Advent Calendar

Hello my scrappy friends! This year I made my first advent calendar and I'm excited to share it with you today. The calendar came in pieces that I painted and then assembled. It was a pretty simple process and allows you to embellish it as much, or as little, as you prefer.

I used one six by six paper pad for all 25 boxes. I created a simple template and then all I had to do was cut and paste. The real fun starts when you begin to add all the details!


Below are a couple of close ups of the boxes. I didn't do any die cutting on this project, of course that's an option.


A variety of embellishments including; buttons, brads, Thickers, ribbon, twine and stickers.


I know this isn't a traditional tutorial but hopefully it will inspire you to create your own home decor project. I've seen several variations of advent calendars at scrap stores. I ended up giving this one to my brother and his family, but next year I'd love to make one for myself.

Details:

• Pattern Paper: Simple Stories '25 Days of Christmas'
• Number Stickers: Thickers and Simple Stories
• Sentiment Stickers: Cosmo Cricket
• Brads: My Mind's Eye and Tim Holtz
• Buttons: Jenni Bowlin
• Hemp and Ribbon
• Ink: Tim Holtz 'Tea Dye' and 'Festive Berries'

I wish you all happy and safe Holidays! Thanks for stopping by and I hope to see you soon.

Happy Holidays

Hi scrappers, today I'm sharing a couple of holiday cards. I have a fun stamp set from Papertrey Ink with all kinds of "petite" images. I didn't want them to be overwhelmed by the card so I slimmed down my cards to 4 1/4 by 4-inches, which will still fit in a standard size envelop. I stamped a bunch of images and then colored them with my Copics.


As the holidays approach we all find ourselves busier than ever, so I wanted to simplify my cards, this way I can still deliver a handmade item without overwhelming myself in the process.

Details:

• Rustic White Cardstock Papertrey Ink
• Pattern Paper-My Mind's Eye: 'The Merry Days of Christmas' and 'Be Merry' (6x6)
• Stamps-Tremendous Treats: Christmas, Papertrey Ink
• Ink: Festive Berries (Tim Holtz) and Spiced Tin (Jenni Bowlin)
• Hemp
• Scallop Border Punch: Stampin' Up!
• Circle Punch 1 3/4-inch
• Dies: Papertrey Ink Mat Stack #4
• Memento Tuxedo Black
• Copics

Thank you so much for stopping by today. I hope these cards provide some inspiration for you! I hope to see you back here soon.

Diaper Motorcycle

Hello my scrappy friends. I finished another project for my sister in law's baby shower and it's absolutely adorable. I'm so happy with the way it turned out and it was so much easier to put together than I expected. I watched a wonderful video tutorial which you can see here. I changed a couple of elements but the construction is just like the video.


The ribbon covers a rubberband that holds all the diapers in place.


Each wheel is made up of 15 diapers. You can see the tire construction here.

One baby blanket joins the 2 tires together and the second blanket creates the handle bars. Once again I used ribbon to hide a rubberband on the handle bars. I wrapped a small washcloth around the bottle...I'm assuming this is a headlight, but I'm not really sure. Honestly the only thing that really matters is just how cute this darn project is! Lol.


I decided not to do a picture tutorial because the video is so wonderful, but if you're interested in more information or have questions please let me know. I'm sure this is going to be a hit at the baby shower.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope to see you soon.

It's A Boy!

Hi scrappers! Wow, I can't believe how long it's been since my last post. I'm getting ready for my sister in law's baby shower on the 19th of this month, and one if my duties are the decorations. I created a banner using my new Silhouette Cameo, which I LOVE! It cuts my Papertrey Ink Cardstock so incredibly well and it amazes me every time.

I was able to use a font already on my computer and purchased 3 images from the Silhouette online store; the pennant, monkey and lion. Each image was only 99 cents! How fantastic is that?!



Look at these faces, I love my Peachy Keen stamps!


So, what can you expect from me next? More baby shower decorations, holiday cards and gifts and projects featuring Copic markers. I took the Copic certification class just over a week ago and I'm really excited about everything I learned. I still have a lot of practicing to do, but I'm looking forward to it.

Thank you for stopping by and I hope to see you back here soon!

A Book Of Lists

Hello my scrappy friends. Recently I've heard a lot of ideas for capturing all the fun and excitement of the upcoming holiday season; daily journals, a picture a day, etc. And while I like all of those projects, they don't seem attainable for me...I'm just being realistic. But I found another fabulous and interesting way to document the joy of the season, lists!

Yep that's right, lists. Now I will admit I love to make lists, yes it's part of my Type A personality, but these list are more fun than the general "to do" lists. Topics included in this file are:' The perfect Thanksgiving meal does not include', 'The people in my life who are probably the most thankful for me', 'The perfect winter day includes', 'It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas when', 'Childhood Christmas traditions I'll always remember', and many more. You can find this ebook at Ella Publishing and lots of other great stuff.

Now confession time, I had to scrap the idea of a tutorial today when I realized I didn't really know how to use my Cinch. It turns out I need a little more practice, lol. Anyway, here is the final product.


I think it will be really fun to not only answer these questions myself, but to ask family members to do it as well. I can either add pictures to this book and create a "real" mini album or remove the lists and add them to my scrapbook.

Details:
Pattern Paper: My Mind's Eye "Holly Jolly"
Cricut: Kate's ABC's (book, lists) cut at 1.25-inches and Martha Stewart All Occasion Cake Art (A, Of) cut at 1-inch
Fancy Pants Rub-ons
Aqua Mist Grosgrain Ribbon from Papertrey Ink
White Crinkle Ribbon from My Craft Spot
Prima Eline Pearls
Twine from Papertrey Ink
Star Charm: My Mind's Eye Bits and Pieces

I hope you enjoyed this project. Perhaps you can create something similar to store all the wonderful memories and traditions that we create during the holidays. Thanks for stopping by!

Fall Blog Hop

Hello scrappers! I'm so excited to be a part of The Bugbytes Blog Hop! Today you are going to see so many amazing and inspirational projects from my fellow Design Team members. For my project I decided to go out of my comfort zone and create a fall inspired home decor project.


I purchased the wreath and leaf collection at a craft store, I'm sure you can find something similar near you. I love those little pumpkins and berries!


Then I pulled out what I believe to be the best Cricut cartridge made in a VERY long time...the Close To My Heart Art Philosophy cart. This cartridge is packed with all kinds of images, 3-D flowers and a font. I haven't done any quilling before but I really wanted to try it and I figured this would be the perfect project to do that.


The flowers were cut at 3, 2.75, 2.5 and 2.25-inches. The longest part of this project was rolling all the flowers. I would cut several and then roll them while watching TV. After I finished that I started adding them to my wreath, usually in little groups of 3. Last I added the leaves and some of the little pumpkins and ta da, you have a fall home decor project...pretty simple, right?!


I finished my wreath by adding the 'FALL' banner. I used my Crop-A-Dile to make the holes and add eyelets.

Details:

• Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge: pennant and layer cut at 2.75-inches, FALL cut at 2.25-inches
• Pattern Paper: American Crafts
• Imaginisce Petal Roller
• Divine Twine
• Martha Stewart Hot Glue Gun
• Colorbox Brown Chalk Ink
• Stampin' Up Eyelets
  

If this is your first stop I encourage you to go to The Bugbytes and see the rest of the projects from the design team...there's even a giveaway! Here's the list so you can hop along!

Jen from 3catsandabug

Lori from scrappinmystressaway

Jeannie from nonnasscraps

Audrey from cuteandsome

Kymberlee from thepapermidwife

Allison from goodybagdiva

Kelly from kamscraftyplace

Debbie from debseclecticthoughts

Carole from onmycraftroomwall

Kate from sassyandscrappykate YOU ARE HERE!

Amylynne from amysscrappyspace

Mila - M&M from milamemories

Dayna Sabrina from sabrioletdesigns

Elizabeth from 217creations


I hope you enjoyed this project and I appreciate you hopping by! I look forward to seeing you again. If you have any questions please let me know.

Fit For A Princess

Hello my scrappy friends. I wanted to share this adorable card I made for my Mom's friend. I adore this image from Stamping Bella, isn't she the sweetest?!


I must admit, I can understand how people go Copic crazy! It's so nice, and even relaxing, to sit and color. It also appeals to my type A "neat freak" personality. I don't have paper, tools, cutting mats, etc. all over the place, which means my crafty space is tidy.

Details

• Stamp: Stamping Bella 'Everyday Princess'
• Black Cardstock: Papertrey Ink
• Pattern Paper: Basic Grey 'Out of Print'
• Apron Lace Border Punch
• Ribbon: Papertrey Ink
• Nestabilities Large Label Die
• Glossy Accents
• Button: Papertrey Ink

Thanks for stopping by. I'd like to invite you all back here Saturday, October 22 for the Bugbytes Fall/Halloween Blog Hop!

Trick or Treat

Hello scrappers! Apparently fall is upon us, so I figured I might as well embrace it and make a Halloween card. I started by printing a digital image from Tiddly Inks and colored it with my Copics. I actually printed and colored 4 so I was able to knock out several cards in a pretty short period of time. Coloring the image is the most time consuming part, especially since I'm still a beginner in the Copic world.


After I finished coloring I cute each image out using a Spellbinders die. I used a larger size die to cut some coordinating pattern paper to layer my image on.


In this picture you can see the spider webs I cut with my Cricut. The little pieces are pretty delicate so I'd recommend using your spatula when removing the image from your mat.


Next I inked up a large rubber stamp to create a background for my card. I find it easier to place my paper on top of the stamp as opposed to placing the stamp on the paper. I've found that I get a more even impression.


And here's what it looks like after stamping.


I couldn't get a good picture of it, but I did distress the edges of the black piece of cardstock. I adhered two spider webs to the corners of my first layer.


I trimmed a piece of vellum to fit just inside of the black layer. I didn't want to cover the distressed edges. I placed my adhesive just in the area behind my image so it wouldn't be visible. Vellum can be a little tricky to attach and I haven't found an adhesive that doesn't show through, so some creativity is required.

Details

• Dark Grey and Orange Cardstock: Papertrey Ink
• Pattern Paper: My Mind's Eye 'Mischievous'
• Vellum: Papertrey Ink
• Spider Webs: Chic and Scary Cricut Cartridge cut at 2-inches
• White Ink: Papertrey Ink
• Ribbon: Stampin Up
• Tim Holtz distressing tool

Thanks for visiting, I hope to see you back here soon. Have a great day!

Custom Background Paper

Hey scrappers! I have my third and final layout to share with you today inspired by a class from boot camp last week. This class focused on creating unique and custom backgrounds with stamps from home. I have to admit, I don't know how often I'll do this because I have so much pattern paper that I need/want to use, but it's a great technique. And depending what your stamp and ink stash looks like you can have a lot of fun and express your individual creativity.

I started by picking out the stamps and colors of ink I wanted to use. I stamped a light polka dot background and then the flowers over that. I tried to layer colors and flowers in order to fill in most of the white space.

Details

• White Cardstock: Bazzil (smooth)
• Pink Pattern Paper: Fancy Pants 'Wishful Thinking'
• Pink Houndstooth, Black Stripe and Polka Dot Pattern Paper: My Mind's Eye 'Blush'
• Stamps: Polka dot-Inkadinkado, Sweet Threads Set-Hero Arts and Basic Grey
• Apron Lace Border Punch by Fiskars
• Stickers: Crate Paper
• Buttons: Papertrey Ink
• White Embroidery Thread

Thanks for stopping by, I hope to see you again soon.

Scrappin' and Stampin'

Hi scrappers! As some of you may have seen in a previous post, this past week I took part in an online scrapbook boot camp. I got a chance to learn some new techniques and wanted to share one of those with you today. The class I'm referencing today was taught by Nichol Magouirk and it focused on incorporating word stamps inn our layouts. I have done this in the past, but I wanted to share what I created for this particular challenge.

I started by picking out stamps that I thought would be appropriate for my pictures and the story I wanted to tell. Since this layout focuses on my nephew's birthday party the sentiment 'celebrate' was perfect.


In the picture above you can see the 1.5x12-inch border strip in the middle of my layout. I started by stamping in the middle and then worked my way out on either side. For this particular layout I wanted to use my stamps as a subtitle. I think in the future I'd probably make the strip thinner. Or perhaps the layout just seems too busy, but either way it's still fun...and it's done! LOL!

Details:

• Kraft cardstock: Bazzil
• Pattern Paper: Echo Park 'Little Boy'
• BIRTHDAY: Martha Stewart All Occasions Cake Art cut at 1-inch with shadow
• BOY: Martha Stewart All Occasions Cake Art cut at 1.75-inches
• Stars: Martha Stewart All Occasions Cake Art-cut at 1, 1.5 and 1.75-inches
• Stamps: Technique Tuesday 'Real Life By Ali Edwards' and 'Kids Are Cool by Ali Edwards'
• Ink: Jenni Bowlin-Seed Packet, Spice Tin and Chili Powder
• Vellum: Papertrey Ink
  
• Buttons: Papertrey Ink
• Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you have been inspired to create! I always appreciate feedback and I'm happy to answer any questions. I hope to see you back here soon.

Button, Button Whose Got A Button...

Hi scrappers! Today is my first post on the Paper Craft Weekend Challenge blog. If you have visited my blog before you probably know that one of my favorite embellishments is buttons... I love buttons! I use them on cards, layouts and even home decor projects. When I was asked to create a challenge I thought it would be fun to use buttons in a way I had never tried before and share it with you, in hopes it may inspire you to create a project including buttons. Before I show you my new scrapbook page I'd like to share a couple of ways I have used buttons in the past (some of you may have seen these before).

First up is a home decor project:


I purchased this plain black frame and decided to spruce it up a little. As you can see I adhered buttons to the center of some of my flowers. I love the additional depth and texture they added to a "plain jane" frame.


Next up, a scrapbook page:


Here you can see I used buttons for wheels on my die cut car. I have done this several times and love how is spices up an other wise ordinary car.



For my project today I used buttons to create a border for my scrapbook page. This is the first time I've tried this, but I think the result is REALLY fun. I kept the rest of the page very simple, as always when I create a page I want the focus to be on my picture/s.



To adhere buttons I like to use glue dots, although on this page I sewed some of the buttons straight to the paper. What I love about buttons is that they're so diverse, and you can utilize them in countless ways.

Details:

• Kraft cardstock: Bazzil
• Pattern Paper: My Mind's Eye 'Stella and Rose'
• Buttons: Papertrey Ink
• White embroidery floss
• Labels: October Afternoon
• Stamps: Technique Tuesday 'A Date With Ali' and 'The Observant Traveler'
• Ink: Jenni Bowlin 'Chicken Feed' and 'Cough Syrup', Memento 'Tuxedo Black'
• Color Mist: October Afternoon 'Paper Doily'
  
• Brad: My Mind's Eye
  

So what is your challenge?! Buttons!!! Use buttons on a card, layout or altered item. To participate in this challenge head over to the Paper Craft Weekend Challenge and link your project. I can't wait to see what you come up with! Thanks for stopping by, have a great weekend.

Love This Life

Hi scrappers! I'm taking part in the Scrapbooking Boot Camp put on by Ella Publishing. I'm having fun learning new techniques and have been inspired by the creativity. I heard about this on the blog of one of my favorite scrappers Nichol Magouirk, who just happens to be one of the "Design Drill Instructors". The scrapbook page that I'm going to share with you today was inspired by a lesson from Lisa Dickinson on designing with grids. I haven't really done anything like this before, but I can see how versatile it can be. You can expect to see more of this in the future.


I used three 4x6-inch photos. I used my Cricut to die cut the title. I had a piece of paper from My Mind's Eye that I used for the journal spots. I cut it in half and used part on the bottom left and top right of my page. I like how it draws your eye diagonally across the page, bringing attention to the photos. It also helps break up a photo heavy layout.

This page was quick to put together which is always a plus since most of us are usually behind on our scrapping.

Details:

• Title: 'love', life'-Nate's ABC's cut at 1.25-inches and 'this'-Martha Stewart Seasonal Cake Art cut at 1.5-inches
• Pattern Paper-My Mind's Eye 'Hattie and Rose'
• Twine: Papertrey Ink
  
• Buttons: Papertrey Ink and Stampin Up!
• Journal Card and Sticker: My Mind's Eye
• Stamps: Technique Tuesday
• Mini Paperclip: Tim Holtz

Thanks for stopping by. I hope this inspires you to try out a new technique or sign up for a crafty class. Have a great weekend!

Back to School

Hi scrappers! I told you last week that I would share the goodies I made for my nephew's first day of school, so here it is. I went really simple on this one, but none the less they went over well with his classmates.

The supplies were simple: granola bars, pencils, twine, stamps, and a couple sheets of paper. One technique I wanted to share is how to set up your imagine when you want to use paper that is smaller than 12x12.


The pattern paper I had was 8x8 and I wanted to use as much of it as possible. So once I figured out the size of each tag (2-inches) I placed 4 on each row and then used the arrow key, which is similar to the enter button on your computer keyboard, between each set of 4 tags. You can see what that looks like in the picture above.


This photo shows all of the tags I was able to cut out on each 8x8 sheet. I love this feature because it really utilizes your paper.


And the final product. Like I said this was a really simple project, but still a nice favor to hand out in a classroom. You can click on the picture to enlarge it. I had a perfect stamp from TPC Studio which says 'first day of school' and then I added a 'from' sentiment from Papertrey Ink so I could add my nephew's name so his classmates and their parents knew where it came from.

Thanks for stopping by

Sending Smiles and Hugs

Hi scrappers, I've got a couple techniques I'd like to share with you today. Before I get to the card I want to apologize for the lack of pictures. My camera started acting up and all I could do was use what I had already taken. Hopefully this won't be an expensive fix, I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Onto my card. I purchased this beautiful 6x6 paper stack from Authentique that I've been really excited to use. As I was thinking about what I wanted to create I realized I didn't have any ribbon that matched my paper, so I thought I'd try and create my own.



I started with white grosgrain ribbon from Stampin' Up, then I pulled out a few colors of glimmer mist, a pink and a red. I honestly didn't know if this would even work so I started with a really small piece of ribbon to test it out.


I combined my colors and the used my heat gun to dry the ribbon...and it worked! As I went along I compared it to the paper I was going to use and was really happy with the end result.


Next, instead of die cutting embellishments I created my own. I took the piece of paper above and cut out a few of the flowers.


I wanted to create pleating with my ribbon so I adhered glue to the back of a piece of trimmed paper. Again I apologize for the photos, but hopefully you can get an idea from the picture above.


Since the ribbon adds volume I adhered dimensional adhesive to the paper before adding it to my card.

Details

• Base Cardstock: Papertrey Ink
• Pattern Paper: Authentique 'Uncommon'
• Glimmer Mist: Starfish and Tattered Rose
• Ribbon: Stampin' Up!
• Brads: My Mind's Eye
• Stamp: Technique Tuesday 'Sweet Somethings'

Thank you so much for checking out my project today. I'm sorry it wasn't very in-depth, but I'm sure you all can understand my situation...it was just one of those days.