Welcome to my abode...

How does this thing work again? I can't believe it's been nearly two months since I last updated the blog. What happened? Oh, yeah... a hectic cheerleading schedule and life in general. But, I thought there was no better way to get my blogging feet wet than to participate in today's American Crafts blog hop!

Today, we are working with the new Abode line... so adorable and lots of fun embellishments to play with! Next to scrapbooking, home decorating/DIY is one of my favorite hobbies. I am constantly tearing pages from magazines, collection wallpaper and paint samples, and bookmarking ideas on the internet. So, I figured it was high time I made a little binder to keep all of my ideas and inspirations in!

I bought this album as part of a kit from Studio Calico over a year ago with the intention of using it for this very project, but I never came across the right product to work with this project... enter American Crafts "Abode" line!





I divided the insides of the book up into four sections: Living, Bed, Bath and Yard...



Each section is marked with these really cool, thick acetate tabbed dividers. They take rub-ons perfectly!









Inside each tabbed acetate sheet, there are thin chipboard dividers that I covered with patterned paper and embellishments that are used to further divide up the book. For the living area, it is divided into "Living Room," "Game Room," "Kitchen and Dining," and "Entryway."







The "Bed" section is divided into "Hazel's Room," "Luka's Room," "Master Bedroom," and "Guest Room."









The "Bath" section is divided into "Kids' Bath," and "Master Bath."





And, finally, the "Yard" section is divided into "Front Yard" and "Backyard."





And, now you have a fun little binder to stuff full of all kinds of home decor inspiration! There are even lined pages that fit into each section for you to write notes, room measurements, etc. on! It's a handy thing to toss into your purse so you'll have it at the ready the next time you're shopping for ways to improve your house!

I'll be back on Wednesday for some fun, alternative ways to use your scrapbooking supplies to make all kinds of team spirit projects... perfect to support your favorite little sportsman!

In the meantime, be sure to hop along over to all of the other talented American Crafts designers' blogs that are participating in the hop. There is sure to be lots of inspiration out there!

Kim Arnold
Moon Ko
Kathy Thompson
Katrina Simeck
Melanie Louette
Piradee Talvanna
Loredana Bucaria
Martha Bonneau
Nichole Duenke
Shannon Zickel
Beth Proudfoot
Paige Evans
Wendy Sue Anderson
Doris Sander
Mary Jo Johnston
Elizabeth Carney
Dusti Nakamura
Kim Watson
Danielle Layton
Kelly Purkey
Amy Tan

*sweet as candy*

Today, I have a fun little shadow box project to share with you. These are super-easy to put together, and make for a lovely gift. This particular shadow box was made for my daughter as a gift for her birthday next month. She has the biggest sweet tooth I have ever seen, and will just love this little candy shoppe wall hanging...





First, we'll start of with the lid to a papier mache box and we'll paint the outside and inside edges...



Once that dries, we'll adhere a piece of glittered cardstock inside. American Crafts makes some wonderful glittered cardstock that comes in a wide array of colors...



Now we'll start making our candy "shelf." This particular box lide measures 4 3/4" x 6 3/4." So, I cut a piece of patterned paper that measures 5" x 6 3/4." Get out your bone folder and a ruler so that we can begin scoring. Make your first score 1/2" from the edge of the paper...



Your second score will be made 7/8" from the previous score...



Now, repeat the same scores on the opposite end of the paper...



Fold along your scores, and apply adhesive to all but one tab. Leave one of the 7/8" sections without adhesive. This will be the top of your shelf...



Adhere the shelf to the inside of the box...



Next, add a silver pipe cleaner around the inside top edge of the box...



Take your stickers (these are made by American Crafts), and adhere the to a piece of white cardstock. Trim around the stickers, leaving a little tab at the bottom...



Use a bone folder and ruler to score the tabs of your candy jars. The tabs will then be adhered to to top oof the shelf. I used small dots of hot glue for adhesive. Then, add a little piece of trim along the edge of the shelf...



Use more of the American Crafts stickers, some of their mini jewel brads, and pop dots to create your store's sign...



Almost done! Run around the edge of the box with some decorative tape for an added touch...



Finally, make a hanger for your shadow box. I used more of the same scalloped velvet trim and some American Crafts pearl brads to create mine...



And, we're done! I hope that you enjoyed this fun project, and that it inspires you to create your own shadowboxes.

Hello... is this thing on?

Wow. It has been quite a while since I've ventured out into blog land. But, I had to come out of hiding to share with you an awesome opportunity that I had this month. The insanely talented (not to mention totally sweet) Kerry Lynn Yeary invited me to be the guest designer for February over at Kenner Road!

I had a blast playing with all of the beautiful, inspiring product that she sent my way. Lots of new Crate Paper goodies! And, I would like to share with you! So, here they are...

















Stay tuned later this month to the Kenner Road blog for a special project tutorial that I am working on!

New Bleuprint!

Every Friday over at Bad Girls, one of our Elite Artistes shares an inspiring new Bleuprint. For those of you that don't know, our Bleuprints begin with a source of inspiration (a magazine ad, a painting, a color palette). From that, we build a sketch. And, finally we create fun layouts combining our source of inspiration and sketches.

This week was my turn, and this is what I came up with...





I was looking for a fun way to scrap some photos I had from Christmas, and was inspired to create a page that, itself, looked like a wrapped gift. American Crafts' "Merrymint" collection was perfect for this! To see where my source of inspiration came from, and for a sketch to give you a jumping off point... take a peek here.

Have a great weekend! I know mine will be spent getting messy with the new American Crafts "I Heart You" line. Stay tuned for some cute V-Day projects!

2010...

Brought to you by the letter "H" for...



Health in all areas of life.

* Health in the traditional sense. More exercise. I'm on Day 8 of my Wii 30 Day Fitness Challenge, and I have more and more energy every time that alarm goes off at 6 am. Yay! Eat healthier. More fruits and veggies. I am a notorious veggie-hater. I'm getting better. Baby steps, baby steps. Cut out soda and alcohol. I have a Coke every couple of days. I haven't had a drop of wine (or any other alcoholic beverage) for 10 days now. Instead, I drink about 10 glasses of water a day. Doin' good.

* Family health. We are spending a lot more quality time together. Dinners at the dining room table. Mondays are family movie night, Thursdays... family game night. Once it warms up, we'll be spending a lot more time playing outside. Hazel is now a Daisy Girl Scout, and I am a co-leader for her troop. It's an excellent way to spend quality time together.

* Creative health. I was taking on so many jobs and projects that it was starting to burn me out. I've taken a creative break to get the juices flowing again, reprioritized some of my commitments, and hope to be back to inspiring you all very soon. I will continue to reevaluate my commitments in the industry until I find a happy medium.

* Mental health. Not in the loo-loo crazy sense. More in the remembering not to be so hard on myself, and introducing more time for relaxation in my life sense. In this day and age, I think we could all benefit from taking some time to breathe and appreciate all we have in life. It doesn't always have to be so high-stress and go, go, go all the time.

I think the best idea behind new year's resolutions is to set small, attainable goals and build on them. If I went in with the goal to work out 3 hours a day, that would last maybe 3 days. Instead, I started out with the 30 minute Wii fitness challenge. Then, I'll slowly add too it... a couple of days of yoga here, some Wii Fit exercises there. It makes everything seem that much more possible. On that note, I have some organizing to do before I can get back to creating. So, I'll leave you with some snap-shots from the holidays...









Happy New Year, and here's to you achieving all your goals for 2010!