Ribbon Flower Tutorial: The Good Life

Hello, everyone.  Today I have a summer page and ribbon flower tutorial. 

I love this happy paper from Doodlebug that was included in the May kit at My Creative Scrapbook. I had a lot of fun with this page.  The background is made from one sheet of patterned paper.

The pink polka dot paper is the reverse side of the chevron stripe.  To use both sides, I carefully cut out the middle of the chevron paper using my trimmer. That gave me two pieces: the chevron and the polka dot.  In between, I layered a piece of white cardstock then stitched the 3 layers together. 

Next, I added a photo mat, layering paper and stickers.  I also added hidden journaling under the photo with a pink pull-out tab. 

To finish the page, I added a ribbon flower to the banner trio at the top. It was really easy to make. 

I used the ribbon in the kit and cut three pieces, 5 inches in length. I folded each end of the ribbon to the middle and secured it.  I layered the ribbon loops on top of each other in a star shape.  To embellish it, I added a circle cut from burlap and a threaded ribbon. 

The completed layout. Thank you for stopping by. Have a wonderful weekend!

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. 

Using Books for Christmas Countdown: Advent Fabric Bags

My son is 3 and we decided to try a different type of Christmas countdown this year.  Instead of a traditional Advent calendar, we’re going to use books to countdown to Christmas. 

Like most young children, my son loves books and being read to.  He also adores surprises and hiding things and he has a deep and abiding love for any kind of bag. Whenever we go somewhere, he asks me for a bag so he can carry his stuff. For Advent, we are marrying all these loves into one by hiding books in fabric bags under the tree.

I made fabric bags for the books but you could use the same idea with gift bags or by using wrapping paper. You can number the bags if you want, but I left ours plain so my son could choose the bag he wanted each night.

The fabric bags are easy to make.  They are great project for a beginner and a really fast project for an experienced seamstress.   I bought a 1/2 yard of a dozen different holiday patterns that I thought would coordinate well together, including some stripes and polka dots that weren’t Christmas patterns.

To start, I gathered up 24 holiday or winter themed books of various shapes and sizes. To make the bags, I folded the material in half, using the fold as the bottom of the bag (no need to sew the bottom). I decided which book to use and placed the book on top of the folded material. Using the book as a guide, I roughly measured and cut the material on either side of the book to make a roomy bag.  I left a lot of room (about 10 inches) of material above the book for a gather.

To sew the bags, I used the fold as the bottom, then hemmed the top and stitched the sides together. To close the bags, I used ribbon. I got this idea on Pinterest (of course!) and I need to go look for the pin to link it here.

  

In the bags are a mix of secular and religious holiday or winter-themed books. Some of the books we included were: 

The Polar Express

The Parable of the Pine Tree

The Snowy Day
Room for a Little One

How the Grinch Stole Christmas

The Crippled Lamb

Twas the Night Before Christmas

The Biggest Snowman Ever

The Story of Christmas
Olivia Claus

I also included a few non-Christmas books that are his favorites, such as Thomas the Train. I have a feeling the books are going to be a hit...