A Happy New Year To All!

Hi Everyone,
Just a quick shout out to wish you all a very Happy and Healthy New Year!  It was a crafty good 2012 and I can't wait to see and play with all the new crafty good toys that will be shown at CHA Winter.  I bet there will be some awesome new things that will get our MOJO going.  I have been so busy this Christmas season and surly wish I had posted more through out the weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas.  So much to do when you work full time out of the home.  I must say with the help of the family I was able to stay one step ahead of things.  I have been planning a Valentine's Day favor and will share it here sometime soon.  Thanks to you all for visiting I look forward to many crafty shares in 2013.  Blessings to you and yours.
Lysa

Digi Christmas

Hi Everyone,
Wow! Here we are at the end of 2012! The year just flew by a bit to quick for me.  I just wanted to check in as the year comes to close.  We had a wonderful Christmas here at our home this year.  Great family time, great food and a lot of laughs.  We got a few pictures and I already made a digi page for my Mother in Law. I love how it came out. 

Just look how happy Mom is singing with her grand daughter Amanda (my niece) and Rory, her great grand daughter (my grand daughter). I made this page in CA2 using Stampin 'Up digital art.  I just love my CA2!  I still am hooked on 8 1/2 X 11 pages.  This software is amazing.  I used the palette creator and pulled all the colors from the strip of holly paper in the background.  I also used the cutout studio to create the holly leaves embellishments. The shadow tool is awesome too!  There is a free download of this software available at the DaisyTrail website. You can find it here at this link:
http://www.daisytrail.com/freestuff.html
It doesn't have all the full features but once you play with it I know you will want the full version.  The interface is easy to use.
New Years Eve is here at our house so I won't have much more time to play today.  As soon as I get a handle on putting away all the Holiday things I am going to make an album for sure.
I just want to send wishes to you all for a Happy and Healthy New Year! Thanks for visiting and I will see you in 2013!
Lysa 

Reindeer Food 2012

Hi Everyone,
Oh my!, Christmas is upon us all, I am still forging forward toward the day when I can sit down with my family, take a breath, and thank the Lord for all I have.  I have hit the holiday wall!  Have you?  I just long to be finished and to able to enjoy the season, but the mad dash is on!  It's all good though because we are pulling as a team here. Baking and Reindeer Food is now done.  Shopping is done too!  I am so lucky to have the Hubs, my Daughter and Grand Daughter here to help with all the prep for the big day!! This past weekend, Rory and I (between baking with her Mom) were able to complete our annual Reindeer Food! Here is a pic of the "big bowl":

See all that oatmeal goodness.  Please notice no GLITTER!  I beg each year that all my crafty good friends use no glitter in the Reindeer Food.  Not only is it not "GREEN" it hurts all our wildlife friends.  There is just no need for it when sugar, oats, cinnamon, and candy will do the trick!  As always Rory had a blast mixing up broken candy canes and all kinds of sugary goodness to create the magic.  You can see she was really into it, worried about just the right ratio of oats to sugar!

 Then the awesome mix was poured into tubes and decorated, and place into the perfect spot for all her friends to grab when they leave the house after a play date.  Here is how they look sitting by the door:

We created the tags in CraftArtist2 and quickly punched them with a Stampin 'Up tag punch. On the back of the tag is our standard Reindeer Food poem.  You know it. It goes
Sprinkle on the lawn at night
The moon will make it sparkle bright
As Santa's Reindeer fly and roam
This food will quide them
To your home.
What a quick and easy craft we completed while we waited for cookies to cool so that they could be decorated.
I hope everyone of you is organized and moving forward to the point of a wonderful and joyous Christmas. I am almost there!  Thanks for visiting.
Lysa

Luv, This Tree Is 4 U!

Christmas Tags Done!

Hi Everyone,
I am so happy to say I have my Christmas wrap together.  I just love to shop at Joann's for my Christmas bags because they have kraft paper bags every year. This year I went with the pine tree/cardinal bag.  I bought many of them in the 3 available sizes that they had.  The one you see above was 29 cents.  I dressed it up with a tag I made using a Just Rite stamp image.  Oh I am in love!!! I just can't wait to start filling them up with goodies to give.  I have to tell you I am a bit nutty about tags.  I just love to make them.  I have this image as a digi so I made larger ones for each of the 3 sizes of the bags.   You can see I didn't take to much time coloring them. I used Sharpie ultra fine point markers for all but the white.  The white a Uniball Signo gel pen. They went super fast and I made 30 of them so far.  I used my Stampin 'Up
1 3/4 circle punch to punch out the tag and my ZING along with my MTC software provided the scallop circle.  The back of the tag has a basic "To/From" saying on a kraft paper circle as well. The tag and the bag are sprayed with with Stampin 'Up champagne mist.  Here is a close up of the tag:

Most of the white dots that you see on the tag is really gold mist.  The camera just picked it up as white. I wish you could see how they shine.  I am excited about giving these because I really didn't make to many handmade gifts this year. So at least my gift wrap has a bit of a handmade touch.  Tomorrow is my big shopping day.  I will not come home until I have completed my gift list!  Once that is done, I will be wrapping and I must tell you wrap day is one of my most favorite days!  I hope all of you are enjoying the season and are spending time with family and friends.  Our house is filled with wonderful decorations, scents of baking and filled with excitement. I am almost to the point where I can take a breath, step back and remember to be thankful for all that is around me.  Thanks for visiting,
Lysa

Teal & Mustard Are Not Christmas Colors!

****Alternative Title: Avon, What Were You Thinking!***
Hi Everyone,
As I sit down to type I realize that I am not going to have an easy go of it.  I wanted to post a lovely picture of the favors I made for the work peeps and I am still sitting here looking at them. I made 20 and I was not on board from the get go.  The "get go" would be when my adorable Avon Lady Donna L.(love her!) delivered them to me.  Now first off I love, love love Avon for that little somethin' somethin' that they have in almost every catalog.  I always buy a quantity of  either lip balms or nail files that I use for favors.  Avon even has great hand sanitizers that work great for favor making. So this year I bought a 69 cent lip balm that I knew just how to package up. O.K., so I thought I knew.  My problem was the colors.  They are teal and mustard! and they have a red Santa on them.  Really, its Christmas!  How about ... let's say ... ummm .... I don't know, maybe red and green or white, silver or gold.  Here is a picture:

Now I am not sure which is worse, the fact that Avon chose those colors or the fact that I had the perfect matching paper. Apparently I must like this color scheme because if you look closely at the picture you will see a stack of Post it Notes in the background and there are the same darn colors. Well with all that said I wanted to make a clear snowflake embossed box for these lip balms. So I gave it a try.  I made the little mini pillow box, I embossed it with a snowflake folder from Darice. I stuffed the little balm into the box with a bit of white shreds and a white bow.  It almost looked o.k. and then I made the snowflake tag using the teal and mustard. Ughhhhhh! I thought, Wow there should never ever be a mustard yellow snowflake! I know you know what I was thinking. Remember that song "Don't eat yellow snow"!  I didn't even take a picture.  So then I took the bow and tag off and tried a red bow and a white snowflake. No it wasn't a winner either. I spent way to much time switching out the paper shreds and bows. Trying tag after tag nothing was working but I had to use them.  I have 20 of them. So to save you the story of the screaming sounds that were coming from my craftspace (really, it was bad . . . but on the upside I now know how to get the family to turn tail and run) Here is a couple of pictures of how they turned out:

I still don't really love them but I at least feel o.k. about using them as favors. After all those who receive them know my heart was in the right place.  I hope you all have your crafty mojo going as there is a mere 16 days till Christmas. I still have shopping to do so it is really time to get organized.  Have a great week ahead and thanks for stopping by.
Lysa

First Of The Christmas Favors

Hi Everyone,
Whew, I have been on a bit of a holiday marathon.  It started the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and here it is December 1st. This past week was so busy with work and trying to get organized.  With all family hands on deck, we have arrived at Christmas 2012!  I am so happy to say the outside lights are up along with the big giant wreath and window candles.  The tree is glowing in the living room and I must say as I pulled into the driveway last night after work I paused and took a breath.  I was just so happy to be home so I could enjoy all the efforts we had made decorating.  Our annual "family tree day" was so much fun this year and my favorite memory is that my 9 year old grand daughter can now reach higher branches than I can.  Really, its true.  She was able to hang ornaments higher than I could.  I'll tell you this, the next time we paint she can do the ceiling! Another great memory is that this was the first year she stuck stead fast to the "No Clumping Rule"! So funny, she did an awesome job and it was so much fun for us all.  I also was able to get some favors done this week too.  I needed 20 favors for a holiday dinner that I am attending next week.  I used the single Rocher holder with the window cut out that I had posted back at Halloween.  You can view the original post and grab the file here:
http://www.lysaandhueyink.blogspot.com/2012/10/more-halloween-crafty-goodness.html
When I made it back during Halloween I knew it would be perfect Christmas treat holder as well.  Here is a picture of how they came out:

I just love how they worked out.  All the boxes, tags, and die cuts were cut using MTC and my Zing. I used plain kraft cardstock that I stamped with Stampin 'Up Crumb Cake ink and a small inkadoo clear stamp.  Don't you just love the tone on tone. You can barely see the holly leaves.  The belly strip is some old provocraft paper called holly argyle.  My favorite part is the die cut. Funny thing, I saw that exact cutout on a Teresa Collins Cricut cartridge.  But then when I was looking a Google images of holly branches I saw the exact one as clipart from Zazzles.  So who copied who?  Makes no difference to me as the Zazzles image traced perfectly in my MTC software. The die cut is less than 1.5" and it cut beautifully with my Zing. I used a multi toned piece of green paper from K&Co. and just added a bit of marker accents. I hope you like them as much as I do.  I am off to start working on the lip balms I bought from Avon.  They will be the favors for my work peeps.  It will be a simple fold over of some sort. Have a wonderful weekend and thanks for stopping by.
Lysa 

Oceans Apart, But On The Same Page!

Hi Everyone,
Today I have a lovely story and an awesome little box to share.  I received a note from Lynne Armstrong from the MTC forum.  I am here in the States in Jersey and Lynne is over in Australia.  WOW! We are oceans apart.  But no way, no how, is a bit of water and geography going to stand between two crafty girls like us! You can see what Lynne is up to on her blog here:
http://www.doodlebuglynne.blogspot.com/
What happened was, Lynne told me Hershey nuggets are just not readily available in her area.  I come to find out that Rocher and Lindt chocolates are easier to obtain. Well after a bit of discussion we decided to increase the depth of the original nugget tag box that I had posted earlier this month so that it would hold Rocher instead of the Hershey Nuggets.  The original box for the nuggets can be found here by using the download link in this post:
http://www.lysaandhueyink.blogspot.com/2012/10/a-favorite-nugget-box.html
Now please know when it comes to candy. . . In my book if 1 piece is good, 2 pieces is great and(by the size of my pants!) 3 pieces is well. . . AWESOME! so here is a picture of the reworked nugget box that now holds 3 Rocher candies:

 

 I used a plain top on this box but I have the file available with or without the original tag. You can download the files from my mediafire site. Here is a picture of what the file with the plain top looks like.

 Simple and easy, you can make a lot in a short amount of time. Here are the links for the files. The .pdf is here:

http://www.mediafire.com/view/?s4vw9jjd3cmp1jw

And MTC fans will want this one for the plain top box:

http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?12v2jh4vcb6floc

and this one for the one with the tag top:

http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?uxj6hffr71gndh8

Now the story goes on, So crafty Lynne doesn't have any Rocher candies at hand but what see did have was some Lindt chocolates.  So she takes the file and reduces it to hold 2 Lindts.  I love it and here is a picture of what she made:

This box was made by Lynne Armstong - She's Crafty Good!

Is that not awesome crafty goodness? I love it! Great job Lynne! Lynne will be making these for a special holiday dinner that she will tell you about over at her blog. I want to say the best part of these boxes isn't the paper or the candy, It's not the ink or the rubber stamp. The best part of this box is 2 crafty good girls from opposite sides of the world sharing a crafty good thought. I had a great time making this box and an even better time making a new friend. I am off to start the Thanksgiving countdown. Once again Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Lysa

Edited to add Lynne's link 

Here is the link to download Lynne's two piece box that she posted on the MTC forum. The file is available as a .mtc file:

http://forum.make-the-cut.com/discussion/28771/nugget-box-rework-now-holds-rocher-and-lindts#latest

And So This Is Christmas. . .

Hi Everyone,
Truth be told it is not even Thanksgiving!  Oh poor Tom Turkey just doesn't get a fair shake! I am in total Christmas mode already.  Yet again all my fall linen and turkeys, crows and ceramic non - jack'd pumpkins won't see the light of day. Need I mention the lovely turkey salt and pepper shakers that once adorned my Thanksgiving table.  It is sad I know.  It seems I just go from Halloween black and orange right to the green and red.  I think it is because my time is so limited with working and general life.  I guess I have just come around to what works for me.  With that said, I wanted to post this file for my double sided carrier tote. Now please know that this tote was once 2 Stampin 'Up boxes that were glued back to back.  But being digi minded I knew there was a better way.  I had made this box for a wedding project in white embossed paper.  It held 6 small bottles of bubbles (3 on each side).  It was just beautiful.  The carrier was on each table so that there were bubbles all night long through the reception.  This little box can hold a lot.  Here it is holding 9 pieces of candy (6 nuggets & 3 Ghirardelli chocolates).  That's a whole lot of candy!
Here is a picture of what the file looks like:

I have the .pdf of the file posted here:
http://www.mediafire.com/view/?4r2o7y9s8j7kj28
The .mtc file is here:
http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?hhtz2hmnhs17op7

I hope you will try to make this carrier, I think it would make a great snowman soup holder.  If you need it to be smaller you can reduce the size as long as you maintain the aspect ratio.  If you need any tips on assembly just give me a shout out and I will do my best to explain.
I want to send out my best wishes to all for a Happy Thanksgiving and many blessing to you all for a joyous and safe holiday.  I know how busy I get over the next 2 months so posting may be spotty but I will check in to answer any questions you may have.
Thanks as always for visiting,
Lysa

Digi Halloween, Last Year - This Year . . .

Hi Everyone,
I still don't have the Halloween buckets back up in the attic! Hello, its November 11th! Why you may wonder. I have to say every 10 minutes while trying to pack it all up, I would run back to my Huey computer to play with my CraftArtist 2 software and Halloween pictures.  I am sure by the end of today I will be looking at a cleaned house and will be ready to go full force with Christmas crafting.  I have to tell you all that I absolutely love CA2!  The new color palette creator is the bomb! I make all my digi page 8.5 X 11.  I have a large format printer but for some reason I just like the size of a standard page.  I think it is the rectangular shape.  I really need to make a few 12 X 12 pages, just to create a new comfort zone if not for any other reason. Here are last years and this years Halloween digi pages. It is great to see the little one changing from just pretending to be a doll to becoming  a doll!  The one thing that doesn't change is her beautiful smile.

I hope you will take time to play with the pictures you take.  We all seem to take picture after picture (I have thousands) and never play with them.  Pictures are an awesome good craft supply! There are so many great software packages for photos now.  Serif software offers a free download that is not a trial but a scaled down version.  Why not give it a try and get your DigiPic mojo on.  The full version of the software has some great templates for cards, boxes and such.  I hope everyone has a great Sunday, I am off to finish packing up Halloween.  Thanks for visiting,
Lysa

So Cute Snowman ... So Not My Idea!

Hi Everyone,
Just a quick Friday post and check in as this weekend is "TAKE DOWN HALLOWEEN!" OK, so I am a week behind.  Due to Hurricane Sandy, Halloween was postponed and there was no way I was going to take down the decorations until after I saw all the little trick or treaters. So as I sat at the kitchen table with my ipad waiting for my doorbell to ring in hopes of passing out candy I came across the most adorable snowman tea light on a Stampin 'Up web site. Becky Roberts of Inking Idaho (who has an awesome blog) that you can view here:
http://inkingidaho.blogspot.com/
She had this snowman made out of tea lights!  I had to make them right away.  Now if I could I would buy the entire Stampin 'Up catalog, but sadly I have to pick and choose what I can buy. Thanks to my Zing and MTC I can use what I have to create all the awesome crafty goodness I see online.  Here is my snowman that I saw on Becky's site along with my file I used to create the snowman.  I can't wait to make these in a large number.  I plan to hang these off of all the gifts I give this year. Here is the picture and the file links for this project

Here is the link to the .pdf file for the snowman's hat:
http://www.mediafire.com/view/?39i57rh03hsixp2
and the MTC file is here:
http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?wi0jucjazyho451
 Please don't thank me for this cutie as it is all Stampin 'Up! I used the SU snowflake folder to emboss mine but I am sure any pattern will work just as well.  I used some black gem bling for my "coal" but if you only have clear just color it with a black Sharpie marker. I used my Tombow glue for the "coal" on that one but next time round I think I will try Crazy Glue.  I used a handle from a gift bag for the scarf but on my next one I am going to try something different like fabric.  Enjoy and please make some of these because they are even more adorable in person!!  Thanks for stopping by,
Lysa

My Favorite Bakery Box

Hi Everyone,
I am a bit early posting this week as I am off for Election Day.  I got to the Polls early so that left me with some time to get crafty.  I have the TV on to the local news and all they are talking about is the expected snowstorm for tomorrow.  This can't be, a snowstorm 1 week after a hurricane! Of course I have to work a double tomorrow! I am trying to keep a good thought but I am getting to the end of my rope. With that said, we had Halloween yesterday on November 5th.  I was happy that the kids got to go Trick or Treating but it was so cold and so dark. I felt bad for the kids and the Mom's and Dad's too! Rory went with a few friends with her Dad and Poppy in tow.  I have a feeling all will be sneezing by the weekend. OK, thanks for letting me vent for a moment, Now for the crafty goodness.  Here is my all time, most favorite, awesome crafty good bakery box!  I love this box and as you can see from the picture (and previous blog posts) that I use it all the time. Here is the picture of the file:

It surly looks like a silly pattern but I gotta tell you it is a great box.  Super easy to re-size as long as you maintain the aspect ratio. You can make as big as you need.  I love making it out of Staples index cardstock because it looks so much like a bakery box.  It has no tab closure so you need to tie, ribbon or belly band it closed.  I hope you love it as much as I do.  Here is the link to the .pdf file:
http://www.mediafire.com/view/?k51nonltjhtfn93
And for my MTC fans (who I love dearly) here is the file:
http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?yg9d75uh6bpuby6
Enjoy this file everyone and if you use it I would love to see a picture.  Please continue to keep us all here in the Northeast in your thoughts and prayers.  So many lost their homes and so many still with no power. I can't say enough how horrible the last week has been for so many.  I will say the kindness of people has been awesome. Blessing to you all and thanks for visiting,
Lysa

My Favorite Cocoa Packet Holder

Hi Everyone,
A few years back I wanted to make cocoa packets as favors for my work peeps.  I always thought packets items like cocoa, tea or soup was just adorable for a hand out item. I just didn't know how I wanted to package them.  I even bought a pattern for a paper mug. I made it and just did not like how the cocoa packet fit into it. It was flopping back and forth, the mug was to just to big to hold the packet I was using.  So I decided to use my pattern for a hanging pillow box.  The packet just fit so nicely in it.  I made the door knob opening smaller and created a little snowflake "charm" to hang in the center.  Now this is a two part story as I had purchased 2 - 24 pack boxes of Starbuck's cocoa, seeing the brown color scheme of the packet I knew I wanted to use one of my all time favorite papers (early espresso from Stampin 'Up) to make the holder. But I had a bit of a mishap with my Christmas cards that I had purchased. In my haste to print and get them into the mail I had made a typo in the sentiment. I didn't catch the typo prior to going to print! Well it all worked out as I recycled the front of the card as a belly band around the base box.  I found a picture of the first color scheme using the SU paper. It was sitting in the background of another picture. On this one I made a little spinning snowflake charm. The belly band was from a K&Co. paper stack. It's not the best picture but here it is:

I needed to use the cards that I had ruined.  They were so pretty and there was no way I was going to throw away the cards.  Here is a picture of a few of them:

Aren't the snowmen cute? I hand stamped the snowflakes on the lavender blueish paper with Tsukineko Brilliance Dew Drop in lavender and cut the fronts of the cards off to create the belly band around the box. I used my DSA2 and my Stampin 'Up tag punches to make the tags. They were a big hit. These were personalized tags for work. I also had a basket of them at the house by the door for anyone that stopped by.
Here is a picture of the file:

Just a note about the snowflake, I used my Martha Stewart punch on mine, but I added a basic snowflake to the file for ease.
Here is a link to download the .pdf file:
http://www.mediafire.com/view/?4rn5v70nfg1bjmj
and for all fans of MTC here is that file:
http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?ba39bv61cvdyssn
I hope you find use for this cute holder, Just think of what you can stuff into it.  You can change it up and do away with the snowflake. Make the circle cutout bigger and hang it on a door knob.  I am thinking this may just make a great holder for this years Reindeer food!  Let me know if you have any questions. Hope you all are thinking about Christmas as it is just around the corner! Have a great weekend.
Lysa

The Storm Named Sandy

Hi Everyone,
 I want to send prayers out to all who have been devastated by hurricane Sandy.  We made it through the storm thanks to the Hubs and the good graces of the Lord.  Power was back for us within 2 days. Though our community still has many areas without power, all are helping out.  Our water front area was hit hard and people have lost everything. Gas is an issue, but the grocery stores have food. We are safe and warm.  For those who have lost their homes, I have no words, only prayers. Today my family and I count our blessings and wish everyone from the Jersey shore and through out the eastern coast and tri-state area a speedy restoration from this horrible hurricane. Blessing to All,
Lysa

A Favorite Nugget Box

Hi Everyone,
See those cute little nugget boxes. I made them for Christmas 2010.  They hold 3 Hershey nuggets perfectly. I made 50 of those boxes and never used them! Yup! I threw almost all of them out! So here is what happened ... Just before Christmas 2010, I got the flu and I landed in the hospital for six days.  Really from the flu! Well that is just what happened, it was horrible! Who knew the flu could take a person down like that! Well apparently hundreds of thousands of people knew and that is why they get their flu shot each year. Now I have joined them and get the shot every year as well. On a happier note I did give out some of them in early December prior to getting sick.  I was afraid to save the rest for fear I had contaminated the boxes! Well now two years down the line I thought I would remake these little guys because I liked them so much. Here is a picture of what the file looks like:

I have posted the .pdf file here:
http://www.mediafire.com/view/?hy7z8a1ehr7b165
And for all you MTC fans you can find the file here:
http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?ngqjbnwqf8vennn
I hope you give this box a try as you can change it up as needed.  It also looks cute without the tree, adding a little embellishment in its place. I use Wilton gold candy foil to back the tree.  You can even do away with or change the window shape to your liking.  I use a corner rounder punch on the top corners for a bit more finished look and as you know I like to hand score.  The MTC file has the score lines on a separate layer so you can shut them off. Let me know if you have any folding questions.  Enjoy and have a great weekend.
Lysa
Enjoy

Just A Quick Hello(ween)!

Hi Everyone,
Today is October 21! So that means 10 days left till HALLOWEEN! Today is a mellow Sunday.  We are all puttering around the house. I have had so much energy lately that it is SCARY!!! Yesterday I recovered the kitchen chair seats. They so needed it. The staple gun is an awesome invention. I put up our favorite slow cooker chicken and dumplings at about 11 a.m. this morning and the whole house smells great.  Laundry is happily washing away and QVC with David in the kitchen is blaring in the background.  I love Sundays! But wait, what is a Sunday without a quick craft? A Sunday without a craft is like a day without sunshine! Really. . . did I just say that? Sorry, that was my Mom channeling me from heaven. Next week I have a Board meeting and I needed just a little some'n, some'n to bring to the meeting. I had 2 bags of Ghirardelli caramel sitting behind me and above is a picture of what I came up with.  Won't these look cute sitting at everyone place at the meeting.  I make a lot of gift baskets and I like to put something sweet in them too. I even add a bit of candy to wrap gifts and cards. Here you see the Ghirardelli caramels wrapped. 2 pieces wrapped with a 1.75 X 5 inch strip of paper, stacked and tied with a bow and a bitty tag.  So simple!! The Board members will start their meeting with a smile. When you are in need of a quickie, think about re-wrapping packaged candy. I have to run because David Venable  is making pumpkin beignets and I have a can of pumpkin puree in the pantry. Yummmm! I know what dessert is tonight! Enjoy your Sunday and thanks for visiting,
Lysa

The Last Of Halloween 2012

Hi Everyone,
Oh my, yet more Halloween crafty goodness.  I say it's the last but until the family steps in and puts a stop to the madness I will keep on crafting.  Sam came home from Walgreen's with this bag of Hershey kisses that are pumpkin spice.  She looked me right in my face and said "Mom, these taste just like your pumpkin chiffon pie"! Really, . . . I mean, do I need to add another favorite candy to my list, let alone to my hips!! Sure I do . . . What's that phrase? You only live once or something like that. So now that left me with a bag of these awesome kisses, which needed the perfect box.  and here it is:

and here is what the cut file looks like:

Once your get a handle on the fold they go together quickly and they don't require a lot of adhesive.
Here is the link to the .pdf
http://www.mediafire.com/view/?uunudcdon60rdk5
And for all of you MTC fans, I have that too! Here is the link:
http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?sbhhgo5j45yxq19
Enjoy this file, you can change out the window shape or the handle.  You all know I like to hand score but I left the lines for those of you who use them.  This box would be awesome for the Christmas season as well as wedding favors. I add no notes to the files but if you are having trouble with the fold, leave me a comment and I will answer the best I can. Enjoy and thanks for stopping by.
Lysa

The Cabbage - Part 2

Hi Everyone,
We did it! We ate the cabbage! Yummy cabbage goodness landed at dinner last night! I am not sure which was better, the cabbage or the fact that Rory grew it, took care of it, or cooked it.  So here is the end of the cabbage story.  So true to form I start looking at all these recipes for stuffed cabbage.  I wanted so bad to make stuffed cabbage.  I thought it would be a good thing to do. I'll say while the recipes seemed pretty basic, they all seemed a bit time consuming.  So as luck would have it, I was out to dinner with my friend Geri on Saturday night.  I told her all about Rory's cabbage and how I planned this whole stuffed cabbage thing.  I told her I was looking at recipes, I was going to take her to the store to get all the ingredients, and how we were going to spend the whole day doing the cabbage thing! Yup, pretty much from what Geri told me was we would be spending the WHOLE DAY! Now, Geri is of Polish decent and her hubby is Hungarian so right then and there you know this is a chick who knows her cabbage. Geri told me a better plan! Now you need to know I have been eating this woman's food for years, and just like her food, her advice was spot on.  Geri gave me a quick primer on Hungarian cabbage and noodles.  I know it has another name, I think some call it Haluski (not sure, I think some call it Haluska or Halusky) I think the Polish even have a different name. Whatever it is called it is A-1 in my book for sure.  Geri was right, it was quick and easy, it held Rory's attention and made for not just a fantastic experience of cooking with Rory, it made an awesome dish from the cabbage that Rory grew.  I did watch a few youtube videos before we started and I added a ham steak that I happened to have as I had no bacon in the house. Simple and easy and totally DELISH!!!! Just look at our pictures:

 Does that not look awesome good? It was! and to answer the question as to what was the best part of Rory's cabbage ... That's easy just look at these pictures:

For sure the best part of Rory's cabbage was spending time in the kitchen with her.  And a quick shout out of thanks to my friend Geri, the cabbage and noodles recipe was the perfect recipe to use.  Thanks for stopping by and I hope to get one last Halloween post up in the next day or so.

Houston, We Have A Cabbage! Part 1

Hi Everyone,
So back in April the little girl comes home from school with this seedling from Bonnie plants and a application to enter for some scholarship prize money.  Really! Great concept but I don't even have a garden. I grow the same things every year (in containers no less). 1 rosemary plant, 1 basil plant. That's it.  On a good year I throw a few impatiences in the planter on the front steps.  Don't get me wrong, I like plants but they don't like me. I once heard a rumor that I am not allowed to visit winery's because as I walk through the grapes they fall from the vines! OK, so that's just something I made up in my head, but really my thumb is not green it is actually Stazon black from inking up some crafty goodness. But who could say no to face like that! So in lieu of my basil I gave Rory my second largest pot and a bag of soil.  I let her plant her seedling. Wow, it was worth it. She grew her awesome cabbage!  She really took the time to take care of it.  When she went away for summer vacation her Poppy was under strict orders to water it and talk to it.  He did a good job, You go Poppy!!!! This week Rory and I went outside and cut her cabbage.  I could not believe what a great job she did.  This Sunday if all goes well we are going to eat  it. Yup, as soon as I come up with some sort of recipe Rory and I are going to make something delish out of that cabbage! Ummmm . . . . . . cabbage (Sure it couldn't be an eggplant or a zucchini, something I understand) Stay tuned for part 2 I am sure you are all on the edge of your seat wondering what we are going to make with it.  Thanks for stopping by!
Lysa

Breast Cancer Donation Basket Is Done!

Hi Everyone,
As you may know from past posts, my daughter Samantha works for an Oncology office.  As in the past I have mentioned how cancer is a large part of life for all the employees of the office.  I simply cannot sing their praises enough. Through out the year the office participates in numerous fund raising events as well as having some in office mood elevators (like luncheons and such).  During October each year the office donates a basket for auction at a local event.  Sam and I have been assembling the baskets for a few years now.  Here is a picture of this years:

  Look how awesome and big this years is!  The staff went all out! There is all kinds of good stuff in that bad boy!  Pants, shorts, shirts, candles, travel mug, note pads, handmade scarf . . .  I can't even list the goodies there is so much!  But you know what my favorite part of this basket is? 'come on you know . . .  it's my awesome butterfly! Yup, the same one that will be on the cupcakes for their luncheon.  Here is a close up:

Print and cut with my MTC of course. I just love it.  Would make a great t-shirt decal wouldn't it? Back over the summer I uploaded this butterfly over at the MTC forum.  I have tweaked it just a bit and you can grab it as a vector .pdf here:
http://www.mediafire.com/view/?o3j8kr3bk65r7nj
This file will import into MTC so that you can alter it to suit your needs. I hope you will leave me a comment to let me know if you use it or if you have any questions. I did remove our Doctor's name so that you can add whatever you wish to the center.  Maybe even add other words or name that may mean something more personal to you.  I hope you like my butterfly and use it too.  I also hope you, I, and all of us enjoy days filled with good health!
Thanks for visiting,
Lysa

More Halloween Crafty Goodness

Hi Everyone,
The month is flying by, but I am still in Halloween mode! I saw a Christmas version of this Rocher candy holder on a Stampin 'Up blog and the minute I saw it I knew I had to make them.  I will make Christmas ones for sure.  Since all my Halloween papers are on my desk I thought I would give it a try. I put coconut Rochers in them . . . yummy! I am so glad I am getting use out of the EK Success spider and web garland punch that I bought last year. For the Christmas holiday I will most likely use craft paper and the gold Rochers hazelnut candy.
 Here is a vector .pdf of the file I used to create the treat holder. I know it looks a bit confusing but once cut you will see it goes together fairly quickly.  You may need to flip or manipulated it if patterns like words and such are on your paper so that the pattern faces correctly. I left in the score lines but true to form I have been hand scoring.  Let me know if you have questions.  Here is the link to the file:
http://www.mediafire.com/view/?c9omdt9sblktza4
 This .pdf should import to MTC sized at 7X7.5 inches.
We have been so busy this month with the house that I feel like I haven't spent much time in the craftspace. I have completed 25 of my little web nugget holders but I still need to make more!  I am off on Monday for Columbus Day so I hope to bang some out. I hope you like these little treat holders. They went together quickly.  Thanks for visiting,
Lysa

Tricks & Treats for my Peeps

Hi Everyone, Now that the house is in full Halloween mode I am able to settle in to crafting. OK, so the Hubs and dear Daughter are at Walmart getting me some more orange lights for the living room. See that the thing is, I never really finish until I have completely exhausted my Halloween mojo. I am like that with Christmas too! I have what some people call . . . issues. But as always I can say this phrase "I like me, I really, really like me"! See that's the best part of being in your 50's. You finally get to like yourself with no questions asked. Yeah! because that leaves lots of room for good crafty mojo like these little nugget holders I am making for all the peeps I see at work and in my daily travels. Here is a picture:

 

 How cute are they!! I love 'em! Each one holds 2 Hershey nuggets and best yet I had all the paper. No new purchases for me. The vector cutting file was made in MTC. I broke apart a web and added the solid base. I sized it specific for the 2 nuggets. I welded in the words Tricks - Treats (one on each side) made the tag in Craft Artist 2 using  an .svg Stampin 'Up  file and punched them out with a standard 3/4 inch punch.  The paper is all Stampin 'Up that I had in black and old olive. Googly eyes from Joann's Fabric.  The tag is printed on HP advanced photo paper.  See my little green spider?  He is my EK Success punch that I bought last year and never used.  How cute is HE!  LOVE HIM! You can see on the tag I punched one and scanned him in to CA2 so that I had him as a digi as well.  I love how he holds the web top together. I hope to make about 60 of these so that I have enough for work and some to give Sam to take to work as well. I hope you like them and they put you in the mood to start your Halloween crafting. Before I go I thought I would leave you with  a picture of my Halloween tree.

  

This year I let the little girl do the decorating and she did a fantastic job. I am breaking her in so she can help me at Christmas.

Might not be the best picture but you get the idea, we are ready for Halloween! Enjoy your week and hope you all start thinking Halloween.  Thanks for visiting,

Lysa

Still Here - Just Lost in CA2

Hi Everyone,
Wow, September is so O-V-E-R! Really you should see my house! We are completely Halloween! For the last week or so I have been putting away summer and bringing Halloween down from the attic. In addition to work and decorating I have been playing with my new Craft Artist 2 software. In a word, AWESOME! I wish I could just sit here and play. Let me tell you what my favorite parts are. First off I love the .pdf import. Yes, even though I have other software that does that. I like this the best. You can really get some great graphic in that format so its a winner in my book.  The .svg import/export is also a fav.  Thanks to the Daisy Trail forum we are all learning the best way to use that feature.  Also I love the punch. I have so many of my Stampin 'Up punches in .svg format so that is just a great crafty addition for me to use along with all my Stampin 'Up digi files.  Now as you know I don't make videos often. I always want to but time gets in the way.  I wanted to show everyone how to flatten a graphic that has multiple layers and I really could not explain with words so I took a shot with this screen recording software.  Please my voice was enough to make the cat run.  Anyway I hope it helps someone along the way.  Here it is!

Again, I am not a video maker!  Have a great day.  Check back soon as I hope to start posting my Halloween goodies soon.
Lysa

Rory's Strangling Raven Costume - Part 2

Hi Everyone,
FEATHERS! Not my thing! I really think as a crafter we all have a craft we jive with! I think I am somewhat versatile as I seem to always be searching for some new crafty goodness to float my boat.  Feathers?  I just don't  like 'um!  I think I'd have more fun painting cute faces on little rocks (remember pet rocks?) Feathers just seem to have a mind of their own.  I'm telling you I will be picking up feathers for months. They are everywhere. And by everywhere I mean everywhere! I know they made it upstairs from the craftspace to the kitchen, and the bedrooms too! They are floating everywhere through the house, I am pretty sure I saw them on the floor of my cubicle at work. I think I coughed one up the other day.  To me feathers are like glitter, only with wings! They are never really going to be gone. You know what I mean, I'll bet you dollars to donuts when I empty the lint catcher in the dryer that I will see some black feathers.  Next time I need to make a set of wings I am going to make it butterfly wings that are made out of a coat hanger and some pantyhose.  NO MORE FEATHERS FOR ME!! Well, with that said . . .  I finished Rory's wings.  To be honest it was not an easy task. Now I am not sure if it is because me and the feathers just did not get along or maybe it was because I just did not know what I was doing.  So you saw the picture of the blank and bland back of the wings in my first post. Well, just to take up some space here is the picture again:

A blank canvas for sure! I started off by gluing single marabou feathers to the border of the back.  I was able to buy black duck feathers from Joann's and I laid them out before gluing. Here is that pic:

I kept flipping back to the front to make sure I was placing the feathers correctly.  This really does matter because if you stack them wrong they look kind of funky!  The key was to work from the center out to the edges of the wings. First from center to the left, then from center to the right.  I added a marabou boa at the neck to hide the end of the quills.  It took lots of glue and lots of time and I think it was worth it because here is a picture of how they turned out:

 

 You can see how the marabou feathers really bumped up the wings and the fact that both the back and the front are covered make all the difference.  I can't wait for Halloween and I can't wait to post a picture of Rory in this costume. I also want to tell you that stated on the costume and on the purchased feathers they tell you the black dyed feathers are not water safe. In fact my hands were black just from working with them.  If it rains this Halloween, Rory will have black running all over her costume for sure.  It's back to papercrafting and favor making for me.  I have a lot going on in the craftspace this weekend and I can't wait to show you all my 2012 Halloween nugget holder. Have a great week end! Thanks for stopping by.

Lysa

Rory's Strangling Raven Costume - Part 1

Hi Everyone,
So here we are at September 2nd! I can't believe summer is almost completely behind us.  School starts in just 3 days.  I was lucky enough to grab a few vacation days so I could enjoy the holiday weekend. You all know we are lovers of Halloween in this house. Well . . . I should say I am a lover of all things Halloween.  I don't do scary as a rule.  No blood, guts and gore for me.  No sir, I like more mellow side of Halloween.  The colors, the pumpkins and maybe a cute little ghost or two. It is true I like to get an early start with crafting and I do try to get decorating as early as I can.  We get the costume action going in August as soon as the catalogs start to come.  This year the little girl picked another awesome costume.  This year she will be sporting the "Strangling Raven" based on artist Jasmine Becket-Griffith's artwork.  The 3 of us (the girl, the Mom, & the Nonna) loved it the minute we saw it in the catalog. So the order was placed.  Here is a picture from the catalog:

WOW!! How Cute is that! We were so excited to get it. I myself, loved the wings the most.  I kept looking at the picture.  I thought they did a fantastic job with the wings. I mean I loved the jumper and the belt with the birds. I loved the blue, black and gray color scheme. We all thought it was great. And it is! I know because it came yesterday.  The jumper is well made even though the fabric is standard costume level fabric.  The quality of the sewing is well done.  The seams are well done and the patterns line up well.  The chain belt with the birds is awesome because the birds are pins and can be recycled somewhere after the fact.  The tights are great. Plain striped footless tights that will be used again. Gloves are good, Choker necklace is good but I need to make it smaller. The wings, well, NOT SO GOOD! I mean they are do-able but they look nothing like the picture.  The wings in that picture are not the wings that come with the costume. OK, OK . . . so I am a bit picky.  I just really thought the wings made this costume.  So they should be awesome crafty good, right?
If you really look at the picture you will see that the wings have 2 courses of feathers. No, they only have one. Even worse yet, they only have feathers on one side.  The back has only black felt.  Here are the pics:

I know what your thinking!(your thinking: "Lady you are nuts!, These wings are beautiful and are just fine for a kids costume for trick or treating") I know that's what your thinking because I am quoting the Hubs from yesterday while we were standing on line at Joann fabrics. Which was where we went after A.C. Moore. Which was where I bought the first supply of black feathers. Which just didn't seem to be right so I needed to go to Joann's too. . . . . .( this is me trailing off as wonder how the man stayed married to me for 29 years) Yup! A mere $18.00 later and we are going to have ourselves a pair of double sided wings! OH YEA! Here is a pic of my new found feather supply:

 

 Really, I think I just may have hit the crafting wall! So I got up at like 5 a.m. this morning and started to plot how I was going to bump up these wings. The feathers don't match the front, I just barely have enough long ones to cover the felt. With that said I am off to give it a go.  I will post part 2 at some point after I finish the wings and vacuum up all this feather stuff that is all over the floor and floating in the air.  Thanks for stopping by and here's hoping your laughing with me and not at me.

Lysa