Santa's Drawers

How stinkin' cute is this?! This was last week's weekly inkling from Splitcoaststampers and I just love it. It has 3 drawers that pull out and are the perfect size for candy, small gifts or a gift card. Now, I will warn you that it was a fairly tricky and time consuming project. But once you've made one it would likely be much easier the next time. And it is definitely worth it! Mine is a little different from the one on Splitcoast, especially on top. I put a "belt and buckle" around it along with brads as "buttons" to make it look like Santa's jacket. Super cute and fun for anyone who receives it.

Tissue Box Cover

Wow, 3 projects in one week and I'm about to start my 4th! My creative side has been enjoying the fact that my cake ball business has slowed down just a tiny bit the last 2 weeks (only 3-4 orders per week instead of 6-8). I think it's because everyone is saving their orders for the holidays. I already have a bunch set up for Thanksgiving and Christmas so I better rest up!
This is a fun project from Splitcoaststamper's weekly inkling a couple weeks ago. I thought it might turn out a little flimsy and cheap looking but it isn't at all! It looks and feels very professional. And since it's not Christmas themed I can keep it out all winter. I think I will be making these for teacher gifts this Christmas. I'm sure every teacher has a box of tissues on his/her desk and why not spruce it up a little! Check out www.splitcoaststampers.com for the step-by-step instructions.

I'm baaack!!!

I can't believe it's been 7 months tomorrow that I last posted on this blog. Terrible I know, but I have a really good excuse. You see I started a new business! It's called Mary's Confectionery where I specialize in making cake balls. You might remember a previous post where I described what cake balls are and showed a picture of the delicious little treats. Well, I was always being told that I should start selling them, so I thought I would give it a go. And let me tell you I've been busy! And I don't see an end any time soon. The holidays are coming and they are perfect for those family get togethers, so I have a lot of orders already lined up. If you would like to visit my cake ball blog follow this link: www.marysconfectionery.blogspot.com.
So anyway, I haven't had much time to craft, but I did manage a little time yesterday to whip up a few cards. These are birthday cards that I needed this month. I hope the girls enjoy them.
I hope that all of you have been doing well and have gotten a lot more crafting done than I have! :) Mary

Another TriShutter Card

Here's another TriShutter card that I just finished. (Sorry the photo isn't great. It's about to rain here so I lost my light and didn't feel like getting my photo cube set up.) I just love how these cards look and I can imagine how people I send them to must react when they open them. So fun! I hope you all have a very wondrous and happy Easter tomorrow. God Bless you! Mary

Rockin' the 50's and a Card

My son had his 4th grade program the other night and boy was it fun! It was called "You Can't Stop the Beat" and was a music tribute to the 50's and 60's. They sang some fun songs and there were a lot of great dance sequences. Even though my son makes out like he doesn't enjoy programs and performing for everyone, man did he do an awesome job and he looked like he was having a great time.
And here is a TriShutter card I made the other day. Isn't it cool?! You can find a tutorial on Splitcoaststampers' website or go to YouTube and type it in the search box. It looks complicated but I was surprised to find that it wasn't. It took a bit of time to cut out all of the layering pieces though. And another thing, you need 12x12 cardstock which I didn't have so I had to improvise a little. But other than that I really enjoyed making it and love how it looks. Give it a try!

Crafty Chicks Projects

I have a friend/co-worker, Julie Campbell, who is the paper crafting queen if you ask me. You may have heard of her. She has had lots and lots of cards featured in various magazines and websites. Her work is wonderful and her personality is sweet. She is my paper crafting hero and I tell her that she's going to have her own company someday and I want to work for her. Follow the link on my side bar to her site "Stamped in His Image".
Anyway, she has a class called Crafty Chicks that meets monthly and makes projects that she supplies. It's super fun! Here are the projects from last month's meeting. They were easy yet oh so cute!

Happy Friday

Happy Friday everyone! I hope you all have been having a good week. All is well here. We're just plugging along, waiting patiently for spring to arrive. We've actually been enjoying some pretty good weather here lately. It's been anywhere from 50's to 70's so it feels like spring has arrived, but I'm not that easily fooled. I have too many years of Indiana winters under my belt. I know that March always holds one last little winter punch for us before it's over. Just when you get used to the spring-like weather and think all of that winter mess is behind you, WHAM! A big snow or ice storm comes along and makes you cry. So I will not rest easy until the end of April at least.
Anyway, here's a lovely card I made today. I fell in love with this chandelier stamp the moment I saw it at Archiver's and thought it was perfect for this DP. Take note of the cute little rhinestones on some of the dangle-y things at the bottom. Love it!

Brown Bear, Brown Bear...

"Brown Bear, Brown Bear what do you see?" Do you know this book? If you have had a child in the past 10 years or so I'm sure you do. It was a favorite in our house for a long time. Well, that's what I thought of when I made this card. Oh the memories. The memories of reading books over and over again until I would recite them in my sleep. I remember thinking that it would be nice when the day came that my kids could read books on their own. Well, the old saying of "be careful what you wish for" is so true. Now I long for those days. I ask my kids every once in a while if they want me to read to them and they say "Oh no, I want to do it on my own." Man, how heart crushing!

Do you like camping? Our answer to that would have to be...um, no! Sure, we're all for sitting around a campfire roasting marshmallows and talking and stuff, but when it comes time for bed we want a comfy mattress without any mosquitoes buzzing around our heads. My husband says that his idea of ruffing it is staying at a Motel 6. :)

Anyway, I have a good friend who's husband loves camping. When I say loves I mean he's so good at it that he's the one I would want on my Survivor team.

So when I was at Archiver's recently and saw this camping DP I immediately thought of them. I made this photo album for them using decorative chipboard, photo pockets, and my Bind-it-all. I wish I could show you all of the pages inside but it would take too long.

Do you have a Bind-it-all? If not, you should get one. You can do all kinds of things with it and it's so easy to use.

Slumber Party Fun

Oh, to be eight years old. Girls, do you remember when you were around eight years old and you went to your first slumber party? What innocent fun. At this age there's none of the worry that you hear you should worry about with teenagers nowadays. No worry that boys will crash the party, or alcohol being sneaked in, or worse. No, at eight years old it's just all about having fun eating pizza, playing games, watching movies, painting your nails, and staying up past your bedtime.

My daughter turns eight years old today and last night she had her first slumber party, and boy did she have fun! Actually it's 8:40 am right now and the fun is still going on...they're playing hide-and-go-seek upstairs, laughing and squealing. I feel sorry for the cat. She's probably seeking solace under our bed.

As you can see by the pictures, everyone had a good time. Even the dog is wiped out! I think we'll all be taking a nap this afternoon.

What I've Been Up To

I don't have time to write anything of significance today but I wanted to share what I've been up to with you. Enjoy! Mary

Gooooooooo Colts!!!!!

Here are my cake ball footballs that I made for our Super Bowl party. Yes, they taste as good as they look. Have fun watching the game! Goooooooooo Colts!!!!!!

Winter Storm 2010

Well here's what's been going on around here for the past 20 hours. 6 inches of snow so far with more coming next week. I know this isn't anything like what the east coast is going to end up with, but it's enough to slow us down for a few days. It's about one of the prettiest snows I've seen in a while. I love how it sticks to all the branches. My husband admits it's pretty but that's about as far as his compliments for it will go. For some reason having to go out and shovel the white stuff off the driveway makes him less than fond of it. I for one love it. But then again, I get to stay inside under a warm blanket and look at it through the window. So don't listen to me.

Journal With Matching Pen

This week's episode of Gina K's "Stamp TV" is how to cover a notebook and make a matching pen. This is my attempt at it and I have to say I really like the results! If you haven't signed up to get her weekly videos you really should. They are very professionally made and contain complete step-by-step instructions. I never miss one of them. Follow the link on my sidebar.

Flexibility

I remember with longing the days when I had this kind of flexibility. When I was a kid I could sit on the floor with my knees out to each side like a big W. I would seriously hurt myself if I tried to do that today.
I've never seen a dog lay like this. It makes me laugh every time I see it. I don't know if it's just comfortable for him or if he's trying to cool himself off by having his belly flat on the cool floor or what. All I know is that it's darn cute and I'm envious.

How Now Brown Cow

Aren't these cows just the cutest? They remind me of my parents. That sounds bad, I know, but it's said in the best way possible I promise. My parents are retired, and to me these cows look like they're out enjoying the day and doing what they please...just like my parents are doing. Plus, my Dad was born and raised on a farm, the very farm he now owns. My parents don't live there but my Dad goes out there almost every day during summer to work on it "just for fun". I don't know how sweating, grunting, and getting dirty can be fun, but to each his own. My dad doesn't have any animals on his farm now but he did when he was a boy. And he loved the cows the most, still does. He thinks they're cute. And I have to agree. So to this day, whenever I see a cow I think of my dad. I'm not sure how he feels about that, but again, it's meant in the best way possible. "Look, cowies!" (inside joke meant for mom and dad)
By the way, this image was a free download from Pioneer Woman's website. I just printed it out on cardstock. I also wrote the saying on Word and printed it out as well.

It's Your Birthday...Soak It Up!

Wow, doesn't this look nice...soaking in the bathtub?! I can't remember the last time I've done that. Something about having kids to take care of, a house to take care of, a husband to take care of, a dog and cat to take care of, and a part time job just doesn't leave much time or energy to do such activities of luxury. Heck, after about 4 months I just found time yesterday to get my hair cut. I don't know, relaxing in a tub of warm water filled with soothing, sweet smelling bubbles, surrounded by candles, listening to the hypnotic sounds of...silence is highly overrated. At least that's what I keep telling myself. It's probably dangerous too. I would surely fall fast asleep and drown. Don't tell me any different. Please let me live in my world of denial. I like it here. Mary

Happy Tuesday...and Wednesday!

Happy Tuesday! Well, it will be Wednesday when you all get this so...Happy Wednesday too! Boy was today ever productive. I hate those kinds of days where you have the entire day to yourself and you have big plans to get lots of things done but instead you sit in front of the TV or take a nap or just laz around. Those days have their place, don't get me wrong. I love a good lazy day as much as the next person. But I hate it when I plan big but do nothing. I feel like it was such a waste. Anyway, today was definitely not a day like that. Today I got the kids ready for school, made them breakfast, got them on the bus, did all of our laundry (washed, folded and put away), cleaned the downstairs (cleaned, like high dusted the walls and wiped down the kitchen cabinets kind of clean), showered, made 5 cards while watching a movie, surfed the web, answered some e-mails, helped with homework, made homemade chicken fried steaks, washed the dishes, helped with baths, put the kids to bed, made lunches for tomorrow, and am now typing this post. Whew, I'm tired just thinking about all of that. But it's a good kind of tired.
So here is one of the cards I made today. It's a Valentine's Day card as you may have guessed. I really like that it doesn't have the typical red Valentines-y color. Hope you like it!

I'm Obsessed!

Ok. I'm officially obsessed with these boxes. They are so fun, easy, useful, and pretty. I keep thinking of all the occasions for which I can make them. Here is one I made for my in-laws who are currently on vacation in Florida for 3 months. Though it's not really a great time to be visiting Florida right now since the temps aren't that much warmer than they are here, it's still fun for them to be away for a while. I thought they could use this to keep their photos from trip. You have got to try this box! Mary

Memory Keeper/Card Box

Are these not just the cutest boxes or what?! The idea and instructions for these came from Gina K's site "Stamp TV". She has top quality video instructions as well as a free template that you can print out. I know I say things are easy a lot, but these really are. From start to finish it only took me 30 minutes to make one. To me I think that's pretty good. And it's such a versatile box. You can use it for cards that you wan to give as a gift, or to organize photos that eventually will be placed in a scrapbook or as a little scrapbook itself, etc. I love it and will be using it a lot in the future.
PS: Dad, don't let Mom look at this post...I'm going to be giving these to her for her birthday. :) Mary

Happy Belated Birthday to Me!

Happy birthday to me...2 days late. I was too busy enjoying myself on my birthday to post anything that day, and then I had trouble logging on to blogger yesterday. So I had to wait until today to share my birthday with you all. But I don't know what I was in a hurry for...after you hit 40 who wants to share, or even acknowledge their birthdays anymore anyway. :) My kids had a 2 hour delay in starting school that day because of the weather, so my birthday got started a little late. I had a nice day to myself, crafting and watching/listening to a couple girl-y movies. Then we went out to eat and back home for cake and presents. I got a really nice silicone rolling pin and an insulated tote to carry my 9x13 pan...boring gifts to some, maybe, but they're just up my alley and I love them. It was just nice to be singled out for the day. My husband is really good about thanking me, and reminding the kids to thank me, for being such a good mom and for taking care of them. It does my heart good and makes it easier to do all of that for them when they are so appreciative.
Anyway, here are a few of the things I created on my birthday: a set of cards to give as a gift and a post-it note holder. Enjoy!

3 Boxes

Yesterday I made 3 very fun and very different kinds of boxes. The one with the snowmen on it is one that I cased from Julie Buhler's site. The other two came from the Chicnscratch site. They were posts that I had saved over the past few months and always meant to get to but never did. The kids were occupied with their Christmas toys for quite a while so I was able to get a lot done. All of these boxes were easy and really fun to make.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year everyone! I hope your year is filled with hope, promise, peace, and health. While my husband and I were out for dinner last night we talked about 2009. We agreed that it really was a pretty good year. Sure we had some bumps in the road but they were bumps that we have endured before and will assuredly have to again, but we survived. More than survived...we came out better for them. We gained knowledge and experience that is more valuable than anything. And really, those bumps could have been worse if we look at the big picture of how bad things could be. So overall, we had a pretty good year. Which makes me nervous for what 2010 has in store for us. Good luck must run out sometime..."waiting for the other shoe to fall" kind of thing, you know. But we'll just have to take it day by day, always remembering to be thankful for what we have, and knowing that nothing is a sure thing. And I hope I am writing the same kind of letter this time next year. God bless you. Peace and love to all, Mary.