21st Century Pillow Book

Hello! This is my second post for today. I am in two blog hops! I would love for you to check out my other post after you get finished with this one. If you'd like to see it, please click HERE . But first, check out what my kids made for the December Get Kids Crafty Hop . This month's theme is "Winter." My mom brought home a few skeins of the new "loopy" yarn that I have been seeing all over the place. It comes in a bunch of colors, and is crazy soft. Basically, because of the way it is looped on itself, you can knit with your hands! Now, I have NO idea how to do this, but thankfully my mom does, so she quickly taught them what to do and they were on their way. Rhiannon got done with her's pretty quickly, and she enjoyed making a scarf so much that she decided to make one for her best friend. That one isn't quite finished yet though.                                      ...

Greetings! I am so excited to have been asked to join in on the SCACD Digi and Rubber Stamp Hop! You should be arriving from my friend Alaine's blog . I was really touched to receive the Phoenix, as that's my son's name. I decided to make a layout featuring photos of him from our annual summer party. I had a wonderful time coloring the phoenix. I used watercolor markers. Here's a closer look... Isn't he majestic??? I took inspiration from the Asian style of coloring a phoenix. Lots of bright colors, not just those of fire. I had my Phoenix write his name down the side of the page. I thought that would be a nice touch. And he was happy (as always!) to participate in some crafting. Then I doodled a border around the edge and pulled out my watercolor markers again for some pops of color. I chose the buttons that I did, because the buttons on Phoenix's shirt (which was made by my sister Pam) are all different. And they are these colors. Now for all ...

Greetings! I'd like to thank those of you that sent well wishes to my daughter for her Birthday. Today is another momentous occasion....it's my son's birthday! That's right. Both kids...within 2 days of each other, 1 week before Christmas. Go. Me. My boy is 7, and I can hardly stand it! Why must it go so fast??? But on to why you are really here. My 9th Creepmas project! I made this for the latest Desert Islands Crafters Challenge . Yup. I am 2 days late. But during this crazy week, I am lucky if anything gets made! As per usual, you need to use at least 3 things from the given itinerary. I used #'s 1, 2, 3, 4, 8, and 10. To see the itinerary, please visit the DICC Blog . We are sponsored by Dilly Beans this time, hence the choice of this image. I colored Halloween Framed Skellie 2 with my alcohol markers. My snowflake punch is yet another one from Martha Stewart's pretty-damn-awesome line. I hate how much I love her punches. The glittery goodness is an...

Greetings! It's Friday, so that means it's time for another Dilly Beans Challenge ! This week, the challenge is to use Pop Dots and layers. And I have a special treat for you...my son Phoenix liked this challenge so much (plus he just loves Dilly Bean's images ), so he decided to play along!  Here's what my almost 6 year old made! Isn't it adorable? He made a birthday card for my sister. She loves snowmen, so he thought this image would be perfect for her. Look at all of those layers! That boy used a lot of pop dots! Phoenix is very proud of his work...as well he should be! And he is very excited to know that his card is on, not only my, but the Dilly Beans Blog too! And now, on to my project. How great is this guy??? This image is called "Little Monster Head #475." I colored him with watercolors, and i love how he turned out. You can see the colors a lot better here. Like Phoenix,  I used a bunch of layers and pop dots (though not quite a...

Hey Everybody! I cannot believe how quickly the summer has flown by. My poor blog has not seen much activity from me, as I have been trying to hang with my kidlings as much as possible. But, I do have a new card to share with you today. Since my children are young, one of the newest Simply B Stamps collections really appealed to me. It's called 1st Steps . And I really saw my kids in all of these images. Today's card features "Think, Think Jude." I colored Jude with my Phoenix in mind...right down to the mismatched socks. Let's just say that some things are pretty tough for my little man to deal with when it comes to the toilet. So, this card was to give him some encouragement. I also printed the image out super huge so that he can color it and make it into a chart to record when some of the things he needs to "do" gets done. I will spare you the dirty details. :) I colored Jude and his toilet with my watercolor markers and Copics. The sentiment...

Are you on Pinterest? Oh my word, what a wonderful place to be. I love Pinterest. How clever to have a virtual pinboard for everything you love on the web? And keep it all organized! I've found that many Pinners don't actually go forth and use their Pins. Which is so sad. An unfulfilled pin is a waste! I try to redo, use, and get inspired by my pins all the time. Ok, not quite as often as I'd like, but I really do try. This past week, I used 2 of my pins. I'm going to share one of them with you today. HERE 's the original post where the pin was taken from. And this is one of mine.... I made these necklaces for my son's teachers. I think they are adorable, and just perfect for those amazing folks that are educating our wee ones. I have often seen these necklaces with just a simple silver chain, and the nest is always silver-toned as well. I wanted to change it up, so I used a very pretty brown. And for the necklace, some pale pink glass beads. Here is my othe...

Today was a bittersweet day. Phoenix had his Celebration of  Growth (ie: Graduation) in preschool today. I cannot believe that my boy is 5 and moving on to kindergarten in a few short months. It's too much for me to handle! Why is there no way for us to slow down the hands of time??? But before I start to sob all over my keyboard, I wanted to share a card with you that I made for him. Phoenix loves all things red, white, and blue. He gets so excited when he sees the American Flag. He actually shouts out, "Look! American!" It's really funny. If it's got those 3 colors, he wants it. So I decided to make him a card featuring those 3 colors. I had gotten the idea for this card from Pinterest. I had seen a card that totally inspired me. Want to see the original? Click HERE . I used my Slice machine to make all of the stars. I just varied the sizes and colors, so this was really simple. And fast! My paper is from DCWV. And those two patterns? They are actuall...

Hello! It's time for a new Desert Islands Crafters Challenge ! In addition, it is also time for a new Beyond the Burtonesque Dolls challenge, but I'll be posting my project for it later in the week. In the meantime, you can visit the rest of the Dolls on the main Blog. But lets get back to the new DICC challenge. This itinerary was chosen by our DT Member Angela. It's a good one! Remember, you need to use at least 3 of the items off of the itinerary in order to play along. Here's the list. 1. For a boy 2. Personalized (add a name or two) 3. What's your number? 4. Doodles (draw on it) 5. Seam Binding 6. 2+ images 7. Something old 8. Something New 9. Something Free 10. Something blue  I decided to make a book mark for my son. He very often has a book in his hands, and more likely then not, it is his huge volume of Thomas the Train stories. I used numbers 1, 2, 7, 8, 9, and 10. 1 and 2 are obvious. My 7, 9, and 10 is the paint chip...

Greetings! I have a special Beyond the Burtonesque Dolls post for you today. We don't normally post on the second Tuesday of the month, but this month is different. With the release of the Simply B Stamps collection, the Toxic Teens , I thought it would be fun to have our children (hence, "Baby Dolls") do a post featuring their artwork. This came about since 2 of the Toxic Teens were named after my kids, who of course immediately wanted to start coloring their namesakes. Here's what my Baby Dolls created. As I have mentioned many times before, Phoenix is always creating something. He's always got his markers out, his glue stick, and a pair of scissors. Well, all the cutting he's been doing (and I know it's a lot due to all the confetti on my living room rug) has certainly paid off. This kid can wield those crummy kiddie scissors like no one's business. And honestly, I have a hard time using them! Check this out. Do you so how closely he ha...

It’s no secret that I love the art both of my kidlings make. But really, what mom doesn’t feel that way? So, I decided I needed to have a way to show off their art work, no matter where I am. I thought about a pendant, but…that would be only one piece of art. Then I thought of a bracelet…that could show case a lot of cool things! But how? Shrink plastic!!! What a fun project for you to create with your child(ren)! Wanna learn how? Well, I put it all together in a tutorial for you! Phoenix is ready too! So let’s go! I started of by cutting my Shinky Dinks into 2” squares. The sheets I have are 8 1/2 x 11, so I was able to get 4 squares and a rectangle from a row.  I cut two rows, so I had 8 squares, and 2 rectangles (a good crafter wastes nothing! So be sure to use those rectangles!).  I pre-sanded one side of the shrink plastic before Phoenix started to color. You need to rough the stuff up a bit so that the color “sticks” better. I let Phoenix use my EK Success watercolo...