Chicken Wire Picture Frame

On June 9th, we held our wedding reception/housewarming party.  It ended up being a success, but I was also disappointed that there were many people who RSVPed but didn't show up.  The weather was perfect, our hog was roasted on time, and the people who did come seemed to have a good time.

As a thank you gift for coming, I had set up a homemade photo booth.  I used SparkBooth software, which I love. There are so many ways to customize how the photos will turn out.  I made a simple backdrop from some pvc pipe and sheets I found at GoodWill, and a decent web camera.  There were also several props I picked up from the Dollar Tree, Hobby Lobby (40% off), and Good Will.  One of the props was a frame people could hold up. I found it at Good Will, discarded the ugly picture, then painted the frame.

After the party, I stapled some extra chicken wire to the back and hung it up on the wall.  I added some of my favorite photo strips from the photobooth using mini clothes pins I found at Walmart.  It turned out really well.  One of the nice things about the Sparkbooth software is that it will automatically save both the individual photos and the photo layout in folders on the computer. So I was able to go back and print strips if the guests took both copies. And if there are any great photos, I can print those out too.

Not everyone used the photobooth though. Actually, most people didn't. It was mostly kids, those few people we could get down there, and a few people from my side of the family who knew what it was about. We did get some great pictures in the end though.  I'm not sure if it wasn't successful because of the location, or people just didn't care.  I do have plans to use the software in the future (goofy Christmas cards perhaps).

*note* this is not a sponsored post for SparkBooth.I enjoy talking about products I love.  I really do love the software and all the different options you have.  It was also easy to set up.  I was able to add my own logo at the bottom too, though that was a little fiddly to get right.

Guest Designer - Scrapbook and Photobook

Hello!  Long time no post.  It's been a crazy year so far.  I finished up another semester as a grad student and then had our reception/housewarming party this past weekend. That was crazy!

Today I am a guest designer over at Getting Cricky with K Andrew.  Be sure to check out her store here.  She has lots of fun stamps as well as huge rolls of bakers twine for just $5 each.  Check out all the colors. I used the green in one of my projects below.

For my guest design, I used her Of Mice and Lil' Men stamp set.

 I thought up lots of ideas using this set.  My husband's family has had horses since before he was born.  They did a lot of fun local shows when he was a kid.  He got to dress up and play cowboy on a real horse.  Young me is green with envy.

For my next project, I added some fun Disney themed stamps to a Disney photo album I have been working on.  They make the perfect embellishments for anything Disney related.  

The cover:

Inside pages:

Back cover:

Recycled Christmas

This week's prompt over at the Jingle Belles blog is Peace on Earth(Day) where we are to recycle materials to make the cards. I chose to use a piece of cardboard for the front and some scraps for the rest. Most of the paper on the cardboard came off, but not all. I like the look. I slapped on some gesso then spritzed with some glimmer mist. The snowman stamp is a $1 one from JoAnn's and the words are from a stamp set by K Andrew. They're all embossed except for the snowflakes. I did follow the Merry Monday sketch from last week, but wasn't able to download the image until today, so it wasn't linked up.




 In other news...my semester is almost over! I have one crazy take home exam and possibly another. It's been a busy semester with working full time and taking two grad level courses. I'll be happy to have my evenings back for the summer and be able to make more crafty things.

The chicks are doing well. I'll be able to move them into their new coop hopefully tonight. We just have to get some hinges and latches on. I don't think I can call them chicks anymore though. They're getting so big. Pictures will come very soon of the coop and the girls.

Simply Birthday Card

This is a very quick and simple birthday card I made for a guy friend. I always find it difficult to make things for guys that meet my manly criteria.

Easter Egg Card and Chick Update

For Easter, I made two versions of this card. Both are purple and white, but for the other I used different colors for the butterflies and flowers. I took inspiration from a card someone else made on the Make the Cut forum.



It's being entered in Getting Cricky With KAndrew's simply Sunday challenge.

My chicks are getting big. The books warned they'd go through this ugly phase after their cute chick phase, but I think they're still pretty cute. It's been really neat to watch them grow. They're getting more friendly too.

Christmas Card

This card is for the Jingle Belles Neutral Noel challenge and



The tree and dots are actually embossed with a pretty gold powder, it just came out poor in the photo. I took inspiration from the tree pillow, then found some grungy papers and went with it. I don't think it quite works, but I still think it looks okay.

On a side note, I got chicks today! I've been wanting some laying hens for a few years, but living in apartments hasn't allowed for it. Last summer was so crazy with buying and moving into the house. So now I have some. There are six of them and they are golden comets.

Jingle Belles Challenge

As a break from working on my organic chemistry homework today I made a Christmas card for this week's Jingle Belles' challenge. It was to create a card using stickers or rub-ons.

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The 'let it snow' words were from a sticker pack. The snowflakes are adorable dimensional stickers from K&Company. I added some glitter around the edges of the card using some Martha Stewart paint I received with my Live from CHA kit. It was very easy to put together since most of it was stickers.

Inspiration for the 'let it snow' theme came from our crazy weather. Yesterday it got up to about 65F and today we had some snow. I had the song running through my head all day.

Pink Birthday Card

Tonight I made a birthday card for a friend.

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I used this week's Mojo Monday Sketch for inspiration. I'm almost certain the paper was a small 12x12 $1 pack from Target. The flowers are Prima.

Birthday Card

This birthday card is for my sister-in-law. I love using K & Company's papers. I think this paper is from their botanicals pack.



Things are starting to get crazy. I'm taking two difficult classes this semester in addition to working full time. For work, we have a large volunteer event we put on twice a year and the next one is in April...about 3 weeks before finals when the professors are cramming in those last exams, projects and other homework. Our kitchen looks like a disaster area. We've been slowly building a new cabinet to fit a dishwasher. Once that's done I'll be painting the cabinets and counter tops. Sadly, I don't expect to get much crafting done anytime soon.

Valentine's Cheesecake

For Valentine's Day I made cheesecake in the shapes of hearts. The following recipes were used to make the cheesecakes.

Chantal's New York style cheesecake
Chocolate Ganache



YUMMY! The cake was baked in a 9x13" pan and then refrigerated overnight. The next day the hearts were cut out with cookie cutters and drizzled with the ganache. The rest of the cake was mashed up and made into cheesecake balls. They were frozen, then dipped in melted chocolate chips.

Valentine's Card

Long time no type. The holidays were very busy for me. I've still been crafting, but haven't had the chance to photograph anything until today. I made some Christmas decorations for the new home that turned out well. I also finished up the wedding portion of my wedding/reception scrapbook. The reception/housewarming is in June. It seems like it's a long time away, but between school and work, it will be here quickly. I'm starting to work on things for that and just finished up the save-the-dates for it today.

Today is the first day of Charity Wing's Live from CHA feed. I won a scrap pack from their first interview, Robin's Nest. I've never heard of the company, but their products looked wonderful and I'm so excited to get their giveaway.

I've been working on some simple Valentine's cards for various people. They were super easy to make.



I used a border punch for the red border at the top. The hearts were cut from printed scrapbook paper. The lines were drawn on with a pearlescent pen. The final touch was a little bit of bling. That's it! They're great for assembly-line card making.