Sweet Sheep

As I was going through my crafty supplies recently, I noticed this little sheep staring at me.  I thought it would be a fun favor at a child's birthday party, especially if you have the party at a zoo!!

Once or twice a year, I spend a weekend away from dishes and other demands.  I go to a scrapbooking retreat with friends and it is the best getaway EVER!!  The time we spend actually scrapbooking is minimal.  Instead, we spend hours eating, getting chair massages, playing games, and attending classes.  We always learn how to make something cute.  One of my favorite things about the retreat is the "make-n-take" sessions.  Vendors supply all of the materials and the idea for a project.  You just make it and then you take it home.

This sweet sheep was our "make-n-take" one year.  It is very EASY and there is a yummy treat hidden inside.

Supplies include black and white paper, eyeballs, adhesive, and a small piece of flat candy.  You'll need a  hole punch with bubbled edges or shaped scissors to form the sheep's head.

Pop two white pieces out and ink the edges.  Adhere the candy wrapper between the two circles.

You'll need one more cloud-shaped pieces for the "forehead" of your sheep.  Study the shape of the ears and give it a shot.  Adhere the ear pieces to the back of the "forehead".  A little glue or glue dots is best for this.  Tape didn't work well.

Next, cut the black center of the face.  Place that on the white circle that goes on top of your candy.  Don't forget to add your eyeballs!!

Then, add the ear and "forehead" piece.  I can't take credit for this idea (I think the girls from Captured Moments came up with it).  But, I think it is cute.  So, I'm passing it along, hoping it inspires your own sweet idea.  If your kiddo loves kitties...adapt the design.  If you can imagine it, you can make it.


Come back tomorrow for another make-n-take by the Captured Moments girls and see their shop at www.capturedmomentsstore.com.

Life Vest Layout

Initially I wanted to build a boat, but I couldn't come up with the visual.  Instead, as I perused through pictures of my nieces boating, I was drawn to their life jackets.  So, I decided to make my own.

I imagined a page covered by a large life vest, which I made from scratch.  I happened to have clamps in my supplies....yes I did.  I looped ribbon through those clamps and made two big belts to cross over the middle of the paper.  But, I didn't like the way the pictures looked on top of the jacket and under the belt.  So, I added pictures on the front.  Then, the left side is actually a pocket that you can pull pictures out of.  They are all attached to rope with life rafts and an anchor on the end.  You know I love interactive pages.

The right corner has a picture of one girl swimming under water.  I cut around the edges of her underwater body and it looked like she was swimming on my page.  I love it when pictures really come to life on a scrapbooking page.

You can also unbuckle the belt, swing open the right side of the vest and you'll find snapshots inside.  I added some metal eyelets to add to the real feel.  The ribbon is held tied with paper clips.  But, you could also sew them in place.  Let that sewing show too, so it looks manufactured.  This one was fun to make and I look forward to showing it to my beautiful nieces soon.  I think they'll have a lot of fun looking through their scrapbooks when they are older.

OTR: Games & Prizes

Oooooh.  Ahhhhhh.  A fancy wheel and a table full of craft supplies, with the tags still on, can only mean one thing....games and prizes!!  Crafty Life and Style is still on the road, checking in from a 3-day scrapbooking retreat in Saratoga, NY.   Imagine a room full of ladies creating pages all morning, noon, and night.  Yep, you can literally scrapbook 24-hours a day.  Yours truly was the last person to bed both nights, heading up to the room at about 4:30am.

The weekend is both exhausting and exhilarating.  You are so overstimulated that you don't get a lot done.  But, you do create some of your best work, spurred by the lure of contests and prizes.  Nobody loves free stuff more than my friend Crafty Girl.  So, everytime a raffle winner was announced, she'd mouth her name, hoping it would bring her luck.  

The grande prize is a free retreat in the future.  We've so longed for that prize.  But, we'll take anything really.  Games have included crafty versions of plinko, wheel of fortune, and bingo.  I was lucky enough to win a small prize.  But, the major giveaways eluded us this year.

We did get three meals, two late night dessert snacks, chair massages, make-n-takes, classes, and great company.  We'll be showing you some of what we made and saw at the retreat in the coming days.  For now, we both need to catch up on some sleep before our scrapbooking days are over.

OTR: WINNING

You cannot understand the pressure Crafty Girl and I feel coming to the scrapbooking retreat each year.  Yes, it is supposed to be relaxing fun.  But something happened by year two that added a layer of stress to the whole experience...a winning streak.

We have won prizes in the photo layout contest every year.  This is the fourth year we've been coming.  There is a contest Friday and Saturday nights.  Once you start a streak...well, you don't want to break it.  Admittedly, we haven't even touched the prizes that we won in years past.  But, the pride of winning really just gives us a major creative boost.  We have literally made moving wheels on our pages, added sound, and this year lights are a possibility.  We spend half a day working on a single layout.  Sometimes it is a page we don't even really need for our books, but we know it is just a great idea.  We can't help ourselves.  We are sick with the scrapbooking fever.

Aided by a fruity cocktail...Crafty Cat was very relieved to continue the streak Friday night.  My layout of a beautiful garden in China took first place.  I'm a bit mortified about one thing.  I have been working on my China book for the past 3 1/2 years.  You all know how much work we put into scrapbooks for other people.  This is the only album I've ever made for myself and I rarely have time to work on it.  So, I bring it to the retreat each year and get a couple of layouts done.  I'm sure these judges think I have some sort of weird obsession with China.  But, these layout have handed me 1st place wins for 3 years.  First, the Great Wall, then a handmade rickshaw, and finally...the garden tribute this year.  I'm not past working on it next year with those results.  More to come.

OTR: The Creation Station

We arrived at the scrapbooking weekend retreat late Friday afternoon and unloaded two carloads of supplies at our table.

I, Crafty Cat, proudly claim the title for tallest set-up in the room.  Those are my racks of tools at our assigned table.  Because it is a small space, I even had the hotel bring us two extra round tables to bookend our row, for more storage.

Crafty Girl was embarrassed that I had done that.  She left the  room while the bellboys set up each round table, but then happily spread out tools on her side when he was done and gone.

Yes, we are ridiculous.  We know.  We don't deny it.  Admittedly, we usually have even more stuff, but the last minute decision limited us.  While we might have the biggest display, we certainly aren't the only ones who brought the whole house.

Here's a peek at the room.  Doesn't it look fun?

The Ruins

This is what happens when you have to pack scrapbooking supplies for a 3-day retreat.  Your space is left in ruins.  The scrap shack that Crafty Girl used to walk into with pride....is now a wreck.

Just a few days ago, we decided to attend a marathon session of crafting THIS WEEKEND.  We were going to be responsible and save our money.  But, at the last minute we decided we needed to decompress...at any cost.  Our readers who scrapbook know it is fun to get together with friends and create, but there is nothing worse than making a layout when you don't have every tool you've ever owned within reach.  Packing for a 3-day retreat turns us into the ultimate stress balls.  We just have to have our stamps, adhesives, brads, eyelets, extra pictures, flowers, ribbon....look the list doesn't end.  That's the problem.  We want everything!!  We literally spend an hour packing loads of tools into our cars...shelves, extension cords, and printers.

When the weekend is over, we'll have laughed and loved it.  All the stress we've been feeling will be washed away with good food, good company, and good prizes.  Then, we'll come home, walk through the door, and see this waiting for us.  Sigh.  Stay tuned.  We'll be checking in with photos from the scrapbooking retreat throughout the weekend with this special edition of Crafty Life and Style:  On the Road!!!!