Wow... It's been awhile

So, no- I didn't forget about my blog and just disappear for days, weeks, okay well almost a month. Where have I been? Well, I bought a house. A townhouse, actually.  With 3 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, a living/dining room and kitchen to decorate, I have been preoccupied.  Sad to say, I've been in the townhouse for 3 weeks now and I still don't have a dining room table (oops) but it's been ordered so it should arrive any day now.

The best part of buying a house? Definitely gives me more excuses to be crafty and I plan to be over the next several months because there's much left to do.  I've started to create my "Craft Command Center" which is taking over 2/3rds of the bedroom that we chose to be the "office."  Poor boyfriend has his desk and a shelf and that's it, everything else shall be devoted to my craft supplies which may very well rival Joann's and Michael's (okay, so not really, but I have way too much which I realized when I had to move it!)

So, here's a few things to look forward to in the next few posts:

• Building my craft desk (yep couldn't bring myself to buy something stock, had to create my own)
• Creating massive amounts of wall art
• Decorating!

So stay tuned!

What if someone already got her that...

Well, my boyfriend and I were recently invited to the first birthday of friends' daughter.  After toiling over toys for hours at Toys R Us, worried about duplicating the gift of someone else, I decided that I wanted to make something personal for both Kaitlyn Elizabeth and her parents.  I wanted something that I knew no one else would give her.  We did end up also buy her toys, but I am extremely proud of how the gift I made turned out.  Take a look...

I love the look of floating frames, but I had never bought any for my own decor (after this project that quickly changed, I know have 3).  So I decided that I would personalize the frame with her name, a photo, and a quote.  One of my favorite quotes is "Live Well, Laugh Often, Love Much," which worked perfectly. Honestly, is there any better wish for a child than that?  Using my Silhouette, I quickly and easily cut her name and the quote from black vinyl and used the transfer paper to apply the vinyl to one of the glass panes of the frame.

I found an adorable picture of the birthday girl and used PS Elements to turn it into a black and white photo with only her gorgeous blue eyes colored. I mounted the picture on a blue cardstock with a slight sheen to help Kaitlyn's eyes pop, and added a blue polka dot ribbon to tie it all together. Here's a close-up of the photo:

The great thing is Kaitlyn's parents can change the picture whenever they wish as the floating effect is created by sandwiching the photo between two panes of glass. I also made sure to place the vinyl between the glass panes as well so it will be easier to clean without worry of the vinyl peeling off.

I'm ecstatic at how this turned out and already have a triptych planned for the stairwell of my townhouse using these floating frames, and well, probably the same quote.  I told you it was my favorite...

How did I end up with so much paper?

Well, my scrapbooking room is in massive disarray, or at least it was.  I decided to tackle organizing it a bit last night, not really sure what got into me.  In doing so, I realized that I have acquired way too much paper.  (BTW, I mentioned this to my boyfriend, who promptly replied, "well, that's no surprise, every time you go to the store you buy some." Okay, so maybe I have an addiction of sorts then.) 

I was able to organize all of my DCWV stacks into a plastic box, patterned paper in the front, solid cardstock in the back - that felt productive!  Yet, I still have several piles of scraps, but they are pretty scraps, so I don't want to toss them (yes, yes, hoarder alert). So they've been sitting in the scrap pile for at least a year and I haven't touched them, what are the odds I'll actually use them?  Well my co-worker, who also crafts, had a great idea: force myself to use no new paper, just the scraps.  And that's the plan!  One of these days, I'm going to sit down, spread the entire box of scraps out on the floor and go to town making cards, whatever doesn't get used by the end of that time goes in the trash (I promise!).  So stay tuned for the results of my scrap-extravaganza!   (And, btw, if you need any paper let me know!)

Mmm, Tastey!

So, I recently discovered that I like to bake and overall create with food.  Now, I'm not the best cook in the world, but I do fairly well. I've made petit fours and truffles, all of which were consumed pretty quickly, especially the truffles.

~Blueberry Balsamic Petit-Fours~

 Cute little box I made to gift the petit-fours in

~Key Lime Pie Truffles~

And so it begins...

Welcome to my blog, Simply ME (Megan Elizabeth). 


For as long as I can remember I've had a love for all things creative and am the happiest when I can express my creative side.  This blog has been a long time coming and I hope this will encourage me to spend more time creating. 

Here, I will share some of my creative pursuits including cards, home and wall decor, and even some pastry arts.  I will soon be moving into my first home and am very excited to get my craft room and kitchen in order, as well as decorate the rest of the townhouse.  So stay tuned for that!

I hope you find some inspiration from my work and I encourage you to share your creations as well.  Thanks for visiting and I hope you come back often!