~ 2015 Calendar Month JPEGs

Holy moly, I’ve been severely remiss on keeping my blog updated in 2014.  Hopefully this post of new 2015 month JPEGs will kick off a more lively blogging year in 2015.  There is still time to get that last minute calendar gift started before the holiday gift-giving!  If you would like the editable Excel version, please leave me a message in the comments below with your email address.   Appreciate a a post if you use my JPEGs.  Thanks!

To download full-size graphics, double-click on each month to expand.  Right-click and save to your computer.

February’s Beaded Bracelets

So the thought came across my mind that I should try to do a craft fair.  A friend had posted on Facebook that there would be one close to her home at the end of March.  Not sure I’d be ready by then as I need to do a little more research on how to collect payment, how many items to bring, pricing, etc.  If you have any helpful advice and have experience doing craft fairs, would love to read about it.  Just post a comment below.

Here are the new bead combos I put together this weekend.

Sodalite

Mixed Tiger’s Eye (yellow, red, blue)

Rose Quartz and Rhodonite

Bamboo Coral

Red Adventurine and Fossil

Citrine

Larimar and Labradorite

Red Poppy Jasper and pinky/orange stone

Silver Leaf Jasper

Yellow Jasper and Crazy Lace Agate

Rainbow Obsidian and Picasso Jasper

Dog Tooth Amethyst and Blue Agate

Aquamarine

If you’d like to place an order, see price list in the post below this one (https://leasanders.wordpress.com/2014/01/22/januarys-beaded-bracelets-and-price-list/).  If you order in the next few days (stateside), you can get them by Valentine’s Day. =)

Happy 2014!

It is a new year and I refreshed my blog with a new theme.  Out with the old red and black Twilight theme and on to something a little lighter (though you can still see my old Twilight projects in the right margin).  I hope to share and post more this year.  I plan to do more jewelry projects and papercrafts (time willing) throughout 2014.

Here are a few pictures from a calendar I completed just today for my mom.  It is filled with pictures from 2013.

2013 in review

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2013 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

A New York City subway train holds 1,200 people. This blog was viewed about 7,000 times in 2013. If it were a NYC subway train, it would take about 6 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

~ 2014 Calendar Month JPEGs

Just got around to finishing the 2014 months.  Get started on your 2014 calendar gifts before the holidays sneak up on us!  If you would like the editable Excel version, please leave me a message in the comments below with your email address.   Appreciate a a post if you use my JPEGs.  Thanks!

 

To download full-size graphics, double-click on each month to expand.  Right-click and save to your computer.

 

~ Baby Girl Book

A sweet baby girl project I made for my co-worker, Matt.  He hasn’t seen it yet–it is a surprise!  {{{sshhhh…}}} =)

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Supplies:

• Zutter – 8″ acrylic covers, 1.25″ white o-wire
• K&Company – patterned paper
• DCWV – textured cardstock
• Jolee’s – duck embellishment
• Recollections – word embellishments

 

~ Instagram August – December 2012 – Part 3 (Jewelry and Random)

Here is the last of 2012’s photos that I will be posting today. =)  I look forward to sharing more Instagram moments in 2013!

~ Instagram August – December 2012 – Part 1

Wow, has it really been that long since I collaged and posted my Instagram photos?  There are so many photos that I need to break them out in several parts and by loose themes.  So here is the first batch from the August-October timeframe.

{Food and Drink}

{Papercrafts and Chainmaille Jewelry}

{Just around the house, out and about locally or on travel photos}

 

2012 in review

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

4,329 films were submitted to the 2012 Cannes Film Festival. This blog had 16,000 views in 2012. If each view were a film, this blog would power 4 Film Festivals

Click here to see the complete report.

~ 2013 Calendar

It is time to get crafting and make 2013 gift calendars.  Here is my first of a group that I will make for Christmas.  This one is personalized for my parents with photos of my family from 2012.  Click on this link to go to my post with 2013 JPEGs to make your own calendars!

{Click on each thumbnail to see more details.}

 

~ Breaking Dawn 2 Twilight Goodies

{trunk full of Twi-goodies}

It has been a great few years with the Twilight Saga but alas, all good things do come to an end.  I went to see Breaking Dawn 2 with three of my peeps from MILCON.  I was sick as a dog but I still went to share the goodies I put together for our girls day and enjoy the movie. =)  The goody bag had a couple of vampire-themed items and Hershey’s kisses.  I made name tag/book marks to add to the larger gift bags which also held a Twilight-themed travel mug and hot chocolate mix.  I couldn’t find any Breaking Dawn bags but the Eclipse ones served the purpose just fine.

~ Just for Fun!

 

To mark this year’s political season (and demonstrate non-partisanship in my house), I made “donkey” and “elephant” charm bracelets.  If you’re one of my U.S. visitors, don’t forget to vote next month!  Make your vote count. =)  Charms from Off the Beading Path in Occoquan, VA.  If you’re in the area, go by for a visit.

More of my usual projects to come.

 

~ Baby Shower Book & Goody Bags

Here is my second in a series of Bind-it-All minibooks made from patterned paper scraps.  This project is a baby shower book for well-wishers to add their happy greetings.

I also made goody bags for all 35 of my co-workers plus a few extra for Katie’s family.  See more photos of both projects in the slideshow below.

See more photos in the slideshow below:

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Supplies:

Katie book –

• Zutter – 1.5″ white o-ring, 7.5″ acrylic tabs, 7.5″ kraft chipboard cover
• Basic Grey – patterned paper
• Epiphany Crafts – scalloped circle epoxy
• The Twinery – twine
• ribbon, pacifier decorations

treat bags –

• cardstock – Stampin’ Up!, Bazzill
• patterned paper
• twine – The Twinery
• ribbon, pacifier decorations
• We R Memory Keepers – large eyelets

~ “Made with Scraps” BIA Minibook

While I was thinning out my collection of paper this weekend to give to a friend, I had amassed a pile of scraps, not worthy enough of sharing in current-state.   I saw a lot of similarities in the colors and patterns.  Instead of throwing the scraps away, I challenged myself to create one project using the bits of paper – married similar styles of different manufacturers – to make this little minibook.

{Close-up of the punch detail.}

{Click on each photo for a closer look.}

   

   

I’ll eventually make another project using other scraps in the coming weeks.  Come by again to check it out.

Supplies:

• Zutter Innovative – 6″ acrylic covers, 1 1/4″ antique brass o-wire
• 7Gypsies – round chipboard
• patterned paper – My Mind’s Eye, SEI, Bella Blvd
• Recollections – flowers
• Doodlebug – jewels
• American Crafts – fabric chipboard alpha
• ribbon, buttons, other bling

~ 2013 Calendar JPEGs

For your crafting pleasure, I’ve put together 2013 calendar JPEGs.  For those who have come back year after year and newbies to my site, please leave me a message letting me know you’ve come by.  Happy to share and would love to hear from you!  For calendar ideas, type calendar in the search box to the top/right of this blog and search all of my previous projects.

If you prefer the JPEGs with Federal Holidays, please drop me an email and I will send you the Excel file.  You can also use the file to personalize with different fonts and colors.

Click on each image to enlarge.  Right click to download the image to your computer.  If you have any issues, please let me know by posting  a message or sending me an email (with subject line 2013 Calendar JPEGs) to leasanders@yahoo.com.

Thanks and happy crafting!

     

     

     

     

     

     

 

~ Farewell to Me!

Here is my latest Bind-it-All project, a farewell book (for me, actually) that my NAVFAC co-workers from all over the world added their farewell messages in.  Some of the well-wishes were added in person while some were emailed and added to the book.

 

What is really great about creating a project for yourself is that you can make anything you want it to be.  I added little strips inside to show where I have been and when with Naval Facilities Engineering Command.

{Click on each of the photos below for a closer look.}

Supplies:

• Zutter – 1″ brown o-wire
• Clear Scraps – acrylic covers
• My Mind’s Eye – patterned papers, brads
• The Twinery – twine
• Tim Holtz – frame
• Making Memories – acrylic paint
• chipboard, fabric flowers, ribbon

~ Parting Gifts

 

So, this is my last week at my current job.  Far be it for me not to have one last share of my craftiness before I go.  I made candy goody bags for the co-workers in MILCON and special bags with extra stuff for my branch.  I wanted to make use of my latest Fiskars punch in my projects since I wasn’t able to teach a class using it. =(  We have a long-standing “purple Thursday” in MILCON so I had custom buttons made by the awesome Emily Adams.

The bags below are filled with other good stuff are what I’m giving to the ladies in my branch.  There is a prolific amount of lilac and honeydew twine from The Twinery, which I totally love!  The bags were 59 cent gift bags I bought from Target and embellished.

Goody bag supplies:

• flat plastic bags, Dum Dums, Smarties, Kit Kats
• My Mind’s Eye – patterned paper
• The Twinery – twine
• Tim Holtz – mini staples
• Emily Adams – custom buttons

Gift bag supplies:

• Fancy Pants – patterned paper
• The Twinery – twine
• Tim Holtz – tissue tape
• American Crafts – ribbon
• Tim Holtz – mini staples

 

 

~ Latest Jewelry Projects

I haven’t been keeping up with blog-posting my chainmaille or beaded jewelry!  Here are a few of my more recent projects.  The bracelet above has amethyst and glass rondelles with aluminum rings in byzantine.  The chainmaille bracelet below is elfweave, the first I’ve tried from a kit from Blue Buddha Boutique.

The necklaces above are part of a going-away package I’m making for my co-workers (amethyst, blue aventurine, agate, glass rondelles).  Yep, I’m the one who is going away to a new job but they’ll get the goodies. =)  They were modeled after my original “Purple Thursday” necklace below (agate and glass).  My branch has a routine or dressing in purple on Thursdays.  It is just something quirky that we do!

 

 

I had just finished the necklace above (lapis lazuli, blue candy jade, turquoise, moonstone, blue quartz) and 15 mins later it was sold to a high school friend of my brother’s on Facebook.  There was also a matching bracelet.  The necklace below is something I made on a whim using a lot of different beads – amethyst, jade, tourmaline, garnet, fresh water pearls, red tiger’s eye.  The rings on the project below are brass.

 

~ Farewell to Stephanie

We were surprised to find out last week that our newest analyst was leaving us this week.  To help make her farewell luncheon a little more special, I made candy boxes to put at each place setting at the restaurant.  She loves purple so I made purple tags using twine from The Twinery – so cute!

Supplies:

• The Twinery – twine
• K&Company – patterned cardstock
• Wausau Paper – cardstock
• Bazzill – cardstock
• We R Memory Keepers – eyelets
• Paper Source – satin ribbon

 

~ Latest Chainmaille Projects

Just finished making these little babies this morning.  Pretty quick projects considering I started making them late last night.  Each has wire-wrapped beads of spider agate, jade, aventurine, jasper and hematite.  The necklace has two main sizes of jump rings while the bracelet is generally one size with exception of the connector rings for the toggle.  Click on each of the photos for a closer look.  For more inspiration, go to the Blue Buddha Boutique website.

~ Beginning of the End

If you’ve kept up with me these last couple of years you know I have been on a bit of a Twilight Saga bender.  All good things must come to an end…but we still have Breaking Dawn 2 to watch and then I’ll be done.  Really, I’ll be done! =)  It is still a few months until November so here you go, my latest digi-layout of the latest BD2 posters I made for the ladies in Twilight Sorority.  Yes, I couldn’t resist.

~ OZZ April Bind-it-All Project – Smile

For More Bind-It-All Inspiration, Tutorial And Supply List For This Project, Please Go To The Bind-It-All Blog.

 

~ Shine Minibook

Here is my latest Bind-it-All project, just a spur-of-the moment “I need to make something” project.  I’ll eventually put photos in the book but for now, here it is. =)  The inside pages are tabbed acrylic while the covers are very thick chipboard.  I pulled the flower off an affordable bunch I purchased at Michaels.

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Supplies:

• Zutter – 1″ antique brass O-wire, 5×7.5″ tabbed acrylic
• 7Gypsies – bookboard
• Fancy Pants Designs – patterned paper
• Epiphany Crafts – round epoxy
• Timeless Twine – twine
• flat bottlecaps, fabric flower

~ USMC Retirement Easel Card

Let the party continue!  There is another event for the Spasojevich extended family today.  Yesterday was the retirement ceremony and this afternoon there is a renewal of wedding vows at the chapel at the National Museum of the Marine Corps.  I made this easel card from the photos I took yesterday that my husband will present to Col Spasojevich with a couple of small tokens of appreciation. =)

Supplies:

• PaperSource – cardstock
• Stamping Station – patterned paper
• Epiphany Crafts –  epoxy circle
• flat bottle cap

~ All Occasion Card Class

Finally got around to putting these photos up.  I taught three sessions total of my All Occasion Card Class in March and early April.  Here are my co-workers putting their projects together.

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Supplies:

• PaperSource, Stampin’ Up! – cardstock
• Fancy Pants – patterned paper
• American Crafts – adhesive fabric paper
• buttons

~ Happy Easter and Easel Card

Happy Easter, all!  We kept our Easter celebration small and just the family today.

Here is my card sample for the next class I’m teaching later this month, a 5 1/2″ square easel card.

Supplies:

• PaperSource – cardstock, satin ribbon
• My Mind’s Eye – patterned paper
• Epiphany Crafts – large circle and epoxy
• Prima – flowers
• Stampin’ Up! – large brad
• flat bottlecap

~ Greeting Card Gift Set & Minibook Teaser

This weekend I made a set of six cards for a co-worker as part of a going away present.  She expressed interest in the color orange at the last card class I taught at work so there is a bit of orange in both the cards and the envelopes.  I also made a small pockets and tags Bind-it-All minibook that I’ll show a sneak peek of below.  Please come back another day to see a full post on the minibook sometime next month or so. =)

Teaser of my latest minibook cover.

Card Supplies:

• Cardstock – Stampin’ Up!; Bazzill Basics
• Patterned Paper – DCWV
• Flowers – Creative Imaginations; Prima
• Twine – The Twinery
• Epoxy Stickers – K&Company
• Gems – Doodlebug
• buttons

~ OZZ – March Bind-It-All Project – Flat Stanley Adventures

For More Bind-It-All Inspiration, Tutorial and Supply List For This Project), Please Go To The Bind-It-All Blog.

{Click on the photos for a closer look!}

~ OZZ – March Bind-It-All Project – Danielle & Stephen

 

For more Bind-It-All inspiration (and a supply list for this project), please go to the Bind-It-All Blog.

 

~ Valentine’s Day Card Class

Here are the photos from my first class of the year!  Valentine’s Day tends to be a big draw for my office!

I kept the design of the card simple but provided a lot of paper and embellishment options for each of the participants to design their own unique projects.  To ensure that the attention would be paid to putting the projects together instead of the mechanics of prepping the different pieces, I pre-cut/creased all of the paper and pre-assembled ribbon bundles.

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Supplies:

• PaperSource – cardstock
• Recollections – cardstock
• Wausau Paper –  textured cardstock
• Echo Park – patterned paper, cardstock stickers
• K & Company – adhesive borders
• Kaisercraft – bling borders, pearl borders
• Doodlebug – gems
• ColorBox – ink
• Tattered Angels – Glimmermist
• Epiphany Crafts – epoxy caps
• ribbon, flat bottle caps