Friday, September 30, 2011

Halloween Love

I seriously cannot get enough of the Canvas Corp Halloween paper!  They go perfect with their basic paper lines, which makes it nice when designing.  I made this 8"x10" Chunky Canvas project that has layers of stretched canvas on it.  Then a small project to go anywhere!
For all of the info on how I made this click HERE.

See how the layers of canvases make it fun and pops out at you...maybe to scare you...:)
www.scrapbook.com has a great selection of Canvas Corp products.

Have a wonderful weekend! 
I am looking forward to General Conference for my church this weekend!  {www.lds.org}
I love hearing from our Prophet, President Monson.

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Altered Notebooks

So, before our BH&G trip, I was asked to make notebooks for the Canvas Corp crew that we can take notes in while we were in our meeting.  Of course, the BH&G ladies were already on top of that and had some there for us. 
I bought some cheap Steno pads and covered them with Canvas Corp goodness.  More information on the products I used and instructions are HERE and HERE.
These are great for custom presents for a teacher, neighbor or just for yourself!






Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Halloween Wall Hanging {a small one}

I made this scary little thing today and posted about it over on the Canvas Corp blog.
Click HERE for more pictures and info!  It is a 4"x6" Chunky Canvas that I covered with fun stuff!
Those triangle tags...Chalkstock!!
I have been so excited about Halloween this year, I have actually been thinking about it all summer!  I am ready to decorate my house for Halloween and Fall!
Have you started thinking about costumes?  I am thinking that Kate needs to be Strawberry Shortcake this year...I will have to get started soon.
Have a wonderful day!

Monday, September 19, 2011

My Trip to Better Homes & Magazine Corporate Offices {Behind-the-Scenes}

I had such an awesome opportunity to go up with the Canvas Corp crew to a meeting with 12 BH&G Editors and Creative team at their corporate offices in Des Moines.  I have never been to Des Moines in it seemed like a very lovely city.

After our presentation, our sweet hostess gave us a full tour of the buildings on the BH&G campus.  We saw photo shoots in session, test kitchens cooking, history all around.  I have been a subscriber of BH&G for years, it has been around for over a hundred years...Americana!!

They had storage shelves all over full of props and displays.  I really couldn't take pictures fast enough to really soak it in...


This is a picture of one of the buildings of the Meredith Corporation, I was standing in the Test Gardens.  I just wanted to pack it up and take it home with me!!


This is the Scrapbooks Etc and the Quilting Magazine's Craft Lab where we had our presentation, as well as our luncheon provided by BH&G catering service.


There I am in action, I didn't know that Michelle {the Editor of Scrapbooks Etc} was taking my picture, I thought she was just taking the picture of the flowers I made out of the new Canvas Corp Tissuestock that I LOVE! 

We actually went through this kitchen {pictured below}, but it was in the middle of a photo shoot with two young kids eating something.  I am guessing it is for the Parents magazine or something.  It is gorgeous!!

BH&G really tried to keep really good records of their history in chronological order, so cool!

 We got to see in their "basement" the make-shift rooms for photo shoots.  There was a guy in this one straight ahead that was painting and then he was going to put moulding up on the walls.  So cool!  They had several of these rooms and the biggest woodworking shop ever.  Well, they do have a Wood hobby magazine.
I loved seeing the faux walls for photo shoots, if they want one painted pink...they paint it pink.  I know they try to not waste and use what they have.
 The official BH&G Test Kitchen...it looks like a normal kitchen! :)  We were happy to see it in action.  It looks like they use Bosch appliances.  On the next isle to the right, there are a few gas stoves and ovens to cook at, this is the prep area.
























I guess when you are cooking all of that food...you need a lot of fridge space!  This is just one of the few walls of fridges.  They have a full-time grocery shopper, I wonder if she is into couponing. 

This was a beautiful kitchen right off the test kitchen, I am calling it the "Taste Kitchen" because they had food out for people to try and see what they think of the recipes they come up with.
Seriously, the prop rooms/closets were my favorite to see.  Look at all of that stuff they use!!

I asked if I could take a picture of this photo shoot in action, I believe it was for the Scrapbooks Etc website.  She was styling the carmel popcorn in this little holder.

Isn't this the sweetest little shed, it was in the test gardens.

 Ok, I am going to get one of these...in the Craft Lab they have on of these tray holders like you see in a bakery.  Each designer has their own tray {with their name on it} that has a project they are working on, so if they are not done they stick it back in their slot to keep the Craft Lab clean!!  My craft table has stacks of projects on top of each other, I would be more organized with one of these!
 When we first walked into the building, this is what greeted us...so cheery!
 Better Homes and Gardens actually was called Fruit Garden and Home.  The Meredith company actually started with publishing Successful Farming magazine in 1902, then they realized that the house/farm wife needed something for themselves and then that is how BH&G started.  Everyone has a red/white checked cookbook, a wedding gift staple, right!? 

 A photo of the Canvas Crew with a couple of the Scrapbooks Etc. gals.
{l to r:  Sonya, Christine, Michelle, Michelle Rubin {Editor of Scrapbooks Etc.}, me, Deb Berger {Art Director}. 
I love the sign on the wall to the right...
"Make Something Good Today"!!
Wonderful day to be a part of and see the behind-the-scenes of so many things to make a magazine come to life!
I hope you enjoyed my little tour!!

Friday, September 9, 2011

Question for all of you DIY-ers...

Ok...I haven't called any painting companies yet to get estimates for painting my cabinets.  I happened to find on someone's blog {I forgot which one} them talking about the new Rust-Oleum Cabinet Transformation Kits.  I had to check into it...I am all about saving money when it comes down to it.  I may have to recruit my sisters or sweet talk my dad into helping me if we decide to go this route.  I found this picture of someone's after picture that they posted on the Rust-Oleum website.

If you have tried this product, please give me your feedback on what you thought of it.  I really like the idea of no sanding!

I might just try it out on my kid's bathroom cabinets first and see how it goes...
This is a picture of the kit:

Kit Contents


Just a few items:
I have been working on a lot of upcoming projects for Canvas Corp, so I can't show them yet.  Lots of new and exciting things happening at Canvas Corp...I can't wait to announce them!

I made these flowers for the gals that work with Bill. Pam requested a huge orange/red flower for a hat that she bought on a trip...I still need to make her a huge black and white satin one.  The large flower is about the size of a small saucer plate.  I made the black satin one for Janet, even though she didn't request one...I hope that she likes it!


My little Sam has been so cute, he has been coming up to me asking if he could "decorate" {he means scrap}.  He has been making Go Utah State signs for our fridge, it is covered with signs...I love that he is being creative!  He loves the decorative scissors.  We are soooooo bummed that Utah State barely lost to Auburn last week!  It was such a great game, especially playing the former National Champions! 
 
This is a project I did for Canvas Corp's booth at CHA. That sweet little guy in the picture is my darlin' nephew, Cameron.  He is seriously the cutest thing ever!
I made it using a 12"x12" stretched canvas and layered a 10"x10" stretched canvas on top.  It is a really fun project.


These are Mr. Cameron's hands, his picture is on a 4"x6" stretched canvas.  I would love to cover a wall with all different sizes of canvases just like this!


Have a great weekend!

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

A few items...

I did a trade with Debbie from the flea market and this is what I got!  A spoon necklace with a "J" that she made.  She hammers the spoon out flat and then stamps the letter...so cute! 

While going though my piles of stuff around the house, I found this mini album that I made years and years ago.  I passed it down to my sister-in-law that has two little guys for her to use.  The colors reminded me of her and her dudes.


 Okay...down to business. 
My birthday is in a couple of weeks and all I want is my ugly oak {builder's grade} kitchen cabinets to be painted.  They are just worn out and have water stains on them, not pretty!  I have been checking out on Pinterest all of the amazing kitchens and I keep coming back to white cabinets. They are timeless!  I can't decide if I want it glazed also.  My husband refuses to paint {he'd rather chew broken glass he always says to me} and so he said to hire someone.  I wish I felt confident enough to do it myself...
I love this kitchen!  I already have the beadboard backsplash.

 I found this picture on Pinterest also that I just adore!  What a great idea to paint the pantry door a color and that helps you not to have to commit to a wall color that bold.  It is subtle, yet striking.

Wish me luck!
Have a wonderful day!