YOUR THOUGHT FOR MAY 2014!

Sometimes our lives get too serious.  Let's all be kids for awhile!!!

Crafters Who Lurk on Pinterest Become Winners

That's right, when you lurk on Pinterest, you can win big time!  Like Virginia M, who won three digi images from our guest sponsor, Squigglefly!!  Here is her winning card:

Virginia, go to the store and choose your three digital images and I will let Holly know. Congrats from Your Scrapbook Place and Squigglefly!!

Build a Sketch Challenge

Did you like that first Challenge? It was fun wasn't it. Now that you know what Pinterest can do for you, here is another Challenge.

I want you to Build your own Sketch. We see lots of sketch challenges out there but have you seen any challenges to build your own sketch? That's what this challenge is all about.
Here is what you will need:
1 card base 5 1/2 x 4 1/4
1 top layer  5 1/4 x 4
1 scalloped border  1/2 x 5 1/2
1 Scalloped square  1 3/4 or 2 1/4
1 die cut shape  such as the Nestabilities labels  size = 3 3/4 x 3 3/4 or close to this size

Use one of each piece

Take these five pieces and build a card. 

                            OR
If you would like to make something other than a card, such as a scrapbook page, use all the pieces proportionally to your page. The base would be the size you want your page, top layer would be rectangular. For a 12 x 12 it could be 10 x 11 or  11 1/2 x 11. The rest of the pieces need to be in proportion to the page.

Remember, you can embellish it to your heart's content, but you must use these five pieces in the sizes specified.No substitutions please.

Have fun with it.

Once you have finished your project, link it up below. It will then be entered into a random drawing for the stamp set below.

Isn't that a cute stamp set? Would you like to have it? Well, it could be yours if you are the lucky winner. All you have to do to win it is to enter our Build a Sketch challenge, but make sure all five pieces in the specified sizes are on your project.. Winner will be chosen by random drawing.

 

Here are examples of what you can do with the pieces.

Just Me

Ingredients: Paper is SU Crisp Cantaloupe, Pistachio Pudding and Coastal Cabana.
Stamp set is SU Easter Blossoms.
Both die cuts are Spellbinders Labels 1 and Scalloped Squares.
Scalloped boarder is a Fiskars border punch
The gemstones are from my stash.

Pat Martin

Linda W.

IMAGE:  Alice in the Garden (Nice Crane Designs)

Followed instructionson sizes and scallops, embossed "Bunches of love" and scalloped to make it fit.

NOW IT'S YOUR TURN!

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Homemade Mod Podge and Recycled Board Books

Kids too young for board books?  Still have them around the house?  Now's the time to do a little crafting spring cleaning! I found inspiration on Pinterest and remembered I had a stack of board books from when I used to read to my granddaughter (now that she's in 1st grade, board books are "so preschool, grandma").
The pinner talks of buying blank board books and filling them with family photos for baby.
BUY THEM?! Why not recycle them!
So I set out my materials:
1 Sesame Street board book, a large sheet of butcher paper, a foam brush, and Gesso

I brushed two coats of gesso onto each page, drying in between coats. I also Gessoed the covers.  Gesso is a mix of mod podge and white paint, so two coats didn't completely cover all the brightly colored pictures from the original book, but it was enough for my purposes. I planned on covering each page with patterned papers to make a birthday album for said granddaughter.
Once all my pages were dry, I started with the front cover.

I like the way it turned out! I used Bo Bunny patterned papers, tearing out the parts I wanted to showcase (the cake, cupcakes, pennants and title). I added some blue acrylic paint to my Gesso and colored around the pictures (I used Mod Podge to adhere them). Then I outlined the words and pictures with Copic markers to help them pop. I finished off the cover by inking the edges with gooseberry ink and covered the page with first Mod Podge and then Tattered Angels glimmer mist for a subtle shimmer.
And that's all I can show you so far, as it is a work in progress.  Luckily, I have until October before I give it to my "I'm-too-old-for-board-books" granddaughter. LOL
Thank you Pinterest for inspiring me once again to create something new!
P.S. Here's something else I found on Pinterest--a recipe to make your own Mod Podge!!

Mod Podge:
1 large Mason jar (or any clean glass jar)
3 cups White Glue
1 cup water
Stir well and keep sealed until ready to use.  YUP, that's all it is!!

OR USE THIS RECIPE FOR THE PAINT INCLUDED

Mod Page:
Homemade Gesso Recipe:
1/2 cup white glue or mod podge
1/2 cup white acrylic non-gloss paint
1/4 talcum powder
mix well. This gives a smooth finish to a canvas so that your paint does not get absorbed by the canvas material.
It also covers/adheres pictures and papers to your base with a little covering. If it covers up too much of your pictures, just dip your finger in water and rub across the spot where you want to thin out the white-washed look.
HAVE FUN!!

What have YOU found on Pinterest that inspires you?  Show us your project and you will be in the running for free digis from Squigglefly, our guest sponsor!

Welcome to Our First Challenge of 2014

Welcome back, crafters!  This month is the first full month of Spring-I don't know about you but I am so sick of winter it isn't funny. So, to herald the new season, we want to PIN you down with a great challenge.  Lots of crafters are checking out (addicted to) PINTEREST, so we thought that would be a fun way to get inspired: find something on Pinterest that inspires you--a technique, a project, a color, a quote--and create something for us.
Link up your Pinterest-inspired project by midnight CDST on Sunday, April 13. Make sure to show us on your blog the image that inspired you, too! We hope you have a lot of fun with this challenge.
One random participant will win their choice of THREE DIGI IMAGES from out first sponsor of the month, SQUIGGLEFLY:

"Squigglefly officially went live on November 30th 2008. It was an idea born when a die hard stamper printed out her daughter's artwork to use on a card. The idea blossomed into a business where people could buy quality images in place of rubber stamps! I believe that Squigglefly was the first digital stamp site on the internet. Now there are tons!  The two daughters co-owned the store and started out with just their own artwork and the artwork of their aunt, Lynne Stansbery. As Squigglefly grew, more artists have started selling their artwork there and they have just recently signed on their 80th! The original stamper in this story is their mom, Holly Young, and she brings in new artists, prepares their images for sale in the store, manages the design team, and works with sponsoring different paper-crafting challenges."

Thank you Squigglefly!  They have their own challenge blog as well as Facebook page.  If you want to play in their challenges to win pizes, check out their FREEBIES.

Now for some inspiration!!

Kathy found inspiration from Pinterest making paper-crafted owls:

She put her own spin on these cuties and created this card:

Owls are really popular again, so why not try your hand at some owl cards today?

  

Joyce offers a beautiful card showcasing a Christmas sentiment and seamless layers, inspired by Pinterest. The inspiration piece can be found HERE:

I was lurking on Pinterest, looking for an idea for a shower card for a friend's daughter.  I found inspiration in the form of paper dresses made from diecuts (below) and thought they looked like paper doilies:

After some fiddling and folding, I ended up with a nice dress shape and made this card:

The wedding color is navy, and the bride will wear a navy sash with her dress, so my white and navy card is perfect for the event.  I used a Stampin Up sentiment and diecut it before adhering it to my card. I also wove organza ribbon through a K & Co paper border turned wrong-side out to embellish and finish off my card.
I love Pinterest, don't you?  So much inspiration! But I have to limit myself, or I won't have enough time to create my own art!

Speaking of which, here's one more from me.  My eye really got caught on this telescoping layout (above). I cut and laid out my patterned papers and then I showcased a digi image from our sponsor, Squigglefly Designs.  The image is called Count Dracula Noah by artist Cheryl Grant Alger and is available HERE.

I colored him with Copics, framed him with a large leaf, and popped him on my card, adding a few Halloween-colored stars to embellish. Halloween is my favorite holiday for crafting, and I always find time to make cards and altered art with a Halloween theme.

And along comes Linda (one of our management of SBP) also browsing thru Pinterest looking for great ideas on how to treat some new product coming to THE PAPER CUT.   Sarah, the owner has asked Linda to develop some new samples for her wholesale shows and Linda came up with these after visiting Pinterest.

 

Pinterest is to crafters as Google is to the general public. We can search and find practically anything on the site!  If you haven't done so yet, now's the perfect time to get loads of inspiration and play in our challenge for some awesome digi images from our sponsor, Squigglefly! Just link up your project below with Mr. Linky.

While lurking on Pinterest Linda also found a way to make flowers that I've not tried.  (Linda, you spend a bit of time on Pinterest don't you!) Basically you just stick 2 pieces of Washi together and run a stitch down the length of the ribbon.  Then pull the thread and gather the flower circular in your fingers.  Snip and glue and wallah - and here's my accomplishment!

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