Hello, and WELCOME to the "Goodbye Summer, Hello Fall!" Blog Hop, hosted by a talented group of ladies from Club CK.
If you did not arrive here from Tammy's blog, please go to the beginning of the hop at Virtually Froggy and follow the blog hop in order. By following the blog hop from beginning to end, you will collect words to a secret phrase which will make you eligible for the grand prize. The details for the grand prize entry are posted at the start of the blog hop. You won't want to miss it!
The word for the secret phrase that you need to collect from my blog is: than
What does the end of summer and beginning of fall mean to me? School! I'll admit it, I am a FULL-BLOWN nerd! I love love LOVE this time of year! I love the way a newly sharpened pencil has a perfect point. I love the smell of a brand new box of crayons. I love how a new folder is not yet bent at any of the corners. I love getting a new planner ready. I love it all!!! It's been several years since I've been in the classroom myself, but my natural love of all these things made paper crafting a natural fit for me when I was looking for a new hobby a few years ago.
So many scrapping supplies and creations have so many more purposes beyond a scrapbook page or card, and that's one of the things I LOVE about this hobby. My daughter is now 4 and will start her pre-kindergarten year of preschool after Labor Day. I seem to have passed on my nerdiness because she has the same love of school as I do, which I think is a good thing. :)
We used some of our time this summer to play with the Cricut Cartridge Sesame Street Font. If you have a young child, this is a GREAT cartridge, it is SO cute and so much fun! We created the alphabet above using the cartridge and had a blast doing it. It was a fun way to reinforce the letters as well as practice gluing, layering, matching and colors all at the same time.
I'm undecided as to what to do with them next. My original thought was to make a paper bag alphabet book using them, but now I'm leaning towards making a 7x7 ABC book with them. I tend towards the small album, because they turned out so stinkin' cute and I don't want to risk them getting damaged with the normal wear and tear a paper bag album can take. We'll see...
My wish for you at this very special time of year is to embrace all the 'new' things around during what seems to be 'the end' of the summer...and year. Look at your scrappy supplies and think outside of the box about what else you can do with your stash...the possibilities really are endless!
Thanks for stopping by and for participating in the blog hop. I hope to see you around again! The next stop on the blog hop is Amy's Blog. She's super talented, so I know you'll love it, enjoy!
Just a quick post today with another update on the progression of my scrap room...
For my ribbon storage I found this nifty little gizmo called a '24" Sticker-On-A-Roll Shelf.' It attaches right to my pegboard and it is NICE! If you look really close on the right hand side you can see where I clipped a clothespin to help keep a tight fit since I don't yet have enough ribbon to fill this shelf. The clothespin works great...however something tells me I won't need it for long. ;)
I'll also give you a hint...DON'T buy one from a scrapbooking vendor. ;) The scrapbooking sites charge upwards of $20 for this little bugger!
I found mine from a Video Store Supply vendor here called 'Video Store Shopper' and it was a fraction of the price...coming in at $4.50!
So...the moral of the story for today is...look in places other than the obvious, you'll likely be pleasantly surprised! :o)
I am currently in the middle of creating my craft room, and it has definitely been a labor of love! I thought it would be fun to share some of the progression before I unveil the 'final product.'
I have an absolute LOVE of colored pencils. Specifically, Prismacolor colored pencils! I think they color and write SO smooth! I also think they're too pretty to keep in some pencil box, stuffed in a drawer. So, I made them part of the decor of my room. It's great to see all the colors, and it adds a nice splash of color to an otherwise blue wall.
I got the flower pot from Menard's and I filled it up with about 5 bags of black beans for the 'dirt.' Then I just added all of the pencils, with the tip up, and voila! The result was a practical pencil display. Not quite a floral display...but that's not really my style anyway. ;)
So if you're trying to decide what to do with your pencils, and you have an old flower pot sitting on a shelf in the basement or attic that you'd love to get out again...try this. It's easy and fun!
When I was about 5 years old I took swimming lessons at the local YMCA. And, I flunked. Twice. I didn't pass because I was too scared to jump off the diving board into the deep end of the water. I was so scared of trying something new and unexpected that I had to keep repeating the same lesson over...and over again.
I'm definitely a perfectionist. The unknown can cause me to be paralyzed with fear to the point of being literally frozen where I am. Starting this blog is kind of like standing on the end of that diving board staring down into the unknown 'deep end.'
However, I'm going to jump in anyway. I am excited to have a place to share all the good stuff that surrounds me. Happy stuff. Crafty stuff. Scrappy stuff. New things I learn. Whatever happens to be on my mind at any particular moment. Hang on and enjoy, because here we go...
One....Two....THREE!
