Mug Huggers!

So I'm bursting with excitement (doesn't take much really) over my new MUG HUGGERS!  I am IN. LOVE. with these adorable, super fantastic creations by my blogger friend Nicolette and her mom, Joyce.  Seriously, if you do not have one or four like me, you NEED to order one.  It's past the point of wanting my dear friends, it has turned into a need. :)

Here are mine:

I have two of these color...love them!  This one is empty now but no worries, it shall be plump full soon!

PERFECT for all my Cricut tools.  SO much easier than trying to dig them out of the case all the time.  LOVE IT!

Oh, don't worry-you can't use it for this too.  We have a bajillion pens and because I can never find one when I really need one, they have a new home :)

Who doesn't need one, right?!  They are SO affordable (which is right up my alley) and they'll make them in any pattern/color you want!  Visit Nicollete at Beyond Scrapin to order yours today!

Freshening up

Hi everyone!  Sorry I've been MIA for the last week but I've been SO busy!  The ol' adage "A mother's work is never done" (I think it's a song too) has been ever so true this past week (and this upcoming week as well).  In the lull of our birthday celebrations, I decided to 'freshin' up' my crafting space.  It's nothing fancy by any stretch of the imagination as it's in our unfinished basement next to the playroom, but hey at least I have a space!  Eventually the basement will be finished and I'll have a corner or so of the basement to be creative (trust me, it's already planned out but shhh, don't tell the hubs!) but until then I will be thankful for what I do have.


Anyway, I haven't been crafting because I needed to re-organize.  Now that it's done, it looks SO much more user-friendly I can actually find what I'm looking for. :)  But....good news, Tuesday is the talented  Ashley's Scrappin Palace Bloggaversary Hop so please join us!  You just never know what kind of 'candy' you might find :)

Oh, could all of you do me a teeny favor?  I love blog candy and I am sure you do too, but I have a really hard time deciding what people might want to win.  Could you PLEASE leave me a comment as to your favorite types of blog candy?  It'd help me ALOT!

Thank you friends :)

A not-so-paper craft

This weekend we had my youngest daughter's first birthday party (*tear* where did my baby go?!) and I decided to try my hand at the ever-so-popular cake pops.  They're relatively easy to make and decorate, depending on what character you're going with.  Plus, they are the perfect amount of sweet without the guilt of just eating a massive amount of sugar and calories.  I may or may not have had 2.  Yummy! 

I was able to find a super cute Elmo cake pop recipe on Bakerella and went for it.  Honestly, it wasn't bad at all.  I had anticipated it to be a lot more work.  Take a looksy...

The hardest part was giving Elmo 'fur' which didn't really work so I opted to leave most of them smooth. 

I also wasn't crazy about his mouth.  The recipe in which I took this idea said to use 1/2 of a candy melt but it seemed way too big, don't ya think?

I made a few with just sprinkles too; they were just as delish!

All in all, I think they turned out pretty well for my very first time making them.  At first none of my party guests (other than the kids of course) wanted to try them.  BUT, once they did, everyone raved about how great they were.  So much so, there were only a few leftover!

Suffice it to say, I am not Bakerella...but I enjoyed making and decorating them and everyone else loved eating them=success in my book :)

Birthday Season

Birthday season is in full force around here as both of my girls' special days are within 2 weeks of one another (poor planning on our part? HA!)  So, I've been crazy busy making invitations (for the first time), planning menus, picking out the perfect decorations, cleaning for company, etc.  While it's been fun, to say I've learned a lot would be an understatement.  Make no mistake, I LOVE this kind of thing, but (and it's a big BUT) because it's my first time making and creating almost all of it, lessons were learned about practicality, time, and well other things that I won't bore you with.

However, the good news is that I a) learned a lot for next time b) I stalked many blogs trying to find 'an easier way' (which means I can add some new ones to my ever expanding list) and c) you can learn from my mistakes.

My littlest human had her first birthday yesterday (the party is this weekend) so her invites went out some time ago.  I can tell you that I consumed WAY too much time on them, like hours and hours.  We have a large family so I had to make quite a few.  Her theme is Elmo (because he is the main squeeze in our house of pink) and piecing him together was fun but a ton more work than I had anticipated.  Also, I changed my mind on how I wanted them to look a few too many times.

Fast forward to my current project of making my older daughter's invites.  I decided that after the first round of invites and all the hours I put into them, I really needed to keep it simple.  (After all, no matter how cute they are, I am sure my guests were just going to chuck them, right?)  During my stalking adventures I learned that keeping it simple can look really nice.  Some of the projects were so adorable, easy, and most importantly SIMPLE!  So here is my version of a simple invite that I think is really cute.

Here's the front-cute but very simple!

This is close-up of the side...can we say intricate cuts?  I had to make sure my invite was a little larger so it didn't rip up the paper.  Cute, no?!

Here is the inside.  The yellow post-it is just covering up my address.  I wanted the left side to be open because I had a few invites I had to write personal messages in. 

 

Recipe:

*Three different colors of cardstock

*Coordinating ribbon

*Once Upon A Princess Cartridge

*Corner Rounder

*Choice of Adhesive

Thanks for stopping!  I'll be making Elmo Cake Pops for the birthday party this weekend so I'll be sure to post how that goes (along with pictures of the final project).  I've never made them before either so *fingers crossed* (a few prayers wouldn't hurt either!) that all goes as planned!  

And the winner is.....

(I feel like I'm announcing a Grammy or something, HA!)

 

A BIG thank you to all of you that joined us in our 'road trip' across the States.  I hope you all enjoyed it!  Of course, we can't forget to thank K Andrew for hosting and including us in her journey as well :)  Now on to what everyone really came here for...

 

The winner of the fabulous blog candy is.......SILVIA! 

 

silvia said...

Hi Jenny :) I live in Chicago and my favorite winter activity is waiting for summer. Like you, I enjoy all four seasons, but they are proportionately wrong in the midwest. LOVE the page you created!! 

 

Congratulations Silvia!  Please contact me at papercraftjenny@gmail.com with your mailing address so I can get it out to you. **If I don't hear from Silvia before Thursday (Feb. 17th at 12pm CST) I'll draw a new winner.**   

Again, a big thank you for all that joined and became a follower.  I hope you'll come back and visit me often,  and share your projects and ideas with me.  

 

Birthday season is in full swing in our house so I've been busy...I'll post my oldest daughter's invites that I made, later today.  Happy Valentine's Day too!

 

'Cricky Across the 50' Blog Hop!!

Hello everyone!  If you arrived from Krystal’s Kreativity then you’re in the right spot.  Isn’t she just lovely?!  If you are just joining us and would like to start from the beginning, please go to K Andrew's Getting Cricky!  You won’t want to miss a single blog-they’re all amazing!  Today we are celebrating K Andrew and her big move across the country with a big road trip, and of course this hop, across the 50 states!  Best wishes to her and her family on their journey! 

Our delightful hostess has asked us to post a little bit about the state we're representing, and then to post one of our favorite projects.  I’m representin’ good ol’ Minnesota! (Or MinneSNOWta as we call it these days)

This is Lily, my oldest daughter 'helping' shovel.  This also sums up what we've been doing for the past 3 months!

I was born and raised in this frigid state and while I love the four seasons-I could do without all the cold and snow.  I'd be happy with a winter that consisted of a thermometer that never dropped below 40 degrees and snow that arrived in time for Christmas but was melted by Valentine's Day.  No such luck, especially this year!  The 2010-2011 winter has been snowy-er than normal and arctic-like!  In the beginning of January our snow accumulation was more than the last 3 winters...plus, winter around here can go into April!  March is typically the snowiest month; however, considering the winter we've had so far, I'm doing the 'no-more-snow' dance for Mother Nature because frankly there is no room for anymore!!  Right about now is also about the time Minnesotans start to go stir-crazy because it's just too darn cold out!  When the high temperature for the day begins with a (-), you know it's going to be a rough one.  Overall, Minnesnowta Minnesota is a beautiful state with so many things to offer, to see, and to experience.  I'd highly recommend stopping by for a visit....just not in January/February/March/April.....on second thought, maybe you'd be better off waiting until June!

Because we have lots of snow, we have lots of opportunity for pictures.  I have several pictures of our blustery season already this year.  I figure if I can get them scrapped, I can pull them out in the middle of August to 'cool off!'  :)  My layout is from "Scrapbooking with Cricut" by Annie's Attic.  I LOVE this book.  It has so many great layouts that look great as they are, or changed up to fit your style.  I changed mine up slightly used different colors, did some stitching, changed the sizes, etc.  

12x12 double layout-the open blue space on the bottom of the pages will be where I put my journaling.  I'm very particular about my journal space so I always complete the page entirely before I journal.  Must be my Type-A personality :) 

The "SNOW" was cut from glitter paper and I did some stitching around the edges of the pages.

  

Sparkly!

  

Now, who wants some blog candy!?  I'm giving away some fabulous winter-type embellishments, an 8x8 DCWV glitter stack (because I. LOVE. GLITTER. and I think others should as well, ha!), and a Creative Memories white chalking ink. 

To be eligible to win you must 1) become a follower of my blog and 2) share with me your favorite wintertime activity.  That's it!  Easy peasy, right?!  I'll announce the winner on Monday, February 14th so make sure to leave your contact info so I can reach you.   

Please make sure to leave comments on all of the blogs for a chance to win a ton of different Grand Prizes on Getting Cricky's blog, from these great companies: Scrap N Tote, Scrap N Easel, Cri-Kits, Creative Charms, Memory Miser, Scrappy Chic Cafe, Loralie Designs, My Pink Stamper, Peachy Keen Stamps, Cricut Town, The Scrappin' Table, Piktails, and Pink by Design.   Make sure to visit ALL the blogs, as EVERY single blog will have fabulous giveaways (Cricut cartridges, paper packs, copic markers, YourStory bundle, clear stamp sets, and tons more). Each blogger was extremely generous with their own personal giveaways!!

Did I do ok for my first blog hop ever?!  It was SO much fun!!  Thanks for hoppin’ with me!

Next stop: Kathy at I Love My Crazy Life.  Enjoy! 

Rockin' the Resolutions

So I've decided to really take 2011 by the horns and challenge myself. :)  A little out of my comfort zone considering I'm NOT a risky person by nature.  I'm actually a HUGE chicken, LOL!  But, I'm so excited to embrace my goals and what I may or may not learn about myself.  My favorite part of a new year is to set some resolutions, or goals as I prefer to call them, to grow and become a better person, wife, mama, sister, friend...you get the picture.  Like my first post said, one of my goals was to start a blog.  Nothing crazy, just a place to come and vent all my craftiness (because honestly my husband can only take so much), and share my love of paper-crafting with people that love it too (or will but don't know it yet).  :)Well the next goal for myself was/is to participate in at least one blog-hop.  Guess what?!  I did it (and it's only February)!  I'm so honored (and jumping-out-of-my-skin excited) to join some really fabulous ladies for the "Cricky Across the 50!" Blog-Hop hosted by Kristal of http://kandrewdesigns.blogspot.com/.  Please join us February 11th-12th!  You'll see some amazing projects and you'll have the chance to win some AMAZING blog candy/giveaways!  You don't want to miss it :)Wish me luck!P.S.  It's kind of embarrassing on how much I don't know about this whole "Blogger" deal so please be patient while I learn how the heck to post, etc!  Thanks :)

New Adventures

EEEEK!  My first post! I’m not going to lie, it's a little scary!  HA!  Then it hits me that I'm basically talking to myself (for now) so I have no reason to be nervous.  I guess that's the plus of a brand new blog that no one reads! :)I LOVE browsing paper-crafting/craft blogs when I should be doing laundry or some other household chore when I have a few minutes free time.  So in accordance with my 2011 goal of taking on a new adventure, I decided to make my own!  It's been a work in progress because honestly, I really have no idea about how to create one.  I am sure I've made it a lot harder than it needs to be...oops!  The problem was that I had no idea where to start or what to post about but I suppose the best place to start would be a project, no?  It's on the way  :)  See ya soon!