Stop by Rosy Red Buttons for Whimsical Wednesday

Camilla over at Rosy Red Buttons is being kind enough to feature my blog today for Whimsical Wednesday. I hope you'll all stop by and check out her AWESOME blog. It's one of my favorite places to go for new ideas and to find creative new approaches to some old ones. Happy Hump Day everyone!!!

Should I call it "SAVED FROM THE TRASH TUESDAY?"

Okay, so one of my New Year's resolutions is to LET GO OF THE SCRAPS. (Sounds kind of like part of some 12 step program for craft hoarders doesn't it? Definitely appropriate in my case.) I have a penchant for saving every tiny piece of leftover paper, fabric, ribbon, you name it. I am absolutely convinced that the day will come when I will have a void in a project that only that little scrap can fill. Needless to say, my scrap collection has gotten quite out of control to the point that if I needed to find that one tiny, perfect scrap to fill that void I think I might be buried alive in scraps before I ever locate the fated item.  As a matter of fact, I thought about posting before and after pictures of my scrap bins but was way too embarrassed.

Well, it's January 4 and the scrap bins have been cleaned out. I've organized the paper scraps and gotten them ready for card making, and I've even finally admitted to myself there is such a thing as too small to hold on to.  I'm still having a hard time letting go of those little pieces of leftover ribbon and fabric, but hey, it's only four days in. I've purged some, and really a good bit of paper has bit the dust.

I may not have purged the fabric pile completely yet, but I am committed to a new "use it or lose it" mentality where my craft supplies are concerned. So today when I came across a piece of leftover fabric from when I made these candy cane ornaments last month I decided to challenge myself to use it or give it up to the donation pile. Here's what I came up with...

I'm not in love with it, but what is left over from Christmas is now being put to good use for Valentine's Day. Maybe I'll go back and add a heart applique and see if I can get it from so-so to at least like. Maybe I'll just leave the little pillow as it is and sit back satisfied that I saved some cute fabric from meeting its craft bin demise (and saved myself from getting a good bit of grief for adding yet another item to the pile). So far, so good. Four days of letting go of the scraps down; 361 more to go.

A Cover for my Nook

So I am COMPLETELY in love with the awesome Nook Color that Bill got me for Christmas! I fully admit to being a kid with a new toy. It's soooo much fun! What I wasn't in love with were the covers they had for the Nook in the store. As I kept looking for one that was a little cute that I could just make a little cuter I finally decided to just go home and make a cover that was more suited to my crafty sensibilities. Here's the result:

I used chipboard to make the cover then covered the chipboard with felt. (I admit it's not perfect. I was too lazy to get out the sewing machine and used iron on heat bond instead. But hey, it works.)  I made a couple of felt flowers, added a bit of bling, and voila, instant (and free!) Nook cover.

I am still not sold on the inside, but for now I made a little felt pocket for the Nook to slide into and a little felt strip at the top to keep it from falling forward. I'll figure that part out later, but for now it's WAY cuter than anything I would have overpaid for in the store.

Overall, a fun little project for my fun new toy!! Thanks so much for looking!!


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A New Start in Blogland

When I originally created this blog I thought that I would share bits and pieces of my "me time" in craft land. Life took some unexpected turns and very quickly my Scraphappy Blog took a turn to the things that made me Not-So-Scraphappy. One of my resolutions for 2011 is to get the blog back on track. The old rants (and some of the cute things that were actually related to my scraphappiness) have been retired, and I'm starting 2011 fresh and new.

Yes, I realize that it's a week early. (Hey, sometimes I'm an overachiever!!) I actually wanted to use this week to share some of the craftiness from this holiday season and give some special thanks to those in blogland who offered inspiration and made my holiday preparations just a little bit easier. I hope you will enjoy my take on some wonderful borrowed ideas and that you will take a minute to follow the links to the blogs of those creators who deserve all the credit. Enjoy!
 

These two sparkly ornaments (and about 2 dozen more) were inspired by these ornaments that I found over at Everyday Cricut.  Our kiddos had so much fun making these that we made them until we ran out of people we could give them to.

Another adorable ornament idea came from My C(oi)n Purse.  I made a TON of these Peppermint Mocha Ornaments for Bill to take to work to hang on the employee tree for his managers and supervisors.

These Rag Flower Ornaments from Stephanie Lynn at Under the Table and Dreaming were so quick and easy. They made a perfect (and inexpensive) addition to our Christmas packages.

Bill's 83-year-old mother made the trip from Olean, NY down to Atlanta this year to spend Christmas with us for the first time. She had so much fun helping me make these Primitive Candy Canes courtesy of Jen over at Lipstick and Laundry. She was so excited when I told her where I got the idea that she has decided that she MUST HAVE the Internet when she gets home. I love it!!

And just to prove that I did make SOMETHING that wasn't ornament related... I was so inspired by Stephanie's Faux Rosewood Wreath over at Under the Table and Dreaming that I decided I HAD TO make my own version. After seeing a Target sales ad for a similar red version (on sale for $30!) I decided to use my Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist to give mine a little Christmas color. My total investment was about $2 and Bill thanks Stephanie for saving him $28 (plus the money for whatever else I would have bought when I went to Target for that wreath!).

Here's a little bit closer look at the flowers I made from an old book I found down in our basement.

And last but not least (for tonight anyway)... I made a bunch of these adorable apothecary jars for Bill's managers. I filled them with biscotti, chocolates, and more of the Peppermint Mocha Hot Chocolate. I used Armor Etch and stencils made using my Cricut to monogram them. They turned out WAY better than I thought they would and were a big hit at Bill's store. My little jars were inspired by the beautiful ones created by Lisa over at Recaptured Charm. I admit to being WAY too mistake prone to attempt anything involving an entire word, but I'm pretty pleased with the outcome none-the-less.

I'm sure I'll have more thanks to offer in the next few days, and who knows, I may even get around to uploading some pics of idea that were (mostly) all my own. Thanks for visiting!