Monday, Monday.

I would like to say that I am so sorry for not posting this past week ~ hubby was home on a plant shutdown (something that they do twice a year) and I generally don't get too much computer time when he's home.  My computer is upstairs and I don't like to be on it too much when family is home. 

Anyway I did get some crafting time in though.  I made a few boxes to hold completed cards in.  I purchased these a LONG time ago and I think that it was from Papertrey Ink, but I could be wrong.

I used some old DP from The Angel Company called Willoughby.  Of course it's got brown in it so it's one of my favorites!

I printed the tab labels up from the computer and then used my Modern Label punch to punch them out, then I cut them in half.  I don't care for my handwriting that's why I did it this way.

The word "Cards" in the from are punch outs that I've had forever and found a use for them.  After I altered the box with all the paper and such I Mod Podged it to protect it.  I love my mod podge.  I actually have 4 of these boxes completed that's how many cards that I have done that are laying around. 

You like?  It's a great way to keep cards in one place so they are not moved around or handled too much.  It's also nice to have so when someone wants a card they can go directly to the spot and pick one out.  Like my DD who always wants a card at the last minute.  Now she can just go to the box and pick one out.

That's all I've got for now ~ I will be back later with a card.  Have a great day!

Some more trackers for you...

Ready for some more card organizers? Here they are.
This one is a little rustic looking, don't you think? I love these papers. They are from Daisy D's and I've been saving them for a while. I figured I don't need to hoard paper any longer, just use it. Maybe someone will get a little enjoyment out of what I make with them.

This one is a little brighter ~ but still fun. For some reason the paper reminds me of golf pants. I don't know why my brain thinks the way it does, it just does.

Remember you can print the inside months off from the SCS tutorial found here.

I did not do mine like the tutorial. I did not use 12" x 12" pages to create pockets inside. I just cut a 8 1/2" x 11" piece of cs for the inside, there are no pockets on each month. I only added one pocket to the back. You can see the inside on the last post, I opened it up to show you.

Does this inspire you? I sure hope so. I'll be back tomorrow with more creations.

My sneeky peeky

Carmen had guessed it, it's a card organizer!!

I just love these. They help me keep track of who's birthday is when. A must when you don't know what the date is most of the time ~ isn't that terrible.

Maybe if you've been a follower of my blog for a while you know that I made some of these last year. I loved mine so much that I thought that I'd make some for the fair that Betty and I are doing. I know that I'd love to get one Ü
What I generally do first is take some of the "chipboard" that hubby brought home from work and cut it down to my desired length and width. I think that these are 6" x 7 3/4". I take out my trusty mod podge and slather it on and cover it with paper. The paper that I used on this was from My Mind's Eye. I generally take my scrapbooks and set it on top of the organizer and let it dry good overnight. The next day I add the pages and make the holes with my BIA.

I couldn't help it, I had to make one that was with browns.

For the inside I stamped the SU! medallion stamp and the swirls from The Angel Company Butterfly swirls set. The pages were printed off from the SCS tutorial found here.

I hope that you like them ~ I will show more later.

I've been a little busy...

I've been just a tad bit busy. You all remember that our friend Joyce is here from California? Well there is a lot that she's missed over the past year ~ mainly all the fun creations that we do and she's not here to take part in. Well yesterday I decided to make her a couple of the things that we've made that she's missed out on. The card organizer and the card tracker.


She had been eyeballing Mom's card organizer and I asked her "pick a color". I sometimes do that, then I just go from there. She picked burgundy, so I looked thru my paper and this is what I came up with.

I pulled out some burgundy linen cardstock that I had and the Parisian Summer DP that I was keeping. I had some thin chipboard that hubby brought home from work and my Mod Podge (great link, take a look at it!!) ~ I love that stuff! I covered the chipboard and covered it with the DP and ribbon. I also took a piece of the burgundy paper and cut out a top note die and placed it on the top.

When we originally made these we followed the directions on SCS and they had pockets for each month. Well, we don't use the pockets because we have so many birthdays that they would not fit in all the pockets. We store our cards elsewhere. So I just used the burgundy paper and only made one page with pockets in the back of the book. I left it pretty blank so Joyce can decorate it how she wants. I did decorate the back pocket pages because I wanted to bind it and it was easier to stamp the pockets before binding it. She's a butterfly lover so I knew that I could not go wrong so I used my TAC set Butterfly Swirls.

Next I made a card tracker for her. The card organizer is to add birthdays to so you don't forget. The card tracker is more for tracking holidays. If you write down the holiday that you sent the card out then you know that you sent it. You can also track if someone has sent you a card too.

I basically did the same thing with these covers. I took the thin chipboard and covered it with Mod Podge and added the paper to it. I used paper from SU! Bella Rose collection - that's my favorite! I did decorate this one up a bit because like I said, it's my favorite paper and I just had to have fun with it! Once again I used the top note die and I added some ribbon, buttons and rub on's from American Crafts.

Yes, she loved them!!

I hope this is enough for today. I did get a late start today. I don't know why I'm so tired in the mornings - I can't get out of my own way. I really don't sleep well at night, I know that could be the problem. But I'm not spending too much time on the computer today, I need to craft! And I've got a bum sewing machine I've got to tackle, oh yes - laundry too!

Have a great day!
Hugs,

Joani

EDITED TO ADD: I printed the inside pages of the Card Tracker at Mini Scrapbooks. I have the link posted in my sidebar if you'd like to check it out.

Good Morning - and Happy TGIF eve Ü

Good morning! I hope that the weather is treating you well, where ever you may be. This morning I woke up to some snow falling lightly. Then it stopped and the sun came out. Now it looks gloomy. So I don't know what will happen next.

I've been a little busy the past couple of days. I want to share with you what I've done. Remember those card trackers that I made up a while back? The ones with the months and you fill in the days? Well I finally made one for my SIL. Since she's been bit by the card making bug I thought that I'd make one for her.

She was on the phone the other day and mentioned someones birthday and she said "I better write that down" and I remembered that I wanted to make one of these for her and never got around to it ~ so I made the time.

The pages are 12" x 12" that you score at 4" turn the paper a 1/4 turn and score again at 6". You fold the 4" flap up and fold it in the middle at 6" and you've made your pocket. Really simple. You do this with 6 pieces of 12" x 12" paper and you have the pages of the book. Add a sheet of the printed monthly pages and it's good to use forever. I always write things in pencil so when I add or delete I don't have to use white out.

The stamps that I used for the inside pages were from TAC. They are from the Butterfly Swirls and Simply Devine sets. The paper used on the front of the organizer was from TAC's Amelia collection. I used various Primas, crystal brads, buttons & stickles to decorate it up with. I sure hope that she likes it.

Well - I'm off for today. I hope that I'll have time tomorrow morning to post ~ but Betty is stopping by early so I might not. But I'll be back, promise - with more to show you!

Have a great day!
Hugs,
Joani

Only 8 more days, is your shopping done?

Only 8 more day's til Christmas everyone, do you have your shopping done? The past couple of months have been kind of, well how do I say it? Not too good. I'm just not in the spirit this year. I am normally shopping like a fool, singing Christmas songs all day long, drinking a wee bit of the spirits. But this year, nope. Now I really don't know why. I'm sure part of it is the loss of my Ginger (who by the way would of been 9 on Christmas day) but it just does not "feel" like Christmas. Am I the only one who feels like it was just the 4th of July? This year has flown by! My Mom has always said that the years go by faster the older you get ~ maybe that's true. But it's just not feeling like Christmas.

Even though I'm not too into the spirit this year, I've been crafting like it is.... I want to share a few things with you.

Remember a while back when I told you Betty was here and we made those card organizers? Well, I just finally finished mine! Now that I am done with all my cards, I thought that I'd take a break from holly and snowmen and finish it. So here goes. They are really easy to make, and you have to have some type of binding machine. Either the Bind it All or a Rubicoil. I found the project over at SCS, if you go HERE you can see the step by step directions - and find the calendar print outs too! If you go HERE you can see lots of other samples that people have made.

You will need 6 12" x 12" sheets of cardstock and two pieces of cs 6" x 7 3/4" for the covers. Score all of them at 4 1/4" from the bottom, turn it 1/4 turn the paper and score it at 6". You will now use a bone folder to make your score's crisp. Fold the 4 1/4" fold up, this will create the pocket. At this point you can decorate your sheets by either rubber stamping it or with paper like I did. Decorate your cover however you would like, then bind it together with your binding system. It really is not too difficult, it is just time consuming.


I'm thinking of making one of these for my SIL, and one for my cousin. I'm not sure that they will be done for Christmas ~ but I still want to try.

Oh, and I did not share with you what Betty brought over for us yesterday! She made the little mini pizza boxes and they were filled with Maple Fudge. OMGoodness, it is so yummy!!

I'm sorry for the fuzzy picture, but I had to show you. Betty told me that she got the snowman and reindeer off of some bags that she found on a shopping trip. I am SO the same way. I constantly look at things and think "hmmm. What could I use that for?" As a matter of fact, I've got my SIL saving things before she tosses them out to see if I can use it.

Well, I'm off for now. I hope you enjoyed my blog today. I'll be back to show more tomorrow!

Have a great rest of the day, and stay warm!
Hugs,
Joani

Wish you were me??

I just had to show you what I've been blessed with!! I'm so excited I can't contain myself.

Sweet Mary Beth over at Stampin Space was so kind enough to send me this RAK yesterday! I was in the middle of a play day with Betty when the knock came at the door. The mailman brought me this goodie package!!! Of course everything that I was doing had to stop at once. I really don't know what I did to deserve this but it sure put a smile on my face!!!

I am actually still in awe. For one, I am so excited to receive the die cuts. I don't have a big shot and those are sooooooo cool! And look at the buttons and ribbon. Even the little clips! When I opened it and saw that awesome wallet Betty said "we've got to make one of those!!" That's what we want to do on our next get together!! The lunch tin is so cute. Who would of thunk to do that? I just happen to have ribbon that needs a home! Now that hard part. Putting it on my desk and looking at it, not using anything because I don't want to use it up Ü

So Mary Beth, from the bottom of my heart THANK YOU! That was so kind of you!

Yesterday when Betty stopped by we wanted to work on some card organizers. I had one similar to it years ago that I purchased from Current. It was actually a bill paying organizer. So Betty came by with her Bind-it-All that she had ordered months ago and never used. Well when it came to using it, she handed it to me. Great - I don't know how to use it!! I did get thru the 1st organizer fine and dandy. Then when it came to Mom's turn I totally blew it! I did hers 4 times before I stopped!!! I kept getting it backwards. Then I tried mine, and first try it came out right!! So I did Mom's again and got it right. It really is not complicated ~ I think that I was trying too hard!!

I did not get it finished, but I will this weekend so I can show it to you. The are really a fun little project to do ~ and I think that they are perfect for gifts!!

I've got a few things to do so I should get off the computer! But I will be back ~ you can count on that!

Hugs,
Joani