Pushing your creative limits

Recently I was working on my art therapy journal and I was using watercolors techniques. This is a medium that I am not comfortable with, at all. I had purchased my watercolors one Black Friday many years ago when the price of the sets were to low to resist and I promised myself that one day I would use them. Well, several years later the moment came.
The result was mixed. They are hard to work with, but I love the process and the end results both in the physical sense and the emotional. Allow me to explain.
For obvious reason the physical sense is that in the end I have some pretty cool art work to use in my home and in my scrapbooks. I brought out the paints because since not have the funds in the budget to splurge on scrapbook supplies like I used to I have to literally think outside the box to create my pages. It's been fun experimenting and thats where the emotional component comes in. Using this new tool has pushed my creative juices. It has sparked excitement in my craft. I have been finding things that I want to try out and it has been quite motivating.

 They are not perfect, but that is not what I am going for. What I am going for is getting motivated.

Sometimes to be creative one must push ourselves. How will you push yourself today?

Documenting life update

Hello. I wanted to share some of my latest scrapbooking creations that I completed this week. I have been on a roll with all the snowy weather we have here in Boston. I am completely caught up on my project life and this year I am also incorporating some regular scrapbook layouts into my albums because I noticed so much last year that I missed doing that.

I also created a cute advice book for my daughter when she becomes a mom later (much much later) in life. I started the book when she was 6 months old and I was in the thick of new mommyville but never got around to finishing it.

Hope you enjoy peeking into my creative world. Happy Wednesday!

Create an easy layout display box

Hello. One of my goals for the year was to use my supplies. The ones that I have been holding onto forever and realize now that with an upcoming move must be used and enjoyed. Since that shift in my mind, I have been using up a ton of my supplies.

This year, my 20 month old loves holiday decorations so I made a couple of things for Valentine's Day to display around the house. I noticed that I am an avid memory keeper, but yet you would not know it if you walked into my home as they are all hidden away on a book shelf. So, I decided to make a "layout display" to showcase the loves of my life (don't puke) and show off my love for scrapbooking.

First, I just used a 12 x 12 piece of card stock. I cut it down to 10 x 10. I measured 2 inches on all sides and scored the lines. In the corners I drew a diagonal line from each corner (as seen here). 

Next cut the diagonal lines. Fold along the score lines to form a box. 

I folded to flaps showing on the inside and the other side to flops on the outside. I used a glue gun to make sure that it stayed in place, but you could use whichever medium your comfortable with. 

Now you can decorate it however you will like. Note that if you use a lot of embellishments that it may weigh down the box so you will need to put some weight at the bottom of it in order to keep them standing up. 

Enjoy making your own. 

Mini Ironing Board

 The idea of "potentially" moving across the country has me looking through all of my supplies and noticing that I should really be on the show Hoarders. Let me explain. I am not someone who has stuff all over the place, I am more of the type of hoarder that keeps stuff because I love them so much...as in I still have Chatterbox paper that I bought in 2005 from a Creating Keepsake Convention that I drove over 2 hours to get to. I literally bought over $50 worth of paper (I was single and thats what I did with my money oh those were the days). Ten years later and I have used about $10 worth of it.
I know where the problem is. I get into something and I buy a ton of stuff for it. For example, a year ago I bought a sewing machine and I was determined to make purses. I bought a ton of zippers, magnetic buttons, fabric, interface, etc and I made two purses. None of which I posted onto my Esty shop which was my plan in the first place.
So, this year I have decided to "shift" the way that I think. IF I LOVE IT ENOUGH TO BUY IT I MUST LOVE IT ENOUGH TO USE IT...ALL. Read: I will not buy anything any more (craft wise) until I go through my stash!!!
With that said, I have been on a roll this year completing projects and it is only the 7th day of the month! Today I am going to share my mini ironing board.

 What you will need:

• 20 five x five in. squares
• cotton batting (make sure it is heat resistant)
• cotton thread
• pins
• sewing machine
• a tray table
• a staple gun

What to do:

Sew four rows with five squares each. Use a 1/4 inch seam allowance. Baste with one layer of batting. I used left over batting pieces that I had and zigzagged them together. Sew over the top layer to the batting under creating an edging. Mine was about 1/2 inch on each size, but measure out your table because your might be larger of smaller than mine. You want it to be able to be tucked and stapled underneath without a lot of leftover. Add two additional layers of batting to your table. Then place the finished quilt on top. Position it on the floor and staple around making sure its tight all around.

I love mine because it fits directly underneath my craft table. I live in a super small apartment and this is the perfect thing for me since I have no space to leave my ironing board out. It is also a great size for all the small quilting projects that I dabble in.

Enjoy :)
Susan

Christmas Advent Trees

 This year I want to start a holiday tradition of doing an advent calendar. I went to catholic school when I was younger and I remember the excitement of opening up the tiny calendar flaps each day to find what was hidden underneath. In our cases then it was usually a bible scripture which we got to read to the class. I always prayed that when it was my turn to pick I would have a short one so I wouldn't have to stand in front of the class for that long. That was always a big worry of mine. Anyhow, as I was saying, oh yes, this year I decided to make some for our home and to start it as a tradition.

I scoured Pinterest for some ideas and sure enough there were a ton of fabulous ones. I decided to go with these awesome Christmas tree cones. The site has a great template which made it really easy to cut out. I mean, I love to craft, but I love easy crafts even more and if someone has already made a template who am I to reinvent the wheel. I filled each one with little notes on silly things to do to get us in the holiday spirit like watch a christmas movie, drive around to see lights, drink hot cocoa, etc. I didn't fill them up with any tiny stuff this year only because my little one is too little yet to enjoy such choking hazards, but you could certainly filled them with stuff because their is plenty of room.

As you can see I am not done with them just yet, I do want to add some more decorations to them and I was up til 1 am last night cutting for what seemed like forever, but I would say that it was rather relaxing since it was mindless cutting, you know.

 The paper pack is DCSW and I bought it at Michael's for 75% off on Black Friday. It was such a great deal, but now I have a ton more Christmas paper then I needed. I guess I will have to look at pinterest for more ideas! Next on the list is a paper wreath!

I am also going to enjoy making an scrapbooking album dedicated solely to December much like the one Ali Edwards is doing but for a fraction of the cost, love her, but not the pricey stuff. I just can't afford it. Do you think I will be able to get anything done with this messy desk?!

Creating makes me happy

I have been busy this summer working on my project life. Since starting PL last year I have found that it is a great way of documenting the small stuff that sometimes gets forgotten about. This year I have also added some traditional layouts since I missed that so much from last year.

I don't know if your like me, but in the past, I would hoard all of my supplies. I am not sure why, They were so cute and I didn't want to "waste them"...which in hind sight is absolutely stupid since now I have all these old supplies (like the entire line of Chatterbox) that is just sitting there unused. So this year I decided that I would use all of my supplies freely. I subscribe to Studio Calico's project life kit and I try to use the entire kit for that month. Of course, there are some left over, but I try my best. The results are that I have less "stuff" scattered on my table and I have super cute scrapbook pages.

Scrapbooking for me started back in 2001 just when the industry was starting. There were several magazines out each month with fresh ideas and slowly the internet also started buzzing with all things scrapbooking. Recently a pioneer in the scrapbooking field closed shop, Two Peas in a Bucket. It is sad to see it go as it was a nice place to pop in and check out the latest trends in the gallery and I will miss my binge watching of The Adventure of Garden Girl. My hope is that this is not the trend for scrapbooking as I would love for it to be something that my little one will enjoy doing one day. I know that for me it is a way of leaving her a visual history of her life, the good, the bad and the ordinary.

More July printables

I have two more printables to match the Fourth of July one that I made that I wanted to share quickly with you all. I should be caught up with my project life (I am currently beginning June) and will share when I use these :)

If you use them please share your link here as I would love to see them!

DIY First Birthday!

Anyone who knows me knows that I am awesome at starting projects but completing them...not so much. This year I chose my one little word to be complete. Since doing so I have been following through with every (ok almost every) single project I have started. It does feel good to complete things and with little Foof's birthday fast approaching I have taken on the task of doing most of her birthday party stuff on my own. I thought that it would be overwhelming but it has been awesome and so much fun. 

Her birthday party is on Saturday and things are coming along great. I wanted to share with you an idea that I had for the party favors using old baby food jars. I started saving her baby food jars thinking that they were just too cute to just throw away and I am so glad I didn't because there were super inexpensive to make and really easy. 

Super easy! Tomorrow will share a cute banner using left over yarn and fabric!!!

Life Goals: April Edition

For April I have three goals that I would like to complete. I find that writing what I want to accomplish keeps me more accountable to completing a project.

For April I would like to :

1. Plant an herb garden!

The winter in New England has been harsh, bitterly cold and waaay to long. I love the cold, dont get me wrong, but I am done with the Polar Vortex. even though the tempatures are struggling to get above freezing my mind dreams of cleaning up my deck and filling it with lush greens. Since leaving the 9 - 5 world for the stay at home life I have been really into cooking. Sure, I always loved to cook, but this past year my pallet have evolved and so has my appreciation for fresh herbs instead of dry ones. For Christmas I really wanted the Chia Herb Garden. I didn't get it so I have decided that I will take on the challenge of creating a lovely herb garden. I have some ideas floating around and through the help of Pinterest, I am eager for the free of frost to be over so I can get to planting. 

2. Plan Marisol's first birthday!

We have a theme. I have some ideas. It will be fabulous. Shhh, don't tell her since it is a surprise!

3. Make a quilt!

I suppose I should learn how to quilt first then tackle the making of a quilt, but I recently purchased a sewing machine and I am in love with the process. I spend over two hours, all by myself at Jo Ann Fabrics the other day and I enjoyed every moment of it. It was very relaxing cutting out each patternren piece and then the fabric. Measuring is something I will have to work on, but in due time I shall perfect it to the bet of my ability. 

I have a plan. It feels good!

How to make a fun paper wreath...

Here is a super fun and easy way to decorate your door using some old supplies that you will have around your home.

Gather your supplies:
Stapler
card stock
old books such as a kids book
Cardboard
Ribbon

First, you will cut out your wreath shape from the card board. I used a large tupperware bowl as a guide and a smaller one for the inside. Next cut strips of the books and card stock. I used card stock in colors that matched the book I was using and to also match the autumn theme I was looking for. Cut the card stock into one inch strips. Next fold the strips in half and place around the wreath and secure by stapling. I finished the look with a burlap bow and crocheted topper to hold it up :)

Enjoy :)
Susan

* I apologize for such quick posts, please bare with me as I have an 8 month old who loves to be on her mommy's lap, ALL DAY LONG! It's sweet and I embrace it as one day she will be 13 and not want anything to do with being near me :)

New Year New Traditions

This year we started a new family and I was very excited to start new traditions. Having a small family, the holidays are usually very quiet around here and I wanted my little one to not focus on the lack of family that we have around during the holidays but rather have her focus on the wonderful traditions we have. I came across this pin via pinterest. One has to love that pinterest has an abundance of inspiring things at your finger tips.

The original pin shares a wonderful idea of using a mason jar to collect the randoms of the year and jotting them down on a piece of paper and on New Years Eve opening them up and reading them all. I thought it was such an amazing idea and how wonderful it was to have these tiny moments captured. I had a mason jar on hand and decorated it a bit and here is our jar. I am looking forward to sharing our moments with it and I think it will be a great and easy tradition to begin with our family!

Hope you and yours have a wonderful New Year!

Susan

Monogram Xmas Stocking

Wow, where has the Christmas gone?! It happens every year, but this one felt much more rushed than in years past. I must admit that I always fall victim to a lot of great creative ideas flooding in my head and most of them do not amount to anything other than a thought in my mind, but this year a few of them did manage to get done and some are still in the works. Those will be completed this week as I must mail them out asap...I swear, I will not be so last minute next year!

This year, we had an addition to the family and poor little mama did not have a stocking so, we found this cute plain green felt one at Target for only $1and I knew I had to personalize it a bit. I cute some felt and sewed it around and added it with some glue and presto, a monogram stocking for only $1!

Not all of my creative ideas pan out the way that they are meant to. I love Pinterst, I honestly probably need an intervention at this point, but not all things on Pinterest are as easy as they appear to be. Case in point was this lovely Salt Dough Wreath.

I am not sure how the heck they were able to get their "balls" to be a perfect shape! I am baffled and it took me days for mine to be somewhat dry. The were drying on a wiring rack for so long that even my husband asked me what the heck I was doing with them. So here is the link to the wreath and it is quite lovely and if you can figure out how to do it as lovely or even more so please do share your secrets with me as I would love to know how it is done masterfully :)

Enjoy!

Susan