Keep Calm and...

Available in My Etsy Shop

That about sums it up. Since finally getting a Cricut die cutting machine a few short months ago (yes, I know that I am waaaay behind the times), it has become my mini obsession. I initially made the sign above for my NEW scrapbooking room (details to follow in a few days!). Then I made another one

in a different color:

Available in My Etsy Shop

And then another one...

Available in My Etsy Shop

And then I decided that I wanted a bigger one but was too exhausted at that point to make it. I thought that these little pieces of Cricut art were so cute that I would add them to my Etsy Shop. I mean come on, who really needs 3 of the same sign in their scrapbook room anyway?

Now to decide which color to make my bigger sign.....

Thanks for looking!

Suzanne.

Anaheim Scrapbook Expo 2014

The Anaheim Scrapbook Expo was so much fun! Although it ran over a 3-day period, I was only able to attend for 1 day. This means that I pretty much stuck with the large exhibit floor, trying my hand at make-and-takes, watching demos of all of the new paper crafting products, and of course, shopping! Actually, I walked away with money in pocket, which definitely took some will power with all of the oodles of nice supplies available. I mainly purchased scrapbook kits (10+), storage boxes, Stickles, and plenty of BLING!

I earned some cute collector buttons for various activities...

I was given some cute ideas for cards and paper crafting projects...

It was a fun day and I highly recommend the Scrapbook Expo if it is near your city anytime soon. My friend and I are already planning our next trip to the Scrapbook Expo, which will be in San Diego, CA in June 2014. All of the details can be found HERE.

Thanks for reading and have a great day!

Suzanne.

Scrapbook Expo

Yay! Tomorrow, my friend and I will be up in Anaheim, CA at the Scrapbook Expo! Since tickets are also sold at the door, if you are within the vicinity of Anaheim and are looking for some major fun tomorrow, why don't you attend? You can find all of the fun information out HERE. I will post within the next couple of days about our adventures! Now if we can just stay away from Disneyland, which is literally right across the street....

Have a great weekend,

Suzanne.

A Few More Mason Jars...

The other day, I posted about my beautiful blue mason jars, and how I love using them for decorative storage in my craft room. Well, I also like to use plain masons for craft storage... I am not that particular. I have never met a mason jar that I haven't loved *sigh*. Here are a few more pictures of the "plain" masons that I use...

Here I have 5 mason jars (there are 2 hidden behind the ones in front), and one regular vase (I won this vase at a Close To My Heart Convention a few years ago), corralled on a vintage Coca-Cola tray. The large mason holds some random buttons that I use for card making. The 4 smaller masons are wide-mouth jars, large enough to stuff a small army of ribbon through the top. 

A few posts ago, I wrote about my new pegboard. The framing of the pegboard is my favorite part, as I painted it a beautiful Lagoon color. Since I had some leftover spray paint from that project, I also painted a few more items around my craft room, including the rims and lids to these mason jars.

When I have only a few inches of ribbon left on my spools, I take off the remainder and wrap it around a large popsicle stick (also called a tongue depressor, or jumbo craft stick). The 4 smaller jars in the picture above hold my ribbon remnants, partially separated by style (grosgrain, twine, waxy flax, organdy, etc.). It's a handy way to store ribbon and save on space in my ribbon organizers!

Ahhh, just look at that gorgeous color! A new coat of paint, even on smaller items,  can really change things up in the craft room!

Have a crafty day,

Suzanne.

Blue Ball Mason Jars

Just hearing the name "Mason Jars" gets my creative juices flowing! I can can food with them, paint and decorate them, add some flowers to them, and use them for both practical and decorative storage. In my pantry, I always open up new bags of dried beans and decant them into my quart sized mason jars for optimal freshness. And, in my craft room, I use the BEAUTIFUL Blue Ball Mason Jars for pretty (and economical) storage of craft supplies and tools. Take a peek into my craft space, to see how I use these jars...

I keep my smaller glues and tools front and center in my Blue Jars.

The cute jar labels came from the Better Homes and Gardens website. I printed them in the blue color that I wanted and then laminated them before cutting out and attaching to the jars with coordinating Baker's twine.

More organizational eye candy... although the contents of those green jars on top could use a make-over.

Ah, beautiful Blue Masons. No lids required.

I also have regular Mason Jars that I use throughout my craft room for additional storage, which I will share in another post.

Now, go and grab your granny's old jars, or purchase some new ones and get busy organizing your craft supplies!

Have a great weekend,

Suzanne.

My Paper Doll Obsession

What is it about paper dolls that make them so dang adorable? Ever since I can remember, I have loved paper dolls. As a child, I enjoyed the books of cut out dolls and clothing. I would cut around the tabs with great care as not to ruin any potential doll outfit. Each doll would be handled with care and lovingly tucked away at the end of play time.

These days, I no longer "play" with dolls, but I do love to create my own for my scrapbooks and cards. I especially like to make look-alike dolls of whomever I am scrapbooking. Here, let me show you...

This is my son...

...and, this is my daughter.

I recently created these dolls to match my kids and their soccer uniforms from when they were younger. I was getting so many compliments on my paper dolls, that I decided to sell them and opened up an Etsy shop, where I make customized paper dolls. Or maybe I should say, WILL make, since I only opened a few days ago and have not yet received my first order.

If you are obsessed with paper dolls (like me!), or just need a little cuteness in your day, you can check out my paper dolls here...

Scrapbooking Sue's Etsy Shop

Thanks for looking!

Suzanne.