Tuesday, August 31, 2010

I am still here!!!

Good morning all! I hope you didn't give up hope on me! I had a few issues with my leg late last week and time got away from me. It has been narrowed down that I had an allergic reaction to something and I guess I have poison ivy to boot! Fun! Fun!



But - I did get some scrapping done this weekend!! I found this really cute stationary box somewhere online and thought it would great to try and make one. I used (once again) scrap paper for the patterned paper. the box opens out to reveal a couple of smaller spaces to put small cards and notes on the top section. The bottom section holds a small book (that can be used for addresses) and a small pocket that can house stamps or small tags. I embellished the box and cards with ribbon and flowers with brads.

I love how this came out but believe you me - it took a lot of work and unless I have a ton more time before craft fair season starts.... this might be the only one I make!
I hope you have enjoyed today's little post! I am still on the lookout for ideas that people would like to see at craft fairs!!! More to share tomorrow! Thanks for popping in!



Thursday, August 26, 2010

it's the most wonderful time of the year....



Do you remember that Staple's commercial of the mom riding on the cart while buying school supplies? Well, that is me!!!! Today was the first day of school for my daughter!! Altho I cannot believe she is going into the 5th grade - it is nice to have her back into the school routine!!!


Here are a couple of pics of her this morning! It only took a few hours for her to decide what she should wear. THAT is why I had her decide last night and lay everything out!!! :)





Today I want to share another project that I worked on last weekend! I like to include tissues in get well packages but just tossing a travel sized package of tissues looks.... well... bad. They are usually bright colored and do not coordinate with whatever I decide to send to the recipient. So I decided to figure out a way to cover them. Well, in this case - I make a little reusable box for them. I thought they came out super cute!!! And I can alter them any way I choose. I am still looking for a stamp set (or something) like a tissue box, etc to add to the lid. If you know of a cute set - please let me know!!


I hope you have liked today's inspiration project!!! If you think there is something I should make - please pop me a note!! Thanks for popping in!

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

the last hurrah!

Happy humpday! I hope you have enjoyed this rainy dreary day! I sure did!!!! Today we went on our last trip of the summer before school starts.


We went to Brunswick to the Maine State Music Theater to see Alice in Wonderland! It was awesome! The actors were so good and included the audience.... Wow! And the costumes! So great! I would suggest that you make plans NOW to attend one of next year's show. I know we will be going back!

Here are some pics of the girls and the actors. All the way home - the girls were trying to decide who their favorite characters were. How can you possibly choose when they were all great!
Go to the website here for the theater and see what shows you could attend!
Thanks for popping in tonight! More tomorrow!!!

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Just a note today....

Hello there! Glad you could stop in! Today will be a quickie post as I am sure the day will get busy!!! I spent most of my weekend working in the basement trying to come up with ideas for items to sell during the fall craft fairs!!!! So many choices - so little time!!!



I found this project on Splitcoast Stampers site. It is made from a file folder and holds a small notebook. Check here for directions!

Details for this one -


The file folders were bought in a pack of 3 at the Dollar Tree. The notebooks were bought in a pack of 6 at Walmart. I added a pen to the side with a piece of ribbon. I also cut small slits on the front cover to add some polka dot ribbon from Stampin' Up to add some zing!!!!
The left side of the folder holds a pocket to store whatever your heart desires!!!
Hope you enjoyed this short little post!! More tomorrow!!!! Thanks for poppin' in!

Sunday, August 22, 2010

Color Me Mine Trip





I promised to share pictures of our road trip to the ceramic studio - Color Me Mine in Portland. It is the cutest little shop on Commercial Street - right by the piers.

We wandered around looking at the selection of items to paint and once we chose our pieces, we picked a table and started the process.


First we choose the colors we wanted to paint with. So many choices!!! Each color had to be put on 3 times - to be sure it was completely painted.

Next - I transferred the dragonfly design I selected. The shop has a printer that prints onto special transfer paper. All I had to do is trace the design where I wanted it! (so cool!).


Then we painted, and painted, and painted!!!!! Each item then gets glazed and fired in the shop after they are completely dry. This takes about 5 days. Our items will be shipped to us. Hopefully we will be receiving them by the end of the week!




Here are pictures of the items we chose - after they were painted but they still need to be fired!










There were so many things to choose from and we eyeballed several potential Christmas gifts! I hope we get back there soon!

Friday, August 20, 2010

One more to share!

Hey there! It is Friday! I hope you have plans for the weekend! We are attending my Grandmother's 90th birthday party. After that - who knows what we will be doing! Not too much I hope!

Yesterday my daughter and I decided to head to Portland after my doctor's appointment. She still wanted a couple more shirts for school. It seems like T-shirts are all the craze this year. I was hoping to find something a little more... girly but she found a couple that she liked!

We also went to a new place called Color Me Mine! What a great place! We picked out and painted our own ceramic pieces. Once they are fired - they will be shipped to us! I hope we have them by the end of next week!!!! It was so much fun!

The layout I wanted to share today is of Ash and her BFF celebrating her birthday at Joker's! Ash wanted to take her BFF there rather than a party! It was fun to watch them run around playing games and playing on the maze.
The layout is a 12x12 and the background is is orange card stock. I thought the bright color just jumped out of my paper stash and screamed "use me"!!! The patterned paper is Razzleberry Lemonade from Stampin' Up! This has to be one of my most favorite patterned papers from Stampin' Up . I wish I had purchased one more before it was discontinued. On the right hand page - I cut the top note die with my cricut. I cut 2 strips of a different design and placed one on each page to tie them together. I also used my cricut to cut the title. The birthday came from the celebrations cartridge and the fun came from the plantin school cart. I also used that cart to cut out the large 9 to commemorate Ash's age. The cupcakes were stamped on white card stock and I colored them with Stampin' Up markers. I tied a yellow ribbon around the patterned paper to add some depth and finish off the pages!
I hope you have enjoyed today's post! I will share pictures of our trip to Color Me Mine in the next day or so! Thanks for popping in!

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Another layout to share

Happy Day! I hope you are having a great week so far. Things are getting back to normal here in the Walker household. Thanks again for all the well wishes. My leg is getting better day by day!

Today I want to share another 12x12 layout that I did marking Ash's 9th b-day. I cannot believe that in a few weeks, she will be 10. I guess I cannot complain - I am only a year behind in scrapping while others are several years behind! Ashley wanted her bedroom redone for her birthday so I spent quite a while finding "things" for her room. All she could do was pick out the wall color and give me some ideas for accent colors. The rest was a surprise! Not sure how I pulled it off but I did!!!


I used a very bold blue for the background paper and an orange striped paper for the accent. I matted the pictures with black card stock to make them stand out.


For additional accents, I used ribbon from Stampin' Up and some chipboard accents. I painted them with a bright pink (to match the colors in the room) and embossed them with 2 coats of clear embossing powder. I have found a great glue to adhere chipboard to my layouts. It is Ailene's fast grab glue. I die cut the title with my side kick and a Sizzix alphabet.

It is a very simple layout but it tells the story! I hope you have enjoyed it! As always - I look forward to your comments! Thanks for popping in!

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Another Manic Monday

Happy Monday! I cannot believe how fast the summer has flown by. We start school here next week. Where did the time go? I have been taking 3 day work weeks this summer to spend some extra time with Ash but soon I will have to go back to a regular 4 day week! (rough I know!). Before I know it - fall will be here in full swing and then on to Turkey day, Christmas, etc. Scary! By the way - there are only 131 days till Christmas! I am sure you really wanted to know that!!!

Today I want to share a birthday card I made for my dad yesterday. I saw one on splitcoast stampers, and had to case it. (unfortunately I cannot find it on the website now!) I just love, love the Stampin' Up owl punch. There are so many ways to use it! I even found a site to make the owl into a cute penguin! But that is for another post!
I hand cut the tree and branch out of scrap brown card stock. The leaves are punched out with the scallop circle punch and I inked the edges with a brown ink to add some depth. I punched out my owl and made the chest out of more scrap paper that I had on hand. (can you see a theme here - I hardly ever throw away scraps of paper) I added the party hat and party horn that I hand cut out of some leftover basic grey patterned paper. The sentiment is stamped with staz on ink (love the smell) from the set Love Ya Bunches. It reads "happy bird-day to you".
I hope you have enjoyed today's card. I hope it brought a smile to your face and helped make your Monday a little better! Thanks for popping in!

Sunday, August 15, 2010

And yet more ideas!



Happy Sunday! I wanted to share another item I have planned on selling at this fall's craft fairs!


I call them rag bags. I love the fact that I can make them in multiple sizes, colors and patterns. I took advantage of Walmart's sale on fabric and purchased may different patterns. I cannot wait to get sewing again soon!!!


Something I love about these bags is that you can use them rag side out or smooth side out. On this particular bag - I used a different pattern fabric on the inside and another on the outside for a contrast. I am planning on making some this size, and others 3 wide by 3 high, 4 wide by 3 high, etc. If there is a certain size or pattern you are interested in - please let me know! I will see if I have the material or can find it!
Once again, please let me know what you think! Thanks for popping in!

Saturday, August 14, 2010

More fair ideas

Hey there! Glad you popped in again today!!! I hope you had a great week! I am looking forward to a nice quiet weekend (haha) and getting a few more things completed in my scraproom! We will see what happens tho!

Today I want to share a very quick project that I might try to make up to sell at upcoming fall craft fairs. Checkbook covers. This one I simply used some plain colored card stock and layered on some bright striped paper.

I added some hot pink ribbon and a 3-D butterfly sticker on a scallop circle punch as accents. Simple as that! I also plan to alter some 2011-2012 calendars as well. I am hoping to get some Stampin' Up designer paper for some of these!
Please drop me a note and tell me what you think! Hopefully I can get some more sample projects finished this weekend! Have a great day!!!

Friday, August 13, 2010

Ideas for sale

Happy day to you! Thanks for all the well wishes following my surgery. All is going well. Tonight I can take the wrap off and hopefully leave it off!!!



Today's post is a test of something I am hoping to revamp and sell at some fairs this fall. I love the size of the tag for the background and the simplicity of the whole idea. And to alter a clothespin for a pencil holder.... love it!!! I am on the search for small notepads like this. I will have to check staples or office max to see if it is something that they carry.

I can think of so many varieties of paper to use on these! I have already cut out some chipboard bases. I am thinking that I can and probably will use some Stampin' Up designer paper. They coordinate so well and have many options within one pack! And of course, I will probably add the sentiment onto a circle and mat it with a scallop circle punched out of coordinating solid card stock!

So.... what do YOU think? Leave me a comment and let me know! Thanks for popping in!

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Hump day and on the slide to the weekend!

Good morning! Happy Hump day! We have made it halfway to the weekend! While you are reading this post today, I am having minor surgery on my leg. I will be out of work for about a week but not MIA from posting here! Got to share my ideas and get feedback from all of you! I will be sharing ideas about items to sell at upcoming craft fairs! Need input on what you think will go best!!!

Today is another 12x12 layout relating to school last year. I didn't really care for Ash's school picture this time but I always get them to mark the changes she makes each year. I wasn't sure how to design this layout so once again - I journeyed over to my sketch books and found an idea. (Not only do I have many sketch books, but I keep them from magazines and download them from websites, so I have a binder FULL of them as well!)
I decided to coordinate the colors in Ash's shirt with the patterned paper and accent with a solid red and yellow. I tore the red and the yellow for some added depth. Have you ever tried paper tearing? Not only does it add something to your page, it just feels good!

Once again - I used my Stampin' Up punches. This time it was the scallop circle and smaller circle for the title and the corner punch for the corners of the journaling box. I know I have said it many, many times, but I just love the punches! (I am actually ordering another one this week from a friend's party! Just have to decide what one!). I added some plain red ribbon to hide the seam of the papers, some yellow between the pictures and voila! Finished! Another one for the books! I still have tons of pictures to get scrapped but one day at a time. Thanks for popping in!

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Another sunshiny day

Good morning blogging world! I hope you are having a wonderful day today! The sun is shining here in Western Maine and all is well!
Today I wanted to share with you a 12x12 layout from the first day of school last year ('09). At the time I said I couldn't believe that my daughter was going to be in the fourth grade but in a few weeks- she will be headed off to 5th grade! Time flies!
The background paper I used was from a Die Cuts With A View paper pack (school days). For the top paper - I found some lined card stock in a tan color to look like notebook paper. (hey- just realized I should have used my punch on the edges to actually make it look like notebook paper!!! oh well!)
The apple is from a swap I participated in years and years ago. I journaled the pertinent info on the apple -like grade, teacher, school, etc. In the middle I made the title with a label maker. I thought it fit perfect with the theme. Very simple, as are many of my layouts! I just love the sneakers my kiddo just HAD to have for a fashion statement!
I hope you have enjoyed today's layout! I am off to have minor surgery tomorrow but will continue to post while I am recovering! Have a terrific day and thanks for popping in!!!

Saturday, August 7, 2010

Everybody's working for the weekend!

I hope you are having a great weekend! The weather has turned a little cooler here in Maine so hopefully we can get some things finished around the house. We have a huge to do list with miscellaneous items on it. Perhaps this will be THE weekend! I also have a goal to get some one on one time with my scrap room!

Today I wanted to share my layout of a trip we took to Fun Town/Splash Town last August. We went with our best buds and their family!
It seems that lately I have a "thing" with circles on my pages. For this layout, I took plain blue card stock for the base and accented with some bright summertime paper. I believe (but am not positive) that the patterned paper is from BoBunny. I used my circle cutter from Creative Memories to cut the circles and then used a small blade to remove the center of the circle. I randomly placed them on my layout to coordinate with the circles on the patterned paper.
I used my scallop square punch from Stampin' Up for the small pictures on the left hand page. I added a title with simple black letter stickers (haven't used letter stickers in forever!!!) and 3 colored brads for accent.

For the afternoon of our trip - we went into the water park "Splashtown". For this layout - I found some polka dotted paper that made me think of water. After searching high and low in my house for something large enough to trace to make my half circle, I ended up winging it with a dinner plate. I matted the pictures on the blue circle with white mats to make them pop off the page. I used an arrow punch for the arrows and some more of the plain letter stickers for the title! Simple and easy!!!
I found both of these layouts in my new sketch book! Once again - the thinking was all done for me! Gotta love it!

I hope you have a fantabulous weekend!!!!

Friday, August 6, 2010

Friday once again

TGIF! Can you believe it is Friday once again? This has been a very busy week in the Walker household. I attended my very first "31" party. Beautiful bags and totes! I loved them so much I had to schedule a party of my own for November! Then meetings, work and doctor appointments to finish out the week! But the weekend is here and I am so looking forward to! Hopefully that includes some serious scrapping time!

Today I want to share the birthday cards I made recently! I borrowed the Crazy for Cupcakes stamp set from my best friend and went to town. I copied her birthday card from her blog - here. I thought that they could be used for anyone of any age or gender. So many color options as well. I even thought about adding some dazzling diamonds glitter to the "frosting" but didn't for this batch! Katie used the spritzing tool from Stampin' Up but I did not have one so I improvised! My daughter had some blow pens and I used them instead! (next time - I will get a spritzing tool!)




I stamped the cupcake and balloon onto the spritzed paper and again onto white card stock. I used my watercolor pencils and colored the cupcake on the white card stock to coordinate with the colored cardstock on the mats. I hand cut the cupcakes out and pop dotted them onto the stamped image. I even stamped the flame onto orange card stock and cut those out separately. I pop dotted those, as well as the balloons in different colored card stock.


I also wanted to share another card that my daughter made. She choose one of my favorites stamp sets, unfroggetable, and found an idea she wanted to copy in a book I made with card ideas! I thought she did a terrific job! She is getting good at making cards and will soon be flying by good old mom!!!
Ash is heading out tonight to visit her other grandparents for the weekend! She is excited for some great one on one time with them! I cannot wait to hear all that she has done when she gets home!

I hope everyone has a terrific weekend! Thanks for popping in!

Thursday, August 5, 2010

Happy Friday Eve

Happy Thursday all! I have a friend who calls Thursdays "Friday Eve" - hence the title!!!

I hope you have all had a great week!!!! It has been a busy week for us! Parties and meetings almost every day! No time for scrapping so far this week but I do have some more cards to share with you!
Both cards are made with my new owl punch from Stampin' Up. I just love this punch! (I love all the SU punches but this one is so cute!). I was surfing on the Splitcoast Stampers site and saw some similar to the ones I created.

The first one is probably my favorite! I punched the owl out of dark brown cardstock with the belly out of misc patterned paper from my scrap stash. The top owl has wings that are not part of the punch. I took another punched owl and cut his sides off to make the wings! I placed the owl on the card with pop dots to add some dimension. All my cards are made with a white base and then I layer the colored cardstock on top. I used dark blue and tan on these cards. I added some light blue ribbon across the blue stripe and then mounted it onto the card. In the top left - I punched 3 small holes with a punch and added 3 small blue brads. The stamp in the lower corner is one I had from a set of studio G clear acrylic stamps from Michael's. I was just flipping through for a sentiment and found this stamp. I had completely forgotten that I had it! (don't you love it when that happens?!!) You could add googly eyes to the owl if you wanted to add some fun to the card!

The next card is a birthday card, perfect for the men in your life. I don't know about you but I really have a hard time finding cards for men. This one is fun and fancy free yet can pull off a masculine feel!
I utilized the same concept for the owl, using brown and scrap patterned paper. I layered green and brown for the base and blue and white for the center. I pulled some ribbon from my growing stash and tied it around the center mat. I fell in love with this ribbon but to be honest - never had a reason to use it. I think it goes with these owls perfectly! I used a happy Birthday stamp from my clear stamp stash.

I hope you have enjoyed these cards today! More to share tomorrow!!! Have a terrific day!!!

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Pemaquid Day Trip









Yesterday we went on what we call a summertime "field trip" to Pemaquid lighthouse. This time we took my Sis-in-law, niece and my mom with us! It was such a beautiful day! The sun was shining and it wasn't too hot out. A nice breeze was coming off the ocean!

Here are a couple of pics of our awesome day!

Sunday, August 1, 2010

Sunny Sunday in Maine

Happy Sunday all! I hope you have had a terrific weekend! We have had some beautiful weather here in Maine! THIS is the kind of summer I love!

This weekend I have been working on some cards! My Grandmother will be turning 90 this month and we are having a surprise party for her. So Ashley and I made cards for her birthday. We also made some other cards while we were playing! I will share those this week!

This card I CASE'd from Splitcoast Stampers. Kudos to the original designer! It was so easy to copy and the variations are unlimited! I used plain white cardstock as the base and bright green as the next layer. I made this card larger than usual to allow for the 3 rectangles. The patterned paper is one I had in my ever growing stash of paper! I then matted light blue with yellow from my scraps and stamped my design onto white. The stamp set is one of the new hostess sets from Stampin' Up called Birthday Bakery. This set is so cute and so easy to earn.

I added a small banner to the birthday quote and the "for you" quote matted with the new Large Scallop Punch from Stampin' Up. (have I even mentioned that I LOVE the Stampin' Up punches???!!! They rock!) I crimped the scallop circle for some added detail!

Ashley decided that SHE wanted to make a special card for her Great Grandmother as well. So - she picked out a card from Splitcoast as well and asked me to cut the papers for her. She picked out the papers and assembled it all by herself. I was certainly impressed. Pretty good for an almost 10 year old! She also used the Birthday Bakery set. She liked the looks of the blues and browns together so she matted the patterned paper to coordinate.
She is getting to have quite the eye for colors! She also made a few extra cards this weekend! I will also share those this week!
I hope you have enjoyed these 2 cards! Tomorrow we are off for a "field trip" to Pemaquid lighthouse and then to Boothbay Harbor. Have a great Sunday!