My Valentine Project

Last month I got a wonderful gift in the mail from a secret sister for Christmas. It was a kit from Paisley and Polka Dots that was called You hold the ticket to my heart. I've seen their kits online and often drooled over them but never took that splurge to buy one for myself. Needless to say I was tickled pink and couldn't wait to start as it would be a present for my husband.

First of all the most amazing part is that this kit comes in separate plastic bags where every piece for that page is sorted and pre cut. The instructions were flawless and came with pictures that were numbered so you knew which piece to put on first etc. Talk about taking out the part we all dislike the most.........cutting........especially for these hearts that had scalloped edges. Oh my that would have been fun! Actually all I needed to complete this project was glue, stapler and some pop dots.

I started off by inking all the edges of all the pieces with a stain ( I used a walnut color). After letting that dry I started working on the title page. I'm not sure if I would have chosen all the different patterns of papers to use together but the end result was great. I loved the crocheted heart in the middle and using the stick pin too. I added the key with a tag gun.

The back of the title page ended up having room for a picture plus the Love notes place to write on. In between this page and the next there was a smaller chipboard heart and on one side you could list the 10 things I love most about you and journaling available on the other side too. I liked the way these smaller hearts were between the full page hearts......gave it some dimension.

Page 2 has the picture of Kevin golfing on it since that is his big love in life besides bowling. Again look at all the different patterns mixed together yet the overall effect works! The back of this page had room for 2 pics and I used our wedding pictures. The little white plastic heart with the ribbons threaded through it was just the right thing to finish this page.

Again there was a smaller heart with both sides open for journaling between these pages but I didn't take a picture of that. Page 4 had a picture of Kevin bike riding with our granddaughter Allayah (another love of our life). Great use of a tag and ribbons on this page.

Page 5 has a picture of Kevin doing some landscaping in our yard. I think when he first started doing it..........it was a job but as time went on and we developed more gardens it became more of a passion for him that he enjoyed. The stamps on this page were part of the rub-ons that came with the kit too!

Another smaller heart again between pages that weren't pictured here and then the final page has a picture of us on it with a Happy Valentine's day tag, be mine and SWAK rub on. I was totally impressed with this kit and this was the first one I had seen from them and probably one of the best gifts I had ever gotten from a secret sister. When I gave it to Kevin he was in awe ............he loved it and could see how much work went into it. I'm sure it is something he will treasure for years to come.

Vinyl Wall Art

A few weeks ago I went down to Watertown and spent a few days at my son's house hoping to have a little time with him since I hadn't seen him in almost 6 months. Well when I arrived Todd was busy cutting wood for his outdoor wood burner that heats his house (a necessary thing to do on a day off) so I spent the afternoon with his wife Justin doing some things around the house. Here's a picture of Justin filling the burner with wood. Amazing how much heat you can get out of these little things outside. Very popular especially if you live in the country and have access to wood on your land.

You know how we all have those little projects that we mean to get around to or ones that take 2 people to do. Well she had bought some of those vinyl wall sayings so we got busy working on putting them up. They were not as easy as they looked especially when trying to remove them from the backing. The hardest part though was once you got them up on the wall you then had to remove the other backing while making sure they stuck to the wall. This first one was the easiest and we did it in her kitchen area..........cute huh?

The bathroom turned out to be the hardest. Not sure if it was the texture of the wall, the paint used or the intricate pieces of these branches. But good thing we didn't start here or I would have quit. Their new bathroom is done all in black and white so these words above the bathtub really made a statement and looked so very nice! Imagine how pretty it will look when she has candles in those holders all lit up and she is sitting in her jacuzzi tub.

Unfortunately that evening Todd got a call from his boss and had another semi load to drive in the morning so we didn't get to spend much time together. The next morning he was off on the road by 6am so that morning Justin & I went to the Johnson Creek outlet mall and Berres Brothers coffee outlet. Before I headed back up north we stopped at her mom's and put up 2 more vinyl wall swags. They turned out awesome though it was hard job working above your head as your arms got so tired. Projects like these are best done with a friend or family!

Vinyl wall sayings are something you can make with your Cricut or you can now buy them just about anywhere at Micheals or even Kohl's. No limit to what you can create with your imagination!

Going back to school

I'm one of those people that love learning new things and actually enjoyed school. Today I just signed up for a 6 week class at the University of Stevens Point for digital photography. It's on Monday nights from 6:30 to 8pm which works out great since that is when my husband is bowling in mens league. Also I am quite fortunate to live only a mile or so from the campus.

I just got a new Nikon Coolpix camera (S570) right before Christmas. It has 12 megapixels, 5x zoom and what I really like is the 2.7 LCD screen. My last Nikon had a much smaller screen. It's a nice small size which is what I need as I love to carry it with me at all times either in my purse or pocket. My last Nikon took great pictures and I just passed it on to my brother in Texas who I'm sure will be taking lots of pictures during his travels.

As a scrapbooker I know how important good pictures are for my books and layouts. Hopefully this class will teach me some of the settings and tricks to taking the best pictures that I can. It doesn't start until March 1st but when it does I will be sure to share any neat things I learn.