Fruit cups for class party

Today I am on Samantha Walker blog, sharing how I made this festive fruit cups for my son's Kindergarten holiday party. Stop by and check it out!

 

Winners, updates and Silhouette tutorial

Hello there, blog readers! It looks like once again the life got too busy and as always, my blogging is the first thing that falls.

A lot of things happen in the last two months. I didn't really have time to blog or read blogs or even scrapbook. I hardly kept up with my DT assignments but was thankful for them. At least I was able to squeeze in some creative time in the midst of all the craziness. So what happened? Let's see -
April 12 - my last "regular" blog post where I shared my Project Life and promised a prize. We will come back to that in a second.
April 14-15 - I took Lila to ice skating competition in Minnesota. Ella and Eli came with us as well.
April 17-21 - My BFF Nina visited me and we spent the most awesome 5 days together. Well, 5 and a half since her flight was cancelled.
April 8 - May 12 - Red White and Blades (the annual ice skating show) practices. They took a big chunk of Lila's and my time
May 13 - 16 - I am getting ready for MOMS rummage sale and sewing skirts for Red white and Blades.
May 17-18 - Four ice skating shows for Lila. I am helping with the ticket sales and cast dinner. Ofir is helping with the tear down.
May 17 - Ofir's last working day at GE.
May 20 - 26  Packing, sorting, taking things apart, meeting with the realtors, getting ready to rent our house
May 27  - Ofir leaves for New Jersey, our new home
May 28 - June 8 - I am living my life - taking Lila to ice skating, choir rehearsals, BBYO activities, taking Eli to soccer and music lessons, trying to keep the house clean, trying to eat healthy. The school will be done in a week and we will resume the sorting/packing/purging mode. A huge part of it is going through my scrapbooking stuff that in 8 years grew from one shoebox to countless boxes, drawers, files, binders, baskets and just piles and piles. Wish me luck here!

Enough with the boring stuff! I hope (but not promise) that I will slowly return to blogging more and maybe even catching up on my Project Life. Right now I want to announce the winner from the Project Life Celebratory Blog Hop. Since I am so late, instead of one winner I am going to pick three winners. Here they are: comments number 15, 2 and 5  - Scrumptious, eek and Kelly Sas.

Email me ladies, your shipping address and what cards do you want. You can choose from Seafoam or Jade kits. 

I don't want you to think that I didn't do anything creative in the last two months. Actually, this month I am hosting a challenge at Scrap It Girl. The challenge is to use die cuts, any way you want. I used my Silhouette Cameo to cut a gorgeous "Just Leaves Lattice" by Patricia Zapata from A Little Hut.
 

That's how it looked like after I cut it from smooth white cardstock.

Very carefully I peeled the design from the mat leaving the negative space untouched.

I decided where I wanted the design on the page and trimmed the part above the picture.

I carefully peeled the leaves from the mat, colored them with Faber Castell markers and adhered them where they belong. I did not add any adhesive to the lattice itself. It was slightly sticky from the mat and I knew that the picture will hold it in place.

I added few more layers under the picture without adhering the picture itself.

I put the picture aside and splashed few watercolor drops on the background.

After the page was dry I added the picture, few stickers and colored wood veneers.

I love this picture of my parents. I think I am going to frame it.

 Supplies: cardstock (American Crafts, Recollections), patterned paper, stickers (American Crafts), markers (Faber-Castell), wood veneer (Freckled Fawn), vellum, brad, watercolors, Silhouette Cameo, cut file (A Little Hut)

Check what other Scrap It Girl DT members did for this challenge and share your take. It's and easy one. Who doesn't have die cuts??

Banner card set

 Supplies: cardstock (American Crafts), patterned paper (Samantha Walker for Carta Bella), stamp (Samantha Walker for JustRite), glitter (CTMH)

I am up today on Samantha Walker blog! I made a simple card set using Samantha's Bunting Border cut file, Buntings and Banners stamp set and Samantha Walker Traditions collection from Carta Bella.

These papers are so thick and give such a nice rich feel. I loved working with them and I already made another layout that I will share tomorrow.

I made a little paper band to hold the card set together. Stop by the Samantha Walker blog for the tutorial and more details.

Come back tomorrow for Samantha Walker Creative Team Blog Hop. As always, you can get a free cut file and have a chance to win an awesome prize.

Doily card tutorial

I am on Samantha Walker blog today, sharing how I made this simple doily card. 

There is just something about coloring and paper piecing that makes me happy.

Supplies: Silhouette Cameo, Samantha Walker cut file, markers (Faber-Castell), enamel dot (MME), jewel (Bo Bunny)

Samantha Walker Creative Team February Blog Hop

Welcome to the Samantha Walker Creative Team Blog Hop! This month's theme is Love.

You should have arrived here from Susie's blog.

If this is your first stop, be sure to head over to Samantha Walker's blog to start at the beginning!

This month one lucky winner will receive  Saddle Up Cottons fabric bundle! 

 

AND be sure to look extra closely at Step #4 to learn how you can get this FREE SVG and Silhouette Studio file:

To enter, just leave a comment on Samantha's blog by Sunday, 02/17 at 11:59pm MDT. The winner will be announced on Samantha's Facebook page on Monday, February 18th. 

For additional entries:

1. Receive an additional entry for commenting on each of the other blogs in the blog hop.

2. Go here and follow Samantha Walker's blog 

3. Follow her on Facebook

4. Sign up for an e-mail subscription to Samantha's blog and you will automatically receive a link to a free SVG cutting file that you can download and use on your personal electronic cutter. If you are already a subscriber, just enter in your information in the secure form on Samantha's blog!  The free files will be e-mailed early next week!

To receive the additional entries and get the free files, mention in your comment on Samantha's blog that you have done so! 

And now let me show you what I made!

I was looking for cute design for my marshmallow sticks and this "xo heart pocket card" from Samantha Walker Silhouette store caught my eye. I decided to use the small corner heart.

Marshmallow dipped in chocolate + sprinkles + straw to hold on + cute topper = adorable valentine treat 

That's how I modified the original design in order to use just the corner heart.

 

For each red heart I cut two white solid hearts. I stapled one solid heart to the straw and covered it with the second solid heart and red xo heart. 

That was fun to make and fun to eat. By changing the sprinkles and the topper design that can work for any holiday. I already have hew ideas.

Here is another fun project that I enjoyed making. It reminded me playing with paper dolls long long time ago.
I wanted to make something special for Eli's bus drivers. Two nice ladies drive him 3 days a week from one preschool to another and than back home. I wanted to show them that they are appreciated and Valentine's Day sounds like a great excuse. I bought a reusable coffee cup, starbucks gift card and a bag of hershey kisses. 

The candy went into the cup and I made a cute  gift card holder using Samantha Walker Valentine Cuties. I used "I give you my heart boy" design but I wanted to dress him in long pants so I "borrowed" the pants (and shoes) from "A hug and a heart boy".  I curved the bottom edge of his shirt to make it fit with the shape of the pants.

The gift card holder is a strip of folded 3x12 cardstock . I wrapped a piece of washi tape around the bottom flap to make sure it stays secure. 

I decided not to cut out the face features but instead I used colored pencils. The little boy on the card looks (almost) like Eli.  I will add a short message inside the card and Eli will sign his name.

I attached the card to the cup with pink twine. 

Thanks so much for stopping by!  I hope you were inspired to try these or any other beautiful cut files from Samantha Walker Silhouette Store.

Click on the image below to head over to Claudia Harvey!

Click on the photo below to go to your next stop!

Third Annual Orange Blog Hop

Welcome to the Third Annual Fiskateers ORANGE Blog Hop!  If you're hopping along, you should have come from Kelly's blog.  (If you are joining us in the middle, go to www.fiskateers.com to start from the beginning.)  Today we are celebrating Fiskars' signature color, ORANGE.  Almost everyone is familiar with Fiskars' famous orange-handled scissors, but Fiskars makes so many other wonderful products for crafting, sewing, gardening, and more.  Each stop along our Hop will feature different Fiskars' products with a big helping of ORANGE!    

My layout today is about my new phone. I am not one of those people who talk to their cars and have names for their possessions, believe me I am not. But my new smart phone (I have Google Nexus) improved my life in so many ways that I never expected, so I decided it deserves a layout. Besides, my phone rocks it's the orange case, so it is only appropriate that it will join us today.

Supplies: patterned paper (Echo Park, American Crafts), thickers (American Crafts), letter stickers (Bella Blvd), corner punch (Fiskars), border punch and tab punch (Fiskars), stickers (American Crafts), twine (unknown)  

I used Fiskars Corner squeeze punch to round the corners of my background paper and the orange grid paper. I wanted to echo the rounded corners of my phone.

 

After that I grabbed Fiskars Notebook border punch and punched the layers under the photo to make a nice distressed stack mat for my photo. Jenni Bowlin Tab Squeeze punch came in handy for the date label. The orange droid is from the case package. Isn't he cute?

I want to show you how I made the distessed notebook border

1. Tear one edge of the paper.

2. Start punching without pushing the paper all the way into the punch. Continue punching using the image on the punch for the alignment and keeping the paper straight

Now you have a punched border that looks like it was torn from a notebook.





That's it, folks! I am glad you stopped by!
For more information about Fiskars and the Fiskateer program, you can go to http://www.fiskateers.com/join/. Your next stop is Michelle at Scrapbooking 505

Oh, I almost forgot! Fiskars is very generous to prove prizes for this blog hop but I have something for you as well. One lucky winner with receive Fiskars "A Little Bird Told Me" punch, Bazzill Basics Wayfarer 6x6 pad and three handmade yo-yo flowers. To win just leave me a comment. Happy hopping! 

DIY chevrons

Here is a little something I made for Scrapbook Express newsletter few weeks ago.A little tutorial how to make your own chevrons that are so popular now.
Start with cutting the paper into squares using paper trimmer or square punch. Mine are 1"x1". Cut them diagonally into 2 triangles using paper trimmer or scissors.

Adhere the triangles to the background paper as shown in the picture. Continue with the same color or choose another one.

After I covered 6"x7" paper with chevrons I trimmed it to 4.5"x6.5", rounded the corners and used it as a background for my simple and happy card. The flower and the label are cut with the dies from the Lifestyle Crafts Wildflower gift set.

 Supplies: cardstock (American Crafts), dies and diecut machine (Lifestyle Crafts), jewel (Jo-Ann), letter stickers (Authentique), corner punch (Fiskars)

Reminder: 2 more days to enter the C.H.A. challenge at Scrap It Girl. I already saw several great entries and would love to see more! 

Window card tutorial

I got to design the make-n-take for the United States of Fiskateers crop. Lead Fiskateer Tami sent us awesome products to work with - the new LED SureCut(TM) Folding Rotary Trimmer, scallop circle everywhere punch, stamp press, postage stamp squeeze punch and a cute birthday stamp set. I added few other squeeze punches to the mix and designed this simple window card that features the scallop everywhere punch.

I wrote a little tutorial how to make this card.

1. Start with 6”x7.5” kraft cardstock. Score in half making 3”x7.5” card base.
2. Cut 2.75”x7.25” piece of white cardstock. Stamp the sentiment and punch the scallop window making sure the word “Fiskars” on the punch is facing you. 
3. Lay the punched white piece on top of the card base and center. With pencil and ruler draw a vertical and horizontal line in the center of the punched window.
4.  Position the base of the everywhere punch in a such way that the marked lines are in the center of the circle. Punch. Adhere the white piece to the card base aligning two punched windows.

5.       Stamp the sentiment inside the card

6.       Punch a circle, scallop circle and heart. Adhere to the inside of the card making sure it is centered

7.       Punch two leaves and adhere to the front of the card.

8.       Make another one  :)

      After making the card I realized that I didn't use the postage stamp squeeze punch. After a little experimenting I designed a little birthday tag that I will show you in the next post. I hope this week is treating you well. It is almost December!

Dimensional Details - week 6 and more

I had so much to share this week but I just couldn't find time for my poor blog. I just kept making lists and write down the ideas that slowly disappeared in the huge pile of paper on my desk. So left me unload few things in no particular order

1. I made a tutorial for Scrap That Baby how to make a prize ribbon. I love making those ribbons! I think they looks adorable on a card or as a party decoration. An while you are there, you still can submit your Easter baby layout. This challenge is due today 5/13

2. Stacy Julian had a birthday last week. She turned 45. If you didn't read her post "I'm almost fifty" you should. I especially liked number 49 on her list - makes perfect sense to me.

3. I managed to make 2 layouts for Dimensional Details this week. The first layout is week 6 assignment and the second layout uses the digital download from the bonus handout created by Louise Williams.

Supplies: patterned paper (GCD Studios, Amy butler for K&Co), chipboard swirls and flowers (Maya Road), chipboard corner (Making Memories), felt flowers (Cloud 9), buttons (Basic Grey), letter stickers (GCD Studios), ink (Brilliance), distress stickles (Ranger)

Supplies: cardstock (Wausau Paper), patterned paper, tag, gold leaf, letter stickers (Making Memories), border punch (Fiskars), distress ink (Tim Holtz), glimmer mist (Tattered Angels), cardboard, digital download by Louise Williams

4. The main reason for my crazy life this week is Red, White and Blades - Wisconsin figure skating club annual show. Lila is skating in two numbers this year plus her synchro number. If you are local I invite you to come and watch the show - it is really enjoyable. You can find the poster here and buy the tickets here.

5. That's all I can remember right now. I should go to bed now. Hopefully on Sunday I will have some nice pictures to share from the show.