Envie Cookbook

What to do... what to do...???

I have been working on this gatefold album that I have made, and yesterday I came across this really cute pinwheel card. I just had to make it!! But now I can't resolve how to fit it onto a page. Heeellllppppppp.....   any ideas?? :) Here are some pics...

"Lovely Blog Award Update......"

If you received a blog award from me, please scroll down to the updated original post.
Congratulations! and thanks for visiting my blog :)

Some things I have been... & am still working on :)

Haven't been posting much lately :( While out of town at my Mom's for the weekend,
my family got me hooked on playin' a virtual game called "Farm Town". Do not... I repeat, Do not get started on this game. Takes tons more time than you realize, but it is a cute game. Any hooo...
Wanted to come on to post some pics of a couple projects I have been working on while playing Farm Town. One is a paper bag album about some of my favorite things from my child hood. The other is a gate fold album I created from scratch. Luv working on albums:) What a scattered mess working on more than one project at a time can make!
Hope everyone will have a great week!
Until next time.....

***Update*** Lovely Blog Award

...and the next award goes to,
*Deneen over @ "A Path of Paper". I was hooked at the first look! Wow!! The kind of blog I like to visit!! Really neat and cute blog. Go see 4 yourself! :)
*Chris over @ "Chris's Creative Corner"! Go say hello!
*Amy over @ "I Like to Make Stuff!" Really nice LO's!! Go see!!
*Jena @ "Live, Love, Scrapbook!" Just what the title says. Hard to not scrapbook without including the family. The two go hand in hand :) It's all about the balance:)
* Kathy, creator of "Chocolate Chips and Coffee!"
Go show her some luv :)
Okie doke! Will be adding more great blogs later :) Until then...

Congratulations Kat!! over @ "Getting A Life" (ramblings about a 'mid-life crisis' and what I'm doing to get a great life).

I absolutely enjoyed her blog. Sooooo many things, and way too many things I could relate to. Her blog is exactly that, "Life." will definitely be keeping an eye on Kat's blog!

The rules for accepting this award are:
1) Accept the award. (that means right click, save it to your computer, then up-load it to your blog.)

2) Post it on your blog together with the name of the person who has granted the award, and his or her blog link.

3) Pass the award to 15 other blogs that you’ve newly discovered.

***Remember to contact the bloggers to let them know they have been chosen for this award.

Of course there will be more bloggers announced soon!!!

"This is My FIRST!!!" Thanks Dawn!!

Dawn over @ "Dawns Craft Place" has awarded me with my very "first" Blog Award!! I am utterly estatic!! Thank you so much Dawn! I will in turn be listing the Blogs here that I will be passing this award on to. So, check back to see where it goes!
Again, Thank You Dawn!

Gettin' Ahead of Myself??!

I was browsing you tube for cool paper crafting ideas when I came across these two characters! They were soooo cute I just had to stop and take time to make them! They are made to wrap around the snack size Kit Kat or Hershey chocolate bars. I thought I'd try my hand at writing the tutorials to make these cuties here on my blog. Sooo here it goes!! This tutorial is for "Mr. Mummie".

*All cardstock and ink pad are "Close To My Heart." If you need supplies contact me via my email addy on my CTMH Biz web site.

The supplies you will need for Mr. Mummie are:

You really just need scraps of the following cardstock.
Black Cardstock #1386
Desert Sand Cardstock #1273
Bamboo Cardstock #1301
White Daisy cardstock #1385
Chocolate Stamp Pad #Z211
Paper Trimmer #Z338
Cosmetic Sponge
5/8 Circle punch
1/4 Circle or Hand Punch
Craft Tweezers (opt.) but I can't live without 'em!
Glue Pen and/or snail adhesive -Glue Pen #Z553-Snail #1514
or Glue of your choice
Kit Kat or Hershey snack size candy bar
**
For the candy wrapper:
Using the Desert Sand cardstock,
Cut one 3x31/2 inch piece.
On the 3 1/2 inch side
Score at 1 1/8 & 3/4 on each side.
I did not crease the folds until later.
For the Mummy Body:
From the Bamboo card stock cut
2 pieces at 3x1 1/8
Across the 1 1/8 side, tear one piece of the Bamboo card stock in smallish strips.
Using the cosmetic sponge, start sponging the chocolate ink onto the edges of the torn strips.
Do a test on a scrap to determine how heavy to apply the ink.
For the Eyes:
Punch two 5/8 circles from the White Daisy cardstock.
Punch two 1/4 circles from the Black cardstock.

There's those trusty tweezers!!

Adhere the black 1/4 circles to the white ones, testing for placement before applying glue.
Finishing the mummy:
Before applying my torn strips and eyes to the second strip, I laid them out dry for placement.
Cover the second strip with glue or snail adhesive. Begin applying the torn strips to the solid strip. Add the eyes at the position you would like them. (Be sure to cover portions of the eyes with the torn strips.)

Apply adhesive to the back of your mummy and center him onto the scored 3x3 1/2 wrapper.
If you had not already you can burnish the score lines now.
Apply a narrow strip of adhesive to the right side of one of the back flaps.
Place remaing flap over the adhesive and finger press closed.
Congrats!! You have made your very own Mummie!!

Leave me a link in the comments box so I can see your creations!

Cutest Little Card...

 

This is just the absolute cutest little gift card and it is so versatile. The little pocket on the front can hold anything from a tag to a tea bag! I luv this little card! At the present I cannot find the video I watched to make this little card, but I am steadily looking! When I find it I will post it here. have a super great day!!

The recipe for this card:

*Most supplies, "Close To My Heart"

 # X7094B My Reflections paper Packet "Paper Garden"- Petal cardstock 

# X7094C My Stickease "Paper Garden"

Misc. ribbon and brads.

Cute Lady!!!

A couple of cute cards I made today, saw them on You Tube. The one on the left is for my sweet niece Erica. Her birthday is right around the corner. I used my new Spellbinders Nestabilities die to cut out the body for my lady bug. I loooove these dies! Soooo easy to use! I am really lovin' the border punch I bought from the Martha Stewart line as well. I use it a lot! It adds just the right touch to an other wise plain card. The recipe:

Close to My Heart Items: Cranberry, Colonial White, and Black cardstock. Black stamp pad. Purchased ribbon. Tools: 1/4 inch hand punch, 1" circle punch, Spellbinders Classic scalloped circles large, Martha Stewart eyelet border punch.

It has been a while since I have posted.... just life I suppose. Hope you all are well and are enjoying the beginning of Summer!

Until next time!

Isn't this card absolutely adorable?!?! I saw several versions of it while surfing the web, so when I saw it of course, I haaadd to make it! Well, of course I did not have the paticular dies or stamps I had seen used to make the flowers with; soooo after trying a flower stamp that I did have and cutting then all out, they really looked "flat"! So during my trip up to Va. the other day, (the closest place that has a Michael's, AC Moore, etc.) I found the most perfect flower die by Sizzix. It has three different flowers on the one die. So, that is what I used to create my flowers for this cute card with! Only the solid brown paper is by Close To My Heart, but I have not received my order as of yet. This card has an insert tag that the flowers are attatched to the top of that you can stamp or write a message on. I think it is the cutest thing. I am making one for my two sisters asap. :) The pic below is of the insert removed from the card.

Here is another card I recently made as well. It is a pop up card. When you pull on the sides of the card your message, or whatever you put on the pop out pops up!

Cute huh?? Okie dokie! Just wanted to share these toadally cute cards with ya!
Have a super day!

Whoa... what a past couple of weeks! Between everybody being sick, a family situation, Gage's 5th birthday party, and Mother's Day, I am finally making a new post.

I saw this cute pop-up card on you tube and thought I'd make it for my mom for Mother's Day.

So, here is how it turned out. Of course I used Close To My Heart papers and Stickease from the Unforgettable set. Hopefully I will be able to send in a order soon so I can get some new paper to play with.

This is a little card I made to go along with it so I could write a little message inside of it to my mom. I cut the little butterfly and the word Mother out with my Cricut.

Hope everyone had a blessed and happy Mother's Day! TTFN!

That was Toadally Awesome Fun!!!

My oldest grandson's birthday is next week, so I made him this really, really cute card! I found the instructional video by Stampin' Hands on you tube. This card was a little un-nerving to do for the first time but I bet, my soon to be next one, won't be! I just love the element of surprise this card gives to it's recipient. I used DCWV cardstock as well as paper from the Use 'Em for Anything paper stack from HOTP. The balloons and gators were from a sheet of stickers I had picked up some time ago from the Dollar Tree they turned out super great for this card, don't ya think?! I am ready right now to make another one!

This next card is one that I made for my oldest grandaughter, Banna Girl that is what I call her.

Her card is a called a spinner card because two pennies put together under the butterfly makes the butterfly spin and turn along the open path it is on.

Okie Dokie! If ya have questions you can post them over there in that little box, or you can leave them in the comment place right under this post. Maybe I will be getting a vid camera for "my" birthday later this month. Then I can make vids and post 'em here for you to follow.

Until next time, have a wonderful day!

Here with a few projects I have just made.
I just had to make this criss-cross card after I'd seen it numerous times across the internet. Really fun and quick card to make. For this one I used the Close To My Heart "Emporium B&T Duos from the Level 2 paper pack," as well as a couple stickers from the "My Stickease" stickers in the "Emporium" group for the tab to pull out the card. The card is made from the buttercup and white daisy cardstock. The green dotted ribbon is offray. The words and circle were stamps from the "Noteworthy" and "Connections" stamp sets.

Here is another really fun, but quick gate fold card to make. This card I made using Close To My Hearts "Unforgettable B&T duo Level 1 kit which includes the stickease adhesive sheet."










And one last card, a double pocket card. Made also from the "Unforgettable" Level 2 paper packet.
Okie dokie. That is all for now. Have a happy day!

Cool Flip Flap Album

Here is the newest project I have been working on for the past couple days. I saw this idea on you tube by 2worldswings. I didn't really like the spiral binder on the album, so I made it without one. This is my variation of that project. I really had a load of fun creating this project.

This is the front. It opens in a gatefold manner.

This picture is the inside front of the album. There is a pocket with a journaling tag tucked inside.

This accordian folded mini sets inside the front cover for small pics and journaling.

This is accessed behind the front part of the album by turning the page. The page on the left also has a gatefold that opens to a single page. On the right, Is a single page with a smaller page folded over it.

...and then the back of the album.

I used the "My Reflections Emporium" scrapbook kit from "Close To My Heart" to make the album. The kit contained all the coordinated designer papers, card stock and the stickers to complete this project.

Close To My Heart's National Scrapbook Month Special!!

Tomorrow, April 15th, begins the kick off for "Close to My Heart's National Scrapbook Month" So to honor this great celebration Close to My Heart has created a special kit called, "Tickled Pink!"

You’re gonna love our Tickled Pink scrapbooking kit. Our newest scrapbooking kit puts you front and center—with everything you need to create two beautiful two-page layouts all about the things that you love and that make you shine.And speaking of shine,
you’ll also be tickled by the kiss of glitter on these fabulous papers!
To get your very own Tickled Pink scrapbooking kit:
• Place a minimum order of $60 in stamp sets (excluding K-size and Stamp of the Month) between April 15-May 31 to
receive a Tickled Pink scrapbooking kit FREE! (Use item number CC1004D; limit one free kit per order.)
• Purchase the Tickled Pink kit at just $34.95—well below retail value! (Use item number CC1004C)
• Host a Home Gathering between April 15-May 31 with minimum sales of $400
and receive a kit FREE.
• Sign up as a new Consultant between May 1-May 31 and receive a kit FREE.
Celebrate spring, bling, and everything you love—you’ll be so happy, you’ll be Tickled Pink! Contact me...

Just had to share this with you.

I came across this really cute woven Easter basket made from scrap booking paper while surfin' the web. The site gave written instructions on how to make it, but me, being a very visual person, went to you tube to find it as a video. Well I didn't find the woven basket, but one very similar to it. The link for it is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-EnsmfMmPk for part 1


and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmKgfuuBY6g&feature=related for part 2.
This one is not woven, but still has a similar concept. I thought this would make a great project to do with the kids or with a class of kids. There is a listing on you tube for a much smaller, much simpler little easter basket by Dawn as well. Dawn has quite a few how to videos on you tube.
For anyone owning the Cricut, you could use the Cricut cartridges containing decorative envelopes to make this basket as well.
Maybe I will get the chance to make one myself. If I do I will post it here on my blog.
Happy Easter crafting everyone!

 Hubby says today should be a great day to get out into the flower garden! Yay!
So... I am going to get out there and prepare for Spring!!
I have finally bought some healthy blueberry and raspberry bushes to plant. I have been wanting to plant some for years.
I have some new tulips and other flowers to plant as well.
Lots of work to do today, so I'd better get going. Have a lovely pre-Spring day!



above art work by: Tina Wenke for PC Crafter.com

A First Thought

If you think you can
It may lead you to
Believe you can.
If you believe you can
It may lead you to try.
You may find success.
If you succeed but fail
It may lead you to keep trying.
And as you keep trying
You “will” succeed.
When you do succeed
Be always thankful,
Always be grateful
And never forget your sources
Of inspiration and encouragement
Along your way.
®Julie Lane
February 12, 2002

This poem is dedicated to, and stands in memory
of my wonderful, loving father, E.J. Davis who
taught me to know that I can accomplish anything
I set my mind and heart to do.



"Whether you think you can, or that you can't,
you are usually right."
-Henry Ford-

"I have not failed, I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work."
-Thomas Edison-

My Very First Explosion Box Album!

I have recently found really cool scrappin' videos on you tube! I even placed the video links here on my page. So I have been watching them, and watching them, and watching......
So, I got a little tired of watching and just decided to try something I had seen! The explosion box album has always intrigued me, so I decided to give it a try. So now you can see why I am so, so, so, excited to share this with you!!
This is my very first "explosion box album!" So far all has gone pretty well except, that I had to make a second lid for it, as the first one was a bit too snug.
I have the foundation all together, now all I have left to do is the funnest part of it all, decorating it!! Well, for me it could be the hardest part just deciding what theme and which pictures I should use! But I can hardly wait anyway! Oh how much fun this has been so far!

Find a Reason...

Don't forget to smile today. Smiling makes the heart
happy.







art by "Mary Engelbreit"

Something to share. A poem or a rhyme.

The Kitchen Table

If you peer close enough I am sure you will see
my nicks and my scars
from those who have gathered ‘round me.
Just so you know they are not in vain
They are from littler, much smaller hands
with no remorse or regret nor sorrow of any kind.
Almost always covered with ickies, stickies, and grime
Cookies and jam and yummies of all kinds.
Happier days, joyous occasions, and even sometimes a little sad
all shared by this family through both the good times and bad.

In just a moment, a small moment in those times
these little fellows to me were not always so kind.
With fork in one hand and spoon in the other
they would sometimes get silly and just wanting to play
they would bang and drum down on me my soft wood giving way.
Making nicks, cuts, and scratches that none would repair
whether they could or could not those scars remain there.
So these dents that I bear both smaller and huge
were made by those whose times gathered round me
will be all too few.
So I bear them in mind to all those who see
Not only adults, but children gathered ‘round me.

Julie Lane-02/2009®

A heavy leaf to turn.

Wow! I am excited to be back posting to my new blog!

I have been shopping and browsing the net for the past few days. Got a couple of good deals on E-bay. (Yay for me!) lol!

I've browsed a few really nice looking blogs today. I really liked the headers on their blogs. I have got to figure out how to make my own so I purchased Corel's Painter X today so I can. Can't wait to get it. I already had the corel Paint Shop Pro Photo X2, but it is not really an artsy program. I have had, or I should say, have various versions of Paint Shop Pro before Corel took it over but I never really got in full swing with it. Hopefully version X will not be so complicated to master or at least do what I need to with it. I suppose I'll have to get totally focused to get all this stuff done that I need to do, like focusing on a way to publish my own art. Which actually brings me to the topic I really wanted to post on my blog today...

My youngest sister, being a fellow chocolate lover but not near the chocoholic that I am, had mentioned to me on several occasions about trying this chocolate that I had not tried before, so, the other day while at the local super store, I purchased some. Brought it home and tried it. Yes, it was very good chocolate. Very creamy good. Well I quickly noticed that inside each individual wrapper was a phrase. Pretty interesting ones too but the one I opened yesterday, I kept in hopes that I will apply it to my own life. it read like this, "Bring your life to life: stop planning, start doing." Seeing that I have been wrestling with myself since the first of the new year, to finally focus on just a couple of the talents that I have and develop them fully and leave the rest to fill in any blanks that might be along the way, I took this little phrase straight to heart. But as we all know change isn't easy for most of us. So, I decided to try to focus on the things I really need to, no, I am going to change in my life. Focus on them until they are changed. This blog for instance, is one thing I have wanted to do for quite a long time, I just did not know how or where to begin, but because of my greater desire to do out weighed my fear to do so, here I am! Writing my very own blog, even if no-one reads it but me, I will always be glad that I did it.

All Things Cute & Colorful

I have been blessed with such wonderful interests and talents. I have tried my hand at many things in the creative world. One of my less desirable traits being too much of an perfectionist and having so many interests has kept me from accomplishing and completing a great many things that I wish to have completed. Now, at the age of 45 years, I hope to focus my attentions on just a couple or at most a "few" things to major upon. I have always loved color and most things associated with color. Like, what I call, cute art, from artists like Mary Engelbreit , Brenda Walton, and so many more. I had always loved almost any form of art, mostly ceramics, drawing, and painting. I wanted so much to be able to create the things my mind imagined but I did not begin to develop that talent until I was in my early 30's. I found that I could wield a computer mouse well enough to "mouse out" my own "cute" art work. So my real journey began into the world of all things imagined, adorable, colorful, and fun! And so I have a few books of drawings that need to be brought out and somehow published so that others can maybe experience the same joy I had in creating them and to experience a little of the joy that can come from seeing only the cute and sweet little things that can cause our hearts to float lighter as the corners of our mouths to turn upward to a smile if only for just a few, brief moments.