Project Life 2014....Week 17

I've got Week 17 of my Project Life 2014 to share today.  I'm using just the Gossamer Blue July Life Pages Kit for this spread. By using just one kit, it's a good way to use minimal embellishments yet everything still coordinates.  

I used ampersand in this 3 x 4 journaling card as my weekly, dated insert for this week.  I added some watercoloring to the ampersand along with some machine stitching and enamel dots.  The polka dot ring from the Life Pages Kit is stamped onto a Starburst Grid Paper Label.  Both the Workspace Wednesday and the date stamp are from the Life Pages Kit as well.

Here I typed on half of a Notebook Paper Label for some journaling.

Tiny alphabet letters make for some fun hashtags.

Here I used some Gossamer Blue journaling cards from the Life Pages Kit along with some of the Open Road Stitched Borders from Crate Paper, also included in the kit.

More of the same for these inserts.  I've been asked recently what size I typically print my square photos.  I usually print them at 2.5" square.

Here I used the Diptic app on my iPhone to create a collage of Jordan making a stellar catch at a softball game.  I used the date stamp again and one of the Pink Paislee Label Stickers from the kit.

Lots of goodies from this month's Life Pages Kit.  Stay tuned later this week for more Project Life updates using the July Gossamer Blue products.  To keep it totally real......I'm 10 or so weeks behind in my Project Life.  It happens every year in May.  Lots of school events, then my birthday and Mother's Day, then the weather gets nicer and we start planting the gardens.....we get busy.  Life starts perkin' up from the long Winter.  I roll with it now, knowing that once school starts back up I'll get caught up....but man, it would be nice to be all caught up.  Such is life though and I'd rather enjoy all the memories and live in the moments.  There will be time for scrapbooking soon.

Project Life 2014.....Week 16

Edited for question:  I print my square photos at 2.5" x 2.5" with a white border for the 3 x 4 inserts.  

Hey everyone, hope all my American friends had a good July 4th.  We celebrated Josey's birthday too so it's always a fun celebration with friends and family.  Today I'm sharing Week 16 of my Project Life 2014.  This week uses Gossamer Blue June kit items and stamps.  I'll be sharing the July release items with my upcoming Project Life posts.  

Really loved the finished look of this week's spread. The grays and yellows were just my style. 

Here's the left page.

Here's the right page.

Loved this 4 x 6 designed by our in house Gossamer Blue designers.  Perfect for adding letters for the week # and I also stitched on a sticker with some Washi tape overlay + used the fun puffy stickers by Evalicious.

Softball was in full swing, always have to capture a few photos of the girls with their besties.

I love side by side photos of the girls.  These photos of the girls in their camo + their signature faux diamond earrings + fun sunglasses + camo caps were just too fun.  I used two chipboard letters and a big gold ampersand along with some typed journaling on a Notebook Paper Label.

Reese's Peanut Butter Eggs always make a presence for Easter at our house.  I used another Notebook Paper Label with typed journaling and layered it with a tag from a Gossamer Blue kit.

On to the 3 x 4 inserts.  I used some journaling cards from the June kits + I created a few of my own using patterned paper and some machine stitching. Loved the puffy stickers from Evalicious so much this month.

This little foodie sticker from the Kelly Purkey sheet for Basic Greay was perfect for my homemade spaghetti sauce photo.

More typed Notebook Paper Labels.  If you like adding square photos, these labels fit perfectly beneath them for journaling. The star stamps are from the Gossamber Blue kits.

My Mind's Eye made an appearance in this month's kits.  Loved this oval embellishment on a Gossamer Blue journaling card.

One of my favorite photos paired with my favorite stamp from the June kits.  I have always loved ledger lines and typewriter fonts so I designed this stamp & Elle's Studio brought it to life perfectly.

Love the little clustering of elements on these inserts.

Another favorite stamp from the June Life Pages stamp set.  The Sat/Sun stamp lets you type in or hand write a little recap of the weekend.  Love that look so much. Need a little "something" to add to an insert?  A little tape slipped under a photo might be the perfect graphic element.  Here I used a Medium Manila Parcel Tag along with some staples.

I'll be sharing more Project Life weeks soon which will showcase the July Gossamer Blue kits.  Stay tuned.

In shop news, I'll be adding lots of greeting cards back into the shop.  I've had lots of card customers over the years and I know it's nice to just purchase a card sometimes for inspiration or to add to your stash.  Look for new additions to be added often.

There's also some fun vintage and handmade items in the shop like this Set of 6 Pink Floral Napkins.  

Look for new supply items to be added to the shop starting late Summer or early Fall.  I'll also be adding in more card kits with fun embellishments and pretty papers, like this Green Typewriter with Pretties Kit.  

Thanks so much for stopping by today.  I enjoy your company and so appreciate the patronage to my little shop.  

Catherine Quilt Progress...piecing a block improv style

I thought I would share some more of the process of my Catherine Quilt.  Today I'm sharing how I pieced together my improv blogs.  Kind of like a messy log cabin but just totally random sizes.  No measuring, I just started cutting pieces of fabrics.  I staged each block like this, putting together colors I liked mixed in with some of the linens.  

Starting with my first two pieces of fabrics that are similar in size I sewed them together then pressed open the seams. 

I trimmed the edges to be straight using my ruler and rotary trimmer.

Next I found the adjoining piece of fabric that was similar in size to my stitched together pieces. 

Each time I sewed on a new piece I pressed open the seams and trimmed the edges straight.

I kept sewing each stitched piece to the next piece close in size until I had enough blocks completed for the size of quilt I wanted. 

Here's the majority of my blocks spread out on my bed.  I ended up creating 16 blocks approximately 18" square in size for my quilt.

I was so happy to see this progress taking place.  The color and patterns just started to pop.  Next up, I'll be sharing how I sewed all the blocks together to form a quilt top.  Stay tuned....

Aunt Betty's Macaroni Salad

My Aunt Betty brings her Macaroni Salad to every family gathering.  It wouldn't be right if she didn't bring it. She dices everything really small and precisely.  It's good.  We all love it.  I shared this photo on Instagram and everyone wanted the recipe.   End of story.

So here ya go....

Aunt Betty's Macaroni Salad
from Michelle Wooderson June 2014

Aunt Betty brings this to every family gathering.  It's always prepared exactly the same way with precisely chopped, small pieces.  It's oh so good.  It's always served in a green Tupperware bowl.  

10 oz round macaroni, cooked

10 oz cheddar cheese, diced into small cubes

1/2 lb fried bacon, crumbled

6 hard boiled eggs, chopped

1 green pepper, finely chopped

1 small onion, finely chopped

3-4 celery stalks, finely chopped

Dressing

10 heaping Tablespoons sugar

10 Tablespoons vinegar

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon celery seed

1 Tablespoon yellow mustard

1 cup mayonnaise (or Miracle Whip)

Mix dressing ingredients in bowl.  Pour over salad ingredients and mix well.  Chill before serving.

Note:  For best tasting macaroni salad, serve in a green Tupperware bowl just like Aunt Betty.

Butterfly embellishments.....using Gossamer Blue June Kits

Hey there.  I recently shared a post over at the Gossamer Blue blog.  You can hop over there to see how I pair Gossamer Blue kit items with items from my own stash to create some beautiful cards. 

We all want to get the biggest bang for our buck so it only makes sense to reach into our stash of dies, Washi tape and other supplies. 

Keeping our supplies in a constant rotation is the key to really using all of our goodies that we've collected over time.

I hope you enjoy my set of embellished butterfly cards and that you get inspired to dig deep into your stash of items.

It's amazing how just a little bit of thread from an old spool.....a tiny strip of washi tape....some new brads and paper.....stamps from some older sets....it all adds up to projects that look trendy and fresh when you combine the new with the old.

Thanks for stopping by today.  I'd love for you to leave a comment letting me know what older items you're reaching for these days.  It's amazing to me how completely new and fresh things like die cuts look when you just use some new patterned paper, etc.  

Winnie & Walter Guest Blog Post....Floral Cards

I love a good floral stamp set, especially when I can create a vintage look with the images and have lots of options for adding color.  It's also great when the stamp set has a fun typewriter font that I love so much.  Winnie & Walter's The Big, the Bold and Extras has just the look I love.  

I used a journaling card as the building block for my images.  I stamped the images in brown ink, stamped the filler image then colored a few accents with Copic markers.  For the banner I did some two step stamping with a light pink ink.  My vintage typewriter came in handy for adding a birthday sentiment.  I popped the flowers and birthday sentiment up with pop dots.

A strip of washi tape placed diagonally is accented with a staple.  The journaling card has stitching to add a homespun look.  I used a pretty patterned paper from my stash for the background.

*Sigh*...beautiful floral images on a card just can't be beat.  Thank you so much to Winnie & Walter for having me as their guest this week.  Be sure to check out all their fun stamp sets & see their social media links on their blog sidebar.

Winnie & Walter Guest Blog Post....Colorado Countdown Calendar

Today I'm sharing a fun countdown calendar that I created with the Winnie & Walter stamp set called The Big, the Bold and Fun.  I'll be doing a few guest posts this week using Winnie & Walter products.  They're a new little company so be sure to check them out.  

Last weekend we had a BBQ with the four families that will be traveling to Colorado together in July.  We planned out our travel itinerary, meal plans, activities to do in Colorado, lodging, etc.  I thought it would be fun to give each family a little countdown calendar to mark off the number of days until our trip.  I know my girls are super excited and can't wait so I know the younger kids would be excited too.

I used a 4 x 6 Becky Higgins Project Life journaling card as my base.  I included a photo of our lodge and then stamped words and phrases all over the card.  The adventure words were stamped with craft paint, mixing green and brown to give an outdoor feel.

For the bottom of the card I used an older Stampin' Up! calendar that I stamped on grid paper.  I added a swipe of paint to create a base for a typed phrase.  Woodgrain washi tape finishes off the countdown calendars.

Everyone loved the calendars and now we're even more excited for our trip.  Seventeen crazy friends road tripping to Colorado.  It can't get here soon enough.

Thank you to Winnie & Walter for having me as their guest this week. Check back later this week for another fun project.

Floral Thank You Cards.....June Gossamer Blue

Today I'm sharing a few more cards I made using the June Gossamer Blue kit items.  I kept the designs very simple so that I could mass produce some thank you cards for my mom to mail out after her surgery. 

The patterned papers were so pretty and colorful that I kept them the focus of my card fronts.  I used a few sentiments from my stash along with enamel dots and smiley face wood veneer from the kits.

For a few cards, I typed the sentiments with my vintage typewriter.

Very simple and easy but oh so nice to have a little stash of cards on hand.  Thanks for stopping by, have a great week everyone!