It's all about Family!

Just wanted to quick post the Scrapbook Framed Family page I did for our parents for Christmas. Got to use a bit of my stash up! :)

This was Mother's Day this past May. The Pistons were in the playoffs and of course, they were playing on Mother's day. We all look at this photo & laugh
Thanks for looking - See you in the New Year!
Happy Craftin' and HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Min

Project Overload

Wow, I can hardly believe that 2008 is just about over?!
Well, I wanted to share the Family Chipboard album I did for my favorite cuz' Eric.

He loved it! I put a few photos in it (not in these photos). We took a really neat photo when we were all in Mexico that I included, as well as a family photo from our Black-Out BBQ last summer.

I included a photo of the entire album and then a photo of each page.

Hope you don't mind all the photos! :o)

Thanks for looking. Tomorrow? A Scrapbook photo frame I did for each of our parents.

Happy Craftin'!

Min

Gifts A Glow!

We hope you all had a lovely Christmas with your family and friends. We had a super busy but wonderful day with our families.
As promised, here are a few photos of just SOME of the projects I'd been working on for family and friends for Christmas.
I'd seen a few of these neat glass block projects that some talented ladies have created, but it wasn't until my Sis Shelly showed me a photo of one that she'd created did I decide I was on a mission to create a few unique glowing gifts.
With a little time, Cricut Design Studio and the materials (Wall Pops vinyl, Glass Blocks, a string of Christmas lights, Ribbon and Vellum), I was off and designing!

This was the first block I created - The Angel was designed by me with Design Studio. This gorgeous block was for my wonderfully sweet mother-in-law who loves angels and is an angel to many!)

This block was created for my mom. I love the swirls and the ribbons I found for these blocks. Heck, I never knew I could make these gorgeous ribbons.

I have to thank my sis Shelly for the next two photos. She shared with me the beautiful holly design, which I used for two of Glen's aunts. The second blue & white block (I made 2 of these also for Glen's two cousins, Geanine & Barb). I used Shelly's design and modified the holly & berries with snowflakes as both cousins have kids and snowflakes and kids just seem to go great together.

I was so pleased with how all of these turned out and EVERYONE (the receivers & other family & friend onlookers), absolutely loved these little works of art. My mom loved them so much that she and my dad headed to the home improvement store this morning to find me some more pre-drilled glass blocks to create and sell in her embroidery store.

Well, Glen was nice enough to get me some orgainzational cubes for my studio for Christmas so I think we'll put these little buggers together now so I can get to organizing my studio - as this is what it looked like after all the projects I've been finishing......

Can you say yikes what a chaotic mess?! (this is not usually how I work, I'm a bit OC about organization. . . . . which you obviously can't tell from this photo!)

The painting on the wall of the Tiger eyes is one that my mom did for me. Guess you can see where I get my creativity from. :)
Tomorrow I'll post a photo of the Family Album I did for my cousin Eric & John.
Happy Crafting! Min

Can you say SNOW?!

This was taken at 9:26 this morning - we were 'blessed' with our first big snow storm of the season (and it's not even winter yet!) It's 7 pm and we've got about 12 inches on the ground now. AND more coming tomorrow night, another 2-4 inches.

The snow is absolutely beautiful! I'll post another photo tomorrow of the final product on the deck.

Needless to say, between doing some shoveling to get our cars in and out of the driveway and cleaning off the walk ways, I was able to do a bit of crafting today. Of course, much of the crafting is Christmas projects I'm working on and can't quite post yet.

Happy Craftin' & if you're enjoyin' the snow with us, bundle up and stay warm tonight!

Min

Rockin' Christmas Tree

This was a quick little ditty I put together last night. I'm trying to use some of my stash lately.
Paper is American Crafts. Tree stamp and setiment are MME and of course Stickles for a little bling. The Setiment reads "Rockin' Around The Chrismas Tree..."

Thanks for stopping by today.
I've got some neat things to post once we make it past Christmas.
Happy Craftin' & Christmas shoppin'!
Min

Snowflakes Snowflakes, Here & There

Snowflakes Everywhere!

I'm not sure about you, but I love to watch it snow!

I love to watch the way it 'washes' everything clean and how still & quiet it sounds when it snows. And I LOVE how the snow sparkles & glistens when the sunlight hits it as it sits nestled in the branches of the trees.

Because we haven't had much snow (most of what we've gotten thus far melted yesterday with the 50+ degree weather). So, I thought I'd try and get into the Snowy Christmas mood by making this invitation last week.

Every year, Glen and I host Christmas Eve Dinner at Our house for our parents, Glen's Aunt, Uncle & cousins, along with our siblings. This year is no different and the menu is shaping up to be a YUMMY one. Anyway, I digress. So, I always try and send out 'invitations' to our Dinner party and this was what I came up with this year.

We absolutely LOVE the way it turned out although I'm STILL find glitter in the most interesting places.....on the cats, in the carpet, in the laundry, in the cabinets..... I've accepted the fact that I'll be wearing it regularly until I can get it all cleaned up from my studio, but I'm beginning to wonder just how much glitter my poor husband is wearing. :o)Printed Papers were Reminisce - Frosted Collection; Frosted Over & Frosted Window

White Glittery paper was Doodlebug Design

The Bling on the snowflakes were some that I had in my stash, but I think they were from either Archivers or Michaels.

Snowflake design was designed by me on Cricut Design Studio. The large snowflake in the center was cut once in the design and then by itself. Snowflake Frame and large snowflake are all on dimensionals.

So, right now, we don't have any snow, but hold on, according to the mighty weather forecaster here is our forecast for tomorrow afternoon/evening:

Tuesday night Snow showers early will become steadier snow overnight. Low 23F. Winds ENE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of snow 80%. Significant snow accumulation possible.

I love the "Significant snow accumulation possible" part.......

Guess we'll see if they're right tomorrow!

Happy Craftin!

Min

Full Speed Ahead into the Holidays.......

Christmas Cards are complete (with the exception of a few extra I need to finish).
They're in their envies and the stamps are going on them tonight. In the mail they go tomorrow.

This is what they look like with the 'gift' pulled out. Inside are our well wishes for a happy holiday season. The Happy Holidays photo on the little gift card package was taken while we were in Aruba this summer. Tonight is cut & assemble night for Christmas Eve Dinner invitations.

Hope you're getting a little crafting complete......Happy Crafting! Min

Whew, what a weekend.....

and while I didn't have a lot of time to create any scrappy stuff, I made 22 dozen cookies for our 4th annual cookie exchange today.

Here's just a little sample of what was on the cookie trays.....

Yummy, huh? You BET!

And, to add with our Whew - weekend, we got quite a bit of snow yesterday, about 4" (even though they were only calling for 2") - and with the snow, it's gotten bitter cold. So, today was a perfect day to enjoy the warmth of the fireplace as well as the warmth of friendship and family. I thought I'd share a photo of our Christmas lights with the new snow. Well, we'll be back to creativity tomorrow. . . . hopefully the sugar buzz will wear off in time for crafty time tomorrow evening!

Here's hoping you're all keeping warm and enjoying the holiday!

Happy crafting! Min

Tis the Season. . . . .

So, I was planning to finish our Christmas cards last night - just needed to attach the photo and assemble. Of course, as luck would have it, I ran out of the adhesive refills for my Xyron tape runner. DOH! Guess you know where I'll be stopping on the way home tonight......

So, because I don't have our Christmas Cards finished yet to show you--I can't bring myself to take a photo until the cards are OFFICIALLY FINISHED, I thought I'd quick share a card I finished over the weekend.

This was inspired by Cheryl's Tree Challenge over at Scrap-friendzy.

If you're looking for some FUN Christmas/Holiday inspiration, check out scrap-friendzy.com for the 12 Days of Christmas Challenges. The Girlz over there have come up with some super fun challenges that will help you get ready for the holidays.

Happy Creating!

Min

How Was Your Turkey Day?

I hope this finds everyone getting into the holiday spirit! We had such a nice holiday this past weekend! Thursday Glen and I spent the day tinkering around the house, getting Christmas lights finished, our snow village put together and smelling the yummy turkey dinner cooking.

This is the Christmas Village Glen always does such a fabulous job organizing. Isn't it awesome? We've both decided that we're going to need a bigger fireplace topper for next year as our village is turning into a little town!

We usually do our 'Turkey Day After' Dinner the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Everyone comes to our house for dinner - my folks, Glen's mom & dad, brother Rick and my cousin Eric & John. We eat, eat, eat, drink and are merry! Glen and his brother each year fry our turkey and we have a plethora of yummy 'extras'. This year was no exception - we hardly had any 'tovers!
I hope you all were able to enjoy your family and friends like we did!

My apologies for being such a blog slacker! I can't believe it's been two and a half weeks since I've blogged!
I don't know about you, but it never ceases to amaze me with just HOW busy everything gets this time of the year! Whew!

This weekend, we have our annual Cookie Exchange Party (Sunday), so this week will be spent finalizing the menu for brunch and then the cookie making starts Friday. I'll be sure to take photos of all the wonderful cookies we end up with! This is one of my favorite parties because we have the chance to share all these wonderful treats with friends and family that aren't bakers or are too far away to join us.
Creativity has been scarce these past few weeks - I've been so busy working on Christmas Gifts (of course, I can't post them b/c then they wouldn't be a surprise to those who are getting them......

But, I was able to work on a few cards on Sunday. Tonight I plan to finish our Christmas Cards and finish our Christmas Eve Dinner invitations. Sure need to get those in the mail!
Happy Crafting! Min

Yummy Papers!

How Yummy are these Bo Bunny papers?

Hopefully by mid-December I'll have a Winter Fun Snowman project to share.

We've revised & rescheduled the Snowman Chipboard Album class for December 13 as we aren't able to get the background papers in a timely manner from the supplier.

So, we're going to do a WINTER FUN Snowman Chipboard Album class instead on January 17 using these wonderful papers and other yummy items!

Stay tuned!

Min

Christmas in the Air

So, the Cookie Exchange invitations went in the mail this past Friday for the fourth annual Cookie Exchange.

Here is the invite for this year - I tried some digi-invites with just a little bit of traditional scraping. It's a two part invitation - this is just the PDF file that I printed off. The actual invite had the JOY popped up on dots for dimension. Sorry they're so hard to read.....I just thought the design and colors were kind of neat.

And, the Homemade Christmas Card production began on Sunday. Homemade Christmas Cards, that's what we're sending out this year! In the past, we've always done a family 'newsletter', but this year, we decided to change it up a bit. So, Sunday afternoon, I ran to Michaels to pick up stacks of red, white and green papers & opalescent ribbon. The envies have been ordered and the papers are being cut. I hope to have one compeltely assembled that I can show you tomorrow. I think they'll be super cute!

So, do you make your own Holiday Cards?

Happy Holiday Craftin'!

Min

Snowman Chipboard Album Class

The class for the snowman album has been confirmed for Saturday, December 13 from 1-4 pm at Live Laugh Love & Scrap in Oxford. Call to reserve your space for the class at 248-236-8181 as space is limited.

You can check out photos of the entire album here: http://kayminkreations.blogspot.com/2008/11/mission-possible.html

Hoping for some creative progress today as Christmas is right around the corner and the Christmas cards have yet to be started.

Happy Craftin'!

Min

Amazing....

just what appears out of nowhere when you move the furniture, isn't it?

So these little black & yellow babies disappeared, maybe a year ago or so. I looked and looked, thinking I was crazy and they were someplace I was just completely overlooking.

Imagine my surprise when the sofa was moved today so the carpets could be cleaned for the holiday what we unearthed?! Uno Attack cards (this is something we play with on a regular basis with my Godson Colin - he's 3 and loves the way the cards shoot out), a ballpoint pen that had disappeared into 'sofa oblivion', my Mexico bracelet, a knitting needle, needle markers and several other odds and ends, along with the dust bunnies that call the sofa home.

So, tell me, what have you lost and magically located when the furniture was moved?

Well, I've finally made it to my craft desk and am hoping to make some creative progress while I wait for the carpets to dry a bit.

I had a chance to chat with one of my favorite friends Shelly today and she has inspired me to get moving on our Christmas cards. Thanks Shel!

I hope you have a wonderfully creative weekend! If you're in the Michigan area, bundle up, they're talking about 1-3 tomorrow night. Brrrr, Grrrrrr!

Min

Mission Possible!

So, my mission this weekend, other than making some chili that Glen and I have both been craving (IT WAS YUMMO!!) and a bit of laundry was completing this cute little Snowman book that I wrote about Thursday.
He's DONE! I was able to wrap him up this morning and didn't he turn out cute??

The photos don't do him justice, he's so much cuter in person, with his little scarf fuzzy, buttons, googley eyes and popped up pieces.
I used the Sandylion Kelly Panacci paper line - Let It Snow, Seasons Greetings Florentine Ribbons & Holiday Dots along with WorldWin Cardstock that matches the papers

And of course, it wouldn't be a fun project without my Cricut. I used Joys of the Season & Christmas Cheer.

Also used inks to make it look aged, a few buttons, stickles for a bit of bling, googley eyes and some DMC floss & yarn from my stash.

Right now, the class is scheduled for November 22 from 1-4, but may be switched to December 13. Stay tuned for an update.

Thanks for lookin & happy craftin!

Min

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow.....

Okay, we don't actually WANT Snow - I'm sure NOT ready for the white stuff yet, but someone brought to my attention that Christmas is like 7 weeks away??

{Panic is setting in as I type}

So, speaking of Christmas being right around the corner, here's a super cute gift idea -

it's the newest chipboard album that I'll be teaching a class for this month.

Isn't he adorable???

What do you think?

Of course, the googley eyes are back :)

I think his scarf needs some fringe, what do you think??

I believe the class is scheduled for November 22 at Live Laugh Love & Scrap in Oxford. I'll post more of the details once I have them (cost and time).

With the cold weather moving in, I've got cleaning and crafting on my to do list this weekend.

Santa Fe Chicken Tortellini is on the menu for tonight and I think Football & Chili is on the menu for tomorrow - YUMMO! Just need to pick up some crusty bread on the way home from work.

Happy Craftin'!

Min

Fall Delight

This is a layout that I did for Live Laugh Love Scrap -

I'm so happy with the way it turned out.

I used a few different Cricut cuts -

The Wagon & Fence are from Paper Dolls

The Tree & leaves are from Stretch your Imagination

Pumpkins are from Doodlecharms

Text - Base Camp

Grass, Large Leaf with title in it is from Plantin' Schoolbook, the Roly Poly feature

Photo mats are double matted with WorldWin Cardstock

Buttons were used for wagon wheels

And of course, you've got to have stickles!

Happy Craftin' today! Don't forget to vote! Min

Our Project from Last Week.....

Included getting ready for my Nephew Colin's 3rd Birthday.

Colin's our Halloween Baby, so of course his parties are costume themed. :)

This year's theme was Cooking & Food.

Chef Colin was the most adorable Chef I've ever seen!

(you can check out our family site for other costumes & photos from the party!)

If I think of it, I'll have to post the invitations Amy designed. They were too cute!

Glen dressed up as 'The Herb Man' and I was 'Menu Min'.

Those little packets inside Glen's vest each had a different Herb or Spice in them.

They were all hand filled, printed, labeled & sealed!

Must have been why he won for the 3rd year, Best Adult Costume!

And of course, a 3rd birthday that included a Thomas the Train gift, HAD to have a custom Thomas the Train Birthday Card.

This was the Card I made for his birthday.

Happy Craftin!

I'm hoping to get a bunch done tomorrow as I have the day off for Election Day!

Don't forget to VOTE!!

Min