Teacher's Apples

Hi Everyone,
WOW, I have been busy with no time to sit down at the computer to post. Today is Mother's Day so before the company arrives for brunch I thought I would enjoy a few minutes to myself and post a picture of this years Teacher Appreciation apples that Rory took to school this past week.  They came out great:

I love these sliceform apples.  I made these using Stampin Up cardstock.  The colors are Cherry Cobbler, Always Artichoke and Chocolate Chip.  Each apple holds 10 wrapped Hershey nuggets.  You can easily pull a candy out from the corner side.  Here is a picture of the apples wrapped and ready to go:

 

The tag is made with the new SU scallop tag punch that I love so much.  You can make the tag any length that you need. The bow is SU burlap ribbon that I shredded, gee I love that stuff.  I signed on as a hobby demonstrator back in March and you can see I have been enjoying my discount.  All the teachers loved their apples.  I have been making them for years and they are always well received.  

I am off to get ready for company. We are having Brunch here today and I can't wait to see the family and spend some time with everyone. Wishing all the Moms out there a Happy Mother's Day! Thanks for stopping by,

Lysa

Reindeer Food 2013

Hi Everyone,
Christmas is starting to come together here in our house.  I was able to get to some gift buying and that always helps to get my spirit flowing. Every year I make a check list of the things I need and want to do during the weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas.  It's funny how I put the word "annual" in front of so many of the things.  Like "annual" Target run, "annual" mall trip, "annual" Joann's run, etc. but my most favorite on the list is "annual" Reindeer food!  Every year Rory and I make reindeer food.  It is our tradition.  This years batch came out great and I will say Rory now has more creative control than ever.  I really think this is a craft she will bring to her own family years from now.  We have a great time each year planning the project.  We have a special tin where we keep our supplies that we use.  I just love it.  Here are our pictures of this years batch:

  I have so much going on in the craftspace that we needed to use the ironing board as an extra table top.  Rory used the Xyron to make stickers for the tag.  I call my Xyron vintage because I think I have had it for more than 10 years. It never lets me down.

Rory is getting better at the layout and by next year maybe the rows will be closer together for less waste.

She did an awesome job attaching the graphic to the tag shapes.  She is getting a better hand for centering things.  Practice does make perfect just like our Mom's told us!

Mixing up the ingredients is the most fun of all.  I think its the colors of the sugar that makes us smile.

 Once the containers are filled it is back up to the craftspace for a belly band and tag attachment.  I added the belly band and Rory tied the tags on.  The backside of the tag has the standard Reindeer Food poem.  Notice our ingredient list on the bottom.  Our Reindeer food contains no GLITTER and is non toxic.  Every year I beg people not to use glitter in their food.  No animal, person or the environment likes glitter in Reindeer food!!!

 And there they are happily on our reindeer by the front door just waiting for friends to take one as they leave after a play date.  I love when I hear Rory say to someone as they are leaving "Oh, I made some reindeer food, Please take one"  Don't they look great?!
Today is "annual" card day so I am off to get the Christmas cards done and out in the mail for Monday.  Thanks for visiting and wishing you all a crafty good weekend,
Lysa

Valentine's For Work Peeps 2013

Hi Everyone,
Here I go again with a rambling blog post.  I am so in L-O-V-E with my 2013 Valentine's that I my brain is moving faster than my typing fingers.  This was just one of those projects that just makes me shout the phrase "Awesome Crafty Goodness!"  This was one of those projects where I bought little and produce something I really liked.  That picture above . . . was a date stamp that was in the garbage at work.  I knew I had to rescue it.  It was just waiting for me to cut it apart for some reason.  All I did was run a bit of adhesive across the block and there you have it, my little Valentine tag.  Those little tags were cut with MTC and my ZING.  I used MTC to modify my Stampin 'Up word window and modern label punch and reduced them to those little cuties. There you have it the first two parts of these little Valentines that I am love'n.  But wait, there is more, here is a picture of the graphic I used for the body of the Valentine:

Why am I so excited you ask. Well, I bought that digi download of Echo Park's "Yours Truly" last year from Jessica Sprauge and I just loved the papers from the start.  I used my CraftArtist 2 to split and flip the graphic at the right point so that the word LOVE is right side up on both the front and back of the Valentine. Other than me who would notice but hey it makes me happy. Gee, I just can't say enough how much I love my CA2!  See the black outlines.  They are there because on my Fiskars cutter the blade is exactly 1/4 inch away from the index line on the right side.  That is how they get cut so quickly and perfectly to fit.  Between CA2 and Fiskars, template making is easy peasy good! But wait, there's more! Xyron!! I love Xyron . . . check out this picture:

That's a lot of stickers! when you need an edge to edge adhesive Xyron is the go to machine.  I bought my 850 in the late 1990's and I still use it today.  It is one of my tried and true tools.  I forgot to mention I used my We R Memory Keepers corner chomper to round those corners. Need I mention that I just ordered their envelope board from Scrapbook.com.  I can't wait to get it.  Now you might think the next picture would be the finished product but no. I have to show the parts of the whole because that is my favorite thing.  I love when all the parts are prepared and waiting to become the whole. Here is the picture:

OMG! Just look at all that crafty goodness! See the little AVON lip gloss, how cute are they? and the  XO tags that I printed on some old 3 column journal paper, love them!. Those odd looking bases were designed in my KnK studio software and cut with MTC.  My Valentine's came out great and if you come back and visit on Friday, I will be posting the end result and the file share. I don't mean to be a tease, it's just that I want to finish a few more and get a pic.  Thanks for visiting and check back because I think you are going to love this file as much as I do.
Lysa

The First Crafty Goodness Of 2013!

Hi Everyone,
I wish I could tell you that all the holiday decorations were happily living back up in the attic, but I haven't even started to take them down.  Everyday I make a plan and everyday I get sidetracked in another direction.  Of course the Hubs already got the big giant wreath and all the outside lights down and put away.  He really is the Energizer Bunny!  I, on the other hand had to do a quick project for someone at work who is having a huge "Alice in Wonderland" themed party.  She asked if I could make her 120 "Drink Me" tags for the wine glasses.  The theme is from the newer Tim Burton Alice and she has purchased these awesome life size cutouts of the characters from the movie.  I am sure her party is going to be a blast just based on the decorations alone.   I didn't have to ribbon them for her so it was a quick and easy project for me.  I just can't imagine tying all these tags on to the glasses.  Here is a picture of the tags:  I put them on a ring with a red spacer at every 60 tags to help keep them organized.  I believe that they will be tied with turquoise ribbon to match Alice's dress.

I like how they came out.  I made the tag in CraftArtist2 and hand punched them with my Stampin 'Up modern label punch.  The black shadow was cut with MTC.  I just love a project that uses my favorite things.  I hope to get my house in order this week so that I can get started on a Valentine's Day craft. Enjoy what is left of the first 2013 weekend and thanks so much for stopping by.
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

Tags For The Season

Hi Everyone,
What a nice weekend it has been.  The homestead is clean from top to bottom.  Lists are made and I am ahead of schedule.  I even went to Joann's yesterday and got all my wrapping supplies for Christmas.  I decided to go kraft paper and snowmen this year.  They had an awesome collection of bags and such.  I thought I would get a jump on the tags today while the laundry is going.  As always I have to say the tags look better than the photo shows because the camera did not pick up the glimmer mist gold spray.  I had so much fun filling my gift wrap caddy with all my new paper, ribbon and tags.  Now all I have to do is get out there and start shopping! Have a great Sunday.  Thanks for visiting.
Lysa

The first 2010 Christmas Crafty Goodie

Hi All,
Even with the busy weekend when all the decorating was done, Rory and I had time to make at least 1 quick craft on Sunday night.  We decided that Magic Reindeer Food would be the favor she would give to her friends this year.  I love this craft but I just can't get on board with the glitter in the recipe.  I keep thinking that one of the little ones will want to take a taste.  So our recipe is as follows:
oatmeal, Wilton white crystal sugar, Wilton red crystal sugar, Wilton cinnamon drops (aka: Rudolph spares), and powdered cinnamon.  Rory had a blast mixing up the batch and asked so many questions as to why reindeer like each of the ingredients. This is a great kid craft.  I have also used granola mixed with oats too.  The rabbits and birds will eat it up.  I know the glitter looks a bit better but I just can't bring myself to use it.  Wilton makes an edible glitter but it is very pricey.  I think its $5.99 for a small vile.  The tag art is from an old Microsoft picture it CD and the tag was cut with my most favorite Stampin Up punches.
The standard reindeer poem is on the back of the tag.  It reads:

Sprinkle on the lawn at night,
The moon will make it sparkle bright,
As Santa's Reindeer fly and roam,
This food will guide them to your home!

I hope you like what Rory and I created for our first project of the season.  My favorite part was watching her mix up the batch.  So cute to see a young'n with wide eyes at Christmas and I believe this reindeer food was not the only magic in the air    in  our home on Sunday night.  Thanks so much for stopping by and enjoy the Christmas crafty season!
Lysa

A Halloween Tag

WOW .... I really am having a blast with the Imagine.  I am in love with this oh so swirly BOO from the Happy Haunting cartridge. I just could not resist using it again.  This tag will look great attached to a candy box or just sitting on my mantel next to my jack-o-lantern.  So sorry the picture does not show the dimension. The goblin, the BOO, the pumpkin and bat are all popped up but you cant see it. I really love how it came out.  Hope you like it too!  Thanks for visiting.
Lysa