Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween Everyone! In honor of this super fun holiday here are some super fun pictures of me and all my different costumes growing up:
Me in 1984 - with my doll Cindy (named after Cindy Lauper of course!) - it looks like Cindy got a little too close to that electrical outlet - FYI Cindy's hair was always like that - it wasn't a halloween costume!!

Me as a clown in 1986 - the first of many halloweens spent as a clown - love the glasses though - they look a lot like the ones I currently wear

Me in 1987 - She Ra Princess of Power!!!
Me in 1992 as a witch

Me, my sister Danielle, and my best friend Carey in 1993 - I told you a clown costume would pop up again - I'm pretty sure I wore that costume for several years. - My mom used to make our costumes - notice how Danielle's costume is way cuter and has a matching bag ... hmm... and her makeup is way cuter too... nice mom ....nice

Me as Raggedy Ann in 1995 and Danielle as Snow White. This was my last year trick or treating ( I was 12).

What was in the box...

Thanks for being so patient... inside the box was this scrapbook I made for my mom with beautiful graphic 45 papers. I have been on a "vintagy" graphic 45 kick lately. And a mini book kick too... but man these little things take DAYS to make.... Oh and my mom has a blog too (that I recently helped her get rid of the horrendous blogger template from). You can check it out - here She also has an etsy shop where she sells all sorts of cute little mini books. You should check that out too - here.

And if you are interested...look for a post later with pictures of me when I was little in costume... and if you aren't interested... check back tomorrow when hopefully I'll have something else crafty to post!

What's in the box?

I finally finished making my mom's birthday gift (her birthday was on Tuesday). Want a peek at what I made her? .... Sorry.... can't do that! Since my mom is one of the five people that read this blog it would ruin the surprise.... HOWEVER... I can show you as soon as she opens it... look for a post later tonight or tomorrow with lots of pictures!!

Now I have to go finish packing and then I'm off to spend the weekend in North Carolina!

Quick post and a photo...

I am teaching a class tonight so I don't have a lot of time to post today but since I promised I thought I would post a photo of me dressed up for halloween in 1995:

Yep that's me as the giant Raggedy Ann doll... when I see this picture I think I look far too old (or maybe just tall) to be trick or treating but in my defense I was only 12....which isn't too old right??

And yes I know... Danielle looks adorable as snow white... what else is new?

I need a craft room...

I am in serious need of my own craft space. And I think my husband would agree... actually I know he would because yesterday after he went flying across the apartment as a result of tripping over my Making Memories slice power cord he commented how happy he will be once I have my own room. Currently I have been working out of our tiny dining space... actually that's not true... I had been working on the dining room table but then that got too messy so I moved everything to the coffee table...well.. here see for yourself...

I know ... it's bad... but LOOK! There are boxes! I am packing stuff for the big move to our house! That's positive right? .... well...actually .... I brought those home with the intention of packing for the big move but now they are just sitting on the living room floor for the cats to play in... hey I've been busy.

Speaking of being busy here is a sneak of what I've been working on:

Ok there is much more to it than this... but I can't post it yet... I will be posting it this weekend.

So far so good on my plan to post every day this week...

Autumn in Richmond

Last week the other Melissa posted this post about Autumn in Virginia. Fall being my favorite season, I immediately felt the urge to run out with my camera and find the nearest tree to start taking pictures so I could post them here. Well I did put it off a couple of days but on Sunday Dustin and I went to Belle Isle in Richmond. I took tons of pictures but after looking at them at home have realized there was a lot more green than I wanted so here are a few even though I don't think they look that much like fall....

October ATC Swap

Here is my submission to the store's October ATC Swap. We made ATCs this month along the themes of hope, strength, courage, love and self esteem going along with the store's efforts to promote awareness during Breast Cancer Awareness month.

And I have been terrible about posting blogs lately. So this week I will be attempting to post every day. So be on the look out for more posts: pictures from this weekend, hopefully something crafty, and maybe some embarrassing past Halloween photos. Now I know I have you interested right??

What I've been working on..

I really need to be better about posting more often. I haven't completed a project in a while so I figure I should just post my half finished projects. First up: the mini I made to put my Rhode Island pictures in:

And then I've been working on another mini that I might turn into a class... I know what you are thinking... Red Yellow and Pink... fantastic color scheme!!! .... ok calm down... it's just scratch paper that I've been using for a draft.... trust me the finished project looks really good... in my head anyways....

My weekend plans

Sitting around the house reading magazines, planning how I'm going to decorate my NEW HOUSE (we just bought one - officially close in November!), working on some scrapbooking/crafty projects, and my new favorite: Starbucks Carmel Apple Spice

And judging by this picture I should add "cleaning the apartment" - but I doubt that will happen!

Hopefully I'll have something good to post after the weekend is over!

Tonight's Class at Memories Galore

I just got back from teaching my Terrific Techniques: Distress Inks class at Memories Galore in the West End. It was a lot of fun playing with the inks and exploring different techniques - I know as the teacher I shouldn't admit this but I even learned a few new ones just from playing around. Oh and I'm pretty sure my hands are going to be covered in ink for a couple of days. Thanks again to the ladies who came out tonight (and thanks for letting me take pictures!!)

Finished Project

I spent a little more time on that wall hanging I was working on yesterday. I took the globby stickled title off and replacedit, glossy accented some stuff, stickled some stuff, added some flowers and TA DA! Finished!

A Quick Project

Just a quick post to show you what I have been making. I have a couple unfinished projects laying all over the apartment (what else is new right?) I have a Donna Downey Fabric album that is painted yellow and white and then abandoned and a frame that I painted and gave up on and a couple other things. But here is something I finished:

The stickles turned out a bit globby... but I'm going to fix that. I might end up donating this too for the raffle that starts Monday!

Causes to support this month at Memories Galore

The month of October is dedicated to Breast Cancer and Domestic Violence Awareness. In support of these causes the store I work for, Memories Galore, has come up with special events throughout the month to raise donations and build awareness.

From October 11th-24th, they are holding a raffle in which you have a chance to win projects created by the store's teachers and employees. The tickets will be purple (domestic violence awareness) or pink (breast cancer awareness) and will be available for $1 each with all raffle monies being donated to their respective causes (a local domesic violence shelter and the Susan G Komen foundation). For the raffle I have created a vintage inspired Christmas mini book made out of gorgeous graphic 45 papers:

In addition to the raffle here are the other things Memories Galore has going on this month:

- Starting the first week of October they are distributing mini chipboard books for volunteers to decorate. At the end of October we'll meet to add the ring and ribbons to the decorated books which will be donated to the St. Francis Cancer Center as a gift to patients.

- They are inviting you to bring in pictures or other sentiments to be added to our tribute wall at each store. This wall will memorialize those whom we loved who did not survive their cancer battle. Please bring in pictures or scrapbook pages to place on the wall for the month. Remember to put you name on the back so we may return them after the month is over.~ The final week will feature layout design contests about the women in your life for Breast Cancer Awareness or overcoming great obstacles for Domestic Violence Awareness.

- Throughout the month they are collecting food for the Central Virginia Food Bank, and hats, mittens and scarves for families in need who have been displaced as a result of domestic violence.

If you are in the Richmond area I hope you will stop by our stores this month. The Brandermill Memories Galore is located at 4800 Market Square Ln in Midlothian VA and the West End location is at 3991 Deep Rock Rd in Richmond VA. The raffle items will be located at the Brandermill location.

Also if you are in the Richmond area and have a blog or facebook account I would greatly appreciate you linking to my blog to get the word out about the great events we have going on this month. Thank you!!!

An Old Layout and a Sneak Peek

Remember this layout from a couple months ago:

Well I finally got around to finishing it:And here is a sneak peek at a vintage inspired Christmas minibook I made. Check back tomorrow for a full post with lots of pictures! And if you live in the Richmond area check back tomorrow to find out how it can be yours!

The week in review

This past wednesday I taught a minibook class at the Memories Galore in the West End. It went really well and there were a bunch of great ladies who were super patient with my unstructured way of teaching/scrapbooking. (I'm bad with measurements - I typically just start chopping until I think it looks ok)

Here are the books we made in the class:
Also Tammy brought this book she made using mini canvases to show everyone. Very cute! I might have to play around with that idea
Then yesterday Melissa and I made the 2 hour drive up to the Handcraft House in Madison because it was closing and we wanted to see what deals we could get. Well everything was 40% which in retrospect wasn't that great of a deal.... but we did buy a lot. In other news: we are continuing to house hunt. We found two houses we love and three other houses we would be happy in. So it looks like things are moving in the right direction. Other than that not much new around here. We have a full tivo from the 5 days we were in Rhode Island so we are spending our Saturday lounging around watching tv: