What do I do with them?

A Walk Down Memory Lane has just started carrying Maya Road Bottle Caps in 2", 3", and 4" sizes. I've heard lots and lots of people saying, "Those are so cool!", but then it's usually followed up with, "but I wouldn't know what to do with them". So... I made these magnets out of the 4" size (you could make them out of any size that strikes your fancy). One of them is going to the store, the other is going in a little welcome basket for our new neighbors, because who can't use more magnets?
Basically, you put whatever you think is pretty on the inside, and then attach a strong, thin magnet to the back side. I used Craft Glue Dots® to attach the magnet to the bottle cap. The paper and stickers that I used are from Crate Paper's Neighborhood collection. If you're looking for more ideas for these bottle caps, check out my last post. It uses the 2" bottle cap as an embellishment on a frame.

Retro Photos

Last month I had my boys photos taken at our local photo place. They were doing something they call "Yesterday's Child" photos as part of a fundraiser for our local MOPS group. My boys had a ton of fun, and I came away liking the photos a lot more than I thought I would. In fact, I liked them so much I just *had* to order a set of proofs. From there I decided to make a photo collage to hang on the wall using some of my favorite proofs.

I used Cosmo Cricket's Circa 1934 in place of vertical photos.

The stickers from Echo Park's For the Record worked really well as accent pieces for Circa 1934.

AWDML now carries Maya Road Bottle Caps in 2", 3", and 4". I used the 2" for the "we are FAMILY" embellishment. The metal button is from My Mind's Eye, and the tissue tape is from Tim Holtz (I used Nostalgic).


The gears are also a Tim Holtz accessory and are FANTASTIC for anyone who does a lot of boy or man layouts and cards. You get 12 gears total in the package, 4 each of 3 different patinas. The crystal gems (for lack of a better way to describe them) are from Webster's Pages and are officially called Scalloped Flat Back Buttons.


The canvas flowers are from Maya Road. I just free hand stitched the stems in a light green thread. The buttons and stick pin are from Jenni Bowlin Studios.
I found the frame (on sale!) at Kohls.

Wishing you all a blessed Good Friday!

Workin' on That Goal

I've made the goal of finishing my album from a trip to Italy we took back at the end of 2009. Since I have 600+ photos, I'm giving myself until the end of the year. Here are 2 layouts I finished recently from our first full day in Venice.

I kept a travel journal, so the page of each day is that journal page typed up and scrapped. It's a nice way to jog my memories, but a little strange to scrap a page with out photos.

All of the paper I'm using for the Venice part of our trip is My Mind's Eye Lost and Found. It just goes perfectly with the feel of the city. You can find a step-by-step on how to do the paper ruffles at the bottom of the layout on my blog here.

Paper Ruffles

It's no secret that some of my favorite tools are my border punches. Lately I've been having fun using them to create paper ruffles.

These ruffles are easy to create. Grab a border punch (or 2 or 3) and strips of paper that are 1" wide. The length will be determined by the length of your project. This is a great way to use up long thin scraps. Punch your strips with your border punches.

Once you have enough strips punched out, layer them onto your base (here I'm making a card, but this technique works well with layouts too). Start at the bottom and work your way up.

If you're doing a card or layout with straight edges, you'll probably be done at this point. However, if you're doing a curvy card, flip your card inside out, and trim off the excess paper.


Once you're all done trimming, you can embellish your ruffles if you want by adding pearls, rhinestones, flowers, or anything else you can think of.

Party Dress Card:
Paper: Crate Paper Restoration 6 x 6 paper pack
Accessories: Imaginisce I-rock Pearls
Tools: Silhouette SD, Fiskars Apron Lace Border Punch , Fiskars Sunburst Border Punch, Fiskars Scalloped Sentiments Border Punch, Imaginisce I-rock

Mr. Boy

I fell in love with Bella Blvd's Mr. Boy the moment I saw it. It can be hard to find good boy lines that aren't too theme-y (all bugs, all robots...etc.). While I like the themed lines, you can't do a whole lot of pages with them. Mr. Boy is a great mix of patterns and colors that just work so well for boy layouts. Mr. Boy does an amazing job of capturing what makes little boys little boys. The paper I used for the base of this layout says things like, "little boys love to tell knock knock jokes, little boys love hot wheels, little boys want to be just like the big boys". Love it! But what really got me about this line is this tag:

It puts into words exactly why my husband's such an amazing father, and I knew I needed to use it to scrap a snapshot of the relationship my boys have with their dad. If you have some little boys in your life, you're definitely going to want to check out Mr. Boy.

Using Glue Dots to Alter a Frame

I enjoy altering frames to hold pictures or hand made home decor. I love the personal touches you can add with just a few small steps. Long before I was on Glue Dots'® Design Team, I discovered that Glue Dots® are the perfect tool for adding embellishments to the inside and outside of a frame. Here are a few of the pros of using Glue Dots® to alter a frame:

1. Altering a frame inside and out adds dimension and layers to your framed art.
2. Altering a frame adds and a personal touch to your home decor.
3. Glue Dots® will keep anything (ribbon, fabric, paper, metal) stuck to the glass or frame part of a picture frame.
4. If, over time, you get bored with your creation, applying a little heat to the Glue Dots® will allow you to remove your embellishments so you can use the frame again (you may need to apply a little glass cleaner as well to remove the adhesive residue).
5. You can create your own art to frame, or you can use your embellished frames for photos.

If you're ready to try this for yourself, grab some Glue Dots® and a frame. For this project I used Micro, Mini, and Craft Glue Dots®. Just uses the size that fits best with the embellishments you are adding to your frame. Here are the alterations I made for my project:


To create a layered effect, I stamped a tree on the inside (picture part) of my frame. I then stamped and cut out the tree trunk. I used Mini and Micro Glue Dots® to attach the paper tree directly to the glass of the frame.


To add bulkier items like brads, I first clip the "legs" of the brads off. This allows the brad to lay flat on the glass. Then all you need to do is apply the appropriate sized Glue Dot® and attach to the frame or glass.


It's always a bit hard to tell in the photograph, but adding embellishments inside and outside of the frame adds a lot of dimension. Here there is the picture, there is stamping and ribbon on the mat, and finally the tree and brads on the outside of the glass. When you use Glue Dots® to embellish your frames, the only limitation is your imagination!

Additional Supplies:
Kanban Stamp Spring Silhouettes
American Crafts Hello Sunshine Fabric Brads and paper
Better Homes and Gardens Frame

I wrote this blog post while on the Glue Dots® Design Team

May Day Bouquet

Today I've got a tutorial for a great May Arts Ribbon Project. At my son's school they have classroom "grandparents". These amazing volunteers spend their days helping out the kids and teachers at the school. This year my son's classroom grandma also happens to be our neighbor, so I thought it would be fun to bring back a tradition I haven't done since I was a kid: the May Day Basket.

To make the flowers and basket you'll need:

4 yards of FJ17 1.5" solid/plaid/wired
2 yards of FJ46 1.5" solid/plaid/wired
Thread
Needle
1 foot of 346-22 Fuzzy Pom Pom (pink)
1 foot of 346-46 Fuzzy Pom Pom (green)
1 1/2 yards of wire (I used 18 gauge copper picture wire)
1 - 12" x 12" piece of paper (I used Jillibean Soup Blossom Soup)
3 Buttons
2 large eyelets (optional)
Decorative Border Punch (optional, I used Fiskars Upper Crest Punch)


To create the flowers cut about a 5 foot piece of 1.5" wired ribbon (FJ46). Pull the wire on one side of the ribbon to ruffle the full length of the ribbon. At this point you can snip the long tails of wire to about a 1" overhang to make the ribbon easier to work with.

Start at one end of the ribbon and fold the ribbon back and forth a few times. Stitch through the folds (close to the wire that you just pulled). This folded section will form the center of your flower. Now start wrapping the rest ribbon around the folded section. Secure each wrap around by stitching through the layers of ribbon. Continue wrapping and stitching until your flower is large enough, or you come to the end of your ribbon. Tuck the raw end under, stitch it in place, and tie off your thread.

You should now have a flower that looks like the picture above. Repeat 2 times with FJ17 to create a total of 3 ribbon flowers.

Now it's time to add a stem to your flower. Cut about 15" of wire. It may be a bit hard to find at first, but there will be a small hole through the center of your flower. It's easiest to find from the bottom side (where you did your stitching). Take your wire and push it through the hole. Thread a button through the top side of the wire, fold the wire over and thread the wire back down through the button leaving about 1 inch of wire overlapping on the bottom side of the button. Pull the bottom (stem) side of the wire until The button is nestled in the center of your flower. Twist the wire to secure.

You should now have a flower that looks like this. Repeat 2 more times for a total of 3 flowers.

Set the flowers aside while you make the basket.


Cut a large circle from a 12" x 12" sheet of paper. Cut the circle into 4 equal pieces. You will end up with 4 pie shaped pieces. You will need one of these pieces to create the basket.


Place a strip of strong adhesive along one of the straight edges and roll to create a cone.

Embellish the cone. I used green fuzzy pom pom ribbon (346-46) and a strip of paper punched with a decorative edge punch. To create the handle, punch a large hole on both sides of the top of the cone. To make the handle extra strong, set eyelets in the holes. Thread about 12" of ribbon (FJ46 1.5" solid/plaid/wired) through the eyelets. Tie knots on the inside of the cone to hold the ribbon in place.


To finish your project, plant your flowers in the cone (you may need to trim your flower stems if your flowers sit too far out of the cone). My son is going to have so much fun delivering this to his classroom grandma!

It's April!

Just a quick post today. I wanted to let you know that A Walk Down Memory Lane's April Featured Manufacturers are Basic Grey and Hero Arts. I made this layout using Basic Grey's Oliver.

I also wanted to share this fun photo:


These are "cheeseburger" cookies that my preschooler took to school today for April Fools Day. They were really easy and turned out super cute too! Here's hoping for a bright, warm, and sunny April.