Melissa's Crafty Life

Layouts and Such

2012-01-13T08:25:00.000-08:00

I haven't had as much time to scrapbook lately, but here are a few pages from the past few months that I haven't shared here yet.

First up is a layout all about Fall. I had fun one afternoon with my instax camera and the beautiful leaves in the park.

Next is a layout with a picture of my Great-Grandmother and her garden. My Aunt brought me a ton of my Great-Grandmother's pictures the last time she was in town and I have been slowly scrapbooking them. They worked so well with the September kit from Studio Calico!

Here is another one with my Great-Grandparents. I love that my Great-Grandmother wrote on the back of most of her pictures, it makes it so much easier to figure out where and when things where happening.

That is it for today, I will be back next week with some of my December Daily project that I need to get finished. Have a great weekend!

Project Life Week 1

2012-01-12T12:15:00.000-08:00

I have jumped on the Project Life band wagon this year. I spent all last year looking at all the other albums and thinking how great they all looked but I just couldn't see myself having enough to fill the pages each week. Then about a month ago a lot more of my favorite scrapbookers decided to take the plunge this year and I decided to join in too. After getting this first week done I don't know why I thought this project wouldn't work for me. I am a big collector of things, movie tickets, receipts, etc., and I have the best intentions of putting them on pages but that never happens. So having a specific place for these items, plus some everyday pictures and journaling seems like the perfect thing for me right now.

Here is a look at my first week. I am using some page protectors that I already had on hand by We R Memory Keepers and all of the paper and embellishments are from my stash. To make this work for me I am using a lot of Iphone photos since I always have that on hand and I am doing a little bit of journaling using another app on my phone.

I am not taking a photo a day to include each week. Some weeks I might, but most will probably focus on just a few days of the week. This first week most of my pictures are from New Year's Eve and New Years Day. I am keeping things open and just going with the flow. I had the best time putting this together on Monday afternoon. I just hope I can stick with this all year, I think it will be so fun to look back on once the year is over.

Are you doing Project Life this year? I would love to see how you are making it work for you!

Best Laid Plans

2011-12-22T06:38:00.001-08:00

I had such great plans for blogging this month but time has slipped away from me. I have been working on my December Daily album but I am behind. Will share that soon!

Here is something I can share though, my layout for my Scrapbooking Techniques class that is on January 4th at Craft Fancy. It should be a fun one!

Out My Window

2011-12-17T08:11:00.001-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-24T10:28:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I am so thankful for my family and friends and all of you wonderful readers. I hope you all have a great day with family and friends!

December Daily 2011 - Foundation Pages

2011-11-23T10:08:00.001-08:00

I can't believe that it is time for the December Daily album again! This will be my 4th year doing this project and I love it more each year. It's a great way to get into the magic of the holiday season. This year I am changing how I do things. I am leaving most of my pages blank, I am not even adding in numbers for most of the days, to keep things more free when I add in my photos and whatever else I have for the day. I think this is part of the reason that I did not finish my album last year, it was too hard to change and I got bored with it.

Here is my cover page for this year. I used a piece of wood paper and cut it down to 5x7. I added some Fab Rips from Studio Calico around the outside and stitched a piece of fabric on the front. I stamped the December on a gold piece of paper and cut it out along with some other embellishments.

I have been checking out the foundation pages that Ali created for her album this year and I loved the stitched page protectors. Here is one of the few that I am still adding to the album.

Most of my pages are just card stock in white, red and green but I do have a few pages that I have added numbers too.

So that is the start of my album! I am really excited to get started, I have even been thinking about starting this weekend. I will try to be better this year about sharing my album in progress.

Are you working on a December Daily this year? I would love to see it if you are!

It is Beginning to Feel Like Christmas

2011-11-14T12:29:00.001-08:00

They are putting up the decorations in the park outside my house and I have been busy working on cards for my classes. I have also been working on the foundation for my December Daily album that I will share with you all this week.

Today here is a look at the cards I am teaching today.

Are you getting ready for Christmas yet?

iPhone Photo Love

2011-11-07T08:10:00.001-08:00

Just thought I would share some of my favorite iPhone photos from the past few months.

I got a little carried away taking photos of Cinderella's castle when we were waiting for the parade at Disney World in September.

Happy Monday!

Some Christmas Stamping

2011-10-21T14:49:00.000-07:00

My Creative Stamping class is happening this Wednesday at Craft Fancy and I wanted to share some of the cards that we are making in class this month.

I am in love with this stamp set from Lawn Fawn!

The ornaments are so cute and fun to color!

For this last card I got a little carried away with my distress inks! I am thinking about doing a tutorial on the blog for this card later next week if anyone is interested.

Have a great weekend!

28 @ 28: Half Way Point!

2011-10-19T14:33:00.000-07:00

Since today is my half birthday I thought it would be a good time to give an update on my 28 @ 28 project. I have not done anything with the mini book yet, I need to get some photos printed out in the next few weeks. Once I do that I will share the book but here is my list and some of the things I have crossed off so far this year.

~~1. Go to Ireland~~
2. Run/walk 365 miles
3. Cook a meal for my family
4. Read 28 books - I have read about 15 so far
5. Open an Etsy shop
6. Run a 5K
7. Take an online class
8. Knit 3 sweaters
9. Design a knitting pattern - I have a pattern all worked out I just need to finish it
~~10. Visit friends in CA~~
~~11. See a concert with Shannon~~
12. Go to Seattle
13. Take a photo a day for a month
14. Send a friend a card just because
~~15. Volunteer~~
~~16. Donate something handmade~~
17. Try a new food
18. Journal once a week
19. Paint a picture
20. Take a dance class
21. Make cupcakes from scratch
22. Go snorkeling
23. Get a project published
~~24. Plan a fun weekend with friends~~
25. Set goals each month
~~26. Go to the zoo~~
~~27. Go to the beach~~
28. See a show on Broadway

So far, so good. I really need to work on the run/walk 365 miles goal, that one just fell through the cracks and I really need to get moving again. It's good to take a look at this list again and remind myself of a few of these items, even though I haven't done a lot of them I still think I can check off quite a few more before April.

Time to set a few more goals and get a few more things checked off this list!

Scrapbooking Techniques Class this Week

2011-10-18T15:36:00.000-07:00

I am super excited to be teaching another Scrapbooking Techniques class at Craft Fancy this week. I went with one Halloween layout and one Fall layout, both using the Night Fall collection from American Crafts.

I used some of my favorite Disneyland Halloween photos for this first layout that has an opening to reveal more photos and a spot for your journaling.

The fall layout is perfect for showing off all of your fall leaves or pumpkin patch photos!

This layout has a hidden spot for journaling and a fun technique to make the leaves.

If you are in the area I would love to have you join us in class!

What I have been making

2011-09-26T14:09:00.000-07:00

Lately it seems all I have had time to make are things for my classes, which is totally fine but I have a stash of supplies at home that are begging to be used! I am hoping to get to make a few things for me tomorrow, but for now I want to share what I made for classes this month.

I taught a scrapbooking techniques class to two lovely ladies earlier this month and here is one of the layouts we made.

Next are some cards for my creative stamping class that is happening this Wednesday. This class is all about Halloween using the Lawn Fawn set Happy Haunting.

I will be back sometime this week to share pictures from Disney World and my mini album that I finished while on the trip.

Hope you have a great week!

October Knitting Like Crazy Knit Along

2011-09-21T13:00:00.000-07:00

I am hosting a knit along over on the Knitting Like Crazy Ravelry group in the month of October and I would love to have you join in the fun! To join in all you need to do is pick on of Jen's great patterns that you want to knit and cast on with all of us on October 1st. Finish by October 31st and you can win some fun prizes!

Click here for more info on the Ravelry group and click here to check out all of Jen's patterns!

Jen has also so kindly offered 20% off all of her patterns in the Ravelry shop when you use the coupon code “octoberkal” at checkout! Coupon code will be good throughout the entire KAL!

Would love to have you all join in the fun! It's a great chance to get started on some holiday knitting!

Lollapalooza 2011 Recap!

2011-08-17T13:55:00.000-07:00

My friend Shannon made the trip out again this year for Lollapalooza and it was a blast! Here are some of the highlights from that weekend.

One of the first groups we saw was Foster the People and it was a great way to kick off the weekend. They are one of my new favorite bands right now and they put on a great show. We were packed in with thousands of other people, dancing and singing along to Pumped Up Kicks.

Bright Eyes was another Friday highlight. We both fell in love with this band.

Then we had to make probably the biggest choice of the whole weekend, Coldplay or Muse. We chose Muse since we had both seen Coldplay several years ago and I think we made a good choice, Muse was amazing.

Saturday started out with Walk the Moon, it was my first time hearing them and I think I have a new favorite after that show. They were awesome. Then we saw another new favorite band Fitz & the Tantrums, it was one of the shows I had been looking forward to for weeks and they did not disappoint! Saturday was really low key which was nice, we didn't have to run all over the park to see the bands and we got to hang out in the shade most of the day. Saturday night ended with Eminem and he put on a great show.

Sunday was crazy. Lots of great bands early in the day, we saw Gold Motel, The Joy Formidable, Noah and the Whale, City and Colour, Flogging Molly and Portugal the Man. Right before we saw the Arctic Monkeys it started to rain. Not just a little bit of rain, but the kind of pouring rain where you get soaking wet and it turns the field where you are standing into a giant mud puddle! It only lasted about 20 minutes and then the bands started to play again.

We ended the weekend with the Foo Fighters. After the first 10-15 minutes of the show it started pouring rain again but the band just kept playing! Here is a video of them playing during the rain, it was amazing how much was hitting the stage.

It was a great way to end the weekend. On the walk out that night everyone said this was the epic moment of the weekend and I have to agree!

First Challenge at the Craft Fancy Blog!

2011-08-11T08:20:00.000-07:00

The first challenge is up on the Craft Fancy blog right now and this week we are challenging you to use paint on a project. Here is the card that I made for the challenge this week!

Be sure to check out the blog for more details, you could win a $10 gift card to either spend in the store or our online shop, your choice!

This Month's Creative Stamping Class

2011-07-25T13:21:00.000-07:00

This month's Creative Stamping class was today! This month has been super busy, as you can probably tell from my blogging absence. I promise some fun pictures this week!

Here are the cards we made in class today.

Thanks to April for the great photos!

Celebration Mini Book Class

2011-07-01T11:59:00.000-07:00

After my trip last week I got right back into teaching this week with my Celebration Mini Book class at Craft Fancy. (If you missed out on the class yesterday, I am teaching it again on July 28th!)

This book was so much fun to create and I had a lot of fun with the ladies last night in class teaching it to them!

For the book I used pictures from my birthday this year in Dublin but it would be great to use for a child's birthday party mini book. The album also stands up so it would be fun to display on a special birthday each year!

I can't wait to teach this class again next month, if you are in the area I would love to see you there!

iPhone Photos from the Past Week

2011-06-29T14:21:00.000-07:00

I got to spend the last week with friends out in Los Angeles celebrating a very special first birthday. Here are some photos from the week!

Such a great week!

What I Taught Today

2011-06-20T14:03:00.000-07:00

I had so much fun with the ladies in my Creative Stamping class this morning at Craft Fancy! We used two sets from Lawn Fawn and the fun Confetti line of papers from American Crafts for these 5 cards.

We made a few birthday cards and some fun cards using the Admit One set from Lawn Fawn that I just adore!

The balloons in this set are so cute! Next month the ladies requested some thank you cards so I am off to design some!

Monkey Socks at Sea!

2011-06-16T12:46:00.000-07:00

Before we left on vacation my Aunt requested a pair of socks. She sent the yarn (Lorna's Laces Simply Sock in the Sublime colorway) and I picked out the Monkey Sock pattern from Cookie A. It is one that I have wanted to make for a while now and it was so fun to knit.

I loved knitting this pattern so much that I am currently making a pair for myself!

Our little balcony somewhere in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean was the perfect place for a photo shoot!

Thanks for stopping by!

Vacation Mini Book: Part 2

2011-06-09T14:57:00.000-07:00

So yesterday I shared the first few pages of my Crossing the Atlantic mini book and just like I promised I am back today to share some more!

I loved collecting things from restaurants and other places we stopped along the way.

I added in a part of the map I used the day we were in Sevilla, Spain. I cut out the portion of town that we walked around I have the rest that I might use on some layouts later on.

So this is as much of the album as I have finished right now. As soon as the rest is done I will share more!

Thanks for stopping by!

Vacation Mini Book: Part 1

2011-06-08T13:06:00.000-07:00

Wow has it really been since the middle of May since I posted last?! I have no good excuse other than just not feeling like blogging. It was nice to take a little break, but now I am back and ready to start sharing some more things with all of you lovely readers!

Today I wanted to share the first part of the mini book I made while on the trip in April.

I bought a notebook that had this great graph paper inside and used that as the base of the album. I added in some papers that I cut into smaller pieces before leaving on the trip and a few stamps and a navy blue stamp pad along with some pens and a glue stick. I stuck everything in a big zip lock bag and added postcards and other things I picked up on the trip to the bag to keep everything together.

I used my Fuji Instax Mini camera for the photos and had a blast taking it around and I loved how easy it was to fill up the album as we went with the photos and items I picked up.

Each place we stopped I bought some postcards. I love that they are a quick and easy way to get a great picture of the places we visited. It would be fun to do a travel album by just using postcards if you didn't have an instant camera.

I also used a lot of my washi tape in the album to add some fun accents to the pages.

I will be back to share more of the album tomorrow!

Supplies: Notebook from Whitelines; Paper Pink Paislee Daily Junque collection: Stamps: Studio Calico and Lawn Fawn; Ink: Jenni Bowlin

Vacation Photos: 7 Days at Sea

2011-05-19T10:00:00.000-07:00

I mentioned in yesterdays post that part of our cruise was spent with 7 straight days at sea. At first I was a little bit worried about this. Not because I thought I would be bored, the ship is huge and has tons of stuff to do. I was worried about being out in the middle of no where, with no land around for that long.

We really lucked out with the weather, no real rain but a little bit of wind. The waters were fairly smooth and it was a relaxing way to spend a week. I took the same four photos from our balcony each day to document this time on the ocean.

While on the ship we got to take a cupcake decorating class and a few arts and crafts classes. I read the last two books of the Hunger Games series which I loved! I finished knitting a pair of socks for my aunt. We played cards and scrabble and spent a little bit of time by the pool when it wasn't too cold and windy. We also saw a lot of shows on the ship including the ice skating show.

(cupcake cheeseburger and fries)

The cool part of doing this was the route we sailed from the Bahamas to the Canary Islands. It was part of the route that Christopher Columbus took when he sailed to the Americas. On this map the red line shows his journey and the pencil line shows the route we took.

This is something that I would love to do again some time. It was nice to have time to relax before getting to the crazy touring that we did through Spain. Up next, lots more photos from our trip and I will show off the travel mini album that I brought along on the trip!

Vacation Photos: Bahamas Edition

2011-05-18T11:31:00.000-07:00

Last month my entire family set sail (literally) on a 14 day cruise across the Atlantic Ocean. We started off in Miami, Florida and ended in Barcelona, Spain. The trip was amazing, I am so glad that we could all do this together!

Now for what you want to see, the pictures!

We left Miami and started our journey on the ship. It was such a beautiful and warm day as you can tell by how crowded South Beach was.

On deck it looked something like this:

We had a great first night on the ship and looked forward to spending our first day in Nassau. To start out the day my aunt and I had breakfast on our little balcony before meeting up with the rest of the family.

We decided that we want to live in this house!

We took a taxi over to the Atlantis Hotel to walk around and have lunch. It is a beautiful resort!

I would love to spend a week here at the pool! We also walked around to some of the shops and also got to see them filming some type of reality show that looked like a combo of the real world and the real housewives...it was interesting!

We headed back to the ship for some time at the pool before leaving Nassau. We took one last shot of the Atlantis before we left!

It was a great first day of our vacation, fun and relaxing! Up tomorrow I will tell you how we spent 7 straight days at sea!

Creative Stamping Class Next Week!

2011-05-16T14:13:00.000-07:00

Next Monday I have another fun class taking place at Craft Fancy called Creative Stamping with Melissa. It's no secret that I am in love with Lawn Fawn stamps and I had so much fun putting these cards together for the class.

I think this last card might be my favorite but these critters are so cute it's hard to pick just one! There are still a few spots left in the class so if you are in the area I would love to have you join in!

Card Class this Week!

2011-05-09T14:53:00.000-07:00

Getting back into the swing of things has been hard! I still need to share vacation photos and my travel mini album with you all, I am going to get to that this week, I promise! But for now I wanted to share what we are making in my Card Creations class that is on Wednesday at Craft Fancy!

I love this new paper from Crate Paper, it is truly beautiful!

Lots of bright colors, perfect for Spring.

I had so much fun making these, it was nice to get back to making things after our long trip!

Currently

2011-04-25T14:45:00.000-07:00

(Mini Book Monday will continue next week!)

Being home after traveling for 20 days is sort of an adjustment. I am trying to get things organized and get some projects done for work. We took a cruise across the Atlantic ocean, from Miami to Barcelona with a few stops in between and an entire 7 days without seeing any land. Then we stopped of in Dublin for a few days before heading home. I just put over 900 photos on my computer today and will be sharing some of those with you all this week as well as a little more about our trip.

Currently trying to stay awake and get things done but I could really go for a nap right about now. Currently listening to Arcade Fire and loving it. Currently wishing that the weather was better, that the sun was out and it was warmer. Currently making plans for more trips in the future. Currently loving life!

Mini Book Monday: 28 @ 28

2011-04-18T10:00:00.000-07:00

My 28th birthday is tomorrow! I have seen a lot of these types of projects around the Internet and decided it would be fun to do one this year.

For this album I grabbed all of the fun and bright colored supplies I could find and cut out 29 sheets of paper to 6x6.

Here is my list of things I want to do this year. (Not going to lie, some of the items on this list are things I already have planned to do)

1. Go to Ireland
2. Run/walk 365 miles
3. Cook a meal for my family
4. Read 28 books
5. Open an Etsy shop
6. Run a 5K
7. Take an online class
8. Knit 3 sweaters
9. Design a knitting pattern
10. Visit friends in CA
11. See a concert with Shannon
12. Go to Seattle
13. Take a photo a day for a month
14. Send a friend a card just because
15. Volunteer
16. Donate something handmade
17. Try a new food
18. Journal once a week
19. Paint a picture
20. Take a dance class
21. Make cupcakes from scratch
22. Go snorkeling
23. Get a project published
24. Plan a fun weekend with friends
25. Set goals each month
26. Go to the zoo
27. Go to the beach
28. See a show on Broadway

I can't wait to see what 28 brings!

Birthday Cards

2011-04-15T10:11:00.000-07:00

Supplies:
Paper: American Crafts, Cosmo Cricket, Sassafras
Ribbon: American Crafts
Stamps: Lawn Fawn
Ink: Memento

Just for Fun

2011-04-14T10:14:00.000-07:00

Just for fun I made a layout about the elevator floor of the cruise ships we go on. At midnight the day is changed and it always surprises me when I get in one just a little after midnight that it has already been changed!

Christmas at Sea

2011-04-13T10:05:00.000-07:00

A few years ago we took a cruise right before Christmas. I was so excited to see the ship all decorated, I took tons of pictures! Here are a few of those pictures on this layout.

Just Another Day in Paradise

2011-04-12T09:00:00.000-07:00

Do you ever get an idea for something and then just have to try it as soon as possible? That was what happened for me with this layout. I wanted to created the bottom of the layout with the different patterns on the diagonal and kept adding little things until this layout was born.

I did a lot of hand stitching for this layout.

The picture is of my friends on a trip to Hawaii we took a few years ago. I found the picture after putting together most of the layout. The colors went together beautifully! I used the March Studio Calico kit for this and a few pieces from my stash. It makes me want to go back to Hawaii right away!

Mini Book Monday: Knit Mini

2011-04-11T09:00:00.000-07:00

For this mini book I decided to combine my two hobbies! I knit the cover for this mini book and then used some of my favorite papers for the inside.

The color of the cover is better in the second photo. I added the button and a loop to keep the album closed.

Here is a peek at the inside of the book. Right now it is empty but I think it will make a fun, spring album.

Here is the middle of the book so you can see how I sewed it all together.

This was a fun experiment, I mainly made it just to see if my idea would work out. The book is about 5.5" square and I love how it came out. I think I just might have to make another one!

Say Cheese!

2011-04-08T10:00:00.000-07:00

Continuing on my card making kick from yesterday, here are a few more to share!

These cards are made with the Say Cheese set from Lawn Fawn.

This set also includes a fun Polaroid picture stamp!

Bright and Cheery!

2011-04-07T09:00:00.000-07:00

I have really been on a card making kick lately. I definitely go through phases, sometimes all I do is scrapbook and other times all I do is make cards. Do you do this too?

Here are a few of the cards I have been making. I grabbed some older kits from Studio Calico and used up all of the little bits and pieces for these cards.

It has been so gray the past few weeks that I needed to make something bright and cheery!
Have a wonderful day!

Vacation Layouts

2011-04-06T09:00:00.000-07:00

Today I have a few layouts I made with photos from our cruise on the Oasis. The first layout is my Dad climbing the rock wall on the ship.

The second one is a picture of the ship docked in the Bahamas.

Thanks for stopping by!

Cute Critter Cards

2011-04-05T10:00:00.000-07:00

Having Lawn Fawn stamps at Craft Fancy has been fabulous! I have a hard time buying a set each time I go into work. I couldn't resist these little guys though! They are from the Critters in the Forrest set and I had a blast making cards with them.

It is a little hard to see but I used some glossy accents on the owl's eyes to make them pop!

The paper is from My Mind's Eye and for all of the critters I used colored pencils to color everything in.

For the tree on this last card I used my Copic markers, I really need to get some more of these, they are so fun to use!

Mini Book Monday: Cruise Across the Atlantic

2011-04-04T09:00:00.000-07:00

As you read this I am currently sailing across the Atlantic Ocean with my family! For this mini book Monday I wanted to share with you the mini book I brought to work on during the trip.

I bought this notebook at the store and covered the front with new paper from Pink Paislee. It was the perfect thing for this book!

The inside cover holds the itinerary.

The rest of the notebook is empty right now, I wanted to have graph paper inside and this gray with the white lines is perfect. I brought along some patterned paper, alphabet stickers, a glue stick, washi tape and a few stamps. I will be using my Fuji Instax Mini camera throughout the trip to fill up this book. I can't wait to see how it turns out and will be sure to share it as soon as I get back!

Sketch Inspired

2011-04-01T09:28:00.000-07:00

I was really inspired by the this sketch on the Studio Calico blog for these two layouts. It was fun to try something different.

Do you like to use sketches or do you prefer to do your own thing?

Washi Tape Love

2011-03-31T10:57:00.000-07:00

A while ago my friend Margie gave me a few rolls of washi tape that she didn't want to add to my growing collection. I love adding it to cards and scrapbook pages to give a little pop of color.

For this card I used the light pink tape and ruffled it up to add some texture to the card and I love how it turned out.

Supplies: Paper-American Crafts, Stamps-Lawn Fawn Bake me a Cake set

For this tag I picked three colors of tape and added them in a diagonal pattern to the tag and then used the same stamp set as the card above to embellish.

This would be cute on top of a package or added to the front of a card for someone.

My tape stash is growing, there are so many fun colors and designs to choose from that I just keep adding to it!

2011-03-29T08:55:00.000-07:00

Just a quick post today to share a few cards I made recently. The first one is a fun birthday card using up some scraps that I had lying around.

The second one is a little bit messy. I had fun playing with my white spray mist, washi tape and Lawn Fawn stamps for this one. It was a lot of fun to make, I need to get messy more often!

Mini Book Monday: NYC

2011-03-28T12:29:00.000-07:00

For New Year's Eve we spent the weekend in NYC. I created this little mini book before we left and brought it with me to work on while we were gone. This was the first time using my little instax mini camera on the road and it was so much fun!

For this album I used the Studio Calico December kit. The colors were perfect for a mini book!

I added tickets and the menu from the restaurant we had dinner at on New Years Eve.

We were lucky enough to have a view of Times Square from our hotel room, it was the perfect way to celebrate the day!

The rest of the weekend we saw shows and ate amazing food.

Some of the instax photos didn't turn out quite as I had expected them too, but i put them in the book anyway.

I really enjoyed making this mini book on the go. Have you ever made a mini book while traveling?

Currents on a Thursday

2011-03-24T13:27:00.000-07:00

Listening: Cameras by Matt & Kim
Drinking: Dr. Pepper
Wearing: jeans, white shirt and a blue cardigan
Wondering: what to pack for vacation in a week or so
Thinking: about all of the things I still have to do before we leave
Wishing: that it was warmer here
Excited: about traveling soon
Needing: to focus and get some things done but having a hard time with that right now

The Other Hobby

2011-03-22T10:45:00.000-07:00

Since it is a gray and rainy day here I thought the perfect thing to do would be to blog about something warm and cozy. I do a lot of knitting, I am just bad about sharing it here with all of you. Must get better about that!

This past Christmas I knit my friend Shannon this scarf. She had been joking with me for quite some time about getting something hand knit. Saying things like "do I have to get pregnant to get something knit from you, because I will" I figured it was time to make her something.

The perfect lacy scarf for those Southern California winters! It is the Lacy Ribbon Scarf from Knitty a few years ago. It was such a fun knit too.

If you are on Ravelry here is a link to the pattern page, if not the pattern can be found online here. The yarn I used is from a tour we took at Lorna's Laces a while back, it was fun to see how they dye this beautiful yarn.

Mini Book Monday: Oasis Mini Book

2011-03-21T15:06:00.000-07:00

Welcome to a new feature on my blog I'm calling Mini Book Monday! I love making mini books and want to share some that I have made, and some that I have in progress and so, Mini Book Monday was born. Be sure to stop by each week for a new project!

Up first, I want to share a mini book I made about our trip on the Oasis of the Seas in December 2009. I bought this mini book from Elise Blaha's etsy shop and thought it would be perfect to take along the trip and record things as we went. The trip turned out to be so much fun that I never added anything to the book while we were traveling. I finally got all of the photos printed and decided to fix this last month.

You can find this book in Elise's shop here and be sure to check out her blog too, there is always a lot of fun stuff to look at there! This book came filled with fun papers so I didn't add too much to it, just a few pieces and some washi tape for fun along with a ton of journaling.

The 4x6 album made it so easy to add my photos, most of them are glued together or to a piece of paper with journaling on the opposite side.

Lots and lots of photos!

This little pocket holds a few sea shells I picked up on the beach.

This was such a fun album to make, I love having the entire story of the trip in one place.

Hope to see you next Monday for another mini book!

Creative Stamping Class

2011-03-14T12:18:00.000-07:00

On Monday, March 28th I am teaching my Creative Stamping class at Craft Fancy and I am in love with the cards this month. I used two of my favorite things right now, some Studio Calico paper and these wonderful Lawn Fawn stamps!

This month it is all about fun birthday cards, I used the Bake me a Cake set from Lawn Fawn. I haven't stopped making cards with this set since I got it, it's getting a little out of hand!

I love that with this stamp set, the possibilities are endless.

If you are in the area, I would love to have you join me in class!

Sail Away

2011-03-11T14:45:00.000-08:00

I was cruising around the Internet and found this post on the Cosmo Cricket blog for a sketch challenge and thought I would play along. I love the new paper from them and it is perfect for all of my vacation photos.

After a week of making cards (which I will share next week!) it was nice to make a layout!

Card Creations

2011-03-08T10:43:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow I am teaching Card Creations at Craft Fancy and I wanted to share the cards I made for class this month.

I had a great time making these cards, if you are in the area I would love to have you in class some time.

(Photos by April)

Out My Window

2011-03-05T12:14:00.001-08:00

It's snowing and gloomy out today. I can't wait for spring to get here!

Last Month's Class

2011-03-04T11:50:00.000-08:00

Monday night I taught my Creative Stamping class at Craft Fancy and had a blast! Here is a look at the cards we made in class. (Photos by the lovely April)

The stamps are all from Hero Arts and were so fun to work with! It's time for me to get started on making the cards for class this month, check the schedule at Craft Fancy if you are in the area and see if you can make it!

Currents

2011-02-25T13:56:00.000-08:00

drinking: iced tea lemonade (my second Starbucks of the day)
eating: chocolate pudding
thinking: about my trip in 36 days
listening: whatever is on the radio at work right now
wishing: I had brought something different to work on today
feeling: sleepy and a little cranky
needing: a nap

ready for home and the weekend!

The Weekend in Photos

2011-02-23T13:38:00.000-08:00

I spent the past weekend at Disneyland with my parents. Even though it was rainy most of Saturday and colder than I would have liked it was a fun weekend!

Happy Valentine's Day!

2011-02-14T13:01:00.000-08:00

I am celebrating with some chocolate covered strawberries I just bought and cold meds! Hope you all have a lovely day.

Bits and Pieces

2011-02-10T13:23:00.000-08:00

Using up the little bits and pieces from my January Studio Calico kit got me this layout. I had fun embellishing this one with my new butterfly punch too. This is outside of Dubrovnik, Croatia from our cruise that we took a few summers ago.

who knew?

2011-02-09T13:59:00.000-08:00

Last week I was missing my friends in California a lot and did a few layouts about them. I came up with this one about my friend Jen. She was my boss, who became my friend who then became the big sister I always wanted.

This layout has a ton of journaling which is odd for me, but once I started writing I couldn't stop!

Journaling reads: Who knew that I would end up working for Jen. Who knew that my boss would end up being my best friend. Who knew that Jen would end up being more like a big sister than a friend. That her family would become my second family. That Jen would always be there for me no matter how far away we lived from each other. That she would be my cheerleader, that she would always believe in me even when I didn't believe in myself. That we would get each other through the though times and the good times together. Who knew that my friend would mean so much to me. I am so glad that God put Jen in my life.

Weekend Recap

2011-02-07T10:44:00.000-08:00

1. Friday night I got the urge to make a pair of mittens. I think all of the snow is getting to me! So I started this and finished up the first mitten and started the second, which I hope to finish tonight.

2. I saw the movie 127 Hours. All I can say is that James Franco has been robbed this awards season, he was amazing. A truly great movie.

3. We got a new t.v. A flat screen that is huge. It was fun watching the super bowl yesterday on the giant t.v. even though football isn't really my thing.

4. It snowed again! Only an inch or so on Sunday but we don't really need anymore. Is it Spring yet?

5. I finished reading the book Sloppy Firsts that my friend Shannon recommended and just started the second in the series. Its a YA book, but sometimes those are better and more fun to read. The characters are great and I can't wait to read what happens next.

So that was my weekend, not bad for staying in for the most part. Hope you had a great weekend too.

BFF

2011-02-03T15:11:00.000-08:00

With the snow day yesterday, I got quite a lot done. I made a few pages and some cards that I will share soon. I had this picture of my friend Shannon and I at another friend's wedding printed out and I pulled out my January Studio Calico kit and went to town. This layout was inspired by a graphic from The Colbert Report of all places!

I am loving the pink and yellow right now, it is nice to work with after looking out the window and seeing only white!

Snow Day

2011-02-02T14:13:00.000-08:00

We survived the blizzard last night! It's hard to tell how much we got because of all the wind, some spots are taller than others. We took a quick walk around the block just to see how deep it was.

They have been cleaning up this one spot around the park all day, this doesn't bode well for the rest of the town.

I hope that it is warm and sunny where you are!

Challenges

2011-02-01T09:56:00.000-08:00

Even though my room is a mess as you saw yesterday, I have gotten a lot done. For example, this page for a couple of challenges that Studio Calico is having right now. I have had this picture printed out for a few years, so long that the person who is holding the baby now has one of her own! That is where I got my journaling from, I imagine that this is how she is with her own little one right now.

This is another one for a challenge, I had a lot of fun playing with mist and my new butterfly punch. I was inspired by Lisa's style for this layout, I love how she uses mist and little bits of paper.

There are a few more challenges this week that I want to do so I will be back with more soon.

Currently

2011-01-31T14:19:00.000-08:00

My desk looks something like this...

and my floor looks something like this...

But I have gotten a lot done this way so I guess it's not all bad.

some more currents:
listening: the new Fleet Foxes song
drinking: dr pepper
wearing: comfy sweats
wondering: how much snow we will get tomorrow
weather: cold and cloudy
feeling: tired of winter
thinking: about what to start working on next
wishing: it was April already

8.5 x 11 Love

2011-01-25T11:19:00.000-08:00

I have recently fallen in love with scrapbooking 8.5 x 11 pages. It's a nice change after doing 12 x 12 layouts for so long. Not so much space to fill and still the perfect size for a 4 x 6 photo. This size is also great for using up odds and ends from kits.

I am having fun switching between sizes lately. Time to pull out the supplies and get back to work!

Color on a Dreary Day

2011-01-18T10:59:00.001-08:00

It has been overcast and either raining or snowing here for days and it was time to brighten things up a bit. I pulled out the fun Valentine's tape from Martha Stewart and the stamp set from my Studio Calico kit this month and came up with this fun card.

I went over the stamped "love" with my glitter spica pen and stitched a heart around it.

I hope your day is filled with love!

Candlelight Shawl

2011-01-11T14:50:00.000-08:00

So the last few months were filled with knitting projects and this gorgeous Candlelight Shawl was one of the things I was working on. My super talented friend Jen designed this pattern for Kollage yarns and the pattern is out now!

I was one of the lucky ones who got to test knit this beautiful shawl and send it off to the company for photos.

I love the design, it was a great pattern, not too hard but fun enough to keep interested while knitting.

You can get the pattern here or link to the Ravelry page for more info! Happy Knitting!

Happy New Year!

2011-01-10T11:18:00.000-08:00

I hope that you all have had a wonderful start to the New Year. Despite being sick, we had a great time ringing in the new year in NYC.

We were lucky enough to have a hotel room with a view of some of the Times Square festivities. With the window open we could hear all of the musical acts (multiple performances of each act!) and hear the crowd when they counted down. It was a fun experience and the most exciting New Year I have had in a long time.

We could even see Carson Daly do his t.v. broadcast thanks to the zoom on my camera. The teenager in me who watched TRL all the time was a little too excited about this.

At midnight we saw tons of confetti!

It was everywhere. We even saw confetti still flying through the air on Monday before we flew home.

The real reason we were in NYC for the weekend was to see shows, mainly to see Billie Joe Armstrong in the musical American Idiot, which was amazing. We also saw the play La Bete and the musicals In The Heights and Spiderman. Of course a trip would not be complete without dinner at our favorite Cuban restaurant, Victors and a stop at Pinkberry. We also tried Shake Shack for the first time and loved it!

It was a great way to start this new year!

Merry Christmas

2010-12-24T16:52:00.001-08:00

Hope you all have a wonderful holiday!

Card Class on Monday

2010-12-15T14:10:00.001-08:00

I am teaching a card class at Craft Fancy this Monday. If you are in the area there are still spaces, so call the store to sign up. Here is what we will be making.

Plus one more that I don't have a picture of yet. Hope to see you in class!

The Cutest Thing I Have Ever Made

2010-12-14T08:07:00.000-08:00

I made these baby booties last month for a gift and just loved how they came out, they are so cute and a super quick knit. I might have to make a few more for some other friends now.

I found the perfect rose buttons at the store and I love how they finished them off just perfectly. If you are on Ravelry you can find the pattern for free here.

I have been busy knitting up a storm lately but will have to share all of those projects after Christmas!

Gift Wrapping

2010-12-13T11:40:00.001-08:00

I am getting really excited for Christmas, it's hard to believe it is only 12 days away! I wanted to do something fun with my gift wrapping this year and saw a lot of cute ideas on the Internet. After many failed snowflake attempts that would make my Kindergarten teacher cry, I finally got the snowflake I was after thanks to this tutorial.

Top it off with some red bakers twine and it's finished. All I need now are a billion more snowflakes and I will be set to wrap everything once I get to my Grandparent's house for Christmas.

Bits and Pieces

2010-12-09T15:31:00.000-08:00

I am still in love with the September kit from SC, Back 40. I am using every last little piece of it and a perfect example of that is this layout.

How do you use up your left over papers and embellishments?

December Daily - Day 1 & 2

2010-12-06T14:02:00.000-08:00

Today I started to put together my December Daily album and I wanted to share the first 2 pages with you.

This first page started out looking like this:

I realized this wasn't going to work for my day one and what I had to save. I went to the Preschool Christmas show for the girls I babysit for, and all I had from the day was the program from the show. So I swapped out the first page for an envelope that you can see here.

After doing this project for a few years I am not afraid of getting rid of a page and making it something else that fits my day better.

Here is day 2

I am making a few gifts this year and wanted to highlight that on day 2.

Are you doing a December Daily album this year? I would love to see what you have done so far, link me up!

Out My Window

2010-12-04T11:43:00.001-08:00

Snow is here.

December Class Cards

2010-12-01T14:11:00.000-08:00

Today was my first class of the month, Card Creations at Craft Fancy. Here is a look at the cards I made this month.

I had a lot of fun making these cards, thanks for stopping by!

Feels like Christmas

2010-11-30T16:05:00.001-08:00

My desk has been a mess the past two days working on Christmas cards.

This year I decided to make the cards different and use up my scraps of paper from my December Daily album. So far I have 4 done. I will share them all later this week!

Happy last day of November!

December Daily 2010

2010-11-29T12:45:00.000-08:00

I can't believe it is time for this project again already, this year really did just fly by! I wanted to share my December Daily album foundation with you today. You can read more about the December Daily project at Ali Edwards' blog here.

This is my third year making a December daily album, you can see last year's album here and here. It is a lot of fun to do and I enjoy seeing it come together each year. I feel that each year it gets a little better so I have big hopes for this one!

First up is my cover, I used a book cover set from 7gypsies the album is 5x7.

Just a simple cover this year using some fun supplies I picked up this year. For the inside pages I picked up a bunch of patterned paper that I loved and decided to make those the base pages. I am still figuring out how I am going to work in the photos each day, but that is the fun part of this album.

Here are a few of the pages.

So there is a look inside my album, I can't wait to get started filling it in later this week!

Out My Window

2010-11-26T17:12:00.001-08:00

It's Christmas!

Fastest Page Ever!

2010-11-19T12:14:00.000-08:00

By fastest page ever, I don't mean how long it took me to make it. I mean that these photos were taken on Monday night and here on Friday afternoon I have a completed page. This never happens to me!

So on Monday night we went to see Suburban Legends at the House of Blues, they were opening up for the Real Big Fish. Such a great show, we even talked with the guys from Koo Koo Kanga Roo who opened the show. They were so nice, and Bryan even talked about scrapbooking with his Mom, how cool is that?!

So here is the page, I was really inspired by Kelly Purkey's Vegas layout, I had a lot of pieces that I wanted to put on the page and her layout seemed perfect for this.

It was the best Monday night ever!

Inspired

2010-11-15T12:26:00.000-08:00

(This photo really has nothing to do with this post, I just felt the need for a photo here!)

I have been spending a lot of time the past few days coming up with ideas for the Holidays. I really want to make a lot of my gifts this year, and I am hoping that my sort of late start won't hurt me too much. I am planning on knitting a few gifts and also making some paper gifts too and I will share as much of it here as I can without showing everyone in the family what they are getting this year!

Also, starting on November 29th I am planning on doing a Holiday card tutorial every day that week on the blog. I am really excited about this and hope you will like it!

Are you planning on making gifts this year, if so, what are you making?

Currents

2010-11-09T10:16:00.000-08:00

Listening: Jukebox the Ghost
Drinking: Water
Watching: the cars drive by
Wearing: jeans and a t-shirt
Wondering: if anyone will sign up for my class tomorrow
Thinking: about Christmas gifts
Planning: my to-do list for the week
Wanting: to take a nap

Out My Window

2010-11-04T15:24:00.001-07:00

Out my window it is raining, there is even ice involved at times...not ready for winter.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Random Wednesday!

2010-11-03T11:32:00.000-07:00

I was going through my folder of pictures to blog trying to think of something to post today and found a few things I don't think I have shared yet.

This first card I made a few weeks ago and I know I haven't shared it with you yet. I am in love with stitching on cards and layouts right now.

This card I made last year, not sure if it was posted here or not, but it is cute so I thought I would share it again!

Then I found this layout that was one of my favorites from last year, lots of fun looking at old pages and cards. Reminds me that I need to print out some more Disneyland photos from this year.

Hope you are having a great week!

Scrappers Give Thanks!

2010-11-01T10:58:00.000-07:00

Happy November! I wanted to share a cool project with you all today called Scrappers Give Thanks. This year they are asking for people to make a 4x6 card to go into an album. These albums will be sent to children's hospitals all over the country. It is the perfect way to use your scraps and share your talents and love with others.

Here are a few that I made.

You have until November 20th to make and mail these out. I think I will be making a few more before I send mine on. Be sure to check out the Scrappers Give Thanks website for more details and examples!

Happy Halloween!

2010-10-31T10:45:00.001-07:00

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Tales from the Weekend

2010-10-27T12:19:00.000-07:00

I went out to California over the weekend to visit friends and go to my 5 year college reunion. It was a great weekend. Shannon picked me up on Thursday and after a 3 hour trip home in crazy traffic and an incident at In and Out we made it back to her place to hang out. Friday we saw a community college production of Rent. Shannon's sister had a friend in the show. It was great, I forgot how much I love the music in that show. It has been in my head ever since!

Saturday was the homecoming game at CLU. We won 38-7! After the game we went to the alumni event and said hi to a few people from our class. Not too many showed up but I am still glad we went.

Then we drove to Malibu and had dinner by the beach. I miss the beach a ton!

Sunday we met up with my friend Jen and her sister Melanie and Jen's beautiful baby girl. It was so good to see them. Shannon and I wandered around Ikea for a bit and planned out our dream places and played with puppets. Which brings me to my question, is this a crazy dolphin or a shark?

Layouts and Stitching, Oh My!

2010-10-20T12:28:00.000-07:00

I have been having a ton of fun using the Studio Calico kit for September called Back 40. The colors are wonderful and everything works so well together. I wanted to share a few more layouts with you today!
The first one is from our trip to NYC earlier this year, love how every thing just came together on that page.

For this next layout I went crazy with the stitching! Totally inspired by taking Amy's class.

I am getting ready to head out of town this weekend, mini book and camera in hand. Will have lots to share next week!

Photos from the Weekend

2010-10-18T12:56:00.000-07:00

Saturday we went to the Chicago Botanical Gardens. It was a perfect Fall day. I took over 300 photos, it was that beautiful out! Here are a few of my favorites.

How was your weekend?

What I am Working On

2010-10-14T12:17:00.000-07:00

Happy Thursday! I have been busy this week taking a class from the lovely Amy and it has really inspired me to create.

I got on a roll and made a ton of these mini books and have been stitching up a storm!

This one is my favorite I think...

and here is what it looks like on the inside.

Now I just need to figure out what to put inside of them!

Out My Window

2010-10-14T12:07:00.000-07:00

Currents

2010-10-13T11:33:00.000-07:00

I love when Tina does this on her blog so I thought I would give it a try!

listening: Arctic Monkeys
eating: nothing
drinking: water
wearing: jeans, teal t-shirt and my favorite gray cardigan
feeling: sleepy but happy
weather: cloudy and cool, feels like fall
wanting: to lay in bed all day and read
needing: to clean my bathroom
thinking: about what to eat for lunch
enjoying: looking at the leaves out my window
wondering: what's next

And here is a layout that I finished last week!

Enjoy your Wednesday!

Out My Window

2010-10-07T13:18:00.000-07:00

For this week's Out My Window post, I got the urge to paint, with watercolors of all things. Please note, that I am not a painter, at all so this really stretched my creativity. It was also a lot of fun!

So I took this picture out my window today:

and ended up with this painting!

Will have to try this again sometime soon!

Cards, Classes and Questions

2010-10-05T11:33:00.000-07:00

I wanted to share the rest of my class cards for the month and answer a question I got last week about classes. I started teaching classes almost a year ago and I love it. I love sharing with other people and teaching them how to do new things. I was asked how I come up with my classes, such a great question, thanks Keshet for that!

I have two card classes each month now, one that uses A Muse stamps and products so that one is fairly easy to come up with. Just pick some new stamps and paper that we haven't used and see what I can come up with. The other class, is Card Creations and it is a little more open. For this month's class I wanted to do Halloween cards but didn't want to use any of the new papers that we have in the store. We didn't really have enough of anything for a class so I went wandering around the store on the hunt for black and orange paper.

I also knew that I wanted the cards to have a vintage/distressed look to them so that helped me to find some great papers that fit that category. I had seen a few pictures in magazines that gave me some ideas about this fence card. After the paper, I grabbed a few stamps that would fit my theme and took it all home to make the cards.

So that is my process each month, I start with a theme or a color combo and go from there in designing my cards. Let me know if you have any other questions!

Monday Wrap Up

2010-10-04T11:32:00.000-07:00

Happy October! It is really starting to look and feel like Fall here. It was a little colder than I was prepared for over the weekend but overall not too bad! Here are a few things that I am working on/loving right now.

1. Teaching Card Creations class this week at Craft Fancy. I think these might be some of my favorite cards that I have done in a really long time. My first class was on Saturday with 2 lovely ladies and it was a lot of fun. If you are in the area, I would love to have you join us.

2. Last week I was busy making layouts and knitting and spinning yarn (really loving that right now). I will show off all of that later this week since I can't seem to get my act together and update as I make things.

3. I love that my friend Shannon is blogging more now, she is an amazing writer and I always love what she has to say, stop by her blog if you get a chance.

4. I love twitter and the random people you find. That is how I found out about this cool site Songs from the Howling Sea. If you are a fan of music, history and weekly type projects then this is the site for you. Each Friday he posts a new video and song about character or event from London's Old East End. I think my favorite song so far is Flowers of Fortune, just beautiful.

5. I don't really have a 5th thing, I just felt that this list needed one so I guess my 5th thing will be that I love seeing the leaves change colors but I am not really a fan of what happens after that.

What are you loving this week?

Out My Window

2010-09-30T15:36:00.000-07:00

I have been thinking about doing a weekly project like this for a while now. Each week I will take a photo or draw what is out my window. I think it will be a fun way to document the changing seasons.

So here is what is out my window this week.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Card Classes this Month, Part 2

2010-09-21T11:52:00.000-07:00

So my other class this month is the A Muse card class. Here are the cards for class this month:

I am using this card for class again this month because it was on of my favorites from last month and only one person took the class, so I figure its ok!

Since it is Fall, I figured we needed something Fall themed for this month.

The last three cards will help you get a jump start on all of those Christmas cards.

So that is it for classes this month, if you are in the area click here for more details!

Will I ever finish?!?

2010-09-20T15:41:00.000-07:00

I guess this would go a lot faster if I did more than one photo on a page but that it just not how I roll. I have a hard time making more than one photo look good so on I go. Here are some more pages for the never ending Lithuania trip book. It is a goal of mine to have it finished this year, and I am almost done so it isn't as bad as I am making it out to be! hehe

So here are two more finished pages! Off to make some more now, hope you have a great week!

Photos from the Weekend

2010-09-19T12:24:00.001-07:00

Just a few photos from the weekend. Friday night we saw Jason Mraz and Dave Matthews at Wrigley Field. It was awesome!

Hope you all had a great weekend too!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Friday Class Update

2010-09-17T10:00:00.000-07:00

I finally got all of my cards done for the classes I am teaching this month at Craft Fancy. Here are the cards for the Card Creations class this Wednesday, September 22nd!

I wanted to do one last bright and fun card class for the Summer before we start all those Holiday cards that are just around the corner.

If you are in the area and would like to take this class, contact the store here to sign up!

Adventures in Spinning

2010-09-16T18:28:00.000-07:00

So when we were out in California visiting family, my Aunt gave us a spinning wheel. She got it from a friend but didn't think she would use it, so she gave it to us. We were very excited to try it out once we got home but we were having trouble getting it to work. So today my Mom and I took it out to a yarn store to get some help. Turns out it was more of an operator error thing.

So I have been spinning up a storm tonight!

Here is my first attempt. It didn't go as planned but these things take time.

My second attempt went a whole lot better.

Now I can get yarn that is close to all one size. And the cat really likes this new hobby too! Hehe

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Wednesday Layout Share

2010-09-15T10:00:00.000-07:00

Happy Wednesday! Working hard this week on blogging everyday. So far, so good. Just wanted to pop in and share a few layouts that I have been working on recently.

Still working on my Lithuania album, it's slowly coming together. Just a few more pages and I think it will be finished.

Not sure if I have shared the next few before but here they are again if I have.

That is what I have been working on lately, now I have to finish up cards for classes this month. I will be back to share those soon!

Renegade Craft Fair

2010-09-14T13:07:00.000-07:00

The Renegade Craft Fair was in town over the weekend. We headed downtown on Sunday to check it out for the first time. The weather was lovely and we saw a lot of great artists showcasing their goods. I even picked up a few things that I love and got some great ideas of things I want to make now.

I got some fun prints from Jill M. Connor, you can find her great stuff here.

I got this great vampire mouse print!

I also bought some stationary from Circle Street. Her Etsy shop is here, not much in it right now but hopefully there will be more soon!

The fair was a lot of fun, I can't wait to go again next year. Check out my friend April's pictures here!

Monday Favorites

2010-09-13T14:21:00.000-07:00

Getting back to blogging after a week away is hard so I figured I would start out with some things that I am loving right now.

1. I am loving the new song and video from Kings of Leon, I can't wait until I can buy it!

2. We went to the Renegade Craft Fair yesterday and it was awesome, I will do a post on that tomorrow including some fun stuff that I bought.

3. The Studio Calico September kit, the colors are wonderful and there are still some left, I highly recommend it.

4. Pumpkin Spice Lattes and cooler weather. I think that we should have Fall until it is Spring and skip that whole messy Winter thing.

5. The entire Mumford & Sons album, I can't stop listening to it. I saw them at Lollapalooza in August and fell in love.

6. My friend Jen just created another fabulous shawl pattern that I can't wait to knit. See it here. She is also doing a sock yarn club, her yarn is wonderful and this is something you won't want to miss!

7. This new ribbon from Maya Road is beautiful.

8. Last week I got to play with sidewalk chalk and blow bubbles, it was wonderful.

9. Still in love with the colors yellow, grey and teal.

10. Feeling creative again after not doing anything for a week is a wonderful feeling.

Time to go make something fun, what are you loving this week?