Happy Memorial Day!

Happy Memorial Day to all my American friends!  Today is the day we stop and remember all those who have served to protect our freedoms!  We are truly a blessed nation and have much to be thankful for!

To create this banner flag I simply added stripes of washi, a simple SRM sticker sentiment, and some stars and twine!

This one was a little more complicated.  I created the stripes with washi tape and then also punched some stars out from the washi tape.  I added those making sure to line all the stripes up.  A couple of cute die cuts from Pebbles and a bow were the finishing touches.

I hope everyone is enjoying this long weekend with family and friends!

Supplies Used:

Washi Tape: Doodlebug Design, Queen & Co, My Mind's Eye

Die Cuts: Pebbles Inc

Wood: Studio Calico

Stickers: SRM Stickers

Strawberry Washi Tape Card

I had some fun playing around with washi tape last week and this card is one of my creations from that play session!

I created those strawberries entirely from washi tape!  I cut out a strawberry shape for the bottom and then carefully lined up my polka dot washi tape.  I then folded over green washi tape and tore it to make the stems.  I had no idea if it was going to work but when I set it down in front of me I got all excited about how cute those little strawberries were!  I'll be sharing a couple more washi tape cards coming up soon!  See you tomorrow for Sketchy Saturday!

Supplies Used: 

Patterned Paper: Doodlebug Design

Washi Tape: Doodlebug Design

Stickers: SRM Stickers

Ribbon: CutCardStock

Gems: Doodlebug Design

Washi Tape Storage Ideas: What works for me!

I am going to be starting a new regular feature here on the blog about storage.  I have been at this hobby for about 9 years now and I have played with storage from keeping it all in one small suitcase to a big room all to myself.  I am constantly rearranging trying to find new things that work!  Once I'm happy it stays that way...so on Wednesdays that I don't have a design team commitment you can find some fresh storage ideas!  I don't spend a lot of money on storage (I'd rather spend it on supplies) and usually hit garage sales as much as I can.  But if something has stumped me for awhile I'm willing to spend a little to make it work!  Today I spent a little...but it totally works!  I am kicking it off with one that I have been searching for a better way on for a while!!!  Washi Tape!

Here is what I have come up with that I am loving!

This is a mug hanger from Ikea.  I believe it was $5.99 - if I'm wrong then it was less than that.  I also looked at using a plate rack - similar in style but with less stands.  I opted for this because it had a lot of stands!  As you can see I have arranged them pretty much by color with the exception of the multi-colored tapes :).

Now what else have I tried????

I tried hanging a tension rod and putting them on that.

Why that didn't work:  I want to get my washi tape down and in my hands!  I ran out of room long before I had all my tape on it.

I tried putting them all in a box on top of my desk (not neatly arranged or anything...just tossed in).

Why that didn't work:  They were forever getting buried and were out of sight (thus out of mind)

I tried nicely lining them up in a 12 X 12 box.

Why that didn't work: Who has room for a 12 X 12 box on their desk??? Again the out of sight, out of mind thing!

Why this works?

1-I can see exactly what i have and what I NEED more of!

2- It's pretty and let's be honest, we're crafters, that matters!

3- I don't have to sort for that one red roll, it's right there easy to grab

What do you think?  Do you have a brilliant way to store washi tape???? I'd love to have you link me up with it in the comments or on my facebook page!

Washi Tape Christmas Card

I've been cranking out a few more Christmas cards and have those to share with you over the next few days!  First up is one where I played with washi tape and chevrons...totally inspired by this post on the My Mind's Eye blog.

I won't go into depth as to how I created it, because the link will tell you just that!  I will tell you it was fast and a fun experiment in figuring out patterns and colors to play with.  I knew I wanted a non-traditional color scheme!  Cards like this are perfect for that time when you need a few quiet moments to create (which in my case means breathe) but don't have tons of time!  

Supplies Used:

Washi Tape: My Mind's Eye & Queen & Co

Sticker: Jillibean Soup

Clean & Simple Boy Cards

I have three sons.  Words I never thought I'd say.  As much as I enjoy scrapping girl stuff, I am constantly playing around with boy stuff to see how I incorporate fun techniques and such.  Today I have a couple of clean and simple cards to share with you that I created for boys. Both of these cards only took about 20 minutes to create - very simple and a quick way to use up some extra supplies that I knew I wouldn't use on a layout! 

 For this card I used a patterned paper base.  I added white cardstock and dropped mist splatters onto the top. I then added a couple stickers and done!  

Supplies Used:

Stickers: American Crafts, Heidi Swapp, Echo Park

Patterned Paper: Websters Pages

On this card I decided to offset things.  I added patterned paper to my base to create my background.  I then used white cardstock and coordinated my stickers with a washi tape background.  I used a black marker to highlight the S O N letters.  I also used my black marker to outline various parts of the card to give everything a little more definition. 

Supplies Used:

Patterned Paper: Echo Park

Washi Tape: Bella Blvd, My Minds Eye,

Stickers: Echo Park

Wood: Studio Calico

You Make My Heart Go...Watercolor Painting Layout

I've been wanting to play with watercolor paints on a layout for awhile...finally made time to do it and came up with what is one of my favorite recent layouts!

I started with some plain black and white patterned paper from Teresa Collins and added watercolor painted hearts in the colors I wanted.  Once dry I added the rest, trying to mix up my textures but stick within the same color scheme.  This also happens to include two of my favorite pictures of Cooper too!

Supplies Used:

Patterned Paper: Teresa Collins, Pebbles

Stickers: Bella Blvd, Jillibean Soup, American Crafts, Momenta, SRM Stickers, Echo Park

Washi Tape: Queen & Co, Bella Blvd, My Minds Eye

Wood: Lawn Fawn

Die Cut: Studio Calico

American Crafts "My Girl" Layout: Number Two :)

Just so much to love about this line!  I created this layout first of all my projects. I noticed that machine stitched circles had been trending big time....so I decided to try my hand at one.  Super easy and adds some nice dimension.  I added fussy cut flowers and die cut pieces to add some flow to the layout.  I topped the whole thing with washi tape, canvas stickers, and enamel dots.  My final touch was to add some mist to the top right corner...it was too plain and the white mist was just enough! 

The story behind the pictures is that my little girl was getting rag curls in preparation for Easter Sunday!

Supplies Used:

Cardstock: Colorbok

Enamel Dots: Queen & Co

Washi tape: My Minds Eye

All other supplies are American Crafts

Playing with Hot Glue!

I was so blessed today to receive an email from Paper Crafts Magazine today saying that they were picking up three of my cards this month!  That on top of five from CARDS earlier this month and to put it mildly I am flying pretty high!  I put a lot of time into working on submissions and really really enjoy doing it!  

The topic for Paper Crafts was Supply Savvy and it is going to have all different categories on using your supplies in clever ways.  I pride myself on finding random, frugal items to use on cards.  I love not having to worry about them being acid free and doing something just plain nutty!  The cards I got picked up used some pretty oddball stuff!  Today I thought I'd share two cards that didn't get picked up that I used hot glue on.

When I saw hot glue mentioned in the supply ideas I got some ideas rolling around and decided to just play! Here's the two I came up with!

 For this first one I doodled a heart using hot glue.  Once it dried I sprayed it down with mist.  Once that dried I pulled the glue up slowly leaving a distressed looking heart.

For this second card I did a similar concept.  I set out to doodle clouds with the hot glue.  Then misted but this time I didn't pull the glue up.  Once dry I laid the scallop circles on it and realized it looked like flowery doodles too and I kind of enjoyed that.  So I created a big flower and topped it off with some flair!

Supplies Used:

Patterned Paper: GCD Studios & American Crafts

Flair: American Crafts

Washi Tape: Bella Blvd

Mist: Heidi Swapp

Twine: The Twinery

Canvas Scallops: Little Yellow Bicycle

I had a lot of fun creating these cards and enjoyed thinking out of the box!  Have you ever used hot glue on a project for something besides adhesive?

Easter Cards

Last night I was on a technique kick with making cards and decided to play around with my SRM Stickers that are Easter themed.  The way their stickers come always makes me think of subway art...so I decided to put them all together and make my own little piece of Subway art for a card.

It took a little bit of configuring but wasn't too bad to put together and was definitely made easier by being able to overlap the clear stickers!

I also wanted to make a shaped card to look like an Easter egg and cover it with washi tape.

This was super quick to put together and way fun!  I added an SRM Sticker for a sentiment as well as some vintage seam binding and pins.  I'm so addicted to washi tape and every time I reach to use some I realize there is another color that I need :).

Supplies Used:

Washi Tape: My Minds Eye, Target, Bella Blvd

Pins: Little Yellow Bicycle & Maya Road

Ribbon: Doodlebug

Stickers: SRM Stickers

Cardstock: Colorbok

Make a Wish

I'm all about the doilies these days.  I had never used them much until the last couple months and I've been enjoying the soft touch they add.  

I created this card using a combination of papers from Momenta and Teresa Collins.  I also used washi tape and SRM Stickers for my sentiment!  Love that they are clear and so easy to use and make fit right into a project!  I love the way the colors come across as very soft and romantic...definitely not my typical colors as there isn't anything bright (: