Mod Podge Coasters

These are some awesome coasters my BFF made for her mom for Christmas.

Products I love today

1. Glue dots
2. Chips
3. Glossy Accents
4. QuickStik

Items I used up from my large stash of scrap crap:

1. chips
2. glue dots
3. grungeboard letters
4. paper from my insane paper stash
5. old halloween stickers
6. diamond stickles

It feels good to use some of the stuff. Not sure why I buy it if I don't want to use it. My new motto is that if I love it enough to buy it then I should love it enough to use it for others to love too :)

The calendar, so far

January and December aren't finished yet. I made a last minute decision to change the pictures I was going to use and since any store with a photo printer is at least 25 minutes away I decided to just wait until I go into town again to get them printed.

I am proud to say that I used up a lot of old stuff that I had lying around. One of my new year's resolutions is to use up some of the stuff I felt I just had to have and then never used. I'm not happy with the quality of some of the pictures but I didn't have time to order them like I normally do. It was lack of planning on my part.

Do I have a problem?

I've come to think that I'm a glitter addict. I think I've used glitter or stickles (glitter glue) on almost every layout on this calendar.

Do you hear what I hear?

Silence is golden. I came home to an empty house thanks to the little guy spending the night with grandma and grandpa. The man worked really late. I spent my time going through closets and reorganizing (once again) my craft space. I went to Michael's and got some super stuff on clearance. You've just got to love the sales!

I failed to get my calendars done before Christmas as they were gifts to my mom and grandma. Mom doesn't care as long as she gets it. My grandma has been in a rehab facility following knee replacement surgery so we're exchanging our Christmas gifts when she gets out. And really, as long as I have them done by January 1st it shouldn't be that big of a deal, right???

I think I've been putting them off because it's been forever since I've actually worked on a layout with pictures. The past few months I've either been working on altered projects or on making cards and such for my etsy shop. I'm a little rusty but got through 4 months of 1 calendar tonight. I'm keeping the layouts quick and simple. I can't add too much to them or they'll be really bulky.

Tomorrow I will have a kid-free/husband-free day and plan to knock both of them out and off of my "to do" list.

Now I can hear my pillow and electric blanket calling my name so until tomorrow...

The zombie apocalypse is coming!

If you haven't heard already there will be a zombie apocalypse in the near future.

In celebration of that and the awesome show "The Walking Dead" I present to you....zombies

I learned that I have mad bloody intestine and blood spatter skillz. One side says "zombies" and the other side says "brains". I would have totally made a clay brain but I couldn't find any brain molds. The blocks also have dripping blood and bloody fingerprints. I tried to put teeth marks in the blocks to make it look like a zombie bit the wood. Well, let's just say that I didn't want to break my teeth. I took one for the team and tried biting it but the wood was just too hard. Maybe if I had used balsa wood it would have worked. That's just how dedicated I am.

These blocks are actually for a friend but I totally might make a set for myself :)

Christmas Projects Galore!!!

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas. Our weekend was full of family and friends and lots of presents. My grandma had knee replacement surgery so we visited her at the rehab center since she couldn't be home with us.

Even kitty joined in on the Christmas fun. What cat can't resist a big wad of wrapping paper?

Here are a few projects I did over the past month. Ideas came from the various blogs I subscribe to and others came from pinterest. All were given as gifts.

First up...cinnamon candles for the daycare/preschool teachers

These candles were pretty simple. I had to cut the cinnamon sticks down to size, added a little dab of hot glue, and glued them to the candle. I cut a 1 inch strip of burlap and wrapped it around the sticks, tied together with jute and stuck in a sprig of winter berries.

My next project was these little magnets.

I cut 1 inch circles with my Martha Stewart circle cutter. BEWARE: I learned the hard way that the blades are SUPER sharp. But that's another story for another time....

I glued the circles into the bottle caps using Glossy Accents. Then I carefully poured Mod Podge Dimensional Magic on top of the paper. It looks all murky at first but eventually dries to a clear epoxy-like finish. Once they were dry I put little magnets on the back.

Next up...cute holiday votives

I started out with a snowflake stamp. I used Versamark ink and carefully stamped the images on the glass votive. I sprinkled clear embossing powder and hit it with the heat gun. When stamping/embossing on glass it is very important to clean the glass with alcohol and avoid touching the glass. The oils from your skin will leave marks on the glass and the embossing powder will stick. It's also important to remember that glass when heated is HOT.

After embossing I made a mixture of glitter and epsom salts and stuck a tea light in the bottom. Voila!

Up next...FAMILY blocks

These are my standard blocks covered with patterned paper. I painted grungeboard letters and glued them on. The silver background is from a flourish stamp inked with versamark ink and brushed over with Perfect Pearls Pewter powder. I like the subtle effect it gives the blocks.

Whew! Those were just a few of the many gifts I made this year.

The Christmas Hangover

Christmas is over and now I have a week to recover. I guess I should say is that I have a week to figure out where to put everything we got...namely TOYS.

It's also a week for me to get caught up on projects. And a week to get lots of pictures posted on the blog.

So, get ready for a barrage of posts featuring cool stuff.

Consider yourself warned.

No Time!!!!

I haven't worked on much lately. School is keeping me incredibly busy. The kid's birthday was this weekend. Somehow I lost my camera in my house (is that even possible?) so mom took pictures on her camera. I'm going to grab her SD card on my way home from work tomorrow so I should be able to upload everything.

Christmas is in the air

I think this might be the last batch of Christmas cards that I make for the season. School is brutal right now, the kid's birthday is coming up, the husband's birthday is coming up, and Christmas is right around the corner. Christmas presents need to be made.

Christmas Tags

Christmas Tags

Happy Belated Thanksgiving

I must confess....I haven't had my computer on since Tuesday night. Wednesday night I came home and did nothing. Little buddy was spending the night with grandma although he fell asleep in her recliner at 7:00 and slept for a solid 12 hours. I took the opportunity to just lie around and watch movies.

Thursday was Thanksgiving and it was good. Good food and good company. Our post-dinner activities included a wicked game of Wii bowling and Wii tennis. I must say that I was repeatedly beat by my almost-4-year-old son. Two bicycle rides must have wore the little guy out because he was out by 8:30 which is highly, HIGHLY, unusual.

I did not indulge in Black Friday shopping for the first time in 4 years. There just wasn't anything I needed that I could not wait for a few weeks to buy. I spent the day at home cleaning and moving my desk downstairs...by myself. It probably wasn't a wise decision but I didn't want to wait around for my huz to get home.

Today we put up the Christmas tree. LB had a blast putting ornaments on the tree. All of the ornaments seem to be clusters really close together and at the bottom of the tree but he was having fun. Who am I to argue with the placement? I made some cool glitter ball ornaments. I'm really, REALLY happy with the way they turned out. I'll have to get some decent pictures and post them. We also made some of those salt-dough ornaments and LB painted them tonight. As soon as they dry he can hang those on the tree too.

I know everyone is listing what they are thankful for. I don't know why they only choose Thanksgiving to do them. We should be thankful for every day. I am thankful that my family is healthy. I am thankful we have jobs and a roof over our head. I am thankful that I have such great friends. I am thankful for the internet because I don't get to see most of my friends very often but we are always in contact with email. I am thankful for my awesome son who continues to amaze me every day. I have no doubt in my mind that he will do great things one day. I am simply thankful that I am happy. Life may not always go as planned but you just have to take it day-by-day.

And that is the message I leave to my readers on this Thanksgiving weekend. Only one day left of eating turkey and pumpkin pie before going back to the daily grind. But there is light at the end of the tunnel. In just 4 short weeks my vacation starts. I will enjoy each and every one of those 10 days off. :) I haven't had a full week off this entire year. I think I deserve it.

The weekend in review

It was yet another relaxing weekend. The boy took a lllooonnnggg nap on Saturday so I used the time and finished up a paper for school. That left my entire Sunday free to do whatever....and you know what that whatever was!

[craft table in disarray]

Here are some "santa" blocks that were made by special request. I even used some of my new paper :)

Instead of inking the edges I used white acrylic paint to make it look like ice/snow. The letters are covered in star dust stickles but the camera doesn't do the glittery goodness justice. I threw on another layer just for good measure.

Then I finished up a christmas present for my mother in law. I only have pictures of the front of the blocks but the paper covering the other sides is really great.

And do you think I could figure out how to flip the picture around? Oh well. I've been a little "technically challenged" these past few days.



Another inspired card

Once again I tried to use up some scraps from a Christmas paper pack from last year. It seems like all of my cards are a variation of kraft, dark brown, olive green, and maroon! It is hard to capture on camera but the trees are all glittery.

Holiday Card Boot Camp Cards

Here is another card inspired by the Holiday Card Boot Camp. I wish I had more time this week to work on them but this week was so hectic.

But now all is good. My kid took a LONG nap today which allowed me to get both of my papers done for my class...and I even turned them in a day early! That means I have all day tomorrow to craft...and since dinner will be in the crock pot I won't have to worry about stopping to make dinner. :)

I know these aren't traditional holiday colors. I was trying to use up some scraps from a My Mind's Eye Christmas paper pack that I bought last year. I originally bought it to make an advent calendar for my son. I'll have to take pictures of it once I get it out of the closet and ready for another holiday season.

Oh What A Week

This week just plain sucked. Work was horrible. There is no other way to describe it.

Friday was much better and it's all because I received not 1...but 2 packages!!!!!

Postage Stamp Paper Edger, Picket Fence Distress Stain, Rock Candy Stickles

Four pack of My Minds Eye 6x6 paper pads

The paper packs...are...awesome. I can't wait to do something with them.