Monday, April 30, 2012

friendly box

Hey everyone!  Well, did you do the Week In The Life last week?  I know, I didn't supply very much inspiration around here.  Sorry about that.  I was so pooped every night that I never got on here to post anything. 

I did get my Week In The Life done though.  Well, I got all the pictures and documentation done.  This week I'll be putting it all together.  I got alot better about getting the camera out.  AND, I found the secret to getting shots of my family.............turn the sound off on the camera.  They never knew a thing!  Sometimes, (not often enough) I come up with a good idea. 

So while you're waiting for me to get that together, I have a project idea to show you. 




Medallion and Fabulous Phrases stamps.  Crumb cake, vellum, whisper white and old olive cardstock.  Whisper white craft and black Stazon inks.  Big shot, lable framelits, fun flowers die, little leaves die, paper doily die, hemp, bakers twine, tissue paper, brights buttons, polka dot embossing folder, 3/4" and 1" circle punches.


Isn't this a cute little box?  Final measurements are: 3.5" x 3.25" x  1.5".

I was going to exchange a punch for a customer and it came right before we went to Oregon.  Since she was so patient, I decided it would be nice if I made it pretty before I delivered it.

Here is how you make the box:



I used my handy dandy Simply Scored Tool.  Now, you don't have to have this to make the box, it just makes it quick and easy.

On the 8.5" side you need to score it at 1 1/2" and 7".  On the 11" side score it at: 1 1/2", 4 3/4", 6 1/4" and 9 1/2".

Then snip into the folds.  I forgot to take a pic of that step.  Here, let me see if I can label this.  Hold on.................




Cut on the white lines.  Although I'm sure you'll cut them straighter than my sad lines here.

If you want to stamp on your box, now is the time to do it.  You can't see it here but I stamped the Medallion in white craft ink on what will be the top of the box.  Grab that Medallion stamp while you can, its being retired.




 Take your most awesome Tombow Multi Glue and put the sides together.  This will be the bottom.




Then glue your lid together like so.




I used a 1" circle punch to punch out a place to grab whatever is inside.  You'll see that the punch fits very snuggly inside here.  I had to punch this little notch so I could get ahold of the punch to take it out.  I hadn't done it yet on this pic but I punched out a notch on the lid too.




Side angle



I got lucky that the punch fit just perfectly.




Then I made a cute little tag to go with it.  I cut the doily out of tissue paper.  Then I just ripped (gently) the overhang.  I left it like that because............well, I don't really know why I left it like that. 

This label was the 3rd in from the middle framelit.




A view from the top. 




View from the side.  It is a sturdy little box and didn't take long to make it.  I hope my friend liked it. 

Alrighty then, I've got to get dinner going.  I'm so glad Week In The Life is over.  I love when its all finished but it is a bugger to get done.  I'll show you when I get it done. 

Thanks so much for stopping by.

Blessings, b.

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

WITL Day 1

Day 1 of Week In The Life 2012 is over.  Did you start?  Check out Ali's blog and get inspired.

I didn't remember about it until the afternoon so I came up short on the pictures.....again.  That was my main problem last time too.  I feel like I take alot but then I hear of people taking 100 or more pics and I think, "Geez, I kinda suck.  I only took 8." 

So I'm trying to be better today.  But I only have 4 so far.  We have a busy night ahead so I should get more than 8.......I hope.

I went back and looked at my WITL from last year and I LOVE IT!    I'm so glad I did it.  Just spurs me on to do an even better job this time around. 

I started out using Ali's journal pages.  Ummmmm.......not sure I like that format just yet.  Last year I just used notebook paper and it was fine.  What I've done so far is just white out the times on the one page and use the prompts on the other page.  Here is what I'm talking about:




You can see here where I started using the times on the left side but as the day went on I just whited them out.  I have alot more content that way.  I think thats good, especially when I'm short on pics. 

You can also see that I started writing on Sunday's page.  Ooops.

Here are a few pics from the day:










Just a normal day at the Ol' Prout Ranch. 

See, its easy.  Even I can do it.  So go get started.  I'll check in with you tomorrow. 

Thanks for stopping by.

Blessings, b.

Monday, April 23, 2012

sicker than a dog

Why do we use that saying?  Is feeling like a sick dog the sickest a person can get?  I don't think so.  I don't feel like a dog either.  I just feel sick.  Like a cold/congested/sore throat/cough kind of sick.  Blech!

So I turn around and another week has gone by.  Sorry about that.  I haven't been as productive as I would like.  I did get my March Project Life done.  Well, mostly done.  I wanted to make a scrap page of my birthday but the one and only picture I have is horrible and I'm having a hard time doing anything with it.  So we'll wait until I feel better and we'll see what happens.



Classic numbers retired.  Delightful daffodil, rose red, poppy parade, basic black, old olive cardstock.  Poppy parade and black Stazon inks.  Big shot, simple alpha die, small oval punch (retired), 3/4" circle punch, wood sheets, naturally serif alpha die. 

This is the whole 2 page spread.  I had A LOT of stuff this month.  I swear it took me forever to figure out how to do the month card this time around.  Mainly just because I get interrupted a lot and I lose any b  vf b vcdrf  (see!  Thats 17 bugging me right now) 

what was I saying?  Oh yeah, I easily lose my train of thought. 

On the right there is an 8.5x11 insert with an attendance award for Grace.  On the back of that will go my birthday scrap page.




See the number 5 there?  I kept thinking of using a Scrabble piece but I was too lazy to go look through my extra pieces.  So I made something similar.  I stamped the 5 in Stazon on the wood sheet and then took the lid off of my chapstick and stamped the rim in Poppy Parade (that color is retiring May 31......so sad) and stamped around the 5.  Perfect size. 




No extra stamping goodies on this page.  Just life stuff.  See that pic on the left in the middle?  So many people use their Instax cameras that give these cute little Polaroid type pics. 

I don't have one of those. 

So I faked it.  I printed out a wallet size and then just left a larger white border on one side. 

Thats something to remember:  I don't have Photoshop or anything like that so I just use my Windows program that came with Windows 7.  It ony allows me to print regular size prints.  Nothing fancy here folks.  I know, obviously Beth.

Alrighty then. I have every family member within touching distance around me right now, I guess I'd better get dinner going. 

Thanks for being patient with me. 

Oh yeah, before I go, Ali Edwards is starting her Week In The Life this week.  I am doing it with her and I want you to do it too.  You don't have to start today if you don't want.  You can start whenever, just start.  Thats all that matters.  You can see mine from last year here.  I'll update you on it tomorrow........I think......I hope.........I'll try. 


Thanks for stopping by. 

Blessings. b.

Sunday, April 15, 2012

bye bye birdie

Hidey Ho!  Well, the retired list came out today.  All I can say is, WOW!  A 2 page list.  I'm losing 21 sets.  Usually I lose maybe 5 or 6.  So 21 is quite the shock. 


Good Bye!

2 of them I just got and haven't even inked up yet!  I got them both for free but still. 



This is what I have left.  9 sets.  9.  Thats it. 

Needless to say I'll be going through my older sets and selling off a bunch.  Once the new catalog comes out on June 1st, I'll be updating my "for sale" list big time. 

Here is a card I haven't showed you yet:


Season of Friendship and woodgrain.  Marina Mist, crumb cake, whisper white, old olive, wild wasabi, lucky limeade and early espresso cardstock.  Early espresso, marina mist, lucky limeade and crumb cake inks.  Big shot, label framelits, 1/2" circle punch, 3/4" circle punch, sponges and dimensionals. 

I really like this card.  It has a 4.25 x 4.25 base and the framelit sticks over the top but it still fits in a regular envelope.  Cute!



See that cute little nest?  I used the 1/2" circle punch and the little birdie fit just perfectly.  In fact this little birdie is on the retired list.  I sure hope they give us a great/wonderful/superduper tree set in the new catalog. 

Alrighty then, I got lots done this weekend but I still didn't get through my to-do list.  I did work on my Project Life for March, I'll get it done this week. 

Thanks so much for stopping by and hanging out.  Don't forget to check out the Retired List.

Blessings, b.

Friday, April 13, 2012

home again

Hello people!  I hope you all had a wonderful Easter.  We were gone.  I had hoped to get some posts scheduled to go up here but I ran out of time.  And everytime I'm gone more than a few days, it takes me forever to get back in the swing of things.  I'm just now coming up for air.

So where did I go?  Oregon.  Beautiful Oregon.  There is moss on all the trees and there are daffodils EVERYWHERE.  On the freeways, in the city, in the middle of nowhere..........its like the daffodil fairy just sprinkled Oregon with daffodils.  Speaking of the city......whoever designed downtown Portland was on something.  OY!  It would take us 3 tries everytime just to get somewhere.

We checked out a few colleges for 17.  I'm trying to gear up for the separation.  I don't know if I can handle it................

Here is one of the projects I was hoping to get up for you:

 
Apothecary Art and Elements of Style.  Crumb cake, daffodil delight and whisper white cardstock.  Black Stazon, daffodil delight, old olive and crumb cake inks.  White satin ribbon, big shot, label framelits, polka dot embossing folder, pearls and dimensionals.

I don't remember if I showed you this one or not.  Its basically the same as this one:




What I wanted to show you was the "fake-out" on the ribbon.  Lookee:




Run some tape across the middle of the base.  My precious Tombow Multi Glue does not work well for this.



Lay some ribbon on top and make the ends cute.  Its hard to see here but I cut them into fishtails.  I'm don't know what others call them, so fishtails it is..........for now.  I cut the base a 1/4" shorter so the ends could go off the edge and they would still fit in the envelope.




Then cut 2 pieces of ribbon, about 2 inches long.




Put a little tape on the end and fold it over. 




Put a little tape on the flat piece and then stick the loop on there.




Are you beginning to see it?



Wa La!  Instant glamour, and you didn't use a whole bunch of ribbon.

Okie dokie, its time to get dinner started.  I'll be working on my Project Life for March this weekend and hopefully getting some things planted.  I feel very behind. 

Thanks so much for stopping by and checking in.

Blessings, b.