Not just another stapler

I know this isn't a brand new product, but I finally got around to buying it. It's Tim Holtz's Tiny Attacher - yes, a stapler, but not just any stapler. This tool has the tiniest cutest little staples! They are half the size of regular staples - approx. 1/4" long. And they go through ribbon and even chipboard with ease. The reach is relatively long too. I've been trying to buy it for awhile, but every time we receive a shipment at the store, they sell out quickly. When the last shipment arrived, I squirreled one away for me before they even reached the shelves. I may be putting lots of staples on my projects for awhile in order to play with my new toy!

Tumbled Tile Coasters

Today was "Little Something Sunday" at Anthologies. One Sunday a month I teach a "mini class" in the afternoon - a little more than a "make-and-take" but less than a regular class. It's a come-and-go event, no reservations needed. This month's project was stamping and embossing tumbled tile coasters. Everyone had a good time and there were even a few children who stopped by to make some! Four tied up with a pretty ribbon make great gifts for just about anyone on your list.

Christmas (past)

Today I had a full day off and I wanted to do something just for me - no designing or prepping, just some relaxing personal art work. So, I pulled out this project from two years ago which I just haven't had time to finish. This was one of the last classes I taught at Recollections - it was designed by the corporate design staff for all stores to teach. I made the class sample and had hoped to acquire it when we closed, but it "walked" out of the store before we even finished the classes. So I purchased the supplies to make it.

The "Twas the Night Before Christmas" poem is dear to my heart as it was our family tradition for my husband to read it every Christmas eve to our five children as they were growing up. I intend to dig out the pictures of the kids with Santa from every year and add them to this book as a special keepsake to share with my grandchildren when I have them.


So today I finished it! Here are pics of the front and back covers and a few of the inside pages. The poem is printed and cut into strips which are added to each page. I just hope it doesn't take another two years to add the Christmas photos!

Catching up

Oh my gosh, I can hardly believe it's been about ten days since my last post! Life is very crazy right now!

I hope everyone enjoyed their Halloween. We had very few trick-or-treaters at home this year, but we certainly partied at Anthologies. We had a fall backdrop set up outside and took pictures of people, children and pets in their costumes (or not). We also had a make-and-take to create a cute little folder to mount the printed pictures. If you look closely, you will see that it was made from a white paper lunch sack.

Here's the Anthologies gang in our costumes. From left to right: Nita (store owner) and her husband, Tom, as Lucy and Ricky; Cheryl as a Sonic drink (note that costume was made by her husband!); Kristyn as a slumber party girl; Lynn as Raggedy Ann (great makeup); Tracy as Miss Smartypants (Smartee candies glued all over her jeans); Rhonda as a truckstop waitress (perfect dress found at a thrift shop); and Susan (me) as Minnie Mouse. We had a great time.

The week before, one of our customers had a birthday party "crop" at the store. Here is the celebrating crowd with Linda and her cake in the middle. We are all wearing the darling hats Linda made us from molded newspaper and spray paint. You can see that the majority of us were "red hatters." Who says work isn't fun?!

And earlier in the week, my daughter visited from Chicago so we could work on wedding plans. Since she will be married in May on the beach in Mexico, this is what we came up with for the save-the-dates. A similar one from the Martha Stewart wedding website caught her eye, but we changed it up, adding starfish (did you know that you can get real, preserved ones from Hobby Lobby?) and substituting twine for ribbon. The numbers for the date were cut with the Cricut, tied onto the twine and attached to the layered postcard with a knot over a starfish. (The wording says "Save the Date - Kelly and Josh are tying the knot.")

We also spent a day shopping for wedding dresses. I don't think she expected to actually find one the first time out, but she did! After trying on about 15-20 dresses, she decided on this one. It fit her beautifully and is a beautiful silk satin. Even without her hair done and little makeup, I think she's gorgeous.

So that's what I've been up to, along with teaching and prepping for classes. I promise to try to post more often.

Candy Corn Fudge

I can't attest to the taste of this Halloween-themed fudge, but doesn't it look delicious? I found this over at about.com and thought it unique enough to share. I'd love to hear if anyone makes it and how it turns out! Check it out at:

http://candy.about.com/od/halloweencandyrecipes/r/candycorn_fudge.htm

Personal art time

I finally had a bit of time to catch up on a personal art commitment. My local art group had a "Fall/Winter Holiday Sketch Challenge" - we needed to make 11 cards using the provided sketch (see below). Even though I didn't make the Tuesday deadline, I finished up my cards today. I used gold and pumpkin colored Coredinations papers, Cuttlebugged with the new Victoria flourish folder, sanded and cut into inch squares. Since the longer side of the card wouldn't accomodate exact inches, I used 1 1/2" rectangles for the center of those sides. The sentiment is stamped and gold embossed on patterned paper and edged with gold Krylon pen (which is my substitute for one of the layers). This is layered on a cream cardstock with a printed orange fall ribbon. The base card is dark brown.

It certainly felt good to sit down and create!

Halloween Cupcakes

I've got a short break between morning and evening classes today, so thought I'd do a quick post. Don't these cupcakes look yummy? They're from Country Living (you can find the complete recipe online at countryliving.com) and the web decorations are so easy. Just melt white chocolate chips in a ziploc bag, cut off one corner and use the bag to pipe the melted chocolate onto a template (given on the website) covered with waxed paper. Once they are cool, lift them off the waxed paper and press them into the cupcake icing.

Seeing these reminded me of a similar project I did years ago when my oldest child was very young. I made snowflakes with icing that hardens using this same technique. I then strung them with ribbon and hung them on our Christmas tree. The next morning Kimberly got up before us and by the time we came out, all the snowflakes that she could reach were missing from the tree! And, if I remember correctly, she had a bit of a tummyache that day!