June 2015 Crafting Goals

A recap of last month’s goals:

• Finish my April PL pages — Success! I even caught up Arthur's album!
• Put up my retired supplies for sale on FB — Fail. I didn't get the items listed online, but I did sort them from my main stash. This will be added to next month's goals.
• Clean out my card kits box — Success! I've got a much better handle on this box as of this month. I cleaned out some of the old kits and updated how many kits I have of each set.
• Make one non-PL or card craft — Success! I got my new chalkboard calendar up onto the wall. Hopefully this helps me stay on top of my blog posts.
• Curate at least one craft related Pinterest boards — Success! I deleted a few old boards that I'm just not using anymore. I also did a bit of shuffle of my To Make/CASE board.

This month’s goals:

• Finish my May PL pages -- Always, always, always a goal.
• Evaluate the state of the twins' scrapbooks and make a plan to catch up -- I have a giant stack of crap for the twins' books but am at least a few summers behind. Really need to attempt to catch up or at least get a game plan set.
• Send out any remaining thank you cards for SU and Thirty-One orders -- Trying to be better at using my cards.
• Organize the kid crafts cabinet -- It's a bottomless pit right now. Need to get that thing organized.
• Put up my retired supplies for sale on FB -- Carry over from last month. I need to get this done and this stuff out of here.

Fancy Folds Class - Part 2

In May I held a class featuring four cards with fancy folds. I tend to keep the same style of cards, but decided this was a great chance to learn some new techniques.

Card #1

I found a great little tutorial for a steps card. I love the finished look of these and knew I wanted to do my own. Take a piece of cardstock measuring 4 1/4" x 11" and score as 1 1/4", 2 1/2", 4 1/4", 6", 8 1/4". From there cut a separate piece of same colored cardstock to 4 1/4" by 5 1/8". Fold the card into steps and attach the other piece of cardstock to stand up the card. From there, I cut the DSP to 1" by 4", 1 1/2" by 4", and 4 3/4" by 4". I layered a smaller piece of white paper to put add a fun sentiment. To finish the card, I added some die cut flowers in coordinating inks.

• Stamps: Wacky Wishes (retired); Secret Garden (retired)
• Inks: Melon Mambo; Tangerine Tango; Pacific Point; Wild Wasabi
• Cardstock: Melon Mambo; Beyond the Garden DSP (retired)
• Accessories: Garden Party Washi Tape (retired)
• Tools: Secret Garden Framelits (retired)

Card #2

Love this tri-fold class! Start with a 8" by 12" piece of cardstock. Line up the piece at a diagonal and cut. It doesn't need to be precise. You can make the angle as steep as you want. Score at 4", flip around, and score at 4". Fold the card and you're ready to decorate.

To decorate, I created my own piece of DSP with the circle stamp from Work of Art. Once that was done, I cut the pieces to add to the cardstock. Finally I decorated and cut out some balloons. Perfect!

• Stamps: Celebrate Today (retired); Work of Art
• Inks: Pistachio Pudding (retired); Crisp Cantaloupe (retired); Pool Party; Basic Gray
• Cardstock: Crisp Cantaloupe (retired)
• Accessories: Gray twin
• Tools: Balloon Framelits

Project Life April 2015 Part 2

April - Part 2 Most of the second half of April's pages feature photos from California.

Pages six and seven have lots of random pictures of Arthur. Sometimes I like doing spreads where the pictures don't really relate. I tend to have ton of one-off photos that I still want to include in some way.

Page eight features pictures from Arthur's two friends' joint birthday party and some park pictures. My favorite part of this spread was the "Spring" insert card. Most of the card came from a PL swap that I did a few months back. I added the letters to help finish the card.

Page 9. Another page without embellishments. Arthur and I went on a walk on morning and I took a ton of flower photos. Such great blooms in our neighborhood! This was the perfect spread to feature a "Home Sweet Home" card.

Page ten's pictures were not taken by me! This spread features our spring social. Usually one of the moms takes pictures for the group. She always captures the best moments. My favorite is the one of Arthur and the baby stroller.

The last page of April consists of some pictures from our visit to Emma Prusch Farm. We went on a guided tour complete with a hayride. Arthur had lots of fun with his friends that day. Considering all the kids were boys, I thought the "Snips and Snails" card was perfect.

Fancy Folds Class - Part 1

In May I held a class featuring four cards with fancy folds. I tend to keep the same style of cards, but decided this was a great chance to learn some new techniques.

Card #1

To make this great card, cut your base cardstock to 5 1/2" by 11".  Score at 2 1/8", flip around and score at 2 1/8". From there fold the smaller scored pieces inward. Decorate the front and inside of the card and it's finished.

I chose to use some of my leftover All Abloom DSP as my base palette. The big cut-out butterfly and coordinating stamped butterflies add that extra touch.

• Stamps: Hello Darling (retired); Papillon Potpurri
• Inks: Strawberry Slush (retired); Blushing Bride
• Cardstock: Daffodil Delight; Pistachio Pudding (retired); Blushing Bride; All Abloom DSP (retired)
• Accessories: Daffodil Delight Ribbon; Jewels
• Tools: Butterfly Thinlits

Card #2

The trick to this card or any cut out card is to place your framelit off the cardstock. I love the layered look of these floral frames. Simple card but very cute. I don't have a specific measurement for this card, I just folded the paper and lined up my framelit.

• Stamps: Itty Bitty Banners (retired)
• Inks: Blackberry Bliss
• Cardstock: Blackberry Bliss; Moonlight DSP (retired)
• Accessories:
• Tools: Floral Frames Framelits (retired); Itty Bitty Framelits (retired)

Currently...

Watching: The Kingsman. A movie that didn't take itself too seriously, I'm loving it!

Reading: Fire by Kristin Cashore. I hope to finish it today sometime. I only have about 100 pages left.

Listening: Amy Winehouse Pandora channel. Loving the mix of old and new on that channel.

Making: Teriyaki chicken is in the crockpot for dinner. I like to make mine with extra sauce to pour over the rice. Yum yum!

Feeling: Arthur finally slept through the night again. I woke up today at 7:30am feeling well-rested. However it's a bit chilly here today, so socks are must!

Planning: It's time for the parents' group biannual membership survey. I keep many of the same questions each time, but like to customize to the season, etc. Thinking of some different questions and activities today.

Loving: Really enjoying my hazelnut flavored coffee today. I'm on my second cup!

Sunday Haul #17

A few goodies showed up at my door this week... I got my latest Messy Box on Wednesday. Haven't really had a chance to play with any of them so far, but I have plans to use the supplies for some greeting cards soon.

I also took advantage of the retiring sale at Becky Higgins' shop. I snapped up Azure for $12.99! I plan on using the core kit along with Slate as the basis for the twins PL albums. I need to catch up their scrapbooks this summer. Once the current album is filled, I'm switching them over to PL style. I also grabbed the recipe theme pack.

Retiring Series: Label Love and Lullaby

The new catalog is coming... But before we get there, I'm highlighting some of my favorite retiring stamp sets and retiring DSP. Cute baby card featuring Label Love and the Lullaby DSP. I love the layers on this card, simple yet striking. I punched out the labels and layered those on top of a piece of Lullaby DSP. I tucked a piece of Coastal Cabana ribbon under the DSP and popped up some stars on top. This could have been made in girl or boy colors using the same products.

• Stamps: Label Love
• Inks: Coastal Cabana
• Cardstock: Baked Brown Sugar; Lullaby DSP
• Accessories: Coastal Cabana Stretch Trim Ribbon (retired)
• Tools: Artisan Label Punch; Stars Framelits

Project Life April 2015 Part 1

April - 1st Half We were in Indiana for the first almost two weeks of April before flying back home. The pages didn't quite line up nicely so there are some mix of locations.

The first page of the month features some fun pictures from Indiana. I added some little labels to the pictures as well as the boys' names. Unnecessary, but pretty cute. I'm loving the green, blue, yellow, and brown color scheme for April.

Pages two and three are all about our Easter celebration. We had dinner and an egg hunt at the aunt and uncle's house. I actually captured some cute photos of the hunt and even a few of the twins. I kept the embellishments at a minimum to feature the pictures.

The fourth and fifth pages highlight the candid photos from Sarah's wedding and related festivities. I decided to forego all embellishments and keep the photos clean.

Desktop Thursday #5

Working on Project Life pages for Arthur's album. I was about three months behind, but caught up quickly. I basically copy the family album pages minus photos and stories specific to me. The page on the left was my last page for April. The stack of photos are the May photos I just printed. Those I will be working on on Sunday during my open house / crop day. Yeah for getting things done!

Retiring Series: Hello Darling and Painted Blooms

The new catalog is coming... But before we get there, I'm highlighting some of my favorite retiring stamp sets and retiring DSP. I just bought the Hello Darling stamp set and of course it goes on the retiring list. But that's okay, I'm definitely keeping this set for awhile. It is so romantic! I decided to feature the big solid flower but couldn't pick just how. How about layering the sentiment right one top? Perfect. A frame made from beautiful floral paper and a sparkly jewel complete the card!

• Stamps: Hello Darling
• Inks: Blushing Bride; Rose Red
• Cardstock: Blackberry Bliss; Painted Blooms DSP
• Accessories: Rhinestones
• Tools: Floral Frames Framelits