A Blank Canvas

One of my favorite holidays is coming up.  Halloween!  I love all the decorating involved with Halloween, more so than Christmas.  I don't know why.  It only lasts one day, where Christmas is a whole season.  I know I need my head examined, but that's for another day.  So here is my blank canvas:



At the store I work at, Melissa, my boss and friend, had these great wood banners she got a few years ago.  She said to take one and do anything with it.  The wheels started turning.  The letters were held together with real thin gauge wire, so I took it apart.  I don't have a picture of it (darn!) but I painted the backs of the letters with a dirty orange color.  I knew I wanted to play with beeswax.  I don't use this stuff enough and I LOVE it! 

So, I covered the letters with Authentique's Glowing papers line. I used papers from the 6x6 paper pad. At first, I was trying to create a wax dripping effect but it wasn't working out right so I started covering the whole letter. Then Melissa had the great idea of adding distressed cheese cloth to the mix.  Then it was time for finishing touches.  Ribbon, buttons, and wire of course, but what else?  Charms!  We have some great charms at the store, so I add a couple and viola!  Now, there you have a sign ready for the front door or in your home.  I kind of hate to give it up!  I guess I'll have to aquire my own blank canvas so that I can make another one!  If you want to buy this one, stop by the Scrapbook Barn (if you're in AZ) and check it out!

Hello Friends!

I've been a busy gal this summer.  With all the planning for my oldest to be going off to college soon, I've had time for a few projects here and there.  First off is this memo board that my daughter wanted me to make her.  She's moving into the dorm and wanted an awesome memo board to display messages and stuff.  I wanted to make it school colors but she thought that was lame.  She wanted it to be black because her decor is black, white and a little pink.  Well, I can't make anything without adding something sparkly to it.  I mean, come on a basic black board isn't going to cut it with me.  She might as well go to Wally and get something blah!  Haha!  I used Tim Holtz buttons and put magnets on the backs. She likes the vintage look of the board. So, here are pictures of how her board turned out.  She can't wait to hang it in her room!

Also, for the end of the school year, I made some cards. Some of them I sold in the boutique at the Scrapbook Barn. Others I just gave to friends or teachers as a good bye to the school year and thanks for a job well done.

Next, were some birthday and anniversary cards I made.  One of the cards, you'll notice, is distress and the paper is slightly ripped.  When my mom received this card in the mail, she said she thought the card was lovely but that the post office had mishandled the card.  I asked why.  She said it must have gotten caught in the machine or something because it looked like the card was chewed up!  I said, MOM, it's suppose to look that way, because that is the way I made it."  We laughed for a good five minutes over that one!

Lastly, my sweet, sweet Grandmother Bea passed away a week ago.  She was a great lover of animals.  She was known to some as the bird lady because she bred and raised birds in her home.  When she passed I thought it was only fitting to send condolences with bird themes on them.  The paper that I used is from My Mind's Eye, Graphic 45 and Webster's pages.

So, again, that is some of what I've been up to.  I'm also doing swim books again for the GHS Tigers even though Ashley is no longer there.  The President of the parent boosters loved the book and wanted me to come back to sell them again this year.  I give part of the proceeds back to the team to help their fundraising.  It's going to be a very busy holiday season.  I'll try to do better with my posts.  Until next time......

Happy 18th Birthday, Ashley!

My daughter, Ashley, turned 18 on May 20th.  She wanted to have a party because she hadn't really had one since she was 13.  She wanted the theme to be black and white.  She is also a big fan of damask print.  We made her invites postcard style.  I also made a sign for the front yard and the front door.  She wanted lots of feathers, crystals and candles so we got flameless candles because of all the feathers.  She also displayed photos of herself through the years because this was a milestone birthday for her.  We had a custom cake designed by a local cake baker named Crystal Pava.  Her website is crystalscakesaz.com.  She also set up her yearbook on a table for her friends that she doesn't see every day.That way, they had an opportunity to sign her book.  It was a small crowd but they had a great time.  I probably won't be throwing Ashley a party again until she gets engaged or married, so, enjoy!  If you have any questions on any of the crafts in the photos, contact me and I'll be happy to share.  Thanks for looking!

Hello Campers!

Yes, I know you aren't campers but it just sounded like a fun thing to say seeing as how it is summertime and camp is in session.  So much happening, so little time.  The store that I work with has been in a state of flux as the old owners sold it.  It was going to close but our wonderful manager, Melissa has now become part owner with Melody.  This is an exciting new venture for her and an exhausting one.  I think they will make the store even better than it is now.  They have lots of ideas and they have my full support.  Love you, Gals!

Melissa and I at the Christmas in July Crop 2010

Other stuff going on since I last posted mostly involved my daughter Ashley.  Ashley is/was a senior this year.  There was prom, glee group performances, West Side Story and Graduation and her 18th birthday.  Very busy girl which makes me a very busy mom because I have to be there to catalog all these moments.  I'm back to crafting and am working on a scrapbook for Ashley to take to college with her.  Of course, I have to do it twice because I want a copy too!  It will be just of her senior year will probably be 50 plus pages, I'm sure, by the time I'm done.  She had so much going on and being the photo bug that I am, well.....you know. 

First page of Ashley's senior album

My son William was busy too with scouts and school but not the extent Ashley was.  Right now he is planning a birthday celebration for our dog Scottie who turns 10 this Friday.  William thinks it's funny because he is also 10, so they'll be 10 together for a time.  I'm making the dog a dog birthday cake and Will wants to get him presents.  Big deal, sincerely.  But he's so darn cute, how can you resist?







I will add more once I get some more pages done, I will share with you.  Anyone with a high school Senior knows the deal and I would love to share my ideas with you.  In a separate post, I will put all the pictures of Ashley's 18th birthday party.  It was great fun putting it together!

Look at that smile!

My customer Carol sent me a few photos of her daughter opening the album she had made for her by me. Look at that smile! Carol said that Stacey was very surprised and touched by all the memories "that I so elegantly put together". I'm blushing! It was really fun. As you can see from my previous post, Carol had some of Stacey's old school work to incorporate in the pages. It was so fun putting it together. Thanks for allowing me to help you, Carol!

Holy Snot! It's February!

I totally missed January. Wow! Well, it's not that I haven't been busy. Lot's of crafting going on and little time to talk about it. Here's what I need to catch you up on:

At the beginning of November, I finished the tribute book for my customer Kim. She's the wonderful woman who lost her husband this past August, wasn't a scrapbooker and was looking for someone to preserve the fondest memories of her and her husband. As she looked through the book, of course, she started crying and saying how wonderful it was. It made me happy I could do this for her. I was excited for her to share it with her sons because the holidays were coming up. Two of her sons live in other states. I finally heard from her in email. This is what she said:

"I want to thank you again for the wonderful tribute book you made for my husband. My sons also had tears when they looked through it. Thank you especially for taking the time to capture my husband's personality and his love of his family. We love each page and how it was dedicated to who he was. It will be treasure forever. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving."

Awww, it made me tear up. I loved that her grown sons loved the book as well. It made it all worth while.
I did share with Kim the dragonfly story about my son. She said one of her sons has a tattoo and she isn't happy about it but she would never share with him how she thought it looked cool. She also was thinking of getting a tattoo herself even though she would never go through with it because she's not the type. But, she did share that if she ever did entertain the idea, a dragonfly is what she would get. Isn't that a scream!? How the dragonfly brought that all together!? I LOVE it!

So, you can see here a couple of my favorite pages from that album.

In January, I got another scrapbook job. This one was for a woman named Carol, whose daughter, who lives in Seattle, was about to give birth to her first grandbaby. She wanted to do an album of some of the highlights from when her daughter was a baby through college graduation. Her daughter is a writer and she wanted to incorporate some of the things her daughter made for her while she was little. It was very inspiring to work art projects and journal writings into the pages. The album was to be surprise for her daughter's birthday. She said she would need it in a months time. I thought, ok, this is doable. When I met with her though, her daughter had just given birth that morning and she was going to go see her in TWO weeks and wanted to take the book with her. TWO WEEKS! Yikes! Well, it has been said, that most of us do our best work under the gun, that is no joke! With the extra off days I already had planned, I was able to make it happen. She loved the book and couldn't wait for her daughter to see it! I asked her if she would send me an email when she got back so I could hear how her daughter liked it. She said she would take a picture of her daughter looking through the book and send it to me. I think she's due back in a month or so. She's gotta spoil that grandbaby, ya know! I'll keep you posted when I get it. Below are some of my favorites from that album.


This last picture of Carol when she was little and picture of her daughter. The mother's quote is makes it even more special being that her daughter just became a mother herself.

But below is my absolute favorite page. I'm upset though because I didn't realize that the actual picture turned out blurred. What I enjoyed about putting this one together was popping up the books with chipboard and foam squares to make the books stand out. I had fun!



Thanks for looking and taking the time to read this long post. Next week, I get to go to scrapbook with my girlfirends for twelve hours! And even more shocking? I get to work on my own family's pages! Haha!