What's For Dinner

I bet you are wondering why I am posting about Dinner in the morning on a crafty blog!  Well, I will share.....

 It's a menu board.  As both my husband and I are at school full time and our lives are even more hectic now that he is out of the Army - if you can imagine that.  I thought it was time to increase our communication about food plans by creating a menu board.  This was a super easy project to make and I will share how I made it in just a moment.  But before I do that, I wanted to share with you the super cute clothes pin!

Okay, so how did I make this little guy you are wondering?!

1. The board is actually the bottom of an Ikea shelf that I purchased, put together and realized it was the wrong size for the furniture it was supposed to go in. I was unable to return it, so $40 down the drain - I saved it, and used it here.
2. Sprayed the heck fire out of the piece of particle board using Chalkboard Spray paint
3. While the spray paint was drying, I cut out the title "Menu" and each letter for each day of the week on my Cricut using Vinyl.

• Menu was cut using Gypsy Wanderings Font
• The little swirls were Cindy Loo which I welded to the Gypsy Font using my Gypsy
• The letters for each day of the week were cut using Cindy Loo

1. The clothes pin is from Michaels - I covered it in paper, inked the edges and then covered it in Glossy Accents.
2. I ran the back of the board with Magnet strips using E6000 - nothing else worked, including the glue gun.

If you count the time it took for the board to be ready (24 hours of spray paint dry time and glossy accents hardening time) this was a 2 day project.  If you count just the time I spent working on it, this was a 1 hour project.  And it's SUPER CUTE!  And lets face it, whenever your husband calls it cool project and admires your creativity, you know it's an awesome project.   Not to mention, this was my very first time using Vinyl in my cricut, I'm pretty sure I am in love!

Thanks for stopping by, having a creatively inspired day!

Monster Jam Infamy, Gravedigger

If you have been following my posts lately, you will have noticed a theme involving travel vacations and Monster Truck Rally photos.  Today is no exception to that rule, I will be sharing a Monster Truck Rally layout {GASP}.  This one is also special, just like the Truckasaurus one, but not for the same reason.  The layout I am about to share is special because it deals with my love's favorite part of the Monster Truck Rally, Gravedigger.  Gravedigger is always by far the coolest truck of them all, he breaks the rules, and his truck quite often.  Both of which equal a good night.  So, here is the layout:

I used a 2 photo sketch from Creative Scrappers, and the specific sketch is Sketch 219 (clicking on the two previous words will take you right to it).  When I saw this sketch I almost passed it by, until i remembered my Tim Holtz gears die, which has only been used once (eek!) when I tried it out on scraps just for fun....... I bought it for a purpose I promise, the purpose was a manly one, and TADA Gears Die to the rescue!  I thought that gears would be the perfect addition to this sketch and the monster struck photos, right along with my version of Gravedigger.  If you are curious where I got that cute little guy from, you can find it at Designs on Cloud 9, the name of the file is Monster Trucks.  The other awesome thing about this die - the graveyard die cut.  I bought that graveyard die almost 3 years ago, shortly after me and my hubby got married.  I am again ashamed to say, first time I have ever used it, but the wait was well worth it.  When I showed this finished bad boy to my hubby all he could say was "That's Awesome Babe!"  (He really was excited, promise.)  He then proceeded to tell me his favorite part of the whole thing was "that awesome graveyard" (score for me).

I hope you enjoyed today's share and feel inspired.  Have a fun crafty inspired day!

Supplies:  Stampin' Up! Well Worn (Retired) (Pattern Paper); Bazzill (Cardstock); Stampin' Up! Cajun Craze, Stampin' Up! Lucky Limeade, Tim Holtz Distress Black Soot, Stampin' Up! Marker Basic Black (Ink); Paper Accents (Tag); Designs on Cloud 9 Monster Trucks File (Paper Peicing); Spellbinders Grand Labels, Spellbinders Graveyard, Tim Holtz Alterations Gears (Diecuts); SEI, Doodlebug (Letter Stickers)

Another Home Decor Min Album Scrapbook Frame

I love mini albums, but to be honest, I've been making TONS of them lately.  And although I love them dearly, they get very tedious SOMETIMES.  And unforuneately, or fortunately, I was feeling the monotony of mini albums during recent assignment at Scrapjazz for an album with the theme of "friends." My thoughts revolved around how to take the concept of an "album" outside the box of an album, and well I came up with, why not lay the album out for display?  This translated into this:

I took a backless frame and a piece of thin canvas board from the craft store to create it.  The canvas was covered with a shimmery cream fabric which I then overlaid with lace.  This was then placed in the back of the frame.  I took 4x4 pieces of chipboard that I had left over from a previous project (yay leftovers!) and covered them with various scraps from my scrap box.  I then found small photos of my me and my friends, and created mini album layouts, using random bits and pieces of left overs - some of the embellishments came from a junk tub that I keep on my desk.  And because I am going through a "everything with banners is better phase" I decided that this piece had to have a title Banner Style.  This is the finished product:

 

And a close up of the fun banner pieces that were also made with left overs and random alphabet pieces from American Crafts and Pink Paislee:

 

 The pennant shape was cut from the Pennants SVG file from Lettering Delights and can be found here.  The Octagon shape was cut using Spellbinders Dies, and the rope is from Stampin' Up!  All the paper that I used in this project are left overs from my scraps.  Pretty awesome huh?

Jewelry Frame Home Decor Project

Just a quick drop in to show you a project I have been working on for Scrapjazz.  This project was made with the theme of French Inspiration.  When I saw the theme assignment, I instantly thought of the Boudoir craze and then to the jewelry Hanging frame I had been meaning to make for ages.  With that in mind, I set to work and came up with this:

I used a shadow frame that opens for this project and couldn't be happier.  Although I love all the beautiful jewelry frames out there, I couldn't get over the fact that I would have to get two frames in order to have one for my earrings and one for my necklaces, and I couldn't find a satisfiable solution to my earrings that are not dangely - you know the ones you need to have posts for.  With this, I can hang all my earrings and still easily access the ones with posts without a huge hassle, just opening the door!  I did some damage to the front of the frame while attempting to nail the mesh to the front...... After trial and error and much consultation with Google, I decided that my Staple Gun would be a better option.  But I was still left with a destroyed frame finish.  I easily covered that up with some beautiful trims in my stash, and then added the beautiful Couch and background Eiffel tower from the Summer in Paris Cricut Cartridge.  The flower is from Pink Paislee.  I seriously love this thing!  It's not on my wall yet as I will be moving at some point and don't want to add another hole only to immediately be covering it up.

Swaps, Swaps, and More Swaps

I love swapping, it really is a lot of fun, and a cool way to see new and different ways of doing the same thing.  Just love it.  As you all know, I've been spending a lot of time swapping over at Mini Album Scraps.  The last round, I participated in the Stick Pin, Flower, and "CREATE" word banner swap. And so, today, I thought I would share with you all what I have created! Grab some coffee, tea, hot chocolate, whatever your poison of choice and continue on..... It's a long post with lots of pictures today!

1.  Stink Pin Swap
I love stick pins, really.  And this particular go around, I was excited that it had the theme of Love/Valentines Day. I haven't always been so excited about Love/Valentines Day month, but to be honest, it is a holiday that tastefully surrenders eloquently to crafting girly style.  With that in mind, I went with the colors of love, well mainly Red, Brown and Cream, with some black thrown in.  Here is the finished product:

 A little bit of a confession:  I've been collecting Valentine's Day themed stamps and such for age with all these glorious plans for them that are never really executed. Either way, this is the first time that I have ever used the stamps for the tag!  Even better is the fact that the base that the stick pins are adhered to is corregated cardboard I pulled from the trash. Yes.  The Trash.  I just took of the surface from one side and added some Glimmer Glam and acrylic paint.  It gave it a shabby chic grungy look.  I love it.

And the close up of the stick pins:

 Check out those pins!  I love them!  For this particular round, I got some really pretty specialty beads.  My favorite were the heart charms.  I just loved them!

Supplies: Tag (Cardboard from trash); Cardstock (Bazzill Raven, Bazzill Pomegrante, Recollections Kraft); Stamps (My Sentiments Exactly, Studio G); Inks (Stmapin' Up! Cherry Cobbler, Chocolate Chip and basic Black; Tattered Angels Glimmer Glam; Pearlesent Pearl Paint); Stick Pins (Corsage Pins from Michaels)

2.  Flower Swap
Ever since I got the Tim Holtz Tattered Floral die, I have been on a "create my own flowers" kick.  And let me tell you, it is soooo much fun!  I know that I've said it before, and I'll say it again, if you do not get any other die you NEED this one.  I made all of these flowers from the same die:

 And some close ups of each flower:
These are a paper flowers.  I made these modifying a tutorial a bit to fit my needs.  The flower tutorial can be found here.  Before assembling my flowers, I inked all their edges, after they were assembled I took a toothbrush dipped in acrylic paint and added some color.  I think they turned out fabulous.

 These are a paper and aluminum foil.  This is just the standard rose that there are a bazzillon tutorials on, each is the same.  Just google it and find one that you get.

 And these (by far my favorite) are made with coffee filters.  You can find the tutorial here.

And the tag:

I kept the tag pretty simple so that it can be reused in another project.  The front has been covered in pattern paper, and the back is just plan for journaling and a cute little key stamp.  I sprayed it with some neutral colored Glimmer Mist and inked the edges.  The tag itself was cut from the Tags, Bags, Boxes and More Cricut Cartridge.

Supplies: Ink (Stampin' Up! Chocolate Chip, Stampin' Up! Early Espresso, Stampin' Up! Basic Black); Paint(Americana True Red); Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist Walnut Gold, Red Nose Reindeer; Paper (Michaels Recollections Kraft); Patterned Paper (Recollections Stitch in Time); Cricut Tags Bags Boxes and More Cartridge; Stamps (Studio G)


3.  "CREATE" Banner
I seriously have a deep love for banners.  I never know what I am going to do with them, but I figure I might as well have a stash of them!  However, I am in the process of creating decorated spaces in my home where all the banners I am accumulating will go.  With that in mind, this month's banner swap was specifically for our craft space, and had the color scheme of Pink, Black, and White/Cream. Here is what I came up with:

Aren't they fabulous?!  I had such a fun time making these.  I got some awesome stuff for Christmas, and this was the first thing that I made following Christmas.  So I even got to play with some of my new supplies. And because we are always about the details, some close up pictures:

The hardest part about making these guys was trying to figure out how to use the Martha Stewart combination punches the edger and the corner rounder.   After some trial and error I totally got it, and if you want something else to add to your stash, her punches.  I am in love with them.  They are fabulous to have on hand!  The beauty of this project is that I used 4 sheets of 12x12 plus scraps from my scrapbox to make these all.  So not very supply heavy at all!  One of the benefits to making banners - you can use up all your random bits and pieces.

Supplies:   Bazzill Glazed, Bazzill White, DCWV Glitter Pack, GCD Patterned Paper, Recollections Pink Card Stock (Paper and Cardstock); Stampin' Up! Classic Ink (Ink); Gypsy Wanderings (Font); Cricut, Martha Stewart, Stampin' Up! (Punches and Tools); Prima (flower); Michaels Dollar Spot (Bling); Stick Pins were handmade.

Hopefully you have enjoyed my shares, and feel inspired to do some creative crafting yourself!

Work in Progress Share: Calendar Swap

Following in my current trend and love affair: swapping- here is another fun share.  I am still working on these, which let me tell you has been a feat because of my limited supplies right now.  But none the less, I am loving the outcome.  I am responsible for the months of November and February - both of which I love, mainly because I love doing fall and love themed paper piecing.  So here is what I have so far:

 I had to do a color theme of Black, Creme, and Beige with one color of my choice.  For the February one, I choose red (of course, what else for February?).  And for the November one, I choose "orange" - okay I cheated a bit and choose red and orange.  Here are some close ups of my embellishments:

I love those flowers, so delicious.  The tutorial can be found here.  So beautiful!  Another thing, I loved: the background on my November calendars.  I stamped that in different shades of beige and a burnt orange with Paper Trey Ink stamps, and yummo I LOVED how it came out!

Supplies: Paper Trey Ink (Masculine Motifs, Mehndi Medallion); Close to My Heart (Air Mail); Stampin Up (Neutrals, Cherry Cobbler); Prima (Heart Stamp); Glitter (Stickles); Tree (Paper Doll Dress Up); Cardstock (Bazzill); Pumpkin (EK Success 1" Punch piecing); Maple Leaf Punch;

Banner Swap Pieces

If you've been following my posts lately, you will have noticed a theme.  Swaps.  My current addiction, and I'm still loving it.  Swaps are a good way to find others to share your love of all things paper with, and who share with you as well.  You get different ideas, and ways of doing things.  Swaps. Are. Awesome.  Well, a while back, I joined a banner swap.  The concept is you pick a word you want made into a banner, than each person would sign up for a letter to make for that word.  You make several of the same letter (i.e. if you are making a "santa" banner and choose letter A, you would make 5 letters As keeping one for yourself and sending the rest to be divided) and once you send them off, you get the rest of the letters back.  I like banners, and my husband LOVES and I mean LOVES when i decorate the house with stuff like this, particularly for holidays, celebrations, and special events.  So I figured I could build up my banner stash.  The swaps I signed up for were for "Noel" and "Winter."  Each banner piece had to follow a specific color scheme and contain a minimum of 3 different types of embellies, and the letter had to be at least 3 inches tall.

This is what I came up with for the "Noel" swap:

And here are some close up details for your feasting pleasure:

 This was a very challenging banner piece to complete for me, but was definitely worth it.


For the "winter" swap, I came up with this:

 And some close-ups for the details:

 These were a lot of fun to make.  I think because I am a huge fan of the winter time.  I love the crisp cold air, hot mugs of cocoa, snow, and cute winter clothing.  I think my favorite thing on these are the mittens, it took forever for me to figure out how to incorporate them, then make them, but they sure are stinkin cute!

Thanks for stopping bye and sharing in my crafty pleasure!  Once I get the other pieces of the swap back, I will show you the entirety!

Supplies List:

Noel: Die Cuts With a View Holiday Paper pack (Patterned Paper); Fun Flock (letter); Medici Text (Letter font); Tim Holtz Crackle Paint; Making Memories, Bazzil (Cardstock); Christmas Solutions Cartridge (Tree); Winter Wonderland Cricut Cartridge (Holly Leaves); Celebrate it Foam Sequence Balls (Holly Berries); Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist; Tim Holtz Distress Ink

Winter:  Die Cuts With a View Holiday Collection Christmas Stack, DCWV Holiday Collection Winter Matstack (Patterned Paper); Bazzill (Carstock); Celebrate It Snowflake Ornaments; Flower Soft Ivory (Snow); Glitter; Tattered Angels Glimmer Glam Chandelier and  Pixie Dust (Poinsettia); Stampin Up! Ink; Making Memories (Button); Fiber (mitten strings); Yarn; Winter Wonderland Cricut Cartrdige (Poinsettia); Spellbinders (mittens)

My Very First Swap

Hello ladies,

I am here to share my experience with you of my first swap.  I realize that some of you may be pros at Swaps, and some of you may be wondering what I am talking about (like I was).  And some may even think "swaps aren't for me" which is what I thought!  But I'm pretty sure that I am hooked!  It's a great way to meet other crafters from everywhere really, and find uses for all those fun little paper crafty things you want to do but don't because you aren't sure if is useful or not!  Well the swaps make it useful!  I go turned onto swapping by a good friend of mine, Nichole - who is a very very very talented Stampin Up! demo, her work is just beautiful and I always admire the things she makes especially for swaps.  Every time we get together, I am excited to see what she it working on.  So I decided I wanted to try swapping, because really, anything she does it awesome and try worth in my book.  This decision lead to these:

Supplies: DCWV Holiday Collection The Christmas Stack, GCD Animal Fanatic, Bazzill (Paper); Stampin Up! (Ink), Spellbinders (Label); Simplicity Halloween Trim (Fur Top); Stampin Up! Tags Til Christmas (Stamp)

I have been dying to make these forever really, I love them and have had a similar idea for ages, but simply did not want to go through the trouble of designing it myself.  The template was created by Claire Brennan and can be found here.  Because I was lazy, I converted it to an SVG file to cut with my Cricut and Sure Cuts a Lot - took a little more work, but a lot less by hand cutting! And here is the inside

Bookmarks

I love books.  A LOT.  And apparently I married a man, that loves books and reads more than I do.  I never thought that that was possible, nor did me dear family.  With a love of books, also comes a love of bookmarks.  As a book reader and a student, I often am reading 3-10 books at a time (yes I know).  Thus, I never have enough markers to mark by books with.  I have been looking for fabulous ways to create bookmarks, because of my love for them.  After looking at good images, and several tutorials, I came up with this:

Supplies:  Patterned Paper (My Minds Eye); Cardstock (Bazzill); Inks (Tsukineko); Stamps (Stampin! UP, Unity Stamp Co.)

I was very pleased with the outcome. The idea for this one cam specifically from Paper Crafting In Cocoa and Midwestern Moms.  I just have a love for corner bookmarks in particular.....  Above I mentioned, that my husband, also loves to read.  Remember?  Well he also has a very deep appreciation for and fondness of my handmade goodies.  No matter how terrible I think my papercrafts are or are not, he thinks they are the beautiful and lovely.  Thus at Easter, I had made a cute little name tag for his Easter basket - this little name tag was so loved that he turned it into his bookmark.  And, he has been requesting additional little guys of the same sort.  Thus, I made him these today as well:

Supplies:  Patterned Paper (My Minds Eye, Basic Grey); Cardstock (Bazzill, Unknown); Ink (Tsukineko); SCAL Cut File (SVGcuts.com)


These were made so that when he puts them in a book, their little eyes will be peering over the top.  He loved them.  And I loved making them.  In part because I enjoy doing little things like this for him - it is fulfilling and a deep expression of love and admiration, and in part because I got to play with my new YourStory.  If you look closely, you will notice that the little animal guys are laminated.  I did this for durability sakes - my man always feels dreadful when my well loved papercrafts go the way of well loved papercrafts - tattered and worn.

Thanks for stopping by!