Egg Carton Love

You know how much I love to recycle things if you've been around my blog much. I saw on Pinterest where someone recycled an egg carton and knew I had to give it a try. 6-piece egg cartons are even cuter! (got mine at petchicken.com) AND if you know me at all, you know I like to be a non-traditionalist at times, so rather than decorate a carton for Easter, I decided I wanted to decorate one for Valentine's Day.

I ♥ Fancy Pants' Blissful Blizzard line and yes it is a winter line, but going out of the box, I think the colors are perfect for Valentine's Day as well!

I cut the hearts with my George Cricut cartridge and inked all the edges. Then just started layering using Tombow adhesives. The lace is from My Arts. Oh and the carton is lightly spray painted white. Now all I need are some wrapped candies to fill the inside with.

I am also linking this up to Country Girl at Home for her Pinned It Made It Monday challenge.

Our Craft Lounge Closing Doors

I just received this info from OCL:



January 2013

It is with great sadness that we write this newsletter to let you know that Our Craft Lounge will be closing our doors.

We will be having an Inventory Blowout Sale starting today, Sunday, January 27th. This will be your last chance to pick up some great deals on some AMAZING stamp sets.

Thanks to our customers and retailers for all of your support through the years!

50% off all stamps, no minimum purchase, does not include taxes or shipping. Shop now at www.ourcraftlounge.com.

Once again, thank you so much for your support!

Sincerely,

The OCL Staff & Creative Team

BFB Echoes by Robin Jones Gunn

Echoes is book three in the Glenbrook series. After hearing about his sister's broken engagement, Lauren's brother introduces her to the internet. He sets her computer up and shows her how to enter chat rooms. He even goes as far as finding her a "penpal" (KC), who she finds she can be open with over the next year, talking about all her loves, esp Robert and Elizabeth Browning books and poems. She finds herself falling in love with him, but can she risk her heart again if she meets him?

I loved this 3rd book in the series and love that it doesn't have to be read in the series to know what is going on, but stands alone on its own.

I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.

Bluebird Tag

I think my body is finally getting back to normal after the jet lag. Amazing how just a 2 hour time difference can get me out of whack! I have a cute bluebird tag to share today.

 All the pieces were cut with the Cricut. Designer paper from Fancy Pants and Echo Park; ribbon: May Arts; kraft cardstock: Bazzill.

Adhesives used were Tombow's Glue Pen and Mono Adhesive Dots.

Pinned It Made It Monday

After taking last week off since I was at CHA, I am back with a couple more things I have made from my pinned boards on Pinterest. These two recipes I made over Christmas break for Aaron's birthday.

The first is Peanut Butter Chocolate Dessert

source

He liked it so much, he said I could make it every year for his birthday. 

He has been asking for donuts for his birthday, so I made some, but the picture of mine is just dough dabs (pinch off dough and fry). I did make donuts, but they got eaten up before I remembered I wanted to take a picture of them.

source

mine Ü

I am also linking this up to Country Girl at Home for her Pinned It Made It Monday challenge.

Cherr-i-o

As you read this, I will be on a plane returning from CHA in Anaheim, CA. I am sure I will have had a great time and will have lots of fun things to share with you in the coming weeks.

Today I have a fun card to share with you using individually wrapped lifesavers.

Designer paper is from Fancy Pants Designs’ Blissful Blizzard line (except for leaves and they were just cut from some scraps I had). I adhered the strips on the bottom of the card with Mono Adhesive Permanent and then placed my lifesavers where I wanted and adhered them with 1/4 of a Power Tab.

With Dual Brush Pen #158-Dark Olive, I drew the stems and then hand cut the leaves. The sentiment was created on my computer.

I am so excited!

I have several projects that are on the Michael's website. I was asked by Tombow if I would design some projects for Michael's and you can see them in these links.

Mini Junior Legal Pad
Floral Card
Mouse Trap
Altered Storage Jar
Home is Where the Heart Is

Pinned It Made It Monday

It is time to get back to Pinned It Made It Monday! I have a yummy chicken recipe to share with you today.

Here is a picture from Pinterest.

source: Life as a Lofthouse

I served ours on white cooked rice. I also doubled the sweet and sour sauce.

I am also linking this up to Country Girl at Home for her Pinned It Made It Monday challenge.

Eucharisteo

My word for 2013 is Eucharisteo yoo-khar-is-teh'-o v.

1. to be grateful, feel thankful
2. give thanks

Last year I started reading 1000 Gifts by Ann Voskamp and was challenged to take the Joy Dare this year. She was challenged by a friend to write down 1000 things she was thankful for and it resulted in a book to share with others to do the same thing. If you write down 3 things each day, you will have written down over 1000 things you are thankful for in a year's time. On her blog you can find monthly calendars to print out for prompts if you need them. I may use some of hers and may just write my own.

James 1:2 says "Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds". We definitely met all kinds of trials in 2012 and I hope I don't have to go thru all of that in one year again. But as hard as the loss of friends and family, the loss of security and friendships and the loss of faith in others was, it was a year of learning and for that I can give thanks. I hope it has made me a stronger person...stronger in my faith, stronger against those who mean harm and stronger in believing that God will take care of me and my family even though we don't know what the future holds, where we may or may not be living and what jobs we may or may not have.

So to keep track of my 1000+ things I am thankful for, I created this quick and simple journal using some of Ann's free printables found on her website. I also printed this image from Graphic Fairy.

I bought a couple of the books as gifts and made journals for the recipients as well.

These are made with a pocket folder cut in half and then cut down to fit a jr. legal pad.

I am also doing this for this year. This gal has a declutter calendar for 2013. It is my goal to do as many of them as I can (some don't apply) and declutter!

Happy 2013 to you all! There will be more changes this year to my blog that I will share with you later.

Snow Much Fun

Happy New Year! It is freezing cold outside and snow still on the ground with forecast of more. Today I have a sweet treat to share with you.

This fun snowman is from Inky Antics. I colored it up with Irojiten Color Dictionary Pencils. The yummy designer paper is new from Fancy Pants Designs’ Blissful Blizzard line. I used Power Bond Adhesive to adhere the papers. Add some almond bark dipped pretzels to fill the container, and you have a fun little winter treat to give to someone special.

I hope you all have a great year!