Altered Treat Jar and Bon Voyage Card

Echo Park Paper has so many fun and happy lines and I love them all. I was especially excited to see the camping themed paper and icons in the So Happy Together line, released this summer.  It was just what I needed to make something for my folks, who have retired and bought an RV.

My parents are on an eight-week East coast to West coast trip with my aunt and uncle following along in their own RV. They are having a blast and especially enjoyed Yellowstone. They are hitting it all from the high brow (presidential libraries) to the low-brow (Branson, Mo., where "Branson puts the show in the Show-Me state").

Before they left, I made a little treat jar and card for my folks. 

I recycled a jar I had around the house and filled it with their favorite candy.  The jar was a great size, because a 12-inch paper strip fit around it perfectly.  

I used the RV patterned paper as the base and added a border punched strip above and below. I stitched those together then wrapped them around the jar.  To decorate the top, I traced the lid onto patterned paper then cut out the circle and glued it on. I also added a doily and sticker on top. 

Around the lid, I added a red ribbon, first sewing a zig zag stitch for a decorative touch, and some fun red twine from Trendy Twine. The label is a journaling card with alpha stickers and a little birdie. 

For the card, I echoed the red ribbon and used patterned paper and stickers for a quick coordinating look. 

The card is based on this sketch from The Sampler challenge.

Thanks so much for stopping by. Have a great weekend!

Turning 40: Welcome to the Dark Side

When my friends and I turned 40, we made a point of finding joke cards about getting older for one another.  I wasn’t a card-maker then, but if I had been, I would have made a card like this for the guys in our group.  

It would have worked perfectly with all the old age pranks.  Of course, now that I’m actually 40-something, it seems less funny:  The knees that pop, the hairs that are turning grey, the stretch to get out of bed in the morning.  I feel like I could be getting close to that old skeleton. :)

This card is for the new linky party theme, Fall'n for Flair, over at Paper Issues.  This super cute Star Wars inspired button is from Shelley Haganman’s etsy shop, A Flair For Buttons.

Here’s a close-up of the card:

If you love Fall and love flair, come join us over at Paper Issues. The linky party starts today for all your Fall and/or flair projects and runs through Oct. 6.

If you’d like to win some of Shelley’s flair buttons for your very own, please join us on the Paper Issues blog hop.  This is the hop order:

Audrey Yeager

Lori Wilbanks

Sabrina Alery

Kate Vickers

Heather Leopard

Izzy Anderson  <<<You Are Here

Ashli Oliver

Paper Issues

To be entered in the drawing, please “like” the Facebook Page, A Flair For Buttons.

Comments on the hop will be open for two weeks and two winners will be chosen by random draw and announced on Oct. 7 on the Paper Issues blog.

You can find all your card-making and scrapbooking supplies over in the Paper Issues etsy shop, including October Afternoon's new Witch Hazel collection.   And everything's on sale.  Just use code IZZYB20 for 20 percent off your entire order.  

Card supplies:

CS: American Craft

PP: Echo Park Paper

Stickers: Echo Park Paper

Twine: Trendy Twine

Flair: A Flair For Buttons

Ink: Ranger

Font: Copperplate Gothic and Arabic Typesetting

36 Hours in NYC: How To Make The Most Of A Quick Trip

A few years ago, I had to go to Manhattan for a Monday morning meeting. Since I would only be tied up for a few hours, I decided to make the most of the quick trip and take an early flight up Sunday morning and a late flight home Monday night.  I took my best friend with me and we made the most of our 36 hours in New York City.

The meeting was at the Marriott Marquis in Times Square, which was also where we stayed. It’s the kind of job perk that I miss. Travel is limited now, but on this day, we tried to do it all.  We shopped on Fifth Avenue (where we ran into Katie Couric), checked out the view at the top of the Empire State Building, saw a Broadway show, took a stroll through Central Park, ate lots of great food and took several death-defying taxi rides (the only kind there are in NYC).

I also bought a scarf from a street vendor and posed quickly for this photo in Times Square.

The layout is primarily Little Yellow Bicycle from the Escape and Splash collections with a little bit of Crate, Echo Park, Studio Calico and October Afternoon mixed in.

Here’s a close-up of the layering in the middle. The cute chipboard from LYB worked perfectly with the page.

The "new arrival" tag under the photo is from Crate's baby line, but I thought it fit here too.

I love New York!

My Creative Sketches: Jillibean Macho Nacho

When my son was 2, we entered a contest and won 4 passes to see The Muppets, the sweet and joyful movie version that came out late last year.  It was my son’s first trip to the cinema.  For him, it was a fun outing with popcorn!  For me, it was pure nostalgia: Kermit, Miss Piggy and all the rest. Sigh.  Jim Henson was a genius.

Being a scrapbooking mama, I considered bringing my “big camera” along but thought that might be a bit over the top for our local cinema.  So, I used my iphone instead to snap a couple photos.

For this layout, I used Jillibean Soup’s fun Macho Nacho line. I love the paper with the TV icons. So cute!  And perfect for this page since The Muppets started as a television show. I tried to use the big circle to echo the idea of a film reel or old movie camera.  The TV sticker is from October Afternoon.  I added a couple brads for knobs then pop dotted it on the layout.

The layout is based on this sketch from My Creative Sketches.

This is the new sketch for September and is part of a four-week challenge that kicks of today and ends October 14.  There’s a terrific prize for the winner (see below).  The winner will be chosen by random draw on October 15.  Just link up your page to enter.  

We’d love to have you play along. You can find all the details here on the My Creative Sketches blog.

How To Use A Square Punch To Make Chevron Pattern

A square punch is one of my favorite tools for papercrafting.  It’s so quick, easy and versatile. I have square punches in several sizes, both plain and with scalloped edges.  Today, I’m going to show you how I used a square punch to make a chevron pattern.

Here’s my finished card:

  

I used the Escape collection from Little Yellow Bicycle, which was featured in the September kit at My Creative Scrapbook.  I loved this house chipboard in the kit and built my card around that theme.

To start, I pulled out three patterned papers and punched several squares from each.

Next, I cut each square in half, diagonally, to make triangles.   To start the chevron pattern, I made two rows of triangles, placing them back to back with the points down on the bottom row and the points up on the top row. The top and bottom row are offset to give a zig zag pattern.

Once I had the first zig zag pattern with the grey paper, I filled in the empty spaces like puzzle pieces above and below the chevron with the red and yellow triangles.  Now, I had a fun chevron pattern for my card, which I stitched onto a white cardstock panel. 

I added the chipboard house, clouds and sentiment then adhered the panel to a black card base to complete the card.    

Here's a closeup of the completed project:

Thanks so much for stopping by!  You can find more design team projects on the My Creative Scrapbook site here.  Linking to Tip Me Tuesday.

Birthday Party Invitation with "Trendy" Balloons

To enter the drawing for the My Creative Scrapbook prizes, please see the blog hop here.

I love the trend of using twine in papercrafting. It's so fun and versatile.  Twine is great for packaging, of course, but I also love to incorporate it into cards and layouts.

Here, I used Trendy Twine's Chocolate Sprinkles as balloon strings on a child's birthday invitation.

Patterned paper and embellishments are from October Afternoon, mostly the Cakewalk line.

Here's a closeup of the balloons. I used a punch, pop-dotted the balloons on the card, then added twine.

Trendy Twine has a challenge this month to use twine on a boy-themed project.  The project can feature boys or it can be something for a boy. There's a great prize for the winner! You can find all the details here. For more projects from the Trendy Twine design team, please visit the Trendy Twine blog.

Reveal, Blog Hop & Prizes: My Creative Scrapbook

Hello and welcome to the My Creative Scrapbook blog hop!

Pam, the owner of My Creative Scrapbook, and the MCS design team are so happy to reveal of the beautiful new September kits with an inspiration-filled blog hop complete with PRIZES!

If you're hopping along with us, you should have arrived here from Delaina's blog. If you are visiting my blog today to check in on me, we'd love to have you join the hop. Just head on over to the My Creative Scrapbook blog to get started. Prizes will be drawn from comments left on both the design team blogs and the My Creative Scrapbook blog.

Each month, My Creative Scrapbook releases several kits.  I worked with the Creative Kit, which featured the Escape collection by Little Yellow Bicycle.

Here is a photo of the kit:

Below are the layouts I created with this kit: 

I thought this photo of my little one "driving" his grandfather's truck worked perfectly with the travel theme of this line.

The 6x6 decorative edge papers are one of my favorite things in each LYB collection. Above, I used a grey scallop circle to echo the EPCOT ball in the photo background.

Above is a layout about a visit to the Hollywood Walk of Fame. I created a scene by cutting apart three patterned papers then piecing them together. The grey "ticket" paper looked a bit like a city sidewalk grid and it worked perfectly to mirror the Hollywood sidewalk squares. 

We are so excited about our kits and hope that you are, too.  You can find out more information about My Creative Scrapbook kits on the homepage.

Before you go, remember to follow my blog and leave a comment to be eligible for the prize drawings!

Your next stop on the blog hop is Jamie Harder.  Thanks for stopping by!

Altered Baby Gift Card Box - Trendy Twine

This month, the Trendy Twine team is featuring a fun mix of light blue and dark brown twine in its projects. Our challenge was to create something 3D for a boy using ribbon and the featured twine called Chocolate Sprinkles.

I decided to make a tri-fold gift card box, the type where the doors swing open and the box is held shut with a slider.  The finished project looks like this:

It started life like this, as a Kohl's gift box for men, which I bought on clearance after Father's Day.  I thought it would be super easy to alter, but it turned out to be a little more complicated.

My plan was to cover the box with patterned paper. But when the doors were open and flat, the box measured a wee bit more than 12 inches end to end, making it impossible to cover with a standard piece of scrapbook paper.  

I looked through my stash and saw that patterned paper by Canvas Corp is printed on one side then completely solid - with no label - on the back side. Perfect. That gave me the extra half-inch I needed. I stamped a swirl design on the plain side of the paper, then used it to covered the box. 

To make the slider, I used a printed piece of Canvas Corp Paper and the original slider from the Kohl's box, wrapping it in twine.  To make the decorative element, I used a journaling card from Jillibean Soup and flipped the box to a vertical orientation. 

I added a Soup Label sentiment (There's No Bunny Like You), a doily and a chipboard bunny. I tied a wee bit of ribbon around the bunny's neck then added a pom pom tail from twine.  

To make the pom pom, I wrapped twine around fork tines, tied it tightly in the center, then snipped the ends. 

If you'd like to join our challenge this month, you can find all the details here on the Trendy Twine blog.

Sneak Peeks: My Creative Scrapbook (September)

Reveal day for the new kits at My Creative Scrapbook is Sept. 5, but today I'm posting a few sneak peeks from the projects I made.  I worked with the Creative Kit, which is jammed packed with beautiful things. I smiled from ear to ear when I opened it! 

So, a little peek or two:

Do you recognize the manufacturer featured here?  I had so much fun with this line and even made the rarity: a layout about me.

You can see peeks from everyone on the My Creative Scrapbook design team on the MCS blog.  You can find out more about My Creative Scrapbook kits here.
 

PaperHaus Magazine Blog Hop Winner & Submission Call

Thanks so much to everyone who visited my blog and left such nice comments about the launch of the new ezine, PaperHaus.  I'm thrilled to be a contributor.

The magazine launched yesterday and it looks sensational!  It's the Fall issue and is full of a variety of seasonal crafts: layouts, cards, mixed media, altered items, home decor and treat packages, including some really fun and easy Halloween ideas.  You'll find a number of tutorials and step-by-step instructions too.  

You can read and download the magazine here. 

If you would like to submit projects for the winter issue, you can find all the details on the PaperHaus blog.  The winter issue call is for layouts, cards, altered projects, mini albums and mixed media in the following themes:

• Christmas
• Hanukkah
• Winter Frolic
• Snow
• Valentine's Day

The magazine is also accepting these special projects:

• Advent Calendars
• Gift Card Holders
• Christmas Tags
• Valentine's Day Projects

The winner of the blog hop from this blog is lucky number 25.

That's Big Mamma - a.k.a. Mary S.  She said: 

Congratulations, Mary.  I'll contact you through your blog to get your mailing information. 

A full list of winners from the PaperHaus blog hop later today on the PaperHaus facebook page. 

The Launch of PaperHaus Magazine!

Today, it's official: the launch of the first issue of PaperHaus Magazine. Come take a peek!

I'm so excited to be part of this magazine!  Here is the direct link where you can download or print PaperHaus.

To read PaperHaus Magazine on your iPad or Mobile Device, follow these simple steps:

1. Go to the magazine site: http://issuu.com/thepaperhaus/docs/paperhaus_magazine_fall_2012

2. Click on DOWNLOAD
3. Transfer the file to iTunes.
4. Sync with your iPad!
5. Enjoy!

For more information on PaperHaus, including the new call for submissions, please visit the PaperHaus blog here.