happy halloween!

testing out some new make-up today....what do you think?

(sugar skull make-up courtesy of PicMonkey)

Coloring Fiskars Fuse Letterpressed Die-Cuts with Watercolors

with a little extra attention given in making this handmade gift bag you’re sure to have the recipient remember just as much about the packaging as they will about the gift inside! and while it looks like you spent more time making the gift bag than shopping for the gift inside, be assured that this project comes together in less than 30 minutes, including drying time! ready to see how?

first you’ll need to purchase a plain kraft gift bag. these are easily found, usually in bundles of 3, at your local dollar store. the front of the bag is embellished with wide strips of three coordinating patterned papers. just measure the width of your bag to determine how long to cut each paper strip. leave a 2” space of kraft bag showing along the bottom edge for a later step.

next, you’ll insert your “One of A Kind” press plate into the Scalloped Oval die cut, and place into the orange carrier. ink the press plate with black ink. remove from the orange carrier and place a 4 ½” square of textured white cardstock onto the press plate, textured side down. top with the cutting plate and crank it through the Fuse.

remove the die-cut and allow ink to dry for a few minutes. then, color in the image using a basic set of watercolor paints. allow paint to dry approximately 10 minutes before continuing.

next, use your 1/8” hand circle punch to punch a hole at each black dot around the perimeter. starting at the bottom center of the oval, start lacing a double strand of red baker’s twine through each hole all the way around. be sure to leave a small tail at the beginning so you can tie the ends together into a bow.

(i'm sorry Blogger keeps rotating this image sideways...gah.)

continue embellishing the letter-pressed die-cut by creating a paper doily ruffle. to do this, snip into each doily, then cut out the middle using a pair of detail scissors. adhere one end to the back of the die-cut using glue dots. continue adhering the doily with glue dots by pleating along the way to create a ruffled look.

once the ruffle is complete, you can embellish the cupcakes a little further with tiny beads or jewel stickers just to add a little sparkle.

stamp a birthday candle, from the Fiskars Birthday Cheer – Simple Stick Repositionable Stamp Set, repeatedly in the open space across the bottom of the bag. allow ink to dry briefly, and then embellish each candle flame with iridescent glitter glue.

and lastly, fill the bag with your gift and finish it off with some super fun tissue paper.

Supplies:
Lily White Criss Cross Cardstock (Bazzill), Patterned Paper (Imaginisce), Baker’s Twine (The Twinery), Jewel Stickers (Little Yellow Bicycle), Stickles Iridescent Glitter Glue (Ranger), Watercolor Paints (Crayola), Paper Doilies, Kraft Gift Bag, Tissue Paper

Tools:
Fiskars Fuse Creativity System Starter Set, Medium Design Set 0083, Medium Design Set Expansion Pack 0083, Trimmer, Non-Stick Detail Scissors, 1/8” Hand Circle Punch, Birthday Cheer Simple Stick Repositionable Stamp Set

Xyron Create A Sticker + LYB Acorn Hollow

this week the Little Yellow Bicycle design team has been strutting their stuff after using the Xyron Create A Sticker, while the Xyron designers have been showing off their skills with Little Yellow Bicycle's Acorn Hollow collection!  a blog swap hop! such fun!

boy, oh boy, this Xyron Create A Sticker Maker they sent for me to use is slick-stuff! if you've missed the week of inspiration, you'll want to keep reading, then hop over to the Little Yellow Bicycle blog and the Xyron blog and read back a few days worth of entries to see all the possibilities.

i’ll be honest, i used to get so frustrated with the limitations i had using my Xyron 1.5” Create A Sticker—you know the ever popular “X”. why? because, well, 1.5” just felt so limiting in my little creative world.

but, when Xyron sent me the 2.5” Create A Sticker…..wowza! it instantly changed my mind when it comes to sticker making. it’s amazing how freeing that extra inch can be in the world of crafting.

the first thing i noticed was no longer did i have that crinkly plastic film over the item i was stickering. And no longer did i have exposed adhesive! no sticky fingers, no messy glue, no fussing with glue dots (i’ve lovingly nicknamed them glue boogers….ha!).

what makes it even more awesome is that now, the backing material is even a bit different and my punches could go through it like butter! no more jammed punches.

so, for this layout, i ripped a handful of pages out of my 6x6 paper pad, and then trimmed them down to 1 ¼” wide. placed two strips side by side, but not overlapping, then cranked them through the Create A Sticker machine.

then I used a 1” circle punch to punch down the length of each patterned paper. In less than 5 minutes, i had 50+ 1” circles with edge-to-edge adhesive. all i needed to do was peel off the protective backing and stick them to my page.

so while the layered circle embellishing looks super fussy, reality is this page was constructed in 20 minutes tops!

Xyron 2.5” Create A Sticker? in my opinion, a must have in every scrapboooker’s tool arsenal. get yourself one!

Don't forget to stop over to the Little Yellow Bicycle blog for details on how you can win yourself some Xyron products in today's giveaway!

Acorn Hollow Journaling Cards	Acorn Hollow Stick Pins	Acorn Hollow Chipboard Shapes
Acorn Hollow Clear Cuts	Acorn Hollow 5 Things Pocket	Acorn Hollow Favorite Pieces Stickers
Acorn Hollow Fresh Verse Stickers	Acorn Hollow 6x6 Paper Pad	Fiskars 12" Rotary with LED

InLinkz.com

Enabler Alert: Fiskars Fuse Creativity System 40% off!

ya'll remember me introducing you to the Fiskars Fuse Creativity System a short while back here on the blog, yes? you can see that post here: Fun with the Fiskars Fuse Creativity System.

well, i have some awesome news: This week, Michaels Stores are offering a 40% discount on the Fiskars Fuse! that brings the price down to $179.99! wowza!
the Fuse isn't sold at every Michaels so to find out if your local Michaels carries the Fuse, check the list here: http://bit.ly/OFhgZg

For those of you who haven’t heard of the Fiskars Fuse, it’s the only system on the market that can die-cut and letterpress all in one pass!

if you want to see how the Fuse works, Fiskars has created some amazing instructional videos that can be viewed here: http://bit.ly/O7L6UG

now, hurry....go get yourself one and allow Christmas to come a little early to your house this year! heee. :)

i'm planning on spending the next several days sharing projects i've created with my Fuse.

stay tuned!

(Disclaimer:  Yes, I do work for Fiskars, so of course I'm excited about the product, but no, I do not receive commission or kickback for any sales or click throughs of the links that appear in this post. I'm just sharing exciting information on a killer sale.)

Fiskars: Family Shadow Box

i recently had the pleasure of creating my version of a family shadow box for a Fiskars assignment and the final result makes me ridiculously happy! 

the project started with pieces from the Tim Holtz Idea-ology Printers Tray. you can read more details on the process in my tutorial over there (Family Shadow Box tutorial), but we are limited to the amount of photos that can be shared in a tutorial, so i wanted to use this space to share all the detail shots of the shadow box.

 i had gobs of fun shopping my supplies to come up with a unique collection of things that represent and are significant to our family. lots of symbolism in my choices.  like above, you see the W4 scrabble tile = W for Willis, 4 for family size. you also see the 'a' and 'e' = my girls' initials and a pink #2 = 2 girls.

4 corked bottles, again, symbolism for our family of 4, with three paper roses for myself and the two girls.

and a more masculine flower standing strong to represent my husband.

i wish i would have taken a photo of the tag holding these roses before cutting it to size to fit in this compartment.  it was a sweet manilla shipping tag with some lovely white lace wrapped around and the paper roses on top. something my friend special friend sherry handmade and gifted to me.  so it's extra special knowing it will live forever in this little spot to represent my family.

even though the base of my project is constructed from the boxes that rest inside of a Tim Holtz Idea-ology Print Tray, you don’t need to use this specific tray as your shadow box base. these are just heavy-weight chipboard/paper mache type compartments. if you prefer something with more stability, antique stores and flea markets are both great places to hunt for wood based printers trays or knick-knack boxes that will be perfect for this project.

InLinkz.com

Fall Gift Packaging in less than 15 Minutes: Acorn Hollow by LYB

with a little help from the Target Dollar Spot, and a small assortment of Acorn Hollow from Little Yellow Bicycle, gift packaging is a breeze!  of course, you can use any scrapbook products you have a liking for to replicate this look, but i'm quite partial to fall-themed products.  afterall, fall *is* my favorite season.

anywho. i love showering (no pun intended) the girls' teachers with small little gifts of appreciation, so last time i was shopping at Target i picked up a few boring little buckets to tuck some Bath & Body Works shower gels into.  i found this cute little metal pail and felt bucket that i thought would help me incorporate my signature bright, colorful style, yet still match well with rich tones in the Acorn Hollow collection. 

the yellow pail highlights a layered collage of mostly chipboard embellishments. i first wrapped the pail with a pre-scored scalloped strip from the Paper Crafting Kit, then layered on the chipboard using mini gluedots. super easy and took less than 6 minutes, including crafting the journaling spot turned mini-notecard that i tucked inside. 

while the felt bucket was already embellished with the gold and burgundy leaves, i added to the homespun look by hand stitching the “fall” chipboard letters to the bucket and adding a paper leaf and leaf stick pin stuck into the felt to give it a cohesive look.

both are filled with orange shredded basket filler from the Dollar Store, a bottle of scented shower gel, and then finished off with an embellished journaling card that is just the perfect size for a short hand-written note.  but my favorite part of all was tucking some of the chipboard branches, just loosely, into the basket along with the basket filler.  i love the charm it adds to the overall gift.

total crafting time to take these two gifts from drab to fabulous?  less than 15 minutes.  that's the kind of gift packaging i like!

Acorn Hollow Journaling Cards	Acorn Hollow Stick Pins	Acorn Hollow Chipboard Shapes	Acorn Hollow Clear Cuts
Acorn Hollow 5 Things Pocket	Acorn Hollow Favorite Pieces Stickers	Acorn Hollow Fresh Verse Stickers	Acorn Hollow 6x6 Paper Pad

InLinkz.com