First Project 365 post

I've actually been working on this in bits and pieces, but I've had some things that I HAD to get done for other people and such. It was FUN! I've already decided that while this one was more fun and bright and "boy-y" I will be using some of my prettier, flowerier paper that I don't always get to use. For this layout, I used some Polar Press paper that I've had for a long time. I saw a card made with it and had to have it...and there it sat until now. The baby food jar is from Cricut Imagine Nursery Tales, the font is Cricut Cherry Limeade. When I see a cool layout and want to find out more about it, I'm annoyed when I can't read the journaling. So, I took some detail shots that show some of the journaling. Enjoy - 53 more to come - I promise!

OK - I suck

I know I was supposed to keep up better this year. I wasn't even going for daily - but weekly would have been nice. I have been keeping up with my photos for the Project 365. However, I've noticed that my photography skills are not as sharp as they used to be. So, I'm doing some research online and trying to improve my photo-taking.

Now - I do have excuses as to why I haven't been blogging. It's been a roller coaster of a new year so far - with my dad going into the hospital and my daughter deciding (against my wishes) to switch colleges. It has been a challenging past couple of weeks. Hopefully, things will start to calm down some - although it looks as if my dad is going to have to have a couple of surgeries. So, please forgive me if I'm not around. I do have good intentions.

And - I have been crafting. Again - like last year, I haven't always gotten a snappy of my project, but I have gotten some. I will share some of my thank you notes that I made - I didn't even get them sent until last week and, some of them, are still with me waiting to be written!

This one is done with an SU set - It's Snow Time, using Baha Breeze, Wild Wasabi and Cherry Cobbler with Basic Grey Eskimo Kisses DP and SU Wild Wasabi ribbon. I used a little liquid applique on the snowman's hat and for the snow.

I did all of my cards with the same Basic Grey Eskimo Kisses DP paired with Wild Wasabi, Cherry Cobbler, Baha Blue and a little Pink Pirouette. This one features a cute little penguin from SU Polar Pals. I used some glitter on the iceberg and a glitter pen for the heart on the penguin. The coloring on this card and the one above is done with copics.

Fun! Bubblegum and Bentos!

This is made from a flower pot, two different sized flower pot saucers (is that what they're called? That sounds really awkward, but I'm not a gardener - I don't know) a glass flower bowl and a small wooden finial. I painted all the pieces with red acrylic paint (two coats) and then assembled and painted with glossy mod podge to make it shiny - and stick together :). As I said in an earlier post, I've been kind of nostalgic for the times when I would spend a Saturday afternoon at the Hallmark store taking in all the Hello Kitty stuff - I remember stationary sets and pen sets...so cute. So, I thought it would be perfect for my gumball machine candy dish. The image is from Hello Kitty Font, which I got for Christmas this year - thanks, Mom and Dad! BTW - I filled it with pretzel M&M's rather than gumballs. And, yes, those are Christmas M&M's with the green ones removed.

Kai was given an assignment to do a recycling project again this year. Last year, they made pillows made from jeans or t-shirts stuffed with scrap materials. His teacher said that if their pillows were still in good shape that they could make something else. She suggested a bird feeder made from a gallon milk jug. I do not like birds (bad experience as a child) so I chose the third option - find something on your own. I had planned to make a tie blanket quilt using Gage, my teenage son's t-shirts that he's outgrown, but still wants to keep. Unfortunately, Gage didn't want to give me his shirt. So, I looked around on the net and found some ideas. Then the other day, I found this little box in my bathroom. My daughter had gotten a make up set that came in a "bento box". So, I repurposed it as a gift for my son's teacher. We had some extra school supplies and I added them to the box. We bought the reward stickers, but everything else, we already had.

I suggested the paper and Kai helped pick the different colors of cardstock. He would have rather used a dragon (and we did put two dragons facing one antoher on the side of the box to cover the label), but I thought his teacher would like these dolls better. This is the top of the box. We used basic grey paper and my Pagoda cricut cartridge. All the paper was from my scraps box. The inside of the box was also lined with chocolate brown paper and has the chinese symbols for Teach, Wisdom, Learn in light pink mounted on red. Kai had a blast using my gypsy (his first time) and gluing all the pieces together. To finish it off, I tied some chocolate brown tulle ribbon I had saved from a candle I got a long time ago.

Hope you enjoyed! I had so much fun making both of these projects! And, Kai thinks my cricut is awesome - he can't wait to start working on his Spongebob birthday party - more crafts to come.

Happy New Year

Well, here I am - another post already! Just realized that I forgot to take a picture today. My son has a friend over and they are watching a movie. I could go snap one...OK, got a couple. If they don't turn out to be what I want, I had considered using a snippet of the sheet music from the song I did at church today. We'll see. So, anyway...my best friend used to say that all the time. It was her seque to anything. The right way to do it is to have an upwards inflection on the "a" and kind of stress that part of the word. So, anyway - this little countdown calendar was purchased from Stampin' Up. I believe I might have gotten it for Christmas or my birthday last year and I'm just now getting around to using it. Very simple. I just cut the pieces from the Celebate with Flourish for the new year's clock and hat (no such fanciness for me last night, I stayed home and when Midnight came, I whispered "happy new year" to Gage). I mounted the die cut on Basic Grey Cupcake layered with real red and black. Since the New Year is here, I will need to make a birthday something since Kai and I both have birthdays this month.

I bought this planner for $1 at a local $1 store. The planner I was using was 8 1/2 x 11 and was a little big for my purse. It fit in there, but the top stuck out and made it hard to carry my purse. This is about 7 x 9 1/2 and will fit much more nicely. I used the Elements paper from CTMH along with the Love Life Stamps. I CASED the idea from the CTMH idea book. It was a layout and I changed it up, but the border and the tag are the same.

Well - I hope you all had a safe and happy new year. I had a nice relaxing evening and I'm looking forward to my last day off before returning to work tomorrow. It's been a very productive week for me...wish I had more time to devote to crafts and yes, even to cleaning. See you soon!