Scrap Garden

It's a Love Thing! (And some Goodies for You!)

2012-02-09T08:47:00.000-08:00

Well, I'm back from my vacation and it's definitely time I got this post working-- so sorry about those problems, I hope you are all enjoying the Blog Hop anyway!

For our Garden Girl projects this week, it was so fun to work with a digital design from Designs on Cloud 9-- Michelle was so generous in providing us all with this file:

Aren't they adorable? Make sure to check out this and all the great things she has available at her site. I had so much fun with these cute bees, thank you so much to Michelle!

And here is the card I created by printing the digital file, then cutting and piecing this little guy together.

Since you have hopped over to my blog, you can also take a peek at the inside (which I like to keep fairly simple so there is plenty of room to write) and another view of the front:

As part of this blog hop, I have some "love thing" goodies for you! For your chance to win my Valentine themed blog candy (don't worry, there's plenty of stuff that can be used on any old project you choose!) all you need to do is go and become a follower of our Friendship's Garden Challenge Blog and then come back here and leave me a comment that you have done so.

And don't forget, there are lots of chances to be eligible to win the $20.00 voucher from Designs on Cloud 9 by participating in the blog hop-- make sure you complete all 5 steps so you have a greater chance of being picked. To review the rules, click here. After you have completed all that, then create your own Valentine themed card that has at least 3 embellishments and link it up to our challenge for your chance to win a $10.00 voucher from Altered Angel. So many chances to win this week so GOOD LUCK and thanks for joining in our "It's a Love Thing" blog hop! Our Hop will run through Feb. 19th and all prize winners will be posted on Feb. 22nd so make sure to check back then!

Now it's time to leave me a comment and then you are off to visit Erin's blog-- she was in the middle of moving this last week and so doesn't have a project to show you but still leave her a comment to be eligible for the prizes and then she'll direct you off to the next stop! Here is the list in case you have gotten lost :):):) Have fun!

SHARON

SAM

JAMIE {you are here}

ERIN {go here next!}

DENA

It's a Love Thing!

2012-02-08T00:01:00.000-08:00

Welcome "It's a Love Thing" blog hoppers! I hope you have arrived here from Sharon's blog and are enjoying the Garden Girls' projects. Unfortunately, I am having technical issues-- I am on vacation and though I scheduled my post, it has no disappeared into blogger neverland along with the pictures of my projects and a chance for you to win some goodies! Please check back on Sunday when I will be back to my home computer again and can fix this! Until then, continue on to see ERIN'S project by clicking HERE and thanks for joining us!

A Sneak Peek of next Week!

2012-02-02T00:01:00.000-08:00

Something big is coming next week to Friendship's Garden and I have just a couple sneak peeks to get your attention!

Looks like something fun, doesn't it? Be sure to "HOP" on over (there's a hint!) to our Friendship's Garden Challenge Blog starting on February 9th to join in all the fun!

Sketch + Valentines at Friendship's Garden

2012-01-27T08:48:00.001-08:00

We have a new challenge for you over at Friendships' Garden this week-- it's almost February and Valentines is coming up so we'd like you to make a VALENTINE THEMED card based on this sketch:
Isn't this a great simple sketch? Feel free to twist and turn it as you like, just as long as we can see the sketch in there somewhere. Be sure to check out all the DT creations by clicking here -- there are some awesome cards that will be sure to inspire you! And here is my creation:

I really had fun with this card, even though I am not a big fan of Valentines' Day (thus the turquoise and brown instead of pink!) You can find this free vintage image and others by clicking here . Our challenge runs until midnight Sunday Feb. 5th so visit the Friendship's Garden Challenge blog to link your card for a chance to win a $10.00 Gift Certificate from our sponsor Altered Angel.

I am also entering my card in the following challenges:
Polka Doodles-- Vintage/Retro
Ruby's Rainbow-- Love
Dutch Dare-- Buttons Galore
Crafty Creations-- Valentines
Wags & Whiskers-- Valentines/Love
Poodles Parlour-- Valentine/Love

Thanks for looking!

Time for Making Cards

2012-01-21T10:08:00.000-08:00

I love January! There is actually time for some crafting after the craziness of the Christmas holidays! And thus I actually had time for making a few cards this week with this awesome paper collection from Authentique.

I am entering the above card in the following challenges:

Crop Stop-- Distressed, Vintage or Shabby Chic
Do You Stack Up-- Patterned Paper
Papertake Weekly-- Buttons, Bows, Blings and Blooms

And here is a couple more cards made with the same paper line:

Thanks for looking!

Clean and Simple Challenge at Friendship's Garden!

2012-01-11T15:31:00.000-08:00

A Clean and Simple Card-- well, I have to say that is definitely a challenge for me! I like to add all the fun little embellishments so making a simple card, that is outside my box! But that is our new challenge at Friendship's Garden Challenge Blog and here is my card:

This is my first project as a Garden Girl and I am so excited to be a new member of this great Design Team-- these ladies are all very talented and have some great ideas to show you! Come check out our challenges by clicking here and make sure to become a follower so you can keep up with all the fun things we have got planned (including a blog hop coming up very soon!) Also check out these talented ladies:

Becky
Carolyn
Erin
Ciska
Dena
Chana
Sam
Sharon

We hope you come by Friendship's Garden and join us, enter our challenge for your chance to win a $10.00 Gift Certificate from our fab sponsor, Altered Angel.

Exciting News!!!

2011-12-10T05:50:00.001-08:00

I am so excited to announce that I have been chosen for a new Design Team-- Friendship's Garden Challenge Blog, check it out here then like or friend them on Facebook to get involved in all their great challenges. I am so excited to be a part of this community of great designers and to get to know more people through the challenges they offer.

Their current challenge is a Christmas challenge with a photo from Pinterest for inspiration, check out all the details here or go to this link to view this cool tutorial from Garden Girl Cheryl Ann on how to make cards or tags using adhesive metal sheets. (like those below)

And you can look for my new projects as a Garden Girl starting after the first of the year. Yippee!!!!!!!!!!!!

November Birthdays

2011-11-29T06:59:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday to you! You're a hundred and two-- okay, just kidding, but that's how my kids sing it. I think they think I'm old! Oh well! My card today is a cute, cute birthday card for a cute, cute girl! My niece Devri turned ONE earlier this month and this is the card we sent her:

I love this little owl, he's so fun! And it matched the birthday paper perfectly. I have to show you the inside too, though I didn't really do much to the inside except for print out this big picture of Dev; babies always like to look at themselves in mirrors so I thought she would like her face inside the card, isn't she adorable?

I am entering this card in the following challenges:

Decorate to Celebrate-- Birthday Party
Birthday Sundaes-- Birthday wording on front

A Beary Sad Day

2011-11-25T00:01:00.000-08:00

If you have been reading The Beary Scrap Design Team blog this week, you know that we are discontinuing our Design Team and that each of us has taken a day this week to say goodbye (what an awful word!) I have been dreading this day for awhile and it still makes me a little teary to think of the end of our DT. I love all my fellow DT ladies and will miss them dearly! These wonderful ladies have inspired me, encouraged me, made me laugh and truly blessed my life! You can view my full, sappy post here.

My Design Team farewell project had to be a Tear Bear and so I created this Thank You card as a tribute to all the Beary Scrap followers out there who kept us going so long, thank you!

I will miss the Design Team but Kimm's store is still open so be sure to check out her great prices!

Almost Time for a Countdown!

2011-11-17T17:23:00.000-08:00

The Holidays are fast approaching and I have one more project for you today to help you with your Christmas preparations! If your house is like mine, counting down to the big day is a BIG DEAL, with the excitement of the little guys growing each day as they eagerly anticipate Santa Claus and all the other fun stuff that comes with Christmas. My project today is a quick and easy way for your family to count down, plus a cute decoration to put up in your house!

I used the gorgeous new Christmas papers from My Mind's Eye Lost & Found line to create a countdown clipboard. I bought a wood clipboard from the dollar store (love the dollar store!) and covered it with one of the papers, using glue stick to adhere it to the wood. (two coats, one on the back on the paper, one on the front of the clipboard). Then I added a bunch of fun ribbons across the top, including some lace, seam binding and a jingle bell. The numbers and "days until Christmas" I printed off my computer and cut to the right size. If you would like to make a similar clipboard for your home, I've listed the dimensions below to help you!

Dimensions:
Paper for clipboard base -- 8 3/4 inches wide x 10 1/2 inches long (round corners)
Numbers -- 5 inches wide x 7 inches long (printed two to a page and then round corners)
"days until Christmas"-- 7 1/2 inches wide x 2 3/4 inches long (round corners)
Mat for "days until Christmas"-- 7 3/4 inches wide x 3 inches long (round corners)

I hope this helps you in your holiday planning! Keep those Beary Best projects coming for our month long challenge over at The Beary Scrap, we are loving seeing all your talented work!

Thanksgiving Challenge at Friendship's Garden

2011-11-17T00:01:00.000-08:00

Today I am so excited to share with you a card I made as a Guest Designer at Friendship's Garden. This is a new challenge blog for cards, tags and altered projects that I am so excited about! The DT ladies are fabulous and besides their beautiful projects, leave such nice comments! The focus of their challenges is to use something BESIDES a stamped image and I love this! I am in awe of the beautifully stamped and colored images I see all over blogland but that is just not me and let me tell you, this challenge blog is me! I love it!

So when they asked me to be a Guest Designer after I entered a challenge I was so excited and honored to do it. The challenge for this week is THANKSGIVING and the project recipe is: 1 Die cut, 2 patterned papers and 3 trims. This challenge is running for the next two weeks so take time to check out this new blog and enter your project.

Here is my Thanksgiving themed card:

Thanks for looking!

Week 2 of "Our Beary Best"

2011-11-11T00:01:00.000-08:00

My project this week at The Beary Scrap is a couple of quick and easy Christmas decorations featuring these awesome Christmas papers. I completely adore the color combination in these papers-- traditional red and green but dark paired with BROWN (I love BROWN!) and just a tiny bit of grey. So pretty! I am in a red/green/brown mode this week as I prepare for my Christmas craft shows and I have been painting and embellishing everything in these colors, including both of these:

First is a set of stars, about 4 x 4 inches painted, sanded, varnished and then a little bit of paper added before my vinyl words.

Next is a set of JOY letters, about 12 inches tall, also painted, sanded and varnished then decorated. I added my Echo Park paper to the J by tracing and cutting it out then putting it on with a heavy layer of glue stick (one layer on the paper, one layer on the wood). I glittered up my O using tacky glue and some glitter.

I hope I passed a little of my holiday mood along to you-- we'd love to see what you are creating so hop on over to The Beary Scrap Design Team blog and enter your projects (more than one, if you want!) in our month long challenge for your chance to win a $30 voucher to The Beary Scrap store.

Card under 15 minutes!

2011-11-10T12:24:00.000-08:00

Have you ever timed yourself making a card? I found the funnest (is that a word?) challenge over at a new challenge blog called Friendship's Garden (love, love, love this blog--- more details on that coming next week!) The challenge was to make a card in 15 minutes of less and I thought, that's easy, I can do that, no problem!

Well, it wasn't as easy as I thought because I started my timer and before I knew it, it was already up to 8 minutes and I was just starting! I had to hurry! This was such a fun challenge and really stretched me. Here is my official timer (yah, I just barely made it!)

And here is my card:

This card is based on this sketch from Card Patterns:

Definitely check out Friendship's Garden and see if you can make a card in 15 minutes or less!

Grateful

2011-11-04T00:01:00.000-07:00

November is such a lovely month-- the beginning of the holiday season, a time for excitement, family and to remember to be thankful for all the wonderful things we have (as we celebrate Thanksgiving here in the United States). It's the perfect month, then, for the great challenge we have going on now at The Beary Scrap. We know your holidays get busy so we have made it easy peasy with an Anything Goes challenge called show us "Your Beary Best." This challenge goes ALL MONTH LONG, you can enter as many times as you like and the winner will get a $30.00 voucher to The Beary Scrap Boutique. We have lots of great projects entered so far and we'd love to see even more!

My project for this week is a Gratitude Journal:

I started with this Thanksgiving quote that I absolutely love and altered a composition notebook using papers from SEI's Oasis line-- these are perfect for fall and Thanksgiving theme projects with pretty fall colors and foil accents.

This journal could be used just by one person to record all the things they are grateful for or it could be used at the Thanksgiving table and sent around so that different family members had a chance to write down their thoughts, creating a family keepsake.

I am also entering this notebook in the following challenges:

ABC Challenges-- Crochet Flowers
Friendship's Garden -- Autumn Colors
Papertake Weekly-- Anything Goes (plus a bit of bling)
4 Crafty Chicks-- Die Cuts
Scrapalicious USA-- Fall into Autumn
Bearly Mine-- Anything Goes

Keep those "Beary Best" projects coming all November long! I love visiting your blogs and seeing all of your fantastic work-- I am grateful for you!

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-28T14:13:00.000-07:00

Fillet of a fenny snake,

In the caldron boil and bake;
Eye of newt, and toe of frog,
Wool of bat, and tongue of dog,
Adder's fork, and blind-worm's sting,
Lizard's leg, and owlet's wing,—
For a charm of powerful trouble,
Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.

Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn, and caldron bubble.

MacBeth Act IV Scene 1

Here I am with my second Double or Nothing post for The Beary Scrap and this week is dedicated to our DT leader Susan (and a guy named William!)-- who inspired me early this week by saying she was waiting to see a Double, Double Toil and Trouble project! I guess I haven't had enough of Halloween because that got me in the mood for a little Shakespeare (I do have an English minor!) and a double dose of Tear Bear Witches.

And so my Double or Nothing project this week is a DOUBLE pair of Halloween birthday days with DOUBLE Tear Bear Witches to wish my two nieces a DOUBLE Halloween birthday! (Yes it's true, these two sisters, turning 8 and 5 this year, share that spooky day a birthday. If you read my Halloween post last year, you might know who else shares that day with them! Hint: There's a reason I like Halloween so much!)

Here's a look at the front of my Halloween birthday cards, the Tear Bears are decorated with all kinds of cute Halloween stickers and bling.

A closeup of one of the cards:

Here they are standing up:
And a look at the inside:

I am entering this in the following challenges:
Scrapbook Sisters-- Anything Goes
Do You Stack Up?-- Halloween
The Paper Shelter-- Anything Goes
Penny's Paper- Crafty Challenge-- Halloween
Crop Stop -- Unique Fo ld
Party Time Tuesdays-- Anything Goes
Deep Ocean Challenge-- SWEET
Hooked on Crafts-- Halloween
Make it Monday-- Anything Goes
Paper Playtime-- Anything Goes
Birthday Sundaes-- Birthday Card
Crafty Calendar-- Spooky Birthday
Come and Get it Challenges-- Anything Goes
The Secret Crafter-- Spooky or Whimsical

So, did you figure it out? Yep, it's my birthday too today! We are a whole freaky family of witches. And what I would love the most for my birthday is for YOU to enter our Double or Nothing challenge so I can visit your blogs and get inspired by your talented projects, so be sure to link up your project by 11:59 EST on Halloween night for your chance to win!

Spooky Double or Nothing at The Beary Scrap

2011-10-21T00:01:00.000-07:00

We have a brand new challenge at The Beary Scrap-- it's Double or Nothing-- to use two of something on your project. I had so much fun making my Double or Nothing project for this week and can't wait to show you what I came up with:

I got this little wood coffin at my local craft store (it's about 6 inches tall and two inches deep) and couldn't wait to decorate it up. First I painted the whole thing black; for two reasons, first so I didn't have to cover every tiny surface with paper, and second, so that no wood would show between the edges of the paper.

Then I measured or traced each surface and cut some paper to fit from Authentique's fantastic Glowing papers.

After covering the coffin with my TWO designer papers, I went to work embellishing it (oh, the most fun part!) with TWO types of trim (black tulle and seam binding) , two vintage Halloween potion tags (digi images bought off etsy), TWO black candy dots and TWO sparkly spiders.

But wait, I still have one more DOUBLE on my project, it's also a DOUBLE treat-- a cute coffin and then inside--

an extra goodie! I filled my coffin with some Halloween candy and this cute little mummy. I actually was thinking of putting a creepy skeleton inside but I've been making lots of these candy mummies and my daughter insisted this was perfect for putting into the coffin.

This one is a mini version made from a package of Tic Tacs (though I have been using full size Hershey bars for my other ones). Simply rip some strips of muslin fabric, glue around the candy, add two eyes and a sentiment (or any other decoration; I wanted to add a spider but then that would be 3 spiders and ruin my doubles! Hee hee).

I am entering this project in the following challenges:

Pile it On Challenge 42-- Fall is for Fun
Papertake Weekly-- Spooky Hues
One Stop Craft Challenge 153-- Halloween
The Poodles Parlour-- Spooky Halloween
Crop Stop-- Halloween
ABC Challenges-- B is for BOO
Party Time Tuesdays-- Totally Spooky Projects
Divas by Design-- Something Spooky
Crafting for all Seasons-- Halloween
Decorate to Celebrate-- Halloween decoration
Friendship's Garden-- Vintage Halloween

I hope you have enjoyed our first week of Double or Nothing projects and are inspired to make one of your own. WE LOVE SEEING YOUR CREATIONS AND VISITING YOUR BLOGS so be sure to enter our current Beary Sweet Challenge by clicking HERE; you just might win a Beary Sweet voucher!

A Sketch, some Journaling and some Challenges!

2011-10-14T00:01:00.000-07:00

Happy Friday to all you fabulous paper crafters out there! Here is a teeny peek at my second Free for Fall project for our current Beary Scrap Challenge:

For a long time I have been wanting to make a layout with the chorus from a Trace Adkins song that I absolutely love-- it makes me tear up (yes, I'm a sappy dork!) every time I hear it, which is usually in my car full of 3 busy kids as I'm driving them from one activity to the next and the words really hit home for me:

You're gonna miss this
You're gonna want this back
You're gonna wish these days hadn't gone by so fast
These are some good times
So take a good look around
You may not know it now
But you're gonna miss this

And so I finally decided this was the week and I made my layout on this song and our crazy busy life. Here is my two page layout, with pictures of kids' various activities this week.

A closer look at page 1, this page has the song lyrics down the right hand side along with a picture I took in my car looking at my kids in the rear view mirrow-- I saw this idea somewhere in a scrapbook magazine once and thought what a cool picture, as I so often see my kids that way as I peek in the mirror to see what chaos may be happening in the back seat!

The first page is based on this great sketch from Sketchy Thursdays where the challenge was to "get your journal on" which I love because I love to write and believe journaling is so important for scrapbooking!

And then I had to expand to a second page because I hardly ever do one page layouts! Plus then I can just have even more journaling! Here is the second page, down the left hand side of this page is a list of all the things our days currently include (like school, homework, swim team, football practice, piano lessons, etc) and my feelings about the craziness:

I am also entering this layout in the following challenges:
Deep Ocean Challenge Blog-- Fall Colours
Do You Stack Up-- Use Your Scraps (random scrap embellishments)
One Stop Craft Challenge-- Anything Goes
Lasting Memories Scrapbook Layouts-- Tag You're It
My Mum's Craft Shop Challenges-- Inspired by a Song

Thanks for letting me share this layout with you, even if it's a little bit sappy!And if you have a project to share you have one more day to enter to our Free for Fall (0r Anything Goes!) challenge so link up your project by clicking here for your chance to win!

Free for F'All at The Beary Scrap

2011-10-07T00:01:00.000-07:00

We have an awesome challenge going on right now over at The Beary Scrap, Free for F'All or Anything goes! There have been a lot of awesome entries so far so if you want a chance to win a $20 voucher to The Beary Scrap store, hop on over and link up your project!

My project for this week is a quick paper pumpkin you can make as seasonal decor or to use as table favors for a fall occasion. All you need is a scallop circle punch and some great fall paper!

If you want to try out this little pumpkin for yourself, follow these steps:

1. From your patterned fall paper (you could use Halloween papers for a spooky pumpkin!), punch 8 scalloped circles. My punch was 3 inches but you could do smaller or larger depending on what you have or cut them out with a die cut machine.

2. Ink the edges of your scallop circles and then carefully line them up exactly and fold them in half.

3. After they are folded and even, unfold them and cut off the bottom scalloped edges to make a straight edge. The straight edge needs to be the same on all of the circles so measure carefully. (I had a little bit of a hard time getting them even, so don't get frustrated if the first try doesn't work out perfect! Just try again!)

4. Begin attaching the circles to each other, one at time so all the scallops match up (as close as possible) and the flat edges are all together on the bottom. You may have to fold a little more and adjust as you go to get everything matched up. You also may have to trim a little off the bottom to make the pumpkin stand straight if not all your straight edges lined up. You should end up with a shape that looks like this:

5. Embellish however you want! I broke a branch off a tree in my yard for a stem and worked it through the center of the pumpkin. You could also use some wire, fabric or just more paper for a stem. Add leaves, curled up wire or anything else you like! I spritzed some seam binding with Glimmer Mist and used that for my leaves.

Happy Crafting this weekend and remember to enter your project in our current challenge!

Birthday Cards

2011-10-06T10:44:00.000-07:00

It seems like I can never have enough birthday cards-- not for me or for the places I sell them! Here is a fun birthday card I made from a card kit I got from Express the Moment ( I LOVE THEIR KITS!!) I loved the paper in this kit; the colors are bright and fun but also non gender specific, so these cards can be for a girl or boy!

I am entering this card in the following challenges:

Pile it On-- Do it For Fun!
Deep Ocean Challenge Blog-- Birthdays
Aud Sentiments-- Happy Birthday
The Poodles Parlour-- Birthdays, Buttons and Brads

And one more card (just not for the challenges) that comes from the same kit. Just for fun!

Golden Anniversary

2011-10-01T20:53:00.000-07:00

It's been awhile since I made something fun and got to enter it in a challenge so here is an anniversary card I made for a special order. I love these colors, dark autumn colors are my absolute favorite! I was really happy with how it turned out and my customer adored it!

I am entering this in the following challenges:

Southern Girls Challenge-- Anything Goes
Do You Stack Up?-- Swirls
ABC Challenges-- Anything Goes
Penny's Challenges-- Anything Goes
Party Time Tuesday-- Anything Goes
4 Crafty Chicks-- Anything Goes

Buttons & Pumpkins

2011-09-23T00:01:00.000-07:00

It's Week 2 of our current Beary Sweet Challenge, "Happy Fall Y'All" and the DT challenge this week was to add buttons to our Happy Fall projects. I decided I wouldn't add just a button or two, but a whole barrel full!

Or at least an entire pumpkin full! The center of my card is a pumpkin made from buttons.

To start with I found a pumpkin pattern, (you can get your own copy by clicking here), traced it onto Bo Bunny Double Dot Burnt Orange cardstock and cut it out. Then I used Tacky Glue and adhered all shades and sizes of orange buttons to my pumpkin. This is a little tricky and I found it worked the best to just put glue on a small area, find buttons to fit and then move on to the next area, adjusting as I went. Once my pumpkin was dry I could then mount it to my card.

For my card I used some of the awesome new papers from Authentique's Glowing line. I love all their 6 x 6 paper pads, make sure to check out these new arrivals in the Beary Scrap store. I made my sentiment by applying letter stickers, inking over the top with an ink dauber and then removing the stickers.

I hope the beautiful fall colors and weather find you wherever you are and continue to inspire you to create this weekend. Happy crafting!

Happy Fall Y'All!

2011-09-16T00:01:00.000-07:00

Well, it's Friday and it's also time for a brand new Beary Sweet Challenge! Our new theme is Happy Fall Y'All and I'd have to say, this is a piece of cake for me because I LOVE FALL. I love the cooler temperatures and the crisp scent in the air. I love harvest time (and I do live on a farm! :)), back to school, football and the beautiful fall colors! I chose to focus on some of those colors for my card this week:

I saw this idea for a strip of circles on a card here and was so excited to try it! What a simple, classic and cute idea. So here is how I did it:

1. Cut a strip of paper 3 inches wide by 5 7/8 inches long (so it will fit on a 6 inch card base).

2. Punch 16 circles from coordinating paper and ink all the edges. I used a 1 1/4 inch circle punch and the beautiful papers from Scenic Route's Sonoma line-- these are so perfect for fall, love them!

3. Begin glueing the circles onto the cardstock strip, starting at the bottom and overhanging the edges and overlapping the circles as you move up. I laid all the circles out on the cardstock without glue first to get the feel of where they should go.

4. Continue until you have used all 16 circles, the top ones will hang over the edge quite a way, that is fine!

5. Turn the whole thing over and trim the edges of the overhanging circles so they are even with the cardstock strip. Then ink around the edges of the whole piece.

.
There you are! The strip of circles is finished and ready to adhere to a card. I zigzagged stitched mine to another piece of cardstock 5 7/8 x 5 7/8 and then attached that to my 6 inch card. My word is a custom made vinyl applique that was actually for another project but has just been sitting around my work table and fit here perfect!

I can't wait to see your Fall creations, make sure to enter them in our new challenge for your chance to win!

Trucks are not Girly, Right?

2011-09-09T20:48:00.000-07:00

Happy Friday everyone! At The Beary Scrap this week, we are using our current sketch and trying to make anything that is "not girly." Here is my attempt at something "not girly"-- I love to put flowers, bling, ribbon and lace on everything and so it was hard to come up with something not girly. But I think my masculine birthday card based on our current sketch came out pretty well-

While trying to decide what to do I had a sudden flash of this green pickup that I had seen on the Country Drive from Echo Park stickers and knew that would be the focus of my card. There are a lot of colors in this paper line but I stuck with just red, green and blue for my boy colors.

I popped up my pickup truck with some foam squares and then filled up the back with "Happy Birthday" strips. I couldn't resist putting just a little Stickles glitter glue on it for some detail and a few green hearts off the same sticker page as the pickup. (Hearts can be on a guy card, right?)

Have a great weekend and be sure to enter our sketch challenge for your chance to win!

Brothers

2011-09-02T00:01:00.000-07:00

We have a brand new sketch to play with over at The Beary Scrap this week:

My project using the sketch is as 12 x 12 layout using these great Windsor papers from SEI. I thought the colors perfectly complemented the sepia pictures of my boys together.

I wanted to include many of the beautiful patterns from this paper line and so I pieced together the background of my layout instead of using just one large paper. I left off the flowers in the top left hand corner as this is a boyish layout (although I do think these papers are not what you would call traditional "boy" papers-- just goes to show you can use anything!). So instead of the flowers, I used a chipboard flourish that I first inked and then spritzed with Glimmer Mist. I really love how the whole thing came together and I will definitely be using these papers again! (I'm thinking beautiful for fall wedding cards!)

I can't wait to see what you make with the sketch so get those entries coming, check out all the details of our challenge here!

Tic Tac Toe for Back to School

2011-08-26T00:01:00.000-07:00

I love this time of year-- back to school! And no, it's not just that my two older kids have been driving me crazy and I was excited to send them back (though that is a tad bit true.) As a former teacher, there is just something about the smell of a classroom, clean and awaiting new students, that makes me smile! Mostly it's the promise that the new school year holds-- those piles of new notebooks and unsharpened pencils, new school clothes and backpacks all represent the journey that the kids will undertake this school year and makes me wonder where they will be at the end of it next May and how they will have grown and changed.

So my project for this week's round 2 of our Tic Tac Toe challenge is a little teacher gift for the first day of school. This one is actually for my 4 year old's preschool teacher as he doesn't start until next week and her gift is still at my house-- the other two kids already took theirs on back to school night.

This was a really quick and simple gift to make. I used a small legal pad and just covered it by cutting a 5 x 8 piece of paper for the front and gluing it securely to the top of the notebook (not the paper itself). I cut a 5 x 9 piece for the back and folded it over the top to cover where I glued the first piece. The pencil holder is an empty Prima flower bottle that I have been holding onto knowing it was too cute to throw away! It's always great to reuse stuff!

I used some not-so-typical school paper from SEI's Sonoma collection. I really love the colors of these papers and they are perfect for a more vintage look instead of the typical bright primary colors. I thought the sheet of numbers really represented a back to school theme. I also used the Die Cut Labels and Arrows from that collection. These are all a fantastic price right now at the store so make sure you check them out!

For the Tic Tac Toe choices I used distress (dark brown ink around the edges and I used my Zutter Distress-All to roughen up some of the papers), glitter (red Stickles around the apples) and lace. For me lace wasn't an obvious choice for a back-to-school project either but I really loved how it turned out and adds to that vintage look.

YOUR Tic Tac Toe projects so far are phenomenal! Check out everything that has been entered so far by clicking here, it's definitely worth looking! There are still a few more days to enter this challenge for your chance to win a $20.00 voucher to The Beary Scrap so spend some time this weekend getting your creative juices flowing.

Tic-Tac-Toe . . . .and a Tear Bear

2011-08-19T00:01:00.000-07:00

At The Beary Scrap this week we have started a brand new challenge-- Tic Tac Toe! I am so excited about it and had lots of fun making my project this week.

For my tic-tac-toe project, I chose paper piecing, pearl and button to make this baby card for my neighbors who just had a new little girl:

To start I paper pieced a Baby Tear Bear-- this is the first time I have made one of these tiny little guys and they are oh so cute! Just as easy as the original Tear Bears to make and the perfect size for a baby card.

I used My Mind's Eye Alphabet Soup Girl papers to make my easel card-- I love these colors for a baby girl-- I'm not a big fan of pink so to mix it up with a little blue and even green was perfect!

Then I added my pearls and my buttons are actually stick pins with pastel buttons on the ends.

So, if you haven't done it yet, pick your three squares on our Tic Tac Toe board and enter your project in our current Beary Sweet Challenge and good luck!

Are you a . . . .

2011-08-12T00:01:00.000-07:00

BRAVE GIRL?

Well, sometimes I am and sometimes I'm not, just depending on what it is. But I know one thing for sure, I was nowhere near as brave when I was a little girl as my 7 year old daughter is. She'll try anything and shows no fear (and yes, I definitely realize this may not always be a good thing!) She is up for adventure of any kind and I have spent many moments this summer cringing as she rides her bike down hills, does front flips off the high dive at the city pool, being pulled on a tube behind a boat on the lake and her new love-- waterskiing-- which is the subject of my layout this week.

I am pretty sure I was at least 12 years old before I attempted to waterski, but not my daughter-- she outshone her older brother and several cousins by learning this summer and her usual comment was "Go faster." What a girl!

I stuck to the basic sketch for this layout but wanted to mix it up just a little from last week and so I tilted the sketch a different direction and then added three smaller pictures to the side of my main image. I used the fabulous new collection from Echo Park called Splash-- you have got to check it out! Kimm just got it in the store this week and it is perfect for summer activities of many kinds. I just love the bright colors. I did add some hot pink in the mat for my main photo and the letter stickers to make it a little more "girly." I used Element Stickers from the Splash collection pack to accent my page instead of the flowers on the original sketch and added Stickles for a little shine to my wave.

So go on, be a brave girl and do something a little adventurous this weekend! Or just spend a little time crafting and enter your take on our sketch in our current Beary Sweet Challenge.

New Sketch at The Beary Scrap

2011-08-05T00:01:00.000-07:00

Happy Friday to everyone out there! I hope you have enjoyed seeing the absolutely FANTASTIC creations the Beary Sweet ladies have offered up this week in conjunction with our new sketch challenge. We can't wait to see how you interpret the sketch!

My take on the sketch is a 12 x 12 layout using My Mind's Eye Fine & Dandy True Blue papers. I think these papers include some of my favorite color combinations ever and they were perfect for a picture of my 4 year old celebrating his birthday.

I loved this sketch and pretty much stuck right to it, except for substituting stars for the flowers since this is a boy-ish layout. All the accents are from the same Fine & Dandy collection-- buttons, brad, and trim-- I love it when they all come matched already!

Check out all the details for our current Beary Sweet Challenge featuring this sketch here-- we hope to see your entry soon!

Summer Sandals Inspiration

2011-07-29T00:01:00.000-07:00

I have been enjoying some golden summer days this week-- my son's baseball games are finally over, the weather here is beautiful (high 80s, no wind-- that no wind part is amazing for Idaho!) and we finally have a little time to relax and enjoy some gorgeous summer nights outside. This mood has definitely carried over into my project for The Beary Scrap DT this week as here is a picture of something from my closet that inspired my card today:

My current favorite pair of sandals! I love sandals, I would wear them all year if I could. Unfortunately, the snow here kind of limits that but I do basically wear them April through October anyway! I love the big flowers on these sandals and so I borrowed this element and translated it into a summer card.

I made my flowers from sheets of artist canvas-- the ones that are ready to be put through a computer printer. I found a chipboard flower I liked and traced it three times. The first flower I cut right on my tracing lines, the second slightly smaller and the third slightly bigger. Then I stitched down the middle of each petal to copy the stitching on my sandals and put them together with a brad. I love the result!

I hope you are enjoying a little summer (or winter) sunshine this week, depending on where you live and you have time to fit a little paper crafting into those relaxation hours! You still have a few more days to enter our Inspiration from Your Closet Challenge so make sure to get your project posted for a chance to win!

Beary Scrap Closet Inspiration

2011-07-22T00:01:00.000-07:00

Just not my closet! It is our second week of "Find Inspiration in Your Closet" over at The Beary Scrap Challenge Blog. For my project this week, I decided to go a little different route with the clothing inspiration and use an article of clothing in the pictures I wanted to scrap as inspiration for my page.

I wanted to scrap my son's 4 year old portraits and so I took the shirt that he was wearing and scanned it on my scanner, printing out my own designer paper to use on my layout. This saved me a ton of time searching through my stash looking for just the right colors to match the pictures-- the paper was already perfect!

For other papers I did stick to the main colors in the plaid print and also added some buttons that look just like the ones on his shirt.

I hope you will all take the Inspiration from Your Closet Challenge and show us what you come up with . Enter your project in our current Beary Sweet Challenge by July 31 11:59 EST for you chance to win!

Challenge= Baseball + Denim

2011-07-15T00:01:00.000-07:00

We have a brand new challenge over at The Beary Scrap Design Team and Challenge blog --it is to take a piece of our favorite clothing and use it as inspiration for a project-- well, the very first thing that came to my mind was. . . . can you guess what this is?

You got it! A pair of very comfortable jeans-- I know everyone has their favorite pair that they love to pull on and they are just as comfy as a pair of sweats or pajamas. And so using that as my inspiration, I have used denim on my baseball layout this week.

I sewed an old piece of lightweight denim right on top of my cardstock and patterned paper. I have a pile of old jeans in my basement that someday I am going to sew a quilt out of (emphasis on someday, I am sure it is going to be a long time from now!) Until that day, they are great for cutting little pieces out of for scrapbook projects. I sewed a double line with yellow thread to mimic the sewing on old a pair of jeans and then also sewed around the journaling spot circle to make it look like a baseball.

I also die cut some stars out of denim on my old Sizzix machine, it's not high tech but it works great for fabric! Other embellishments include a cardstock star, tickets(which are actually Valentines' themed but I covered up the love words!), baseball woven ribbon, yellow bakers' twine and some 3-D baseball stickers.

To make this layout I used the August Guest Designer Sketch from Sketchy Thursdays-- I LOVE their sketches! The challenge was to use the sketch, incorporate a summer theme (baseball), use red, orange and /or yellow (I used red and yellow) and have a journaling spot (my baseball)-- wish me luck! :):)

I can't wait to see what the rest of our lovely DT ladies have in store for us with this theme and to see your projects too. Make sure to enter your project in our current challenge and share some inspiration with us!

Christmas in July at The Beary Scrap

2011-07-08T00:01:00.000-07:00

Merry Christmas everyone! At least I hope you have enjoyed our Christmas in July projects this week and definitely hope you have entered your own project in our current challenge for your chance to win that great Christmas Magnolia stamp and some other goodies.

Here is my second go at the current sketch, this time a 5 x 7 Christmas card:

The base of my card is Bo Bunny Double Dot in a dark green and then I used the My Mind's Eye Lost & Found Union Square papers for the center. I trimmed the die cut edges from one of the papers and used those for my edges instead of punching my own fancy edge-- this worked perfect!

For my image I downloaded a FREE vintage Christmas graphic from this site: Vintage Christmas Images-- check it out for Christmas and lots of other vintage images. I added a bit of lace, pearls and a tiny bit of red Stickles (to match the glittered designer paper) to my Santa to dress him up before applying him to my card.

I used white seam binding spritzed with Brick Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist to go behind the Santa image and then tie the bow at the top and accented with some holly leaves and pearls. I absolutely love how easy it is to spray that seam binding to match any project! I am now totally out of white I have used it so much- time to restock!

Supplies Used:

Bo Bunny Double Dot Cardstock-- Olive
My Mind's Eye Lost & Found Union Square Designer papers
Seam Binding-- White
Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist (currently 30% off!!)
Stickles- Christmas Red
Kaiser Craft Pearls-- Latte
Holly leaf brads from my Christmas stash
Glue Dots

You have one more week to enter your projects based on our sketch so time to get craftin' and good luck!

A Brand New Sketch at The Beary Scrap

2011-07-01T00:01:00.000-07:00

Happy July everyone! I hope you all have something wonderful planned for the weekend and have a chance to do a little paper crafting too. We have a great new sketch for you to play with plus a chance to win some great Christmas in July themed candy. (Stay tuned until next Friday for my Christmas in July project using the sketch.) Click here for all the details on our current challenge and your chance to win the great Christmas candy!

My project today, though, is summer themed and looking at these pictures gets me in the mood for the holiday weekend ahead.

I used the sketch to make a double 12 x 12 layout simply by stretching it across two pages, running my scalloped border down the far side of each page and then adding 6 rectangles with bows instead of just the one shown in the sketch. Each rectangle contains one of my photos and I overlapped them a bit to get all six to fit.

I used the Summer Days collection from Echo Park for my layout-- perfect colors and accents for some fun summer pictures. Here is a littler closer look at my photos; I used seam binding for the strip behind and the bow and anchored my seam binding with staples and some decorator brads from the same Echo Park collection.

Supplies Used:

Echo Park Summer Days papers, Element Stickers and Alpha Stickers
Echo Park Summer Days brads
Seam Binding-- White and Azalea Pink
Bazzill Cardstock
Martha Steward Border Punch
Glue dots

This was a great and simple sketch to use and I can't wait to see your creations so make sure to enter them in our current challenge and have a wonderful 4th of July!

O, What a Flower!

2011-06-24T00:01:00.000-07:00

Who knew there were so many ways to make your own flowers? I know you have seen a bunch this week and they are all fabulous! Today I have one more, very simple!, way to show you to make your own flower embellishment.

If you are like me, you have lots of letter stickers laying around that don't always get used (I know, especially those weird letters like q and x!). This is a great way to utilize some of those stickers and make a cute flower at the same time.

For this flower I used some letter "O"s for my flower petals. You will need a small piece of cardstock (circle or square) to anchor your petals to.

Snip one side of the O and then overlap the cut apart ends and stick it onto the small piece of cardstock.

Repeat with more O's until you have completed the petals all the way around.

Push firmly on the petal centers so they will stay (or anchor them with an extra glue dot). Then attach a button for the flower center and wa-lah! Super fast, cute and easy flower!

Now, you may be thinking-- okay, but "O" is not one of those weird leftover letters and I agree, I generally don't have a lot of "O"s left so here is one using a "w"--

On this one I didn't snip anything, just over lapped the ends of the "w" onto each other to form sort of a double petal and then stuck it on the cardstock.

And another one with a "Q"-- I always have those left! For this one I snipped it right where the little piece crosses the circle and then trimmed off the ends of that little piece, so basically it ends up looking like an "O."

Here's my completed layout with my letter flowers on it. I used Bo Bunny's Roughin' It papers for all of my circles and trimmed just a square off a diecut paper from that line to put my date and flowers on.

I hope you have learned a few tips and tricks from our DIY embellishements this week! Stayed tuned until the 30th for a few more ideas and make sure to enter your own DIY project in our current challenge.

Do It Yourself at The Beary Scrap

2011-06-17T00:01:00.000-07:00

Happy Friday all! For the next weeks at The Beary Scrap we are having a Do It Yourself Embellishment challenge-- DIY is all the rage now and I always wonder, how'd they do that?!! So for the next weeks our DT will be showing you a new DIY embellie each day. wn unique embellies so keep those entries coming!

My project for this week is this little covered notebook and matching pen-- I found it for only $1.00 at my local craft store.

My main DIY embellishment is an eyelet flower-- I saw this idea recently in PaperCrafts magazine (along with a lot of other DIYs) and was dying to try it! It was super easy to make (as long as I kept my fingers out of the way of the hot glue) and I was really pleased with the end result. If you want to try your hand at this kind of flower, here are some instructions:

1. Gather your materials--
Cardstock and circle punch (I used a 1 1/4 inch circle)
15 inches of rick-rack trim (this makes a 1 1/4 inch flower, use more if you want a bigger flower)
Glue Gun

2. Begin at the outside edge of the circle and apply hot glue around the edge, then start pressing down the rick-rack onto the hot glue, twisting it slightly to make it go around the circle. (You have to kind of twist and bend it as you go, as rick-rack does not naturally curve!)

3. Continue circle inward with hot glue and then applying the rickrack, twisting and turning to make it circle. Continue all the way into the center. Mind your fingers! I used hot glue because I like how fast it is and I'm not sure anything else would have held rickrack as it doesn't turn easily. If you used a lighter weight trim or lace I think Tacky Glue would work just fine and be less dangerous for your fingers!

4. Trim off any excess rick rack in the middle and any excess cardstock from the back circle. You'll end up with something similar to this:

Then add a brad, button or whatever you can come up with to the center for the middle of the flower. I used a brad and pierced it all the way through the cardstock circle.

A couple of other little DIY things I wanted to show you-- to make a leaf for my rick-rack flower, I punched a heart from my patterened paper and then also cut the small heart from some black lace to cover it:

I wanted to add a seam binding bow so I used white seam binding and spritzed with with Glimmer Mist to match my paper. I love how easily the seam binding can be colored and how quick it dries. After I spritzed it, I scrunched it up good and then tied the bow after it was dry.

Here's another look at my final product--

We'd love it if you'd join us and create your own project with a DIY embellishment and then enter it in our challenge for a chance to win a $20 voucher to The Beary Scrap. Click here for all the details!

Blast Off!

2011-06-10T00:01:00.000-07:00

OOOoohhhh, I am in love with the new Seam Binding in stock at The Beary Scrap. It is versatile and comes in so many great colors! I had a lot of fun adding it to our sketch this week and using it to make my card blast off!

This sketch is just as versatile as the seam binding-- last week I used it to make a two page 12 x 12 layout and then this week brought it down to size in a 6 x 6 card. That's what I love about sketches-- they just jumpstart my brain and I can go anywhere from there!

I used Bo Bunny's Blast off papers. I really like the colors of these papers-- strong, vivid colors that are perfect for boys but could also work for some cute baby or birthday projects.

Instead of trying to find embellishments to match, I just cut my own from some of the papers (the bigger rockets are from as 12 x 12 page I got locally). All this fussy cutting does take time but it's worth it in the end as the rockets and stars match so perfectly.

For my last bit of dimension, I added that great seam binding, this time in white to simulate the cloud left by a rocket blasting off.

Be sure to check out all the colors of seam binding Kimm has available and enter your own version of our sketch in the current Beary Sweet Challenge for your chance to win a $20.00 voucher to The Beary Scrap store.

How Sweet It Is. . . .

2011-06-03T00:01:00.000-07:00

We have a sweet sketch for you this week over at The Beary Scrap Challenge Blog and I have absolutely loved seeing the gorgeous cards my fellow DTs Patricia and Debbie have made with it so far. But I have to admit, it was a challenge for me! I really wanted to make this into a two page layout as I haven't posted one for awhile and it took a bit of thinking and rearranging to adapt it to my sweet layout.

Here is our original sketch, done by the fabulous Kimm:

Here you can see most elements of the original sketch in my layout-- I just love the triangles, big and small, across each side:

Notice how instead of centering it on one page, I stretched the sketch across my two 12 x 12 pages and then here you can see how I expanded it a little further to include more photos:

I used the Alphabet Soup Paper Girls line and the colors were perfect for my pictures! The oranges and pinks precisely matched this fun little restaurant we went to in Las Vegas where everything is bright orange and hot pink, and the ice cream sundaes cost $15 but are huge and worth every penny!

Whether your take is a card or a layout, we can't wait to see what you dream up with this sketch! Make sure to enter it in our current challenge for your chance to win a Beary Scrap store voucher.

Nature Inspiration from The Beary Scrap

2011-05-26T19:56:00.001-07:00

Happy Friday everyone! This is my second project for our Nature themed challenge at The Beary Scrap. The challenge is open until May 31st, 11:59 EST so be sure to enter for your chance to win a $20 voucher to The Beary Scrap!

My card is based on this great sketch from Card Patterns:

Here's a couple close-ups of the embellies:

Here's a peek at the inside, which I left fairly simply so there is plenty of room to write.

Supplies used:

Pink Paislee Butterfly Garden papers
Pink Paislee Butterfly Garden charms
Bazzill Swiss Dot Cardstock
KaiserCraft Pearls, Latte
Tim Holtz Distress Ink, Walnut Stain
Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist, Sweet Clover
Seam Binding, Cocoa
Paper doilies (a package from the dollar store-- I love bargains!)
Glue Dots
Foam Squares

Thanks for looking! :):):)

Little Ballerinas

2011-05-20T10:37:00.000-07:00

It's that time of year-- dance recitals! Here is my little redhead ballerina and her cousin after their program last weekend. Aren't they cute?

She wanted to make a Tear Bear ballerina for her teacher and so she helped trace the bear parts, tear them out and glue together. Then we dressed the bear and mounted it onto this simple card that she wrote in and took to her teacher along with a bag of treats.

A side view-- here you can see the dimension of the tulle dress and mulberry flowers:

This was so fun to make, especially with my little cutie helping. I am entering this card in the following challenges:

Pile it On-- Boys and Girls come out to Play
Southern Girls Challenge-- Let's Hear it for the Girls
Creative Card Crew-- Cute and Girly

Thanks for Looking!

I need some Sunshine. . . .

2011-05-20T00:01:00.000-07:00

. . . it's been WAY too long of a winter here in Idaho! So when we FINALLY had a couple beautiful days last weekend (beautiful = temperatures above 70 degrees and NO wind!) we definitely took advantage of it and hit the park! These pictures of my 4 year old playing outside in the lovely sunshine on the monkey bars were the basis for my Nature themed layout this week at The Beary Scrap.

I used this sketch from Sketchy Thursdays for my layout:

I can't wait to see your Nature layouts so be sure to enter them in our current Beary Sweet Challenge and have a fabulous May weekend!

Makin' a Splash with a Sketch!

2011-05-13T00:01:00.000-07:00

Here is the sketch we are using for our current challenge at The Beary Scrap:

This was a really fun sketch to work with -- great for cards and simple to convert into a 12 x 12 layout. I just used the top layer of rectangles for matting my pictures and was able to fit six wallet size pictures of my daughter and nieces having a great time swimming during our Spring Break in Las Vegas.

I used the new Echo Park Playground collection-- its bright colors are perfect for fun summer pictures. Okay, it's not quite summer yet, though we are finally having spring here! But those days are coming so stock up on that fun paper now and you'll be ready to record all your summer memories. I edged the pages of all my papers with Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Broken China. I also stitched around the page and switched up my stitch occasionally to give it a different look.

I used the great letter stickers that came with the Playground collection but added different colors of Stickles to each letter for some sparkle. This was my first chance to use my brand new color-- Midnight Blue (on the dark blue S) and I love it! There are so many colors of Stickles to choose from!

I also used some of the element stickers from the same collection-- the banner across the top, words and sun and cloud stickers. Some I stitched around, some added Stickles and other popped up with foam squares for dimensions. It's awesome how many things you can do with just one paper collection!

I've enjoyed seeing all of your lovely creations based on this sketch, thanks for joining in our Beary Sweet Challenge. Good luck and hope some wonderful sunny weather is finding you!

Buttefly Notes

2011-04-29T00:01:00.000-07:00

Well, it's Friday again already and my day at The Beary Scrap Design Team Challenge Blog. This is my third and my last "Things with Wings" project-- this time with an insect-- and I am back to butterflies again because I just can't get enough of them! My project this week is an altered tin "Notes" holder, the perfect little container for storing handmade cards all ready to be sent out .

I attached the paper to the front of my tin with good old Glue Dots (I prefer Zots by ThermoWeb but I also use the Glue Dots brand a lot). I have tried many different types of adhesives for putting paper on tin and found that the best thing is still glue dots.

To embellish the front of my tin, I created my own banner spelling "Notes" and then also made some felt flowers by cutting a small circle from felt, then starting at the outside and cutting in a spiral until I reached the middle. Then I put a large bit of hot glue in the spot I wanted and starting from the outside edge in, wound the felt round and round to create a flower, finishing off with a pearl for the center. I added felt leaves and some pearl floral centers to my flowers as well.

Here are some 3-D views of the top of the tin to show how the butterfly and flowers pop up:

And also a quick look at the inside cards-- they are just simple, without any sentiments, that way they can be used for whatever!

Check out our current Beary Scrap Challenge-- Things with Wings-- by clicking here and enter your own project. Thanks for looking!

More Things with Wings

2011-04-22T00:01:00.000-07:00

Happy Friday to you! It's Week 2 of our Things with Wings challenge-- keep up the entries, you have until April 30 at 11:59 EST to enter for your chance to win a voucher to The Beary Scrap.

Here is my second creation for Things with Wings -- this time adding a feather!

I cut around the scrolls of this paper then distressed it with my Zutter Distress-it-All and added Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Walnut Stain. Then I just had a blast adding all those fun embellishments-- mulberry paper roses, hand crocheted flower, rhinestones, lace, net and sequin trim and, of course, feathers!

I used this sketch from Card Patterns to create my card:

I am also entering this card in the following challenges:
ABC Challenges-- S is for Sparkle
The Paper Shelter-- Inspired by Nature
Totally Papercrafts -- Springtime
Creative Card Crew-- Spring

Have a lovely weekend and take some time to create something beautiful!

Things with Wings at The Beary Scrap

2011-04-15T00:01:00.000-07:00

We have a brand new Beary Sweet Challenge and I am the first DT up again and absolutely thrilled to show you my layout of "Things with Wings." Two weeks ago, we had a "girls" trip to Las Vegas, Nevada (about 10 hours from where I live). My youngest sister and her family live there and so my other sister and I took our daughters, along with my mom, to visit for Spring Break. We had a fabulous time, soaking up some much needed sun by the pool and visiting some Vegas sights (I do have a picture of daughter with some Elvis impersonators-- I'll save that for another week!).

One of the highlights was lunch at Serendipity 3- a really fun restaurant near Caesar's Palace (check out our frozen hot chocolate, yum!)- and visiting the Bellagio Conservatory which was planted with tulips, poppies and even butterflies! These were the perfect pictures for my layout this week--

I based my layout on this great two page sketch from Sketchy Thursdays:

I had so much fun making this layout and using lots of fun new goodies from the store including Pink Paislee's Butterfly Garden papers (absolutely gorgeous!) and charms.

Other great stuff I used includes seam binding-- new for me but oh so much fun! I spritzed with water and crinkled it up then sprayed with Pearl Gimmer Mist and adhered to my layout with glue lines. Seam binding in many colors will be in stock soon so check the store website! I also used lace and some handmade crocheted flowers-- I must still be on that vintage kick that seems to be going on at The Beary Scrap.

I am also entering my layout in the following challenges:

Pile it On #15-- Say it in Style
ABC Challenges-- Sugar & Spice
A Spoonful of Sugar-- All creatures great and small
Lollipop Crafts-- All Girl

Thanks for looking and have a lovely weekend! Take some time to create your own project that has "Things with Wings" and enter it in our challenge for a chance to win a voucher to The Beary Scrap.

Take Note: A Beary Sweet Sketch

2011-04-08T00:01:00.000-07:00

Happy Friday-- I hope a small bit of Spring weather is finding you out there! I am excited to show you my 2nd version of our current Beary Sweet sketch-- for my project this week I have embellished a box for keeping greeting cards and I hope you can see the sketch in there somewhere (I promise it's there on the front :):))!

I have used the For the Record collection by Echo Park and I love these papers-- a little bit bright, a little bit vintage, with black accents, it's perfect! I used several of the sticker accents on the front, along with some lace and Prima trellis roses. My roses were originally white but I sprayed them with Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist in Brick to match the paper.

Inside I created dividers with different categories of greeting cards. Now it's all ready to fill up and organize some great handmade cards.

I am also entering my greeting card organizer in the following challenges:

ABC Challenges-- R is for Ribbon
The Paper Shelter-- Anything Goes
Fresh Brewed Blog-- Flowers
Lollipop Crafts-- Make a box or gift
The Crazy Challenge-- Just Add Flowers

Now, it's your turn-- let's see how you interpret this sketch and enter it in our current Beary Sweet Challenge before April 14 11:59 EST. I can't wait to see your beautiful creations!

Card Sketch + Mothers' Day

2011-04-07T21:27:00.001-07:00

Spring is here and that means a flood of holidays are just around the corner-- Easter, Mother's Day, Fathers' Day, and graduation. Here is my version of a Mothers' Day card--

made using this great sketch from Card Patterns Weekly Sketch Blog:

I am also entering this card in the following challenges:

Wags & Whiskers-- Ribbons & Pearls
Tuesday Throwdown-- Spring
A Spoonful of Sugar-- Tons of Texture
Papertake Weekly-- Anything Goes

Thanks for looking!

Blog Candy Winner!

2011-04-04T00:01:00.000-07:00

Thanks to all who entered my Blog Candy and especially to those of you who played along with us at The Beary Scrap in our Birthday challenges during all of March. There were 31 entries total (Remember, duplicates or deleted comments were not counted in the final total) -- And now. . . . drumroll. . . the lucky winner of my blog candy is comment #6 -- Aly's Mom!
Please leave a comment with your email on this post and I'll contact you to get mailing information. Congratulations!

Thank You!

2011-04-01T09:36:00.000-07:00

A Big Thanks to all of You who entered my Blog Candy! You are wonderful! I will have the winner posted on Monday morning (April 4th). Good Luck!

Our New Challenge Sketch

2011-04-01T00:01:00.000-07:00

Welcome to a brand new challenge at The Beary Scrap-- I am so excited to be the first DT to show off our new sketch! Here is the sketch:

And here is my take, using some fun pictures from when my daughter lost a tooth paired with these gorgeous papers from Graphic 45. I cut some of the papers apart and then used foam tabs to pop up some of the flowers and a fairy.

A close up of my 3D embellishments, complete with lots of Stickles!

I am also entering my layout in the following challenges:

Pile it On-- #13 Cutie Patootie
Tuesday Throwdown-- Florals
The Kraft Journal-- Flowers
ABC Challenges-- R is for Flowers

We want to see your take on this sketch too, whether it be for a layout, a card or any other project you can dream up! Enter your project at our DT blog between now and April 14th at 11:59 EST for a chance to win a Beary Scrap voucher.

German Glitter Glass at The Beary Scrap

2011-03-25T00:01:00.000-07:00

Happy Friday everyone! Over at The Beary Scrap we are showing off our new German Glitter Glass. This stuff is seriously so cool, I have never seen anything like it before! I am not a big fan of good old-fashioned plastic glitter, its just so darn messy and never quite looks the way I want it to. However, this stuff is so pretty, it is in a completely different world than that old plastic glitter. It was very easy to use and I love the way it shines. Make sure to check out all my other DT members projects to see some serious shine!

My project for the week is some Easter favor boxes filled with candy (chocolate, of course!) and decorated with Graphic 45's Once Upon a Springtime papers and some vintage Easter images.

These were so fun for me to make. I got these cute boxes at a local wedding supply store and simply folded them up and filled them with candy. My Easter images are free for use in craft projects, you can find them here-- I just downloaded them, sized them to what I wanted and printed them out.

Here is a close up of each image I used, with Flowersoft and Glitter added to the picture.

I am also entering these the following challenges:
Pile it On-- Pearls, Rhinestones and Bling
Do you Stack Up?-- Shine On
Card Makin' Mamas-- Animals
Southern Girls Challenge-- Add an Animal
A Spoonful of Sugar-- Ribbons, Pearls, and Flowers
The Kraft Journal-- Oh Baby, it's Spring!

Remember, you still have a few more days to enter our current Beary Sweet challenge and show us your Spring projects! This will enter you in the drawing for our 5 fabulous Birthday Presents so definitely enter this challenge. You also a few more days to enter my blog candy in celebration of my own blog birthday!

Springtime at The Beary Scrap

2011-03-18T00:01:00.000-07:00

Happy Spring to you! I hope wherever you are, a little bit of sunshine is finding its way to you. Here in Idaho, it's very wet and muddy but the birds are out and singing so I know spring is on its way. Of course, we probably will have another snowstorm or two, that's just a normal spring here but at least winter is on the way out!

To celebrate Spring and our big Birthday Bash over at The Beary Scrap, I hope you will enter your project in our current Spring challenge, create anything spring related and enter it here for your chance at winning one of our 5 incredible birthday presents!

My first spring project to go along with this challenge is a quick and easy Easter treat that would be great for kids' classes, teachers, your neighbors or anyone you want to bring a smile to!

To make my treats I started by filling a 4 x 6 open top plastic bag with some Easter candy (I love Sixlets, aren't the spring colored ones cute?) Then I cut a piece of double sided designer paper.

I punched one edge of my paper with a border punch and cut a strip of satin ribbon about 15 inches long (more or less). I laid the ribbon underneath the designer paper, folded over the top of the bag with candy and laid it over the designer paper like this:

I then stapled the ribbon onto the back of the paper, making sure to catch the edges of the plastic bag so it would be secure.

Then I folded the top (the border edge) over to cover the top of the bag and tied the ribbon around the front.

Last I added just the heads of some Tear Bear critters-- Bella Bunny and Charlie Chick-- to the front along with a "Hoppy Easter" saying. Treats are ready to go!

Don't forget, I am also celebrating the one year anniversary of my craft blog and I am offering some Birthday Candy so if you'd like to enter for your chance to win, click here to see how. Thanks for looking!

Time to Play!

2011-03-17T18:38:00.000-07:00

Wow! I actually did some scrapbooking today just for fun! I sure wish that happened more often, but oh well. . . .

I used this fun sketch from Sketchy Thursdays:

And here is my take on the sketch:

With a close up of the Glimmer Mist and embossed stars:

I am also entering it in these challenges:

Pile it On #11 (Green & Orange)
Anything Goes Challenge Blog (die cuts)
Aly's Sunday Challenge (anything goes)
Paperplay Challenges (embossing)

We've Been Published!

2011-03-15T20:35:00.000-07:00

Exciting News! The Beary Scrap online store and The Beary Scrap Design Team have been published in this month's edition of Papers and Pixels.

Wow! This is so exciting, my first time being published. I really appreciate the great article about Kimm and her darling Tear Bears so make sure you check out Papers and Pixels to read all about her plus see a creation by me and my fellow DT members. This is a free online publication so be sure to sign up to receive it by email each month! Yay for us!

Big Thanks from The Beary Scrap DT

2011-03-11T12:00:00.000-08:00

Have you ever had one of those moments when you feel like everything is going really smoothly, your happy with whatever your working one and then suddenly something comes to your mind and you realize you're actually an idiot? Well, I had one of those moments this morning when I started taking pictures of the card I've been working on, looked up at my bulletin board and thought "Hmm-- what is that sketch for again?" Oh, duh! It was the one I was supposed to use THIS WEEK for The Beary Scrap DT and I FORGOT! Thinking about this week with a Thank You theme, I knew the perfect card I wanted to make-- I made it, took lots of pictures of the process so I could show you all and completely forgot I was supposed to be using our Challenge Sketch! So, my apologies to you all, but here is my card anyway!

I really was excited to make this card to share-- I just recently learned how to make these Slider Cards and I think they are so fun! I originally learned how to make these from Nancy Keller, check out her fabulous blog and a video tutorial here.

And here's my own version of a Beary Sweet Thank You Slider Card!

1. Cut a piece of cardstock or heavy designer paper 12 inches x 5.25 inches.

2. Score this piece at 3.5 inches, 7 inches and 10.5 inches. This will leave you 3 equal sections and then a small 1.5 inch section at the end.

3. One the 1st scored section, trim each side down .25 inch

4. This will leave you with a shape like this that is the base of your:

5. Now, you will need a plastic shopping bag (it doesn't have to be Walmart, that's just what I have!) Cut a two inch strip from the bag.

6. Wrap the bag around the section of your base that you trimmed down. Wrap the bag fairly loose, this will be the "sliding" part of the card. Tape the bag with scotch tape firmly to itself-- make sure that you do not tape the bag to any part of the paper, only to itself as it will need to move. Trim off any excess plastic.

7. Next, cut two pieces of designer paper that are 4.5 x 3.25 inches. These are your slider tabs.

8. Place the first slider tab over the section with the plastic bag taped on and line up the top of the tab with the top of the neighboring section.

9. Tape the bottom of the tab to the plastic bag, again, make sure the tape doesn't touch the base of the card just the plastic bag so that it will slide freely. Also, make sure it is taped firmly so it doesn't pull off.

10. Now flip the base over and repeat with the second slider tab, lining it up with the top of the neighboring section and taping it firmly to the plastic bag. The slider tabs are ready.

11. Now, on the third section (the one next to the small 1.5 inch end), create an indentation to show the hidden tabs-- you can use a circle or scallop punch, cut a rectangle or triangle, anything to show off a little of what's hiding beneath. I chose to have my indentation on the bottom of the card but you could place it on top.

12. Now go ahead and fold your card and adhering the small tab to the back to hold it all together.

Now you have something that looks like this:

And by pulling carefully you 'll have two tabs that slide out for more fun space to embellish and add your message (don't pull too quick or too far, it's really hard to get the tabs back in if they are pulled too far, I have done this!)

And there's your card, so embellish away! I used the Echo Park's Little Girl collection papers plus diecut stickers and tags, many of which I cut apart and used differently than originally intended. I popped up some with foam dots added Lavendar and Glam Pink (brand new!) Stickles and then attached my Tear Bear on the front. Here is my finished card showing the inside tabs.

Now, finally, I am to the bottom of my post and from the bottom of my heart, I wish you all a huge THANK YOU for supporting The Beary Scrap during the last year-- we owe all our success to our wonderful customers and followers! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

ps-- I am also celebrating the one year anniversary of my blog and am offering some birthday candy, here is a sneak peek--

--please visit my blog for your chance to win and don't forget to enter our Beary Sweet Challenges this month for more chances to win one of our 5 Birthday Presents!

Happy Birthday to My Blog!

2011-03-10T22:14:00.000-08:00

It has been just over a year since I started my blogging adventure and I am celebrating with some blog candy up for grabs!!

My candy includes:

22 6x6 cardstock sheets My Mind's Eye Laundry Line
4 pkgs rubons My Mind's Eye Laundry Line
9 diecuts titles and tags My Mind's Eye Laundry Line
9 adhesive chipboard elements My Mind's Eye Laundry Line
10 velvet flowers by 7 Gypsies
7 yds assorted ribbons
2 Acrylic Stamps by Studio G
3 Decorator Pins
Assorted buttons and embellishments

To be eligible for my candy, please do the following:
1. Become a follower of my blog.
2. Also become a follower of our Beary Scrap Design Team Challenge Blog.
3. Post the candy on your blog, either in a post or on your sidebar with a link back to this page.
4. Leave me a comment.

This candy will be open until 11:59 MST on March 31 and I will announce the random.org winner on Monday April 3rd.

If you want more chances to win great prizes this month, be sure to visit our Beary Scrap Design Team and Challenge Blog for details on the 5 incredible Birthday Presents we are giving away to celebrate our 1st Birthday!

Happy Birthday at The Beary Scrap!

2011-03-04T00:01:00.000-08:00

It's our Birthday at The Beary Scrap Deisgn Team and we are celebrating in a major way! We are sending out some FANTASTIC Birthday presents to 5 of you at that end of the month to celebrate. So be sure play along in our challenges during our Birthday month and join in all the Fun!

Here's my Birthday layout, based on our Sketch this week, of my daughter's 7th birthday last September. I really love the colors of these papers-- they are bright and fun, without being too overwhelming- perfect for some cute birthday pics.

A close up of the Stickles-- remember, I am in love with them again since my layout last week and so I used them on this layout too!

Materials Used:
Bazzill Cardstock-- Kimm is having a fantastic sale right now, time to STOCK UP!
Fine & Dandy Tickled Pink line from My Mind's Eye, papers and Diecut Stickers
Bo Bunny Chunky Chips Alphabet
Stickles Glitter Glue in Cotton Candy and Aqua
Fastenator Staples, twine and Glue Dots

We can't wait to see your projects based on the sketch, plus don't forget to check out our first ever challenge on Facebook! Beary Sweet Birthday Wishes to You!

Happy Birthday to Us!

2011-03-02T19:48:00.000-08:00

March is our 1st birthday here at the Beary Scrap Design Team & Challenge blog and we are celebrating in style!! Read on for all the important details to see how you could win.

2 Challenges - 3 Chances - 5 Prizes

We will have two challenges like we do every month, but will not have the normal gift voucher prizes. This month your challenge entries are actually chances to win our birthday party presents! After the second challenge ends on March 31st we will randomly pick 5 names from all of our challenge entries to win. We want to honor and thank our challenge participants both old and new by making the prizes available only to those who play with us. We appreciate you so much!

Chance #1: Enter one project in our sketch challenge March 1 - 14
Chance #2: Enter one project in our theme challenge March 15 - 31
Chance #3: If -and only if- you enter either challenge, you can also put our Birthday badge on your blog sidebar for a bonus chance to win!

"What are the prizes", you ask? Let me tell you, because they are AMAZING!

Winner #1 will receive this fantastic prize pack:

Prize pack includes:

Scor Buddy

Echo Park's "For The Record" complete 12x12 kit

Graphic 45's "Once Upon A Springtime" 8x8 pad

MS Deep Edge Border Punch "Flower Bed"

Glimmer Mist "Bahama Blue"

Meyer's Imports German Glass Glitter "Pink"

Kaisercraft Pearls in 4 great colors

Sakura Stardust Glitter Pen set

Stickles "Lagoon" and "Diamond"

Beautiful May Arts ribbons and lace

Fantastic assortment of mulberry roses and calla lilies

Winner #2

Winner #3: $25 Gift Voucher

Winner #4: $20 Gift Voucher

Winner #5: $15 Gift Voucher

Wow! Aren't those prizes great? Kimm is fabulous and our Design Team is so excited at how her store has grown and changed over the last year. We invite you all to get crafting and join us in our Birthday Challenges!

Click HERE for all the challenge rules and to view the sketch for the first challenge and your first chance to be entered in our birthday prize drawings.

Thanks for celebrating our birthday and playing along with our challenges - we really appreciate you!

Happy Day! A Blogger Award!

2011-02-25T14:27:00.000-08:00

I am so excited! This is the first ever Blog Award that I have I received and it is a "Stylish Blogger Award" from VinDeeLoo. This totally made my day! Thank you so much! This is so awesome.

So when you receive this award your are supposed to do the four things listed below. Upon receiving this award I must:
1) thank the person who gave this award to me and link it back to their blog
"2) share 8 things about myself
3) pass this award to 8 other individuals that I have recently discovered
4) leave a comment so that they can pass along the recognition!

And so, of course, first I want to thank the fabulous Becca who visited my blog, left me a sweet comment and then gave me this award! Visit her blog and see her awesome creations at http://creationswithbecka.blogspot.com.

Second, I have to share 8 things about myself, wow!
1. I am married to my high school sweetheart, David-- our 14th anniversary will be this month. 14 years sure goes fast!
2. I have three great kids who keep me very busy and also occasionally make me a little nuts!
3. I love to read and have read 8 books since Christmas-- I love historical fiction and highly recommend anything by Michelle Moran.
4. I am a serious football fanatic! I am in mourning from February until September because there is no NFL or college football to watch. Go Denver Broncos! (It's going to be a better year next year! :)
5. I hate snakes with a passion.
6. I love Diet Coke, autumn and going on vacation (especially to DisneyWorld).
7. I was born on Halloween and also have two nieces (from the same family) who were born on that day. We witches celebrate together every year.
8. I am a completely addicted scrapbooker and paper crafter! My husband thinks I have an illness but I call it my therapy.

And now, I will be passing this award on to these 8 fabulous ladies:
Kira-- My Tear Bears
Corinne-- Celebrating Ordinary Moments
Lori-- Pinkcloud Scrappers
Leslie-- Leslie Krochta's Creations
Rene-- Simply Cute
Cheryl-- Sweeet Designs by Cheryl
Alicia-- Time to Create
Helena-- Scrappassion

Congrats ladies, you're all very talented!

Sparkly Snow and Happy Kids=

2011-02-25T00:01:00.000-08:00

NO WINTER BLUES HERE!

It's Week 2 of our Winter Blues Challenge at The Beary Scrap and while I may be wistfully longing for the warm sand and sunshine that I showed you in my layout last week, my kids are loving the winter snow and are not the least bit blue about it! Unless you count the tips of their noses, which may truly have been a little blue after playing outside for two days last weekend at my grandparents cabin.

As I have an entire pile of pictures from last weekend and really wanted to squeeze as many onto this layout as I could-- so I used a simple layout that lines up 12 photos of about the same size. Here's a bit closer view of each page:

I made my SNOW title by using a Marvy Uchida snow pen-- this is so cool. It writes almost like a paint marker and doesn't look like much in the beginning:

Then you use a heat tool and go over the writing until it puffs up like snow!

Here's a side view to show the dimension:

Making snow letters was so fun! And just a couple of things I learned--
*thicker is better, if you write too thin to begin with, it doesn't puff enough, so pour it on
*be careful with the heat gun, you can scorch the snow and it will turn black
*if you do scorch it (yes, I did!) or if it's not thick enough, just add more & do it again
*it says to let ink dry before heating for a more uniform effect, but I got a more natural snow look by heating it when it was wet

That's it for my Winter Blues, now I really want to see yours! You have just a few more days to join our Winter Blues Challenge, it might be snowy where you are and a great weekend to stay in and create!! Plus we are still looking for some Guest Designers and would love to have you enter our Guest Designer Challenge, check out all the details here and Good Luck!

Beat Those Winter Blues!

2011-02-18T00:01:00.000-08:00

Our theme for our new challenge at The Beary Scrap is Winter Blues-- now this can be a wintery project or reflect how to beat those blue days when winter starts to get L-O-N-G!

I have to admit, I am utterly, completely, totally sick of winter and can't wait for it to be spring so I thought I'd use my project this week to spread a little of the sunshine I found on vacation to the Bahamas earlier this month -- this layout is sending rays directly to all of you out there!

The base of my layout is a crushed velvet embossed paper. I chose to use a plain white piece but then brushed over the velvet embossing with teal blue chalk to give it just a touch of color.

I hope a little sunshine comes your way this weekend and that you have time to do your own Winter Blues project to enter in our current Beary Sweet Challenge. Remember, it can reflect winter or how you escape those winter blues-- however you want to take it! Enter your project before Feb. 28th 11:59 EST for your chance to win!

Beary Scrap Sketch + Fabric

2011-02-11T00:01:00.000-08:00

Are you feeling that long winter stretch yet? Cabin fever? Sick of the snow, cold and ice? Well that definitely must be what I am feeling-- it's been a week of sub-zero temperatures here in Idaho and so when I started looking for pictures to use this week, I was immediately drawn to these sunny photos taken last July in the old mining town of Virginia City, Montana. What I wouldn't give to put myself write into that sunny day, exploring a town in the mountains in a beautiful part of the country! Oh well, summer is going to come again someday!

I used these pictures on my Sketch + Fabric-- the element the Beary Scrap DT has added this week. I was really excited to use fabric on a layout, this is a trend I am seeing a lot of on websites, blogs, magazines and in stores. So I raided my stash (my fabric stash takes up only one drawer into my entire craft room of scrapbook supplies!) and found this lovely green & brown piece to pair with Basic Grey Origins paper.

I tore the edges of my fabric to give it a frayed look though I have to warn you that this does not leave straight edges or a perfect rectangle-- so if you are a perfectionist who loves straight lines, tearing the fabric may not be for you. Then I machine stitched it onto my background. Stitching the fabric was trickier than I thought it would be-- I didn't adhere it before I started sewing and sew it slipped a little bit as I went-- next time I would definitely put it down with some Fabric-tac or Alene's Tacky Glue. But now I know!

Here's a close up of the fabric and stitching:

This was a great challenge for me and I will definitely be using fabric again-- I love how it turned out with a slightly softer feel to the page, which I think accents the lazy feeling of the summer pictures.

I hope you are working on your own version of our sketch-- make sure to enter it in our Beary Sweet Challenge before 11:59 EST on Feb. 14th for your chance to win. And stay warm, wherever you are!

2D Sketch-- 3D Frame

2011-02-04T00:01:00.000-08:00

Happy Friday everyone! It's a new sketch at The Beary Scrap this week and so I have a new project to show you. I have wanted for awhile to try using one of our Beary Sweet sketches to make something other than a layout or card. I just wondered how that would work but couldn't quite wrap my mind around it until this week-- then I finally found the perfect thing and sketch to try it out on!

And so here is my altered frame, with the right hand side being taken from the sketch.

First I painted the edges of the frame black with craft paint. Then I covered each side with paper from My Mind's Eye. I absolutely love these colors, and they just happen to match my bedroom perfectly, which is where I will be putting this little frame. I adhered the paper with good old glue stick but put a coat of glue on both the wood frame and on the back of the paper to ensure a good old.

Here's a view from the top so you can see the painted edges:

And here's a view of just the right hand side, which is based on the actual sketch, though I flipped it the other direction so that my bow would be at the far right edge. I added some pearls in the top corner and made my bow out of ribbon and tulle with a decorative pin through the middle.

And there you have it, my experiment on converting a 2D sketch into a 3D project. I'd love to know what you think! And I'd love to see your take on the sketch so make sure to join our current Beary Sweet Challenge .

Callling all Creativie Ladies!

2011-02-03T20:18:00.000-08:00

We have some HUGE news over at The Beary Scrap -- we've all been so excited planning this and now it's time to let you all know-- we are currently looking for 4 Guest Designers to join our Design Team and share their awesome creative talents with us!

You can enter our search for Guest Designers by creating a new project based on this sketch:

Check out all the details, terms, benefits, etc. at The Beary Scrap Store Blog -- you have until March 5 to enter your project! Good Luck!

Baby Boy Album. . . . Finally!

2011-02-01T00:01:00.000-08:00

Remember, a few weeks ago when I posted a couple pages of this baby book and said I was going to post the rest? ? ? Well, here I am finally getting around to it. The book has been done for awhile and delivered to a local customer, I am just slow at getting it posted. So here it it-- all 20 pages of a Baby Boy album:

Title Page-- Page 1

A close-up of that cute puppy

Pages 2 & 3

Pages 4 & 5

Pages 6 & 7

Pages 8 & 9

Pages 10 & 11

Pages 12 & 13

Pages 14 & 15

Pages 16 & 17

Pages 18 & 19

Page 20

I hope you like my pages and ideas! I leave the mats blank and just write in the dimensions for them to add their own pictures. I did a pink and brown one at the same time for another customer and was really excited about how they turned out. Thanks for taking a peek!

Heart Shaped Mini Album

2011-01-30T00:01:00.000-08:00

Happy Sunday everyone-- Bringing you some more love and heart shaped ideas from The Beary Scrap. I am a big believer that Valentines' Day should celebrate more than just romantic love and I like to do lots of family things at this time of year to show my kids and others how much they are appreciated. So my project this week is a heart shaped mini album for my kids to give to their grandparents on Valentines' Day this year.

These chipboard albums were really fun to make and super quick as they are very small, only about three inches across. I used the Flirty line from Bo Bunny perfect for Valentines' projects I traced all my hearts first, making sure I got just the part of the designer paper that I wanted and then cut them out. They are adhered with plain old glue stick, but two layers-- one on the back of the DP and one on the chipboard itself.

This paper line from Bo Bunny worked so great for this type of project-- each paper is double-sided so there are twice as many choices and they all coordinate. I chose to keep the colors together and made three sections-- 1 blue, 1 pink and 1 green for each of my three children.

To embellish each page, I used some of the stickers from the same paper line and added a sepia toned picture of my kids plus a handwritten note they wrote. Plus then I added some random embellies like fiber, a ticket, a doilie, punched hearts and ribbon.

My little three year old even added his own unique version of his name-- he's just learning how to write it and I think it's super cute! (It's Jace, by the way, if you can't decipher his letters below!)

The final page has a picture of all three, and a little note for Grandma & Grandpa, placed on top of those cute Flirty birds.

That's it for my friendship/love projects and I want all of you out there to know how much I have LOVED looking through the projects you have entered in our friendship/love challenge. Thank you for sharing your talents with us! And if you still have a project to share, there's still time! Link it up before tomorrow night at 11:59 EST for your chance to win!

Friendship & Love at The Beary Scrap

2011-01-21T00:01:00.000-08:00

It's Friendship and Love week at The Beary Scrap and so I have a card to share with you today.

My card is an accordion style card made from envelopes, it's easy to put together, fairly light and has built in pockets for any goodies you want to slip into your card. I started with 4 regular sized (4 3/8 inch x 5 3/4 inch) envelopes.

I laid out three of the envelopes, gluing each flap to the front of another envelope like below:

The fourth and final envelope I turned the opposite direction, tucked its flap into the opposite envelope so that two of the pockets were facing each other.

This makes an accordion that looks like this:

Then I just began covering and decorating the inside of my card. I used the My Mind's Eye Fine & Dandy Tickled Pink line, which for me is just perfect for a Friendship/Valentine's card because it is simply cute and not too overwhelmingly "mushy" (as I am not a super big fan of Valentines' Day!)

I ended up covering up two of the envelope pockets and then using the other two to include small tags. This would be a perfect place to slip in a little bit of money for a birthday, pictures for grandparents and other relatives or a gift card to someplace fun!

For the front, I have been waiting for just the right project to use "Sidney the Skunk" and I was so excited to make this cute little guy. He was a breeze to make with Kimm's great pattern, directions and mulberry paper.

Here's a couple more views from different angles:

Thanks so much for stopping by today and please leave me a comment if you have a minute! If you have a friendship or love project you are working on, come enter it in our current Beary Sweet Challenge for a chance to win a $20 voucher to The Beary Scrap.

Sketch Round 2 at The Beary Scrap

2011-01-14T00:01:00.000-08:00

Here is my version 2 of our current Beary Sweet Challenge Sketch, this time with something "NEW" added to keep it interesting. This was a great sketch to work with and perfect for my daughter Lindsey's 7 year old portrait (isn't she cute? I know, I am biased!)

Last week I showed you the new My Mind's Eye Fine & Dandy True Blue line and this week I used the other side of the line, Tickled Pink, and I love these papers just as much as the boy ones! The colors are really bright and fun, plus they have that little bit of brown that is my go-to color. The embellishments include chipboard stickers and borders, awesome trims, brads, gems and the darling layered stickers (check out that bird in the upper left-hand corner, so cute!) This is a collection you just have to have-- girl or boy or both!

For my something "NEW," I have used some fabric on my layout. This is not something I do-- I do not like sewing very much and do not even have very much fabric so this was definitely new for me! I decided to make some "Yo-yos" to put on my layout and even though I know these have been around forever, I still want to give you a few instructions on how to do it, in case this is "NEW" for you too!

First, cut out a circle that is about double the size of what you want it to be when you are done-- you can trace a circle template onto fabric but trust me, it does not have to be a perfect circle because you are going to gather up all the edges anyway. So I just free hand cut mine and it worked great!

Next, use a needle and thread (a good strong thread that won't break when pulled) and take a running stitch all the way around the outside of the circle, working on the right edge of the fabric, with the back side facing down.

Now you pull your thread to gather in all the edges, it starts to look kind of like a tiny shower cap. Pull the thread tight until there is not a hole in the middle and then tie it off.

Finally, press the center of the "yo-yo"down flat with the now closed up hole in the center. Embellish the center with buttons, brads, jewels or whatever else you can think of!

That's it! Now you have a cute flower "yo-yo" to place on any layout or card. Adhere it with a strong adhesive such as Alene's Tacky Glue.

If you'd like to make a creation based on our sketch, you still have a little bit of time left to join our challenge, so link up your project at our Design Team Blog by 11:59 EST TONIGHT for your chance to win a voucher to The Beary Scrap!

A Great Sketch for my Baby Book

2011-01-07T00:01:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year and welcome to 2011 at The Beary Scrap! For my first post of this new year I am excited to show you my take on our sketch for the current Beary Sweet Challenge. I am working on a baby book for a friend of mine-- I posted one of the pages on Wednesday and now I am showing off the title page for her album:

Here's a closeup of my Oliver the Dog, made with Kimm's awesome Oliver pattern, mulberry paper and Tear Bear tools.

Now it's your turn-- use this sketch to make a card or a layout and entered it at our Design Team blog by 11:59 EST on Jan. 14th for a chance to win a voucher to The Beary Scrap.

I'll have the rest of my baby book to show you next week! Have a lovely weekend!

Sketchy Thursdays

2011-01-05T18:32:00.001-08:00

I am currently working on a baby book for a friend of mine and I have a sneak peak of one of the pages to show you-- I'll have another on Friday for my Beary Scrap post and I promise to show you the whole thing when I finally get done! This is my page for today:

This inspiration for this page was a sketch from Sketchy Thursdays-- it has been awhile since I used one of their sketches and got it done in time but I have resolved to do more scrapbooking this month!

Here is my whole two page layout that is for the book-- the pictures are left blank for her to fill in with her own pics later, I just write the dimensions for the pictures and do the layouts.

Check back on Friday for another page (it's the title one and it is cute!)

Quick Tags for Last Minute Gifts

2010-12-23T06:52:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas to you all on this last day before Christmas Eve! I hope you are all ready for Christmas, your shopping is done, parties are planned, home is decorated and your presents are wrapped. For the most part, I am ready and so excited! I love the magic of Christmas and all of the fun activities it brings. However, underneath my tree right now are presents for my parents, my in-laws, for various cousins and siblings and some for my husband. What is missing are all the gifts for my kids! Those presents are still hidden deep in the confines of my walk-in closet and various corners of the storage room (my kids better not be reading this!)

I have had a VERY hard time wrapping those presents for kids-- we have all been so busy the last few weeks and when I'm home, they are right there! By the time they're in bed, I am ready to go to bed too or I've got some other projects to do. And so, my post today offers you a quick gift tag idea for those last gifts you haven't wrapped yet-- maybe some of you out there are like me and haven't managed to find a chance to pull out all those kids' gifts and get them wrapped. My plan for late tonight is to finish that wrapping and then use these gift tags for my kids presents:

I love using photo tags for my kids' presents-- it gets old writing "from Mom & Dad" on so many packages (they usually each get several from us under the tree, times that by the 3 of them). Plus, they love to look for their faces under the tree and know those surprises are for them.

I printed out some quick recent photos of my kids just on regular printed paper, as most likely these will just get lost and later thrown away in all the mess of unwrapping on Christmas morning. Then I punched a scalloped square tag from Echo Park's Wintertime papers to attach my pictures too. I love the colors in this paper line!

Then I went to work embellishing them with some gems and pearls (for our current challenge) and other embellishments such as lace and Prima flowers. I used letter stickers from the WinterPark kit to put their initial on each tag along with a few snowflake and border stickers from the same sticker sheet.

I think photo tags are a really fun way to personalize the gifts you are giving, here are a few other suggestions for types to make:

*For presents from your family, make a tag that includes a picture of all of you

*For presents from grandparents, make a tag that includes a picture of the grandparent when they were young, this way the tag becomes a keepsake as well (I did this several years ago when helping my grandmother with her shopping and wrapping, the tags were a huge hit among my aunts, uncles and cousins-- not many of them had pictures of my grandmother when she was young and they were delighted to get them)

*For any family presents, make tags that include pictures from Christmases past, then you can reminisce about previous holidays while celebrating the current one.

Now that I've got my pile of tags ready to go, I'll be up late tonight wrapping those kids' gifts and anxiously awaiting the light in their faces when they tear them open on Christmas morning. To all our Beary Scrap fans out there, I hope you have a wonderful holiday season!

Pearls and Gems at The Beary Scrap

2010-12-17T00:01:00.000-08:00

Just one week until the big day and hopefully you have already sent out your Christmas cards (ok, I admit it, I just picked up pictures for my cards today and so I will be dutifully addressing them this weekend so I can get them mailed by Monday!). But in case you are still looking for card ideas, I am so excited to share you with my card today that goes along with our brand new biweekly challenge at The Beary Scrap-- Pearls or Gems.

I made my first Penny the Penguin and I think she turned out absolutely adorable!!!! I added a Santa Hat from JoLee's boutique and a little bow made out of Martha Stewart Candy Cane Baker's Twine.

For my card I used the brand new Wintertime collection from Echo Park. I am in love with these papers! They are perfect for Christmas or just for any wintertime pictures. I especially love the gray, as it's a non-traditional Christmas color but not too overwhelming. I stitched around the edges and added some Diamond Stickles for a little snowflake shimmer. I added a larger punched snowflake and used some red gems to decorate it.

Here is a peek at the inside of my card, I used a Martha Stewart Around the Edge punch to do snowflakes around my entire square and then saved some of the snowflakes and put them on the front with more red gems.

This is a great challenge to enter, just create a new project and include gems or pearls and link it to our challenge by midnight on Dec. 31st EST (you'll be up that night anyway, ringing in the New Year!) and you just might win a Beary Scrap voucher!

Christmas Candy Winner!

2010-12-16T18:07:00.000-08:00

Thanks to all you ladies who left me great comments about why you love Christmas and entered my Christmas Candy giveaway, I appreciate you! And the winner is. . . . .

(pardon my un-technology tonight, I just wrote down the numbers and drew one!)

#4-- Judy

Congratulations!

Please email me your mailing address Judy (coopjamie@gmail.com) and I'll get your candy in the mail to you and a Merry Christmas to you all!

Christmas Goodies for You!!!

2010-12-14T22:38:00.000-08:00

Only 10 days until Christmas and here is a chance for you to get some great goodies for yourself! You deserve it! Kimm has just announced the release of two new Tear Bear patterns, Marcy the Mouse and Monty Moose, aren't they cute?

And, if you order both before midnight on Dec. 16th, you will also get a free baby Tear Bear pattern which won't be released until next year. Grab yours now!

AND, you have one more day to enter my Christmas candy for a chance to win a few more Christmas goodies. Click here to view the guidelines and Good Luck! I hope you're enjoying the holidays, wherever you may be or however you may be celebrating!

Dear Santa: A Sketch from The Beary Scrap

2010-12-10T00:01:00.000-08:00

Here is another Christmas layout based on our current Beary Sweet sketch at the Beary Scrap Design Team Blog.

To create a double 12 x 12 layout this week from the sketch, I stretched it out over two pages, expanding and adding a few more elements (photos) and quickly drew out my own version of the original design:

My Mind's Eye Holly Jolly paper was just perfect for this sketch as I could use the Santa paper and leave Santa as one large element on the far right side of the paper (I love the Vintage look of this Santa plus the beautiful deep red, greens and browns of the paper!)

Taking my inspiration from my fellow DT Susan's card that used this paper a few weeks ago, I added red and green Stickles to my Santa to give him a little shine. Replacing the snowflakes that were on the original sketch, I have used holly leaves cut from a good old Sizzix die in the two corners of my layout.

I wanted my die cuts to have a little dimension, so I actually cut out two for each holly leaf, inked both edges with, adhered one to the paper and then popped up the second one on top of the first with a foam square. Then the top leaves are edged with more Stickles and finished off with rhinestone"berries."

You've seen lots of great examples of this sketch in the last two weeks and now we can't wait to see yours! Make sure to enter our current Beary Sweet Challenge before 11:59 EST on Dec. 14th for a chance to win a $20.00 voucher from some sweet goodies from The Beary Scrap. Maybe you can get some of those scrap goodies that are on your Christmas list!

A Beary Sweet Snowflake Sketch!

2010-12-03T00:01:00.000-08:00

I'm dreaming of a WHITE CHRISTMAS-- and my fellow Beary Scrap DT member, Susan, must have read my mind as she has provided our DT with such a great way to start off to December, with this very sweet sketch, complete with lovely snowflakes and swirls for a wintry day. (Though you could substitute anything you want for those snowflakes!) I was so excited to work with this great sketch.

I used the new Midnight Frost line from Bo Bunny and some of my Christmas morning pictures from last year (no, they are not all scrapbooked yet, I better hurry up before I have new Christmas morning pictures!). I rotated my sketch clockwise 45 degrees and came up with this single 12 x 12:

These Midnight Frost papers are gorgeous-- with dark blues, purples and greys and already have those great swirls worked right into the pattern. I used both dark blue (Faded Jeans) Distress Ink from Tim Holtz and silver ink to edge all of my papers and even used my brand new Marth Stewart around the edge Snowflake punch for one of them. These punches are really fun and add so much. They are also very easy to use!

To add the swirls from the sketch, I traced some swirls on using a stencil and then handstitched them which did take a bit longer but I think was definitely worth the time, I love how they turned out!

Now it's your turn, please join us at The Beary Scrap Design Team and Challenge Blog, and use this sketch to create your own project to enter in our current challenge, which goes from now until 11:59 EST on Dec. 14th. Your project just might win you a voucher to The Beary Scrap online store!

Merry Christmas Candy!!!!

2010-12-02T21:56:00.000-08:00

I love the Christmas season and I just wanted to share a little of it with all of you so I am offering this little bit of Christmas candy to one lucky winner:

To be eligible to win, just do the following:

1) Become a follower if you aren't already! (Thank you so much to all of you who are!)
2) Post the candy on your blog to help spread the word-- either on your sidebar or in a new post, either way is fine, just link it back to my original post.
3) Leave a comment to this post telling me something you love about Christmas.

This candy will be open until Dec. 15th at midnight, MST, after that I will pick random winner and mail off this candy to you just in time for Christmas. I hope you all have a lovely December and spread some Christmas cheer wherever you go!

'Tis the Season

2010-11-27T21:55:00.000-08:00

Happy Black Friday everyone! Thanksgiving is over and I hope you had a great one. It is now officially the season to be merry, to get out those Christmas CD's and sing along, to get teary eyed at all those sappy holiday commercials on TV, to bake treats, eat too many of those treats and spend lots of time with your family and loved ones! We have been teasing you all week with some Christmas projects, all with banners, at The Beary Scrap and I have one more to get you into that Christmas mood!

My card features a Kimm's awesome Tear Bear Reindeer- what a cute guy to get me into the Christmas mood! I used mocha mulberry paper for the body of the reindeer and cream for his muzzle and breast. Christmas Red Stickles accent his nose, holly leaf button his neck and he has a small bell tied on with two-toned gold wire.

The body of card is made from tan and dark green Bo Bunny Double Dot Cardstock and then My Mind's Eye Holly Jolly patterned paper. I made my banner my punching postage stamp shapes from the dark green Double Dot and highlighting all the edges with more red Stickles. Then I added red stocking buttons that are flocked to the banner and attached it with more of the gold wire.

An inside view of my card-- both front and inside sentiments are heat embossed with glittery red embossing powder.

So, have a wonderful holiday season and don't forget to post your Anything Goes project (you could even try some banners!) in our current Beary Sweet Challenge by 11:59 EST on Nov. 30th for your chance to win some great goodies. And it your not in the mood for some crazy Black Friday shopping at the stores, snuggle up with your computer instead and check out all the great stuff at The Beary Scrap!

Anything Goes-- So, what could be better than. . . .

2010-11-19T00:01:00.000-08:00

A NEW BABY!!

Not much, in my opinion! Remember a few weeks ago, when I told you all why I was really a Halloween witch and I was hoping for my new niece to join my Halloween birthday celebration? Well, she didn't quite make it then but here she is now and the perfect subject for my Anything Goes page this week at The Beary Scrap DT.

I wanted to use fall leaves since this little cutie was born November 7th, but still make this look like a baby page. So I used papers from the My Mind's Eye Lost & Found Market Street line which have soft creams, blues and pinks. I used a Martha Stewart punch to make all my fall leaves, throwing in some browns from Bo Bunny Double Dot cardstock.

I spritzed all my leaves with Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist in Opal and then added Cinnamon Stickles to some of the edges and some pink KaiserCraft rhi nestones. My title letters are cut on my Cricut (Jasmine cartridge) and also spritzed with Glimmer Mist.

I LOVE how my page turned out and I can't wait to see what you've got to show us in our Anything Goes challenge so make sure to join us in the current Beary Sweet Challenge for your chance to win some goodies from the Beary Scrap!

Sketching at The Beary Scrap

2010-11-12T00:01:00.000-08:00

I was so excited to work with these colors--- apple, pear and pumpkin-- doesn't it sound yummy? I absolutely love fall colors and these just fit perfect. Plus, I got to use that great sketch again but I decided to keep it simple this week and make a card instead of converting the sketch into a scrapbook layout. And so, I think for the first time ever, I have a card to show you!

With that theme of keeping it simple, I have only used Bo Bunny's Double Dot Cardstock this week instead of patterned paper. However, I must have had Granny Smith apples on the brain, because when I started working with my papers, I ended up with these colors and no red. Oh well!

I made one of Kimm's original Tear Bears for the front of the card and then created a pumpkin for him to hold. I made the pumpkin by punching three ovals out of the Double Dot cardstock, adhering two of them together and then placing the third on top. Topped off with gems and a flower, I think it's a pretty cute pumpkin for a cute bear!

I finished off the front with some more gems, some light green Prima flowers and my sentiment. It's all ready to go to show someone how grateful I am for them this Thanksgiving season.

We want to see your interpretation of our sketch to make sure to enter our current Beary Sweet Challenge by 11:59 EST on Nov. 14 for your chance to win some great goodies from The Beary Scrap!

A little birdy gave me a Great Sketch

2010-11-05T00:01:00.000-07:00

I'm so happy to be working with another great sketch from The Beary Scrap for the next two weeks. These are just so great to jump start my page planning and are open to a lot of possibilities! I hope you will take the challenge and join us by creating your own project based on this sketch:

Link up your project by 11:59 EST on Nov. 14th for your chance to win goodies from The Beary Scrap.

My take on the sketch uses Lost & Found Portobello Road papers from My Mind's Eye and some pictures taken of some of the girls in my family this summer-- I love the soft browns and blues in this line which are accented with silver glitter.

I flipped the sketch over completely and so my sentiment is in the bottom left corner and my flowers, which are both Prima and My Mind's Eye embellishments, are in the top:

To make the best use of this gorgeous paper from My Mind's Eye, I cut out around the birds in the lower right hand corner and then tucked my different layers of paper underneath the cut out edge.

Now it's your turn, show us what you can come up with, we can't wait to see your take on our sketch! Happy Scrapping!

My Pink Candy Winner!

2010-11-02T19:58:00.000-07:00

First of all, I would like to sincerely thank all of you wonderful ladies who took the time to participate in our Inking Pink Blog Hop and who left such lovely, touching comments on my post. I hope our hop touched and inspired you and I have to tell you how truly your comments uplifted me-- Thank You.

And now for the best part-- the winner of my pink candy, picked by Random.org, is comment #23 Terrie who said:

Thank you for sharing your story! Your sister is very brave. Your layout is just awesome. Really captures you guys' relationship. I'm already a follower.. thanks for a chance to win!

Terrie B
terriennz@att.net

Thanks Terrie, I'll be in touch via email to get your mailing info!

I hope you all remember out there to be Breast Cancer Aware!

On more Glimmer Mist Project

2010-10-29T00:01:00.000-07:00

We've all had such fun with Glimmer Mist this last two weeks at The Beary Scrap and I've got one more project to share, based on this gorgeous autumn photo:

I love fall colors and leaves so this was easy to get inspired by. I decided to see what I could do with some real leaves from my yard and went out and raided a few of my trees to get this (reminds me a lot of our inspiration photo):

I used the real leaves as screens and misted over them with Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist in Sunflower and Tiger Lily.

After removing the leaves from my paper, I was left with just the outlines like this:

I used the misted paper with the leaf outlines to make Table Place Tags for all The Beary Scrap Gals that could be used for Thanksgiving (another of my favorite holidays, and it's coming right up!) If only we lived close enough together to share that lovely day together.

The tags are mounted on Bo Bunny Double Dot cardstock in Chocolate and Burnt Orange and stitched around the edges.

With some awesome brown lace as a background, I added Prima fall leaves and some tiny brown flowers that were also spritzed with the Sunflower and Tiger Lily Glimmer Mist.

The photo has that awesome acorn and I so I had to add an acorn to my project. I stamped the acorn image, popped up the top of it to give a little dimension, added Cinnamon Stickles and then popped the whole acorn up for even more dimension.

Then I added some jute around the bottom and some rhinestones for a little more glitz.

This were quick and easy to make and would be fun on any Thanksgiving table.

So there you have it, the last of our Glimmer Mist projects! Now we'd love to see yours in our "Spritz the Glitz" challenge. We'd also love to hear from you-- if you have a question about Glimmer Mist or anything else for The Beary Scrap Designers, click on the Ask the Designers tab at the top of the blog and leave us a comment or send a question on some sort of paper crafting dilemma you might have. How do we get inspiration? How do we find the time? (Trust me, I'd like to know the answer to that one!) What is our favorite and "go-to" techniques? Whatever you wonder, we'd like to answer in our Ask the Designers post each Sunday. We look forward to seeing your questions!

Cards for Sweet People

2010-10-28T11:30:00.000-07:00

Just a couple of cards for some sweet people to share with you today:

First, this is for my dear friend Elise-- Cheryl from Australia is having a card drive for Elise from now until November 16th at midnight and is looking for as many people as possible to make a bright and cherry card for Elise and mail it to her. So, this is my card:

Here is the inside with the sentiment:

I know it's not pink, but I was having a hard time finding something pink I liked and I just loved the bright cheery colors of this paper.

If you'd like to make a card too, just make anything happy and cheery, link it up to Cheryl's blog before Nov. 16th midnight and then email Cheryl to get Elise's address. This is a great thing to do for a very special lady and Cheryl will even enter you in a drawing for some fun candy!

Secondly, this is a card for a sweet little girl named Madison who is also going through some tough times.

This is the inside view with a pocket holding some stickers for Madison.

You can read about Madison and find out if you still have time a send her a card by going to Trish's blog here.

Happy Cardmaking everyone!

Inking Pink for the Cause

2010-10-26T00:01:00.000-07:00

We all have those moments, the ones that come along every once in awhile and take your breath away-- some of them are happy, like my wedding day, when I was offered my first teaching job, the days each of my three children were born. But more often than not, those moments are TOUGH moments, things we'd rather not have to go through but they come anyway. And I believe these are the moments that define us, that shape our character, strengthen our hearts, cement our relationships.

One of those moments hit me a little over two years ago when my younger sister was diagnosed with breast cancer. She was only 31 years old when she was diagnosed and 4 1/2 months pregnant with her fourth baby. I knew something had been going on with her that week, but because she was expecting, I worried it was something to do with the baby. I never, never expected the news she told me-- that she had breast cancer and was going to have a double mastectomy the very next day. I was shopping that day and just sat in my car in the parking lot of Target and cried. And cried again many times throughout the next few months as she underwent her surgery, started to heal, began chemo, delivered a healthy baby boy, began more chemo and 6 weeks of daily radiation therapy. And yet throughout all that, I never saw her cry. I am sure she had her moments of breakdown and terror about the future, but she was so strong, so brave, so positive throughout every single minute.

My page in honor of my sister, a hard page to make but I'm so glad I did!

And that's where the defining part comes in-- I learned so much from her and admire her so much. Whenever I am having a bad day and think things are going absolutely rotten, all I have to do is think of everything she went through, never complaining or being bitter about the trials she was facing. And when I remember that, I remember what moments really and truly count. How blessed I am and grateful I am for what I have, for the precious moments I share with my friends and family.

I know that many of you have had personal experiences with breast cancer and understand how important these moments are. And now with the experiences of my dear friend Elise, I think about it all over again. I hope our stories this week inspire you to treasure those moments, we never know how many more we have and we have to take advantage of every single one. This means, that as women, we need to do what we can to protect ourselves. Early detection and screenings are the best way to reduce a woman's risk of dying from breast cancer. So do your monthly checks and get that mammogram when it's time! And yes, I've had my first one and it wasn't that bad! Take care of yourself so you can have all the moments you possibly can.

Thanks so much for joining us as women together for a cause all around the world!! And now, the fun stuff! I'd love to hear your thoughts so to be entered in my PINK blog candy, please become a follower and leave me a comment. I will choose a random winner when this blog hop closes on October 31st and send you this lovely candy!

Once you've left a comment if you want, then you're ready to hop on to the next blog! Here's the list:

Patrici a
Betty
Bonnie
Carisa
Catherine
Chelsea
Danielle
Emma
Gini

Jamie ----You're here, that's me!

**Jennifer (click here, it's the next stop)

Jess
Karen
Kellie
Liz
Lori
Marlene
Meredith
Nicole
Shelly
Stephanie
Susan
Trudy

Kimm

Happy Blogging and Remember to be Breast Aware!

Trick or Treat Mist

2010-10-22T20:18:00.000-07:00

Trick or Treat

Smell My Feet
Give me something good to eat. . .
Oh, forget it!
Just give me some Glimmer Mist to play with!

I had the strangest thought today-- wouldn't it be awesome if we could take our Trick or Treat Buckets from door to door on Halloween night and instead of candy, everyone would give out scrapbook supplies? Wow! I would be in trick or treat heaven! Especially, if there were lots of colors of Glimmer Mist involved!

Last week I told you that this Glimmer Mist thing is a bit new for me, but let me tell you, I am now HOOKED! Check out the Halloween treat tags I made with mist everywhere--

First I started by using some Halloween Glimmer Screens and several different colors of absolutely gorgeous Glimmer Mist-- Sunflower, Jack O'Lantern, Haunted Shadow, Graphite and Key Lime Pie.

I used three different screens and when they were dry, I was left with images like this:

Then I used some Tattered Angels stamps that are made specifically to go with these Glimmer Screens-- the stamps go just over the image I made with the screens. I actually wet embossed my images using a black glitter embossing powder to give them more shine.

When everything was nice and glitzy, I added all those goodies to my tags, attached them to a bag of treats and they were ready to go!

If you haven't tried Glimmer Mist, you've got to get some, it is definitely a treat every paper crafter needs.

Don't forget to do your own misting and join us in our current Beary Sweet Challenge, link up your entry before that spooky night, Oct. 31 @ 11:59 EST, we can't wait to see your fabulous projects!

A Special Event for a Special Cause

2010-10-16T00:01:00.000-07:00

Our paper crafting community spans the globe and brings all of us together under a common roof. Join me, and 23 (or more) other talented women for our first Blog Hop for Awareness that has been creatively titled "Inking Pink".

Many of us have family or friends that have been affected by breast cancer and all of us want to encourage all of you to check yourself! For those of us at The Beary Scrap DT, we have recently found out that our dearest friend and alumni team mate has Breast Cancer. In her honor, we are "hopping" in hopes of helping to spread awareness throughout the world.

The hop will start October 26 at our Hostess Patricia's blog; from there you will be guided on a journey around the world to visit all the talented artists participating in this amazing event. Some of your fellow crafters along the hop are even offering blog candy! Please be sure to give a little comment of love to each and every crafter along the way.

The hop will run through October 31 to give all of you enough time to "hop" around and visit each blog.

We all hope you will join us in our hop, and most of all we all want YOU to give yourself the greatest gift and do a self-check. The more you do it, the more breast aware you will be!

Glimmer Misting at The Beary Scrap

2010-10-15T20:58:00.000-07:00

This weeks starts our new challenge at The Beary Scrap-- using Glimmer Mist (GM). This is a fairly new product for me but I can tell, it's going to be fun! I'm getting addicted quickly!

To start with this week, I used GM on a few simple aspects of my layout. I know this picture is a bit hard to see since I used light paper and a light colored mist, but hopefully you get the idea. I spritzed Creme de Cocoa GM over some stars that I cut out with my Sizzix. Then I carefully removed the stars and ended up with this:

The Creme de Cocoa mist is sooooooooooooo pretty! It is a real light brown with a little bit of a gold sheen to it, though when I sprayed it on some of my embellishments, like the blue stars and brown tag below, it took on almost a coppery color. I particularly like the GM on the dark brown tag and star, it really stands out and adds just a little extra to my page.

Here is my entire layout:

Which is actually based on this sketch from Sketchy Thursdays:

Come on over to The Beary Scrap to check out more projects using Glimmer Mist and to join in our challenge-- use any type of spray on a project and link it at our DT blog for a chance to win a $20.00 voucher to The Beary Scrap. Shop the Beary Scrap this week for some awesome Fall Clearnance Deals, up to 60% off on some items!

The Witch is In. . .

2010-10-08T00:01:00.000-07:00

Creepy wishes going out to all of you during this spook-tacular month of October! It is Halloween week at The Beary Scrap, just my favorite time of year! I am just warning you now, I love Halloween and you will probably have to put up with my obsession with all things orange, black, purple and witchy all month! It's really not my fault, I didn't have much of a choice about liking that day because it is actually my birthday! So I have always had double reasons to celebrate and make it a fun day.

But that's not all-- I actually have even more reasons for this being such a big deal in my world-- 7 years ago, my younger sister had her first baby girl on Halloween and I thought, cool! someone to share my birthday with. AND THEN, 4 years ago that same sister had her second daughter on Halloween. Seriously, my family may be bewitched! So myself and my two nieces share a Halloween birthday and have fun celebrating it together now each year. AND, by the way, my other sister is currently expecting a baby due Nov. 14th which is extremely close to Oct. 31st, especially since her other two babies came early. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a 3rd Halloween niece to share my day (I'll keep you posted!)

So, in honor of the witches, big and small, in my family, my project this week is an altered witch hat.

I simply took a paper mache witches hat bought at my local craft store ($2.99) and covered it with paper. First I painted the bottom of the brim, edges, around the crown and the tip with black craft paint-- I wanted to make sure that any edges that might peak through the paper would be black and not the brown kraft color of the original hat.

Then I traced around the bottom brim circle on the sheet of Echo Park paper and cut out the entire circle. Then I flipped the hat upside down, set the circle on it and carefully with my embossing stylus went around the smaller inside circle. After cutting out that inside circle I was left with a piece that looked like this:

I had to trim in a few places to get a tight fit but I got it to slide right down on the brim and then adhered it with glue sticks. I like to use just plain old glue stick (I prefer Scott brand) when adhering paper to chipboard-- I put a layer on both the paper and the board to get a good hold. Some people like Modge Podge but I have a hard time with that stuff and my paper always ends up wrinkling so I just stick to the glue sticks.

The top of the hat was definitely trickier-- first I measure to find out how far it was from the point down to the brim. Then I cut a square that fit those dimensions and rounded it a bit to look like this:

After adhering that piece with glue stick, I was left with a spot like this on the top so I cut another triangle that measured the length of the top and finished covering up the paper mache.

Note: I did use glue dots to attach the last piece to both sides of the paper that was already there so I could get smoother edges.

And now, the best part! Embellishing! I used black tulle orange tulle, some black tulle flowers from Bo Bunny and a few black feathers to go around the brim. Above that I added some crystal swirls and a cool little bat.

I also made a tiny card to set on the hat brim, declaring The Witch is In!

Now the only thing I have left to do is find room for this in my highly haunted and decorated house! Check out our Beary Scrap Store for some hauntingly fabulous specials this month and create something to celebrate your Halloween. Best Witches!

A DOUBLY Sweet Sketch at The Beary Scrap

2010-10-01T00:01:00.000-07:00

A DOUBLE cheer for Susan at The Beary Scrap this week for such a fabulous sketch-- it was so quick and easy, I was on a roll and made DOUBLE versions to show you! I got two complete sets of portraits scrapbooked, what a completely successful day! I won't dwell too much on the fact that the pictures are all from two years ago, oh well! At least I got something done.

First off is my boy version of the sketch:

That one was so quick, I just kept on going and came up with this girl version:

These were so fun and quick to make! At this rate, I just might get to my kids' current portrait-- these two are actually 9 and 7 now instead of 7 and 5, plus there's one more younger than them with pictures of his own to scrap. I better keep on working! This Sketch kicks off our new challenge at The Beary Scrap Design Team Blog so head on over and check it out, then enter your take on the sketch for a chance to win some fabulous goodies!

Shapin' it up at The Beary Scrap

2010-09-24T00:01:00.000-07:00

The challenge for our DT at The Beary Scrap this week is to create a project that is NOT a typical square or rectangle. Let me tell you, this was tough for me but good to think outside the "box" -or square, I should say! So my shape is a flower shaped mini album of my daughter's 6 year old portraits.

I have been holding onto these pictures since last September trying to find the perfect papers to go with them and let me tell you, this is it! I think they designed Union Square just for me! And there are still two other groups. Lost & Found is absolutely amazing, I am in love with these papers! The entire Lost & Found line is currently in stock at The Beary Scrap. be sure to check it out.

Here are the 6 inside pages of my mini album:

Isn't she beautiful? I think so! She turns 7 this Sunday and so I guess I got these pictures done just in time!! Ha, ha.

If you enjoyed my shape, head on over to The Beary Scrap DT blog and see what other cool shapes await you this week-- I'll give you some hints-- a dwelling for a bird and a vegetable you carve into a Jack O' Lantern.