Saturday, June 28, 2014

Super Kid Layout

I believe I promised more layouts from my 6 yr old's Super Hero Training Camp birthday party.  Today I have a Super Kid Layout that features my older son (the non-birthday boy).  One of the best games from the party was the quick change game. 


First, a little about the game.  I enlisted my dad to make the phone booth from a large box.  Because he's grandpa, he got a little fancy.  Instead of just spray painting the box, he actually covered the whole thing in red duct tape.  It was really cool, and much nicer than if I would have done it myself.  Not only was it fun for the game, but was a great decoration for the party, too (and now my kids have a giant phone booth to play in that I don't think they'll ever let me get rid of).  I also enlisted my mom to sew super hero eye masks for each kid.  The masks were a big hit!  We put each kid in an over sized suit coat and tie.  They had to run into the phone booth, take the suit and tie off, and change into their mask and cape.  We timed them to see who could do it the fastest.  Lots of boys wanted to try it more than once to see if they could beat their previous best time.  


Now a little about the layout. For scrapping these photos, I decided to once again grab Pebbles awesome birthday collection, Birthday Wishes.  Since this was also a super hero layout, I grabbed some of the stickers from Pebbles Amy Locurto Party collection as well. They worked pretty well together on this layout. 


I really just can't seem to get enough of Birthday Wishes.  The patterns in this collection are so diverse, that even though I keep using the same collections every layout looks quite different.  Which is probably a good thing since I have a few more layouts to create from the party.

Thanks for stopping by!



Wednesday, June 25, 2014

Birthday Shaker Card


I have a new project up on the Moxxie blog today. Here's a little sneak peek of what you'll find over on the Moxxie blog.



If you want to see some more photos, and find out a little bit about what I used to put this shaker card together, head on over to the Moxxie blog.

Monday, June 23, 2014

4th of July Pinwheel Wreath

After a few years of using this star decoration on my front door for the 4th of July, I decided it was time for something new.  It's no secret that I LOVE Pebbles' Americana collection, so it was an easy choice for my 4th of July Pinwheel Wreath.


Every year I think there is no way Pebles will be able to top their patriotic collection from the year before, and every year they happily prove me wrong!  Red? Check. White? Check. Blue? Check. The Star Spangled Banner, Declaration of Incependence, Articles of the Constitution, flags? Check, check, check, and check!  Not only are the colors great, but the patterns are amazing and steeped in patriotism. 


Ok, now hopefully I've convinced you to go check out Americana for yourself.  I'll move on to telling you a little about making the wreath.  I'm going to be honest.  This was so easy to make.  So easy, I'm almost embarrassed to tell you about it. If you'd like to see a tutorial on how to make paper pinwheels, you can check out this photo tutorial I mad a few years ago


I made the pinwheels for this wreath from 9 sheets of paper cut to 8 1/2" squares.  I used a large brad to secure them in the center, and then wrapped a twisty tie around the back side of the brad to secure the pinwheel to the metal frame of the wreath.


No one ever seems to show the "ugly" back side of their projects, so I thought I'd show you a picture of how I twisty tied the pinwheel to the wreath.  I wasn't sure how this would work out, but so far it seems to be really sturdy, and was the fastest and easiest way I could think of to get everything in place. 


In about 30 minutes, I had a brand new (super fun!) front door decoration for the 4th of July! 
Do you decorate your front door throughout the year for different seasons and holidays? I'd love to hear about (or see) some of your favorite front door decorations!

Friday, June 20, 2014

Moxxie Down on the Farm Layout

Today, I'm excited to be taking part in the Moxxie Muse Blog Hop.  We're thought it would be fun to use this hop to spend some time getting to know everybody better.  Check out my Moxxie Down on the Farm layout today, and then head over to the next stop on the hop. The list of Moxxie designers and info on how you can win a prize for hopping along with us can be found at the end of my post today. 


For those of you who are new to my blog, I'm a wife and a mother to 2 amazing little boys.  My husband and boys are what I certainly scrap most often, so I figured they should be front and center in my layout today. 


I live in rural NW Iowa, so some farm scrapping seemed appropriate for today as well. The bales at my in-laws place are definitely one of my kids' happy places. 


For my layout today I used Moxxie's Down on the Farm.  I love to mix and match patterned papers,and even though I know I'm not supposed to mix red tractors with green tractors...well, that green and yellow just goes so nicely on this layout. 


I like to do a lot of simple layering of elements, so this layout is pretty true to my usual style.

Thanks for stopping by! If you'd like to make sure you never miss a project I've created, you can subscribe to my Facebook page here, or my Twitter page here.  Don't forget to check out all the other designers' fabulous projects.

 Here is the list of blogs. 
If you get lost along the way just head back here to find the next blog.


Rules of the hop:
- Visit each designers blog and leave a comment. The more you comment, the more chances you have to WIN
- After you've been to all the blogs head back to the Moxxie blog and leave a comment letting us know you hopped.
- Go to Moxxie's facebook page and share the post about this hop for another chance to WIN! (if you're not already, you will need to be a follower of Moxxie's page to do this) Head back to the Moxxie blog and leave another comment letting us know you did this.
- Go ahead and Pin It! If you do, leave a comment on the Moxxie blog with a link to it letting us know that you Pinned!
- International players are more than welcome to play but you will be responsible for shipping.

 That is a LOT of chances to WIN! Now you may be wondering what it is that you will win? That is the best part! You get to pick one Moxxie line of your choosing!!
Winner will be announced on July 1st.
Now go, comment, share and enter to win this awesome prize while being inspired by our wonderful designers!

Thursday, June 19, 2014

How to Make a Box Envelope

I am over on the Pebbles Blog today with a mini envelope filled birthday card, that is extra thick (head on over there to check out the inside of the card). Because the card has a 1/4" spine, I needed a special envelope to hold the card, so I made one from coordinating Pebbles Birthday Wishes Paper.  Today I have a step by step tutorial for creating your own box envelope.  I'm sharing measurements to do it 2 different ways. One way uses the We R Memory Keepers envelope punch board, and the other uses a scoring board.


This envelope is a standard A2 size.  It will fit a 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" card.  This box card will also hold a 1/4" thick card.  No matter how you chose to make your envelope (with a punch or with a score board), you will need to start with a 8 1/2" x 8 1/2" piece of paper.


If you use the We R envelope punch, line your paper up at the 3 3/4" mark, punch and score. 


 Before turning your paper, slide the edge over to the 4 1/8" mark, punch and score again.   Now continue using the envelope board according to directions.  The only difference is you will score and punch twice on each side. 

 
 
If you use a scoring board, put in the envelope guide piece (the triangle shaped piece), and place your paper on the scoring board.  Score your paper at 2 7/8" and 3 1/4".  Rotate 90 degrees and score your paper at 3 1/4" and 3 5/8".  Rotate 90 degrees and score your paper at 2 7/8" and 3 1/4".  Rotate 90 degrees and score your paper at 3 1/4" and 3 5/8". Now all 4 sides of your paper should be scored twice. 

 No matter which method you use to score your paper, you will now need to cut out the little squares at each corner.  This step is a little hard to see, but my photo above is my before...


 ...and this is what it looked like after.  I used the scored lines as a guide.  If you don't cut these lines, you won't be able to fold your sides up. 


Now you're all set to fold your envelope up.  Instead of a flat A2 envelope, you'll have a 1/4" box envelope. 


Box envelopes are perfect for thick cards, or for a money holder card card like I have on the Pebbles Blog today. 


You can use regular adhesive to seal your card into your envelope, but I'm partial to using Lick 'n Stick glue and an envelope seal.  Pebbles has these great gold "Happy Birthday" envelope seals as part of the Brithday Wishes Collection.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Thursday, June 12, 2014

Superhero Cake

I posted back at the beginning of May about my youngest's Superhero Training Camp Birthday Party.  Well, I'm finally getting around to scrapping some of those photos. Up first is one of my very favorite things about the party: the Superhero Cake. 


Every year I make my kids' birthday cakes.  I'm no cake artist, but I can usually find something I can do.  Finding something superhero was really tough, but I finally decided on the cake pictured above...except I can't draw, so I recruited my amazing husband to help.  I baked the cake (it was 3 multicolor layers which looked really cool when cut into), and frosted the sides.  Then my awesome husband went to work piping all of the superhero symbols on the cake freehand.  Yeah, freehand! 


We frosted it the night before my son's party, after he went to bed.  When he woke up and saw it completed, he actually gasped.  Happily, Pebbles Birthday Wishes collection landed on my doorstep about the same time as the party.  I love, love, love this collection.  I may have been audibly squealing as I unpacked the box of birthday goodness. 


Birthday Wishes is bright and fun. It's versatile enough for boys, girls, teenagers, and adults.  The patterned papers are so easy to mix and match, plus there are always the amazing embellishments that Pebbles does such a great job of.  I mean, just look at these matching Thickers:


I may just have a few more photos from the party to scrap, so Birthday Wishes will be showing up again here soon. 
Thanks for stopping by today!

Supplies:
Pebbles Birthday Wishes 12 x 12 Paper Pad
Pebbles Birthday Wishes Card Stock Stickers
Pebbles Birthday Wishes Die Cut Shapes
Pebbles Birthday Wishes Journaling Cards
Pebbles Birthday Wishes Thickers

Monday, June 9, 2014

Happy Camper Moxxie Layout

My first project for Moxxie's design team is up on the Moxxie Blog today!  Here's a little sneak peek of what you can see if you head on over to the blog.


As you can see, it's a camping layout 2 page layout that features Moxxie's Happy Camper collection...but here's a secret, I used another paper collection on this layout too (which is a very non-camping collection).  You'll have to head on over to my post on Moxxie's blog today to find out what that collection is and to see some detailed photos of this layout.

Thanks for stopping by!

Friday, June 6, 2014

Spring Mason Jar Paper Topiaries

Welcome to your next stop along the Marion Smith/Glue Dots® blog hop!  You can find a list of all the blogs along the hop at the end of the post (and the giveaway).  Today, I have a Spring Mason Jar Paper Topiaries with a photo tutorial.



Originally, I was going to make a few of these for some spring decorations in the house, but then I had a friend who got ill, and I thought it would make a better get well/thinking of you gift instead. 
Whether you decide to make one as a gift or for some home decor, you'll need:


A mason jar and lid (I had some fancy lids, but a regular one with a hole cut in it would work great, too)
Ultra Thin Glue Dots®
Mini Glue Dots®
Marion Smith Never Grow Up patterned paper
Marion Smith Junque & Jems
Small styrofoam ball
Circle punch or dies (or any way you like to cut circles from paper)

 Start by cutting a bunch of circles.  Then crumple those circles into a cone shape.  I like to use the tip of a pencil create the shape.  

 
 Roll each end with a Ultra Thin Glue Dot® (As you can see, I LOVE my Glue Dots Dispensers.  They make using Glue Dots on a roll so easy).


Place each piece of paper, Glue Dot side down, into the styrofoam ball.  Don't be afraid to push it in there a ways.  Repeat the steps until the entire ball is filled.  


I created a stem for my paper topiary from about a 1" x 9" strip of paper.  I rolled the strip of paper into a straw shape, and used Mini Glue Dots® to keep the paper rolled.  



I used left over circles of paper to stuff the jar.



Wrap the top of the paper stem with another Ultra Thin Glue Dot®, and stick the topiary ball on top.  At this point you can decide how you want to decorate the jar (leave it plain, add a banner, add a tag, etc.)


I chose to add a thinking of you tag made from Marion Smith Never Grow Up paper and a few trinkets from the Junque and Jems.   Ultra Thing Glue Dots® work really well to attach the flowers to paper. 


And there you have it, a completed paper topiary ready to decorate with or give out. 

Don't forget to check out the rest of the stops on the blog hop, and enter to win the giveaway!




Marion Smith products are available at Scrapbook.com and BlueMoonScrapbooking.com for online ordering. 
Glue Dots® products are available online at Jo-Ann.com or at your local Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Stores.


Tuesday, June 3, 2014

Tea With You Garden Party Layout

Last month I got to go to a Mother's Day Tea at my kindergartener's class. They sang a bunch of songs, made special gifts for the moms and then we had tea (fruit punch) and goodies.  It was a really fun morning, that of course, I decided to scrap.  Here's my Tea With You Garden Party Layout.


The spring feel and bright colors of Pebbles Garden Party seemed like the right choice for this layout.  I really love the little die-cut shapes, envelopes and tags that you can get as part of this collection.  It makes layering things up really easy and fun. 

The pink base to this little cluster of die cuts is one of the mini envelopes from Garden Party.  I had no need for an envelope here, so I just sealed it shut and used it like a tag.  I think it add a nice pop of color, and works as a grounding piece for the bee and tea cup. 

I managed to video a few of the songs the kids sang. I attached the video to a Stkr.it label so they can be viewed with a smart phone or computer straight from my layout.  Normally, I'd leave the code visible so you can check out how cool stkr.it is, but since these aren't all my kids, I blurred out part of the code so it won't work from the image here. Instead, you can check out a different layout I did with Stkr.it QR codes here, or you can go right to the source and check out Stkr.it's website here.  They come in a bunch of different colors, so you can make them blend in and be part of your layout.

Thanks for stopping by!