No-Sew Ruffle Tote

I saw this craft on pinterest a while ago and I just had to make one! I love tote bags and thought it was a cute way to make a new one with a little of my own added flair. First, I headed to the craft store to pick up my materials: plain canvas tote, material (I used a bundle of coordinated fabric quarters), matching ribbon and glue sticks for my glue gun.
I measued even lines on the tote, 2" in from the top and every 2" to the bottom giving me 5 rows for fabric ruffles. Then I cut each piece of fabric into 3.75" strips.
Starting at the bottom, I started by putting 1" of hot glue on the line drawn on the tote bag. Then I placed the fabric on the glue and pinched it slightly to create that "ruffled" look. I did this all the way to the end of the tote. Continue this with each piece of fabricc. Then hot glue a piece of ribbon on hte top of edge of the top piece of fabric. I did not wrap the fabric onto the back side of the tote - if you want to do this, you'll need wider fabric (min was 21" wide, you'll need at least 40" wide to do both sides to account for the ruffling).

Mosiac Photo Art

SO I have been laid up for 5 weeks now and I am going absolutely crazy! I have been on pinterest looking for some crafts I can do to keep my busy. I have found sveral things that I have been working on at home. Some are hands on projects, some are digital photo projects.
First, I've been working on this photo mosaic art. I found this site full of letter and number pictures on flickr. He has tons of photos organized into letter albums that are totally free to download and use for your own personal use. Here is the link to the album:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lwr/collections/72157594587080023/
I then used my digial scrapbook software to create this 12x12 page of our name and the year my husband and I were married. I can then print it out and put in a 12x12 page frame (found at any craft store) and display in my home. I love this and the possibilities are endless with what you can do with these photos! I amworking on few more for my kids' rooms and some as gifts for friends and family members.

This is also something I saw on pinterest. I made this also on my digital scrapbook software. The dates are my husband's birthday, my birthday, our anniversary, my daughter's birthday and my son's birthday. It was simple to make and I just used the creative font feature. I added a flower and gem for flair. This can also be printed and put into a 12x12 page frame. All of these sizes can be adjusted to fit various frame sizes. You can also use other software to create these mosiac pieces such as Google's Picasa or Mirosoft Power Point.

UPDATE

Hi All...I am sure you are wondering where I have been and what I have been up to?? Maybe you haven't...either way, here's an update.

I am no longer a Creative Memories consultant, but I am still an avid scrapbooker - traditional and digital - as well as card maker, and other craft creator.

This blog will now highlight all that I am getting myself into - all kinds of craftiness! I have been on Pinterest and have found some amazing crafting ideas that I am just in love with and I hope to be able to share them with you here, on this blog.

I hope you will continue to follow me, share me with your friends too!

New Book Pricing

So sorry I have been away for so long. I have been busy enjoying the summer and making memories of my own with my family. I have also been busy doing research on book printing prices. I've been able to find cheaper printing prices so I was able to adjust my prices on 8x11" books as well as 12x12. This includes both custom photo cover books and leather cover window books (only available in 8x11). If you're thinking you might want to create a one of a kind memory album to give as a holiday gift this year, now is the time to get things together. My turn around time is about 2 weeks, but things get busy fast! If you are in St. Louis, there will be NO shipping fees; if you're out of town, I can arrange shipping through my printer or USPS.
Please think of me when you are looking to create one of a kind custom photo gifts! Contact me today so I can start working on your memories.

Summer Craziness

I just realized I haven't posted in quite some time! I do apologize for my absence. I've been working on re-evaluating the elements of my business and it's taken some time to figure a few things out - but I think I am ready! I have been working on a few projects for a few different customers.
I created a 20 page cookbook for the produce co-op that I order from. It includes recipes that we have shared with each other as well as some of my favorites that I added. All recipes are super tasty and super easy to make. The book is a 5x7 spiral bound album with 23 recipes. It is $15 +$2 shipping. Contact me if you are interested in ordering one of these great kitchen resources. A friend of mine ordered 3 and gave them as end-of-the-school-year gifts to her son's teachers attached with ribbon to different plates that look like fruit. Super cute idea and a great gift that the teachers will get a lot of use out of! Think about who could use one of these and order yours today!
I have also been working on a few scrapbook projects for some customers. A few birthday albums as well as sports albums. This is a great idea for those who don't scrapbook but want to celebrate big moments in a child's life. The sports album showcases photos and awards from that season. This particular album holds soccer and lacrosse. This allows kids to look back and remember different teams they played on and friends they made while playing school sports.

Added to my portfolio are handmade all-occasion cards. Everyone can use these cards! It's always nice to send a handwritten note to a friend that you haven't talked to in a while, wish someone a Happy Birthday, or Congratulation on the new baby! Check out my new tab showcasing all the different cards I make as well as pricing.

Below are some pictures of some of my recent work. Contact me to learn more about what I do and how I can help you celebrate all your memories - past, present and future!

Initial Note Card Design #1

Initial Note Card Design #2



Page from the cookbook

Cookbook

Recently finished traditional pages

Here are some of the finished pages I completed for a customer who lives in Akron, Ohio. Her daughter is turning one in a few weeks and she asked me to get her scrapbook caught up. I completed 26 pages in 2 weeks and am shipping her the finished product today. I love how they turned out! You don't have to live in St. Louis for me to help you celebrate your memories. Contact me today on how I can start and/or finishe getting your memories into albums and celebrated!
Thanks Ann for letting me help you celebrate your memories!

Snow day crafts

To keep Kaitlyn busy when we are stuck inside on cold, snowy and icy days, I look to different crafty websites for ideas on how to keep her busy with out overwhelming her with difficult tasks. I've found a great website that offers lots of activities for toddler-grade school with an emphasis on preschool. This is right at Kaitlyn's age and she loves doing all sorts of artsy type activities. These of course can be adapted to your own ideas and materials that you have on hand. For example, if you don't have "googly eyes" just hand draw eyes, no colored contruction paper, use white and let kids color the appropriate color (red, pink, etc).

Here are a few I am going to do with Kaitlyn over the next few days:

Paper Heart Person

Heart Butterfly

Handprint Heart Cards
And use a fun poem like this one:
Sometimes you get discouraged
Because I am so small
And always leave my fingerprints
On furniture and walls
But every day I'm growing --
I'll be grown some day
And all those tiny handprints
Will surely fade away

So here's a little handprint
Just so you can recall
Exactly how my fingers looked
When I was very small

Put a date here
Love, put child's name here

Get crafty with your little muchkins and send me your pics and I'll post them in my gallery!
Enjoy!