Everyday Simplicity

Decorations for a Merry Un-Birthday

2011-05-01T09:54:00.000-07:00

We had the ceilings in three of the main areas covered in game piece, book text paper chain, crepe paper, and coffee filter garlands. We also went a little crazy with the tissue paper and napkin pom poms. The sad thing is we started decorating a week ahead of the party, but things kept falling down. We were constantly re-haning decorations even up to an hour before the party. It looked great though!

A basket for a new bicycle.

2011-04-17T16:56:00.000-07:00

Jordan's new bicycle needed a basket, but this wasn't girly enough for a bright shiny new pink cruiser.

I added a few strips of ruffled fabrics and made it look like this:

She loved it and it added just the right amount of "girly" to her new bike.

Gratitude.

2011-03-15T09:06:00.000-07:00

This one is inspired by Monika Wright. I've been drooling over her mini albums for a long time now. When I saw her gratitude journal, I knew I'd be lifting it as soon as I could carve out some time. It took me several days to sort through, choose, and cut papers and scraps. Before I began, I thought I'd have a page for each day, but once the papers started piling up, I realized there was no way I'd be able to include183 pages!

Live in the beauty . . .

2011-02-24T17:13:00.000-08:00

I caught part of a Subway commercial a few nights ago in which they had used a background similar to this (the hillside and sun rise) and I knew I wanted to use that idea for a background on a page in my art journal. I really think this sort of mixed-media art is so fun. I worked on this one for three days before I decided it was complete.

If you believe you can . . .

2011-02-20T20:20:00.000-08:00

Another Donna Downey inspired art journal page. Happy to use of a few Prima flowers I've been hoarding for far too long!

My first canvas.

2011-02-19T23:21:00.000-08:00

Inspired by Christy Tomlinson. I used a few of my favorite October Afternoon papers, a couple of buttons, and some Modge Podge and had a very fun evening creating this little 6x6 canvas.

Happy Valentine's Day.

2011-02-14T15:08:00.000-08:00

Last year we made a similar valentine goody bag - a valentine fox - and the girls' loved handing them out. This year, I couldn't find anything close to that cute when searching the web, so I came up with my own pattern this time. Here is our wise old (or young) owl.

Watercolor Crayons.

2011-02-12T21:10:00.000-08:00

This one is inspired by Dana Barbieri. I've never been one to free-hand anything - drawing or painting. Here I did a little of both and had a great time, too.

Another page.

2011-02-06T20:27:00.000-08:00

Inspired by Lilith. I've been admiring her use of white space and paint/ink spatters for a very long time.

Watercolor on Book Text

2011-02-04T14:21:00.000-08:00

Inspired by (or lifted from) Donna Downey's Inspiration Wednesday she did last summer. This is the first project in my 365 days of creativity.

A Birthday Gift.

2010-11-13T22:02:00.000-08:00

Do you ever struggle to find just the right gift for someone special? A gift card is too impersonal, clothes are tough when you don't know what size to buy . . . Jordan had this problem for a dear friend's 16th birthday. I suggested she give a handmade book/journal. We worked 14 hours over two days to get it finished in time for her party. I think it turned out perfectly.

Learn Something New

2010-09-17T08:31:00.000-07:00

I forgot about this class until about three days in, but I am always behind in any class I take so no big deal. I got busy and created the first three pages very quickly (unusual for me - I take forever to complete a scrapbook page), then the wheels fell off. Here is what is completed with journaling.

Journaling is not my favorite part of papercrafting. But I know in order to finish this project I just have to get something down on paper.

A Mini-Book for Maddie.

2010-09-15T11:11:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I needed a bit of inspiration to get me moving again on my "Learn Something New" book I've been working on (more on that later) when I stumbled on Gigi Kennedy's blog. All of her papercrafting projects are wonderful, but her "Daily" book is what made me stop everything to make this little book for Maddie. Maddie loves anything and everything mini. She also likes to doodle and sketch and write little notes. This will be perfect for her. I filled it with her favorite papers, her favorite colors, her favorite stickers, and some of my favorites I think she'll like. I wanted it to be sturdy enough for her to carry around so after I cut the pages to about 4-1/2" x 3" I glued them back-to-back. I sewed the papers onto the cover (which is a flash card from Target's $1 spot) and used multiple heavy duty glue dots to be sure the buttons and crown don't easily pop off. Every other page or so has a sticker from pile Maddie's been hoarding all summer - hippos, penguins, cheetahs, cupcakes, hearts, and flowers. I hope she adds a drawing or note to the book daily, just like Gigi planned to do with hers. Thanks, Gigi!!

Finish it Friday - A Year of Musings.

2010-06-25T19:26:00.000-07:00

I found this mini book on the American Crafts Blog and just had to make one. Even though I started five months late, I will complete one of these cards whenever I think of it. I like that I can record the uninteresting parts of my day as well as those I'd scrapbook.

Mini Album for Teacher.

2010-06-18T03:44:00.000-07:00

When I taught religious education classes at our church I received many wonderful gifts over the years, but I always cherished and kept the hand-written notes. I know teachers receive many of gifts throughout the school year and with each teacher I wonder what the best gift will be to say "thank you" at the end of the year. For several years, I've worked with the students to put together a mini album. I ask each student to write a heartfelt note to the teacher and then I pair it with photos of students (and sprinkle extra recess or field trip photos throughout). I have been lucky enough to be a room parent for both of my girls classrooms every year they've been in school which afforded me the opportunity to take many photos. This year I didn't get the room parent designation, but I did chaperone all of the field trips. For this album I was able to work with the kids in the classroom (usually I ask for parent help from home). The teacher was all too happy to spend an hour away from the classroom on a couple different days. The students were eager to work on this project - even making embellishments of birds and flowers. The end result brough tears (of happiness) when Mrs. Meighan read all of the wonderful notes, poems, and songs written by each of her students.

Obviously this is the cover of last years' album. I knew this teacher loved inspirational quotes so I added them to each page. I was overjoyed to see this album displayed on a bookshelf in her new home when I visited her recently.

This is from 3rd grade. Miss MacFarlane called her students her "muffins". I don't have photographs of any of the other completed albums I've made for teachers, but they've all been received with tears of joy which makes all of the end-of-the-year-craziness worthwhile.

Finish it Friday - JYC/December Daily 2009

2010-05-29T14:06:00.000-07:00

FINALLY!!!! I finished the album I started on Thanksgiving last year. This one is on my list because I am notorious for starting a project and running out of steam before it's finished. So I get to cross another one off my list and I get to enjoy a completed album. There are still a couple of journaling spots left to fill in. I've saved those for Jordan and Madison to complete this evening. YAY!!

Great Swap.

2010-05-18T06:45:00.000-07:00

I was so excited to receive this package! Missy from Crafty Carnival decorated the envelope so cute and packaged the cards with a beautiful orange ribbon. She even include a sweet button from her etsy shop and an adorable tulip magnet.

The coloring on the stamped cards is incredible and the creativitiy is amazing. I can't wait to start sending them now!!

Homemade Strawberry Jelly.

2010-05-05T17:12:00.000-07:00

I have never purchased strawberry (or grape) jelly or jam. When I was a kid, my mom only bought strawberry or grape flavors. I imagine those were cheapest - I haven't paid any attention to the prices because I never cared to purchase either of them. Within the past few months, I've tried my hand at canning - pickles, peaches, and applesauce. All were easy and all tasted great. Last week I decided to take the girls to pick strawberries. I knew they'd have fun and I wanted to make my own jelly so we'd have some to eat that didn't contain high fructose corn syrup.

We ended up with almost 25 lbs. of berries. Using six of those pounds I made eight pints of jelly. I canned them in small (4 oz. and 8 oz.) jars so there would be no waste. Once you open a jar, it needs to be consumed in a few days. Little did I know how good it would be. We've already used it to cover ice cream, on toast for breakfast, and on PB&J for lunch. It was very easy to make. After I washed them in a little soap and cool water (recently saw a video about tiny little white bugs found on strawberries),

I sliced them.

Then I crushed them in this great little ricer we were gifted in Italy a few years ago. Italians use this tool to crush tomatoes for pasta sauce.

I followed the Ball Blue Book recipe for strawberry jelly without pectin - added the sugar and let it boil for a good 40-50 minutes.

Finally, I filled my jars. YUM!!

Tomorrow, I'll do it all again because I have plenty of berries to preserve. I wonder if I could use less sugar to make a strawberry sauce for ice cream?? Can't hurt to try.

Donations.

2010-04-29T07:27:00.000-07:00

This is 180 lbs. of scrapbooking supplies that I no longer "love". Yesterday I ran across a Paperclipping blog post suggesting the donation of unused and no longer loved supplies to help children under state custody make Life Books. Here is a description of what this is about:

“Children in the custody of Social Services create Life Books to remember their lives and the people they have lived with. Life Books are simple scrapbooks the social workers, foster families, and adoptive families put together with the children. Life Books are also used as a form of therapy, to get to know the children, and to understand their situations. They are also used to help the children feel a sense of belonging. The children take the books with them as they move through Social Services. Scrapbook supplies are used to create these books, but Social Service offices don’t have budgets for the supplies they need."

When I called my local social services office yesterday, it was relatively easy for me to find a contact person to whom I could give this donation. He was very appreciative of the gesture and talked about the children (including teenagers) and social workers who would be using these supplies. I expressed concern that maybe some of the items in these boxes wouldn't necessarily appeal to children and wondered if I should sort the items so as to only give child-friendly items. This is where he told me of the many teenagers making books like this and that their tastes vary. He also spoke of women who make these Life Books for younger children. I was so touched by this project that I now intend to purge my supplies regularly and donate them to Henrico County Social Services.

If you, too, have excess supplies and would like to purge and donate, I suggest you call your local county social services office to see if they'd accept your supplies for this Life Book project. I have a feeling they'd appreciate anything you could offer them.

Swap cards in the mail.

2010-04-28T07:13:00.000-07:00

I sent my box off on Monday. I am pleased with my cards even though I ran into a few snags in making them. I am excited to see what I get in return.

Jordan's Journal.

2010-04-20T07:11:00.000-07:00

Jordan loves journals. When she didn't have anything on her birthday list, I decided to make one using a bunch of the magazine pages, tags, rub-ons, papers, fabrics, and other scraps she had been saving. I spend some time before the kids get up every morning blog hopping so this is a culmination of a multitude of ideas I've seen on others' blogs over the past few months. I had Jordan pick out her favorite pages to photograph. There are actually 76 pages in this journal and my idea going into it was that she'd have some place to be artistic. If she wanted paint, draw, doodle, or write she could do it all in here.

Crafty Carnival Card Swap.

2010-04-09T17:30:00.000-07:00

I've joined a card swap at Crafty Carnival. This should be fun! It just might take me a few weeks to come up with a card idea, but I'm looking forward to making them. There is still time to join if you're interested! Missy has even invited the kids to participate. You might also check out her kickstarter program here. She has designed some adorable rubber stamps that she's trying to get produced so we can buy them.

Paper airplane mobile.

2010-04-07T16:58:00.000-07:00

I saw this on a DIY blog one morning when I was bloghopping. I can't remember where I found it though so I can site my source. I am sorry - I'll keep looking though. This is a fun, easy project and I can guarantee that no one else in the area has one of these hanging over their kitchen table. Jordan and I gathered a bunch of branches and tied them in a snowflake sort-of pattern. Then we cut pieces of map paper, folded them into airplanes and hung them from the mobile. My kids and the kids in the neighborhood think it's "so cool".

Scraplift Challenge.

2010-04-05T16:22:00.000-07:00

This one is lifted from Norcha. You can see hers here. I completed this layout in about an hour which is a record for me. The Carter Mountain layout I posted just previous to this one took me two days to complete. I love the sun setting just behind Jordan while she's showing off on her skates.

How Much is Too Much Challenge.

2010-04-05T11:41:00.000-07:00

For this challenge I needed to use one photo collage and 22 circles. I so am grateful for Shimelle's class because I scrapped many pictures during the past two weeks that normally wouldn't have made it to paper.

Birthday Cards.

2010-03-24T15:41:00.000-07:00

One of the items on my list is to make and send only handmade cards this year. I have had more difficulty lately finding cards I like so I'll just make my own. These are a few I've sent so far. I'm not completely happy with all of them since I'm new to card making, but as least the messages inside the card were what I wanted.

First day of spring.

2010-03-20T12:51:00.000-07:00

This is my Dollar Store birdhouse transformed into a happy spring decoration.

Best Friends.

2010-03-20T07:52:00.000-07:00

This is my layout from prompt four of Shimelle's class - use cardstock. I used kraft cardstock for my background and then used scraps for the rest of the embellishments. I finally dug out my birds and branches die and hand colored those. The hearts mimic Hambly's butterfly overlay and I used versa mark to add texture to the frame.

Leprechaun Shoes.

2010-03-17T16:00:00.000-07:00

My kids rather enjoyed finding these shoes this morning near the window where our leprechaun escaped after mischieviously ransacking our sitting room/kitchen area. It seems as though he left so quickly he lost his shoes as he dove out the window. The pattern can be found here.

She is . . .

2010-03-17T12:45:00.000-07:00

I'm catching up. I used ribbon from my stash on this page and I made flowers from Shimelle's tutorial.

{heart} hippey

2010-03-17T06:47:00.000-07:00

I'm trying to finish a scrap or craft project every day. My goal was to actually keep up with the Something from Almost Nothing class, but I'm not doing that very well. Today I should be working on prompt 4, but I just finished prompt 2. I better get crackin' on prompt 3 now. This layout was lifted from Mindy. I hope she doesn't mind - I thought her layout was sweet and simple.

One down, one to go.

2010-03-15T07:28:00.000-07:00

This is my first page in trying to keep up with Shimelle's class called "Something from Almost Nothing". This class is designed to use up some of the stash we scrapbookers tend to collect and somehow never use. In this first prompt (use metal), I managed to use 33 of the 6,398,224,568,993 brads and eyelets that I own.