Well, there’s not much of a tale to tell. Just some pictures for the grandparents.
Meet the ballerina. With the brightest eyes around.
And the construction guy who is trying to be both model and director…..hmmm….I’m thinking he’s going to be the foreman on the jobsite.
Before we leave, we must make sure the skirt twirls big enough.
Every Halloween, one of our local churches organizes an incredible Hallelujah Carnival. They do a seriously crazy good job. And they are so awesome as well about keeping it as a ministry with Bible verses everywhere and lots about Jesus! Thank you Cornerstone (and others!) for the fabulous event.
Now, here’s the part where I will get sad on you. So stop reading if you don’t want to hear it.
The kiddos climbed up into the Ambulance they have every year. Pretty cool really that the emergency responders and everyone comes to show off their equipment. I knew I had a picture *exactly* like this from 2009. So I made the kids smile at me to take their pictures. I pulled up the old picture. Still not sure that’s a good idea. Gotta go give those kiddos an extra kiss on my way to bed tonight – they’re growing up on me way too fast.
I’ve been spending a lot of time crafting lately, but not really doing many scrapbook pages. I can’t identify the cause of the slump, but I’ve been in a spurt of doing more “other” projects. I know I’ll be back to scrapping, I still love it. I’m just feeling more creative pull in other directions at the moment. I’m not sure if it’s the upcoming holidays and my lists of cards and gifts to make or what. But regardless of why, I thought I’d share something I recently made.
I keep a supply of white onesies (really, who came up with that word?) around in my craft room. They make great little baby gifts, especially if you give something very practical (but boring) like diapers.
I cut the train on the cricut using SCAL (if you don’t already have SCAL, you will not be able to use it on the cricut sadly, but there are other great options out there). I applied it to the t-shirt using fabric thermofuse stuff (excuse me for not having the technical name, it’s past my bedtime as I type this for autopost). I then stitched the buttons on for wheels. Super cute addition I thought! Now I must state my disclaimer: This is a decoration piece, take a quick photo of the darling baby and remove it. While I did stitch the buttons on very tightly, I know they could pose a choking hazard. However, this onesie is also a size 0-3 months, so I figure the baby at that age wouldn’t have the ability to pull a button off and pop it in it’s mouth. At least my kids couldn’t, and I had high achievers. So unless you have birthed Superman’s baby, you’re probably okay.
Super cute!! Let’s just hope you give it to a person at a shower where one of the games is that you can’t use the word “cute”. If so, you’ll be able to steal all sorts of clothespins from other attendees and kick butt at the game! See, here I’m offering strategic baby shower game play tips as well as gift ideas.
I had the pleasure of photographing a beautiful family yesterday. I’ve known them for years, but we don’t see each other regularly. I was delighted to work with them though. They were so comfortable in front of the camera, it was great!! Here’s a few of my favorite shots.
This first shot wasn’t really supposed to be. It was one of those candid moments that I was able to capture just right between other shots. Those are my favorite!
I’m loving this vintage suitcase I found. Can’t wait to go do the pictures with my kids I have in my head with it. Now if only my two would love each other like this for the camera!!
I believe part of the creative process is to use a product out of context. This is a layout I did for a game on the Club CK message board called “Chinese Whispers” It’s similar the the game telephone you played as a child, only one person starts with a sketch and then creates the page and sends only the page on to the next person for them to recreate. This continues down the line.
The page I received was very fun and playful, and I thought I should go along with that. I had these pictures from the carnival this August. I tried to pull colors from the photos for my color pallette as well theme. I had this paper from Echo Park and I was really wondering to myself why I bought it. It’s much more cutesy than my usual style. But as I looked at this water paper, I realized the waves were a repetition of the pattern of the dinosaur. Viola! The page just fell together after that.
Supplies: Echo Park, Doodlebug (alphas) Misc, buttons, floss & cardstock
I wanted to take a few minutes an pass some information along to all my loyal blog readers (thank you all by the way!) I've run out of auto post content and I've been a tad busy (or very tired from being busy) lately that it seems I have abandoned my blog. I haven't, rest assured of that. I hope this evening to have some more posts ready to go.
But I wanted to take a moment to remind you all about the October challenge. You have a couple days still to create a layout to be entered for the prize. Here is the nitty gritty. But in short:
You have until midnight October 30 to share your link!!
Now, onto other business. Earlier this year I split my blog into two blogs, craft and food. I named my other blog Redneck in Heels. Well, I think I've discovered that I don't have the mental capacity (or maybe it's just ambition) to devote to two blogs to make them what I want them to be. Yes, it's true that I have no life. But blogs are still a lot of work!! So for the time being, I'm merging the two blogs back into this blog. I'm not closing that one down (that url was hard to get - I'm keeping it! LOL). But for now, I'm just going to post to one blog, all content and that way hopefully not neglect either blog.
And because I believe a blog post is not complete without a photo, I snapped this one candidly of A a few weeks ago (have I ever mentioned I love candid photography?)
A few weeks ago I found out about a group called Operation Christmas Card. They collect cards (handmade or premade) written specifically to our troops serving overseas. I read that for about half of the service members, these cards are the only communication they receive at Christmas time. That nearly made me cry. They are serving our country, fighting for our freedom, and all alone.
This cause touched my heart. What a great chance to share some Christmas Love & Joy with others, others who could probably use a little cheer being away from home. I challenged some of my friends on the Club Creating Keepsakes message board to join me in making cards to send.
So far, I have received 104 (YAY!) that I am going to forward. But I’m inviting you to join in as well. All you have to do is create some cards (click here for specifics) and send them on!
Here is a picture from their website of the cards from years past ready to be shipped. Think of all those service members who will receive a special message.
Now, I’ve never professed to be a master card maker. I make them mostly from obligation (and a sense of guilt :$), so I usually keep mine pretty simple (especially if I have to mass produce them which is the only thing worse than making cards in the first place…..) But here is what I’ve been working on for this.
I used 3-D foam squares to add some interest into a very simple card.
Your cards don’t even have to be handmade, a store bought card with a written message in it is sufficient. This is truly one of those things where “it’s the thought that counts”. Cards need to be received in Massachusetts by Nov 28.
If you do send some cards, I’d love to know! Please e-mail (lovejoypaper (at) hughes (dot) net) or post a photo online and leave a link in the comment.
Thanks for reading along and joining me!! Be blessed.
Thanks to everyone who linked up a page (and joined us for the blog hop)! It was wonderful!!!! I finally had a moment to go through the linked pages and see what you did – and WOW!!
But the winner today is:
Congratulations GLOANN. You are the lucky winner!!!
Thanks to everyone else who joined along. (and remember, you can still enter the October challenge – info on the right side bar).
Welcome to the first stop on Houses Built of Cards blog hop!!! If you didn’t come to my blog from Heather’s, go check out her blog to find out the awesome story of what this hop is all about. Sister Connection is a fabulous organization that builds homes for widows in Burundi. It takes only $600 to build a new house for a widow. That can provide dignity and hope for these widows in a ravaged country to get on with their lives.
To tie into the “gift” of a new home, we’re going to talk about gifts we give. I love to give gifts. To me, it doesn’t have to be anything expensive or luxurious, just nice and something that says “I’m thinking about you.” But you see, I also have this hang up that it must be practical (unless it’s something I know the recipient would really like) or small. I think it’s because I myself have a small house and I just don’t have room for tchotchkes. That leaves me often giving gifts of cards. Now, I know some of you might have just dropped your jaw. Yes, I do make cards to give. I often make little gift bundles of themed cards.
Let me explain that last little bit. I’ve never been a big card maker because I’ve never been big on technique (like the awesome cards Heather does). My cards are simple. But I’ve learned from the wonderful gracious words people tell me, they are still touching to receive, whether they are simple or highly technique driven.
These cards were made with the Echo Park “For the Record” papers. Oh, I love those!!! I made one design that I just repeated over and over, just changing the patterns. The flower that you see, I die cut from a piece of burlap, and for repetition, I pulled strings of the same burlap to use as the twine to wrap the card.
I do have one other gift idea up my sleeve usually. I don’t make cards for those who I know already do their own paper crafting. But my other arsenal is jewelry! Seems many ladies love shiny pretty jewelry. And what is better than a piece made by someone with love?
These earrings are handmade with Swarovski crystals and Swarovski pearls (round crystals covered with a pearl finish). I believe I have found a new favorite thing – I don’t ever need real pearls – these are just as pretty!
So here’s the good part……I’ve been contemplating beginning to sell my jewelry. But because I haven’t started yet, I’m going to offer up a special offer today.
Any earrings I sell over this weekend, the entire amount I will donate to Sister Connection. It amazingly only takes $600 to build a house for a widow. These earrings are are $18 (plus $3 shipping) and will come on a handmade card in a baggie. They are perfectly ready for gift giving, and Christmas is coming!!! ;) (additional postage for addresses outside the US)
(If you don’t want to use paypal or have trouble, please e-mail me at lovejoypaper (at) hughes (dot) net)
♥♥♥♥♥♥♥
I also have a giveaway for you today! I have an Echo Park kit with flowers to make cards like I made (or to make something else). Includes 3 yards ribbon, 2 sheets bling, 15 (I think) burlap flowers, 7 sheets of paper and one sheet of coordinating stickers. To enter, just leave a comment, about your favorite gift you’ve ever received!! (I’ll be nice and give you a second chance to enter as well, be a follower! If you already are a follower, leave a second comment saying so. If you’re not, become a follower and leave a comment!)
Thanks for stopping by! Now, I’m sending you off to Bonnie!!
I’m not quiet sure how, but this week has managed to go by without me giving my blog the appropriate attention! A very sad realization for me. But today, I do have a post. I have a card to share. I had thought about doing an entire “card week” this week, but as you can see, the week is nearly over!!!
I think I’ve found why I’ve never been a card maker before. The beautiful cards I see that I love are very technique heavy. I’m not one who enjoys time consuming techniques (like stamping and coloring). It takes the enjoyment out of the hobby for me. But I *think* I’ve found a way to enjoy making simple cards.
Supplies: Crate Paper, American crafts (cardstock & ribbon), Tsukineko ink
This weekend I’m very exciting to be participating in a blog hop hosted by a friend of mine. And it all revolves around a very special cause. Be sure to come back on Saturday to check it out!
Everyone in the family always loves carnival time of year. We all enjoy it for different reasons. But my son always makes me smile. He enjoys the rides most definitely, but not for the same reasons as most people. It’s not about the thrill of it for him. No, he loves studying the engineering and mechanisms. I always laugh as I watch him ride because nearly the entire time, his attention is focused on the machine rather than enjoying the ride. But to him, that’s the enjoyment. And that’s just fine, because that’s him.
Today, we’ve challenged all our participants to create a layout using a picture that contains leaves. We left the interpretation of that pretty loose, but the bottom line is that leaves will be in some way, the focal point of each layout. (Thanks Kathy for the idea :))
For my page, I used some photos from last year. The funny thing is that last year, I didn’t think they were up to snuff. I guess, I had an idea in my head of how I wanted them to look, and they didn’t meet that criteria. But when I went back yesterday, without those ideas, I quite liked the pictures. The leaves were less focal than I had tried in the original idea, but I still liked the pictures a lot. So I printed them (I did a collage in Photoshop Elements) and set off to work.
On both the Prima flower and the crocheted lace, the colors were too bright. I used my brown ink to tone down the brightness and made them a much better fit.
Supplies: K&Company, American Crafts (paper & alphas), Prima (flower) Misc (colored baubles, ribbons) Amanda (you’re here) Shanon (NEXT- I'd recommend going here by opening a new tab, right click and click "Open in New Tab" so you can come back here if you need to) Ashley Jennifer Kathy Laura Melissa Steffanie Heather Mandi Linda Devra Jackie Adele
If you get delayed or detoured along the way, come back here (http://www.lovejoypaper.com/) and get back on track.
But before you go, what blog hop is complete without a prize??? Create a layout using a picture with leaves and come share it in the comment line or the Mr Linky widget (to be added shortly). You have until Monday, Oct 24
I don’t use a lot of “themed” product. I find it hard to work with. But I always find it a great challenge when I can use a themed product and take it out of context. This particular page was made with the Basic Grey “Max and Whiskers” line. It was released a couple seasons ago, I’m not sure if it’s still available. But regardless of that, it was a pet themed product that I used out of context for a page about Grandpa. I had struggled with these photos because of the colors, then one day while flipping through my stash, I realized it would work well. Supplies: Basic Grey, Cosmo Cricket (alphas), misc (cardstock, buttons)
I have another confession. I love buttons. I use them on almost every page for a couple reasons. There is nothing gender specific about them in nature, so they work great on both both & girl pages. Perfect for me :). But also, they are fantastic budget stretcher items. I don’t buy the buttons that are coordinated to product lines, I buy buttons either from Paper Trey Ink or in the fabric section at fabric stores. They are very affordable that way and it is less than pennies to embellish pages this way. A couple circle punches to match an viola! Completed pages.
Supplies: Cosmo Cricket (paper & ledger letters), American Crafts (cardstock & Thickers), Paper Trey Ink (buttons), Tsuikenko Dew Drop ink
I’ve always struggled with cards, but lately, I’ve come to embrace them. Especially when I need a break from pages. I’ve learned to work on a smaller canvas and think differently. I’ve come to quite enjoy them now. I know, I’m as in shock as you are!
I needed a card for a birthday and I wanted to go with a little more formal vintage sophisticated style because of who the recipient is. And because it was something I wasn’t going to be mailing, I had the freedom to make it a little thicker and different proportion. I had this beautiful My Minds Eye 6x6 paper stack. I was originally going to cut the paper to an 4.25 x 5.5 card size then realized I had the freedom to use it as a full 6x6. I’m so glad I did because I thought it gave a very stunning effect to the card.
I used a pretty neat technique with the butterfly. Now, I must warn you before we get to far into the pictures…..I did use Glimmer Mist. :O ……but it’s the pearl one, and as I’ve said in the past, I didn’t mind the pearl because it added only shimmer and not color (thus you can’t see the blotchy).
Layer your cardstock and two pieces of tissue paper.
Place selected die on plates and run through your manual die cutting machine (yes, I’m using my kids cuttlekids……I still don’t have a grown up version, and this little one is doing me just fine for now. So until the time comes that no new consumable product tempts me to buy, I shall continue to use the kids machine………they don’t mind…..of course, they don’t know it’s theirs! LOL It also helps me stick to my budget because I know I can’t buy any larger dies because they won’t fit through the small machine. Someday I’ll get a real cuttlebug).
Use a paper piercer to punch two (or appropriate number of holes in layers).
Stitch layers together.
Mist with a shimmer mist of your desire. When dry, adhere to card (or layout).
**note, the tissue paper isn’t acid free, but on cards, I don’t even think about that factor. I don’t expect the recipient to keep it long term.
Supplies: My Minds Eye Lost & Found 2, Paper Trey Ink (dies & button), misc tissue paper and floss.
And the construction guy who is trying to be both model and director…..hmmm….I’m thinking he’s going to be the foreman on the jobsite.
Before we leave, we must make sure the skirt twirls big enough.
Every Halloween, one of our local churches organizes an incredible Hallelujah Carnival. They do a seriously crazy good job. And they are so awesome as well about keeping it as a ministry with Bible verses everywhere and lots about Jesus! Thank you Cornerstone (and others!) for the fabulous event.
Now, here’s the part where I will get sad on you. So stop reading if you don’t want to hear it.
(picture from 2009)
These cards were made with the Echo Park “For the Record” papers. Oh, I love those!!! I made one design that I just repeated over and over, just changing the patterns. The flower that you see, I die cut from a piece of burlap, and for repetition, I pulled strings of the same burlap to use as the twine to wrap the card.
