Baby's First Year Box

This little project was born from a new Mom's look at the Gratitude Box I had made for Thanksgiving this year.  My youngest's teacher, new Mom to adorable baby girl Mackenzie, saw it as the perfect place to record baby's first year milestones.  Inspired by her great idea, I just had to whip one up for her for Christmas.

The cards are double-sided: one side labeled with the month and lines to record milestones and special remembrances, the other embellished to hold a special photo or collage.

Top 10 of Twenty 10

This year is coming to a close, and it seems customary for scrapbookers to do a post of their favorite layouts of the year.  So here's my top 10 from the pages of my albums (or more accurately, the stack on my shelf--filing these into albums is my first task of 2011. Promise.)

Before 2010, I was rarely found on the pages of scrapbooks.  

This year I did several introspective LO's.

January 11

This year I played around more with fabric as a replacement for paper.

January 20

Prompted by my friends' blogs and inspired by the season of love, I documented my top 100 list:

March 24

 Realizing we probably were done with the baby phase of our lives, I documented a bit of the nostalgia.

April 14

Grids were a favorite for me this year.

May 6

I took a look at what exactly I love about this hobby/craft/artform/expression of mine.

This may just be one of my all time favorite LO's ever.  I enjoyed the process of this one so thoroughly.  I felt a sort of out-of-body experience when I created this.  My muse came out to play, and really, it was she who pulled this one together.  Hokey, I know, but oh so true.

June 7

Created lots of my own embellishments this year, and loved playing with old book pages.

July 18

Worked on improving my photography this year and shooting in manual mode with lots of natural light.

July 24

Revisited my One Little Word for 2010. 

 September 20

Simple & quick--another theme for this year.  And song lyrics for journaling.

September 20

So there they are.  My top 10 of twenty-10.  Total LO's completed in 2010: 103.  

Can't wait to see what's in store for 2011!

Happy New Year!

Crochet Coffee Cozy x3

There are just too many projects I want to do at this time of year.  Is it bad that I haven't cleaned my bathrooms in over a week?  And my Christmas cards?  I should have just put Happy New Year on them and mailed them after Christmas!

Well, at least I'll have some cute little coffee cozies for people on my gift-giving list:

Handmade Ornament

As an alternative project to the all-out holiday garland, here's a quickie just perfect for doing with the kiddos.

Make your paper bauble as shown in this post. Tie a loop to the end of some twine, thread it through the bauble, add some pretty beads and tie off the end.  Add a ribbon bow up top and you're done.  Simple. 

These are so quick and easy you could use them to garnish packages or as a pretty way to present a bottle of wine to a host/hostess.

Handmade Gift Exchange part deux (or duh!)

Yesterday I told you all about the goodies I received from Sweet Jeanette in the Craftaholics Anonymous Handmade Gift Exchange.  I guess it was a good thing that I received her box after I had already sent out my package to her.  Otherwise, I would have been stressing myself silly trying to whip up more goodies to ship out to her.  Really, I am no match to her creative sewing and gift-giving talents!

Here is what I made and sent to Jeanette:

 Really, what I should have painted on there was: "Jeanette is Sweet (really, really, really sweet!)"

I zig-zagged the stems on these flowers and I like them better.

I am hoping really hard that she is not too disappointed with her gift.

 {edited to add: Jeanette received her apron today, and now I don't need to wonder about what to make her--more crochet flowers!}

Handmade Gift Exchange at Craftaholics Anonymous

Last month I joined the bandwagon of crafty, generous souls and signed on for the Handmade Gift Exchange over at Craftaholics Anonymous (which is a fabulously inspiring site, if you've never been by).  Last week I received the absolutely most generous and fantabulous box of goodies from Sweet Jeanette.  Look at all the presents she sent me!!:

I mean seriously?!  This bag is soooo gorgeous--that fabric, the styling, the magnetic snap closure to keep everything tucked safely inside.  And Jeanette is a masterful seamstress--it's perfect!  In love!  It's my new purse and I am so excited to tote it around!  

But wait that's not all!  Jeanette is sweet with a capital G-E-N-E-R-O-U-S. 

She also gave me all of these goodies:

I mean, seriously!  Who does this for a complete stranger.  Well, Sweet Jeanette does.  And I am one very lucky girl!  Thanks so much Jeanette!

Of course this brings me to the gift I sent her, which pales horribly in comparison.  I can't show you what it is yet b/c it is still en route to her doorstep.  But not to worry, I've already prepped her with an email so she won't be too terribly disappointed by my one single, lonely gift.

Holiday Paper Garland

The holiday season is upon us (as much as I try to deny it) and it's time to deck the halls.  The space above my mantel was looking a bit bare so I decided to dress it up with a handmade paper garland (plus I've been wanting to make some sort of banner/garland for a long time).  I used that absolutely adorable paper line, Joyride, from Crate Paper.  I am still sore from kicking myself repeatedly for not scooping up two packs of this paper.  Anyway here's the garland:

And here's a little how-to on creating the paper baubles:

You can use more or less, but 7 seemed like a lucky little number 

(and I loved how full my friend Jane's came out).

 Easy enough; nothing special here.

Adhere all those mini paper tacos together being sure the folded edges are flush.

 Isn't that so pretty?!  Leaving the last edge unglued makes it easy to sandwich the thread in the center without actually having to thread it.

Then gather up all the supplies you want to include in your garland (and then some).  

I ended up not using the little snowflakes, and added in some crystal beads.

The letters to spell "Merry Christmas" were done up easily on the computer then layered on a circle, scallop circle, and jumbo snowflake punched from a grocery bag (thanks Kayla for that bit of brilliance!).

I used some thin twine for the base and began by threading all the crystal beads on.  Then it was easy enough to adhere the snowflake letters and paper baubles in place, and tie on some ribbon scraps.   

Enjoy! And for more creative holiday projects, head over to Scrapbook Heaven for the Creative C.H.R.I.S.T.M.A.S. Event going on now through December 20th.

Cards from the Crop

Finally getting around to posting these cards from last weekend's card crop at Scrapbook Heaven.  Lots of fun and inspiring challenges.  Here's what I managed to pull together:

 Gatefold:

Curved edge:

Paper ruffles:

 

 Round base:

 

 Ribbon slide:

Triptych:

And today kicked of our December event over there: Creative C.H.R.I.S.T.M.A.S.  Stop by the forum, or swing by the blog to check it out.  Here's a peek at one of the projects I'll be sharing:

Inspiration Everywhere Progress

I made some time this week to set a few other projects aside and work on Jessica Sprague's class Inspiration Everywhere.  I'm going hybrid with this--what can I say, I like dimension.  Here's my progress so far:

 The Cover:

I wanted the binding on the short edge of the page, so my silly brain flipped the design to landscape mode.  I know I could have just kept it as is and bound it at the top (sometimes I'm really good at overthinking things).  But now that I see it, I really like the horizontal format.

Close-Up:

 I put next year's date on this--figured this year is all but gone, and it'll be nice to have a fresh new journal to start the new year off with.  Stitched the label with floss, and of course added some butterflies and bling.

Dedication:

This is the inside front cover.  Jessica designed that coral piece as a pocket to hold the dedication of the journal--she's so stinkin' clever!  Another blinged butterfly, but still need to write my dedication.  I'm thinking there will be a few small cards sticking out of there for: my husband, my children, myself.

I cut a translucent piece of acrylic to protect the cover, covered a piece of bookboard for the back cover.  Sandwiched between the covers is a large stack of cardstock for the pages.  I decided to do all cardstock on this one so I can do lots of collage and painting and create a big old mess--so excited!

Inspiration Everywhere

I've been meaning to post this for weeks now, and lucky for me (and maybe some of you), Jessica Sprague knows all about us procrastinating types.  Jessica's latest FREE class started today, but it is not too late to register.

If you have never taken a JS class, you are in for a real treat.  And if you have taken one of her classes, then you know this is one not to be missed.  She has five amazing projects planned (like a banner and an inspiration binder).  I am most excited for the Art Journal portion of the class.  Mine has sat gathering dust for far too long.

Hope to see you in class!

Some Cards (though not of the holiday variety!)

There's a rip-roaring card crop in progress at Scrapbook Heaven.  Here are my five cards complete with tutorials:

Numero Uno:

Here's a fun little card that looks more complicated than it is:

You need:
3 pieces of cardstock:
front: 8 1/2" x 3"; scored at 2" from each end
middle: 6 1/2" x 3"; scored at 1" from each end
back: same as front

1) Punch or cut out a window in the front and middle sections. I used a 1 3/8" circle on the front punched three times; and a 1 1/4" circle on the middle.

2) Stamp on back piece in area that will show up in window.

3) Embellish the front and middle sections as desired.

4) Assemble like this:

Number Two: 

I found the idea for this card online and just fell in love with it. I'll warn you, it took me two tries to get this one right, so you may want to test it out on scrap paper first. (But, then, you all probly have more smarts than me and will get it on the first try!)

1) Cut a piece of cardstock to 8 1/2" x 5 1/2"

2) Score across at 4 1/4" (like you would for a traditional card)

3) Holding paper vertically, make a cut 2" from left side starting at 2 1/8" from top and running until 1" from bottom.

4) Score from right side to cut made in step 3, working from bottom up at: 1", 2", 3 1/8", (4 1/4" score is already there from step 1) and 6 3/8".

5) Fold the 2" wide left fold as a mountain, the 3 1/2" portion at the 4 1/4" as a valley. Alternate remaining scores as mountain and valley to create the "stairs".

6) Take a deep breath because you made it through the hard part and have fun embellishing your card!

Third Times a Charm: 

This little card is an oldie but goodie. Used this style for my youngest's birth announcement 5 years ago. They whip up faster than you think and pack an impressive punch!

1) Cut cardstock base: 4 1/4" x 5 1/2"

2) Cut patterned mat: 4" x 5 1/4" and adhere to base

3) Cut holder strip 1" x 4 1/4". Do not adhere, attach with eyelets, brads, staples at top and bottom.

4) Cut pull tab piece: 8 1/2" x 1 3/4" and score at: 4 3/4", 5 3/4", 6 3/4"

5) Cut 3 squares for accents: 2" and mat with 2 1/4"

6) Place adhesive on the boxes created by the scores in step 4 and apply the accent blocks by lining up the left side of the square with the fold on the pull tab.

7) Feed the back of the accented tab piece under the holder strip and adhere the larger of the three scored blocks to the top of the holder strip to secure.

8.) Embellish and add a ribbon or tab to the pull strip.

#4:

This cute little card whips up quickly, and the inside has plenty of room for a photo and a greeting.

1) Cut cardstock base 10 1/2" x 3 1/2"

2) Score at 3 1/2" and 7" and on the diagonals as shown:

3) Cut patterned paper 3 1/4" square and along diagonal.

4) Fold and adhere triangles from step 3 as shown:

5) Embellish as desired. Use ribbon to tie closed, or use a decorative clip as I did in my sample.

Last But Not Least:

'm going easy on you for this last one! It's a simple pocket card made from 12" long paper. The extra inch folds up to create a little pocket inside the card. Use it for cash, a gift card, a packet of soup, cocoa, or tea bag.

1) Cut a strip of paper 4 1/4" x 12" long.

2) Fold and score at 5 1/2" and 11". Fold 1" piece up and glue edges to inside of card to create a basic pocket.

3)Decorate card front as desired. I fussy cut some patterned paper, folded some paper flowers, and stamped sentiment on a transparent scrap from a sheet of stickers.

Inside pocket:

Come play along with us.  You'll have until Saturday, November 27 at 9 PM to complete your cards (there are 20 fun-filled inspiring cards) for a chance at some prizes.