This & That

It's a snowy day here in the Shenandoah Valley - technically it's an icy day. It's been coming down all day long. It's beautiful and frustrating all in one because I would like to go out and get some shopping done, however, the roads are terrible. 

Of course, snow and ice makes for a great photo op and I can't pass that up!

Brody, the Boxer, thinks the frozen tundra that is our backyard, is exceptionally fun!

 

As of yesterday, I found out that I'm going to be pretty busy in the upcoming year. My cousin had a business proposition for us to do a Christmas bazaar next year. She'll be making some hymnal angels - see below - and I'll be making some coasters, magnets, cards and some other exciting things that I can't wait to share with everyone!

Pretty cute, huh?!  

I also am going to start doing a gratitude journal made out of this old book that I bought at a local thrift store for $3.00. 

Sorry for the non-rotated photo. Anyway, the book is a navy blue color with a nice monogram on the front. I can't wait to start but I probably need to invest in some new printer ink so my pictures aren't a total nightmare.

Today, while watching the frozen stuff fall out of the sky, I followed a tutorial from splitcoaststampers.com to make small boxes.

The best thing about these little boxes is that they are made to fit Ghirardelli chocolate squares perfectly.  Now that's my kind of box! The ones that I made need a little dressing up but they are still cute for a party favor or as a small gift for the chocolate lover in your life. 

So, keep your eyes open for something new and for the new year I'm going to try to keep everyone updated a little bit more often about what's going on with Just Darlin'!

I hope everyone had a great Christmas and Santa brought everything that you wanted. He was great to me!

...until next time...

-Sam

Pinteresting Tuesday

Today, I just wanted to share some awesome things that I've come across on Pinterest in the past several days. 

Take a look!

Pinteresting Thing #1

I love this idea. I have a ton of these $1 stamps and they just take up space in my drawers. I'm definitely doing this and I'm also going to be getting more $1 stamps! 

{source: scrapinxoxo}

Pinteresting Thing #2

Words to live by.

Pinteresting Thing #3

Unfortunately, I couldn't find the source to this fabulous December Daily but I'm so in love with this I had to share.. Everything about this is beautiful. I absolutely love the tabs!

Pinteresting Thing #4

Aren't these tags just goregous?? I love the aqua and red together. Very inspiring!

{source: just me and my mary janes}

Pinteresting Thing #5

Shrinky Dink Snowflake Necklace! You could use these also as embellishments on your cards or scrapbooks!

{source: the long thread}

Just keep pinning! Thank you to everyone who had these awesome ideas and creations to share! 

...until next time...

-Sam

Happy Thanksgiving

Gobble, gobble!!! I hope everyone takes a minute to think about how fortunate we are to spend time with our friends and family with a full table of delicious food. As we all know, not everyone gets that pleasure! So, do something to help out or just send a little prayer to those in need this holiday season!

I hope everyone enjoys the day!

...until next time...

-Sam 

NEW YORK! NEW YORK!

The capitalization for the title isn't too much, is it? You know what? I don't really care if it is because after 2 months of working on my NYC album, it's finally finished! 

**BEWARE: This is kind of a photo heavy post. It may take a little bit to load.**

The cover is chipboard and I ModPodged a map from NYC onto it, added some letters and some baker's twine. I even got to use power tools (aka - the hubby's cordless drill) to drill the holes in the chipboard. 

I have to admit that inserting the drill bit into the drill is not as easy as men make it look - some assistance is required. I should have paid more attention in shop class. Yes, I took shop class and ag. 

This is a pretty self explanatory photo. BTW, dividers are awesome!

I want to know what possesses a grown man to strip down to his skivvies to be the "Naked Indian, " hence, the question mark. 

This place was pretty awesome. I recommend going to a Madame Tussaud's if you can. The wax figures are so lifelike. They look like they are going to talk to you. 

Magnolia Bakery is cupcake heaven. Hands down the best cupcake I've ever had in my life. This little pocket is actually made out of a cupcake box!

Back cover: Inside

Back Cover: Outside

This was a blast to make and I think it turned out okay for being my first ever DIY album! I can't wait to start another one!

...until next time...

-Sam

Rain, Rain, Go Away!

I just thought I would share this picture of a rogue leaf stuck to our window by Hurricane Sandy. It's nasty out there! I hope everyone is staying safe! I would love to see everyone's pictures from Sandy!

I have a ton of stuff that I want to share with everyone. My NYC mini album is almost finished. I just have to finish the front and back covers and also some new pages that have been destroyed from Wreck This Journal. 

...until next time...

-Sam

Wreck It: Part 2

PROMPT

FILL THIS PAGE WITH CIRCLES

Okay. I did. See?

This was actually pretty relaxing to do and brainless. I like brainless. Circles are pretty easy; are they not? We have all been drawing them ever since we could pick up a pencil. I wish my picture was a little bit larger and not so dark. I added some smiley faces, a baseball, a balloon, the year (all drawn out in tiny circles), a ladybug and some eyeballs.

The best thing about it is that you CANNOT mess this page up. I can't reiterate enough that its completely made up of circles. I've actually seen pages on Pinterest for this prompt that have buttons as the circles. Pretty crafty, eh?

...until next time...

-Sam

Wreck It. Wreck It Good.

I just want to thank my new schedule at work for helping me come across this fabulous journal. 

Let me explain.

I am now only working 4 days a week. I am also working longer work days but to have a 4 day work week, it's pretty much worth it. So, a couple of Tuesdays ago, on my day off, Nate and I went to Maryland for a "business deal."  No, we weren't selling drugs or trafficking people from 3rd world countries. It wasn't illegal, I swear. So, we stopped at the local mall after dinner and visited Barnes & Noble.

There it was. 

...before this little day trip I have never heard of "wrecking" a journal. Smash*ing, yes. Obviously, I've heard of that. (I am completely slacking on this, BTW.)

I had to share it with the ladies at the Smash-a-holics Facebook Group. Apparently, I have been left in the dark for quite a while because it seems that everyone knew about it but me.

Let me explain to you what this is all about. 

Each page has a prompt that has you doodling or destroying. That's pretty much it. You poke holes in one page and on one page write one word over and over. There's also a page dedicated to wearing the journal as a shoe. Who woulda've thunk it?

Anyway, I wasn't about to pay $16.00 for a journal I was going to end up destroying so on Saturday I purchased this from Target for $12.00. I just now Googled it and it's cheaper on Amazon. Oh well, I had a gift card and I'm not going to think about it anymore.

Saturday

The first prompt is to write your own page numbers. I have to admit that this put me to sleep. It was kinda boring. That's all I did on Saturday.

Sunday

I finished the page numbers. There's a lot of pages and I probably messed them all up. Oh well. There's another prompt that asks you to list 10 more ways to destroy the journal.

These are my ten. If you can't read them because of the awful example of my handwriting, I will list them for you.

1. Have the dog use it as a chew toy

2. Run over it with the car

3. Leave it outside for a week

4. Play baseball with it - use it as the bat or the ball

5. Color a page using only nail polish

6. Tear a page out and use if for spit balls

7. Use it as a paint brush

8. Have a little kid be destructive

9. Kick it across the yard

10. Use it as a shovel

11. Light it on fire

12. Zentangle a page

...and I just thought of another...bury it.

I'm hoping this journal will help me to think out of the box a little when it comes to doing my cards or Smash*ing. Everything doesn't always have to be "pretty." 

So, I highly recommend getting one of these journals and I would love for you to share your "wrecking." 

...until next time...

-Sam

NYC: The Album

Me: Hi. My name is Sam. It has been 14 days since my last post and I am ashamed. 

BB (Bad Bloggers): Hi, Sam. It's okay. We are here for you.

I'm gonna admit it. I just haven't been in the blogging kinda mood lately. The other reason is that I just got a new iPad and haven't really had to get on the laptop for anything. Apparently, the app for Blogger is only for the iPhone or iPod Touch. I'm gonna tell you right now that I am not blogging from my phone. That is just way too tedious. Someone needs to get on the ball so I can have that app for my iPad.

Nate and I recently took a short vacation to New York City. This was my first time to The Big Apple and it was awesome. I loved it. There's not really a whole lot of hustle and bustle where I'm from. So, it was good to be a part of that for a few days. Trust me, it's only good for a few days. I don't know how people deal with that 24/7, 365. It's crazy! People are everywhere!

I collected a whole bunch of stuff to do a mini album with. I saved everything! See?

I started my project last week and I try to work on it every night. Right now, I'm just trying to put all of my pictures in order. There's quite a few. 

I did work on the cover a little. I took some chipboard and cut it down to the size of the photo inserts, covered it with a map of NYC and added some chipboard letters. This cover is not done, by any means. I still have to drill the holes for the rings and do something with the letters. 

Dividers are useful for other things besides organizing office papers. Who knew they could divide up your vacation by the day in a mini album? These are not going to stay white. These are going to have stuff stuck on them. I just don't know what yet. 

I will have more pictures up as more progress is being made. I would appreciate any ideas ya'll have for my book!

I hope everyone has a great Friday and a great weekend. 

...until next time...

-Sam 

Simple is Beautiful

I need to tell myself this all the time. I've come to the point where I realize that my cards or Smash* journals will never be extremely embellished or look like they just popped out of an edition of the latest papercrafting magazine. 

I'm okay with that.

We are all individuals and we are not meant to be the same. We have been told this from the get-go. 

Sometimes, simple is better. 

This is just something I thought I would share with you today.

...until next time...

-Sam

Instagram Wednesday: New York

Nate and I in front of the Flatiron Building in NYC! 

In other news, I have a ton of goodies picked up from our vacation to put in a mini book. I'm pretty excited about starting that and I will post my progress once I get going! I'm in the process of editing photos right now. There's a lot!

A Very Small Pizza

Happy Labor Day everyone!

It's so nice not to have to rush around this morning to get ready to go to work. There's definite beauty in that. There's also definite beauty in me only having to work 3 days this week. Nate and I are going to New York this weekend for vacation and I'm so excited. It's going to be my first time ever in the Big Apple!

Everyone knows that pizza is synonymous with New York and Chicago. I think these 2 cities have been fighting it out for decades.

Personally, I couldn't tell you. I've only ever been to the O'Hare International Airport in Chicago and they definitely don't have pizza vendors in the terminal. Although, that would be a very good idea. You wouldn't have to eat the crappy airline food that now comes with needles. Am I right? Yes.

Why am I talking about pizza? Well, because of this tutorial that I found on Pinterest on how to make a very small pizza box out of cardstock. The tutorial is courtesy of Split Coast Stampers and it is soooo easy.

Clicky here for your amazingly easy pizza box tutorial.

This is my version of the pizza box. Of course, mine isn't as detailed and as pretty as the one on the tutorial but it's fun. This was the first time I had ever used this stamp and it broke. Those acrylic stamps are really hard to get off of that plastic sheeting.

These boxes would be great for jewelry or candy. They would also make great wedding favor boxes! I do not recommend these for pizza. The cheese would slide everywhere and the grease would just ruin your box.

You can also make 2 boxes out of one 12"x12" cardstock sheet! You really don't have any scraps to throw away which is nice and they are pretty cost effective!

Stay dry on this Labor Day. It's going to be another muggy and wet day here in Winchester, VA.

...until next time...

-Sam

AND THE WINNER IS...

ADAM!

Congratulations, Adam! You are now the owner of some of my handmade coasters! I hope you enjoy them!

Even though only 3 people entered the drawing each action that was completed counted as an entry. There were 4 entries to each comment and the number that was picked was 12!

Thank you to those of you that entered. I really do appreciate the support. 

I hope everyone has a safe and happy Labor Day Weekend. Hopefully, it will be a dry one for those of you that are having cookouts. It looks like it's going to be a rainy one here in the Shenandoah Valley. 

...until next time...

-Sam

Instagram Wednesday: V is for Veggie

A "V" shaped carrot in my lunch today. Oddly shaped food is kinda funny. Don't ya think?

...until next time...

-Sam