Late to the Game...

I started making felt food for my niece about a month or so before her birthday. I know this is not a new concept and that I'm kinda jumping the shark on this, but I had to share... Being late to the game also means that there are tons (and I do mean tons) of free templates for felt food out there. Just google those words and see what I mean...

I selected the easiest patterns, and ones that I knew I could do with simple sewing. I love how they turned out! I love that it was so affordable. And I love that her auntie made them for her...

And if you'd like to try your hand, check out this site for the best and the most creative links to felt food. Prepare to be amazed, my friends!! Some of these gems look good enough to eat!!

Enjoy your Monday...

Inspired by Color

It's Springtime & I am always fascinated by fun, pretty bright colors. This season is the time of year I get a full dose of inspiration when it comes to decorating my home or even redoing a room. I wanted to share some colorific images from my ever growing obsession, Pinerest account, where I am always finding inspiration.

stitched jewelry

sunshine framed

chevron change purse

the orange door

colorful faucet knobs

organized color

rainbow of spools:LOVE!

design sponge: make it yours

modern stripe bottle vase

coral + vintage green

Can you tell what my all time favorite color is? hehehe Yes, I love love LOVE Turquoise; especially paired with yellows, oranges & reds...oh & gray's, too. It's such a vibrant & beautiful color. There is plenty of it hanging around in our my home, that's for sure.

Well, it's Spring break for my kiddos...10 long heavenly days of doing things other than the norm. I'm hoping to embrace it as much as possible! So, I hope you have a wonderful weekend & enjoy all the beauty & color surrounding you :)

Cheers!

May 2011 Work in Progress Kits

May Main WIP Kit--$30 SOLD OUT

Contents of this kit include: 10 Patterned Papers (4 Basic Grey Life of the Party and 6 Pink Paislee Hometown), Pink Paislee Hometown layered chipboard stickers, Pink Paislee Hometown Alphas, Pink Paislee Hometown Die Cut Pack, Basic Grey fabric covered brads, 8 shipping tags, and 1 yard yellow polka dot ribbon.

Close up of the kit:

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May Mother's Day Kit--"We Are Our Mother's Daughters"--$30 SOLD OUT

Contents of this kit include: 5 Patterned Papers (1 Girl's Paperie, 1 7Gypsies, and 3 Kaisercraft), 1 kraft cardstock sheets, 3 ivory printable sheets, 6 Kaisercraft Mother's Day tags, 3 shipping tags, 8 Kaisercraft Kraft tags, one pack of pearl gems from Queen and Co., 16" ivory lace, 15" 7Gypsies tape, 6 brown brads, two altered kraft tags, Kaisercraft chipboard pieces, 2 long-armed brads, 1 binding mechanism, one ribbon charm, and one book to alter.

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May 7Gypsies Drawer Kit--$32 SOLD OUT

Contents of this kit include: 7Gypsies wooden drawer, 8 Camden 8x8 papers, 1 Girls Paperie 12x12 paper, 1 kraft cardstock paper, 1 Bingo vintage sheet, set of 7Gypsies number tags, 1 7Gypsies apothecary sticker sheet, Camden mini tickets (set of 7), vintage sticker sheets (2), 2 binder clips, Girls Paperie pennant flags (6), 2 SOLD vintage tags, 2 vintage ribbons, 1 4" doily, 6" vintage lace, various stamped tags, shipping tags and enough to create at least 64 altered tags, 44 mini posters, 2 yards red twine and 1 yard red and white twine.

*There is a wait list for the Main and the 7Gypsies Drawer kits, so if you would like to put your name on it, please email Trish at Turay413@gmail.com. Thanks so much!

Altered Drawer

This would be the second Project Kit for May's Work in Progress Kits. I had loads of creative fun with this one...
I have been a fan of 7Gypsies for years. I can't tell you how much product of theirs I own--I've hoarded it a long time. When I saw this drawer, I knew I'd make it my own...

I painted it and destressed it. Twice. Then I added some of the delish Girl's Paperie paper, and added about 80+ tags...

Lots of tags with mini pictures that are favorites of ours. Also several mini poster photos that are included in the kit. Here is a sampling of the tags I finished...

Isn't it fun? Filled to the gills, this one. I hope you like. I can't stop playing with it. Now that I've photographed it for the blog and newsletter, I am looking to jack it up even more with pieces/parts that I've been hoarding. I have the perfect spot for it on my sofa table, too.

Back later today with photos of all the May kits. Until then, enjoy your day!

inspired by...

I hear some of you have not even broke open your April WIP kit as of yet…and here May is on it’s way. Hope that is not cause for you to pass May up…you wouldn’t want to do that. A beautiful kit and well worth adding to your creative collection. So while I was pondering this thought I came up with a couple of ideas on how to go about getting your kit open and used.

PRINT/DEVELOP

    I happen to be doing Project Life which causes me to weekly organize and print photos for my weekly pages. Because of this approach I see stories better. And when I see those stories through my weekly photos, I go ahead and print the pictures, even if I am not sure yet how I am going to go about it on a layout. This leave me with a constant source of photos ready to go whenever I have a creative moment or two.


LIFT

Admit it, we all probably spend more time blog hopping than we actually do putting our own projects together. So when you see a layout you love, lift it! I know this is an obvious tip, but it’s well worth repeating. That’s why those bloggers put their projects out there. Well, O.K…they actually post in hopes of a streaming litany of affirmation. But aside from that, they don’t mind you casing their work. Just be sure to give credit if you post yours somewhere. I realize nothing is original. But if something inspired you, let others know where your inspiration came from. Above is as inspired by my friend Alexandra.

CARDS

Is this as obvious as I think? Isn’t card making what got us hooked in this hobby in the first place? Well, for me it was. After you have a couple of larger layouts done, use what’s left for cards and gifts. Tags and bookmarks. Again, I have my own example for you as inspired by Debee. Layer up those cards and tags for others to appreciate and enjoy. I am a big card of fans, so this one is easy.

Don’t be discouraged if you have a kit or two not opened. Sometimes the creative mojo is just not available.  Sometimes there are not photos printed and ready on a whim. Sometimes one may need an inspiration or two to get the creativity going.

But whatever you do, enjoy the process.

We Are Our Mother's Daughters

I've been eager to share this with you. So very excited about sharing it and hopefully--you will be inspired as well... You know I love a good mini book. And I also love celebrating Moms, Motherhood, and of course, my own mother (you can view my "She" album here.) This project was inspired when I was looking around and accidentally came across this book. The title resonated with me.

I went home without purchasing it, and even spoke with Tina about it. I ended up going back, buying them out, and turning one of them into this...

We are our mother's daughters, are we not? The concept of this book is just that. How are you like or unlike your mother? Do you catch yourself saying and doing things your mother used to say and do? What lessons did she teach you? Do you share personality traits? Bad habits? Physical similarities? What are your favorite memories as her daughter? You get the idea. Are your wheels turning?

So I made up a questionnaire. I emailed it to a few friends, and asked them to examine those things. I also asked that they return the email to me along with a photo of them with their mother. Now, the email I sent was simply a guideline--a spring board for inspiration. Many of them responded, and each and every one were different. I love that. What I really loved was the photos they selected. Some chose baby pictures. Others elected to use teenaged photos and wedding pics...

Each and every one of them was beautiful. I mean, truly--a work of the heart. And the fact that they not only shared their memories with me, but did so without hesitation, speaks volumes to me. They really honored their mothers...

Because of the sensitivity of this book, I elected to hide the journaling. Sometimes by making a book interactive, it adds to the personality of it. And given that these personal memories were just that--I wanted their privacy to be respected...

(BTW--that above photo is the one and only, Laina Lamb, with her amazing mother, Kathy. Love them. Isn't that the most adorable photo?)

Now, just because I elected to use this book in this manner--don't go thinking you have to enlist the help of others to complete yours. You could easily examine you and your own personal relationship with your mother--the good, the bad and the ugly--and include a lifetime of photographs of just you two. Don't limit your thinking...

And the best part? This is one of the May Project kits. Subscribers will receive their emails later on today. Yippee!!

I hope you have a wonderful day.

another mini

I don't know what it is? I don't pick up an envelope and think card, I pick up an envelope and think mini book...

I have been so inspired by all the fun Easter things I have found on Pinterest, that I decided to capture some of them in a mini.

I plan to make some of the goodies myself and add them to the tags and other inside pages

I was going to fold the envelopes, but decided to cut them and bind with bind it all instead. With each side being large enough to

fit a tag for more pictures and journaling.

Work in Progress.

Yep. That's me.

(I'll get to the picture in a minute.)

When I started this kit club 4+ years ago, I knew right away what I'd call it, simply because that is me. I am good at some things, fair at others, and a failure at a bunch, too. But I try. I put stuff out there. And I'm always evolving. I hope I'm not alone in this, right?

My family. My life. My work. My attitude. My home. I am. You are. We all are...works in progress.

The other day, my dear friend Val phoned me up to just say the sweetest thing--to touch base with me--and to tell me that she admired me because I have it "together." She had seen something on the blog, and we had been talking about decorating our houses the week before, exchanging ideas and such--and she simply wanted to take the time out to just be a friend and say that to me. Then we had the best laugh. Because we both know I am NOT that person. Not in the LEAST. So I am here to come clean, in case you thought differently.

I am often asked how I find the time to do such creative things. I always have the same answer, and that is, "It's my JOB." If you had that kind of commitment, you would, too! I am blessed in that I do not require a lot of sleep. But--make no mistake--I have also paid the price for that as well. I forget words mid-sentence. Ask any one who spends time with me--they will tell you the truth. I am not a great cook--but I do enjoy baking. Hence my username on some message boards, "cookielover." (No, I had no idea that meant anything else when I selected that as a username. No, I'm not hip or cool enough to even understand that kinda urban dictionary stuff. Yes, I still think being that naive is funny, and it is who I am, so I've never changed it. And I love that it has been an inside joke with my girlfriends, too.)

I need a hair cut. Badly. Add to that at least a bottle of color and some highlights, please. I am chubby. I love manicures and pedicures, but would pass up a free massage in a heartbeat. I'm not trendy or hip or stylish with clothing, and it doesn't really bother me. I prefer to spend my $$ on my family, the house, or scrappy stuff--that makes me happy. My scrap room is a mess, and I am constantly struggling to keep up with emails and phone calls daily. Please do not for a moment think I have my act together...

You hopefully know where I'm coming from, right?

This weekend, I hosted a crop at our home. I made "White Trash" for a treat, and thought to use blue chocolate, since I had the pastel colored M&M's for Easter. As I'm stirring it, I start to realize how nasty it looks. My honest husband comes over and agrees, and we start to laugh. He thinks it looks like mold, and urges me not to use it. Well--wasting perfectly good snacks covered in chocolate was not an option in my head! I was certain my scrappy girlfriends would understand...

Not only did they understand, they ate it.

And they also pranked poor Stacey who arrived a bit late and missed the story, telling her she shouldn't eat it because it was covered in mold, as they laughed at her expense. Turns out, they're works in progress, too...goofballs...

I've often thought about this hobby and how it has brought so many wonderful relationships into my life. It has also made me reflect and appreciate who I am, and for whom I care. This bond and understanding is shared by others instantly, simply because of scrapbooking. For this, I am incredibly grateful...

Thank you for reading this blog. Whether it is your first time, or your 1,167th, thank you. Thank you for taking me for who I am--good and bad and simply, as-is. Thank you for sharing your thoughts, leaving comments, laughing with me. Thank you for being my girlfriend--whether it is online or in-person--you have meant the world to me. I don't tell you all that nearly enough, either.

Enjoy your Monday...

Details, Details--A Look at the Jenni Bowlin Flag Banner Stickers

If you were lucky enough to snag the April WIP kit, then you have this sheet of lovelies in your stash:

I love going through the WIP Gallery to see how the design team members used a particular product, and I'm always having that "why didn't I think of that?" reaction. So many clever ways to use these little banner flags, so I thought it would be fun to take a look at all the different ways we used these stickers this month.

I love how Cindy tucked the flags behind that pink paper, overlapping and staggering them. Such a cool little detail and a perfect way to incorporate the date and location into her design!

And how cute and clever is Cindy's idea to use the banner flags for part of her title, hanging those flags from the little tree! They are the perfect size for holding those Echo Park letter stickers that came in the kit.

Love how Jamie clustered the journaling card, sticker, and banner flag to tell her story (and how clever was she to use the notebook punch on that journaling card?). And that little flag in the bottom corner was just the perfect little detail to balance the blue paper, which without that sweet, perfect detail, the page might have felt heavy. Brilliant, Jamie!

I also used the flags to hold the date of my mom's birthday and added buttons tied on with baker's twine. The banner flags were perfect to add a festive birthday touch.

On this page, I used the flags to hold my title by turning them on their side and attaching them to stick pins. I added pop dots under them. 

Here's a close-up:

Just a couple of these little banner flags adds a lot of impact, and with 32 on a sheet, you can use them on many, many pages, so I love having lots of ideas for using them in different ways . Please share your ideas for how you've used these banner flags--and I'd love to see your projects if you've got them posted somewhere, so do share links!