Baker Man & a New Upcycle

Hi Scrappy Peeps!

Can you believe that Summer is almost over?!?

I can't. It honestly seems like YESTERDAY that school was let out.

How can 2 months go by so fast??

The countdown has begun - 6 days until the start of school. EEK!

 

I have been catching up on some very overdue LOs (the pics on this one are from Winter 2011).

Little Man loves to be a 'cooker' and mix anything that I am working on in the kitchen.

I don't bake much, but this snow day seemed like a perfect oppertuninty to play with him in the kitchen  (with a little help from Betty Crocker ;) )

Supplies: Cardstock & Buttons American Crafts; Papers, Stickers & Alphas Bella Blvd.;

DMC Floss 

 

I have also been cleaning out the summer clothes and came up with a moutainous lump of old T-shirts from all 3 of us and wanted to make some use out of the better shaped T's before I gave the rest to charity & hubby for rags in the garage.

 

I cut very narrow, continuous strips from each T (this rug also includes a pair of my old pink flannel PJ pants) and rolled them like a ball of yarn. I then crocheted (sorry, I don't have a pattern or stitch count, I just pulled the rows apart when they started to ruffle and tried again) and used the biggest hook I could find. This one took me about 5 hrs (would have been about 3 hrs if I wasn't pulling it apart every so often). I love it and plan on using it in my scrappy space since I don't get many oppertunities to use pink in a house with all boys.

 

I would easily make these more often but they leave my hands pretty stiff for a day or so.

 

That's all I have for now.

Please make sure to stop by on Saturday for an American Crafts blog hop.

Happy Thurday!

Stamping

Do you collect stamps? Are you a stamper?

 

I do collect stamps and am a wanna-be stamper.

Everytime I take them out to play,

 I am NEVER happy with the results.

Until recently.

 

Little Man and I started watching the Make It Monday video series from Papertrey Ink before bedtime every week and I have been SO inspired over the last few months. I have gone and bought alcohol inks and used them (gasp!). I have been playing with stamps especially since I saw THIS tutorial showing how to use ink pads for watercolor painting. C-man has been playing 'scrapbooking' with me this summer & stamped this card for me.

All in all, I am more comfortable referring to myself as a stamping beginner.

Check out Papertrey Ink if you are a stamp collector too and you will surely be inspired and get some fantastic ideas.

 

 

 

Thanks for stopping by!

Have a Happy Monday!

Hot Sunny Days

Happy Tuesday!

I have a new LO to share of Little Man at the beach this Summer using papers from the new Everyday Eclectic line from Echo Park and a sketch from Sketch Savvy that you can see HERE.

Papers: EchoPark, Basic Grey, Crate Paper, 7 Gypsies, Felt Embellishments: Pebbles, Stickers: American Crafts, Jillibean Soup, Buttons & Cardstock: American Crafts, Fabrips: Studio Calico, Twine: The Twinery

Thanks for stopping by!

HUGS & Happy Surfing!

My Heart

Happy Monday!

I have another LO project to share from the July Hip 2-b Square kit!

This LO uses a technique that I have tried several times but was never happy with it before.

I think this is much better since I squished things a bit closer and added some fun elements to each circle. The picture is one of those silly ones that Little Man LOVES to be in these days.

It is getting increasingly hard to get a nice smile from him.

Thankfully, my hubby was smiling (and not making a face at me as well as he also loves to do - life with boys!) ;)

The title is a bit hard to notice at first but the tone

on tone titles really are something I am really into lately.

It makes my pages feel less busy.

I also wanted to share a few cards that I made as well. I gave myself permission to leave these without sentiment and figure they would be great in a pinch for a birthday, TY or shower card.

I always write a small sentiment in each one.

This is by far my favorite card. I love the shabbiness of it. I added a doilie, cut out a butterfly from OA's  Woodland paper and made a flower. I was unsure how to use my Fabrips in this kit and then tried cutting small pieces from it and using it a-la-washi tape and was very happy with the results.

Thanks for stopping by.

HUGS & Happy Surfing!

Summer Crafting

AKA: T-shirt Up-cycling

and a Splash LO!

My Little Man's wardrobe consists mostly of T-shirts (Super Mario & Angry Birds for the most part) & jeans. He has a LOT of Mario t-shirts. And he is growing like a weed lately. What to do with these worn, faded & stained pieces of cotton? I could donate them but who wants a worn out t-shirt? I could rip them apart and give them to hubby for rags for the garage. Or I could save some of the cuter ones (this one has always been a fave) and make my self some upcycled things.

This is my first project: a clothespin holder to hang on my line.

I need to re-iterate: I am not skilled in sewing. I can do very simple projects and usually run into one or two problems in the process.

For this project, I turned the shirt inside out, pinned and trimmed a rough square and sewed up 3 sides (trying to keep the t-shirt design centered). I then cut a 'v' design on the opposite side, stitched and then finished my side according to the size of the plastic hanger base that was left from my old clothespin holder (which was falling apart and needed replacing). Again, since I am not overly experienced  in sewing, I just eye-balled it and hoped for the best!

I placed my plastic hanger inside and secured the cotton to the hanger with a needle & thread using several snug stitches and voila! I know have a new cute reminder of my little man even when I am hanging out clothes on the line. :)

I also have a srappy project to share!

 I made some more braided Chevron strips for an upcoming tutorial on the Hip 2-b Square blog and then wanted to use them since they were so pretty, so I made a LO.

The pic is really old & from when LM was about 2 years old.

I am not sure if this LO is too bare, it feels like it might still need a little something 'extra'.

What do you think?

Supplies: Cardstock - American Crafts, Momenta, Paper - Crate Paper, Echo Park, Felt - Pebbles, Washi Tape - Queen & Co, Stickers - American Crafts, Buttons - Unknown, Twine - The Twinery, Alpha Stickers - American Crafts

Thanks for stopping by!

HUGS & Happy Surfing!

Sweet Summer

I have another LO to share with you from the July Hip 2-b Square kit.

For this LO, I got creative and REALLY played with my paper. The flowers were something I used to do years ago (when I needed a flower and had nothing in my tiny, little stash I was forced to get creative). I loved the way the yellow pattern plays against the green spritz & the grey, navy and red papers. 

Supplies: July Hip Kit + Add-ons.

Thanks for stopping by!

HUGS & Happy Surfing!

Precious Pet

Much to my darling, little Son's dismay, we have NO PETS :( in our little family.

My Sister in Law has the most adorable little Teacup Pomeranian, however, and she is very much a little princess in our family. I have never seen a pet so coddled and loved - ever.

I bought this Basic Grey paper with her in mind.

Supplies: Cardstock - American Crafts, Paper - Basic Grey, Bella Blvd., Stickers, die cuts & Chipboard - Basic Grey, Mist - Mister Hueys (Sunshine), Maya Road (Antique Patina Metallic), Buttons - American Crafts, Mask - Pink Paislee (Christy Tomlinson)

Thanks for stopping by today!

HUGS & Happy Surfing!

You and Me

A long time ago, I hated yellow. I couldn;t work with it at all.

I never wore it, it just wasn't a color i could get used to. NOW I don't think I can even do a LO that I don't put a splash of yellow on. Yellow alphas on teal, orange, blue and white especially.

I just LOVE it in small doses. Most of the time. Then I saw this LO by the oh-so-talented Melinda Spinks (this girl REALLY knows how to kick it up to the next level!) and was immediately inspired to do a yellow LO of my own. I pulled out my trusty 4x6 scrap pile - seriously - it makes mixing colors & patterns SO MUCH EASIER). I started out with my misted kraft cardstock. I have had this & mask from STudio Calico for months and didn't play with it even once. I was afraid it might go unused and then I made my misted flashcards, noticing that when the walnut antiquing spray (Tsukineko) was applied to kraft, it gave a tone on tone detail and started misting everything I could find :) I then pierced holes along the perimeter of the symbol and handstictched the outside border of it. Nothingearth shattering here. Just scrappy goodness ;)

Thanks for stopping by! HUGS & Happy Surfing!

American Crafts projects

What a ride the last year has been!! I still can't believe that I was on this most wonderful and fabulous team. I was treated so well here, it will be a bit sad for me to say good bye at the end of this month. BUT I am very excited to see what the next team has in store for us and wish them all well!! The girls are in for a real treat!

And with that, I will share my last 2 blog assignments for this team. The first appeared on the blog last week and was a set of 3 vacation themed cards and the Shoreline line fit this project PERFECTLY. If you love bright colors and graphic patterns, this line is a must have!

'Shore Having Fun' card

White (71081) - Cardstock, Kraft (71464) - Cardstock, Sweet Sundress Paper (35634) - Dear Lizzy Neapolitan, Pelican Bay Paper (35773) - Shoreline, Remarks Sandpiper Dimensional Stickers (42247) - Shoreline, Solid Glue Runner (61711) - This to That

 

'Relax & Catch Some Rays" card

White (71081) - Cardstock, Biscayne Paper (35720) - Shoreline, Bits Sandollar Die Cut Shapes (85585) - Shoreline, Dimensional Dots Adhesive(61709) - This to That, Solid Glue Runner (61711) - This to That

'Surf's Up!' card

White (71081) - Cardstock, Dandelion (71037) - Cardstock, Kraft (71464) - Cardstock, Denim (71073) - Cardstock, Remarks Sandpiper Dimensional Stickers (42247) - Shoreline, Bits Sandollar Die Cut Shapes (85585) - Shoreline, Breezy Gardens Paper (35618) - Gardenia, Sweet Sundress Paper (35634) - Dear Lizzy Neapolitan, Dimensional Dots (61709) - This to That, Solid Glue Runner (61711) - This to That
My last project is a tutorial using ribbons.
If you want to see how I made these cute little dragonfly fridge magnets, please stop on over to the AC blog HERE today!

Supplies: Value Premium Ribbon Pack (58817) - Amy Tangerine Sketchbook, Elements Wood Buttons (85575) - Gardenia, Elements Plastic Buttons (85573) - Daydreams, Double Sided Super Sticky Red Tape (61753) - This to That

Thanks for stopping by!
HUGS & Happy Surfing!

Fun & Games

Playing with Scraps!

Paper can be a really expensive investment and I LOVE it when I get good use out of mine amd actually use it. I started cutting my scraps down to 4x6, 4x4 & 3x3 swatches and WHAT a difference for storing, keeping track of and USING my paper! This LO is made using alot of my 4x6 scraps,  with the exception of the red. I love this new way of keeping my scraps, it allows me to play with patterns, colors and mix papers that I might not normally mix. It is a really great way for me to boost my creativity.

This page was inspired by this LO by Amy Heller. I loved it the first time I saw it posted and then forgot about it. I was re-inspired when I saw it again on the cover of Scrapbook Trends recently and set to work.

**photo credit

Supplies: Cardstock - American Crafts, Papers - American Crafts & Cosmo Cricket, Alphas, Buttons, Brad - American Crafts, Mister Hueys - Sherbet Orange, Heyday Aqua FabRips, Scalloped border - Basic Grey, Orange trim - Prima, Circle Punches - EK Success

I am also in a cleaning/organizing phase and was surprised to learn that I had 20+ mists which rarely get used. I was so inspired by Emily Pitts blog post HERE, that I made a flash card set of my own.

I sprayed each of my mists on swatches of kraft and white cardstock (the colors and coverage are different on each), punched a hole, labeled the brand and color (my collection is Mister Hueys, Maya Road & smooch) and organized them in a rainbow fashion on a binder ring. Now I know exactly which colors to use and have eliminated all of the guess work. I have already started using my mists more.

Thanks for popping by!

Have a Happy Monday!