still using my imagine

It doesn't always work the best but I am still using it. If Santa is good to me I just may upgrade to an explore.

Crappy photo quality but at least I am posting a project. Candy bags to give out. The candy is crock pot Christmas crack candy and it is yummy. I used Imagine snow angel, a Martha Stewart punch and paper trey ink stamp.

holiday card

I needed some holiday cards to send to my non christian friends so I made some of these. I got the inspiration on pinterest but I used totally different products. The tree stamp is lovely as a tree stamped in stamp-n stuff marcasite opaque embossing powder. Bought it years ago and was never successful with it until I started using the powder bag thing that preps the surface before embossing. The sentiment is a years old MSE stamp that was the right scale for the card. I tied heat embossing the sentiment it didn't work for me. So I stamped in papertrey black in and used a belly roll clear star pen to color in the open areas of the letters on the stamped sentiment. I used color box charcoal color for the edging. I loved the black sparkle paper for the mat .

Manger Card

I haven't blogged in forever. That's the way it is sometimes. At the end of the summer I had some health issues and was actually hospitalized for the first time ever with acute asthma. I've had asthma since I was a kid but that was a first.  Then my mother fell during the night  Columbus Weekend. She was hospitalized for a brain injury, broken nose and fractured jaw. She then went to rehab before coming home. She is still not where she was so its one day at a time. I am so grateful for SIL's who come get her up and assist her dressing on the days that I work. I'm a month behind on project life. I have been working on my Christmas cards here and there. This card I actually made 40 of. It seems like it took forever yet is looks simple. The stamps and die cuts are from Simon Says Stamps.

New unit

Okay this assembled so much easier than I expected. The hardest part was waiting for my daughter to get up for work (she works nights at the hospital) so I could have help standing it up. I assembled it in the family room on that carpet cause I have lots of space in there. Then slid moving men sliders under it to get it back to the spare bedroom I use as a craft/office room. I'm really happy how much the folding boxes match the room. I'm going to take my time filling it up replacing all the old photo albums that are falling apart into new books…. When my daughter moves I will move the old photo albums into a small bedroom on a shelf and get more basket cubes for this I think.

The before…

My son bought this ikea unit on sale to fit in a really narrow odd closet space in his studio apartment in Brooklyn NY. When he moved home for 2 years in sat in my garage until I broke my bookshelf when I was painting this room. The drawers are not functional. They are bowing from the bottom because they can't hold weight. There is wasted space on the bottom. It just needs to GO! The hardest part is where to put all the stuff while I assemble the new unit. Ughhh… Some of my old photo albums are starting to  fall apart so the blank ones on the top have just been sitting there waiting for me to redo them. So this will take me a while to do it right. Today it's all about unloading……

project life page

I had a change of plans today. I was supposed to go to an outdoor street festival in a near by town but my friend wasn't up to it… So what do you do with a whole afternoon of unplanned time? Catch up the entire month of July's pictures and start August. This page is my beginning of August. I used several of my new Heidi Swapp PL products.

Now that pictures are caught up I NEED to unload my shelves and get the new ones assembled before school starts. I'm a hard worker.. it's the starting of a project that I have difficulty with. It seems overwhelming so I stall the whole process unnecessarily. Silly really.

I made the difficult decision today to cancel my studio calico monthly PL kit. I think having it arrive today right after I emptied the last few months into my color coordination system I realized that I rarely use the stamps in it, probably half of the embellishments, and rarely the alphabet letters so really it was hard to justify the price for just the cards. I was also a bit disappointed today in some obvious change in packaging and is the quality changing?? Not sure. It doesn't actually say project life anymore so I am wondering if their affiliation with Becky Higgins has ended.  I will miss looking forward to it every month. I am thankful that I got it because it pushed me to try embellishments I wouldn't have without it.  But with shipping it's a little over 25 a month and if I am not using 75% of it then my craft money is better spent elsewhere.

Heidi Swapp Project Life

Okay my Michaels didn't have it on Thursday night but the truck came in on Friday morning. Right in the middle of my cleaning, no make-up, hair pulled back out I went to get my goodies… And Score!

my project life process

I originally started out as a digital scrapbooker back in 2003. I was determined not to get into all that paper "stuff". My very dear friend Linda who was killed a few years ago by a drunk driver started a summer scrapbooking group at church in I think 2006. I said I'll come but I'll crochet. Famous last words. I was hooked. From there card making evolved to be a part of my life also. After  several years I began to feel that all my scrapbooks had the same events over and over. I read about project life but there was no way I could commit to every week. After Linda passed the next January I started a happy book as I called it using a smash book. Recording all the happy day to day things in life because when Linda was gone it truly made me realize how precious each and every day is… I did that for two years but I hated that I still had a scrapbook of the big events and a separate happy book. Last September I merged the 2 into a project life album that is monthly.. I cannot be bothered with weekly. Just not me. And I add full page layouts for special events.

This is my process:

I created a template of the pocket design I use and laminated it. I actually have 4 for when I am working on multiple pages at a time and moving things around. (I am thinking of branching out into adding vertical pockets sometimes.) I then layout the pictures. Begin to add journaling. Then embellishments… I rarely complete an entire 2 page spread in a night. I like to walk away, then come back later and add embellishments. Because they are on the laminated pages I can stack them on top of each other move to a corner of my table and work on something else till inspiration comes back to finish. The page you see here needs more embellishing but I'm not feeling it tonight so I will move it aside and work on something else. All the cards and embellishments are from studio calico monthly kits but don't ask me which one. I always mix them up…

Super excited about the new Heidi Swapp project life items. Went to Michaels tonight. The end cap is set up and they are scheduled for delivery tomorrow. I have a birthday gift card burning a hole in my pocket!!! I was the gold set, and a few other things. The truck is due in at 9. So I will call them. No sense going till the are putting the stuff out.

cricut fun

I have not played with my cricut in forever…. I saw this design on pinterest and used my gypsy to recreate it. I used old paper pads with coordinating colors and made multiples easily using the gypsy. The cart was sweet treats.

My bronchoscopy is done. I am just very tired today and coughing a lot!

The photo was taken with my iphone and I am just too tired to edit it tonight.

long time no blog

I haven't blogged since I went to Denver from June 28 to July 7th. Loved my trip but I ended up putting my back out lifting my suitcase when I got home. Since then I kinda only made cards on demand and have not taken photos of them. My project life is a month behind. I do however have a clean basement after doing little bits the last few weeks. I have also finished a PowerPoint presentation for a dyslexia conference I am presenting at, at the end of August. I recently purchased new shelving for my craft space at IKEA and that is now my next project to start Thursday. First I have to empty the unit I have and move it into the garage. (My daughter is taking it for the new townhouse she is buying. Settlement is August 28th. I'm so proud of her for doing this. She is single and just turned 25.) Then assemble the new unit and get it organized. Then I am done, done, done with my summer projects. I have been devouring books this summer as always. I did win a new kindle fire at my conference in Denver so "Woot!" on that. My original nook is getting temperamental and I don't care to read on my iPad. I like to hold "book" size when I am reading since I'm a lay down kinda reader. In addition to everything else this summer I am pursuing a few ongoing health concerns. I got my skin ck'd and had a few spots "frozen" off my face from my young years as a sun worshiper. I also went to a pulmonary specialist to try to deal with all the chronic asthmatic/bronchitis issues I have had for the last 3 years. I am having a procedure tomorrow to help with the diagnosis to get it controlled once and for all. All in all it has been a good summer that is flying by…

The above thank you cards were not my original design but when things don't happen exactly as you plan you can say it's only paper and toss it or make it into something else. This was a make it into some thing else kinda thing… The sentiment was cut on my cameo. I needed a bunch of quick cards to send out for the birthday gifts I received.

Sunday I played with my cricut.. Oh how I have missed it… Will post a picture tomorrow.

A new technique I have played with this summer is heat embossing images with clear embossing powder then using a blending tool to add colors for backgrounds. It's very cool. I have also seen it with watercolors but I am trying to be good and use what I have.  Hope to not be MIA in the future.

catching up

Well school ended on June 19th and I went comatose for two days reading and napping and doing little else to recover. Every year is stressful but this year was particularly emotional. 3 highly valued members of our staff,  1 assistant and 2 extremely talented k teachers retired. Another k teacher who has only been with us 2 years decided to relocate back to family. I just cried I tell ya.  Such a loss for our program and I loved all these ladies. On top of that they decided to transfer our principal to another building next year… Sniff! I think I just might be getting to old for all the changes…

Since I emerged from my comatose state I started trying to get caught up on house things and reacquaint myself with my craft room. My project life as of today is caught up to June 23. yay! I made two birthday cards tonight for my daughter. One from me and one from my mom. Her birthday is the 6th of July and I will be away at the NEA conference but I always have her gift ready to open on her day. We will have cake when I get back… I will be back on the 7th but very late so cake will be the 8th.

My daughter is turning 25 and thinks it terrible…. so of course I made her a card with a big 25 on it. Super simple design. She also loves the beach, pools, sun and flip-flops. So a flip-flop card it is for my mom to give her. The 25 card was cut on the silhouette. The flip-flop card cut on the cricut with an old flip-flop sized cut that was saved on my gypsy… Papers from my stash as well as embellishments cause I have been so good with not buying for so long other that my studio calico monthly PL kit everything is just stash stuff at this point.

I won't be crafting anymore till I return from Denver since I have a house to leave clean for my mom and daughter and laundry to wash and pack before leaving.. I hope to get back to some regular card making then. I have been craft room absent and it leaves a void.

Birthday card

I got the basic layout idea for this card from Pinterest but I kind of changed it up with completely different products. The embossing folder is cuttlebug tiny mosaic. The border punch is Martha Stewart. The circles with the stitching are MCT stitched circle die and the presents are from MCT All Around Holidays. The white circles are a basic 11/4 inch punch. The sentiment is Stampin Up. The orange circles are on pop ups.

stress

The school year is winding down. A month or so to go here in south jersey. Oh my the stress with life and work. Sometimes you need to just head into the backyard after dinner and just take some pictures of flowers.

Project Life Card Storage

I've been trying to find a better way to organize my project life cards. I found the perfect system at thecraftypickle.com using close to my heart medium storage boxes. (I actually searched YouTube to find the system I liked the best) She even provides you with silhouette cutting files for tab organizers. I been using this system for a month and I love it… Everything is organized by color, season, or event… so much easier to go through the cards.. I keep my studio calico monthly kits separate for few months then I will transfer the cards left into the system. My project life is monthly.. I used print pictures every two weeks. As of tonight I have pictures in up to May 5th…

Never did take a picture of the mother's day card I made my mom. It was a simple silhouette cutting file. Tonight I also made a baby shower card. A design I have posted before. The silhouette onesie card in purple.. It's for a little girl but this mom is not a huge pink fan. My mom is just finishing up a knitted dress, sweater and two caps for the shower on Sunday.

another layout

I had hoped to work on my mothers day card tonight but its not gonna happen. Unexpected trip to the doctors with my mom after work, then pharmacy, then dinner, then water the new plants I planted.. you get the picture. I'm beat.  Here is the other layout for the other teacher at work. I again blurred the message because its private. This teacher makes quilts for a hobby so I wanted to give it a quilt feel. The papers are from DCWV stack Grade School. I did some sewing on my machine.

layout

I haven't posted in forever because I am just not crafting as often since my mom moved into my home in January. When I do craft I am mostly keeping up with my project life and one little word activities. I desperately need to find time to make some cards and replenish my stash and soon.

I did do two layouts on National Scrapbooking day for two teachers that are retiring. We generally give them a scrapbook where everyone has written something to them. I have blurred the words because my message is private. This layout features chalk studio paper and cuts from the silhouette store.

non craft post

I really don't have a favorite season. There is something I like about every single one. This is what I like about spring…. the return of flowers.

another Easter card

My friend Susan had this stamp set last year. I loved it! Stalked it on ebay so I could make some this year. Close to my Heart Hoppy Easter Holiday. Colored with water colors because I wanted it a single layer and copics bleed through.

super simple easter card

I made 6 of these yesterday after church. Super quick and easy using create a critter 2. The egg and chick are attached with an action wobble. I used two MCT sentiments on the inside from Happy Hunting stamp set.

sweet 16

The balloons and label dies are from MCT. The sweet is a My pink stamper stamp and the 16 are just alpha stickers.

birthday card

The pattern paper and enamel dots are from My Mind's Eye the Sweetest thing collection.

More St. Patricks day

I got the idea from this non traditional use of the MCT stamp All Around Holidays stamp and die set from her designer Miss Ruthie. Kinda fun. If I made something like this again I would not have the edges of the golden paper so straight. Maybe use a border die or punch.

St. Patricks Day Card

Sorry I haven't post often… I am definitely not in the craft room as much. I miss it but I also made a resolution to lose some weight and get healthier this year. Having my mom still staying with me really is making me cook every single day and since I am doing it I'm cooking healthy. It takes time to make that a priority. Plus I got out of the habit around October of not getting in my 10,000 steps everyday and I am back to that also. And lets not forget that mom being here means more laundry.

This card is from Cricut CC2 cartridge and the shamrock paper is from an old paper studio all seasons paper pack I got at hobby lobby at least a year ago.

Christmas Cards?

Yep when I get an idea I make some all year long.

These took forever!!! Mostly because I hand cut the layers with a ruler and a blade and I made 8 of each. I got the inspiration for this design right off the MCT shop where the dies are for sale. The card was cut using MCT Surprise Pop-Out Card Die and winter flakes dies. The glitter paper I used to make the snowflakes was really thick so I had to pop out each little section in the flakes. Stamped message on the front and the inside was from papertrey ink called holiday wishes.

I'm alive

Between work and caring for my mother things have been busy. I do have my project life up to date as of last weekend. I don't do mine weekly. I do it monthly. When I have enough pictures for a 2 page spread I put it together. I have like 8 unfinished cards on my desk. The card I am attaching was put together from scraps laying around. The card base was cut and folded last summer and the embellishments were from the My minds eye The sweetest thing collection I have half the paper and embellishments left from a previous project. One night I just needed some doodle time and this is what came out of it.

engagement card

Long time no post… My mom had a set back.  She fell and I moved her back here but then she still just keep getting worse so she ended up back in the hospital with some new heart issues. She is living here for the time being and we are trying to find a new normal.

I rushed my valentine cards to get them in the mail and never took a picture of any of them… :-(

MY daughter's BFF's engagement party is this coming weekend. She likes sliver, and bling so here is her card.

The ring is a silhouette file, the little banner and stamp are MCT. 

Some more wedding planner divider pages

All of these cuts are from the silhouette store. I am finished a bunch more but I haven't taken pictures of those.

The planner sheets in each section were from an etsy store that my daughter bought for her best friend.

wedding planner divider pages

3 of the divider pages for the wedding planner I am making. The camera and scroll were silhouette files. The bell was a cricut tie the knot cut. My daughter picked up all the fancy papers so I don't know what they are .. The solids are all from my stash. More pages to come.

Year of the green wooden horse?

This doesn't look very Chinese but it's the thought that counts right! I always send my niece a Chinese new year card to celebrate her heritage.

Tonight I am working on the divider pages for a wedding planner. I daughters BFF from birth got engaged right before Christmas. My daughter got the planner pages in a PDF from etsy. I designed most of the pages and now am starting to cut and assemble some of the images.

sympathy card

I took two nights this week to cut, stamp and emboss all the pieces to make 8 of these cards tonight at my scrapbook group…. All I had to do at our group was assemble all the pieces as we chatted away. The cricut cut was from the pagoda cartridge and the embossing folder was from the cricut embossing set. The stamp was one I picked up yesterday at ACMoore for around 3 dollars. the adhesive rhinestones I picked up walking through ACMoore yesterday and they are Nicole Bling it.. I bought a bunch because they were on sale.

On a personal note my mom did move home Sunday night. She gets stronger everyday. I stop every morning on the way to school and put her newspaper in the door, stop after school and take her dinner every night. She was dismissed by the visiting nurse today. She is still coughing and will for some time but her lungs are clear now… so things are returning to normal and life is good.

Wedding Shower Card

This is a super simple wedding shower card. The stamp is from MCT gift card sentiments. The embossing folder is the cuddle bug floral fantasy.

My card supply is getting so low. I have neglected card making the last few months. My PL album is completely up to date as of last night and all my Christmas pictures are scrapped and added in there. I am hoping to make some cards this week. It will depend on how things go with my mother. She was in the hospital last week. She is staying here for now but this morning….. the I'm ready to go home has started. Now decisions to make.. Hmmmm let her go and deliver her dinners or make her stay the week.

One Little Word

I am participating in One Little Word this year on Ali Edwards blog. My word is centered… this is my title page for my album. I am not using the suggested materials. I am using a purple creative memories book that was my dear friend Linda's. I've been saving it for something special. This is it.

I've completed most of the 1st months assignments. I just need to get them arranged in my book. I found that for me I typed out my answers one day on my iPad, then the next day I hand wrote it to feel it onto my pages  making minor adjustments as I wrote.

Snow Day

Well one day back to work and I have a snow day. Go figure.. I forgot to turn off my alarm so have been up since 5:30. I finished these two pages before shoveling my driveway. Boo…the  snow blower won't start. I am warming up before tackling my moms driveway.
 I used Kerry Bradford storyboard templates for these layouts and my silhouette. Papers are all at least 2 years old from my stash. I am making myself use paper that I have before I buy anything new.