All You Need is Love

When you make craft items, you are often looking a month or more ahead at the holidays coming up.  I made this banner right after New Year's.

One of my favorite holidays is Valentine's Day.  Not so much because it is considered a romantic holiday, or even because it's our anniversary.  Actually most of  the time I wish we had gotten married on a different day, since Valentine's Day is so hectic.

I just love the hearts.  I love the colors. Red, and white, pink and purple.  I love lace doilies.  I love the giving of Valentine's.

I know a lot of people who don't like Valentine's day.  I can totally understand that.  I'm guessing Valentine's Day is for them like Mother's Day is for me. I loathe Mother's Day. If I could go to bed and hide under the covers until it was over I would.

But I really like Valentine's Day.


I don't usually make things for myself.  I love making things for other people and often I am so busy doing that I don't have time to make myself one too.


Not this time.  I made this baby just for me.

I heart this banner.  I love the paper.  It makes me happy.  I love the glittery letters.  I love the ribbons and tulle that I hand tied on to it.

Sorry for the crappy pic.  Still don't have my camera charger.



It is hanging above our t.v. right now so I can look at it all the time(yes I know Valentine's Day is still over a month away.  I don't care. The house looks so bare without the Christmas decorations).

Here is a closer look at the background paper I used:

Look at the animals on this paper.  So cute!!  I bought this paper at the scrapbook expo back in the fall, with dreams of all the cute things I would make with it when Valentine's Day came around.   Now that day has come.  I'm planning on making some cute cards with it too. It's called "Alphabet Soup".  How cute is that?

Love it.


I made a really cool Chinese New Year banner too but it's too long to take a picture of with my cell phone.

It's a shame too, because it's really cute.  (If I do say so myself).

 Modesty.  It's one of my endearing traits.  :)

15 Months

****I must be really tired because I can't even get my e-mail address right. My actual e-mail address is scrappermg@cox(dot)net. Duh!******* All fixed now.

Wow. That one almost slipped right by. I don't know how many more months we have to go. I'm trying to be O.K. with this wait. Truthfully, we need some extra time right now to figure some stuff out and get our Sh** together before we bring a child into our home. Lots going on. Can't get into it. So in a way, maybe the longer wait times are a blessing. For us. It still sucks for the rest of you out there that are ready now and never signed up for a wait this long. I still get a chuckle out of the original letter we got from our agency stating that we could expect a referral in 12-18 months. Ha! Life sure does throw some curve balls, doesn't it?

Anyway, on to a happier topic. I have been crafting like a crazy person since Thursday night. I do this when I am anxious or upset. It helps take my mind off of things and calms me.

So far I have made 70 Valentine's that are ready to be sent out(yes, you read right. Seventy). I signed up for this handmade postcard swap on another blog and I misunderstood the directions and thought I was supposed to be sending out to fifty people. Apparently I only had to send out to ten. Oops. My bad. You'd think after working with five year olds for 15 years I could listen and follow directions better. I guess not. So now I have 20 cards that I'll be sending out to family, and fifty handmade postcards ready to go out too. Anybody want a handmade Valentine from me? E-mail me your address and I'll drop it in the mail next week with the others-scrappermg(@)cox(dot)net. My plan is to send the extras to some of our troops in Iraq. I'm thinking some of those guys (and gals) may not receive too many Valentine's.

Here are some pictures of my crafting mania:

I ordered this vintage lace from Esty for like $6.00. I heart Etsy. And vintage lace. It makes me happy.














These are the cards going out to family and friends. Still have to print and crop the photos for the center. I know it seems egotistical to put our picture on our cards, but it's our fifteenth wedding anniversary too and it's kind of like how you put your picture on your Christmas cards so people that you haven't seen in forever don't forget what you look like. At least that's my logic. It's probably still egotistical. I don't care.










Here are the postcards. These will be going out to the people in the swap, as well as the troops, and maybe you! If you send me your address! Oh, and if you got a Christmas card from me(blog friends included), you'll be getting one of these whether you asked for it or not :)













Gotta go. More cards to finish.

Halloween Crafting

I have been doing a lot of crafting lately. Partly due to the fact that I love Halloween, but I think mostly because until about a month ago all of my crafting supplies had been packed up for a good three months in anticipation of the move.
Anyway, I made some Halloween cards, and also some cute little chipboard hangers. Here are the cards. I "scraplifted" the skeleton theme and poem from a layout I saw for sale on E-bay(for $20.00!). I simply bought the same papers they used and refigured it to a card size. I am happy with the way they came out.

Finished card


















The card with the poem is removable


















Card with the poem card removed

Halloween Hangers

These are cute little Vintage Halloween Hangers. You could hang them on a small hook on the wall, or maybe on a door knob. I can't take credit for these either, as I took a class at my local scrapbook store to do these. I love the vintage feel.
Happy Halloween Hanger #1
I opted to add a vintage postcard to this one in lieu of a photo.


















Happy Halloween Hanger #2
I need to add a photo to this one.













Detail on Hanger #2

















Hanger #3 I may add a photo to this one, or another vintage postcard.


















Detail on Hanger #3

Halloween Digi Scrapping

I can digital scrapbook too!

Yeah, I'm up at 11:45. Darn insomnia. It's kicking my butt.

Three Thanks

I keep forgetting about my three thanks. That's not good. It is important for me. So here they are for today:
1. It is almost October. That means Fall weather should really be on it's way. I'm ready for long sleeves. I would love to say sweaters, but realistically we can't wear sweaters her until January. Sometimes not even then.
2. I am thankful that Halloween is coming. I love Halloween. I like the whole pumpkins and candy and dressing up aspects of it more so than the spooky aspects. I have a ton of decorations and I am putting them up tomorrow. Yeah. A day before October first. So sue me. :)
3. I am thankful for three day weekends. They rock.

For Chloe Paige

Courtney from Chloe Paige ordered a "Wishes Box" and a "Waiting Momma's" bracelet from me a couple of weeks ago. Here is the completed box. She asked for something in a Gold and Red color scheme, with traditional Chinese elements. I hope this is what she had in mind.
Pictures of the Bracelet is forthcoming.
I call these "Wishing Boxes". You write hopes and wishes that you want for your child on small pieces of paper and place them in the box. When the child is old enough, you read them together and he/she can place their own wishes in. If you are interested in one of these, you can find them here: Wishing Star Designs. The cost is $10.00 per box plus shipping($3.00).

Here is the Top:

Underneath the Top

I even managed to sneak a couple of ladybugs in. That's a Momma ladybug and a baby ladybug.

The Inside