Monday, December 31, 2012

Pin It in 2013




This year is going to fabulous!

It's a time to simply and try new things. So here in 2013 I'd like to invite you all to join me in organizing, simplifying, and beautifying our homes and our hearts. 

My shop remains open and I'm looking forward to the new challenges of designing one of a kind guest books, albums, in journals this coming year. But I'm also looking forward to designing some new creations as well and expanding my creativity for both everyday living and special events. 

I've added a new feature today to the blog. Please feel free to join me on Pinterest and/or share my creations with the new Pin It button you'll find at the bottom of my posts. 

I can't wait to see what you all have been up to. Don't forget to share your creations in 2013!

Thanks for stopping by!  Won’t you take a minute and like me on face book?  Right over there to the right?!  Why thank you!  Also sign up to receive these posts by email so you don’t miss out on any projects, easy do it yourself tutorials, or all the fun we are having here!!!  xoxoxoxo MrsChadT

 

Saturday, December 29, 2012

The Best of 2012

As we prepare to go into the new year, I thought I'd do a year in review of what I think are some of my most creative designs. Okay, I admit, they're just my favorites!










I can't wait to see what 2013 brings! How about you? What was your favorite thing about 2012?

Wishing you a HAPPY NEW YEAR!

MrsChadT

Monday, December 24, 2012

Merry Christmas

Wishing You a Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year!

Thank you for helping to make 2012 one of my most successful years since starting my business many years ago. This year, in particular, I have been so blessed by your friendship, encouragement, and support. Since launching my business and etsy shop in 2009 I have had so many opportunities to meet wonderful people and those friendships and connections have become priceless. 

I look forward to sharing new ideas, tutorials, and creations with you over this new year to come. May we love more, laugh more, and get to know each other more in 2013. 

From my family to your family. 
Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and a Blessed New Year. 

Monday, December 17, 2012

A Season of Hope

We've all heard about what happened in Newton, Connecticut. 

I for one, didn't believe it. It couldn't be possible.

I had to hear it twice on the radio, before it sunk in that not only was there another public shooting, this time it harmed small children. I was speechless. I still am.

As a mother of three elementary age children, my heart sank. And fear set in.

I listened more intently to KLOVE then I ever have before, and when they prayed. I prayed. And I'm still praying.

The world as we know it, will never be the same.

Back in 2007 after the shooting at Virginia Tech, I had fears. My husband is a teacher, a college professor, and what if that had been his college?

Now, that same fear struck me with my kids and their school.

I have to say, that after hearing President Obama's speech, that I gained a new respect for our president.

Friday, I tearfully embraced three children, happy to hold them in my arms. There are no words that can comfort the parents and family members effected by Friday's events. And like millions of others in our nation, my heart is broken.

There is a photo of a boy and his sister by a tree taken by the press, and another photo of that same boy being comforted by a woman (assuming this is his mother), and he will be forever burned in my memory.

And through everything that we are seeing and hearing on the media, I know there is hope.

Jesus came to bring us hope, joy, and love. There are those of us who may not be able to see it now, but the season is upon us.

Many heart filled prayers to Newton...


Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Something New

Hi There!  Thanks for stopping by!  Won’t you take a minute and like me on face book?  Right over there to the right?!  Why thank you!  Also sign up to receive these posts by email so you don’t miss out on any projects, easy do it yourself tutorials, or all the fun we are having here!!!  xoxoxoxo MrsChadT

Years ago, before I was married and still lived at home, my mom and I would sew a lot of plastic canvas. It was something my mom and I both enjoyed and we could do together.   I tried getting Mom to make some cards using my scraps from books, but it just wasn't her thing. So I hit up my local JoAnn Fabric's this month and grabbed some plastic canvas. 

Mom likes simple designs, so I created this one that she could make for the grand girls. It's inspired from a photo I found searching on Google, but had no pattern. And so I created my own pattern for this earring case. 

It's kinda like a book. It has a cover, and two pages. The two pages are stiff plastic canvas and as you can see it's perfect for holding earrings. Bell didn't waste anytime testing this one out!


Since we travel and have a lot of sleep overs at Mom's house, this was just the thing Bell needed for taking her earrings. 

I love that it's so small you can stick it in your purse, suitcase, or pocket. It's about 3" x 2.5". 
Bell asked for one for her friends in Girl Scouts for an exchange gift. Can't think of a more versatile gift for women of all ages. 

I'm working on getting some instructions wrote up and will share it will you, shortly. 



Sunday, December 9, 2012

Hope for the Holidays

Last weekend we put up our Christmas tree. It's filled with all variety of ornaments we've made and collected over the years. This year I used the plastic canvas angel my sister made and a ton of plastic canvas ornaments and salt dough ornaments I've made. Then there are the ornament's my kids have made and some that are store bought. 

Each year we had new ornaments that the kids bring home for school. Just having this tree up reminds my family of the hope we have during this season. 

It's been a rough year. If you've been following me over on my author blog, I'm sure many of you can relate to the struggles we've been through this past months of Mr. Chad T being out of work. 

But there is hope. 

There is hope when we believe and hold onto that belief with all our hearts. Just as my family has held onto the hope and belief for a long time now. 

I would wish you all a Merry Christmas, but instead I want to wish you a holiday season filled with hope. 

May your Christmas be a blessed one. 


Saturday, December 8, 2012

Fairy Guest Book

 I had a special request this past week for a fairy guest book. I did up two designs, and this one got choosen for a baby shower.

Bell helped me on this one, she did the artwork on the fairy. The fairy comes from a free printable over at Sweet Coloring Pages.

Inside I took an treasured life stamp set from CTMH and stamped the inside pages. This is the first page of the book. All the other pages are blank with the flowers on the side.

I really love this design. It's available over in the shop.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Butterfly Ornament

Every once in a while I like to take a break from book binding and paper crafting to do other creative projects. One of the projects I like is making salt dough ornaments. It gets the whole family involved. The kids love it, too. It's like play dough.

After seeing some really cool ideas thanks to Pintrest. I decided to try a stamping technique on some salt dough ornaments. I rolled out the dough and stamped the dough then cut the shape with a cookie cutter.

I'm really impressed with how this one came out. I painted it with a coat of turquoise paint and then finished it with silver glitter and clear coat.



Wouldn't these be beautiful as wedding favors or atop a special package?

Monday, December 3, 2012

Lego Stocking Prop


Boy got the first issue of his new Lego magazine last week. He loves Legos and this month's issue featured some projects for Christmas. I didn't have anything Christmas related to use as a photo prop for my holiday features so he made me a Christmas stocking out of Legos for in my new photo shadow box.



I'm so proud of him. He doubled the pattern in the magazine in order to make the stocking twice as large. He came and told me it was like a batch of cookies and doubling the recipe. He's definitely a smarty in math like his Papa.

And he told me I can keep all his red lego's until after Christmas. Wasn't that so sweet of him?

Friday, November 30, 2012

Christmas Book Mark Tutorial

What would the holidays be without special book marks for all those great books that you're gifting or recieving?

These are so simple to make and are great if you're a teacher or in a book club to share.



What you'll need:

1 sheet of two-sided scrapbook paper
hole punch
ribbon
corner punch
Paper cutter

Step 1:

Cut your 12x12 scrapbook paper in half so it measures 6" x 12"
Cut each section by 2". So you should have 12 - 2" x 6" pieces

Step 2:
Use corner punch and round corners of each piece (optional)

Step 3:
Punch hole in top center of each piece

Step 4:
Cut 6" long piece of ribbon or string. Place one end of ribbon through hole. Holding both ends of ribbon together, tie knot at end.

Enjoy your new book marks!

**Don't forget that today is the last day to order a guest book and receive a your FREE GUEST BOOK SIGN with each guest book ordered!


 

Thursday, November 29, 2012

Christmas Card Tags Limited Editions

One of the things I always try to do is elimate the amount of waste I have when it comes to paper. I keep a basket with my scrap papers in it for those small projects for the kiddos.

I had some left over paper from the the matchbook notepads I showed you on Monday, so I put together these neat little Christmas card tags.

To me, Christmas is about Hope, Love, and Joy. Jesus brought all of those things when he graced us with his presence on earth. I don't think we share enough of that during these winter holidays.



 
I left the insides blank for personal notes. At 3"x 3" they're a great size for putting atop packages, slipping in a friend's locker, or putting on a co-worker's desk.
 
If you had one word to describe Christmas, what would it be?  
 

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Mini Notebook Favors




After making the matchbook notepads from Monday's post, I was working on some Christmas tags that I'll share with you tomorrow. Thinking of those matchbook notepads, it gave me an idea for these little mini notebooks.

Each mini notebook is 3" x 3" and holds 8 sheets of blank paper.

They can be created for any occasion and make great favors or swag items.

I'll try to get a tutorial up on these as well before the new year. In the mean time, these are also available in teh shop. :)

Where has the month gone? It's so hard to belive that November is soon coming to a close!
Have you gotten your holiday shopping under way yet?

Don't forget, just a few more days to get your FREE GUEST BOOK SIGN with any guest book order before December 1st!
 

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Photo Box At Last!

A couple of years ago when I started this shop, I made my own photo box. It consisted of a cardboard box and some white paper. It worked pretty well, until one of the kids got a hold of it. As you could see from some of my photos, they have been dark, and my ususal staging props have been missing.

A few weeks ago, the hubby bought me a shadow box. It's awesome. And we got a really sweet deal on this baby. I love it!

 
 
 
 

Monday, November 26, 2012

Christmas Matchbook Notepads



I've been trying to think up some small items for stockings and exchange gifts and maybe things for favors at various events. I love these little matchbook notepads. They're simple to make and handy when you need to write a note or find a piece of paper.

I've got these in the shop, but for all of you DIY's out there, I'll try to get a  tutorial posted before the new year on these.



Sunday, November 25, 2012

FREE SHIPPING UNTIL MONDAY!

I'm sorry, I just realize this post didn't go live.

Today and Tomorrow, use coupon code FSH012 for FREE SHIPPING on any order in my etsy shop at www.mrschadt.etsy.com.

This includes custom orders!!

Have a Blessed Sunday everyone!!

Friday, November 16, 2012

Music Note Photo Booth Guest Book


This is a custom 7" x 9" shoe string bound book that I created for a wedding today. It was the last of the music note paper that I have in the white and black. Inside are blank white card stock pages for adhering photo stripes from the couples photo booth.

How fun!

Saturday, November 10, 2012

Monkey Business Advice Card Album

 
This book is a new design that I've been working with, the past few months. The first book, you can see here. This one is a custom order for a baby shower today, that I completed in record time.


 
Inside are 20 ivory pages with an assortment of designer papers that have been punched to hold the advice cards.

There are 50 advice cards for today's order. Although the book will hold 60 cards, or advice cards and photos. These cards are special cut at 3.5" x 4.75" to fit in the card holders I've created.

 
I'm quite happy how these turned out and looking forward to make more of this type of album. Been playing around with an idea for a small book that takes slightly smaller tags or cards. What do you think?
 
I'm always open to hear new ideas and up to the challenge of custom requets!

Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Sheep Embellishments


Remember the twin lamb book?  These are the original sheep I designed for the cover. I didn't want the sheep from the create a critter  cartridge I have, so I cut and made my own.

 However the client changed their mind and decided to print and cut sheep from their invitation so they would be exact.

So, it looks like these little sheep will be heading to the ADD ON section in my shop. If you know about my add on section, then you know you can buy a guest book and add any of the available embellishments from my shop or request one to personalize your books.

These are just a few of the new ones being added this month.

If I'm missing a type or theme in the shop, please let me know. I'll be happy to add it for you.


Sunday, November 4, 2012

Twin Lambs

 
Another sweet custom order for a baby shower of twins!
Matching Guest Book Album and Photo Album!

I had a few scraps left over, so I included some cute little lamp tags (above) and a matching guest book sign (below).

                                            I used sheer ribbon to do stitch the binding.
 
 
 
 

Saturday, November 3, 2012

Apple Of Your Eye Birthday Guest Book



This is a custom order for a little girl's first birthday party. This book was inspired by it's theme: Apple of your eye.

The birthday girl's mother sent this photo for inspiration.

Photo Compliments of Project Nursery
 
What a cute idea for a fall birthday party don't you think?
 

Thursday, November 1, 2012

Guest Book Sign

 

This month (November 2012), whenever you order any Guest Book from my Etsy Shop, you'll receive a FREE Guest Book Sign with every guest book purchase.



Wednesday, October 31, 2012

New Moon Coptic Journal

My bookbinding team on Etsy put up a challange to design a book for Halloween. I haven't been working with coptic stitch lately, so I thought a journal would be nice. I pulled out this moon paper and went to work.

 
I started out with 12 gray signatures. Each signature has 10 pages. I stained the edges with cranberry ink.

Then I stitched all the signatures and the covers together using a natural shade of linen thread.


 I stained the outside of the linen thread with the cranberry ink. I choose this new moon inspired paper with the dark tree branches to give it that spookiness and appeal to those twillight fans and zombie lovers.
 Inside I used a crackle paper on the inside cover. I had a spooky tree stamp so I placed it on the first page in the same cranberry ink.

To add another unique element to this new moon journal, I took simular printed paper to the cover and stuck in the center and quarter signatures.

I really enjoyed this challenge, and look forward to creating more journals in the future.

LinkWithin

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...