Melanie on Friday!

Melanie has a little of everything today for you!  A card, layout and even a tutorial.  Yes, I would say she has been a busy crafting girl. 

Moms Make It All Better Card

I used the "Get Well Minis" sheet from the "Get Well Soon" line to make this card. The smaller patterns are perfect for cards! The cut-ups are on the back of the minis so I only used one sheet of paper. I zigzag stitched around the edges and added some twine from The Twinery to "tie" it all together :)  The punch-outs are fun little additions to help reinforce the message.

Superstar Student LO

It's a win-win for me when memorabilia matches paper! The Superstar Student sticker that my son brought home with his project matched the My Lil' Monster line so well that I decided to use the sticker for the title of my page. The "Meet-A-Monster" sheet was a fun way to frame the photos. I added some punch-outs and cut-ups from the Monster line. Tip: to help the red photo corner stand-out a bit on the lower left side of the page, I tucked an upside-down tab-shaped punchout behind it so the white backs the red.

Lantern Celebrate Banner Tutorial

We have TWO birthdays in the next three days at our house. So I thought it would be fitting to have a celebrate banner. :)  I used the My Lil' Monster line. Here is how I made it:

1. Cut apart the Monster Minis sheet so you have FOUR 6x6 squares.

2. Punch along the bottom side of each square using a border punch.

3. Using a strong adhesive (I used Glue Arts Extreme Tac Adhesive squares), overlap one side to the other and adhere together to form a tube (or lantern).

4. Punch one 1/8" hole on each side of the lantern along the top edge, about 1/4" down from the top.

5. Cut up or punch out three circles from the Monster line and punch two holes at the top of each circle.

6. Add monster punch out and celebrate sentiment to center circle.

7. Thread twine through each item, alternating lanterns and circle. Hang to enjoy!

I photographed the banner on my buffet so you could see it more clearly but then I also took a picture of it hanging from a tree outside since that is where the festivities will be.

Be sure to visit Melanie's blog for more fun projects and inspiration!

Tutorial with Melanie Jarocki

Melanie created this fab banner and a tutorial for our readers to recreate it!  So, let's see what is up.....

For this Father's Day banner, I mainly used the Noah collection, but also adding in one sheet from the Exit Here collection. The banner could easily be adapted for a 4th of July celebration in the USA or for a birthday.

Preparation

1. Cut six 4x6 inch rectangles from Exit Here "Hiking Trails". Trim one short edge of each rectangle into a wide upside down "V". (I went about 1 inch up from the bottom, 2 inches in from the side and made a pencil mark. Then I cut from each corner to the mark.) (The rest of the papers are all from the Noah Collection). 

2. Using a die-cut machine or template, cut 3-1/2 inch letters from "Noah's ABC's", along with shadows and heart shapes from "Honk, Honk". (I used my Slice machine, Great Outdoors card for the letters, and Remember This card for the hearts).

3. Trim two 1/2x12 inch strips from "Noah's Overalls". Cut each strip into three 1/2x4 inch strips, so you have six total strips. 

4. Using a border punch with some sort of hole in it (I used Martha Stewart star border punch), punch along the edge of "Noah's Wallpaper". Then trim a 1-1/2 inch strip from the edge of the punched border. Repeat. Cut each 12-inch strip into three strips that measure 1-1/2x4 inches.  

5. Fussy cut 20-25 stars from "Noah's Stars".

  

Assembly

6. Adhere punched border strips to tops of rectangles (opposite "v" ends), leaving 3/4-inch showing (including the punched border). Add 1/2-inch strips from "Noah's Wallpaper" on the pennant below the border, with 1/8-inch of blue background showing. Zigzag stitch between punched border and 1/2-inch strip. 

7. Assemble letters with shadows and trace around letters with red pen. Using a dimensional adhesive (I used GlueArts U-Cut-It), place smaller heart on larger heart. Adhere each of these pieces to a pennant, centering above the "V". 

8. Add a 3-1/2x5 inch photo to the remaining pennant. 9. Randomly add fussy-cut stars to each pennant.  

10. Thread twine (I used Maraschino from The Twinery) through the punched borders and hang to display. Ta-Da! 

What a fun banner!  And it can be adapted many ways, by changing the wording, adding panels, etc!  Thanks for the great project and instructions, Melanie.  Be sure to visit Melanie's blog.

Sarah Eclavea on Thursday.....

Sarah is here today and she has couple of layouts to share, plus a tutorial for stitching on your pages without a machine!

Faux Stitching Tutorial By Sarah

I love working with one collection at a time because it speeds up my scrapbooking a lot! I have everything out so I don't have to constantly take new supplies out and I can use the scraps from one project on the next which means less clean up too! I worked with the Messages collection for these two layouts and I LOVE this collection. It is just so stinkin' cute!

For my first layout, Amazing You, I used a sketch from the Allison Davis sketch book. This was my favorite sketch in the book, but let me tell you it was a close race! They are all great and I could see using them all! I also used some Helmar zap dots on this layout too. As I mentioned I like to keep scrapbooking quick and one of my favorite quick mess free techniques is faux stitching. All you need a paper piercer and a marker and you are ready to go. I faux stitched the hearts on this layout. I bet you couldn't tell until I mentioned it! Looks real doesn't it? Here's how I did it...

First adhere everything on your page that you want to stitch over.

Then use a paper piercer to poke holes through the paper where you want your stitching to  go. I have found the closer together the stitching is the more realistic it looks and it is helpful to have a quide. I will draw a line with a pencil if I need it and then erase it after I poke my holes. On this layout I just used the edge of the white paper as my quide so I didn't need a pencil line.

When all your holes are made choose a marker and connect. I used a brown pen for this layout, but my favorite is a white gel pen on dark colored paper. Don't worry if your lines are not perfect . It looks more realistic when they are a little crooked!

On this layout, Understanding Isabel, I wanted to journal all the things my daughter Isabel is saying right now. I also used some twine from The Twinery, Beacon 3 in 1 adhesive and Helmar Zapdots.

What fun projects from Sarah...and hey, she taught me to pierce some holes and then connect the dots!  I never usually pierce them.  Be sure to visit Sarah's blog for more fun.

Third Wednesday with Diva Stacy Rodriguez

How about a little step by step project everyone!!  Diva Stacy Rodriguez created this fun little photo brag book that fits perfect in any purse so you always have pictures of your special ones to share.

(Note..you can click on the pictures to make them bigger!)

 

Stacy used the Noah collection, Cool Cord Brads, Cute as a Button Burlap Buttons and The Twinery Baker's Twine in Denim for this card.

You will need to cut a piece of cardstock to 4" x 12".  Score the cardstock at 2", 5 1/2", and 8 3/4".  Once you have done this corner round the ends by the 2" score line.

 

Next you need to cut 3 pieces of cardstock to create the flap where the photos will go inside.  Cut these pieces to 3" x 8" and score all of them at 4" in length.

 

 

Now you can adhere these flaps into the inside part of this little album.  You are going to want to alternate which way these open.  All you need to do is place adhesive on the backside of the flap and center in between the score lines on the 4" x 12" piece of cardstock that you first cut.

 

 

Now the fun part...time to decorate this.  I used the Noah collection for this one.  You will need 4 pieces of pattern paper that will go across the front of the flaps on the inside and along the cover of the photo mini.  You can cut these about 1/8" smaller then 3" x 4".  You can also cut 2 pieces of pattern paper for the 2" x 4" flap cover the same way.

 

Embellish any way you would like with all of the fun die cuts that come with this line.  I also added a brown burlap button on the lower right of the cover ( i simply LOVE these buttons)!!!

 

 

 

 

To keep the closed I placed two white cord brads as shown on the cover.  Tied a little twine around the top brad, then just wrapped the twine around the two brads....worked like a charm!

 

Up next is a card I created using the Messages line and the Cute as a Button Burlap Buttons.  I LOVE the Messages collection.....the colors, the design, well it's just yummy!!!  This card is just waiting for me to let someone know i'm thinking of them.

Wow, for Stacy's first post, she created quite the card tutorial for you!  I am sure we will see more fun things from Stacy soon!

Be sure to visit Stacy's blog.  Let us know if you use Stacy's tutorial!

Christmas Decorations for Less with Elmer's!

Hey everyone, Katrina here.  Have you decorated for Christmas yet? Please don't ask if I have, because I would be lying if I said I had. Things have been crazy, one of the dogs partial tore his ACL, so we are doing the crate/leash only thing for the next three weeks, which means decorating is pretty much out of the question at the moment!

This is Higgins and he is the lame little guy.  He likes his crate, but not so much that he wants to stay in it all the time.

BUT, Nikki asked me if I wanted to do the Elmer's Looks for Less challenge and I decided it would be fun to try to create a fun little Christmas themed home decor item with minimal supplies and budget. And I am here with my results today. 

And because I took the challenge, there is a chance for YOU to win! I am sure you are happy about that!  Keep reading and at the bottom I will let you know how to win an Elmer's prize pack!

I need to announce the winner of Monday's blog post!  So, our winner is.......

 Pammejo said...

Adorable cards, TFS 

December 5, 2011 11:12 AM

Pammejo, please email me at cardipaws@sbcglobal.net with your shipping address and we will get the idea book and Gingerbread Land collection kit out to you!!!

Elmer's sent a few products to work with, plus a gift card to purchase additional supplies with.  There was an assortment of glues, foam boards, X-ACTO knife, and Painters pens.  More than enough to create with by adding a few additional supplies.  

I knew I wanted to do Christmas, but wasn't sure what.  I decided to search the internet for ideas and ran across a site called Craft Elf that had a template for making a gingerbread house out of foam board!  PERFECT!  That site can be found here......Gingerbread House Template.  And this is easy enough to do with your kids too once you get the pieces cut out!

So, I cut out my template and then cut out my foam board using the X-ACTO knife and my X-ACTO self-healing mat.  (LOVE THOSE, plus they are pink!).  Here are what my pieces look like once I cut them out...I did try to keep straight lines as I could, just to make the house go together easier!

Then I set to work putting the house together.  I was in a time crunch, so I made a quick decision on what papers I was going to use and that I wasn't going to embellish a lot.  I used the GingerSnaps paper from Gingerbread Land to cover the front and sides of my house.  I then used the Glue Spots from Elmer's to start putting the house together.  They are super sticky and I didn't have to wait for them to dry...bonus!

Once I got my house together, I then put the roof on it.  Using a border punch I punched out strips and just layered them on each side of the roof.  I used the CraftBond Extra Strength glue stick to glue them on.  That gave me a little time to position them exactly how I wanted them.  SORRY, I totally forgot to take a picture of that step....I get crafting and forget to grab the camera!

I then decided that the house needed something to sit on, so I cut out a piece of foam board that was 10 x10 inches square.  

I started to cover it with a sheet of pattern paper, but then decided that I wanted a snowy look, I mean, it is a Christmas decoration after all and I love snow!  So, I found some of the angel cloud fiber mess (as I like to call it!) and stretched it out to fit my board.  I then took it off, ran the glue stick all over the board and started sticking the "cloud" down.  I did use some of the Glue Spots along the edges just to make sure the sides were tacked down pretty well.  

After a little more embellishing on the house and around it, I had a completed Gingerbread Land scene!  I decided it needed some lighting, so I pulled out a strand of mini lights that I had and placed it around it.  I would NOT leave this unattended, but it's pretty to look at when you are home!

Love the bokeh that the lights produced when I took the picture!

I had bought these little glitter foam balls to use for another project and I had a bunch of them left over. I thought they would make cute little snowballs sitting around, plus it was better than them sitting around not getting used!

From this angle you can see the roof and how the strips lay.  I started from the bottom of each side and worked my way up.  To make the trees stand up, I just used toothpicks with the Glue Spots and attached the die cuts to them and stuck them in the foam board.  I did use a Glue Spot on the end of each toothpick just to make sure they stayed put.  

Here is the front of the house a little closer.  I really didn't do anything to the sides, because I wanted the focus to be on the scene, more than individual pieces.  

Would you like to create this fun little house?  Well, you can win the supplies to do it!  All you have to do is leave a comment on this blog post and we will pick TWO winners that will be announced on Friday. What can you win...well, Elmer's has generously donated prize packs for two of our readers!  And we are going to throw in a Gingerbread Land collection kit, so that you can recreate this fun Christmas home decor project!

And I am supposed to provide a total cost of my project, so here it goes!

Paper and Die Cut Embellishments-$0.00
I had these in my stash and we ALL have a stash!  And you could easily cut them out of a die cutting machine or by hand.

Elmer's Products-$0.00
Were provided by Elmer's

Lights and Angel Cloud Fibers $0.00
I had these in my decorations that I was not using!

Total cost.....A little of my time to create!
Hee hee, I think this blog post took long to write than creating the decoration itself!

And if you would like to find Elmer's on the internet, here are all their sites!!!

www.elmers.com

www.facebook.com/elmers

http://twitter.com/elmers

www.facebook.com/xacto 

Thanks Elmer's, for letting me play along in the Look for Less challenge!!!


Don't forget Nikki's free printables for up up at the top of the blog!!!

Have a Scrappy Kinda Day!!~~Katrina

We are doing a little Hootin' here today!

Who is going to admit it with me that you are ALREADY listening to Christmas music?  I know, it is probably WAY too early, but I have been listening to it for well over two weeks.  And not to mention that I pulled the White Christmas DVD out and popped it in the player while working on something for December.

Well, today we are going to do a little You're A Hoot.  Lea Albers and I have some projects for you.

First up, I have a layout and a card with the You're A Hoot collection.  On the layout I used the Warm Cord Brads and on the card I used the Cute as a Button Burlap buttons.   

Now for Lea Albers fun project with her instructions on making it.  It is an adorable calendar that is for the first half of the year and then the backside is for the second half of the year.  We are going to show just the first side for you....

She got the template for the calendar pages from a Google document that is available to anyone.  You can find that HERE.  She used chipboard for the background that measured 10.5 by 12 inches and just placed a background paper on top of it.  

The measurements of the individual months are listed out below.  She just printed them out on white cardstock from her printer. 

• January is 8 x 6 inch

• February is 8 x 7 inch

• March is 8 x 8 inch

• April is 8 x 9 inch

• May is 8 x 10 inch

• June is 8 x 11 inch 

And then just repeat for the remaining months!

How cute would this be out of ANY Nikki Sivils, Scrapbooker collection and used as a gift for Christmas or a hostess gift?!  

Don't forget, we have an OPEN DESIGN TEAM CALL going on RIGHT NOW.  You can find out all the details, requirements and how to apply on this post HERE.

Have a Scrappy Kinda Day!!~~Katrina

Say Hi to Megan Hoeppner-Our October Guest Designer

It is that time again, time for our guest designer!  It's Megan Hoeppner, Creative Editor for Creating Keepsakes magazine.  I am so happy that I got to meet this sweet lady at CHA this past summer!  Here is a little more about her.....

Megan Hoeppner is the Creative Editor for Creating Keepsakes magazine, which means she gets to do lots of…yes, you guessed it, “creative” things. Besides writing and editing for the magazine and special issues, she is delighted to have a chance to create scrapbook pages for each issue. Teaching is another of Megan’s job highlights, because few things bring her more joy than connecting with others who are passionate about crafting. Megan has worked in the scrapbook industry for almost a decade. Before joining the Creating Keepsakes team, she worked for Simple Scrapbooks magazine as a senior editor and, prior to that, for Paper Crafts magazine as an associate editor. It was her position in public relations at Stampin’ Up! that lead Megan to her career in publishing. Megan’s experience combined with the friendships she’s formed through this incredible industry leave her feeling very blessed to be a part of the colorful, creative scrapbooking world!  

And what she created for her guest post will show you that she is definitely creative!!!  Megan worked with the "School is Cool" collection, so let's see what she came up with!

First of all...look at this CUTE little accordion mini that she created!!  And she even gave our readers the directions to create your own!

Accordion Mini Album—I used the grid paper in this collection to make an accordion-folded mini album. 

This project includes the following steps:

Cut grid paper into rows and score between the squares

Glue two rows of scored grids together to create album

         

To close the album, I attached a paperclip and made it decorative by sticking two stickers back-to-back to the top of the clip

To create the cover on the border, I:

•  Cut part of a border strip
•  Cut away excess white paper from around the border
•  Punched holes in border, following the dot design
•  Threaded twin through holes
•  Tied end of twine with a bow 

And then Megan made a layout and here is what she had to say about her layout!  

Since I made the mini album as a gift for my friend, I decided to also do a layout with the photos for my own album. I love the idea of scrapbooking on grid paper, and this paper was very fun to use.

And last this adorable little camera bag tag!!  And here is Megan in her own words.....

I have tags for all of my regular luggage, but not for my camera bag. Since I take this bag with me more than any other, it only made sense that I create a cute tag, just in case I forget or lose the bag.

Whew, I don't know about you, but I am on TOTAL inspiration overload with all these fabulous projects that Megan created!!  And I for one am dying to try that accordion mini album project!!

I want to thank Megan for taking the time away from your busy schedule to Guest Design for Nikki Sivils, Scrapbooker!  You have inspired me and I am sure you have inspired our readers!  You did a wonderful job with the School is Cool collection!  

If you would like to visit Megan's personal blog, she can be found online here at "That's What She Said" and you can also find Megan's work in Creating Keepsakes magazine and the Creating Keepsakes blog!  

GIVEAWAY ALERT

AND leave a comment and let us know how you liked Megan's tutorial and if you are going to try to recreate it.  We will pick one person to receive a collection kit of their choosing!  We will announce the winner here on the blog on October 21st! 

Have a Scrappy Kinda Day!!~~Katrina