MCS Guest Designer: Home Decor Project

If you follow me over on Instagram, you may have seen that I've been sharing sneak peeks of a project I had been working on during the month of December.  Well, today I'm finally able to share what that project is -- I've been selected as the guest designer for My Creative Scrapbook kit club for the months of January - March!

I got to work with their Main Kit, the contents of which were revealed on their blog and social media accounts today...

As you can see it's full of the Fancy Pants Happy Place collection, which is just as beautiful and fun to work with, as it appears!

I made four separate projects with this kit that I'll be sharing in the coming days.  The first, and maybe my most favorite of the projects is this altered home décor piece.  I used a Jillibean Soup 'Mix the Media' receipt holder from my stash, along with some recent family photos and the kit contents to create this piece.

 

Here are some close ups...

 

 

Stay tuned to the My Creative Scrapbook blog for a tutorial I put together showing how to make this fun heart shaped button embellishment.

 

 

I'll be back again tomorrow to share one of the three additional layouts I made with this kit. I hope you'll join me!

 

DCWV & May Arts blog hop

Good afternoon, friends!  If you are visiting from the DCWV/May Arts blog hop and this is your first time here - welcome, I'm so happy to have you!

Admittedly, I haven't yet taken down my Halloween decorations yet (yikes!) but that didn't stop me from getting a head start on some of my Christmas crafting.  I couldn't help it - when I received the new DCWV holiday stacks and an array of gorgeous ribbons from May Arts, I was itching to create.

With that being said, I am certainly in no hurry for Christmas to get here.  I haven't even begun my shopping, after all!  So the first idea that popped into my mind was to create a Christmas countdown.  Now I'll have a fun and sparkly way to remind me how many shopping days are left until Santa's arrival!

Supplies used: DCWV - patterned paper, glittered tags and diecuts, gems; May Arts - grosgrain and sparkle ribbon and twine; American Crafts - glitter clothespin, Kerri Bradford - cut file; Provo Craft - wood plank, Other: hot glue, mono liquid glue, computer font.

I started off with a wooden plaque that measures about 7.5" by 5.5". I had this particular one from Provo Craft, in my stash from long ago, but you could easily find a similar unfinished piece at your local craft store and paint it to your liking

A bit of hot glue and a glittery clothespin make this piece functional as a countdown.  With an array of gorgeous wintery ribbons, I couldn't stop there.  I layered May Arts sparkly blue ribbon atop a navy grosgrain to create a dimensional bow that would accent my clip.  Again, a bit of hot glue does the trick to secure everything into place.

The DIY Project Stack Favor boxes - holiday version, was the perfect companion to my project.  Not only does it have a coordinating color palette and sparkly finish, but the diecut tags included in the stack, were perfectly made for a project of this type!  In addition, the glittery stars and snowflakes were precut and simply punched out from the stack.  A little bit of liquid glue was the right adhesive to give these a smooth and secure hold.

I couldn't stop there with the sparkle and trim.  May Arts makes this beautiful bakers twine that is accented with a silver strand.  It was just the right thickness and size to tie at the top of each of my numbered tags.

Here's a closer look at those tags.  Aren't they pretty?!  They have the most gorgeous sparkly finish that doesn't shed a bit!  The best part is, the hard work is all done for you - the tags are numbered, glittered and diecut.  All you do is simply punch them from the page, tie on some trim and they are ready to be added to your countdown.

 

Thanks for stopping over to take a closer look at my project.  I hope you'll stop by again soon!

 

DCWV: Happy Day Memo Board

Good morning, blog friends!  Have you been spotting these cute memo boards all over the place lately?  They are intended to provide you with a central place for hanging onto all of those lists, coupons, notes and bits of paper that come into and out of our lives.  As a papercrafter though, I myself can't look at them without dreaming up possibilities to embellish and transform them into a pretty home décor piece.  So, that's just what I did!

I grabbed DCWV's Happy Day stack for this project because I love the neutral color palette that is carried throughout and the pretty pops of gold.  I had fun making all sorts of tags, banners and accents to decorate my memo board.

Supplies used: Target - memo board & large clothespin; DCWV - Happy Day Stack (all patterned papers); Stampin Up - feather stamps & coordinating dies, butterfly punch, flower punch; Crate Paper - chipboard heart, vintage button, and mini clothespins; Basic Grey - mini letter stickers; American Crafts - twine; Other - ribbon.

Let's take a closer look at all of the elements that I've included within my framed piece.

One of my favorite patterns from the stack is the woodgrain covered in intricate shaped frames.  I cut out one of the small frames from the pattern and used it to highlight a punched and embellished butterfly.  It's backed with a doily for a simple yet elegant look. 

 

This sweet little label that adorns the bottom portion of my photo was again, simply cut from one of the included patterns.  I customized it a bit further by adding our last name in coordinating letter stickers from my stash.

There are several pages of cut apart elements included in the stack.  These cute banners are part of one of those patterns.  I accented them with some stamped and embossed feathers for added dimension and interest.

The final element on my décor piece, again features one of the pre-designed sentiment cards that are included in the patterns of the Happy Day stack.  I loved the sentiment and wanted to draw more attention to it by adorning it with a dimensional floral. 

To create my flower, I punched several layers from the pink and gold dotted patterned paper.  I layered the punches together and adhered them with a button center.  The leaves that accent this floral piece were fussy cut from another of the patterns included in the stack.

 

 

 

With just a little bit of creativity and a beautiful stack of DCWV patterned papers it was easy to transform this bland memo board into something special that I will be proud to display in my home!

Lots of washi

Happy Monday and Memorial Day to my US friends!  I'm spending most of the day enjoying my family but wanted to pop in quickly to share and link you up to a few recent projects that I've had featured on the Love My Tapes blog. 

First is a sweet little tin, that I altered, to hold the bows and barrettes I continue to gather for my little girl's hair.  This piece serves not only as functional organizational container, but also as a cute décor piece to add to her room.

 

For the full details and step by step tutorial to make your own, hop on over to this post on the Love My Tapes blog.

 

Next up is a pair of sweet and simple cards that would be just perfect to hand off on Father's Day, to all of the special Dads in your life. 

 

 

Who knew washi tape neck and bow ties could be so cute!  Again, hop on over to this post on the Love My Tapes blog for full directions and a step by step photo tutorial to create your own.

 

Thanks for joining me today!  See you real soon with lots more to share!

 

 

 

Create Your Own Palette with Bella Blvd

Need a little something to motivate and inspire you on your next little crafty endeavor?  It can't hurt, right?  If your answer is yes (or if you're just simply in the mood for some crafty eye candy), be sure to stop by the Bella Blvd Studio blog today to find out the details on a 'Create Your Own Color Palette" challenge issued by Stephanie, and for a chance to win some beautiful Bella goodies if you participate!

When I finally get my kiddos tucked away into bed for the evening, and sit down at my scrap desk to craft, my creativity is oftentimes zapped.  Can you relate?  Sometimes, it takes just the right thing to spark my creative juices and inspire me to whip something up (versus collapsing onto the couch in a tired heap - which sometimes happens too, of course!).  This week, it was this fun color palette image below, that rescued me from the nighttime couch potato role!  Stephanie challenged some of the Bella Design Team members to create a project (layout, card, etc) based upon this pretty palette.



Funny enough, this is almost exact color scheme that I used to decorate my baby girl's nursery, minus the pop of black.  So naturally once I saw it, I knew it would give me a good excuse to put together a little home decor piece for her room, that I've had sitting in my 'creative bank' since before she was born!  Here is the result:

Supplies used: Bella Blvd Kiss Me collection patterned papers: Flutter, True Love; Bella Blvd Baby Boy collection patterned paper: Momma's Boy; Bella Blvd Designer Tape: Piggy Pink Stripe; Bella Blvd Market Buttons: Pink Flowers; Bella Blvd High Five Alphabet: Piggy Punch; Other - IKEA shadow box frame, crochet twine, computer font, machine stitching, cardstock

The frame I used for this piece was one that I purchased at IKEA awhile back.  It is a 10x10 shadow box, with a 9x9" opening for artwork.  I added Designer Tape to the innermost edge of the frame to add some more color and interest.  At the corners, where the tape strips overlapped, I simply mitered the corners with my craft knife to allow them to line up.

I bought that sweet little Martha Stewart elephant punch specifically for this project!  I'm so glad I finally got to use it for it's intended purpose!  By the way, this cute idea is not solely my own.  Back in the day, Ali Edwards created a sweet little framed pieces like this with punched butterflies.  I've seen lots of interpretations of it since then, and knew that an 'elephant version' alongside that endearing phrase, would make for a cute little addition to Emerson's room.

How cute are those little elephants, marching across the frame in a perfect little row, and punched out of so many pretty Bella papers?

And you know me, I can't finish a project without at least one button!  Love these pretty Bella flower shaped ones!

Want to see what it looks like in her room?  For now, I have it nestled against some of our favorite board books on the bottom left of these three shelves.



I'm so glad to have another decorative piece done for baby girl's nursery.  Considering the fact that she's only weeks away from turning one, it might be time to put the finishing touches on decorating her room!

Thanks, as always, for stopping by!

Doodlebug

Hello all!  I am still anxiously awaiting the announcement of the Doodlebug design team, for which I sent in an application a couple of weeks back.  So, to say that I have Doodlebug on the brain, may be a bit of an understatement.  I may have checked my email a few hundred times over the last couple of weeks, hoping to hear something from them. However, I'm sure their inbox was flooded with hopeful applicants, and I would be beyond lucky to grab their attention and snag a spot.  Either way, I thought I'd pop on here and share the projects that I submitted for the call.

The first is a page using their recent 'boy' birthday celebration collection.  I just LOVED the primary color scheme they used, and how they mixed it up a bit by adding touches of brown and teal. I knew it would be just right for photos of my favorite guys on their special days.  In fact, it proved to be just the right motivator to get this page idea out of my head and onto paper!  Each year on the boys birthdays, we have a special tradition of making them chocolate chip pancakes, adorning those pancakes with a candle and singing to them.  I, of course, have taken pictures of this tradition over the years and thought it would be fun to compile all of those pictures onto one page for each boy.  Here is the result for TJ's album:

Here's a close up of the vertical banner, which holds both the page title and journaling:

And some details in the upper left corner of the page.  I can't seem to make a page these days, that doesn't have at least one button sewn somewhere on it -- and the Doodlebug ones are my favorite, of course!

One last picture, showing how I 'fancied' up that birthday cake sticker with glitter, rhinestones, stitching and some starburst shaped stickers.

This collection was so fun to work with, I continued on to make a cute card with it.  As you can tell, I had fun dressing up each of the balloon stickers with a different embellishment - glitter, bling, sticker, button, twine, etc, and then attached a long piece of twine to each, to represent the string.  I thought the sentiment was fitting for this little scene, and could easily make the card work for a 'birthday', 'congrats' or a 'just saying hello' type of message.

For the next card, I broke into my stash of Doodlebug holiday goodies to make a 'sweet' Christmas greeting.  The darling little images and touches of glitter that they add to many of their products, just makes them that much cuter, don't you think?

Lastly, they requested that we submit images of a home decor project.  That was just the excuse I needed to snatch up some of their new 'Monster Mania' line and get started on a little wreath to display in our home for the upcoming holiday.  I shared a sneak of this projects a few posts back, and here is the full 'reveal'!:

And close up of the banner message.  I have pinterest to thank for that cute little saying.  It's pretty fitting, sitting next to that scary monster, don't you agree?

I still have plans to put together a little tutorial of how I created and assembled this project, if anyone is interested.  Alas, scrapbook time has been at a premium here lately, unless I'm willing to sacrifice sleep (which usually, I am!). 

Thanks for stopping by!