450+ Yards of Ribbons!

Ok - am obsessing with trying to win something (since am not earning any money selling anything on my Etsy shop) so here's another card am submitting to PaperTrey Ink for their Ribbon challenge. Prize package is $280-worth of ribbons!

I took liberty with the sketch that Nichole designed...the sentiment is from PTI, embossed rectangle was done with a Cuttlebug folder (can't recall what it's called), butterfly is also a Cuttlebug die, gold organdy ribbon is an OLD, retired ribbon from SU and bling are from Jo Ann fabrics and cardstock are SU.



Mini Paper Purses Instructions: Will post them tomorrow

Scone Recipe: Will also post tomorrow

Meanwhile, there's PTA Treasurer work to be done and assisting my son with some Wolf badge requirements for Cub Scouts

I hope I win! and Please help us pray

Ok, this is totally self-serving and posting the following pictures so I can have a chance to win a contest at PaperTrey Ink.

These paper purses and bags are my own creations. If you're dying to get a hold of how I made them, you can leave a comment and I'll send you the instructions.

Here we go!

This first one is my version of the paper hat box. As you can see, it's very small but large enough to put a few chocolate eggs inside!


This suitcase is also a mini-version. What's inside? Look at the next picture - a few "shirt" bookmarks (thanks to Martha Stewart for the idea - I made mine out of patterned papers and used mini brad buttons for the buttons and textured paper for the ties).





My personal favorite - a recycled coffee bag using one of my favorite coffees (Tully's)! The only problem with this is that all my coffee-drinking friends and family now save all their coffee bags for me so I can make more of these little coffee card purses. This bag can hold 4 mini cards and 4 mini envelopes.


Doesn't this remind you of the beach? This one uses lots of PaperTrey sentiments (along with a few SU! stamps - mainly the sand and the shell die cuts are Cuttlebug). The plastic mesh you see on the front of the mini purse is a garlic bulb sack from Trader Joe's (gotta recycle more plastic!). This little beach bag measures about 3" x 4" - yep, I LOVE miniatures! All those cards fit inside the little purse and I also made matching envelopes but didn't get a photo of them.


This last photo are all the different versions I've come up with for that mini 3" x 4" bag. All can hold those mini notecards. Patterned papers you see there are all Amy Butler.


On another note, my Dad has gotten more bad news. I don't think he'd want me to write here what he now has but suffice it to say that it is very serious. He continues to battle MDS and CHF but the latest is the scariest. My son said that he wished Pokemon is real so he can take his Grandpa to the Pokemon center and cure him. Then my 5-yr old said she wished her magic wand is real so she could just wave her wand and her "Boppa" would be better. We believe in the power of prayers so please help us pray for my Dad to get better; and pray for my Mom too to stay healthy as she is single-handedly taking care of him. It's times like these that make me wish that they just lived next door and not 3,000 miles away.

Random

Merry Christmas! Happy Holidays! Happy New Year! Happy Valentine's Day! Here are my 2 little ones checking to see if the flue is open so Santa can get in **grin**. I don't think my 8-yr old believes anymore though he did say that the Easter Bunny can't be real because rabbits aren't that smart but Santa is real because he is a real person :)) We hope he'll still feel that way next year!

Cookies they left for Santa. Didn't have a lot of time to make homemade cookies as we were headed for Florida so used some that were given to us by neighbors and friends:


The cupcake craze continues at our house...these cuties were knitted and actually little purses. Pattern purchased from a talented lady at Etsy - can't recall her name right now but you can do a search for knitted cupcakes and am sure her shop will come up. I changed the pattern a bit to make the chocolate base higher and added a few more rows for the top part.



These are mini cupcake purses, about 3" x 4" and come with intricately detailed mini matching cupcake notecards. I sold these at a craft fair - expected them to just sit there but the tween girls loved them.



The next images are more paper purses except these hold matching necklace and earrings made by my Mom. The jewels are in a handmade card. Most of the patterned papers used are Amy Butler and also SU! Designer papers.







Ignore the bad lighting...these are batches of assorted scones. I finally learned how to make scones for EATING and not for HOCKEY playing :-)!! My Mom's recipe is the best and these are really tender and not very sweet. I used chopped up leftover chocolate candy bars (believe it or not, we have leftover chocolate candy bars from Halloween - unwrapped them all and froze them for future baking use!) and chopped dried cherries and dried cranberries. My kids have been eating a scone a day for breakfast since returning from our Florida trip. Sure makes for an easy breakfast!

Can we move Christmas to July?

Hi all - I'm back. Believe it or not, I still have a partial bag not unpacked from my trip to Florida (yes, you read that right, Mom!). I came back with barely a week to prepare for 2 birthday parties, back-to-back.

But first off, my Dad is doing well and was very glad to be home after 3 weeks at the hospital and rehab. There are still many issues to sort out but we're hoping that he will get back into a "normal" schedule with his chemo soon. There are good days and bad days but we're hoping that with the right combination of medication, he can get to a level of comfort and enough energy to get back to where he was, physically, before summer. My Mom is doing a tremendous job being the only one there for him and praying that her energy level keeps up with all the demands. We will be joining them for Christmas in just a couple of weeks so it will be good for all of us to be together again.

Now upon my return I found a little girl on the verge of becoming a 13-year old. It must have been growing pains but our now 5 year old was really testing us and I'm sure part of it was that Mommy was gone for a week. Her birthday party was this past Saturday at a local kids' culinary school

with 14 attendees. It was an amazing place to have a party and so glad I didn't try and attempt this at our house:


The children frosted and decorated cupcakes; made Willie Wonka chocolate bars with golden tickets inside; and drank chocolate banana smoothies. It was an adorable sight with all of them wearing little aprons! Wish I could share photos of that but my policy continues to be a no-full-on-face-photos! Part of my before party preparation was putting their names on the party favor aprons with puffy paint and scouring the entire bay area for mini spatulas to include in their goody bags. I failed to take photos of those :-( but they did turn out adorable.

Then the very next day was my son's 8th bday party at OUR house! Twelve big boys total at our house! While I was in Florida, my wonderful husband was constructing the Lego race track and buying all the Legos necessary for building Lego cars. Each boy received a generous amount of Legos to build their own race car then it was off to racing them down the track. We had activities planned out for the entire 3 1/2 hr party and am so glad that we did because every time there was a lull in activities, the boys resorted to jumping, running, climbing and just being plain rowdy boys. Here are some pictures of that party:

These Lego blocks above are white chocolates. I bought the Lego mould from the Lego store. Attempted making a cake out of the mould but figured out very shortly after popping out the cakes that it would be a near impossibility to frost around those round knobs!





Will post picture of the Ugly Lego Cake later as blogger is having a hard time this morning loading pictures. So, now, there's still Christmas shopping to do (and we have relatives out of state so that means packing and mailing them too!). Our Christmas cards may have to wait until January too as we tried taking pictures of the kids at the museum last week and my son couldn't put on a normal face so that is still on our checklist to finish!

Now am off to run (great stress reliever) - am up to 4+ miles round trip! Not bad for an old lady!

Taking a break...

Hello blogging friends. It has been awhile since I updated as life just caught up with us.

First and foremost, my Dad has not been well and was hospitalized for a week for congestive heart failure. He has been suffering since summer but his cardiologist (who has since been replaced/fired) did not diagnose this condition correctly and it worsened and last Friday he was finally admitted to the emergency room. He also suffers from 2 forms of blood disease, in which he needs to get well and stronger soon to continue his chemotherapy.

Needless to say, it has been a difficult time for all of us and more difficult for me as I am not anywhere near them. I will, however, be finally flying down there to help my Mom out in getting things lined up for Dad's aftercare and any other necessary arrangements we need to make to get him home healthy, safe and comfortable.

My in-laws volunteered to come down early for Thanksgiving to be here for my children. My 2 little ones are the busiest children I know with all their afterschool activities so that alone will be a handful to handle. Right now I'm busy stocking up the pantry and freezer so they will have an easier time getting meals prepared. I've also gotten request from my kids to make sure i stock up on baked goods for the freezer (spoiled children - they only want home-baked cookies).

Also, if you've noticed on my sidebar that my Etsy shop is missing. That too had to be closed temporarily as I could not imagine crafting when I should be attending to my family. I hope to return to that wonderful place when time allows me some frivolity. I did have my last "hurrah" with crafting last weekend when I participated as a vendor for my son's school where a percentage of our proceeds from sales went back to the school. I had great success and am thinking that craft fairs are another fun way to make money (without the added headache of figuring out shipping or finding the right box to ship stuff out in).

Here are some fun photos for you all to enjoy. I will post again after I return from Florida and hopefully I'll have nothing but very happy and healthy news.

These are some things I made for the Holiday Boutique:




Snowman Poop tic tacs - the snowman is a Quickutz die cut; cardstock is all SU! and the ribbon is also SU! (may be retired); the stamped "Snowman Poop" was done with JustRight stampers.

Owl Post-It Notepads - inspiration for the Owls comes from here. This talented lady used nothing but punches to make these adorable owls. She also has on her website the instructions on how to make the notepads.





The felt candy cane mice were from a sample my Mom got from someone last year. I made mine a little bigger. The tag is stamped with PaperTrey clear stamps (I just love their stamps!) and used SU!
cardstock and retired silver cord.

The Santa Tags were also inspired by the same stamper linked above. I used mine to make tags and you can go check out her site to see how else she used the adorable Santa heads.

These last 2 photos were my attempt at crocheting. The stacked "Oreos" were made using a found free pattern on the Internet and the cupcakes were a pattern provide to me for free by an Etsy seller whom I purchased a pattern from (I purchased a crochet a tea set pattern). I've since found the cupcake pattern on-line - all for free. So, if you can crochet, try these! They are fun and quick to make. These I sold and they sold the quickest. I am now making a batch of both as party favors for my daughter's birthday party.

Almost Halloween! Etsy and PTA

Have been missing in action for a little while....some of it personal and some related to just being plain busy with kids and their schools.

Here is a picture of a Halloween cake I made a couple of years ago. I believe the idea came from Family Circle (Bats are chocolate melts stuck onto mini marshmallows and toothpicks). It was going to be a cake donated to my son's school for the cakewalk but I quickly discovered that it was too fragile to transport in a car so my kids and their friends were more than happy to consume here at our house.



And here's an almost picture of my littlelest pumpkin! This was last year - thought I'd post that now then do one for this year later on to show the comparison of much she's grown! However, she is still the same silly girl! LOL!! This year she decided she wants to be a bat. No, not Batgirl but just a bat. Hmmmmm......no more princesses...sniff, sniff.



As far as crafts, have been busy making up stuff for my son's school fundraising Holiday boutique (remember how poor California is so we have to raise money to fund teaching specialists, librarians, etc). Will take photos of those cute projects later. I've been busy crocheting play cupcakes and knitting cupcake purses. These were not my creations but patters I previously purchased from very talented Etsy sellers. Proceeds from the sales will benefit my son's school. Will send links of those later after I get permission from the Etsy sellers.

I've also been recently "selected" to be the PTA treasurer for my daughters' school! I know ZERO about bookkeeping or accounting (I believe I nearly failed that class in college!) so this is such a hilarious thing for me to be doing. My friend, the PTA president, convinced me it would be easy and that she would help me out with anything I don't know (easy for her to say - she's a very smart CPA!). Am happy to report that I have not messed up their books.....yet!

Have a great Sunday! Hug all those loved ones and don't forget to tell them you love them on a daily basis.

Crocheted Recycled Grocery Bag Purses

Due to popular demand, I'm listing my Mom's amazing crocheted purses here with their dimensions. If you're interested in purchasing any of them, please contact me and I'll list them in my Etsy shop (OR you can contact my Mom directly - for those who know my Mom :-). Most, if not all, of the purse linings are vintage and I believe some are even silk (If you'd like to know, contact me and I'll ask my Mom which is which! :-). You can click on any of the photos below for a larger view.

8 Pocket Crocheted Recycled Grocery Bag with Leopard Print handles: This one measures approximately 15 1/2" x 9" and 3" width. It has a total of 8 pockets inside to keep everything organized PLUS it zips shut! Not sure where my Mom got all these beautiful colored grocery sacks but some even look pearlescent and I love how she used black plastic to accent the stitches within the body and also along the top of the purse - which also picks up on the colors of the purse handles. The inside lining is a mustardy-yellow print with dots and stripes (resembles a safari print shirt ;)!







The next one below is white with little specks of blue and a little red here and there. It measures approx. 13 1/4 (w) x 7 1/2 (l) and a base thickness of 4". The purse handles are extra long: about 8" long loops. The edge of the purse is scalloped crocheted. This purse also features 8 pockets and lined with a beautiful light green and torquoise paisley patterned brocade style print. Also has a zipper to zip it shut.







The next one below is smaller than the others but just as functional featuring 4 pockets on the inside and zips shut to keep things from falling out. It measures approx. 12 (w)" x 8"(l) and base width of 3 1/4" inches. Double click on the purse picture so you can see the intricate crocheting details here. I love the alternating white and toffee brown colors! The inside lining is a silky peacock print patterned fabric.







This last one is probably my favorite and a perfect purse for Fall season! Double click on the photo to see all the details - the colors are toffee brown with dark green and burgundy stripes. The pattern my Mom added here almost look like little shells! Not sure where she found this beautiful colored plastic bag but she sure did a beautiful job incorporating the colors and creating a pleasing pattern. This one measures approx. 13" (w) x 8 1/2" (l) and a base width of 4 1/4". It has 6 large pockets and also zips shut. The lining fabric is very thick (think durability!) and also patterned. The purse handles in this one are the longest, measuring approx. 9 1/2" long (am thinking that this would work well carrying it over my shoulder even with a thick coat!).







I'll move these over to my Etsy shop eventually but if you're interested in purchasing now, please contact me! Think great Christmas or Holiday gifts! And what a message you'll be giving to the rest of the world by buying a recycled grocery sack purse! BTW, one is already listed at my shop (a white one with a little pocket on the outside. Go check it out here.