tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-64489398741468144292024-02-25T15:13:12.128-06:00Crafty Neighbor's Neighborhood GossipWhat the Crafty Neighbors are talking about...Crafty Neighborhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09663704628909022165noreply@blogger.comBlogger354125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6448939874146814429.post-90028727409281869642021-10-01T09:00:00.087-05:002021-10-01T09:00:00.299-05:00Handmade Halloween Happiness!<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlPtEfUKbBgrl_w3mfiZmI_ezLGrUbbQ__Yx3t2dvZU23ci5McWupzrUBbQWuAky0SonyIGKZ62jidcmgPoJbYqLJ1NePL2jfBj-3XXpfLt8a5ihpKJKFlloOu7sLUSMOm-lgA2PF-UUs_/s1491/1986halloween+d.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1491" data-original-width="996" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlPtEfUKbBgrl_w3mfiZmI_ezLGrUbbQ__Yx3t2dvZU23ci5McWupzrUBbQWuAky0SonyIGKZ62jidcmgPoJbYqLJ1NePL2jfBj-3XXpfLt8a5ihpKJKFlloOu7sLUSMOm-lgA2PF-UUs_/w268-h400/1986halloween+d.jpg" width="268" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: Helvetica;">I’ve always loved holidays. Around the Murray house, any holiday is a good excuse to fix up the house, dress up the kids (and me!), and whip up some good food. Halloween is no exception, and I’ve spent a lot of that “dress up” time coming up with some fun costumes for my kids and myself. In fact, it’s been a sort of challenge to see what I can come up with each year.</span><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkFoc13z_Spe9mYRkRKPKbGNKnpUddDDpYI_Ffx5ZZwQUYn6HgyQKCi7AZt3oqGtM6v_-Yqqapm470Gc5A2GUpO2mJTiJ7MRV6SiIhcY9xVZtT57dCaLY_JPG4ejDck6rl8g8vxCkcsTTQ/s938/cindy+%25281st+halloween%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="931" data-original-width="938" height="318" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkFoc13z_Spe9mYRkRKPKbGNKnpUddDDpYI_Ffx5ZZwQUYn6HgyQKCi7AZt3oqGtM6v_-Yqqapm470Gc5A2GUpO2mJTiJ7MRV6SiIhcY9xVZtT57dCaLY_JPG4ejDck6rl8g8vxCkcsTTQ/s320/cindy+%25281st+halloween%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>I think it all started when I was a kid. Back then, there weren’t so many ready made costumes…just the plastic masks that had cutouts for your eyes and even tinier holes for your nose and mouth. My mom would often buy us the mask (they didn’t cost that much) and then make our costumes to go with it. The earliest one I remember was (I think) either a Cinderella or Snow White mask, and my mom took an old curtain, some glue, and silver glitter and turned it into a cape. I was a princess! But I actually have a photo of one that’s even older…me in a white-haired wig. I wasn't even a year old yet, and I have no idea what I was supposed to be. Later, someone made matching clown costumes for my aunt and me and we just continued the tradition until it was time to make costumes for my own kiddos.<p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitPBBcsDy-d26Vpqsqy6mbSp-f4Y8zq7E2A4c6VLPHIC17a6Jt3QOLugjSFyrkcp8nRtUKPD-Pp3Jk_IVCIUUv_RRR-oj7Zif6xYl0X5_Sn7q703HLSZbpqTHZuiy8W11dYyKne9wOhrut/s938/cindy+%25281st+halloween%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica; text-align: left;"> </span></a></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-9nMUuc71o_uwcJ2-i9ParRL07OuxJv_SUdR-bJhyVeaDA3Xc68skuvi03fEJrhIipwxqNoxFU4RVrZDR76o0oGyIWAjeBuZfE_pV3hWROKP4g0usChY3sx0h4SsKivK6T_xbzxTlbadG/s721/1989halloween+a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="721" data-original-width="332" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-9nMUuc71o_uwcJ2-i9ParRL07OuxJv_SUdR-bJhyVeaDA3Xc68skuvi03fEJrhIipwxqNoxFU4RVrZDR76o0oGyIWAjeBuZfE_pV3hWROKP4g0usChY3sx0h4SsKivK6T_xbzxTlbadG/s320/1989halloween+a.jpg" width="147" /></a></div>Making your own costumes does NOT have to be hard, and believe it or not, it very rarely even requires any sewing. One of my most famous costumes (or maybe I should say “infamous”) was the zebra outfit I wore to work one year. It was HOURS before anyone figured out who I was, and so I won the prize for best costume. All it took was a zebra stripe Uni-tard, black boots, black gloves, some black and white face paint, and a banana hair clip – all of which I already owned.<p></p><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">My daughter loves homemade costumes as much as I do. When she was a child, I once rolled her hair in curlers, slathered on white face-paint, dressed her in PJs and a robe with house shoes and called her a “Housewife”, complete with rolling pin. She’s also been a princess, a bug, a fairy, a mouse, a witch, Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz, a cheerleader, a clown, a gypsy, a hippie, and a punk rocker (twice). </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg82r0GcuuustNRozHUpnHEDY27L7NwUWFblp0tYmIDk7W-ivIejgeaIRd_7HZMUZYPbfKmo46yJjUJup6NnKoFYwInsqHYBeYr-tGOHXZrLqwm8mV-gQPiSTrTVC2EEefVCYwU-mDiGqSp/s2048/P1210418.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg82r0GcuuustNRozHUpnHEDY27L7NwUWFblp0tYmIDk7W-ivIejgeaIRd_7HZMUZYPbfKmo46yJjUJup6NnKoFYwInsqHYBeYr-tGOHXZrLqwm8mV-gQPiSTrTVC2EEefVCYwU-mDiGqSp/s320/P1210418.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><o:p> </o:p>My son has been a bunny, the devil, a pumpkin, a “California Raisin”, the Karate Kid, a soldier (after 9/11), a vampire, a Dickens-esque ghost, and a musketeer, but one of our favorites was the year after the Olympics when he dressed as Michael Phelps, including 7 shiny gold medals.<p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">The internet (and especially sites like Pinterest), has really been a great resource for finding ideas for homemade costumes. It’s a lot of fun, to see how much detail you can add using things you already have. I’m trying to decide what I want to be this year when I open the door for all my neighborhood trick or treaters. How about you? Share your costume ideas in the comments, or start a discussion over in our Crafty Neighbor Facebook discussion group: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/cropandcraftevents" style="color: purple;">Crop and Craft Events.</a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p><br /></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p><br /></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">Until then, Happy Hauntings!<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">Cindy<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzilS94-j-qoalFeOqMR-w5MQUAqeCu6aHP5aJ0a0DpME1QnUMQ8RSmvfJzLecJLGjx1PXw-VQi3akKlKiWrVDzb8fdqWCTiDs4NCGew6wsoM4IA6go9CwjNipjHH5vw7kRvlDejTnvdZE/s1600/P1060505.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzilS94-j-qoalFeOqMR-w5MQUAqeCu6aHP5aJ0a0DpME1QnUMQ8RSmvfJzLecJLGjx1PXw-VQi3akKlKiWrVDzb8fdqWCTiDs4NCGew6wsoM4IA6go9CwjNipjHH5vw7kRvlDejTnvdZE/s320/P1060505.jpg" width="240" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3Nc5lfQ8na07DEa-di3ubGC04S2VBpzjHT_UvuqKugVuMnk-ukeJXX03s5pOzse5-dXrvSwpSV577BHO8H4JjSaiLJV6rdy9qdwa2UAQrjyXCX0vrI-6tbddxHKYhvHlNK7UOb5mZLX8P/s1770/1997halloween+i.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1770" data-original-width="1188" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3Nc5lfQ8na07DEa-di3ubGC04S2VBpzjHT_UvuqKugVuMnk-ukeJXX03s5pOzse5-dXrvSwpSV577BHO8H4JjSaiLJV6rdy9qdwa2UAQrjyXCX0vrI-6tbddxHKYhvHlNK7UOb5mZLX8P/s320/1997halloween+i.jpg" width="215" /></a></div><p></p><br />Crafty Neighborhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09663704628909022165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6448939874146814429.post-46813443811965145892021-08-01T00:00:00.239-05:002021-08-01T00:00:00.205-05:00Documenting Your Travels on the Go<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGpF20E4YmWTZO-g_9-0bcz0wRnjNyMxYo97htLFFTmV5cabpslY55ILnLFRtqgZiw7XhkrJrzI9sYwKMJSucT4U7yjMJBRlj683A1O42HXU1WJETusS0v8JPguHXnSBfGa9tbC3qXfKJ6/s2048/IMG_0073.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGpF20E4YmWTZO-g_9-0bcz0wRnjNyMxYo97htLFFTmV5cabpslY55ILnLFRtqgZiw7XhkrJrzI9sYwKMJSucT4U7yjMJBRlj683A1O42HXU1WJETusS0v8JPguHXnSBfGa9tbC3qXfKJ6/w300-h400/IMG_0073.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;">I have a confession. Scrapbooking and travel might be my passion, but I am NOT always very efficient at getting my trips documented. I always start out with the best of intentions, but after buying all the pretty travel kits with coordinating papers, my photos and memorabilia always seem to wind up in a box somewhere in my already over-crowded craft room. And that’s where it stays.</span></p>
<br />
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;">A few years ago while hosting a scrapbooking cruise, I had the opportunity to watch two very talented ladies in our group as they created a scrapbook of our cruise — documenting the very cruise we were on! They were even able to print their photos right there on the ship using a thumb drive and the photo kiosk! I was so amazed by their project that I decided right then and there that I had to document my next cruise the same way. </span></p>
<br />
<p class="MsoNormal"> <span style="font-family: Helvetica;">Since then, I’ve documented several trips in this manner, and I get a little smarter and more efficient each time. It’s really all about planning ahead and knowing what you will need to get the results you want. Here are some of my tips for documenting travels on the go:</span></p>
<br />
<p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRyoSYsQaJqJ5-wmZGwAjfSnbxFU5a-HUHGGQqdR-qfY0cC0EqnXugOdA9lrnDWzgsnoBIJED2pMAF_RwmIC4AX5uaC8w8PAGl3JlKcITKDmxv7LYljx5o_kcpFYtf0GMyvh14OJl_2AFV/s2048/IMG_6703.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRyoSYsQaJqJ5-wmZGwAjfSnbxFU5a-HUHGGQqdR-qfY0cC0EqnXugOdA9lrnDWzgsnoBIJED2pMAF_RwmIC4AX5uaC8w8PAGl3JlKcITKDmxv7LYljx5o_kcpFYtf0GMyvh14OJl_2AFV/w300-h400/IMG_6703.JPG" width="300" /></a></div><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica;"></p><ol style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: medium; text-indent: -0.25in;"><b>Choose your format. </b>It doesn’t really matter what format you use, but some things to keep in mind are the size of the album (how much space will it take up in your luggage) and the style of pages (are the pages plain, patterned paper, or do you have to make them?). I have used Smash Books, travelers notebooks, pre-made travel journals, and even wallet calendars. I’ve even used the Project Life app to make digital pages on the go.</span></li><span style="font-size: medium;"><br />
</span><li><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: medium; text-indent: -0.25in;"><b>Choose your supplies.</b> I have traveled with as little as a pair of scissors, pencil, colored pens, adhesive, and some washi tape. If I want to embellish more, I might bring some die cuts or ephemera in a travel theme, stickers, and a few journaling cards or labels. If I’m feeling really crafty, I’ll bring a few themed stamps, maybe a set of alpha stamps, and some coordinating paper for matting, etc. It’s really up to you what you want to bring and how you like to document.</span></li><span style="font-size: medium;"><br />
</span><li><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: medium; text-indent: -0.25in;"><b>Decide how you will print your photos.</b> As I mentioned, the two ladies on the cruise used the photo kiosks on the cruise ship to print their photos on the fly, but what if you aren’t on a cruise? Small printer technology has improved greatly over the past few years. My first micro-printer was my HP Sprocket, which prints 2”x3” photos on an adhesive-backed paper. The quality isn’t all that great, but it’s very easy to use and inexpensive to operate. I still use it for small prints. My next printer was the Canon Selphy, which prints 4”x6” full-color photos. I love the quality of the photos on the Selphy, but it sometimes annoys me that it’s not true 4”x6” and creating custom sizes or collages can be challenging. Epson also makes a small portable photo printer that is capable of printing up to 5”x7” photos, but it’s quite a bit larger and also more expensive.</span></li><span style="font-size: medium;"><br />
</span><li><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: medium; text-indent: -0.25in;"><b>Map out your use of the album.</b> Determine how many pages you will use for each day or activity. This is especially important if you are using a travelers notebook or other format that has a fixed number of pages. Do you want to fill the whole album? Or do you plan to add other trips to the book? I often use a pencil to lightly note what each page will be used for, or to allocate a set number of pages for each day.</span></li><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq-NsjLIqlZ61RsIRs1YrPUrCCSx8sLmU5sI1PN-9v7Bk3EO7ou-DUfXDrgU31IiNvOi9PbuezuIIILPtQMk3vPO5RCNa7htDbIFoZYG4hueKS0x5-Nupyxy-VSsI-EfauMxa3IE-IpxCg/s2048/IMG_0069.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq-NsjLIqlZ61RsIRs1YrPUrCCSx8sLmU5sI1PN-9v7Bk3EO7ou-DUfXDrgU31IiNvOi9PbuezuIIILPtQMk3vPO5RCNa7htDbIFoZYG4hueKS0x5-Nupyxy-VSsI-EfauMxa3IE-IpxCg/w300-h400/IMG_0069.JPG" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>
<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: medium; text-indent: -0.25in;"><b>Keep a notepad handy.</b> I usually carry a small spiral or notepad in my purse to jot down notes about the trip on the fly. It’s a good way to keep track of where you ate dinner, what you did after lunch, that random fact about the hotel or the tour you were on. You’ll want to remember all those things when you sit down to start documenting.</span></li><span style="font-size: medium;"><br />
</span><li><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: medium; text-indent: -0.25in;"><b>Keep it simple. </b>Don’t spend too much time trying to embellish or decorate your pages. As you sit down to work on your album each day, try to get the photos inserted and captioned while trying to capture the over-all feel of the activity. The idea is to capture as much of the day into the album as possible.You can always come back and embellish more later.</span></li><span style="font-size: medium;"><br />
</span><li><span style="font-family: Helvetica; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Relax, enjoy the process, and have fun on your vacation!</b> Don’t stress over getting it all done, and don’t worry if you don’t have time to document. I never finish my travel albums while I’m on my trip, and that’s okay. It really is all about capturing your memories as quickly as possible before the feeling fades, but a lot of the joy comes from reliving those memories when you come back later to embellish and finish your album. It’s okay if you get behind, skip a day, or don’t document anything at all…it’s more important to enjoy your trip! </span> </span></li></ol><p></p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOK723q1rVWXHizlgou55r2gmy3OW_i_u_UClPFTCMynyURJzA8yczKZN1asJZ4UQ_KBD_GGnlxxrhH_q9McIzqKg1cG4DtGbtvNlJ211uINYaw6r53fVflNvO3HzaSoOUB6eaBIMgiMEs/s2048/IMG_E4521.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="2048" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOK723q1rVWXHizlgou55r2gmy3OW_i_u_UClPFTCMynyURJzA8yczKZN1asJZ4UQ_KBD_GGnlxxrhH_q9McIzqKg1cG4DtGbtvNlJ211uINYaw6r53fVflNvO3HzaSoOUB6eaBIMgiMEs/s320/IMG_E4521.JPG" /></a></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica;">Learning to document on the go has been a tremendous game changer for me. I get my trips scrapbooked so much faster now because of it, and the albums and travel journals that I create are so much better at capturing the experience because they are created while they are still fresh in my mind. It’s a lot easier than you think, and with a little bit of planning, you can document your trips on the fly, too. </p>
<hr /><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica;">Want to see more travel journaling? Check out these flip-throughs of two of my travel journals:<o:p></o:p></p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica;"></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><a href="https://youtu.be/H155FXWTleQ" style="color: green;">https://youtu.be/H155FXWTleQ</a></li><li><span style="color: purple; text-decoration: none;"><a href="https://youtu.be/bDt740GbDKw" style="color: green;">https://youtu.be/bDt740GbDKw</a></span> </li></ul><p></p></blockquote>
<hr /><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica;">Tell us how you document your trips:</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><a href="https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/YM58Y28" target="_blank">Share Here!</a><o:p></o:p></p><style class="WebKit-mso-list-quirks-style">
<!--
/* Style Definitions */
p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal
{mso-style-unhide:no;
mso-style-qformat:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
margin:0in;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:Helvetica;
mso-fareast-font-family:"MS 明朝";
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";}
p.MsoListParagraph, li.MsoListParagraph, div.MsoListParagraph
{mso-style-priority:34;
mso-style-unhide:no;
mso-style-qformat:yes;
margin-top:0in;
margin-right:0in;
margin-bottom:0in;
margin-left:.5in;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-add-space:auto;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:Helvetica;
mso-fareast-font-family:"MS 明朝";
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";}
p.MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst, li.MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst, div.MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst
{mso-style-priority:34;
mso-style-unhide:no;
mso-style-qformat:yes;
mso-style-type:export-only;
margin-top:0in;
margin-right:0in;
margin-bottom:0in;
margin-left:.5in;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-add-space:auto;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:Helvetica;
mso-fareast-font-family:"MS 明朝";
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";}
p.MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle, li.MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle, div.MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle
{mso-style-priority:34;
mso-style-unhide:no;
mso-style-qformat:yes;
mso-style-type:export-only;
margin-top:0in;
margin-right:0in;
margin-bottom:0in;
margin-left:.5in;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-add-space:auto;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:Helvetica;
mso-fareast-font-family:"MS 明朝";
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";}
p.MsoListParagraphCxSpLast, li.MsoListParagraphCxSpLast, div.MsoListParagraphCxSpLast
{mso-style-priority:34;
mso-style-unhide:no;
mso-style-qformat:yes;
mso-style-type:export-only;
margin-top:0in;
margin-right:0in;
margin-bottom:0in;
margin-left:.5in;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-add-space:auto;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:Helvetica;
mso-fareast-font-family:"MS 明朝";
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";}
.MsoChpDefault
{mso-style-type:export-only;
mso-default-props:yes;
font-size:10.0pt;
mso-ansi-font-size:10.0pt;
mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;
mso-fareast-font-family:"MS 明朝";
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-fareast-language:JA;}
@page WordSection1
{size:8.5in 11.0in;
margin:1.0in 1.0in 1.0in 1.0in;
mso-header-margin:.5in;
mso-footer-margin:.5in;
mso-paper-source:0;}
div.WordSection1
{page:WordSection1;}
/* List Definitions */
@list l0
{mso-list-id:1847557194;
mso-list-type:hybrid;
mso-list-template-ids:-878300554 67698703 67698713 67698715 67698703 67698713 67698715 67698703 67698713 67698715;}
@list l0:level1
{mso-level-tab-stop:none;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;}
@list l0:level2
{mso-level-number-format:alpha-lower;
mso-level-tab-stop:none;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;}
@list l0:level3
{mso-level-number-format:roman-lower;
mso-level-tab-stop:none;
mso-level-number-position:right;
text-indent:-9.0pt;}
@list l0:level4
{mso-level-tab-stop:none;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;}
@list l0:level5
{mso-level-number-format:alpha-lower;
mso-level-tab-stop:none;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;}
@list l0:level6
{mso-level-number-format:roman-lower;
mso-level-tab-stop:none;
mso-level-number-position:right;
text-indent:-9.0pt;}
@list l0:level7
{mso-level-tab-stop:none;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;}
@list l0:level8
{mso-level-number-format:alpha-lower;
mso-level-tab-stop:none;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;}
@list l0:level9
{mso-level-number-format:roman-lower;
mso-level-tab-stop:none;
mso-level-number-position:right;
text-indent:-9.0pt;}
-->
</style>Crafty Neighborhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09663704628909022165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6448939874146814429.post-32580470219680653952021-07-30T09:00:00.001-05:002021-07-30T09:00:00.229-05:00Crafting When We Travel<p><span style="font-family: Helvetica;">As we wrap up July here at Crafty Neighbor, we are still focusing on crafting when we travel. I love taking my crafts with me when I travel, and I’ve been known to take crochet, embroidery, and, of course, scrapbooking along on my trips. Packing projects like embroidery and crochet are pretty straight-forward; you just need needles or hooks, thread or yarn, some scissors, and a pattern. But traveling with paper-crafting supplies can be a bit more challenging, especially if you are someone like me who likes to take everything I own. I have been known to completely fill my SUV with supplies when I head out to a retreat, but I’m trying to learn to bring less so I can get more done.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">I recently went on an over-night canoe trip with my family, and my daughter and I both wanted to take our craft supplies along so we could document our trip. Since we have such limited space in our canoes (and not a lot of time for documenting), we restricted our supplies to travelers notebooks and a simple set of drawing/journaling tools. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq0e9IU0WSGbwCFHVoZZRd588FkOW4i7KHd2MWajWQh1BAnAyATJOlwCB7VI74phdQBvmS1FkwrGPJD8ctGyBO5qbGDtNZyJuY_UZg-QUtLEuTg5UDGGaJY2mv-lRksXaGQpjx751ASqOv/s2048/IMG_0156.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="2048" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq0e9IU0WSGbwCFHVoZZRd588FkOW4i7KHd2MWajWQh1BAnAyATJOlwCB7VI74phdQBvmS1FkwrGPJD8ctGyBO5qbGDtNZyJuY_UZg-QUtLEuTg5UDGGaJY2mv-lRksXaGQpjx751ASqOv/w400-h400/IMG_0156.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">For this minimalist kit, I included three pens: a Tombow Mono Twin, and two Tombow brush pens, a hard tip and a soft tip. I also brought several pencils of varying hardness, including a .9 mm mechanical pencil, 4H and B graphite pencils, 3 black charcoal pencils (4B, 5B, and 6B), a white charcoal pencil, and a white 2B colored pencil. I also threw in a pencil sharpener, a Tombow Mono eraser, and a couple of bulldog clips to hold the notebooks open/closed as necessary. Since we were in canoes, we stored them in water-proof zipper bags. The idea behind this kind of kit is to do more drawing and journaling. I can still leave room for photos, but I will add those later. Mainly I just want to get the stories into the book before I forget them.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">For other kinds of travel, I will often add other supplies to my kits. A cruise to the Bahamas for an Aggie Mom’s fundraiser in 2016 allowed me to bring my dual-tipped Stampin’ Up markers (which I am slowly replacing with Tombow markers), scissors, glue pens, Wink of Stella brushes, a white Uniball Signo pen, Tombow Mono adhesive, a Xyron adhesive eraser, a corner rounder punch, a small blender sponge (for use with the markers), Scor-Tape and red line tape, a 6”x6” paper pad, StazOn ink, and a very small assortment of stamps (numbers, letters, weather, travel). In the end, I wound up with a lot of things I never used, so for later trips, I went back to a more minimalist approach with just a few items.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSkcu_o5VuTvt0gpkZBJ3W8TlXN81kesr6k60QHUOsgzm8bHvjk0Ww9KzKQwpiW-ebvCjXo4tUFDHlc883HTVegb0f9IoyhmrHXj5bATD04VUsKlimxbMXjQp1e1Uy3ByaRxF6NjwedH7p/s2048/P5230196.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSkcu_o5VuTvt0gpkZBJ3W8TlXN81kesr6k60QHUOsgzm8bHvjk0Ww9KzKQwpiW-ebvCjXo4tUFDHlc883HTVegb0f9IoyhmrHXj5bATD04VUsKlimxbMXjQp1e1Uy3ByaRxF6NjwedH7p/w400-h300/P5230196.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><o:p><br /></o:p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p><br /></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">My travel kits have evolved a lot since then. The addition of an HP Sprocket photo printer has allowed me to add photos on the spot to my cruise scrapbooks. And since the printer runs on a USB charge, there was no need for electricity. Washi tape allows me to tape ephemera and memorabilia into the album without gluing it down. And the pens, markers, and pencils change according to whatever is my favorite at the time.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg27LntPnYsSyhUuvFYaqm6vaIBmfzFDRrrnP_SbkUBG8h9K4OdCxD7RvXBAzCSKpSFTf9rrZ0MSM0Mrl3TSC8RoNrjVfu9-dASH6mp0EqxZNF3DyMLMqqttEpciIf8xdLXEeHouUBnrgGq/s2048/IMG_6193.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="2048" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg27LntPnYsSyhUuvFYaqm6vaIBmfzFDRrrnP_SbkUBG8h9K4OdCxD7RvXBAzCSKpSFTf9rrZ0MSM0Mrl3TSC8RoNrjVfu9-dASH6mp0EqxZNF3DyMLMqqttEpciIf8xdLXEeHouUBnrgGq/w400-h400/IMG_6193.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><o:p><br /></o:p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p><br /></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">When I traveled to Las Vegas last summer with my daughter’s bachelorette party, we both took along craft supplies for documenting in our traveler’s notebooks. My kit this time included stickers, an assortment of diecuts, a Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher, a date stamp, alpha-numeric stickers, a small assortment of patterned papers, the usual pens and scissors, Versa Fine black ink, a black Uniball Signo pen, plus my watercolor pencils and my Canon Selphy printer (great for photos up to 4”x6”). What got left behind? All those colored markers, most of the stamps, the Wink of Stella, and the blender sponge. This kit fit in my suitcase with my other belongings, and has become my standard go-to kit for traveling.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ4STgmG7_PrdMWESQZuDPqYuo0o5cUmCHfEN-p924yRmmx6sz02egMUP6VligiUxEf49OH9HFjwk4qlDWUkv-0wLuN0n4OiskYh-9RFHDKN_RRBUZN5taz5UzxjnVkUccz_3g6U9PqTFZ/s2048/IMG_3829.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ4STgmG7_PrdMWESQZuDPqYuo0o5cUmCHfEN-p924yRmmx6sz02egMUP6VligiUxEf49OH9HFjwk4qlDWUkv-0wLuN0n4OiskYh-9RFHDKN_RRBUZN5taz5UzxjnVkUccz_3g6U9PqTFZ/w480-h640/IMG_3829.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">Sometimes, when I am going to be crafting only for one day, I will bring a single project to work on. For instance, one year at our Think Pink crop, I brought my Christmas cards to work on. The supplies for this were very limited: cardstock, scissors, paper trimmer, adhesive, Score-Pal, ink, and a stamp. I’ve also been known to bring my planner and a few stickers, or a bullet journal and pens. I’ve also brought mini albums I made in a class and finally took the time to add photos and journaling.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">Learning to take smaller kits and one-off projects has helped me get more done when I do travel. When I bring too many supplies, I find that I actually get less done because I spend more time setting up my crafts and choosing supplies and less time actually crafting. Plus it’s a nice change not to lug all those supplies around in a second suitcase or tote bag. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">You can read more about taking crafts with you when you travel in our August newsletter, which will go out on the 1<sup>st</sup>. Brandi is going to share her travel kit, and I’ll have a new blog article about documenting your travels on the go. Be sure to subscribe to the newsletter at <a href="http://eepurl.com/TZULf" style="color: purple;">http://eepurl.com/TZULf</a>, and you can subscribe to this newsletter using the links on the left.<o:p></o:p></p>Crafty Neighborhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09663704628909022165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6448939874146814429.post-75718633107942153392021-07-21T02:11:00.000-05:002021-07-21T02:11:08.583-05:00Attention Email Subscribers!<p style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj2WYrowA4LsAXq0nISA1Tv_CMCjOV1dyDFDyS-gOJsfDETTnaSkOqpl-1WeRBZy76-Klb_66ADL792xZiehUTAa-FT_U52PiiF-HlpppUmwV_PmBcXN9-rABjl0kAOvnUaQwL8wzLMMHh/s2048/4529564.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj2WYrowA4LsAXq0nISA1Tv_CMCjOV1dyDFDyS-gOJsfDETTnaSkOqpl-1WeRBZy76-Klb_66ADL792xZiehUTAa-FT_U52PiiF-HlpppUmwV_PmBcXN9-rABjl0kAOvnUaQwL8wzLMMHh/w400-h266/4529564.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><p>If you are an email subscriber to this blog, I have some bad news for you! Blogger has announced they will no longer support FeedBurner Email Subscriptions. To continue receiving new posts, please use one of the other Subscribe widgets on the left. I am still on the hunt for a solution for email subscriptions and will share as soon as I figure it out! Until then, I hope you'll choose to subscribe in another manner!</p><p>Thanks so much!</p><p>Cindy</p><p><a href="https://www.freepik.com/vectors/social-media">Social media vector created by stories - www.freepik.com</a></p>Crafty Neighborhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09663704628909022165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6448939874146814429.post-56861027536430632782021-03-14T09:00:00.001-05:002021-03-14T09:00:05.208-05:00COVID-Safe Craft Getaways<p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span>What’s the one thing you miss most while we’re going through this pandemic? Is it movie theaters? House parties? Vacations? Happy hour with friends from the office? For me, I think I would probably have to answer, “retreats.”</span></span></span></p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><style class="WebKit-mso-list-quirks-style">
<!--
/* Style Definitions */
p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal
{mso-style-unhide:no;
mso-style-qformat:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
margin:0in;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:Helvetica;
mso-fareast-font-family:"MS 明朝";
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";}
p.MsoListParagraph, li.MsoListParagraph, div.MsoListParagraph
{mso-style-priority:34;
mso-style-unhide:no;
mso-style-qformat:yes;
margin-top:0in;
margin-right:0in;
margin-bottom:0in;
margin-left:.5in;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-add-space:auto;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:Helvetica;
mso-fareast-font-family:"MS 明朝";
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";}
p.MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst, li.MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst, div.MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst
{mso-style-priority:34;
mso-style-unhide:no;
mso-style-qformat:yes;
mso-style-type:export-only;
margin-top:0in;
margin-right:0in;
margin-bottom:0in;
margin-left:.5in;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-add-space:auto;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:Helvetica;
mso-fareast-font-family:"MS 明朝";
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";}
p.MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle, li.MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle, div.MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle
{mso-style-priority:34;
mso-style-unhide:no;
mso-style-qformat:yes;
mso-style-type:export-only;
margin-top:0in;
margin-right:0in;
margin-bottom:0in;
margin-left:.5in;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-add-space:auto;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:Helvetica;
mso-fareast-font-family:"MS 明朝";
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";}
p.MsoListParagraphCxSpLast, li.MsoListParagraphCxSpLast, div.MsoListParagraphCxSpLast
{mso-style-priority:34;
mso-style-unhide:no;
mso-style-qformat:yes;
mso-style-type:export-only;
margin-top:0in;
margin-right:0in;
margin-bottom:0in;
margin-left:.5in;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-add-space:auto;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:Helvetica;
mso-fareast-font-family:"MS 明朝";
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";}
.MsoChpDefault
{mso-style-type:export-only;
mso-default-props:yes;
font-size:10.0pt;
mso-ansi-font-size:10.0pt;
mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;
mso-fareast-font-family:"MS 明朝";
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-fareast-language:JA;}
@page WordSection1
{size:8.5in 11.0in;
margin:1.0in 1.0in 1.0in 1.0in;
mso-header-margin:.5in;
mso-footer-margin:.5in;
mso-paper-source:0;}
div.WordSection1
{page:WordSection1;}
/* List Definitions */
@list l0
{mso-list-id:1151408268;
mso-list-type:hybrid;
mso-list-template-ids:-674092448 67698689 67698691 67698693 67698689 67698691 67698693 67698689 67698691 67698693;}
@list l0:level1
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:;
mso-level-tab-stop:none;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
font-family:Symbol;}
@list l0:level2
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:o;
mso-level-tab-stop:none;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
font-family:"Courier New";}
@list l0:level3
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:;
mso-level-tab-stop:none;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
font-family:Wingdings;}
@list l0:level4
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:;
mso-level-tab-stop:none;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
font-family:Symbol;}
@list l0:level5
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:o;
mso-level-tab-stop:none;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
font-family:"Courier New";}
@list l0:level6
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:;
mso-level-tab-stop:none;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
font-family:Wingdings;}
@list l0:level7
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:;
mso-level-tab-stop:none;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
font-family:Symbol;}
@list l0:level8
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:o;
mso-level-tab-stop:none;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
font-family:"Courier New";}
@list l0:level9
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:;
mso-level-tab-stop:none;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
font-family:Wingdings;}
-->
</style></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Not so many years ago, it seemed like a new scrapbooking retreat was opening up every month or so. They were <i>everywhere</i>, and they were always booked solid. For some of us, packing up our craft supplies and spending a weekend with our closest friends out in the country somewhere is one of the best stress relievers out there. After all, a retreat usually involves some good food, a fun hobby, and lots of laughs, not to mention <i>no chores</i>. When I finally caught on to this special sojourn, I couldn’t get enough. I was going on a retreat five or six times a year – more if you count the annual scrapbooking cruises and convention weekends. Going on a retreat was probably my favorite thing to do, and a great escape from the stress and anxiety of work, home, and family. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Going on retreats (including conventions and cruises) has pretty much been put on hold since March of 2020. We are all spending a lot more time at home, which has brought it’s own kind of stress and anxiety along with even more need to get away from it all. And while some retreat centers have been open with limited capacity, many of us do not feel comfortable spending a weekend in close quarters with a bunch of strangers. Some people have been taking advantage of lowered capacity and going anyway, what is a high-risk, unvaccinated individual like me to do?</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 12pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfLxv09hDh0A0NabPxTR6MOavBjIo0keYEX5zGbllyIef73Z0r_qKsKtf1RXWpyOjz8Rt9iDGNpT6GqveL9URDNfIfwzOU36SglChell5eSr8MUTWndpdgjBA48u_RbOitfFdJRCrXHR1I/s1200/IMG_5757.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1200" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfLxv09hDh0A0NabPxTR6MOavBjIo0keYEX5zGbllyIef73Z0r_qKsKtf1RXWpyOjz8Rt9iDGNpT6GqveL9URDNfIfwzOU36SglChell5eSr8MUTWndpdgjBA48u_RbOitfFdJRCrXHR1I/w400-h300/IMG_5757.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Last November, after a few particularly stressful weeks as a caregiver for my mother, I turned to my friends with a desperate plea, “Please go away with me somewhere!” and that was how our “safe” retreats began. We wanted to limit our retreat to just four crafty friends who we knew had been very carefully social distancing and self-isolating throughout the pandemic. Realizing that we couldn’t control how many people came to a retreat unless we rented the whole place, we started looking for other options for a weekend stay. Enter Airbnb, VRBO, and a host of other vacation rental options.</span></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyteFn7Rn4O2ZKPgnyfOvRQY2fVjIjAdaXqXAOoqenv-kjohyphenhyphenQjCsPZTg3GY1cpL3-IQEHyUT53m-dtwiWPVnef-JuEBq5YtiXgdYDhz3ihxM73uloP2y7-3VVGxA0Qan-LyWcNEaK-q1i/s1200/IMG_5730.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1200" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyteFn7Rn4O2ZKPgnyfOvRQY2fVjIjAdaXqXAOoqenv-kjohyphenhyphenQjCsPZTg3GY1cpL3-IQEHyUT53m-dtwiWPVnef-JuEBq5YtiXgdYDhz3ihxM73uloP2y7-3VVGxA0Qan-LyWcNEaK-q1i/w400-h300/IMG_5730.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We started out wearing facemasks at our first retreat, but they didn't last long.<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><o:p></o:p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Our first Airbnb rental was about two hours away, and was an approximate midway point between us. We looked for a location that had a large living room or den that would accommodate four folding tables without too much furniture rearranging. We had a great time on that trip, and learned some valuable lessons for the next trip.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5RY-zaHw9lYfoFD99mQ3JcKdLdj0SGuP0eXo8pkw70KdoNbq1DN95a6euOutdfmtxauecO-GS6dq8-fvEBOsJZOMXcCGkEY8lxDhpZb0GkALr1M3-3pjj-UAg_wBZmALQ7xx1codQuvBp/s2048/IMG_2395.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5RY-zaHw9lYfoFD99mQ3JcKdLdj0SGuP0eXo8pkw70KdoNbq1DN95a6euOutdfmtxauecO-GS6dq8-fvEBOsJZOMXcCGkEY8lxDhpZb0GkALr1M3-3pjj-UAg_wBZmALQ7xx1codQuvBp/w300-h400/IMG_2395.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">As of this writing, I am actually sitting at our <i>second</i> Airbnb retreat. This time we chose a location closer to home, a quaint 19<sup>th</sup> century farmhouse far enough out in the country to feel isolated, but close enough to go buy ice if we needed it. We planned for the problems we encountered the last time, but this rental came with its own set of issues. We haven’t let that stop us from having a great time and enjoying this crucial respite from the daily grind.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 12pt;"></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; margin-top: 12pt; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ69yW-Debu-cF-T1Pslro0_POLRGTptX3kXCisSvdrkr4szxAXy-UPHtB26U7X4fVWssWZQ5mSBxq7o85MmYL2t5vuZygmh600qICSCPqDkH6AsmGUUjUAreA6r6-JZdmg79I_RZNhz4a/s2048/IMG_2368.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ69yW-Debu-cF-T1Pslro0_POLRGTptX3kXCisSvdrkr4szxAXy-UPHtB26U7X4fVWssWZQ5mSBxq7o85MmYL2t5vuZygmh600qICSCPqDkH6AsmGUUjUAreA6r6-JZdmg79I_RZNhz4a/s320/IMG_2368.jpg" /></a><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; margin-top: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">If you are longing for the days when you escaped to a crafty retreat with your friends, think about hosting a private getaway on your own. Here are some things to keep in mind:<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Keep the size of your group small to increase your chances of finding a space that will accommodate you – no more than 4-5 crafters.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit; text-indent: -0.25in;">Make sure you are renting the whole house, not just a room; some listings can be misleading. READ THE FINE PRINT!</span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit; text-indent: -0.25in;">Look for a rental that has an open floor plan with minimal furniture to ensure you have room for tables. Keep in mind that photos can be misleading. Rooms are rarely as large as they look in the photos!</span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit; text-indent: -0.25in;">Contact the owner to clarify any questions you might have and to verify availability. Some owners do not update availability of the rental, especially if it is listed on multiple websites.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit; text-indent: -0.25in;">Pay close attention to lighting; one ceiling fan or a few table lamps may not be sufficient. Plan to bring your own lighting if necessary</span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit; text-indent: -0.25in;">Look for existing chairs or prepare to bring your own chairs. Avoid using rolling chairs on hardwood floors, as it will damage them; bring a rug or floor mat if you must use a rolling chair.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit; text-indent: -0.25in;">Bring extension cords and power strips for your lighting and electronic devices</span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit; text-indent: -0.25in;">Don’t forget a small trashcan and cup-holder. These are often provided at a retreat but won’t be available at a rental facility.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit; text-indent: -0.25in;">Pay close attention to the kitchen facilities. Some rentals have “apartment” refrigerators or no stove. Plan your meals accordingly.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit; text-indent: -0.25in;">Don’t be afraid to contact the owner to clarify amenities at the facility like: room dimensions, coffee pots, kitchen accoutrements, power outlet locations, local recommendations, parking accommodations, handicap accessibility, etc.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit; text-indent: -0.25in;">Think about bringing things like Ziploc bags, Tupperware, cutting boards, foil/plastic wrap, etc. You’ll need a way to pack up your leftovers. Don’t forget ice!</span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit; text-indent: -0.25in;">Pack light. You may not have room for all your scrapbook supplies. Plan your projects well.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit; text-indent: -0.25in;">Don’t use paints, glitter or other messy craft supplies indoors. Don’t craft on the owner’s furniture without protective coverings. Be sure to clean up any accidents and sweep/vacuum your craft area.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit; text-indent: -0.25in;">Return all furniture to its original location.</span></li></ul></span><div><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-top: 12pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-top: 12pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSIlc29qNW6VH_1oVWt10ckWKSGoPlEFQL-a8oRHIMcKnDXcl9OVOATpiWWSW4-sGusKWXorsT82BF35pUr-XrTk_bCeSTvidSuPoOh1auEAeXGu2cOLiaiXNSQOlFqwgfoL90mYFtlbZr/s2048/IMG_2413.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSIlc29qNW6VH_1oVWt10ckWKSGoPlEFQL-a8oRHIMcKnDXcl9OVOATpiWWSW4-sGusKWXorsT82BF35pUr-XrTk_bCeSTvidSuPoOh1auEAeXGu2cOLiaiXNSQOlFqwgfoL90mYFtlbZr/w300-h400/IMG_2413.jpg" width="300" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Obviously, you can’t plan for everything, but if you ask lots of questions and keep in mind the accommodations that might <i>not</i> be available, you can avoid some of the pitfalls. If you plan well, you, too, can get away for a COVID-safe retreat with your besties. </span></span><o:p></o:p></p></div>Crafty Neighborhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09663704628909022165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6448939874146814429.post-8877946787223030482021-02-13T09:00:00.002-06:002021-02-13T09:00:07.613-06:00Words Have Power<p><br /> <span style="font-family: Helvetica;">Howdy, crafty neighbors! This month in our newsletter, Brandi Reyna will be introducing the Crafty Neighbor Craft of the Month (CotM for short?) a new theme that will be featured across all our Crafty Neighbor media from the newsletter to Facebook, blog, and Instagram. I hope you’ll enjoy this new segment; we think it will be a great way to help us dig deeper into our various crafts and widen our skills and knowledge in some unique ways.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 12pt 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 12pt 0in 0.0001pt;">Our topic this month is <i>The Power of Words: Planning and Goal Setting</i>. Back in 2012, I wrote several blog articles about using <i>power words</i> as part of my 365 art journaling project. (I’ve linked those articles below.) My use of power words has evolved in the last nine years, but my belief in the power of words has stayed the same. In her novel, <i>A Handmaid’s Tale, </i>Margaret Atwood wrote,<o:p></o:p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 12pt 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Shadows Into Light; font-size: large;"> “A word after a word after a word is power.”</span><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 12pt 0in 0.0001pt;">And even Mother Theresa proclaims,<o:p></o:p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 12pt 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Shadows Into Light; font-size: large;"> “Kind words can be short and easy to speak,<br />but their echoes are truly endless.”</span><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: large;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 12pt 0in 0.0001pt;">The idea of a power word is not a new one. My son’s high school orchestra used power words in a <i>unity circle</i> before every concert. Each student would share his or her word and the idea was that in unity, all these powerful words come together to make a whole, cohesive orchestra. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 12pt 0in 0.0001pt;">Blogger <a href="http://christinekane.com/blog/" style="color: purple;">Christine Kane</a> uses power words in a different way. She contends that your power words give you <i>intent</i>. Each year, instead of making New Years resolutions, she does a lot of soul searching and comes up with her <a href="http://christinekane.com/resolutions-yawn-heres-a-better-way-to-start-your-year/" style="color: purple;">Word of the Year</a>. The word becomes her touchstone to stay focused on what’s important and to remind her of her goals. You can read more about it in that link above, and she even offers a free worksheet to help you find the right word for you.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 12pt 0in 0.0001pt;">Since 2012, I have been choosing an annual that has helped me change and grow and learn a lot about myself in the process. In 2013, I used my word as the foundation of my 365 art journaling project mentioned above, and I continued to work in that art journal using various words over the years. For the last three years, I have been doing so through a process designed by Ali Edwards called <i><a href="https://aliedwards.com/shop/classes/one-little-word-2021" style="color: purple;">One Little Word</a>.</i> One Little Word is an online workshop with monthly prompts that guide you through exploring your word. I posted flip-through videos on my <a href="https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLL0FbexYzmXUPlXA3HrtMymenlaihztNT" style="color: purple;">YouTube channel</a> that illustrate two of the albums I created as part of One Little Word. This year, I’m working in a journal rather than a pocket album, which is providing a different experience in the creative aspect, but is just as effective at facilitating the process of growing in my word. In fact, I’ve worked many of the prompts exactly the same as in previous years, but in a flatter bullet journal style, which has really challenged my creativity. You can see most of my 2021 project on my Instagram and Facebook feeds. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 12pt 0in 0.0001pt;">Here are a couple of examples of some of the work I’ve been doing:</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 12pt 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p></o:p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjecE3S6E3zuDJzmzkbniP5phdRJOhjaqxIm-JVUcRIByvbZrR1SM1V8ouW_-I-FfKGgh6q5_fX_NtB7VXofQ1fg4uV_cgu9xFejSrTq6RErBLEwAoMOftr1ih69GjQpJ7WXXAWnvvUem24/s2048/olw+vision+board.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1638" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjecE3S6E3zuDJzmzkbniP5phdRJOhjaqxIm-JVUcRIByvbZrR1SM1V8ouW_-I-FfKGgh6q5_fX_NtB7VXofQ1fg4uV_cgu9xFejSrTq6RErBLEwAoMOftr1ih69GjQpJ7WXXAWnvvUem24/w320-h400/olw+vision+board.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My 2021 vision board.<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh05GN0wcC5ORZLs-AFyZXKDAqzCNE5K7v0nE3IYvbY-JvJlzZSYKOBbVJyugDZSesOrNhix62jm8z5rcw16h4f8PflHogfgmgYeKBpa-yvicahyr2UVmrKOMjucVJl99K7jZwrZBVIEPt/s2048/IMG_E7406b.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1434" data-original-width="2048" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh05GN0wcC5ORZLs-AFyZXKDAqzCNE5K7v0nE3IYvbY-JvJlzZSYKOBbVJyugDZSesOrNhix62jm8z5rcw16h4f8PflHogfgmgYeKBpa-yvicahyr2UVmrKOMjucVJl99K7jZwrZBVIEPt/w400-h280/IMG_E7406b.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A page in my OLW journal.<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB2gfDlA0MzXIzwhphiLZ1QAP8KmQNCrOfq8_b1wBIzkYe69mbPbdqlfv3mvX-6jK7vqG052xDCAbMKzS3j15bJRXRtiTnGw39POaaj7h8Wdp3KJFSzksnXfQoTfbhrv79-B6jsQUlUFT5/s2048/IMG_E7407b.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1472" data-original-width="2048" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB2gfDlA0MzXIzwhphiLZ1QAP8KmQNCrOfq8_b1wBIzkYe69mbPbdqlfv3mvX-6jK7vqG052xDCAbMKzS3j15bJRXRtiTnGw39POaaj7h8Wdp3KJFSzksnXfQoTfbhrv79-B6jsQUlUFT5/w400-h288/IMG_E7407b.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A page in my OLW journal.<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin1fGz_grWSx0hbdQM0qzNkNSU7s6Xf63DBqqSAqu3UNEEul0FXGbJflbYJ7Ro-OV2TVRueYdbrJyEFVzyEY0cji_lS01JM4A1hDC3mLG9h-eGj4UUDrf5G5chTeNYJRLILZh4AnE9nWyZ/s2048/IMG_E7510b.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1482" data-original-width="2048" height="290" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin1fGz_grWSx0hbdQM0qzNkNSU7s6Xf63DBqqSAqu3UNEEul0FXGbJflbYJ7Ro-OV2TVRueYdbrJyEFVzyEY0cji_lS01JM4A1hDC3mLG9h-eGj4UUDrf5G5chTeNYJRLILZh4AnE9nWyZ/w400-h290/IMG_E7510b.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A page in my OLW journal.<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 12pt 0in 0.0001pt;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 12pt 0in 0.0001pt;">This year, I have also committed to exploring Lara Casey’s <i><a href="https://cultivatewhatmatters.com/" style="color: purple;">Cultivate What Matters Power Sheets</a> </i>goal planner. It’s yet another way to set some intentions and build on what you are doing with your power word. In fact, part of the prep work that goes into Power Sheets is a step that helps you <i>find</i> the right word. Power sheets can be started any time and there is even an undated, 6-month planner if you want to give it a try without a full-on commitment. Christine Kane’s worksheet is free, but both One Little Word and Power Sheets are paid products. These are all great places to start, but you can also do what I did when I first started – just find a word and find some projects that speak to you and let you express and explore that word. I’d be interested to see where it takes you.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 12pt 0in 0.0001pt;"> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 12pt 0in 0.0001pt;"></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigoL5B1DS0w8YZlNTSf_2vOIkfIy1WUHSZrrMlJOp6oXPqmKrEUeBHq2LUBYZqOi_O7kVmXM8tDQ4qFapXI5d3UaeQ0xPRN1dqbIYGBW08gu588ULZm2DDDWein_ZE1AHhDsd_UiHuJywX/s2048/RUNB1699b.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1530" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigoL5B1DS0w8YZlNTSf_2vOIkfIy1WUHSZrrMlJOp6oXPqmKrEUeBHq2LUBYZqOi_O7kVmXM8tDQ4qFapXI5d3UaeQ0xPRN1dqbIYGBW08gu588ULZm2DDDWein_ZE1AHhDsd_UiHuJywX/w299-h400/RUNB1699b.jpg" width="299" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A page in my Power Sheets workbook.<br /></td></tr></tbody></table> <p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 12pt 0in 0.0001pt;"><i>For more information:</i></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Crafty Neighbor 365 Project: <a href="https://craftyneighbor.blogspot.com/p/365-challenge.html">https://craftyneighbor.blogspot.com/p/365-challenge.html</a></li><li>Crafty Neighbor YouTube: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/CindyMCraftyNeighbor" target="_blank"> http://www.youtube.com/CindyMCraftyNeighbor</a></li><li>Crafty Neighbor Instagram: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/craftyneighbor/">https://www.instagram.com/craftyneighbor/</a></li><li>Crafty Neighbor Facebook: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/CraftyNeighbor/">https://www.facebook.com/CraftyNeighbor/</a></li><li>Amazon Affiliate Link: <a href="https://www.amazon.com/b?_encoding=UTF8&tag=craftyneigh0d-20&linkCode=ur2&linkId=73700857e9e313d569e606627691b602&camp=1789&creative=9325&node=12898821" style="font-family: Helvetica;" target="_blank">Stock Up on Your Supplies</a></li></ul><div>*As an Amazon Affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases.</div>Crafty Neighborhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09663704628909022165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6448939874146814429.post-16462150316579858152020-10-11T22:33:00.001-05:002020-10-11T22:33:35.790-05:00What's in Yours?<p><span style="font-family: Helvetica;">Hubby and I are huge science nerds.</span><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"> </span><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"> </span><span style="font-family: Helvetica;">We grew up in the age of moon landings, Star Trek, and Space Invaders, so it’s no secret that we are also fans of NASA. Today, Mark stumbled across a fun article relating to the</span><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"> </span><a href="https://www.nasa.gov/specials/artemis/" style="color: purple; font-family: Helvetica;">Artemis program</a><span style="font-family: Helvetica;">, NASA’s current program to send the first woman (and the next man) to the moon. The mission itself is pretty exciting, but one of the things that particularly caught our eye was the “What’s in Your #NASAMoonKit?” promotion.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">Astronauts who travel to the International Space Station are very limited on what personal items they can bring with them into space. Each astronaut is allowed a “personal preference kit” that takes up a maximum volume of 5” x 8” x 2”. For the record, that’s smaller than this Creative Memories paper trimmer.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><a href="https://www.pinterest.com/pin/163396292700787190/?nic_v2=1a5CYE8OF" style="color: purple;"><img src="https://i.pinimg.com/564x/d0/09/bb/d009bb4c6f8258cd01087e9cb302ba74.jpg" /></a><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">What would you put in your personal preference kit? NASA invites you to think about what you would take to the moon and share what you would put in your #NASAMoonKit on social media. Take a picture or video and post it with the hashtag #NASAMoonKit on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook. If they like it, NASA might share your kit on their own social media accounts or their Green Run broadcast. Oh, and don't forget to tag @CraftyNeighbor and #craftyneighbor. I’ll be posting mine to Instagram and Facebook sometime in the next few days!</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">For all the rules, check the official <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/nasamoonkit" style="color: purple;">“What’s in Your #NASAMoonKit?”</a> website. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p>Crafty Neighborhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09663704628909022165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6448939874146814429.post-79742842349298708262020-10-10T09:00:00.011-05:002022-07-05T21:41:41.866-05:00Craft Your Stress Away<p><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigA2Ys_UnyAjW8pW6enYyxtfgdJLEP3DmVCBp3MSwCiyz37IkkFNAuqr-D1UJcVD-3zl9tXsTd8LmYw829UE_uBSg8u2XTF5N7Xm4Iw7WnZgPRZO2WJQNuL6pzIUaOS8MhVNJUIRs9yhH1/s2000/4260800.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2000" data-original-width="2000" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigA2Ys_UnyAjW8pW6enYyxtfgdJLEP3DmVCBp3MSwCiyz37IkkFNAuqr-D1UJcVD-3zl9tXsTd8LmYw829UE_uBSg8u2XTF5N7Xm4Iw7WnZgPRZO2WJQNuL6pzIUaOS8MhVNJUIRs9yhH1/w400-h400/4260800.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Today is World Mental Health Day, and I can’t help but think that we could <i>all</i> use a day to pay a little bit more attention to our stress levels and spend a little more time giving ourselves some self-care. This year has been…shall we say “bizarre”…to say the least. My stress levels are so high my ears are ringing and I have to keep reminding myself to relax my neck and shoulders. Sadly, it doesn’t look like it’s going to get any better any time soon. Ugh. Everything is being cancelled, done virtually, and just messed up in general.<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"> </span><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"> </span><span style="font-family: Helvetica;">They’re even discouraging Halloween festivities. Luckily for us, we are crafters, so we have some <i>great</i> de-stressing tricks and treats (see what I did there?) right at our fingertips, so I’m here today to remind you about a few of them.</span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 12pt 0in 0.0001pt;"><b>1. Craft with friends<o:p></o:p></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 12pt 0in 0.0001pt;">My household can be a bit chaotic even on a good day. With three (sometimes four) adults and two dogs, there’s always some kind of noise and commotion. I like to get away to crops and retreats where I can tune out all that mess, but with COVID, that’s just not possible. Back in March, when we weren’t able to meet in person any more, we started doing some Zoom crops (weekly on Thursdays, and frequently on weekends, too). It’s been a tremendous stress release to be able to chat with my friends, especially when we all come to realize we all have the same hopes and fears about this crazy situation. You can start your own Zoom meeting, open a Facebook “room”, or use any number of other online meeting options. You can even join our weekly meetings; the info is available in our Crafty Neighbor Facebook Group: Crop and Craft Events. That’s where we post all of our virtual and (hopefully some day) in-person events from now on.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 12pt 0in 0.0001pt;"><b>2. Do something mindless<o:p></o:p></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 12pt 0in 0.0001pt;">Since I can’t go anywhere to <i>get away</i> from the stressful things in my life, I’ve started to think instead about things I can do right here at home, and that usually means veg’ing out on TV while doing something quiet and mindless. Zentangle, doodling, and coloring are great options, as is sewing the binding on a quilt, or even just cutting your scrap paper down to card or photo mat sizes. I have spent many an hour rolling balls of yarn and spools of ribbon. Just find something simple that you don’t have to think too much about.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 12pt 0in 0.0001pt;"><b>3. Go for a quick victory<o:p></o:p></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 12pt 0in 0.0001pt;">One sure-fire way to feel better is to give yourself an easy win. Finishing an unfinished project, cleaning out a drawer in your craft room, putting those finished layouts into albums, or even jotting down some ideas for your next project are all great ways to boost your mood. By checking off a task on your to-do list, you give yourself an automatic check in the “win” column, and that always feels good. It doesn't have to be a big undertaking…completing even the smallest task is enough to get the endorphins going. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 12pt 0in 0.0001pt;">So the next time you’re feeling down in the dumps, or anxiety is making you pull your own hair out, treat yourself to one of these crafty (and fun) techniques to kick that stress to the curb! I know you’ll be glad you did! <o:p></o:p></p><span><a name='more'></a></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 12pt 0in 0.0001pt;"><br /><a href='https://www.freepik.com/vectors/hand'>Hand vector created by freepik - www.freepik.com</a></p>Crafty Neighborhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09663704628909022165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6448939874146814429.post-33145624817128581762020-10-06T21:17:00.001-05:002020-10-06T21:17:18.925-05:00Wedding Invitations<p><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12pt;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVwTmAL-mBT79us_zx27mLmempJXmbMRwwNxrb5FnCeVLFj5aFvVrVBZq3surnr4y-BUqO13TfGY4pAs_fKFJC4VBk1WdvdUKICuB6IDY_nGF_SIXZkOUjvnoO9aRhUXVis4qfZy5OxAbc/s2048/W-Murray-BellaCavalli-0064-+EDITED.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1371" data-original-width="2048" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVwTmAL-mBT79us_zx27mLmempJXmbMRwwNxrb5FnCeVLFj5aFvVrVBZq3surnr4y-BUqO13TfGY4pAs_fKFJC4VBk1WdvdUKICuB6IDY_nGF_SIXZkOUjvnoO9aRhUXVis4qfZy5OxAbc/w400-h268/W-Murray-BellaCavalli-0064-+EDITED.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12pt;"><br />I know I promised this a long, long time ago, and I thank you much for waiting so patiently while we got through a whole bunch of stuff. It was just too much for Christen and I to do all this work on the wedding AND find time to blog about it. I did make sure to take lots of pictures, so I hope you’ll think it was worth the wait as I start on this series of wedding posts. So without further adieu, I would like to share the invitations we made.</span><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><p></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;">Christen and Travis chose to wait about a year before getting married so they could have time to save up for the big day and to give us plenty of time to make all the crafty things we wanted. They found the perfect venue soon after, and we kept getting asked whether they had set the date, so we decided to send out “Save the Date” cards.</span></div><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9WT9LTTtQE7Z0MzxRCHDnNX5GK_SjeJ9lotvRal1k611vXGc_7ju3wgCPlb9ZV1w2P85w7FgqnmN6SrFiF6R-fQKgisoGB-7ffKKv-4MEJToygniTKHTndGYbB-avQyktSyE6cWYMeNmw/s2048/save+the+date+Combined+image.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1451" data-original-width="2048" height="284" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9WT9LTTtQE7Z0MzxRCHDnNX5GK_SjeJ9lotvRal1k611vXGc_7ju3wgCPlb9ZV1w2P85w7FgqnmN6SrFiF6R-fQKgisoGB-7ffKKv-4MEJToygniTKHTndGYbB-avQyktSyE6cWYMeNmw/w400-h284/save+the+date+Combined+image.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><p></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;">I designed these myself in Photoshop, using several fonts I downloaded from the internet. These included <a href="https://fonts2u.com/lightfoot-shadowed.font" style="color: purple;">Lightfoot Shadowed</a>, <a href="https://www.whatfontis.com/CR_Safina-Fancy-ttf-400.font" style="color: purple;">Safina Fancy</a>, <a href="https://www.dafontfree.net/freefonts-jazz-let-f130382.htm" style="color: purple;">Jazz LET</a>, <a href="https://www.urbanfonts.com/fonts/Playbill.htm" style="color: purple;">Playbill</a>, <a href="https://www.vletter.com/downloads/dakota-font-download-free.html" style="color: purple;">Dakota</a>, and <a href="https://www.dafont.com/little-lord-fontleroy.font" style="color: purple;">Little Lord Fontleroy</a>. I also used Helvetica font, which usually comes installed on most computers.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;">For printing, I sent my postcard to <a href="http://www.gotprint.com/" style="color: purple;">Got Print</a>, my go-to printing company. They offer fast, convenient service, highly competitive pricing, and they even have a facility right here in North Texas. Before sending your designs for printing, you’ll want to make sure you have designed the front and back as two separate files. You may need to convert to CMYK color, so be sure to read the instructions carefully for the optimal file format and observe the bleed marks, etc. We chose full color on both sides 4”x6” standard postcard on 14 pt. Uncoated Cover paper. Choose the online <i>Instant Processing Proof </i>to speed up the service and keep the costs down. We paid $31.88 for 100 postcards, including tax and shipping. Larger orders offer greater savings.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;">We had a lot of ideas about the actual invitations, but after months of playing with a Silhouette cut file that wouldn’t cut all the way (just too intricate at that size), we gave up and ordered this die set from Amazon*. We made about 130 invitations in all, and it took us a lot longer to cut out than we had estimated. For one thing, this tiny intricate die didn’t always cut well. We wound up having to use a shim and we had to stop frequently to cut wax paper with it a few times to help it release the little bits and pieces. There are so many tiny pieces in this design that it literally <i>shredded </i>my Sizzix Die Brush Tool*. After that, we tried a soft-bristled toothbrush before we settled on a stiff brush from my Sonic Scrubber*. The combination of the stiff bristled brush and the above-mentioned wax paper worked well, if a bit slow.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA5u-457iJFVTXZ4UJszgC92nGnlWhXXIs1hAd4IumcyLL_mUOfpAnEwHECItDKiQxR1wgFrv1P51i-gz3k2L14mjvZna79595jy7Jo2uLCq2NzyuhVEahguL3qBpPaicgK_zvLcsYOCng/s2048/die.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1908" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA5u-457iJFVTXZ4UJszgC92nGnlWhXXIs1hAd4IumcyLL_mUOfpAnEwHECItDKiQxR1wgFrv1P51i-gz3k2L14mjvZna79595jy7Jo2uLCq2NzyuhVEahguL3qBpPaicgK_zvLcsYOCng/s320/die.jpg" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"><br /><o:p></o:p></span><p></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;">The die we used comes in two pieces, as shown. One cuts the pocket and the other is an edge die, which has a score mark to be placed against the fold-line of your trifold invitation. This particular die was designed to create a 4" x 6" card -- NOT the standard A2 (4 ¼" x 5 ½") card most commonly used in the U.S. We searched all over for a die to make the right size, to no avail. So we decided to make do with this one. The problem we found with this was that it was very difficult to get the score marks exactly perpendicular to the length of the card and exactly where it needed to be scored since we couldn't line up the edges of the die perfectly. Rather than try to precisely place the die on the fold, we chose cut the paper into 5 ½” x 12” strips and used the die on one end. Once it was cut, we could score at the edge of the die-cut area and fold it inward before trimming to the desired length…in this case, a standard 4 ¼” x 5 ½” card. So basically cut first, score, then trim.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ5sLsGXBFgE6CS8lcBUUj7L2L_EAmchFhSB0Ir-MMsFoDi1vIrvc2Cexi-lyL0hiYICNFxJN2qStW-jFwz2Q8CN4oRts-JL59QXFEt_VDMwZsXpZXi3Kn4dYrZ1sMKfCB3vjwGedg0toP/s2048/IMG_3643+1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ5sLsGXBFgE6CS8lcBUUj7L2L_EAmchFhSB0Ir-MMsFoDi1vIrvc2Cexi-lyL0hiYICNFxJN2qStW-jFwz2Q8CN4oRts-JL59QXFEt_VDMwZsXpZXi3Kn4dYrZ1sMKfCB3vjwGedg0toP/w300-h400/IMG_3643+1.JPG" width="300" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"><br /></span><p></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;">The pocket die also contains score lines to help with construction. Simply fold the tabs inward and add adhesive before sticking it to the right-hand flap of your card. I used ¼” Scor-Tape* for a sturdy hold. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBP8B4eCsYecuHd27OxeJ1isCCgigslRojrJl0zmVuJOfeMHRAOChBZ8e-BuF4Q3174Ur3s98KIgyx40GgAD3HUAapVciO9fe6zAQt2WaP5msIjT0YJZhEwK0lLOpxhMs7YkiAubrWQ_ak/s2048/IMG_E3645.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="2048" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBP8B4eCsYecuHd27OxeJ1isCCgigslRojrJl0zmVuJOfeMHRAOChBZ8e-BuF4Q3174Ur3s98KIgyx40GgAD3HUAapVciO9fe6zAQt2WaP5msIjT0YJZhEwK0lLOpxhMs7YkiAubrWQ_ak/w400-h400/IMG_E3645.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"><br /></span><p></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;">The remaining parts inside the card were printed on my laser printer using Stampin’ Up Very Vanilla paper and a brown-toned ink using the following fonts: <a href="https://www.dafontfree.net/freefonts-imprint-mt-shadow-f129671.htm" style="color: purple;">Imprint MT Shadow</a>, <a href="https://www.fonts.com/font/monotype/bell-mt/story" style="color: purple;">Bell MT</a>, and <a href="https://fontbundles.net/ianmikraz/18255-octavina-script" style="color: purple;">Octavina Swash</a>. The Octavian font came as a bundle I purchases a while back from FontBundles.net, however it is also available for free on various font websites. The paid version offers contextual and stylistic alternates for many of the letters. We also added a text embellishment from the <a href="http://www.megafonts.net/view/typeembellishmentsoneletplain_93101" style="color: purple;">Type Embellishments One LET</a> font. Embellishments like these are fun to play around with, and sometimes you can create lovely embellishments by combining two or more into a single arrangement. </span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieUid8g67XXHpOh59fS4M3WB59TfmfLLqiNwAj65_krBX8-inAElCAn3kTt2CmuloMs7SfpprBnuT1AF98PGkm6VPJQZg4OSZWgKt1srjdN3M8deCEhUibC-tFtG2HnhiVdXp6L3LzuvPy/s2048/IMG_E3673.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="2048" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieUid8g67XXHpOh59fS4M3WB59TfmfLLqiNwAj65_krBX8-inAElCAn3kTt2CmuloMs7SfpprBnuT1AF98PGkm6VPJQZg4OSZWgKt1srjdN3M8deCEhUibC-tFtG2HnhiVdXp6L3LzuvPy/w400-h400/IMG_E3673.JPG" width="400" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"><br /></span><p></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;">Inside the card, we included the formal invitation (on the left) and a <i>Details </i>card and the RSVP card in the pocket on the right. Right before we sent the invitations, we decided to also add a COVID statement/request as another item in the pocket to remind our guests to wear masks. </span></div><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy3IEkuFqwc7g6JRCEbpHR8fV6qrxnKyejjrhlXqeXuGUvgYXgXk8EoesSB_-Xhs4Ppp4gapeh8ZFp1NcqimjPdP_49gCWh_whuGOuHsk-drag4XdjVFjVF5oscvlekSAM-17hTKpfaRak/s2048/IMG_E3682.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="2048" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy3IEkuFqwc7g6JRCEbpHR8fV6qrxnKyejjrhlXqeXuGUvgYXgXk8EoesSB_-Xhs4Ppp4gapeh8ZFp1NcqimjPdP_49gCWh_whuGOuHsk-drag4XdjVFjVF5oscvlekSAM-17hTKpfaRak/w400-h400/IMG_E3682.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><o:p></o:p></span><p></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;">The invitation was held together with a 1” belly band, trimmed to size. The “buckle” on the band was created with <a href="http://thepapercut.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=TPC&Product_Code=LV11&Category_Code=MirriLava" style="color: purple;">Mirri Lava metallic rose gold paper</a> from <a href="http://www.thepapercut.com/" style="color: purple;">The Paper Cut</a> and the Artisan Label punch from Stampin’ Up. The punch is discontinued, but there are many fine dies and punches that would work just as well. The inner part of the buckle was printed on Stampin’ Up Very Vanilla on my laser printer using the Little Lord Fontleroy font again. I simply built the design using multiple layers of boxes and text boxes, moving each layer around until I had it where I wanted it. It’s hard to tell from the photo, but it was actually printed in black and then Travis (my new son-in-law!) ran it through my Heidi Swapp Mini Minc* to foil it in Teal*.</span></div><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5-Qlim2kONsacYlwyqKvjc3s8NAdNS4S6S38NB47fL5aBaVfa6fZlFH6sJP1_nl7Wv-aEI62n_r_PTOusXjX1JBA8WVQAwJTMK8FYTAslzDPch6ptFbPjDIFA3u3o_pQlCJADXowSx-xs/s2048/IMG_E3672.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="2048" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5-Qlim2kONsacYlwyqKvjc3s8NAdNS4S6S38NB47fL5aBaVfa6fZlFH6sJP1_nl7Wv-aEI62n_r_PTOusXjX1JBA8WVQAwJTMK8FYTAslzDPch6ptFbPjDIFA3u3o_pQlCJADXowSx-xs/w400-h400/IMG_E3672.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"><br /></span><p></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;">The other products we used to create the invitations were:</span></div><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"><br /><o:p></o:p></span><p></p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;">Bazzill paper in the color <i>Blue Oasis</i>, which I ordered from my good friend and former Crafty Neighbor instructor, Karrie Allen at <a href="http://www.scrappnsavvy.com/" style="color: purple;">Scrapp’n Savvy</a> in Conroe, Texas.<br /></span></p></blockquote><p> </p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"></span><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;">Kraft Cardstock Paper from Hobby Lobby*</span> </p></blockquote><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGyn8X7thmxgyytOaPywiVnducNN9Yno3qK8-PpV5ufsWs9cRGAL_tUIr1E2aB6Y1_A4sAe6H8KyX9W3LW2fWrbmnpgRSWNleA_lW3okRm6QcSogR3MHFZMM2Jv8CJ_CWxV8JLNO-MQtN6/s2048/IMG_3677.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="244" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGyn8X7thmxgyytOaPywiVnducNN9Yno3qK8-PpV5ufsWs9cRGAL_tUIr1E2aB6Y1_A4sAe6H8KyX9W3LW2fWrbmnpgRSWNleA_lW3okRm6QcSogR3MHFZMM2Jv8CJ_CWxV8JLNO-MQtN6/w400-h244/IMG_3677.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;">One more little thing...because of the weight and thickness of the complete invitation, we had to add more postage when we took them to the post office. My advice...put them all together and take one to the post office to be weighed <i>before </i>you put any postage on them...there might be a single stamp in the right denomination!</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1g29_h-wzaUVX5v57dcy-susgfItoFmCtxYJdbuGSo_Afqf2D8h7JoSFHmlMsF4_G2ShVTnvZFUwdeW0MZtAEhQfvgSMY51gONpEfLIPIIybxuBvUBj9s8-XScRjKUfZWYEu5j2kPW5i5/s2048/IMG_E3697.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="2048" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1g29_h-wzaUVX5v57dcy-susgfItoFmCtxYJdbuGSo_Afqf2D8h7JoSFHmlMsF4_G2ShVTnvZFUwdeW0MZtAEhQfvgSMY51gONpEfLIPIIybxuBvUBj9s8-XScRjKUfZWYEu5j2kPW5i5/w400-h400/IMG_E3697.JPG" width="400" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"><br /></span><p></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12pt;">I hope you’ve enjoyed this little tutorial on making these lovely and lacy wedding invitations! I’ll be posting more of our wedding crafts and other tips and projects soon. Don’t forget to like and subscribe to this blog so you don’t miss out!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;">*Here are links to many of the products I used. As an Amazon Affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases.</span></div><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><iframe frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=US&source=ac&ref=tf_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=craftyneigh0d-20&marketplace=amazon&region=US&placement=B086WYBHVP&asins=B086WYBHVP&linkId=be2124ab32d42460272c450eb110e823&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true&price_color=333333&title_color=0066c0&bg_color=ffffff" style="height: 240px; width: 120px;">
</iframe>
&nbsp <iframe frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=US&source=ss&ref=as_ss_li_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=craftyneigh0d-20&language=en_US&marketplace=amazon&region=US&placement=B01N01Y4CO&asins=B01N01Y4CO&linkId=ff4e09963f7c97b45e248bff12e01ff4&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true" style="height: 240px; width: 120px;"></iframe>
&nbsp <iframe frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=US&source=ss&ref=as_ss_li_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=craftyneigh0d-20&language=en_US&marketplace=amazon&region=US&placement=B007D0H4OK&asins=B007D0H4OK&linkId=f7984ee5e242587e24704a4838f957d4&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true" style="height: 240px; width: 120px;"></iframe> &nbsp
<iframe frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=US&source=ac&ref=tf_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=craftyneigh0d-20&marketplace=amazon&region=US&placement=B001RQ55ZQ&asins=B001RQ55ZQ&linkId=81c8648c28b09aa32b4f1870d2b36e42&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true&price_color=333333&title_color=0066c0&bg_color=ffffff" style="height: 240px; width: 120px;">
</iframe>
&nbsp
<iframe frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=US&source=ss&ref=as_ss_li_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=craftyneigh0d-20&language=en_US&marketplace=amazon&region=US&placement=B00TYNRW6Y&asins=B00TYNRW6Y&linkId=0c47123e1c345eadf20164fdd83e404f&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true" style="height: 240px; width: 120px;"></iframe>
&nbsp
<iframe frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=US&source=ss&ref=as_ss_li_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=craftyneigh0d-20&language=en_US&marketplace=amazon&region=US&placement=B00VU4YOFM&asins=B00VU4YOFM&linkId=99916d323f17d0dfdbb7239d07e6b00b&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true" style="height: 240px; width: 120px;"></iframe>
&nbsp
<iframe frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=US&source=ss&ref=as_ss_li_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=craftyneigh0d-20&language=en_US&marketplace=amazon&region=US&placement=B01KWU4ZI0&asins=B01KWU4ZI0&linkId=cd1746ffa1122df030367295091d68cc&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true" style="height: 240px; width: 120px;"></iframe></span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><br /></p>Crafty Neighborhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09663704628909022165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6448939874146814429.post-43607756681175788282020-09-28T09:00:00.003-05:002020-09-30T22:10:11.227-05:002019 December Daily<p> <span style="font-family: Helvetica;">I just spent the weekend in my old hometown working on getting my mom’s belongings moved into storage. I can’t remember if I posted about it (pretty sure I did), but Mom has been living with us since January. She has dementia, and her care occupies a lot of my time. I’m not quite sure how we did it, but my daughter, Christen, and I somehow managed to pull off a really nice wedding with</span><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"> </span><i style="font-family: Helvetica;">tons </i><span style="font-family: Helvetica;">of handmade decorations, bouquets, and more. And all of it while we were under lockdown and social distancing orders due to COVID-19. I’ve been trying to get around to posting more of those projects, but it just hasn’t happened yet. So all this to say that I finally found a solution, and I’m hoping there will be more posts on here soon, and that they will be more regular in frequency!</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">One of the projects I’ve been meaning to get around to posting is my 2019 December Daily project. This was the first time I’ve participated in the popular challenge hosted by Ali Edwards, and I have to say I had the <i>best</i>time! I finished my album in January, and I even recorded a flip-through video, but then I never could find the time to edit it. Now the 2020 December Daily project is fast approaching and it seems like everyone is posting their flip-throughs as part of the #donebydecember challenge created by Ali’s design team. The idea was to prompt everyone to actually finish their projects, and it guilted me into finally editing this video while traveling home.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/eVXlJcXSE0g" width="560"></iframe></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">Sorry for the lighting…it’s a work in progress! Here’s some still photos of some of the projects:<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Helvetica; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkMSEXpgIKiMApgnSJY4NgyhJEfl0ViD3tZZ7pm8_RCbsjXLTAf6nnFfYwpkkWQuKv4D5kvZ6LvDmEm70dlCPa8R7N-7lwuraPQQMPZiP42kFlQUlk3tbiE4CFIpbaN-LTSIij6i9PGWDh/s2048/IMG_1600.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkMSEXpgIKiMApgnSJY4NgyhJEfl0ViD3tZZ7pm8_RCbsjXLTAf6nnFfYwpkkWQuKv4D5kvZ6LvDmEm70dlCPa8R7N-7lwuraPQQMPZiP42kFlQUlk3tbiE4CFIpbaN-LTSIij6i9PGWDh/w300-h400/IMG_1600.JPG" width="300" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Helvetica; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA-GRn4VWtEIV8l_yhqtHwTxB3eviOWy7GDCuT4UCT-vzMdoyFKjgqHjY2C5Uu2SF1n0tv63ut7sntl1JlinkZYMmJ-9BliGlMf2vWbxKFxUDcdCPj19aP36GW1vD7yhCsd8nVJDPvMLBD/s2048/IMG_1608.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA-GRn4VWtEIV8l_yhqtHwTxB3eviOWy7GDCuT4UCT-vzMdoyFKjgqHjY2C5Uu2SF1n0tv63ut7sntl1JlinkZYMmJ-9BliGlMf2vWbxKFxUDcdCPj19aP36GW1vD7yhCsd8nVJDPvMLBD/w300-h400/IMG_1608.JPG" width="300" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpnOYunr5oItsHeBjo4MZQHnSlJd_9YecgnDnMdnhHaI_j7-fdOGJM0z_Oz-O4vxgoSfv95cupv2g5FIrhEcB7on9qCYjvoJ1lORuquanjBzHtx-HDYibjjLZF14pvMILop-_bW7gUGt__/s2048/IMG_1385.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpnOYunr5oItsHeBjo4MZQHnSlJd_9YecgnDnMdnhHaI_j7-fdOGJM0z_Oz-O4vxgoSfv95cupv2g5FIrhEcB7on9qCYjvoJ1lORuquanjBzHtx-HDYibjjLZF14pvMILop-_bW7gUGt__/w300-h400/IMG_1385.JPG" width="300" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf5csOiJEEISJRLL2MSc77jCvgp79UnXWyRP35zxFBST3zRovofEwyUGSRU1-uqaVw34kSWwhiB0MuQbEVrUdblbUclVGT4-CnL1DvJfdtwzFxr3y5l-A0NwEL81_RZLgsHmSJ_fZsMTwW/s960/IMG_1415.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf5csOiJEEISJRLL2MSc77jCvgp79UnXWyRP35zxFBST3zRovofEwyUGSRU1-uqaVw34kSWwhiB0MuQbEVrUdblbUclVGT4-CnL1DvJfdtwzFxr3y5l-A0NwEL81_RZLgsHmSJ_fZsMTwW/w300-h400/IMG_1415.JPG" width="300" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjefp1sOjz0wda7ewS5WVpmY1ignH5sKz19TXSStvdGrKf1jcmAeKaAi0x8ewIVyTEFibfqXuo5548wBaSFwE8oSQpRQJQVSZT8c7wpn4ax2A7bRbpqpsxU2mtxsRPNXxB_AgR2TvUYMr5e/s2048/IMG_1486.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjefp1sOjz0wda7ewS5WVpmY1ignH5sKz19TXSStvdGrKf1jcmAeKaAi0x8ewIVyTEFibfqXuo5548wBaSFwE8oSQpRQJQVSZT8c7wpn4ax2A7bRbpqpsxU2mtxsRPNXxB_AgR2TvUYMr5e/w300-h400/IMG_1486.JPG" width="300" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6R9W9USpeDimgTzFTud7eWMv5LNBfzloE_2cF7finwEIbUc-uM-0FZXlW9SV9wHc4t1YZEgvLKYvNZVs8Kxosdzv5My6rrO-k04fqotjISPhtCZ6bDy4BYAN8IBFpI7XUGQ4GgAz3jepw/s2048/IMG_1400.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6R9W9USpeDimgTzFTud7eWMv5LNBfzloE_2cF7finwEIbUc-uM-0FZXlW9SV9wHc4t1YZEgvLKYvNZVs8Kxosdzv5My6rrO-k04fqotjISPhtCZ6bDy4BYAN8IBFpI7XUGQ4GgAz3jepw/w300-h400/IMG_1400.JPG" width="300" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><br /></span></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">I hope you enjoyed my little flip-through and I hope you’ll come back for more crafty projects here on my blog and on my YouTube channel. Until then, I’d love to hear about some of <i>your </i>unfinished projects. Tell us about it in the comments below!<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><br /></p><span><a name='more'></a></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">A few products I used on this project:*</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"></p><ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07RDYSHHN/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B07RDYSHHN&linkCode=as2&tag=craftyneigh0d-20&linkId=f4ae73e50d276063b6156698bd936c1f" target="_blank">Canon SELPHY CP1300 Wireless Compact Photo Printer with AirPrint and Mopria Device Printing, with Canon KP108 Paper and Black Hard case to fit All Together (Black)</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="//ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=craftyneigh0d-20&l=am2&o=1&a=B07RDYSHHN" style="border: none; margin: 0px;" width="1" /><br /></span></li>
<li><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01DWLWP7E/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B01DWLWP7E&linkCode=as2&tag=craftyneigh0d-20&linkId=ee445db54a04959a87bd7e3f94ef3dd5" target="_blank">Scor-Tape Bundle 1 each of 1/8', 1/4', 1/2', by 27 Yards (201, 202, 203) Double Sided Adhesive</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="//ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=craftyneigh0d-20&l=am2&o=1&a=B01DWLWP7E" style="border: none; margin: 0px;" width="1" />
</li>
<li><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001480O26/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B001480O26&linkCode=as2&tag=craftyneigh0d-20&linkId=f00cd617d5f46c2d6348f598d84c0a7c" target="_blank">Fiskars 163050-1001 Fingertip Craft Knife, 7 Inch, Orange</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="//ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=craftyneigh0d-20&l=am2&o=1&a=B001480O26" style="border: none; margin: 0px;" width="1" />
</li>
<li><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00VSLLLEO/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00VSLLLEO&linkCode=as2&tag=craftyneigh0d-20&linkId=2638a1c6a9ee0f491206edb871a34a7f" target="_blank">Photo Sleeve Fuse Starter Kit by We R Memory Keepers | Includes tool, fusing tip, cutting tip, ruler stencil, and tool stand</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="//ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=craftyneigh0d-20&l=am2&o=1&a=B00VSLLLEO" style="border: none; margin: 0px;" width="1" /></li>
</ul><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">*As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.</span></p>
Crafty Neighborhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09663704628909022165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6448939874146814429.post-36393790932654735942020-07-30T09:00:00.000-05:002020-07-30T09:00:03.377-05:00I Can Do That!<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
Hello crafty neighbors! I hope you are staying safe and healthy through all this crazy COVID situation, and if you are sheltering at home or working from home, I hope you’re not going too stir crazy. It’s been a strange few months around here. It seems like time is both speeding by and at a dead standstill. I don’t know how that’s possible, but it sure feels like the year is whizzing by, even though the days are all the same. My husband calls it “Blursday” because it’s often hard to tell what day it is -- the days all run together. In many ways, I feel like we are still in March, so how can it be near the end of July? What happened to all the time in between?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 6pt 0in 0.0001pt;">
While nothing is really back to normal around here, we have managed to settle into some routines that help. Hubby is mostly still working from home, but he does have to go in from time to time. We still aren’t allowing visits in our home from friends and family with the exception of my daughter and her soon-to-be family – we have too many wedding details to manage, so she really must be here. The wedding details have kept us super busy all summer, and I feel really bad that I haven’t kept up the blog posts about it as I had promised. Luckily, we’ve done so much work, I have plenty of material to do posts with, so I’m hoping to get back into the habit of sharing those details here.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 6pt 0in 0.0001pt;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNqRyV8oMbGda39lJVUNBNOCloVC6WRgGuw8E31YeLtzw5PNDcvkYjJcyzA6hyt22ydB1cGr-J6wD5DCepsOExE5GXu6M5grkAuex7tGw4UvbeXn0NMf7CxQQF0JdldK6vNHo6OPp45Gkp/s1600/IMG_4330.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNqRyV8oMbGda39lJVUNBNOCloVC6WRgGuw8E31YeLtzw5PNDcvkYjJcyzA6hyt22ydB1cGr-J6wD5DCepsOExE5GXu6M5grkAuex7tGw4UvbeXn0NMf7CxQQF0JdldK6vNHo6OPp45Gkp/s400/IMG_4330.JPG" width="300" /></a>My most recent wedding projects have been making all the floral arrangements. We opted to do our own rather than spend a fortune on fresh flowers that wilt in a day. I had long admired the beautiful brooch bouquets I saw on Pinterest, so we thought we’d give that a try. You can see some of the one’s we liked on my Pinterest board <a href="http://www.pinterest.com/c1ndyluhu" target="_blank">here</a>. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 6pt 0in 0.0001pt;">
I started by ordering a large variety of brooches on Amazon. I’ve linked below to some of the ones we found. I was really surprised at how inexpensive they were, but a little bit disappointed in the availability of brooches in rose gold. Most of what we found was traditional gold and silver, and with the tiny pictures that are often used, it can be hard to tell. Some of the brooches we ordered looked rose gold but turned out to be gold instead. It was okay, they still worked, but that was not what we were looking for.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 6pt 0in 0.0001pt;">
Actually starting on making the bouquets was a bit daunting, and I kept putting it off as long as I could because I’ve never really done any floral arrangements and I wasn’t sure if I had the skills. In actuality, it turned out to be quite fun, and I think I did a pretty good job of it for a novice. I think the hardest part was settling on the design – there are so many ways to do it! <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 6pt 0in 0.0001pt;">
We originally planned to use the wooden dowel and Styrofoam ball method, but the more I looked at those, the less I liked that perfectly round design. An alternative was to buy plastic forms, which were ok, but didn’t really match the esthetic of Christen’s country chic theme. Besides, it would mean yet another trip to Michael’s or Hobby Lobby, and we wanted to save money. We settled on a more natural look using the faux stems on some pretty little floral bundles we bought at Michael’s. If you’re being ultra frugal, you could use these just the way they are; they were tied up with raffia and are pretty much a bouquet in their own right. You could add a bit of ribbon or lace to dress it up and you’re good to go.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 6pt 0in 0.0001pt;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 6pt 0in 0.0001pt;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHE4nyb7f2oasI1kyd-T-nPdeOteGFi2zgLqNFek_ByH-kpSXiJRghvgXK-1BqaCuo-cKHt9nlo_E7CuGbCNIiOLAvtoStGsNvc3tYNirS36I_AojOiME6ZbeFLhOmnHX6cD2NvRs9-n6q/s1600/IMG_E4503.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHE4nyb7f2oasI1kyd-T-nPdeOteGFi2zgLqNFek_ByH-kpSXiJRghvgXK-1BqaCuo-cKHt9nlo_E7CuGbCNIiOLAvtoStGsNvc3tYNirS36I_AojOiME6ZbeFLhOmnHX6cD2NvRs9-n6q/s320/IMG_E4503.JPG" width="320" /></a>We wanted to add a little more variety to the flowers, but we liked the faux stems on these. Luckily, they slide right off and can be used on pretty much any floral stem. When I had the shape and flower placement the way I wanted, I bundled them off with rubber bands to hold them in place and started adding the rhinestones.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 6pt 0in 0.0001pt;">
There’s a lot of variation in brooch bouquets…everything from all brooches and no flowers to all flowers with just a few brooches. We wanted a mix of both. There are also several different methods of adding rhinestones to the flowers. Originally, we planned to turn the brooches into floral stems by wrapping floral wire through them. This method works really well if you are using the Styrofoam base, but not so much for bundling with natural or faux flower stems. Instead, we used the more common hot glue method, and it worked very well since we had a mixture of brooches of different sizes, both with and without pin backs.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_fkE787UMv9aT4k6th5zuGGsypc6rKTaZFCqBkMJWG1BulDLjxs4swJQnd08a3wl5H5oD15nt-pVVy6oZPh6GCOkkSPsH-SZD4S8tRbO-1fNG8HxCxlMUqYmuQdDnV01fZoOAxWaxDgiL/s1600/IMG_4334.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_fkE787UMv9aT4k6th5zuGGsypc6rKTaZFCqBkMJWG1BulDLjxs4swJQnd08a3wl5H5oD15nt-pVVy6oZPh6GCOkkSPsH-SZD4S8tRbO-1fNG8HxCxlMUqYmuQdDnV01fZoOAxWaxDgiL/s400/IMG_4334.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 6pt 0in 0.0001pt;">
The first one I did was the tossing bouquet, since it is often a smaller, simpler version of the bride’s bouquet. I figured it would be good practice and it would be okay if it was less than perfect. Once I made that one and was satisfied with how it looked, I had the confidence to proceed with the others. I sorted the remaining flowers until I had a good mix for each of the three remaining bouquets (Maid of Honor, Matron of Honor, and the Bride), and bundled the flowers as I had done with the tossing bouquet. Adding the brooches was quick and easy and I had them done in no time. I started with the largest brooches first, then filled in gaps with smaller and smaller pieces until I was satisfied. I can see how easy it would be to fill the whole things up with brooches!<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 6pt 0in 0.0001pt;">
[Hot glue tip: To prevent those spider-web strands of glue on your projects, let go of the trigger and whip the gun in a circle like you’re beating eggs before pulling away from the project.]<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 6pt 0in 0.0001pt;">
The finishing touches on the bouquet were lace handle wraps. The bride’s bouquet was wrapped with a David Tuterra wrap we bought at Michael’s (don’t forget to use your coupons!). I wrapped the others in lace we had on hand, turning the cut edge under and hot gluing it into place. I added pretty ribbons and a bow, and they were done.<o:p></o:p><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUHL9ZDaBK9T6xM__dcqEDmexzBS_oIepzWYZLNQLDOKUCNwUcPbmsF91n8Y0zu5lGuoxg8enIHLNonoFgrdcrQDNmrI2FW0TPxcCtoEXlK7c_ISQm-2q2ZLfCoQIFVRcmVBzzOPvECmSs/s1600/IMG_E4343.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUHL9ZDaBK9T6xM__dcqEDmexzBS_oIepzWYZLNQLDOKUCNwUcPbmsF91n8Y0zu5lGuoxg8enIHLNonoFgrdcrQDNmrI2FW0TPxcCtoEXlK7c_ISQm-2q2ZLfCoQIFVRcmVBzzOPvECmSs/s400/IMG_E4343.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWSaFHoOIiHXe4InLES7ADLVjw2uqNeggdzCP2tBNTw75BKt9YETvqo6GUNWmnN9xjrCSUWhZl6JeyKMEFVkKn_yPfo7nJiSLAhyN6IKAbWmzsXMIY1LWLi6DtMpOx7tyFEgLVbnZCdScW/s1600/IMG_E4346.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWSaFHoOIiHXe4InLES7ADLVjw2uqNeggdzCP2tBNTw75BKt9YETvqo6GUNWmnN9xjrCSUWhZl6JeyKMEFVkKn_yPfo7nJiSLAhyN6IKAbWmzsXMIY1LWLi6DtMpOx7tyFEgLVbnZCdScW/s400/IMG_E4346.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 6pt 0in 0.0001pt;">
I’m really proud and excited about these bouquets, especially since I had never done anything like this before. It was super simple to do, costs <i>hundreds</i>less than any brooch bouquet you could buy online, and it gave me the confidence to do the other floral arrangements we needed. I hope this gives you the confidence to make one, too!<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
<i>To view a list of the brooches we purchased on Amazon.com, view our list <a href="https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/2NE4UKR5D8W4P?ref_=wl_share" target="_blank">here</a>.</i></div>
Crafty Neighborhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09663704628909022165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6448939874146814429.post-71222740419536897532020-05-01T09:00:00.000-05:002020-05-01T09:00:00.239-05:00My Month in Quarantine (Part 3)Happy National Scrapbook Day to all my crafty friends and followers! I hope you are finding ways to be both crafty and social (in a safe way) today! I am currently enjoying a virtual retreat with some of my friends using Zoom, so I'm in my PJs, and snacking on a little taco dip and veggies.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
A day or two ago, I mentioned a project I've been working on during this coronavirus lockdown. So today I wanted to give you a little peak. On one of our wedding work days, Christen and I were talking about COVID-19 and what an unprecedented time in history this was (this was before the order to stay home). Not unlike the Spanish Flu epidemic in the early 20th century, this time in our lives was something that people of the future would not understand unless we spelled it out for them -- you just can't grasp the scope of something like this from a textbook or a few photos. So we decided that it was important to keep a COVID journal to document our lives during this time. We are, of course, documenters and storytellers...that's <i>why</i> we scrapbook, right?</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
So in discussing this with one of our friends, we decided we needed to make a challenge of it. We needed to come up with daily prompts a la <a href="https://scraphappy.org/load/" target="_blank">Layout-a-Day</a>, that would keep us all motivated and inspired to tell our stories. I'm a little bit embarrassed to admit that I went back to an old Layout-a-Day list from the days when it was owned by Lain Ehman, and I repurposed that old list (with a few changes, of course) to be used for what we called our Stay-at-Home Challenge. For the entire month of April we had daily prompts (via automated emails) that led us through creating a journal of our time in "quarantine". The experience has been fun, creative, inspiring, and even a bit enlightening as we explore the many aspects of this pandemic and its affect on our daily lives. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
We all worked in different formats, including pocket pages, traditional scrapbooking, traveler's notebooks, and even Happy Planners. I decided on a travelers notebook, and since this little challenge was something of a last-minute affair, I didn't have time to order one online, so I made my own. (I may do a post about that soon!) I love the traveler's notebook because it's basically a blank slate, and it's just the right size for either journaling or photos. I've actually already filled one notebook (we started on April 1) and am well into my second (I ordered the others online). There are so many stories to tell, I'm sure I'll have several of the books filled by the time this is all over.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
When we started this project, we quickly found that there are a number of crafty celebs and others who are doing similar projects. I've been following Layle Koncar and Heidi Swapp on Instagram and via blog. They both have some great pages that are very inspiring. And, most recently, Christen stumbled across <a href="https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/theisolationjournals/" target="_blank">The Isolation Journals</a> created by <a href="http://www.instagram.com/suleikajaouad" target="_blank">Suleika Jaouad</a>. This <a href="https://www.technologyreview.com/2020/04/21/999946/coronavirus-instagram-tumblr-journal-diary/?truid=40cd3c504091a075bd5574104e15c557&utm_source=the_download&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=the_download.unpaid.engagement&utm_content=04-21-2020&fbclid=IwAR1-SeuZ0nTQIex1CPRhGqljL7_NVl5JGpGUsTgDoxVGyNbaWOQltlJg-BU" target="_blank">article</a> is a great read and shares how the whole thing got started and why archiving these stories is important.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The point of all this is to share with you what we're doing, and I'm really excited about these journals. You can see most of what I've done so far on my Instagram and Facebook pages (<a href="https://linktr.ee/CraftyNeighbor" target="_blank">linked here</a>). I'll leave you with a couple of pages below. Until next time, keep crafting!</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Cindy Murray</div>
<div>
Crafty Neighbor</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyMboHdG4Fip2fmn-zh7QmQskWw-6kCqI541QtKpH9EjaZuV83TdGv8zO_OjlzGKYw4GyNYqj6VQ0Lq6vPxqUzaGxdYDWt3jaGNB1CWZPekfhaydg2JW0KRT3gTIvgw_rOKg_QZ81B_rLL/s1600/IMG_2949.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyMboHdG4Fip2fmn-zh7QmQskWw-6kCqI541QtKpH9EjaZuV83TdGv8zO_OjlzGKYw4GyNYqj6VQ0Lq6vPxqUzaGxdYDWt3jaGNB1CWZPekfhaydg2JW0KRT3gTIvgw_rOKg_QZ81B_rLL/s400/IMG_2949.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-c9kE8v3DOs2bcpBL0G7jdgWONJdOGG4BDmfvn0ysbJhOm0WFkICssRxPirC5DYO_yeZ-yezrzCKzeQXDT7IugPL1IzLNDMtT5x4Erh0wsUq40SR-JHq5COCpUI94bK7Y0D5WBnuP3xnA/s1600/IMG_2943.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-c9kE8v3DOs2bcpBL0G7jdgWONJdOGG4BDmfvn0ysbJhOm0WFkICssRxPirC5DYO_yeZ-yezrzCKzeQXDT7IugPL1IzLNDMtT5x4Erh0wsUq40SR-JHq5COCpUI94bK7Y0D5WBnuP3xnA/s400/IMG_2943.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXwx0VWrk6-4d9YTnmwp4UpDMpx9WggdHCX6i4_H4zxxpq8irZzJnSWc7gQAhgKJz9RbqVx-UedJIPkIsrFJRTyjxGsvD6awtZ3wJlYFcY25kSSDSJ3PEergJjxXw_IhWHZwCyBpBhnGQF/s1600/IMG_2939.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXwx0VWrk6-4d9YTnmwp4UpDMpx9WggdHCX6i4_H4zxxpq8irZzJnSWc7gQAhgKJz9RbqVx-UedJIPkIsrFJRTyjxGsvD6awtZ3wJlYFcY25kSSDSJ3PEergJjxXw_IhWHZwCyBpBhnGQF/s400/IMG_2939.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrIXlbRsXHxWF50W9i-2vlCn3t1sF7Pa4EoivQmWlLM6Vwq-Bb7rpUqUUxI_EIKB7SxORTpE26LuAqS9rIrx3uwfFCY1iKvKZazGhug8DRbyoczgW4elJLGTa8x_KtrjvNDEKMXooR4YWC/s1600/IMG_2988.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrIXlbRsXHxWF50W9i-2vlCn3t1sF7Pa4EoivQmWlLM6Vwq-Bb7rpUqUUxI_EIKB7SxORTpE26LuAqS9rIrx3uwfFCY1iKvKZazGhug8DRbyoczgW4elJLGTa8x_KtrjvNDEKMXooR4YWC/s400/IMG_2988.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ7HBuPcMwTbXeTVyVm2dwKfot1tkhmKFDKZaTV1OpoJz2v_sdiQ7y685qf1xXtVUf8stvErNwYThtNFUnbreeoV0ToTqYnxZKMOc_bXCdABKFkRgOrn2pdI5gNDer_kUZCbVPH4fUW5QU/s1600/IMG_3004.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ7HBuPcMwTbXeTVyVm2dwKfot1tkhmKFDKZaTV1OpoJz2v_sdiQ7y685qf1xXtVUf8stvErNwYThtNFUnbreeoV0ToTqYnxZKMOc_bXCdABKFkRgOrn2pdI5gNDer_kUZCbVPH4fUW5QU/s400/IMG_3004.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2gnICuazy0TTPNmUnYiy4m-PFlkAas3dIWrL4JrhU8_G8Gj24VGgW98vfdvQNsFk3NW4G6Q4KQZv4ni_Q2FgRMSoHXt9gjE-JhOpjG35tAtwwUqlcmMnLCexEQi2cRNM9d9WguRKnIEc3/s1600/IMG_3017.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2gnICuazy0TTPNmUnYiy4m-PFlkAas3dIWrL4JrhU8_G8Gj24VGgW98vfdvQNsFk3NW4G6Q4KQZv4ni_Q2FgRMSoHXt9gjE-JhOpjG35tAtwwUqlcmMnLCexEQi2cRNM9d9WguRKnIEc3/s400/IMG_3017.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
Crafty Neighborhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09663704628909022165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6448939874146814429.post-85013128106859289782020-04-30T09:00:00.000-05:002020-04-30T09:00:06.701-05:00My Month in Quarantine (Part 2)I just wanted to do a quick post to remind you about National Scrapbook Day coming up on May 2. Many of you probably had plans to celebrate this little holiday by cropping or retreating with your friends. Most of those events have been cancelled due to COVID-19, but that doesn't mean you can't celebrate anyway -- even if you're not a scrapper!<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I was supposed to be heading to a retreat on Thursday with several of my crafty friends, but the retreat decided to cancel their event. I'm so sad, especially since Scrapbook Expo in Irving was cancelled, and Great American Scrapbook Convention is now moved (very inconveniently) to the same weekend as my daughter's wedding (uhh...Christen, would it be okay if I duck out early to go crop? LOL Oh, you want to go, too? Okay...). Seriously, though, I really wanted to crop with my friends, and I wanted to have that "retreat feeling", so we're going to make it happen, even if we have to all stay in our own homes.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I host a weekly crop at my house every Thursday, and when coronavirus decided to rear its ugly head, we decided to continue cropping via Zoom. Zoom meetings is very easy to use, and I opted to pay for the premium service (for now) so we can have meetings longer than 40 minutes. We meet every Thursday at 10 AM and crop until 4PM or until everyone has to get offline to go make dinner. It's very much the same as having everyone here in person. We work on whatever we're working on and we chat, and sometimes we get engrossed in our projects, so we don't talk at all, but we're still together. And we get the satisfaction of being able to share our projects with each other. It's so much more fun than crafting alone.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTsinQk0CXVg2MNbJ0M_zeMUjFcHZ5wnUyIXkWhrDhgovOQRNA94EgxEt70hl6ha0dvc9GQ6SyvPSZe1mJRv83Cb-o_-kLnHbQ_54duLChCPPhcBGOxQAD3F_tdv6rjv2VurUZE4B14viG/s1600/IMG_2572.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTsinQk0CXVg2MNbJ0M_zeMUjFcHZ5wnUyIXkWhrDhgovOQRNA94EgxEt70hl6ha0dvc9GQ6SyvPSZe1mJRv83Cb-o_-kLnHbQ_54duLChCPPhcBGOxQAD3F_tdv6rjv2VurUZE4B14viG/s400/IMG_2572.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A virtual crop with my Thursday MDO crop group.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
For our National Scrapbook Day crop and retreat, we'll again be using Zoom, but we'll start on Friday morning and the crop will run continuously until Sunday afternoon, so everyone can come and go. The idea is to treat it just like a real retreat, so I'm going to chase my family out of my craft area and put up a big sign that says, "Gone on a Retreat!" I'll even wear my pajamas and eat some junk food, just to make it feel real. One of our friends is coordinating "door prizes" to be given away; everyone will dig through their stash to find a few items they no longer want or need. We'll take pictures to post in our Facebook group and we will have drawings throughout the event for people to pick which prizes they want.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjQvWldFCvLIINT-8H5I6wismYVQjeP-V5tgVuHx7PwI0ykETyRhOetA2jDnunUA-CU2vpV9t9bEwxskuHRtrxpzgAK_iAZZakzi8gfI61YDLW5xyAdE9GZ8bKJSLFv4MlKTtWaq-qFEJU/s1600/virtualCrop2b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="482" data-original-width="844" height="227" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjQvWldFCvLIINT-8H5I6wismYVQjeP-V5tgVuHx7PwI0ykETyRhOetA2jDnunUA-CU2vpV9t9bEwxskuHRtrxpzgAK_iAZZakzi8gfI61YDLW5xyAdE9GZ8bKJSLFv4MlKTtWaq-qFEJU/s400/virtualCrop2b.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
You don't have to do something as elaborate as our little virtual retreat, but you should definitely consider doing <i>something</i> for National Scrapbook Day. Some stores <i>are</i> posting that they are going to host events. Or you could join one of the many virtual crops already planned (just Google National Scrapbook Day Virtual Crop). Use Skype, Zoom, FaceTime or another video chat software to meet with friends. Finding ways to be social, even when we're social-distancing, is important to our mental well-being. And besides, who can say "no" to an excuse to stay in your PJs and eat junk food?</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Cindy Murray</div>
<div>
Crafty Neighbor</div>
Crafty Neighborhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09663704628909022165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6448939874146814429.post-5773869071674807452020-04-29T09:00:00.000-05:002020-04-29T09:00:06.826-05:00My Month in Quarantine (Part 1)<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI_bxRD1LpxVVw7Mau8W0FjJujF_24IhrxU0EmU1YSWrWBjDdru82nC99XnqMLVE4yewP4UaC0wPRVuhyphenhyphenG0WSnsN2FgdwDITPK0uiYAxX8BbqMKzItwp3eKr6kAaA67Rrl7LtaNaPY25Yz/s1600/2639.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="758" data-original-width="1600" height="187" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI_bxRD1LpxVVw7Mau8W0FjJujF_24IhrxU0EmU1YSWrWBjDdru82nC99XnqMLVE4yewP4UaC0wPRVuhyphenhyphenG0WSnsN2FgdwDITPK0uiYAxX8BbqMKzItwp3eKr6kAaA67Rrl7LtaNaPY25Yz/s400/2639.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.freepik.com/free-photos-vectors/background">Image created by articular - www.freepik.com</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">
These are strange times, aren’t they? Two months ago, I could not have imagined that I would have spent the last six weeks confined to my home except for essential errands like groceries and the pharmacy. Two months ago, I was happily planning several craft weekends with my friends, getting my mom’s estate in order, and working on some big and exciting projects. Last month, everything changed.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">
If you’re like me, this crisis has meant a lot of changes in your home and work life, and you may find that you have a lot of extra time on your hands or that you’re busier than ever. As I’ve mentioned before, I’m a travel agent, and I typically work from home, but no one is traveling now. Most of my business has either cancelled or moved to later dates, and no one is looking to arrange new travel until this whole situation has settled down, and then who knows whether anyone can afford it since so many people are out of work. So basically, I’m out of work, too.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">
I had thought this bit of respite would allow me to catch up on a bunch of projects, and I could spend a lot of time crafting and reorganizing my studio. But all this free time I imagined I would have has completely evaporated into the ether of having 4 people living in the same house, cooking 3 meals a day, and generally keeping me busy and distracted. So, when I mentioned last month that I had a project in the works that I was going to start sharing here on my blog, I really believed I was going to have time to do that, when in fact, this is the first chance I’ve even had to think about my blog. (sigh)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">
What was the big project I was going to share with you? My daughter’s wedding! Yes, I was very excited to share with you that my daughter got engaged last fall, and we are planning lots of crafty things to go with her rustic-chic theme. We wanted to do a lot of the work ourselves for a number of reasons. Obviously, we are both crafty people and have been hoping for the day when we could put our skills to work on a wedding, but doing the planning ourselves affords us more control over details, and in the long run, if we’re smart about it, a good bit of financial savings. For instance, pretty, laser-cut invitations generally start around $5 each, so for 100 guests, it would easily cost upwards of $500 for a simple card and envelope with inserts. Doing a card as elaborate as the one we designed (I’ll show it in a future post) would cost us over $1000. By making them ourselves, we may spend more time and effort on it, but will spend only $250 on paper and envelopes, and likely less than $350 once you add in printer ink and adhesives.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">
So with Christen’s wedding scheduled for August, we started planning our projects carefully and we scheduled work days on various weekends so that we could get it all done in time without having to rush. I was going to share those projects with you as we went along, but then the COVID lockdown came, and social distancing prevents us from getting together. Fortunately, I did manage to get some pictures of the projects we completed before the shutdown, so I’ll share those with you, and hopefully we’ll be back to working on our projects together soon.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">
One of the trends we’ve seen on Instagram is a <i>Remembrance Table </i>featuring photos of deceased loved ones. We liked this idea because a lot of very dear people in our family have passed on, and we know they would be a part of this magical day if they could be. So in keeping with Christen’s shabby-chic theme, we opted to alter and distress the photo frames ourselves, which is very easy to do. We’re also going to use the frames for signs during the reception, so we estimated that we needed about 20. In order to keep this project inexpensive, but not cheap, we raided the stash at home before paying a visit to the Dollar Tree to see what they had. <o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBIJHkcSAljXQmBKLx3xOA52dOfnUll6FOaEMaliZdr73PrOu1zOeTb9xmaiRAqRwDn2OIEnYFbz9BGIUGn6WLVgthZ7P_tY4aGa6KBsLttLWkLn4Uf6v7sbBp8izEszy7U2iRrOSWx_ps/s1600/IMG_4671.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBIJHkcSAljXQmBKLx3xOA52dOfnUll6FOaEMaliZdr73PrOu1zOeTb9xmaiRAqRwDn2OIEnYFbz9BGIUGn6WLVgthZ7P_tY4aGa6KBsLttLWkLn4Uf6v7sbBp8izEszy7U2iRrOSWx_ps/s400/IMG_4671.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The frame in the center was treated with a torn paper decoupage.<br />The frame on the left was painted, distressed an then Christen added lace and pearls.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD7Dvl48a07nw5AkD59rzNJQ3LWOJKYt3hHspTOOVGyrOkgPnG1z3ObiD6YsmlA-o-ToZxaqGywH8LIyVgyhPvtpouI3qb3aBPlec4-p-FAitHmHtNFH8eazY4JEmv2TVuavSyyOylbi6R/s1600/IMG_4670.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD7Dvl48a07nw5AkD59rzNJQ3LWOJKYt3hHspTOOVGyrOkgPnG1z3ObiD6YsmlA-o-ToZxaqGywH8LIyVgyhPvtpouI3qb3aBPlec4-p-FAitHmHtNFH8eazY4JEmv2TVuavSyyOylbi6R/s400/IMG_4670.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This was a Dollar Tree framed artwork, but we liked the frame,<br />so we added pearls.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzwFQS7povO2_EzsPt5cBrf-S_eZPsUzNiuKrGY7HbVMItyzIx5-ddUw245NmOmh5cBZ6HXBgPomt5lHI9oRfwz6xdzpYAJnZmqDslNR5_Xy73E5UnwHHweaav_J-i3vZyQ7zL__NjJyue/s1600/IMG_4672.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzwFQS7povO2_EzsPt5cBrf-S_eZPsUzNiuKrGY7HbVMItyzIx5-ddUw245NmOmh5cBZ6HXBgPomt5lHI9oRfwz6xdzpYAJnZmqDslNR5_Xy73E5UnwHHweaav_J-i3vZyQ7zL__NjJyue/s400/IMG_4672.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is one of several identical frames that were a reddish brown color.<br />Christen painted and distressed it before adding the burlap ribbon and flower.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLca9HC9zKFMhIhvvlUML2_oqRzoERgbgFZZMg6oVT396a-c86jZUzpcDZ-wyHVIrcTECRrcasYaly5hQIm6XlesgGK6VvsXcq0QnmiXHjpERUgkZQ2_m928YMimxNwLYnCLLrOANekbcf/s1600/IMG_4674.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLca9HC9zKFMhIhvvlUML2_oqRzoERgbgFZZMg6oVT396a-c86jZUzpcDZ-wyHVIrcTECRrcasYaly5hQIm6XlesgGK6VvsXcq0QnmiXHjpERUgkZQ2_m928YMimxNwLYnCLLrOANekbcf/s400/IMG_4674.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">You've probably seen these wooden frames in the dollar bin at Michael's.<br />Christen painted this one and then added some beautiful foil stickers.<br /><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioPCn2WobMaajYUWaU-kNuD14lxjcE-7992RQKGRoIpeKgFYxEHaw2AQ2a0cBl5KX33cBHKXX6sVoXJjvbV190_OQsjom7CcYbyi28RXeREgLNg5N98C46WnxzkkKqGk7zSPfJxlbzYfJx/s1600/IMG_4673.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioPCn2WobMaajYUWaU-kNuD14lxjcE-7992RQKGRoIpeKgFYxEHaw2AQ2a0cBl5KX33cBHKXX6sVoXJjvbV190_OQsjom7CcYbyi28RXeREgLNg5N98C46WnxzkkKqGk7zSPfJxlbzYfJx/s400/IMG_4673.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I was really excited about the way this one turned out.<br />This was a clear acrylic frame that I recolored using alcohol inks.<br />The picture doesn't do it justice!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzADrixBo9gIknFEiPoSv531VIQ5cfnJNCWFydCWh5BjNPjXVqVGA6uSPZCecop4te4FNmtxBcJXcDoGadj-fGutKZIhitMCr6jlcTzaZSkvXW3eyWgytVHqzuXFQ_msdN5x_WD_CZ1jDf/s1600/IMG_4675.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzADrixBo9gIknFEiPoSv531VIQ5cfnJNCWFydCWh5BjNPjXVqVGA6uSPZCecop4te4FNmtxBcJXcDoGadj-fGutKZIhitMCr6jlcTzaZSkvXW3eyWgytVHqzuXFQ_msdN5x_WD_CZ1jDf/s400/IMG_4675.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Another simple upcycle -- Christen added rhinestones to this <br />plastic gold frame we found at Dollar Tree. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4SoB1kzNcW5jj0TkhjnCWaS998I6fsNkTIP8NPO2bgmFj5iSc7rM8RkI0shLDWeuUfUS16IcDIAnDlI1t94_TiTxrjkd83YVau-_i3FfXt27TjVxp-kkBKu-dMaE80XgdNY94JjuXsOU9/s1600/IMG_4676.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4SoB1kzNcW5jj0TkhjnCWaS998I6fsNkTIP8NPO2bgmFj5iSc7rM8RkI0shLDWeuUfUS16IcDIAnDlI1t94_TiTxrjkd83YVau-_i3FfXt27TjVxp-kkBKu-dMaE80XgdNY94JjuXsOU9/s400/IMG_4676.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Another of the Michael's frames. Paint and embellishments by Christen.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaResjt63k2N50KMBSDITYEnEQaTg8ndgT3xMDkQSjIf-Uu2KppjSdTLfwGDH0NfzJOPJTL8TqI5OWGPjeEYba5bk4oNifh56maLGM6NTArIXylMoMvr5zz4IiNUep1ilhAqGyKUDXWc3X/s1600/IMG_4677.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaResjt63k2N50KMBSDITYEnEQaTg8ndgT3xMDkQSjIf-Uu2KppjSdTLfwGDH0NfzJOPJTL8TqI5OWGPjeEYba5bk4oNifh56maLGM6NTArIXylMoMvr5zz4IiNUep1ilhAqGyKUDXWc3X/s400/IMG_4677.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">There are two of these frames in two sizes. Christen painted and distressed this one<br />before adding strips of bling. The two rhinestones on the sides cover a metal<br />embellishment that didn't look good with the paint.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">
As you can see, we’ve used a lot of different techniques to dress up these frames. We’ve used acrylic paint, alcohol ink, lace, ribbon, pearls, rhinestones, metallic stickers, and even bits of old broken jewelry. We had a few that didn’t get finished because we needed to spray paint, etc., but then the weather turned damp, so it will have to wait for warm sunny days. My only regret is that we failed to take any “before” pictures, so you could see what we’ve done. We'll post the remaining frames when they get finished.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">
So that’s it for this post, but I wanted to let you know about all the exciting project posts we have coming up. In addition to the distressed picture frames, we’ll also be working on:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "symbol"; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Handmade pocket invitation suites</span></li>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Floral arrangements and décor</span></li>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Bouquets and boutonnieres</span></li>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Bride’s Maids gifts</span></li>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Favors</span></li>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Recycled chandelier</span></li>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">and so much more!</span></li>
</ul>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">
Those posts will be popping up over the next few months as we work on different projects. In my next post, I want to share with you another project I’ve been working on during this coronavirus crisis, and keep your eyes out for a video flip through of my 2019 One Little Word project and a sneak peak at my 2020 album.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">
Thanks for stopping by, and I hope you’re finding some time to be crafty!<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">
Cindy Murray</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">
Crafty Neighbor<o:p></o:p></div>
Crafty Neighborhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09663704628909022165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6448939874146814429.post-7324351409840572532020-03-04T09:00:00.000-06:002020-03-04T09:00:01.700-06:00One Little Word<br />
Hey there crafty friends! If you saw my blog post from yesterday, you know I've been dealing with a lot of personal issues (and more that I haven't even talked about yet!), but that hasn't stopped me from getting crafty whenever I can. For instance, right now I'm working on my 2020 Word of the Year, aka One Little Word project, and this year, my word is "Clarity".<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
If you haven't heard of One Little Word, it's been around for a long time, and has been used by various celebrities, life coaches, and online gurus for years. It's part self-help with a crafty twist, and many adherents participate year after year. The most basic approach is to pick a word (usually something you want to focus on, learn, or manifest in your life), and you find ways to bring that word into your daily life. My first Word of the Year was in 2013, and I started a "365" project (see below). Last year, my good friend, Susan, gifted me with a subscription to <a href="https://aliedwards.com/one-little-word-2020" target="_blank">Ali Edwards' "One Little Word"</a> online workshop, and I was hooked! This will be my second year to participate, and I can honestly say I've gotten more out of <i>my word</i> than with any other project.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
So I finally managed to find the time to record a flip-through video and I can't wait to share it with you, even though 2019 is over and done. It's such a wonderful and creative process that I can't resist.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/wjCjG78nvHU/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/wjCjG78nvHU?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The video isn't great (still working through the bugs in that process!), but I hope you got a good idea how cool the One Little Word project really is. Maybe it will inspire you to do a OLW project of your own? Oh, and if you're new here and curious about my 365 project (no, I didn't finish it, but I do still work on it), you can start with these posts here:</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://craftyneighbor.blogspot.com/2012/12/six-reasons-to-start-365-project-this.html" style="text-decoration: none; text-indent: -15px;"><span style="color: black;"><u>Six Reasons to Start a 365 Project This Year!</u></span></a></li>
<li><a href="https://craftyneighbor.blogspot.com/2012/12/five-easy-ways-to-365.html" style="text-decoration: none; text-indent: -15px;"><span style="color: black;"><u>Five Easy Ways to 365</u></span></a></li>
<li><a href="https://craftyneighbor.blogspot.com/2012/12/one-word-of-truth.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: black;">One Word of Truth</span></a></li>
<li><a href="https://craftyneighbor.blogspot.com/2012/12/one-project-week-alternative.html"><span style="color: black;">One Project a Week Alternative</span></a></li>
<li>See the results on our <a href="http://www.flickr.com/groups/cn365/"><span style="color: black;">Flikr.com group</span></a></li>
</ul>
<div>
You can also search "365 project" right here on my blog to see more info about many of the daily projects I posted in the Flikr group. </div>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Thanks for reading, and I can't wait to share more of my One Little Word and other Ali Edwards projects with you!</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Cindy</div>
Crafty Neighborhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09663704628909022165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6448939874146814429.post-16184661642337965622020-03-03T17:14:00.001-06:002020-03-03T17:14:50.084-06:00Caregivers, Worker Bees, and Little Bits of CraftingHave you ever wondered what it would be like to have to care for an aging parent? I did not. Well...I did, but then I quickly realized I am not cut out for the nurturing care-giver and put it entirely out of my head. That was my sister's job. I was a worker bee. I owned my own business, I volunteered with charities that were important to me, and I stayed busy <i>all the time. </i>My sister, Patsy, was the nurturing type. She went to nursing school until her own medical issues put a stop to the, and she always swore she would be the one to take care of my parents when they got old. And she did. She took care of my dad through recovery from a heart-attack, gall-bladder surgery, and over a year of hospice care. She took care of my mom through all that, too, and I was glad for it...especially since I live 300+ miles away.<br />
<br />
Then the unthinkable happened...my sister died unexpectedly, leaving her handicapped, adult daughter and my mother, who was already beginning to show the signs of dementia. I moved my 29-year-old niece to live with me in the city so she could get a good education and learn to live on her own (public transportation should NEVER be underrated!), and eventually, we convinced my mother to move from her paid-off home in rural Texas into a senior living community where my brother and aunt could help take an eye on her. That didn't last long, though, as her needs were far greater than I had known, and she was already incapable of independent living. Add to that the fact that she had squandered her retirement by pulling all of her investments during the stock market crashes of the early 2000's, and then she lost her job, losing her medical and life insurance benefits in the process. All that to say that in January, Mom moved into my remaining guest bedroom, and now we have a household of four with some very distinct, and often time-consuming, needs.<br />
<br />
Being a caregiver has put strains on my family and me that I could never have imagined, and it's made it even more important to me to get in my crafting time whenever I can. It hasn't been easy, but I've found that if I break things down into smaller tasks, and squeeze them in whenever I have an opportunity, it really gives me the outlet I need to calm my mind, let go of stress, and just zen out for a little while. For example, today, I had to take my niece to the doctor. I didn't want to go inside with all the sick people, and I could have sat in the car playing on my phone, but instead I took a portable project (embroidery) with me to work on while I waited outside. I didn't get a lot done, but it was a <b>lot</b> more enjoyable and productive than sitting in that doctor's office with a bunch of sick people playing "Words with Friends" (nothing against WWF).<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFnNpj1KN1w-kqH48JDptgJLQrV4ajTF2fqi8aRXv0wLnVXK8vzvmrDWT2tgkmDzwbUfqZ21YJ1kcKEoaGVGHufMUJuOjLZuV9mzphoJLUuTykmPwAmHw-1bS0Et1BshUGxHYvapI5F_sK/s1600/IMG_2428.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFnNpj1KN1w-kqH48JDptgJLQrV4ajTF2fqi8aRXv0wLnVXK8vzvmrDWT2tgkmDzwbUfqZ21YJ1kcKEoaGVGHufMUJuOjLZuV9mzphoJLUuTykmPwAmHw-1bS0Et1BshUGxHYvapI5F_sK/s640/IMG_2428.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The start of some flowers on an apron.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
So whether you're a caregiver, a worker bee, or just someone with a lot of hats to juggle, the truth is there will always be things that get in the way of crafting time. Whether it's a deadline a work, a sick kid, a second job, etc., you can't let it consume your life. Making the time to craft is not only possible, but necessary. We all need those few precious moments of space where we can let go of the stress of the day and find something beautiful in our lives to experience and celebrate. It doesn't have to be a marathon weekend of crafting, or even an hour...just grab yourself five minutes when ever you can while you're watching the evening news, taking your 15-minute break at work, waiting for the roast to cook, or sitting at the doctors office or carpool line. Just do it. Your body needs it, your brain needs it, and you'll be really glad you did!<br />
<br />
<br />Crafty Neighborhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09663704628909022165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6448939874146814429.post-78321411542270188042019-10-08T21:38:00.001-05:002019-10-08T21:38:58.912-05:00December Daily Product RevealHowdy!<br />
<br />
I know it's been a long time since I posted. Life sometimes has a way of getting complicated, and mine has been just that. I'm long past hoping for it to untangle and be less complicated, and am now just concentrating on making the most of it. So since my last post, I've continued to help and support my niece who has lived with us since my sister passed away. She's in college now, and since she doesn't drive, I'm the wheels that get her where she's going if the bus can't get her there. I'm trying to keep tabs on my mother, who lives all alone in West Texas (over 300 miles away) and is having some memory issues. My dog has had eye surgery, a stomach bug, and a crick in her neck (I couldn't make this stuff up if I tried). I've also been busy with work (I'm a travel agent by day, and a craft event organizer by night), AND my daughter decided to get engaged, so we're doing lots of wedding planning! There was also a lot of other crazy things going on, but we'll leave it at that.<br />
<br />
So...my last post was a quick flip through of my One Little Word album for January, and I posted a couple of Layout-A-Day posts for LOAD 219. Since then, there have been two more LOAD events, and I'm currently working on the <i>third</i>! I did make another flip through video of my OLW album back in June, but then I never edited it, so I might as well start over. I am keeping up with it, though, and I'm a couple of days behind on LOAD 1019, but I'm hoping to catch back up tonight. The pages are planned; all I have to do is implement them. Hopefully I can post some of those soon.<br />
<br />
For today, though, I wanted to share with you a box reveal. I received my December Daily order this afternoon, and I wanted to show you what was in the box. I'm excited to start working with these products and I can't wait to get my December Daily album going. I actually purchased an extra kit for my daughter, Christen, and her soon-to-be step-daughter. They both have birthdays in November, so I thought this was a perfect time to get them hooked on Ali Edwards products, too! <br />
<br />
Anyhoo, here's the video. I hope you enjoy, and I hope to be back soon with some of my layouts for LOAD 1019.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/pP4Fuq4uArQ?rel=0" width="560"></iframe></div>
Crafty Neighborhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09663704628909022165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6448939874146814429.post-48816711774101445522019-02-17T09:00:00.000-06:002019-02-17T09:00:02.194-06:00One Little Word January Flip ThroughHowdy there!<br />
<br />
If you've been following me this week, you may recall my mention of <a href="https://aliedwards.com/2019-one-little-word" target="_blank">One Little Word</a>, a digital online class presented by <a href="https://aliedwards.com/" target="_blank">Ali Edwards</a>. My sweet friend, Susan, bought the class for me as a belated birthday gift. I've been talking about it for years, and although I've had a <i><a href="https://christinekane.com/category/word-of-the-year-2/" target="_blank">word of the year</a></i> for many years, I've never taken any of Ali's classes.<br />
<br />
For those of you who don't know, One Little Word is a year-long class that focuses on finding a word that represents your goals or intentions for the upcoming year. If you want to know more about finding your own word of the year, just put that in the search terms on this blog page. I've talked about it many times! This will be the first time taking Ali's class, so I'm not sure what's really in store other than the fact that each month she will present a lesson with prompts (homework). I've gotten a bit of a late start since I only recently started the class, but I'm enjoying the work.<br />
<br />
So even though I got started a bit late, I think I'm going to be caught up soon, and I wanted to start sharing, in part because it's good for me to share, and also to break up the monotony of so many 12x12 layouts from all of my Layout A Day posts. So here's a peak at my album so far, and I will continue to post more videos and pictures as I move through the class.<br />
<br />
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/UXIEZD83E7I" width="560"></iframe><br />
<br />
Thanks for watching! This has been a fun process so far, and I look forward to sharing more with you. In the mean time, I'd love to hear about <i>your</i> word of the year (or one little word, if you prefer). Tell me about it in the comments below!Crafty Neighborhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09663704628909022165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6448939874146814429.post-2256268875892069242019-02-16T09:00:00.000-06:002019-02-16T09:00:08.060-06:00LOAD Day 4 - Twist and Shout (Out)<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
Welcome back for another day of LOAD 2019! Today, I am sharing my page for Day 4, using the prompt based on the twister in the “Wizard of Oz”. The prompt was to tell a story with a twist, but I chose to focus on the twister itself, and tell a tale from my childhood about living through a tornado.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
One of the things I love about doing LOAD is that it reminds me of all the stories I need to tell. I think we often get so focused on the PHOTOS of our lives, that we forget all about the stories and events that DON’T always have photos. And we are so busy creating pages and albums of our children, our trips, and our holidays, that we don’t always tell the stories of our own childhood or share the bits and pieces of our life that share who we are and where we came from. For me, that is the whole purpose of scrapbooking…to tell those stories so they aren’t forgotten…to share them with future generations who will want to know who we are and how we lived. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwqcFzltup6pPJq0NbAeIrzEA4brdDsN0eCFpITopxeqApJ6WNXht-NYlPjcEcm8WaOE-QHsggJWHFBccO3YqedD1kKTVrMpav6a9o1YFHRjztUu8lQi_a6KRlyiD_T_0SQhbu6roALNBY/s1600/IMG_7682.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwqcFzltup6pPJq0NbAeIrzEA4brdDsN0eCFpITopxeqApJ6WNXht-NYlPjcEcm8WaOE-QHsggJWHFBccO3YqedD1kKTVrMpav6a9o1YFHRjztUu8lQi_a6KRlyiD_T_0SQhbu6roALNBY/s400/IMG_7682.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
I didn’t have any pictures of my own from this event, but a quick search of the internet turned up dozens of photos I could easily download from various archives. I printed them at a smaller scale so I could fit more to one page, as I didn’t really think this warranted a 2-page layout. I also found a photo of the next day’s front page of the local newspaper, so I printed that (reduced, of course) onto parchment and inked it for additional aging.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
The background paper came from Basic Grey, sorry I can’t remember which line. I was looking for something distressed looking. It probably didn’t matter since it’s mostly covered up anyway. I wanted to really add to the sense of chaos and destruction, so I skewed all the elements on the page, and even ripped and inked the edges of the journaling that I printed on parchment paper. I didn’t think it needed a title in the true sense of the word, since the headline on the paper says it all, but I did add a date near the top, using a rolling stamp. I think the stamp’s messy imprint adds to the disarray of the page.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
A word about the parchment paper…. If you follow my Facebook page, Instagram, or this blog, you may have noticed that I’ve used the same parchment paper several times lately. If I were scrapbooking chronologically, as many people do, I certainly would not have done that because then all my pages would start to look the same. That’s one of the things I love about scrapbooking in no particular order – I work on the pages as the inspiration comes to me, perhaps telling a story from my childhood one day, and creating a page about my son’s high school orchestra the next. Since the pages are never side-by-side in the same book, you would never know that I went through an “eyelet stage” or an “embossing stage”, or even a “parchment paper stage”. So as new products come out, I feel free to use them on any of my projects, and my albums are never “dated” by a certain style or technique.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNIRk8SKWQTm-m1VEZKogFkfhTR3zGy-aR0yJDAuFzBO8JlZMrJ4qyWNSG93j96iXv8vVZk51q2tyoj5e0hCUXXHfu5BFBC4XFxXp8Cje_Uo6Tem_JHTVoaxjsZD5Teh52gdTtdgzghmtl/s1600/IMG_5865.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNIRk8SKWQTm-m1VEZKogFkfhTR3zGy-aR0yJDAuFzBO8JlZMrJ4qyWNSG93j96iXv8vVZk51q2tyoj5e0hCUXXHfu5BFBC4XFxXp8Cje_Uo6Tem_JHTVoaxjsZD5Teh52gdTtdgzghmtl/s400/IMG_5865.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
I also want to give a shout out to everyone who will be at Scrapbook Expo next weekend. I will be in the crop room <i>most</i> of the time, so if you are there, or if you see me on the floor, come over and say "Hi," and mention the blog. I love hearing from you! Even better, ask for a selfie and post it on your Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram page. You can tag me, Crafty Neighbor, or both! Your tag will enter you in a drawing for a cool prize pack, and <i>everyone</i> will get a little gift for tagging me!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
Next up – our prompt is about being in an unfamiliar environment, and we can use a technique we’ve never tried, or one we don’t use very often. I’m thinking I might do something digital! If I do, I may make a process video. This should be fun!<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
Keep crafting!<o:p></o:p></div>
Crafty Neighborhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09663704628909022165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6448939874146814429.post-57202567555571946242019-02-15T09:00:00.000-06:002019-02-15T09:00:01.232-06:00LOAD Day 3 - You Big Ol' Softy<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivX2hF0Y0RzvLkKAmXboNfrDBKeXDXPPOdQtofUkuGh5SiTndVCpXMuHIz2qyr_sfIqp3y-7DjJKazCOjfL2RBQVbgRGSEUH4JBoFIlsLu2MddJ5gbu-H31qSCABz_wXEwoR2r5MDJBPKZ/s1600/IMG_7677.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivX2hF0Y0RzvLkKAmXboNfrDBKeXDXPPOdQtofUkuGh5SiTndVCpXMuHIz2qyr_sfIqp3y-7DjJKazCOjfL2RBQVbgRGSEUH4JBoFIlsLu2MddJ5gbu-H31qSCABz_wXEwoR2r5MDJBPKZ/s400/IMG_7677.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
For LOAD Day 3, my prompt was to make a page about a “Softy” in my life, or use something soft on my page. I chose to do both! My Dad was a real softy, so I used this page to tell how the strict disciplinarian turned into a bit of a marshmallow when his grandkids came along. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
To make this page, I used papers from DCWV “Main Street” collection and a few odd bits of cardstock scraps from my stash. The photo mat is actually flocked paper from the DCWV collection, and that’s where I pulled in the “soft” item on my page. I also softened the edges of some elements with distress ink. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7W7Qy7-7IouYL20PIPaKvIT8xzScj2boPjmacGYvLVG39gXvMEhsJ_kK9dGoun1awxWDHunq_b4O79aFRawfHoyU3KFUUxNNyskAOPSyUF0CLRwjXNWJfl0xs0V3_8i8LHC3kXXareoh-/s1600/IMG_7702.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7W7Qy7-7IouYL20PIPaKvIT8xzScj2boPjmacGYvLVG39gXvMEhsJ_kK9dGoun1awxWDHunq_b4O79aFRawfHoyU3KFUUxNNyskAOPSyUF0CLRwjXNWJfl0xs0V3_8i8LHC3kXXareoh-/s400/IMG_7702.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
I wanted a masculine-looking font for this layout, but one that wasn’t too harsh, so I used “Habitat” from a collection I downloaded at <a href="http://www.fontbundles.net/" style="color: purple;">FontBundles.net</a>. They have a lot of great fonts that are free to download. I used that for the photo caption tabs. I also used Creating Keepsakes “CK Man’s Print” which was released years ago on a font CD, but which you can now download for free at <a href="http://www.fontsmarket.com/" style="color: purple;">FontsMarket.com</a>. The title “Daddy • Dad • Poppy” was made with some stickers from my stash. They were the wrong color of teal for this layout, but I colored over them with a W7 Warm Grey Copic Marker. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkmB5Wqj-_rEj0K8NtVLKPwowS1rzYWiMvdQlJ7qxdWpEKZ1jmPjOpGdF79v5o8oyUJ6l8d4CRZtTaj46kUkcpqbCa0ji6xHE8L8rnsuXR5aANcRl_o7MF_qh8Q0bSfZaa342QuyO284Os/s1600/IMG_7705.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkmB5Wqj-_rEj0K8NtVLKPwowS1rzYWiMvdQlJ7qxdWpEKZ1jmPjOpGdF79v5o8oyUJ6l8d4CRZtTaj46kUkcpqbCa0ji6xHE8L8rnsuXR5aANcRl_o7MF_qh8Q0bSfZaa342QuyO284Os/s400/IMG_7705.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
I use my Copic markers to change the colors of my scrapbooking supplies all the time…in fact, it was the primary reason I first started buying them. I used several markers to get just the right color on my embellishments on this page. The blue-ish chipboard heart was originally a sky blue. First I colored it with Brown E25, but the surface of the chipboard was slick and it didn’t cover evenly, so I sanded that lightly, leaving it very distressed. Then I colored it with BG72, G24, and BG13 in that order until I got just the right shade I was looking for.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaCNAhL8klwJfDVJLF6kGUnKY6lNd__yRnaaA3dRcpOap3J9UXLZCDvxdIUDGYUIamaPvRbeXlxwIu4QgpE89P8VsAcVgcNS8oIWCxWZoxrif8NbOe5N-tY15PtUkdWGKPT4l7FZFrOh4Y/s1600/IMG_7706.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaCNAhL8klwJfDVJLF6kGUnKY6lNd__yRnaaA3dRcpOap3J9UXLZCDvxdIUDGYUIamaPvRbeXlxwIu4QgpE89P8VsAcVgcNS8oIWCxWZoxrif8NbOe5N-tY15PtUkdWGKPT4l7FZFrOh4Y/s400/IMG_7706.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
The remaining embellishments were some hearts from a Basic Grey “Sugar Rush” sticker sheet (I colored one of the hearts with the E25 and BG13 to cover some colors that didn’t match), phrases from Tim Holtz and Heidi Swapp, plus a chipboard heart and a glitter heart that came from my stash.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
Thanks for stopping by today! Come back tomorrow for my layout with a “twist”!<o:p></o:p></div>
Crafty Neighborhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09663704628909022165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6448939874146814429.post-40311997468340079182019-02-14T11:19:00.003-06:002019-02-14T11:19:47.703-06:00Last Minute Cards Made Easy!<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
Hey, do you procrastinate making those handmade Valentine’s Day cards? Or are you like me, and you’re so busy, you just haven’t had time until now? I have a bad habit of not making my cards until the day arrives, and I know there are others like me, so I wanted to send out a quick post to share a couple of ideas. You could make these cards this afternoon, and no one would be the wiser!<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ74gk7_UNtN0vr3XUhSKqGEKYoH1fHKHLl_UroTfBIN2x4lyEGKE6DjRE9DidZHrAXGRfSC0Nz4G2g92Hk9YyTzWDnUq1lJlnqik9mXc0A9bLthqHtnriOUaODcJCB9Iyd0K5rdWcrkKT/s1600/IMG_3568.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ74gk7_UNtN0vr3XUhSKqGEKYoH1fHKHLl_UroTfBIN2x4lyEGKE6DjRE9DidZHrAXGRfSC0Nz4G2g92Hk9YyTzWDnUq1lJlnqik9mXc0A9bLthqHtnriOUaODcJCB9Iyd0K5rdWcrkKT/s400/IMG_3568.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
I used products I had on hand for both of these fun cards, so it’s a great way to use up a few scraps! All you need is a pretty embossing folder (or two if you want them to be different), a background stamp, two different sized heart punches, a heart die (or use the large punch on both cards), some bakers twine, a bit of ribbon, your sentiments, an assortment of cardstock, and ink. Oh, and don’t forget pop dots or dimensional foam adhesive to add interest.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJpcW_bXTW1TvcoleVMHn_rxOYaRBNDv8JET87LiwmO7SEFEiQji7zm-BfVbIGc4keC6mWUQfQrVoqh2rytaBXzQgjzjhn_XqEZlNk0dk6n_5GLWZ3cHbL3NIMJQxtJmB7EWNzycKAEe9J/s1600/IMG_3569.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJpcW_bXTW1TvcoleVMHn_rxOYaRBNDv8JET87LiwmO7SEFEiQji7zm-BfVbIGc4keC6mWUQfQrVoqh2rytaBXzQgjzjhn_XqEZlNk0dk6n_5GLWZ3cHbL3NIMJQxtJmB7EWNzycKAEe9J/s400/IMG_3569.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA3516kPp2s0Qii27AaQIMv2M_aXtibK1ESGoSFo53oyP4fz6VegeRjRoLKzdAVS7DJ8yiClekn1W0qCwEavqqBXLAJuwr91IX6elfsWg64zVPSGLwECEBimmZMSQpkBLPblZrLB80r1Co/s1600/IMG_3570.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA3516kPp2s0Qii27AaQIMv2M_aXtibK1ESGoSFo53oyP4fz6VegeRjRoLKzdAVS7DJ8yiClekn1W0qCwEavqqBXLAJuwr91IX6elfsWg64zVPSGLwECEBimmZMSQpkBLPblZrLB80r1Co/s400/IMG_3570.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
I used mostly Stampin’ Up products for this, because that’s what I had on hand, including the papers, both punches, and ink. I can't remember where the larger heart die came from. The embossing folder was an old Stampin' Up folder called <i>Elegant Bouquet</i>. The background stamp was <i>Gorgeous Grunge</i>, which retired a few years back. “Love” was from Close to My Heart’s #C1480 from the <i>Roxie</i>workshop. “I HEART YOU” is from the Stampin’ Up <i>And Many More </i>set.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
So what are you waiting for? Go make those cards!<o:p></o:p></div>
Crafty Neighborhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09663704628909022165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6448939874146814429.post-63875906762366527352019-02-13T22:56:00.001-06:002019-02-13T23:38:54.444-06:00Layout A Day - LOAD 219<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
Yesterday, I mentioned Layout-A-Day, but I didn’t really go into what it was. If you’ve followed me for a while, you’ll know that LOAD (as it’s affectionately called) is a month-long challenge I’ve taken on many times over the past few years. My first LOAD was in February of 2012, and I joined in after I saw a post from another blogger I follow (Joy Tracey’s <a href="http://www.obsessedwithscrapbooking.com/" style="color: purple;"><i>Obsessed with Scrapbooking</i></a>), and I was intrigued. I wanted to be more productive with my scrapbooking, and this gave me the perfect excuse to do a little crafting every evening after dinner (“You need someone to take you to the store to get supplies for your science project? Go ask your Dad, I have to do this layout for Layout-a-Day’). So I signed up, and have been hooked ever since.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0SjReGDojDhb0U3KyAWNFgymJw6JptidLAU7I9eqx35qW62_ElrkmGwI-u44UCMdNvlbIFY0y9li6YRVISAP9DiUcihJlb1TyfPxdoOh0Wr_ItqRwMnoU4vq-OuDTVoqbeyX_KQaMs540/s1600/IMG_6318.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0SjReGDojDhb0U3KyAWNFgymJw6JptidLAU7I9eqx35qW62_ElrkmGwI-u44UCMdNvlbIFY0y9li6YRVISAP9DiUcihJlb1TyfPxdoOh0Wr_ItqRwMnoU4vq-OuDTVoqbeyX_KQaMs540/s400/IMG_6318.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My stack of layouts after I completed my first LOAD in 2012.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
The brainchild of Lain Ehman, LOAD typically ran 3 times per year, in February and May, which were open to the public, and in October, which was open only to the members of Scrap Happy, an online network of Lain’s followers. I wasn’t much interested in the Scrap Happy group, so even though I was sad I couldn’t do the October LOADs, I never joined. Instead, I just did every February and May, completing every daily challenge <i>on time</i>…that is, until my Dad had a heart attack. Then I had to drop everything to go home, and it just fell apart after that. I never finished that February challenge, May got interrupted by something else, and eventually, Lain decided she didn’t want to LOAD any more. I had heard that someone else bought the rights, but I wasn’t on the mailing list, never found out who it was, and so I was just sad that such a fun and interesting challenge had fallen by the wayside.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
Fast forward to January, 2018, and once again, I found myself signing up for LOAD! I can’t remember how I found it, but somehow I stumbled across a link to the next event, which was starting up the next day, and my heart took a giant leap! I was so excited to join again, and I did. But there was a hitch…I was set to leave on a cruise in 4 days, and I would be nearly a week without internet and with very little scrapbooking supplies. Regardless, I was determined to do it anyway, so I packed up a little tote of supplies, a traveler’s journal, my trusty HP Sprocket printer, and I decided to scrapbook on the fly. I bought the onboard Social WiFi package, which allowed me to upload my photos to the Flickr gallery and still participate in the challenge.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4RnR1W8RDJUsFaU4PxQREmZxs6MiPPkD-5VoVUz0JVYJG_33Ttfe9bdTR5MAyzqmL_W6BqFIvVvg70Uhwn22hCeJMFbnNTTsqZdMYK4_ck0xwqXp0kaL7JUr3GWCCT54dkLRjaAQ7jEDZ/s1600/P8240744.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4RnR1W8RDJUsFaU4PxQREmZxs6MiPPkD-5VoVUz0JVYJG_33Ttfe9bdTR5MAyzqmL_W6BqFIvVvg70Uhwn22hCeJMFbnNTTsqZdMYK4_ck0xwqXp0kaL7JUr3GWCCT54dkLRjaAQ7jEDZ/s400/P8240744.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Scrapbooking in my travel journal during my August cruise (MINI LOAD).</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
Everything went okay for a day or two, but then the girls I was traveling with, my instructors, decided we needed to finish up some work we brought with us. It turned into a much bigger project than we’d anticipated, and I spent most of the rest of the cruise working on that. I didn’t get much scrapbooking done, and after I got off track, I didn’t do much on it at all. Something similar happened in May, when I had yet <i>another</i>cruise, this time one of our popular Scrapbooking Cruises we do each year. I was so busy getting ready for the cruise, then teaching classes and leading the group that I fell off my proverbial wagon and failed to finish that LOAD, either. They say bad luck comes in threes, so yep, I missed out on the finish a third time in August, when the new owner, Alice Boll, decided to host a <i>Mini LOAD</i>that lasted one week. It was right during the middle of a group cruise I organized for my Aggie Moms. I did get some work done on that one, but not the whole week. And I’m not sure <i>what</i>happened in October, which I finally got to participate in because I finally broke down and joined Scrap Happy for the year.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
So here we are…it’s February, I’m signed up for LOAD 219 (that’s Layout-a-Day February 2019), and I’m already behind! As I mentioned yesterday, I’m in the middle of a craft room reorganization (watch for a big reveal, soon!) and I have a lot of year-end (2018) bookkeeping that I’m trying to get done. So I missed the launch out of the box, and have been playing catch-up ever since. I decided I would do 2 layouts a day until I get caught up, which should have taken me 2 days, but then I skipped a couple more days, and one of my pages took longer than I intended, and there are a million excuses, but I am catching up…AND…I am also starting in on Ali Edward’s “One Little Word” challenge at the same time…even though I’m starting it a month late!<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8splAi48YbC1dOVjctM6wYPMIp3m72sWw3m1LYw_3u9PlnJhLREP6NSy51A1urluUlUyNODCk_v56pDmHdAOEq0GYh_Z0B2CuPPpYxFjjWFPkHNyzBYsqeIW8Tob4JOgeA8u2nZe12fZa/s1600/IMG_7679.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8splAi48YbC1dOVjctM6wYPMIp3m72sWw3m1LYw_3u9PlnJhLREP6NSy51A1urluUlUyNODCk_v56pDmHdAOEq0GYh_Z0B2CuPPpYxFjjWFPkHNyzBYsqeIW8Tob4JOgeA8u2nZe12fZa/s400/IMG_7679.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Working on my One Little Word album.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
So for today (and the next few days, too), I’ll be sharing with you my layouts from LOAD 219 and OLW, along with some info about my processes and supplies. I hope you’ll enjoy it, and maybe it will give you some inspiration to challenge yourself. After all, you don’t have to sign up for a challenge to create a layout every day. Just get out your supplies and do something. Be creative every day, whether it’s a scrapbook page, a card, something you made for your home, something from paper, something from fabric, or something you’ve drawn. It all counts – as long as you DO IT!<o:p></o:p></div>
Crafty Neighborhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09663704628909022165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6448939874146814429.post-34902645018537284462019-02-13T12:25:00.000-06:002019-02-13T12:25:32.537-06:002019 Scrapbook Expo!<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
Hey Neighbors! A couple of weeks ago, I shared with you our day-trip to Mesquite, Texas for the Stamp, Scrap, and Art Tour. My neice, Ashley, and I had a great time, and I bought a few supplies to get ready for some big things coming this February. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
First, we have Layout-a-Day, better known as LOAD 219, which started on February 1<sup>st</sup>(more about that tomorrow!). The other thing coming up is Scrapbook Expo in Irving, Texas. Now you may remember Scrapbook Expo as the big event held at the Gaylord Texan Hotel in Grapevine. I always thought it was poor planning to host a scrapbooking event at that over-priced monstrosity, and it <i>proved</i>to be a bad decision last year when the Gaylord abruptly <i>dumped</i>the Expo reservation in favor of a client with deeper pockets who wanted the same date. This forced the Expo to move to the Irving Convention Center (with only 2 weeks notice, btw), which turned out not to be such a bad thing after all.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtGLvPe-6VLbUo3Vu_D5mGyJV37MY_SfNTIJjDNHAHnTKygKvhWG7FhqicGp6aS-LM4lOUQjHyKIyMeEscpO11U30HKUktw2DlMgXv4NhOOiQOwKcETN_qSJb4kb7dxjubBgjZztPdiA0I/s1600/IMG_3976.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtGLvPe-6VLbUo3Vu_D5mGyJV37MY_SfNTIJjDNHAHnTKygKvhWG7FhqicGp6aS-LM4lOUQjHyKIyMeEscpO11U30HKUktw2DlMgXv4NhOOiQOwKcETN_qSJb4kb7dxjubBgjZztPdiA0I/s640/IMG_3976.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
As a whole, we actually wound up preferring the Irving location to the Gaylord. The concessions were better, the classrooms were better, and <i>everything</i>was cheaper. Our only real complaint was the parking and the distance of the hotel. At the Gaylord, we were guests at the hotel and only had to pay one parking fee for each car, which we parked right outside the door, and we could walk to our rooms. In Irving, our hotel was down the street (although it was <i>very</i>nice), and we had to shuttle back and forth. We also had to pay for parking every day if we wanted to have a car with us at the convention center, and it wasn’t as convenient to keep our food/coolers in the car for easy access. But we did like the new venue, so we let the organizers know, and they blessed us with relocation to Irving again for 2019.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
I’m super excited about Expo this year. With the addition of two new hotels right across the street, we will again be walking distance from our rooms, and that means we don’t have to pay those stupid parking fees, and we can cross the street to get lunch, assuming we don’t decide to eat at the concession stand or one of the many food trucks that came by last year. We booked the hotel package with the <a href="http://www.texicancourt.com/" target="_blank">Texican Court</a>, and we’re really excited about trying out this nifty, Texas-themed hotel with a retro vibe. Now I just need to figure out what I’m going to bring, and how I’m going to get it there!<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMOdJNWDsELepQas2sKvyCB88FwuV11Cl6iRW5GA4QpCJDqLCWt255RQlWYdjT5V3IRrG1gXjA1nT9rdQ-YuSpuo21A4aPNpuLJpnlhu5T_BPZjape9hicpA176llK0A3lNZIzQ-JcbpSZ/s1600/IMG_3351.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMOdJNWDsELepQas2sKvyCB88FwuV11Cl6iRW5GA4QpCJDqLCWt255RQlWYdjT5V3IRrG1gXjA1nT9rdQ-YuSpuo21A4aPNpuLJpnlhu5T_BPZjape9hicpA176llK0A3lNZIzQ-JcbpSZ/s400/IMG_3351.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
I had already pretty much decided that I wanted to work on some of my travel albums during these crops. I have several “travelers journals” in progress that use the same supplies. That was the easy decision. Now I’ve just got to figure out what supplies I can’t live without, and what is the best way to get them there. I haven’t posted about it much, because I wanted to wait for the big reveal, but I’ve been reorganizing my craft room. The new set up is both more and less portable at the same time, depending on how much stuff I want to bring. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh558-tfr9m0Ep1HQzBGEM-QKvEfnRwBptO5CXmXkr1sMvQd_RvB9jkut0ljMR6fNw1fRmqgE0JYFfOKm81-V2bYiFlr53irCwL3sbVfTGcQlNcKeZzW0vVl1a3EmcUS1Dv7gvnNWMh2oA7/s1600/IMG_7691.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh558-tfr9m0Ep1HQzBGEM-QKvEfnRwBptO5CXmXkr1sMvQd_RvB9jkut0ljMR6fNw1fRmqgE0JYFfOKm81-V2bYiFlr53irCwL3sbVfTGcQlNcKeZzW0vVl1a3EmcUS1Dv7gvnNWMh2oA7/s400/IMG_7691.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBVwj2faqQt2rFdUA86RS7MEv9YFzTlFP1X9Zj0nCsMm9iNVhzIRRzrBk3djQFTw0HEABxEotjJmgMRxIhs5zx8qWwpCXADGaR1DzSi6nVs2ULHmqeV6h61pMjQ-btkQovmzfT00H3qRiq/s1600/IMG_7693.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBVwj2faqQt2rFdUA86RS7MEv9YFzTlFP1X9Zj0nCsMm9iNVhzIRRzrBk3djQFTw0HEABxEotjJmgMRxIhs5zx8qWwpCXADGaR1DzSi6nVs2ULHmqeV6h61pMjQ-btkQovmzfT00H3qRiq/s400/IMG_7693.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
Obviously, for a long weekend retreat like the one I’ll be doing in April, I’ll want to bring more stuff, and that’s okay because I’ve moved a lot of it to bins and totes that I can just throw into my car as they are (or with a bungee cord or two to hold them closed). But for this shorter crop, where I don’t really need <i>all</i>of the supplies in these bins, I have the quandary of deciding whether to unload the needed supplies into another tote, take the bins as they are, or unload things from the bins and fill the space with other things I need. And I haven’t decided if it’s a good or a bad thing that this event is coming up in just 8 days or so. Yes, I am anxious to go, but I really am anxious about getting all my work caught up, getting packed, etc. And oh, did I mention that the day after I come home from this event, I’ll be flying out to California for a weeklong travel agent training? Hmmm…maybe I should get up and start packing!<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
What do you think? Are you going to Scrapbook Expo? How do you decide what supplies you will take to a long crop? Any other special things you like to do to prepare? Share your ideas in the comments!<o:p></o:p></div>
Crafty Neighborhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09663704628909022165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6448939874146814429.post-50599692392115854902019-01-26T22:45:00.000-06:002019-01-26T22:45:04.892-06:00Make-n-Take with the Minc<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ1Zu_G6HnpHrGlF2CDMr_ViAtBBodH_p_36F7_l3wvHAckKvGAk8yPK0FChEnFsIs8n_BXByzKfKYTypI_Bmt0kFu8KnVLPeO0m0AoET5uIF7DN3taDNLhal1JUmyFDtUePIVCdojaGxu/s1600/IMG_7590.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ1Zu_G6HnpHrGlF2CDMr_ViAtBBodH_p_36F7_l3wvHAckKvGAk8yPK0FChEnFsIs8n_BXByzKfKYTypI_Bmt0kFu8KnVLPeO0m0AoET5uIF7DN3taDNLhal1JUmyFDtUePIVCdojaGxu/s400/IMG_7590.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
I know it's been a while since I posted anything, so I thought I'd share a quick video from our afternoon at the Stamp, Scrap and Art Tour in Mesquite, Texas today. My niece, Ashley, and I got to use the Heidi Swapp Minc to make a cute card, and we learned a few tips along the way. I've had one for a while, but I've never used it! This make-n-take was so fun and easy, it makes me want to get it out and play! Check out this video we made.<br />
<br />
<center>
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/1XCy-rbhDQU" width="560"></iframe></center>
<center>
<br /></center>
<center style="text-align: left;">
You can see how <i>easy</i> this was, so I hope you learned something, and if you have one, but haven't used it, <i>get that darned thing out of the box and make something!</i> I know I will!</center>
<br />Crafty Neighborhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09663704628909022165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6448939874146814429.post-4857202310750403572018-11-23T22:29:00.000-06:002018-11-23T22:35:32.529-06:00A Little Planning Goes a Long Way<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_yZ53Iga2Ubk15hZwEsq6c3W_rcKlHlDYDyUtwRHT_EiAu7Xdspu28GOkmBY5Gr4OqeTauDveImUBkQoHiihh34REV4gwsYo-0ksZfDhlB2U_9j5Jv4vBG8zNplj7HmiWBYVNOiqoQmi8/s1600/PB230059.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_yZ53Iga2Ubk15hZwEsq6c3W_rcKlHlDYDyUtwRHT_EiAu7Xdspu28GOkmBY5Gr4OqeTauDveImUBkQoHiihh34REV4gwsYo-0ksZfDhlB2U_9j5Jv4vBG8zNplj7HmiWBYVNOiqoQmi8/s400/PB230059.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
I guess you could say I have a bit of OCD; I like everything to be planned to the last detail and everything to be arranged in a neat and orderly fashion. Over the years, I’ve learned that everything just goes so much smoother and most of the stress is eliminated when I can set a schedule and stick to it. Some of the events that I host have been using the same basic format and schedule for ten or more years. I found a formula, and I stick with it. I don’t think I could operate any other way.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
This hasn’t always been the case. Yes, I always <i>wanted </i>to be organized and efficient, but it just didn’t happen. Take Thanksgiving, for example. I would get up Thursday morning and have this huge laundry list of food that needed to be cooked, rooms that needed to be cleaned, tables that needed to be set…you get the picture. I felt like a chicken running around with my head cut off, and my poor family…we’ll let’s just say they tried very hard to stay out of my way, and when they couldn’t, they would find themselves tasked with something they hadn’t planned on doing. Then my daughter, Christen, and I came up with an almost foolproof plan one year that has worked very well ever since -- we planned everything in reverse.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
The idea was really Christen’s to start with, when she asked, “What time do we want to eat?” From there, we were able to work our way backwards through the myriad tasks, delegating each to a timeslot (usually with a built-in time cushion), and instantly, we knew <i>exactly </i>what had to get done and when we needed to do it. It was like the sunrise dawning on the first day! From then on, we planned every event to the last detail, working our way backwards through all the prep work, until there was really no doubt about what needed to happen. Having that list is a safety net, so that I don’t catch myself panicking because I forgot to boil the eggs for the dressing, or the guests are arriving and the table hasn’t been set. We’ve also added to the list over the years; we included my niece in the planning, stretched the planning to include the entire holiday season (right through New Year’s Day), and even started prepping some of the food a day early.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggTRMMwfX26SfQS2qZFTypuHUTHQZOe3_RqwfBIFpfIlV63dMWzuv1YuZp_gXtLw0I5ONostNi6lzSVRRUX8JndGv9L6g6k9q4hlKgEO8zez-GbUAw-smFTOEA9_crmk0QIPLq4LX1Xkd7/s1600/IMG_7055.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggTRMMwfX26SfQS2qZFTypuHUTHQZOe3_RqwfBIFpfIlV63dMWzuv1YuZp_gXtLw0I5ONostNi6lzSVRRUX8JndGv9L6g6k9q4hlKgEO8zez-GbUAw-smFTOEA9_crmk0QIPLq4LX1Xkd7/s400/IMG_7055.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-UeOUx03lResyAwD46ToWZ6vEMSHJ-XynOP1O2ByDOQfdgvT8tEYX-s4E4eUlRYt-tkCK26_rP2YHt592eDKqxVlc8IMuPzGAoYu0zMQUYK26Wua5fwGtrgCqqpEhetGhnb-LRlbDGEA3/s1600/IMG_7056.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-UeOUx03lResyAwD46ToWZ6vEMSHJ-XynOP1O2ByDOQfdgvT8tEYX-s4E4eUlRYt-tkCK26_rP2YHt592eDKqxVlc8IMuPzGAoYu0zMQUYK26Wua5fwGtrgCqqpEhetGhnb-LRlbDGEA3/s400/IMG_7056.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoz4ryOdK-72PWfAYKUnCgfYC-fQsEKitdjzHMSIqSer2grsuKpzS_T9FvDu5PB5qgqbssPN9wqxYubjuww0W-LrWXY7LwFgmWdYuhIw_PurJTrjOtsZeg6sTQLDpfb6qTEakYKzVKTV3p/s1600/PB220004.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoz4ryOdK-72PWfAYKUnCgfYC-fQsEKitdjzHMSIqSer2grsuKpzS_T9FvDu5PB5qgqbssPN9wqxYubjuww0W-LrWXY7LwFgmWdYuhIw_PurJTrjOtsZeg6sTQLDpfb6qTEakYKzVKTV3p/s640/PB220004.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
Don’t get me wrong; I still get off schedule. This year, dinner was a full hour late. Even though I cooked all my cakes and pies the day before, I was up into the wee hours Wednesday night cleaning up my living room and dining room; my son, Steven moved last weekend, leaving behind boxes and piles of useless stuff he didn’t want or need any more. In the mean time, my niece, Ashley, moved into his room, and we had piles of things to go to the shed, boxes to be donated, and more personal items that still needed to be put <i>somewhere</i>. I did what I could Wednesday night, and then got up Thursday morning and started on it again with help from my hubby (Mark) and Ashley. It put us behind schedule, but we pulled it off, and when the earliest guests started arriving, we put them to work, too, finishing the set-up on the tables, peeling potatoes, and arranging trays of appetizers. It all worked. No one complained they were <i>starving</i>, and I happily went on with my very well planned To-Do list, knowing exactly what needed to happen and in what order, albeit an hour later. It was almost entirely stress free, even when the gravy boiled over (twice) and the dressing wasn’t browned on time. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibU3Z5hZquDB9T4T5FQ09LunRUZQ753y58jjDZp2ZA372aJjrTcS2j3WBPpxZ-wRdj6sDp-dZZuEv4cF10OF-vLvGFDB9Qeej-B6k94I6oNJF5641caesZ0EeKwkp-R7m7EqOxH613Y1lh/s1600/PB220010.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibU3Z5hZquDB9T4T5FQ09LunRUZQ753y58jjDZp2ZA372aJjrTcS2j3WBPpxZ-wRdj6sDp-dZZuEv4cF10OF-vLvGFDB9Qeej-B6k94I6oNJF5641caesZ0EeKwkp-R7m7EqOxH613Y1lh/s400/PB220010.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW6DSjW2tE-DI9lv5iEFNcGxp1mtohPEOEZOhro90Io7LDTKOTm9ZYcUOKf4wSBdWGel34ObH5LHA31LHou7hSUdzSiJITcFGPkgE4aopZaTjng5Co6xHtHPQBVYQoYayzWLmasCWLFqmC/s1600/PB220028.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW6DSjW2tE-DI9lv5iEFNcGxp1mtohPEOEZOhro90Io7LDTKOTm9ZYcUOKf4wSBdWGel34ObH5LHA31LHou7hSUdzSiJITcFGPkgE4aopZaTjng5Co6xHtHPQBVYQoYayzWLmasCWLFqmC/s400/PB220028.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
Now I’m super excited about the rest of the holidays. I met with Christen and Ashley last Monday, to plan out the entire holiday season, and my next project is to turn <i>all </i>of it into an annual “Holiday Planner” for my family, complete with recipes, schedules, guest lists, gift ideas, decorating and crafts, and more. I plan to set it up in a Happy Planner of some sort, with sections for each holiday, and subsections for all the lists I need to keep. I’m thinking the lists themselves will be a combination of pre-printed forms and lists, Project Life pocket pages, hand embellished scrapbook-style pages, December Daily, 30 Days of Gratitude, New Years Resolutions, and more. I want it to be something that not only lets us plan and enjoy our holiday season, but also to reflect on it year after year. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
So watch for bits and pieces of my holiday planner to show up here on the blog throughout the next few weeks, and hopefully I’ll do a final flip-through after January 1<sup>st</sup>. Until then, keep crafting!<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
Crafty Neighborhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09663704628909022165noreply@blogger.com0