Tammy Tutterow

tinkering. . .

House nightlight-

I feel like I haven't been sharing enough lately.  It has been kind of dry spell creatively since I have been immersed in stuff for my upcoming BPS class.  I wanted to share something and realized I hadn't shared this project yet.

I recently made this little night light for Emma's room.  I guess I hadn't shared it yet because I wasn't sure I was done with it.  I still may change it up a little, maybe with a picket fence around the house, not sure.

The front and back of the house are book covers from Maya Roads cute house shaped chipboard book.  I cut the sides and roof from scrap chipboard.  The pattern paper is Daisy D's and BasicGrey.  Flower rub-ons are Imaginisce.  The scallop white trim is by Doodlebug.  I covered the window openings with heavy opaque vellum.

Chatterbox project 2-

Oops, I said I would post this yesterday, but got a little sidetracked.  I confess, I am a bad blogger.

For my second project, I made a mini book featuring some of my favorite photos of Anna from her senior photo shoot with Holly.

I guess it is kind of simple but I really wanted to let the photos shine.  I love these so photos so much and really wanted to celebrate them in a book all their own.

I cut a hole in the cover of the book to let the photo on the front page show through and then topped the opening with a frame.  The book, frames, papers, and embellies are all Chatterbox.

My Chatterbox projects-

The winners of the Chatterbox design team auditions were announced earlier today.  I didn't make the final cut.  Trying out for a team and not making it is always a little disappointing, but this time it was actually kind of a relief.  I really have been thinking a lot about how much I have on my plate and what my monthly commitments are.  I am so happy to work with the companies that I do and really wasn't looking to add anything else.  But I was so drawn to the new Chatterbox products that I decided to give it a go.  I never expected to make the call backs.  When I did I was thrilled, of course.  Not making the team though to me is a sign that it just wasn't the right place for me and I am okay with that.  A fun perk of trying out was that I got to play with some great products and made a couple of projects I really love.

Since I didn't make the cut, I am finally sharing with you here my projects.  The first is this mirror.  We were challenged to create a monochromatic project featuring the Willow Fine Paper Collection and matching accessories.  The flowers and leaves were cut using the Cricut Accent Essentials cartridge.  The flowers were coated with Glossy Accents to create shine and to give them more body and durability.  Aside from the mirror (a clearance aisle find from Hobby Lobby), the Glossy Accents, and florist wire, everything is from Chatterbox.

I will be back tomorrow with photos of the mini book I made for my entry.

New blog added-

I added a second blog to the site here.  It is a personal blog for me to ramble on about diet, fitness, exercise etc.  If you are curious, you can find it here:  http://174.121.37.86/~tammytut/journal/ .  I don't suspect anyone will find it too interesting, but just in case, that is where you will find it.

One of these days. . .

I am actually going to post again.  First I have to catch up on my grossly overflowing inbox.  I am not sure if I have ever been so behind in answering mail! I have been so swamped with life stuff that I have neglected blogging a bit.  I am on night shift right now and it is wearing a bit thin.  I am not sleeping and feel like a zombie most days.  Despite that I am still on plan with the new diet and exercise program.  I am starting to see some toning happening and my pants are getting a little loose. I am still plugging away on all of my Big Picture stuff.  I keep adding more things that I want to add to the class.  I am so excited about the latest addition, some downloadable doodles.  Hopefully others will enjoy them as much as I have enjoyed making them. Anna is at college now.  That is a sad one for me, can't believe she is gone!  I am certain it was just last week that she was a tiny baby in my arms.  Gosh, when I look back I can't believe she survived me!  I was barely 20 when she was born, had never been around babies, and had no clue what to do with her.  She was such a sweet and precious baby and sooo good.  I am so proud of who she has become.  Gee, I am going to tear up here. . . I have a few scrappy things to share, hopefully soon I will get back on some type of routine and pull the photos off of my camera and share.

Getting Anna off to school.

We drove to Evansville yesterday to see Anna off to college. Jacob rode with his dad, my dad rode with me and Emma. We got to see Anna's new room, and meet her roommate and her parents.

Later after we got back home, Emma asked me who was going to tell her "Don't let the bed bugs bite." when she went to bed. It has been a thing between the two girls that Anna would always say that when Emma went to bed. Emma has really gotten attached to Anna, and it was made an even stronger bond this past summer with her spending more time with Anna, and having sleep overs in Anna's room. Earlier this year, Anna and Emma went to Build-A-Bear and Emma got a bear from Anna that she named Sophia. They put a voice box inside that says "I love You." when sqeezed. Last night as I was getting Emma into bed I heard her squeeze Sophia a couple of times and say "I love you Sissy. Don't let the bed bugs bite."

She ' s got an argument...

I didn't say that it was the best argument tho.

Emma went along when I took Jacob to the dentist today. In the playroom there is a TV, and Sponge Bob was on. Emma knows that I do not like her to watch that show, and shared that information with the other children. On the way home she made a case for why I should allow her to watch the show again. On of her arguments was that there were some of her favorite things in the show, like a sponge and a starfish. Her most compelling argument tho was that "God made TV. And God made the things on TV. Remember God?"

2 week check in-

I forgot to post this on Friday- Our trainer doesn't weigh us each check in, he relies more on measurements and takes 8 different measurements at various places on the body.  After the first two weeks on our new exercise and eating plan, I am down 12 inches and David is down 7.  We didn't get weighed officially this time, but we both checked at home and are both down 4 pounds.  We are only shooting for a max of 2 pounds a week so we are really pleased with those numbers. And for the real shocker. . . I am *kind of* starting to enjoy the exercise.  kind of. 

Quick and easy dorm decor-

I can hardly believe I am saying this, but I am sending my oldest daughter off to college next week! I am not sure where the time has gone, I am certain it was only last week that I was bringing her home from the hospital. . .

Recently when we were in Chicago for CHA, my daughter Anna went along to help us in the booth. While there, she realized the Office Lingo collection was a perfect match to the color scheme she and her room mate had picked out for their dorm. She immediately began planning what kind of projects we could make for her room.

While in Chicago we snuck in a visit to Ikea. We discovered these amazing and SUPER CHEAP plain cardboard magazine files. They were only 2 for $.50! We knew right away that they would be perfect to embellish with paper for a fun and practical dorm item.

Since the boxes will be sitting on a shelf and the sides won't show, we cut a strip of pattern paper to fit the front only. Each box had a finger hole in the front so we dug into my embellishment stash and discovered the Making Memories' grommets were a perfect fit. Because Anna wanted files like these to store class notes and handouts in so we made a box for each of her classes. We used simple shipping tags stamped with the Vintage Pop Alpha Stamps. We attached the tags with binder clips to carry on the office theme and to also make it easy to change out the tag when the semester is over.

For classes where she has a class and a lab, we made two matching boxes. A really cool thing about using just a strip of paper on the end of the box, we were able to cut several strips from one sheet of paper. When applied and lined up together, the pattern from the strips match up, creating a flow of the pattern from one box to another.

While in Chicago Anna also started thinking of how fun the Pop Fashion Top Siders Shapes would be as magnets. Although it just really doesn't show well in the photo, we covered the circle and star with Glossy Accents to give them an epoxy look.

For the speech bubble, we created a mini dry erase board by adhering clear shrink plastic (unshrunk) to the top of the assembled Top Sider. To adhere the plastic, I covered the top of the Top Sider with a piece of Therm O Web's Mounting Adhesive Sheets (think of it as double sided tape in a sheet). I then adhered the plastic to the adhesive. I trimmed both around the edge with a craft knife and then lightly sanded being careful to not scratch the surface of the plastic.

Add a magnet to the back of each and you have some really fun and fast elements!

The following part isn't really Pink Paislee related, but I wanted to share it anyway, just because. . .

While Anna and I were crafting, my little one, Emma decided that she needed to get in on the fun so we gave her a sheet of plain cardstock to create "art" on. (Emma always calls coloring and drawing "making art".)

She didn't want to just decorate just a strip so we added her whole sheet to the box. What you can't see in the photo is that she drew her and Anna and wrote their names. It was important to her that they were making the project together and that they both be in her picture.

It is moments like this that I really love this papercrafting hobby. I love that it helps create moments like this one, where I can sit with my girls and create and help foster creativity in them. That these stacks of supplies that we amass can be used for more than just creating a project but can also be used to foster creativity in children and provide us with opportunities for special shared moments.