Creatively Blocked

I've sat down after The Boy has gone to bed for the past three nights. I sit down with my paper, embellishments and adhesive, determined to make something spectacular. And nothing seems to work out. I have so much stuff I should be inspired by, and I'm just not! It's so frustrating! It's not that I've ever gone for so long without doing something, it's just that I've been trying so hard and ending up nowhere. So, I am off to Inspired Blueprints to work on a sketch. Hopefully that will jog the creativity loose from wherever it is hiding. If I can make something, anything I will be happy. Even if it stinks, at least i will have made something, LOL !

Little book of Joy

My buddy Pam, who is super duper sweet gave me this little book and yummy Sassafras Lass papers and flowers. Wasn't that just darlin' of her? And my mother gave me my grandma's book of photographs. They were mostly photos of me, but inside at the end I found these darling pictures of my sister Joy. So, I put together this album with those. I used a grungeboard thingie-ma-doodle on the edge going around the spine. I think those thingie-ma-doodles are the neatest. No idea what they are called. This I know Joy will love. it is a picture of her and our favorite dog, Faith. Thanks so much for looking, and if you are in need of some super cute blog candy, check out Erica's blog. She is giving away some cute stuff. Thanks for reading. Have a super great day!

I won an award!

Today my buddy Pam has awarded me a nice award. See! TaDa! The cool thing is that it was her first award and it is mine as well :) The honor now demands that I choose 5 of my closest bloggy buddies, to pass along the torch of bloggy goodness. So, without further ado...

• Heather
• 'nother Heather
• Danielle
• Jess
• Rachel

Check these girlies out because they SO rock!

Pen Holder & Blog Candy Alert

Here is a project I made for an altered art challenge that Morag has set up over at the AllyScraps.com forum. I needed a container to hold my outrageous number of pens, markers and paintbrushes, so I made a pen holder. I made one of these in first grade, but this one is a little nicer. If you want to do a similar project, use a smaller can! This one is about 13 inches around, which was a PAIN! The tomatoes were quite delicious though. I covered the can with brown paper from Prima and used some heavier My Mind's Eye glittered paper in the center. I used the square bracket-y thing (one day I will find out what the heck it is called for real) from the Calligraphy cricut cartridge. I really wish that they would have given the capapbility to have a blackout out image! I end up glueing the frame part to the paper I want inside and cut it out with scissors (thus making owning a die cutter more complicated). The shape is actually the same off white Prima paper. I inked the outline with Distress Ink, then I stamped the part that ws going to be the inside with Distess Ink and my new handy dandy script backround stamp. The swirly things are from the calligraphy cartridge as well. On my last trip to Michaels I picked up some Say it in Crystals by Prima that they just started to carry. So that is what all that bling is about. Flowers are by Prima as well. The angel is from some stickers that my mother brought back from Germany 10 years or so ago. They have an ugly white outline around them, so I just trimmed it off.

~*~BLOG CANDY ALERT~*~

Be sure to check out Irene's blog for some adorable blog candy! Fat free, calorie free (for my girlies on a diet) and guilt free! Irene has the most fantastic blog. She is so inspirational to me. Well, I'm done rambling for today. Thanks so much for stopping by. I hope you have a wonderful day.

Toilet Paper Mini Album Tutorial

I made this tutorial for you all when I was putting together my last toilet paper mini. I've made a couple now, and, while it is not really rocket science, I thought I would share what I've learned is easiest.

• You will need 3+ toilet paper rolls
• Bone Folder ( a small ruler may work just as well)
• Glue stick
• Scissors
• Eyelet setter/cropodial
• ring to hold the pages together
• Patterned paper
• Embellishments of choice

To flatten your tp roll squash it and use the bone folder to go along the sides. Press very firmly as you do this. I really have found the bone folder indispensible here, but if you have a small ruler that may work just as well. I have also heard of people using the cuttle bug. Cut your patterend paper (I just freehand) with about an inch or so extra along the sides and about half an inch longer top to bottom. No need to be exact as long as your paper will cover all the way around your roll with extra to spare.

• Cover one side of you tp roll with a glue stick. (If you buy gluesticks at Target buy the pack of 2 for .22 and not the pack of 6 for $1.99- sorry that kind of stuff really bugs me) Place the tp roll glue side down with about 1/4 inch on the bottom and 1/4 inch on the right side. There will be a larger overhang on the left side. This is what you want. These dimensions are approximate. Don't stress over it.

• Glue the bottom flap down and fold over the right side flap (ONLY ON THE RIGHT SIDE OTHERWISE YOU WILL LOSE YOUR POCKET). Snip a little at the top of the roll. Gluing down one of the side flaps will help the roll to remain flat and also, if you use the inside of the roll to hold journaling tags or photos it will keep them from slipping out the back end.

• Cover in gluestick and flip the roll over. Try to do this with the roll smashed flat as possible and with the paper tight. Keeping the paper tight seems to aid in keeping the roll flat. You will have extra paper on the top and the sides. Trim the TOP and the RIGHT SIDE ONLY(the side that you cut the slit into. See, I told you you could eyeball it!

• Now, on the left side you should have about 3/4 inch or so of overhang. Take your scissors and snip the fold down to the tp roll.

• Fold them back enough to glue them. Tuck them inside the tp roll.

• Now nobody will ever guess that it is a tp roll!

To make an album all you need to do is make a hole in the top left of all your covered tp rolls (make sure that your pocket is faceing outward before you punch your hole) then just put them all on a ring or you could even tie them together with a ribbon If you make a toilet paper mini album I would love to see it. Have a great day and thanks for reading!

Christmas Toilet Paper Roll Album

Every year I like to make a mini album of our Christmas. When we take out the tree to decorate we go through our albums and look through them and remember the good times that we had previous years. This year I made a toilet paper roll album. Toilet paper albums are great. Recycling is always good and it is so fun to see the look on people's faces when you tell them that they are holding toilet paper rolls as they look through your album. I love the little pockets for holding journaling and extra photos . My inspiration for this album started with some yummy flocked paper from Me and My Big Ideas. I hate to put fuzzy things locked away behind a page protector and it gives such a tactile quality to this little mini. I also used some velvet trim and the trim with the fun little tassels to add textural interest. I had these little vintage looking stickers my mother brought back on a trip from Germany years and years ago. I'm so glad I finally used them. I cut the little shape-y thing from the Calligraphy Cricut cartridge (thanks Hubby) I don't know a lot of the sources on the things I used on this project. I am trying to use up my stash and a lot of these things I bought years ago. The metal clip is from Making Memories. I folded the black lace to give it even more texture. The photos are printed in black and white to add to the vintage feel of the album. I used Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Peeled Paint on my photos and papers. I layered a Heidi Swapp chipboard clock with a button and a jingle bell. It hangs off the edge and functions as a tab. I used some Prima flowers (LOVE THESE) and put a snap in the center. Thanks so much for taking the time to look at my blog. Have a fantastic day!

My Friend Shemaine told me about a really neat site called Inspired Blueprints. I made this layout based on one of their sketches. It's pretty basic, but I love the patterned papers on this one. They are from Prima and My Mind's Eye. I used the Calligraphy and the Plaintin Schoolbook Cricut Cartridges.

Casing Rachel

I found Rachel's blog several months ago. I must admit that it is one of my favorites to visit. She has amazing style and uses lots of flourishes and subtle chalking on her fab layouts. She is also a very sweet person who generously allowed me to case this layout and offered me some really helpful tips on the chalking since it was my first time. Thank you Rachel, you rock! Check out Rachel's gallery for the layout I cased (hers is really much better). The backround for this page is My Mind's Eye. I used flourish stamps from Autumn Leaves and the flowers are cut from cricut's Calligraphy cartridge (thanks Hubby!) I used Inkadinkado chalks.