Checkin' in

Hi everyone... just a quick post to check in.  I have been so crazy busy at the shop these past couple of weeks with Proms and such...  then add all the Grad Night  busy stuff on top of it, and it's been impossible to get to any crafting!   I just need to get through this next week, Mothers Day week and another Prom.....and then things will calm down some.... (Until Graduation weekend!  Then it's going to be Ca Ra Zeeeeeeee!!!! )

I don't think I've mentioned in my other posts that I own a small (but busy) flower shop and I have a Graduating Senior this year..... Again, can we say  Ca Ra Zeeeeeeeee !!!   But it will all be over soon (Graduation) and then I've heard that I might be sad that I have so much time on my hands......  ummmmmm... I'm Not buyin' it!!!  :)  At least not yet.  It's really hard to imagine that when you feel like you don't know whether you're coming or going half the time!  LOL

I was able to finish up a Springtime Wreath for my front door last weekend.  I think it still needs a little something, some color maybe... I can't decide.
It's still rainy and dreary here in the Pacific Northwest, so it will still feel "Springy" for a while :) and I think I'll be able to leave it up through most of May.

   Here is a picture of the front door with my super cute little Alder branch planter!  Don't you love it!!!  No, I didn't make this... but I sure would like to! They don't look too hard, but it's that "Time" thing again!

I bought this at the Flower Market in Portland Oregon last fall.  I've added different seasonal touches to it since fall and I just L~O~V~E it!   All that twiggy, mossy beauty :)

So bear with me... or stay with me.... :)  Until after Mothers Day/Prom week, and I Promise I'll be back with more crafting!

Have a great day!
Kim

More Mini Album pages

So I was able to have my "Craft Day" this weekend after all.  I was done at the shop by 3 on Saturday!  Yayyy...   I came home and got all my housework done so I could have all day Sunday to play. 
I completed 2 more pages to my mini album and started on the next set.  They're not finished yet, so we'll save those for another post.  :)

For page 3,  I kept it pretty simple...  I love the paper so I didn't want to cover it up with a mat.  Instead I chose to make this little mini book from Fabulous Finds.(Pg 124.. The cover was cut in the "Window" function so it has that little flower cut-out, and the rest of the inside pages were cut in "Blackout")  This cart has soooo many fun things!  I plan to explore it more :)

I stamped the front cover of my little book with an older Stampin! Up stamp from my stash... then used some Stickles to sparkle it up a bit.  Gotta love Sparkles!!

I covered the inside pages with mats from my scraps.... It can be used for pictures and/or journaling... or maybe even a little autograph book?   On the album page itself, I used Hot Glue to attach the Tulle.  The little mini will now slide right under the Tulle to hold it in place.  Cute, huh?

For Page 4, I cut a photo mat for the background.  I think this was from Story Boook, but you can find this scalloped square on so many carts.   I then cut tags from Sentimental, layered them in size, and attached them together at the top with this sparkly little brad.  I love how they fan out.  Again, Journaling, photo's....so cute! and the cardstock is double sided so you have 6 surfaces to work on :)
The Photo corner in the bottom is from Picturesque cart, pg 52.  I chose to layer the flower and curl it up to add some more dimension.  I used Hot Glue again to attach just the very outside edges in an "L" shape.. the little tags fit right in that little corner pocket. 

So there we have it... Isn't it CUTE!!  I am loving it so far :)
I don't know if you can tell in the picture, but I also Glimmer Misted the pages.  I used the "Sugar Cookie" since it's all I had.... I think I need to pick up some that doesn't have the darker tone to it, but I do love how it made the pages sparkle :) 

Thanks for looking!  Leave me a comment and let me know what you think :)

'Til Next Time!
Kim :)

Lets make a Mini Album!

Hello !

Well, today Spring finally visited for a few hours… it was so cold this morning, but the sky was clear and blue…. And that makes me SO HAPPY!    It was nice and warm this afternoon, that is if you were standing directly in the sunshine!  Move out of the direct sun and it was brrrrrrrr.  But it was so nice to see the sun, if only for a day….  Now it’s back to rain for a few more days.  :(  I know, I know… it keeps Oregon Green.

Today I want to share a Mini Album that I’ve started.  I’ll share the pages as I complete them, but you’ll have to bear with me...  Prom season has arrived and I will have to work the next few Saturdays, so this could take some time :)  (Then Mothers Day… then Graduation and Grad Night….. “Deep Breaths”)

 So here we go.....I’ve cut out all my “Pages”, which are envelopes from the “Sentimentals” cart.  Love , love, love this cart! Sooo many cute cuts on here!

I then made a plain a rectangle shape to fit on the inside as extra “pages”.    I cut these out of chipboard (My chipboard came from “Bug Junkie”)

I cut 6 envelope pages and 5 inserts… All my envelopes were cut with heavy, patterned card stock so I didn’t feel there was any need for chipboard in these.   I’ve cut patterned paper or CS to fit all the chipboard insert pieces, too,  but I haven’t glued anything down just yet.  I learned from experience to wait until I'm all finished with the whole page before I add glue!  :)  So let’s get decorating!! 

This is my cover…..

I cut the frame from chipboard and another piece from this pretty, sparkly paper…I THINK this frame was cut from Cindy Loo, but I’ll have to check that. 

I’m not sure what else I want to do with the cover yet, so I’m just going to leave it alone for a while. 

Here are the first inside pages.  

I cut the paisley shape from Cindy Loo out of chipboard, then another layer of CS.  I used my hot glue gun to adhere it down just along the bottom edge so it will hold this little file folder. Finished it off with little flower Bling..  :)

I added another frame from Cindy Loo to the next page… A little bit of tulle, a button and a little yellow paper flower finishes it off nicely, eh?   Simple, but cute!

This little file folder is from Tags Bags Boxes & More... isn't it  so cute?!  A brad and a piece of ribbon hold it closed.

That’s as far as I got for now…. One page at a time.....  Next up:

Oh..  and here’s the cake from last night’s class……ummmmm can we pretend that the purple stars on top are blue.. and while we’re at it can we pretend that they are little round dots and not stars.. that way they can be blue bubbles… Cuz that’s the look I was going for .

 

It’s OK… but of course I can see a LOT of room for improvement!  Definitely not ready for Cake Boss! 

Thanks for stopping by :) !!

Kim

Waiting on Spring ~ and a Carrot Cake

Welcome back!  So glad you stopped back by to see what I've been up to :)
I've been putting the finishing touches on my "Let it Bloom" blocks today, working on a wreath for the front door, and baking my cakes for my cake decorating class tonight.  I have No idea what I'm going to do with all these cakes~  More on that later :)
So did you noticed this set of "Let it Bloom" blocks in one of the pictures from the other day?....  I didn't mention them because they weren't finished :)  Today, I added some cute little paper flowers to them and tied them together with some ribbon...

                         Ta Da!   I'm soooo dreaming of Spring!!!  Sooooo tired of this rain!
These blocks are so fun and easy to make.  I can see many more sets of these in the future.   As with the "spring" blocks, I just cut a 2x4 into the sizes I wanted... if you need the details just let me know :)   I used Lyrical Letters for the font again... I Love all the choices on that cart! 

 Now Just trying  to decide......  Here?                     or         Here?   :)
The flowers behind it are Cherry Blossom sprays that I picked up at M's on sale last week... Pretty Pretty!
Don't they just look so Happy and Springy!!  Love them!

So tonight is my 2nd cake decorating class!    Our "Homework" from last week was to practice making the the ButterCream icing and practicing with our star tip..... But of course... I wanted to really decorate something... so I made a Carrot Cake and wanted to put these cute little carrots on top :)
Do NOT zoom in on this picture or you'll see how the icing slipped!  LOL... that's what microwaving the frosting a tad to soften it up will do!  I just COULD NOT bring myself to frost that whole cake with Buttercream Icing!  After mixing in a cup of shortning!!!   Bllleck!!!!  so I used some that I had on hand.... yes yes I know.. it's probably just as bad, but I didn't see it, OK :)  

Not crazy about the Star border..... and it got a little smashed... but Hey!  This was my first time in many years of putting a border on a cake!   But I'm lovin' the carrots  :)
I have NO idea what we are going to do with all these cakes, though!!!   Hunny told me he's "Never been crazy about Carrot Cake"... How did I not know that after 22 year of marriage???   Cake anyone?

Here's tonights project... ready for class... :)

I'll let you know how it goes!

Thanks for stoppin' by!

Kim

My very first "Craft Day" post

Hi everyone!  Thanks for stopping by to visit my brand new blog!  I'm SO excited to share, but I still have SO much to learn!!  like how to hide those little tool thingies on the side of my blog... (If anyone has any great links they'd like to share for designing your blog... I'd love the help!)

I've been trying to make more "Craft Days" for myself these days... Staying home and playing in my craft room makes me so happy!  You'll find that my craft habits vary constantly... I love to do everything!  So brace yourself for complete Randomness!  LOL  You never know what you will find the next time you stop by... could be a sewing project, a Cricut project, a decorated cake, a planting project.... Anything that catches my attention that particular week :)  I'm sure there are some of you out there nodding your head in sincere understanding!! LOL


For my first post, I'm sharing some picture of my most recent  projects that I've been working on for my "Door Shelf" in my front entry way.  I love love love my door shelf!  and I love to decorate it up for every season.

My Sweet little "Bee Guy" is a pattern I purchased online from Patti's Ratties.  She has the cutest patterns!

 I "Primmed" him up after I finished him... now I'm kind of wishing that I hadn't... So I might make another one.
Next are my "Spring Blocks".  I cut 2x4's into various sizes and then stained them and cut pretty patterned paper from my stash to fit.  I then used my Gypsy and Cricut to size and cut my letters.  I used Lyrical Letters and the umbrella cut is from Create a Critter. (I think!)  I also made my own paper flowers from different cuts.    I think they turned out pretty cute, eh?   For Summer, I think I'll just turn them around and decorate the other side! 

Last but not least is my "Bowl"... for lack of a better word.  LOL
I made this a while back from an old light fixture and a glass candle holder.  I glued it together with E6000 and now I have a Fancy Schmancy little bowl to fill up with all kinds of seasonal goodies :) Pretty cute, eh?

I made the flowers by using a Cricut cut for a pattern... sewed em up, stuffed em and finished them off with a button in the center.  The little Bee is made from a pattern I purchased from "Olde Annie Primitives".  The little Carrot bunnies in the back were made by a friend and that pattern can also be purchased from Patties Ratties.

So there you have it... my very first share on my brand new blog :)
I hope you like it!    If so, PLEASE leave a comment for me so I know people are actually reading this :) And... it will keep me enabled to post! :)

Thanks for looking and letting me share!
until next time!
Kim