Mother's Day Gifts

Kathryn showed us how to make some adorable tea bag booklets a few weeks ago. I thought they would make neat Mother's Day gifts for both grandmas.

I changed the dimensions that Kathryn used to make them unique for each recipient.  The larger one (left) is for Oma (Steve's mom). I made it bigger just because I wanted her to see the patterned paper a bit more. When it was finished, I tied a buttery bow around it.  The smaller one (right) is for Grandma Vi (my mom). I fastened hers shut with a belly band.

 Oma's Book:
 On the interior cover, I  printed out a label from Word and cut it out with my Spellbinders dies

The inside pages hold various teas.

When Oma removes the tea bags, she will see a photo of one of her grandchildren!
Since she has 10 grandchildren, I added an extra page from Kathryn's original design.

 

Grandma Vi's Book:

I made hers a little bit smaller, for no reason, except that I was running out of patterned paper. I added a scallop to the top of the teabag holders.

I actually did have enough leftover paper to make a matching Mother's Day card for each of the grandmas, so that was very exciting, because they coordinated nicely with the booklets.

Here's a peek at the inside of Grandma Vi's book, with the teabags removed:

Such a fun project!

Even funnier was that Pippin found the boxes of tea on my desk, and decided that she need some decaf Chai tea. Groan...she chewed up about 5 bags and scattered them all over the rug. How could she possibly smell tea that is sealed in a foil pouch? And more importantly, why would she even want to consider consuming it?

The Other Half

Well, since I have twins, it wouldn't be right to post about just one of the birthday cards I made for The 16th Birthday, so here is Anastasia's card.

I went with a Jane Austen theme for hers, since she loved those books (and movies), and she is still hopeful that she will meet Mr. Darcy someday. Parchment, light colors, organdy and flowers...

I added some decoration to the inside and embossed a sheet of vellum with butterflies and attached it like a page, so it would (hopefully) look like a sheer curtain with light on one side and dreaminess on the other.

The sentiment is computer-generated (Jane Austen font, of course!), and cut out with a Tim Holtz die.

On the back cover, I attached a bookmark made with parchment paper, Tim Holtz and Bo Bunny (Gabrielle) stamps.

Here are the birthday girls, a few weeks ago...waiting for their friend to arrive at our house and to wish her a happy 16th birthday :)

Zoinks!

Why has it been so long since my last post? Don't know, but here is something I made for Sophia's 16th birthday way back in March. It's kind of a mini-mini card/booklet.

 I found the cover on Cathe Holden's blog. Unfortunately, I can't find the download now :(

Anyways, the booklet was made using Laura's Stack-the-Deck binding system. I just made up the size of the booklet to fit my needs; so there is no tutorial for it.

Here is the first page, highlighting "16," and includes a little booklet with a charm & a vertical pullout tag.

The next page was dedicated to car stuff, since she'll most likely get her license this year.

This page was just randomness, with some really tiny tags for fun (right side), and a vertical pullout large tag (left side).

And the last page had music on it, since she plays the piano. On the sheet music, I stamped "happy birthday to you" all over it. The "Happy 16th Birthday" was computer-generated and printed on to Kraft paper.

 This was a really fun project. The booklet measures 4.75" x 6.25"


So a few weeks ago, I moved my craft desk to the back wall, with the intention of gaining more space in the room. Ahem, someone has claimed that desk for the Motherland, and really doesn't want me crafting there.

Guess that wasn't a good spot for the desk.

Valentine's Day

Guess it was two days ago, but I really haven't had a chance to load these until now. Anastasia told me I need to update my blog, so I thought now would be a good time to do that.

Just a quick list of the Valentine cards & boxes I made this year:

For Anastasia, who announced that she's "liking the shabby vintage look" this year.

For Sophia, who probably likes vintage, but I have to make something deliciously pink for someone, and she is the lucky (!) recipient.

For Ziggy, who can care less about the actual card, because he just wants to eat the 2 Ghiradelli chocolates that are in the envelope.



For Peter. This one is actually from Pippin and me. It was inspired by this stamp from Unity: the look on the dog's eyes is just like the one Pippin gives us when she's being miffly.For Abby, our neighbor. Just a little goody bag with candy.

And these didn't go to anyone (yet). Kathryn showed us how to make a drawer-style box and rolled flowers.



I'm not sure if Anastasia thought this one was cute or not. I was in a kraft and pink mood, so made this. The flowers add a bit of height to the card, so I don't think it can be mailed.

Guess it's time to put all the Valentine's Day card stuff away now. I might color a few more images first, though.

WMS Birthday Party

Waltzingmouse Stamps is turning 2, and is having a Birthday Tea Party to celebrate!

Here is the tea favor I made, using Claire's free Tea Bag Baggie template.


I used some Anna Griffin paper to make the baggie. The stamp is from American Crafts that I got a while back on the clearance rack.

Since this is a party, Rose and Betty had to make an appearance, as they love parties (Rose is on the left, and Betty is on the right).

A very "Happy 2nd Birthday to You," WMS!!!

Yesterday...

...I took the Ladies to get their permits!

We got to the DOL when it opened, so we wouldn't have to wait too long.


Just long enough to get a little nervous, but not long enough that anyone got sick.
After 30 minutes, we were done, and my Ladies can get behind the wheel of a 2-ton vehicle and make it go vroom-vroom.


So yesterday they also received some driving practice from me & Steve. And "thumbs up" from people in the neighborhood.

So Easter is almost here, and I am so unprepared. I made some cute baskets a few weeks ago.

Pippin kept a lookout while I photographed this one. I don't know why I made it, but it was so much fun.
Sparkles on the egg make me smile.

That's probably as festive as I'll get this year. Too much going on this week to make more. But that's okay. :)

Thursday

Peter had his first visit with the orthodontist today; they put in spacers (ouch!). I took a photo of the inside of his mouth, but he'd kill me if I posted it, so just believe me when I say that they're in there.

On the way home, I picked up these tulips. They are actually for Peter's science experiment, but I thought it was neat how they matched my purse.

When the Ladies were younger, that shade of pink was their favorite one in the Prismacolor pencil box. I think it was called "Process Red," which is an unfortunate name for a color that is so happy. In Copic-speak, it is "RV17 - Deep Magenta," and is really close to being SU "Melon Mambo." I'm not sure those are happy names either.




I made these last night. They are little 3x5 notebooks (the one on the left is from Target, and the one on the right is from Walgreens). I just Mod-Podged some BG "Curio" paper on them, and let them dry overnight.

Anastasia needed the one on the right to use as a "Dibs Book." That's where you write the name of all the guys you think are cute. I think there are some other rules for Dibs-ing, but they get kind of complicated, so I won't write them out now.