I GoT BiT bY ThE SCrApPiNg BuG.........(and I liked it!)

We had an online 6 day crop over at my yahoo group

Scrapbook Lane (Email me if you'd like an invite)

I had a great time!!! There were lots of challenges, and several to make you step out of your comfort zone..which is always a fun challenge in it's self I beleive!

We had a great time racing each other in the chat room to get things finished!

Here are some of the layouts I got done.

Some I am really happy with and some are...well....done..lol..

All these layouts have something on them made using the cricut. (I love that thing!)

This one I like ok, it's been a challenge using these colors and so much pattern paper.

That's outta my element but it was alot of fun!

I think this one is my favorite layout of them all!

I was really pleased with how this one came out too. And
almost all the embellishments on this layout came from swaps I did YEARS ago!!


I was pretty pleased with this layout. Especially for as simple as it is.

I found a use for my tear bear! This is my little "neice" Meagan.

She's my cousin really, but neice at heart :) I blocked her face out tho because

I didn't have permission from her parents to post the photo. Wish you all could see her adorable face!

Quick Tear Bear Tutorial

First I want to confess that I in no way shape or form am a professional at this!

Infact this is my very first tear bear ever made.

As I went along, I learned a couple things and found room for improvement..so maybe just concider this more as a "tips" post then a tutorial.

First I started with this rubber stamp, I beleive it's by Stampin Up!

I scanned it into my computer and sharpened the edges to make it darker and I enlarged it...this was my pattern. (But a tear bear google search will also give you plenty of patterns)

Next I cut the body apart...

Then I flipped each piece over and traced it..filling in around the body where the parts were missing.

Then I took the body parts and saturated around the edges of them with water using a paint brush.

I should also state, that originally tear bears were meant to be made with mulberry paper. However I did not have mulberry paper and I used cardstock..cardstock is ok, but it don't tear as easily and precise, I'm not sure how regular paper might work, but I'll eventually try it!

Once the edges were good and soaked, I carefully tore towards me.

I read a tip that roughing them up with a tooth brush along the edges gives them a more fluffier look. I did not try this tho.

Once all the pieces were dry I assembled the bear back together and this is my ending results.

Not the best tear bear out on the internet, and still room for improvement. (Like her head coulda been a bit bigger) but I will do this technique again.

If you make one of these I would love to see your work!!

Card Share

I'm trying to make one Christmas card a week, that way when it's closer to Christmas I'll have a good headstart on my card.

This card was inspired by a card I seen on

http://stampowl.blogspot.com/

I hope she don't mind that I card-lifted her card so to speak!

Her work is awesome you all should go check it out!!

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Just want to take this chance to

tell you all Happy Valentine's Day!

I hope your whole day was full of LOVE.

To all our friends and family,

we don't say it nearly enough but we LOVE you all!!

Time passes so quickly, and before you know it..weeks..months..go by

and we go so long without seeing each other or saying I LOVE you to one another.

I LOVE you is not something that should just be said to a spouse or a parent or your children.

Many people feel funny saying "I LOVE you" to people they "actually do LOVE..but I say if you LOVE someone tell them....especially while the opportunity is there to tell them. LOVE is not a shameful emotion. It's the best emotion a human can have...so again to you friends and family, we LOVE you all!!

Here is another Valentine's card I made.

I didn't realize the pic was so blurry until I pulled it up on the computer.

At of course I have since mailed it off so I can't retake the photo :( but you get the idea!

This was for a sketch challenge on Scrapbook Lane.

If you're interested in joining Scrapbook Lane let me know it's invite only.

Just drop me an email and I can send you an invite.

dash_02@netzero.com

Photo Tagged

This is a photo of my nephew Bryce. It was his first birthday.

What a ham!!! He's so cool!

Photo Tagged

Teresa at 8 Things About Me

http://8thingsaboutme.blogspot.com/2009/02/photo-tagged.html

tagged me for a fun and easy photo challenge.

Here are the rules:
Go to the 4th picture folder on your computer.
Post to the 4th picture in the folder.
Explain the picture.
Tag 4 more people.

The blogs I tagged.......

http://scrapatheartproject365.blogspot.com/

http://melaniescrafts.blogspot.com/

http://sharonsfamilylife.blogspot.com/

http://yourgypsygirl.blogspot.com/

What I do when I play..........: Tilda and Friend ATC Challenge

What I do when I play..........: Tilda
http://tildaandfriends.blogspot.com/ and Friend ATC Challenge

Tilda and Friend ATC Challenge

I decided to take the ATC Challenge over at Tilda and Friends

http://tildaandfriends.blogspot.com/

The challenge was to incorporate hearts into your ATC - it doesn't have to be a Valentine. You can use any stamps or style of craft as long as the overall look is cute.

I used stamps by Stampin' Up!

Also you can't really see it in the photos but at the top of the cards there is white paper lace.

If you are an atc collector and you'd like to have these cards leave me a comment below with a way to contact you and I will draw names and will mail them to the winner.

What to wear when your wife has a "Honey Do List" for you

I don't know who this is, I received this in a "forward"

in my email.

I found it to be rather humorous and I had to take a double look before it made sense to me!!

New Card Challenge

This Card was made during for a challenge at

Scrapbook Lane. We were given a card sketch and had to create a card using that sketch. This is the card I came up with.

I made two, mailed one to Grandma and one to the In-Laws.

I think it turned out cute!

If you're interested in joining Scrapbook Lane and getting in on the challenges let me know.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ScrapbookLane/

It's invite only so email me and I'll send you out an invite.

dash_02@netzero.com

Valentine's Day Gifts

For Valentine's Day I made up these quick little gifts

for Caleb and Carter's Bible School Teachers.

For the candles, I just took walmart votives and wrapped them with scrapbook

paper and double sided tape and tied a "Happy Valentine's Day" ribbon on them.
I also included these little altered magnetic frames.
They were originally business magnets, I just recovered them
in scrapbook papers.

How to make Paper!!

Making paper is such a FUN experience!!

I've been doing this for years!!!

My very first time ever making paper was when I was in highschool.

I was hooked from then on!!!

It is a great way to add texture to your cards, layouts, atc's and various other crafts.

If using it for your scrapbooking be sure to only blend acid free papers.

I will try to explain this the best I can, but if

something does not make sense or you have a

question please feel free to email me.

dash_02@netzero.com

First thing you need to do is pick your paper colors.

Keep in mind, that the darker color will be the dominant color.

It will come out lighter then your darkest paper tho.

I throw in white paper for a color filler.

You can use any scraps (which i recommend, why waste??)

You can use magazines, news paper,computer paper, your kids

old school news letter..

Ok, after picking your papers tear them up. There is no rule here

Just tear them up so they blend better and quicker

Put them all into your blender.

There is no rule on how"much" paper to use but I fill the blender up about half way with torn loose paper. It really don't take much.

Then put your water in. Again, no set amount here either

It doesn't matter how much water you put in it's eventually all going to drain out. I usually fill mine a little over half the blender cup.

Also, I don't know as it matters, but I let my paper soak in the water for about 5 minutes before I blend it. I just figure it gets the paper soaked and soft..but that's just my way of thinking lol..
And here it is blending.

I usually put it on the "blend" setting but to tell you the truth I don't think it really matters.

It does not take much time at all for this to all blend together. Less the one minute really!

Beware if your kids are around they will think you are making a smoothie! (Kids love this project even when they find out it's NOT food lol)

Ok, now it's all blended and thick and I'm going to be using

this for "snow" so I added about a teaspoon of glitter to the top.

Put the lid back on and hit "grate" but only for a few seconds.

When it's dry it'll be nice and sparkly. You can add other things at this point too. it don't have to be just glitter. If you want to add flowers I recommend you either put them in and hand stir or put the in the paper as you're pouring it.

I also would recommend if you are wanting to add fibers you hand stir those in because they will get caught on your blender blades and that's a real pain!

Ok now, this is where you will need a screen of some sort.

What I usually use is something that's just a handmade deal.

I took a picture frame and removed the backing and glass then I took a staple gun and stapled regular old window screen to the back side. This is a great tool! It's cheap and it keeps your paper in a rectangular shape. HOWEVER.......this particular time, I could not find my screen tool so I improvised and used my wire drying rack for beef jerky. A little wider screen then what I'd prefer but it worked in a pinch.

Ok so take your screen and set it in a secure spot where it won't tip over or be spilled.

Then you just pour your "pulp" over the screen.

You can spread it out with your hands to make it thinner if you like.

When using my screen (with the much smaller holes) I like to put saran wrap over it and roll it out with my brayer.

PLEASE NOTE: DO NOT LAY THE RACK OVER YOUR SINK AND LET YOUR PAPER DRAIN THIS WAY!! IT WILL CLOG YOUR SINK AND PISS YOUR HUSBANDS OFF!! I USE A BAKING DISH AND SET THE RACK OVER THAT.

Here is the paper all spread out and draining.

What I like to do is take a old towel and fold it up and lay it across the paper. It absorbs alot of the water then after about 20 mins or so flip the towel over and it'll absorb even more.

Once the paper is done draining and NO water is leaking out of it, I will then lay the rack across my sink for better air circulation. It will take over night to dry but I'm very impatient and so I either blow dry it or zap it with my heat gun. The hair dryer method will take about 20-30 mins to fully get it dry but a heat gun is much faster.

Now here is a handy dandy tip-IF you decided to use your hair dryer or heat gun don't set up a "holding station" so you don't have to sit there and hold the dryer. You really should move your dryer back and forth. If you prop it up and let it dry that way it will result in warped paper.

Once it's dry and be sure it's completely dry because when it's wet it's delicate, you can peel it off your screen, carefully.

And that's it. You have paper. Now just cut it up and do what you like with it!!

If you make this paper please come back and let me know how it turned out and how you liked it.

Come back again and see how I make wedding favors using this handmade paper!!

Paper Piecing-Making your own pattern

Ok I'm going to try to explain this the best I can.

To make your own pattern for a paper piecing

is fairly easy. It can be time consuming but it's not

that bad-honest.

The penguin pattern using is actually a rubber stamp.

I stamped it onto a piece of paper in black ink, then I scanned

it into my computer enlarged it and printed...

Basically to make this penguin into a PP I have to pretty much

"dissect" the pattern. Meaning I had to cut each piece of it off.

Following the pictures below will give you a general idea.

First I cut the hat off the penguin.

The reason for that is so I could get the black body

outline of the penguin.

I then placed the pattern face down and traced it.

As you can see, this is how I got the black part of the body

Next I cut all the black part of the body off of the pattern

time to trace the white part of the body.

I left the other pieces intact on the body so that it did not

mess it up when I traced it.

You will eventually cut the rest apart as well. But in the mean

time leave them attached

As you can see here, there are gaps along the edge from

where the scarf and stars are. If you don't think you can cut without having it

filled in go ahead and connect the lines. It don't have to be perfect.

Here it is with the lines filled in.

Ok, now it's time to really dissect the pattern.

I cut the rest of the smaller pieces apart from the pattern.

Just as I did the body, face down, and trace on the color you choose.

Ok here are all the pieces...it is now time to assemble.

Now all you do is rebuild the pattern. You may want to print two copies of your pattern if you aren't sure you'll remember how to assemble

I Also want to mention, that you will have LOTS of little scraps.

Instead of throwing them away, toss them in a blender with water and make some handmade paper (check out my paper making in "fun techniques)

Waste not want not!!

Here he is all assembled.

Only thing left to do is add the final details to liven him up!

And here is the final project!

Isn't he so cute!!!

You might notice I did not add the stars to mine. I had intentions on doing so, but it was for a swap and I ran out of time (due to my procrastinating)

If anyone is interested I think I might still have this penguin saved on my computer. Leave me your email if you want it and I will send it to you!

A Sketch Challenge.

This is a layout I did yesterday for a sketch challenge on

Scrapbook Lane.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ScrapbookLane/

Although this is NOT one of my favorite layouts it did give me a great

opportunity to do alot of journaling and documenting my son Caleb's

Great Aunt Linda who has since passed

If your interested in joining Scrapbook Lane

email me for an invite dash_02@netzero.com