Room 2 - Started!!

Hi Everyone,
First off Happy Mother's Day Wishes to all!!  Today the family is taking the day off for some family time down at Mom's, so it's no construction day here at the homestead. Which is a good thing as I could use a breather from all the room redo stuff.  We did have a chance to get Rory's new room started.  Sam worked all week long getting the rest of her stuff out of her old room, happily filling her new space.  It does look awesome in that room.  In fact it is currently the nicest room in the house!  I was able to get into room 2 to give it a wash down and start to get the walls ready for painting.  No lie, it was a hot mess in there. When the carpet (area rug) was lifted I was a bit disappointed in how the floor has held up. Normally I would not deal with the flooring until after painting but I felt like I needed to know if I could save this floor without bringing in a professional floor company to refinish it.  Not only did I not want to spend the budget money, I want to be able to stick to my schedule and be painting next weekend. I did some fast research and online I saw many floor reviving kits.  I saw Rustoleum, Minwax & Bona.  All great brands.  I chose the Minwax for no other reason than availability.  Please know these kits are for sprucing up a floor and not refinishing.  Our floor most likely needed a full refinish but I thought I would go for the $50.00 fix just to see if it would work.  I will let you decide.  Here are the before and afters of the floor:

BEFORE

In the before you can see that there is hardly any varnish left in the high traffic area. This happened because I did not have a proper backing to the area rug and just the movement of the area rug wore away the varnish.  I won't make that mistake again.  You can see where the furniture and bed were protecting the floor.

AFTER

I took the before picture in the morning and the after in the evening.  Wow, $50.00 and a couple of hours, It sure worked for me.  I think the Minwax reviver did an awesome job!  It states on the label not for raw unvarnished wood but I am glad I gave it a try because it worked great. Now I will have to be super careful when I paint but at least I know I won't be putting in more than an area rug (this time with a proper backing).  So if all goes well but the end of next Saturday I will at least have the ceiling painted and maybe even a coat of paint on the walls.  Thanks for visiting and hope you check back soon to see what happens to this room.
Lysa

Some Final Pics of Room 1

Hi Everyone,
So as room 1 comes to a close and we begin room 2, I thought I would post a few last pics of Sam's new room.  I am sure by now she is sick of me running in there with my camera.  Sam still has a bit to move and hang and I now feel like "my work here is done" I really am happy with the way things turned out and I know I left enough "undone" so that Sam can spend some time decorating her room.  My original plan was to post a bunch of before and afters, however I lost sight of that plan about a month ago. So here are just a few more pictures to show off our hard work:

 Left to do here is the wire covers for the hanging TV and as soon as I have my craftspace back there will be window treatments in black and white stripes and runners for her dressers.

And a cute little coffee table makes for a nice seating area!


 This bookshelf was not planned for here, but it fit nicely. The closet door opens fully and when the bedroom door is open it covers less than half of the bookshelf.  The lesson here is that compromise can be good.
 

Left to do here is the third picture to the lower right of her guitar.  And yes, her clock is counter clockwise as is my lovely daughter who knows how to march to the beat of her own drum.

And what seems to be touching my heart the most is what she hasn't sold, donated or given away.  I am seeing things from her childhood that she has kept for so long.  That is my Steiff Pasha tiger and a troll doll (We call him Poppy). Both have a lot of meaning to us all in the house.
So now it is on to the next room which I am now calling the Music - Broadway room.  To be honest it has a super tight budget and I am not sure how it will come out.  But I can tell you that the little one wants that same green color as her Mom! So don't be surprised when you see this same color with a music note border.  Thanks for visiting and check back when you can as I sure can't wait to get back to some crafty goodness!
Lysa

Pictures of Progress

Hi Everyone,
Oh my it seems like weeks since we started this whole room redo business.  I guess because it has been weeks! This first room has been tough and I am at the end of my home improvement rope.  But, it's OK as things are beginning to come together.  Slow and steady we are moving forward. I won't take any time to bore with words as if I do you will surely read the "tude" in my words.  Here are some pics of Sam's new digs.  Sadly, I think we need two more weeks until she can move in.

And this is just the beginning! There are more pictures to hang on the wall so that is why the picture that are hanging seem so high.  I threw her quilt over the futon so that you could see the awesome fabric for the bedding.  Don't you love our black line on the walls?  That is quarter round and here is a close up.

Just the right touch to bring the green and white together. I hope the next time I sit down to type the room will be done and Sam will be happily filling the room with all her possessions.  Please check in when you can as I just can't wait to get back to some crafty goodness.

Construction Update!

Hi Everyone,
Little to report on this end.  We worked all weekend on Sam's room.  I am happy to say we were productive.  Walls are done, carpet is gone, and new light fixtures are installed.  Here is a pic of this weeks progress:

 We still are dealing with the water issue from the upstairs bathroom.  Paul and I worked diligently scraping the old grout out and preparing it for new sealant.  The new sealant was done and by tomorrow we will know if our labor has paid off and no water comes pouring down into this room. with any luck the priming will get started before this coming weekend. I have been told by the "crew" that the painting will be done prior the the new floor being installed. By now all this home repair has me bored to tears and it has only been about 4 weeks and there are two more rooms ahead of us.  I miss my craft supplies and the house is just a mess.  I am just itching to do something crafty or at least be getting the summer motif going in the house.  I just wanted to post one picture from this week end so that I would be keeping my journal of this project going, I just wish I had something a bit more exciting to report.  Thanks for tuning in and I hope by next week I have a bit more to say.
Lysa

One Thing Leads To Another .....

Hi Everyone,
Life is oh so good as we move through the room re-do's. This past weekend we really made some tracks.  I must say the house is a HOT MESS! St. Patrick's and Easter decorations are still up as I have had not a moment to even think about taking them down.  It is so funny to see how as a family we are moving through this room renovation.  I have to say Sam, as I always call her, is so funny.  She truly is making this space her own.  Watching her calculate the cutting of drywall has been amazing.  I will tell you that she is pouring her heart and soul into this.  As a Mom, I know that with all this sweat equity, I know this will be a space she will love (and take good care of). Here is an updated picture of the room with the drywall ready for tape and compound:

 Once they are done with that, the carpet will come up, painting will be done and the new floor will be installed.  Pay no attention to the cut out in the ceiling, that was just a little tiny mold spot that turns out to be a, well a DISASTER!!!! Here is a pic of that badness!

UGH ................... one thing leads to another! Yup, that is the upstairs shower leaking, CHA....CHING!$!$! there goes the budget! So with that said we are still moving forward.  Like I said life is good because while the construction peeps are dealing with drywall and leaks, Rory and I are planning our rooms. We are picking colors and themes and having a blast (thinking that we have all the money in the world).  Here is a rough sketch layout of my new craftspace:

 

I figure I will be sitting in this room by July.  I love the pear green, black, gray and white.  See those wood bins. . that is what will be on all my shelves to hold all my crafty good supplies.  Love them!!!  Rory chose a music -  Broadway theme for her room and is using the same color palette as I am.  Lots of music notes and sheet music through out. Can't you just see black notes popping off the pear green walls.  She also plans on framing and hanging her Playbills and Broadway memorabilia.  It has been a long time since we have invested in the fun side of the house.  The past 10 years has been maintenance and now we are having some decorating fun.  It is good for the soul! I am excited as I browse through other peoples craft rooms and I pull just a little bit of an idea from each one. Can't wait to show you all some more pictures as things with room one come together.  Thanks for visting!

Lysa

Progress . . . Well, I wouldn't call it progress

Hi Everyone,
Progress is a funny thing. Now I need you to know I am taking about "making progress" in a home improvement project. What I immediately notice is that there is a difference in the definition for the word "progress" depending on your gender.  Now our little improvement crew is made up of 3 men and 3 women.  The ages of the crew are from age 9 to late 70's.  Wow, that a lot of opinions to reckon with! But more than a generational thing it has become a gender thing.  Oh yes peeps, chauvinist attitude is alive and living right here in New Jersey!  Yes, (said the dude's) let's ask the women what they want to do and then we will completely ignore every word that they said.  If left to me and dear daughter and dear grand daughter we would have made some real progress this week-end.  Progress to me means a task was set, work was done and job completed.  Not so for the men.  It is more like this. Task is set, step one is done, stand back and admire incomplete job (for like and hour while talking about next step).  OK . . .  I am kidding, but really if you have a plumbing pipe that is in the corner of a closet, can't you just paint it white? Do you need to frame it out and dry wall it? What is going to happen when a plumber needs to get at it? Really its a pipe in a closet.  So in lieu of finishing the drywall we (the women folk) are just hanging out waiting till we are called back to assist with the drywall. (and by assist I mean carrying it in from the garage) I mean we all know we women can't read a tape measure worth a lick!! The moulding is another issue.  What is with trying to save all the original moulding. In all fairness, I do understand the saving of $$$, but really this moulding is shot.  It took hours to oh so carefully pry off each piece, label it to the window or door that it came from and carefully store it in the basement. But, after all of that I heard the Hubster say to dear daughter (and I quote) "Ya know, you don't have to refinish or leave the moulding wood, you can paint it if you want".  Really, than why for goodness sake are we just not buying new moulding!  Ok, so I am just doing a bit of a rant but if you saw how happy the dude's were about framing in the pipe you would be teasing them too. All kidding aside in the grand scheme of progress some work was done.  Here are some pictures of what was done this week-end:

the built in . . Here today . . .

and now it's gone . . .  See the pipe!

         

Sam gets a closet!

And a bedroom door

New dry wall, but lots of issues

    Ok, so we did make some progress, and all in all we are all happy with what was completed. Please notice some dry wall is vertical, and some is horizontal.  This was a difference in opinion and youtube videos! Tomorrow is Easter and we all will be taking the day for family and some fun.  Hopefully during the week all the rest of the dry wall will be completed and we can start with tape and mud.  I wish you all a Happy Easter and hope the Bunny is good to you all.  Thanks for visiting and please stop by again to join me in my 3 room redo.
Lysa                                    

Off The Crafty Grid!

Hi Everyone,
Yet again I find myself in need of alternative titles.  Here is my list. If this was an ad for a TV show it would be:
"Next On Hoarders - Woman told to pack up and get out"
If this was an ad for a financial seminar it would read like this:
"Woman spent A million dollars on craft supplies, dies broke - pictures to prove it"
or better yet the newspaper headline:
"When they found her in the corner she was mumbling something about a heat gun!"
Here is how it all started, You know simple.  Some paper, some glue and a computer.  In all fairness I think I had a punch or two.  I had a little crafty spot in the corner of the dining room.  It was easy to break it down at the holidays. I really liked this space because in the summer I had a great view of the pool.  I was crafting right in the center of the family action.

 

 But then I started to collect more supplies.  And not just supplies but crafty good machines as well. I grew so much so that my little bit of crafty heaven became a nuisance to the rest of the family.  Not only that I could no longer hide the crafty goodness when it was time to have a dinner party or the family over at Christmas.  So the Hubster says "let's move you down to the den" and all of a sudden I had more room than I knew what to do with.  OK, so I did know what to do with it. 

And that was to collect yet more supplies.  But I loved my crafty good (and messy) workspace. I was a happy little crafter hidden away in the den.  I didn't even mind the red carpet or the circa 1950's paneling.  Not even the vinyl brick piece! Here is a picture of my work desk.  I knew exactly where everything was and could lay my hand on it in an instant.

 Some how things kept growing. It seemed like if one of something was good, then two would be better.  This I now realize should be a thought process reserved for dollar bills and only dollar bills. 

Then my clean organized workspace grew yet again and started to look like this:

 Holy Cow! Apparently the CEO's of A.C. Moore, Joann's and Michael's were able to send their first born children to college just on my purchases! It's official now I have become a CRAFT-HOARDER! and to make matters worse, the Hubster once again says . . .  "Let's do a bit of room switching, We can put Sam in the den (more space for her) the little one in Sam's old room (little one, yup you guessed right she gets more space) and then we will move you upstairs into the little ones room"(uh-huh, less room for Lysa).  So who could say no.  Girls need space.  I know this because I am a girl or at least I was before I took on the title of Mom and Nonna.  So it began, the pack up of the hoarded supplies.  Here is a picture:

  OMG! really people that is just one side of the room. Here's another:

 

And here it is all packed into the garage until who knows when:

You know what is really scary?  If you asked me for my 1-1/2 inch scallop square punch, I could hit that pile of boxes and get it for you. So here is the deal. Three rooms in three months.  The only hard room is the den because after all these years the paneling is coming down.  The upstairs rooms only need minor work like paint, flooring and such. I will leave you with the first picture of Sam's new livingspace.  I hope it comes out just as she hopes.

I guess you can say I will be off the crafty grid for a few months as we do some work around here.  I told the Hubster I needed to be up and running no later than August and he thinks I will be back in a space by early July.  My posting over the next weeks (months) will most likely be home repair as I am trying to keep a diary of the whole room switch action.  Thanks for stopping by and check back soon.  I am sure I can slip in a crafty post somewhere.

Lysa

 

The Brick Project ... Done!

Hi Everyone,
My brick project is done! I had so much fun exploring new craft supplies with this project. I played with supplies I already owned and bought a few things along the way too.  First and foremost the best part of this project was the reading and research involved.  I happen to own 3 books about Woodbridge so it was fun to get them out and really look through them.  I learned a lot about Woodbridge history and that as you know, is a good thing.  I also went online and found out that my local library is part of a network of archives that has uploaded all kinds of media in regard to their local area.  That was awesome.  I was able to download the actual program for the celebration of the dedication for the Memorial Municipal Building from 1924! This little program booklet even had pictures of the floor plan of the building.  I was amazed by looking through all the media that my local library had available online.  It was wonderful.  So I chose my picture for the key-chain and as you know I had to figure a way to embed my little sliver of brick.  I had tried the UTEE embossing but its yellow cast was just not clear enough for me.  I am told the longer you melt it the more it will take on that yellow tone. So I will save the rest of my 2 jars of UTEE for bottle cap projects.  Next I tried cold cure epoxy.  I must say that it is a fun resin to work with but 12 hours later in my dusty craftspace, I was simply annoyed.  You know I cut paper and paper has a lot of fiber, when you add that to having a cat walking across your work table . . .  well . . . . let's just say I could not get a clear cast to save my life. Plus the mixing and pouring and waiting . . .  there was just no instant gratification.  So then I moved onto UV cure resin.  HELLO . . . love at first try (well, love at about try 10).  I went to Hobby Lobby and picked up a bottle of Lisa Pavelka's magic gloss.  Now you need to know I already own a UV lamp. That would be my Teresa Collins Stampmaker. OK, so I bought it, used it once, and true to form it sits on a shelf (laughing at me) Well wait a minute . . . It did get me through that ping pong ball project from 2011! but I haven't used it since.  So I knew I had like 36 watts of UV power just sitting on the shelf. I did some research and found in the big box craft stores there are 2 brands of UV cure resin. Judikins (Gel du Soleil) and Lisa Pavelka (Magic Gloss).  I chose the Lisa Pavelka not because we share a name (only she spells it kinda funny, hehehe) but because that is the brand Hobby Lobby had. $9.95 for an ounce.  It's OK because I had a 40% coupon that took off $4.00.  Then I chose some bezel pieces from the jewelry section.  $1.99 each.  I didn't know what I was going to do so I picked an oval, a rectangle, and a square (2 each).  Well, the rectangle won and the rest of them will happily live in my craft stash (most likely for 10 years or so)  Cha Ching . . .  that's $8.00 that won't see the light of day for awhile.  Ok, now I am onto the graphic, I got all these cool supplies, I know the size of the bezel piece, I am ready to design.  I open up my CA2, I get the shape on my mat, I got the graphic I am jones'n! Oh, I like it! Perfect I say to myself. But wait, what kind  of paper?  Let's try photo paper. Wow it looked great! Yes, it looked great right up until I poured the Magic gloss on it, then I watched the ink spread in to a big blurry mess.  Oh well . . . back online for more research, and sure enough you need to seal the image so that there is no reaction between the resin and the ink.  I read lots of ways to seal the image and I settled on using packing tape.  If you do this make sure when you lay the tape on the image you have no air bubbles or fuzzies caught on the tape or the image. Once I got a handle on that it was smooth sailing, yup as smooth as a boat on dry land.  Because the next issue is bubbles.  So here is the deal with that.  Once you pour the resin you absolutely have to pass either your embossing heat gun or a mini butane torch over the piece to remove all the bubbles.  You just can't pop them with a pin. The heat will draw them to the surface and they pop.  It is the same with the cold cure resin.  It's all about the bubbles. In Champagne, bubbles are good . . . in resin, not so much! I get all that worked out and then I decide I want to dome the back side of the key-chain as well.  Sure enough every time I got a good front, I would mess up the back or vise-verse. If I had a  good back the front was messed up.  I tore the darn key-chain apart about 8 times before I finally got a hand for what I was doing.  I found it easy to use a Dremmel tool to break apart the resin without to much damage to the bezel blank.  Still with all the issues I fell in love with Lisa Pavelka Magic Gloss and I actually went back to Hobby Lobby to get another bottle of it. Here are a few more pictures:

I have to tell you all that I did have to enlist the hubby dude to cut the brick.  Hard as I tried I just could not cut as nice of a sliver as he could.  For some reason he was able to maintain that long thin brick like appearance. I kept breaking it while trying to get it as thin as needed. It is only about 2 mm thick and 10 mm long. So here is my "shout out" to the hubs . . . Thanks Paul!  I am so happy with the way this brick project played out, because I learned some things, bought some new crafty good supplies,  used a tool that I already owned that was gathering dust but mostly because I got to use the brick in a way I can share with some of the people around me. I am so happy that I am still inspired by an old piece of clay as that tells me I have not yet hit my crafty wall. Thanks for stopping by and I hope you check back soon.
Lysa 

The Brick Project!

Hi Everyone,
Check out my really cool brick! Ok, So to you all it is a normal run of the mill brick. To me though it is so much more.  I have a whole long winded back story to that little brick.  Let me start at the beginning. I live here in New Jersey in a very large "small" town called Woodbridge.  I wasn't raised here but I like to think of myself as one of those die hard Woodbridgeians. After all I have lived here longer than I have lived anywhere else, so to me I qualify as a native. This town is very old and we have wonderful history.  Chartered in 1669, the town has grown to become a hub for central Jersey.  I could go on and on with historical facts and such but what I really want to tell you about is that brick.  The brick is from the towns original Memorial Municipal Building that was dedicated on June 14, 1924. The building was dedicated and named for our serviceman.  We carry that on to this day. We truly honor and appreciate all who have served and currently serve.  That brick is almost 90 years old!  The day the building was dedicated the whole town came out to celebrate and honor our deceased servicemen as well as those who returned. The thing is the building was demolished in 1994 to make way for our new modern and safer Memorial Municipal Building.  When the building was demolished all these awesome bricks were left in a pile waiting to be hauled away for recycling or trash.  Many people as they passed by picked up a brick.  Lots of people saw them as a keepsake or a souvenir. Maybe they just saw them as a memory of a building that they loved.  Really, when you think about it what are you going to do with just 1 brick other than look at it every now and again.  Yet, all over the place I would see these bricks. I mean, I would see them in peoples houses just sitting on a shelf.  I see them in peoples cubicles at work, just kinda laying around.  Well, the more I saw them, the more I wanted one. I mean like, I really wanted one.  I actually started asking people if they would part with their precious brick but I was always met with a firm "NO"!  How is it I never picked one up?  I lived here in 1994 when the building came down.  I guess it didn't hit me back then that it was a pretty cool brick.  Well as the saying goes "good things come to those who wait" (and I have been waiting since 1999) and sure enough back in December a friend (Hi Mary C.) tells me there are some bricks up for grabs from someone down at the Chamber of Commerce who is getting rid of some things.  YES!!! I could not respond quick enough.  "I'll take 2, thank you very much!" (as I type this I can hear my inner voice screaming SCORE!) So there you have it, I am now the happy (and crafty) owner of not 1 but 2 bricks! Then I started to think of what am I going to do with the bricks.  Oh please .... Its always scary around here when I start thinking.  So I get it in my head that everyone and his brother is going to want a little keepsake.  Something more than an old brick laying around or just propped up on a shelf. (here comes the part where I start to drift off and I hear music faintly in the back of my brain) Yes, I remember I was in Donna's car driving to a Christmas luncheon . . . her ignition keys were swaying back and forth, kinda clanking together . . . and that's when it hit me.  I turned to all in the vehicle (Hello Joanne, Hi Nadine, Hey there Donna) and I said "I know what I am going to do with my brick!, I am going to shave little pieces of it off and embed it in acrylic and make a key-chain out of it!"  Oh yeah! doing the happy dance in the seat of the car! and wait, "I know . . .  I am going to give the first one to the Mayor! He will love it!" Than I smiled and breathed a sigh of relief because I knew I had an idea. Once I returned from lala land and looked up I noticed all in the car were giggling and laughing at my crazy idea. Really people, laughing! It's an awesome idea.(oh please, all the greats are laughed at)   I can't believe you 3 can't see the key-chain dream. "Don't like key-chains, well how about a refrigerator magnet"? (insert more laughter here) and so it goes. . .  Here I am a crafter with a key-chain dream.  Now, just like any awesome crafty good project, research is involved  and as you know from my UTEE post burnt fingers were involved as well. Plus there would be research for the perfect graphic too. So with out boring you even more for today I will leave you with this picture of "old" Town Hall. It's clear to see this building not only did its utilitarian job as it stood proudly in the center of our town, it captured the heart of our community so much so that people felt the need to pick up a brick and save it.

Thanks for visiting and if you want to see what happens to the brick check back in a week or so.
Lysa

Lindt Bunnies - I Love 'Um!

Hi and Happy March Everyone,
Oh my gosh, I am so happy that it is March!! This is the month that I start thinking of all that nice weather that is coming down the pike.  Oh yeah, spring, St. Pat's parade day, open windows, Easter and oh those little Lindt bunnies that I love so much. By far these little guys are the most perfect chocolate bunny to give to children and adults alike.  It's the size, they are tiny.  A little 2 bite of Easter Bunny love!  Now I have used these little guys for years.  I just love to re-package them.  If you click on my Bunnies or Easter label you will see them all.  So this year I wanted them in a clear package.  Last year was a basket.  I have so many plastic report covers that if I don't start using them they will take over.  I had used a regular pillow box back at Christmas and I wanted to change it up a bit.  I kept seeing these standing pillow boxes that were made with a Sizzix die.  Well sure enough in my research I come to find out that they no longer make the die.  That then led to looking for a picture of one.  It took a long time to find one.  If I can see it, I can draw it.  Once I got the shape and the score lines worked out it was easy to size it perfectly for the little bunny.  I left just enough room for a bit of green paper grass.  Here is a picture of the first group.

 

Don't they look happy sitting in their little plastic box! The plastic covers cut perfectly with my ZING. I left the score lines because it was easier than hand scoring.  I am so happy with how easy and quick they went together.  Now to make more!

Here is a picture of the file if you would like to give it a try:

If you would like the .pdf file you can find it here:
http://www.mediafire.com/view/?q9y69bp7nxvkbxq
The .MTC file is located here:
http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?08m1cscbfpsx1ha
The fold may look a bit confusing but once you have it cut and in your hands you will see how easy it folds together. If you have any problems, just leave me a message and I will do my best to assist.
Here is one more picture of how happy they look!

I hope you like this file as much as I do.  Feel free to resize and alter to your needs.  If you like it as much as I do, won't you take a moment to leave me a message and some bloggie love.  It really is all I need to keep me sharing files.
Thanks for stopping by for a visit.  Next up on my craft table is an odd project that isn't paper, this time it's brick!
Lysa

I Love UTEE, and Love Hurts!

Hi Everyone,
This is a blog post that would require an alternative title! Let's give that a try ....
"Always follow manufactures instructions" or
"Don't do this" or
Mom said " If you play with fire, you will get burned"
Then I thought I might make a list of the craft supplies that my hubs has taken away because of minor side trips to the ER like the scroll saw, the power stapler, the nail gun, the toaster oven, the Bunsen burner, the Xacto knife etc. . . . (easy to see why I am a papercrafter now!)
So anyway I have a project that involves a brick and I am looking for a way to preserve a little sliver of this brick into a key chain bezel. (you will understand at some point when I get to that project). Well I start doing some artsy research so that I can decide if I want to use air dry (cold cure) resin, UV cure resin or some sort of acrylic.  I remembered in my craft supplies I had UTEE. You know that Ultra-Thick-Embossing-Enamel. Guess what?  I had 2 (not 1) but 2 un-opened jars just sitting waiting for me to play with.  Yup . .  here is a picture:

OK, so how funny is that, I didn't even open the first jar and I felt the need to buy a second. That is just so Lysa!  Stop it now because you and I both know you are just like me!!  I bet I used a coupon on both so hey it was like 2 for the price of one. I also have a large collection of bottle caps.  Who doesn't like to use them for a quick embellishment on card and such.  I even save the real ones from parties.  I also had a lot of left over graphics from the kids Valentine favors so I thought a great experiment would be to make a little bottle cap magnet for Rory. Oh! but wait I don't have a melt pot, Ummmmm let me think, oh I do have a coffee mug warmer (here is the first warning Don't and by that I mean DON'T do this) I'll just see if that will melt the UTEE and hey I am good as gold! but wait (brain cells in full motion) I am not only going to embed the graphic into the UTEE, I am going to embed the magnet too! Who wants to glue a magnet to the back of this cool bottle cap. Wow, I love being crafty!  Here are some pictures of the set up.

Looks good, right? Yeah No! See the little neo magnet? Well, it stuck to the platten of the warmer so tight and when you couple that with picking it up to soon you get this:

OUCH!!!!!!!! (and you should see it a week later!ughhhhh!)
People, do not do this! It hurt. Pouring melted plastic across your fingers is . . . well . . . just not awesome crafty goodness!
(here comes the goodness)
After jumping around the room, along with a cold water rinse, lots of words that I won't say here I got right back on the "horse" and made Rory this magnet (which, by the way she loves!).

In conclusion, UTEE, is awesome crafty goodness and it is only user error that creates a problem.  If you want to use this great product take the time to learn and purchase the right supplies.  With proper care you will have no crazy accidents.
Thanks for stopping by and I can't wait to start showing you my "brick" project.
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