No Peekiing Edition #2 (Mom I know you are tempted to take a peek:-)

Okay so I said I managed to get several projects started in Tennessee over Thanksgiving.  Well thanks to Wrestling I not had much time to complete what I had started up until today when my totally full calender was totally cleared off by 10am.  I started the day out with taking Jimmy to the high school to catch the bus for his wrestling match today at 6:15 AM.  Then I came back home and tried to catch another hour's sleep before I left  to go to the match.  The day was to be full, cause I had to leave Jimmy's match at 4:00pm to go home and get ready for a card class at 6:00 pm.  Robbie, Dani & I left for the Wrestling tournament at 8:30 which would get us up to the meet by the 9:00 am start time.  Well thanks to my son thinking he knew a short cut to get there we ended up arriving about 15 minutes late.  As I pulled into the school my phone rang and it was my upline Karen calling to let me know that we were going to have to cancel our card class for the evening.  Whew, now I could spend the day watching Jimmy wrestle and not have to worry about having to leave before he was done.  So we go into the match Robbie and Dani pay to get in while I am still talking on the phone to Karen.  The kids go on in and find Jimmy, only to come immediately back out to tell me that they had a full bracket in Jimmy's weight class with no room for alternates (Jimmy had lost his wrestle off) so Jimmy wasn't wrestling today.  Now we kindly ask the lady taking money if Robbie and Dani can have a refund and we collect Jimmy and head home.  Whew my once Overloaded schedule has now become a free day for Mom.  So of course when I get home I immediately call Karen and we set up a playdate for the afternoon.  I quickly pack my bags and run off to have several hours of kids free paper therapy.  YEEHAW.

One of the projects I had started when I was in Tennessee was to cut up a Notebook Level One kit I had gotten when I first became a consultant 2 years ago.  I had taken this kit out of it's bag several times over the years but never could quite seem to be able to get pictures on it.  I have no clue what it is about Level 1's but I have a very hard time using them to complete pages.  On the Close To My Heart  Bulletin Boards lately some of the very talented consultants have been posting some awesome 6x6 mini My Creations Memory Showcase Accordian Albums and cards made from Level 1 kits, forgive me ladies I have forgotten who all you were.  These  projects inspired my next set of gifts that I have created.

Shhhhh Don't tell them but this is what my Mom and Mother In Law
are getting for  Christmas.

No you are not seeing double, I have created 2 very similar wall hanging for my Mother and MIL.  My Idea started with me cutting up my Notebook Level 1 Paper into 6 inch squares.  I them adhered them to some 6x6 chipboard I had laying around, and since I had 4 pieces of chipboard & Level 1 combo's, and 4 sons I decided to make a wall hanging using some current pictures I had taken of the boys.  Robbie's picture is one of his Sr. Pict's I had taken in October and the other 3 boys are pictures I took in TN over Thanksgiving.  This particulare pattern sheet from the level one looked really good when I alternated the sides the Black was on when laying out the wall hanging.  This project came together really easily as all I had to do was distress all the edges of the Level 1 paper with Desert Sand, then cut my Colonial White and Crystal Blue Mats, Distress the Crystal Blue mats with Crystal Blue ink, and Stamp out each boys' name using "The Works" Stamp Set & Desert Sand Ink.  Once that was done I adhered it all together, punched my holes with a crop-a-dile and then they were ready to assemble.  I couldn't decide on how to connect the 4 boards, as our boys aren't ribbon type of guys and the twill was too big for my holes.  I then thought of the leather lace Ken uses to braid hatbands.  It was perfect, plus it added to the rustic feel the distressed Black and Bamboo cardstock provided,   Of course once I got the first one together I just had to create another one using the exact same pattern, as I loved how well the boys pictures looked with this paper.  My initial plan was use 2 different Level 1's to clean them out of my stash.  Now for my problem, I only had 1 Notebook Level 1 paper pack, and it is not longer available for purchase, not to mention the fact that I was on a roll and wanted the second one done now.  So I decided to recreated the pattern using Bamboo, & Black Cardstock, and a piece of Crystal Blue B&T from the Notebook Level 2 kit.  I sanded the Bamboo & Black cardstock so some of the white was showing like the Level 1 was, I then used a slightly different B&T for the Crystal Blue strip as I no longer had the original pattern used (it was my favorite).  I measured and assembled the second one not quite as quickly but almost as quickly as the first and unless you look closely you can't tell that I didn't use the exact same paper on each.

This is a Picture of Robbie our Oldest.
this one was made using the Notebook Level 1 kit.

And this is the one in which I had to recreate the look and feel of the Level 1 kit
using Cardstock and B&T.  It is really hard to tell the difference. 

And so the rest don't feel left out here is a close up of each of their blocks, from the Level 1 kit.

Jimmy Son #2

Tony Son #3

Dillon our Baby

I still have a couple gifts to show you.  But it is getting late and I have to keep Mom in suspense a little while longer as I know she will not heed my warnings and will have read this post before Christmas. LOL  Mom just act surprised on Christmas when you open your gifts.LOL  Love ya.