Planner Review

There is a saying that if you Fail to Plan, you Plan to fail.  Well, I don't plan to fail but I do want to plan.  So I decided to join in the planner frenzy.  After watching quite a few planner videos and following some awesome crafters on Instagram,  I just had to give it  at least a fighting chance. ( Me and planners don't really get along)But since I have kept up with the Hobinichi journal as well as the documented life planner, I may be able to pull this off.  We will see.  At any event, I saw a review for the Target sugar paper planners so I took a trip to Target.  After I saw them in person, I was not impressed by these planners. Don't get me wrong, they are very fancy but not what I wanted.  Then I saw a Mead planner and I really like the layout of this.  As I was browsing, I saw a journal that had an impressive cover.  My planner however was too large to fit it.  But I purchased the journal anyway in hopes that I would sew my own cover following that pattern.  Well, this weekend I took a trip to my sister's and while we were out browsing around, I found another cover and guess what????????  It was similar to the one I purchased to mimic and it fit my planner.  So, of course, I snatched it up and plan to take the other one back.  Now here is my 2015 planner and a few pages that are already prepped and ready to go.

I put my trusted Cricut Explore to work and used the print then cut feature to create most of the images.

Soup's On

It is cold and rainy here in South Carolina. So I decided to make a big pot of soup. Here are my ingredients:

1 can of rushed or diced tomatoes
1 can of tomato soup
1 can of tomato paste
2 cans of tomato sauce
1 can is mixed vegetables
1 rotisserie chicken

  Add all the ingredients plus some water and seasoning. Tear pieces of your chicken and add to the mixture. I let mine cook in a crock pot until ready. Don't use leftover chicken parts like I did because I ended up picking out tiny bones. LOL

Since I had way to much for my daughter and me, I decided to share with family and friends.

I recycled some jars that once held spaghetti sauces.  I decided to dress them up a bit by creating some labels.

I even went a step further and packaged them all up neat and tidy.

I hope the recipients like it.

Pocket full of memories

Recently I found an awesome crafter while  surfing my Facebook news feed.  I was then directed to her Instagram page and OMG, she is awesome when it comes to pocket scrapbooking.  Granted, I tried the Project Life route when it first became "the thing" in scrapbooking.  But for some reason I lost interest in that.  So when I found this inspiration, my interest was renewed.  So one of my new year resolutions is to rethink this art form.  I  had already purchased some of the WeR memory keepers albums made easy systems so I have all I need to get started.  For my post this month, I completed two pocket pages showcasing my summer vacation in Wisconsin.  I plan to share more on my blog starting in January so be on the look out.  Thank you Shelley Chavous for the inspiration.

My Documented Life project

The 2014 Documented Life project is quickly drawing to a close.  Most of us crafters are ready and prepped for 2015 DLP.  This was truly a rewarding endeavor for me because it opened up other avenues of art journaling such as the Midori Travelers Notebook and the Hobinichi journal.  So I am looking forward to 2015 and where my journaling will go.  Here are a few closing weeks pages from my 2014 DLP

Junk Journals

I started a new project this week.  It is a junk journal made from a recycled box.  I'm a member of the Facebook group called Junk Journal Junkies and also another one called Junk Journaling.  In both group there is some awesome inspiration.  I got the inspiration for this project from Marlenn Arambula.  She has a video on YouTube. So I began by recycling a box.

Then I glued down all the edges to make it sturdy.

Next came the transformation

The finished project will posted as soon as I finish. In the meantime, check out Marlenn's channel.

Tuesday Morning shopping

A small haul Saturday from Tuesday morning.

Mini Art book

A few weeks back I created a mini art book.  I took pictures but I never posted it to my instagram, Facebook, etc.  What's wrong with me.  TIME, TIME, TIME. There seems to not be enough of it.  I hope to change that mindset though and always make time to create and to share. I know my crafty friends out there will hold me to it.  Right?

Recreating Myself

This is just how I've felt for the last five or so months.  Just like this bird with it's head stuck in the sand.  My blog has seen no activity and my creativity seems to have disappeared as well.  I have not lost all of it for I still surf the web looking for inspiration but that really didn't excite me like it use to.  It appears that I had lost the love for crafting that I once had.  So what made me lift my head above ground(creatively speaking) again.  I don't know.  I just know that something told me I had to do something.  The first thing I did was to redesign my blog and then I started posting on my instagram site again.  I thought what the heck if most of my friends are not crafters, maybe I'll make a few new crafty friends.  So here is goes, DECEMBER 1, 2014,  and what am I determined to do?  For one thing, not let what others do squash my creativity and two,  continue to create no matter what.

"Because I'm Happy"

Who doesn't want to be HAPPY? And who doesn't like to receive some HAPPY MAIL? I recently became engrossed with this art form. It is quite fulfilling to gather  and embellish some of these lovable and mailable crafty things.  It is also quite a big deal to receive some as well.  So here are
some things that I do prepare to send some of these out.
I usually save business type envelopes that I receive in the mail.  I disassemble them, turn them inside out and reattach them.   Then I hit them with the paint and embellish until there is no end.

I intend for these to be pockets to use in art journaling projects. 

Next I use a large 9x12 envelope and hit it with the paints and embellishments(most of which are homemade). I also sew up a paper sack to hold the "goodies".

Finally, I seal everything inside the large envelope and add the addresses to the outside and send it on it's way. I get such a HAPPY feeling when I do this. The whole process is so fulfilling. And even if I don't receive a "Thank you so much", I keep on sending out these little pieces of happiness over again and again.  After all it's not about receiving , it's all about the giving.  Have you felt that HAPPY feeling lately?  If not, then why not join the rest of us and send out some HAPPY MAIL of your own.

Exploring.....

Here it is July already. My summer vacation is half way over. Ba Humbug! And yes, you would think that I could keep my blog up-to-date, but I haven't.  Tisk. Tisk.  Well anyway, you can find me over on FB most of the time. LOL


Here are a few things I worked on today using The Explore.  I created a gift and "handmade by" tag to go on a gift that I made.  The gift/paper bag was not cut with the Explore. Then I took a dollar store gift bag and cut it down and adhered the handle part inside the bottom part.  I then used the Explore to write my name and "created by". The image is from one of the Imagine images.

Addressing envelopes with the Cricut Explore

Here is a video I did per request by some interested persons on FB.

Let's Make it Personal

And I'm doing just that and enjoying it while crafting with the new Cricut Explore.  Let's just say that I am EXPLORing new possibilities. LOL. I know what you maybe thinking, "Oh no, not another Cricut" Well, I did take the plunge again and so far, so good.  I especially am quite satisfied with the writing feature this machine has.  For my post this month, I made a few samples to show you how you can personalize many of your crafty projects or gifts. Let's start first with a few handmade bags that I cut and also wrote my name and a sentiment on.

Next, I designed some business cards and address labels.  Here's what I did to create the business cards:
First, I found some frames that I owned and placed them on the Design Space canvas

Then I made sure the shapes could be ungrouped so that I could create two layers: one for the written part and one to coordinate as a bottom layer.

Next I choose a font and added it to the top shape. You can use
true type fonts with this machine.

And here is the finished project and some address labels. I basically
did the same thing with the labels( sorry, I had to cover up my
address.

Personally yours,

Hats off to our Graduates

Well , can you believe it? It is that time of year again.  GRADUATION. So, hats off to all the graduates out there that have worked hard. I created a few projects that would be ideal to give to some of those who have reached their goal.  All of these were die-cut using the Silhouette Cameo and  the die-cuts can be found in the Silhouette Store.  I created two gift cards and one box card.  So why not try one of these quick projects and show your appreciate for our graduates.

Spring up Memories

I had to remind myself recently not to forget where I came from or rather how I got started. This is in reference to paper crafting.  I started with scrapbooking and doing layouts.  So I thought why not return to the passion that got me started. This month I decided to do a spring layout.  Nothing really fancy just a sample of my style.  I love to layer a lot on my layouts and so here ......

I am and this is how I have evolved over the years. I grabbed some pictures I recently took and got busy.  The layout is of my granddaughter who recently got a new bicycle.  I bet we all can remember those days.  I used my Silhouette to cut all the die cut images.  The background paper is so Spring.  As I said, nothing fancy, just some paper, embellishments and memories.  Do you remember how or why you started scrapbooking?  Why not take a walk down memory lane and remind yourself where you came from.

A Bowl of Yummy Goodies

Here is my small Washi tape collection.  I thought that this new "must -have" craft supply was gone and forgotten but it continues to fascinate crafters in every type of crafty way. It now has captured my fascination.

My Altered Composition Planner/Art Journal

I was inspired to create another altered composition book but with a different twist.  This composition serves as a planner/art journal.  I'm loving the journey.  So here are just a few pages from that planner.  I was inspired by the talent Claudia Rossi (YouTube) and there are several other artists that are doing this project as well. So check out Claudia's channel and goggle some others to see how much fun this is.