Life Is Good...

Life is good, the title of my newest book. 

Using the 'Collecting Moments' papers from Fancy Pants. With a few extra odds and ends! I'm excited for this book. I'm the focus, which is new, weird, and exciting for me. Lots of journaling too, which is also new for me!!! Stay tuned, I'll post updates as I make progress.

Thankful Tuesdays...

Well it's officially...we've hit the halfway mark of November!! That means *insert drumroolllll please* December is a mere couple of weeks away! Yippee.

Today I'm thankful for...

~ Baby B going down for his naps and bedtime (on occasion) on his own.

This is HUGE progress and it makes me giddy with excitement. Why? Because up until now, Baby B has needed to be nursed and held while sleeping or in his car seat in the car. Trust me when I say, it was a wee bit much.

~ That hubs is coming home!

This time away, although shorter (by a mere couple of days) was a lot harder than the first time around. I think being with family over thanksgiving really helped. Being away from family this time really sucked. Also, I really want to decorate for christmas but I can't until the hubs is here, I promised! <~ I know what in the world was I thinking, ugh!

Thankful Tuesday's...

Another thankful Tuesday is among us...at least I think it's Tuesday. The days kind of blur together with the hubs gone :)

So today I'm thankful for:

- a husband that is willing to work out of town so I can be home with B-man,

- friends that keep me from becoming CRAZY while hubs is gone,

- an awesome doctor who fixed my toe :),

- B-man who behaved himself for my awesome friends who watched him today;

- and we can't forget my family, so thankful for them!

Happy thankful Tuesday everyone! 

November First...

Wow, November already; October where did you go?

It was a crazy month. Hubs was gone from the end of September came home for a week October 19th and promptly left again. He'll be away until the end of November. It's hard, but it goes by fairly quickly. Luckily I have a pretty sweet babe that is happy 99% of the time.

Enough of that, lets do an October recap...

Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving was spent in Calgary this year. We decided to fly home so that Baby B could meet some more family. Plus it was the first thanksgiving in a while since I've been home...all in all it was a lot of fun. Exhausting, but fun.

Autumn Fun
Hubs flew back from work on the 19th, so we managed to get some Autumn/Halloween festivities done. Took baby B to a pumpkin patch. Dressed him up in his halloween costume and took a bunch of photos. I have to say he was the cutest Penguin I have ever seen.

Halloween
Baby B's first halloween was a huge success! Hubs had to go back to work so he missed it unfortunately, but that did not stop us. B and I went to the mall, they have a little trick or treat session for the little kidlets. We were also invited to go out trick or treating with one of my gf's and her son. It'[s almost frightening how much candy little babies get!! I'm not ashamed to say that I am wearing sweats and eating B's candy...he'll get it in a couple of hours anyways ;)
This halloween was 100% all for me, lots of pictures and memories to look back on. I'm a little sad it's over.

Now for the really exciting news!!! I broke down and joined a monthly scrapbook kit. Insert excitement here!! Seriously, it's about time I got back on the whole scrapbook/card making train, since that's what this blog is literally about...hopefully early next week I will have a post on the first kit I got and what I plan on doing with it. I'm also currently printing pictures for B's baby book...lots of future excitement for sure.

Until then, feast your eyes on this cutie-pa-tootie!!!

Nursery Art...

Pinterest is an amazing source for all things. I love going on the site, checking out other people's inspiration boards and coming up with my own ideas or adding little twists to pre-existing ideas. I wanted some art for the nursery that didn't need to be framed (more on that later). To be honest, I initially checked out Etsy; but I could not bring myself to pay the kind of $$$ they were asking for artwork that I could easily do myself, with supplies I already had at home. So with a quick trip to Michael's and a 40% of coupon, I bought myself some paint and created this little master piece...

Here it is cropped and zoomed in...

Materials...

1. Canvas (already had)

2. White paint (already had)

3. Paint brushes (already had)

4. Blue metallic paint $2 with coupon.

= easy peasy

And here it hangs on the wall...looks waaaaay better in person!

Thanks for stopping by... :)

Thankful Tuesdays and The First Day of October...

October 1st, October 1st, it is indeed October 1st....!

Why all the excitement, cueing of angels harking hallelujah, stringing harps, and the occasional firework? Well...October 1st means...

Baby B is 4 months old!!!
...Whoa, what...? Yes, FOUR months old! And I am so thankful that he is one healthy, happy, baby boy, who at this moment is behaving so that I can write this. Yippee!

Halloween is almost upon us!!!
Yes, I am so excited for Halloween. Baby's firsts guys! Plus I love pumpkin carving and going to the pumpkin patch, fall colors, falling leaves, crisp, clean air, shall I go on...This year I totally plan on going to an apple orchard and picking apples. Will be a great photo op for B and I found a yummy apple caramel bar recipe.

And, Well it's simply the first of the month!!!
I love it when the months change on the calender. Something perfectly awesome about the first of each month, a day that marks the fresh start of well everything!

So c'mon guys, what's not to love about October 1st?

:)

A Little Homemade Mobile...

Hi all, I am finally back with a blog post featuring something I have made!!! Today I am going to share the mobile I made for my son's nursery. Right from the start I new I wanted something that wasn't plastic or cheap for a mobile. I also knew I didn't want to spend 70+ bucks for something that usually ended up not working after a while. There was also the issue of not finding one that fit my "ideals". Cue husband shuddering in background. So at the end of the day I decided I was going to make one. Okay, lets be more realistic - coming from a very crafty family, I was always going to make one.

In keeping with my theme, I chose to make a mobile of elephants using colors that (thanks to my diaper pail) made up the nursery.

I started by drawing out a template on some plain white card stock. I got mine from Staples. I used an elephant punch from Martha Stewart as my Elephant inspiration. I wanted the mobile to look cute and not so real.

Once I was pleased with my templates, I cut them out and traced the outline onto some felt. I used this teal color (was as close as I could get to my robins egg blue diaper pail), grey, and white. As soon as that job was done, I began the tedious job of cutting out all the pieces. There were a lot!

The next step was sewing two of the same pieces together, but leaving about an inch opening so that I could stuff them. Once all the pieces were sewn and stuffed and sewn again, I started piecing them all together. 

I spray painted a wood floral wreath in semi-gloss white spray paint. Used the existing pre-drilled holes to hang my threaded elephants and birds, and voila...my mobile. 

I also added some beads in between the shapes to make the mobile more interesting. Everything was triple knotted and glossy accents were added to double ensure that the mobile would not fall apart. Small broken pieces and babies mouths don't mix, ya know. 

I have also added some blue, white, and silver ribbon from which I plan to hang it. Since baby B has just started sleeping in his own room, I have yet to hang the mobile. As soon as hubs is back from up North, this bad boy is going up and B's room will be complete! Yippe! I'll update this post as soon as the mobile is hung!

Have a happy fall afternoon!! 

:)

Flowers in September....

I love flowers. Simple things. Simple pleasures. I came home the other night to see that my second Dahlia plant has finally bloomed! It only took what all of summer and the beginning of fall...? Granted I only decided to fertilize at the end of summer. LOL. In my defence I thought they died over the winter. I didn't have anywhere to store them indoors. I really do hope it blooms soon. I have my doubts though...fingers crossed. I also couldn't help but notice how vibrant the blooms were in my second plant. Seriously gorgeous. I could sit outside and watch them all day, but they look their best just before dusk.

For the first time I have decided to get some "fall" planters. We finally have our drive way done and an extended section of our patio kind of done, so I'm trying to think of ways to decorate them for the season. Kind of excited being as it's Baby "B's" first everything!!! Posts on those will come once I make up my mind on what I want to do...

Take care, 

K

Thankful Tuesdays...

Wow, there is so much to be thankful for that I do not really know where to begin. I guess I will start with Baby B and his 3 hour nap!! Yes,  you heard correctly, my son has finally decided he wants to sleep longer than 15 minutes during the day. Of course he is sleeping in his car seat, but that's a story for another day.

Three hour long naps for baby B (lets hope this is the start of a new beginning)
YES!!!! You did in fact read that correctly, Baby B has finally decided to embark on the path of long naps. As I said, lets hope this is the start of a new beginning!! Anyone who knows my son, knows that he rocks the 15 minute power nap.

My hubby finally started his job up north 
Well, as the title implies, hubs has gone up north to work. Better him than me for a multitude of reasons the biggest being SNOW. Ugh! We moved to Vancouver Island to get AWAY from the snow. If he wants to work up north, go for it, but don't expect me to come visit. LOL. This news as exciting as it is, is also a bit of a bummer because hubs is gone for 20 days at a time. That, my friends is a LONG time to be away from your family. The plus side though is he gets a 10 day holiday every single mont, yes EVERY. SINGLE . MONTH. Time to pack my bags, I will be taking advantage of my father's condo in Mexico...Wait a minute if hubs is gone for 20 and I'm alone for 20 with the boy, I could go for 20...hmmm, I'm going to have to rethink this one. Ha.

My cold has finally come to an end and "B" did not get sick (knock on wood - please)
Cue the choir. Hallelujah. The cold is gone, for good, hopefully. Man, that was a nasty one. Loss of voice (not bad for hubs, but entertaining for babe), fever, night sweats, sore and I mean SORE throat, followed by mucus 24/7!! Yes, good riddance and please by pass getting Baby B sick. Thanks :)

and I'm going to add one more...

Finally figured out how to style my short hair
I've recently chopped off a good chunk of my hair. I have always had medium to long hair. Well there was that one exception in 5th grade when I was somehow convinced to get a bob of sorts. Looked bad, still trying to forget. Anyways, this past year my hair was longest it's been in a while. We are talking middle of back type of length. With a baby who just wants to play and be entertained it was getting kind of challenging to do. I often found myself just throwing it in a ponytail wet because it took forever to dry straight, and then flat iron or curl, only to have it look a royal mess 15 minutes later (might have something to do with "B" starting to pull on it every time he nursed or I held him...so pretty much all day). Needless to say I chopped it off. I wanted it cut like this...

Image Rights

...but my hair stylist took about 5 inches too much off. Needless to say my hair is short. Sit on my shoulders barely short. It works though. Doesn't look anything close to the hair style in the above photo, but it works. I had to invest in a smaller curling iron. I ended up buying a 1-inch Hot Tools. The best curling iron ever, and it was on sale. Score one for me. Oh I also had a $10.00 off dealio, so I paid $60.60 for it instead of an outrageous $91.95. And because I love the tool so much, I will buy a bigger one, either a 11/4 inch or a 2-inch, when my hair grows a little longer/before I cut it again. 

Take care y'all (I've been thinking of my Texas friends of late and the y'all is a throw back to them, plus it makes me smile)

A Peek Into My Scrapbooking Process: The Dreaded Binding Part Two...

Alright, so I last left off poking a bunch of holes into all of my signatures or booklets or whatever you would like to refer to them as. I don't really know the proper term and on that note I should probably look it up, but I doubt I will. Just trying to keep it real here. Anyways...the last thing done to my album was the hole poking for the binding. I guess now I get to attempt the binding while taking pictures for you all to follow. Here goes...

Step 1: Figuring out what I am going to use for the binding. My decision really comes down to what I have in stock, which is hemp string. I'm not using a light weight hemp. I would tell you exactly what the weight is, except that I threw out the packaging a long time ago. I had two colors to choose from: pink and natural. Since the book is for a baby boy, I'm going with natural and I am going to die the hemp to match the other details I am doing to my cover.

Step 2: Measure out the amount of string you need for binding. I use 3 arm width lengths. I simply take the hemp, stretch it out between my arms and repeat three times before cutting from the spool. This is a long length to work with so it is very important that I/you/whomever is very careful when dying the hemp, threading the hemp, and ultimately binding with the hemp so that you don't get knots.

Step 3: Once I have the hemp stretched out, I wrap it around my fingers, put it in a container (glass so it does not stain) and spray it with my glimmer mist. I am using Caribbean Blue (I think) Glimmer Mist. Once the hemp is sprayed I can lay it aside to dry. I gave it a good 24 hours and some because it's been about a week since I have touched my book in anyway, but it probably just needs to dry over night.

Step 4: Thread my needle. I'm using a needle from Michaels, size

Here comes the hard part...

Step 5: Binding the first signature to the front cover of the book. I take my first signature and make sure all the holes are lined up. If you have a number of inserts and have layered them so that the inserts have only some holes and not 6 holes, you may want to set them aside when starting your binding (see photo below for visual explanation). Setting some the inserts aside that do not need to be bound with the first hole, just means you have less papers to juggle making your life a lot easier. JUST REMEMBER TO ADD THEM BACK TO THE BOOK.

 Photo above shows signature with inserts that line up with the first hole

Photo below shows signature with inserts that can be set aside to make binding easier

Now for the ACTUAL binding

*Note* I did not show how to bind the front cover to the signatures (which has to be done first) but the steps are the same with the exception of which direction you a threading. For example the images below show me threading to the right, if you were beginning your binding you would be threading your first signature to your front cover and moving the needle towards the left. Sounds complicated, but  it will hopefully make sense after these next set of photos. 

 Photo above shows my binding up until this point in the book.

Step 1: Close the signature so that you are looking at the folded spin. Take the needle and poke it through the first hole (I'm working top to bottom on this signature - you'll notice that I have already done the first 3 holes moving from the bottom up). Pull the needle all the way through so that the signature is tight up against the rest of the book. See photo below.

Step 2: Push the needle and thread through the next hole (in this case the last hole of the signature). See photo below.

 Step 3: Pull the needle and thread all the way through the hole. See photo below.

The inside of the signature should look like the photo below.

 The spin of the book should look like the photo below.

Step 4: Take your needle and push it underneath the last knot (not really a knot, but for lack of a better word...) of the previous signature. See photo below for visual explanation. Make sure that you only push it under the one knot.

Step 5: Pull the needle all the way underneath and up towards self. See photo below. Thread should be looped under the other signature.

Step 6: Push your needle through the same hole that you just came out of. This should be the last hole of the signature that you are currently binding. See photo below. The picture doesn't really show the thread already coming out of the hole but trust me it's there. This is how you create the knot or binding.

 Step 7: Pull the needle all the way tight from the inside of the signature. See Photo below.

Step 8: Thread the needle underneath the thread on the inside of the signature. See photo below.

Step 9: Push the needle back through the same hole you just came out of. This should be the third time you have gone through this one hole. See photo below.

 Step 10: Pull tight. See photo below.

Step 11: Grab your next signature and push the needle through the first hole and repeat steps 2 to 10. (I flip the book so that it is easier to hold and work with). See photo below.

 Photo below shows step 1 starting at the beginning of a new signature.

Photo below shows step 2 (pushing needle through the second hole in the signature).

Once you have completed binding your book (including the front and back covers) you simply tie a really tight know and add a little bit of glue to ensure the knot does not come undone. 

To add the cover to your first signature, you would hold your signature to the front cover (like a book), lining up the holes. Then you would push your needle from the inside of the first signature (moving towards exterior folded part). Keep about two inches of thread and hold with your fingers so that you can tie a knot.  Push your needle through the hole on the cover, but instead of going straight through the cover, you would wrap it around the cover so that the thread was hugging the edge of the cover and coming back through the hole towards the signature. Tie a knot here so your binding does not fall apart. Now follow step 6, moving on to step 2, followed by step 6. Keep repeating until you have reached the last hole of the signature, where you would the do step 8 and step 9. At the time your cover is attached and you can now add your next signature starting at step 11 and going through steps 1 to 10. 

This looks and sounds complicated...and it can be hard but it's essentially repetition. The hardest part is not getting your long thread tangled up!!!

Enjoy and goodnight :)

Frustrated...

*Edit* I found a copy of it!!! Thank goodness!!!

Alright, so I was trying to do something with my blog and I accidentally deleted my post on how to do a binding. Needless to say I am bummed as that post took me forever and a day to do!!! Worst part, the post had not been on my blog long enough for google to "save it". Still trying to figure out a way to recover it, but in the mean time I think I'm going to make myself a tea and have a small pity party :) That will teach me to back everything up!!

Night

Please Excuse...

Please pardon my blogs current state...we are currently undergoing a cosmetic overhaul. Hopefully I will have my blog up and running in appropriate, matching, somewhat attractive attire, with the help of one of my besties, Rachel. You can find her, at her blog here.

Thanks for stopping by.

K :)

Thankful Tuesdays...

Today is Tuesday and today I am feeling especially thankful...

I am thankful for...

Three hour long naps
A healthy baby that laughs more than cries
And Buddy, our boxer, who loves unconditionally

I think moving forward Tuesday's will be Thankful Tuesday's...why? Because today is Tuesday and it's the first time I have blogged since having my son!!! I feel like I have actually accomplished something huge!!! Don't get it, have a baby. LOL.

Now I am off to finish my blog posts about my baby book... :)

Busy...

It's been a while since I've blogged. I know I promised a post on binding my mini. It's coming (I hope), I just need to take care of some other more pressing things first. Life's been pretty busy. We decided to move. Let me just say, moving while pregnant is not fun. Moving and having to downsize and figure out storage while your family is growing is near impossible. I'm frustrated, tired, and ready to throw out everything that does not have a place. The thing about me is everything needs a place, if it doesn't have a place than it goes in the garbage. I know that sounds wasteful and it probably is, but I don't care. Clutter stresses me out. Dirty houses stress me out. Piles of stuff laying everywhere stress me out. Drives me nuts. Not to mention I'm 30 weeks preggers and I've organized this place by myself. I'm exhausted. I just want to put my feet up and enjoy my last 10 weeks, but there is just too much stuff to do...like the nursery. The room we are using for the nursery is still being used as storage. It was "supposed" to be cleared out for when I got back from Calgary, but hubs works at a glacial speed meaning I have to do it or it won't ever get done. Have I mentioned I'm tired? I have until Saturday night to finish organizing this place, clean out the nursery, do laundry and pack for two weeks. Then I have to get my butt in gear and start planning for this baby or its going to be d day and I won't even have diapers. I'm starting to wonder if I can get it all done in time. I'm thinking not.

A Peek Into My Scrapping Process: The Dreaded Binding Part One...

Ideally this post would be better off done as a video or at least by a tech savvy person, but it's not and I'm not so we are all going to have to be patient (especially me).

Okay, so right now I have my papers cut, folded, and inked. I also have my front and back cover done. In my last post, I forgot to cut and adhere the papers for the inside side of the covers. I'll share a picture of that today as well...

So before I do any binding I need to do some prep work. I need to go through every signature and line everything up how I want it. See picture for visual explanation...

Once I have lined everything up in my signature. I can determine where I want to make my holes for the binding. I am going to need six holes in the fold of each signature. Once I know where I want my holes I can start making them using one massive sewing needle.

In order to make sure my holes are evenly spaced, I am going to start by pricking three holes at the top of one of my pages. Note: I have taken out my inside pages for now. The first hole will be 1" in from the top edge of the paper, the second hole will be 2" in from the top edge of the paper, and the third hole will be 4" in from the top edge of the paper. Recap: three holes at 1, 2, and 4 inches. Set aside signature and inside pieces.

My next step. Pick up second signature. Take out inserts and set aside not mixing them with other inserts. Place this signature inside the second signature. I am going to use the visible holes as a template for my second signature. Push through the already existing holes a second time making sure to push all the way through the second signature. Be careful so as not to prick your fingers.

Now I have two signatures with three holes each. I am going to flip the top signature around so that the holes appear at the bottom of the spine. Again, I am going to push through the existing holes making sure to push through to the second signature.

When I take apart the two pieces I should have one with six holes at 1, 2, 4, 5, 7 and 8 inches. The other signature should have three holes at 1, 2, and 4 inches. The signature that has six holes will now be the template for the signature that has three holes.

At this point I will set aside the second signature and pick up the first. I need to line up the inserts inside the signature and use the existing holes as a template to prick the holes in the inserts. Once I have done this I can set aside the first signature and continue on to the second and do the same thing.

Alright. Now I have two fully prepped signatures. I will continue to use the previous signature as a template for the next signature so that I do not have to measure each time. I also no longer have to take out the inserts and can just prick holes right through the entire booklet so long as everything is lined up. I will do this for all the signatures.

Now that I am done with the signatures I need to make holes in my cover. These holes will be different only because my cover is made up of two pieces of chipboard and does not have a spine. I need to make holes on both pieces at 1,2,4,5,7, and 8 inches using the small hole on my crop-a-dile tool. These holes will be made about 0.25" from the side of the chipboard. See photos below for visual explanation.

At this point all of my prep work is done and I am ready to start hand sewing my pieces together. I'm using a hemp twine about 2-3 arms length wide. This is where everything gets really tedious. The string is long, it's rather tricky to pull through such thick paper and you need to keep everything tight and inline. I'm not going to lie it's hard and frustrating especially if you make a mistake, but more on that in part two.

A Peek into MY Scrapping Process: What Happens After I Map Everything Out...

Alright, so we have all seen my over extensive planning process. I seriously hope I didn't turn anyone off of paper crafting. This is literally the way I plan stuff out. It is not the way 99% of people scrap. Most people just do it. I just like to plan it all out and it's really quite easy. The planning bit takes me like 15 minutes top. Just seems like a lot because I took so many pictures and typed out a bunch of details.

Anyways onto the fun stuff...

First I started off with my plain chipboard. Once again I am using a heavyweight chipboard, cut to 6X9 inches. I've covered my surface with an old tea towel so that any over spray will be absorbed and my overall mess easier to clean.

Start spraying. Spray light at first because it won't look like it's covering your chipboard but it is. Trust me! You can always go back and fill in any missed spots. My advice wait until it dries unless it's really obvious you missed a spot because it dries blotchy like when you paint walls. 

I tend to be impatient and will use a heat tool to help dry my ink, paint, etc. Be forewarned paper/chipboard will warp as it is drying, but it will dry flat so do not panic. If it is not flat it is not dry and if it is slightly warped just bend it back gently. Also a good point to note, you do not want to leave the heat tool on one spot for too long, just keep moving it all over your surface as it gets HOT!

Now that my covers are dry I can flip them over and spray the edges with mist. I am only spraying the edges because I will cover most of the surface with decorative card stock. This is just personal preference. I find it gives the book a nicer finished look.

My next step is the crackle paint. This is a product designed by Tim Holtz. If you want more information on this or any of his lines, check out his website. He has some really cool videos explaining/showing how to use all of it.

When I apply the crackle paint, I like to start in the corners. I do this because I like my corners and edges to be thicker which equals bigger cracks. This also allows me to pull paint into the middle of the cover.

I just keep adding paint where I like it until the page is covered how I want it to be. Again, I start out with more paint in the corners and edges and I pull it to the middle. The brush makes a scratching sound. There is almost no paint on the brush when I do the middle of the cover. This gives me smaller cracks.

 Here's a close up of the cracks...not sure how well you will be able to see it.

Next I determine which one I want to be my cover. I use the same mapping method as before, except now I know how I want my cover to look. 

 And I think I am going to use my right piece as my cover and the left piece as the back of my book (photographed below).

For this next step I need the crackle paint to be completely dry because I want all the cracks to be present and I also want the crackly paint to be able to resist the ink I use with the mask. I'm going to use  walnut stain also by Tim Holtz. It's a dark brown, a little darker then the brown glimmer mist. 

I positioned the mask where I wanted it, I placed my temporary clock piece over top of the mask where I want it and I began to ink over top of the mask.

This is what it looked like after I removed the mask. 

I added a few more numbers in the spots that were bare using the same technique as mentioned before.  

Now, remember how I said the crackle paint resists ink? You can see in the picture above and below where the ink covered the crackle paint and made it darker and splotchy. Well if you take a damp cloth (I use baby wipes) and gently wipe overtop of the crackle paint (that's the lightest brown color that you see) you will notice that it wipes away. That is the paint resisting the distress ink. Tim Holtz has some cool videos on his website showing and explaining exactly how it works.

 This is what the cover looks like after the ink has been removed from the crackle paint. You cannot really tell from the photo, but in each of the cracks where the paint was absent the darker brown stayed behind giving the cover a really vintage look.

The dark brown spots will blend into the cover once I add the clock piece and the name plate, keyhole, etc. You won't be able to tell where the glimmer mist begins and the walnut stain ends. It will look completely blended. 

Unfortunately this is all I can do to the cover until I bind the book together. If I add all the embellishments now binding the signatures to the cover will be even more difficult. So my next tutorial will be binding the book and then my last tutorial will be adding the embellishments. All in all, this took me about 30 minutes. The longest part was waiting for the glimmer mist to dry.

The book is slowly starting to take shape. Until next time...