Mask Making Layout

 Finally, I scrapbooked a layout and videotaped it!  I'm a little rusty but I got the page done.

Actually I just finished an album for my Mother.  In the video I mistakenly said it was for her birthday.  It was for Christmas and it isn't a mini album.  It was an 8 1/2 x 11 - 34 pages of it!  I kept it very simple though and didn't video because I was short on time and it was a little personal.

It did get me in the mood for scrapbooking.  So much so that I have this page and video done and another video filmed. Stay tuned...

Thanks for visiting today!

2020 Holiday Cards

I started to post that I'm getting a very late start on my holiday cards.  I actually started early, I just didn't get much done!  Finally the cards are moving along a bit.  

Here is a video of the cards I'm making this year.  I'm using a new Stampin' Up! set and some older papers.  If you are looking for Stampin' Up! products, check out the Facebook page or Stampin Up page for my friend Karen who is a new SU demonstrator.  She is not new to stamping.  She has been stamping and cardmaking for many years.  She's knowledgeable and will give you top notch customer service.

Visit my friend Karen for your Stampin Up supplies https://karensummey.stampinup.net/ or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/karensblueridgestamping

Thanks for visiting today.  I hope everyone has a safe Thanksgiving.

An Update

 Hello!  I've not fallen off the face of the earth.  Though for us, like everyone, 2020 has been a year of challenges.  We are still working through them.  

On a positive note, I've made a few cards and am still knitting.  I haven't been sewing or scrapbooking though I have many projects planned.  I've bought fabric to make window treatments.  For 16 years starting in the late 1990's, I had my own business making treatments for others.  A couple of weeks ago I took down the heavy, complex treatments I had in my dining room and living room to make way for the painter - who, fingers crossed, will arrive this week.  New flooring was installed this week and we got a new set of French doors as the old ones were like an open refrigerator door in winter.  These are sealed tight.  They need some window treatments and will get them in time.  First, I need to make valances for the master bath and unlined draperies for the living room.  

I've started my Christmas cards which means, I've made 2 of about 25 so far and haven't started my mother's at all.  I'm trying to forget that day after tomorrow is November!

So many projects on top of various family medical issues and of course all the virus precautions and extra cooking.  We've tried quite a few restaurant's takeout choices and most just aren't for us.  

I have done a little baking this year, too, though not nearly as much as I hear the rest of the world is doing.

If you are interested in what I'm up to, I do still post to Instagram occasionally as it is just easy to do. 

Lisa's Instagram 

Hopefully I will get back to videos once the house is back together.  I don't think making plans this year is a good idea so I'll just say that I'd like to make videos again.

I hope all my readers have a very happy holiday season!  If you are in the US and haven't voted, please do.  Make your voice heard.  If you are undecided and fed up with all of the presidental campaign, remember that there are many down ballot races that need your attention, too.  Most decisions that truly affect us are made at the state and local level.

If it all gets too much, just look out at the sky at the full moon tomorrow.  Let nature bring you peace.

An even longer August

It's been challenging here with family medical situations. I have been staying with my Mother.  This has given us an opportunity to be together and for me to care for her.  It's also been hard to see her challenges and the changes in her.

With little time at my home and my craft room, I haven't sewn or done any papercrafts.  The one thing I can do is knit a little.  I've been working on the summer top above and will likely complete it when summer is over :-)    The pattern is Tulpe Top from Ravelry.com  The cotton yarn is from Universal and is so soft.  The color reminds me of strawberry cheesecake ice cream.

I'm not sure what September will bring. Thanks for visiting and I hope to have more craft projects to share in future.  

A long July

I've been blogging since 2009 and I don't think I've missed a month having at least one entry.  Despite all that has been going on this month, I didn't want this to be the first. We've had some family illness challenges and those will likely continue for some time so I probably won't be doing any videos for awhile. 

I did however finish up a project recently that I wanted to share. Also we've had a bumper crop of gladiolus this summer. These are my favorite flower.  My husband started planting them for me over 15 years ago.  We lose some each year and buy some new ones.  Doing an arrangement for the 4th is a favorite of mine.  This year I had several red ones to make the largest arrangement yet to celebrate the holiday.

The quilt is one I started in 2017 when my dad was ill.  I needed something super easy that I could just pick up or drop depending on if I was called away from my craft room.  After he passed, it was too simple.  It didn't take my mind off things.  Finally I got the UFO out during the stay-at-home order and finished piecing the string blocks from my stash.  It got set aside again to make masks.  In mid-June, I wrapped up my mask making operation as they have become easy to find now.  So I machine quilted the project and now have it on my bed.

Here are a couple of the many flower arrangements I did.  Most of the glads bloomed over a 3 week period though some are still drifting in.  I made and gave away so many flower arrangements this year.  I was swimming in glads.

Finally I did do a little papercrafting. I got the idea for this card from debrenee13 on Instagram.

Thanks for continuing to visit with me.  I hope I can keep my virtual world going for years to come.

Stay at Home Birthday

My birthday is in April so I had a stay-at-home birthday this year.  No trips or even dining out as all restaurant dining rooms were closed as they were in most of the country.

I brought back an idea we have used in the past to extend birthday celebrations a little - the Week of Birthday.  You do something a little special each day.  I took a photo to represent each day and included it on this layout. The idea could be extended to any week you wanted to capture.

Here's the video.



Hope you are staying safe.

Completed Poncho and new projects

It's finished!  The poncho I started in late March is complete.  It is made with Noro Geshi yarn which is a very light worsted and easy to work up.

In the video I share the poncho, a new knitting project I'm beginning and a quilt in progress.

For the new knitting project, I went through pattern after pattern trying to decide what to make. Short sleeve sweaters, vests even shawls which I don't really like to make or to wear.  I landed on a shrug.  I have a little yarn left from the poncho that I can use if there isn't enough for the project.

See it all in this video:



Thanks for watching!

Sympathy Cards

I've been really good at anticipating shortages.  Paper products, cleaning products, hair color, meat.  One I never thought of though is the saddest - sympathy cards.  We can't gather for funerals so people are sending cards more than before.  If you need some cards or want to make some to share with others, I've put together some ideas using your existing stamp supplies for quick, easy cards.

All 4 cards are in this video.  It shows on the screen early in the video where each card appears so you can jump ahead if there is a particular one you like.



I hope you are safe and well.  Thanks for watching!

New Stamp Set and Gelli Backgrounds

I'm doing my videos a little out of order. Last week I did a bunch of gelli printing.  A video will be coming on that in the next few weeks. First though I wanted to share what I did with one of the background.  I was mostly just going for some color and to use a new stamp set and punch.













The video shows making two cards with this set.



Thanks for watching today!

Friends and Memories

(photo from 2019)

Have you had an annual celebration during a stay-at-home order?  It can be different. 

This year I celebrated my birthday at home.  I had several little treats to enjoy during what we like to call 'the week of birthday.' It was a good week. I'll have more on that later as I took photos and want to share those on a future scrapbook page.

Last year I got to go out and do fun things away from the house on my birthday.  One of my favorite things last year was reuniting with two friends who I have been seeing individually for the last few years. One friend had to move away for work several years ago.  We kept in touch, talking almost weekly and visiting often.  I continued to have annual birthday lunches with the other friend.  Last year though we were all together again!  I had always lamented not taking a photo of the 3 of us when we used to have those birthday dinners. This time I didn't forget and we took this photo in the layout above for my birthday.

I've used a die cut background done on the Silhouette and added papers from my 6x6 papers pads to the squares in this design.  Here is the process Video



Be sure to take some photos from this time in our lives.   If you are staying at home and only venturing out to shop, there are likely many changes to adapt to.  If you have to work in this scary time, I thank you for keeping us all safe, healthy, and fed.  Take photos and scrap them.  While I think we are going to be adjusting to a different lifestyle for quite awhile; hopefully this will all be a memory one day.

Face Masks and a Completed Sweater

Busy, busy.  You should see my craft room!  You can see a corner of it in these videos but you can't see all the fabric and work in progress on other tables.  You can't see the papercrafting stuff awaiting me on that work table.  I've been sewing masks and knitting when I have a chance.

This video shares what style of cloth masks I'm making and why.  I also share what type of fabrics I'm using and how I prepare them.  There are a couple of tips for making the ties - "bias" strips which aren't really bias cut.  It's long but I hope it will be helpful if you are wondering what masks to make.  I'm not authority at all. These are my choices based on what I've seen and read.  Links to the instructions for the masks are included in the video description.










In this second video, I share a completed sweater shown above and the progress I've made on my Noro poncho.  My last video introduced these projects.



Thanks for watching and I hope you are getting some crafting time if you are at home more.  Take care of yourself.

Knitting Projects

While I'm still sewing, I've moved onto masks.  I'm not doing much papercrafting now but am still knitting so I thought I'd share some of those projects in this video:



The sweater is almost done and hopefully I can share it next time.  I'm anxious to start on the poncho after I proofread my notes and doublecheck my numbers so am sure that I have the correct number of stockinette stitches.  It's always fun it finish and start something new.

Hope you are finding fun things to do while home more.  I keep thinking I'll get even more done but with spring now here, I really need to be outside.  I even washed some windows last week!  As much as I hate housework, that was probably the most significant acomplishment.

Take care and thanks for watching!

New VLOG videos

Continuing my video log series of projects that are currently ongoing, I have two videos.  The first is a Stampin' Up! shopping video.  The class I attended was one of the last social things I got to do before we all started staying home more. 

Love the stamp sets but I'm not sure about the punch.  Hopefully, I'll get the hang of it.



The other video is a continuation of the string quilt as I lay out the blocks.



Today, I've spent quite a bit of time researching cloth face masks which are becoming needed as the N95 masks our healthcare worker should have are in short supply. There are many videos about these on-line.  I don't know what is the best version. I have ordered white elastic and picked some fabrics to work with when the elastic arrives. I'll probably try a couple of styles before making some of the masks. 

Thanks for visiting today.  Hope everyone is staying safe.

Crafting at Home

Are you bored?  If you are a crafter, it usually takes a lot longer to reach boredom and cabin fever.  I have plenty of paper, fabric and yarn to keep me busy for months.  I certainly hope I don't have to stay in that long of course but I can keep busy for quite a while. I'll be doing more cooking and baking (if I can find flour which I forgot to add to my stash). 

First up is a UFO - Unfinished Fabric Object - from 3 years ago.  I share the story and the project in this video.



Look for videos every day or two on what things I'm working on.  I always have multiple projects going - some knitting, papercraft and sewing. 

Let me know what you are doing and if you are sharing your work on social media.  I'd love to see your projects as well.

Unconventional Holiday page

Traditions were not on the agenda this holiday season.  I put up two ornaments for decoration for 2019.  They were both gifts.  Otherwise all of my pretties stayed in the attic.

It was just as well as all that stuff would have definitely been in the way.  My husband had surgery in mid-December and we had to do a little rearranging to make him comfortable and give him space to move about the house.

We don't really do gifts except Mother and I exchange. This year, I made her a quilted throw which she really loved.

Normally we get out and attend some holiday event but with the surgery, recover and doctor visits, that wasn't on the calendar.  I collected the few photos I had for a holiday page, nonetheless.  We did enjoy one another's company and I find my scrapbook pages are good almanacs of the things that happened in our lives and when.

The page is fairly simple and a good example of what to do with non-standard size photos. Whether you crop the photos before printing or just cut them down some afterwards, this is one way to arrange them.

Video on YouTube




Thanks for watching!

The Year of Cake

My husband suggested I bake my mother a different cake every month for a year.  She and I both thought that was a bit much but in January 2019, I found myself trying a new cheesecake recipe.  Then in February, I made a cake for Valentines and it went on from there.  I shared some cake with her, had some for ourselves and made a batch of cupcakes for a friend.  Some recipes were old favorites, others completely new to me. One flopped, literally the inside of the cake just flopped out onto the plate uncooked.  I made 11 cakes over last year which is a bit more baking than usual for me.

For the page, I marked ones we liked with hearts, or check marks or stars.  The page is a little crowded so the embellishment is minimal.

You could apply this idea to any hobby.  Most scrapbookers I know do other hobbies whether it is baking, crocheting, knitting, embroidery, painting, sewing.  Savor your little victories with photos to capture your work.  I mined my Instagram for most of these photos.

The process video is here:



Thanks for watching!

Art in Bloom

This two pager celebrates a day spent at the NC Museum of Art in Raleigh.  We visited the annual Art in Bloom for the first time in 2019.  It was close to my mother's birthday so it was her day. She loves flower gardening and does beautiful arrangements herself.  She thoroughly enjoyed the visit.

If you live near the Raleigh area, this is a wonderful event.  Here are the details for this year's Art in Bloom.  https://ncartmuseum.org/calendar/series_parent/art_in_bloom

For the page, I took most of the photos and had them printed on 2 8x10 prints.  Several other photos are on 4x6's for a total of 18 photos on this two pager!  Watch the video to see where the other photos are hidden on the page.

Another lesson of this page is to use your supplies!  I discovered some Thickers that were so adherred to their backing sheet, I had to cut them out to use them.  Also some of my washi tape will no longer come off the roll.  I'd already had to throw out dried up paint.  Use them or lose them!

Here's the video for the layout:


Thanks for watching!

Craft Room Tour

A couple of years ago, I moved my sewing machine upstairs on a small table just to see if I could do all my crafts in one room - my guest bedroom.  This room has wonderful light so there was no going back to the basement.  Eventually I was doing all sewing in the room and I needed more work and storage space.  Recently I moved some things around, added a design wall and a cutting table.  I condensed my scrapbooking and other papercrafting supplies.  Not to worry, I still have lots of stuff to work with for cards and layouts.

Here is a tour of the bedroom/craft room/chill out space.




Thanks for visiting today!

Happy New Year and New Decade

Happy 2020!  Can you believe it has been 20 years since we welcomed the new millennium.  I can't. 

Each year, I review the previous year and then create goals and objectives for the new year.  My goals may be similar from year to year or there may be some big thing coming up.  This year they were fairly similar to last year.  I made some progress toward my goals via objectives I completed last year but there are still plenty of things to do. 

One example is a goal to have my house more 'company ready.'  It really isn't that we have that many guests but I always love how it looks when I've cleaned up for visitors and want it to look more that way just for us.  We used to wash the house down or have it done every year but got away from that due to illness one year.  This past spring I had the house washed down and what a difference! We also did some landscaping with weed control in mind and made good progress.  This year I have a few other things in mind to do.  All of this with a goal of making our home more enjoyable, creating less stress and making it easier to get away once in awhile.

Rather than try to fit everything on one page, I did a two pager for the new decade.  Here is the process video:



My resolution for the year is to journal something positive every day.  I made a resolution to journal every day a few years back and it has stuck.  A journal is a good place to vent however I noticed that many days, venting was all I was doing.  So this year, I can vent but I have to record at least one good thing that happened to me or that I accomplished.  Those things are there, they just need to get notice more.

I'm also reading more now thanks to being a recent convert to audiobooks.  I use our public library and Scribd.  If you haven't tried Scribd, here is my link for 2 free months.  (Disclosure:  I get 1 free month for anyone who tries it.)

Have you made resolutions?