Preserving Christmas Memories

Christmas....seriously?  I realize it's March, I know, I know, Christmas stuff should be put away by now!  I've had this particular project sitting next to my desk for quite some time now (2 years to be exact). 

My family loves getting cards, letters and pictures over Christmas and New Years from both family and friends.  There are so many wonderful stories and memories that it just wouldn't be right to throw them away.  I used to create scrapbook pages for all my pictures and letters, but that filled up fast...and not to mention... took a lot more time and effort to create.  Now I just simply punch and bind these treasures into mini-books by year.

Both books were bound using the Zutter binding system.  The cover and back of the book are made with heavyweight chipboard that I covered with patterned paper, stickers and die cuts.  This is so easy and extremely affordable and note, we only keep letters and pictures unless the cards are homemade (hint hint).   We enjoy looking back at years past....oh how quickly the years go by!

Maybe this project will inspire you to create a book of something special and dear to your heart!

Candy Airplanes

Candy Airplane - Ingredients:  2 sticks of gum, 2 life savers, 1 smartie, 1 sillyband

 Over Christmas the boys really wanted to give something to their classmates at school.  I remember when I was younger, we gave a variety of things like:  Jumbo Candy Canes, Lollipop Reindeer, Candy Cane Reindeer, Candy Trains, etc.  I started looking for any "NEW" candy type projects online and stumbled upon these.  Aren't they the COOLEST!   I know, I should have posted this earlier, but just thought  it's a GREAT idea not only as an inexpensive gift for the holidays, but also for a birthday or other celebration.  ...they were so much fun for us to create and not to mention EASY and extremely KID FRIENDLY! 

Packaged and ready to go.

This is how we packaged the planes....I'm not gonna lie, I LOVE cello bags!   Add a beautiful topper to any cello bag filled with goodies and you've created a beautiful and simple masterpiece!  

Homemade Valentine Boxes

Happy Valentines Day Everyone! 
I thought I would share a little creative fun we had at our house this past weekend!  The boys got together and dreamed up their perfect valentine box.  In the true spirit of the holiday, they built their valentine boxes out of a standard shoe box.  Although I helped cut some of the cardboard, tape the paper to the box and cut the holes for the valentines to fit into, the boys did ALL the rest!  These boxes are constructed with a lot of love and creativity, a shoebox, cardboard, tape, construction paper, acrylic paint, markers and stickers.  Enjoy.  

 

 

KK and his dinosaur - when you open the mouth, the dinosaur eats the valentines -  YUM!

Chan and his Tank - pull up on the gun and the slot opens for the valentines.

Cole and his C17 Bomber - the back of the plane opens for the valentines

Jake and his baseball Mitt - astonishing hand-painted mitt that lifts to expose the hole for the valentines.

Morri's First Year - Premade Scrapbook

I created this simple yet meaningful book for a client who was attending a birthday party and wanted to honor the 1st year of this little peanut's life, isn't she adorable!  It's amazing all the "firsts" babies go through as you'll notice on all the pages.  

The client requested I use bright, vibrant colors similiar to those featured on her birthday invitation.  I matched the DCWV designer papers with some sassy sayings from Karen Foster Designs, added dimension to each page with pop ups and a little more style by attaching real buttons and fibers to the cover.  The finished piece is very cheery, uplifting and colorful, it's sure to brings a smile to anyone's face. 

I have to admit, the one thing I truly loved about this project is the color palette my client chose for this little 1 year old.  Baby books don't always have to be Pink and Blue.  Hope you enjoy!

"Wonderful You" Pop Up Book

Finished...finally.  I got this done last night and meant to post, but I was so tired I fell asleep on the couch and well....here I am this morning posting *smile*.  I absolutely LOVE this project!  Love, L-O-V-E, love it! 

Cover- "Stinkie the Skunk" welcomes you!

Inside 1 - "What a Hoot"

Inside 2 - "A little Love"

Inside 3 - "Sweet Beaver, my friend"

Inside 4 - "Owl Garden"

Top View

Close Up of my friend "Owl"

Inspired by Lilibee, I designed my pop up book to be a stand alone centerpiece. Each side features it's own theme, this way you can select pictures accordingly, whether they are taken from the same event or not.  What a great way to honor someone in your family, a friend, or use as a gift for someone else to cherish!  Speaking of a gift, this special pop up book is going to be wrapped up in love and sent to my very good friend Karen in WA.  I met Karen when I was pregnant with my second son and she was the original inspiration that helped me get in touch with my own creativity!  We've been friends for just under 6 years now and even though I don't live in WA anymore, our friendship has not changed!  Love ya girl!  Thanks for looking, I hope you like this!
Materials Used:  Cosmo Crickets Ever After Patterned Paper, DCWV The Green Stack Chipboard , Zig Writer for outlines, Pop Dots, Cosmo Cricket Rub-ons, Rhinestones, Assorted Stampin' Up! Punches for flowers, EK Success Tag Punch

New Mini Mailboxes - Lauren gets first pick

Here is a quick glimpse at the last of my mini mailboxes that I will be posting on Etsy today.  These miniature sized mailboxes are the perfect gift for that special someone!  Not only can you add your own  note, you can also add candies, toys, money (ha ha) or practically anything that might just fit inside.  If your interested in purchasing one of your own, please visit my new Etsy site.

Lauren - let me know which mailbox you would like for the girls and I'll get it shipped out today =)

Happy Valentines Day!
Kelly

Stampin' Up! Artisan Winning Entry 2007

I was very fortunate to be one of 10 winners for the 2007 SU! Artisan Contest. It's taken me over a year to post this to my site. Each participant was to include 3 Scrapbook pages, 5 cards and 2 3-Dimensional items. These were the items I submitted. All items use strictly SU! All products unless otherwise noted:


3-D Items

3-D item 1 "Flower Pot & Mini Scrapbook"
One special additions to my 3-D flower pot was to add a flower that was actually a surprise mini-book. I remember learning how to make this minibook when I was at the Creating Keepsakes Convention just a few months earlier. I believe I had 6 petals with pictures. After a little trial and error, I was able to get the book to hold together nicely.





3-D item 2 "Tunnel Album"
This album is one of my favorites to make. Not only does it fold down to the exact size of a card 4 1/4" x 5 1/2 but it just looks amazing when you can peer through the little holes and look at the pictures inside. there is a lot of texture, style and dimension going on! (Not to mention 5 kids who had a blast at the Kangaroo Farm)


Cards


Card 1: "Birthday Beauty"
I love this pop-up card, very simple to make, but the outcome is an exciting surprise for the recipient!



Card 2: "Ahoy Matey, Diarama"



Card 3: "You're Invited, surprise inside"

Card 4: "Ruff Day w/ Mini Scrapbook on cover"

Card 5: "Cold Twigs"

Scrapbook Pages

Scrapbook Page 1

Scrapbook Page 2

Scrapbook Page 3

Poppy Scallop Chipboard Album

I found this aweseom Chipboard Album kit by Craft lover and had to put one together. So easy since the paper is precut to fit the scallops on at least one side of the album (the other I had to exacto). This album was made especially for my good friend Diana for her birthday this past weekend. She's a great friend and deserves a special way to remember her special day! Diana, I would love to see this once you've filled it with your pictures.

Spooky Tin

What do you do with those left over gift card holders? Well, instead of throwing them away, go green and recycle!! I love to create these super fun accordian scrapbooks. You need 8.5x11 CS and some designer paper and embellishments and some really strong adhesive. I tend to use Sticky Strip...love that stuff! It works great on just about any medium.

Mischief

This was one of my favorite finds at the CKU convention in Portland recently. The designer paper and punch outs are by Daisy D's and I have no idea the actual name, but it was a super cute pack! I actually made 3 layouts out of this kit and was so highly impressed with myself after the disappointment of only finding that the kit had 1 double sided sheet of paper and a sheet of punchouts.

Altered Picture Frame

Loving this Le jardin paper (obviously). i created this the same time I created the altered clipboard. Enjoy!