Oh my gosh!!

Sorry, this isn't my typical craft post. I'm just excited because Maya Road repinned my Tea Pot project to their "Roadie Inspiration" board!! Woo hoo!!!!! So excited, so excited, so excited ...

Paper Mermaids - Card of the Month entry

My favorite craft store has a fun little contest going on. Make a card, submit it to Paper Mermaids, then cross your fingers and hope that others like it! The September card with the most votes brings home a very delectable $25 gift card to Paper Mermaids, something I wouldn't mind having. ;)

Here's my entry for Paper Mermaids' Card of the Month contest:

First, I embossed a piece of Bazzil cardstock. I cut out the pumpkins and Halloween kids from some Jenni Bowlin "Halloween" paper. I stuck a Maya Road pin behind the papers, then glued on the sentiment, along with some tendril-y twine. I embossed a piece of cardstock with the "Pumpkin Vine" embossing folder from the Sizzix "Thankful" collection, distressed it a bit, then glued it over the Jenni Bowlin paper.

Supplies: 

Jenni Bowlin Halloween Accessory Sheet paper

Sizzix Texture Fadez - Thankful 

Rusty Hinge & Walnut Stain distress ink

Maya Road pin

Birthday card & envelope

I made this card using the same paper and sticker set from Colorbok. The white rose was created using my Donna Salazar "Rose Creations" Spellbinders die. For the fun corners, I used my Fiskars 3-in-1 corner punch. 

Here's the envelope:

And a close up:

Supplies:

Colorbok Dossier paper
Sizzix Button die
Fiskars 3-in-1 corner punch - "Romantique"
Spellbinders Donna Salazar Rose Creations

Maya Road Tea Pot Album

Maya Road makes some of the cutest papercrafting products, such as these fun chipboard albums shaped like tea pots.

Of course, being as cute as they are, I had to grab myself an album from Paper Mermaids before it was too late. Since my mother-in-law's birthday was coming up, and she enjoys drinking tea, I thought this album would be the perfect gift. 

For the paper, I found this Colorbok set at Walmart, featuring shades of blue, grey, and cream. 

I thought it was a pretty combo that matched some crochet flowers I found at Life's A Scrapbook in Sherwood:

The theme of the scrapbook is about family and includes encouraging scripture and quotes. Here are a couple snapshots of the cover, along with some pages:

One neat little feature of the Maya Road chipboard albums are little cut outs included in each album. For the tea pot album, you get two sets of tea cups, two spoons, and a teabag. I used a tea cup and spoon for this page:

I had a lot of fun putting this mini book together. I also snagged one of the Maya Road Dress Form albums ... can't wait to start on that project someday! 

Supplies:

Maya Road Tea Pot Chipboard Album

Colorbok Dossier paper

Sizzix Button die

Walnut Stain distress ink

Kaiser Craft crochet doily flowers

Idea board

A while back, I had the idea of making framed cork bulletin boards to pin ideas or other fun little findings (this was just before my friend Liz introduced me to Pinterest). I bought some cork sheets, a dozen 5x7 plastic photo frames from the Dollar Store, some starry night paper to cover the cork, white acrylic paint, and some fun crackle paint to give my frames an antique look.

Since I wasn't sure how these boards would turn out, I decided to try just one board and see how I liked it. I measured a piece of cork and cut it to fit the inside of the photo frame, then glued it onto the back of the frame. I then painted the entire frame in crackle paint -- only to see all my paint chip off bit by bit! Turns out crackle paint is meant more for accents than as a base. ;)

I ended up painting the frame white, then applying little bits of crackle paint here and there. I cut a piece of the starry night paper and glued it to the cork board. Whether it was distraction or some sort of craft block, this project went on the back burner until last night. I decided to distress my frame even more, so I applied some Walnut Stain around all the edges. I took a bunch of butterflies that I had punched and attached them to some twine, then wove it around my frame to create a garland. I threw some lace over one of the corners and then, voila -- my idea board!

Now, all those quotes in my head have a home! Shoot, it can even be a place to display a message for my husband, or one of my tags:

Supplies:

5x7 plastic frame
White acrylic paint (it doesn't have to be expensive, mine was just $1 at Walmart)
Tim Holtz Distress Crackle Paint - Old Paper
Tim Holtz Distress Ink - Walnut Stain
Martha Stewart Royal Butterfly punch

Happy crafting!!

Autumn-theme card & tag

Ever since I saw these Autumn and Thanksgiving-inspired embossing folders, I just knew I had to have them! Paper Mermaids was so kind to save me their last set. :)

For the card below, I decided on using some brown and tan paper, along with some orange polka dot paper from Jenni Bowlin's Halloween line. I think these colors have fall all over them! I embossed my tan paper with the Leaf Garland folder, then tore the edges and inked the paper.

For my tag, I grabbed one of my Sizzix Scallop Tag die cuts, then ran it through my Big Shot using the Pumpkin Vine folder. I then inked the edges with Walnut Stain, Rusty Hinge, and Scattered Straw Distress Inks. For the sentiment, I used my trusty Martha Stewart custom stamp kit. :)

Supplies:

Sizzix Texture Fades "Thankful" embossing folders

Sizzix Scallop Tag die

Jenni Bowlin Halloween 2011 Accessory Paper

Tim Holtz distress inks

Recycled Storage Container

Lately I've been obsessed with all this recycled stuff lying around -- empty aluminum cans that once held pumpkin pie mix, glass spaghetti sauce jars, and even plastic spice bottles. (Here's an example of what you can do with a finished toilet paper roll!) There is soooo much potential with these items and while I'd love to give most of them to the recycling people, I'm keeping a few of them for some fun storage ideas.

After making a batch of pumpkin bars last week, I decided to salvage the aluminum can that they pumpkin mix came in. Its size seemed perfect to store all the larger die cuts that I have lying around with no home. So I removed the label and washed the entire can, then wrapped a piece of twine around it. I attached a tag and a paper button to properly label this new must-have for my craft area.

Beach Card

Last week, one of my husband's good friends from California flew up and spent a few days with us. Jon was a big help hiding all of my husband's Beaver Believer stuff in the car while he wasn't looking ... :) We ended up taking Scott to Big River Restaurant in Corvallis and oh my, was it great! The food and service were wonderful. To top things off, my sister drove all the way from Portland to surprise Scott and hang out with us for a couple hours.

Back at the house, Jon saw my craft table along with my Big Shot and all of my Martha Stewart punches and other crafty tools and asked how everything worked, so I gave him a quick demo on how to emboss a piece of cardstock using my Big Shot. I used my Cuttlebug Shell embossing folder for the design, and while Jon went off to watch football with Scott, I proceeded to ink the image and glue it onto a piece of cardstock. I inked one of my Sizzix scallop tags and stamped it, then attached it to the card with some white raffia. 

Supplies: 

Cuttlebug Shell embossing folder

Sizzix Scallop Tag Combo

Peeled Paint Distress Ink

Broken China Distress Ink

Beaver Believer card & gift wrap

Tomorrow is my husband's birthday, and being the biggest Oregon State football fan in the world, it seemed only appropriate that he have orange and black everything -- gift wrap, birthday card, and gifts!

I picked up these orange and black gift bags at Target for $1. To make them a little more festive, I attached a packet of eyeblack face tattoos with orange ribbon to one of the bags, and stamped an OSU sentiment on the other.

Luckily for Scott, the home of the OSU Beavers, Corvallis, is just an hour drive from where we live, so that's where we're taking him for dinner tomorrow night!

Supplies: 

Target gift bags 2 for $1

Black Soot Distress Ink

OSU scrapbook paper

Orange ribbon

Bazzil Just The Edge

Bazzil cardstock

Vinyl letter stickers

Team spirit

Happy Birthday/New Teacher card

My friend Abbie is the cutest, fiercest person. How can she be cute and fierce at the same time, you ask? Well, Abbie has had this insatiable desire to be a teacher, and she's worked non-stop up until now to land her dream job. God finally opened a door for Abbie and I am insanely proud of her and excited to see her fly.

Her birthday's coming up and I wanted to make a nod to her new teacher role, so hopefully this card will do the trick! I think I'll give her a bright and shiny apple as well. :)

Supplies: 

Spellbinders Label 8? I think?

Graphic 45 Once Upon a Springtime paper

Recollections paper flowers

Walnut Stain distress ink

Martha Stewart stamps

Accordion Book & Cover

The other Liz in my life, my dear friend from Solid Rock, also had a birthday recently. I wanted to make Liz a scrapbook that paid homage to all that she is to me and her friends, so when I saw some blank accordion books at Paper Mermaids, I knew one of these would do the trick!

The accordion book is housed in this book-coverish thingy, and because I wanted the outside of it to resemble a book but also match the decor of Liz's room, I painted it black and applied some white lace and a dainty strand of red ribbon. 

I painted the accordion book black as well to give everything a tied-together look. I then stamped each page with every letter of Liz's name and included a few spaces for photos and a cover page. 

Supplies: 

Black Soot Distress Ink

Jenni Bowlin Haven paper

Spellbinders dies

Sizzix Sewing Room die

Graphic 45 On The Boardwalk paper

Bo Bunny Word Album

My cousin Liz is one of the hardest people to shop for ... which stinks, because she's so much fun and so generous, you can't help but want to bless her. So when I saw how excited she was when my sister got her Beaver scrapbook, I knew right away what to "get" her for her birthday this July.

Liz moved from Seattle a few years ago and we've (my family and I) have had the tremendous pleasure of having her over for dinner, going out bowling and to happy hour, and a handful of other fun adventures. To celebrate some of her fun times in Oregon, I put together a Bo Bunny wordbook album for her called "Liz's Adventures in Portland."

The scrapbook contains pictures, random trivia, and other little asides ... plus a couple areas for Liz to complete herself. :) And due to space reasons, here are just a couple other pages from the book ... 

Supplies: 

Bo Bunny word book

Bo Bunny polka dot paper

Martha Stewart custom stamp kit

Tim Holtz Broken China distress ink

Tim Holtz Peeled Paint distress ink

Wedding Card

Here's a card I made for some friends who got married on Saturday. I thought their invitations were so pretty (yellow and brown cardstock wrapped in a doily) that I wanted to make a card following in the same fashion!

Supplies: 

Bo Bunny chiffon dot paper

Sizzix Swiss Dots embossing folder

Tim Holtz Walnut Stain distress ink

Sizzix Flourishes die

Sizzix Movers & Shapers die

August B-day Cards

Supplies: 

Martha Stewart Deco Shells punch around the page

Tim Holtz Peeled Paint distress ink

Tim Holtz Forest Moss distress stain

Tim Holtz sea foam white embossing powder

Spellbinders die

Supplies:

Graphic 45 Baby To Bride & Once Upon A Springtime paper

Spellbinders Fancy Tags Two die