My top fave projects of 2010

Can't believe how fast this year has flown by, can you!?? With only hours left until the new decade begins, I've decided to share some of my favorite projects from 2010. Most of you know my main interest has been scrapbooking layouts, but I also love doing mini books and altered goodies, so there are several of those projects in my list of faves. Might I just add that this year my card making has really taken off, thanks in large part to lots of inspiration from my SCDT peeps, Nikki in particular. I'm actually enjoying it and even liking my finished cards...imagine that! :)


Also, in the past few months, I've succumbed to yet another addiction--copic coloring! Thank you to Molly for being so helpful and awe inspiring in that area. I would never have realized how much fun it is to learn "adult coloring" without your help, my friend.


First up is my toilet paper roll mini book. Yeah- toilet paper rolls!! I think this is my most favorite project of the whole year. I love that it's made from t.p. rolls. Oh and I've used one of my handmade stick pins on the cover. Who would have thought recycling could be so cute! Here's the original post - you can see all the tags and pics in the slideshow on the sidebar.

This project was sooo much fun! I picked up some books at the thrift store after watching Angela Daniels' idea for making a booksafe and turned it up a notch to make this treasure box for my mom for Mother's Day. Check out the original post to see more details and the inside of the box as well. I also made a key ring which I wrapped up and put inside.

Mod podge, baby! I love that stuff. I used a doily my mom made to make the basket. Love how this turned out and it was really fun to make. This would be a great project to do with the kidlets. Here's my pictorial on how I did it.

This adorable little birdhouse idea was shared with me by one of my DT buds. Is this the sweetest li'l thang?? And easier than it looks. Here's my post with a link to download the template.

And here are a couple of my favorite layouts from the past year. Don't have many pics of SIL Dom so this one with Emmy had to be scrapped. Emmy turned 3 last month already. I can't stand it. I looked for the original post, but apparently I never posted this one on my blog or something - I can't find it!

Logan and Courtney's big catch. Love these pics. They are such funny little guys! Here's the post with all the deets for this page.

And finally a few of my favorite cards. Never used to like my finished cards, as you may already know. Most of them would end up in the trash, in fact. But I'm finally learning to love them and feeling much better about my card making abilities. Here are a few examples.

Beautiful dancer fairy rubber stamps, design by Amy Brown. This was my first project for the Queen Kat Design Team.

Here's another copic colored image. I'm really enjoying learning blending and shading techniques with these pens. Original post here.

Get well beary soon card - original post . You'll have to scroll a tad as there are other cards in this post as well. Love his sweet face!

And scroll down a bit here for the mushrooms card - post

Huge loves to all! Thanks for a great year. Keep the comments coming, I love reading them. Be safe and have a HAPPY SCRAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

Vintage Valentine

This week I'm sharing more sneaks from the upcoming Valentine release from Cottage Cutz. Have I mentioned how much I love them?? Well, I do! These are just a few of the fab pieces coming soon.



Skeleton key - This key comes on a 4x4 die with another vintage-look key. These are awesome! There are also small sentiment stamps that fit perfectly on the top of this key (key to my heart, s.w.a.k, kiss and a couple of others.)

I cut my key from metal tape -you heard me right - metal tape! It's the coolest stuff I've had in my stash for years. It can be embossed, cut, folded...it's thin adhesive backed metal and comes on a roll like duct tape but it's for insulating....or something. I don't remember exactly what it's for, I just know that in my scraproom it's used for crafting! ;) In this case, I applied the tape to a piece of cardstock before cutting, then cut another key from cardstock and adhered them together giving a really nice and sturdy finished piece.

Label - the label comes on a 4x4 die in two sizes so you can use each separately or mat them as I have done here. The stamp is just one of several sentiments that fit beautifully on the label. There are also six background stamps that work with the label.

And finally, I added my own handmade creations to my card; the stick pin and ribbon flower. You'll also notice I've machine stitched my card as well as inked and sanded adding to the vintage feel. The photo is a free image I found online.

Thanks for coming by today. Happy New Year!

Be Mine

I know it may seem early for making Valentines, but really, it's only 7 weeks away. Crazy how fast the holidays creep up on us, isn't it. Well this weeks Queen Kat Designs project is a Valentine card using one of the Raggedy Critters stamps and the Be Mine sentiment. I must admit, I do like how this card turned out. The color combination is unique and rather striking I think.


I've colored this little guy with copics and popped him with foam tape on this flower background die. The sentiment is stamped on one of the nesting ticket dies from the Lifestyle Crafts CHA release.

Be sure to stop by the store and check out the 70% off sale going on right now.


Do you enjoy stamping? Have you ever thought about applying for a design team? Queen Kat Designs is hiring new team members for the 2011 year!! Now's your chance to put your talents to work and earn free stamps and other rewards just for playing with your ink and stamps! Go on....you can do it! Clickon the Queen Kat below and apply today!!

Did GIRAFFE to be so nice....

I love play on words, even hokey ones. LOL I've used this one before, but it always makes me laugh. It was the first thing I thought of when I saw this adorable little giraffe digi stamp.



The new nesting scallops make a great background for pretty much anything on any project, don't you think? The large nesting scallops, circles, ovals and squares are so versatile.



I used one of the scallops for my inside message.

This week's project:

Nesting scallops
Basic Grey papers, Sugared collection

Thank you stamp by Stampin Up

machine stitching

copic coloring
giraffe, freebie digi stamp

button, embroidery floss, grosgrain ribbon

Another fairy ornament

Today I'm sharing one more ornament I made using the Star Shine fairy. I love this image, she's so pretty and fun to color.






I've embellished the ornament with beads and bling.

This is the back of the ornament.



I hope you had a Merry Christmas!

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all my friends and followers! Stay crafty. :)

Sneaky peeky

I know it's a tad early for Valentines, but who doesn't like a sneak peek, right!? Today's card is a sneak of things to come from Cottage Cutz. The label is a die and it also has stamps that fit perfectly. The damask pattern is one of the background stamps! Cool, huh. There are five more in the set as well. And the "love" is a stamp from this release too. You're going to love them!!!

I'm ready, I'm ready, I'm ready....

Spongebob fans will get it. LOL

So pumpkin pie is cooling, dinner rolls are rising, all the gifts are wrapped and the ones that were mailed have reached their destinations. Santa can come any time now! Snow is piled up everywhere with more in the forecast. What could be better.....oh well, one little thing. A fireplace. But as long as I can turn up the thermostat and stay toasty, I'll manage. :)

Are you ready for Christmas?? It's Christmas Eve Eve so you haven't got much time left. Get yourself to the mall or to the kitchen and finish up already.

WINNER WINNER CHICKEN DINNER!!

And the winner is...................HEATHER! {insert party horns and confetti here}

Heather, email me your snail mail addy and your pins will be on their way to your mailbox tomorrow.

Thank you all so much for commenting and following. Thanks also to Nikki for sending so many of you my way. (and to my husband for performing the very scientific way of choosing the winning name from a jar LOL). I hope to keep your interest with inspiring projects and more freebies as well.

Merry Christmas to all my friends, old and new. :)

scrapendipity@gmail.com

Nesting circles and scallops, oh my!

Before I share the details of my layout today, I want to remind you to leave a comment on my Merry Christmas to you post and become a follower to win my yummy blog candy! I'll be drawing a name tonight at midnight, so you still have time to play. You can win all five handmade stick pins just by commenting and following. Woohoo, what could be easier. :)

Ok on with the project. :) I've done a layout. Yay! Seems like forever since I've done many layouts, doesn't it. That happens this time of year though when I'm usually making cards and/or gifts. But enough of that, let's get to the layout!

Oh my gosh, I love the new nesting circles and nesting scallops cookie cutters!!! 21 circles and 15 scallops - whoa, can you say awesomeness! I love using them for mats and stuff. They make great backgrounds and can also be used as photo mats or journaling circles.

I also love October Afternoon if you didn't already know that. LOL I couldn't wait to use the Modern Homemaker collection with this photo of Grace in her chef hat...

...and had to use the circles and scallops to make this cute background mat for the Buggy Designs Build-a-Cupcake by Scrapbuggy.

For this cute embellishment, I cut the mixer from one of the pattern papers using one of the nesting circles and added this chef's hat to match Gracie's hat in the photo.

Merry Christmas to YOU freebie!!!

Ok, who doesn't like free stuff!??? I for one, love free, so I thought I'd share some of my fun projects with YOU for Christmas. You like!?? :)


I love handmade embellishments but even more fun than using them (seriously, I rarely think about actually using them LOL) is making them. For my first freebie, I'm giving away FIVE handmade embellished stick pins, each one different than the others. All you have to do to win these pretties is leave a comment and become a follower of my blog, and you'll be entered in the drawing. That's it. Simple as can be. Easy peasy, lemon squeezy!



I'll draw the winning name Tuesday so don't wait too long. I will also be posting more freebies in the days and weeks ahead so keep your peepers open for more yummy handmade goodness coming your way.

Thanks for stopping by today. See you again soon!

My Favorite Christmas Memory

The following is a letter I sent to my, then local, newspaper in 1997. It's my favorite Christmas memory; a memory that means so much to me and reminds me every year to be grateful and count my many blessings. Thank you for reading my story. I would love it if you would post a comment sharing your favorite Christmas memory. :)

The Key Peninsula/Gig Harbor area has been home to me and my family for 34 of my 43 years. During those years, I have donated clothing, household items, and food to local food banks as much as I can throughout the year, never expecting, of course, that I would one day be in need myself.

Several years ago, my daughters and I fell on hard times and the holidays seemed bleak. By Thanksgiving, I still had not found employment. The girls had just entered high school, and though they had never asked much for Christmas even in good times, I felt despair in knowing I would not be able to give them much of anything that year. We did our best while I continued looking for work, but finally had to seek help from a local food bank to make ends meet. A short while later, we received a call from the food bank telling us a local family wished to “adopt” us for Christmas. About that same time, my job search finally paid off and my first day of work was to be December 20. That day, we woke to several inches of snow on the ground and no power. I had no way to get to my new job and no number to call them. We were not the only ones snowed in, however. The food bank was unable to deliver Christmas to many adopted families. Though the families and the adoptees generally remain anonymous to each other, our “family” decided that if it meant the difference between our having or not having a Christmas, they would make the delivery personally. Not only did our family bring gifts in abundance, they also delivered a van full of groceries, including laundry and cleaning supplies, and everything imaginable for Christmas dinner. As if that wasn’t enough, this wonderful man drove me to my new job and later called to find out what time I finished so he could drive me back home!

This true story of the spirit of Christmas always brings tears to my eyes. We never heard from our adoptive family again. We understand they left the area some time ago, but their gift of love and generosity will never be forgotten. That Christmas, which looked so dismal, remains one of our most cherished and treasured holiday memories.


Isaiah 58:7a
...Share your bread with the hungry,
and bring the homeless into your house.

Unhappy Reindeer

My sweet doggie, Joey, is such a princess I can't believe she actually let me put this on her head...and then stood there long enough for me to get a pic. LOL She was sooo happy when I took it off. What a sweetheart she is to indulge me. ;)


The little lights on her "antlers" twinkle so I put bling on them in the photo to make them look like they are blinking. I love the elegant reindeer die and blinged that up as well adding stickles to the antlers and tiny i-rock gems to the ribbon.