Archive for the ‘Scrapbooking Inspiration’ Category

A crafty weekend

Sunday, March 7th, 2010

I normally take the weekends off from blogging. With busy kiddos (my little one is crawling now and has discovered the dog’s water bowl and the stairs!) I have my hands full. My hubby is an accountant so this is a busy time of year for him, which means he’s working a lot of weekends. But, I decided I wanted to share some of the projects I’ve been working on. I’m obsessed with Glimmer Mist and canvases right now. I completed one canvas on Friday night and I have been working on three other projects this weekend with the help of my five year old (she loves all things crafty and has an amazing eye for design).

Here’s the first project I finished. I used this tutorial as a guide and then went to town. I used some Crate Paper chipboard shapes, a variety of Glimmer Mists and Maya Mists, Thickers Alphas, and I made/painted the sun myself. I also cut come of the words out from a newspaper.


Here’s another prject I’m working on. It’s a present for my daughter’s kindergarten teacher. As Shelby watched me make my “Here Comes the Sun” piece, she wanted to make something of her own. She decided it should be for Miss Burns and she told me what it should say .. “The more you learn, the more you grow.” She said this was because Miss Burns helps her learn! Isn’t that the cutest?




Shelby helped me with every step of this canvas. She sprayed Glimmer Mist. She spread Gesso. She helped me paint chipboard letters. We added Glimmer Mist to some white, glitter Thicker letters. It’s not quite done … but it’s coming along. Shelb also made a little canvas that says “Miss Burns, I love you.”



 

We layered the canvas with a bunch of different Glimmer Mist colors. I think this was Shelby’s favorite part. It was a little tough to get her to stop! She wanted to spray. Spray. And spray some more.



Here’s a look at where the projects are now. We still have to actually glue all the parts down. And add some more embellishments. But they are looking quite cute if you ask me!





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My mom sent me a link to a tutorial to make the cutest flower hair clips (see photo below). Go Mom! I love this idea. I was at my mom’s house last week and she was admiring the hair clip Shelby was wearing. I bought the clip from The Pleated Poppy … the hair clip has now become one of Shelby’s favorites, but they are a little expensive for a 5-year-old who had a tendency to misplace her hair bows! Instead, I want to make her some that I don’t mind if she destroys, misplaces or generously gives to her playmates. This tutorial is both easy and cute.



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Have  you been to Heidi Swapp’s blog lately? She is our guest designer for April and has started to create with a few of the goodies from that kit. Check it out! And have you ever watched Heidi’s live Web show? If not, I suggest you check it out. It’s really awesome and you come away from it with tons of ideas and inspiration.

Hope you’re having a great weekend. I’d love to hear what crafty projects you’re working on!




The best cookies ever

Monday, February 22nd, 2010

Monday musings. I think on Mondays I’m going to just tell you all a little bit about me. One of the major reasons I scrapbook is to tell my story and the story of those I love. I studied journalism in college and spent many years as a writer. I feel most comfortable tapping away at a keyboard and expressing my feelings than any other way. Since I want to preserve my stories, I can share some here … and hopefully I can turn them into scrapbook pages or mini books.

So here’s what I’m thinking about this Monday …



Cookies.

I wouldn’t say I’m the best cook ever. Most of the amazing meals created in my house are done so by my husband. He loves to cook and really revels in the process. Me on the other hand … not so much. We have a bit of a deal. If he cooks, then I’ll clean up. It works well for us.

I do however bake (something my hubby doesn’t have ANY interest in). A few Christmases ago, my parents bought us a KitchenAid Mixer in the most fabulous shade of cobalt blue. It sits on my kitchen counter and is the appliance I’m most proud of and love the very most. I had coveted other people’s mixers for years, but could never bring myself to spend the money on a KitchenAid … it just seemed so extravagant.



My father in law is diabetic. He’s incredibly diligent with watching his diet and has done wonders with his health since cutting out sugar and all things white (white flour, white pasta, etc.) As a family, it’s easier to eat what my father in law can eat instead of preparing seperate meals for family events. We’ve actually taken to eating a pretty diabetic friendly diet, since it’s really so much better for us. I also happen to have some issues with sugar and how my body processes it, so my doctor recommends little to no sugar for me!  

But, even though my FIL is strict about his sugar intact … he still craves treats. Don’t we all? A few years ago I decided to try and make some cookies that would be both tasty and diabetic approved. I found an oatmeal chocolate chip recipe online and tweaked it for our needs. And seriously … I  now have the world’s best cookie recipe. Everyone who has these cookies raves about them (I’m not making this up, just as my husband). But the most rewarding part is the fact that my FIL LOVES these cookies. He begs for them. He trades favors for them (he fixed my vacuum a few weeks back. And what did he want in return? Cookies!) It has become a family joke how much he loves these cookies. My daughter calls them Big Mike (that’s what she calls her Grandpa) cookies.

I’d make these cookies every week if I had the time. They are beyond yummy. I guess my hips are happy I don’t have a lot of time to bake these days! As a special treat, I’ll share my fabulous (and until now secret) Oatmeal Chocolate Chip  recipe with you. Enjoy!                                                                                                      


The Best Cookies Ever (or Big Mike Cookies as they are known at our house)

1 cup of margarine or butter
3/4 cup of packed Splenda Brown Sugar
3/4 cup of Splenda
2 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons of vanilla (a little more if you like more, I usually do a cap full)
1 1/2 cups of whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups of rolled oats
2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips

Directions:
1. Preheat the over to 350 degrees.
2. Cream margarine and sugars. Add the eggs and vanilla.
3. Combine baking soda salt and flour. Add to creamed mixture.
4. Add oatmeal and chocolate chips. Stir well.
5. If the dough seems too “wet” add some more oats.
6. Let the dough stand for about 15 minutes.
7. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto a greased cookie sheet. Bake for 15 minutes

Grace’s Corner

Wednesday, February 17th, 2010

I’m so excited to be able introduce a new weekly (or maybe bi-monthly, depending on time constraints and such) blog column from our wonderful, fabulous design team member Grace Tolman.

For this week’s inaugural post, Grace shares a wonderful heart themed project that she created using leftovers from our February 2010 Main Kit.


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Heart Frame

By Grace Tolman


heart wall hanger (7)

The Crazy Daisy kits are always chock full of supplies. You will always get lots of leftovers. The February one is no exception and here’s a little, quick and easy project that I made with my leftover pattern papers.

Since it’s the love month, I decided to make an altered wall art.

To make it, you’ll need a few things….
* Your leftover papers from the kit
* A styrofoam heart (or circle if you prefer)
* A ribbon (long enough to cover your styrofoam and a little bit more for a ribbon to hang the project on the wall)
* A few embellishments (flowers, buttons, sequins, etc)
*A die cut machine (this just makes the process faster, but if you don’t have any, get a template for the flowers and cut by hand)


heart wall hanger

After you’ve grabbed your supplies, start by cutting out flowers from your pattern papers using your die cut machine. Cut them in varied sizes.


heart wall hanger (1)


Then cover your Styrofoam with the ribbon. Since the heart was an odd shape, I decided not to cover the top and bottom pointed corners. I thought that the whites won’t show after I cover it with the flowers. Use a glue gun to adhere the ends of your ribbon.


heart wall hanger (2)

Start layering and adhering your flowers onto the heart. There’s no science to this, the more random it is the better.


heart wall hanger (3)


Add flowers to the middle of some of the flowers. I only used three here but you can add more.


heart wall hanger (4)


Tie a bow from the leftover ribbon and adhere the tips of it on the back of the heart.


heart wall hanger (5)

After looking at my heart, I was not happy with some of them not having centers so I grabbed some buttons and glue gunned them onto the centers of my flowers. This gave each piece a finished look.


heart wall hanger (6)

If you have everything on hand, this project should only take you no more than 1 hour.

Here’s a few more close ups…


heart wall hanger (9)

heart wall hanger (8)


Good luck and have fun with the February kit.


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Thank you Grace for sharing your talents and creativity. You really rock and we are so grateful to have you on our team!


Things I’m lovin’ right now

Thursday, February 4th, 2010

There are some cool things out there on the Internet. I could spend all day just surfing away. Luckily, I have way too much to do … so I have to limit my Web time. On top of being generally busy, I currently have two sick kiddos. My daughter started vomiting yesterday (I know, too much info!). She’s never sick; so when she is, everyone in our house is miserable. Now, our baby is sick too. It’s so sad to see him in such a crummy place. His nose is running. He’s burning up. And he’s just cranky! So, in my short power surf, I found some cool stuff online, all of which are inspiring and include lots of projects to add to my list of future projects.


scrappy_heart_pincushion


Aren’t these scrappy pin cushions adorable? There is a tutorial on the Craftzine blog. Have you checked out Craft? There are some awesome ideas and really cool inspiration on the Craftzine blog.

I’ve started listening to a new podcast, Paperclipping Roundtable. It features a panel of professional scrappers, including Noell Hyman, Ana Cabrera and Stacy Julian to name a  few. It’s informative as well as inspirational. Download it and listen to it while scrappin, driving or working out. You won’t be disappointed.

While at CHA (actually, the consumer SuperShow before CHA), Jennifer got a new sewing machine. We did a bunch of fun make ‘n’ takes at various booths sponsored by the National Sewing Council. We both left itching to sew more. I really want to make my daughter some fun little skirts and hopefully teach her to sew, just like my mama taught me. I think I’m going to try this skirt (picture below).


skirt

I was reading a bunch of tweets today (I’m a Twitter junkie … you can follow me @crazydaisykits). Someone mentioned this old blog post of Ali Edwards‘ that caught my attention because the link to the post was proceeded by “one of my fave posts of all time. refer to it all the time.” Now that I’ve found it, I will be refering to it often as well.

Another one of my favorite scapbooking blogs that I read regularly is Donna Downey’s “Simply Me.” She’s a phenomenal artist. Her regular Wednesday feature, “Inspiration Wednesdays,” always leaves me in awe. I love, love, love everything Donna does. You have to check out yesterday’s post and the canvas she created.

Last but not least, I am really loving Craft Gossip. It’s a one stop shop for all things crafty. They find all the cool tips and tutorials around the Web and post them in one convenient location. Looking for inspiration or ideas … head to Craft Gossip.


Today’s inspirational thought

Wednesday, January 27th, 2010

Jennifer and I text a lot. We are both VERY busy, but we can always manage to fit in a little time to send a text or two (or three … ). Today I got a text from Jen that shared the following inspirational thought:

“Stop thinking. Thinking is the enemy of creativity.”

Amen sister. Isn’t that the case for a lot of us? We over think. We over plan. We stress ourselves out. And in the end, we either don’t have time to be creative or we get stuck at the starting point.

Last Saturday, Jennifer and I took a class from Stacy Julian. In the course of the 2-hour class we started and FINISHED a 6×6 album. Stacy calls the technique “Finish Line Scrapbooking.” I call it brilliant. In the most basic terms, you simply take all the hard work out of scrapping and just scrap. You think simple, plan less and just create. How wonderful is that?

I took some notes from Stacy’s class, which I promise to share. But they are buried in my CHA bag and right now my kids need a little mommy time …. actually, mommy needs a little kid time :)

So, check back tomorrow. We’ll talk fast scrapping then. And I’ll also tell you a little more about CHA, our February goodies and the future!

Happy Wednesday to you!

Aren’t they adorable

Friday, January 22nd, 2010

SweetCoop


My litle boy is growing up so fast. I can’t believe he’ll be 10 months old soon. I was pretty sure I wasn’t cut out to be a mom to a boy. I had gotten used to having a girl, since my oldest is a girl and there is 5 years between my kids. I have been amazed at how easy it has been to adapt to having a boy and a new addition to our family.

This is a time in my life I never want to forget. My children are healthy and happy. My husband is doing amazing things with his family’s business. And I have the opportunity to both travel and be involved in a creative business with my best girl friend. How awesome is that.


ShelbHeart

This doesn’t have much to do with Crazy Daisy … other than I’m one half of Crazy Daisy and I have been reminded a lot lately of how blessed and lucky I am.

I’m grateful to see the goodness in the world. To watch my adorable baby boy grow. To laugh at the silliness of my very grown up five year old. To hold my husband’s hand as we watch movies or watch our kiddos. Life isn’t so bad. Actually, it’s great.

Here’s hoping you have a wonderful Friday. a fabulous weekend. And you take the time to find the goodness in your life. It’s there. Just stop for a moment and look.


BestOfFriends



Creative Escape 2010

Saturday, January 16th, 2010
Jennifer (right) and I, meeting Heidi Swapp

Jennifer (right) and I, meeting Heidi Swapp


I didn’t mention all that much about Creative Escape 2009 … but Jennifer and I had the opportunity to attend this awesome, amazing, mind-blowing event this last August. We escaped our lives for a few days and were completely immersed in crafting goodness.

Let. Me. Tell. You. It was beyond awesome. I can speak for both us when I say we left Creative Escape filling renewed, rechartged and ready to craft our little hearts out. Every now and then I think you need to refill your inspiration cup. This was definitely an event where we went and our cups were filled beyond our wildest dreams.

teacherHellmuth

They have announced the teachers for Creative Escape 2010 and I so want to go again. All the teachers are super cool and very inspiring, but I’m especially excited about Claudine Hellmuth.

If you haven’t heard of her, pop on over to her blog. She is a collage artist and does some cool work. I have all her books and dream of having even an ounce of her talent. I have tried many of the techniques she shares in her books and have stacks of collages that have been started, but never finished. I’m looking forward to meeting her and soaking up some of her mojo.

Some of the other teachers on the bill, okay all of them, are super cool and well worth making the treck to Arizona for, as well as paying for the event (it’s a little precey, but worth every penny). You have to sign up to be placed in the registration lottery. Starting February 15th they will select at random some 700+ people to attend. I can only hope Jennifer or I get picked again!!!


Note: Photo at the top was edited using Picnik.com … a very cool online photo editing software. Check it out, I’m seriously addicted to it!



What inspires me

Thursday, January 14th, 2010

Coop


I would classify myself as a searcher. I’m always looking for things that inspire me, move me, motivate me … I read a lot of books. I visit countless web sites. I listen to just about any podcast I can get my hands on. But I had an epiphany this morning. I’m searching too hard. The things that really inspire me are with me all the time. The colors I see. The stories I hear. And most of all the people I love.

This last weekend my daughter was taking a shower. Showers for her are a very elborate process. She can play in the shower for hours if I let her. She has such a fantastic imagination and I always see it at work when she’s playing make believe in the shower. Maybe it’s because she doesn’t realize anyone is watching (or listening), but for whatever reason she just lets go and has fun. I walked into the bathroom this last weekend, toting my baby boy (Cooper) with me. I set him on the floor while I brushed my teeth; Cooper could hear Shelby in the shower and scooted over to the shower attempting to get a better look. He was enthralled by what was going on in there. As I picked him up and started to leave the bathroom he got super upset. He didn’t want to leave his sister.

I put him back on the floor and watch him scoot back over the shower to attempt to open the shower door. I asked my little guy if he wanted to get in the shower and as if he really understood me he smiled and started pumping his chubby little arms in excitement. I was pretty busy at that moment, but I threw caution and schedules to the wind. I stripped both Cooper and myself down and we joined Shelby in the shower. You should have seen the pure glee both Shelby and Cooper experienced as they played together under the gentle “rainfall” of the shower.

These two amazing little people inspire me. Their love of live inspires me. Their love for each other inspires me. Their fearlessness inspires me. I never want to forget what it was like to watch them together, playing in the steamy shower and simply enjoying each other. I want to tell their story.


cupcakes


This morning, as I was feeling a little overwhelmed with life, I reminded myself of our shower moment and tried to focus on the little thing in this world that inspire me; add joy to my world; and bring me peace. Yesterday that little thing was a box of cupcakes. It’s amazing what a $3 cupcake can fix! I ordered two dozen fancy cupcakes to be delivered to one of my customers. They’ve had a rough go at it as of late and just needed a little pick me up. You should have seen the joy on their faces as they partook of these yummy treats. Who knew all it would take was a cupcake. Find the joy.


Me

Wednesday, January 13th, 2010

Have you been following Ali Edwards’ blog and her word of the year?

Last year I read all about her “Word of the Year” idea, and I even think I picked a word. But for the life of me I can’t remember what that word was. For 2010, I’ve picked a word and I am serious about it.

Me.

My word is me.

I’m one of those people who gets very caught up in everyone else. I am a mama and my kids always come first. Even if I’m the bathroom, my daughter will walk right in and start chatting away.

If I have a flight to catch at noon, then I’ll be up before dawn so I can pick up the house grocery shop, pick up dry cleaning for my husband and take my baby to a doctor’s appointment.

In all of this I often get lost. I forgot to take care of myself and usually I tend to have an explosion. Every so often I’ll break down, cry a lot, maybe even scream. And then I’ll be okay … until my next melt down!

In 2010 I’m going to focus on taking care of me. Doing things for me. Taking time for me. I’ve been told that if i do this, then everyone in my orbit (my husband, kids, friends, etc) will benefit. Is their an old saying that goes something like this: if mom is happy, everyone is happy.

I’m hoping that as I focus more on me that I’ll make better decisions for my family and my life. I’m looking forward to a more productive and creative year. I’m excited at all the possibilities ahead of me.

Did you pick a word? What are you focusing on for 2010?


Fun tutorials

Monday, November 9th, 2009

I was poking around the Internet. Yes, I do this a lot. I find I send a ton of time online when I am traveling for my “real” job. This week I’m in Toronto, where it is super cold for this Arizona girl. I’m more than happy to lounge in my pajamas, order room service and surf the Web. It’s way too cold for me to do anything else.

Anyway, I found some cool tutorials I wanted to share.

mixmedia

A mixed media canvas that’s to die for (picture above).

A fun paint technique courtesy of the folks over at Maya Road (have I mentioned I love Maya Road?)


magazine-bow-finished

A super cute way to recycle your magazines  ANDcreate fun bows for your gifts and such (photo above), from the “How About Orange …” blog.  On a separate note, the “How About Orange …” blog is a super cool blog with lots of fun links to crafty sort of tutorials. I highly recommend you checking back often. It rocks.

And last, but not least … a tutorial on how to create some cool vintage looking earings.