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Yard Decor

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This week we thought we would make some of those snowflakes that they make with the hangers. As I watched several different YouTube videos, I realized that you could do so many other things! 

So we decided to make a flower for a friend that has been going through a rough patch!

So the supplies are: hangers, cable ties (2 sizes), an ice cream lid, paint, PVC pipe and rebar.

First we laid out the hangers thinking we needed 18, from the videos, but only ended up using 13. 

Then we decided where to tie the hangers together for the most stability.

 

 

Then the lid was more of a challenge than we expected. The spray paint didn’t cover the logo very well and it is flaking off already.We will need to figure out the flaking issue fr the next one. We marked the lid where we were going to put the ties and drilled holes for that before we painted.  Then we attached it to the hangers with the ties.

 

Then next part was figuring out how to attach the pvc. I didn’t want it to just sit right flush with the ground. So we drilled a hole about 1/4″ from the top of the pipe and put a tie through that so it would sit on the top of the rebar.  We put 2 ties through that hole so that we had one to attach it to the flower as well.

Then we used another tie to attach the pipe on the lower side of the flower.

 

The way we hooked the top of the hanger around the other hanger caused them all to bend in slightly and make it look more like a flower I think!

We hammered the rebar into the ground and slid the pipe over the rebar! I can’t wait to make me one!!!

 

Thanks for stopping by to read my blog!!

Lu

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Paper Solutions

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As I said in one of my last posts, finding paper that works for some of my projects is proving challenging. So for the last week or so I have been trying different techniques to try and make one of my own.  

 

I thought I wanted to do it with string and I thought that paint would work well and I had the colors I needed.  It didn’t turn out like I wanted.  And I didn’t like the way it weighted the paper down and made it stiff.  I could tell that cutting it would also be a challenge.

So then I decided to try and do it with ink. I went and bought some ink at the local craft store. I tried several different kinds of string because I wanted different thickness to the lines. I talked to an artist friend of mine and she gave me a few suggestions about how to pull the stings and went for it again! This worked a lot better but still was a little too inconsistent for what I wanted.  I thought I wanted it a little more organic or messy but apparently this time I wanted crisp!

The next thing to have control was to try pens.  My friend told me I could get a pen to work with my ink, but I opted to use some of my scrapbook pens.  I liked the control I had with them. Then I did several different patterns to get to the one I thought would work best for my upcoming project. They all look very similar but have a difference in spacing and line thickness.

This is my finished piece!!!

 

Thanks for stopping to read!

Lu

 

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More Cards

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So I mentioned in the post with the last card kit that sanding your paper can change the color even if it isn’t white core. Well in this kit I am showing you how that works.

This is the same paper!  The original was just too dark of a tone for the look I wanted. But you can see that once I sanded it it looks perfect!  It’s ok if you sand and it doesn’t come out like you want, try again! As Steve is very fond of saying “It’s just paper dear”

On this card (it is hard to see in the picture) I had a piece of paper that I had tried something with and it hadn’t worked out. But as most of you know I never throw things away! The diagonal folds gave this card a more framed look.  I cut the corners off so that it would fit on the card and not cover up the pretty flowers!

Here are the rest of the set.

 

Remember that cards can go vertical or horizontal!!! Half and half for me this time!

 

Thanks for taking time to visit!

Lu

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How We Got Started

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As I thought about what to blog about this week, someone asked me how I got started in all this. I think this is a good time to tell this story! 

 

Way back when I had 2 small kids at home we went looking for a small business that I could run out of our home and have a break from the kids. We went to a business fair thing they were having and met Polly Billings.  She is the reason we are where we are! She also is one of my dearest friends!  She introduced my to Creative Memories. It was a small business that taught classes on how to scrapbook. Scrapbooking was just coming into the craft world.  I signed up and had 1 person at my first class. But that one person had a class and then 2 of those people had a class and well, it just went n from there!  

I think one of the reasons that it worked so well was my philosophy on scrapbooking. I believed that I could teach people the safest ways to scrapbook and then let them decide for themselves what level of safety they wanted to do. I never thought one company could supply everything for every layout, there were just too many different ones! 

I believe that we scrapbook for 3 reasons. I relate it to our children but it has the same benefits for all of us adults too!

First, scrapbooking gives us the knowledge of our roots.  Knowing where we came from is very empowering.  I told the story of one day between my grandmother and my son. Alex was about 3 or 4 and we had gone to my grandmother’s to work on her scrapbooks. My grandfather had passed away years before and neither of my children got to know him. Anyway, Alex came in the room and asked grandma if he could look at a book with her. She got him in her lap and they started to look at one of the books.  She told him about her parents and the house she grew up in and several other things before she got to the page that had my grandfather on it. As she started to say this is grandpa, Alex interrupted her and said “that’s my grandpa Howell uhn, and he’s the one who drove trains uhn?!” There wasn’t a dry eye in the room! 

The second thing is that scrapbooking gives confidence. “I’m so important or special that mom made a whole page/book about me! It also reminds them of the happy things and the struggles. And when they look back and see that they got through that struggle, this one doesn’t seem so bad.

Third, it gives them wings to fly on their own. When my kids look back at my childhood scrapbooks they think I am really dorky. It allows them to feel out of place at the moment but know that they can become cool in the end!! LOL LOL LOL

As the years went by my great customers and friends (most of my dearest friends I’ve met through scrapbooking) would ask me if I knew how to do this or that craft and could I teach them. If I could figure it out or find a class to teach me then I would teach them! So now we do all kinds of crafting but scrapbooking and paper crafts are still at the top of my list! 

 

Thank you for letting me share my passion for all these years! Polly it’s all your fault!!!!

By the way Steve is a Creative Memories Advisor so we have put a link below if you would like to check it out. They are Not the cheapest but the safest and longest lasting albums and base supplies. If you would like to see them in person to see some, just let us know, I have about 50 done on the shelves! And a bunch more waiting to be filled!

Lu

To see Creative Memories product or order it click here

https://www.creativememories.com/cm/stevepenfold

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Father’s Day

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The shirts were such a big hit for Mother’s Day that I decided to do the boys one for Father’s Day!

 

The biggest issue I am having with this is finding matching shirts, especially for the baby. So Gene’s and MaryLu’s are different but coordinating. And I had to shop on the boys side of the store.

 

Also Alex said that Hope really want a pair of basketball shorts like his. That was hard to find in a 4T.  So again I went to the boys and found an extra small pair.  They fit her!!! Yeah!!!

I also made their cards.

Thanks for visiting my blog!!!

Lu

 

 

 

 

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Patriotic Flag Set

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Hi Everyone!
I know it has been a very long time since I have blogged. Those of you that know me, know that I have been having some health issues that have not resolved. I am dealing with it a little better; and on occasion, I am doing some crafting. I can’t tell you that I am going to be able to post every week, but I’m going to try to post some! So, here goes!

I wanted something patriotic to put in my front windows and these flags were just the thing! They are simple and classic! I made two different sets; the red and blue are just slightly different colors. They stand just the right height at 12.25″. These will look great set together on a shelf or table, or they look great spread throughout your room! You can use them just for July or leave them up all year round to show your patriotism! We have 5 sets in each color for sale, the cost is $15.00.

Use as a window display!

Thanks for reading!

Lu

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Spectrum Noir Markers

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Well, I got some markers at a good price; and have not done anything with them since I bought them. Then, yesterday this came in the mail!!

I really like this magazine; and signed up to get a year’s worth on HSN a year ago. It was about $20.00 for each magazine and I think I got 4. The kick to it is that you got a CD full of images and papers, a tutorial CD, a stamp set, a die set and an embossing folder each time.

I’m always excited to do the projects in the magazine because you get all the images with it so you can reproduce everything exactly. Well, if you are as good at the tools as they are!! This time I love the flowers and the peacock on the front and wanted to try that immediately!!

So, here are my first tries; not so good. My first try was on normal, kind of light weight cardstock.  I used a normal, black ink pad. You can tell that it didn’t work well. The markers went all the way through the paper and the blending smeared everything!!

Then, I remembered that I had bought some paper that was special for the markers. Attempt two. I started with the normal ink pad but then, remembered hearing somewhere that you need to use a different ink. I had an old StazOn pad and tried that. The markers still went all the way through. And the ink still smeared.

Looks like I need to watch some tutorials!!! We all have those things that just don’t work the first time; and a little knowledge might help us do them better!!! Never be afraid to try something new! Not doing it completely to your satisfaction the first time opens the door to learn!!! I’ll let you know how my learning goes!

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More Wedding Things

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I told you that I was doing some things for a wedding and I thought that you’d like to see.  I had the Cricut write and cut everything!  The shape for this one was a Celebrate sign on the Cricut software.

These are double sided signs that are going in the centerpieces.  They read great in person but not so good in the photo. And yes I caught the spelling error and redid!

This sign is for the food table.  The bride brought me the frame and I made the sign to fit. It is just paper but looks really nice in the frame.

These are going on the thank you bags. Yes there is a red, white and black theme!

 

I’m so glad that the bride likes everything!!!  We did a few more things that I will post next week!

 

Headed to Utah to a funeral, planning on picking up some more fun stuff!!  Come back soon!!!!

 

 

 

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Wedding Stuff Done!

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So, here are the rest of the wedding things. Again, I had the Cricut do as much as I could. On the invitations I used Word and printed them.

This is a sign that they are putting on the road to help people find the venue; we did 3 of these.  This is obviously a second marriage for each of them!!

Because this is a second marriage they wanted to remember those that have passed on.  The bride found this saying and she is going to put pictures on the sides. This was an 11″ x 14″ sign they are putting on a table.

This is the invitation. We had to have the printing done with our inkjet printer because I couldn’t get it to work right on the Cricut.  Then, you can see that we put it on black paper and decorated it!  This is a small one, we did 20 of these. Then, we also did a couple that were 8.5″ x 11″ that they posted in their church meeting houses.

 

Thanks for taking time to stop by!!!!

P.S. We went to Utah last week, so more new fun stuff coming soon!!!

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