WOYWW + Halloween treats

 

This kid helped make this treat container for his Cub Scout Halloween Party today.

 

Here are all the treat containers we made.

 

Here is the mess that was made making them.
Note the over flowing wastepaper basket, how embarrassing.

I have been busy for several days and haven't slept much. I am exhausted and want to go to bed. 

I will post the how to's on these treat containers tomorrow. Please come back and see how it's all done.

If you hit the follow button on the left or subscribe through your blog reader
  you won't have to remember to come back, I'll come to you.

---

Happy Crafting,
Katie

---

Click here to help my son pay his own way through scouts
Order Trail's End popcorn using code 79936evan674
and great tasting treats will be delivered to your door.

What are these pages for?

Do you ever create pages just for the art
and have no idea what they are for?

I have done this twice in the past couple of weeks and I just have no idea what I am going to use these for. I told you yesterday I make tags to test new techniques. They are small and inexpensive and I learn by working with them.

Yellow bit here ^ from rubbing the paper across drying paint on Craft Sheet.
Paper puckered from paint, is this salvageable?

Well these pages are the same way. I am selling my Stampin' Up! Infinite Goodness Hostess set, it will be in the Etsy shop within the week, but I wanted to see how the pear from this set would look on a page. Would it be big enough to help tell the story of saving the trees in front of my house? Well I hated the two I stamped to begin with. So as I often do I went whole hog and stamped out the frustration of "this isn't working."

I wanted to give the project a chance so I decided to try and paint them, because see through pears just don't work. Well now I kind of like these pears and I really enjoyed painting them so I may be using them after all but I'm thinking I may have too many there to do the job of telling the "I saved these trees" story. Maybe I should use pics of the tree in bloom from several springs ago when it was just amazingly while with blossoms. Maybe I could use this page to tell the story of picking pears from the tree with a friend.

Decisions. Decisions.

 ........................

I'm thinking stitching across the ridges of the hills. What do you think?

Then there is this beauty. It's no where near being done. I woke up thinking I should use my Martha Stewart butterfly punch to make leaves on trees and the trucks should be from books pages. The wood grain stamp is from All Night Media.

My vision was similar, but not the same as this. I couldn't do this on a tag. Wouldn't fit. But now I have no idea what to use this page for. It's not as easy as the pear page.  I can wing it on that one. I have a pear tree. This image/layout doesn't mimic any part of my life that I can think of.

Any suggestions? Any ideas? Help!

---

Happy Crafting,
Katie

Click here to help my son pay his own way through scouts.
Order Trail's End popcorn using code 79936evan674
and great tasting treats will be  delivered to your door.

Tags A Lot Kid

This week I've been playing with tags around the busy schedule I talked about in my last post.

I play with tags as a way to try new techniques and not all of them turn out well but I do learn from them so that's good. One of the reasons I made tags THIS week is because I watched Izzy Hyman from Paperclipping Live making tags and I was inspired. I started making Tim Holtz style tags as soon as I got the non-stick Craft Sheet a few weeks ago. I am really happy with the results, and these are the good ones. Maybe there were too many colors? Maybe they got too wet when I made them?

I like this mummy tag though.  I sponged yellow ink on the tag through sequin waste. I then dabbed some Vintage Photo ink on to the craft sheet and smeared the tag into it. I was happily surprised that the ink was darker on the sponged area. This tag sat on my table for weeks (go back to WOYWW posts if you want to play a "Where's Waldo" style game of find the tag.) When I brought home this adorable mummy  from the $1 bin at Micheal's I knew it was right for the tag. The letters are cut from a book I keep on hand for cutting out words and letters.

This animal tag was made because I wanted to play with a couple of Imaginisce stamps I've had for a while but had no card or scrapbook page in mind. I may be cutting these out and adding them to a zoo page or I may just add the tag, a bit of patterned paper and a sentiment and call it good.

I have a lot of polymer stamps that may have seen ink once or twice. It's a bad habit. I see something "so cute" that is $2 or less and I buy it. Then I go home and often forget about them. Lately I have been going through stuff to see what can be purged. I like these images. I will use them for those zoo pages. I will keep them for a while at least.

This Halloween inspired tag was the first one I made after I got the craft sheet. I stamped the blotch with Stampin' Up! Cranberry Crisp first (this color is long retired). Then I stamped the male figure with Versamark and embossed it so it would stay light. I then brayered the same red on top of the whole tag. Then stamped the cobwebs and bat and sponged on the black Distress Ink on the edges.
Just a note. I do not watch Dexter . I don't have Showtime, or cable for that matter, but if I did have it I wouldn't watch this show. I have no interest in watching people being killed or in show where the protagonist is a killer.

Today I was cleaning up, a bit,  and decided to make a quick card. This is what I came up with. I like the sentiment, "I love you so". My son, taking after his grandfather looked at it and said, "I love your sewing." Argh!

All supplies for this card are from Stampin' Up! and most are sadly retired. The stamps are from ABC Alphabet lower and ABC Images.

Happy Crafting,
Katie

A new page element but, is it archival? + WOYWW

I have a digi designed page over on the Effer Dares site. I don't digi scrap much because it's what I do did for a living. But I love the process and will probably do a bit more now that I've started. One of my favorite things about my page. If features one of my favorite family photos. I also really like Nisa's page. She is the artist behind the digi elements we used to create the pages. I thought it was interesting that some people printed them out and used them on paper. I hadn't even thought to do that.

Just barely making it for WOYWW. I know that for many of you it's already gone but it's currently 11pm here so I'm still on top of things. Sort of.

This is my busy week each month. This week I organized next month's Cub Scout outing and made the flier for that which is due Thursday night. The popcorn money is due for Cub Scouts tomorrow evening as well so we've been driving hither and yon gathering the money from my son's customers/supporters. I been working on the newsletter for my church group that's due Friday. I had to take the car in for repairs and today I had a meeting at the unemployment office. I went to find out about getting a bit more education so I can get a job in a field I've been working in for 20 years. Busy, busy, busy.



I have become somewhat obsessed with the idea of getting Japanese Washi tape lately. I don't know why but it's on my mind a lot lately so I looked online and found some sources and debated and found some more and debated some more and finally lack of income won out. I was looking for something in my linen closet and came across something I had forgotten I even had: Beauty Mark Professional Hair Styling Tape. I did a bit of experimenting and liked what I saw. This tape is low tack and will stay where you put it but you can decide you want it else where and it will not destroy the work beneath it.

You can see the results of the writing on it test here.

I don't know how archival it is but sometimes that just doesn't mean that much to me. I used to volunteer at a small historical society and so archival issues sometimes creep into my head when I create pages. I have seen two absolutely beautiful pages today that featured bit of branches, one was on the Apple Cider "Love" Tree Template post on the Imaginisce Blog by Lori Allred the other was the page "Halloween" by Sue-ann Tilby on page 27 in the Digital Edition of Scrapbook Trends Holidays magazine. (Love that Northridge Media sent this right to my email box.) I couldn't help but think of the archival-ness of the pages. How will these elements effect the pages over time? Will there be a mold, sap, bulk issue in the years to come? 

 

I made this card between this and that this week. The image, from Stampin' Up's retired Thoroughly Thankful set, is stamped with Colorbox Fluid Chalk ink in charcoal on watercolor paper. I used an aqua painter and Stampin' Up! inks in Pumpkin Pie, Tempting Turquoise, Rose Red, Sage Shadow, Old Olive, Perfect Plum, Summer Sun, and Soft Suede. I put the block on a piece of Kraft card stock and it didn't sing enough so I started looking through my scraps and found bits of paper in the same colors and put those behind the image. Hope you like it.

---

Happy Crafting,
Katie

---

Click here to help my son pay his own way through scouts.
Order Trail's End popcorn using code 79936evan674
and great tasting treats will be delivered to your door.

10/21 is the last day to help my son meet his minimum
but you can buy popcorn with this code and help him any time. 

OMG I won again

I won the State of the Heart collection over on the My Mind's Eye blog. I'm so excited. It's beautiful paper and I want to play with it right now. 

 

Happy Crafting,
Katie

---

Click here to help my son pay his own way through scouts.
Order Trail's End popcorn using code 79936evan674
and great tasting treats will be delivered to your door.
This is the last week to help get to his minimum, scout dues are due on Thursday. 

Friday Funny "Let's go play 'it'."

I couldn't resist this is too funny. Apologies for their vulgar language.

---

Hope you have a great Friday.

Happy Crafting,
Katie

---

Click here to help my son pay his own way through scouts.
Order Trail's End popcorn using code 79936evan674
and great tasting treats will be delivered to your door.

Thoughts on Thursday Challenge 3

About the time we think we can make ends meet, somebody moves the ends.
  - Herbert Hoover

I'm doing this weeks challenge a bit differently. Here is the quote - from Google's Quote of the Day. I didn't have time to prepare mine ahead of time so I will be linking from one of the creative social networking sites Splitcoast Stampers, Fiskateers or Spotted Canary.

Happy Crafting,
Katie

---

Click here to help my son pay his own way through scouts.
Order Trail's End popcorn using code 79936evan674
and great tasting treats will be delivered to your door.

WOYWW, a tag, a card and a page.

First for all you WOYWW people. Here is the mess for this week.

I will be sharing three project today: number 1 is a tag, 

number 2 is a card and number 3 has been moved off the desk already.

Project 1 - The Tag

Who doesn't love a deal? There were two 50% off coupons in the newspaper on Sunday for Columbus Day Sales one for JoAnn Fabrics and one for Micheal's. I used the JoAnn's coupon to purchase the Ranger non-stick Craft Sheet you now see on my desk. I have wanted it for a looong time and so glad I got it - this thing rocks. I can't wait to bust out the paints and foam stamps and use it as a palette. It's also great for doing those nice soft sponged edges on projects.

The first thing I did when I unrolled the craft sheet was use it as a place to mix Distress Inks. I used the colors Peeled Paint and Vintage Photo on the sheet with a spritz of water and mushed this tag into it. I grabbed this horse image from a mini calendar that I've been holding on to and some old Making Memories rub ons and decided to see how they would look together on the tag. The horse looked so ordinary, so I had to find the extra to make the words and image work together. I figured a flying horse would be extra enough so I pulled out my Tim Holtz Regal Flourish stamps and added feathers with the Faded Jeans Distress Ink. I guess they are horse feathers.

I like the way this turned out. It's not quite done didn't like the enormous amount of white space at the top so I added a key from Hampton Art Stamps. I will have to work on it before I attach it to a card or gift it. Any suggestions?

Project 2 - The Card

This morning I had, what I thought was, a  To Do list full of really important stuff. When my insurance agent, Steve Henke, called and invited me to a Referral Experts lunch so I could meet people who might know people who might have a job available for a graphic designer. I decided folding laundry was probably not as important as all that.

I had a great meal, reconnected with my real estate agent,  and found a body shop that will be fixing the mirror on my car. Thanks Steve.

I made Mr. Henke this quick card to thank him for inviting me. The papers are all Stampin' Up (Whisper White, Certainly Celery and Soft Sky which is long retired). The images are from Papertrey Ink's Up, Up and Away set. I chose the sentiment because his invitation really was a spirit lifter.

Ink on the balloons is Colorbox Fluid Chalk in Charcoal. This ink stains PTI stamps terribly but if you tap lightly onto the pad it will only stain the raised area making it easy to see where your image next time even if you are using a really light color ink. The sentiment is stamped in Stampin', Up's retired Ballet Blue.  The balloons were colored with SU markers in Old Olive and Close to Cocoa and water colored using Garden Green and an aqua painter (a paintbrush with the water inside the handle).

The last project is not on the desk this is my entry for Effer Dare 170, Where I Stand.
I wanted to play along when the dare was initially posted but the words "take a picture" were in the challenge and I didn't feel like going to the store for more batteries. I also wasn't much inspired by what I saw around me.

I bought batteries when we were out and about this weekend so the camera was ready. All I needed was inspiration. Hello Columbus Day! It was so beautiful here Monday that I could walk outside in shorts and barefoot and not even feel a chill. This was inspiring to no end. So I ran upstairs grabbed the camera and started snapping.

The absence of bushes, while sad, was not going to keep me from loving my clean patio. I saw nothing but possibility in my garden that day.

The numbers were die cut using Sizzix Lime Light Sizzlits, which are long retired.  The bit at the top was from Making Memories packaging. The paper the journaling is on is from a Making Memories Spiral bound Journaling Book I got from the back wall at Hobby Lobby. You know where they sell the clearance stuff (starting to see a theme?). The base card stock is from Bazzill, love the color.

Well I need to get dinner ready we have 2 meetings this evening in 2 towns at the same time. So glad one of the parents from my son's den has agreed to take him to his Cub Scout meeting so I can go find out what I need to do for first communion prep. Thanks Mr. Lee.

---

Happy Crafting,
Katie

---

Click here to help my son pay his own way through scouts.
Order Trail's End popcorn using code 79936evan674
and great tasting treats will be delivered to your door.

Hang the scrapbooking rules

Do you have any rules for scrap booking? If so what are they? I know some scrapbookers who have rules or at least very strong opinions on how to scrap.

1. If there are no pictures of something it didn't happen, and therefore it can't be scraped.
2. You must scrap things in chronologically order.
3. You must always make a 2-page spread.
4. Your children are the only acceptable scrapbooking subjects.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with following these rules or any others for that matter. Whatever works for you is perfect for you. However, I cannot operate with these rules I find them too restricting, and they make little sense to me. Let's take them one by one.


You can't scrap an event without photos.
I scrapped going to a play with my son without using any photos because, well, they were prohibited. I scrapped skating in the basement as a kid for Effer Dare 168 (shown here) but there were no pictures of me on skates. There just aren't that many photos of daily life when I was a kid because my dad didn't think about taking them. I kind of have the same feeling now. I don't always think to document life - I just live it.

Scrapbooks have been around longer than photography so obviously it's possible to scrap without photos. I found this interesting tidbit on the history of scrapbooking over at Everything About Scrapbooking:

The first scrapbooks in early 1800s were hardly about preserving photos as cameras weren't created yet during those days. So what sort of scraps did the people collect in their albums? Mainly mementos such as quotes, poems, calling cards (decorated cards left behind at a friend's home), religious cards, paper cuts, and other ephemera.

It's not so much about acid-free supplies or archival-quality then but more about collecting whatever scraps the scrapbooker deemed as "scrap worthy". You can find newspaper clippings, engraved pictures, advertisements, personal notes and love letters in those scrapbooks.

The reasons for scrapbooking then still hold today. It's about expressing one's thoughts, feelings and sentiments. It's about preserving memories, special moments and recording family stories. Scrapbooks were cherished and kept by families for many years.

I have found some of these scrapbooks in among the books I inherited from my family. They included items cut from newspapers, scripture verses and religious cards. They offer a glimpse into who my ancestors were and what was important to them. Who I am and what is important to me isn't always able to be photographed so I will scrap without photos if I feel the need.

You must scrap things in chronologically order. I don't scrap in chronological order. If I did I would have given up years ago - and almost did. We are beginning to plan my son's 8th birthday party (and if you have any suggestions for a Mad Scientist party I'd love to hear them) and I haven't finished his baby book. I've been told by many people that an unfinished baby book is quite normal because you're busy being a mom instead of being a reporter.

I try to keep up with what is going on today and create pages for older events when I can. This past week I scrapped a scout event from last month (below) and one from 6 years ago (the garbage man page posted Wednesday). It's the difference between keeping up and catching up. Because we continue living our lives we continue to have things to scrap about. I will NEVER be caught up and I am sort of at peace with that idea. Sort of.

I've read that you shouldn't start scrapbooking in a chronological order because you get overwhelmed with all the pages and events you need to do. Getting something DONE feels great and if you scrap last weekend's trip or yesterday's party then you feel like you've accomplished something. Then you can tackle your 7-year-old's first steps and feel even better about getting stuff done.

I know a woman who has only scrapped her daughter's life because she is doing everything chronologically. She is using books that can't be rearranged easily so she has to put things in in order. Sadly this means there is no scrapbook record of her younger child's life. My son's baby book isn't finished partly because I was using a book that I couldn't change the pages around and I wanted to be sure it was in chronological order. One way to avoid this problem is to use books with page protectors that allow you to move pages around easily.

You must always make a 2-page spread.
I often scrap single pages because I don't have enough material for a spread. If I were to follow the rules listed above I would have to find stuff to fill or would have to forget about scrapping these events. I know I have to find another single page to put next to it if I am going to have singles and 2-page spreads in the same book and it doesn't bother me a bit.

When my son and I went apple picking with the scouts we arrived late and weren't there long enough to get many pictures so we had 4 decent shots for the event. Perfect for a single page (shown here).

When I put together a single page at a crop with scrappers who follow the rules listed above I see their eyes roll and can almost hear the screaming in their heads, "NOooooo....." Single pages have no place in their world. I just shrug and say, "To each his own."

The last rule, your children are the only acceptable scrapbooking subjects, is one I am particularly puzzled by. Is what you do, love or believe less important than a kid's soccer game or a class trip to a pumpkin patch? When your grand kids and great grand kids look back at these books, and God willing they will, will they know anything about who YOU were?

I heard a guest on the Paperclipping podcast (and my apologies for not remembering who it was) said that all her pages were love letters to her kids or whoever they were about. The journaling was addressed to her son or daughter. I love that idea but I also feel there are things about you that you can scrapbook.

There are a couple of challenge sites I visit that really help me focus on what I am up to right now and what I believe. Effer Dares and Salt help me think about who I am on paper and in life, the me my descendants will meet through my scrapbooks. Some of the pages I create for and about myself will not be public until after I am dead and gone. But I create them anyway because as the saying goes, "It's cheaper than therapy."

Again there is absolutely nothing wrong with following these rules or any others for that matter. If these work for you — great. I am just offering alternatives. When I gave up the rules I was freed up to create a lot more with a lot less stressed. Modern life offers enough ways to feel stressed without adding arbitrary rules to our hobby/leisure time. My wish for you is that you enjoy scrapbooking without stressing about rules. Hang the rules and just create.

Happy Crafting,
Katie

---

Click here to help my son
pay his own way through scouts.
Order Trail's End popcorn
using code 79936evan674
and great tasting treats will be
delivered to your door.

Thoughts on Thursday Challenge #2

This week's quote is:

Worries go down better with soup.  ~Jewish Proverb

Here's my take on it:

The handwritten sentiment on the inside is, "And a friend to share it with."


This is a first draft of this idea. The hand cutting is not so great now that I see it blown up on the screen and it really is time to change the blade in the cutter. I think I'd like a slightly smaller shadow as well. I used the small oval from Stampin' Up! as a mask and sponged it on. Will go a different route next time.

So what about you? How would you interpret this saying in a card, scrapbook page, 3D art, photo or video? This is even a great one for sharing a soup recipe.

The particulars

Paper: Stampin' Up! Certainly Celery and Kraft. Long retired patterned paper.

Stamps: Hero Arts What's Cooking set, Stampin' Up!'s retired Treat Yourself set, All Night Media Woodgrain background

---

Happy Crafting,Katie

---

Click here to help my son
pay his own way through scouts
order Trail's End popcorn
use code 79936evan674
and great tasting treats will be
delivered to your door.

WOYWW and a Garbage Man Page

Most of today was spent in the garden. I moved the path and cleaned up a year of neglect and a day of bush removal. I did get 2 crafty things done today though. I finished a spread for "my lil Garbage Man" and I sorted all the cards that I've made but not sent or sold.

I was planning on having a booth at a local craft fair later this month but my son's initial first communion prep gathering is the same day and I will not be able to go. So I am putting the cards up on Etsy in packs just to clear the house. The packs are made from cereal boxes and can be made with the printing on the outside or raw with the greyish cardboard on the outside.

The envie full of Card Fronts and Recoverable Cards contains partial cards that just need to be finished. If I designed the whole thing I will sell it (or attempt to) if someone else did (these are from my days as a Stampin' Up! demo) I will donate them to WINGS (Women In Need Growing Stronger) for sale in their shop or to use in the program.

I have some questions about selling cards in packs and would appreciate your feedback.

1. How many is appropriate? 6, 8, or 10? Ten is the max I can fit in the boxes, with envies of course.
2. Would it be better to sell a variety pack, a pack of the same card, or a pack with a variation on the same theme (similar look with different sentiments)?
3. Would you prefer a printed or a raw package? I will offer customers the option of either just wondered what YOU want.

my lil Garbage Man

I have wanted to do this page for a long time but there really aren't any garbage truck embellishments out there - I looked. When I saw Allison's garbage truck card and found out that I could get this wonderful Richard Neuman image for myself I knew it was time to do the page. 

I printed out the image on Stampin' Up! Whisper White cardstock and then sprayed it with a sealer. I wanted to see if I could painted it and didn't want the ink to run. I used watered down ink on the dirt and decided I didn't want that effect for the whole piece. I moved on to markers. I used Regal Red and So Saffron because they went with the paper I had chosen so well. The paper is Gumballs from the Aged and Confused™ Sublime Collection™ by Basic Grey. The sealer gave the garbage truck a cool texture that I really liked for the subject. After I finished coloring it I took a step back and thought - this is entirely too clean. I fixed that problem by sponging on a bit of Distress Ink in Vintage Photo.

I used a black textured paper or unknown origin behind the truck so it would pop. Then a bit of kraft cardstock and a bit of wood patterned paper from DCWV. I made sure the colors were represented on the facing page even if the textures were not. The chip board letter stickers were inked with black Distress Ink to alter their color, the green ledger paper just wasn't working. I have had the stickers so long that the sticky was no longer sticking so I used a bit of Scotch Scrapbooker's Glue. I love that there is a wide end and a very small end just perfect for detail work. I also like that the small end doesn't get clogged. Plus with this glue even thin paper doesn't pucker.

Well it's no longer Wednesday and I really need to get some sleep. I have to be alert tomorrow for parent/teacher conferences. And, the world needs more lerts.

---

Happy Crafting,
Katie

---

Click here to help my son
pay his own way through scouts
order Trail's End popcorn
use code 79936evan674
and great tasting treats will be
delivered to your door.

The Sad End, a Challenge Card, and a Gift

The Sad End
Today was the last day for leafy bushes in my neighborhood. The association decided that anything that requires maintenance is a nuisance and must be eliminated. I had a large and lovely bush at the corner of my house and now I don't.

I went around the neighborhood as they were working and took pictures. Here is what my garden looked like this afternoon. I'm sick about the loss. I moved here because of the nice landscaping. They removed the large bushes that hid a utility box from view - now it looks like a war zone.


I did win a small victory though. There were two fruit trees in front of my house that were slated to be removed as well. I talked the man in charge into leaving them as long as I do a daily clean up of dropped fruit. Deal! The workers even planted hostas under the pear tree that were around bushes they were removing.

Challenge Card






I made a card for the eighteen25 Challenge to the sound of chain saws and bobcat machines. Even though it was sunny and beautiful I was in a kind of a dark mood and a dark mood begs for a Halloween theme.

The particulars

Paper: Stampin' Up! Green Galore and Kraft, Orange of unknown origin and tags from the office supply store.

Stamps: Dancing Skeleton from Inkadinkado, Boo and Bats from discount bin, Sentiment from Stampin' Up!'s retired Haunting Halloween set.

Ink: Stampin' Up! Elegant Eggplant and Basic Black. Distress Inks in Vintage Photo and Peeled Paint. Notes: The Kraft card stock was distress with Tonic Studio's retractable craft scratcher then inked with an Inkssentials™ Ink Blending Tool and Foam

---

A Gift


One of my cardies recently celebrated her birthday.  I have a gift for her and wanted something special for the packaging. I got out a 12"x12" sheet of card stock and started playing with it. Then I made a template. Then I cut out the final project. I really like how this turned out, a large simple envelope-style box. Maybe a bit too simple - so I got out the Stampin' Up! set Friends 24-7 and the Sanded background stamp and made a card for the front of the box.  The letters are K & Company Amy Butler Midwest Modern Alphabet Stamps.

The particulars

Paper: Stampin' Up! Pixie Pink textured 12"x12" card stock, Whisper White card stock.

Stamps: Stampin' Up! set Friends 24-7 and the Sanded background stamp, K & Company Amy Butler Midwest Modern Alphabet Stamps

Ink: Stampin' Up! Pixie Pink and So Saffron, Distress Inks in Vintage Photo.    Embellishment: Green hemp twine. 

Edited to add the K& Co stamp set.

Happy Crafting,
Katie

---

Click here to help my son
pay his own way through scouts
order Trail's End popcorn
use code 79936evan674
and great tasting treats will be
delivered to your door.

World Card Making Day VS Fall Camporee

 If you were to give me a choice between making cards all day and camping card making would win. But it you change it around a bit and give me a choice between spending all day alone in the stufioffice or spending it with my son doing things he loves. Well then my kid wins hands down.

We were able to go on this trip with no out of pocket expenses for me this year because of my son's popcorn sales last year. My son has asked me to ask my online friends if they want to buy popcorn to help him earn his own way through Scouts again this year. Being unemployed means I don't have office mates to ask so I am asking you: would you like to buy some popcorn and help a mom, er, kid out. Trails End is great popcorn and if you order online they will deliver it to your door so even if you live in say, Indio, CA  {:- )]  you can help a kid in Illinois be a scout. Use this link with code 79936evan674
and it will help my kid.

So we went to the Chain-O-Lakes State Park for Fall Camporee this weekend and it was, well, cold. Cold is the first thing that comes to mind but there was a lot of fun too. There were about 40 people on the trip. We hiked and my son played with the other scouts while I got to know the other scout dads (I am the only single mom in the pack that I know of - at least the only one that was at camp this weekend).  

Saturday evening we all went to Richardson's Farm which boasts the largest Corn Maze in the World. It's 11 miles of walking through corn. The theme this year is 100 years of Scouting and the maze was awesome. We went at night because it's apparently more fun then. Small groups ventured out together and our den leader led the way with his toddler daughter on his back.

Because we were there at night it was, well, dark. Our group headed toward the big scout head at the far end of the maze so we could pick his nose then headed to the ear for a virtual wet willy. It was a blast.

Trying to keep 10 boys and their parents together in a crowded maze in the dark was more difficult than we anticipated. At one point we crossed paths with another group featuring a man carrying a kid in a backpack carrier. My son and his buddy started following them. They were missing for about 35 minutes. This is panic time for me. I was walking around calling him and teens would howl back. I thought about how I would ream him out for not staying with the group, what words I would use to reprimand him, how I would scold him.

He and his buddy found themselves at a marker in the maze we had already been to and they stayed put until an employee showed up and then they asked for help. Just what they should have done. Kind of proud of them for knowing who to ask and getting the help they needed on their own. Best part he said he was never really scared.

When we reconnected back at the picnic area. I talked calmly asking first if he had fun. I told him gently how much I was worried and how much he meant to me. Then I hugged the heck out of him. He told my sister that I hugged him so hard he thought I was going to kill him and I guess that's right. You think about how you're going to "kill this kid" when you find him and really you just hug them hard and they feel like you're killing them.

I knew that this trip would be scrap-able and that the apple picking event we went on last month was in need of documenting but I hadn't finished last year's events (busy or lazy you pick). So before we left I got one more page done. Here you go crafty readers, Becoming a Wolf:

The particulars:
The papers are from Stampin' Up! -  Real Red textured12x12. So Saffron card stock and the pale yellow is from an unknown source. (Note to self, keep better track of manufacturers.)
The patterned pieces are actually fabric that I put stiffener on then cut with Spellbinders on the Cuttlebug.
The wolf badge die cut is from K & Company. They have a line of Scouting papers and embellishments that make scrapping scout events so easy.

Happy Crafting,
Katie