Spring Home Decor: Decorated Pail

Oh, I can't believe it's nearly Easter already.  It was pretty sneaky moving Easter up to March this year! But here it is, this very weekend. 

I made this happy pail that can be used as a little Spring decor, table centerpiece or as a gift.  It was super easy to make. I starte with a plain painted bucket from a craft store.     

I used embellishments from Fancy Pants Designs to add a Spring touch to this bucket, using the Park Bench and Trend Setter collections. I decorated the pail with felt flowers, paper tape.  The ribbon is May Arts.  

Inside the bucket are some plastic eggs stuffed with candy, then sealed with paper tape so little hands can't get to them!  I also tucked some little treats inside two glassine envelopes and closed them with cute little paper clips. 

To give the basket some height, I added a gumdrop tube with a Happy Spring sign on top. 

Thanks so much for stopping by. Linking this to Blooming Homestead.

PaperHaus Spring Hop and Giveaway!

Hello everyone and welcome.  I'm so excited today to be part of the unveiling of the Spring issue of PaperHaus Magazine.  

The contributors got together and are hosting a week-long blog hop.  Yes, it's a big hop, but there are prizes at every stop!  The hop runs through March 7. 

Here's the pretty magazine cover and the link to read the Spring Issue. 

I made a card to celebrate! I used the Family Ties collection from Pebbles Inc.  Stickers and buttons are October Afternoon, the stars are Studio Calico and the ribbon is May Arts.

I also like it as a tag.  I made the sailboat from circle and square punches. 

On this stop of the hop, the prize is a Spring flower giveaway plus 5 yards of green and white bakers twine.  The flowers are Prima and Bo Bunny. 

To enter the giveaway, please follow my blog and leave a comment.  You have until midnight March 7 to enter.  I'll pick a winner by random draw and post it on my blog Friday, March 8. 

Thanks so much for stopping by.  If you are following the hop, you should have arrived here from Bente's blog.  The next stop on the hop is Jennifer Grace.  If you get lost along the way, you can find the full hop line-up here on the Paperhaus blog.  You can also find magazine updates on the Paperhaus Facebook page.

CARDS: Designer of the Month

I'm so excited to post today that CARDS magazine named me Designer of the Month in its current issue, February 2013, on stands now. 

The magazine chooses 12 designers a year for this designation. I am not sure how I slipped into the mix but I admit: I grinned ear to ear when I found out.  CARDS magazine published an interview with me and featured five of my cards. Four cards were new for the magazine and one was a favorite of mine that I made with Little Yellow Bicycle.  Unfortunately, I can't show the cards until March 1 due to my contract. 

But I can show a scan of the article.

And I can show you two of my cards that were published in the January issue of CARDS. 

This one was for the ribbon challenge.  I used my very favorite ribbon for this one: May Arts chevron twill.  I have it in every color. 

This card I made for an assignment with My Creative Scrapbook, using a kit that featured this cute collection from Echo Park Paper. 

Thanks so much for stopping by. I'll be back Tuesday with a new post. I hope you have a wonderful weekend. 

A Quilted Card: Simple Stories

Are you a scrap saver?  Generally I am not, but I tend to hang on to the bits and pieces from my 6 x 6 paper pads, especially if the sheet is still attached.

I was flipping through what was left of my Simple Stories Sn@p 6 x 6 pad the other day and thought it was a shame to let the little pieces go to waste. The paper is so fun and cheery.  

To make the quilt, I punched 16 squares, laid them in a grid on a piece of cardstock, then stitched them down, quilt style. I added a piece of coordinating ribbon from May Arts and a bit of twine from The Twinery. 

I punched a tag from grid paper and ran it through my printer to add the sentiment:  When life gives you scraps, make a quilt.  I left some space to add three small quilt blocks. 

I uploaded this card to Two Peas in a Bucket Sunday night and was surprised to pop over to the site on Monday and see that it was the featured project of the day. 

Linking this quilted card to Tip Me Tuesday.

My Creative Sketches: A Fall Day

In the South, we don't always have a true Fall. Sometimes, we have more of an Indian summer and a mild winter with some falling leaves in between. I long to visit New England this time of year to see what Fall is really all about.

But we do have a pretty vista year-round at the lake house and I snapped this photo of the boys on a visit there in November 2010.

I used Little Yellow Bicycle collections on this page, a combination of Acorn Hollow and Escape. Love how well the two lines work together.  The journaling spot tucked under the photo is Elle's Studio with a little May Arts ribbon stitched on as a pull tab.

Here's a closeup of the embellishment cluster at the top:

This layout was based on the new November sketch at My Creative Sketches. 

We'd love to have you play along and there is a great prize up for grabs. You have until Dec. 14 to link your work.  You can find all the details here on the My Creative Sketches blog.

We also have new two specials to announce at My Creative Scrapbook. First, the November and December kits can be made as a one-time purchase for a gift.  The second special is a new referral program. If a member refers a customer who signs up for a 3-month membership, the member will receive Prima Flowers and an additional gift. Please visit the My Creative Scrapbook blog for details.

Happy Autumn Days - Sketch Challenge

Every year, the theme park in our state has a Halloween outing for kids.  The park does a spooky event at night for adults, but during the day, it's family friendly. Events include trick-or-treating from park characters and picking your own pumpkin from the patch.

For Cory, any outing that involves the plastic pumpkin is a good one as he associates it with candy.  When we went to the park's pumpkin patch, I tried to convince Cory to leave his plastic pumpkin in the stroller so he could pick a real pumpkin.  But as you can see, that didn't happen.  

For this layout, I used Simple Stories, mostly Harvest Lane with a little bit of Fabulous and Awesome thrown in.  I used paper both from 12x12 sheets and a 6x6 paper pad.  I love the smaller patterns on the 6x6, especially the little journaling cards like the title block, "Autumn Days."  

To color the doily, I used spray mist from October Afternoon.  It gives great coverage and dries quickly.  The kraft leaf below it is from the dollar spot at Target. I just added a little ink and stitching and it was perfect for my page.

Here's a closeup of the embellishment cluster on the bottom left. At first, I had just the tree and fence there and they looked a little lonely. So I added the house, which balanced it more.  For a decorative touch, I added a bit of orange/brown twine around the tree from Trendy Twine.

The layout is based on the new sketch by My Creative Sketches for our monthly challenge. 

The sketch challenge starts today and runs through Nov. 15. We'd love to have you play along and we have a great prize for the winner, chosen by random draw.  You can find all the details on the My Creative Sketches blog.