Category: simply scrappin


Jan
2010

patience: not my virtue (day 26 & 25)

categories: 40 till 40, cup'a caffeine, new camera pix, simply scrappin, Uncategorized
Well, as you can tell by the title of this post, Patience: not my virtue,  I am not a patient person. At least not all of the time.  Ok, not most of the time.  Today proved that.   

My blog was “down” for almost 24 hours and there wasn’t anything I could do, but wait. 

And wait. 

And wait. 

The company that “hosts” my blog had issues, so it was all in their hands. 

So, obviously, that is something that I need to continue to work on….maybe by my 50th birthday, I will be a patient person.  Maybe not. 

I did find this quote online : “Patience is a virtue, Possess it if you can, Seldom found in woman, Never found in man” 

While I was forced to not blog, I decided to paper craft instead.  
I had seen these little paper pads online a year or so ago and finally sat down and made some. Here’s how:

  • First drink lots & lots of Starbucks so that you have lots & lots of cardboard cup sleeves.  That’s the yummy part! 
  • As you can see above, I took an old notebook and removed many sheets of paper. 
  • Cut your sleeve so that it is now in two separate pieces, a front and a back. 
  • Take as many sheets of paper as you desire and cut them down to size.  I am NOT precise.  I do not measure.  I estimate. 
  • Next, using my Bind-it-All, I centered my stack of paper and punched holes. 
  • Do the same thing with the front & back covers.  (I did mine at the same time, to make sure that the front and back were lined up together).  (The smaller your paper, you may end up with a hole punched on the edge…that’s ok, it still holds together.  If this bothers you, simply make your paper slightly bigger.) 
  • Using my Bind-it-All, I bound my paper pad together.  (For this project, I used the 3/4″ binding rings.  I could have made my paper pad much thicker, but chose not to.)
  • For the final touch, you could tie some cute ribbon to the binding, but I chose not to.  I decided to keep it simple.  A quick project.  No patience required! 
The above picture doesn’t really serve it justice.  Because the sleeve is curved, when you prop it up, it looks messy…but I wanted to show you the inside. Pictured below is the back of the sleeve where your drink could have been customized & written here. 

Mine wasn’t, so this was a great place for me to sign my initials. 

Easy Peasy. 

25 till 40!! 

Jan
2010

He created the seasons (day 29)

categories: 40 till 40, encouraging verses, new camera pix, simply scrappin, Uncategorized
I love winter! 

I love snow and the way that it makes the earth look lovely. 

I love snuggling up under a warm blanket with a steaming hot cup of coffee. 

I love taking a drive or running errands while the tiny little flakes fall to the ground. 

Winter is definitely my favorite season. 

I love the fact that when God created the earth, He thought of the seasons.  He thought of the transformations & changing that the earth could go through as time passes.  I love the Creator, and I love His creations. 

Daniel 2: 21 says “He changes times and seasons; he sets up kings and deposes them.  He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning.”

Ecclesiastes 3:1 reads “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven…” 

I made the ATC pictured above for a “Favorite Season ATC” swap over on sistv.com.  The little penguin was cut on my Cricut Expression.  The stamped sentiment was from papertreyink.com. 

Only 29 days till I turn 40! 

Dec
2009

pretty pleats for paper

categories: holidays, new camera pix, simply scrappin, Uncategorized
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Whew!  It’s been a long week. 

I had the stomach flu for most of the week, then towards the end of the week, I had 2 events to get ready for.  One being my husbands family Christmas and the other, a coffee fellowship time at church this morning.  Whew! 

Today, I finally worked on my December Daily. 

I got out my sewing machine and decided to make pleats for paper! 

Here’s how:

  • Cut a scrap of paper that is the appropriate size for your layout (paper project).  Then cut a piece of ribbon quite a bit longer….I didn’t measure it, but I would guess almost double the length. 
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  • Next I applied adhesive to the back of the ribbon (or it can be applied to the paper).
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  • Begin your ribbon with a little excess hanging off of the edge so that you can tuck it around the back.  Now you can start to create pleats along your paper.  Pleats can be as close or as far apart as you want. 
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  • Once you have reached the end of your paper, wrap the end of your ribbon around to the back and secure.  You are ready to sew! 
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  • Paying attention to the direction that your pleats fold, sew in the same direction.  You can use whatever type of stitching that you want.  I used a zig-zag stitch. 
  • Here are 2 examples of the pleats that I made. 
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  • To finish, you can simply trim off the excess paper along the bottom, (or leave it) and attach to your project!  I also added a santa flair pin to this set of pleats. 

It’s as simple as that! 

That completes my December Daily: Day 4. 
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Nov
2009

whoooo are you thankful for?

categories: holidays, my family, new camera pix, severe peanut allergy, simply scrappin, Uncategorized
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Happy Thanksgiving!  I hope that everyone has had a great Thanksgiving, full of lots of delicious food and time spent with loved-ones. 

Well, as you can see above, this is the completed project that I made my lil miss hoot & her hunky hoot friend for. 
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Here’s how:

  • First I gathered a few assorted pieces of cardstock.
  • Using my Cricut Expression, “Bags, Tags, Boxes & More” cartridge, I cut a bunch of “popcorn containers” (6 1/2 inches)
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  • Using my bone folder stick (or whatever it’s called), I folded all of the sides & flaps.
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  • The absolute best way to seal the edges are to use one of these adhesive applicators.  This is the perfect size to run along the edges.
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  • After assembling the container, I simply press all of the flaps to make sure that the adhesive has stuck. 
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  • Next I cut a length of ribbon to go around the container and then one to use as a handle. 
  • The ribbon that will go around the container, I ran through my sticker-maker.  I find that it is the best adhesive for ribbons. 
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  • Using the computer, I printed up this little sentiment to place on the backside.  I wanted to give these to different people in our lives that we are very thankful for.  I wanted to be able to tell them that we are thankful for them.  I simply attached this with double-sided tape.  (I used a cotton-swab to ink around the edges a little.)
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  • Using the cute little hoot tags that I had made previously, I attached them to the front.  You can use whatever adhesive you prefer.  I used double-sided tape and a little glue. 
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  • I filled the bottom 1/3 with a few Hershey Kisses.  (Because they are yummy & because I needed something to help weight it down and make sure it would stand once I added the homemade chocolate lollipops.)  (Both the Kisses & lollipops are peanut-free.) 
  • I then filled it with crinkled paper, used for gift-bags.  I chose brown so that it would look like a nest…lol…  
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  • It’s hard to see in the picture below, but I they are homemade chocolate lollipops, in the shape of owls.  (Very simple to make.) 
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  • Here are the owls as they are placed in the container. 
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  • Below is the finished chocolate owl bouquet. 

Who are we thankful for?  We’re thankful for YOU! 
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Nov
2009

meet the hoots

categories: new camera pix, simply scrappin, Uncategorized

 

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isnt’ she cute? 

meet lil miss hoot! 

and we musn’t forget mr. hunky hoot- 
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i love owls!  i sat down with my supplies last night and worked on this project.  now, in this blog post, you won’t see the finished project, but i will show you the steps i used to make lil miss hoot and her hunky friend. 

  • first, i wanted to use my glittermist to make a colorful paper.  as you can see below, i first misted it with “caramel apple” and then with “peppermint stick”.  i thought that both of those colors would be fall-looking. 
hoot-1
  • while this paper dried, i stamped a bunch of little hoot bodies onto a piece of cream paper.  (later i realized, i should have switched that….i should have used the mist paper as the body and cream paper as the belly so that more color would show…oh well.)
  • hoot bodies are stamped with Wise Owl and Wise Owl Bellies. 
  • bodies stamped first, then wings, then i cut them out. 
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  • using my Cricut Expression, i cut out many scalloped & unscalloped circles, different sizes and colors. 
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  • on the smaller circles that weren’t scalloped, i then misted those with “caramel apple” mist.  then using a couple different stamp sets and the words “hoot”& “hoo!” i stamped the circles with those words. 
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  • next came time for their cute little bellies.  using the paper that we misted at the beginning, i then stamped different bellies.  then cut them out. 
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  • once i positioned the belly on the body, i would stamp it’s cute little beak. 
  • glue the belly on.  any basic adhesive will work. 
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  • after the belly and beak on done, i used googly eyes, which i glued on.  ( i love the eyes!!! there are stamps that you can use instead if you don’t have any eyes on hand, but i happened to buy a small bag of these at our church garage sale this summer….i just couldn’t resist them!  especially for about 25 cents, i just knew there would be a project for them!!!) 
  • once the glue from your bellies has dried, you can then stamp on their feet…i learned the hard way that you don’t want a little glue seeping out when you apply pressure to your stamp….it’s best for it to dry a few minutes first. 
  • i then started to place the circles together, using different colors. 
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hoot-8
  • once i got this far, i realized that my cute little owls were so nice and chunky, but once they are placed on top of the hoot background, you can hardly see the words….so, i had to break free from my habit of “centering” everything and start to play with positioning the owl so that you can read some of the hoots. 
  • as i finished up, i couldn’t resist putting a little bow in “her” hair and making boy & girl owls. 
hoot-girlies
hoot-group
this is only the first half of my lil owl project.  today i need to finish the other part. 

here’s a little clue about how these lil hoots will be used!!  stay tuned to see the finished project! 
hoot-hint

Nov
2009

…a few of my favorite days…

categories: holidays, new camera pix, simply scrappin, Uncategorized
dd-09-page-11-closeup
These are just a few of my favorite days (pages) so far!! 

Above, I used an old piece of sheet music, misted it with Caramel Apple Mist, to make it look even older.  As a result, the edges always roll up from being damp.  I love that effect!!!  The Santa is a gift tag.  He fit perfectly with the theme of my December Daily. 

On day 3, the Santa is a 3D sticker that I placed inside a frame that I cut using my Cricut Expression. 

If you aren’t familiar with a December Daily, let me explain!  It is a Scrapbook/Journal made PRIOR to December.  The idea was created by Ali Edwards (she is amazing!).  You pre-make a page for each day of December.  That way, when the holidays are underway, and you are stressed by the hustle & bustle, it will be much easier to simply insert a picture from that day, or journal about it. 

Last year was my first time that I participated in creating a DD.  I made one mistake.  I tried to “scrapbook” each page ahead of time.  I used titles and themes for each page.  Yes, they were Christmas-themed, but it made it more difficult, because if the page was themed with “Christmas Lights” and I didn’t end up doing anything on that day of December that had anything to do with lights, then it seemed to mess up my page.  In other words, I detailed it TOO much when I made the page. 

SO, (if that makes sense), this year, I am attempting to remember the “less is more” theory.  That way, when it comes to that particular day of December, I will be able to title the page using what fits. 

If you’ve never tried it…give it a whirl!  You won’t be disappointed! 
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dd-09-day-3-overview
dd-09-day-3-left
dd-09-day-7-right
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dd-09-day-9-right

Nov
2009

december daily 09 intro

categories: holidays, new camera pix, simply scrappin, Uncategorized
dd-09-intro-closeup
I have been working on my December Daily 2009. 

This is just a glimpse of some of the pages that I’ve uploaded. 

The above page is an intro page.  This paper is so pretty that I didn’t want to cover it up!  The bird part actually feels like felt. 
dd-09-title-page
This is a title page.  I used my “snowy embellishments” for most of the page numbers (December Day #). 

I’ve completed my December Daily thru page 15, but I haven’t uploaded all of the pix yet. 

I am hoping to have the entire DD completed in the next day or so.  I need to begin my Christmas cards…amongst other projects, lol. 

Ok. Time for a snack.  Enjoy your evening! 
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