Where Does the Time Go

Oh where does the time go? Recently I received an email from Blogger asking if I still wanted updates when I received comments on this blog. I popped over to take a look and see when the last time was I posted ... two years ago!! Wow ... I realized the last post was about a project or two for my daughter Lexi's, 14th birthday. And, now, we are getting ready for her Sweet 16. As our kids get older the months seem to fly by and another year in a blink.

Seriously, where did these kids go?

Does anyone even read blogs anymore? I remember when I started reading my first blog back in May of 2006 ... Confessions of a Pioneer Woman. That was way before I think many of my friends even knew what a blog was ... But, I loved the way Ree Drummond wrote and all of her amazing photographs and recipes. I was hooked! Now a days, it seems everyone has a blog but, they are more like magazines with tons of advertisements. Ninety percent ads and 10% actual content a far cry from what it was when I first started following blogs. I guess so many people saw the success of early bloggers and the ability to make an income off of blogging that they jumped on the bandwagon. Of course, that was not reality. Not to mention, sustaining a blog like that of a Ree Drummond takes lots of investment both financially and time wise. But, this flood of blogs that I call "for profit only" I'm sure has probably led to the decline of reading them by people like me.

So here I am again ... I miss blogging but, then I don't seem to have the level of commitment I did many years ago when my kids were younger and I blogged full time, documenting everything in our homeschool and daily life. I love this little blog though that I started a few years ago so I am going to try and post a bit more often. I've enjoyed papercrafting again and realize how important it is to balance life, work and fun. Right now our time grows shorter and shorter with our kids and it is time to start considering a new chapter.

Mini Swag Bags

I love how these cute mini-swag bags turned out for my daughter's 14th birthday party. I found a package of the small black bags at a local craft store and added the tags to the front.

Inside each bag was chocolate and these Wish Bracelets that I created ... I originally saw these on a show I was watching. Apparently, there are many origins as to which culture the idea came from. I found the charms and cord at Michael's. The wearer makes a wish on the charm and ties the bracelet on ... when cord the breaks and the charm falls off your wish is granted, as the story goes.

A fun night at Melting Pot celebrating Lexi's 14th birthday.

Halloween Stuffed Bag

This was a Halloween Stuffed Bag I created for a swap. I LOVE making these ... this one has a custom created bag made from one sheet of scrapbook paper - then embellished. This fun penpal project had lots of elements, including - handmade tags, handstamped Halloween images, a handmade rosette, some stickers and ephemera items I had purchased.

Here is the Stuffed Bag all unpacked ... I even included a smaller bag with a handle which could be used later to surprise a friend filled with some Halloween candy.

I LOVE Fall so much and these fun penpal swaps really get my creative juices flowing while making me so excited for cooler days and fun holidays to come!

Fall Themed Pocket Letter

Here is a Pocket Letter I sent out recently to a swap partner with a Fall Theme. Don't you just LOVE Fall? It is my favorite season. Watching the leaves change and the days go from hot to warm to cool. I can't wait for our first fire pit - hopefully in the next few weeks. And, of course, everything pumpkin. 

This PL features a clear shaker pocket in the middle filled with a range of orange colored sequins and cute fall themed embellishments. 

Hope you're enjoying some enjoyable Fall activities ... 

Pipsticks Sticker Club

September Pipsticks 

Growing up in the 80's one of my favorite hobbies was collecting stickers. I had this great sticker album with all my cherished stickers inside. I would page through it every night and admire the stickers I had collected - puffy stickers, Garfield stickers, scratch-n-sniff stickers. I guess that is why now a days I enjoy using stickers in many of my paper crafting projects. They are especially great to use on the outside of envelopes. It's probably why I love Washi Tape so much too, it's like a sticker in a tape form.

Recently, I ran across this amazing company that has a monthly sticker club! I had to sign up ... each month you receive an envelope in the mail with all these wonderful stickers sourced from places all over the world. Now, I just need to figure out how to keep one of my daughter's from hoarding them for herself. Maybe I need to get her a sticker album. 

Want to try out a sticker club for yourself ... here is a link to Pipsticks.

A Letter in the Mailbox

A recent letter I mailed

With the invention and then popularity of email and social media the art of writing a letter or card and mailing it to a friend or family member seems to be diminishing. I want my children to experience the fun of receiving a letter in the mail and writing someone.

I remember growing up and the excitement of hearing from a relative who lived a distance away. My aunt would write my mom and catch her up on all of my dad's family that lived around her. In return, my mom would write back and let her know how we were all doing. I would read and reread those letters from my aunt. With long distance phone calls being so expensive and the internet many years away this was a popular form of communication. 

I have friends now that admit that sometimes they do not check their mail box for days ... why? Well for the most part the mail these days brings bills or even better, and especially at this time of year, political advertisements.

So, my mission right now, starting with my family is to help bring back this lost art form ... letter writing! And, to make it a little more interesting ... creating a pocket letter to mail off to a pen pal or decorating an envelope to mail a note in helps get my girls on board. Now, my son is not an easy sell on this but, I encouraged him the other day to just grab a piece of notebook paper and write out his thank you letter to his grandparents rather than text them to thank them for a birthday gift. It was a sweet note and I think expressed his thanks much better than a text message. I know his grandparents enjoyed getting that traditional thank you, too. 

Pocket Letters

Pocket Letter - Fall Theme - Front Side

I have collected so many stamping and paper crafting supplies over the last ten plus years ... I have gone through phases where I purged a lot of my materials. Many times I donated items to non-profits or I sold off items on eBay. And, while it is always nice to make room in my craft space by getting rid of items - it is much more fun to use up my craft stash creating things.

Pocket Letter - Fall Theme - Back Side

Imagine my surprise when I came across a small ad in a craft magazine for a site called Pocket Letter Pals ... before I knew it I was filling these mini-pockets of a 9 x 9 sheet. It is a fun new way to enjoy the world of pen pals. I want to help preserve the art of writing letters and the joy of receiving a card or letter in your mailbox from someone. Pocket Letters are an extension of the ever popular Project Life - which is a great way to easily scrapbook utilizing plastic pockets placed in a three ring binder. Pocket Letters was started by Janette Lane as a new way to correspond with pen pals. The trend caught on and now there are Facebook Groups and Swaps dedicated to this new hobby. There are many ways of creating a Pocket Letter - I follow the more traditional decorated front pockets and back of pockets filled with items to share with your pen pal/swap partner. Of course, a letter is always included.

Hoping to post a tutorial soon on how I go about creating what goes inside the pockets. In the meantime - take a look on YouTube there are tons of videos with lots of super creative takes on this craft.