Look what I got!!!

Happy Friday!!

I went in for a job interview yesterday and I think it went very well so now it's the waiting game.  But in the meantime I get to still enjoy my time off which is a good thing :)  On my way home I stopped by the mail and I was SO excited as I had won Gail's giveaway from My Repurposed Life and they are here!!!  I'm going to use these for gifts for Carissa's wedding party so stay tuned to see what I do with them decorating wise :)  THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU Gail!!!  :D

OK so I couldn't wait.  I did mine up first.  Excuse the picture but I'm downloading all my pictures to my other computer so took these with my cell phone.  I just had to share it with all of you!!  I know, you can't tell I was excited at all could you!!

This is the flower that I made for it.  Her colors are chocolate brown, sage green with champagne color ribbon accents ~ very pretty!!

I also scored all these fun things.  I stopped by the craft store on my way home from the interview also and got all these things on sale. 75% off bin!!  Love that!!   You're going to flip when I tell you how much I saved!!  Ready?????  $58.00!!!  It only cost me $14 for all this.  That is a huge saving and I'm excited!!  Just about every holiday you can imagine plus other fun ones :)

I'm busy working on my giveaway for when I hit 50 followers and we're getting closer.  I'm not giving you anymore hints either.  You'll have to wait and see what it is when I hit the milestone :)  Only 2 more to go girls!!!  We're sitting at 48 right now!!

Linky Parties I'm doing today :)  Check out all the talented woman out there!! 














  

Giveaway's!!!

One Cheap B*tch

Well that's it for now.  Stay tuned for the reveal on the give-a-way.  Whoever wins this is getting something made from the heart and it is adoreable!!

xo ~ Laura

Organizing

Happy Thursday!

I have posted over the past few days that I have been trying to organize some things.  Well let me tell you that it hasn't been easy and it's been a lot of hard work but it's paying off.

I am kind of embarrassed to show you these pictures but I'm sure all of you have been there at one time or another.  lol  I had to pull a lot of things out, then go through them little by little and now I can create new storage spaces to keep things organized as I don't want to have to do this again anytime soon :)  Does this mean that I'm done??? Oh no... still more areas to go through.  But that is another day's project...hahahaha

So here is a picture of how my craft room was before I started...... yikes!!  A bomb went off :)  It really looks worse than it was but still.

And here it is all cleaned and vacuumed and organized again.  Whew!!  Now I can actually sit in my chair again and not break my neck walking in there.  :)

This is in our family room area, we don't really use it right now as we are going to be pulling the carpet and laying new flooring once I get a new job so we've gotten rid of most of the items in here as we gave a lot to Carissa when she moved so that helps.  Just more room for me to create :)  This is stuff I pulled out of all the nooks and crannys and the other items that my hubby puts in here for me to deal with.  Go figure ;)

And this is the same corner all cleaned up now.  Wow... when I stand back I had a few ideas of what I can do in here in the meantime before remodeling it.....Baaawwwaaaahhh!!  :))))))

Wow I feel so much better now and now you know that I'm just little ole me....being open and honest on how I have to organize and clean too.  lol

Also one more exciting thing for me!!  Well you too.... I am almost at a milestone of 50 followers and I will have a giveaway when I hit that!!  Yay!!  Hopefully it won't be too long till that happens because I'm VERY excited on what I'm doing.  I can give you this little hint, it's from homemade and recycled items.  OK... here is a hint.  You'll just have to wait to see the final product when I hit 50!!  Hmmmm just thought of something.  My birthday is the 8th and I'm hitting the BIG 50 so how appropriate is this :)  lol

I'm linking up to the following blogs today.  Hop on over and check them out :)

Well better get cracking as I see 50 in the very near future :)  Have a great day!!

xo ~ Laura

Mini Album

Happy Wednesday!!

I didn't have the greatest day yesterday as I had to tell my daughter that her cat had been missing since Saturday night and she was in tears.  That was her baby and it just broke my heart.  She was going to be taking her over to her house but hadn't picked her up yet so needless to say, a very sad day for me :(

The one positive thing that happened is that I got a call from a recruiter today and I have an interview on Thursday afternoon, yes it is back on Microsoft campus.  I just can't seem to get away from that place.  lol

Well the organizing is slowly but surely coming along.  Whew it's a lot of work!!  Who knew we had so much stuff around here in the closets.  It's amazing when your children grow up and move out what all they leave.  It does feel good though :)

So during my breaks from organizing, I decided to try a mini album that I've seen from Follow The Paper Trail that I posted earlier.  Boy did my mind really start working on how I can recycle food boxes now.

I distressed around the edges some to make it look a little older.

These are very simple albums and I've got some of the embelishments on this one but will probably put more pages and more decorations on it as I have time.  This one is the theme of "Friends".  I've got an idea for this one so we'll see.  Little by little I'm fine tuning the technique.  Here are the shots of the different pages.  As you can see, there are cute cubbies in these too, just like my exploding box.  Love that idea!!

Loved the vellum saying that I put on this one on the left side.  On the right, this is just stamped for a place to journal something :)

These next few shots are of a few more embelishments that I put on Carissa's "Secret" Memory Album that I'm making her. This will be a work in progress but hey, I've got 9 months lol. No I don't plan on doing something on it everyday. Could you just imagine how big that would be??? :)

I added the embelishment of "Our Wedding and the adoreable satin/lace with pearl edging.

I added the upper left tag and fits right in with the page.  The little heart on the "I Do", you can slip a picture onto it.  How cute is that!

I will put their actual wedding date on the embelishment once it is finalized.  This is an actual smaller pocket that I am putting extra goodies in for more pictures, maybe napkins from the wedding or maybe invitations.  These cubbies are so cool!!  They can actually hold quiet a bit.

Notice the embelishment in the flower??? It says "Love". The little ticket I have on the paperclip is precious!!

I think these extra pieces are perfect.  They can put a picture of her on the bride one and one of him on the groom.  They just sit in this slot and the only thing holding them is the extra lace I put on it.  I swear tutorials on YouTube are a great source of ideas too :)

I've put the clock on this one.  Once I find out what time they will be married, I will put the hands on it for a little memory :)

I put one of the flowers I made on this one.  I'm still pondering how to fill this one up.  Time will tell :)

2 more cute cards they can add pictures too and then the sleeve part has "Our Love Story" as the tab that they can add yet another precious photograph on.  Now remember these tags all have the back to put things too.

So I've added yet another flower I made and the "Mr & Mrs" sign.  Still room to add a picture or something on this page.

The last thing I did on this one today was add this adoreable chip board embelishment to end the album. 

I tell you what, if you EVER want a very personalized gift, go check out the tutorials on the web.  You will find so many different ones and they are just priceless and so personalized.  Who wouldn't want to get one of these :)

Well hopefully in the next week, I'll have some of my treasure finds done so I can post them also.  Wow,

I think I am more busy being unemployed than when I worked fulltime!!  lol

I'm joining Kara today on her Look what I made made over at her site at Creations by Kara.  Hope on over and see what she's up too :)

Have a great day!!

xo ~ Laura

Memory Album

Happy Tuesday!!

We had the strangest but very pretty sunset last night and we aren't quiet sure why it was a little hazey but here is a picture of it.  Of course it doesn't show the true beauty of it but still :)

I am working on some "secret" projects for my youngest daughter for her wedding day.  Thank goodness she doesn't read blogs lol!!!

We were in the scrapbook store the other day and she saw this album that was on a brides wedding day and said "Mom I want one of these"!  Well of course having the time off work right now and she works Monday - Friday, I can go over and get what I need so I did :)

This is the base of the book and I will put other flaps with cubbies in between these main pages for keepsakes, more pictures and special memory items for her.

So far it has turned out very pretty and I am estatic about it!  The next part will be a little harder and more tetious but I want it to be perfect as I'm sure she will be putting this one in her hope chest and treasure it.  She's a very sentimental person.

I am also letting all my blog friends know of a friend of mine who is new to blogland.  Her name is Melanie and she is at Country Chicks Design.  Her and her daughter work together and have some wonderful country items and do a few shows a year.  Hop on over and check them out.  You'll love what you see!!

Also I'm linking to Linda at Costal Charm for today.  Hope on over and see all the fun participants on her Nifty Thrifty Tuesday's!

I'm trying to also get some major organization done right now that I'm off work so that I have things organized and places to start storing the wedding items so my major crafting projects are on hold and just doing smaller ones right now but it's relaxing and that's what it's all about.

Hope you have a fantastic day!

xo ~ Laura

Exploding Box :)

Happy Monday!!

I came across a blog that totally caught my eye for a few reasons.  First off Laura over at The Paper Trail lives here in the PNW very close to me.  She has an awesome blog and teaches some classes at one of the local scrapbook store.  She is fabulous!!  I decided to try the exploding box to see how it would come out.  I can warn you that it is time consuming but it is SO worth it in the end!!  I am very pleased on how it turned out.  I'm going to try a few of her other techniques and we may be making some as gifts for the girls for the wedding :)

I will warn you this has a lot of pictures so grab some coffee and enjoy!

This is a picture of how it looks all put together.

Next these are the different pages that I put together.  There are so many little cubbies in these where you can put notes, add pictures or whatever is special to you.  I am pretty proud of myself as I even did the lid and on the first try!!

This is one of the side outside pockets.

This is the backside of the outside pocket.

This is a shot of the side outside.  I didn't put a pocket on either of these but made them the same.

Now get ready.... when you take off the lid this happens~~ getting the name "Exploding Box"

These are just the shots of the different pages.

And there you have it!  It isn't perfect but it looks great.  It takes a little while to figure things out but I'm sure now the next one will go a little smoother :)

Then remember I gave you a tease of a flower and that I was in the process of doing a prototype up? 

Well here it is!!

I have a little more work to do on it as the chalkboard decided to crack on me in a few places.  I've never had it do that before but I will fix it!  The picture doesn't even show how country and worn it is.  I painted it, distressed it and then put a copper finish over it.

Giveaways that I'm linking too this week are:
Kimberly at Briar Ridge Farmhouse
Frenchy over at Le Chateau des fleurs
Mrs Sassy Crafter
I hope that you have a fabulous day!!

xo ~ Laura