Nesting and Hatching: Memorandum Monday

It's Eastering around here. It's always a pleasure to pull out stuff you made in years passed and enjoy it all over again! The little cloche & scallopy glass bowl are past ReStore finds and got paired together to show off these disco ball eggs. I made some similar but with flowers and nests for my friend Lisa over at You Made Me Ink ages and ages ago. Maybe we'll luck out and she'll show us her Easter Tree at some point.

To be honest most of the weekend involved a hot date with the couch, lots of tea & a box of tissues. I am thinking it's allergies early due to the lack of real winter, but I can't honestly say having gotten a degree in rocks vs. one that involves one in doctoring. I did my best to binge watch Nurse Jackie though to make up for lack of a medical degree....somehow I don't feel smarter, just well rested!

Due to the funk, I was less than motivated to do much. THE MAN continued digging the hole I started Friday. We are trying to locate the laundry room pipe that we believe is undersized and replace it. It's not glamorous work, so we'll skip photos of that. Needless to say we learned that the pipe wasn't where we thought it would be, so it's on to Plan B. More on all of that later as it will morph into the laundry room & half bath redos. I am not allowing to get myself excited about all that at this point in time because the yucky part is first. And when I say redos, it will mainly mean new paint and hopefully a vintage metal sink in the laundry room. Fun times!

Thanks for having us, Miss Sian over at From High in the Sky, for Memorandum Monday!

Upcycled Layout for Teri

I got texted the cutest picture of a little upcycled milk container the other day. At least I think it's a milk container. It's overwhelmingly cute, kinda like these two little people who belong to my friend Teri! I asked for photos so I could make her a page!

I printed one photo on plain white paper and then made a huge die cut! Love how it's like a mini me! Then I framed out the other photo with a ton of pretty things like those paper roses and some hearts...

Can you see the little tiny silver star there on the heart? Yeah, they are those pretty stars we used to get on our papers in elementary school...snagged those at the Restore the other day! I have a whole box I can hoard...now I'm in search of the gold ones...and those scratch and sniff stickers...

Love this layout! Can't wait to get this in the hands of my friend!

Happy Hump Day!

Vintage Sewing Drawer Organzier

I mentally pounced and squealed when I found this sewing drawer at the Corning Restore for $4. I loved the little vintage curved front and fancy woodwork. Of course it got a nice fancy glass handle when I got home. At the time, I hadn't a clue what I was going it use it for, but it was MINE!

Turns out it's perfect for holding those Scraptastic Kits I've been working through, a few projects waiting in the wings, and my favorite stamp!

Totally dig it! In fact, I have my eyes out for a second one...Wish me luck!

Panda Pocket Letter & Killing a Kit

I have subscribed to Scraptastic Club for like forever. Since I tend to be a paper hoarder and 'cause I'm not working, I actually stopped my subscription for next month. This of course doesn't mean I will stop creating. You should see my paper stash...It's some what out of control at the moment! I am hoping the free time & lack of a monthly kit will help get the stash busted a bit.

I do try to use every little bit of the kit and in the same month I get them. With the holidays, I'm behind. One kit mainly contained scraps and one entire whole piece of paper. Usually I like most everything, but this particular piece of paper didn't make me happy. So I cut it into little cards and used it up! With little bits peeking out behind washi tape, splatters, and those pretty white titles that come in the kit, I'm in love!

Totally dig it when you can cut something and it fits across two differet pieces yet looks pretty on it's own...that World Traveler tag fits the bill! That came from Singapore & Yvonne and since this Pocket Letter may just be flying out of the US to a friend in another country...it makes even more sense.

You will have to indulge me on one last peek at all of the little cards on my tray...against the snow. So pretty!

Happy Tuesday!

Memorandum Monday: With a Little Help from My Friends

I made french toast this weekend for the kids for dinner. THE MAN was away at Poker Weekend in Pennsylvania so it was just us chickens. Remember that from last year? I just enjoyed looking at the layout all over again while writing this post...

I was a big hero making breakfast for dinner. It reminded me though of the last Sayre breakfast that I attended. Our Senior Engineer made french toast. Mine was cold since nobody bothered to tell me it started at 7 vs 8. I assumed they "accidentally" forgot to tell me so they would have more bacon. Jack asses.

Don't miss Sayre or my old job. The office manager always reminded me of a monkey with a hand grenade. Since you never knew when he would pull the pin out, going there always made me slightly anxious. Thankfully I didn't get to see the explosion as lack of work laid me off. I reread a couple of posts I had written about work. The one on mice was funny, the one on my boobs not so much. Like I said, don't miss it.

Since THE MAN and I are planners and I knew work was getting slow, we have Option A, B, C, and D. Looking forward to seeing what actually unfolds and where I end up. I am right where I need to be, I just have to be patent and be open to reinventing myself. It would be easier if the industry I am in hadn't taken a down turn, but when life hands you lemons? Make a layout on lemonaide?

I told myself the last time I got laid off (had a kid in my belly then so 13 plus years ago) that I'd do a way better job at being unemployed and actually enjoy it. I have been enjoying it. I've had lots of adventures so far. Figured out who were friends and who weren't. Have had a lot of lunches out with friends and potential new bosses. In the scheme of doing something hard, this is on the easier end of things. It's not like I have to mourn losing a spouse or a sister like several ladies I know, or move my family to a new country, or even lose a pet.  The other day we had a nice little storm with freezing rain and I jumped on the tractor and figured out how to clean my own driveway.

I felt all kinds of empowered.

In a weird twist of how things work in my world, I have added my blog on one of my resumes. I'm interested in a more creative job this time 'round if I can pull it off. Wouldn't it be cool that something I've been doing on my own for me for the last five or so years helps me get my next gig?

And you my friends are also keeping me sane. Your fun little comments on my blog make my email ding and then make me smile. I started my blog up North so I'd stay creative and it's become a huge part of who I am and what makes me happy!

Hugs and Happiest of Mondays to you! Wish me luck!

And many thanks Sian for hosting Memorandum Monday so I have an excuse to write more, which is also something I totally love!

Mixed Media Seam Binding Flower for THE CUTTING CAFE

Lexi passed along a lovely purple flower which I trimmed down for this mixed media piece. I used a cutting/digital file from THE CUTTING CAFE called Sentiments and Stems. I really liked printing right on the water color and on the green vintage seam binding cardboard! Huge thanks Lexi for hooking me up with an awesome background!

To print on the cardboard, I first ran a sheet of regular paper through the printer with the flower. Then I lightly adhered the cardboard to the paper and ran it through again. Worked great! Check out those cute little leaves! They come in the same file and you just cut them out!

Loved using up some scrap paper and some washi. Love that gold shimmer!

THE CUTTING CAFE file Sentiments and Stems comes with a lot of different options! I only picked one but wanted to make them all! Hope you get a chance to check it out!

Happy Thursday!

Oh Owl Sticks!

I have been DYING to do something with those candle sticks I painted the other day. Since I rarely turn candle sticks into well, candlesticks...this is a bit of a change for me!

Love the shimmer of that paint! The  fabulous owls were made from clear stamps called From Owl of Us that are sold over at THE CUTTING CAFE SHOP. I know you are wondering why they have red eyes....hold tight and I'll show you!

Little heart gems! Aren't they sweet! I embossed them with sparkly black and then used water color pencils to color in the owls.

Look at them look at each other! I think they are saying, look at that snow! We finally got some!

Happy Hump Day!

Pocket Letter Love

I have totally gotten addicted to these! I think it's due to my love of using up scraps! And all the fun little details you can add...This pocket letter was mailed off to a friend who is struggling at work. I wrote something encouraging on the back. ;-)

Totally love that vintage looking rose I used along with all the trendy arrows and that sweet banner!

The other thing that has got me excited are those little cups! Lisa over at Life of a BZ scrapper hooked me up with those! Love the glittery red paper! So pretty! I just free handed on a top and then lined it with glitter. Yum!

One more shot where you can see the edges of that big ole silver tray I just had to have...what a great prop!

Hope my friend enjoys these! Happy Tuesday!

Memorandum Monday: Out for a Rip

Valentine's Day must make men crazy. Having spent an hour or two wandering around the big box store that shall not be named on Saturday...I saw men young and old carrying boxes of chocolate, potted plants, and roses. I must have missed the dude at the door collecting man cards because these guys all looked at least slightly sheepish and entirely awkward. One dude tossed a plant in disgust all while talking to himself...he said THAT IS IT I AM NOT SPENDING ANOTHER DOLLAR...leaving me to wonder exactly what the scoop was.

THE MAN decided he should take Suzy the Suzuki for a ride vs any purchasing shenanigans..despite the fact it's been below freezing for days now and ye ole Suzy there doesn't have doors or a heater....While out on our trails, Suzy decided she was not finishing the ride. Since it was getting dark (and colder) she was left out there for the night.

Bright and early on Valentine's Day THE MAN was out trying to get her started. No dice. I offered to help four times but he said he could handle it. I wasn't gunna argue since it's COLD OUT THERE. Looked out the laundry room window and Suzy was at the the top of the hill. The tractor was holding her from rolling down the hill. (Or down the hill, over the bank, and into the intersection if you have a vivid imagination). There is No Way one person can drive a tractor and also steer a vehicle at the same time. So donned my wool hat & gloves that I brought with me from the north over my wet hair and threw on a heavy coat. Showed up just in time to help tug Suzy down the hill with the tractor, THE MAN steered Suzy, and Luke spotted us all the way around the house and into the garage.

Got off the tractor and discovered my hair was frozen in a huge chunk. It went nicely with my running nose. The rest of the hair under the hat was actually dry but molded into hat hair. I had a fair bit of primping to do to get ready to go out to lunch for our annivesary!

Aside from learning that Valentine's Day makes men crazy? I also learned that in sub zero temps grabbing a cart from the parking lot is cold on the hands (wear mittens) but also great because you can skip the sanitzing stuff at the front of the store since the germs are all dead! Fun times!

Waving over at Sian who is the Memorandum on Monday girl!

12 tags of 2016-February & One Little Quote

Why, happy Valentine's Day to you! It's an extremely cold day here in NY but we are staying warm! It's also my 18th Wedding annivesary! So happy day to us! Not sure what our plans are...we might head off to see the Star Wars movie...the youngest is named...well after Luke Skywalker...so we might be fans...

Thought I'd pop in with my second Tim Tag. His February tag was quite inspiring although I went quite a different way with it. I love his style, but then I like to create with more color I think!

I did start with the same stencil background. It's my favorite and probably the only one I actually own from his line. ;-)



I also used a lot of gold! And a real photo of us cutting our cake, but you can't see the cake of course! I made up for it with all the frosting & glitter on this tag! Also popped on a little gold cherub I had that is playing a horn on top of a rose with some velvet leaves. Didn't have a heart stencil so cut the photo in the shape of a heart!

Totally digging all the crinkled ribbon! I am making these tags to fit together so later they can all be displayed together with a common quote. I'm kinda excited about that, but I have quite a while to wait! Ten more months to be exact!

Happiest of days to you and stay warm...unless you are some place that is warm so stay cool? Hugs!

Junkin Gold & Rusty Rose Frame

Yes I tried to frame a puppy print. Love that we had snow when I took this photo. Check out this $14 metal frame that I picked up junkin' the other day. I know. It's fabulously fine and it's mine! Works a treat in my Valentine's Day display. Didn't keep it the rusty gold though..I had to trim a few things off the back, specifically the clips that would hold the glass & picture in.

Isn't it pretty sitting amoung a few of my favorite things? You might remember a few of these projects. There is the stained glass lamp project that is smack dab in the middle of the rose frame. The tea pot tree topper from this past Christmas is sitting in a jar that I spray prainted and posted recently. A LESSology silver bird cage and a mailbox from THE CUTTING CAFE  are also included along with some silver trays and that super awesome clock I made with rolled roses. And those velvety red roses right in the middle I found on sale at Michaels for $2 or something...because they were Christmas decorations! Totally dig those too!

It's totally amazing what a little paint will do...isn't that frame pretty? I just used black spray paint with some gold splatters!

Hoping your Thursday is full of pretty!

WINNER Layout for THE CUTTING CAFE SHOP

So you probably recall a week or so back when I wrote about these fabulous stamps I got in the mail from my friend Regina called From Owl of Us that are sold over at THE CUTTING CAFE SHOP. Well, I used them again to help showcase this cool photo of my niece Rebecca who made this upcycled jewelry owl. 

I embossed that pretty piece of turquoise paper with GOLD OWLS. They are so cute!

And since I wanted some bigger owls for my page, I then used her digital owls all printed out and colored from the FUN WITH OWLS printable set, which happen to have the same two owls that can be found in the clear stamps. ;-) Water colored them after I printed them out on photo paper. 

One more photo so you can see those clear gems I used to show off the pretty vintage jewelry Rebecca used to make her owl. I got text messaged photos of her project as she worked on it. She lives quite far away, so I haven't gotten a chance to see her owl in real life. She was very sad though because she didn't "win" the contest she had entered. I personally think this project is quite the winner as she recycled a frame, old vintage jewelry from her Great Grandma, and velvet from a pair of pants!

Love your project, Rebecca!

Happy finally middle of the Week peeps!

NOEL Layout: Wrapping Up Christmas

I seriously had to dig down in the stash to find this paper. This particular piece I have been HOARDING. And when I say hoarding, I mean like it's been in my stash forever and each time I passed it I sighed a happy sigh and smiled...However, desperate times call for desperite measures. I have finally worked through most of the Christmas paper I have. Which means finally next year I'll have to order some. Oh the things to look forward to!

That main piece of paper really is the rock star in this layout, although that dog peeking from the corner is also top on my list, as are the photos of my two trees, and that Christmas family photo we took. Loving those doilies & the Noel words that came my way from Lisa at Life of a BZ Scrapper. They were just the delicate touch I needed to add some layering under my photos.

So glad I pulled this paper out and was able to make good use of it!

Happy Tuesday!

Memorandum Monday: Glass Paints, Gold Spray Paint, and Fudge Ripple

Oh my. This past week was quite the learning experience. I'm not quite ready to share just yet, but truth be told things are coming together and I''ll be ready soon. I am more than happy to tell you just a bit about glass painting though while you wait. Most of last week is still swirling through my head like fudge ripple ice cream and when it's fully blended, I'll be sure to dish it up in a pretty bowl with whip cream, a cherry and two spoons!

Anyhow...on the glass painting....

Clear glass things at the second hand store are SO PLENTIFUL. It seems quite a shame to leave them behind especially when they are dotty like these candle sticks. I am still not sure if I'm actually using them as candle sticks, but they were great to try a technique on. I had been on the hunt for a DIY way to make glass look iredescent. Since I haven't found a spray paint that works well for that, I turned to glass paint. Specifically one that gets brushed on. After drying for 24 hours, it's then baked in the oven.

On these, I tried to create my own mist by mixing two glass paints together with a little of the thinner but I think brushing it on would have been better. I was pretty happy with the gold spray paint that I added under the bottom of the candlesticks and right at the top. I am pretty sure I'll be making a few glass ornaments this next Christmas in a similar manner...can you imagine how pretty that will be?

Anyhow, I leave you with a shimmer and a promise to dish next week. Waving hello at Sian who has been talking most recently about inspiration and is our crew chief for Memorandum Monday. Hoping all my talk of glass paint has been inspiring!

Vintage Hankie Heart Angel for LESSology

Totally dig how an upcycled curtain tie back complete with tassle, vintage lace, a used wooden heart frame, and a couple of vintage hankies came together to make a cool angel! I also ventured into something new...painting on glass! The tassle is for our current challenge over at LESSology! Hope you get a chance to play along! All this upcycling is really quite addicting!

That little shimmery angel head used to be a light bulb. I really had been trying to find a spray paint that was opalescent and kept coming up short. 

I did find a glass paint that had that shimmer I wanted so I painted the light bulb and baked it using the instructions on the bottle. I am loving the color! I did add a little gold spray paint to match the frame. And to think I was just going to throw out that little bulb...It's held in place with some hardware epoxied to a dowel. 

Check out the texture on that frame. 

I embossed a little foil tape, added it to my frame and then painted over it. Really love that look!

You can see behind the angel is some material. Since I cut the hankie in half, I was able to use the other half as a backing on the frame. The wings are a wood applique I purchased from Wood & What-Knots of Character. They got inked up and then I added some glitter! The wings were the only new things I used besides those Petaloo flowers. Love Petaloo flowers and their velvet leaves!

Loving this piece! Hope you get a chance to make something & hang with us over at LESSology!

Trading Br'Apple Butter for an OMG Pocket Letter from THE CUTTING CAFE

Recently I was offered Br'Apple Butter in trade for a Pocket Letter. Since I happen to be hoarding my current jar of Br'Apple butter I thought it was a most excellent idea. I love making pocket letters and I am hoping the new jar is hand delivered over the summer. WIN WIN! The pocket letter needed a pocket so I designed one that mimiced the pocket letter with little bitty cards. That big burlap rose has a twist tie holding the actual pocket shut. Happen to use three so it was perfect to fit OMG on!

Love those OMG letters I used that Regina created over at THE CUTTING CAFE. They are part of her Big Expression series. I thought it was an appropriate sentiment for all those little cool cards! Since the Br'Apple butter maker isn't a scrapper, I am figuring she'll give them away with little presents or something.

Aren't those cute! I used little envelopes my friend Yvonne from over at Do More With Less sent me on six of them. The envelopes open and you can write something in them. I had planned on hoarding them but thought using them up on this pocket letter where you could see all of them at once would be epic.

Hoping she likes them! Happy Hump Day peeps! We are half way to Friday!