"Mommy Loves Hats"

It's true.  I adore hats and luckily my girls do too.  I created this mini album in response to a challenge on the Show Us Your Stuff blog, a challenge blog all about handmade things.  I really love challenge blogs because they push me to do something outside the box.  Here is what I came up with for this month's challenge.

"Mommy Loves Hats" 

Supplies:  Paper, Die Cuts, Stickers (My Little Shoebox), Letters (My Little Shoebox, Jenni Bowlin, Pink Paislee), Ribbon & Pearls (Michaels), Deer Button (Purple Pumpkin Crafts), Crochet Flower (Abbie Torroll), Chipboard (Basic Grey), Buttons (Creative Café, Dollar Store), Fuzzy Trim (Dollar Store)

There are several handmade items throughout the book, some made by yours truly and others I've purchased.  The cute little deer button you see is one of Purple Pumpkin's designs.  I discovered them awhile ago but just recently made my first purchase.  LOVE their stuff.

The second handmade item on the book is the pearl and ribbon trim you see on the dress and on the spine.  This one I made and I couldn't be more proud of myself.  My daughter has a necklace fashioned similiarly to what you see here so I decided to try my own version for scrapbooking.  I am hooked.  I am already dreaming up different colour combinations to make.

To recreate the look, you will need ribbon, coordinating pearls, a needle and thread. That's it.

Pinch the ribbon, put a stitch through it to hold it in place and then add a pearl.  Repeat until you have desired length.  That's it, that's all.  It's really is that simple.

It really didn't take long to make and the results were really worth it.  At least I think so.  Grin. :)

I  also made the hat on the front cover.  I had the cover finished and when I looked at it a few hours later the title read to me "Mommy loves BATS" at a quick glance.  BATS!?!  Oh dear.  I decided perhaps I should add a hat in case there was any confusion as to whether or not Mommy loves hat or bats.  I printed some clip art from the computer and paper pieced the hat together with bits of patterned paper.

Here's a peek at the inside pages:

This is where the sketch and other challenge requirements come into play.  I had to use a number in the title and the following sketch, in addition to a handmade embellishment.

This gorgeous crocheted flower was made by the same woman who made the knit hats in the book, Abbie from Heart Smiles.  I had to save this beautiful bloom she used to package the hats in.  It seemed fitting to add it to this book.

I'm thinking I'll probably be a Grandmother before I ever get to this goal, but I'm throwing it out there just the same.

So there it is.  My love of hats in photos.  Thanks so much for visiting and thanks also goes out to the ladies at Show Us Your Stuff for the fun challenge.

One more thing before I sign off.  If you want a chance to WIN your own handmade embellishments by Purple Pumpkin, check out their blog.  Here's a photo of the prize.

Cheers!

1st Birthday

I always shied away from birthday projects of any kind until I came across this birthday line by Imaginisce. The patterns are bold, the colours are vibrant and I generally freeze up with that combination but not with this line. I can't explain it but I really think it marked the beginning of a new chapter for me; a new and colourful chapter, one I am really enjoying. 

"1st Birthday"

Supplies:  Paper, Candle (Imaginisce), Borders (Doodle Bug), Button (Jenni Bowlin), Chipboard (Basic Grey), Rub-Ons (Jenni Bowlin)



Something else I love about this line is all the fun embellishment like this adorable paper candle.

I'll leave you with that for today along with a wish for a wonderful Wednesday.  Thanks so much for visiting.

Wickedly Cute

"Wickedly Cute"

Supplies:  Paper (Pink Paislee), Die Cuts (Little Yellow Bicycle, My Mind's Eye), Border Strips (Recollections), Brad (Little Yellow Bicycle), Stickers (Pink Paislee, Basic Grey), Gems (Imaginisce)

Trick or Treat?

Supplies:  Paper (Little Yellow Bicycle), Die Cuts (Little Yellow Bicycle, Teresa Collins, Fancy Pants), Stickers (Little Yellow Bicycle), Felt (Basic Grey), Button (Jenni Bowlin), Brads (Little Yellow Bicycle, Bazzill), Border Strips (Recollections) Pin & Alphabet Beads (Dollarama)

Another "friendship" pin. :) :)



I think that will about do it until next fall for Halloween projects, or at least I think so.  I'm Halloween'd out again. Thanks for sticking with me through this little flashback.  Look for more seasonal pages very soon.

Flashback to Halloween

If you follow my blog at all you have probably noticed that I don't scrapbook in order.  You could pop by one week and see a summer page and a snowy one the next. I also don't scrapbook every photo and event.  I gave up on that a long time ago because I spent more time stressing over what I had yet to accomplish than I spent enjoying the process. Someday I might go through my albums and put them in chronological order but for now, they are lucky to be in albums at all!  So, as the title would suggest, I'm flashing back to Halloween today.  The Halloween publication calls have started to pop up so I thought I'd dig out my stash and play.  I hope you all don't mind.

"Halloween Past"

This album has been on my "to do" list for awhile.  As I mentioned in my last post, I'm into working with comparison photos lately.  This albums chronicles 4 years of Halloween costumes at our house.

Supplies:  Paper (Pink Paislee, Making Memories, Jillibean Soup, Creative Imaginations), Stamps (Tattered Angels), Chipboard & Bat (Recollections), Buttons (Jenni Bowlin Studios), Fence Punch (Martha Stewart), Brads (Little Yellow Bicycle), Canvas (Pink Paislee), Epoxy (Epiphany Crafts), Rub-Ons (Imaginisce, Black River Designs), Album (Tim Holtz)

Don't you just love that bat??

Sleepy Time Pose

I have wanted to make a page like this for quite some time.  I really enjoy pages where people do comparison photos so look for more over the next little while.  This page shows each of my girls at around the same age sleeping with their arms above their heads.  Each one of them slept the same way.  We even have a photo of the cat and Daphne sleeping this way!  Too funny.

"Sleepy Time Pose"

Supplies:  Paper, Die Cuts (Little Yellow Bicycle), Letters (Pink Paislee, American Crafts), Pin (Making Memories), Twine (Martha Stewart), Brads (Basic Grey), Buttons unknown, Beads (Dollarama)

I used alphabet beads and a safety pin on this page too.  It is my new favourite embellishment.  You might remember me mentioning this last week in THIS POST.  I'm glad I bought two packages of beads.

That's all for today.  Thanks so much for visiting.

i-Rock Blog Hop - Fun with Fabric

Hello and welcome i-Rock Blog Hoppers. 

I have a confession.  I love Gymboree.  As adorable as the clothing is, I also enjoy the thrill of getting a deal so combine the two and I am sold. The project you are about to see was born out of a love of their hair accessories.  My girls love the hair ribbon elastics the best... and of course, I only have one.  So I decided to sit down with my Imaginisce goodies and create my own.  Now there will be no more arguing over who will get to wear the hair ribbons, at least in theory! 

Supplies:  Ribbon, Flowers, i-Rock & Gems (Imaginisce), Elastic and Wide Ribbon (Craft Supply Store)

Instructions:

1.  Cut 9 lengths of coordinating ribbon is a variety of widths, each one 14 inches long.

2.  Remove one of the larger width lengths from the pile and cross-cross the remaining pieces.

3.  Sew the ribbons together in the center either by hand or by machine.

4.  Attach the elastic:  Lay the elastic on the stitched area and thread the reserved ribbon length through the elastic.  The ribbon will lay across the center of the ribbons, going up and down this time.  Stitch on either side of the elastic making a little pocket over it with the ribbon.

5.  Embellish with i-rock flowers and gems as desired.

Here are the finished ribbons:

Imaginisce ribbon cards are perfect for a project like this as there are several coordinating patterns in one package.  I used ribbons from the "Enchanted" and "Garden Party" Collections for this project.

This is your last stop on the blog hop today.  Thanks so much for participating and be sure to return to the Imaginisce blog and let us know what you think of today's projects.  You may even be the lucky winner of an i-rock package of your own.  GOOD LUCK and thanks so much for visiting.

Sharing Another Card

I made this card a few weeks ago for Lori Allred over at Imaginisce.  The design team flooded her office with Berrylicious cards to celebrate her birthday.

All Supplies Imaginisce except twine by Martha Stewart.

To create a shaped card, I google clipart for the desired shape, in this case a strawberry.  When I find one I like, I print it and then enlarge it on my copier until I have the desired size.  I cut all the different pieces out and trace them onto my patterned paper and then I glue it onto a card base and cut it all out.

I stitched the pieces before I placed them on the card base.  To create the card base, fold a sheet of white cardstock and layer the strawberry on top so that the left edge is offset slightly.  This will create a hinge for the card once it is all cut out.

I used the same process when I created THIS CARD last fall.

Shaped cards are a quick and easy way to create a dramatic card.  Next time you see a card like this on my blog, I hope to have it staged on my "new" antique floral frogs.  I'll give you more details on those when they arrive.

Thanks, as always, for visiting.



There is no such thing as a mistake in paper crafting.

I love embossing folders.  Maybe I should qualify that statement.  I love to collect embossing folders, or so it would seem.  They really are a wonderful invention and allow paper crafters to create so many unique and custom pieces.  So why is it that I rarely use mine?  It's hard to say, but today I decided I would break that trend...which leads me to the title of today's post. 

I cut out my card base and carefully lined it up in the folder and put it through the machine.  It looked great except for the bottom left corner.  For some reason, the impression wasn't fully made so I was left to decide if I should use it anyway or start again.  I mulled it over for awhile as I fussy cut some flowers from my patterned paper.  In the end, I decided to keep the "defective" card base and use my flower to make that mistake disappear.  Some of my most creative work has been created while fixing a mistake.  I'm not so sure this card ranks up there with the best of them, but it certainly worked and totally drew the attention away from the embossing in that area.  It also feels great to know that you didn't waste a bunch of product and have to start all over again.

Supplies:  Paper & Stamp (Upsy Daisy Designs), Pearls (Kaisercrafts), Embossing Folder (Sizzix), Glitter (Craft Supply Store), Glossy Accents (Ranger), Cardstock (Bazzill)

To give the flower a little more interest, I raised it with foam mounting squares.  I added pearls to the flower center and then filled the entire green area with Glossy Accents.  A sprinkling of white glitter over the wet glue gave me just the look I was after.


This next card is another quick and easy one to recreate.  I used a mix of "Vogue" (used above also) and "See You Later Alligator" lines.

Supplies:  Paper, Brads (Upsy Daisy Designs), Card Base (Stampin' Up), Cardstock (Bazzill)

The corduory brads give such  nice texture to the card and you all know how much I love texture.

That's all for now.  Thanks for visiting.

EDITED TO ADD:  Look for this card in the Winter, 2011 issue of Paper Creations Magazine.