Easter Tea Table Decor with Smoothfoam

Hi everyone! Today I have a project to share for Smoothfoam. This weekend I am hosting an Easter Tea and I needed a cute accent for the table. Of course we needed to throw some Alice in Wonderland into the mix, so here is what I came up with.

Supplies:
Smoothfoam 2x4x8 Block
Paper Mod Podge, Paintbrush
Vintage sheet music
Assorted flowers, leaves, washi tape, chipboard letters
Ink, push pins, double sided tape, crepe paper


1. I started by tearing several sheets of music into large strips and adhering them to the block using Mod Podge.
2. To keep the wet paper from sticking to the table, push a few pins partway into one side so that the block will be elevated. Allow the Mod Podge to dry.

3. Apply washi tape around the corner. 
4. Ink chipboard letters and adhere.

5. Use double sided tape to adhere crepe paper around sides of block.

Add flowers as desired.




There you have it! I am so happy with how this turned out- I love it! I will have more on this tea later in the month. Thanks so much for stopping by!




Birthday Album for a Princess

Howdy everyone! Today I have a pretty little mini album to share. I made this last month for a sweet little girl turning 5 years old.

Warning: Lots of photos! :) 

I used some vintage textured K&Co floral paper that I hoarded for years. I made the title piece for the front using my Silhouette Cameo and the Cut and Print feature. I used my Cinch to bind the album.


The mom wanted lots of pockets and tags so that people at the birthday party could leave messages.




The birthday girl's name is Princess- so we needed lots of bling, lots of flowers, and lots of pink!



On the inside of the album I used quite a bit of My Mind's Eye patterned papers, punches, ribbons, and Prima Flowers.





I think I used 10 yds of ribbon in this book!



I loved making this little book, and I was so happy with how it turned out!  I hope you enjoyed my book.  I would love it if you left me a comment to tell me what you think!
Have a wonderful week!

Hummingbird Vase with Connie Crystal and Etchall®

Good morning (or evening) and welcome to the Connie Crystal challenge at Designer Crafts Connection. I was so happy to receive the beautiful supplies from Connie Crystal to use for my project. I love bling and shiny things!



I decided to make a vase that I can use for all occasions so I pulled out a rectangle glass vase, my Connie Crystals, and my Etchall®.

 First step is to apply my mask and tape off the area I don't want etched. I applied my Etchall® Creme and left for 20 minutes. This stuff is reusable Y'all, so it lasts a long time!

While that was going on, I got my crystal sheets ready to add to the vase. I applied my pieces to double sided tape, then trimmed the tape down with an craft knife.

I used a piece of washi tape around the bottom of my vase to line up my crystals, peeled the backing off the tape and wrapped them around my vase.

Next up were the flowers, I layered some fabulous flowers from my stash and added some metal accents, pearls, and beads from Connie Crystal.

I used Glue Dots® to adhere the flowers to my vase, adding a few stamens to round out the bunch.



St Patrick's Day Coffee Bin with Deflecto

Hello everyone! Today I have a project to share for Deflecto Craft using a 3 Sided Frame. I have to admit I was a little stumped when I first received this to work with- but inspiration finally struck and I am happy with how it turned out.

I made this for a friend and I am sure it will end up in her office, so I wanted something that would look nice. I started by embossing French Vanilla CS with Eileen Hull's Playful embossing folder (Thank you Prime VIB!!!) and layering it onto some green CS. I cut the shamrocks on my Cameo using glitter CS and added those randomly. Next up I layered some CS, paper lace and washi tape across the top of each panel. I used two of Eileen Hulls dies from the Labels, Kitchen die set to create the label with the coffee cup. I used foam tape to add dimension under the cup.

I used double sided tape to adhere the panels to the outside of the frame. I finished off with some Maya Road twine. Because I wanted the frame to hold some items, I needed to close up the bottom of it.

I traced the bottom of the frame, added 3/4" inch to each side, cut it out and scored.

I used double sided tape again to adhere the panel into the bottom of the frame. This was a bit tricky and required some patience!

I hope you like my Coffee Bin. I would love to see what you are up to for National Craft Month!  Hop over to my Facebook Page and share a photo and link!

Thanks so much for stopping by today!









Birthday Candy Jars using Etchall® Creme

Happy Spring Break everyone! I hope you are having better weather than we are- we have had snow and ice for the last two weeks and we are following that up with relentless RAIN. I am hoping that the sun makes an appearance soon :)

Today I have a project to share using Etchall® Creme. This is the first project I have made using this fabulous project and I am loving it so far. It is super easy to use and you can create some really amazing projects with it! I have some great things planned with it!!  My bestie's birthday was last week and so I needed something fun to give her and this is what I came up with.

I bought these jars some time ago and I have been waiting on a chance to use them. The side spots were perfect to use my Etchall® Creme on. Of course I filled it with yummy candy and added some flowers to the top.

I taped off the areas I did not want to etch, and I used stickers from Hot Off The Press to create my design.

I etched all 4 sides of the jars with different designs- lots of fun!


I encourage you to give this product a try- it is super easy and fun to use. The best part is the creme is REUSABLE- so you get lots of value for your money! Check out the whole line of Etchall® products here.

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Hand Journaling - National Craft Month

Good morning everyone- is your National Craft Month off to a good start? It is the first Monday of the month so that means we have a
Designer Crafts Connection blog hop going on!  To navigate through the web ring, use the arrows under the logo- check it out in my side bar --------->



To start National Craft Month off on the right foot, I want to share a story that I blogged a while back. This subject is so dear to my heart. If you are not using your own handwriting on your projects, you need to start. Here is the reason why:

Today I want to share a story with you. Every time I teach a class I hear,,,
"I don't like my handwriting"
or
"My handwriting is ugly and messy"
or
"It is too hard to write by hand to journal, I would rather
use a computer"

I am hear to tell you there is a very good reason why you should 
be putting your OWN handwriting down on your projects.

BECAUSE IT IS NOT ABOUT YOU, that's why.
 
Here is my story. 
If you are a crier, get your tissue out now.
For some reason, every time I tell this story people end up bawling- including me. 

This is my Grandmother, Gussie, and my two babies, way back in 1994!
Gussie was the light of my life. When the Hubs retired in late 1994, we
moved back to Texas and bought a house 5 minutes down the road from Gussie
so that I could always be near her. 

My girls were so blessed to get to spend so much time with their 
Great Grandmother while they were growing up. 

Gussie was there for all the big days, and the little days, of our lives.

In about 2000, Gussie developed Rheumatoid Arthritis. It barely slowed her down. 
Keeping up with DR's visits and medications at 85 was a little much,
so I pitched in to help out.

As time went on, I helped out a little more, and a little more. 
Grocery shopping, house cleaning, making sure she ate, - all those 
little things to make sure that she was able to live comfortably in her own house.
I really enjoyed the time I was able to spend with her- it means so much
to me that I was able to enjoy every minute that I could with her.

In August 2009 Gussie had a seizure and spent her first night in the hospital
in her entire life- at the age of 93. After a few days in the hospital, she was transferred
to a rehab center, and from there to a nursing home. 

For 11 months I went every single day to the nursing home to spend time 
with her and to make sure she ate. Everyday when I walked in the door her
 face would light up and she would say "There's my girl!".
She told me almost every week that she
was "ready to go home to her God, anytime he wanted to call her". 
She was just waiting on her body to give out. She wasn't really sick in any way,
she was just tired. Tired of living and ready to go home.

 Here is my layout of the last Christmas that we shared in 2009.


Of course, being the contrary person that she was, she waited until she knew
I would be out of town for 2 days to die. She had already told me she 
didn't want me there when she passed away. 
She wanted to go quietly, alone, in the arms of God. 
I really didn't want to go to retreat.
 Everyone told me to go- I was only an hour away after all.
I stopped on the way out of town to see her and to tell her I loved her. 
Two mornings later I got the call- she had passed away peacefully in her sleep. 
Exactly like she wanted. 

Of course, there was the funeral to get through, and then the estate to settle.
It took us almost a year to sell her house. In that year, we all took little
 things from her house that meant something to us. I had been in and out of 
that house I don't know how many times doing maintenance, 
packing things up, getting ready for the sale, etc. 

On the last day before the sale, as I stood in her kitchen one last time
to let those memories sink in, I opened a drawer 
I had opened a hundred times. I moved a few papers and found 
something that made my heart stop. 
In the bottom of that drawer was a pile of recipes, collected over
countless years, written in Gussie's own hand.
She wrote recipes on scraps of paper, the backs of envelopes, 
the back of a water bill, little tiny note pads- she was a child of
the Great Depression, she wasted nothing!

Now, for all of you who say your handwriting is ugly, messy, or bad, 
take a look at this,,,

Do you see this chicken scratch??? And she wrote this before the arthritis made her 
hands curl up, and old age made her hands shake. This was her GOOD penmanship!
 I defy any of you to tell me that your handwriting is worse than what you see 
right here. Gussie's writing was barely legible most of the time.

But let me tell you something;
I sat on the floor of my grandmother's kitchen
 and cried, big sobbing tears like a little girl, over these scraps of paper 
covered in that horrible, ugly, handwriting.

These pieces of paper are some of my most precious possessions.
They are priceless beyond compare.
I can look through these papers and see my Gussie's life in that writing.
I can tell the ones she wrote earlier in life. I can tell which ones
she wrote after she started shaking. I can tell which ones she wrote
after she stopped cooking- they have missing ingredients!

So here's the deal...

You need to put your handwriting down on paper because
sometime, somewhere, there will be someone who will be
grateful that you did.

You need to put your handwriting down on paper because 
computer journaling does not portray you. That printed font can never
portray your life like pen and ink.

You need to put your handwriting down on paper because
one day you will be gone and the love ones that you leave behind
will be looking for personal ways to connect with you.

But most importantly, you need to put your handwriting down on paper because
that little piece of you that is left behind will mean the world
to someone- and let me tell you that they will not give one damn that your
handwriting is not perfect. 


Just write it down.


Please share this with your crafty friends.
 Some schools are not even teaching cursive writing any longer
and that is a real shame. 
Journaling by hand is such an important part of 
memory keeping- we need to make sure that it continues.