Young Crafters Unite Blog Hop - Stamper Keeper Tutorial

Hi there! I’m so happy you’re joining me for the Young Crafters Unite Blog Hop!! You should be hopping over from Vicky Papaioannou's blog. If you get lost somewhere along the way, you can always start fresh over HERE or on Marie's Blog ;).

I’m really excited to participate in this hop! I admire so many of the girls involved and also am excited to make new crafty friends! I think what makes me a young crafter is the fact that I love creating things that make people smile. Whether it’s a card or mini book for a family member or friend; or a scrapbook page for my family’s scrap book. My kids and hubby love looking at every project I make. They love feeling the textures, and hearing the stories behind what I’m doing. That really makes me happy. I also love the crafting community. We all share our ideas and leave each other comments - it’s really uplifting and empowering. Such a positive atmosphere!

Today I wanted to share something that really combines a FEW of my favorite crafty things! They are:
*Lawn Fawn Stamps
*Crate Paper
and *Scrapbooking/Making Mini-Books.

Ok, before I share today’s project, first take a look at this project I made HERE. I made that mini book last year to keep my Lawn Fawn Stamps in, at that time I only had about 6-7 sets. Lawn Fawn is, by far, my absolute fave company for stamps {really, my other stamps are seriously jealous!} and I use them so much that taking them in and out of the packaging seemed... well, tedious and unnecessary. So I made that mini-book that was a combo of chipboard/clear acrylic pages and it has been home to my Lawn Fawn Stamps for a good year now. As my Lawn Fawn collection has grown, I needed a new - more functional - home for them. Which brings me to today’s project.

So, I saw THIS tutorial over on the Crate Paper Blog last week and was so inspired that I wanted to give it a try. I knew something like that would be a perfect new home for my Lawn Fawn Lovelies. The problem was that I couldn’t find the binder-ring-insert-thingy anywhere! I looked at Michaels, Joanne Fabrics & even Office Depot. No luck! I decided to buy a {Wilson-Jones} recyclable binder - already assembled - and it was Craft...bonus! Here is a before picture:

I started off by removing the binder clip, because I really thought it would be more functional on the back page of the binder as opposed to in the middle. With so many pages, it just makes everything more “movable”. So, I unscrewed the binder-ring-insert-thingy then used it as a template on the back page of the binder to make the holes. I had to use my Making Memories eyelet setting tool because my Crop-a-Dile just wouldn’t work because of sizing issues:

Then got out {of my stash} the pretty “Emma’s Shop” Collection by Crate Paper’s and went to town measuring and cutting. I loved that the binder came in Craft, and I really wanted to still see that when all was said and done, so I kept that in mind when measuring.
{The measurements for the sides (inside & outside) are 11 ½ x 9 3/4 and the middle is 11 ½ x 1 3/4}:

Then I went to town with Worn Lipstick Distress Ink on all of edges of all of the papers - so they would POP and be extra pretty ;):


I glued all of the patterned paper down with Glossy Accents - wanted them to REALLLLLY stick! NOTE: It is really important to glue one side of the binder down, then set the holes into the paper (using the binder).... then glue down the other side and do the same. That way you know where your holes should be. Then I added the binder rings. This was super easy to do, because the rings were attached with screws. I even used a Swiss Army knife because it was close at hand - hee hee.

Next I added a little pocket (SMASH by K&Co) to the back page of the book to keep my Lawn Fawn Year One Catalog and the empty packaging from my stamps in - so I can see the actual stamp sets if need be - and a pretty Metal Tag to the front of the book.


I used clear acrylic 12x12 pages and cut them down to 8 ½ x 11 just using my paper trimmer - worked like a charm. Then I used the Crop-a-Dile to chomp holes into the acrylic (the Crop-a-Dile cut through the acrylic like butter - seriously!!) and set large eyelets to make them move easier throughout the book. While I was at Office Depot I also picked up some {pink} clear tabbed page separators - and I’m so glad I did. I originally thought I’d cover them with pretty paper too, but I decided to leave them plain. They really keep the stamps attached to the acrylic better {and dust free} and you can see through them, which is seriously convenient.




See, nice & see through. I decorated the outside cover last. With some of the Emma’s Shop Letter & Chipboard Stickers. I really love how it came out. I love Crate Paper so much! The texture of the paper is so lush and the colors are both bold and soft in each collection - fabulous stuff. I’m so happy that my Lawn Fawn’s have a new more practical home - with room to grow! So there you have it! One more peek:


EEK, I love it! AND it fits right in on my new crafty hutch!

I hope you’ve enjoyed peeking at my project. I know some of my pics were a bit wonky - sorry about that (cell phone pics). Anyway, one of my favorite things about blogging is seeing cool ideas/techniques {like the book I saw on the Crate paper blog} and making them your own! I hope I’ve inspired you a little bit today. Next on the hop is Jess Larsen's blog.

Remember, you’ll want to try to comment on everyone’s blog in the hop to be entered to win some fabulous prizes!!! The more comments, the more chances for you to win! There are fabulous sponsors such as Simon Says Stamp, Denami Design, and Paper Smooches. How exciting! Personally, I can’t wait to give Paper Smooches Stamps a try - they are entirely too cute!!!

Also, if you like what you see, you may want to follow our blogs as well. Then we’ll come over and visit your blog too!!! It’s a happy cycle :D. I hope you have an amazing day and have fun hopping!!! A big THANK YOU to Britta & Marie for getting this hop together!! They are two creative ladies to watch!!

Now THAT'S an antique roadshow!

Hi there. Today I wanted to share a layout that I’ve actually been dying to create since I picked up Lawn Fawn’s Admit One Stamp set a week ago!

These pictures were from the weekend before Easter, this year. My sis-in-law and niece were down from New York. Before she came she investigated online for some things to do with the kids while she was here. I never knew our city (Hollywood) had an annual Marshmallow Drop and Easter egg hunt, so we decided it’d be fun to check it out. Turns out it was the rainiest day of the year, so far, and rained most of the day, but you know that NEVER spoils kids’ fun! Luckily it stopped raining just long enough in the end for the kids to do their egg hunts ;).

Anyway, they had bounce houses and this really cool antique traveling carnival ride, which my son absolutely LOVED!!! He rode it a minimum of 6 times - maybe more. It was 6 or 7 little cards on a pulley in the back of this gated truck. Pulled the kids around and when it got to the curve/turn - whatever - it swung them around really fast. Fun!

Some Additional views:




So obviously the Admit One Stamps were a perfect fit for this LO. I stamped them onto Bristol art paper and colored them in with Copics.

Then added a pretty vintagey crystal brad to the center of the Ferris wheel (I really like these brads!). Next I trimmed the pictures of him inside the ride to 2 & ½ by 2 & ½ and added them to the Polaroid from Lawn Fawn’s Say Cheese Stamps. The tacks are from the Just My Type set (got that idea from the inspirational Kelly Marie!) - I tacked them into the Polaroids by 1st poking a hole with the Tim Holtz Paper Piercer and then slipping the tack into the hole - worked like a charm. Finally I stamped a few of the tickets (also from Admit One) and added a sentiment from Say Cheese Too to one of the Polaroids.
***
The title from the LO was in my head from the very second that I took the pictures. Very Punny ;). I used Basic Grey’s Oliver collection (patterned paper and letter stickers) and traced around the letter stickers with two different Copic Multiliners (I wanted the “THAT’s” and “ANTIQUE ROADSHOW” to really stand out). Then I journaled around the page... for fun with the thicker (0.5) Multiliner. I really love LOVE love how the LO came out! My son loves it too - when I showed it to him this morning, he said “COOL!!! Mom. That was the best ride ever!”.

Anyway, so that’s today’s post. I hope your day is great. Can’t wait for the Blog Hop tomorrow. I’m excited to see what everyone comes up with - and make some new friends! Hope you have a great day!!!

Happy Birthday! - Wee Memories #60 Entry #2

Happy Wednesday everyone! Well, I think I've finally (for now) moved past my creative funk. I've been playing with my new Lawn Fawn stamps all this week and having tons of fun!

I made this card last night:

I popped up the balloons with American Crafts' foamies for dimension and, well, fun!



and thought it'd actually be a good entry (my 2nd) for the Wee Memories #60 challenge, which is still open ;).
I used Lawn Fawn's Admit One Stamps for the paper-pieced Balloons, then Sophie's Sentiments, & Bannerific for the Happy Birthday banner. All of this cool paper is from a 6x6 pad of Basic Grey's Lauderdale which I won off Kathy's The Daily Marker Blog a few weeks ago - THANK YOU KATHY!!! The bakers twine is by Divine Twine ;).

The colors are so bright and fun, perfect for a birthday! Well, that's all folks! I hope the rest of your week is amazing! I'm super excited for the Young Crafters Unite Blog Hope scheduled for Friday!!!
I'm participating - my 1st blog hop - YAY!!! It starts this Friday HERE. I have a super cool (if I say so myself) project to share, with a tutorial ;). I'm super excited about it, and I can't wait to hop along too!!! I've seen the line-up of fabulous girls participating & I can't wait to see what everyone has up their sleeves.

Until next time my friends!

My Sneaky Peeks from Paper Niche's July Kit!

Hi there! I hope your day is off to a good start. Today I’m super excited to share my sneaky peeks from Paper Niche's July Kit! Hint-hint: I was very inspired by weddings this time around, I haven't scrapped my {professional} wedding photos yet, so I took the oppertunity with this kit to get started! I can't wait to share the full reveals :D. Here are my sneaky peeks:


Well that's it for me today! I hope you have a great day!

Some 411, Wee Memories #60 & Lawnscaping #12 Challenge Entries!

Hi there! Oh yay, another Monday. That's me trying to be positive ;). Every Monday is kind of filled with uncertainty lately. I haven't shared this on the blog yet, but my boss is really sick. He has colon cancer that spread to his liver. He was diagnosed about 2 and a half years ago, and was told, about 6 weeks ago, to just enjoy his final days :(. Yea, BIG sad face! We're all in a sort of depressive state at work ever since we got the news. We've all been here a long time (my mom 14 years, me 11, and the other legal assistant Kathy has been here 6. Not to mention the other lawyer here is his nephew.) We are definitely a family. We all just feel kind of lost. Mondays seem to be the hardest, because we spend the entire weekend praying & hoping but have no clue whether he made it through. I'm looking forward to calling him and hearing his voice today. He's been so strong. True courage! Never complaining through surgeries, tests, round after round of Chemo! Never complained - ever! Please, please keep him in prayer. His name is Jim and his wife is Linda. They could both really use the prayers right about now.

Needless to say, I've been really creatively blocked for a few weeks now. I've done the projects I've HAD to do (my mother-in-law's b-day gift, my class projects & DT work) but not much creating for "fun". I've been feeling really sad about it too. I knew that if I could just get creative I would feel better - I really, truly believe that creativity heals in ways no one can explain. I know it does for me.

This weekend I decided to "fake it till I make it" in a way. I figured that if I tried to get crafty, at some point maybe it'd burst out of me. I'm so happy I did. When I just tried a little, I found that my creativity was right there waiting for me... right where I left it. And I did a lot! I completed my July DT Kit for Paper Niche, made 2 cards, a mini book, and my project for the Blog Hop I'm participating in on Friday! I feel like it really helped! Relieved some stress, and helped me get "happy thoughts" on the brain.

Today I wanted to share a Happy Birthday card I made to enter into both the Lawnscaping #12 {sketch} Challenge and Wee Memories' #60 {birthday} Challenge.

So, I just had a mini shopping spree - old bad habits, but I think I "needed" it! I picked up 3 Lawn Fawn Sets, "Admit One, Cruising Through Life, and Bon Voyage"...not to mention my mom just bought me "Critters in the Forest"!! So, I really was dying to use them - and thought the Admit One set worked perfect for both of these challenges! Here is a look at my card:


I just love the ferris wheel, so that was my jumping off point, well technically, the sketch/birthday theme was the jumping off point, but you get the idea ;). I stamped it onto Bristol art paper, then used sticky masking paper to cover it up and distress inked the sky using Tumbled Glass. For the grass and ferris wheel, I used a Copics. This paper is Fancy Pants' "It's the Little Things". I loved the tickets! I went around the edges with Worn Lipstick Distress Ink - super cute! I finished it off with a Making Memories Brad and some Bakers Twine from The Twinery. Oh! and a "Happy Birthday" stamparoo on the inside of the card. Fun!

It got me out of my funk! I'll have more to share this week. Tomorrow I'll be sharing sneaky peeks of the July kit for Paper Niche - see ya then.

I hope you have a great day, my friends!

Gifted Mini-Book

Good morning all! What a week, and it’s what...Tuesday?!? Trying times. Anyway, so, last week we celebrated my mother-in-law’s birthday and I wanted to share the pretty mini-book I made for her.

She had been asking for a tea-pot mini like this one I made about a year back. I actually got that book at Michaels in the dollar section & have never been able to find it again :(. Sad too because I REALLY liked it! Anyway, I was super excited to see one similar (better, even - but not $1.00) in Paper Niche a few weeks ago. Hooray for Maya Road!!!

As you can see, I covered and embellished it with Cosmo Cricut’s Togetherness Collection. Such fun, bright colors.












I really like how it came out. I was in such a rush and wondered, a few times whether or not I’d get it completed. Thank God I did :D.

So that’s it for me today. I hope you have an amazing day!!

Mini-Book from Paper Niche's June Kit

Happy Wednesday! Hope your week is going good so far. Today I wanted to share a mini-book I made using Paper Niche's June Kit. It's actually for my grandma, she was down visiting back in May of last year, and we went to the Palm Beach Zoo. I had all of these great pictures from that trip and the Daily Junque papers, and pretty embellishments just reminded me of her. I thought it'd be a nice little surprise for her.

I started off with a Maya Road mini chipboard book and painted all of the edges with Tim Holt's Crackle Paint in Barn Door. Then I went to town cutting pictures, and papers... adding the pretty embellies, and ribbons included in the kit. Here is a look at the rest of the pages:





And this is the back cover:

I really love how it came out. I think she'll really be happy to get it. I know I would love some happy mail like this ;). I hope you have a wonderful day, my friends!!