Sending You Love.....Etsy kit creations

Happy Monday! I'm getting ready for a big Etsy shop update tomorrow. I have a sick kiddo home from school today so a definite time has not been determined yet. I'll have re-stocks of chevron sacks, grid sacks, large Kraft polka dot & notebook paper sacks......lots of kits for Valentine packaging including a hot pink Bling It On kit.....Divine Twine Valentine striped baker's twine.....embellishments...and more. Here's a sneak peek at my Sending You Love airmail themed Valentine kit that will be included in tomorrow's shop update:
And I have a few projects made from the Sending You Love kit too. First up I used airmail envelopes from the kit to make some goodie enclosures for the reds for Valentine's Day.

iTunes cards are always a great gift for the girls so flat envelopes are perfect for tucking in the card + a candy bar, pack of gum, money or other flat treats. I used Heather's Tag-its #11 stamp set and a 1.75" circle punch to create the heart circles. Other kit items that I used include cork punched hearts, airmail baker's twine, and a paper doily.
Another fun kit addition is the grid label stickers. I ran these through my vintage typewriter and then stamped on the girls' names using Hero Arts mini letter stamps and Papertrey Enchanted Evening and Pure Poppy ink. I love to personalize little gift items/cards and I think these fun labels will be just the ticket.
My second project using the Sending You Love kit features a card with a portion of an airmail envelope used on top.
Base card is Rustic White with chevron patterned paper on the bottom portion. Other kit items used were the blue seam binding, an old postage stamp and more of the grid label stickers.
Scraps from the airmail envelope and patterned paper were used on the inside to create an additional Valentine greeting.
Fun stuff coming up tomorrow so stay tuned to the blog. I'll have more Valentine projects using kit items on the blog all this week.

Project Life:

A lot of you are just getting started with your very first week of Project Life. I'm reading a little about being nervous, a little anxiety even and just a feeling of where to start. To help you out I'm taking step by step photos of my first Project Life week of 2012 and will walk you through my process of assembling a weekly layout. Look for this post maybe Wednesday.....all depends on my little patient and how the week goes. If you're taking photos and jotting down a few notes on your calendar, you're doing good!! And thank you all for the nice comments about me offering encouragement & inspiration with getting you started with Project Life. I'm happy to share, happy to help.

Papertrey Ink:

It's sneak peek on Nichole's blog. And starting on the 10th, countdown posts with fun new projects will be up. I'll have my projects using this month's new products up on my blog on the 15th. Stay tuned. :)

December Notebooks

Popping in today with a December notebook. Aside from using my regular calendar to document my December Daily happenings, I thought maybe a notebook might be nice too. My family really loves to look back on the December albums I have sitting out in a basket so I want to make this one just as special.
I'll be using this December notebook to keep track of photos I've taken, events I want to capture during the holiday season, funny little things that the girls say, etc. I'm sure I'll keep it handy with me everywhere I go. I've got a few of the kits in the shop today....with every December notebook order, I'm including a fun sampling of a few of my NOEL Notions items. :)
I used papers from the Crate Paper Peppermint collection that coordinates with the Holiday Journal I featured in my Etsy shop earlier. I also my stamp set from Papertrey called Take Note along with 2 lined, white notebooks, a large white Vintage Button and red and white baker's twine. The base of the notebook is Kraft cardstock that has been splattered with Studio Calico white mist. On the cardstock circles, I typed *December* using my vintage typewriter. List of stamped words is from Ali Edwards' Technique Tuesday stamp set. I hand notched the 2 patterned paper flags and corner rounded the stamped sentiment using my Corner Chomper.
Here are directions for how to assemble the kit if you purchased one from my Etsy shop....or perhaps you want to create one from your own stash of holiday themed goodies.

Notebook Assembly Instructions:

1. Trim 1/2 sheet of Kraft cardstock slightly longer than the notebook. (maybe 8-1/16").

2. Place 2 notebooks together and lay on cardstock. Use your fingernail or pencil to mark the score lines for the notebook spine. Note: I don't provide measurements for this because I like to hand mark the lines. Score and fold the lines, trimming off any excess you don't want.

3. Use Scor-Tape to adhere notebooks to the inside of the Kraft cover.

4. Use Scor-Tape or strong adhesive to adhere corner rounded, stamped piece and candy cane strip to notebook front.

5. Using scissors, cut notches in the 2 green strips of patterned paper. Trim to desired length and adhere to notebook front as shown in photo.

6. Trim notes and scalloped pieces to match the width of the notebook front. Stitch notes piece with sewing machine if desired. The piece in the kit is not stitched. Note: An alternative would be to paper pierce two lines if you're not into stitching.

7. Adhere stamped December circle to notebook front. Adhere notes and scalloped piece to notebook front.

8. Tie bow in button with baker's twine, leaving long tails. Adhere to notebook front using Scor-Tape or strong adhesive.

Hope you're getting ready for the holiday. I'm looking forward to a relaxing holiday.....and believe it or not...snow!

Holiday Wrappings...pocket with tag

It's time to start thinking about your holiday wrapping. This year my theme is going to be a simple Kraft wrap of small sacks or from a roll of Kraft butcher type paper. With this I'm going to pair the color red and whatever else pops up.

Today I have a little sampling of a brown paper sack pocket with an embellished tag. These little sacks will be used to hold small, stamped notecards....a few candies.....a homemade treat...or perhaps a gift card. I love having these types of holiday wrappings made up and ready to use come December. How about a little tutorial on how I made it?
Supply List:

Small Manila Parcel Tag

Medium Manila Parcel Tag

Mini Wooden Spools

Candy Cane Clothespin if you got some from my NOEL Notions...or Mini Clothespin...or Small Clothespin

Brown Paper Sacks

baker's twine.....I have this one in the shop

Jolly Jingle Bells if you got some from my NOEL Notions...or plain jingle bells

Patterned paper...I used a sheet from the Basic Grey 6 x 6 Picadilly pad

thick cotton twine

holiday stamp...I used an Ali Edwards stamp from Technique Tuesday

dimensional sticker....I used a Martha Stewart star sticker from Michael's

white spray mist.....I used Studio Calico's Mister Huey in white

white buttons

Scor-Tape

For the embellished mini wooden spools, cut strips of patterned paper to fit the spool. Back with 1/4" Scor-Tape. Cut strips to about 1-1/4"long, remove adhesive backing and wrap around the spool. I burnished the end of the strip really well so that it doesn't peel up.
For the tag assembly, check out the first photo. Cut a notch in the small tag to create a little flag, then stamp the image in red ink. For the medium tag, apply adhesive to the tag then stick it on the patterned paper. Cut around the tag and punch a new hole. The two tags will layer together like you see below.

To create the jingle bell wreath embellishment, string two bells, two buttons and one mini wooden spool onto baker's twine like shown below. Tie up the two ends of the baker's twine to form a circle, leaving big loopy bows and long strings. String the cotton twine through both tags and tie off. Using an additional piece of baker's twine, tie the little wreath to the cotton twine. Attack small star sticker to the tag.

For brown paper pocket, fold sack in half and stitch around three sides. Splatter with white mist. Attach gift tag to brown paper pocket with clothespin.
And there ya go, a cute little pocket all ready for some holiday goodies. Enjoy!
Note: The candy cane clothespins and jolly jingle bells are sold out and will not be offered again this season.

Holiday Journals/December Daily update

I'm working today to take photos and get my blog posts ready. I'll have 3 separate posts, dividing up the pages + I'll explain how I'll be using my journal this holiday season. I'm hoping to have the first post up tomorrow or Sunday, depending on the family happenings around here this weekend. :)

I hope you have a wonderful weekend.....and let's remember our brave veterans on this Veteran's Day. The freedoms we have in our wonderful country and throughout the world should not be taken for granted. Somebody fought for you. Somebody died for you. When I think that we can drive clear across our nation and go wherever we want and do whatever we want, I always stop to remember how lucky we are to live where we do. Thank you to all our veterans!

Introducing Noel Notions...

Edited on 10-26-11.....Thank you so much for your orders of my Noel Notions + other shop items. I've updated the items below with sold out status notations. For those of you that ordered multiple times to make sure you got items before they sold out, I will definitely package up all your items together, combine shipping costs and refund any excessive amounts back to your PayPal account.

Hey everyone. Sorry for the longer than anticipated delay. I started this post at 4pm and am just now getting back to it. We had a change in drop off time for the sports bus, then Parent/Teacher conferences and then my nephew got a deer tonight so we had to go see that. So lots of family stuff to take care of. Without further delay, here are my:

Noel Notions

(hand crafted notions for your holiday crafting)

Sold Out-Holiday Striped Baker's Twine:
Glittered Wooden Snowflakes:
Tiny Wooden Spools:
Sold Out-Candy Cane Clothespins:
Sold Out-Chenille Candy Canes:
Sold Out-Jolly Jingle Bells:
Fluffy Snow:
Glittered Sheet Music Metal Rimmed Tags + Manila Tags Kit:
Sold Out-Glittered Clothespins + Tags + Seam Binding Ribbon Kit:
Sold Out-Tags & Sacks Gift Wrap Kit:
These Noel Notions can be used to embellish all of your holiday crafting projects. Each year I create new items that I want to use on my own holiday projects...and this year I'm sharing them with all of you.

The Details:

*All Noel Notions will be offered in limited quantities. A few of the items will be offered in batches at different times...others will be a one time listing. I will update this post with the definite *sold out* items.

*Sample projects of my own holiday cards, gift wraps and other items will be posted on my blog throughout the holiday season.

*There will be no pre-orders on Noel Notions items this go around, sorry.

*Noel Notions will be listed in my Etsy shop starting at 1:00pm Central Time on Wednesday, October 26th (tomorrow).

*Quantities of each items and full photos will be listed with each individual Noel Notions listing. Feel free to send me an Etsy conversation or leave a comment here if you have questions in the meantime.

*More Chevron Bags, Small Blue + Gray Grid & Notebook Bags, Large Notebook Paper Bags + Kraft Striped and Dot Bags will be offered in the shop as well, after the Noel Notions go up.

*If you need more quantities of regular shop items, leave a message in the comments section of your order. I usually have more of the everyday products in stock if needed. I will be happy to add items onto your order and then give a partial refund on shipping.

*Orders placed tomorrow through Friday may take an additional 24 hours to ship due to the increased numbers of packages to address. I usually ship out orders within 48 hours though. I need an elf sometimes. :)

*I have a few more Noel Notions items in the works that I did not get completed. Those will go up in perhaps a week or so.

*If you make an item with my Noel Notions, please feel free to leave me a link in the comments section. I would love to see your lovely creations.

Enjoy and Happy Holiday Crafting!

Noel Notions coming soon...

Noel Notions

(hand crafted notions for your holiday crafting)

(check back tonight for previews and dates)

Mini File Folder Card

Hey there. My Internet has been down due to a huge fiber cable cut in the neighborhood. In the mean time we've been making progress on the girls' new lounge room.

I'm back today with some another school themed project. Did you purchase a Back to School Mini Kit from the shop? It's full of school themed items that are perfect for embellishing cards for the teachers. There's a few more left in the shop. I'll be using items from the kit later on this month in my Project Life album. Great embellishments for the first week back to school for the reds. Tomorrow is Josey's Freshman orientation for half a day and then both the reds start full days on Friday.

Today I have a fun sample project to show that showcases a few items from the kit. This fun card is for my friend Lori, the librarian at Josey's high school. Side note: See those cute Mish Mash books? I just had to take them home with me when I spied them at a church thrift sale.
Instead of using any sentiments that say *teacher*, I used more library themed accents. For the base of my card I used the large index card and folded it in half. It creates a mini file folder. Cute, right?
I took the mini silver clip and tied a *back to school* tag onto it. If you purchased a kit, this stamped tag will be taped to the tissue paper that wraps your kit. Be sure not to toss it out. :) The little tag sentiment is from Pine's Tag-its #6 stamp set. Next I used an index card accent that has been punched with a notebook paper punch and scalloped edge punch. A circle accent stamped with images from Take Note was adhered on top, along with a gold glittered star from the kit.
On the inside of the little file folder card I adhered the stamped library card from the kit. Love this stamp designed by my friend Pinecone.
I also used images from It's Official to make the card look like a real library card that has been stamped and stamped. *Mrs. Houck* was stamped with my handy dandy Hero Arts mini wooden letters. Man, I *heart* those little buggers.
I just love this little project. It's so fun to rummage through the little kit contents to see what you can come up with. Have you created a fun project with my kits? Be sure to link me up in the comments section.

Well, I'm back to The Lounge for another day of work. Today it's all about scraping 5 year old Jolly Ranchers off the floor and painting it a deep chocolate brown. Yesterday we cleared all the old toys out and painted the walls a warm mocha color. I have a feeling we are going to hang out in this room a LOT. I'm already envisioning the leather sofa, a handmade quilt, a hot cup of java and a good book. Sounds wonderful right about now.

Road Trip Kits Coming Soon!

Are you planning a road trip this summer? Are you itching to head out on the highway?
Got your packing list ready? Got everything loaded up?
Got the kids all tucked in safely?
Looking for adventure? Craving that big, wide open space?
Well then, I've got the perfect Road Trip Kit for you! I'm putting the finishing touches on the kits right now. They'll be in my Etsy shop today.

EDITED TO ADD PHOTOS OF ROAD TRIP KIT....NOW IN THE SHOP RIGHT HERE.

Here we go. The Road Trip Mini Album Kits are in my Etsy shop in limited quantities. Here's an idea of what you'll assembled album will look like. The album really takes shape once you start adding in photos and memorabilia from your road trip.

You'll receive nearly 80 pieces with this kit. Almost 40 inserts that make up the main album and 40 pieces to add in as tags and accents.
Lots of hand stamped embellishments using Papertrey and Ali Edwards (Technique Tuesday) stamps. Plus you'll get a full sticker sheet from Studio Calico with a few items stamped on the stickers to get you revved up.
Album pages fit on large rings which are big enough to allow room for expansion. Add in photos, maps, receipts, etc...or use for more than one road trip. Use for vacation, mini trips, business trips, camping trips, etc. The front of the album can be this chipboard coaster square stamped with *road trip*. Use spray mists, stickers, markers, etc to embellish the front cover.
When completed the album will stand upright to fit nicely on a shelf or in a basket. Bottom edge will be flat.
Use the fun accents included like this stamped map of the United States. Use the wooden push pin to poke holes, then insert the black brads to mark your to/from destinations. Use a fine tip marker to draw your travel route.
I've included a full skein of linen colored embroidery floss for some hand stitching. Use the same wooden push pin to poke the holes first.
You'll get lots of stamped pages + pieces of maps and ledger sheets.
My favorite parts of the kits.....these old guest check receipts, service station log, postcard and travel brochure page. Record your restaurant costs, mileage and gas prices, photos of your hotel, etc.
Lots of little coin envies, stamped envelopes and pockets to hold receipts, tickets, photos, etc. Your Instax camera will be your best friend on this trip!
More airmail envelopes and patterned pages....
Also included is a clear page for adding photos and more...plus a stitched pocket page made from a brown paper sack. See my shop for more sacks and tags if you feel you need additional journaling/storage for your album.
Another envelope to tuck in photos or additional journaling. Use the fun labels for journaling, adding the date with a date stamp, etc.
Use these ledger pages with folds to create pockets or to conceal some journaling.
Lots of travel themed patterned papers make for a whimsical journal with fun colors.
All of your photos will match when paired with these fun colors + lots of neutrals on the accents.
Here's a sampling of how you can add a stamped tag, a smaller tag and a clothespin to mark your spot. Use the stickers from the Studio Calico sheet to add more journaling,etc.
I can't wait to use my little album for our upcoming road trip. I'll be taking mine along with me along with a few extra supplies to work on the album while traveling. If you snag a kit, be sure to read your tip sheet to get ideas of what supplies to take along + what kind of memorabilia to collect and more! Plus stay tuned as a few friends of mine and I show you how we're going to use our Road Trip journals.
I've sold a few of the kits already and will be adding the last of the kits in just a bit. Enjoy!!!