Sorry I'm late...

Hi there. Thanks for stopping by today after my rambly post on Thursday ;). Sorry I promised to get this up Friday, but it was a crazy day!

Anyway, I wanted to share the other project (a mini-book) I made from Paper Niche’s March Kit. So, as I mentioned in yesterday's post, the kit included fabulous papers from Crate Paper’s Restoration Collection (wowza - I’ve been dying for some Crate Paper for the longest!!!!!!). Paper Niche is going to be getting some of their new lines too!! Yippie!!! The Crate Paper Blog is SO inspiring. Amazing DT work going on over there. Everyday, I tell you!

Until now, I’ve never used Crate Paper goodies, although I’ve been dying to (like I said, their blog inspires me to no end!). Something I didn’t know from the pictures... their paper is A-MAZING!!! Have you ever had the opportunity to FEEL Crate Paper!?! One side is all soft & papery, while the other side is textured, and lush!! Both sides have fabulous designs!!! I had the best time with it. AND the kit also boasts a FULL SHEET of Crate Paper chipboard accents (bliss I tell you).

I decided to fill it with pics from a trip we took to NYC back in July 2000. I didn't have that many pics from that trip (where are they all?!?), which was actually perfect because the book is only 4 pages. It’s titled “Seeing NYC with Family”. Everything in this book was included in the March kit. I have to say, I had a lot of fun making the canvas flowers. Been wanting to experiment with that for a while!

Seeing these pictures reminded me of a different time for Sal & I. We were 20 & 21. It was 8 months away from our wedding. This was a really exciting trip for us. While we’re both originally from NY (him from Long Island - and both of his sisters & their families still live there, and me from Upstate), we both moved to FL with our families when we were young (Sal 10 & me 4). Neither of us had ever been to New York City!! We caught the train in with Sal’s oldest sister & our niece & nephew. We did so much on that day trip. Had a blast. It was a great experience. We went on a “Circle Line (boat) Tour” which was awesome - you get to see the entire city areas in one trip. We went to the top of the Empire State Building. Went to Times Square. Took the Subway. Saw a lot of people pee in public (?!?!?). We were such tourists, I know, but WE WERE :D. it was nice to share it with the kids too (they’re 21 & 14 now!).

Here ya go:






I had to add my little "Made by Heather Innusa" stamp :). Thanks for peeking. I had a great time making this, I really did. It took me back - 10 years (almost 11)!! WOW! The Restoration line was perfect for this project, and the book was made out of 4 of the 5 huge chipboard pages (with rings) they also included in the kit. It was begging for a mini book in my opinion. If you want more inspiration, go check out what the rest of the Design Team {Gine, Beatriz, Veronica, and Tara} did with the Kit. They are amazing!!!! how cool is it that we ALL get the same exact kit, and interpret it completely different. We all have our own styles. That's some cool stuff!

I hope you have a great weekend - thanks for peeking into my world :).

Gifted Mini!!

Hello there! Hope your week has been delightful so far ;). As for me, I’m just SO ready for Friday all ready (P.S. tomorrow's my Friday - squeel)!

I wanted to share a lil Cupcake mini-book that I made as a gift for my massage therapist, Jeanine. I started seeing her about a month and a half ago as a result of my car accident (on 11/30/10). Turns out I have 3-4 herniated discs in my neck - YAY! I had headaches for - NO LIE - 10 weeks straight (all day long - it was horrible!) and now, because of her healing hands, I’m only having them occasionally, maybe 3-4 times a week at different times of the day... but that’s A LOT better than what it was!! It’s manageable, and for that, I’m very thankful!!

Anyway, she gave her 2 week notice :( and is going off onto bigger and better things (boooo). I’ve really enjoyed chatting her up these past few weeks and I’ll really miss her. Hopefully we'll get together (take our kids to the park together & stuff like that) but I still wanted to make her a little something.

I going to make her a little card set as a going-away present, but then I remembered how she was telling me that she threw her daughter, Sage, a “princess tea” type 5th Birthday Party a few weeks ago - with tulle everywhere, bedazzled everything, and decorate your own cupcakes type stuff. Uuuuuber girly ;), so I looked around my stash and found a chipboard mini that I had gotten at Michaels for $1.00. Perfect! Then I looked into my paper stash & found this Sassafras Lass Hedgehog paper/sticker kit. Here’s a look at the finished project:



For the embellishments - and extra pretty - I punched various sized circles & crinkled/chalked them red for flowers. Finished them up with some brads (Doodlebug), buttons (Papertrey Ink), and twine (The Twinery).

Anyway, what do you think??? I HATE leaving empty space. I resisted going crazy and filling every open space. It’s always hard for me to make “blank” books. I usually prefer to make it for someone and go off of what pictures are going to be used to create a general theme - plan of action - and add the pictures myself. In this case, I couldn't do that - it was a gift. It was a challenge, but I think I got through it with it still looking kinda cute. I actually felt like it wasn’t too great (I'm telling you, I really hate empty spaces - they stress me out). Also, my hand drawn apostrophe {‘} on the cover also played really hard on my (self-diagnosed) OCD. The letter stickers didn’t come with one... I should’ve used something else (Thickers of a coordinating color or SOMETHING!)... Oh well, I’ll just have to get over it.

I gave it to her this morning and she loved it :D. Said it was “amazing” and that she’d never seen anything like it. That made me super happy. I always {secretly} like that. To someone who isn’t into crafting, anything homemade is “amazing”. It makes people feel super loved! And that makes me REALLY happy and full! She like it - that’s ALL that mattered.

I hope you have a great day!!

Alivia @ 2 & a 1/2 Mini

Good morning! Hope you had a great weekend! I sure did! Had great family time. On Friday, my mom & I got pedicures. It was really nice. She's been really positive. It's just crazy to me, her strength and courage. She's an amazing woman. It's unreal how God uses experiences like hers to bring people closer. Rebuild relationships. Teaches us compassion, empathy, and love that we didn't REALLY know before. I'm learning a lot from this experience. I know she is as well.

On Saturday, my hubby had something to do, so I took my kiddos to a (County) park. It was great! We fed the ducks, played on their really cool playground, threw rocks into the lake ;). We were there for about 3 hours. It was amazing! It seems like we spent all day Sunday at church, which wasn't a bad thing. Lots of service, which is always good for the spirit. We taught Sunday School in the morning, then helped with & cooked dinner for the kids' youth program (Marines for God). I also watched a few movies (on cable - not out anywhere) with my hubby. I don't know how on earth I got so lucky to have found that man. He is the best guy I know. Awesome husband, dad, son, and uncle. I just love him to pieces.

This was just one of those weekends where you KNOW that you are SO blessed you could burst! Sometimes I feel kinda bad for NOT acknowledging that everyday. It's evident everywhere. All around me. Sometimes I get so busy that I don't thank God enough for it. I should be doing it every day! I hope to be more diligent about that. Have to not get so wrapped up in everything. He deserves that Glory!

Ok, so, I also got my craft on in MAJOR ways this weekend! I've been so busy the past few weeks making things with my Paper Niche kit... I mean, I couldn't stop! There was SO much goodness in this month’s kit. Unbelievable goodness. But since they haven't released the kit yet, I haven't been able to share all those projects with you (hopefully TOMORROW... maybe Wednesday).

Anyway, what I wanted to share with you all today is a mini-book I made for my baby girl. “Alivia @ 2 & a ½”. I used this lovely - super girly - patterned paper (and brads) by My Minds Eye. The chipboard book is Maya Road - love love LOVE this book!! It’s SO fun! She’s such a sweet girl, my little Lulu. And she loves all of our scrapbooks so much, and just adores when she’s in the pictures, so I thought this’d be real fun for her. Got myself into trouble though, because now my niece, Paige (9 ½), & my son, Christian. (5 ½) want one too ;). Ooooof course they do. I have my work cut out for me. Here's a looksie:





Of course, I had to use my coveted Lawn Fawn Stamps on the cover. I just always feel like everything I do needs - NEEDS - a banner. This banner. I used 3 LF Sets, Banneriffic, Jessie's ABCs, and Critters in the Burbs. Sigh. I love them so. Hoping & praying Paper Niche starts carrying Lawn Fawn (begged them to check em out at CHA & my fingers are officially crossed!!). Also, don't mind my wonky pics. I'm desperately in need of a new camera. Either that or I suck @ taking pics of inaniment objects. Whatever! Well that's today's crafty goodness ;). Hope you have a Happy Monday (if there is such a thing hee hee).

Success!

Morning, all. Hope the weekend was wonderful for you. Mine was good, but totally exhausting! The Bargain Hunt on Saturday was wonderful. It went on from 8am to 2pm, and while it started off slow, in the end I made $150.00 for The American Cancer Society's Relay for Life - just by my selling my crafts!! I'm so happy and proud of myself! My cards literally "flew off the shelves" and all of my pretty spinning photo boxes and recipe boxes that I made sold :D. I'd definitely say it was a success!!

I was too exhausted to craft all weekend though. I WANTED to, I really did. I had my new Lawn Fawn Stamps and had SO many good crafty ideas for them, but my mind was too exhausted! I don't like to craft in a state like that (I wont be happy with ANYTHING I make if I do). I just rested, enjoyed the time with my hubby and babies, taught Sunday School on Sunday and then helped with the children's program that night. It was a nice weekend.

After the kids were asleep Sunday night I started getting the itch ;). I tried to ignore it, because I really was just...tired... but I scooped myself up and went through all my pictures (seems like a never ending pile - sheesh!!) and got out a few stacks to make some books. Then, yesterday, I finished this little cutie mini!
The pics are from last April ('09) when my sister-in-law and niece came down from New York. My son always has the BEST time when they're here and basically has a smile on his face their entire visit. So, I used a Maya Road mini and painted the edges if it different primary colors with acrylic paint. After it dried, I got out October Afternoon's Seaside collection that I've been hoarding for about a month now and went wild. I just LOOOOOOVE this paper!! I couldn't wait to get my hands on it - and it seemed like it took FOREVER for me to find it. I finally snatched it up from 2Peas, but my LSS just got it a week or so ago, and I totally went in and picked up a few extras ;). Here's a looksie at the inside pages:








(I know, my camera apparently SUCKS at taking pictures of my crafts. Random pics come out blurry, I don't know what to do about it. Sigh. Sorry.)

To make it complete - and funky fresh ;) after distressing all the edges, I added bunch of the Seaside sticker elements, some black rinestones (to the crabs' eyes) and pearls (both Keiser Crafts) (to the sand dollars), some Papertrey Buttons, bakers twine from The Twinery,a ticket, a kite stamp (also Papertrey), a bunch of random ribbon and fibers, and the fabulous flowers I learned from Cosmo Cricket (I looooove these flowers, and absolutely LOVE making them!!!). I know it's hard to tell, but the star fish are also heat embossed with a really cool multi-colored embossing powder.

I added in some hidden journaling. and I kept the back of it pretty basic, just used the waves and the little boy playing with the sailboat from the sticker element page. My son had a fit until I stamped it with my "Handmade By" stamp. He just LOVES that thing and thinks no project of mine is complete nowadays without it. My sweet boy. so encouraging to my craft (or habit as my husband says).

Well, that's my share for today. You like?? Hopefully there will be more to share later this week. I was going to start another mini today (Christmas themed) but I'm pretty sure I'm getting sick - and I feel awful, so I may not be into it. We shall see. Hope you have a wonderful {crafty} day!!

Happy Fall Y'All

Good Monday, everyone! My post today is a mini that I made for my son. I've been getting so crafty lately, that he finally said "Mom, when are you going to make a mini-book JUST for me? Don't I make you things ALL the time?" So... after looking through my mini-chipboard books, I decided to use a Maya Road mini I picked up from Paper Niche (that just the BESTEST LSS in my area!!) last year when they had a great sale (50% off all chipboard books - I got two of these little cuties!!). I just knew it'd come in handy. I was going to do a "Halloween" themed book and then just add in pics after this Halloween, but I decided on doing a "Fall" theme book instead. I had printed all of these pics from my son's (Preschool) Fall Festival 2 years ago (I HAVEN'T EVEN SCRAPPED THAT YET - BAD MOMMY!!). Anyways, I took and printed SO many pics, that I figured it would work out perfectly for this project (and, seriously, if i scrapped all of these pics, it'd be A 10 pager probably!!).

So, I used Basic Grey's "Max & Whiskers" papers. I just think the colors are so fall, and just go perfectly. Of course, I had to use my Lawn Fawn Bannerific/Harold’s ABC’s (also used Sophie’s Sentiments for that adorable little horseshoe!!) because it seems that nothing I can do now-a-days can't NOT have that awesome banner in it(and it fits the word HAPPY perfectly)!!!! I just LOVE it. It makes me happy! Add in some Papertrey Ink buttons, and so much ribbon that I lost track of it all - and I made my little man super happy yesterday! This is the front, back, and a middle view. of course, I HAD to finish it off with my "Made by" stamp (my son's orders - "mom! how will anyone know YOU made it?!?". P.S. In case anyone is wondering. I got this stamp on Etsy from "scribbling club" - and I ABSOLUTELY love it!!!!


That little "thingy" on my chest is my sweet Alivia (she was only 3 months at the time - so, I had her in the Baby Katan). I added a few lil pics of my son in the hay, riding the pony, playing with his friends, jumping in the bounce house...





I still have LAST year's Fal Fest pics to tend to. I do have another Pumpkin ;) hhhmmmm...OH! Wait, this year Alivia will be participatng in the Fall Fest... Exciting!! Well, that's my share for today. Hope you have a lovely day!!

Christian's Mini-book

And this is my beautiful spunky boy. While I crafted a good part of 2 hours away on Saturday - so did he. I love that he loves drawing, cutting, gluing, and doing all things crafty! It allows me to be crafty AND still spend quality time with him at the same time. We love playing with craft goodies together! So this is what he was making while I was making my Lawn Fawn Stamp home.




It’s a “mini book about my family n stuff” as he called it. He got it for his birthday in April, It has a bunch of foam shapes, a glue stick, a bunch of cute funky patterned papers, and a spiral book to put it all in. He’s definitely a keeper, this little boy of mine. I can’t wait for Lulu to get a little bigger so we can put her creativity to the test.

A place to keep my Lawn Fawn stamps cozy ;)

So does anyone else’s stamp collections look like this? Hee hee.

I’ve got all kinds: Tim Holts, Unity, Papertrey Ink, Stampedious, Hero Arts, the list goes on, and on. I really love stamps. Maybe I have a problem. Lately my new favorite stamps are all from Lawn Fawn!! I don’t really remember how I even found Lawn Fawn - online obviously - but I just stumbled on it one day and loved the stamps. What’s NOT to love? Between the beautiful stamps, their awesome Design Team, and Kelly Marie's fabulous video tutorials!! They’ve got everything to make a crafty girl happy.

So anyways, I’ve been TRYING to keep my Lawn Fawn Stamps together in this heap of a mess for a while now. What I did was put two sheets of stamps in each packaging (that the stamps originally come to me in). This worked for a little while, but the packaging started ripping (uh, duh, that’s because they’re only supposed to house ONE sheet, not two). I know. So they were just free floating in my messy drawer for a few weeks now. I do not like that.

I had bookmarked a mini acrylic book used to house stamps that someone made on the Maya Road Blog last year. I though it was too cool! But when I though about making one, I was so overwhelmed because I have so many different brands and types of clear stamps that I though it would just be a crazy/mixed up mess.

Well, this weekend when Alivia laid down for her afternoon nap, and while my sweet son made his own little mini book with his craft supplies, I decided I would be making my Lawn Fawn Stamps a home! I still had a bunch of this Bo Bunny paper (cant remember the line, sorry) so I decided to use my stash on this one. I also used two Clear Snaps tabbed mini books (1 acrylic and 1 chipboard - exactly the same, but I only used the straight edge paged of the chipboard book) that I picked up several years ago and just haven’t used. The cover is acrylic, (I covered the back of it with paper) and then I put the stamps on the tabbed acrylic pages, and a chipboard page in between covered in that beautious paper so that my stamps wouldn’t get stuck and come off. This is a front/back page view. I kept the back super simple. I had this little tin plate from when I subscribed to Crazy Daisy’s Kit Club. It’s just been hanging around my crafty space for a while, and I absolutely love it. It SO inspires me.

Here are the rest of this pics. As you can see, I distressed all of the page edges - because I have a lot of fun doing that - and I also used the sticker element page and letter stickers that came with this line (Bo Bunny) throughout the book. To finish it off, I stamped “Heather’s Happy Place” on the clear tabs and used my Handmade By: Stamp on the back of the book using black StazOn Ink. I also made a cute little pocket for the stamp casing. I have to admit, I was scared to disregard them. What if this great idea doesn’t work out for me? What if my stamps don’t stick? It would be horrible to have all my pretties with no home...just a precaution ;). But I hope it does work. I love it. So fun. A pretty home to do my “Lawn Fawn Loveliness” justice.





The last page is sad because my Heebie Jeebies are all alone :(. but not for long because I just ordered the "Cozy Christmas" stamps...and they're on the way!! Woo Hoo. I'll probably get them today - super excited!! This is the first time I'll be making my own Christmas Cards, and I'm also making some for my Grandma too ;).
So that’s that. Hope you have a great day!!!