christy's creative chaos

been a little bit busy

2010-06-26T15:01:00.000-07:00

i've been too busy to blog! my little baby girl and her bff graduated from high school on June 6th.

(I have no idea why my shirt was hitched up like that. don't judge! lol :O)

i'm still reeling from the chaos that was involved! family in town for 3 days, 2 bbqs, the actual graduation...it took me at least a week to recover, and before i know it, a month has almost passed and my blog has the distinct sound of crickets. *chirp chirp*

I HAVE been making stuff..I made that sign above out of freezer paper. and I made a bunch of thank you cards. they were so cute that we got a thank you note for the thank you card we had sent to thank someone for a gift! Lex wants to know if we should send a thank you note for the thank you note...

I also made an entire 24 page scrapbook album for my youngest sister to send her deployed hubby on their anniversary. i did not take a single photo of the finished project. i'm the worst scrapbooker ever.

that's her with my dad's lab molly. see, I am trying to distract you from my lack of blogging with cute girls and pooches :O)

my mom, on the other hand, has been blogging her heart out! please go give her blog a peek:

so many cute ideas, cheap ideas, awesome ideas :O) my mom rocks!

check out these treasures and MORE on her blog:

stay tuned, i have lots of neat stuff up my sleeves :O)

letter S and A to go with M

2010-05-12T21:12:00.000-07:00

The response to my cardboard letter M tutorial was amazing! Several readers asked about making curved letters...ooh, a challenge! I love me a challenge :O)

I decided on a lower case a and letter S.

LETTER S:

First thing, I printed out my letters in publisher, just the outlines (why waste ink?), in a basic, bold, no frills font. I made the letters 6 by 6 inches, traced them onto cardboard and cut them out, ending up with 2 letters.

For the sides of the letters, I cut the longest possible 1½ inch strips of cardboard, making sure the corrugation went SIDE TO SIDE, not lengthwise. Then I bent and rolled the strips until the surface tension was broken and they were nice and bendy.

Following the same basic steps I used when I made my letter M, I hot-glued the sides onto the bottom letter. **I used HOT MELT glue for these letters instead of the low temp glue I used on the M. It takes longer to cool and gave me more time to manipulate the cardboard into place. The bendy cardboard was actually really easy to work with. Of course, I burned the crap outta myself a few times, but that's the price you pay for making something AWESOME! :O)

If a strip of cardboard was too short for the whole side, I just added another small piece to get to the end. When an edge was finished, I cut the strip off and used a separate piece for the end. Folding the strip around a corner was too bulky and I wasn't happy with the way the corners looked.

I continued around the letter until I had all the sides put on.

**I switched to craft glue at this point. Using hot glue to glue on the front/lid of the letter was a huge pain. By the time I got the glue all the way around, the glue where I started was cool again! So...I switched to some plain white craft glue. This gave me longer to move the front/lid into place, then I set a couple of books on top to hold things in place while the glue dried.

As with the letter M, the front and back will not line up perfectly. Just use a craft knife to trim the mismatched edges, and trim off any excess hot glue. I had LOTS of excess hot glue this time :O)

To cover the curved letter, I just glued paper on the front, and clipped all the edges like so:

I used a glue stick to stick it down.

I used black cardstock on the back and sides.

And of course, CHARCOAL CHALK INK all around the edges. This ink is my *drug* of choice. If I don't have 2 or 3 extra backup pads in my stash, I get antsy :O)

LETTER A:

Same basic steps...I started in the middle, worked my way out...yada yada yada. I haven't finished the outside yet...but you get the picture :O)

Nest I really want to try some really BIG letters!

This week my Mom's blog was featured on DOLLAR STORE CRAFTS, so exciting! She has a crackle paint technique using ELMER'S GLUE that I am itching to try! Maybe on some cardboard letters...hmmmmm :O)

Please go check it out!

Linking up with:

Trash to Treasure Tuesday at Reinvented

Transform Tuesday Blog Party at The Pumpkin Patch

Whatever Goes Wednesdays Blog Party at Someday Crafts

Look What I Made! Blog Party at Creations by Kara

Show & Tell Wednesday Blog Party at Blue Cricket Design

Be Inspired Blog Party at Room to Inspire

Strut Your Stuff Thursday at Somewhat Simple

I Made It Blog Party on Everything Etsy

Hooking Up With House of Hepworths

Show Off Your Stuff Party at Fireflies and Jellybeans

Big A** Paper Bows from Old Maps

2010-05-05T12:45:00.000-07:00

I taught scrapbooking and paper crafting classes for several years. One of my best-selling kits consisted of some pre-cut strips of paper and instructions for making your very own paper gift bows. I had to share! These are SO EASY you'll be whipping them out in no time!

The bows I'm featuring are JUMBO and made from old MAPS. The instructions show some decorative scrapbook paper and heck, I wasn't going to retake a bunch of pictures
just because the paper changed...so as you go through them, just imagine you're looking at a double-sided map of New York instead of the floral print I used :O)

All you need: Paper Cutter, Glue, Foam Tape, Old Map (I took a warm iron to my maps to get out most of the folds/wrinkles...it didn't always work, depends on the condition of the map! Another option, go make a photocopy of the map on the biggest paper possible. Make sure to do it double-sided, as both sides of the map will show on your finished bow.)

Firstly, here is the cutting guide for the JUMBO (8 inch) bows:

Start with 13 strips of paper cut according to the diagram.

Fold and adhere the eight 12x2 inch strips into loops as shown. Adhere two loops together, end-to-end, ending up with 8 of these:

Adhere two sets together, forming two of these:

Set aside.

Repeat with the remaining 4 strips. (You end up with 3 sets, one slightly smaller than the other two.)

Roll the last (shortest) strip into a ring and adhere with the ends overlapped about ½ an inch.

Place a square of double-sided foam adhesive in the center of each piece.

Starting with a large set, stack and adhere the loops, turning each set about 45 degrees so the loops set between the loops of the layer below. The top layer should be the smaller of the 3 loop sets. Add the paper ring to the very center.

Pop some foam adhesive on the back, stick it to your gift, and you are good to go!

Here are cutting guides for standard (4 inch) and mini (2 inch) bows:

When I learned this technique, I went a little BOW CRAZY :O) Here are some more examples:

Funny story (aka, I'm still kicking my own ass story), I listed these on Etsy last winter, and someone from a MAJOR magazine contacted me, saying they needed some samples asap for their Christmas issue. I did not log in for a few days and was too late to meet their deadline. See? kicking-my-own-ass! pfft.

Trying this project? I WOULD LOVE TO SEE YOUR BOWS! Comment me a link and I'll give you a shout-out! I can't wait to see what you make :O)

Craft on ladies, craft on.

Linking up with:

Trash to Treasure Tuesday at Reinvented

Transform Tuesday Blog Party at The Pumpkin Patch

Whatever Goes Wednesdays Blog Party at Someday Crafts

Look What I Made! Blog Party at Creations by Kara

Show & Tell Wednesday Blog Party at Blue Cricket Design

Be Inspired Blog Party at Room to Inspire

Strut Your Stuff Mother's Day Ideas at Somewhat Simple

I Made It Blog Party on Everything Etsy

All Things Dreamy Blog Party on Sweet European Dreams

Hooking Up With House of Hepworths

Show Off Your Stuff Party at Fireflies and Jellybeans

I'm So Crafty Fridays at Fun To Craft

Hodgepodge Friday at It's A Hodgepodge Life

Saturday is Crafty Day at Along for the Ride

i {heart} your comments

2010-05-02T14:21:00.000-07:00

Poppin' in on a Sunday just to say THANKS for all the wonderful comments on my last post (brought to you by the letter M).

Mel over at Junkin' Junky already made her very own chunky M. I love the trendy colors she used, this M rocks!

I had several commentors say they would be trying this project, and I want to see! Comment me the link so I can ooh and ahh and post your project here :O)

A few questions to address...

-Julie asked how hard a G would be...I have not tried any curvy/round letters yet, but I imagine if your cardboard side strips are cut with the corrugation going side to side (not lengthwise) then they would curve around quite nicely. I'll keep you posted...I really want to try an @ or & sign!

-Beckie asked where I got the little birds...Dollar Tree! I spray painted them black, so so cheap and easy! (or is that "cheep"?) Kinda kicking myself for not buying more than 2.

Have a great (crafty!) Sunday everyone! I'm trying to decide whether to take a nap or glue some stuff to some other stuff...decisions decisions :O)

brought to you by the letter M

2010-04-28T11:57:00.000-07:00

I was inspired by this post at Calamity Anne's Adventures last week, F is for Fleetwood. She altered a GIANT paper mache letter and it turned out really cool! I found some of those big paper mache letters at joann.com but being impatient (and crafty, hehe), I decided to make my own.

I found a fun tutorial for making your own paper mache letters over on Me Like Stuff. But, I was thinking, that is alot of work for something I am just going to cover in paper anyway...like I said, impatient! I don't want to wait for paper mache to dry!

So...I came up with my own design, using RECYCLED PRIORITY MAIL BOXES! Any cardboard would work, but I like the sturdyness of these boxes, and using scraps from several different boxes, you get a consistent thickness, texture, etc. I save used boxes, and cutting them in to manageable pieces makes them easier to store. For this project I broke out my stack of 7 x 7 inch squares.

First, I cut out 2 simple letter Ms, one for the front, one for the back. I just used a ruler and pencil, but you can use a computer to print a big letter and trace it onto your cardboard. Next, I cut 1½ inch wide strips of cardboard to fit all sides of the letters. I broke out the trusty glue gun and started gluing things together.

The hot glue was messy and squished out the sides. I just let it cool then used a craft knife to trim off the excess. My front and back pieces did not align perfectly when I finished, so I just trimmed away the extra, also with my craft knife.

TaDa! Chunky cardboard letter M! (Measures about 6½ by 6½ by 1½ inches)

I am loving black and white lately, so I chose this fab pattern from my scrapbooking stash:

One sheet wasn't large enough to do both sides of the letter, so I covered the other side in black. Now I can have two different looks, solid black or black and white:

I covered the sides with the remaining pattern paper:

Cute, cute letter M:

And because I can NEVER just leave well enough alone...I inked the edges with some Charcoal Chalk Ink:

The black side was a little to blah for me...so I took embellished with some of my ribbon yoyos.

Here's M with my paper rose ball and those black birds I love so much:

And the other side of M:

Costwise, this project was super duper cheap. I didn't have to buy anything! Recycled cardboard (free), hot glue and glue gun (on hand), paper (original cost, less than $1 for both cardstock and pattern paper) and chalk ink (on hand, optional, $2 new).

I think my little display is complete! I need to hang a shelf to place them on. I will share pics soon!

Went thrifting with my youngest sister this weekend and found lots of treasures. Here is a sneak peek of projects in progress:

Linking up with:

Whatever Goes Wednesdays Blog Party at Someday Crafts

Transform Tuesday Blog Party at The Pumpkin Patch

Look What I Made! Blog Party at Creations by Kara

Show & Tell Wednesday Blog Party at Blue Cricket Design

Be Inspired Blog Party at Room to Inspire

I Made It Blog Party on Everything Etsy

Get Your Craft on Thursday at Life as Lori

All Things Dreamy Blog Party on Sweet European Dreams

Strut Your Stuff Thursday at Somewhat Simple

Hooking Up With House of Hepworths

Show Off Your Stuff Party at Fireflies and Jellybeans

I'm So Crafty Fridays at Fun To Craft

Hodgepodge Friday at It's A Hodgepodge Life

Saturday is Crafty Day at Along for the Ride

Weekend Wrap Up Party at Tatertots and Jello

Crafty Crafty Ladies Night Link Party at Aly and Ash

blingy black paper rose ball

2010-04-20T12:34:00.000-07:00

I've been working on this project off on an for a few weeks...kept getting distracted by other projects, like my daughter's last prom :O)

For this project you need:
Black Paper Circles
-I used black cardstock, punched with a 1¾ inch circle punch
A Ball to Cover
-I used a dollar store wiffle ball. You could use a styrofoam ball, just paint it to match your roses before you start gluing them on.
Rhinestones
-I have LOTS of rhinestones, but if you are low on bling, a dab of glue and some silver glitter in each rose center would work just as well.
Hot Glue
-Lots and lots of hot glue! Make sure to use low temp glue if you are using a styrofoam ball so it doesn't melt.

FIRST: Hop over to LOLLYCHOPS and watch the awesome video tutorial for making these easy-as-pie paper roses. Then make lots and lots of roses! Glue a rhinestone in the center of each rose.

Here's my dollar store wiffle ball (4 for a buck!). I wrapped and hot glued black crepe paper streamers all over the ball, giving the roses something to stick to (they tend to pop off when glued directly to plastic). I used black so if any of it shows between the roses, it's not so obvious.

Once you've got your roses and ball ready, just start gluing those puppies on! (puppies=paper roses).

Tada! I had lots and lots of hot glue strings all over when I was done...I just ran my embossing gun over the ball to melt them away. I think a hot blow dryer may work just as well.

Here is my paper rose ball chilling with those birds from last week...

Loves it! Hmm, I think one more project and I'll have my little display complete....check back soon :O)

Like balls? (ahem.) Check out my Mom's blog this week...it's proof that CMTA (creative minds think alike)! She made a ball too...and it's awesomer than my ball! I just want to play with it.

Pop on over to Make The Best of Things and see what all the fuss is about :O) And leave a comment! We loves comments!

Linking up with:

Whatever Goes Wednesdays Blog Party at Someday Crafts

Transform Tuesday Blog Party at The Pumpkin Patch

Look What I Made! Blog Party at Creations by Kara

Show & Tell Wednesday Blog Party at Blue Cricket Design

Be Inspired Blog Party at Room to Inspire

Strut Your Stuff Thursday at Somewhat Simple

Show & Share Day at Just a Girl

Get Your Craft on Thursday at Life as Lori

I Made It Blog Party on Everything Etsy

All Things Dreamy Blog Party on Sweet European Dreams

wired ribbon yoyos yo!

2010-04-13T13:50:00.000-07:00

How much fun are these? I found 2 rolls of fabulous wired ribbon for $1.50 each and fell in love. (The patterns and the price, could. not. resist.) I've been making lots of little yoyos recently for various projects. Been gluing and sewing them to everything...don't stand too close or you too will get yoyo'd.

mmm, yummy ribbon.

To start, I cut an 8 inch piece of ribbon. This ribbon is 2 inches wide, perfect for 1 inch yoyos.

I scrunched up the edges so the wire stuck out and pulled. The wire slips right out.

I folded the ribbon in fourths and used a 2 inch circle template I cut from chipboard (this one is well-used!). Now, you could trace around the template with a marker, or you can do what I did...

..and just go for it!

I used some Fray Check around the edges of the circles because they wanted to unravel when I went to gather them. Once it dried, I simply ran a single stitch with a needle and thread around the outer edge.

I pulled on the thread ends, gathering the fabric into the middle, tied a double-knot and cut off the extra thread.

I sewed buttons on 5 yoyos and hot glued them to a headband (dollar store, 4 for a buck!). Here is my beautiful daughter modeling the finished project. She's looking down because she's text messaging. As usual :O)

I hot glued some rhinestones to the centers of these and added them to my dollar store black birds. (These started out cream colored so I took some black spray paint to them. ah. much better.)

Each spool of ribbon measures 3 yards, that's alot of yoyos for pennies a piece. Loves it!

Linking up with:

I Made It Blog Party on Everything Etsy

Strut Your Stuff Thursday at Somewhat Simple

Show & Share Day at Just a Girl

Get Your Craft on Thursday at Life as Lori

All Things Dreamy Blog Party on Sweet European Dreams

been busy

2010-04-07T20:41:00.000-07:00

Life moves along and sometimes you lose track of things...like your blog. Working on my mom's new blog (located here) has renewed my inspiration and here I am, writing on my own blog again. Looking at my galleries, I think of all the things I've made since my last update. So many projects I don't know where to start! I'm not limiting myself to just paper these days. I have a growing stash of fabrics I've had to find a place to store and I invested a whopping $3 on a new glue gun. It's a cute little guy :O)

I know where I'll start...one of my dogs ate my pin cushion! Max (the lab) decided it looked tasty (tomato shaped, he's not the brightest crayon in the carton) so he took a bite. Did you know those pin cushions are full of sawdust? I didn't either. SO, I needed a new pin cushion. I had an empty almond can (thanks becca!) and fabric left over from another project*.

I covered the outside of the can with some self-adhesive fabric from my scrapbooking stash. I cut a circle of cardboard the same size as the lid. I hot glued a fluffy blob of fiberfill stuffing onto the circle. I cut a circle of fabric approximately 2x larger than the lid size (ended up being 6 inches across) and centered it over the fiberfill. Next I hot glued the edges of the fabric to the underside of the cardboard, creating a fat pillow with a cardboard base. Have I mentioned how much I love my new glue gun? It's low temp so I can manipulate the glue with my fingers (or press fabric directly onto it) without burning the heck out of myself. Of course, this only holds true if you don't touch the TIP of the glue gun. ouch. cuticle burn.

Once I had my fat pillow/pincushion top, I cut a long strip of fabric (3x the perimeter of the lid) folded it in half along the length, and hot glued as I gathered it to the underside of the cardboard, creating the ruffle.

I filled the can with aquarium gravel to keep it from tipping, then hot glued the lid on. I hot glued the padded pillow/cardboard piece on top and here we go!

*Fabric remnant is thanks to my amazing sister-in-law Tracy! She made me an awesome-wicked-cool ribbon board using this fabric, and gave me the leftovers so I could use it for other projects. Now, my pincushion matches my ribbon board! and I still have gobs of fabric left.

SO, I will try not to be a stranger, in fact, you may get sick of my posting projects soon. Just a warning.

Linking it up:

psst...

2009-07-31T13:44:00.001-07:00

...everything in the store is half price today and tomorrow! pass it on.

christy

what a hoooooot

2009-06-09T16:42:00.001-07:00

What a Hoot
Pocket Mini Album w/Christy
Tuesday, June 16th, 5:30pm, $8.00
All supplies provided

Call, email or come in to sign up!
Paper House Scrapbooking
681 W Central, Sutherlin, OR 97479
(541)459-8600
http://www.paperhousescrapbooking.com

father's day frame class

2009-06-08T16:46:00.000-07:00

Father's Day Clipper Frame Class w/Christy

Red or Black Frames available, please state your choice when signing up. Saturday, June 13th, 1pm, $15.00. Bring scissors, craft knife, brown ink and a 4x4 photo.

Email paperhouse2@hotmail.com
Call (541)459-8600 or come on in to sign up!

(photo of my silly husband and goofy daughter not included :O)

Paper House Scrapbooking
681 W Central, Sutherlin, OR 97479
(541)459-8600
http://www.paperhousescrapbooking.com/

let's crop!

2009-03-06T18:20:00.000-08:00

we're croppin'! come see us at the oakland co-op play school's 2nd annual 12 hour crop! Saturday, March 7th,
Upstairs at Washington School/Oakland Playschool
10 a.m. - 10 p.m.
$30 includes door prizes, catered lunch & goody bag!
Join us for classes & shopping!
Hosted by:
The Oakland Co-Op Playschool
Tickets available at The Paper House & at the door

shown are the 2 classes i'm teaching...a pirate themed 2 page layout and a "you rock!" mini album. fun stuff.

be there or be square.

PS, GO TAKE THE SURVEY ON OUR WEBSITE!

scrapper's yard sale happenin' now

2009-02-27T11:45:00.000-08:00

LOTS of good was brought in...rubber stamps, acrylic stamps, tools, punches, papers, embellishments, just tons of goodies! don't forget we're here until 7pm tonight, and 10am to 4pm tomorrow! don't forget to grab your free ribbon when you check out :O)

one more thing to share...

our girls did the fbla scrapbook again this year-as they finished the layouts we hung them on the wall in the class room here in the store...

the did a FANTASTIC job! i'm going to miss having them down here every afternoon...and I'm going to miss those amazing layouts hanging on the classroom wall.

class samples!

2009-02-18T13:17:00.000-08:00

just wanted to pop on and post a couple of class samples for you...

first, I'm teaching this one at the kellogg springs retreat in april:
(CLICK TO VIEW LARGER IMAGES)

and this one at the scrapbook fun fest coming on may 31:

you can see details of both events on our website: http://www.paperhousescrapbooking.com/

updates

2009-02-17T10:44:00.001-08:00

kelly updated the website-please take a peek :O)

www.paperhousescrapbooking.com

we've got a sale happenin' this week here in the store! 25% off everything, and 50% off a bunch of stuff too. sale ends saturday so come on in.

scrapper's yard sale happenin' next week, sell your extra scrappin' goodies! kits will be available for 2 bucks tomorrow, sale scheduled for next friday & saturday (27th and 28th). this is a great way to earn extra $ for the portland creating keepsakes convention coming up! unfortunately, we won't be going this year, and it has NOTHING to do with getting our car towed last year, honest :O) we decided we'd rather stick around here and go out to the Oakland Crop on the 7th. less stress, more fun! I'll be teaching 2 classes...a pirate layout, arrrrr, and a mini album.

I still have room in my home sweet home banner class coming up this thursday (the 19th)...check out the website for photos: http://paperhousescrapbooking.com/calendar.aspx $10, 5:30 pm, give me a call if you'd like to come play...459-8600.

New store hours..FRIDAYS 10am to 7 pm...just opening a little later is all :O)
and don't forget we're here on Saturdays as well, from 10am to 4pm

happy scrappin' ladies!

christy

news!

2009-02-04T09:25:00.000-08:00

so. it's been a while. i'm still alive. i'm still scrapping. i'm still a business owner...but now i have TWO! as of february 1st, my sister kelly and I took over the paper house scrapbooking store. karen just had too much on her plate, and we really didn't want to see our favorite store close, so here we are! we've got lots of things planned, a grand re-opening coming in march, sales, specials, upcoming crops, classes, lots of fun stuff.

OUR NEW STORE HOURS:

Monday through Thursday OPEN 9am to 5pm
Fridays, OPEN 9am to 7pm
Saturdays, we'll try to be here at least two Saturdays a month...in February:
OPEN Saturdays the 7th and 21st 10am to 4 pm

Sorry it's so confusing :O)

ALSO, our new phone number! We'll be combining the Paper House and Copy Central phone lines, so you can reach us at (541)459-8600.

Our email is still paperhouse2@hotmail.com
Our web address is still http://www.paperhousescrapbooking.com/
And we are still located at 681 West Central, Sutherlin, in the little house next door to Sonja's Sewing Basket.

FEBRUARY CLASSES:

We're limiting sign-ups to 6 people per class until we get a feel for our class space and see what configuration works best for us. Please sign up early to make sure you have a spot! You can call, email or drop in to sign up for any classes:

6x6" Valentine Paper Bag Album
$10, scheduled for Saturday the 7th at 1pm AND Tuesday the 10th at 5:30pm

Home Sweet Home Banner
$10, scheduled for 2/19 at 5:30pm

Also, Kelly's teaching a CARD class on the 21st..more details as she gets them to me :O)

news.

2009-01-27T12:33:00.001-08:00

big news coming soon. i repeat. big news coming soon. (no, i'm not pregnant kelly, don't pee yourself.)

holy moly, i'm a business owner!

2007-12-20T08:46:00.000-08:00

yep, that's right, uh-huh, i own my own business! I'm so excited I can't hardly stand it. I'm now the proud owner of Copy Central, the local copy shop! It comes with all the equipment and an existing customer base. I'll be publishing the local free newsletter (1500 copies go out a month), mail forwarding, mailbox rentals, copies, laminating, spiral binding, business cards, faxing, you name it. This is the second time I've had the opportunity to take over a copy shop, I think it's a sign :O) I go in tomorrow to start the move...from one location to the location right next door, and come the first of January, I'll be in business!

I wish it were only that simple...the scrapbook store I work for (Paper House) is also moving, into the same building (we'll be sharing), so next week, after Christmas, we'll be moving the store. We have phone lines to straighten out, organizing the merchandise, getting everything to fit into this space, and to top it off, the store owner Karen is 8½ months pregnant! This should be veddy veddy interesting, lol! We're excited about the move...the space we're moving into is actually a HOUSE! The Paper House started out in a little house, moved to a mini-mall retail space, and now we're moving back into a house. It's perfect.

On a personal note, this has severely cramped my scrapbooking time! I got my Christmas cards made and sent, but I still have 4 calendars to make, 3 gift projects to complete, 4 hats to crochet, my dishes need done, my floors need vacuumed, but doggone it, I'm a business owner!

november recap

2007-12-20T08:00:00.001-08:00

where oh where has the time gone i ask you? my last post was over 2 months ago! i'm the biggest blog slacker on the planet. let's see, where do i begin...i spent 2 weeks in the frigid state of idaho right before thanksgiving, visiting with my dear sis katy. it was a week full of decorating, sewing, shopping, and drinking many many cups of coffee :O) at the end of 2 weeks, the whole dang family came for the festivities. we had the house in tip-top shape, lookin' good, and fancilly dressed :O)

i made the curtains, pillows, table runners, chair pads and re-covered the little stool so sophie could use it to get on the couch. you'll meet her later...

i built three shelves...you can see one here in the upper left. of course, we used recycled wood and they were all wonky, so kt's dh richard re-built them for us, she painted them, i hung them, it was a team effort and i don't have a good picture of them, lol! did i mention this if AFB base housing? the place is huge.

here's li'l sophie...richard enlisted her help cleaning up after dessert.

thereafter we called her "roomba". here she is all tuckered out from a long day of eating. it was thanksgiving after all.

they have lots of little wildlife on base...we got some birdseed and sprinkled it around the back yard for the squirrels. this little guy was only 4 feet from me when i took the pic.

sophie sort of chases the squirrels. she's only a hair larger than they are, and at first she was just curious until one did this huffing-hissing thing at her from the tree. she spent the rest of the day burrowed deep in a blanket with nothing but her nose poking out. (wait, that's how she spend most days.) katy says now she's so used to them that they ignore each other, go about their business and whatnot (eating nuts and pooping, respectively.)

BUT, while i was there, she would chase the squirrels a little...and richard thought he'd give her a hand in catching the varmints. so he stuck her up in the tree. she loved it-was trying to figure out how to get higher, no fear at all. except she was just a tad too high to reach.

thus the rescue mission:

yeah, kt will be kicking my ass when she sees this. the first one is pretty much priceless.

the totally sad thing is, being without a camera, i have to depend on the rest of the fam for people pics...and i have none. oh, i have a few crappy ones, but no group pics, no candids, no embarassing stuffing-your-face pics. lucky for you.

random bits

2007-10-18T12:42:00.000-07:00

sooo enjoying this weather! hard rain and strong winds...sounds like a romance novel plotline :O) it's been a busy few weeks. i made 17 shirts for the powder puff football team and coaches...turned out so cool! now to find the receipts so they can reimburse me :O)

the girls lost game one to the seniors, of course, and tied game two with the freshman. i didn't stay for game two, i was freezing my tooshy off. the big bummer is...all the pics i took of the game turned out blurry. i'm seriously going to get a new camera one of these days! here's some shots that didn't come out too bad...

can NOT wait to scrap that bottom one!

went to a crop saturday with my sister kelly and friend tesa...it was held in a ymca and this sign on the wall of the crop room CRACKED me up!

and here we are after a long day of croppin'

that's me and my chins on the right...

i won a ctmh paper pack for finding the most words in the phrase 'rubber stamping' and i won a contest for best girlie layout with this one. my prize was layout blueprints by amy elkins. kelly went and had it autographed for me and the last thing i said to her was "don't have her put chichi!" so what does the autograph say? "chichi, scrap on! amy elkins". yeah, that kelly's a riot.

finally got my class schedule sorted out for this month..i'm such a slacker! i've been getting the calendar done around the 15th of the month. it's a lot of freakin work putting kits together! and taking pictures. and writing instructions. good grief. LOVE how the candy corn album turned out! i had seen a pyramid album online, but no pattern, so i came up with my own :O) lots of sign ups for that one--and the pocket calendar class tomorrow is almost full (1 spot left). looks like i might be back down to one day a week starting next week, which means i need to clear a path to my scraproom at home so i can get some scrappin' done there. NOT looking forward to that!

been crocheting some more hats--once lex wore hers to school everyone wanted one! made a chocolate brown one for demi (pictured above, far right in the trio of powder puff girls.) and whit got a pink one. she's pictured above in the photo with only two girls..she's the blondie on the right. i also made one in oregon duck colors, a pink one with a mohawk, and a blue one with a flower on the side. i need to go yarn shopping for more colors. yarn shopping. i just felt some more hairs turn grey.

something funny last night--becca calls me and asks if she can spend the weekend. i'm like, okay, well, let me talk to your mom. so kelly gets on the phone and tells me she told becca "i'll be home all weekend, what do you want to do?" and becca says "spend the weekend with chichi!". poor kelly, it would be sad if it weren't so darn funny!

later taters!

look what i can do!

2007-10-08T12:44:00.000-07:00

alexa's new hat...made in about an hour and a half (it was my first ever crochet hat)! I made another one right after and it only took about an hour. I think maybe these will be great christmas gifts :O) Look out family...act surprised...and since we're at it, what colors do you like?

on the subject of yarn, i went to michael's yesterday and for $10 i got a kit called "i taught myself to knit". I can not wait to get started! I'm so glad i didn't donate that big bag of yarn...I've been getting in to it twice a week :O)

it is spirit week at the HS and alexa needs some properly bright and tacky 80's style clothing to wear for her skit tonight, so I am off to the thrift stores in town to see what i can find. also need to find a plain white sheet for toga day because even though she SAYS she won't want to dress up, if all her friends dress up, and we don't have a plain white sheet, woe be to me!

and last but not least, i am almost done with the goodies for the apothescary swap, love how they turned out, and will post a pic later :O) in the meantime, here is a picture of my workspace saturday afternoon. enjoy.

PS, yes, i'm always this scrapdisastrous, because that's how i roll. yo.

can i get a woot-woot?

2007-10-01T09:00:00.001-07:00

i made the DT over on tallyscrapper and am THROUGH THE ROOF and OVER THE MOON!

the three layouts i submitted are now my top three layouts in TPs (tally points)...and the comments made me almost cry! i'm such a girl today-don't be nice to me, it might tip me over the edge and i'll be blubbering like a baby.

on another note, spent sunday with mom & dad while DH braved the rain and cut firewood...mom's been BUSY painting! they are amazing, and she gave me TWO of them at no charge. mom rocks :O) here are some more she's made:

check our mom & dad's ebay listings here:
silvertips-ironworks
she'll have some new halloween banners posted soon!!

October 20th is the Day

2007-09-27T16:21:00.001-07:00

...I'll be the Featured Sketch Artist over on Sisterhood of Scrap! So excited :O)

I did a layout today! This is for the Tally Scrapper Survivor Challenge...challenge #2 is being sponsored by Heidi Swapp. We had to create a layout using the quote "She just had this way of brightening the day". I did a lo of Alexa being fabulous...question, is "fabulousness" a word? IDK, but i love it, lol!

i'm a weiner!

2007-09-26T08:29:00.000-07:00

I entered this altered birdhouse in a Found Art Fun challenge over at TallyScrapper and I won first place! So exciting, I won some product from the online store! I'm also trying out for their DT...it's so nerve-wracking! The top 6 get places on the dt for 3 months...I have one more layout to submit. AND, I'm playing in the TS Survivor Challenge, week one is almost done, can't wait for the next challenge! Yeah, I'm all about the tally right now :O)

Toot-Toot! I've been invited to be a featured sketch artist at Sisterhood of Scrap! I'll post when I know the day :O) I love the concept of this site, and check them out often. I've never had the time to join in the fun before, but these real-life sisters inspire me!

On a more personal note, we survived Alexa turning 16...due to her astronomical cel phone bill we were not able to have a celebration. I felt bad, she felt bad, it was a terrible couple of days. One night I grabbed her and took her out to dinner, just the two of us, and we just talked and talked. It's all good now. I still can not believe she is 16, it seems like just yesterday she was standing in her crib screaming her little head off and projectile vomiting across the room. Good times, good times.

bear with me folks!

2007-09-10T19:00:00.001-07:00

I'm still figuring this blogger thing out :O)