Moxie Fab - Turquoise & Gold

I'm back with another submission for the current Moxie Fab challenge....I keep plugging away, but so far, I've never won. We'll see....at least it's fun to participate and share with other card lovers.

This week's challenge was triggered from this photo via the House of Turquoise:
I went to my stash and came out with this:

I have to admit, I'm not a real b-i-g fan of glitter or bling (just a little bit for me please) but I decided to go out of my "element" and use some Doodlebug glitter that I won on another blog giveaway (and I had the colors to match). I also used some neat tools in my stash including a Martha Stewart border punch, a Quickutz embossing folder, my Spellbinders Labels One dies along with a tag die, along with some pretty K&Co ribbon. Supplies from Papertrey Ink include their rustic twine, Vintage Cream Ink, and the Mega Mixed Messages stamp set.

The chipboard butterfly and hearts are from Fancy Pants. Thanks for spending a few minutes with me today, I hope you enjoyed it!

Moxie Fab Tuesday Trigger - Cabbage King

I decided to participate in this week's Moxie Fab Tuesday Trigger Challenge....I could resist with a picture of a gorgeous January King cabbage [click here for the trigger image]. I was also able to incorporate several of my new tools and some new pieces in my stash. Here's what I came up with:
I also needed a birthday card for this week, so that makes it all worth while!

For this card I used some Papertrey Ink patterned paper, a new border punch from EK Success, a heart made from Quickutz cork paper using my SU "Hearts & Brackets" die, along with a Quickutz tag die and matching rub-on.

The twine is also from PTI, along with some of my favorite 20/cent twill. I can't make anything without it!

I decided not to "over-think" this card, but instead I kept it simple. Until next time...

Easy Idea Storage

One way I keep all of my "creative" ideas sorted is with white notebooks. I have collections of them in various places in my house. I have them in the kitchen for recipes and coupons, my girls keep notebooks of special drawings in their rooms, and I have a shelf in my craft room of these notebooks:
I am a huge magazine fan...love to read them....all kinds and at all times, and I always fold down the pages of ideas I would like to keep whether it be for a tile project in my kitchen, something to do outside, something I would like to sew, or a special treat I would like to make for a classroom holiday. Before I give a magazine away, take it to the "friends" shelf at the library, or recycle it, I go through and cut out the pages I want to keep.

After the page has been cut out, I use my 3-hole punch and file it away in its appropriate notebook. This particular notebook (below) is my holiday notebook and I have it separated using dividing pages (with tabs) according to each particular holiday.

Having everything filed makes it so easy when I want to look at upcoming ideas for future holidays, find a template to sew a Christmas stocking, or make my favorite sausage and potato soup. I love using notebooks.

If you haven't tried this organizing system, give it a try!

Thanks Ashley!

Every once in a while I stumble upon an idea and just fall in love with it....well, in this case, I found two ideas from Ashley's fantastic blog, "Make It and Love It." I don't exactly remember how I found her blog, but she featured two scarves she made and I immediately ran out to the fabric store (or in this case, my local Wal-Mart was closer) and found two remnants that were perfect for the job.

Here's my version of Ashley's knit scarf - she made hers using a pretty green and I found this charming floral:
Next up, I used Ashley's awesome tutorial to make my own flannel scarf [which I promise I ironed before taking the picture]:

What an economical way to jazz up your winter wardrobe....these remnant pieces were less than $3.00 for both scarves. I will admit that the knit version takes longer to make than the flannel one only because you spend more time cutting all of those little fabric "texture" strips. I might have an idea for next year's homemade Christmas gift.

Inspired x2

I was so inspired from the Moxie Fab Tuesday Trigger (see previous post) I put together this quick card using some scraps that were on my desk....and I happened to have red thread in my sewing machine already....love it when that happens!

The patterned paper used here is from K&Co., the solid cardstock is from Stampin' Up and the rustic twine and stamped sentiment are from Papertrey Ink.
The bird was cut out using a stencil I bought a while back at Hobby Lobby. The teeny tiny red gem is from Memory Box.

This is not my usual-type of card, but it was fun to do something a little different.

Tuesday's Trigger

I decided this week to participate in the infamous "Tuesday Trigger" challenge over at Moxie Fab's blog...I've seen the triggers many times, but this is my first time sending something in (there's so much awesome talent out there). Here's the trigger picture straight out of the Pottery Barn catalog:
And here's what I put together this afternoon....nothing like waiting until the last moment:

And because I love the close-ups so much better than the front-facing pictures (I've got to get myself a macro lens) here's another look:

Supplies I used include: cardstock from Stampin' Up, a Cuttlebug embossing folder, scraps from my stash, American Crafts Thickers letter stickers, my Spellbinders scallop die and my favorite PTI rustic twine. The border punch is from Fiskars. My inspiration came not only from the trigger but a piece of Cosmo Cricket paper I found in my paper drawer. I recreated the pattern on the paper for the focal point.

Thanks for taking a look!

When Life Gives You Lemons

Our neighbor gave us the most delicious blood oranges and lemons over the holiday break. They were straight out of his backyard and he was so generous by giving us several sackfuls.

Did you know that you can freeze lemon slices to use later on? My neighbor's Mom shared that tip with me several years ago and I'm so glad she did.

I decided not to let these juicy babies go to waste, so I sliced them up and flash froze them in my freezer.
Now I've got a big bag of lemons for lemonade, pound cake, cooking, whatever! Try it when you have too much to eat at one time, or when a friendly neighbor gives you lemons the size of mini footballs.

Pages to Share

I found myself way behind on the pages of my "40th" album...remember the one my sister made for my birthday that I should have been keeping up with [daily, weekly, monthly???]...well, I sat down over the holiday break and made of list of some things that I wanted to include and got busy. Some of these pages are good [in my humble opinion] and some are just "put together" and I'm happy with them....you know how that goes sometimes.

I made this page to celebrate winning a book from the Papercrafts blog. I was hugely excited to win such a great prize. [Although this page came together easily, I can't put my finger on what it's missing...]
This next page was done to remember the time I spent making moose costumes for my daughter's 2nd grade class. We made moose antlers, hooves and muffins in a stack. In the end, all the work (and burnt fingers) were worth it because the kids had a great time. Did you notice the mini-antlers I added to the "Super Costume" award ribbon?

Next up, is a page documenting our "101" and "202" photography classes that we took in July and August. There's so much our cameras will do, it's just hard for me to remember everything. I kept a notebook of meticulous notes and refer back to them often. I love the colors on this page.

And last up, is a page reflecting back on a neat Christmas activity we did with the girls on Christmas Eve eve...in St. Augustine they have trolley tours that take you throughout the city. At Christmas, they run the trolleys at night so you can see the city with all of its pretty Christmas lights everywhere. During the tour you sing songs, drink hot apple cider and munch on delicious sugar cookies. It was so much fun and the weather was perfect.

Here's a close up of my snowflake embellies:

The only bad thing was with the trolley moving about and the darkness of the night, it was so hard to get any good pictures. My husband managed to sneak in these two shots and for that I am thankful. They aren't the best, but good enough for me when that's all I've got.

I'll be back with more! Thanks for letting me share.

Scrap-tastic Challenge

When I saw the "Scrap-tastic Challenge" on Nichole Heady's [Papertrey] blog I knew I had to participate. What a fun way to use up your scraps and brighten someone's day.

I went to my cardstock scrap pile first and pulled out two pieces of "Spring Rain" along with a strip of "Hibiscus Burst." Next up, was a visit to my drawer labeled "die cuts" - this is where I keep my bits and pieces of things that don't make it on a scrapbook page, card or whatever paper design I'm working with. That's where I found the punched border and small white flowers.

Adding some American Crafts striped ribbon, stamped images from "Turning a New Leaf" and "Floral Fusion" along with a matching button and my favorite twine, here's what I put together:
The gems were actually added to cover up a design flaw, but I really think they added to the card. I originally wanted to weave the sentiment strip on the front of the card, but didn't like the way it looked so, I improvised and added the gems.

Here's a closer look:

Thanks for taking a look!