Fun...Day 14 of 31 Days of Creating with Meaning

Sometimes you've got to take a little time off for some f-u-n.  We're spending the day as a family, and learning about the life of the salmon to boot.  We're headed here tomorrow, and hope it will be as fun as last year!

And in celebration of the running of the salmon (not to be confused with the running of the bulls!)  here are some links to handmade salmon goodies.  So sweet, especially the Salmon Quilt!

Salmon Barn for some lovely totes

a wooden salmon silhouette at Roy Road Fish Company

Salmon wedding pomanders at Psalm 117

a gorgeous Salmon quilt by Kathy Kinsella

Turquoise and Salmon necklace 

Enjoy your weekend!

Cute back-to-school stuff to craft

I Love

1. Etsy
2. back to school anything
3. office supplies
4. fabric
5. lunch
6. sending my kids off to school

I've stumbled on some fun back-to-school themed crafts and ideas, so I'll share them here.  That way I have them all in one spot, too.

Etsy has a How-Tuesday blog that features some fun things to make, and this week incorporated lunch bags, ice packs, pencil wraps, book covers, you get the picture.  Cute stuff!  And most of it is pretty easy.

Sew, Mama, Sew has some adorable embroidery patterns from Sarah Jane Studios.  They're so cute!  Could someone please embroider something for me?  Please?

And how could I leave out these adorable banner stickers by Jenni Bowlin?  They're the perfect little ending.

Well, I must still be in a mood.

I've still been in my scrapbooking frame of mind, and I've put together some new pages and a couple of cards.

This page took me, no kidding, ten minutes to make. I have been using some sketches from PageMaps, (LOVE them!) and all I have to do is grab some paper and pictures and throw them all together. I had my sewing machine out, and threading it with black thread took longer than the rest of it. (Dang machine!) Both of these sketches are from the December PageMaps newsletter, and on this page I used:

Bazzil cardstock
Making Memories Patterned paper
Daisy D's Patterned paper
American Crafts Thickers
Embossed felt flowers from an Etsy shop, don't remember which one!
Library card



I have tons of pictures, and in my usual organizational style, they are scattered hither and yon and with no apparent rhyme or reason. That being said, my latest project is putting some semblance of order to all of those pictures! I've been sorting them into a sorting box from Creative Memories, and I'm loving it so far! I was really dreading the process, because I didn't know where to start, so I just dove in.

This page is about my mom and her two sisters. It's a picture that I ran across while sorting all of those photos, and I got to thinking about all they've been through together. This is based on another PageMaps sketch.

Die Cuts With a View Patterned paper
Autumn Leaves Patterned paper
Vintage and new ribbon
Hydrangea flowers


Hope you all had a great Easter! We did, and my sister posted pictures here to prove it, so go take a look.

In a Mood

So, usually when someone says that I'm in a mood, it means that I'm irritable, grouchy, or down-right terrible to be around. But this mood is a little bit different.

I've been going through my stash - that would be my stash of scrapbooking and craft supplies. Trying to sort out the stuff I don't want/use to sell on etsy or at my friend Nancey's scrapbooking garage sale on Saturday. When I've got my hands in the stuff, it just makes me want to do something with it. So, I've been putting together the occasional page or card. It just makes me feel good, you know?

Here are a few pages from the crop I went to in January. I guess I've been into orange lately. I'm not sure why, but it's been a recurring color on my pages.

I've just been grabbing random pictures and running with them, which has been fun.

These are a few of my favorite things...

The kids were watching "The Sound of Music" last week. I love the simple list of things in the song "Brown paper packages tied up with strings, Snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes", etc.

With Christmas ON THE HORIZON, I was thinking of some of my favorite things.

When I was a kid, Christmas was really a simple holiday. Lots of baking and visiting, singing carols and circling all of the toys we wanted in the Sears Wish Book. I actually don't recall getting any of those toys that I actually indicated I wanted, but it never bugged me at all.

Some of the favorite gifts that I DID receive were books. I would read whatever I could get my hands on! The best gift ever was the boxed set of Little House on the Prairie books. I was about 8 or 9 years old, and I read them all, one by one, then started them right back over again! I still have them; they're sitting on my dresser right now. Thanks, mom!

Anyway, I'm always looking for tips to make Christmas easier, more simple, and cheap. Here are some tips that I've come across this year.

The US Catholic site has this post: ’Twas the fight before Christmas : A survival guide to a fairly happy holiday. Of course, what's a family get-together without a little drama?

I love homemade gifts, so etsy is a great go-to website to find unique gifts, and support the indie crafters at the same time. This is one of my faves right now. It makes me laugh. And it's cheap, too!

Here are a few ideas on Mahalo, and BellaOnline has some frugal Christmas ideas, too.

Craftbits has some cute and simple crafts for gifts and decorations. I think I'll try out the stamped candy bar wrappers. Cute, yummy, and cheap! (I think I see a pattern forming.)

And when all else fails, Martha Stewart will always come through with ideas and inspiration.

CRAZY!

And then it was October. I think I missed September. Really. I don't even remember it!



I've been busy with, well: kids, chickens, Mellisa's kids, PTO, and it still feels like I'm more behind than ever.



But, since I should be doing something productive, I'll forget about work and share some of my new favorite things:



The Black Apple is awesome. I love Emily Martin's art! Now Jenny Hart from Sublime Stitching has Black Apple patterns. Makes me want to take up embroidery.



This is my favorite song right now. Something about the guitar. Mmm.



Sunflower seeds. I just read in a magazine that if you crave something salty, eat sunflower seeds. The magnesium in them gives you a natural energy boost. I can totally justify my addiction to seeds now. Need I say more?

When I'm in a scrapbooking rut, I go here to PageMaps. Love it!

Can't wait for conference!

Etsy Shop Update!

There are new kits, paper, and embellishments listed in my Etsy shop.

Check it out!

They're also listed on the sidebar to the right,

just in case you were wondering what that was.

And free shipping, too!

Look what she made from my quilt top.

Edited: I changed the link to her shop since the notebook is gone.

Click here. Aren't they great?

Love Etsy, love that it is creative people sharing the work from their own hands and hearts and minds.

Been doing a litte crafting

and added some kits to my etsy shop.

Top two pictures are of the finished product.

There's more to come!