Another Skull Card

Not so frilly like the others...

Santa Gift

Santa brought me a Just Jawing stamp set from Stampin' Up! I've seen sooo many cute samples on SplitcoastStampers, I just couldn't resist.

What do you think? (Click on the image to see the full card. I need to figure out what I'm doing wrong when I upload these to Flickr...)





I hope to have a few more samples later today...

And I'm loving my new camera - sure makes taking pics of my work so much easier!

First Xmas Layout

A few weeks ago, I went to one of my LSSs and made the tag in this layout - then bought the kit to make the whole page. Click here to see the original version of the page. Mine looks different because I made a few cuts before I should have and ended up not having the right supplies to do it exactly the same. I'm glad I gave up on my perfectionism because I think this turned out cuter than if I had copied it exactly! (click on picture to see the whole page)


I was so excited that she did so well with Santa that I couldn't wait to scrap it!

The most expensive layout EVER!

6 months ago, I attended a local scrapbook convention with a couple of friends. I took 4 classes and really liked 3 of the 4 products. Of those, 2 were taught by the same person and also another class that Bestie H attended. I really liked that layout so asked Bestie H to pickup a kit for me and I would just recreate from looking at hers @ home. BIG MISTAKE.

First of all, I didn't think the kit would cost as much as it did. I don't even want to post the price here cause I'm embarrassed I spent that much. Actually, Bestie H spent it not thinking to call me first.

Second, they had to "go home" to make another kit for me and weren't sure if I wanted boy or girl, so they made both. I wanted the boy - it was a way cuter layout and something I have almost nothing of. I do have tons of nephews and friend's kids that I can use it on...

Third, a month and a half later I opened the kit to recreate it from Bestie H's and there is a sheet of patterned cs missing! A few months later, I went into my LSS to find a sheet and they were sold out - not to be restocked. I had waited too long (not unusual in my life...). So now I've been hunting a suitable replacement. You must remember I am a perfectionist. I admit it. I'm trying to get better but it's hard.

So there we stand with the most expensive kit that is missing a vital piece. Sigh. Collecting dust in my craft space. And if you've been to my house since September or so, you know how dusty and cluttered that space is. I've had an extra work table out that also ended up being cluttered.

So I woke up Sunday with an itch to clean and organize - specifically the craft space. ***This does not happen often!*** So I had to take advantage while my mood was right. About 7 pm, guess what I found? Remember the red cat's eye chalk I thought I had? Yup, I had it. I finally finished tonight after being gone most of the day. The extra workspace square table now holds all of my supplies to donate or sell. I am so proud of the purging I've done. It's almost like losing weight or getting a haircut!

So a day and a half of work later, here's the cleaned up space.Sorry, I'm too embarrassed to post before shots! Probably what I'm most proud of is that I organized all of my paper/sticker/odd shape embellishments into one (very large) binder - organized by theme. No more searching in multiple locations when I want to work on a layout. There are other storage places for embellishments as well but they've been that way for a while now. This binder, wow! it even has tabs indicating each theme :)

I promise this really is going somewhere. I rewarded all of my cleaning with sitting down to work on the most expensive layout I discussed above. In all of my cleaning, I found a piece of patterned paper that I thought would be a good replacement for the one left out of the kit! (Oh there is so much that I "found" in the last 2 days...)

The top is Bestie H's (do you even still recognize it since I've had it for 4 months?!). The bottom is my version.

And I couldn't leave out the frogs...




I used buttons instead of cutting circles out like yours.... If you click on either of these 2 pictures it will take you to flickr where you can see the set of pics and view pages individually.

So, Bestie H, if you've made it this far, what do ya think?!?

I'm a Twerd now!

Just finished Twilight this morning. Bestie H, Bestie Sister and I are all going to go see the movie, along with a friend of Bestie H. They have all already seen the movie once! I'm a little worried that I'm not going to like the movie as much as I like the book...

I'm not obsessed with Twilight like Bestie H is. However, I did discover today that I am obsessed with ribbon! If you see me out shopping - do not let me buy ribbon. No matter what I tell you! You can however, let me buy ribbon organizers.

I've spent the day purging my scrapbook space and organizing what I'm keeping. I have made tremendous headway but I'm not finished yet. I won't allow myself to work on any projects until this is done!

All is right in my world...

Christmas cards are mailed - yea!

Christmas presents are wrapped - yea! {ok...most of them}

One last homemade gift to tie up the loose ends (literally, tying the ends on a no-sew blanket) - yea!

And we had our first snow in FOUR years! Yippee!!!! The last snow was Christmas Eve - that was so neat. But I do believe that we probably had more snow at our place this year.

It's not everyday you see palm trees covered with snow ;) What a year it has been - both a hurricane AND snow!!!

For my Besties...

aka Twerds (Twilight Nerds! I love this term!! lol) You know who you are!

I found this site a few weeks ago, have it on my follow list and don't want to add yet another to my blog roll.... But since I keep my follow list anonymous you've got no idea that I found this.

Sometimes there are lots of posts so it can be a little overwhelming but I've really liked many of the ideas since I've been a "follower".

Check 'em out!!! They do lots of giveaways like some of the others we follow :)

If Bestie H would ever get me that book I could be a Twerd, too ;)

Handmade Christmas Gift

I belong to a scrapbook group that meets once a month. Ideally. Sometimes we scrap and sometimes we talk more than we are productive! For December, we've decided to meet for breakfast and a small gift exchange. The rules were that it had to be homemade/handmade.

This is what I made. Not my original plan but I screwed that up twice so I moved on to a different frame and paper. I still think it turned out OK. I was a little over-zealous on the inking...I wish I'd had a cat's eye red but instead I got messy with a paintbrush. :( I'm really trying to get over my perfectionism!

I like the idea of putting a coordinating paper inside... I still want to go have a piece of glass cut - I hate that they don't come with the glass in already.

Still trying to win something!

I posted a few weeks ago about other giveaways... Today, I'm trying to win a baby sling! It sure will come in handy in May :) I had a sling with the first baby and neither of us cared for it.

If you're still looking for xmas gift ideas - this website has frequent updates (with a lot of giveaways, too!)

30days: Baby slings for stylish modern mums

More Giveaways

A really neat site giving away TONS of stuff for all of us scrapbooker type people :) The 12 days of giveaways started yesterday...

Even if you don't want to enter for yourself - you can always give your winnings to ME!

http://timholtz.typepad.com/my_weblog/

The Turkey

This is the turkey that I've been trying to copy...From Scrapbooks Etc Magazine.
THIS is what I've been able to accomplish after weeks of work LOLThe lighting is bad...but I'm not going to get a chance to take a picture during daylight...ever... and the flash makes it look horrible. The buttons really are very similar to the original as well as the feathers. I was lost for the eyes and beak...searched everywhere I could for fallish color flowers that are just the right size and style. I may decide to put a light coat of paint on the feet. Right now, I'm afraid to have the AC turn on for fear that it will fall over! LOL (Yes, I said AC and not the heater.)

There is a button missing. Already. GRRR! I will probably fix that whenever I get around to making a tag. My turkey is missing something so I think the tag necklace will definitely make it feel complete. Maybe I'll get around to it NEXT year! hahaha If only I was kidding!

As I said before... I really intended to make 2 so I could sell one in the Etsy shop. But I don't think anyone would be willing to pay what I would have to charge to make me want to do this again!!!

I'm still here!

What's it been - like 3 weeks since my last post? I've just been too tired, sick, or busy to do anything crafty... In the few hours that I haven't been feeling the affects of pregnancy, sleeping off the virus I apparently had, taking care of my sick 2 year old, helping family members to doctors appts, etc.... I've been Christmas shopping! My goal is to always have it done before Thanksgiving. I'm also making a few gifts but are still in progress.


So my etsy shop is not taken care of like I would it to be... The first trimester yuck was supposed to end at the first trimester - will someone please tell my body this? I'm not complaining, because I did ask for this! But, my plans for the shop have had to change. I actually have been working on a holiday craft that I hoped to sell at my shop...but after weeks of searching for the right elements and hours with my glue gun...there is no way that I can make money from selling one of these! I hope to share it soon. It's a cute turkey that I saw in one of my scrapping magazines...

I started this post over 24 hours ago! I spent today at the Nutcracker Market and boy am I tired. I have never been on opening day so I had NO IDEA how crowded it would be! I picked up a couple of gifts for others and a couple for myself :)

The other place I'm looking for gifts is at The Tip Junkie. I actually missed the first day of giveaways which would have really come in handy for the next baby girl....but oh well. There must be something better waiting for me! LOL If you haven't heard about this site yet, you should go check it out.

Cute as a button!

Don't worry, I do not plan to post pictures of every single layout I complete....but I'm so proud of myself for completing this I could not resist.

My daughter will turn 3 years old in two months. Before yesterday, I've only scrapbooked 4 pages in her album. That's right, 2 layouts. So these pictures are over two and a half years old...the pictures are from her 2nd month!

I was first inspired by the button challenge...which I now think the buttons are lost in the layout since it's so busy. The pictures are not the greatest - a couple are downright horrible - so I was frustrated with that. But I'm happy with the end product.

I'm submitting this to the girls at The Happy Scraps for the current challenge which is to use something 2+ years old. LOL The pictures, the calendar page, the valentine paper, most of the embellishments.....ALL over 2 years old.... (Click on picture to see individual pages)

What I really like about the page is that I created a hidden pocket to hide a Valentine craft with my daughter's picture on it that we received on her 2nd day at daycare. The ribbon at the top of the right handed page is how you pull the valentine out. I love that I found a way to incorporate it without making a whole extra layout.

My Halloween Cards!

I've been getting inspired by The Happy Scraps. They posted a challenge a couple weeks ago about buttons and believe it or not, I've been working on a layout because of this challenge. Their new challenge is to use products over 2 years old...which everything on the button layout is that old so I think I'll submit it to them under that challenge...LOL


Then, I saw this and couldn't wait to create my own version.

I think it turned out cute! There's a lot of cutting but I only make 2 or 3 cards for Halloween...I can handle it for that few. "Halloween" is in the Willy Wonka font - so cute!

Santa Christmas Card

I had a sudden urge to design my Christmas card for this year. I know, it's not even Halloween yet...but if I need supplies, I need to order them soon.

I pulled out the Christmas stamp sets that I own and started looking online for ideas. I want a card that is red and black because the picture of my soon to be three year old daughter is going to be taken in a red petticoat.

Side note: I hosted a portrait party last weekend and we saw a preview of the petticoats that Tasha bought for her Christmas Mini-session....so I went out and bought a cute top from Gymboree and blue jeans (hopefully she'll wear them!) to go with the red petticoat. If you are in the Houston area and want Christmas pictures, checkout this site. You can also check out Tasha's blog here for more info on the pettis. I love Tasha's work so much that she's the only photographer that I've used in over a year and a half!!!

Back to business: I came across a santa card online....and I've seen them before...I think I even made one at a stamp class! But I knew this is exactly what I wanted since my daughter's shirt says "Santa's Favorite" on it. So this is my version. I didn't have silver eyelets but may get them to try it out. I heart rhinestones right now...they are the "o"s in Ho! Ho! Ho!

What do you think? Any suggestions? I'm thinking of making the buckle a little thinner...

Plan to post this as an item for sale on Etsy whenever I finalize the card.

Finally, some Halloween cards!

I can't really use Hurricane Ike as an excuse anymore, but it sure does take a while for things to get back to normal!


I'm back in the groove for posting to Etsy now and my Halloween cards are listed. I won't bore you with anymore excuses :)

This was the final Halloween card that I was working on...I love the ribbon and rub-ons with this card. The Stampin' Up! pumpkins are just too cute!
I'll start working on the Christmas cards and gifts next!

Cool giveaway

One of the blogs I watch on the left (fellow Etsy shop owner, Everyday Celebrations) is featured here and you can enter to win an adorable Halloween Quiet Book. If you win, you can always give it to me :)

She started her shop around the same time I did but is having much more success than I am! I'll get back on track soon LOL... I have a couple of LeAnne's products and love them!

Have a great weekend!

Halloween Cards

We've had power back for a week and a half and I've been trying my hardest to get things back in order. I do have a couple of Halloween cards to post at the shop and will be doing that soon. Here's a sneak peek:



I have one more idea in my head that I plan to make today...and then get them all posted for sale!

Aftermath

Just wanted to update here that we survived Hurricane Ike and actually came out well in respect to damage and what "could have been". We are STILL waiting on power to be restored but are lucky enough to have family and friends that are putting up with us in the meantime :)

I should be able to check my blog daily from now on as I'm visiting our public library (both for the Internet and air conditioning!).

Hurricane Ike

*****Paisley Petals is in the projected path of Hurricane Ike. Please know that we may be without power for several days and I will respond to all requests as soon as possible. Thank you for your understanding!*****

Christmas Control Journal

Since my daughter's birthday is just days after Christmas, I'm always a little overwhelmed with the planning and gift buying for both celebrations. PLUS, being a teacher, we normally worked until the 22nd or so of December - not much time off to prepare!

I've always kept a list on one piece of paper that listed who I was buying for, my limit, and any ideas I had. Plus, I kept all receipts in one location so that I could easily find them for refunds or exchanges if needed. My list would get very messy and I was in need for something a little bit "more". Right after Christmas last year, I discovered Flylady. The control journal made perfect sense to me! It was exactly what I needed. Holiday meals, parties, functions, Christmas card list and gift ideas could all be combined into one notebook. These pictures are of my own control journal for this year. I've already printed several forms from the Flylady site to help me set it up, plus I've been clipping pictures of gift ideas and saving coupons or flyers. Two pockets in the front for coupons, gift cards, etc.
To store my receipts and gift receipts (I think I will label each envelope still)

A friend of mine forwarded this site to me as well - and it suggests starting in September to prepare for a stress-free holiday!

If you'd like a journal like this - I can personalize the front to suit you, please visit my shop :)

Christmas is only 15 weeks or so from now!!!

Halloween Items

I have a couple of Halloween items up for sale right now. Lots of retired Stampin' Up sets, but a couple of my handmade crafts as well.


A cute Halloween clipboard-




And a set of adorable Halloween magnets with google eyes!

Checkout my shop link in the upper left corner for more details.

TFL!

Welcome!

Welcome to the Paisley Petals Blog! Please visit my Etsy shop @ http://www.paisleypetals.etsy.com/ to view all of my current items for sale.

Thanks for stopping by :)