XMAS GIFT BAGS AND ORIGAMI BOXES.....

LUV MAKING THESE!......so simple and cute...bags are made from one sheet of paper and only took a few minutes to put together....the origami boxes themselves are also made from a single sheet of paper and then I made little lids for them.....I first saw these boxes on jennings644 youtube....Jim the Gentlemancrafter must have also seen her video as he too tried his hand at making one.....

All together now I have made 7 boxes and 8 bags....enough for now...besides I can easily whip up a few extra if need be...

Now, if I could just get motivated (creative juices aren't flowing yet) and make some Xmas cards!....

MOTHER'S DIARY....

Finally found a closure that seemed to fit....a nice little padlock and key set....because of the size of the album, it was difficult to find something the right length as well as danity enough to fit in with the overall theme of the album ( I didn't want to use chain or a belt), so I just tied some crinkle ribbon through the padlock to an eyelet on the back of the album....

There are a couple of blank pages where I can keep adding important and/or memorable events in Mom's life.....

Here are just a few of the 24 pages of the album....

B O O !.......

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

TRIBUTE TO MOTHER......

Finally finished my album dedicated to my mother's life....a few highlights/special moments through the years....I say "finished" but as my mother is still with me (thankfully) it is still an open book....since I just used a basic ribbon binding, new pages can easily be added for special moments during the coming years....I still need to find a nice closure for it as I want it to look like a diary with a pretty key lock....so far I haven't come across one that has seemed appropriate but I am sure I will eventually find something as special as she is....I will be posting pix over the next week or so.....

BAD BLOGGER!.....

OMG....it has been forever since I wrote anything.....now I realize that summer will be the hardest time of year to do so!.....spent another great week in Vegas a couple of weeks ago....went with my daughter to attend a trade show dealing with pet grooming techniques, supplies, toolage, etc....busy every day attending seminars, evenings filled with Cirque du Soleil, Pat Benatar and a couple of other performances....surprisingly only put down $25 to gamble and that was it....seriously too busy or too tired at the end of the day to do anything else but get some sleep....

I've also been working any opportunity I get on a mini (not so mini anymore) of my mother's life....I am using 12 of the frame chipboard pieces that thescrapbeach had for sale as the pages of the mini and have used mostly the Ladies's Diary paper collection...seemed to take forever to collect all of the pix and to write up all of the information, especially the time before I was able to remember anything about her life....and this I had to gather from various sources as this is a surprise and so I couldn't exactly ask her outright.....it is almost finished and I hope to put up some pix soon.....I am very excited about how it has turned out and so hope that she loves it!.....

Then, of course, my favorite crafty artists have all been coming out with new projects - all of which I MUST do!.....I do know, however, that it just will not be possible!...and then I will have to try and choose which ones I really like the most as I cannot possibly have or make 7 to 10 of each of halloween, Xmas, Thanksgiving, etc. minis!.....

I am sure you have the same dilemma!.....happy crafting....

THEY FINALLY ARRIVED!.....

OMG - back in March I believe I took part in a tag swap with several hundred of the fab. ladies/gents that watch Laura's (followingthepapertrail) ustream shows.....Laura sent mine by "Priority Mail" on June 25th and I just got them today.....three weeks from Washington to Alberta.....wonder how long snail mail would have taken.....

Since I took part in two themes (shabby chic and grunge), I received back 16 tags (eight from each theme)....I am saddened to say that of the 16, only four are from ladies/gents whose names or id's I recognize...and one where there was no name/id at all written on the tag.....I will keep my eye out on chat in the event that the ones I do not recognize happen to log in.....

Awesome work ladies/gents and thank you....hopefully there will be another swap in the works in the not too distant future.....

MY EVER EXPANDING CRAFT AREA!.....

No matter how large of an area you have, your "stuff" will always expand to fit that space...how true, especially where scrapping supplies/tools are concerned....can I even remember when I didn't have scrapping supplies?....what did I put in the space it now occupies?.....I moved into my current home 8 yrs. ago and developed part of the walkout level into my scrapping area....since then it has expanded into my office/library...even so, I find myself gravitating to the open area of my home (kitchen/family room) and scrapping there, covering every table and counterspace that I can find!....I prefer to work out in the open, close to my necessities (like tv, fridge, view of the fields and mountains from my window as my backyard backs onto a greenspace with an unobstructed view).....I do not like scrapping in a room with 4 walls no matter the size of the windows!......when I am in the middle of a project (who am I kidding, there are usually many going on at any one time) putting everything back in its place in either of the two rooms devoted to those items is a royal pain.....normally, not an issue if everything is left out, but when company comes I am scrambling to put my home back in order......

To solve this dilemma, I have been searching for a "unit" on castors with enough work space and storage for those common items used when scrapping, yet not a unit so large that it cannot go through doorways....then I could move it back into the craft room (with all the mess on it instead of my counters) when the need arises...

A microwave or kitchen cart might have been the answer but most didn't have castors or the prices were ridiculous....I finally found a nice little computer cart ($20)...it had castors and a couple of shelves for storage....the downside, the work surface was small and not quite the right height for standing and working on (which is what I like to do)....I also wanted more wider shelves...so I got out my saw, wood, drill, etc. and attached a raised platform 4x3 on the top of the unit (now making an additional shelf/storage space) and installed a couple more wide shelves in the area where computer towers or other large equipment would have gone....these shelves now hold larger items like my scor pal and trimmer; and 13x13x3 plastic boxes with lids where I can put all the papers/embellies etc. for each ongoing project....it works like a dream; holds everything I need to work on and rolls back to the craft room out of site!.....where there is a will, there is a way......