U Fold Box Birthday Card

Our youngest sister's birthday is this weekend! I have been looking for a different type of card to make for her and came across a tutorial for the U- Fold Box Card on Pinterest!  I just love it!   I was able to use my stamps/dies from My Favorite Things-Recipe for Happiness.  That would be the Chef along with some of the utensils.  I also used the stamps from Lawn Fawn- Sprinkled with Joy-  the oven along with some jars.  

I did make the oven larger by cutting the oven and mounting it on white cardstock.  The stove I made using some paper clips I had and adhering them with Crystal Effects.  Oh, I made the Chef taller by cutting longer legs for  him....

Check out Tammy's great tutorial!  I love how she made this into a tool bench and dressing table!  So cute!

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/48835977192938276/



The card box does lie flat as you can see from the picture below.  The recipient just has to push the stove top down to form the oven.

Lastly,  here are a couple of pictures of the back of the card.  Plenty of room to decorate.  I used some stickers I had in my stash to finish off the card.  I think I may make another one but I am trying to think what else I could do for a scene.   Hmmm..... barbeque? 

Hope your day is fun!

More Saucy!

Wow!  It seems like forever since I last posted anything to my blog!  I wanted to show you what I have been up to since my last post.   I am working on another "Saucy" Album!  You might remember that I shared a link to Country Craft Creations site last month.  I joined thru Facebook to get access to all their wonderful tutorials - and they are free!  There is a site called "Coffee Talk Creations"- and this site has a Shop Now button that takes you to where you can purchase some of the items in their videos.   For example, I did buy the Art Glitter Glue and I just love the stuff! 

Here is that link-

https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=coffee%20talk%20with%20country%20craft%20creations

I followed Tamra's instruction but did change a couple of things.  Instead of the pocket on the right side of the album- I made a Waterfall! 

On the left side of the album- I didn't do the pockets that Tamra made- I made a flip out booklet.  Once I have completed my album - I will post more pictures.  I am using Graphic 45's Precious Memories collections.  I am also using some of the Mother Goose Collection from Graphic 45.  Love both of these wonderful collections!

I haven't been spending all my time in my Craft Room.  I went a couple of times and picked strawberries!  I froze a bunch but we had strawberry shortcake many times - we actually got tired of eating strawberries.  Now, I am waiting to hear that the raspberries are ready to be picked at our local Pick your own farm!

My husband and I celebrated our 24th wedding anniversary on July 2nd!  I can't believe how fast the years have sped by!!   He is such a sweetie and brought me some roses to surprise me! 

I have made it a goal to try and take a walk for at least 30 minutes every day- weather permitting.  Yesterday, I made it to 45 minutes and discovered that Topsham has a little park just down the road from us.  It is small but a very  pretty park.  They do have a little building that has a couple of picnic tables so you can have a lunch there.  I just loved it!   I have included a couple of pictures I took of this scenic little park. 

Sorry for the long post!  July has been very busy and the rest of the month is going to fill up fast.    Since I retired in March- it has been like a whirlwind.  I have really had fun doing things that I never had time for before!  I am looking forward to enjoying the rest of the summer season!  Hope everyone is having a great summer!

Alice in Wonderland Accordion Mini Album

Yup, I made another Accordion Mini Album!  I love these things!  So easy to make and really holds lots of pictures!  I will be giving this one away.  I do love the colors!  I didn't decorate the front or back that much.  I really love the paper on it's own.  Kim's instructions are great!   Here is the link to Kim's instructions -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nh_6tga1_Bs&t=2388s

I did a little video so I could show you all the inserts-

So many quotes from Alice in Wonderland make it a perfect album for a Bride to Be!

Some of the paper is from Graphic 45 but it was with the Halloween theme.  Most of the paper seemed quite dark and I didn't want it to have a solemn feel.  I used a bunch of paper from my stash and some I got from the internet! 

I do hope the recipient will like it!  I am sure I will be making more of these fun albums!  We went to the island (North Haven) last weekend with my sister and her husband and my hubby.   I wanted to share just a few pictures.  The weather was perfect!  The picture below is the harbor at North Haven.   I love the view as the ferry gets ready to dock.

This year, the island is full of Lupine!  So beautiful!

We did visit several farms to see their gardens.  I love the Alium.  I think that is how you spell it?  It is such an unusual flower.

We had lunch at the Landing on the deck.  What a perfect day to sit outside.  The Landing is right across from the Ferry terminal.  The food was excellent!  The picture below is my daughter, Callie and my twin sister, Connie.  I think the guys are getting our food.

  All in all, it was a fun day!  It takes about an hour to come across from Rockland but really worth the trip!  Sorry for the long post!   My summer is starting out fun!   Hope yours is too!

French Country Accordion Mini Album

A couple of weeks ago, I won Graphic 45 French Country 12 x 12 paper collection from Country Craft Collection!  You can find this group on Facebook and once you join ( for free) you will be able to see all their fabulous tutorials!  They even have a store where you can order supplies!  I love it!
Tammy Merrill does a lot of the tutorials but the above tutorial is from Kim Rannells.  Her design was for a Christmas album-which I love - but I decided to use my new winnings!  I did post the above video on the Scrapbookers of Country Craft Creations ( on Facebook ) to show them what I had made with the paper collection.   Check out Kim's tutorial here-

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/48835977192579894/

Here are a few more pictures of this cute Mini album!

I am in the process of making another Accordion Mini Album and will post those pictures as soon as I  have finished it!  I hope everyone had a wonderful Father's Day!

Baby Shower Cards

I haven't made Baby Shower cards in a while.  I forgot how much I love working on these !! The paper on this onesie is from Graphic 45.  I used Martha Stewart's punch to make the "ruffles".  I have 2 Grandsons, who I love dearly, but I love working on cards for little girls too!!  I love how the ruffles sort of stand up!

I used the same sentiment for both cards.  It was really fun decorating this onesie!

I have made this crib card before- in fact, I did a tutorial on how I made it in a previous post. I still  love making these cards too!  This one is for a little girl baby.

You can see the crib is full of stuffed animals and baby bottles and pacifiers- baby stuff!  I love the fact that this card will fold and go into an envelope for mailing.  Probably cost more but it will mail.

I also made my sister, Andrea, an anniversary card.  She and her hubby have been married 25 years!!  Really something to celebrate!  I got the style of the card below from some of the Dutch Doobadoo cards I have been seeing on Pinterest.   It will also fold and can be mailed!  This is a little different but I think I will make another one with a little scene in it.    You should check out those Doobadoo cards on Pinterest.  They are really cute!  I think I just like saying the name of the company!!

As you can see - I have been busy in my Craft Room!  I have been in my garden too!  So busy!!  Not sure where the time has gone!  Retirement is wearing me out- but I love it!!  The days seem to fly by!  Below is a picture of the remaining birdhouses that I painted.  That was a fun project!  I may move them up several rungs- don't want the neighborhood cat getting any ideas!  Take care!

Succulent Garden

I purchased the Succulent dies from Stampin Up awhile ago but really haven't played with them too much.  I love Succulents so I decided it was time to see what I could do with them.  I love the way they came out.  Now this grouping has some artificial succulent plants in it. I might make a few more to put in the back of the wooden crate to make it seem fuller.  I did  use Stampin Up's So Detailed die in cream to line the edge of my wooden crate.  That is easier to see in the photo below. 

I wanted to try and make the small card stock box carton ( I had seen several on Pinterest)  to use for just a couple of succulents.  I just love that purple color!

I am loving those Succulent dies and can see me using them for gifts and cards! Below is a picture

of the dies that I used.  I might experiment with a few more colors too! 

I hope everyone has a fabulous Memorial Day weekend! Enjoy!

Garden Spot

I titled this post "Garden Spot" because I have been sooo busy outside working on the gardens around the house.  The weather has been so nice!  I will show you some pictures but first I wanted to share an album I made in my craft room!  Sometimes it is so hard to work in my craft room when the weather is nice outside!  But I fell in love with this album.  I first saw it on My Sisters Scrapper blog!  Ginger made several of these albums but she is using them for recipes.  I wanted mine to be for pictures. Here is the link to Ginger's recipe album.  Ginger also shows the link for Tamra Merrill's free instructions.  You join Tamra's  group on Facebook and can see all the cool free instruction videos she does.  She also has a great store!  I hope to buy some of her paper from her line for my albums! 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pk-MhjTbr5g&feature=youtu.be

Check out the video below to see more of the album that I made!  Sorry about the audio- I think I was bumping into my camera!  Next time I won't have it so close to me!

Since I have retired, I wanted to work on the area around our Garden Shed.  The previous owners used this area for a playground for their Grand kids.  It is a challenge to plant in this area since it has a very strong "tarp" type lining about 6 inches down that I have to cut through in order to plant anything.   Hubby made the obelisk that I spray painted purple.  I have planted a Butterfly plant at the base.  I still have more plants to add. It's a work in progress!

Below, I added plants to this chandelier that I found at a flea market.  I spray painted this purple too!  It has lovely crystals hanging from it!  I love when the sun hits those!

I also spray painted an old chair I have used before.  This time pink! I love the pink  New Guinea Impatiens in it!  This is hanging on the front deck.

Lastly, I wanted to show my Pallet Garden that my hubby made for me last year.  I can't seem to grow herbs in it since last year they dried up on me.  I couldn't seem to water them enough.    I think the back deck is too hot for them.  So this year I am planting flowers.  We will see how that goes.

So you can see I have been busy!  I do want to make another photo album.  But the outdoors always calls to me this time of year.  I am working on a Succulent Garden using Stampin Up's succulent dies.  I will show pictures when it's done.  Memorial Day is coming!  Hope you make yours fun!