Grandma Day With Jayden

I try to make time for grandchildren to have a special day or a couple of hours with me. Recently Jayden and I were able to plan such a day. We went out to lunch and made crafts. I had started a project of making Valentine banners so when she saw my creative mess she wanted to make a banner of her own. This is what she came up with. I only helped a little. Way to be amazing Jayden!!

Her are two of the banners I created. I ended up making five more. All unique from the others.

This one with the old fashioned telephone ended up with a cute speech bubble saying, "Just called to say I Love You."

I was able to get a banner mailed to each of my children before I left on a spontaneous car trip to Nauvoo, Illinois with Jayden and her family. Note to self- don't EVER take that long of a car trip ever again!

I hope you had a wonderful Valentine's Day!

What Is More Important? The Paper Or The Embellishments?

Just the other day American Crafts posed a good question to the on-line community. Which is more important? The paper or the embellishments? Even though there were a few gals who insisted that great embellishments are highest priority the general consensus was that the PAPER made the project! I agree that great paper is crucial to a great project. How many times have I made the 'embellishments' from the paper? I even buy extra sheets of paper with the intent of having one to cut from. Many of the best embellishments are made from the paper.

For this 'Jayden' page I cut flowers from an extra sheet of the paper. That way I get to position the flower pattern precisely where I want it. The rosettes are cut from the paper, as well as the borders, title, and the epoxy buttons. The paper I chose is designed by Close To My Heart. It is beautiful! So is Jayden!

Amanda's Surprise

I wanted to do something fun for Amanda for Valentines. Bruce and I decided to give her money since she is working on completely paying off her student loan by May 1st. But how do you make cash special and memorable? With lots of sentiment and pretty stuff, that's how.

It was easy for me to gather some cute things left over from a recent project. In a very short time I had streamers hanging from her bedroom door frame. I stapled money, doilies, cute sayings, little notes, paper hearts and cute stuff to the ribbons. Amanda will love it! I can hardly wait for her to come home and see her special valentine surprise!

True Love Valentine Banner

I was so expired by Echo Parks Love Story collection that I just had to create a Valentine banner with the pretty, pretty paper. I worked on it little bits at a time. I camped out on the floor of the living room playing with paper while my hubby watched Grey's Anatomy. That show drives me crazy- real people do not act that way! Really? They are so unprofessional in the workplace. Just the fact that they operate with jewelry on and talk about their personal problems during procedures which should receive their full attention is mind boggling. I watch with my hunny only to be with him and sit on his feet while I cut, glue and embellish.

I am happy to say that my crafting mess is off the living room floor. It just moved to a long table in the front room where seven of my grand kids made valentine treat boxes yesterday. I just might leave the table up so Amanda and I can 'smash' this weekend, and then I have neighbor girls coming over for an activity on Monday. (The mess never seems to disappear completely). Yes! I love playing with paper.

I promise- I loaded this picture rightside up.
I even attempted it twice. Who knows?