Sneak Peeks...

Anyone want to see some Sneaks???

I have to preface this by saying that these "Sneaks" are missing some things so this is a preliminary "sneak"...

The theme for May is.... "Home and Garden"!! 

This is the SNEAK for the "Home" Kit:

 

This is the SNEAK for the "Garden" Kit:

 

AND... Here is a little SNEAK of the "Uniquely Chic" Kit:

 

This kit will be a "project kit" with everything {and more} to make a CRAFT album!!  This is just a little bit of what will be included.  The theme is about us women and our love for "crafts" and how that relates to our lives and families!!  I'm VERY excited about this project as I'm having about every "craft" or art medium in here...  Painting, sewing, crochet, scrapbooking, beading and more!  There's fabric, chipboard, felt, acrylic, transparencies, vinyl, crochet, thread and more!!  This is so much fun and I can't WAIT to share it with you!!!

I've been so CRAZY busy and that's why you haven't heard much of me this week.  I really said YES to waaayyy too many things for April and now I am seriously working on 5 projects that are all due before May 1st!!  And it's so hard to keep them straight because I have things ALL OVER THE HOUSE!!  Here's a little sample of my kitchen...

 

I told the family this is how it's going to be until after May 1st...  I really need to say NO to everything in May so I can be at home and just hang out with the kids, straighten up the house and chill a little...

 

Of course I make more WORK for myself then I should... {thanks mom for that gene}  I'm stamping the bags and putting my label on each one for the 100 Make-n-Takes and going to wrap them up cutely...

 

Aging some tags for a project...

 

Distressing some cardboard for my little business card goodie bag...

 

Compiling the products for the Make-n-Take... I NEED to make this album THIS WEEKEND!!

And generally in a VERY artsy state of chaos...

But before I go, I wanted to share a very easy and fun technique that you can do on your fabric... Tea dying it!  It's sooo easy and it gives the fabric a "Vintage" feel...

 

I got a TON of fabric from my moms house last weekend.  Some I'm not so crazy about but thought I could work with it...  So here's the original fabric.

 

1. Boil a large pot of water.  I suggest a bigger pot than this if you plan on dying several pieces of fabric.  After the water has boiled, put 2 - 4 bags of tea in and let steep.

 

2. After the tea has cooled down, start dipping your fabric into the tea. 

 

3. Make sure you get all the fabric in the pot and move it around with your hands so the entire piece is soaked.  VERY IMPORTANT TO MAKE SURE TEA IS NOT HOT!! Also, the darker the tea, the darker "aged" look you will achieve.

 

4. Let fabric soak in tea for 5 minutes or so.  This really depends on how much of an aged look you want...

 

5. Ring out the liquid and let air out to dry or put in dryer.

 

Now you can tear it into strips like this or use it to cover an album!  It was super easy and gives the fabric an aged look that I LOVE!  You'll be seeing strips of material in upcoming projects for sure AND in little kits I'm making for the Vendor Fair at Reflections next weekend!!

So if you see me on Facebook (add me if not ;) I posted a comment a couple days ago about my hair.  It was titled "Blond or Brunette??"   I was getting my hair done on Thursday and wanted help deciding...  Well, I had no idea so many people would comment and the overwhelming decision was... BRUNETTE!  So, I really struggled with this decision since I've always thought it would be fun to be a blond.  So, I decided to let the hair color "specialist" decide for me and here's what I got:

 

What do ya think???  I'm thinking it's a little YELLOW!!!  hehehe....  I couldn't resist... I put this picture up on my Facebook too!  lol... My mom just said "sick"... Thanks mom!  LOVE that you know how to use FACEBOOK now...{no, not really}...

But the other day Isabella was playing with this wig from Seussical and I thought I'd take a picture with it too.  Here's Isabella in my bathroom after her bath the other night, hamming it up with the hairbrush and wig:

 

What girl hasn't used their hairbrush as a microphone???  I tell you there is a GOD DESIGNED difference between boys and girls.  A boy would have been strumming the brush like a guitar, right?? 

So I'll put the picture of my "New do" on Facebook tomorrow but here it is:

 

I just took this about 30 minutes ago so I'm a little tired looking at 11:30pm...

The new lady who cut and colored my hair (not going back to other lady...) said we should just cover the brassy mess and then next time do some subtle highlightS in the front area if I want it.  The hair was so over processed that she was afraid to add anything else. I'm getting used to it being dark again but she said it will fade at least one shade in a week or so...  I don't know, I guess I'm o.k. with being a Brunette again... Now I just want my hair to GROW before Europe is here.  She told me about some vitamin "Biotin"???  that helps your hair regrow hair and grow it faster??  Not sure if I believe it but with not getting enough sleep, being over 40, a LOT more stress and never having a lot of hair in the front, I NEED HELP before my hair falls out!  So, I'm going to do some research on it and see...  Anybody heard of it??

O.k. I'm going to post this and get to bed...  I won't be on here much this weekend since I absolutely need to get the projects done and the kits ready to be up on May 1st.  I also have to drive to LA in the morning to get my car looked at.  (friend of the family... NOT the most brilliant plan but oh welll ;)-  I may swing by some places up in LA area for some fun embellies...  I REALLY wanted to make my "Uniquely Chic"
kit about the crafts from around the world...  It WILL have handmade items in it from Canada, Ireland and the U.S. but I really wanted these fun knitted items from South Africa but the lady didn't have enough of a time frame.  So I thought I would see about some things from other countries that get shipped here from abroad.  I know I can find something from India in little India in Artesia...  I'll have to see how much time I have in my day...

Have a GREAT Friday!!  Enjoy the weekend and hopefully we'll all have some nice Spring weather!  Oh, Ella is just over a week now!!  Ty has the funniest video on his Facebook if you're his friend, go check it out!  It's Ella sleeping and sucking on her "Paci"... So cute!!  Here's my FAV pictures of Ella:

 

 

 

You forget how small babies are!  I was bawling like a baby again when I saw these new pictures last night.  It just KILLS me that I can't be there!!  This is the BIGGEST thing in Ty's life EVER and I want to be there with Ty &  Dawn so bad.  I was crying so much the girls and Lance came in the office to see what was the matter!  I just see that little peanut on his chest and want to hold her so bad!  (and get her some PINK CLOTHES!! ;)-  come on, all she has is GREEN and YELLOW for Pete's sake!!  I was checking into flights again... But it's just too hard to get away for my mom.  I thought about surprising her for Mother's Day but she really can't get away and it's not easy to get there from here and my Dad needs care 24/7...  So, we'll have to just wait until July when they come out to visit and I've booked the flights and cottage for SERVE in August at Ty's church so we'll get to see them 2 times in a span of about a month which is a really great blessing!!  Baby Ella might even recognize us the second time when we come out to see them!!  I get 10 whole days with her then!  I already told Dawn she needs to go have a date night with Ty so I can babysit and have Ella to myself! hehehe...

Well I didn't think this was going to be a "book"...  It's now Friday so I'll go ahead and post this now!

Have a GREAT weekend!

Hugs,

Laura

 

Comments

[ty]

laura,

you're right about the difference between boys and girls. however, you're wrong about what the brush would have been used for. it would have either been a] a gun of some sort, or b] a grenade to throw. as boys we are a more aggressive lot than girls and so guitar would have been further down the list.

best case we would have just whacked our little sister with the brush and walked away!

love ya!

tyty

[Louise #3903]

Thanks for sneak peaks.........I'm thinking one of them will definitely find their way home to me....just gonna be hard choosing which one!

[Melanie S.]

Laura, I'm with Ty on this one about the brush. Defiantly a weapon of some sort, gun or grenade. Specially growing up with 2 younger brothers into army stuff. Not to mention being hit in the head many times with them. LOL! And look at the baby, growing already. Looks like daddy had his little princess!

Ok, the kits. AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I LOVE the uniquely chic kit, but you probably already knew that. My Little Shoebox it the cutest, love their stuff! I hope the mail gets here fast! I'm excited to start working on my projects.

[Melanie S.]

forgot to say...love the hair!

You look great either way. The darker hair really makes your eyes pop.

[Niki Willaert]

Wowee! The May kits are gonna rock! So glad you put together kits with the My Little Shoebox stuff - LOVE it! Best of luck getting your projects done this weekend and thank you for the detailed tutorial! Supposed to rain here in Minnesota this weekend so I just might have to do some tea-dying while watching the thunderstorms roll in. And... you and your hair look simply lovely! Enjoy the weekend!

[Tina Wishart]

Hi! Found your blog through Kim Hesson. Love it! The kits look fantastic and I have to say I love your hair. (ok is that weird from someone that you don't know?)
Anyway....really like your blog.

[Heather]

wow you have such a great eye for kits!They look fabulous!

[Heather T.]

I love the sneaks! I will have to have the Uniquely Chic kit!

Hey, Niki, I'm from MN, too! The rain does not sound fun all weekend!

[Jeanne K]

Laura, Have yourself a great weekend and try to get some me time in. I really love the May sneaks and think I am leaning toward the Uniquely Chic kit! I am so excited about it. Yes I knew about the tea, but a great reminder!

One of the boys and I are sick. I have to say this is the worse flu in years. I had to have the boys dad come over and watch them yesterday afternoon, cause I kept falling asleep (not a good thing with 2 autistic boys)and except for getting up to take my meds at 6:45 I slept from 3pm till 8 am. and still feel yuck.

[Wendy A]

I am so loving all the sneaks! Can't wait until May 1st and snag some!

[Karen Dodson]

OK, so, I'm going to need all of the May kits, especially that project kit. I can't WAIT to see the full reveal for May!!

Love your hair!! Love baby Ella!! Love your make and takes. Wow!! I need to move out west. All my fave crafty people live there!!!

[Ann from Michigan]

Jealous that you could go blonde or brunette and still look fabulous. My last experiment was with the help of my mother in law. Love her but......She insisted on helping me "highlight" my hair for summer. I ended up looking like the wig in your picture or, as I liked to say, I had a chunk of margarine sitting on my head. My husband was so horrified he immediately put up the $100+ it took to go to the salon and have it fixed. Leave it to say that from now on it's salons only for me. LOL
May kits have caught my eye. Looking forward to seeing them all.

[Christa]

Laurie, hang in there! I'm hoping May 1st gets her fast for you!

[kristii]

I am soooo impressed with your blog and your kits!!! I am looking forward to the full kit reveal!!!

[Amber Goble]

What amazing looking kits Laura, I'm going to have to make a purchase!!! Love the wig, hehe...just a little yellow! It's tough finding hair stylist, I think it's harder to find a stylist than it is to find a doctor! I go to a place called Blondies so you can guess what color my hair is! Adorable baby pictures!!! And I loved your tea staining tutorial...I've been wanting to do something with burlap, wonder how it stains? Gonna have to try it.
Hugs
Amber

[Theresa from Virginia]

Love the May kits - might have to find room in my budget for more than one of those!

Love the new pics of Ella and Ty - she is precious!

Love your hair! (no, not the baby chick yellow one!)

Loving all those projects you have laying around the house. I know how that scrapbook sprawl thing can get, but just have fun with it and relax - that clutter will still be there when you get to it!