Flowers Anyone?

This is a flower bouquet I made this past week.  I saw a similar bouquet on-line and thought it was a great idea.  If you're like me, and I'm sure you are, I have paper that I've had for years and just love it but never seem to have the right project for it.  Well these papers are from one of those stacks.  Of course I removed the cover a long time ago and can't remember who the manufacturer is.  Anyhow, I used my Cricut and cut out different size flowers.  There are four different patterned papers for this project.  The largest flower is 4 3/4".  After randomly cutting different sized flowers, I inked the edges using an assortment of ink colors.  Some brown, copper and a rose color.  I used a large brad in the center to hold them all together.  I then wrapped the back side of the brad to a large wooden skewer.  (some hot glue helps too)  The butterfly is a SU! paper and is attached to some wire that I curled and then attached to one of the skewer stems.  I made a paper cone to hold them.  Inside the cone, I placed a small piece of styrofoam and then started sticking in the sticks until I liked the way they were layered.  The tag is made from two layers of flowers and a stamped sentiment.  A grommet on top and a "pretty" on the bottom.  Here's a close up of the tag:

I forgot to mention.  Each flower has five layers.  After inking and layering them together with a brad, I folded up the top three layers and the bottom two I curled their edges down.  I love the country feel of this bouquet.

Scrapbooking Layout; 50th Anniversary

I worked on another layout of my parents' 50th wedding anniversary party.  I've always wanted to try PROGRESSIVE pages and this is the result of it.  You start with a 6x6 page and then you convert it to an 8 1/2 x 11 page and finally a 12x12.  Each conversion, you add more photos and/or embellishments.  With this layout, I also used a page title from P.S. I Love You Scrapbooking ebay store.  You can find the link to the store on my earlier post.  I also follow the blog and can check out her blog address below...

This is the 6x6 page. Just a photo and one of the "50's" is from the centerpieces for the party.
Here's the 8 1/2 x 11 sheet:

I just added two older photos of them - love the black & white photo of them in high school.  Also added ribbon at the top.  The paper pack is from The Paper Studio; Antiquity pack.  I just love this pack.  I bought it at Hobby Lobby and they only had the 8 1/2 x 11 size, but I bought it anyways.

Here's the final layout using the title from P.S. I Love You Scrapbooking...

Scrapbooking Layout: Let's Go Fly a Kite

I received these titles from the ebay store, P.S. I Love You Scrapbooking.  I'm now a Heartbeat Designer.  I love these titles.  They are original titles that I've never seen in the stores and great quality.  This layout is of my niece, Jori and her kite flying adventure at the beach.  You can see more titles here

I put the title "Let's Go Fly A Kite" on top of a border that I had already with kite paper.  The colors match Jori's outfit perfectly. 

This page was put together so fast.  All I did was cut down a pink piece of cardstock and then layered the photos and title on a white 12x12 sheet.  The "delight" stamp I've had forever.  It was part of a scrapbooking kit my sister Caroline bought for me about three years ago.

Real Life Forrest Gump?

On one of my first posts I mentioned my coworker's son, Nick was taking on a walking journey from the San Francisco area to Seattle, WA.  Well after awhile, he quit this journey and returned home.  Well, he's back at it.  He's now attempting to walk from Florida to CA.  Nick was a classmate and teammate of two of my boys so we know who he is. 

Follow his blog at www.worldinstrides.blogspot.com

or follow his tweats (is that how you say it?).  I think he goes by hobonick.  I don't know anything about Twitter but I know that's how my kids are following him.

Read his blog and it explains why he's doing it and he gives daily (for the most part) insights of who he's meeting, how he's being blessed, etc.  You WILL get hooked.  I keep telling his mother, they're gonna make a movie on his adventures.

Good Morning Sacramento tried to interview him and said they will follow his journey if possible.  Did I tell you he has no money, and only a few items?  He also has an iPhone or something to which he is able to send messages for his blog and call his mother every so often.  You can imagine how worried his mother is.

Home Decor

I bought these stacking wooden boxes probably about six months ago.  I finally finished them.  Here's what they look like before...

And after using my Cricut and some vinyl...

thanks to my friend Karen's husband, Mike, he gave our Scrappin' In Patterson group a lesson on cutting vinyl.  This was much easier than the directions given on the vinyl package.

Making Adjustments - Adding Labels

As you can tell, I'm adding labels to my old posts. I love that I'm learning more and more about blogs and what's available.  It's amazing how much you can do when you actually take time to understand things.  HA HA

So, I believe some of these postings are "out of order" but whatever!

So, I met with two ladies from work who asked me to do two retirement gifts.  I showed them something I made for a friend of mine for her birthday and they loved the idea.  (No, of course I don't have a photo of it.)

I'll be sure to take pictures once I complete the retirement gifts.

Now to figure out how much to charge.  UGH!  I hate that part.

New Year's Resolution

My New Year's resolution was to take my crafting to a different level.  First step, create a blog.  Well, I did it.  I know it needs lots of work, but I'm learning and I'm hoping to get better each time.

So, with that said.  I plan on posting my creations as they are finished.  Currently, I'm working on a paperbag album to celebrate my cousin, Greg and Justina's wedding.  This is a fun album to put on their desk or coffee table at home.  Not the more formal album I'm sure she's already creating.  I like the way it's turning out so far.  I'll post photos later.

Also working on helping my sis, Marlene with her family Disneyland scrapbook.  This is so much fun!  Mickey and friends can always get you in a good mood. 

Thanks for taking this step with me.

Happy New Year

I was talking to my mom yesterday and she says to me, I hope your 2012 is better than 2011 and it got me thinking...my 2011 was actually pretty good.  So my hope is that my 2012 is just as good as 2011. 

Lucky!

March 1st and the first day to celebrate the green and lucky month!  Here's why I'm lucky today...

1.  All six of my family members are healthy!
2.  My nephew, Robert has been accepted with a full ride at two different colleges for his doctorate!
3.  I have a job and a boss that I love!
4.  Just got paid!  Bank accounts are full (ask me again tomorrow)
5.  I'm blessed with a newly retired sister that's willing to help out when we need her!
6.  My parents will be celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary this month!
7.  It's raining and it's so needed!
8.  Baby girl, Gracie slept all night!
9.  I have a lunch date with fun coworkers!
10.  Another season of American Idol!

Apricot Fiesta

Every year our town hosts the Apricot Fiesta and it's a huge event for our town.  Besides the normal food booths, arts & craft vendors, music, etc., we also have an arm wrestling tournament, horseshoe tournament, hot air balloons, basketball tourney, a parade, Little Miss and Mr Apricot and the biggest excitement...Miss Patterson competition. There's also bridge tourneys, a baking contest and art contest.  I'm sure I'm missing some things, but as you can see there's plenty to do during the first weekend in June every year.

Ok, hold on, I'm getting to my point...I've decided to enter my canvas in the art contest.  I've never done anything like this before so I'm not expecting much, but I thought it'd be pretty cool to have something I've done in their gallery.

Submissions are the week prior to the Fiesta so hopefully I remember to submit it.  I'll have that much time to name my piece.

I'll fill you in when the time comes.

New Projects - New Orders

Man, I'm on a roll right now.  I was asked yesterday to do a baby gift and today I have to come up with retirement gifts for two ladies.  Time to put my thinking cap on.  I'm so good when it's my own stuff, but get so nervous about making the right thing when someone is paying me. 

Wish me luck...

Another Baby Gift

Ok, Tawni or Mike, if you're checking out my blog...scroll down past this post!

I bought this frame at the Thrift Store for about $2.  I started off cutting lt. pink, dk. pink and yellow letters all 1 1/2" and in the same font.  I layed them out on the frame and just wasn't feeling it.  So I put it aside and worked on something else...

I have a container that I keep random shapes and letters that I messed up the size or the color wasn't right, etc.  So for some reason, I grabbed my container and started pulling other font, colors and size letters and started replacing some of the others with these.  Then I remember that I had some birds from a swap that I hosted awhile back....and the rest is history :)

I LOVE how this turned out!  It just might be the cutest thing I have ever made.  I hope my cousins like it as much as I do.

Ok, seriously don't know how to keep the photo the right direction....  I saved it after I flipped it, but still didn't come out right.  So once again, tilt your head to the right and you'll get a better look at it.

Using Scraps Only

When it rains, it's great time in the craft room plus Carly hangs out with me more.  During the Pajama Party someone mentioned they had enough scraps to wallpaper a room and it got me thinking...hey, so do I!  I had this old canvas with a slit that I was going to toss out but changed my mind.  So I grabbed the ziploc baggies that hold my green and pink scraps.  I used my Cricut to cut out the swirls to make 3D flowers (about 80 of them) and this is what I came up with.  It's hanging in my cubicle at work.

I absolutely love it!  I'm not sure why I put the random circle in the left hand corner, but I guess it adds some quirkiness that I love.

Shoe and Purse Challenge

Hey friends!
I'm so excited about the Pajama Party that never ends!  April's challenge was to create a matching purse and shoe.  Here's my version:

Sorry for the flipped photo, I thought I flipped it correctly when I saved it but just tilt your head to the right and you'll see it fine.

I love this paper combination.

Paper Pajama Party Blog Group

I wish I knew more about blogging and all the fun stuff we can do.  I just joined a group of ladies who love to paper create as much as I do and boy are these ladies talented!  Check out their blogs at the bottom of each page.  Not only will I take part in monthly challenges, but this will also get me to post more and actually take photos and hopefully create more!  Our first challenge is a paper shoe and purse.  I need to work on this soon. 

My computer is sick right now so hopefully I'll be able to post more soon.

Projects I'm working on right now:
1.  Baby boy gift for Justina and Greg - under water theme
2.  Baby girl gift for Tawni and Mike - monkey/jungle theme
3.  Parents' 50th anniversary album
4.  Whimsey Jar Swap at Splitcoaststampers
5.  4th of July banner for my cubicle at work

Those are the major ones...

One Photo

Can you believe I didn't take my camera out once during the party yesterday?  There were so many cameras and I was so busy, I figured I'd get some photos from somebody.

Carly created this group of photos so here's a peek:

I had nothing to do with the cake, but didn't it turn out beautiful?  The top left is a sample of the centerpieces.  I found and bought 12 different glass vases and filled them with gold tinsel-like "fluff" and a flameless candle.  Each vase also had one photo, 50, and a pretty in each one.  We also tied balloons to each photo stick.  The pretty was either a rosette, pinwheel or embellished heart.  Thank the Lord for the Circut!  I've asked Carly to take photos of each different "cake slice" and I hope to post those soon.  The top right photo is the cake put together with 50 slices.  We kept the other 50 in a basket next to it.  The paper flowers on top are from the Art Philosophy cartridge.  The bottom right is the center of a garland I made to decorate the head table.  What you don't see is on the left since the numbers 1962 and on the left side the numbers 2012 - yup, 50 years!
By the way, another successful Weatherby party!