XOXO - Sending you some Hugs and Kisses

Shop Hop 2012

How is your summer going thus far? I've visited some of my local scrapbooking stores as part of the SoCal Shop Hop. This year's theme is Wacky Holidays where each store decorates or has a photo op for their chosen holiday. I took my nephew to my home store, Pages from the Heart, where the holiday is Teddy Bear Picnic. I was assured that all the holidays are really on the calendar. 

Literally around the corner, also in Monrovia, is Scrap 'N Yap which featured National Bird Day. My hubby was thrilled to accompany me to a few of the stores.

I also traveled with a more experienced Shop Hopper, my friend and fellow Pages DT member, Becky, to a few stores. This was One Hit Wonder Day at Alhambra Camera. I think the store use to be 100% related to camera sales and repairs, but now the scrapbooking portion has taken over, and it looks to be only 20% camera related. 

While traveling around with Becky, I saw for the first time my first published project in a magazine in one of the stores! It is a framed wallhanging in Create: Embellish Idea Book, August 2012.

I was really impressed by the amount of effort some stores applied to their theme, like Scrapbooking Made Simple in Santa Clarita which celebrated Marry Poppins' birthday. All the employees dressed like chimney sweeps, the owner dressed like Mary Poppins, and they made a sugar garland using over 1,600 packets of sugar along with spoons dipped in glitter. You could also reach into Mary Poppin's carpet bag to pull out a free prize or a hat rack. 

There are 41 stores participating, stemming from San Diego to Bakersfield, but I'll be lucky to visit 10 within the two week window. 

The Reveal

I made this card for CutCardStock.com as a guest designer this month. Since they sell cardstock, I wanted to make something that featured cardstock. I eliminated the use of patterned papers and embellishments so the cardstock would be the star. I used their brown paper bag set for the base and envelope, and I used their metallic cardstock for the squares. There is a beautiful shimmer in the cardstock when you look at it in person. 

I cut out a square window from the center of the card and strung three strands of twine across the card. 

I cut out eighteen .75" squares with my paper cutter and punched out nine X's and nine O's with a hand punch. If you don't have a punch, you can use alphabet stickers. I adhered the X's and O's to the squares and adhered two squares back to back onto the twine. 

The finished squares are actually double sided on the card and can flip around when touched. I wanted to cover up the ends of the twine inside the card, so I adhered some white cardstock strips around the edges of the card. 

I wrote my sentiment using Kraft colored alphabet stickers so it would blend into the Kraft colored cardstock, and not compete with the tic tac toe design in the center. My hubby thought it looked like a Toss Across. You can see this card at Pages from the Heart. 

The Supplies

Cardstock: CutCardStock

Envelope: CutCardStock

Punch: Martha Stewart

Twine: The Twinery

Ink: Prima Chalk Edger

Sticker Alphabet: Jillibean Soup

I hope you are having a great summer. 

Thanks so much for stoppin' by,

Michelle

Paper Made Bakery: A Berry Sweet Girl

The Inspiration

I was having lunch with my family, including my niece, who is thrilled to pose for this photo. I really liked the striped and stitched strawberry on her shirt and wanted to incorporate it onto my project for Paper Made Bakery this week.

The Reveal

I scanned the photo into Silhouette Studio Designer Edition and created the same strawberry in a cut file. If you would like the cut file, you can download it here. Here is my version of the strawberry. 

To see the complete project along with more information on the process, please see today's post on Paper Made Bakery. 

Come back next Wednesday, August 1st, for the reveal of next month's kit along with a blog hop and giveaway!

Thanks so much for stoppin' by,

Pages from the Heart: Jeans Pocket Card

The News

I just wanted to share that I will be returning to Paper Made Bakery's design team for a second term starting in August. You can meet all the members of the new team here, as PMB made the official announcement today. I'm excited to work with all the new members, and to bring you another six months of projects using their super cute kits!

The Reveal
This is my third and last project this month for Pages from the Heart featuring Echo Park's This & That collection. Since I worked with the Charming version, which features a boy theme, I wanted to design a card that paid homage to the theme but wasn't a literal interpretation. I decided on jeans as an inspiration as it reminded me of a boy, but it could also be used for a girl. I made a pocket card that can hold a note, money or gift card, so it is general enough to be used for any occasion.

Jeans Pocket Card

I used some dark blue cardstock that looked like the color of dark washed demin, plus yellow thread and a sewing machine for the base. I added pieces from This & That collection for the accents.

The Details

I wanted an iconic jeans pocket so I went with a Levis 501 look. I found out the design is called a gull wing pocket with a red tab logo fabric, which you can read about here. I really felt like a seamstress as there was a lot of stitching and replicating the parts. I cut out a pocket and drew in the stitching lines with a pencil. I sewed most of the lines first, only attaching it to the card base with the outlining stitch along the edges minus the one on the top so the pocket has a top opening.

I punched out a yellow tab using a tab hand punch, wrote a sentiment instead of a brand and adhered it to the side where the red label would go.

I stitched some belt lines across the top. I cut out two narrow rectangles and stitched around them for two belt loops. I also cut out a design from the patterned papers to make a larger label. 

I thought the pocket would be a good place to put a little something extra for the recipient, like Gap gift card would match the jeans theme. I placed a sticker the size of a gift card to show the use of the pocket for display purposes. As a finishing touch, I distressed the card with some chalk ink to simulate some wear on the fabric. 

You can make a pocket card based on your favorite brand or item of clothing, you don't have to stick with jeans. You can make a really cute girl version using patterned papers and ribbons. Let your creativity be your guide. 

The Supplies

Cardstock: Bazzill Basics
Patterned Paper: Echo Park
Sticker: Echo Park
Tab Punch: Fiskars
Chalk Ink: Prima
Thread: Coats & Clark
Sewing Machine: Singer

Thanks so much for stoppin' by,

Pages from the Heart: Beach Boy Layout

The Reveal
This is my second project for Pages from the Heart this month featuring Echo Park's This & That collection.

Beach Boy Layout

The Details
I really wanted to make a boy layout so I could utilized all the really cute but really specific boy themed chipboard stickers from the collection, so I went over to my sister's house and perused all her photos of my nephew. I wanted ones where he was more natural and in the middle of an action rather than posing. I found a few of him at the beach, which matched the colors and theme of the collection, but there were a lot of distractions in the background.

Original Background

As I had a limited amount of individual photos of him from this setting, I edited it Photoshop. I cut out patches of the ocean and placed it over the people in the background, and cropped it into the square shaped I wanted to use. Don't disregard a photo if it isn't perfect, there are ways to fix a photo and get it to suit your design. 

Edited Background

I decided to use a grid design of six 3 x 3" squares for the central portion of my layout, so it would be like little pockets of embellishments and photos. Since I used journaling strips layered over some cardstock stickers, I also used strips in the other two embellishment boxes to match. I cut up a number border strip and layered it behind a chipboard sticker in one box. In the other box, I cut up a sentiment sticker that was too wide, into smaller strips and paired it with a boy's silhouette sticker.  

For my title, I liked the "boy" banner stickers but they were too small for the title area. I recreated a larger version using my Silhouette Cameo, cardstock and Thickers and paired it with the original to read, "Boy oh Boy." For each letter block, I cut 4 banners in 4 different sizes in 3 colors to match the original chipboard sticker. If you would like the downloadable banner cut file I created, I've included it here. 

Download for Silhouette Cameo: Layered Banner Cut File

The Supplies

Cardstock: Bazzill Basics

Patterned Papers: Echo Park

Stickers: Echo Park

Alphabet Letters: American Crafts

Brads: Making Memories

Ribbon: May Arts

Chalk Ink: Prima

Paint Pen: Viva Decor

Glitter Glue: Stickles by Ranger Ink

Thanks so much for stoppin' by,

Paper Made Bakery: Using Packaging on a Card

The Reveal
Inside this month's Tea for Two kit at Paper Made Bakery, is a cute metal canister of button shaped brads. I liked the packaging so much, I decided to feature it on today's card.

Canister of Brads

I replaced the brads with mini M& M's and utilized the canister as the central element in my interactive card. Here is the card in mid process. 

To learn more about the card and to view the finished product, please stop by today's post at Paper Made Bakery. If you like the shape or design of something, try incorporating it into a project, even if it isn't officially a scrapbooking supply.

Thanks so much for stoppin' by,

Florida Vacation Mini-Album

 Masculine Card Challenge Update
I made this tie rack card last month for Father's Day and entered it in CutCardStock's masculine card challenge. If you want to make one yourself or see the link to the origami fold, please go here. I ended up winning the viewer's choice award, so I wanted to say thank you to everyone who voted for me.

Tie Rack Card

As an added bonus, CutCardStock asked me to be a guest designer for them this month. I made two projects using their cardstock and invitation sets which will be shown on their blog today and next Saturday.

The Supply Base

For being a guest designer, CutCardStock set me a Priority Mail Box filled to the brim with their products. I was so surprised by their generosity and loved the versatility of their products. My favorite item was the brown bag A7 (5 x 7") folded invitation set. It really does feel like a brown paper bag, being softer than Kraft cardstock and that cut out on the flap is super cute. I decided to create a project featuring the brown bag set. 

Brown Bag Card & Envelope

This month from Pages from the Heart, I worked with two new Echo Park collections - This & That (Charming version, which is boy themed one) and Enjoy the Ride (which is a mini-theme featuring travel).

Echo Park Collections

I paired the solid paper bags with fun images from the patterned papers to create an interactive vacation mini-album. 

The Reveal

I bought a small three ring binder from Big Lots for $2.00 for my album's exterior. I decorated it with the Echo Park papers and stickers, along with some photos and Glossy Accents. 

Orlando Vacation Album

For the inside cover, I covered it with light blue airplane paper and adhered my itinerary for the week. Each page inside the album consists of an envelope. I have 7 pages total, one for each attraction I visited plus a bonus envelope to house unused items like extra postcards. 

Inside Cover and First Page

Inside each envelope is the matching folded card, which can be taken out and opened up. This allows for six surfaces to be decorated - the front and back of the envelope, the front and back of the card, and the interior double panel of the card. This is a lot of room to work with, so I actually used everything I brought back from my trip - photos, brochures, pressed pennies, souvenirs and other memorabilia. 

Envelope Opens with Pull Out Card

The Interior

I'll show you one complete page in my album. This one features a trip to Gatorland. Here is the front of the envelope with has a group photo, description of the park cut out from the brochure, a pressed penny, admittance wristband and real alligator teeth I adhered to the alligator photo. 

Front of Envelope

Real Gator Teeth

The flap opens and you can pull out the card. I brought some 3 x 4" journaling cards with me on the trip which I filled out each day. I cut them in half and adhered them to the inside flap on each envelope. This way, I didn't have to try to remember the details weeks or months later, especially when I'm in the middle of designing a page.

Inside of envelope and card front

The card opens up and I can place the larger items inside. Here I cut out the map of the park, attached a photo with an arrow pointing to the location where the photo was taken.

Inside of Card

The back of the envelope is the perfect size for a 5 x 7" photo, and the back of the card can hold a collage of mini-photos. I used 10 photos, a map, journaling card, brochure, souvenirs, plus my regular embellishments on one "page" of my album. Anything else leftover from my Gatorland visit, I just tossed as I'm never going to use them again.

To see the rest of the pages, they are spread out on CutCardStock's blog and Pages from the Heart's blog. 

This gave me a good feeling of utilizing everything I brought back and a sense of completion regarding scrapping my trip. It was a lot faster than scrapping a 12 x 12" album and turned out to be a fun and interactive album that people might enjoy browsing through. 

You can use any card envelope you have lying around, an empty small binder and a piece of cardstock cut to fit inside your envelope. If you want to use the brown paper bag set that I used, you can purchase the envelope here and the card here. I actually liked them so much, I later purchased the A2 and square set. If you want to see the album in person, please visit Pages from the Heart. 

Thanks so much for stoppin' by, 

Paper Made Bakery: You're my Cup of Tea

The Reveal

Last week, I used the negative space of my teapot die cuts and ended up with 16 mini-teapots that I didn't use. I wanted to use some of those teapots since I had already cut them out. Here is what I came up with. 

Sneak Peek of my card on Paper Made Bakery

I also wanted to show the action of tea being poured so the twine in my Tea for Two kit came in handy. To see the whole card, please hop on over to today's post on Paper Made Bakery.

Hope you are having a "tea"rrific day,

Scrapbook Steals Blog Hop: Fun with Ribbons

The Hop

Welcome to Scrapbook Steal's July Blog Hop! I'm so excited to be a part of this hop, since I love viewing and love even more purchasing their daily offering of scrapbooking supplies. If you've just arrived from Mary's blog, then you've come to the right place. If you want to start from the beginning, please go to Scrapbook Steal's site. If you are lost, here is the blog hop order:

1. ScrapbookSteals 
2. Julie Koets 
3. Sherri Thompson 
4. Corrina Colquhoun 
5. Mary Pat O'brien-Siehl 
6. Michelle McClure (← you are here)
7. Savannah O'Gwynn (← next stop) 
8. Melissa Dehne 

The Product

All the designers were given a different card of trim to work with from the Fancy Pants Designs Ribbon Bundle. I was so happy to receive the Lilac House trim card. When I saw the colors and the lace design, I knew I was going to make something wedding themed. My cousin got married about a month ago and her wedding colors were Tiffany blue and orange. These ribbons were the perfect centerpiece in making a wedding card and gift for her. 

Fancy Pants Lilac House Trim

The Reveal #1: Wedding Card
First off, I made a card for her wedding present which were his and hers gift cards. Since I had separate gift cards for couple, I wanted the card to feature both the bride and groom. I bought this cut file from the Silhouette store and cut out the clothes, hat and bouquet.

Die Cut Wedding Card

At this point, the card looked very boring and flat and really needed some finishing touches. To make it more 3-D, I popped up the wedding dress and added the Fancy Pants lace trim. That really helped. I didn't want to leave out the groom, so I fold a piece of the blue and cream ribbon in half and tightly wrapped the center with some thread to create a bow tie. 

Dress Trim and Bow Tie Elements

I placed the finished card inside a cellophane envelope and tied a bow around the outside. Voilà!

Card & Envelope

The Reveal #2: Post - Wedding Gift

Secondly, after the wedding I wanted to frame one of her wedding photos to give as a post-wedding gift. I thought ribbon roses would make a perfect embellishment as she had a lot of beautiful orange roses in the banquet centerpieces. 

Framed Wedding Photo

I usually get my frames at my local thirft store where I never know what I'll find. On this trip, I found some circular frames which I've never worked with, but ended up really liking the shape. It had a dark finish and since I wanted a more pastel look, I ended up altering it. I painted a layer of crackling medium over the frame and then a layer of antique white on top of that. The result looked like birch bark.

Original Frame

To make the ribbon roses, I searched for ribbon tutorials and ended up using this tutorial. I cut an 8" length of ribbon and just rolled and twisted and glued the ending section to the bottom of the rose. It was really quite easy to make. I adhered some of the roses inside the frame and some on top of the frame using Fabric-tac. As a finishing touch, I brushed on some glitter paint to make the roses sparkle. 

Ribbon Roses Accent

The Giveaway
As a way to say thank you for participating in today's hop, one winner will be randomly chosen from one of the 8 blogs in today's hop. To increase your chances of winning, leave a comment at each stop. You have until 11:59 PM MST on Sunday, July 8th to complete the hop. The winner will receive a $20.00 gift certificate to ScrapbookSteals.com.

Good luck to all! Your next stop is my friend Sav's Blog.

Thanks so much for hoppin' by,