No Time

Hey everyone! Well, my thesis is not going very well. I feel like it is but my professor is just not willing to meet with me outside of his 'office hours.' So what this means is that I busted my behind over the weekend and sent my revisions to him on Sunday night and he sent me an email saying he could meet during office hours on Wednesday. On Wednesday! Well, that made me furious and there is nothing I can do. Because of this there is a huge chance I won't make deadline to graduate in May and instead it will be the summer. So, in between sobs and furry I decided to blog and show off some things I did a while back hoping it would lift my spirits. I don't have time for details but I thought you might enjoy looking at something new.

Flowers


Birdie


Acrylic Photo Frame Notepad

One Man's Junk

Is always another man's treasure. That is, these CD's were going in the trash, that is, until I got ahold of them. Isn't this just cute. This was the first wall-hanging I made and it was actually a gift I gave for Christmas but I forgot to blog it after the giftee received it. Can you tell I am proud?!? TeeHee. The paper covering the CD's were from My Mind's Eye Bohemian Style I believe. The letters are chipboard from Making Memories and some of the letters are matted with white dollies from Wal-Mart.

So, you will notice there are two different pattern papers; one striped and one plain. Those letters that are mounted on the stripped paper have a white dolly underneath them while those mounted on the solid light-blue paper are not. The letters without dollies have ribbons attached to give them a bit of flair. I just love these ribbons. I found them for 10/$10 at my LSS and I believe they are by American Traditions. I'm not positive since I have used all the ribbon since then :D Does that mean I need to take a trip??? tee-hee. For each of the CD's I used my crop-a-dile to punch holes, fill with eyelets, and then string the CD's together using binder rings. Afterwards I added ribbon to the binder rings. I couldn't believe how fun these are and how simple they can be. This particular one took about 15 minutes.

So, I needed a couple of thank you cards that were simple and sweet. This is what I come up with. The flowers are from Nicole Stamps and were colored with Bic Sharpies. I added some stems and there you have it. I really liked how these came out. I took a photo playing with my new lighting system I have.


Mahalo for stopping by!

Phew, What a week!

Now that my first week of school is ovah, I need to get back into blogging action! I have so much to share with you that has been building up on my desktop. But first, I must share my first card that I received from my Big Sis today in the mail. I also got some goodies-a monkey stamp and a mounting block. This stamp is just adorable and can't wait to play with it. Don't you just love this card?!?



Next, I will share with you some of the Thank You cards I sent out for the holidays. This card was sent to my SS for delivering me such a fantastic gift. I started with a piece of green Bazzil cardstock that measured 4 1/4 x 4 1/2. I had just a bit of this leftover Christmas paper so I added a piece along the bottom to break the card up. Next, I stamped the little Birdie on a piece of basic white and colored him in with my sharpies. I scalloped the edges and then layered it on a piece of tan. As an added touch, I tied a knot with this cute stripped ribbon and added to the image. My scallops got a little funky in that spot so I just added the ribbon to cover it up :D Along the top I wrote A Lil Birdy Told Me and the inside reads That You Were A Great Secret Santa.

To keep this post fairly short, I will just show the cute treat box I made for Valentines Day. I just loved this treat box tutorial from SCS so I just had to give it a try. I went with an 8x8 size treat box and instead of adding patterned paper, I just added heart die-cuts and scalloped the edges. I love the scallops along the edges!

Mahalo for stopping by!

More Christmas Cheer

Here is another handmade card I received from one of my RCS friends-Linda. I love the holly.



Here are some pics of the handmade gift I received from one of my Secret Santa's-Kate. I was allowed to open, if you were wondering ;) She altered this old cigar box into a cute purse of NYC. I just love it and the rhinestones are even the color of my birthstone. I wonder if she realized this before hand? Enjoy.









Mahalo for stopping by!

Joy Joy Joy

I accumulated quite a few CD's and decided to alter them into Christmas banners for house decorations. This was so much fun and I think it would be a great idea for a swap. Hmmm...brainstorming for the future :)



These are so simple. I used American Crafts Christmas dp to cover the CD's. On one of them I added a dolly then a Chipboard letter. The other two have the chipboard letters with ribbons. To put them together, I used my Crop-a-dile and inserted eyelets. I added binder rings to bring them all together and then added ribbon at the top through 2 more eyelets for hanging.

Wah-lah! Simple as that! One of these takes no more than 15 minutes. This particular one was sent to my Mom. I have another larger one (not Christmas theme) that I will post after Christmas because it was a Secret Santa gift.

Mahalo for stopping by!

Picture Perfect

Aloha everyone! Happy Holidays! Some of you have asked if I am still around. Well, last Saturday my boyfriend and I took a vacation over to Maui and the Big Island. We needed a little R&R outside of the city. We had a great time but now back to the city life. On the positive side, I took over 400 photos that I'm sure will find a way to a scrapbook page!

I thought I would share another Christmas gift. This was a simple gift I made for my Dad this year. Since I haven't seen him in 17 months, I always try to share photos as often as possible. This was one of those cheap acrylic frames from Wal-Mart. I cut a piece of My Mind's Eye Paper to fit inside the frame as a background. The frame around the photo is a cheap mat from Wal-Mart as well. I coordinated the mat with the paper. On the right is a poem that was printed out and matted first on a piece of coordiating blue then brown.

Sorry about the photo. It is hard to photo these kinds of frames. I hope you enjoy and if you need a cheap last-minute gift, this is perfect! Mahalo for stopping by!

Stampin on Candles

Ever since I saw THIS TUTORIAL at SCS I just had to give it a try. I made this set for my aunt for Christmas. They are super easy and it is a great way to buy the cheapy, ugly candles and then make them look like a million bucks! I colored the images with Crayola magic markers. The flower stamp is from Rhonna Farrer and the smaller inchies are from Hero Arts.



For lots of other pretty stamped on candles and a little inspirations, check out the SCS GALLERY


Drum roll please....brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr (that's my drum roll lol)...all of my Christmas gifts are finished, wrapped, and postal! Whoooo-hooo!

Mahalo for stopping by! Mele Kalikimaka!

A little Altering

Can you believe that I have never altered anything. ***gasp*** I KNOW! I just thought that was crazy. So, I made this vow that I was going to try and make most of the Christmas presents that I sent home this year. So what better way to start altering?

Colleen over at Distinctive Touches threw down an altering challenge last Thursday so I thought now is the best time to start. Her challenge was to alter something lying around the house. Frankly, I don't have anything. I live in a 200 square foot closet (if that) so I don't necessarily have things around the home besides the absolute basics. For the altering, I went out and bought a cheapy frame that could use a touch up for my grandma.



The altering was very simple. It was my first time using Modge Podge so I learned some valuable lessons. First, don't be stingy with the stuff. Second, it is much easier if you use a credit card or the like to smooth out the paper. This keeps it consistent.

I really enjoyed this project. I used You're Missed from Around the Block paper and blue Paperbilities card stock to make the photo corners. The paint is Folk Arts acrylic craft paint. The flowers are from Greenhouse and are held together with green and blue brads.

Halloween Goodies Treat Bags

Aloha everyone! This is going to be my first tutorial so I hope you are able to follow. Feed back, as always, is appreciated. So, I needed cheap, easy, yet fun treat bags to give to co-workers as Halloween gifts. The catch...the budget :) I could only use things that I have in my home. This is what I came up with. My inspiration: tie-dyed coffee filters.

Supplies Needed:
coffee filters
stamps of your choice
ink of your choice
card stock (purple and green used here)
tag die cut (sizzlits tag dies, oval used here)
coloring utensils (colored pencils used here)
ribbon (orange used here)
scissors




First stamp your images randomly on the bottom side of 1 coffee filter.



Next color in the images that you want to have color. Tip- colored markers would work great here because the filters easily absorb the ink



Next, use your die-cut machine to cut the tags for your treat bag. Here I used the sizzlits tag die which gave me 2 oval of different colors. This way I was able to layer 2 different colors of tags for the treats.



I then took 6" or so of ribbon and threaded it through the tags. For the sentiment I inked my Trick or Treat stamp in black and stamped it directly on the top tag.



To ensure support for the candies I took another coffee filter and layered it on top of the stamped filter. For the candies, I bought the fun packs of M&M's and poured one pack each in the filters.



Last, I gathered the coffee filter and used the ribbon to tie it shut. Ta-Da. Your finished! Easy, quick and fun treat bags.

A Christmas Gift Already

I know, I know. It is too early. But when you have to worry about a job, school, and getting everything mailed in time to make it from Hawaii, I feel the need to start early to get it all done! This is an expandable scrapbook that I made for a gift for my aunt. I just love these and they are so easy to make. I changed computer so I lost the link to the directions but I will search for them and get it posted. The sketch for the front came from Beate's weekend sketch. I know you are supposed to create a card but I just had to give it a try for the cover. The paper is from a local scrap store and is from Creative Native. They have an online store...Paper Island...and it is on the right hand side of my blog down there ---> I cut a piece of basic white and wrote a great quote on the front: What children need most are the essentials that grandparents provide in abundance. They give unconditional love, kindness, patience, humor, comfort, lessons in life. And most importantly, COOKIES! I just loved that :) I made 2 photo corners and used a green glitter gel pen to doodle a border. And what about those flowers! Aren't those SCRUMPTIOUS! You can find the tutorial on those here. They are so simple and so beautiful! Definitely give them a try! You will most definitely be seeing those from me more often! I closed the book with a white ribbon. Since it is for my aunt, it will be filled with photos of my cousins with chipboard letter names. I am so excited for her to get this. If only I was going to be home for Christmas...*sigh*

CD Calendars Are Finished--Spoiler Alert for RCS

I told you I would get the CD Calendars finished this weekend. So, in the online scrap group that I am a part of, we decided to do a CD Calendar swap. Twelve of us each had a different month and since I love August (it is my birthday!) that is what I chose. Lots of popcicles, snglasses, and beach wear! I though these turned out great. I used American Traditions Beach Fun paper, Bobbins ribbon, and not sure what brand those embellies are....oh wait, just kidding; those are Dress It Up. I just love that line of embellishments! As soon as the swap is complete I will post all the months so you can see how talented the ladies at R-C-S is!

Accordion Scrapbook

Aloha! Happy Labor Day Weekend! I hope you are taking advantage of all those great sales that are going on :)

As I come across things that catch my attention my immediate thought is~well, how can I use that or who can I give it to. I'm sure this is the thought process that most of you follow. I came across an accordion-style scrapbook on the Exploring Womanhood Website that was just too cute and I just had to give it a try. We had been searching for such a tutorial on SCS and this was the one we came up with.

This is the cover of the accordion. I started out with 2 sheets of Cream Card stock from the AMERICAN TRADITIONS paper pack and 1 sheet of Blue Card stock from the same brand. Fold each of these sheets in half, unfold, then fold in half the other direction, unfold and then fold so that one corner meets the opposite corner (only do one corner) and unfold. You now have smaller squares within the larger sheet.

Next I took 2 pieces of chipboard and cut each to be 6" square. I adhered one sheet of Hearts designer paper to one piece of chipboard. I then attached a 1" square strip of tan card stock over the designer paper and used my Made from Scratch stamps to create a cute border. There were inked with Pink Pastel. With the 2ND piece of chipboard I covered with a piece of hibiscus paper locally made here in Hawaii. This first piece will be the front cover of the album and the second will be the back cover.

Next I folded up my album to create the 6" x 6" square. I adhered the chipboard to the appropriate sides to create the album. To embellish I took 2 pieces of green plaid paper, 2 sheets of pink plaid paper, 1 sheet of silver designer paper and 1 sheet of gold stars designer paper and cut them into triangles to fit the outside squares of unfolded album. I used a gel pen to write quotes about grandchildren around the edges of the designer papers.

I haven't added photos yet but you can adhere your photos in the four middle diamond/square shapes. These are the sqares that are not folded when you fold up your album. I am going to get photos of my cousin's and place them in the middle and give this to my Aunt as a Christmas gift. I think she will love it. For a more complete tutorial visit the Womanhood website link above.

Flip Flop Tote

Aloha everyone, Well I said I wasn't going to be working on anything because it is the First Day of College Football but I couldn't resist. I want to spotlight a very talented lady today. She was the inspiration for the tote I created. LESLIE'S BLOG is a great place for inspiration and her work is absolutely beautiful. It was on her blog site that I found the tutorial for the handmade tote. Please go check out her site and comment on her awesome work. I'm sure she would love it.

Now back to the tote. This is such a great idea and makes a fun gift for any occasion. You can find the detailed instructions on Leslie's blog but I am going to tell you guys what paper and products I used. I wanted my tote to have a local flavor to it:) All the paper I used came from AMERICAN TRADITIONS Beach Paper Pack. The tote is made from basic pink card stock. The outside panels were created using the Pink Flower paper. I added a 1 3/4" wide strip of baby blue card stock with a cute flip flop border. The ribbon is a lime-green with pink flowers.

Like I said, this project is too cute. The tote is made to fit between 4 and 6 cards. There are 2 awesome things about this project: 1) you have enough card stock left over to make coordinating cards to go in the tote and 2) it takes less time to make than creating the card itself. Definitely give this a try and let me know if you do. I would love to see your creations. If you want to see other great totes visit the SCS TOTE GALLERY.

Small Gift Box

Aloha!!! Ever wanted to just stop buying gift boxes for all those tiny gifts that you send out? I know I have. It is often very difficult to find the right size or ones that are cute enough that you would actually put your name on :) Well, I gave it a try and created my first nugget box for the inpiration challenge provided by SCS. You can view that challenge HERE.

This is too cute and makes a great gift box for chocolates **hint hint** I am not going to go into a lot of detail about how to create the box. Instead I am going to point you in the direction of Lori's great tutorial. She does a fabulous job explaining.



So here is the nugget box I made. I apologize for the photo. It was dark and the camera was not cooperating :) I bet none of you have ever had that problem ;) The paper to make the slip is a pink marble and the paper to create the box is a think brown with the same texture as cardboard. Very strange paper. I got it in a pack and finally found something to use it with! The tag is made with the Sizzlits Small Tag Set and it says Friends. The yellow strip of paper has one of my favorite quotes: "Remember the most beautiful things in the world are the most useless; peacocks and lilies for instance." That was said by a brilliant man (at least I think so) by the name of John Ruskin.

I plan on putting a small keepsake in the box to send to a dear friend back in Kentucky. I would love to put chocolates but I think by the time the package moves from Hawaii to Kentucky, there wouldn't be anything left but a mess :) Anyway, the point is you can put anything in here. It would make a great handmade box for jewelry (although I don't know if your Husband would want to take the time to learn).

Definitely visit Lori's tutorial and give this a try. I am sure you will be surprised at how easy it is!