confetti

more camp crafts

it's been a busy week of packing and gathering for camp--more creating too!  having little sis going for the first time means making everything i made for big sis over again.  it's fun to have festive, color coordinated campy stuff!  this is the remake of the camp clipboard.  it's got lots of room on the inside, as well as a great surface for writing--and decorating!  i filled it up with fun stuff, too...

stationery, pre printed address cards to give to new friends, luggage tag, and general rest time doodle paper and pens.  i still have to print return address labels and address and stamp a few envelopes for her.  i hope she writes home more than big sis did her first year!

:) lexi

the latest in cavegirl fashions

so i've had to switch gears a bit!  it's the countdown to away camp for my girls and i have a lot of packing and gathering going on in addition to a few big invitation and stationery orders.  there's always something happening around here!  tonight i sewed 7 cavegirl costumes for one of the theme nights.  our little group spans 3 different age groups, so i had a few different sizes to deal with, but it all worked out.  i had to make some quick fixes, but i never had to take anything apart and start over.  the pink belongs to my youngest.  she named it the "funky cavegirl" and it is *so* her!  the other theme night is nerds, which will be a fun gathering task--pocket protectors, calculators, taped glasses, maybe a little plaid.  i love putting costumes together!

:) lexi

a "mini" review ~ craft critique

i have another quick meyer imports article posted at craft critique today--it's all about the miniatures!  click here to read more, including how to make these adorable bottle cap necklaces.  and don't forget, you can leave one comment on each of the meyer imports reviews for a chance to win some of their fun, unique products.  so go, look, comment--and hopefully, win!  good luck...

:) lexi

german glass glitter ~ craft critique

i love glitter and i was recently given several beautiful colors of german glass glitter from meyer imports to review for craft critique--so sparkly and fun!  click here to read all about it.  and be sure to leave a comment on my article as well as the other vendor spotlight articles to win some fun meyer imports goodies of your own!!

:) lexi

i'm back!

i'm sorry for being away for so long, but the events of february just took over--mardi gras, a 4th grade class play, getting ready for our land & sea disney adventure--all while still teaching and working on orders.  something had to give, and that ended up being the blog.  i was creating like crazy during the month though, and took pictures faithfully along the way, fully intending to pop in from time to time.  but then i misplaced my camera cord.  mostly, the problem was time, though!  we got home monday (a day late thanks to the snow in atlanta), and i found the camera cord last night, so here's a quickie little project i created for our stateroom...

i ran out of time to make it at home, but since i'd already bought all of the disney stickers, i quickly grabbed the supplies the day we left and made it in our hotel room the night before we boarded--brightly colored papers from a su! designer paper pad, lots of 3d disney stickers from michael's, thin black ribbon, and a page of circle labels with the letters printed on them in different colors and styles.  for the stickers, i was sure to include aladdin (the 4th grade play), the little mermaid (the theme of the girls' mardi gras ball), pirate mickey (a cruise theme), it's a small world (a favorite ride at disney), and of course, mickey and minnie and friends!  basically, i just placed the labels in the middle of a different colored paper, surrounded them by the stickers, letting some of them hang over the edge, and folded each one over the ribbon to attach.  i really didn't have time to think through the colors and layout out much before i left home, so i'm glad it worked!  i left a little bit of ribbon hanging from each end in case i could tie it or tape it, but my best idea was the last minute one to bring a couple of washers and strong magnets--the ceiling was metal and it attached perfectly!  the girls loved it and it really was such a cheerful addition to the room!

i promise to be back with all of the projects i've been working on, a few pics from the trip, and new card designs on a more regular basis again.  many thanks to those who are still checking in on me...

:) lexi

labeled laundry

i get really busy during the holiday season making christmas cards and other paper gifts, which is a lot of fun.  but i really love to get orders for non paper items like these camp laundry bags.  personalized and in camp colors, it's a really fun item to take to camp--and easy to identify too!

:) lexi

tricks & treats from my busy week!

boo! to you...

with treats galore!

mignon wanted to be salt & pepper with a friend, so here's what i came up with--they were so cute!

eye-popping tomato soup (from marthastewart.com) for my book club crowd!

crescent mummy dogs (from pillsbury.com) for the girlies...

with a side of green noodles!

eyeball cupcakes for a school party...

and last, but most definitely not least--candy monster cupcakes based on these awesome ones.  not suprisingly the original inspiration came from martha stewart kids.  sooo much fun for the girlies and their friends, this was a great activity for kids.  and of course for mummy, too!

happy halloween!
:) lexi

sock monkey family

yesterday was so busy, the closest i could get to posting was thinking about it--school, colleen's birthday party, swim team, cupcakes for school today.  i'm still tired thinking about it, but i have a ton of work to do before i can really rest (for my stamping readers, think saltbox sneak peeks coming soon!).  since i just can't skip another day of posting, here is a teaser from colleen's party yesterday--we went bananas monkeyin' around and i can't wait to share it all!!

:) lexi

sparkle shades

today i have another invite from the stack that piled so high last month.  the request was for a fun play-outside party with something a bit girly and maybe a craft idea to go with it.  so after finding the idea to embellish sunglasses with glitter glue and jewels from an american girl party book, i came up with the sparkle shades for the invitation.  when i drew them, i made sure to leave a little room for stickles!  when i spend time working on images like this, i always hope i'll have another chance to use them again.  so i was very excited a couple of weeks later when a friend asked me to help design a cd sticker for a pool party cd favor...

she had found an invitation to print herself and mentioned that there was a pair of shades on it, so of course my lightbulb went off.  no stickles this time since it's on the cd, but they make a great random summer fun pattern and i got to use my image again--and again and again!

have a great weekend!
:) lexi

paper butterflies

for mother's day, i love to create little paper crafted gifts for the moms in our families, so i was very excited when i saw this post on lyndsay's blog, with links back to the original project by ali edwards and another by kelli crowe.  wow!  it was the perfect project and didn't take very long either.  i picked up a couple of the martha stewart shadow boxes when i went to get the butterfly punch, but i wanted to make some smaller versions as well, so i ended up with small canvases for those.  i even made a few extras for birthdays!  here's a close-up of one of the big ones...

i used the jolie chocolat 8 x 8 paper stack by s•e•i, which was perfect for the box and had some sparkle and shine included.  like lyndsay, i added a few a muse twinkle stickers to the outside of the box--the design just begs for them!

here is bird's eye view of all of the small canvases.  i wanted them to be somewhat unique, so i created each one using a different paper collection for quick and easy coordination, but i would love to take time one day to create something similar with more random scraps and still come up with something cohesive like ali's.  here are a couple more close-ups...

i swiped pink chalk ink over the canvases for a little color and heat set.  to attach the butterflies, i folded the wings up a bit and used crystal effects to glue the bodies to the canvas.  a little coordinating ribbon was perfect for decorating the sides and hiding the staples.  and the final touch was a line of platinum stickles to the butterfly "bodies" for added bling.

i was totally taken with the butterflies, but this was such a fun project that i have to do it again with other punches.  this is definitely one of those projects that looks like so much more than the time it takes to make it!

thanks for flying by...
:) lexi

linens from the nile

barbie goes to egypt!  colleen is studying ancient egypt right now and had to do a project on egyptian clothing.  definitely right up my little fashionista's alley!  she was very into project runway, so i showed her how she could set it up on the runway and she drew the heiroglyphics to read "linens from the nile" above the doorway.  she really wanted to shine a light from behind the curtain, too, just like on the show--she's very into details and can't wait to bring it to school!

:) lexi

year round tree: march

 

i can't believe it's march already!!  this month, i actually have one of the orginial ornament sets that were sold with the tree--the easter set, featuring little chicks, eggs, carrots and leaping bunnies and a blue and orange plaid fabric ribbon at the base.  the friend who got me hooked on the year-round tree had this extra set, so she gave it to me, since i was only able to get one myself.  i use it in either march or april depending on when easter ends up.  while i have fun coming up with my own ornaments for other months, i love the original ones and really wish i could find them somewhere.  they don't feel like paper--more like a stiff canvas and they're painted with just enough of a rustic touch.  again, i created the topper myself.  it took a while, but i finally ended up with something that kind of resembles a basket!

:) lexi

p.s.  speaking of easter, beth posted one of my spring cards on the saltbox sampler today--more fun with sheep!!

 

year round tree: february

 

i can't believe i almost forgot to post my february tree!  actually, i almost forgot to change it.  for february, i found these little charms--a set of metal love charms--at michael's a couple of years ago.  the kit contained the perfect number i needed and includes a love token, a "cute" conversation heart, a friends flower, xoxo and even one that says, "moms are all heart."  they are mostly silver with a few shiny red details.  perfect for february!  like the snowman topper last month, i created the heart myself--much easier than the snowman.  i'll try to be back with a card later today, but until then, you can see one that i created over at the saltbox sampler--and a few that my girls did too!

:) lexi

year round tree: january

after showing my little year round tree with my christmas trees last month, i thought i'd try to make a point of showing it each month this year.  when i purchased it, i only bought one of the ornament sets to start with, thinking i would be able to add to it month by month.  but the store changed it's long distance purchasing policy and then went out of business, so i had to start adding my own monthly ornaments.  i found miniatures for some months like december, charms for other months and i've made a few sets myself.  for january, i have a combo of miniature snowflake ornaments and stamped mittens.  there were also wire toppers to go with the ornaments.  i only have one original of those, but here i've made my own snowman.  i wish i could find the original ornaments again because i like the look of them, but i've had fun finding and making my own, too.  i know snow and mittens are symbols of january, but it sure is hot here!

:) lexi

poor old pear...

 

my third grader, mignon, brought home this very cute new halloween decoration for our collection.  the lesson, poetry; the assignment, to create a rhyming epitaph on a wooden tombstone, complete with moss and greenery.  i just love creative lessons like this!

watch out for stairs!
:) lexi

inside the haunted house!

our decorating didn't stop outside.  we have lots of inside favorites, too, including a few new finds and creations.  first, here's the pottery barn tree that inspired this card from a couple of weeks ago, complete with lollipop ghosts...

   

black roses by the front door...

 

this is the ghost that haunts our kitchen window--can't get any cheaper than bubble wrap!

please pass the spaghetti & eyeballs!  this one's new from target.  the spiders seem to be enjoying it...

and saving the best for last...

i just had to add the ingredients to our witch's brew stand after seeing the a muse window linda and nina designed recently.  that stamp is one of the girls' favorites and colleen was especially into creating our very own "real" ones.

   

we're feeling quite spooktacular around here!

:) lexi

back to the season at hand...

i'm finally getting around to embracing the fact that it is october despite ridiculously sticky high temps.  the girls had the day off on monday, so we pulled out our halloween decorations and got busy.  our neighborhood goes all out for halloween and we love to go with 'em!

 
 

 
 

 

most of our decorations are the same from year to year, but this year we added the very cute martha stewart beware tape & the little bale of hay under the plastic jack (both from michael's) and new tombstones for the garden (from target).  colleen was really disappointed that we didn't have our tattered "katrina" shutters still up.  they really added to the general spook appeal last year, but we finally got around to changing them this summer.  we'll add some real pumpkins next week or so--can't have them around too early with the heat we're having!

i'll show some of the inside decorations tomorrow...

:) lexi
 

more blue & orange

so, i mentioned that i went a little blue and orange crazy getting mignon ready for camp.  well, here's the rest of it!  in addition to the stationery and clipboard box i posted yesterday, i made a carry on bag for the bus, a fabric scrap pony tail holder, a baseball cap, a laundry bag and a blanket... 

   

i picked two color patterns of quilting/crafting squares at joann's and used them to iron on her name and the longhorn onto the carry on bag and the laundry bag (which i also sewed!).  after sewing on the pom pom trim and ribbon, i used the cuttlebug red tag sale letters for the letters on the carry bag and hand cut the longhorn as well as the large letters for the laundry bag. i tied scrap strips of the same fabric to a plain pony tail holder for that and drew with fabric paint markers on the hat.

 

and finally, the blanket is made of two yards of the two colors of fleece fringed and knotted together around all sides.  you cut a 7 inch square off of each corner for the fringe to work, so i used this to add the m and a longhorn in opposite fabric, one on each side to a corner, so that when you turn the edge over at the top, both will show at the same time no matter what color you have on top.  it was "no sew" easy and would be perfect for seasonal or school spirit blankets too!

 

yes, i know, i'm crazy--but i get these ideas and i just have to go for it!  and mignon loved it all and that's what it's all about.

now, i'm off to my new addiction--checking the parent section of the camp website for daily pics!  then, maybe i'll stamp something for tomorrow...

:) lexi

attawaytogo to camp!

 

where have i been?  pretty much, here, there & everywhere!  reading harry potter (loved it!), working on orders (busy!), packing & traveling to the camp bus (first time away!) and dealing with a dead hard drive (ick!).

yes, more computer trouble.  when my laptop stopped working last month, the tech guy warned me that this might happen, so it wasn't a surprise.  thankfully it happened while staying at the galleria in houston, where there's also an apple store--much faster than anywhere here in new orleans with very capable "geniuses."  i love that store!  now, with a new hard drive, my laptop should be good as new, but i do have to re-install my software yet again.  i'm becoming a pro!

other than the hard drive issues, the girls and i had a great girls' weekend in houston--shopping, ice skating, swimming, eating.  then we waved mignon's bus on and colleen and i headed home, with a stop at club libby lu first.  take a look at my little hannah montana.  a few sweet shoppers "spotted" her and asked for autographs which totally made her day!

 

and of course i couldn't send mignon to camp without a few crafty goodies in camp colors.  i'll share her clipboard box and personalized stationery today, but i went a little orange and blue longhorn crazy so stay tuned!

 
 

it brought back memories of my crafty college days!

attawaytogo!
:) lexi