Holiday Weekend

 The children came to visit this past weekend, so that Molly could have some time to renew and revitalize during the holiday weekend.  She brought them down to me on Saturday afternoon.  We spent some time playing in the back yard.

Chloe

Caroline

Heath

Eli

Heath enjoys anything that involves being close to me, so I take advantage of that when he is here.  We went by Big Lots after church Sunday and I bought some wire racks.  They were wider than I wanted, but I decided I could use them somewhere.  Monday, Heath helped me organize my 81/2 X 11, 8 X 8, 4 X 6, and 4 X 4 papers on these shelves.  I think I will like this much better than just stacked all together like I had them.  Then he helped me organize my 12 X 12 papers.  I am hoping it will be easier to find what I am looking for now that we have it stacked so neatly.

4x4, 4x6, 8/8, 81/2x11 papers sorted by color

12 X 12 papers left to right - kits, loose patterned, patterned stacks, and solids

I am sure my crafting will go much smoother and faster now!



Toodle-loo
Granny

Weekend crop

I spent part of the weekend cropping with Lisa Brantley at Liberty Baptist Church.  Lisa and Mary Garew were the only people there that I knew, but I met some really nice folks.  I had some really good laughs and learned about some businesses that I did not even know were in town.  We had pot luck finger foods Friday night and Lisa fixed spaghetti and all the trimmings for lunch Saturday.  I finished a few pages for Chloe's Disney Cruise album.   

The Flying Dutchman

Scallywags

Cinderella

Buzz Lightyear

Stampin' Up ink tower

I purchased the Stampin' Up ink pad tower when I began squiring my supply of ink pads. I joined an ink club and got all the inks and they fit perfectly in the tower.  Then I decided I needed more and joined up again!  This gave me the chance to get the extension for my tower.  I have it completely filled and still do not have enough room for my inks.  This is the best organizational tool for inks by far though.  However, it does not turn as it should due to the weight (Stampin' Up really needs to do something about that), so I bought a Lazy Susan and put my ink holder on it.  Turns like magic now.  Thanks to Jennifer at Savvy Scissors for that great idea!

Toodle-loo til next time!

Liebster Blog Award

I was awarded the Liebster Blog Award from Oma Gloria over at  Oma's Crafts. As a recipient of this award I need to:

1. pay it forward to 3-5 other newer blogs
2. let them know I chose them
3. copy and paste the award on my blog
4. have faith that my followers will rally and show their crafty love back out to those awarded
5. last but certainly not least HAVE FUN

Here are 5 blogs that I think are so amazing and have some super cute projects so please go show them some follower love.

1. Jennifer from Savvy Scissors
2. Angel from Running with Scissors
3.Nadia from A Beautiful Messr
4. Helen from Crafting Cricut Mom
5. Wendy from The Bling Queen

Clip-it-UP

I finally went through all my Michael's and Hobby Lobby bags and organized my embellishments.  I have them all hung now on my Clip-it-Up.  Now when I need something it is much easier to find than sorting through bags and piles of embellishments.  I have to use some of these before I can buy any more embellishments, or do I?  Maybe I will just get an upper tier for this one. :-)
My DH is supposed to be wiring this wall and putting cabinets on it.  I suspect that the project will take a long time before it is completed.  I ran out of room on my desk, so I brought out folding snack tables to put table top organization tools on.  It works for now, but will be soooo glad when my room looks like I want it to in my mind.

Toodle-loo

Cricut Cartridges

I didn't take much "stuff" with me to Camp Crop Alot, but it seemed like my "stuff" grew.  Well, of course it did!  My dear friend Jennifer went shopping.  She knows she has to buy duplicates of her purchases for me, so I came home with more paper for my stash, as well as a few other goodies.  I tried to only take what I knew I would use at the crop, but I still had several cartridges.  I put all I could in a tote and had two extra in the pockets on the outside. 

When I got home, I decided to rearrange my cartridge storage.  My DH brought Bobby's old desk and hutch into the scrap room and removed a chair that I purchased when I went back to school.  I put all my cartridges on the hutch and arranged them in alphabetical order.  Joy at Joy's Life has a neat cartridge inventory sheet which she keeps updated with all the cartridges that have been released thus far.  I marked the cartridges I have on one of the inventory sheets and arranged them according to font, shape, solutions, limited edition, Disney, and lite.  Now, I can tell if one is missing or not.  I am trying really hard to put them back in their spot after each use, so they will always look so neat.  As one can see though, the space is completely filled and running over.  I will have to think of some other way of storing them soon.

I stored some extra Disney albums on top of the hutch for those future trips to Disney World.  I have two for each of the children.  I also have a Tinker Bell for Chloe - will have to find something for Caroline.  Two Spiderman albums are also stored there for Heath and Eli.  I put most of my flower embellishments on the shelves in front of the cartridges, which softens the look of the carts.    The green thingy is my Xyron machine.  I am loving that!  I stored tools and Copics in the desk drawers.   My next project is to get all my embellishments in one place. 

Toodle-loo till next time

Camp Crop Alot

I spent January 27-30, 2011 at Camp Crop Alot.  I have never been to a crop before and was a bit apprehensive about the deal.  I went with my friend Jennifer from Savvy Scissors.  We had a wonderful time riding down there, and as soon as we parked, I knew we were going to have a blast.  I have never felt any more at home anywhere I have ever been.  I met some very good people that I know will be friends for a lifetime!  There were only 10 of us there and we all seemed to jell with each other. 

 I spent most of my time working on Scrapbooks for Heath, Eli, Chloe, and Caroline for their Disney Cruise that they took in February 2010.  We each had a four foot table on which to scrap.  On Friday night we had a round robin where each of the scrappers added an embellishment to a two page layout that we had started individually.  I chose some pictures of Heath and Eli that were taken on Christmas Day 2005 at the beach in Panama City.  I chose the paper, matted the pictures, and placed them on the pages where I wanted them.  As the pages passed to the left from one scrapper to another the pages came to life.  I was so in awe when I got my pages back and saw them.  I think they are just beautiful and turned out perfectly. 


The glare on the pages is from my flash.  I could not get the pages situated  so that I did not have some glare.  I do wish everyone could see these up close and personal.  Pictures do NOT do these pages justice. 


I am so looking forward to my next adventure in crop land.  I am enjoying being with friends and making memories so much!
 
Granny

Molly's Personalized Cup

Molly seldom buys anything for herself.  Just before Christmas, while she was out Christmas shopping, she made a purchase for herself.  She bought a package of two acrylic cups with lids and straws.  Mind you, it had to be a bargain or she would not have bought them.  She is the most frugal person that I know.  She asked me if I would personalize them for her.  A few weeks ago, I decided it was time for me to tackle the project.  I used my Cricut to cut a red "M" from vinyl using the Songbird Cartridge.  I cut it at 2" and applied it to the cup.  Then I cut 1/2" red and white polka dots and applied them to the cup.   She liked the results and uses the cup frequently.  I am so glad she let me do something for her with my Cricut. 

Eli's Personalized Bible

When I took Chloe's and Caroline's Bibles to them, Eli decided he wanted his personalized too.  I wanted his to be a bit more masculine and boyish.  I was pleased with the way it turned out and he was very happy with it!  I used my Cricut to cut his initials out of vinyl.  I used Don Juan and cut them at 2".  Little Boy Treasures and all other embellishments are rub-ons.