My Pieces of Me Kit...

This Summer I've decided to cut down a bit on my work schedule while the girls are home from school.  I plan to do two things in particular....spend quality time with the girls and spend more time working on some "just for fun" projects for me.  

One of the projects that I'm particularly excited about is Maggie Holmes' Pieces of Me workshop that's currently offered at 2Peas.  It's theme is centered around creating a mini album that is all about YOU.  Little bits and pieces about who you are and what you love.  I sat down this morning and wrote two full pages of things I want to include in my album. There is a kit that 2Peas is offering to go along with the workshop but I opted to design my own using items from my shop.    I offered some of my kits up in the shop (sold out now) and you can see the details and fun inspiration photos in this post.  Here's what my main kit looks like:  

My album will be 4 x 8 and I'll be using lots of Instagrams  and typed lists.  As you can see in the main kit photo above, I chose a color scheme of soft robin's egg blue, a peachy orange, olive green, cream/white and Kraft + grey.  I decided to add to my main kit with a few other products I chose after I shopped my own stash of goodies.  I'm placing all my supplies in this wicker tray and will keep it out on table #2 in my work room.  My plan is to dabble with the album and work on it here and there.

Here's some of the supplies I've added to my main kit.  Spray mists from October Afternoon and Studio Calico.  I want to experiment with my supplies and see what fun techniques I can try.  Big splatters and masking is on the list.  

While shopping my stash, I reached for some of my favorite items.  Vintage button cards are high on the list.  I'll use baker's twine to tie individual buttons that are from the main kit.

Washi tape is a new obsession.  3 whole stacks that have colors that coordinate with my kit colors.  Love this stuff..

Small tags and die cuts to use for journaling or to layer small embellishments.  Love these from Banana Fish Studio.

Sacks of all kinds from my shop + little coin envelopes, etc.  These are perfect for tucking in receipts, journaling tags, extra photos, etc.

Little buttons and baubles that I hand picked from my stash.  I selected a few favorites that I've been hoarding.  Wood buttons are becoming a new favorite embellishments.  I see a trend developing with lots of wood items.  Or maybe I'm behind and just now noticing.  ;)

Tags and more tags for journaling.  I want to experiment with more layering and stitching on tags.  My sewing machine should get a work out for sure.  I'll also be using lots of my Grid Labels that I'll run through my vintage typewriter.  My handwriting is large so the typed journaling helps save space.

Vintage trims of all kinds, including laces, ric racs, pieces of old doilies, circles cut from cutter quilts, velvet trim, seam binding and more.  Definitely pieces of me.

Embossing powders.  These always get stuck in the corner just like Baby but I'm hoping to experiment with some fun techniques.  I thought these colors were just perfect for my album.

And last minute I realized that I'll need some more page inserts.  I reached for lots of neutrals + a few new My Mind's Eye Indie papers that I just picked up at Archivers last weekend.  I just shuffled them all together and will select papers randomly.  Lots of the patterns will be covered by the Instagrams and embellishments so I'm not worried about patterns being too bold.

And that's a wrap.  I tucked everything in my basket and it's ready to go.  I took some time last night and watched all of Maggie's videos and looked all the albums from the class contributors.  Way to represent, girls!  Awesome class and I highly suggest it if you're looking to do a little something for "just you".  

Note:  I've several emails for requests to re-stock my Summer Cottage Kit.  I'm sorry but I just don't have the albums, etc to recreate full kits.  But if you look at the top photo of today's post or go to my original post about my kit, you'll see that there are tons of items from my shop that are available as individual items.  You could easily stock up on tags, etc and make up your own kit in no time.  

I'm hoping to report my progress if it's something you'll be interested in.  Just let me know by leaving a comment....let me know if you're taking on this project, how you planned your album, what you plan to include.  I'd love to hear from you.  

In shop news:

Thank you for the Washi love, I'm ordering new rolls with every batch but if there's some in particular that you'd like a repeat of just let me know.  Also, look for a brand new batch of sacks coming soon.  I am fresh out of everything and have had lots of requests.  You got it!

Have a great day everyone!

12 Days of Christmas...Day 2

Etsy Shop Update: My new kits inspired by today's post are up in the shop. Perfect for a fun crafty session on a cold winter's night. Enjoy! And thank you for your nice comments....Melissa and I have done a ton of planning for our 12 Days of Christmas, so of course your nice comments are just icing on the cake. :)
Hi friends. Welcome to Day 2 of Melissa's and Mishie's 12 Days of Christmas. Today's theme is Shimmer and Shine. During the holiday season, the sparkles and glitters seem to take on a magical feel. I am particularly loving the look of Mercury glass latey in our home. The vintage, worn look of it is so pretty.
I even found some candles that have that same look. So sparkly resting on our fireplace mantle.
And even prettier when grouped together on a mirror with a glowing candle. These pieces from my home were my inspiration for today.
I wanted to recreate that beautiful shimmery, worn, silvery look on my projects...thinking of old cards and letters from long ago...tucked in an old hope chest. With the nice variety of products these days, it's easy to get the look you're after. Here are some of my favorites when wanting to create that mercury glass look: Real German Glass Silver and sparkly glitters. These are made from real glass and have a fine but chunky, shiny look to them......Papertrey's Vintage Tea Dye Duo inks....Wrinkle Ribbons in wonderfully faded and muted colors....Papertrey's Chocolate Baker's Twine....found objects like these beautiful, real glass sequin pieces.....faded sheet music and vintage ledger sheets.....my Dainty Doilies that you can distress with inks.....little envelopes in Kraft....you just have to do a little searching, then group all your goodies together.
Here, I've used all my goodies to create a very soft looking card with beautifully faded yellow colors. Old sheet music ties my card and envelope together by the use of Papertrey scalloped border die and the envelope liner die.

By using old ledger paper along with newer patterned papers, the old and new blend together beautifully. A little glitz from some Silver German Glass Glitter on some clothespins and a little German Glass Glitter on a felt butterfly embellishment adds just the right touch. A few of my glass sequins finish off the card along with some nicely faded Wrinkle Ribbon. To get a faded, old look on my Parcel Tags, add a section of a doily and simply ink the edges with the Tea Dye Ink Duos.
I love to add these little clothespins into the mix. So pretty to clip on a little note. I use Scor-Tape to get a nice, sticky adhesive for the glitters.
I used some of my extra supplies to embellish the inside of the card too. So fun to write your card message on lined, vintage ledger paper.
For my next project, I created something that evoked a lot of memories for me. Jordan loves to open my grandmother's hope chest that is full of old items from our heritage. As we took out the items one by one the other day, my heart swelled with love just thinking of my ancestors that have passed. We saw my pink baby quilt that my grandmother made for me...my brother Jeff's and my baby brushes....some silver pieces wrapped in soft cloth....aprons and potholders that my grandmother made.....a tiny, faded bible that was given to my grandmother by her sister Ruby in 1912....my grandmother's clip on earrings that she wore every day....an old rouge compact that smells just my grandmother.....so many items that are treasures to me. And will some day be handed down to my girls.

It got me to thinking that I need to add some of my own treasures to that wooden chest. How wonderful will it be some day for my girls to see some of my things in there. Then it dawned on me that I don't save many of my paper creations. So today I created an item especially for that chest. I made a beautiful little envelope that will hold a special message tucked inside.
I used more of the same goodies from my Mercury glass set up to create a beautifully embellished butterfly that is adhered to my envelope. I lined a Mini Kraft Envelope with more sheet music, adhered half of a Dainty Doily, some old sewing pattern pieces and some Chocolate Baker's Twine. A little rusty safety pin holds some yellow buttons.
Inside my little envelope, I used a White Parcel Tag that I distressed, then stamped and added some Cork Paper and Wrinkle Ribbon. I'm going to write a message about how I always enjoy going through Grandma's hope chest with the girls...and maybe to encourage them to add some of their own items from time to time.

Well I hope you are inspired by today's sparkly and shimmery post. I know that Melissa will have something even more beautiful so be sure to check out her blog. Stay tuned because later today I will be putting a kit up in my Etsy shop that uses some beautiful items from my projects today.....and tomorrow Melissa and I will continue our 12 Days of Christmas with our Day 3 post. :)

Edit: I almost forgot to add my recipe. This is a recipe that is very simple to make but very handy. We make a lot of veggie trays during the holidays and there always seems to be those last few veggies leftover, looking a little wary. This recipe is a great way to use up those scraps...hence the name Scrap Dip. Enjoy!

Scrap Dip
1-2 packages cream cheese

Desired seasoning: garlic powder, season salt, ground black pepper, coarse salt, red pepper flakes, parsley, etc

Leftover veggie tray foods: cauliflower, broccoli, celery, carrots, green peppers, radishes, jalapenos, onions, etc


Chop all veggies very finely. Dump into bowl with cream cheese and desired seasonsings. Mix thoroughly. Refrigerate to let flavors blend. Serve on crackers. Also great on bagels or sliced, crusty breads. Perfect for using up the last of the veggies from a holiday veggie tray. Enjoy.

Michelle Wooderson November 2010.