Adornit Blog Hop

Is it magic....is it recycling....or just simply, a darn good idea?! I think it may be a little of each?! Welcome my little page on the web, my world and my creations! No it's not always all about me as I do post about my family here too!

If you came here just to see me, thank you! As you can see I am participating in a "blog hop" with the Adorn-It Carolee's Creations girls! YEAH - fun! I'm sure, now, you want to see who else is playing and what they did right?! Well then, let me suggest you start at the beginning, at the Adorn It Blog . There are 79 other participants in this huge event so, sit back and enjoy the run!

The project I'm posting today is something I have thought of several times and, now, finally have it done! Have you ever gotten "stuff" from the store and thought "hey this packaging is pretty cool"?! I do all the time! Well, I use these makeup remover towels sometimes after a run or whenever I need it and my little light bulb went off LOL! Here's the before, the store packaging that instigated the thoughts;



See the little box it is sitting in?! That's it! I thought, you know I could recreate that box and put something else in there and make it a little gift?! Well, I did! Here's what I created;



How'd I do that?! Easy! Just simply, and carefully take the box apart. This box just so happened to be exactly 12" wide! I laid it out on my scrapbook paper, traced it out, cut it out, recreated the creases using my Scor-Pal (don't have one?! Hurry up and get one - you won't regret it!) decorated it how I chose, taped it and Voila! Cute box! How much time elapsed? Maybe....10 minutes if you know exactly what paper you're going to use?! The goodies inside you can tell are Bath and Body Works and were on sale for $1 each a while back. So, once they're decorated too, my total cost for this great project?! Less than $4 - yes FOUR dollars! Now when I have company, like this coming weekend, I'll have a cute little gift to put in their rooms! Now for the details, of what products I used! The paper is from "The Paper Company" and I believe it's called Espresso, the purple striped paper and the solid cardstock are from my stash of scraps so I didn't have a name, the ribbon is from a roll I got out of the $1 spot (AKA dollar vortex) at Target, the little pearls are from the same spot but...get this...he he he I picked them up at our Goodwill for 29 cents! Yep! LOL! I can find crafting stuff just about anywhere! LOL! Now, that gorgeous butterfly stamp is one of my newest favorites! Well I got it from The Rubber Cafe! She as the most beautiful butterfly stamps and I am working hard on having my own full collection! LOL! She also carries the Scor-Pal so it could be one stop shopping there! LOL! I love that! Gives me more time to come home and play and, the way my life goes....I need all the extra time can get! So when you're done with shopping at The Rubber Cafe, please visit all the other talented ladies in this blog hop! I mean seriously,it's Friday so kick back, relax and don't forget it starts here, at the Adorn It Blog, and the next talented lady on the list to visit.... Debbie Raymond! Now she is one talented lady you don't want to miss!

Enjoy the hop!

Until next time....

Coffee Anyone?!!

Anytime is a good time for coffee! Yep, that would be me "coffee junky"! One of my kids once told me "I love the smell of coffee, I smell coffee and I think of you Mom"! Don't kids say the sweetest things sometimes?! LOL! Santa, the Easter Bunny, Mother's Day always brings me a beloved and coveted Starbucks card too! Love my coffee, just in case you didn't get the picture here...! LOL! I not only LOVE to drink it but I love to give coffee and gift cards as gifts! Now the crafter in me won't allow for a gift to be given in just any old envelope either but, the busy girl in me doesn't allow much time for fancy wrapping! So when I was sucked into the $1 vortex at Target I saw something I knew would be a perfect gift wrapper one day! They were selling flower seeds in these neat little burlap bags! Well, buy one and put it to the side for future use! YEAH, good idea! So when the "Queen Kat Design Team" was challenged to make a card using stitches I thought "hhmm coffee...stitches...GOT IT"! I grabbed my favorite Queen Kat Designs stamps, coffee stain stamp and my Give Me Coffee stamps and made this little swing note card to attach to that cute little burlap bag! Here's pictures of what I came up with;

Swing card closed


Swing card open


So can you see how I made this swing card?! Just simply make 2 circles, one larger then the other (I used my Nesties), punch a hole with your hole punch in both of them where you want your "hinge" to be and put your brad in there! I chose to use a button to go along with my stitches theme, which you can see on the purple part! Now how's that for a fast card to decorate an already cute bag?! You could make a few and stock up on them for Christmas tags or birthday party tags! So fast and so fun! I hope you're up for more fun with the Queen Kat Design Team keeping you "in stitches"! Check out Beverly's Blog to see her great projects! She has a great idea to share too!

Until next time....

Bragging......

Okay we all have something we like to brag about whether it's the ability to always find the best deals on the sales rack (gosh I wish that was me!)or, most importantly, the people we love! I can't tell you how many times I get asked if I have pictures of my kids! Well, not in my purse but every where else! So when I saw these little photo albums at the Target $1 spot (vortex to me - sucks me right in every time!) I knew exactly what I could do with them!

Here's what I'm talking about;

Before (this was actually the before of another book I did - I made quite a few of these!)


After


The process is easy actually. Simply remove the cardboard that comes in the front and back (save for another project or to use as insulation in your closet like I do!) and basically create a card front. One thing to remember is you'll see the back of the front and the front of the back (KWIM?) so use double sided paper or cardstock to keep it nice. For this particular book I found the cutest stickers on one of my Target "red sticker" hunting expeditions so, using my letters from PaperTrey Ink (which are clear), I was able to position the letters of the little boys name to look like the monkeys were holding them! The leaves are from the same sticker pack but the grass is actually a stamp from "The Rubber Cafe" - such a versatile stamp by the way! So, just decorate and fill with your pictures! At about $1 for each book and using your scraps, it's the cheapest, yet best, gift ever! I made one for my Dad even of our last marathon/5K walk event we did! He loved it! This particular one is for my daughter's friend who threw her baby shower recently, a thank you of sorts. I know I can hear my daughter, Jessica, now saying "Mom, where's Logan's"?! Ha ha ha the fun of telling her to wait....ha ha ha!

For the curious - my oldest daughter, Jessica, is due to have a baby boy any day now. He's going to be named Logan Greggory. Once he's born I'll need more of these as I'm sure I'll be getting lots and lots of pictures - right Jessica?!! LOL!

Love Circles

Well I promised you a tutorial and, believe it or not, here it is! This is something I saw somewhere on line but can't remember where so, if it's yours please forgive me and give me your name so I can give you credit...until then, read on! I made a great scrapbook layout using a photo that I had printed out in Sepia. With my Valentine's colors including so much brown I've been doing that a lot lately! I used some more of the Cosmo Cricket "Chemistry" paper , "Strip Tease" from The Rubber Cafe. I went with a circle theme on this one too! Seems like I'm really into circles lately, big contrast to my DH who's into sharp corners! I think it's the military in him! You wouldn't have enjoyed the conversation where I tried so hard to talk him into curtains with circles on them....needless to say I have plain curtains! Anyway, you don't want to hear that story! LOL! So back to the scrapbook page, I even softened my corners with a corner rounder for this one! LOL! No sharp corners here!

I used the huffing/marker technique for the word "Love" in the white circle and used different size punches to make circles out of scraps from other projects too! I had some fun silver adhesive buttons to add some extra texture. I also felt like it still needed "something", something different so I added some fun punched circles using something you might not have thought of! Take a look at my second picture to see what I'm talking about!




I used a circle shaped plastic embroidery canvas "thingy"! I can't remember what they're called. I remember my Mom was AWESOME at creating all sorts of things from this plastic canvas. They're inexpensive and can be bought just about anywhere! I used my paper piercer and just did the circles randomly around the page. I think I got my "something different"! What do you think?!




The circles would be a fun element around another circle shaped element on a card or something wouldn't it?! I even saw star shapes, squares, etc. They come several to a package so you could even do a swap with your friends! Just have fun with it!

I hope you liked my little "tutorial" of sorts!

Until next time....

Bow Tying Tutorial!

If you're interested in learning how to "tie one on", keep reading! Wait, you didn't think I mean THAT kind of tie one on did you? LOL! I mean how to tie a bow easily with one piece of ribbon! When I went to the shoebox swap this weekend I noticed a lot of people were using two pieces of ribbon to make their bows so I thought maybe, they don't know this other way! So, here's my "tutorial" on how I do my bows!

Step 1 - Deciding your card needs a bow - then choosing the ribbon!


Step 2 - Gather the items you need for your bow making. Ribbon, scissors, and an item that is not very round such as your stamp pad cleaner bottle!


Step 3 - Now you're going to tie the ribbon on the bottle with a double knot!




Step 4 - Take the ribbon off the bottle and using your scissors cut the loop at a diagonal. Cutting at a diagonal reduces the chances of the ribbon fraying!


Step 5 - Now lay the ribbon on your card. If you cut off a piece of ribbon too long then you will want to trim the ends.


Step 6 - After adhering your bow to your card,using adhesive of your choice, stand back and admire your hard work!


Easy huh?! I have seen tutorials similiar to this one before but, after searching, didn't find them again! I hope you enjoy MY version of bow tying and enjoy tying your own on! LOL!

Until next time....