In a slump

I suppose it's a combination of things that have caused the "slump" I've found myself in recently. It has been so wet and yucky weather-wise that it's difficult to maintain a positive outlook.
I have, however, been doing some splurging on new scrapbook supplies and that's ALWAYS fun. I've ordered from scrapbook.com a couple times the last few weeks as well as once from Joann.com. On top of that, I've made 3 separate trips to Knoxville to shop at Joann's physically. And maybe a couple of small visits to Hobby Lobby. Wow, LOL, I think that might sound a little worse than it actually is.
I wish I'd taken more pictures of my "happy mail" but as usual, I forgot. I did get this photo though of a package from sb.com a couple weeks ago (proving that I have good intentions of blogging haha)...lots of yumminess in this picture and a couple of the items have already been put to use :)

And, even though I've been in somewhat of a creative slump, I actually have been doing a little scrapping and I will be posting several layouts sometime this next week.

The weather was beautiful here today--SUNNY and around 70*---doesn't get much more perfect than that. Hopefully the nice weather will stick around for a week or two so we can recover from the winter blahs.

I hate to blog on the fly but it's been a long day and this old country girl is tired and has an alarm that sounds at 4:50 a.m. So on that note, I'll take my leave...but be sure you check back sometime this week for a look at the layouts I will be posting :)

Thanks for stopping by and hope to see you again soon!
Rhonda

Hey guys! We are still battling frigid temps here in east Tennessee but I'm staying warm by keeping my scrapbook mojo flowing...what better way to battle the winter blues, right??
As I promised in my last post, I have a few layouts to share with you all. I've been having scanner issues so I've been taking pictures of my layouts rather than scanning and stitching them. The one downside to that is having the date of the photo show up on the photos...I could turn that camera feature off but I depend on that date being on the photos way too often when it comes time to scrap said photos. And the truth is that I just don't want to deal with the task of remembering to turn it on and off with each picture I take. So until I get a new camera (one of these days!) OR figure this scanner out, then I'll just have to deal with that ugly yellow date showing up on my layout/craft photos. I do realize that it's distracting and I sincerely apologize in advance.

So without more jibber jabber here are the layouts I've been working on. I hope you enjoy them and are able to be inspired to get scrapping!

The butterflies and flowers are 3D stickers from my stash.
Title "Daddy's" are alpha stickers and "girl" was printed on
my computer using the CK cursive font-an oldie but goodie!
All hexagons were punched with my Creative Memories punch. 

I layered several hexagons and hand sewed down the center
to add a little more dimension to the page. Lots of ink also
as usual for me :)

It is extremely rare for me to actually cut the people
from photos to use on scrapbook pages...it's been years since
I've done it actually, but I love how it looks on this layout. And I
may be doing more of it on future layouts.

Every now and again I create a scrapbook layout that I *love*
and this is one of those layouts. This layout is based on a layout
that I found on Pinterest and after searching out the source, the
artists name is Debbi Tehrani and I'll link to her blog at the end of this
blog post. Her work absolutely blew me away--unbelievable scrapbooking
talent.

So much distressing, inking and layering <3 

The viewfinder diecut was cut using my SCAL2 and my Expression.
Pennants are a Paper Studio punch, sewing was done by hand, the black
heart gems were in a multi pack of gems I got from Hobby Lobby
awhile back and I thought they were perfect for this layout.

For this title I again went to my Expression and SCAL2. I cut
the title from basic white untextured cardstock using the
"Helldorado" font. I then used silver embossing powder to
give it color, sheen and dimension. It looks SO much better
in person and I love how it turned out. It actually inspired me to start
using more embossing powder!

This layout is special to me and I wanted it to be beautiful.
It looks very dissimilar to the image of the layout I wanted to create;
But I'm not unhappy with it. It tells the story that I wanted to tell and
that memory is now preserved--mission accomplished.

The title was again cut with SCAL2 on my Expression...I then
doubled the foam dots I used to adhere it simply to add more dimension.

The blue flowers here were originally white and I used
Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist in "Snowflake" to color and add sheen.
I used flowers from several manufacturers and just bundled them together.
The feathers used on this layout were cut from white cardstcok using SCAL2. 

Birdhouse cut with SCAL2, sprayed with pearl mist, and
adhered with foam tape.
The doilies are from Wild Orchid Crafts and I used
the Glimmer Mist in "Snowflake" and Perfect Pearls Mist in a brown.

This bookplate was a white cardstock diecut I've had
for years. I used copper embossing powder to give it the look
I was going for. The copper colored brads are Paper Studio.

 And that's all I have for today but I do hope to get at least one more layout completed before the weekend is up.
Thank you for taking the time to visit and read my blog--it is much appreciated! Have a great day and check back soon!
Rhonda

*as promised, here is the link to the blog where you can see the beautiful work of Debbi Tehrani
Little Scraps of Magic

Painted mason jar

Hi everyone! I hope you're all staying safe and warm on this cold and icy Tuesday. With the ice storm that came through yesterday there are many people in my state without power. I am very thankful and blessed that as of now we have not lost power.

I've done a couple of simple projects this past week that I wanted to share with you guys.
The first is the popular painted Mason jars that you see everywhere these days.
I picked up my jar from The Dollar Tree for $1 and used supplies that I already had on hand to complete this extremely fast project. It took longer for the Mod Podge to dry than for the rest of the project combined. And speaking of Mod Podge, I actually sealed with 2 coats just to be on the safe side.
I watched several videos and it seems to be fairly equal between the number of people who paint the insides of the jars and those, like me, who opt to paint the outside of the jar.
I chose painting the outside simply because I wanted to sand the raised edges slightly to give the shabby chic appearance that I tend to gravitate toward.

As usual, I failed to get a true "before" photo but this is
pretty close, right? :)

As you can see I used a simple sponge paint brush and
craft acrylic paint in my color of choice. I brused the paint
on in an up/down motion as evenly as possible. After the
first coat dried I added a second coat for better coverage.

And here you have the finished product <3
After the paint was dry, I used a very fine grit sandpaper
and lightly sanded the raised areas on my jar.
The final step is to seal with Mod Podge, or some other
type of sealant.
I added some burlap ribbon and some string pearls and that's
it. 

I added my favorite homemade coffee filter rose to
my finished jar and I love it!

I *may* add some small roses around the burlap
later on, but I haven't decided just yet.

My next project was also simple. Even though it was simple, it was also quite a bit more labor intensive than the previous task.
I had been looking for a few weeks for something to add to top of the shelf in the living room but wasn't sure what. I'm one of those people who lives by the creed that "I'll know it when I see it" and that generally works well for me for the most part. Notice that I said "for the most part..."
We've all seen those flower balls, right? What the heck are those things actually called anyway???
Well I decided that I wanted a poofy flower ball for the top of my shelf. The only problem was that I was very particular about what color it should be and though I searched I was unable find one that I loved.
So, I did what any self respecting crafter does and decided to make my own.

The only supplies required are:
-paper lantern in your choice size (I used an 8 inch lantern)
-package of regular coffee filters
-acrylic paint (or some other means of coloring your filters)
-cup or bowl (to mix the paint and water)
-paint brush
-water
-glue gun and lots of glue sticks

You start with the coffee filters. Some people like to round the end of their filters but I chose to skip that step.
-I mixed my paint--the exact paint I used for my Mason jar above--with about a cup of water. Just mix the paint and water until you get the desired color.
-You will want to immerse as many filters as possible at the same time. Just take a stack and place into the paint/water mixture.
-When all the filters are saturated completely, wring out the excess paint just as if you were wringing out a wash cloth. Don't worry about the wrinkles--they add a nice texture.
-Once you have all your filters painted you *may* wish to lightly brush some undiluted paint around the edges. I did complete this step...using my sponge brush, I dipped into the paint and dabbed around the entire stack of filters.
-You will need to set your filters aside for about a day in order for them to dry completely.

Once all filters are completely dry you will begin the process of of separating them.

notice the hint of darker green around the edges? That comes
from painting around the edges of the filters while they were
still wet. 

After you have them all separated, you can get down to the fun part lol.

The first step is to take each filter and fold in half...take that half and fold in half again...and again, for a total of 3 times to create a triangle.

-Once you have all your filters folded you can begin layering them onto your assembled paper lantern. I started from the bottom and worked my way up. I don't really know how to explain this step other than to say that I went in a circle around the lantern and attached the point (small end) of the filter triangles with hot glue approximately an inch apart and then began layering upwards. I actually *staggered* the filters as I went. I'm sorry I got caught up in this process and forgot to take any photos. You can search youtube though and lots of videos will come up if you need to see a visual.
Once you have your triangles attached your *poofy flower ball* (haha) will look something like this. And you could probably leave it at this if you wanted to.

 
Once you have all your filters attached, you can begin the process of of *fluffing* the filters. You just basically are separating each filter and opening them up and shaping them. You'll see the "flower" start to take shape and it will keep you motivated to keep shaping :)

The color is a little off but you can see the end result :)

Finished! I love the way the colors vary...

And that is my finished *giant poofy flower ball* lol. I love the way it looks...I do wish I'd started with a smaller lantern because the filters add several inches and my finished "ball" is larger than I intended. I'm guessing it's approximately 13-14 inches across.
I do love that it's the perfect color for my living room and it turned out perfectly.

So, were those instructions clear as mud or what, lol? Hopefully, I explained well enough that if you wanted to try your hand you'd know where to start. If you have questions just leave me a comment or send me an email and I'll get right back to you :)

And that's all I have for you right now. I've been a busy scrapbooker though so I'll have a few layouts to share next time!
Be sure and check back soon!
Thanks for stopping by, y'all!
Rhonda

False Advertising?

Haha...I don't know that I'd go quite that far but I would go so far as to imply that there is at least a discrepancy between the photos we're shown and the product we receive in many cases.
For instance, it's Saturday morning and I'm the only person awake at my house. I'm ready for breakfast but don't really feel the urge to actually cook.
Now that I think about it, it seems I suffer from that particular malady frequently haha.
I look in the refrigerator, then the freezer and finally the pantry. Not seeing anything that strikes my fancy I go through the process a second time...because obviously something will mysteriously appear in at least one of those places that wasn't there the first time I looked, right? Unfortunately, my luck isn't that great this morning and so my options are sparse.

Let me preface with saying this:
My youngest son doesn't eat breakfast at school and so the burden of making sure he has something hot and tasty (at least semi tasty haha) each morning falls to me, and being the great mom that I am I really do try. I'm just going to be honest and admit that 95% of the time his breakfast is a Hardee's biscuit on the way to school. But there are some mornings when we're running too late for that for whatever reason...hence the reason for this....this, I don't even know what to call it..."concoction" making its way into our pantry. I had actually bought a couple of these awhile back. My first clue should have been the day Chris tried to eat one and said it was horrible and threw it away. I just thought he didn't cook it properly or it needed salt pepper...it couldn't be as bad as he said so there had to be at least some user error involved. Let me tell ya folks...I was wrong. Very, very wrong. 0.o

Fast forward to this morning when I'm foraging for breakfast..."Hmm," I say to myself..."maybe you should try this delicious looking egg and bacon breakfast scramble..." Well, since myself usually has pretty good ideas, I decided to take my advice and as a result I may be traumatized for the rest of my life. I may never eat eggs again. Or bacon. Ok, I'll probably eat bacon again lol...real bacon though, not whatever they put into this and called bacon.

I'm not dissing Hormel...no really, I'm not. Maybe their tastes are just different than mine. Maybe they didn't actually taste this "concoction" before sending it out to human consumers. Maybe, and this is my best guess, just maybe there was a mix up at the processor and somehow the food meant for human consumption was substituted for the food meant to go to the dog food containers.
You'd think I was exaggerating but, unfortunately, I'm not.
To say this "stuff" was disgusting would be quite the understatement. Truthfully, I'm not even sure a dog would willingly eat this stuff. Thankfully for my non existent dog it won't have to test that theory lol.

And, since I know you're all wondering what I could possibly be referring to, let me show you.
And as unappetizing as it looks in the pictures, let me assure you that it tastes SO much worse. The grainy, somewhat slimy texture, is just an added bonus.

You can see how I may have been deceived, right?
I tried it and I didn't like it.

This picture does not do justice to the disgustingness (I don't
think that is a word lol) of this "dish". 

And yes the eggs really are that brown looking...there is no resemblance to actual eggs.
I think it looks better in the picture than it does in person.
If I can save one person from making the same mistake I made then my job here is done for today. If you come across it in your grocery stores and choose to disregard my advice, then you have no one to blame except yourself when you're tossing it into the trash.
This isn't the first time I've been snookered in by a pretty picture only to be disappointed with the actual product and likely won't be the last, but this truly may be the worst.
Save your money folks and pass on by this particular product.
And now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go fix myself some real breakfast :)

*this is my personal opinion, take it as you will.

And that's all I have for today...but be sure you come back soon because I have been cleaning and organizing my scrapbook/craft area for several days and I'll soon be back to doing what I love--creating!

Rhonda

Just living life

Hello! Don't want you all to think I've gone MIA...Just been busy living life the last couple weeks. I can also attribute a part of my absence to the evil that is the stomach virus {shudder}. It's certainly made the rounds in our family, leaving very few of us unaffected.

Other than that, I've been busy helping babysit my gorgeous grandson. He is definitely going through the "let's test the boundaries" phase, having just turned 2, but he is so cute as he's testing haha. It's amazing how much more patience you have with your grandchildren than with their parents before them. He tires me out for sure, but my patience rarely gets overloaded. It does, however occupy a chunk of the "free time" I've grown to take for granted. It's all good though and certainly worth any small sacrifice of my time. If there's one thing I've learned from this thing called life, it's that time is fleeting and we need to enjoy and savor every second we can with those we love.

We had birthday parties 2 weekends in a row and I want to show you a couple of photos from those. Yeah, I know, not everyone thinks these doll babies are as precious as I do haha.  Seriously though, I try not to bore you too much with family stuff but I think it's ok every now and again.

Here are pictures from Cadence's 1st birthday party. I can't believe she is a year old already! She is absolutely precious--and I'm definitely not bias on that subject ;)

She was so excited with each new outfit she opened lol.
She is definitely going to be a girly girl, sorry Dad :)

Minnie Mouse cake!

Yum! 

And here are pictures from Hagan's 2nd birthday party. I wasn't happy with Walmart's idea of decorating a cake but we managed to doctor it enough to make it look presentable so it's all good.

Hagan had a Dr. Seuss party...Walmart misspelled his name
even after my reiterating to them how to spell it at the
time the cake was ordered.  Maybe they liked the name "Ragan"
better than "Hagan" lol...thankfully, it was caught before
leaving the store and "fixed". 

And it's present time!

And that's all I'll force upon you from the birthday festivities. I do, however, have one single solitary scrapbook layout to share.
This has been one of my favorite photos since I got lucky enough to capture it. It's one of those photos that you keep putting aside when going through photos to scrapbook because you just want it to be a great layout.
I really like the end result even though it's not exactly how I had it pictures in my head. I think we've established already that my head is far more capable than my actual abilities lol.

The penguin stickers were bought from Dollar General for $1...all I needed to do was place them on coordinating cardstock, cut around them forming an outline, ink the edges and adhere them with some dimensional foam dots.

The title is a file I downloaded at Miss Kate Cuttables which you can find here----->>>  Santa Baby title
The great thing about using these cut files is that you can make it your own by using what you want. I left off a layer and also used a punch for the "bulbs" rather than cutting those. I love how the title turned out...definitely worth $.50...I am not affiliated in any way whatsoever with that site...just a satisfied customer recommending a great product :)
Anyway, as you can see, I tend to do my fair share of distressing on my layouts. Also did some sewing which I'm also a fan of.

And I guess that's all I have for today. I'm hoping to TRY and get my scrapbook corner straightened up a little this week and start another scrapbook page. You'll just have to come back soon and see what I've created :)

Thanks for stopping by!
Rhonda

Burlap "HOME" banner

Hidy-Ho, blog readers!
As promised, I have something to share with you that I have had in the back of my head for quite some time. Hey, the back of my head is jam packed with wonderful ideas; unfortunately, the majority never make it to fruition. Thankfully, this one DID! And I can honestly say, I LOVE IT!
Such a simple little project but really adds a touch of pizzazz and "hominess" I think.
Of course, this isn't an original idea as I've seen tons of variations all over Pinterest,  Really though, is there such a thing as "original" anymore?
Anyway, on to the banner making process!
I didn't need to purchase anything for this project which is always a good thing!

I used:
Burlap that was given to me
cardstock to add weight and stability
Mod Podge
EK Success small retro flower punch
3/8 black eyelets
jute
Making Memories Foam Stamps
black acrylic paint
black mini brads for flower centers
Glue Dots for attaching the flowers to the pennants

The first thing I did was to use my Cricut Expression to cut out my triangular pennant shapes to the size I wanted. Once the  cardstock shapes were cut out, I used mod podge and coated each piece generously before adhering it to the burlap and smoothing it out to dry. I'm sure that particular step could be skipped but I wanted to add weight to my banner to aid in not curling and holding its shape well and I think adding the cardstock worked well.

I let it dry completely before cutting the shapes from the burlap. I left an edge around the entire shape rather than trying to cut flush with the cardstock.
Once that was done, I used the acrylic paint and foam stamps to stamp the letters to form the word "home" onto the individual pieces.
I also used my We R Memory Keepers crop-o-dile to punch holes for the eyelets I wanted to use. And again, you could probably skip this step if you had another way of stringing your banner together.

Add some flowers or whatever other embellishment you prefer and VOILA!

I seriously love my little burlap banner!

And here is the finished burlap banner in its new permanent (for now LOL) spot!

That's all I have to share today but keep checking back because you just never know what I might come up with next!
Thanks for stopping by!

Rhonda

Photo Canvas

Hi! I have been a little scarce recently but I'm still here and still crafting! I shared with you already one of the canvases I made for the girls for Christmas and now I want to show you the last two that I just finished. I really can't express to you how much I enjoy taking the paint and paintbrush and just creating ART! Seriously, I am no artist but when I'm painting these canvases, I feel like an artist LOL.
Neither of these could be considered my best creations but I enjoyed doing them and hopefully, the girls enjoy displaying them.

Once all the paint was dry I added any stamps and wording along with the photo and covered with Mod Podge. I actually added a thin layer of Mod Podge before placing the photo just so that it would have something to adhere to. THEN I covered the entire canvas with a couple layers of Mod Podge.
After they were completely dry, I added the flowers and bling :)
If you have any questions or comments, please don't hesitate to give me a yell!

This one was created using several colors of acrylic paint. Once
the paint was dry I used some gold Perfect Pearls and lightly went
over it just to give a hint of shine. I also used some Paris
themed stamps I'd had in my stash for forever. 

Lots of acrylic paint here as well. The blue and white flowers
I made using coffee filters and my EK success retro punches.
The leaves are from Wild Orchid Crafts and the other flowers
are some of the original Prima flowers that I have tons of.

Don't you just LOVE those blue and white coffee filter flowers? I love
making flowers...it's a thrill to me to take something like a regular coffee filter and turn it into something beautiful!

I'll leave you with that for now but be sure you check back soon because I have another project in the works even as I type this :) And you'll just have to come back to see what it is!

Thanks for coming by and I hope to see you again soon!

Rhonda

Happy New Year

Happy New Year from all of us at the Tralace to all of you! I wish you all love, peace and prosperity for 2015!

I rang in the new year snuggled up to my grandson and although there was precious little sleep that night, I truly wouldn't trade the bonding for anything in the world. He has moments where you think he's literally going to sprout horns from the top of his head, but then he will look at you with the sweetest smile and all thoughts of devils and horns magically disappears.

I have decided not to make new year's resolutions this year, but instead, to have goals I'd like to achieve.
1. I'd like to get my home more organized and decluttered
    (is that on everyone's list this year???)
2. Continue to be happy and content
3. Continue to work on accepting people as they are and not how I wish they
     were
4. I want to do better this year at letting the people I love know that I love them
5. Keep on crafting and get more scrapbooking done this year...it is the
    scrapbooks which will always be my legacy to my children

Last week, I took a trip to Hobby Lobby (one of, if not my MOST favorite store) because I had gift cards from Christmas that I just needed to use. And one of the things I saw that I knew I wasn't leaving without was this wooden sign. It doesn't have a perfect spot in my living room but I absolutely fell in love with it and it touched my soul.

And it doesn't get much truer than that, friends! This life we have IS amazing.

Let's live 2015 with love, friendship and thankfulness. Let's all strive to DO more and BE more than ever before. Let's LOVE MORE. 

I hope, that as you're all living and creating your amazing lives, that you follow along with me as I do the same. 

Thanks for stopping by and for the faithful followers I have acquired over the past year, THANK YOU! 

Rhonda