  I am also going to sturdy up the drawers with some trim wood from another project.  I am super excited for the price I paid for this--it is not worth in my opinion the $199.00 price tag but I would say easily worth $69.99.

Project for Michael's Classes in Jan & Feb

Getting ready for Valentine's Day!  I am not a huge Valentines person in that I do not need to be wined and dined nor do I need flowers on one particular day of the year.  But I do think it's a cute day for young kids and teens.  I'm very happy with how this turned out and since it's all my own materials and not materials that were store used to me, I might just keep this one for my daughter and her boyfriend and make another similar for class.  She did keep it!!

In the class we do not use the chipboard and I did use chipboard for the front and back cover of this particular album.  I really like the way the chipboard adds to the album's sturdiness!  I do love making these mini-albums as they are instant gratification!  I hope you enjoy the pictures! 

  







Second Album:  This will be display! 

Wine Bottle Decor

I just love Pinterest!  I have found so many interesting ideas and recipes on that site!. 
I came across a pin for a holiday centerpiece that was made using wine bottles, white spray paint and Epsom Salts.  I loved the idea.  The bottles were very icy and wintery.  

I do save wine bottles but usually only the really pretty ones.  I grabbed six bottles and headed downstairs to paint them and decided I could not bare to cover up the beautiful colors!  I decided to use spray adhesive and Epsom Salts so as to let the beauty of the bottle show through.  

I had planned on lighting the bottles from the inside with battery operated lights--however--no battery lights fit in the bottles.  I wish I had tried the lights before I sprayed them because I would have used the other trick on Pinterest to cut the bottoms off of the bottles to put the lights or flameless candles under the bottles!  

I am going to redo the bottles for next year and take the bottoms off, but for this year they will stay the way they are.  I have two centerpieces, both are different. 

My Secret Circle Sister Box!!!

Merry Christmas! 
I received my Circle Sister box and I finally got to open it!! It was from California Rose (Sophie)!! 
Let me just say that I was in awe of the way she filled the box.  She added so many cute notes and personal touches!  I have never been in a swap before and I am taking notes for next year!!  I just love everything she put in the box and am looking forward to experimenting with Glitter Glass, Glimmer Mist, Ribbons and mini tins!  I am so inspired by the "Queen of Lists" tin she made for me.  My girls are crazy over it and it's very close to Christmas but I might be able to squeeze out three of those this weekend for the girls to put in their stockings since they wanted mine so bad!! 

I just adore her Stocking!! Very creative and the colors are fabulous.  I really enjoy home decor, altered art and mini albums and such.  I hit a bump in my scrapbooking due to feeling overwhelmed by work and all.  It seems more relaxing to work on a project rather than stress over a bazillion pictures that I just can't decide between! I want to do more cricut sewing projects and tote bags and such in the near future.  I will be using the canvases she included very soon!   

Queen of Lists tin

Directions!! Calling Card!! Pocket Calendar!! Clip

 

Online Christmas Card--Silly

Create a free digital greeting

I am soooooo BAD !

I have done a few projects and I have not taken any pictures of them to post on here.  I had made a goal to be more active but it does not seem to be working out for me right now!  

I am in the middle of 3 home Decor projects and I promise to take pictures and post!  I got the idea from Scrapalette on the Circle Boards!!  

I usually wrap the pictures in certain rooms with gift wrap and ribbon and bows to match whatever theme I am doing for that year but this time I changed it up a little so you still see the frame!  Hoping it all works out.  If it does I will post pictures this week! 
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On the non-crafting side of my life:  The Chariho Cowboys were Division II Football Champions and went on to win the Superbowl this past Sunday, December 5th.  They are now the Division II State Champions!  Way to Go Chargers!!  And since the boys had an extended season the Cheerleaders also benefited from an extended season!  

The weather for the games has been pretty darn good this year and the girls looked great at Half-time!  I love going to the games and watching my daughter Cheer.  This was the first year it was only 1 daughter.  :(  Next year will be my last year.  Already sad!  Here's hoping the Chargers have another great season next year after losing 19 Seniors!  

I met some wonderful people!

Sunday I took a drive to CT to meet two circle members and their friends!  It was a gorgeous day and the drive was nice and the people were even nicer. It was so much fun to be around other people that enjoy paper crafting and knitting.  

I had some projects to do for a class while I was there and I received some wonderful input from the ladies!  I just love these projects--

The mini paper bag album has hidden pockets (inside of each bag) and pull out tabs are in each pocket that are double sided for journaling or pictures!  This is not a cricket project.  The entire project was done with  6 paper bags and 1 paper pack! All of the embellishments are from the first page of the paper pack.   I love, love, love this Recollections Paper Pack!!

The card was cut at 11 x 7 from Bazzill white textured card stock, layered with Brown Bazzill with A.C.Moore Green glitter paper, white Bazzill with inking and a piece of the green swirl scrap from the above project.  The partridge cut is from Winter Frolics.  I made my partridge lime green to pop!  The picture does not do this card justice.  I do love it!  I think this may be my main Xmas card design this year!!  Shhhh, don't tell. 

 

I'm SEW proud of myself.......

I am not a sewer. Not yet at least. I have done a few straight stitched items here and there. Never an actual project. I cannot read a pattern as I do not understand the lingo. I have a very nice sewing machine with a ton of feet and accessories (thank you HSN for your "easy" payments) that I will never probably use, and are still sealed in their package. Don't get me wrong, I do hope to learn to use these feet! But I will need a very patient instructor that speaks "Sewing for Dummies". I have had this sewing machine for almost 3 years and until I started sewing on cards and layouts it sat unused.

Alas, my lonely sewing machine has been used!! And used for a full project! Yeah Me!! I am now confident and fluent at changing the bobbin and the thread. One fear conquered! I used one of my kids stockings as a guide and I cut my fleece out by hand in the general shape of a stocking leaving room to pin and sew. The red part of the stocking was easy and came together well. The white on the stocking was not as seamless and pretty--there are mistakes but that's OK because this is my first project!

I love the Crafty Gemini Blog! She is amazing and I will be making her cosmetic/wristlets this weekend. If all goes well they will be Xmas presents for the 3 girls in their stockings!