All Things Grow with Love

Who doesn't love the sun?
It's finally shining a lot around here, but I probably just jinxed it.
All the rain we've gotten is at least keeping the grass green and the flowers pretty :]

Inspiring me to make these two cards

Recipe: K and C Comanpy background paper
Fiskars stamp sentiment- heat embossed with copper powder
Freshly Picked cartridge
Twine
Flower brads

Enjoy your week!

Chaos Challenge

Going through my blog photos, I realized I'd never posted a card I made in March, for my new nephew :]
And it just so happens that it coordinates perfectly for this weeks CCCC hosted by Paula at More Than Favors.

I don't have the New Arrival cartridge, but I have Popurri, which has samples from many various cartridges, including New arrival. How perfect :]

The yellow paper is embossed with spots and dots
Sentiment- Stampin' Up
Cartridge-Popurri
Ribbon and buttons

And here's a pic of the cute little man

<3 Rae

Summer is ALMOST here!

Only 8 days of school left! The kids are so ready to be done, it makes teachers want it to be over even faster. Plus it's finally getting warm here! Acutally, it was absolutely disgustingly hot today... but I loved it :]
So warmer weather means...

BASEBALL! Which, unfortunately, as awesome as the Tribe is doing, every game I've been to we have lost. I'm convinced I'm the bad luck charm.



Grady is in here somewhere... :]

                                                                  




Downtown Cleveland


But I'm sure I'll still be going to many more. In other news- I've uploaded tons of projects to share on here! I decided to start with my fabric daisies. I've wanted to post these for months now. I'm such a procrastinator...

These flowers are simply and very versitile. The could be placed on a t shirt, headband, purse, etc.
I actually came across a youtube video that showed how to make these months ago, and finally gave it a try with my own spin on it.
Start by taking a 3 in circle (or smaller or bigger, depending on the size you'd like)
And cut about 5-6 out of fabric. Then, make a slit cut halfway up the center of each one:

Then, starting at the slit, fold the side up, making a triangle. Then, flip it over and fold again.
Continue folding the fabric into an acordion, back and forth and back and forth.

Until you go around the entire circle, and it looks like this:

This is the first petal. Take a needle and thread and tack it together at the tip. You will make the rest of the petals and sew them all together to make a circle of petals.

(I use one long piece of thread and slide each petal on the same continuous thread line, then pull it tight to make them form a circle)

Then add a button or piece of felt in the middle.

You can attach the flowers to basically anything imaginable. I put one on a headband

Hope you enjoy! Share your ideas on fabric flowers- there are soo many different ways to make them!

<3 Rae

I'm Still HERE! : ]

It's been a month since I've last posted- and I send out my appolgies :[
Sometimes life just grabs us and rips us apart from the computer... so, for all my faithful followers, I appreciate you still following, and I have LOTS of projects to share and comments to leave you all as well.

The good news is that I only have two more weeks of school/work and then it's summer time! What will I do with all my free time?

-oookay--Time for crafts! The first thing I want to share is a clock I made as a gift. It was simple, quick, fun, and a different change of pace from paper crafts. Plus, it's so simple that children can do it, or at least help out in making it :]

Here's my finished product: (sorry for the blurry picture)

I went to Joann's and found a wooden square with the back hollowed out, for like $3. And in the same isle, I found a clock kit, which was my insipiration, for $7. Then I grabbed a few wooded flat dowels for like 25 cents.

1st- sand, if necessary or desired, with sandpaper-then paint the dowels and wooden base. I sponge painted mine black and gray.

    



Paint the wooden dowels and attach them to the edges of a 4x6 piece of glass or plexi glass.

 This will be the frame for your picture and covering/protector. I then affixed that to the wooded base. ( Using Tacky glue, but I assume wood glue, elmers, or hot glue guns would work just as well)

Center where you would like to have the middle of your clock, making sure the hands of the clock will not go over the base ends. Drill a hole.

Flip the base over, and attach the clock fixture according to the box's directions.

Then, place your clock numbers on. They are sticky on one side, but you can glue them for extra support. I didn't, and mine haven't come loose yet.

You can add ribbon or other embelishments, engraving, etc.

It's easy, fairly simple, cheap, and I think it's a great DIY gift :]

Happy Crafting!

(...and many more posts to come! on fabric flowers, sewing maching covers, and many cards)

Nuts About You

It's been a busy week! I had to sneak on to post this card though! I kept thinking about it, and realized that almost 5 weeks later I still have not posted this card! It's that cute adorable squirrel we all love from Create a Critter. I used a few textured and styled papers. Super fast and easy. Here's the inside:

Hope everyone had a lovely Easter! ( I came straight to my Easter dinner from my bff's house 3.5 hrs away. Thus, a bit of a looong day. But a fantastic- totally worth it- weekend. We managed to make one card and one fabric flower. That's about all our men would let us do. They get jealous easily :] Pictures soon to come! Now, off to bed!)

Arrrgh!

A very special 5 year old had a birthday this past week. His party theme was Pirates, and it was perfect considering the location- at a community recreation center where there was an indoor pool area with a giant pirate ship!! The kids had a blast :) My nephew (the birthday boy) always comes over and asks to make something in my craft room. He loves using the cricut (he gets to push all the buttons) and he is a cuttlebug embossing maniac! I figure I should enjoy this while he's young before he grows out of it. But, because he loves making things with me, I had to think of a very special way to make him a card.

So this is it! I love the final outcome. It's hard to begin when you have so many different things to use. The pirate ship is from PPDU. I used Create a Critter for the water- (well, it was inspiration, I altered it a bit, but it gave me a nice wave outline for the top of the water) and the font is from that as well.

I added some pop dots to give it layers- like it is actually sailing through the water. He loved it! His exact reaction... "Woahhh cool!"  He also got two new leapster games. A starwars reading one, and an xmen geography one. :]

Here's to a short week! Four days to go and then I get to go back and visit my bff Jillian!

Pinwheel- An oldie but Goodie!

Here is a card I made a while back at a Stampin' Up! class. I LOOVE it! It a pinwheel!

So here's the deal: You take some sweet double sided paper, and punch it out with a tag punch, or cut from a cartridge that has a tag, allowing you to make it as big or small as you'd like.

Then, make one diagonal fold on each tag, followed by back folding the corner. (The picture above will hopefully be a good model as to the folding)

Then, arrange them in a circle like pictured, with a brad (or button!) in the center.

The bottom includes a simple dotted stamp, and a hole punch, with a stamped "Thanks So Much" (Stampin' Up!) stamp on the inside- so it's a window. Add some ribbon, and your are good to go! It's been a while since I've done this, and I WILL be making more of them. And feel free to show me some of your pinwheels! I think they are just adorable! And a little out-of-the box :]

Flower Ball!

So, as many of you are already followers of my favoritest friend Jill @Jillianbean Crafts, you may have seen this already. I'm a bit of a procrastinator, and she is WELL aware of this, after living with me for a year in a tiny tiny dorm room.
However, here it is. We made some flower balls! There really is no other way to describe them. A stytrofoam ball covered with paper flowers, held together with some sewing pins! So easy and versitile! They can be hung with string or fishing wire, used as floral decorations, or just some cool book shelf decor! I must say that this is not an orginal idea, I saw someone do this in my early blog- stalking days and can't remember where I first saw this idea. I just loved it, and couldn't wait to actually try it!

The flowers are cut from Create a Critter at 1", 11/2", and  13/4 inch. You can alter the sizes as you wish! Some of the purple background flowers are cuttlebug embossed with swiss dots. It's a simple project, great to do while watching tv or to pass some time!!

Happiness

Card #1

A cricut-less card!! I owe some credit to Stampin' Up for this one- I went to a Stampin' Up card class about 2 years ago where we made a card with this similar layout. Looking through my old stuff, this one sparked some inspiration. I decided to make two of them- they were just that easy!

I took a piece of cardstock- 8x10.5, and cut it in half hotdog style (hehe, can ya tell I teach?) Then I cut the pink strips about 1 3/4 wide, and the blue about 1 1/4 wide.

Stampin' Up sentiment "Happiness" and some clear "Friend" stamp from joann's sale sets. ( I really should keep my packaging, but I get so excited to open them and use them that I throw the wraping out right away!)

Card #2

I didn't have a punch for the tag, so I traced one from a previous card I made. I know some cartridges have tags on them too, I was just lazy and thought this would be quicker for me. The background flowers are all from the clear stamp set as well.

Feeling spring yet?! I know I'm so ready for it! Tomorrow I'm excited to hit up the craft store after work tomorrow for some new fabric- and begin a spring dress!

Monster Love

I couldn't wait to use my Paper Dolls Dress Up cartridge!! My boyfriend requested me to make a monster for him, and I couldn't decide which was cuter, so I cut him one of both! I sent him a picture of them, and then was left with the decision of what to do with them.

And so here is what I came up with! A scrapbook layout with a pop up heart balloon, (Create A Critter) some adorable monster paper and stamped the brown paper background so it wasn't so bland.  I thought this Stampabilities sentiment was perfect for this layout- it says "Life's most beautiful things are not seen with the eyes, but felt with the heart" Then I used a random stamp I found in the bottom of drawer to make the dotted line swirlies. Monster 1 is embossed with Distressed Stripes and Monster 2 is Spots and Dots.

Here's a close up.

Oh yes, I did some more expirementing on the heat embossing around the balloon. It's getting better :]

I can't decide if I'm going to add two square pictures in black and white, or a photo-both strip down the right side.

Now on to more scrapbooking today.....

Happy Tuesday!

Lent starts tomorrow!! It's always tough for me to decide what to give up. Last year I gave up eating after 8pm, and I almost lasted all 40 days- hah. I still haven't figured out what to do this year... good thing I have another night to decide.
.
Anyway... I made this card last night for my boyfriend's mom. I miss his family so much! It's so relaxing when we go down to visit them. I could use some quiet time in my life right now!

The background papers are from Hollo's paper crafting store. I love this place! You buy paper by the pound, so it's only $1.25/lb for whatever colors you wish! Such an amazing deal!!! :) It's a huuuge warehouse of supplies from paper crafts, painting supplies, school/ office items, and get this- even a room full of just enevelops. It's a crafters and teacher's heaven.

The orange paper is by MakingMemories, along with the two flower brads. The dog and butterfly (cut at 2 3/4) is from the Cricut Sampler, with some fabric glitter glue on the butterfly. I don't have any stickles, so this did the trick! The sentiment stamped with Whispers Ink is from Stampabilities- a $3.00 find at JoAnns. I'm a bargain shopper when it comes to my crafting.

I just go my 5th and NEWEST cartridge- Paper Dolls Dress up!! Can't wait to show you my new creations :] 

Blog Awards

I had quite the crazy weekend. I was busy catching up with old friends, babysiting, and dog-sitting, thus having very little time to craft :( But I came back to a couple fantatstic surprises. A special thanks goes out to Tisha  and Jenn for the Liebster Blog award!

This award is for us newer bloggers out there! It's a great way to share the love and help bring attention to some new, creative blogs. The rules are fairly simply-  choose 3-5 others to share the award with and let them know you chose them. Pay it forward, simply said :]  Thanks girls! And I pass this along to:

Tabitha @ http://oneagleswings-tabitha.blogspot.com/

Jarna @ http://raineydaycrafter.blogspot.com/

Felicia @ http://scrapperinthemaking.blogspot.com/

Angela @ http://scraptillyadrop.blogspot.com/

Secondly, I owe a couple thanks for the stylish blogger award- Sandy, and Jillian. I am honored you thought of me! So with this award, we must share 8 facts about ourselves, and send it along to 8 others.

1. I'm left handed
2. I have three newphews and a niece, and one more is on his way into this world on THURSDAY :]
3. One of my biggest goals in life is to teach across seas
4. I'm slightly obsessed with post-it notes
5. And coffee mugs
6. My favorite animal is the giraffe

7. I could live off pizza rolls

8. I'm only five feet tall

Now the fun part- passing it along!

 Angela @ http://scraptillyadrop.blogspot.com/

 Lisa @ http://lisascreativeniche.blogspot.com/

Anne @ http://anniebeescraftroom.blogspot.com/

Stacey @ http://creatingacraftylife.blogspot.com/

Trisha @ http://trishacreates.blogspot.com/

Jenn @ http://www.jerseyjenn.com/

Katie @ http://katieoscreations.blogspot.com/

Melissa @ http://www.adventuresinheels.com/

Directions for A6 Side Step Card

Hey everyone!! Thanks so much for your kind comments and following us in this spring fever blog hop! You helped make it a huge success!! When I posted my blog I was in a bit of hurry, so I didn't post the instructions. But have no fear... here they are! I can't take any credit for this, but I can give all credit to this special webpage where I found a great layout and clear, precise steps to make this card. Check it out at http://www.scribd.com/doc/27934092/A-Side-Step-Card-Step-by-Step
Hope you feel inspired and feel welcome to share your step cards with me :]

Spring Fever Blog Hop!

Happy March 1st! Hopefully you made your way here from Michelle at Scrapping with my Bug.

With all the rain we go last night, I'm sure feeling the spring fever... if this snow will ever go away!

So here is my spring inspired card.

It's my very first side-step card. It took a few tries, but I got it! The watering can is from Popourri and the flowers are from create a critter. The sentiment is HAPPINESS from Stampin' Up.

I was drawing a crafting'block' (like writers block?!) when making this, and finally thought to add some buttons and color. I'm not sure how I feel about the finished product, but overall I love it. Here's a side view:

I can post the instructions on how to make this type of card for anyone interested! But I just googled 'side step card' and found some various patterns. Of course I had to add ribbon and flowers :)

Thanks for stopping by, and be sure to follow- leave your blog address and I'll certainly return the favor! Your next stop is off to the most talented Sarah at Pink Cricut!

~Happy Hopping ~

Thank You for Being You!

First and foremost- I promise to post more often! It's been a busy week. I just got back from visiting Tucson! It was so nice to get away, and escape the cold! Me and the boyfriend went to the zoo while down there, and I saw the zebras- for the first time ever! Well, maybe when I was really small, but I don't remember!! Which reminded me that I made this card a few weeks ago and NEVER posted it!! So here it is...

I made this at my grandmother's house a few weeks ago. She has thousands of paper crafting sentiments,paper, and tools! (She worked a craft store for a few years, so you can imagine!) I used  her stamp - and used silver embossing powder for it. I love my heat embosser! but I'm having some trouble getting all the powder off the extra areas, so in the close up you'll see some speckles! But I'm working on it :]

 I stamped the background and used the cuttlebug paisley for the purple paper. Of course this little cutie was cute from the create a critter. I SWEAR I make cards without this cartridge! I just seem to only post these ones! More variety to come- promise!

So I added a brad and tiny flowers for her hair, rather than cut the accessory flower she came with. I brushed on some white pearl chalk on the black layer to give her a bit of pizazze.

Happy Washinton's Birthday!!

Camera Found :]

It was behind a pillow on the couch... don't ask. But I found it and have cards to share! My sister came over and after hours of playing with her 2 year old and 4 year old, we decided that their bed time meant our craft time! Now, she is NOT the crafting type, at all. She can't even make brownies from a box that great. But regardless, she tries! hah. So I was excited when she asked me specifically to help her make a card. And I went all out... embellishments of ribbon, heat embossing, stamps, cricuting, rub-on transfers, googlie eyes, cuttlebug and patience! Lots of patience. I love what she ended up with, so I had to share it.

The close up gives details on the rub-on transfer saying from TPC Studio Valentine's collection. It came with a sheet of velium rub-ons, and a set of stamps. She used the cuttlebug for the entire turtle, from Create a critter, (such a surprise for me, I know... not) and added the eyes. The heart paper (The Paper Studio) is self adhesive!! It's wonderful! And a touch of black ribbon. Not too bad for my beginner sis! I warned her about paper craftings addiction...

Happy Valentine's Day!

Appologies for a Hiatus

I know I'm new to this blogging world and all, but I promise I'll post more often! I have made 3 cards lately, but I lost my camera!! :( I've been wanting to post them all week! So today after work I'm going to search ceiling to floor for this darn camera!!!

Anyway, I have fallen in a love with a new embellishing tool- a heat gun/ embosser. I LOVE embossing powder. I've been trying out some stamp embossing, but I have a pen too. My grandmother got me hooked on this. I can't wait to show you some work.

Hope everyone is having a lovely week!! Happy Friday!

Snow day number two!

I really REALLY hope the weather clears up. I can't take another day off. (I know, crazy, right?!) I'm just getting sooo bored here. I teach at a middle school, and I miss the excitement and obnoxiousness I guess. hah. Welp, today I made this little valentine's card. It was quick and simple. I used a stamp from some *unknown set* that I got on discount, and cut that out. The heart is from the Popourri cartridge. The heart was a little boring alone, and since I don't have stickles or embossing powder yet, I just took my white shimmer ink and grazed it across to give it color. And in honor of joining the blogging craft world, I'm entering this into my first challege, for 40:31 Creations, who has an awesome site :)

Happy snow day!