Recycling

Hi all,

I hope you have all been happy and healthy.  Are you enjoying your summer?  I feel like our summer is just whooshing by.  So much to do and we are running out of time.  For those of you who don't know we are moving in August to a new and exciting country.   Our family motto is "Embracing life's adventures!"And a new adventure this will be.

I have a new layout to share with you.  I will admit right off that this layout does not use any Close To My Heart products.  In case you haven't noticed I am a very eclectic scrapper.  This layout is about my sister and her new husband.  They are expecting their first child in November and she is over the moon!  I am, too.  She has been praying to be a mommy for many years.  God had provided a fantastic husband and now a new baby.

The layout is entitled Unity.  Unity is  the state of being united or whole. 
Khina and her husband Matt came to visit us after picking up Matt's son for the summer.  This is the first time their family was united.  This page is a reflection of my sister's personal style and personality. 


I was inspired by the packaging from a pair of shoes I bought (and yes, the shoes are super cute!).  

I cut the box up and used the parts are embellishments for my page.  Here is the finished product. 

So, have a look around and see what packaging you can use to inspire your next layout. 

Have a good one! 

T. 

Rememberings

This layout is in honor of my Grandma.  She loved to drink buttermilk.  To this day everytime I grab the buttermilk to make biscuits or pancakes or to fry chicken I see her face, I hear her giggle and I am reminded of all the little things I loved her for.  She is forever imprinted on my heart.

T.

Thank You Gifts

My kiddos volunteer as Teacher Aide's once a week at our preschool.  I say "Our" preschool for 2 reasons.  1)  The preschool is located at our church.  2)  All of my kiddos (well technically 3 of my kiddos) attended this preschool.  Just for some history here, my 4th munchkin was destined to go to this same preschool, but we moved to the other side of the world for 3 years one month before he would have started preschool.  However, he was raised at this preschool, so it is as if he attended this preschool.  Anyway -  I love this school and I love the teachers at this preschool.  The director and 5 of the staff have been there 10 years.  They are like family to me.  

As a thank you for the beautiful women that work at our preschool I made these little notebooks.

Aren't they adorable.  

They start out looking like this.  Cute, but not adorable - yet.  I bought these cute little guys as Staples.  You get 2 mini-composition books in a pack for under a dollar. 

To make them all cute and super special you need a few basic supplies:  paper trimmer, adhesive, good scissors, and ink.  And then you dig through your scrap box to find your paper of choice.  You need pieces of paper that are about 3.5"x5" to cover the fronts and backs of your notebook.  And then you get to have fun and add what ever accessories you wish to personal you mini notebook.  

These little notebooks are pocket/purse sized and make great little thank you gifts for not a lot of money. 

And the best part... it is a heartfelt gift made with love.

A Few Cards

Two of my good friends have birthdays in May.  I love making cards that reflect the personalities of my friends.

This on is for a woman that loves Victorian style.  Lots of layers and rich colors.  I made the center flower using tissue paper.  I save all the tissue I get from gifts.  The more crinkled the better. I will do a tutorial on how to make this flower, soon. The antiques 'lace' that is placed along the Colonial cardstock is actually a Crochet Flower  that I cut the center out of.  I aged the flower first by sponging Chocolate ink onto the flower and then cut the flower apart. Viola - lace edging.  

This card I made for my friend that loves rather simple fun stuff.  I thought the whimsy of the flower suited her.  I created the background using the Connections (D1330) set.  I placed three of the smaller circles and three of the smaller flower elements onto one block and then randomly stamped the images.  I wanted the background to be lighter to I stamped the background using the second generation technique.  To do that just ink you stamp, stamp off onto scratch paper and then stamp your image onto the card base. Super simple and super effective. 

This thank you card is so very simple, but so, so lovely.  I made a set of six of these as a thank you for a friend.  I made all six in less than an hour.  The image is from Childhood Portrait (D1373).  The sentiment is from Card Chatter (C1381). 

Thanks for stopping by. 

T. 

My Scrap Space

Happy Tuesday! I thought I would share something really personal with you all. My scrappin' space. This is where I go and play. I wish I could say that this was my room - just mine - but the truth is that this is also where the McKids come and get crafty, too. Not to mention that one of our computers resides in this room. Bottom line, I hardly ever am alone in this room. In fact, I had to nudge some munchkins aside in order to take these pictures. They were working hard on Mother's Day gifts. Top secret.
My room is located in our basement. There are double doors that open out to our backyard area so I can throw them open and keep an eye on the kiddos when they are swimming.

This is standing at the doorway to the room. The computer is here on the right and the little messy desk is the where my kiddos sit, mainly my daughter, when they are playing with all the arts and crafts goodies I have. We are a homeschool family, so we do a lot of creative playing!

The message board on the wall is a piece of homasote board I bought at Home Depot for about $30.  They come in 4x8 sheets and they will cut it down in size for you.  I buy the whole sheet have them cut it.  I then cover the homasote with batting and then fabric.  This board is screwed into the wall.  The off cuts I used to make a smaller message board that I attached to an over-the-door wreath holder.  That hangs upstairs.  More information than you needed, but I got carried away!  Anyway.....back to the tour.

The desk....I print my pictures here and my Cricut lives here.  I have it hooked up to the computer. This is my business center as well as a school space - multi-functional!

When you are standing at the door by the computer and look left This is what you see. In between the wooden bookcases I have set up a cutting station where I have my big guillotine cutter and my big shot. The bookcase on the far wall is filled with little embellishments.

This is my desk. This is where I get my craft on! I like to stand when I scrap. I used bed risers, from Walmart, to lift my desk to the right height. Under my desk I have a few closet organizer shelves, the kind you put together yourself, that I use to store my 12x12 scrapbooks.

The alcove behind me is where all the stuff I use the most is stored. I can just turn and reach into a drawer to find what I need.

Inside my go to drawer.  I keep my stamps filed by color on one side of the drawer.  My ribbon rounds are collected here so I can just grab and go to work

To the left of this, where you can just make out a chair, is my little table that has my sewing machine sitting on it. I keep it threaded and ready to go anytime I need it. I also can sit here and look out the double doors and watch my kiddos running through the woods.

You can just see those shelves under my desk.  The metal shelves under my message board are metal snap together shelves.  I love these shelves.  You can configure them into any shape.  They hold my CTMH papers, my How To books and my large stamps that I have in a binder. This is also where all the kiddos craft materials live.  

Thanks for visiting my scrap space.  Have a great and blessed day! 

Summer's Stinkin' Cute IB

You guys, I am so excited.  This Summer's Idea Book is beyond stinkin' cute.  I can not wait to get my loot and start playing.

Flip Flapping Away

Last week at my 3T class I got share with the ladies all the great reasons to have some Flip Flaps in your stash. 

Reason #1 - you can add a ton of photos to a page without it looking cluttered or too busy. 

Reason #2 - they make great interactive elements to your scrapbooks. 

And reason #3 - they are great for adding additional journaling.  Or, if you have something private you can use it to keep you journaling hidden.  

Flip Flaps also make great mini-albums.  

Oh, here's a tip they are Flip Fl-A-ps - not flip flops...totally different thing.