sneak peek | my mind's eye

Life is Good. And you can see it over on the My Mind's Eye blog today!

simple cards

You may remember this card, which I created for the first ever challenge over at The Twinery, where great prizes are to be won by the way. You must enter this month's challenge by February 28th to be eligible.

While I had my supplies out anyway, I went ahead and created a few more cards to have on hand, using an embossing folder and that's it. Easy Peasy.

Well, I did color in the Happy Birthday on this card and then used an emery board to scuff off the rest of the words on the pink bannered card on the right.

Talk about simple, these are SIMPLE!

UPDATED TO ADD  |  Vicki asked in the comments for additional information about the embossing folder...Darice Happy Birthday, item #1215-45.

together

Taken by a couple from Canada on Sunday afternoon, we posed for a photo in front of the Grand Ole Opry, where we attended a show Saturday evening. 

Yes, we ARE tall. Yes, this IS a huge guitar. 

The reason for the photo above, is because of this photo:

Our day was so full, that we had left earlier in the day without coats thinking that we would be back in time to grab our jackets and when I tried to take a photo, my shivering caused the "special" effect you see.

RANDOM FACT  |  The last time I was at the Grand Ole Opry was when I was a teen and our family went to see Engelbert Humperdink in concert. Anyone remember him?

More photos and stories coming to a mini album near you!

snow bunny, circa 2006

color challenge with the twinery & the play date cafe

Always a pleasure to find a reason to play with my huge supply of baker's twine from The Twinery.  Definitely a perk of being on the Design Team for a third year, don't you think?

Yesterday, I created this sweet little card inspired by the color challenge over at The Play Date Cafe. If you're interested in playing along, there are always fun prizes to be won, so be sure to hop over and check it all out.

I used Glossy Accents to adhere the border {in Denim} and placed a glue dot in the middle of the starburst shape and wound Stone from the outside in...that seems to work best for me. And my nifty trick for the petals? Use a square punch and then corner round alternate corners. 

part of the family

The past six months have been hard on our family. We lost Duke recently and then yesterday afternoon, Rascal lost his battle as well. As you can imagine, so much of our family's history is entwined with these two faithful, loving and lovable pets. Truly part of our family.

Thanks for the memories.

let's polka...dot | the twinery

As if things could get any more fun, The Twinery has begun a bi-weekly challenge over on their blog. Twice a month, you'll be presented with a theme. For your chance to win fabulous prizes, all you have to do is get your craft on and create a project supporting the theme using your baker's twine in any shade from The Twinery.

We just celebrated my brother's birthday and me, the crafty one of the family, was scrambling around for a card. To cover myself for the next few months, I decided to make several cards. I used an embossing folder on the front of the card that happened to already have polka dots! To add just a bit of color and further reinforce the Polka Dot theme, I used three of the four shades from the Mini Sampler, Strawberry, Seaweed and Ocean, to create my french knots. You could do more, or do less, or even create a shape...like a heart! I just used my paper piercer to punch the holes and this threading trick.

For the simple requirements to play and win, check it out and upload your project so we can all see! By the way, did you see those prizes? You can see Tifany's card here...it's fabulous!

calendar cuties | march and april 2013

I was reminded by a fan of the Calendar Cuties that she was patiently awaiting the appearance of March and April. Here you go friends!

I'm so glad to know that you all enjoy the downloads.  If you have pictures to share of how you use them, leave a link in the comments and I'll drop by for a visit.

etsy finds | mama bleu designs

My One Little Word for 2013 is EMBRACE.

And quite by chance, I found this piece of handmade art. I look forward to finding just the right spot in my new Studio as a daily reminder to focus on embracing the here, the now, the present, the moment.

You can find more lovely goodies and home decor at Mama Bleu Designs.

before and after

she's a beauty

Yesterday, Gordon took the day off and we spent it together. Loved it. 

No special plans for us, just a day together while the girls were in school. I adored the Valentine's Day gifts he got for us, but February 15th is a more memorable day in our relationship. I really need to tell that story. One day I will. 

So, it touched my heart that he planned it so that we could be together. 

First, a stop for a quick breakfast at Starbucks, then while I was having a mani | pedi, didn't want to cancel that special treat I booked for myself before I knew he was going to be off from work, he did some errands and picked me up. We headed to the Mall for a return and ended up at American Eagle where we each picked out a few items before grabbing lunch. We had decided to go to Knoxville to look for a hanging pendant over my desk area in the Studio, when he pulled into the Lowe's parking lot. 

Lucky me...he found this beauty and we didn't have to even leave town. Hopefully next week I can get everything organized and ready to share with you and everyone else that has e-mailed me asking me for the reveal. 

Why is that there's always a tornado sized mess while trying to get moved and organized?

happy valentine's day heart banner | tutorial

Happy Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day is here, but the crafting fun isn't over yet. If you haven't had a chance yet, you should check out the Valentine Series Wrap-Up at The Twinery for inspiration overload and tons of adorable free printables.

How's this for a clean. simple. fast. You could make this card in no time at all and have it waiting on his pillow when he gets home from work...wink, wink. My Valentine won't be home until Friday night from his business trip and I miss him. A lot.

Hi, I'm Monika and I'm a Senior Designer for The Twinery, privileged to begin my third year of creating projects with THE most fabulous baker's twine ever. Today, I'm going to share the banner I created for their Valentine Series recently.

This project is so simple and can be done while sitting in the school pick-up line or even while watching your favorite night time show with your Sweetie. To prove it, here's a tutorial for you:

TUTORIAL

1. Gather your supplies: selection of your favorite baker's twine from The Twinery, several shades of craft felt, sharp scissors work best when cutting felt, heart shape template, 3/16" hole punch,  pencil
2. Trace your heart shape onto TWO layers of felt. From my experience, cutting two shapes at once ensures that your hearts match up perfectly each time. Sharp scissors are a must!
3. Using your 3/16" hole punch, which is considerably smaller than your normal office supply store hole punch, punch through both layers of felt using the hole punch as a guide when spacing your holes. You'll want to place one hole at the bottom of the heart and make sure to place one hole at the top center of the heart as well. My hole punch is from Fiskars.
4. Triple knot your baker's twine to keep it from slipping through the hole when stuffing your baker's twine and felt heart.
5. Because I always craft on a whim, I didn't have quilt batting to stuff my felt hearts and substituted  cotton balls. 4 cotton balls, stretched a bit to thin them out, seemed to work perfectly. Or, you could be completely prepared for your project and use quilt batting. You can see in the photo that I stopped a bit shy from the end, stuffed my cotton balls inside and then proceeded sewing up the rest of the heart shape.
6. After all your hearts have been crafted, snip a length of baker's twine and sew through a hole and double over your twine. Do this to each side of the heart. Now, tie the loose strands together tying a knot for security and then tie your bow.

I dare not count how many hearts we ended up making as Isabella and Victoria decided these hearts were perfect for their classmates and Teachers. Yep, we had felt, baker's twine and cotton balls all over the place last night as they filled their glassine bags with sweet treats and felt hearts while Mommy stapled their bag toppers on. 

If you happen to make a few extra hearts, you could also use a heart to decorate a candle. This one happens to be battery operated, so the felt is not a fire hazard.

Here's where you can find more of my projects for The Twinery and be sure you enter this giveaway!

valentine's day treat bagger topper download

I'd  love to share these treat bag toppers with you. We used them last year for the girls' classroom treat bags and I'm kinda thinking we're going to do that same thing this year as well. So, if you've waited until the last moment to begin your classroom treat goodies, head on over to download your treat bag toppers today!

sources |  kraft & glassine bags . download

I whipped these up this morning after school drop-off, just to share a few more ideas. And to show you how easy it is to get crafty quickly, if you need to!

The first treat bag uses a medium glassine bag with holes punched using my Crop-o-Dile and strung with Stone baker's twine, which I think helped the red heart stand out and be the focus. The second one is a small glassine bag {perfect size for a gift card} with some washi tape at the top of the bag topper and stapled with my Tim Holtz tiny attacher. And the third one is another glassine bag using washi tape, again, to attach the treat bag topper to the top of the bag with more washi tape at the bottom for cuteness.

Although, last night Isabella had the great idea that she wanted to make felt hearts for each person in her class. I agreed that she could make them if we used smaller hearts. Guess I'll be cutting smaller hearts out today for her to sew together when she's finished with her homework after school. Wish us luck!

sneak peek | the twinery --->giveaway closed

Today at The Twinery, you'll find this sweet, quick baker's twine and felt heart banner I made that includes a step-by-step tutorial, tips and tricks and two bonus projects!

Leave a comment here {on this blog post} telling me what the last thing you have "sewn" is and your name will be entered to win a full spool of Peapod baker's twine from The Twinery...just in time for your St. Patrick's day crafting! Be sure to leave your e-mail address with your comment so that I can contact you if you're the winner.

Now, come visit with me over at The Twinery!

WINNER ANNOUNCED 

you. me.

mr. wRight is out of town on valentine's day, so he surprised me with his & her mugs and k-cup pods

our story | my mind's eye

Do you have a story? Do you have an "our" story? 

I'm lucky to share a story with my Mr. wRight, as I remind you of quite often, and for this month's Mini Albums with Monika feature over at My Mind's Eye, I showed one way for you to share your story in a not-to-sweet more masculine version of a mini album. I'm highlighting one of my favorite collections, Lost & Found 3 Ruby, on which I have a serious crush...especially this Honeycomb paper. I only have one sheet left, boo hoo!

|  pocket page tutorial download found at end of the post  |

Using the chipboard elements and sticker accessory sheet, I was able to create and tell my story in a way that had me smiling all the way through this project. Did you see the enamel dots I used to check off the memory checklist on the chipboard above?

You'll see that my first page serves as not only a pocket but also as my "cover." I decided to add a white paper doily under the pink doily sticker and two chipboard elements so that the word forever just pops out. The white just drew my eye to the forever arrow.

The two lower photos show more options on using the sticker doilies from the Lost & Found 3 Ruby sticker accessory sheet by using layered stickers and chipboard on the pink doily on the left and a metal frame from the Adornments pack. Yes, I did use more enamel dots, instead of brads, on the metal frame...how could I resist?

DESIGN TIP  |  Layer, layer, layer. Forget about hoarding your goodies, just use them. I find that layering my stickers and papers and chipboard elements help them to not get lost on my patterned paper. If I had just place the Our Story metal adornment on my pocket page, it would have been lost in a see of stripes. But now, going from the larger pink doily sticker to the medium butterfly sticker and then to the Our Story metal adornment let's one see that the focus of this page is meant to be, drawing the eye in.

The strips of paper behind the One Fine Day chipboard element are scraps I trimmed when making the pocket pages. Just trim them into a banner shape, curl up the ends a bit and adhere. Nothing wasted here, that's for sure!

Wondering how I adhered the pocket pages together?

Line up your pages bottom to top and add a length of decorative tape and trim. Voila...you've bound your mini album. I also used this washi tape binding technique for another mini album.

TUTORIAL  |  We'll create each of our mini album pockets with one sheet of 12x12 paper. Here are the score lines to get you started. I tend to score on the side of the paper that will not be showing on my project.

Here's how you'll construct and create your pocket pages. Just click on the image to enlarge or drag it to your desktop and save for future use.

JOURNALING CARDS |  After trimming the 6x6 paper from your mini pad to 5x6, choose your favorite stickers to embellish the paper and add your journaling before slipping it inside the pocket. Here's what I chose and you'll see that I've placed stickers so that I can journal around them and incorporate them into "our" story.

DESIGN TIP |  To keep my pockets and journaling pages under control, I wrapped the whole project with some satin ribbon to which I adhered a chipboard element. Love how the MME chipboard elements and stickers help to jump start my creativity and help me tell my story.

Here's how I created the fancy ribbon tie I used for my mini album. I first removed the adhesive back from the chipboard and adhered it to a scrap of the Honeycomb paper that I created my first pocket with. You'll then add adhesive to your ribbon and adhere it to the paper. You can now   wrap it around your mini album which is ready to gift to your very special Valentine!

Download your trim and score sheet and pocket page tutorial at MME, where I first featured this tutorial and find more Mini Albums with Monika features to get you in the crafty mood!

hugs + kisses

Enter to win!
Who's ready to win this red 5x7 art print? You must leave a comment answering this question...

WHAT MAKES YOUR HEART HAPPY?

Giveaway ends at 9pm EST tonight and the winner will be notified by e-mail. If you don't leave your e-mail address in your comment, I can't reach you and I'll have to choose another winner. Ready to ship out as soon as winner provides me their info!

UPDATED  |  ...and the winner is:

polish proverb

be our valentine

The celebration has begun!

And today's post is a knockout cutie you won't want to miss.