Bless This Nest: Echo Park Paper

My parents moved into a new house last year and I made this simple frame for their bookshelf.  The sentiment says: Bless This Nest. 

I used a small frame from a department store that was double matted. I removed the thick mats to give me room under the glass to create a scene. 

After removing the mats, I made a base of cardstock covered in burlap, stitching the two together.   

I used stickers to decorate the frame from Echo Park Paper. The wood veneers are Studio Calico and the alphas are Webster's Pages. Twine is from The Twinery. 

This project was published earlier this Spring in a special issue of Paper Crafts Magazine. 

A Quilted Card: Simple Stories

Are you a scrap saver?  Generally I am not, but I tend to hang on to the bits and pieces from my 6 x 6 paper pads, especially if the sheet is still attached.

I was flipping through what was left of my Simple Stories Sn@p 6 x 6 pad the other day and thought it was a shame to let the little pieces go to waste. The paper is so fun and cheery.  

To make the quilt, I punched 16 squares, laid them in a grid on a piece of cardstock, then stitched them down, quilt style. I added a piece of coordinating ribbon from May Arts and a bit of twine from The Twinery. 

I punched a tag from grid paper and ran it through my printer to add the sentiment:  When life gives you scraps, make a quilt.  I left some space to add three small quilt blocks. 

I uploaded this card to Two Peas in a Bucket Sunday night and was surprised to pop over to the site on Monday and see that it was the featured project of the day. 

Linking this quilted card to Tip Me Tuesday.

Happy Thanksgiving: Bella Blvd

[For the twine hop and giveaway, please see this post. ]

Oh, how quickly the holidays roll around! I can hardly believe that this Thursday is Thanksgiving. I made a quick little card to celebrate.

To make this card, I used some scraps from the Bella Blvd Thankful line and a simple design. I stitched the rows of patterned paper across the card, then added chipboard and little pennants.

To make the pennants, I added word stickers to some plain Bella flags in my stash.  To curl the twine for tendrils on the pumpkin, I wet the twine with a glue medium, then wrapped the twine around a pencil.  When the glue was dry, I unwrapped the twine and it sprung back into a curlicue shape. Easy!

If you'd like to win some twine, be sure to check out last Saturday's post.  I'm giving away 4 colors of holiday twine.  Entries close tomorrow night and the winner will be announced here on Wednesday.

To my American friends, I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. Thanks so much, everyone, for stopping by.

Hexagon Punch: LYB Hello Spring Card

I admit: I am behind the trend on hexagons. I have used some fun hexagon themed patterned paper in the past but I’ve never made my own hexagons. But now, I’m officially trendy!

 

Part of the reason I had never made hexagons before was that I didn’t have a hexagon punch, a particularly elusive creature. I am not sure why there aren’t more hexagon punches on the market. But I managed to find an old one by Creative Memories that did just the trick. This particular punch makes hexagons in two sizes and you can also nest them. Nice.

This shows the punch and the beginning of my card panel, albeit upside down.... I used the larger hexagon for my project. 

Here's a close-up. Paper and embellies are Little Yellow Bicycle, the Hello Spring line. It’s such a fun and vibrant collection and perfect for this time of year.

Thanks so much for stopping by my blog. I hope you have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend.

Capturing Graduation: Simple Stories

My layout today celebrates my brother Michael’s college graduation. His education was interrupted a few years ago by a tour of duty in Iraq. He was deployed right before exams and was not able to finish the semester. I was so proud of him that he went back to college, repeated that semester, and graduated.

　

My brother’s degree is in construction management, thus the white hard hat in lieu of a mortarboard. But you can’t have a graduation layout without a graduation hat.....so I made one. I used black and white baker’s twine from The Twinery for the tassel. It was really fun and easy to make.

I love these Simple Stories journaling cards. They are a must-have in every collection. These school-themed ones are from Elementary, one of the earlier lines. I thought they fit perfectly here. The background paper is from Simple Stories’ Awesome line, which is, well, awesome. I love SS's new basics. This particular pattern has faint stars. Love that.

Simple Stories is running a challenge to post a project using its element cards. You can find the challenge here.

Supplies:

CS: Bazzill Basics

PP: Simple Stories

Alphas: Basic Grey, October Afternoon

Stickers:  October Afternoon, Crate Paper

Button: October Afternoon

Twine: The Twinery

Sewing Machine: Bernina

Spring Cards

We’re having the most beautiful spring here in North Carolina. The sun is out. The flowers are blooming and all over the neighborhood, I hear the hum of lawn movers. On days like this, it’s impossible not to find myself wanting to create something bright and sunshiney.

The first card, "Let The Fun Begin," is a hodge podge of stuff laying on my desk and things I eyed on my Clip-it-up. This project started life as a color challenge to use yellow and pink. That’s where I got the yellow base (Pink Paislee’s Hometown Summer) and large pink scallop (Making Memories journal book).

　

Then I started poking around my desk, adding this and that. I had just gotten a 6x6 pad of Crate Paper‘s new Storyteller and I pulled the blue ledger from there. On top, I added a scallop border sticker from Studio Calico, a bit of twine from The Twinery and a trio of Crate chipboard birds. The sentiment sticker is from Amercan Crafts's new Dear Lizzy Neapolitan line. Love that collection! I nearly stopped there, but then decided the sun and kite stickers from My Little Shoebox would add just the right touch of whimsy. There, now the card feels complete.

The second card, "I Really Bike You," features Echo Park’s paper and stickers. I love orange and blue together and took advantage of that combination here. To make the bicycle pop against the background, I whitewashed the paper with thin white acrylic paint. I used heart punches to make the clouds then sewed them on the card to make them look a bit puffy. The sun sticker had a sentiment that didn’t fit the card, so I covered the wording by adding a plain yellow circle on top, then added my own sentiment with alphas under the bicycle.

　

I submitted this card to Scrapbook & Cards Today, the terrific quarterly Canadian magazine, and was delighted to see my card featured on its blog here.  I hope you're having a beautiful spring day wherever you are.