Nick and Grandma’s Mini Garden

May 5, 2014June 17, 20188 Comments

A few weeks ago, Nick and I talked about making a special project.

I decided we should make a miniature garden for him to help me take care of.

Saturday, my little buddy came over to help me work on it.

We had previously collected moss, sticks, bark and rocks for our project.

I added some mini plants (for fairy gardens), potting soil, a small park bench, tiny garden fence,

green spray bottle and a set of teeny tiny tools.

While cleaning out the garage a couple of weeks ago, I almost threw out this rusty broken

wagon. I’m so glad I decided to keep it. It was perfect for our mini garden.

All I needed was one excited 3 1/2 year old to help me.

I added a piece of paper towel over the holes in the bottom of the wagon and we filled it

with potting soil. I added the small fence, large flat rock and bench. I let Nick finish the rest.

Nick loved digging in the dirt and adding the plants.

We put rocks around the little fence and even added a chicken to our garden.

Occasionally, Nick had to stop and water other things. Like my tulips.

I don’t know who was more excited about the garden, him or me.

Since, grandpa had brought the little white picnic table up from the barn.

Nick decided we needed to have a picnic lunch. All in all, a day very well spent.

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Do you Zentangle?

May 4, 2014May 23, 20141 Comment

What is Zentangle?

The Zentangle Method is an easy-to-learn, relaxing, and fun way to create beautiful images by drawing structured patterns. (www.zentangle.com)

I was introduced to Zentangle a year or so ago and I swore I wasn’t interested.

Never say never! Now, I am fascinated by it. Such a easy and relaxing artform.

It’s kind of like being a kid again, just sitting, doodling and drawing.

The supplies are simple and cheap, ideas and images are everywhere on the internet.

There are several books available on Zentangle.

If you live in the Mid-West there’s even a Zentangle Art Expo in Madison Wisconsin this summer.

Do you Zentangle?

I do now!

Beach Rules

May 3, 2014October 9, 2015Leave a comment

Planning a Beach Vacation this year?

If so, here are a few rules you may want to consider.

I love it when you can use an item for multiple purposes.

Like the “All Mixed Up” chipboard album from Clear Scraps.

The chipboard album comes with six different overlapping pages.

I used the fifth page in the album to create my “Beach Rules” wall hanging.

To create the “Travel” album, I used the remaining 5 chipboard pages.

I painted three of the pages with acrylic paint the others are covered with papers from

Graphic 45’s “By the Sea” Collection.

I’m not sure it’s in the cards for me this year. But a girl can dream, can’t she.

This project was created for and sponsored by Clear Scraps.

10 Things you may or may not know about me

May 2, 2014December 17, 20193 Comments

Here are 10 things you may or may not know about me. (in no particular order)

1. I have lived in the Mid-West all my life. I love it here, I love everything about it. (Well maybe not this last winter. But even that’s becoming a distant memory.) The Midwest’s home. It’ll be a hard sell to get me to ever move away.

2. My Favorite kind of Vacation is a “Beach Vacation”. One of my favorite things to do is to sit on the beach under a beach umbrella, listen to music and read a book. (Getting to the beach from the Midwest can be a challenge.)

3. My favorite color is RED. Anyone who knows me even a little bit has probably guessed this already. Even though I don’t wear the color red often, I love the color red. I think every room in the house needs a pop of red. I even collect Red Toile dishes.

4. I am a middle child. (No, I don’t have a problem with that.) I am one of 5 kids, 4 girls, raised in a very small ranch house with only one bathroom. Funny thing, I don’t remember that being a big issue at the time. (at least not for me.) Bonus Trivia: my husband is also a middle child, 4 boys, one girl.

5. I met my husband in Hawaii while on Spring Break. One of us may have been a flirt. Long story for another day. (Bet that has you wondering.)

6. I was always a shy and quiet kid. I never would have guessed that I would love sharing and teaching my projects to groups. It’s easy when you’re doing something you enjoy.

7. I don’t embrace change well. My family will agree on this one. New things scare me and make me nervous. (I had to be talked into getting a microwave in the 80’s.)

I’m not an artist. I do, however, consider myself a creative person. I did take art classes all through high school and even in college. I enjoy art even though I can’t draw. One thing I’ve learned about art is that there are all kinds of art and art is subjective. One of the reasons I enjoy Paper Crafting so much is that I can be creative and make small little masterpieces that make me happy. When I was a kid I loved doing all kinds of crafts. At a very young age, I even had a thriving candle business for a while. (or least I thought I did) FYI: I don’t like being called “crafty”. I am “creative”.

9. I love flowers. I enjoy photographing them, growing them in containers and in gardens. Flowers make me happy. I love Springtime when I can make all those treks to the Garden Shop and pick all my flowers to plant. My favorite flowers are daisies, roses and hydrangea. Wouldn’t they look lovely in a vase together?

10. My Family is Everything to me. Last but definitely not least is my family. One of the most important things in my life is my family. I have three wonderful children, a loving husband, two adorable grandsons, great daughter and son in-laws, sweet father, fun siblings, in-laws, nieces and nephews. All who mean the world to me. Family is Everything! I love my crazy family.

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Disclaimer: This blog uses ads and affiliate links. If you choose to make a purchase using one of the links, I receive a small commission (at no additional cost to you) that helps offset the costs of maintaining this blog. Thanks for your support!

A New Month a New Challenge

May 1, 2014May 23, 201410 Comments

Now that I’ve got this new easy to use, upgraded website that includes my very own name,

I started looking at ways to increase my following and make the content better.

After reading an article on 10 Steps to becoming a credible & respected blogger, a few things stuck.

The first was to create an editorial calendar. (I used this Free download from Fancy Pants Designs)

The second thing was to blog daily if possible. (say what???)

So that became my challenge.

Creating Blog Worthy projects and posts for 31 days? (why didn’t I do this for 28 days in February?)

At first it was hard coming up with ideas.

After starting with the obvious ones (design team projects and posts), it became a little easier.

I don’t promise that everyday will be long mind boggling, well thought out posts.

But…I will do my very best to fulfill this personal challenge to blog everyday for the month of May.

Who knows, I might just get the hang of this yet.

See you tomorrow.

Sue

Dad’s 83rd Birthday

April 28, 2014October 9, 2015Leave a comment

We spent a rainy Sunday afternoon at my sis’s celebrating my Dad’s 83rd Birthday.

How lucky I am to have had such a loving and wonderful influence on my life.

With the exception of a few raindrops on the lens and a photo bomb in the window,

I think this is a nice picture of Dad and his kids.

Happy Birthday, Dad.

“Big things often have small beginnings” Mini Album

April 24, 2014October 9, 2015Leave a comment

I really enjoy making Mini Albums and 6″ x 6″ is my size of choice. Clear Scraps 6″ x 6″ Chipboard Album is a great place to start. I love how sturdy the pages are and that the edges are already distressed for me.

My album was made using the regular 6″ x 6″ chipboard album.

When I make my mini albums I like to trim around my pages with an exacto knife and then sand the edges for a smooth finish. A standard 1/4″ office hole punch works to punch out the holes once you’ve covered them up with the scrapbook paper.

The paper used on this album is Kaisercraft’s Violet Crush Collection. The flower on the front is from Petaloo.

A Round Clear Tag works wonderful as an added embellishment. I glued left over scrapbook paper to the tag and went around the edges with a Silver Leaf pen. I easily punched a hole on the top of the album to tie on the tag.

Inside pages.

Below, I added a small flap page to the inside of the book.

Thanks for stopping by. Have a Creative Day, Sue.

This project was created for and sponsored by Clear Scraps.

Pekin Times

April 22, 2014May 23, 2014Leave a comment

On a Saturday morning back in February, I showed up to teach a class at my local Scrapbook Store and was greeted by a reporter from one of the local papers. (a husband of one of the ladies that was taking my class) He was doing an article on Paper Crafting, people who craft for fun and profit and a bit on my local Scrapbook Store, The Paper Forest. I gave a quick interview while I set up for class and he followed up with a phone call to finish the interview later the next week. While it was fun being included in the article I’ve been wondering since then what I’d said and hoping that I hadn’t embarrassed my self.

Click here to view the article. (I think it turned out real nice.)

Make sure to check out the pictures.

Easter

April 21, 2014May 23, 20142 Comments

I love it when I get all my kids together in one place. We hadn’t all been together since Christmas.

Of course, I had to grab the tri-pod and get a family picture. We had a good laugh at all the takes,

one person in the group had too much Easter candy and kept running off. (I won’t say who)

Serenity

April 19, 2014October 9, 2015Leave a comment

I love the 12″ flower stencil from Clear Scraps and I was hooked the very first time I used it.

I have a very limited amount of mists and sprays but I some how ended up making a very fun mess. “I was a misting fool.”

When I first got the 12″ flower stencil I knew I wanted to experiment with white backgrounds. (something I’m not too comfortable with) My “Serenity” layout is made using the flower stencil on white card stock and misted with October Afternoon’s Lemon Drop Sprinklers. I love how the stencil makes a soft, dramatic statement on the page. I wanted to keep the layout simple and added simple elements such as the daisy made with a punch from Marvy Uchida.

Serenity, my sweet little niece wearing the dress I gave her on her 2nd birthday.