"Back to School"... Mojo100

This week at Mojo Monday there is a celebration for hitting 100! If you haven't been to this blog and you like to craft, you need to hop over there. The sketches are amazing, and the cards created by their design team are fabulous inspiration. I know that sometimes I feel like I have lost, well, my crafty mojo, and a sketch perks me right up! I haven't made this many cards in my life, and I am loving it!

The card for the Day 1 of Mojo100 challenge is a back to school card. I was planning on making a back to school scrapbook layout for eBay, and thought it would be fun to make a coordinating 5x7 card. I am luuurving how this turned out :) (that was for you, Saucy :) )

Ingredients

Paper: Basic Grey, Graphic 45, MyMindsEye, Crate Paper

Embellishments: Chipboard, ruler ribbon that I teastained

Ink and Paint

Here is the Back To School Layout I plan on listing on eBay. Both pages are 12x12, and I paper pieced the schoolhouse, tree, landscaping... I don't think there are any "store-bought" embellishments here. Well, I guess the vintage scrabble tiles? I didn't carve those out of wood - I used pieces from an old scrabble game :) Anyhooo, this layout has lots of room for photos, and those scrabble letters are attached to a pull-out tag. I plan to list it tonight, so keep a look out.

Good morning! I have been up to my elbows in paper, fabric and ribbon! I have been getting ready for the Sisterhood of the Traveling Trunk Show, finishing up a few orders... and finishing my Tuesday sketch that I wanted to post a few days ago. I think it is worth the wait, however :) This sketch features my signature "quilt squares" that I stitch onto my scrapbook pages. Each little square is about 3x3 on this sketch, and when I make this layout I stitch the blocks together. If you aren't a sewer, or don't want to bother with a sewing machine, you could use rub-on stitches. I personally like the texture of the thread, but sometimes my machine goes on strike, and the rub-ons look quite lovely :)
Oh, and I also was able to make a treasury today! How exciting is that? I have been brewing the idea of a "time for tea" gallery, and when the treasury opened up, I jumped in and was able to make this little collection.

You will see that the last column is a little "ghosted." That is because these are my alternates, which I will be mixing in and swapping spots with the other lovely selections. The curator is usually the only one who sees the alternates, but I had to share my entire collection here; twelve spots are not enough for all the pretties I selected! Keep checking the treasury I created to see the most updated version...


Well, I am off to cut, ink and distress, layer and sew. Hope you have a great day :)

Sketchy Template Tuesday!

Sketchy Template Tuesday 3, a Tea Party, and a Treasury

I love when my posts lend themselves to alliteration...

I am pretty sure I deserve some serious chocolate, because I have remembered to create a template for three whole weeks in a row. Seriously. Those who know me know that I get easily distracted, and often forgetful. So here it is: Sketchy template Tuesday III

As for the tea party, if you were one of the many fabulous hostesses on Saturday's Mad Tea Party, my hat off to you! What a lovely assortment of parties I attended! Of course, I was often a late arrival, but because of the magic of blogs, party goers can still attend days after the event! I am most certainly going to have to host my own fanciful tea party next year! The even is hosted by A Fanciful Twist, and I hope she is going to do another Halloween Party this fall!

While I was sketching this layout, I was playing on etsy, and saw that the treasury list was at 341. My pulse began to quicken, because I knew it was just a matter of time before that lovely, magic number of 332 would pop up, meaning that the treasury was no longer full, and if I got that golden ticket, I too could make a pretty treasury! If you have never made a treasury, my friend, let me tell you - it is way super fun. Etsy has a "how-to" with information and such on their blog. You should check it out.



Here is the treasury I created:


Hope you all have an enchanting, creative, and productive day!

Queenie's Kits!

So I am super excited about my new project - Page Kits! I realize how much I love sketching and playing with papers, and howI enjoy the planning process just as much, if not more, than the actual scrapping... So I am starting a new line of Page Kits.... called Queenie Kits (lots of imagination there, eh?). I just listed the first kit on Etsy. It is called "Life is Beautiful" and uses the cutest papers from Cosmo Cricket.

The kit comes with everything - papers, flowers, letters... I even pre-cut the mats and such. How easy is that? Check it out and let me know what you think :)

Sketchy Template Tuesday 2, Lemonade, and Dee...

So much to catch up on! I have a new scrapbook sketch to share, an award to accept, and some stories to share. Got your coffee? Fudcicle? Me too! Let's get started, shall we?

First, let me share this little template I created. It is for a 2-page layout. I initially created this for an 8x8 album, but just up the picture sizes and it works for a 12x12 too! Don't forget the ricrac layered over the strips of background paper...



I also woke up to a nice little surprise from Janny, over at My Little pieces of Art. She awarded me this sweet little lemonade stand award...

The award is for "Great Attitude and Gratitude". It works like this: After accepting this award ("I'd like to thank my husband, my kids, and all the academy..." Oops! Off track again...) I then award it to 5-10 others bloggers who make me smile with their great attitudes and sweetness. Then they pass it on, and those who receive it, they pass it on... I love spreading smiles and sweet lemonade! So, it is with great honor that I pass this award on to these wonderful ladies:

Andrea at http://andreaspaperboutique.blogspot.com/

Saucy at http://bloggedy-blog-blog-saucy.blogspot.com/

Rebecca at http://shopbyhand.blogspot.com/

Twyla at http://twocrazycrafters.blogspot.com/

Suzi at http://suziart.blogspot.com/

Speaking of lemonade stands, this past weekend my sister and I had a Craft Sale/Antique Sale at our house, and I helped the neighbor girls run a lemonade stand in my yard (seriously, how ironic and coincidental is that? Lemonade stands! Life is funny and quirky). I have a fancy stand with an awning and everything, so I set the girls up with a pitcher of Country Time Lemonade. They supplied the cups as I never seem to have paper cups. I tried to get my twin almost-four-year-olds to help, but they just wanted to dump the lemonade... So Hannah and Katie did the honors (and collected a nice jar of quarters to boot!).

We sold antiques, vintage finds, and other fun funky treasures. The best treasure of all, however, was Dee. She came to our sale each day and sat to visit with us. We drank coffee, and then I brought out my collection of vintage pictures. We had such fun looking at these timeless treasures! On Sunday, Dee surprised me by bringing her collection of vintage Halloween postcards.

I. Was. In. Heaven.

It is so nice to meet people who "get" old stuff, who love chippy cupboards and fancy a morning looking at old photographs of strangers. Dee is a treasure herself, and I am soooo glad we met!

With all this talk about lemonade, I think I might go mix up a cold glass of sugary goodness. It is supposed to be a hot one today, so join me in a glass! And be sure to check out the Lemonade Stand Award Recipients above - their blogs will inspire you and give you a smile, too!