Celebrating the Twins' 2nd Birthday

In January 2011, when my son and his family moved to Japan, I never in my wildest dreams, think we would be celebrating the twins' second birthday here in the US! They arrived February 15 and their birthday is February 18. We actually had 2 celebrations for them! The first celebration was with my son and his family and my daughter and her family. The second celebration was with the rest of the family!

It was fun to make a scrapbook of the two celebrations.

I made the book 8 x 8 in size - easy for the little ones to handle if they want to look at the photos.

The paper is a stack by Paper Studio (Hobby Lobby's brand) called Birthday Extravaganza. I liked it because its colors are neither boy or girl specific.

I used my Cricut to cut titles and embellishments and tags. Phrases is a great cartridge for titles!

Juli seemed to enjoy the cake, if the frosting on her face is any indication!

Party #2. I made a couple pages with pockets and tags in them. Since the twins will be bilingual, I told my son that he and his wife could write messages to the twins on the tags - in English and in Japanese for them to read when they are older.
The happy family....so glad they are back!!!




It seems like forever that I was not making scrapbooks, and this year, I've done quite a bit and I can't wait to share my creations with you! Hope you enjoyed today's feature and you stop by again soon!

Koala-t hugs,

Cathy

One of My Favorites

Last summer, I got back into sewing. I spent several months making tote bags and did quite a bit of embroidery. This is one of my favorite bags that I made.

Two of my granddaughters are involved in dance and they are always toting shoes and dance clothes, regular clothes and needed big bags to carry it all in. This bag is perfect for the tiny dancer!

I embroidered the design on the front of the bag, made with purple twill cotton fabric. The ruffles and lining are made with an adorable cotton print with tiny ballerinas on it.
I have one left of this cute tote have listed in my Etsy shop.

Have a great day!!

Koala-t hugs,

Cathy

Changes In Progress

Slowly, I've been making changes to my blog. I've changed the background and template of the blog. I like the bright colors. I changed some of the fonts - hope they are readable! I've also added a few things...the blog is still Koala-t Kreations, but added another title. My daughter and I have been selling at craft fairs for the past several years under the name of Cat n Kat Kreations. Not only will I be showing sewing and paper crafting projects, I will feature items for sale in my Etsy shop (which is also an addition to the blog)

Hope you like the changes and stop by often to see what's new.

Hope you had a great weekend!

Koala-t hugs,

Cathy

A Change is a Comin'!

Its been a long time! YEs, my blog has been sadly neglected but the time has come to make some changes and start sharing my work again. There will be some regular features and some new things to share. I hope you will come back and visit and see the changes. I hope you like them too!

So, stay tuned and watch for the changes here on Koala-t Kreations and will be combined with Cat 'n Kat Kreations!

See you soon!!

Cathy

Finally - I"m BAAAAAAAK!

Yes, its been a very long time since I posted on my blog. Projects that came up kept me busy, and they were not related to papercrafting. Although I had gotten quite disinterested in sewing, my daughter Katie had gotten me involved in some projects that got me sewing again. After sewing 11 double layered petti skirts for my granddaughter's dance recital, I realized I needed a new sewing machine. I was blown away by the new sewing machines and all they can do, I got a fairly basic sewing and embroidery machine. I'm hoping to trade up SOON!

Katie and I decided to try something new for this years season of craft fairs, and we chose tote bags and purses. I realized that all I needed was a good machine for me to enjoy sewing again! I also enjoyed the process of fabric selection and seeing my work take shape.

I'm also enjoying the embroidery part too. I always wanted to do this, but in the past, it was quite expensive for the designs which were only available on special cards. Now, I can download a few designs for a small cost.

Our craft show season is upon us. The first one was a big disappointment as we did not sell one thing. In talking to other crafters, they didn't do well either. We have 4 more - one this coming Saturday and three in November.

In the coming weeks, I'll direct you to our new website that my son in law is creating. It will feature sewing projects, embroidered T shirts and papercrafts. Yes, I'm still creating cards and scrapbooks. I'm currently looking for more ways to combine my two loves - papercrafts and sewing.

One way I've found to combine them is cards. I can embroider designs on fabric or specially designed paper and use it to create greeting cards. Here are a few examples.

This is the first one I made, for my daughter's birthday during the summer. Classic Pooh has been a favorite of Katie's since she was a baby. I embroidered on fabric, and attached it to cardstock. I used Elegant Edges for the frame, embossed with the Cuttlebug and added a few flowers.

This was created for my mom's birthday that we celebrated this past weekend. I embroidered the design on special paper for embroidery. I created this frame in Elegant Edges, using pre-embossed Core'dinations paper. Happy Birthday was cut using Create a Critter Cricut cartridge and "Mom" was cut using the font on PaperLace. Mom LOVED the card.

In the coming days, I will be posting my latest creations. I hope you will come back and visit soon!

Koala-t hugs,

Cathy

My Craft Space

Its a room I spend most of my days. It has the creature comforts of my everyday routine - TV, DVD player, Computer, printer, a corner for my sewing and of course my paper crafting supplies and my Cricuts! When I moved into my current apartment, I figured since I spend lots of time crafting and creating, I made the master bedroom into my Studio. Its taken nearly 10 years to get it to the way I have it now and its a very enjoyable, comfortable space for me.

The window faces north so I don't get direct sunlight, but the room is bright on sunny days. The far corner is my computer area, the shelves above it store my Cricut cartridges. I have found that a U shape work area works best for me. I also like having many of my tools and accessories within reach, so I have the shelving above my work space and the rails and cup system (from Ikea) also above my work space. I like this arrangement because I prefer an uncluttered work area. My E2 is one one side, and in the lower left corner you can see my Imagine. Just out of the photo is my sewing area (I avoided this area because its a bit of a mess, as I've been helping my daughter with costumes for a play she's working on and skirts for my granddaughter's dance recital. Also out of the photo on the right side of the room is a row of Jet Max cubes. These are great for storage and look good too!

And here I am, smiling because I'm in my "happy place"!

Thanks for stopping by!

Koala-t hugs,

Cathy

My E2 Is HERE

Well, it arrived last Tuesday, but this is the first chance I've had to write about it! This is one slick machine! Even the new packaging is pretty nice!

First impressions - It seemed lighter in weight when I took it out of the box. Its profile is lower than the Expression and it is much more colorful! The front door, when open, rests higher than the Expression. I am thinking this is so the mat stays flat or even slightly higher than the roller so the paper does not bend off the mat. But this is just my own observation. Other differences I noticed - the silicone cover for the touch screen, and the silicone "plugs" for the connections for the Original cartridge, the Imagine Cartridge and for the add on to make the E2 wireless.

It was very easy to set up and once I pushed the power button, I noticed how bright and clear the touch screen is.
Because I'm a long time Gypsy user, I did have to re think how to cut not using the Gypsy. I wanted to try out the new cartridges that are included in the E2. The Owners manual for the E2 is very handy, listing all the buttons and what each function is for those buttons.

Within minutes, I was cutting a card using the pre loaded cartridge, Just a Note.

All in all, I do love my new E2 and can't wait to use it more and create projects to post here.

Tomorrow, I'll post card that I made using the E2.

Koala-t hugs,

Cathy