Another dress

I just finished this dress for my other little girl. She saw the dress I made for her sister and wanted one. And this is what I came up with for it.

What we are all about!

I realized that we started this blog, but didn't even introduce ourselves. So I wanted to tell you a little about ourselves and what we are about.

My name is Katie and I am new to the blogging world. My sister-in-law actually started my personal family blog for me. I didn't think I would really get into that much, but I love blogging now. I make sure to take pictures all the time so I can post them on my personal blog. My husband and kids are starting to get use to me bringing out the camera all the time. I live in warm Arizona where my husband is a firefighter. I have two wonderful girls that have loads of energy and always keep me going.

My sister's name is Mandy and she is also new to the blogging world. I got her hooked on it! Mandy is currently living in North Carolina. Her husband is a marine and she has also has two wonderful girls. Mandy is always on the go with her family.

We both really enjoy scrapbooking, making handmade cards, and creating new things. My sister and I would really like to open up our own scrapbooking and craft store. We would love people to come and scrapbook, do crafts, and make new friends while in our store. Well since my sister and I live on the opposite sides of the US, I don't think our store is going to happen any time soon. It is a nice thought though! Since we can't actually open up a real store, we did open up a shop on etsy.com. Go check it out! Our shop and blog are still being updated so please have some patience while we find the best layout that we like and put new products on our shop.

We started a blog so we can share the things that we love doing with you and make some new friends along the way. We hope to be able to inspire you and give you some new ideas like others did for us. So leave comments when you see something that you like and you can even subscribe to our blog to know when we post something new. (I do have to know if you are actually reading our blog!)

Thanks for checking out our new blog!

-Mandy and Katie

Crayon Roll-Up Cozy

I got this cute idea from Kristen of Grace Violet. She has a great tutorial on there. I still have some work to do on my next ones but I felt okay with my first attempt. I also have not sewn on my sewing machine for awhile and am not too familiar with it anyway, so I need to get used to getting back into it.

Chore Chart

When I was looking at Tip Junkie the other day, there was a post all about chore charts. INSPIRATION - my family could use a chore chart to help us stay organized. This is the chore chart that I made. Addi is very excited to stick the chores that she did in the finished pocket. And when she has five chores in the finished pocket, she gets a special treat. I am not sure what yet, but I will think of something. Cam is excited too, she just can't voice it yet :) Now let's see how long we actually use the chore chart!

Switch the days out depending on what day it is

I put everyone's name at the top and then put the different chores on with velcro

All the finished chores are put in the cute finished chore pockets

My Mod Podge Project

I did my first Mod Podge attempt. I really loved working with it. I decided to make my daughter a wood plaque for her room. I put the mod podge all over the wood and then put the paper on top and the did a coating of mod podge on the top of that. I let it sit a dry for about 30 min and then put stickers for the saying and gymnasts. Then I put another layer of mod podge and let it sit again for another 30 min until it dried glossy. I was happy for my 1st result.

Picture Frame

Since I bought the wonderful Mod Podge, I had to try it out. I think I have about four projects started...

I bought a plain wooden picture frame from Michaels for a dollar, I do like spending just a dollar!! Then I measured the cardstock for the frame and cut it out. I did use different colored cardstock and then sewed the pieces together with a zigzag stitch. I got that idea from the Grace Violet site.

After that I applied Mod Podge to the frame and put the paper on. Then I did another coat of Mod Podge over the paper.

Then I had to add my own little touches with ribbon and buttons, because I love adding ribbons and buttons to everything!

This is my first attempt at a tutorial so if it didn't make sense, I am so sorry :)

Mod Podge

I discovered Mod Podge and I am now addicted!! I first heard about Mod Podge from Kristin at Grace Violet. She is always using this stuff for a lot of her crafts. And she does have the cutest ideas that always come out so cute!! So I decided to try it out. And it is awesome!! Kristin had a great post on her site about Mod Podge.

Photo Collages

I love doing these for gifts. They are quick and look so nice and are different than just doing a simple page with pictures on it. Here are a bunch I have done. If you would like to see more, please check out our shop on etsy.com

Different Kinds of Mats

I also get into craft moods and I start looking at stuff around my house thinking about what I can do with them. Last year I started decorating photo mats. I was getting bored of them all looking so white. I have done a couple of for birthday gifts and baby gifts and they always seem to go over really well. Here are some I have completed. If you are interested in seeing more, please check out our shop on etsy.com

Crafty Craziness!

So I have gone into this crafty craziness streak right now. I just want to make something everyday and it is so easy spending hours looking at all these great ideas on everyone else's blogs and sites.

So I had my husband cut these 4x4 squares out and I finished sanding them today. Stay tuned to see what comes of them. I am not quite sure how they will turn out!!

One tip for you: Don't sand in the kitchen, even if the sander has a dust catcher. Dust still gets over EVERYTHING!!!

I also have these two skirts that I am trying to do something with. I'll keep you posted on what happens with this project!! (I might be buying myself a new skirt after this sewing attempt)

Wedding Album

Here is a wedding album I did last month that my Realtor hired me to do for his Anniversary. He surprised his wife and she loved it. Here are a few pics and then I will put the website if anyone is interested in checking out the rest. Please remember I love to do this and if interested please let me know.

http://picasaweb.google.com/mandyjane76/ChrisKollarWeddingAlbum

Disney Scrapbook

I did this scrapbook for my girlfriend, who went on this vacation with us. It was a Disney Vacation and cruise. I used the Creative Memories Disney 12x12 Albums and pages. The elements and pages are from lots of different Disney things. I am putting up a few pictures of the album here and then the link if you want to view the rest. Scrapbooking is what I love to do and if you or anyone you know is interested in hiring me, please let me know.

http://picasaweb.google.com/mandyjane76/DisneyPhotoAlbum

Thank you card

I haven't made any cards in a long time so since I actually had a spare moment this morning, I made this thank you card for someone.

First Post!!

This is our first official post in the blogging world! Maybe we will start crafting soon and add other posts.