CREATE

I'm always in the process of trying to liven up my craft room. I've seen wooden words of inspiration in many crafters' rooms and enjoyed the feeling it made! So I grabbed me some wooden letters, some Tim Holtz crackle paint and created my "CREATE"!!! lol :P
Up close you can see I did not paint them solid, I wanted a shabby feel to the letters.The inside of the letters I left white. These pictures really don't show the crackle texture very well. I just zoomed in with my camera and snapped these close-ups. Opposed to standing on the counter top to take a better pic.I certainly have made WAY more cards lately than anything. I haven't actually scrapbooked in a very long time...it sort of saddens me, where does my time go??? REALLY? This card is full of lace, vintage trims, stitches and frilly goodness!! It is so hard to loose a loved one and I wanted a card that was comforting to touch and filled with lots of Love. The rose is a remnant of the arched lace at the top of the card and I bundled it and hand stitched it to a sheer leaf by Creative Impressions. The yellow paper lace trim at the bottom was from one of the super cute packages that Shelly wrapped my purchase in. She always puts lots of love and care into her customers packages!! You should check her out...I squealed when I saw her cute alphabet soup kit, I didn't win the giveaway...harrumph, and when I went to her shop to purchase one...they were already sold out, that Chicky is one HOT commodity!!To mimic the cute yellow trim on the front of the card, I used a Fiskars lace border punch on a piece of yellow paper on the inside of the card.

Thanks for stopping by, I hope to hear from you!!!

Many Thanks....and the winner is!!!!

Wow, school is out already...it's almost hard to believe. In appreciation for how much my girls' teachers have done for them (and all their students), I created a few handmade items for them! First up we have some cards, not only for their teachers, but the secretaries and also their bus driver!

Pencil holders were a must!!!

Then I thought, clipboards are such a cool idea!! Clipped to the board is a patterned paper notepad.

But I went even further than that! I added a piece of acrylic to the back and attached them by ribbons at the top and Velcro closures at the bottom. That way they can open it up and add papers and pictures underneath....as an extra bonus, acrylic makes a great dry-erase surface!!! How cool is that???

Then I used up lots of scraps from the cool patterned paper and shaped brads I purchased to make some super easy bookmarks!!!

To top it off I decorated some over sized wooden clips and added a picture!

I hope they feel super appreciated.....cause they are!!!!

So are you ready to see who won my huge blogaversary giveaway??? The odds were pretty good for those that left comments in the last week. I wrote the 4 names down on papers, sat them in front of Shaylie.....and let her pick one!

and the winner is.......Congratulations PaperTree Designs!!!!

Just send me your addy and it will be on its way to your home!!!

Would you like to see what I put together for you????

oh yeah!!! I told you it would be good! You walk away with all these goodies:

1 package Autumn Leaves flourish acrylic stamps

31 types of fibers, each 5 ft. long (by the way this looks super cute as a scarf!)

a huge stack of mat stacks, mostly DCWV

a stack of DCWV vellum quotes from the sports, baby and girl packs

1 pack of black rub-ons "thanks" themed

1 pack of embellished tags

1 pack of Colorbok chipboard shapes, elements, quotes, and alphas

1 pack of Maya Road chipboard swirls

1 pack of buttons in tons of shapes and colors...including a few super cool metal buttons!

1 pack of eyelets in lots of colors in round, heart and flower shapes

1 pack of Prima paper flowers in tons of colors

1 pack with 2 silver and 2 gold "2007" brads

1 pack of adhesive backed bling in pink, blue, green, and white

1 pack of purple daisy flower punches

1 pack of baby confetti

1 pack of Easter confetti

1 pack of Wedding confetti

1 pack of Patriotic confetti

and 1 pack of Christmas confetti

WOW, I HOPE YOU CAN FIND LOTS OF CLEVER USES FOR ALL THIS STUFF!!!
Thanks to everyone who left comments...and keep coming back...you never know when I might decide to do another giveaway....this destashing thing is kind of liberating!! I get to go through stacks of things I forgot about, get the creative juices flowing...and share some of my "overstocked" supplies!!!! It's a Win-Win scenario!!!

Until next time!!!

Busy busy bee!!

For starters, I began making a journal to track my accomplishments each day, in an effort to feel better about myself (since I am an evil critic and killer to my own self esteem). It is a horrible habit that at the end of the each day I reflect on all the things I "DIDN'T" get done and never look at how much I really DID get done.


I got the idea for this wonderful journal from Donna Downey's Blog where she made her amazing art journal. Which mine is Kindergarten grade compared to hers, but I am not naturally artistic (bummer). However I made it work for my own needs...which is just to pick myself up after "I am kicking my @#$ do ya mind?" (movie quote from Liar Liar..hahaha) Sorry I digress...bad tendencies to put in every little detail and thought (still rambling).

So if you go to Donna Downey's website there is a video on how to make this book, and she does a much better job, but this is just a quick rundown. First you take a stack of newspaper and I even used the sale inserts. I used an 8x8 piece of acrylic to hold down over the newspaper and tore the pages into 8x8 pieces. You can tear about 3-5 pages at a time.

Then you use just a plain glue stick to glue about 10 pages together. I went through about 1 glue stick per completed page (3 total) but it could be that they were older and drying out. I like the look of the rugged edges, so I don't line them up "perfectly". What was extra cool is I finally used my brayer, by rolling it on each page after gluing it to get the wrinkles and air bubbles out!!! I have had this for about 3 years and never had a use for it until now!!!

Here is 3 pages (3o sheets of newsprint) all completed, they are nice and thick now, kind of like cardstock.

Donna suggests to paint them first with a white acrylic paint, which I did. Then just add whatever colors you want to your page.
Here are some more painted pages.
And a couple more painted pages.
This is the index or first page in the book. I do not have a cover yet, I would like to get some of that sheet metal like Donna shows on her blog, but we don't have any in town that I know of yet. I will be checking the new art supply store in town later today. I just used my handwriting on the pages with markers.
Here is yesterday's journal page!! I am pretty stoked about it, I know it is kind of boring, but they are just things that I accomplished yesterday written randomly across the page. There are a couple of doodles, but the point is to document my accomplishments. I am sure over time they will get a little more artsy, especially if I don't have a ton of things written down.

Totally cool idea huh!?! Big HUGE thanks Donna for being so creative!!

Next up I downloaded another freebie today at GoDigitalScrapbooking.com and put a 2 page digital layout together. I found the quotes on the internet and used pictures from last months vacation at CJ Strike. It was such a beautiful sunset, I'm glad I had my camera with me!!

Supplies: Natural Inspiration Add-On kit by Verena Karolyi at GoDigitalScrapbooking.com; Pristina font.

And last but certainly not least...I just had to share this awesome pic that I took at the races last weekend. It is the whole Team 49 Racing all together...which let me tell you is a rare shot. I am so proud of all of them, they work so so so stinkin hard on their cars and really...if you ask me...I think they are all very talented drivers. Sniff sniff, Love you guys and I'm so VERY proud of you all even if you don't get the respect you so very well deserve!! So here they are from left to right (which is youngest to oldest) in their I.M.C.A. modifieds; 49S Bobby Steensen, 49C Chris Steensen (my hubby!!), 49T Corey Steensen, and 49K Scott Steensen.

If you are ever near Elko, NV during April-September you have to come watch these guys at Summit Raceway...it's nail biting and butt clenching enjoyment (not kidding) let me tell ya!!

Tinkerbell and a little decor

I just recently finished this Tinkerbell album which contains pictures that are almost 6 years old.

If you only knew how far behind I am scrapbooking....eek it makes me cringe. OK, so I technically have been a scrapbooker for 9 years (since my first daughter was born), but I haven't had any time to really work on anything between children, work, school and all the normal things that go on in life. So now that I am finally working part time from home, I have the freedom to start to catch up...pheeew!!!

Anyways this is an EK Success accordion album. I think Mya (who was 3 and is now 9) looks so stinkin cute in these pictures dressed as Tinkerbell! Shaylie didn't make a bad ballerina for her first Halloween either! I will more than likely journal on the book soon so that we can remember this all better 20 years from now when they fade from our minds!

If you look super close you may notice that some of the pictures have a seam in the middle where I have digitally overlapped 2 different scans of the album (This is the same for any other 2 page layouts I post). I do not alter the scrapbook in any way when I do this, it is just that I can't scan 2 pages at the same time, so I use Photoshop to seam the 2 scans together!!! Supplies: 6x6 accordion Tinkerbell album by EK Success; and white pom-pom's.
Supplies: Fairy Glow (green), Tinker Bell Phrase and Bubbles paper by Sandylion; Light Perfectly Plum and Dark Pretty Pink paper by WorldWin Papers; blue chipboard flower by Colorbok; yellow/blue polka dot paper flower by Prima; blue sticker button by Button Ups; green and purple ink by Pretty Color; zig-zag deco scissors; pictures printed on Epson R1800; and Scotch ATG 714 tape gun.
Supplies: Fairy Garden (purple), Tinker Bell Phrase and Butterflies paper by Sandylion; Dark Belgium Blue and Dark Luscious Lime paper by WorldWin Papers; pink iridescent paper; purple paper flower by Prima; pink and green button; green embroidery floss; purple fiber; Tinkerbell ribbon charm and purple sheer ribbon by EK Success; green and purple ink by Pretty Color; zig-zag deco scissors; pictures printed on Epson R1800; and Scotch ATG 714 tape gun.
Supplies: Fairy Garden (purple), Tinker Bell Phrase and Butterflies paper by Sandylion; Dark Belgium Blue and Dark Pretty Pink paper by WorldWin Papers; green chipboard flower by Colorbok; Tinkerbell chipboard cut from package (MacGuyver scrapbooking again!); green fiber; green and purple ink by Pretty Color; zig-zag deco scissors; pictures printed on Epson R1800; and Scotch ATG 714 tape gun.

Psst, by the way isn't that an amazing painting in the background? It is about 4'x4'! My Mommy painted it!!! She is sooooooo soooo talented....Mom you should paint more!!!

Supplies: Bubbles, Tinker Bell Phrase and Fairy Glow paper by Sandylion; Dark Luscious Lime and Light Perfect Plum paper by WorldWin Papers; pink and orange chipboard flowers by Colorbok; gem ribbon brad by Oriental Trading; pink rick rack by American Crafts; green and purple ink by Pretty Color; zig-zag deco scissors; pictures printed on Epson R1800; and Scotch ATG 714 tape gun.

Supplies: Fairy Glow (green), Tinker Bell Phrase and Bubbles paper by Sandylion; Light Perfectly Plum and Dark Pretty Pink paper by WorldWin Papers; blue chipboard flower by Colorbok; yellow/blue polka dot paper flower by Prima; blue sticker button by Button Ups; green and purple ink by Pretty Color; zig-zag deco scissors; pictures printed on Epson R1800; and Scotch ATG 714 tape gun.
Supplies: Fairy Garden (purple), Tinker Bell Phrase and Butterflies paper by Sandylion; Dark Belgium Blue and Dark Luscious Lime paper by WorldWin Papers; pink iridescent paper; purple paper flower by Prima; pink and green button; green embroidery floss; purple fiber; Tinkerbell ribbon charm and purple sheer ribbon by EK Success; green and purple ink by Pretty Color; zig-zag deco scissors; pictures printed on Epson R1800; and Scotch ATG 714 tape gun.
Supplies: Fairy Garden (purple), Tinker Bell Phrase and Butterflies paper by Sandylion; Dark Belgium Blue and Dark Pretty Pink paper by WorldWin Papers; green chipboard flower by Colorbok; Tinkerbell chipboard cut from package (MacGuyver scrapbooking again!); green fiber; green and purple ink by Pretty Color; zig-zag deco scissors; pictures printed on Epson R1800; and Scotch ATG 714 tape gun.
Supplies: Bubbles, Tinker Bell Phrase and Fairy Glow paper by Sandylion; Dark Luscious Lime and Light Perfect Plum paper by WorldWin Papers; pink and orange chipboard flowers by Colorbok; gem ribbon brad by Oriental Trading; pink rick rack by American Crafts; green and purple ink by Pretty Color; zig-zag deco scissors; pictures printed on Epson R1800; and Scotch ATG 714 tape gun.
Supplies: 6x6 accordion Tinkerbell album by EK Success; and Tinkerbell ribbon charm and ribbon by EK Success.

I feel like I have gotten a lot done today!! Not only did we look at 9 houses today, but I got these pots done also!! If you look back to this blog entry where I show my scrapbook room you will notice them sitting there on the floor (4th pic down), unpainted. That picture was taken back in January, yes, it is about time I got these blasted things painted!

Supplies: spouncer brushes; paint brush; burnt umber and teddy bear tan by Plaid; and Varnish by Delta Ceramcoat. Yes I only used 2 colors!!!
The leftmost pot I painted with the Burnt Umber and then used a stiff spouncer brush to stroke the Teddy Bear Tan paint on. The middle pot I used a sponge spouncer to but the Teddy Bear Tan on and then I used a paintbrush that had uneven stray hairs on the tip to brush the Burnt Umber up and down about 3 brush widths. I then took the brush and stroked it side to side to give it kind of a denim look. The pot on the right I used the sponge spouncer and dabbed both colors on randomly (both individually and then mixed). I didn't like the look of it enough, so I went back over the whole thing with the stiff spouncer and did the Teddy Bear Tan first and went back over it with the Burnt Umber. I topped them all off with a coat of Varnish to keep the acrylic paint on when they get watered, so now they are nice and shiny!!!

I wanted them to match, but be different. Does this look like something you would buy in the store or does it look totally homemade??? Sometimes it is hard to tell when you made it yourself. What do you think?

Log Cabin Frames and some shopping!

I made these Log Cabin frames as a thank you gift to my brother-in-law & sister-in-law. They are always generous in letting us bunk with them in their camper during vacation and this is just a tiny way for us to say 'thanks'!! Supplies: wooden cabin frames by Don Mechanic; Old Ivy, Bright Red and Burnt Umber acrylic paint by Plaid; Dymo red and green cartridges; and pictures printed on Epson R1800.
The detail of the brown cabin. I did not paint every spot completely giving it more of a rustic/grungy feel! I also dabbed some of the red paint with a textured brush (don't know the name of it).
The detail of the green cabin. I also dabbed brown paint over this one to give it that extra worn look.

*Shopping Alert*

I just can't seem to help myself, but you are going to squeal just like I did in the store... the dollar store that is!!!! Oh yeah, I found these 7 Gypsies stamps in the dollar store. I snagged up the congratulations (self inking) $5.95, proof $8.95, note to self $8.95, events $4.95, and baby $4.95 (which unfortunately was the events wrongly packaged so now I have 2...no harm though it was only $1). I also got the leather braided eyeglass holder (for binding purposes!) and this cute 10 picture accordion picture frame by Candlewick Press. That's nearly $28 savings on the 7 Gypsies alone!!

I don't know about you, but I think I made out like a bandit....yeeehaaaw!!

Fresh Watermelon

Ah, Sweet sweet summer! I made this watermelon tag shaped sign for a few reasons.


1. I was preparing for a Cricut demonstration at my local scrapbook store.
2. My kitchen is watermelon themed.
3. I wanted to try out the Tim Holtz crackle paint.

Strangely enough this sign has it's home in my craft room and not my kitchen...I think it is time I move it!


*Update on the fridge situation** Well speaking of our kitchen....we bought a new Kitchen Aid bottom mount freezer today, it is plugged in and already cold!! Yeah! It has a water dispenser inside the fridge, kinda weird, but I hope it feels nice and comfortable in our home and it plans on staying for a loooong time! Now I just need to go grocery shopping because we only own condiments at this time...hahaha. Really I just have to laugh at this whole situation, because who has luck as horrible as us??? I do have to thank God our bad luck is with materials and not our family and our health....Yup that's me always looking for the bright side!

Supplies: Tag shaped chipboard; dark green, light green, magenta, and black cardstock; black acrylic paint; Tim Holtz Distress crackle paint in 'antique linen'; 'Fresh' die cut from Opposites attract Cricut cartridge; 'Melon 5 cents' and watermelon shape (circles cut in 1/2) cut from George and Basic Shapes Cricut cartridge; tear drop punch by Fiskars; embossing ink; Fuchia ultra thick embossing enamel by Ranger; black ink by Memories; green embroidery floss; pink sheer ribbon by Offray; black & white gingham ribbon; and Stampin' Up embossing gun.
I love how the embossing powder came out a little textured like a real watermelon slice!! It looks so shiny and moist that I want to eat it!!! Don't you just LOVE crackle paint...so much texture it sure looks great on top of that black acrylic paint!

On a lighter note I went shopping on Tuesday and here are my goodies I just had to have!

The Zutter Bind-It-All and 2 sizes and colors of combs. I have been eyeing this for some time because I collect tons of stuff sain person would throw away just for a scrapping opportunity (i.e. clothing tags, cards, packaging, boxes, etc) I need to give a special thanks to Elizabeth Kartchner's blog especially this post and this post where she used her Bind-It-All and made it look super duper cute I was SOLD and I wanted it even more!!! Thanks Elizabeth, you are such an inspiration to us all!

Last but certainly not least on my purchase extravaganza was another color of the Tim Holtz Distress Crackle Paint in "Spiced Marmalade". I now own 6 colors and just yesterday requested my local scrapbook store to purchase me 4 other colors I need for a project, along with 2 Paint Dabber colors! Tim, you are the only male who really ROCKS this industry...you are such a staple and I hope to see you and your awesomely grungy products for tons of years to come!!!

Sassy and Sweet

For the little girls (and even women) in your life who are both sassy and sweet, this door hanging is perfect for them. I took a Halloween plaque from the dollar store and recovered it to my liking.
Luckily it already had the cut black ribbon attached as well!

This is the way it hangs on the front of my girls' bedroom door. In front of a pink wreath I got after Christmas on clearance!

Supplies: Halloween plaque from Honk's; journey and wonder papers by Three Bugs in a Rug from the Tickled Pink collection. Magenta and Black cardstock; 'Sweet and Sassy" cut from Cricuts' Opposite Attract cartridge by Provo Craft; diamond gem stickers; 3D foam squares; Port Wine and Black ink by Memories; and nail sanding block.

Techniques: Line background paper (Wonder) up to plaque and line with pencil, cut out and adhere. Ink edges to cover up any inconsistencies and blend to plaque's color. Cut out text on Cricut and line up where it will be placed on plaque. Sand paper under the word "Sweet" to help it stand out from similar colors. Adhere letters to plaque. Cut out flowers from patterned paper (Journey) and adhere some with regular adhesive and some with 3D foam squares. Add gems to corners of "sassy" text.

My Crafting Heaven....Scrapbook room

To get a good idea of how obsessed I am with scrapbooking you would have to see my "craft room". Luckily I can share it with everyone here!!

This first picture is the first thing to the left when you walk in the door. This is the side view of my workspace. These convenient little cubbies hold all of my crafting magazines that I read. I love getting inspired by other designers and dream of someday being a "Master" myself.

Everything that you are about to see was built by my Mom & Dad and was a Christmas present in 07'. I know I'm a lucky girl and I feel very greatfull that I am loved and have crafty parents!!!

In the left edge of the picture you can barely see the entry door frame. I wanted lots of shelves to hold glass jars, giving the room a "Candy Store" vibe. I think we accomplished this, and since Christmas, I have filled this area to the max. I know I have issues... I am a hoarder.

Under the countertop are boxes that are sorted and labeled by theme. Each box contains paper, stickers, ribbons, and other embellishments specific to a certain theme.

Most of the jars came from either used candles or the dollar store. The set of 4 antiqued jars and the black antiqued 6 drawer curio on the countertop both came from Mish Mash and Muddle!! They have excellent stuff in there!! The colored buckets on the bottom right shelf came from Wal-Mart $1 each and are filled with pens and markers. Behind the white wooden letter "K" on the countertop are 4 glass straw containers that I also got from Wal-Mart which cleverly store my colored pencils and more markers.

This is a closeup of the boxes on the bottom left side. In the clear file folders I have all my "scraps" or used papers sorted by colors. There is a color theme throughout the room as well. I am obsessisvely organized.

Some of the themes under here are: Princess, wedding, graduation, cheerleading, school, summer/vacation, Harry Potter, and the girl's school years (i.e. Mya 2nd grade, which is full of her artwork and school papers from that school year)

This is a close up of the boxes under the bottom corner (left). Some of the themes under here are: birthday, Christmas, VBS (multiple boxes for each year), Racing, Juliana by K&Co., baby, My Little Pony, Easter/Spring, Valentines/Love, and more VBS themes.

There are also some binders which hold things like stencils. The clay pots I hope to paint soon and put some of my tropical plants in them for the dining room. The theme in that room is "Safari".

This is the right side of the "L" shaped countertops. On top of the counter is my Cricut and its cartridges, Sizzix, stacks of drawers which hold: brads, eyelets, frames (small) embossing powders, acrylic stamps, various mounted stamps, and more.

You can see on the right side of the page my stack of magazines...I haven't figured out how to store these yet...I thought about trying to fit them in the armoire, but it is pretty full.

Under the right side counter top are various plastic drawers. These hold things like: adhesives, wrapping paper, dies (for Sizzix), fabric, ribbons for gift bags, tissue paper and more.

On top of the plastic drawers are mini albums and metal tins to be decorated. In the large licorice bucket I have silk flowers. The right side of the pic shows all of my albums some of which are completed, others are empty and ready to be filled with my creations!!

This is my ribbon/fiber/yarn area!!! It is one of my fav's. On the left I have licorice, peanut & cotton candy buckets stuffed full of yarns and fibers. The cupcake on the countertop was a present from Santa (wink) that had bubble bath in it, but I have filled it with mini spools of ribbon.

The black wire racks on the sides of the door (yes there is a closet door hidden in there) are 4 plate racks that I got from the dollar store. I have hung my floss cards on rings here.

In the center is a over-the-door shoe rack that I turned into a ribbon spool holder.

This armoire is to the right of the closet door. It is cram-packed full of things like: tin soldiers (Christmas craft), Fun with Photos Memories and More Catalogs, wood mounted stamps, pictures, egg crates, cotton fiber for pillows, and more scrapbook themes that I do not have enough white boxes for under the countertops.

On top of the armoire is some more shoeboxes full of themed supplies such as: pet, Bratz, Hannah Montanna, grapes, western and more.

This is my computer desk which I inherited from my grandma. It is big, sturdy and super heavy. On the very top is my acrylic paints, spray paint, paint brushes, glitters and my scanner.

On the desktop I have my Macbook Pro for design work (this belongs to Help Me, Rhonda! the advertising business I do graphic design for). To the right is my Dell laptop, my cell phone docked to the Dell and my Epson R1800 photo printer, which takes up 1/3 of the desk by itself. It can print 12x12 scrapbook pages that I design on the computer!!! In the cubby I have photos and card making supplies.

Here we are almost back to the entry door!! This is my paper station! On the left in the white cubes is my 12x12 paper. On top of that I used black wire CD racks to sort stickers and 8x8 and 6x6 papers. In the large black metal wire racks is my 8.5x11 papers. I won both of these from Cherished Friends (thanks again guys!!!)

In the plastic drawers I have punches, plastic bags, and fabrics.

I hope you enjoyed the tour around my room. I try to keep things extra organized to help the creative process flow better. I really need to add some decorative items to the room though. The overall theme is "candy store" but I am contemplating adding a little shabby chic to it!