A Handmade Christmas

I have adjusted the balance on these photos...but it is still a little yellow...sorry... Anyway, my mom asked for a special card box to hold all of the cards that I have given her over the years. I knew that a Close to My Heart Memory keeper box would be perfect because it is completely customizable.



SEI paper Bissette and K & Co. chipboard butterflies




She is always the easiest person on my list. I alsmo made her a snapfish photo album with pictures of the baby...she is going to love it!!

Baby Shower Gift for Jill

I decided to make a baby gift for a friend. She is not into scrapbooking or card making at all. I invited her to a workshop at my house and she actually said, "I don't really want to come make something because I will probably just throw it away..." Eeeek!! I cannot imagine throwing away something that is handmade, especially if I made it. I would rather give it away!! I make LOTS of cards.

Last weekend I woke up feeling generous so I put out a bunch of cards in a basket at a crop and only charged for them at a donation...some people gave me a dollar or two for each card...I know I could've sold them on Etsy for at least $4 a card, but I donated all the money to a local children's organization. It felt good to give the money to a charity and give the cards to people who appreciate handmade things.

You might be wondering why I would make a handmade gift for a friend who may or may not appreciate it...well, I can't knit and I can't sew, but I want to do something from the heart.....This is my best bet. I made her a memory keeper box with the baby's name on the top. She isn't super sentimental, but she may have little things from his birth that she wants to save. I also covered a chipboard peek-a-boo album with matching paper so she could stick some pictures in it.

Finally, I stamped a few thank you cards and envelopes for her to use after all the baby showers.


All of the paper, inks and stamps are Close to My Heart. I used a few buttons and chipboard letters from my stash. I tried to distress and ink the book to make it look like it would be perfect for a rough and tumble boy....I also went with colors that might match her house. This is the perfect memory keeper box because it will slide right into a bookshelf and she can write his name on the back edge as a label.

** EDITED: By the way, yes my friend's name is Jill and her husband is Jack...and their baby will be Jack Eugene IV.....SOOO CUTE!!

Memory Keeper box workshop pictures

Have you ever had one of those weeks where you were too busy and too worn out to make anything? This is one of those weeks for me. I have been going to bed early to get use to the time change and when I get home I just feel like I don't have any energy so I put my pjs on right away and veg on the couch for an hour or two.

Whew!! I had a workshop Monday night, we worked on Memory Keeper boxes. On Tuesday, I got up super early to go to Jefferson City for YOUTH ART MONTH. Four of my students had art on display at the Capitol. On Wednesday and Thursday I hosted an exhausting after school art club.

Here are a few pictures of the Memory Keeper boxes. (I just realized that I am missing one!!) All of the ladies in the workshop have different styles and tastes. I love that their boxes reflect their individual personalities. A few were making these as gifts, but I just love how they turned out. The boxes and paper packs are from Close to My Heart. Sorry about the bad lighting, it was night time!

Memory Keeper box for my Cards

This week's color inspiration challenge is gorgeous!! I love brown and pink. Tonight I made this box for my cards using 2 challenge prompts. The first one of course is the color inspiration challenge and the second prompt I utilized is from The Creative Type blog. This week's prompt left me in stitches! The goal is to use stitching for the lettering on our creation. For the first time, I hand-stitched the lettering on my title. This totally reminded me of Jr. High home economics class.

One of the projects we had to do was make a pillow with hand embroidered names on the front. I got really into embroidery floss and hand stitching. My mom still has the pillow and it has names of my Jr. High classmates, some are first names, some are last names and some are nicknames. I don't even remember who the nicknames are or why they had that nickname...but it is lovingly stitched on the pillow.

I remember getting together with a friend to sew one Saturday afternoon. I threaded the big embroidery needle and realized that I forgot something like scissors. I was sitting on the bed with a friend and I set the pillow down and stuck the needle in the mattress and ran to get the scissors. When I came back I hopped back up on the bed and the eye of the needle went straight into my knee!!! I freaked out! The thread was sticking out and so was the pointy end of the needle. I sent my friend to get my dad. He came in with pliers and carefully pulled it out. I don't remember it being sore or hurting all that much, but it was pretty tramatic...I was in jr. high so every thing was so much more dramatic.

Needless to say, I took shop in high school and steered clear of home ec. Haha....shop is way more dangerous than sewing, but I had had enough! Now I wish I knew how to sew, I haven't threaded a sewing machine since jr. high, but I have used some major power tools so I guess that is a plus...

Anyway, I had fun stitching the letters and I did quite a bit of painting on this box. I mixed brown paint to make all of the elements coordinate. I really like how it turned out...even my husband said "WOW" when he saw me putting the finishing touches on it. Hope you enjoy!!






Supplies used: CTMH unless otherwise noted.
Chipboard 'a' Basic Grey
Chipboard leaf and shape Basic Grey
White screen print overlay, Hambly

Memory Keeper Box

The same day I got this box in the mail, I covered it with paper and had it ready to give to a friend. My best friend's mother recently lost her husband. David had been in the hospital for over a month and Kathy had kept a journal every day. The journal was a steno pad, completely filled, some pages front and back. When the steno pad was full, she wrote on lose paper and stuck in in the back. The tattered book was in her purse for weeks after his death. As soon as I saw it, I knew she needed a safe place to store this treasure. I made this box with silhouette paper and some papers from the travel paper pack. The strip of aluminum, the decorative corner, and one chipboard shape are from my stash. Oh, and the keys are actually vintage keys that I got in Sweden when I was in college. I have been saving them for a special project like this. I inked the edges and used a sponge to make it look a bit more distressed, but I left the chipboard letters stark white to match box. I really love this memory keeper box. I took it to my workshop that night and the ladies were astonished that I had finished it so quickly (I used a card with an old piece of sheet music, it was already assembled and I glued it to the top). They asked if we could do these in a workshop. I love it that the boxes are less than $7, this makes them a perfect workshop item! Enjoy!! If you have any questions, please ask!

(I haven't given it to Kathy yet, the roads have been to icy to take it to her.)