Bless This Nest: Echo Park Paper

My parents moved into a new house last year and I made this simple frame for their bookshelf.  The sentiment says: Bless This Nest. 

I used a small frame from a department store that was double matted. I removed the thick mats to give me room under the glass to create a scene. 

After removing the mats, I made a base of cardstock covered in burlap, stitching the two together.   

I used stickers to decorate the frame from Echo Park Paper. The wood veneers are Studio Calico and the alphas are Webster's Pages. Twine is from The Twinery. 

This project was published earlier this Spring in a special issue of Paper Crafts Magazine. 

PaperHaus Magazine Blog Hop & Giveaway

Hello and welcome!  I’m so excited today to be part of a blog hop of contributors for PaperHaus, which is launching Sept. 1.  PaperHaus is a quarterly publication for the scrapbooker, card-maker, mixed media artist and crafters of altered projects and mini albums.  The magazine will feature articles, trends, tutorials and, of course, a multitude of beautiful projects.  And it's all completely free.

You can find the full line-up of participating bloggers on the PaperHaus Magazine blog. Nearly all the bloggers on the hop are offering RAKS along the way, plus the magazine is offering BIG prizes by several manufacturers.  All the details are posted on the PaperHaus blog and Facebook page. The blog hop will be open all week, concluding Sept. 1 with the reveal of PaperHaus' first issue. 

If you are visiting my blog today as part of the hop, you should have arrived here from Aimee Maddern’s blog.

  

For my project, I wanted to express how appreciative I am that you stopped by and are supporting the magazine launch.

I used a mix of products here. Patterned paper, border sticker and covered brad are Crate Paper; doily is Webster’s Pages; sentiment is Jillibean Soup.

The RAK on this stop is a package of camera wood veneers from Studio Calico and a brad set from Echo Park Paper. To be entered in the drawing, follow this blog and leave a comment.  Comments will close on Sept. 1. A winner will be chosen by random draw and announced here on Sept. 2. 

The next stop on the PaperHaus blog hop is Jess Mutty. Thanks so much for stopping by. I hope you have a wonderful weekend.

Pink Paislee: Beach Bum

For my baby’s first birthday, we took him down to the beach. It was an unusually warm April weekend, yet not too many tourists were there. We had the beach to ourselves and had such a lovely, relaxing time.

My little one couldn’t have loved it more. He was so content to sit on the shore and play in the sand and watch the waves. And I was so content to sit on the shore and watch him play. And take photos, of course. I generally had him all covered up, shirt, swim trunks, hat, sunscreen. But I did manage to sneak a few less covered-up pics....

I used Pink Paislee’s Nantucket and Snowday collections on this page. I love how well they work together. That plaid Snowday print looked so summery to me with the turquoise and apricot hues. And even though the paper was in a different color scheme than my son’s plaid hat, I thought the paper worked well here.

At the beach, planes often fly overhead, carrying banners advertising cheap tee shirts and all you can eat buffets. I wanted to mimic that idea here with my title work.

This layout actually is a do-over. I first made this page when I was a beginner scrapbooker and I wanted to make it a bit more contemporary. The original page was made with Cosmo Cricket’s Snorkel line, and you can still see remnants of the original layout here: the weathered wood background paper, the plane, banner and clouds.  Alphas are Webster's Pages.

Altered Frame: Hexagon Punch

Hi!  Today I have an altered summer frame using hexagons as my backdrop. 

For my project, I altered an old picture frame. I used patterned paper from Canvas Corp and Bella Blvd, cutting them with a hexagon punch, and adhering them them to black cardstock. 

I used seven patterns from Canvas Corps White Basics line and two patterns from Bella Blvd’s Sunshine and Happiness collection for the base of my project.

Then I used a hexagon punch from Creative Memories to punch a bunch of shapes for the base of my project.

I arranged the the hexagons on black cardstock and stitched around the edges to form the base of my project. I love the way the black makes the color pop. Using black also gives the project more depth when inserted in a frame.

Here's a closeup of the top of the altered frame.  I used a large burlap flower from Canvas Corp as the sun and added a tag as a title spot.  Alphas are Webster's Pages.  Banner pieces are October Afternoon.

Here’s a closeup of the bottom of the frame. I added a photo of my son in the pool and a piece of chipboard from My Mind’s Eye to the hexagon background. On the frame itself, I added waves punched from Canvas Corp paper and a large felt flower. I wrapped some burlap string around the flower stem to echo the burlap sun at the top.

Thanks so much for stopping by! 

Goodnight Moon

All parents know: there’s a universal joy in photos of sleeping children. Sure, the kids look sweet and peaceful, but part of that appeal, I suspect, is relief that they are asleep! Or at least this mom confesses to feeling that way.

My son is almost three now and we’re smack dab in never-ending “why” questions, occasional potty training accidents and a constant barrage of go go go go and me me me. He’s wonderful, he really is, and I love him so, but, oh, there is a certain calmness that descends upon the house when he’s asleep. Sigh.

Like many families, we read a story or two (or three) at bedtime. We have many favorites that we circulate, but Margaret Wise Brown’s Goodnight Moon often seems to muscle its way into the lineup. The book's quiet, rhythmic poetry is the perfect way to end the day.

To scrapbook this photo of my sleeping child, I wanted to incorporate a big crescent moon as the focal point. I hand-drew a moon on a cereal box, then painted the cardboard a pale yellow, adding a little face, a button cheek and a patterned paper nightcap.

I used Webster's Pages Winter Fairy Tales collection for this page. It's the perfect theme and the yellows and greens in this line matched my son's blanket. I arranged the paper so that the script, "Once Upon A Time," would show in the upper corner, then layered a few bits and pieces together.

I added a bit of stitching and a journaling spot to complete the page. The alphas are Cosmo Cricket and the chipboard house is Maya Road.

And now for our winner from Tuesday's giveaway from Graphic45 and 7Gypsies.  I used random.org and #4 was the lucky number:

The fourth comment was from Julie Tucker-Wolek.  Congratulations, Julie.  Please email me your addy and I'll get your prize in the mail to you right away.   Have a great weekend, everyone.

Wave Another Year Goodbye

How fast 2011 is closing to an end! It’s been a really wonderful year for me personally and creatively. I’m so thankful to my blog readers and paper crafting friends for supporting me and inspiring me. I’m looking forward to another great year together in 2012.

Below is a card I made earlier this year while guest designing for Birds of a Feather Kit Co. I used the July kit which was packed with goodies from October Afternoon and Cosmo Cricket. The script letter stickers are Webster's Pages. You can find Birds of a Feather kits here.

　

I was really excited when Cards Magazine picked this up for publication as a New Year’s card in their December 2011 issue.

　

Happy New Year, everyone. Wishing you the very best in 2012.

December Daily: Final Pages

This was my first year doing a December Daily and I had such fun with it. I ordered the Studio Calico kit. I so loved the American Crafts album that came in the kit. It is a great size. The pages are 6 x 8.5 inches. I almost always scrap 12 x 12 and it was such a treat to work on the small canvas of the December Daily.

I used the calendar pages that Ali Edwards offers and followed her general framework. I used her calendar pages on the right and a foundation page on the left. I stitched around the foundation pages to mimic the frame of the calendar pages. I used mostly Echo Park throughout the album to give the Daily a cohesive look.

Day 21:

Over the years, we collected crystal Orrefors ornaments for our tree and I highlighted them in this entry, a filler day.

Day 22:

One of our city's favorite family-friendly traditions is going to see the Leonard Bearstein Symphony Orchestra, mechanical bears that sing and play holiday songs in the lobby of a building uptown. 

Day 23:

Mom has been using the same recipe to make these sugar cookies since 1966.  It's not Christmas without these cookies. LOVE them!

Day 24:

Scenes from the candleight Christmas Eve service and journaling about the tradition.

Day 25:

Christmas morning. I especially wanted to include photos of my parents here because they are so special to Cory and I love to observe his relationship with them.

I very nearly wrote “The End” at the bottom of the last page. I'm going to tuck my album away with my Christmas decorations.  It will be fun to pull it out next year and have a look. 　

Home for the Holidays

It's good to be home for the holidays.  All the lights and sights and sounds and smells and festivities really put me in the Christmas spirit.  It's fun to pull out the holiday boxes and decorate the house for Christmas.  I wanted to capture a few of my favorite things around the house for this layout.

I decided to use patterned paper and embellies that weren't Christmas themed because the photos clearly indicate the topic. I used an 8x10 photo collage as my centerpiece, tucking a little journaling card behind it on the top left. Underneath, I added a border strip, spelled out the title and added a little chipboard house from the Pink Paislee Hometown Summer line and trees from My Mind's Eye. I finished the page with a little pop of color in the upper left, using a flower sticker from October Afternoon and a few buttons, and stitching around the page.

Wishing all of you a beautiful Christmas. I hope you find yourself home for the holidays.

Neighbor Gift with Webster's Pages

Do you ever see a piece of patterned paper and you know immediately what you will do with it?  This happened to me the moment I first saw the Webster's Paper line, Botanical Christmas. Those doors made me swoon.  I knew immediately that the Come On In paper would be perfect for a neighbor gift with the theme: from our home to yours.

I used the paper to make a treat jar with a coordinating card. In the jar are white chocolate covered pretzels with crushed candy canes on top. Yummy!

The jar was so fun to do. I used a jar I had on hand that was just the right size to wrap the patterned paper around. To decorate the lid, I cut a circle from another pp in the Botanical Christmas line and glued it on top of the lid.  Around the lid, I used a beautiful green trim that Webster's released last Christmas and a bit of red twine. On a journaling card, I stamped the sentiment "from our home to yours," then hung it and a "crystal" bauble from the row of twine.  

I can't give a gift without a card, so I used the paper, Postcards To Santa, also from the Botanical Christmas line. The paper is perfect for card-making. It's so pretty all on its own that I did very little to embellish it. I just cut out a postcard, mounted it to a card base, did a quick stitch around with my sewing machine, and added a cheery chipboard banner and twine.

We'll deliver this gift in the afternoon. I think we'll have one happy neighbor!

Supplies:
American Crafts: cardstock
Webster's Pages: Botanical Christmas (Come On In, Postcards To Santa), journaling card, trim
October Afternoon: 5 & Dime (Circus Peanuts), chipboard (Sidewalks)
The Twinery: red twine
Bernina sewing machine
Other: jar, bauble

August Freehand Scraps Kit

I just love the August kit from Freehand Scraps and had a wonderful time this month as guest designer. The kit is chock full of papers and embellishments from Bo Bunny, Webster’s Pages, Basic Grey and Crate and they all worked perfectly together. Here is a photo of the August Kit:

Here is one of the layouts I made from the kit::

 

This is my friend’s little girl last Halloween. Isn’t she the sweetest? I used Bo Bunny's Gabrielle papers here with embellishments from Basic Grey's Out of Print collection.  I misted the lace sticker above the photo to match her outfit and used ink and stamps to re-color the large die-cut butterfly, which is shell colored in the kit.  The letter stickers are from Webster's Pages. Here’s a closeup of the titlework.

I don't normally put the title at the bottom of the page, but it fit the design here and allowed room at the top for the butterflies to roam free.

While I had this Bo Bunny line out, I though I’d make a card. I fussy cut the big butterfly from one of the patterned papers, inked the edges, then “painted” it with Claudine Hellmuth’s multi-medium matte. I love that stuff. It is similar to modge podge but isn’t as wet or shiny. The multi-medium helped to stiffen the butterfly a little to give it more body and also allowed me to mold the wings up a bit. I added some pearls from the kit to the butterfly’s body. 

To make the card base, I used a premade 5x7 notecard from American Crafts and cut a piece of pp for the front.  I sewed it on, tucking in a border of lace from the Crate trim card in the kit. To finish the card, I added a Webster's button tied with twine (also in the kit) and stamped a short sentiment.

I'll be back later this month with more projects from the August kit. For more information about Freehand Scraps, follow this link: http://www.freehandscraps.com/