Graduation Cards

Two posts in one night... *shudder* I was able to spend some interrupted time in the café, thanks to a long birthday/anniversary/holiday weekend.  I still haven't been able to participate in challenges, but one of my favorite digi designers, started something new.  Sassy Studio Designs have begun a monthly Progressive challenge.  Click HERE for details.  This month's theme is Graduation.  Here are my entries:

The window is a new Nestabilities die.  I couldn't wait for this to hit the store shelves and last Friday, my local Michaels had them in.

Tea Party for 50!

Good Evening Family, Friends, Fellow Crafters, & Followers!!!!!
A post ago, I showed you a tea invite sample for my daughter's after school group, called, The Pullen Pearls.  The program was last week and it was beautiful.  The mothers and daughters had a wonderful time and I enjoy working behind the scenes.  My assignment was to create the program.  Thanks to my Silhouette Cameo, I made it happen.

I also decided that I wanted to make something special for each Pearl, so I made them a bookmark.  Nothing special.  I designed them in Microsoft Word, printed them on patterned paper, stamp, laminate, and cut.

Then, my mind continued to think what else could I do... I love party favors, so I quickly ran to the internet to see if I could find some pearl-like candy.  GUMBALLS immediately came to my mind.  When I showed the massive bag of gumballs to my daughter, right away, she said, these look like pearls.  I knew I hit the jackpot!

 

Thank you so much for stopping by.

UPDATE: Papers, Pieces & Projects are Everywhere

Good Morning Family, Friends, Fellow Crafters, & Followers!!!!!

I have been swimming in a sea of projects for 3 weeks now.  And the sad thing is, I'm still behind.  Last Friday, I sat down and had my daughter write out a list of teachers that she and her brother both shared this school year.  (Side bar - they attend a performing arts school & rotate teachers mid year, so they've had the same teachers during different quarters)  I could have fallen out of my chair when the total came to 9.  Not done yet.. She has 5 teachers and he has 3 teachers that they don't have in common.  17 Teacher Appreciation gifts had to be done.  Normally, I just do the main teachers, but I feel like the others would get slighted, if everyone just thought of the main teachers.  So, off to the Cafe I go.

Teacher Survival Kit contains:
Paperclips - to help you hold it together
Eraser - to remind you that everyone makes mistakes
Starburst - for that extra burst of energy when you need it
Bandaid - to heal hurt feelings
Rubberband - to remind you to be flexible
Gum - to help you stick to it
Laffy Taffy - to remind you to keep your sense of humor
100 Grand Candy bar - so you'll be paid what you're worth
(I found this list on the net a couple of years ago)

1) First set of 8 medium sized paint cans.

2)Next set of 4, is kit in a medium gable box.  This is one of my favorite boxes EVER!!!

3) Next 3, teacher lunchboxes with snacks.  I had no idea how hard it would be to find these tins.  When I didn't need any, I'd see them all the time. Cashier at Michaels Arts & Crafts told me it was a seasonal item.  I ended up going to Hobby Lobby, where I swiped these last 3 off the shelf.  I tried several ideas before I settled on just using vinyl.

Snacks inside:

PARTY MIX - because you know how to mix fun in our everyday routine

POPCORN – because I am bursting with appreciation for you

RAISINS – because you are helping my parents raise a smart child

PEPPERMINTS – because you show true commit”MINT” to your job

CHOCOLATE – because you are so sweet

PEANUTS – because I know sometimes we drive you nuts

What else on my agenda????  My daughter is part of an after school mentoring program for 5th Graders.  They are having a Mother/Daughter tea this month, and the teacher asked me to do the invitations in a way that the girls can put them together.  The wheels in my head had already turned, since I remembered seeing a Silhouette Cameo file that would be PERFECT!!!  These are the 2 samples I came up with:



The kits I put together.



Final Project.  The seal you see in the kit was placed on the envelope to close it.

Still working..... Last weekend, some friends and I celebrated a new arrival on the way.  I am a firm believer that everyone should have at least one good surprise party in their lifetime, and we got Sarah good!!!

Baby Shower Favors

Decorated onesis and tshirt for her 2 years old.

Thank you all so much for taking the time to stop by and/or leave a comment!

Liebster Award

Hello Family, Friends, Followers, & Fellow Crafters!!!

My new cutting toy, "Silhouette Cameo" arrived on Friday and I couldn't wait to play.  I've used one a few times before, so I had the basics covered.  I dived in as soon as the family settled into our Friday relaxation mode.  I worked on a project for my daughter's after school mentoring program, them I jumped over to Scraps of Color, to participate in the "Friday Night Challenge".  It was hard keeping up with the challenges, but I also wasn't prepared.  Here are my two entries with my new toy:

Challenge 1:  create Mother's Day cards using, (1) stamped or diecut sentiment, (2) A border punch, (3) 1 pc of cardstock, (4) 2 pcs of pattern paper, and (5) 1 additional embellishment.

Challenge 3:  Your choice, create whatever you like a card, ATC, bookmark, LO, altered item, etc

Card design from Birdscards.com

To finish off the weekend, I got a surprise email from Wrinkle Free Diva, one of my sister-friends I met on the Cricut Messageboards.  She recognized my blog with the Liebster Award! That was a sweet surprise, especially since I've been finding it hard to keep my blog updated as I did before changing it's name. 

I want to say, thank you to Wrinkle Free Diva over at Still Young and Croppin!  Here are the details about the award:
                                                             
This Award was designed to be a blog award in the "Pay it Forward" fashion. Once you have been nominated you award it to five blogs that you like that have fewer than 200 followers to encourage visitors to their blog.

Rules for Acceptance.

Thank the person who gave you the award and link back to their blog. Post the award onto your blog. Give the award to five bloggers that have fewer than 200 followers. Leave a comment on their blog letting them know that you have given them this Awesome Award. Pay it Forward.
 
Here are some blogs that have caught my eye and I think deserve this award. Please check them out. Their work is beautiful and their styles are so unique!
Krafthead Kreations

Taylor-Made Creations

Renee Hagler

World Travel Scrapper

Thanks for stopping by!

When HOBBY Meets HOME

Hello Family, Friends, Followers & Fellow Crafters!!!!

I believe when you start this hobby called scrapbooking, you have no idea where it will take you.  I also believe the longer you do it, the more uses you find for it, other than the reason you started in the first place.  When we purchased our first home, my husband painted several rooms.  One room on our initial paint list, never got painted.  Why? (1) I felt like he might have been tired of painting and (2) everyone who came over said why change the room, it matches the comforter set he already has.  That room was my son's tiny bedroom.  Although we purchased the blue paint initially, I decided not to push the issue.

I was asking my son what he wanted for his 9th Birthday and all he could come up with was a cell phone.  Yeah, right baby, try again.  Before he left for a week vacation, he decided on a room makeover (imitating what his big sister got for her 10th bday).  I was excited but didn't know how to pull it off in such a short time, especially since hubby was headed out of town for the weekend.  In the two days prior to the kids returning, hubby and  I pulled this off.  Of course we're still waiting on a bed and a lamp, but my son was so pleased and didn't care that it was 100% complete.

Initial Room Colors:  2 walls green, 2 walls blue

First layer of cream going on. (I know it looks white, but it's cream)

Hubby surprised me by adding the orange the same night.  I went to bed at midnight and thought he was coming to bed after eating a snack, but he painted instead.

While he was busy painting, I was in the Cafe cutting vinyl.  I hadn't quite figured out how I was going to place these, but I knew it was on the middle strip around the room.

My son's only request was Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.  I nearly choked since he's only started watching cartoons in the last year.  I wanted an entertainment theme, and he almost derailed me.  LOL!!!



The hooks on the dresser will go on the wall, so he can hang his bathrobe and clothes for the following day.





Thank you for stopping by!

New Season...New Things!!!!!

Good Morning Family, Friends, Followers, & Fellow Crafters!!!

I have been trying to update my blog since I returned from a crop weekend, 2 weeks ago.  Long story made short, Last Thursday, I asked my dad to hold my cell phone as I continued packing the kids in his car for them to head out of town.  45 minutes later, I realized my cell was in his car and he had just hit 95 North; all my pics were in my phone.  Then Plan B, use my camera.  BUT, I can't find my card reader.... He mailed my phone to me (thanks dad!!!!) since they aren't coming home until later this week.  Still haven't found my card reader.

On to crafting...

The first new thing I tried this season was rhinestones.  I ordered some early March because I had an  idea swimming around in my head.  This project was a challenge. From the rhinestone material (so hard to cut through. I used deep cut housing blade with multi-cut 3) to getting the size right.  I still didn't have the right hole size when it came down to placing the rhinestones, so I had to place them one by one, instead of using the brush. Aaargghhh!! I used Sure Cut A Lot (Version 2), and I selected the rhinestone size based on the stones I had, but they still didn't fall in the holes.  I'll be going back to square 1 to try this again.  I do like how it turned out for my first try but I have a month to get this right because I need to make a few things for Mother's day.  Any tips, leave them for me, please!!

The other new thing I tried is a Silhouette Cameo. Wait, I've used the machine before, but I finally tried the Print & Cut Feature.  The machine is not mine (thanks for letting me play Lisa), but hopefully, one will show up at my door soon.  I played around with the software a week before the crop so I could prepare to get things done.  I was like a kid in a candy store once I got to do it.  I was giddy with joy making this all happen.  Here are the results:

The digi below is Sassy Cassie from Sassy Studio Designs.

The digi below is Jesalyn from LaLaLand Crafts.  The sketch design is from MojoMonday. I love using their blog for sketch idea.

Thanks for stopping by.  I'll be back in a few days to share some page layouts.  Have a GREAT week ALL!!!

Prayer Box

Good Morning Family, Friends, Followers, & Fellow Crafters

My project for the month of February was to complete a Prayer/Encouragement box.  I joined Qadirah over at ModPodge Designs Scraps, for a worthy cause to help a family and community deal with their losses.  Too often young lives are taken away from us by senseless crime.  We created prayer boxes filled with prayers, poems and "in memory" sayings.  As many projects as I've done, this is my first one that I had to mail to be given to someone else.  I had to break out my shell at some point right?

I used a basic white box from Michaels Arts & Crafts store and covered it with paper.  I divided the box into 4 sections:  Encourage, Faith, Healing and Peace.  I placed scriptures, poems, and quotes on the tabs and pages.  I also left blank lined pages and places for pictures.  I forgot to take a picture of all the sides of the box but here's what I do have:

Thank you for stopping by.  Ahh, that wonderful time of the year is upon me where I must start planning for a 4 day March Scrapbook Retreat.  It's time to buckle down and get some sketches created for those overdue pages I haven't seen since last November.

Have a GREAT week ALL!!