Father's Day Mini

Every year, I try and whip something up for my husband for Father's Day, celebrating the former year. This year, I used the May Project Kit...

I wanted the album to be fun and sentimental and chunky. I wanted each page to be different from the next, and to stick with the red, black and chipboard elements...

I used a few punches, die cuts and a little ink. There is also a mix of corrugated board and transparencies thrown in for good measure...

This year, I also had each of our three children contribute to the book by writing their own notes to him. I love how that worked.

It flowed and came together in a few hours. I still want to add a ton more journaling to it, but basically it is complete.

I added a "What he calls us" page--he's big on nicknames. I'm also going to include a little "interview" I did with the kids. Their response was hilarious, and he'll appreciate that.

I know it is early, but it will be here before you know it. I hope you get the chance to make one for your Dad or husband--especially if you have a sentimental guy like mine.

BTW, if you're interested, I was able to whip up ONE more of these kits. You can email me at Turay413@gmail.com if you'd like me to send you a Paypal invoice. The kit is $25.

For a look at two older Father's Day albums of mine, you can look here and here.

Enjoy your day!!

Interchangeable Bottlecap Necklaces

You know I love a cute, affordable craft, so when my daughter and niece loaded up on these adorable necklaces this past weekend at a Relay for Life event, I had to share...

The stretchy necklace base is a colorful headband (sold at Relay for a buck--but found at Walmart in a pack of 12 in every color of the rainbow) and a wingnut that is looped through the headband (it will act as the base of the necklace and the weight will also serve as an anchor.) Next, bottle caps with fun cut outs and trinkets that are filled with epoxy or UTEE (Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel) and heated to harden for the glazed finish. A magnet is glued to the back of the bottlecap, making it adhere to the wingnut that is looped through the headband. When you wear another outfit or want to make another statement, simply interchange them!! So cute--we had to have tons...

Young girls were making and buying these up as quickly as they could--SO FUN!!

This will be the first craft project we tackle once school lets out this week...

Be sure to check out our June Gallery (just click on the page link above!) to see what our fab designers have created with the kit this month!! And there will be even more to come...stay tuned!!

Happy Tuesday!!

Graduation Book Recommendations

I attended my niece's graduation from high school this week. She attended my alma mater (my two sisters and I all attended there), and she finished with high honors. Sitting in the audience, I got very teary eyed. Twenty five years ago, I sat on that same stage and knew then that it was the last time our class would all be together. Such fond, vivid memories came flooding back. I need to scrap them this week--I'm going to make a commitment to do just that...

I know I am not alone this graduation season. Whether it is your son or daughter, or a close family friend or family member, I wanted to share a few of the books that I'm using as gifts this season (and it makes me feel better about just handing them a check...)

Feel free to add any you would like to share... (These can all be found at Amazon or any local book store!)...

I got this one for my niece. I love it so much that I'm going to make it into a mini book!! So inspirational and filled with joy...

...just like my niece Cassidy. Love you, sweets. I couldn't be any prouder of you if I tried!!

Summer Is Here...

Summer has arrived as far as I'm concerned. This past Monday we experienced a record high of 94 degrees for May 24, beating the last record by seven degrees.

Summer has arrived because yesterday I walked by my kitchen counter and saw this little pile of vegetable that my mother had prepared for supper.  I was captured by their bright and vivid colors.  Don't they look good? 

Just a day or so ago, they were still in my garden, growing... Now they are ready for the wok!  Only in the summer, do we get such garden fresh vegetables that my family grows...  I can't wait for more! 

And who can resist this amazingly delicious and all-around healthy vegetable: baby bok choy? :) Can somebody say "namesake?" :)

Mineral Oil

This POTD was one of my projects from last week. Let me sing the praises of mineral oil!! This teak wood bench was a gift from my mom years ago, and while I love how it has weathered with time, I don't like that faded look (even from teak). So with a dry cloth, I gave it a good rubbing of mineral oil, and it looks new!! Careful to let it dry at least 24 hours--and be sure to wipe it with a dry cloth the next day to be sure there is no leftover residue, and enjoy!!

How are you all doing with your Project Life/Project 365/POTD's?? We're almost half way through the year...can you believe???

Need a lift?

Recently I read the book LIFT by Kelly Corrigan and I cannot tell you how much this book “lifted” me. It’s a short book one you could probably read in an hour, but in that hour I promise your thought process will change.

The book had me both laughing and crying and everything in-between. It also had me wanting to journal more about my childhood and my children’s childhood. Journaling about the person I was then. It makes me want to more than scrapbook, but journal all those little details!
The book is actually a letter to her daughters and this excerpt from the book really spoke to me:


I heard once that the average person barely knows ten stories from childhood and those are based more on photographs and retellings than memory. So even with all the videos we take, the two boxes of snapshots under my desk, and the 1,276 photos in folders on the computer, you'll be lucky to end up with a dozen stories. You won't remember how it started with us, the things that I know about you that you don't even know about yourselves. We won't come back here.


You'll remember middle school and high school, but you'll have changed by then. You changing will make me change. That means you won't ever know me as I am right now - the mother I am tonight and tomorrow, the mother I've been for the last eight years, every bath and book and birthday party, gone. It won't hit you that you're missing this chapter of our story until you see me push your child on a swing or untangle his jump rope or wave a bee away from his head and think, is this what she was like with me?

Happy Tuesday!

Hello there! Happy Tuesday - I have a couple things to share today!

First, if you have an iphone I have an awesome app to share with you today.  If you haven't already seen it - it is amazing and so fun!  It is the Hipstamatic app.  It is a camera app that you can change the film, flash, lens, etc.  It is fun!  And really it is hard to take a bad pic with it.  Shimelle does a fabulous job at explaining what this app is all about.

  Here are a couple of photos that I uploaded a couple days ago.

hehe - I normally wouldn't post this many photos of me - but as you can see it is fun to play with and my only subject sometimes is me:)  I printed one of these out and it looks great! 

ok - here is the second share I have for you today.  I have some sneaks of the June kit.  It is BEAUTIFUL and one of my favorite so far.  Seriously love the colors and  I have not been able to stop creating with it!

So here are the sneaks...

That's all I have for now.  Have a wonderful day!

Celebrate

Memorial Day is just a week away. Sigh…summer is in sight. For many it’s a day off of work, time with friends and family, and maybe even a weekend camping trip. But I want to remember its original intent, and that is to memorialize those who have fallen for the sake of our country. We have family members who served and gave their all. As well as many involved in the military that went on to live productive lives, yet are no longer with us. It’s a day to remember those and cherish the memories they give to us.

A few ideas for celebrating the day::

Send a card to someone in the military
Fly the U.S. flag
Bbq with friends and family
Try a new summer food or drink recipe
Tell a story of a loved one for your family album
Lay flowers or a wreath on the grave of a veteran
Be thankful for your freedoms
And most importantly, thank a veteran.

These would be fun items to go with whatever festivities you may plan::

paper straws::etsy

crochet coasters::etsy

burlap banner::etsy (love this)

However you celebrate Memorial Day, may it be joyous!

Costco, you're killin' me...

If you have a Costco near you and you're not a member, you should join. Not only is the photo processing the best around...you can find unbelievably yummy snacks on a Saturday while walking the miles of aisles looking for your husband. Once in a while, I get a winner. (Snack, not husband. You know what I mean.) This week, I got three. Go grab some. I'll wait.

Project Girl

Jennifer Allyson (aka the Project Girl) did this amazing lift of the paper dress garland, and I'm in awe. She rocks. And she turned it into digi cutting files, too. How awesome is that? Check out all the details here.

Oh my. The possibilities...