Falling in love with Dymo again

So glad I brought a Dymo labeler! I love how I don't run out of any letter (like letter stickers) and I can just punch out a snappy title so easily:

Now I wish I brought more Dymo tapes!

Crafty in NJ

I traveled up to NJ to help with my mom who had major surgery and decided to pack a few crafty items (a few stamps with mini ink pads, inkjoy pens, washi and paper tapes, and a Dymo), just in case:

So GLAD I did.  I've had some downtime at night and it's been awesome.  I put this Amy Tangerine day book to use that I received as a gift from a good friend.  I typed out "ready or not here we go 2013" for my cover:

Bigger letters would have probably been a better fit for the cover, but I kind of wanted to use what I brought.  Inside, I printed out pix with my Polaroid Z2300 and used my Dymo for some more titling as well as some of the stamps I brought:

One note about the Polaroid Z2300:  the quality of it as a camera is a bit low but it's been so super as a portable printer for pix I take with my iPhone.  Unfortunately, it's a bit of a process--download pix from my iPhone to my laptop, then connect the Polaroid to my laptop and copy desired pix to be printed  to the Polaroid's memory card, then print.  But it's worth it when I want to do some late night scrapping and not make a trip to the Target for prints.  Another plus is that the reasonably-priced 2"x3" Zink photo paper is sticker-backed.  Perfect for scrapping.

I will confess, since getting my scrap on, I made a visit to the local Michael's and acquired a few more goodies, which I promised myself to use on this trip.  Bonus: everything I got was on sale-priced!

Holding myself to my word--made a simple card and decorated the envelope with my new inks:

It feels so good to be crafty again!

Collage Card

I found this Design Sponge tutorial on printing 2x2 square pix (like Instagram or my Hipstamatic) on 4x6 prints--so efficient cost-wise, right?  I chose a variety of pix to make a little collage for a thank you card for the family who hosted us during the holidays.

I know I'm very late with the holiday "thank you" but hopefully the cute pix will make up for the tardiness!

Gladys Knight inspiration

The Auntie Karen Foundation is presenting a performance by Gladys Knight here in Columbia, South Carolina.  The school district is hosting an art contest for portraits of Gladys Knight and my girl is working on her entry:

I'll be out of town (heading to see my mom in the hospital in NJ) when they announce the winner but I'm proud of my girl's efforts no matter what.  I really do love that she enjoys drawing so much.  So I hold out hope that she'll be into scrapbooking (or any other creative artsy endeavor that I have some ability too) someday...

Secret Santa

Man, it's been forever since I posted and almost as long as since I got crafty but I at least got to do Secret Santa this year!  When I was out in SoCal last month for my company's Awards banquet, I convinced folks to do four days of Secret Santa.  My person listed Glee, the Nebraska Huskers, cereal, and Katie Holmes among his interests.

The first day I made a mix CD of Glee songs with a card from Katie Holmes:

The second day I made a simple fleece blanket with a Katie Holmes stand-in:

And also a little note from Katie:

It works!

The third day, I made a drawstring bag with leftover Nebraska fleece fabric.  I put a box of cereal in it and Katie told him he could use the bag as a shoe bag when he travels.  Unfortunately, I forgot to take a pic.

On the final day, I made a dopp kit using this boxy bag tutorial from Skip To My Lou and embellished it with a Nebraska "N" from leftover fleece fabric.

Instead of oilcloth, I used this cute cowboy fabric:

And inside, I put in this requested ice cream scoop.

Felt so good to be crafty again!