My Little Shoebox Sketch Challenge

My Little Shoebox is having a fun sketch challenge with a great prize, and you have plenty of time to enter!  The challenge is open until November 15th, so grab your pictures and your favorite My Little Shoebox papers and get scrappin'.  Head on over to the MLS blog for all the details.

The sketch they provided this month is great, but it's for a single page layout, and if you know me you know I scrap almost entirely in two page spreads.  So I created my own right hand page to go with their sketch.  Here's the sketch:

And here's the layout I created:

I used the Flying High paper line for my layout.  Its fun & playful style was perfect for my daughter's 5th birthday.  We have a little tradition in our house that no matter what day of the week your birthday falls on, you get a birthday dinner and your gift.  Hence the photos of everyone eating soft tacos - that was Holly's choice. 

Little tips:

• I used the tone on tone lines of my scalloped circle paper as built-in lines for journaling.  No need to add anything extra.
• I cut out elements from one of the papers for the clouds and bird & birdhouse to create my little scene.  I also used two elements from the punch-out sheet for the sun.
• I added some felt ribbon and glitter cardstock (both items from American Crafts) for some extra texture.

Now it's your turn.  Go take a crack at that sketch and the cool prize the winner will receive!

Chex Snack Mix Review & Sweepstakes

I recently had the chance to sample three varieties of Chex Snack mix with some friends, through the MyGetTogether Program.  We received samples of Traditional, Sweet & Salty Honey Nut, and Chocolate Turtle Chex Mix.  Everyone loves the traditional of course (but at our house we wish it still had peanuts), but the big surprise was the Turtle variety.  It was the perfect mix of chocolate & caramel, and there was even some yummy popcorm in there!

In fact, the Turtle was such a hit, here's the hubs hoarding it & telling me to buy some more:

Definitely some choices we will buy again!  By the way, for those of you local to me, I do have some coupons left for 75 cents off 2 packages.  Let me know if you want one!

Disclaimer: For the purposes of this review, General Mills sent me 3 bags of Chex Mix snacks.  The opinions are my own.

To make things exciting, Chex Mix is having a $10,000 sweepstakes over on their FaceBook page.  All you have to do is "like" Chex Mix, then enter to win.

Oh, Croppy Day!

On Saturday, Mandie & I spent the day at a 12-hour fundraiser crop.  With kids home from school today, I'm kind of wishing I was back there again and find myself singing "oh, croppy day" (to the tune of Oh Happy Day - yes, the gospel song) over and over in my head!  I know, I'm odd.  That's OK.

At any rate, it was nice to just spend a lazy day cropping.  I only completed three 2-page layouts, and finished another I had started previously.  The only downside was that I forgot the cord that connects my Gypsy to the Cricut - good thing Mandie had all of her cartridges with her!

I can't share all of my layouts today; a couple of them are for the Cutters Creek blog later this month.  You can look for my Summer flashback this Friday, the 15th, and my pirate Halloween layout next Tuesday, the 19th.  However, I can share the other two.

The first layout is for this week's Cricut Circle blog Think Pink challenge.  This challenge asks us to use at least 3 of the following: Pink, Ruffles, Scallops, Flourishes, Glitter and Jewels.  We also have to use at least two Cricut cuts.  I had some cute pictures of our girls from a few years ago, where they had fallen asleep together in our bed, and I decided to use those.

I met the criteria using pink, a flourish cut, lots of scallops on my chipboard elements, and pink gems.  I used a sketch pattern from the new Magic book from Close To My Heart, and modified it by using chipboard flowers instead of additional pictures.  Patterned papers, chipboard elements, and the large brad in the upper right are all from Basic Grey's Sugared line; cardstock and pink brads are from Close To My Heart; Cricut cuts are both from French Manor; and pink gems are I-rock gems from Imaginisce.

The other layout I completed also uses some older pictures I really needed to get scrapped!  I do have a little journaling to complete - it will go to the left of the main photo under my subtitle.

I used another sketch for this layout, but I can't remember which book it is from.  I used some of my favorite papers on this layout - Beyond the Sea from Heidi Grace - along with some Cardstock from Close To My Heart.  I will warn you that these papers are super hard to find, but I'm working on finding a source for anyone who is interested in them.

My title is cut with the 3 Birds Cricut cartridge (thanks Mandie!) and my scallops and circle are cut with Plantin Schoolbook.  Adhesive gems and pearls are all from CTMH, and the rub-ons used on my subtitle and directly on my main photo are also from the Beyond the Sea line.  (Click on the photo to enlarge and see them better.)

Thanks for stopping by today!  Don't forget to stop back here or over on the Cutters Creek blog this Friday and next Tuesday for more scrappy goodness.

Upsy Daisy!

Today I wanted to share with you a fabulous little paper company.  I had never heard of them prior to attending CHA this Sumer, and they have some of the most beautiful papers!  I recently tried out for their design team and, sorry to say, did not get asked to join.  But based on their current DT, I know the new gals are uber-talented - I can't wait to see what they come up with!

At any rate, now that the announcement has been made, I can share one of my entries with you.  I made this 2-page layout using the new Avalanche line from Upsy Daisy Designs.  I based my LO on a sketch from the Scrapbook Generations sketch books.

All of their gorgeous papers are double-sided, so you will definitely want to head over to Upsy Daisy Designs and see all of the patterns, plus the extras they have that match each paper line.  For my layout, I added cardstock from Bazzil for the bases and the dark brown.  I also added white CS, and Textured Twilight CS from Close To My Heart, plus Glitter Cardstock from American Crafts.

For my title, I chose to stamp "work" in Versamark on the dark brown CS using the Rustic alphabet stamps from CMTH, then I cut out each letter.  The "or" is also stamped, using white embossing powder and the CTMH Precious alphabet stamps (discontinued).  "play" is cut with my Cricut, using Gypsy Font.  I then cut snowflakes from several different Cricut cartridges - I just used the search feature on my Gypsy to find carts with snowflakes and chose those I wanted - in different sizes.  I cut some from cardstock, some from glitter cardstock, and some from plastic packaging (like the Cricut carts come in).  To make the clear plastic ones more visible, I swiped on some white pigment ink around all of the edges.  This also gives a nice "snowy" look.  Fianlly, I attached everything.  I used Liquid Glass (like Glossy Accents) for the glitter cardstock, and brads for anything clear.  The top and bottom brads are from CTMH, and the middle one is a Recollections from Michael's.

Alright, your mission is to head over to Upsy Daisy and check out all of their cool stuff.  And be sure to tell them I sent you!

Organizer Folding Tutorial

Yes!  It's finally here; the folding tutorial for that cute Christmas organizer I showed the other day.

As a reminder, I made this using a True Fit Folio from Close To My Heart.  The benefit to using this, as opposed to one of those file folders used for storing paper, is that they are a true 12x12 size.  Which means...

that it fits perfectly in my Scor-Pal!  And that makes it easier to score and fold.

Step 1: Make sure the folder's tab is in the upper right corner.  Then score down the 4" line.  You'll want to go over the score line a few times to make sure it goes through both layers.

Step 2: Open up the file folder completely, with the tab at the upper left, and fold up along the line you just scored.  You'll want to run the bone folder along the folded edge to make sure your fold is sharp.

Step 3: With the folder open and horizontal, and the center fold on the right, score the left side at the 4" and 8" marks.  Slide the folder across so the center fold is on the left, and score again at the 4" and 8" marks.

This is what the folder should look like when you have scored all the way across the folder:

Step 4: Accordian fold the folder, beginning with the tabbed end.  This is the front cover.  Again, run the bone folder along all of your scores so they are as flat and smooth as possible.

Step 5:  Finally, you will want to make it as easy as possible to get things in and out of your pockets.  I generally cover my organizer with paper first so you only have to do this once.  I use a large 3" circle punch, turn it upside down, and punch a curved area out of the top of the 4" section we folded up along the bottom of the folder.

After punching, I usually run a strip of adhesive along each fold on this short section before I fold it back into place.  This keeps the pockets separated when you're opening it up during your planning, shopping, whatever. 

If you make a similar project, I'd love to see your ideas!  Make sure you leave a URL in the comments if you make something.

Cricut Circle Weekly Challenge

(Yes, the post for folding that cute organizer will be up later today, lol!)

The Cricut Circle certainly knows how to keep me busy!  They have a new blog up & running and have their first weekly challenge up.  The challenge this week is to use at least 2 cuts from our French Manor cartridge (Circle Exclusive), along with gems or pearls.  As luck would have it, I had another home decor project that I been needing to get done.

My mom gave me this awesome HUGE sconce from the old Home Interiors - she used to be a demonstrator and this was one of the pieces she didn't want to keep for herself.  I've had it for QUITE a while and just couldn't decide where to put it.  I finally decided the other day that it would look perfect right next to our front door, but it really wouldn't look right all by itself because the design is so simple.  I didn't want to clutter up the smallish space with other stuff, and this contest gave me just the inspiration I needed. 

I pulled out some decor vinyl (woo-hoo that I had some great colors on hand to match the room), and decided on my designs.  Here's what I came up with:

I resized the shield shape background with my Gypsy to stretch it a little longer so it is more in proportion with the sconce base.  I was a little upset at first that I only had one sheet of the deep red vinyl; I had thought I'd place this behind the entire sconce.  But I think it turned out rather nicer just adding the accent behind the base.  I added the layered peacock on top in black and silver vinyl.  It took me the LONGEST time to decide on that silver, lol.  The room is mainly golden yellow, deep red, and black.  I could have used white, but I thought the contrast would be too stark.  The silver matches a light fixture at the other end of the room, so it works for me.  What Ireally love, though, is that if I get tired of this, the whole thing just peels right off!  (Who'd have thought that vinyl would become my favorite home decor item, lol?)

Want to see a little close-up of my golden-yellow gems?  Here it is:

It's a little hard to tell in the picture, but I used two size of gems.  The larger size went at the points of what would be a larger diamond, then the small ones filled in for all of the smaller diamonds.  Then I added a little adhesive pearl to my peacock's eye.  Voila!  French Manor home decor accents!  I'm really loving this cartridge more every time I use it.

There will be a slight delay...

in posting the tutorial planned for today.  I was not feeling well yesterday, then the hubs decided he was going to the Blackhawks game last night.  Since I'm working all day today & tomorrow, the tutorial will not be up until Monday.

I promise it's worth the wait, so be sure to stop back on Monday!