I never realized how handy gift cards were. It seems I am not alone- according to IT Facts, 35% of all Americans bought gift cards in 2008!

My friend Peggy had a birthday last week and we met for lunch today. She is a voracious reader so I thought a gift card from Books a Million would be appreciated. She recently lent me a series of books by Charlaine Harris. The HBO series True Blood is (loosely) based on these books. What’s up with that? Vampires are everywhere these days! Kinda creepy…

ANYway, I happened to have a piece of light blue matboard on hand so I ran it through the Sizzix Big Shot machine, added a Stampin Up! rub-on and finished it off with the accessory flower that comes on the die. I like to turn the flower over to the white side and then put the colored center back in for a little interest. The card I enclosed was cut to the size of the business card /(and gift card!) box and was made from a scrap of foamboard. I love how the surface takes stamping and ink. The stamp I used was also from Stampin Up! I was able to purchase a gift card in blue, green and brown so the card even matched the box 🙂 To keep it closed I used one of those plastic rubber bands that little girls use for their tiny pony tails- they really stretch well and have just the right amount of strength.

We had a great lunch at the Corner Bakery- I think we are caught up- for a week anyway… Hope you have a great year Peggy!

Just a quick post this morning! If you would like a free copy of my book Foamboard Magic, tune in to Inspired at Home Sunday evening, September 13 to win it. I’ll be on at about 7:40 to announce the winner, but please tune in for the whole show. Ana Arujo, of When Creativity Knocks, will be one of the guests. Ana and her daughter Meghan have a production company and interview craft designers, review new products and in general have a great time showing us some great (free) project ideas!

Speaking of free projects, here’s one of mine, a foamboard frame, posted at the Inspired at Home blog. I created it using the tools and techniques mentioned in the book.

Hope you are all having a great weekend!

Thanks to Stephanie Girard who posted my sock can cover on her blog CraftGossip.

I would like to invite anyone who would like to come to Demo Days in the Barn on October 16-17. I will be demonstrating my new Sizzix ScoreBoard dies (dies that cut and score matboard into all kinds of cute boxes and totes) and everyone that wants to will go home with a project or two or three. BasicGrey will be providing the paper. Lots of door prizes and refreshments will be available. Stay tuned for details!

Hope everyone had a nice relaxed Labor Day weekend. I managed to get a few projects underway. My daughter Jess arrived tonight- she’s in the Coast Guard and has been out on patrol for three months so I am looking forward to spending some fun time with her.

A few years ago I discovered solid white albacore tuna- so much better than what I had been eating all my life- chunk light. There was no going back. I have it fairly frequently for lunch and those 12 oz. cans started piling up. I happened to have a roll of ribbon next to the can and it occured to me, that might be a cool storage place for a few rolls. What do you know- it fit!

I washed the can out, spray painted it, punched three holes in the sides with my Crop-a-dile tool and added eyelets. Then I cut two strips of coordinating paper and scalloped the edges. Using my tape gun, I adhered the paper on the top and bottom edges of the can. Took a spare matboard die cut I had on hand and stuck that over the middle eyelet with glue dots. The top is made from some corrugated matboard I had- traced around the top of the can and cut the circle out with scissors and laid it on the top. The can holds three to four spools of ribbon depending on the width of the roll. So far no tangling and it just looks so cute! Not sure I will deal with the other 200 rolls I have, but it’s a start!

Tell me honestly- do I have a disorder? I can NOT go into a home improvement store without checking out (and taking) the paint chips. Like a new color might have been invented since the last time I looked!

Yesterday I went to Home Depot with Hayward. He was building a stand for a Rotary banner. I was helping him with some suggestions but he didn’t seem so receptive after a while so I wandered off to my favorite area of the store. When I see the neatly arranged and illuminated racks of color choices, I can’t wait to go through them. My bedroom needs painting desperately and I can’t believe that it’s the same horrible color as when we moved in 7 years ago. Although when confronted with so many choices, it’s a daunting task to narrow it down to just one or two…

Behr had some new colors die cut into leaf shapes with little plastic rings for you to collect the chips on. How cool is that? And the names! “Summer Breeze”, “Chili Pepper”, “Lemon Chiffon”- don’t you want to just go paint something?

I was listening to my designer friend Brenda Pinnick and her interview with Tiffany Windsor speaking on how different colors can actually help shape our moods. I was interested to hear that my favorite color, aqua, is actually the color associated with creativity. When my eyes scan the display, my eye automatically targets certain color ranges. My three year old granddaughter Trinity is into pink (or “mink” as she used to call it) and purple. No one taught her that- could it be that our color preferences, as well as taste in food, likes and dislikes are “born” in us?

Again I am amazed at the beauty in this world and how much God has given us to enjoy.

The aisles of Target and Wal-Mart are beckoning me this time of year. Yes, it is school supply shopping time. The time that every mother dreads.