Something I have never done before......

Many of you may relate to what I'm about to say......When I get bored, I like to shop. Most of the time, I "intend" on just window shopping but there are times when I actually buy something that I most likely will not use right away. Case in point............about a year ago, I bought a wood burning tool, brought it home and put it away in a locked case so wandering hands wouldn't get to it.

When Amber with Crop Chocolate gave us the challenge for August to do something that we had never done before, guess what popped into my head??? Yup! I pulled out that wood burner and started to play. Number one thing I loved....the wood I purchased at Hobby Lobby smells SOOO good when it's burned!!! I know....silly huh??? Still, I loved it and that's that! ;)

Anyways....I was a little nervous about how it would go over since it's really not using a lot of Crop Chocolate product so I showed a few friends and they LOVED it and said, "Michele...you need to use that!!!" So...I did! I really love how it turned out! Here's a pic of it...

It's such a fun technique and I don't know if it's ever been used for something like this. I would like to think "not" until now... ;)

In addition to this cute little ghost, I made a little companion piece that will also be displayed for Halloween. Here it is.

I have also made some cute teddy bear ones and they were purchased as soon as they were made. I'm now thinking of other things I can do using this technique so I can sell them. Watch close...I may have something that you may like...  ;) If there is something I haven't posted but would like me to make for you, PLEASE let me know and I'll get it going! I'm always up for more projects!!!!

1st Official Crop Chocolate Blog Hop

Hello my friends! Thanks for joining me for Crop Chocolate's very 1st Blog Hop! YAY!!!! Yes..I'm sooo excited! This Blog Hop is to celebrate Crop Chocolate's first and SUPER AWESOME 2011-2012 Design Team which I'm soo excited to be a part of! Here is a list of our super talented ladies:


bethd488 - Beth
corriew - Corrie
Craft-a-holic Queen - Michele :)
cricutica - Paula
D2 - DeeDee
ScrappyCanuck - Karen
Moon - Jenn
JeepMama - Paula
runzalot81 - Alissa
LMissCrafter - Jamie




 (Imagine confetti, streamers and balloons all over the place...this is a BIG deal!!!)


For those of you who do not know what CropChocolate.com is, it's a deal a day website that sells WONDERFUL crafty products and SUPER SWEET prices. The people who run it are pretty "sweet" too! ;)


I am the 4th stop on the blog hop. If you started here first, you need to go to the beginning which is Crop Chocolate's website. From there you will be able to follow the hop in order. :)

My project that I made for our blog hop is a decorative accordian album. The paper that was used is Bo Bunny's Gabrielle collection. I simply LOVE this paper! 


Here's some easy (I hope...lol) instructions on how to make this fun album:

I used an accordian album that I have had laying around for some time. I believe I bought it from Close To My Heart. I cut 8 pieces of paper to be 6 1/4" x 6 1/4" and used tacky glue to glue the paper to the album. (Since the front and the back of tmy book are slightly larger than the pages, it was helpful to have that additional 1/4". On the other sheets, I trimmed them down as needed.)

I used about 24" of twine and wrapped it around the left side of the front of the album and tied a little knot to hold it together. I also put a medium sized glue dot under the center of the twine to keep it secure.

I added embellishments to the other pages as I wanted using labels from the paper collection, Thickers, etc.  If you want to learn how to make the flowers I put on my album, you can go to my friend and fellow crafty queen, Chocolate Miwa's challenge she did for Crop Chocolate (and also see her ADORABLE project too!). :D If you want to just watch her video, click here.

 I used a couple of labels from the collection, Thickers "Daydream" letter stickers, Basic Grey Glazed Brads, My Mind's Eye Lime Twist twine and My Mind's Eye Paper Reverie tape...all purchased from Crop Chocolate!

I hope you like my project! Feel free to "follow" my blog to see any past and upcoming projects that I post. If you click here, you will be taken to the next blog in our blog hop which belongs to "cricutica" (Paula I.).

I hope you have a wonderful time "hopping" today! Make sure to leave a comment on each blog so you can be entered for some "sweet" prizes! 



Design Teams

The last few weeks have been VERY crazy but I HAVE been able to break out some major crafting! First of all, I'm "competing" for a spot on Crop Chocolate.com's design team. I made it on the June design team...YAY!!! A few more projects and we'll see if I can make it!!! Can't wait to see what happens! In the meantime, I'll be posting my projects here for Crop Chocolate.com as well as Crafting Family.com of which I am also on the design team. So without further ado.....

This is my layout that was submitted for the June 2011 sketch for Crafting Family.com. My girls are my inspiration and reason I do what I do each and everyday. I thought this layout was perfect for them. :) I used Echo Park "Life is Good" collection, miscellaneous gems, buttons and some faux stitching.

I made this altered jar for my Crafting Family design for this week. It's a "Happy Thoughts" jar that I made for my girls. It's made with the My Mind's Eye Abbye Road "Whirlybird" collection. This jar is going to be filled with slips of paper or things that will make them happy and want to help others be happy.  

The June theme for Crop Chocolate.com was "All about me". I decided that a layout wasn't exactly what I needed to do for this theme so I thought I would step outside the proverbial box and do something that would be fun. I made the flowers from Bo Bunny's Vicki B collection, chipboard and decorated with Stickles. Each flower has a word or words that describes something about me. The card that is attached has a list of all of the words and why they describe me.

I will be posting more pictures in the next day or two. If any of you want to know how to make something I post or would like me to make something for you, please email me at laughingsunshinecreations@gmail.com.

Thanks!!! <3 <3

Busy Busy BUSY!!!

Sorry it's been sooo long since my last post. Things kinda went a little crazy here and I've had to get things back in order before I could get back to business. New posts will be here SOON!!!! I promise!!!

Queen of Color

I love last minute cards. This card was made for my hubby's boss for her birthday. She's such a beautiful and gracious lady and treats my hubby with so much respect. I felt that she deserved something nice. :)

I found this picture frame at a local second hand store for $2. After a few months of trying to figure out what to do with it, I decided to think outside the box and make something with depth. Who knew it would turn out like this. :)

One of my coworkers was going to throw out a box of display tiles since we were no longer using them.She stopped by my desk to see if maybe I could use them. Boy...am I glad she did!!! I decided that I wanted to make something cute for my daughter's room so I made these name tiles for her. One man's trash is another man's treasure!

I love to mix colors. I figure if it's good for a rainbow, it's good for my crafts!

These are just a few things I've made over the last month. As I continue to create, I will post pictures. If you are interested in having me make something like what you see here, let me know. I would love to make something for you!

Hope you have a great day!!!

~M



Mission: Create!

Each and everyday, I wake up and wonder what I will create that day. Will it be a smile on a sad heart? Will it be hope in a downtrodden soul? How about a song that just can't leave your head many hours after it is even mentioned? (Oh...I love doing that to people...lol!)

I really enjoy creation. Our Heavenly Father created this beautiful earth. He planted the seeds we need to help our imaginations and talents grow. What we do with those seeds are up to us. If we don't cultivate them and help them grow bigger each day, they will dry up and blow away. So...you are wondering why I'm rambling...hee hee...

I love to

My story starts 12 years ago when I married my eternal sweetheart. I received a gift card for some scrapbooking supplies so I could scrap my new life with my husband and my daughter. I started right away and since funds were few and far between, I really had to be creative and make up my own designs to put in my books. Over a 2 year period, I was caught up with all of my daughter's pictures and was just getting ready to start scrapbooking the pictures of my youngest who was a newborn. I was soo excited that things were coming together so quickly! Nobody really told me that there was anything outside the world of scrapbooking until I met my friend, Michelle. She sells crafting products for a local stamping company and showed me that there really is more to crafting than scrapbooking.

I started making cards in 2002. I started out small and found that with just a few things that I had around the house, I really could create some nice cards. After some time, I feel I really developed a talent in cardmaking that was like none I had seen before. Of course, I'm my own worst critic so I have some great family and friends who "say" they are giving me honest and unbiased opinions which has really helped me a lot! I have really enjoyed making cards and love learning new ways to make my homemade cards AMAZING!

Two years ago, a few of my dearest friends and I decided we would have GNO's once a month and craft, visit, whatever we wanted to do. It's really been a lot of fun! While doing this, I heard about Crop Chocolate. You're thinking, Crop Chocolate??? What's that???

I love Crop Chocolate! It's an online crafting website that sells products to those of us (like me) who likes buying sweet products at sweet deals. The people who run this company are SWEET too! They started a design team around the time I heard about the company and I thought, what a way to get my creations out there for people to see. So...without much thought, I joined. It really has been a BLAST! I have made some wonderful friends and feel that I really have expanded my area of creativity. ;)

Now...I want to do more. Things are changing in the design team setup for Crop Chocolate and I thought, I really want to design things still. I want to do more and more and more. :D

So, a few friends and I have decided to make up our own design team! It's going to be sooo exciting and fun and....and.... and I'll be able to post everything I make right here or on our Facebook page. Can you tell I really am excited??? Hmmmm?????

This blog will be primarily a blog of tutorials, pictures, event announcements, special deals on special order items, you name it...it may be here. If you have any suggestions of things that you would like to see, that you would like me to look into, whatever, please leave me a comment or you can email me at laughingsunshinecreations@gmail.com.

Well, this is my history. It's been a fun and enjoyable ride and I can't wait to see what's around the corner waiting for me.

Thanks for reading my post. I hope you will follow along and enjoy the fun things that I blog about.

Much love...

Michele