It's a baby layout! Everyone likes babies

Are you a fan of simple and easy?  Do you have some baby pictures that really need to be scrapped but you don't know what to do with them?   I have the perfect collection for you!  The Simple Stories - Baby Steps collection.

When I first got this paper I contemplated what I wanted to do with it, chose a few different pictures...mostly newborn pictures of one of my little girls.  Then I saw this really cute picture in my stack that would go perfect.

The papers can go with either boy or girl very easily as you can see in this peek at the collection.


So I found my picture to use now I just needed to come up with a layout.  I use lots of sketches and take inspiration from layouts I see on other blogs or websites.  I finally narrowed down which papers and embellishments to use and I started this great process of creating a masterpiece! LOL not really...because with the Simple Stories, everything matches so all you really have to do is put together a layout or card with minimal effort...
Soooo here's my layout I did. 

What do you think????

The hardest part on the layout was cutting out the banner that runs along the top.  Everything is straight from the line, except for the twine and I did a little shading on the banner and around the edge of the main paper with one of my Tim Holtz distress ink pads.

I have a couple more ideas for my leftover paper and embellishments.  I want to make a couple of baby cards.  When I get them done, I will put up another blog...so keep a look out for the cards.  In the meantime, head on over to Scraphappy and pick up some of the Simple Stories lines.  There are some other really cute lines, Fall and I think I saw the Christmas line in the store the other day.  Come back and show us what you have done. 

More Scribble Scrabble Goodness

Hello, Crafters!
Yesterday I showed you my Thanksgiving Blessings Can. Today, I thought I would show you some more of my place setting: the name card and the napkin ring. I would show you the placemat now, but, well, it's not quite done yet. Oops. Oh well. I promise to show it once it's finished :) Anyhow...Remember that you can see this place setting, as well as the place settings from the other Design Team members, in the store.

First, the napkin ring. Easy, peasy. Remember that red tape we used yesterday? We're going to use it again today. Use it to attach some of your leftover Distress-Stained ribbon to your burlap ribbon that you've cut long enough to hold a napkin. Staple the ends together to make a loopy ring. Punch a cardstock circle (or cover a chipboard circle with patterned paper like we did yesterday), and red tape it over the seam of your napkin ring. Layer another Distress-stained circle over the top of your first circle. Tie a knot in a scrap of your Distress-stained ribbon. Cover the top circle with diamond glaze and lay the knot into the glue to dry. That's it! Easy, huh? Especially since we were just using leftovers and scraps from yesterday's project!

And now for the name card... Cut a length of patterned paper (mine is approximately 2x6 inches - I'm just guessing here. I don't measure), and fold it in half. Ink the edges with brown ink. Cut a strip of coordinating paper 1/2x3 inches and layer on the front of your card. Choose a My Mind's Eye Lost and Found 2 label sticker, mat it on patterned paper, and attach it to the top. Add 2 brads to decorate. Write or stamp the name of the person who's seat this will be with brown ink.

Open your card. Cut a small rectangle of ledger paper or a piece of coordinating cardstock, and glue it to the inside as a small journalling spot. Stamp or write the words. "Grateful for:" at the top. Provide a pen so your guests can write what they are grateful for during Thanksgiving dinner. After dinner, reclaim your craftiness (hehehe) and add it to a scrapbook page - Journalling Done!

Enjoy! I hope you have fun crafting your fall tables!
- Cori

Thanksgiving Blessings Can

Hello All!

I hope everyone has recovered from their sugar overload this past weekend and is having fun scrapping their Halloween festivities! But, in case you are ready to move on to our next fall holiday, I would like to show you how I made my Blessings Can for this Thanksgiving. Christy has asked each of us to design a fall table setting to help everyone get in the mood, and you can find these place settings in the store if you want to see them in real life.  I have been playing with the new Scribble Scrabble line of papers, embellishments from My Mind's Eye Lost and Found 2 line, Tim Holtz distress stains, and some super-fun dyeable ribbon that Christy has in the store.

First, gather your supplies. Find a can that you would like to alter. I had this hot chocolate can left over from last winter, so that's what I used, but any can will work.

Measure and cut your paper to go around your can. My paper wouldn't completely cover the entire circumference, so I cut some coordinating paper to fill in the gaps.

Line the edges of your paper with tacky red tape. This tape is AWESOME. Nothing sticks better. It holds everything. I love it. It is my go-to adhesive for ribbon, fibers, and chipboard, as well as for hard-to-stick items like metal cans.

Peel the red liner off and tape the paper to your can, being careful to line the edges up the first time. The Good News: this red tape sticks WELL. The Bad News: if you goof and stick it wrong, your paper may tear when you try to reposition it. Bottom Line: Be careful. You have been warned :)

Next, measure and cut your My Mind's Eye Burlap Ribbon to fit around the can.

Pick out what colors of Tim Holtz Distress Stain that you want to use to colorize your ribbon. I used Antique Linen, Mustard Seed, Frayed Burlap, and Brushed Corduroy. Lay out the ribbon on your non-stick craft mat so that when you ink the ribbon, you can still use the excess ink, and it won't be wasted.

 Dab some ink directly onto the craft mat. Dabbing multiple colors will give a multi-colored, dimensional look to the ribbon.

Swirl your ribbon around in the ink on the craft mat to soak up the ink. This gives the ribbon a nice splotchy, inky look (If you want your ink to be even all the way down the ribbon, then apply the ink dabber directly to the ribbon. Both ways work. They just give different results. Have fun experimenting).

 Add a line of red tape down the center of the burlap ribbon, and adhere the inked ribbon to the burlap ribbon.

Add another line of tacky red tap to the back of the burlap ribbon, and adhere it to the can. Again, be careful to place it exactly where you want it to be.

Now go find some old chipboard or die-cut shapes that you have lying around your stash (you know you have some, right?)

Now 'color' your chipboard by dabbing the ink directly onto it. The more layers of ink you dab, the darker the color will be. This ink is amazing and makes it very easy to customize any supplies you may have.

Adhere your chipboard shape to the front of your can (red tape again - detecting a trend?)

Punch a circle to fit on top of your chipboard or die-cut circle and glue it down (glue sticks work well here - need to conserve that precious red tape!)

Pick your favorite label from the Lost and Found 2 sticker sheet and mount on patterned paper scraps. Trim to fit, and ink the edges with brown ink.

Cover your top chipboard circle (which I colorized with Frayed Burlap Distress Stain) with diamond glaze or other clear, liquid glue.

Lay your label sticker into the glue to dry (I added 2 brads to the label first, just to dress it up a little bit).

And now you're done! Once your glue dries, you can fill the can with your written-down blessings or whatever you want! If you go into the store to see mine, I tied tags to candy sticks with Blessings written on the tags. Cute Cute Cute!

Keep reading the blog to see the rest of what we have created. I plan to show my coordinating napkin ring, name card, and even a layout using these same supplies over the next few weeks. Happy Crafting! And most of all, remember your blessings and be grateful for all that you've been given.
- Cori

PS And as always, keep the comments coming! Let us know what you want to learn and know about!

Since the stores are doing it...

Then I am doing it!  That's right; it is ONE day after Halloween, and I am posting about Christmas! ha ha!  Actually, my Christmas motivation does not come from the stores;  No, it comes from my yearly (broken) promise to myself to GET CHRISTMAS STARTED EARLY!!  Yes!  This is MY YEAR...I will make handmade cards, gift tags & cute decorations to sprinkle ALL over my house!  Yes, everyday I will create for the holidays!  I will create so many lovely banners and crafty paper goodness, that I might even need (gasp!) TWO trees!  I am SO sticking with the plan this year.  See? I've already gotten started!  With the help of some CUTE new Holiday arrivals at Scraphappy,  I have officially kicked off on my quest...ONE whole tag & ONE whole layout, done! (I used our new Fancy Pants "Saint Nick" for both....Just one of our precious new lines in the store!)  By the way, I need to mention that, SOMETIMES I can be a bit over-zealous and tend to procrastinate with projects....but not this year of course!  wink wink.