Adorable Hand Bags

A lady in our church has started having a Lady's Bible Study and Craft Time once a month.  I went this past Friday, and it was so nice to get together with all the Lady's and have some adult time and a small Bible Study.  The craft we made was this adorable tote bag.  If you are interested, the tutorial is here.  The only thing I did differently was I made the handles 11 inches.  This left enough ribbon to make a nice bow.  I also just stitched down the side seam allowances.  I felt like it gave it more of a finished look.  After  I made the first one, I just had to go get more supplies to make my daughter, nieces and sister one.  I need to make 3 more, but they are so easy and cute I can't wait to get them done.  Plus they only take about 15 to 20 minutes to complete!  This green polka-dot bag was the first one I made.

I decided to go with the loepoard print for my sister.  The black shiny button really dresses things up, doesn't it?  I may need to duplicate this one for my mom.  I still haven't decided what to make for my other sister, but she's in boot camp right now, so I have a few weeks to get it done!

And of course, since my daughter's favorite colors are yellow and blue, this little cutie is just for her.  I just love the flower buttons on the bow!

I'm linking up to Kimba's DIY Day and Becca's Show and Tell

Let It Snow!!

Hi everyone!  I have some fun pictures to share with you today.  I'm sure you have all heard about all the snow everyone is getting.  Well, we were eagerly awaiting the moment the snow would arrive here in our neck of the woods.  We don't get to see snow very often.  In fact, we haven't had enough of the stuff to build a snowman since 1999 or 2000.  So when the flakes started falling around 7pm last night, the kids were out the door like a shot!  It's usually not exytremely cold here, so we weren't prepared with gloves and scarves and things of that nature.  So they got socks for their hands and every few minutes came in and used the dryer for their wet socks or else just got new ones.  This morning they better not say they can't find any clean socks!  Anyway, when Hubby and I got finished laying the tile in our bathroom, we decided to go and join them!

Even Lilly Dog got in on the action!

After we completed our own little snowman, we sent Amanda to the neighbors to see if they could come out and play with us.  A great snowball fight followed, and then we got right down to business working on the best snowman in Beaufort!

It really was fun!  Of course we then came insided and warmed by the fire with nice Hot Chocolate.  Finally we ended the night with a game of Farkle until almost 3am!  What are friends for?

Pretty Key Hanger

When we first moved in this house about 4 months ago, Sam put a nail in the wall to hang keys on.  That nail has been botherin me ever since.  So I picked up this little key hanger from Wally World the other day.  Bubba informed me that Daddy could make it, but I told him I'd rather pay $5 for it now than wait 6 months to get it!  So anyway, I knew I wanted to pretty it up with some of my favorite paper from Stampin' Up!  Can you guess what paper I went with? 

First I used my Always Artichoke marker to color all the edges, so that if you looked from the side, it wouldn't be plain wood.  Then I traced the shape into my paper, then cut it out and used Mod Podge to attach.  I then used my nail file to get all the edges just right.  Then I sponged some Always Artichoke on the edges and applied another coat of Mod Podge on top.

I dug out my Pretties Kit and applied some halfback pearls along the bottom and tied Very Vanilla Ribbon on each hook.  It still looked like it was missing something, so I decorated a hat pin and stuck that through the ribbon.

It really looks alot better than just a nail in the wall, don't you think?  And yes, I shoved everything that was on the counter over to the side so you can't see all my mess!

I was working on this while the kids were doing schoolwork, and in typical "man" fashion, Bubba couldn't understand why in the world I was taking the time and energy to decorate it when I could have just hung it up plain and would have worked fine!  Such a typical man!

A Few Changes

Unfortunately, I have had to make a few changes here on my blog.  Your comments will no longer be visible immediately, I have changed the settings for moderator approval.  You will also now have to fill out the word verification.  I have had several comments left recently that were not appropriate and had to remove those comments.  Hopefully this will deter whoever is leaving this spam.  I think it's very sad when a stamping blog gets the kind of comments that I would have to remove, but in this day and age, I guess it's to be expected.  Anyway, I hope this takes care of it, and if any of you saw those comments, I apologize.

Calendar Bookmark

I have here an adorable little bookmark calendar.  Isn't it cute?  I really like the frayed ribbon on the top.  I was browsing Split Coast Stampers for some ideas for my club on Friday night, and came across the template for these little calendars.  I figured since we're still in Jan. it's not too late for this little project. 

There's not really any explaining that needs to be done, except I used Brocade Blue Paper and Ink.  For the solid butterfly image I stamped off once, then the outline was applied with the second stamp.  For the frayed ribbon, you have to use grosgrain.  All you do is cut off one edge of the ribbon, then pull out all the fibers.  Make sense?  If not let me know and I'll take some pictures and do a mini tutorial.  Thank!

I Made a Card!

I can't tell you the last time I sat down and made a card.  Well, today the kids were off school, so Sam took the boys with him to work on a roof he's doing.  As soon as he left I got right down to business.  Because last week I took the time to organize my stuff, I actually knew where my supplies were.  So I browsed Split Coast Stampers and got some inspiration.  I've been wanting to use the Sticky Cuts at Stamp Club for quite some time, so this is what I came up with.

I used Stampin' Up!'s Sticky Cuts Letters with their ultra fine glitter.  The stamp set is Define Your Life and card stock isTempting Turquoise and Elegant Eggplant. The ribbon is something I picked up at Michael's a while back.  I also used the Eyelet Border Punch along the bottom.

I know this isn't the greatest picture, but  I wanted to show you eyelet border letting the Turquoise show through.  I also have another little project planned, so if I get it done I'll show you tomorrow.  These are both what we'll be working on this Friday for our Stamp Club.

Still Unmounting!

Well, I couldn't resist showing you the progress I made today with my stamps.  I used up all the CD cases I bought.  So now I can do other things, like wash the dishes and fold the laundry!  Sounds fun, doesn't it? 

Here are all the empty stamp cases so far.  I have to figure out what to do with these now.

Now, look at how much space they use compared to what they used before unmounting!  Plus I think it will be much easier to use what I have because I won't have to worry about dragging all those boxes out to find what I want then put them away again.  I never can find the set I want.  Now at least they will be much easier to get to then put back up!

I also need to figure out what to do with all these wooden blocks.  I have one idea for a few of them, but this many is ridiculous.  Imagine how many I'll have when I'm all done!  I gotta go now.  Let me know any ideas you may have about those cases or wooden blocks.  See you later!

Unmounting Stamps!!

Well, I'm back!  I have organized all my paper, and believe me, that was a job.  But now it's all done, and if (when) I decide to stamp something, at least I can find the color I want.  I also have started a whole new project.  I had been thinking about unmounting my stamps to save room on storage, but I was always hesitant.  But now, with Stampin' Up! deciding to go with clear mount stamps, I decided I'd buy the acrylic blocks and take the plunge.  I'm now in the process of unmounting all my stamps.  It's really easy, and as you can see, it will save a ton of room.

This is the pile of stamps I did this morning.  Before I started, it was as tall as my ruler.  When I was done, it was only about 5 inches tall!  How cool is that?!  Plus, now all the boxes are the same size, so much easier to stack neatly.  You can see the original Stampin' Up! labels on some of them, what I did was peel the label off the original plastic container, then I stuck that to some white paper and stuck it inside the case.  Some of my labels ripped while peeling, so I just started handwriting the names and attaching those instead.

I have four of these neat little crate looking boxes that are the perfect size for CD cases.  I'm sure that will be enough room for all my stamps when I get them done.  Right now I have two of those under the bed boxes full of stamps.  I'll let you know how small it gets down to.

This is one of the cases that's done.  I just cut some whisper white CS to size and stamped all the images onto it before I  unmounted them.  I found the tutorial here.  It's a great video, and I pretty much followed her instructions.  The only thing I did differently was  I stamped my images before I unmounted them because I don't have any acrylic blocks yet.  Super easy, and I think it will be worth the time when I can keep all my stamps on my desk! 

Life Got in the Way!

Hello everyone!!  I know, I know, it has been way, way too long since I posted last.  What can I say, life happens!  We have moved into a much smaller house, and that meant alot of going through closets, and we still are not done with that.  Add in all the work that had to be done to the house before we could move in, plus the packing, moving, unpacking, etc.......  Plus we have had to keep up with our schoolwork, which in itself is a full time job!  Things are starting to get back to somewhat normal as we settle into a daily routine, and I'm thinking about Stamping again.  That has really taken a back seat for the past two months.  Way, way in the back!  But we are having our meeting this coming Thursday, so I'm getting back into the swing of things, I think.  If there's anyone left out there who checks on me anymore, I'll try to be a good girl and post at least once in a while.   I still don't have all my stamp supplies here at the new house, because I just don't know where to put it all.  So  I can't promise anything grand, but I'll try.  For now, though, I have to finish school with the kids, do my chores, then a friend is coming over later for a perm and haircut.  So I'll see you folks later.  Bye!

School Drawings

I thought these drawings were so cute. Amanda has SC History in school this year, and she's learning about Native American tribes that lived in the area. Here is her picture of the Yap Ye Iswa Festival. It is a festival held every year by the Catawba People. Her explanation is pretty simple, don't you think?
The next one is her "Poster" to help raise awareness of things you can do to help the environment. I love the way she labels all her drawings!

That's it for now. School is keeping me very busy this year. Now I have to go figure out what's for dinner. See you later!