Sizzix Blog Hop - #3

This is the third project in the Sizzix blog hop series. The Scoreboard Die we used this time is a rectangle box. Great for party favors, or a small gift box. I covered the box with paper, attached the top to the back with paper fasteners (from the office supply store), folded the sides inwards and glued them together. To decorate, I glued a piece of ribbon around the lid, added some paper roses, a home made tassel from embroidery floss (with another paper fastener) to the front flap, velcro fasteners and voilà it's done. Quick and easy! For more creative and inspiring ideas using this die, check out the links in the left column then leave a comment on Eileen Hull's blog about the ones you like - there'll be a drawing and you just might win one of these fabulous dies!

Don't forget to check out my challenge below! The deadline is May 1st. List the all the supplies you find in the comments section. (BTW - I published Pam's comment by mistake - sorry Pam, but there's still a few more to find). Good Luck!

Yours truly,
Julie :)

Not As Green As Cabbage Looking

I remember when being "green" meant that you were a novice, new to something, or perhaps just plain naive. There was also a book published in 1970 entitled "The Greening of America" by Charles A. Reich. Neither reference has anything to do with recycling, whereas, to me, "crafts" has always had everything to do with it.

My first craft project memory was making dolls from my dad's pipe cleaners and fairy boats from walnut shells. I also remember my parents making a doll house for me and using matchsticks to create window panes. Matchboxes were doll beds (for the same tiny dolls that floated around the puddles in their walnut shell boats). To sum it up, we used what we had to create - we recycled. I remember my parents used to buy supplies to make the most exquisite and realistic crêpe paper flowers, but it wasn't until I was living in Germany in the 1960s that I actually discovered craft supplies other than paint, watercolor pencils, etc. In the 70s I found a Lee Wards catalog and suddenly found myself in craft heaven. I still used things from around the house however, depending on what I had decided to make - to me, this was crafting creativity at its best.

I've never made any bones about the fact that I am a crafter at heart and, for me, "scrapbooking" was just another way of being creative. I was definitely not an archival scrapbooker and used all kinds of things on my pages long before they were "hip". I was really in my element when in November 2005 Fiskars asked designers who worked with their tools to create projects for a display at the trade show being held in February 2006. The parameters were that we could only use supplies found around the house. These were my projects - sorry the photos aren't that great - I committed the cardinal sin and forgot to photograph them before sending to Fiskars, so I had to be content with taking photos at the show through glass.

CHALLENGE:

How many things from around the house can you see in these projects? Bear in mind that I used Fiskars products, but they didn't have paper and stickers at that time, so it was mainly tools. So here's a small challenge for you. Look at both of the small projects (Romeo and the Boy on the Rocking Horse) and see how many supplies you can identify. I will send the person who identifies them all an iTop from Imaginisce. Check it out at www.imaginisce.com. The deadline for this is May 1st. If there is more than one winner, there will be a drawing. I will list the supplies here after the drawing. You don't have to identify the tools used. Good Luck!

Yours truly,
Julie :)

Do Me A (Wedding) Favour

I think I should go into the wedding favour business..... I made these for my son's wedding and he had so many people ask where he got them from. The matchbooks in particular were a big hit - A Perfect Match! Sorry - had to get a pun in there somewhere.....

For the Favor Boxes, I created the circular text in Word, then punched around the shape with a lever punch. The matchbooks had text printed on the back and the front of the cardstock, so I used QuarkXpress, my faithful publishing program for the text on those. I used decorative bar staples for the matchbooks with EK's Fastenater and the little bits of bling are light pink Crystal Stickers from Mr. Richards, which I found at the craft store. Maybe I should start taking orders...

Yours truly,
Julie :)

Bling in a Teacup

It's amazing what you can do with die cuts, glue and a bit of glitter. This is a quick and easy project that would be perfect to use as a place setting. Fill with shreds as shown, or even candy for a sweet treat.

This is what I did:

1. I assembled the Teacup Scoreboard die cut then glued some small circles punched from pink paper onto the front. Using a small paintbrush I covered each circle with Elmer's Fabric & Paper Glue then sprinkled with pink glitter. I used Sugar Coating glitter from Doodlebugs, but any glitter works well.

2. I also die cut 3 flower shapes - 2 medium and 1 large. You can die cut these from colored card stock, or, do as I did, and cut them from white index card stock, then color each flower with water color paint. (I used yellow, orange and blue to match the glitter I wanted to use.)

3. Cut a 4", 5" and 6" piece of wire. Bend one end over into a "U" shape then adhere one piece to the back of each flower. I cut a second flower, covered the surface with adhesive (a tape runner works well) then, with edges aligned, I adhered it to the back of the flower over the wire to hold it in place. You could also put glitter on this side too.

4. To finish I filled the teacup with metallic shreds, adhered a self adhesive "jewel" to the center of each flower then place them into the teacup. Write a name on the tag then attach to the teacup handle with ribbon.

For more creative and inspiring "teacup" ideas, check out all the designer blogs listed on Eileen Hull's blog @ www.eileenhull.blogspot.com . I'm sure you'll find a design that will be just your "cup of tea". Enjoy!

Yours truly,
Julie :)

The Wedding!

My son tied the knot this past Saturday!  It was a beautiful day and a beautiful wedding and now I can relax and at least feel as if I'm getting back to some semblance of a "normal" life - whatever that may be.  My sister and I made the "favors" (which I will share a little later this week) and my husband and I hosted the rehearsal dinner.  Other than that it was much less work than when my daughter was married 7 years ago, but there was still lots to do.  Now it's over, I'm left with printing photos for family members, which, I will admit, I did not take.  I had, not one, but two cameras with me and took nary a photo on the day of the wedding.  Yes, I'm admitting that for once I let the photographers do all the work and I just enjoyed every second of the experience without looking thru a camera lens.......  my sister took lots of pix though and the "professionals"  found my grandchildren as adorable (and photogenic) as we do, so we definitely won't lack for memories to scrapbook.

I'll be back later this week, but right now I'm still in "wedding wecovery".  Don't forget to check back on Wednesday for sure for my blog hop project!

Yours truly,
Julie :)