Christmas Tag

I LOVE thinking of ways to make my own embellishments using my stash. For this Christmas tag I made the embellishment using metal stamps and a bottle cap. First I ran the bottle cap through my cuttle bug to flatten it out. Then I stamped the word "Jolly" using a brick, hammer and the metal stamps. 

  I think using the brick makes it easier to stamp a clear image. After I stamped the letter I took white craft paint and dabbed it over the letters. I used a paper towel to wipe the excess paint off. Lastly I put a Tim Holtz star below the words, punched a hole in the top and tied it with bakers twine. I got the Santa image from the Silhouette store, the tickets were from my stash and I punched out the white boarder. I used Tim Holtz mini attacher to staple the ribbon on the top and lastly I inked the edges of the tag. I love how it turned out, and it's my favorite vintage style ta boot!

Happy Creating,

Melissa 

Previvor, BRCA and Breast Cancer

It's been a crazy few months. In Jan my sister was diagnosed  with breast cancer. She got tested for the BRCA gene mutation, and it turned out to be positive. I got tested and I am positive also. We inherited it from my Dad. This means that we have a link in the tumor suppressing BRCA gene that is broken or mutated. According to BeBrightPink.org my risk of breast cancer is as high as 87% and ovarian cancer 54%. My genetic counselor said I am a "previvor", a survivor of a predisposition for a disease such as cancer. I found a couple FB groups that have been so informative and helpful. There are so many women going through the same thing I am. After meeting with oncologist breast  surgeons, plastic surgeon and oncologist gyn, and much research.. I made the decision to have a hysterectomy and preventative bilateral mastectomy (PBM).  I want the best odds of not getting cancer. I had other problems  related to gyn, so I am relieved to have had a my hyst a few weeks ago. Menopause hasn't hit me yet, but I'm sure it's on it's way! I am going to have my PBM in Jan/Feb time frame. One gal said on the FB BRCA Sisterhood group..you wouldn't get on a plane that had a 54% or 87% chance of crashing would you?  or It's not elective when the alternative is cancer.  I am a part of a FB group The Documented Life and did this page in my journal back in Jan. This journey has really changed me..and how I see the color pink!

Cool Labels

 I recently bought some plain white labels and wanted to jazz them up a bit. While I was finishing up a project my son Jack (who LOVES to play with my spray mists and color with paint) asked if he could "spray" as he calls it. I had the big stack of white labels and thought sure why not..let see what he can come up with. I gave him a few and he had a blast spraying all kinds of colors onto the sheet. For a few of them I dotted them with Tim Holtz distress stain dobbers (I need to get some Bingo dobbers too!) While I was at Micheals I saw Heidi Swap came out with a small circle stamp with an interchangeable circular saying stamps. Adorable and perfect to stamp on top of where I stamped with the dobber!! I made some to label my craft storage bins, notebooks and of course envelopes. So many uses! 

Happy Creating,

Melissa 

 

Halloween Tree Ornament

I've been looking for a frame of some sort to use in my most recent swap group for some time! The swap is Halloween Tree Ornament. I knew I wanted to use a picture I had of a black crow reading a book. I made several trips to the Dollar store to only find one or two frames of the same design. I needed 12 of the same design. I was at Michaels on Sat before I went to my monthly crop and score! I found a 3 pack of chalkboard type wood frames. Bonus..they were only $1.49 (on clearance) per pack!! I was super excited! 

I like to keep the swap items inexpensive because I also have to pay shipping to and from the host. The best part is that they are really light, so they won't weigh the tree down. First, I needed to paint the frames as they came in pink, teal and light green. I used a basic black craft paint and did two coats with a foam brush. 

I printed out the crow picture and cut it down to fit each frame. I used wash tape around 

the crow, and then embellished with Echo Park Chillingworth Manor. 

I cut the plastic ring part off of  spiders and glued them on last. 

Since the frame will be hanging and the back will probably be exposed I used the same line of paper and embellished with a tag, black polka dot washi tape, and a black button.

 I really like how they came out and can't wait to get 11 different ones back to decorate my Halloween tree! 

Happy Creating,

Melissa

Handmade Birthday Hat

A fun tradition to start when kids are young is a birthday hat. (I wish I would have thought of this one when my kiddos were babies) Make a sturdy birthday hat that you can take a picture of your child wearing each year on their birthday! It would be so much fun to look at the succession of pictures..young to old. One of my very crafty friends Jennifer makes adorable hats..and I got the idea from her :)  For this one I started by cutting a piece of 11X14 watercolor paper the size of the hat I wanted. I love watercolor paper because it's sturdy enough to hold up to a lot of crafting. I actually had a store bought birthday hat that I took apart and saved for a template. To start off with I cut out the name on my Silhouette and lightly adhered it to the hat.

I misted the hat with Maya Road misting spray. After it dried I peeled the name off. 

I folded tissue paper several times and then using my little flower punch I punched out the flowers. I glued them to the hat along with a little pearl in the middle with Glossy Accents. 

I trimmed the edges of red party cray paper to make it slightly fringe and glued white ric rac in the middle.

For the top I layed out a strip of white tissue paper and then cut fringes. I then rolled it up and make the "pom pom". I separated the layers by gently pulling on them. 

The banner is made of double sided triangles joined at the top. I cut them this way so I can fold them over bakers twine. I wrote Happy Birthday and secured each end with a pin. (I taped the pointy end to the inside of the hat). This hat was fun to make, my friend requested "not too girly". Thank goodness she said something to me or I would have gone a little crazy and did the whole nine yards of princess, ribbon and tulle!  Happy Creating,

Melissa  

Pinwheel Fun in My Scrapbook Layout

We recently went to my works Summer picnic. I did the decorations for the picnic and created some pinwheels for the candy bar. I also included one in my scrapbook layout to remember the awesome clown that did the kids face painting!  Nothing says fun summer to me than a pinwheel.  I started by cutting a square (any size will do--it just needs to be equal on all 4 sides) For the sign I did 4X4in and for my layout I did 1X1in. Then I cut along each corner going towards the middle halfway or 3/4 of the way to the middle. Using a hole punch I punched a hole into every other corner. I brought each corner into the middle one at a time (lining up the holes in the center) and secured it with a brad. Here is the template for the pinwheel in case you need a visual like I do...

I've also made them to go on notebooks, paper pads and for party center pieces. They are really fun when you have double sided paper..happy creating,

melissa 

Scrapbook Journaling Cards

 I'm working on my next swap due on my list! It's a journaling spot. I love journaling on my scrapbook pages! That's pretty much the reason why I scrapbook..to tell my version of what happened in the photo I'm scrappin or to tell a story about something. I love the project life cards that have journaling prompts and then have space for writing something..I used that for my inspiration. First, I practiced writing words a whole lot on regular white paper. I originally wanted to do thicker words, but it was really hard for me to write the words and have them be continuous with the boarder  lines. I switched to a thinner pen and it seemed smoother (and easier!). I wrote the words at the top of the card, then continued the line around the card to make the boarder. It took me a few tries to get a smooth continuous line all around the card. I thought about putting lines on the card. But decided against it, thinking it would  limit the journaler to how many words they could write. This way they can squeeze as much (or as little) as they want. I matted each card with black cardstock then I stapled paper butterflies I had in my stash to one side of the card. They were tan, so I sprayed them (with black Maya Road Mist) the color I wanted. I wish I would have gotten a ton more when I bought them years ago..they are so versatile.. they soak up whatever color you stamp/spray them! I then put washi tape on the opposite side, snipping the ends (I LOVE making the ends like that..I don' know what it's called though-LOL!?) Here's the link to my Google drive with all my blog PDF files,

 newest one being the journaling cards.

 https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B5EHbpKDNr1mX0J5bFV2LUtJNmc/edit?usp=sharing

Happy Creating!

Grad Party Centerpieces & Candy Banner

I was really excited when my sister asked me to make my niece Jennifers graduation party centerpieces using inspiration she found on Pinterest. I got to use my Silhouette and even learned how to layer plain numbers. I am SO happy every time I learn how to use my machine better! I did notice that it really matters how thick (good quality) your card stock is when cutting. Some card stock cuts smooth and wonderful, other stuff not so much. I cut the hat, ribbon and diploma seal using cut files on my Silhouette. I then painted kabob skewers white and washi taped them to the back of each item. I made the grad hat tassel by cutting cross stitch thread and taping the top with washi tape. I hot glued each tassel to a grad hat. That worked out so much better than waiting for glue to dry.

 I also made a banner for their candy bar. I had to cut the colored banner pieces by hand because the paper was so thin it ripped when I cut it on the Silhouette. But the background and letters were easily cut.

Altered Tickets

This is my first time altering tickets. I have to say it was really fun! Such a small space but I had two ideas that have been brewing for a while that I finally tried on the tickets. I did a vintage theme ticket strip and a bird "winged things" ticket strip. I haven't made several of something in a assembly line way in quite awhile. I first made one ticket strip completely, then I made each part 4 times and laid it all out. After all the pieces were made it was a quick process to assemble. I did the pointing hand on my Silhouette as a print and cut. I cut banners out of manila cards and stamped "Live your life" and "Inspire" on them. I cut circles out of sheet music and stamped "dream". I had the film strips in my stash from (goodness knows when!)

For the vintage one I first started out by embossing the ticket strip with a Sizzix Tim Holtz (TH) embossing folder. I used a rolling pin instead of dragging out my big shot..

After I embossed the strip I then used my TH blending tool to ink it. 

I really like how it all came together..and vintage is my most favorite style! 

The second one was a little harder for me to embellish. I knew I wanted to use my new brayer and do some pinkish colors. I started out by using my brayer to paint each ticket. It was a lot of fun!! I found 5 brayers for $1.00 at a rummage sale and I've been waiting to use them ever since! I just painted (with acrylic paints) the colors onto the brayer and then rolled right over the ticket. 

I stamped "soard" onto grey cardstock and then banner cut each word. I sprayed little white flowers with grey mist. I punched flowers out of sheet music and inked them. I had little mini white tags I inked grey  and wrote "free" thinking that the saying would kind of read Soar free...ah-it was hard for me to embellish these ones! Lastly I used Prima brads. 

I'm so glad I got these done..and now for summer break from Swaps :] 

Happy Creating,

Melissa 

Handmade Flowers

I've always loved flowers...especially since they are so versatile. I needed to make a few different kinds for my swap at 2Peas in a Bucket. I signed up for 4 groups. White textile, black textile, white paper and neutral paper. I made the black textile flower out of felt. I picked up thin sheets of felt at the dollar store. I first cut circles out and then cut each circle in a spiral.

I rolled each spiral starting at the open end, rolling in towards the middle. I don't roll mine super tight as I want some of the layers to be loose to show more petal. 

I made the next flower out of some embroidered trim that I had in my stash. I first began by weaving my threaded needle through the straight edge of the trim. 

Then I pulled the thread tight leaving enough thread at both ends to tie the two together in the middle of the gathered trim. That make the flower. I sewed a button in the middle to complete a flower. I'm really happy with how they turned out. Now on to my paper ones! :] 

Scrappin Tricks to Use My Stash

I don't buy glittery "gold" items often (really ever) so when I wanted to do a page with gold embellishments I didn't have any to choose from. Especially letters. To make my own letters I chose yellow ones and put stickles on each letter. To dry I lightly stuck them to my stamping block. They dried pretty quickly (by the time I was ready to use them!). You just need to be careful not to bend them too much. My yellow alpha stickers had a very smooth and slightly glossy surface, so when I bent the stickers to put on my layout the stickles flaked off one letter. I reapplied the stickles when I was finished with the layout. I also covered the butterfly at the top with stickles.

For the background I didn't have exactly the right color to mists my white paper with. So, I mixed 3 colors (Tattered Angels Spicy Mustard, Mister Hueys Custard and Artso Gold) into one of Rangers mini misters. Yesss...I got the color I wanted-not too brown-not too orange!

Most of the time my paper gets bubbled or wrinkled from the alcohol inks or mists I spray on it with. To help reduce this I use washi tape and tape it very tightly to a piece of chip board. You can use any flexible surface that's small enough for you to hold. I then bend it, spray it and lastly blow dry it (with my hair dryer). Depending how much you saturate it, it shouldn't bubble too much.

I used strips of scraps from my stash and some AC Glitter Strips. I turned my photos black and white and made them smaller in Monkey Pic (awesome free photo editing site). Hope this inspires you to use your stash in a different way too!

Happy Creating,

Melissa 

Alcohol Spray Inks

SO excited to share this idea I got from a FB group I am in called "A Documented Life". II started off with a trip to the Dollar Store to purchase:

When I got home with my goodies I covered my area with my homemade "Messy Mat".

I used needle nosed pliers to remove the end of the marker and take out the ink tube.

Then I wanted to remove the plastic tube around the ink tube . I didn't put on gloves for the first one and ink was all over my fingers after I was done! I did use a baby wipe to hold the ink tube but the ink still got on my fingers/hands. I highly recommend using plastic gloves.

To cut the plastic I used plain old kid scissors and cut right up the middle from bottom to top.  

After I separated the plastic from the fiber I slid the whole thing in the spray bottle.

I filled up the bottle with rubbing alcohol and waited about 20 minutes before I started to use the sprays. It was really fun using them, because they dried so quickly! First I sprayed glossy photo paper, let it dry and then stamped on it. I used another piece of photo paper to "mop up" the leftover ink on my mat.  I think of all the papers I used,  I liked the photo paper the best. When I stamped on it, the image was really clear and crisp. The bad thing is that the stamp stuck to the paper. I used a less stickier stamp for the butterfly and I was able to peel it right off.

I sprayed Heidi Swapp butterfly resist paper and swirled a baby wipe on it.

I took a Tim Holtz blending tool with a felt pad on it and sprayed several colors on it. I put the nozzle of the spray bottle right up on the felt pad.

I love the water color look without the dry time! On the stamping paper I did two circles, dabbing and straight lines  The velum looks like a stained glass (hard to tell in the photo!).

I also sprayed some sticker sheets as well for the Hi, today and airplane. The colors didn't show as bright as the photo paper, but it was still pretty. I used some stamps to stamp words/images then drew circles around today and the plane (then cut it out with a circle punch). I can't wait to incorporate some paint and other colors!

 

It was SO fun to make the sprays and play with them! I have a few more papers I'd like to try out and see how it works out. Maybe even some glass and metal.

Happy Creating,

Melissa

 

 

 

 

 

Easter Pennants

 

Yesterday was a croppin day for me at my favorite spot.. Our Lady of Lordes in Omaha. Tricia puts it on once a month. I love it because I get a 6ft table all to my self and can bring everything but the kitchen sink (without ladies saying wow-a sewing machine?) Not to mention 12hrs of creative time. Its a really fun and relaxed atmosphere too! I made eight of these pennants for a 2Peas swap. I send these eight in and get "Easter" back for a banner. The style was vintage using pastel green, blue and pink. I cut out the pennant from my silhouette on brown cardstock. I cut out lace from an old table cloth and sewed it on each pennant. I then adhered the pennant to a thick piece of chipboard for extra stability. I inked the "seed" packets and circle that's from K & Co before I adhered them to the laced pennant. I cut out the chocolate bunny and R from my silhouette. Lastly, I added buttons and bakers twine. It took me a long time to complete these, but I it think was worth it and I hope the ladies like them!

Happy Creating,

Melissa