Becoming the Coupon Queen

Supplies: Cardstock: Bazzill; Patterned papers, tag: Cosmo Cricket; brad: Doodlebug; Baker's twine: Martha Stewart; letter stickers: Making Memories; library pocket: L'il Davis; Punch: Stampin' Up; Envelopes: Wells Fargo (LOL)

I am trying to be economical...saving money is important to me and my family...so I clip coupons. The most I have saved is about 28% of my grocery bill. That is a lot. I have signed up for several websites for coupons and buy a paper every Sunday. That helps so much. The key for me, is clipping coupons for things I know we will use and occasionally, I will try different items that we would not normally buy, ONLY, if I think that it is a good buy and will be used! I hate waste and will not buy something that will sit in my cupboard and only be useful for the food shelf donations.

In my creative being, I had to make something pretty to put my coupons in. I have been using it and even had a great comment from a fellow shopper who thought I was incredibly organized. She said "ooh, that is so cute, where did you get it? It looks so organized." Of course I had to show her all the compartments in it.

So, here is how I did it...I found 6 envelopes...garnered from bills that I pay on line and those are my compartments.

Cover: I cut cardstock to from a 12 x12 sheet...a little bigger than the envelopes (no measurements here since old bill envelopes vary slightly in size)...but I would say, about 7 x 12. I embossed 2 lines 1 inch apart at 3 inches on the short side on one end and then again at 1 1/2 inches for the top. I covered it with my favorite papers from Cosmo Cricket's Early Bird paper and embellished it with borders and tags/letters.

I used a big brad and button (button is stitched on) to make the closure and used baker's twine for the closing tie.

Inside: cardstock cut to same size, made into an accordian fold for the six compartments. I glued one end into the inside of the folded cover and an envelope into each fold. After all the envelopes are in place, I glued the other folded edge to the inside front cover.

Inside front cover: I glued a library pocket in the center so that I could tuck my list in the front with my planned list for the trip.

I embellished the envelopes on the inside and added little labels of the categories...for me, and my grocery store, I lined them up according to route I shop at my Cub Grocery store...Produce, Meat, Dairy, Frozen, Grocery, and paper products...I organize my coupons this way and before each trip to the grocery store, I go through them and am aware of what I have.

My grocery habits are pretty predictable. I go to the grocery store every two weeks on Sunday mornings. I plan our meals for the two weeks in advance and buy what is needed for them. Our grocery budget is about $150 for two weeks and we try to stick pretty closely to that budget. Coupons help immensely and with 2 growing teens in our house, as well as tons of teen friends filtering through throughout the week, it is pretty hard to keep the coffers full, but we do it!

Weekend challenges

Weekend challenges. My sister, Jacquie--(just click on her name to see her beautiful efforts), and I scrap together frequently. She in Texas and I in MN. Lately, neither of us have been getting much scrappy time because of, well, life. I try but it seems that the time is not there. So this past weekend, we challenged each other to scrap and made up challenges for each other.

Supplies: Cardstock: Bazzill, craft supply; Patterned paper, chipboard, stickers: Creative Imaginations; Chipboard swirl: Basic Grey; Flowers: Imaginesce, Prima; Gems: craft supply; Brads: Pink Paislee; Punch: Martha Stewart; Die Cutting Machine: Slice, font from Design card #2
Our First challenge was to make a layout with paper older than a year. Here, I used some old, beautiful paper by Creative Imaginations, that I have been saving. I loved it then but for a time, I bought things and stashed it and well, I still love it and don't know what I am saving it for....and it is a layout of my hubby, just in time for Valentines Day!

Supplies: Tags: office supply; Medium: Glimmer mist, Smooch Inks; Chipboard: Scenic Route; Scalloped Edge: Jillibean Soup; Patterned paper: Websters Pages; Baker's twine: Martha stewart; Stamps: Pink Paislee; Ribbon and buttons: Craft supply
Our second challenge was to make 2 tags. I am somewhat befuddled by tags. I have a hard time with something so small, and for me, it has to be usable, so I have to make it for SOMETHING...a gift, a card, or on a layout...never just BECAUSE.

Supplies: Cardstock: Bazzill; Patterned paper and dimensional stickers: Basic Grey; Scalloped circles: Archiver's; Letter Stickers: American Crafts, Adornit; Bling Kaiser Crafts; Journaling Card: Jillibean Soup; Punch: EK Success
And finally, color combo that we rarely use. For me it was hot pink and brown. So I went for the Basic Grey. These are photos of my two cousins, Kristy and Tara at Kristy's baby shower this December. Tara put on a great and fun baby shower for her! There is always lots of laughs when these two are around!

So there are my projects. I encourage you to challenge yourself, find a sketch, play with paint, mist, glitter, or just start cutting. You will find that after awhile you get down to business and actually create something that makes you want more time to scrap!

There was one more challenge that I need to post (a layout with a banner on it), but alas, I ran out of time, but hope to finish it this weekend! TFL. Love and Hugs, Lara

Cosmo Cricket Sketch #4

Supplies: Patterned paper, journaling tags, Chipboard, stickers: Cosmo Cricket; Alphabet stickers: American Crafts; Punch: Fiskars

Ok, so I am really getting into these sketches. I love to do something fun and a lot of times I run out of ideas or time and a sketch is a great way to get started. Cosmo Cricket has been posting sketches lately and I love to use them. They may not get viewed but it is still fun to be creative. I used "The Boyfriend" for this...and it is only fitting as the pictures are of DS and his lovely, sweet Girlfriend. So here is my take on the sketch. See you later this week. My dear sis challenged me to some good challenges this past weekend and I was able to get a few of them done. Love and Hugs, Lara

He's Good stuff

Supplies: Patterned paper: October Afternoon, Pink Paislee; Carstock: C'ordinations; Rubons: Pink Paislee; Chipboard: Basic Grey, KI Memories; Flowers: Maya Road; Chipboard letters: American Crafts; Epoxy quote: Cloud 9 Design; Punch: Martha Stewart

This man is amazing--my Dad, Bob. Such a sweet honest smile...makes you want to hug him and hang with him. I know that when we get together with my parents, sometimes he sits in the background while mom and I talk quilts, scrapping, cardmaking and cooking. I recently got my HAM radio license and that is something that he and I have in common now. SO I need to get more proficient at it so that we can maybe talk over the radio waves together. So far, my radio does not reach to Arkansas but maybe we will be able to get me rigged up a little better one day and we can HAM it up together. He's the best! He and my mom are currently in Texas staying warm for the winter...lucky dogs! They will be back up to MN for a visit in the spring.

Getting Around to Christmas Layouts

Supplies: Patterned paper, journaling spot, label diecut: Collage Press; Letter stickers: American Crafts; Ribbon: Michaels; Punch: Fiskars



Supplies: Cardstock: Bazzill; Pattern Paper, Chipboard, stickers, October Afternoon; Ribbon: Craft supply; Punch: Martha Stewart



Supplies: Cardstock: Bazzill Bling; Patterned paper, stickers, journaling card: October Afternoon


Supplies: Cardstock: Bazzill; Patterned Paper, stickers: Bella Blvd; Pearl gems: Kaiser Craft; Journal label: Jenni Bowlin

Finally. I have quite a few pictures from Christmas and I am not really a chronological scrapper, so it is not unusual for me to scrap a Christmas layout in the summer or summer photos in the deep dark of December. I scrap what inspires me at the time, sometimes it is in the right order, and sometimes it is not. I just want to scrap what I like, with what I like. I might scrap a 4th of July layout in the middle of winter and heaven knows that I have only made a small dent in my kids younger years' photos. It's all creative to me.

I am sharing some Christmas photos/layouts that I did do right after Christmas. I got some Christmas goodies that excited me and I just had to play with them. I got some new stuff from Collage Press, October Afternoon and Bella BLVD that I just love and so of course, I had to dig out supplies to make something with them right off the bat.

That is all for now. More to come later in the week. I need to scrap too, instead of sit on the computer. Love and Hugs! Lara

Cosmo Sketch #3

Sketches are a scrappers helper. Especially if your mojo is down and you just want to scrap but no real bright ideas are in your head...a sketch helps you with some place to start. I decided to play along with Cosmo's Sketch 3 this week and I was pleased the sketch and the results. I had a fair amount of goodies from COsmo, from their Nutmeg line, so I gave it a go. Not my best work, but I love the colors and if it is all about the picture, I just love one of my daghter who is just becoming such a sweet, kind, young adult! Thanks Cosmo for the little help and the big bright patterns of Nutmeg that just sparked my mojo! Love and hugs, Lara