Look, look, an actual CRAFT!

That I made! All in one sitting!
It seems like it's been a while, but I swear I'm not done crafting. I just rarely sit still long enough to complete a project these days, what with all the working + laundry + flying trapeze... But occasionally I do squeeze it in, like on Sunday when I went to a Stampin' Up workshop and made some really cool things.

I've come to realize that I'm actually a really crappy stamper. It's annoying, but getting frustrated about it doesn't make it any better - it just makes me want to do it less often :) But I have a few friends who are really into stamping, and they persuade me to try again every few months. This past weekend we did some techniques that didn't actually involve stamping images, which was music to my ears! Check out the beautiful boxes we made - and pay close attention to the green marbled paper on top:



Not only did we make the boxes, but I MADE that paper too! Well, not the paper itself I guess, but the design on the paper - we used a technique called "polished stone" to mimic marble, and I love how mine turned out! It's two shades of green stamp re-inkers, gold, and rubbing alcohol on shiny paper. And a lot of luck. I'm so impressed with myself!



The flowers are just various punches like the place cards I made for Al's wedding. I think I'll use this for a small gift box. We also made cards using the same technique (and a couple stamps - but I had more success than usual, so I'll try to get a pic of them up eventually).

Goodies for Goblins

I'm a sucker for goodie bags. It's one of my favorite things about parties, planning and finding great little gifts for all of my guests to underscore the theme and remember the event. I know some people detest getting little trinkets, and sometimes I'm one of them, but of course when I'm creating the bags I only put in things I think are real "goodies." :)

These were one of the little gifts I included in my Halloween goodie bags last year, the orange boxes are from the Martha Stewart Wedding collection (scooped up on clearance at Michaels, I KNEW I'd use them for something!), the medallions were made with the "spooky sweets" stamp set from Papertrey Ink & a couple of round punches, and the ribbon was from Michaels and Joann's. Inside was a little paper shred (Dollar Tree) and a couple gourmet chocolate truffles wrapped in bright foil papers (Costco).

I had a lot of fun sitting down and creating them as the days to the party ticked down, it made me feel like I was in the Halloween spirit and was one of the first things I did in my newly-organized craft room.

In addition to using as party favors, I also was able to grab a couple of these for minor gifts around Halloween for my co-workers and family.

The first card workshop...

Every few months I just have to entertain, so round about February I was recovered from the holidays and ready to try again. I decided to have a "Stampin' Up!" workshop since they offered a style of party where everyone could just pay a flat fee and make stuff, rather than be bothered to buy things. I looked up the representatives close to me and came up with Colleen who lives just a couple miles away and she was more than willing to be our leader.

She set up a series of cards and we each made 6 - I'm really annoyed that I acutally suck at rubber stamping, but I'm really getting in to using decorative papers, punches, stickers, and brads. At least a few of my guests really took to it as well, and we've recently been hosting our own card workshops in my craft room! More about that later, but first a look at these - my "first" cards :)