Words From the Wise

My last wreath wasn't a huge hit with the fiance. I liked it (he didn't like it is an understatement), but he was right it wasn't very Christmasy. And when your favorite time of year there is no reason not to have a Christmas themed wreath.  I knew what I wanted to do, the problem was I just couldn't find the right supplies...which is frustrating. So of course I went straight to Pinterest. I knew I could get a few ideas from there. And that's when I saw this wreath made with fabric instead of yarn. I felt like it smacked me right in the face. Why in the world had I not thought of this sooner? Fabric and ribbon would be way faster to cover the wreath form...and I'm always looking for easy new ideas. So I quickly made a run to our Hobby Lobby store to pick up some new material. And now that I had decided to use ribbon it opened up another world of possibilities. It shouldn't be a surprise that I walked out with enough supplies to make 2 different Christma...

It's been a while since I made a wreath...a long while. I'm pretty sure the last one I made was my Easter one. I always mean to take pictures of all of my supplies and I always forget. So I'll just give you the ONLY picture I took...and it's dark. I'm really winning on this one. Things you need: Glue gun (with glue stick obviously) Styrofoam wreath colored felt fabric buttons 1 thing of yarn plastic pumpkins (I found mine at Michaels) grapevine magic thing (I have no idea what it's called but I got mine at JoAnn's) Cost/How to save: Glue gun - if you already own, bam! There's some savings. If you don't own, venture to your nearest craft store and pick up a Low Temperature glue gun. I spent $2.70. Not too shabby. Glue sticks- $3.99 at Michael's and used a 40% off coupon. Styrofoam wreath- I think this is the easiest kind of wreath to work with. I used a 14" wreath that coast $4.99 at Hobby Lobby. And used a 40% off c...

Who's life hasn't been crazy lately? Ever since the start of school, I feel like my life has been on fast forward. They joys of working for a university! I thought my extra long holiday weekend last weekend would allow for a lot of catch up time..I was wrong. Don't get me wrong, it was great spending time with family and friends but I was ready to go to town on my Project Life book. But I also needed a little R&R. Let's just get to it shall we? Enjoy! week of May 26th - This week consisted of a ton of friend time! The PL cards are from the Jade Core Kit- except for the tree stump. That one is from the 5th and Frolic Core Kit. The awesome light bulb is a post-it from the Target $1 bins.  week of June 2nd - Sometimes I look at my pictures and think 'man, my life is so exciting' and sometimes I look back and think 'wow. I need some pizzazz...' I'd say this was a week needing pizzazz. weekend of June 7&8 - Now my weekend, there...

Note to self- whenever I want to accomplish something, post about it on my blog. I have finally accomplished some scrapbooking AND some wedding planning. Look at me go! It just took a little bit of guilt from posting about it...and TA-DA! So where to begin? I've accomplished so much. Ok, well really not a lot...but compared to the last 2 months it's A LOT. Let's start with some scrapbooking shall we? But not right away. First we need to admire my lovely salsa I canned this weekend. Yes. I also canned salsa this week. No big deal. I received an e-mail from my dad asking if I was coming home. It was followed by CANNING IS FUN! I NEED YOUR HELP. He must have been desperate. And I knew I would get to keep some for myself so I figured why not? So let's take a minute to admire all of those tomatoes I juiced, the peppers, jalapenos and onions I cut (and shed tears for), and the minutes I spent over the warm stove stirring this deliciousness. Best part- it's all home ...

Oh my life. Where have you gone?! Finally made it to my new home! The good news is I'm officially moved out of Indianapolis. The bad news is I still have some things to unpack. My creative life has been put on hold for a very, very long time....and is still on hold. My entire scrapbook and crafty goodies are stock piled at my parents house- there's not enough room at my new place! I saw Becky Higgins posting all of her new Project Life products and I was getting so giddy..until I realized how many of her products I already have and haven't had time to use. Sad day. Quick view of the start of my decorating! But I have been lucky enough to start decorating my new office! My last office had zero sense of theme. It was what I liked to call "creative clutter". There were mixed matched items everywhere. The only theme was "colorful". So this time around I thought I wanted to have some sense of theme. Keyword, thought. I journeyed to the local Ta...

Yes, I really did find $2! Best day ever. The weather here in Indiana has been getting warmer, but a little too humid for me! I don't "glow" or "glisten" very well in this humid weather. And my hair doesn't look so hott either. So to save myself from looking like one hott mess out in public, why not look that way in the comfort of my own home? I figured it's the perfect time to play catch-up on my Project Life! Yay! I was SUPER far behind. Like embarrassingly far behind. How far behind? Well...let me show you.  Hmm...does that say January 27? Why yes, yes it does. JANUARY . Yep. I was that far behind. But the good news is I'm getting caught up! A few tricks about this layout- the paint chip, invitation, and confetti. I just love how paint chips can give that nice variety of color and they're easy to write on! The confetti took a while to grow on me. (in fact it's still growing...) But it's cute and festive and fits nicely wit...

It's the weekend - yay! And I have zero motivation to do anything. I thought it would be a brilliant idea to mix some things up a little with my blog colors. Needless to say, I have the hardest time making decisions. Really. Just yesterday I spent over an hour in the fabric section of JoAnn's trying to pick out fabric for a project. At first I was looking for cute owl fabric, then I didn't find any I liked. So I decided to go for bright, fun fabric. Nothing. So then I had the awesome mustard/gray/turquoise fabric in my hands. I loved it. And I quickly realized that it matches NOTHING in my apartment. See my problem? Side note- I did have some fabric at my apartment already so I just decided that would do the trick. Isn't the project adorable? Thanks Pinterest! So as I'm sitting here trying to figure out the new layout of my blog, I have so many ideas. I've actually changed the color pallet 4 times already. Surprised? I'm not. Plus I am a little technol...

Time to get to work on the largest space I have...my floor. Remember the Ferris quotation I used in my last entry, yeah..it's still true. Will life ever slow down?  ...and remember that one time I decided to start my own Project Life? Well that is one thing in my life that has slowed down! I have spent the last week playing catch up for February, March, AND April. Holy cow. Here's the biggest piece of advice I can give- if you're going to PL, keep a journal! I started out doing pretty well and there are 3 weeks I forgot to document and now struggling for my book. I guess it gives me more space to be creative. But there is one project I was very eager to start on. My vacation to Florida. So I've decided to load just a few of my pages to share of few tips and tricks I've learned!  Hello Florida! All of the products used were random odds and ends I had in my craft supplies. I have no idea why some of these are loading this way! Sorry. I did get...

Well friends, I've been a busy worker bee! I think I'm close to being done with my trip to Ireland. I have a ton more pictures, but decided to edit it down. Feel free to scroll down and see some of my work! Sorry for the blurry picture- you still get the idea! I was trying to make my trip not too green, but that started to make things tricky. And in comes all the green..whoops! I did want my pages for St. Patrick's Day to be green, I managed to make a few days before then green too. Green is my favorite color, so what can I say? It was really easy to find St. Pat's Day stickers. And it was really hard to find Ireland stickers. I did manage to score a sticker book of just shamrocks from JoAnn Fabrics for $1..Ashlyn for the win.

Like I said earlier, I've so been on a roll with my book! Here are some more pictures of my "highlights" section of my book. First up- The Commies!  Next- Graduation from UIndy!   I was lucky to find some leftover holiday cards at Michael's that match UIndy's colors.

As mentioned in the previous post, I've started to work on "The Highlights" of my Project Life book. It's been a little tricky with such limited supply, but I've made it work. (And I've made MULTIPLE trips to the craft stores.) And now... I present... Drum roll please! The Start of Ashlyn's Highlights! First up- my trip to Oregon! I really wanted these pages to look clean and crisp, like Oregon's air.  Ok that was lame..but it's so true. If you've ever been to the west coast you know exactly what I mean! There were just so many pictures I wanted to add of Multnomah Falls! Again, it's pretty simple. I think I'm going to keep my eyes peeled for some stickers for these pages. Just to spruce it up a little. But I'm also a fan of the simplicity. Plus the simpler your layout, the fast it is to complete!  Of course I had to make a page for my first job out of college. My job requires a lot ...

When my parents were building our house back in the early 2000s, there was one thing my mom insisted on- having cabinets in our laundry room for scrapbooking. I was never really in to the scrapbook scene growing up...my mom always did it for us. I have a scrapbook from middle school, one dedicated to our 8th grade trip to D.C., a book for high school, and one just for band. Scrapbooking was my moms outlet. It always seemed that I was all gun-hoe about it and by the time we'd pull all of the materials out to the table, I was done. I just got overwhelmed so easily. How could I fill up a 12x12 page and make it look good? Thanks to an old friend from high school's blog, I've made a new discovery- Project Life . I was looking at her pictures and was so intrigued by this new way to scrapbook so I decided to do some research (and yes I even created a  Pinterest board). After my research, I wasn't too sure if this was truly for me. Documenting every week for a year? I...

Growing up with your parents owning a Hallmark store makes it hard not to over do it on the holidays. I blame that store for my need to decorate for every holiday (except for Presidents Day, MLK Day, Columbus Day...you get the idea). And for the reason I am constantly buying holiday decor, even if it's buying Christmas merchandise in June. My Christmas decor just came down last week and I'm feeling the need to be festive. It would figure the next holiday is my least favorite... Valentine's Day. You either love it or hate it. When I was in elementary I loved it! Handing out Disney Princess, Rolie Polie Olie, or cute baby animal valentines. (And yes, I was the kid with the awesome shoebox that everyone was jealous over) And the candy. That was the life. Then we get old. Your classmates don't bring you glittery Lisa Frank or Marvel Superhero valentines and they don't give you candy. Instead you have to find a boyfriend to get this (well the candy at least). And th...

It should be no surprise. I've always been crafty. When my mom design our laundry room she made sure to install cabinets and a counter for crafting. My school projects were always the bomb. I was THAT kid that when way over the top on my poster- adding fun colored back grounds, funky letter cut-outs, and themed stickers. Mom has everything you could ever imagine/want in her craft supplies. And then I went off to college. Suddenly my posters started looking a little more drab. Every time I'd come home on the weekends, I'd be sure to stock up on supplies. And then I graduated and got my own place. And wouldn't venture home as often. I realized I was growing up and my craft supplies needed to do the same. So I've decided to create a list of what I consider essentials for your craft supply. Keep in mind that it's continually growing! Adhesive Runner - These guys are awesome and mess free. Personal Paper Trimmer - If you're anything like me, I can't ...

I think I was bitten by the creative bug this weekend. That or I needed something to do while sitting and watching football. Yesterday was a super productive day for me so I decided to end my weekend with one last project: DIY paint swatch calendar. Things you'll need: - Some type of adhesive - Paint swatches - frame (I used an 11x16 from Walmart. $5) - scissors or paper cutter - corner rounder- optional What to do: I took the easy way out on this one. I found some Valspar swatches I really liked at Lowes and was able to cut them down. You can see that there are 3 swatches per sheet. I decided not to cut out the swatches individually because I don't have the patience to line them all up perfectly. Just simply trim down your swatches, round the corners, and adhere to the paper! I went ahead and wrote the days on the swatches because those will never change. I would say the most tedious part was rounding the corners.  If I make this again, which I think I will, I...

I posted a pretty easy and inexpensive DIY project yesterday, but I found one that's even cheaper AND easier! Anyone can make this one. Just head to the store and stop by the paint section to pick up a couple of the paint strip samples. All you'll need are green and brown strips. Cut out the trees and stick them to a piece of paper! This project was so incredibly simple. And cheap. Next time I'm in town I'll swing by the local dollar store and grab a frame.