You Go Girl!

Unicorn Poo...

'Tis tasty and pretty too!

No explanation. It would take too long. Just know that I've been having myself a bit o' fun.

Edit: Truth is I found the graphic for my uni-poo tag already on my computer. One of my girls had downloaded it from somewhere. Turns out that the artwork I used was drawn by the lovely Jessie from Cakespy. Check it out. I am in love and didn't even know it. I hope I haven't crossed any copyright-ownership-in-good-taste-lines here, Jessie. I love your shop and your graphics. Next time I am Seattle, I must visit.

Snowflake War

Good golly. I finally did it. I cut some snowflakes that rock. Historically, my snowflakes looked like a monkey made them with one hand tied behind his back. I'm not kidding. When I was a teacher, I did not cut snowflakes with my students. Shame, shame, I know. But I avoided the art of making snowflakes because I could not do it. How can you teach someone to do something when you can't do it yourself? Well, guess what? The art isn't in the cutting. It's in the folding!! Who knew?

I have Kevin to thank for this whole revelation. He bought some bargain scissors at Staples and wondered if they were any good. I said I would I would take them for a test drive. I couldn't think of a better way to test a pair of scissors than on a paper snowflake. A visit to this website and a pile of snow flakes later, I gave the scissors a passing grade. My family was a wee bit taken aback by my enthusiasm for cutting snowflakes. I think I cut about twenty of them, but it was a euphoric moment for me. I was winning the snowflake war! Buddy the Elf would be very proud of me.

I'm thinkin' 2012 is shaping up to be a stellar year. It's only the third day and I've already conquered a personal nemesis of mine...the paper snowflake. Resolution is sweet. I think the snowflake and I are friends now.

Happy New Year to you.

~Cassie 

Game On...

I'm brushing up on my crocheting skills.  Ok. Who am I kidding? I'm learning to crochet something besides a foundation chain. Visions of pillowcases are dancing in my head. It won't be long now...Come to mama, sweet thing. I sound crazy. Maybe I am.  

I hope all is well in your corner of the world.

Hugs~

Cassie

 

Fiestaware!

Fiesta: Spanish word for party or celebration

In case you are wondering, I did get something for Christmas.  Fiestaware!

Mr. Handsome (I LOVE this guy!) bought me twelve settings of Fiestaware!  And let me tell you there is a fiesta going on here.  Food looks so pretty on these dishes, even the food I make.  I am a total clod in the kitchen. Sometimes my food is not so pretty. But I'm telling you it looks good on these dishes. Scrambled eggs look five star. Mac-n-cheese? A perfect ten. Burnt toast? Even it looks good. 

 

These dishes are also inspiring me to try recipes that I've never tried before. Who'd a thunk it? Fiestaware might just transform me into Julia Childs.  Ok, maybe more like Rachel Ray, but I'll take what I can get.

 

As for the salt and pepper shakers...aren't they cute, and charming, and delightful? I *HEART* them.  My girls bought them for me for Christmas.  They know how to tickle my fancy, for sure.

I'm going to go now.  I have to fold some laundry.  On my way to the dryer I will probably peek in the cupboard at my dishes. Just looking at them makes me happy. I thought that only fabric had that kind of magic, but I was wrong. Fiestaware...it's a party for the eyes!

Happy day,

Cassie

Fabbity-Fab-Fab Felt Flowers

Fabitty-fab-fab fast felt flower fun!  Say that ten times fast.  Your tongue will be tied in knots.

 

The triplets were looking for the perfect accessory to adorn their apparel for a piano recital they played in on Friday.  Instead of making a trip to Claire's House of Crap (that's what Mr. Handsome calls it anyway), I decided to do a whip-up. Enter the felt flower pin.  These little flowers packs tons of crafty fun and eye candy in a quick and easy project.  Wanna see them up close?  Please hold your applause until the end. LOL!

Introducing....

 Ms. Rosie Posie,

 

Lady in Red,

 

 and, last but not least, Madame Azul.

 

I'm not even kidding.  It only took about 45 minutes to make ALL three of these.  That's a serious power-craft in my mind.  Tutorial anyone?

Happy Day,

Cassie

PS--The winner of the Sew Mama Sew Giveaway was Kathleen.  She left comment number 271.  Thanks for playing. I had 427 comments. WOW!

I Wish...

I wish I could show you some amazingly clever fabbity-fab-fab costumes that I lovingly stitched for the girls for Halloween.  But I can't.  This year the extent of my involvement in costumes was to get the dress-up box out of storage. Oh. Wait. I did craft Paige's crown out of some construction paper right before she left to haunt the neighborhood.  But for the most part, the girls creatively crafted their own costumes out of bits and pieces salvaged from dance performances and  Halloweens gone by. I think they look smashing.

 

I wish I could show you the glowing and grinning jack-o-lanterns we carved and set on our step to welcome trick-or-treaters big and small.  But I can't.  I waited until the last minute to buy pumpkins and there wasn't a pumpkin to be found in the town.  How was I to know that the sub zero temperatures we got at the beginning of the month turned bunches and bunches of pumpkins to mush?  A pumpkin shortage? Who'd of thought it?  We had to settle for Halloween luminaries this year.  They looked o.k. There's something a little bit disturbing about little candle tea lights in the bottom of paper bags, though. It seems like a no-no.

 

I wish I could show you the rockin'-redo projects I've been giving my creative attentions to the last few weeks. But I can't.  Neither one is done.  Here is a little sneak peek, though...

Project #1:

 

Project #2:

I wish I could think of a clever way to end this post. But I can't. So...

Goodbye for now~

Cassie

Unsupervised...

Not just one spotted fawn,

but FOUR! 

These four little babies were leisurely eating, completely unsupervised, in a field that I drove by on my way to the grocery store. Lucky for me, I had my camera handy and snapped a picture. I wonder where their mommies are? They're probably scouting out the best garden to raid when darkness falls. Sometimes I think the deer look at my planters and say to one another, "Oh! Look dear. (No pun intended. LOL!) A salad bar. How nice. I think I'll try one of each." Grrrrr...it's very maddening to work hard to make some thing look lovely only to have the whole thing munched down to nothing in a matter of moments. Oh, and if the deer don't like something you've planted, they pull it out by the roots and drop it beside the planter for you.  How rude! As much as I love to see the deer, they are certainly little masters of destruction.

And speaking of unsupervised masters of destruction...Have you ever wondered what eleven year old triplet girls do when left to their own devises for a few minutes.  Well wonder no more.  First they take crazy pictures of themselves.

When the fun wears out of that, they harass the cat and take more pictures. 

They think all of this is wildly funny.  I think they are wildly funny. Tink the cat? Not so amused, I'm guessing.

Can't Get Enough Summer

Summer time. Summer time. Sum-sum-summer time. Summer ti-i-i-i-ime.

  

I just can't get enough summer.

Can you?

There is nothing like a lazy float on the river on a warm summer day.

Come on. Hum along with me. Everybody all together now.

Summer time. Summer time. Sum-sum-summer time...

Have a great weekend~

Cassie

Butterfly Mobile

 

She admired this:

But it was $79.00.  Ouch! 

So we cut some of these:

 

Strung them together like this:

 

And ended up with this:

 

She thinks it's the BOMB!

Tutorial: DIY Mini-Handbag Albums Remixed

 

These little albums are fun and easy to make.  They are also cute as a bug's ear.  They fit perfectly in a purse, and would make a great gift filled with pictures for family or friends.  The idea for this project is not mine.  I saw a DIY scrap booking segment on HGTV a few years back.  I don't really remember the segment, but I must of thought the project was worthy because I went to the website and downloaded the project sheet.  During my studio (I use that term loosely!) move and purge, I came across the instructions.   The original instructions definitely needed an update.  I decided to do a remix tutorial.  I hope remixing doesn't break any unwritten blog laws, or breach proper blog etiquette.   I know that this idea is not mine.  Really. I do.  

Before I get started on the nitty-gritty of this project, I want to be perfectly clear: the idea in this tutorial is not mine.  Did I already say that?  The original idea belongs to Alanna George of Colorbok.  She is much more clever than I am.  I've simply: 1) Modified the design to make it easier to construct; 2) Updated the materials to reflect what is on the market today; and, 3) Created a new envelope design since the .pdf template will no longer download to my computer.  That said, here we go...

 

DIY Mini-Handbag Albums: You Go Girl Style

Supplies:

1. 1 sheet of 12x12 double-sided scrap booking card stock

2. 1 Velcro sticky dot

3. paper adhesive

4. embellishments of your choosing (I used paper I punched with a craft punch and foam sticky dots.)

5. photo mounting corners

6. cutting tool, ruler, and something to score paper with (I use a knitting needle.  If you can't knit, you need to use these needles for something!!)

 

Directions:

For Album:

1. Cut a piece from your 12 x 12 card-stock that measures 11 1/2" x 3 5/8".

2. Measure over 2 1/2" on the short side of the paper and score using your scoring tool. (Ima Dork alert: Ignore the placement of my ruler.  The measurement truly is 2 1/2 ''.)                

3. Fold paper on the score line.  Accordion fold the remaining width of the paper. After four accordion folds, you will have a tab left over. The tab will "wrap" around the front of the album. 

4. Open up the accordion folds.  Place four photo mounting corners on a wallet size photo.  Center photo on one of the album "pages".  Press down at corners.  Repeat with three more photos. The photos can also be directly adhered to the album "pages".  I used photo corners so that the photos could be changed and updated without ruining the photos or the album.

Tah-dah. Album is done!

For band to keep album shut:

1.  Cut a 3/4" x 6 1/4" strip of paper. 

2. Wrap the strip around the album, but not too tight.  (Refer to the next picture for a visual.  I put the paper clip on so that I could take the picture without showing my poorly manicured finger friends. The paper clip is not necessary for construction of the album.)

3. Mark a spot where you want the ends to intersect. 

4. At the mark, cut half-way through the band on the top side of one end and on the bottom side of the other end.  Slide ends together at slits.

5. Another option is to simple glue the ends together, but I like how this looks. 

6. Slide band around outside of the album. (Refer to photo below.)

7. Embellish if desired.  (I used a circle that I punched out of paper and a foam sticky dot.)

For mini-envelope box to store album in: 

1. Cut a rectangle that measures 5 3/4" x 7 1/4". 

2. Measure in 1" on both of the long sides of the rectangle and score with a scoring tool.  Measure down 2 1/2" from the top of the rectangle and score.  Measure up 2 1/8" from the bottom of the rectangle and score.  Cut out the rectangles that you created in the corners.  Below is a diagram of the scoring (blue lines) and cutting (red rectangles) that needs to be done.  There is also a picture of my project.  It is hard to see the score lines on the project.   

3. Measure out 1/4" from previous score lines and score again on all four sides.  Trim the top corners of the side flaps of the envelope. Also trim one corner off the fold-over flap on top.  Use the corner you cut off the top flap as a template to cut the corner off the other side.  Again, I have a diagram that shows the scoring (red lines) and cutting (green triangles) that needs to be done. I also have a picture of my project with the cuts and score lines completed. 

4. Fold on all scored lines. 

5. Glue at side flaps. (I used sticky dots.  I'm addicted to these things, but any kind of paper adhesive will do.)     

6. Position the "fuzzy" side of the Velcro dot on the flap.   

7. Place the "gripper" side of the Velcro dot on the "fuzzy" dot you just stuck down.  Carefully fold top flap into position so that the "gripper" dot sticks in the right spot on the envelope.  (Ima Dork alert: No picture. Sorry.)

8. Place album in envelope.  

Viola!  You're done.  Thing of beauty. Joy forever.

This project has reminded me of how much fun it can be to craft with paper.   I do find it amusing that I couldn't resist the paper that looked like Amy Butler fabric.  I also recognize that I MUST NOT START STASHING PAPER!!!!!

I like this project.  The end result is super cute.    I hope you like it, too.  Many thanks to Marie, my blog friend that inspired me to remix this project. 

Enjoy~

Cassie

Oh.  One more thing.  These little albums (without the mini-box envelope) also fit perfectly in Heather Bailey's gift boxes.  I won't remix her tutorial.  I know where to draw the line.  Heather's is perfect just the way it is...