Simple Stories "Sweater Weather" for The Scrapbooking Studio

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you!  I hope you are enjoying some downtime with family and friends today!  I am joining you today to share some projects from the Sweater Weather line from Simple Stories.  I got to work with this line this month for samples at The Scrapbooking Studio. It has a fall theme - but has broad enough embellishments and papers that you can make it work for family and general themes also! First up I have a layout to share:

I stuck with the autumn theme in this one and showed my little guy in the leaves.  Isn't that sweater patterned paper neat?

This card made use of a lot of die cuts from the die cut pack.  Adding brads, chipboard, and enamel dots (all from Simple Stories) was an easy way to add texture and dimension.

This layout is just a general one - although you could make it more fall like by adding leaves and such - you can see it has just a nice general family feel.

My altered project also is a general project that could hang in your home year around.  I love all the houses and hearts included in this line.   Happy Thanksgiving All!

String Art Christmas Card

I have been itching to try some string art techniques and today my chance came!  I have a card up at The Twinery that uses a little string art!

All of the directions for how I did this can be found here. One of the things I love about this card is that I was able to use products from several companies that I design for and love - it's neat to see how they all can come together and make something beautiful!  I am one blessed lady!

If you try some string art techniques too, I would really love to see them! Link them up in the comments here or share them with me on my facebook page!

Supplies Used:

Twine: The Twinery

Stickers: SRM Stickers & Paper House Productions

Cardstock: Core'dinations

Embossed Christmas Cards with a twist

I have always loved using embossing folders and using Core'dinations cardstock makes them even more fun!  Embossing folders always make for beautiful projects but today I am going to show you how you can take them a step further and add some fabulous dimension!

For the first card I am going to show you how using a craft knife and doing some simple cutting can really change the look of the embossed card.

Step 1: Emboss cardstock with tree and sand it.  Add it to a cardstock base.

Step 2: Use a craft knife to cut along the bottom of each layer of tree branches so that you can curl them upward.

Step 3: Embellish with gold glitter, wooden stars, and a bow.

Step 4: Cut a strip of coordinating cardstock and add it to a matching envelope.

My second card uses a similar technique but adds an element of fun!

Step 1: Die cut a sentiment from white cardstock and emboss the upside down Santa onto the scarlet cardstock.

Step 2: Sand the embossing and add white glitter to Santa's legs and the snow.

Step 3: Use a craft knife to cut out the bottom three sides of the chimney.

Step 4: Embellish with punched and wooden stars.

I can't think of anyone who wouldn't smile if a card like this showed up in their mailbox!

Supplies Used:

Cardstock: Core'dinations

Stickers: SRM Stickers

Embossing Folders: Darice

Little Princess Layout - Paper House & Plaid Swap

Paper House Productions and Plaid are joining up for a cross promotion for this holiday season. I will get to share projects with you throughout the holiday season using both of their products! 

 Plaid makes Mod Podge and all kinds of other fun goodies.  For my first project I decided to focus in on the Mod Molds.  These are really neat tools that you can make one of a kind accents for just about any craft project with.  

Plaid has silicone molds available and you use meltable sticks of Mod Podge to create unique accents.  

I used white with mine and while you can definitely paint or glitz them up, I left mine as they were. These worked great with a high temp glue gun that I got for less than $3.00 and can be found in the craft sections at stores like Walmart and Michaels.  They have a variety of color options too!

I used the Mod Melts to create the white hearts and the "L U C Y" on my layout.  Combining those with the fabulous Paper House 3D Little Princess stickers made for a one of a kind layout!

Supplies Used:

Patterned Paper: Paper House Productions

Cardstock: Core'dinations

Tags; Core'dinations

Stickers: Paper House Productions

Mod Melts: Plaid

Paper House Productions is doing an awesome giveaway of some Plaid products and we'd love for you to enter!  Here's the Rafflecopter to get in on it and make sure to head to the Paper House Blog to see even more inspiration.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Burlap & Doilies - Christmas Home Decor

I absolutely love the look of burlap and doilies together and I think done right they can make awesome home decor for the holidays. I am up today at the fabulous SRM Stickers Blog and I am showing a simple holiday decor piece using White Matte Vinyl and Doilies. I picked up these burlap canvasses at a craft store and they are nice because they can either sit on a shelf or be hung from a wall.

I cut out the letters N E and L on my electronic die cut machine and attached those to my burlap canvas. My burlap canvasses were all 6 X 6 so a 5 inch letter worked great!

Instead of using an O cut from vinyl I used a 6 inch White Lace Doily topped with a  4 inch White Lace Doily.  I then added a pretty red bow to the bottom to give it the look of a wreath and bring in some color.

One of my favorite things about this project is that with supplies in hand, it takes only about 30 minutes to complete. And let's face it we all need those extra minutes as the holidays approach!

Supplies Used:
Burlap Canvasses: Michaels
Doilies: SRM Stickers
Vinyl: SRM Stickers
Ribbon: May Arts

17 Turtles Guest Designer!

I had the honor of guest designing over at 17 Turtles yesterday!  Here's the projects I created and you can find all the details on them over there at this post :)

Supplies Used:

Patterned Paper: Doodlebug Design

Stickers: Doodlebug Design & SRM Stickers

Cardstock: Core'dinations

Coach Layout

One of my favorite things about Paper House Productions is the variety of themes that they offer. Today I am focusing on their coach themed 3D Stickers and using them to document my daughter's soccer season with her dad as coach.

I went for a very clean and simple layout today.  I built my layout around the 8 1/2 X 11 white base - adding soccer papers to it to create a background.  I then added that to a 12 X 12 blue cardstock.  I created a line border of the 3D Coach stickers as well as a cluster of them and cardstock stickers next to the picture. I added a green chevron shape to add a pop of color and draw the eye towards the pictures.  My finishing touch was just some wood stars and enamel dots.  That seems to be my finishing touch of choice most of the time right now!  I opted to let my daughter do the journaling and added that to the back so it was private between her and daddy. 

Supplies Used:

Stickers: Paper House Productions

Patterned Paper: Paper House Productions

Cardstock: Core'dinations

Wood: Studio Calico

Enamel Dots: Simple Stories

Thankful Layout - Core'dinations & May Arts Paired Up!

I can't believe that it is already mid-November and fall is rapidly disappearing!  Before it's gone I wanted to get in another fall layout and Core'dinations combined with May Arts is the perfect pair to do it with!  You can see full step by step instructions for this layout on the Core'dinations blog!

I love the way that Core'dinations cardstock cuts on my Silhouette!  Setting it at 3 speed, 33 Thickness, and my blade at 4, and double cut it cuts beautifully every time.  If it is super textured then I simply flip the paper over to the other side and cut it that way - you can still get the textured look if you mirror your image!

I used May Arts burlap ribbon and absolutely love it!  I have been wanting to try that stuff for a while!  I also used their scalloped border ribbon.

What amazes me most with Core'dinations cardstock is all the different looks you can achieve by tearing, embossing, and sanding!  

Supplies Used:

Cardstock: Core'dinations

Tags; Core'dinations

Ribbon: May Arts

Brads: Simple Stories

Stickers: Simple Stories

Christmas Publication - Noel Embroidery Hoop

Earlier this year I was privileged to have a Christmas ornament published in the Holiday Cards & More special edition from Paper Crafts & Scrapbooking Magazine.  I love playing with embroidery hoops and paper but this was my first one on a smaller canvas!

Here's the basic directions as to how I did it:

-Take the embroidery hoop apart and using the inside circle.
-Add a quick drying glue or hot glue along the top rim.
-Attach the paper of your choice to it and allow that to dry.
-Trim it down so that you have a circle slightly larger than the hoop.

-Going around the circle - trim notches so that you can easily bend the additional paper onto the side of the hoop.

-Add quick drying glue to the side of the hoop and fold all those pieces down.

-Add your top hoop and your paper should now be secure!

Decorating these is super fun and nice change from the quadrilateral shape we are used to working in!  For this one I added a bold burlap bow and I really liked the effect it had!

Supplies Used:

Patterned Paper: Samantha Walker for Echo Park

Stickers: Samantha Walker for Echo Park & Imaginisce

Gems: Imaginisce

Button: Imaginisce

Burlap: May Arts

Scrapping Our Stash Blog Hop Winner

Congrats to Becky Johnson on being the winner of the SRM Stickers gift certificate!  Becky - shoot me an email at practicalscrappers@gmail.com or message me on my facebook page and I will get that sent to you!

Baseball Layout - Paper House Productions

The newest issue of Create Magazine came out today and I have a couple projects in it!  This layout is one of them.  I made it during playoff season when the Cardinals were still winning :).

My son has reached that age where he either has to be something scary for Halloween or something sports related.  Scary is out so it's sports!  Last year he dressed as a STL Cardinal and bravely walked around town amongst Cubs fans.  For this layout I used a base of cardstock from Core'dinations  I then did some fussy cutting from Paper House's sports pad as well as some die cut title work.  Adding the 3-D stickers was the perfect pop of dimension that I was looking for!  And my finishing touch was the awesome white sticker stitches and numbers from SRM stickers!  I love doing sports layouts and this was definitely no exception!

Supplies Used:

 Patterned Paper: Paper House Productions

Cardstock: Core'dinations

Stickers: Paper House Productions & SRM STickers

Enamel Dots: Simple Stories

Wood: Studio Calico

Xyron/Paper House Productions - Great Outdoors Team Up

I am so excited for another pair-up of Xyron and Paper House Productions! 

 This month we are doing a focus on the Great Outdoors and I decided to use some pictures from a hiking trip last summer!  Both companies are doing great giveaways so make sure to check out their blogs!

That burlap paper from the 100% Country Paper Pad really caught my eye and I knew it would make a perfect background.  I used my Xyron 3 inch sticker maker to add adhesive to my photos. I love to do this with smaller photos and tags! When I make layouts like this I always try to use pictures that will include everyone in the family (or at least all the kids).  Once I got that part down I added in Die Cut Stickers and 3D Stickers from Paper House Productions in clusters built up around my pictures.  

I also made use of the Xyron Adhesive Dots for attaching my wood clothespins to the layout:

Supplies Used:

Patterned Paper: Paper House Productions

Stickers: Paper House Productions

Twine: The Twinery

Now make sure you head to Xyron & Paper House for their giveaways!

Fall Thank You Card

If you haven't already picked up on it, I really enjoy creating fall cards :)  This one was up yesterday on the Samantha Walker blog. I was pulling out the little pieces and realized they are gorgeous too!  Today I am going to show you how I incorporated those into a card too! Instead of using the whole card, I just used the overlay.

After cutting the overlay in a couple different colors I made use of the leaf for one element on my card. I then used the negative space swirls for embellishing the card.

You can peel out each and every piece of negative space from these leaves and put them together to make pretty flourish clusters or wheat clusters or simply use them individually to decorate. I bet they would be just stunning in vellum!  

Supplies Used:
Cardstock: Core'dinations
Sticker: SRM Stickers
Wood: Studio Calico
Twine: May Arts

Hope you are enjoying a beautiful fall day where you are and have lots to be thankful for this month!

Paper Doll Christmas Ornaments

Imaginisce has just released a new line called Family Fun!  Family Fun is such a fun new line that is full of vibrant colors and the perfect designs for crafting family.  I really love the die cut paper dolls and decided to make Christmas Ornaments for each of my kiddos using them.  Each year I give each of my kids a new ornament and they build up a collection - so this will be there ornament for the year!

For each ornament I followed a similar format - the base is a white tag with a coordinating strip of patterned paper on it.  Then I decorated a paper doll with clothes. I also added some coordinating glitter tape and wooden stars. This first one is my little girl!  I also used my IRock tool to add a little sparkle to her bow.

For each doll I added their first initial using the IRock tool.  This was the most time consuming part but I absolutely love how it makes the dolls even more personalized!

Next up comes my oldest son.  The paper doll packs come with all boys or all girls and lots of variety in hair colors and skin tones.  Even with three sons I was able to make mine work from one pack.

My little blondie was the hardest one to create.  Doing a B with the IRock required nice steady hands - but as you can see I got it!  He gives me the biggest run for my money, so it's only fitting that I struggled a little with his ornament right!?! :)

I also got out my cordless glue gun to add the buttons.  I love the light on the end of this glue gun and the fact that I never have to find a plug to use it!

Last up is my middle boy.  His favorite color is green so I had to focus the ornament and his outfit on green.  I can't wait to give these to them and see their excitement when they realize I made them to look like them!

Supplies Used:

Imaginisce: Patterned Paper, IRocks, Die Cuts, Buttons

American Crafts: Glitter Tape, Stars

Create a Mini Calendar - SRM Stickers

You just can't go wrong with making someone a calender for a holiday present - add pictures to it and you've got the perfect personalized gift to share with special family and friends. Today I have Mini Calender Star Album up on the SRM Stickers blog that I made special for one of the grandparents.

I used a cut file from the talented Jamie Cripps to create the album.  Her instructions can be found here. I love that it can easily set up on a desktop just like this! I used the Mini Calender/Decorative 2015 stickers for my calender part.

Look how cool it is from above!  They can easily check out other months or leave it on the current one.

It folds down like this so it looks just like a normal mini album. I kept the cover simple, just adding a 2015 sticker (how is it almost 2015????).  You can get a whole selection of 2015 stickers from SRM's Year of Memories 2015 set.

I decorated each page with a month and then a picture that I punched out.  If it was there birthday month I made sure it had their picture on it - but otherwise I just went with cute pictures.  I kept each page pretty similar so that the assembly wasn't too time consuming.

One more Christmas present done!

Supplies Used:

Stickers: SRM Stickers

Cardstock: American Crafts

Patterned Paper: Doodlebug Design

Cousins Layout

Throughout this month Want2Scrap and Paper House Productions are teaming up with projects that combine their products.  I got to kick things off today with this fun Cousins layout!

After sliding my pictures into place I pulled out some coordinating patterned paper and decorated the chipboard stars from Want2Scrap.  I added those along with some gemstones throughout the layout.  I used some fabulous 3D Stickers from Paper House Productions.  Their 3D stickers have become such a staple in my creating.  I love dimension and they definitely get the job done!

Supplies Used:

Paper House Family Portrait 3D Stickers
Want 2 Scrap Cousins Overlay
Chipboard Stars from Want 2 Scrap
Patterned Paper: Paper House