Thursday, January 31, 2013

Simple Altered Folder


Sometimes super quick projects are the way to go!

I needed a folder to put all my daughter's little sewing patterns in so they don't get smashed.  I have plenty of cheap folders on hand, but I thought it would be fun to make it colorful instead of just using a sharpie or a label.

The patterned paper has all the hearts and peace signs already on it.  It's from the Recollections stack All Girl.

The letters were cut out using my Silhouette and some more paper from the same pack.

The bird sewing and the sewing machine are both images from the Lettering Delights set called Crafty Bird.

I'm pretty happy with it.  Not very much work at all and it's SO much cuter than just plain purple.  Now I am getting ideas in my head about re-doing all the school folders.  Hmmm... *LOL*
 
Thanks for visiting!



Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Baby Blessings Card


Here's a card I put together for a new baby.

The background was stamped using a Hero Arts stamp called Clouds.  I used Stampin' Up's Bashful Blue Ink.

The grass is from a Martha Stewart border punch.

The banner was hand cut and curled.  It was stamped using a sentiment from Pink By Design's Baby Love.  The ink is Stampin' Up's Pretty Ink Pink.

The die cutting was done using the Cricut cartridge Baby Steps.  There was supposed to be a bird perched on the clothesline as well, but I trimmed it off by hand.  The papers are from the Doodlebug Design 6 by 6 paper pad called Hello Spring.  I used Fruit Punch and Lavender Stickles.  The twine is from My Mind's Eye.  The mini clothes pins were purchased locally I don't know the brand.  I also used a couple Dew Drops in the flower centers.

I had to attach the whole die cut image with foam adhesive because of the clothes pins.  It was hard to get the small areas like the flower stems!

Thanks for visiting my crafty friends :)  I hope you get a chance to do something creative today.

Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Tri Shutter Feminine Birthday Card


Here's a feminine card that I put together.

I used this tutorial at Splitcoast Stampers for all my measurements to create a tri shutter card.  I made all of my layers 1/4 inch smaller in both directions to leave a border of kraft showing around them.

All the papers came from the Bo Bunny Ambrosia 6 by 6 paper pad.
 
 

The center panel was a piece of vanilla cardstock that I stamped on.  I used the stamp set Elementary Elegance from Stampin Up.   For all the butterflies I used the stamp off technique where you stamp first on a scrap and then stamp the second time on your project.  I did this to soften the colors of the butterflies a little.  I used the Stampin Up ink colors: Pumpkin Pie, Taken With Teal, Perfect Plum, YoYo Yellow, and Rose Red.  I used some Creamy Caramel to ink softly around the edges.

The flowers and brads have been in my stash awhile, not sure of the brand but I do know I purchased them at Michael's.

All the little pearls were created using Ranger's Liquid Pearls.  I used the colors: Bisque, Lavender Lace, and Petal Pink.  I'm not even sure you can see all the pearls in the photos.

I'm happy with the way this came out.  I think it would also work wonderfully for a Thank You card, obviously the sentiment would need to be changed.

Thanks for stopping by today!
Stay crafty my friends :)

Friday, January 25, 2013

Winter Layout


Here's a quick layout I put together.

The patterned paper is from Echo Park, I believe from their Winter Park collection.  
 
I simply added a couple strips of blue cardstock and the photos.  
 
Then to embellish I used some great felt snowflakes from Stampin' Up.  I layered some Jolie's Boutique snowflake stickers on top of those, and also added some on their own.

Super quick and easy!  The only way I ever get my scrapbooking done is to keep things simple the vast majority of the time.

I figure I'm successful as long as I'm documenting memories in some way!  Sometimes I have a title and journaling, sometimes just one or the other, and occasionally as in this example I skip both and just make the photos look nice.  I don't "do rules" very well ;)
 
Remember my friends, anything you make is special!  Sometimes I feel a little discouraged when I see the GORGEOUS and elaborate layouts of my fellow crafters, but it's OK to be simple too.  My kids love looking at our albums and I will be so glad as the years go by that I got them DONE and didn't overwhelm myself by making it harder than it had to be.  If I fuss over my layouts I tend to give up and not feel like scrappin'.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Thursday, January 24, 2013

Copic Practice


Here's a little card I put together.

I'm trying to learn how to work with my Copics.  I played around with making dots of color on her robe to get a fuzzy look.  For the most part I think she came out pretty well.  However, her cheeks are too dark.

The image is Winnie by Kraftin Kimmie.  The paper is from the Basic Grey Kioshi 6 by 6 pad. The ribbon was given to me by a friend.  She is colored in all Copics, and then I added Icicle Stickles to her hair accessories.  I used a Nestability to cut her out.  Did some paper piercing and then inked around the edges with some Stampin' Up ink.  I think it was Certainly Celery but I'm not sure.

Anyways, you have to start somewhere right?  Even when I don't feel I'm that good at a technique I may as well share because we are all always learning.

Try something new!  Have a wonderful and very crafty day!

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Cute Little Stinker Layout


Here's a simple layout I put together.

The paper is from Simple Stories Summer Fresh Line.

The yellow shape I wrote the title in is from Bo Bunny's On the Go Noteworthy pack.  I just used a Stampin' Up marker to write the title.

The arrow I just sketched and cut out by hand.  Then I used the marker to draw stitching lines around it.

For the embellishments near the bottom of the page, I used some KI Memories Little Guy chipboard button stickers, a couple more pieces from the Bo Bunny On the Go Noteworthy set, some twine, and a couple brads that look like screws.

Most of my pages are quick and simple.  It's the only way I get them done!

On a happy note I finally put the finishing touches on my son's baby album and it's officially complete with 80 pages.  I have a lot more recent things scrapped, but for some reason a few of my older photos, like this one, hadn't been put in a layout yet.

Monday, January 21, 2013

Happy Birthday Boy Card


Here's a little boy's birthday card I put together.

The elephant embellishment is from Paper House.  I put him on some cardstock and trimmed around it.  This created a thin border, and also the perfect place to put an action wobble so he moves.

The paper is from My Mind's Eye, the Lime Twist Fly a Kite 6 by 6 paper pad.

Stamp is from Stampin' Up's Happiest Birthday Wishes.  I used Chocolate Chip Ink.

Orange embroidery floss.

Buttons from the Michael's $1 section.

This is pretty far from the plan I had for the card.  It was one of those projects that just wasn't doing what I wanted it to, but in the end I think it's pretty cute.  I think with children's cards there's a lot more freedom to have things look bright, colorful, and even busy.

Have a wonderful, and very crafty day!

Friday, January 18, 2013

My Stamp Index Binder System


Today I'm sharing with you how I have categorized my stamps in a couple different ways so that I can get the most use out of them.  I find that with this system in place I use my stamps more often, find things quickly, can combine multiple sets with ease, and it also helps me know what I might want to purchase or what I already have a ton of.


Yes, I spent a LONG time putting these together.  People like my husband think I am seriously disturbed.  However, I enjoy organizing and love the benefits of having things in order.  If that makes me a crazy person I think I can live with that.

The video explains the system in detail and shows you my 2 binders.




Thanks so much for visiting and have a fabulous and very crafty day!

Thursday, January 17, 2013

Feminine Valentine Card

I had great fun putting this very feminine Valentine card together.

I started with a simple A2 sized craft card base.  The layer of patterned paper is 4 by 5 and 1/4 inches and is from the My Mind's Eye 6 by 6 pad called Blush.

Near the bottom of my card I used some vanilla cardstock and my Martha Stewart Doily Lace border punch.  I also added some adorable ribbon that says "I Love You" and has hearts on it, all looking like cross stitch with little printed x's.  The ribbon is Celebrate It brand from Michael's.

The hearts are actually all from different sets.  I have this great stamp index now that helps me with combining images from different sets and finding exactly what I want.  I'll be sharing it soon.

From left to right the hearts are from Stampin Up's Best Wishes and More stamped in Pretty In Pink, From Stampin' Up's Always stamped in Rose Red, and from a random wood block stamp purchased at Michael's stamped in Pink Passion.  They are all stamped on vanilla cardstock, then cut out.  I put them all together on some kraft cardstock and then cut around that to make a sort of shadow.

Everything is put on the card with pop dots, except the patterned paper.

I think this would be a good card to give to my Mom or my Aunt.  I'll have to come up with something else for my husband and my kids.


Wednesday, January 16, 2013

I'm Back!

A little decoration for my craft room.
After a very long break I've decided I'd like to come back to blogging!

I'm still busy, aren't we all?!  However, I'm very well settled into my much larger craft room in the basement and I'm finding I am FAR more efficient these days with things spread out and well organized.

Costumes I sewed for Halloween.  A dog and a squirrel.
I'd like to blog pretty often again.  The only thing I plan on changing is that I intend to include a greater variety of projects.  In the past I focused primarily on cards and did some other papercrafting.  Now I'd also like to branch out and include more sewing projects, home decor, kids activities, and anything else creative or DIY that I'm up to.  I feel that will make it far easier to maintain the blog and keep things fresh and interesting.  There will still be cards though, so don't worry if they're your favorite :)

I hope you'll stick around and see what new things I have to offer.

A set of gifts I sewed and embroidered for a friend's baby.

This post includes some random things I've been working on during my time off.  After all, it's nice to put some kind of photos in my post.

I look forward to creating and sharing with all of you again!

If you have any requests for kinds of tutorials let me know.  I am considering doing some little mini-series style videos based on different themes, techniques, etc.  If people are interested I may do a beginner sewing series with some fun and simple projects.

Have a wonderful and very crafty day!


Gift baskets with bunny themed embroidered gifts.  I actually embroidered on toilet paper rolls!  *LOL*