Visual Designs by Chris

Chris Durnan

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Camo Reading Pillows for the nieces and nephews

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In an effort to have a homemade Christmas, I searched and searched pinterest. I came across a few pillows for gifts. All had different elements. Here is mine.
The Traveling Reading Pillow with a flashlight. 
I purchased the pillow forms on sale at Joann’s woohooo! The 12×12 was 2.00 a piece. so happy I walked in. I bought 8 of them. Made a test run for my son D and then 5 more for my nieces and nephews and all in varying colors of camo. Then I made 2 more for my other nieces (pictures to come). 
I took the opportunity to purchase books from Scholastics for my son’s teacher. I purchased in November. I put a remind in my calendar for October of next year to purchase more books. You can’t beat the price and it always helps the teachers stash of books in the classroom. Win Win.
My pillow actually has a flap folded up underneath on the bottom into the back. So my Sister and Sister-in-law can take them off and wash them. The camo pillows all went to ages 6 and under. So I knew traveling in the car or camping would end up with some dirty pillows. 
They all have handles and I went to the dollar store for lights and found carabiner flashlights attached to the handle on top.  The lady at the dollar store looked at me like I was crazy when I wiped out all 9 flashlights they had. I didn’t want to end up with a broken one and they were the perfect size! So I grabbed them all. 
When they were opened almost all of my nieces and nephews sat down and started reading right away. Hopefully this will be a useful gift and homemade. yeah! 
And recently I was told another Digi Camo Pillow was needed for my BIL. Perfect for camping evenings. Love it!
Enjoy!
Chris

Income expenses from the eyes of a 9 year old

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D is working on a badge for Scouts (webelos) that asks him to write down his income and monthly expenses. Well the puzzler is he is 9. The latest nerf gun was paid for by Uncle Bryan.

I like Scouts to be learning and impactful a bunch of empty columns or nerf gun purchases mean nothing.
Instead we discussed when he wants to move out for college and what he wants to have. Dreams and dreams. So we started expensing it.
And then the income column was harder as we figured how many hours he could work with school.
By the time we were done, my child has decided to finish out our guest room, live there and hitch a ride with Dad to the U of A since our office is right down the road. And he smiled and said… “Just so you know… I am never growing up.”  
I thought to myself…. Ahh my love. There in lies the puzzle as I watch you grow up every day and try to hold on to every moment in my heart.
 Love my Life!
The photos are from the  Artist Badge for Webelos Scouts. Also, something he is working on this holiday break.
This requires some clay modeling, make an art construction out of anything you can use for constrution.( which of course would be Legos for my son), make a mobile and college that expresses you. We are working on this just after the holidays so that means Legos Legos Legos and happy smiles. 
Enjoy!
Chris
Tips from a past Scout leader… I am no a longer leader, but still get emails from folks asking what I think for fun ideas on working with a project. So ideas are… 
Artist badge is fun for a crafting Mom! and a Lego addicted child. 🙂 
#2 is to make a scrapbook of the projects. 
A quick artist scrapbook is two pieces of 12×12 scrapbook paper cut down to 6x6s. A cropadile or hole punch is awesome for a hole in the corner and then a binder ring. Also, I would get some precut letters and ask them to glue the word Artist on the front. A busy opening project for when they walk in the door. 
For the Collage about self. #10
I would bring magazines and scissors and give them one of the 6×6 from the scrapbook above to cover with images that express themselves. this way it is right in the scrapbook. And we used a Lego Magazine that came in the mail. Are you getting the theme here? 
For the primary color which I think is number 4. 
I would give them another one of the 6x6s and have them make color combinations with the three primary colors right on the 6×6. If the scrapbook paper is colored. I would give them a piece of what paper to color on. Lots of fun. 
Those are my thoughts on the Artist badge. Thanks for always asking. 

Chicken Lesson of the day!

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My hubby is working away on a brick entrance to the tack room. So the water stops building up and mudding there. It’s right outside my studio window. He used brick glue to get the edging to hold before he concreted.. Serious stuff and my ridiculous chicken decide to eat it. So I grabbed her and stuck my finger in her beak. Doesn’t hurt really, but she was nottt happy.  Then proceeded to have Greg dig the rest out from between with a stick. Meanwhile with all the excitement she peed down my leg. Yeah exciting around here. Wew. Lesson of the day. Never stick your finger in a chickens beak while holding it. It will get back at you. yick!
Love my life… even with the crazy chickens.
The Chickens for Sale sign was posted a few months ago. I took the photo and sent it to the hubby. I love crazy chickens. 🙂 they come in all sizes and colors. Fun!
Enjoy!
Chris

PL – Santa Claus is Coming to Town ….

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Project Life Freebie – 3×4, Gray & Red

I have decided to try and create a Project Life Scrapbook this coming year. That means I will need some pieces for my own use. I thought I would share those here. They are in a printable pdf file. The file is for personal use only. The link can be found here. and the password is “iagreetou” . This means you agree to the personal use of the pdf file. When you type that password in, it is your digital agreement. If you have anyone who would be interested in this item, please send them over to my website and not share it directly. If download numbers continue, I will keep creating.

If you would like this freebie in a different size, please let me know and as I have time I will try to accommodate these requests.

Enjoy!
Chris

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Warriors T-Shirt

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My son has been begging me for  a “Warriors” t-shirt”. For my son, A good book is like a good rock band. You read it, you heard it. Where is the t-shirt?

He loves the Warriors series by Erin Hunter. And my son cannot get enough of it. He reads them and loves the characters. This is why one of our kittens is called GrayStripe.

So this was the final product after a merge of many online images and book covers. I made sure to have GrayStripe one of the main characters on the cover. The colors are pretty crisp and the transfer I used worked awesome.

I had some Dark Fabric Transfer by Avery in my stash. I must say it was pretty cool to use. Easy to print on and you don’t have to reverse it. Then you peel the back off the material and it is like a thin plastic. After it is peeled you place it on the shirt and then put the tissue paper over the top provided and iron it. It isn’t really tissue paper, but seems like it and doesn’t stick to the printed material. I created the edging to look worn.

Overall, I can recommend the book series. The Avery Dark Fabric Transfer material and the shirt is from Michael’s on sale.

So my Rock Star son can have his Rock Star Book T-shirt. We could be book nerds in this family. Actually we are. I’ll admit it. Love my Life.

Enjoy!
Chris

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So Proud – Webelos Mom

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Had to share. My son earned his Webelos patch this last week. Just awesome. He is working really hard on badges and wants to earn as many as possible before arrow of light. He saw a chart of who had earned what displayed at a pack meeting. He stood there and counted what he needed to earn next. Wears me out, but I will do whatever I can to give him the supplies and support to complete his goals.

In order to earn his Webelos Badge, he did a project for the community.
his choice was to collect shoes for a local organization that hands them out during Thanksgiving dinner for the homeless and low income. His goal was 20 shoes and with the help of friends, family and his Cub Scout Pack he collected 170 to give.  Just proud.

Below is a picture of him with all his shoes.

They had an arrow of light crossover ceremony also at our meeting. He watched the presentation with enthrallment. He has seen before and it always grabs his attention. I really believe he will ask to be a part of the presenters when he moves onto Boy Scouts if there is an opening.

Love my Life. Here are some additional photos below.
Enjoy!
Chris

D on the left. and Arrow of Light ceremony. 
All the shoes below. 

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You’re the Best Card

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Putting together some cards. I had some random printed but mostly blank cardstock and decided to add some embellishments to it. So I added some balloons  and a saying. A little stickles. And my son… well my son’s input was the pink flower with the pom pom from the embellishment drawer. Love his help. Make the studio more fun to share in the creative. I lay out the card on the counter and invariably I find something altered or added to my idea. I find it cute and endearing.

Love my Life.

Enjoy!
Chris

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Also, we have started a VDBC Crafting Fun Facebook group in lieu of another forum to manage. Join us!

A wreath to bring in some holiday cheer.

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I created this for my Nan today with supplies in my craft room. Wow. I need to clean out some supplies. I just kept looking and finding things. I did some close up shots to play with my cameras settings. So you will see little glue wispys. Those wispys will be pulled off by my kiddo on the way to Nan’s house.

She is in some need Holiday Cheer in her new place. So we are going to head out and decorate for her. My Sister and her children, My Mom and her children, and I and D. Hoping it will be alot of fun and puts a smile on her face.

If not, we shall chat about how it is just as easy to smile as it is to frown. We had this discussion a few times before, my Nan and I. She gave me the chat when I was little and visiting and now I return the favor.

I never was good at  a bow. I really envisioned a big gold bow. Wonder if my Mom could put one together. I need some kinda bow maker doohickey. And I am definitely not a wreath artist like my friend Sarina. She will knock some wreaths out. In fact she has some of my wreaths from my craft room because I needed space. They sat for years and she gave them some life. Love it!!!

Here’s to happy smiles and some closeup pics. You can see me in some of the reflections. ha!

Enjoy!
Chris

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JOY Holiday Card

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I am working on a few cards to send. This one is for a friend who will love the red, black and gold.

I used a red paper that has gold flecks in it. I am not sure you can see them in the pictures, but it’s there. I also added a gold glittered sheet behind the square letters which I used pop dots to lift them. A cuddlebug die for the embossed corners and a round cornerer.  Also a black ribbon. I messed up the score on the top so will be trimming the card and attaching it to a 5×7 card.

Wanted to post a craft and was so happy to get one done.

I took multiple photo angles to see if I could catch the glitter of the gold, but flash washed it in some area.s. I hope you like.

Enjoy!
Chris

Dr. Who

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This little sign sums up my understanding of Dr. Who. I love that my son and hubby enjoy not only the show, but their time together chatting about it.  With the anniversary coming up, I am looking forward to a Dr. Who marathon when I will be sewing and crafting holiday gifts and listening to their chitter chatter. And deep down it just makes my heart smile. Love my Life.
What’s on you weekend or holiday to make list?
Don’t forget we opened a VDBC CRAFTING FUN facebook group. Join us. It’s nice to have a place to chat again.
Enjoy your weekend!
Chris