Month of Love Online Crop

It was a busy month over at LIITD so many challenges, prizes and games!  It sure helped to get my scrap mojo flowing, used up some much needed old supplies and scraps.  It was the perfect time to get some projects done as it was too flippin cold to do anything outside here, you know the kind of cold that makes the inside of your nostrils freeze in seconds?? Yes, it was that cold!  So it's been a week of alot of hot tea, music, thermostat cranked, layouts, more layouts and cards.

This layout was done for a "recipe" challenge, a monthly DT challenge at LIITD  I love recipe challenges, it's a great way to get a jump start if you feel a little blocked.  I used Lost and Found papers, which I will never tire of, I love that line!  Some Graphic 45 patterned paper, cardstock, the flowers and ticket I made myself using scrap cardstock and patterned paper, homemade shimmer mist, and stick pins.  I also inked some blank tickets, fastened with baker's twin and added some buttons, trinkets, and bling flourish.

I did this for an online crop sketch challenge, I had so much fun with this layout, used some really old stock up. I found this delightful little patterned file folder tucked away in a basket, unfortunately I can not remember where I got it from but I would love to get my hands on more of them, it came with the little journaling cards, which I tucked inside with some old photo booth pictures.  I also used, cardstock, which I misted, miscellaneous chipboard embellishments, ribbon, and stickers.

Another online crop challenge at the LIITD This was for the heart banner challenge.  I've used a minimal amount of scrap materials on this one, plain cardstock, some patterned paper scraps, baker's twine which was from LIITD as well, alpha stickers, Prima flowers, Maya Road journaling ticket and homemade shimmer mist.

This was made for the heart shape challenge for the online crop, this was a scraplift from an old mag about three years back.  I used Pink Paislee patterned paper which I stamped and coloured in with some watercolor pencils and pencil crayons. Seven Gypsies Venice tape is covering the corner chipbaord pieces, and paper scraps are from DCWV, I love their paper stacks, it's an addiction and I think I want them all! I cut some heart shapes out of scrap paper to make my butterflies, a little scrunching, misting and brad fasteners and voila!

"Box of Chocolates" online crop challenge had a list of chocolates which represented scrap products and that's what I had to use, the chocolates I chose----Pink Paislee Paris Anthology patterned paper, Prima Fairy Flora paper, Prima paper flower, satin rose ribbon trim, Maya Road journaling card and these delightful rosette type embellishments from K&C Company.

A very fun challenge indeed, Song title and line from same song, I chose At Last---such a lovely old song.  Bare minimal for this one, Me and My Big Ideas patterned papers, 7 Gypsies Venice tape, Tim Holtz embellishment stickers and I used my Dymo to make the lyric lines.

Falling Behind

Have one of those days? Weeks? Months? It's been this month for me, which is why I have been a bad blogger.  Not for long though, there has been so much happening over at LIITD for the month of love.  A huge online crop which is just wrapping up and the monthly DT challenges have given me tons of inspiration to get some much needed scrapping done. So many wonderful prizes to be won and games to be played!  I've also finally heard of Post Secrets---yes I know, "Where have I been?"  I had just a small taste of those books and already find myself completely hooked. I didn't really think of myself as a voyeur before, I mean, seriously, I hate reality TV.  You seriously gotta check it out!  Now if the drive back from Chapters was as wonderful that would have made my day, bad roads and even worse drivers make it unpleasant to be out and about this weekend.

Recently I went on a quest to surf the net for the simplest of flower tutorials, there are soooo many out there I couldn't have possibly saved them all to my favourites.  I managed to watch a few videos and make myself some awesome flowers.

 Some twisted fabric flowers I made from satin, felt, cotton fabric and some rope type stuff I found in my sewing box. Added a few leaves, bling, and stickles as well.

Different types of rose flowers, which I would like to practice more.  Again I used the same satin as I did for the twisted flowers, crepe paper, tulle, and wired felt ribbon.

Some lacy flowers, which I absolutely adore and can not wait to use them on a layout.  Some of these I did a quick running stitch and others, well I got lazy and used my glue gun.  Both turned I well I think.

This little guy is just seven pieces of punched patterned paper all stacked together, dampened, twisted and scrunched then misted.

I will be posting the layouts I have completed for the online crop before the end of the weekend as well as bringing up something near and dear---Listology---list making, this is something I would be lost without doing and even then I still forget stuff.  I need a list to remember my list!

Cooking and Creating

I've had to catch up on a few things around home, it's been a bit crazy here, car issues, vehicle accident, appointments, repairs, etc etc yadda yadda, I won't bore you with the details.  But it's all good, everything is under control ( my version of control anyway) and I can now catch up on my blog and some projects. 

I came across this recipe for homemade cheese crackers ages ago, it was featured in a Country Living magazine and then variations popped up here and there, this is the one I checked out, I tweaked it here and there to my liking and they came out amazing, they are so yummy it's hard to stop eating them!

1 cup of flour

4 tablespoons of cold butter

1 1/2 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese

 about a tablespoon of cajun spice mix, or italian herbs(really you can use whatever spices you prefer)

4-6 tablespoons of ice water

Mix flour and spices together, then using a pastry blender cut in your butter until it resembles coarse crumbs

Add the cheese a little at a time still using your pastry blender to combine

Add your water a little at a time, stirring until dough is formed, wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill for about an hour or two.

Once chilled, lightly flour surface to roll dough out, make sure you flour your rolling pin and roll dough to about 1/2 inch thick, cut into whatever shapes you desire

Grease your baking tray, place shapes  so that they are not touching, spread a tiny bit of oil on the tops, sprinkle with salt and pepper

Bake at 325 to 350 degrees depending on your oven for about 15 mins or until golden brown and slightly crispy. 

They puff up a bit and they are slightly crispy not hard and curnchy

I managed to get most of the challenges at LIITD done last month, here are a couple

Quick Easy and Cheap

Yep, that's how I like it, quick, easy, and cheap, decorating that is.  When your time and space are limited and you're on a budget there is no other way to go.  Here are some quick tips to spruce up your home and/or creative space.

I have these ugly utility shelves, I hate them but unfortunately they are a necessity right now, I lined the edges with some of my lace trim from my craft stash, mine are temporary so I just hot glued it on but you can use hook and loop tape if your shelves are more permanent, it actually makes a huge difference, especially if you have several lined up your wall

Apothecary jar --$12 @ Winners
Decorative sand --$1 @ Dollarama
Seashells -- couple bucks @ Walmart

At Christmas time I replace the sand and shells with fake snow, bottle brush trees and glitter

Spruce up an old plain lampshade, hot glue some lace trim to the edges

Old napkin holders are perfect for storing scrap supplies such as packs of embellishments, cards, letters, your mail...I used this one for some watercolor and memory pencils, I think I paid  50cents for this vintage one at a flea market

This is easy if you don't have time to sew, or don't know how and need to cover something up. Last year Alex made some misc pieces in woods which were odd sizes, one was this adorable barstool. I found a topper cloth in the closet, draped it over and just tied the corners into knots and am using it as an accent table to hold a lamp, this also works with just a piece of unhemmed material, cut the material into a square, quite larger than the table top you are covering, then cut about an 8 to 10 inch slit at each corner and tie into knots...you can't even tell it's unfinished material once it's tied up and it looks very homespun if you use linen and other neutral colors.

 

 

Using It Up

One of my goals for this month is to use up alot of the supplies I have had gathering dust for far too long to make room for new papers and other scrap stash.  All of the challenges over at Love is in the Details this month will help considerably.  I did this layout for the Creative Team Layering challenge and was able to use some older papers and embellishments with some new.  I really enjoyed doing this sort of silly, whimsical page and just piling on the little scraps of paper, lace, and other little pieces.

Love Parade

Corny title I know but Valentine's day is not that far off and I thought I would get a head start on some cards.  We don't do any celebrations here for the day except for the exchange of cards and a little chocolate, I love getting cards for this day especially because the boys are older, I miss helping write out all their little Valentine's cards and putting treat bags together or baking something for the class party.  Do you do anything special to celebrate this day?  Any decorating or gatherings?  Do you share cards with friends as well as loved ones?

I used some old and new products, I am trying to use up product I have had for far too long and some of  the items used I can not even tell you where they came from as they were lovely Christmas gifts from my boys.  I used alot of black and grey, I am really loving those colors right now for all kinds of projects!

Word For 2011

I'm a little late for my New Year's post, this cold has knocked me down a bit.  I have been thinking about a word for myself for 2011 and I feel that Forward is best for me.  I'm a procrastinator, not on purpose mind you but I am and it's something I want to change.  I want to move forward, get ahead, do things I have been wanting to do, make progress, finish projects I promise myself I am going to finish and the best way for me to do that is to go "Forward". 

I'm starting off with a little project I started quite some time ago, a little something I have been wanting to make for myself, that I put off to the side to complete other things.  I finished it off and am quite pleased with how it turned out.  It's a happy mish mash of a journal that suits my style perfectly.

There are actually only six regular pages but there are also six little inserts in between.

I used a mix of old and new supplies in my stash, paint, paper, some vintage items and papers from antique music books.