Summer Fun

I don’t know why, but spring and summer seem to wreak havoc with my schedule.  Maybe it’s because there’s so many things going on with schools and holidays, and then suddenly it’s summer and there’s more holidays, and kids to deal with, and summer vacations…. And even though both my children are fully grown (although one does still live at home), I still always seem to get lost in there somewhere.  This spring, all the Crafty Neighbors were busy getting ready for our cruise at the end of May.  It was something of a challenge because during our prep time we had three conventions, National Scrapbook Day, Valentine’s Day, Easter, and Mother’s Day, several birthdays, tax season (did I mention that Shelley is an accountant?), and our Crafty Neighbor garage sale.  That was just January through May! I foolishly thought things might slow down for us, but that was not to be.  I’m leaving on another cruise in about four weeks with my Aggie Moms group, we have another scrapbook garage sale coming up next weekend, we’re trying to find a venue for our annual Think Pink for the Cure crop, and I just got back from my second convention in two months.  Whew! I guess I was not meant to live a slow and relaxing life – I wouldn’t know what to do with myself anyway!

Speaking of the convention…last month we went to the Great American Scrapbook Convention, which is now owned by Creating Keepsakes.  Last year, I was pleasantly surprised that it seemed to be making a come-back, but then this year there were less vendors again, so I don’t know if last year was just a fluke, or what.  This weekend was the Heirloom Pro Rubber Stamp Show.  This one has always been a bit on the small size – they use the Grapevine Convention Center – and the last few years, they went from having a full room plus vendors out in the halls to not even being able to fill the main room. I was starting to worry about them.  They come here twice per year, but was it worth it? Today, it seemed like they, too, were having a bit of a come back, and there were several new vendors we hadn’t seen before.  We’ll have to wait and see.

Laura, Cindy, and Sixta
Laura is going to be one of our instructors on the next cruise!

I hadn’t really intended to do any shopping (I know, that’s what I always say!), but we stopped to do a FREE make-n-take at the Craft Fantastic booth, and then I had to buy some jewelry parts to turn it into the piece I really wanted.  I also bought a few more Copic markers for my collection, and select Tombow markers.  I like the Tombows for my calligraphy…the brush tips are wonderful.  So here’s what I got, including the glass piece we made at the CF booth and the cute bag tag we made at the Fun Stampers Journey booth.

So the make-n-take was FREE, which is pretty unusual in itself, but all we did was add the paper to the glass.  The show special was to offer a bracelet kit for free that you can add your glass piece to, but all they had was the antique color, and I much prefer silver, so I bought these pretty bird cage brooches, some pinch bails, and a bit of ball chain.  When I got home, I pried the pin back of the bird cage and sanded it down good, added one of the pinch bails and the ball chain, and voila!

What do you think? I think it turned out really cute, but I’m not sure if I want to keep it or give it away!  While I try to decide, I should tell you about our semi-annual scrapbook garage sale.  I know this won’t mean much to you guys who live out of state, but for anyone in the DFW/North Texas area, this is a must-see event! Our sale is so big and so good that we have people drive from Louisiana to shop – more than 4 hours away!  It really is that awesome!  This year I have 23 vendors, each with at least two 5-foot tables full of merchandise.  If you’re looking for scrapbooking and craft supplies, stamps, punches, Cricut, inks, totes, etc., we’ll probably have it.  So come on out, next Saturday, July 21, to the Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas Service Center at 6001 Summerside Drive, Dallas, Tx 75252 from 9AM to 2PM.  Sorry but all our seller space is full.  If you’d like to be on our waiting list, visit our website (see the link below), and sign up for our mailing list to make sure you don’t miss it next time.

That’s it for today.  I’ve got to get to work finding a location for our Think Pink crop.  If you know of a good place in the North Dallas – Carrollton – Plano – Irving area, please let me know!

Christmas Gifts

As with any cruise, our final day at sea is bitter sweet.  We’re still spending time scrapbooking and soaking up the sun, making new friends and new memories, and sometimes making plans to do it all again next year.  But at the same time, we all know that it’s almost over, that the magic will eventually fade, and we all have to go home.  It’s kind of like Christmas.  You spend all year looking forward to it, and when it gets here, it goes so fast that all you’re left with are a blur of memories.

Christmas was the topic of last night’s pillow gifts, and Susie treated everyone to some cute pendants she made featuring Santa Claus, Christmas trees, and even Snowmen.  Susie used a different illustration for each pendant and they are all very, very cute!

One of the things I found very interesting was the manner in which Susie attached the pendants to her card backing.  Basically, all she did was punch two holes in the chipboard and tied the pendant on with some twine.  Very clever!  This is a great way to present someone with jewelry when you don't have a jewelry box to put it in.

We are almost done with our cruise through the year.  I hope you’ll come back to see what the New Year will bring!

Thankful

Today’s port visit is Cozumel, and I am so very thankful to be on this wonderful island yet again.  I come here time and time again (every cruise out of Galveston stops here, I think), and I just never tire of it.  I’m not sure, but maybe it is because my stay is always so short.  I just don’t ever get a chance to see or do as much as I would like.

I’m thankful for a lot of other things, too, like the wonderful collaborators I’ve had on this cruise, Susie and Valerie, and of course our guests.  Last night, we thanked them with these cute little bags made by Valerie.  In each bag is a charm pin to remind them of our cruise.

Tomorrow will be our final day at sea before returning to port in Galveston.  Our cruise through the year is almost over, but we still have many more great projects from this cruise to share with you, so I hope you’ll stick around!

The Dies Have It!

Today is our second full day at sea, and we are busy crafting and scrapping!  Even though we provide workshops with enough projects to keep everyone busy during our cruise, we always advise crafters to bring a project of their own to work on.  Since our cruises are usually in the fall, I tend to bring things like Christmas cards or gifts, but with our cruise so close to Christmas this year, I opted to think further ahead instead.  So my project for this cruise is a gift for a very special occasion in the spring.  can’t share it with you just yet because I don’t want the recipient to find out about it, but what I can share with you today is another one of our pillow gifts, this time with an Easter theme.

These lovely little pendants were made by Susie Moore, who is an instructor on our cruise this year.  Each one is unique and features a different Easter Bunny illustration.  Susie is the owner of the lovely Stolen Moments Inn in Maypearl, Texas.  I had occasion to stay there in September and it was really nice!  Susie also works part time at The Crafty Scrapper in Waxahachie (right down the road from her retreat!) and is on the design team for The Crafty Scrapper, Designed to Color, Samantha Walker, Lisa M. Pace, Eyelet Outlet, Cupcake Inspirations, Designed 2 Delight, Gel-a-Tins Stamps, The Card Annex, and The Pink Elephant.  She is a master of digital scrapbooking and makes fabulous cards and craft projects.  You can see more of her beautiful work on her blog, The Dies Have It.

That's it for today.  Tomorrow, we dock in Roatan, Honduras, and I am looking forward to some fun in the sun!  I'll have more projects to share, so be sure to come back!