Old Friends, Scrapbooking & Flowers

Recently, I have reconnected with a friend and former co-worker.  Gail and I started out in the same training class and worked in the same group for over 5 years.  When I left the workplace almost 14 years ago,  slowly over time I lost contact with most of them.  I have many fond memories of many of my former co-workers and was sadden to hear that one of them had passed away.  I worked with this group of people for over 5 years in Houston, TX.  This group of co-workers were the best group of people I have worked with and often think about them and wonder what became of them.  Thanks to Gail, now I know. 

Hopefully, our schedules will work out and I will see Gail this March and she will meet my son Alex.  My daughter Laura was a baby the last time I saw Gail.   We will be returning to Texas for our Spring Break!  We will spend time in Houston, San Antonio and Austin.  We  look forward to spending time with many of our old friends and family.  

I am happy to report that I have made progress with Alex's birthday scrapbook.  He loves dinosaurs and  his favorite color is green. This scrapbook is a hybrid.  Most of the pages have 10 x 10 digital layouts, mostly photos placed within templates.  I then place the 10 x 10 print onto a 12 x 12 paper layout.  I love combining both, digital and traditional (paper) into one book.  I covered black chipboard with fabric for the cover.   I am halfway done and hope to finish it by the end of next week. 

 I have also been creating more flowers.  I like the multiple layers and playing with different combinations. 

Happy Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day was a busy but good day!  I enjoyed taking pictures in my son's 1st grade class as the kids exchanged valentines and enjoyed a healthy snack.  Amy and I work really well as co-homeroom parents and on days like today, it was really nice to be able to share these special memories with our kids.  My family and I also received some lovely valentine gifts like sugar cookies, chocolates, flowers and a special handmade card. We are very fortunate to have so many caring friends and today was certainly a day to appreciate them all.

Over the weekend, I decided the Valentine candy boxes I had worked on last Friday needed a little something.  So, I added some small paper roses (purchased, I did not make these), some more ribbon and some decorative pins.   I also made more candy boxes over the weekend...I made them for my two kids and several friends.  It was fun to share these little boxes on this day.

Valentine Boxes with Chocolates Inside

Last night my friend Amy and I had craft night!  First, we started by celebrating her belated birthday (her birthday was in January) with dinner at a Mexican Restaurant.  After dinner, we went back to my house and spend the rest of the evening in my craft room (till after midnight!).  Amy worked on scrapbook pages while I created some paper crafts. 

Since Monday is Valentine's Day, I decided to create some special boxes for Alex's teachers (he is in 1st grade).  With the exception of the ribbon and paper heart doily, all the materials are from K&Company.  It's the Kelly Panacci  Valentine line.   It was so much fun to work on these boxes, especially since I used Martha Stewart's scoring board.  It's a wonderful  tool.  I wrapped Hershey's Nugget chocolates with scrapbook paper... so when you open the box it's rather festive.  I cut a 12 x 12 sheet into 6 x 6.  This resulted in the box size of 4 x 4 x 1.

My favorite part last night was spending quality time with my friend Amy.  I love spending time with my friends.  My friend Lisa's birthday will be in a week  and we have fun birthday plans.  Our daughter's, Laura (13) and Sophie(14)  will be joining us for dinner and a movie.  I love to celebrate my friends birthdays! 

Colds, Winter Wonderland & Paper Boxes

On this Sunday morning, I was up extra early because I have a household full of sick people.  My husband has had a bad cold for over a week, my son and daughter came down with it a few days ago.  It's a sad household right now.  Surprisingly, I remain healthy...the question is, for how much longer.  With one husband and two kids sick in bed/sofa, I know what is coming for me.

In the meantime, I can enjoy the beautiful scenery and some hot cocoa.  Snow.  We are expecting even more snow on Tuesday. It will be interesting to compare with today's pictures.

 

In my previous post, I mentioned I had created some paper boxes with flowers.  I learned a new technique on creating paper roses using spellbinders Blossom die (the tutorial in the magazine actually used the Dahlia die, but I only had the Blossom die). I get the magazine digitally from Northridge Publishing, the tutorial came from their February 2011 issue of Cards.

I also got to play with Martha Stewart's scoring board.  It's a wonderful tool, one that I know I will use frequently.  Creating boxes and the accordion style flowers was quit easy and fun.  I also used Martha Stewart's border punches. Those border punches are also one of my favorite tools.

 

 Although these type of paper roses are more time consuming, they are worth the time.

 I used paper from K& Company for all these boxes and flowers.  I love the details of their papers.

 A small box with a single rose.  Perfect to place a small gift inside.

 

I may add some glimmer mist to the flowers.  I have not decided if I will leave them like this or add the mist to them.