One of My Many Vices

My name is Molly and I am addicted to patterns. When Jo-Ann Fabrics has a pattern sale I pretty much start shking and begin to foam at the mouth. I'm almost thankful that there aren't any other places to buy patterns around here because I could be in some serious trouble.

What do I plan on making this time? For starters I saw a really cute apron at a gift shop made with western fabric and fringe at the bottom. It was adorbale and I immediately thought of my two nieces who live on a farm of sorts. Next up, a doggie dirndle for Butterscotch as we partake in Leavenworth's Maifest in a few weeks and yes, there is a lederhosen/ dirndle contest for dogs.

Finally, at another gift shop there was a very chic tote/ purse made out of the coolest retro fabric and I want to recreate that as well.

I am the poster child for the signs you see at craft shows. The ones that state "Sure you could make this at home.......but will you???" My answer to that is always, " Well, I had the best intentions." Meaning that my craft room cupboards are exploding with unused patterns. That still doesn't stop me from eagerly anticipating the next pattern sale.

Thank You Card

Cards for Josie to write her birthday Thank You's. Taken from the 'With Graditude' card on page 104 of the SU! Spring -Summer catalog. The colors made me think of the gawdy 1960's wallpaper my aunt had in her kitchen and are making a comeback.

Strawberry Valentine Cookies

OK, technically not papercrafting but still this took some time and was fun to do with the kids. I was inspired by the blog The Frosted Garden. This lady makes wonderful cakes, cupcakes and cookies. I actually had planned making these cookies at Valentine's but with the various illnesses and home projects this was put off until now. This will probably be the only baking project you see on this blog.

STRAWBERRY VALENTINE COOKIES from Simple and Delicious
2/3 cup butter, softened
2/3 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup strawberry drink mix
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

GLAZE:
1 cup (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips
1 teaspoon shortening

FROSTING:
1/3 cup butter, softened
2 tablespoons strawberry drink mix
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 cups confectioners' sugar
3 to 5 tablespoons milk

SERVINGS
24
CATEGORY
Dessert
METHOD
Baked
PREP
50 min.
COOK
10 min.
TOTAL
60 min.

DIRECTIONS
In a small mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Beat in egg and lemon juice. Combine the flour, drink mix, baking powder and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well. On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to 1/4-in. thickness. Cut with a floured 2-1/2- to 3-in. heart-shaped cookie cutter. Place 2 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 350° for 8-10 minutes or until set and edges begin to brown. Cool for 2 minutes before removing to wire racks to cool completely. In a small microwave-safe bowl, melt chocolate chips and shortening; stir until smooth. Spread over cookies; let stand until set. In a small mixing bowl, cream the butter, drink mix and salt. Gradually beat in confectioners' sugar. Add enough milk to achieve desired consistency. Decorate cookies. Yield: about 2 dozen.

Bryan & Lisa's Album Pt. 1

I am working on my brother's wedding album right now. All of these layouts are a variation of the sketches from page 50 of the April 2008 Creating Keepsakes magazine.

I have also been getting lots of use out of my little Cricut machine. I love it! For the title I used the Jasmine cartridge.






Cricut Font: Alphalicious


Cricut Font: Doodletype. I went with my standard strip of paper and corner triangle here. I told you I use it a lot. I also try using as many pictures on a layout dealing with the theme as I can. As much as I love looking at layouts with just one photo it's not very practical for me.

The Evolution of My Scrapbooks

Looking back at my scrapbboking history it seems that I've always loved to put pictures and memoribilia into albums. This one was my very first scrapbook given to me for my 7th birthday.


I started off putting my birthday cards and some school papers and various programs from my ballet class.


I must've forgotten about it because the next page sh0ws favorite musicians and TV shows from 1985-1986.


We got these really neat memory books my senior year - 1991- from the Josten's company.


I had a ton of fun filling it out. This page is about my senior prom. I went with my boyfriend, Nate. He's now my husband.


My next scrapbook came from Hallmark. I went to nanny in LA so I wanted something to hold all my memories in.


First page. The only tools I had were Scotch tape and Crayola markers.


As you can see in early 1992 I was already cutting my photos into groovy freehand shapes.


Ah, the magnetic album. Circa 1992-1993


Another primitive look at freehand cropping. I used a title and stickers from Hallmark.


A fun flannel covered three-ring binder given to us as a baby gift. Circa 1997.


Back in the late 90's there were about 12 colors of cardstock from Michaels. If you wanted any other color you had to resort to construction paper. Other tools: scalloped scissors and glue stick. I don't quite know what lightening bolts have to do with baby girls but there they are.


I was so excited when the Paper Pizzazz paper books came out. I think I bought every one and proceeded to use them on every page no matter how busy they were.


This layout was completed after purchasing my first idea book. I believe it was a Fiskars one. I soon subscribed to Memory Makers magazine.


My very first Creative Memories album. Circa 1998. I took out photos from a three ring binder and redid them in this album. It was an 8 1/2 X 11 because we couldn't afford the 12 X 12 and at the time we were getting our photos printed in the 3 X 5 format.


Using the Creative Memories triangle corner and strip of paper. I still use this combo.


My very first 12 X 12 page in late 1998.


I thought I was so clever making this hair dryer background.


An attempt to be really fancy. Circa 2000. I remember spending a lot of time on this page. Throughout the years I did very few fancy pages as I became a CM consultant for several years so that was the only product I used. Most of my pages were done using the CM idea books and CM Fast Formulas.

The following pages are ones I did at the last scrapbook retreat I went to. All of these layouts were inspired by the Creating Keepsakes Becky Higgins' Sketch books.






Looking back at the 10 year old layouts it's like looking back at pictures of yourself wearing the styles and hairdo of years past. Really embarrassing. I'd love to yank all those pictures out of the glue-sticked, construction paper pages and redo them all but I fear that in 10 years I will be facing the same dilemma.

Another Blog?

I wanted to share my creations but felt weird about having all of my personal laundry out there for people to read about. So now I have my crafting blog and my personal blog.

I fell in love with the art of scrapbooking again after attending a retreat several weekends ago after having not scrapped for close to six months and now I have been pouring over scrapbook magazines, websites and blogs. I started scrapbooking in 1998 and have completed many albums.

My personal scrapbooking philosophy is to keep it simple, don't get bogged down by the details, have fun and just get it done. I'm not one who strives for perfection and most of my pages are a throwback to the scrapping trends of about five years ago. I'll admit, I am so behind the times that I just recently started putting other embellishments besides stickers on my pages. I make no apologies about this though and my theory is that in 25, 50, 100 years my grand-children and future generations won't be able to tell exactly what month I did a certain page and what the trends were. The most important thing for me is that the photos and memories are preserved.

I also love to stamp and sew and notice that I will put all my stamping stuff away and focus on sewing for a month and then I will stamp for a month and then move on to scrapping. I'm torn at the moment because I feel in a groove with the scrapbooking thing but have just recently become addicted to the TV show Project Runway so I am inspired to create some lovely garments. I mostly sew American Girl doll clothes, pajama bottoms and curtains. Very basic stuff. I'm afraid I won't be coming out with my couture collection anytime soon.

I hope this blog is an enjoyable one.