Sweet Happy Mail.....

Being involved in the crafting community on YouTube has really been a great escape when I need it the most.  Inspiring videos, sweet new friends, incredible tutorials are just a few of the reasons I absolutely love being a part of such a fun group.  

One of my favorite YouTube channels is TheScrappyBookworm1.  Her name is Cynthia and we've become great, crafty friends.  I have mentioned her on this blog before and I'm so glad I came across her channel.  She's so creative, inspiring and talented.  We have sent each other handmade goodies before and I wish I had time to do it more often.  To my surprise....I received a package in the mail and was so excited to find what was inside!!  It was the most wonderful happy mail from Cynthia!!  Check out the amazing gifts she sent me below.... It's stunning!!

I Joined the Copics Craze....

So, I swore I'd never use Copic markers...for the sole reason of them being just too expensive.   I mean, lets face it, this hobby is expensive enough!  Plus, to be honest, I never really understood why these girl stamp images were so popular.  I mean, yes, they are super cute, but why do they need to be the focal point of almost every project, card or layout?  I never understood it.  Well....I do now.

On my birthday, my great friend, Maria, came over with a gift for me.  Yes, everyone...she bought me my first Copics!  Now, I'm absolutely fascinated by them.  I have been watching Copic tutorials, practicing and drooling over the adorable "girl stamps" as I dream of different hair colors and skin tones.  My favorite crafter to learn Copic coloring from is Kristina Werner.  She has amazing tutorials and is super talented!  So, yes, I hopped on the Copics bandwagon.  Here's my first project with my Copic markers.  It's not the best Copic coloring ever....but I think I did pretty good for my first time.

Vintage Bliss....

Vintage Bliss.  I don't know if 2 other words could better describe my crafting style.  Simple Stories has really impressed me with their paper collections lately.  My favorite is still Graphic 45....but Simple Stories really starting to become a close second. 

On my birthday this year, I had an all day crop with my mom and sister.  It was pure "bliss!"  I actually blogged about that day here, on my other blog.  My project, on that day, was this beautiful mini album that I created using the Vintage Bliss collection by Simple Stories.  I had purchased a 5 page, white chipboard album from Michael's and decided to use that for the base on my album.  I also wanted to add some interactive elements, so I also included 3 pocket pages that I made from colorful envelopes I had in my craft stash.  I turned a lot of the stickers from the Vintage Bliss collection into chipboard pieces using just some light weight chipboard.  It added lots of dimension and more interest to the album.  Of course, it wouldn't be one of my albums if I didn't distress my papers with Tim Holtz distress ink, this time in tea dye.  And like always, I added lots of crinkled, dyed seam binding to my tags.  I tied lots of colorful ribbon, fabric strips and fibers to the ring binding, along with a three piece metal charm that reads live, laugh, love.  I also dangled a cute heart charm tile, too.  The charms were hung using a Tim Holtz swivel clasp.  Making this album was the most fun I'd had in a long time and made me realize that crafting for no reason at all is the best kind of crafting there is!

Please enjoy the pictures of my album and if you're interested in purchasing it...I have it listed in my Etsy store...here.  :)

Lucky Charms Pocket Flip Book....

On this day...I needed to create something.  I longed to craft...and so I did.  

I don't craft near as much as I would like to.  My job is pretty demanding and wears me out 5 days a week.  My weekends are the only time I really have the time to craft...and as of late...even those days haven't allowed much in that department.   I know that on this day, I was feeling inspired.  I believe I was home alone and my craft room was actually clean.  I had really been wanting to use my new Lucky Charms paper pad by American Crafts and also wanted to try out some different stickles.  I normally go for more shabby, vintage style projects...but I was craving bright and cheery, so that's what I did!  I created this mini pocket page flip out booklet.  It only took me about an hour to complete.  No distressing...just very clean lines and a simple design.  I added lots of seam binding and other little embellishments to give it more character and I really love the way it turned out.  The paper is adorable and I only used a few sheets of it.  I used some glossy accents in different places and also some yellow, red and ice stickles.  I made tags and little journaling spots throughout, too.  It was a nice afternoon of me time. :)

Vintage Inspired Valentine's Tags....

Date:  February, 2014

Valentine's Day has never been a big deal to me....until I started paper crafting!  For some reason, I love creating Valentine's projects.  I don't know if it's the depression of the Holiday's being over and then instantly having something to look forward to or what...but I love crafting for Valentine's Day!  I really wish I had more organization in my life and time to do more crafting around this holiday...but so far...I haven't really gotten to get as many projects done as I want.  I still have Valentine's paper, ribbon, embellishments and a lot more supplies that I bought 2 years ago and still haven't used!  In this post, I am sharing some Valentine's tags that I created with my mother-in-law.  She asked me to help her out with some special tags for her teacher's group...so, of course, I was happy to lend a hand.  I dug through my Valentine's stash and found vintage images that I had purchased from Etsy for the swap I did the year before.  We adhered them to standard size shipping tags and added distress ink, crinkled seam binding, colorful fibers, vintage garment pins and cute little heart charms.  They turned out adorable!!

Romance Novel Card Set.....

My mother-in-law's favorite thing to do is send snail mail.  Well, maybe it's not her favorite thing to do, but if you count the number of emails you send out to communicate with your family and loved ones, across the miles, I can guarantee that my mother-in-law sends just as many letters through the mail.  She loves handmade cards and I thought that the perfect gift for her last Christmas would be a set of cards that I make.  

For the cards I made her, I used the Paper Studio card bases and envelopes (in kraft) from Hobby Lobby.  For the paper, I chose the Prima paper, Romance Novel by Marion Smith.  I used the 6x6 paper pad, along with some pages of the larger paper pad.  I also used some of the Romance Novel embellishments and some seam binding, vintage buttons and Prima flowers from my stash.  I inked all the edges of everything with Tim Holtz Distress ink in Walnut Stain.  I also added a few scraps of burlap here and there.  My mother-in-law loves vintage style and very distressed cards.  I wrapped the cards up with a big bunch of seam binding and gave them to her for Christmas.  She really loved them and I can't wait to make her more this year. 

Here are pictures of the 6 cards I made her.  I also decorated the insides of the cards, which will be under each picture. 

Altered Corks With My Sister!

What's better than being able to share your passions with the people you love?  I absolutely love crafting with my mom and sisters.  On this day, my sister Bri and I had a crafty day making altered cork charms.  I ordered some used wine corks from Etsy and my sister and I dug through my stash to find lots of charms, fibers, ribbons, lace and flowers to decorate the corks with.  Between the two of us, we made 8 altered corks.  My favorite one is the cork that Bri made for me.  It's the country style one with gingham and a love charm.  I currently have it hanging in the rear view mirror of my car. 

I live for crafty days with my mom and sisters.  They are the best days ever! 

Downton Abbey Bookmarks

My Mother-In-Law has a fun group of friends that get together and watch Downton Abbey, eat food and have a blast together.  She wanted to make something for each of them on the big finale of their season of Downton Abbey.  I instantly thought of the Ladies' Diary collection by Graphic 45.  I had a few sheets of the paper and some vintage seam binding and lace.  We also used a few sheets of the Romance Novel by Marion Smith and Prima.  We made the most gorgeous bookmarks "Downton Abbey" style.  I love the way they turned out. 

Vintage Sewing Journal

Hello Friends!  Well, here we are in April and it's my first post of the year.  I really want to have consistent posts this year, but life just gets in the way sometimes.  You know how it goes, right?  This project is one of my favorites!  I bought a journal from the Michael's $1.50 bin and totally altered it.  I used the Paper Studio paper pad called Kellerkurtz & Company from Hobby Lobby.  I went with the vintage sewing theme and I absolutely love it!  I added lots of printable ephemera from Ephemera's Vintage Garden throughout the journal.  I also used a lot of Tim Holtz and Hampton Arts stamps on most of the pages inside, along with some washi tape.  I embellished with flowers, spools and lots of other cute findings.  I also put lots of crinkled seam binding as page markers and included some pockets here and there.  I can't wait to make a lot of these!   I made this journal for a YouTube friend, Cynthia.  I sent it to her in the fall along with some other goodies.  Enjoy the pictures!