SO VERY SORRY I'M SHORT ON TIME RIGHT NOW

Hello, everyone.  I really hope all's well.  Other than tired, I'm okay; however, I've been really busy tending to some family matters/situations.  I appreciate the inquiries and thank you for thinking of me.

I wanted to quickly drop by to invite you to drop by here tomorrow and Saturday, April 15 and 16, for Rhonda's "It's A Basket Case" Blog Hop that I'm participating in.  I actually did manage to complete a project to share with you all.

I'd also like to thank and welcome several new followers, and I'll be visiting with them,  as well as you all, as soon as I can.

I keep you all in my thoughts and wouldn't be away this long unless it was absolutely necessary, and when I can get back I have much to do.  I even have pictures to post of the hubby's new car, as promised, which he's finally received.  I also have some blog awards to acknowledge, so for those of you who passed them on I haven't forgotten  -- and I will post them.

I really do apologize for being so long in getting here and, unfortunatelly, I'm on the run right now so I really will have talk to you all later!  So sorry!

Miss you!

A PRETTY TOILETRY HOLDER? OR,... A STATIONARY HOLDER?

Hello, everyone!  I'm sharing my DT project designed for and featured on Sheila's blog today!

Several weeks ago, I went on an out-of -state visit with a friend and we stopped at a hotel along the way for some much needed rest.  While there, in the bathroom of our room, I was inspired for this project when I paid attention to how the towels were fan folded and then focused on the fancy combination holder for the coffee/tea; I guess inspiration can come from anywhere...lol!  Anyway, I combined the idea of the folded towels and the beverage holder, and here's what I came up with:

It's a toiletry holder (but it can also be substituted for a stationary holder and the back can hold pens/pencils)!!!  For mine here, I've added a bar of soap, a towel, and -- in the back -- a small bottle of bubble bath.  Here's a picture of the back:

Supplies needed to make this project::

• 1 - 6" x 12" sheet of  your preferred cardstock
• 1 - 8" x 6" sheet of same or coordinating cardstock
• 1 - 6" x 5" piece of chipboard (with enough coordinating paper to cover the roll)
• 1 - toilet tissue roll cut down to 3"
• 1 - 6" x 4.50" piece of heavy chipboard (with enough matching paper to cover your chipboard)
• Strong adhesive of your choice (I used Crafter's Pick "The Ultimate")

Starting with making the soap holder:  With the 6"x12" sheet of paper, 12" side across the top of scoreboard, score at::  .75", 1.50", 2.25", 3", 3.75", 4.50", 5.25", 6",  and  6.75" (this is every 3/4th inches); the final score will be at 8":

With the first fold being a valley fold, start mountain and valley folding up to and including the 6.75" scoreline (do not fold the 8" scoreline yet).  Once all the folds are done, run glue along the bottom of the first bottom valley  fold:

With a finger in the middle of the folds only, fold and bring the inside ends together (see picture below);  then glue to create a seamed fan-fold:

When the ends have been glued together, the seamed fold will protrude on the inside so, in order for your soap to fit easily into it's holder, cut away as much access paper as possible:

Now, add glue to bottom of the 6" scoreline area and glue this down to base of the cardstock aligned with the 6.75" scoreline:

Next fold the fan-fold up into an upright position and fold the 8" score line towards you (valley fold) to form the soap holder.  It should look like this:

Put the soap holder aside for a moment and move on to the towel holder.

For the towel holder the 8"x6" cardstock is scored only once at 5", with the 8" side across the top of the scoreboard.  Fold at the 5" scoreline  and set this aside for now also.

Now, before the 2 holders are put together the back wall of the soap holder first needs to be secured so that it will stand in place on it's own (otherwise the back wall will be floppy because the cardstock isn't heavy enough to support itself).  To do this, take the 6"x8" chipboard and with the 6" side across the top of the scoreboard, score at 2" and fold.  Next, grab the soap holder;  take the chipboard and align it with the middle back wall of the soap holder; slide the  2" end of the chipboard beneath the back wall of the soap holder then glue the bottoms together.  The remaining end of the chipboard is then glued to the back wall of the holder (see picture below for chipboard placement).  Once the chipboard is glued in place, take the towel holder and glue the 3" scored end to the bottom of the soap holder.  Your holder will look like this:

Finally, cover the remaining 6" x 4.50" piece of chipboard (this will be the base for the entire holder) and the tissue roll with coordinating cardstock.  Glue the covered chipboard to the bottom of the holders aligning the front ends.  The remaining inches will extend from the back of the holder (see picture below).  This base will provide additional stability and security to your holder.  Now take your tissue roll and glue this to the back wall of your towel holder and to the bottom of the covered chipboard base:

Now the holder is done, all that's left is to decorate and embellish any way you'd like.

For my holder, I added a fan-fold to the top of the tissue-roll  holder holding the small bottle of bubble bath to complement the fan-fold on the front of the holder; added some Stickles around the edges; inserted my toiletries, added a metal leaf to the front and flat-backed marbles for feet.  The holder is all done!!!

Remember the useful idea I mentioned earlier that this holder can double as a stationary holder; swap out the soap for envelopes, stationary for the towel, and drop pencils/pens in the tissue-roll holder on the back!!!  Or maybe you can think of something else -- let me know!!!  Have fun with it!!!

Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you like my little project!

PLEASE DON'T FORGET...!

Happy Wednesday, everyone!!!

Well, yesterday I accompanied my hubby to the wake/funeral services of his friend's wife's mother.  I don't really do well at these kind of services but I do always want to pay my respects to the families when I can.

Anyway, I wanted to drop in and say hello today, and also to remind you that tomorrow is the first Thursday in the month which means I am the DT designer on Sheila's blog tomorrow.  I have another little project I'm hoping you'll like, so I'd love it if you all join me -- either here or at Sheila's.  Don't forget!

I'm off now because I still have a few finishing touches to put on my project and to get my tutorial together, so...

I hope I'll be seeing you!

A SYMPATHY CARD AND SOMETHING SPECIAL!

Happy Monday!  Hope all's well and that you enjoyed a wonderful weekend!

My hubby's friend's wife lost her mother several days ago, and hubby asked me to make a sympathy card for her.  This is the keepsake card I made and I'd like to share it with you:

I made the embellishment on the front made with resin.  If you click on it to enlarge it, you will see I actually layered the wording over the picture so that the words would have a raised/floating effect.  I tried using UTEE and it was okay, but it wasn't crystal clear like the resin is.

Here is the inside of the card:

The inside reads:  "Your loss is so great, our words so small; but we offer our condolences".

Because I did add some rhinestone bling to the front of the card, I'm submitting it for the bling challenge at Frosted Designs.

Now, something special,  by request last year I did a tutorial on an Easter basket I made from Loopy Chenille.  Finally, I get a chance to see what someone has done using my tutorial.  My friend MsJay made the basket and it's posted on her blog today!   I am so excited and proud to see she did such a fabulous job that I'd like to present and share it with you:

Didn't she do a fantastic job?!!!  She will be entering this basket in a contest and I wish her good-good luck!!! 

Well, I hope you like my card!  That's it for now, but...

I'll be seeing you! 

WAX WORKS!

Hello all you wonderful people!!!  I hope you're all having a very happy crafting Saturday and that all is well!

Before I forget, the hubby said to thank you all for the many wonderful anniversary wishes he shared reading with me from you.  He couldn't believe how great you are all eventhough I tell him that alllllll the time!!!  Of course, I can't tell him anything now after reading what a great hubby he is!!!  LOL!

Okay, well my mind went astray again today!  It was my intent to play with all my new stuff today and instead I got off into playing with wax.  I found an old bar of wax I used to use for for body lotion; I'd forgotten about it and it's now too old for that purpose, so I decided to see what I could do with it in a mixed media type craft.  Last year I'd bought a book on making cards using wax and just put it aside intending to buy some wax.  I still will when I can get the hang of working with it, but for now this was great to use.  Anyway, after coming across this old bar of wax, I ran and got the book -- and that's all she wrote!  I grabbed several canvas boards and dug out some scraps.  Well, the first one didn't come out well at all and hot waxed leaked right through the canvas, so I started another and this one came out fairly decent:

It reads:  "What you do today is important because you are exchanging a day of your life for it". 

Of course, I love the saying and I think for my first piece of wax art (minus the one I totalled), I did okay.  If you're interested in the book, the name of it is "Vintage Greetings Cards" by Maryjo McGraw; there are a lot of great techniques in it but, for me, they will take more practice to master -- if ever.  But, loads of fun!  Now the book is for making cards using wax but being me, I had to experiment!!!

Before I leave, I don't remember who, but someone asked me if  I would to do a tutorial using UTEE (Ultra Thick Embossing Powder) and the answer of course is "yes, it would be my pleasure".  Not that I'm a master or anything, but it is fun, and I think I've got it down enough to show those of you who aren't accustomed to working with it how easy it is to use and how to have some fun with it too; so that will be coming up soon.

In the meantime, I'm off again!  Big-big hug!

I'll be seeing you!

BLOG AWARDS AND COPYRIGHT INFORMATION

Hello again, and I forgot to say happy "April Fool's" day on my post earlier!!!  I hope you're not getting fooled too much today.  Anyway I wanted to come back and post some blog awards before I forgot.  I would like to thank:

Brenda for the Liebster Award:

Wanda, Scrapcrazyyy, Besthobbyeva, and Rhonda for the Versatile Blogger Award:

And finally, Sandy for the Best Friend Blogger Award:

I think it's a blessing that you all thought to pass these wonderful awards on to me, and I appreciate each of them.  Thank you all so very much, and I hope that all my wonderful blogging family becomes acquainted with and visit you, if they don't already do so.

Because I've gotten this many awards...lol, I do believe there should be enough to share and pass on to just about everybody, so here'sto all of you!  Please grab an award and post it to your blogs from "yours truly"!

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IF YOU'RE INTERESTED IN INFORMATION AND/OR OBTAINING COPYRIGHTS ON YOUR ORIGINAL PROJECT FILES/PATTERNS:

I wanted to take a moment and share with you information on something I used to always do and have decided to do again.  I used to submit all my original craft patterns and files for copyright to the Libary of Congress, and I've decided to resume this practice and send all those I hadn't.  I'd stopped submitting them a while ago  as I no longer do sales/business as I used to, and because when you post an original project to Blogger there is "suppose" to be an automatic copyright on your originals as soon as they post; which I've found out is not at all reliable if someone is making money on your files/patterns.  Realizing not everyone is as respectful of each other as we are and that others could very well be making money off our hard work, in an attempt to avoid  the misuse of exclusive sales of my patterns and files without my permission -- on those files/patterns I so diligently worked on to create, I decided to put all my originals on government record again.  Although, I have been still using what they call the "poor man's" copyright where you mail your design to yourself so that it can be postmarked by U.S.P.S. , this method has limitations and then only if the package remains sealed/unopened. 

I wanted to share this information if you are interested in doing the same thing.  Unfortunately, and be aware, you cannot copyright ideas, so altered files/patterns can be copyrighted by others if they make changes to your originals making them their own; however, there are specifications that apply to altered patterns/files in order for them to be applicable for copyright as someone elses original -- although these rules are not quite clear when reading them. 

Copyrights are only issued on your own original design files and/or patterns.  Legal action can only be incurred if  your  files/patterns are copied exactly, without your permission, once they are copyrighted.

If you are interested you can find more information at http://www.copyright.gov/; you'll also be able to complete copyright forms there, if you wish to do so.

As an example of a sealed copyright certificate, I have provided below an old pdf. copy of one of my copyright Certificates of Registration, however, I have omitted my copyrighted information as it is not directly specific to a particular craft file/pattern on this blog and so the information on it is not relevant here.  I am only providing this as as a sample -- although copyrights are public information. When your copyright is approved and returned there will be a seal on the left top of the page and all the copyright information will be in the barcode at the right top of the page (sorry it came out so blurry, if you have a difficult time seeing it, let me know and I will try to provide a clearer copy): 

Depending on how you file your form(s)  the cost is either $35 or $50.  If you decide to do this it is best to file your project patterns/files as a collection, otherwise, the cost will apply to each individual one.  Also, you may want to do as I do and mail yourself a "poor man's" copyright along with a copy of your completed form until your copyright certificate is received.

You'll want to read up on copyrighting very thoroughly to make certain it's something you want to do.  There are specifics on copyrighting creative works!

If anyone is interested, I hope this is useful information.

IT WAS A VERY HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!!

Happy Friday, happy weekend!!!

Well, I guess I owe hubby big-time because I had such a wonderful day!!!  Leonard always tells me everyday is Christmas and that's just what yesterday felt like.  We started off the day going out to breakfast and then he took me on a craft shopping spree.  We went to Michael's, Hobby Lobby, and Joanne Fabrics.  He told me I had 15 minutes to go through each store and pick up things I wanted; let me tell you, I turned into some kind of maniac!!!  Can you imagine how fast 15 minutes can go when you have no idea of where to start or any idea of  anything specific in mind!!!   I know people that didn't know what was going on thought I was some kind of a nut!!!  LOL!!!  Here're just some of the goodies I grabbed:

And, YES, I defintely grabbed a Zutter Bind-It-All!!!  I'd been wanting this!!!  I had an old one of those cheapie binders with the plastic rings from Staples that only punches one page at a time -- and only paper!!!  And look at all the yummy Tim Holtz stuff.  I know a lot are duplicates of stuff I already have but who can have too much Tim Holtz, right?!!!  I was so busy tearing into all this stuff when I got home, I almost forgot to take a picture!  I was just like an excited kid at Christmas!

Next we went to lunch at Papadueaux's which is a cajun style/seafood restuarant that I love; and then he finally managed to get me up on the ferris wheel at Chicago's world-famous Navy Pier -- the view of the city at the top of the ferris wheel is spectacular!!!  I'm so glad he cohearsed me into it because as long as that ferris wheel has been an attraction, and as many times as I've visited Navy Pier, I'd never even considered getting on the ferris wheel.

Lastly we had dinner at another of my favorite seafood restuarants called Joe's which is on the north end of downtown near the magnificent mile.  We tried to end the evening with a horse carriage ride because the evening was so nice, but there were no carriages out or available when we walked over to the Water Tower. 

I really wanted a picture of us up on the ferris wheel, but this is Chicago!!!  I'm trusting but not stupid!  You can't just hand your camera over to someone, ask them to take your picture while you're sitting on top of the world, and come back down expecting them to be there with your camera...lol!!!

I did snap a picture of my hubby's appetitzer plate because I don't think anyone can clean up crab legs the way he can:

And I took this picture of the complimentary dessert the restuarant gave us to help celebrate our anninversary:

It may not look like much, but that fudge, chocolate, icecream and whipped cream was so darn rich the first spoonful was enough for me.

Well, sorry I didn't have more pictures, but I did have a wonderful time and wanted to share with you as much as I could.  Now I'm off to craft!  I'll be around to visit with you later...

I'll be seeing you!