Scrapperella - a fairy tale

Warning! This story contains a Christmas present reveal. If you gave birth to me, stop reading now!

Once upon a time there was a girl named Scrapperella. She was perfectly normal girl except for one thing - she hated scrapbooking. Scrapperella absolutely despised the craft, muttering under her breath about how all those scrapbooking supplies took up "valuable space for fabric" in the local craft store. She'd tell everyone how much she hated scrapbooking, but she never told anyone her secret...

She wished she could scrapbook.

See, Scrapperella had tried scrapbooking. She had a drawer full of fancy scissors, but every time she used them her rectangles turned out like trapazoids. There was a pile of fancy papers and a half finished book under her bed. Yet she couldn't get the motivation to finish because every time she pulled it out she ended up with glued fingers, paper cuts, and glitter in her hair. Not to mention the fact that she couldn't write in bubble letters to save her life.

But Scrappella now had a dilemma. She loved to take pictures with her digital camera, but then they just sat on her computer, unloved. Random prints would go into a cheesy album or a lonely box, only seeing the light of day once a year.

One day, Scrapperlla was reading her favorite blogs and, upon seeing a gorgeous scrapbook, wondered aloud, "Oh, how I wish I could scrapbook!"

Poof! Ding-ding!

All of a sudden there appeared, in a pop-up window, her Fairy God-friend, complete with his magic wand.

"Scraperella, girl, why so glum? We've gotta turn that frown upside-down before you get wrinkles," he exclaimed.

"Oh Fairy God-fairy, I'm a scrapbooking failure! And I have all these fun pics that I want to show off and no way to do it," she sobbed.

"Sugar, you're not a failure, you're fabulous! Now I know you've got some mad Photoshop skills and I know just how you can use them..."

With that he waived his magic wand (and his hips) and window started popping up left and right.

"First, you need a template. Then some fun papers and embellishments. And then you just layer them up in Photoshop, upload your pages, and they will print them off for you. You won't have to lift a finger, or break a nail!" Fairy God-friend jumped for joy in his window, then ordered a cocktail.

"Oh Fairy God-friend, you've done it again...Look what I did:"






"I told you that you were fabulous!" he exclaimed. "And besides, have I ever steered you wrong? I did find you that hottie hairdresser, didn't I?"

And with that, Fairy God-friend vanished, and Scrapperella didn't hate scrapbooking anymore!

Holiday Hyperventilating

Friends, it is just days to Thanksgiving. Which means just days until the holiday SHOPPING season. All well and good if you buy most of your presents, but what about us crazy gotta-DIY-everything folks? We should have started long ago...

I have not started anything.

I haven't even thought about what I want to make for anyone. I love the thrill of finding or making just the right thing for the people who are just the right thing for me. However, that takes time, and I'm woefully short on time right now. What's a girl to do?



Ahh yes.

And now it's time to sort through all those "I should make this" tutorials I've got laying around. There's gotta be something I can sneak in during those random moments when I'm not writing manuscripts, working on my new pattern (you'll see that soon, I hope!), laying bamboo flooring (pics shortly!), or otherwise catching up on the millions of unfinished projects that haunt my dreams.

Starting with the wrapping (of course), I'm totally digging this faux bois treatment. I've even got kraft paper and some of that wood contact paper hanging out unloved in my wrapping bin! Score!

Hmmm, time for the moms. The boy and I took our moms on a trip to Niagara Falls this summer, so I'm thinking a cute photobook will do the trick. Gives me a chance to use some of those digital scrapbooking resources I've stumbled upon of late. All of my pics are digital, and I always get papercuts and gluey hands with regular scrapbooking, so maybe this will be more my speed.

Ohhhh, a scarf! I love this one from Quilting Arts Gifts. Awesome mag, btw.


Pretty! And it lets me try a new technique. Bonus for me :)

Hmm, now men are REALLY hard to craft for - all their toys require cords or gasoline or are too big to wrap (table saw, anyone?). This could require some pondering. Last year I made my guy a laptop sleeve that he loves. Maybe a matching pouch for the cords or a matching ipod cozy is in order this year.

Little brother would rather have gift cards, but maybe I can draw inspiration from these gift card boxes and make something a little more manly.

As for everyone else in my life, I've still got some crazy work to do. Let the holiday madness begin!

Shameless semi-self promotion

Thanks for all the lovely comments you all have been leaving! I'm super inspired to get the totes done, although the perfectionist in me is rearing its ugly head so it's taking longer than I anticipated. But good for you all, as they are going to be gorgeous (if I may say so myself!). The pattern is coming along too, and as always I have a billion more ideas and not enough time get them all done. Be prepared for some pretty cool things to come though, providing I can get it all to work out sometime before you-know-what freezes over!

So, in other news, today I'm going to take a little time to feature an artisan as thanks for getting me to where I am today. That's right, my darling Mom.

My Mom is a super talented quilter that started my love of sewing and has supported me in everything I do. She's got the entrepreneurial spirit herself, running her website Quilted to a Tea. Really, her work is amazing:

She's where I get the perfectionist tendencies, although I have no patience for sewing tiny squares together as perfectly as her!
This is one of my favorite quilts she made--the colors are just sooo pretty! And look at that workmanship:

Her next endeavor is children's tea, which will be coming soon as Toadstool Tea Parties. I'll take credit now for creating her cute banner, but that's as far as I go--the woman's got vision! :) I mean, can you get any cuter than this? And the price? Wow, what a value!

Also, some of her children's quilts are on etsy at Tea Gal Quilts. Love love love this one in particular:

So, while you are waiting for the Tremendous Totes, pop on over to Quilted to a Tea and see what my dear mother has whipped up lately. Tell your friends and help me say thanks to the woman who made it all possible! I love you Mom!

Photos from the bridal shower gift!

Evidently my bridal shower gift was a hit, as I managed to catch the new bride in groom showing off their wares at the wedding (well, technically after it).
The post wedding brunch featured the cute Mr and Mrs visors (sorry they are hard to see)



And the bag made it to the honeymoon suite, although you can't see the photoshop genius that became the label at all...

It's so gratifying when someone likes and uses their gift. Not that they wouldn't have liked or used something they registered for, but this is SOO much cuter, don't you think?