Cricut Wall Art

I got my Cricut for Mother's Day 2 years ago and instantly fell in love. I have the original.

Since then Cricut came out with a bigger and better version: Expression. Even though the Expression has capabilities mine doesn't have, I am very happy with my original. For those that don't know what a Cricut is here it is:

You can purchase different font and design cartridges.

I am always using my Cricut for scrapbooking but found some other uses. Not only can you cut paper but you can cut vinyl, contact paper and fabric (haven't tried the fabric yet). For Christmas I used the vinyl for wall art.

Then for Christmas gifts I used contact paper (yeah the stuff you used to line a drawer) to decorate plates.

After Christmas I took down the "Believe" and put this up. By the way the vinyl peels right off with no damage to the paint. When I peeled them off I put them on wax paper (not sure if they will hold up or stick next year but I saved them anyway).

Next I want to try and cut fabric. I'll let you know how that goes. Here are some links to Blogs with tips for using your Cricut:

Imperfectly Beautiful: cutting fabric

Imperfectly Beautiful: cutting fabric to then adhere to a wall

Imperfectly Beautiful: making your mat sticky again

I won

....a contest on 93.1 WPOC (country radio station) that I didn't even enter!!! How can that be you ask??? Well a wonderful person entered for me. Let me start at the beginning.

I was walking into work last Wednesday when my co-worker, Margie, called me on my cell to congratulate me for winning. I explained I had no idea what she was talking about. Margie told me that Laurie DeYoung from WPOC had just read a letter about my family and my scrapbook room. As soon as I got to my desk I went straight to WPOC's website. I saw an advertisement for a contest called: I'm not lying, I'm crafty because....". You needed to submit a 50 word essay. Well I didn't send anything in. After asking around another friend suggested that maybe my father's wife, Kay, may have done it. So next I called my Dad who confirmed that Kay did enter the contest on my behalf.

So I then learned I won lunch with Laurie DeYoung at Phillips on Sunday, along with the 9 other winners and their guests, and VIP admission to the Arts and Crafts Show (not sure what the exact name was) at the Baltimore Convention Center.

So on Sunday Kay and I attended this wonderful event. I had such a nice time hanging out with other crafty ladies, including a woman that Sean works with. Here are some pictures:

I want to thank Laurie DeYoung and WPOC for picking me and for such a nice time. I would also like to thank Kay for thinking of me and entering me into the contest.

Scrapbooking Room

This post is a little overdue. Some of my readers have visited my house and have seen this room, others have asked to see pictures. When we moved into our 4 bedroom house several years ago we quickly realized that the spare bedroom became a dumping ground for lots of miscellaneous items. To me is seemed like wasted space. Only one time in 3 years did someone spend the night and use it as a spare bedroom. So my bright idea was to make it into a scrapbooking room for me and the girls. As always Sean was a little skeptical of my idea. So September 2009 we got to work.

Here is BEFORE:

The walls were a Navy Blue. The room is small to begin with and the dark walls definitely made it seem smaller. There isn't a closet because the previous owner closed it off and opened the wall in the other bedroom to make a closet.

So after several layers of primer and a few layers of much brighter paint, here is the new room:

Of course I had lots of scrapbooking supplies and arts and craft supplies to fill the room.

When my scrapbooking stuff was in the basement I already had the drawer cabinets. Sean made a countertop to put on top and extended it around the wall so the girls had their own work space. We added wall cabinets and shelves. Now everything has a place.

The girls love the room and all the fun stuff they have to use to create. I love that we can all be in the room at the same time and all have our own space.

I ABSOLUTELY LOVE my room. I love that I can find everything and it is all organized. The room gets quite messy sometimes but that is ok....proof we are enjoying and creating in our wonderful space.

Valentine's for friends and teachers

With Valentine's Day quickly approaching and since we were snowed in, the girls and I worked on homemade gifts for friends and teachers. I didn't get to the store to purchase Valentine cards before the snow so I gathered some supplies and this is what we made.

For their school friends:

And for their teachers:

Nothing better than homemade gifts from supplies you already have on hand. The girls had a ball and they look cute.

Celebrating 90 years

Yesterday we celebrated Granny Fox's 90th Birthday (actual birthday next Saturday). Granny is one amazing lady. She might be small in size (just under 5 ft) but she is full of love and kindness. She is a mother of 3, grandmother of 2 and great-grandmother of 4. 90 years of life have treated her well, she looks great and still gets around.

In celebration of her birthday I made her a small "Then and Now" scrapbook. Here is a peak:

The front:

Then you flip it over:

Happy Birthday Granny Fox, we love you!!!!

Countdown Calendar

Last year as an easy and fun way for the girls to countdown the 25 days leading up to Christmas I made this.

I used a muffin tin then covered magnets with scrapbook paper. Everyday under the magnet is a treat or something fun to do. Here are some of the goodies I have planned for this year:

*watch Polar Express

*drive around and look at Christmas lights

*go visit Santa

*go ice skating

*bake cookies

*I bought reindeer pens and a snowman puzzle for other treats.

*decorate the Christmas tree

*watch a movie in Mommy and Daddy's bed

I've been planning out the schedule for the month. I then write the treat or surprise on a piece of paper, fold it up and put it under the magnet. The girls loved it last year and I look forward to the excitement and fun again this year.

(If you are one of my wonderful dedicated BLOG followers you might have seen this on my old BLOG.)

50 days til Christmas

Have you started shopping, have you planned your menus, have you made you gift list, have you planned any parties, have you made your Christmas wish list?????

If you haven't...better get with it. The stores have already sent out the Wish Books, Christmas music will be heard on the radio soon and Santa will be arriving at the malls in just a week or so. Crazy how every year the Christmas Season starts earlier and earlier. October thru December is my favorite time of year and the busiest.

About a month ago I made something to help me stay organized. It will hold ALL MY LISTS in one place and it is small enough to fit in my purse.

In this planner I will keep my Christmas gift list for my family and friends, family Christmas party info, receipts (in the envelope), Christmas to do list, Christmas traditions/memories, misc. Christmas shopping list and our fun stuff to do list. I can't take full credit for this idea. I did see something very similar on another BLOG but do not remember which one (if I did I would definitely post the link and give them credit). I did however make some changes so that it worked for me.

So WELCOME the the Christmas Season. Will keep you up to date on our Christmas adventures.

I am

reading: nothing right now, finished "The Other Boleyn Girl" a few weeks ago.
watching: not a lot during the summer. sometimes we just turn on the tv to veg otherwise
the tv hasn't been on much. there are however a bunch of movies I want to see that
are out on DVD
listening to: Daughtry's "Leave This Town". Love it.
cooking: as little as possible and if I do it's something easy and nothing that makes the house
hot.
wishing: for the humidity and heat to go away and more 4 day weekends.
wanting: to spend more time with my girls and hubby....still dreaming of being a "stay-at-
home mom.
dreading: my baby going to kindergarten in 1 month. just thinking about how fast the past 5
1/2 years have past by make me sad.
excited about: shopping this weekend at the Creating Keepsakes Convention in Valley Forge.