5 Years.

Five years ago, I sold my first WIP Kit.  FIVE YEARS.  To every person who has read this blog, bought a kit, left a comment, stalked or lurked, THANK YOU--from the bottom of my heart.  I am truly humbled.

Going to do a few fun give aways today.  Leave a comment and/or email address, and you could be a lucky winner!  Fun kits will be involved, I promise.  :)

Valentine Giftables

Today's post will show how you can use the adorable white plain "french fry" container from the February Project kit, items from the February Main kit, some non-traditional scrapbook products, hot glue, your stash of ribbons, and some other items possibly laying around your work table, and create a couple of festive and out of the ordinary Valentine containers for your Valentine.

While the box was still flat the Grey Flourish pattern paper from Echo Park was adhered to the container.
The Martha Stewart chipboard doily was then hot glued to the paper. Hot glue is my very best friend these days. It will guarantee the chipboard stays secure.
Then a piece of the Winter Wonder by Bella Blvd was punched and layered with a piece from the snowflake garland, and a heart punched from the Grey Flourish chevron side.
On top of that was added a phrase sticker from the Jillibean Soup cardstock stickers.
Using a corsage pin and another of the cardstock phrase stickers a little flag was created and tucked in between the other embellishments.
With seam binding, ribbon, yard and tulle a little junque bow was added to the top to add texture and appeal to the whole gift.

Could not resist going non-traditional with that fabulous chevron pattern from Bella Blvd.
As before, the paper was adhered to the flat french fry box.
Book paper was punched in a scalloped square shape and used to anchor all the rest of the embellishments.
A heart was die cut from the other side of the Bella Blvd Winter Wonder Icy pattern paper.
To tone down the vivid stripe, vellum was also die cut and layered on top of the heart.
A small heart punch was used on more of the chevron pattern, and the same as the grey box, a pearl top pin with more of the Jillibean Soup cardstock phrase sticker was used to make a little flag.
Using dimensional tape, the smaller heart was popped on top of the larger heart.
The flag was tucked behind the heart.
In addition, paper shreds were tucked in behind to add a festive feel to the yellow chevron Valentine gift.
The "you melt my heart" cardstock sticker from the Bella Blvd Winter Wonder collection topped the whole project with the perfect sentiment.
A junque bow was constructed from book paper, seam binding, tulle, gold trim and paper shreds and added to the top.

enjoy!

Valentine Box Garland

TGIF!! Today, I'm sharing a Valentine Box Garland that I made last year. This year, we're actually using it. What a concept!

Fourteen boxes, representing the first 14 days in February.  In each box, I put something sweet or thoughtful inside for each child.  Not easy with the tiny boxes.  But it works!

The key to stringing them up is to string only the backside of each box.  The lids have to fit securely so they don't open.  Two I had to tape shut, because they kept spilling open.  The kids love it.

You may recognize a few of the other banners from past Valentine's kits or projects.  This year, I made the ribbon/rag garland and added it to the mix.  Worked perfectly for a photo shoot backdrop for a newborn baby girl a few days ago.

Enjoy your weekend!

Project Life--Weeks 4 & 5

As promised, here are weeks 4 & 5...

Week 4. 

In week 4, I used Design F and Design D page protectors.  Lots of pictures this week.  I'm a collage geek, so you will see that on my version of Project Life.  This week's subject was "Winter Days."  What does that consist of here in Ohio?  Slippers, flannel pj's, sledding, shoveling, snuggling, candles and scrapping with girlfriends.  I used Instagram and PicFrame apps for photos mostly.  Notice I sliced a photo in two (middle of the left page) so I could fit a 4" square photo into the layout.  I used a snowflake punch and papers from the February Main WIP Kit on these pages, along with kraft paper and white cardstock.  I also continued to use die cuts this week.  Gave my hand to embossing (lower right side) too...

Week 5.  Design D and Design C Page Protectors.  Again you'll notice Instagram and PicFrame photos, die cuts and papers from the February Main WIP Kit.  Love that I fit 28 photos into this week, and still managed to not use any photos in 4 of the pockets.  FUN.  This week's topic was "Everyday family moments"--just like the die cut says on the bottom right.

And a photo of the other side:

I believe it was Cammy who asked before about how I'm handling my "regular" scrapbook layouts.  Well, since this is my 4th year doing PL, I can honestly and objectly say that I have less of those layouts.  That being said, the layouts I create are still worthy of being made.  I gave up "event" scrapbooking a long time ago.  For example, for birthdays, I make a collage of photos, journal ON the photo about when and where the party was held, and let the photos do most of the work.  I have those collages printed out to a 12x12 format at Costco, and I stick those into their scrapbooks.  Done.  When I DO decide to do a scrapbook layout, it is usually because I want to SAY SOMETHING.  I consider my own layouts to be love notes to our kids (or to whoever I'm scrapping.)  My approach for years has always been, "What do I want to say--what do I want them to know after looking at this layout?"  Quite honestly, that is usually conveyed with WORDS.  The photos are generally used to support what I'm trying to say--but would mean nothing without the words.  That is my perspective--and it works for me.

I've had several people contact me about putting together a Project Life mini kit.  Your wish is my command!!  Stay tuned on more of that to come.  I can't wait to share some of the cool tidbits and embellishments I've been working on for it!! 

Enjoy your day!

Cards Cards Cards

It had been nearly a month since I made cards! I hardly could believe it myself! The first one was really difficult to produce just because I felt very out of practice.  I pushed the products from the February kit on my table around a long time before I decided to cut out the sentiment that came on a photo paper.  Then I came up with this basic design.  Happiness :)

The rest became easy because I just wanted to make cards with variation on the same design: a base, a tag, and something on the tag.  So here are the other three that I came up with using the kit.  I borrowed one tag and few chipboard buttons from previous kits. Back on the cardmaking roll for me :)

I am Carol's Daughter.

(Photo of my mom and my son's hands--Instagram)

At 44 years of age, I have now had several reminders that I am, in fact, my mother's daughter.  I forget my children's names when I'm trying to gain their attention.  I make up words when I can't remember the one I'm looking for in mid-sentence.  I flare my nose when I get angry.  Look, I'll take it--all of it--because she's a wonderful lady.  Salt of the earth, that one.  I can only hope to be half the woman my mother is someday.

This weekend, I was reminded that I was like her in another way.

Saturday evening, I was at my friend Jen's house.  We had just finished eating a lovely dinner, and we were settling in to scrap the evening away.  Her son was upstairs sleeping off a ski trip, and she excused herself upstairs to change into her pj's.  There I was, all alone in her awesome scrapbook room, all by my lonesome. 

So her scrapbook room has wooden floors and two nice office chairs.  You know--the big heavy ones that tilt and swivel and roll, with arms and everything.  I was sitting in one of those lovely chairs, and I bent over to reach down for a pair of scissors.  And it happened.  Right then and there, it happened.

The chair flew up behind me.  I found myself on all fours, my face in my scrapbook bag.  The chair landed on my back.  Paper and stickers flew.  For the love of God and all things holy--this happened in the blink of an eye, with a thud that was probably heard 3 doors down.  Don't ask me why--but this struck me as funny.  Like, CRAZY funny.   And I couldn't stop laughing.  You know--laughing to the point of hyperventilating and snorting to gain air laughing.  And I couldn't stop.

And in my efforts to get said chair off my back, I wedged myself under her scrapbook table.  So I was stuck.  Stuck, I tell you, like I've never been stuck before.  I'm lucky to be typing this blog post right now, my hand to God.

So I hear someone coming, and for some reason, I find this even funnier.  I try to mutter, "HELP!", but nothing came out.  I removed my glasses because tears had been streaming down my face, so I couldn't see that well.  But I had noticed that her son Ethan ran down the stairs to check out that noise, panned the area, didn't see me pinned underneath the desk, and went back upstairs.

And on that note, I started laughing even harder.

Thank God there was no video of this.  I mean, THANK. GOD.  Seriously, my amazing fortune that Jen was upstairs, because you know there would've been pictures of the scene, for this I am sure.  Pardon my French here, but the last thing you or I need is to be scarred by photos of my big ass pinned under a table.  I'm keeping it real here, folks.  And that's what friends are for, right?  The experience was bad enough in itself--I didn't need to be blackmailed by the bestie.  (For the record here, I totally would've photographed her if the situation was reversed--ha!)

By the time Jen came down in her comfy clothes, I managed to get myself out of my hellish situation.  But I couldn't explain what happened for another 5 minutes, because as soon as I would catch my breath from laughing, something would tickle me about this visual of me under the table, and I would start laughing hysterically all over again.

The rest of the evening, I kept one foot on the floor at all times, while gripping the table top whenever the chair moved slightly.  Yeah.  Pretty much scarred me.  Crazy-ass demonic chair.  Again, pardon my French.

Re-reading this, I'm wondering if I hit my head.

I do not care about the bruise on my knee or the sharp pain I have when I turn to the left.  The mental scars are far worse for me.  Again--I'm just thankful there was no video or photographs of my graceful episode, and that I was the only one there to bear witness.  Oh. My. Word.

Thank you, Mom, for showing me by example that it is wonderful to laugh at yourself with reckless abandon, and to be yourself.  Thank you for your humility, your wisdom, and your silliness, and for seeking that out in others.

Thank you for laughing with me when I repeated this story at breakfast, even when I had to stop and gain my composure because I still found it as funny this morning.   

And thank you for saying, "My Lord, you really are just like me!"

Someone, warn my daughter.

Enjoy your day!

Subway Art

I have been crazy about all the subway art I've been seeing all over! I've been trying to put something together myself, and found this blog with a tutorial for photoshop which really helped me, and so I began...

Every year we get together with girlfriends and celebrate Valentine's Day, each making or bringing a treat for everyone. This year after trying to figure out what I was going to do, I was able to put together my own subway art.

I included all of our names and the quote,

Laugh and the world laughs with you, cry and you cry with your girlfriends

then found these frames at Hobby Lobby and my girlfriend Valentine's Day gift is ready...

Echo Park Journaling Cards

The February WIP Kit came with this fabulous Echo Park sheet of Journaling Cards:

That means a dozen different cards for you to use. I thought it would be fun to take a look at all the different ways the WIP team used these cards this month.

So clever how Jing-Jing used the cards as frames or her smaller pictures...

And here she used one for her hand-written journaling...

I used three on this page, one for my partially hidden journaling (it's the same one Jing-Jing used in her first layout). I computer-journaled on mine and stitched on one of the tabs that came in the kit. The "One Winter Day" and the little scene down by the title were cut out of two of the other journaling cards. And I used some of the leftover paper that was on the back of the journaling cards for my patterned paper.

And I just love how Jamie used hers simply as a design element on this page...

What a marvelous addition to this kit--so versatile and fun. I'd love to see your ideas for using these journaling cards, so please share your creations with us!

February Project Kit Goodies...

Wanted to share a few of the projects I completed using the February Project Kit...

Normally, I don't have our fireplace covered in this much stuff. But for some reason, I decided to junk it up and have fun with it this Valentine's Day. Here is a closer pic of the fringe and banner garland I created with the kit...

I managed to squeek out a layout, too.  Our youngest, having a bad day recently...

The kit comes with 3 chipboard cones that are heavy and sturdy enough to hold a good amount of candy for Valentine's Day.  Good thing, huh?

I used the pipe cleaners as handles, and the festooning to go around the top.  Fun!

This is my latest favorite project.  It is going to be a gift to the hubs.  Feb. 3rd is a special day for us.  Seventeen years ago on that day, he proposed to me.  And 4 years later, we found out we were expecting our first child.  So we have a little secret anniversary every year on that day.  This year, I'm giving him this.  It will be used as decor on our sofa table for the holiday, and blends in with our decor...

The binder comes with the kit.  I ended up adding a few chipboard pieces from the December WIP Kit that were leftover.  (I love it when that works out!)  I printed out several photos of the two of us, over the past 25 years (we've been together that long now.)  I also added the charcoal grey American Crafts POW glitter paper.  I love how it turned out...

I knew I wanted the banner to "hang when opened like a book.  It worked perfectly, and because it is on the string, the letters don't crumple when the book folds.

In case you missed the garland from last week, that was also made with the Project Kit...

I got my mileage from that one kit, wouldn't you say??

  There are a few kits available here if you'd like to complete these projects on your own as well!

Be sure to check out the awesome Design Team's creations here using the Main Kit for February.  Lots of inspiration!!

Enjoy your day!

February Photo a Day Challenge

In case you missed this...I thought someone would like to take the challenge...

Enjoy your day!!