I'm no fool.

This man--my husband, Chris--is a wonderful man. I've said it a thousand times and I'll say it over and over again...he's a saint to have married me. On days like these, I need to go public and just say that up front. :)

See, I spent the better portion of the last 4 days setting up my April Fool's Prank for him. He's turning 40 in a few weeks, and is completely paranoid about a surprise party. Of course, I couldn't let that go to waste--oh no way...

I took the liberty of creating 38 different mock Surprise 40th Birthday invitations just for him. Each one includes an embarrassing photo of him and hilarious details about an outrageous blowout in his honor--and I have arranged for him to get them throughout the whole day. One by one, he'll open them and read all about another possible party thrown in his honor. Is it made up--or is it real??? It will drive him insane. The perfect way to start off the celebration of his birthday month, right??

Why 38 invitations? I numbered them all, and told him there were 40 and I thought it would drive him over the edge, looking for the two that are "lost."

And you know what? One of the invitations is actually real. He has no idea.

And I can't stop laughing. I've giggled more about this in the last week than you can imagine. I've enlisted the ideas and help from friends and family, our kids and our parents--you name it. It will go down in our history as the best prank I've ever pulled off. Feather in my cap today--thank you very much.

It should be noted, this is divine payback. I turned 40 last year, and I had my turn. I think this feels so good because I normally stink at this kinda thing and this time...this ONE TIME...I am going to bask in the glory of pulling something off.

Thanks for letting me spill it here. And honey, if you read this, you can stop looking for the other 2 now. I love you to pieces...
Happy April Fool's Day everyone!!!

my creative space

My Scrapbook room is not the kind you see in magazines. You won't find any beautifully painted drywall or natural sunlight in my space. What you will find is lots and lots of inexpensive storage and a room that is very functional for my needs.

My scrap space is in the corner of my basement and is otherwise know as the "Laundry Room". It's actually not so bad when you think about it. "Honey, I have to go down and do some more laundry." Sneak. Sneak!

I recently added a new desk. It was my Grandmother's desk at the Auto Club where she worked for over 19 years. The desk is maple and laminate, over 7 feet long and very retro cool.

This is actually the entry to my room. I made a little "craft" area for my boys since they are always down there with me. They love to paint and color while I work. Their latest thing is to have me cut things on my Cricut for them.

This little tiered shelf was for displaying magnets. I use it for all my journaling cards.

I am never afraid to take things out of trash dumpsters. This little display was found in a discard pile at a hospital gift shop. I plan on hanging little bags of embellishments from it when the hubby finally hangs it for me.

My basket of embroidery thread. I love things in ROYGBIV order.

My bank from 7th Grade. Makes me happy.

My sewing table. I love my machine. Love it.

Metal boards from IKEA. Cheap!

Old pop bottle case. Makes great storage for paint bottles.

Old wood display case. I put things I want to use and not forget about.

Lazy susan/Desk Organizers. Must haves for me. I like to have my tools handy.

I rescued this spinner from the GNC trash. It used to hold Mens' Health and Bodybuilding Magazines. Now it holds my scrappy mags. The smaller rack is new/old and empty for now. It was an old stand for flat packaged gift wrap.

My typewriter from 1920. It rocks.

Storage bins hold stickers, chipboard and rubons. My poor over-filled ClipItUp sits on top with my Curvy Cutter and glass mat. The entire bottom of my ClipItUp is filled with Thickers. Can you say addiction? I think I'll need a second one soon.

The divider wall/shelf that holds my Cricut (which needs to be used a lot more!) Baskets hold punches for easy access.

This cart holds all my tools and adhesive.

I put all my loose ribbons on Large safety pins sorted by color. A have a few extra pins for KI ribbons and Creative Cafe felt ribbons. The safety pins hang onto 3m clips mounted on the wall. When I crop I simply put the safety pins on a ring and they are ready to go.

A second storage tower that holds my stamping supplies.

Cool old mini file cabinet that holds my vintage stuff and charms.

Wooden cassette tape holder is perfect for my ink pads.

Plastic storage containers for brads and frequently used products like buttons and brads. Great for packing and going.

Sideways pen storage. I like these little drawers too but it is easy to forget what they have inside.

Old metal kitchen cabinet from my hubby's Grandmother's house. The entire family thought I was wacked when I asked for that from her estate.

The bottom is great for storage. The top has glass doors. I keep all my mini albums and things to be altered there so I can see them and not forget what I already have. The counter holds more of my punches and extra trimmers.

Pattern paper and cardstock storage. Ahh...

The little mouse who won't stay out of my space.

Some day it will have drywall, more lighting and maybe even some pergo flooring...but for now it works for me!

Laina

PS: For those of you who are local and visit me at Archiver's...please read this.

Playing a little catch up...

Had a wonderful, full weekend. Spent Saturday with 15 awesome scrappers up at the clubhouse, scrapping into the night. Thanks to all the ladies for coming--I hope you enjoyed the day as well...I finished up my last session for the Garlands and Banners class over at Get it Scrapped. I will be doing another class in a short while called, "Circle of Moms" in time for Mother's Day. I have had a great response from the ladies over there, so I will consider doing another banner class in the future. Thanks for the feedback--I love hearing it!! The Spring Garland and Banners class is still open if you would like to join us. The message board gals are still playing, so there is plenty of time to hop on and play with us...
I updated the WIP Etsy...
I made these out of paper medicine cups and crepe paper streamers. I simply gathered the crepe paper using a running stitch and glued them to the outside of the med cups. I twisted the crepe paper (two strands) to form the handle and hot glued those on too. Cute little Easter baskets that I will soon fill...
And I had to pass along this cute idea. Mary Ann made the most adorable Easter bucket using vinyl (purchased at Lowe's in the wallpaper section dirt cheap) and die cuts. She used the Cricut for the basket and eggs, and a border die for the grass. It turned out great, and I had to share.
Enjoy your Monday!!

Wheat Grass

I got quite a few emails about the wheat grass reminder last week. Just wanted to clear a few things up...

I plant the seed in regular potting soil--nothing special. Peet alone tends to dry out too quickly. I put the soil into lined wooden baskets, found at a local nursery. I'm sure you could make a liner using a large ziploc bag. Just be sure it has drainage. When I plant the seed, I moisten the soil first and place the seeds on top of the soil, and then spray it all with a water bottle that I keep handy. Place the baskets in a well-lit area and keep the seeds moist, and in as little as 4 days, your baskets will look like this.

I don't over-fill the baskets with soil because of weight and because when the grass grows, it will look full and pretty if you don't see the bottom of the grass blades.

Large, flat baskets work best for this project. But I also use oblong ones too. This year I planted 4 baskets with the good stuff.

Wheat grass can be found at health food stores and nurseries. Once it is fully grown, you can put it in a juicer and freeze the juice. I understand it has amazing health benefits.

I hope that clears up some of the confusion!! And for those of you who have had trouble finding the seed, please email me--I have leftovers and might be able to help you out!!

And not that mine will look anything like hers...here is Martha's version of her wheat grass display.

Enjoy your weekend!!

What Are You? An Inny Or An Outy?

I tend to be a combination inny/outy. It’s good to have some of my stash out, but I also like having quite a bit of it hid away. I can’t have the clutter of everything out as that would make for sensory overload. But…if I have too much hidden away, well, like the rest of us - I will forget I even own it and not use it. Well, that still happens, but let’s move on for now, shall we?
Today let’s chat about what is workin’ for me right now, as tomorrow it might change.

Journal Tag DisplayI love journaling spots – not only for my layouts, but they make great mini books too, as well as wonderful homes for favorite quotes I want to remember. Using a photo holder is one of my favorite ways to display many of them. They are up, and out, and looking good enough to use up.

Go To Supplies. Scissors, rulers, sanding blocks, adhesives – a few of my must-have-no-matter-what-I-am-working-on supplies. Use to have these supplies in a larger wooden swivel holder. That was just not working for me. Mainly it was too big. Now all those gadgets are in a canvas holder. It’s smaller, and very mobile while still holding my immediate necessities.


Stored Embellishments.

This newly acquired desk top drawer is now home to my stored embellies. The stored embellishments are the ones not always used, but still needing a good home. I cut off the lids to a couple of simple craft supply boxes, and now I can see everything I have all at once. Now if you’re looking for my buttons, flowers and those things, they have their own post here from last month. These containers hold mostly everything else.



Stamps.

O.K…I need another stamp set like I need a hole in the head, but it’s true I use some stamps more than others. The stored stamps, sets not used as often, are stored in a couple of desk drawers like the one above.

But others find themselves in various and sundry places in and around the studio. One of my favorite places is this black iron basket. It sits very prettily on a wall shelf.

This wood box holds alot of the stamps I use often. I keep it close at hand.


As well as this little tin bucket. For some reason, I know which stamps are where. I’m sure I could hone this down a bit, but for now it works for me. And organization is just that: what works best for YOU.

Would love to hear from you now…

Random Thursday Tidbits.

I picked up these rubber whisks at the Dollar Spot and used them as invitations for an upcoming Mom/Daughter cookie decorating party. None of them will be put in the mail--they're for a few local and some neighborhood friends. Loving that new EK Success Apron Strings border punch too btw...
Here is my first photo for my class, Scraproom with a View with Doris Sander. You may recognize Doris from her DT work for American Crafts or Jenni Bowlin Studios. This would be a picture of my cupboards--without me arranging it for a photo op. Fun class!!

For those of you who love matching your cardstock with your paper, be sure to check this site out. It is set up by Bazzill Basics Paper, and will give you the best color selections, based on the patterned paper company you're working with at the time. Pretty cool!! (Thanks, Andi!)

There are 4 openings for the crop here at the Waterbury Community Center this Saturday if you're looking to squeeze some scrappy time in before the weather breaks. Looking forward to spending my second Saturday this month with a great group of gals!! Don't let my hubs know it's "work."

I recently took advantage of this awesome offer that was passed on to me from a friend. I ordered a big canvas (20x30 for $24.99) for my entry, and the offer includes free shipping as well. The coupon code is CANVAS2499 and it expires 3/30/09. Gotta love a great deal...

Later, gators...

Make n Take Time!

Hi everyone! Colleen checkin in!

It's been a while since I've done a make n take, so I thought I'd share a little sneaky of the April kit creations I've been working on over here.
Wanna make a little notebook like this one? This thing is so handy to have in my purse.

Well here's how...first let's start with the supply list. Here's what you'll need:
1 elastic hairband (a fairly large one)
1 bamboo skewer
white printer paper
patterned paper from your April kit
Pink Paislee Fascinating Stickers from the April kit
a cropadile or hole punch
paper trimmer

Using your paper trimmer, cut down your white printer paper, and patterned paper to your desired size. I'm doing about 5x8 with mine, but you can make it as large or as small as you like. I also used two different kinds of patterned paper, one for the front and one for the back, but you can use the same sheet if you would like the front and back of your notebook to match.
Next, you want to take your cropadile or holepunch and punch holes in your papers. I like the cropadile for this because you can do all of your holes at once, ensuring that they all line up. That mamma jamma can cut through steel if you want it to.

Ok, now that you have your holes cut, this next step gets a little tricky...Take the rubber band and stretch that sucker out as much as you can to make it easier to work with. Otherwise, you are going to fight this thing while you do the next part. Take one end and thread it through the hole, and then repeat with the other endThen cut your bamboo skewer down to size and stick it in each loop. You might need to get creative with this thing, depending on how elastic your band is, and anchor one loop with the bamboo skewer while you thread the other. Just be patient...you'll get it.

Then take a label from the Pink Paislee Fascinating sticker book and adhere it to the cover, and then spell out 'notes' with the alphas that are included in the book. I just love these stickers.Now hold that sucker up and admire your handy work! Great job!!!