The One with Cricut December Layouts

Friday, September 30, 2011

Cricut December will be out in stores soon!

One of the fun things about working for such a great magazine is if there are ever any holes that need to be filled last minute, I can volunteer! So here are three layouts that I made for this issue:

JUST MARRIED

Journaling says: Eric and Tanya were sealed for time and all eternity in the Seattle temple on Wednesday July 27th, 2011. Their ring ceremony afterwards was beautiful. I'm so excited to have a new sister!!!

How to: Cut as many hearts as desired from patterned fabric paper. Spray a teal cardstock background with white mist, adhere two photos at the bottom using foam squares, tuck a brown felt scalloped border under the left and right sides of the photo block, and tie aqua baker’s twine around the bottom with a bow in the center. Tuck a chipboard key under the baker’s twine bow then frame the photos with two large chipboard brackets. Place a chipboard title under the photos, dot the “i” with a mini red fabric paper heart, and write journaling with a black pen below the title. Adhere the cuts starting at the top of the photos and working up to the top edge of the layout; use a variety of depth of foam dots to create multiple levels of dimension then trim any excess. Add a fabric sentiment above the photos.

Note: I was totally inspired by Stephanie Howell for this layout :) (You can see her layout on THIS POST).

Supplies: Cardstock, patterned fabric paper, fabric sentiment, pen, adhesive: American Crafts; Chipboard: American Crafts (letters), Maya Road (key), Tim Holtz (brackets); Felt scalloped borders: Fancy Pants Designs; Baker’s twine: Divine Twine; Spray mist: Studio Calico; Personal electronic cutting machine (Cricut®), cartridge (Sweethearts): Provo Craft

WHITE CHRISTMAS

Journaling says: I'll always remember Christmas 2009. It was the first Christmas we were all together under one roof - a very special roof - the cabin at Lake Wenatchee. The snow, the twinkle lights, the smell of pine trees... it all made for "perfection"!

How to: Cut as many snowflakes as desired from cardstock and/or patterned paper. Adhere the cuts in straight lines down from the top edge of a white cardstock layout background then sew straight lines down each row using aqua thread. Embellish the cuts with jewels, pearls, and iridescent glitter glue as shown. Adhere a small photo at the bottom of three of the rows of cuts using pop dots. Make a title using letter stickers and write journaling with a blue pen below. Punch a scalloped border from blue cardstock, adhere it under the title, then stitch three “x”s using aqua floss across the stitched lines.

Supplies: Cardstock, patterned paper, pearl brad, letter stickers, pen, adhesive: American Crafts; Pearls: K & Company; Pearl clusters: Jenni Bowlin Studio; Jewels: Doodlebug Design, Kaisercraft, Queen & Co.; Floss: DMC; Glitter glue: Ranger; Scalloped border punch: Fiskars; Sewing machine: Singer; Thread: Coats & Clark; Personal electronic cutting machine (Cricut®), cartridges (Home Accents, Straight from the Nest): Provo Craft

SUGAR & SPICE

Journaling says: I'm so glad that my mom took the time to dress me up every once in a while as a baby and get my picture taken so I could see what I looked like growing up. It's fun to comare baby photos of me and Chris to baby Fox to see who he look more like. Maybe one day he'll do the same thing with his kids' photos. So anyways, this is me as a newborn, a few months old, and a couple years old.

How to: Cut as many flowers as desired from cardstock and/or patterned paper. Spray a zigzag cream patterned paper background with aqua mist, sew a border around the edges using aqua thread, then journal around the edges using a black pen. Adhere a grid of small photos to the center of the layout using pop dots. Tuck the cuts under the top left and bottom right corners of the photos, add a couple more to the top right corner, then embellish the centers with pearls and jewels. Create a title across the middle of the photos, use a typewriter to make the rest of the title, and adhere it on the right side. Embellish the layout with pearl flourishes, a flower fabric brad, and two decorative stickpins as shown.

Supplies: Patterned paper, fabric brad, pen, adhesive: American Crafts; Jewels: Doodlebug Design, Kaisercraft, Queen & Co.; Pearls: Jenni Bowlin Studio (clusters), K & Company (single), Pebbles (flourishes); Stickpins: Making Memories; Letter stickers: American Crafts (fabric chipboard), Studio Calico (woodgrain); Spray mist: Tattered Angels; Typewriter: Smith Corona; Sewing machine: Brother; Thread: Coats & Clark; Personal electronic cutting machine (Cricut®), cartridge (Sweethearts): Provo Craft

Make sure to pick up a copy of the new Cricut Magazine for 132 pages of goodness!

The One with Fox Brand Shirts

Thursday, September 29, 2011

How ecstatic was I to see an entire section dedicated to Fox clothing in my daily Zulily email this morning?

Thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiis ecstatic!

I knew this Fox brand existed, but I never really put two and two together (my son is Fox, there are clothes with his name all over them...). I was about to stock up (I'll take one of each please!), cuz, I mean, how CUTE are all these? But the smallest size they have is 4. So we've got a three year wait before he fits 'em! Grow Fox grow!

The One with Curled Toes

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Fantastic Mr. Fox and shoes do not get along. He definitely didn't get my genes in that aspect -"shoes" graced my vocabulary's presence as soon as I could talk! When I do attempt to put shoes on him when we go outside for walks he kicks them off in .025235982 seconds flat. Getting them on in the first place is somewhat of a challenge, due to the fact that his toes are always curled.

So barefoot he remains until we get through this phase! (This is just a phase, right?)

The One with Tombstones, Banners, and Ghost/Spider Pops

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

I think my expectations of the scale and caliber of how grand parties should be is extremely skewed due to the amount of over-the-top events I've been to recently. I'm dreaming of a rich man's party on a poor student's budget. Therefore, I've been racking the freebie downloads and pilfering through the dollar spots and stores trying to find cheap ideas and decorations to make Fox's party something to write home about.

For example, I found this digital banner on the Second Sister Suaviloquy blog (along with a whole bunch of other wicked cool free downloads!):

I printed it out onto textured white cardstock and then had fun dressing it up with old book page accordion flowers I made, ribbon and tulle, and dangling black jewels, like so:

PS - It says "happy haunting".

And then, I found this tombstone from Target for $5 to use as a template:

I went to Home Depot and bought a huge sheet of foam board, traced the Target tombstone onto the foam, made slight adjustments to the shape at the top for variety, and cut each one out with a knife. I made quite the mess.

Theeeen, I carved grooves and gashes into each tombstone (this time I took my work outside!) and painted a coat of gray paint over each one. I left a little bit of white foam showing through some parts to add a distressed look.

Once they dried I went in with black and brown paint and lots of water and tried to make them look more realistic.

Ta-da:

My Jackson Pollock's:

And last but not least, I found a tutorial from ohdeedoh to make ghost and spider pops (they have pumpkin ones too, but I'm not doing those for an unbeknownst reason). So I got some suckers, a box of cheap kleenex, a black garbage bag, and black pipe cleaners from the dollar store. I covered half of the suckers with kleenex and secured them with ribbon tied around the 'neck.' Instant ghost pops! Makes a cool wreath, no?

I'm debating whether or not to add faces with a black pen.

Then I cut squares of a black garbage bag, wrapped them around the remaining half of the suckers, wrapped four pieces of black pipe cleaners (two pieces cut in half) around the middle, and kinked them for legs.

Preparations are coming along! 2.5 weeks 'til the par-tay!

The One with the Hippie Birthday Party

Monday, September 26, 2011

This past Saturday I worked at a birthday party that was so magnanimous and epic that Amy had to find 18 people to help with the craft stations alone! I enlisted Kate and Ashley to help me help her help them - get it? got it? good :) The party was "hippie" themed and I was definitely seeing spots by the end of the night, haha.

The three of us worked at the wallets and purses table. All the staff got to wear these awesome possum Grateful Dead shirts. Rock on.

Kids came and overdosed on puffy paint and jewels and a rainbow of markers to create purses and coin bags which were all donated to foster moms.

Even Kelly Purkey came all the way out from New York and Ann-Marie came out from Utah to attend this once-in-a-lifetime event. Kelly worked at the hat decorating table along with Cindy and Ann-Marie worked at the placemat decorating table with her mom.

There was also a table to decorate lunch bags which were then donated:

A jelly belly bar with a "happy pills" theme:

An actual stage was brought in for the party and we were entertained all day and night by many talented people and bands. We helped set up a bunch of blankets and oversized pillows all across the sloping hill in the backyard (you can see them in the background of the very first photo of this post). The perfect venue!

There was also sugar cookie decorating. I wanted someone to pay me the big bucks to eat that 5" thick frosted Christmas tree cookie!

Other booths included hair braiding (I got mine done in a fishtail towards the end of the night), feathers for your hair (I finally got 'feathered'), henna tattoos, face painting, colored hair spray, a tent to gamble and all proceeds were donated to charity, and so many more I can't even remember. For food there were shish-kabobs, a grilled cheese truck, a hamburger truck, a brownie bar, an actual bar, a cart which popped popcorn, a cotton candy maker, a little cart full of fancy desserts, an Asian food table, a concoct your own ice-cream sandwich truck, and again, so much more I can't even remember. So. Much. Food.

At night the lights lit up and twinkled.

There were these blown up balloons that must have been 6 feet across that were floating among the trees and glowed so bright!

The stage at night as we were leaving.

The nice thing about this event was, yeah, they have more money than Fort Knox, but so much of it went to charity and for good causes. Makes me feel all warm inside :)

The One with Recent Layouts (3 AC and 1 SC)

Saturday, September 24, 2011

Lots of scrappy stuff lately - pardonnez-moi! Unless that's why you visit this blog, in which case, you're welcome :)

I had a layout featured on the American Crafts blog yesterday which I can now share here!

TROPICAL PARADISE

Journaling says: There is something magical about Hawaii. The warm and clear blue water. The friendly people. The delicious food. It's a tropical paradise.

How to: Round the right corners of a cream cardstock base. Adhere three photos to the middle using pop dots then stitch a border around them using aqua thread. Make three flowers from patterned paper - for each flower trim 6 large, 6 medium, and 6 small petals, string them onto floss, then twirl the petals around into a flower. Adhere the three flowers around the photos. Embellish with dimensional flower stickers, an accordion flower, and glitter buttons. Trim a journaling spot in half, type on them, and adhere the pieces above and below the photos. Add a Thickers title to finish.

Supplies: Cardstock, patterned paper, buttons, dimensional flower stickers, accordion flower, journaling spot, letter stickers, adhesive: American Crafts; Floss: DMC; Corner rounder: Fiskars; Typewriter: Smith Corona; Sewing machine: Brother; Thread: Coats & Clark

A GLIMPSE OF OUR HOME

Journaling says: Our first few nights of marriage after we got back from our honeymoon were spent in the Warner's basement until we finished moving in to our very first apartment in good ol' Provo, UT. We spent just over two happy and love-filled years there. We've been living in South Pasadena for just over two years now and we love it. "Home" is wherever Chris and Fox are!

Notes: The challenge on the Studio Calico blog for the week of 9.19 - 9.26 is to use Polaroid pictures. I haven't used my Polaroid for a couple years so I wasn't surprised when the pictures I snapped came out super wonky. But, wonky and vintage is "in" so I went with it! I took pictures of the innards and my favorite parts of our second apartment to scrap.

How to: Stitch cream/ledger/scalloped paper to a dark kraft cardstock background using grey thread. Adhere four Polaroids to the middle. Assemble two "foldies" and adhere them above and below the pictures. Tear a "fabrips" from the parent sheet, notch the ends, then scrunch it between the photos. Add the title with an assortment of letter/alphabet stickers and frame it with brackets and a journaling spot die cut cut in half. Write journaling with a black pen around the edges. Type a caption on a label sticker and attach it with a fabric brad to the bottom right corner. Place a trio of pearls on the top left and bottom right corners. All done!

Supplies: Kraft cardstock: Canvas Corp.; Patterned paper, fabric paper, wood letters, journaling spot die cut: Studio Calico; Fabric brad, pen, adhesive: American Crafts; Flower die cuts: Sassafras; Stickers: American Crafts (brackets, woodgrain letters), My Mind's Eye (round alphabet), Studio Calico (label, scalloped border, sentiments); Pearls: K & Company; Baker's twine: The Twinery; Typewriter: Smith Corona; Sewing machine: Brother; Thread: Coats & Clark

SNIPS AND SNAILS AND PUPPY DOG TAILS THAT'S WHAT LITTLE FOX IS MADE OF

Journaling says: There ain't none! The title is journaling enough :)

How to: Place a decorative edge patterned paper piece on a grid paper background then spray over it with gray and green mist. Remove the mask then stitch around the decorative edge using gray thread. Adhere five mini photos across the top and bottom using pop dots. Add buttons and brads along the stitched border above and below the photos. Tuck ribbon/ric rac under the photos. Create the Thickers title but don't press them down until you're sure of the placement. Add a dimensional cloud and cabin felt sticker to the top left corner of the title. Make three hand stitched "x"s with brown floss on the bottom right corner of the title, type a caption on a label sticker, then add it by the "x"s.

Supplies: Patterned paper: My Mind's Eye (used as a mask), Scenic Route Paper Co. (grid); Buttons, brads (corduroy, fabric), letter stickers, adhesive: American Crafts; Ribbon: American Crafts (ric rac), Doodlebug Design (scalloped); Dimensional felt stickers: American Crafts (cabin), Pebbles (cloud); Floss: DMC; Stickers (label, sentiment): Studio Calico; Spray mist: Tattered Angels; Typewriter: Smith Corona; Sewing machine: Brother; Thread: Coats & Clark

HAPPY

Journaling says: Need I say more?

How to: Chevron is all the rage right now! I've seen this technique pop up all over the scrapbooking world, so I took a stab at it using all the Amy Tangerine papers (plus one from Nightfall). Once all the chevron pieces were made, I set the aside. Trim a thin green chevron stripe background to 11.5" square, spray it with pink, orange, yellow, green and blue mists, let it dry, then adhere it to a gray cardstock background. Add the patterned paper chevron stripes across the top. Place the picture then embellish around it with patterned tearaway strips, fabric stickers, a heart-shaped paper clip, dimensional stickers, and more like so. Add the title and a little journaling below the photo. Have I mentioned I love this Amy Tangerine line? The colors and patterns are so hip.

Supplies: Cardstock, patterned paper, patterned tearaway strips, fabric brad, heart paper clip, fabric stickers (heart border, sentiment banner), patterned chipboard letter stickers, stickers (dimensional camera, heart, flower), pen, adhesive: American Crafts; Spray mist: Tattered Angels

Note: I'm so 'happy' that this layout was chosen as the Layout of the Week on the Studio Calico blog on October 1st 2011! Dream come true!

TTFN - ta ta for now!

The One with Scrapbook Daisies

Friday, September 23, 2011

First - something very off topic, but it has to be confessed cuz I can't hold it in any longer... sometimes I call Fox Joey and Joey Fox. I know people mess up their kid's names (my Malm can't call me Paige for the life of her - I should just be Allie #2!), but is it normal to switch kid's/pet's names too? I hope so... It doesn't help that Joey looks like a fox. Anyways. I'll try and do better.

This morning I drove down to Long Beach to meet up with Rachel to get the demo product for the CRAFT Retreat class I'm teaching in November. I got there early so Fox and I ventured into Party City where they're decked to the nines with all things Halloween Halloween Halloween! Fox was in his element.

He's going to love Halloween just as much as me, I can already tell.

Then we drove to Scrapbook Daisies!

Oh my goodness, I can't even tell you how fun it was to be in an actual "LSS" (local scrapbook store)! It's been YEARS! It seems like 99% of little scrapbook stores have gone out of business so this was such a treat. It brought me back to my first job at Yesterday's Scrapbooking and Stuff which is how I got into scrapbooking in the first place a decade ago now.

I love the smell and site of fresh patterned paper.

I love seeing all the latest and greatest, brand new product displayed all pretty. And I love seeing the magazines I work for up at the front counter :) It never gets old to see your name in print!