A gift for the Boss that has everything!

It's that time of year again, when my co-worker and I ask each other, "What are we getting our Bosses for Christmas?"  We work for a guy who owns real estate and his wife works with us in the office.  These are the quintessential "people-that-have-everything-they-ever-wanted-or-needed-so-what-the-heck-do-you-get-them" people!!  Last year we put a lot of thought into their gifts and while I think they really appreciated them, I am just not sure they got any use out of them.  I really hate to get people gifts that will sit around and be useless (unless they're collector's of useless crap), so the challenge was on! 


I knew I wanted to get them an awesome experience, something to do that, hopefully, they'd never done before.  You know, create memories instead of accumulate more stuff to set around.  But again, they are goers-and-doers, they like to be active so I knew this challenge might not be easy to accomplish. My co-worker, who happens to be one of my really good friends, thought of a rock climbing experience.  We researched it and found a local indoor rock climbing place and it was affordable; however, I thought that's good, but I just don't think that's IT.


Then it hit me...a helicopter ride! Again, we researched it and made calls, but it was too expensive!!! 


That idea led me to my second idea...a hot air balloon ride! Once again, we researched it and while it was not as expensive as the helicopter ride it was still out of our reach since we waited too long and Christmas was only one payday away.  This was my favorite though, so I told my co-worker-friend that we need to save up for next year and do this! Which makes me really happy since we won't encounter this dilemma for at least 2 more years!!! 


Next, I looked to my trusty friend Google.  Google is my go-to in any case of searching.  I simply typed in "giving the gift of an experience"...now you may laugh but anyone who knows me knows I am champion Googler.  I Google for all occasions and all bits of information I don't know.  My co-worker and I can start to search for something at work and I inevitably find it first, which really irks her. Or, I can allow her to search something and when she doesn't find it I will go right to it; again, this really irks her.  So in this search I found a website that specializes in gifting experiences, that's in their tagline!! I scrolled through tons of pages and found everything from Indy car driver for the day to hiring a personal chef for a special meal.  You can even fly a fighter plane in a simulated air fight and you don't have to have a pilot's license.  There were so many choices but alas they were either not close to home, a little bizarre or too expensive.    


That's when I found it; I hit 'next page' and there it was staring at me.  I sheepishly said, "I think I found it."  To which she replied, "What?"  I am sure she wasn't confident in my announcement since I had just rattled of a litany of crazy experiences that we'd never choose.  But, when I said,"a murder mystery dinner show!" she actually paused with careful consideration.  That pause spoke to me and said, "Ding ding ding we have a winner!"  After little debate and hesitation we agreed, this was definitely IT! 


Feeling that the presentation of any gift is the most exciting element, I knew exactly how I wanted to present it.  That, and we didn't have time to wait for shipment of the certificate in the mail.  This is how we presented our bosses with their experience last night at our Christmas dinner.

It's an altered cigar box!!!

Because we were giving them a murder mystery dinner show experience we thought using Clue as our theme would be fun!

I used a glitter chipboard frame to highlight the title Clue.  I used layers of flowers and inked them to make them look rustic.  I also placed the arrow in the bottom right corner and foot print stickers because I thought it was cute.

This cigar box had writing on both outer sides so I painted the bottom half of the box black and then applied distressed crackle paint for a really cool effect!  I also applied distress stain onto the dried crackle paint.

I lined the inside with red velvet paper.

This is my favorite part! I envisioned a card that opened from different sides announcing the gift.  This is the top, I thought the blood splat and question mark would have them really wondering what they were getting!

After lifting the top of the card straight up, this was the first thing they'd see.  That was the name of the website we purchased from, but again, with them not knowing that they'd still be in suspense.  I also placed a line of rhinestones along the bottom that made it sparkle.

The first flap opens to the right, revealing the next, pictured here.  This was on the emailed certificate and I thought it was very fitting since I'd originally Googled for gift "experiences!"

The final flap opened to the left to reveal the gift inside!  

Now we included the certificate that was emailed to us under the shreds at the bottom of the box so that she has her purchase code and directions on how to redeem.  But I was so excited to create what I envisioned and even more excited that they REALLY liked it! My boss even said she may have me make another so she can gift it to her Mom and Step-Dad since she was having a hard time figuring out what to get them!! (Hmm...I know the feeling! LOL)

Until next time, I'm going to...

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Twilight Altered Cigar Box

I wanted to share the Twilight themed Altered Cigar Box I created for a swap. Recently, I have fallen in love with cigar boxes; and, altering them is a great outlet for collage-style (which I love) creativity!

My partner in this swap picked Edward as her theme. 

This is the what I created:

I used a cigar box that was already black to begin with.  I used deep red rose paper to cover the top for the background.  I used bling to give it some sparkle and I also added dimensional flourishes and roses. I chose to place the pictures onto tags because I also love to create tags!

 This is my favorite quote from the entire series so I just had to include it too! How perfect that it happens to be an Edward quote! 

(It doesn't appear so washed out looking in person.)

 I used glittery foam letters for his name and found the perfect silver trim to accent the box all the way around.

For the inside I had this vision of a collage using lots of different Edward pictures from all the different movies; I think it turned out quite dreamy!

I used red velvet paper to line the bottom of the inside and small black trim to go around the inside edges.  The trim gives it a more finished appearance.

This is a close up of my collage. I also turned this picture into my desktop background on my computer at work; how nice to look at Edward all day long. I used gem hearts, dimensional gel flourishes and roses for accents.

I had so much fun creating this treasure for my partner; I was actually quite sad to see it go. But I know she will enjoy it and I can always create more whenever the mood strikes me! I think next I may try to do one for each movie in the series, that sounds like therapeutic fun for sure!

Now I will leave you with a close up of my favorite tag from the front of the box, enjoy and until next time be sure to...

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Mmmmm...nice! 

A New Creative Outlet

I love to read.  I feel like I must admit that the Twilight series is what delivered my passion for reading back to me.  After returning to school a little later in life, I only read textbooks for so long that I forgot the joy you can find in building some one's whole world inside your head, while reading a great book! Once I finished the Twilight series (and developed a healthy attraction to both shape shifting wolves and sparkly vampires), I moved on to the Sookie Stackhouse novels, devouring them in no time.  Then, I branched out.  Hesitant at first, I stayed with more vampire series and then eventually moved on to paranormal related stories.  There is one thing that I find in EVERY book I read.  I find this in each book partly because humans do the writing; the thing I find in every book I read is....MISTAKES!!!! Everyone makes mistakes, there's nothing wrong with the act of making error, but I always thought that the job of a proofreader/editor was to correct the mistakes and make the author look good! 

Some books contain way more mistakes than others but inevitably every book has them!  While I am reading, if they are minor mistakes, or if the story is THAT good, I can overlook a lot but sometimes it's a deal breaker - I have literally sat a book down, and either never to picked it back up (if the mistakes are too numerous to get by) or left it down for a really long time.  Which leads me to announce my new creative outlet.  OK, so this may not be construed as a "creative outlet" for some but I am over the moon with excitement!  I have always wanted to proofread a book, before it is published.  You could say it's on my "bucket list." 

After reading one of my many vampire tales I noticed that the author was on Facebook.  Sooo, I looked her up, I friend requested her and I wrote her a long private message!  I asked her questions about the book writing process, publishing and, of course, proofreading.  My friend request was accepted right away, but my message never garnered a response.  After two weeks, I brushed it off and thought, "oh well she must not be into sharing info and helping someone out like that."  Lo and behold, some more time passed and I actually got a response.  Turned out that my message went into some security file and she totally overlooked it.  She felt bad and returned a very nice and very lengthy reponse answering all my questions and sharing a wealth of information with me!  We exchanged several messages and at the end of that string of correspondence I was a wee bit deflated.  I had gathered that most proofreading is done in 2 days, fast turn around.  I knew that this would never come to fruition for me because I am not a speed reader! (Now, my friend Kim, I think she could read the Bible in an afternoon - yes, I am exagerating but she reads really fast!)  I thanked the author profusely for sharing her knowledge with me and I started to let that dream go.



THEN, almost a month later I get an email from the same author.  She says she is trying to determine her release date for the 3rd book in her series and wondered how long it would take me to proof it for her.  I was confused, then I remembered, I never told her that I wasn't a speed reader, how kind of her to think of me though.  When I told her that I had to let that dream go she looked back through our messages and admitted to seeing where I had gotten that impression.  Come to find out, 2 days is usually what the big publishing houses can deliver but for "Indie Authors," they can afford more time than that!!! Can you guess my reaction...I was overjoyed, elated, brimming with excitement!!! She agreed to my request of a week and would send me a copy shortly.

Sooooo, tonight concludes my week and I am so excited that I have actually gotten to proofread a book before it is published!  I enjoy proofreading so much and I actually have fun doing it.  I know this may seem small and insignificant to most, but it makes me feel great knowing that someone may read this book and enjoy the read without focusing on a mistake that otherwise may have been there glaring them in the face, daring them not to set the book down!

Now that I have concluded my role as a proofreader, this week, I can go back and...

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Painting with a Twist

This past Saturday night I went out with some friends to a place called Painting with a Twist.  It was really fun, and the twist, is that you bring a bottle of wine to enjoy while you paint!

The painting we chose was Starry Night.  Now it seemed like it'd be a lot easier before we got there! The teachers at Painting with a Twist really try hard to break down a painting into easy to follow steps so that even people with little to no painting talent CAN leave with a painting that night!

Being the avid scrapbooker I am I took a few pictures at various stages of completion during the night:

Step 1, Start with a Blank Canvas

I was a wee bit bummed and thought maybe they'd draw on it FOR you! hehe

Step 2, Paint your sky and start on the hills, or was it start on the hills and then paint the sky??

Step 3, Complete the hills.

Step 4, So I realized I didn't take a picture in between the sky & hills and then this - sorry, I blame the wine!

VOILA!!! My completed interpretation of Starry Night!

The whole evening was so much fun; I am really looking forward to going back again sometime soon! Following is a picture of the group of us that went and our finished paintings! I think it's a great night out with friends, a date, or your whole family! No talent required, and I think you will REALLY enjoy yourself!!!!

I'm Hiding and Scrapping...errr Swapping!

I have had a strange week for sure, sorta crappy is a better way to describe it actually. So this morning when I couldn't sleep (I know, it's Saturday for goodness sakes, I really should have been able to sleep in, but) I got up and went to hide in my scraproom! I haven't actually SCRAPPED in quite some time though. Lately, I have been working on swap items for the various swaps I am in over at Scrapbook.com. 

This week I have been working on the Letter of the Word Swap. You sign up for different words. Let's use "Birthday" as an example; each person picks a letter and then makes it and decorates it, there are size restrictions and colors given to use as a guideline so they will all coordinate. Then you send them to the Host and get back the entire word, with each letter being made by a different swapper.  I was so intrigued by this idea and love it so much! I signed up for 6 words; Birthday, Too Tough, Yee Haw, Diva, School, and Son.  I haven't finished them all yet but I wanted to share what I have done so far with you!!!

Above you can see the "a" for Diva; I had to bling out a little.  The "r" for Birthday made on a cupcake and then I used red stickles to jazz it up a bit. The "c" for School, I did a lot of layering and used a pop dot to raise the matted "c."  Then my favorite in this picture is the "o" for Son, I used the Stand & Salute Cricut cartridge and cut out a dog tag in silver, and one in dark blue, then I attached just the tag part of the dark blue one using a jump ring so it actually dangles! I love it!

This is the "h" for Too Tough; colors were purple, lime green and white, she said think Buzz Lightyear so I had the crazy idea to place a cut piece of page protector over top. In my mind it simulates his helmet! I was so happy with myself...hehe.  I just hope my fellow swappers like it too.

After such a crummy week it sure is nice to get to come into my scraproom, hide out, and create something fun! My last letter due is the "H" in Yee Haw, using red, brown, yellow and blue, she said think Woody! I have a few ideas but nothing put together yet. I will post them when I finish. So check back soon, in the meantime be sure to...

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Crazy for Cake...Pops???

Welcome to Food Fight Friday! I'm baaack!

I bet you've already had someone give you a cakepop? Or tell you about someone they know who bakes, and they're intention of selling cakepops! Or maybe you saw them at the coffee shop? Chances are you have had a run-in with a cakepop by now.  Yes folks, it seems to me that we are smack dab in the middle of a full throttle CAKEPOP CRAZE!!!! 

My introduction to the cakepop came at Starbucks.  After a movie we headed over to Starbucks to hang out.  There in the case, looking so cute and delicious, were the *new* cakepops! Of course we HAD to try them!

 

Cakepops next crossed my path as I was checking emails one day. Every now and then a recipe will catch my eye and this one was for none-other-than CAKEPOPS!! I saved the link and reflected on how much work I thought they'd be to make(I'm a wimp when it comes to baking), but I knew Kim could make them with ease!

Next, Sheryl returned to work from the Hair Salon and brought us back a...(say it with me now)...CAKEPOP!!!! She proceeded to tell me how the daughter of the lady that does her hair is starting her own cake business, she's real good at decorating cakes so now she's going to make and sell cakepops!!  I was intrigued at this "homemade" version of the one I tried in Starbucks, which by the way I wasn't all that impressed by (sorry!).  She immediately placed them in the refrigerator and said they were "melting."  After lunch I retrieved my chocolate cakepop from the refrigerator and admired the delicate looking blue decorations. I was excited to try it, then it began to sag off the stick...it did seem to be melting.  I think it was missing the dipped-in-chocolate-to-hold-it-together coating that I see on most of the ones I find on the internet.

My final run-in was when my friend told me she was bringing dessert to Dinner Club and it wasn't appropriately themed.  She said this girl at work had been perfecting her recipes and bringing cakepops into work A LOT.  You know where I'm going with this I am sure, she's making cakepops for her to bring to Dinner Club!!! And even though I have never thoroughly LOVE a cakepop yet, I am still excited, once again, to try these beautiful little treats!

Final Opinion on cakepops:  I LOVE the concept, and some of the professionally decorated ones I've seen online are amazing! However, there is something about the thought of making a perfectly good cake only to demolish it down to crumbs and mix with stuff (can be cream cheese) to form it into balls that doesn't appeal to me. If I'm going to that trouble, trust me, I'm making Oreo Truffles (see previous Food Fight Friday post), because they ROCK! 


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Vintage Mini TP Roll Album

I created my first mini album using toilet paper rolls a while ago. I made it especially for a partnered swap on Scrapbook.com.  The only problem; I never heard from the person I sent it to!  The irony was that when I showed it to my Mom and my Sister they didn't want me to send it to that person, they thought I should send them something else. BUT me being me I went ahead and mailed it, knowing I had intended it to be for that person as I made it.  I have to admit I was a little deflated when I got no response, and I really would have been happy if they just posted that they recieved it. So I thought I would share it here on my blog and at least others could still enjoy it, even if it is only through pictures!

This is the cover, I handmade the flowers to look old and put gears inside the center of 2 of them.

I had fun putting charms with the ribbons too!

The following are the inside pages...

The inside pages had pullouts too!

I really had a lot of fun making this album, and who knew you could make something so special with toilet paper rolls! I never would have guess it! I hope you enjoyed looking, as I enjoyed making, I just hope that the person who has now is enjoying it too!!!

Sunday's Scrappy Re-Cap

I am already not posting as often as I'd like.  Life gets a bit too busy, not even busy really but I always feel a sort of hectic sense about my days and they just fly by anymore.  This week I've been working on swap items and having a blast!

I created the picture above as a sort of re-cap of some of the stuff I've had going on this week!  I created some vintage paper flowers for a toilet paper roll mini album (also pictured).  I created the pretty pink and purple paper flower and the charms for a Learning Swap I am in over at SB.com.  Actually all my swaps are for Scrapbook.com...maybe I should venture out to find new swapping arenas? Sounds like fun. 

The green button I found in a package of 100 buttons that I got in a kit.  I was shocked, it is an actual Hollister button...made me laugh that's for sure.  Also made me appreciate buttons a wee more.  They'd be fun to collect! The "DRINK ME" bottle will adorn the front of my Domino Mini Album, pictured in-progress, when it is complete. 

I chose to include the nature paper picture because I am in a Scavenger Hunt Swap and I had to locate a scrap item that began with an "N."  It doesn't seem like a difficult task but sure enough once I started I even had my husband scouring my scraproom with me to locate the covetted item that begins with an "N" and lo & behold we realized the poor letter N is sadly being left out of the scrap world.  I surely could have selected "N"ine die cuts (for example) but I really wanted items, not their adjectives, to begin with the letter.  Luckily, I was hanging onto this nature paper from a previous swap!

Finally, I threw in the picture of the Las Vegas die cut I had procured on my adventure to Scraporium last week.  That will likely remain in the weekly re-cap pic for a couple weeks...you see, because my very first trip to Las Vegas is fastly approaching and I am starting to get excited!!! I leave on the 15th and return on the 19th...it will be a really-totally-cool, actual-for-real, almost-week-long, VACATION!!!!  I plan to visit Freemont Street, ride NY NY's roller coaster, see and meet Rita Rudner, tour the Neon Boneyard Museum, partake in a CRAZEE Casino Crawl, go to Minus 5 using the VIP package, lay out and float along the lazy river, get tattooed, and come home totally psyched!!!! Not necessarily in that order but maaan it's gonna be fun, fun, fun!!!

Ok that's just a snippet of my past week! Until next time...

Hide n' Go Scrap!

 

Oreo-Oreo-Oh

Not too long ago I was selected as Hostess for a Philadelphia Cooking Creme House Party.  I was all excited scouring the web for recipes to use the cooking cremes in when I stumbled across another Hostess' menu.  I was impressed, she even included dessert!  Curiously I scrolled down wondering 'what dessert could you possibly make with Philadelphia cooking creme?'  As I reached the end of the menu I saw "Oreo Truffles"...I was instantly intrigued. She didn't list a recipe though, so I took to Google (of course) to find out just what was involved with making an Oreo Truffle.  Once at All Recipes I had to smile, any recipe with the word easy in the title had to be perfect for ME!  As I read through the list of ingredients I found Philadelphia cream cheese.  It was an "Ah-ha" moment indeed - these truffles are not made with cooking creme! Of course I saw the correlation, made by the same company, darn close, BUT I just couldn't do it, the purpose of the party was to spotlight the NEW cooking cremes!!! I know, some people can't stand it but I am usually such a stickler for rules! I still bought the stuff to make them and the next weekend, at Deven's birthday party, I was ready to try the scrumptious-sounding, hassle-free truffle recipe! 

As the boys were engrossed in the xBox 360, I was in the kitchen crushing Oreo's, combining the Oreo dust with room temperature cream cheese, rolling it into balls and dipping them in chocolate!  After allowing them to "chill out" for 2 hours (the Oreo Truffles, not the boys!) I bravely made my way into the lair...I mean Dev's bedroom and presented the delectable treats to the video game zombies...I mean the boys!

No one could hardly believe how tasty they were, everyone wanted more and they sure didn't last long!

I must admit, I took some creative liberties with the recipe; I used sprinkles instead of crumbs (Hey, it was for a birthday party!) and I cheated, using the microwavable dipping chocolate! 

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Balanced Swapping?

Lately I have been working on swap items...I know I know I need to get back to scrapping but I really like to create for swaps.  After receiving back several of the swaps I signed up for I think I can more easily decline new sign ups in the future.  I think I got my "fix" and now I can take the new techniques and tricks I've learned and get back to scrapping some of life for my own books. 

I have met a great group of ladies over at Scrapbook.com and will still continue to swap, I just want to try and find a happy balance between swapping and scrapping.  I thoroughly enjoy the Scrapper of the Month, and the Secret Scrapper type Swaps.  The monthly envelope swaps are fun too - basically I like sending happy mail to others! 

Now that internet is back on at my house I will be posting here more regularly.  I am hoping to find daily/weekly activities to participate in and may do a few on my own.  I always liked Meatless Monday, and my friend started Food Fight Friday, so I can't wait to get going on those!

The picture above is a greeting card I made for a swap.  I really liked the color combination and look forward to seeing what everyone else created.  I am signing off for now but until next time...

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Artist Trading Cards

The picture above is an ATC (Artist Trading Card) I created for a swap on scrapbook.com.  I just started recently creating ATCs and quickly fell in love!!! It's like making one-of-a-kind works of art in all sorts of themes.  The first ones I started out making I had to do 15 of the same ones, which I like for the most part but when I moved on to a different swap and everyone picked their own theme I truly found my niche.  I get so many ideas though that sometimes it's hard to narrow it down to just one to work with. But then again I have made one especially that I am not happy with no matter what I go back and change and I have finally reserved myself to the fact that I will be re-doing it this weekend.

I haven't received any ATCs yet...though I am eager to see how people interpret my themes...volleyball, tye dye, and penguins.  Those three things pretty much sum me up! I had to do so many different ones like vintage advertisements, butterflies (2), cute mice, "Life is a Puzzle," dolphins, cats, and many, many more.  Some are shown below, I will post others when I get them uploaded.  The swap that I made 15 of the same theme was titled "Childhood Favorites."  I went with a game theme,a dn loved my cards for that swap! I can't wait to see everyone elses! I will need to snap a picture of that one - I was really happy with how they turned out.

I will share more soon, thanks for looking and until next time...

Hide n' Go Scrap!