Simply Scrumptious! Don't you think? Last week or so I have been using Tim Holtz and Sizzix dies for a whole new world of crafting joy. It's needle felting. You cut the wool with BigZ and other thicker dies. The Tim Holtz Alterations line is terrific for this. We all know they cut paper, light acrylic, vinyl, chip board, grunge board, and so on. And yes we may have heard they also cut fabric. But have you cut wool felt? And have you used the pieces to make a dimensional sewing project? Gifties! My two grown children --and their spouses-- needed some holiday decorations. As newly married pairs, neither couple had much for personalized Christmas decorations yet in their homes. How about some nice big Christmas stockings? What is needle felting? Needle felting is the craft of layering wool felt accents over wool felt base fabric and needle poking them with a special tool in order to integrate the fibers. Wool has this wonderful attribute of being able to bond with herself and make...

Do you feel behind in your scrapping? Do you wonder if you will ever finish that album? Do you wonder how some scrappers get caught up and stay caught up? If so, sit a spell and take this little eight question scrapbook quiz. It will help you see what your goals and your style are within the hobby. No two scrapbookers are identical --as we all know. But we do sometimes put a lot of pressure on ourselves to either get a lot done or to be super artistic on every page. And there are some of us who have never looked realistically at our hobby or our style. If you are just beginning to scrapbook and hope one day it will all get done or just plain feel overwhelmed by the number of photos stacking up...read on! I love good photographs and I love this hobby. Scrapbooking is not only a hobby for me but also a part time job. So, I spend a good portion of my week thinking about it, doing it, reading about it , and chatting about it! A few months ago, when a frien...

Just wanted to share a cute ornament I made last week --as well as a simple technique for making your standard white string into any color quickly and easily. First the ornament. I made 10 of these to trade in my paper ornament swap on ScrappersChallenge. I made 8 more as ATCs for my ATC December winter swap at our scrapbook store I made 12 more just a bit larger-sized into greeting cards with a different sentiment for the greeting card swap also at our local store. 30 total and now done! Done is good! Shown is the ATC sized Christmas ornament and the hang-string is coming out center top held in place at the top with the blue brad. First the ornament front : Techniques used on the front: Distress stain some white index weight cardstock in a couple blue stains. Emboss with a texture folder to add dimension. Crackle the whole ATC card with Tim Hotz crackle medium. Stamp text on with navy blue ink. Add decorative sturdy brad at top center with string under it on the backside. Stamp wordi...

Yes it was a very Mary Engelbreit weekend! So much fun! St Louis was tons of FUN! Let's start at the top. Friday: our first day My daughter and I were off on an adventure down to St Louis to attend a Mary Engelbreit Studios Home Companion Creative workshop ! I won the the two tickets for the November Workshop via a contest that Mary held on her site and blogs. If you haven't seen the new online website for Mary E and her art, check it out! Her son, Will, who looks to be about my own son's age, runs it and they intend to eventually have all her current products available there. Seriously cool. I flew from Minneapolis in the wee hours of the morning on Friday and Jenny flew from Pennsylvania. We got in at exactly the same time on different airlines and met at the airport. Yeh! Hug, hug, hug. Thanks to the kindness of our online friend, Vickie S, we were swept up and off to a delicious brunch at Miss Aimie B's Tea House in historic St Charles, Missouri. Isn't this b...