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

Happy Anniversary, Dear!!

  We got new phones which brings us up to speed with the new technology out there. I just figured out how to upload my phone photos to my computer.. Yeah for me!! It took a little while with a little help from Verizon's Support website, but I got it.
  Russ and I celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary this past week. We decided to walk the beach at Popham in Phippsburg. It wasn't a sunny day , but it was a lovely day. We took about an hour and enjoyed the scenery all the way around the beach.

Thanks for 8 wonderful years....

   We also celebrated my son's birthday in September. He asked me to make cake pops because he liked the ones I had made for his housewarming party. I was so touched. It is only the second time I have made them. I think they came out great. I used three different candy melts, chocolate, peanut butter ( Cause my husband and Kristin love peanut butter.) and speckled vanilla. I used my die cut to make a little sign with "Happy Birthday" on it. The ribbon was a nice  touch.

This is a peanut butter one...

Nathaniel and his fiance, Kristin.

Nathaniel's card

 We went to Canobie Lake Park to continue the celebration. We all had a great time with great weather. I made Nathaniel's birthday card using my new Pop 'n Cuts die cut.. It is so easy. I was amazed at the ease in which I could make this card. I used SU's Baroque Motifs stamp for the background.
  I like using up my scraps for the banners since I have so many scraps.. I punched out the flower using my SU punch and glued it to yellow paper for the inside look of the petals.
  

Inside the card

 The sentiment is a stamp from Hero Arts that I really like to use for birthday cards. 
  I glued the birthday cake die cut to the pop up mechanism. I think I could just about glue anything to the mechanism for a pop up card. I added the banners using my die cuts from Sizzix.
  We had a barbecue at Nathaniel and Kristin's home with all the fixin's.
  

Hal and Charlotte's vacation album.

   I finished adding the photos to Hal and Charlotte's vacation album. Boy, I really do like making these pocket page albums. They use 6x6 paper which I love to purchase. There are so many patterns to choose from in stores. I used shells for part of the embellishment for their album since they came to Maine... of course.  Glossy Accents  is a great glue. It will hold anything down and that puppy is not coming off.

Two  of my favorite pictures in this album.

  

Waterfall cards

  I made a waterfall section to hold the images that I could not fit in the main part of the album. The only thing left to do is add the journaling and the chunky charm to the spine. I love making chunky charms for my albums. It is so much fun picking out the charms and beads to go with the theme of the album . I used Tim Holtz's chain and his small glass bottle. I added sand to it

Shells, beads, lobster, and other nautical charms

using a tiny eye hook to get it on the chain. The big piece is a domino that I glued pictures to and then covered them with gloss accents. It is gonna look great. I am going to give them the album in October 'cause we are heading to their home for Russ to go to a football game with Hal. Mom and I are shopping with Charlotte.. Love shopping with Charlotte. She knows all the cool places.
  Russ and I are "dirting" this week because the weather is cool and just right for working up a sweat and not dying while you are doing it.
 

Loam to spread....

   We are smoothing out humps and bumps in our lawn in hopes of having a better lawn. We seed the loam after spreading and rolling it. It is quite the project. We are waiting for the grass to grow out back and then it is on to the front. I will show you pictures of our lawn, if the grass actually grows. Right now I am doubtful.
  I will end with a great picture of Fall that I took on the way to Cornish, Maine for a lobster roll at Bay Haven. The best seafood is found there. Happy Fall, Everyone!!!

Hard to choose just one pumpkin....

 

Busy...busy...busy...

  I have been busy doing alot of things lately. I am really enjoying working on these Pocket Page mini- albums for our daughter, Kristin . We had a wonderful trip to Colorado and I wanted to thank Kris and Mike for all they did for us. Plus make an album for us to remember the good times.
  The tutorial that My Sister's Scrapper does it excellent. She does a great job with explaining how to do each step. I think there are 5 tutorials on this mini album. Here is the link, if you want to give it a try. I highly recommend it. My Sister's Scrapper

Kristin's album cover

First page

Inside pages

Love using tags..

I am waiting for the pictures to come, so that I can add them to the album. I really do enjoy creating the pages and adding the embellishments to make the album fun to look through. I used alot of Graphic 45 paper from the Steampunk Debutante Collection. It is great paper.
   I have started making my own chunky charms for the spine of the album. Michael's and A.C. Moore have a nice selection of charms. I also go to Butterbee on-line for some different charms to add to my collection.
 

The back of the album

Chunky Charms

   I made a birthday card for our friend, Dave. He is celebrating his 60th birthday this month. His wife, Cindy gave him a lovely surprise luncheon at this great place in Cornish, Maine called Bay Haven. The food is just too much. The lobster roll was $12.00. I couldn't believe the amount of lobster they put in it. I was watching food go by that was piled high on plates. We plan on going back sometime to try out some other seafood they offer. You gotta go, if you like lobster.

   I had a great time making Dave's card.I used my new die cut from Tim Holtz. I added some embellishments here and there. I like cutting out picture from Graphic 45; like the flying clock. The lettering is from my Sizzix collection for letters.

Where does the time go?

  I like the inside, too.

Memories for 60 years...

  On Friday my sisters, Rochelle and Chris went with Russ and I to Brimfield, Mass. It has the largest antiques and collectibles this side of the Mississippi. I mean big. We took a break at lunchtime to soothe our aching feet. It really made a difference as to how long we could continue the walking.
  I got some doilies that I plan on sewing together for a runner down the middle of our black table. I will take a pic once I have it done.
  I also bought a rectangular box that I plan on adding feet to in order to use it to hold some of my charms. Yes, I know.. another project.
Here are a few pictures of our day.

Very interesting....

Love this arrangement!

Where could I put this?

This is cute.

I don't think I could use this.

Rochelle bought this jelly cabinet for Lindsey.

   I am very grateful to my dear husband, who made a marvelous punch holder for my many punches. He designed at awesome holder. It has a shelf on the top and on the bottom. Perfect for holding some of my bigger odd sized punches. My craftroom looks so organized and neat. I decided to clean the whole room. Thanks, Hon... You are the best.

Just Perfect!!

Looks so organized.. easy to see.

Last Day in Colorado!

  We woke up to another gorgeous day in Colorado. It was our last day to be with Kristin and Mike. We walked to Perkins Restaurant for breakfast. This has been one of the many highlights of our visit here. Russ and I really love seeing those majestic mountains in the
distance as we walk the bridge.


We will miss seeing these beauties.

Walking Bridge to Perkins Restaurant

  I was really excited 'cause we were going to the Butterfly Pavilion in Westminster; not far from our hotel. We have been there before but last time there were a lot of grade school children which did not lead to having any butterflies land on you. We wanted to be there when it opened.


Love this place!

   They have a bug exhibit and a ocean exhibit,

but I wanted to go to the butterfly room 'cause I was afraid children would be coming soon. And I was right. It was perfect timing. A few adults were in there and us. It was quiet and peaceful with butterflies all above and around us. The flowers are gorgeous. I couldn't help but take a gazillion  pictures.    

 

 

There is netting above to keep the butterflies inside.

 

   Here are a some pictures of the butterflies that landed on us and some that didn't!

Beautiful

Check out Russ's arm!

Can you see one on his visor?

This one landed on my arm.

Wicked pretty!

    It was a great visit. We are looking forward to coming back after they have renovated the exhibits this year.
  Next we headed to Archiver's which was just down the road. I had googled for any craft store in the area and this place came up. What a fabulous find. It is a huge place fill with scrapbooking and card making supplies. I spent about an hour here while Russ listened to football on the radio in the car. Perfect. Check out their store with the pictures of their shop.



Store front



I picked up some really cool stuff that I plan to use on our mini albums from our Colorado trip. Can't wait to get started.

  We traveled to Kristin's house for a barbecue. Kristin and Mike have a cute place that was felt cool inside despite the 100 degree temperature. I think the tree out front and the "swamp cooler" helped with keeping things cool.

Wicked cute home....

Mike grilled some yummy veggie burgers and fried up some sweet potato fries. It was a delicious meal under the back deck umbrella. They have an awesome backyard.

 

Now this is summer living....

 

Kristin had a great idea to go visit a frozen yogurt place called Zinga's . You pick your frozen yogurt and then add whatever topping from a huge selection and weigh everything to pay. Then eat. It really cooled us off. We were heading to Mike's baseball game at 6:30.

 Mike's game was a nail biter. They started out strong with a score of 13 to 1, but slowed down and lost by one point. They have the championship game next week.



Russ and Kristin's treat

It was hard to say good-bye ,but we have an early flight tomorrow. Kristin and Mike gave us some souvenirs of our trip. We will remember this "vacation" for a long time. We will be looking forward to when we will return. We couldn't say that one day was better than the other 'cause it was all good.
  I took loads of pictures to remember each moment. I will post the mini-albums when I get them done. One for us and one for Kris and Mike. 

 

 

Good game...

Our Sovenirs