Milk Carton Container...

Hi there! Well, I wanted to finish this yesterday but ended up spending the entire time both girls were in school cleaning up their room. Ugh. It had gotten so bad, I knew it would completely overwhelm them to do it on their own. Plus, I was able to weed out some things without them all of a sudden deciding they HAD to keep it after not having touched it in forever. I'm sure you know what I mean. I didn't think it would take the whole time, but it did. Sigh...guess I'd better stay on top of them picking up after themselves, huh? (Insert slightly guilty and blushing, but not sos happy, mom face here).

I still have some more things to go through in there, but decided today I wasn't going to do it. I finished the project I started on Sunday instead. I picked up a tutorial on Becky Robert's Inking Idaho blog. Look on the right side of her blog. Following the tutorial led to this...

Cute, eh? I think so! Imagine the milk cartons from elementary school and you have a good idea of the size of these. I'm going to fill them with Easter goodies for my friend Kelly's boys. The directions and photos in the tutorial are very clear and easy to follow. There's even a cool feature that allows you to open the milk carton from the bottom, preserving the decoration on top. I thought that was nifty-and no, I'm not gonna share that part.

I used CTMH's Clover Meadow and Dutch Blue cardstock as well as Papertrey Ink's Summer Sunrise cardstock. I also used DCWV's Glittered Stack (bought a long time ago) in colors I thought would be suitable for young men and still spring looking. My Scallop Circle Nestabilities and some circle punches were used for the tags as well as CTMH's White Daisy grosgrain ribbon. The ribbon on the handle is from Bazzil and I found that in the Hot Spot bin at Archiver's a few months ago. I used my Cropodile to punch the holes for inserting the ribbon.

The stamping is done in Memento's Tuxedo Black ink (picked up at Hobby Lobby) and the images are from CTMH. The chick is from C1146 Super Set. The bunny is from D1141 So Sweet Seasons and the happy easter is from C1222 Seasonal Thoughts. I think the sets might be retired by now, though. I used my Koh-i-noor pencils, odorless mineral spirits and blending stumps to color the images.

To make the hole in the handle here's what I did (since I don't own any of the SU punches that Becky used in the tutorial) I marked my cardstock at the measurements provided and then punched circles with the outermost part of the circle hitting the mark. Then I took my craft knife and a ruler and cut from the uppermost part of one circle to the other. I did the same on the bottom parts of the circle. This way you can achieve the same type of look.

I think that about covers this project. If I've left anything out, please ask away.

Remember my grrrrr moment with the yarn for my project the other night? I found a different yarn to try the same part of the project and it went together like a breeze. So, I'm tickled about that. I'm getting close to finishing this project and then I'll share. I'm getting pretty excited about it.

The snow yesterday didn't last too long, thank goodness, but the wind picked up so it just wasn't the most pleasant of days. Today is sunny and nice, but April is slated to come in with a storm. I hear we have a couple of storms waiting in the wings, too. I'm not really complaining though, as I know we really need the moisture. We had wildfires earlier this winter (which is highly unusual) due to the dry conditions resulting from very little snow. So, it's all good, albeit inconvenient.

Thanks so much for stopping by. I highly recommend Becky's Tutorials if you are of a mind to make something like this!

Jeanne

Octagon Basket...

Hello there! It's Monday? What the heck happened to the weekend? LOL I can't believe how fast it went. I was busy, busy, busy, but don't have a lot to share for the stuff I did, darn. I meant to post this last night, but got side-tracked. Well, actually, we ended up going to Sweet Tomatoes for dinner (we got a buy one adult meal, get one free coupon and it expired yesterday, so heck yea, we had to take advantage of it). And then it was time to get the girls ready for bed because they go back to school today. Then I watched/listened to Celebrity Apprentice while I fought with some yarn. Seriously...worked all evening and still haven't finished the small piece I'm working on (grrr...hate it when that happens).

So what did I do? Well, on Saturday I was all excited to create, really I was. Only I think I had a 3x3 inch square open space on my desk. Yes, it was that messy. So, I thought I'd clean up a bit before getting to create. Um. Yea. THAT clean up a bit ended up taking a couple of hours. How in the world I could make such a mess in such a small corner is beyond me. But it looked so pretty when I was done. So much so, I didn't have the heart to mess it up so quickly. I had to admire the cleanliness for awhile, so no creating was done. Then I worked a bit on organizing some digi stuff and worked on a yarn project. Made progress on all fronts, but nothing to show for it. Sigh...

Then yesterday I did my Sunday stuff and decided to print off some tutorials and patterns for creating. That took a bit longer than I planned. On a good note though, I learned/discovered that I CAN indeed adjust my printer settings to enlarge and reduce a copy to a specific percentage. I didn't know that before. I thought I had to use the presets on the printer. But I scrolled through the options and way down at the bottom was a custom setting. Really, that should be the first option, but I didn't design the thing. Getting the percentages figured out was key to my creating the project I DID get done yesterday and here it is...

I love this basket. I had plans to make several different baskets that I've seen in the blogosphere, but this is the only one that got finished. I got the idea from this basket made by Claire Brennan, of the Waltzing Mouse Makes blog, here. You can find the template here. I needed to print one at 100%, one at 99% and one at 101%. And yea, I know how to do that now! Yippee skippy!

I used an EK Success Inspirables paper called Seasonal Flowers (I think). I bought it a couple of years ago at a scrapping store that just closed down earlier this month. I remember liking it for some holiday pages I saw there and of course, I never made them. But it sure looks pretty on this basket, doesn't it? I just followed the notes on the template while making it. I used a Martha Stewart border punch on the footer. It fits almost perfectly to punch once. Then I snipped off the excess and used a corner rounder to round off the corner pieces. The cardstock is Vineyard Berry from CTMH. I punched the flower using an EK Success punch and a Martha Stewart punch for the leaves. The button was in my stash...I got the bright idea to separate all my vintage-y looking buttons and put them in a glass jar a couple of months ago. It sure looks pretty, but I can't remember the company names! Oh well. I used a tiny narrow scrap of Vineyard Berry cardstock for the center of the button. I was too lazy to look for floss, to be honest.

I'm thinking of giving this, filled with some candy or something, to one of the girls' teachers...

And there you have my only project to show for this weekend's efforts. I am working on another project and am almost done with it. I hope to finish today when Jessica is in school and it's actually quiet around here, but we'll see. I've got a house to clean up (again...the girls have been home for a week and you can tell)!

And what's up with Mother Nature? Did she get her seasons mixed up? We had a nice, warm weekend and all that snow from last week's blizzard was melting so well. Woke up this morning and it's cold and snowing again. Sigh...it's not a blizzard, which is good, and I know we need the moisture, but it's spring! Shouldn't we be getting rain by now and not snow? Not if you live in CO...where it can snow in April and March is actually the snowiest month on average. Now you know why I can't plant anything until Mother's Day...LOL...by then we should be past any freezing temps...

Okay, I'm done blathering...thanks for stopping by! I hope I'll have something to share a little later this afternoon, but if not...tomorrow for sure.

Jeanne

Silly, Silly Dog!

Notice any interlopers in the dollhouse?

Remember I told you that Sarah (the cat) used to park herself in the living room of the dollhouse? Well, it MUST be comfy if Buster does it too! After I posted a few minutes ago, I got up to get the kids moving on brushing their teeth and when I walked back into the living room (ours) I saw him out of the corner of my eye.

Silly dog!

Jeanne

Crafty Afternoon...

The storm has moved on and it was nice and sunny (but very cool) most of the day. Let the melting begin!

The girls and I had a fun afternoon. First, we chatted with Erin...

Then we finally got started on making some origami flowers. Erin gave me the link a few weeks ago. You can find the instructions here. The link should take you to a PDF page. If it doesn't work right, try clicking here. You'll see lots of free craft ideas there. The flowers are drying, and we still need to make stems...so I'll share them when they are completely done. Here are a couple of pictures of the girls working on the petals though...

Then we started working on beaded ladies. I received one as a RAK from Erin and she thought the girls would have fun making their own crazy ladies. Only Jessica insists hers is NOT a crazy lady, just an uncrazy lady...LOL

The girls took their own pictures of their beaded beauties...they insisted. All I did was set up the wire, they did the rest on their own. They did a super job and had a ton of fun.

Steve got home a little earlier than we expected and Amy helped him work on a computer...she got to help tighten some screws and did a mighty find job of it, too!

It was definitely a fun afternoon...

Thanks for stopping by. I hope your weekend has started off wonderfully.

Jeanne

Sledding Fun Digi Layout

Last one for today...Amy sat next to me as I created this and gave me her input as well as telling me what she wanted to journal...

Great White North kit by Mary Fran of NitwitCollections and layered template from Collection 31 by Kay Miller Designs. Font is How Cute Am I? (not sure where I got it, though)

And now I am done for the day...thanks for visiting!

Jeanne

Jessica on the Torpedo Sled...

Hello again! Steve made it home about 3pm or so, three hours after he started! At least he made it safe and sound.

You know it's been a dry winter when he immediately pulled out a blow up sled he bought for the girls earlier this year so they could ride it for the FIRST time (in the snow that is).

This is why I LOVE digital scrapping...I made a layout of a picture I took less than 2 hours ago!

We had a lull in the storm where it didn't snow for an hour or so. I think I was more distracted by waiting for Steve to get home and didn't think to send the girls out to play. Steve, being a South Dakotan, is much more eager to get them out in the snow. Although they didn't stay out for long...the temps have plummeted to the teens.

Anyway, Jessica had fun for all of one run on this sled. Then she slid off and decided it was really too cold to mess with it any more. LOL

I really like how this photo came out and had to get it scrapped right away!

Thanks so much for stopping by. The weather people say this storm will be out of here tomorrow by mid morning, clearing from north to south. We are north of Denver, so I hope they are right! One report I heard was our town has gotten 10 inches so far. But the amounts vary by location. This is a huge storm that spans pretty much the entire state from what I've heard. No matter how you look at it, despite the inconvenience it brings, we dearly need the moisture.

I have some photos of Amy that I hope to scrap next. We'll see how it goes...

Jeanne

Almost forgot...I used Kay Miller Designs kit (a collab kit with Robin Carlton) called Snow Princess and a template from Collection 29. Font is Rebecca script from Darcy Baldwin at Sweet Shoppe Designs.

Guess "They" Were Right This Time...

And now they are calling it a blizzard! Look at what it looks like around here at about Noon on Thursday, March 26, 2009...

The first three shots are taken from my front porch (zoomed to try to show you our street sign) and the last shot is taken from our French Door into the back yard. All this accumulation is from this morning (roughly 6am) up to now and they say we may not have seen the worst of it. Guess Mother Nature wants to make up for a winter of very little snow all in one storm!

I called Steve, at about noon, to see if he planned on leaving work early and he was already on the road coming home. Usually it takes about 25 minutes for him to get home...who knows how long it will take today~it's now almost an hour after I called him. I've shoveled the drive twice in about an hour or so and shoveled about 4 inches of snow each time. Of course, the wind is blowing a lot of it around, so it may have been the same 4 inches twice!

Impressive, huh? Good thing the girls and I don't have to go anywhere!

Jeanne

Recent Critter Creations...

Happy Wednesday to you!

I took the girls to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science this morning and boy, was it busy! We only stayed a couple of hours at most because it was getting too crowded for my comfort level. I guess since it's Spring Break and the weather isn't too spring-like, it stands to reason that people want to be indoors. We enjoyed ourselves though. They have a new exhibit about earthquakes, volcanoes and tornadoes that was interesting. I think going again when it's not quite so busy would allow us to really take it in. Jessica also thought it was too noisy/loud and wanted to leave that area. But they had some good hands-on areas for the kids to better understand nature's fury at times! Even if I had taken my camera, I wouldn't have been able to take any photos.

I've taken the first two lessons in the Photo editing class and am just not sure I am getting it. To me you can tell the photos are edited and the changes look a bit harsh to me. I have to admit to seeing some improvement over the original, I guess I need to play around a LOT more to get the hang of it...when it's too much and when it improves the overall photo.

I've also continued to work on crocheted critters and thought I'd share...unedited...LOL

The Brontosaurus and Pony are from Gourmet Crochet and the bunny is another eggling from Amigurumi Paradise.

Sorry this is so short...gotta get the girls to swim class...

Thanks for stopping by! Have a wonderful Wednesday!

Jeanne

Jessica's Wild Hair - Digi Layout

Happy Monday! The girls have been contented playing around the house, so I took the opportunity to work on a layout of Jessica's Wild Hair for Spirit Week.

Journaling reads: Jessica took a little stroll on the wild side for Spirit week. She wanted her hair in ponytails like Amy's. The thing is, Jessica really doesn't like her hair brushed because she says it hurts. After only 3 ponytails and lots of "ows," she was done. I managed to squeak one more in. She was proud of her "wild and crazy" hair. March 2, 2009

I used another kit from Kay Miller Designs. This one is called Cranberry Infusion. I also used a template from Collection 25. I love templates because they give me a direction in which to take my layout and I get to scrapping much more quickly. So you see...even in digi scrapping, I am a copier! LOL

Because I've been re-bitten by the digi scrapping bug, I just signed up for Jessica Sprague's self-paced class on editing photos. I've thought about it for a while and since today is the last day for the discount, I figured I'd better make a decision. So we'll see how it goes. I absolutely love Jessica's classes. She makes digi stuff so easy with her videos and step by steps. If you are even remotely thinking you might want to dip your toes into digi, I strongly recommend taking a class of hers. You won't regret it for a minute. The extra bonus is you have access to the classes FOREVER so you can go back time and again to refresh yourself.

I probably should get going and work on completing some to-dos that need getting done. Have a great day and thanks so much for stopping by!

Jeanne

Hey! It's a DIGI-Layout!

What do you think about that? I haven't been digi-scrapping in SO long. My friend,Wendy, has been a digi scrappin' maniac lately and Kim & Nona keep sharing these awesome layouts and their work has inspired me to want to scrap again!

I started this layout early this morning and just finished it up. ETA: Whoa! I'm working with PSE 7.0 and still getting used to it. On my version before I made the image small enough to post, the white frames were NOT this big and that ring around the one picture didn't show any white. Yikes...guess I have some learnin' to do!

Second ETA: I did NOT like how the image looked so I saved it again and this one looks much more like what I saw as I was creating it.

 

Journaling reads: Spirit week kicked off with Crazy Hair Day. Amy was eager to participate and really liked having braids all over her head.

I used Kay Miller Designs' Wild About You kit and a template of hers from Collection 28.

I'm honestly not sure if it is a bit too busy, but overall, I like it. When I saw this kit in her shop, I immediately thought of the crazy hair both girls wore during Spirit Week. I moved the focal photo over a bit so you can only see one eye because when I looked at the full image, I think she looks a bit wild in the eyes. I liked how moving the image over worked because you can see she's happy and a bit of the braided hair.

Now I need to work on Jessica's layout...

Thanks for looking! It felt good to work with digi again. It's been awhile, hasn't it?

Jeanne

Cupcake in the Oven...Thanks to Lauren Meader!

I am always in awe of the creativity and talent of some people. Three lovely ladies in particular, Kathi Carlson, Lauren Meader and Becca Feeken. I wish I had an ounce of their creativity. But since I don't, and they share so generously, I just copy what they think up! Right now I'm indulging in a Lauren fix since she just released some fun new templates on Papertrey Ink. Yesterday I shared the Captured Card Case and my version of the cards she shared in a blog post. Today I copied another idea she shared here on her blog. I really had fun with this one!

Honestly, this may not be the most practical gift, but it sure is cute! I decided to make the packaging the "card" as well. I picked up three pairs of socks so I can make a second cupcake if I want. I thought it would be fun to have a swirled frosting look by using two different colors of socks. I like how the colors look together. Because I am on a polka dot kick, I stamped polka dots on white cardstock in Holiday Red and Bubblegum. I needed something to decorate the top of the holder and chose to make a paper pieced cupcake using a Hero Arts set called, appropriately, Cupcakes~it comes with the sentiments, too.

To make the cupcake, I used Bamboo cardstock and stamped the bottom part of the cupcake with Desert Sand ink. I wanted to add a little depth to the image I produced, so I pulled out my waterbrush and was reminded yet again why I don't like the thing. I have 3-4 different waterbrushes, each bought with the hope that it was the waterbrush that was the problem and not the operator. Unfortunately, it must be the operator, because the same thing happens every single time I try to use one. No matter how well I brush off the water from the bristles, no matter what I use to brush off the excess water, I get, time and time again, blobs of water onto my project. I have to face the fact that I am indeed waterbrush challenged. Thankfully, the excess water drops didn't appear to mess up my image too much. I used paper from the Spring Stack by DCWV for the frosting on the cupcake and added some Stickles for extra bling.

The rest of the project is pretty straightforward, I think. Watch Lauren's video on her blog to see how to make the cupcake. It's not hard at all, but you may find yourself fiddling and futzing with it a bit.

Stamps: Cupcake (Hero Arts), Polka Dot Basics (PTI)
Paper: Bamboo, Bubblegum, Holiday Red, White (CTMH), Spring Stack (DCWV)
Inks: Bubblegum, Desert Sand, Holiday Red, Black (CTMH)
Accessories: Stickles, Zig-Zag border punch (EK Success), rhinestone bling, Ribbon (Michaels), toddler socks (Target), waterbrush (grrrrr...)

Thanks again for stopping by...there is a slight chance I could be back yet again today...we'll see how it goes. If not, have a great start to your week. The girls are on Spring Break this week, so I'll be busy keeping them entertained and may not have much time to create. Just a heads-up for you.

Jeanne

Easter Wishes Card...

Happy Sunday to you! I finished the card I mentioned in my post yesterday and would like to share it with you. Brace yourself...I almost can't believe it myself...I bought and used a wood mounted rubber stamp. Yes, I did! I know...I don't usually enjoy stamping when I can't see what I am doing, but in this case, I made an exception(and I even discovered, after I sat down to use the stamp, the stamp on the block is mounted upside down! Gosh, it's enough to make me a nervous wreck!) It's ALL Archiver's fault. They had this card on display in the store and I totally fell in love with the coloring on the image. The artist used markers and lots of sparkle, it's just captivating. Actually, the link I shared does NOT do the card justice at all. I don't know that my card does either, but here's my version...

I purposely made the photo a little bit bigger so you can see the details better. Hopefully, it's not too big for your screen.  I chose to use my Koh-i-noor pencils, odorless mineral spirits and blending stumps to color this image in rather than mess it up by using markers. After I was done coloring, I added some Shimmerz paints...Wheat and Celery. It's hard to see the shimmer in the photo though. I added Icicle Stickles to the flowers. (That's what I was waiting on to dry before I could finish the card yesterday). In my mind I initially thought to use just white and maybe a border punch, but I decided the image was too large and I wanted the focus to be on it rather than it competing with other things. Then I thought using glitter cardstock would enhance the sparkle in the image. I kept it super simple as you can see. Do you think it was worth my breaking down and actually using a woodie? LOL

I will be back in just a bit because I have another project to share, but I think this card deserves to stand alone.

Stamps: Egg with Violets (Northwoods Rubber Stamps), Mixed Messages (PTI)
Cardstock: White, Glittered Cardstock (DCWV)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Momento)
Accessories: Cuttlebug with Swiss Dots, Koh-i-noor pencils, odorless mineral spirits, blending stumps, Shimmerz paints, Pink Carnation Organdy ribbon (CTMH), White textured ribbon (Walmart), Stickles, Rectangle Nestabilities

Thanks for stopping by. Check back in a bit for the next post.

Jeanne

Captured Card Case, Mini Cards & a Butterfly...

Hi there!

What a post title, huh? I've got a couple of things to show you today, yea! First off, I copied Lauren Meader's Captured Card Case and Mini Cards today. She shared how to make it in a video on her blog here as part of this month's Papertrey Ink release sneak peeks. I just loved the whole presentation, especially how she showed to make custom envies with liners. Now, I don't own the Wishing You set she used in the video, (but I'd love to...someday) so I improvised with another PTI set called Floral Frenzy. Here's the result of my efforts...

The pattern paper I used is from my stash. I've had it forever and keep my "old" paper tucked away in a box. I guess there is something to be said for not purging everything old, huh? I used Holiday Red from CTMH and some black from my stash. The ink colors are from CTMH, Clover Meadow and Holiday Red. I took the second picture to show the green ribbon slide. It's from CTMH and comes white. I sponged Clover Meadow ink on it and just slid the ribbon through the holes to tie it. If you watch Lauren's video (be prepared...it's a long one...22 minutes) she takes you step by step through the making of the cards and envelopes. She also has all the dimensions for the project typed up in the post. I used Fiskars Scallop border punch and EK Sucess' new zig-zag border punch. It adds a little bit of embossing, which is neat.

I finished another little Amigurumi Eggling the other night...it's a friend for Jessica's other butterfly. I have to say though, this one's wings came together much more easily than the wings on the previous one I made. LOL  On this one I even added some pink chalk to make the cheeks a little rosy. *Ü*

I had hoped to get at least one other card done today, but began working on the card case while waiting for the other image to dry (it's a little sparkly).I ran out of time/motivation to finish it today. Hopefully I can get it done tomorrow...

Thanks so much for stopping by! I hope your first weekend of spring is going well so far! We may get a thunderstorm before the day is out...we'll see. Oh and while it's in the 70s today...there is also a possibility of snow on Monday! Gotta love living in Colorado, the weather is never boring...LOL

Jeanne

 

Walden and Schtuff...

Happy Wednesday to you! I hope you are having a good week. I have been busy cleaning up around the house, which is why I have not posted...haven't been to my little corner since the weekend.

Are you like me and able to ignore the mess around you for a while, then one day, it's like you see it all at once? Please tell me I'm not the only one this happens to? Well, the other night Steve wandered by where I was sitting, on his way to the printer. He glanced at the TV and exclaimed, "I don't know how you can SEE the TV it's so dusty." He proceeded to grab some cleaner and paper towels and cleaned off the screen (insert guilty blush on my face-I hadn't noticed) I realized, in my knitting/crocheting/crafty frenzy recently, I've let a lot of things "slide" around the house. I mean, really slide. Down toward the "it's downright embarrassing how messy things are around here" end of the slide (hanging head in shame).

So, I have been working hard on "earning my keep" around here. The bathrooms got a good scrub down on Monday and yesterday it was the kitchen's turn. I cleared off my housekeeping nemesis, the breakfast bar. I love that thing when it's cleaned up, but I also hate it cleaned up. I've got a hubby who thinks any clear and open space is fair game for plunking down whatever he happens to have in his hands. So, the breakfast bar looked great...until he got home! LOL Then I moved onto the fridge. The inside at least. I don't know how so much gets spilled in the cracks and crevices of a fridge. I cleaned and scrubbed and threw out the budding science experiments (it was trash day). I even drew blood three of my fingers. I'd take a picture, but they are on my right hand...suffice it to say, I worked through the discomfort. The inside of the fridge is gleaming...well, all except one shelf.

I meant to finish that last shelf, but it was gorgeous outside and my white van was...well...beige. And I thought, I'll take advantage of the fact that both girls are in school right and the beautiful day, and give the van a good scrub down. Then I was going to finish up that last shelf on the fridge door. After I washed the van on the outside, the inside looked white instead of blue/gray, so it got a thorough cleaning, too. When I took the vacuum back into the house, I looked at the clock and realized it was time to pick up the girls! Wow that time went fast! After we got home, I was plumb tuckered out and never did get to that shelf. I haven't mustered up the motivation to get to it just yet. I had to put band-aids and Neo on my knuckles when I went to bed last night, they were so sore. LOL

Oh and get this (then I'll share Walden), on the way to school we passed by a house (well, lots of them, but this one in particular caught my eye) that had a bunch of logs on the front lawn with a sign that said: free, free, free. Apparently the owner cut down a tree and put the logs out for the taking. I thought about trying to load some up in the van, but they were too big for me to get on my own. So I told Steve when he got home from work. While Amy and I were at her Brownie meeting last night, he took Jess and went to the house (that it was right next to the house we rented before we got married meant he knew exactly where to go) and brought home ALL the logs! Cool...free firewood that will last us through most of a good, cold winter....NEXT year! He even vacuumed the mess from the logs in the back of the van. Nice, huh?

Okay...so if you got this far, thanks! It's not been ALL work all the time. In my spare time (ha, ha) I have been working on the third and final character in my Wubbzy pattern book. This one is Walden, the ever-so curious critter on the show.

There are 22 of those white polka dots on the shirt! And his head...it's huge compared to his body (but he's that disproportionate on the show, too). I had a devil of a time finding some light blue yarn of the weight I needed. You can find light blue baby yarn up the ying-yang, but that weight is too narrow for the size hook I needed to use. I tried some and it looked awful. I finally found some cotton yarn that sort of worked. It's still a little darker than I would ideally like, but I think it is okay. Heck, I know the girls don't care and I probably shouldn't either. I also ended up buying a huge skein of yarn for that bitty tie. That's a difficult color to find as well. Ah well...I'm sure I can use the yarn on other projects.

The characters were fun to make for the most part, but I have to admit, I'm glad to be done making those fingers and hands! LOL The girls can fight over who gets Walden...I'm not making another one!

Well goodness...I got windy today. Sorry about that! If you didn't read all of my blather and just looked at the picture...thanks for stopping by! I may try to create something else today, but I have to finish the fridge, first, and it's early release day, so I get a shortened "kid-free" time. So, I'm not making any promises...

Jeanne

Fun With Lauren Meader's Templates...

Last night was Papertrey Ink's monthly release party. While I rarely join in on the fun, I'm always excited to see, in their entirety, what the fabulous designers have come up with. I subscribe to many of their blogs and enjoy the week leading up to the release with the sneak peeks they share. Lauren Meader, of My Time, My Creations, My Stampendence, has been designing templates to be released each month. For $5 you not only get the template, you also receive an idea file with 5 not seen before projects and the directions on how to make them. Lauren's enthusiasm for her creations is contagious! While I love the stamp sets being offered this month, I'm going to have to save my pennies before getting any of them. I did however, indulge in buying some of Lauren's templates. And I spent this afternoon playing with them. Here's what I came up with...
 

This is the File It With Flair template. Here is one post that sold me on the template. And this is the other post with a project I loved (you'll have to scroll down a bit-although the first project is adorable and made me get that template, too. I told you Lauren was good). I would LOVE to own that tulip stamp set~someday!!) I "made do" with another PTI stamp set called Floral Frenzy. I wanted something with a spring feel, so I used Pink Carnation, Kiwi and Sunkiss Yellow. I punched the Martha Stewart Butterfly Trio butterflies with Pink Carnation cardstock (all CTMH except the punch).

I thought the idea of a woven basket was too fun to resist. This was released in February, but I was slow in getting it. LOL I liked they way she has you do the weaving. I added an extra piece to weave a third time and folded the edges that extended above the basket edge down and glued them so they wouldn't flip back up. I could have cut them off I suppose, especially since I covered the top edge, but I wasn't sure at that point what I was going to do to finish the basket. Then I got the idea to use the Martha Stewart lace doily border punch to mimic a doily folded over the edges of the basket. I punched Vanilla Cream cardstock and sponged Parchment ink on the edges to give it a vintage look. The ribbon is from CTMH from my consultant days...I don't even know if they sell it anymore. The basket itself is made with kraft cardstock and sponged with Brown Bag ink. I'm thinking of maybe using it as a teacher gift. 

No cards from me today, but hopefully these are just as fun to see. If you haven't checked out Lauren's blog, you really should. She is super energetic, super talented and I wish I had an ounce of her creativity!

Thanks for stopping by. Hope you have a terrific week!

Jeanne

 

Hello Friend...

In keeping with the coloring I've been practicing, I found an adorable little chick on one of my DJ Inkers CDs. Unfortunately, I just scrolled through and copied ones I liked for printing and didn't note the name of the CD I got it from. (I have several) I had fun coloring this with my Koh-i-noor woodless pencils, odorless mineral spirits and blending stumps. I actually colored the image last week, but added some Pink Shimmerz and set it aside to dry, then never got back to it. I have to admit that I just love how I colored those shoes! Today, I had an idea for how to finish it and this is the result...

I took a break the other night after dinner and went to Archiver's to wander around. Imagine my surprise when I saw that they had Nestabilities on display! They had just gotten them in and while I already own the basics, I eagerly picked up the Labels One set! That I had a coupon made the purchase that much more fun. I've been itching to use the dies since then.

I decided to use a Cuttlebug embossing folder (and I've not yet labeled them, so I don't remember the name-it came with some dies, though) and I added more of the Pink Shimmerz to the centers of the flowers. I popped the focal image up with pop dots.

 
Digital Image from DJ Inkers CD
Cardstock: Bubblegum, White (CTMH)
Stamps: Mixed Messages (PTI)
Ink: Bubblegum (CTMH)
Accessories: Pink Shimmerz, paintbrush, Cuttlebug/embossing folder, pop dots, pink satin ribbon from Michaels, Koh-i-noor pencils, odorless mineral spirits, blending stumps

I hope you are enjoying your weekend so far! Thanks for stopping by and hopefully, I'll be back again soon (not necessarily today) with more fun stuff to share.

Jeanne

I Am SUCH a Copycat...

Happy Saturday! It's been a beautiful day here in our neighborhood. Amy seems perkier than she has been and that's good in my book.

I was able to create a few cards today, finally. I will admit, as my title states, I am SUCH a copycat. But hey, Kathi makes such wonderful cards, I just can't help myself! Check out these cards that I copied...aren't they fabulous?

And if you don't mind the repeat...here are my versions...

Birthday Wishes Card:
Stamps: Out on a Limb, Mixed Messages (PTI)
Cardstock: Sweet Blush (PTI), White (CTMH)
Ink: Blush, Cocoa (CTMH)
Accessories: jewels (Hobby Lobby), Cotton Candy Stickles, Sizzix embossing folder/Cuttlebug

With Sympathy Card:
Stamps: Out on a Limb, Mixed Message (PTI)
Cardstock: New England Ivy, White (CTMH)
Ink: Garden Green, Cocoa, New England Ivy (CTMH)
Accessories: small flower punch, embossing tool, pearl stickers

I have another card to share, but I will do that in a separate post. Thanks, Kathi, for the inspiration!

Jeanne

Amigurumi Dinosaur~T-Rex

Happy Friday! I wish I could report that Amy went to school today, but alas, her fever crept back up to 101, so she stayed home once again. For most of the day, it's been normal or about 99, but a little while ago, once again...101. I figure now she'll have the weekend to recover more and hopefully be back to school on Monday. Yesterday, Jessica's teacher actually went home 1/2 way through the day because she was sick and she had a sub today. There definitely is something racing around the school.

Last week, one of Amy's friends that we hang out with after school asked me if I had any patterns to make dinosaurs (He got the penquin I made at Christmas). He really wanted a T-Rex. Unfortunately, I had to tell him I didn't. But when we got home I searched online (because I knew someone somewhere had to have made up a dinosaur) and found this pattern at Gourmet Crochet. Amy saw it and asked me ever so sweetly if I was going to get it. I ordered it and it came this week...really quickly, I have to say. Anyway, I made up one for Hunter and we gave it to him today when we picked up Jessica. He was thrilled. I hadn't told him I'd found a pattern so it was a complete surprise to him. Love doing that!

He's only about 8 inches tall or so...I didn't measure...so he's not a huge dinosaur, but he came out cute...if you can call a dinosaur cute. LOL Amy wants one in purple! (Not Barney purple...a pretty lavendar color-makes me think it might be a girly dinosaur...LOL)

Not much else to report today, so I'll close for now. Hope you have a lovely weekend! Thanks ever so much for stopping by!

Jeanne