Scraptivity Blog Hop......Sunday November 22nd!!!

Hey there blogger friends! I hope you all have some free time this Sunday!  If so come over to Scraptivity and celebrate their new blog site with me!!  As in any good blog hop, there will be games like Simon Says and a Scavenger Hunt, prizes, and a fun timed sketch challenge to get your creativity flowing!!  Check in at Scraptivity's new blog address http://www.scraptivity.com/blog on Sunday, November 22nd for more details.  Hope to see you there!!!

This Artist Tray from 7 Gypsies is available in Scraptivity's November kit!

"Fetching" Gift Box

I've been a busy bee these past few weeks, crafting my heart out and trying to get as much done as I can before I go on vacation for Thanksgiving.  Here is my latest project.  I've been in a bit of an altered project mode lately.  I love this gift box I made and hated to give it away, but creativity is meant to share and I hope the recipient will love it as much as I do!!!  I made this out of a chipboard cube that I turned into a box and covered with Pink Paislee paper from their Fetching collection.  I can't express enough how much I love their products!!

Kit's On Sale at Scraptivity!!

Hi everyone, just wanted to share some good news......Scraptivity is having a year-end blowout sale on past kits from before 2009!! They are only 19.99 each.  Hurry and check out their deals because this special ends November 30th.  You can check out the goods here.

Pink Paislee Rocks!!

Okay, I have to admit that not long ago I knew nothing about Pink Paislee. Of course I'd heard of them and knew they were a pretty hot manufacturer right now, but somehow none of their products had made it into my crafty little hands.  Well I recently saw that they are having a Design Team Call.  I thought to myself how awesome it would be to be a part of a big time manufacturer. As I browsed through all they had to offer I started to fall in love!  Their collections are to die for, especially when you see what can be done with them!!  I immediately placed an order and had it rushed to my curb so that I could start playing.  Let me tell you, when I started playing with my new stash of Pink Paislee products thats when I really fell in LOVE!!  Their papers, embellisments, and stamps are so easy to play with!! New layout ideas began pouring out of me!  I don't know if I stand a chance at making their design team as their company is so amazing, but what the heck, I'm gonna go for it!  Even if I don't make the team, I'm so happy I discovered their paper collections and they are my new BFF in the "studio".  Here's what I've created so far, I hope you like them! Hmmmm....think I stand a chance? Thanks for looking!!!

Patterned papers: Pink Paislee Spring Fling; Chipboard acents: Pink Paislee Fetching; Rub-ons: Pink Paislee Enchanting

Patterned paper: Pink Paislee Enchanting, Amber Road; Chipboard accent: Pink Paislee Fetching; Clear stamp: Pink Paislee Amber Road

Patterned paper: Pink Paislee Fetching; Rub-ons: Pink Paislee Vintage Moon; Clear stamps: Pink Paislee Amber Road

Deck Your Halls With a Paper Tree!!

Hey there blog friends.  I have a really great home decor project tutorial for you!!!  It looks more complicated than it really is, and it's super fun to make!  A paper tree!  If you've been to Scrap-Friendzy's Countdown To The Holiday's Crop then you've seen my challenge posted there. Here on my blog, I'll show you some step-by-step photos and instructions.  Feel free to take this idea and run with it, you don't neccesarily have to replicate what I've created for you here.  If you complete this challenge of mine and post it in the gallery by the end of November you'll earn 40 FPZ!!!  So are you ready to get out your scissors and glue?!  Let's get started.......

To begin, you will need a styrofoam cone.  The one I used was a 4" diameter cone.

Next you will need to gather about 4- 12x12 sheets of coordinating patterned paper, depending on the size of your tree.  Cut your paper into 3"x12" strips and punch the edges with a decorative punch.  You are then going to cut evenly spaced slits along the punched edge and use a pencil or something of similar size to curl your edges.

After you have prepped your paper, it's time to start gluing.  Use a fast drying glue such as Zip Dry or as I have used, Beacon's 3 in 1 glue.  Depending on the size of your cone, you may need to cut down your strips of paper for easier gluing and alignment due to the curviture of the cone.

Build several layers and then if you so desire, cut out a strip of white cardstock either with decorative scissors or a die.  I used a border die by Sizzix.  To give your white border a nice snowy glow, do some inking and add a bit of glitz with some stickles.

 Seperate the change in patterned papers with one of your white borders and continue building the layers until you get to the top of your cone.

You will come to a point where you can no longer adhere your curled strips of paper and you will need something to cover the last two inches or so of styrofoam cone.  I chose to do some paper folding to try to create a snow capped tree look.  To do this, grab your circle punch or use your die cutting machine.  The punch I used created 1 1/2" circles.  Next, fold your circles in half.  Fold the top edges of your circle in towards the center. Turn it over and fold again toward the center.  Finish it off with some of the same inking and stickles that you used for your snowy white borders.

Every tree needs some kind of a topper, right! Well for mine I used my Cricut and the Winter Woodland cartridge to cut out this elegant reindeer tag.  I cut two alternate facing images out of whiteboard using my deep cut blade.  I then cut the same shaped tag out of vellum.  Take a regular 'ol straight pin from your sewing stash and using some wire cuters, remove the ball from the top.  Now you can sandwich the pin with your topper design and be able to stick it into the top of your styrofoam tree. 

To add a little extra oomph, I took a bit of pink tulle and mad a little nest for my reindeer topper.

If you'd like to add some extra embellishments to your tree, try adding some pom-pom trim, some organza ribbon, and some bling.  I also added to my tree some decorative stick pins.

I hope you've enjoyed my paper tree tutorial!!!  Have fun with it and be sure to show off what you create by posting your project to the Scrap-Friendzy gallery!!

Happy Crafting!!!

Scrap-Friendzy's Countdown To The Holidays Crop!

Come join us at Scrap-Friendzy as we get ourselves prepared for the holidays with our Countdown To The Holidays Crop.  Our Design Team has prepared lots of fun challenges and games to get your creativity flowing and prizes for playing along!!  So gather your friendz and come on over to http://www.scrap-friendzy.com/ to chat it up and make some fun and festive projects!!

Back Porch Memories November Guest Designer!

I hope you all liked my sneaky peek the other day!! Here are the rest of the layouts I created for Back Porch Memories as their Guest Designer for November. Head on over to their gallery for some more inspiration from the rest of their design team. I really loved working with this kit and I still have so much left over to play with!  Thanks for looking!!

Sneaky Peak

I hope everyone has been enjoying a relaxing weekend!  I know I have because as the Guest Designer for the month of November over at Back Porch Memories I got to play with their November Medly Kit.  It is such a fabulous kit with great paper lines from Bella Blvd, We R Memory Keepers, and Crate Paper.  You've got to check it out! There are also some great add ons to go with it.  Here's a sneaky peak teaser for you.  This is just one of the layouts I did with the kit and everything on it is from the kit with the exception of the Zva pearl flourish, brown ribbon, two green brads,  colorbox chalk ink, and the use of some extra cardstock scraps and my Cricut and Sizzix polka dot embossing folder.  I hope you like it! That's all for now, back to the "studio" to play some more!  Happy scrapping everyone!!

Scraptivity's November Kit!

Scraptivity's November kit is up and ready to play with!!  It's a great vintage looking kit with some fun goodies in it including some vintage postcards, Prima clear stamps, and a 7 Gypsies Artist Tray!!!  All I can say about that is....WOW!  As one of their design team members I had the fun perk of getting to play with the kit early and here's what I created.

To make the pleated flower on this card you will need a 1" strip of paper.  The longer your paper strip, the more pleats you'll have and the wider your stip, and whatever width of strip you cut will make a flower double that size, so here I have a 2" flower.  Once you have cut your strip in your desired measurements, fold the entire length of the strip into an accordian making as small of folds as possible.

Next, attach the two ends together with a staple.  Staple your paper wrong side facing out.

Very gently turn your stapled circle inside out. Then you will need a circle punched or cut from a scrap piece of cardstock. Cover the circle with a fast drying glue and press your flower down and hold in place for a moment until the glue starts to set. Once dry, attach a brad to the center of your pleated flower and you're done!

Pencil Lines Birthday Celebrations-Weekend Online Crop Day 2!

Happy Birthday Pencil Lines!!  It was so much fun purusing the sketch archive to find an older sketch and bring it back to life!  I chose to go with a sketch from November 2008.  This is sketch #112 by Claire Wheatley.  I had extra photos for this layout so I decided to stretch it into a two pager.  Thanks for stopping by and checking out my blog!  I hope I was able to lend a little inspiration to your day!  Happy Scrapping!!!

Pencil Lines Birthday Celebrations-Weekend Online Crop!!

Well, I hope everyone has had fun today celebrating with Pencil Lines and participating in their online weekend crop!!  I created a new sketch in honor of Pencil Lines turning 3 and I feel very priviledged to have the chance to share it with you here!

Thanks for looking and visiting my blog!! I'll see you back here tomorrow to share some more inspiration with you!  Happy Scrapping!!!