Christmas Card Class

ACOT is hosting an amazing crop this weekend with tons of challenges, inspiration, points, and prizes. I am hosting 2 shifts- Friday from 7-9pm EST and Saturday 2pm-4pm EST.

I am also teaching a Christmas Card Class during the Crop on Sunday at 4pm EST. I have been very busy working on my cards. I hope you can join me!!! Here are some sneak peeks:

Nook and Pantry

Time to share all of my Nook and Pantry LOs that I made for ACOT. First, I have to mention that I am so thankful to be a part of the ACOT Creative Team. All of the ladies I work with are so talented and amazing. Kristin, the owner, is beyond generous and great to work with. And I get many fantastic products to create with. Since it is that time of year, I had to mention how fortunate I feel to be able to be a part of the team. Thanks to all of you for making my experience wonderful each day.

I absolutely loved the BG Nook and Pantry line. The patterns and colors were perfect for my photos. Without further ado, here are my pages:

The last two projects were wood items purchased at Michaels. I intended to make them as Christmas presents (and they would make great gifts for someone to set on their desk at work.) But, I love them so much, I don't think I can give them away.

Thanks for taking a peek and have a great day!!!

Halloween Craftiness

I didn't get a chance to share all of the stuff I made for Halloween. So busy with all of the parties and everyday life.

We had a party for the Brownies and here are the cupcakes that I made. Had to make them cute. Thanks so much, Kristin, for the cute cupcake wrappers. Some of the ones she sent me were from this site. So many cute things.

Also for the party, I made this little guessing game. I filled an empty Marshmellow fluff jar with an Autumn mix of candy corns and decorated it. I also used an empty icing container to make the little container to hold the guesses. The girls had fun trying to guess how many candy corns were in the jar. I was thinking you could change the papers and do this for any party/holiday.


I also made this Bingo game for them. Annabella ended up taking it to school and they used it for their class party. She loved it so much and her teacher let her call out the words (which she especially loved.) I printed the Bingo cards from this site using an already made list of Halloween words. I matted the cards on black cardstock, added punched Boo borders (Martha Stewart punch) and stamped the pumpkins in the free spot. For the calling cards, I printed an extra card on white cardstock in the largest size. I matted those on the leftover orange and black cardstock I had from creating the Bingo cards. I did laminate them to make sure they lasted. The kids used candy corns for their markers. Again, you could probably make them for any holiday/party theme.



Thanks for taking a peek and hope you had as great of a holiday as we did.

Halloween Photos

So busy this time of year with Halloween and all of the fun it brings. Annabella had a Halloween party at school this year on Friday and we had a Brownie Halloween Party on Friday night. On Saturday, we went to another Halloween party and also went Trick-or-Treating. I think I broke my finger during trick-or-treating. I always find a way to injure myself and it is never graceful.

Here are some photos of Annabella. This year she decided to be a "pretty witch." Yep, that's what she called it. She also told me that if she was a witch, she would have pink hair. Her reasoning was that if the Wicked Witch of the West had a green face, she would have pink hair. It was fine with me and she looked adorable with pink hair.

We bought her witch costume and she decided to add her black and pink petticoat some time before Halloween. The witch's hat came with her costume and I added the feathers. I purchased a feathered boa and used it to embellish the brim of her hat and the bottom of the broom stick. I made the broom stick by covering the pinata stick from her birthday party with black duck tape and adding the feathers at the bottom. She was so happy with her costume.

Our Family Tree

I wanted to share another project that was created for my latest reveal at ACOT. It is made with the new KaiserCraft Beyond the Pages Tree. This was by far one of the most exciting products (and most memorable for me) at their amazing booth and I had to include it in my reveal. I spent a lot of time painting the tree to make it look like real bark. If you take a look at my article you can read all of the steps I followed to get the tree bark texture. Here is my finished tree:

I love the finish of the tree bark and the overall project is a really fantastic addition to our home.

Thanks for taking a peek!

Welcome to our Home Birdhouse

I wanted to share a project with you that I just did for ACOT. It is made with one of the new KaiserCraft Beyond the Pages Birdhouses and Pink Paislee's Amber Road papers. I hand cut all of the cherry blossoms and added them with pop dots for a 3D effect. I love how it turned out.

The KaiserCraft Beyond the Page items are made of MDF and come unassembled. That was so helpful with this project because I was able to trace each piece onto the back of my patterned paper and cut it out. It also came with some hooks. The photo on the package didn't give an example of how to use them so I decided to make them into hooks to hold our key chains. Ed is always losing his keys in our house (and I have no idea how when he has 2 sets!) The quote in the center says, "Home is where you hang your memories." Annabella helped me pick it out so it means even more to me.


You can check out my reveal article here. I have a couple more projects to share with you so stay tuned.

We have been super busy lately. Annabella has been sick (poor baby!) I hate it when she feels bad and wish I could be the one sick. We ended up going to the doctors twice but she seems to be doing better now. So thankful she is feeling better.

School has has also been keeping us busy. We have also been doing tons of homework. I don't remember having homework in the first grade and never imagined there would be this much. She has tests all of the time, too. She had one on Thursday and 2 on Friday of last week. But, she is learning so much at school so I can't really complain too much. I am so proud of her.

I volunteered at her school a couple of days last week for their book fair. That is always a lot of fun and the kids are so excited. I remember going to book fair when I was in elementary school and remember how much fun it was. So glad my girl enjoys it, too.

This year Annabella joined Brownies and I became a troop leader. I did Brownies when I was younger and loved it. I knew she would too. The activities and values it teaches are perfect for her. She loves crafts and helping others. At first she didn't like it at all and wanted to quit. I made her give it a little more time and she now admits she loves it. She plays Girl Scouts at home which I think is great to watch.

I'm back with some Lemonade

Sorry for being absent this week. I have been so busy. We had back to school, family visiting for the week and a birthday party on Sunday. I promise to be a better blogger now that I can catch my breath. I should have a bunch to share soon, too.

I have been working on these layouts for ACOT using the new Basic Grey Lemonade which I absolutely love! The colors and patterns are so pretty and fun. You can check out my whole article here.

Back to School

"Back to school! Back to school, to prove to Dad that I'm not a fool! I got my lunch packed up, my boots tied tight, I hope I don't get in a fight! Ohhhh, back to school! Back to school! Back to school!" I will give you a quarter if you can tell me what movie that quote is from (without googling it.)

This was the song playing in my mind this morning as I took Annabella to her first day of first grade. She was excited today and didn't seem nervous at all. Yesterday was a completely different story, though. It was a rough day and I could see her nerves getting the best of her. We went to school for Open House and met her teacher, saw her room and dropped off all of her supplies. Today, she is looking forward to seeing her Aunt Patti after school. Our family is arriving this afternoon and staying for 8 days. I think the excitement of seeing them distracted her from this being her first day. Getting ready for our company is also going to distract me from worrying about my baby all day. I hope she has a great day. Here is she is:

Had a bad day....

and my iPhone won't lie. Yes, this is the new iPhone I just got 3 days earlier. My old iPhone, which I absolutely loved, was having problems. The speaker wasn't working right and the genius at the Apple Store said it wouldn't be covered by my warranty. Ed, being the lover of cell phones that he is, got me a new 3Gs iPhone. Fast forward 3 days and it fell. Shattering along with it was my heart. Poor Ed. He spent 2 hours on the phone with Apple and AT&T and they decided to replace the screen for me. Thank goodness.

I now have my shiny new iPhone back and with a much more protective case. I love my iPhone so much (and yes, I would marry it if I could.) It is so useful and I don't want to imagine life without it. Thankfully I don't have to now.

Luau Birthday Party

This year Annabella decided she wanted to have a Luau themed party at our pool. Being the crafty mom that I am, I decided to make her invites. I have been very busy making these:

We also found these cute mini canvas bags in the dollar bin at Michaels. They were 3 for $1.00 so we grabbed a bunch. Using the same diecut as for the invitation, I cut felt and glued them on the bags. I think they turned out much cuter than the typical gift bags kids get at birthday parties.

Off to Super Tar-jay. Yes, we pronounce it as if it were French in our house.

It's her birthday.....

Today is Annabella's seventh birthday. I can't believe my sweet, funny girl is going to be seven. I know everyone says it but the time does goes by so fast. It seems like yesterday they handed me this tiny bundle at the hospital.

She was so excited this morning when she got her presents. The main focus of her gifts was American Girl stuff. She loves playing with her girls so much. Ed and his friend, who is a carpenter, made her these amazing bunk beds with 5 beds. I made them mattresses, pillows and quilts. I didn't finish. I made her 3 quilts (but not the one on the top bunk-she already had that one.) I have to finish the last 2. I spent so many nights burning the midnight oil. I am so tired today.

I have to run and get ready for our fun filled birthday fun day. We are headed to Superplay for some bowling with friends and then out to dinner tonight.

Here is a photo of her with her beds:

Here she is holding up 7 fingers:

I think I might need to stop at Starbucks on the way. Have a great day! I know we will!

Fancy Pants Kraft Kuts

Here are the latest LOs that I made for ACOT. I got to use the new Fancy Pants Kraft Kuts Girl line. I loved the shapes of the papers and kraft is my latest addiction. These products were perfect for my photos!

Crazy Busy

I have been so busy lately. We have a sick kitty. are preparing for my daughter to turn 7 (where has all of the time gone?), getting ready for back to school (16 more days) and also have family coming to visit. August is going to be a crazy month for us. It will be lots of fun but super crazy!

We have been doing so much lately. In addition to play dates and going swimming as much as possible, we took a road trip. We drove up to Orlando and I got to attend summer CHA. (For those of you who don't know it is the Craft and Hobby Association and it is a big show where scrapbooking manufacturer's roll out their new products.) I met so many amazing ladies in person that I have known online for years. We also made it to Disney the same day. Annabella loves the Magic Kingdom right now and luckily, Ed was along for all of it.

Here is a little something that I made. Scrapbooking is a true passion of mine, but I love creating with lots of different mediums. You know how everyone is using the totes at grocery stores instead of plastic bags. I love them, they are great for the earth, you can't beat the price, but who says they have to be UGLY? Not me. I decided to embellish a couple. Take a look

:

Off to scrapbook a little before I go sleep (hopefully, lol.) XOXO

Been Baking.....

I have been busy making lots of crafty things lately. I have 4 LOs I did for ACOT that I can share next week. I have also been doing lots of altered projects. Not sure why I am in such a crafty mood recently or what has been inspiring me, but I can't seem to stop.

Here is what I made yesterday for my daughter. She has lots of girls (the word d-o-l-l-s is strictly forbidden in our house) and it seems there is a birthday party for one of them just about everyday. What could be more fun than some tasty treats for the party? I made these yummy sugar cookies for her:



They were so simple to make and very inexpensive. You need polyester felt you can buy at the craft store in cream and pink (or whatever color you want for your icing), seed beads for the sprinkles, thread in cream and pink (or a color matching your icing), a needle with an eye small enough to fit through your beads, and some batting. I also added some vanilla scent to them to make them smell as yummy as they look.

I cut 2 cream circles 2.5" in diameter. I freehand cut the icing to fit inside the circles and look like icing. I wanted each one to look a little different. I placed the pink icing felt on top of one of the cream circles. Using a needle threaded with pink thread, I sewed on each bead. Here is a photo:




Next, I placed the two pieces of cream felt on top of each other and using a blanket stitch, sewed the edges together. I stopped about 3/4 of the way through and stuffed the cookies. I also added a drop of vanilla scent into the inside.

Enjoy!!!

Check it out!

I created an altered canvas for Annabella to hold her hairclips. She loved it!!! I loved that her clips weren't lying around and they had a "home." I love Simply Handmade, it's a magazine published by Scrapbook Trends. On a whim, I decided to submit the canvas I made for Annabella's hairclips. I was so excited that they requested my project and you can see it in this magazine. It's the August/September issue of Simply Handmade:



Well, after the luck I had submitting my canvas, I gave it another shot and sent in a gift bag and card set I created. I was even more excited that they requested it for publication in their Dec/Jan issue. I am on a roll, lol.