Sunday Haul #22

A fun haul post for this week... I went to Joann's to use a 60% off regular priced item and ended up with quite a load of stuff. And I didn't even use my coupon on any of this. Turns out all of their scrapbooking supplies were 30% and a ton of stuff was on clearance (note the red tags). I snapped up a ton of things for Arthur's scrap albums, a few stickers for specific spreads (flip flops for beach and pool spreads, SF for our upcoming day in the city), and some rhinestones (getting low). I ended up using my coupon on two white t-shirts that we are planning on tie-dying next week.

I also saw my good friend Pam and got my June club order. Watercolor Wings and coordinating die cuts plus some dimensionals. I can't wait to use my new stamp set for class.

New Chalkboard Calendar

Remember my Blog Calendar that I posted a few weeks back:

Well it turns out our walls are crap and nothing sticks to them. My calendar ended up in a ball on the floor about a week after I put it up. On to plan B: spend a little more money and buy a chalkboard with a frame.

Here is my new blogging calendar. I bought a plain framed chalkboard and had a little fun. I looked into buying a pre-printed calendar, but most of them ran Sun-Sat. I prefer to think Mon-Sun. The ones that ran M-S were very expensive or the peel and stick kind that didn't work last time. So I grabbed a plan one that was only $5 at Michaels. I estimated my spacing and marked it off with washi tape. I realize that the spacing isn't exact, but that's the beauty of washi tape. If it bugs me, I just peel it off and redo.

Once I had my boxes, I went in and added dates to the boxes. It's hard to see in my picture as the dates are in white and very faint. I just wanted to have my markers. Then I went in and filled the dates with my proposed drafts. Each category gets a different color. Orange is SU News and Sunday Hauls. Green in Project Life. Pink is cards. Blue is miscellaneous.

So far, I am loving my system. As a draft is completed, I cross it out. At the end of the month, I take a wet cloth and wipe everything away. Simple, cheap, but effective. Just how I like my crafts!

Hexagons and Embossing Folders

Today's card is being featured on Stylin' Stampin' Inkspiration and uses many embossing folders. Our project today was to use one of SU's embossing folders, but I couldn't decide which one to use. Instead, I decided to use four different ones. The look is full of texture and layers. I love it!

• Stamps: Six Sided Sampler, Work of Art
• Inks: Tip Top Taupe, Cucumber Crush
• Cardstock: Sahara Sand, Cucumber Crush
• Accessories:
• Tools: Hexagon Punch, Chevron Embossing Folder, Decorative Dots Embossing Folder, Hexagon Embossing Folder, Lucky Stars Embossing Folder

Fun with Decorative Masks

Good morning everyone and welcome to The Craft Sea! I'm so excited you are here to check out my crafting journey. I'm flattered to have been asked to join the Stylin' Stampin' Inkspiration Design Team! I love the variety of challenges and posts that the team posts each month. I'm looking forward to sharing my own creations and connecting with fellow bloggers. Make sure to check out the main site for other great products and play along with us!

Today's card is featured over at Stylin' Stampin' Inkspiration and highlights SU's new set of decorative masks. Instead of 2 8 1/2" by 8 1/2" masks per package, the new Happy Pattern set features 4 6" by 6" masks. I decided to make two cards using two different masks.

The first card was inspired by the great rainbow cards I've seen on Pinterest. I wanted to use the mask to make my own rainbow. And I love the results! A simple large sentiment helps fill the space but doesn't overshadow the mask. Finishing the card with some sequins was the perfect touch!

• Stamps: Hello Life
• Inks: Watermelon Wonder, Calypso Coral, Hello Honey, Cucumber Crush, Bermuda Bay, Rich Razzleberry, Staz-on Black
• Cardstock: Smoky Slate, Whisper White
• Accessories: Bermuda Bay Sequin Trim, Gold Sequin Trim
• Tools: Happy Patterns Decorative Masks

The second card used one of the other masks for a simple one layer card. I wanted to featured my favorite 2014-2016 In Colors: Lost Lagoon and Blackberry Bliss. I threw in some Tip Top Taupe and Sahara Sand to balance out the color. Simple but cute.

• Stamps: Work of Art
• Inks: Lost Lagoon, Blackberry Bliss, Tip Top Taupe
• Cardstock: Sahara Sand, Whisper White
• Accessories: Lost Lagoon Satin Stitched Ribbon, Blackberry Bliss Satin Stitched Ribbon
• Tools: Happy Patterns Decorative Masks

July 2015 Crafting Goals

A recap of last month’s goals:

• Finish my May PL pages — Success! I always feel good being up-to-date with my Pl pages.
• Evaluate the state of the twins’ scrapbooks and make a plan to catch up -- Success! I evaluated the state of the scrapbooks and dove in head first. I finished the half-filled album and moved on to Project Life style albums. I recently printed a ton of photos and am moving on to the next set. I hope to be caught up by the end of August.
• Send out any remaining thank you cards for SU and Thirty-One orders — Success! I sent out cards to everyone who ordered from me. Feels good to say thank you.
• Organize the kid crafts cabinet —Fail. Never seemed to get around to this task. Maybe next month.
• Put up my retired supplies for sale on FB — Fail. Just didn't do it, although they are all collected in one spot. Just need to move forward with the selling now.

This month’s goals:

• Finish twins' 2014 scrapbook pages -- I'm on a roll, I don't want to stop and lose momentum.
• Finish June PL pages -- My monthly goal.
• Organize the kid crafts cabinet -- Carry over goal from last month.
• Make one other non-card craft project -- I've got an entire Pinterest board full of non-card and non-scrapbook crafts. I really should make something off of that board.
• Make Beautiful Butterflies and Technique class cards -- Really want to complete my card examples to put up on Meetup.
• Schedule July and August classes and open houses -- I took June and most of July off from classes, but I want to look ahead and get some things on the calendar.

Currently...

Watching: J and I ventured out last night and saw Avengers: Age of Ultron. J and the twins had both seen it, but I hadn't. I was going to take the twins to see Jurassic World last night, but apparently they have made a plan with my mom to see it. So they didn't want to go. Instead, we put the baby to bed, and let the twins and the baby at home and went and saw Avengers. So good! I'm glad I actually got to see it in the theater.

Reading: The Lost Soul by Gabriella Pierce. I felt the need to finish this slightly ridiculous series.

Listening: It's garbage day which means listening to three trucks: composting truck, trash truck, and recycling truck. It's very noisy on Monday mornings around here.

Making: So many lists! I've got a list for everything and I love it.

Feeling: Last week was rough. I'm trying to keep a more optimistic mindset with the start of the week. Already I feel less stressed. Hope this feeling continues.

Planning: The twins have swim lessons Mon-Thurs, but only for an hour each day. We're hoping to fit in the library, lunch at Sonic, Golfland, and maybe some other activity this week.

Loving: Coffee! So yummy!

Sunday Haul #21

My Stampin' Up club order came in this week. So excited to play with my new goodies next week!

The box contained:

• Homemade for You Stamp Set
• Happy Patterns Decorative Masks
• Baker's Box Thinlits
• A While Lot of Lovely Stamp Set
• Pretty Petals DSP Stack
• Pretty Petals CS

Candles Card

Next month we are holding our demo group's new catalog swap. We each pick a new stamp set from the catalog and make 8-10 cards. I chose Build a Birthday. I know it isn't July yet, but of course I finished my cards earlier and wanted to share them with you.

I've made a few Build a Birthday cards using the pieces to create a cake. this time, I wanted to highlight the ability to made candles. I found a similar layout on Pinterest and ran with it with some modifications. The pictures doesn't show it well but the piece of Bermuda Bay cardstock is actually embossed with the Lucky Stars Embossing folder. Adds a bit of texture to the card.

• Stamps: Build a Birthday
• Inks: Daffodil Delight; Watermelon Wonder; Pool Party; Cucumber Crush
• Cardstock: Cherry on Top DSP; Watermelon Wonder; Bermuda Bay; Pool Party; Crushed Curry; Whisper White
• Accessories:
• Tools: Lucky Stars Embossing Folder; Circles Framelits; Hexagon Punch (banner end)

Project Life May 2015 Part 2

May - Part 2

Pages five and six collect pictures from a variety of events. For journaling, I did a list of my favorite occasions. From there, I added a few stickers and embellishments.

Page seven has was another hodge-podge of pictures. I highlighted a few good pics of animals from our Oakland Zoo visit. I also did a journaling card of my May wrap-up. Simple but sweet.

The last page of May features our first visit to Children's Fairyland in Oakland. A very strange place, but it was a fun morning. I decided to forego an embellishments and just add a journaling card.

May's pages are really all about a random collection of pictures. But somehow it all worked out nicely.

Twins' Project Life Albums

This past week I finally dove back into the twins' scrapbooks. Turns out the books were two years behind! Holy cow! And I was in the middle of filling a traditional post-bound album. Definitely not my method anymore! So, I made a plan to tackle the twins' books and switch them to Project Life style once the current album was filled. I grabbed the box and started sorted. I quickly filled the current album and turned my attention to new PL ones. Thankfully I had thought ahead and picked up a few American Crafts albums and clearanced Slate and Azure core kits. I love the colors scheme of those two kits. Perfect for preteen boys!

First up, the title page. Overall, I wanted these albums to be simple. Not too many embellishments. I think the title pages really speak to the simpleness of my style. I plan on adding the dates of the album once it is filled. And I may add picture of each twin if I pull up a good one from that year.

Past the title page, I dove right into our Summer 2013 road trip. Thankfully I had most of the pictures already printed. I just need to supplement with a few here and there. At this point, I am using the Slate Core kit for insert cards except for the Road trip styled cards on page one (those are from the Road Trip Theme pack).

Next up, I need to tackle Christmas Break 2013-2014. Thankfully I again have most of the pictures already printed. I'll probably share another progress post later on in the summer. My goal is to get the albums caught up by August. I want to have all four Project Life (family, Arthur, Nick, and Alex) current going into the holiday season.