Sticky Gem Journaling Spots

Sticky Gem Journaling Spots:

We are talking about bling over at Practical Scrappers today and how we can creatively add it to our layouts!

 I thought it would be fun to use the circle gemstones as journaling spots to mimic the design of the background paper.

Again, I let the vibrant colors of my picture dictate the color palette for this layout.  

Come on over the Practical Scrappers and see what the other designers came up with!

Back to School Crafts

Back to School Crafts

I know I know! I do not want the summer to end either but is inevitable and back to school will be here before we blink our eyes!!  I was looking over my kids back to school list and was astounded by how much stuff I need for my three children to start 5th grade, 3rd grade, and Kindergarten!  I decided to take a step back and see what I could do to make this list a little less overwhelming.

First, I took the three lists and combined them into one comprehensive list to keep me better organized.  I was shocked to see it covered an entire side of notebook paper!
Next, I looked around the house to see what items I had already that could be used or reused instead of buying new items.  What items I could "craft" up a bit to make better than new for my kiddos! I found some scossors and plastic folders we will reuse as they are as good as new just as they are.  I found that the kids needed 14 composition books between them!! I was amazed!!  I knew we had some on my daughter's book case, 14 "used books"  so I decided to investigate!  Looking at the composition books we needed to buy for last year I found that ten of them only had 4-5 pages written on.  Seemed like such a waste so....

 

*Notebook Overhaul*

First I went through the books and decided that a couple of them had too much stuff written in the to save or reuse so I put them back on the shelf and was left with 10 that I could work with.  As you can see, they are all in very good shape but have writing on their cover blocks.  I decided to get crafty!

 
Tear out the pages that have writing on them.  Go to the back of the book and the corresponding back pages will need little encouragement to be removed.  (Do this one or two pages at a time.  If you do more than this, you risk tearing out the string that holds the book together :( I learned this the hard way.)

Next, use a printing program, I used Print Shop, to design labels for the front.  I sized them to fit over the existing front label.

Place over the old label and it's as good as new!!

The kids love the little owl, and we saved both money and the environment with this idea!!

*"Toad"ally Fun Toadstool Erasers!*

The kids back to school list includes erasers and we made these a while back and I thought they would be a perfect!  Check out our tutorial for these!

Here are some other ideas I found around the internet that I just might try before school starts too! (The pics and titles are links to the original tutorials!)

*Felt Pencil Case*

 

 *Recycled Juice Pouch Lunch Bags*

*School & Activities Binder* 

*Super Cute Paperclips*

I hope you have fun creating some super cute and personalized back to school supplies for your little ones!!

In Mimi's Arms Layout

In Mimi's Arms Layout

This layout is based on the sketch from The Studio Challenges:

This is the first Sketch challenge I am participating in.  I have never really used sketches for my layouts and was interested to give it a try.  It was easier than I thought it would be and I LOVE the final result!

Here are some detail shots!

I love how the colors worked together in this layout.  I try to use the photo as a guide for choosing colors and the orange and green in the photo really jumped out at me.  There contrasting quality really made this page stand out!  I made the corners like the sketch by punching them off with a circle punch.  Neat effect!

Check out The Studio Challenges for more great Challenges

Twin Pop Matching Game

Twin Pop Matching Game

Still looking for some summer road trip keep the kids busy and happy in the car ideas and I came across a Popsicle memory game here.

My kiddos LOVE twin pops so I thought why not use those instead?  Instead of memory I decided to go with a matching game.  I cut the Twin Pops from cardstock and painted them with craft paint in different designs,
 
Used Elmer's glue to glue on sticks

Cut them apart

And gave them to the kids to play.
They had a lot o fun matching up the patterns.
They can play face up or face down.
They can also play like Go Fish or memory.

If you have a summer fun idea, join us and share!

Watercolors To Go!

Watercolors To Go! 

 It is summer vacation season and I was looking for some fun new things that could be taken along in a car to keep the little ones busy and happy.  My kids love to paint so when I came across the idea I found here I had to try it.  With a couple additions to make it my own and to make it so the kiddos could take it with them complete and ready to use, and here you are!

Started with 9X11 sheets of watercolor paper that I cut down to a variety of sizes.
I used the liquid watercolors that come in a tube to add the watercolors to the edge of each piece of paper.
Each paper got dots of watercolor along the left side.  I used smaller dots for the smaller paper and larger dots for the larger paper.
 
After all of the papers had their dots, I had to let them dry...my least favorite step of any project!

I reused a water bottle.  I made a label for the bottle and filled it about half way with water.  Put a plastic paintbrush right in the water and screwed the lid on nice and tight.  After the paints were dry, I punched holes in each one and tied them to the bottle with a ribbon.

How great are these?!?
I am thinking these would make great party favors for an art/rainbow themed party too!

Also, if you cut the paper into 4X6 rectangles you can have your kiddos paint pictures on the road and send them as postcards!

Here are some of the creations from our idea testers!

  
They definatley had fun with it and we will be taking these on the road with us this summer!

Join us and share your summer road trip craft ideas!

My Black Pen: Make Journaling Your Focus

My Black Pen: Make Journaling Your Focus

Over at Practical Scrappers today we are talking about ways you can use your black pen on your layouts, to really make your layouts stand out.  I do not know where my layouts would be without my black pen!  I have said before how important I think that the journaling on a layout is as it tells the reader the story behind the photograph.  It preserves the history for future generations.  I used my black pen to make the journaling on my page the focus:

As you can see, about half of my layout is journaling.  I used the black pen to write all about my one of a kind sweet girl Brynna Mae and what makes her so unique.  I added a touch of color to some of the letter as well.

I added some rub on words and bling to the photo.

I accented the photo with some unique accents including a fun, pink, feather!

It does not have to take a lot of time and product to make your pages one-of-a-kind!  Sometimes, cardstock and a simple black pen can do the trick!  Head over the Practical scrappers and see what the other designers came up with for ways to use your black pen on a layout!

Baked Ribbon? Keep that Curl!

I have been promising a tutorial for how to create the ribbon on this page since I first posted it, so here it is!

 I always wanted to know how the ribbon that was used to make those pretty little girl's hairbows kept it shape.  I was sure it involved some kind of chemical or it was manufactured that way.  Well, I did a little research and was SHOCKED to find out how truly simple it is.  Wind it around a dowel, or in my case a bamboo skewer from the kitchen, and bake it!

In this tutorial I use a variety of ribbons, and I use both dowels and bamboo skewers.  It is your choice and depends on what your final result to look like.  I have not yet found a ribbon that does not work, but if you come across one, please let me know! 

Preheat oven to 275.

Begin by clipping the end of your ribbon to the end of a dowel with a wooden clothespin.  If you do not have any clothespins, use a straight pin.  The first time I made these I used straight pins and it was a bit trickier, but definitely possible.
     
Next you wind the ribbon tightly around the dowel from end to end.  
 
Cut the ribbon off when you get to the end of the dowel and secure it with another clothes pin or straight pin.  

Make as many ribbons as you would like.  I used 4 on this layout.  Place them on a baking sheet. Bake on 275 for about a half hour.  
 
Remove them from the oven and LET THEM COOL!  As always this is a hard step for me!  But, I learned the hard way that if you unwind them before they are cooled, the curls will loosen or come out altogether. (I do move them to a towel  to get them away from the heat of the pan so they cool faster!)

Once they have cooled completely, slide them off of their dowels.  There are times when they get caught on a sliver of wood...DO NOT PANIC, simply unwind the ribbon from that area and slide it off the opposite end as the grain of the wood sometimes catches the ribbon.
 
Use these great little ribbons on you next scrapbook page, make a fun hair bow, use it for gift wrap, add it to a home decor project.  The sky is the limit!  Post a pic of your project so we can see!


FUN STUFF!!!  What will you create with yours?  Please share your ideas!

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