A ScrapFIT Giveaway

ScrapFIT is Giving Back:

During this Thanksgiving season, Sara from ScrapFIT is thankful for all the supporters for her site, and is hosting three giveaways. Just hop on over, leave a comment on today's post for two chances to win, and follow the site for another chance to win a collection of scrappy goodness. There is a total of three collections that she is giving away.

Giveaway Prize

Away from Home

I'll be sharing more crafty projects next week. This week I'm away from my desk as I'm cruising around Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. See you all soon and have a wonderful Thanksgiving. 

Self Portrait near El Arco and a pirate's cave

Take care,

Pages Reveal: Candle Stick Wreath

The Assignment

It is time for part two of my November reveal with Pages from the Heart, the little scrapbook store with a big heart, or so the motto goes. The assignment this month for the DT was to make something for a holiday celebration and I chose a Thanksgiving centerpiece with pumpkiny goodness. 

Paper Pumpkin Centerpiece

When I finished my set of five pumpkins, it still looked a bit incomplete as the centerpiece. I decided to dress up the brass candle sticks that usually reside on my dining room table. I didn't want a permanent decoration in case I change my color scheme or want to decorate for a different holiday. I decided to make a removable wreath that just tied around the candle stick using a strip of ribbon I save from a gift. 

The Reveal

Title: Candlestick Wreath

Featured Collection: We R Memory Keepers' Autumn Splendor

Dedicated to: Flower Lovers

Candlestick Wreaths

We R Memory Paper

Supply List:

Patterned Papers: We R Memory Keepers

Wired Ribbon: Kirkland

Stamen: JoAnn Crafts

Ink: ColorBox Chalk

Hot Glue Gun & Glue Sticks: Imaginisce

Candle Holder: Baldwin

Other: Candle 

I wanted to think of another project to use the 6 x 6 paper pad I received and decided to fold some kusudama flowers. This is an ancient Japanese paper model translated as "medicine ball" or "healing sphere" which was traditionally used for incense, but are now decorative. Here are some examples.

Kusudama

I didn't want to make the ball, but liked the flowers so I researched how to fold the origami flowers. I used a kusudama written tutorial from Folding Tree for reference. If you prefer videos, YouTube has some folding tutorials also. 

Kusudama Flowers

There are five petals in one bloom. Each petal is made from one piece of 3 x 3 paper. So each sheet of 6 x 6 paper can be cut down to make 4 petals without any wasted material. After folding five petals, I hot glued them together to create one flower. You can vary the papers per flower or use all the same paper as seen above versus below. 

5 Petaled Bloom

The Nitty Gritty

Some variations I made were:

• I chalked the edges of each mini-sheet of paper. 
• I added some stamens to the centers of the flowers. These are purchased from the floral section of a craft store. I just hot glued them in the center prior to gluing on the final petal.
• I hot glued each finished flower onto a wired ribbon. This way, the flowers are not permanently attached to the candlestick but can be easily taken off if I still want to decorate the candlestick for another holiday, like Christmas. 
• I tied the ribbon around the candlestick and curled the bottom of the bow. 

Other variations and tips:

• The paper I used was pretty stiff so I used a bone folder to crease the paper along each fold. But in the end, the flowers seem very durable. If you use a thinner paper, it will be easier to fold, but may not hold up as well over time. So the choice is yours. 
• You can cut the paper in different sizes to make bigger or smaller blooms. 
• You can use a border punch or decorative scissors along the edge of the paper before you fold it to change the shape of the petal, like more of a scalloped look. 
• You can just make one flower for an accent piece on an item, like on a present instead of a bow, on a headband or back of a pen. Or you can make a whole bunch to make the hanging decorative sphere or an actual whole wreath. These are pretty substantial flowers so I wouldn't use them on 2D projects, like a layout. But they pack quite a punch on 3D projects. 

Here it is in conjunction with the pumpkin centerpiece from last week.

Completed Centerpiece

Take care and happy scrappin',   

A ScrapFIT Reveal: Technically Inclined

The Workout
Here are the details to the workout challenge posted today on ScrapFIT's blog:

Workout #56 -  Technically Inclined 

Oh, how we all love our technical gadgets!  Computer, iPods, iPads, Wii, DS, Smart Phone, Digital SLR Camera and soooo many more!  What technical gadget do you hold dear to your heart? Show us and tell us why you can't live with out it! You will have until November 30th to link your layout to today's post for a chance to win a kit from Burlap & Buttercups!

My Interpretation

I did have a hard time with this topic, even though I use these items, I don't really feel like celebrating them. Usually I'm frustrated with them and admire the Amish and Luddites. This week we had a lot of trouble with our internet and kept getting dropped. After a lot of trouble shooting and text support, our provider sent several technicians out and one ran a new line to our house due to squirrel damage as the line runs through some trees. Who would have thought that was the source of the problem? Nature and technology collide.

Technically Inclined Layout

The Details
After a lot of brainstorming, I finally settled on an iPad game app. I chose the pet theme purely from a design standpoint as I wanted a cute layout. If I chose just the iPad, I didn't want to scrap a photo of an inanimate object. I did paper piece a white iPad and made that my title block. I put letter stickers on a piece of transparency and popped that up over a mirrored silver paper so make it more like a screen. The letters reflect on the surface below. I used some brads and Glam Rocks for the buttons. 

iPad Title Block

For a related embellishment, I made a wifi signal strength icon. I used a felt flower sticker as the base and hand stitched the curved lines for the reception strength. 

Wifi Signal Strength

 To balance out the embellishments, as I like to have three groupings, I put a cluster of hearts along the main photo. There was blue button on the felt heart sticker, which didn't match, so I colored over it with a violet Copic marker, which actually made it look brown. I hand cut two hearts, one slightly smaller than the other and hand stitched them together along the middle seam, for an accompanying 3D embellishment.

Heart Cluster

The paper collection and metal Glam Rocks are from Imaginisce and the felt stickers are from Pebbles. It is actually from a pack of cat themed stickers (don't tell the doggies), but the colors matched so perfectly so I used them in conjunction with Imaginisce's fall line. I used a single paged sketch from Sketch Support. 

Journaling Strips

The Prize

If you are unlike me and really love technology and want to scrap about it, please do so and link your creation by November 30th to today's post on ScrapFIT for a chance to win this gorgeous kit from Burlap & Buttercups. 

Burlap & Buttercups' Prize Package

Take care and happy scrappin',

Pages Reveal: Pumpkin Centerpieces

November Pages Reveal:

This month for Pages from the Heart, my assignment was to make something for Thanksgiving like a party favor or centerpiece idea. Since I don't give out Thanksgiving party favors, I went with a centerpiece. This is actually only part one of the reveal, there is a second component which will be posted on their blog next week, so I'll can't show the whole thing until then. But you can always stop by the store for a peek. 

Pumpkin Centerpiece

The Nitty Gritty:

This project is relatively simple and uses basic supplies. I'm thinking kids could make a version of this too. Even though they look similar, there are actually two different types of pumpkins above. 

Supply List for Pumpkins

Cardstock: Bazzill Basics

Patterned Papers: We R Memory Keepers (Autumn Splendor)

Paper Flowers & Brads Set: We R Memory Keepers

Brads: Making Memories

Twine: The Twinery

Ink: ColorBox Chalk

Hot Glue: Imaginisce

Other: Buttons, Glass Votive Holder, Flameless Votive

I was given the 6 x 6 paper pad from We R Memory Keepers to use. The thing to note with paper pads are that the designs are scaled smaller to fit the smaller paper size, it isn't just the 12 x 12 paper cut into four pieces. I usually only use the smaller paper pads for making cards since the designs are adjusted for the smaller working space, but I wanted find another use for them. I cut the papers into half inch strips and created these pumpkins. The four smaller ones are made from this pad, and the largest one is made from one sheet of 12 x 12 paper from the same collection. The length you cut the strips will determine the size of the pumpkin. 

We R Memories Paper Pad

The Two Pumpkins:

For the first type of pumpkin, I hot glued some  5 x 1/2 inch strips of paper on a glass votive holder, placed a flameless battery operated candle inside and decorated the outside.

Pumpkin Votives Side View

Pumpkin Votives Top View

For the second type, I punched holes at the top and bottom of the strips, secured it with a brad and spread out the strips into the shape of a sphere, and then decorated the outside with flowers, leaves, tendrils and a stem. These also had two layers of strips - shorter, solid cardstock inside and longer patterned strips for the outside. The solid strips adds some color and fill in the negative space, otherwise the  pumpkins look too hollow. 

Paper Pumkins

Here is a final photo as a dining room centerpiece. 

I hope you'll have a wonderful Thanksgiving. 

Take care,

An Answer to a Query: Mini-Album

Updates:

Abbey Road Photo

Scrap it with a Song Blog
My friend Becky follows a blog entitled, Scrap it with a Song, which uses songs and lyrics as scrapbooking inspiration. They run monthly challenges and she encouraged me to enter the Abbey Road challenge, where you create a page as inspired by the Beatles' Abbey Road album cover. She knew I already had a layout made which I couldn't believe that she'd remember my old layouts. I got chosen for the monthly Top 3 Picks for the month of October which can be viewed here.




                                          Pages from the Heart

Altered Clock

When I went to turn in an assignment to Pages today (which you can see next month on their blog), the store owner told me a customer wanted to buy the clock I made. I could't believe someone would want to buy my creations. I think they told her to try and make one. The directions can be found here.






Mini Album Tutorial:
I got my first question from a customer wanting to know how to make a mini album I created 6 months ago for the store. I couldn't believe she remembered that project. I am posting my response here if anyone is interested and am good at visualization as I didn't take any photos during the creating process. The patterned papers and stickers are from My Mind's Eye's Fly a Kite collection.

 Mini Album Folded Flat

4 x 4 Accordion Mini Album:

Mini Album Opened

1. Start by making the background for your album. Mine was made from a piece of solid orange cardstock. Cut two 4 x 12 inch pieces from the cardstock and fan fold every 4 inches. You should end up with three squares on each piece of paper. Glue the two pieces together, overlapping on one square each, so you end up with a long skinny strip measuring 4 x 20 inches, with 5 square panels. 

Inside of a door panel

2. Next you will make three doors that you will glue onto the orange paper. To make the door panels, cut three 4 x 8 inches pieces of paper. Fold two inches along each edge towards the mid line, so you end up with a 4 x 4 inch square with two 2 x 4 inch doors that open outward from the front. I used three different patterned papers from the same collection for the doors. 

Three Opened Doors

3. Next, glue the doors onto the background paper. Open your orange paper flat with the 5 squares. Glue one door panel on squares #1, 3 and 5. So it looks like - door, orange square, door, orange square and door. Put the adhesive on the back of the 4 x 4 part of your door panel and not on any of the 2 x 4 sections. When you are done, this is the your basic album.

Pocket panel

4. To take it to another level, make two pockets and glue those on the two remaining orange squares. To make the pockets, cut a piece of patterned paper 2.5 x 4 inches. Fold 1/2 inch behind the paper on three sides (the two shorter sides and one longer side), and glue on the half inch strip onto the orange paper. The fourth side is not glued so you can put a tag into the pocket. 

Photo Mat

5. Then decorate to your liking. I used a border punch, twine, buttons, stickers, Glam Rocks, Stickles and cut outs from the patterned papers. Inside the three doors I added photo mats. 

You can customize this for many other themes like Christmas right now. You can adjust the sizes to make a  larger or smaller album. 


Take care,

A ScrapFIT Reveal: 'Tis the Season

Updates:
Before I get to my ScrapFIT project, here are a few scrappy updates. My work was featured on some different sites recently so I wanted to share the links here.

A Day at the Beach

My Ol' Kentucky Home

Nikki Sivils collection

My "Day at the Beach" layout is in the fall issue of ScrapStreet Magazine under the article, "Feeling Punchy". It has different examples on how people have incorporated their punches into their layouts.

Also in the fall issue of ScrapStreet magazine is another layout entitled, "My Ol' Kentucky Home". This is part of an article entitled, "Basically Buttons". There are lots of examples of how people have incorporated buttons into their layouts.

I worked with a Nikki Sivils collection for some projects with Pages from the heart. After completing the projects for the store, I sent some photos to her blog, and it was showcased here on her site along with other readers' submissions.



ScrapFIT Reveal:
Back to the topic at hand, here are the guidelines for the latest ScrapFIT challenge:

Workout #55 - Tis' The Season

We know Christmas will be here before we know it so let's start spreading ideas for Christmas Cards and Tags!  Show us what you're putting in the mail or attaching to a gift this year! 

You have until November 31st to link your handmade Christmas Card or Tag up to Mr. Linky in today's post for a change to win!

Here is my version of the assignment. I started out making a shaker snow globe card, but it is actually more of a wall hanging. 

Christmas Wallhanging

The Background:

Kevin on Halloween

My husband was eagerly awaiting the iPhone 4s for months and ordered it online. There were some issues with the service so we went into the Apple store the day after the release and it was a madhouse still. I sat on the wooden stool for an hour watching the chaos and I noticed the iPhone 4 cases were selling like hotcakes. People were buying them, immediately placing it on their phone and walking out with a trail of discarded packaging in their wake. I looked at one of the "Uncommon" boxes and thought it was perfect for a shadow box. It had a built in frame with a protruding plastic center. 

iPhone 4 case packaging

Even Kevin came by, looked at the packaging, said, "Shaker card" and went back to talk to the AT & T rep. I'm so proud of his scrappy prowess. Thus the Christmas altered iPhone case packaging was born.

The Process:

I started by covering the outer black frame in patterned paper. I used Imaginisce's Santa's Little Helper collection. 

I decorated the center of the shadow box with my main image, which is my nephew in a Christmas tree outfit. 

Then I poured some white glitter and stars to make it look like snow when you shake the card. 

I glued the packaging back together, including the plastic tab at the top to make it suitable for hanging. The actual assemblage was quite easy as I just used the original materials. The longest part was decorating everything and using the tiny 2.5mm Glam Rocks without losing any. I wanted a title, so I made a little tag that dangles at the bottom of the main photo. 

I know I can never look at packaging in the same way again. 

The Prize:

If you want to participate in this challenge, all you have to do is make your own Christmas card or tag and link it to today's post.  Or, you can just take a look to gain some ideas from the design team for your own interest. This month's sponsor is Burlap & Buttercups, a monthly kit club, and you can win this complete kit. 

Burlap & Buttercups prize

Take care,