Make it Monday - Upcycled Worship Journal Part One

Hey friends!  Mondays sure do seem to creep up on me, how about you?  If you're popping in for the first time, Mondays are my show-and-tell day...every week I'm making something new and sharing with you :)  It might be a gift for someone; something the kids and I did together; or like today, something I made just for little ole me.

 

Saturday,  I got to thinking about the notes I take in church on the pre-printed sheets that are handed out...how I'd like to keep them together so I can review them.   I remember seeing another member put hers into a little "worship" notebook and that got my creative juices flowing.  I've been wanting to alter some corrugated cardboard for awhile, so I dug around in the stash and cut some for the covers. 

 

For some reason, I wanted to really layer up the cover with all my favorite scrappy stuff, like the Kraft envelope, bull clip, jumbo blossoms, twine-tied button and even a paper mason jar inside yet another envelope.  It sure makes me smile, how about YOU?

 

I was giddy when I found this little definition for Sunday and Sunday school in my Dear Lizzy Neapolitan Collection :)  The shades of tangerine orange, lime green, pale pink and lemonade yellow make me think of warmth, summer, ice cream and happy times. 

The notes pages come pre-punched, making binder rings a good choice to secure the pages.  I was so excited to take my worship journal with me on Sunday, I took it before the cover was even finished :)  This is a little peak at the inside...still working on it, stay tuned for part two!

 

Do you keep a personal or spiritual journal?  I would love to hear about it...

 

{{Hugs}}

Kimberly

 



Saturday's Space - Refreshing My Studio!

If you followed me on my old FB page, CinnamonSpice Papercrafts, you know I recently moved into new digs and a much smaller work area.  My faithful fans helped me pick the color for the walls last year, and this year, I'm overhauling the layout; starting with my desk. 

 

I have a thing for big furniture pieces.

This is the lovely brown desk I used to have; beautiful piece but just too large!  There is way too much space for me to fill up and not put away at the end of the day.

 

 

 



Here's the new desk...desktop panels purchased from Michael's and attached to storage cubes I already had.  You get two panels but I wasn't sure there would be room for both...
 

 

But, my awesome hubby worked it out so both panels fit!  My kids are excited because they can sit and play on the computer while I'm working.  They don't know it yet, but now that I have a new lap top, I've got plans for that desktop and it doesn't include my craft room LOL.

 

 

These storage cubes are fabulous; this one is divided and makes a great place for keeping my cards, envelopes and notepads ready to be altered. 

The space in my new home is about 1/3 smaller than my old craft room but I am not complaining.  It gives me the chance to

 

purge all the crap I should have thrown away long ago and to get organized. 

I'm finally figuring out what type of storage works for me...I'm not one of those people who intuitively know, I kind of have to muddle along until I discover what's NOT working ;).

 

Next time on Saturday's Spaces, I will focusing on how I'm maximizing my wall space.  Thanks for popping over.

{{Hugs}}

Kimberly

 

On a Stamping Spree!

Today, I wanna share a little secret with you, well maybe two.  First, I am a recovering perfectionist!  Yep, in the past I have been so worried about something being just right, it actually kept me from starting new craft projects. 

 

I decided a couple of years ago that outlook was holding me back, and that there is no room for that kind of "fear" in my life!  

 

 

The second is that I USED to be a little intimidated by stampers, and I know some really good ones :)  Their work always looked so picture-perfect, and whenever I stamped, well it was less than fabulous to me.  Again, that stupid perfectionist thing getting in the way. 

Well, not anymore.  I started making cards a couple of years ago, to sell at Divine Designs in North Carolina.  Now, you know I love a good sticker, but I realized some time ago that stamping can be easier on the pocket book.  AND, if you love a card you made, with a stamp, you can easily recreate it without having to buy more stickers.  I recently shipped a batch of cards to NC and yes, I stamped some of the sentiments and actually enjoyed it! 

 

 

 I'm just started out, so I bought some really inexpensive stamps from Michaels.  What types of stamps do you use?  If there's a technique you recently tried, do tell!

Make it Monday ~ Going to the Chapel

I tried something new this weekend, and you are the first to see it!  If you follow my Facebook page here, you know I love to make baby- and birthday-related paper crafts, including cards. 

 

This year, I'm stretching myself to go beyond what's comfortable.  Sooo, on a recent trip to Michaels, some wedding stickers whispered to me (yes, craft supplies really do call my name, especially when they're 40% off) and I scooped them up.  There is just something about a gorgeous dimensional sticker I can't resist!  Here's what I pulled together:

I wanted to make something simple, yet elegant.  So, I pulled out my Sizzix Boutique and embossed some pretty swirls onto the white cardstock.  I love the texture the embossing adds to the layers of paper and cardstock.

I got so excited about the way the card turned out, I made another one :).  This time I added a polka dot embossed cardstock to the swirls and used a sheer gold ribbon accent instead of twine. 

I can't wait to get these in the mail to Divine Designs by Nancy in North Carolina...if they do well, I hear wedding bells in my future!

Nothing says love like handmade...Thanks for popping in today.

 

 

Kimberly

Luck of the Irish Mini Paper Bag Album

I have a long-time customer that I love designing for...she usually orders albums as gifts for her kids...she loves them nice and shabby, and with glitter, oh my!  Truly, a girl after my own heart.  She is of Irish ancestry and recently took her daughter to explore their roots their.  I was so flattered, she asked me to create a special "heritage" album for her to add photos to, so here it is! 

I found the digital stamp of the cutest little lass on Etsy and knew she would be perfect!  She the right touch of modern to this vintage-inspired cover.   Layers of My Mind's Eye "Breeze" paper, the doily and envelope give this cover crazy texture.

The paper line, Lost and Found 2 "Breeze", is from one of my all-time fave designers, My Minds Eye.  They always seem to have just the right mix of chic and shabby in their designs.

This 22-page mini has plenty of room for photos and journaling.  I didn't want to over-embellish but there are fun details like the paper doilies, lots of dimensional stickers, turquoise twine, and kraft envelopes, just right for stashing ticket stubs or other mementos.

Been awhile since I've done an album this size and I really had fun with it!  It's amazing what you can do with a paperbag :).

Happy Sweetest Day!

Happy Valentine's Day my sweet friends!

I am so blessed to have found some pretty awesome scrappy friends over the past couple of years and they always seem to have the best ideas!  I saw the idea for altering a mini mailbox over on my girl DonnaK's blog here.  It is amazing what she can do with paper and a little adhesive LOL!  When I saw these little darlings at Target, I just knew I had to give it a whirl...

We made them for the grandparents, the kids' teachers and the school crossing guard (he is just the sweetest).  Hope they all love their sweet treats...I filled them with Hershey's kisses...it's dangerous having so much chocolate in my house at one time.  Lucky I had enough to fill them up with!

We also had the kooky idea to make by hand all 60-something cards...I just might go back to the printables next year :).  Hope your day is nice & sweet!

Make it Mondays - Altered Notebook Anyone?

Who doesn't love a pretty altered notebook or journal?

 

Today, I'm sharing four ideas to alter a store-bought notebook and turn it into a fabulous gift for someone special.    They can easily be sweetened up to suit any theme/occasion, like:

• monogram initial
• for new baby/expectant parents
• to hold addresses 
• to keep track of ALL those birthdays we need to remember ;) 

I love some high-tech gadgetry as much as the next girl, but there is something about old-school paper that always draws me in! 

I lucked up on these CUTE notebooks a couple of years ago at Party City for fairly cheap.  Most of them I customized on-the-spot at craft fairs with a monogram initial.

I started making the baby "Wish Books" after a customer ordered a strawberry-themed one.  The inside has space for guests to write a wish for baby, to record gifts received and guest addresses, making it super easy for the parents to send out thank-you's.  These also make a personalized keepsake for when baby grows older, making them great for baby showers.

 

Patterned notebooks come in handy in a pinch; because you don't have to embellish with paper first, like this phone/address book.  It's just accented with a Cricut die-cut and tons of ribbon to soften up those metal rings. 

 

This birthday calendar has tabbed pages for the months, and space for you to add the names and gift ideas.  And it looks sooo cute on a desktop :)

There are so many other uses for these, like recipe books, reading logs and more...hope you caught some inspiration today...nothing says love like handmade.

Make It Mondays - Marshmallow Snowman

 

Happy Monday!

 

This week's Make It Monday is a fun little craft I did with the kids when they were home sick a couple of weeks ago.  And it involves food, not paper :)  We made marshmallow snow men and snow girls (that's what my daughter named hers).

 

 

 I literally raided our pantry for the ingredients and found:

 

Marshmallows (mini & large)

White chocolate morsels

Milk chocolate morsels

Raisins

Sprinkles

Toothpicks

 

• To make the body, we melted the white chocolate and used it as "glue", spreading it on a flat side of a large marshmallow and topping it with another.
• For the arms, we put about 3 or 4 mini marshmallows on toothpicks and stuck them into the "body"..
• We spread more melted chocolate onto the "head" and covered it with sprinkles; and did the same for the "eyes" with the raisins  and used sprinkles for the nose or mouth.
• The snowman's buttons were made by creating a little hole with the toothpick, filling it with a little melted chocolate and sticking the pointy end of the milk chocolate morsel in the hole. 

Beware, your kids (and you) might get distracted eating way too many marshmallows instead of finishing their snowman, so the mini ones really come in handy!

 

If you missed my Guest Post over on Created By Donna K's Blog last week, check it out for a super cute cardstock mini tutorial.