Thursday, February 28, 2013

Grand Canyon

We took this trip years ago.  Before we had a kid.  I'm on a kick to print out old travel photos and scrap them.

I also used an older Studio Calico kit.   I have a lot of these so you'll be seeing more in the coming weeks as I use them up!


 I matched the papers to the colors in the photo - including pink.  This is the second time in a week I've used that color.  Something must be wrong with me!  ;)
 A little hand stitching.  See below for a tutorial on the string.
 So I wanted a variegated look to my floss but didn't want to shop for it.  I know they make it, I've seen it somewhere.  So I made my own with the white floss and some mists.


I mixed a drop of each mist with a couple of drops of water.  I dipped the brush into the color and ran it over a short section of the floss.  By the time each color was added, they blended and I got a really cool look.
 Then I printed out the word I wanted in a cool font.  I think I printed it at 96 pt or larger and made it bold.  Then I laid it over the area of the layout I wanted to stitch on and poked holes.

 Once the floss was dry (I taped the ends to my desk and used my embossing heat tool to dry it faster) I stitched with it getting this cool effect.
Oh and one note on my stitching.  I only use 3 of the 6 strands of the floss threads.  Its thin enough to stitch with but still thick enough to get good coverage.

You can find me here......

at my LSS.  I was invited down by the owner to create some new pages for the store using the newest from Elle's Studio.  I've been a fan of her's since Day One.  Her latest releases are awesome.

I used pink for the first time in a while too.  I *never* use pink.  Ever.

 Papers and tags are all from the You & Me line.  The words 'you to the moon and back' were cut using my Silhouette.  The word 'love' is part of the paper.  I pieced together the tag elements.  The solid twine is from The Stringery Etsy store.  The hearts are Pink Paislee/Heidi Swapp.  They have a resist pattern on them.
This one is all papers and tags from the same line as before.  I layered the journaling tags and strips of paper to get the layered look and stuck a doily in there.  More bakers twine and chipboard hearts from Pink Paislee.  I didn't get decent shots of either layout but there are tiny details like Glossy Accents and paper bits stuck here and there.

Thursday, February 21, 2013

New Desk

Since we moved I've been using a temporary desk.  A folding table actually.  It was supposed to be until I found room and a way to set up my old desk in the new room.  I don't think I even have pictures of my old room.  It was an open loft in our house and the desk itself was 8 feet long.

The folding table was good enough until I started reorganizing and wishing I had some kind of desk storage.  I saw a post on 2 Peas last week about desks from Ikea and the Vika one was mentioned.  I made my husband go to Ikea with me last weekend to check these out.  Its a design your own desk setup which I loved!

I chose the legs for one side and the 5 drawer set for the other side.  Just enough space to hold the latest embellishments.  I have a problem keeping stuff together in my current setup.


 My Target desk.  Just for desktop space and the space underneath.
 My roller date stamps that I never use but *had* to have.
My twine and punch storage.  The twine used to be on the Expedit to the left but I got a new toy for the top of that, so the twine moved over.

 My wood veneer storage.  I've added sets but these are my basics.  The little cups are from Crate and Barrell.
 My new toy.  Michaels put these on sale in January at 70% off and then I had a coupon for 15% off my purchase including sale items.  At that price I couldn't let this one go.  It now holds my washi tape, mists and my tea lights. I wrap washi around them to use as table decorations for holidays.   I bought the 100 pack from Ikea so I keep them close.  Oh and those little jars are from Michaels.  They hold my growing sequin collection.




 My calendar.  Mr. February - Drew Doughty.
My flair holder.  I had to move them from the cool margarita glass to this.  My collection is growing AND I need to be able to find things by theme.  I can't dump them all out on my table to sort through every time I need one.  So there is a drawer for holidays, stars/hearts/ Project Life etc.  Much easier to get too.

All of this organization means I'm cleaning out again.  I've got boxes of stuff to list for sale so keep an eye on my Flickr account for new listings.  I've sold almost half of the paper packs I listed last month and now I'm moving on to the embellishments and other random stuff.  I've got the remains of a Studio Calico December Daily and Project Life kits to add to the growing list.

Monday, February 18, 2013

The Frozen North

Well, it wasn't as frozen as *I* would have liked but it was still colder than at home.

N got to skate outside for the first time and we thought he'd never get tired!  He finally said he was tired and got off.  My mom's cousin lives in a community that freezes their park over in the winter making it the perfect winter wonderland.  There is a gazebo with strings of lights and music pumped in.  Of course, they have an actual hockey rink right next to it but the best part is the concrete walkways are frozen over and you can actually skate through the park.

I'm sorry, but that is such a novelty to a 5 year old from sunny So Cal and his winter loving mother.

We were only up there for 4 days but it was enough to find as many outdoor rinks as we could and let him skate.

My cousins skated with N just like they did last January.  This year though, N gave them a run for their money.












 They were racing in that shot above.  I love that I caught them in the same position.  Its so cute!






This place is awesome and I wish we had something like it at home.

I took some videos too.  A freak storm came out of nowhere while we were there.  Pretty cool for that So Cal boy to witness that!


Saturday, February 9, 2013

A {flair} for buttons Blog Hop!

Hello and welcome to the {a flair for buttons} Valentine's Day blog hop! Join our designers as we showcase some of Shelley's awesome new flair. We hope to inspire you along the way! As a thank you, please use the coupon code IHEARTFLAIR to receive 10% off your purchase in the a flair for buttons Etsy shop.

Make sure you visit the A {flair} for buttons blog at the very end for a chance to win some flair! 


I had so much fun this week trying to create something for the Blog Hop today.  I used some of the Valentine's {flair} that Shelley sent me but I also used some {flair} I already had in an unconventional way.

 I used the last bits of my favorite Valentine's line from last year from Fancy Pants.  I only have little pieces left over so I made it all work using my Silhouette.  The first card is just some square panels with a heart.  The Pink string is the solid Divine Twine.  The {flair} button is from a geotag set in Shelley's shop.  Without words, the card says that you are in my heart.
 These next two cards use this heart set from the shop.  I used the Silhouette to cut the 'potty people' out in different patterns and connected their hands using the twine and {flair}.
And another Silhouette file.  There is a large heart where the {flair} is on this card but I removed it from the file before cutting it out to make a place for the button.  Of course, some teal twine this time to finish it off!

Check out the rest of the team:

Shelley Haganman 

Danielle Walls
Erica Weinstock  <-----You are here!

Friday, February 8, 2013

Dreaming of fall

Reminder about the Blog Hop tomorrow!  Can't wait!



Fall is my second favorite season.  Winter is #1 even though we don't really have a true 'winter' here in Southern California.  It has been very cold lately and I'm not complaining.  I *love* it.  Everyone I know hates it but I'm loving every cold day we get.

And then there's Fall.  Full of color and cooler temps.  I dug out some fall papers and pictures and threw this layout together real quick.




Papers/Sticker letters:  Lily Bee
Paper Leaves: Amy Tan
Enamel Dots : MME
Flair: a {flair} for buttons

Wednesday, February 6, 2013

More December Daily

I'm so excited to share this:


Join me THIS Saturday!


This is the second to last post with DD pictures.  I am putting the finishing touches on the last few days of the month and I *love* how the book came out.



I used the Studio Calico kit plus a bunch of stuff I collected to go with it.  I'll try to post the links and info under each page.

The number strips and tags for each page come from Chic Tags.  Red tinsel is from Tim Holtz.  Veneer trees are Studio Calico.
 Sequins and journaling card are from Studio Calico.  American Crafts Thickers and Chic Tags number '5'.
 Chic Tags for the numbers again.  Woodgrain paper is from Studio Calico.  Elf flair is from a{flair} for buttons.

Number tags are Chic Tags, round tag is Studio Calico printable file.  My sons school was lucky enough to participate in the local holiday parade and ride their bikes.  They each got a ribbon for participating.

 Chic Tags.  Studio Calico printables and Elle's Studio stamp.  I threw in some chevron ribbon from the Stringery shop and Glitter Tape.
 More glitter tape, Chic Tags, Elle's Studio, Studio Calico and a {flair} for buttons on this page.
 My first confetti pocket.  My sewing machine wasn't sent up so I blocked off the slot with the glitter tape.  The confetti is a  mixture of veneer trees, snowflake sequins and regular sequins.  Chic Tags number tag.


 I love special pages.  This was a Studio Calico card included in their kit.  Great for journaling.

 Lots of Chic Tags and a {flair] for buttons in this book.

Our Christmas card. Another fun insert in the book.  I'll post the rest of the pages next week AND I'll be selling off the remainder of the kit including the stamp sets.  Look for a post with information on that.