There really is an app for that ...

I love my iPhone. It took me awhile to decide to get one, but now I use it for so many things. I laugh at the Apple commercials where they say, "there's an app for that," but they really aren't kidding.

Yesterday, I got an email from a friend telling me that there is now a Tim Holtz App. You can use it to keep track of what Tim Products you want and which ones you have, as well as access his blog and videos. It does look very cool and I'll definitely be downloading it.

But don't take my word for it, check it out yourself.

Baskets and Boxes, oh my!!

I love baskets. Seriously love any type of container. It's a good thing we don't have one of those Container Stores near me or I would have to work just afford everything I'd want. I love when things are organized and feel anxiety and stress when they aren't. Of course, with three kids, I've had to let a lot of that go, but I still get a thrill when I organize something and it works out. I know this isn't really craft related, but since I like the organizational part and it's kind of creative to me, I thought I'd share anyway. I went in search of baskets to redo my linen closet which was a giant mess.

Normally, I just go buy a ton of stuff, use what works and take back the rest, but I actually measured this time and ended up finding some cool metal baskets at HomeSense. I wanted more, but could only find 3. I thought I'd need more, so I got a couple of these yellow boxes too. Normally, they wouldn't be something I would buy since I didn't totally love the colour, but for some reason, I just thought they'd go well with the metal baskets.

A before shot of my disaster of a closet.

I love how the metal baskets helped to contain the mess. I can't fold those fitted sheets the same and so every pile ends up a different size. I just categorized the baskets according to Queen (our sheets) and Kids sheets. I made labels with Chalkstock (I love that stuff) and cut it out with the Spellbinders Labels die and my Big Shot. I used my 1/8" hole punch and punched a couple of holes and then hung them with these clips I found in my beading stuff. I love when I can use my craft stash stuff for something other than crafting!

 

 

My yellow boxes worked perfectly to contain some table linens and extra stuff that was nice to be hidden away.

A final after shot. I still need to deal with a bunch of stuff at the top, but that will be another day. And I could probably get rid of the pile of baby blankets since the youngest is now 3, but I haven't quite gotten there yet. When I need the space, I will. Until then, I seem to have enough space for everything!

Disco Cake

I enjoy decorating cakes. When they interest me anyway. I would never want to do it full time. I find it stressful a bit because I don't totally know what I'm doing and I always make lots of mistakes, but it's still fun and I enjoy the creative side of it. Thankfully, my awesome cousin is generally around to help me. She's taken some of the Wilton classes (I'm planning on taking them this fall and winter).

I was talking to a friend of mine who was planning her daughter's birthday party (her daughter is friends with Kayla). She was having trouble finding a cake that fit with her theme and I volunteered to give it a try. It was a disco theme, so Debbie and I thought we could make a disco ball on top of a cake. In the end, it turned out pretty cool and everyone loved it!!

At the party, I had a couple of the moms try to convince me to make cakes for their kids, but I just kept declining. I like doing it when I have an idea and it's something that interests me, but it's not something I want to do that often!

We did a purple round cake as a base and put the disco ball on top. Then we used my Cricut to cut out some silhouettes of girls with attitude that seemed to fit with the theme.

Escape

I need to escape. It's been a tough week. I found out a couple of days ago that the teacher Kayla was supposed to have next year passed away last week. She was 36 and to say it was a shock is a gross understatement. It makes me want to grab Glenn and the kids and just run away somewhere. I know that doesn't fix anything and all the work and stuff that overwhelms us daily will still be here when we returned, but it's a nice thought, right?

I'd love to go back to Paris. I love it there. So much history. It's funny because Kayla has never really asked to go to Disneyland, but she's asked several times to go to Paris. I do hope I can take her one day.

Until then, I'll just have to escape through crafting.

Splotted Distress

Just a quick post today. I've actually been scrapbooking quite a bit and so haven't had time to blog. There's irony for you, huh?? But I'm motivated and have gotten quite a few layouts done, so I'm happy!!!

This is one of my favorite techniques right now. Simply create a background using Distress Inks (I did it with my Ink Blending Tool) and then flick water. I always love how it turns out!

Slip Sliding Away

I am perpetually behind it seems. I never seem to be caught up with work and for sure am not caught up with my scrapbooking. It would be so easy to just give up and say whatever, except that I enjoy it and love the finished product. I think I like my paper pack club because then at least I'm "forced" to scrapbook generally at least once a month. But it's good because it gets me back into the groove!!

I was so busy in June that I didn't do my paper pack club and so I sat down this week to get going on at least doing it for July. I had done one layout a week or two ago but still wanted to do another two. I had to tell myself the other night that I would stop work at 8:30 and scrapbook and I did. I didn't finish my layout, but I started it. It was almost done other than the title and I even knew what I wanted for the title, but I couldn't make it work. I went back last night and figured it out and I even managed to do another layout. My awesome friend, Colleen, came over and we scrapbooked together and even though it was only a short time, we both got up afterwards and felt accomplished. I haven't taken the photo of that layout yet, but I will share it soon!!

In the meantime, here is one I did a couple of months ago. It's an easy layout and by changing the colours and papers, you could do this one several times over and have each one look different.

Distress Markers Organization

Anyone who knows me, knows that I can tend to lean towards the Type A, anal retentive side. As such, it was driving me nuts that I always pulled off the wrong cap of my Distress Markers.

Yes, I know that there are little symbols and words to indicate which is the pen end and which is the brush end, but I still pulled off the wrong cap almost every time!

Then, the lightbulb light up and I knew how I could solve it. I cut strips of Ranger's Sticky Back Canvas (I love that stuff) and coloured on each strip and then adhered the strip at the brush tip end. It turned out to be a double whammy since now I have the exact colour of marker and I know which end is the brush tip.

It was a very good day.