Wishing You A Very Happy Birthday

Our niece turns 18 next week.  Gosh, where has the time gone?  She's in her last months of high school and will be off to college in August!

This was my first attempt at a shaker card and since PTI will be coming out with a kit making them easier to create, I'll be doing more in the future!  I knew I wanted to make it bright and cheery (just like Rachel), so I chose to stack stripes of paper like a rainbow behind the text block die.

Supplies Used:
Paper:  Pure Poppy, Orange Zest, Harvest Gold, New Leaf, Enchanted Evening, Royal Velvet, White
Stamps: N/A
Ink: N/A
Other:  Birthday die

Easter Bunny Bags

I made a few little "bunny bags" for Easter using the die from PTI and some felt.  I filled them with candies and put the recipient's name on the front.  A cotton ball adhered with Glossy Accents finishes it off with the perfect cotton tail. These would make cute place cards for an Easter meal or maybe a favor box for a baby shower.







Supplies Used:
Paper:  Fine Linen Bitty Dots, Beautiful Beads Pink Orange, Sweet Blush, Raspberry Fizz, Terracotta Tile, White
Stamps:  On the Links (for the eyes)
Ink:  Dark Chocolate, Melon Berry, Raspberry Fizz
Other:  Bunny Bag die, Raspberry Fizz felt, Melon Berry felt, Autumn Rose felt, Cotton Balls

Bride & Groom Card

 I finally made it back into my craft space where I hope my creative juices begin to flow again.  The new products that Papertrey Ink has introduced over the past few weeks sure are inspiring.  They finally came out with a new color of card stock, Tropical Teal!  Which is a color that I've been missing in my collection supply.  Also, they introduced a new Luxe Letterpress kit featuring a fantastic impression plate and die system and all kinds of embellishments and paper samples.   These two items gave me inspiration to create a card for the wedding of a relative in a few months.

On a non crafty note....we were able to get away for a few days to see my good friend in Ocean City, Maryland.  Piper was able to leave his footprints in the sand!

Supplies Used:
Paper:  Vintage Cream, Tropical Teal
Stamps: Luxe Letterpress
Ink: Versamark Watermark
Other:  Luxe Letterpress Impression Plate, Gold Sequins, Gold Embossing Powder

Ikea's Expedit And My DNA

Ahem....< tap, tap, tap > is this thing on?

Hellooooo (echo) helloooooo, is anybody out there?  It's been a while since I've posted.  Honestly, it's been a while since I've crafted.  General life events sometimes just take over.  I'm looking forward to getting back in my space very soon.  I'd thought I'd pop in and share some news I discovered this past weekend at my not-so-local Ikea..... hang on to your lingonberries:

THE EXPEDIT SERIES WILL BE DISCONTINUED.

When I first saw the 'last chance' signs in the store, I actually thought there was no way it could be true.  It took me a few moments to gain my composure and not freak out in the middle of a very crowded showroom.  Now, I realize I sound silly.  I hear ya, I get it....it's just furniture from Ikea (tiny voice in my head repeating "but it's the Expedit").   I've had my DNA tested a few times in my life and besides knowing that my mother and I share 50% and 23 segments of our DNA, and my sister and I share 44.2 % and 54 segments of our DNA, I also have a "panic the product is discontinued" gene.  If I own something that becomes discontinued, the uncontrollable need to acquire enough of that product to last a lifetime occurs.  It has happened with my Christmas dishes, my everyday dishes, any MAC eye shadow and now the Expedit.  Like many other crafters, I mix Ikea furniture in my craft space with other brands of furniture.  In my case, it's the Expedit from Ikea, Bedford from Pottery Barn and a splash of Stanton from Home Decorators.

After we returned home, I began to search for any information I could on the new news.  Here it is...an official statement from Ikea.  Not as horrible as I originally thought.  In a nutshell - new finish, blah, blah, blah, sides will be slimmer, kid friendly corners, blah, blah...new name is Kallax.  Here is the best part of this announcement - all the existing storage baskets and boxes will fit in Kallax.
Not Earth shattering after all.  Now back to your regularly scheduled program.

Here's some shots of my old, now discontinued Expedit.

Punch Board Practice

Happy New Year!  I have been able to spend some time in my crafty space now that the holidays are behind us.  Thankfully I'm back into the swing of things and into my old routine.  I must admit I did not miss the 6:30 a.m. alarm clock, but it was a strange feeling creating my own schedule for those 10 days I was off work.

I received some really great craft oriented gifts at Christmas.  Obviously I really appreciate these types of gifts, not only because they are crafty, but also since I realize the folks purchasing those often aren't into crafts as much as I am.  It's probably boring to shop for such things if you don't have the same interest.  I'm very lucky, my family DOES gift me craft supplies (or craft store gift cards).  I'll admit, the items usually come off the wish list my DH slips them, but still it's so very appreciated!  From my mother I received two of the We R Memory Keepers punch boards, the Gift Bag board and the Gift Box board.  Here are a few items I've made so far using the boards.  (I purchased the Candy Box board prior to Christmas;  I used it a few times to present gift certificates!)

The boards will be very useful to create favor boxes for kids parties, as I am often making party packages for my friends to use.   They will also be great to create little gift holders for use at table place settings.   I can already see these being useful at Easter.

Punch Board Demos

Supplies Used:
Paper:  Lemon Tart, Hibiscus Burst, White
Stamps:  With All My Heart
Ink:  Hibiscus Burst, Scarlet Jewel, Lemon Tart
Other:  Heart Dies, Love Die, 3804 Floss, New Leaf Ribbon

Spice "Rack" Reorganization (Non-Crafty)

I found myself with an entire week off from work between Christmas and New Year's without any travel plans (unused paid time off days are lost at the end of the year at my company).  I started to think of some home organization projects I could take on during those days.  You know..... the tedious, boring kind.  The kind that don't involve my craft room.  Funny how I could organize my crafty corner of our house until the cows come home, but when it comes to the garage, pantry, linen closets or even the cabinet where I keep our spices, I stiffen up and dig my feet into the ground.

Here is a picture of where we used to house our spices.  It's corner cabinet with a built in lazy susan, and it is difficult to find anything you are looking for without other items falling over.  Even if I purged some spices and cleaned out the cabinet, it still wouldn't be an optimal place for our spices.  I decided to move them to a large, wide drawer located left of our stove where we keep our (many) kitchen towels and take out menus.  The towels and menus would be moved to a smaller, deeper drawer and the items in that drawer will go where our spices were originally kept.  Are you following all of that?

I purchased Round Metal Tins from Papermart in the 8 ounce size.  Since the lids I purchased were solid and the new home for my spices is a drawer, I decided to make a label for the tops.  I found the round frame design online and used Powerpoint to insert the spice names in the middle of the frame.  I printed the spice label out on full sheet labels from Avery and cut the circles out using a Nestabilities circle die and my new Vagabond machine.

I made the decision to replace some of the spices we had with new ones. After searching online for spice shelf life, I found this basic guide:

• Ground spices (nutmeg, cinnamon, turmeric): 2 to 3 years
• Herbs (basil, oregano, parsley): 1 to 3 years
• Seasoning blends: 1 to 2 years
• Whole spices (cloves, peppercorns, cinnamon sticks): 4 years
• Seeds: 4 years (except for poppy and sesame seeds; 2 years)
• Extracts: 4 years (except for vanilla, which will last forever)
• When it doubt, throw it out 

To help me with this in the future, I decided to place the expiration year on the bottom of each tin using Post-it adhesive roll (my new favorite thing). 

I'm not sure if this post was 100% 'non-crafty'.....but when I have to complete a task that isn't all that interesting, bringing office or craft supplies into the mix helps me carry on.

Christmas Cards & Snow Clean Up

We began sending out our Christmas cards this week.  It took me a while to finish them and I truly hope I've made enough.  I created a few different versions of the same card in different colors.  The front of the envelopes are also stamped, and I love the way they turned out.

I used the Quatrefoil Die from Papertrey Ink on all of the cards.  This bad boy gave my Cuttlebug a run for it's money...so much, that I went out and purchased a Vagabond machine to save the muscles in my arms.  I just couldn't get the sandwich with the Cuttlebug to produce clean, crisp cuts with such an intricate die.  Holy cow, the Vagabond is a powerhouse, it showed that die who was boss!  I find myself die cutting much more now that I have it.  To make it easier to access and use I have it plugged in all the time.  Highly recommend.

Today was snow clean up in our area.  This is the third snow in one week.  I had a fight with the snow thrower on Tuesday and it won, so I decided today was my day off from snow removal.  Here is the view this morning from my craft room, it's Piper watching my husband remove the snow from the sidewalks and driveway.  Such a perfect spot for him to sit and watch!

Supplies Used:
Paper:  Spring Moss, Hibiscus Burst, Vintage Cream, Scarlet Jewel, White
Stamps:  Holiday Photo Finishers, Holly Jolly
Ink:  Scarlet Jewel, Garden Green, Rouge
Other  Photo Finish Strips Dies, Holly Jolly Dies, Quatrefoil Die