Spooky Chandlier, Halloween Card

Spooky Chandlier

Even tho it is just the beginning of September, Halloween is just around the corner. I've started making one design of a Halloween card, in search of a design I like so much that I will want to duplicate. I am almost embarrassed to admit that I've been at my craft table making Halloween cards so early! But, I fear if I don't get a head start on them I will find myself inside Hallmark purchasing store bought...and, THAT, my friends, is NOT what my goal is this year :)

I am quite proud of myself for this card because I feel I successfully designed with pattern paper and not my usual colored card stock! I really like this card, the stamp, the SU pp...but, I'm back to the drawing board for a new different design.

Celebrate Fresh Cuts, Card

Another Fresh Cuts stamp set card! It's so much fun to make so many different styles of cards from one stamp set! Parts of the image are colored with prism art color pencils. A set of pencils I've had since I was 16 years old! they still work! LOL. I can't even remember the last time I colored an image with regular color pencils and not with watercolors or chalks! I'm reaching deep into my scrap closet! Also, the image is stamped with Sahara Sands ink from SU. I love how soft it looks- the color just pops out!

Book Inpsired, Card

Last but not least, my final book club inspired card:


I punched 6 squares out of the book page and chalked red, blue, yellow. Set them down like a quilt. I made the flowers months ago when I was playing with different techniques...they seem perfect for this country inspired card! A few buttons, a couple of pearls & old fashion doodling went a long way to making this card so pretty! :))

Thanks for visiting! Have a great day!!

Book Pages, Card

Welcome Back!

I've noticed a trend in color combo's. Seems like I'm seeing a lot of purple and green. And, I am just attracted to the combo! It seems fresh and different! This card is the second of three cards where I used the left over pages from my altered book.


I cut a page into one inch strips. When gluing them down I didn't want the strips I wanted them to line up uneven so they looked like strips and not like a single blocked rectangle. Once The strips were glued down I thought they needed color! The papers were calling out to me to add CHALK! Of course! LOL, then I thought why not mask the SU punched bird! The card came alive! The birdy told me it need to sing, so I drew in glittery notes! LOL, it was a fun card to make! And, I'm inspired to try out different tones of purple and green together! This tone looks a little fall and I'm wanting a summer/springy feel next time!

Dry Embossing, Card

Hello and good morning! I've been busy trying to organize my time so that I can get back to the hobbies that I enjoy so much. Even though some cards take an hour from start to finish it leaves a happy residue on my soul that carries me through my day! Life has a way of pulling each of us in different directions. Getting my "to do" list done can be daunting and depressing. So I decided to sprinkle my different crafts through out my day(when possible). It seems to be working so far! I feel my MO-JO creeping back in! Yea!!

My first Book Club book has come to a close. I had so much fun meeting with friends to discuss and commiserate! I was the first to pick the book and I chose a self help book "Women Food and god" by Geneen Roth. I have read the book over 5 times and listened to the audio book about 3 times. And, I still feel like I need to read it again and again to get the whole message. I am excited to hear what the next book is going to be, I hope it is a bit lighter in material :)

Because of the Book Club I got inspired again to pick up my altered book and create a few pages. Those pages are still in the works so I 'll have to show the outcome later. But, I made a couple of cards from the left over pages that I tore out of my altered art book. This is the first of three posts where I share what I created from book pages!

I have been altering the book, for the last 4 years, named "Miss Julia Takes Over". I picked it because of my name being in the title! LOL, Inside of each of these cards I punched my name out of the pages and glued it inside the cards! I hope the recipients get a little surprise & giggle from it!

Above, I used a SU Sizzix embossing folder and glittered the center of each flower. Tore the edge and under the tear punched the SU bird punch. I have been using my chalks a lot lately! Here I colored the bird with the SU chalks to add that little extra something! I love how it came out! The page map/ card map was inspired by a recent class I went to. It's really interesting to use card maps because things can come out so differently- but similarly!

I hope you like it and thanks for visiting!!

Inspirational Reminder, plaque

Last night was the final meet up for the Little Book Club that I am in. I so much enjoyed participating through the adventure of reading and discussing our first book together! I selected our first book and I did my best to lead us on a two month journey through the Oprah recommended self help book "Women, Food and god" written by Geneen Roth.

Over the course of preparing to lead the discussion, I read the book five times and listened to the audio book 3 times! I could not find any discussion questions online, so I had to make my own up!! Not an easy task. At times I felt overwhelmed and unworthy to be leading the group. But, I am so glad that I did! Our little group got closer as we dug into the meat of the theme. We laughed, we drank tea, we ate great food, we had wonderful conversation & learned a lot more about ourselves and each other! I am so lucky to have such great friends willing to work through it all with me.

I wanted to give the book club members a momento to take with them to remind them of the heart of the message. I'm sure you are not surprised that I grabbed some card stock, embellishments and got crafty with it!

Here's a picture of the three together...There is a front and a back. Each side with quotes and inspirational reminders. Each one is decorated a little differently but they are very similar.


Love U
On this side I took the liberty to take a quote (from pg 168) to make it suit my needs. It says: "My Little Cream Puff, If love could speak to you about food, it would say... "Eat when you are hungry, sweetheart, because if you don't you won't enjoy the taste of food" why should you do anything you don't enjoy? "Eat what your body wants, darling, otherwise you won't feel so well" Why should you walk around feeling tired or depressed from what you put into your mouth? "Stop eating when you've had enough, otherwise you will be uncomfortable" Why spend one minute in discomfort?"


Eating Guidelines
On this side I printed the eating guidelines as described in the back of the book (on pg 211). I figured if we were going to do this we would need to remember what we were supposed to be doing! It can be easy to forget, especially in the heat of the obsession! I added a Heidi Swapp butterfly to remind them to fly and make changes. And, each one has a different motivational bottle cap in the butterfly center. This bottle cap says "precious" and the other ones say : "Love & Cherish" & "Love".


I hope the Little Book Club enjoyed our first book, or at the very least enjoyed our fellowship! Personally, I am glad to put it down and move onto the next book; I can't wait to find out what the next selection will be!!

Summer Favorites, cosmetics

Lately I've been addicted to watching YOU TUBE videos from self described "makeup gurus". Using their example I am dedicating this post to my "Summer Favorites" list. When you find a beauty product that works for you - you want to tell the world and if you are a makeup junkie like me you understand what I'm talking about!!

The products listed in this post are products that I have used almost every day through out the summer. They show up on my crafty blog site because (for anyone who knows me)-Knows makeup, cosmetics, beauty, is a hobby of mine! I love to read about them and trying them!!

QVC is a huge infomercial for me, I even TIVO cosmetic shows! It has introduced to me all kinds of lines I would never have tried! LOL, this is no secret! My husband has seen my hobby turn into an obsession! Luckily Matt sees the joy I get playing with makeup/cosmetics & he sees it as another way to spoil me!!

I've purchased these products either at QVC, Sephora, the MAC counter or at Ulta! They know me by name! LOL

On with my Summer 2010 Product Favorites!!

Philsophy Firming Body Emulsions
This comes in a variety of fragrances. Currently I'm using The Amazing Grace scent. However, it comes in "Pure" which is fragrance free- the best choice if you want plan to wear a different perfume. The emulsion truly absorbs into your skin and leaves a shiny (but non-sticky) appearance to the skin! Some moisturizers sit ontop of the skin but this one does not! Also, with other brands I feel like I can't put enough of it on my skin to finally feel moisturized but with this one- a little goes a LOOONG way!!


MAC Prep + Prime Lash
At some point in my thirty's ALL mascaras gave me racoon eyes! In the process of searching for a mascara that did not melt off my lashes I collected a stash of mascara (from all price ranges). Water-proof to long wear nothing worked!! Until I purchased a kit from MAC that had this prep & prime it in! OMG, now I can wear ANY mascara with out fear of black eyes! I'm finally working my way through my mascara stash! This stuff is great!


Bare Escentuals- Rare Minerals Blemish Therapy
Even in my late 30's I'm struggling with the occassional flair up. I'm used to applying skin drying lotions on top of break outs. So, when my sister suggested this powder I was very skeptical. BUT, OMG! OMG! The angels are singing! As long as the powder is applied before the pimple flairs it is as good as gone. If, by chance it flairs before applying the powder, it still works but slower...it certainly stops the redness!


BareMinerals Buxom Lip Gloss
Saying I'm addicted to this product is an understatement! Something about the pepperminty medicating tingly feeling makes my lips happy! The minty feeling lasts a very refreshing long time! And, the gloss does not create that stringy- I accidentally put too much on look. It comes in various colors and I'm in the process of collecting them all! The colors may look bright or dark in the tube but once applied they give a subtle color! Yummy!



Anastasia Matte "Camille" Highlighter
I apply this under my brow arch and in the nose corner of my eyes- oooh so pretty! I like it because shimmer under the brow is not always the look I'm going for- this is an opaque matte skin pink tone. Apply from stick then smooch with your fingers to blend. An eye lift in a pencil!


Ojon Volatilizing Hydrating thickening Spray
This stuff gives my limp, thin hair a voluminous bounce! It gives me the appearance of thicker hair! LOVES it!!


No list is complete with out mentioning a dud! Oh, and I have one for you! I'm somewhat of an expert with acne medications- I know the ones that work well, just okay and the don't waste your money on ones!

When I heard about this thing I dragged my husband around town looking for a place to purchase it. $40 later I ran home to try it out. Unfortunately, the technology just doesn't work on my type of acne- the directions say not to use on white head pimples- but, now I'm left wondering aren't most pimples going to create a white head??? Believe me, I know the difference- I've had years of experience!~And, why do I want to use this on black head pimples because those dry and can be removed easily with exfoliants...using this loser of a product turned my pimples into thick, hard masses on my face that didn't go away for 3+ weeks! I'd rather have the pimple and let it run it's course than have a huge bump on my face for over a month! The ONLY plus is there was NO redness! URGH, waste of money:
Zeno, Hot Spot blemish Clearing Device
Two thumbs DOWN- If I had more thumbs it would receive a lower score.

Strawberry Vinegar

Months ago, I took a community class about growing herbs and infusing vinegars. One of the recipes shared in class was this Strawberry Vinegar. Being labeled as "easy" it was the first one that I have since attempted to make. It smells like heaven in a jar! We are coming to the end of the strawberry season so I need to make another batch before the prices at the market sky-rocket!

I've made this vinegar one other time before and I learned that I my taste buds dance when the vinegar is infused 3 or more times. The more infusions, the sweeter the smell (and taste)! Isn't the color beautiful?


The vinegar can be used in soups, meat marinades, etc. But, my favorite is to use it on green salads. As a dressing- mix with oil OR add a little yogurt to make it a creamy (I like vanilla yogurt) salad dressing.

To make this vinegar, simply clean your strawberries and remove the tops. Put them in your jar and cover them with vinegar (I used apple cider). Before putting on the lid (if it is metal) cover the top with plastic wrap and then secure the lid. Vinegars will corrode metal- and that's not good especially around food items! Put the jar in a dark cool spot and forget about it! Once a week, for the next 3+ weeks shake it and forget about it! When the strawberries start to disintegrate remove them and strain the liquid. Start over! And, do it as many times as you like! As long as the strawberries are covered in the liquid the vinegar remains safe because it naturally prevents any bacteria/mold from growing! And, if you need to add extra vinegar to your jar to cover the new batch of strawberries simply pour fresh vinegar in to top it off.

Also, as a side note, when straining the vinegar I cover my strainer holes with a couple of layers of paper towels and let the liquid drip through to another container. And, repeat until the vinegar is clear. Very easy!

It's delicious, so give it a try!

Pocket Easel, Card

Always on the look out for a different card shape, I came across another option for an "Easel Card". The card that inspired me was too small to mail...but, it had a twist on the easel card I made a few posts ago~ a POCKET easel card!! Inspired, excited & tickled pink I sat at my craft table and worked the card stock until I came up with the dimensions that would allow the Pocket Easel Card to fit into an average size envelope, perfect for mailing. Ultimately, this is what I eventually came up with (for the second card project at my card club group):


It is a pocket, Easel Card! It stands up on it's own. And, is created out of one 12x12 piece of card stock.




Here's the basic instructions.
1. Score a piece of 5-1/2 x 12 card stock at 2, 4, 8, & 10 inches. Fold Score Lines.

2. Fold edges under the center part of the card base and stamp image with Rich Razzleberry ink & sentiment. Punch top with the circle punch. Glue the back edges together. Set aside.

3. Stamp sentiment & swirls, with Rich Razzleberry ink, on the very vanilla card stock (size is 3-1/11x5-1/5). Matt on top of Rich Razzleberry (size 3-1/4x5-1/2).

4. Stamp small flower with Versa Mark on front of the card five times. Using your chalk applicator rub versa mark image with Rich Razzleberry Chalk. Stamp one time on the inside piece & cover with chalk.

5. Slide the center piece into the card and mark the center with a pencil. Pull out and punch a hole with your hand held hole punch.

6. Thread satin ribbon through the hole. Tie gold cord around satin ribbon. Trim ribbon and cording.

7. Apply bling to the center of the chalked flowers.

Live Laugh Love, Card

Hello & Thank you for visiting my blog! Life has been keeping me very busy this summer. The only opportunity I have had to sit at my craft table was at the end of July when I started creating for my final SU Club Class.

I have enjoyed getting to know all the girls in my club class and will miss their smiles & craftiness! Just like most crafters, I had been stuck in a rut of using the same supplies and techniques over and over again. The club class made me think out side of the box; I did lots of research and browsing ideas, magazines, websites, etc. in an attempt to create cards/ projects that the club would have fun making.

When I first started scrapbooking I adored using my chalks. But, somewhere along the way my chalk sets got pushed back in my closet and forgotten about. Until recently, I found my love for these versatile (sometimes messy) coloring tools. It appears to me that a lot of different stamping companies seem to be offering silhouette style stamp images. I've played around with different ways to utilize these styles of images but I really enjoyed this technique the best. Take a looky:


The card uses three different Stampin' Up stamp sets (Dreams du Jour, Fresh Cuts, On your Birthday). And, a lot of heat embossing- something I really do not do often.

After Heat embossing the Fresh Cuts image (on shimmery White Card Stock) I took my chalk sets and Q-tips and got to coloring in the white space. I really like using the shimmery white card stock under stamped images because the shimmer shows up under the coloring! A neat, glimmery affect with out a lot of work! Also, I would like to note that the butterfly is from the Dreams Du Jour set and is pop dotted on top of the silhouette image.

The inside of the card:

Paris, Acrylic & Brushes

Over a year ago, my sister requested that I paint a Paris themed picture for my niece Maggie's bedroom. It has been decades since I've picked up a paint brush and put it to canvas. All my old insecurities about my artistic abilities flooded my mind. Several months passed before I got the nerve up to begin sketching. After discussing in further detail, with my sister, what she was looking for, we both agreed a mixed media style piece would be well suited...and, I figured that would take away some of my self imposed pressure to make it so perfectly! 1 year and a few months and this is what I finally settled with:

Even looking at it completed I notice things I wish I had done differently. But, I just don't think I could have done it any better. It is what it is and I must get it to my niece before she no longer needs/wants it :)
TOP

Bottom

I enjoyed the process of designing and painting it. However, through it all I think I found out that I much prefer drawing with pencils rather than painting. However, I found the entire process to be quite therapeutic. Maybe it would have been easier to do if I had a better understanding of Paris or an emotional tie to what I was creating. All in all I am pleased and I hope my niece is too.

June SU Club Projects

I had fun putting together my June SU Hostess club techniques and cards! Mostly I enjoyed learning something new and thinking outside of the box! :) Stampn' can get stale if you always do the same styles over and over so I'm attempting to freshen up my craft.

As I have shared before, I get tired of the same ole same ole card shape. Lately I have noticed the Easel Card Design floating around the Internet spheres. So, I decided to give it a shot. And, while I was at it I combined the easel card shape with one of my June technique cards. Also, SU has changed their color collections and to my excitement one of the colors was an "IN Color" a few years ago. And, I had tons of it left - "Pacific Point". I used that color in this card design.

Easel Cards stand up on their own so the recipient can view the front of the card and the inside sentiment at the same time. Here's a side view:


I've seen people use all kinds of embellishments inside the card to make it stand up...flowers, bling, punches etc... using a button seemed easy enough :) to get the idea across.

The front of the card highlights the "Chalkboard Pastel" Technique. Easy and fun to do. I like pulling out my rarely used chalks! Simply stamp your image (silhouettes works best but two-step stamp sets work well too!)on dark cs and apply pastel chalks on top.

Side by side...to get the dark rich colors (like the card on the left) stamp the image one at a time and apply chalks to the wet ink. To get a softer look stamp all the images, let them dry and then apply chalks. I used Q-tips to apply the chalks.


The second card I made for the June Hostess Club uses the "Black Magic Technique"! The interesting name of the technique caught my eye. It is similar to the above Pastel Chalk technique but this one uses watercolor pencils to color in the image.

Stamp your image on dark card stock. Let the ink dry. Then color over the white space with watercolor pencils. Press hard to get a vibrant look! Once done, highlight areas with your white signo gell pen. Cool, Huh?! :)


Thanks for visiting!

Watercolor with re-inkers, Card Part B

This post is the second post in a two part series about Re-inker Watercolor Roses Part B is all about the technique and how I arrived at the Part A monthly card swap card.

Almost a year ago, I came across a technique using re-inkers to watercolor the Stampn' UP Manhattan Flowers set. The technique created these beautiful, realistic roses! OMG, I filed it away knowing that one day I would have the perfect opportunity to play with the technique.

Manhattan Flower SU set & matching SU cuttlebug folder have both been amongst my top 5 favorite sets from SU! They are simply elegant and oh so versatile!

How to:
1.) Stamp image with White Craft Ink or Stayz-on White.
2.) Emboss with Clear embossing powder
3.) Spray image with lots of water. Make sure you have enough water that it pools on the image.
4.) Using re-inkers of your choice, dip Aqua brush into color then touch the pooled water...add as much color as you like.
5.) pick up piece and swirl around colors, tilt forward over papertowels to get off excess water.
6.) dry standing up. Cut out.


All Stacked up & waiting to dry...I found out that by drying the cards at a tilt would pool the water at the edges and once dry creating an interesting color affect.



Card One~ So elegant, almost wedding-ish. But, my goal was not to make a wedding card, but rather to highlight the roses in an elegant way. So, I tried a different layout (see card #2)



Card Two~ I liked this card so much I decided to tweak it and make it the card I would reproduce 11 times for my monthly card group.

Hello Kitty Cartridge, Card

I finally took some time to dust off my beloved Cricut and try out one of my recent cartridges- I've been a fan of Hello Kitty since I was a little girl. I was tickled that my parents gifted me this cartridge (along with Pagoda) for my Birthday!! I've had the HK font cart so the "salutations HK" is a welcomed addition to my collection.

Inside the "Salutations HK" is a bunch of HK shape CARDS! OMG! Yes, Hello Kitty CARDS!! Precious, adorable, cute cards!!

Here's my SECOND try at a card (2nd because it is my favorite- favorites go first, lol) :) Read below for what I learned in my first attempt with this cart & image..

Below is my very first try at the HK card...it is still cute, but I prefer the one above.

Both cards are cut 5-1/4 on my Expression. At first glance I thought the base card needed to black and fill in the face, hands, feet with white card stock but, it didn't work out quite like my minds eye pictured. In person, this card shows the outline of the body and the base, so it is cuter in person. I left the sleeve off for the picture so I could show the base on this card is a black base:

All in all, it requires a lot of cuts to finish the card. But, totally worth it for any Hello Kitty Fan!

Crochet, Baby Blanket

Well, well... I FINALLY got started on Baby Miller's baby blanket!



Months ago I picked out the sea foam mint yarn at my local Walmart with hopes of starting a baby blanket for my soon to be little one. It is likely that we still have 1+ years to go before we receive our adoption referral...but, in the mean time I have enjoyed making little things in anticipation.

Last fall my good friend, Mrs. Gladys began the arduous task of teaching me how to crochet. Since then I have crocheted 2 scarfs. I've honed my skills enough that my mentor feels confident I am ready to begin my baby blanket! OMG! I'm thrilled and nervous at the same time! I want it to be perfect!

I was a little rusty getting started but picked up crochet again. Possibly my knit,pearl class blocked my short term memory on the proper way to crochet! LOL. Anways, I'm at it again, sitting in front of the TV crocheting my little heart out! I plan on making the blanket much bigger than a baby blanket so that she/he can use it as he/she grows older and longer! :)

I will share the finished blanket when it is completed! Until then I am finding it to be a stress relief and mind settling to crochet! I'm gaining confidence that possibly there will be another one in my future ~ using a different pattern. This one is a "ripple design".

Thanks for visiting my blog! Have a blessed day!

Everyday Cricut, National Sbday Celebration

Hello Blogger friends! Happy National scrapbooking day! I hope you find yourselves in your crafty space playing with all your crafty goodies!

I HAVE to share with you a terrific web site that my wonderful sister introduced to me a couple of months ago. And, in honor of National Sb day they are giving away a Cricut Expression Machine. Check them out and put your name in the drawing for your chance to win:

http://www.cricutholiday.com/2010/05/our-gigantic-national-scrapbook-day.html

I've been following them for a few months now and am just amazed at the project ideas they share. I'm on their email distro list and every day I receive an email from them. I've come to look forward to getting their emails ~ it's one of the first I read every day, LOL. Anyways, because of them I have come to realize I am not using my cricut to its fullest.

Mostly I use my Cricut is for titles and die cut decorations on my SB LO's. Oh, there's so much MORE I want to do with it~ all from being inspired by cricutholiday.com Needless to say, if you have not yet put yourself on their email subscriber list, and you are a Cricut lover like me, you are missing out~

HAPPY NATIONAL SCRAPBOOKING DAY BLOGGER WORLD!

Embroidery

OMG, what an accomplishment!! Today I FINALLY completed the embroidery Monkey Onsey for Baby Miller! I'm so proud! I started it more than 6 months ago, got busy doing other things (cards, sb, knitting, etc.) and kinda forgot about it. But, today I set out to finish it- took me 3 hours today to put the finishing touches on it. I can't wait to see Baby Miller in it!

Tags, Tags and more tags...

I'm coming to a close on the 194 cards that I've been making for the last 2 years for my Mother. And, one of the final things left to do was make 24 tags to put on the bags. I didn't want to make them all the same, but I certainly did NOT want to make 24 individual tags so I made 6 each of 4 designs. The sorority colors are purple and yellow and the pearl is their stone.



up close and personal...

Middle of next week Mom is coming over to help me put them in their bags and assemble the bows. Hopefully I will remember to take a picture of them compeleted! I have had a lot of fun putting these all together but I am glad to have it off my plate :) On to the next project!!

April Card Swap

As soon as I heard the theme for the April card swap I got busy. I mean, the next day!! I knew immediately I wanted to use this rubber stamp which I purchased recently at the Rubber Stamp Show! The theme was to use a product called "glossy accents". If you are not familiar with glossy accents I'll just tell you that it can be used as a glue (to add heavy baubles to items) but mostly crafters use it to add glossy accents to otherwise flat items (like paper).

I am very familiar with glossy accents. In the past I made an altered puzzle piece to make an area look like water. And, it required ALOT of glossy accents!!! However, this time I used it to make the glass jars look like glass!



Again, I had to come up with a different card shape (cause I'm getting bored with the basic card shape design- there's only so much you can do to make a card shape different, but I'm trying them all out!)This one was easy to do. I just cut the red card stock to the average medium size envelope 5.75x 4.5 and trimmed off the front leaving 2 inches to overlap the Bazzil bling blue. At first attempt, I decided the front of the red cardstock needed a little help so I ran it through my BigShot for some texture and decoratively punched the edge.

Also, I'm getting tired of the same ole way to tie ribbon to a card. Looking for a different way to add it to this card I ended up making a bow that looks like it belongs on a present. I think it adds to the whimsy.

To complete these cards I spent lots of days and evenings practicing my water coloring technique and I feel like I have perfected my sytle! LOL...lots of fun!

Photo Shoot Mini Album

A month ago started the process of celebrating my 39th Birthday! Last night completed the process...but, let me start from the beginning.

Several months before my Birthday My husband asked me what I wanted for my Birthday this year. My last year in my 30's~ I told Matt I wanted to go to the MAC counter at Nordstroms and have my makeup done, have a shopping spree at their counter and then have pictures taken! Matt's first response was- "you have so much makeup, why in the world do you want to get more..." Yes, he is correct, but ALL these years of playing with makeup, purchasing makeup, researching makeup, I have NEVER had mine applied by anyone (other than Merle Norman and I don't count that because that was a J.O.B).

I recruited Connie to experience my Birthday present with me! We spent the morning having our makeup applied and made our purchases. THEN we met up with our friends Monica and Tricia who patiently took 300+ pictures of us! BEAUTIFUL pictures! AND< LOTS OF PICTURES!!

So many pictures I'm still not sure what to do with them all. The day was such a F>U>N time You KNOW I have to document it (in various ways). The first was to create a mini album! Using my new HP office jet 4-in-1 printer (LOL)I printed thumbnail versions of all the pictures, chose my favorites & went to scrapping. I don't even remember the last time I actually made a scrapbook page...with all the crocheting, embroidery, knitting, card making, cooking & painting- when do I have time to scrap?!

The album was a make-n-take at Archivers that I stood in line 3+ hours to do and just ran out of time waiting on my turn- I ended up just buying the pieces thinking one day I will make it on my own. At first I regretted doing that because When will I have time? But, now I'm glad I did! Cause, it made this album so much fun and easier than thinking of all the pieces on my own.

At first I sat down with the directions and started to follow along. Somewhere in there I decided that was too much effort and I just turned off the voices in my head, relaxed and just got my craft on! Here are the results:

Front Cover
For the most part this cover follows along with the directions that came with the project. But, instead of painting green acrylic paint, I chose pink, added the big flower and one of our pictures with a bling frame.

Pages 1-2
Instead of cutting the white ribbon I tied it around the front and back but used the bow around the back side and put the pin through the bulk of the bow. I've never used these pins and I'm not sure how I like that because I fear someone will injure themselves.

The rub-on's were Tra-Lynn's- she didn't want them anymore so I picked them up and used them through out the book. They worked out nicely!
Pages 3-4
The quote says "We are not famous but they talk about us like we are". Connie had heard this somewhere and we both thought it was funny. The Fourth page is a clear acetate sheet painted with the pink paint.

Pages 5-6
Page 5 is the back of that acetate sheet. And, Page 6 is grounge board (Tim Holtz). My first time using grunge board!

Pages 7-8
I've got nothing to add about these pages, except- BEAUTIFUL! Connie is very photo-genic!

Pages 9-10
URGH, My white signo pen skipped while outlining "Birthday Girl"Blinged out "Julia"- oh so appropriate!
Pages 11-12

Pages 13-14
Pretty...gotta say that I really like the idea of embossing parts of the card stock- the cs is the ones with the different color core- so, when you sand it the opposite color shows through. Generally I only use my cuttlebug embossing floders on cards, but I really like how they made the mini book look!

Last Page
These are out "outtakes". Hilariousness of these photos had to be used. And, the black page will contain journaling, once I get a new white pen that won't skip!

Back Cover


I admit I got ahead of myself posting this album- since it's really not finished. I need to write the journal and add ribbon to the metal ring binding. However, the rings are too big and I need to go to the office supply store to buy one size smaller. But, I felt like if I waited to that I may never get this album up on the blog. So, I new it was best to share it while I had the time to make a post.

Thank you to Matt, Connie, Monica & Tricia for a fabulous day that I will never forget!

Knit, Pearl, Knit, Pearl...

Kit, pearl & repeat... At least five years ago my Grand Mother OMA taught me how to knit stitch. Since then I have made countless scarfs by simply using ONE stitch- the knit stitch!! Sounds like it may be to rudimentary but I found that simple stitch a way to turn off my brain& relax!

One lazy Saturday afternoon, Connie and I found ourselves exploring old downtown Lawrenceville. We came across quite a few unique stores. One of which was a Knitting store named "Yarn Garden Knit Shop". Because of my Kniting & Crochet experience I was dying to go inside. The colors of yarn looked like a candy store!

Connie and I were both inspired by the completed pieces hanging on the walls and the friendliness of the staff! We were encouraged to look at the class schedule! Finally, I had my chance to learn, from seasoned pros, the final stitch required to make more interesting pieces- the "pearl" stitch.

We signed up a week later to take the beginner class. Connie learned the knit stitch and I learned my missing piece to the puzzle...here is the scarf (still in process) that we are putting together from the class.


I adore knitting and crochet! The ladies at the shop said that to knit all you need to know are two stitches. Now that I know them both the sky is the limit! LOL, well...I still need a lot of practicing pearling but, I have high hopes!