Thursday, September 30, 2010

a harvest of happiness...

The October Jenni Bowlin kits should be up for sale today or tomorrow HERE! I did make some fall pages as well with the kits. I loved all the different patterns with the Crate paper, the vintage check, the exclusive Jenni Bowlin paper (dark green).
I bought a new leaf punch at AC Moore the other day and couldn't stop playing with it! It is by McGill and is a 2" maple leaf punch. I'm like a kid in a candy store when I get a new punch.
The story behind this layout is that my daughter was invited to her friend's birthday party 2 years ago in October and they live on a farm where they take care of horses for a living, so the kids were able to ride out on these wagons to feed the horses. My daughter (in the brown coat) has had a LOVE affair with horses for as long as I can remember, so this day was like magic to her! She was enthralled! The horses and their babies were so beautiful and cautiously looking upon us and did eventually come right up to the kids.
Another fall layout here, I used the Hambly doily transparency in the background and tied the punched leaves with twine from my stash. I found the saying, "Harvest of Happiness" on-line and thought it perfectly described my girls....they love fall, visiting the corn maze and pumpkin patch each year - and each year it's almost as if it's their first time. They love it!

I hope I don't get in trouble for showing all of my creations a day early, but I have some other things to share with you tomorrow, so I don't want to hold up my other posts. lol (That's my excuse!)

Grab these kits FAST...the Crate paper, exclusive Jenni products, and the other goodies are to die for! You won't be disappointed!

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

getting sneaky...

Just loading some sneak peeks to the next Jenni Bowlin kits! You can see more tomorrow in the Mercantile gallery! This month has lots of Crate Restoration - OMG I loved working with this line - also, as always, some exclusive Jenni Bowlin papers, journaling spots and stickers that won't be available anywhere else - only in this kit.

(Back of the Sweet little thing card - I wrapped the little doily around and adhered on the back as well.)
Here I cut a flower out of one of the the Crate papers and layered it with a ribbon and a Crate sticker! I popped the whole thing up with pop dots to show off the little heart. The textbook paper is from one of the older kits and floss/brad are from my stash.

I thought it would be fun to create a little string of hearts to tuck inside the card! You could even write little notes on each of the hearts! Or add pictures! :) I just punched a bunch of hearts and then ran them one by one through the sewing machine. These would be fun added to a layout as a banner also!

On the Pretty in Pink page, I cut the journaling die cut in half and placed it to draw your eye down the page. The little flowers were made just by punching a circle, then cutting it into a swirl, and wrapping it to form a flower. My good friend, Davinie, came up with the idea...isn't she creative?

Now, I promise you that the kit and add-on kits are not ALL girly!! I made 2 fall layouts that I will share with you tomorrow as well! Their are some GOR-geous papers in the kit perfect for fall too, along with fall bingo cards and such! ;)

Sunday, September 26, 2010

back 2 school...

Even though school has begun, it's not too late to give a teacher a gift to let her know you appreciate the role she has in your child's life! 2 Peas in a Bucket asked me to be a guest designer for their Back To School event, so I've put together a little teacher gift set with Pink Paislee's NEW Old School line... including a "Grade A Teacher" card, a gift box with a fun chalkboard top and a mini album made with the Flip Notes journaling pad to hold school photos!

100% Grade A Teacher card: To create this card, first cut a brown cardstock card base 10 3/4" x 5 1/4". Fold in half. The fold will be at the top of this card. Next cut a strip of Pink Paislee's Old School - Curriculum paper 5" x 1 1/2". Adhere to top of card. Back one of the Old School clear cards with white cardstock, so it will show up nicely against your card. Trim around clear card and attach. Adhere Old School sticker letters to spell "grade A teacher". Attach banner stickers, stars and 100. Then adhere an Old School metal badge that says % on it. Finished card size: approximately 5 1/2" x 5 1/2".


 
I found some cute, inexpensive chalkboards and chalk and wrapped them up with twine, then added an Old School clear card and a star sticker from the sticker sheet.
 
Gift Box with chalkboards: I used a paper mache box that was 7" x 7" square from the craft store and wanted to create a teacher gift box to fill with all kinds of pencils, notepads and things teachers can use! It was pretty inexpensive, only about $1. I used the Pink Paislee Old School Curriculum paper (front and back) to cover the bottom portion of the box . For the lid, I wanted to do something creative with it. I found some really neat Con-tact chalkboard paper that you can write on with chalk! It is made by Decora, Inc. It peels and sticks right on, so I measured the lid and covered each piece of the lid with this paper. To dress up the center, I cut a strip of the Old School- Prep School paper for the center and added the teacher's name with sticker letters. Then the other pieces are Old School - Canvas Borders cut to the width of the lid. Just peel and stick them...super easy! Last, I wrote "Welcome back!" and "1 + 2 = 3" on it with chalk.

 
2010-11 School Pictures mini album: I thought it would be fun to use the little Old School Flip Notes as a mini album to hold school photos. You know the wallet sized ones that you get from each child? They fit perfectly in this little album and there are 16 pages, so there is a lot of room for all kinds of pictures.(The Flip Notes come just like this already on a spiral binder!) I think I might make one of these for my daughter to keep her friends' photos in also! All I did to dress this up is first added an Old School sticker to the front (abc's). I also added sticker numbers to spell out the year. I used the Old School rub ons to add "school pictures", the camera and the red flowers.

The colors in the Old School line are gorgeous for beautiful fall scrapbooking pages too (see the fall page below!). I hope you will check out this line at your local scrapbooking store!

Saturday, September 25, 2010

Scrapbook and Cards Today magazine winner....

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

1
Timestamp: 2010-09-25 17:05:26 UTC

Blogger Amber said...
That page is SO cute...love the falling leaves...so clever!
September 23, 2010 9:20 AM

Congratulations, Amber! Please contact me with your mailing address, and I will get a copy of the fall issue out to you right away! Here is my email: dflanders71@hotmail.com. Thanks so much to everyone for  the kind comments!!

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Autumn, the year’s last, loveliest smile.

Fresh air, blowing leaves and cool mornings have set in here in New York! I will certainly miss summer, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't like this cooler weather too! No bugs. No humidity. I can live with that! :)

I was asked to create a fall page for the fall issue of Scrapbook and Cards Today Magazine, using a Becky Fleck sketch, so I decided to use my favorite fall line right now...the Old School line by Pink Paislee. It's not just for school pages! The colors really are gorgeous for fall pages too.
To create some interest in the title, I mixed up some Pink Paislee sticker letters with some dimensional wood veneer letters. I cut my own leaves from the lined paper and trickled them down the page to create movement!

Here is the beautiful sketch by Becky Fleck:
I had a card in the issue as well, which was also made with the Old School line by Pink Paislee. I layered an Old School clear card over patterned paper and added some canvas and cardstock stickers and a "back 2 school" rub on.
This fall issue is available right now! I received 2 copies of this issue, so I'm going to offer one to YOU! Please leave a comment and I will choose a winner randomly on Saturday, Sept 25th. You can actually view this issue and all of their issues on-line right HERE.

Thanks so much for reading today, have a happy day! xo
Danielle

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

To my best friend, my mom...

Birthday wishes...
I wanted to create a special card for my mom for her birthday. She is my best friend and is one of the most important people in my life! She's always there for me whenever I need someone to talk to. I miss her so much and living this far away from her has been tough, but we stay in touch by phone as much as we can. Since I've become a mom myself, I realize now that she has taught me so many things by her example:

To be patient and loving when I thought it was impossible,
To put myself last before others,
To put my "chin up and chest out" when I am down and to believe in myself always,
To be caring even to people who don't treat me nice (especially to those who don't treat me nice),
To forgive and let go when needed,
To love unconditionally,
To laugh and enjoy each day and the little things in life,
To appreciate.

She's the best mom any girl could have.
Mom, I'm so lucky to have you for a mom! I love you to pieces! I hope you have many, many more birthdays because I don't know what I'd do without you.
Love,
Danielle

Supplies used: kraft card base - Worldwin, doily and ribbon- craft supply, vellum butterflies- Jenni Bowlin, tape - Artisan Tape by Pink Paislee, stamp and paper - Parisian by Pink Paislee, flower - Prima, ink - Tim Holtz, rub on saying - Melissa Frances.

Sunday, September 19, 2010

get the mojo flowing...

Do you ever sit down to scrap and then you just can't get anything to flow? That happened to me last night. So I decided to just have fun and make a quick card. Not for anyone in particular, just to get the mojo flowing! I sat and cut, punched and layered, and this is what I made:
I was going to make a little "rainbow" of colors and find little bits and pieces of papers and ribbons and lay them out like a rainbow. But when I got started on it, I decided I really loved the kraft color of the chipboard, so I let it be! (This border chipboard is actually a 12 x 12" strip that I cut it down to fit my card. It's made by Dusty Attic and you can find it HERE - Fancy Trim #2.)
Then I remembered I had bought this American Crafts ribbon awhile back at AC Moore and never used it, so I just cut some strips to add for the sentiment. Sorry for the bad photos, I took these last night under flourescent lights. :) I've been seeing lots of pages with "strips" of different colors/patterns and love that look, so I wanted to try it out. Made the photo corners myself with some Girls Paperie paper.

It's very overcast and looks like it's going to rain today. I started feeling sick last week with a headache and body aches. Today I feel the worst so far, with a sore throat and very stuffy sinuses on top of the headaches and body aches. Now I know why the mojo wasn't flowing last night! Kati stayed home on Friday from school with it and now we are all sick with it here. I hope these nasty bugs go away soon! Enjoy the rest of your weekend. xo

Supplies: kraft cardstock, background paper - Parisian Anthology Fancy Filigree by Pink Paislee, chipboard - Fancy Trim #2 by Dusty Attic, red grosgrain ribbon- Morex, yellow ribbon- Fancy Pants, blue paper - October Afternoon, photo corners cut from Girls Paperie paper, thank you ribbon - Am Crafts, heart - Love Me Do die cuts by My Mind's Eye, machine stitching.

Friday, September 17, 2010

New card kit available...

With fall just around the corner and the temperatures cooling down, it has inspired me to sit and make some fun cards for you.

I have a new Autumn Greetings card kit this month with Right at Home Scrapbooking. You will get instructions, photos and patterns to create 5 cards with Basic Grey's new Pyrus line! (One is not pictured here.) The cards we will be making are for all different occasions, not just autumn.

Visit Right at Home Scrapbooking for more information, or call 508-695-9290. E-mail:
r.scrapbooking@verizon.net.

Thanks!
Danielle

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Joy and love...

Good morning all! I just saw one of my projects featured on the Moxie Fab blog, so I think it's safe for me to share it here too! This was in the Holiday Cards and More issue of Paper Crafts, which just came out!
To create this home decor project (or you could put hangers on them and hang them on your tree!), I took 2 large chip tiles from Tattered Angels and misted over them with one of their swirly Glimmer Screens. These chip tiles are rather large, I think about 9" or so. I found this pretty wood swirl decal at the craft store and couldn't wait to use it on a project! It is just brushed with copper colored acrylic paint and is flat on the back, so it attaches right to your project. Then I stamped the sentiment across the 2 tiles with alphabet stamps! The seam binding is sprayed with Olive Vine Glimmer Mist. Houndstooth letters and polkadot tape are by Pink Paislee.
We have a lot of browns in our living room, and this year I would LOVE to create a copper colored theme on our tree with ornaments, pinecones, sheer bronze ribbon, glass beaded garland, and twigs and other natural elements. That was my thought behind the color scheme when I was creating this. Oh, and isn't this a pretty mantle? I am so in love with it. Just googling Christmas trees puts me in the mood for the holidays. It's never to early to start creating for the holidays! :)

Monday, September 13, 2010

thinking of you...


Piglet sidled up to Pooh from behind.  "Pooh!" he whispered.  "Yes, Piglet?"  "Nothing," said Piglet, taking Pooh's paw.  "I just wanted to be sure of you."  ~A.A. Milne

I made a card the other night for a special someone who I've been thinking about a lot lately. I wanted this person to know I'm here and am wishing her all the best. xo

I used Anastasia paper and Rosaleen paper by Melissa Frances to punch out the little hearts. I am loving script paper lately! The large heart is a glitter chipboard heart that I turned over and covered with Henrietta paper. I wanted to put a little bit of white paint behind the Melissa Frances rub-on quote to make it stand out a bit more, so I used a fan brush and lightly added some acrylic paint in a cross-hatch pattern. After I did that, the rest of the cardstock looked plain, so I added a bit more white across the card with some splatters. Crocheted flower is by Close to My Heart and the clips are Woodsies by Loew-Cornell (Michaels).

Kati is doing well in Kindergarten after her first 2 days, but I still miss her a lot. She made some new friends on Friday and had better luck finding her classroom (she went into the wrong class on day #1!). It makes me happy to know she's growing and learning and having fun, new experiences! Friday she said they laid down for nap time, the teacher put on some music, and they all starting giggling because of the silly words in the song. She told me all about gym class - they did the crab walk and hopped like a bunny. Sweet kindergarten moments!

I'll be back soon with more to share. Thanks so much for all your visits, sweet comments, and for being there for me!

PS. We have a winner for the Glue Arts blog hop! CONGRATS to Jocelyn!!
Danielle

Friday, September 10, 2010

Glue Arts blog hop and give-away! **now closed**

I'm excited to share some news about a new venture for me...I'm going to be joining the Glue Arts team! They specialize in all different kinds of adhesive, so I'm thrilled to try out some new types of projects. You may be seeing some fabric projects on my blog! yay! 
Visit all of the Glue Arts designers' blogs today (and see who else is NEW to the team) for 12 chances to win! To start at the beginning of the hop, visit: www.gluearts.blogspot.com. You can leave a comment here on my blog to be entered to win a Glue Glider Pro and a cartridge refill of your choice! You'll have until Sunday to leave a comment. Winners will be announced on the Glue Arts blog on Monday.

I also have a layout to share with you today that I created for Ella Publishing's September ezine issue, Scrapbook Ellaments. It's a free issue if you'd like to take a peek! My layout was for the "Girly, Guaranteed" article and my assignment was to create a page with hand pieced flowers (doilies cut from patterned paper) + things that sparkle (pearls) + buttons.....a girly formula indeed.



To continue on the blog hop, next pop over to Cheri's blog!

Supplies used: die cut background paper, vellum butterflies, sticker butterflies, buttons: Jenni Bowlin, doily paper: Sweetness by Pink Paislee, wish chipboard: Dusty Attic, pearls: Melissa Frances, embroidery floss, machine stitching, brown paint.

Thursday, September 9, 2010

crying in my soup!

And yes, I need soup this morning because it's so darn cold out!! Brrr. It got cold so quickly after being in the 90's here last week. Kati and Taylor just got on the bus... it is Taylor's first day of 5th grade and Kati's first day of Kindergarten. They jumped out of bed this morning SO excited and got dressed in a flash. The girls picked out their own outfits last night and had everything laid out. I surprised them with a big breakfast - scrambled eggs and pancakes. After the bus came and I saw them off, I came back into the house to find....Kati's little blankie laying on the stairs by the door. I just about lost it. My eyes filled with tears. How do they go from being so little and dependent on you to all-of-a-sudden running out the door and hopping on the bus all by themselves?

Time goes by so quickly. Cherish every moment you have!!
I posted some pictures on my Facebook page this morning if you'd like to see more. I don't know why some of them turned out a little blurry. Oh well. Such is life! Ok, I'm off to go make something of my time while they are away.
xo,
Danielle

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Mum's the word...

For the Pink Paislee blog today, I've made a couple of Halloween cards combining their Starlight and Hocus Pocus lines! I love Halloween, one of my favorite holidays to create fun cards and gift bags.





The Coffin Crunch is a little mummy gift box I made from cardstock and adorned with Hocus Pocus stickers. You can read how to make all 3 of these HERE at the Pink Paislee blog! Let me know if you have any questions and I'll be happy to answer them.
Danielle


Supplies used: Starlight by Pink Paislee (yellow star paper), Hocus Pocus by Pink Paislee (star stickers, flip notes, stickers, metal badge, ticket, purple and striped papers), buttons from my stash, chipboard - Branches by Dusty Attic.

Sunday, September 5, 2010

on a mission to create...

Recently, I was asked to be a guest designer for a neat blog called Mission to Create! Our assignment was to create a layout using at least 3 out of 5 of these items:

1. the color beige or cream
2. stripes and polkadots
3. an envelope
4. a doily
5. something clear.

On my page, I chose to use the color cream (the vintage paper background), stripes and polkadots (on the hearts/circles) and something clear. The clear item I used is a pin in the center with some sheer flowers on it by Maya Road.

Because I couldn't decide which photos to share of this layout, I will just post a bunch! I first thought of the vintage paper when I thought of creme, so that's where I started my layout. It came in one of my Jenni Bowlin kits. I love the script look in the background! Next, I wanted to add some white for crispness, so I punched a bunch of circles from white cardstock. Lastly, I looked through my stash and found these heart die cuts by My Mind's Eye and then picked out lots of cute prints to add! I just started punching circles and trimming some of them with my pinked scissors and layering them together.
Here is the pin with the sheer flowers:
And the journaling:

I LOVE these mini chipboard words that I used down the side of the page by Dusty Attic. If you have never seen their chipboard pieces before, I would highly recommend that you visit their site!!! (enabler alert! :))

Thanks for stopping by!
Danielle

Supplies used: papers - Love Me Do by My Mind's Eye, vintage book paper, On Holiday by Girls Paperie, Fresh Print Clothesline by Little Yellow Bicycle, Crate paper, Basic Grey and October Afternoon. Chipboard - Dusty Attic, alphas - American Crafts, sheer flowers - Maya Road.

Thursday, September 2, 2010

Come and sit for a spell...

Here is a fun, polky dotty mini album I made with Jenni Bowlin's Sept. project kit! :) To see ALL of the inside pages, click HERE.
On the cover, I used Jenni's new black paint dauber to ink up the edges on the polkadot paper and also used the creme paint dauber to distress the buttons and the moon! (paint not in kit) The 2 buttons on the side are tied on with thread to hang off the binding.
I think the only things in this project kit that weren't included were the white crepe paper, black thread and paint that I used. I cut a strip from a crepe paper streamer, ran a thread through one side and pulled, creating a circle. Then I attached the moon and witch over the top and tied it onto the book binding. The moon is lightly painted with the creme paint by Jenni Bowlin. Aren't the little witches cute? :)

I made polkadots with Jenni Bowlin's new paint daubers and then journaled around the circles on the inside pages! Pictures are of my girls last year trick-or-treating with their little friend, Adrianna. We had to go to the mall for trick-or-treating in the afternoon, because it was supposed to rain on Halloween eve last year. Every year all of stores in the mall participate and it's so much fun! (and warm and dry!)

I hope you'll stop by my gallery to see the rest of the inside pages. :) Have a good day!
Danielle