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Saturday, December 22, 2012

Heavenly Christmas Blog Hop

Hello and welcome to my stop on the Heavenly Christmas Blog Hop! If you'd like to start at the beginning of the hop, just click HERE to go to Lisa's Blog. I have a non-paper project today but I did use one of my very favorite embellishments to create.... 
A ribbon tree!!  That's right, 5 different spools of coordinating ribbon and some sequin pins to stick it into the styrofoam tree is all it took! Then a mysterious ornament that may or may not have been "borrowed" from a real tree ended up being a fabulous addition to the top! 
The next stop on this fantastic hop is Pam's Blog! Hope you'll take a minute to leave me a comment before you hop along... you never know when the Christmas spirit, and an urge to declutter my desk might make some one's Christmas a little brighter....
 Lisa ~ http://honeybearzdesigns2011.blogspot.com/

Ashley - http://thebloghopprincess.blogspot.com/

Haidee~http://created2bunique.blogspot.com/

Mandie - http://mandiesscrappin.blogspot.com/

Pam - http://lovebugcreations3.blogspot.com/

Elecia - http://creationsby-kahaulani.blogspot.com/

Christine - http://hotberrydesigns.blogspot.com/

Vanessa http://wwwpaperkraftsunlimiteddesings.blogspot.com/

Anita - http://scrappyhappymommy.blogspot.ca/

Melissa ~ http://iamapapermaniac.blogspot.com/

Melanie http://afternoonscrapper.blogspot.com/

Diana http://daisylovecreations.blogspot.com/

Miranda http://www.nanasscrapspot.com/

Thursday, December 20, 2012

KinderStampO Holiday Cheer Blog Hop

Welcome to the 
KinderStampO Guest Design Team "Holiday Cheer" Blog Hop... 
I am so excited to share my creativity with you... 
we have of fun projects, challenges, features and surprises in store for you 
and I can't wait for you to be part of it!

I'm Mandie Wade and I've been crafting my whole life but I started scrapbooking about 6 1/2 years ago when my first daughter was born. Now I've got 2 gorgeous little girls to create pages about and I've also started creating cards and other paper crafting goodies along the way. I just love to play with paper and all of the different fun embellishments! 

Today I have a Christmas card that I've created to go along with our Holiday Cheer theme! You can click any of the photos to see the pictures bigger.


I pulled this fabulous Graphic 45 paper from my stash and used this new angel stamp that I just bought and stamped her in gold metallic ink. I also inked my paper and card base as well as around the sentiment. Next I distressed my Doily with Distress Inks and Glimmer Mist, I snipped off 3 of the Coconut Shabby Chic Flower Trim flowers colored them with my Copic Markers. I love being able to match my papers exactly by simply coloring my embellishments!


You can see the gorgeous Faux Rhinestone and Blossom trim in Canary (it's more of a gold than a yellow) that I simply snipped apart to frame my sentiment a bit. I also popped my sentiment up with a little foam adhesive.


Here's one more look at the beautiful angel! Now she's on the way to a special friend of mine! 
Happy Holidays!

Holiday Gift for You....
10% off all items from the store.
Use Coupon Code: holidaycheer

Giveaway
 --A stocking full of KinderStampO products --

                                                        
How to enter to win
                                           Your next stop is Alena's Blog!
                         Here is the full list just in case you get lost along the way...


Friday, November 23, 2012

Harvesting Memories Blog Hop

Hey everyone! Thanks for stopping by my blog today for the Harvesting Memories Blog Hop! Since the theme of this hop is all things Fall I decided to use Fall colors and one of my favorite Fall creatures to create a card.


I used the Create a Critter 2 Cricut cartridge to cut this adorable owl from some Close to My Heart patterned papers. This assortment is no longer available but they have many gorgeous papers to choose from. The sentiment is from Jillian Vance Designs and I used Tim Holtz distress ink to distress and stamp on my card.

I'd like to offer a little blog candy for one lucky hopper today! Just become a follower and leave me a comment and you will be entered to win. If you would like a second entry, simply subscribe to my blog posts and leave me a comment that you did it! And what goodies am I offering? An assortment of beautiful ribbons!

I'm the last stop in the hop, but here's the line-up in case you need it!
Lisa ~ http://honeybearzdesigns2011.blogspot.com/
Ashley - http://thebloghopprincess.blogspot.com
Shawnee - http://quiverofangels.blogspot.com
Misty - www.abusyplace.blogspot.com
Pam - http://lovebugcreations3.blogspot.com/
Vanessa - http://wwwpaperkraftsunlimiteddesings.blogspot.com/
Haidee - http://created2bunique.blogspot.com/
Melanie - http://afternoonscrapper.blogspot.com/
Melissa - http://iamapapermaniac.blogspot.com/
Beth - http://motherandaughterdesigns.blogspot.com/
Elecia - http://creationsby-kahaulani.blogspot.com/
Mary - http://irongatestamps.blogspot.com/
Mandie - http://mandiesscrappin.blogspot.com/ (You are here)

*EDIT* Commenting to win is now closed, although any comments are always appreciated! Congrats to my winner, Vanessa! 

Friday, September 7, 2012

Chicagoland Scrapbooker Magazine

Have you heard about the NEW Chicagoland Scrapbooker Magazine??? If not, it's a new FREE magazine that is NOW available in your local scrapbook store around the Chicago area!



Wait... did I just say FREE????? Yep, that's right! We all know that Scrapbooking isn't a cheap hobby so when some one says FREE we listen! Anyway, its a great magazine with tips, tricks and inspiration, so head on over to you local scrapbook store and ask for your copy today!

Thursday, August 16, 2012

Recycle/Reuse Blog Hop

Hello everyone and welcome to the Recycle/Reuse Blog Hop! This hop is all about pulling out that garbage or the old stuff that has been sitting around forever and creating a wonderful project.

If you were just dropping by to see my latest project and want to check out the rest of the awesome projects in this hop, head on over to Shannon's blog to start from the beginning!

So my project for today started out as:
A box from my daughters Moon Dough Pizza Set. It was made of a nice heavy cardboard so I knew it would be perfect for the notepad I wanted to make. I gathered a few supplies and created:


Just click the photo to make it a bit bigger and check out the details. I used all supplies that I've had in my stash for at least a year also! I'm a bit of a "collector" so I have a tendency to want to hang on to stuff... forever! So one of the vows I've made to myself is to use up some of my stuff. So I used some Basic Grey paper from the Oh Baby! line to cover my notepad. To line the inside of my notepad I actually created my own patterned paper with some stamps from Close To My Heart. This set is no longer available but they do have a TON of stamps and my awesome friend Lori is a consultant so check out her site and do a little shopping!


Here's a look at the inside of my note pad. You can see the paper I created by just random stamping "Make New Friends" and the trefoil all over some blank cardstock. The lined paper is some left over notebook paper that has been sitting in a box in the basement for who knows how long, LOL! I just trimmed it to the size I wanted with my paper trimmer. I used my Bind It All for the first time ever after bringing it home from CHA-Summer over a year ago! I'm thrilled with how this camhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gife out, and now I want to create more for the other leaders in my town.

Now, on to the fun stuff... PRIZES!!! We have Scrapbook Stamp society sponsoring us today!


They are giving away 3 free digi stamps. Shannon will also be giving away a set of flowers of her choosing from her Etsy store that you can visit HERE. Please stop by and say hi on each blog to be entered to win.

After you leave a quick comment, hop on over to the last stop in the hop: Judy at Scrapping Judy!

Here is the lineup in case you get lost along the way.

Shannon - http://shannonleffew.blogspot.com/
Ashley - http://thebloghopprincess.blogspot.com
Maria - http://JoyfulStamper.blogspot.com
Robin - http://scrapandchat.blogspot.com/
Amanda - http://a-prata-design.blogspot.com/
Pat - http://patacakespages.blogspot.com
Miranda - http://www.nanasscrapspot.com/
Pam L - http://mzlavr2.blogspot.com/
Mandie - http://mandiesscrappin.blogspot.com/ (you are here!)
Judy D - http://scrappingjudy.blogspot.com/ <--- head here next!

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

My Crafty Daughters - Part 2

So I just realized that I need a separate post to enter Evie's card into the contest here it is:

My Crafty Daughters

So I was checking the Cutters Creek Design Team blog and noticed a post about a kid's contest. I read the info to my wonderful 6 year old, Penny and she said that she NEEDED to enter the contest.



The above layout was entirely designed by Penny. The only help I gave her was cutting the letters for her title with my Cricut, showing her how to use the Xyron 150 Sticker Maker and measuring with my trimmer... oh, and spelling stuff out! I'm so proud of her 1st Scrapbook Layout and we are starting an album for just her stuff! I'm looking forward to seeing what she comes up with next... I'm such a proud mama right now!



And of course, not to be out done by her big sister, Evie who is 3, decided to create this card! Penny helped her with the tape runner and Evie did all of the work on this one herself! So I am very proud to say I have two VERY crafty girls!

Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Baby Shower Invitations

Hello out there! I know my posts haven't been as frequent as I would like but I've been very busy in my craft room! Hopefully when my oldest starts school all day I can find more time to blog.

Anyway, I wanted to share this invitation I created for my Sister-In-Law's baby shower. She picked out some adorable dragonfly bedding for the baby and we decided to use a dragonfly theme for the shower.



I knew I would be making 75 invitations so I didn't want to go overboard but, I'm REALLY happy with how they turned out! I'm hoping to branch out and start making some custom order invitations someday soon, but we will see what the future holds!

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

never TOO MUCH HAPPY Card

Good Morning, everyone! A couple of weeks ago I was SO happy to find out that I WON a FABULOUS prize from the Simple Stories/Unity Stamp Company Blog Week! I received 5 GORGEOUS stamp sets from Unity Stamp Company!!! So of course, I had to get crafty with them right away! The first thing I made was this card:


I was inspired by the sketch at the Deconstructed Sketch Blog for this weeks challenge so I decided to play along! I used the Happy Pinwheels set and the set and stamped my images in Cocoa Close to My Heart Ink. I used some FABULOUS patterned papers from the Echo Park Paper This & That Graceful paper collection to paper piece into my stamped image. To do this, you simply stamp your image onto patterned paper and then cut out the pieces you want to use. The background paper I used is from Studio Calico and I like the Notebook Paper look it has. I'm so pleased with how this card turned out! Thanks for reading!

Monday, June 11, 2012

Ribbon-A-Holic!

Hello, everyone! I've got a bit of a long post for you today. As many of you know, I have been fortunate to be a Cameo Ribbonista Designer for the May Arts Design Team for the past year. Well, I'm auditioning to join the team once again so I have a post today about my ribbon addiction!

First I'd like to show you a little book I created for myself to keep track of my ribbons. Here's a look at the book when it's closed...


I used some beautiful October Afternoon papers to decorate my cover and then added some of the new May Art's Red Baker's Twine wrapped around the cover. Next I added some of the Zebra Grosgrain ribbon to the ring that holds the book together. I didn't want it all to be white so I used a little Glimmer Mist to spray a few pieces red and green to co-ordinate with my cover.


Now I have a beautiful, neat and organized system to keep track of all of my different ribbons so I know which ones to re-order!

The next project that I'd like to share with you is my beautiful mermaid card!


I used a rubber stamp from The Greeting Farm for the mermaid image on my card. I pulled some Heidi Grace paper from my massive paper stash and got to work! I colored the mermaid's hair and body with my Copic Markers. Then I used my patterned papers and stamped the parts of the mermaid I wanted to cut out and paper piece into my stamped image. Then I glued them to the corresponding place on my colored image. Then I cut her out and used some fairly thin foam adhesive to adhere her to my card.


You may have noticed the waves along the bottom of the card... I started with some plain White 1/2" May Arts Ric Rac and used my Copics and some Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist, Glaze and Glam to color my ribbon and then adhered it to the lower part of my card to look like waves.

Finally I'd like to tell you about how much I like to add ribbon to layouts.


I like to find ways to add texture to my layouts and I feel that ribbon adds a wonderful texture to almost any project! For this layout, I used White Satin Pleat Ribbon and then adhered Pink Baker's Twine to the center of it.


Then to add a little more texture to my sticker, I used a 1/2" Glue Dot and created a spiral on it. I then stuck this to the center of my flower and now I have a completely custom look!


For my Zoo Layout, I wanted more of an earthy texture so I grabbed some Burlap Cording to add to the bottom of my layout. I cut small, triangular slits on each side of my layout to disguise the ribbon's bulk.


I needed a custom flower to add to my layout so I pulled out my Copic Markers and some White Frayed Flowers Ribbon and altered one of the rosettes to co-ordinate with my layout. It takes only a minute to color and you have yet another custom embellishment to add to your layout!


My last layout shows the simplest way to add ribbon to a layout. In the sketch I was using they showed patterned paper strips running vertically down the layout. I decided to grab my 1/2" Ric Rac again and add that to my layout instead!

Well, there's my Ribbon-A-Holic post for today! Wish me luck!

Saturday, June 2, 2012

Super Dad Father's Day Card

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, I just *had* to make two cards with my new Amazing Duo stamps and here's the other one!

I wanted to make a special card for my Super husband to let him know how much I appreciate him for Father's Day. Everyone else seems to be making the Shirt and Tie cards or a Fishing themed one so I went the other direction, Super Dad! Really, he's a great Daddy for my girls and a very supportive husband to me with all of my crazy craft endeavors, so I think Super Dad is the right way to describe him. Enough gushing now, LOL!


I knew I wanted to use this amazing plaid from the Echo Park Paper Mini Line called The Great Outdoors. I bought just one kit and then ended up buying several more of just the papers because I LOVE the papers so much! The reverse of the plaid is wood grain so I just used that for a little contrast and then added a custom colored piece 1/2 " May Arts White Ric Rac. I have been buying mostly white trims lately since I have discovered my new love of coloring things to match my project exactly. I'm saving my pennies for the Copic Airbrush and Compressor so I will be able to custom color things even faster! I inked everything with Cornflower Blue Close to My Heart Ink and stamped an argyle pattern on my blue cardstock. It's subtle but that's what I was going for. I used my Copics to color my "Boy" from the fabulous Amazing Duo set from The Greeting Farm and then used the "you're SUPER" sentiment from the same set. Then I added a little faux stitching to both pieces and mounted them with a bit of foam tape to the base of my card. I think my husband with like this one!

Friday, June 1, 2012

You Are AWESOME Card

So I was recently shopping in an amazing scrapbook store in Bloomington, IL called The Scrapbooking Studio and it was my first time into the store. I was delighted to see that they not only carry LOTS of my favorite Echo Park Paper, but they also have The Greeting Farm Stamps too! I picked out several stamps, including a set called "Dynamic Duo"


Of course, I had to make a card right away (ok, two, but that's tomorrow's post) so I made this for my AWESOME friend, Lori! She is a Close to My Heart consultant also, so if you need any great CTMH goodies they have a wide variety available, including the alphabet stamps I used here! I decided that this cute little Super Hero Girl looked a bit like Wonder Woman so I decided that I was going to use that as my inspiration. I added a few lines here and there with a Copic Liner pen for more accuracy and then I colored her with Copics but didn't do a ton of shading and blending, except for the hair (which I'm still learning how to do). Then to make the white stars on her skirt, I used a little Liquid Applique so it would just puff up and be opaque when I heated it. I used Echo Park Paper's Playground line for the Red and Blue and Country Drive for the Yellow and just added a little "stitching" around all of the edges to give it a little something extra. Finally I stamped "you are" in Sunflower Ink on my Yellow and "AWESOME" in Cranberry on the Red and used a little foam tape to adhere my colored image to the card! Now to drop by Lori's house with it before this posts to my blog...

Thursday, May 31, 2012

Hat's Off to Ribbon Tutorial

Every year the Manhattan Woman's Club has a Reciprocity Meeting where we invite guests from other clubs. This year's theme was "Hat's Off to Women" and we were all asked to wear a hat to the meeting. It was held at the BEAUTIFUL Jacob Henry Mansion in Joliet so I wanted to be a bit fancy. I found this very plain hat at K-Mart and I really liked the silver around the edges.


Well, those who know me know I can't just wear a plain hat. So I got out a bunch of my spring colored flowers and started playing with different combinations. I kind of knew I wanted pink and purple because those are my favorite colors at the moment but...


...let's just say I had a variety of flowers to choose from. Yes, that's my inner hoarder peeking out again!


Of course, I had to replace that goofy string tied around the hat with a beautiful ribbon. I recently discovered that you can color just about ANYTHING with Copic Markers so I grabbed this White Stitched Grosgrain May Arts Ribbon (WA01) and blended my pinks and purples in a sort of random way, just going from light to dark and then back again. And you will notice, you can still see the "stitching" on the ribbon too!


I tied my beautiful ribbon around my hat and left the ends long to dangle from the back of the hat. Then I hot glued my chosen flowers and leaves to the hat and sat back and realized something was still missing...


So I pulled my Copics back out and colored the brim of the hat too! This time I paid attention to make sure that I didn't have the colors in the same places on the ribbon and the brim. The whole time I was coloring I felt like a "bad" kid who was coloring something I wasn't supposed too, LOL! But when I was finished, I knew it was the right move, the hat looked fantastic!


Here's my very fancy 3 year old modeling Mommy's new hat! I think it looked pretty great and I got a lot of compliments on it too. Hat's off to you!

Monday, May 28, 2012

Our New Baby!

That's right, we have a new.... FUR BABY!!!!



This is little Lacey our new 7 week old Australian Sheppard puppy! Yes, we are nuts. The basement flooded a couple weeks ago so we had to clean it out and our new couches are being delivered tomorrow, so in the midst of all this chaos... we decided to add a puppy to the mix!

Well, at least I have an excuse to use more of the DCWV Pet Stack that I bought.....

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Echo Park Paper Beach Baby Layout


Today I'd like to share a layout I created with some of the gorgeous paper from the Echo Park Paper This & That Graceful Collection. I took these photos of my daughter building her first sandcastle in WI a couple years ago. I used a bit of Bakers Twine to tie up my banner which I cut with my Cricut using the Country Life Cartridge. I also used my Cricut to cut the word "Beach" from the Ashlyn's Alphabet Cartridge. I used my Tim Holtz Distress Inks to ink... everything and of course I used my Pink ATG to stick everything down. Thanks for stopping by the blog today!

Monday, April 23, 2012

Never-ending Card Fun!

 I recently learned how to make Never-ending Cards and was talking about how much fun they are with a friend and she asked me to create one for her. She was going to surprise her daughter with a Disney Vacation for her birthday and wanted to let the card do the talking so this is what I came up with!


This is the first view of the card, I used my Memento Tuxedo Black Ink to stamp my Snow White (her favorite princess) and then colored her in with my Copic Markers. The "5" is cut with my Cricut and I stamped the background on the white pieces with a variety of clear stamps and Close to My Heart Baby Pink Ink. I inked alllllll of my edges with the ink, on the whole card. Then I used my Stardust Gelly Roll Pure Glitter Pen to add the glittery swirls to the 5. To get to the 2nd "page" of  the card you simply open it from the center to reveal...


...Page 2! The princess here are cut from a sheet of patterned paper and I used some vellum stickers as an accent. I used my Stardust Gelly Roll Pure Glitter Pen to add glitter to my stickers and to my stamped phrase that reads "Where does a Princess say 'Dreams really do come true'?" To reveal the answer you fold back from the center again and the answer is....


...Disney World (of course)!If you'll notice that one page 3 your side images stay the same. It's one thing you will want to remember if you decide to try one of these yourself! I used more stamps and of course that amazing Stardust Gelly Roll Pure Glitter Pen for more - GLITTER - really, you can't have too much glitter, ever! From here you simply open the card out from the center again to reveal...


...the final page! I spent a long time coloring in these beautiful princesses. I used my Copic Cardstock and Copic Markers and practiced the techniques I recently learned. The images are all stamped in Memento Tuxedo Black Ink, of course. I left the 2 center squares blank so that my friend could write her own personal message to her little girl because I'm sure this card will be a treasured possession for a long time!

I even created a custom envelope with my Scor Pal, with a Velcro closure (I cut it into the shape of a heart) for the little girl to be able to keep her card in! I stamped all of my images in pink on pink cardstock and again used my Stardust Gelly Roll Pure Glitter Pen to add a touch more glitter. As I side note, you will want to make sure you are using a STRONG adhesive for this project. I would recommend either your Pink ATG or my favorite - Scor Tape! I hope you will give making a fun, interactive card a try soon!

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Mosaic Book Box

When I started this project it was going to be a quick and pretty little box. I had a very simple idea in my head for what I wanted to do... and then I found myself adding a little more here and doing a bit more there, and found myself spending many hours creating this little box.

It started lift and a plain wooden "book-look" box that I had purchased a couple years ago, on clearance for $.29. I had purchased several because they were so cheap and cute. Fast forward to a few weeks ago and I decided to FINALLY alter one of them.

To begin, I sprayed the "Pages" part with lots of Glimmer Mist. I started with the Walnut Gold, added some Coffee Shop and then finally some Tattered Leather. Then I used my Black Adirondack Acrylic Paint Dabber to paint the rest of the outside of the book. Then I decided to work on the inside of the book first.


I started with some fabric remnants that I picked up at a local craft store. I loved the silky patterned one so I simply used my Scor Tape and adhered it to a sheet of chipboard that I cut slightly smaller than the inside measurements (to allot for the fabric's bulk). Then I used my Glossy Accents to adhere this piece to the inside bottom of my box. Did you know that Glossy Accents is an excellent adhesive as well? I then repeated this to line the inside of my lid. Next a grabbed the music note fabric and cut small pieces of chipboard to do all of the inside sides on the box. Since the music note fabric was plain white cotton I wanted to make it co-ordinate just a bit more. So, I grabbed my Bazzill Splat Mat, my Heat Tool, a Mini Mister filled with water and my Glimmer Mists! First I sprayed the ribbon with water to make the dyes soak in better. Then I randomly sprayed Mel's Diner, Wheat Beer and Meadow Green all over my fabric. I used my Heat Tool to dry it and then cut it to cover my chipboard and used more Scor Tape to adhere it. Then used the Glossy Accents to attach all the pieces to the sides. I also used some giant binder clips to make sure my pieces stayed tight to the surface to dry.


Next I started working on my cover. Remember the Mosaic card I posted here a few days ago? Well, this is the original project that I had cut all those pieces for. I just cut strips from my Echo Park Paper "For the Record" 6 x 6 Paper Pad. This technique would really be great with any of Echo Parks lines! Then I inked all the edges of my pieces by swiping them over my Walnut Stain Distress Ink Pad. Then I very sparingly added Glossy Accents to the back of each piece as I created my pattern. I made sure to leave space for my title piece. Then I used my Glossy Accents to cover each piece of paper to give it a glass tile look and let it dry.


For my title, I had picked up these really cute "mistables" at a LSS a while ago and they've been sitting on my desk waiting for just the right project. I think this qualifies. So I used my Wheat Beer Glimmer Mist to cover the whole thing. Then I used my Barn Door and Walnut Stain Distress Inks around the edges. Then I added a layer of the Rock Candy Distress Crackle Paint. When it was dry I added more Walnut Stain Distress Ink to the cracks (just liberally apply it with your Ink Blending Tool and then use a damp cloth to wipe off the top). Then I added 2 layers of chipboard behind it to raise it up a bit more. After I adhered it to my box with more Glossy Accents I then added the Glossy Accents to the top of this as well.


So here is where I will mention what I will call my "Glossy Accident"... I had actually already completed most of my box when I was adding that final title "tile". When I set it aside to dry I didn't realize that it was sitting at the tiniest angle... and when I came back to it to take photos I gasped. The Glossy Accents had slowly traveled over the edge of my tile, through the other tiles and down the side of my box. Well, I'd invested too much time in this box to toss it aside and start again, so I decided to roll with it and disguise it as much as I can! So I added Glossy Accents to the whole top of the box. First I very carefully outlined the whole top of the box with it and let the outline dry on a completely level surface (yes, I checked it with a level to be certain). Then I filled in the rest of the "grout" space with a thin coat. When that was dry I added one more layer to all of my tiles to be sure they all stood out. I love the finished effect!


Ok, so now I will tell you how I decorated the back of my book box. I wanted it to sit flat so I needed a flat design. I created a stencil from one of the shapes in one the For the Record papers. Then I used my White Adirondack Paint Dabber to fill in my shape. When it was dry I removed the mask and then I randomly added my Glimmer Mist using the Wheat Beer, Coffee Shop, Walnut Gold and Tattered Leather to it. Then I painted the Rock Candy Distress Crackle Paint over the area and when that was dry I added Scor Tape around the edges, peeled off the backing and covered it with antique gold glitter. A quick simple way to make sure your glitter goes on perfectly straight!

Here's a look at the spine of the book. I simply added my paper (this was a 12 x 12 sheet from the same line) and added some May Arts Velvet Ric Rac to the edges. After that previously mentioned "Glossy Accident" I added the Rock Candy Distress Crackle Paint over the top as well to mask that little boo-boo.

I's so thrilled with how my little book box turned out, now I just need to find some special treasures to tuck inside!

If you LOVE it, Pin It!

Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Mosaic Look Card

Hey everyone! I wanted to share a card that I created with some leftovers from a really fun project that I've been creating! I used free-hand cut squared from the Echo Park Paper's For the Record 6 x 6" Paper Pad (but really you could use ANY of their beautiful lines for this project). I just cut up a whole bunch and then inked the edges by running them across the Walnut Stain Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad. Next I started randomly gluing them down to form this the mosaic pattern. Well, that of course wasn't enough so I used a few stamps from my stash to add a little bird here, a butterfly or five there and the word "Hi!" so I can use this card for any occasion.



Well, it looked pretty cool but of course I felt it needed more... so I pulled out this package of "spritz screens" that I picked up on clearance somewhere I decided to use the bird shape. I just wanted a subtle pattern so I grabbed my Walnut Gold Glimmer Mist... and after 2 spritzes I realized - I'm going to need ANOTHER bottle, LOL! Well, I grabbed the plain gold and misted and then got called away buy the kids. Well, there my card sat for several days, with the screen on top and the Gold Glimmer Mist in blobs all over the screen. Well, when I came back and took off the screen I thought the effect just wasn't big enough, so I laid my screen back down and grabbed the Walnut Stain Distress Ink again.



This time I used the foam applicator to add a bit of ink around the image so it would pop more and still have the beautiful glimmer. Well, I liked it but... I thought, "I wonder if I can use the screen like a stamp and put some of that Rock Candy Distress Crackle Paint on my card? That would REALLY finish it off nicely!" So, I grabbed the bottle, coated my screen really well and slapped it (carefully) into place. Then I smooshed it down REALLY well to make sure I got the Crackle on good. Well... I must had waited a tiny bit too long (like 10 seconds) because when I started to peel my screen up, the paper started to come too. Luckily I had started pulling up slowly and when I realized what had happened. I simple smooshed that screen right back into place and LEFT it there! Well, I LOVE the way it turned out! The Glimmer Mist that had dried onto the screen looked like I was trying to do it that way. And inking around it really made it pop just right. It's funny how some times the accidents in crafting and experiments really can make all the difference! Oh, and for those who were worried that I no longer have that screen... you can all sleep easy because I had purchased two boxes thinking maybe I could use one as some sort of page accent! Yep, my inner hoarder paid off... now I've gotta place an order for some more Walnut Gold Glimmer Mist....

Monday, January 30, 2012

Have You Seen This???

I'm very excited to share with my readers this AWESOME new product from Ribbon Carousel! It's their new Ribbon Carousel©, what an amazing idea!

Here's the stats straight from the source: The Ribbon Carousel© is made out of White Marine Board Plastic (High Density Polyethylene), giving it a textured top with smooth scrolled edges. Each Carousel comes with 8 Clear Acrylic rods allowing for many different configurations. You can use it as a 4, 5, 6 or 8 post Carousel, depending upon your individual needs.


The Ribbon Carousel© holds up to 60 rolls of 3/8" ribbon using 4 rods, 40 Wooden Spools or 16 spools of your favorite Baker's Twine using 8 rods. It SPINS around on a Lazy Susan, allowing you to access your ribbon and twine easily! This easy-to-use organizer is compact, with a footprint less than 7" square on your workspace. The Ribbon Carousel© holds ribbon spools of any size up to a 4" diameter. Minimal assembly required.

I'm sure my long time followers remember that I'm a bit of a ribbon hoarder, and being on the wonderful May Arts Ribbon Design Team has only contributed to my growing stash. I'm pretty sure I will need to order several of these... or if anyone is looking for a good gift for me, LOL!

Saturday, January 28, 2012

Picture It Perfect Blog Hop

Well, you've reached my blog in the "Picture It Perfect" blog hop! If you have just stumbled upon my blog today, you can start the hop at Gill's Blog. The challenge for this hop was to take a photo, magazine picture or postcard and create a card with it. Well, I had recently cleaned out a LOT of my clutter (AKA Magazines) and I wasn't about to cut up my Scrapbooking Magazines so I started looking around the house for something I didn't mind cutting up. Well, I stumbled upon an old AAA Guide Book to Southern California and Las Vegas. Besides making me want to take a nice vacation, there were lots of beautiful photos. The only problem was, some of them were a little small, and I couldn't decide how to choose just one... so I picked a BUNCH! Then I got the idea to create a "Quilt Block" of my photos. Well, I loved the first one I did so much that I did several! Here's the progression:


This first card I simply made the block 3.5" x 3.5" (all of the strips are .5" wide) and made my card base 4" x 4". I wanted this to have a real quilt feel to it so I used my pen to "stitch" the strips together. I think it turned out really cool! I call this my "City" card because I used some of the cool Vegas and LA buildings highlighted in the travel guide.


For this card, I did things a bit different. I took a bunch of my strips and randomly laid them on a diagonal on a 3" wide scrap of paper. Then I cut that into .75" pieces and then did my quilt pattern. Then I cut really skinny strips of black to outline my pieces. I love the effect this has!



The block for this card is one of my favorites! I mixed some really cool architectural photos with some more famous ones to get a really funky feel. Then I used some strips along the bottom and used my label maker to spell out "it's the JOURNEY" and the inside reads "not the destination". What a great reminder...



For my last card I'm only going to show you the block. You will have to watch for the actual card in an upcoming May Arts blog post! I used the Rock Candy Distress Crackle Paint to get the cool effect on this card.

This challenge was really freeing, and got me to try something new, which in crafting is usually a good thing! So, grab some photos, advertisements or what ever and try it yourself! I betcha' can't make just one!

You next stop in the hop is Lisa's Blog. Thanks for stopping by!