Happy New Year!

Hi everybody, are you still out there??? Sorry to be away so long but with the holiday hustle & bustle, endless cooking & baking, holiday decorating & undecorating I found myself completely & totally exhausted. I have to confess that I no longer attempt to be super woman like I did in my 20's & 30's and it is totally okay. But I am back today and I'm sharing a Christmas gift that my super sweet sis handmade for me and I really love it!!! She found the inspiration for this project on Becca Fekken's blog, Amazing  Paper Grace, and I'm including a link in case you want to check out her original. Here's a few more pictures of the front and inside back cover.

You can see how much work went into this calendar and I'll love it forever!!! Hope all of you had a wonderful New Year's Eve and Day and it's so good to be back in blogland again, I've missed you guys.

~Lisa



THANK YOU KRISTIN!

I just wanted to pop in and share that I won the Huge Give-a-Way at Lilsweetpea's Place on Christmas Day. :-) Webster's Pages is a fave company of mine and a full-size Scor Pal was on my wishlist so you can imagine my excitement to learn that I'd won. I am one happy girl Kristin and sincerely appreciate your  generosity!!!

You can see all of the wonderful blog candy by clicking on her badge in the right column. Like I said in my entry comment, I'm just thrilled that I found Kristin's blog which is adorable and chocked full of creative wonder! She's offering one more chance to win some crafty goodness on New Years Day so hurry on over to enter and good luck!
Thanks again Kristin!
Lisa

Merry Christmas to all...

Hi there, I'm here to share a quick and easy way to make a holiday organizer using stamps by Taylored Expressions and a store bought journal. Now I realize I should have posted this earlier but if nothing else perhaps you can pick one up after Christmas to use next year. ;) The journals I bought are illustrated by Mary Engelbreit and I added stickles and fun embellishments to personalize each one. I created sections by using the Keeping Tabs stamp set and then I stamped "Planner" on mine and "Christmas Planner" on my dd's from the Take Note Holidays stamp set. This was a fun & inexpensive project as the journals were a dollar each at Michael's (which makes for a great teacher's gift or pre-holiday gift for friends and family).

Here is my dd's planner which has been heavily used (you can see the wear & tear) as she has been promoted to Chief Elf. Yes, sadly my kids are too old for Santa to visit anymore, we miss his visits, but to stay in the spirit of things they've taken turns making the gift lists, shopping, wrapping presents and distributing them on Christmas morning. This way they still get to experience the magic of Christmas. :-)

This is probably my last post before Christmas Day and I want to wish each of my blog visitors, and U. S. Armed Forces around the world, a very Merry Christmas!!!
God Bless,
Lisa

Stamps: Keeping Tabs & Take Note - Holidays (Taylored Expressions)
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Ladybug, Bahama Blue & Cottage Ivy
Paper: white cardstock
Accessories: Keeping Tabs die (Taylored Expressions); Journals (Mary Engelbreit Ink); (Spellbinders Labels Ten die; Flower Woolies (Basic Grey); red epoxy frame (Creative Memories); red pearls (Kaisercraft); red rhinestones (PS); Black Diamond, Christmas Red, Yellow, Stardust, Green, True Blue Stickles and Glossy Accents (Ranger)

I'm Late, I'm Late, I'm Late....

Hi everybody, has Christmas panic set in yet??? I could be stressed but I "choose to happy" as my darling husband always says. I just sent my troops off to do the last minute grocery shopping while I stay home and finish up a few loose ends. :-) Earlier today I finished making my dd's Web Password book that is long overdue. This is a great gift idea for those who use the internet and create user names and passwords.

For her book I used Graphic 45's Hallowe'en in Wonderland dp's and stamps by Crafty Secrets. I stamped some of her favorite characters on Choice Buttercream and used T!m's distress inks to age the paper a bit. Then I colored the images, sans sentiment, with Prismacolor pencils and fussy cut them out. After adhering my dp's I glued a purple ribbon to the left side and across to separate the coordinating dp's and tied an orange ribbon to a clock charm and glued in place while adding a little sparkle with an orange fiber ribbon. One of the dp sheets is full of miniature cards so I cut one out that features Alice with a "Drink Me" bottle and attached with more glue. I placed tiny alpha's by Cosmo Cricket along the left side to create "web passwords" and I dressed up the back with more dp's and a stamp of Tweedle Dee-Dum. The inside front & back covers feature "ads" from a dp in the 8x8 paper pad and I stamped the "For You" image from the same stamp set. I colored it with Copics and glued to inside front cover. I used Cinch chipboard, black binding wire and a Cinch binding machine to create this book. Being the fan of Alice that she is I know she'll love it! Here's a few more snaps of the inside covers and download sheets. If you like this project check out Taylor's You Tube video in which she shares how to create this fun gift for the holidays.

Thanks for stopping by and for all of the wonderful comments you've left me! Each one is sincerely appreciated and I hope to have more blog browsing time now that the shopping and wrapping is over for another year. :-)

~Lisa

Stamps: Greetings from Wonderland (Crafty Secrets)

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Antique Linen & Spiced Marmalade Distress Inks (T!m Holtz)

Paper: Hallowe'en in Wonderland (Graphic 45), cs

Accessories: Web Passwords Download (Taylored Expressions); chipboard, binding wire, Cinch binding machine (We R Memory Keepers); Tiny Type Alpha's (Cosmo Cricket); clock charm (Explorer by Traditions); ribbons (Hobby Lobby); Prismacolor Pencils; Copic markers; Zip Dry Paper Glue (Beacon Adhesives); X-Press IT tape (TE store)

September

Hope everyone is having a good week so far! I'm back today to share with you my September calendar which features our first born. As I shared recently he enlisted in the U. S. Army and ships next spring for basic training. When I ran across these pictures I knew they'd work perfectly here and perhaps they were a sign of things to come, lol.

I used a U. S. Army Scrapbook Kit by Creative Imaginations and TE's Mini-Dated Calendar to pull this calendar together. There's definitely no frills (except a few liquid pearls) on this page and not a stamp in sight. He was seven in these pictures and it's hard to believe that this time next year he'll be far from home. Ok, I could get a little weepy here so I'll move along.

Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!
~Lisa

Ink: Memento's Tuxedo Black
Paper: Choice Snow White (TE), dp's from scrapbook kit
Accessories: Mini-Dated 2012 Calendar Download (Taylored Expressions); Liquid Pearls (Ranger)

October

Hello to everyone and welcome! I don't know about you but this has been a very long week and I'm ready for the weekend. My weekend is centered around finishing my Christmas shopping and baking. The dd and I plan to make our homemade candy trays & cookies and we may even bake a chocolate cake just because we're in the mood for one. :-) It has been awhile and we love Ina Garten's (a.k.a. Barefoot Contessa) Beatty's Chocolate Cake, YUM-O!


Now for the October deets. I used dp's from Echo Park's the Apothecary Emporium collection and the stamps are from Toil & Trouble and You're My Type-Upper by Taylored Expressions. All of the stamped images were colored with Copic markers and the mirror/picture frame has a touch of Smooch on it while I used Stickles on the spider's web and witch's hat for a little pizzazz. I did a lot of fussy cutting but it was worth it. I pulled out my Pennant Border die (which I do not use nearly enough!) and die cut a border in black while punching 1/2" circles for my stamped alpha's. The black crow also received a Smooch "eye" and a touch-up on his feathers. Again I used Taylor's 2012 Mini-Dated Calendar download and framed it with a border of liquid pearls against a black backdrop. Ribbon and Copic colored rhinestones finish it off. The cute little witch in the frame is my dd and since October is her birth month I chose to feature her, at age three, in her Halloween outfit. This was such a FUN page and I can't wait to show you September which is my ds's birth month. :-)

                                                  

Have a great weekend and just in case you're craving a little chocolate here's a link to Ina's awesome cake. I use Ghiradelli semi-sweet chocolate bars which are easier to find and less expensive but just as good. Another quick tip, crush the powdered coffee with the back of a spoon until it is finely ground. Enjoy!

~Lisa

Stamps: Toil & Trouble & You're My Type-Upper (Taylored Expressions)

Paper: the Apothecary Emporium (Echo Park), Choice Snow White (TE store), cs

Ink: Memento's Tuxedo Black

Accessories: Pennant Border Die & Mini-Dated 2012 Calendar Download (Taylored Expressions); 1/2 " circle punch (EK Success); Orange Peel & Silver Stickles/Silver Pearl Liquid Pearls (Ranger); Tuxedo & Silver Fox Smooch (Clearsnap); black cording & string from stash; orange polka dot ribbon (Hobby Lobby); Copic markers; clear rhinestones (PS); 3D foam dots (Therm-O-Web) 



March and November Calendars

Hello and welcome! I'm sharing two more altered calendars today, March and November. This is an ongoing project and I have five more months to go and I'll have my calendar/scrapbook project wrapped up. Both of these months share a holiday (everyone does celebrate St. Patty's Day, right?) and for me St. Patrick's is all about fun while Thanksgiving takes a more serious and elegant tone. Here's my March calendar...

and the deets. I used cardstock as my base and printed out the March 2012 Mini-Dated Calendar Download from Taylored Expressions onto Choice Snow White paper. I die cut it, along with an Origins dp by BG, with a Spellbinders Labels One. Black stitched ribbon from TE makes a nice divider and an Irish Blessing, from Verve's Blessings set, was stamped onto more dp from my Origins paper pad. I love Taylor's Wreath of Luck set and used nearly every image in this cute set. The wreath was die cut from the coordinating Seasonal Wreath die and I colored it with Copics and used Lime Green Stickles to add a little festive fun. Cute, simple and a little nod to the Irish that both the dh and I share in our family backgrounds. Now for November...

and the deets. As you can see there's not a stamp in sight on this one. I used chip letters from Classic K Bailey Chipboard Alphabet and Tim Coffey Fall Adhesive Borders by K & Co. to embellish this calendar. The background dp is from the Laced with Grace paper pad by Glitz and a trio of split pea rhinestones by Kaisercraft and a little crochet trim complete this one. I did pop the pumpkin up on foam dots for a little dimension and the calendar was made in my Microsoft Word program.

That's all for today, I'm off to take my Dad for a CT so no time to check for spelling errors. If you find some please overlook and thanks for stopping by, it means so much. A big welcome to Julie who is a new follower and I have long enjoyed her blog so be sure to pay her a visit and leave a fabby comment.

Have fun today and make it count!

~Lisa