Quilting, Sewing and More!

Things have been so busy with the move, lots of birthdays, projects due and more! On February 13th, Madisyn will be baptized and I have had her fabrics for her special quilt picked out for months...and a plan of what I wanted to do. I wanted to do a fun quilt with lots of circles cut out of her fun fabrics on a neutral pattern and with me just trying to come up with the pattern on my own...I kept getting stressed out. So, I found a simple pattern that I liked and spent the entire day yesterday...cutting and sewing!

I have loved the look of the Coin Quilts for awhile and I've heard that it is really easy and quick to do...so I thought it was perfect. A few quick links:


Coin Quilt Pattern via Moda Bake Shop
Inspiration on Flickr
Information on Squaring up your Fabrics via the Purl Bee (I needed a good tutorial on this)

I used fabrics from Heather Bailey's Freshcut Line (which I always loved but never used), some Amy Butler favs, some corduroy and some other fun pieces thrown in.

The cutting took me all morning and then I started to lay out the 5 patchwork lines for the quilt. Then, the sewing began. I finished up all the 'lines' this morning at 9:30 a.m. Super fast for me! So, now I am cutting the sashing for the middle and the border and will get it all sewn together.

I hope that she will love this quilt. I was going to do something much more simpler and 'rougher', but in the end, I want it to be something she can really have forever...possibly pass on to her own little girl someday.
 
On a side note, my projects are up at Studio Calico using the February Kit. You can check them out here. There is also a fun challenge on their blog this week using one of my layouts as the sketch - check it out and play along!

I'm off to watch LOST! So excited that it is back...so sad that it's the last season. Bachelor...anyone watching? I always call it from the first night (or at least to the last 2 standing) and I totally think Tenley is awesome! We'll see! :) Have a great night!

Simple & Inexpensive holiday gift: Bookmarks

This is another project from an Autumn Leaves book that ended up not getting published...these holiday bookmarks with some photos of the kiddos. You can personalize them with the initial of the recipient and have fun decorating them with cardstock, sequins, gems...whatever you have on hand. I made one for my Mom and an extra for my own books...all using simple craft supplies that I had laying around.

In other news...we are moving...again! Crazy crazy...I know!! It's been an intense 2 months for us while we have been trying to find a new home and everything luckily fell into place this week. We are thankful for that! We need to be in there and out of here by January 1 so I feel like this whole month of December has just been a whirlwind! Luckily, the move is right behind this house in a great cul-de-sac with a wonderful, bigger home. I'm excited to get in to it and be able to call it out 'own' and get decorating a bit more. I haven't done much in this current home and that's been hard for me...so I look forward to some of those changes.

It should be a fairly eas'ier' move than last time - load things up and drive them over - I'm not going to be having to box things up and all that - just take things over so I hope that it will go smoothly. Busy time to be moving - hectic to say the least - but we'll get it done.

Our Christmas shopping is done...and although the decorating for Christmas hasn't been much this year - there is a little up. I had so many fun projects I wanted to do but with this upcoming move - it just didn't happen. It is what it is...right? :) Are you done with your shopping? We've got lots of family parties this weekend and next week - so much to do - and yet we are trying to enjoy the holidays and the Spirit of Christmas as much as possible! I hope that you are all having a wonderful December!

Inspired by: Melissa Frances

I was honored to be asked to be the Guest Designer for Melissa Frances for the month of December. You can view a little Q&A with me and some cute holiday ornaments that I made all on the wonderfully creative Melissa Frances Blog.

I have more projects that will be going up throughout the month of December - so keep checking their wonderful blog!

I have to say...I LOVE those plaster frames! I think they are plaster...not quite sure. But, I've had my eye on them forever...so I was thrilled to get some to play with! I'm addicted to these bright, trendy colors right now and decided to use them on my Christmas tree this year. So, I lot of fun colors and goodies from Melissa Frances made them so fun!

Thanks to the crew at Melissa Frances for being so kind to work with and for having me contribute to your amazing site this month! Watch for more projects throughout the month.

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On another note, I've been cleaning and cleaning and going through tons of stuff! I am going to have the biggest Scrapbooking Sale in the Spring - seriously! In the meantime, I put up a bunch of stuff on ebay (Stampin' Up! stamp sets, a Cuttlebug machine, Cricut cartridges, etc.) and they all close on Sunday afternoon. So, take a looksie and if there are items you want, be sure to snag them up! If you win something and your a blog reader, be sure to let me know and I'll throw in some extra goodies for ya! :)

Vintage Cubbie & Halloween Inspiration

When I first saw the new fall catalog from Pottery Barn, I just took a big, deep sigh. Oh how I love them! Their stylist are amazing and thier new focus on 'vintage' is just beautiful! I have been all about vintage lately...adding in vintage benches and little vintages pieces bought from consignment stores and etsy...vintage modern is definetly my new passion!

I love anything that is similar to vintage lockers, apothecary cabinets, little drawers and cubbies and fun places to store and display little treasures. So when I came upon this amazing vintage inspired cubbie in the catalog, I was instantly smitten...and then quickly placed my order. 

Now, the dilemma of how to decorate this beautiful piece! It has been put up on the wall that you see as soon as you walk downstairs into our main family room. I love the way that it loI've got some ideas that I'm hoping to get done here soon...right now, I've placed just little things in the cubbies to visualize and get an idea of what I want. I'll share pictures of my progress soon.

Some other fun vintage inspired pieces at Pottery Barn:

Skeleton Keys

Found Thread/Wooden Spools (although I think these are over priced)

Galvanized Metal Collection: Chalkboard Cabinet, canister, and this super cute serving piece (I love how they decorated this for Halloween - so inspiring!)

Canvas Typewriter Prints 

Floor Standing Pinboard

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Now that October is here and the fall weather is upon us, I can't help but think of Halloween and all the fun things I want to create! Here are some links to some fun Halloween things that I'd love to try play around with this month. If you have some fun ideas or links...share in the comments section.

Martha Halloween Pumpkins
   (check out all of the amazing ideas at Martha's Halloween Central)
House of 3 Halloween Dingbat Font & Halloween Definition Brushes
LOVE this Halloween Digital Kit from Paislee Press at O'Scraps
These digital Halloween Kits from Carina Gardner are so amazing! Here, here, here and here.

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I've got a fun annoucement to make next week! Check out this if you want a hint! :)
Have a great Friday! I'm off to do some vintage inspiration shopping (and a scrapbook store too of course)!

Stamping with Watercolor Markers and more

This layout was recently published in the one of the recent issues of Better Homes & Gardens Scrapbooks, etc. Magazine. The technique focus for this project was stamping with watercolor markers. All of the stamping on this page (and there is a lot) is all done with watercolor markers that were purchased at a large craft store. Be sure to click on the layout for a larger view.

I love to color my stamps with markers...I love the varied look you can get with one stamp i.e. highlight a part of the image or word, add multiple colors to one stamp, blend colors on your image and so much more!

Stamping with watercolor pens was fun, in that it didn't leave such a crisp stamped image like markers do...it truly left a water-colored appearance to each image. I had a fun time creating this layout...fun techniques and good memories to document.

If you want to see more samples with stamping with markers, check out this technique article I did over at Hero Arts...some fun, different ways to stamp with markers.

Also, if your looking for a fun shaped mini album idea, check out this album I created of our Annual Summer Vacation to Lake Powell. I die-cut chipboard with a scalloped circle die from Sizzix and then die-cut papers and my photos with the same shape to glue on top. It was such a fun and simple album to create! You can check it out here at BHG, Scrapbooks etc. site.

We are off to California to the beach for the weekend...my brother-in-law is getting married and it should be a wonderful trip. I hope that the kids are good on the plane! Have a wonderful rest of the week!

Ribbon 'Blog Topics' Idea Book

When I decided to start this new blog, I thought it would be fun to create a book where I could plan out my posts for the week and have things organized. I found this amazing list from Erin Vale Designs that was just what I was looking for. It's a 'Dreamy Blog Topics List' for a week. Darling! I downloaded the free design (check out all the other lists on the blog...super cute), I changed the 'green' color to a aqua blue and printed 18 copies (3 lists on printable) so that I would have 52 cut pages for my book (1 page for each week of the year).

To create the book, I cut a thick piece of plastic so that it measured about 1/8" larger than the papers on each side.  Then, I cut and applied a clear adhesive sheet (from Quickutz) on top of the plastic. I cut strips of various ribbons and laid them down on top of the adhesive. I tied some Melon Mambo Polka-dot Ribbon from Stampin' Up! around and into a bow on the front of the cover. I then applied 2 coats of 'Scotch Guard Fabric Protector' spray to help protect the ribbon from dirt and stains (purchased in the craft isle at Walmart).

I love how when I open up the book, I can see the splashes of color from the ribbons through the plastic. For the back cover of the book, I cut a piece of chipboard to the same size as the cover. I cut some fuchsia pink and white polka-dot paper (purchased from Hobby Lobby) and covered the inside and outside of the chipboard with the paper. I punched holes through the covers and pages with my Crop-a-Dile punch and added some silver rings to hold it together.

I love this little book...it's a great way to keep track on my plans for the blog each week and a fun 'journal' to look back on as the year goes on.

I am excited about this new blog - I have a lot of fun thoughts and plans and with the kids back into school now, I'm excited to get posting more!

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On another note, it's the beginning of a new month...September! I love this time of year...fall is my favorite season! Bring on the cute fall clothes and boots, football games, falling leaves, crisp air...I love it all!

A few Inspirational Finds that I want to share that I'm loving...

SPARK EVENT! 
Have you signed up for this? It looks amazing! I love and admire each of these girls and I think what they are doing is such an awesome idea - I'm sure the event will be nothing short of amazing! Be sure to check it out and register!

Studio Calico September Kits:
Love these! And I love their stamps like crazy!! Check out their kits before they are gone for the month!

Stampin' Up! Holiday Mini Catalog:
The Holiday Mini Catalog went live on Sept. 1 and you can now order from it. Lots of amazing goodies in there...beautiful new jewelry (so loving this) and new digital scrapbooking - wow! You can check it out at my site, download the PDF and place orders all from the above link. So cool!

Hero Arts Blog:
This place always makes me smile and has so much fun stuff going on! Bookmark it for your daily inspiration! Their new Cling Mounted Stamps (AMAZING!) and their Holiday catalog are out and you can order from them now! I think this and this are new favorites!

There are a few for you today. Have a great Wednesday!

Welcome to Be Creative - Everyday!

Welcome to my new home...BeCreative-Everyday.com. Thanks for making the move with me and for the new blog readers - welcome! I hope that you will find inspiration here.

Today, was Back-to-School day for Madisyn...2nd Grade! I can't believe that I have a second grader! I took photos of her this morning and followed her to the bus stop to see her off. As she rode off in the big yellow bus, I thought about how she must be feeling right now...feelings of excitement, nervousness, pride, joy, anxiety and more...an emotional roller-coaster I'm sure.

As I walked in the door to my house, I realized how I was feeling the same way and doing the same thing today...going back-to-school...only in a different arena. I'm starting my new blog & site today...BeCreative-Everyday.com. I feel the same pangs of excitement & joy and anxiety & stress, but I am also anxious to get back into a rhythm of doing something creative, inspiring and fun...and sharing it with you!

I have lots of fun, creative ideas and projects that I plan to share: scrapbooking, cards, stamping projects, sewing, quilts, photography, home decorating ideas, inspirational finds and so much more! I hope that you will join me on my creative journey.

For those that are here from my old blog, I just want to take a moment to thank you for your friendship & support. I had my blog for over 4 years and I'm so thankful for your comments and for the chance that you've given me...to share with you & to get to know you. Thank you...to those of you who have bookmarked my blog and linked my blog on your sites (if you'd like, please update your links to my new site)...that is an honor so thank you!

Lots to come and I'm excited to get sharing again with you! Thanks for joining me!