Taylor Stamped

Together Is The Best Place To Be

2012-01-26T10:05:00.000-06:00

Today's project is a bit of a bundle project. Glue Dots® challenged its designers this month to make a wedding project, and Moxie Fab World is having a Punches Challenge. I thought I'd combine the 2 and make some framed art with my Fiskars Heart Squeeze Punch that would also make a lovely wedding gift.

I know you've probably seen a lot of this kind of framed art. This one's a bit more personalized because you use a map of a location that is special to the couple that will be receiving the gift to add an additional personalized touch. For example, this one is made from multiple maps of different locations that are special to my husband and me (where we met, where we married, where we owned our first home). If you are attending a destination wedding you could make the hearts from the map of that destination (i.e. Jamaica, Hawaii, Mexico).

Here's what I used to make my frame:

The background piece is a sheet of Jillibean Soup Kraft card stock. I cut it down to fit the frame and ran it through my printer to created the border and text. You could easily do this part with a black fine point pen and a ruler. I just have really, really bad handwriting so I decided to print the text instead.

Here's a close up of the text:

I attached my hearts with Mini Glue Dots®, but the Ultra Thin Glue Dots® would work equally as well here. Whenever I arrange something in a grid pattern, I lay one row across and one down to get the spacing right, then I work out in rows from there.

In the bottom right hand corner, I created a heart with our wedding date on it instead of creating a heart out of a map piece. Instead of using flat adhesive for this heart, I attached it with a Pop Up Glue Dot®

...and there you have it! just pop your creation in a frame and you're all set!

Thanks for stopping by!

*I created this post while participating on the Glue Dots® Design Team

The 2nd Snow

2012-01-21T16:11:00.003-06:00

Well, in honor of only the 2nd "real" snow we've received so far this winter (and for where I live, it's crazy not to be covered in snow all winter), I thought I'd share my Bo Bunny Snowfall layout of the first snow from this season.

My boys couldn't wait to get out and "help" Dad shovel. About 1/2 of the papers in Snowfall are glittered, so I chose just a few of those to highlight the page. The line has a bit of an antiqued feel to it, so I inked all of the edges of my papers to help the all meld together. I even inked the edges of the Thickers I used for the title.

Thanks for stopping by!

Felt Flower

2012-01-16T10:13:00.001-06:00

Hello! I'm hosting the color challenge over at Stamp School today featuring the colors from this creation

I made this bright felt flower from 4 colors of Stamp School felt (Blue Raspberry, Berrylicious, Razzleberry, and the light pink that will be released soon!) and the Lifestyle Crafts Nesting Leaf Die. It took a little time to stitch it all together, but I love the end result...and I just don't think it would look the same without the stitching. I planted the flower in a square vase that I had from some flowers I received a long time ago. I created a stem from copper picture wire (use the thickest gauge you can find so it will stand on its own), and secured it in place by filling the vase with those decorating glass 1/2 marbles. I've also created a matching card, but you'll have to head over to Stamp School to see that.

Stamp School is also having a Facebook Giveaway right now. There will be a Stamp School prize pack awarded to one lucky Facebook commenter (randomly chosen by random.org). All you need to do to enter is like Stamp School on Facebook and answer a question. Since we’re Stamp School, we want to know the name of your all time favorite teacher! For additional entries, you can tell others about Stamp School. When your friends like Stamp School they should answer the question AND tell us who sent them (i.e. My favorite teacher was Mrs. Smith, and Samantha Taylor sent me). They’ll get an entry for commenting, and you will receive an additional entry for every friend you send over to Stamp School. All comments need to be made by 11:59 pm CST on Friday, January 20th, on our Facebook Page. To comply with Facebook rules and regulations, the winner will be announced here on the Stamp School blog on Saturday, January 21st. Good luck!

Thanks for stopping by today!

Go Pack Go!

2012-01-08T21:10:00.000-06:00

I haven't had a whole lot of time to scrap just because lately, so even though this isn't my all time favorite layout, I'm happy to have this photo scrapped and in my album.

Last year the owner of my local scrap store procured some Packer scrapbook paper for me (because she knows I'm such a fan), so scrapping last year's game photo was easy. This year, I wasn't exactly sure what I was going to do since I didn't have any of that paper left. Then I saw it, when wandering the store, I saw the greens and yellows of My Mind's Eye Lost & Found 2 line, and knew it would be great for my Packer photos.

The glittered papers add some extra fun, and there are lots of great titles and layered stickers. What didn't work on it's own, I just changed. For example, the "WIN" stickers actually said, "YOU". I just used some alphas in the right size and color to change it to WIN, since the packers had a 35 - 21 victory over the Bears that game.

To create the journaling labels, I used a Spellbinders set to cut 2 labels from a cream colored patterned paper. I then used the die as a mask and sponged on some Tim Holtz Distressed ink in Antique Linen to add a bit more pizazz to the labels.

Thanks for stopping by!

Stamp School

2011-12-31T18:10:00.000-06:00

Stamp School is officially in session January 1, 2012! That means you can get their new stamp sets, paper, ink, and felt starting tomorrow. To get you ready for the release, I thought I'd put a little product info out there so you know just what Stamp School is all about and the quality you can expect.

Cardstock
Poptone Cardstock from Stamp School is a heavy 100 pound cover weight cardstock. It works brilliantly for card bases, however we suggest you score your cardstock before you fold it, it's just THAT heavy weight. The Poptone Cardstock cuts beautifully with any diecut machine and die, even the thin wafer thin steel rule dies from My Favorite Things or Spellbinders. It has matching dye inks, and matching wool felt.

Inks
The Poptone Dye Ink from Stamp School is a raised dye ink pad. The inks are made to match the Poptone Cardstock. The ink pad comes with a hinged lid, so you won't ever lose your lid, and is labeled with the ink color. It works beautifully on our clear stamps, and because it is a dye ink you can do any technique fit for dye inks. We also have re-inkers available.

Felt
Soft to the touch yet sturdy, Stamp School felt is medium-weight 100% merino wool, imported from Holland. Be forewarned, once you craft with it you'll have a hard time ever going back to a blend or acrylic. Approximately 14 oz. per linear yard (36x72 inches) and 1mm thick, almost 1/16 inch. Our felt is not flammable,and safe for babies and children.

Stamps
Stamp School stamps are made in the USA with the highest quality photopolymer.

Stamp School will release two stamp sets per month. One set is a themed image set, drawn by one of our illustrators. The other set is a sentiment set that is meant to be used on the inside of your handmade cards (although we’re sure you’ll love them so much they might take center stage on front too!).
That covers the products, but what about how to use the stamps? As the name implies, the site is opening up Stamp School to help teach stamping techniques from the most basic of stamping to cutting edge techniques that use the latest and greatest tools. Stamp School has a YouTube channel, where you can watch the Faculty (Design Team) create handmade cards, altered arts, or other paper crafting projects. They have a full line-up of tips and tricks that our Faculty will share with you every day on the blog. Lastly, they have step-by-step tutorials planned that the Faculty will share on the blog, and they’ll be available in the Stamp School archives.

Here are a few cards I've created with one of January's stamp sets:

This is just to peak your interest, if you want to find out more about this stamp set, check out Stamp School, and see really great cards, head over to Stamp School's Blog by clicking here.

A Few Things for the New Year

2011-12-30T20:10:00.000-06:00

I'm super excited that the countdown has started for the release of new stamp sets from the BRAND NEW COMPANY Stamp School:

The first 2 stamp sets will be released January 1, but if you head over to Stamp School's Blog right now, you can see projects made by the owner, Lisa, and by the design team using the new sets. I'll also be back here tomorrow with a card or 2 I've made using the new sets and some info about the card stock, ink, and felt Stamp School will be carrying as well. If you can't tell, I'm super excited to be starting out my new year as the design team coordinator for this awesome new company.

Now on to 2 projects using the same base pieces. About 2 weeks ago A Walk Down Memory Lane handed out these fun packs of kraft calendars (2 sets of calendars per pack) from Maya Road for customer appreciation day. Before that day, Lisa gave me a pack and said, "can you do something with these?" Oh...music to my ears, and challenge accepted!

Up first is a purse/pocket calendar made 6 badge holders tied together.

You can find the badge holders at just about any office supply store or office section of a big box store. I paired the calendar pieces with paper and stickers from Simple Stories' Year-O-Graphy collection. I kept the embellishments flat and minimal to keep this calendar from being bulky in your purse. It's cute, simple, and fun to put together.

If you're looking for a bit more of a challenge you can try making a wall calendar:

This starts out as a calendar, but turns into a photo display. The calendar cards are attached with Removable Glue Dots®, that way when the month is done, you just take the calendar off to reveal the photo underneath. The paper is again from Simple Stories Year-o-Graphy. All of the circles (photo and patterned paper) were cut with the Lifestyle Crafts Nesting Circle Dies.

I punched holes through the Maya Road 3″ Super Mega Bottle Caps, and strung some May Arts ribbon (that you can buy by the yard. You’ll need about 3 yards total) through the holes. Then you can use the stickers from the Simple Stories Year-o-graphy line to embellish the photos and calendar pieces as you like. This is a really fun project that can be hung in your house long after the calendar year is over!

Thanks for stopping by!

Quick Christmas Tree Layout

2011-12-22T15:26:00.002-06:00

I took some photos of my kids decorating and checking out the Christmas tree. I really love how they turned out, and wanted to make sure I got at least one of the photos scrapped. I took about an hour today to quick get it down on paper. Better yet, I used up my leftovers from another project!

Everything except for the buttons is from Crate Paper's Peppermint Collection. The buttons are from Bo Bunny Blitzen.

Merry Christmas!

Sketch Support Week 2

2011-12-17T22:03:00.001-06:00

'Tis the season for neglecting my blog it seems like. I'm just popping in here to let you know that I have another layout over on Sketch Support. This week the sketch is a 2-page layout.

Head over to Sketch Support to check out (and download) the sketch this layout was created from.

Thanks for stopping by!

Sketch Support Week 1

2011-12-10T15:28:00.001-06:00

Today my first projects for my December guest designer stint are up over on Sketch Support. Here's a look at the cards I made for the sketch using Echo Park's Season's Greetings:

If you want to see the sketch (and print your own copy of the sketch to use) you'll have to head over to Sketch Support. You'll also find directions on how I made the ribbon tree as well.

Thanks for stopping by!

A few sketchy things

2011-12-06T12:04:00.001-06:00

Hello! I wanted to pop in and let you all know that I am super, super excited about being the December Guest Designer over at Sketch Support. This week is Card Sketch week. My cards aren't up yet, but they'll be up later this week, and you really don't want to miss out on the fun Christmas Card sketch and the great projects the design team has made with it. I'll post my cards here once they've gone up on Sketch Support, but you can only see the sketch over there (oh, and P.S. you can pick up all of Allison's Sketches for... books here at AWDML).

If you've followed my blog for a while, you also know that I'm a big fan of Liz Qualman's sketches for Little Yellow Bicycle. They have a sketch contest going on right now (entries are due until Dec 31, so you have plenty of time to enter), and I made a layout with it using Winter Twig (which is even more beautiful in person than it is in pictures!). Here's the sketch:

Here's my take on it:

I added a few more layers, and changed up the photos a bit, but otherwise I stayed pretty true to the sketch.

We had this amazing ice storm last February, every inch of everything outside was covered in a layer of ice. I've seen a lot of snow storms, but this ice storm may have just been the most beautiful winter storm I've seen, Especially when the sun shone on it.

Thanks for stopping by!

December 1st means...

2011-12-01T15:03:00.001-06:00

... two new featured manufactures at A Walk Down Memory Lane. This month you can shop Bella Blvd and Stampin' Scrappin' at 25% off! I created this layout with Bella Blvd's Hello Fall line. I hope it inspires you.

Thanks for stopping by!

A Different Kind of Memo Board

2011-11-30T16:35:00.001-06:00

I almost didn't share this project, in a strange way, it feels a bit more personal than I usually get here. I made these for me, to remind me, to help me. But, hey, what's the point in having a craft blog if you're not going to share it, so here goes. I'll try to keep my explanation short...but I know I'm going to be long winded today, so feel free to just scroll down to the pictures if you only want to see what I made.
For a while I've been wanting to make a board to tack bible verses on that I come across and want to commit better to memory. I've also thought at time it would be nice to have a prayer board of some kind, because I often leave something out of my prayers. I've also thought it would be nice to have a little place to remind myself to work on things (be patient, speak with gentleness, etc.). These were 3 separate ideas that were in the back of my mind that all came together this weekend. I had 3 framed prints that I didn't much care for anymore. I took the frames from those prints and re-purposed them into 3 pretty yet functional dry erase boards.

My board for writing Bible verses I want to memorize:


Write them on the tablet of your heart (Proverbs 7:3)

My board for writing prayer reminders:


Pray Continually (1 Thessalonians 5:17)

My personal reminder board:

How great the love the Father has lavished on us. That we should be called Children of God! (1 John 3:1)

Here's what they look like on my wall:

The glass acts like a dry erase board. I have small dry erase markers that have an eraser built into the cap and have a magnet attached to them, so they can hang on my refrigerator. The wall where these hang is directly across from my island in my kitchen...a place where I spend a lot of time. The finished size of each frame is 10" x 10". I cut the words from vinyl. To make cleaning easy I cut the words backwards and adhered them to the inside of the frame instead of the outside.

Thanks for stopping by!

December Daily

2011-11-29T08:04:00.001-06:00

It's almost December, so I thought I'd share my December Daily Album with all of you. I've never done one before, but I always feel like this time of year goes really fast, so this year I decided to capture some of the craziness that is December in a DD Album. This concept has been around for quite a while, and I really don’t know who originally came up with it, but here, in my own words is what it’s all about:

A December Daily (DD) is a way to capture the fun, excitement, and craziness that is the month of December with minimal work done in December. The key is to make your base pages (seen below) before December. Then when December rolls around, each day you just need to add journaling and/or a photo or two and any extra embellishments you may want to add. Because this is my first DD, I planned most of my pages out ahead of time so I was able to add some extra theme stickers ahead of time. If you’re not sure what your crazy December will look like, just keep the pages generic and add special touches at a later time. There does not need to be a photo on every page, sometimes just journaling about an event, tradition, or favorite memory is enough. Pages can be a single page per day or a double page per day (or, like I did, a mix of both). My DD measures 6″ x 8″, but again, there really is no right size to make it. I decided to use 2 Echo Park Paper Kits (Holly Jolly Christmas, and Christmas Dots and Stripes) combined with lots of twine, buttons, and brads from my stash to create my album. Below are a few close ups of my favorite base pages, and the last picture is a collage of all the pages in order.

One more thing before I'm done today, A Walk Down Memory Lane's 12 Days of Christmas Sale starts Thursday. Check the blog each day to find out the new sale item and see some amazing inspiration:

Bottle Cap Christmas Ornaments

2011-11-27T16:56:00.001-06:00

I got this idea in my head to make some Christmas ornaments from the Maya Road 4" Jumbo Bottle Caps (which, coincidentally are 25% off until the end of this month at AWDML). I came up with a few different ones, and I thought I'd post 2 of them today.

First up is one I made for May Arts' Ribbon Challenge.

May Arts sent 4 different ribbons and the challenge was to use those to create something with a Christmas theme. I used the 4 ribbons (the twine for hanging, the green twine on the Christmas tree, the red/brown ribbon that's filling in the bottle cap, and the brown multi-strand twine as the tree trunk). I also added 2 more ribbons from May Arts (the pleated cream for the tree and the black/cream striped for the bow) to complete the ornament.

Next is an ornament I made using Echo Park's Season's Greetings.

Season's Greetings is definitely one of my favorite Christmas collections this year. I rubbed some green Alcohol Ink onto the bottle cap to dull the color a bit. I also added some Stickles, pearls and rhinestones to complete the ornament. The ribbon on this ornament is from May Arts as well.

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend!

This Week

2011-11-22T09:09:00.001-06:00

I always love this time of year. I especially love that I get to see my husband more. With Thanksgiving and Christmas, he takes a few days off, and I truly appreciate having him around the house. I'm busy cooking and baking this week, and on either Friday or Saturday we put out all the Christmas decorations. Here's a new one I made this year to add to the stash:

I've steadily been making my way through my Echo Park Season's Greetings Colletion Kit. It's amazing how many projects I have been able to create with this kit and I still have more of it left (right now the count is at 2 home decor projects, 2 Christmas ornaments, 4 Christmas cards, and 1 layout). For extra embellishments I used some May Arts ribbon, Bo Bunny Blitzen Brads, Bo Bunny Blitzen Buttons, and Hero Arts Dots.
I wanted to use this frame to tell the Christmas Story so the text portions are Bible verses that start with Isaiah and end with the Wise Men kneeling before their King.
A few notes about the measurements. The frame size is 11" x 14". I chose that size because I wanted something larger, however I didn't think it through completely. I got home and realized I don't have background paper large enough for that size frame. I realized that I did have kraft wrapping paper somewhere in my house, so I trimmed a piece of that down to 11" x 14", and it worked out just fine. Each individual square is 2.5" x 2.5".

Thanks for stopping by!

Teal and Orange Party Decorations

2011-11-19T10:38:00.001-06:00

This month, Glue Dots® challenged its designers to create teal and orange party decorations. I happen to have Christmas on the brain, so mine are geared toward a teal and orange Christmas party. However I'll explain simple ways to change up the decorations to make them fit for other party situation, too. I have 2 ideas today. First up is a fun centerpiece:

I chose to make mine look like a Christmas ornament, but you could just as easily make yours look like a pumpkin, apple, or even switch out the shape for a star. My finished piece is just about 6" x 6". If you'd like to make one about the same size you'll need:

Ultra Thin or Craft Glue Dots®
A way to cut circles (or any other symmetrical shape). I used the Lifestyle Crafts nesting circle cutting dies.
3 - 12" x 12" pieces of paper (I used Authentique Gathering Grow and Together and Little Yellow Bicycle Hellow Fall Bundle-up Blue)
A scoring tool
A topper for your centerpiece (I used Fiskar's Scalloped Sentiments border punch to create an ornament topper).

Cut 12 circles and score them down the middle.

Attach the wrong sides of the circles together from the score line to the curved edge with Ultra Thin or Craft Glue Dots®. Repeat until you have a 12 adhered into a circle.

I cut the bottom of my circle off slightly to create a flat base instead of a rounded edge. Add your topper (ornament topper for an ornament, stem and leaves if you're making an apple or pumpkin).

For my second project I decided to make something that can be hung from a light or the ceiling. Make a dozen or so of these to really add ambiance to your party:

For this project you'll need
Mini Glue Dots®
18" of orange ribbon per decoration
1 Teal pearl (If you don't have teal pearls, use a white one and color it teal with a Copic Marker)
Glitter paper (I used American Crafts Pow! Glitter Paper)
String to hang your piece from when you've finished.

Cut your 18" ribbon into 3 - 6" pieces of ribbon. Form a loop with each piece. Adhere together using a Mini Glue Dot®

Form each loop into an 8 shape by placing a Mini Glue Dot® in the center and pinching together.

Layer all 3 loops on top of each other, adhering with mini glue dots.

Cut a shape from glitter paper for the center of your ornament. Depending on your theme, you can pick appropriate shapes: hearts for a wedding or baby shower, snowflake for a winter party, flowers for a spring party. Attach the glitter shape to the center of your ornament with a Mini Glue Dot®

Add a teal pearl to the center of your glitter paper using a Mini Glue Dot. Add string and hang! My boys and I are going to add string and use a snowflake shape in the center and hand them out as Christmas ornaments to our family this year.

Happy party planning!

I wrote this post while participating on the Glue Dots® Design Team.

Stamp School Design Team Call

2011-11-18T15:04:00.001-06:00

I am so excited to announce that I will be part of a brand new stamp company opening January 1, 2012 called Stamp School. While Stamp School may be new, it's being opened by Lisa who is the owner of A Walk Down Memory Lane (a paper craft store that has an on-line store and a brick and mortar store location in NW Iowa). Those of you who are regular visitors to my blog may know that I am on her in-store design team and also do the social media for AWDML. I'm thrilled to now be taking on the role of Design Team Coordinator for Stamp School. I have nothing but the highest respect for Lisa and how she runs AWDML, and can't wait to be a part of this new venture. We're looking for a few good stampers to help put the word out about Stamp School and show what these fabulous stamps can do.

The Call:

Here at Stamp School, our Design Team members (aka. Faculty) are an integral part of our lesson plans. Our Faculty members will guide you on your learning experience through our blog, gallery and our YouTube lessons.
We are looking for designers who are passionate about stamping and that would love to showcase our beautiful stamps. We are currently looking for three members to join our Faculty. The first term starts January 1, 2012 and lasts until December 31, 2012.

The call details:
All Design Team applications must be received by December 9, 2011. We will contact Design Team members by December 13, 2011.

What we require from you:
1. You must live in the United States or Canada (sorry, no international applicants at this time)
2. Create six (6) hand stamped cards per month , and one (1) non-card item (tag, gift item, scrapbook page, etc.) to upload to the gallery and Facebook photo album. You will provide photographs only, you keep your cards and projects.
3. Each faculty member is required to post at least one blog post a week on your personal blog.
4. Each faculty member will create one blog post a week on the Stamp School blog.
5. Create one tutorial per month using step-by-step photographs or by video.
6. Participation in Stamp School’s Blog Hops and Challenges including comments on entries.
7. Participate on Stamp School’s Facebook Page.
8. Submit two projects per month to a print magazine publication call.
9. Proudly display our Design Team button on your blog.
10. Submit your projects to a print magazine publication call.
11. Upload your creations to your galleries around the web, linking to StampSchool.com.

What you get from Stamp School:
1. Our newly released stamp sets each month.
2. Two 25 packs of Pop Tones cardstock and two ink pads of Pop Tones ink each month (contingent on meeting your design team requirements for the previous month). * You will get to choose the colors of paper and ink you receive each month.
3. A 30 % discount and free shipping on all purchases at our sister store during your Design Team term (AWDML has over 20,000 products in store!).
4. Compensation for cards and projects that are published in a print magazine during your Design Team term.
5. Recognition on Stamp School’s blog and website.
6. Personalized watermarks for your blog posts.
To apply, send an e-mail to dtcall@stampschool.com with the subject DESIGN TEAM CALL with the following:
1. Photos of three of your favorite stamped cards and one of your favorite non-card stamped projects (these do not need to be new creations, just show us your best work).
2. Your Name, Address, Phone Number, e-mail address.
3. A link to your blog, craft resume (if you have one), and on-line galleries (if you have any).
4. Are you on Facebook or Twitter?
5. How long have you been stamping?
6. How would you describe your style?
7. What makes you stand out from the paper craft crowd (are you Copic Certified, love making tutorial videos, a technique junkie, a whiz at creating unique backgrounds from stamps)?
8. Have you been published (this is not a requirement, we just want to know)?
9. A list of past and current design teams (no previous design team experience required).
10. What is your favorite coloring medium? (Copics, colored pencils, watercoloring, etc)

**You will receive an e-mail within 48 hours confirming our receipt of your application.

Holiday Open House

2011-11-14T10:20:00.001-06:00

This upcoming Saturday, November 19, A Walk Down Memory Lane is having a Holiday Open House from 10 am - 1 pm. If you’re looking to add a handmade touch to your holidays, you should definitely come by. They’ll have lots of holiday home decor items, layouts, and cards on display to inspire your creativity and help you get your holidays off to a crafty start.

You can also use these few hours to start your Wish List. They’ll help you compile a wish list card, and even call, email or text your gift givers to remind them of a special shopping night coming up in December!

I've been really busy (and having a blast) coming up with what I hope will be inspiring creations for the open house. Here's a sneak peak at just 1 of the many ideas that will be on display:

This is one in a project in a series I'm doing showing how much you can create from 1 collection pack (I used the Echo Park Seasons Greetings Collection Pack).

Can't wait to see you there!

Lovely Pumpkins

2011-11-08T16:35:00.000-06:00

These are photos from way back at the end of September. We had a gorgeous, warm fall day out at the pumpkin patch. This layout focuses on my oldest son's choice of pumpkin. I have to admit, fall is definitely one of may favorite seasons for taking photos.

I fell in love with this paper from Lily Bee when it came into A Walk Down Memory Lane. Since I have a lot of pumpkin patch photos this year and I've already created fall layouts with the fall lines from Jillibean, Bella Blvd, and Bo Bunny, I thought Id try my hand at turning this somewhat frilly line into a boyish pumpkin patch layout.

After a bit of paper layering, some of my favorite border punches, and a few buttons and brads, I came up with a layout I'm pretty happy with.

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies
Paper: Lily Bee Lovely (Charm, Whimsy, Parasol, Trinket)
Accessories: Jillibean Soup Apple Cheddar Card Stock Stickers, MME Lush 2 Brads, Jenni Bowlin Brads (Delicate), Bo Bunny Forever Fall Buttons
Tools: EK Success Deep Edge Punch Circles, Fiskars Give It A Swirl Border Punch

November News

2011-11-05T20:55:00.003-05:00

Hello! It's November already, which means there are 2 new featured manufacturers at A Walk Down Memory Lane. November's featured manufacturers are Bo Bunny and Maya Road. That means you receive 25% off on all Bo Bunny and Maya Road purchases on-line or in the Brick and Mortar store. I had a blast creating with Bo Bunny. I especially fell in love with their new fall line (Forever Fall) and their Christmas Line (Blitzen). You'll have to keep an eye on the AWDML blog to see what I created with Blitzen later this month, but I can't help but share here a bit of what I created with Forever Fall:

My favorite thing about creating these was making the copper leaves. I created a video tutorial if you'd like to try your hand at making them too. You can find it here on AWDML's YouTube channel.

Thanks for stopping by!

Class on Saturday

2011-11-01T07:58:00.001-05:00

Hi everyone! I know I've been so blog negligent lately, and for that I apologize. For my local readers, I just wanted to let you know I'll be teaching my annual Holiday Stack of Cards class this Saturday. The class is filling up fast, so if you'd like to attend, here are the details:

Saturday, November 5, 10 am - 12:30 pm
Spend a few hours getting your holiday cards done. You will make 15 cards (5 each of 3 different cards). Everything will be cut for you, all you need to do is stamp, emboss, die cut, or letterpress and assemble. Experienced card makers can choose to do a double class (you must let us know ahead of time if you'd like this option) and complete 10 each of 3 different cards.
Bring lots of your favorite adhesive for assembling cards.
cost: $20
call AWDML at (712)476-3443 to register.

The picture above is one of the cards for the class. What I love about this class is that you get a lot of cards made AND you'll hopefully learn something new. The card above uses a great technique for adding glitter to a diecut (that silver die-cut is completely covered in glitter that doesn't shed very much at all). One of the cards is letterpressed, and the other focuses on stamping.

For those of you who aren't local to the area: if you want to know more about making this card, just leave me your e-mail in the comment section and I can send you a supply list (links and all) for making the card.

I can't believe Christmas is less than 2 months away!

Adventures in Canvas Part 2, Little Yellow Bicycle, and a Give Away

2011-10-21T05:00:00.000-05:00

I'm super excited to be bringing you what I created for Little Yellow Bicycle's Cycling Team (sort of like a guest designer light spot). It's been an awesome opportunity being able to create with all this LYB goodness. The above framed art is a trio that I created from Little Yellow Bicycle's Get Your Game On and three 8 x 10 shadow box style frames. You can check out a little more about what I learned about working with LYB Colorable Canvas In My Adventures in Canvas Part 1.

I used Copic Markers to color the canvases, and then sponged on a very light shade of alcohol ink to add a bit of age to the canvases. I especially concentrated on the edges of the canvas and the figures of the players. If you're not terribly artistic when it comes to things like coloring and shading (and I'm one of those people who's not), have no fear: there is a pre-printed shading on the canvases already. I just followed where the players were already shaded and enhanced it a bit.

It's really easy to attach things to the canvases, and it's a fun way to add depth, interest, and a change of texture to the piece. Here, the baseball is a Game On chipboard piece that I attached with a Glue Dot® right on top of a baseball that was printed on the canvas.

I matted the 5" x 7" Canvas Colorables on an 8" x 10" piece of matching Game On patterned paper.

I added stickers and chipboard pieces not only to the canvas and patterned paper, but also to the frame and glass.

These have been hanging on my son's bedroom wall for about 3 weeks now, and he absolutely loves them, and I love that I was able to make something for him.

If you've made it to the end of this really long post, you deserve a prize! If you'd like the chance to play around with some Game On paper, Canvas Colorables, and accessories just leave me a comment on this post and you'll be entered to win. I'll draw a random winner and post it on my blog next Friday.

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:
Frame - 3 - 8 x 10 shadowbox style frames
Canvases - Little Yellow Bicycle Get Your Game On (Football, Baseball, Basketball)
Paper - LYB Game On (Football Collage, Baseball Collage, Basketball Collage)
Accessories - LYB Game On (Stickers Favorite Pieces (Basketball, Baseball, Football), Chipboard Shapes, Mini Banners (football)), Copic Markers
Tools - Sponge Daubers

October AWDML Layout of the Month

2011-10-20T13:00:00.000-05:00

I just wanted to let you all know that I am up this month for A Walk Down Memory Lane's Layout of the Month. If your interested, here's how it works:

1. Come into the store and grab a layout recipe card.

2. Grab the card stock and patterned paper needed to create the layout.

3. Grab any optional embellishments you may need (i.e. rhinestones,

journaling markers).

4. When you check out, get free step-by-step instructions (with a color

photo) for the layout.

** If you're an on-line customer just shoot AWDML an email by clicking here or give them a call at (712)476-3443 and ask them to pull the papers for you for the October Layout of the Month. When they ship your order, they'll include the instructions. All you need to buy to get the instructions is the cardstock and patterned paper, but let them know if you want any of the optionals like Glossy Accents, alpha stickers, or foam tape.

It's a bit hard to tell from the photo, but the background is a Core'dinations technique that's great for Halloween layouts. There's a tutorial video here that I made if you'd like to learn how to do it.

Fruit Stand

2011-10-19T16:06:00.000-05:00

I actually had a chance to play around with the Paper Smooches SPARKS Challenge on time this time around. Okay, a word of caution here...this card is way outside my "normal" style. I've seen a few awning style cards around and when I saw the inspiration for this week

my mind went right to the thought that I should try making a fruit stand by creating an awning style card and using Paper Smooches Fruitastic stamp set.

I also drew my color inspiration from the photo...I got a bit off track, but the pinks, reds, and greens were my starting point. I wasn't sure if this card would be a pain if I decided to mail it. Good news is the awning lays down pretty flat and bounces back up when it's pulled out of the envelope.

This is also the first Copic coloring I've done since taking a class on it. In the past I've sort of just winged it, so it was fun to try my hand at doing it the "right way". I've got a lot of work to do, but it was fun!

Thanks for stopping by today!

Halloween Envelope Album

2011-10-18T12:36:00.000-05:00

I'm getting a jump start on my Halloween photos this year. Every year, when the costumes come, my boys put them on to make sure they fit and to check that we have all the accessories needed. I usually take this opportunity to take photos. That way on the actual day of trick-or-treating, I only have to snap a few photos of them in the act. Since I already have some of the photos, I decided to get a mini album started and half decorated.

This year, I'm making an envelope album, but instead of using pre-made envelopes, I made them myself from My Little Shoebox's Trick-or-Treat collection. It's bright, fun, and has spiders and bats in it, which is perfect for highlighting my little Spiderman and Batman.

To make the album, first you'll need to decide what size envelopes you'll want. I chose A7 which is the size that fits a 5" x 7" photo (so the finished envelope is slightly bigger than 5" x 7"). No need to re-invent the wheel here, if you have the Martha Stewart Scoring Board it gives you all the measurements you'll need if you stick with a standard size. Otherwise, Google the size you want to make. No need to try to figure it out for yourself.

For an A7 envelope, cut your paper to 10" x 10". Place your paper so it's shaped like a diamond. Score at 3 1/4". Turn 90 degrees, sore at 4 1/4". Turn 90 degrees, score at 3 1/4". Turn 90 degrees, sore at 4 1/4".

Cut the notches out where the score lines overlap.

Now you're ready to fold and assemble your envelope. I like Glue Dots® Glue Lines the best for this task. They're thin and come pre-cut in just the right size sections.

I used 4 lines per envelope, 1 at the middle and one at the bottom of each side. Fold the bottom flap up over the side flaps. Leave the top open (just like a regular envelope).

Make as many of these envelopes as you want for your album. I made 7.

To assemble your album place a few glue lines along the flap of the envelope where the adhesive would normally be on an envelope. I also placed one in the middle just above the flap fold line. Take the envelope with the adhesive flap open, face down. Take another envelope, face up (if this is the first page fold the flap backwards, otherwise the flap will already be folded into another page). Insert the flap of the face down envelope into the pocket of the face up envelope. Move into place until both edges match up. Press down to seal adhesive in place. Repeat until all of your envelopes are gone.

Now the fun really begins: you can decorate your album. By creating an album from envelopes, you'll have pockets on every other page so you can:

...hide journaling

...stash a photo

...or seal right over it an use it like a normal page.

Happy haunting!

I wrote this post while participating on the Glue Dots® Design Team.

Honey Pop Holiday Card Class

2011-10-12T10:44:00.000-05:00

Saturday I'll be teaching class at A Walk Down Memory Lane on how to make the cards pictured above using Inky Antics Honey Pop Stamps. The class cost $20 and is from 10:30 am - 12:30 pm this Saturday, October 15. You can call AWDML at (712)476-3443 to reserve your spot. You can also click here to check out AWDML's full calendar of store events and classes.

2 Layouts

2011-10-11T17:44:00.000-05:00

Okay, so these 2 layouts don't have much in common, except that they're made with Little Yellow Bicycle papers and I made them this past weekend. Up first is a layout about my garden.

I really, really love having a garden. It's not pretty and it's usually full of a good crop of weeds, too, but I love it. I love that my kids "help" by digging in the dirt. I love that my youngest eats raspberries straight off the bush, and most of all I love eating and canning fresh goodies from the garden. The paper and all the embellishments are from LYB's Elizabeth Park Collection.

Long before my oldest was ever in school, he had to have a backpack. For some reason, he thinks backpacks are one of the coolest things in the world. He's passed that love on to his younger brother (who isn't in school yet, but proudly puts on his backpack every day when we take his older brother to school). I started wondering if that love of backpacks would be something I'd forget over time. Since I don't want to forget about it, I decided to take a few backpack pictures and scrap about it. I figured LYB's Head of the Class collection would be a good choice for the photos. The colors and themes seemed just right.

Thanks for stopping by!

A Little Bit of Fun

2011-10-10T09:03:00.001-05:00

Today's post is a little random. I have 2 projects that I made as part of challenges.

This is an old Paper Smooches Sparks challenge. I'm a bit behind on posting, so the challenge is done, but you should really head over to the challenge blog and check out the current inspiration piece. It's so cool!
Anyways, here's the inspiration piece for the old challenge:

And here's my take:

This card uses Paper Smooches Perpetual Bliss for the stamped lightbulb image and Fruitastic for the "you" sentiment. The paper and ribbon are from Crate Paper's Neighborhood Collection.

Up next is a card/tea bag holder I made for a challenge for May Arts. Basically, they sent people up for the challenge 4 different ribbons and you had to use them in a project. I decided to make this:

The finished card is 3 1/2" x 6". There is a 1/4" spine, so the card has space to add a 1/8" deep pocket on the inside. I slipped a bag of tea inside. It's an easy way to jazz up a card. This one is a "feel better soon" card, since tea seems to go well with that theme.

Thanks for stopping by!

In Love With Letterpress

2011-10-06T12:21:00.001-05:00

Saturday I bought the Lifestyle Crafts Letterpress. I love it. Seriously, love it. I kind of feel like I'm cheating on my stamps, but it's just so darn fun.

If you're not familiar with letterpress, basically it's a technique where you add ink to paper while simultaneously debossing the paper (I tried really hard to take a close up where you can see the debossing in the photo above). Lifestyle Crafts has a letterpress tool and line of inks, plates, papers, etc. that work with your manual die cutting machine (Big Shot, Cuttlebug, Epic). I picked my letterpress up at A Walk Down Memory Lane, and used it with my Big Shot. I really just wanted to get a feel for what the letterpress can do, so I did a lot of playing around. When I was done playing, I took those images and turned them into cards. I would like to note that it's really hard to photograph the debossing...these cards are a notch prettier in person because you can see the impression in the card stock.

I think what I love so much about letterpress is how well it lends itself to simple beauty and elegance. I didn't need to do much to create a card from this letterpress holly and Merry Christmas sentiment. I just added a little bit of patterned paper is from Echo Park's Dots & Stripes Christmas Collection.

The far left card has a leterpress background (green). Then I cut a letterpress ornament out and added it to the card with Pop Dots®. The sentiment was done with letterpress and put on the inside. The center card has letterpress ornaments, ornament hangers (in green) and Merry Christmas sentiment. On the card on the right, the ornaments and merry Christmas are letterpress. I created the ornaments using 2 colors of ink at the same time. The patterned paper is from Echo Park's Dots & Stripes and Echo Park's Season's Greetings.

I think these cards just might be my favorite of the bunch. The letterpress reindeer and Merry Christmas pair beautifully with Echo Park's Season's Greetings paper. Another bonus to letterpress is that it lends itself well to making multiples of an image. It's a fast and fun way to do invitations, multiple thank you's (say for a baby shower or wedding), or lots of Christmas cards.

Letterpress works the best on a cotton based paper (it's thick and squishy and debosses nicely), but as you can see by these cards, you can also use it on regular card stock.

...and just in case you thought I was only doing Christmas cards, here's a pretty thank you. This also shows that I can use stamps and leterpress together. The background words were stamped first. Then, I used my letterpress to add the green accents and the for you sentiment. The patterned paper used for the card base is Little Yellow Bicycle's Twig.

Thanks for stopping by! If you have any questions about letterpress or how it works feel free to ask. I'm by no means an expert, but I have been having lots of fun with it.

A Little Book

2011-09-29T15:08:00.000-05:00

I feel like I'm making a lot of mini albums these days, but there are so many fun things to be done with them! I wanted to share a quick little mini album I put together for my son last night. A back story on this: last year when my son got the pictures of his friends at school (you know those little mini ones the kids give their classmates), he saved them in an envelope. He loved to pull them out and tell me all about his friends. This year, instead of a envelope, he's going to get to put his pictures in this:

I chose to use those plastic name badges to build the album for 2 reasons: they provide great protection from grimy kid fingers and they're cheap. I layered paper and embellishments from Little Yellow Bicycle's Head of the Class Collection to build the album. Here's a close up of one of the pages to show you what I mean:

I layered the flashcard stickers on top of the patterned paper, slipped the paper into the badge holder, and then layered a canvas star on top of the plastic. Layering embellishments under and over the badges gives the pages extra interest and dimension. I love the look of this album so much that I'm thinking about making one for me to keep, too. Instead of putting my son's friends pictures in there, maybe I'll put pictures of highlights from school this year, or maybe I'll go long term and put a school picture in there every year from now until he graduates...oh the fun possibilities!

Supplies:

Album: Vertical Badge Holders

Paper: Little Yellow Bicycle Head of the Class (Practice Your ABC's/Dot to Dot, Pencil it in/Bus Stop Chalk Board/Red Numbers, Dot to Dot/Blue Study Hall, Geometry/Teal Test, Ruler/Yellow Study Hall)

Accessories: Little Yellow Bicycle Head of the Class (Clear Cut Shapes, Dimensional Pop-Up Stickers, Chipboard Shapes, Fresh Verse Stickers, Favorite Pieces, Journaling Cards, Fabric Favorites)

Adhesives: Mini Glue Dots®, Ultra Thin Glue Dots®

My Adventures in Canvas - part 1

2011-09-28T14:01:00.000-05:00

When Little Yellow Bicycle sent me some Game On Canvas Colorables I knew they were going to be fun. However, I'm not the queen of altering canvas, so I used a lot of trial and error and took lots of notes so I can pass a few of the things I learned along to you. I'll share some of those tips today in this post, and some in Part 2.
First, a little info on the Canvas Colorables: They're 5" x 7" with an extra 1" edge all the way around. It comes wrapped around a piece of thin cardboard that you can leave in or take out depending on your project.
Since I decided to use one of the Canvases as a mini album cover, I left the cardboard in. I did add some Glue Dots® to make sure it would all stay attached through a lot of handling. I colored the cover using a variety of techniques, just to see what would happen. My biggest tip here: if you're not sure something will work well for coloring, flip the canvas over and test it out on the 1" extra overlap on the back side. Anything permanent (Paint, paint pens, alcohol inks, mists, alcohol base markers (think Copics)) seem to work really well. Anything not so permanent (water based inks and markers) tend not to work, as they don't dry completely or smear when touched.

Anything colored in blue was done with Copic Markers. All the letters filled in with light green were also done with a Copic. The plus side to using Copics is that the cover very well, give nice bright colors, and allow the original print work on the canvas to show through. If you're looking to do the same thing with a more antiqued look, I would suggest trying to sponge or brush on alcohol inks. The gold was applied with a paint pen. Works great, but does not allow the printing on the canvas underneath to show through. The dark green was applied with a Sharpie. The up side is I just happened to have a few Sharpies lying around in colors that I didn't have Copics in. The down side is they don't go on as smoothly as Copics and they tend to cover up the printed lines as well. The green spray up in the corner was done with Tattered Angels Olive Vine Glimmer Mist.
One more note about the canvas and then I'll move on to the insides of the mini album. It held up very well to me punching holes in it for the binder rings.

Here are the inside pages and back cover of the mini. Note that the big blank spaces will be filled in with photos when my son starts playing soccer next season.

Here are a few of my favorite details from each page:

I added Glossy Accents to the stars on the paper to make them pop.

I created a pocket to stash journaling and memorabilia.

I LOVE these pockets from LYB. It comes as "10 things I love about Sports" but can be customized to soccer, football, baseball, or basketball as well.

Another thing I love from LYB: spinners. They're such a fun way to add to the theme of a layout or mini album.

There are so many great accessories in Game On (chipboard, stickers, banners...). The possibilities are endless for layering and creating your own custom embellishments.

Thanks for stopping by today. Please feel free to ask any question you may have about the Canvas Colorables. I'm by no means an expert with them, but I did try lots of different things out just to see what would work.

Supplies:
Album Cover - Little Yellow Bicycle Game On Canvas Colorables (Soccer)
Paper - LYB Game On (Game Day Words, Game Day Words Blue, Baseball Field, All Stars, Game On Pennants, Baseball Collage, Soccer Collage, Playing Field Green, Grey Bleachers, All Star Red)
Accessories - LYB Game On (Stickers Favorite Pieces (Baseball, Soccer), Chipboard Shapes, Mini Banners (Baseball, Soccer), Tearout Ticket Book), Ranger Glossy Accents
Tools - Fiskar's Upper Crest Punch, Fiskar's Diamond Border Punch

Get Your Game On - and giveaway winner

2011-09-24T15:44:00.005-05:00

I'm really loving Get Your Game On by Little Yellow Bicycle. There's so much great stuff in this line. The papers are bold and easy to work with (read: they're sports themed, without being cartoonishly so), there are canvas colorables (I can't wait to show you what I've been doing with these), TONS of stickers, a tear-out ticket book (kind of like journaling cards), chipboard shapes, banners....well you get the idea. I made some really fun frames for my youngest's room (you'll have to wait to see those), and this past week I made this:
I'm not exactly sure what to call it, but basically I'll be using it to hold sport schedules and ticket stubs from games that I don't want to throw out just yet (like when my husband and I go to a Packer game this winter). The best part is, the metal holders are spring mounted, so it's really easy to switch out and move things around.

The base is a 7 Gypsies Receipt Holder. I added paper and embellishments from Game On to create a multi-sport theme so I can use it for football, hockey, baseball, and any other sport we find ourselves going to. I added black alphabet stickers to the metal holders to spell out "game time".

You can even add chipboard pieces to the top of the metal holders like I did with the blue/black star. Just make sure to use a nice strong liquid glue (I used E6000). Because this isn't a traditional frame with glass covering it, you're not limited by the size of the frame. You can mix, match, and layer without limitation. If you would like to see the full supply list for this project, just scroll down to the bottom of this post.

Now on to the giveaway winner:
Random.org chose commenter #1 who happened to be Cindy deRosier! Congrats, Cindy! If you could please e-mail me at potaylor@hotmail.com with your address I'll get your prize out to you soon. Thanks everyone for playing along and taking the time to read my blog.

Happy crafting!

Ticket Tray Supplies:
Paper: Little Yellow Bicycle Get Your Game On (Football Collage, Football Field, Dug Out, All Stars, Game On Pennants, Words Blue, Basketball Court, All Star Red, Field Dirt, Game Day Words, Football Collage)
Accessories: Little Yellow Bicycle Get Your Game On (Favorite Pieces Stickers Baseball, Favorite Pieces Stickers Football, Mini Banners Basketball, Chip Pieces, Tear Out Ticket Book), Glitz Designs Black Alphas
Adhesives: Ultra Thin Glue Dots®, E6000

First Day and a trick

2011-09-23T07:57:00.008-05:00

Alright...I'm having a lot of fun creating with Little Yellow Bicycle's Game On collection (I'll show you at least 1 thing from that collection tomorrow, I promise!), but I wanted to share another school layout. I was editing some photos last night and realized I hadn't share this yet. I finished it about 2 weeks ago already! Shame on me!

My son is such a ham in front of the camera some times. I love the tone of the colors in Off to School by Fancy Pants. If you head over to A Walk Down Memory Lane's blog tomorrow, you'll see another layout with this collection that has absolutely nothing to do with school. The colors and patterns are so great I wanted to see what else I could do with the line.

I also wanted to show you a trick for photographing layouts. A few months back I had one of those head slapping, why didn't I think of this sooner moments. To get good, head-on photos of your layouts, just use Removable Glue Dots® to stick the layout up on your wall, your sliding glass door, or any flat surface. Here's what it looks like when I photograph my layouts (this one's hanging on my sliding glass door.
You still have 1 more day to sign up for my American Crafts giveaway. You can check it out here if you haven't already.
Thanks for stopping by!

Little Yellow Bicycle's Head of the Class

2011-09-19T15:24:00.011-05:00

So a little while back I was a runner up for a guest design spot at Little Yellow Bicycle. While I didn't get the spot, they generously sent me lots of LYB goodies to play around with anyways. The very talented Lowri McNabb was awarded the guest spot, and if you haven't already you should head over to LYB's blog to check out her amazing projects. She has quite the knack for altered art. I've been having a blast digging into my fabulous box full of Head of the Class and Get Your Game On. Since Head of the Class is shipping now, I figured I'd start by sharing a few layouts from that line.

My son's pre-school class held 2 very special events at the end of last school year. One of those days was Doughnuts for Dads. Every child has a Dad (or Grandpa, or special male role-model) come to school to hear a song put on by the kids, do an art project, and eat some doughnuts.

I love adding interest to my layouts by adding different textures. LYB makes that really easy by offering chipboard accents, canvas pieces, and Clear Cut shapes (these have a bit of glitter in them, too!). Each of those stars is a different material.

Those of you who visit my blog regularly know that my goal is always to draw attention to the photo(s). I thought these LYB stick pins were a great way to draw the eye immediately to the photo. If you're wondering how I have them adhered to the layout, I have 2 words for you: Glue Dots®.

The counterpart to Doughnuts for Dads is Muffins for Moms. While my son was super excited to have me there, I think he was just a bit more excited about Doughnuts for Dads (they just have a special bond). I really appreciated that the teachers took the time to take a photo of that special day and send it home for me!

I had to give you a close up shot of these Clear Cut Shapes. The glitter in them is so cool!

The Circle Dimensional Pop-Up stickers gave me the idea to notch circles out of photo...I think it turned out pretty well (but I might be a little biased).

Thanks for stopping by today! You might be seeing a lot of LYB over the next few weeks, as I have lots of ideas bouncing around in my head and LOTS of fabulous papers and embellishments to work with. If you haven't entered my I'm Sorry giveaway yet, there's still time. Click here to check it out.

Supplies:
Doughnuts for Dads -
Paper: LYB Head of the Class (Penmanship, Chalkboard Scribbles, Red Numbers, Dot to Dot)
Accessories: LYB Head of the Class (Sticker Alphabet, Stick Pins, Journaling Cards, Clear Cuts Shapes, Fabric Favorites, Fresh Verse, Chipboard Shapes)

Muffins for Moms-
Paper: LYB Head of the Class (Back to School, Principal Gray, Bus Stop, Practice Your ABC's)
Accessories: LYB Head of the Class (Journaling Cards, Dimensional Pop-Up Stickers), Prima Alphabet StickersTools: Tonic Edge Distresser, Fiskar's Circle Punches

I'm Sorry Giveaway

2011-09-17T12:44:00.004-05:00

I'm not sure what my problem is lately, I just have not been consistent about posting to my blog here. So, as an apology, how about a giveaway?
American Crafts is one of the featured manufacturers at A Walk Down Memory Lane this month. Leave a comment here by Saturday, September 24, and you'll be entered to win an AC Blue Skies Page Kit (pictured above). The kit includes 8 - 12 x 12 papers, Thickers, a sheet of Remarks Stickers, 3 Flair bages, 3 ribbons (4 ft of each), 2 - 12 x 12 card stock sheets, 6 - 4.5 x 6.5 photo mounts.

Also, I couldn't leave you today without a fun project. It's a great gift for a crafty friend. SRM's Tubes are my new favorite thing to create gifts out of. They come in regular, mini (what I used here) and wand. So fun! The stamps used to create the tag are from Paper Smooches Friendly Flowers set. I created the image on the tag with 3 colors of American Craft Zing Embossing Powder (which also happens to be 25% off this month at AWDML since it's made by American Crafts). You can watch a video I created about embossing with multiple colors of embossing powder over on AWDML's blog by clicking here.

A big thanks for stopping by!

An All Around Good Day

2011-09-09T17:34:00.008-05:00

Today started out okay, but then got really great when my UPS man brought a box from Northridge Publishing which included this:

I'm a little giddy because now I officially own a copy of the first magazine I've ever been published in! On top of that, it's a really great Idea Book (if you want your own copy you can find it for sale here). It's already inspiring me to create some more minis.

If you just happen to be visiting my blog looking for all of the pages in the mini-album found in the idea book, here the are:

This album was born out of my need to fit waaaay too many photos into an album that's supposed to be "mini". I decided to find creative ways to add lots of extra photos. The album itself is built out of envelopes, so there are pockets throughout the album.

If you pull on the last train car on the left hand page, it comes out to reveal a hidden photo concealed in the envelope pocket. The photo on the right hinges on a brad to reveal another photo underneath.

There are 3 more photos hidden in the pocket on the left hand side. Just grab the button tabs and pull out.

Instead of hiding a photo in the pocket on this one, I hid the journaling, attached to some ribbon to make it easy to pull out. The photos on the right side are stacked on top of each other and use a brad for movement.

No pull outs on this one.

Or this one...just lots of fun chunky embellishments.

I used the Fiskars Upper Crest border punch to create tabs to pull photos out of the pocket on the left side of this page.

I fit an entire 5 page mini- mini album inside the pocket on this album. They're simple 4" x 4" photos, backed with patterned paper, and held together by a jumbo eyelet and twine.

I even made full use of the back cover of the album...don't be afraid to let your bits and pieces stick out past the edge of the page. It gives your book character!

Supplies
Paper: Echo Park Little Boy (rock star, journaling cards, sailboat, rad plaid, road map, in the clouds, buttons, cool stripe, vroom)
Accessories: Echo Park Little Boy Element Stickers, Echo Park Little Boy Alpha Stickers, Twine, Basic Grey Brads, Fancy Pants It’s Your Day Buttons, Doodlebug Boutique Buttons, Ribbon By the Yard, Pebbles Inc Candy Dots (yellow, navy blue),
Tools: Fiskars Upper Crest Punch, We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper
Extra Bits: Envelopes

Thanks for stopping by!

Sunshine

2011-09-08T15:09:00.002-05:00

I'm slowly making my way through my favorite photos from this summer. About a week ago Liz Qualman posted a layout on Little Yellow Bicycle's blog with an accompanying sketch. I am always inspired by Liz's sketches, so I broke out some of LYB's Elizabeth Park (I know, this layout is not nearly as bright an flowery as you remember Elizabeth Park to be, but I promise it's all from Elizabeth Park) and created with the sketch and some summer photos.

There's a lot of texture going on in this layout. I doesn't photograph so easily, but comes across nicely in person. The grey and white border is canvas, the yellow strip is tissue, "My Sweet Life" is embossed...you get the idea.
Sometimes I have a hard time journaling on layouts like these. I want to tell the story behind the photo, but at the same time I look at those faces and just think, "I am so blessed." I really like LYB's Fresh Verse sticker packs for times like that. I can strategically place them all over my layout as embellishments, but they also speak to my feelings too.

Thanks for stopping by!

SPARKS Challenge Take 2

2011-09-06T18:55:00.005-05:00

No you're not seeing double, this is my second attempt at Paper Smooches August SPARKS challenge. I knew right away when I saw the inspiration that I wanted to try my hand at making my own faux wood panel background.

Little did I know that would be the easy part. After I got the panel made, I wasn't exactly sure how to turn it into a card. I played around a bit and this is what I came up with:

I created the "wood" background by covering 1" strips of paper in masking tape that had been crinkled a bit. Then, I stacked the strips next to each other and sponged on 2 different colors of Tim Holtz Distress Ink (both inks were different shades of brown). I panted on Tim Holtz Glossy Accents over the top of the ink to blend and seal it. The next step is to let it dry for a long time (preferably over night). Finally, if you want to stamp on the wood you'll need to use a very permanent ink. I used brown Staz-on to stamp "you are totally sweet".

Supplies
Paper: Crate Paper Farmhouse (Sunday Dinner)
Stamps: Paper Smooches Friendly Flowers, Paper Smooches Fruitastic
Ink: Tim Holtz Distress Ink, Brown Staz-on
Accessories: May Arts lace, Crate Paper Farmhouse Buttons, Copic Markers, Glossy Accents

Thanks for stopping by!

More Paper Smooches

2011-09-05T19:07:00.004-05:00

Paper Smooches has a SPARKS challenge every month. You can find all the info on how to play along by clicking here.

I've had 2 ideas in my head after seeing the inspiration:

I finally got one of those ideas down on paper, and will hopefully (cross fingers here) have the other one done tomorrow.

Basically, I was inspired by the colors for this one. It's such a pretty blend, that I'm not sure I'd come up with on my own. I was also inspired by the feel. The shabby wood background mixed with the elegant flowers and rhinestones. I tried to mimic the feel by adding pretty pleated trim and an elegant border punch combined with a less elegant kraft background and plaid patterned "Hello".

Supplies:
Paper: Fancy Pants' It's the Little Things (Honeysuckel)
Stamps: Paper Smooches Friendly Flowers
Markers: Copic
Trim: Crate Paper Neighborhood
Tools: Martha Stewart Punch Around the Page Framed Dots

Thanks for stopping by!

It's Elementary

2011-08-31T07:57:00.003-05:00

Wow! I realized, again, how behind I am on sharing a few creations, so today I have 3 layouts to share. They all use Elementary by Simple Stories.

This one is a pretty straightforward last day of school layout. What I really liked about the Simple Stories papers was the sheet of grade journaling cards. As you can see, all I had to do was cut out the preschool card and fill in some information.

The colors in Elementary also just happened to be perfect for scrapping my son with his brand new Spiderman bike. He was so excited to get this bike, but still wanted to wait all day until Dad came home from work to ride it for the first time. I just happened to have some chipboard pieces from Cosmo Cricket's Boyfriend that went really well with this page.

One more bike page done with Elementary. I love when photos like this just happen. Since I had my camera out with me this day, I was able to capture this special moment between brothers. These 2 make quite the pair, and I love that these photos seem to show that unspoken bond.

Thanks for stopping by!

Keeping Up

2011-08-25T18:44:00.006-05:00

Alright, I'm doing a pretty good job keeping up with crafty stuff. My "to craft" list may not be shrinking, but it's not growing either. However, I'm not doing a good job keeping up with getting the stuff on here. Here's a layout I finished over a week ago. It's my oldest with his first fish.

I've already professed my love of Simple Stories. This layout was created with their birthday line (Happy Day). I just picked the papers that had patterns without a birthday theme. I threw in some stickers from Jillibean Soup Dutch Mustard Soup. I did a lot of inking of edges and roughing them up. It just seemed to go with the outdoor theme. I've got my fingers crossed that I'll get around to posting another project tomorrow.

Thanks for stopping by!

Fabulous Felt

2011-08-23T15:02:00.004-05:00

Moxie Fab World is having a Fabulous Felt challenge. I ended up with 2 cards for this challenge. When the felt challenge was announced, I immediately thought of making a mustache card with a felt mustache. The card came together quite easily, the hardest part was finding the right greeting. I've seen "I mustache you a question" and "I hate to leave, but I mustache", so I was trying to come up with something else. I finally landed on "mustache-ulations".

This second card came about when I was pricing some new arrivals at A Walk Down Memory Lane this past Saturday, and came across the coolest felt embellishments from Basic Grey. They come in a 6 pack of multiple colors. For some reason my mind decided this yellow and purple one would look really pretty with grey as an accent color. It's a different color combo, but I like how it turned out.

Thanks for stopping by!

Little Feet

2011-08-21T17:06:00.010-05:00

I worked in a little time today to play along with My Mind's Eye Sketch Challenge #26.

I pulled out the sketch, and immediately had an idea on how to build the background, so off I went to find the right photo to pair with the idea forming in my head and my Lime Twist paper.

I switched the direction of the photo, but chose not to flip the direction of the sketch. I'm not sure how well you can tell from the photo, but the edges of the layout are inked with a subtle bit of blue ink. It helps give a soft, sweet feel to the layout. The "Little" sticker and "I LOVE YOU" sticker are from SRM. I use a fair number of card stock stickers on layouts, but rarely use clear (SRM) stickers on layouts. Recently, however, I've been inspired by a number of fabulous layouts I've seen on the SRM facebook page, so I decided to give it a try. I've got to say I'm pretty happy with the way it all turned out.

Thanks for stopping by!

School Days

2011-08-20T08:37:00.003-05:00

It's that time of year again; school's starting which means there are lots of new yummy school lines coming out on the scrap market. One of my favorites is Elementary by Simple Stories. At this point, I seem to love just about every line Simple Stories is putting out. The color palette they use is rich and beautiful, and while most of their lines carry a theme (birthday, school, travel, etc.) many of the papers are just beautiful colors in great patterns so they can be used outside the designated theme. Today I'm showing you a school layout I made using their Elementary collection, but I'm also working on a new bike layout using Elementary, and I'll show you a fishing layout in a few days that I made using Simple Stories birthday line (Happy Day).

This was my son's preschool class at the end of last year with their classroom "grandma". Please forgive the blurred out faces, it was much easier to blur out the faces of any kid who wasn't mine then to try and get permission to put their faces on my blog.

Thanks for stopping by!

Gnome Love

2011-08-17T15:50:00.000-05:00

I've been on a bit of a card kick lately. A while back I gave almost my complete stash of cards to Operation Write Home. Not only is it a great cause, it gave me more opportunity to make more cards. I can no longer just go to my card rack (yeah, I actually have a spinning card rack in my craft room :-) and grab an appropriate card. I don't know why, but I just really, really think the Apple Cheddar Soup stamp set from Unity/Jillibean Soup is ridiculously cute. The trees in the set are great, but what really drew me in is that ridiculously cute gnome. This is the first card I made with the set.

I think the gnome pairs perfectly with Dutch Mustard Soup. What do you think?

Geek is Chic

2011-08-15T13:26:00.009-05:00

Last week I picked up some Geek is Chic by Imaginisce at A Walk Down Memory Lane. I still have some photos from my oldest's first year of school last year, and Geek is Chic is a great line for school photos. However, the colors and patterns in this line are so fun, I didn't want to limit myself to just school photos, so I also made this layout:

The layout is based off Imaginisce's sketch for their August sketch challenge.

I just rotated the sketch 90 degrees. Most of the paper is from Geek is Chic, however I did cut my fish and fish hooks with my Silhouette from paper from Imaginisce's Happy Camper, and the circle under the arrow is from Imaginisce's Animal Cracker line.

In case you were wondering, here's the classic school layout with Geek is Chic:

My husband and think this is just the funniest preschool picture. Our son looks utterly perplexed as to why someone would be taking his picture like this. Everything on the layout is trimmed from Geek is Chic paper or card stock stickers except for the "my name is:" piece. That was actually on his desk at school. I always think it's fun to preserve a memento or two on a layout.

Thanks for stopping by!

Tuesday Trigger

2011-08-14T17:40:00.005-05:00

It's been a while since I've played a long with a Moxie Fab World Tuesday Trigger. I often see the trigger and think, "Wow, that's gorgeous!", but I always seem to find myself running out of time to play along. Well, not this week! I saw this trigger and I made time to play along.

Pintrest

My first impulse was to create a dress card and just lift the picture as is. I'm sure it would have been cool, but I decided to try to push my creative juices a little further. Well...even though it's only August, I had this crazy idea that that pattern would make a lovely Christmas Tree.

I not only was inspired by the shape of the layers, but the mix of colors and patterns on the dress. I also loved that the whole dress seemed to be tied together into a cohesive unit by burgundy edging, so I tried to mirror that in my card as well. For my patterned paper, I used Fancy Pants' Tradition Collection. The trunk of the tree is an SRM sticker from Fancy Sticker Sentiments Christmas. I found it easiest to use a bunch of Mini Glue Dots®to adhere all my layers together. If you want to see what other people did with this cool Trigger, you can check out the Moxie Fab World Tuesday Trigger here.

Thanks for stopping by!

Let's Celebrate

2011-08-12T14:18:00.006-05:00

I made this card for a dear friend of mine. I don't know if they've told the whole world they're expecting yet...so shhhhh. This will be baby #2 for them, and I'm just so excited for them to be adding to their family. I thought I'd send her a little note saying just that. Here's the card:

Lawn Fawn's Plus One is pretty much the perfect stamp set for all things baby. I paired it with some paper and trims from Crate Paper's Neighborhood collection. The grey pleated ribbon (which I have fallen in love with) is from May Arts. Now, I'm off to work on some layouts with some brand new papers I just picked up! Woo-hoo!!!
Thanks for stopping by!

Sometimes I Squeal Out Loud...

2011-08-11T09:21:00.006-05:00

...there, I admitted it. Case in point, Tuesday Kim Hughes (you know THE Kim Hughes of Paper Smooches) e-mailed me to ask if she could put my "thank you berry much" card (using Paper Smooches Digi Stamps) on the Paper Smooches blog today. I squealed a little out loud, then I e-mailed her back a very enthusiastic yes. You can check that post out here. My card is there, but so are a lot of other really sitinkin' cute cards that you won't want to miss. So, while I'm on a Paper Smooches high, I thought I'd make a few more Paper Smooches cards.

...and just in case that isn't enough Paper Smooches for you, I'm also blogging over at A Walk Down Memory Lane today and there's another fun card using the Fruitastic set over there (and a tip on customizing embellishments).

Supplies:

You are a Peach
Paper: Jillilbean Soup Watermelon Gazpacho Soup (Ice Cubes, Sprig of Mint, Yellow Bell Pepper, Orange Juice)
Stamps: Paper Smooches Fruitastic, Paper Smooches Friendly Flowers
Accessories: Jillibean Soup Watermelon Gazpacho Soup Cardstock Stickers

Totally Sweet
Paper: My Mind's Eye Lime Twist Life of the Party
Stamps: Paper Smooches Fruitastic, Paper Smooches Friendly Flowers
Accessories: Copic Markers, Ric Rac, Crate Paper Neighborhood Trims

Bun in the Oven

2011-08-09T09:27:00.003-05:00

It seems like life events go in waves. Right now I know quite a few pregnant people, so I decided it was time to add to my "congrats on your pregnancy" cards. Plus, it was a really good excuse to go out an buy Lawn Fawn's Plus One stamp set.
I used some leftover bits from Simple Stories 100 Days of Summer. It was kind of fun to do a baby card that wasn't all pastels. I've got a few more baby cards that I'll try to space out on here over the next few days.

Thanks for stopping by!

Scrap Room Decor

2011-08-07T16:01:00.012-05:00

Sometimes I get an idea in my head and I just have to put down whatever I'm working on to make what's in my head. This time I had an idea for a piece to put on my craft room wall.

The frame is for an 8" x 10" photo. I used Authentique's Splendid Collection to create the background. These are actually leftover pieces I had from making some Authentique layouts a week ago. I stitched the pieces together with my We R Memory Keepers Sew Easy tool. The camera is a Print & Cut file from Silhouette. I sponged a little Tim Holtz Brushed Corduroy Distress Ink onto the edges of the camera to give it a more weathered feel. I attached the camera with foam dimensional adhesive to add some depth to the picture. The canvas flower is from Maya Road. I created the lace flower from some vintage lace I happened to have lying around. The paper flower was made with about a 1/2" x 8" strip of paper. I printed the saying, "Every picture has a story to tell." and added it to the picture.

Now all I need to do is get my husband to hang it!

Supplies:
Paper: Authentique Splendid (Richness, Renown, Brilliance, Magnificence)
Accessories: Maya Road Canvas Flower
Tools: Silhouette SD, We R Memory Keepers Sew Easy, Tim Holtz Distress Ink (brushed corduroy),

Paper Smooches

2011-08-05T15:26:00.009-05:00

First up, I have to say, "Wow! It's Friday and I haven't posted anything since Monday." Sorry. I'm already working on a post for tomorrow of a mini album I just finished, so I won't neglect things here so long again.
Second (and this is far more interesting news), I worked at A Walk D own Memory Lane Wednesday night and was thrilled to find out they now have Paper Smooches stamps at the store! I don't think they're at the on-line store yet, but if you shop at the Brick & Mortar store you can get them. I'm having a hard time deciding which set to buy first!
Third, Paper Smooches posts a free digi stamp on-line every month. I'm not super big on using digi stamps (there's just something about getting your fingers inky), but Kim Hughes' Paper Smooches Digi Stamps are too cute to pass up. Plus, did I mention they're free! Here's what I did with this month's free digi:
The image could really be a few different things (grapes, raspberries, blackberries), but since I have this growing in my back yard
I was thinking raspberries. I used twine from The Twinery to fill in the berries. I used a Copic marker to color in the leaves and stem. Since I really wanted the berry to be the focal point I kept the rest of the card quite basic with a kraft on kraft color scheme. I inked the top layer of kraft card stock with white ink and used foam dimensional adhesive to attach it to the bottom layer. The finished card size is 4" x 4".

Thanks for stopping by!

All Together

2011-08-05T13:26:00.006-05:00

My husband's sister and her family live in Florida, so it's only about once a year that everyone on my husbands side of the family is all together at once (there are 4 kids total in my husband's family, all are married, 3 of us have kids and the 4th has their first on the way). Since we were all together, you can't blame my Mother-in-law for wanting to take some family photos. I thought it would be fun to put all of the photos into a little mini album. The album is from Cosmo Cricut, and all of the paper, trims, stickers, chip pieces, etc. are from Crate Paper's Neighborhood collection.
Thanks for stopping by!

What I Worked on This Weekend

2011-08-01T15:15:00.003-05:00

Lately it feels like every Friday I start a project with plans to have that project and 2 or 3 more done by the end of the weekend. However, when Monday rolls around, I'm still working on that first project. Case in point, this layout:

I started it Friday and was going to have it and 2 cards done by the end of Sunday, however today I found myself finishing the layout. And the 2 cards? I still need to start those. Oh well, summer weekends are for making memories like the ones above. I can always get my "work" done later.

I grabbed Happy Camper from Imaginisce especially for these photos. I knew with those great chipboard stickers, it would be perfect. If you spend a lot of time in the great outdoors over the summer, you'll want to check this line out. It's full of trees, canoes, campfires, marshmallows, and woodland creatures. Here's hoping I get a little more done this week than I did over the weekend!

Quick Card

2011-07-29T18:39:00.004-05:00

I'm off to go do a little scrapping, but I thought I'd stop in here first and post a card that you can check out at A Walk Down Memory Lane in person (if you live in the area). If you don't live close, you'll just have to take my word for how sparkly it is.

This card was made with the Cosmo Cricket/Unity Delovely Whimsy stamp set. I love stamping on kraft card stock, there's just something lovely about it to me. The pear is also from that set. After stamping the pear I colored it in, put Score-tape over it, and covered it in Glitter Ritz warm highlight glitter. Finally, I cut the pear out and attached it to the card with foam dimensional adhesive. It sounds like a lot of steps, but it's actually a really fast, easy process...and totally worth the end result. Not only is the pear super pretty in person, it hast this great velvety texture, and the glitter doesn't rub off when you touch it.

Alright, I'm off to be creative for a little while. Have a lovely weekend!

Altered Art Challenge

2011-07-27T10:37:00.008-05:00

This month Glue Dots® challenged its Dottesses to create some altered art. Well, I just happened to have a frame sitting around...I decided to make this piece of altered art. This is going to my (adult) sister who we've always referred to as princess. She also works and volunteers for Make-a-Wish, so it works perfectly for her. However, I'm thinking it would be a fun craft for little girls, too.

I started by gathering up the stuff I figured I would need...usually I miss a thing or 2 and end up grabbing a few things I won't need...but here's the official list of what I actually used to make the frame:

Frame
Glue Dots® (Micro, Mini, Memory Book)
Patterned Paper (Pebbles Ever After)
Rhinestones
Other Embellishments (SRM Stickers Princess)

Often, when altering art, I find that I must destroy it just a little to ready it for alteration. Here I used a butter knife to pry the back (which had been glued on) off of the frame.

When "artfully" destroying something, it's best to decide ahead of time where it is acceptable to have damage, and where it isn't. For example, I tried to avoid damaging the frame, but it was okay if the backing was torn up a bit, as my plan was to paper over it anyways.

I used Memory Book Glue Dots® to attach a new piece of paper to the back of the frame.

Then I used more Memory Book Glue Dots® to attach some more layers to the back.

After putting the back of the frame back onto the frame, I used Micro and Mini Glue Dots® to adhere rhinestones to the outside of the frame. I also used Mini Glue Dots® to attach the S monogram to the outside glass of the frame.

I decided to use my leftovers to create the matching wand. The plastic wand itself is from SRM Stickers. If you'd like learn how I made the top (folded) part of the wand, you can find a tutorial on my blog here.

I wrote this post while participating on the Glue Dots® Design Team.

Authentique Layouts

2011-07-26T10:12:00.008-05:00

I have 2 layouts I would like to share today. I have so much I want to say about them, so I'll try not to jump around too much, but I'm not making any promises. First let me say, the second I saw Authentique's lines, I knew I had to have them. On the up side, A Walk Down Memory Lane ordered them right away. On the down side, I think the owner, Lisa, is enabling my paper addiction :-) If you haven't laid eyes or hands on this paper yet, let me tell you, you're going to love the look AND feel of this paper. The texture is nice and thick (think My Mind's Eye). I bought 2 of the lines and have them stashed for use on my Italy scrapbook (when I get as far as my Rome photos). However I had to buy some to use right away, and since I hadn't picked up any of the Splendid line, I grabbed that.
Okay, now to actually show you a layout:This line is really a "Jack of all trades". It lends itself nicely to distressing, and this rough style of layout, but it would be just as lovely used on a pretty, frilly layout or card as well. Kind of fun to think of all the possibilities.
I feel like this layout is really "me". I'm sort of in love with using photo collages lately. I tend to scrap with layers, and like to mix and match lots of patterned papers. I tried to make the journaling stand out a bit by adding word stickers into it. I like the effect, and it was kind of fun to do, too. I should mention the photos were all taken at the beginning of July when my boys, my husband, and I went for a ride on my grandparents' golf carts. Such great memories!

After I finished the above layout, I had another golf layout to do. I decided I would step (way, way) outside my comfort zone and try some different things on my layout. I'm not sure I love it, but I like it well enough, and I figure you'll never grow if you don't try. So, here it is:

It's definitely a bit grungier and more free form than what I usually do. I did do a fair bit of hand stitching to ground the different elements and tie them together. One of my favorite things about this layout is where I ripped it out to reveal a different paper underneath. It was a little scary to rip up my layout, but it was fun too. One other note: don't be afraid to change pre-made titles and stickers to say what you want them to say. For example, the strip beneath the center photo says, "a wonderful moment". Originally it said, "a majestic moment". While I liked that saying, it didn't really work for this layout, so I used a word sticker to change it. To make it look intentional, I added other similar word stickers to the layout in other places.

Alright, I think that's everything. Thanks for hanging in there through a post that's a little on the long side.

I'd Rather Be Fishing

2011-07-23T16:12:00.005-05:00

The title says it all for me on this one. My oldest was especially excited about fishing, and pretty patient about it, too. He caught his first fish this year, which was quickly followed by his 2nd and 3rd fish. My youngest, who isn't quiet as patient still managed to catch his first fish shortly after his brother did. I used what was left of my American Crafts' Campy Trails line on this layout. I really didn't want to "waste" any of this line by letting my leftovers just sit on my paper shelf. I used my We R Memory Keeper's Sew Easy tool to speed along the stitching around the edge. The fabric brads are from American Crafts' Hello Sunshine line, but just happened to work well with this layout. If you haven't used these brads before, I'd just like to point out that they're flat instead of rounded on top. It makes them lie much nicer inside of a page protector or in an envelope if you use them on a card.

Magical Moments

2011-07-21T16:14:00.003-05:00

As you know, it's not too often that I get to scrap "girlie" things, but when I do I like to make sure I do it up right. For example, what 's girlier than princess crowns, Cinderella castles, and lots of pink?

I stumbled across this photo of my sister and me in front of Cinderella's Castle at Walt Disney World (my parents instilled a love of Disney in us at a very early age), and I knew that Pebbles Ever After line would be perfect for scrapping it. Add a butterfly, some flowers, and a few rhinestones, and you have a perfectly girlie layout.

A little knitting

2011-07-20T09:18:00.004-05:00

Paper crafting takes up most of my allotted "craft time". However, once in a while I get the itch to bust out the knitting needles or spinning wheel just to make sure I haven't forgotten. You see, back in college, I thought it would be fun to learn how to knit, so my Grandma taught me (she learned how to knit from her mother). Not too long after that, I stumbled across this amazing yarn and fiber shop in Fort Collins, CO (where we used to live). There I learned how to spin. Then I had a baby, and as he grew, he thought the spinning wheel seemed like a very fun toy, so the spinning wheel was relegated to a dark corner of my bedroom to be taken out again, "some day." Then I had baby #2 and decided scrapbooking would be fun. Little did I know I would fall head over heals in love with it...which would take up most of my crafting time. But, like I said, once in a while I like to take out the spinning wheel or my knitting needles just to make sure I still remember how to spin and knit, because some day I'll have more time...right?

I'm thinking about making a few of these for Christmas presents. It's about 5 1/2" across from point to point. I've made it into a pin so it can be fastened onto a coat. I'm just picturing it on my grey wool winter jacket. I also have this picture in my head of it attached to a fabulous wool purse...maybe I'll just have to take out my needles again some time soon to knit one.

Here's hoping you find time today to indulge in a little creative time of your own.

How to Eat a Marshmallow

2011-07-19T12:15:00.004-05:00

Some things you just have your camera ready for. My youngest has eaten his fair share of s'mores, but this was first time he ate a good 'ole fashioned toasted marshmallow. While he ate, I stood there snapping away.

I used American Crafts Campy Trails for this layout. I had the papers and ribbon left over from this pop up mini album I created for A Walk Down Memory Lane. However, I had to run to the store to pick up that fun "so stinkin' cute" badge. My layout definitely would not have been complete without it.
I took close up of the badge and stitching, so you can get a better look at that part of the layout. The twine is from May Arts (I believe they call it twisted burlap). It's a little bit harder to stitch with than thread, but totally worth it for a rustic layout like this. I just wanted to mention, that if you're thinking about trying it, make sure to pierce your holes a bit bigger than normal, and use a thicker needle (with a large eye for threading) than usual. It also works best if you work with shorter strands. I used a strand that was about the length of my arm from my shoulder to my wrist. If you use too long a piece, the twine will start to gather and bunch in weird places.

Tomorrow I'll be back to mix things up with a knitted craft instead of a paper craft.

Big Kid

2011-07-18T11:36:00.005-05:00

I have to admit, I fell in love with this photo the second I saw it. However, I also had one of those, "wow my baby's growing up" moments too. I chose the title "big kid" for this layout, because he's really starting to look like a kid instead of a little guy.

As you can see, I'm on a bit of a My Mind's Eye American Made kick right now. I'll be back with a layout tomorrow that uses a different paper, I promise!

My New Favorite Holiday?

2011-07-16T13:00:00.000-05:00

Ask me what my favorite holiday is and it used to be an easy answer for me: Christmas. Notice I said "used to be". The 4th of July is quickly becoming a contender for favorite holiday. For the last 2 years, we've head to my parents' lake house to swim, boat, fish, roast marshmallows, and have some quality family time.
My favorite part is going out on the boat to watch the fireworks. As you'll see from the layouts my oldest loves to get all dressed up in patriotic gear for the occasion. Love that kid!

Both layouts use My Mind's Eye American Made paper. I am totally in love with this collection. I can't imagine a better patriotic line.

For this layout I made some mini versions of the star medallions from this tutorial I did for Glue Dots®. Instead of 1/2" folds I did 1/4" folds and used smaller strips of paper (about 4" x 7 1/2" and 3" x 6 1/2").

Have a great weekend!

SRM Stickers

2011-07-14T14:48:00.006-05:00

I was thrilled to win all of SRM's new stickers (the ones they're debuting at this up coming CHA!). I've only had a little time to play around with them, but it's been a lot of fun. I was resistant to stickers at first, being a stamp girl and all, but when I tried out SRM stickers for the 1st time about 6 months ago, I was hooked. I won't be throwing out my stamps any time soon, but SRM stickers make a really nice addition to my craft arsenal. They go on like butter, and make putting cards together quick and easy.

The above card took all of 5 minutes and a little Fancy Pants Paper.

Even though it's a bit early for Christmas, I think this one (made with Fancy Pants Tradition paper) is my favorite of the bunch.

I don't have a Bar Mitzvah to go to any time soon, but stickers and stamps that celebrate Jewish heritage and beliefs are awfully hard to come by. This basic set makes customizing a card or gift really easy. The "Mazel Tov" strip on the inside is only adhered on 3 sides to form a pocket to slip a check, money, or gift card in. Oh, and P.S. the paper is from My Mind's Eye Lime Twist and is 25% off at AWDML right now.

Finally, I had to show off the stickers in combination with some Glitter Ritz glitter. It's tough to photograph, but in person this card sparkles. The whole cake layer is covered in Glitter Ritz Warm Highlight Glitter. LOVE that stuff!

I just finished scrapping a few photos from our 4th of July fun. I'm hoping to get those up on the blog tomorrow...if I'm not too tired. This very excited (nerdy) lady is headed to the Harry Potter midnight showing tonight! I'll get home way past my bed time, but it's totally worth it.

Taking Some time to Stamp

2011-07-13T13:23:00.006-05:00

It's been a long time since I sat down with some stamps just for fun. Lately it seems like I've only been using my stamps for greetings on cards. Since stamping is what originally introduced me to the world of paper crafting, it seems a bit of a shame that I've been neglecting my stamps. Moxie Fab World has a Stamp It! challenge, and it just felt right to play along. I've got a card and a tag today.

Lawn Fawn is hands down one of my favorite stamp companies. It's a good thing I have at least a little self control, or I would own every one of their stamp sets. This adorable bike is from a set called Cruising Through Life. I'm a Copic novice, but I LOVE coloring on kraft card stock with my Copics.
I stamped the "hi" greeting on another one of my faves, stick pin flags. The paper, flags, and flower brads are all from The Girls' Paperie Jubilee collection.

I've made a very similar tag to this before. However, this time I just had to try out covering that pear with my new Glitter Ritz warm highlights glitter. Gotta love a glitter that doesn't rub off easily.

The background is a tag, covered in ripped and layered masking tape. I sponged brown ink onto the tape, stamped it with a Glitz Designs word background stamp, and then sealed the whole thing with a thick coat of Glossy Glaze. When that was dry I stamped "We make a fine Pear" with staz-on ink directly onto the tag. The pear was stamped, colored in, covered in glitter, cut out, and adhered to the tag. The pear stamp is from Mark's Finest Papers.

It was fun to get a little inky, but tomorrow I'm going to switch things up with some cards made using SRM Stickers.

Treat Pockets

2011-07-11T11:22:00.004-05:00

Usually I have a reason for creating something, but this little project is a "just because". I was playing around and thought it might be fun to make a little treat pouch.

I realized when it was finished that I didn't think to take any step-by-step photos, but here are the directions just in case you want to try this little project out for yourself.

~ Cut paper to 4" x 7" (I used Jillibean Soup Watermelon Gazpacho)
~ Score large fold at 2 3/4"
~ Turn paper and score both long sides at 1/4".
~ Trim the longer 1/4" scored sections (4 1/4" section) from the top down to the center score line.
~ Fold the remaining 1/4" scored areas around the back side and secure with Mini Glue Dots® to create pocket.
~ Round corners.
~ Embellish

Notes:
Finished size is 3 3/4 x 4 1/4"

June Featured Manufacturers

2011-07-09T16:11:00.004-05:00

Don't forget to swing by A Walk Down Memory Lane this month (in person, or on-line). The featured manufacturers are My Minds Eye (one of my personal all time favorite companies) and Kaiser Craft. Below are 2 of my favorite projects that I created for the store with My Minds Eye.

This layout is so much better in person. The damask patterned paper is flocked, and oh-so luscious to touch.

Being You
Paper: My Mind’s Eye Lush 2 (Turquoise Polka Dot, Turquoise Damask, Navy Polka Dot)
Accessories: My Mind’s Eye Lush 2 Navy Trims, Lush Decorative Brads (Blue), Cosmo Cricket Tiny Type (Navy), Bella Blvd Sunny Happy Skies Blurbs, Basic Grey Alphas, Imaginisce Brad Daddies (medium)
Tools: Imaginisce I-top, Imaginisce I-top Punch, Tattered Angel Mist, Fiskars Uppercrest Punch

And, I can't resist a good 6" x 6" paper pad for creating a mini. My boys and I walk a few times a week at a trail in our town when the weather's nice. I took my camera along one day to commemorate those walks.

Walking the Trail Mini
Album: Little Yellow Bicycle Banner Chipboard Album
Paper: My Mind’s Eye Lime Twist Out of the Blue 6 x 6 paper pad
Ink: Tim Holtz Broken China
Accessories: Lush 2 Navy Trim, My Mind’s Eye Lush 2 Brads (Orange), My Mind’s Eye Lush Brads (green), Jillibean Soup Watermelon Gazpacho Card Stock Stickers, Simple Stories 100 Days of Summer Expressions Card Stock Stickers, Echo Park Little Boy Alpha Stickers, Inkssentials White Journaling Pen, May Arts Twine By the Yard, Jenni Bowlin Vintage Sew-on Buttons (red, green), Maya Road Trinket Pins Leaf, Hero Hues Dots (Blue), Imaginisce I-rock Pearls
Tools: Inkssentials Sponging tool, Fiskars Uppercrest Punch, Imaginisce I-Rock

Rainy Day

2011-07-06T08:31:00.004-05:00

Most of the time, I buy paper with a photo or 2 in mind. However, when I saw It's Raining It's Pouring by Nikki Sivils, I knew I didn't have any photos, and I still had to buy it. It was just too cute to pass up. So...it's been sitting in my craft room. I considered sending the kids out in the rain to play, just so I'd have photos, but for authenticity sake, I didn't force photos. I waited...and waited...and then, one rainy day (in the middle of about 5 rainy days) I took out a big long roll of paper, taped it to the floor, and let the boys go to town on it with markers. Of course, I took photos...and my "What to do on a Rainy Day" layout was born!

Just in case you haven't reached your quota of cute for today you can check out the new Nikki Sivils Scrapbooker lines that will be released at Summer CHA by clicking here. They are, like all things Nikki Sivils, ridiculously adorable!

Play Ball

2011-07-03T05:34:00.003-05:00

I think this may be my 1st sports layout. With 2 active boys, I know it's only the first of many! This was a pretty simple layout. I layered up papers from Scrappin' Sports and Crate Paper. I distressed and inked the edges to give it a grungier feel. Added a bit of stitching, and topped it all off with KI Baseball Puffies (I really love Puffies!).

Water Balloons

2011-07-01T05:00:00.000-05:00

This year, my boys love having water balloon fights. It's always so much fun. I knew LYB's Sweet Summertime would be perfect for capturing the fun. Liz Qualman's sketch became the perfect base for this layout. Here's to summer fun!

It's That Time of Year

2011-06-29T10:36:00.005-05:00

It's the time of year where we are reminded how blessed we are to live in this country. We're also reminded of the amazing men and women who give so much for others. This past weekend I was blessed to be a part of an event at my local scrap store that was sponsored by a number of companies (including We R Memory Keepers) to make cards for Operation Write Home. These cards will be sent (along with many, many others) to the men and women of our armed forces. If you're not familiar with Operation Write Home, you can check them out here. They are a very cool organization that has sent out over 1 million cards to date. If you're feeling especially blessed this 4th, you can also check out Anysoldier.com. It's another awesome organization where you can find info on sending notes of thanks and care packages to the troops.

Ok, now on to the details about the cards! I finally got around to cutting fabric with my Silhouette. Let me tell you, it was so easy! If you can cut paper with your Silhouette, and you can work an iron, you can cut fabric. I found patriotic linen napkins that were just too cool to pass up, so I used them here for the stars. I paired the stars up with My Mind's Eye's American Made paper, added a button or 2 and some ribbon, and ta-da some star-spangled cards.

Wishing you a blessed weekend and beautiful 4th of July!

We Cally You Trouble

2011-06-28T21:34:00.005-05:00

I played along with Crate Paper's sketch challenge this month. There are some layouts I like, some I'm just happy to have done, and some I love...this is one of those that I really love. It's clean and simple, but truly catches the essence of my little man.

The patterned paper is from Crate Paper's Toy Box line, as are the border stickers (the red triangle accents), and the brad in the bottom right corner. The alphabet stickers are from Jillibean Soup, and the journaling was done on my computer.

Fun in the Sun

2011-06-23T19:23:00.005-05:00

I had to share 1 last Simple Stories 100 Days of summer layout. This one is so much better in person! I added Stickles to the sun in the title strip and the word "sun". I added Glossy Glaze to the "fun in the sun" and blue swirl part of the title. It was a simple way to really make the title strip pop, and add some texture.

Summer Parade Mini Album

2011-06-21T16:27:00.004-05:00

Thanks to the generous folks over at Little Yellow Bicycle (I won a contest a while back), I now have in my possession Sweet Summertime. I wasted no time creating a summer mini. Every year we walk in a summer parade with the company my husband work for. It's one of my favorite summer events, and the kids love being in the parade. The bright colors of Sweet Summertime were perfect for capturing the fun!

Simple Stories Layout #2

2011-06-20T08:05:00.009-05:00

I wanted to chat a bit about Simple Stories today since I've been working with their 100 Days of Summer line quite a bit. There are a lot of scrapbook companies out there, but Simple Stories does scrapping a bit differently. Simple Stories is a system that contains pre-designed element pices (journaling tags, photo mats, quote blocks, and titles) that are printed on double-sided 12 x 12 sheets of paper. All you have to do is cut them apart to create a custom page. You can use the pices as you normally would on a layout, or you can slip them into specially sectioned page protectors (check out We R Memory Keepers 12" x 12" divided page protectors). You're pages go together really quickly!

Simple Stories

2011-06-17T11:38:00.006-05:00

A Walk Down Memory Lane is now carrying a company called Simple Stories. I fell in love right away with 100 Days of Summer (however, the name starts me singing the Phineas and Ferb theme song). The colors are gorgeous, and I've found this line so easy to create with. So easy, in fact, that this is the 1st of three layouts I've made from that line that I'll be sharing! Love it!

2 Years
Paper: Simple Stories 100 Days of Summer
Accessories: Simple Stories 100 Days of Summer Alpha Stickers, My Mind's Eye Stella and Rose Buttons, Tim Holtz Tissue Tape
Tools: EK Success Edger Punch Bracket, We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper

Helping a Hero with...

2011-06-16T12:42:00.001-05:00

“Operation Write Home”

I wanted to share some information on a project I feel honored to help with. Check it out:

Reserve some time on Saturday, June 25, 2011. This Saturday will be a SPECIAL day with you, our customers, joining us to send some special handmade love to our troops.

A Walk Down Memory Lane is teaming up with international crafting supplies manufacturer, We R Memory Keepers, powerhouse magazine Scrapbooks Etc’s Craft it Forward program, and vacation company Cruise and Crop, to launch a major initiative, Operation We R Grateful, to bring cheer to active duty soldiers of the US Military.

Operation We R Grateful is a large campaign designed to collect thousands of cards to send to deployed troops, through the organization Operation Write Home. OWH sends blank cards to troops to use to send home. The Operation has multiple components to the campaign: card classes, album workshops, contests and events.

A Walk Down Memory Lane is sponsoring a full day for card makers at the store located at 1418Main Street in Rock Valley, Iowa. Starting at 10am there will be a card class for beginners to learn how to make cards. At 12pm the workshop/classroom area will be open for the public to come in and make their own cards, use our card templates or ideas to make cards, and there will be pre-made cards to send to the troops in appreciation for their sacrifices.

A Walk Down Memory Lane is also a collection center for people who already made cards, and just want to drop off their completed cards. The last day to drop off cards is July 5, 2011.

HOW CAN YOU HELP?

10 – 12. . . Join us for a free beginners class to learn how to make cards or some simple stamping techniques (PLEASE call by June 23 to register for the class)

12 – 5 . . . Our workshop/classroom will be open for people to make some cards to send to the troops. If you are new to card making, we will have some templates ready for you to copy and make some cards. All you need to do is purchase the paper/embellishments for your cards, we’ll provide the ideas! If you are a seasoned card maker, bring your supplies and make some cards for as many hours as you would like.

10 – 5 . . . Come in and sign a card to say thanks to a member of our military. We will have pre-made cards for the public to come in and voice their thanks in a handmade card.

5 – 11 . . . We have a scheduled workshop this evening. If you make or bring 5 cards to send to the troops, you can crop for free during this crop. Please call us to sign up for the crop so we can reserve a spot for you.

WHAT ARE THE RULES?

They are looking for all types of cards. You can make birthday, thinking of you, love, thank you, holiday or get well cards that are blank inside for the troops to send back to family and friends. These need to be blank inside, so the troops can write in their message to their loved ones. Also, if your card has a dark inside, please line it with a light color for them to write on. One more note…NO GLITTER on these cards please! Night Vision goggles can pick up a spec of glitter on a uniform miles away!

We will also be collecting cards for you to send your appreciation to the troops. Make any type of Thank You card with a short message from you inside.

Deadline for dropoff is July 5, 2011.

ONE LAST KICKER

Our sponsors are giving away a CARIBBEAN CRUISE to one lucky winner! When you make your cards, bundle them up with an ENTRY FORM to be entered for the drawing. Each “type” of card needs an entry form. So, you can make 10 birthday cards but you only need one entry form. If you make 5 birthday cards, and 5 holiday cards, you need 2 entry forms.

Click HERE for a link to more details about the contest.
Click HERE for the rules and regulations

Thanks so much for helping us support the troops. I know they will love getting handmade cards from home, that they can send to their friends and family. If you have any questions about this event, please feel free to call us at the store at 712-476-3443

Gasp!

2011-06-15T17:24:00.004-05:00

I realized it's 1/2 way through June and I've totally neglected to mention who the featured manufacturers are over at my favorite scrap store, A Walk Down Memory Lane. For the month of June you can shop Pink Paislee and My Favorite Things on-line and in the Brick and Mortar store at 25% off. Here's a little something I made for the store to show off what can be done with this month's featured manufacturers. Enjoy!

Our Simply Wonderful Summer Mini Album by Samantha Taylor
Book: Fancy Pants Artist Edition Chipboard Banners
Paper: Pink Paislee Hometown Summer (Sunnyside Lane, Heat Wave, Summer Fun, Neighborhood Pool), Jillibean Soup Staples
Stamps: My Favorite Things Polka Dot Greetings
Ink: Versamark
Accessories: Pink Paislee Hometown Summer Border Stickers, Pink Paislee Hometown Summer Rubber Charms, Pink Paislee Soiree Twine, American Craft Zing Clear Embossing Zing Powder, American Craft Aqua Zing Embossing Powder, Cosmo Cricket Tiny Type Alpahs, The Twinery Twine, Jenni Bowlin Malted Milk Paint, Jillibean Soup Dutch Mustard Soup Cardstock Stickers, Jillibean Soup Spotted Owl Soup Cardstock Stickers, Jillibean Soup Corrugated Alphas, Pebbles Inc. Candy Dots, Fancy Pants It’s Your Day Buttons, Doodlebug Boutique Buttons, Making Memories Journaling Pad, Echo Park For the Record Alpha Stickers, Jillibean Soup Bean Blossoms
Tools: Fiskar’s Uppercrest Border Punch, Fiskar’s Scalloped Sentiments Border Punch

I Love a Parade

2011-06-13T19:01:00.006-05:00

It's sketch challenge #24 time over at the My Mind's Eye Blog. I recently won some of the Lime Twist collection from the generous people over at MME, so I have no excuse not to play. Here's the sketch:
Here's my version:

The theme for the challenge this time around is Song Lyrics. Since I had recently taken photos of my kids at a parade I chose, "I love a parade".
I didn't make too many changes to the sketch. I took the sketch and rotated it 90 degrees. Sometimes when working with a sketch I focus on 1 element to highlight. This time I took the scalloped border and focused on that. I kept the rest of the layout fairly minimal so as not to overwhelm the photos.

Glitter Ritz Card Class

2011-06-12T08:32:00.004-05:00

I'll be teaching this class on June 18th at A Walk Down Memory Lane.

Glitter Ritz Cards

AWDML now carries Glitter Ritz Glitter. You have to see this glitter in person to truly understand how cool it is. It's low mess and satiny in texture. In this class Samantha will teach you how to apply it, color it, use it with patterned paper, stickers, and stamps while making 3 cards. The best part? You go home with your own container of Glitter Ritz Glitter (a $7.49 value)! Call AWDML at (712)476-3443 to reserve your spot!
Cost:$20
June 18 from 10:15 am - 12 pm

Geography Time

2011-06-09T09:19:00.003-05:00

I must start this post with the disclaimer that this project is completely, 100% inspired by a very, very similar project done by Amber Packer over on the My Mind's Eye Blog. You can check out her awesome project by clicking here. There are even some great directions linked up there. I only changed a few things.

My map is 12" x 12". I did this because I wanted to use a 12" x 12" piece of cork behind the paper as backing. We plan on sticking pins in it to show where Dad (my husband) is traveling for work (he travels a fair amount, and I think it will be fun for the kids to track him).

I also cut the large background US (seen here in white) with my Silhouette machine. It was also used to cut the state template pieces. However, I still cut the patterned paper states by hand.

The biggest difference is that I used My Mind's Eye's American Made paper. I think it's the perfect line for this patriotic project.

Father's Day Card Alternative

2011-06-08T09:24:00.011-05:00

If you're looking for a Father's Day project, I've got one featuring Glue Dots® for you today. I wanted to make an alternative to a card for Father's Day this year, so I decided to fill tubes from SRM with candy (who doesn't love the new Pretzel M & M's...seriously) and add a tag instead of a card. This is also a great project for using up scraps and bits and pieces of leftover papers and stickers. Here's the breakdown:

What you'll need:
Memory Book Glue Dots®
Scraps of paper (my largest measures 3" x 4") (I'm using Mr. Boy from Bella Blvd.)
Matching embellishments
Ribbon or Twine
Stickers or Stamps (I'm using stickers from SRM and Bella Blvd.)
Plastic Tube (the ones I used are from SRM Stickers)
Candy

I made a little decorative strip for the bottom of the tube. Cut a strip of paper about 1 1/4" tall and punch it with a decorative border punch. The length of your strip will be determined by the circumference of your tube.

Now you will put Memory Book Glue Dots® on both the inside and outside edge of your strip of paper. The Glue Dot® on the inside will secure the paper to the tube (since Glue Dots® are clear the adhesive is virtually undetectable even when the tube is empty). The Glue Dot® on the outside of the paper strip will secure the paper to itself when you wrap the strip around the tube.

To create the tag, you will need 2 pieces of 3"x4" paper per tag. As you can see in the photo, I didn't want the back sides (the dog print and the "future athlete" paper) to show, so I took 1 piece of wood grain paper and adhered it with Memory Book Glue Dots®

If you put 1 Glue Dot® in each corner, you'll get a nice firm hold.

Embellish your tags with paper and stickers.

Attach your tag with ribbon or twine around the top of the tube. I tied my ribbon in a knot instead of a bow to make it a little more manly.

Now you have a tasty alternative to a card!

*I wrote this blog post while participating on the Glue Dots® Design Team.

Another one checked off the "to craft" list

2011-06-06T09:00:00.008-05:00

It feels like I'm saying, "I finally got to use ______ paper," or " I finally got to scrap _______ photos" a lot lately. It sure feels nice to clear some things off of my "to craft" list (yes, I actually have a physical, down on paper, "to craft" list). It feels really good! Here's another one of those. Today I finally have my photos from St. Patty's Day scrapped. Woo hoo!

P.S. This layout is done with a big thank you to Little Yellow Bicycle. I won this line (Lucky Me) from them months ago.

4th of July Decorations and Tutorial

2011-06-02T21:34:00.012-05:00

With Memorial Day in my rear view, I have to admit, I've already begun thinking about the 4th of July. It probably doesn't help that my local scrap store (A Walk Down Memory Lane) just got in My Mind's Eye's American Made line. I love every sheet in this line...both sides. I'm pretty sure Tommy Hilfiger is jealous of the beautiful prints. I've stashed some American Made away to make some 4th of July layouts after all the fun this year, but first I made some patriotic decorations.

What you'll need:
~Memory Book or Permanent Glue Dots®
~Double sided patterned paper (you can get 2 decorations per 12 x 12 sheet)
~Scoring Tool
~Strong Scissors
~Ribbon, Twine, or String

First, cut your paper to 6" x 10".

Score the paper lengthwise, every 1/2" from 1/2" to 9 1/2".

Turn your paper and score it height wise at 3".

Accordion fold the 1/2" folds and hold tightly together.

Take a length of twine, string, or ribbon and tie it as tightly as possible around the center of your paper (there should be a score mark at the middle that you can uses as a guide).

Cut the ends of your paper at opposite angles (This is the hardest part of the project. You'll need a good, strong scissors and some elbow grease to cut through the thick layers of paper).

Add Memory Book Glue Dots® to the flat edge of the paper.

Fan out the paper, and press the seams firmly together.

Now all you have to do is decorate!
As you can see I've used ribbon to hang one star medallion, and attached a stick to the other one for a table decoration. If you're having a 4th of July party, you could make multiple medallions attached to sticks for table decor that guests can also use as hand fans. I also think the hanging medallions would be really lovely worked into a garland or wreath.

*I wrote this blog post while participating on the Glue Dots® Design Team.

You Can Fly

2011-06-02T16:16:00.004-05:00

Remember when swinging was sooooo much fun? I love the joy in these photos. Jillibean's Watermelon Gazpacho was just perfect for capturing the moment.

I hope you and yours are enjoying the simple pleasures of summer!

Pirate Party

2011-05-30T21:13:00.011-05:00

My youngest turned 3 at the beginning of May. As you can see, it was a pirate party. Needless to say, I was pretty excited to find these Karen Foster pirate stickers and papers at A Walk Down Memory Lane. It made scrapping a page about the party a fast and easy thing!

Overall this is a pretty simple layout, but I think it works well. I really like the twine stitching over the corners. It makes the photos feel extra pirate-y to me.

I make the cake every year. I'm no decorator, but I like to bake, and it's fun to see what we can come up with.

We also made treasure chests that we filled with candy to give to the kids at the party (Our family's not huge, so there are only 5 including my kids). You can find the complete directions and bigger pictures of them on my blog here.

And, just a reminder that you don't always have to go with what a title sticker says. The sticker here originally said, "A pirate's LIFE for me". I used alpha stickers to change it to "A pirate's PARTY for me". Not a perfect match, but I like it anyways.

Uther

2011-05-26T11:53:00.003-05:00

Last May we had to put our beloved basset to sleep. I missed having a dog, so not too long after, I talked my wonderful, amazing, sweet husband into letting us get a puppy (those are just a few of the compliments I used to convince him we needed another dog). We got him right after the 4th of July last year. These pictures were taken just a week or 2 after we brought him home. I kept saying, "I have to scrap a few pictures of Uther." Well, almost a year later here's my layout:

Thanks to Bella Blvd.'s Tail Waggers and Cat Naps line, I was finally inspired to document our fun, adorable, troble maker of a puppy. I also used some stickers from Bella Blvd's Sunny Happy Skies that complimented the photos.

Day 2

2011-05-24T10:10:00.000-05:00

When Baby Saurus by Little Yellow Bicycle came into A Walk Down Memory Lane, I knew I had to have it right away. The line is the perfect combination of just the right colors with just the right patterns.

If you want to see more Baby Saurus, you can check out another layout I made here and one more here.

I've been meaning to...

2011-05-23T05:44:00.000-05:00

I've had the idea for this layout bouncing around in my brain for months. I've been meaning to make it, but other things just keep cropping up. I think I bought those blue and white star Puffies 3 months ago, and I've been meaning to do a layout like this ever since. This layout was really easy and fun to put together. I also think it would be cute with any of the other Puffies designs (cupcakes, flowers, hearts, farm animals...etc.). You could also do the same layout out of colored paper to change it up a bit.
A quick P.S. If anyone has some good tips for photographing layouts that have a lot of white on them, please feel free to share them with me. For some reason I really struggle to photograph white layouts true to color. Thanks!

Getting Lots Done with Sketch Support

2011-05-21T13:39:00.008-05:00

I have a lot of crafts on my "to do" list right now, so I decided to spend the week tackling a few of them. I created 3 projects from sketches from the Sketch Supp ort blog. If you haven't checked out Sketch Support, it's worth a look. There are lots of great sketches, and lots of creative projects base off of those sketches. I've mentioned my love for the Sketches for Scrapbooking books before, and the Sketch Support blog is an extension of those books.

This first project is based off of a Sketch Support 1-page sketch.

I picked up Jubilee by The Girls' Paperie at A Walk Down Memory Lane back at the end of April. I've been dying to use it. So glad I finally made the time! Those little flag stick pins are ridiculously fun, and I'm kind of in love with the pearl brads, too. I only started scrapbooking a few years ago, so it was a lot of fun to pull photos from my wedding (almost 7 years ago) and scrap them!

The next layout is from a Sketch Support 2-page sketch:

I've played around a little with Jillibean Soup's Spotted Owl Soup, but not nearly enough, so I decided to dive into my stash for this birthday boy layout.

Last but not least are a set of mini cards from a Sketch Support add-on sketch:

More Jillibean Soup Paper here, but this time it's Blossom Soup and Pasta Fagioli. I'm most in love with the cherries on these cards. The circle cherries are made from twine that I wound and glued down on top of a 3/4" circle. The puff ball cherries were also hand made from twine.

I've got lots more to share with you over the next week...see you Monday!

Cousins

2011-05-19T19:59:00.005-05:00

It's been way too long since I've played along with a sketch challenge from My Mind's Eye. I started my layout this afternoon, so I'm just happy I got it done in time to photograph it in the daylight. Here's the sketch:

Here's my take:
I slid the whole sketch over to the left about 4 inches, but besides that I stayed pretty true to it. I used what might just be my favorite MME line ever; Stella and Rose (in fact I love it so much that you'll be able to see an entire mini album I created from it in an upcoming Northridge Media publication!!!). That's all I've got for tonight, but I do have a stack of layouts to share with you over the next week or so, so don't be a stranger.

Pinwheels

2011-05-15T09:00:00.004-05:00

I'm looking forward to spending time outside with my husband and boys over Memorial Day weekend. If it's warm enough, we might even break out the tent and some s'mores and go camping in the back yard. I thought it would be fun to make a little Memorial Day decor that can also be played with, because, let's face it, they're going to play with what I make whether they're supposed to or not. This is even a craft you can make with your kids, it's so fun and fast. Here's what you'll need to make your own, fully functional, pinwheels:

1 - 6" x 6" piece of paper per pinwheel (I used My Mind's Eye Breaking Free)
1 Craft Glue Dot® per pinwheel
1 wood dowel per pinwheel
1 large eyelet per pinwheel
1 large brad per pinwheel
drill with a small drill bit
scissors

Score 2 lines diagonally (corner to corner) across your paper. If you don't have a scoring tool, just fold your paper in half (to form a triangle), unfold, and fold again the other direction.

Cut along each score line towards the center of the square. Don't cut all the way to the center, stop about 1" from the center.

Place a Craft Glue Dot® in the center of your square. Fold every other corner to the center, overlapping it slightly and attaching it to the Craft Glue Dot®.

Set a large eyelet in the center of your pinwheel.

Take your wooden dowel (you can buy these at the hardware store, but chop sticks or wooden shiskabob sticks work just as well) and drill a small hole through it about 1" from the top.

Take your brad and place it through the eyelet in the center of your pinwheel and through the hole in your wooden dowel. You can leave the legs of the brad sticking straight out, or you can flatten them to the back of your stick. Now you have a pinwheel that will spin in the breeze!

I made 3 pinwheels and planted them in jar that I filled with 1/2 marbles. They'll make a pretty decoration, but the kids can easily pull them out to play with.

I wrote this blog post while participating on the Glue Dots® Design Team.

Welcome Flag

2011-05-13T17:50:00.004-05:00

My husband brought me this plant from the local greenhouse, just because he thought I'd like it. He was right, I love it and it looks great outside my front door. I decided it needed a little something, so I made the flag for it from one of Fancy Pant's Chipboard Banners and Pink Paislee's Hometown Summer. The "Welcome" letters are from The Girls' Paperie, and the ribbon is from May Arts.