Karen's Krafty Moments

Busy creating...

2011-07-15T04:39:00.000-07:00

I have a terrible time keeping this blog current. I find I just don't have the time. It isn't like I am not doing anything I am...I have been creating journals. Which have been quite a few lately...you can check out some of them in my etsy shop.

I recently created a "Strega Nona" journal for someone, made from a recycled book. She absolutely loved it! And I loved creating it. I have a wide variety to chose from, and I love doing custom orders.

I am currently working on a "goth" journal...you can see the work in progress here.

Birthday Mini Journals....

2011-07-07T02:52:00.000-07:00

It has been awhile since I wrote a post. I have been busy creating journals and trying to promote my Etsy shop. I have several new journals in my shop. These Birthday mini journals I just added yesterday. They are great for sharing that special occasion with loved ones. Add your special message, cropped photos, slip into the envelope, and mail away...or just keep it for yourself.

Colorful Spring Travel Journal

2011-02-28T05:21:00.000-08:00

Spring is just around the corner....well for some of us, depending on where you all live. I decided to make a colorful travel journal...to get me in that mood of spring. This would be great for that summer vacations....or Caribbean cruise.

If you are new to my blog....Welcome. I hope you enjoyed looking at my creations, please feel free to follow. You can also check out my etsy shop here.

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Spring Daily Journal-Pocket size

2011-02-25T06:17:00.000-08:00

I love journals. I have received a few in my life as gifts. But every time I would sit to write those pages seemed so huge and overwhelming. So I decided to create one, that was not hard to fill the pages. I enjoy making journals...and I love these little pocket size ones. Great for jotting down those everyday moments of life. They slip easily into your purse or pocket.

If you are new to my blog welcome and thank you for visiting. I love creating journals. You can check out my etsy shop here.

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Itty Bitty Passion....

2011-01-19T11:09:00.000-08:00

I have a passion, an itty bitty passion, to create...it is calming to my soul. The smaller the project, the more I like it, as I know I will finish it.
Today I decided to make an ART Journal for myself. My daughter, Melissa, has made a few, you can check out one here. They are such a great idea to be able to create and try new techniques and keep it safe in a book. I made a couple of pages today.....and can't wait to make more.

Lil' Jarmon's Memory Journal

2011-01-15T19:29:00.000-08:00

As I said in my previous post, our grandson's 1st Birthday is on Monday. Tomorrow we will have a grand celebration....lots of family and friends will be there to join us. My two daughters and I spent 7 hours today preparing food. Danielle, the mother of Jarmon, decided she wanted to make homemade cupcakes for her son's 1st birthday. Do you know how much time it takes to make 3 batches of homemade cupcakes and to frost them with homemade frosting? That's 72 cupcakes!! The flavors of the cupcakes are unique, cherry limeade, strawberry lemonade, and oreo cupcakes. (my daughter watches way to much of "Cupcake Wars"). Either way the cupcakes are delicious....and do taste so much better than those made from a box. After preparing the cupcakes we made up meat and cheese trays, veggie and fruit trays, artichoke and spinach dip too. So it made for a long day, but we had fun hanging out together. Well to get back to what the real reason of my post was...it was to show you another new journal I made. This one is to re-count the fabulous year we have had with this lil blessing . This one consists of 20 pages, 10 pockets, each holding a tag, and 32 pictures. Each tag is annotated with special things that happened through out the year, ie...1st tooth, 1st steps, favorite toys, etc....

If you are new to my blog, welcome and thank you. I have many of my creations up for sale in my etsy shop. You can check out my etsy shop here.

A year of mini scrapbooks.....

2011-01-14T10:33:00.000-08:00

Today has been a busy day. My grandson turns one on Monday, so I have been working on mini scrapbooks to show his 1st year. There are 12 mini scrapbooks for each month of 2010. Each scrapbook consists of 3 pockets, one each on the inside of front and back cover and one pocket in the middle. Each pocket holds at least one tag, which photos are attached to. The front cover is stamped with the month and photos added accordingly. I altered a box that I had saved awhile ago....not knowing then how handy it would be today. The box neatly holds all the mini scrapbooks.

Ribbon Organization

2011-01-13T12:30:00.000-08:00

Today I decided to organize my ribbon. Up until today my loose ribbon was thrown in a glass container and a plastic bag. I am a visual person....I need to see my stuff, if I don't than I forget I even have it. I took balsa wood pieces & shims I had in my closet, ( a project I am sure I had every intentions of completing) and wound my ribbon around it. What started out a tangled nightmare, turned out to be a well organized container of ribbon, now on my art table to use when it is needed.

Snow Day! It's time to be Creative!

2011-01-10T11:47:00.000-08:00

It's a snow day here on the eastern coast of North Carolina. We don't get much snow...and when we do the whole area closes down. Since we are cooped up here I decided to get creative and work in my art studio. I decided today that is what I will be calling my craft room from now on...an art studio just breathes inspiration doesn't it? I came across a box of clear pages that hold baseball cards as I was packing up the last of my Christmas decorations....and I thought..hey these would make great holders to store the shipping tags I hand stamp for my travel journals.

They are perfect, as I can see the front of the tags, and also can flip the page over and see what I stamped on the back, if anything. So I hand stamped over 50 tags....they are simple ones, but hopefully inspire who ever gets my travel journals to write down quick easy thoughts. I am not the "Queen" of tag making...my daughter Melissa is though, and you should really check out her blog here. Her work is fabulous!!

If this is your first time to my blog - Welcome! I would love for you to become a follower of my blog or my facebook page .

"Up-cycled" Travel Journal

2011-01-09T13:55:00.000-08:00

Today was another productive day creating. I have been so busy making travel journals for other people, I thought it was time I started making them for myself. Hopefully 2011 will be a year full of journeys for my husband and I. Last week my daughter and I hit the thrift stores in search of those fabulous finds....we are on this kick of buying old books and repurposing...or "upcycle-ing" them. Needless to say we came across lots of books to use in making our journals. I love the cloth cover of this book and the design on the front of the mountains and a pine tree. This makes for a perfect journal for me to use either in April when my husband and I will be hitting the mountains of western North Carolina....or when we make our trip to Maine this summer. This book is huge compared to my 5x7 travel journals I usual make....it measures 10 1/4 inches by 6 1/2 inches. It is perfect as each page hold two 4x6 photos if that is what I chose to put on them, and it even allows for some journaling. The book is bound using my "bind it all' book binder and recycled rings from a book I bought at a flea market. I love how it turned out, and I can't wait to go on vacation to use it. :-)

"Me & You" Travel Journal

2011-01-08T15:58:00.001-08:00

Today I spent several hours creating a travel journal for a dear friend's daughter. Her daughter is getting married next month and for a wedding gift I decided I would make one of my journals that the couple can take on their honeymoon. Several pages are hand stamped, a mix of travel themes and "love" themes. The papers I used was K&Company Urban collection......the couple will be honeymooning in St. Lucia and these papers have a tropical theme to them along with that distressed vintage feel that I love.

Old World themed Travel Journal

2011-01-05T13:34:00.001-08:00

I continue to make these travel journals....I love the old world theme covers. Thanks to my flea market fine this summer, an old atlas, the book was damaged but I was able to salvage these beautiful pages of an old world map. I was able to make 8 of these themed albums....and I only have 4 left. As you can imagine I will be on the lookout for more of these old books. You can check more of my creations here.

Travel Journals/Memory Books

2011-01-03T20:02:00.000-08:00

It has been forever since I posted a blog...I am still here and haven't fallen off the face of the earth. Been busy working on projects for my etsy shop. I am addicted to making these 5x7 Travel Journals/Memory Books. Here are a few that I have made....you can check them out in my Etsy shop here: The first journal posted I made using the October Afternoon papers I got in my Santa Sack that I purchased in December. Love that paper! The other three travel journal covers were made using an old atlas I picked up from a flea market this summer. I love the "old world" theme.

Scrapbook...

2010-08-11T08:35:00.001-07:00

My mother in laws Birthday is today...yesterday I started a scrapbook for her. I tried to capture where she has been, who she is and where her wonderful life has led her.

Altered Art Birthday card...

2010-08-09T18:17:00.000-07:00

It has been a while since I have been creative...or have had the time to be creative. Wednesday is my mother-in-law's Birthday, so I decided to make her a card. I love creating cards out of "nothing"...the more I altered and added to it the more I loved it. I know she will love it too.

A work in progress

2010-06-21T12:47:00.000-07:00

Started working on my project today....still have a lot more to do, but it is a work in progress.......

Retirement Projects

2010-06-19T12:02:00.000-07:00

My husband and I are now retired....we are sooooo busy and loving life!! Today we went to yard sales. I have been looking for a piece of furniture to redo into a wine rack, and we came across this dresser today. We will strip and sand it down, remove some if not all the small drawers on top and make it into wine bottle racks, and put new knobs on it. Can't wait to get started on this....it will be a great addition to our dining room to use as a buffet/wine table. I will post the final results at a later date.

Anniversary card....

2010-03-17T10:03:00.001-07:00

Yesterday I spent time shopping at antique shops and flea markets. I was looking for things that I could use in my scrapbooks, vintage postcards, old books, lace dollies and stuff like that. When I got home I decided to use some of the great finds I found and make a card. This card I will give to my husband's parents for their anniversary. They will celebrate their 57th in May. I like how it turned out, though I am debating whether to change the flower. Now to work on a scrapbook for them, I plan on including pictures through-out their years together, and of course it will have a vintage distressed look to it. I will share that with you when I finish it.

Distressed scrapbook....

2010-03-16T16:51:00.000-07:00

I have been busy working on my mini scrapbooks. It is so nice to actually be able to use them, and add those special photos of our precious Grandson. He makes such a cute model.

Finished projects...........

2010-03-14T09:47:00.000-07:00

I know Christmas is passed, and in our memories....it has been after all what? 2 and a half months? Well I needed to share this Christmas journal with you. In the beginning of December I did well keeping up with it, but in the hectic days just before Christmas, I didn't have time to work on it, parties, retirement, cooking, shopping, one thing led to another, and before you knew it, Christmas is over, the last of the decorations are put away, and the last thing I want to even think about is Christmas. Well today, I came across my journal rummaging through my craft room and as I was blowing dust off the book, I decided I really need to finish this. So that is what I did today. Yes, Karen does finish projects....every once in a while.

Spring....it's almost here...

2010-02-25T08:33:00.000-08:00

Spring is almost here, well for those of us that live in the south, though today does not feel warm, we did have a couple of days this week that were in the high 50"s. The past few days I have been busy working on some mini scrapbooks to send to my sister, who by the way is my best friend, for as long as I can remember. Though we live almost a thousand miles apart, and have so for the past 30 years, we have kept this closeness through out this time. In this time of technology, emails, facebook, cell phones, and whatnot, we have kept to writing traditional letters, and have exchanged thousands through out the years. She is a part of my mornings as I sit and have my coffee, I will write to her. Though we are a thousand miles a part, we have always been a part of each others lives. As those of you who follow my blog know, I am totally into making my mini scrapbooks. It is hard to describe these mini scrapbooks to my sister when I write to her, and pictures don't do them justice, so I decided to make here 3 of my mini books. I came across this beautiful paper the other day, ( I am addicted to paper) it is put out by K & Company, and it is the Tim Coffey designer paper pad. The paper is a combination of double sided spring theme, with black-eyed susans, pussy willows, dogwood blossoms, butterflies, dragonflies, and lilacs. Absolutely perfect for my sister, who loves to garden, and can't wait for spring to arrive. She is an artist and a writer. I made her a garden journal, that has several pages to illustrate on, pages with pockets to store those special dried flowers, and several pages to jot down garden notes. There are several pages also to add photos of her gardens as they transform through spring, to summer, to fall. I know she will love it, and I look forward to seeing the finished journal, as I imagine her, in a couple of months, (she lives in Maine) sitting outside, sipping on her cup of morning coffee, and sketching to her hearts content, and jotting down her garden thoughts.

Mini 4x4 scrapbooks....

2010-02-02T11:53:00.000-08:00

So I have slacked off creating my mini scrapbooks since Christmas. But I am now back and have been working on a few mini's. The weather has been cold and rainy, so I don't have anything else better to do with my time. I need to add some more items to my etsy shop, which you can visit here . I have now sold a total of 14 items since I opened my shop last fall. I surely won't get rich off of this shop, but it is fun and keeps me busy. I hope to do some craft shows in the near future.

Welcome Baby Jarmon...

2010-01-17T02:35:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the world, Baby Jarmon. Born January 17th, @3:29a.m., 7 pounds 14 ounces, 21 inches long. He's a crier............but absolutely beautiful.

Baby Jarmon's nurseries....

2010-01-08T14:25:00.000-08:00

Spent a few hours with my daughter Danielle today. She is expecting a baby boy, Jarmon, which is due the 16th. We worked for more than two hours today unpacking and sorting thru all the baby stuff. Here are the pictures of the lil' man's room................I love the little forest animals, and the decals on the wall. Of course I titled this as Baby Jarmon's nurseries, plural, as I set up a crib at our house. He will have his own little place here at Grammy and Pop-pop's house. Yes I know it is blue...........Danielle doesn't like the traditional blues, but this is at our house, so it doesn't matter.

Baby Shower...........

2009-12-27T17:16:00.000-08:00

Today we had Danielle's baby shower. It was such a good time, and she got some really nice things for her baby, Jarmon Adriele, who is due in mid January.

Christmas.........

2009-12-27T17:11:00.001-08:00

Our Christmas celebration was great! Plenty of good food, and fabulous company.

Traditions....Tourtiere pie................

2009-12-20T15:36:00.000-08:00

I have been up since 7:00 this morning, and am now sitting down for the first time all day. Been busy shopping and baking. Today I made my tourtiere pies. Six of them!! For those of you who don't know what they are...........it is usually a tradition of Quebec heritage to serve these on Christmas or Christmas eve. They are made with beef and/or pork. My family always served these on Christmas eve with homemade baked beans and homemade pickles and relishes. My family doesn't like baked beans, so I have carried on the tradition of having the pies on Christmas eve, along with 50 other appetizers. I brought one of the pies over to my daughter Danielle's place, and I delivered two to my neighbors, Vern and I will have one for dinner tonight, one will go to my sister in laws, and we will have one Christmas eve. I love Christmas...........and all the family traditions!!

Retirement!!

2009-12-19T10:42:00.000-08:00

My first day of my new chapter in my life........RETIREMENT!!!! I am sooooo excited, and am sure I will find plenty to keep me busy. Woohoo, and guess what I am doing? Laundry, cleaning the house, and baking of course. Not exactly what I had in mind, but it is Christmas afterall, and I need to get ready for our Christmas eve feast. I've been baking for a week now..............I am almost done, and I will start putting my tins of cookies and fudge together. Once that is done..... I will start cooking for Christmas eve, an endless menu of delicious appetizers. mmmmm Good stuff!!

Get cooking!!

2009-12-15T16:50:00.000-08:00

Spent most of the day cooking.............oatmeal cookies, peanut butter chip cookies, peppermint cookies, peanut butter cookies..................it is never ending. I also made some "buck-eyes"....filling of peanut butter, powdered sugar, and rice crispies, dipped in chocolate..........mmmm good! Also dipped some mini ritz peanut butter crackers. This year I did something different, and made up batches of cookie dough, and instead of cooking up all the dough, I rolled each batch into logs, rapped in plastic rap, and will cut and bake them when I am ready. These are just a sampling of the cookies. mmmmmm sooooo good!!

Let the Cooking begin!!

2009-12-14T09:49:00.000-08:00

I started cooking today. Those of you who don't know, every year on Christmas eve we do a feast of multiple appetizers. This is a tradition that we started years ago, being in the Air Force, away from family. Christmas Eve we would invite friends and co-workers to our home for great appetizers. What started out to be about 1/2 dozen people, now is about 35 to 40 people. It is a great time, lots of laughter, great food, and great company. I live a very calm life, even when there is turmoil, my life is calm. But..........come this time of year, I am totally busy, busy, busy. Over the years I have found shortcuts to make our Christmas eve feast easier on me. Today I prepared a couple of appetizers a head of time.............pizza pinwheels and mini pigs in the blanket. Come Christmas eve, I just need to pop these little minis in the oven. Saves a lot of time, as we get closer to Christmas. I also made two batches of fudge, peanut butter and chocolate, I have two more batches to make. These along with my cookies will be put in tins and given to our favorite neighbors, family and friends. Tomorrow I will make up my tourtiere meat pies and mini meatballs and freeze them. Then I will start making up batches of cookie dough. Some I will be able to freeze, others will keep in the fridge until I am ready to bake them. On top of all the cooking, I will manage to finish my Christmas shopping, write those select few Christmas letters, and keep my sanity!!!!

December journal............

2009-12-13T19:07:00.001-08:00

With all the things that need to be done, I am still able to keep up with my December Journal. Here are a few more pages that I have finished. Still have to journal the last few days, and will share them with you another time.

Busy time of year.......

2009-12-13T11:21:00.000-08:00

Busy! Busy! Busy! This is a busy time of year for me, but seems it is even busier, and I have only worked about 5 days in three weeks!! I have finally got my house decorated, I mailed out my Christmas cards yesterday, and I have made about a dozen gift card holders, we even started doing some Christmas shopping. I still have a lot more I want to do, and hope to get everything done in time. I have started my grocery list, and will start my never ending cooking this week. mmmmm good stuff........peanut butter fudge, chocolate chip cookies, oatmeal cookies, sugar cookies, the list is endlist. Oh and one more thing..............I only have 2 official more work days left!!! Woohoo!! How exciting is that?

Christmas Journal, pre-december, page 1 & 2

2009-12-03T07:29:00.000-08:00

Here is the first few pages of my Christmas Journal. Prior to December, Vern went to his parents to help take decorations out of the attic, and to put lights on their house. Father and son working together, a moment to remember. Page 1- I decided to post pictures of Christmas past. Of course I couldn't decide on what pictures to include and what not to, so I got a bit carried away, but thought it would be a good starting point. Page 2-pictures of some angels I had around the house that I pulled out from behind things on my shelves......angels, love angels! I do believe in them, those that are here on earth, and those that have left us.............who continue to watch over us. It is a comfort to know we are being watched over on this journey of our lives.

Christmas angels...

2009-12-01T14:48:00.000-08:00

Today is December 1st!! Can you believe it? I can't. It seems December got here sooner than I had expected.
Being December 1st, I needed something to put in my first page of my December journal. I plan on doing something
everyday, that has something to do with Christmas. Today I wore a red sweater to work. Is that "Christmas-sy"?
Not really, so I came home from work and thought I would start putting up some decorations. Well before I could even think to start doing that I had to dust and do a little cleaning. As I was dusting in the our living room I came across a few of my Christmas decorations tucked away behind pictures.
Here are a few angels given to me over the years.

Christmas Journal

2009-11-28T16:02:00.000-08:00

Well Thanksgiving is over, and it is time to concentrate on Christmas, which will be here before we all know it. My daughter Melissa thought that these Making Memories recipe books would make great Christmas Journals to document the 25 days before Christmas. We both

got one, and we started to alter them. Each day in December we plan to add pictures and journal in them, add favorite recipes, which I have many and at Christmas time, when Melissa comes home we will share each other's books. It sounds like a great idea, and I can't wait to see hers. I wish I had done something like this when my girls were little. What a great way to capture the holiday.

Time to cook...........

2009-11-24T17:41:00.000-08:00

The cooking has begun!! Can you believe that Thanksgiving is only two days away? It came up on us sooooo fast. Today I cooked a pumpkin pie and tried a new topping for my sweet potatoes. The topping is delicious with coconut, pecans, and brown sugar. MMMMM delicious! Yesterday I cooked up a few dozen cookies, and tomorrow I will make my apple pie and cheesecake. Can't wait to dig in. :)

Autumn cards...............

2009-11-23T11:46:00.000-08:00

I worked on these cards today...........Autumn cards/ Thanksgiving cards. Can you believe Thanksgiving is this week!! Wow time sure flies by. I intended to work on ideas for Christmas cards, and ended up making these instead. I am having a hard time coming up with an idea for Christmas cards......other than they will have a distressed/vintage look to them. Am sure I will come up with something, it had just better be soon, Christmas will be here before we know it! :):)

Holiday Trio.........

2009-11-22T08:40:00.000-08:00

Been working on 3 holiday distressed Scrapbooks. These are 4x6, and with a little sizing of your 4x6 photos these books would be perfect to document and journal your holidays, past and future. Yes I know I spend a lot of time on these little mini books, by now I should have a hundred....as I think of this...........I probably do. :)

mmmmm Turkey!!

2009-11-20T13:41:00.000-08:00

MMMM Does this smell good!! We are having our Thanksgiving feast at work tonight. I cooked a turkey, doesn't it look delicious? I figured I better take a picture, cause the young marines on crew will totally devour this in no time... Along with the green bean casserole, mixed veggie au-grautin casserole, pumpkin pie, and extra casserole dish of stuffing I made, and of course home made gravy. Oh this is only what I brought..........there are a ton of other dishes..........mmmmm good.

Surprise!

2009-11-17T18:41:00.000-08:00

Surprise! Surprise! I worked on another scrapbook today. This one is very colorful, several tags, and two pockets. I am not done with it yet, but it would make a great travel/journal.

Debbie's Scrapbook.....

2009-11-16T08:01:00.000-08:00

I made Kristi's scrapbook yesterday, and thought it would be best to get moving on Debbie's. I took recent pictures of her beautiful family and arranged them in the mini 5 1/2 x 5 1/2 scrapbook. I am sure she will LOVE it!!

Travel Journal

2009-11-15T10:47:00.000-08:00

This is what I worked on today, a travel journal. My niece Kristi went on a trip with her 3 children in August to visit with her sister Debbie. She had to be totally insane to travel by air with 3 small children!!! I had asked her to use her pictures to show people how these scrapbooks that I make, can be used. She was so generous allowing me to use the pictures of her beautiful family, in exchange for what? She gets to keep the scrapbook. I think that is a fair deal. (Debbie, I haven't forgotten about you, I am working on yours) The only thing missing from the scrapbook is the "journal-ing". That I will leave to Kristi, as I am sure she will have no problems recalling the events of her fabulous trip.

Oh here is one more...........

2009-11-13T22:15:00.001-08:00

I was 18 years old, maid of honor at my friend, Colleen's wedding. My Hippy days. :)

Older Pictures

2009-11-13T22:12:00.001-08:00

I really should go to bed, but was messing around with my pictures and thought I would post some pictures of me, in my younger years. There aren't many, but I have a few.

Okay, so I am obsessed....

2009-11-12T18:32:00.000-08:00

So I am obsessed with making these mini scrapbooks. I had thought about doing a craft fair this weekend, but decided instead to keep the mini's and give them as Christmas gifts. I will also continue to try and sell some in my Etsy shop. You can check out my shop here. I plan on trying to sell this Christmas mini scrapbook. I have sold 3 items in my shop. They take so long to make, my time is free!! It is a good thing the government pays an excellent pension, cause this endeavor of mind won't generate much cash. I hope to get at least enough to keep me buying more craft supplies. :):)

Christmas mini

2009-11-12T18:25:00.000-08:00

Another Christmas mini scrapbook...............yes I have made quite a few, but they are soooo much fun.

3 More mini's

2009-11-05T15:00:00.000-08:00

My day off today, and this is what I worked on. Two Christmas Scrapbooks, and a small vintage scrapbook. I like the one on the top as it fits 4x6 pictures, without having to crop them. I went to Michael's today with my husband. Got lots of new paper, can't wait to use it. :):) I even had my husband go through the line to get 40% off a pad of paper. He is always looking for a deal, and figures I was going to get the paper anyways.

A trip to the Wash House.

2009-11-04T19:31:00.000-08:00

My washer broke a couple of weeks ago. The repair man ordered the wrong part, so we were without a washer for awhile. He came last Friday to fix it. He left, and I didn't even get one load of laundry done, before the washer broke again! errrrr aggravated to say the least. Melissa and Dustin had come for the weekend, and I really needed clean clothes. So Melissa and I took a trip to the laundromat. I haven't been to the laundromat in years......don't care if I ever go back. As you can see Melissa worked really hard.

Christmas mini scrapbook

2009-11-04T15:15:00.000-08:00

Here are some photos of the inside of the album I finished yesterday. I am working on more mini scrapbooks, and debating whether I should get a table at the craft fair in two weeks. Not sure if I will have enough books made by then.

Another Christmas Scrapbook

2009-11-03T10:50:00.001-08:00

Spent all day working on another Christmas vintage/distressed scrapbook. It is time to go to work, and I am not even ready. So I will repost later with more pictures of the inside of this album.

My Christmas mini scrapbook

2009-11-01T14:35:00.000-08:00

Well here is my Christmas mini scrapbook, just finished it today. I love how it turned out, that vintage/ distressed look. My daughter did a great job teaching me how to make it. (You can check out her blog here)I am excited how it turned out, and I can't wait to make more. They will make great gifts..........now to decide what pictures to put in it. I also need to put pictures in my mini album I got for my Birthday. I was thinking maybe pictures of my Mom would look great.

Sneak peak project..........

2009-10-31T20:15:00.001-07:00

My daughter Melissa is visiting this weekend. We made a trip to Michaels.......and I bought a ton of things I didn't need, well Melissa said that I just had to have the stuff. She has no problem spending my money.......but I don't mind, as I know I needed all these distressing tools, and cool paper...we spent a few hours up in my craft room working on some xmas mini scrapbooks. These are a few sneak peak photos of my book. I haven't finished it yet, and hope to finish it tomorrow. I will share the final results of this project with you when I complete it.

My Birthday present...........

2009-10-30T19:30:00.000-07:00

My daughter Melissa is visiting this weekend. She brought with her my Birthday present. She makes absolutely beautiful mini scrapbooks, and this is one she made for me. Isn't it just gorgeous? The vintage distressed look is great. I love it! Some of you follow her blog...burst of creativity. Those that don't can check her out here.... http://burstsofcreativity.blogspot.com Oh one more thing before I go.........she also helped me to redesign my blog page. It looks 100 percent better!

The baby's nursery......

2009-10-30T13:56:00.000-07:00

Spent the day with Danielle and Jarmon today. We went shopping for a crib for the baby. This is it!! We even put it together, and everything fit perfectly. The only thing we are missing is the baby, but he is due mid January.

Halloween..........

2009-10-26T19:26:00.001-07:00

It is that time of year, and our next door neighbors, "the Gates" go all out for Halloween. Ray has been busy putting up his prize decorations... this is from a couple of years ago, the fake front to his house, the coffin, the fog machine, lightening, thunder, you name it they have it. This year Ray hopes to have the witch flying..........I will post photos of this years decorations soon.

Cards..........

2009-10-22T10:45:00.001-07:00

Worked on some cards today. I absolutely love K&Company paper......just beautiful!

sneak peak.......

2009-10-21T11:10:00.000-07:00

Here's a sneak peak at a Thanksgiving scrapbook I am working on. Hope to finish it soon.

cricut flowers

2009-10-21T11:08:00.001-07:00

I got my cricut create the other day. Haven't had much time to play with it, as I have been busy. But I did manage to make a couple of flowers that I will use on one of my scrapbooks. I will post and share that book at a later date.

It's Cold...

2009-10-18T15:13:00.000-07:00

I can't believe how cold it is.....high 40's, and it feels like snow. A good day to stay inside and do some scrapping, which I have. Been playing with my circut....didn't really make anything special, actually I did. I made some paper flowers, and I would share them with you, but I am too lazy to take any pictures, so will have to share them another time. Instead I will share a couple of mini scrapbooks I did last week.

I won, I won, I won...........

2009-10-12T18:34:00.000-07:00

I won!! If you want to call it that. I got two more items on ebay today. The zutter bind it all, which is a must have to bind my scrapbooks, and I also got a graphic cartridge for the cricut machine I won yesterday.

Craft Room

2009-10-12T15:32:00.000-07:00

Spent most of my morning trying to organize my craft room. It looked pretty good, until I sat down and started crafting. Slowly but surely I will get it all organized.

Shopping Again!!

2009-10-12T15:30:00.001-07:00

Stopped by Michael's today....I really am gonna have to curb my spending on stuff. This craft addiction I have will put us in the poor house when I retire. :):)

Ebay..........

2009-10-11T17:40:00.000-07:00

I discovered Ebay today, and I won my first bid!! The Cricut Create die cut machine. It is the newest Cricut machine, a combination of the two that is out, but a smaller and better model. I can't wait for it to arrive so I can start playing with it. I am thinking Ebay can be addicting... I have another bid going on for the Zutter Bind it All, which will come in handy with all the scrapbooks I am making. The auction on the Zutter isn't up for a couple of days, so I will have to wait and see what deal I got. Today I did post one of my scrapbooks on Ebay....the 5x5 Pretty Poppy one. Eventually I will post more.

Pretty Poppies

2009-10-10T10:06:00.000-07:00

It's not my day off today, but spent the last two mornings working on these two scrapbooks. The paper is from the Autumn Leaves Collection...."Pretty Poppies". I love the vibrant colors.

Another Day of Scrapping!

2009-10-05T19:28:00.001-07:00

My day off today, rainy, and cold. A great day to stay inside and work on more scrapbooks. Which of course I did, I even managed to make a trip to Michaels and pick up more stuff I don't need. This is what I worked on today.........Vintage inspired scrapbook is adorned with an earring that I picked up at the flea market last week. I thought it made a great addition to the scrapbook.

Bling!!

2009-09-30T14:56:00.000-07:00

The past two days I have been looking for bling!! Embellishments for my scrapbooks. I have a wonderful husband who took me to all the neat places to find little items. Habitat for Humanity, Salvation Army, and Goodwill. I found some neat items to add to my scrapbooks and can't wait to use them. It was so thoughtful for my husband to come with me to these places. Of course I couldn't get enough and had to go to the flea market and find more gems...I was right near Michael's so I just had to stop and get more stuff!!! Maybe I just went a little overboard today?

2009-09-27T11:56:00.000-07:00

This is what I made today. My nieces, Debbie & Kristi have beautiful children. They have given me permission to use photos of their children in some of my scrapbooks. I feel it is important for people to see what they can do with the little mini scrapbooks. And this is a perfect example. I haven't done any journaling yet, but will add important things, like who, when, date, etc.... This is Amira Lee, isn't she just beautiful?

Vintage Mini Scrapbook

2009-09-24T14:27:00.001-07:00

Today I spent the day working on this mini vintage scrapbook. I decided that if I want to promote my scrapbooks on my Etsy shop then I will have to show how you can use them. This one I used K&Company ancestry paper and embossed photo frames. The photos are of my Mother-in-law.

Addiction!!

2009-09-24T14:18:00.000-07:00

Scrapbooking can be soooo addicting!! I went on line the other day, as I was trying to find supplies that were cheaper. I came across this site... http:/www.scrapbuck.com Prices on their items are fantastic. As you can see I went a bit nuts over their rolls of tape. It is scrapbook tape, the same stuff Michaels sells for 2.99 a roll. I paid only $1.00!!! I was soooo excited I bought 20 rolls, as I go thru a lot of tape. They also have K&Company 4x6 pads for $2.00. You should check it out. As we know scrapbookers who do have an addiction, love to find that special deal.

Travel Journal

2009-09-23T16:57:00.000-07:00

The beginning of August, my two daughters and I went on a road trip. Melissa made each of us a travel journal that we could use each day we were on the road. They turned out fabulous, and it was soooo much fun to add special keepsakes to it, ie...postcards, trinkets, etc.. and to journal our adventures. At night when the day wound down, we would return to the hotel room, and pull out our scrapbooks, and write down the days events, and what stuck out in our minds. We would relive the day, and laugh. And now we have these beautiful journals to relive our first Road Trip, for years to come.

blogging..

2009-09-23T16:40:00.000-07:00

My daughter, Melissa, told me the other day that I needed to start a blog and promote my Etsy shop if I wanted to sell anything. Of course I have not retired yet, so I don't have the time to spend hours on the computer, as it looks like this endeavor will need. But I will put an honest effort into it, as I share some of my items in my Etsy shop. This mini scrapbook I made a few days ago. It is for a baby boy. Of course it will make a great album for my daughter, who is expecting her first child, a son in January.

Scrapbooks!!

2009-09-23T16:34:00.000-07:00

I have been working on creating mini scrapbooks. I opened and Etsy shop a couple of weeks ago. I had my first sale today!! Of course I feel guilty, as this sale came from my daughter's friend, who also has an Etsy shop. She creates beautiful scrapbooks, and actually inspires me to be creative. I don't plan on making lots of money off of the Etsy shop, but it will give me the opportunity to be creative, and will keep me busy.

Grand child.........

2009-07-28T16:49:00.000-07:00

We are going to be Grandparents!! We are excited, and can't wait for her/him to arrive, in January.

Passion Flower

2009-07-28T16:46:00.000-07:00

I enjoy gardening. But I enjoy taking photos of my flowers even more. This was a photo I took in 2007 of a passion flower in my yard.

Let's try this again...

2009-07-28T16:41:00.000-07:00

so it has been a couple of years since I posted a blog, I am going to try this again. I am new to the blog scene so be patient.

recycled xmas cards...........

2007-12-10T12:12:00.000-08:00

here they are closer up..............

2007-12-10T12:10:00.000-08:00

So I got bored and needed to come up with some handmade cards quickly, since the other ones were taking way too long. So I decided to recycle some of last years cards I received. I thought they turned out quite nicely.

2007-11-26T06:29:00.000-08:00

Okay, soooooooo I had a lot of time on my hands at work last night, and decided to bring in things to do. Got a good start on my wreaths for my christmas cards...........mmmmmm to have such a great job!! :):)

2007-11-25T10:36:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I thought I would try to make some Christmas cards..........this is the result of about 4 hours!!!