Pam's Eclectic Stuff

Cutie Valentine Girl Tutorial, Tamales Talk, and a Valentine Wreath Today!

2012-01-22T22:31:00.001-04:00

Hello everyone! How are you all doing? I am doing well, I finished my valentine wreath, I have written two quick tutorials to share with you, and my family and I made tamales for the first time today. So it has been busy here. First, some pics of Cort (daughter) and Kaya (granddaughter) in some of her Valentine attire ~

Poor Cooper was trying to nap on his momma's lap during our mini Valentine fashion show, see him to the left? ~

Doesn't Kaya look darling? I love her little bare feet, her nail polish matches on her toes and fingers ~

Do you want a chance to win some of these darling Valentine fabric flowers? All you have to do is leave a comment on this post, or for two chances, leave a comment on this post and become a follower. Winner to be announced Sunday, see details at the bottom of this post.

Cuties! OK, time to get to business. First, the headband tutorial.

Cut 2" wide strips of fabric for rolled fabric flowers and roll. I use my handy dandy glue gun to adhere the fabric , it is quick and easy.

Next, select your fabric flowers and arrange them how you would like to glue to your headband ~

Begin gluing them to the headband, just use a small dab of hot glue, you will anchor them more firmly later. Layer the flowers ~

Finish gluing the flowers, check to be sure you don't want to change the arrangement or add additional flowers ~

Next begin tying short little pinked edge strips of fabric between each flower ~

After you have tied the short pinked edge fabric strips, tie little smidge pieces of tulle between each flower (I use about a 5-6" wide piece and bunch it up) ~

Once you have tied all your fabric strips and tulle, trim as needed. Next, turn the headbands so you can see the inside ~

Using your hot glue, anchor the fabric flowers more firmly, then add a thin strip of felt to the inside of the headband to tidy things up ~

Done! Look how cute, and it was easy peasy to do too! Add gems, pearls, baubles or whatever else you like to beautify your headbands.

Close up shot ~

Time to glam up some leggings! I used a $5.00 pair of cute leggings I picked up at Old Navy. They were actually a Christmas present for my oldest granddaughter (the 4 year old), but I told her I was going to "decorate" them for Valentine's Day. To begin, I cut 3" wide fabric strips for each leg. If you want a really ruffled look, use the entire width of your fabric (usually 42- 44"). Be warned though, it can be tricky to gather and sew that much fabric onto a skinny little legging. You can always start out using half the width (about 21") and see how you do with that ~

Finish the edges of each strip. I folded mine over twice and stitched, but you can use pinking shears and leave raggedy, or use a serger to finish the edges as well. It is up to you ~

Cut the seam allowance of each legging from the bottom edge of each leg to about 4" above where the last ruffle will go so you can spread the legging out flat. Make sure you pick off the cut threads. Below you can see one leg is cleaned up, while one leg still has thread to clean up ~

Gather each strip and pin it to the legging, doing one at a time. I line the bottom edge of the legging with the bottom edge of the ruffled strip. Stitch each strip 2 x so it won't come off. I usually stretch the legging fabric a bit while stitching so there is room for the child to maneuver her foot in there. Keep layering fabric, gathering, pinning, then stitching. You can see below where I have one leg with three rows, and one leg with two rows ~

Finished! Now I flipped the leggings inside out and restitched the leg seams together. It is easier to do if you pin the leggings then stitch. After stitching, turn them right side out and voila! Done!

Close up of ruffles ~

Another close up ~

Here is a close up shot of Cooper's Valentine shirt and "faux" tie ~

Close up shot of one of the granddaughter's shirts ~

Here is my fun Valentine's Wreath ~

It is usually really snowy and cold here on Valentine's Day, so I put some frosty snowflakes on my wreath, in addition to a little sparklie red bird and boatloads of hearts ~

Lots of sparkle and fluff, and more of the monogram theme (I am doing a whole year, this is so FUN!) ~

Today my kids and two grandkiddies came over to continue with our international cooking together time and we made tamales. Cort was the only one who had ever done this before. We had fun, and made a boatload. Here are some pics of the tamale makers (Kaya age 4) ~

Cort - my daughter (she made DELICH masa!) ~

Kaya again, she really did a fabulous job ~

Jay, being silly, who thought he was the best in the group (he did a pretty good job I have to admit) ~

Waiting to dive in ~

My hubs and I helped too, no pics though. Next time. :) We decided to tackle won ton soup, chicken fried rice, and steamed dumplings for our next international cooking together time. I have made chicken fried rice many times, but the other two are new. It should be fun!

Thanks for stopping by! Don't forget to leave a comment on this post, or for two chances, become a follower and leave a comment on this post for your chance to win some lovely Valentine fabric flowers from me. I will announce one winner next Sunday. You have until Saturday the 28th of January at midnight to leave your comment.

I wish you a joyful and creative week ~ Pam

Valentine Love!

2012-01-15T21:49:00.001-04:00

Hello everyone! This has been a busy weekend. I am so happy, I finished some super cute little tshirts for my grand kids, and some head bands for the granddaughters. I also finished Kaya's leggings. My computer is being goofy so I promise to share a tutorial next week. I am not sure which item I will do a tutorial on, it will either be the headbands, leggings, or the tshirts. Anyway, here are some pics to get you in the Valentine's Day mood ~

The girls shirts ~

My daughter modeling one of the little skirts (it is for a four year old, hence the size). We went to Sew B together, and she made some darling little skirts for the girls ~

Cooper's shirt, with the girl's shirts behind his ~

Fun Headbands, while under construction ~

Headbands are finished, and a few bows too ~

Leggings for Kaya, I used a pair of red heart leggings I picked up at Old Navy for under $5.00 ~

Thanks for stopping in! I hope you are enjoying some creative time, you know Valentine's Day will be here before we know it.....
OK, until next week, when I will have a tutorial for you, have a joyful and creative week ~ Pam

WOW, 2012 is full of new things!

2012-01-08T23:38:00.003-04:00

I had a great day today, I spent it making sushi with my family! Well, my hubby does not like sushi, so he just watched from the sidelines. But Cort, Jay, Cara, Kaya and I all pitched in and made some yummy sushi. We are going to try new things in 2012, and I am soooooo happy about that. Last year was a crazy goat rodeo of a year, in a good way most of the time, but still a wild, hang onto your hat, don't let go or look down just GO, no time for anything kind of year. I am looking forward to getting back to crafting, sewing, scrapping, quilting, cooking, and spending fun time with my family. I also plan to get back in the habit of becoming a regular blogger again too! So here's to 2012 ~ YAHOO, so glad you are here!
Here are a few pics of our sushi making day ~

Cort stirs the rice vinegar concoction into our sushi rice.

My beautiful yet silly daughter, what a ham!

Some supplies

Sweet little Kaya wanted to help, so she had to wash her hands really well first.

scrub scrub scrub!

All clean!

Definitely a casual day! ;)

Look at all those yummy veggies!

Ready to start assembling!

Jay and Cara work on creating yummy and beautiful sushi.

Jay put wasabi paste on his sushi as soon as they were ready.

WOOOO, look at that stash of sushi! Cort even made some of the inside out sushi, she has crazy mad sushi skills, especially for a beginner.

YUMMY!

Look at our cutie Hollyn, she is checking everything out. Nothing is safe from those little hands now! :)

Our next cooking project is going to be tamales. Cort learned how to make some recently, so she is going to be our instructor. :) That will be in a few weeks, I will be sure to take pics and share. We are going to be worldly chefs before long, woooo! This week I will be gathering boatloads of valentines fabrics from my fabric stash, as I have a few things I want to make the grandkiddies. I hope to start on them Friday, then start SCRAPPIN again! YAHOO! My word, I love being able to just make stuff again. What a wonderful wonderful feeling. Being able to share it with people I love is another perk. I feel truly truly blessed. I hope you all have a blessed 2012 too!

Have a joyful and creative week ~ Pam

The Monster Bash Went Well!!!

2011-11-11T15:06:00.002-04:00

Our cutie little monsters had a ball at their monster themed birthday party last weekend! The weather was gorgeous, there was lots of great food available, and we all enjoyed watching the kids play and have fun. I made three little monster shirts for the grandbabies, and banners for the birthday boy and girl. My son-in-law made a super cute little photo board for people to use to take pics, my daughter made a cute headband and skirt for Kaya, and my daughter and I made fun monster cupcakes. Here are a few photos from that day.

FUN monster cupcakes for the party guests (we made over 70 cupcakes, WOOO) ~

Kaya is 4 monster banner ~

Cooper is 3 monster banner ~

The birthday boy and girl play with a few of the party favors before their guests arrive. The are wearing their monster shirts and birthday apparel. I stitched monster faces on the pillows on the rack in the back of this pic ~

Kaya is modeling her fun sunglasses her mumma adorned ~

Sweet little baby Hollyn is peeking through the fun monster photo prop ~

Kaya and Cooper are now peeking through the monster photo prop their daddy made ~

Sweet little Hollyn wearing her H monster onsie, so she matches her birthday cousins (her mumma is sitting next to her) ~

Cooper was ready for the monster pinata~

colorful marshmellow monster suckers ~

Monster cookies ~

Some monster rice krispie treats and apple mouths ~

My beautiful daughter and my granddaughter Kaya and grandson Cooper blowing out candles (Coop couldn't WAIT to blow out candles!!!) ~

Cooper's monster cupcake and candles ~

Monster shirts in progress ~

I can't wait to scrap these pics! I haven't scrapped in months, due to all the moves. My scraproom is 98% unpacked, I am SOOOOO excited! I promise to show pics next post. For now though, I need to get busy with my to-do list, so it's time for me to say goodbye. I wish you all a crafty and joyful day ~ Pam

Moving is time consuming! :)

2011-10-23T15:13:00.000-04:00

WOOOOOO, I hope this is our last move. Ever. Ever ever ever. It is NO fun, and takes boatloads of time. I am still trying to unpack in my lovely new space. My hubs calls it the "craft emporium" and I think it fits. It is a double size room with a small walk in closet, boatloads of space for all my creative stuff. Good thing I purged some of my stuff though, it is still going to be full in this space. I promise to post more regularly when I get completely unpacked and settled in. Here is a pic of a quick and easy wreath I made this month (I was going through severe crafty withdrawal, 2 months is waaaaaaaaaaaay too long not to make something, he he he) ~

Here is a pic of 4 deer (including a fawn) who were munching on some of the gazillion acorns, walnuts, beechnuts, and hickory nuts we now have at our new home ~

Here are pics of my "craft emporium" in partial unpacked status (standing at one end and shooting the length of the room) ~

A pic of one shelving unit, which as been partially unpacked, walk in closet is to the left ~

One wall inside the closet ~

Standing at the other end of the room, shooting down the length ~

The table that will be my cutting and piecing table for now (once it is cleared off, yikes!) ~

Another view of the shelving unit with baskets of mainly fabric and sewing supplies ~

Standing at the door of the walkin closet, looking toward my paper rack, which holds some of my punches, my FABOO pink Bind-It-All, and my DreamCuts ~

OK, enough of my mess for now, holy cow. I only post these pics so you can see how much work it has been for me to pack, move, sort, and unpack my stuff. WOOOO. Don't want to do it again. EVER. :)

The latest thing I have picked up is decorating cupcakes. I bought this DARLING book on creating fun cupcakes using candy and other supplies. For Cara's birthday a few weeks ago I decided to make her the reindeer cupcakes. She loves Christmas, so it seemed like a perfect fit. They turned out pretty cute, and seemed to be enjoyed by everybody at the dinner. I plan to make a different type cupcake next w/e, for a friend's dinner. Here is a pic of the reindeer cupcakes ~

Well, I better get back to my unpacking. It is going to be another busy week at work too, so I need to get as much done today as possible. I'll catch up with you later! Hope you all have a joyful and creative week ~ Pam

Hop on over to the Zutter Zister's Blog for some Zummertime Fun!

2011-08-08T20:37:00.000-04:00

Helllllllllllllooooooooooooooooo everybody! How are you all doing today? Fab? Super fab? I hope so!!! I wanted to tell you about a fun little Zummertime thing we have going on over at the Bind-It-All Blog! Lots of daily giveaways, and specials too! Check it out when you get a minute. The fun runs from Monday - Friday, and my project is featured on Monday. Here is a sneaky peek of what I posted about ~

Please be sure to stop by the Bind-It-All Blog and leave a comment for your chance to win one of the Mini Scor-It-Alls, they are FAB! I used one to create my folded pages in my mini. Super easy peasy to use, and perfect scores. Easy on your paper, and you too! :) (You can also purchase one right now if you wish since they are ON SALE. WOOO, love that!)

Remeber, there will be new projects posted all week, so be sure to stop in and say hello.

Well, unfortunately I have to get my rear in gear and get back to sorting for our gigantic garage sale this weekend. I would MUCH rather be scrapping, but I guess I better get to work. Hope you stop in and leave a comment about my project, I love to hear from you.
Have a great rest of the Zummer, ;) and hope you have a joyful and creative day ~ Pam

Altered Planter, check it out!

2011-07-31T14:51:00.000-04:00

Hello! How are you all doing? Hopefully great! I have been busy as a bee with sorting for our garage sale, and packing for our move. It has been a crazy crazy CRAZY summer for us here! Woooo. I did manage to squeeze in some time to play with Twinks, and create a tutorial on an altered art piece. You can find it on the Luminarte Blog. Please stop in and leave me a suggestion on the Luminarte Blog on what you think I should do with my new planter. I am thinking of several different things, but I want to see if you have any brainstorms on uses that I did not think of. Alrighty then? Alrighty.

(Here is a sneek peek of the planter in process.)

Well, I need to get my rear in gear and sort and pack again. {big dramatic sigh}

Don't forget, the Zutter Zisters have a fabulous Zummer Celebration starting August 8 on the Bind-It-All Blog! My project will be featured on the 8th. :)

Take care, and I hope you all have a joyful and creative week ~ Pam

Altered Clock!

2011-07-22T09:14:00.000-04:00

Hellllloooooooooooo! How are you all doing? Fab?? Super fab?? I hope so! Today's post is a quick little post to let you know about a few things. First, I have a tutorial up on the Luminarte Blog on how I altered this fun little clock ~

Go check it out here. Please leave me a comment on the Luminarte Blog to let me know what you think.

Next, I wanted to let you know about a fun Christmas in July Online Crop at Citrus Tree Studio. It starts today and lasts through the weekend, so go check it out! There are great challenges and fun prizes too. Hope to see you there.

Last but not least, I am busy working on my project for Zutter Days of Zummer. My post wil be going up August 8th, can't wait to show you what I have been working on!!!

Well, I am going to try to beat the heat and get out into the garden this morning. It has been soooooooooo incredibly hot and humid we are all melting here. Today is cooler, thank goodness, so I am off to weed for a bit and pick green beans, cucs, zucz, and basil. Can't wait for the tomatoes to ripen! Yummm, summer is certainly delich. :) Hope you have a fabulous week, stay cool, and happy creating! ~ Pam

Happy July!

2011-07-09T20:30:00.000-04:00

Did you have a marvelous month of June? It flew by too quickly, I think. I did manage to get some sewing done though.I wanted to share a few pics of what I created ~

First, new curtains and valances for the camper (soooo dang cute irl)~

Next, cute little dresses and hairthings for the grandbabies ~

Hollyn was more cooperative about letting me take her pic than Kaya was ~

Hollyn liked the bright colors, can you tell?

Lots of new headbands (Kaya likes the new headbands, they stay in her hair soooooooo nicely) ~

Also, June was a busssssssssy month at work, and with getting things sorted for a garage sale too. I have two projects I just finished for the Luminarte blog, I will share more about them later this month. Additionally, I did want to let you know that the Zutter Zisters are having two summer blog hops, one in July, and one in August. I will be in the August hop, so stay tuned for deets. In the meantime though, here is a little info on the July Hop that starts Monday July 11 ~

It's Zummer Time! Join the Zutter Zisters Design Team for some summer themed project ideas, shopping specials and a dose of hot weather inspiration. The fun starts on the Bind-it-All blog on Monday, July 11, and runs daily through Friday, July 15. There will be daily drawings for Zutter giveaways, and tips for staying cool. It's Zummer Time, and the crafting is EASY.

Please come hop with the Zutter Zisters, there will be prizes and fun every day!

Well, I am off to paint a bit and work on a few fabric projects. Hope you have a fabulously joyful and creative week ~ Pam

It is JUNE! WOOOOOO, how did that happen???

2011-06-03T11:16:00.002-04:00

Hello everybody! I can't believe we are already into June! Wooo, the saying time flies when you get older must really be true, because I turned 50 on Sunday, and now it is JUNE! :) My word. My lovely and beautiful family and friends threw me a fabulous surprise party. Look at my cake, isn't it lovely? You can see the garden in the back, the cake was in our little garden house out near the garden. I am so blessed. Thank you to everybody for the birthday wishes and their hard work. It was greatly appreciated!

Next, my guest artist blog spot is up at Luminarte. I would LOVE it if you stopped in and posted a hello! Pam's Guest Artist Spot at Luminarte keep checking back, I have a little tutorial on the project I posted a sneak peek for in the last post.

Class in Chicago is finished now, and the garden is 85% planted. Hopefully the rest will go in this weekend. This crazy weather has been a hindrance to getting everything done. We have a free weekend this weekend though (YAHOOOOOO!!!) so I have great plans on finishing things. I have a mile long to do list, but I am actually happy to have time to work on it, even though many of the items are chore like items. I do plan on sneaking some creative time in, not sure if it will be fabric related or scrappy or mixed media related. Any creating time is good time though, so I can't wait! Here is a pic of a little layout I recently created (I used twinks, so there is a shimmer to things you can't really see in the pic)~

I have also started taking digital pics of some of the quilts I made years ago. This is one I designed and made for my wonderful hubby. I made it about 12 years ago. I won a blue ribbon at the county fair with it too, I was pretty happy. It featured machine piecing and quilting, and hand turned applique for the sports figures. It took me a while to figure out how to design the sports figures and make them as large as they are. My hubs is a sports nut, can you tell?

OK, I am off to the garden center now for a few flowers for my pots and hanging baskets. Then it is on with the to-do list! I wish you have a joyful and creative week ~ Pam

A Sneak Peek

2011-05-16T09:24:00.000-04:00

Hellllllooooooooooooooo there! How have you all been? Super? Super duper? I hope so! I have been running around like a wild person, woooooo! Between sewing a gazillion baby items for my daughter and my etsy shop (AlaPamala we have boatloads more to upload, it will be soon, PROMISE) , and tending to my seedlings, work, and my class, I finally had a little scrappy time ~ YAHOOO!!! It was sooooooooooo enjoyable to play with scissors, paper, and glue and other scrappy goodness! I can't show you my project yet, because I have a guest artist blog spot on a manufacturer's blog coming up. But I can show you a sneak peek ~

I can also tell you that it is a sparklie item, in case you can't tell from the sneak peek. :) I also have two more projects in the works, but no sneaks to show you yet. Stay tuned though, they will be coming in the next few weeks. The project above will have a free and full tutorial posted when it is ready. I will hook you up with the link, so you can create away if you wish. OK, I better scoot now, I have to get to work. It is going to be a busy week! I hope you have a great week, full of joy and time to create or just enjoy spring. Take care!
Happy crafting ~ Pam

I am ready to scrapbook!

2011-05-01T20:28:00.000-04:00

Hello there! So sorry for my tardiness. I have been sewing like a wildwoman, and catching up on all sorts of things here. Now I am ready to scrapbook! I have a guest artist spot coming up before long, I will share deets soon. I have been playing with some fun product though, and realllllllly enjoying it. In the meantime, I will share some pics of things I have made in the last month. You will notice they are all fabric related. :)

Cutie Hollyn wearing her bright tutu...

Wearing a headband and bow (we made literally hundreds of bows, WOOOO)...

A bassinet cover for a new baby girl ...

The wedding dress used for the bassinet cover....

Sleepy little Coop (so cute!) in his bow tie and belt...

LOTS of bowties ...

Burp cloths, more pics coming soon, we have several new styles, made with flannel and micro terry .....

lots of belt and bow tie sets...

finished the samples for our custom belts....

I don't have pics of the bibs yet, but they are cute cute CUTE! All items will be listed on etsy soon. You can also check us out (Ala Pamala) on facebook if you want.

I hope you have a joyful and creative week. I will catch up with you soon! Take care and happy creating ~ Pam

Sewing up a storm!

2011-03-28T19:33:00.001-04:00

Woo, I have been sewing up a storm, and making loads of fun baby and children's items. It certainly is wonderful when you have little ones to inspire you! Our oldest grandchild (granddaughter) is now three years old, and the baby is a wee bit over one month old. The little man is now two, so we have quite a fun variety going on here. My daughter and I finally started adding some things to our etsy shop, take a peek ~ AlaPamala . We have BOATLOADS of things ready, now we are just trying to take pics, and list them. WOOO, exciting stuff for sure. Here is a pic of the baby wearing some of the hairbows we made, isn't she a cutie?? (not all the pictured items are listed yet, but will be soon) ~

Of course, each time we make hairbows, we make multiples, one for each grandbaby, and some to sell. Here is a pic of Kaya wearing one of our hairbows and headband ~

This was the best shot I could get, she was too excited to play at Mimi and Puppa's house to sit for pictures for more than .5 of a second! Goodness she is full of energy. :)

Hopefully by this weekend we will have lots more listed in our shop. Besides hairbows we have belts, minkie cuddler ribbon tag soothers, diaper cakes, burb cloths, bibs, flannel wipes, tote and diaper bags, and more.

We are working on our facebook page too, Cort has been a busy little bee ~

Ala Pamala Facebook

So that is what we have been up to lately. No time for scrapping recently, but I hope to squeeze some in as soon as we get things caught up a wee bit. I miss playing with paper and adhesive!

Thank you for catching up with me today. I hope you have a joyful and creative day ~ Pam

Lots of pics to share :)

2011-03-13T21:18:00.001-04:00

Hello!!!! How is everybody today? Hopefully fabulous! I finally have some pics to share, so sorry for the delay. Here are some of the baby items that were made for little Hollyn ~

first the quilt ~

here is a close up view ~

here is a pic of her diaper bag and her hairbow holder (not sure where they got the cute little penquin hooks, they are adorable though) ~

there are boatloads of pockets in the diaper bag, here is a close up pic of one end, and each penquin is actually a pocket~

here is a pic of her name in her room (it is really sparklie irl)~

here is a pic of sweet little Hollyn (almost three weeks old, she is wearing a big flower clip I made) ~

here is her hairbow holder when it was empty ~

close up pic of the top ~

Of course I had to make a hairbow holder for her three year old cousin Kaya~

and a french memo board for her two year old cousin Cooper~

I have been making minkie tag blankies for our etsy shop AlaPamala. When I took them over to show my daughter (who is also making things for our shop), three year old Kaya told her

brother, "don't touch, these are for baby Hollyn." :) She is saving everything for the baby, he he he! Here are a few of the oh-SOOOO-soft tag blankies for the etsy shop so far (I have boatloads more, since I have been sewing like a wild woman lately) ~

another monkey minkie, this one with lighter brown for the back ~

I have also been making the cutest little belts and hairbow sets ~

So as you can see, we have been pretty busy. I have lots more photos, but will share them in the next few weeks. I am actually hoping to scrap a few cards tonight if I don't run out of day. There was a butterfly project blog challenge, and I hoped to participate. However, the day has gotten away from me, so we will see. I also signed up for an online book club at BizChicksBlog on facebook (check it out, lots of great advice there), so I need to read my chapters. I better get busy! :)

That is it for tonight. Take care, and I hope you all enjoy a joyful and creative week! ~ Pam

WOOOWEE, What a Slacker!!!

2011-03-08T00:17:00.001-04:00

WOW, I can't believe I haven't posted in almost a month!!! In my defense, I must add that it has been verrrrrrrrrrrrry crazy chaotic here lately. We have a lovely new grandbaby, I have been working at the family business TOGS Powder Coating one day a week, as well as my regular job, and I have been sewing like a mad woman. We also planted our jalepeno and tomato seeds on Sunday, since we are having DTs for the garden and freash veggies. Come on Spring, hurry up and get here!!! :) We are also trying to have one of the grandkiddies spend the night every other weekend, and let me tell you they are bundles of energy, and tucker us right out. Going to the Y has been going so-so, soooooooooooo I need to get back in the habit of going at least three times a week. The big 50 is coming soon, so I have to try to get my rear in gear. Next, my daughter and I are also in the process of opening our etsy shop. I will definitely post pics of what we have once it is ready. In the meantime, our shop name is Ala Pamala and we will have loads of nifty things.

Here is a pic I took about a month ago, I thought it was kind of neat (until I became sick of cold snowy weather)~

This was taken looking outside my side bedroom window, looking up slightly (pic above)

You probably can't see them, but two of our dogs are racing around their little "racetracks" in the snow in the backyard in the above pic.

My poor frozen angel and birdbath. We did not get all the yard stuff put away last fall before we were blanketed with snow. Hopefully everything will be ok if spring EVER decides to arrive. :)

Next week I will share pics of some projects I have been working on, I promise. I hope to have pics of the baby quilt too, as I did not really get any good pics yet. Hope you all have a joyful and creative week ~ Pam

Long time no chat! :)

2011-02-12T23:15:00.003-04:00

My goodness, I am sorry I have been MIA! WOOOOO, things have been very chaotic here. I apologize. I meant to share these darling scans with you sooner, but if you aren't able to use them for Valentines this year, maybe you can use them next year. I found some great valentines while I was out hitting the antique shops recently. Some are from the early 1920s! Wow, it was so neat looking through them. I am sharing some of them, hope you enjoy them too ~

There were a lot of little folding card type valentines. Here are a few (I scanned them open and closed) ~

This scan has multiple valentines, just crop out what you do not want (the bottom right red square-ish valentine is one that is pictured several valentines above, scanned open front and open back) ~

This is a stiff little card, similar to a greeting card ~

Inside portion ~

This fun little valentine folds twice, like a regular little card.

I hope you all have a wonderful Valentine's Day and week! Stay warm too! Happy creating ~ Pam

Time for some winnnnnnnerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrssssssss!!! :)

2011-01-13T09:45:00.001-04:00

Hello everyone! First I would like to say a great big THANK YOU to all of you who took the time to peek at my blog post, and to leave a comment. It is sooooooooooooooo fun to read comments about projects! Love it! So thank you everybody!

Next, a great big THANK YOU to those of you who signed up to be followers of my blog, or who already do follow my blog. I appreciate each of you!!! OK, on to the winners, I am sure you want to know who they are.

First, the winner of the Zutter Goodies Surprise Pack is ~

BARBARA!!!

Barbara said...

Wow - this puts me to shame! My prescribed exercises are taped to my bathroom mirror which does NOTHING for the decor! You have inspired me to greater things, Pam! Thank you for sharing!

Barbara, please email Nan your shipping info at nan @ binditall.com . Please make sure you take out the extra spaces in the email addy, I didn't want any spambots to pick up Nan's email addy. :)

Next, the winner of my blog candy for posting and being a follower on my blog is ~

iluvmybugs

iluvmybugs said...

Great workout journal...love the cover!! I'm a new follower and can't wait to see what you create next! TFS

Please email me your shipping addie pmooie at hotmail . com (be sure to take out the extra spaces and change at to @).

Congrats to the winners, and thanks again to all of you! I do have a little something for everyone that stopped in, scans of little heartfelt vintage valentines. Just copy and save it to your computer (save the hula girl below, and the heart valentine above as well, aren't they cute????). I am going to the antique shops again this w/e, and hope to find more cutie vintage valentines. If I do, I will share them in the next blog post, so check back often!

Thanks again for hopping this last week! Take care and happy creating ~ Pam

Time for the Zutter 11 for '11 Blog Hop! WOOO HOOOOO!!!

2011-01-05T04:19:00.006-04:00

Hello there! Are you all excited to hop along with us during the Zutter 11 for '11 Blog Hop? We sure are excited to have you hopping with us! Welcome! You should have arrived here from Lynne's blog. Here is a list of the 11 blogs in order of the hop ~

Annette West
Emeline Seet
Fleur Smith
Jennifer Priest
Lea Sanders
Lynne Forsythe<------ You should have arrived from here
Pam Sandy <----- You are HERE now :)
Nan Paturzo -----> Go HERE next
Shelley Haganman
Vicki Flinchum
Bind-it-All Blog

What is in store for you on this blog hop journey? Well besides the fun projects posted, there is also the chance to win PRIZES! YAHOO!!! Gott a love that, doncha think? What kind of prizes you ask? Well, each blog post you comment on gives you a chance for one of the fun prize packs from Zutter ~
a Zutter supply pack of "Owire, covers, Cover-Alls and surprises"
That is right, there will be ELEVEN prize packs awarded! One from each blog! So make sure you visit each blog, and leave a comment to be entered in the drawings! I also have a little blog candy for those of you who are either already followers and leave a comment, or who sign up to be a follower of my blog and leave a comment. Details posted at the end of this blog post. :)

One last and final goodie for EVERYBODY is that there is a bonus discount happening at the Bind-It-All site right now. You get an extra 11% discount on all regularly priced items when you shop and use this code at the Bind-It-All site -

CODE: Zutter11 Valid through January 31 only Got it? Great!

Alrighty then. I am excited to share my project with you today. I decided that since I will turn 50 this year (YIKES!) that it was time for me to get my rear in gear and get back in shape. To help me stay focused, and on top of this, I decided to create a journal style book for myself so I could track my progress and stay encouraged along the way. My project is an 8 x 8 Mini, using the oh-so-FABULOUS Cover-Alls. I LOVE those things! They work perfectly with the 8 x 8 Page Protectors. I can edit my book every time I work out, and keep my writings clean, and legible too! WOOO, how perfect is that? Pretty dang sweet I think! Take a peek at my book, then I will tell you how I created it.

Front cover ~

Standing view ~

Back Cover ~

Inside ~

First, I used one of the 8 x 8 White Bamboo Spine Cover-Alls, and painted the cover with a Radiant Rain Paint Dauber by Luminarte. I used the lovely green blue toned Guatamalan, it is very sparklie and lovely. I just popped off the dauber tip, and used a paintbrush to paint deep rich color onto the cover.

Next it was time to prepare some of the items I wanted to use on the cover. First I grabbed my Distrezz-It-All, and distressed the edges of some paper from my stash, older Basic Grey and some pearly looking gold and white paper. I layered these on the front and back of the album. I continued layering papers from my stash onto the album cover front and back. Some of the paper was edged with Fiskars Scalloped Scissors (love those scissors, so quick and easy to create a bit of fun on paper edges).

Next, I stamped one of my favorite stamps, Message and bottle onto white cardstock, then cut it out. You can find this fun stamp at Red Lead Paperworks (GREAT store!), along with other fun vintage-y stamps. I also used one of the Statement Stamps stamped on white cardstock(musical notes on the bird branch above) and painted it with a Radiant Rain Paint Dauber (Mallard). I used the Hot Cinnamon Radiant Rain Paint Dauber on the body of the bird (posted about this in mid December, check it out). I used Eygptian Gold on a few embellies I planned to use (some Jillibean Soup Journaling Sprouts, among other things.)

Time to start layering everything together! I pulled some letter stickers out of my stash, including Thickers, and some My Little Shoebox and other small letter stickers. Everything was glued down, and lots of bling came next. Gotta have some sparkle to get me through those workouts! ;) I also used rubons, several different journaling pens, ribbon, chpboard shapes, and puff and shiny fabric paint. Lastly, after the Stickels had dried on my bottle, I used some Glossy Accents so the bottle looked like it was glass. I wanted the glass bottle to look like it was holding sifting time.

Here is a close up of the cover front, kind of on an angle so you can see the dimension a bit better ~

Now it was time to work on the inside of the album! I took 2 packages of the 8 x 8 PrePunched Page Protectors, and sandwiched them between 2 sheets of the Movable 8 x 8 Page Protectors. Next, I grabbed the insert from the Cover-All, and bound everything together using the 1 1/4" Antique Silver O'Wires. I slipped them into the album.

Time to add my calendar pages! I printed each month (I used Outlook Calendars, feel free to use your favorite site) and cut it and folded it to fit into a Permanent Page Protector. I want to be able to slip the calendar page out of the Page Protector and notate what I did for a workout each time I work out. The hubs and I just joined the beautiful, beautiful new YMCA in Niles, so we are going to seriously work out. Anyway, after I had the 12 Permanent Page Protectors filled with one month each of the calendar, I labeled them using bits of scrap paper that I edged with my scalloped scissors. I then stapled them onto each page. The first Moveable Page I labeled Goals, and the last Moveable Page I labeled Notes. Almost ready!

Lastly I flipped my book over, and put some sparklie stickers on the back with the word Remember, then I wrote this -

If you think you can't, you are probably right. Get rid of your stinkin' thinkin'! That is going to be my mantra, and I am going to add different quotes that I find inspirational to this back cover. It will be kind of my doodle word page, easily visible since it is the cover. I also have a notes page inside in case there is something private I want to remember. I know I will add bits and pieces of things that catch my interest, and write notes all over my workout book, that is the purpose of it. Kind of like an art journal workout book. I can easily add pages using the 8 x 8 Moveable Page Protectors, and put them anywhere within the book. Love that!!! All in all, I am very happy with my workout mini book, and can't wait to be inspired every time I use it!

OK, thank you for patiently reading my post. Here is a picture of a few of the goodies that will be sent to one lucky blog follower who leaves a comment on my blog during the Zutter 11 for '11 Blog Hop ~

There will be a few other items included as well. Gret for Valentine's Day card, tag or scrappy projects! All you have to do to be entered is sign up to be a follower of my blog and leave a comment on this thread. If you are already a follower, then all you have to do is leave a comment on this thread. Easy peasy, right? Can't wait to hear from you!

Well, time to visit Nan, the next stop on the blog hop. Happy Hopping!!! Take care ~ Pam

Zutter 11 for '11 Blog Hop starts JANUARY 5!!! YAHOOOOO!

2011-01-02T23:11:00.001-04:00

Hellllloooooooooo everybody! How was your new year? Fabulous? I hope so! We had a lovely new year here.

Guess what starts JANUARY 5? If you guessed the Zutter Zisters Blog Hop, you are CORRECT! Yahoo! Lots of chances to win prizes, and of course there will be fun projects posted as well. I can't wait to show you what I made! I am bound and determined to make 2011 a great year, and I will show you how I am starting it off. Curious? You will have to check it out on the 5th. heh heh heh heh!

What kind of prizes will be offered during our Zutter 11 for '11 Blog Hop? How about Zutter supply packs of "Owire, covers, Cover-Alls and surprises"? Sounds great, right???

Here is a peek of what I am offering for blog candy to one lucky follower of my blog in addition to the prizes offered during the blog hop ~

Lots of fun little things to add to a valentine card, book, or layout. February will be here before you know it ya know! I am also adding a few other vintage valentine scanned and printed images. I found them last year while scouting out some antique shops, and they are absolutely darling! You will love them.

PLUS, if you didn't get what you wanted for Christmas, or if you forget to order something before Christmas and now you are raring to create, check this out ~

Shopping discount code for 11% off everything that isn't already on sale at Bind-It-All!

Deets ~ Valid through January 31 on the Bind-It-All site only. Code will be given during the blog hop, so make sure you pop back here on January 5th!

Alrighty then? Can't WAIT to hop with you on the 5th!!! Happy creating, and see ya soon ~ Pam

Played with a bit of paint today, and other odds n ends.

2010-12-19T20:54:00.001-04:00

Hi there! How are you? Hopefully super fab! I played with a Radiant Rain Dauber ~ Hot Cinnamon. Woooo, it is so pretty and sparklie! Love it. I worked on blinging up some embellies. I hope to work on tags this Friday when I am home. This is going to be a crazy chaotic week, so that will be my next bit of free time. Anyway, here is a pic of some of my stuff ~

I added some Sakura 3D Dimensional Glaze to some pieces, and some Glossy Accents to others. Some items I left as they are. I can't believe all the sparkle! Woo, love that. I promise to show you what I create with these bits of odds n ends soon. In the meantime, I promised to show you a few more cards I made with the Bazzill Card Bases my friend Patti sent in the RAK I won (she has a great blog, go check it out). I am LOVING playing with these babies! Fun colors, and it saves me time cutting and folding. These cards were like 3 minute cards. Here they are ~

Isn't Bruce stinkin adorable??? His name is Bruce Wayne, because he has a mask like Batman. We just call him Bruce. Yes, we are kind of weird! :)

Remeber when I posted this card a few weeks ago? You can go check out the tutorial for making it on the Bind-It-All Blog. Take a peek, and please tell me what you think. I hope someone finds the tutorial useful. It doesn't have to be a Christmas Card, you can change it up to be whatever type card you want. Have fun!

One more bit of news ~ Citrus Tree Studio will be having a SUPER fun Online Crop. Here are the deets ~

Friday, December 31st (starting at 6:00 p.m. (eastern)) through Sunday, January 2nd, 2011 (ending at 12 midnight(eastern)).

Hope you check it out, it should be a blast, fun challenges, and Cindy always gives out great prizes to the winners!

Well, sorry for kind of a short post, but I need to go cut and wrap my carmels. They take forever to make, then they have to sit undisturbed for 24 hours. Ater that they take forever to cut and wrap, yikes. But they are delich, and the people who receive them always love them. So they are definitely worth the work. It has been 24 hours since I poured the carmel in the baking pans, so off to cut and wrap I go. Hope you all have a creative and happy week ~ Pam

WOOOOO, it might be freezing outside, but it is warm in my crafty area!

2010-12-12T21:35:00.006-04:00

Helllllllllloooooooooooooooo! How are you? Fab? Super fab? I hope so! It has been crazy busy around here, but I have still been able to sneak some crafty time in. Here are a few pics of what I have created the last few weeks ~

Some fun ornaments ~

Here are a few close up shots ~

I played with some fun buttons that I received in a Blog Candy package from my friend Patti. It was Ah-mazing! Loaded with alllllll sorts of fun things. I grabbed the buttons and made the wee little wreath ornament, it only took a few minutes to complete. Thanks Patti!!! :) Here is a peek at the wreath while it was under construction ~

A few more ornaments or package decorations, I used some of the fantastic Twinkling H2Os for lots of shimmer and shine ~

Here is a side view of one of the clips, I used wee little clothespins, now I can easily attach these little angels to the tree, a wreath, or a package ~

A close up view, can you see the shimmer? ~

Cards, this one created with a stamped sheet of cardstock that I painted with the Radiant Rain Daubers (took about 15 seconds MAX to cover a whole sheet of cardstock, LOVE the sparkle and vibrant color), and of course used my quick and easy Distrezzer to distress some of the edges ~

Another card I made, this took about 2 minutes to put together ~

I also used some of the beautiful Bazzill Cards and Envies that Patti sent me, sorry I forgot to take a pic. I will share those next week. :)

Then this afternoon I made the YUMMIEST Chocolate pecan Raspberry Thumbprint Cookies. I will definitely be making a few more batches to share!

I hope you are enjoying the month of December. It has been kind of wild here weather wise, but then again, it is December. Hope you are all staying warm and dry! OK, I am off to wrap a few presents, so take care. Have a joyful and creative week ~ Pam

Hope you had a happy and safe Thanksgiving!

2010-11-28T19:34:00.000-04:00

I hope all of my USA friends enjoyed a happy and safe (and delich!) Thanksgiving. We are all heading into December, no matter where we live, isn't that amazing? I have been busy as a bee working on projects and playing with Twinkling H2Os and Radiant Rain products, and I am in love. :) They are vibrant and gorgeous, and easy peasy to work with! I promised to show you some projects I have been working on, so here they are. I used some fun stamps from Red Lead and some Stazon ink to create a vintage base to work with. Here are a few cards ~

I used some vintage fabric on this card, I love how it turned out. Wish you could see all the sparkling loveliness irl, it is very pretty!

Next, I used a different Red Lead stamp, as well as a sentiment stamp from another company and created two similar cards ~

I will be posting directions on the Bind-It-All Blog soon on how I created the bottom card (stay tuned!). I used the oh-so-fabulous Distrezz-It-All, and it was boatloads of fun to create. Of course, I also used a few of these sparklie lovelies~

I have been playing with these shimmery sparklie paints like crazy, and will show you a few other projects in the next few weeks. I have to say, if you love sparkle, then you DEFINITELY need to pick up some Radiant Rain and Twinkling H2Os! Oh my, they are so fun and easy to work with and they add boatloads of color!

I finished the grandkiddies Santa Countdown, YAY!!! I also finished one for our house, because we definintely need one here too. :) Here is a pic of one, with the extra set and extra numbers below. It was pretty time consuming to create, I was surprised. But then again, each little number or santa was like a bitsy little quilt, so I guess I shouldn't have been. They are cuter that cute though, wish you could really see them ~

I have also been working on other bits and pieces of things. Here are a few belts I zipped together super quickly for the grandkiddies stockings ~

Here is a wee little hair bow and belt for my three year old granddaughter who loves Mickey and Minnie and the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse ~

I have been decorating for Christmas too. The last few years have been very crazy and sometimes not so happy for our family. We have all gone through an awful lot, but thankfully things are a bit easier for us now. Hopefully they will continue this way for years to come. :) Anyway, I decided that I need to make things a bit cozy this year, even if I don't have boatloads of time to do so. I used to decorate like CRAZY, spending weeks to do so. I no longer have that kind of space to decorate, nor do I have that kind of time. But I do have some spots that have just the right amount of room, and I have been sneaking in a bit of decorating time here and there as I can. Here is a pic of my one super bitsy little FUN and BRIGHT pink tree, located on our recycled island in the basement (the fabulous big and sturdy oak unit used to be in a library in it's previous life) ~

closer view

I found some darling little pink tiny trees at Hobby Lobby, and since they were half off, they had to come home with me. Don't you like my hubbies Harley wall hanging over my sparklie pink stuff? ;) he he, lovely!

Here is a pic of one of my fav trees. I bought this tree in Shipshewana over a dozen years ago. I wanted a skinny tree, and they were hard to find then. I was thrilled when I found this one! It used to be located in our hallway at our old house. We had a lovely wraparound staircase and the hall between the kitchen, den, basement, and front entrance was nice and big (the foyer). I wanted a tree there, but not one that would take up a lot of space. So this tall skinny tree was perfect. I bought the tree topper in another shop in Shipshewana, I loved the contrast between old metal and the glitter, then I made over 100 star and heart ornaments in two sizes and several differnt tones of ivory for the tree. Of course I used lots of chunky glitter! I still hang those ornaments on this tree, in addition to a few different red ornaments and some glittery coated baby's breath. It is now in our dining room between some of my favorite artist (Nancy Noel) pictures (still have to put the tree skirt under the tree). Hope you like it ~

Last year when I went to Frankenmuth with friends, I found a beautiful old world style glass cardinal ornament. Can you see it clipped to the tree in the pics below?

Of course, we also have our smores tree, and our regular Christmas tree put up. I did not take pics of those yet, so I will share them next week. My granddaughter and grandson love the smores tree, and keep putting items near it to play with. It is on our fireplace hearth, so it is a perfect height for them to "arrange" things. :) They are very creative, gotta love that!

Well friends, that is it for me this week, I need to get my rear in gear and finish a few tasks. Don't forget, if you are in the market for a new Bind-It-All or Distrezz-It-All, they are on sale for a limited time. Check them out here.

Hope you all have a safe, happy, and creative week ~ Pam

Are you freaking out because it is almost the end of November?

2010-11-21T17:20:00.001-04:00

Well, you aren't alone! :) I was feeling a semi panic attack coming on when I finally decided that whatever I get done this year is great, and whatever I do NOT get done, oh well. I guess that is one of the perks of aging, things begin to freak you out just a wee bit less. I am sure other worries will take over, but in the interim, I am going to ENJOY the holidays and blast Christmas songs on Sirrus every day. My crafty area is semi somewhat organized, and I have a few Christmas trees up and decorated, and I even have a few other things done. I will still be working on projects like a wild woman the rest of the year, as well as working and teaching in Chicago, but I am not going to freak out about how much I get done or don't get done, totally not like me at all. I am going to give myself a break this year and just enjoy whatever I get done. I hope I can keep this attitude into next year, wooooo, it is fab! OK, enough about my new attitude on my to~do list. On to what I am working on this week.

I don't have any pics to share yet, but I can tell you I am working on this stinkin' adorable project for my grandbabies ~

Nancy Halvorsen is my fav, fav, FAV fabric and pattern designer. Her stuff is so whimsical and fun and loving. Love it! I am making two, one for the grandbabies, and one for our house.

I am also going to start working on a crib quilt, bumpers, diaper bag and other little baby girl items for our granddaughter who will be arriving in February. Her momma picked out the cutest colors for the darling little penquin theme items. I will share pics of the items as they are available. Of course, I am also working on more Christmas cards and tags, and have been playing with the BEST and most sparklie paints ever! I received some Twinkling H2O's paints and daubers, and have been tinkering with them. I totally LOVE these things, they are soooooooooo incredibly sparklie, and you can control the amount of color so easily. Stay tuned for projects, I will have some to show next week.

Enabler alert! If you are interested in buying a new Distrezz-It All, or a Bind-It-All, now is a GREAT time to do so! Check out the Zutter Bind-It-All site for pricing details. You will save a bundle on either of these two fab tools. I use both ALL the time, and love them.

Well friends, I need to make some pumpkin cheesecake rolls, since they disappear quickly around here. I hope you have a marvelous week, and if you are in the USA like me, a blessed, happy, and safe Thanksgiving. See ya next weekend! Happy creating ~ Pam

Card making time!

2010-11-08T00:05:00.000-04:00

Helllllllloooooooooooooo! How are you all doing? Fab? Super fab? I hope so! I have been cleaning and sorting things at my house like a mad woman. I did not get a chance to do spring cleaning this year, so I am doing the big fall cleanup instead. :) I have snuck a wee bit of time in to work on cards though. I am having a few friends over for a card making party in a few weeks, and I am determined that they will leave with some completed cards this year. We like to visit and snack, and play with supplies, and will do so again this year, but darn it, we are also going to be productive. I will show you the cards we will be creating, but first, here is a pic of a donation made to the United Way. They are having a silent auction at work, and I made and donated this Love Is tote and Christmas Album for our department (Please bid on it if you work for Memorial Hospital, all the money goes to The United Way) ~

OK, here are the cards ~

I just received a fun new stamp from Red Lead, and created this card with it. I am still tinkering, since I need to make a few for a swap over at Red Lead, and I am not yet totally thrilled with the final product. I like it, but don't LOVE it yet. I am sure you know what I mean. :) I do love the darling little children in this stamp, it reminds me of my kids when they were little, adorable, and sweet ~

A few more cards we will work on at the party ~

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The card above is a card similar to one I made for a challenge over at Citrus Tree Studio a few years ago (I still love this style card). Definitely making one of these at the party!

I am also starting work on some fabric projects, including a few advent calendars for the grandbabies, and one for our house, and some other odds and ends. I can't believe it is already the second week of November, time is definitely ZOOMING by. I appreciated that extra hour today due to setting the clocks back, wish I could have an extra one every week. ;) I am sure I am not alone in that thought.

Well, I do need to do a little more sorting in my crafty area, so I better get back to it. Hope you all have a FABULOUS and creative week. Happy crafting ~ Pam

Finished with the last flower girl dress!

2010-10-18T08:24:00.003-04:00

Helloooooooooooo! How are you all doing? Fab? Super fab? I hope so! I have been sewing like a madwoman for a few months now, but I am finished with wedding type projects. I just finished the last flower girl dress, so I will be moving on to Christmas presents now. :) Here is the final flower girl dress I made for a friend (for her son's wedding) ~

the front ~

the back ~

close up of the back so you can see the little pearly heart buttons ~

Here are a few pics of the flower girl dresses from my daughter's wedding (being worn by the darling little flower girls). Pictures were taken by France Malate, check out his work on his Facebook page, he is amazing! First pic is of the two flower girls and two ring bearers before the wedding ~

During the wedding ~

I will be scrapping soon, I am so excited! I plan on working on boatloads of thank you cards next. I can't wait to play with paper and scissors, I am having serious withdrawals. I love sewing, but I also love playing with paper. :)

That is it for me this week, I'll catch up with you later. Hope you have a fab and creative week. Happy crafting! ~ Pam

As promised, some wedding pics! :)

2010-10-10T23:31:00.001-04:00

I can't believe it has already been over a week since the wedding! My, time certainly does fly anymore. Is that a sign of old age? Or just being too stinkin' busy? I hope it is the too stinkin' busy, he he. Well, I promised to share some pics from the wedding, so here ya go ~

First, here is a pic looking toward the entrance. (The head table is still a work in progress in this pic, this was taken on Friday before the wedding.)

Here it is after we finished adding a few more touches (the glass containers held the bridesmaids's flower arrangements after teh ceremony)~

Here it is just before the bride and groom arrived ~

The candy bar ~

close up of the cookies made by a generous friend, they were shaped like wedding cakes, dresses, and double hearts) ~

Additional goodies on the candy bar ~

During the reception, a cupcake display was also added ~

The cake table, all ready for the cake to arrive (I purchased the glasses that the candles were in during the huge US 12 garage sale, they were super inexpensive, I just added a wee bit of organdy ribbon and some small glass pebbles, instant candle holder and lots of sparkle)~

The gorgeous cake, made by a wonderful friend and her daughter ~

The flowers were edible, and the cake was delich!

Remember the little candle holder I bought at half off at Hobby Lobby and I added a rub on to? It is on the left, by the candles in the glasses I purchased in the US 12 sale. That entire arrangement on the left, including beautiful candles (Hobby Lobby, half off!) and the floral arrangement cost about $15.00. YAY!!!

Each guest table was slightly different, but they all coordinated. Here are a few assorted pics (orange floater candles were added to the center bowls and lit just before the reception)~

Well, that is it for now. We were soooooooooooo fortunate that so many people helped in so many ways. Baking cookies and beautiful cakes and cupcakes, sewing table toppers and arranging flowers, ironing for hours, setting up the fabulous candy bar, making all the yummy and beautiful chocolate and candy coated pretzels, putting together all the lovely corsages and flowers the girls carried, setting up tables, chairs, arranging alllllll the decor, helping with the children, offering your cars and homes for rehearsals and the beautiful ceremony, all the prayers and well wishes, and more!

Thank you, thank you, thank you to all of you!!!

Thank you too for viewing all the pics. Have a blessed and creative week ~ Pam

The wedding was beautiful!

2010-10-04T13:40:00.000-04:00

Just a quick post to say thank you to all of you who sent so many well wishes for Cort's wedding. It was a beautiful fall wedding! I am so thankful to all the wonderful and caring people that helped make it such a special and memorable day for us all. I promise to share boatloads of pics soon, but for now, here is one of my son, myself, my daughter, my grandson, my son-in-law, my granddaughter, and my hubs taken after the wedding-

I promise there will be a lot more photos, many of them are still being uploaded. By the way, if you are in need of a fantastic photgrapher, and are in the Chicago area, please give France Malate a call, he is amazing! We were fortunate enough that he and his beautiful wife and family drove to Nappanee Indiana to capture this special time (and his children were adorable in the wedding too!). Again, I promise to post additonal pics soon, including the wedding party, the decor, cake, and more. It was beautiful!

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. Happy creating till I catch up with you again ~ Pam

Less than a week to go, the countdown has started, WOOOOOO! :)

2010-09-26T12:01:00.001-04:00

Oh my word, in less than a week we will be attending a wedding. Hopefully the weather will be beautiful, since the ceremony will be outdoors. {fingers crossed} The reception is indoors, so if the weather doesn't cooperate, at least we will be warm and dry inside for the dinner and party. I have been working like crazy on more items, and have a boatload to show you today. Remember that candle holder I bought half off at Hobby Lobby? Well, here is what it looks like now (ignore the background, I will post better pics after setting up at the hall)~

Here is the back ~

No candles ~

Here is what it looked like before I sparkled it up (gotta love those sparkly sprays!) and made it bigger ~

Next, remember these baskets I bought for 25 cents each during the huge US 12 garage sale?

Here they are now, repainted, antiqued, embellished, and all ready for the flower girls to carry ~

I was at Hobby Lobby again (surprise!) and found this lovely candle holder (on sale for 1/2 off of course)~

I thought it would be lovely on the cake table. Just one more thing needed to make it perfect ~

A rub on. Easy peasy! I love this saying (and the song, one of my all time favs), I thought it was perfect for two people beginning their life together. Anyway, the rub on is by Upsy Daisy Designs.

Next, I purchased 2 three packs of some beautiful name card holders (each package included beautiful fall colors of forest green, deep red, and burnt orange holders~ again, half off at Hobby Lobby WOOOO HOOO). There will be 6 reserved tables at the wedding, the rest are open to whomever wishes to sit there. My daughter wanted people to have the freedom to select where they sit. Anyway, I made some Reserved cards to put in the holders. Here is a peek at one of the holders ~

I wish you could see how sparkly and gorgeous these are irl. I used some copper foil from a manufacturer that I found at CHA. (I will be offering classes using this beautiful product, watch for details.)

I also made one that is folded and ready to sit on a table, just in case we need one more (I couldn't find any more holders at Hobby Lobby, they sold out in 2 days, DANG it!). Here it is (a lovely shade of chocolate brown bazzill is the cs by the way) ~

Next, I picked up some kraft colored gift bags to fill with a few goodies for our guests that will be staying overnight in a hotel (price of bags, 2 for $1.00). I added a wee bit to them, stamped saying, ribbon, and cs ~

We will tie an organza ribbon around the handles after we fill them. Simple, yet pretty. Of course I also had to add a wee bit of bling, as you probably noticed. ;)

I finally finished the flower ball that will hang over the dance floor (in the middle of some draped tulle and lights). I was lucky enough to have a friend come over and help with things one day last week, she cut and wired all the little sparkly net bits I tucked in here and there. You can't really see them very well, but they are there, and look sparkly lovely. :) This flower ball is one of my daughter's favorite things so far. She reaaaaaaaaaaalllly wanted one, so I am happy that she likes how it turned out. Here are a few pics (view from the side top)~

view from the other side ~

view of Bruce, one of our Shizons, in front of the side view of the flower ball (he is very nosy, can you tell?) ~

view of the side bottom of the flower ball ~

I also finished one of the flower girl dresses, and the headpiece. I have one more flower girl dress to finish, finish hemming my daughter's dress, and altering my dress. Then just the little bits and pieces of assorted projects, and last minute things before packing everything up to haul out to the hall. Whew!

Thanks so much for reading my long post today, I hope some of these ideas are things you can incorporate into your creations. I would love to see pics if so. My next post will be after the wedding, so there will probably be a lot more pics to share. :) Take care til then, and happy crafting! ~ Pam

Time for a winner! Please take a peek at the wedding book too.

2010-09-19T22:10:00.004-04:00

Alrighty then! Time to post the winner of my last blog candy. Without further ado, it is Lagene! Please email me your postal addie, and I will zip your prize out to you as soon as I can get to the post office. I also have a wee little something else for fairyrocks (Pam) since I drew a second name, you know I can never do just one give-away. Last but not least, since the blog is at 100 followers now, I decided to send a wee little something to Cathy, who is the 100th follower. Thank you so much to all of you who left me some love, and who took time to go peek at my guest artist post at Scrapbook News and Review. I greatly appreciate it!!! Ladies, please send me your addies when you get time.

OK, on to wedding stuff now! I have to tell you, I have been working like a wild woman. I have lots and lots of things half way done or in process, so I don't have a lot of wedding project pics to share this week, but I promise they are on the way. I did finish the brown copper metallic organza table runners, all 25 of them (thank you to my super duper pal Judy, who ironed for HOURS to help out), and I have a pile of the aqua tealish table toppers done too. I am so lucky, two friends at Sew B helped me stitch on this super slippery material - Sharon and Cindy. Cindy even took the rest of my stack home (over half the pile YAY) to finish stitching them up for me. I am SO DANG LUCKY to have such helpful friends (including Suzanne and Rae, who helped put the table decor things together a few weeks ago). A great big ole THANK YOU to all of you!!!

I did finish up the wedding wishes book though, here is a little peek ~

Do you like it? I like how it turned out, hopefully Cort will too. I don't know if you can tell, but the foam letter stickers are super glittery, soooooo pretty!

I am working on Kaya's flower girl dress now, it is all cut out and I will start stitching it up soon. Then I will cut out Katie's dress and work on hers. That will be more of a challenge, since she lives in Chicago (a few hours away), and I need to enlarge the pattern several sizes. I won't see her until the rehearsal dinner, so keep your fingers crossed for me. :)

I worked on just a wee bit more garden stuff the past few weeks too. Here are some of the fun fun rainbow carrots we planted ~

I love the maroon carrots! Something fun about them, they are orange and yellow inside. Here are a few in the sink, besides the two I cut the tops and ends off, you can see I scrubbed another odd shaped one a wee bit too hard, I took off some of the lovely maroon color ~

Here are some lovely rainbow carrots all diced up and ready for soup ~

They are definitely a fun crop to grow, and easy peasy too. I hope to grow them again next year.

Well, that is it for today, I promise to share lots of wedding project pics next weekend. It definitely looks like a special fall event is about to take place when you look around my house. WOOO, exciting! ;) Less than two weeks now, oh my!

Wishing you an awesome happy and creative week. Happy crafting! ~ Pam

Thank you for viewing my Guest Artist Tutorial, and a wee bit more wedding stuff :)

2010-09-12T15:31:00.000-04:00

Hellllllooooooooooooooooo!!! How are you all doing today? Fab? Super fab? I sure hope so! It has been crazy busy here with all the wedding prep. Time is zipping by super quickly, and I still have a lot to accomplish. First I wanted to say thank you to all of you who took the time to go read my Guest Artist Post at Scrapbook News and Review. I appreciate it! I will be drawing a winner for the blog candy later this week (Saturday September 18), and I will post who it is on Sunday the 19th. Here it is again in case you want to enter the drawing -

Remember, all you have to do is go check out my Guest Artist Post at Scrapbook News and Review, then come back here and post what your favorite project was, and sign up to be a follower of my blog. If you are already a follower, you are halfway entered! :)

Next, I have a quick little tutorial on adding a wee bit more to a project. Remember these wedding items I posted about a few weeks ago?

The champagne glasses in particular?

Well, I wanted to make the bride and groom glasses a wee bit more unique, so I had my daughter pick out her two favorites. Once she had selected them, I added a bit to them. First, I found these awesome brass filigree charms half off at Hobby Lobby (reg price $2.99 for a package of 4, sale price $1.50 for a package of 4). I took two, turned them on a diagonal so they were diamond shaped, and slightly bent them in a rounded shape so they fit the glasses. It was super easy, I gently used my hands to shpe them, then curved them a bit more by using the edge of a table. You can see my supplies here ~

After I had the brass medallions curved, I laid the glasses down and glued the brass embellie to them (make sur eyou use a good strong glue, Helmar makes FABULOUS glues)~

I found the cute little Bride and Groom charms in a wedding area of Hobby Lobby, they were only $2.99 regular price, but on sale for half off ($1.50). They were strung on a little tiny circle of wire designed to go around the base of a wine or champagne glass. I wanted them to be a bit more of a focal piece, so I glued them on top of the medallion (centered) ~

Since there was a little hole where they were hung, I decided to use some sparkly little crystals to cover the hole. I tried orange, didn't like it, then brown, still didn't like it, and then tried goldish brown. Loved it!

Here they are, all jazzed up and ready to use ~

One final pic I want to show you. Here are some glass vases I got at that huge US 12 garage sale ~

They were soooooooooooo inexpensive, YAY! Better yet, I got them for half off the sticker price, since I bought them at one of the last places we stopped at. It was the final day, and it was looking like rain soon, so everything was half off. WOOOO HOOO!!! Wait till you see what I am going to do with them. :) I'll share that next week, along with several other wedding projects. Till then, don't forget to check out my Guest Artist Post, hope you have a fantastic week, and happy crafting! ~ Pam

Lots of wedding project pics, Bind-It-All Priojects, Mini albums, ATCs, and my Guest Artist info!

2010-09-05T11:49:00.001-04:00

Happy Labor Day Weekend to all my US friends! Hope you are enjoying beautiful weather and relaxing. I have been working on more wedding projects, I have some mini album pics to share, and I want to link you up to my guest artist post. First, I am so excited and honored to be a guest artist on Scrapbook News And Review, an awesome ezine featuring not only scrappy stuff, but all sorts of creative paper crafting goodness. There are some peeps with mad skills over there, and they are AMAZINGLY generous with their time and talent. Lots of fabulous tutorials on mixed media art, as well as things like ATCs, inchies, cards, and more. Please check out my tutorial beginning Monday September 6. I have a chance for you to win a little blog candy if you do. :) More about that in a minute. First, I am going to start off with some minis and projects I did for September using my Bind-It-All (make sure you go check out the Bind-It-All blog, besides fab tutorials and pics, OZZ DT Jennifer Priest is doing a fun give-a-way!!! WOO HOO!!!). I posted a wee sneak peek of a mini I made last week. Here is a full pic ~

Here are a few pics of the inside (I used the super page protectors and Bamboo Spine Cover-All by Zutter, you can't believe how easy it is to work with these products, and how fantastic they look when you are done, the pics really do not do them justice at ALL)~

In the back of the book I added several blank pages. This was the area for everyone to write their well wishes to the happy couple. Later they will send an email with one of their fav recipes to share with the newlyweds ~

My next project was an ATC holder. I used the fun Display-It-All and more of the faboo Page Protectors, now I can see both sides of each ATC, or change them out quickly and easily if I wish)~

View of the back ~

Views inside ~

Last in my September projects is a little Fall Wallhanging, using the oh-so-fab canvas artboard ~

I have enjoyed tinkering with the silk flowers, and decided to incorporate one of the little fall picks into a wall hanging.

Now for some wedding project pics. Remember this pic? ~

Well, I finally had a chance to finish up those tabletop arrangements (30 in all). Here are a few pics (please ignore my oh-so-stained work table)~

Of course the arrangements will look so much nicer on the table topper and tablerunner. Remeber this pic? ~

I have been working on the flower girl baskets too, I will share a little tutorial next week on how they went from this ~

to something a lot prettier. :) I will also share what I added to this to make it a bit more wedding sparkle-ish~

OK, thanks for reading this far! I told you there would be blog candy, so here are the deets. Please go to Scrapbook News and Reviews between September 6 - 12, and read my guest artist post. I have a tutorial showing you how I created a beautiful card with a twist. I also posted pics of other projects I have made, featuring some of my favorite things - fabric, texture, and sparkle. Here is a sneak peek example of one of the things I posted about, some ATCs I made for a swap at Red Lead (they have the COOLEST vintage stuff ever, including stamps, collage sheets, and trinkets!) ~

Please leave a comment here with your favorite item listed in my Guest Artist Tutorial, and sign up to be a follower of my blog. Already a follower? Super! If so, just leave a comment on this post with your fav item in my Guest Artist Post at Scrapbook News and Reviews. You will be entered in a drawing for some fun blog candy (2 bookmarks, an ATC, some bling, 3 mini fall stamps and a mini acrylic block) ~

Alrighty then? Easy peasy!

Thank you for hanging out at my blog today. I can't wait to see what your fav project is that I have posted in my Guest Artist Post at Scrapbook News and Reviews!

Have an awesome week, and happy creating ~ Pam

My word, I am working on a zillion things at once! I need your help too please! :)

2010-08-29T13:46:00.000-04:00

Hi there! How have you been? Hopefully great. I have worked on so many different projects this week I have completely lost count. I was fortunate enough to have friends come over and help with creating the table decor for Cort's wedding (BIG thank you to Suzanne and Rae, THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!), I have been working on jazzing up the flower girl baskets, (picked up for a quarter each in the big US HWY 12 garage sale expedition a few weeks ago), worked on ATCs for a swap at Read Lead (totally love their stamps), worked on my tutorial for my guest artist feature coming up at Scrapbook News and Review (Sept 6th, hope you will stop in and check it out), worked on a book for a co-workers reception today, working on another little mini project, working on Cort's wedding guest book, and if that wasn't enough, I decided to check out this fun fun new site - The Hive. Here is where the favor comes in. ;) I posted my badge holder as a BEE project to a challenge they are having. I am really late to the game, since the challenge ends soon. PLEASE go check out my link and vote for me HERE (I am Pamela Sandy, and number 15). I would greatly appreciate it! While you are there, check out the Hive, it is a cool new site. There are boatloads of creative talented people. I also posted about joining the hive on my FB page, check it out HERE . Sned me a friend request if you can't see it, and let me know who you are. WHEWWWWWWW.......OK, that is it for the begging portion of today's post. ;) On to crafty stuff!!! Look what part of my basement looks like right now (can't show you more, it is too frightful!) ~

close up shot of some of the almost finished arrangements (26 are partially finished) ~

Here is a sneaky peek at my co-worker's gift which will be posted on the Bind It All blog the first of September, and I will share pics next week ~

I like how it turned out, I hope she likes it! I'll explain in more detail what it is next week. I can't really share anything else right now, but next week I will have a BOATLOAD of stuff I can share. Most of my projects are due to be posted the 1st, or are noooooooooot quite finished, or I haven't cropped the pics yet (too crazy chaotic this w/e, wooooooooooo!). Of course the wedding decor project is ongoing, and will be for several more weeks. ;)

Hope you all have a fab fab fab and creative week. Take cake, see you next week ~ Pam

Create Beautiful Wedding Decor on a Budget

2010-08-22T11:14:00.005-04:00

Helllllooooooooooooooo! How are you all doing? Fab? Super fab? I hope so! We have been busy collecting supplies for my daughter's wedding that is coming up October 2nd. Last weekend I did not create anything, I was busy garage sale shopping on US HWY 12 in Michigan, a giant affair that stretched all the way to Detroit from the western edge of Michigan. We didn't go that far, but we did go several towns over. We got boatloads of loot, the majority of it great stuff to use for my daughter's wedding. She came over this weekend and we got to work creating some things. Here is a pic of what we accomplished so far ~

How do you like it? We love it so far. First, we took the bargain beautiful champagne glasses that I found at a garage sale for only $5.00. Little story about the glasses ~ the lady having the sale was so kind, she only had 2 new boxes of 4 glasses each in the sale (8 glasses total). My hubs and I were hesitant to buy them since we needed 10 for the bridal party. She ran in her house and grabbed 3 out of her cupboard, and sold us all 11 glasses for only $5, can you believe it? That was SOOOO nice of her! OK, back to the creating. I took some brown and gold thick wire and decoratively twisted it around the stems of the glasses. Meanwhile, my daughter strung some beads that we picked up at half off at JoAnn's and Hobby Lobby (part of our shopping expedition from earlier in the week). Once she had them strung, I wrapped them around the base of the glasses and secured them with additional fine gold wire. Then I topped it off with an ivory organdy ribbon bow. Here are a few close up pics ~

Next we did the cake server and knife in a similar fashion.

We started working on the table arrangements, but just briefly. We picked up boatloads of clearance sparklie stuff last January, and will be incorporating it into the table arrangements with the half off stuff we picked up at JoAnn's and Hobby Lobby last week. Here is one more pic where you can see the table arrangement a bit ~

We are also doing some mirrors (two per table, and the catering hall is very kindly letting us borrow her stock so we don't have to purchase any, isn't that AWESOME???). We will put glass vases, bowls, and assorted vessels on each table and have burnt orange floating candles (picked up for 30 cents each during a Hobby Lobby clearance sale in January WOOO HOOOO), ivory votive candles (purchased on sale), and lots of the sparklie glass stones, also purchased on sale. The catering hall is letting us use her glass bowls and vases as well, isn't that kind? I also picked up a BOATLOAD of assorted glass bowls, vases, and containers that we will be using as well. We have lots of pretty little votive holders too, we will show you pics of those in another post. I will be making aqua table mats out of the spaklie satin (shown above, not stitched yet), and table runners out of the sparklie copper brown organza. As you probably guessed, the wedding colors are ivory, brown, aqua and burnt orange. Since it is fall, we are using lots of fall type decor, such as sunflowers, pine cones, leaves, berry stuff, and more. Kind of a vintagy chic look is what we are going for. What do you think? Like it? I'll keep posting pics as we create more things. We are on a serious budget, but want to have a beautiful wedding. Hopefully we will accomplish our goal. :)

As to other creative endeavors, this week I will be working on some vintage ATCs for a swap at Red Lead, (going to use some glitter, yippee!) and some projects for Zutter. I also have a guest blog post coming up somewhere soon, I will let you know when and where the first part of September. I am super excited, it is one of my very fav places! Hope you stop in and say hello.

Well, I am off to Erica's Craft and Sewing Center, my fav, fav, FAV fabric and pattern designer will be there today signing copies of her books. I am meeting friends, since there are lots of Nancy Halverson fans. Check out out her newest pattern book at Erica's. It is loaded with darling projects!

Have a wonderful week! Happy creating ~ Pam

A Quick Hello

2010-08-11T13:29:00.001-04:00

Hi there! How is everybody doing? Holding up in this heat wave? It has been so dang blazing hot and humid here this summer, we are all tired of the heat. Our garden has gone completely wild. Here is a picture from almost two weeks ago ~

Believe me, it is much more of a jungle now! I made over 150 zucchini muffins yesterday and took them downtown and donated them to our church's inner city Tuesday night dinner and a service program for the local residents. We also donated lots of cucs, tomatoes, jalapenos and some cherry tomatoes for residents to take home. It certainly makes the hard work worth the effort when we are able to help feed hungry people.

I wanted to share two pics of things I made at CHA, they were two of my favorite projects. The first is a darling little T-shirt I made for the grandbabies (they will have to take turns wearing it) ~

Isn't it super cute? The products are offered by SEI, and you can customize your tshirt or other fabric item by using various fabric iron ons. I started with the green monster body and then added the giant eye, the arms, legs, shoes, mouth, tongue, and the band aid. Love this fun new product line. They also have ADORABLE coordinating patterned paper and items that would be great for birthday parties. Love it!

Next, I went to the Silhouette booth over the course of the show (several day project) and made this fab apron for my daughter ~

Isn't it awesome? I cut the saying and scroll out of velvet iron on fabric, and the hot pink butterfly was cut from matte iron on material. The last day we added iron on crystals, using a template already cut out to speed things up. I loved the eaase of use with the Silhouette, I currently have a Klick N Kut and it is a giant patootie pain to use. I have never taken the time to learn how to use it, so really it is my own fault. The software is just pretty extensive and I just haven't taken time to play with it as I should. I love the fact that it and the Silhouette use fonts on your computer, no card purchase required. I may just get a Silhouette though since it seems so much more user friendly to use. It is also a loooooot smaller than the giant klunky Klick N Kut too! :)

Well, I am off to go can some salsa. We used up the 60+ jars we canned last summer (gone before the first of the year, YIKES!). I hope to can quite a bit of salsa this summer too, but we will have to see. I have learned that there are only so many hours in the day....... ;) I have made boatloads of fresh salsa, which disappeared in no time.

Wishing you a joyful and creative week ~ Pam

Back from CHA, that was fun! Projects to share too. :)

2010-08-01T21:49:00.000-04:00

Hi there! I came back from CHA with lots and lots of inspiration. It was boatloads of fun meeting everybody that I have been fortunate enough to meet via various message boards and groups. It was also great to create tons of make n takes, and see all the fun new products. I am sure you have all read a gazzillion posts about the fabby new stuff, so I won't go into that again. :) I did promise to show you how I embellished my badge holder though, so here it is.

Remember the first pic I shared? ~

Here is my embellished portion ~

I had to include a flower and of course some sparklie danglies, and some rhinestones on the flowered ribbon. :) I added the wee little bee to the ribbon on the strap too.

I have a few Zutter projects to share too.

The first one is a little notebook I made for myself. I want to jot down inspiring things I run across and save them. So here is my little mini ~

Here is the inside - just some lined notebook paper so I can scribble away. :)

Here is my second project, a corkboard/keyholder for our camper. We needed both things, so I combined them into one little hanging, 16" long by 8 " wide. I found the CUTEST little camper stamps by Inkadinkadoo, just love them. Here is a pic of my corkboard/keyholder ~

and a little closeup of the darling stamps on the bottom ~

I will take pics when it is hung in our camper, we did not get a chance to camp this weekend. Hopefully next weekend! :)

My last project is an 8 x 8 min album I did for a very special teen volunteer. I combined lots and lots of different manufacturers in this project. I hope she likes it!

From the top (looks a little pinkish, is really more red)~

Some inside pics ~

I received some fun assorted old papers and things from a RAK from JulieAnn Shahinseveral months ago. I loved the My Brilliant Ideas paper, I used it here (and the How I feel Today paper shown on a page above) THANKS JulieAnn!!! ~

Here is the back of the gift album ~

Well, that is it for this week. I hope you all have a fabulous and creative week! See ya next week, happy crafting ~ Pam

Hi there! Are you going to CHA next week?

2010-07-25T13:13:00.023-04:00

I am fortunate enough to be going to CHA this time, WOOOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! I am so excited, I have been a fabric, craft, and paper addict forever it seems. Well, at least since age 9, which believe me was a looooooooooong time ago! :) I made some badge holders to wear for a few buddies. Here is a pic of mine, I am still adding a wee bit of embellies, but keep changing my mind on what I want to add. I did fold and stitch my ribbon in half, I like it a wee bit better this way~

Here is a pic of the 4 badge holders I made ~

Here is a pic of the embellies I sent to everyone with their badge holders (so they can customize them to their liking if they wish to add a bit) ~

Can't wait to meet them in person, we have been online pals for quite some time now. Should be lots of fun. I can't wait to meet lots of my online friends at CHA, it will be so exciting!!! Plus just see all the fabulous crafty goodness that is available, oooooooooh my!

I have a challenge posted at Citrus Tree Studio, hope you will join in the fun. I had the ad or art inspiration challenge for July. I used this art piece by Linda Paul, I loved the rich summery colors and beautiful peppers ~

I created a little mini using the fab fab FAB July Port Townsend kit. My inspiration from the piece, the beautiful ruch summery colors and the cascading theme~

Front unfolded ~

Back unfolded ~

You can check out the kit here. Make sure you check out the challenges while you are on the site!

Remember I told you I would have directions on creating 4 mini albums using white cardstock, mist sprays and some of your favorite patterned paper? Well, it was posted on the Bind-It-All Blog on Tuesday July 13 if you would like to take a peek. Of course I used the oh-so-fabulous So Lovely Collection by LilyBee, LOVE that stuff!!! There are boatloads of pics posted in my tutorial. I would love it if you stop by and scroll down to view it. Please leave me a comment so I know you stopped in. :)

Well, I have been a sewing nut lately, and boy has it been fun. I haven't had a chance to sew much in the last year or so, and since that is something I have been doing since I was nine years old, I miss it when I don't have time. Here are a few things I have created lately ~

I will be working on wedding flower girl dresses soon, as well as lots of tablerunners and other wedding type items. Can't wait!!!

Time to run, I have to can pickles, spicy beans, and make 150 zucchini muffins today. Not to mention plan out my CHA trip for Tuesday, yikes! Hope to see you there, if not, I will catch up with you here when I return. Happy crafting everybody! Have a super week ~ Pam

Farewell to an old friend :(

2010-07-19T05:46:00.004-04:00

I am sorry I haven't posted in a few weeks. We recently lost our almost 14 year old basset hound Elwood. He had been sick for some time, and just passed a little over a week ago. He will be missed, he was a super smart and unique personality. His sidekick Jake is feeling very lost without him. Jake is about 12 years old, so he is getting up there too. We don't know Jake's exact age, we adopted him from the Humane Society about 11 years ago and the vet thought he was about 1 year old when we adopted him. The picture I have shared is of Elwood (on the left, he is the black, white, and brown basset) and Jake (on the right, brown and white basset). We picked Elwood up from the breeder when he was only 6 weeks old, so he has been a big part of our lives for many many years.
Good bye Elwood old friend, you will be missed.
I will post a few projects next week, sorry for the delay.

Hope you had a happy 4th of July!

2010-07-05T19:43:00.018-04:00

Thank you to all those who have sacrificed to make our country free! I hope you all enjoyed a lovely 4th.

We managed to get a lot done this weekend, and enjoyed spending time with family and friends as well.

I have a few projects to share with you. But first I want to share pics of our first batch of dill pickles for the season (37 quarts so far, most of the jars pictured are 2 quart jars)~

Here is a pic of our garden from a week ago, it has grown a LOT since then (I'll post pics again next week) ~

We shared lettuce, cucs, broccoli, and radishes from our garden and made a salad that fed about 125 people last week. Our church has a Tuesday evening program that prepares dinner for inner city residents and has a service for anyone interested in attending. We will be sharing lots more produce with them this summer! :) I am thinking green beans, garlic, and bacon will be one of the next dishes we share.

It is kit reveal time at Citrus Tree Studio, and boy oh boy do I ever love the kit this month. I worked with the gorgeous Port Townsend kit (Cindy offers 2 kits monthly, you can choose one or both). Here are some of my creations so far ~

and a card too ~

I will have a blog post on the Bind-It-All blog sometime this month on creating four 6 x 6 minis out of six pieces of double sided pattern paper and some white cardstock, so keep your eyes peeled. One of the minis was the little mini I did for Sophie's little sweet baby Sage. :) I used the Lovely Collection by Lily Bee for all 4 mini albums. If you haven't checked out the Lily Bee products yet, you should. They are beautiful!

I also created a few quick money holder bitsy albums ~

I also made another bitsy mini, (I am trying to stock up on some stocking stuffers as well as use some for open houses we have to attend) ~

That is about it for this week, but I will have another project to share next week. Have a fabulous week! Happy creating ~ Pam

Time to announce our Baby Blog Hop winners!!!!

2010-06-27T14:44:00.003-04:00

Thank you to all of you who Baby Blog Hopped with the Zutter Zisters. We hope you found lots of inspiration and ideas for your own projects along the way. I pulled commenters names out of a hat and here is the winner of the pink and blue OWires and Cover-All Sample ~

Crazy About Cricut ~ CONGRATS!!!

Please pm me your name and addy and I will forward it on to the right person.

Next, instead of 2 names, I drew 3 names out of those who left comments on my baby blog hop thread for some flowers and tags made by me. Here they are ~

Allison Cope
Kelly Mausman
JanetZ

Congrats ladies! Please send your snail mail addies to me at pmooieAThotmail.com. In my email addie listed, you will have to sub the AT for @ by the way. :)
I'll get your packages postal next weekend, (as long as I have your addresses he he).

Thanks again for hopping with us everybody! Have a fabulous last week of June! ~ Pam

Zutter baby Blog Hop, WOOOOO HOOOO!!!

2010-06-21T06:00:00.006-04:00

Thanks for joining us in celebrating the arrival of Zutter Zister DTer Sophie's new little bundle of joy ~ Sage! We are having a blog hop to show you some of the things we made for little Sage, the newest little Zutter Zister. Here is my project - a 6 x 6 mini using the oh-so-fabulous Zutter Cover-Alls and the Lovely PP by Lily Bee. LOVE that stuff! I was lucky enough to win some Patterned Paper from the Lovely Collection on the Lily Bee blog awhile back, and I used every single smidge on 4 different projects (more about that next month on the Bind-It-All Blog). It is perfect for so many projects, including a sweet little baby book. Here is my gift album ~

As I mentioned, I used one of the faboo Cover-Alls for the mini. I misted the cover with a glittery ink, and added some items from my stash (on cover or inside album ~ chipboard and felt by Fancy Pants, Maya Road, Creative Imaginations, and Stickles and lots of bling from various manufacturers) as well as some fabulous Lily Bee products. Of course, all the paper was run through the Distrezzer first, it makes quick and easy work of finishing the edges so very nicely. I love this handy little tool, it is SOOOO fun to play with! I also used my Pink Bind-It-All to bind the pages together, and the 1/2" Round-It-All Heavy Duty Corner Rounders for the misted green paper on the front of the album. You can actually do lots of pages at once with this tool, it cuts through pretty thick items (acrylic, chipboard, clipboard, etc...) super easily. Of course I always use my Zutter Wire Cutters to cut the OWires.

Want to see a few more pics of the inside of the album? I used lots of white CS misted with various glittery inks that coordinated with the oh-so-fun Lily Bee PP (Lovely Collection). Take a peek ~

I used some of my fav brown ink on all the edges of my PP and Misted CS before I Distrezzed the edges to tie everything together.

Good news ~ we have PRIZES for several lucky blog hoppers! Simply hop to each blog in the Baby Blog Hop and leave a little comment. We will pick one random lucky winner from each blog and the winner will receive one package EACH of baby blue and baby pink owire and a sample package of Cover-Alls. WAHOOO, how exciting! Winners will be drawn on June 25, so get hopping and posting!

PLUS I have an extra little prize I will be randomly drawing for. Each comment on this thread puts you in my bonus drawing, and if you post about our contest on your blog you will also go in the bonus drawing. You can also sign up to be a follower for an additional chance in the bonus drawing. I will send TWO lucky winners of the bonus drawing an envie of my home made flowers and tags. Alright then? Winners will be randomly selected on June 25 just before midnight, and the winners will be announced Sunday (I'll be gone Saturday).

Ready to blog hop to the next blog? Here is the list from the beginning (make sure you go to Sarah's oh-so-fab blog next! ~

Started HERE -------> Bind-It-All Blog
Fleur's Blog
Pam's Blog {you are here now} :)
Sarah's Blog
Lynne's Blog
Kamilla's Blog
Nan's Blog

Thanks for hopping with us! Have fun! ~ Pam

Hi there!!! It is challenge time at CTS!!!

2010-06-13T20:45:00.005-04:00

How are you all doing today? Fab? Super fab? I hope so! It is time for challenges at Citrus Tree Studio, so hop on over there and check them out. I had a card challenge this month, here are my cards -

You can check out the challenge here. I used the oh-so-fab June kit - Men's Department, it even included the card bases and envies! How great is that? Pretty great I think.

I have also been working on my Zutter projects for July, and I am so stinkin' excited to show them to you. We will actually have a fun little contest beginning June 21 on several of the DT member's blogs, and the Bind-It-All Blog, (I'll have a peek of one of my July projects posted on my blog) so stay tuned. You can check out the Bind-It-All Blog now for another fun little drawing, in celebration of a new product, Zutter D's!!! Check out the deets here.

I have been working in the garden most of the weekend, so I am looking forward to a little scrappy time next week. Hope you all have a scrappy and creative week! Take care ~ Pam

Lots of stuff today, including a tutorial!!!!

2010-06-06T15:22:00.038-04:00

Helllllllllllllllllooooooooooooooooooo everybody!!! How the heck are you all doing? Fab? Super fab? I hope so!!! I have several things to share with you today. First, some of my Zutter projects for June. I have been trying to use up some of my older favorite products to make room for new favorite products (can't wait til CHA!!!). :)

Here is an 8 x 8 Canvas Cover Mini using some colorful Sassafrass Lass stuff as well as other things from my stash ~

a peek inside ~

Next a summer wall hanging for a little girl ~

besides my fav beaded danglies, there is even room to put a few pics on the yellow spray misted areas ~

and last but not least is an itsy bitsy mini for wallet size pics ~

an inside peek ~

There will be directions on creating this super quick and easy little mini on the Zutter Bind-It-All blog in the next few weeks, so stay tuned.

Speaking of tutorials or directions, I have directions for the Altered Art Challenge I am posting to the Challenge Masters site today!!! Here is our project ~

It is an altered vase! Don't you love it? Just in time for all those lovely summer flowers! Well, let's get busy creating.

First, gather a few supplies. I chose to do a bud vase, but you can do any size vase. I also selected some of my fav Fancy Pants PP scraps, ribbon, a bit of burlap, fabric, and a bit of misted CS ~

Next I cut some PP and attached it to my vase. Before I attached it, I curved it on the edge of my work table so it would stick better. Just hold the paper on both ends, and run it ove rthe edge of your table. It will curve nicely. A little tip -make sure you use a strong adhesive for this project. I used this easy to apply super high tack double stick tape~

Next I added a little strip of fabric in the center of the PP (I used the same fabric that I used to create the ribbon rose) ~

next I added a skinny strip (a little wider than one inch) of burlap ~

then I cut a small rectangle of misted CS and attached it by tieing a coordinating ribbon around the center of the vase ~

Now I am ready for the ribbon rose. I posted about making these in a previous post a few months ago, but the easy way to make them is cut or tear a strip of fabric about 1 1/2" wide by about 20" long. Just twist the fabric tightly, and begin rolling it around itself and glue it. I use a low temp glue gun so I can quickly make these. You can alter the size of the rose by twisting more tightly, or by using either a skinnier or fatter piece of fabric. Experiment until you have one you like. After the rose is complete, you will need some leaves. Just glue on end of your ribbon to a spot on your ribbon, forming a leaf shape (back of ribbon pictured). Cut your leaf off and make a second leaf.

ready to glue leaves to the back of my ribbon rose ~

next glue your ribbon rose to the front of your vase. I used my low temp glue gun to do this ~

Since I am a bead lover, I decided my vase needed some bead danglies. I chose three (I have a huge stash of these made up at all times, so I can quickly put them on my projects)~

I tied them together with floss, then tied the floss around the back of the flower, between the flower and the ribbon where you can't see it, and put a drop of glue to hold it. Here is a side view~

a view from the back ~

and another side view ~

Here are a few pics of my vase in use ~

I used a flash in this pic so you can see the mixed yellow and orange colors of the flower a bit better, it has been dark and rainy here so it was hard to get a clear natural pic ~

I hope you will join us at Challenge Masters for this Altered Art Challenge, as well as BOATLOADS of other challenges. Grab your mojo, and come create with us! If your mojo is missing, come find it at Challenge Masters!

Lastly, I wanted to share the ATCs I made for a swap I am in over at Scrapbook News and Review ~

The theme was an inchie on top. We needed to include an inchie on the ATC, so I made the little Bliss inchie. Lots and lots of embossing powder used. :) Here is a close up view of the front and the back (of course I had to incorporate some fabric in mine) ~

OK, I will have more projects to share with you next weekend. In the meantime, I hope to see you over at Zutter Zisters, Challenge Masters, Citrus Tree Studio (new challenges go up on the 10th, and the fab June Sketch contest has already started, zip over and take a peek!), or Scrapbook News and Reveiw. They are all fab places to hang out!

A few projects

2010-05-31T23:20:00.014-04:00

Helllllo there! Did you all have a nice weekend? I was able to get quite a bit done this w/e, including some scrappy projects as well as more stuff in the garden.
As promised in my last post, here are some pics of projects ~

First some projects I made using the oh-so-glittery-and-faboo May kit Butterfly Skies from Citrus Tree Studio. Here are a few layouts ~

A little mini album was in the kit too, I jazzed up the cover and now it is ready for lots of 4 x 6 pics of our garden ~

several cards ~

and I still have stuff left over. I will be using it at a later date, that is for sure! Cindy has the best kits, you really should check them out. By the way, she is also having a DT call this month! Check out the deets here.

Here is another project I made for a gift. I used boatloads of my homemade flowers, can you tell? ;) ~

here is the double pic~

I also made 3 minis for a project that Jennifer Priest is working on. You can check out the deets here. If you can help out, I am sure she would apreciate it. Here are the 3 minis I made using 3 different Graphic 45 lines ~

Well, that is about it for tonight since tomorrow is a busy day. I will share the June projects I made for Zutter this weekend. Can you believe it is already June tomorrow? WOOOO WEEEEEE this year is flying by!

Have a joyful and creative week ~ Pam

WOOO, sorry to be MIA for a few weeks, but I have been hanging out in the garden!

2010-05-24T21:47:00.006-04:00

My word, I can hardly move! The hubs and I just finished planting a ginourmous garden this last weekend, by ourselves. We just have a wee bit more tweaking and planting left to do. We are donating the extra produce to an inner city feed the hungry project our church participates in. We more than doubled our garden from last year to make sure we have lots to donate. Hope we don't kill ourselves taking care of this garden! It will defintely keep us busy this summer. The hubs is even talking about cutting down some out of control apple and pear trees that have storm damage from years before we bought the property and putting in another small bed for just gourds and pumpkins. He feels bad because I whined like crazy that we didn't leave room for any pumpkins for the grandbabies. We were going to wait to cut those tress down until next year, but hey, we are on a planting roll! :0)

I did want to let you know about a sale happening over at Zutter, zip over there and take a peek, loads of covers are on sale and going quick - Bind-It-All
Here is a little blurb from the blog -

Wowie! We need some room in the warehouse! We have a first time EVER sale on Zutter Covers and Inner Pages. 15% Off Site-Wide for a limited time only.

Stock on up on Zutter Acrylic, Clipboard Wood, Canvas Artboard and good ole trusty Chipboard. We also have pre-cut cardstock Inner Pages ready to go for quick album making.

Alrighty, I promise to update with pics of creative projects this weekend when I have a wee bit of free time. I have volunteer commitments several times this week, so I won't be able to do so until then,and I am just starting to feel like my normal self from that dang sinus infection SHEESH. Talk about getting my fanny kicked! Please stop by late this w/e (like Sunday night), and I will have lots of pics to share. If you are going away for the holiday w/e, please be careful and stay safe. Don't forget the sunscreen!

Here are a few pics of the garden so far this year (we started most of those plants indoors, it was a regular green house over here he he) ~

Happy Mother's Day!!!

2010-05-09T21:01:00.014-04:00

Happy Mother's Day everybody!!! Hope you all had a lovely day. I did lots and lots of housework, cleaning, and food prep for dinner. It wasn't really a day off, but then again, Mother's Day around here usually is not a day off. :) When I am old and gray I will get my turn to be pampered (something to look forward to in old and gray days he he).

I have been sick as a chicken now for about 3 weeks. Let me tell ya, that makes it hard to get things done! Wooo. I have a dang sinus infection that just won't go away, and it gave me terrible vertigo. I couldn't tell which end was up for a few days there! Yikes, scary. Hopefully this last does of antibiodics will kick it. I wasn't able to create anything this last week, so I will share some of the books I did a few weeks ago. They were a donation for the Peds floor at work. My goal is to make 20 little minis for the patients this year, and so far I have donated 9. I need to get my rear in gear! :)

Next week I will share the projects I did for Citrus Tree Studio using the sparklie delicious May kit - Fancy Flight. My challenge for the month will be posted tomorrow at Citrus Tree Studio, so check it out!

Well, that is it for today, I hope you all have a fab fab week! Happy creating ~ Pam

Oh my word, I am so stinkin' excited!!!!

2010-05-02T13:12:00.003-04:00

I just found out that I won the final drawing for Lily Bee's Lovely Collection Contest on their blog!!! Can you hear me screaming with joy? I am sooooooooooooo stinkin' excited!!! I can't wait to get the package and play play play!!! You will all be the first to know when I finish something, promise! All that loveliness coming to my door, wooo, I can't wait. :)

Hope you are all having a fab Sunday. I am working on a challenge right now, I'll post deets later.

Happy creating ~ Pam

Happy National Scrapbooking Day!!!

2010-05-01T13:26:00.012-04:00

WOOO HOOOOOO!!! May 1st, National Scrapbooking Day, don't you just love it??? I sure do! What are you doing to celebrate? I have been working on a variety of projects, from my projects for Zutter to a card swap for Citrus Tree Studio, to a challenge for National Scrapbooking Day at Citrus Tree Studio.

I will share a few of my projects.
The first one is my challenge for Citrus Tree Studio's National Scrapbooking Day Crop -

If you would like information on the challenge take a peek at the mb here.

Next is a masculine theme card Swap that I was in at Citrus Tree Studio. Here is a pic of my cards -

A close up of one card (they are all the same) -

Now some of my projects for Zutter. The first is a Mother's Day Card I made for my mom using some vintage themed fabric and my pink BIA (I so love that tool!!!)-

Next is a book I made with lots of things from my stash. This book is not really a mini, it is more of a biggie, since it is sized at 8 x 10 and has 26 pages or something like that :) ~

I also worked on a cheerful little mini ~

I will share more pics later, I have to run. Hope you all have a fabulous National Scrapbooking Day!!! Happy creating! ~ Pam

Butterfly Skies kit from Citrus Tree Studio is FABOO!!!

2010-04-18T21:54:00.013-04:00

I really liked the April kit from Citrus Tree Studio ~Butterfly Skies. It is loaded with fun pp, embellies, and some of the faboo Smooch Spray. Trust me, I used to be a die hard Glimmer Mist gal, but after some bad Customer Service by Tattered Angels, and the chance to play with Smooch Spray, I have decided to switch loyalties. The Smooch Spray is so vivid! Go check out the Citrus Tree Studio April kits (2 for the month, hooray!), you will love them. Here are a few of my projects (the fun petal shaped envie and white cardstock card base are part of the kit) -

a few more cards -

I also used the kit to create my product spotlight (Canvas Home Basics 8 x 8 Stretched Canvas)-

I loved playing with that canvas!!! I used some gesso to paint a portion of the canvas. I wanted the fabulous Smooch Spray to really show up well, and be spatter-y looking and it worked out well. I also used some varigated floss I had in my stash to stitch out my title. Easy peasy to do on the natural canvas, it was like working on cross stitch fabric! So fun.

I have a few 12 x 12 layouts posted in the gallery too. This kit is loaded with fun stuff, you can create a lot of projects. I hope you check it out. As I mentioned, there is also an alternate kit for April, and it looks like it would be boatloads of fun to create with.

I am working on a few other projects this week for Zutter. One has taken me a long time to complete. It is a book for a friend's daughter, I hope she likes it. I tried some different things, and am pretty happy with it so far. Can't wait to show it to you all!

Well, that is about it for this week, I made a fun birthday badge last week, but didn't get pics, dang. I'll take some of the next one so I can share it with you though! I am playing some serious catch up from being gone all last week (a convention for work). I returned late last night, so it is time to get busy. :)

Wishing you a joyful and creative week ~ Pam

Happy Easter!

2010-04-04T18:46:00.015-04:00

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter. We had a quiet family dinner on Friday, and the weather was beautiful. I took a lot of pics of my grandkids, and will be posting pics of projects soon. :) I have been playing with some kits for Citrus Tree Studio, and I have to tell you they are loaded with fun and fabulous scrappy goodness. Definitely feels like spring........... Can't share anything yet, but make sure you check out the mb tomorrow, as it is reveal day.

I do have two projects I can share that I did for the Zutter site for April. The first is a quote book -

I used journaling tags for the pages, and stamped on the flip side. There is a lot of room to write in favorite quotes now!

I also did another book for the Pediatric floor at work -

I also posted my project for the Altered Art Challenge on Challenge Masters, but I will share a picture with you here too-

I am using it to hold my copic markers -

It began life as this -

I definitely like it better in it's new life. :)

Well, I have a few other things to finish up this evening, so I better get to it. Hope you all have a creative and joyful week ~ Pam

Thanks for hopping with us! We have some winners!

2010-03-29T21:35:00.004-04:00

First, the winner of the fabulous new Hang-It-Alls and the setter set (perfect for the Hang-It-Alls, I love my set) is -

Cher~ said...
First...the basket is adorably cute. Second, thank you so much for sharing your flowers and how you made them.

Cher, please email me your addie, and I will get it to Nan, our fearless leader of the Zutter Zisters. She will make sure it is shipped out to you. I'll send you a few flowers too. :)

Next, because there were so many lovely posts, I picked several other names out of a hat of peeps who either were, or signed up as followers on my blog, and who posted on the Blog Hop Thread below.

Here they are -

Rbarakat said...
I love all the flowers girlie! You have been a busy girl! Great projects!

Cathy said...
Wow! that was a lot of flower-makin' goodness all in one blog post! I'm now a follower and I'm bookmarking this post for future inspiration!!

michele hileman said...
I just love all the differant flowers they are so pretty and I just love the basket.

AnItA mArIe said...
"Wow" love all the flowers its spring at your house love the bunny basket cool as ...hugs Anita..

Nancy said...
Oh wow thank you so much for all the inspiration! I love all of your projects they are beautiful and so very creative! I would love to win some of your gorgeous flowers and tags! Thanks for sharing!

ellen s. said...
oh wow...so much awesomeness! i am sooooo glad i hopped!

Please email me your snail mail addies, and I will get a little goodie envie with flowers and tags sent out to you.

Thanks so much for hopping along with the Zutter Zisters everybody!!! I hope you enjoyed the hop, and found the flower making tutorial useful. Don't forget to check back for the tutorial on how to make the basket! :)

Have a fabulous week, and happy creating! ~ Pam

WOOOO HOOOOO!!! Thanks for hopping with us on the Zutter Zisters Blog Hop!!! Welcome!

2010-03-25T21:20:00.078-04:00

Hellllllllllllllllllllloooooooooooo everybody!!! Thanks so much for joining us on our Zutter Zister's Blog Hop!!! You know the procedure by now I am sure, but just to review, if you post on each of the blogs linked in the blog hop you have lots of chances to win some of the fab-u-looo-soooo new Hang-It-Alls, a lovely pink hammer, and setting tools from Zutter! How cool is that? Pretty stinkin' awesome I think (cause I love all of those things). :) Make sure you read all the way to the bottom of this post to hop to the next stop, which is Lynne! :)

Remember, the winners will be selected Monday March 29, 2009 after 7 pm (you can post till 7 pm EST March 29, 2010 to be eligible). PLUS, if you comment on this thread, AND sign up to be a follower of my blog, your name goes in a drawing for an extra little goodie pack from me. The goodie pack from me will include some of my flowers and tags! Here are a few pics of some of the flowers and tags that I make that might be in your goodie pack from me -

Or even some of these, (please excuse the creative mess) :) -

Winners will be announced on Tuesday March 30, 2010. :)

For my Spring Blog Hop project, besides using the oh-so-wonderful pink Bind-It-All, I used some of the white OWires, Gold Rivets, My Zutter Wire Cutters, my favo Zutter Pink Hammer, Pound It All, and Setting Tools, and the AWESOME Hang-It-Alls along with some odds and ends in my scrap stash! I will post complete step by step directions on how to create this little basket next week, so stay tuned. :)

OK, without further ado, here is my spring time project created for the spring blog hop -

Here is is with some "fillings" -

a view from the top -

from another side -

and yet another side -

a close up of the front, featuring the little hanging sign (used the oh-so-fun Hang-It-Alls, ya gotta try these!)-

I love to make flowers to use on different projects, especially projects I make with my Bind-It-All. They add so much dimension, and help finish off the project. I have also started to add some of the OWires to my flowers for an even different look -

It is super easy to do, just cut 5 rings of OWires ( I used 1/2" size), gently squeeze the rings closed, then flatten and stretch them in a flower shape, and add them to your flowers (directions on making layered flowers below)-

Here are a few directions on how I make some of my layered flowers -

First, gather either some flower shaped punches or dies, or just scalloped or circle shapped dies or punches. Use various sizes so you can have lots of lovely layers. You can also just handcut circles or flower shapes in graduated sizes if you don't have dies or punches. I like to use pages torn from old books (pick them up at Goodwill or rummage sales, great way to get older books at very reasonable prices), as well as assorted weights of cardstock or patterned paper. After I have a nice big pile of petals or shapes cut, I usually Glimmer Mist them a bit to add some sparkle. Sometimes I like to wad them up first so they are a bit softer to work with, and to add more demension. Depending on the look I want, I might also wait and fold the shapes a bit after I assemble the flowers. I find it is easier for me to make sure I have a nice large assortment of colors, shapes, and sizes to work with. I also love to add fabric or ribbon to the flowers.

Here is a pic of some f my layers in process -

Here is a picture of a little mini book I did where I wadded up the paper when I created my flowers -

It is easy peasy to make fabric and paper flowers. We will talk about those first. Find some fabric that you like. I find that small prints and monochromatic colors seem to work really well. I cut a little cut on one edge of the fabric, and then about an inch down, cut another slit. Then I tear the fabric into strips. The first strip or two might be really wacky size wise, just save it for another use. Once you have a nice strip about an inch wide, and torn on both sides, fold it into three pieces, and cut it. For instance, if you tear the fabric selvedge to selvedge(usually about 42" wide), you will fold the 42" into thirds, and cut. You should now have three pieces of fabric about 14" long.

Sew a long basting stitch ( use a machine if possible, it is so much faster), and pull the threads together when you are done. Use your own judgment as to how tight to pull the thread. If you make it a bit looser, your flower will be larger, tighter will be smaller. I usually knot the thread, and hot glue them and the ends together (faster to glue than to sew, but do what you like).

Next, layer some paper or cardstock flower layers on top of the fabric. You can also use ribbon flowers. (I make ribbon flowers the same way, just cut a length of ribbon, baste it, pull the threads together, and glue.) Feel free to mix fabric, cardstock or book page shapes with the ribbon, the more texture you add the more interesting your flower will be. You can glue all your layers together when you are happy with how they look. I like to take thin strips of fabric, twist it, and then glue the fabric in a circle to create a rose type shape. This is also fun and easy to do with ribbon.

I also love to make flowers and use the Zutter Rivets to hold them together. First I cut various cardstock shapes, and stack them up. Next I punch a hole in the center, using my lovely pink hammer, setting tools, and the faboo Pound It All. I have to say, I LOVE my little pink hammer!!! I also love the fact that the Pound It All has a foam bottom to protect and cushion my work surface.

Sometimes I use several of the same size flower shape or circle or scallop folded into fourths and stacked together to really get some dimension. This technique works with cardstock, patterened or book paper, or even tissue paper. The thickness of the paper will change the look and dimension of your petals.

Sometimes I also like to crease each petal just a wee bit after the flowers are assembled, or if I use layers of crepe paper, smoosh the layers up a wee bit. Here area few pics of flowers with smooshed or creased layers -

Here are a few additional assembly pics -

Once I have my rivet set, I can glue the paper flower to a fabric flower if I wish. The flower is nice and sturdy and won't fall apart now! If I want to change the look of the rivet, I simply use some Stickles to add a little sparkle.

Once you have created your flowers, feel free to add them to all your scrapbooking projects, and your altered art. They also make nice little embellies for headbands for little girls, or for package toppers!!! There are boatloads of ways to create beautiful flowers, so let your imagination run free.

After you finish here, it will be time to hop on over to Lynne's blog to check out what she has created. Make sure you go in order, and don't miss any stops! Remember, you could win some of the SUPER Hang-It-Alls, a pink Zutter hammer and setting tools on any of the participating blogs. Thanks again for hopping with us everybody!!! Happy Spring, and don't forget to check back for the winners! :)

Here is a list of the participants for the blog hop, make sure you check them all out. :)
Camilla Isaksson - Sweden
Linda Elbourne - UK
Fleur Smith - BC, Canada
Sophie Sim - Australia
Pam Sandy - Michigan, USA (this is me, thanks for stopping in!)
Lynne Forsythe - New Hampshire, USA
Sarah De Guzman - California, USA
Shelley Haganman - Iowa, USA
Nan Paturzo USA

It's almost time for the Zutter Zister's DT Blog Hop! Are you excited? Cause I sure am............

2010-03-21T22:15:00.010-04:00

I worked on several projects this weekend, as well as making more flowers. :) it was freezing cold here, so we couldn't work in the yard. That's OK, I was able to play in my scrap room, yippeee!!! Would you like to learn how to make some of the flowers that I am addicted to making? Some like these for instance?

Or how about some of the gazzillion other flowers I have been posting pics of lately? I will have several detailed flower making tutorials on my blog during the Zutter Zister's DT blog hop that starts Friday March 26th. Check out the blog hop deets here next Friday! You can also go to the Zutter Zisters Ning site for details.

I have a teensie little sneakie peek of the project that I will be featuring, shhhhhhhhhhhh, don't tell! Here it is .......

Would you like another little sneak peek? OK, here it is...................

Can't wait to show you the whole project! I had boatloads of fun creating it. Of course there will be fun prizes, and of course I will have a little extra prize on my blog too, I'll post deets on Friday. You know how I like to give stuff away! :) I sure hope you will join us, and post about it on your blogs and everything too. It's gonna be fun I tell ya!

OK, I can't share anything else today, everything else I have been working on is still under wraps. But I will post pics soon!

Have a fabulously happy and creative week everybody, and I will "see you" on Friday for the faboo Zutter Zisters Blog Hop!!! ~ Pam