Organization

You know how great it feels to get in bed after you put on clean, soft sheets (especially flannel) well that's how I feel after I get my craft space all organized and cleaned up. I tend to find so many things that I forgot I had and it's also so much easier to be crafty when you know right where to look.

I went to Goodwill and picked up 6 more glass jars so I could organize and arrange all my flowers, buttons & ribbons. They sit up on the top shelf above all my stamps and they look so pretty! And look at all the room I have on my table to work now. Speaking of stamps.........I hung this neat shelf to hold some of my favorite ones. Believe it or not this curio shelf also has a music box on the side of it and when you wind it up it plays "a few of my favorite things"!


Now do you remember that spinning rack that I found at a resale shop last month? Well here it is on my desk filled to the brim. But it is so nice to have things organized like by birthday, babies, rub on words & even my new Cuttlebug folders are hanging on there.

Last but not least is my big Oak desk. It might not look like its organized but all my adhesives are in the green bag and the white desktop organizer has some other tools etc in there. There is a red box with most of my squeeze punches in it. There are 2 organizers with all my brads separated. Again lots of room to work now that all my "toys" are put away.

Since I had all this room to work I did participate in a few challenges today on Willow Traders and I just love this layout that I did of Allayah trying to golf in our backyard. I matched the papers & flowers to her outfit. I still need to do the 2nd page to this layout which has a picture of her throwing her golf club after missing the ball. It was so funny.........just like her grandpa would do!

It has been a busy few days and I have done quite abit of crafting. Willow Traders, a site online that I frequent, has had different kit clubs hosting every day challenges this month. I've had allot of fun creating things for their challenges and even won a few things (not sure what but that's half the fun when they arrive in the mail). Fiskars is also having an online crop and I did 2 of their challenges yesterday. Sometimes that's exactly what you need to get you motivated.

This layout was fun to make as I got to use a new tool that I found at Goodwill a few days ago. It was an embossing tool called the ScrapBoss and sells for about $35 but I got it for $1.50. If you look at the bottom of this layout you will see the flowers and scrolls that I embossed using this tool. I did outline them with a glitter pen so they would show a little easier in this picture. All the words and crowns were made with my new Cricut cartridge "Storybook"..........what a gorgeous font!



I made this card for Cupcards to Go when they were hosting on Friday. I love the new bday candle border punch I got at Micheals last week (thank goodness for 50% off coupons)! The cupcake stamp I found at the dollar store.









I also did my first sketch challenge. They post a sketch that tells you how many pictures should be on the layout and placed where (they even show you where the words and embellishments should go). So the first thing I did was find 3 pictures to work with and they were ones of Allayah playing with Uncle Todd's mini tractor collection. So I used some of the John Deere paper & embellishments and even a little tractor brad on it. I think it turned out nice especially with the bright pink splash to match her outfit.

I hate to show the next layout that I finished and not for any challenge either. You can see by the date that it was a FEW years ago when I took 2 of my sons with me on a "business" cruise. Yes I said business.....the consignment software I was using came out with a new version and it was a chance not only to buy it but have training with it so who wouldn't jump at a chance like that? We had a daytrip to one of the islands and all the locals hit you up to get braids in your hair....I still can remember how they said "hey Man U want braids" but man sounded like mon. So my son Tory was 15 at the time and of course wanted to come back to High school with that neat long braid that they added to his hair. I'm glad I got the picture of him having it done and the memories that went along with this trip. Isn't this paper gorgeous? I made the ship with my Cricut too! Thanks for checking out my new projects!

Roses

Are these not BEAUTIFUL? As you may have read I have been emotionally distraught this past week with missing 2 of my sons birthdays. My darling husband knows that nuthing he says can fix it and it is something I just need to get through (or maybe my boys need to grow up) so last night he brought home these gorgeous roses and a card that said Just Cuz I Love You!!
That was a realllllllly sweet thing for him to do and I know I am very lucky to have a husband that actually is so thoughtful and cares that I am feeling upset.

I hope all of you are blessed with someone special like that in your life too!

Another birthday I am missing.......

27 years ago today I gave birth to my second son Tory Joe (10 lbs 5 oz) and here is a picture of him with his 2 children Allayah and Gavin. Isn't he one good looking guy? Ok I might be a little prejudiced cuz I am his mom......MOM....what exactly does that word mean? I haven't seen or heard from him in over a year since his "girlfriend" does not like me.

Somewhere the meaning of family, respect and love got lost in this complicated world we all live in. So I keep myself busy scrapping wonderful pictures of when they were small and still loved their mom with all the passion a young boy has. In this picture of my 4 sons....he is the one on the right.

My thought for the day is Scrap your Memories sometimes that's all you have left! I'm sure Tory doesn't know about my blog but I will still end it with Happy Birthday Tory!

Project kits

Sometimes I see a project kit online that looks like it would be so interesting that I just have to buy it and most times I can say that I am very pleased I did. Sometimes they come with great instructions and other times I nearly pull my hair out trying to finish them. This past kit that I just finished was supposed to be a travel journal and it falls under one of those that I wished I would have passed on. It did give me a few problems and there were some issues actually with the directions but the main problem that it turned out to be so fat that you can't even close the book.

This first picture is the cover and it actually is a mini portfolio on top of a 7 gypsies album. The Tim Holtz trailer hitches were difficult since they did not want to screw flush so then covering the back page was a nightmare. Their purpose we being able to hold the elastic from the portfolio when you opened that.

This next picture will show you that it is so fat and full that I can only stand it up. There would be no way to add a closure piece of even try to tie it shut as there is so much done to the inside pages. At this point I only have the picture on the front and doubt that I could even use it to showcase our next special trip becuz putting more items and pictures in it will only expand it even that much more!

There were some interesting techniques learnt and I even sewed 2 pages together to create a pocket. Lots of pockets for tags and things you would like to remember (I think all the pockets are part of the problem tho). It was a learning experience and I really liked the last one I got from Carol that I posted pictures of it last month and it was our trip to New Mexico but this one was a project I should have passed on. I'll leave you by showing you a few more pics of pages inside

Cafe' Louise

Did you ever wonder how did I come up with the name for my blog? Well it was the name of a coffee shop that I opened in Watertown back in 2001. I had to sell my building and close the business when my husband got a job transfer with UPS up here to central Wisconsin.

First I owned and operated a consignment shop called Second Showing for 15 years and even tho the business was doing very well I wanted to try something different so I sold the business and designed and built Watertown's 1st coffee shop in that downtown building that I owned. It was sometimes very frustrating during those 6 months of remodeling but in the end the place turned out awesome.

I hired an artist to stencil and paint murals.......check out how amazing they turned out.

We had a huge gas fireplace with a couch and recliners in front of it, kinda like Friends (the tv show). I had to get certified in the food business since we would be serving food and I also had to learn how to become a barista and to make the most amazing coffee drinks. I do miss those drinks!

We had live music as you can see in the grand opening picture, we had book clubs and even had a Creative Memories class there which is how I started scrapbooking in the first place. By the way this was a smoke free place so people loved to come have a drink, relax and visit.

It's hard to say what I liked best about the business but I think it was different people coming in every day and night and allot of them becoming my friends. I got up at 5am to start baking scones and muffins and we didn't close until 10pm so it was a very long day. We were lucky enuf to live in the loft that I had built upstairs so I never had far to go and I could always call on the intercom for my sons or someone to come down and help if I got swamped. The best part was sitting on the couch in front of the fireplace after a long day and visiting with my husband when he came home from his job.

I'm starting to scrap this experience and I do still have the stained glass sign hanging here in my house and everytime I see it..............I think.............would I do it all over again? My husband says NO because of all the long hours and hard work but anyone in business knows the first few years are the hardest and then it only gets better. But the memories are enough for me right now!

Happy St. Patricks Day!

Well I hope the luck of the Irish is with all of us today! I made my husband this card yesterday and then slipped it into his coat pocket last nite so he would find it today at work. Hoping he would have some good luck, I also put in some scratch off tickets. I made the shamrock out of hearts and then just used a button for the center.

I definitely was in the card making mood yesterday and made a few Easter cards too! I got to use this cute stamp for the inside and believe it or not I picked it up at the dollar store!









I plan on sending this one to my 7year old granddaughter since we will not see her this year during her Easter vacation. Sometimes such a small gesture of a handmade card in the mail brings such a large smile to someone's face. I love happy mail and I love sending it too!

My "baby" is turning 23!

How can that be? that my youngest son Travis is turning 23??? where did all those years go? It seems like just a few years ago that they were all in school and getting into all kinds of mischief. Now he is a proud daddy of a 7yr old son Alex, he owns his own house and spends allot of time in the marvelous shop he built, working on cars. He actually built that yellow dune buggy from scratch in the above picture where he was in the 4th of July parade. Words cannot express how much I love him and how proud I am of him and being a guy they just don't want to hear those mushy words either but this is my blog so I can say it even if it is just to my friends! I crocheted him that wonderful afghan after Christmas that turned out to look like John Deere colors (and he does collect that stuff) and I made him this bday card using a new candle border punch that I got at Micheals yesterday. I used the stickles on the flames and it really looks neat. Well his bday isn't until Saturday so I still have time to get down to Watertown & deliver his gift. Have a great day everyone!

My brothers scrapbook is done!

It is always such a good feeling to start a new project but even a better feeling to finish it! It is 24 pages and I will share a few pages with you right now. I'm thinking he will really like it plus he is one of those guys that just can't take a bad picture where I am the opposite I just can't take a good picture!

As you can see he can really cook matter of fact right now he is working for the University of Wisconsin as a cook but it was a talent he picked up in the army and really enjoys doing.

He is godfather to my son Tory and was often over playing with my boys.

His passion is fishing so I had to do a few pages of all the big fish he caught. Isn't this neat paper?

Of course no scrapbook would be complete if you didn't have pictures of family in it so I did one of our mom and another of my dad (he left us 3 years ago to his journey in the sky)! I really liked this paper I used don't you?

I ended the book with pictures of him and his fiancee and I was pleased with this layout. I know guys normally aren't sentimental but I think he will really like this journey of his life so far and will appreciate that it was made with love from his only sister!

card creations

Well I thought spring was here when the temperature got to 40 but then we got 4 inches of snow last nite..........the heavy, wet stuff plus they are talking temps back below zero on Wednesday nite so guess what I did? I put out all my Easter stuff and put away all my snowman decorations. At least it feels springlike in my house now!

My back is feeling a little better but I am still taking things slow. Today I worked on some cards and the first few were take offs of the ones I made last week at that class.........a little variation but I liked the way they turned out. I used some of

my new scalloped punches, border punches and flip and twist corner punch (all from Fiskars). It is wonderful to have these great tools to work with as they make creating so easy!

I also started making a birthday gift for my brother who just turned 50 yesterday. He is celebrating in Hawaii right now with his fiancee so I thought this bday card I made was appropriate. I also started a scrapbook that will span all those years. I was lucky enough to get so many fun pictures of him that it will be easy to get this book done. I used my new Storybook cartridge and my Cricut to make the cover of his book (which is a Heidi Grace album that I got from last years Fiskadeals! Today I only got the cover & page 1 done so hoping tomorrow will prove more fruitful. Hope to show you more tomorrow!

New Spring Look

Well I don't have a spring in my step right now but felt the need to change the look of my blog from snowflakes to flowers........something I can actually do while just sitting here. The reason you haven't seen me blog for the past few days is that I threw out my lower back while trying to be "wonder woman". I tend to try and do too much and forget that my back just isn't as strong as it used to be. So we are in the midst of a remodeling project around our swimming pool and my job was to pull off all the indoor/outdoor carpet and of course empty the room of all furniture etc. You never know how much you have in a room until you have to move it! And with my dh still out of commission (he did go to the doctor and found out he tore some cartilage around his ribs) it was all left up to me. So Tuesday night I ended up joining Kevin on the couch with a heating pad on my back. I actually have not done much of anything since then waiting for my back to heal.

The pool project isn't going as planned either. Our intention was to remove the carpet and stain the concrete but trying to get all the mastik (old glue) off is a challenge. If not all removed then the stain or anything else will not adhere........so we are kinda at a standstill right now.

So let's think spring and I will post some pictures from my lovely gardens. Believe it or not the waterfall was just added last summer to the goldfish pond and all those flowers got that big in just one summer. I do tend to go with perennials but found some awesome annuals that should reseed plus they make a BIG statement. I love sitting and watching the birds and butterflies that come around my flowers......such a relaxing place to be!

My 1st Stampin Up Workshop

This past summer I met a wonderful lady at a garage sale (imagine that) and it seemed we had a common interest in stamping so she sent me an email and invited me along to her daughters house today for a workshop where they would be making 3 cards. What perfect timing since I have been making cards and wondering what the secret is to coloring them etc. Even tho I didn't know a soul I had a great time and made 3 awesome cards............check them out yourself!

The purple flowered one I actually used a paintbrush and just dabbed at a colored crayon or something they had there for us to use. It turned out so nice and with so little effort!

The 2nd one you can't really see how pretty the purple is but they had a punch similar to the Fiskars Treading Water punch that made the scallop which was glued underneath the top of the folded over part of the card. The dress was stamped & then cut out and glued over the stamped image kinda giving it that "raised" look. The sentiment said I didn't forget your birthday I'm just fashionably late..........how cute is that? Then there is a card that slides inside for further embellishment which at this point all mine is white!

The 3rd card was stamping 4 different flowers on small circles, gluing it on the next size circle and gluing that to the scalloped circle. 2 pieces of ribbon really made the difference and of course contrasting card stock just finished that card. None of these cards took a ton of time and they turned out so cute. I am sure glad that I went and wonder why I have never been invited to one before! Have a great evening!

and the WINNER is..............

First of all I haven't been online much with having my 7year old granddaughter Allayah visiting us since Thursday. We have been doing all those fun things like swimming, playing Barbies, making cookies and brownies, watching movies and even a little card making! So in other words we have been keeping very busy.I just had to share this cute picture of her and her 3 baby dolls(2 are in the back row on pillows) watching a little tv (I think the babies were supposed to be taking a nap). The sad part is that on last Wednesday we had some sleet & icy rain when I left for Watertown and while doing his job my dh "Mr. Brown" fell down someone's steps flat on his back. He did try working on Thursday but has been on the couch in pain since then. So he has not been able to enjoy much of Allayah and will be heading to the doctor tomorrow. He thinks he may have broken or seperated his ribs and if you have ever had rib problems you know how painful that can be! So there is never a dull moment around our house!

Back to the BIG news about the BIG RAK that I did this month..........I got many lovely cards and thank goodness I didn't choose a winner that way as that would have been a tough choice but the random name that was drawn from a hat was TONA! Congratulations and send me your snail address!