My Leo, the kitty...

Had to take these pics of my Leo today.  I love him so much!  He is the sweetest kitty I have ever known.  He will be a year old on Friday, the 27th.  Thought I would share him.  =0)

Holiday Mini Album.....YES, in April!!

No, your eyes are not deceiving you!  LOL!!  These are Halloween pictures!  LOL!!  I finally started working on these photos that I have had for months now.  I decided to put all three holidays in the same album; Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas.  I haven't gotten to Thanksgiving or Christmas yet. LOL!  I watched this video from ScrapSaturdays on a Pet Mini Album she did using some large greeting card envelopes where she sealed them shut and then ripped them open to get that wonderful torn edge.  I loved this idea and new I had to try it.

(Below)...This is my Leo, the night before Thanksgiving, all wet!  We were defrosting the turkey in the tub and he fell in!  

Thanks for stopping by for a visit.  Please leave a comment and tell me what you think..... big hugs!  =0)

My First Smashes!! ..........inches lost!!

Hi Everyone!  I have jumped on the Smash book bandwagon!  LOL!  I must say, it was difficult to do at first, to just lay stuff down, but I will confess this was much more fun than trying to figure out the perfect scrapbook layout or design a mini album!!!  I don't have my own Smash book yet so I made this one with my Cinch and scrapbook paper from Recollections.  This stack is called Mosaic Memories, and I LOVE it!  Really fun patterns and some ledger type papers as well.  The stamps you see in the above photo are from Studio G.  The date stamp in the photo below, is from K & Company Smash line products.

 This page talks about losing 17 inches of "my glory" LOL!!!  I am so thrilled with my success so far.  Have many more inches to go but I am finally on the right track!

 The photo above is a close up of some buttons I made with pattern paper, cardstock and glossy accents.  I just layered cardstock until I was happy with the thickness and then added patterned paper to the top.  I used several sizes of circle punches to achieve this look.  But when you don't have buttons in every color of the rainbow or in different shades, this is a great way to still have buttons!

 I found a box of sight words that my daughter used and found this word, away.  I thought it was perfect to work into my title.  The words Inches and Yay are from a Making Memories Shimmer Alpha set.

 The large arrow is a stamp from Basic Grey's set called to the Point.  It comes with several different arrows.

The Celebrate stamp is from the $1 bin at Michaels.  I used Stampin' Up's Basic Black ink pad for all the stamping on these pages.

thanks for stopping by for a visit.  I am suspecting that you will see many more Smash pages in the days, weeks and months to come!!  =0)

Working on: Smash Book, Travel Mini, Birthday Mini...

Happy Hump Day everyone!  I hope you are having a fantabulous day!  =0)  It's sunny but fairly chilly here today in New England!  I am working on several projects at the same time today!  I have to purchase gumballs to complete the cute machines I made yesterday for my daughter's party, and I've been sewing base pages for my homemade SMASH book.  Super fun!  It's going to be a large book; 8.5" x 12".  Love it!  I am using all of my stash to make this book.  NO shopping, except for adhesive!!  (Use It Up).  I have older My Mind's Eye paper stacks that are great for sewing;  pretty lightweight.  I only have a Janome Sew Mini, so I'm not doing any crazy multi-layer pages.  But the Sew Mini works great for me since I am a beginner.  =0)  Oh, and I forgot to mention that I have been doing my 2011 Holiday Album!!  LOL!!  Yes, you read that right.....HOLIDAYS!  LOL.  I am combining Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas all in one album.  That one is about 5"x7" and I am actually adding the pictures already.  I have a bunch of photos printed and I am doing one page at a time complete with the photo!  I can't believe it! lol. I have about 20 or so pages done, but I have a ton more to do.  This will probably end up being 3+ inches thick.  But I LOVE chunky albums, so I'm not trying really hard to keep it flat.  =0)  Anyway, just a "hi...howya doin' post" for now.  Enjoy your April day!!  Thanks for stopping by and I will have photos soon...... hugs.

Faux Gumball Machines!

Hi Everyone!  Happy Tuesday!  I hope you are enjoying your day!  I wanted to share these faux gumball machines I made for my daughter's birthday party this weekend!  I saw this idea on Pinterest and thought they would be great party favors.  They are very easy to make and super inexpensive.  I don't know about you, but those traditional party favor bags always cost me WAY too much!  LOL!

I purchased 4-5" pots and saucers at AC Moore a couple of weeks ago when they were 50% off and the bowls are also from AC Moore for $1.  The round balls on top of the saucer at found at any craft store.  The hole on the front of the pot is a doll pin holder and those I found at a local scrapbook/craft store.  I couldn't find those at the big craft stores.  I used E6000 glue to adhere everything together.  And just regular acrylic craft paint to paint the red parts.  I love how they turned out!  They measure about 10-11" tall; I am guessing.  Now, all I need are the gumballs and I am all set!  Thanks for stopping by and saying hi!  =0)

Wallet Size Photo Mini Album

I love this cute little Mini!  I made it to house all of the school photos I get every year. I have a ton of those wallet size photos and thought I could put them in here and drop it in my purse!  I used a tutorial I found here.  This tutorial is very easy to follow and this mini is super fast to make.  The BEST part is that it is 100% UIU!!  UIU stands for Use It Up, meaning, use up your stash.  Use up all that stash you have been hoarding for YEARS!!  That's exactly what I have done with this mini.

It has a wrapped chipboard cover and I used the 6x6" Die Cuts with a View Tattered Time paper pad.  I have had this paper FOREVER and didn't use it because I don't make many masculine projects.  But I love the paper!  some of them are embossed and really shiny.

I used Stampin' Up cardstock and Stampin' Up buttons from my stash as well.  The Hemp Twine I have had for years!  I used a bottle cap, a 1" circle punch, an alphabet sticker, my crop-o-dile, and glossy accents for the charm on the side.  I used washers from the hardware store on the spine as well as all of the pages.  I glued them on with E6000 glue.  I used black velcro from Michael's on the closure.

 

 The pewter finish brads on the inside covers are from Stampin' Up.

Thanks for stopping by today!!!  Hope you are having a lovely April!

Owl Party Invitation...

Happy Sunday!  Thanks for stopping by!  I hope you are having a fabulous day!

Today I am sharing these adorable Owl Birthday Party Invitations I made for my daughter, who is turning 10!  Where does the time go??  Amazing!!  I saw these invitations and absolutely loved them and knew I had to make them!  Mine are pretty large; they will go into a 5x7" envelope.  I used cardstock from Stampin' Up and pattered paper from DCWV Sweet Stack.  The party information is listed on the back of the owl which isn't shown because it has personal information.  :)

The orange part of the eyes are 2" circles, the white part are 1.5" circles, the pupils are 3/4" circles.  The beak is free-handed triangle.  The border on the wings is an EK Success border punch.  You could also use plain half circles to make a scallop edge.

Thanks for taking a peek and leave a comment; I love reading your comments!  And of course, if you have any questions let me know.  I will have a video tutorial up soon.....so keep an eye out for that.  Hugs!!!

Use It Up ~ 2012!!

How many of you are as guilty as I am of hoarding crafting supplies??!!  Can I see a show of hands??  ;-)  I know there are hundreds, if not thousands, of us all over the world who see some gorgeous new paper that we must have NOW, or some beautiful fuzzy soft yarn that we must make a new scarf with, and drag it home only to stick it in a drawer or box somewhere, or even worse, leave it in the bag you brought it home in and shove it into a place so well hidden that you forget where you put it???!!!!  Well it's two years later, and that poor yarn is still unused and that beautiful paper is sitting at the bottom of the pile of other beautiful papers we had to have.  Anybody feeling the pain right now?  I am feeling that pain, let me tell you!  I have a craft room FULL of STUFF!!  I have friends who call it stash, loot, goodies, you name it.  ;-)  Whatever you call your stuff, we have tons of it don't we?  Collecting dust, being suffocated under the huge piles, neglected and sad.  =0(

Well, I came across Fran's blog post and decided to raise my hand, both hands actually and pledge to Use It Up in 2012.  I am going to go shopping in my own craft room instead of Michael's, AC Moore, and Joann's because I have PLENTY of stuff in my own store that I can use!!  I have stuff still in packaging, still sealed, still wrapped up, still unused years after I bought it!!  Are you guilty too?  Wouldn't you love to dig into that stuff and make it useful??  Not only will this save you money, but it will also clean up your room and clean out those drawers and boxes!!  Aren't we always complaining about not having enough SPACE?!?!  Well here is your solution!  USE IT, gift it, trade it, make something special!  Isn't that why you bought it in the first place?

Now this doesn't mean that you can't buy anything in 2012, because in order to make this fabulous stuff we are going to make, it requires adhesive.  Adhesive is not one of my collector's items, so I know that I will run out while making my fabulous projects ;-) so purchase more adhesive only when you've run out.  However, don't take a detour throughout the entire store in search of more items to add to your "stuff" at home!  You are there to buy adhesive only!  Bow your head, and with purpose, walk briskly out the door!!!  LOL!!   Read all of the bullets in Fran's blog post.  She goes into more of the details.

So join me whether you have a room full, or a bin full, we all collect stuff that we keep meaning to use and never do.  Why buy more?  Right?!  I hope you raise your hand as well and if you do, let me know!! Let's support each other on our quest to Use It Up!!  We will feel sooo much better afterward!!  I promise.....hugs and squishes to you!!  =0)

Starting a New Journey!!

Hi everyone!  Happy St. Patrick's Day!!  I hope that you all had a wonderful day!  I am starting a new journey..... one that will make me healthy again.  I joined this website....  http://www.joybauer.com.  It is called Joy's LIFE Diet.  LIFE stands for Look Incredible Feel Extraordinary.  It is a lifestyle change, NOT a diet.  At age 40, I am past diets.  Diets aren't going to work for me anymore.  What I need is to change my lifestyle.  Change what I eat, how I eat, how I prepare it, and my activity.  I am super excited and motivated.  I hope that maybe some of you can join me, because who can't benefit from a lifestyle change, right?  :)  

Here is an excerpt from her website.  "There is no magic bullet for this plan: you have to do the work. Your transformation will begin once you teach your taste buds that sugary, salty, and oily are gone, and clean, light, and refreshing are in. It's all a matter of busting your bad eating habits and replacing them with healthy ones. This doesn't mean you will forever have to abandon chocolate or never enjoy another glass of wine with dinner. Your future will still include delicious foods and restaurant dinners — the difference is that once you learn how to keep it all in balance, you'll never be overweight again! Are you worried about getting that light-headed, almost queasy feeling you often get during the first days on a diet? Forget about it! On Joy’s online plan, your stomach will not be growling with hunger: From the first day you'll be eating three meals, an afternoon snack, and have access to unlimited quantities of healthy food to munch on. You will feel full and satisfied."  

Have a wonderful rest of the evening and a wonderful Sunday.  We are going to reach 81 tomorrow!!  I don't think I've ever seen that in March!!  Well, except when I lived in California!  LOL!!  Thanks for visiting and please leave a comment if you'd like or also if you visit Joy's site!  Hugs!!!

Blue and Teal Cluster Bracelet

Happy Friday Eve!   :)   Yep, I made another bracelet yesterday morning!  This one took me less than an hour!  I am addicted to making these cluster bracelets!  They are soooo easy to make.  I used Wildfire Beading wire, glass beads, seed beads, frosted beads, and clear glass beads with blue centers.

 

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!!  Hugs!!

Cluster Bracelet with Toggle Clasp

Happy Tuesday!!  Thanks for stopping by for a visit!  Is Spring in the air in New England??  Can it be??  Yesterday while running errands, I saw people on motorcycles!!  It was a beautiful, sunny 66 degrees.  I'm not going to hold my breath though, because it isn't unusual to get snow into April or even May!  Yes, you read right, MAY!!  But it's absolutely beautiful out and for the next several days we will have 50-60 degree temps!  :) 

 This is a bracelet I made this morning.  It's called a Cluster Bracelet and I learned this technique from Auntie's Beads you tube video.  She provides an excellent explanation and is very easy to follow.  You will have to try this!!  :) 

Thanks for stopping by, if you have any questions please let me know!  Hugs!!