Dirt Bike Fun

Today I have a layout of my oldest riding his dirt bike. He's gotten really good at it this summer, so I thought it would make a fun layout. 

I had one piece of paper I knew I wanted to use for this layout. That piece with the dirt bikes on it (it's from Imaginisce's Outdoor Adventure) called out to me from the shelves at AWDML.  From there I just started pulling random papers and embellishments from my shelves that seemed to work.  Washi tape? Yes, please! Simple Stories 24/7? Perfect!  Even a bit of adhesive backed cork worked its way into the layout as a photo mat.

Thanks for stopping by. Have a beautiful weekend!

12 Days of Christmas

The 12 Days of Christmas has begun over at A Walk Down Memory Lane. Each day from today until December 12 you'll find some amazing deals and some inspiring holiday projects. You can check out day 1 by clicking here. 
I created the project for day 1, and it might just be one of my favorite Christmas Creations. I'll give you a little sneak peak here, but you'll have to head on over to AWDML's blog to see all the close up photos and check out the supply list.

...and don't forget to check out AWDML's blog each and every day from now until December 12 for a new project and a new deal. 

A Felt Wreath and a Christmas Card Photo

I feel like I've been posting a lot of projects here lately, so later this week I promise to post a few layouts. I'm a bit behind of photographing them, but I have a stack. I'll also post a few of the cards we'll be making at the class I'm teaching on Saturday at my Local Scrap Store (if you're in the NW Iowa area, you can still sign up by calling A Walk Down Memory Lane at 712-476-3443). Today, though, I have 2 more projects.

First up, I just got done taking the photo for my Christmas card this year.

I created the frame by finding an 11 x 13 frame that I liked (and got on sale for $5!). Then I covered the glass with chalkboard vinyl. I got it at A Walk Down Memory Lane for $1.99/yard, so for $9 I had the frame all made. Plus, I can always use the frame for something else in the future. I decided to make the frame a little more festive by adding a felt poinsettia to it. I just pieced together some Stamp School felt I cut with this die to make it. Oh, and here's my tip of the day, if you don't have the best handwriting (which I don't) ask a friend who has beautiful handwriting to do it for you!

The other project I have today is this wreath:

I needed something to hang on my front door when it wasn't a holiday, so I jumped on the yarn wreath bandwagon.

I post this with the disclaimer that there are literally thousands of these wreaths out there in the crafty world, so if this resembles one you've seen, and I didn't credit that person, my apologies. I just started wrapping and cutting, and this is what I came up with.
I had a skein of this pretty cream yarn left over from a knitting project, so I started with that as a base. Then I pulled all of the Stamp School felt I own and held it up to my door, and went from there. I decided to go with 1 big flower instead of  lots of little ones.

I used the same leaf die that I used above to cut the leaves. I used a large scallop circle die to cut the purple part of the flower, but went back with my scissors and squared out the edges and cut the petals down almost to the center. I finished of the flower by adding a couple of Maya Road stick pins into the center of the flower.

Thanks for stopping by!

Memorial Day

It's nearly impossible to express my gratitude to the men and women who have given all in service of this country. On Memorial Day, especially,  it is traditional to wear a red poppy in remembrance. In case you've never read the details, here's a little excerpt  from the Department of Veterans Affairs:

"In Flanders Fields

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly.
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

This was the poem written by World War I Colonel John McCrae, a surgeon with Canada's First Brigade Artillery. It expressed McCrae's grief over the "row on row" of graves of soldiers who had died on Flanders' battlefields, located in a region of western Belgium and northern France. The poem presented a striking image of the bright red flowers blooming among the rows of white crosses and became a rallying cry to all who fought in the First World War...The VFW celebrated the 75th anniversary of the Buddy Poppy as its official flower in 1997. While profits from its sales have helped countless veterans and their widows, widowers and orphans over the years, the poppy itself survives as a perpetual tribute to those who have given their lives for the nation's freedom."

I decided to create my own Poppy pin today from felt. The time spent making this provided a great opportunity to talk to my boys about what others have sacrificed so we can enjoy the freedoms we have. I cut Stamp School 100% wool felt with Lifestyle Crafts Leaves nesting dies to created the petals. I sewed the 8 flower petals together, and then attached a pin backing. To finish off the center of the flower, I cut 3 black felt circles with the smallest nesting die from Lifestyle Crafts Circle Nesting Dies. I attached the circle felt pieces with Ultra Thin Glue Dots® so you wouldn't see any thread from the top side. From start to finish, this project only took about 15 minutes...more than worth it! The finished poppy pin is about the same size in diameter as a tennis ball.

Thank you for stopping by! 

End of the School Year Gifts Part 2

As promised, I'm back today with one more end of the school year gift. These will be going to my son's teacher and teacher's aide.

I always like to give a little gift with hand made touches. This year I picked up some insulated drink glasses that will be great for keeping summer drinks cool. Little Yellow Bicycle's Hello Spring was a perfect color match for the bright cups (I don't know why the cup is photographing red, but it's really a bright pink). I also created matching gift card holders from A Walk Down Memory Lane's on-line design team member Nicole's tutorial, that you can find by clicking here.


To create the cups you'll need some single serve drink mixes (I used Crystal Light lemonade).

 

Tie about 5 individual packs together into a small bundle. Because I have a large cup, I will be putting 3 of these bundles into a cup (for a total of 15 drink mix packs in a cup), but you can adjust based on the size of your cup. 

Cut 1 - 12" x 1" piece of patterned paper, and 1 - 12" x 1 1/2" piece of paper. Adhere the smaller piece of paper on top of the larger piece. Cut off 3 1/2" (now you will have 2 pieces, 1 that is 8 1/2" long and one that is 3 1/2" long). Set aside the 3 1/2" piece for later.

                  

Wrap the 8 1/2" strip of paper tightly around your drink mixes, and secure the overlapping ends with a strong adhesive like Glue Dots® Lines. 

               

At this point you can use flowers, stamps, ribbon, lace, twine, chipboard shapes, or just about any other pretty thing to decorate your drink mix wrap. When you are finished decorating, place the drink mixes into the cup and place the lid on the cup.

To create the flags for the straws, grab the 3 1/2" piece of layered patterned paper that you cut earlier. Use a scissors to cut a banner edge to one side. Use a craft knife or circle punch to create 2 holes to thread the straw through on the opposite side of the banner edge.

 Use your printer (or if you have nice handwriting, you can just write it out) to print "For a de"light"ful teacher" and "For a de"light"ful aide" on colored paper. Trim out the words and adhere them to your banner. Underline the words with colored rhinestones. Place the banners on the straws and you're set to go.

I also think these would make great hostess gifts for summer parties! 

Thanks for stopping by!

A Few Things for the New Year

I'm super excited that the countdown has started for the release of new stamp sets from the BRAND NEW COMPANY Stamp School:

The first 2 stamp sets will be released January 1, but if you head over to Stamp School's Blog right now, you can see projects made by the owner, Lisa, and by the design team using the new sets. I'll also be back here tomorrow with a card or 2 I've made using the new sets and some info about the card stock, ink, and felt Stamp School will be carrying as well. If you can't tell, I'm super excited to be starting out my new year as the design team coordinator for this awesome new company.

Now on to 2 projects using the same base pieces. About 2 weeks ago A Walk Down Memory Lane handed out these fun packs of kraft calendars (2 sets of calendars per pack) from Maya Road for customer appreciation day. Before that day, Lisa gave me a pack and said, "can you do something with these?" Oh...music to my ears, and challenge accepted!

Up first is a purse/pocket calendar made 6 badge holders tied together.

You can find the badge holders at just about any office supply store or office section of a big box store. I paired the calendar pieces with paper and stickers from Simple Stories' Year-O-Graphy collection. I kept the embellishments flat and minimal to keep this calendar from being bulky in your purse. It's cute, simple, and fun to put together.

If you're looking for a bit more of a challenge you can try making a wall calendar:

This starts out as a calendar, but turns into a photo display.  The calendar cards are attached with Removable Glue Dots®, that way when the month is done, you just take the calendar off to reveal the photo underneath. The paper is again from Simple Stories Year-o-Graphy. All of the circles (photo and patterned paper) were cut with the Lifestyle Crafts Nesting Circle Dies.

I punched holes through the Maya Road 3″ Super Mega Bottle Caps, and strung some May Arts ribbon (that you can buy by the yard. You’ll need about 3 yards total) through the holes. Then you can use the stickers from the Simple Stories Year-o-graphy line to embellish the photos and calendar pieces as you like.  This is a really fun project that can be hung in your house long after the calendar year is over!

Thanks for stopping by!

Teal and Orange Party Decorations

 This month, Glue Dots® challenged its designers to create teal and orange party decorations. I happen to have Christmas on the brain, so mine are geared toward a teal and orange Christmas party. However I'll explain simple ways to change up the decorations to make them fit for other party situation, too. I have 2 ideas today. First up is a fun centerpiece:

I chose to make mine look like a Christmas ornament, but you could just as easily make yours look like a pumpkin, apple, or even switch out the shape for a star. My finished piece is just about 6" x 6". If you'd like to make one about the same size you'll need:
 

Ultra Thin or Craft Glue Dots®
A way to cut circles (or any other symmetrical shape). I used the Lifestyle Crafts nesting circle cutting dies.
3 - 12" x 12" pieces of paper (I used Authentique Gathering Grow and Together and Little Yellow Bicycle Hellow Fall Bundle-up Blue)
A scoring tool
A topper for your centerpiece (I used Fiskar's Scalloped Sentiments border punch to create an ornament topper).

Cut 12 circles and score them down the middle.

Attach the wrong sides of the circles together from the score line to the curved edge with Ultra Thin or Craft Glue Dots®. Repeat until you have a 12 adhered into a circle.

I cut the bottom of my circle off slightly to create a flat base instead of a rounded edge. Add your topper (ornament topper for an ornament, stem and leaves if you're making an apple or pumpkin).

For my second project I decided to make something that can be hung from a light or the ceiling. Make a dozen or so of these to really add ambiance to your party:

 For this project you'll need
Mini Glue Dots®
18" of orange ribbon per decoration
1 Teal pearl (If you don't have teal pearls, use a white one and color it teal with a Copic Marker)
Glitter paper (I used American Crafts Pow! Glitter Paper)
String to hang your piece from when you've finished.

 Cut your 18" ribbon into 3 - 6" pieces of ribbon. Form a loop with each piece. Adhere together using a Mini Glue Dot®

 Form each loop into an 8 shape by placing a Mini Glue Dot® in the center and pinching together.

 Layer all 3 loops on top of each other, adhering with mini glue dots.

Cut a shape from glitter paper for the center of your ornament. Depending on your theme, you can pick appropriate shapes: hearts for a wedding or baby shower, snowflake for a winter party, flowers for a spring party. Attach the glitter shape to the center of your ornament with a Mini Glue Dot®

 Add a teal pearl to the center of your glitter paper using a Mini Glue Dot. Add string and hang! My boys and I are going to add string and use a snowflake shape in the center and hand them out as Christmas ornaments to our family this year.

Happy party planning!

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

November News

Hello! It's November already, which means there are 2 new featured manufacturers at A Walk Down Memory Lane. November's featured manufacturers are Bo Bunny and Maya Road. That means you receive 25% off on all  Bo Bunny and Maya Road purchases on-line or in the Brick and Mortar store. I had a blast creating with Bo Bunny. I especially fell in love with their new fall line (Forever Fall) and their Christmas Line (Blitzen).  You'll have to keep an eye on the AWDML blog to see what I created with Blitzen later this month, but I can't help but share here a bit of what I created with Forever Fall:

My favorite thing about creating these was making the copper leaves. I created a video tutorial if you'd like to try your hand at making them too. You can find it here on AWDML's YouTube channel.

Thanks for stopping by!

In Love With Letterpress

 Saturday I bought the Lifestyle Crafts Letterpress. I love it. Seriously, love it. I kind of feel like I'm cheating on my stamps, but it's just so darn fun.

If you're not familiar with letterpress, basically it's a technique where you add ink to paper while simultaneously debossing the paper (I tried really hard to take a close up where you can see the debossing in the photo above). Lifestyle Crafts has a letterpress tool and line of inks, plates, papers, etc. that work with your manual die cutting machine (Big Shot, Cuttlebug, Epic). I picked my letterpress up at A Walk Down Memory Lane, and used it with my Big Shot. I really just wanted to get a feel for what the letterpress can do, so I did a lot of playing around. When I was done playing, I took those images and turned them into cards. I would like to note that it's really hard to photograph the debossing...these cards are a notch prettier in person because you can see the impression in the card stock.

I think what I love so much about letterpress is how well it lends itself to simple beauty and elegance. I didn't need to do much to create a card from this letterpress holly and Merry Christmas sentiment. I just added a little bit of patterned paper is from Echo Park's Dots & Stripes Christmas Collection.

The far left card has a leterpress background (green). Then I cut a letterpress ornament out and added it to the card with Pop Dots®. The sentiment was done with letterpress and put on the inside. The center card has letterpress ornaments, ornament hangers (in green) and Merry Christmas sentiment. On the card on the right, the ornaments and merry Christmas are letterpress. I created the ornaments using 2 colors of ink at the same time. The patterned paper is from Echo Park's Dots & Stripes and Echo Park's Season's Greetings.

I think these cards just might be my favorite of the bunch. The letterpress reindeer and Merry Christmas pair beautifully with Echo Park's Season's Greetings paper. Another bonus to letterpress is that it lends itself well to making multiples of an image. It's a fast and fun way to do invitations, multiple thank you's (say for a baby shower or wedding), or lots of Christmas cards.

Letterpress works the best on a cotton based paper (it's thick and squishy and debosses nicely), but as you can see by these cards, you can also use it on regular card stock.

...and just in case you thought I was only doing Christmas cards, here's a pretty thank you. This also shows that I can use stamps and leterpress together. The background words were stamped first. Then, I used my letterpress to add the green accents and the for you sentiment. The patterned paper used for the card base is Little Yellow Bicycle's Twig.

Thanks for stopping by! If you have any questions about letterpress or how it works feel free to ask. I'm by no means an expert, but I have been having lots of fun with it.