Halloween Treat Bags!

   I have been working feverishly on my many projects still left to do... I just finished (just in time) my Halloween treat bags. I found some inspiration on Pinterest with the  many different Halloween characters, but I changed them and made them my own. I really love how they came out.

Can't wait to give them out.

  I always have a hard time trying to figure out how much candy to give to each child. This year I wised up. The bags are so helpful in that you just hand one to each kid. Love that..
   I think we will only get two kids, but I made 5 bags, just in case. Plus we have more candy. We weren't here at Halloween last year, so I am not sure.
  I used my Sizzix spider die cut on the pumpkin
 and the mummy. I also have a set of alphabet letters from Sizzix to cut out "Boo!". The ghost is my own creation. I cut him/her??? out freehand and used markers for the eyes and mouth. Easy...
  The other great thing about the bags is that you can't sneak any candy. Love that.. bye the way the other candy is downstairs in the basement in our freezer. Should be safe there.. Hope so...
  Well, my sisters and I decided we would do a Christmas Craft Fair this year. It is being held in Topsham at a church. We did it two years ago and had a good time , but not alot of people. This year we are told that they have advertised more and they had more people last year. We decided to give it a whirl again. We are making mini-albums, albums in a box, Christmas cards, Christmas gift boxes, bookmarks, altered boxes,  and anything else we feel like working on. It is not until November 19th, I believe.
  I have started working on  my Christmas cards in a box. It is a set of 5 cards and 5 envelopes in a decorated box. I have made three boxes. I hope to make 6 in all. I need to now work on the cards. Here is a pic of the boxes anyway,

Three of the six boxes done... Yeah!!

I really enjoy making these boxes. I gave a link to the gal who has a tutorial in past posts. Just search "Christmas Fair". The boxes are wicked easy to make. I love decorating them with whatever comes to mind. I used my Memory Box reindeer die, a Sizzix snowflake die, and a Stampin up stamp. The sentiment is from Stampin Up, but the banner is from Spellbinders.
  Well that is all I have so far. I will be working from now until the fair getting ready. Good thing I am retired.
  P. S.  I am almost done with my son's and his fiance's mini-album on our visit to Canobie Lake Park.. Love getting things done.. Don't you?

Finally Done!

   I am so excited to have a project done that I have been working on FOREVER!  I finally had to get it done because I couldn't find anything to go over our new oven. Once I get a piece of plexiglass over it I will hang it; or should I say my husband will hang it for me.
 

Done!!

  I found this idea on Pinterest. Again where else do I find really neat ideas. The gal has a video showing how she did her designs. I thought it looked pretty cool. So I decided to try it.
  I think it came out pretty great. My sister, Chris, gave me the idea of putting a quote about the kitchen on it. I searched the web and found this one. I was going to put  "resistance is futile-CHOCOLATE".  But I thought it was better to go the homespun way. Although I may use the chocolate quote somewhere else.
  I plan on hanging it and taking a pic to post on my blog, so keep on checking back.
  We are heading to Dover tomorrow to check out the stuff at our favorite craft store: Stamped Designs. Jeannette has the Pan Pastels for sale now, so we are making it a fun day of shopping at her place to check them out. We also plan on visiting our other favorite place: Just the Thing. Great shop with vintage finds and other very interesting stuff.  Can't wait.
  Oh here is a link to the Paper Punch Medallions video:   Paper Punch Medallions
Hers looks way better than mine, but I think she must have a lot more corner punches than I have in my supplies.
 

Beautiful time of year

  Fall is definitely here. We have been enjoying the warmish weather. Our veggie garden has been cleaned out and made ready for the winter. We have been watching our newly planted grass/ lawn grow. This weather has really made it "take off". Next spring we should have more green grass and less crabgrass. Amen. 
  Hope you are having a wonderful Fall.

Plant seed and it will grow....

Fall Frenzy

  I have been working on three projects at the same time.. How good am I? I get up around 5:00 in the morning which is the perfect time to work on my papercrafting . It is quiet and I can concentrate on my creative energies. I sound pretty fantastic, don't I?
   I finished a Memory Box for my friend, Elaine. She had given me some fabulous tops that she didn't need anymore. I love her!! So I decided since she wouldn't take money to make her a Memory Box. I had purchased the directions from the gal at Paper Hoarder Disorder. You can check out her blog by the same name, if you are interested in the video tutorial and written directions. You get both for $5.00. I thought it was a good buy.
  I really enjoyed making this album box. You had to be careful how many embellishments you used and make sure they weren't too bulky 'cause the box has to close. So I used more "flat" paper embellishments. I cut out tags from Graphic 45's Secret Garden Collection. I love this paper collection. I wish they would add some new collections to their line. Some paper was from My Mind's Eye, too. Here is a video that I made so that you could see some of the work that I have done for this album. 

 These are the photo mats that fit into the slots of each page.

Picture or journaling could be used here.

I gave her the box the other day and she loved it. Elaine has grandchildren that she sees alot and takes alot of great pictures of them. This album will be filled with her great times with them.
  I am now working on finishing up my other two projects. One is favor boxes for our Thanksgiving meal. I found the directions for these on Pinterest. The gal that does the written tutorial does a great job explaining how to make these cuties. I added a maple leaf punch  and the names of each family member attending the dinner. I will use these boxes as "name tags" set in the middle of a white plate. I distressed the leaves and name cards to give them a little more depth and color. I really love making them now that I can whip one out pretty fast with fewer errors as I go.  Here is a link to where I
found the directions to make these cuties..

Cute,huh?

Thanksgiving Favors

  I am also working on finishing up the mini-album for my future daughter-in-law, Kristin, and my son, Nathaniel. We had a great time at Canobie Lake Park this summer and I wanted to give them an album commemorating that time. This is the third album I have done in the  6x6 size. This is a great size 'cause you use less paper. This album uses the hidden hinge system for the binding of the pages. I got the video directions from My Sister's Scrapper. She does a super job with her directions. Here is a link to her site for instructions, in case you want to give it a whirl. Pocket Page Mini Album  
  I may have given you this link before , but it is handy to have it here, too. I am presently working on the pages for this album. I had to order more

I have the cover done and now I am working on the pages.

magnets 'cause I ran out. I got them from Ellen
Hutson's online site. She has pretty good prices.
  We have had a wonderful Sept/Oct for outings. Kristin called a couple of weeks ago to see if we didn't want to go for a ferry boat ride  to Baily Island . We jumped at the chance 'cause it was only $12.00 a head and it is a great time to see the fall foliage. We weren't disappointed. The trip was awesome. A little chilly but not bad with a fleece jacket. Here are some pics from that trip.

The Ferry

Kayakers

On the boat

Portland Head Light

Nathaniel on the right

Searching for gold on Bailey Island

Nathaniel and Kristin

   Russ has to go to the Fryeburg Fair every year that we can. It is a fun time with lots to see. The food was everywhere. We had an awesome maple whoopie pie. Yummy. The exhibits were fun to look and wish I could do some of the neat things people do with cooking and crafts.

Fryeburg Fair

  

Whoopie pie

Awesome exhibit

    We had alot of fun this fall. Right now we are working on growing the grass on our new lawn and getting the gardens ready for fall. It is hard work, I tell you. The next big project I have to work on is cleaning my craftroom. I am not looking forward to that ,but I like it when it is done. Here is a picture of my organized paper. I guess I had better get busy with cleaning.

Cleaning craftroom