Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Life is Sweet!

Yep life is sweet and one of the main reasons is because we bought waaaay too much candy for Halloween!  We had tons of trick or treaters last year but this year...not so much.  We now have oodles of candy and just Joe and I in the house.  So, I decided to make up Halloween gift bags to mail to my three kids and the "boyfriend", as well as one to my little second grade lunch buddy and then finally to  the people who I "chemo angel".  I have two people that I am chemo angeling at the moment. Both   have just been assigned to me last week  so this will be my first "meeting" with them.  And what better way to meet new folks than with a sack of candy right????  In the bios that I was given one person has young children and the other has grandchildren so I thought that both could share these Halloween goodies with their family!

This first bag is the one that I made for my little lunch buddy.  I used a regular gift bag for this one and I like to go all out for her as she gets so excited!




The rest of the bags are clean, bulk coffee bags that I ordered awhile back and have been using them over the years to fill up with coffee, candy, bath salts etc....They have liners and are so nice  to use.  They are  pretty sturdy so they hold up nicely to whatever I put in them!  I have gotten them in two different sizes.  This is the smaller of the two.....



And these.....






and these are the next size up.  It is a nice little treat  bag to have around and can be filled with quite a bit.






Thank you for stopping by today and for leaving me such nice comments the other day on my jewerly boxes.  I have a couple more that I am working on and when they are finished I hope to post them.  I am discovering a whole new world of "modpodge" items....or rather items that can be modpodged!  It has been fun to try other paper crafts and I am enjoying stretching my products (and using up tons of hoarded paper.....) and trying new things.


Monday, October 21, 2013

Moxie Challenge - The Sequel....

So, let me just start off by saying that I had soooo much fun making my daughter Bessie's "thing-y" that I posted yesterday that today I dove right into making one for my daughter Clarice.  And, it had to be as different as Clarice is from Bessie.  Now, if you read my previous post you saw that the Moxie Fab Challenge of "The Ready Made Embellishments", Moxie Fab Challenge of Using Wood, Metal and/or Cork,  and the Moxie Fab Challenge of General Craft Supplies  is what got me so exited to try something different.  And I know that sounds absurd because these particular challenges are what we do all the time as crafters but.....I was just back from a long vacation with my husband and really, really feeling the emptiness of my house when Joe left for work.  All the kids are either away at college or away in another town and so, for the first time, I am alone.  And that is really different for me. I got into card making from Scrapbooking.  In fact, I switched from scrapping to cardmaking when one of my children became very ill and I needed to be awake through out the night sometimes. I needed an "outlet"for all the stress that a sick child in the house brings but at the same time I needed to be able to be immediately accessible.  Cardmaking, which is sort of small and confined, really fit the bill for me.  But now, now I have time and space.  Two things that I have never had before.  Time to try out new techniques and and bigger projects and space to leave my larger projects and supplies out and at the ready.  So, when Cath posted these particular challenges over at Moxie Fab I really began to think about all the STUFF I have cramming every nook and cranny of my craft room.  And then I began to think big.  Yeah, BIG!  Bigger than a card.....bigger than a scrapped page.....and, this altered "thing-y" is what I came up.  And. I. Am. Having. Fun. Like. I. Am. Out. For. Recess!   

My daughter Bessie has already received her gift and called me right away to let me know how much she loved it!  I am so glad.  I knew she would like it and be appreciative but I could tell by her voice that she really, really liked it.  So, today, I made one for Clarice and tomorrow I will drive over to see her at college and give it to her and I just know that she will love her's too ;-D

I am entering this into the above challenges again.  I am just tickled that I am trying something new!  So,  here is the altered cupboard I made for Clarice.








Thank you for stopping by today and thank you to those who left me such kind comments yesterday!  You have no idea how much I appreciate the time you took to leave a pleasant remark ;-D

Be well,
Sheila


Sunday, October 20, 2013

WARNING!!! MOXIE FAB PHOTO HEAVY POST AHEAD.......

I am so excited to post and share my most recent project! I went on the Moxie Fab blog during one of my "trying to find some inspiration" trolls and saw that Cath had these three challenges that really prompted me to try something totally out of my comfort zone.    I decided to make each of my girls a ....well, I am not even sure what to call it.  I saw these super inexpensive cardboard advent calendar containers at Hobby Lobby and used a coupon to bring down the cost to about $6 for the advent calendar.  It is a cardboard container with 25 cardboard drawers which I thought that I could redecorate and give to my two girls as a funky jewelry box. This type of 3 dimensional project is really a step out of my comfort zone.  But, I had a blast making this.  I think I might be one of the last crafters to get into "altered art"....I think that is what this might be called. And the three Moxie Fab challenges that dealt with "ready made embellishements" and using "cork, metal and wood"  and "using general craft supplies" seemed pretty much tailored made for the type of adornments and stuff that I have been hoarding over the years.  You know, the type of stuff that looks sooooo cool that you gotta buy it....especially when you can get a sale but then you never are really sure about how to use it.  Like Advent cartons.  And,  Tim Holtz stuff.   I certainly have always admired Tim Holtz and consider myself to have been so lucky to take a class and meet him at Scrapfest last year.  I have never really, outside of that class, every felt that I could take his "funkiness" and apply it to something that I would use or give in my own life.  I was more concerned that what he can create so well would turn out to look like a brownish distressed blob of c@#% in my hands!  And so, I admired from a distance all the folks who can "alter" items and make them look cool and fun.

But, I secretly bought and hoarded do-dads and ephemera and Tim Holtz stuff whenever I saw it on sale at Hobby Lobby. Or Micheal's.  Or JoAnn's.  I did this until I had a shoebox full of metal bits of coolness staring me....taunting me with it's need to be made into something.  And then Moxie Fab and it's perfect challenges came along......

So, I saw this advent box-y thing and thought this is my plunge into the world of altered art.  And, man alive, DID I EVER HAVE FUN!

First, I decided on paper and found that I did best with paper that is coordinated in a 6x6 pack.  The paper also need to be two sided.  I then cut each sheet into 2 1/4" squares.  I modpodged each "drawer" and then laid the paper onto the drawer and modpodged again.  These drawers then were stacked over a glue bottle, mist bottle....whatever I had to allow them to dry.  When dry, I distressed each corner and edge with distress inks.  I modpodged each drawer 3 times.  I also cut coordinating strips from the paper pack into 6 x 2 1/4" strips to be modpodged over the sides and top of the advent box.  I used a large sheet of card stock to modpodge over the back.  I did the same distressing on the corners and edges of the box and also distressed the bottom edge and each little cubicle edge.  Then the whole thing was modpodged 3 times just like the drawers were.

After all was modpodged 3 times and dry the real fun began!  It was time to decorate each drawer and I can't tell you how much fun that was to do!  As you will see by the pictures I went a little wild and didn't follow a theme except to distress each item in some way.  I also used Platinum Stickle for a bit of glimmer and shabby glam and really, the pics do not do justice to just how cool this stickle color looks! A while back my husband bought me a dremel to use to make earrings and I used this little dremel to sand and file away the edges of certain embellishments.  I also used a small, personal drill to drill the holes for the legs, knobs, brads and corner pieces.  Both little tools worked just great and I loved the fact that I could do a project and "alter" anything I felt like using.  I also used "Matte" finish ModPodge so the project wouldn't looks super shiney.  I am in the process of making another one of these for my other daughter and am thinking of a Christmas themed one as well.  Mine is made to stand but I think it would be equally nice to make one that can me hung on the wall.

So, here is the finished project, standing up on it's own little adorable four legs....I also included a pic of it lying down to try and eliminate some of the glare....not too sure that I succeeded.  I also am going to enter this into two Moxie Fab challenges.....something I hardly ever get to do!  I love Kath's inspirations and hope that now that I am an empty nester I will be able to take part in more challenges instead of always having to do what family and friends want! I am not sure this totally qualifies as it isn't a card but I am going to share it anyways!  Can you feel how excited I am?  Don't you love it when something turns out????  Anywho....I certainly used alot of challenge "stuff" in making this project!

So, I will be entering this into the    Moxie Fab Challenge The General Craft Supplies ChallengeMoxie Fab Challenge "The Metal, Wood and Cork Challenge",  and also into the Moxie Fab Challenge "The Ready Made Embellishements".







 Here is the top of it....the next one that I make I am going to put a cabinet handle on the top rather a frame like this.....I think I will put the frames on the side.  The top embellishments and the side embellishments cover/mask the seam where the two pieces of paper meet.  This pic also shows the two different types of corner hardware I used.  The back has a industrial look while the front (see pic above) has a more ornate look.



With both the upper corner pieces and the lower corner feet I glued the drawers into the box and then drilled the holes through both the box and the drawer.  I also did that on the sides where the embellishments are.  Therefore there are 6 drawers out of 25 that can't actually be pulled out....this is partially because the 4 front corner pieces block the drawers but it is also done to make the overall piece more stable.  Then when I put the brads in I also put glue or glossy accents into the holes to help hold the brads to the metal accents nice and tight.




I don't know if I would call this a tutorial but I hope that if you too want to create this type of project you will be able to follow my tips and do so.  If you have any questions I will be happy to answer them. I sent the project on to my daughter today by way of a pal of her's who was heading back to Minn so I will for sure share her response with  you all when I get it!  I am soooo excited to hear what she thinks!

Thank you for hanging with me thru this super long post...and I hope you are having a wonderful weekend!

Be well,
Sheila

Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Whew....It's been a looong time!

Hi All!  It has certainly been a long time since my last post....well over a month I believe!  It is for several reasons....moving kids (7 moves in all) back to school.  Two trips to see my oldest, several to see my other two and also a nice, looooong trip to France.  We had a marvelous time and realized that in nearly 22 years of marriage Joe and I have only had approximately 6 days in all that time away alone....like with out kids!  I can't believe that although I know it's true.  We didn't have a honeymoon so this trip was truly a long time coming and believe me - we made the most of it.  First we went to Reims and then over to Paris and even though we had a blast years ago when we took the kids to France, Paris is a really fun city to be in WITHOUT kids!

So, it has been quite a while since I have had the opportunity to craft.  And, wow...how I have missed it!  I am just getting back into the crafting groove and it feels gooood.  I have made some purchases lately....some JustRite Stamps, some dies....Some Taylored Expressions and I am really looking forward to getting them out to play.  I also have re-contacted ChemoAngels....I took a break this summer knowing that my craft time would be nil.  But now I am ready to get back into that program and have also looked into Operation Write Home.  I like the freedom of making many different types of cards and love to give them aways  so what better way than to donate cards than these two organizations!

My oldest daughter recently completed a MS walk with her friends and she wanted me to make her some thank you notes to send out.  I was just back from our trip and kinda dry when it came to ideas....even thank you note ideas!  Then I saw this card here on my blog friend Robin's blog and EUREKA! - I had found my card idea....Thanks to Robin of course.  Instead of a Christmas tree (which really wouldn't have made any sense for my cards hehee) I decided to go with a heart because my daughter showed such "heart" in embarking upon this walk.  I loved Robin's idea of the ribbons and sequins and thought that it would look cute, young and fresh....just like my 23rd old daughter. So, I created an assembly line and made 15 of these cards with scraps and bits of various ribbons.  I love how this turned out and it was so simple and quick!  I used a Paper Smooch sentiment that I thought would fit the card style when and then mounted on scraps of colored paper before mounting on white cardstock.

The colors really didn't turn out well in my photo's.  In real life they are fun and bright but not at all "neon-y-ish".  My daughter has received them and she LOVED them too and all have been sent out to her various supporters.

Here are the cards....





And thank you to Robin for the great idea!  And folks, stop by Robin's blog.....it really is a treat!

Be well, 
Sheila