Happy New Year!!!

It's a new year and one of my resolutions I plan on keeping is this...
I will spend more time in my scraproom, playing and experimenting, enjoying the art of crafting that fulfilled many hours of my week in the past.

I have already been keeping that resolution and have opened an Etsy store and joined an new message board with a lot of old friends, "Tally Scrapper". I look forward to many projects and activities. Check out my Etsy store for some of my latest creations!

Teacher Gifts

It's been a long time since my last post, but it's been crazy busy here. I want to thank all my clients for the holiday orders and I hope you like your creations. A few custom scrapbooks and oodles of cards were created over the last couple of months.

With the holidays approaching fast, I've been creating some extra special gifts. One of my friends, wanted to have something special for her children's teachers. She decided that the teachers had enough trinkets with the standard "A+ apple" on them, so she found a great idea after searching on-line. Each teacher will now be the recipient of something made personally for them. It's a great idea and not costly to make.

After tracing the letter on a 12x12 piece of cardstock, crayons were super-glued to it. The teacher's name was placed on the page using Making Memories rub-on letters. The shadow boxes are from Michael's Arts and Crafts.

Claire

I just finished another scrapbook for my friend Brooke. Claire, her youngest, will be turning one soon and it took two albums to get her first year scrapbooked. Here are a few of the layouts that are included. Now it's time to start working on Kennedy's album!

Register and Win

I am so excited about the wonderful things happening at The Shaker Box. I've been creating with my monthly kit today and just love all the goodies in the April package. If you haven't seen their kits, you need to head on over there and sign up for access to the site. There is a new challenge posted every day too! It helps keep that mojo going strong.

To celebrate the re-opening of the message board associated with the kit club, I've decided to sponsor a contest. Each new member will be entered into a drawing in which one lucky person will win a complete monthly kit. The drawing will be held on April 20th and the winner will be able to select an available kit of their choice. Keep in mind there are some awesome paper kits, amazing digi kits, and adorable card kits.

Sign up today at theshakerbox.com then come back to my blog and leave a comment. Tell Linda, the owner, that Mindy sent you to the site. After you leave your comment, your name will be entered to win a monthly kit from The Shaker Box. It's the place where creativity and friendship meet!

Fiskars Fun Day ~ Cave City

It was a great day for scrapping in Kentucky. Over 200 people gathered at the convention center in Cave City for a "Fiskars Fun Day" hosted by Scrapbook Village and other independent scrapbook stores in this region. Each shop set up tables with items for sale and had demonstrations of different Fiskars tools. The day consisted of four classes with some great "make and takes". Rebecca and Stephenie were just two of the teachers for the day.

One of the highlights of the day was getting to meet Pinky. I have known her for over a year, in the on-line world, and ended up spending the day with her. We had a blast and spent more time socializing than we did scrapping. We did get a few things accomplished, made a few cards and put together a couple of charity layouts. I'm already looking forward to next month. We are planning on getting together with a couple other gals and having a "week-end crop".

Scrapbook Room

The room is organized and I'm ready to head down to do some scrapping! While the actual room is not completely finished, it's functional. My darling husband still needs to finish the ceiling, hang doors and do some trim work, but since the room is in the basement I'm in no rush.

I've got a table set up as a work area for my sewing machine, Cricut and printer. There is storage for magazines, my Bind-It-All and suppplies, Cricut cartridges and more. On the other side of the room I've put together storage for stamps, inks, paints, ribbon, chipboard, letter, flowers and other embellishments. The Making Memories wall unit was perfect for adding storage while not taking up floor space. At the end of my work tables, two 4' folding tables, I've put a bookcase to hold scrapbooks and items I plan on altering.

I continue to dream of having a studio built off the back of the house, something with a lot of windows for natural light and beautiful cabinetry to hold my collections of art supplies. Until that happens though, I can be very happy in my basement scraproom. I've got everything there I need.

Another Scrap Job

I've been hired to put together an album for a friend. I've done several for her already and she keeps coming back for more, so she must like them. Anyway, her daughter's birthday is approaching and she needs her yearly scrapbook completed before the party. I will be starting that this week. But first, I need to get a few things done for me. Right now I'm participating in a contest happening at the Life Preserver's Club and so far, so good. I'm waiting to find out if I'm moving on to the next round, and if I am then I need to work on a layout for that. Here's last week's layout.


I've started remodeling and organizing my scraproom. I've got a lot of room to work in but I wasn't using it to my advantage. By moving a few things around, I will be able to use the room for sewing and other projects. Also, with friends scheduling annual trips for local group crops, I'm going to need the extra working space. Hopefully we can get some scrapping done here at the house before we head off to meet the rest of the girls. I should be finished organizing in the next day or two and then will get some new pictures posted.

Changes?

I actually had somebody ask me today, "What did you change? You look different and sound so happy." Well there's only one thing I changed and it was my associations. I feel like a new woman and am so happy ridding myself of negativity. I've started creating again and I mean creating for me! I don't feel obligated to do anything scrappy related.



If you're looking for some wonderful ideas, check out the links here on my blog. Head on over to The Shaker Box and check out the gallery for more creations. There's some great inspiration there and some wonderful chatting on the message board. If you haven't seen Linda's kits, then you are really missing something! They are amazing!

Wonderful things...

...are already happening at my new scrapping home, The Shaker Box! Besides having some amazing kits, Linda is really building a great message board. There's already a class scheduled for February that Vicki will be hosting. Really cool Prima stuff, so you better get over there and get registered.

Another project is coming...

…next weekend. I have got another video project that I will be posting next week. This is a quick and easy tip for any scrapbooker, any level. Right now though, I am at my parents’ house for a couple of days. Gabriella turns 6 on Saturday and they are having a birthday party for her tomorrow evening. Gosh, they grow up fast don’t they? It makes me feel old.

Altered Placemat Project.......video

I thought I would try a new project and decided to film a “how to” video. It started as a 25 minute video and I cut it down to 8 minutes. I made an altered placemat to put under my dogs’ water bowls. This would be a fun project to do with your kids too. Shoot, you could use the placemat with some dry erase markers or crayons and let preschoolers use it for Basically you need a canvas placemat, contact paper and embellishments.

click on this link...How to Video

Giving a RAK...

...to one lucky person.

I made this “Family” mini-album and have decided to give it away. In order to be eligible all you need to do is leave a comment on my blog and your name will be placed in a drawing that will be held on Thursday the 7th. Good luck everyone!

Altered Items

I thought I would try something new yesterday, and I made a tutorial video for the scrapbooking site that I belong to, Making Memories for You. Well, it started as a 25 minute video but I had to cut it down to less than 10 minutes in order for it to upload to YouTube. The project that I made was an altered placemat and it will be used to put under my dog's water bowl in the kitchen. This project was so easy and quick. The more I thought about it, this would be a great project for the kids to do. They could make their own with some of their drawings, or even better those of you that have preschoolers, you could make one using a blank sheet of paper. When it's finished, just give the kids some crayons or dry erase markers and they can practice their handwriting skills and such. When they finish, just wipe it off and they can use it again!

Check out the video.