Halloween 2013 For The Work Peeps!

Hi Everyone,
It is an awesome fall day here in Jersey.  The air conditioner is off and the windows are open.  Even though I am a summer girl I must say with the horrible summer weather we had, today is just simply lovely.  So what did I do? Well, I never left the craftspace! Yes, it is true, on this beautiful day with so many chores to do I never left the room! But, with the windows open and the smell of Autumn in the air I was sure happy living in my own private Idaho (sorry Idaho, I just can't let it go). So, this years Halloween favors for the work peeps are proving to be one of my all time favorites. I do want to tell you that true to par I am no photographer as the following pictures just don't show these cuties in their true light! Please stay with me as I make a long story out of a quick and easy project. First my friend Joanne (Hi Jo!) gives me 2 spools of ribbon that went unused at a her niece's bridal shower. Joanne's niece (her sister Elle's daughter (Hi Elle))is getting married, probably as I am typing right now. Yup, right now! So anyway back at the point. They (Aunt, Mom,& the bridal party) decorated a party room at a winery for the bridal shower and they had some left over ribbon, and guess what? They thought of me! ME, yeah, Score!! Free awesome crafty ribbon goodness comes my way! Here is a picture of the free crafty goodness:

Ahh. . ..  almost 50 yards of crafty good white and opal mesh ribbon! So of course the first thing I thought was "gee, this is going to sit in my stash for a long time until my next wedding favor job".  Then I thought, "Maybe Christmas?"  I added the crafty good ribbon to the stash and was happy that someone thought of me.
Then, I went to work on Tuesday and my favorite AVON lady (Hi Donna) hands me my order. OMG!! happy dance as I open the bag to reveal the cutest Halloween emery nail files I have ever seen! Stay with me people, I am getting to the craft. So now I have awesome crafty ribbon and an awesome crafty favor and all I need to do is figure out how to package them up. Well here it is, my crafty good favor for the girls at work!

So cute, want to see what is inside? here he is:

He is the cutest nail file I have ever seen and the girls are going to love him!!!  Here is a few more not so great pictures of them:

I can't wait to give these out to the work peeps. I already called Donna to tell her to order me 10 more Avon files so that I have enough to send to Sam's office as well.  Pulling apart the white mesh ribbon that Joanne and Elle gave me created the perfect ribbon web effect for my little coffin fold overs and I just loved how the opal fibers catch the light just like a real web.  I really wish I had a better handle on photography so that you could see just how cute these little coffins are.  I hope you think they are as cute as I do.  And more importantly a shout out to Joanne and Elle on the big wedding.  I am thinking of you both and sending cheers, wishes and blessings to you both and to the Bride and Groom for a long, and happy life together.
Thanks for visiting,
Lysa

My Favorite Craft'n Buddy

Hi Everyone,
I have been nothing but busy for what seems like months.  I turn around and here we are at the end of July.  Really, summer is so O-V-E-R!!  I know what August brings, it's all about back to school and beginning to notice that the sun is setting earlier and earlier each day.  I haven't even spent much time outside this year with all the cleaning an rearranging that went on inside.  When I am not at work I am trying to put the ole' homestead back together in time for the Fall season.  I have been trying to play in the new craft room so that I can get my crafty mojo going in time for Halloween.  New space, new mojo!  I did spend an awesome evening in the craftspace with my all time most favorite craftn't buddy last night.  Oh come on you know it was the dear granddaughter.  What Nonna wouldn't love a chance to play with her #1!  So here is how it went.  My friend Donna who is a major library volunteer has been keeping Rory in books since she has been four years old.  Lots and lots of books!  Donna knows just the right age appropriate book for any given age.  Donna even gets us prepared for the school's summer reading list.  I am telling you Rory's home library is awesome.  Now my friend Donna who is a co-worker is leaving my office (thankfully for bigger and better things) and it was time for Miss Rory to do something a bit more than her normal thank you.  In my conversation with Donna (who is a true book lover) it kind of came around to how much she love bookmarks (I have even made one for her).  It was easy to see that Donna would love and treasure a bookmark that Rory made.  So Rory and I set out to do just that.  Now, I am a self proclaimed control freak (and everyone who knows me knows it) .  So being that seems to be a problem I decided that I would take pictures of Rory making the bookmark so that everyone would know it was all her and I had little to do with it.  I did this because when Samantha (her Mom) was in Kindergarten and she submitted her battery powered motor into the science fair and none of the Judges believed that a 5 year old could make that type of motor herself, they disqualified her submission.  OK, so that was the right thing to do as there were no pictures of Sam making the motor (that would be, because I built it while she was sleeping and I didn't feel the need to wake her when she had to go to school in the morning) Really, I am kidding, well not really OK! Don't judge me, you know you did things like that too!  Enough, here are the pictures of Rory working hard on her gift to Donna.  I swear the only thing I did was plug in the laminator.

And here is her finished gift:

   Came out great and we can't wait to give it to Donna!  Rory is welcome in my craftspace anytime, it is only one door away from her room now and I am glad there is a space in this house that has all kinds of crafty good supplies to inspire someone to create something.  I am also glad I have a friend like Donna who travels through her life inspiring people by handing them a book so that they can take their imagination for a ride.  Thanks Donna, I am going to miss you in the officespace!
Thanks to you all for visiting,
Lysa

Saint Patrick Day Is Coming!

Hi Everyone,
With Valentine's Day behind us and a very cold 3 day weekend, I took a moment to take down my little ode to Saint Valentine and bring in Saint Patrick.  It was easy because I only do a small display on one side of the living room.  While I was doing that, Rory was busy putting up Easter everywhere else!  I must say it is nice to see some signs of spring.  With that said I had time today to get going with a bit of St. Pat's magic and created my little favor for the work peeps and anyone who stops by here at the house on parade day. (parade day is very big here where we live)  It really is one of my most favorite days of the year. We can only leave the house on foot as we are blocked in due to the parade. In my "younger" days I was out there right on the parade route cheering and acting up . . . now I just hunker down and make the corned beef, cabbage and fixen's for a great dinner at the end of the day.  I thought I would share this little file with you all.  I just love how cute they look hanging on my Hallmark tree. You could mount the Pot O' Gold to the front of a card.  As you can see I used my favorite tag that is a stamp from SU. I really need to make a new graphic as I use it all the time. Here is a picture of the file so that you can see how easy peasy it is to make.

How simple does that look! I plan on making about 30 or so.  I used my ZING and MTC to cut this file and as always it was a dream.  For those who want the PDF file you can find it here:
http://www.mediafire.com/view/?zcifyz5wactqdy5
and MTC fans the file is here:
http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?4uf974504946kxm
Here is a close up of this cute little holder:

I hope you give this little cutie a try, it is quick and easy also keep Halloween in mind because I am so seeing a witches cauldron too!
Have a great night and thanks for stopping by,
Lysa

Rory's School Valentines - Monster High!

Hi Everyone,
Tomorrow is Valentine's Day. Rory and I finished her Valentines for school with only a day to spare. Wow, we were going in so many directions that I am amazed that they finally came together. I was at Walgreens a few weeks back and had spotted heart shaped bubbles, YoYos and kaleidoscopes in pink and red. I bought them when I saw them so that I was sure to have them when I needed them. When it came time to make up the Valentines I asked Rory if there was a particular theme she had in mind. When all was said and done it was decided that Monster High was the way to go. So then the hunt began for graphics and ideas. Keep in mind we are not allowed to send in candy of any kind. The only food treat we can use is pretzels. Once we decided to wrap the pretzels with paper (I used a modified version of the file I made for my lip glosses)I needed to find the right paper or make the right paper. But time was running out. A google search led me to an awesome paper pack on etsy that was made by Denise at JustMeandMyDesigns. You can find Denise's Etsy shop here: http://www.etsy.com/shop/JustMeandMyDesigns Using Denise's paper instead of taking time to find or create a background paper allowed me some time to rework those bubbles, YoYos and kaleidoscopes so that they closer matched the theme. Here are some pics of how I relabeled the little toys.

 It was easy to remove the labels and replace them with free graphics I found via google images.  I printed them on sticker paper. Here is a picture of Rory working on them.  She is my crafty good buddy.

Rory wraped all the pretzel boxes and organized and bagged the toys.  I tied the bag to the box and added the custom name tag.  Here is a couple of pictures of how they came out.

Pink for the girls and blue for the boys.  I just love how they came out.  We made 33 of them and I sure am glad they are done!  I absolutely love the digi paper pack I bought from Denise, she did an awesome job creating it. Wishing everyone a Happy Happy Valentine's Day! Thanks for stopping by,
Lysa

OMG! I Made A Video!

Hi Everyone,
I love my 2013 Valentines so much that I made a video of how to make them. Think you might want to watch it? Ok, you can watch it as long as you can put up with my scratchy voice and poor editing technique! I hope you like it and I really hope you give this quick Valentine a try.  I mentioned in the video that I saw a envelope like this from a die and I could not remember which company it was. I retraced my steps and the picture I saw was from lifestyle crafts.  Once I see a picture it is easy to create the digi cut for it. I used my MTC to weld hearts to a trapezoid to a rectangle to create the shape.  Adding the score lines is easy with MTC. Here is the Video.

 Let me know if you have any questions and thanks for stopping by, Lysa

Valentine File Share

Hi Everyone,
As promised, here are my Valentines that I am making for my work peeps.  I just can't wait to give them out!  This file was made for a little card insert (which I included in the file share) I am filling them with small AVON lip glosses that are just adorable and I know the girls will love them.  I have some guys on my list as well and don't you know they hold a Ghirardelli chocolate perfectly. Yeah, a multipurpose Valentine.  Here is a picture of a completed one:

 I had so much fun with these. You can leave them plain or add a strip of paper to decorate them.  If you need to make them really quick just use a Valentine themed pattern paper.  However you make them I know they will come out adorable.  Here is a picture of the file:

I have included the score lines but I scored by hand.  There are only 3 score lines, the 2 side lines are easy to see and the middle line is just 4 inches from the top.  Simply fold the bottom to the top, fold the hearts in to the center and use the slits in the hearts to lock in place. I just love this little cutie! For those of you who want to grab the .pdf you can find the file here:
http://www.mediafire.com/view/?f6bbw5u9dom0kit
The MTC file is here:
http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?aya7990f28k616f
I hope you all like this file as much as I do. I think I would like to change out the heart for other shapes like a butterfly (for this years cancer walk) or maybe even a bunny.  Let me know if you have any questions or problems.  Have a great weekend and thanks for stopping by.
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

Happy Valentines Day 2013

Hi Everyone,
I have an oldie but goodie from years ago to share with you today. I am sure you have some version of it in your file stash already, but as you know we file collectors need it all!  Back in 2008 or so I had made a cute little Valentine "purse".  I made so many of them I could make them in my sleep.  I was so proud of the cut out I even uploaded it to the SCAL forum.  People liked it and it is still there today. You can find it at that forum just by searching "Rorysnonna".  So I never had made the file for MTC (which is what I use today along with my ZING) I thought I will just convert it and share it with you all.  Please, I never even added score lines back in the day. And the file was really off, meaning it wasn't quite straight or even.  It just wasn't worth sharing it without bumping it up and fixing it a bit.  I completely remade the file using MTC and the best part was mapping the score lines.  This little bag has a wider bottom, the top narrows just a bit.  Well, thanks to MTC basic shapes I was able to add a trapezoid shape, fit it into position, cut off the top, convert the rest of lines to dashed lines and there you have it, perfect score lines that you can use.  Geee, I love my MTC!!!  Here is a picture of the file:

 

I have uploaded this file to my mediafire account and if you want the PDF you can find it here:

http://www.mediafire.com/view/?c31jf7kgqgi4x7q

And for the MTC peeps (my favorite peeps, ever!!) the link is here:

http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?i8p0lqegjdeaedi

I hope you all have use for this file.  Please feel free to re-size it to your needs. I hope you all find a bit of time in your weekend to get crafty as Valentine's Day is just around the corner. Enjoy your weekend,

Lysa

EDITED 1/20/13 at 11:30 am

Hi Everyone,

I just saw a line in the .pdf file that was incorrect.  I have made the change and reposted the file.  Thanks so much for understanding when I make an error.

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

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

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

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

Another Halloween Ornament or Two!

Hi Everyone,
I am clearly obsessed with the Stampin' Up holiday ornament. I rushed home from work each day this week so I could work on them. I have made a total of five so far and am hoping to make more. Many more! On Monday I ran to Joann's for some colored tulle.  All I had was black and I thought some orange would be cool to have around. It was cheap enough at $1.97 per yard so I got some lime green too.  I also picked up some white thinking I might be able to give it a dye job.  We will see how the nylon takes the dye.  I wanted some bright purple but it was not available so I thought my purple Stazon ink might just do the trick. Maybe even a Sharpie marker, that's the fun of crafting - just playing with all the supplies. I have decided on my three themes (bats, pumpkins and skulls) Here is a picture of the second skully:

Sadly, I only had one awesome metal skull for the first one.  If I get to the store I will look in the bead dept. for more because I really liked how the different center piece looks.
Here is a picture of the pumpkin themed one:

Oh I love the traditional black, green and orange. but again, here I want to change out the center piece.  The paper on these two are Stampin' Up digi files from their "Cast a Spell" line. I am so glad I purchased it because I use it over and over.  The bonus is that you can make coordinating embellishments as I did here.  I use DSA2 but any photo editing software will do.  I have had so much fun with this project that I just want to keep going and going and going . . .! I hope you all give these a try and if Halloween isn't your thing Christmas is on the way. Don't you think a Birthday themed one would be awesome? Have a great weekend and thanks for visiting,
Lysa

Halloween 2012, Finding My Crafty MOJO!

Hi Everyone,
Each and every August I go looking for my Halloween mojo. I always start in August because I just love Halloween!  I like to let the anticipation build for weeks.  I am not rushing the holiday, I am just enjoying every moment of the vibe that builds up to the big day.  It's silly I know, but I just love all things Halloween. Starting with the colors, moving through all the crafty goodness, picking a perfect costume, and ending with yummy candy! What's not to like? But true to form, with the pool open and a thermometer that is reading 85 degrees it is a bit hard to catch the "spirit"! So I go a look'n! It's kind of like a seek and you shall find thing.  I know for sure it is out there because the catalog from Costume Express arrived on Monday and I have been seeing little signs here and there around on the internet.  I reworked the craftspace for the fall/winter projects. I knew the mojo was upon me. I was struggling a bit but, once I got all my paper out and placed my fall Stampin' Up order I knew I was good to go.  I have to say I just love, love, love Stampin' Up! My favorite demonstrator to follow is Angie Juda Kennedy, click her to visit her awesome blog:  http://www.mychicnscratch.com
Today she posted a video on youtube that shows how to make an ornament for Christmas that is featured on the front of the Holiday 2012 catalog. Here is a picture:

Gee, it sure is pretty! I loved it the minute I saw it. As soon as Angie posted her video I got right to work using the supplies I had on hand to make one. Since all my Halloween paper was at hand I went that route.  Here is what I made:

LOVE IT!!! and now I am onto the next one! I really think this is the piece that helped me find my Halloween 2012 mojo, 'cause from today till the end of October, I am all about HALLOWEEN!
Have a great weekend everyone.  Thanks for visiting and I promise more Halloween mojo is on the way.
Lysa
Just a quick edit to add a pic of my second ornament.  I really enjoyed making these and I am looking forward to a Christmas themed piece.  They are fun to make though a bit long winded but, so worth the effort.  Here is a picture of the one I made for Sam. I think she will love it.

 Enjoy whats left of the weekend, Lysa

Kristen's Shower Favors! Done!!

Hi Everyone,
Wow, I haven't posted in weeks!  I have been busy, busy, busy! Work (busy), Household (busy), and my favorite of all CRAFTY BUSY!!  Yet, I am still behind on everything. So the shower favors for Kristen are done and that completes my contribution to this wedding.  I am honored that I was able to help a friend and be part of a young couple's wedding. I showed you all the buttons and the shower invitations, here are the favors that will be given out at the shower. First let me tell you the theme is Mickey's kitchen and cookies.  The couple both work for Disney at the Orlando resort.  They love their MOUSE. and cookies are a large part of this family.  My friend Donna is a baker extraordinaire.  Donna always has that yum, yum recipe that you need in a pinch. So this shower theme makes perfect sense if you know the family. The centerpieces are cookie jars of Mickey.  The table linen is all red, white and black.  I am sure the room will look awesome.  The favor box will hold 3 cookies that are made with the included recipe. The cookies are cut with a Mickey logo cookie cutter, one of which is tied to the top of the box.  They look fantastic! Here are some pics I took along the way.  I of course have to tell you some crafty info as well.  Here is a picture of the box blanks.  I cut them with my ZING. I made the file in my KnK studio software (still a fav of mine) and easily copied and pasted the file in to my MTC software for cutting.  Donna bought me awesome cardstock from LCI paper in Massachusetts.  It is the same paper used for the invitations. Here is the first picture:

 That is 40 boxes ready to go.  This cardstock was so thick. Cut beautifully, but scoring was a bit hard on the hand. No worry, it got done.
 Here is a picture with the added belly band.  I used my DSA2 to create the printed strip.  Just like I did with the invitations.  The key here for me is to create a bounding box that is 1/4 inch larger on the four sides. I line that line up with the 1/4 inch mark on the right side of the blade, that is the line I use to cut with my fiskars trimmer.  Makes easy work of cutting all those strips

 This picture shows the tag parts along with the clear plastic box tops.  My best tip here is if you need clear plastic for windows, boxes or box tops - go to staples and buy clear report covers.  They work great. They cut and score like butter.

I just had to throw in this picture of the tag fronts coming off of the xyron.  I mostly use tombow or sctoch glue but I ran out and wanted to finish the front of the tags. My tip here is if you are using your xyron anything make sure you give a good rub down to avoid the pesky glue balls (keep a glue eraser hand too)!

and here at last is the finished favor. I love the bakery string which I must tell you was donated by our favorite local bakery. The red tissue is food safe Wilton brand tissue. The finished box is 41/4 inch square. See the cookie cutter?  How cute are they?

Donna's friend KG will be baking up a storm to fill these boxes with her wonderful cookies just prior to the shower.  Everyone will be joining together the evening before to fill and tie the boxes.  A family celebrating a wedding is a blessing and I feel better than good that I was able to contribute.  I wish Adam and Kristen a long happy, love filled journey. I have been married for 28 years and to be honest another 28 wouldn't be enough! That is what I wish for this young couple. Love you Donna! Many blessings to your family!!!
A shout out of thanks to Donna, Kristen, Adam(for allowing me to share in your joy), KG (for your delicious cookie sample) my ZING, DS2, Tombow, Fiskars, Xyron, my HP Printer, Vodka (anyone who knows me, understands)(inside joke), my MICKEY martini glasses(a gift from Adam & Kristen) and the Hubs (for my awesome craftspace)
Thanks for stopping by,
Lysa