eBay Listings

I have two chipboard mini albums listed on eBay - click on the picture to check them out!!

October Swaps

All of my creative energy lately has been going into scrapping and swapping - I hope you aren't getting sick of me, but I wanted to share my ATC cards and Flowers.

I took a collage approach to building the base of this card.  I used three different papers, glimmer mist and stamps.
I then glimmer misted a prima flower, added some black lace behind it, and a making memories brad in the center.
Each card got a rub-on and stickers that I enhanced with glossy accents.
After all this, I felt the card was really busy and it needed a focal point - so I cut a bat from my cricut and added googly eyes to it.  I also cut some witches and heat embossed the broom copper.

Here are my flowers, I did the grunge type roses and dressed them up with glimmer mist, rhinestones, and little chalk bead center things.

And can anyone tell me why the borders I add to my pics only work half the time?  I just don't get it.

Dream Vacation ATC Swaps

First off, I have to mention that Today is my One Year Blog Anniversary. Woo-hoo. {and tomorrow is my 7 year anniversary}

I got my ATC cards back a few days ago and would you believe that of the 7 girls in my group, 5 of us chose Paris?!?

I decided to make a mini album to keep them in after seeing this YouTube video.

The paper I used has postage stamps all over it - very fitting for a travel theme.   The large white flower came from my goody swap and the center flower and lace is from Prima.  I also used a Tim Holtz hitch post to  loop the lace onto as a closure.

 

These two cards have a Moulin Rouge feel.  The one on the left is from Deb and the one on the right is from Marelys.

These two cards have a more vintage feel - and how cute that they both had the same charm?  The one on the left is from Kim and the one on the right is from Eileen.

These last two cards round out the group.  On the left, FayeCat wants to be On The Road and Dawn wants to travel to Australia.

I really enjoyed this swap.  I've already sent in my October cards and I've been working on November.

Shabby Chic Flowers

I received my first round of swap flowers this weekend and I was so excited to see them all.

These flowers are from Roxy. I was so excited to get flowers from her because I watch her youtube videos (roxyfur) and she created the Your Paper Pantry site that these swaps are hosted on.

These are from Dawn, they have such awesome texture and pretty little centers.

These are from Barbara, she made such awesome shapes and they are all glimmered up!

And these are from Tami, she got such great height on her flowers - and then there are the stick pins.  I have seen them in videos, but in person they are amazing!  I'm starting to gather supplies so I can make them, too!

I can't think up a good title for this one...

I stumbled upon this cool site called Your Paper Pantry this summer.  It is an online community for crafters/scrappers but what really drew me in was all the monthly swaps you can join.  The two that most appealed to me were the ATC and Flower swaps so I signed up for September.

The theme for the ATC group for September was your dream vacation destination.  Of course, I chose Paris, being such a francophile and all.

I used a box of cereal to cut out the 2 1/2 by 3 1/2 inch cards.  I started by painting the cards with gesso, then added a layer of white acrylic paint.  I then did a layer of crackle medium and finished with a pale pink acrylic paint. 
Then I used SCAL to cutout the eiffel tower in gray cardstock and added black embossing powder to give it a metal-ish feel.  I tied a pale peach ribbon around each card and tucked three flowers into each bow.  All the flowers came from one bunch that cost about $1 in the wedding aisle at Michaels.
I also stamped Paris and a fluer-de-lis in black ink and added two black rhinestones to the corner.

The theme for the flower swap was Shabby Chic.

One of the requirements for this swap is that you must package them as if they were being sold.
I cut a super large tag on my cricut out of a manila folder and glued ledger style paper on top.

I then used this awesome french script stamp with vintage photo distress ink to cover the whole tag and inked the edges with vintage photo as well.

For the flowers, I used four different colors of pink seed beads to make five petal flowers with white centers and two green leaves.  I then backed them all with white crepe paper circles.

In a week or two I'll be receiving my packages from all the other girls with their swap cards and flowers - I can't wait!!

Leather Flowers

I've always enjoyed ripping apart my clothing and turning it into something new. Usually I do this to t-shirts, but this time it was a pair of shoes that starting calling my name.

I bought a pair of baby phat shoes last fall that looked really cute in the ads. They were OK in person, but they seriously hurt my feet - I think I wore them a total of three times. They are covered in leather fringe petals, hmm petals , so.... I cut them all off.

Here is the before and after:

aren't the petals fab?

Ok, so petals.. you must know that I am going to make flowers!!!

I started by roughly cutting a circle from an old t-shirt and gathered up all my petals:

Then I starting hot gluing them in a circle.  The pattern on the shoes was silver, copper, silver, platinum; so I followed the same.

Once I got to the third layer, I began overlapping the petals.

Then I finished it off with some prima heart bling for the center.

I had a ton of petals left, so I made three more flowers using each color on it's own:

The platinum flower got a light pink bling center that I adhered with both hot glue and stickles.

The copper flower got a pearl center - the bead came from an old necklace.

The silver flower also got a pearl center from the same necklace.

I glued a brooch pin onto the back of each flower - I think they will look awesome on a fall coat.

Decoupage Box

Hi, I'm Back!  I finally have  my appetite for crafting back and I've been on a roll.

OK. So ever since we got back from Vegas, I have been wanting to head back.  AND we keep getting offers from all the MGM|Mirage Hotels (this includes Aria and Bellagio) for free nights. I am just dying to get a trip out there planned, so I decided to start a Vegas fund to get the ball rolling.

If I'm going to be squirreling away spare change, I need a cute place to put it.  I used a box and letter H I received in a swap a few months ago, the Vanilla Cream paper form the Basic Grey Bittersweet collection, and a Prima trellis rose to make this:

I started out by painting all the edges of the box with metallic taupe paint:

The H was a silvery industrial color so I painted that metallic taupe, too. (this is the before)

I used one 12x12 piece (and I still have a big square leftover) to cut the 5 faces (bottom is bare).  I used Mod Podge to glue them all down.

After the first layer of mod podge dried, I used a nail file to sand all of the edges to be flush with the box and to distress it a bit.  I also touched up the paint in the areas where I sanded it off.  I added another layer to the whole box and when that was dry, I sanded over the whole box.  Then came my final third layer, with another sanding after it was dry.

To embellish the box I hot glued the H and flower on top.  The flower was white and I brushed glimmer mist and liquid pearls on the petals to make them pink and shimmery.

It is so pretty, I just love it!!

A tip for Vegas/AC/Indian Casinos:  sign up for the player cards!!  You earn points on these when you gamble, and depending on the place, you can redeem them for things like food and free play.  This is also how you receive offers for free rooms, show tickets, free plays, etc.  Also, when we checked out of the MGM, almost all of our room charges were comped -  and I charged every food, gift shop and entertainment item.

And now I need a tip from you!!  Mac users, what do you use to write and publish your posts?  Blogger is driving me nuts!!

I'm in a Rut :(

I've been in a rut lately and that means no projects to share.  Mostly because it is summer, and if I'm not on a beach (and I'm not) I do not like the temperature to go past 84 degrees.  Side note:  at 9am it is 90 degrees and it is going to reach 101 today :/

I did get some new toys this weekend - a heat gun, embossing glue, and UTEE.  My first project is to cover some chip letters with UTEE and glitter.

I've only made 5 of the 14 letters I want to do.  This new technique is very different from anything I have tried before.  It's taking me some trial and error and I think I need to re-watch some youtube videos.

But I think the main reason this rut came on was that my brain has shifted from "fun and crafty" to "glam and girly".  I've been a wee bit obsessed with....

Luxurious skin care:

Pretty dresses, like these two from Halston Heritage:

And shoes, I think these would be great for my cousin's wedding Labor Day weekend:

Then there is this Dooney & Bourke iPad Case, I ordered an iPad and it will ship July 20th, I can't wait!

I think I might stay in La La Land a bit longer.

I haven't gotten a big response for my swap idea, so here is a bit more info:  I would place participants in groups of four.  You would send your 3 group mates the same recipe along with some goodies to help them make it.  So if you are interested please let me know!!

Vegas Mini Albums

I'm headed out to Vegas this morning with my hubby. We are meeting my parents, brother and sister there to celebrate her 21st birthday. Sis and I have been there once before, but we were 18 and 13. She vowed on that trip that she would be there on her 21st birthday. Her birthday was 2 weeks ago, but I'd still say she got her wish.

Since I needed a) a birthday present for her b) a mother's day gift for my step-mom and c) an excuse to get scrappin', I made us each a mini album for the trip.

Since I watched the Live with Prima videos marathon style, this album is a combination of techniques from many videos.

The Cover fits us Kaplan girls very well - zebra, pink and bling :)

Can I tell you again how much I love Sure Cuts A Lot?  I was able to cut the actual Vegas logo with it!!
I also made some beaded flowers for the spine.

Here are a few of the inside pages:

I'll be back late Wednesday night!!