FINALLY, A GOOD SUMMER MOVIE!

This has nothing to do with scrapbooking or crafting, but I have to talk about it anyway! As a Trekkie from years gone by, I have to say how much I LOVED the new Star Trek movie! The special effects and even the acting by a relative group of unknowns was superb! I think they managed to do an excellent job of catching the flair and feel of the original show with all the show- stopping, jaw-dropping action and effects available in modern movie-making. The characters of Kirk, Spock, Bones, Sulu and Scotty were pretty good, my only disconnect was with Checkov, and to some extent, Uhura. But hey, Uhura and Spock? Hmmm, fodder for thought! By far the best movie I've seen since the Lord of the Rings and The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe (my PERSONAL favorites for their overtly Christian themes). IMHO. :-) Back to your Memorial Day weekend... and don't forget to pray for our troops as they lay down thier lives for ours in defending freedom, and for all the ones who have already died defending our right to live free!

Keep the faith!

EXCITING NEWS!

I have been SO busy helping my friend Nikki with her new scrapbook paper line that I've not had time to blink! I am working with her on a consulting basis and we've been having a blast! She has six different paper lines, with four double-sided papers and one die cut paper. Nikki and Dan leave tomorrow to go to the press check for the papers. What's really cool about her small papers is that they are reductions of her full size papers AND they come with three or four pages of each design, how cool! Cardmakers will be thrilled with that!

She also has several other products coming out at the show and a couple of surprise products new to the scrapbook industry. We are SOO excited about this as we are exhibiting at the CHA Trade Show in Orlando in July for both the trade show and the consumers show. We'll be doing make-n-takes for both shows, so be sure to look us up, we're in booth #552 during the trade show (across from Prima and next to May Arts--uh oh) and then we'll move to booth #1925 for the retail consumer show. We won't be selling product to end users, but we should have several retailers exhibiting in the Consumer show carrying our papers and supplies.

Nikki will be doing an official Call for Designers posted shortly, so be looking for that on her blog. We'll pick the best of the best and they will be on display at the CHA show! We also plan on doing the Winter show too. We'll be doing some sneak peaks of the papers and projects as we go along, so make sure to check back often. The web site should be up in about a month (or less we hope!) and you'll hear more about everything that is happening!

In the mean time, I am still planning my fall classes at Hobby Lobby. We'll be doing some altered art tags courtesy of Tim Holtz inspiration and the Countdown to Christmas calendar, along with a Birthday Book and a Planner. You'll want to look at our local Hobby Lobby stores for more information.

Additionally, I'll be adding some technique classes, some of which will be how to color and shade with Tombow and Copic markers, new classes on Tim Holtz' fabulous line of distress products and finally some classes on how to use my favorite tools like the Cuttlebug with the Spellbinder Nestabilities and the Cricut Expressions. I'm also considering adding some classes on Adobe Photoshop Elements and digital scrapbooking, so keep an eye out for all of these and more. OK, you can put your eye in and still look for these great classes!

Keep the faith and I'll chat with you later! V!ck!

CMN, WHAT A WONDERFUL CROP!

I don't know how many of you were able to attend, but Cox Health and the Scrapbooking Momeez put together a wonderful charity crop for the Children's Miracle Network this past weekend. I was one of the vendors to attend along with my good friend Lori McCroskey from Clear Dollar Stamps, the Momeez Debbie and Angie (of course!), Sheri Beersman with the ScrapNook in Bolivar (and shortly to have a store here on the north side of Springfield) as well as folks from Close to My Heart and Stampin' Up! As usual, we had a wonderful crowd of about 85 croppers and never a dull moment! I was able to convince my accountant hubby to hang out with me for most of the event as I had to be away from my booth to teach a class. This was quite the sacrifice for him, as he is a HUGE March Madness participant and to miss the games while watching a bunch of women cut and paste was a great gift. Who could ask for a better hubby than that? :-) I am truly blessed!

We did a couple of make-n-takes and I taught the Days to Celebrate birthday book class. We were completely booked at the event, so for those of you who wanted to take the class, I will be offering it in April at both the north and south side Hobby Lobby stores on several dates, and I will confirm the times in a later post. I will list my scheduled dates and times for both stores, but they are always subject to change and by enrollment. To take a class, you will need to contact me directly, the stores do not take reservations. You can reach me at 417.350.4569 or at 417.833.8760. If the schedule doesn't offer a convenient date, give me a call, as I still offer classes at my house. You can also see projects for sale at Neighborhood Pizza Cafe, along with the current schedule of classes. That should be back up by this weekend. :-)

Saturday's crop was such a wonderful time to catch up with old friends and support a wonderful cause at the same time. If you didn't purchase a shirt, you can still contact the Scrapbooking Momeez!

Here is my standard Hobby Lobby schedule, keeping in mind that it is always subject to change. You can pick up a calendar of Hobby Lobby classes next to the store sale fliers. Classes are subject to enrollment, I usually need at least four people enrolled to confirm a class, so bring your friends! These do make wonderful Mother's Day gifts as well as Christmas gifts if you want to get a head start on the holidays!

Northside Hobby Lobby
Every Tuesday Night from 5:30p to 7:30p
Every Thursday Afternoon from 1:00p to 3:00p
Saturday, April 25th time TBD

Southside Hobby Lobby
Every Friday Afternoon from 1:00 to 3:00p
Saturday, April 18th time TBD

I'll be teaching the Days to Celebrate Birthday Book both Saturdays (one at north side and one at south side) and Tuesday Nights at Northside. Class fee at Hobby Lobby is $15. Other class subjects and times are TDB.

For the Days to Celebrate class you will need to bring a ruler and pencil, paper adhesive to apply paper to chipboard and to seal envelopes (glue stick works well to adhere paper to chipboard and any kind of adhesive you can apply in a thin line works well for the envelope), a trimmer and a scoring tool would be handy to bring, along with a eyelet setting tool. We will be using the Zutter Bind-it-All and I'll be demoing a Scor-Pal scoring board. If you like to age your projects, then bring your favorite aging ink! Examples of the projects should be available by this weekend at both stores.

We'll be looking forward to having a crafty time!

Have a catscrappy day!

TECHNOLOGY I CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT

You all know I am a certified Macavist, I live, sleep, drink, dream, collect and bleed Macs. Back in the day we used to say I bleed six colors (in reference to the six color Apple logo at that time). I have owned almost one of every generation of Macs sold. The only notable Macs that I've not purchased for myself are the iMacs, mostly because I have always required a production Mac. By that I mean an upgradable or expandable machine. I've owned Apple's printers (all 3 versions, can you name them?), their camera, scanner, the Newton, monitors, modems, the first true laptop, Shuffle, iPod 5th Gen and now my most favorite, my iPhone! With my MacBook Pro 17" breathing down it's neck. I AbSoLuteLy ADORE my 3G iPhone. If I can't get to my laptop to get my email, it's OK, because I get it on my 3G. That alone is worth the price of admission! Coordinating my calender, contacts, music, and photos is just too slick!! Surfing and posting to my blog with it, priceless. My favorite app that I've downloaded? Lightsaber, complete with background music! Yes, I am easily entertained.

To be honest, I have to say this is one of my most productive tools. At CHA this little puppy helped me find places to eat, keep up with emails without lugging my laptop around, gave me directions to the nearest grocery store, took pictures of cool layouts and displays, helped me find my group when we got separated from each other, and I could go on endlessly about it. This is why a Mac will always trump a PC, ease of use, totally useful in every way, productive, and FUN!! it is never a chore to work on any of my Apple products. Yes, dare I say it, I am an Apple snob! Chuck your viral PC in the trash and buy a Mac. Macs can even run Windows, if you just can't give up your addiction to the BOD and hate to give up your one-on-one personal time with your antivirus routine. I do have a PC laptop but I have no reason to run it. I have my Cricut DesignStudio software running on my PC partition on my Mac. :-)

Go get a Mac and an iPhone and use all that extra free time you'll gain doing some serious Scrapbooking!

DON'T LOOK BEHIND THE CURTAIN

I must have some latent urge to watch old movies and listen to old hymns, as those seem to be the things that pop into my head when I get up in the morning and go to post on my blog! Actually, every morning when I wake up, my brain already has a song embedded in it. I am not sure how that works, so I am going to say it is Divine Intervention. I think God gives me a song to hum every morning that somehow fits my day when I think about it at the end of the day. Normally these songs are hymns that I learned growing up or it could be one of the praise songs we sing at church or a new song from the radio (once it was row, row, row your boat...NOT analyzing that one), but sometimes, the song I get is a real thinker. Those songs are usually good old hymns, many of which the words were taken right out of The Word of God (aka, The Bible). Like today. The song of the day? "His Eye is on the Sparrow." Now this is an old traditional favorite of mine, as sung by Selah. I was brushing my teeth, the bathroom windows were open and the birds outside were just chittering away, and the sound of it just captured me in that moment and BAM! the words just popped into my head. That song touches me in so many ways, to think that God is specifically watching me today, that His eye is on me, ME! He CARES for plain little old me brushing my teeth and wondering if my husband's interview for a job will go well today (hes' been unemployed for four months so far). The words aren't long, but the message is straight from The Word just for times like these when life feels uncertain. Here are the words:

"Why do I feel discouraged? Why do the shadows come? And why does my heart feel lonely and long for heaven untold? When Jesus is my portion, a constant friend is He, His eye is on the sparrow and I know He watches me. So I sing because I'm happy, and I sing because I'm free! Yeah, His eye is on the sparrow and I know He watches me."

I am special and unique and God loves me for exactly who I am, right this very minute, even if I am like the man behind the curtain running to and fro trying to put up an illusion of grandeur and magnificence and have others think I am more than what I am. At the end of the day, I am still God's child, deeply loved and cherished, no matter what I actually get done on my list! Now, that makes me happy and puts a song in my heart. I just try not to sing out loud, the cat's haven't started a fan web site for my singing capabilities yet—they're too busy covering their ears! teehee

I'm getting ready to fire up the Cricut and put in some major project prep time. I'm a big believer in the right tool for the right job, especially when it comes to prepping for a class. One of the best things about going to CHA is seeing all the new tools! I just LOVE tools! There weren't as many this time (OK, I'll qualify that by saying "not many that I would USE"), but I did order one really nifty tool/appliance that I am absolutely DYING to use, but I've not had the time to fire it up! Can you believe that?! This nifty new product comes from the other side of the pond, and I am sure that once I start using it, it may break me financially! Possibly mentally too... But I'm not going to tell you what it is until I've actually USED it. Hopefully that will be before April...

You'll just have to get the deets later! :-)

WORKING FOR THE WEEKEND

Tomorrow I'll be "working for the weekend" as an old Loverboy song goes. I have a LOT to DO before Saturday gets here as we prepare for the CMN crop, the Scrapbooking for Miracles crop held Saturday, March 21, 2009, from 8:30 am to 6:30 pm at the Wesley United Methodist Church at 922 W. Republic Road, in Springfield, MO. This crop is presented by Cox Health Nursing, Cox Health North Outpatient Therapy Services and the Scrapbooking Momeez and benefits the Children's Miracle Network. This is one of the best crops in Springfield, you'll find old friends here and make new ones too. They are offering classes and various types of make-n-takes at the vendor tables, mine included! ;-) You can find out more about the crop on the Scrapbooking Momeez web site here.

As in previous years, my booth for Conquest Keepsakes will be set up next to Clear Dollar Stamps. I design stamps for Lori and we like to tag team the attendees with some of the best make-n-takes in southwest Missouri. I have heard of some people coming up from Joplin to attend the crop. I'm sure they are ready to get their hands a little inky, don't you? You know who you are! Lori will be showcasing her knew stamp sets for the month of March, and if you're REALLY lucky, you might even get a sneak peak at some April stamps! Be sure to check out her web site and her blog. Her blog has some of the best tutorials and tips that I've seen anywhere. [grin] OK, so I wrote of couple of them along with a few other guest designers...

That brings me to the class that I am offering at the Children's Miracle Crop this Saturday. This class utilizes one of my most FAVORITE tools, the Zutter Bind-It-All, along with two other tools that I really like, my Cuttlebug and Cricut Expressions. You all know I am Arr--rrr--RR tooltime about tools, especially those that plug in or make scrunching noises. You may laugh, but I have a serious problem with tool addiction! Ask my hubby, he's the first to tell you not to get between me and my tools. I OWN THEM ALL! Cricut, 7Gypsies Binderie (I'll have that at the crop), Crop-A-Diles ad nauseum, Cuttlebug, Sizzix, Sizzlets, mat cutters, knives, Melt Pot, heat guns, punches, corner rounders, cordless Dremmel tool (woo-hoo-oo), 15 rulers (don't ask), Nestabilities dies from Spellbinder, I could go on. My hubby will tell you that if it plugs in or uses batteries, it's ALL ME! I'm a sick puppy. And I digress.

Back to the class. We will be using the BIA (Bind-It-All) to make a very cute wire-bound book. You will have two choices of the type of book to make, the Birthday Book or the Prayer Journal. This cute little darlin' of a book can be made using library envelopes or you can cut your own, or even use your Cricut with the Boxes, Bags, Tags and More cartridge. It cuts a very nice envelope and tag, should you choose to go that route. All papers will be cut for you, this will be an assembly party! We want to make this a fun class without having you drag a trolley of supplies to the class and camping all day at my table.

However, you do need to bring a few supplies and tools to the class, Here is what you need to bring for this class: 1) your favorite adhesive (I would recommend Zip Dry, my new FAVORITE adhesive), 2) scissors, 3) a brown chalk ink pad for aging (but optional), 4) a fingernail file (one of those big black ones you can buy at the Dollar Store, Walmart, Walgreens, etc.), 5) pop-dots or other dimensional adhesive, 6) Crop-A-Dile or other eyelet setting tool, 7) a folding bone will come in handy, and 7) any stamps and inks that you think you might like to use. If you don't have the supplies you need, I know that most of these things can be purchased at one of the onsite stores.

I've posted some sample pictures at the bottom of this post and a full copy of the tutorial will be made available to class attendees. The sampels posted are not the colors we are using for this class, but the look and feel will be similar. This project has several paper options to choose from, 1) Kaiser Craft paper from the Elegance line, 2) Kaiser Craft Paper from the Old World line, and 3) Basic Grey paper from their Porclain or Marakesh line. When you walk away from this class, you will have a beautifully bound book with gorgeous ribbons, beads and embellishments, along with some extra embellishments for another project. Come over to my booth and take a look at the kits and pick yours before they're gone! Space is very limited! Cost for this class is $15 and worth every penny and then some...I see Christmas gifts to friends in your futures!

All of these papers and embellishments, along with supplies for the BIA will be available for purchase at Scrapbooking Momeez, Clear Dollar Stamps, Scrap Nook and Conquest Keepsakes. I'll have a complete selection of wires, covers, and closures, some that you cannot find anywhere else, or you can place an order from me or CDS for what you don't see. My tip of the week BEFORE you come? Go use your 40% coupon and purchase a BIA at Hobby Lobby and bring it with you to the crop!

I'll be posting everyday up until the crop with more information on our make-n-takes, door prizes and a show stealer of a product, you won't want to miss this! Also some new and fascinating news on the scrapbooking front! Stay tuned...

Now, enjoy a few pictures...

PREPPING FOR CHA

Nothing like last minute shopping for a trip! Personally, I am THRILLED to be going to a warm destination where my fingers don't turn blue. I'm already tired of winter in the Midwest. Between twice-weekly physical therapy appointments and last minute shopping, I'm getting more exposure to cold weather than I care to have. I'm a cactus, I should be living in Arizona. I like warm, dry weather! Our contingent of CHA goers are busily emailing back and forth trying to determine what tools and supplies we're bringing and coordinating our last minute travel schedules. Saturday can't get here soon enough for me!

In the mean time, I am going to work a bit more on my organization project in ye old craft room, and gather my notes on all the booths I want to be sure and scope out while we're there! Then I'm going to read up on my new Canon compact camera (it's harder to use than my DSLR!) and make a few test shots of all the sleeping cats scattered about the house. Maybe even take a few more of the craft room. I moved some of my tables and now my DH is referring to my craft room as "the dance hall." OK, so it was a little crowded before. :-) Now that I have taken over the media room for more work space, I can afford to take down a table or two. heh heh heh Oooo, it doesn't get any better than this!

TOO MUCH HGTV

This post isn't so much about my crafting addiction as it is about my HGTV/DIY addiction, but they are both related, as you'll see in a minute.

Hi, my name is Vicki (Hi Vicki!) and I 'm addicted to HGTV. [Clapping in the background, murmurs, some head nodding and shaking, and a few slurps of coffee]

I have to confess, this addiction started over ten years ago when I moved to California for a job. I was living in San Francisco bay area by myself, working in a high tech, workaholic company. I was lonely, pining for my fiance back in MO, and as befits a lonely, single, Mac technodweeb with a bent towards art, I got caught up in something so innocent, so NORMAL, so secretly devastating, I can hardly bear to speak of it. The shame of it all. Yes, I subscribed to satellite so I could watch HGTV and DIY. [shocked murmurs, a few snobs, I mean sobs here and there] What had I DONE?!! Wasn't cable enough?

As each day turned into the next, coming home from work day after day with my head spinning full of Unix code, multiple platforms, and command line text, I finally broke. I couldn't take it any more. I HAD to watch more and more HGTV. I couldn't keep myself from it any more. Trading Spaces, Divine Design (who doesn't love Candace Olsen?), Designed to Sell (Lisa LaPorta, you ROCK), Oh Clivey, where are you? I was SMITTEN! I too, wanted to be out there redecorating America. It was my dirty little secret, my addiction to HGTV. I watched it morning, noon and night (nothing like working from the home office). Pick #2 you idiot, it has all the features you've been whining for! And what I confess to you now is downright shameful, despicable, and practically criminal.

When my fiance moved out to CA so we could get married, I (of course) had to drag him in to my secret, sordid addiction (my Mother told me it was good to share). I was hoping that since he was a bean counter, his common sense and money-twitching goatee could feel the danger and pull me up. Sadly, as it often happens, I ended up bringing him down in the mortar and mud with me. We never recovered. It wasn't long after we were married when we searched for and purchased our first house in California. Our HGTV addiction escalated. We sat for hours staring at "Designer's Challenge", "Landscaper's Challenge" and "House Hunters". We spent our spare time at Home Schelpo and Schmoes arguing over satin nickle verses brushed chrome. Were they same or different? We couldn't tell and those lingering questions hung in our minds as we were lost deeper and deeper into the abyss that is HGTV.

Unfortunately, my Lupus health issues got in the way if my 80 hour work week and it was decided that we needed to move back home closer to my family and a less stressful lifestyle. We needed to sell our house and sell it in a hurry. I was ecstatic! NOW was the time to pull out the stops and fish out my three-ring binders (yes, binders is plural) of tips gleaned from my fanatical worship of HGTV. When it came time to sell our house in Morgan Hill, it was quite evident that my HGTV addiction was going to pay off. There was hope, maybe I could actually USE what I had seen. There were s0oo many ideas, my head was spinning.

I staged our house just like Lisa and Clive advised, I mean we REALLY put on the dog, er, cat! I had the table set with china, candles burning, cookies baking, fresh flowers and I even cleared away the clutter and made a color brochure for those coming to the open house. We talked to our realtor on Wednesday to list it, had a realtor-only showing on Friday and scheduled an Open House for that Sunday. It never made it. A couple saw our sign and insisted on seeing the house on Saturday, so we scurried off to Lowes in San Jose. Who couldn't waste a day or two in there, eh? We were there about 30 minutes and my cell phone rang. The number on caller ID was OUR home phone number. Eh? It turned out to be the agent and he had an offer at our asking price written up and they wanted to know if we would sell it RIGHT NOW, while they were standing in OUR kitchen. Huh? Now? This minute? After I picked the bean counter up off the floor, we went straight home and signed the papers. It was on the market for a whole 4 days although it technically never made the MLS listing. We sold it for 40% more than we paid for it, and we only owned it for a year and a half. If THAT doesn't show you that satellite pays for itself, what does? A living testament to Do-it-Yourself living. So how does all of this relate to crafting...?

Enter Carol Duvall.

We arrived in Missouri and the house hunt was on, and so was the satellite. Again. You just can't break some habits no matter how hard you try. I just couldn't kick the addiction. While the DH hunted for a new job, we sat huddled in front of the TV. The only channels we watched were ESPN, HGTV, and DIY. My cats sat on the floor and learned how to vote for their favorite house and make Zen gardens in their litter boxes. I hang my head in shame at the thought of it.

As you know, if you have an addictive personality, it is not uncommon for addictified (my word, and I am NOT related to George Bush) people to find other useless things to become addicted to. And thus Carol Duvall entered my satellite orb. She crafted, I drooled, she talked and I was mesmerized. Horror of horrors, I felt COMPELLED to go purchase EVERY item she used. My stash was growing exponentially. What to do with all this new stuff? I already had enough computers and peripherals than most small businesses do. So much stuff and no room to put it in our rental duplex. I was getting desperate. I needed a fix-it fix, or more to the point, I needed to decorate something or I would self-destruct! House hunting became priority one. Who needs a job? Then, along came THE house. Not just any house, THE HOUSE. A house in frame, like polyclay in my hands. A house with a very large room that could be, would be [vacuum sucking noise here as I draw in my breath]...a CRAFT ROOM! My very own haven, my space to do with as I wished! Where's that Osterhouse carpenter guy when you need him? We bought it. That summer we put the "sweat" in sweat equity.

Flash forward to today. I got the itch again last fall to paint something. Specifically my craft room. It had languished in chaos crying out for organization and color! I went on a satellite binge (OK all that means is that I watched the repeats too). I watched it all, made my notes, collected my color swatches and procured my tools. I was driven. I NEEDED to have color, to mix those patterns, to pop in some bling, to light it up. I gave myself like a two-bit drunk to the task of creating order out of chaos. Here are a few peaks at the process, it's not quite done, but after reading this whole story, you deserve a picture or two. When it is finished, I'll post up the final shots. After it is all up, you can sentence me for my crimes. But whatever you do, don't separate me from HGTV! I can't take 16 hours of ESPN and the DH already took away my DIY!!

The first pic is of my closet in my craft room. It holds my wiring hub for all my CAT5 and QUAD6 cable and alarm system, all home-run as it should be, and all pulled and installed by myself and my DH. Our electrician thought I was nuts (he still pulls 2 pair in daisy chain--cringe!). Then he asked me to do a couple other houses in the same manner for him. I told him HE was nuts. :-) My canvas cubbies came from Hobby Lobby (they fold up when I don't need them). The gray racks were cast-offs from Staples. FREE!! This is a first cut at the reorg, more organizing to happen later.

The second pic is one of my light table that I rehabbed. I built the bottom half of the unit it get it to count height to make it more practical and it awaits final painting. The slat board behind it holds my inks and other supplies. I've already changed this arrangement some, so the final pics of this area will look different. I've put several of my projects up on the red shelves throughout the room. Mostly to keep them away from my cats. They really like my work. :-)

And that ends tonight's story of addiction and creativity. G'day!

ALMOST THERE

This is going to be a short post, but at least it will make it up before the new year! The reason for the shorty? I've got a full arm cast on my left arm, from the tips of my fingers to about 4 or 5" below my shoulder! There are not enough words to describe how I feel about this, this THING! Arrrgghh! OMGoodness, I can barely type, it's a one-handed effort as the left hand is stuck in the permanent "handshake" position. Great for a door greeter, not-so-much for a crafter. Evidently, according to the MRI, I have moderate to acute tendonitist and a torn muscle in my elbow, or however you might describe that. The orthopedic surgeon thought that "immobilizing" my arm would help it heal, but I am here to tell you that I'm pretty sure the only thing this cast has done is make me feel like a feral animal. The urge to gnaw this thing off is overwhelming. Grrrr.

Have you ever thought about turning an accountant into a hair dresser? It can't be done, uh-huh. He is hair dryer impaired. Not happenin'. Sigh. Only six more days to go. SURELY I can distract myself with enough Hallmark TV and sleep to get through the next six days. I tried working on my projects, as most of my Christmas was supposed to be handmade, but I gave up after I painted the table--several times, glued my Kleenex box to my leg, and then inked more of my cast than I did the project I was working on. The handshake position is not condusive to holding anything other than someone else's hand. I give up.

I did get my lengthy tutorial done on my Birthday Book (Days to Celebrate) before being "casted", so go take a look. It's on Lori's blog at clearlyistamp.typepad.com.

Cheers!

A FINISHED DAYS TO CELEBRATE BOOK

I've been promising a picture of this project for quite some time, so enjoy the photos of this particular version. I have another one using patterned paper that I'll try to post when I finish it. I'm working on a tutorial for this project, and if you know me, you know I am nothing if not thorough when it comes to documentation! :-)

Here is a brief synopsis of some of the tools I used to complete this project.

*Zutter Bind-It-All with brass 3/4" wires
*Cricut Tags, Bags and Boxes Cartridge to cut the tags (I also trimmed 1/2" off the bottom of each tag)
*Stamps from Clear Dollar Stamps; Log It, Days to Celebrate, Colossal Title Outline and Coaster Calendar
*Ribbons are American Crafts
*Buttons, eyelet and brad from Hobby Lobby
*Inks used; Memento Tuxedo Black, Memento Lady Bug, VersaMagic Jumbo Java for aging, Versamark for clear embossing, and the Kaleidacolor Autumn Leaves for the book title
*Paper is Bazzill and Neenah Solar White
*Copic 0.35 black multiliner pen to write in Date, Name, Birth and Anniv on the tags (there are stamps included in the Days to Celebrate set that you can also use to stamp in those headers)

Finished size of the book is 4 x 6.

What I really like about the Log-It stamp set is the grid can be used for all kinds of things. I chose to use it for this project and in the right-hand columns I put the year the person was born (so I don't foget how old they are) and used the last column for anniversaries. If you put the year the person was married, you won't let their 25th wedding anniversary go by without that special gift... like I forgot my brother's 25th wedding anniversary because I did not reference my handy little book. Sigh.

Look for more hints and tips in the full project tutorial, coming soon-ish.

CRAZY FUN!

We all had some crazy fun on Saturday! Things got rolling about 2p and then the paper was flyin'! We took on Rodney Reindeer first and learned there IS a difference using Copic markers versus regular markers like Marvey markers when it comes to coloring and blending. I wish I had the investment in Copics that Marianne has when she teaches classes! Things you don't think about until you have 15 people all wanting to use the same three or four markers! I think we succeeded in enabling some folks with Copics! If you want to learn more about these fantasic markers, check out Marianne Walkers' blog http://ilikemarkers.blogspot.com.

After Rodney, it was down to business with the Celebrate book and Advent Calendars. Everyone was busy scoring, folding and inking, and even the kids were working on magnetic notepads! For once, we got out of there before 10p after several crafters and their spouses stayed late to help clean up, what a wonderful group!

MORE ADVENT CALENDAR PICS

Here are some additional pictures of the Advent Calendar and one includes a pic of the container used to store your boxes to keep them pristine.

Here are some suggestions of the types of things you may want to put into the boxes; money, miniature ornaments for a small tree, Bible verses about Christ birth prophesy and fulfillment, beads, candy, scavenger notes, or a lump of coal. Just kidding on the last one! You could also make lists of nice things to do for someone else and have your kids do it that day, like send a card, make some cookies for the neighbor, do a chore for mom, play some Christmas music, etc., the ideas are endless!