Santa Claus Has Come to Town! :)

I couldn't wait to try these cute little treat boxes! I found the directions for them at:
www.dreamcreateandshare.blogspot.com
You should go check them out. She has several different types of character boxes- so you'll probably find one that suits you.

They were super fun to make- though next time I'll try for a smaller amount....I made 29. Most of them were for Emma's Christmas party. Yes, 29 cute Santa boxes was daunting...but I got them finished last night ( or early this morning). I had every intention of starting this project a couple of weeks ago-but, what can I say? Life got really crazy. So, I was burning the midnight oil to get them finished before today. :) There is nothing like making your life just a bit more exciting...or stressful right before the holidays!

I hope you got all your Christmas shopping done and are now relaxing in the comfort of your own homes! I have most of mine finished- just need to take care of some odds and ends for the kids and then I'm totally finished. Thank goodness for on line shopping- that's how I was able to get most of my Christmas shopping finished (and NOT have to go to the mall).

Thanks for stopping by- have a great week and the best Christmas season ever!

Handmade Matchbox Advent Calendars

You've heard the expression- "Your eyes are too big for your belly."? That's how I'm feeling right now. :) You see, I took it upon myself to make these advent calendars for my sisters. I am still in the process of making one for my family. Originally, it seemed like a good idea- when I was going to make them with pre-made matchboxes. I had planned on using the pre-made matchboxes and I even went to Albertson's and bought two packages of them. It wasn't until much later that night when I opened the packages that I realized there weren't enough boxes in the packages. I had a total of 20 and I needed 24. Here's where my bright idea comes to play...I have the SU! matchbox die and thought I'd make 4 more. Riiiiigggghhhttt. It didn't occur to me until after I got the template finished that these matchboxes were going to be twice as big as a "real" matchbox. So, I nixed that idea- and decided to make all the matchboxes using the SU! die...it worked very well- though putting together 72 match boxes is time consuming and exhausting!
The white advent calendar is for my youngest sister and her 2 year old. For my sweet Kalea I wanted something bright, cheerful and fun- something that a toddler would enjoy. I attached ribbon with bows ( sewing them onto the drawers) on half the doors- and eyelets laces with green ribbon, and wt. ribbon with red dashes. Paper came from my LSS but, I can't remember the name of the line. And I can't find the scraps- and extra sheets right now...
I love the size of these drawers- you can fit 2 nice sized pieces of candy inside each drawer. I used some Dove Chocolate and in the drawer that is for Christmas Eve I put 2 pieces of Ghirardelli chocolate squares. Yummy.
This next advent calendar is for my sister Rachel and her girls. Both girls are teenagers, so I wanted something that looked more grown up. I used 2 brads in each drawer and laced some brown ribbon through them. I added chipboard snowflakes ( from SU!) painted and stickled. Paper is also from SU!


I am hoping that I can finish our advent calendar tomorrow . We also need to get our tree up- I guess I'll be putting it together tomorrow- just one more thing on my endless to do list...

Thanks for stopping by. Have yourselves A Very Merry Christmas!

Trick or Treat, Abby And Stamping on Fabric

I'm feeling lazy tonight so I'm incorporating these LO'S and cards into one post. This LO is made with paper that came from the Stamp and Scrap Club ( Thanks Erica!) - from the Angel Co. The pumpkin images come from the Unity Stamp Co. The ribbon is also from that kit..the flowers are Prima and FloraDoodles. The letters are glittery Thickers.


I think I'm finally getting the hang of layering flowers. It looks easier than it is- at least for me anyway. :)
This LO was completed as a Challenge for Scrap Happy's SAT6 which took place this past weekend. The challenge was to use eyelets in the title and as embellishments. I didn't have any small eyelets so I used the Jumbo ones from SU! Along with a Jumbo Gromit (also from SU!)-that counts right? The picture is of my daughter Linsea this past Halloween- She went as Abby from NCIS. I am so happy with the way her costume turned out. She looked so AWESOME! :O)
More flower layering here- I really like the way the flowers look all layered up like that! I am really happy with the the way the LO turned out and the color scheme. The paper in this LO is from the same Angel Co. stamp and scrap camp. It really amazes me how very different the LO'S look. While I like the paper- it isn't something that I would ordinarily buy- it's a little outside my comfort zone- but, sometimes that's a good thing. In this case I think it's a good thing! The papers worked really well with the Halloween theme.

This is a Thanksgiving card that I made using the stamping on fabric technique. I am pretty happy with the end result- though it's definitely a labor of love- all that sewing! It took me some time to get it done, but I think the end result is definitely worth it.
This Christmas is the first card that I made using the stamping on fabric technique- not bad for my first time! All stamps used in this post are from the Unity Stamp Co. I {heart} Unity Stamp Co.!

Well, I'm heading out to help my son finish his math. Division, YUCK! It takes him FOREVER to get it done- mostly because he doesn't want to do it....which is a feeling that I definitely empathize with! I still have nightmares about math...

Good night, thanks for stopping by. I hope you all have a fantastic week!
~Katherine

Oregon Coast - A Coaster Mini

I finally found some time the other night to scrap. Life has been so hectic around here - that I've found it difficult just to stay on top of the priorities- much less the fun and crafty stuff that I'd much rather be doing! I put most of the album together this past summer while my kids were swimming at the pool. I'm not much of a swimmer-so I usually pack something fun to do while I wait the 2 hours until the free swim is finished.

These are some of the pictures I took while we were in Oregon- near Tillamook in August. We met up with my best buddy and her family and hit the beach. Even though it was a bit overcast- the kids still played in the water. :)

We got some really nice family pictures of both families- I think we might use ours this year as our Christmas picture ( not sure about that though- we usually take our family picture on Thanksgiving.)

The paper is from a DCWV paper pack-summer themed from a couple years ago. I bought the coasters for this album from a place online called blockheads- that was before I discovered the $1 coasters at Michael's. The Blockhead coasters are really great though- and not terribly expensive- I'd probably buy them again!

The nice thing is that we remembered the tripod this time- so we got pictures of both families together ( something that we haven't done before)-plus some really nice ones of the kids and I( I'm usually behind the camera-).

Thanks for stopping by- I hope your Thursday is a good one!

Halloween Treat Bags

Yesterday was my daughter Emma's 10TH birthday. It's always a challenge to celebrate a birthday when it falls early in the week. We took cupcakes to her class ( sadly, I didn't have enough time to make them..which is what I normally do-but we had washing machine issues) . Thank goodness for Safeway! We went there and bought a some cute Halloween cupcakes :). She also wanted to do something fun with her soccer team ( she has practice on Tuesdays) - I made these cute little treat bags. The witch comes from the Angel Company ( isn't she adorable?), I used basic cs and my copic markers to color her. I thought about adding more to her- but then I remembered that these were a bunch of candy crazed little girls and all my hard work was going to end up in the trash after the candy was gone. Turns out I was right! :)

Thanks for stopping by- Hope you have a ghoulishly fun Halloween with your families!

BOO! An Altered Frame

Monday is my Sister Sarah's birthday. I altered this frame for her as a gift. Her favorite holiday is Halloween- so it seemed fitting. I painted the frame with scrapbook paint ( only because I didn't have the right color acrylic on hand), paper is from K&CO, orange ribbon bought by the yard at my lss, stamped image from INKADIKADO- it's part of an acrylic set. I used Thickers for the BOO!

I guess if she doesn't like it- I can keep it for myself ( I think it turned out pretty CUTE). Though, I have to admit, I'm looking forward to seeing a cute Halloween picture of my 2 year old niece in it! :)

Thanks for stopping by. I hope your day is full of craftiness.

Blessings and Beach Beauty ***

I was feeling antsy last night. I really wanted to craft..but, I knew I was too tired to scrapbook. If I scrap when I'm overly tired, I tend to make mistakes that I normally wouldn't make. I need to re-color the pumpkin- but, as a whole I am pretty happy with the way the card turned out. The stamps are from the September Kit of the Month from Unity Stamps. The paper and cs are from SU! I used various colored buttons to complete the card.











This is the first LO I've scrapped in about a month. It's been a long dry spell. Things have been really hectic. My sister got married in September- so we drove to California to watch her marry Josh. Plus, we started online public school with my son. That's been something challenging to get used to. In some aspects,it's better for me because I don't have to make lesson plans. But, in other ways it's difficult because sometimes, it takes him longer to finish the assignments . But, so far, other than having to harp on him all the time about completing his assigned duties...which is what I'd have to do if he was in school too- it's all good.

The picture in the LO is from our visit with friends on the Oregon coast. The paper is from a kit from a Million Memories ( with Melissa Frances paper and goodies). I used Bling stickles and lots of lace. The blue flower I made out of felt. I'm not sure how I feel about the LO- I don't normally scrap with these colors, so I was definitely scrapping outside my comfort zone. But, I think it's okay.

Thanks for stopping by- I hope you have a weekend full of happy scrappy. :O)

World Card Making Day****

For World Card Making Day Erica ( the owner of an online group) challenged us to make cards with a Halloween theme. Here's what I came up with. All the cards are made with paper from the My Minds Eye Halloween paper kit. All the Halloween critters are die cuts from the same paper pack. I cut the the cards to fold at 4"X4".




Thanks for stopping by. I hope you are able to find time for some crafty goodness this week. :)

Tru Luv -

For this layout I used a sketch that Julie posted in Scrap Happy ( from Pink Sketches- I believe). It is fortunate that I had the perfect picture to go use for the sketch. :) The designer paper is and the chipboard alphabet are from SU! The flowers are flora doodles ( man I LOVE those flowers- I so need to buy more!) I painted them with Ranger crackle paint in pewter ( I think ). The sentiment stamps are from Unity. :)

The photo I used for the layout was taken by Johnny ( as you can tell :O) ) while we were visiting the Oregon Coast ( the beach is called Short Beach)- about 2.5 weeks ago. I don't have many pictures of us together so it was really fun to scrap this one.


Thanks for stopping by- I hope that you're week is off to a fantastic start! Tomorrow, I'm off to Port Orchard to sign my son up for online public school- and we also have to head to the JR. High to see if we can't get LULU'S schedule fixed- She'd really like to take French this year- though I don't understand that...Her dad took Spanish and I took German- We are SO not going to be able to give her any help!

Some Serious Cuteness & A Card

This layout is based on a challenge in Scrap Happy ( hosted by Sara)- we had to jack Kathryn's LO ( isn't it fortunate that she's my bff? )-Anyhow, this is my take on her layout. I didnt' do a title like hers ( I was having issues and my printer is broken ) so I added the buttons and her initial. I'm pretty pleased with the end result. Besides- the baby is so cute- nothing I do can enhance that!
I used twine instead of ribbon and x's instead of loops.
I painted the K with crackle paint then added stickles.
The card is based on a sketch that was posted in an online group. The stamp is from Unity!
Wow! I can't believe that the summer is almost over- My kids start school on Sept. 2ND. Which is earlier than normal- they usually start back around the 6TH. Soccer season has started here as well- my daughter Linsea has already been at practice for 2 weeks. Emma doesn't start practice until after school starts. When that happens my life will be super busy! I'll be at soccer practice 4 days during the work week and at least 2 games on the weekend. YIKES! Not only that- but we head to CA. towards the end of Sept. for my sister's wedding. Everything just snowballs after that- something to look forward to, I guess. Thanks for stopping by- I hope you had a great summer---> and are looking forward to the fall.

Pretty and Pink

My friend scrappinsara posted this challenge in our Online group. We were to jack someones layout. This is what I came up with. This was one of the only pieces of paper I had that was in this shape- so I ended up going with pink and black as my color choices. These are not my typical color choices- but I think the layout turned out pretty well. I have to admit, layering flowers isn't as easy as it looks. I always have such a hard time getting them layered- "just right". Perhaps, it's just me- making things more difficult on myself ( which I have to say is pretty typical).

The flowers are from floradoodles, the paper is from Making Memories- the Sabrina collection, letters are from DCWV.

Well, I'm off to take my daughter to Barnes and Noble- so that she can use her gift card. We're on our way to Tillamook tomorrow morning- so the book will definitely come in handy ( it's a 5 hour drive from our house)! I'm pretty excited about the trip ( we're just staying overnight)- we're going to do the beach thing ( ah, nice sandy beaches. The beaches near our house are rocky.), hit the Cheese Factory ( and buy some yummy smoked cheddar)- and hang out with my BFF for a bit. We have to be home on Sat. cause Johnny has to work Sunday night- there is no one who can do what he does...lucky him, HUH?

Thanks for stopping by- I hope that you have a fantastic weekend!

Halloween! Already?

Last night, while I was waiting for it to cool off- I found these Pumpkin carving pictures from 2007. I don't know why I haven't scrapped them- I printed them out with every intention of scrapping them. I guess once I had them- I lost the inspiration. What's really nice about saving them- is that I found the inspiration last night. FINALLY!! I used the DCWV paper pack....though, I have to tell you, I never thought I'd be using these particular pieces of paper ( especially together)-but, for whatever reason, they seem to work. I have been doing a lot of single pg. layouts recently ( not sure why- I usually prefer 2 pg. layouts ). I did some research ( in my Imagine book- by Jeanette Lynton) and found the perfect sketch.


Sadly, this was the only picture I had left of Linsea- but, that's okay as this layout will work for either one of her siblings.
Here's pg.2 of the layout- I just love this picture of Duncan. Honestly, that pumpkin looks almost as big as he is. I couldn't bear to trim the picture up- which is why I went looking for a sketch that would fit it.

Thanks for visiting. I hope you all are keeping cool- it's HOT here. So, I think I'll put the laptop away ( did you ever notice how much hotter it is when you have a laptop sitting on your lap? I even have one of those cooling pads underneath- and it really isn't helping much)- and work on a LO using pictures of our trip to Mt. St. Helen's with my BFF and her family ( several years ago ). I'm off to find just the right paper and embellishments ( I already have a sketch in mind) ! Have a fantastic day!
~Katherine