Paper, Scissors and Superheroes

Front & Center Travel Activities...

 Summer is fast approaching, and for us that means more time spent on the road for baseball games, quick weekend trips, and whatever else pops up!  My girls are always wanting to take games or coloring books along for the ride, and it seems like I'm always scrambling to get them together as we're ready to leave the house!  So, I thought I'd take a little time to put together some fun take-along books.  With its built in handle, the Front & Center die turned out to be the perfect solution!  

I used the Front & Center #1 die to create the front and back covers for my books.  I cut them from chipboard to make them a bit more sturdy, then covered both sides with patterned paper.  

I kept the front covers fairly simple because, let's face it, kids are hard on stuff.  And if they're going to be dragging these along here, there, and everywhere, they're just going to get beat up.  So, I just embellished the front with a strip of patterned paper topped off with the Heart Border die.  I made a monogram using the Outline Alphabet for each of the girls so they can easily see who's is who's.  I colored it in using several different Copic colors for a rainbow effect.  I added a little fabric flower sticker to each (from the Amy Tangerine Sketchbook collection).  The cute little pencil and scribble image are from the Happy Trails set.  

Inside each book is a set of Twistables and some coloring pages that I printed.  There are tons of free coloring pages out on the net that you can download and print if you just do a Google search.  Or, if you want a cute coordinating set and don't want to spend the time searching, there are several cute sets on Etsy.  I purchased THIS set of cute foodie images to use.  As for printing, these came in pdf format and were full-page images.  I just adjusted my printer to print four images on an 8 1/2" x 11" sheet of paper and that was the perfect size to fit in my Front & Center cover without getting in the way of the handles.  The pages are narrower than the covers, so you can see from the image below that they aren't bound in the last two binding rings.

The crayons are held in place with elastic that I stitched in place.

I wasn't too fussy with measuring the elastic.  I drew a guideline with a pencil to keep myself from going all crooked as I was stitching, but then I just started at one end with the whole spool of elastic and stitched every 1/2" or so, leaving a little bit of slack in the elastic between each row of stitching so the crayon would fit.  I kept going until I had enough loops to hold 8 crayons, then cut off the excess elastic.  It needs to be snug enough to hold the crayon, but not too snug that little hands have trouble getting them in and out.  It's pretty forgiving though, so don't sweat it too much.  When I stitched it, I adhered the patterned paper to my chipboard piece and stitched through both layers.  I felt like stitching through the chipboard would make it a bit sturdier.  So make sure you do this first before adhering the patterned paper on the front cover, otherwise your stitching will show through to the front.

Here's a shot of the binding.  They're almost like little flip-open art desks.  Great for travel...and the elastic bands keep the crayons from flying all over in the back seat...yay!  I'm also excited about the fact that I can refill them once they've used up all of the pages.  I can easily pull out the wires, put in new coloring pages and re-bind them.

Oh, and I added a ribbon closure that loops through the handles as well.  I just took a length of Saddle Stitch ribbon and stitched a bit of velrco to the ends, looped it through the handles and fastened the velcro.  It will keep them from flipping open when they're not being used.  

One last little bonus project today!  When I finished with the coloring books, I decided it would be fun to make a tic tac toe game using the same principle.  

This one flips open to reveal two magnetic sheets (I re-purposed some magnetic promotional calendars).  The one side is blank to hold the game pieces during play, and on the other I created a tic tac toe board with strips of patterned paper.  The game pieces are just diecut flowers layered over punched circles and topped with some cute pearls.  I glued a bit of magnet to the back of each piece.  It was a quick and easy project and the girls already put it to good use on the way to church last night!  

Well, that wraps up my project for today!  

Also, just a note that I updated my Etsy shop this morning (FINALLY!) with a few new things, so be sure to check it out!  As always, if you see something here on my blog that you'd like to purchase, but don't see it in my shop, just convo me and I'll be happy to create a listing for you!  

Thanks so much for stopping by and I hope you have a great weekend!

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Summer Camp...

Welcome to the second group post for the May Papertrey Ink countdown!  Today the team is showcasing a new stamp set called Summer Camp, designed by Heather Nichols.  It's a great set for all of those outdoorsy photos, masculine cards, gifts and more!  The set has some great images and sentiments as well as a couple of label stamps that have coordinating dies.  There is also a coordinating pattern paper pack.  All of these new goodies will be available for purchase from the Papertrey Ink website on the evening of May 15.  

So for our Summer Camp projects today, Nichole challenged each of us to find an image on the web to inspire us.  While I was browsing around, I happened across this Eddie Bauer ad that someone had pinned on Pinterest.  I loved the dramatic effect of the white letters against the pretty outdoor photos.  

I decided to take that inspiration and create a mini album for some of last year's vacation photos.  I used the Calendar Page die as the pages for my album and bound them together with my Bind-it All  The little tabs work perfectly for holding photos. I chose two photos to use on my cover and used Photoshop to lay them out and print them one directly on top of the other.  I took the "take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but footprints sentiment" and stamped it with Versamark directly onto my photo and heat embossed it with white powder.  I really wasn't sure if that was going to work...I thought it might melt my photo, but I was careful to keep the heat gun moving.  It did curl it a bit, but I adhered it to a piece of cardstock when I was finished and it straightened it right out. 

The patterned papers I used here are from the new Summer Camp pad.   The label in the lower right corner is from the Summer Camp set and there are coordinating dies as well.  I stamped the year using the Library Ledger Year Additions set.  The "Colorado" title was cut using the Block Alphabet die set.  I also added a bit of background stamping using the corrugated image from My Hero, My Dad.

Here's a peek at the inside.  The tabs on the Calendar Page die work perfectly for holding photos.  I just printed them out at home at a 2 1/2" width, which fits in the tabs perfectly.  

I used lots of sentiments from the set to create the word art borders along the pages.  I used the label stamps and dies from the set as places to add a bit of journaling.  

One other thing to note, I diecut the pages of my album from chipboard, then covered them with cardstock or patterned paper that was also diecut with the Calendar Page die.  The chipboard makes them nice and sturdy.  

For my second project today I wanted to create a Father's Day card using the new Summer Camp set.  I came across this image on Pinterest and thought it was just plain fun...the colors, the design, everything!  So I used it as inspiration for creating my card. (sorry, I couldn't find the original source, try as I might!)

I used the sky and hill stamp from the new On the Farm set (yes, I used it again...I warned you the other day I was slightly addicted to it!!).  This time I stamped the sky in Aqua Mist and the hills in Simply Chartreuse.  I then used Dark Chocolate ink and stamped the fun mountain scene from the new Summer Camp set over the top.  It was the perfect scale to add to the scene!  I love it when things like that work out and I can combine sets together in that way.  

I really tried to mimic the whole look and feel of the scene in that graphic.  I added some clouds using the smaller die from the Clouds Die collection.  I trimmed off the bottoms to give them that trendy flat-bottom look I've been seeing a lot of lately.  I heat embossed some of the trees with Zing powders, and some of the others I stamped onto cardstock and hand-cut.  (pay no attention to the pine tree growing in the lake...ha!  Didn't even occur to me until I was writing this post...)

I layered everything with different thicknesses of foam adhesive.  The "happy father's day" sentiment is from My Hero, My Dad and the red "DAD" along the bottom was diecut using the Block Alphabet Upper die collection.  I embossed the background with the Woodgrain Impression plate and stamped the rustic wood along the side using the new BB: Farm & Barn set.  

That's all for my projects today using the new Summer Camp stamp set and coordinating products. Thanks so much for stopping by and I hope your week is off to a great start.  You can swing by the other DT gals to see what they've created with these new products!

• Ashley Cannon Newell
• Danielle Flanders
• Jess Witty
• Erin Lincoln
• Maile Belles
• Nichole Heady
• Dawn McVey
• Heather Nichols
• Melissa Phillilps

 Finished size = 5 3/8" x 4 5/8"

Supplies not linked, but available on May 15th from Papertrey Ink:  Summer Camp stamp set, Rounded Labels die collection, Summer Camp patterned paper pack

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 Finished size = 4 1/4" x 5 1/2"
Supplies not linked, but available on May 15th from Papertrey Ink:  Summer Camp stamp set, On the Farm stamp set, Background Basics: Farm & Barn stamp set

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Garden Variety Continues...

It's time for group post day #2 for the April Papertrey Ink countdown.  Today the team is featuring some new additions to the Garden Variety line up.  This new addition to the previously release Garden Variety set includes the Garden Variety II stamp set which contains a new seed packet frame image and some additional labels and elements that coordinate with the original set.  There is also a new Seed Pack Frame die to coordinate with the new frame image.  Also being released this month is a new set to coordinate with the Year of Flowers series called Year of Flowers Titles.  It's a simple little set that contains titles for each type of flower in the 12 Year of Flowers collection.  These titles fit nicely in the seed packet frame.  

So, a little more about today's project.  Nichole asked us to find an inspiration piece to jumpstart our projects today.  I came across these fun garden markers on Etsy.  I loved the rustic feel of the stamped letters and I decided to see what I could come up with using some of the new products being released this moth

 
(image credit)

Using those beautiful markers as my inspriration, I created a gift ensemble that would be perfect for any flower garden lover.  The ensemble includes a card, a seed packet which holds a gift card, and some garden markers.  

First, a little about the card.  I used the new Seed Packet Frame 2 die and the coordinating image from the new Garden Variety II set.  The watering can is from the original set, but the flowers filling the can are new!  There is a pot image in the new set that coordinates with this flower bunch as well.  I added the "mother" sentiment from the Mother stamp set.  I give my mom a gift certificate to her favorite nursery almost every year for Mother's Day, so this will be perfect for her!

I used the Seed Packet die to create a coordinating gift card holder.  I cut the Seed Packet from patterned paper and added the new frame over a piece of vellum which I stamped "A gift for you" from the Delightful Dahlia set.  

For the garden markers, I took some polymer clay out to play around with.  These were fun to make and I felt like a kid playing with Play-doh again!  I used the flower names from the new Year of Flowers Titles set to make an impression into the clay before baking it.  I also added a few decorative elements from the new Garden Variety II set.  

Now, I'm definitely not a clay expert by any stretch of the imagination, and I don't have any fancy tools for working with clay besides a basic tool kit, but I'll show you how I made these.  I learned a few things along the way and if I do any more of these, it should go a little more smoothly.  :-)

I started by rolling out my clay.  It can't be too thick, but it shouldn't be too thin either.  I would aim for about 1/8" thick...maybe a little more.  So that you don't distort it by moving it from one place to another, you can roll it directly onto the surface you plan to bake it on, or you could do it on parchment paper.  After it was rolled out evenly, I took the Happy Day Label die and pressed it into the clay.

I used a needle-ended tool from the clay tool kit to "cut" around my die.  I think a paper piercer would also work for this part.  

Then I peeled away the excess clay.  

I pulled the die away and I was left with my clay label which I then "stamped" with my flower names and added a few decorative elements.  When impressing the images into the clay, try to do so with even pressure...enough to get a good impression, but not too much pressure that the image becomes distorted.   

After I finished the stamping, I baked the clay according to the instructions on the package.  I attached my markers to some small wooden dowels.  I put a block of floral foam in the bottom of a metal bucket (from the Target Dollar Spot) and trimmed a circle from patterned paper to fit inside my bucket.  I just stuck the ends of the dowels through the paper and into the foam.  

Well, that' all for today!  Thanks so much for stopping by!  Before to check out what the other DT gals have put together using this new line up of Garden Variety products.  

• Ashley Cannon Newell
• Danielle Flanders
• Jess Witty
• Erin Lincoln
• Maile Belles
• Nichole Heady
• Lisa Johnson
• Dawn McVey
• Heather Nichols
• Melissa Phillilps

Supplies not linked, but available as of April 15th from Papertrey Ink:  Garden Variety II stamp set, Year of Flowers Titles stamp set, Seed Packet Frame 2 die

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Strawberry Patch...

Welcome to the first group post of the April Papertrey Ink countdown!  The team has some fun projects to share with you using a new line up of products called Strawberry Patch!  This new line of products includes the Strawberry Patch and Strawberry Patch Sentiments stamp sets, as well as coordinating dies!  There are dies to match the strawberries as well as the strawberry tops and some tiny flowers.  There is also a coordinating set of dies called Perfect Patches, which I'll show you more of in a bit!  Along with all of the strawberry goodies is a new die called Strawberry Basket.  It's a super fun die that creates a nearly full sized berry basket once it's all assembled.  All of these new products will be available for purchase from the Papertrey Ink website as of 10pm on April 15th.  

So let's talk about today's project.  I created a bath gift basket using all of these new Strawberry Patch goodies.   

The card features the big berry cluster -- that large image is all one piece!  It is just an outline, but there are coordinating stamps to stamp the leaves and strawberries, just in case you're not too keen on coloring (raising hand!!!)  yay!  

The sentiment I used on my card is from the Strawberry Patch Sentiment set.  I inked it up with Hibiscus Burst ink, then rolled the bottom edge in Pure Poppy for a gradient look.  I embossed my stamped panel with the Picnic Plaid Impression Plate (the perfect companion to the strawberry set, don't you think?!?!).  As for that sweet bottom edge, I diecut several patterned papers using the new Perfect Patched die, lined them all up along the bottom edge of my cardstock, then diecut it with the Edgers #4 die.

To fill up my basket, I dressed up some lotions and body splash with patterned papers and berries, which were stamped onto the Perfect Patches diecuts.  I also included some felt strawberries, which were done the same way I showed in THIS post.

So let's talk a little about the basket.  It was, of course, created with the new Berry Basket die.  Now, if assembled normally, this basket would be square.  For my particular project today, I decided an oblong basket would be better, so I altered it a bit.  I'll show you some details on that in a bit.  I also added a fabric liner (step-by-steps later in this post!).  The handles are just strips of felt which I attached with some cute flower brads.  

So, as promised, here are a few shots of how I trimmed/assembled my basket to make it rectangular instead of square.  For one side of the basket I trimmed it down, leaving 5 rows of square openenings (across the top) and just adhered the tab from the back panel to this piece, just like you would if you were creating a full-sized basket.  

For the other side, since I will need to trim away the tab that would normally be adhered to that back panel, I left a little excess -- the little pieces that would have formed the 6th row of holes -- to create tabs which I then could adhere to the back panel. Clear as mud?  It sounds a bit complicated when I type that all out, but it's really pretty simple.  :-)

Now for the fabric liner.  I wanted to use two different fabrics -- one that would show through the holes in the basket, and a contrasting fabric that would show in the portion that folds over the top of the basket.  So, I took my two fabrics and laid them out, wrong sides together.  

I then made a pattern by assembling another basket from scrap paper.  You could also do this with your actual basket pieces before you adhere the side edges...I was just experimenting when I did mine and my basket was already assembled before I figured out I needed it for a pattern!  :-)  I pinned it in place through both of my fabrics.

Then take a ruler and measure 1 1/2" from the end of each basket side -- this extra length is what folds over the top edge of the basket.  Cut it out, following the marked lines, and leaving about 1/4" extra around all of the other edges (for the seam allowance).  I wasn't very fussy about this at all...I figured it was going to get bunched up inside my basket anyway...so don't sweat it too much!

Once you have the pieces cut, it's time to start sewing.  Working with each liner piece seperately and with right sides of fabric together, line up the edges (the edges that you would normally put adhesive on if you were going to assemble it out of paper) and sew a 1/4" seam.  Repeat with all four sides on both fabric pieces.

Once all four sides of each liner piece are sewn, this is what you end up with.  

Now put one inside of the other, right sides together.  Sew along that top edge, leaving an opening so you can turn it.  Turn it right side out and then stitch the opening closed.  It's now ready to place in your basket!  

I hope you enjoyed today's project!  Feel free to email me if you don't understand my clear as mud instructions and I'd be happy to help.  :-)

Now be sure to hop around to the other DT gals to see what they've created using this new line up of products!

• Ashley Cannon Newell
• Danielle Flanders
• Jess Witty
• Erin Lincoln
• Maile Belles
• Nichole Heady
• Lisa Johnson
• Dawn McVey
• Heather Nichols
• Melissa Phillilps

Supplies not linked, but available on April 15th from Papertrey Ink:  Strawberry Patch and Strawberry Patch Sentiments stamp sets, Perfect Patches die, Berry Basket die

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Birthday Bash...

It's time for the first group post of the March Papertrey Ink countdown.  Today the team is featuring the new 2012 Birthday Tags set.  I always love the tag sets, and this one is definitely no exception.  I love the addition of the oval tags this time around!

For my project today I created a card, a gift bag and tag and an invitation...all done up in a happy color scheme!

First the card.  I used this pretty solid/reverse floral image from the new 2012 Birthday Tags set.  I combined it with the Rosie Posie stamps and dies. 

I'm pretty sure it's impossible to create a bad card with Rosie Posie...I've seen so many gorgeous creations on the web using this set!  I stamped the flowers in Pure Poppy, Hawaiian Shores, and Summer Sunrise.  I added in some pretty coordinating papers...the red floral paper along the bottom is from the Avalon collection by Bazzill and the jumbo chevron is from Canvas Corp.

Next up is the gift bag and tag.  I love how easy it is to make gift bags with the Front & Center dies.  I used the Front & Center #2 die here.  

The tag on the front was made using the same oval image from the new 2012 Birthday Tags set, layered over the Tag Sale #6 die.

And last but not least, is the invitation.  This project uses a couple more new products that are being released this month.  The first is little $5 set called By Invitation.  It contains one large "when, where, rsvp" lined stamp with a few additional "you're invited to:" stamps done up in different fonts.  The other new product I used here is the start of a new series of dies called Card Base-ics.  There are two different Card Base-ics diec being released this month.  I combined the Card Base-ics #2 die with the Movers & Shakers Sliders dies from last month to make in interactive invitation.  

I was excited about the fact that the Slider die fit perctly inside the tabs of the Card Base-ics die...what a fun find!  That adorable "celebrate" cupcake tag is also from the new 2012 Birthday Tags set.  The Slider die pulls out to reveal the party info. 

Well that's all from me for today, but there's lots more inspiration to be found at the other DT blogs, so check it out!

• Ashley Cannon Newell
• Danielle Flanders
• Jess Witty
• Erin Lincoln
• Maile Belles
• Nichole Heady
• Lisa Johnson
• Dawn McVey
• Heather Nichols
• Melissa Phillilps

 

Supplies not linked, but available as of 10pm Eeastern at Papertrey Ink:  2012 Birthday Tags stamp set, Card Base-ics #2 die, By Invitation stamp set

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Let's do tea -- Papertrey Style...

Welcome!  Be forewarned!  This is a super-long post with lots of info and photos, so sit back and enjoy! :-)

I have a fun project to share today.  First, a little back history...my girls and I have been very busy this winter!  They both received American Girl dolls for Christmas.  Now, even though my girls are girly-girls, they've never really been into playing dolls (much to my dismay!).  These have definitely been different though.  I must say, they are much cuter than the other twenty or so dolls that never get pulled out of their toy box!  And they have really nice hair (my oldest daughter's most-loved feature!).  They've really been playing with them a lot.  And I think even more than playing with them, we've been having so much fun crafting for them!  

My 8 year old has really been wanting to learn how to sew.  So that's what we've been doing...sewing clothes for her dolly.  She loves picking out the fabrics and planning the outfits and she sits on my lap by the sewing machine and we sew.  And we have the best time.  And she is really coming along with her sewing skills!  Right now she's working on a small quilt for her dolly....she did it completely on her own (with a few step-by-step instructions from me along the way) and it's turning out so cute.  I'm so proud of her!  

So, on to today's project.  I decided to put my Papertrey stash of supplies to work to create a fun dolly-sized tea party set!  I had a blast putting this project together and it's been all I can do to keep the little hands away long enough to photograph it!  They are just itching to start their tea party!  

The entire set includes felt food, teabags, invitations, doily napkins, a banner for decorating their party, and a decorative case to keep it all in.  I'll go over each element in detail, showing you how I put it all together, with a complete supply list at the bottom of this post.  :-)

First off are these decorated clear top tins.  One holds tiny hand-made tea bags and the other holds the felt food. I decorated the tops with diecuts and stamped labels -- the tea label is from Tea for Two and the Sweets label is from Everyday Treats.

Here is a close-up of the "teabags".  I cut apart some glassine bags and stitched them into tiny bags, filled them with beads and added a hang-tag which was cut using the Tiny Tags die and stamped with the "friend blend" sentiment from Tea for Two Additions.  Obviously if you're making this for a small child you'll want to skip the beads.  Fortunately my girls are beyond the putting-everything-in-their-mouth stage. 

And then there is the felt food.  I used some different dies to cut the felt pieces and just hand-stitched them.  The cookies are made using the heart circle and small scallop circle from Love Lives Here die collection and the larger circle used as the base is from Limitless Layers 1 3/4" Circle collection.  I didn't get them in the photo here, but I also made some heart-shaped cookies with the Heart Prints dies.  The strawberries are made with the Fruit Fusion Berry die and a Seeing Stars die as the topper.  

I have a few step-by-step shots to show you how to make the strawberries...

Diecut three berries from red felt and one medium star from green.  Trim the tops from the strawberries and discard.

Stitch the three strawberries together along the edges to form a dimensional berry.  Leave the top open like this so you can fill with a bit of stuffing.  Then use a little hot glue to adhere to star to the top of the strawberry.  You can thread some green embroidery floss through the top first to form the stem, if you wish.  

You'll notice this is a pretty fancy shmancy tea party...we even have doilies under our cookies.  These were cut with the Parisian Lace die.  I cut them from cardstock so they would be nice and sturdy for little hands.  The ones you buy in the store are flimsy, but cut from Papertrey's Stamper's Select cardstock they should make it through several tea parties.  :-)  To hold them all together neatly, I used a CD envelope.  I fancied it up a bit with some patterned paper.  I used the largest die from the Delightful Doily die collection to cut the window in my patterned paper, which fits pefectly over the window in the CD envelope.  The label was made with the Photo Finish Strips.

And of course if you're going to have a tea party, you'll want to invite your friends, right?  I created these sweet little invites with the Tiny Envelope die and the frame from Simply Jane.  

Inside is a small card with a diecut teacup from Tea for Two Additions.  My girls now think their dollies need mailboxes..will it ever end?  Gosh, I hope not.  :-)  

And what else...oh yes.  Decorations.  A real tea party always has some sort of pretty party decor, right?  I used the Banner Builder dies to create a bunting from patterned paper.  I stitched all of the banner pieces together by running them through my sewing machine, one right after the next, without cutting off the thread in between.  

A re-purposed baker's twine spool proved to be the perfect thing to wrap it around to keep it tidy.  I stamped the top of the spool with a cute image from the Daily Designs set and the "vintage style" sentiment is from Button Boutique.

And then of course, we needed something to put our treasures in.  I just happened to have this tin case in my stash...I've had it for a few years and always hoped to find a use for it.  I was so excited to find that everything for our tea party fit perfectly inside (except the dishes...they go in our play cupboard).  The tin was originally galvanized metal, but I sprayed it white and covered it with some patterned papers.

What fun!  I have a few more notes and tips about today's project...

All of the patterned papers I used are from Kaisercraft's new Fine & Sunny collection which looks like is scheduled to start shipping in mid March.  Pretty much everything else is from Papertrey Ink and is linked in the thumbnails at the bottom of this post.

A little tip...if you'd like your dolly to be able to hold the cookies and such, just simply stitch a small rubber band to the back side so you can slip it around her hand like this...

The cute little dress on our Emily doll was stitched using a pattern from KottonCandy27 on Etsy (so cute and easy!)

As for the tea set, it's just a plastic set that I found at our Dollar General store, but I think it's so cute!

Thanks for stopping by and having tea with us today!  If you have any questions, feel free to contact me!  Have a great weekend.  :-)

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Garden Variety Revisited...

Well, we made it through our extra long February *grin* and it's now March!   Spring is on its way!  Hooray!  

The first of the month means it's time for another Papertrey Ink Sr. Team challenge.  This month Nichole challenged us to revisit the Garden Variety stamp set and coordinating products.  She also challenged us to base our project today on an image from Pinterest or a product from a magazine, etc.  I stumbled across these adorable Jelly Belly seed packets and instantly knew I wanted to try to create something similar using Papertrey stamps and dies!

Here's what I came up with.  I combined the Garden Variety stamp set with a few of the Fruit Fusion sets to create my own Jelly Bean Seed Packets.  I think they would make adorable Easter treats or favors for a spring or summer get together.  All supplies are linked at the bottom of this post.

I used one of the angled labels from Label Basics to frame my sentiment, which is from the Garden Variety set.  A little baker's twine bow, and that's all...cute and simple!

Here are a few step-by-step shots of how I diecut and assembled the seed packets.  (Sorry for my wonky photos today...obviously I had my camera settings all wrong.)

I started by diecutting the Seed Packet from patterned papers.

I then used the largest Angled Label die to cut a window from the front of the packet.  

I then cut a piece of clear cardstock large enough to cover the window.  I put Scor-tape on all of the edges and adhered it to the backside of the window opening.

Then I diecut the Seed Packet frame, stamped it with the frame image from Garden Variety and adhered it to the front side of the Seed Packet.  

After that it was just a matter of assembling the Seed Packet, embellishing it, and filling it up with yummy jelly beans!

Thanks for stopping by today.  Be sure to hop around to the other Sr Team members to see what they've created using the Garden Variety stamp set!

Danielle Flanders (filling in for Maile this month!)
Dawn McVey
Heather Nichols
Melissa Phillips

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Sweet Spring...

Welcome to the annual Papertrey scavenger hunt!  There may or may not be eggs hidden in the image above - can you find them?  There may be one, there may be more than one, there may be none!  Count them up and mark them down, then make your way around to the other Papertrey designers...count their eggs too and then be sure to return to Nichole's blog to leave a comment stating the number of eggs you found.  One random winner with the correct answer will receive an awesome prize!  (click on the photo above to enlarge it if necessary - you only need to look for hidden eggs in the photo at the top of this post).  Here are links to the other designers participating in today's scavenger hunt....

• Ashley Cannon Newell
• Danielle Flanders
• Jess Witty
• Erin Lincoln
• Maile Belles
• Nichole Heady
• Lisa Johnson
• Dawn McVey
• Heather Nichols
• Melissa Phillilps

Now if you're done hunting and counting, are you ready to hear more about today's products and projects?  The sets the team is featuring tonight are Scrambled Eggs by Heather Nichols and Sweet Spring by Lisa Johnson.  Both sets are perfect for spring and Easter crafting and even beyond.  

I created a little Easter ensemble using these two new sets.  

The little felt treat bag was created with the Favor-it #4 die.  I modified it a bit by only cutting the front and back panels (trimming away the portion that make up the sides and bottom) to create a flat bag that I could stitch together.  

I embellished that adorable bunny egg from the new Scrambled Eggs set with a diecut bow from the Bells & Boughs die collection and I diecut the ears from some fur fabric.

And here is the coordinating card.  The floral background was created by stamping the smaller floral bouquet image from the new Sweet Spring set in Aqua Mist, Hibiscus, Chartreuse, and Autumn Rose inks onto Rustic Cream cardstock. The sentiment label is also from the new Sweet Spring set and it coordinates with the previously released Christmas Label die, also from Lisa Johnson.  I love that I now have more options for that label, since I love the shape of it!

For my card, I put that cute bunny in the spotlight by placing him in the center of the frilly frame from last month's Simply Jane set and die.

Thanks for hopping by today!  Supplies are linked below...but my apologies...many of my Papertrey Ink links are not working.  They are revamping the website and things are a little wonky right now.  Hopefully everything will be up and running smoothly soon and I can fix whatever links need to be fixed at that time.  Thanks for your patience!  

In the mean time, happy hopping!  :-)  

Supplies not linked but available as of February 15th from Papertrey Ink:  Sweet Spring stamp set, Scrambled Eggs stamp set and coordinating die collection

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All Booked Up Revisited...

Happy New Year!

It's the first of the year, and the first of the month and that means the Papertrey Sr Team is here with a challenge!  This month, we are revisiting the All Booked Up stamp set and die collection.  Nichole challenged us to create a card along with a set of book plates or a bookmark.  

First the card.  It's very simple...I wanted to to resemble a book, kind of like the cool modern notebooks.  I did a strip of lined ledger paper across the front and diecut the word "friend" using the Block Alphabet die.  I then stamped the "Good friends, good books" sentiment just below it.

On the "spine" of my card, I used a ticked from the Ticket Border die and stamped "BFF" using the Simple Alphabet set to resemble call letters you might find on a library book.  :-)

Now for the other part of my project.  I created a matchbook style booklet to hold some book labels.  I gave this to my grandma for Christmas, along with a book and it made for a sweet gift!  The idea kind of stemmed from the little ticket booklets I made in THIS post back when Just the Ticket was being released.  Those little booklets were made with just a single ticket.  This one is larger and has four rows of tickets inside.

The labels were cut using the Ticket Border die and then trimmed so that just a portion of the previous ticket remained attached to the next ticket, which creates the "spine" of the book.  Since the Ticket Border die makes perferations between the tickets, the little book labels can be torn out of the book as needed.  I already have adhesive on the back of the tickets, so the recipient can just tear them out and adhere them inside the cover of their book.

On the inside cover I also created a pocket in which I tucked a little bookmark.  The base of the bookmark is one of the metal bases that Papertrey carrries, topped off with the Bookmark Topper die and a punched circle that was stamped with a sentiment from the All Booked Up set.

I'll show you step-by-step how I created my booklet in case you'd like to try to make one for yourself.  

First I diecut a whole bunch of ticket strips.  Before running the cardstock through my Big Shot, I adhered an Adhesive Sheet to the backside of my cardstock.  That way, the recipient can just peel the backing from the tickets and she will be able to stick it right into her book.  If you don't want to use adhesive sheets you could also put a few mounting squares or a strip of Scor-Tape on the backside of each ticket.

After I diecut my ticket strips, I trimmed them as shown in this photo.  I left a 1/2" from the previous ticket attached to a full ticket -- that extra 1/2" will be used to bind the booklet.  The center ticket will not be used and I set those aside for a future project.

Then I stamped lines from Just the Ticket onto each diecut, along with the "This book belongs to:" label from All Booked Up.  The flower cluster is from Tag-its #5.  I then created 4 stacks of tickets consisting of 6 tickets each by applying liquid adhesive just the that extra 1/2" piece that I left attached to each ticket.

After each ticket stack was created, I used my Crop-a-Dile to punch two holes in each stack as shown below.

Then I created my cover, or wrap, for the booklet.  I started with a 5 1/2" x 4 1/2" piece of patterned paper and along the 5 1/2" edge, I scored at the following intervals as shown by the arrows in the photo):  1/2", 5/8", 3 1/8", and 3 3/8"

I then folded my wrap on the score lines and trimmed a 2 1/2" x 4 1/2" panel to line the inside (behind where the tickets go -- blue floral paper in my photo below).  Then I adhered my ticket stacks to the wrap, just putting adhesive on that extra 1/2" that extends beyond the actual ticket and aligning the edge with the second scored line as shown in the photo below.  I again used my Crop-a-Dile to punch holes in the wrap (using the holes already punched in the tickets as my guide).

I then folded the extra flap on the left side of the wrap over the tickets and punched through that as well (turn it over and use the previously punched holes as your guide).

Then to secure everything really well, I used some baker's twine and stitched through those punched holes.  I went up and down the length of the booklet twice.  

That's the basic construction of the book.  You can also add a pocket to the inside cover like I did to hold a bookmark.  I added a stamped circle from All Booked Up to the front as well as some strips of patterned paper.

That's all from me today!  I hope you're enjoying your New Year holiday!  

Be sure to hop around to the other Sr Team girls to see what they've whipped up using the All Booked Up set along with the coordinating products.

Lisa Johnson
Dawn McVey
Heather Nichols
Nichole Heady
Maile Belles 

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Sugared Loopsy-Daisy Peppermints...

Merry Christmas!!  I am busy finishing up some preparations here.  Yesterday and today were spent working on some little miscellaneous gifts for teachers, Sunday School teachers and students, and a few other people that I like to give just a little something over the holidays.

I thought I'd pop in and share a few of my projects with you.  I had a fun discovery with the new Papertrey Loopsy-Daisy die that I couldn't wait to show you.  I had this envisioned since the very first time I worked with the die and was so excited to try it out yesterday AND find out that it works perfectly for my vision -- creating the cutest dimensional peppermints!  Of course I had to pair it with Crate's new Peppermint Collection (which I'm completely addicted to -- available HERE, HERE or HERE) and Papertrey's Candy Cane Christmas stamp set!

All I did was use two sets of the smaller Loopsy-Daisy die for a total of 4 diecuts per peppermint, two red and two white.  Before folding them, I stacked them so the white "fingers" of the diecuts fit perfectly between the red.  Then I just started at one point around the circle folding the "fingers" in to the center until I made it all the way around.  I then topped it with a 3/4" punched circle stamped with the larger candy image from Candy Cane Christmas and secured everything with a brad (make sure you choose a brad with long prongs -- there's a lot of layers there!!).  I sprayed them with a bit of Elmer's Craft Bond spray adhesive and coated them with some Doodlebug Lily glitter.

The "wishing you the Sweetest Christmas" sentiment is from Candy Cane Christmas, along with the tiny candy image.  The "teacher" is from Teacher's Apple.  The base of my treat bags are a brown paper bag, which I embellished with the Front & Center die.  I did these a little differently in that I trimmed the bottom off of the paper bag, then diecut it with the Edgers # 4 die and stitched it closed.  It makes for more of a flat "pillow" type bag.  I filled them with yummy Ghirardelli chocolates -- 8 squares fit nicely in each bag.

My next little project is for our Sunday School kids.  My husband and I teach our kindergartners at church.  I just love them to pieces...they are so fun and full of imagination and stories at that age.  We just have four kids this year, so we are able to really get to know them and let them chatter til their heart's content!

For their treats I used the same peppermint idea, this time tied to peppermint printed fabric bags that I just happened to have in my stash -- it was meant to be!

There's no candy in the bags -- I hope they're not disappointed!  They are getting giant light up glitter bouncy balls.  As a parent I know that my kids eat SO many sweets this time a year that sometimes I appreaciate something a little different, so hopefully they (and their parents) will too.  :-)

I attached a tag (cut with Fillable Frames #9 die) to each one using the "Sweetest Christmas" sentiment from Candy Cane Christmas along with the "to, from" from 2011 Holiday Tags.  Another fun find?  The tiny candy image fits perfectly in the "to" circle on that tag image!  How fun!  

Well, with that, I will wish you and yours a Very Merry Christmas!  I doubt I'll be back to post here before the new year.  I'm looking forward to a little break.  As of 4 o'clock this afternoon my husband will be off until after the new year, and as of noon tomorrow, my kids will be as well.  We are looking forward to carrying on our tradition of doing as little as possible over the next week and a half.  We sleep late, eat way too much, play games, and watch as many movies as we can cram into a week.  Can't wait.  

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

 

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