the moments in between

kid crafts + cards

early last week, i posted a list of projects i wanted to do with the boys to keep busy while we waited for christmas.  and while we didn't get all of them done, we did take on a few. most of these are winter-y enough that you could sneak them in this week if you've got kids who need something to do.

the most popular?  the melting snowman cookies. now, ours don't look as good as theirs, and to be honest, i didn't even follow their directions (those, ahem, *might*  be related). we used break and bake cookies rather than make our own. and we simply cut the marshmallows in half instead of melting them down. and we skipped the scarves because there really wasn't enough room between their faces and their mini m & m buttons. they were still the hit of the dessert table at christmas.

we also made tags for our christmas presents. it may be too late for christmas tags, but you could use this idea for thank you notes. i gave alex and ben my button drawer and made one snowman tag as an example, and they took it from there.  i love what they came up with.

and last but not least, snowman ornaments.  i saw the original version on under the sycamore (ps : don't click that unless you have a couple hours to kill. it's a seriously inspiring site!), but tweaked them a little bit.  i wanted to be able to make them for my mom and grandma, and *didn't* want to make 9 (3 ornaments x 3 kids) of them. each boy contributed a finger print, and then we painted in the snow on the bottom. they picked the color and shape of their hat and decided what else they wanted to do to dress their snowman up.

i also wanted to share an article i wrote for the fiskars website - first quarter cards. i love the idea of sitting down and creating a group of cards that will carry you through the next few months, & this would be another project that would be fun to share with your kids.

i started this project by putting together a kit of items (i've gotten a little kit addicted, wonder why??). this made the process a lot less overwhelming than if i was pulling out a new set of supplies for every card. there's some studio calico pp (atmosphere & window seat), some dear lizzy glittered pp & fabric paper, and american crafts mixtape. i tried to pull items that had a mix of textures and colors. i used the tools here on every card, but added others as i needed them. 

this one's my favorite. =) love that mixtape - it punches so easily. this will be my last article for fiskars - after 3.5 years of punching, i've stepped down from the design team. i'm going to miss everyone there, but it was time for me to take a different direction. i'm looking forward to some new opportunities in 2011. ;)

oh! a quick heads up.  i posted about the current 2peas discount earlier this week, but they're also doing a year end clearance.  some rubs from your very favorite manufacturer are 50% off.  love those buttons.

also? i'm swooning over this post at jbs.  love the idea of using malted milk ink to change a background. totally grabbing a blending tool of my very own so i can try this!

on the homefront, we survived a sleepover night. i'm getting antsy about getting the christmas decorations down, but it looks like it will have to wait for the weekend. my lazy days have caught up to me - i've got to get some scrapping done!

happy thursday!

back on track + metropolitan sneaks

(at least i hope so!)

our weekend didn't go quite as planned. after a couple weeks of sick kids, i was hoping to get caught up around the house & at my desk.  instead, the stomach bug caught matthew and sam was still clingy. what can you do?

i did, however, get to sneak out for breakfast + an archiver's run with kerry lynn on saturday morning. so glad i got to see her while she was in town!! we had breakfast at bliss, then i took her on a madcap mini tour of omaha on the way to archiver's. it was wonderful to get to spend some time with her, and i hope my overtired rambling didn't make her think i'm nuts. ;) all those sleepless nights w/ sick kids have a way of catching up to you!

speaking of sleepless nights... they caught up to me on saturday night and i passed out at 845, while i was putting sam to bed. i was hoping to make it to some of the sneak night chat at studio calico, but that wasn't meant to be. oops. i do have a couple of sneaks to share, though! i am loving this kit - the colors of the main are so ME.  hello, aqua and yellow.  and, if you haven't heard, in addition to the 2 studio calico exclusive patterns in the main, there are 2 pieces done by sassafras, JUST for sc. you'll need extra.

this first one was in the slideshow - it features the first add-on, park bench. i'm in love w/ the woodgrain stamp.  it's big, i think 4x6 - i stamped it on paper and embossed it, then cut trees from it and misted them.  love the effect!

(park bench add-on + dark calico mister huey + lunch tray mister huey + lemon maya mist + bubblegum maya mist + fiskars star hand punch + versamark ink + zing! aqua embossing powder + tiny attacher)

i had some masking + misting fun on this one - and i'll be doing an insider tips post over at the SC blog w/ the process behind it all in a couple weeks. =)  i'm so glad i let doris talk me into getting the vintage doily punch - i LOVE it!  it's the perfect size and not *too* frilly. it's out of stock right now, but will be restocked. i sliced the heck out of this one - trying to use it more now that i have the hands free kit. i love the little tiny letters! i also have to say that classic white mister huey on gray = perfection. 

(metropolitan + brads from busy sidewalks + mass transit + classic white mister huey + vintage doily punch + handwritten cart for the slice + tiny attacher + shop items)

just a reminder - mister huey is now in stock in the studio calico shop! all of the elementary goodies are, too - paper, stickers, veneer, notions, rubs - ALL of it. if you shop now, your order will ship w/in 24-48 hrs - or you can hold off and shop at the december reveal and have it shipped with your kit.

and another project to share - i wrote an article on making embroidered felt gift card holders for fiskars. i love how these turned out and can't wait to use them! you can see the others + tips on making them over at the fiskars site.

happy monday! sam & i have already made a run to trader joe's, and now i'm plugging through my to do list for the week. hope you have a good day!!

 

did you?

my polling place = sam's preschool.  even if yours isn't that convenient - get out there and get your own sticker! =)

alex was feeling better today, so he's back at school - just in time for a field trip.  lucky kid.  this is his THIRD this school year - REALLY lucky kid.  he's in a split 3rd / 4th class, so he gets to go on the 3rd grade field trips as well as the 4th grade ones.  

the people behind night and day studios (makers of sam's first favorite app, peek a boo barn) contacted me recently to see if he'd be willing to give their newest app a try. must be hard to be a toddler in demand. ;) my very first app has graphics from eric carle - love that, no cutesy cute pictures. it's basically a matching game with different levels and settings, and you can buy add-ons that introduce new concepts. we'll definitely be adding more books to this app - they all go along with the ideas he's learning now in preschool.

sam takes his matching VERY seriously, and yells out YES!! everytime he makes a match. um, i'm a little worried that he's inherited his parents' overcompetitive spirits. ;) i think it's safe to say that it's a total hit!

(dear lizzy ribbon & jbs red butterfly from elk lake, jbs letters from en plein air, harper's ruler pp, nibbles pp,  documentary fabrips, JBS family tree & playdate pp, vintage ledger paper, pumice stone ink, fiskars tag,  L & XL cloud and in stitches punches, fiskars border & postage stamps, tiny attacher)

now that halloween has past, i also wanted to share an article that I wrote for fiskars - it covers two different ways to document thanksgiving in mini albums.  i find that i don't scrap thanksgiving nearly enough, so i wanted to find a few ways to get these memories onto pages - quickly!

and a PSA for the studio calico peeps!  it's the last day before kit shipping - so if you want to do any last minute shopping, it needs to be done before midnight!  also, if you're not following us on facebook & twitter..  well, you should be. ;)

i'm off to print pics for assignments and hop in the shower before it's time to get sam - those 2.5hrs of preschool go so quickly!  happy tuesday!

 

fabric + thread

 

it's national sewing month!!!!  and i can finally share some of the projects that kept me crazy busy at the end of august.  i love sewing, but since i tend to learn as i go along, things tend to take longer than i think it will. ;)  the photo above is my favorite project - a quilted table runner from my "Quilting - Beyond the Bedroom" article. i put my piecing and quilting skills to work on a table runner, coasters and a placemat. - i love working on smaller scale projects like this.

here's another favorite - a bin made of fabric.  i'm a bin / basket addict, so i know this will get a lot of use. 

and i finished up with directions on how to make a simple envelope style pillowcase. this is a great beginner project - sooooooooooo simple. and if you like to switch out pillows, it will save you a lot of $$ in the long run. i got some pillow forms at target for $4 each, and can cover them with a yard of fabric - definitely an inexpensive way to perk up your decor.

on a totally non crafty note - yesterday, i was the most popular person at school.  i went to the bigs' pep rally to turn the gym teacher's hair wildcat red to celebrate our successful walkathon.  when i was introduced, i got the most enthusiastic round of applause EVER. =)

other than that, we've been baseballing, swimming, open house-ing and yardworking.  oh, and sam and i have been sniffling and coughing, boo.  he had his first sick day off of school on tuesday - we're both fighting a cold. the last couple days have been gray and rainy - perfect to snuggle in and watch a lot of curious george!!  we're  on the upswing now, and just in time - the bigs have a 4 day weekend coming up.

happy wednesday, everyone!!

starting the week, take 2

yep.  i'm calling a do-over on monday. yesterday ben was home sick (he was cough-y and sore throat-y) and matthew worked from home (we needed to have our garage door opener fixed, and i swear all service calls happen during sam's nap.  so we usually schedule them when matthew can work from home and deal with it).  and while it's nice to have someone around to make the school run so i can stay in my PJs longer, it just throws me and sam out of our little routine and i end up feeling off.  so today, we're hitting the ground running.  we need to go to borders (the last 39 clues book is out! the boys are excited) and archiver's (i hear they have BG wander - i need the stitched brads and the small details ASAP) and target (a whole list of oddball things). add in the time sitting in the bathroom (potty training is NOT going well), some time sewing (quilting bee), and a baseball game (alex), and that'll be my day.

i've got another project to share today..  this one went up at fiskars a week or so ago. you can see the full directions here. the new everywhere punch is one cool little tool..  i used it to make windows to hold embellishments on this page.

(ac spinach cardstock, documentary jet pp, label stickers + journaling card, anthology letter stickers, die cuts and studs from the july kits, big chip letters from the august footpath addon, BG brad & yellow paper, peeled paint ink, fiskars everywhere punch, pinking deco scissors, circle stamps, in stitches punch, postage stamp punch & star punches)

have a good tuesday, everyone!

trying to get back into the swing of things...

...and mostly failing, to tell you the truth. thursday was sam's bday. friday was parent's night at the bigs day camp.  saturday we saw despicable me (soooooooooooo funny) and sunday we had a little party for the littlest. today... well, today, i've GOT to get back to work. 

since i haven't gone through pics from sam's bday and i don't have time to write about cha, here's a little peek at the blanket fort the boys built before i left..  it was ANOTHER too hot to be outside day, we needed something fun inside!

 

they took over the dining room table, and extended it w/ two rows of chairs.

 

i was working and wasn't about to be displaced by a blanket fort...  LOL.  this was the view from my seat. ;)

 

and a peek inside.  they took a LOT of pillows and a lamp in there and spent the afternoon reading.

one more thing today -

 

 

i've been dying to share this play quilt that i made for fiskars.  roads on the front, a big field on the back.  it's getting a LOT of use. =)  you can see more pics and all of the directions here.

happy monday, friends! 

boys will be boys

and boys, even big ones, have a thing for water fights.  i was safely inside while this was going down, but poked my head out to get a few pics of my drenched four before they came in. alex's shoes are still wet, 3 days later.  his sandals fell apart while we were at adventureland and i'm having trouble finding him a new pair this late in the season.  they all had fun, though, and sam went to sleep asking if we could have another water fight the next day.

 

our other end of the week fun was the parents vs kids soccer game at the bigs' soccer camp. somewhere in that chaos are matthew, alex and ben.  apparently, if the parents win, the kids have to clean their room, and if the kids win, they get ice cream.  well, it was a tie. we had ice cream for dinner and will be making them clean their room this week. =) neither of the boys had played soccer before - but ben was asking to play in the fall, so i figured a camp would be a good way to introduce them to the sport. ben's decided it's not for him - so i'm glad we discovered that in a week long camp and not in the first week of the season!

 

since i hadn't used my fuji in a while, i decided to pull  it out to document the occasion.  then i used a whole roll of film taking pics of them enjoying their ice cream.  these are my 5 favorites. =) it had been a hot day and we'd had a fairly late lunch, so there really wasn't a more perfect dinner.

in all of the summer crazies, i've gotten behind on sharing some projects. i did a nature box project for fiskars - i love this project because it gives you an activity to keep your kids busy, AND a place to stash all the *stuff* they inevitably pick up while they're exploring outside.

 

when my friend may flaum asked me to do a layout for an article that she was writing for ella's july e-zine, i HAD to say yes.  because i love may, and i love ella. and on top of that, i have scads of travel photos that i haven't gotten around to scrapping yet. i mixed studio calico's july kit with documentary - a perfect combination for a travel page. (ETA - if you click on the july e-zine link, you can see may's article and my page)

and one more... i made this for the crate paper blog a few weeks back - it uses my favorite line from the last release, brook. totally loving their new lines - definitely has me regretting not applying for the design team.  can't wait to see it in person in chicago.

 

(crate paper brook patterned paper and rubs + making memories flowers + jenni bowlin buttons + tiny attacher + fiskars small and medium flower punches + fiskars scallop sentiment punch)

ok, it's taken me all weekend to write this..  i'm thinking i'd better wrap it up so i can write about new adventures this week. ;)  hope you all had a good weekend!

the end's in sight

5 more games. 1 more practice.  we're almost there. i'm sad to see the season end - i've loved watching the boys play.  but i gotta say - having free evenings again?  being able to eat dinner that *isn't* grilled cheese or pizza or something thrown together in 10min?  that will definitely be nice.

this week was a bit crazier than usual - sam was sick, so i lost a couple of days to sitting on the couch and snuggling him. ben went to our school library program 2 mornings, and went home w/ a friend one of those days (it was perfectly timed, really, because it was the day that sam was absolutely pitiful). on top of that, alex was in an all day camp at UNO (university of ne at omaha), and had to be there at 830 each morning.  830?  that's just insane.  so glad the campus is a mile from our house.

the crazy early start was worth it, though. the camp he chose to do was lego robotics.  they spent a week learning to program w/ the lego mindstorm system.  each day they used different sensors and had a different objective.

(alex's teacher points out a function in the program)

 

(setting things up)

thursday night was parents night, we got to go up and see some of what he has worked on this week.  he explained the program to me - let's just say it's fairly detail oriented, LOL. we will definitely be doing one of the aim for the stars camps again next year.  this is the first year that alex has been old enough and we'd heard wonderful things about them from friends w/ older kids - it didn't disappoint. there are a whole range of math and science camps and they are all really cool.  i wish we had gotten into more of the classrooms to check out the other programs, but there was a CAPOW presentation and the boys weren't about to pass up seeing things blow up.

 

(oops, sorry..  guess you can see this one in the nov issue of cards. ;)

(american crafts cardstock. studio calico documentary patterned paper - jetset , souvenir & windowseat - and fabrips . fiskars butterfly hand punch, scallop sentiment punch and tag punch. jenni bowlin button . hero arts uppers and lowers letter stamps. timber brown stazon. tiny attacher)

here's a quick card i made w/ some scraps of documentary while i was cleaning up my desk..  i love how the fiskars hand punch was just the right size to fit into those circles on the yellow patterned paper.  i punched the fabrip by layering it to a piece of scap paper, punching it, and then pulling it back off and sticking it to my card. 

well, we just got word that today's games are rained out.... so i guess we're down to 3 games left. and today is unexpectedly free.  i think i'd better get a diet coke and get to work on some sneaks for studio calico. btw, there are still a few add-ons for june left...  if you've been wavering, better get them before they're gone.  i'm still kicking myself for skipping shade tree...  though the july kit is helping me feel better. ;)

father's day ideas

(L, XL , XXL & XXXL circle punches, scallop tag punch, heart punch, studio calico pp ( green dot ), october afternoon pp ( turquoise, aqua text , text , blue doiley ), jenni bowlin studio pp ( red floral , yellow floral , ledger ), cosmo cricket pp ( green gingham ), studio calico twine, tiny attacher ,12x12 shadowbox)

i've got a father's day shadowbox up on the fiskars site.. i am loving the new larger lever punches and had to use the heck out of them for this. =)  if you follow the link, there are full instructions to make one. this was a fun project to make, and is easy enough that your kids can help quite a bit.

my friend denise's etsy shop will be open for the next two weeks as a little Father's Day pet portrait shop.  all watercolor pet portraits ship for free and include a card featuring a print of your painting. she will close the shop on June 11th in order to get all paintings shipped in time.  her portraits are too cute - i gave one to my mom and stepdad for christmas last year.

so cute, yes???

okay friends...  i have got to get today kicked into gear.  lots to do, and only 2 hours without the bigs. =)

and on the scrapfront...

i took down the big fence that seperated most of my scrap storage from the rest of the playroom (you can see it in pics here) while it was wonderfully effective at keeping little hands out of my supplies, it was a hassle to get to most of my storage - AND it became a deposit spot for all sorts of junk. so, out it went.  and now the littlest is obsessed with pulling my stool over and stacking things on my desk. he's been fairly good about respecting my things, but i realized earlier that one of my studio calico bird stamps has gone missing..  and i'm pretty sure i know who lost it. (and speaking of studio calico & stamps, there will be a new pink slip list in the newsletter tonight...  and some of my faves are retiring. i'll have to give them a grand send off speech tomorrow, along with my june kit sneaks).

 

(supplies : chip letters - making memories, chip hearts & brads - american crafts, blue, red & yellow pp - october afternoon, gray overlay - hambly, hexagon, map, green floral, grey & "s" pp - studio calico, fabrips - studio calico, label stickers - studio calico & october afternoon, punches - fiskars, tiny attacher - tim holtz, journal lines stamp - studio calico, ink - pumice distress)

this page was up on the studio calico blog last week, along with a writeup on how i got from an inspiration piece to this finished project.  it was fun to take the time to think about how i work and break it down into steps - though it makes me realize that i have some odd work habits. ;)

this set of cards & matching envelopes went up on the fiskars site earlier this week. i'm trying to get back into the habit of making cards, and trying to remember that they don't have to be rocket science - a simple design can go a long way.

also -  one of my fave pages of me + the boys was featured over on the scrapbook & cards today blog last week, along with some other beautiful mother's day projects. i took an IOU on a mother's day pic this year - i didn't shower till right before we left for the ball field - i need it to stop raining so we can get a photo of me + the boys. =)

speaking of the rain....  while i have to say that i enjoyed the first couple nights of rained out baseball, i'm paying for it now.  because practices have been pushed back and rescheduled and now the next couple evenings are looking rather complicated. i'm off to ponder when and what we're going to have for dinner tonight..  happy thursday!

ps : lorie just posted that there are more knick knack add-ons from may available - they found a box that didn't get sold.  this was my fave add-one - love that cloud stamp, love the color scheme, and those felt stars are too cool!  check it out if you missed it the first time. =)