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Remember to "click" on all pictures if you'd like to see them a little closer.

Saturday, June 7, 2014

Submission for the May Arts Ribbon Design Team

Hi everyone,

The folks at the May Arts Ribbon Blog are having a Design Team Call, and as I LOVE ribbon, I have decided to submit the following projects for their consideration. Please wish me luck on my application for their team!


Project #1

This first piece is a tutorial that I did for Scrapbooker's Paradise back in April.  In my opinion, the beautiful silk ribbon bow pulled this whole project together and gave it that extra "ooomph" of elegance.

I wanted to make a "panoramic" matchbox similar to the panoramic eggs you see at Easter time.  To begin, I picked my image from the beautiful Graphic 45 6'x6' paper "Sweet Sentiments".  These images  are about 2-1/2" x 4", so I needed a fairly large frame for my cut out ... Prima to the rescue!  I then figured out the size my box needed to be, working from these two main elements.

I have made a template to show you how I created the match box.  (Remember to "click' on it to make it larger.)  If you have any questions about it, feel free to enter them in the "comments" box below and I will be sure to answer.  (I'm going to be on holidays from April 3-13 though and am not sure if I will have an internet connection, so my answers might be later in the month.)


Instructions:
1)  First cut your match box bottom out of regular cardstock, as per the template above.
2)  Cut your outside wrap out of a heavier material, such as cereal box board.  Score & fold (both the wrap and the bottom) on the dotted lines and cut on the solid lines.  
3)  Glue the box bottom together.
4)  Score and crease the wrap as you see below.


5)  Cut a piece of patterned paper to fit the wrap and glue it down using a glue stick.  (I used a piece of G45 "Botanical Tea" patterned paper for this part.)  Important:  if you're going to add a ribbon hanger as I did, glue it in between the cardboard and the patterned paper. Go over your folds again with a bone folder and make some nice creases.


6)  Figure out where you are going to have your opening, mark it on the back.


7)  Cut it out and ink the edges and folds of the wrapper with Distress Ink (I used Vintage Photo.)  (I didn't worry about how raggy mine looked, because I knew the frame would be covering it.)


8) See .... all pretty now!!


9)  At this point I knew I was going to hang my matchbox, so it could no longer be a "sliding" matchbox.  I glued it down to the wrapper, added a piece of patterned paper that was cut to fit the back, and then figured out the placement of my image and glued it down, centered behind the frame.  

Those two "blocks" you see are pieces of packaging that I glued down to give the box more stability, so the top didn't collapse in.  You could make yourself little boxes out of leftover cereal box and glue them down to serve the same purpose.  When you have your box bottom looking the way you want it, you can fold the wrapper around it and glue the tab down.


10)  Now comes the fun part ... go to town decorating!!  I wrapped the edges of the box with some rose ribbon I had, then got busy with some Petaloo flowers and some baubles from my stash.  

For the panorama inside, I added one of G45's lovely silver/white metal key hole pieces.  The beautiful butterflies are cut from a piece of  Bo Bunny "Primrose" patterned paper.  I used VersaMagic "Pixie Dust" chalk ink to give the frame a pale pink colour.


To finish things off I added a bow from silk ribbon that I have at home.  It drapes and ties beautifully.  I have to confess though, I use my Zutter "Bow it All" to tie the bows because I am all thumbs when it comes to tying bows!  :)



So, I hope you give this project a try.  It looks so pretty hanging on the wall and reminds me that Spring really IS coming, even though it keeps snowing and snowing.

Have fun creating!

Supplies used:

White cardstock
A piece of cereal box board
Prima Victorian Resin Frame
G45 "Sweet Sentiments"
G45 "Botanical Tea"
Bo Bunny "Primrose"
Petaloo Soft Pink Botanica Blooms
Petaloo Soft Pink Botanica Minis
G45 Shabby Chic Ornate Metal Key Hole
Vintage Photo Distress Ink

Project #2


Click HERE to see how I created the ribbon border at the base.

Project #3


Hanging Christmas ornament
Click HERE to see how to make it.


Shadow box to hold the hanging Christmas ornament.
Click HERE for instructions on making the shadow box.

Other Projects using ribbon:

Click on the picture to be taken to the post for further information.


Entered in Swirlydoos National Scrapbooking Day 2014


Also entered in Swirlydoos National Scrapbooking Day 2014
















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Sunday, June 1, 2014

June Hearts of the West Blog Hop

Welcome to The Hearts of the West team blog hop - the June Edition!


This month's color challenge has been picked by Nancy Klein. Its' soft color pallet is perfect for this time of year. In order to keep it simple, we were allowed to choose a project of our choice.

You're in for a treat, so grab your coffee, sit down, and hop with the Hearts of the West ladies!



This is a circular blog hop - no matter where you start....  if you keep on going ... you will end up back where you started!  There is a complete list of participants at the end of this post .... just in case you get lost. 

If you came from Jackie's blog, then you're on the right track. 

When I saw this month's colour challenge, I thought of the Ariana patterned paper instantly and decided to make a layout from it.

I did some cutting from our Artiste Cricut cartridge for this layout.  The green mat was cut at 11.5", and can be found on page 61 in the Cricut handbook.  The coral mat was cut at 10".  It can be found on page 31.  The Crystal Blue roses were cut from the pattern on page 54, and their size is 2.4"

Thanks for stopping by!  Now it's time to hop over to Donna's blog.  If you wish to leave any comments or thoughts on the blog hop ... they are always appreciated.  Hope you'll be back again next month!

Freya Dunbar - http://freyassimplecreations.blogspot.ca/2014/06/hearts-of-west-blog-hop.html

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Thursday, May 1, 2014

Hearts of the West Blog Hop

Welcome to the FIRST Hearts of the West Blog Hop!!

 This is a circular blog hop - no matter where you start....  if you keep on going ... you will end up back where you started!  There is a complete list of participants at the end of this post .... just in case you get lost.  

If you came from Chelsey at Personal Touch Scrapbooking, then you're on the right track!

Our fearless leader, Nancy Klein, chose our first color challenge:  using Buttercup, Sorbet, New England Ivy, Gypsy and Lagoon as well as any neutral colors we wanted to use.


I was a little intimidated by these colors at first, they're not what I usually work with, but as I played around with this and that, I started to love what I was seeing develop.  It just goes to show it's good to step out of your comfort zone once in a while!  I DID use a little bit of artistic licence though, and added in some pink roses, because I wanted to tie them in with the pink in the photo.


To create this layout I used a couple of the papers from "Ivy Lane".  In addition, the sorbet piece is from the retired "Flirty" collection, the lagoon is from "Skylark", and the purple mat is from "Laughing Lola"

The title piece was made by combining some of the "Flirty" chipboard pieces together.


The purple flowers were cut from the Artbooking  cricut cartridge, on page 48.  I used 3 - 3" pieces and one 2" piece for the large flower, and two 1-1/2" pieces for the smaller ones.  The piece of bling for the middle of the large flower is from the "Babycakes" assortment.  The beautiful resin flowers came from the Skylark Assortment, the Ivy Lane Assortment, and The Base & Bling Purple Jewels.


For the large flower, I used a stylus to form them in an upward cup shape, and for the two smaller ones, I did the opposite and had the cup shape face downward.  The centers from the smaller flowers are from the pink glitter gem pack.


The leaves were cut from the Art Philosophy cricut cartridge on page 43, and inked with Gypsy on the edges.


To add dimension, I pinched the tips of each leaf and scrunched it, then inked the folds as well.


Before I go I'd like to give credit to Amarilys's Scrappy Corner.  I used the following sketch of hers to create this layout.

ScrapThat! Kit August Sketch by Amarilys Doria


Thanks for stopping by.  Let me know what you think of the hop!  Comments are always appreciated!

Your next stop is Diane at Paper Crafters' Sorority.

See you next month for the Hearts of the West Team Challenge.
We're always looking for new consultants to join our amazing Hearts of the West Team.  Contact one of us from the list below and we will direct you to your nearest consultant and get you started!

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Wednesday, April 30, 2014

I'm a Swirlydoos Guest Designer!

I can hardly believe it!  


The talented ladies at Swirlydoos have taught me so much over the years, and I'm over-the-moon happy that they've invited me to be a Guest Designer sometime this year.  WooHoo!

 They introduced 3 new members to their design team today as well.  Check it out here.  It's going to be a great year with that kind of talent to inspire you!
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Wild Wednesday at Scrapbooker's Paradise

Good morning everyone!

I'm hosting Wild Wednesday today at Scrapbooker's Paradise.  I love Kaisercraft's Kaleidoscope paper pack, and used it to create this layout.


For inspiration, I used the Tiffany Sketch at Swirlydoos.  Take a peek at it here.
It's a fun challenge using whatever supplies you like!

I'm off to work on my income taxes.  (Yes, I'm one of THOSE who waits till the last minute!!)  Hope you're having fun in your craft room and not stuck punching in numbers as I am!  LOL

Take care,
Linda
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Saturday, April 19, 2014

Sign ups for May Swirlydoos Challenges

Hi everyone,

 Just wanted to let you know that signups are being taken for a couple of FUN challenges over at Swirlydoos for the month of May.

 First up is the Monthly Round Robin featuring layouts.

 Next we have a Card Round Robin.  I am hosting this one this month and I sure hope you will give it a try.  I'd love to see some of my following friends enter!  If you have any questions, comment on this thread below and I will put the answers there, so everyone can see them. We will be making Center Step Cards.  I've put the link for a tutorial on the Swirlydoos thread.


These challenges are open to anyone who wants to participate.  You do NOT need to be a subscriber to the kits.  (You can use whatever supplies you have on hand.)  You DO need to be a forum member.  However, that's easy!  Just go here, enter your information and when you receive a confirmation email, you will be able to access the forums and comment on the threads.  (As well as sign up for the round robin!)

 If you're confused as to what a Round Robin is, it's simply lifting the project of your teammate from the week before you and making it your own.  There are full explanations at each of the challenge threads, just click on the links that I have given you above.
Hope to see you visiting us over at Swirlydoos this month!
Linda
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Friday, April 11, 2014

Time for a new CHALLENGE at Playing in Paradise!

Hi everyone,

 Pam is hosting today's challenge at Playing in Paradise.  She would like to know ... Spring or Easter - What does it mean to you?  Your entry can be a layout, a card, an altered project, anything you like ... so have fun with this challenge!

 I have always loved Easter. It is SO welcome after our long, cold winters!  I think my most favorite part is all the baskets of beautiful flowers that start to appear and put a smile on your face.  Today as I was grocery shopping, the shelves were full of tulips and azaleas and hyacinths and violets and lilies and all sorts of greenery ... it was WONDERFUL!!

 So when I found this basket tutorial on Pinterest, I just HAD to make it.  :)  I used G45's Botanical Tea patterned papers, stickers, flowers and chipboard tags to create this.





This is a good sized basket and could be filled with a LOT of treats.  Even a small pot of flowers could be tucked inside!  The handle can be switched for a lid.  Or you could leave the handle off and use it for a flower pot.  Lots of possibilities!

For those of us who STILL use Imperial measurements, (even though Canada's gone to the Metric systems for MANY years now LOL),  here is what I used:

12x12 inch piece of card stock to cut out body of basket. (Each section is 4" square.)

My lace strips for the side were 1-1/4" wide by 4-1/4" long (My advice for these strips is to make a sample with the punch that you are planning to use, and try it out first because your widths might be different from mine.)

The squares for the inside of the box are 3-3/4 inches.

The handle is the same width as the lace strips, 1-1/4", and is 12" long.  

I used Scor Tape while assembling the basket, because it is strong gripping and I know my basket won't fall apart now. 

The tutorial has a lot of photos and detailed instructions and I found this basket very easy to make. 


Be sure to check out the post at Playing in Paradise and see what my team mates have to say about Spring and Easter.  Their projects are sure to WOW you!!

And THEN... think about giving the challenge a try yourself!  It's very easy to do, all the directions are right there, and we would LOVE to see what Spring and/or Easter mean to you!!


Have a wonderful time preparing for SPRING!

Linda




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